Gov't Drops 'Swine Flu' Name over Pork Protests
Photo courtesy of USA Today
USATODAY: President Obama didn't have a single word to say about "swine flu" today. But he had a lot to say about the outbreak of the "H1N1" virus. That should make the hog industry happier.

U.S. officials, particularly the agricultural department, were under pressure from the pork lobby that fears the term "swine flu" is confusing people into thinking they can catch the virus from pork, which they can't, the AP says.

Or as Pork News explains, the government believes that the term swine flu "might be catchy, but it's not accurate."

Israeli officials have also weighed in. This week, deputy Health Minister Yakov Litzman, who belongs to an ultra-Orthodox Jewish sect, suggested renaming swine flu as "Mexican flu," saying that the reference to pigs is offensive to Muslim and Jewish sensitivities over pork, The Guardian reports. >>> USA Today | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Your Online Source for Credible Health Information Swine Influenza (Flu) >>>

Egypt Orders Slaughter of All Pigs over Swine Flu
ASSOCIATED PRESS: CAIRO — Egypt began slaughtering the roughly 300,000 pigs in the country Wednesday as a precaution against swine flu even though no cases have been reported here, infuriating farmers who blocked streets and stoned vehicles of Health Ministry workers who came to carry out the government's order.

The measure was a stark expression of the panic the deadly outbreak is spreading around the world, especially in poor countries with weak public health systems. Egypt responded similarly a few years ago to an outbreak of bird flu, which is endemic to the country and has killed two dozen people.

At one large pig farming center just north of Cairo, scores of angry farmers blocked the street to prevent Health Ministry workers in trucks and bulldozers from coming in to slaughter the animals. Some pelted the vehicles with rocks and shattered their windshields and the workers left without killing any pigs.

"We remind Hosni Mubarak that we are all Egyptians. Where does he want us to go?" said Gergis Faris, a 46-year-old pig farmer in another part of Cairo who collects garbage to feed his animals. "We are uneducated people, just living day by day and trying to make a living, and now if our pigs are taken from us without compensation, how are we supposed to live?" >>> By Maamoun Youssef | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Taliban Harasses Christians in Pakistan
BAPTIST PRESS: WASHINGTON--Amid escalating violence perpetrated by the Taliban in Pakistan, two reports on the status of Christians in the country contain varying details.



The Washington-based International Christian Concern reported that two Christians were executed and others were physically abused by Taliban militants in Karachi April 21 after the Christians protested orders from the Taliban to convert to Islam or die.



A subsequent report by Compass Direct News, though, said the execution-style killings could not be verified. Baptist Press asked ICC to confirm the initial report, and the group was attempting to do so at press time. In their news releases, both Compass Direct and ICC relied on comments from individuals who were not on the scene. 



ICC reported April 24 that pro-Taliban graffiti messages were written on two churches in Karachi, including the phrases "Long Live the Taliban" and "Embrace Islam or Prepare to Die." Christians complained to the government and then staged a peaceful protest, the watchdog group said.



Following the protest, more than 100 masked Taliban militants invaded the community with automatic rifles, causing Christian residents to hide in their homes. >>> By Staff | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Yemen: Desecrator Faces Apostasy Charges
YEMEN POST: A Yemeni charged with ripping up and treading on the Quran will face court on apostasy charges after he was found guilty of desecration.

Judicial source said Wednesday investigations with Abdullah Al-Baidhani have been completed and he is expected to appear in court soon.

However, the source said that prosecutors are investigating the mob who destroyed the three-storey house of the desecrator and burned his two cars after Al-Baidhani tore up the Quran and insulted it before the people in Al-Hasaba area, Sana'a. >>> Yemen Post Staff | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Zwischen USA und Israel droht Eiszeit
DIE PRESSE: Die USA beharren auf einer Zwei-Staaten-Lösung im Nahen Osten, Israels neue Rechtsregierung ist dagegen. Ein Konflikt zwischen den Verbündeten ist programmiert.

