Click thumbnail to view original, then click again to view full size. The text is worth a closer look.
What a tragic irony!
In case you haven’t heard, Satyam was the fourth-largest IT outsourcing company in India, with 55,000 employees (or so they claimed). The CEO, Ramalinga Raju, recently resigned after admitting massive financial fraud. As of this writing, the company is almost out of cash.
Here we go again…
Satyam has done business with companies and governments in over 60 countries, including the U.S. This scandal appears to be even larger in scope than the Enron/Arthur Andersen scandal of late 2001. Price Waterhouse, the Indian subsidiary of PricewaterhouseCoopers, is facing close scrutiny over having signed off on Satyam’s audits.
Obviously, the much-touted Sarbanes-Oxley law enacted after the Enron/Arthur Andersen debacle did nothing to prevent the recent collapse of the U.S. real estate, stock market, and financial sector. The take-home lesson is that once any corporation becomes multinational in scope, and politically well-connected, no laws, no regulations, no bureaucratic restructuring can possibly keep it honest if its management chooses to do otherwise.
Another reason why outsourcing is wrong
Outsourcing and offshoring are always and everywhere the enemies of accountability. The further away one’s trading partners are located, the harder it is to comprehend what they are up to, and that will never change.
Why corporate cheating is contagious
Whenever one major company in an industry has been “cooking the books” to promote or exaggerate its own success, what effect do you suppose that has? Think about it! Every other executive, every other company in that industry will be pressured to match or exceed the cheater’s inflated results, by fair means or foul, or face the wrath of board members and stockholders.
I have been anxiously following the travails of courageous author Rachel Ehrenfeld, who dared to expose the Saudi connection to terrorist funding, and has since been hit with one frivolous and ridiculous lawsuit after another. From personal experience, I can tell you that this is the way that fanatics and the enemies of free speech wear down and intimidate authors with the guts to tell the truth. They wear them down financially, because lawyers are expensive and you have to use a lawyer even if you are completely innocent and the other side are self-serving, immoral liars and/or idiots with absolutely no case. They wear you down emotionally, because you have to face court dates, and public scrutiny, and the fear of some clueless judge (like the one in Britain Rachel faced) finding you guilty and imposing multi-million dollar fines against you.
Now, the capital of freedom and of publishing, New York, is about to pass legislation that will stop the success of the kind of lawsuits facing the Rachel Ehrenfelds of the world, protecting them from the insanities of foreign justice. You can help to see this law passed. Below, details. Please, please get involved. Brigitte Gabriel, another author I admire, has written the letter below. Please write the assemblymen involved, Please write influential editors of influential papers. Help us to see this happen!!
We are concerned with the bi-partisan “Libel Terrorism Protection Act,” introduced in the New York Assembly and Senate by Assemblyman Rory Lancman (D) and Senator Dean Skelos (R).This bill has been introduced to protect New York authors who investigate and expose the enablers of terrorism from libel lawsuits filed in foreign courts.
Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, author of Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed - And How to Stop It, was the target of one of those lawsuits. The wealthy Saudi who filed the lawsuit against Dr. Ehrenfeld in the United Kingdom has successfully silenced more than 40 authors and publishers, including many Americans. If these lawsuits are allowed to continue, the ramifications for our cherished freedoms of speech and the press are chilling and ominous. The sooner “The Libel Terrorism Protection Act,” is signed into law, the sooner New York - the publishing capital of the U.S. and the free world - and New York authors will be protected from meritless and frivolous libel suits filed in foreign jurisdictions.
The “Libel Terrorism Protection Act” directly affects me (Brigitte). My first book, Because They Hate, was published by a New York publisher. My second book, scheduled for release later this year, will be published by that same New York publisher. Passage of this New York law will bring much-needed legal protection to the work I am doing. If you agree that this protection is essential to preserve the ability of authors like myself to speak out on matters of terrorism, please carefully read the action items below and then ACT! today. Thank you!
