Political Digest May 23, 2010

I post articles because I think they are of interest. Doing so doesn’t mean that I necessarily agree with every—or any—opinion in the posted article. Nor that I disagree with them, of course.

Police officer slain as mayor embarrasses himself and city
http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/columnists/ct-met-kass-0521-20100521,0,3497461.column
The Chicago way. Gotta love it here. Excerpt: At that moment, Mayor Daley was holding a news conference, another dog-and-pony show at City Hall to demonstrate his tough stance on crime. He called it to express his concern that the U.S. Supreme Court will overturn the city's handgun ban. There were guns on a table as props, so much eye candy for the cameras. A reporter asked the obvious question: Given the numbers of shootings in the city, isn't the handgun ban ineffective? The question was more than fair. In Chicago, the only people who are confident in their 2nd Amendment rights to bear arms are the criminals, the cops and the politicians. Law-abiding citizens can't own handguns. They don't have an army of bodyguards, as does Daley. Political hacks have guns. They get out the vote for his machine. And the retired neighbor who's never been arrested in his life? Oh, no. If he has a gun, it would be anarchy in the streets, according to Daley. Confronted with a logical question, here's what the mayor did: He picked up a rifle from the prop table of guns, raised it and began to babble. "It's been very effective," said Daley of the handgun ban. "If I put this up your butt, you'll find out how effective it is. Let me put a round up your, you know." The mayor of Chicago then went on to say if the justices were attacked by thugs with guns, they'd see things his way.

Tony Rezko, Barack Obama, the FBI Mole, and the Somnolent Chicago MSM
http://bigjournalism.com/acary/2010/05/19/tony-rezko-barack-obama-the-fbi-mole-and-the-chicago-msm/
Long, but interesting. Who knows? This is Chicago—we poor chumbalones will never know the full truth. Excerpt: The Chicago media covers Illinois political corruption like crime reporters. They show up at the scene, gather for the perp walk, snap a photo, and cover the trial. In short, they wait for the story to happen and then accept official explanations with minimum scrutiny. Consequently, when the Machine gets caught, it’s generally not the media that breaks the story. And it’s been that way in Chicago for a very long time. Here’s one example of a story gone missing: the strange saga of an FBI mole who interacted with several Chicagoland players, including Barack Obama, associated with the rise-and-fall of Antoin “Tony” Rezko and former Illinois Governor Milorad R. “Rod” Blagojevich…..For the first time, the FBI “mole” who’s expected to be a key prosecution witness against indicted developer and political fund-raiser Tony Rezko is talking…Sources said Thomas also logged frequent visits to Rezko from Gov. Blagojevich and U.S. Sen. Barack Obama (D-Ill.). Blagojevich and Obama were among the many politicians for whom Rezko raised campaign cash. Neither has been charged with any wrongdoing…Sources said Thomas helped investigators build a record of repeat visits to the old offices of Rezko and former business partner Daniel Mahru’s Rezmar Corp., at 853 N. Elston, by Blagojevich and Obama during 2004 and 2005…Both politicians relied on Rezko for fund-raising connections. Obama was in the thick of his successful run for the U.S. Senate in 2004. Now in the glare of a presidential campaign, Obama has donated to charity $157,835 from contributions to his Senate campaign that he has linked to Rezko….Today, conventional wisdom seems to perceive U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald as being an “untouchable” whose credentials for integrity and diligence are above reproach. But there is a minority opinion that he acted to keep then presidential candidate Obama’s name out of the Rezko trial, just as President Obama’s name now stands to be kept out of the Blagojevich trial, if indeed, there is one. While lawyers for former Gov. Rod Blagojevich were shot down Friday by U.S. District Judge James Zagel in their bid to drag President Obama into testifying at his trial, they succeeded in at least one respect. They exposed just how determined federal prosecutors and the judge seem to be to keep Obama out of the Blago fray as much as possible.

