By Peter Oborne
Last updated at 12:17 AM on 29th May 2010
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1282374/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Mending-welfare-Britain.html#ixzz0pUXGbUe9
There are very few people in public life with finer personal qualities than Iain Duncan Smith, the newly appointed Work and Pensions Secretary.
As Tory leader six years ago, he was reviled, humiliated, plotted against and finally betrayed by his own colleagues. Everybody would have understood and sympathised if he had quit politics.
But Iain Duncan Smith did not sulk. There were no bitter private briefings. He did not take the usual failed politician's route and enrich himself as a lobbyist, company director or after-dinner speaker. Nor did he write a self-indulgent, money-spinning memoir that seems almost obligatory these days for any politician who leaves office.
Duncan Smith, a former British soldier and the son of a wartime fighter pilot, just bashed on. He devoted himself to the study of what is perhaps the most perplexing and yet crucial issue that faces our country today.
The former Tory leader wanted to find the answer to two questions. Why, when Britain is more prosperous than at any time in our history, is there also so much poverty and deprivation? And, despite a prolonged period of peace and security, why are crime, homelessness, family breakdown and drug addiction reaching record levels?
Iain Duncan Smith set about his mission the hard way. He did not just listen to the bureaucrats, academics and other self-appointed experts on the Welfare State. In fact, he refused to accept the conventional wisdom that the system is so entrenched that it cannot be changed.
Instead, he went to see for himself the derelict inner-city housing estates. He talked at length to welfare officers, charity workers, single mothers, drug addicts, prostitutes and the unemployed.
This was hard, poorly paid and unglamorous work. But gradually Iain Duncan Smith made a shattering discovery.
It dawned on him that the truth was that our welfare state has been making the problem of unemployment and poverty worse, not better.
In financial terms, our benefits system, which costs £85 billion a year, may be generous. But it traps people in squalor and deprivation.
This is because the system is perversely structured so that there are no proper incentives for the unemployed to find a job. It means that someone who moves off the dole to a £15,000-a-year job may actually find themselves poorer because they lose some welfare entitlements.
As Duncan Smith said last week: 'A system originally designed to support the poorest in society is now trapping them in the very condition it was supposed to alleviate.'
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1282374/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Mending-welfare-Britain.html#ixzz0pUXJSOAm
It is this absurd system that successive governments have allowed to take root and which explains why immigrants (most of whom come from countries where welfare systems scarcely exist) have grabbed so many new British jobs over the past ten years.
It also explains the dreadful fact that our failed welfare state has produced something entirely new in British society: a pattern of long-term joblessness that now stretches through generations.
As a result, there are housing estates where neither young adults, their parents nor their grandparents have ever had a job. This, in turn, has produced a long-term culture of dependency on handouts from the State, often buttressed by people resorting to crime to obtain more money.
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For the past five years, Iain Duncan Smith has been a voice crying in the wilderness as he examined the causes of these social ills.
He set up the think-tank The Centre For Social Justice, which has produced numerous reports highlighting the scale of the problems and proposing ever more radical and daring solutions.
But Gordon Brown, both as Chancellor and then Prime Minister, would not listen.
Then two weeks ago, in an act of great courage, David Cameron made the momentous - some would say foolhardy - decision to bring Iain Duncan Smith into the heart of government as Work and Pensions Secretary, with the challenge to mend Britain's broken welfare system.
Duncan Smith will be in charge of a department that spends an astronomic £185 billion a year - well over 20 per cent of all government spending.
It is sobering to reflect that back in 1979, the year Margaret Thatcher became Prime Minister, Britain's welfare bill was a mere £30 billion, a sixth of where it stands today even when adjusted for inflation.
Iain Duncan Smith has two main priorities - each awesome in size. The first is to repair the country's pension system. Until recently, the British used to be a famously prudent people with a well-entrenched culture of saving.
However, that good financial sense has been destroyed over the past decade, and replaced by an ill-advised craze for borrowing and a shameless dependence on state hand-outs.
Second, Duncan Smith must overhaul the benefits system so that it offers the jobless a route back to work rather trapping them in dependency for life (shockingly, a recent statistic has revealed that anyone who has been on invalidity benefit for more than two years is more likely to die than ever return to work).
And the present system, as devised by Gordon Brown, is complex, unwieldy and archaic. There are up to 50 types of benefits. Even those who administer this rotten system are frequently baffled by the way it works, let alone those the benefits are meant to help.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1282374/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Mending-welfare-Britain.html#ixzz0pUXP9PJv
Above all, though, Duncan Smith's task is to make work pay and to try to stop the poorest people in society being trapped in state-sponsored poverty.
But, of course, doing this will cost money because they will initially have to be allowed to keep their benefits after returning to work otherwise there would be no incentive to seek a job in the first place.
Also, the establishment of retraining courses will be expensive. At a time of financial stringency, getting the agreement of the cost- cutting Treasury will be very hard.
But Iain Duncan Smith is a very tough customer. Unlike most Cabinet ministers, he has no further personal ambition. He does not want to be Prime Minister. He cannot be bought off with a peerage. He cannot be blackmailed, threatened or bribed.
He has an open mind and is interested only in one thing: to give fresh hope and meaning to those people who have been doomed to poverty and hopelessness by Britain's sclerotic welfare state.
With these, he is uniquely placed to take on and, hopefully, win Whitehall battles that many would not even contemplate.
Others have tried to reform Britain's broken welfare state. In 1997, Tony Blair was determined to do so (initially asking Frank Field to 'think the unthinkable'), but lost his nerve. Thatcher had tried but even she failed dismally. Most old Whitehall curmudgeons reckon that Duncan Smith will fail, too.
For bear in mind it's not just the ugly battles with the Treasury that loom ahead. There's the adamantine Whitehall culture that automatically resists change of any kind.
Duncan Smith will also face bitter political opposition from those with a vested interest in the status quo. These include the Labour Party whose bedrock of support comes from the client state it has created and the Civil Service, many of whose jobs depend on the huge nationwide system which dispenses welfare.
Yet no Secretary of State has ever entered a new department as clearsighted or as well-briefed. He has studied the problems, which he has now been asked to solve, for more than five years. His ideas have been road-tested to destruction. His personal commitment cannot be doubted. If anyone can succeed, it is Iain Duncan Smith.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1282374/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Mending-welfare-Britain.html#ixzz0pUXSH5Wh
Cameron Facing a long summer of revolts
Having caved in to the Tory Party over his attempts to neuter the power of the backbench 1922 Committee last week, David Cameron now faces a very awkward task confronting a fresh revolt over the coalition proposal to increase the rate for Capital Gains Tax.
A second U-turn in a fortnight would make Cameron look weak. But the problem won't go away.
Next month's Budget will pave the way for the biggest and most unpleasant set of spending cuts since the end of the Second World War. Benefits will be slashed, civil servants' pay is set to be cut and big public works programmes cancelled.
In these very straitened circumstances, David Cameron risks creating splits in the coalition if he waters down the CGT reforms by extending special treatment to Tory voters with second homes and stocks and shares. As he has already remarked: 'We're all in this together.'
SOME may mock John Prescott following news that he has accepted a peerage - but I cannot join the chorus. John Prescott has served his party and his country loyally and can feel extremely proud of his time in office. The House of Lords is full of crooks and time-servers - but Prescott will not be one of them. Furthermore, if anyone has ever deserved a title, it is his long-suffering wife, Pauline.
Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1282374/Iain-Duncan-Smith-Mending-welfare-Britain.html#ixzz0pUXUx1dn
Comments (47)
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This article has given me a new perspective of what IDS is trying to achieve. I've read the headlines and it sounded like the same old Tory, 'flog'em, hang 'em, take away their benefits' type of thing but if there are to be incentives to make it worth while for someone to take on a 15k job, then this is an admirable policy. I believe that there are a lot less lazy people in this country than is reported. If we put ourselves in someone else's shoes and the only work available will leave you and your family worse off, you probably wouldn't do it to your children. The whole mess needs to be looked at from a different angle, so well done Mr Duncan-Smith and good luck.
- O Cromwell, Norfolk, 30/5/2010 04:56
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Clive, you stated that your sister only gets £80 per week.
Well if she is in receipt of Incapacity benefit or it's successor the Employment and Support Allowance, she may well be able to claim other benefits as well.
I know someone in a similar situation who claims Incapacity Benefit, Income Support and Housing Benefit that covers the Full rent on his flat. He also gets a full rebate on his Council Tax after claiming Council Tax Benefit.
There is a grey area that covers the first 6 months before the claim kicks in properly.
It may be worth you visiting the Citizens Advice Bureau to get some help. If what you are saying is correct and your sister has been claiming this benefit for more than 6 months, she is probably entitled more than what she gets now.
Some people claim every benefit under the sun, believe me, people know how to play the system!
- Graham Wharton, St. Albans uk, 30/5/2010 01:03
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Strangely enough Mr. Oborne, your article makes sense but it isn't rocket science on the part of Duncan Smith ! People as low as me in the food chain of this Green and Septic Isle have seen this - and commented on it - for the past 30 years or more. Nothing has ever been done apart from that self aggrandising creature Blair sacking Frank Field for daring to voice it.
I'm 63 - when I was a boy I could (and still can) tell you the name of a man in our street who was registered blind with the relevant benefits .......... and yet was captain of one of the pub darts teams ! And no, he didn't have a guide dog which was trained enough to bark the next "double" he required for a finish !
Smashing bloke though - and nice family ....... just mickey taking !
- David Hughes, Doncaster, 30/5/2010 00:49
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Good luck to him; with work comes self respect and pride; something that is very much lacking in this country of ours which is demoralised after so much marxist/socialist rule. I hope for everyones sake that he succeeds
- Dave, Cockermouth, 30/5/2010 00:41
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Perhaps the laws should be changed and EVERYONE told that unemployment and sickness benefits are only payable for ONE year, and are then subject to a full review!
After that period, non British people should not have the benefits re-instated - that is what happens in the rest of the EU, so why should we be different? We cannot afford it any more- we couldn't afford it at the time but just borrowed money to allow us to "afford" it.
OK, that might seem harsh, but WE ALL know people who are abusing the system and can (or do) find work (but don't declare it). I worked in the Benefits section for 5 years but the rules stopped us from cutting back!
We have little industry left thanks to earlier Governments (Maggie "helped" a lot with that!). We need to re-build an export industry that can make money - it's no good opening McDonalds and shopping centres - they do not manufacture anything that can be exported!
So Britain must be re-built from the bottom up!
- One foot in the Grave, Ramsgate, Kent, UK, 30/5/2010 00:03
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OK, So IDS has this wonderful plan, and you believe he will succeed, but surely, in any business venture people want to see proof...
Has he ever set up a welfare system in a nother country, reduced dramatically poverty and created near 100% employment, in that case give details...
Otherwise, what you are saying is that he has a good character, works hard, and is keen on doing the job, which at the end of the day will still be a trial and error social engineering programme...
Besides, Mr IDS keep giving different tunes when he talks to different audiences, to Daily Mail readers, he uses a tough tune, to Independent readers he uses a more gentle tune, and to the Guardian he uses a left of centre tune... this does not sound like the authentic politician you are advocting.
Please Peter, I know you are a staunch right wing columnist, but make an effort to be less dogmatic, and more objective in your reporting...
- Nabil H, London, UK, 29/5/2010 23:58
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Monday, May 31, 2010
Muslim preacher of hate is let into Britain
THE home secretary, Theresa May, is facing a stiff test of the Conservative party’s claims to oppose radical Islam after her officials chose to allow a misogynist Muslim preacher into Britain.
Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a “hate-monger” by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves “more susceptible to rape” by wearing revealing clothing.
Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as “pigs” and said that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”.
In a recent lecture, he said he was “with” Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on “terrorist America”, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.
In opposition, David Cameron and other senior Tories led criticism of the Labour government for allowing radical preachers into Britain to stir up hatred on lecture tours. While in opposition, Cameron also campaigned to get Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian radical, banned from Britain.
Cameron and May now face a political test over Naik, whose inflammatory comments have led some moderate Muslims to call him a “truth-twister”.
One well-placed insider said: “Zakir Naik is a nasty man who makes al-Qaradawi look like a participant at a teddy bears’ picnic. He shouldn’t be allowed into the country to stir up hatred.”
The Home Office indicated that it was not planning to ban Naik, however.
Although Naik makes it clear he does not support specific acts of terrorism, his inflammatory speeches have included one, currently on YouTube, in which he states: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them ... we don’t know.
“But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him.
“I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
According to reports in the Indian media, his organisation, the Islamic Research Foundation in Mumbai, was where Rahil Abdul Rehman Sheikh, suspected of being commander of a series of train bombings in Mumbai, and other alleged terrorists spent much of their time before the attacks.
The American terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, arrested last year for planning suicide attacks on the New York subway, is said to have been inspired by Naik’s YouTube videos. There is no suggestion Naik had any knowledge of terrorist plotting.
The UK Border Agency said: “Each case is considered on its own merits. When assessing a visa application, we will consider the previous conduct of the individual and we will ensure the UK does not provide a platform for the promotion of violent extremism.
“We reserve the right to revoke someone’s visa if they are found to be promoting extreme views which are contrary to UK values.”
Naik will be appearing at Wembley Arena in London and in Sheffield on his British tour. When he last came to Britain in 2006, his visit was condemned by David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, who described him as a “hate-monger”.
A doctor by profession, Naik has distinguished himself from dozens of other “mad mullahs” through his intellect and his ability to recite verbatim extended sections of the Koran.
Peace TV has a huge following in the Muslim neighbourhoods of Mumbai, Naik’s native city. He has been named as the third most popular spiritual guru in India.
Last year he was ranked 82nd in a list of India’s most powerful people.
Since the 9/11 attacks, he appears to have developed a particular hatred of America. He is reported to have said: “The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the Earth. It is the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate.
“In America, most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of wives. Many say, ‘You sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife’. If you eat pigs then you behave like pigs.”
Sermons of malice
“Western society has actually degraded [women] to the status of concubines, mistresses and social butterflies, who are mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketeers”
“People who change their religion should face the death penalty”
“It is a blatant secret that this attack on the twin towers was done by George Bush himself”
“If he [Osama Bin Laden] is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist”
Your Comments
John Slater wrote:
More than likely the preachers comments would heve been taken out of context however if this is not the case then it is worth sparing a thought for the following statements:
- if one criticises non-whites it is catgorised as racism
- if one criticises jews it is catgorised as anti-sematic
- if one criticises women it is catgorised as sexism
- if one criticises homosexuality it is catgorised as homophobic
- if one criticises attacks a country it is catgorised as treason
- if one criticises religion it is catgorised as hate
- if one criticises islam or muslim it is catgorised as 'freedom of speech'
Now very interestingly if a muslim criticises any of the above he is a "terrorist", "does not like our way of life", "hate preacher"
Life would be much easier
Dan Schwartz wrote:
If he believes that 9/11 was an "inside job", then how can he be "with Osama bin Laden" with regard (apparently) to supporting these attacks? If bin Laden is not responsible, he is not responsible, and there is nothing to suppor
Zakir Naik, an Indian televangelist described as a “hate-monger” by moderate Muslims and one Tory MP, says western women make themselves “more susceptible to rape” by wearing revealing clothing.
Naik, who proselytises on Peace TV, a satellite television channel, is reported to have called for the execution of Muslims who change their faith, described Americans as “pigs” and said that “every Muslim should be a terrorist”.
In a recent lecture, he said he was “with” Osama Bin Laden over the attacks on “terrorist America”, adding that the 9/11 hijackings were an inside job by President George W Bush.
In opposition, David Cameron and other senior Tories led criticism of the Labour government for allowing radical preachers into Britain to stir up hatred on lecture tours. While in opposition, Cameron also campaigned to get Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian radical, banned from Britain.
Cameron and May now face a political test over Naik, whose inflammatory comments have led some moderate Muslims to call him a “truth-twister”.
One well-placed insider said: “Zakir Naik is a nasty man who makes al-Qaradawi look like a participant at a teddy bears’ picnic. He shouldn’t be allowed into the country to stir up hatred.”
The Home Office indicated that it was not planning to ban Naik, however.
Although Naik makes it clear he does not support specific acts of terrorism, his inflammatory speeches have included one, currently on YouTube, in which he states: “Beware of Muslims saying Osama Bin Laden is right or wrong. I reject them ... we don’t know.
“But if you ask my view, if given the truth, if he is fighting the enemies of Islam, I am for him.
“I don’t know what he’s doing. I’m not in touch with him. I don’t know him personally. If he is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist.”
According to reports in the Indian media, his organisation, the Islamic Research Foundation in Mumbai, was where Rahil Abdul Rehman Sheikh, suspected of being commander of a series of train bombings in Mumbai, and other alleged terrorists spent much of their time before the attacks.
The American terror suspect Najibullah Zazi, arrested last year for planning suicide attacks on the New York subway, is said to have been inspired by Naik’s YouTube videos. There is no suggestion Naik had any knowledge of terrorist plotting.
The UK Border Agency said: “Each case is considered on its own merits. When assessing a visa application, we will consider the previous conduct of the individual and we will ensure the UK does not provide a platform for the promotion of violent extremism.
“We reserve the right to revoke someone’s visa if they are found to be promoting extreme views which are contrary to UK values.”
Naik will be appearing at Wembley Arena in London and in Sheffield on his British tour. When he last came to Britain in 2006, his visit was condemned by David Davies, the Tory MP for Monmouth, who described him as a “hate-monger”.
A doctor by profession, Naik has distinguished himself from dozens of other “mad mullahs” through his intellect and his ability to recite verbatim extended sections of the Koran.
Peace TV has a huge following in the Muslim neighbourhoods of Mumbai, Naik’s native city. He has been named as the third most popular spiritual guru in India.
