YANGON, Myanmar (AP) - Myanmar’s junta seized U.N. aid shipments headed for hungry and homeless survivors of last week’s devastating cyclone, prompting the world body to suspend further help on Friday.

The U.N. said the aid included 38 tons of high-energy biscuits and arrived in Myanmar on Friday on two flights from Bangladesh and the United Arab Emirates.

“All of the food aid and equipment that we managed to get in has been confiscated,” U.N. World Food Program spokesman Paul Risley said. “For the time being, we have no choice but to end further efforts to bring critical needed food aid into Myanmar at this time.”

Myanmar’s government acknowledged taking control of the shipments and said it plans to distribute the aid “without delay by its own labor to the affected areas.”

It is a rare occasion that I find myself defending the U.N. in any way, this is one of them…

Disasters such as the cyclone that hit Burma are the types of relief efforts the U.N. needs to be engaged in, it is right up their alley of expertise and they got supplies started down the chain and to Burma in record time, even if they knew what the reaction of the Burmese authorities would be, and I am sure they had at least some idea going in given the corrupt nature of the military junta that rules Burma now…

In a statement said in a statement e-mailed to The Associated Press, government spokesman Ye Htut said the junta had “clearly stated” what it would do and denied the action amounted to a seizure.

“I would like to know which person or organization (made these) these baseless accusations,” he said.

Well now, aren’t you the dumbass?? It was the United Nations, did you miss that part?? Are you so paranoid that you can’t allow the U.N. to actually come into your piss-hole of a nation and make an effort to keep even more of your people from dying or are you just too afraid that someone might discover a few ugly truths??

“Please, this food is going to people who need it very much. You and I, we have the same interests,” Banbury said. Those victims - those 1 million or more people - who need this assistance are not part of a political dialogue. They need this humanitarian assistance. Please release it.”

When Katrina ripped hell out of New Orleans it was ‘The Chocolate People’ that were shooting at the police and helicopters, keeping aid from getting through, and in some cases causing even more death and pain to befall their own people, this time it’s an oppressive government…

I have no pity for those that won’t help themselves, and I have even less sympathy for those that will live under a government such as the one in Burma, freedom isn’t free and until these people cast off their chains, this is all they can expect from the government of Burma…

The junta said in a statement Friday it was grateful to the international community for its assistance - which has included 11 chartered planes loaded with aid supplies - but the best way to help was just to send in material rather than personnel.

And that my friends is all the citation my above remarks need, the military junta does NOT want the world to know it’s dark and dirty secrets…

Our government cries over human rights in oppressed nations?? We went to war in Iraq basically over human rights?? What kind of violations do you suppose this junta is hiding?? And many do NOT want to know…

Full Story Here:
UN halts aid to Myanmar after junta seizes supplies

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Cross Posted @ Reject the U.N.

LONDON (AP) - A radical Muslim preacher accused of having close ties to al-Qaida was granted bail by a British immigration appeals commission Thursday.

Abu Qatada, who was jailed in 2002 over accusations that he played a key role in raising money for extremist groups and provided spiritual advice to militants planning terror attacks, will remain in custody until arrangements for his release are completed.

Judge John Mitting ruled the cleric should be released after the Court of Appeal ordered the government in April to stop extradition proceedings, claiming he faced the threat of torture if returned to his native Jordan.

But the judge acknowledged Qatada could pose a national security threat and imposed a strict 22-hour curfew, meaning he must be inside his home for all but two hours a day. Precise details of the curfew will be decided at another hearing, probably within two weeks, officials said.

Home Secretary Jacqui Smith said she was extremely disappointed with the decision and would “take all steps necessary to protect the public.”

Full Story Here:
Radical Muslim preacher Abu Qatada granted bail in Britain

Ya know, it’s going to be really interesting to see what happens when the Islamic hordes take over Europe, and take it over they will, as surely as you’re reading this, it WILL happen…

And it will be interesting to see how long it takes before we hear the cries, “But where are the Americans?? Why won’t they come and save us again??”

And even more interesting than that will be the response of the USA if Obama is the new U.S. president, I am guessing that he will back his Muslim brothers and let Europe go to hell in a hand basket, because you can’t save a people when you’re allowing your own nation to be taken over by Islamic rule and Sharia law…

Can you??

It’s coming folks, I can see it in our very near future, and what I see is ugly, it all depends on how soon they come after our guns, when that event happens, and under a presidency of Barack Obama it will happen, when that happens we’ll be in a fight for our very lives…

I’d say you need to prepare, and I don’t mean stock up food and water, the fight won’t last that long, it will be brief, violent and decisive, and depending on whether or not our own troops take up arms against the citizens of this nation, either way, it will determine the course of this nation for whatever remains of her existence…

EDIT TO ADD: And the above scenario shows us exactly why American presidents have maintained close ties with the U.N. and it’s supporting nations, they know, or are reasonably sure that American troops won’t take up arms against their own people…

U.N. troops would have no reservations in doing so…

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ACCRA, Ghana (AP) - The U.N. chief warned Sunday that the world must urgently increase food production to ease skyrocketing prices and pledged to set up a task force on a crisis threatening to destabilize developing nations.

The cost of food has increased by around 40 percent since mid-2007 worldwide, and the strain has caused riots and protests in countries like Cameroon, Burkina Faso, Haiti and Egypt.

“We must make no mistake, the problem is big. If we offer the right aid, the solutions will come,” Ban said at the opening of a a five-day U.N. conference on trade and development in Ghana’s capital, Accra.“One thing is certain, the world has consumed more than it has produced” over the last three years, he said.

