In Tucson tonight, President Obama played the role that all presidents must play at times of great tragedy: consoler in chief. His speech at the memorial service for the victims of Saturday’s massacre seemed not to come from a speechwriter’s pen, but from the heart.
Asking whether it “helped” or “hurt” the president politically seems petty. After he described how Rep. Gabriel Giffords’ husband, Mark, had just visited her and announced that “Gabby opened her eyes for the first time,” politics vanished. At a moment of great sorrow, there was a glimpse of the kinder, gentler America that Obama described — an America in which “we are talking with each other in a way that heals, not a way that wounds.” (Eugene Robinson, Washington Post)

For the first time in almost a year the approval rating of president Obama is positive. More people approve of him than disapprove. See the overall trend of several polls in the U.S. by Pollster.com. Taken from August 15th, 2009, till now.

But a better picture of the trend is given without the biased Rasmussen polls, an exclusion which is becoming increasingly justified. Then Obama’s approval is positive for the first time in roughly eight months. [read on] (more…)

Mark Rutte heeft zijn Australische ambtgenoot Julia Gillard Nederlandse hulp op watergebied aangeboden. Maar Australiërs verzuipen nog liever dan zich door Nederland te laten helpen. Daar komt het antwoord van BZ-minister Rosenthal op vragen van de PvdA op neer hoewel hij het wel iets anders heeft opgeschreven.

Thanks but no thanks: Australia rejects Dutch flood offer

WAtoday.com.au - They might be the world’s foremost authorities on keeping land dry, but the Australian government says it doesn’t want them - yet.
The Dutch government has offered technical expertise to Australia to help out in the devastating Queensland floods, but Prime Minister Julia Gillard has turned it down.
About 26 per cent of the Netherlands is below sea level and its flood mitigation measures, both from rivers and the sea, are widely considered the most advanced in the world.
[read on] (more…)

by j.d. crowe, mobile register

Blood libel (also blood accusation) refers to a false accusation or claim that religious minorities, almost always Jews, murder children to use their blood in certain aspects of their religious rituals and holidays. Historically, these claims have–alongside those of well poisoning and host desecration - been a major theme in European persecution of Jews.

The libels typically allege that Jews require human blood for the baking of matzos for Passover. The accusations often assert that the blood of Christian children is especially coveted, and historically blood libel claims have often been made to account for otherwise unexplained deaths of children. In some cases, the alleged victim of human sacrifice has become venerated as a martyr, a holy figure around whom a martyr cult might arise. A few of these have been even canonized as saints.

Finally, the real victim of the Tucson tragedy speaks up.

In a scathing Facebook post and web-video tirade, former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin accused the media of “blood libel” against her for mentioning her infamous cross-hair map in the wake of the shooting in Tucson. Palin called journalists and pundits’ focus on her “reprehensible,” and said it “serves only to incite the very hatred and violence they purport to condemn.”

National Jewish Democratic Council: “Instead of dialing down the rhetoric at this difficult moment, Sarah Palin chose to accuse others trying to sort out the meaning of this tragedy of somehow engaging in a “blood libel” against her and others.
This is of course a particularly heinous term for American Jews, given that the repeated fiction of blood libels are directly responsible for the murder of so many Jews across centuries — and given that blood libels are so directly intertwined with deeply ingrained anti-Semitism around the globe, even today.”

Remember the cross-hairs [=vizier] of a gun on the website of Sarah Palin pointing at the district of Democratic Congreswoman Giffords? Who was shot!
Palin, the rightwing’s favorite candidate for the presidency, made two statements yesterday in which she outlines a simple scenario of cause and effect. If she or her people are accused of inciting violence, the result will be violence. Her message was unambiguous. There’s only one question remaining: Was it a threat or a warning?
[read on] (more…)

EU financial watchdog ’systemically sabotaged fraud investigations’