Last year he was ranked 82nd in a list of India’s most powerful people.
Since the 9/11 attacks, he appears to have developed a particular hatred of America. He is reported to have said: “The pig is the most shameless animal on the face of the Earth. It is the only animal that invites its friends to have sex with its mate.
“In America, most people consume pork. Many times after dance parties, they have swapping of wives. Many say, ‘You sleep with my wife and I will sleep with your wife’. If you eat pigs then you behave like pigs.”
Sermons of malice
“Western society has actually degraded [women] to the status of concubines, mistresses and social butterflies, who are mere tools in the hands of pleasure seekers and sex marketeers”
“People who change their religion should face the death penalty”
“It is a blatant secret that this attack on the twin towers was done by George Bush himself”
“If he [Osama Bin Laden] is terrorising the terrorists, if he is terrorising America the terrorist ... I am with him. Every Muslim should be a terrorist”
Your Comments
John Slater wrote:
More than likely the preachers comments would heve been taken out of context however if this is not the case then it is worth sparing a thought for the following statements:
- if one criticises non-whites it is catgorised as racism
- if one criticises jews it is catgorised as anti-sematic
- if one criticises women it is catgorised as sexism
- if one criticises homosexuality it is catgorised as homophobic
- if one criticises attacks a country it is catgorised as treason
- if one criticises religion it is catgorised as hate
- if one criticises islam or muslim it is catgorised as 'freedom of speech'
Now very interestingly if a muslim criticises any of the above he is a "terrorist", "does not like our way of life", "hate preacher"
Life would be much easier
Dan Schwartz wrote:
If he believes that 9/11 was an "inside job", then how can he be "with Osama bin Laden" with regard (apparently) to supporting these attacks? If bin Laden is not responsible, he is not responsible, and there is nothing to suppor
Israel stations nuclear missile subs off Iran
From The Sunday Times
May 30, 2010
Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.
The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.”
Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.
The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.
The deployment is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. “We’re a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place,” said a flotilla officer.
The submarines could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. “The 1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,” said a navy officer.
Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral said: “Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us.”
Israel’s urgent need to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the danger to Obama in Washington this week.
Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.
Your Comments
Paul Scott wrote:
Following on from my previous posts about nuclear deterrence (and please remember I am talking about how to prevent war here, with equal passion as pacifists, but with more intelligence).
Nuclear deterrence is not entirely binary (ie. peace or global devastation). There is a middle option of a demonstrative nuclear strike (using a tactical weapon, targeted say offshore to avoid killing people) which could well prevent all-out nuclear war starting, but demonstrates a willingness to use nukes. God help us that we never get to that stage, and with strong deterrence we never will - THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF DETERRENCE!
The moment you get weak & wobbly, that is when you THINK you are being peaceful, but you are actually creating the risks & circumstances in which war is MORE likely.
A very strong & unequivocable defence strategy for the whole of NATO (led by the US, thank God we've had the US to protect us for 65 years, we owe the US a debt of gratitude that goes beyond words, as does all of Europe) is the way to secure lasting peace.
The moment we let our guard down, then we make war more likely, not less likely.
Peace depends on a STRONG foreign policy by the West, not weakness.
May 31, 2010 4:15 AM BST
David Gee wrote:
I do not like Israel, especially because it targets the U.S. with espionage. Nor do I understand why we do not treat Israel the same as all other non-signatories of the NNPT. Nevertheless, Israel does have a right to defend themselves against Ahmedinejad's promises to destroy it, and against the constant attacks from Hezbollah and Hamas. But they should not expect help from the U.S. If you're going to steal our secrets -- and sell some of them to China -- then you're on your own.
May 31, 2010 3:03 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Paul Scott wrote:
In a nutshell, what I am saying is this. YES nuclear weapons are horrendous, and their use is unimaginable. However, in order to achieve a lasting peace, we do actually have to envisage & carefully set out the circumstances in which we WOULD use nuclear weapons. Scary though that seems, there is no point in having nukes unless you are prepared to use them.
Paradoxically, this is the way to create peace.
You stipulate precisely what circumstances would trigger a nuclear response. So that would, eg have prevented Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The only reason he invaded Kuwait was because he guessed that the West did not have the resolve to tackle him if he presented us with a fait accomplie. It was OUR weak foreign policy which created the opportunity for Saddam's aggression.
If we had had a strict policy which said that if Kuwait's borders are breached by an aggressor, this triggers an immediate & automatic nuclear response, then nobody would ever invade!
You HAVE to be strong with nuclear deterrence & make sure everyone knows the consequences if they commit an act of aggression. Why else do you think the Cold War lasted 45 years without anyone firing a shot? Because both the USSR and the USA knew the consequences, and the USSR respect violence & strength. That is why they backed off in Cuba in 1962, and at other times. You have to take deterrence to the brink. You have to be prepared to use nuclear weapons. Then, AND ONLY THEN, do you have peace!
This is scary stuff, but it is true. The peaceful hippies actually make the world a helluva lot more dangerous, that's why they should never be let anywhere near the levers of power.
May 31, 2010 2:55 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Paul Scott wrote:
Richard Scott - I respect your service record & experience, and also your superb surname!
But they key point about nuclear weapons is that they are NEVER used. Their purpose is solely as a deterrent, and as the last 65 years have shown, nuclear deterrance works.
Sadly, you cannot un-invent nuclear weapons. We would all love a nuclear-free world. But that is not possible. Therefore we have to pursue a policy of non-proliferation, and a robust control of rogue states like Iran. This is no time for wishy-washy peaceful weakness. By trying to be peaceful, you actually incite war. Strong defence is the way Reagan/Thatcher won the Cold War. Strong defence & nuclear deterrance is the best option we have out of a very bad set of options.
Long term as Stephen Dawkins says, the only option is to colonise other planets. Mankind is indeed doomed within a few hundred years, as the fragile nuclear-deterrent peace can only hold for so long. But the alternative is a wipe-out much sooner. The moment you show weakness, we are doomed, look at Saddam invading Kuwait - that never should have happened if the West had properly deployed a no-nonsense nuclear deterrent strategy. Saddam only invaded Kuwait because he thought he could get away with it - because our deterrent was weak. Do you see now?
May 31, 2010 2:36 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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May 30, 2010
Uzi Mahnaimi in Tel Aviv
Three German-built Israeli submarines equipped with nuclear cruise missiles are to be deployed in the Gulf near the Iranian coastline.
The first has been sent in response to Israeli fears that ballistic missiles developed by Iran, Syria and Hezbollah, a political and military organisation in Lebanon, could hit sites in Israel, including air bases and missile launchers.
The submarines of Flotilla 7 — Dolphin, Tekuma and Leviathan — have visited the Gulf before. But the decision has now been taken to ensure a permanent presence of at least one of the vessels.
The flotilla’s commander, identified only as “Colonel O”, told an Israeli newspaper: “We are an underwater assault force. We’re operating deep and far, very far, from our borders.”
Each of the submarines has a crew of 35 to 50, commanded by a colonel capable of launching a nuclear cruise missile.
The vessels can remain at sea for about 50 days and stay submerged up to 1,150ft below the surface for at least a week. Some of the cruise missiles are equipped with the most advanced nuclear warheads in the Israeli arsenal.
The deployment is designed to act as a deterrent, gather intelligence and potentially to land Mossad agents. “We’re a solid base for collecting sensitive information, as we can stay for a long time in one place,” said a flotilla officer.
The submarines could be used if Iran continues its programme to produce a nuclear bomb. “The 1,500km range of the submarines’ cruise missiles can reach any target in Iran,” said a navy officer.
Apparently responding to the Israeli activity, an Iranian admiral said: “Anyone who wishes to do an evil act in the Persian Gulf will receive a forceful response from us.”
Israel’s urgent need to deter the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah alliance was demonstrated last month. Ehud Barak, the defence minister, was said to have shown President Barack Obama classified satellite images of a convoy of ballistic missiles leaving Syria on the way to Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Binyamin Netanyahu, the prime minister, will emphasise the danger to Obama in Washington this week.
Tel Aviv, Israel’s business and defence centre, remains the most threatened city in the world, said one expert. “There are more missiles per square foot targeting Tel Aviv than any other city,” he said.
Your Comments
Paul Scott wrote:
Following on from my previous posts about nuclear deterrence (and please remember I am talking about how to prevent war here, with equal passion as pacifists, but with more intelligence).
Nuclear deterrence is not entirely binary (ie. peace or global devastation). There is a middle option of a demonstrative nuclear strike (using a tactical weapon, targeted say offshore to avoid killing people) which could well prevent all-out nuclear war starting, but demonstrates a willingness to use nukes. God help us that we never get to that stage, and with strong deterrence we never will - THAT IS THE WHOLE POINT OF DETERRENCE!
The moment you get weak & wobbly, that is when you THINK you are being peaceful, but you are actually creating the risks & circumstances in which war is MORE likely.
A very strong & unequivocable defence strategy for the whole of NATO (led by the US, thank God we've had the US to protect us for 65 years, we owe the US a debt of gratitude that goes beyond words, as does all of Europe) is the way to secure lasting peace.
The moment we let our guard down, then we make war more likely, not less likely.
Peace depends on a STRONG foreign policy by the West, not weakness.
May 31, 2010 4:15 AM BST
David Gee wrote:
I do not like Israel, especially because it targets the U.S. with espionage. Nor do I understand why we do not treat Israel the same as all other non-signatories of the NNPT. Nevertheless, Israel does have a right to defend themselves against Ahmedinejad's promises to destroy it, and against the constant attacks from Hezbollah and Hamas. But they should not expect help from the U.S. If you're going to steal our secrets -- and sell some of them to China -- then you're on your own.
May 31, 2010 3:03 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Paul Scott wrote:
In a nutshell, what I am saying is this. YES nuclear weapons are horrendous, and their use is unimaginable. However, in order to achieve a lasting peace, we do actually have to envisage & carefully set out the circumstances in which we WOULD use nuclear weapons. Scary though that seems, there is no point in having nukes unless you are prepared to use them.
Paradoxically, this is the way to create peace.
You stipulate precisely what circumstances would trigger a nuclear response. So that would, eg have prevented Saddam Hussein's invasion of Kuwait. The only reason he invaded Kuwait was because he guessed that the West did not have the resolve to tackle him if he presented us with a fait accomplie. It was OUR weak foreign policy which created the opportunity for Saddam's aggression.
If we had had a strict policy which said that if Kuwait's borders are breached by an aggressor, this triggers an immediate & automatic nuclear response, then nobody would ever invade!
You HAVE to be strong with nuclear deterrence & make sure everyone knows the consequences if they commit an act of aggression. Why else do you think the Cold War lasted 45 years without anyone firing a shot? Because both the USSR and the USA knew the consequences, and the USSR respect violence & strength. That is why they backed off in Cuba in 1962, and at other times. You have to take deterrence to the brink. You have to be prepared to use nuclear weapons. Then, AND ONLY THEN, do you have peace!
This is scary stuff, but it is true. The peaceful hippies actually make the world a helluva lot more dangerous, that's why they should never be let anywhere near the levers of power.
May 31, 2010 2:55 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Paul Scott wrote:
Richard Scott - I respect your service record & experience, and also your superb surname!
But they key point about nuclear weapons is that they are NEVER used. Their purpose is solely as a deterrent, and as the last 65 years have shown, nuclear deterrance works.
Sadly, you cannot un-invent nuclear weapons. We would all love a nuclear-free world. But that is not possible. Therefore we have to pursue a policy of non-proliferation, and a robust control of rogue states like Iran. This is no time for wishy-washy peaceful weakness. By trying to be peaceful, you actually incite war. Strong defence is the way Reagan/Thatcher won the Cold War. Strong defence & nuclear deterrance is the best option we have out of a very bad set of options.
Long term as Stephen Dawkins says, the only option is to colonise other planets. Mankind is indeed doomed within a few hundred years, as the fragile nuclear-deterrent peace can only hold for so long. But the alternative is a wipe-out much sooner. The moment you show weakness, we are doomed, look at Saddam invading Kuwait - that never should have happened if the West had properly deployed a no-nonsense nuclear deterrent strategy. Saddam only invaded Kuwait because he thought he could get away with it - because our deterrent was weak. Do you see now?
May 31, 2010 2:36 AM BST on community.timesonline.co.uk
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Author: European Antichrist looking more and more unlikely
Says atheists will have field day with popular Bible interpretation
Posted: May 30, 2010
7:58 pm Eastern
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
With Europe on the verge of economic collapse, what about all those popular predictions that the European Union would become the world's political powerhouse, giving rise to the endtimes prophecies of a world dictator known to Bible students as the Antichrist?
Joel Richardson, author of a bestselling book on Bible prophecy, says atheists will have a field day mocking Christians for the incorrect interpretations about the last days.
"Nearly twenty years ago, I intently watched as a very popular Christian television prophecy teacher declared, 'the present formation ofthe European Union is literally the fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before our eyes!'" he writes in a commentary today in WND. "According to this teacher, the creation ofthe European Union represented a biblically prophesied revived Roman Empire. Because the last-days empire of the Antichrist as described in the Books of Daniel and Revelation is portrayed as a 10-nation alliance, this teacher confidently declared that when the number of EU member states reached ten, this would signal the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And soon, the number of EU member states reached the magic number 10 just as this teacher had predicted. Then the number reached eleven, and then twelve. Soon there were twenty. Today there are 27 member states. The teacher's very confident predictions failed."
Richardson said the formation of the EU in 1993 spurred even more prophecy teachers to set their sights on Europe.
"But the present harsh realities in Europe may soon cause all of this Euro-centric, restored Roman Empire prognosticating to come crashing down," writes Richardson.
He also expects many Christians to become disillusioned as the EU fights for its very survival, rather than for the global dominance that was predicted.
The author of "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth About the True Nature of the Beast" wants everyone to know that if the EU falls, it is not an indictment of the truth of the Bible.
"Despite its popularity, the Euro-centric end-time perspective has never represented anything akin to Christian orthodoxy or dogma," he writes. "Throughout the history of the church, many great Christian leaders have looked not to Europe, but to the Middle East for the emergence of an end-time empire. In fact, going back to the first few centuries of the church, the consistent testimony of the early believers is thatthe Antichrist, his empire and his religion would arise from out of the Middle East, and not Europe. As such, rather than tacking in the wind yet again, what many teachers and students of Bible prophecy are awakening to is the reality that the biblical prophecies about the last days are thoroughly Jerusalem, Israel and Middle-Eastern-centric. What many Westerners, and perhaps Americans most of all, often fail to recognize is the fact that the Bible is a thoroughly Eastern book. Always has been. As shocking as this may be to some, the Bible was not written primarily for Americans."
When ""The Islamic Antichrist" was released last fall, it immediately zoomed to the top of the religious charts at Amazon and the No. 1 spot among all books at Scribd – an online e-booker retailer. Yet Richardson, a student of Islam and theMiddle east , found few churches in America welcoming him as a guest speaker. He was not invited to address many prophecy conferences. He found himself as a "political incorrect" outsider in most evangelical circles.
His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran's Muslim Mahdi.
"The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," says Richardson. "Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire asthe Antichrist's power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim."
Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the end times. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility.
It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this "man of sin," described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic Empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today.
Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one in the same.
"Today, many scholars, students and teachers alike are acknowledging the consistent testimony of the prophets as pointing us to the Middle East," he writes today. "As any realtor will tell you, it's all about location, location, location. Likewise, as any astute Bible student should know, the first issue that must be established when attempting to properly interpret the Bible is context, context, context. And simply stated, the context of virtually all biblical prophecy is Israel and the Middle East. Jesus will not be returning to Paris, London or Independence, Missouri, but rather Jerusalem. Literally every last one of the final battles as depicted by all of the biblical prophets take place in Israel and the surrounding vicinity. When the prophets specify which nations surround Israel to attack her, the wording used in Hebrew is goyim caybib, which translated means 'the surrounding nations.' These are Israel’s neighbors; they are not references to Belgium or Luxembourg or Rome."
Richardson is the co-author with Walid Shoebat of "God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible" and co-editor of "Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out." "The Islamic Antichrist" is published by WND Books and is available autographed in the WND Superstore.
Posted: May 30, 2010
7:58 pm Eastern
© 2010 WorldNetDaily
With Europe on the verge of economic collapse, what about all those popular predictions that the European Union would become the world's political powerhouse, giving rise to the endtimes prophecies of a world dictator known to Bible students as the Antichrist?
Joel Richardson, author of a bestselling book on Bible prophecy, says atheists will have a field day mocking Christians for the incorrect interpretations about the last days.
"Nearly twenty years ago, I intently watched as a very popular Christian television prophecy teacher declared, 'the present formation ofthe European Union is literally the fulfillment of Bible prophecy right before our eyes!'" he writes in a commentary today in WND. "According to this teacher, the creation ofthe European Union represented a biblically prophesied revived Roman Empire. Because the last-days empire of the Antichrist as described in the Books of Daniel and Revelation is portrayed as a 10-nation alliance, this teacher confidently declared that when the number of EU member states reached ten, this would signal the imminent return of Jesus Christ. And soon, the number of EU member states reached the magic number 10 just as this teacher had predicted. Then the number reached eleven, and then twelve. Soon there were twenty. Today there are 27 member states. The teacher's very confident predictions failed."
Richardson said the formation of the EU in 1993 spurred even more prophecy teachers to set their sights on Europe.
"But the present harsh realities in Europe may soon cause all of this Euro-centric, restored Roman Empire prognosticating to come crashing down," writes Richardson.
He also expects many Christians to become disillusioned as the EU fights for its very survival, rather than for the global dominance that was predicted.
The author of "The Islamic Antichrist: The Shocking Truth About the True Nature of the Beast" wants everyone to know that if the EU falls, it is not an indictment of the truth of the Bible.