D.C. Metro Police Escorted SEIU Protesters to Bank Of America Executive’s Home
http://bigjournalism.com/acary/2010/05/21/d-c-metro-police-escorted-seiu-protesters-to-greg-baers-home/
Call the police, thugs are threatening my family….wait, the police brought the thugs here. Why am I not surprised, since the unionized policy work for the government, as do the unionized SEIU thugs. Violence is coming. Excerpt: The family of Greg Baer, Bank of America executive, is located in a jurisdiction protected by the Montgomery County Police Department (MCPD), which responded promptly to a disturbance call from his neighborhood last weekend. According to Corporal Dan Friz, an MCPD spokesperson in Rockville, Maryland, the department received a disturbance call from one of Baer’s neighbors at 4:10 pm last Sunday. Four MCPD units arrived at Baer’s Greenville Rd. address at 4:15 pm. At least two Metropolitan Police Department units from the nearby District of Columbia were already at the scene when they arrived. Why? Because police cars attached to the Washington MPD’s Civil Disturbance Unit had escorted the SEIU protesters’ buses to Baer’s home. Such cross-jurisdictional escort activity is not uncommon for both departments according to Friz and Metro Police Department spokesperson Officer Eric Frost. Still, the District police did not inform their colleagues of what was about to happen in one of their Maryland neighborhoods.

Stop Treating Our Troops Like Terrorists
http://www.newswithviews.com/Roth/laurie215.htm
Excerpt: I have followed how our troops have been treated on the battlefield since 9/11 and been appalled as to how we treat them over and over! We might as well line them up and boil them in oil. Some in the media and congress would be happy with that. Many of the current rules of engagement for our military only end up compromising and killing our soldiers again and again. Let’s taste a few of these empowering rules. If you are fighting Islamic terrorists in Afghanistan and are charged with shooting Taliban bad guys and you come upon some, make sure they haven’t put their weapon down for even a moment. You can’t shoot them if they have. According to the Obama administration Rules of engagement, that would be rude and violate the Islamic serial killer’s rights. The sensitivity continues. If you happened to capture some terrorists don’t you dare use any harsh language or speak roughly around them. That is also against the rules. Maybe our troops could offer a Bible study to captured Islamic terrorists but of course that would be hate speech wouldn’t it?

Response to President Calderon
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ldx8gZDwZWs
Congressman tells it like it is.

When Mommy goes to war (leaving the kids behind)
http://sz0043.ev.mail.comcast.net/zimbra/mail#7
Excerpt: As Marine Sgt. Jocelyn Proano, who joined the military after being expelled from high school, told me about getting her deployment orders when her daughter had just turned one year old: "That was the worst ever -- to leave my kid and everything." Yet she found her feelings for her daughter were in conflict with her military training: "The mommy mentality left me as soon as we got on that bus. All of a sudden, the Marine hit me." Sgt. Proano ended up extending her deployment so she would not have to leave her unit: "You want to be a Marine, and you can't be a mom all the time." Sergeant Proano's overwhelming loyalty to her unit was only one of many surprises I encountered over the course of 52 interviews I did with women soldiers, sailors, coasties, airmen and Marines across the eastern seaboard.

Defending Record, Blumenthal Wins Nomination
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/05/22/nyregion/22convention.html?hp&om_rid=Mqh-D0&om_mid=_BL99FDB8JgisCv&
Democrats nominate the phony, Republicans the gal with the bucks. Campaigns are so expensive, being able to self-fund is becoming a requirement. Another nail in the Republic’s coffin. Excerpt: The state convention here was supposed to have been a coronation, and it was, with a lone rival registering only barely in the delegate count and being denied a chance at the microphone until he had already lost. But what should have been a raucous display of unbridled enthusiasm, given Mr. Blumenthal’s tireless glad-handing, favor-banking, and headline-grabbing in 20 years as attorney general, was complicated by a palpable sense of uneasiness. Over cider doughnuts and fries before his speech, delegates and V.I.P.’s could be heard debating whether the damage to Mr. Blumenthal’s Mr. Clean reputation would be lasting and threatening or merely a speed bump on his road to victory.... Also Friday night, Linda McMahon, a pro wrestling executive who has vowed to spend $50 million on her campaign if necessary, won the endorsement for Senate at the Republican convention, held nearby. She defeated Rob Simmons, a Vietnam veteran who served three terms in Congress. Ms. McMahon received 737 votes, to 632 for Mr. Simmons. Mr. Simmons said he planned to stay in the race, as did a third candidate, the businessman and financial analyst Peter Schiff. The primary is Aug. 10.

