I am well aware that Osborne has been redistributing money to the rich in his budget. I am also stunned by the idea that the state should see its role not as reducing regional inequality of wealth, but as reinforcing it through regional public sector pay rates.
But my days at the moment are like this. I get up at 7.30 am and after a very frugal breakfast I take a local taxi to the disastrously neglected and underfunded National Archive of India. I spend eleven hours there hastily transcribing from an enormous wealth of documents on Alexander Burnes – really beyond my wildest hopes – and then at 8.00pm the security guards kick me out, the curators having left some time ago. I get back to my budget hotel, take a light supper of imodium and activated charcoal, chat with Nadira, and then fall asleep exhausted.
What’s with Baruch Goybama’s crocodile tears over the coloured person killed without due process in Florida? Every day Baruch’s fun drones kill coloured people without due process, only they are in Pakistan or Yemen.
Quite right Boniface Goncourt, he’s a total hypocrite. How did anyone ever fall for for his hope and change rubbish? He is cold and calculating.
“If I had a son, he would look like Trayyon.” FFS.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-17492125
Mary,
The latest wheeze to defraud the 99% is a plan …..
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These bastards day by day are closer, and closer following the plantation owners, and robber barons policies. The booze at the cheap end is to be doubled in the price, because it is better for the health of the fucking great unwashed. The same does not apply to the cheap subsidised booze flowing in the commons bars, there are laws for us, and there is no fucking law for them.
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As the high earners pay less and less then the low earners have to stand for the shortfall, and boy there is always an ingenious way of going about the business of ripping off the punters.
after Le Monde said the passport found in the appt of the alleged Toulouse killer had Israeli stamps in it, some zionist websites attempted to deny he’d visited, yet now we have the following, which sounds more like “cover” – detained and released!
Haaretz: French intelligence chief: Toulouse shooter arrested by Israel Police in 2010 for possession of a knife
Bernard Squarcini tells French newspaper Le Monde that Mohamed Merah, who killed four people in an attack on a Jewish school on Monday, was held by Israeli authorities after he was found in possession of a knife.
The head of the French intelligence agency DCRI said in an interview on Friday that the Toulouse shooter was arrested by Israel Police in Jerusalem in 2010, after he was found in possession of a knife.
Bernard Squarcini told the French newspaper Le Monde that Mohamed Merah, who killed four people in an attack on a Jewish school in Toulouse on Monday, was held by police in Jerusalem during his visit to Israel in 2010, but was released shortly after his detainment…
http://www.haaretz.com/news/diplomacy-defense/french-intelligence-chief-toulouse-shooter-arrested-by-israel-police-in-2010-for-possession-of-a-knife-1.420420
St Theresa of May seems to be in another spot of bother. She went charging in on orders of the ‘Koalition’ to divert attention from the negative comment on the Budget’s reallocation of money from the poor to the rich.
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Hearing her using jargon like ‘pre-loading’ was excruciating.
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Now the plan seems to be illegal and even the Health Minister Anne Milton said so. She was probably following orders from Lansley who is opposed to the minimum pricing. Wonder why that is? In with the brewers and distillers lobby.
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None of the lot governing us are very bright.
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‘Drinks companies threaten legal action over Prime Minister’s assault on cheap alcohol, claiming it ‘breaks EU law’
David Cameron’s plans to tackle the scourge of binge-drinking descend into chaos with hours of launch
Alcohol firms say imposing a minimum price of about 40 per unit is illegal under EU competition law
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Public health minister Anne Milton recently told MPs that minimum pricing was ‘illegal’ while Dominic Grieve, the Attorney General, is also believed to have warned Cabinet colleagues that it may breach European rules.
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The announcement had been pencilled in for next Monday, but it was instead unveiled to a half-empty House of Commons yesterday – highly unusual as MPs are usually in their constituencies on Fridays.
Indeed, this was only the fourth time in ten years that a minister has made an announcement to the house on a Friday – previous occasions tackled the more urgent topics of Libya, swine flu and Iraq.’
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119546/Prime-Ministers-ban-cheap-drinks-breaks-EU-law-claim-alcohol-companies.html
Dear Craig,
There’s an interesting article by the novelist, activist, and writer, A. Roy about Indian capitalism and the vast disparity of wealth there, that Osborne seems intent on introducing back in the UK.
