This is absolutely essential viewing for those who prefer to know the unvarnished truth about what is coming . Forget the political wishful thinking, follow the money…

Taxpayers Paid For ‘Fast & Furious’

Not only did U.S. officials approve, allow and assist in the sale of more than 2,000 guns to the Sinaloa cartel — the federal government used taxpayer money to buy semi-automatic weapons, sold them to criminals and then watched as the guns disappeared.

This disclosure, revealed in documents obtained by Fox News, could undermine the Department of Justice’s previous defense that Operation Fast and Furious was a “botched” operation where agents simply “lost track” of weapons as they were transferred from one illegal buyer to another. Instead, it heightens the culpability of the federal government as Mexico, according to sources, has opened two criminal investigations into the operation that flooded their country with illegal weapons.

In June 2010, however, the ATF dramatically upped the ante, making the U.S. government the actual “seller” of guns.

According to documents obtained by Fox News, Agent John Dodson was ordered to buy six semi-automatic Draco pistols — two of those were purchased at the Lone Wolf gun store in Peoria, Ariz. An unusual sale, Dodson was sent to the store with a letter of approval from David Voth, an ATF group supervisor.

Dodson then sold the weapons to known illegal buyers, while fellow agents watched from their car.

Only The Justice Dept could have ordered Dodson, to make the sale. As he testified before Congress. He was also ordered to do this sale after he started to complain through the chain of command. One of the documents that have been obtained states “we need to dirty up this agents reputation” The agent was ordered  to make the sale himself after the date on the memo.

         I just got back from Istanbul….loved it.

         –  In less than one day, we ran through 1000 years of history  — on foot  —        with a local guide, who could – and did – talk about anything, and        everything.  The man was a local, dressed in expensive leather shoes and a  fashionably striped button-down, light green and lilac.  With 30 years of guide  experience, his tour came with small impromptu oral quizzes;  I invariably did  well and my husband – who wasn’t listening – failed.    Our guide greeted  strangers  with winks and nods, high-fived his fellow guide-friends and even  engaged in conversation (in English) with a young girl covered from head to  toe in a bright PINK  (!) burka. I believe she said she was from Afghanistan.

 – We drove in SUV’s with business colleagues up old narrow hillside streets  at break-neck speeds, avoiding fat and lazy stray dogs along the way. We ate overlooking the Bosphorus, under the stars in a beautiful restaurant with a sushi bar.  We drank far too many bottles of some excellent Turkish wine  and then did it all again the next day on the rooftop of a brand-new shopping center.

– Favorite Starter:  Lentil soup, with fresh squeezed lemon juice and paprika sprinkled on top. Consumed at a roadside cafe near the old part of the city.

– Favorite Main:  Assorted meat platter. Consumed by the infinity pool at the  Ciragan Palace Kempinski.

– Most Felicitous Surprise:  People in Istanbul are warm, friendly and extremely hospitable. Everybody.  Hotel housekeeping, cab drivers, tour guides, and  even people crammed together on the tram.

Sure…the recent  PKK terrorist bombings mean body and car searches as you enter buildings and parking structures.  But, these security measures seemed like  minor inconveniences thanks  to  the warm hospitality of the Istanbul people.

– Biggest Disappointment:  the Istanbul Spice Market!  I feel like I have been hearing about the wonders of the Istanbul Spice Market my whole life: the vibrant colors, the cacophony of smells, the variety of choice….unfortunately,  the day before the Istanbul spice market, I was  in London  making my biannual  visit to the Food Court in Harrod’s.  IMHO, there is no open market  - anywhere - that compares to the Food Court in Harrod’s, London.   You may differ with me….but you would be wrong.

– Most Interesting Factoid:  Turkey has over 30 million Facebook users!  Turkey is the 4th largest Facebook-using country, after the US, Indonesia and India.  Think about that for a moment…..you need a young attitude and computer literacy  to be on Facebook. 65% of the Turkish population is under 30 years old.

Also, Turkey is not in the EU and -  as it now turns out – this is probably much to Turkey’s economic advantage; Turkey’s last quarter growth was a whopping 11%!    Turkey seems poised for growth. Big growth.

The feeling I have for the two Americans released by Iran this week was this – fire yout travel agent.  I mean what idiot (and the two of them seem to be educated idiots) goes for a walk in Iraqi Kurdistan along the Iranian border?   Not only did they provide Iran with the type of show trial they long to have, they forced the government to expend time and resources to secure their return.

I marvel at the need of people to do stupid things.  Some nuts surf during hurricanes, thereby endangering themselves and rescue teams.  If I were the Coast Guard I’d announce we aren’t rescuing surfers during hurricanes.  It boggles the mind how some people think they are entitled to pursue their wacky endeavors and that the rest of us have to come save them when the disaster occurs. 

