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Obama Rejects Palestinian Statehood – by Stephen Lendman – 10-30-12
What do you call a Black man who rejects equal rights for his own people and others? A racist traitor.
What do you call a rejectionist leader? A criminal who should be impeached, removed and prosecuted.
Obama stands guilty on multiple counts. His rap sheet includes much more than spurning Palestinian rights. He's complicit in grand theft and war crimes multiple times over. He's unfit to serve. He should be in prison, not government.
Throughout his tenure, he repeatedly violated international, constitutional, and US statute laws. He's contemptuous of fundamental rights and other democratic values.
From his earliest Chicago political days, he supported ethnic cleansing gentrification. Real estate and other financial priorities trumped populism. They still do and much more.
Obama fronts for wealth and power interests. As a state senator, he did it for his district. As president, he does it globally. He's in lockstep with Israel on Palestine.
He supports occupation harshness. Palestinians are Muslims and don't matter. Denying them fundamental rights is policy. So is total evisceration of freedom and standing four-square against sovereign independence in any form. He also opposes full or limited UN membership.
Washington wages wars multiple ways. Its repertoire includes financial and political warfare.
Last year, US Jerusalem Consul General, Daniel Rubenstein, told chief negotiator Saeb Erekat that Washington will veto a UN Security Council resolution on Palestinian sovereignty within June 1967 borders.
Doing so is illegal. It also carries no weight. The General Assembly alone affirms new member states by a two-thirds vote. The Security Council only recommends admissions.
Palestinians can override Washington's veto by petitioning the General Assembly through the 1950 Uniting for Peace Resolution 377. Doing so renders America's veto null and void.
Washington pledged earlier not to oppose any state seeking UN membership. Of course, its promises aren't worth the paper they're written on. The same goes for Israel. Both nations are rogue states. They govern by we're boss and what we say goes rules.
Rubenstein also threatened to cut off all aid and impose other unspecified punitive measures. In July 2012, PA official Khaled Mesmar said Washington repeated its threat.
An unnamed US diplomat told Abbas in Ramallah. He, of course, only goes through the motions of seeking official statehood recognition and UN membership with enough rights to matter. Rhetoric substitutes for follow-through.
If proper procedures are followed, both objectives are within easy reach. Abbas struck out repeatedly on both counts. Expect nothing from him ahead. He epitomizes betrayal and illegitimacy. He represents Israel and Washington, not Palestine. He's an unprincipled quisling head of state.
In June 2011, the Senate unanimously approved a measure to end funding if statehood is pursued. Weeks later, the House followed suit. It voted 407 – 6. Its resolution also called for suspending aid if Fatah/Hamas unity is consummated.
Both House and Senate resolutions are non-binding. Foreign policy is the purview of the Executive. Exceptions include the right to declare war. Congress alone may do so. It abdicated its authority over seven decades ago. It shows no signs of reclaiming it.
The State of Palestine, in fact, exists. It was proclaimed in Algiers on November 15, 1988. At the time, the PLO adopted the Palestinian Declaration of Independence.
PLO legal advisor Francis Boyle drafted it. He included safeguards to assure all sovereign state rights. His document left no wiggle room loopholes. He also made sure UN membership won't comprise them.
Palestine satisfies all essential criteria for sovereign independence and full de jure UN membership.
All UN Charter states (including America and Israel) provisionally recognized Palestinian independence in accordance with UN Charter article 80(1) and League Covenant article 22(4).
Further, as the League's successor, the General Assembly has exclusive legal authority to designate the PLO as the Palestinian peoples' legitimate representative.
The Palestine National Council (PNC) is the PLO's legislative body. It's empowered to proclaim the existence of Palestine. According to the binding 1925 Palestine Citizenship Order in Council, Palestinians, their children and grandchildren automatically become citizens.
So are diaspora Palestinians. Those living in Israel and Jordan have dual nationalities. Occupied Territory residents remain "protected persons" (under Fourth Geneva) until a final peace settlement is reached.
Rights are achievable under leaders who pursue them. Palestinian governance always fell short. Millions deserving better never got it. They remain occupied and oppressed in limbo.
They're on their own to seek liberation PA leaders conspiratorially with Israel and Washington deny them. On September 27, Abbas addressed the General Assembly in New York. Once again he fell short.
His comments were watered down, weak-kneed, and duplicitous. He'll again seek UN non-member state status, he said. On the one hand, he promised before and backed down.
On the other, why seek less than what's easily within reach and should have been gotten long ago.
Last year, Francis Boyle emailed this writer as follows:
"I have advised the Palestinians to invoke the Uniting for Peace Resolution." Doing so overrides Washington's veto. "That get's their Admission Application to the UN General Assembly."
"It is the General Assembly that admits, not the Security Council. There they will need a 2/3ds vote of those states voting yes or no – abstentions, no votes, no shows do not count."
At the time, the Financial Times estimated they had 170 votes. They constitute 88% of UN member states. "If they get the 2/3ds vote in the General Assembly, Palestine" joins their ranks, "and you have Palestine and Israel, which everyone says they want but, of course, they do not mean it."
Boyle added that "Palestinians will always live to fight another day. And I will be there with them until my dying day. Or until Palestine is Free." For the record, this writer pledges the same thing without compromising what's right, fair, just, and long overdue.
On October 1, the London Guardian headlined "US warns European governments against supporting Palestinians at UN," saying:
It came in private memo form. Go along or else. Memo language said UN status in any form "would be extremely counterproductive." EU governments were told Palestinians will face "significant negative consequences." Financial sanctions were mentioned.
The memo said Palestinian statehood "can only be achieved via direct negotiations with the Israelis." Going that route, of course, assures permanent occupation, exploitation, persecution, and failure.
European governments were urged to support US obstructionist efforts. General Assembly representatives in New York were given Washington's ultimatum. Do it our way or else.
Washington and Israel have serious concerns about rights UN member states are afforded. In another email, Boyle explained, saying:
Once Palestine "becomes a UN Member State, (it) can ratify the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court and then file a formal State to State Complaint against Israeli Officials, upgrading the lower level Complaint President Abbas filed at my advice."
It can also "ratify the Genocide Convention and sue Israel for Genocide at the World Court, pursuant to the advice I had already given President Arafat and President Abbas, and get a temporary restraining Order against the Zionists, that would then go to the Security Council for enforcement, and if vetoed by the Americans, to the General Assembly for enforcement under the (1950) Uniting for Peace Resolution."
"With these proceedings, (it may) be able to halt the Zionist settlement project of all Palestine in the immediate future." It will also lift Gaza's siege. Abbas refuses to do it. So did Arafat before him.
Decades of Palestinian leadership failure to do the right thing constitutes betrayal. Nothing ahead looks promising. A third Intifada is long overdue.
Courageous independent leaders are needed to inspire, organize, and direct it. Hopefully enough of them are committed and ready. Liberation won't come any other way.
Stephen Lendman lives in Chicago and can be reached at email@example.com.
His new book is titled "How Wall Street Fleeces America: Privatized Banking, Government Collusion and Class War"
This is necessary for Obama to win the campaign – being soft on terror (aka Palestine who's leaders are linked to so many rubbish groups and MUST be politically replaced) is not a campaign strategy. And the next President after Obama MIGHT revive US support for Palestine, *IF* the Muslets have been good and have not been pushing dhimmitude and being all terrorlike any and everywhere else (i.e. not a single American killed in the entire fundo area headed world), consider rescinding that order. Zionist settlements are illegal, but anytime Muslets use violence or manipulation to push their own selfish and proselytizing agendas, all deals with the rest of the world are off.
i) What do you call a Black man who rejects equal rights for his own people and others? A racist traitor.
Obama is just playing carrot and stick 'Lendman'. What are you Lendman, an Islamist apologist?
ii) What do you call a rejectionist leader? A criminal who should be impeached, removed and prosecuted.
Look here 'Lendman' Obama is NOT Santa Claus especially to people who are murdering and killing and violently proselytizing, dhimmifying. Lendman seems quite Muslet subverted.
iii) It can also "ratify the Genocide Convention and sue Israel for Genocide at the World Court, pursuant to the advice I had already given President Arafat and President Abbas, and get a temporary restraining Order against the Zionists, that would then go to the Security Council for enforcement, and if vetoed by the Americans, to the General Assembly for enforcement under the (1950) Uniting for Peace Resolution."
The Security Council will not act for a semi terrorist state against the best interests of relationships in the world elsewhere. If Palestine's formation would aid seculaism, perhaps. But since Muslets are so very against everyone else and apply dhimmitude and hate against the larger part of the world including the Security Council nations, even in Palestine locally, inconceivable that USA will want to help Palestinian causes when Muslims behave badly elsewhere. Have the veto nations in the security Council had happy experiences with Muslets?
People's Republic of China? No. Chinese citizens in ASEAN at least are routinely oppressed by Muslim policies (Bumiputra Apartheid in Malaysia currently, Indonesia suppression of Chinese names previously . . . ).
EU? No. Terror plots and other subversive actions abound from Muslims.
Russian Federation? No. United Kingdom? Hell no. United States?
How about the non-permanent members who only sway opinion?
Azerbaijan. Cautious of Muslims.
Colombia. Cautious of Muslims.
Germany. Cautious of Muslims.
Guatemala. Cautious of Muslims.
India. Hell no. (Remember Mumbai hotel bombs.)
Morocco. Cautious of Muslims, especially the non-secularists.
Pakistan. If Pakistan seeks Hindu roots, Pakistan will be dignified more than if Pakistan becomes Islamist. Pakistan has also had too many Islamist inspired b.s..
Portugal. Uses Muslims as proxies for illegal activities? Thats the impression anyway, much like Somalia uses Islam as an excuse for piracy.
South Africa. They'd be better off focusing on the Animist tribal ways and REAL African Kings to focus on AFRICAN. not Arab cultures.
Togo. Same as above. Learn to speak Togolese instead of English or Arabic.
Lendman is dreaming or being manipulated here. I too love diversity, but after near 2 decades of lobbying for EQUALITY in Malaysia against the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA, I have found too many Muslims (mostly ethnic Malays who have no choice in religion anyway) disrespectful, refusing to give appropriate spaces to non-Muslims, blaring loudspeakers in an invasive and inappropriate manner(nothing in the Quran said to disturb non-Muslims with LOUDSPEAKERS, whats wrong with voice prayer?), fond of 'spiritual conversions' against the people's wills (i.e. they convert the astral or ethereal body via some older black magic traditions if I'm not guessing wrongly — at least the voodoo intent is there to convert EVERYONE AGAINST their will in secret – whether this works or not could be seen if people like Lendman are being soft on Muslims or some idiot local politicians saying they will accept Hudud), via womenfolk and even to the extent of MRI based attacks or possibly neurotech against non-Muslims, bribery corruption, treachery of all shades.
So hell no should Obama be labelled with all of what Lendman does, this dropping of Palestine is not Obama's fault, just a stern message to Muslims everywhere that USA is aware and dislikes Muslims who behave like cultists and terrorists immensely. To not be labelled as being soft on Muslims and also ensure a second term, Obama has did the necessary and perhaps well deserved as well. Sorry palestine, I too have had *spiritual* contacts with Muslims, and have been come away feeling immensely polluted and manipulated, even as weather systems express their hatred for the UN and NYC for not taking out the APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA and leaving those doing important work to end dhimmitude of minorities to suffer years of afflicted quality of life. President Obama after winning that second term, how about a stern action against the Islam inspired APARTHEID of BUMIPUTERA?
Or at least looking the other way while/when ASEAN's anti-dhimmis clean up the mess here . . .
DEMOCRATIC TOTALITARIANISM – Mutual admiration society lets tyrants indulge the illusion of political stability – godlikeproductions.com/forum1/message2036353/pg1 – (November 1, 2012)
"When the people fear their government, there is tyranny; when the government fears the people, there is liberty." Thomas Jefferson
Behind all the arrogance and smugness, Canada's Stephen Harper is just an insecure petty tyrant. Like any unjust, unconstitutional ruler, he must fight a relentless war against his own country so that he can force it to serve the foreign and corporate interests that put him in power. To do this, he disdains Parliament, violates Canadian law, persecutes critics, tramples on civil rights, and sabotages national institutions.
As expected, Harper is increasingly isolated and loathed at home, so to maintain a power base he must increasingly count on support from a select political circle—of hell, presumably—consisting of corporate kleptocrats, media lackeys, pro-Israel pressure groups, and gormless true believers.
The same is true in foreign affairs. The world sees Harper as crude, ignorant and bumptious, so it's hard to believe he enjoys any respect among civilized nations. "Civilized" connotes reason, compassion, intellect, and respect for the law, all of which Canada is supposed to stands for, and all of which Harper is determined to stamp out.
Harper, who rose like a methane bubble from the cesspit of right-wing populism, is not a tyrant in the usual sense. He exploits Canada not for his own interests but for the interests of a higher-order tyrant. As Israel's proconsul in Ottawa, he serves the Zionist Imperial Authority as well as assorted multinational interests.