A veteran's Harvard ally: Elena Kagan
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/20/AR2010052003940.html
I still ask, did she expect the military to disobey the orders of President Bill Clinton when he put DADT in place? Did she bar him from campus? Excerpt: In 2005, I went from fighting in the streets of Fallujah to studying in the hallowed halls of Harvard Law School in a span of seven months. I arrived as an active-duty Marine Corps captain and transitioned from the infantry to the judge advocate general's corps. To the best of my knowledge, I am the only active-duty service member to have received a JD from Harvard during the deanship of Elena Kagan
The facilities at Harvard were nicer than those in Fallujah, but Harvard was less exciting. My classmates generally treated me no differently than the other students, except for subjecting me to the occasional dumb question. ("Did you ever feel that you were in danger in Fallujah?" "Uh, you mean from the snipers and suicide bombers? Of course not, silly.") Most of my professors knew of and were seemingly indifferent to the fact that I was a Marine, which was the way I preferred it. I was on a three-year vacation from the Corps, albeit one spent mostly in the basement of a library. Only one member of the faculty made an issue of my status as a service member: Elena Kagan. And because numerous individuals have branded Kagan as "anti-military," I feel the need to weigh in. As dean, Kagan enjoyed something of a cult-like following among the students of Harvard Law School. She was charismatic and intimidating, and, most important, she gave students free coffee in the morning. She was also famous for her good-natured annihilation of unprepared students in her classroom. In fact, she had the three unofficial rules of Marine Corps leadership down pat: Be tough, show that you care and ensure that everyone below you has plenty of coffee. Most students supported her principled stance against "don't ask, don't tell." Kagan was public in her opposition to the policy and never shied from debating the topic. Today, that policy debate has led to speculation that Kagan harbors animosity toward the military. Around the time that Kagan sent the first of several e-mails criticizing "don't ask, don't tell," she hosted a Veterans Day dinner for the few student-veterans attending Harvard Law. That was the first time I met Kagan. There was no agenda for the dinner, as best as I could tell, other than to thank us for our service. I don't believe "don't ask, don't tell" ever came up. Either because of her charm or the quality of the food, I became one of her admirers.

Hit “El Presidente” where it hurts most — in the wallet
http://laiglesforum.com/2010/05/21/hit-el-presidente-where-it-hurts-most-in-the-wallet/
Excerpt: Mexican president Calderon complains that Arizona wants to do what Mexico does: exercise their right to enforce immigration law. Calderon has a really good reason for wanting to keep Mexicans in the US illegally – money. Every year illegal workers send billions of dollars home to their families. So far this year, they have sent a reported $15.5 billion. On top of that, illegal Mexicans cost state governments many more billions. So let’s stop calling them “cheap” labor. They are anything but. The major cash transfer agencies like Western Union and MoneyGram, as well as ordinary banks, aid and abet by not requiring any ID of the transferring party. That needs to stop, ASAP. State lawmakers need to introduce a bill that would require Western Union, MoneyGram, other such cash transfer agencies and all banks to demand ID for sending money to foreign countries and turn away any customer without legal documents authorizing him/her to be in the US. After all, this is money laundering because in many cases, no tax is paid on that money. And money laundering is a crime! The US blasts Latin American countries for it, but we hypocritically engage in it on an even larger scale here. Arizona may be amenable to such a law already. If so, other states would follow.

Lessons From a Torpedo
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB20001424052748703691804575254583245786418.html?mod=djemITP_h
Excerpt: South Korea formally announced Thursday that one of its warships was sunk, and 46 of its sailors murdered, by a North Korean torpedo on March 26. The news itself comes as no surprise. What would be a surprise—a welcome one—is if the U.S. and its allies drew the appropriate conclusions about how to deal with Pyongyang going forward. North Korea immediately denied any role, but then it always does. South Korea has if anything been exceptionally cautious in reaching its conclusions, inviting experts from the U.S., Australia, the U.K. and Sweden to join its own investigators in assessing the underwater explosion that split the Cheonan and caused it to sink. Pieces of the recovered torpedo "perfectly match" the schematics of a torpedo that North Korea has tried to sell abroad, investigators said. South Korean President Lee Myung-bak vowed "stern action"" in response, and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in Tokyo on Friday that the allies will respond to this "act of aggression." But if the West's habit of dealing with North Korea holds, the condemnations will prove to be temporary and soon the U.S. will again be coaxing Pyongyang back to the six-party talks, or some other fruitless diplomatic exercise. China, the North's main benefactor and one of those six parties, signaled this future when it merely called the incident "unfortunate" and didn't back Seoul's judgments. Imagine China's reaction if a South Korean torpedo had sunk a Chinese ship in the Yellow Sea, even accidentally. The current U.S. policy goes by the name of "strategic patience." Whatever that means in theory, in practice it entails continuing to engage Kim Jong II, albeit with decent intervals between his serial outrages. In December, Mrs. Clinton described nuclear talks with the North as "quite positive" following a visit to Pyongyang by State Department envoy Stephen Bosworth.