"Despite its popularity, the Euro-centric end-time perspective has never represented anything akin to Christian orthodoxy or dogma," he writes. "Throughout the history of the church, many great Christian leaders have looked not to Europe, but to the Middle East for the emergence of an end-time empire. In fact, going back to the first few centuries of the church, the consistent testimony of the early believers is thatthe Antichrist, his empire and his religion would arise from out of the Middle East, and not Europe. As such, rather than tacking in the wind yet again, what many teachers and students of Bible prophecy are awakening to is the reality that the biblical prophecies about the last days are thoroughly Jerusalem, Israel and Middle-Eastern-centric. What many Westerners, and perhaps Americans most of all, often fail to recognize is the fact that the Bible is a thoroughly Eastern book. Always has been. As shocking as this may be to some, the Bible was not written primarily for Americans."
When ""The Islamic Antichrist" was released last fall, it immediately zoomed to the top of the religious charts at Amazon and the No. 1 spot among all books at Scribd – an online e-booker retailer. Yet Richardson, a student of Islam and theMiddle east , found few churches in America welcoming him as a guest speaker. He was not invited to address many prophecy conferences. He found himself as a "political incorrect" outsider in most evangelical circles.
His book makes the case that the biblical Antichrist is one and the same as the Quran's Muslim Mahdi.
"The Bible abounds with proofs that the Antichrist's empire will consist only of nations that are, today, Islamic," says Richardson. "Despite the numerous prevailing arguments for the emergence of a revived European Roman empire asthe Antichrist's power base, the specific nations the Bible identifies as comprising his empire are today all Muslim."
Richardson believes the key error of many previous prophecy scholars involves the misinterpretation of a prediction by Daniel to Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar. Daniel describes the rise and fall of empires of the future, leading to the end times. Western Christians have viewed one of those empires as Rome, when, claims Richardson, Rome never actually conquered Babylon and was thus disqualified as a possibility.
It had to be another empire that rose and fell and rose again that would lead to rule of this "man of sin," described in the Bible. That empire, he says, is the Islamic Empire, which did conquer Babylon and, in fact, rules over it even today.
Many evangelical Christians believe the Bible predicts a charismatic ruler, the Antichrist, will arise in the last days, before the return of Jesus. The Quran also predicts that a man, called the Mahdi, will rise up to lead the nations, pledging to usher in an era of peace. Richardson makes the case these two men are, in fact, one in the same.
"Today, many scholars, students and teachers alike are acknowledging the consistent testimony of the prophets as pointing us to the Middle East," he writes today. "As any realtor will tell you, it's all about location, location, location. Likewise, as any astute Bible student should know, the first issue that must be established when attempting to properly interpret the Bible is context, context, context. And simply stated, the context of virtually all biblical prophecy is Israel and the Middle East. Jesus will not be returning to Paris, London or Independence, Missouri, but rather Jerusalem. Literally every last one of the final battles as depicted by all of the biblical prophets take place in Israel and the surrounding vicinity. When the prophets specify which nations surround Israel to attack her, the wording used in Hebrew is goyim caybib, which translated means 'the surrounding nations.' These are Israel’s neighbors; they are not references to Belgium or Luxembourg or Rome."
Richardson is the co-author with Walid Shoebat of "God's War on Terror: Islam, Prophecy and the Bible" and co-editor of "Why We Left Islam: Former Muslims Speak Out." "The Islamic Antichrist" is published by WND Books and is available autographed in the WND Superstore.
Think Acupuncture's a hoax? Think again (Scientific research shows natural healing compounds)
CNET ^ | 5/30/2010 | Elizabeth Armstrong Moore
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:07:40 AM by SeekAndFind
I'll admit it. The seeming lack of scientific evidence that acupuncture actually relieves pain has left me skeptical since I first learned of the ancient Chinese technique. And to this day, it's possible that much of the relief patients feel during and after an acupuncture treatment results from the placebo effect.
But new research published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience finds that the natural compound adenosine, known for its anti-inflammatory properties, floods tissue that is punctured or aggravated, and may be the secret ingredient in acupuncture.
A man gives his brother an acupuncture treatment for back pain in Taiwain in 2009.(Credit:
Vivian Chen/Flickr)
"Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained skeptical," says Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University of Rochester's Center for Translational Neuromedicine, where the research was conducted. "In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body."
Her team, which presents its work this week at Purines 2010 in Barcelona, inserted and rotated needles into the tender paws of mice and found that the biochemical blockade of adenosine soothed the mice about as much as giving them drugs that boost adenosine levels.
More specifically, both during and immediately following an acupuncture treatment, the level of adenosine in the tissue near the needles was 24 times greater than before the treatment. So acupuncture may relieve pain by simply tricking bodies into thinking there's been minor tissue trauma.
And yet another pin in the proverbial coffin for skeptics like myself: The researchers even found that in "adenosine receptor knock-out mice" not equipped with the adenosine receptor, acupuncture had no effect.
So what do revelations about a 4,000-year-old technique have to do with modern technology? The better we understand exactly how needles relieve pain, the more likely we are to invent modern acupuncture kits that are affordable, portable, and safe.
There's already an app, called Qpalm Acupuncture, that maps out acupoints and formulae for treating 59 diseases, and another, iLocate--Acupuncture, for finding acupuncturists near you.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: acupuncture; research
Chuck DeVore, the true Grassroots Tea Party Candidate to defeat Boxer!
Don't be fooled, support the only conservative in the race, Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate!
Free Republic Threads
1 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:07:40 AM by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
MORE HERE:
Acupuncture May Trigger Natural Painkiller
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2010/05/30/acupuncture-may-trigger-natural-painkiller.html
Needle insertion stimulates production of chemical known to reduce discomfort, scientists say.
The needle pricks involved in acupuncture may help relieve pain by triggering a natural painkilling chemical called adenosine, a new study has found.
The researchers also believe they can enhance acupuncture’s effectiveness by coupling the process with a well-known cancer drug — deoxycoformycin — that maintains adenosine levels longer than usual.
Click here to find out more!
“Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained skeptical,” lead author Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a news release. “In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body.”
Nedergaard and her team report their findings online May 30 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They are also scheduled to present the results this week at the Purines 2010 scientific meeting in Barcelona.
Working exclusively with mice, Nedergaard and her colleagues administered half-hour acupuncture treatments to a group with paw discomfort.
The investigators found adenosine levels in tissue near the needle insertion points was 24 times greater after treatment, and those mice with normal adenosine function experienced a two-thirds drop in paw pain. By contrast, mice that were genetically engineered to have no adenosine function gained no benefit from the treatment.
The team also found that if they activated adenosine in the same tissue areas without applying acupuncture, the animals’ discomfort was similarly reduced, strongly suggesting that adenosine is the magic behind the method.
Adenosine, better known for regulating sleep, inhibits nerve signals and inflammation, the authors explained.
In their experiments with deoxycoformycin, which is known to impede adenosine removal from the body, the researchers said the drug almost tripled the amount of adenosine in the targeted muscles and more than tripled the amount of time that the mice experienced pain relief.
The study was funded by the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Program and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
For more information, go to
U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/
2 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:11:43 AM by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
yes and if I don't place my furniture in just the right way, the negative feng shui will ruin my life unless I get a positive fortune cookie, fortune.....
3 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:11:54 AM by Vaquero (BHO....'The Pretenda from Kenya')
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To: SeekAndFind
It’s a possible adjunct to, but certainly not a replacement for, sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment.
4 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:12:52 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Vaquero
Yeah its been used for 5000 years so it must be fake
5 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:16:52 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
You want me to show you a little trick to get your mind off that pain???
6 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:17:51 AM by Richard Kimball (We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)
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To: Jim 0216
“It’s a possible adjunct to, but certainly not a replacement for, sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment.”
What is “ sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment”? Apparently you mean the practice of proscribing pills to mask symptoms.
7 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:19:53 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I postulated something like this about thirty years ago. It made perfect sense. The presence of the needle creates inflammation, which affects neural transmission.
8 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:23:15 AM by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I know that acupuncture works. We have very close friends and the wife has a systemic disease that causes great pain. At its worse, she cannot even walk. They went to a major hospital here - and we have a few really great ones - and the doctor wanted to do acupuncture. My friend’s husband who is a complete cut-up made a lot of jokes about it but she was not only able to move her legs but walk afterward. Neither of them thought it would work and he, in particular, was skeptical and thought “no way.” There are other examples but this one is notable to me because of the severity of the problem and because they are people we know well and who are not given to “story-telling” or exaggeration.
9 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:23:28 AM by Paved Paradise
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To: Paved Paradise
Acupuncture has worked for me many times, especially for lower back problems and dislocated joints.
10 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:28:51 AM by Argus
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To: Jim 0216
It helped the pain in my back for about a week. A steroid shot helped for 5 years.
11 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:29:58 AM by Big Horn (Rebuild the GOP to a conservative party)
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To: driftdiver
“Yeah its been used for 5000 years so it must be fake”
Yep. I went to an Acupuncturist in Boulder, Co. and it sure helped me. I was talking to the Dr. and he said he attended school for SEVEN years to learn it. There are a lot of fakes out there however.
12 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:32:22 AM by dljordan ("His father's sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him")
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To: SeekAndFind
I came to accept that there are benefits to accupuncture, though I still don’t understand it, through a dog.
My special dog, my baby, a Chocolate Lab getting on in years, developed cancer in his left rear leg. Due to his age and the advanced nature of the cancer when it was discovered and diagnosed, surgery was out and palliative treatment was the best course ... slow down the growth of the tumor and try to delay or prevent metastasis, extend his life, make him comfortable and help his mobility.
I tried any number of things. I spent untold hours on web searches and learned things that have proved valuable since. One of those things would be the veritable medicine chest everybody has in their kitchen spice rack, filled with antimicrobials and anti-inflammatories. The other was that quality of life for dogs and people with certain cancers and neurological problems was improved with accupuncture treatment.
I had to look high and low to find a vet who was familiar or at least not hostile to more “natural,” holistic treatments. I found her, Dr. DeVore. Accupuncture was surprisingly inexpensive, $25.00 per visit. My lab settled right in with her, didn’t flinch, seemed quite happy really, so long as he didn’t see the needles. He had no clue what was being done, and I was still sort of dubious but was determined to help him. His movement improved, his pain was diminished. I watched it happen. I’m grateful.
My late father was having problems with circulation as well as loss of sensation with phantom pain due to peripheral neuropathy at the same time. He saw the change himself, and said what the heck, nothing to lose, I’ll try it too. It helped keep him walking and kept his discomfort managable until he passed away, six months after my lab.
It was a painful time for me, obviously, but I will speak highly of accupuncture for the specific purposes I mention, for pain and mobility due to cancer or due to circulation problems and peripheral neuropathy. I watched it help a dog I loved dearly. I watched it help my own father who was in declining health, and I’d have given anything to help him, still would but he’s gone. I still haven’t made peace with his passing over two years ago, don’t know that I ever really will, but life goes on, you just find a way.
13 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:35:39 AM by RegulatorCountry
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To: SeekAndFind
I was on a homeopathy thread not long ago, bashing it. But I won’t really bash accupunture. At least there’s some action going on that’s measurable.
14 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:39:42 AM by Tolsti2
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To: driftdiver
No, I think there are healthier ways to treat symptoms, but I trust homeopathic doctors if they are also licensed medical doctors. Common sense helps a lot also. But I’m skeptical of acupuncture.
15 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:43:23 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Big Horn
A steroid shot helped for 5 years.
Is that you A-Rod? How ya doin' bro?
Just kidding - it know it does have actual medicinal purposes, but it's a fairly risky treatment IMHO.
16 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:47:18 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Jim 0216
Acupuncture cured my child’s migraines. She’s too little to take migraine medication, which doesn’t really help most people anyway.
My friend used all kinds of fertility treatments and spent tons of money. The only thing that ended up working was a $50 acupuncture treatment and lots of prayers.
I always recommend avoiding away from medications. The side effects are worse than the sickness and none actually cure except antibiotics. Nothing beats healthy food and exercise.
17 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:00:02 AM by mgist
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To: Jim 0216
“But I’m skeptical of acupuncture.”
Acupuncture does work if they know what they are doing. If not they can make things far worse or have no affect.
Western medicine is the best for fixing broken things but they do little to prevent or treat disease. Really good at treating symptoms though.
18 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:00:36 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
They get it, but they don’t get it. An analogy of the acupuncture system is how a radio deliver sounds. To do this you need the hardware of the radio, and the radio signal carrying the information that the hardware turns into sound, as well as the electricity to drive the radio hardware.
In this case, they focus entirely on the hardware of the radio, looking for a magical component that will generate sound on its own. For a long time they looked for some physical pathway, and now they are looking for a chemical. So, for example, this time they have discovered a single transistor. Is this what makes the radio generate sound?
If they were to examine acupuncture theory from the point of view of systems analysis, several important features stand out that indicate there is a lot more going on here than a simple stimulus response reaction.
To start with, the acupuncture points are organized in stable lines of function. The points on these dozen primary “meridian lines” are noticeably interactive. You poke an acupuncture needle in point number 3, for example, and you see a change in point number 10, which is physically several feet away.
The meridian lines are also validated by affecting areas of the body nowhere near the point manipulated. Such as a point on the instep that is quite effective at treating some kinds of headaches. Or a point on the back of the head quite effective at reducing hemorrhoids.
It has also been learned that each of the 12 major meridian lines is most active for a 2 hour period each day, and least active, in a healing or repair mode, for a complementary 1 hour period. Thus the 12 lines flush out a 24 hour day.
The 12 meridian lines also correspond to the activity of various internal organs, including some “imaginary” organs (guessed at because of a strong cultural taboo against autopsy.) And a logical progression of activity parallel to the daily use of the body.
0400-0600 Lungs and lung meridian. The lungs are the primary intake for “Yin” energy, which can be thought of as energy coming in, oxygen. But they also have a minor role in expelling “old” energy, which is oxygen combined with carbon as a waste product, CO2.
From 4 to 6 am, the lungs are extra active, to get rid of CO2 during the lower respiration of sleep, and to flood the cells of the body with oxygen, getting ready to wake up.
0600-0800 Large Intestine and large intestine meridian. It is a mostly “Yang” organ, whose primary job is to expel feces waste, but also has a minor “Yin” task of squeezing water out of it before it is disposed of. So the first thing you do on arising is have a bowel movement.
0800-1000 Stomach. Breakfast. Oddly enough, mostly Yang, as it is less involved with absorbing breakfast, than beating it up, sloshing it around with warm stomach acid, and breaking it up into sizes small enough to pass into the small intestine.
And so it goes through the rest of the day, generally following breakfast down the intestines, activating organs when needed in that process.
Martial artists have long been interested in that 1 hour period in which organs and their meridians are least active. This is because they figured out this is the best time to attack that subsystem, as it is most vulnerable to injury.
Acupuncturists have also figured out that the 12 meridian lines are interactive. They tend to balance each other. So if one of them is imbalanced, its opposite number will try to normalize the system by going out of balance in the opposite way. This makes it harder for a person to get sick.
One of the most dramatic “proofs” of acupuncture is the 13th meridian line. It is an independent line, sometimes called the “emergency line”. It runs right up the spine in back, and straight down the middle of the front. Importantly, it has a break in the middle, right at the top of the back of the head. This break acts like a circuit breaker in the emergency line.
Under some circumstances, the two sides of the line will close that break, and the moment they do, the person will vomit. In fact, by closing, a large amount of energy is diverted right to the stomach, to cause the spasm.
This means that the body has detected something loathsome in the stomach that the person may not be consciously aware of. So in an emergency response, it decides to eject the contents of the stomach.
And it gets the energy to do this from connecting the two halves of the emergency meridian.
This points the way to the next theory. That acupuncture points can, at times, act like electronic capacitors or inductors. Sometimes they are supposed to directly pass on energy, and if they don’t do so properly, sickness can result. Other times they are supposed to store up energy, for very specialized purposes.
So this is a very complex system, and cannot be simply resolved by a simple stimulus response, one or a few chemicals released with the insertion of a needle.
19 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:11:04 AM by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: SeekAndFind
I never thought it was a hoax and it works for a lot more than pain reduction.
20 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:14:46 AM by TigersEye (0basma's father was a British subject. He can't be a "natural-born" citizen.)
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To: SeekAndFind
Here’s an old, saved web search of mine that I found, from nearly four years ago, that may be pertinent. I encountered anecdotal accounts as well as research indicating that SAM-e (S-adenosyl-methionine, a related compound), had some amount of benefit in certain inflammatory disorders, including some forms of cancer:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22s-adenosyl+methionine%22+canine+neuropathy&btnG=Search&hl=en&safe=active
So, the finding in your article regarding adenosine and anti-inflammatory response makes some amount of sense.
The funny thing about SAM-e is it’s typically regarded as a mood stabilizing neutraceutical, with some benefit as far as liver function. All that’s such a tangle of seemingly unrelated things that it’s tempting to dismiss it as snake oil. But, the research is there. Joint pain, inflammation, minor depression and liver function all helped by one little pack of pills from GNC or even Walmart. Strange.
21 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:22:10 AM by RegulatorCountry
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To: SeekAndFind
I have been having acupuncture for a little over a week now. I injured my shoulder blade lifting weights and developed tennis elbow. This has been going on for about 3 months. Nagging pain in my shoulder blade, hard to sleep, causing tight muscles up my neck and nerve pain down my arm. The tennis elbow causes my elbow to ache and makes it difficult to pick things up.
I had never used holistic medicine before. About a year ago, I injured my lower back and the doctor sent me for physical therapy and gave me pain meds. Took forever to heal. While the pain meds were fun, they did nothing to remedy the back problem. The PT was ok, but I noticed that the most effective treatment the physical therapist gave was the muscle stimulator w/heat and massage.