I could not find that piece Writerman but this is interesting by the same author in The Hindu today, on the meddling of the US in Indian affairs.
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US further trying to build a cold war situation in China, says the well-known writer
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Well-known author Arundhati Roy said that the Indo-US relations were a “theatrical drama” enacted to induce India to support the US with a view to isolate Iran on one hand and help build a cold war situation in China.
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Addressing a meeting organised by the Committee for Release of Political Prisoners on the occasion of the 80 death anniversary of Bhagat Singh, Ms. Roy said the main concern of the US was how to isolate and attack Iran for its nuclear programme. In the same way, China had become the target of the US as a result of the escalation of the conflict on account of capitalism.
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She said the US had made Pakistan its ally but created a civil war in that country only to weaken it. The US was now interested in creating a similar situation in China with India as its ally. Accordingly, India had acceded to the US at every stage right from buying nuclear reactors to opening up foreign direct investment.
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The big investments right now were in the education sector wherein US universities wanted to set up franchises in India. That is why all universities in India were shifting to the semester system of examinations like in the US. It was also not a coincidence that spiritual leader Sri Sri Ravi Shankar insisted that education should be privatised.
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Ms. Roy said India before 1989 was non-aligned but today it was a natural ally of US and Israel. The demolition of the Babri Masjid and the opening up of Indian markets were a deliberate attempt to weaken opposition to India becoming an ally of the US. War and arms shopping were the two techniques of the US to bail itself out of a tight economic situation.
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Earlier, civil rights activist Latif Mohammed Khan took exception to the failure of NGOs to raise their voice when Muslim youths were arrested after the blast in Mecca Masjid but released when the role of Hindu fundamentalists in the blasts was established.
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http://www.thehindu.com/news/states/andhra-pradesh/article3207193.ece
Fed-up – Re the health of the great unwashed – I heard James Naughty’s interview on R4 with someone about the enormous rise in cases of TB amongst rough sleepers, particularly in London; now that should be something to make the ruling classes sit up and take note of what’s happening around them; disease and epidemics are not respecters of gated communities. A re-run of the Great Plague would be a sharp reminder that we are all in it together.
So let me get this straight. Merah a petty criminal with a record as long as your arm, was a regular visitor to Afghanistan and Pakistan where he had received terrorist training to fight NATO,had been under surveillance by French security services for 3 – 4 years.He broke out of a prison in Afghanistan where he headed back to Europe.A North African Arab he visited Israel on a tourist visa, was arrested in Jerusalem for possessing a knife which could be bought in every 3rd or 4th shop in the Old City. Was on a US no fly list which is a bit like having your credit card and passport cancelled.
The unit who were sent to capture Merah were under instructions to take him alive, so they use 2 very large explosions to force him out of the appartment where he jumps, only to be shot in mid air by a sniper.
Nothing suspicious here , move on.
I used to be under the impression that Spike Milligan had trained the terrorists with exploding shoes and underpants ,needing fuses to be lit from matches .. now I think that the security services have oversize shoes,red noses and white faces.
I missed that Rose.
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The National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) releases new guidance about tuberculosis (TB) in hard-to-reach communities, following Health Protection Agency figures that show that in 2011 there were 9,042 reported cases of TB in the UK, an increase of five percent from new cases reported in 2010. The Today programme’s Louise Jackson went to visit an outreach programme in South London while Professor Mike Kelly, director of public health at NICE, outlines concerns about the disease.
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40% of cases are in London. Oligarchs, dictators and ConDems watch out.
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http://news.bbc.co.uk/today/hi/today/newsid_9708000/9708385.stm
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I though the piece was more demonisation of the untermenschen by the middle class professionals and Radio 4.
“Oligarchs, dictators and ConDems watch out.” These, Mary, are hardly likely to go down with TB. More likely to be mown down. As are bankers.
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http://johngossip.blogspot.co.uk/2012/03/engendering-sympathy-for-bankers.html
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Sorry, also off topic.
Rose
Sort of true and untrue at the same time.
There is a a variable degree of resistance to TB and people sleeping rough are likely to have poor diet and addiction/alcohol problems, apart from poor hygiene, and other problems related to stress and chaotic lifestyle. As a result such people are much more susceptible to an infection like TB.