Bild: Google Images
JERUSALEM. Den bisher engen Beziehungen zwischen Washington und Jerusalem droht eine Abkühlung. Diese Woche erst weilte US-Außenministerin Hillary Clinton zu einem Blitzbesuch in der Hauptstadt des Libanon, ohne jedoch, was ungewöhnlich ist, einen Abstecher nach Jerusalem zu machen. Offenbar scheut sie ein Treffen mit dem neuen Regierungschef Benjamin Netanjahu und ihrem weit rechts stehenden israelischen Amtskollegen Avigdor Lieberman. Kernpunkt des Zwistes zwischen Israel und den USA ist die Zwei-Staaten-Lösung, die die Regierung Netanjahu ablehnt, das Weiße Haus hingegen unverändert als einzige Möglichkeit für Frieden im Nahen Osten betrachtet.

Netanjahus Versuch, die Palästinenser mit dem Angebot zu ködern, er würde über zwei Staaten verhandeln – vorausgesetzt, die Führung in Ramallah erkennt Israel als jüdischen Staat an –, scheiterte wenig überraschend. „Nennt euch doch, wie ihr wollt, das geht mich nichts an“, konterte Palästinenserpräsident Mahmoud Abbas diese Woche flapsig. „Es gibt einen Staat Israel in den Grenzen von 1967, keinen Zentimeter mehr, und keinen weniger. Etwas anderes akzeptiere ich nicht.“ >>> Von Susanne Knaul (Die Presse) | Mittwoch, 29. April 2009

«Afrikanischer Barbar» in Paris vor Gericht: Junger Jude zu Tode gefoltert – der Hauptangeklagte grinst
NZZ Online: Vor dem Pariser Geschworenengericht hat der Prozess gegen die sogenannte Bande der Barbaren begonnen. 27 Personen stehen vor Gericht. Sie hatten 2006 einen jungen jüdischen Mann entführt und über drei Wochen hinweg langsam zu Tode gefoltert.

Youssouf Fofana wird abgeführt, 2006 in Côte d'Ivoire. Bild dank der Neuen Zürcher Zeitung
Das Opfer Ilan Halimi starb auf dem Weg ins Krankenhaus, nachdem ihn seine Peiniger nackt, geschunden und entkräftet an Bahngleisen nördlich von Paris abgelegt hatten. Der mutmassliche Anführer der Gruppe, Youssouf Fofana, wollte mit der Entführung bis zu 450 000 Euro Lösegeld erpressen. Ihm droht lebenslange Haft.

Zum Auftakt des auf zehn Wochen angelegten Prozesses sorgte am Mittwoch Fofana für einen Eklat. Mit breitem Grinsen und nach oben gerecktem Daumen erschien er vor Gericht und rief «Allah wird siegen». Auf die Frage nach seinem Familiennamen antwortete er: «Afrikanischer Barbar, bewaffnet, aufrührerisch, salafistisch.» Als sein Geburtsdatum gab er den 13. Februar 2006 an, den Todestag seines Opfers Halimi. >>> ap | Mittwoch, 29. April 2009

YOUTUBE: Ilan Halimi (zal) – Never Forget

Pour l'OMS, la pandémie de grippe porcine est imminente
LE FIGARO: L'OMS a décidé mercredi soir de déclencher la phase 5 d'alerte, considérant la pandémie comme «imminente». En France, 25 cas sont en cours d'investigation, dont deux sont très fortemement susceptibles d'être contaminés.

Photo grâce au Figaro
L'Organisation mondiale de la santé (OMS) redoute plus que jamais l'explosion d'une pandémie de grippe porcine. L'agence sanitaire, qui recense pour l'instant 105 cas confirmés dans le monde, a décidé mercredi soir de déclencher la phase 5 d'alerte pandémique, sur une échelle de six niveaux. La phase 5 indique que la maladie se transmet à rythme soutenu d'homme à homme, dans au moins deux pays. L'OMS appelle les pays à activer leur plan de préparation à la pandémie.

