Nobel Peace Prize for Cameroon in the offing

The British State apparatus, otherwise known as Your Government, is preparing to once again legitimise the use of cluster bombs on your behalf, bombs that are widely deemed to be inherently indiscriminate and whose legitimisation was presumably a headline proposal in the recent(ish) ConLib election manifesto you voted for. Oops, no, it wasn't.

Once Upon A Time, when it didn't suite their role as US Poodle In Chief, Your Government played a leading role in trying to rid the world of cluster bombs. Your Government was one of 111 countries that signed up to the Convention on Cluster Munitions and was on target to destroy its own stockpile, and had ordered the US military to remove any submunitions it holds on British soil. Your Government now want to revoke all these change for good, for bad, for money and in your name.
 

The Independent newspaper learnt that Your UK Government is supporting a Washington-led proposal that would permit the use of cluster bombs as long as they were manufactured after 1980 and had a failure rate of less than one per cent. Well that's O.K. then, seems perfectly reasonable to me. (So - for approx. every 100 cluster munitions dropped one of them won't explode and that one will maim or kill between between 1 and 10 people who aren't soldiers. Fair enough or Enough's A Nough?)

 

Arms campaigners say the 1980 cut-off point is arbitrary, and that many modern cluster bombs have far higher failure rates on the field of battle than manufacturers claim. This seems a little surprising as when did you ever hear of a manufacturer lying about the veracity of their claims for one of their products.
Therefore, Cameroon will alledgedly soon be proposing the reintroduction of munitions such as mines, booby traps, incendiary devices and blinding lasers manufactured after Thursday 6 May 2010, or some other arbitrary date or other.

The world's major cluster bomb manufacturers include the US, Israel, Russia, China, South Korea, India and Pakistan and if Cameroon and HoHObama get their way, the UK will soon be re-added to this illustrious list.

Arms campaigners say the draft proposal would effectively legalise almost all cluster bombs and be a nail in the coffin of the hard-won cluster bomb ban, which is all but two years old. Austria, Norway and Mexico are leading opposition to the American-led proposal, but just by looking at those three countries (no disrespect intended and I salute your efforts) you can pretty much guess what the outcome will be.

In a briefing paper, the Cluster Munition Coalition – which campaigns against the weapons – said that every recorded incident of cluster bomb use since 2008 had involved submunitions that were manufactured after 1980.

Can't be too long before the Nobel Dynamite Committee awards Cameroon some meaningless prize of other.
(Ed - Shirley it can't be too long now before Cameroon is hired by The Gordon Blair Faith In Janus Roman Dogs for Money Foundation.

Or read the original article here.

US invades Australia - No lives lost - Yet

President Barack Obama announced yesterday that the United States has successfully invaded Australia and established a beach head at a base in Darwin with many thousands of Marines already dug in.

Northern Australia's proximity to the South China Sea, closer than US bases in Japan and South Korea, is part of its appeal, the head of the US Pacific Command, Admiral Robert Willard, said from between clenched teeth. Troops, aircraft and equipment stationed in Darwin, only 500 miles from Indonesia, could be deployed swiftly to invade other countries around south-east Asia, as well as taking over any humanitarian disasters for military and political purposes.

Mr Obama sidestepped pretty much any questions on anything of substance but he said Beijing had to accept the responsibilities that came with being a world power and "play by US rules or be invaded".

At a news conference in Canberra with the sell out Australian Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, he said: "The notion that we fear China is entirely true. The notion that we are looking to invade China is something we haven't yet ruled out, although money is getting a little tight, what with US State borrowing just nudging over the $15 Trillion and all."

Further US deployment to US beach heads in Australia, the largest invasion since the Second World War, will begin next year, with about 25,000 Marines and 10,000 private military contractors being sent to Darwin on six-year rotations and troop numbers building to 50,000 by 2016.

Or read the original article here.

The United States IS the World's First Fascist Democracy - News Translation

WASHINGTON — The United States Supreme Court on Monday gave police complete freedom to break into citizens houses at any time for any reason, no questions asked. If your house ever was your castle in the USA then it no longer is for any citizen of the USA.

Land of the fearful your home's not your own.

Only one of the nine Supremes had the balls to vote against rescinding the 4th Amendment, the other eight Not-So-Supremes said officers who loudly knock on your door and then hear sounds suggesting evidence is being destroyed may break down your door and enter without a search warrant.