TB is mainly a disease related to living conditions although in the past people who were at the upper end of the social scale also succumbed. However, although I don’t know the figures I am certain that the incidence of TB is much less where people enjoy good living conditions with god space.
TB is well known to be developing varieties which show extreme resistance to treatments that in the relatively recent past have been effective and this process seems to be continuing, and there have been problems in the recent past developing vaccines, although that seems like a surmountable problem.
Yes it is worrying but it is likely that the poorest, and least well educated will suffer disproportionately if TB becomes more common.
Talking of diet in India, a friend who lived in Delhi for about 6 months, living on the local food and suffering frequent bouts of intestinal discomfort began to yearn for something plain and ordinary. She settled on the idea of boiled eggs. She also wanted some creature comforts as she had been living cheaply.
So she went to an expensive hotel, booked in, and next morning settled down at a nice table with a white tablecloth and ordered two boiled eggs and toast for breakfast. They arrived and before she could do anything, a waiter stepped forward, flipped the tops off the eggs, and sprinkled curry powder all over them.
What is the Russian for ‘turf war’?
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Exiled Russian banker left in coma by submachine gun ‘assassination bid’ put under armed guard in hospital over fears of further attempts on his life
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German Gorbuntsov was ‘blasted with a submachine gun’ as he entered a block of flats near Canary Wharf
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Friends fear he was victim of mafia contract after he was a witness in the case of an attempted murder of another banker in 2009
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Forty-five-year-old exile is in a medically-induced coma in hospital
Gorbuntsov is also on Moldova’s wanted list over allegations of an illegal bank takeover and embezzlement
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He has previously said: ‘If I go back to Russia, they will kill me’
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http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2119384/Canary-Wharf-shooting-Russian-banker-German-Gorbuntsov-gunned-assassination-attempt.html
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Nice type. Wish these Russian crooks would all clear off.
The problem our health services have with TB is that it occurs in rough sleepers, those who still share needles and those permanently homeless in this country of 600.000 empty homes.
The treatment for the modern varieties of TB is a six month affair, with daily routines having to be observed, a major problems with anybody who has no fixed abode or is drifting from am friends bed to another.
Given time TB will spread and its ever shifting traits, like already mentioned, immune to today’s last generation antibiotics, will further evolve. It has the potential to become more lethal, faster than we can develop drugs against it.
Mary,
борьбе за сферы влияния
“Struggle for sphere of influence”=”turf war”
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TB a highly infectious, and deadly disease, and its incidents on the rise, is an alarming development. Those sounding so sanguine and oh so calm about it somehow ignore that the current health service could not cope with the outbreak of bird flue, so to expect the same organization that is getting privatized too, to be able to cope with spread of the deadly disease that can easily be passed on, through breathing and coughing, in such places as underground, and public transport.
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The other day I was talking to an Iranian who told me, in his experience, these days UK reminds him of Iran, as it was under the Shah. He could not hide his astonishment that increasing visible gap between the rich and the poor has grown so wide, and the rigid class structure that is almost immobile, as well as the puerile and infantile logic of consumerism that is so prevalent.
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So it appears; the only way is down , baby!!!!!
Uzbekistan closes the gas valve for Tajikistan
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http://www.bakutoday.net/uzbekistan-closes-the-gas-valve-for-tajikistan.html
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Uzbekistan Tajikistan advised that the 1 April ceases to supply natural gas to the country. About this BakuToday 24 March, it was reported in State-run companies “Tajiktransgas.” According to the source, the Uzbek gas in his letter to the Tajik colleagues explain the supply shortage of gas resources. According to reports, two Britons determined to ensure deliveries of Uzbek blue fuel in China and Russia.
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We remind, according to signed 5 January this year, an agreement between “Uzbektransgazom” and “Tadžiktransgazom”, the amount of supplies for 2012 year is 200 million. cubic meters, and the guaranteed amount for the first quarter to 45 million. cubic meters of natural gas.
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Meanwhile, the Agency “Asia Plus” writes that in fact such action, most likely due to the contradiction between the parties with respect to the Farhadskoj dam in the North of Tajikistan. “The territory of the dam and reservoir in 1933 Farkhad, were leased to Uzbekistan for 40 years. Although this period is long overdue, neighbors don’t want to return the land. Currently Uzbekistan intends to acquire dam and reservoir on the Tajik side has not yet agreed, “he said.