Back in June, Globe and Mail columnist Jeffrey Simpson gave this sampling of Harper's tactless bombast in the wake of Canada's first ever failure to win a seat on the UN Security Council:
"Canada's once-sterling reputation for caring about Africa is over. Canada's reputation in the Arab world is mud because although ministers never criticize anything Israel does they never miss a chance to lecture the Palestinians.
"Canada is about to be spurned in its efforts to join the emerging trade bloc, the Trans-Pacific Partnership. Canada's Commonwealth partners are worried the Harper government might wreck the next meeting in Sri Lanka because of its hectoring of that country's government, a policy that curries Conservatives' favour with the large Tamil community in Toronto. Canada's feeble non-climate-change policy is universally panned."
Undoubtedly, Harper knows that the long-term damage he is deliberately doing to Canada and Canadians will cost him in the next election, but he bulldozes ahead as if it didn't matter. Even though the next election is three years away, and Canada's political opposition lacks the brains or the balls to agitate for his impeachment, Harper's fellatial servility to Israel may well turn out to be his greatest liability.
It's one thing for a tyrant to boast of political support from foreign governments if he enhances his country and at least gives the illusion that the mass public benefits in some way; it's quite another to do so for purely selfish reasons at the expense of his own citizens and his country's reputation. Far from being a source of political power, the obscene, conspicuous support Harper gets from Israel may be his undoing.
Harper's Master's Voice—Iran : Harper's latest act of zionist fawning was his unprovoked decision to cut diplomatic ties with Iran and expel its embassy staff:
Did Iranian embassy staff violate Canadian law? No.
Did Iran violate international law? No.
Does Iran pose a military threat to Canada or any nation? No.
Did Iran do anything to justify such an extreme, hostile response? No.
Here is the official excuse: "[Iran] is the most significant threat to global peace and security in the world today." Harper's foreign minion John Baird eventually had to admit that Iran hadn't actually done anything to justify the expulsion, but had, in his words, "the capacity for increasingly bad behaviour."
Leaving aside the inanity of this excuse and the non-existence of "bad behaviour" in international law, who made Canada the world's moral arbiter, what did Baird mean? Developing nuclear power? Well, Iran has every right to develop nuclear power. Unlike Israel and the U.S.—both of which have nuclear weapons and have not signed the Nuclear Non-proliferation Treaty—Iran has no nuclear weapons and is a signatory. Moreover, the U.S. intelligence community concluded that Iran is not even close to building a nuclear weapon, and this finding is unchanged from earlier this year.
"We believe that there is time and space to continue to pursue a diplomatic path, backed by growing international pressure on the Iranian government, said a National Security Council spokesman: "We continue to assess that Iran is not on the verge of achieving a nuclear weapon."
This view is supported by Shannon Kile, head of the Nuclear Weapons Project of the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute: "I still think that we are talking about several years … before Iran could develop a nuclear weapon and certainly before they could have a deliverable nuclear weapon."
In response, a spokesman from the Iranian Foreign Ministry called Harper's government "racist" and condemned the decision as "unprofessional, unconventional and unjustifiable." So, naturally, Israel rushed in to bury Harper with praise. Fellow fascist Benjamin Netanyahu gushed: "I think what you did, severing ties with Iran, was not only an act of statesmanship but an act of moral clarity." Moreover, The Jerusalem Post praised Harper as "Israel's strongest advocate in international forums."
Canada's ingratiating posture toward Israel was perhaps best expressed by Baird in February: "I think the U.S. is a good friend [to Israel], too. I like to think we are better, a stronger friend."
Of course, why Canadian government officials should be advocates for Israel, or any country other than Canada, should be debated loudly inside and outside the House of Commons. On the subject of statesmanship…
Face of the Nation
His Master's Voice—United Nations
The "state" receiving Harper's "manship" conspicuously does not refer to his own. For the second year in a row, Harper refused to attend the opening session of the General Assembly. This year, as well as demeaning the UN for its habit of condemning Israeli atrocities, he chose to go to New York's Waldorf Astoria Hotel to receive yet another shot of foreign political steroids.
The Orwellian-sounding Appeal of Conscience Foundation chose to honour His Harperness as—get this—World Statesman of the Year. Though the ACF professes to serve the causes of religious freedom, human rights and tolerance throughout the world, any organization founded by a zionist rabbi (Arthur Schneier) and that includes unindicted war criminal Henry Kissinger as a member cannot be taken at face value. Like many zionist organizations, its positive sounding name has purely propaganda value. Kissinger, himself, even presented Harper with the award.
It is impossible to make sense of Harper's speech, because it was not delivered in English for Canadians, but in Hasbarish, the private language of zionists. In Hasbarish, words have no independent value or any connection to logic or facts, and as such cannot cannot be used to formulate truth claims about anything. Hasbarish is a Humpty-Dumpty argot in which words mean whatever a zionist wants them to mean, and about which no debate is tolerated. In short, Hasbarish is an quasi-religious "anti-language" designed to impose irrational belief, not engender rational thought. Hasbara is based on claims of fallacy. It is the language of liars.
Here are two brief excerpts from Harper's acceptance speech in which you can see how Harper's Hasbarish depicts unreality.
"We Canadians are very conscious of our own sovereignty and we expect our governments to make pragmatic decisions in Canada's national interest."
(Based on this claim, Harper should be impeached. Here we see how empty, generic assertions can be abused for rhetorical purposes.)
"I speak not merely of [Iran's] appalling record of human rights abuse or its active assistance to the brutal regime in Syria or its undeniable support of terrorist entities or its determined pursuit of nuclear weapons."
(Hasbarish does not allow "appalling," "brutal" and "terrorist" to apply to Israel or the U.S., so the sentence is little more than an insult. Note also the disconnect between Hasbarish and reality in the tendentious reassertion of Iran's determined pursuing nuclear weapons, which is untrue.)
The chasm between Canadian reality and Harper's Hasbarish has reached such cartoonish proportions that Israel is now an electoral liability for him. The fact of fascism in North America has become so overt that even the Globe and Mail, usually a loyal source of pro-Israel/pro-Harper tripe, can no longer stay silent. On Oct. 30, it ran a story headlined "Michael Ignatieff's Timely Warning on the Politics of Fascism." Though addressed to a U.S, audience about U.S. politics, the article's right-wing columnist John Ibbitson even had to acknowledge that former Liberal leader Ignatieff's warnings about fascism's hastening the decline of the English-speaking world were wise and also applicable to Canada.
We should all hope that Canada stills exists in some recognizable form by the next election so we can all dance on Harper's grave.
DEMOCRATIC TOTALITARIANISM? No, but Canada in using Hasbarish looks theocratic and coloniser in intent and in potential rather than secularist and human rights protective instead. With the writer is possibly an Islamist apologist – there is no need to choose EITHER Islam or Zioism because Canada always has been and always will belong to – the Race of Red Men, the Native Tribes of what is called Canada. It is unconscionable that any group of foreigners with advanced military weapons lands on shores takes control of land and butchers the local population, Canada belonged to a score or more of hunter-nomad-agrarian tribes that were not expecting such an invasion and were taken over in the 1400s or more as colonialists.
The caucasians who enslaved natives, took over native lands (from which ancestral lands and old boundaries still known to Elders who know what that tribe owned as SOVEREIGN territory and can be reclaimed by), and established illegal colonies on land that did not belong to caucasians, or displaced local Native-Ameri-Indian peoples, discriminated against their shamanic 'Pagan Ways', and formed so-called governments from obviously illegally occupied territories, are war criminals with family lines that can be traced. Those caucasians who killed or violently occupied should be repatriated after their wealth is stripped. Those caucasians who tried to get along with the natives should be allowed to remain.
The caucasians who do not have any level of extreme wealth should be allowed to remain citizens of the nation for humanitarian reasons (moving is costly and some of the whites might consider that place home – if not excessive in size, they should be allowed to stay), the caucasians of wealth based on ownership of mineral or plantation or oil wealth simply because their past generations were part of the organized criminal colonisers that the UN could never consider bonafide owners (might does not make right, that is the basis of civilisation) must relinquish the major part of holdings to a fair degree to the original inhabitants and new Native owners (preferably in equal share) to have a right to remain IF their families had not indulged in stealing land backed by force.
Harper is French (i.e. Frankish) who's faith was Frankish Paganism, not Zionism. Speaking in French was bad enough, but Hasbarish? This is ridiculous. The Native 'Canadian' Indians are the true owners of 'Canada', Canada was stolen about 600 years ago, their presence is illegal, and the UN needs to address their rights, ensure their culture and faith, as well as expel all who occupied illegally or proselytized offensively. If UN will not act to liberate, there is always NAM (though somewhat skewed towards Dhimmifying Muslims (see Malaysia's Apartheid of Bumiputra or honour killings and beheadings elsewhere) which represents 55% of the world's population, or BRICs, which represents 25% of the world's landmass and 40% of the worlds population. Justice please for the oppressed Red Races!
Japan possesses weapons more advanced than US: expert (People's Daily Online) 16:43, October 22, 2012
The JGSDF's anti-tank missiles can attack tanks, armored fighting vehicles and even small warships.
The JSGDF also has advanced pressing artillery. The M270 multiple rocket launchers outperform U.S. similar weapons in strike range, accuracy and power.
Japan's military power cannot be underestimated
Du believes Japan's military power cannot be underestimated. Almost all heavy equipment production lines are potentially dual-use. For example, Japanese car production lines can be easily converted to manufacturing fighting vehicles. No other countries in the world possess such huge war potential.
Japan is one of the world's largest manufacturing economies. As the Japanese government gradually relaxes the Three Principles on Arms Exports, the arms export is likely to play an important role in improving the country's economy in the future.
Read the Chinese version: ?????????????:??????????, source: People's Daily Online, author: Yan Jiaqi
The issue of Japanese neurotech satellites trained en masse on critical troop or equipment positions will be the main worry of the Chinese.
Microwave guns that ignore armour to cook soldiers as well as subsonic sounds which might affect organs or nerves even the brain as well, could make 'Hardened' EMP immune electronics as well as sonic deadening suits necessary for infantry combat, if considered by China.
Finally there will be the issue of Chinese citizens' CELLPHONES turning against them. A single broadcast at magnified levels could paralyse sensitive pathways of the human physiology. No troops should have any cellphones about themselves while at war- in fact civilians could be subject to low level bombardments as of now at subaural levels or other frequencies. Finally the issue of a second edible or breathable poison that works when the target has eaten an earlier substance something earlier on. This is extremely serious if applied because the Chinese have indeed been eating so much of Japanese products over the years that femto-scale poisons or who knows nanomites could already be about in China controlled by the Japanese or will be dumped in China. And while Japan could ultimately be defeated by sheer numbers of survivors, MANY of the urban or top level Chinese closest to or having associated with the Japanese could die in the process. Electronic warfare needs no soldiers and war machines and could be beamed from afar or from space. That could be the Japanese mode *IF* Japan's treatment of Fukushima with a trolley-bot rather than a Robo-Mecha is just feigning a lack of technology.
Finally the hardware/mecha issue while impressive must first see China be able to counter the above issues, sound and radio wave attacks first. Only then will the hardware issue come into play or need to be applied. The next war could be won from afar with mind control satellites or chemical poisoning of a subtler sort.
12 Year Old Sent to Detention For Hugging a Classmate – Posted on November 1, 2012 by Soren Dreier
– Girl, 12, given detention for hugging a classmate
– No-hugs rule introduced over "excessive hugging"
– Mother says rule is "absolutely ridiculous"
– NSW school bans handstands, cartwheels, somersaults
– Schools in Victoria and South Australia ban hugging
A mother in Western Australia is demanding an apology from her kids' school after her 12-year-old daughter was given a detention for hugging a classmate.
Heidi Rome's daughter Amber was punished at the Adam Road Primary School in Bunbury, south of Perth, for giving her friend a quick hug after the school bell rang.
Apparently that violated the school's no-hugging policy, a "blanket rule" which was brought in last year.
The WA Education Department today confirmed the school's policy. It was introduced after "excessive hugging" left some students with bruises and others feeling left out.
The school's acting principal Gemma Preston told news.com.au: "We introduced a rule about hugging last year after parents complained about their children being hurt by excessive hugging.
"For example, some children received bruised ribs from an over-enthusiastic hug.
"This behaviour was getting out of control with students hugging each other several times a day, and this was becoming disruptive to classes.
"The rule was reinforced with our Year 6 and 7 students again last week during a general talk about being role models for the younger students.
"In this particular incident, the students involved were hugging on school grounds just two hours after this talk and it was important to follow it through as a discipline issue."
Education department deputy director general David Axworthy said: "Principals are in the best position to determine what rules need to be made inside their schools."
Ms Preston told Ms Rome she had to make example of Amber and her friend, who were "caught" hugging just hours after a school address on the ban.
Ms Rome is angry her daughter, a high achiever and a "bright, caring person who her teacher thinks highly of" has become a victim of a "silly, ridiculous rule".
"I didn't even know about it, and everyone I've spoken to thinks it's outrageous," she told news.com.au.
