The United States Censors The Thick of It.
According to this report, the American version of The Thick of It has been censored for bad language.
What does it say for a country, where you can’t say “Fuck” on television, but you keep the death penalty?
A Fiesty Debate In Paris
It would appear that it was a feisty debate in Paris between President Sarkozy and his challenger, Francois Hollande. But no one got in a knock out blow.
Now there’s an idea!
Perhaps the two of them, should meet in the boxing ring!
It would be a world-wide TV hit!
The EU’s Effect On Executions in the United States
This is a piece I found on the Internet. It shows how the EU’s stand against the death penalty and their reluctance to sell needed drugs to states like Oklahoma and California is stopping executions.
Oklahoma, which executes more prisoners per capita than any other state, said on Wednesday it has only 1 remaining dose of pentobarbital, a key drug used to kill condemned prisoners.
One reason the state is running out is because of a ban on the sale of drugs for such purposes by the European Union, which opposes the death penalty.
Oklahoma has a single vial of pentobarbital left after the execution on Tuesday night of 57-year-old Michael B. Selsor, prison spokesman Jerry Massie said.
Oklahoma is the 1st state to publicly admit it has nearly exhausted supplies of the drug but other states may follow because of the EU clamp down, said Richard Dieter, executive director of the Death Penalty Information Center in Washington, D.C.
Pentobarbital is a sedative that is the first of a 3-drug cocktail administered by Oklahoma. It is followed by vecuronium bromide, which stops breathing, and potassium chloride, which stops the heart.
Oklahoma was the 1st state in the country to use pentobarbital in 2010 after a shortage of another anesthetic, sodium thiopental, caused penal officials in death penalty states to look for an alternative.
11 other states also use it. Arizona and Ohio use a single injection of pentobarbital for executions while nine states use the multi-drug protocol, according to the Death Penalty Information Center.
Lundbeck Inc, the only manufacturer of pentobarbital, is located in Denmark and forbids its U.S.-based wholesalers from selling the drug for lethal injections, while the European Union forbids its member countries from exporting drugs for executions.
Oklahoma could resort to another anesthetic never used before in executions, Massie said, or it could try to tap existing supplies of pentobarbital.
A 3rd option, he said, would entail going back to sodium thiopental. “It’s available but you run into the same kind of problem. Companies don’t want to use it for executions,” Massie said.
The only manufacturer of sodium thiopental in the United States, Hospira Inc, halted production last year.
Dieter said even if states have stockpiled a large supply of pentobarbital, expiration dates eventually will require new orders, he said.
Any change in death penalty procedures typically are met with legal challenges and sometimes lengthy administrative reviews, Dieter added, noting that California has not had an execution since 2006 because of exhaustive review procedures. A measure has qualified for the ballot in November in California calling for repeal of the death penalty.
Oklahoma has executed 3 men so far this year but has no more executions scheduled. There are 60 people on death row in the state, Massie said.
The state has the highest number of executions per capita since the death penalty was restored in the United States in 1976. Texas has executed more people but has a far larger population.
If the Americans are serious about executing people, they could surely manufacture the drugs they need themselves. Of course they should always use the Iranian method and hang people in public from a crane. I’m certain that the American public would like that. It might even be good for the tourist trade!
It’s Not Just Customers That Hate Banks
I found this article entitled Why Investors hate banks. It is a fascinating read, with the main point being that if you invest in utility shares over the past year, your return will be six times that of investing in banks.
Iranian Faces Death Penalty For Watching Satellite TV
This may seem rather extreme, but it’s true.
An Iranian political prisoner, following 2 years of detention in various solitary prisons, has received a death sentence from a criminal court in Tehran for having watched and contacted an Iranian dissident television program, Simay-e Azadi, says HRDIA.net which is a Persian language website with a focus on human rights situation in Iran.
Simay-e Azadi is a program in Farsi language that is broadcast from abroad presenting the views of the Iranian opposition, the Mujahedin-e Khalq or MEK.
Mullahs consider the MEK to be their arch foe enemy.
Gholamreza Khosravi, 47, is said to support the MEK. He was previously jailed for his political activities during the 80s.