So with the most recent injury I was toughing it out but after about 2 months of constant pain I decided to go for a massage (my first ever). It helped with the shoulder and neck tightness but was doing nothing for the elbow. The massage therapist recommended acupuncture.
I am a believer now.
22 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:30:54 AM by VA Red
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To: Big Horn
if it work for a week, then don’t discount it then. It illustrate it does work then. Acupuncture maybe a natural healing method as it uses your own body defences while a steroid is artificial thus more powerful
23 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:36:56 AM by 4rcane (Tennessee flood)
Posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:07:40 AM by SeekAndFind
I'll admit it. The seeming lack of scientific evidence that acupuncture actually relieves pain has left me skeptical since I first learned of the ancient Chinese technique. And to this day, it's possible that much of the relief patients feel during and after an acupuncture treatment results from the placebo effect.
But new research published this week in the journal Nature Neuroscience finds that the natural compound adenosine, known for its anti-inflammatory properties, floods tissue that is punctured or aggravated, and may be the secret ingredient in acupuncture.
A man gives his brother an acupuncture treatment for back pain in Taiwain in 2009.(Credit:
Vivian Chen/Flickr)
"Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained skeptical," says Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the University of Rochester's Center for Translational Neuromedicine, where the research was conducted. "In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body."
Her team, which presents its work this week at Purines 2010 in Barcelona, inserted and rotated needles into the tender paws of mice and found that the biochemical blockade of adenosine soothed the mice about as much as giving them drugs that boost adenosine levels.
More specifically, both during and immediately following an acupuncture treatment, the level of adenosine in the tissue near the needles was 24 times greater than before the treatment. So acupuncture may relieve pain by simply tricking bodies into thinking there's been minor tissue trauma.
And yet another pin in the proverbial coffin for skeptics like myself: The researchers even found that in "adenosine receptor knock-out mice" not equipped with the adenosine receptor, acupuncture had no effect.
So what do revelations about a 4,000-year-old technique have to do with modern technology? The better we understand exactly how needles relieve pain, the more likely we are to invent modern acupuncture kits that are affordable, portable, and safe.
There's already an app, called Qpalm Acupuncture, that maps out acupoints and formulae for treating 59 diseases, and another, iLocate--Acupuncture, for finding acupuncturists near you.
Elizabeth Armstrong Moore is a freelance journalist based in Portland, Ore. She has contributed to Wired magazine, The Christian Science Monitor, and public radio. Her semi-obscure hobbies include unicycling, slacklining, hula-hooping, scuba diving, billiards, Sudoku, Magic the Gathering, and classical piano. She is a member of the CNET Blog Network and is not an employee of CNET.
TOPICS: Culture/Society; News/Current Events
KEYWORDS: acupuncture; research
Chuck DeVore, the true Grassroots Tea Party Candidate to defeat Boxer!
Don't be fooled, support the only conservative in the race, Chuck DeVore for U.S. Senate!
Free Republic Threads
1 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:07:40 AM by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
MORE HERE:
Acupuncture May Trigger Natural Painkiller
http://health.usnews.com/health-news/family-health/pain/articles/2010/05/30/acupuncture-may-trigger-natural-painkiller.html
Needle insertion stimulates production of chemical known to reduce discomfort, scientists say.
The needle pricks involved in acupuncture may help relieve pain by triggering a natural painkilling chemical called adenosine, a new study has found.
The researchers also believe they can enhance acupuncture’s effectiveness by coupling the process with a well-known cancer drug — deoxycoformycin — that maintains adenosine levels longer than usual.
Click here to find out more!
“Acupuncture has been a mainstay of medical treatment in certain parts of the world for 4,000 years, but because it has not been understood completely, many people have remained skeptical,” lead author Dr. Maiken Nedergaard, co-director of the Center for Translational Neuromedicine at the University of Rochester Medical Center, said in a news release. “In this work, we provide information about one physical mechanism through which acupuncture reduces pain in the body.”
Nedergaard and her team report their findings online May 30 in the journal Nature Neuroscience. They are also scheduled to present the results this week at the Purines 2010 scientific meeting in Barcelona.
Working exclusively with mice, Nedergaard and her colleagues administered half-hour acupuncture treatments to a group with paw discomfort.
The investigators found adenosine levels in tissue near the needle insertion points was 24 times greater after treatment, and those mice with normal adenosine function experienced a two-thirds drop in paw pain. By contrast, mice that were genetically engineered to have no adenosine function gained no benefit from the treatment.
The team also found that if they activated adenosine in the same tissue areas without applying acupuncture, the animals’ discomfort was similarly reduced, strongly suggesting that adenosine is the magic behind the method.
Adenosine, better known for regulating sleep, inhibits nerve signals and inflammation, the authors explained.
In their experiments with deoxycoformycin, which is known to impede adenosine removal from the body, the researchers said the drug almost tripled the amount of adenosine in the targeted muscles and more than tripled the amount of time that the mice experienced pain relief.
The study was funded by the New York State Spinal Cord Injury Program and the U.S. National Institutes of Health.
For more information, go to
U.S. National Center for Complementary and Alternative Medicine.
http://nccam.nih.gov/health/acupuncture/
2 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:11:43 AM by SeekAndFind
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To: SeekAndFind
yes and if I don't place my furniture in just the right way, the negative feng shui will ruin my life unless I get a positive fortune cookie, fortune.....
3 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:11:54 AM by Vaquero (BHO....'The Pretenda from Kenya')
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To: SeekAndFind
It’s a possible adjunct to, but certainly not a replacement for, sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment.
4 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:12:52 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Vaquero
Yeah its been used for 5000 years so it must be fake
5 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:16:52 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
You want me to show you a little trick to get your mind off that pain???
6 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:17:51 AM by Richard Kimball (We're all criminals. They just haven't figured out what some of us have done yet.)
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To: Jim 0216
“It’s a possible adjunct to, but certainly not a replacement for, sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment.”
What is “ sound, healthy, and knowledgeable prevention and treatment”? Apparently you mean the practice of proscribing pills to mask symptoms.
7 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:19:53 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I postulated something like this about thirty years ago. It made perfect sense. The presence of the needle creates inflammation, which affects neural transmission.
8 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:23:15 AM by Mr Ramsbotham (Laws against sodomy are honored in the breech.)
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To: SeekAndFind
I know that acupuncture works. We have very close friends and the wife has a systemic disease that causes great pain. At its worse, she cannot even walk. They went to a major hospital here - and we have a few really great ones - and the doctor wanted to do acupuncture. My friend’s husband who is a complete cut-up made a lot of jokes about it but she was not only able to move her legs but walk afterward. Neither of them thought it would work and he, in particular, was skeptical and thought “no way.” There are other examples but this one is notable to me because of the severity of the problem and because they are people we know well and who are not given to “story-telling” or exaggeration.
9 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:23:28 AM by Paved Paradise
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To: Paved Paradise
Acupuncture has worked for me many times, especially for lower back problems and dislocated joints.
10 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:28:51 AM by Argus
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To: Jim 0216
It helped the pain in my back for about a week. A steroid shot helped for 5 years.
11 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:29:58 AM by Big Horn (Rebuild the GOP to a conservative party)
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To: driftdiver
“Yeah its been used for 5000 years so it must be fake”
Yep. I went to an Acupuncturist in Boulder, Co. and it sure helped me. I was talking to the Dr. and he said he attended school for SEVEN years to learn it. There are a lot of fakes out there however.
12 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:32:22 AM by dljordan ("His father's sword he hath girded on, And his wild harp slung behind him")
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To: SeekAndFind
I came to accept that there are benefits to accupuncture, though I still don’t understand it, through a dog.
My special dog, my baby, a Chocolate Lab getting on in years, developed cancer in his left rear leg. Due to his age and the advanced nature of the cancer when it was discovered and diagnosed, surgery was out and palliative treatment was the best course ... slow down the growth of the tumor and try to delay or prevent metastasis, extend his life, make him comfortable and help his mobility.
I tried any number of things. I spent untold hours on web searches and learned things that have proved valuable since. One of those things would be the veritable medicine chest everybody has in their kitchen spice rack, filled with antimicrobials and anti-inflammatories. The other was that quality of life for dogs and people with certain cancers and neurological problems was improved with accupuncture treatment.
I had to look high and low to find a vet who was familiar or at least not hostile to more “natural,” holistic treatments. I found her, Dr. DeVore. Accupuncture was surprisingly inexpensive, $25.00 per visit. My lab settled right in with her, didn’t flinch, seemed quite happy really, so long as he didn’t see the needles. He had no clue what was being done, and I was still sort of dubious but was determined to help him. His movement improved, his pain was diminished. I watched it happen. I’m grateful.
My late father was having problems with circulation as well as loss of sensation with phantom pain due to peripheral neuropathy at the same time. He saw the change himself, and said what the heck, nothing to lose, I’ll try it too. It helped keep him walking and kept his discomfort managable until he passed away, six months after my lab.
It was a painful time for me, obviously, but I will speak highly of accupuncture for the specific purposes I mention, for pain and mobility due to cancer or due to circulation problems and peripheral neuropathy. I watched it help a dog I loved dearly. I watched it help my own father who was in declining health, and I’d have given anything to help him, still would but he’s gone. I still haven’t made peace with his passing over two years ago, don’t know that I ever really will, but life goes on, you just find a way.
13 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:35:39 AM by RegulatorCountry
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To: SeekAndFind
I was on a homeopathy thread not long ago, bashing it. But I won’t really bash accupunture. At least there’s some action going on that’s measurable.
14 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:39:42 AM by Tolsti2
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To: driftdiver
No, I think there are healthier ways to treat symptoms, but I trust homeopathic doctors if they are also licensed medical doctors. Common sense helps a lot also. But I’m skeptical of acupuncture.
15 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:43:23 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Big Horn
A steroid shot helped for 5 years.
Is that you A-Rod? How ya doin' bro?
Just kidding - it know it does have actual medicinal purposes, but it's a fairly risky treatment IMHO.
16 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:47:18 AM by Jim 0216
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To: Jim 0216
Acupuncture cured my child’s migraines. She’s too little to take migraine medication, which doesn’t really help most people anyway.
My friend used all kinds of fertility treatments and spent tons of money. The only thing that ended up working was a $50 acupuncture treatment and lots of prayers.
I always recommend avoiding away from medications. The side effects are worse than the sickness and none actually cure except antibiotics. Nothing beats healthy food and exercise.
17 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:00:02 AM by mgist
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To: Jim 0216
“But I’m skeptical of acupuncture.”
Acupuncture does work if they know what they are doing. If not they can make things far worse or have no affect.
Western medicine is the best for fixing broken things but they do little to prevent or treat disease. Really good at treating symptoms though.
18 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:00:36 AM by driftdiver (I could eat it raw, but why do that when I have a fire.)
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To: SeekAndFind
They get it, but they don’t get it. An analogy of the acupuncture system is how a radio deliver sounds. To do this you need the hardware of the radio, and the radio signal carrying the information that the hardware turns into sound, as well as the electricity to drive the radio hardware.
In this case, they focus entirely on the hardware of the radio, looking for a magical component that will generate sound on its own. For a long time they looked for some physical pathway, and now they are looking for a chemical. So, for example, this time they have discovered a single transistor. Is this what makes the radio generate sound?
If they were to examine acupuncture theory from the point of view of systems analysis, several important features stand out that indicate there is a lot more going on here than a simple stimulus response reaction.
To start with, the acupuncture points are organized in stable lines of function. The points on these dozen primary “meridian lines” are noticeably interactive. You poke an acupuncture needle in point number 3, for example, and you see a change in point number 10, which is physically several feet away.
The meridian lines are also validated by affecting areas of the body nowhere near the point manipulated. Such as a point on the instep that is quite effective at treating some kinds of headaches. Or a point on the back of the head quite effective at reducing hemorrhoids.
It has also been learned that each of the 12 major meridian lines is most active for a 2 hour period each day, and least active, in a healing or repair mode, for a complementary 1 hour period. Thus the 12 lines flush out a 24 hour day.
The 12 meridian lines also correspond to the activity of various internal organs, including some “imaginary” organs (guessed at because of a strong cultural taboo against autopsy.) And a logical progression of activity parallel to the daily use of the body.
0400-0600 Lungs and lung meridian. The lungs are the primary intake for “Yin” energy, which can be thought of as energy coming in, oxygen. But they also have a minor role in expelling “old” energy, which is oxygen combined with carbon as a waste product, CO2.
From 4 to 6 am, the lungs are extra active, to get rid of CO2 during the lower respiration of sleep, and to flood the cells of the body with oxygen, getting ready to wake up.
0600-0800 Large Intestine and large intestine meridian. It is a mostly “Yang” organ, whose primary job is to expel feces waste, but also has a minor “Yin” task of squeezing water out of it before it is disposed of. So the first thing you do on arising is have a bowel movement.
0800-1000 Stomach. Breakfast. Oddly enough, mostly Yang, as it is less involved with absorbing breakfast, than beating it up, sloshing it around with warm stomach acid, and breaking it up into sizes small enough to pass into the small intestine.
And so it goes through the rest of the day, generally following breakfast down the intestines, activating organs when needed in that process.
Martial artists have long been interested in that 1 hour period in which organs and their meridians are least active. This is because they figured out this is the best time to attack that subsystem, as it is most vulnerable to injury.
Acupuncturists have also figured out that the 12 meridian lines are interactive. They tend to balance each other. So if one of them is imbalanced, its opposite number will try to normalize the system by going out of balance in the opposite way. This makes it harder for a person to get sick.
One of the most dramatic “proofs” of acupuncture is the 13th meridian line. It is an independent line, sometimes called the “emergency line”. It runs right up the spine in back, and straight down the middle of the front. Importantly, it has a break in the middle, right at the top of the back of the head. This break acts like a circuit breaker in the emergency line.
Under some circumstances, the two sides of the line will close that break, and the moment they do, the person will vomit. In fact, by closing, a large amount of energy is diverted right to the stomach, to cause the spasm.
This means that the body has detected something loathsome in the stomach that the person may not be consciously aware of. So in an emergency response, it decides to eject the contents of the stomach.
And it gets the energy to do this from connecting the two halves of the emergency meridian.
This points the way to the next theory. That acupuncture points can, at times, act like electronic capacitors or inductors. Sometimes they are supposed to directly pass on energy, and if they don’t do so properly, sickness can result. Other times they are supposed to store up energy, for very specialized purposes.
So this is a very complex system, and cannot be simply resolved by a simple stimulus response, one or a few chemicals released with the insertion of a needle.
19 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:11:04 AM by yefragetuwrabrumuy
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To: SeekAndFind
I never thought it was a hoax and it works for a lot more than pain reduction.
20 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:14:46 AM by TigersEye (0basma's father was a British subject. He can't be a "natural-born" citizen.)
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
To: SeekAndFind
Here’s an old, saved web search of mine that I found, from nearly four years ago, that may be pertinent. I encountered anecdotal accounts as well as research indicating that SAM-e (S-adenosyl-methionine, a related compound), had some amount of benefit in certain inflammatory disorders, including some forms of cancer:
http://www.google.com/search?q=%22s-adenosyl+methionine%22+canine+neuropathy&btnG=Search&hl=en&safe=active
So, the finding in your article regarding adenosine and anti-inflammatory response makes some amount of sense.
The funny thing about SAM-e is it’s typically regarded as a mood stabilizing neutraceutical, with some benefit as far as liver function. All that’s such a tangle of seemingly unrelated things that it’s tempting to dismiss it as snake oil. But, the research is there. Joint pain, inflammation, minor depression and liver function all helped by one little pack of pills from GNC or even Walmart. Strange.
21 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:22:10 AM by RegulatorCountry
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To: SeekAndFind
I have been having acupuncture for a little over a week now. I injured my shoulder blade lifting weights and developed tennis elbow. This has been going on for about 3 months. Nagging pain in my shoulder blade, hard to sleep, causing tight muscles up my neck and nerve pain down my arm. The tennis elbow causes my elbow to ache and makes it difficult to pick things up.
I had never used holistic medicine before. About a year ago, I injured my lower back and the doctor sent me for physical therapy and gave me pain meds. Took forever to heal. While the pain meds were fun, they did nothing to remedy the back problem. The PT was ok, but I noticed that the most effective treatment the physical therapist gave was the muscle stimulator w/heat and massage.
So with the most recent injury I was toughing it out but after about 2 months of constant pain I decided to go for a massage (my first ever). It helped with the shoulder and neck tightness but was doing nothing for the elbow. The massage therapist recommended acupuncture.
I am a believer now.
22 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:30:54 AM by VA Red
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To: Big Horn
if it work for a week, then don’t discount it then. It illustrate it does work then. Acupuncture maybe a natural healing method as it uses your own body defences while a steroid is artificial thus more powerful
23 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:36:56 AM by 4rcane (Tennessee flood)
Awash In History, Soap and Muscle [Indian Dhobi- "The British Were Better Than Our Government"]
Time seems to pass more slowly in the dhobi ghat, India's riverside laundry stalls, as washermen beat shirts against stone and lament the arrival of the washing machine.
By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
May 30, 2010 | 4:00 p.m.
Reporting from New Delhi —
Amid the bustle of congested roads, busy shopping malls and hectic call centers, for those who wash clothes for a living in the dhobi ghat, India's traditional laundry stalls, time follows a more leisurely rhythm.
Grizzled Ram Swarup sits under a tree in the 110-degree heat, folding towels. "I'm around 60," he says.
Exact dates aren't all that important here at Dhobi Ghat No. 28 on Deendayal Upadhyay Road. A few feet away, muscular young dhobis, or washermen, beat white shirts against concrete slabs, mirroring their ancestors of centuries past, just as Swarup did until his body gave out. Years spent knee-deep in bleach, starch and indigo water takes its toll.