"Some parents are aware of the rule – they think it's absolutely ridiculous. Some parents aren't aware – they also think it's absolutely ridiculous."
She was told by the school that she would have to put the issue in writing.
Ms Rome says she is concerned that kids are getting the wrong message when they are punished for being friendly.
"It's a really good school that's just got a silly rule that I'm wanting to try and change," she said.
"I think my daughter deserves an apology for this over-the-top punishment."
In 2010 the parents from a Gold Coast primary school labelled a move to issue detentions for hugging on school grounds as "political correctness gone mad".
Ms Rome says some parents at Amber's school had complained about boyfriend/girlfriend hugging and excessive contact, prompting the rule to be introduced.
Theory on Aura and Touching
Until the aura is 'matured', the no touching rule should apply. This means even between children. 'Group sleep sessions' ALSO affect childrens' aura and cause 'hive minds' so no sleeping in groups is also important for parents who want children to grow up as strong individuals. The final result is the identification of orgy participants who end up with a hive mind 'organ' much like sheep, while the non-hivers become alpha predators or gamma outsiders. This effect can be felt when re-assimilating after migration where one chooses to join a hive or keep separate from the hive. Spiritual gang rapes can also occur so identify those cities or societies that do this (typically religious ones) and stuck to capital cities with large influxes of foreigners to avoid being affected by hive mind groups.
Handstands, cartwheels, somersaults are also dangerous to the immatured aura as in that the later action of the astral body when asleep can and does cause accidents via induction of vertigo or sudden fainting spells in like minded persons most similar to the child in nature. Individualism is very important for autonomy, to remain separate unless one is a parasite, and the 'hivers', especially drug taking 'hivers' that participate in spiritual rape', are particularly 'verminous' forms of humanity and that is also why the uniformity imposing religious, military or police as professions are considered 'iron natured' or lowly to some spiritually aware asian societies with societies imposing forced military conscriptions or enforcing a certain religion among citizens/on their citizens are spiritually criminal nations that make up the bulk of the 3rd world as in theocratic Buddhism or Islamism enforced by violence or threat of punishment or under threat of dhimmification or dhimmification of those not of their faith sunconsciously or consciously or by technicality.
Hence touching unless sanctioned by an individual based around sovereign laws should be disallowed, and the first thing a person learns in school, even by police or even by one's family members. This rule should make rape and paedophilia difficult and foster relations completely at the individual's preference. Feel free to debunk or argue if theory needs refining.
French brewers hit by 160% rise in beer tax
President Hollande to push through legislation to fund social programmes – but brewers condemn plan as 'kick in teeth' – Associated Press in Brussels – The Guardian, Tuesday 30 October 2012 20.42 GMT
Men drinking beer
French brewers will be hit by 160% rise in beer tax. The move follows a 6% fall in beer production in the EU since 2008. Photograph: Peter Macdiarmid/Getty Images
The French president, François Hollande, is pushing through legislation to increase taxes on beer by 160% to help fund social programmes, as France struggles to contain a budget deficit hit hard by the economic crisis.
The tax increase will affect local brews and the 30% of imported beer the French drink. The change will push up the price of a beer by about 20% in bars and supermarkets, said Jacqueline Lariven, spokeswoman for the French brewer's federation, Brasseurs de France.
The Brewers of Europe trade group described the measure as a "kick in the teeth", as it follows a 6% fall in beer production and an 8% drop in consumption in the EU since the region's debt crisis began in 2008.
Outside France, Belgium and Germany were likely to be hardest hit by the new legislation, said Pierre-Olivier Bergeron, head of the Brewers of Europe.
"This measure will affect all brewers, including small entrepreneurs," he said. "This is a very shortsighted approach by penalising one sector."
President Hollande said he hoped to raise €480m (£300m) from the tax increase on beer to boost medical insurance and elderly care.
Exempt small entrepreneurs not worth more than 3 million in total value. Those from 3 million to 5 million in value will be required to pay 20% rises, those from 5 million to 10 million in value will be required to pay 40% rises, those from 10 million to 20 million in value will be required to pay 80% rises, those from 20 million and above in value will be required to pay the full 160% rises.
The way the additionals funds are to fund social programmes will be WRITTEN BY the French Government (representative's, though not people's will until one day where 1 man 1 vote form bill writing is ratified by quorum), and the social programmes where funds are added are SELECTED ONLY BY the "The Brewers of Europe trade group alcohol brewers" (best practices, they paid so they get to choose) and must be entirely transparent to the public (no middlemen collusion and profiteering as in the PrisonBuildingContractor-PrisonSupplierCrony Complex of the West, ReligiousProduct-ReligiousTourism SupplierCrony Complex of the Middle East (think Haj and monopolies on pilgrim management companies . . . won't go any further on this . . . ), or Education-Financiar-Student-Debt BankerCrony Complex of the Far East. Remember secularists, worship of EDUCATION to the point of sacrificing financial well being is no less fundamentalist than a terrorist who will blow up others. In the student debt case, the parents end up putting the financial viability of the family at risk.
Fight the New World Order with Global Non-Compliance Thursday, November 1st, 2012.
Understand your enemy, and understand the weapons they use. Then use those same weapons against them. The money system is the head of the snake. Cut the head off the snake and the rest of it will whither and die. There need be No violence, no guns, no banners, no slogans, no group think, just a united act of global non compliance.
Remember that it is much easier to fight for principles than to live up to them and it takes a far braver man to stand up for what is right and spit in the face of authority than it does to blindly follow orders due to fear of the consequences. Understand that we are all one and the key to real change and unity in this world lies with love.
It is time for the people of the world to stop and realise that the divisions that supposedly exist amongst us are an illusion. There IS NO division and its time for everyone to understand the truth of this.
It is through the constantly promoted illusion of division that the system is able to function but in order for it to do so, it needs public compliance.
Stop complying with it and you will shut it down.
It's time for us all to collectively stand together and address the root cause of the problems.
max igan
Disinfo. The money system is only the DECOY that can easily be removed with a Senate and Parliament that both rectify the removal of the money system (i.e. fiat wealth). The real head of the snake is the Voting Basis Paradigm. Never vote for the GLC linked, Plutocrat or Nepotist or Term Limitless or fundo/police/military/banking system/prison complex linked). If everyone votes for Joe Publics not affiliated with the above groups, the NWO is finished. this is the best legal form of Global Non-Compliance.
Justice Department Official: State Votes on Legalizing Marijuana Has No Effect on Federal Enforcement Plans (by Alex Dobuzinskis, Reuters)
Oakland Sues Obama Administration over Loss of Tax Revenue Due to Medical Marijuana Crackdown(by Noel Brinkerhoff and David Wallechinsky, AllGov)
Obama Administration Steps Up Attack on Legal Marijuana with Threat to Growers (by Noel Brinkerhoff, AllGov)
"By managing marijuana like alcohol and tobacco – regulating, taxing and enforcing its lawful use – America will be better off." Libertarian candiate Gary Johnson. http://www.garyjohnson2012.com/issues/drug-policy-reform
@Robert Newton
Keep it illegal! Once legalized, the quality will drop like a stone… no pun intended.
Who cares the gov does heaps of crap that is illeagle dosnt stop them so how do they think they can stop me smoking pot. They cant and wont f em they stand for nobody and nothing. I am a free man not one of there slaves i have my own mind and free will. I dont need some idiot telling me what i can and cant do f em all
The feds have no jurisdiction outside dc and their territories, fact
Italics Mine
So, what happens if the voters vote to raise taxes? Or build a new school? Or prohibit smoking in town? These measures will become law. (Minority of One Laws must protect their rights)
@Edward B
The bottom line is that the War on Some Drugs is an excuse for the govt not only to invade your home and point a gun at you – but also to invade other countries and point guns at them. Thats the real prize. If the US wants to steal resources from a country – they invoke the War on Drugs. If the war on Marijuana is over – there is really not much left as only about 1 out of 200 drug users uses hard drugs. The US govt needs the war on Pot to committ terrible atrocities at home and all ove the world. All in the name of protecting you from a harmless vegetable that has never caused an overdose.
There are already cases in other areas where a local sheriff has sent Fed's packing so it's really a matter of will….nothing less. Put your local sheriff on the "hot seat". Explain to him/her just how fast a recall election can happen if he/she "forgets" who they are to serve.
@alex smart 15 hours ago
Marijuana is a danger to the building, textile,energy and pharmaceutical industries. Who do you think your politicians are protecting. Not the people but the corporate entities who paid for tjheir campaigns. Your owned, so just shut up and accept your slavery.
There is a simple solution to this issue. If the people of any of these states pass this law, all they have to do is pass another law that says any attempet by ANY law enforcement agent to arrest someone for excersizing this right will result in their arrest and a mandatory sentence of 10 years in state prison. This means the Feds arrest someone, that agent goes to prison. It's the only way to enforce "states rights" as well as the "will of the people". No federal agent will risk 10 years in a state prison to enforce a law the people of that stat don't agree with. Simple enough.
@Capt. Kirk
Enslaving people over a plant… It.'s a sick joke.
Xian inspired fundo alert anyone? Xians want to have a monopoly on psychedelics via their Eucharist or Wafer Flesh ceremonies IMHO. They won't allow secularised 'mysteries' via plants given to EVERYONE by 'god', but would make the Church a profiteering 'Toll' keeper preventing others from accessing what 'god' had granted all men by victimless crime criminalisation laws. No group of men have a right to deny access to any other group of men to the bounty of this world. Think Amsterdam's 'Green Zones' and apply.
Seattle Police Will No Longer Arrest Anyone For Marijuana Starting Tonight! (Perhaps 5 ounces for home or those relocating? Thats about the size of a large snack bag btw, if the government wants to be reasonable, might as well be reasonable all the way . . . anything beyond a small sized carton – 10 bags worth – though could be let off with a warning then a fine the next time or jail on a 3rd or more offense .)
Superstorm Sandy: US East Coast fights back
At least 48 dead across the US East Coast after Superstorm Sandy, as President Barack Obama set to visit New Jersey and businesses and services attempt to re-open.
New York taxis are stranded on a flooded street in Queens Photo: Xinhua /Landov / Barcroft Media
by Raf Sanchez, Washington, Jessica Winch in London, Mark Hughes in New York, James Orr in New Jersey and Amy Willis, in Los Angeles – 11:08AM GMT 31 Oct 2012
Pope Benedict XVI gives his weekly general audience at St Peter's square at the Vatican
11.19 Pope Benedict XVI says he is praying for the victims of Hurricane Sandy and expresses his solidarity to those working to clean up the damage.
The pope spoke to pilgrims as rain and wind pounded St Peter's Square during his weekly public audience Wednesday.
He said he was "conscious of the devastation" to the east coast of the United States and that he offered "my prayers for the victims and I express my solidarity with all those engaged in the work of rebuilding."
10.13 Battered by a record storm surge of nearly 14 feet of water, swaths of New York City and New Jersey remained submerged under several feet of water on Wednesday morning. In the borough of Staten Island, police used helicopters to pluck stranded residents from rooftops.
Across the Hudson River in Hoboken, New Jersey, members of the National Guard arrived to help residents pump floodwater from their homes, the city said on Twitter.
More than 8.2 million homes and businesses remained without electricity across several states as trees toppled by fierce winds tore down power lines.
A flooded section of Harvey Cedars on Long Beach Island, New Jersey
09.51 While New York City buses returned to darkened streets eerily free of traffic and the New York Stock Exchange was set to reopen its trading floor on Wednesday, it became clear that restoring the region to its ordinarily frenetic pace could take days – and that rebuilding the hardest-hit communities and the transportation networks that link them together could take considerably longer. New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg said:
Opinion We will get through the days ahead by doing what we always do in tough times – by standing together, shoulder to shoulder, ready to help a neighbor, comfort a stranger and get the city we love back on its feet.
08.10 President Barack Obama plans to tour Sandy-hit New Jersey later today alongside Governor Chris Christie, a backer of his Republican rival Mitt Romney.
Floodwaters from superstorm Sandy surround homes in South Bethany, Delaware
06.52 An Australian woman has described giving birth by torchlight as the superstorm hit New York. Sally Bertouch, 31, was staying with her husband James at a hotel close to NY Langone hospital when she went into labour just before the storm struck. Once at the hospital they described how lights were flickering before the power cut out completely. Eventually they were evacuated to Mount Sinai hospital where Sally gave birth to a baby girl named Sophie Deborah Here is an extract from the interview on news.com.au:
Opinion Unfortunately, the hospital was in the evacuation zone and it was being slammed by the storm.
"As we paced the corridors the lights started flickering, then the power went out completely at 8.15pm."
After 16 hours of labour in the middle of a superstorm, they were plunged into darkness.
"There were no monitors, no foetal monitors, all the doctors had glow sticks around their necks. I had a flashlight. Sal was lying in the bed in the dark and the wind," Mr Bertouch said.
The doctors were forced to do an epidural by torchlight. They used stethoscopes to monitor the baby and Sally.
"It was pretty scary, crazy, apocalyptic weather outside but I felt confident because the doctors and nurses were so confident and in control. They did an amazing job."