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Tajikistan does not have its own resources to meet their needs of natural gas. At present, Russian Gazprom leads search for promising areas of Tajikistan. According to geologists, the country has sufficient reserves of gas, but it is not known when the first results would be available.
Oops. Israeli diplomacy in action. NOT.
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Ambassadors Of Portugal, South Africa, Teargased Near Ramallah
Saturday March 24, 2012 07:11 by Saed Bannoura – IMEMC & Agencies
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Ambassadors of Portugal and South Africa, in the central West Bank city of Ramallah, were treated for the effects of teargas inhalation after Israeli soldiers fired gas bombs at dozens of local and international peace activists during the weekly nonviolent protest against the Wall and Settlements in kufr Qaddoum village, near the Ramallah.
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/..
http://www.imemc.org/article/63199
There was a public meeting last night at UCL with Michael Mansfield, Robert Green, the late Hilda Murrell’s nephew, and Dr Kate Dewes the co- authors of A Thorn In Their Side.
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Michael Mansfield writes:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/law/2012/mar/20/who-killed-hilda-murrell
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Yet another miscarriage of justice. Andrew George who did not commit the murder of Hilda languishes in jail in the IoW.
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The book is well worth reading. I think it is on Amazon now.
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{http://www.opendemocracy.net/ourkingdom/john-osmond/murder-of-hilda-murrell-abiding-mystery}
@Craig,
Off topic – someone emailed me this, this morning. I essence Cameron was funded by the same funder as Missick in the Caribbean:-
” The mother of all ironies; and injustices, of course!
1. Chief Justice Richard Ground, an Englishman, suspiciously ruled in favour of the PNP, eventuating the reversal of an already certified PDM election victory, and the accession to power of Michael Misick and the PNP in 2003.
2. Englishmen, at least in great part it is believed, funded the successful PNP election campaigns of 2003 and 2007.
3. An Englishman played a major role in engendering the “systemic corruption” that the Commission of Inquiry branded the PNP government with. We know that Floyd Hall then Deputy Premier got at least $19 million “loan”, and Michael Misick, then Premier, got at least a $10 – $16 million mansion. (The Turks and Caicos people got two at least $100 million overpriced hospitals which more than covered the cost of the mansion and the $19 million ” loan”).
4. The hospitals contract, which is now breaking the Turks and Caicos people’s backs financially – hardly unlike slavery, and continues to be a secret those having to pay for it, was cooked up and signed in England.
5. As a result of the English financed suspected corruption, an Englishman, Sir Robin Auld, was appointed to head a Commission of Enquiry into suspected corruption.
6. An English governor and an English government – the Foreign & Commonwealth Office – presided over that suspected corruption, having ultimate authority in the Turks and Caicos Islands.
7. An Englishman, the governor – first Gordon Wetherell, and now Ric Todd , was given supreme power to clean up and fix the mostly English created mess we’re in. Democratic elections were eliminated in the process for a promised period of two years.
8. In a very punitive manner, an Englishman, Parliamentarian Henry Bellingham came to town for a few days, and told us that until we met eight cooked up “milestones”, our democracy is being suspended indefinitely.
9. The three top officials – the governor, the CEO, and the attorney general, are all Englishmen. And Englishmen permeate, at the highest levels, all Turks and Caicos government departments.
10. Englishmen are being paid to the tune of $11 million a year to investigate, and prosecute where necessary, so far mostly the Turks and Caicos alleged corrupted individuals. We of course know that for every corrupted, there is a corruptor, and that they both should be prosecuted.
11. As a result of all the above, the Turks and Caicos people are suffering, being punished with the indefinite suspension of democracy; with a government being run by Englishmen – all white of course; and with being branded, and as being considered the world over, as corrupt. We Turks and Caicos Islanders are the corrupt, and the English have the high ground of having to set us straight.
12. Meanwhile, Englishmen’s pockets are overflowing with our US dollars “fixing” an English created mess, and the Turks and Caicos people are catching hell.
Go figure: the English broke it, we get punished for it, and the English are benefitting from “fixing” what they themselves have broken. Only the English could get away with something like this. Or will they really, in the long run? Even for them, the longest rope has an end.