The Washington Post and The AP Lie By Omission, Whitewashing CAIR
http://atlasshrugs2000.typepad.com/atlas_shrugs/2010/05/disinformation-the-washington-post-and-the-ap-lie-by-omission.html
Excerpt: Journalism is dead in the corrupt and useless mainstream media. The Washington Post did a piece on CAIR's attack on free speech and truth. AP reporter Erik Schelzig contacted me for comment on CAIR's lies and slander. Here is what I wrote to Schelzig. Not one word of my statement made it into the WaPo report, and nowhere is CAIR identified an unindicted co-conspirator, Hamas-linked Muslim Brotherhood proxy. This is a deliberate campaign to smear me and the tea parties with one stone. Here is the email exchange between me and the AP reporter.

Free Radicals
http://townhall.com/columnists/BillOReilly/2010/05/22/free_radicals
Excerpt: In yet another example of the federal government's being out of control, Assistant Secretary of State Michael Posner, in a human rights discussion with the Chinese, brought up the new Arizona illegal-alien law as an example of American "discrimination." Posner said he discussed the law "early and often" with Chinese officials, even though they didn't even initiate the conversation. So let me get this straight. Hillary Clinton's State Department is trying to persuade China to close its political concentration camps, to stop incarcerating dissidents and to cease brutalizing the people of Tibet, and in the course of that discussion, Hillary's guy says, "Oh, yeah, we're pretty bad, too. Look at Arizona!" Is this Bizarro World or what? The Arizona law will not even take effect until the end of July, but already, according to some, the USA is violating human rights. The law simply says that authorities in Arizona can question people about their nationality IF THEY ARE ALREADY INVOLVED IN A POLICE MATTER. But if you listen to NBC News, you wouldn't know that. No, the liberal media are telling the world that Arizona law enforcement officers will be dragging Hispanics out of Kmart. Be careful walking your dog in Phoenix; you could wind up in handcuffs. Now, I expect this kind of stuff from the dishonest, ideological press but from an assistant secretary of state? That takes the issue to another level. So, what's really going on? Well, it's ideology again. Michael Posner is a committed left-wing zealot who joined the State Department in September 2009. Before that, he founded an organization called Human Rights First, which is generously funded by radical billionaire George Soros.

Must Read: Is Global Warming Really Cause for Alarm?
http://townhall.com/columnists/PaulDriessen/2010/05/22/is_global_warming_really_cause_for_alarm
Excerpt: We’re often asked, "What really causes all these alarms about global warming disasters?" As scientists and policy analysts who’ve studied our ever-changing climate for a combined 65 years and attribute the changes primarily to natural forces, we’ve wondered that ourselves and also asked: Why is warming always framed as bad news? Why does so much “research” claim a warmer planet “may” lead to more childhood insomnia, more juvenile delinquency, war, juvenile delinquency, violent crime and prostitution, death of the Loch Ness Monster – and even more Mongolian cows dying from cold weather? We’re not making this up. In fact, this is just the tip of the proverbial melting iceberg of climate scare stories chronicled at Number Watch. Clearly, too much money is being spent on one-sided global warming advocacy cloaked as “research,” not enough on natural causes and adaptation. Despite the best of intentions, too much money can corrupt, or at least skew the science. As they say, follow the money. Remember Indiana Jones’ immortal words: “Fortune and glory.”

Obamacare: Payback Time For All the Single Ladies
http://townhall.com/columnists/JaniceShawCrouse/2010/05/21/obamacare_payback_time_for_all_the_single_ladies
Excerpt: Some commentators argue that ObamaCare will “destroy marriage for the middle class the same way that the Great Society welfare state destroyed the black family with financial incentives for staying single.” Politically, the “marriage penalty” is also another Democratic kickback. This provision is designed to placate and cement the support of that 70 percent of unmarried women who voted for President Obama in the 2008 election. Greenberg Quinlan Rosner, a liberal firm that consults for clients such as Bill Clinton and John Kerry, said: “Unmarried women represent one of the most reliable Democratic cohorts in the electorate ... leading the charge for fundamental change in health care.” Many of these unmarried women are mothers (older women, rather than teenagers, currently drive the out-of-wedlock birth rates); women in their 20s had 60 percent of all babies born out of wedlock, and women over age 30 had another 17 percent. ObamaCare is a boondoggle for these older unmarried mothers. Many pro-marriage activists view the bill as “a direct attack on marriage,” which the Heritage Foundation reports could go as high as a $10,000 annual “penalty” for being married, and, cumulatively, a married couple “could face a penalty of over $200,000 during the course of their marriage.” The bill would “hit young married couples hard” and “bite back at empty-nesters” by creating “enormous pressure for couples to live together without marriage — or even get divorced — by charging married couples thousands of dollars more in premiums and fees.”