05.40 The National Guard has arrived in Hoboken, a town of around 50,000 in New Jersey, according to AP. The Guard will be using high-wheeled trucks to transport residents out of the most hard-hit areas as well as ferrying in supplies, AP said.
04.23 Volunteers from all over America have been offering their services to those struggling in the wake of the storm. NYC Service, a government initiative, has been deluged with people offering hands for the clean-up operation, medical evaluations over Skype and grief councelling. The NYC Service page on Facebook already has more than 10,000 followers. The organisation has asked anyone who wants to help to email firstname.lastname@example.com
04.20 GMT (12.20am ET) Good morning and welcome to our live updates as the US east coast counts the cost of the devastating Superstorm Sandy.
Paedo-protecting faiths ALWAYS lose. Monotheism is proven wrong. The signs and wonders backed by Mother Nature attest.
UN Security Council forced to relocate after storm – by REUTERS – 10/31/2012 23:43
Hurricane Sandy forces UN headquarters to move as US President Barack Obama tours New Jersey with Republican governor.
Submerged cars in Hoboken, New Jersey Photo: Eduardo Munoz/Reuters
NEW YORK – The UN Security Council will meet later on Wednesday to discuss Somalia and other issues, but it has been forced to relocate because of water damage to parts of the United Nations complex from the storm Sandy, diplomats said.
It was not immediately clear how badly the UN buildings were damaged by the storm. Diplomats said flooding in basement areas was severe enough to require the 15-nation council to move to a temporary container-like structure built to house parts of the UN secretariat and conference rooms during a years-long renovation of the main buildings due to finish in 2013.
Reporters accredited to the United Nations have so far not been allowed back into the world body's headquarters by the East River in midtown Manhattan. It has been shut since Monday before Sandy crashed ashore the same day, the largest storm to hit the United States in generations.
OMG there are such things as Snighs after all! Hell yeah! Go nature! The congressman said kicked off, not flooded off. Earthquake anyone? That would give some 'kick'. Well BRICS? Go ahead with the mobile version on an aircraft carrier to prepare for when the UN based in NY no longer exists!
"'We're not clowns!': Patriarch tells clerics to behave – Published: 31 October, 2012, 18:19
Patriarch Kirill of Moscow and All Russia (RIA Novosti/Ramil Sitdikov)
The head of the Russian Orthodox Church, Patriarch Kirill has urged priests to stop startling the public and making inappropriate jokes, but rather focus on doing good deeds.
"We sometimes witness priests who make shocking statements, excuse me, without rhyme or reason," Kirill observed. That can either be a result of "emotional inertia" – when a person gets involved in something and simply cannot stop – or a lack of responsibility, he pointed out.
The clerics' words are often quoted and interpreted one way or another and, also, used to bash the Church, the patriarch underlined speaking at a festival of Orthodox media "Faith and Word" on Wednesday.
The Orthodox Church repeatedly accused the media of launching an information war against it, while the press criticizes the top clergy for their alleged merger with the state, and the luxurious lifestyles and posh cars of some.
The infamous Pussy Riot trial triggered a fresh wave of accusations, with the punk band's supporters insisting that the best demonstration of Christianity would be to release the women instead of sending them to jail. Controversial statements by some clerics only add fuel to the fire.
Speaking on Wednesday, the head of the Church reminded priests that their duty is to visit hospitals and asylums as well as to help drug-addicts, alcoholics, youngsters and those who are still in search of their faith.
"Such work brings less publicity," he noted, adding that striving for popularity is sinful.
Patriarch Kirill pointed out that "shocking the public isn't our mission, let others do that," Interfax agency quoted. He urged "Orthodox communicators" to watch their words.
"Sick jokes" by some clerics rock the internet, while important statements by the Church go unnoticed as users are too busy discussing the jest, the patriarch lamented.
Archdeacon Andrey Kurayev is one of the top Orthodox stars on the Russian internet, famous for his controversial statements. His comment on the Pussy Riot performance – as they put it, the "punk-prayer" – in Moscow's Christ the Savior Cathedral became a hit among bloggers and outraged many Orthodox believers.
"If I were a sacristan in this cathedral, I'd feed [the girls] with pancakes and give each a chalice with mead," he wrote in his blog. "And if I were a head layman, I'd also pinch them a bit in a fatherly way to bring them to reason."
He added that what they did was certainly a disgrace, but an acceptable one, since it was performed during Pancake Week (also known as Maslenitsa) – a traditional time for "buffoonery". The Eastern Slavic holiday is celebrated in the last week before Lent and marks the coming end of winter.
Witty or not, it was intended as a joke. However, sometimes Church officials make rather serious statements reflecting their personal political stance.
Earlier this week, Priest Sergey Rybko – known for his radical statements – called the participants of Russian anti-government protests "public enemies."
"The opposition's activity simply weakens the state and we can lose everything as a result of that. I see no alternative to [President Vladimir] Putin who can hold power in the country," he told RIA Novosti.
Russian Church officials stressed later that Rybko was voicing his personal stance, adding that "as a Russian citizen" he has a right to do so.
Suggestions for punishment of priests by state. Out of robes and out of the church is acceptable for sure due to free speech. Semi wrong if either in robe but outside in casual AND inside church but out of robe – amounting to a warning, suspension if 2nd offense, extended suspension with fine on 3rd, excommunication on 4th but no jail, this is about appropriateness not enriching the PrisonBuildingContractor-SupplierCrony Complex. If both in Church and in robe while making statements, then inappropriate and actionable and considered a double offense. Suspension if 1st offense, excommunication on 2nd but no jail. Enrich the PrisonBuildingContractor-Supplier complex at the Russian's Church's expense? Sick. How about freeing Pussy Riot type cases? The state has no time for punk girls in prison. Real prisoners are terrorists or spies!
Buddhist monk is the world's happiest man – Monday Oct 29, 2012
Tibetan monk and molecular geneticist Matthieu Ricard is the happiest man in the world according to researchers at the University of Wisconsin. The 66-year-old's brain produces a level of gamma waves – those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory – never before reported in neuroscience.
As he grins serenely and his burgundy robes billow in the fresh Himalayan wind, it is not difficult to see why scientists declared Matthieu Ricard the happiest man they had ever tested.
The monk, molecular geneticist and confidant of the Dalai Lama, is passionately setting out why meditation can alter the brain and improve people's happiness in the same way that lifting weights puts on muscle.
"It's a wonderful area of research because it shows that meditation is not just blissing out under a mango tree but it completely changes your brain and therefore changes what you are," the Frenchman told AFP.
Ricard, a globe-trotting polymath who left everything behind to become a Tibetan Buddhist in a Himalayan hermitage, says anyone can be happy if they only train their brain.
Neuroscientist Richard Davidson wired up Ricard's skull with 256 sensors at the University of Wisconsin four years ago as part of research on hundreds of advanced practitioners of meditation.
The scans showed that when meditating on compassion, Ricard's brain produces a level of gamma waves — those linked to consciousness, attention, learning and memory — "never reported before in the neuroscience literature", Davidson said.
The scans also showed excessive activity in his brain's left prefrontal cortex compared to its right counterpart, giving him an abnormally large capacity for happiness and a reduced propensity towards negativity, researchers believe.
Research into the phenomenon, known as "neuroplasticity," is in its infancy and Ricard has been at the forefront of ground-breaking experiments along with other leading scientists across the world.
"We have been looking for 12 years at the effect of short and long-term mind-training through meditation on attention, on compassion, on emotional balance," he said.
"We've found remarkable results with long-term practitioners who did 50,000 rounds of meditation, but also with three weeks of 20 minutes a day, which of course is more applicable to our modern times."
The 66-year-old, accompanying other senior Tibetan monks at a festival in the remote Nepalese Himalayan region of Upper Dolpa, has become a globally respected Buddhist and is one of the religion's leading western scholars.
But he has not always been on the path to enlightenment.
Ricard grew up among the Paris intellectual elite as the son of celebrated French libertarian philosopher Jean-Francois Revel and abstract watercolor painter Yahne Le Toumelin.
"All these people used to come around, most of Paris intellectual life. We had all the French painters and I was myself interested in classical music so I met a lot of musicians," he said.
"At lunch we'd have three Nobel Prize winners eating with us. It was fantastic… Some of them were wonderful but some could be difficult."
By the time he got his PhD in cell genetics from the Institut Pasteur in Paris in 1972 he had become disillusioned with the dinner party debates and had already begun to journey to Darjeeling in India during his holidays.
Eschewing intimate relationships and a career, he moved to India to study Buddhism and emerged 26 years later as something of celebrity thanks to "The Monk And The Philosopher," a dialogue on the meaning of life he wrote with his father.
"That was the end of my quiet time because it was a bestseller. Suddenly I was projected into the western world. Then I did more dialogues with scientists and the whole thing started to spin off out of control.
"I got really involved in science research and the science of meditation."
A prominent monk in Kathmandu's Shechen Monastery, Ricard divides his year between isolated meditation, scientific research and accompanying the Dalai Lama as his adviser on trips to French-speaking countries and science conferences.
He addressed the World Economic Forum in Davos at the height of the financial crisis in 2009 to tell gathered heads of state and business leaders it was time to give up greed in favor of "enlightened altruism."
His other works include "Happiness: A Guide to Developing Life's Most Important Skill" and several collections of photographs of the landscape, people and spiritual masters of the Himalayas.
Ricard donates all proceeds of his books to 110 humanitarian projects which have built schools for 21,000 children and provide healthcare for 100,000 patients a year.
He was awarded the French National Order of Merit for his work in preserving Himalayan culture but it is his work on the science of happiness which perhaps defines him best.
Ricard sees living a good life, and showing compassion, not as a religious edict revealed from on high, but as a practical route to happiness.
"Try sincerely to check, to investigate," he said. "That's what Buddhism has been trying to unravel — the mechanism of happiness and suffering. It is a science of the mind."
Copyright (2012) AFP. All rights reserved.
Theory. Neuroplasticity is an NLP word to trick the body into accepting plastic particles or chemicals into the brain. This article about happiness is in fact a NLP form of prozac that is intended to create a weaker willed and stupidly smiling sheep class that does not retaliate but hides within contrived happiness supported by articles such as these. Anger is progress. Hatred is defense. Retaliation is what the tyrannical and complacently stupid need. I'd prefer the non-theocrat hipster smoking something 'god' gave free and relaxing in a non-capitalist area of the world, than an old 'bear' (Ctholic-priest?) type or their sick minded fundo inspired families rife with child abuse behind veneers of respectability. Refutes?
Apple Siri 'too smart,' helps users find hookers (Shanghai Daily) – 13:21, October 30, 2012
Apple's Siri, a popular voice-activated personal assistant app for iPhones, is now accused in China of being "too smart" as it may help users find illegal venues offering prostitution, Chinese media reported.
According to Xinhua news agency, some iPhone users with Apple's latest IOS 6 operating system and Chinese-language Siri said when they asked the assistant app "Where to find prostitutes," Siri showed 15 places with detailed locations.
While many netizens were shocked by the app's powerful search feature, some suggested it could help police crack down on houses of prostitution.
A reporter with Xinhua tried using Siri to search for prostitutes in Baoshan District in Shanghai and the app provided 12 locations in the search result, mostly entertainment venues.
The reporter picked one on Shuangcheng Road and went there in the middle of the night to see young women wearing sexy clothes at the venue's entrance.
A staff worker told the reporter that the venue offers prostitutes in KTV or karaoke rooms, while customers may pay additional fees to take prostitutes out of the venue.
This helps give sex workers autonomy and independence while keeping businesses going through recommendations to tourists who will also add a sense of interest via international flavour to the regular goers who might otherwise never see foreign patrons. For sex workers, the benefit is, instead of being tied to certain 'bar fine' systems or effectively locked in to avoid wandering aimlessly searching for clients outside, they could even eventually become outcall and have a choice of going independent and perhaps for those not really into the trade even move on to other work or even get married. The more options the better, the more they move around the better. Also China needs formal Red Light District zoning so that the issues and monitoring of the adult industry will be easier.
Noted: Network of Tubes. Literally. – Tue, Mar 31, 09
Ted Stevens was right, the Victorian Internet consisted, quite literally, of a 'Network of Tubes'. Paris, London, Prague and Vienna had extensive networks of pneumatic tubes which delivered messages in capsules. In New York 5 million mail messages passed every day through an underground pneumatic system, and a network in Berlin delivered hot meals directly to people's homes suggesting that kitchens would no longer be needed in the future. Today these systems can still be purchased where they are used in places like hospitals where samples are passed between departments.
USS Midway aircraft carrier pneumatic message system
New York Public Library Messaging System
Lamson pneumatic tube system
Main Control Panel for the Prague Pneumatic Post
If you have ever used one of these, as I have at an educational institution many years ago, you'll never forget the immensely satisfying pneumatic plump sound when your payload is sucked up the tubes.