Dans la journée, les pays avaient déjà multiplié les mesures préventives : interdiction d'importation des porcs mexicains en Chine, Thaïlande ou Equateur et incitation à ne pas se rendre au Mexique émise par le Canada, le Royaume-Uni, la France, l'Italie ou les Pays-Bas. Barack Obama a demandé mardi soir au Congrès d'accorder une aide de 1,5 milliard de dollars pour à renforcer les capacités de réaction américaines face à cette crise sanitaire.

Au Mexique, foyer d'origine du virus mutant H1N1, le gouvernement de Felipe Calderon, accusé de n'avoir pas su réagir à temps face à l'épidémie , a décidé la fermeture des sites archéologiques. Les autorités mexicaines, qui avaient jusqu'ici compté 20 cas de décès dûs à la grippe porcine, ont ramené ce chiffre à sept et 159 cas de décès «suspects» qui pourraient être dûs à la maladie. Pas moins de 1.300 personnes sont hospitalisées pour des symptômes ressemblant à ceux de la grippe porcine. Dans la ville de Mexico, restaurants, cafés et discothèques ont été fermés. Le pays a mis en place un système de dépistage rapide qui doit permettre de détecter et d'isoler plus rapidement les citoyens soupçonnés d'être contaminés. >>> S.L. et B.H. (lefigaro.fr) avec agencies | Mercredi 29 Avril 2009

New Dark Age Alert! Geert Wilders: "The Take-over of Europe Is Part of the Global Fight of Islam for World Domination"
Geert Wilders. Photo: Google Images
EUROPE NEWS: - Freedom of Speech -
Here is Geert Wilders's acceptance speech for the Freedom Award he was given by the Florida Security Council in Miami on April 27:

Thank you very much. Thank you for inviting me and thank you US border police for allowing me to enter this country. These are dramatic times. Europe might be very well on its way to destruction. We are now witnessing the largest influx in human history. This is endangering our heritage, our freedom, our prosperity and our culture. I wish I had come to a place they call the sunshine state with better news, but it would be unwise to deny the situation is gloomy.

It might take a while to have you understand the situation we are in now. Maybe you as Americans still think of Europe as a place with great culture, and a profound way of looking at things. Maybe you see immigration as something that is inherently good for a country, as it contributed so much to the United States.

The Europe you know from a tourist visit or from the story of your grandparents is on the verge of collapsing. We are now witnessing profound changes that will forever alter Europe’s destiny and might send the continent in what Ronald Reagan once called ‘a thousand years of darkness’. >>> Jihad Watch | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

In Egypt, a Blogger Tries to Spread 'Culture of Disobedience' among Youths
LOS ANGELES TIMES: Mohamed Abdel Aziz's Facebook group that opposes Mubarak's rule has drawn 76,000 followers. Though its calls for nationwide strikes have flopped, he remains determined.

Reporting from Cairo -- An activist in a police state should know when to sprint.

Mohamed Abdel Aziz has bolted from trouble a number of times, including dashing from security forces closing in on a demonstration in the port city of Alexandria. His less mercurial moments have three times landed him in police stations, but upon each release he has returned to his computer, opened his blog and conspired in cyberspace to end President Hosni Mubarak's 27-year rule of Egypt.

That's an unlikely prospect. But Aziz, a thin man in black clothes with a wristwatch shimmying up and down his arm, is a founder of the 6th of April, a protest movement that draws from a Facebook group of nearly 76,000 people, mostly high school and university students. The movement opines, plots and Twitters, though it has yet to generate feet in the street: Three of its calls for nationwide strikes drew more police than protesters.

"No one knows when the trigger of revolution will be pulled. The state is oppressive, but ordinary Egyptians from all over sympathize with us," said Aziz, who likes to recall the passions that roused his countrymen's 1919 revolution against the British.

"When we started using Facebook it was a novelty," he said. "Calling for a national strike was a novelty. It was like lighting a candle in a dark room. But this is still an oppressive state, and people are scared." >>> By Jeffrey Fleishman | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Obamissism

Yes, yes, yes, Obama! The world still loves you – for NOW! So you can keep on looking into that pool of water! – Mark

MAIL Online: He is the most photographed man on the planet.