ACTION ITEMS
If the links don’t work, please just Google to get this information!
For those of you who live in New York State, please contact your Assembly Member and State Senator today. Contact them either by phone or email or both. Tell them you are calling in support of the “Libel Terrorism Protection Act,” bill number A9652, and ask for their support of the bill. The links below will take you to a listing of New York’s Assembly Members and Senators http://senate.state.ny.us/senatehomepage.nsf/senators?OpenForm http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/
In addition, if you have time, contact the Chair-person of the Judiciary Committees in both the Assembly and the Senate. The bill has been referred to these committees. Ask for the chairperson’s support for the bill. The links below will take you to the chair persons of the Assembly and Senate Judiciary Committees.
Helene E. Weinstein http://assembly.state.ny.us/mem/?ad=041 (Assembly) http://senatordefrancisco.org/50/default.aspx (Senate)
Write a short letter to the Editor of your local newspaper, explaining the background of the bill and why it’s needed. Elected officials usually monitor letters to the editor as one way to keep their fingers on the local pulse.
For those of you who do not live in New York State, please contact the two Judiciary chair persons identified above. When you do, emphasize how important this bill is, that it is a model for other states and the federal government, and thus it has national implications - which is why you, a resident of a state other than New York, are contacting them. You, too, could send letters to the editor of New York newspapers. This would demonstrate to the press, public and New York legislators that “the nation is watching.”
Forward this email to other people you know, using the forwarding link at the bottom.
It is critical that we help get this legislation passed. We cannot allow those involved in terrorism to succeed in silencing those who would expose their activities. Please ACT! today. And if you can financially help us make this nationwide grassroots lobbying effort successful, please click here: https://www.donation-net.net/Act4America/donate.cfm ?dn=1097&commid=1687484&id=17022
Thank you for your support and your activism.
Brigitte Gabriel, Founder and President
Guy Rodgers, Executive Director
ACT for America
ACT for America is an issues advocacy organization dedicated to effectively organizing and mobilizing the most powerful grassroots citizen action network in America, a grassroots network committed to informed and coordinated civic action that will lead to public policies that promote America’s national security and the defense of American democratic values against the assault of radical Islam. We are only as strong as our supporters, and your volunteer and financial support is essential to our success. Thank you for helping us make America safer and more secure.
Let’s say you’re attending a meeting of your state legislature, and when it is time to give the opening prayer, a Muslim takes his turn at the lectern. You politely bow your head, and he prays for about four minutes, part of which is in Arabic, and part of which is in English. Since you don’t speak Arabic, this is the part you manage to understand (hat-tip straightarrow, and 1389):
I seek refuge in God against the accursed Satan in the name of God, most gracious, most merciful…master of the day of judgment…[give us] victory over those who disbelieve.
As we begin this new year…in a world with trials and tribulations, we ask you to open the hearts of our legislators and policy makers to make the right decisions….We ask that you guide our legislators and give them the wisdom and knowledge to tackle the difficult problems that face us today in order to eliminate the senseless crimes on humanity. Help them, Lord, to solve the complicated problems…so that we can be a model to the world.
Are you ready to say, “Amen,” and shout “Hallelujah”? Or do you feel like you’ve been slapped in the face as an American? This happened in Des Moines, Iowa, and some of the legislators there did, indeed find this prayer inappropriate.
Yesterday, in Tulsa, Oklahoma City Counselors voted to move from a “generic” prayer format to allowing prayers to be in the name of any organized religion. There were two dissenting votes, one from Councilor Jack Henderson, who warned:
What you are doing is opening a Pandora’s box and you might not like what you see.
Tulsa Metropolitan Ministry Executive Director James Mishler echoed the sentiment:
I think the very people who have been encouraging you to make this change are going to be very uncomfortable when the priest from the Hindu temple is standing here chanting in the name of Krishna or when someone from the Wiccan community offers prayers to the earth mother.