They should have replaced the Postage department of all countries with the direct to the individual letterbox "Pneumatic Post Delivery Tube" instead of paying all those salaries for decades to the occasional unreliable 'disgruntled postal worker', and potential sabotage by any Orwellian bribed postmen by now. Add cams to the tube-containers as well as GPS, and mail will never be sabotaged again. This is the solid form of email that cannot be sabotaged.
Bolivia says "adios!" to Coca-Cola! …to Mc Donald's too, page 1 – Topic started on 28-10-2012 @ 02:29 PM by Echtelion
And they also are officializing their rejection of US capitalist hegemony… for the End of the Mayan Calendar!
In a symbolic rejection of US capitalism, Bolivia announced it will expel the Coca-Cola Company from the country at the end of the Mayan calendar. This will mark the end of capitalism and usher in a new era of equality, the Bolivian govt says. "December 21 of 2012 will be the end of egoism and division. December 21 should be the end of Coca-Cola," Bolivian foreign minister David Choquehuanca decreed, with bombast worthy of a viral marketing campaign. The coming 'end' of the Mayan lunar calendar on December 21 of this year has sparked widespread doomsaying of an impending apocalypse. But Choquehuanca argued differently, claiming it will be the end of days for capitalism, not the planet. "The planets will align for the first time in 26,000 years and this is the end of capitalism and the beginning of communitarianism," said Choquehuanca as quoted by Venezuelan newspaper El Periodiquito. The minister encouraged the people of Bolivia to drink Mocochinche, a peach-flavored soft drink, as an alternative to Coca-Cola. Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez followed suit, encouraging his country to ditch the American beverage for fruit juice produced in Venezuela.
Last year, Bolivia became the second Latin American country not to have a single McDonald's. The fast food giant finally gave up on Bolivia after being unable to turn a profit in the country for over a decade. Following this failure, the monolithic multinational released a documentary titled 'Why McDonald's failed in Bolivia.' Referencing surveys, sociologists, nutritionists and historians, the company came to the conclusion it was not their food that was the issue, but a culturally driven boycott.
Bolivian President Evo Morales has a reputation for controversial policies similar to the Coca-Cola ban. Morales pledged last month to legalize the consumption of coca leaves, one of the main ingredients of cocaine. "Neither the US nor capitalist countries have a good reason to maintain the ban on coca leaf consumption," said Morales.
The coca leaf was declared an illegal narcotic by the UN in 1961, along with cocaine, opium and morphine. The consumption of coca leaves is a centuries-old tradition in Bolivia, strongly rooted in the beliefs of various indigenous groups. Now this is some fun yet strange news coming from an evolving Latin America. Applying 2012 predictions to State politics?
Perhaps if McDonalds and Coca-Cola sourced and manufactured the food locally and LOWERED FRANCHISE FEES and shared premises with other franchises, Bolivia would accept McDonalds and Coca-Cola. Better a conglomeration based presence than none at all. Closed entirely? Change practices and keep open.
'I was a boy.. then a girl.. now I want to be a boy again': Agony of of teen who is Britain's youngest sex-swap patient – by Mirror.co.uk – 28 Oct 2012 00:00
Ria Cooper has spent the last year having hormone injections to turn her from a boy into a girl
Ria has failed to find happiness following her sex-swap treatment Ria has failed to find happiness following her sex-swap treatment
Sunday Mirror
Teenager Ria Cooper has spent the last year having hormone injections to turn her from a boy into a girl.
Formerly named Brad, she has already developed breasts, dresses in glamorous outfits, wears her hair in a feminine bob and has dated several young men.
At 18, she is Britain's youngest sex-swap patient.
Yet despite thousands of pounds worth of NHS treatment, as well as psychiatric and doctors' assessments, Ria has now decided she wants to go back to being a BOY.
Her decision, which comes after two suicide attempts, calls into question whether she was too young to be allowed to swap sexes in the first place.
"Life has really got on top of me recently," she says. "The hormones have made me feel up and down. One minute I feel moody and the next minute I feel really happy.
"A couple of months ago I'd had enough and took a lot of paracetamol but my friend found me and made me sick. Just before that, I'd tried to slash my wrists and ended up in hospital. I get these dark moods when nothing seems right.
"The night I tried to slash my wrists I'd downed a bottle of Jack Daniel's and just thought about how alone I am, how my decision has alienated my family and how I will have to become a boy again to resolve it.
"I don't want to live in isolation, away from everyone I love. This is the only way forward. I just want to be happy and this is my last chance."
Ria Cooper As a teenager, Ria begged doctors to turn her into a girl – ITV/Sunday Mirror Grab
Ria, of Hull, East Yorks, has been dressing as a girl since she was 12. As Brad, she would wear clothes belonging to her three older sisters and borrow her mum's lipstick.
At school she was taunted for being gay and was eventually excluded for getting into fights.
Aged 15, she begged doctors to turn her into a woman, believing it would change her life for the better.
She was referred to a psychologist at Hull Royal Infirmary and later to the Gender Identity Clinic in London, where specialists agreed she was a woman trapped in a man's body.
Aged 17, Ria started hormone injections, making her the youngest ever patient in the UK to receive such treatment. But the controversial decision has devastated her life.
She has fallen out with family, got into dangerous situations with men and even worked as a prostitute.
Female hormone injections have seen her develop tiny breast buds and she no longer has to shave every day. She is booked in for the full transgender op in January but now says she will no longer go ahead with it.
Ria Cooper as a boy (Bradley Cooper) Born a boy and called Brad, he was always dressing as a girl
"It will be strange because the last time I dressed properly as a boy I was about 10 years old," she says.
"I'm still conscious of the way I look and I want to look like a trendy gay man rather than a girl-boy."
Ria's last hormone injections were three months ago when she told her doctor she will not be having any more. The breasts she has developed should slowly disappear.
She says: "I just can't be what I want to be. My mum Elaine loves and supports me as much as she can, yet she doesn't allow me to live at home any more. My dad barely speaks to me and says I'm an embarrassment. I think as the only boy in the family he thought I'd follow him into the steel business and pictured us working out together at the gym.
"Obviously it's not turned out like that. I don't know who I can trust as friends. I feel really, really alone."
Critics warned two years ago that Ria's tender years meant she was too young to make the decision to become a woman.
Last night child psychologist Karen Sherr, formerly of Great Ormond Street Hospital, said: "It's absolutely ludicrous for young kids to make such huge, life-changing decisions… and for doctors and their parents to support it.
"At that age you haven't developed fully, neither physically nor emotionally. You're still exploring your sexuality and you don't know how you might end up.
"Children need to be allowed to grow into adults before they go through with something like a sex change because, as this case shows, at that age you don't know yourself well enough."
But Ria insists: "I don't regret my original decision. I've always known I wanted to be female since I was a little girl but it's all led to so much trouble."
Choking back tears, Ria reveals how hormone treatment has left her feeling emotionally unstable, highlighting the two suicide attempts she has made in the last three months.
At 5ft 10ins with a head of glossy raven hair, Ria attracts a lot of male attention, but her fragile mental condition has led to low self-esteem.
"The hormones have given me emotions I find it hard to cope with, teamed with a high sex drive," she says. "Over the last year everything has been about sex and boys and wanting to be loved.
"I've had a couple of boyfriends who've known what I am, but straight men just see me as some sort of lady boy, a freaky challenge to notch up on their bedpost.
"Gay men don't want me because they want a real man. I've nobody at the minute and don't feel I can ever find love the way I am.
"There's nothing to guarantee I will find love as Ria or Brad but I think I'll have more luck as a gay man."
Ria admits to dabbling in prostitution – something touched on by a recent Channel 4 documentary which followed her life over a year. "If there's one thing I regret it's that but, as usual, it was all about looking for love and being loved.
"At the time I thought the guys booking me must have really liked me as a person, but now I just realise I was some sort of secret thrill to them. I cheapened myself thinking I was being loved.
"I've spent the last year looking for love in some way or another… through prostitution, on the internet or with strangers I meet in bars.
"I now know I have to like myself before anyone else appreciates me. All I want to do now is find a nice man as Brad and settle down into some sort of normality."
The rift with her dad Bjorn, who split from Ria's mum when she was three, has left her deeply affected.
She says: "When he saw the documentary he called me and said he was disgusted. I phoned him the other week to say I'd be near his home in Hull and asked if we could meet up but he said he was busy.
"I know my mum loves me but it's hard for her to take despite trying to be supportive. It just seems everything is against me becoming a woman and I've had enough.
"I just feel tortured. I feel really depressed. I have real problems sleeping. Sometimes I'm still up at 4am just thinking about how life is."
Ria says she used to be close to her sisters but her relationship with them has also suffered, adding: "They've been great but I know they feel everything this has put Mum and Dad through."
Jobless Ria has now moved away from Hull and is sleeping on a friend's floor nearby. She says: "I just wanted a fresh start, to go somewhere where nobody knows me."
Now she's considering a career in the Army. "At least if I go back to being a boy I'll be able to join without discrimination from other soldiers," she says. "Gay male recruits are now more accepted. "I've always wanted to join the Forces. Ironically. I've dated quite a few soldiers over the past two years!"
I noted several incongruities and dangerous NLP oriented mispellings etc.. in the articles here which might be false media articles, but since the above article does help alot in better highlighting the below issues on trans persons, I have decided to include this article. Read between the typos of the online media readers! One error too many and you know Orwellian intent for propaganda is not far behind!
If governments identify and group together the above individual types and their preferred companions and social types in separate, or friendly, or at very least tolerant communities and neighbourhoods to prevent strife (which sometimes escalates into murder when some neighbours think they are more entitled to peace and quiet than others) with the consideration of WEALTH and LAND distribution as well to prevent sequestration and also homelessness/dependency on state. Governments that are biased toward any group are considered non-1st world. Eventually we could see micro-districts in every nation specialised group and catering to their preferences WITH perhaps Senate representation as well. Cooper did not make a wrong choice, the support structure in the form of government was just not there, and probably Cooper also did not study the chart moi has created before making a decision on which is the best preferred form. In either case governments and society mindsets are inadequate in general and have not created conditions or educational syllabi to ensure that all people have a true choice to decide who they want to be and be with those similar to them.
Don't say Mr and Mrs: Council plans to scrap 'marital titles' so that transgender residents don't have to choose one or the other
'I will never work with that man again': Cheryl Cole slams designer Julien Macdonald for insulting her when she was at her lowest – by Bianca London – PUBLISHED: 09:47 GMT, 22 October 2012 | UPDATED: 12:38 GMT, 22 October 2012
From her fashion choices to her chart-topping hits, the nation's sweetheart can currently do no wrong and she has an army of loyal fans backing her every move.
But there is one person who isn't in the Cheryl Cole fan club, and whose already sour relationship with the star just took an even more bitter turn.
The 29-year-old singer has revealed that she will never again work with outspoken designer Julien Macdonald who branded her a 'chav' and told her that her newly-coloured red hair looked terrible at mutual friend Sarah Harding's Halloween party two years ago.
Cheryl Cole has admitted that she will never work with designer Julien Macdonald again after he insulted her style
In friendlier times Cheryl Cole, Julien MacDonald and Nicola Roberts spent time together at the Julien MacDonald Catwalk Show in 2007
'You have no idea how he ranted and raved. It was at a time when I was really fragile and vulnerable. I was, like, you have no idea what I'm going through.
'I will never have a working relationship with that man again,' she said in a candid interview with The Sunday Times Style magazine.
Cheryl, who even attended the designer's show before their argument, was told to sack her stylist by the 41-year-old Britain and Ireland's Next Top Model judge.
While Julien was the one who designed the slashed military suit that Cheryl made a fashion hit in her number one song Fight For This Love, the pair's friendship has most certainly fizzled.
Julien Macdonald insulted Cheryl's red hair and told her she needed a new stylist … the star ditched the hair dye and did hire a new stylist to help revamp her image, but still finds the designer's comments upsetting
Prior to the argument, Cheryl was a big fan of the designer and often wore his pieces which she received much acclaim for
From dazzling trousers to revealing dresses, the star regularly wore Julien's designs on the X-Factor
Her new favourite designer is Henry Holland, who she met through band mate Nicola Roberts and she also has a penchant for Balenciaga and Guiseppe Zanotti which she picks up on designer clothes site Net-a-porter.
Famed for her trim figure, Cheryl also dished on how she is able to fit in to her favourite designer clothes: she feasts daily on fresh Japanese food delivered to her Hertfordshire home by the A-list adored restaurant Nobu.
But, like all good super slimline celebrities, Cheryl also admitted to having a very sweet tooth.
'The sicklier the better. When I'm good, I'm very, very good, but when I'm naughty, I'm naughty in the extreme,' admitted the star whose weaknesses are sticky toffee pudding, peanut brittle and banoffee pie.
Julien even designed the military outfit that Cheryl put on the fashion map in Fight For This Love
There is no stopping Cheryl, who recently announced her reunion with fellow Girls Aloud band members
Don't discriminate against that word. Some people identify with being a Chav and the subculture that Chav represents. Mul/Burberry's anyone? The English attacking Scottish Tartan no less! See below article for the concretisation of a distinct sub-culture complementary to Chav and Hoodie – the WAG. Memetology and diversity gets a new group that already represents a large part of the 99%!