The British built this tangle of concrete pools near Connaught Place in 1932, reportedly to avoid having their laundry battered and muddied in the nearby Yamuna River.
"He likes to grab my nicest shirts / And pound them on a stone," reads a poem titled "Our Dhobi" written around that time by F. Mowbray Velte, an English literature professor living in India. "Reducing every button / To shattered bits of bone."
In the next pool, dhobi Pritam Lal, who reckons he's closer to 70 than 60, recalls how fastidious the English were — especially about the ironing. They loved their starch, a gluey paste made from boiled tapioca, and often had their apparel pressed two or three times, especially the pleats their women wore.
"Clothes are clothes," said Lal. "But those were difficult."
For a time, the Indian army aped the colonial masters in the love of starch after independence in 1947, until reason prevailed, the dhobis said, noting that starched clothing is very uncomfortable in India's often extreme heat.
Although the British have their share of critics in India, most dhobis — starch aside — are not among them. The former imperialists built bungalows and servants' quarters for their launderers, housing since taken away under Indian rule through trickery, political muscle and bulldozers, they said. That's left most of the 135 families here squatting under flimsy sheets of tin and tarp.
"The British were better than our government," said dhobi K.C. Singh. "At least they didn't harass us."
While much of the world defined the 1960s by race riots, war and social turmoil, the dhobis recall it as a time when Indian cottons prevailed until their sudsy tanks started filling up with Terylene, a British precursor to Dacron. Polyesters were fine, dhobis said, although they sometimes caught fire when sparks jumped from the coal-heated irons. Their colors also bled a bit more, until the color-fast blends came through.
Regional conflicts such as the 1965 and 1971 India- Pakistan wars are remembered at the ghat for having driven up the price of washing powder and for having forced dhobis to dig civil defense trenches. At the time, diving for cover during air raid exercises meant soiling the dhobis' own clothes.
A strange new apparel appeared in the mid-1970s, a fashion item said to be inflicted on society by some unthinking Bollywood director. "I never owned a pair of bell-bottoms," said Swarup, his skin hanging loosely on his bony frame. "Actually, I found them a bit strange-looking. They had more fabric, but we weren't paid any more to wash them."
On occasion, though, additional fabric has been a boon, most notably a decade later when middle-class Indians started using top sheets, doubling that business overnight. After the ugly and the good came the bad, however — the unwelcome bluejean rage, Swarup said. Denim is a heavy fabric when wet, he noted, and the bluejean crowd really let the grime sink in before washing.
The true existential crisis in the dhobi world, however, has been the advent of home washing machines. An Associated Press article in 1969 heralded the change: "Many middle-class families in India are throwing off ancient taboos against 'respectable' people doing menial work, and the housewives are doing their own laundry and ironing."
"We hate home washing machines," said Lal.
Not that technology's been all bad. The arrival of streetlights around 1985 and electrification of the ghat in 1998 allowed ambitious dhobi families to buy industrial washing machines. Initially, some feared the machines would tear up clothing, explode or otherwise destroy their world. But, in a nation where public laundromats are unheard of, most of the dhobis adapted, replacing the household work with hotel and restaurant work that may pay only 5 cents per napkin but involves higher volumes. An average dhobi family, with everyone pitching in, earns about $250 per month.
Traditionalists such as Swarup and Lal, meanwhile, continue to use the "beat-and-heat" system, boiling laundry in vats of soap and soda overnight and banging the dirt out on stone surfaces before the items are dried in the sun. Mark Twain in his 1897 memoir "Following the Equator" described dhobis laundering their masters' clothes and wisecracked: "Are they trying to break those stones with clothes?"
Most dhobis, estimated by the Delhi Dhobi Welfare Committee at 6 million nationwide, toil in obscurity. The community has thrown up its occasional hero, however, including Ram Chander, who in 1947 received India's second-highest gallantry award for rescuing an officer and battling insurgents in Kashmir, and humanitarian Gadge Baba (1876-1956), regarded by many as a saint.
Because many dhobis are illiterate, they've developed a highly reliable system of indelible dots and dashes to ensure clothing is returned to its rightful owners. Legend has it the ingenious system, a sort of dhobi DNA, has even helped solve the odd murder.
India's changing social fabric has also affected the ghat. For centuries, it was your fate to be born a dhobi, considered part of the Dalit, or untouchable, caste, given the work with dirty sheets and other impurities. Nowadays, it's easier to marry or work outside the community, although many social barriers remain, said Subhadra Channa, a sociologist at the University of Delhi.
Both of Swarup's sons, Praveen, 25, scrubbing collars nearby with a bristle brush, and Ashok, 35, busy ironing, are dhobis. But he hopes his two young grandchildren can break the chain and avoid a life of backbreaking labor and workdays that start at 3 a.m.
"I hope to get an office job," said third-generation dhobi Yogesh Kumar, 19, a college student, scrubbing stains while listening to an MP3 music player. "You get a regular paycheck, and you don't have to splash about all day."
It wasn't too long ago that customers were content to see their laundry again after a week, dhobis said, but nowadays everyone expects it in two days.
"Before the electricity came in 1998, decades passed without much change. You could sit and chat, without fear in your mind," said Sanjay Kumar, 38, at nearby Lodi Garden ghat. "Now everyone wants things so fast. There's stress, bills, fear they'll take your land away. Life just seems to be getting less and less secure."
mark.magnier@latimes.com
Anshul Rana of The Times' New Delhi Bureau contributed to this report.
Although the British have their share of critics in India, most dhobis — starch aside — are not among them. The former imperialists built bungalows and servants' quarters for their launderers, housing since taken away under Indian rule through trickery, political muscle and bulldozers, they said. That's left most of the 135 families here squatting under flimsy sheets of tin and tarp.
"The British were better than our government," said dhobi K.C. Singh. "At least they didn't harass us."
1 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:32:44 AM by Steelfish
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To: Steelfish
Aren’t these basically illegal squatters?
2 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:39:24 AM by James C. Bennett
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To: Steelfish
In a Ugandan village back in 1980, a little while after the fall of Idi Amin, I had a old woman ask me, “Please, when are the British coming back?”
3 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:42:47 AM by BwanaNdege
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To: Steelfish
Very interesting article, thanks for posting.
I was wondering about the origin of the word "dobie" and now I know!
Scotch-Brite: Dobie Scrubber, 1 pk
4 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:21:55 AM by thecodont
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To: James C. Bennett
I don’t think they do this or live on private property. Sometimes a long and unbroken practice of use acquiesced by government and the consuming public provides a basis for a legal right. They earn a hardscrabble and honest living. They do no harm. I take the side of the dhobis.
5 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:24:15 AM by Steelfish (ui)
By Mark Magnier, Los Angeles Times
May 30, 2010 | 4:00 p.m.
Reporting from New Delhi —
Amid the bustle of congested roads, busy shopping malls and hectic call centers, for those who wash clothes for a living in the dhobi ghat, India's traditional laundry stalls, time follows a more leisurely rhythm.
Grizzled Ram Swarup sits under a tree in the 110-degree heat, folding towels. "I'm around 60," he says.
Exact dates aren't all that important here at Dhobi Ghat No. 28 on Deendayal Upadhyay Road. A few feet away, muscular young dhobis, or washermen, beat white shirts against concrete slabs, mirroring their ancestors of centuries past, just as Swarup did until his body gave out. Years spent knee-deep in bleach, starch and indigo water takes its toll.
The British built this tangle of concrete pools near Connaught Place in 1932, reportedly to avoid having their laundry battered and muddied in the nearby Yamuna River.
"He likes to grab my nicest shirts / And pound them on a stone," reads a poem titled "Our Dhobi" written around that time by F. Mowbray Velte, an English literature professor living in India. "Reducing every button / To shattered bits of bone."
In the next pool, dhobi Pritam Lal, who reckons he's closer to 70 than 60, recalls how fastidious the English were — especially about the ironing. They loved their starch, a gluey paste made from boiled tapioca, and often had their apparel pressed two or three times, especially the pleats their women wore.
"Clothes are clothes," said Lal. "But those were difficult."
For a time, the Indian army aped the colonial masters in the love of starch after independence in 1947, until reason prevailed, the dhobis said, noting that starched clothing is very uncomfortable in India's often extreme heat.
Although the British have their share of critics in India, most dhobis — starch aside — are not among them. The former imperialists built bungalows and servants' quarters for their launderers, housing since taken away under Indian rule through trickery, political muscle and bulldozers, they said. That's left most of the 135 families here squatting under flimsy sheets of tin and tarp.
"The British were better than our government," said dhobi K.C. Singh. "At least they didn't harass us."
While much of the world defined the 1960s by race riots, war and social turmoil, the dhobis recall it as a time when Indian cottons prevailed until their sudsy tanks started filling up with Terylene, a British precursor to Dacron. Polyesters were fine, dhobis said, although they sometimes caught fire when sparks jumped from the coal-heated irons. Their colors also bled a bit more, until the color-fast blends came through.
Regional conflicts such as the 1965 and 1971 India- Pakistan wars are remembered at the ghat for having driven up the price of washing powder and for having forced dhobis to dig civil defense trenches. At the time, diving for cover during air raid exercises meant soiling the dhobis' own clothes.
A strange new apparel appeared in the mid-1970s, a fashion item said to be inflicted on society by some unthinking Bollywood director. "I never owned a pair of bell-bottoms," said Swarup, his skin hanging loosely on his bony frame. "Actually, I found them a bit strange-looking. They had more fabric, but we weren't paid any more to wash them."
On occasion, though, additional fabric has been a boon, most notably a decade later when middle-class Indians started using top sheets, doubling that business overnight. After the ugly and the good came the bad, however — the unwelcome bluejean rage, Swarup said. Denim is a heavy fabric when wet, he noted, and the bluejean crowd really let the grime sink in before washing.
The true existential crisis in the dhobi world, however, has been the advent of home washing machines. An Associated Press article in 1969 heralded the change: "Many middle-class families in India are throwing off ancient taboos against 'respectable' people doing menial work, and the housewives are doing their own laundry and ironing."
"We hate home washing machines," said Lal.
Not that technology's been all bad. The arrival of streetlights around 1985 and electrification of the ghat in 1998 allowed ambitious dhobi families to buy industrial washing machines. Initially, some feared the machines would tear up clothing, explode or otherwise destroy their world. But, in a nation where public laundromats are unheard of, most of the dhobis adapted, replacing the household work with hotel and restaurant work that may pay only 5 cents per napkin but involves higher volumes. An average dhobi family, with everyone pitching in, earns about $250 per month.
Traditionalists such as Swarup and Lal, meanwhile, continue to use the "beat-and-heat" system, boiling laundry in vats of soap and soda overnight and banging the dirt out on stone surfaces before the items are dried in the sun. Mark Twain in his 1897 memoir "Following the Equator" described dhobis laundering their masters' clothes and wisecracked: "Are they trying to break those stones with clothes?"
Most dhobis, estimated by the Delhi Dhobi Welfare Committee at 6 million nationwide, toil in obscurity. The community has thrown up its occasional hero, however, including Ram Chander, who in 1947 received India's second-highest gallantry award for rescuing an officer and battling insurgents in Kashmir, and humanitarian Gadge Baba (1876-1956), regarded by many as a saint.
Because many dhobis are illiterate, they've developed a highly reliable system of indelible dots and dashes to ensure clothing is returned to its rightful owners. Legend has it the ingenious system, a sort of dhobi DNA, has even helped solve the odd murder.
India's changing social fabric has also affected the ghat. For centuries, it was your fate to be born a dhobi, considered part of the Dalit, or untouchable, caste, given the work with dirty sheets and other impurities. Nowadays, it's easier to marry or work outside the community, although many social barriers remain, said Subhadra Channa, a sociologist at the University of Delhi.
Both of Swarup's sons, Praveen, 25, scrubbing collars nearby with a bristle brush, and Ashok, 35, busy ironing, are dhobis. But he hopes his two young grandchildren can break the chain and avoid a life of backbreaking labor and workdays that start at 3 a.m.
"I hope to get an office job," said third-generation dhobi Yogesh Kumar, 19, a college student, scrubbing stains while listening to an MP3 music player. "You get a regular paycheck, and you don't have to splash about all day."
It wasn't too long ago that customers were content to see their laundry again after a week, dhobis said, but nowadays everyone expects it in two days.
"Before the electricity came in 1998, decades passed without much change. You could sit and chat, without fear in your mind," said Sanjay Kumar, 38, at nearby Lodi Garden ghat. "Now everyone wants things so fast. There's stress, bills, fear they'll take your land away. Life just seems to be getting less and less secure."
mark.magnier@latimes.com
Anshul Rana of The Times' New Delhi Bureau contributed to this report.
Although the British have their share of critics in India, most dhobis — starch aside — are not among them. The former imperialists built bungalows and servants' quarters for their launderers, housing since taken away under Indian rule through trickery, political muscle and bulldozers, they said. That's left most of the 135 families here squatting under flimsy sheets of tin and tarp.
"The British were better than our government," said dhobi K.C. Singh. "At least they didn't harass us."
1 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:32:44 AM by Steelfish
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | View Replies]
To: Steelfish
Aren’t these basically illegal squatters?
2 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:39:24 AM by James C. Bennett
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
To: Steelfish
In a Ugandan village back in 1980, a little while after the fall of Idi Amin, I had a old woman ask me, “Please, when are the British coming back?”
3 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 8:42:47 AM by BwanaNdege
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
To: Steelfish
Very interesting article, thanks for posting.
I was wondering about the origin of the word "dobie" and now I know!
Scotch-Brite: Dobie Scrubber, 1 pk
4 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:21:55 AM by thecodont
[ Post Reply | Private Reply | To 1 | View Replies]
To: James C. Bennett
I don’t think they do this or live on private property. Sometimes a long and unbroken practice of use acquiesced by government and the consuming public provides a basis for a legal right. They earn a hardscrabble and honest living. They do no harm. I take the side of the dhobis.
5 posted on Monday, May 31, 2010 9:24:15 AM by Steelfish (ui)
Thursday, May 27, 2010
Pyongyang'd Again
By David Warren
A North Korean submarine torpedoed and sank a South Korean gunboat in March, killing 46 sailors. This was the conclusion of a thorough investigation by experts from the U.S., Australia, Britain, and Sweden, last week. The White House then decried "an act of aggression," omitting that it was also an act of war. The latest of many.
While it is true that the leaders of North Korea are insane, it is not helpful to leave matters there. Even the insane have motivations, and in this case, numerous allies. In the past, Pyongyang's most belligerent acts have been performed with a certain base cunning, and generous consideration of the interests of their allies: chiefly Iran, and China.
Most notably, as I have written before, Pyongyang tends to create an incident at a moment when the heat is rising on Iran; and the favour is often returned by the ayatollahs. The two countries are obviously pooling nuclear and missile expertise, and both benefit from technology provided by China and Russia -- which in turn shield both against sanctions at the United Nations. This game puzzles the West's finest strategic minds. (And I say that facetiously.)
The endless diplomatic shuttle to Beijing and Moscow, to beg support for mild sanctions, is not merely a waste of time and jet fuel. It is seriously counter-productive. It increases Chinese and Russian power and prestige, directly at the expense of American and European. It increases the value to them of Iran and North Korea as provocateurs, and encourages additional investments. There is no downside for them. There is no upside for us.
There is only the spectacle of Western diplomats playing the monkey in the middle -- which is what "shuttle diplomacy" is all about. Nothing more. It has, and has always had, a success rate of zero: for the paper agreements that are obtained by this method of self-humiliation mean nothing whatever to the parties that finally agree to sign them -- in order to keep the game going.
The Pyongyang politburo, for instance, has welched on every agreement it has ever made. So why do we seek yet another, and continue to supply the goodies we promised in return for the past ones? Are we crazier than they are?
Effective diplomacy is seldom if ever done publicly. It requires tough negotiations conducted nearly invisibly; and certainly without speeches and press conferences. Treaties may be signed, by parties with a sane understanding of their own long-term interests; all the other paper may be recycled. This holds true even for negotiating trade agreements between Canada and the States; how much more when discussing delicate matters with tyrants for whom loss of face is infinitely more important than loss of life?
You don't make treaties with such men. Instead, you do everything in your power to isolate and weaken them. And their allies. Let China pick up the whole tab for keeping Pyongyang's psychopaths in business.
Perhaps the greatest tactical error in diplomacy is to make a threat you are not prepared to act on.
The Bush administration earned a reputation for being as good as its word, alas at the sacrifice of much public support. On North Korea, however, Bush was at a loss. But he didn't make the kind of pointless threat we've now heard from the Hillary Clinton State Department: that it is mulling over punitive measures, all of which Pyongyang knows will be toothless.
The Obama administration has already squandered its predecessor's legacy. In any paragraph of any Obama speech on foreign affairs, the reader will discover that the new policy is walk softly and throw away the big stick. The recent obscene display of joint anti-American crowing from the leaders of Brazil, Turkey, and Iran, is the sort of thing that could not have happened under previous U.S. administrations. It was a frightening harbinger of things to come.
The wilful naïveté reaches fatuous heights in the current U.S. demand that North Korea should find, try, and punish the perpetrators of the torpedo attack. Do they seriously expect the politburo in Pyongyang to put itself on trial for crimes against humanity? Don't make them laugh.
South Korea's government has taken several small steps to express its displeasure, and impose some modest costs on the murderers. It has withdrawn from several minor cooperative agreements with the North, and will resume propaganda radio broadcasts that were stopped as part of a previous paper agreement.
Pyongyang upped that ante yesterday, by theatrically severing relations with the South, thus sending Mrs Clinton into another begging frenzy towards Beijing.