And, just in case we had forgotten that, the White House has issued a new series of photographs to commemorate Barack Obama's 100 days in office today.

One hundred photographs for 100 days would have been enough for anyone - but, just to drive the point home, the White House has decided to include three times that number in the set. >>> By Mail Foreign Service | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Cambridge Ideas: How Many Light Bulbs Does It Take to Change a Man?
THE TELEGRAPH: We have an addiction to energy that is not sustainable with oil, coal and gas. David MacKay, a physics professor at Cambridge University, investigates what it will take to get Britain off fossil fuels.

How many lightbulbs does it take to change a man?
Government advice about reducing number of plastic bags or switching of your phone charger when you are not using it is distracting Britons from the real energy issue, argues Prof MacKay: how will Britain power itself in a non-fossil fuelled world? >>> | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Sustainable Energy – without the hot air >>>

Germany Contracts 6pc as Eurozone Bank Deposits Fall at Fastest Rate Since Depression
THE TELEGRAPH: Germany has slashed its growth forecast, admitting in an embarrassing volte-face that the economy will contract by 6pc this year in the worst recession of any major country in the Western world.

Economy minister Karl-Theodor zu Guttenberg said the slump was almost entirely due to the collapse of exports, insisting that a "global revival" will restore growth next year.

Even this may be too optimistic. The International Monetary Fund expects a further 1pc contraction in 2010. Left Party leader Oskar Lafontaine said Berlin seemed to be hoping and praying that other countries would "pull the German economy out of the mud", sitting on its hands as unemployment reaches 4.6m next year.

Professor Tim Congdon from International Monetary Research said company bank deposits in the eurozone have begun to contract at rates not seen since the early 1930s, threatening severe damage in coming months unless the European Central Bank shifts gears fast.

"It's a catastrophe. Company bank deposits have been falling at 1pc a month since December. It is what happened in the US during the Great Depression, and it is why we are seeing such a horrific recession in Europe now," he said. >>> By Ambrose Evans-Pritchard | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Jihadists from Leeds Sentenced to Seven Years in Jail for Planned Terror Trips
TIMESONLINE: Two men who planned to attend a terrorist training camp were both sentenced to seven years in jail today.

Waheed Ali, 25, and Mohammed Shakil, 32, were cleared of helping the 7/7 bombers to select their targets but convicted of conspiracy to attend a training camp for terrorists after they were arrested before boarding a flight for Pakistan in 2007.

Mr Justice Gross sentenced the pair to seven years each at Kingston Crown Court.

Both men have already spent more than two years in custody, which will be deducted from the time they will serve. They admitted attending terrorist training camps in the past, before it had been made an offence.

Ali and Shakil stood trial with Sadeer Saleem, 28, for assisting the 7/7 attacks on London. Yesterday all three were found not guilty. The three men, from Beeston in Leeds, were re-tried after an earlier jury failed to reach verdicts. >>> Times Online | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Express Editor: British Media ‘Shackled’ by Laws
DAILY EXPRESS: THE media is “shackled” to such an extent that the UK does not really have a free press, the editor of the Daily Express said yesterday.

Peter Hill told a committee of MPs examining standards in journalism that they should be looking for ways of removing constraints on the media, not imposing new ones.

Mr Hill also apologised again for printing inaccurate stories suggesting Kate and Gerry McCann were responsible for the death of their daughter Madeleine, but said they had come from what he believed were credible sources in the Portuguese police.

The idea that newspapers could print whatever they liked about ­people with impunity was mistaken, he said.

“We have got the laws of libel which are the most severe in the world,” he told the House of Commons select committee on culture, media and sport.

“We have got the law of confidence, which is now being used extensively by celebrities; we have got the law of privacy which is coming in; we have got European law; we are pretty much up to our ears in laws.”

Legal firms who went round offering so-called “no win no fee” deals – technically known as conditional fee arrangements (CFA) – on libel actions had created a “ridiculous” situation and people came from all over the world to sue in British courts.

The constitutional right to freedom of expression in the US ensured a genuinely free press across the ­Atlantic, he said.

“We do not have a free press in this country by any means – we have a very, very shackled press,” he said.