Pakistan arrests over Times Square bomb plot
http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/world/south_asia/10140288.stm
Excerpt: Pakistan has arrested several suspects in connection with the failed bombing in New York City, officials say. One of the arrested is the co-owner of a prominent catering firm used by the US embassy in Islamabad, Pakistani officials told news agencies.

Al Shabaab ask Kenya to keep off
http://www.nation.co.ke/News/africa/Al%20Shabaab%20ask%20Kenya%20%20to%20keep%20off%20/-/1066/923288/-/130rb9vz/-/
Excerpt: The militants, he said, were in Jihad against non-Muslims anywhere around the world.
“The jihad is for the liberation of all Muslims around the world,” said Sheikh Ali Dhere. “When we succeed in this part, we will to move to other parts until we ensure only Allah is worshipped in this world,” he added amid chants of Allahu Akbar (God is Great). The rebels have been linked to terror group al Qaeda led by Saudi fugitive Osama bin Laden. This is not the first time they are speaking against Kenya which they accuse of recruiting and training soldiers on behalf of TFG.

Popular local Muslim figure arrested on federal charges
http://www.newsobserver.com/2010/05/20/492673/popular-local-muslim-figure-arrested.html
Another not-so-moderate Muslim and local Muslims playing the victim card, of course. Excerpt: A prominent member of the Muslim community who worked to better relations with law enforcement agencies was arrested Wednesday and charged with exporting computer equipment to Libya without a license. Mohammed “Moe” El-Gamal of Raleigh, the president of the Muslim American Public Affairs Council, appeared today before a federal judge who agreed to release him on $1 million bail before his trial. El-Gamal’s lawyer, Dan Boyce said his client would plead not guilty. More than 40 members of the Triangle Muslim community crowded into U.S. District Court Magistrate Judge James Gates’ courtroom, dismayed by the charges against El-Gamal, an Egyptian native who immigrated to Canada in 1978. “It’s not fair,” said Burhan Ghanayem, a retired pharmacologist from Durham. “Are they trying to make a point that we in the Muslim community are targeted?” Only last Friday, El-Gamal helped organize a seminar in Apex for the Muslim community with representatives of Transportation Security Administration and United States Citizenship and Immigration Services. During the event, Muslims were encouraged to ask questions and share their concerns about racial profiling at airports, among other issues. El-Gamal, who owns a business called Applied Technology Inc, in Kenansville, is a considered by many a moderate voice within the community, eager to bridge the divides between Muslims and others in the wake of Sept. 11, 2001 and the ensuing wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

NATO base in Kandahar attacked by insurgents
http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2010/05/22/AR2010052201153.html?hpid%3Dtopnews&sub=AR
Wonder if they are ComBloc 122mm rockets? I was at Da Nang July 15, 1967 when we got about 50 of them. Made for an interesting night. Excerpt: Insurgents launched a brazen ground and rocket attack late Saturday against NATO's largest military base in southern Afghanistan, wounding several coalition troops, military officials said. About four rockets crashed down about 8 p.m. on the Kandahar air field, one of them exploding near a popular coffee shop and causing several casualties, officials said. In an apparently coordinated strike, a group of insurgents attempted to breach a gate on the north side of the base but were beaten back. At least two insurgents were killed, the officials said.

AFL-CIO considering split endorsement in Florida Senate race
http://thehill.com/blogs/ballot-box/senate-races/99309-afl-cio-considering-split-endorsement-in-florida-senate-race
Excerpt: The AFL-CIO may take the unusual move of endorsing two candidates for the state's open Senate seat. The largest labor coalition in the country is considering whether to endorse both Democratic Rep. Kendrick Meek and Independent Gov. Charlie Crist for the Senate, a source told The Hill Saturday. Crist, who recently left the Republican Party to launch an Independent bid after it became clear he would lose the GOP nomination to Republican candidate Marco Rubio, is actively seeking the labor coalition's endorsement. A split endorsement is definitely on the table," the source said. Crist appeared at the Florida AFL-CIO's conference this weekend and asked members for their endorsement. Most had assumed the group would give its backing to Meek.