The EU’s financial watchdog has systemically “sabotaged” investigations and caved into intimidation from countries including France and Italy to cover up fraud, according to a senior official.
Maarten Engwirda, a former Dutch member of European Court of Auditors for 15 years, who retired 10 days ago, has alleged that abuse of EU funds was swept under the carpet by an auditing body that was supposed to expose wrongdoing.
[read on] (more…)

by cardow, the ottawa citizen

Wist u dat er een website bestaat genaamd JulianAssangeMustDie.com.
Uiteraard is de naam bedacht in de Verenigde Staten. Het land dat voor ons allemaal de kooltjes uit het vuur haalt in de verdediging van de vrije wereld. Het land dat het steeds maar weer het voortouw neemt in het bombarderen van andere landen, tot ze net zo democratisch zijn als wij.
De naam is geregistreerd door de Amerikaanse Tea Party blogger Melissa Clouthier. Zij heeft samen met Andrew Malcolm - “Malcolm & Melissa” - het blog Liberty Pundits. Malcolm werkte jarenlang voor Laura Bush. En zo is het cirkeltje rond.
Zie dit stukje van MediaBistro. Inderdaad, die site heet echt zo - MediaBistro.

Who is the owner of JulianAssangeMustDie.com?

MediaBistro - LAT blogger Andrew Malcolm does a weekly podcast with fellow blogger Melissa Clouthier at Liberty Pundits. Melissa Clouthier is the registrant of the domain name JulianAssangeMustDie.com. The proof is here. The screen grab is after the jump.
Yes, a call for a journalist-to-die-dot-com. Cute.
We emailed both Malcolm and Clouthier for comment and have yet to hear back.

Glenn Greenwald is de beste onafhankelijke politieke commentator in de VS, dat schreef ik - JdeW - in 2007 bij de start van dit blog. Greenwald had toen het vrijwel onbekende blog Unclaimed Territory. Nu is hij niet onbekend meer. Greenwald ging twee jaar geleden van zijn eigen blog naar een betaalde baan bij de bekende internetsite Salon. Vorig jaar werd hij beloond voor zijn werk met de prijs voor onafhankelijke journalistiek vanwege zijn “journalistic courage and persistence in confronting conventional wisdom and official deception.” Nu is hij wekelijks op de Amerikaanse tv te zien.
Greenwald volgt de WikiLeaks zaak op de voet en wij volgen hem.

Indeed, almost every person with whom I’ve spoken who has or had anything to do with WikiLeaks expresses one fear above all others: the possibility that they will end up in American custody and subjected to its lawless War on Terror “justice system.” Americans still like to think of themselves as “leaders of the free world,” but in the eyes of many, it’s exactly the “free world” to which American policies are so antithetical and threatening.

What American ‘justice’ signifies around the world

In London this morning, a British court held a procedural hearing regarding Sweden’s attempt to extradite Julian Assange in order to question him about sex crimes accusations. [read on] (more…)

In a reacting to assassination attempt of Democrat representative Gabrielle Giffords in Arizona, Republican Peter King wants to introduce better gun control measures:

Rep. Peter King, a Republican from New York, is planning to introduce legislation that would make it illegal to bring a gun within 1,000 feet of a government official, according to a person familiar with the congressman’s intentions.

So, as everybody can see, the measure proposed by Republican representative Peter King is aimed at protecting Republican representative Peter King.
The rest of America is on their own.

by pavel constantin, romania

by dave granlund, politicalcartoons.com

Following the tragic shooting of several people, including Democratic Representative Giffords many Americans ask how someone who displayed so many obvious characteristics of mental instability was able to buy so easily a semi-automatic firearm. It is illegal to sell firearms to the mentally ill. Even in Arizona. But conservatives like David Frum dismiss renewed calls for gun control.
Frum writes that the incident should “remind us why we regulate marijuana.”
Assasin Loughner (22) is suspected of being a marijuana user. Frum writes that there may be “renewed pressure to control the weapons that committed the crime,” but instead chooses to place blame on the “trend these days toward a more casual attitude and easier access to…drugs”: [read on] (more…)

Wat denkt Amerikaans volksvertegenwoordiger, Rand Paul, een favoriet van de Tea Party, over het feit dat een gestoord individu (22 jaar) in de VS de beschikking heeft over een automatisch geweer waarmee hij zes mensen kan doodschieten?
Is het echt een goed idee is dat iedere Amerikaan vrijwel ongecontroleerd een automatisch geweer kan aanschaffen?