He had earlier received a much lighter sentence in his hometown but when his case was transferred to a court in Tehran, he received the death sentence. A review court later turned down the sentence but another court immediately reinstated it.
Khosravi told reporters that he will not ask for a pardon and that his death sentence is illegal and he did not commit any crime to deserve such punishment.
The Iranian people are, more than ever, using externally produced satellite television programs as their main source of information, news and entertainment. But the mullahs’ regime, on the other hand, considers the free flow of information to be a growing threat to its authoritarian rule. Along with internet and the new mobile phone technology, satellite TV leaves no room for control of information and censorship the way a dictatorial regime prefers to have.
Iranian police attacks houses and neighborhoods at nights, collecting satellite dishes from atop buildings and apartments. Those arrested receive harsh punishments. But this may be the first instance of a death sentence being handed down for charges related to satellite TV.
Has there ever been a regime as cruel and bonkers as Iran.
The Flags Are Up In Oxford Street
Because of the Queen’s Diamond Jubilee, Oxford Street has put up the flags, as these pictures show.
At the launch they even had some corgies there.
Rupert Murdoch Drops Himself In It
Rupert Murdoch “is not a fit person to exercise the stewardship of a major international company”, MPs have said. I’m not going to argue with that, as I don’t have the detailed evidence. However, I do know from the personal recollection of a friend of mine, who did a bit of business with Rupert, that he very much takes all the decisions.
So the buck stops with Mr. Murdoch! Unfortunately, there was no system of checks and balances to make sure he took the right decision!
Perhaps we need a rule, that all senior people in public companies are not above a certain age.
Spanish Football is Built on Debt
I know there’s a lot of debt in British football and some clubs such as Portsmouth and Rangers seem to have succumbed to the problems. But this is nothing compared to the tax debts of the leading Spanish clubs, as detailed in this report from AFP.
I thought UEFA had a series of fair-play rules, that British clubs adhere to. It would appear that Spanish practices are different. Here’s just one phrase from the report.
But the latest figure to hit the headlines in Spain is the 752 million euros that Spain’s elite clubs owe to the tax man at a time when more than five million are unemployed and the government is asking citizens for more sacrifices.
Even Rangers don’t owe a tenth of that to the taxman.
Beware of Bulls
I’ve not heard of this quote before.
Expecting the world to treat you fairly because you are a good person, is a little like expecting a bull not to attack you because you are a vegetarian.
It is from the American writer, Dennis Wholey, and is used in a leader in today’s Times, about Khalil Rasjed Dale. The leader says that the Red Cross were right to not pay a ransome.
The paper has two other stories of ransoms in Islamic-controlled territory.
One concerns a holidaymaker, Steven McGowan, held with others in Mali and reported being ransomed in exchange for allowing Abu Qatata to go anywhere he wants.
The other concerns a British mine clearing expert, Chris Fielding, on a UN mission, held with others in Khartoum.
Islam is losing all respect among many people for not imposing Islamic values on thugs, who see Westerners as easy money.
There is also another story about Lloyds of London backing a private force that will act against Somali pirates.
And politicians in the UK and Europe, wonder why people vote for the far-right like the BNP in the UK and the Front Nationale in France.
What Right Do The Taliban Have to Call Themselves Islamic?
We received the news yesterday of the cruel murder of Khalil Dale in Pakistan, supposedly by the Taliban. It is not the first time, they have killed people, who are trying to help the poorest of the poor where they operate. But then that was one of Khalil’s crimes in their eyes.
This sort of behaviuor disgusts me and contrasts so strongly with the guy called, Mohammed, late last night in Marks and Spencer. We talked about the rain and I said that I’d seen the aftermath of the bad accident in the Essex Road the day before. He asked if I was alright. I said yes, but thought the guy wasn’t. That is true compassion and should go with us all. And in fact, does go with most of us. Except obviously groups, like the Nazis and the Taliban.
I for one, hope that like bad fruit, the Taliban and their ilk, just wither and die! But I’m not totally hopeful it will happen!
The Anonymous Widower 