A more effective response, from the West, would be to calmly allow that all previous agreements with Pyongyang are abrogated, and all negotiations concluded. Then, without eagerly consulting Beijing, silently but visibly build the allied military presence (including intelligence operations) in theatre. Instead of wondering what they will do next, let them wonder what we will.
otiosus@sympatico.ca
To: Dallas59; TigerLikesRooster; SevenofNine; mkjessup; Jet Jaguar
They will play "chicken" with Obama. They will really ramp it up and make it to crisis purportions unseen in many years, worse than Operation Paul Bunyan, or the USS Pueblo incident. They have been skillfully trained at it for over 60 years.
Obama on the other hand HAS NO MILITARY, ASIAN PHILOSOPHY, MARTIAL ARTS OR GEOPOLITICAL/DIPLOMATIC ANTI-COMMUNIST EXPERIENCE NOR SENTIMENT and they will turn his crap white with hardball intimidation. He will FOLD and send a special envoy to Pyongyang to sue for peace, to "cool them down", and then promise all kinds of benefits to DPRK, then somehow spin it that he defused a terribly tense situation.
Just watch it happen over the next two months.
The person to go up to Pyongyang for the kowtow will be Gov. Bill Richardson or Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter or Madeline Albright (she, after all, has the short-donged One's private e mail address from last time, when she danced a jig to the quaint DPRK children's tune of "Let's All, in the Socialist Vanguard, Fervently Slit The Throats of the Imperialists", in the Pyongyang Worker's Stadium.) It will be the biggest sellout but the coddling US media (as in Government-Media Complex) will be behind it lock, stock and barrel, singing Obongo's praises, the North Korean regime will be granted a new lease on life for at least the next 30 years, with Junio Kim Jong Un at the helm.
If General of the Army Douglas MacArthur were alive today, so help me, he would b*tchslap Obongo until he was seeing stars and hearing chickadees. Reprehensible, but so predictable. We learn NOTHING over the years with this third rate concentration camp of a dictatorship. North Korea masters us so skillfully they know our every move in advance, that is why they play us so skillfully and jack us around, Democrat and Republican Administration alike.
8 posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 12:56:52 PM by AmericanInTokyo (If war comes, it will be because Obama was perceived, and rightly so, by our deadly enemies, as WEAK)
A North Korean submarine torpedoed and sank a South Korean gunboat in March, killing 46 sailors. This was the conclusion of a thorough investigation by experts from the U.S., Australia, Britain, and Sweden, last week. The White House then decried "an act of aggression," omitting that it was also an act of war. The latest of many.
While it is true that the leaders of North Korea are insane, it is not helpful to leave matters there. Even the insane have motivations, and in this case, numerous allies. In the past, Pyongyang's most belligerent acts have been performed with a certain base cunning, and generous consideration of the interests of their allies: chiefly Iran, and China.
Most notably, as I have written before, Pyongyang tends to create an incident at a moment when the heat is rising on Iran; and the favour is often returned by the ayatollahs. The two countries are obviously pooling nuclear and missile expertise, and both benefit from technology provided by China and Russia -- which in turn shield both against sanctions at the United Nations. This game puzzles the West's finest strategic minds. (And I say that facetiously.)
The endless diplomatic shuttle to Beijing and Moscow, to beg support for mild sanctions, is not merely a waste of time and jet fuel. It is seriously counter-productive. It increases Chinese and Russian power and prestige, directly at the expense of American and European. It increases the value to them of Iran and North Korea as provocateurs, and encourages additional investments. There is no downside for them. There is no upside for us.
There is only the spectacle of Western diplomats playing the monkey in the middle -- which is what "shuttle diplomacy" is all about. Nothing more. It has, and has always had, a success rate of zero: for the paper agreements that are obtained by this method of self-humiliation mean nothing whatever to the parties that finally agree to sign them -- in order to keep the game going.
The Pyongyang politburo, for instance, has welched on every agreement it has ever made. So why do we seek yet another, and continue to supply the goodies we promised in return for the past ones? Are we crazier than they are?
Effective diplomacy is seldom if ever done publicly. It requires tough negotiations conducted nearly invisibly; and certainly without speeches and press conferences. Treaties may be signed, by parties with a sane understanding of their own long-term interests; all the other paper may be recycled. This holds true even for negotiating trade agreements between Canada and the States; how much more when discussing delicate matters with tyrants for whom loss of face is infinitely more important than loss of life?
You don't make treaties with such men. Instead, you do everything in your power to isolate and weaken them. And their allies. Let China pick up the whole tab for keeping Pyongyang's psychopaths in business.
Perhaps the greatest tactical error in diplomacy is to make a threat you are not prepared to act on.
The Bush administration earned a reputation for being as good as its word, alas at the sacrifice of much public support. On North Korea, however, Bush was at a loss. But he didn't make the kind of pointless threat we've now heard from the Hillary Clinton State Department: that it is mulling over punitive measures, all of which Pyongyang knows will be toothless.
The Obama administration has already squandered its predecessor's legacy. In any paragraph of any Obama speech on foreign affairs, the reader will discover that the new policy is walk softly and throw away the big stick. The recent obscene display of joint anti-American crowing from the leaders of Brazil, Turkey, and Iran, is the sort of thing that could not have happened under previous U.S. administrations. It was a frightening harbinger of things to come.
The wilful naïveté reaches fatuous heights in the current U.S. demand that North Korea should find, try, and punish the perpetrators of the torpedo attack. Do they seriously expect the politburo in Pyongyang to put itself on trial for crimes against humanity? Don't make them laugh.
South Korea's government has taken several small steps to express its displeasure, and impose some modest costs on the murderers. It has withdrawn from several minor cooperative agreements with the North, and will resume propaganda radio broadcasts that were stopped as part of a previous paper agreement.
Pyongyang upped that ante yesterday, by theatrically severing relations with the South, thus sending Mrs Clinton into another begging frenzy towards Beijing.
A more effective response, from the West, would be to calmly allow that all previous agreements with Pyongyang are abrogated, and all negotiations concluded. Then, without eagerly consulting Beijing, silently but visibly build the allied military presence (including intelligence operations) in theatre. Instead of wondering what they will do next, let them wonder what we will.
otiosus@sympatico.ca
To: Dallas59; TigerLikesRooster; SevenofNine; mkjessup; Jet Jaguar
They will play "chicken" with Obama. They will really ramp it up and make it to crisis purportions unseen in many years, worse than Operation Paul Bunyan, or the USS Pueblo incident. They have been skillfully trained at it for over 60 years.
Obama on the other hand HAS NO MILITARY, ASIAN PHILOSOPHY, MARTIAL ARTS OR GEOPOLITICAL/DIPLOMATIC ANTI-COMMUNIST EXPERIENCE NOR SENTIMENT and they will turn his crap white with hardball intimidation. He will FOLD and send a special envoy to Pyongyang to sue for peace, to "cool them down", and then promise all kinds of benefits to DPRK, then somehow spin it that he defused a terribly tense situation.
Just watch it happen over the next two months.
The person to go up to Pyongyang for the kowtow will be Gov. Bill Richardson or Bill Clinton or Jimmy Carter or Madeline Albright (she, after all, has the short-donged One's private e mail address from last time, when she danced a jig to the quaint DPRK children's tune of "Let's All, in the Socialist Vanguard, Fervently Slit The Throats of the Imperialists", in the Pyongyang Worker's Stadium.) It will be the biggest sellout but the coddling US media (as in Government-Media Complex) will be behind it lock, stock and barrel, singing Obongo's praises, the North Korean regime will be granted a new lease on life for at least the next 30 years, with Junio Kim Jong Un at the helm.
If General of the Army Douglas MacArthur were alive today, so help me, he would b*tchslap Obongo until he was seeing stars and hearing chickadees. Reprehensible, but so predictable. We learn NOTHING over the years with this third rate concentration camp of a dictatorship. North Korea masters us so skillfully they know our every move in advance, that is why they play us so skillfully and jack us around, Democrat and Republican Administration alike.
8 posted on Thursday, May 27, 2010 12:56:52 PM by AmericanInTokyo (If war comes, it will be because Obama was perceived, and rightly so, by our deadly enemies, as WEAK)
Lehman's Bankruptcy Estate Sues J.P. Morgan
By MIKE SPECTOR And SUSANNE CRAIG
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s estate sued J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., alleging J.P. Morgan illegally siphoned billions of dollars from Lehman in the days before the troubled investment bank filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The lawsuit alleges that J.P. Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon and other top executives used inside knowledge to take advantage of Lehman as its financial state worsened. J.P. Morgan, the suit alleged, coerced Lehman to turn over $8.6 billion in collateral in September 2008, triggering a liquidity squeeze that contributed to Lehman's collapse. The estate is hoping to recoup billions in collateral the bank demanded, and billions in other damages.
J.P. Morgan spokesman Joe Evangelisti said the lawsuit "is ill-conceived and meritless, and we will vigorously defend it."
The lawsuit, long expected, contains among the most-significant allegations to date about the interplay between Lehman and its onetime Wall Street brethren.
J.P. Morgan served as Lehman's main "clearing bank," meaning it acted as a middleman between Lehman and its lenders and investors. In this capacity, it knew more than most market players about Lehman's financial condition, which was growing more dire in the summer and fall of 2008.
The lawsuit alleges J.P. Morgan used this advantage to squeeze billions of dollars out of Lehman by demanding more collateral to cover its risks, ensuring J.P. Morgan "would stand ahead of all other [Lehman creditors]—not just for its clearance exposure, but for all possible exposure that could result from [a Lehman] bankruptcy."
Lehman bowed to J.P. Morgan's demands, said the suit, claiming Lehman feared that if J.P. Morgan ceased its clearing activities, it would have triggered the firm's immediate collapse.
A bankruptcy-court examiner found in a recent report that Lehman could pursue a legal claim against J.P. Morgan for making "excessive collateral requests," though he labeled it "not a strong claim." The examiner said Lehman could have a legal claim to claw back $6.9 billion of the $8.6 billion pledged to J.P. Morgan.
The bankruptcy-court examiner assailed Lehman for using certain accounting techniques to mask its leverage and mislead market participants before its collapse. Meantime, J.P. Morgan was among the only institutions to continue lending to Lehman before and after its bankruptcy.
J.P. Morgan's Mr. Evangelisti said: "As the examiner's report makes clear, it was the ill-advised decisions of Lehman itself and its principals to take on perilous leverage and to double-down on subprime mortgages ... and not any conduct by J.P. Morgan that led to Lehman's demise and the enormous losses to its various constituencies."
He added that there was "absolutely no inappropriate use of confidential information by any employee."
Lehman outlined a series of events in which it claimed J.P. Morgan took advantage of being the "ultimate insider" and contributed to Lehman's tumble into bankruptcy court. The following timeline is based on Lehman's versions of events contained in the suit:
In late August, J.P. Morgan, aware that Lehman's situation was deteriorating, asked Lehman to revise its clearance agreement to give J.P. Morgan added protections.
Not long after, in early September, senior J.P. Morgan and Lehman executives met to discuss Lehman's upcoming quarterly results. J.P. Morgan was given access to Lehman's books and records.
On Sept. 9, Mr. Dimon met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to discuss Lehman's fate and the government's intention to avoid rescuing the firm. Those meetings prompted J.P. Morgan to accelerate efforts to get Lehman collateral, the suit alleges.
The same day, Steve Black, co-head of J.P. Morgan's investment banking division, agreed to send a deals team to Lehman to discuss pumping money into the troubled firm—an idea Mr. Dimon had discussed with Lehman's chief executive, Richard Fuld.
But J.P. Morgan instead sent bankers to probe Lehman's records and plans, Lehman's suit alleges. The team later told Mr. Dimon and others that Lehman wanted a credit line from J.P. Morgan. In an email, Mr. Black responded by asking about the "drugs they apparently have been taking to think that we would do something like that."
In the evening hours of Sept. 9, J.P. Morgan's in-house lawyer, Diane Genova, called Andrew Yeung, a junior Lehman lawyer, alerting him that J.P. Morgan was drafting a new set of security agreements Lehman needed to sign before it released earnings results the next morning, the suit alleges.
Executives authorized to sign the agreement, including finance-chief Ian Lowitt, were unavailable, the suit alleges. J.P. Morgan told Mr. Yeung that Mr. Fuld, Lehman's CEO, had agreed to the new deal's terms in a conversation with J.P. Morgan's Mr. Black. Lehman said in the complaint that was "untrue."
The new agreement gave J.P. Morgan broader protections, requiring Lehman's holding company give broad guarantees to all J.P. Morgan's exposures to all Lehman entities, regardless of their nature. The new deal also canceled Lehman's access to previously pledged collateral through an overnight account, the suit alleges.
With the threat of J.P. Morgan stopping clearing activities looming, Mr. Yeung sent the agreement back, signed by Lehman treasurer Paolo Tonucci.
J.P. Morgan demanded more collateral over the next week, culminating in a $5 billion request late Sept. 11. Senior Lehman officers circulated a "Back-Up Contingency Plan" that noted J.P. Morgan continued to ask for collateral. "If we don't provide the cash, they refuse to clear, we fail ... , " part of the plan said.
On Sept. 12, Lehman delivered "what was essentially its last available $5 billion in cash," the complaint said. Over the weekend, Lehman "repeatedly" requested access to some of the collateral to stay afloat long enough to sell itself or wind down. J.P. Morgan refused.
The government declined to rescue Lehman. On Sept. 15, the then fourth-largest investment bank in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy, setting off the financial crisis.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com and Susanne Craig at susanne.craig@wsj.com
Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s estate sued J.P. Morgan Chase & Co., alleging J.P. Morgan illegally siphoned billions of dollars from Lehman in the days before the troubled investment bank filed for the largest bankruptcy in U.S. history.
The lawsuit alleges that J.P. Morgan Chief Executive James Dimon and other top executives used inside knowledge to take advantage of Lehman as its financial state worsened. J.P. Morgan, the suit alleged, coerced Lehman to turn over $8.6 billion in collateral in September 2008, triggering a liquidity squeeze that contributed to Lehman's collapse. The estate is hoping to recoup billions in collateral the bank demanded, and billions in other damages.
J.P. Morgan spokesman Joe Evangelisti said the lawsuit "is ill-conceived and meritless, and we will vigorously defend it."
The lawsuit, long expected, contains among the most-significant allegations to date about the interplay between Lehman and its onetime Wall Street brethren.
J.P. Morgan served as Lehman's main "clearing bank," meaning it acted as a middleman between Lehman and its lenders and investors. In this capacity, it knew more than most market players about Lehman's financial condition, which was growing more dire in the summer and fall of 2008.
The lawsuit alleges J.P. Morgan used this advantage to squeeze billions of dollars out of Lehman by demanding more collateral to cover its risks, ensuring J.P. Morgan "would stand ahead of all other [Lehman creditors]—not just for its clearance exposure, but for all possible exposure that could result from [a Lehman] bankruptcy."
Lehman bowed to J.P. Morgan's demands, said the suit, claiming Lehman feared that if J.P. Morgan ceased its clearing activities, it would have triggered the firm's immediate collapse.
A bankruptcy-court examiner found in a recent report that Lehman could pursue a legal claim against J.P. Morgan for making "excessive collateral requests," though he labeled it "not a strong claim." The examiner said Lehman could have a legal claim to claw back $6.9 billion of the $8.6 billion pledged to J.P. Morgan.
The bankruptcy-court examiner assailed Lehman for using certain accounting techniques to mask its leverage and mislead market participants before its collapse. Meantime, J.P. Morgan was among the only institutions to continue lending to Lehman before and after its bankruptcy.
J.P. Morgan's Mr. Evangelisti said: "As the examiner's report makes clear, it was the ill-advised decisions of Lehman itself and its principals to take on perilous leverage and to double-down on subprime mortgages ... and not any conduct by J.P. Morgan that led to Lehman's demise and the enormous losses to its various constituencies."
He added that there was "absolutely no inappropriate use of confidential information by any employee."
Lehman outlined a series of events in which it claimed J.P. Morgan took advantage of being the "ultimate insider" and contributed to Lehman's tumble into bankruptcy court. The following timeline is based on Lehman's versions of events contained in the suit:
In late August, J.P. Morgan, aware that Lehman's situation was deteriorating, asked Lehman to revise its clearance agreement to give J.P. Morgan added protections.
Not long after, in early September, senior J.P. Morgan and Lehman executives met to discuss Lehman's upcoming quarterly results. J.P. Morgan was given access to Lehman's books and records.
On Sept. 9, Mr. Dimon met with Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke and Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson to discuss Lehman's fate and the government's intention to avoid rescuing the firm. Those meetings prompted J.P. Morgan to accelerate efforts to get Lehman collateral, the suit alleges.
The same day, Steve Black, co-head of J.P. Morgan's investment banking division, agreed to send a deals team to Lehman to discuss pumping money into the troubled firm—an idea Mr. Dimon had discussed with Lehman's chief executive, Richard Fuld.
But J.P. Morgan instead sent bankers to probe Lehman's records and plans, Lehman's suit alleges. The team later told Mr. Dimon and others that Lehman wanted a credit line from J.P. Morgan. In an email, Mr. Black responded by asking about the "drugs they apparently have been taking to think that we would do something like that."
In the evening hours of Sept. 9, J.P. Morgan's in-house lawyer, Diane Genova, called Andrew Yeung, a junior Lehman lawyer, alerting him that J.P. Morgan was drafting a new set of security agreements Lehman needed to sign before it released earnings results the next morning, the suit alleges.
Executives authorized to sign the agreement, including finance-chief Ian Lowitt, were unavailable, the suit alleges. J.P. Morgan told Mr. Yeung that Mr. Fuld, Lehman's CEO, had agreed to the new deal's terms in a conversation with J.P. Morgan's Mr. Black. Lehman said in the complaint that was "untrue."
The new agreement gave J.P. Morgan broader protections, requiring Lehman's holding company give broad guarantees to all J.P. Morgan's exposures to all Lehman entities, regardless of their nature. The new deal also canceled Lehman's access to previously pledged collateral through an overnight account, the suit alleges.