I take this opportunity to offer sincerest sympathy and condolences to the family of Trayvon Martin, after the senseless and obviously racist murder of their son and family member. It is my hope and my wish that justice be served for young Trayvon, and that the twin scourges of racism and of the feeling superiority of one race of people over another, be soon cleansed from this earth. I trust too that we the Turks and Caicos people will also see justice someday; that the mother of all ironies and injustices that is killing us, will have been defeated.
P.W. ”
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Bahrain body count: Another protester dies in govt crackdown
24 March, 2012, 16:33
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Bahraini protesters rally for political reforms in the Shiite village of Jidhafs, West Manama, on March 23, 2012 (AFP Photo / STR)
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One more activist has died after inhaling tear gas during anti-regime rallies in Bahrain. Peaceful protests erupted in violence throughout the country Friday, resulting in brutal police crackdowns that used rubber bullets and gas to disperse crowds.
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Anti-regime activists said that Ahmad Abdul Nabi was killed in the western village of Shakrakan during a clash with government forces. Police reportedly used a riot hose and tear gas to bring crowds under control, injuring dozens more.
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Demonstrators are protesting against the brutality of the security forces and call for the ouster of the ruling al-Khalifa regime.
A 59-year-old woman, Abde Ali suffered the same fate on Friday after breathing in tear gas during a demonstration in village of Jidhafs near the capital.
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Following her death thousands of Bahraini citizens took to the streets to mourn those who had died during the protests.
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Anti-regime activists also released footage of a teenaged boy, bruised and handcuffed, whom they claim had been abducted and sexually abused by government forces.
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The 16-year-old was found in a store in the village Sanabis, outside of Manama, with his hands tied behind his back.
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Despite the ongoing reports of brutal government crackdowns since the beginning of the uprisings in the country in February 2011, the Bahraini government maintains it is implementing democratic reforms.
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They have also resolved to install video cameras in police stations to ensure that police abuse does not take place.
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Activists argue that this will have little effect.
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The UN estimates that about 13 people have been killed as a result of police brutality during anti-regime protests since the beginning of this year.
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http://www.rt.com/news/bahrain-protest-death-crackdown-378/
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Any of this on the BBC or in the media? No. Also remember Yates of the Yard is there now advising the Bahraini government.
More on Kufr Qaddoum here, Mary:
http://www.alhaq.org/documentation/weekly-focuses/551-army-dog-mauls-palestinian-protestor-in-kufr-qaddoum-
Just another wonderful day in the Middle East’s beacon of democracy, eh?
Oddie – O/T sorry
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Mohamed Merah was no fanatic. He loved cars and girls. He was gullible, an easy mark and took the bait. He was probably autistic.
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The attacker at Montauban was according to witnesses, fat with a scar on his face. He wore a motor-cycle helmet, the visor was up.
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http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-europe-17428860
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Merah’s bike had a GPS tracking device fitted so that French intelligence knew his whereabouts.
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This is a warning to British youngsters approached by handlers and offered trips abroad, money and fame to carry out ‘terror exercise rehearsals’ or anti-terror drills. You will end up dead.
Deepgreenpuddock
Our Indian brothers like chilli on their breakfast eggs.
We English like lying. The political world would be so bland without it.
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Mark
I suspect that in most cases these young Muslims are not gullible at all, but are befriended by kind, avuncular political Muslims and served up to the intelligence agencies in exchange for deals in the Middle and Far East. There is a tradition in Islam of following those with greater knowledge than your own – and political Muslims put it to good use for their own nefarious ends.
Cash for access. Breaking news.
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Tory treasurer charges £250,000 for a meeting with Cameron – Sunday Times headline tomorrow.
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The treasurer is a Peter Cruddas. The meetings will even extend to a meal with SamCam and Cameron.
Further on the ITV website
http://www.itv.com/news/update/2012-03-24/sunday-times-video-allegedly-attempts-to-sell-access-to-the-pm/
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Thanks for the link about the dog attack Komodo. The Israelis know that dogs terrify Palestinians anyway.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YawagQ6lLrA
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Recognise yourselves?
Hit a nerve have they?
Guilty as charged, Vronsky. Your solution?
(welcome to the debate)
G-d bless the Zionists, at least they are learning honesty:
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/154081
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In clear: “We don’t give a Fosters XXXX for human rights, and if our best mate does, he’s gay”
Mary,
Cruelty seems to be a genetically shared characteristic of the “master race” : A sunny afternoon in the occupied Palestine