Like, perhaps when a Muslim prays for God to deliver him from the infidels in the United States during his opening prayer? Think that’ll make some folks uncomfortable?
The Hindu part of Mischler’s prophecy is already happening, in five states:
Rajan Zed, prominent Hindu chaplain and Indo-American leader, will recite these history making prayers in New Mexico, Colorado, Utah, Washington and Arizona, which will reportedly be the first Hindu prayers of these Senates since their formation.
Zed, who lives in Reno (Nevada), will deliver these prayers from ancient Hindu scriptures at Senate halls in State Capitols in Santa Fe (January 28), Denver (January 29), Salt Lake City (February 13), Olympia (February 22), and Phoenix (March 24). After first reciting in Sanskrit, he will then read the English translation of the prayer.
This has also been ruled into law in some places for the wiccans:
Judges have ruled that witches must be allowed to lead prayers at local government meetings, and that Wiccan convicts must be provided with requested “sacred objects” so they can perform spells in their cells. Witches in the armed services have even formed covens and routinely “worship” on U.S. military bases.
Over the past few years, due to unrelenting lawsuits by the ACLU (like this one in Indiana) over Christian prayers at government meetings, the trend has been to use non-sectarian “prayers,” sometimes called “invocations.” It will be interesting, now that the tide is turning back to allowing various religions to pray to their own gods during this time, to see if the ACLU will as vehemntly fight the Hindus, the Muslims, the Wiccans, etc., and if the Christians (who, by the way, are STILL the overwhelming majority of the United States) will now be allowed to pray to their Father in the name of Jesus Christ without fear of being sued…?
One of my childhood preachers used to shout, “Say, ‘Amen!’ or ‘Oh, My!’”
(Originally posted on The Terror Finance Blog by Rachel Ehrenfeld on January 21, 2008 at 17:42)
NY State Assemblyman Rory Lancman gets it. Concerned with the growing threat of the Islamist Financial Jihad on our freedoms, Lancman authored the Libel Terrorism Protection Act in New York with Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos.
When we think about those fighting the war on terror, we of course first think of our soldiers in Afghanistan and Iraq. They are on the front lines, risking their lives to protect our country. We also think about our local cops and firefighters and first responders. They are defending our cities, unearthing terrorist plots and rushing to the scene of attacks to save and rescue lives.
But every American has an obligation to do their part, in whatever way they can, to contribute to victory over Islamic fundamentalism. So while soldiers fight, cops protect, and even individual citizens who “see something” make sure to “say something,” our journalists and authors discover and publish the truth about terrorists and their enablers the financiers, frontmen and terrorism-friendly regimes who provide the financial, logistical and political support and cover which enable the terrorists to exist, operate and strike.
The 19 men who boarded airplanes on September 11, 2001 and flew them into the World Trade Center, the Pentagon and a Pennsylvania field were merely the tip of a long and elaborate sword aimed at the West, a worldwide network of moneymen, coordinators, facilitators, propagandists and apologists who compose the terrorist network which delivered those 19 men to American airports.
The ability of our journalists, authors and press to expose these enablers and inform the American people, to discover and report the truth, is the most important weapon we have in the war on terror. The information they unearth informs not just the general public, but policymakers who must make choices about strategies and tactics, resources and priorities, allies and adversaries, in how best to fight this war. Without their work, we are all merely groping around in the dark.
The terrorists and their enablers know this.
That’s why American journalists and authors who relentlessly and doggedly pursue the truth about terrorism networks are being met with a barrage of libel lawsuits in kangaroo courts on phony-baloney libel charges in overseas jurisdictions who donât share our belief in freedom of speech or a free press.