Torpedo Hit Confirmed. What Now?
www.defense-aerospace.com/articles-view/release/3/115023/torpedo-hit-confirmed.-what-now%3F.html
NK better stand by for a strongly worded note from BO. Maybe. Excerpt: The international investigation team delving into the sinking of the Korean corvette Cheonan has produced irrefutable evidence that the ship was sunk following a hit by a North Korean heavy torpedo. The torpedo had a warhead from 200-300 kilograms of RDX and produced an under-the-keel explosion at a depth of 6 to 9 meters, roughly 3 meters left of the center of the ship’s gas turbine room. The concussion literally tore the ship apart, killing 46 of the 104 sailors on board the stricken vessel. The key evidence was the recovery of parts from the torpedo, including a propulsion motor with propellers and a steering section, according to Yoon Duk-yong, co-head of the investigation team. "They perfectly match the schematics of the CHT-02D torpedo included in introductory brochures provided to foreign countries by North Korea for export purposes," he said. The CHT-02D is a heavyweight passive acoustic homing torpedo measuring about 53 centimeters in diameter and weighing 1.7 tons with a net explosive weight of about 250 kilograms. Just to screw the identification down tight, the recovered torpedo wreckage had the North Korean serial number still marked on it. It appears that the torpedo was fired from a 130-ton Yeono-class midget submarine. A few such submarines and a mother ship supporting them left a North Korean naval base in the West Sea two to three days prior to the attack and returned to their port two to three days after the attack. The South Korean Navy has confirmed that all submarines from neighboring countries were either in or near their respective home bases at the time of the incident. A good guess at this point is that the midget submarines were spread out across the area patrolled by the Cheonan and one of them found itself in a position to take the shot. It is believed that the submarine in question identified its target at night and mounted the attack at close range. After the attack, the submarine appears to have swiftly moved away from the scene and returned (to its home port) using the same infiltration route that it used to get in. The question now becomes, what will happen next? North Korea responded to the revelations by issuing a bellicose statement that if anybody tried to institute any sanctions or retaliation over the attack, the North would immediately launch an "all-out war." This may be a bluff, but the North is expected to raise the level of aggression against the South, possibly by firing artillery from its coasts or testing short-range missiles. North Korea might also attempt a second provocation in a concealed manner using its special forces.

Jordan Signs Deal With Boeing For Attack Helos
www.defensenews.com/story.php?i=4622923&c=MID&s=TOP
Excerpt: Jordan on May 12 signed a letter of intent with U.S. aerospace giant
Boeing to buy AH-6i light attack and reconnaissance helicopters to enhance
border security. "This helicopter, with its modern and integrated systems, will provide us
with great capabilities at a reasonable low operating cost," Maj. Gen. Malek
Habashneh, commander of Royal Jordanian Air Force, told reporters after the
signing ceremony.

Lockerbie bomber still alive nine months after release by SNP government
www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/uk/scotland/article7131223.ece
Excerpt: The Lockerbie bomber has now lived longer than any of the four other
convicted murderers released on compassionate grounds in Scotland, it has
emerged. Abdul Baset Ali al-Megrahi, 58, who has terminal cancer, was freed on August
20 last year. Kenny MacAskill, the Scottish Justice Secretary, said that
medical reports had shown he had three months or less to live.

US drops opposition to Russian interceptor sale to Iran
http://www.monstersandcritics.com/news/europe/news/article_1557725.php/Report-US-drops-opposition-to-Russian-interceptor-sale-to-Iran
Probably call them “The Jew Killers.” Excerpt: The United States will not stand in the way of Russia's planned sale of modern missile defence systems to Iran, even as the two nations consider new sanctions against Iran, reported the New York Times Saturday. According to the newspaper, allowing the sale was one of the conditions upon which the US had to agree in order to get Russia to agree to the new round of sanctions, which are designed to force Iran to be open about its nuclear ambitions.

Quote
In every tyrant's heart there springs in the end this poison, that he cannot trust a friend. - Aeschylus