“You should be looking at means of removing those shackles, not imposing more.” A genuinely free press is essential to the proper functioning of a democratic society, he said. >>> By Damon Wake | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Carla Bruni Sarkozy Has a Headache!

Carla Bruni Sarkozy romping on the beach with Raphaël Enthoven. Photo courtesy of Google Images
MAIL Online: Hundreds of 'highly intimate' images of the French president's wife and her former lover have been stolen during a burglary.

The photographs and videos of Carla Bruni, who is on an official trip to Spain with Nicolas Sarkozy, date from the 41-year- old's affair with philosopher Raphael Enthoven.

Thieves broke into the Paris flat of his brother, 27-year-old actor Julien Enthoven, where the prints and videos were being kept, and stole them.

Police believe the images could be posted on the web, serving to embarrass Nicolas Sarkozy or be sold for a sizeable sum, thanks to his third wife's status.

A source said: 'The thieves appeared to know exactly what they were looking for, taking highly intimate prints, a camera full of further images, videos, and numerous computer files.

'They broke into Mr Enthoven's flat in Rue Dauphine, in the sixth arrondissement, on Sunday night, smashing a window in the sitting room which looks out on to the courtyard. Nobody was at home at the time, and nothing else was taken.'

Raphael, who fathered Miss Bruni's son Aurelien, eight, is believed to have entrusted the pictures to his brother as he did not want them to embarrass his new partner, or Mr Sarkozy, a detective working on the case said. Carla's Agony as Intimate Photos of Her with Ex-lover Are Stolen in Raid on Paris Flat >>> By Peter Allen | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Yet again, I have had a photo removed from this webite by Photobucket for contravention of their ‘terms and conditions’. This happens with alarming frequency!

Images such as these are not pornographic. I never post anything pornographic on this website; moreover, these images are freely available on Google Images. Were they to be pornographic, they should not, would not, appear on that Google source.

This image is one of Carla Bruni Sarkozy, the First Lady of France, no less than Nicolas Sarkozy, the French President’s wife! Are we therefore to conclude that Photobucket considers this photo of her to be improper or obscene? If so, this is an insult to the First Lady of France!

To me, it would appear that Photobucket is being overly sensitive. The dictionary definition of pornography is as follows:

Obscene writings, drawings, photographs, or the like, esp. those having little or no artistic merit.

Origin:

1840–50; < Gk pornográph(os) writing about harlots (porno-, comb. form of pórnē harlot + -graphos -graph ) [Source: Dictionary.com]

This photo certainly has artistic merit; and it in no way meets the criteria laid down in the dictionary for pornography.

What this also shows me is that there is a cleft between attitudes to nudity in Europe and America. Americans are probably still labouring under their puritanical past. Europe has liberated itself – long ago!

This image is hosted by ImageShack. We will see if they take a broader view. – ©Mark

Socialists They Are and Socialists They’ll Be!
MAIL Online: The BBC and Channel 4 could be forced to use more female and ethnic characters and presenters in TV shows under controversial reforms of equality laws.

The change could hit programmes such as Top Gear, which has an all-male presenting team, and EastEnders, which has screened episodes featuring all-black, all-Asian and all-female casts.

State-funded organisations are being ordered to boost the proportion of female, black and gay staff to reflect the make-up of the UK population under plans unveiled by Labour's deputy leader Harriet Harman. Now Even Top Gear Could Fall Foul of Harman Sexism Law >>> By Ian Drury and Sarah Harris | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Pakistan Troops Oust Taliban from Key Town
THE INDEPENDENT: Helicopter-borne commandos took back a key town from the Taliban on Wednesday as warplanes pounded militants to halt their advance toward the Pakistani capital, the army said.

Pakistan is acting under intense US pressure to take a tougher line against Islamist militants expanding from strongholds along the Afghan border, where al-Qa'ida leaders including Osama bin Laden may also be hiding.

In recent days, government forces have begun trying to drive the Taliban back into the Swat Valley, from where they had pushed out under cover of a creaking peace pact struck in February.