England seems to be the enablers’ favorite forum, perhaps because since it is a Western country we might expect it to have libel laws which reflect what we Americans assume to be common Western values about freedom of speech, and to give an English libel judgment the same stamp of approval we would give an American one. In fact, America’s commitment to free speech and a free press is unique in the world. English libel law has barely evolved over the centuries. Authors are guilty until proven innocent, lack of negligence on the part of the author is irrelevant, statements of opinion are hardly more protected than statements of fact, an author=s unsuccessful effort to prove the truth of a statement can bring punitive damages and libel is even punishable as a misdemeanor crime.
New York author Dr. Rachel Ehrenfeld, who has written extensively on terrorist financing, has experienced libel terrorism firsthand. Twenty-three copies of her book, Funding Evil: How Terrorism is Financed and How to Stop It, were sold in England over the internet. Additionally, a chapter of her book was available for viewing on the website of an American television network. On that basis, she was sued for libel in England by a Saudi businessman whom she identified in her book as a terrorist enabler through his financial support of organizations with terrorist ties.
What’s shocking is not that an English court found against Dr. Ehrenfeld (not only was the deck stacked against her in any event but Dr. Ehrenfeld, as a matter of principle and financial inability to defend herself overseas, declined to show up for her show trial), but that New Yorkâs courts have refused to recognize its jurisdiction over the Saudi businessman in order to hear Dr. Ehrenfeld’s suit to declare this libel judgment unenforceable in New York. Dr. Ehrenfeld lives and works in New York, her assets are in New York, and the English judgment requires her to take actions in New York to prevent her book and its assertions from ever reaching England again.
As Americans and as New Yorkers, we must to act to protect our journalists, authors and press.
Legislation which I have authored in New York with Senate Deputy Majority Leader Dean Skelos will overrule New York’s highest court and give Dr. Ehrenfeld the opportunity to make her case here in the United States. It will give New Yorks journalists, authors and press the tools they need to continue to fearlessly expose the truth about terrorism and its enablers, and will ensure that New York, and America, remain a beacon of free speech and a free press. Other states will, we hope, follow New York’s lead, and Congress itself will act to protect the entire country from the scourge of libel terrorism.
Mr. Lancman is a New York State Assemblyman, a Democrat in the Twenty-Fifth District, Queens.
New U.S. TSA rules take effect New Year’s Day 2008
In a nutshell: You will no longer be able to pack spare batteries in checked baggage, but, within limits, you will be allowed to pack spare batteries in carry-on baggage. Most lithium batteries for consumer electronic devices such as laptops and video cameras will meet the restrictions. But large, professional-grade batteries may exceed the limits; if you have any doubts, call the manufacturer before you pack your devices for travel.
By Gary Krakow, TheStreet.com - 12/29/2007 10:34 AM EST
If you’re one of the millions of airline travelers who carry spare lithium laptop, cell phone and camera batteries with you, listen up: The government has some new rules which go into effect on New Year’s Day.
Fortunately, the Transportation Security Administration (TSA) is not worried about the batteries installed in your devices, be it an iPhone or laptop. Those are safe to bring along with you on the plane in your carry-on bag.
But the TSA is worried about loose, spare batteries. These are batteries with uncovered electrical contacts, which, if touched by other metal objects could cause an explosion and fire during a flight. So, the agency wants to make sure that any spare lithium batteries you take with you on your flight meet its new standards.
Effective January 1, 2008, the following rules apply to the spare lithium batteries you carry with you in case the battery in a device runs low:
Spare batteries are the batteries you carry separately from the devices they power. When batteries are installed in a device, they are not considered spare batteries.
You may not pack a spare lithium battery in your checked baggage
You may bring spare lithium batteries with you in carry-on baggage – see our spare battery tips and how-to sections to find out how to pack spare batteries safely!
Even though we recommend carrying your devices with you in carry-on baggage as well, if you must bring one in checked baggage, you may check it with the batteries installed.