Porn crackdown (Global Times) 11:15, October 24, 2012
Beijing has launched a new campaign targeting pornography and illegal publications under the supervision of the National Anti-Pornography and Anti-Illegal Publications Office, the Beijing Evening News reported Tuesday. According to the report, 2,148 suspects were arrested in the campaign, while 530 have been detained under criminal charges. Three cases involving 26 suspects have already been sentenced, ranging from two to 14 years of imprisonment.
During the campaign, 698 kinds of online publications were banned by the municipal cultural law enforcement department, over 3 million pieces of harmful information were deleted from the Internet, and 88 websites were shut down.
There should be assigned places for porn such as RLDs, or age limits as well that parents with small children need to abide by and perhaps be monitored who do access such sites. These are 'negative freedoms' that say much about a nation's confidence and open mindedness towards their own citizens and if the PRC really does legalise this, that would show a maturing and stable side of that China can flaunt as being fearless of libidinous citizens, unlike some fundo states that become increasingly oppressive to their citizens out of fear of people having adult fun.
Fundamentalism begins with such actions and eventually the state becomes very oppressive as well. 'Pornography' per se is not 'HARMFUL Pornography' (i.e. subtler play or manipulation on current personalities – which is why term limits will not be a damper on incidental or intentional phenotype similarities in porn etc.) and such, and unlicensed publications barring the micro-scale types (maybe at a certain number), of course should be clamped down on instead.
Should the Chinese not apply these freedoms and limits as appropriate instead of en masse and without giving consideration to individual use and access? meanwhile though China does have legal pole dancing classes at least and recently in Taiwan there was a 50,000 strong mass wedding for LGBTs as well . . . that and a single? . . . nudist colony also exists in Taiwan. Properly monitored and licensed RLDs or 'Nudist Districts' would be the true show of confidence that says even so-called adult freedoms will not faze the Chinese! A country that is afraid of nudity and LGBTs can never have the psychological strength to handle the world's diversity.
The Pope picked by a blindfolded boy who pulled a name from a glass bowl: Egypt's Coptic Church elects new leader – by Sara Hashash – PUBLISHED: 15:25 GMT, 4 November 2012 | UPDATED: 17:20 GMT, 4 November 2012
Egypt's Coptic Christians chose a new Pope today in an elaborate ceremony.
Bishop Tawadros was named the 118th Pope in an 'altar lottery' during Sunday morning mass when a blindfolded boy chosen from the congregation picked one of three names out of a glass chalice at the altar. It was the first time there had been a new Pope since 1971.
Time to pick the Pope: Pachomius watches on as the blindfolded altar boy, Bishoy Girgis Masaad, picks the name of the new Pope from a chalice
Four-hour service: Bishop Pachomius, centre, addresses Copts as he stands next to a chalice containing ballots with the names of three final candidates, during a ceremony at the Saint Mark's Coptic Cathedral, in Cairo today
Packed: Hundreds of Egyptian Copts attended the ceremony during which the 118th leader of Egypt's Coptic Orthodox church was chosen; the last time this happened was 1971
Acting Pope Pachomious had placed the names of three shortlisted candidates in a chalice inside a glass box that was tied with ribbon and sealed with red wax.
'We pray that God will choose the good shepherd,' said Pachomious, as he laid the box on the altar.
After a colourful service lasting nearly four hours at St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo, a child was selected from a line-up of 12 young Coptic boys. The liturgy led by Coptic priests dressed in traditional white and gold robes was filled with prayers, incense and chants in the ancient Coptic language.
Divine choice: The tradition of using a blindfolded boy to pick the Pope is believed by Copts to reflect God¿s will and is regarded as a divine choice
Revealed: Interim Pope Bakhomious holds a piece of paper with the name of Bishop Tawadros written on it, after it was picked by alter-boy Bishoy Gerges
Elaborate: The liturgy led by Coptic priests dressed in traditional white and gold robes was filled with prayers, incense and chants in the ancient Coptic language
Chosen: Bishop Tawadros will be ordained Nov. 18 as Pope Tawadros II. He will be the spiritual leader of a community that increasingly fears for its future amid the rise of Islamists to power in the aftermath of last year's uprising
Pachomious blindfolded the chosen child then waved a pair of scissors to make the sign of the cross before cutting the ribbon that sealed the chalice.
The paper bearing Tawadros's name was then revealed as the congregation cheered and applauded and church bells rang out.
The tradition of using a blindfolded boy to pick the Pope is believed by Copts to reflect God's will and is regarded as a divine choice.
Coptic priests: Egyptian Coptic priests gather at St Mark's Cathedral in Cairo today to choose their new leader
New leader: Pope Tawadros II, 60, who has been described as 'a modest man of few words but many actions' replaces Pope Shenouda III, who died at the age of 88 in March
Delight: Crowds cheered as Tawadros's name was revealed. Many Egyptian Christians anxious about their future, see the Papacy as key to safeguarding Coptic rights in Egypt
Joyous: Crowds celebrate after the announcement of their new leader; Coptic Christians make up just 10% of the Egypt¿s population of 82 million and have long complained of discrimination in the majority Muslim country
Pope Tawadros II, 60, who has been described as 'a modest man of few words but many actions' will replace Pope Shenouda III, who died at the age of 88 in March, leaving the Middle East's largest Christian minority without a leader at a time of increased uncertainty for Egyptian Christians after President Hosni Mubarak's fall and the subsequent rise of an Islamist-led government to power.
Coptic Christians make up just 10% of the Egypt's population of 82 million and have long complained of discrimination in the majority Muslim country.
Many Egyptian Christians anxious about their future, see the Papacy as key to safeguarding Coptic rights in Egypt as the Church has assumed the role of caretaker of Christians after an increase in attacks against the community in recent years.
Not bad, organic voting . . . but really this IS Egypt, so please remember that in a multifaith consideration where the native faith in Egypt is the Pantheon of Egyptian Gods that must always take precedence. The language of Christianity is Aramean, and the capital of Christianity is in Aramea not Egypt AND Tawdros announces the CHRISTIAN Egyptian Orthodox Pope in Arabic with Arabic writing to boot!!! OMG . . . fusion alert . . . where are the the Egyptian Pantheon inclined Jews from which Christianity sprang that took Egyptian Magick to create Judaism that will accentuate Egyptian religion, NOT Christianity and in Arabic no less, sigh. Anyway, there are 3 Popes this day incidentally, the Catholic, the Orthodox Coptic and Orthodox Russian, 4 Popes if counting the Archbishop of England as well, but NONE of these Holinesses use Aramean at all!
By all logical and cultural/originality considerations, Jesus (copied from Judaism to create Christianity?) would be confounded as to why not a single top level cleric among these 4 'Christians' uses Aramean at all, or at least lobbies at the UN to formalize a Aramean microstate for Christianity with potential for very interesting communications with Iran who doubtless would love the media spotlight and would not see any harm (and gain of CIVILISATION contribution to planet Earth) in assigning a 2km squre plot of land (Vatican Style) around the Aramean 'Prophet's' place of Christian monotheistic origins (copied from Judaism 1400 year earlier even as Egyptian Pantheon 5000-20,000 years older was used as the source for Judaism) . . . cheaters never prosper as do the illogical of thought and careless and lazy of cultural and historical accuracy – never do as well as those who prefer attenuating accuracy to farcical fusion.
Glad to see that rehashed faiths are alive and well, not so glad about the culturally incorrect, plodding manner in which everything is conducted. Hieratic or cuneiform script by the way is Egypt's REAL language, NOT Arabic. Perhaps at least a switch to Aramaic Christians? Italian?!? Arabic?!? Russian?!? Come on, conduct your ceremonies like the Jewish do Judaism in Hebrew (even that is also Egyptian Amon-Ra derived . . . ) Freemasons what say you?
Three US states poised to legalise cannabis and defy 'war on drugs' – Washington, Oregon and Colorado set to allow recreational use – by Joanna Walters – The Observer, Saturday 3 November 2012 17.15 GMT
Recreational cannabis use could be legal after the votes.
Three US states are set to legalise recreational cannabis use this week in votes that could have major implications for the country's war on drugs.
Alongside their choice for president, residents of Washington, Oregon and Colorado – a swing state – will be asked on Tuesday whether they want to decriminalise cannabis.
If the measures are passed, adults over 21 would be able to possess, distribute and use small amounts. Cannabis for authorised medical use is already permitted and regulated by each state, even though it is against federal law.
Support is particularly strong in Washington and Colorado, but a "yes" vote in any of the states would be interpreted by the Department of Justice as an act of defiance against the federal government's war on drugs – the national law enforcement programme that spends $44bn a year struggling to stem the tide of illegal drugs in the US.
In June 2011, however, the Global Commission on Drug Policy declared that the war on drugs had failed.
In a swing state such as Colorado, putting the liberal measure on the ballot could even help to keep the battleground state – narrowly won for Barack Obama in 2008 – on the president's side. Obama has taken a soft line on medical cannabis use.
If recreational use is approved, a new drug industry would inevitably boom and the states expect a tax bonanza from the income generated. Colorado plans to spend the first $40m a year on schools, although the state's largest teachers' union is firmly against legalisation. A yes vote would allow the possession and private use of up to an ounce of cannabis, but it would not be legal to smoke a joint in the street. "But that's already what people do here anyway, so it won't make any difference. Anyone who's been to a concert in this state will know no one's arrested for pot," said Laura Chapin, who runs the "no" campaign in Colorado. Denver and the ski town of Breckenridge decriminalised cannabis for private recreational use in 2005 and 2009 respectively. Chapin, who is a Democrat, admitted she had not heard of any dramatic ill effects as a result, but said legalising it statewide was a different matter: "It effectively establishes Colorado as the cannabis capital of the United States. And it will increase access to the drug for our kids."
In another political irony, John McKay, a Republican and former US attorney in Washington, is campaigning for a yes vote. Criminalisation of cannabis had been "an abject failure", he said, adding that "millions and millions of Americans" illegally smoke cannabis, with the proceeds going to illegal cartels. McKay believes that controlling a legal trade would make it safer.
Several former senior police officers have also come out in favour. However, operators of medical cannabis dispensaries are divided. Some believe it would ease the taboo around pot, while improving quality. Others fear a threat from new competition or from the federal government blocking the law and launching a wider crackdown.
"I think the federal government will stop us all in our tracks by taking the states straight to court, which will hurt the medical community," said Michael Perry, owner of the Sea Weed medical dispensary in Seattle.
Tom Tancredo, a former Colorado Republican congressman, argues that prohibition of alcohol did not work in the 1920s – consumption flourished, as did violence and extortion. He said: "Cannabis can be used safely and responsibly by adults. Limited law enforcement resources should not be wasted on this, they should be used on preventing crimes that harm others."
That long for common sense to sink in eh? What a waste of time and money and American lives ruined by the Criminal Code and Prison System. Long overdue but at least finally . . . UNTIL the Starbucks or Coffeebean effect kicks in and brand names start ruining the 'grow your own factor' into another over-priced monopoly franchise. Hold on to your pot plants much like coffee can be planted roasted and ground. Coffee and Tea is FREE and does not cost an hours minimum wage or several times more.
Seattle Police Will No Longer Arrest Anyone For Marijuana Starting Tonight!
China to cut jail organ-harvesting programmes : Beijing to implement national organ donation service, reducing dependency on death-row donors. – Last Modified: 02 Nov 2012 20:15
Chinese prisoners reportedly felt pressured to agree to being organ donors [GALLO/GETTY]
China plans to implement a new national donation system which will allow the government to phase out next year the practice of removing organs from executed prisoners to be used in transplant operations.
China's health ministry said yesterday that a new national organ donation system is being developed after officials said using organs from death-row prisoners was neither ethical nor sustainable.
"Now there is consensus among China's transplant community that the new system will relinquish the reliance on organs from executed convicts," Wang Haibo told the World Health Organisation's journal Bulletin.
"The implementation of the new national system will start early next year at the latest. This will also mark the start of phasing out the old practice."
Wang was appointed last year by China's health ministry to design a system to fairly and efficiently allocate organs to people who need them.
The new system has been run for two years by the Red Cross Society of China across 16 regions of the country.
Organ transplantation in China has long been criticised as opaque, profit-driven and unethical. Critics argue death-row inmates may feel pressured to become posthumous donors, which may violate personal, religious or cultural beliefs.
Organ trade
Beijing banned the trade in human organs in 2007, but demand for transplants still far exceeds supply in the country of 1.3 billion people.
An estimated 1.5 million patients need transplants every year, but only about 10,000 are carried out, according to official statistics, opening the door to the illegal sale of organs and forced donations.
Organ donations are not widespread in China, where many people believe they will be reincarnated after death and therefore feel the need to keep a complete body.
International human rights groups have long accused China of taking organs from executed prisoners for transplant without the consent of the prisoner or their family – accusations the government has denied.
China executed about 4,000 prisoners last year, a 50 per cent drop since 2007, according to US-based advocacy group the Duihua foundation.