Helicopters dropped troops near Daggar, the main town in the Buner district, and in neighboring areas early on Wednesday morning, an army statement said.

The commandos secured the town and were linking up with police and paramilitary troops already in the area, the statement said.

It didn't say how many troops were involved or whether they clashed with militants who overran the district earlier this month.

However, a Pakistani military official said army jets and helicopters had attacked militant positions in the area as part of the move to take Daggar.

The official asked for anonymity because he was not authorized to release the details. He had no word on any casualties from Wednesday's operation.

The Taliban advance into Buner brought them to within 60 miles (100 kilometers) of the capital, Islamabad. The army also says troops have killed scores of militants in recent fighting in Lower Dir, another area neighboring Swat.

Both lie within Malakand, the region covered by the government's much-criticized peace deal. Officials agreed to impose Islamic law in return for peace in a region devastated by two years of bloody fighting.

Pakistani officials said the Islamic law concession robbed the militants of any justification for retaining their arms and have insisted they were ready to use force against militants who defy the government. >>> By Munir Ahmad, Associated Press | Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Politicians Back ‘Heidelberg Appeal’: German Authors Outraged at Google Book Search
SPIEGELONLINE INTERNATIONAL: Google wants to make millions of books accessible online. But a group of German authors are enraged at not having been asked for permission to use their books -- and at the mere $60 they might get for each one. Now German politicians are also voicing their dismay and pledging to protect author rights.

German politicians have voiced their support for an appeal by 1,300 German authors who believe that the search-engine giant Google is violating copyright laws by allowing their works to be viewed online free of charge and without previous author approval.

The appeal came in the form of a letter -- known as the “Heidelberg Appeal" -- sent last week to German President Horst Köhler, Chancellor Angela Merkel and the heads of Germany's 16 federal states. It alleges that "intellectual property is being stolen from its producers to an unimagined degree and without criminalization through the illegal publication of works protected by German copyright law."

The letter urges the government to wage "a resolute defense, with all the means at their disposal" to protect intellectual property rights and the freedoms related to publishing. "If we loose it," the appeal ends, "we loose our future." >>> jtw | Monday, April 27, 2009

Kämpfe in Pakistan: Hunderttausende fliehen aus dem Kriegsgebiet
STERN: Im Nordwesten Pakistans liefert sich die Armee erbitterte Kämpfe mit den Taliban. Nach Angaben des Welternährungsprogramms sind deshalb 600.000 Zivilisten auf der Flucht. Örtliche Behörden sprechen sogar von einer Million Flüchtlingen.

Hunderttausende Zivilisten sind im Nordwesten Pakistans auf der Flucht vor Kämpfen zwischen pakistanischen Sicherheitskräften und den Taliban. Das Welternährungsprogramm (WFP) rechnete am Dienstag mit 600.000 bedürftigen Menschen in der Region, während örtliche Behördenvertreter die Zahl der Vertriebenen auf bis zu eine Million schätzten. Die pakistanische Armee startete am Dienstag eine neue Offensive. >>> AFP | Dienstag, 28. April 2009

Pakistan : l'armée lance une offensive contre des talibans
LE FIGARO: Jusqu'à un million de personnes ont pris les routes de l'exode pour fuir ces combats.

Deux jours après une première contre-attaque initiée dimanche dans le district du Lower Dir, l'armée pakistanaise a annoncé mardi qu'elle avait entamé mardi la reconquête de Buner, un autre lieu hautement symbolique, situé à une centaine de km d'Islamabad.

«L'objectif est l'élimination ou l'expulsion» des 400 à 500 «combattants islamistes», a expliqué le général Athar Abbas, porte-parole de l'armée pakistanaise.

La semaine dernière, les talibans avaient déclenché un tollé dans la communauté internationale mais aussi dans l'opinion publique pakistanaise en s'emparant de Buner, au mépris d'un accord de cessez-le-feu signé en février avec le gouvernement, qui avait concédé, en échange, l'instauration de tribunaux islamiques dans la région. >>> lefigaro.fr (avec AFP) | Mardi 28 Avril 2009