With the threat of J.P. Morgan stopping clearing activities looming, Mr. Yeung sent the agreement back, signed by Lehman treasurer Paolo Tonucci.
J.P. Morgan demanded more collateral over the next week, culminating in a $5 billion request late Sept. 11. Senior Lehman officers circulated a "Back-Up Contingency Plan" that noted J.P. Morgan continued to ask for collateral. "If we don't provide the cash, they refuse to clear, we fail ... , " part of the plan said.
On Sept. 12, Lehman delivered "what was essentially its last available $5 billion in cash," the complaint said. Over the weekend, Lehman "repeatedly" requested access to some of the collateral to stay afloat long enough to sell itself or wind down. J.P. Morgan refused.
The government declined to rescue Lehman. On Sept. 15, the then fourth-largest investment bank in the U.S. filed for bankruptcy, setting off the financial crisis.
Write to Mike Spector at mike.spector@wsj.com and Susanne Craig at susanne.craig@wsj.com
Disney Employee Accused in Foiled Stock Plot
By ETHAN SMITH And JOHN R. EMSHWILLER
Federal authorities alleged Wednesday that a Walt Disney Co. executive assistant and her boyfriend engaged in a ham-handed plot to sell Wall Street traders inside information, first offered in a chirpy missive sent to dozens of investment companies.
"Hi, I have access to Disney's (DIS) quarterly earnings report before its release on 05/03/10," the March 5 letter began. "I am willing to share this information for a fee that we can determine later."
The alleged plan went awry. Instead of taking the bait, "multiple hedge funds reported the illicit scheme," the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a press release.
In a pair of complaints filed Wednesday, federal authorities said the letter and subsequent emails were sent by Yonni Sebbag, whose girlfriend Bonnie Hoxie was an assistant to Disney's head of corporate communications.
Disney said in a statement Wednesday that it "has been fully cooperating with this investigation." Ms. Hoxie was at work as recently as Tuesday, according to people at the company.
A federal judge ordered Mr. Sebbag held as a potential flight risk and released Ms. Hoxie on a $50,000 bond Wednesday. Neither responded to the charges in a bail hearing Wednesday.
The March 5 form letter was sent to 33 investment companies, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan federal court charging the two with conspiracy and wire fraud. Undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation began corresponding with Mr. Sebbag, who used the pseudonym "Jonathan Cyrus" in the email exchanges, according to the complaint.
As the earnings release approached, Mr. Sebbag, 29 years old, and Ms. Hoxie, 33, engaged in an awkward exchange of their own as they waited with growing frustration for the quarterly earnings data to materialize, according to transcripts in both complaints. The exchange at points took on the tone of any couple bickering over mundane issues like bill paying.
"Get things moving with all the powers you have," Mr. Sebbag urged his girlfriend at one point.
"Thanks for the flattery," Ms. Hoxie replied. "I wish you could come to work every day with me."
On the day of the earnings release, Ms. Hoxie sent Mr. Sebbag an email stating "here is the bag that you are going to get for me," the SEC said in a companion civil complaint filed in New York federal court. It said the email included a link to "a picture of an expensive Stella McCartney designer handbag available for $700 at Neiman Marcus."
Mr. Sebbag allegedly replied that he would get her the bag "next week" and added, "I may be able to (buy) u 2 of them." To which she purportedly emailed back, "In that case, I also love love these shoes," and attached a link to a photo of Stella McCartney shoes at Neiman.
On May 22, a "Bj Hoxie," who appeared to be the same Bonnie Hoxie, posted a Facebook update that said, "I go shopping shopping shopping!!"
Wednesday's arrests resulted from a far more straightforward and streamlined investigation than other recent high-profile crackdowns on insider trading, which have involved months of meticulous sleuthing to piece together the illicit flow of information.
In this case, the alleged peddlers simply put their offer in writing and sent it out so widely that word of the scheme was bound to reach authorities.
The criminal complaint alleges that at one point Mr. Sebbag attempted to sweeten the pot by offering a supposed tidbit: that Disney was in advanced talks to sell its ABC television network to a pair of private-equity firms. Disney in a statement said any such claims "were and are false."
In communications with FBI undercover agents, who were posing as interested stock traders, Mr. Sebbag "stated that he was looking to build a business relationship" and "was able and willing to provide them non-public information on a regular basis in the future," the SEC complaint said. He also "made clear" that he wanted to be paid for the information, "understood his conduct carried 'risks,' and that he wanted to avoid getting caught," the complaint added. In one email he allegedly said, "I was thinking $20000 is a fair compensation but you are free to make an offer."
At a May 14 meeting in New York with undercover agents, Mr. Sebbag "lifted the veil of his alias" and provided his identity, said the SEC complaint.
He also allegedly admitted that he didn't work for Disney but that his girlfriend was a secretary to a high-ranking Disney employee. He said he was sharing some of the money with her, according to the complaint.
At that May 14 meeting, the complaint said, Mr. Sebbag also asked the undercover agents "for their advice on how to open up an off-shore account in order to deposit the proceeds of the scheme so as to avoid notice by enforcement authorities." He stated, the complaint added, that "he didn't 'want to go to jail.'" He said he would go to Israel to open an account there, according to the complaint. He allegedly agreed that future discussions with his supposed confederates would be done via prepaid cell phones that "would be regularly switched to make detection of the scheme more difficult."
The complaint said he left the meeting with $15,000 cash in an envelope. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's office said the "investigation is continuing."
Write to Ethan Smith at ethan.smith@wsj.com
From the Complaint: Read the Letter
Hi, I have access to Disney's (DIS) quarterly earnings report before its release on 05/03/10 [sic]. I am willing to share this information for a fee that we can determine later. I am sorry but I can't disclose my identity for confidentiality reasons but we can correspond by email if you would like to discuss it. My email is eilatcap@gmail.com. I count on your discretion as you can count on mine. Thank you and I look forward to talking to you.
Email Exchanges: Mounting Tension
Emails between Ms. Hoxie and Mr. Sebbag reveal mounting frustration at the delay in obtaining the earnings report. On May 11, Ms. Hoxie emailed Mr. Sebbag: "I told you that you were going to be waiting . . . ."
Mr. Sebbag responded "Just hurry up," to which Ms. Hoxie replied "I have no control over this. Patience is a virtue."
Still waiting for the information later that day, Mr. Sebbag urged Ms. Hoxie to "Get things moving with all the powers you have." Ms. Hoxie replied "3 hours have come and gone what is another hour at this point. Chill."
In a further effort to calm Mr. Sebbag, Ms. Hoxie asked in another email sent on May 11: "What would you suggest I do. If I could wave my magic wand and give you what you want – I would. However, since that is not going to happen I suggest you call on you inner Buddhist – and CHILL the f' out."
Anticipating the Spoils
On the same day that Ms. Hoxie provided Mr. Sebbag with Disney's confidential EPS information – and Mr. Sebbag tipped the Putative Trader [an FBI agent] – Ms. Hoxie sent Mr. Sebbag an email laying claim to a share of the unlawful profits they expected to derive from the tip. Ms. Hoxie stated "here is the bag that you are going to get for me – thank [sic]," and attached a link to a picture of an expensive Stella McCartney designer handbag available for $700 at Neiman Marcus, an upscale department store. Mr. Sebbag replied that he would get Ms. Hoxie the bag "next week." Anticipating that they would receive substantial compensation from the Putative Traders, Mr. Sebbag stated "I may be able to [buy] u 2 of them, lol." Ms. Hoxie responded via email, "In that case, i also love love these shoes" and attached a link to a picture of expensive Stella McCartney shoes also sold at Neiman Marcus.
Federal authorities alleged Wednesday that a Walt Disney Co. executive assistant and her boyfriend engaged in a ham-handed plot to sell Wall Street traders inside information, first offered in a chirpy missive sent to dozens of investment companies.
"Hi, I have access to Disney's (DIS) quarterly earnings report before its release on 05/03/10," the March 5 letter began. "I am willing to share this information for a fee that we can determine later."
The alleged plan went awry. Instead of taking the bait, "multiple hedge funds reported the illicit scheme," the Securities and Exchange Commission said in a press release.
In a pair of complaints filed Wednesday, federal authorities said the letter and subsequent emails were sent by Yonni Sebbag, whose girlfriend Bonnie Hoxie was an assistant to Disney's head of corporate communications.
Disney said in a statement Wednesday that it "has been fully cooperating with this investigation." Ms. Hoxie was at work as recently as Tuesday, according to people at the company.
A federal judge ordered Mr. Sebbag held as a potential flight risk and released Ms. Hoxie on a $50,000 bond Wednesday. Neither responded to the charges in a bail hearing Wednesday.
The March 5 form letter was sent to 33 investment companies, according to a criminal complaint filed by the U.S. Attorney's office in Manhattan federal court charging the two with conspiracy and wire fraud. Undercover agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation began corresponding with Mr. Sebbag, who used the pseudonym "Jonathan Cyrus" in the email exchanges, according to the complaint.
As the earnings release approached, Mr. Sebbag, 29 years old, and Ms. Hoxie, 33, engaged in an awkward exchange of their own as they waited with growing frustration for the quarterly earnings data to materialize, according to transcripts in both complaints. The exchange at points took on the tone of any couple bickering over mundane issues like bill paying.
"Get things moving with all the powers you have," Mr. Sebbag urged his girlfriend at one point.
"Thanks for the flattery," Ms. Hoxie replied. "I wish you could come to work every day with me."
On the day of the earnings release, Ms. Hoxie sent Mr. Sebbag an email stating "here is the bag that you are going to get for me," the SEC said in a companion civil complaint filed in New York federal court. It said the email included a link to "a picture of an expensive Stella McCartney designer handbag available for $700 at Neiman Marcus."
Mr. Sebbag allegedly replied that he would get her the bag "next week" and added, "I may be able to (buy) u 2 of them." To which she purportedly emailed back, "In that case, I also love love these shoes," and attached a link to a photo of Stella McCartney shoes at Neiman.
On May 22, a "Bj Hoxie," who appeared to be the same Bonnie Hoxie, posted a Facebook update that said, "I go shopping shopping shopping!!"
Wednesday's arrests resulted from a far more straightforward and streamlined investigation than other recent high-profile crackdowns on insider trading, which have involved months of meticulous sleuthing to piece together the illicit flow of information.
In this case, the alleged peddlers simply put their offer in writing and sent it out so widely that word of the scheme was bound to reach authorities.
The criminal complaint alleges that at one point Mr. Sebbag attempted to sweeten the pot by offering a supposed tidbit: that Disney was in advanced talks to sell its ABC television network to a pair of private-equity firms. Disney in a statement said any such claims "were and are false."
In communications with FBI undercover agents, who were posing as interested stock traders, Mr. Sebbag "stated that he was looking to build a business relationship" and "was able and willing to provide them non-public information on a regular basis in the future," the SEC complaint said. He also "made clear" that he wanted to be paid for the information, "understood his conduct carried 'risks,' and that he wanted to avoid getting caught," the complaint added. In one email he allegedly said, "I was thinking $20000 is a fair compensation but you are free to make an offer."
At a May 14 meeting in New York with undercover agents, Mr. Sebbag "lifted the veil of his alias" and provided his identity, said the SEC complaint.
He also allegedly admitted that he didn't work for Disney but that his girlfriend was a secretary to a high-ranking Disney employee. He said he was sharing some of the money with her, according to the complaint.
At that May 14 meeting, the complaint said, Mr. Sebbag also asked the undercover agents "for their advice on how to open up an off-shore account in order to deposit the proceeds of the scheme so as to avoid notice by enforcement authorities." He stated, the complaint added, that "he didn't 'want to go to jail.'" He said he would go to Israel to open an account there, according to the complaint. He allegedly agreed that future discussions with his supposed confederates would be done via prepaid cell phones that "would be regularly switched to make detection of the scheme more difficult."
The complaint said he left the meeting with $15,000 cash in an envelope. Meanwhile, the U.S. Attorney's office said the "investigation is continuing."
Write to Ethan Smith at ethan.smith@wsj.com
From the Complaint: Read the Letter
Hi, I have access to Disney's (DIS) quarterly earnings report before its release on 05/03/10 [sic]. I am willing to share this information for a fee that we can determine later. I am sorry but I can't disclose my identity for confidentiality reasons but we can correspond by email if you would like to discuss it. My email is eilatcap@gmail.com. I count on your discretion as you can count on mine. Thank you and I look forward to talking to you.
Email Exchanges: Mounting Tension
Emails between Ms. Hoxie and Mr. Sebbag reveal mounting frustration at the delay in obtaining the earnings report. On May 11, Ms. Hoxie emailed Mr. Sebbag: "I told you that you were going to be waiting . . . ."
Mr. Sebbag responded "Just hurry up," to which Ms. Hoxie replied "I have no control over this. Patience is a virtue."
Still waiting for the information later that day, Mr. Sebbag urged Ms. Hoxie to "Get things moving with all the powers you have." Ms. Hoxie replied "3 hours have come and gone what is another hour at this point. Chill."
In a further effort to calm Mr. Sebbag, Ms. Hoxie asked in another email sent on May 11: "What would you suggest I do. If I could wave my magic wand and give you what you want – I would. However, since that is not going to happen I suggest you call on you inner Buddhist – and CHILL the f' out."
Anticipating the Spoils
On the same day that Ms. Hoxie provided Mr. Sebbag with Disney's confidential EPS information – and Mr. Sebbag tipped the Putative Trader [an FBI agent] – Ms. Hoxie sent Mr. Sebbag an email laying claim to a share of the unlawful profits they expected to derive from the tip. Ms. Hoxie stated "here is the bag that you are going to get for me – thank [sic]," and attached a link to a picture of an expensive Stella McCartney designer handbag available for $700 at Neiman Marcus, an upscale department store. Mr. Sebbag replied that he would get Ms. Hoxie the bag "next week." Anticipating that they would receive substantial compensation from the Putative Traders, Mr. Sebbag stated "I may be able to [buy] u 2 of them, lol." Ms. Hoxie responded via email, "In that case, i also love love these shoes" and attached a link to a picture of expensive Stella McCartney shoes also sold at Neiman Marcus.
Wednesday, May 26, 2010
Mobile phone number suspended after three users die in 10 years
mobile phone company has suspended the number 0888 888 888 – after every single person assigned to it died in the last 10 years.
Published: 1:00PM BST 25 May 2010
The first owner Vladimir Grashnov – the former CEO of Bulgarian mobile phone company Mobitel which issued the number – died of cancer in 2001 aged just 48.
Despite a spotless business record there were persistent rumours that his cancer had been caused by a business rival using radioactive poisoning.
The number then passed to Bulgarian mafia boss, Konstantin Dimitrov, who was gunned down in 2003 by a lone assassin in the Netherlands during a trip to inspect his £500 million drug smuggling empire.
Dimitrov, who died aged 31, had the mobile with him when he was shot while eating out with a model.
Russian mafia bosses – jealous of his drug smuggling operation – were said to have been behind the killing.
The phone number then passed to Konstantin Dishliev, a crooked businessman, who was gunned down outside an Indian restaurant in Bulgaria's capital Sofia after taking over the jinxed line.
Dishliev, an estate agent, had secretly been running a massive cocaine trafficking operation before his assassination in 2005.
He died after £130 million of the drug was intercepted by police on its way into the country from Colombia.
Since then, the number is understood to have been dormant while police maintained an open file on Dishliev's killing and his smuggling ring.
Now phone bosses are said to have suspended the number for good. Callers now get a recorded message saying the phone is "outside network coverage."
A Mobitel spokesman would only say: "We have no comment to make. We won't discuss individual numbers."
Published: 1:00PM BST 25 May 2010
The first owner Vladimir Grashnov – the former CEO of Bulgarian mobile phone company Mobitel which issued the number – died of cancer in 2001 aged just 48.
Despite a spotless business record there were persistent rumours that his cancer had been caused by a business rival using radioactive poisoning.
The number then passed to Bulgarian mafia boss, Konstantin Dimitrov, who was gunned down in 2003 by a lone assassin in the Netherlands during a trip to inspect his £500 million drug smuggling empire.
Dimitrov, who died aged 31, had the mobile with him when he was shot while eating out with a model.
Russian mafia bosses – jealous of his drug smuggling operation – were said to have been behind the killing.
The phone number then passed to Konstantin Dishliev, a crooked businessman, who was gunned down outside an Indian restaurant in Bulgaria's capital Sofia after taking over the jinxed line.
Dishliev, an estate agent, had secretly been running a massive cocaine trafficking operation before his assassination in 2005.
He died after £130 million of the drug was intercepted by police on its way into the country from Colombia.
Since then, the number is understood to have been dormant while police maintained an open file on Dishliev's killing and his smuggling ring.
Now phone bosses are said to have suspended the number for good. Callers now get a recorded message saying the phone is "outside network coverage."
A Mobitel spokesman would only say: "We have no comment to make. We won't discuss individual numbers."
Rape gangs targeting whites in Zimbabwe
By Peta Thornycroft in Rusape
Published: 12:01AM GMT 07 Feb 2004
When Gisela Honeywill was raped in her daughter's bedroom, her hands tied behind her back, her ordeal was just beginning.
Up to a third of sexually active Zimbabweans are infected with the Aids virus. But police were unable to arrange an urgent medical examination.
She and her husband drove to Harare, two hours away, for anti-viral drugs that could save her from infection if her rapist was HIV-positive. Days later, the results came through: the tests on the 38-year-old were negative.
There is an unprecedented surge of violence against Zimbabwe's dwindling white population, particularly in the mountainous eastern Manicaland province, once a major tourist destination.
Mrs Honeywill's teeth chatter and tears flow when she recalls her ordeal. She and her husband Conrad woke up at 3.15am three weeks ago to find men on either side of their bed in the shabby town of Rusape, 100 miles south-east of Harare.