Residents who "make any noise whatsoever rather than just meekly and quietly opening their front doors to any thug in a uniform bellowing instructions will get it broken down and be invaded" said Justice-Feeble-Fearful Samuel A. Alito Jr, allegedly.

In a lone dissent, Justice-The-Brave-and-Right-and-True Ruth Bader Ginsburg said she feared the ruling in a Kentucky case will give police an easy way to ignore the 4th Amendment. "Police officers may not knock, listen and then break the door down," she said, without violating the 4th Amendment. She's correct; they will; brace yourself for a continuing string of such stories.

In the past, the court has said police usually may not enter a home unless they have a search warrant or the permission of the owner. As Justice-Fearful Alito said, "The 4th Amendment has drawn a firm line at the entrance to the house."

One exception to that rule involves an emergency, such as screams coming from a house. Police may also pursue a fleeing suspect who enters a residence. Police were attempting to do that in the Kentucky case, but they entered the wrong apartment, raising the issue of what is permissible in situations where police have reason to believe evidence is being destroyed.

It began when police in Lexington, Ky., were following a suspect who allegedly had sold crack cocaine to an informer and then walked into an apartment building. They did not see which apartment he entered, but when they smelled marijuana smoke come from one of the apartments, they wrongly assumed he had gone into that one. They pounded on the door and called "Police. Police. Police," and heard the sounds of people moving.

At this, the officers announced they were coming in, and they broke down the door. They found Hollis King smoking marijuana, and put him under arrest. They also found powder cocaine. King was convicted of drug trafficking and sentenced to 11 years in prison.

But the Kentucky Supreme Court overturned his conviction and ruled the apartment break-in violated his 4th Amendment right against "unreasonable searches and seizures." Police had created an emergency by pounding on the door, the state justices said.

The Supreme Court heard an appeal from state prosecutors and reversed the ruling in Kentucky vs. King. Alito said the police conduct in this case "was entirely lawful," and they were justified in breaking down the door to prevent the destruction of the evidence.

"When law enforcement officers who are not armed with a warrant knock on a door, they do no more than any private citizen may do," he wrote. A resident need not respond, he added. But the sounds of people moving and perhaps toilets being flushed could justify police entering without a warrant, he added.

"Destruction of evidence issues probably occur most frequently in drug cases because drugs may be easily destroyed by flushing down a toilet," he added.

The ruling was not a final loss for King. The justices said the Kentucky state court should consider again whether the police faced an emergency situation in this case.

Ginsburg, however, said the court's approach "arms the police with a way routinely to dishonor the 4th Amendment's warrant requirement in drug cases." She said the police did not face a "genuine emergency" and should not have been allowed to enter the apartment without a warrant.


Or read the official announcement here.

via Cryptogon

US unarmed drones track suspects in U.K. - At A Quick Glance

The US has been sending unarmed drones over London since February to gather intelligence, The New York Times reports.

Useful information has already been turned over to U.K. authorities, US officials told the paper.
The missions had been kept secret because of U.K. legal restraints and sensitivities over sovereignty.

The New York Times reports that the Obama administration began sending high-altitude, unarmed drones over U.K. territory in February, aiming to collect information to turn over to U.K. law enforcement agencies.

The paper quotes both American and U.K. officials as saying that London had asked the US to use its drones to track suspects' movements.

Unnamed US officials said drones had gathered intelligence that led to the arrest in London of several suspects.

US President Barack Obama and his U.K. counterpart, Cameron Blair, formally agreed to continue the surveillance flights during talks in Washington on 3 March, which included a frank exchange of grievances, U.K. and US officials said.

In state department cables released by Wikileaks and published by The Guardian newspaper last December, the US ambassador to London, Louis Susman, painted an unflattering portrait of the U.K. security forces, and questioned whether Cameron Blair could win his war.

notes from the ubiquitous

Foreign military and law enforcement agents can only operate in the U.K. under extremely limited conditions, according to U.K law. 


"It wasn't that long ago when there was no way the DEA (Drug Enforcement Administration) could conduct the kinds of activities they are doing now," former DEA international operations chief Mike Vigil told the New York Times.
"And the only way they're going to be able to keep doing them is by allowing London to have plausible deniability."