The following quantity limits apply to both your spare and installed batteries. The limits are expressed in grams of “equivalent lithium content.” 8 grams of equivalent lithium content is approximately 100 watt-hours. 25 grams is approximately 300 watt-hours:
Under the new rules, you can bring batteries with up to 8-gram equivalent lithium content. All lithium ion batteries in cell phones are below 8 gram equivalent lithium content. Nearly all laptop computers also are below this quantity threshold.
You can also bring up to two spare batteries with an aggregate equivalent lithium content of up to 25 grams, in addition to any batteries that fall below the 8-gram threshold. Examples of two types of lithium ion batteries with equivalent lithium content over 8 grams but below 25 are shown below.
For a lithium metal battery, whether installed in a device or carried as a spare, the limit on lithium content is 2 grams of lithium metal per battery.
Almost all consumer-type lithium metal batteries are below 2 grams of lithium metal. But if you are unsure, contact the manufacturer!
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The blogosphere has become a mighty ugly place lately, and I am about to clear up and dispose of some of the filth and lies that are being flung about. This mess must be cleaned up, for many reasons - just for starters, the failure to deny and refute false accusations is all too often taken to be a tacit admission of wrongdoing.
As shown by their own words, THEY, and only they, are the real racists. Not the Serbs, not the Israelis, not the European anti-immigration parties - but the leftists who spread their lies in the MSM and the blogosphere, and their jihadist allies - those are the racists and the real neo-Nazis of our era.
No need to rely on tenuous chains of guilt by association, or dubious interpretations of ambiguous symbols in photos on the Web, or even on mainstream media spin and taqiyya. If your stomach can handle it, just look at the words the perpetrators themselves use.
Using blood libel to incite real genocide
Let me remind Nodrog (a/k/a “the poster formerly known as Gordon,” often accused of being one of Charles Johnson’s sockpuppets/multiple personalities) and everyone else currently or formerly associated with Leftist Green Footballs, that false accusations of genocide have been used, and are still being used, to incite real genocide against those falsely accused - in this case, the Serbs. This, in itself, is a war crime - on your part - and it has not gone unnoticed.
Oh, I’m not done yet - I have many other points to make!
No, it is NOT too late to remove militant Islam from Kosovo!
Some commenters insist that the proposed turnover of Kosovo to the local al-Qaeda-affiliated jihadist/narcoterrorist gang is a fait accompli, simply because of demographics. I say that’s just plain wrong.
The Albanians who have infiltrated Kosovo over the past century do have a place to which they can, and must, return: Albania. The fact that their own relatives and countrymen have made Albania unfit to live in matters not. They must return there. To allow them to remain in Kosovo would be to reward a century of genocide against Serbs. That is intolerable.
What’s wrong with Serb nationalism? Nothing!
Milosevic was no Serb nationalist, but a hapless appeaser who was repeatedly hoodwinked by the US and NATO, and ultimately disposed of. See Emperor’s Clothes for background. That site has the whole history of MSM pro-jihadist taqiyya!
If you want to know what a Serb nationalist is all about, I am a Serb nationalist. I am not ashamed of being a Serb nationalist, nor should anyone ever be!
I claim that the Serbian people has a right to exist.
I claim that those of us who are of Serbian ancestry have the right to be known and identified as Serbs (or as Serbian-Americans, Serbian-Canadians, Serbian-Australians, as the case may be), without anyone else thinking that this gives them the right to attack us.
I claim that Orthodox Christian Serbs have the right to continue practicing our religion, wherever in the world we may happen to be.
I claim that we as Serbs have the same right to defend ourselves against attack that anyone else has - and that this includes the right to cooperate among ourselves for mutual protection.
Anybody out there who disagrees with me?
I’ve already thrown the glove down - if you pick it up, you’d better be loaded for bear. Be advised that I expect valid logic supported with provable factual information. I expect the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth. Anything else will be met with the most thorough takedown imaginable.
Some commenters have truly evil motives
There are some truly evil people in the world, and entirely too many of them are on the Internet. (Just for starters, see Fast-growing al Qaeda presence on the Web.) As one might expect, the blogosphere has become a primary target.