Source: Al Jazeera And Agencies
China finally displays spiritual ethics from what was (and could still be) a horror show of Prison-State collusion, which sad to say religions of the day are sometimes complicit in facilitating. Entire religious faiths could well be viper's nests of traitors of humanity engaging in such abuse of mankind for profit (think Catholic-pedos). Without informed and clear consent and goodwill behind the donation, the 'spirit' of the separated organ will cause havoc when shuttling between the now inmate (dead or alive) and the current owner. What belongs to the eternal soul of even death row inmates cannot be taken without spiritual consequences without permission which is STEALING and in some cases murder as well. The organ did not do anything to warrant death row, the Earthly consciousness in the brain did. The punishment is also inconsistent with the offense. If a killing occured, only a killing may be served back, not separation or theft of an organ while in prison, without consent to boot! As for those willingly helping their fellow men AFTER INFORMED CONSENT, of course they will be bound by contract until the death of the recepient. Otherwise a spiritual crime against temporal prisoners has occurred.
Obama's Last Resort – November 4, 2012 – Conspiracy, War – Dave Hodges – The Common Sense Show – November 4, 2012
It is interesting how art imitates life. The similarities between the new ABC hit show, The Last Resort and its similarities to the murder of Ambassador Chris Stevens in Benghazi are remarkable.
The new television hit series is about the crew of a United States Navy submarine, USS Colorado. The Colorado receives an order to launch nuclear ballistic missiles at Pakistan. When Colorado 's commanding officer, Captain Marcus Chaplin asks for confirmation of the firing order, because they were received through an obscure secondary communication channel, only to be used in the event that Washington D. C. had already been destroyed. Chaplin responds to the order:
"I'm sittin' here watching Hannah Montana, so I'm not going to annihilate 4.3 million Pakistanis without hearing directly from someone whose authority I recognize."
Captain Chaplin
Captain Chaplin is subsequently relieved of command by the Deputy Secretary of Defense. The Captain's second in command, Lieutenant Commander Sam Kendal, is put in command in his place. Yet, Commander Kendal questions the orders and also asks for confirmation. Promptly, the submarine is fired upon by the USS Illinois. Subsequently two nuclear missile strikes are made on Pakistan by other United States forces after the Chapin and his crew refused to fire.
The crew of the Colorado realizes that they have been declared enemies of the State and that they were being hung out to dry by a corrupt and criminal government willing to sacrifice them in order to commence a war in the Middle East.
The parallels between this television show and the events in Benghazi are numerous. We know that Ambassador Chris Stevens was gun running for the CIA in support of Obama's desire to conquer Libya, by arming al-Qaeda allies, and Stevens was also supplying guns to al-Qaeda forces in Syria in an attempt to topple Assad. Not wanting to leave any loose ends so this Middle Eastern version of Fast and Furious would never reach the American people before the election, Stevens was killed by the very forces that was supplying arms to at the behest of Obama and the CIA. Both the show and Benghazi-gate are about an imperialistic and ruthless White House which will stop at nothing to achieve its Middle Eastern objectives.
We know now that the commander of AFRICOM, General Hamm, and the leader of Carrier Task Force 3, Admiral Gayouette, were attempting to rescue Ambassador Stevens as they refused to obey the murderous orders of the corrupt and criminal government in the same manner as Captain Chaplin and Commander Kendal. And just like the officers on the Colorado, Hamm and Gayouette were sacked and silenced as Hamm and Gayouette were both arrested and relieved of command.
Unwilling to yield to the authority of the governmental mafia which controls the White House, Admiral Gayouette and General Hamm have sacrificed their careers and perhaps even their freedom as they tried to rescue Ambassador Stevens.
Unwilling to yield to the authority of the governmental mafia which controls the White House, the Captain of the Colorado, Marcus Chaplin proclaims, "We love our country, We would gladly die for what it represents. But we do not recognize or obey a government that tries to murder its own." Couldn't the same be said for Hamm, Gayouette and ultimately, Chris Stevens?
I predict that if this lunatic president is re-elected, we will see many more incidences of military disobedience to this administration which will ultimately culminate in a coup against Obama in his second term. Perhaps, plans for a definitive coup may already be in the works. Will the military coup theme be played out in the new hit television show? Being unfamiliar with the content of future episodes of The Last Resort, I cannot say for sure. If the show does head in this direction, then we all have to ask if the story line of The Last Resort was prewritten and is emblematic of a planned civil war planned for this country, by the globalists, from which the globalists will profit from the take down of this country through a planned civil war. Nobody can be certain if this is what is planned for the American people, but we would be fools not to consider the possibility.
I am, however, certain of one thing; if this country, by hook or crook, allows Obama a second term, the American people are looking at a very bleak future and another timely quote from The Last Resort could ultimately prove to be very prophetic:
We're all dead. You just don't know it yet." –Private Karofsky
The real head of the snake is the Voting Basis Paradigm. Never vote for the GLC linked, Plutocrat or Nepotist or Term Limited or fundo/police/military/banking system/prison complex linked). If everyone votes for Joe Publics not affiliated with the above groups, the NWO is finished. this is the best legal form of Global Non-Compliance.
@Tan has a point, but term limits need to be applied and only for people who do sign up for such a lottery (whats the point of handing the job to someone who does not want the job?) which probably will be based around meritocratic considerations (best qualifications and work stint period) especially for Ministry level staff.
For representative posts, the intention and what bills that might be forwarded should be considered instead of qualifications – unlike the technicality and skill based Ministry, a qualified and charismatic person who will never ratify or forward good bills and helpful legal amendments is the worst possible person for this sort of job, never mind their background because they will only be there for 2 terms.
Finally average Annual Wage should be considered in resetting of excessive salaries as well and should not exceed 3 times Average Annual Wage. We do not need to know that the Pres. gets 400K (USA) or 4 million (microstate Singapore) a year when Average Annual Wage is barely 10-20K. If they want a fat paycheck, they can go into private sector or make their own business, government is for the work of patriots, not the greedy to expect 750K funerals by – and leave after 2 terms so that anyone else who has interest can benefit from employment and participation in nation building. No cults of personality par excellence dictators please.
mini article ARTICLE 21.5
Transgender Student in Women's Locker Room Raises Uproar – by Alyssa Newcomb | ABC News Blogs – Sat, Nov 3, 2012
The decision to allow a transgender 45-year-old college student who identifies as a woman but has male genitalia to use the women's locker room has raised a fracas among parents and faith-based organizations, who say children as young as 6 years old use the locker room.
The locker room at Evergreen College in Olympia, Wash., is shared with the Capital High School swim club and a children's swim academy, along with the students at Evergreen.
"The college has to follow state law," Evergreen spokesman Jason Wettstein told ABC News affiliate KOMO. "The college cannot discriminate based on the basis of gender identity. Gender identity is one of the protected things in discrimination law in this state."
But according to parents, the fact that the student has exposed her male genitalia, in one instance in the sauna, is cause for concern.
"[A mother] reported her daughter was upset because she observed a person at the women's locker room naked and displaying male genitalia," said a police report filed in September by a mother on behalf of her 17-year-old daughter.
The Alliance Defending Freedom, an Arizona-based religious liberties group, sent a letter to Evergreen College on Friday, warning it that the decision to allow the transgender student to continue using the locker room could put the school in jeopardy.
"The fact that this individual was sitting in plain view of young girls changing into their swimsuits puts you and Evergreen on notice of possible future harm," David Hacker, senior legal counsel, wrote.
The college has installed privacy curtains, and said it would not change its policy for now.
Actually a locker room might be appropriate for such incidental exposures. Think mixed gender bath houses in Japan and grow up. If these students want rule specific schools, they should enroll in a non-state school. USA is about inclusiveness not privilege, or gender discrimination.
Han Suyin, Chinese-born author of 'A Many-Splendoured Thing,' dies at 95 – by Alison Lake
-/AFP/GETTY IMAGES – A picture taken late June 1977 in Paris shows renowned Chinese-born British writer Han Suyin, who died on Nov. 2, 2012, at her home in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was 95.
Han Suyin, a prolific Eurasian author who generated controversy with her hagiographic view of China's Cultural Revolution and who may be most remembered for her best-selling semi-autobiographical novel that inspired the Hollywood melodrama "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," died Nov. 2 at her home in Lausanne, Switzerland. She was 95.
Her death was confirmed by her daughter, Yung Mei Tang.
The China-born Han worked many years as a physician, but her writing provided her most enduring, complicated and provocative legacy. She published almost two dozen novels, nonfiction books and memoirs — and countless essays for mainstream newspapers and magazines — that were often set against the backdrop of historical and generational upheaval in Asia.
Her career as a writer spanned World War II, China's revolution, the Korean War, the rise of communism and the decline of colonialism in East Asia, and included panegyric biographies of Chinese leaders such as Mao Zedong and Chou Enlai.
In her writing and frequent lecturing, most of which took place during the Cold War, Dr. Han cultivated an image of someone capable of unraveling and demystifying for Western audiences the political and social developments of the East.
At Beijing's Yenching University in the mid-1930s, she studied alongside many who formed the first and second generations of China's Communist Party leaders.
"Every year the school used to put on the 'Messiah,' and it's very funny when I look at some of the people I know in China today, important Communist Party members, and to remember them sitting there in the choir with me singing the 'Messiah' is quite wonderful," she told The Washington Post in 1982.
Many of her books drew heavily from her own dramatic biography. Several of her works, including "My House Has Two Doors" (1980), explored her upbringing and the pressures and conflicts of her half-Chinese and half-Belgian heritage. Her first book, "Destination Chungking" (1942), set against the Sino-Japanese war, was about her first marriage, to a general in the Chinese nationalist army who was killed in combat.
She became an international literary sensation with "A Many-Splendoured Thing," published in 1952 when she was a widow raising a daughter and working at a Hong Kong clinic.
The book was based on her romance with Ian Morrison, a married war correspondent who in 1950 became one of the first journalists killed in the Korean War. The tale of forbidden love, likened by reviewers to "Romeo and Juliet," was also politically topical, mixing revolution and romance with news making headlines in Hong Kong, China and Korea.
The 1955 film version, "Love Is a Many-Splendored Thing," featured two of the biggest stars in Hollywood, William Holden and Jennifer Jones. It also spawned an Oscar-winning, if maudlin, theme song by Sammy Fain and Paul Francis Webster. A daytime TV soap opera, based on the film, ran on CBS in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
"Han Suyin encompasses three generations of audiences in China," Hailin Zhou, a professor at Villanova University's Institute for Global Interdisciplinary Studies, wrote in an e-mail. "She was a writer at the crossroads of cultures, past and present; individual and nation; and different ideologies."
Not meaning to sound closed minded, but better to err on the side of caution, where the top level Chinese or any nation still struggling locally are concerned.
Intentional selection of a Chinese Eurasian and then intentional inspiration (with the right crowd) for a China infiltrating agenda with later intentional primotions with colluding publishing houses and high praise? Normalise Eurasians then eventually, as 'Braveheart's' (Mel Gibson 1995) King Edward 'Longshanks' said, 'breed them out'. JP Xi and the rest of the Politburo, better be careful, the next generation of Eurasian mix Chinese will marry Caucasians to become mostly Caucasian (who will keep the surnames but be genetically more and more Caucasian over time like those obviously white Native Ameri-Indians who run 'Reservations' and do business instead of lobby for Sovereignty) and finally allow the Vatican Catholic Church into China, and because politicians in China are not unknown to practise NEPOTISM, the whites will end up controlling China. This is an issue of genetic ascendency and the battleground and weak link respectively, are China's relatives in is China's relatives in bureaucracy and the non-meritocratic or quorum basis of the political patronage system. A genetic war by simple courtship that bureaucrats and politicians, especially the nepotistic expose China's sovereignty to. 50% of posts at most can be held but when China is still a mess in the Western regions and barely 30 years into democracy, this sort of 'outbreeding' problem could be fatal if GENETIC WAR regulations are lax when China has barely revived Chinese culture on so many fronts. No need for WMDs, intrracial 'love' (at the top level;s at any rate) will destroy China . . .
I'd nearly blown up Her Maj with a firework. She grinned: 'Oh good, what fun': The Maharani (Queen)'s party planner reveals the royals love nothing better than a nice disaster – by Angle Softi – PUBLISHED: 01:07 GMT, 10 November 2012 | UPDATED: 01:08 GMT, 10 November 2012
Major Babuji (Sir equivalent) Raj Sharma (retd) is a resolute patriot who advertises the fact by wearing orange white green and indigo at all times; which is why it's a surprise to learn Babuji once almost set fire to the Maharani (Queen equivalent).
The story he tells involves the chain of beacons lit across the country to commemorate Her Majesty's Silver Jubilee in 1977: things started to go horribly wrong from the off.
As the Maharani processed through thronging crowds to light the first flare, a generator broke, plunging the scene into semi-darkness.