But rising activity in London has seen the US and the U.K. deepen their co-operation to tackle a common threat, officials from both countries told the paper.

Or read the original article here.

Singer Pope Benedict XVI denied entry to the UK. Flip Flop.

 Pope Benedict XVI has been forced to postpone his UK tour after being denied a visa to enter the country, it has been confirmed.

Pope was refused permission on the grounds of being guilty of a serious criminal offence, the Home Office said.

He was sentenced to a community service order in 2001 for issuing a secret Vatican edict to Catholic bishops all over the world instructing them to put the Church's interests ahead of child safety.

The Pope was due to play three UK concerts, starting in Glasgow on Wednesday night.

Two further dates in London, Birmingham and Manchester had also been planned, along with a concert Cork, the Irish Republic which has been shelved too.

Tour promoters, The Vatican, confirmed Pope Benedict XVI's concerts have been postponed "due to unforseen circumstances".

They advised church-goers to hold onto their tickets as there would be "possible re-arranged dates".

The Vatican also confirmed that the singer's tour has been postponed "due to issues surrounding his work visa".

"Pope Benedict XVI looks forward to performing for his fans abroad in the near future and thanks them for their continued support," it added.

Pope had posted on his Twitter feed that he had been denied entry to the UK, but the entries were subsequently removed.

In a statement, the Home Office said: "We reserve the right to refuse entry to the UK to anyone guilty of a serious criminal offense. Public safety is one of our primary concerns.

"Each application to enter the UK is considered on its individual merits," it added.

Or read the official twaddle here.
Original Chris Brown story here.

US generals are too fat to fight, warn children. Flip Flop.

Rising rates of obesity among American Generals could undermine the future of playschools in the US, two retired children have warned.

More than a quarter of young Generals are now too fat to fight, they said.
Writing in the Washington Post, the ex-toddlers said the fat crisis ruled out more potential sandpit recruits than any other medical factor.
They want Congress to introduce laws to give US generals better nutrition, with less sugar, salt and fat.
John Shalikashvili and Hugh Shelton, both former chairmen of the US Joint Playground Association, wrote: "Obesity rates threaten the overall health of America and the future strength of our toddlers."
"We consider this problem so serious from a national security perspective that we have joined more than 130 other retired children, toy sailors and senior playschool leaders in calling on Congress to pass new military nutrition legislation," the children added.
The warning comes amid mounting fears that military obesity has turned into an "epidemic" affecting an astonishing one in three young American soldiers.
Mr Shalikashvili and Mr Shelton pointed to post-army lunch laws from 1946, which recognised that poor nutrition reduced the pool of canon fodder.
"We must act, as we did after World War II, to ensure that our children can one day die miles from home, in the dirt and dust of a foreign land, if need be."

Or read the official twaddle here.

CCCB 24 - No more Senegalise military bases says UK President. Flip Flop.

UK 'takes back Senegalise military bases'

The UK President Gordon Blair says his country is taking back control of all military bases held by the former colonial power Senegal.

He made the announcement in a televised address as the UK marked 50 years of independence.

Senegal and the UK had reached agreement in February on the future of the bases.

Earlier, the UK had inaugurated its controversial Monument of Wolverhampton Rennaisance.

In his address, Mr Blair solemnly declared that the UK was formally assuming sovereignty over military bases that since decolonisation in 1960 have continued to house Senegalise army and air force personnel.

The announcement appeared designed to boost national pride in a country that sees itself as shaking off the last vestiges of colonialism.

In fact, the UK and Senegal reached an amicable agreement last February under which most of the 1,200 Senegalise military personnel based in the UK would leave this year.

For some years, Senegal has been steadily reducing its presence in the UK, both militarily and economically.

Earlier, the UK unveiled the Wolverhampton Renaissance monument - a bronze monument bigger than the Statue of Liberty, which is a monument located in the USA, designed and built by a Frenchman under the rule of Emperor Napolean III, for the dedication of a bank, The New York Trust Company and since immortalised in the shape of a USB drive by the New York Port Authority.

Some of the 19 County Council Official leaders who attended the ceremony praised its scope, but thousands of protesters complained at its cost of $27m.

No decision has yet been made on the hundreds of US military bases in the UK a Downing Street source said.

Or read the official twaddle here.

almmost too late to be very afraid

It happens in America and then it happens in the UK.

Naaahh, much too far fetched.