They were tied up, beaten and robbed in a two-hour ordeal. When the gang found they had only a few South African rand, one angrily accused them of hiding assets.
"My daughter was away on holiday, thank God. They dragged me to her bedroom and stripped me," said Mrs Honeywill. "I thought they were just trying to scare me. I didn't believe I was going to be raped.
"A friend of mine, Francie, was stripped just a short time ago, but they didn't rape her. Then the small fat man hit me, forced my legs open. I didn't bite or scratch, my hands were tied behind my back. Then... I can't remember anything except some time went by, and he said, 'I have finished now'."
All the time, Conrad Honeywill was on his knees crying: "Don't do it to her, don't do it." The windows were open but no one came in response to their screams.
Not their maid living a stone's throw from the back door, nor policemen guarding a politician of the ruling Zanu PF, Didymus Mutasa, four houses away. The three attackers wore Zimbabwe Republic police flak jackets, Mr Honeywill said.
Mrs Honeywill, a secretary at the local private school, was willing to be identified: she wanted the world to know the dangers she and her husband - who was born in Rusape and runs an electrical business - faced in their far-off corner of Zimbabwe.
Two days later, an 18-year-old schoolgirl and her mother had their hands tied and were stripped and threatened with rape in the mountain resort of Juliasdale, also in Manicaland province.
The girl was attacked with her parents by a group of three who could not believe the family did not have foreign currency and high-tech goods.
Speaking this week in the provincial capital, Mutare, where she is in her last year of school, she said: "They took my mum's and my clothes off, dragged me to a bedroom and pushed me down.
"My parents were screaming to them not to rape me. The short squat man said he would give us Aids. All I could say was to rebuke him in God's name. He undid his trousers, and you know... but he could not do it."
Last Friday, 20 miles north of Mutare, a 14-year-old farmer's daughter was taken to a bedroom to be raped because the gang could not find foreign currency when they broke into the house while her family and friends were dining. They were all tied up, hands behind their backs, and pushed on to the floor.
"The short fat man took me to the back room and asked me if I knew what rape was. He told me to stop crying. I carried on crying. I told him I did know what rape was. He said if I didn't tell him where my parents' money was, he would rape me."
Her parents and guests were all screaming and begging for mercy. One of the house guests told a member of the gang guarding them that there was foreign currency in her handbag in the car. They found the US dollars and went away. When the girl finished her story, she slumped on to her father's shoulder, crying quietly.
A white art teacher 10 miles outside Mutare was tortured when her attackers poured boiling wax on to the back of her legs, which have since gone septic. This week she returned to teach at the private school - determined, she said, to carry on living alone.
A retired couple in Juliasdale were attacked and the woman was stripped while they were robbed. And there is much more, and it is ongoing and increasing daily. None of the far richer black families in each neighbourhood or street where these incidents took place since Christmas was attacked.
Black women have been raped because they were suspected of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "Most never come to us, so we have no idea of numbers," a human rights activist said yesterday.
Published: 12:01AM GMT 07 Feb 2004
When Gisela Honeywill was raped in her daughter's bedroom, her hands tied behind her back, her ordeal was just beginning.
Up to a third of sexually active Zimbabweans are infected with the Aids virus. But police were unable to arrange an urgent medical examination.
She and her husband drove to Harare, two hours away, for anti-viral drugs that could save her from infection if her rapist was HIV-positive. Days later, the results came through: the tests on the 38-year-old were negative.
There is an unprecedented surge of violence against Zimbabwe's dwindling white population, particularly in the mountainous eastern Manicaland province, once a major tourist destination.
Mrs Honeywill's teeth chatter and tears flow when she recalls her ordeal. She and her husband Conrad woke up at 3.15am three weeks ago to find men on either side of their bed in the shabby town of Rusape, 100 miles south-east of Harare.
They were tied up, beaten and robbed in a two-hour ordeal. When the gang found they had only a few South African rand, one angrily accused them of hiding assets.
"My daughter was away on holiday, thank God. They dragged me to her bedroom and stripped me," said Mrs Honeywill. "I thought they were just trying to scare me. I didn't believe I was going to be raped.
"A friend of mine, Francie, was stripped just a short time ago, but they didn't rape her. Then the small fat man hit me, forced my legs open. I didn't bite or scratch, my hands were tied behind my back. Then... I can't remember anything except some time went by, and he said, 'I have finished now'."
All the time, Conrad Honeywill was on his knees crying: "Don't do it to her, don't do it." The windows were open but no one came in response to their screams.
Not their maid living a stone's throw from the back door, nor policemen guarding a politician of the ruling Zanu PF, Didymus Mutasa, four houses away. The three attackers wore Zimbabwe Republic police flak jackets, Mr Honeywill said.
Mrs Honeywill, a secretary at the local private school, was willing to be identified: she wanted the world to know the dangers she and her husband - who was born in Rusape and runs an electrical business - faced in their far-off corner of Zimbabwe.
Two days later, an 18-year-old schoolgirl and her mother had their hands tied and were stripped and threatened with rape in the mountain resort of Juliasdale, also in Manicaland province.
The girl was attacked with her parents by a group of three who could not believe the family did not have foreign currency and high-tech goods.
Speaking this week in the provincial capital, Mutare, where she is in her last year of school, she said: "They took my mum's and my clothes off, dragged me to a bedroom and pushed me down.
"My parents were screaming to them not to rape me. The short squat man said he would give us Aids. All I could say was to rebuke him in God's name. He undid his trousers, and you know... but he could not do it."
Last Friday, 20 miles north of Mutare, a 14-year-old farmer's daughter was taken to a bedroom to be raped because the gang could not find foreign currency when they broke into the house while her family and friends were dining. They were all tied up, hands behind their backs, and pushed on to the floor.
"The short fat man took me to the back room and asked me if I knew what rape was. He told me to stop crying. I carried on crying. I told him I did know what rape was. He said if I didn't tell him where my parents' money was, he would rape me."
Her parents and guests were all screaming and begging for mercy. One of the house guests told a member of the gang guarding them that there was foreign currency in her handbag in the car. They found the US dollars and went away. When the girl finished her story, she slumped on to her father's shoulder, crying quietly.
A white art teacher 10 miles outside Mutare was tortured when her attackers poured boiling wax on to the back of her legs, which have since gone septic. This week she returned to teach at the private school - determined, she said, to carry on living alone.
A retired couple in Juliasdale were attacked and the woman was stripped while they were robbed. And there is much more, and it is ongoing and increasing daily. None of the far richer black families in each neighbourhood or street where these incidents took place since Christmas was attacked.
Black women have been raped because they were suspected of supporting the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. "Most never come to us, so we have no idea of numbers," a human rights activist said yesterday.
South Africa's White Farmers Under Siege
By Anthony C. LoBaido
WorldNetDaily
6-6-2
Orange Free State, South Africa -- The African dawn cried out with a radiant blaze of red and orange pastel strokes along the horizon. The Coeztee farmstead basked in the light of the emerging morning like a gleaming pearl and golden mielie fields swayed in the soft Orange State breeze.
"It's paradise, isn't it?" South African farmer Kobus Coeztee asked WorldNetDaily, marveling at the peaceful sunrise. "I am the fourth generation to farm this land, and Lord willing, there will be another five generations after me."
WorldNetDaily observed a full day of back breaking labor on Coetzee's farm and was treated to a proper braii of lamb, an Afrikaner staple. Many Afrikaners also make a strong drink called "mampoer" from fermented peaches and other ingredients.
However, Coezteeís hopes for the future are threatened by the low intensity warfare being waged against the Afrikaner people by radical blacks of the "Azania People's Organization" or AZAPO.
There are 40,000 white farmers in South Africa. Over 1200 have been brutally murdered since 1994 - the year the Marxist African National Congress, backed by the United Nations, European Union, Russia, China and the U.S. State Department, took power.
Add to this another 6,000 attacks and the white Boer Afrikaner farmer is easily the highest at-risk murder group on Earth. The ANC has responded to this crisis by blaming whites and putting a ban on crime statistics because they scare off foreign investment.
"I won't hold my breath waiting for Oprah to call, or Jesse Jackson, Jimmy Carter or Al Sharpton," Coetzee told WorldNetDaily.
"It's politically correct to kill whites these days. What is so strange is the fact that we white farmers feed the black population. But look at Zimbabwe. The black leaders have engineered a famine against their own black citizens. It's as if it's all part of some horrible 'master plan.' Apparently getting blacks to starve blacks to death doesn't really bother anyone in the Western world."
To the north, Zimbabweís Marxist dictator Robert Mugabe has liquidated the nation's white farmers with illegal land siezures and torture, rape and murder.
"The world community has stood by and done nothing," says Aletta Kloppers, Coetzee's closest neighbor. "So we have no choice but to defend ourselves."
Kloppers explained how rogue blacks broke into her farmhouse and tried to rape and rob her family, which includes four teenaged daughters. Many of the killings of white farmers include the torture, rape and mutilation of women, including small children, toddlers and even babies.
"Fortunately my husband and I were able to use our firearms to drive them off of our land. But they will be back," she told WorldNetDaily.
Kloppers said that she hired a martial arts teacher to work with her family on hand to hand combat and knife fighting.
"Our daughters are beautiful yes, but they are tough too," Kloppers said. "You won't see the Afrikaner children in tattoos, gang clothes, riddled with diseases and their bodies filled with holes. We are Christians and we will fight for Christian civilization. We know who are enemies are in the mass media, those who would destroy the minds and bodies of our children. When the war finally comes in this country and through the Western world, the cultural elites will be the first to be confronted."
"We Afrikaners are a fair and decent people. We are glad Apartheid is over and we are ready to embrace change," farmer Kalfi Van der Wat told WorldNetDaily. Van der Wat collects antique automobiles and stores them on his farm west of Johannesburg.
One of the latest problems facing South Africaís farmers is that some of the farm killings appear to be drug related. South African Police told WorldNetDaily that Pakistani's have bought up several farmers after the white owners were killed and began planting poppies of Central Asian origin.
"South Africa's dirty little secret, well, there are many dirty secrets here, is that we are the transit point for 25 percent of the world's drugs," South African policewoman Debbie Botha told WorldNetDaily.
South Africaís farmers, frustrated with an apathetic government that actually seems to "cheer on the killings of whites" says Van der Wat, have turned to a variety of options in dealing with the crime wave.
One option is the creation of private security companies, staffed by former elite special forces operators of the now defunct South African Defense Force. The SADF drove out Cuba and the Soviets from Angola in the 1980's and is known to have produced some of the world's finest soldiers.
Several groups of farmers have sought the help of Executive Outcomes, led by former Apartheid-era SADF Special Forces members. EO is the world's largest, private mercenary army and has fought in Angola, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and in other nations as well.
Yet despite their best efforts, the killings continue.
"The radical blacks hate us, because we are strong, blonde, hard working and productive. We came to South Africa and turned it into the richest country in the world, while before we came, the locals had been here for many centuries and did nothing with the land," Coetzee told WorldNetDaily.
Added Kloppers, "The farm invasion problem is not only confined to South Africa. Look at Zimbabwe. Look at the call for white Australians to give their land back to the Aborigines. Look at the problems on the border with Mexico and the United States, and as massive Third World immigration in Europe. European, Western Civilization is totally under siege by the New World Order elite. But we are strong and smart and we will survive as we always have."
"We are strong and rugged and we will survive. We have fought the communists and the United Nations globalists for decades. We know their tactics. I can assure you there is indeed a plan for a Third Boer War, down to the last detail. It wonít take much to cripple South Africaís cities and water supply I can assure you. People are angry and ready for war. We have seen our women and children raped and killed. Sometimes a war is the only answer to your problems. Remember, the great Boer prophet Seer van Rensburg has prophecized that the whites will again come to rule in Southern Africa."
Meanwhile in South Africa, last week Cape Talk radio interviewed a interviewed a Zimbabwean Reuters reporter and broadcaster who has been granted ex-white farm land. His name is Reuben Babwe. In defending himself, he told the Cape Talk interviewer that the same thing is being done in South Africa and that he knows what is really going on with farm repossession in South Africa. The interviewer asked him whether he meant the farm murders here are part of the repossession drive and he said yes. Babwe said that South Africans are "sitting on a powder keg."
WorldNetDaily
6-6-2
Orange Free State, South Africa -- The African dawn cried out with a radiant blaze of red and orange pastel strokes along the horizon. The Coeztee farmstead basked in the light of the emerging morning like a gleaming pearl and golden mielie fields swayed in the soft Orange State breeze.
"It's paradise, isn't it?" South African farmer Kobus Coeztee asked WorldNetDaily, marveling at the peaceful sunrise. "I am the fourth generation to farm this land, and Lord willing, there will be another five generations after me."
WorldNetDaily observed a full day of back breaking labor on Coetzee's farm and was treated to a proper braii of lamb, an Afrikaner staple. Many Afrikaners also make a strong drink called "mampoer" from fermented peaches and other ingredients.
However, Coezteeís hopes for the future are threatened by the low intensity warfare being waged against the Afrikaner people by radical blacks of the "Azania People's Organization" or AZAPO.
There are 40,000 white farmers in South Africa. Over 1200 have been brutally murdered since 1994 - the year the Marxist African National Congress, backed by the United Nations, European Union, Russia, China and the U.S. State Department, took power.
Add to this another 6,000 attacks and the white Boer Afrikaner farmer is easily the highest at-risk murder group on Earth. The ANC has responded to this crisis by blaming whites and putting a ban on crime statistics because they scare off foreign investment.
"I won't hold my breath waiting for Oprah to call, or Jesse Jackson, Jimmy Carter or Al Sharpton," Coetzee told WorldNetDaily.
"It's politically correct to kill whites these days. What is so strange is the fact that we white farmers feed the black population. But look at Zimbabwe. The black leaders have engineered a famine against their own black citizens. It's as if it's all part of some horrible 'master plan.' Apparently getting blacks to starve blacks to death doesn't really bother anyone in the Western world."
To the north, Zimbabweís Marxist dictator Robert Mugabe has liquidated the nation's white farmers with illegal land siezures and torture, rape and murder.
"The world community has stood by and done nothing," says Aletta Kloppers, Coetzee's closest neighbor. "So we have no choice but to defend ourselves."
Kloppers explained how rogue blacks broke into her farmhouse and tried to rape and rob her family, which includes four teenaged daughters. Many of the killings of white farmers include the torture, rape and mutilation of women, including small children, toddlers and even babies.
"Fortunately my husband and I were able to use our firearms to drive them off of our land. But they will be back," she told WorldNetDaily.
Kloppers said that she hired a martial arts teacher to work with her family on hand to hand combat and knife fighting.
"Our daughters are beautiful yes, but they are tough too," Kloppers said. "You won't see the Afrikaner children in tattoos, gang clothes, riddled with diseases and their bodies filled with holes. We are Christians and we will fight for Christian civilization. We know who are enemies are in the mass media, those who would destroy the minds and bodies of our children. When the war finally comes in this country and through the Western world, the cultural elites will be the first to be confronted."
"We Afrikaners are a fair and decent people. We are glad Apartheid is over and we are ready to embrace change," farmer Kalfi Van der Wat told WorldNetDaily. Van der Wat collects antique automobiles and stores them on his farm west of Johannesburg.
One of the latest problems facing South Africaís farmers is that some of the farm killings appear to be drug related. South African Police told WorldNetDaily that Pakistani's have bought up several farmers after the white owners were killed and began planting poppies of Central Asian origin.
"South Africa's dirty little secret, well, there are many dirty secrets here, is that we are the transit point for 25 percent of the world's drugs," South African policewoman Debbie Botha told WorldNetDaily.
South Africaís farmers, frustrated with an apathetic government that actually seems to "cheer on the killings of whites" says Van der Wat, have turned to a variety of options in dealing with the crime wave.
One option is the creation of private security companies, staffed by former elite special forces operators of the now defunct South African Defense Force. The SADF drove out Cuba and the Soviets from Angola in the 1980's and is known to have produced some of the world's finest soldiers.
Several groups of farmers have sought the help of Executive Outcomes, led by former Apartheid-era SADF Special Forces members. EO is the world's largest, private mercenary army and has fought in Angola, Sierra Leone, Papua New Guinea and in other nations as well.
Yet despite their best efforts, the killings continue.
"The radical blacks hate us, because we are strong, blonde, hard working and productive. We came to South Africa and turned it into the richest country in the world, while before we came, the locals had been here for many centuries and did nothing with the land," Coetzee told WorldNetDaily.
Added Kloppers, "The farm invasion problem is not only confined to South Africa. Look at Zimbabwe. Look at the call for white Australians to give their land back to the Aborigines. Look at the problems on the border with Mexico and the United States, and as massive Third World immigration in Europe. European, Western Civilization is totally under siege by the New World Order elite. But we are strong and smart and we will survive as we always have."
"We are strong and rugged and we will survive. We have fought the communists and the United Nations globalists for decades. We know their tactics. I can assure you there is indeed a plan for a Third Boer War, down to the last detail. It wonít take much to cripple South Africaís cities and water supply I can assure you. People are angry and ready for war. We have seen our women and children raped and killed. Sometimes a war is the only answer to your problems. Remember, the great Boer prophet Seer van Rensburg has prophecized that the whites will again come to rule in Southern Africa."
Meanwhile in South Africa, last week Cape Talk radio interviewed a interviewed a Zimbabwean Reuters reporter and broadcaster who has been granted ex-white farm land. His name is Reuben Babwe. In defending himself, he told the Cape Talk interviewer that the same thing is being done in South Africa and that he knows what is really going on with farm repossession in South Africa. The interviewer asked him whether he meant the farm murders here are part of the repossession drive and he said yes. Babwe said that South Africans are "sitting on a powder keg."
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