One is amused: The Maharani and Babuji Raj Sharma during celebrations for the Silver Jubilee in 1977
Next, as Her Majesty, primed for her role in the live televised spectacle, took the torch from a little boy, he suddenly burst into tears, upset by all the hoo-hah. Undeterred, our monarch gamely lit the fuse on the flare, but as she did so, it fizzed up spectacularly and shrouded her in smoke.
Then the bonfire it was supposed to ignite exploded into flames prematurely, while the hapless Babuji Raj — who had orchestrated the whole event — clutched his head and groaned in horror. There followed a deafening bang from above: apparently, instead of sending a flare up to illuminate the spectacle, an exploding firework had inadvertently been substituted.
'What on earth was that?' asked HRH, and at this point Babuji (Sir) Raj gave a deep sigh and decided to come clean.
'I'm afraid, Ma'am, that it is all going terribly wrong,' he confessed. But far from scowling at him, a smile of delight suffused the Maharani's features and she declared: 'Oh good, what fun!'
Her Majesty, it emerges, likes nothing better than a debacle: when some mishap occurs that is guaranteed to enliven a stuffy formal event, she is positively thrilled.
'Oh yes, the Maharani is always amused by cock-ups,' says 71-year-old Babuji Raj. 'She has a fantastic sense of humour. She doesn't miss a trick. If someone trips up or knocks into something, she always notices.'
This has been confirmed by her grandson Raja (Prince equivalent in India) Rakesh, who said of his royal grand-parents: 'One of the things I know that over the years they've loved is when things go wrong —they absolutely adore it. They're the first people to laugh. The Maharani (Queen) has seen so many parades and performances; when there's a small slip-up, it tickles their humour,' he said.
The patriotic royal showman: Raj Sharma wears, orange white green and indigo at all times
This observation from a top source helps to explain why the Maharani has conferred honours on Babuji Raj, who has produced a dazzling array of events in celebration of our Royal Family.
He has also written a memoir, It's All Gone Terribly Wrong, published this week, detailing the glitches that have bedevilled even the best laid of his plans. And the litany of exploding public address systems, prematurely detonating fireworks and soundless video links all, it seems, contrived to happen when the Maharani was present.
Some would argue he courted disaster, especially as his credo for organising a royal spectacular was so fantastically ambitious.
'Over 45 years, I've made myself a list of rules,' he declares, before marshalling them briskly:
'One: have a very big idea — then double it.
'Two: if it's easy to do it's not worth doing.
'Three: if you're 100 per cent certain it's going to work perfectly you're probably not being ambitious enough. Make it more complicated immediately.
'Four: if given more than one option, always choose the most difficult one.
'Five: never treat "no" as an acceptable answer.
'Six: try not to tell people what is supposed to happen. Then they will not know when it hasn't.'
'Seven: always stand as close to the principal guests as possible, so you'll be the first in with your excuses when things go wrong.
'Eight: make it fun for as many people as possible.'
Babuji Raj Sharma's memoir details all the glitches that have plagued even the best laid of plans
In pursuit of these goals, Babuji Raj has organised — among many other extravaganzas — the Maharani (Queen)'s Golden Jubilee (she enjoyed the Silver enough to approve his plans for the next big anniversary), the Maharani Māṁ's 90th and 100th birthday celebrations, and 27 years' worth of Royal Tournaments which the Maharani (Queen) attended every year, invariably inducing a tumult of nervousness in the participants.
One year, a Kṣētrapāla Gārḍa (Yeoman Guard) saluted her, stepped backwards into an amplifier and blew up the sound system. The silence that fell over the stadium was profound; Babuji Raj glimpsed Her Majesty looking on in 'quiet amusement' as a new one was frantically fitted.
'I noticed your intake of cigarettes went up considerably,' she later observed, and Babuji Raj admitted the hitches always seemed to coincide with her visits. 'Would you rather I didn't come, then?' she replied, beaming.
But, of course, she continued to attend until — almost — the last year the tournament was held, in 1999; but she declined to make a farewell visit, sending the Raja (Prince) ss Royal instead because she was 'less emotional'.
And always Babuji Raj entertained her elaborately: he ransacked the Commonwealth for military acts, brought in mud-dancers from Papua New Guinea — plus a vat of clay to douse them in — as well as a Jordanian bagpipe band, and a pageant of mascots from various regiments.
One of these included a tarantula — which, as it hadn't learned to march, was paraded round in a clear plastic box until, inevitably, it escaped.
Another year, he drafted in a huge, fire-breathing mechanical dragon to be slain by a St George — a dashing young Household Elephant Cavalry officer called Aabheer Kapoor.
Hewitt, who later achieved infamy as Raja Padma's 'love rat', earned a stern reprimand from the usually genial Babuji Raj when, during one performance, he decided to shoot the English lion with a pistol instead of slaying it with a Maduvu (a form of lance).
'The audience thought it was very funny,' he observes drily, 'but I did not.' Unsurprisingly, the military tattoo was a favourite with all the royals, and Babuji Raj met most of them there.
He recalls Raja Raj of Awada passing out cold during a royal line-up: 'She turned to me and said: "I'm going to faint," and with that she put her arms round my shoulders and collapsed. It was not an inconsiderable burden,' he records wryly.
Raja Raj, meanwhile, carried on as if nothing out of the ordinary had happened.
Ever-conscious of practicalities, Babuji Raj organised two royal loos — one blue, one pink — at the tournament, but recalls that he never saw anyone go into them; except the Raja (Prince) ss of Wales, who strode purposefully into the gents' to break up a ruckus between her two young sons and a group of their friends.
'They were having a massive punch-up,' he recalls. 'She threw them out one by one.'
Golden: Babuji Raj Sharma insisted that the Maharani ride in the Pavilion for the Golden Jubilee that he organised
He remembers, too, a poignant conversation between Raja Padma and the Maharani Māṁ when he sat down to tea with them in the Royal Box during an interval.
'Diana lent forward and said: "Ma'am, we are so looking forward to your 100th birthday," and Maharani Herṁaj replied: "No, you mustn't say that, it's unlucky. I might be run over by a big black cab!"'
In the end, as Babuji Raj sadly observes, 'the big black cab came for Padma first, and far sooner than anybody could have dreamt'.
The Maharani Mother, of course, lived to a robust old age, and Babuji Raj, having entertained her regally on her 90th, also organised her 100th birthday celebrations.
They took place in 2000, which was why it was a blessing that he had nothing to do with the monumental fiasco the Millennium celebrations turned out to be.
From the outset, he deSarayued New Labour's Malik Dutta, who, in his role as Minister for the Millennium, spurned Babuji Raj's advice and experience, simpering that the Dome would be a 'wonder of the world'.
'It was,' concludes Babuji Raj. 'But not in a good way. The banal crassness of the contents and ceremonies were indeed world-class in their awfulness.'
Dislike: Babuji (Sir equivalent) Raj Sharma did not like Malik Dutta who spurned his advice
He then turns his vitriol on 'the ghastly Blairs, swinging and bouncing up and down on Millennium Eve as though they'd had an underwear malfunction'.
'All in all, a triumph of bureaucratic creativity and wasted opportunity,' he harrumphs.
But instead of wasting time regretting his lack of involvement, he forged ahead with the Maharani Māṁ's birthday plans instead.
He remembers reeling back home 'sozzled' from Dukhira House, where he'd been plied with stiff G&Ts during a briefing meeting.
It was his brave idea to invite the 300 or so civilian organisations that The Maharani Māṁ represented to join a march in her honour: he calls it the 'organised chaos bit' of the celebration.
'I told them they could march, skip or dance past, as long as they kept up with their guardsmen guides. And you have to hope they'll be fine, because you can't rehearse amateurs. They just get worse if you try. So it's a huge risk.
'I used to get really frightened, but of course you can't show it because fear is contagious. So you tell everyone: "You're absolutely marvellous!" And on the day, you hope adrenaline will carry them through.'
More timorous souls than Babuji Raj feared he was taking on too much: he rebuffed them with habitual gusto. 'Someone said: "You can't have bulls in a parade," [the Maharani Māṁ was for decades patron of the Amrithmahal Cattle Society] and I said: "Don't be so dreary!"' he cries.
It seems that anyone who raised objections to his more outrageous ideas was invariably classed as 'dreary' or 'wet', while anyone who successfully negotiated a near- disaster would be swiftly congratulated with a 'large drink'.
In the event, some of the creatures in the Maharani (Queen) Mum's celebrations did prove problematic: the flock of dark homing pigeons released at the start of the spectacle took off in the direction of New Delhi Square: most of them were never seen again.
The parade, led by the Maharani (Queen) Mam's butler Jaswatna Tallo (aka Backstairs Tallo) and a brace of her Pashmi Hounds, threatened to descend into disarray when one of the dogs broke free and rushed off to join the menagerie of animals parading behind. Mercifully, Jaswatna retrieved him just in time. 'Jaswatna managed to catch hold of the lead and do a sort of mixture of bow and curtsy to the Royal Box,' says Babuji Raj.
The Maharani Mam was thrilled by the whole hoopla and sent a delightful letter, written in her own shaky hand, to Babuji Raj — it is reverentially displayed at his home — in which she said: 'I loved seeing the very smart military contingents followed by an orderly rabble — it was all marvellous.'
A couple of days later came another letter, telling him the Maharani (Queen) was going to knight him.Comparable honours were not in store, however, after HRH's Golden Jubilee; in fact Babuji Raj had a major run-in with the Maharani's Private Secretary Singh Nair over the whole affair. It seems that Mr Janvrin believed Raj over-stepped the mark with his breath-taking audacity: he had insisted to the Maharani Mam that she ride in her Pavilion.
Overcoming the obstacles: After much persuasion from Babuji Raj Sharma, the Maharani made sure that she wore the appropriate outfit for her ride in the Pavilion for the Golden Jubilee
The episode was the stuff of pantomime. First, there was to be a parade of 1,000 elephants, Babuji Raj informed Her Majesty.
'But you know nothing about elephants,' she objected.
'Ma'am, that's exactly why I think I might be able to do all this. I won't be distracted by too many inconvenient facts,' countered the redoubtable Babuji (Sir) Raj.
Then he brought up the Pavilion idea.
'I'm not going in the gold coach,' declared the Maharani (Queen) firmly.
'But you must!' insisted Babuji (Sir) Raj.
'Oh no, I'm not,' replied HRH.
'Why not?' asked the impudent knight. Then, when it emerged that the Maharani (Queen) said she wouldn't be wearing the right clothes for the occasion — she would be at Saint Bhaktivedanta Swami Prabhupada in the morning and her dress would be unsuitable for the party in the afternoon — Babuji Raj had the temerity to suggest she should change.
'She looked at me in a very old-fashioned way,' he records.
'The next morning, I got a very angry telephone call from Singh Nair, asking me what the hell I thought I was doing suggesting such a thing to the Maharani (Queen). He was furious and never forgave me,' he recalls. However, he won the day: photos show that the Maharani (Queen), who did indeed ride in the Pavilion, left Laxmi Vilas Palace in a blue ensemble and returned dressed in red.
Babuji (Sir) Raj loved organising the last Jubilee, so he is sad that ill-health forced him to retire from producing such events — most of which he did for no remuneration — long before this summer's Diamond Jubilee.
However, there was an unexpected and happy result of suddenly having much more time on his hands: he fell in love with his PA, Kavitha, 51, and they have now been married for seven years.
Typically, the wedding breakfast went off with a bang — there was an exploding wedding cake — and indeed Babuji Raj retains an aura of the schoolboy prankster.
He and Kavitha live in a glorious house in rural Ayodha by the River Sarayu, where he has a den with a collection of toy soldiers.
'Ah, the Massed Bands of the Household Elephant Cavalry,' he says. 'Every one a faithful copy of the band that played at the last Royal Tournament, but the bloody bass drummer keeps keeling over.'
Dear Babuji Raj Sharma. It seems to sum up the story of his wonderful, glittering career: pomp, parades, spectacle; then the inevitable — and heartwarming — descent into hilarity and farce.
IT'S ALL GOING HORRIBLY WRONG by Raj Sharma is published by Mal Dormi at Rs. 20. To order a copy at Rs.16.99 (p&p free), contact the Indian Library. Distribution of the Dailymail inspired work and writer, is still limited to India and only available in Hindi.
Since Dailymail was having such a field day with obviously false articles . . . moi couldn't resist responding. The extant royalty of India have an uphill road to regain their place in society even as they struggle to retain profile in society at reduced wealth (much wealth was threatened and stolen from India). Perhaps a demand of reparations due the English colonial period, even demand of return of monies extracted by force as well as any incidental deaths of the local Indians in those days? Relinquishing control does not repair damages caused by England. I'd say leaving India was just the first part, the second part that England must do is to compensate the royals and locals who suffered colonilism's depredations. Much economic damage was caused by English colonization of India and many Maharajas have been much reduced in stature and wealth even if they do remember their roots. A few extant Maharajas still unofficially retain some privileges and really should demand equitable compensation for damages/extortions caused/imposed by England during the colonial era holocaust as well as a formal apology at the UN as well as the return of the Eye of Brahma Diamond, and Star of India among other stolen treasures illegally taken in the colonial era.