Full Story Here:
UN chief warns world must urgently increase food production

DES MOINES, Iowa - At a time of record agricultural profits, concerns are mounting that American farmers could be edging toward a financial crisis not seen since the 1980s farm-economy collapse.

- At a time of record agricultural profits, concerns are mounting that American farmers could be edging toward a financial crisis not seen since the 1980s farm-economy collapse.

Soaring land values, increasing debt and a reliance on government subsidies for ethanol production have prompted economists to warn that what some describe as a golden age of agriculture could come to a sudden end. At risk are the livelihoods of thousands of farmers, the health of hundreds of banks and the vitality of an agricultural industry that has been one of the nation’s few economic bright spots in recent months.

“We’re in a very risky time, and yet we don’t seem concerned about that risk nearly as much as we should be,” said Barry L. Flinchbaugh, an agricultural economist at Kansas State University.

Full Story Here:
Crisis looming for U.S. farmers?

The USA has been the bread basket of the world for many years but it appears that could soon become a thing of the past…

Many 3rd world nations are hungry, and that is a sad situation, but those 3rd world countries aren’t producers, they are consumers, and their consumption is not accomplished through buying foodstuffs, they are not contributing to any economy, they are leeching off of other, more prosperous nations, they are the recipients of charity, donations, food surpluses from other nations, but those surplus food supplies are rapidly drying up, and U.S. production is on the verge of a serious crisis that may leave the USA with no choice other than to take care of her own, and that would be a real change of attitude I think, for America to actually place Americans 1st as we feed, clothe and house all of OUR people before we worry about the well being of others…

In many cases, those others that we take care of are more than able to help themselves, if only they would, they could stop their warring factions from fighting and have them begin farming, they could feed their own instead of wiping them out in tribal genocide…

I know that the USA can’t engage in total isolationism, but we are fast approaching a time when we will be faced with some really tough decisions, not tough for me, but certainly difficult for those that put the welfare of other nations ahead of our own…

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Cross Posted @ Reject the U.N.

UNITED NATIONS (AP) - Major U.N. Security Council powers have agreed on an incremental increase in sanctions on Iran, including a new restriction on exporters doing business with the country, diplomats said Thursday.

A draft resolution also calls for more monitoring of Iran’s military and financial institutions, broader travel bans on Iranian nuclear scientists and other key officials, and freezing the assets of people and banks linked to weapons proliferation, Security Council diplomats told The Associated Press.

Diplomats from the five nations with veto power on the council - the U.S., Russia, China, Britain and France - spent a third day negotiating a final agreement on principles that would form the basis for a third round of U.N. sanctions on Iran. They were joined by Germany, which has long been involved in efforts to resolve the Iran nuclear dispute.

The general terms were hammered out in Berlin earlier this week, chiefly through negotiations between U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov. Those elements have been closely held, though they have begun circulating among the rest of the 15-member council.

Russia and China, which have strong business ties with Iran, resisted earlier British and French draft principles pushing for harsher sanctions if Iran keeps refusing to stop enriching uranium - a process that can provide fuel for a nuclear reactor or fissile material for a bomb.

Full Story Here:
UN Powers Agree on More Iran Sanctions

More U.N. sanctions huh??

Well, that should do the trick, U.N. sanctions work every time…

Just look at how successful they were in Iraq…

Cross posted at Reject the U.N.

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WASHINGTON (AP) - Consumers are financing both sides in the war on terror because of the actions of U.S. ally Saudi Arabia, Republican presidential hopeful Mike Huckabee said Sunday.

The former Arkansas governor made the comments following what he suggested was a muted response by the Bush administration to a Saudi court’s sentence of six months in jail and 200 lashes for a woman who was gang raped.

“The United States has been far too involved in sort of looking the other way, not only at the atrocities of human rights and violation of women,” Huckabee said on CNN’s “Late Edition.”

“Every time we put our credit card in the gas pump, we’re paying so that the Saudis get rich - filthy, obscenely rich, and that money then ends up going to funding madrassas,” schools “that train the terrorists,” said Huckabee. “America has allowed itself to become enslaved to Saudi oil. It’s absurd. It’s embarrassing.”

Huckabee said “I would make the United States energy independent within 10 years and tell the Saudis they can keep their oil just like they can keep their sand, that we won’t need either one of them.”

Full Story Here:
Huckabee: America Enslaved to Saudi Oil

I am not, nor have I ever been a fan of Mike Huckabee, but I have got to say, he hit this one out of the park, we are making the Saudis richer by the second and in spite of what the Bumbler in Chief says, Saudi Arabia is NOT our friend, not in ANY way, all they want is our money…

A few months ago Bush welcomed the head of Saudi Arabia to his home in Crawford, TX., he hugged him, kissed his cheeks, held his hand, did everything except kiss the SOB on the mouth, it was disgusting, and I pretty much lost what little respect for Bush that I had left, as did several other bloggers, including American & Proud, Basti Says, Long Live the Republic and The Ranando Report just to name a few of the more vocal bloggers…

We were all soundly blasted by the Bush Bot sites because we dared to criticize the Bumbler in Chief, but you know, when you welcome the people that caused 9-11, that supported the attackers of 9-11 and financed the attackers of 9-11 I have to question your sanity, and Bush welcomed the Saudis like long lost brothers and declared them to be our allies, and that my friends is pure bullshit…

Huckabee may not be a good choice as POTUS, I know too little about the man to say anything about him in that regard, good or bad, but on this Saudi oil subject, he just came off looking like a genius…

If you read the full article you’ll understand this too, the U.N. condemns the use of Tasers as being torture, but do they DO anything about Saudi Arabia beating people to death or beheading them??

Let’s talk REAL torture and hypocrisy, U.N. and Saudi hypocrisy, and once again, kudos to Huckabee for this stance…

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