Conservatives have been too patient with liars and deceivers on the Web
The conservative blogosphere is being MUCH too patient with crypto-jihadist leftists such as Nodrog, who serve the cause of expansionist Islam by persistently uttering blood libels against Serbs, Jews, and European conservatives. In particular, I have seen no evidence that any of these LGF stooges are arguing in good faith. Any leftist who argues in good faith will soon find no alternative but to abandon leftism.
Leftist ideology is always and everywhere harmful and wrong, and is especially harmful to those it purports to help. The same is true, unfortunately, of Islam. Thus, leftists and jihadists are natural allies.
The only way leftists and jihadists can peddle their poison with any degree of success is by committing evil:
Lying
Cheating
Stealing
Libeling and slandering innocent people
Using violence whenever they don’t get their way.
The only difference between leftists like Charles Johnson and his minions, and ordinary jihadists, is that some of the leftists are so deluded by their own sense of self-importance that they actually believe their own taqiyya.
Many people have pointed out that these leftists keep repeating the same lies even after they are soundly refuted. They are deaf and blind to any evidence that contradicts the gutter racist propaganda that they spew forth. This is an object lesson in identifying those who are not presenting their arguments in good faith.
Charles Johnson and Little Green Footballs have never led the counter-jihad
I contend that Charles Johnson has never been a member of the counterjihad, much less a leader of it. He is a greedy blogger who uses terrorism stories to get page views, while at the same time serving the interests of the jihadists by exerting a chilling effect on all attempts to counteract jihadism. CJ and his followers must be, and are being, discredited with the utmost thoroughness and finality, so that none of them will ever again be able to do any further damage to the counterjihadist cause.
Aid and comfort to the enemy
The Bosnian Muslim mujahideen and the Kosovo Albanian Muslim KLA (under whatever false name they are calling themselves this week) are the local branches of al Qaeda in the Balkans.
By continuing to spread enemy propaganda on behalf of al Qaeda, under the guise of being counter-jihadist bloggers, Charles Johnson and his stooges from Leftist Green Footballs are HELPING THE ENEMY.
Last I checked, the US is at war with AQ. If nothing else, as long as OBL’s fatwa against the US remains in effect, AQ is at war with the US. That makes them enemies. That makes these “lizardoids” traitors.
You DO have to choose sides in these conflicts. There is no middle ground between good and evil, between truth and error, between supporting your country and supporting its enemies. Attempting to remain neutral means evading one’s duties.
Throughout history, giving aid and comfort to the enemy of one’s homeland has been a capital offense, not only in the US but just about everywhere else. This is because a traitor does far more damage than any legitimate enemy combatant. At least in the US, those laws have not been changed, and when things get bad enough - and they will - the US will begin enforcing those laws again.
Rope, tree, US Constitutional definition of treason, lizards…
Michael Newdow is an atheist in San Francisco, who is apparently so determined to get as far from God as possible that he not only wants to remove the phrase “under God” from the pledge of allegiance, but now, wants to also remove it from United States’ currency.
A three-judge panel from that court was to hear arguments in the case on Tuesday. The same panel also was to hear arguments in Newdow’s case against the national motto, “In God We Trust.”
In 2005, Newdow sued Congress and several federal officials, arguing that making money with the motto on it violated the First Amendment clause requiring the separation of church and state.
Last year, a federal judge in Sacramento disagreed, saying the words did not violate Newdow’s atheism. Newdow appealed.
In case anyone has forgotten, this all started as a bitter custody battle between Newdow and a woman with whom he shares a child. (Also see WorldNetDaily - his daughter and her mother are Christian.)
Michael Newdow is worrying needlessly. If he remains on the path he’s treading, God won’t be where he’s going. This was sent to me by 1389, who added:
Needed: One-way ticket to that paradise for militant atheists, North Korea! We oughta take up a collection to send him there….