Crooks and Liars - Tea Party favorite and libertarian Rand Paul also said Sunday that calls for more restrictive gun laws shouldn’t play a part in the tragedy.
“I don’t think that plays into this at all. I think they’re unrelated,” he said. “This is probably about a very sick individual and what should be done for that person.”
“But the weapons don’t kill people, it’s the individual that kills — that killed these people.”

Gisteren werd de Democratische vertegenwoordiger van het Amerikaanse Congress, Gabrielle Giffords, neergeschoten door een 22-jarige man die ook op twintig andere mensen schoot waarbij hij zes doodde. De verdachte is Jared Lee Loughner - in de VS lezen ze wel de rechten voor maar gebruiken ze geen initialen. Op het internet hield hij scheldpartijen tegen de Amerikaanse overheid.
De Politieke Actie Commissie (PAC) van Sarah Palin had tot gisteren een kaart op haar website staan waarin het vizier van een geweer stond gericht op het district van de Congresswoman. Dat omdat ze voor betaalbare gezondheidszorg heeft gestemd voor iedereen. Palin noemde dat een stem voor ‘deathpanels’. Eerder werd het hoofdkwartier van Giffords gevandaliseerd en stafleden van haar aangevallen. Giffords zelf waarschuwde vorig jaar dat het richten van een vizier conseqeunties zou kunnen hebben.
Nu vecht ze voor haar leven na een schot door het hoofd.
Hoe reageert de Republikein Lamar Alexander op een vraag van CNN-reporter Candy Crowley over Palin’s afbeelding op haar website?

CROWLEY: Was it over the line, sort of specifically, since it’s now being talked about everywhere, with Sarah Palin’s web ads about people that she would like to see targeted for political defeat.
ALEXANDER: Well, Candy, I think you’re responsible, by bringing this up, of doing the very thing you’re trying to condemn. You’re making and implying a direct connection between Sarah Palin and what happened. You’re picking out a particular incident. Well, I think the way to get away from it is for you not to be talking about it. (more…)

by david fitzsimmons, the arizona star

by joep bertrams, the netherlands

Zie ook: Sarah Palin: Mission accomplished!
En: Fox News (smash) cuts away from Gabrielle Giffords vigil when Tea Party favorite Sarah Palins name is mentioned

In onderstaand stuk van Glenn Greenwald wordt de Nederlander Rop Gonggrijp vermeld wiens Twitter-gegevens het Amerikaanse ministerie van Justitie heeft opgevraagd. Robbert Valentijn Gonggrijp is de oprichter van Xs4All, een bekende hacker en internetactivist. Hij ontving een brief van Twitter met de mededeling dat justitie in de VS informatie over hem wil hebben.
Ook wil de Amerikaanse overheid informatie over andere WikiLeaks-activisten zoals de Twitter-account van de IJslandse parlementariër Birgitta Jónsdóttir. Zij was enige tijd als vrijwilliger actief voor WikiLeaks. En verder de oprichter van WikiLeaks Julian Assange en Bradley Manning die wordt verdacht van het lekken van staatsgeheimen aan WikiLeaks. [read on] (more…)

Al Jazeera - The Dutch foreign minister has called on Iran to provide details of the case of a Dutch-Iranian woman whose daughter says that she has been sentenced to death for drug smuggling.
Sahra Bahrami’s daughter told Dutch radio on Wednesday that her mother had been sentenced to death in Iran, after being jailed in December 2009. Dutch diplomats have been denied access to the 46-year-old Bahrami, as Iran does not recognise her Dutch citizenship. [read on] (more…)

Fox News was covering a vigil that was organised earlier yesterday at the steps of the capitol in Arizona in honor of Gabrielle Giffords after she was shot. As soon as a young speaker mentioned Sarah Palin’s name, FOX News abruptly cut to a commercial…
Apparently on Fox News Sarah Palin is only news when presented as a presidential candidate.

Smith: in addition we are noticing outside the capitol in Phoenix with pictures courtesy of KSAZ, which I’m told you can put up there; a vigil is taking place…

Man: Gabby, we have to look into our hearts and say to ourselves why, why do I want power. Not that I want power. And I say to you Sarah Palin. {Smash Cut to commercial}