The three jackasses who were captured by Iran were adults -in their late twenties and early thirties.  If I didn’t think an Iranian prison was a hellhole I’d almost wish the Iranians kept them (and changed their conviction from spying to gross stupidity).   The question for them is not what were you thinking but are you capable of thought?

 

I believe that Brian Sewell says it better than many, especially when it comes to the BBC.

Here is the easy tyranny that flows from having “our” politicians “in charge” when the same little politicos only understand the power to take things away from us;

Northern Ireland’s environment minister has outlined his proposals to change the drink-driving laws. Alex Attwood says he wants to cut the limit from its current level of 80mg/100ml to 50mg/100ml. No other part of the UK has such a limit.

There would be another, even lower, limit of 20mg/100ml for young drivers and people who earn their living from driving.

Mr Attwood also wants to give police powers to randomly stop drivers without the need for reasonable suspicion.

He also proposes, in certain circumstances, removing drivers’ right to opt for a blood or urine sample instead of a breath test.

Note the combination of removing our rights whilst increasing the rights of the State and it’s agencies. I entirely reject what Attwood is doing but then again one cannot be surprised since the SDLP have already shown their instincts by leading the charge to FORCE cyclists to wear helmets.

The question posed in the Irish Independent is a simple one; Is France is willing to swallow national pride and confront its own financial elite?

Christian Noyer, the Bank of France’s governor, denied on Sunday that French officials were mulling a capital injection of up to €15bn to beef up banks. ”There is no plan, and we don’t need one. The banks are very solid. None of them is hiding any toxic assets,” he said.

What is the point of uttering such rubbish? The markets know this is untrue, and so does the IMF. It is an almost surreal refusal to recognize that investors are – for good reasons – terrified about French bank exposure to Italian sovereign debt. Mr Noyer encapsulates the mixture of stubborness and amour propre now threatening the world with disaster, and which is so like the French reflex as everything collapsed in mid-1931.

I entirely agree. The French Banks are MASSIVELY exposed to debt in Greece as well as Italy and Spain and everyone knows it. But the French dare not admit it less it intrudes into national hubris. However the problem about denial is that the longer one engages in it, the worse the outcome. Some further useful analysis here.

The central planners are very busy at the moment proving that they cannot centrally plan. 

The outline of a large and ambitious eurozone rescue plan, is taking shape, reports from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) in Washington suggest. It is expected to involve a 50% write-down of Greece’s massive government debt, the BBC’s business editor Robert Peston says. The plan also envisages an increase in the size of the eurozone bailout fund to 2 trillion euros (£1.7tn; $2.7tn). European governments hope to have the plan in place in five to six weeks.

I note that even Robert Peston goes on to say that “turning the present outline into a practical reality will be immensely difficult.” I would choose a slightly different word; impossible. All these central planners miss the fundamental point that a currency union containing such disparate elements as Germany and Greece, France and Ireland, Spain and Finland, cannot function for so long as the countries retain any degree of political autonomy.

The only way to make it work is to create one vast country called Europe, deconstruct every Nation State, impose a central command and control structure and minimise the will of the peoples of these lands. Hang on a sec – they are ahead of me on this one since that is PRECISELY what the EUSSR is all about. But it cannot hold and the folly of those who are even now trying to use this crisis to advance their agenda will become manifest as the Euro crashes in the time ahead. It is way beyond salvation, and the Eurocrats long since cared about such. This is about POWER.

I see that militant Islam in the Midlands has been active;

Six men have been charged with terrorism offences, including a suspected suicide bombing campaign, West Midlands Police have said. Four of the men were charged with preparing for an act of terrorism in the UK, and two with failing to disclose information. It follows a police operation in Birmingham last week.

The six, all from Birmingham and aged between 25 and 32, will appear at West London Magistrates’ Court on Monday. Irfan Nasser, 30, of Sparkhill, and Irfan Khalid, 26, of Balsall Heath, are accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, including travelling to Pakistan for training in terrorism, making a martyrdom video and planning a bombing campaign. They are accused of constructing a home-made explosive device for terrorist acts and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber.

Ashik Ali, 26, of Balsall Heath, is accused of preparing for an act of terrorism, which involved planning a bombing campaign, providing premises for the planning of terrorist attack and stating an intention to be a suicide bomber. Rahin Ahmed, 25, of Moseley, is accused of helping fund terrorist acts. Mohammed Rizwan, 32, and Bahader Ali, 28, both of Sparkbrook, are both charged with failing to disclose information about potential acts of terrorism.

Congratulations to our Security services for breaking up this Jihad plot – once again we see the enemy within seeking ways to kill us.

Look at the cold killer eyes.  Suzanne Breen has once again provided the goods on the true pedigree of the Butcher Boy. It’s been picked up on by the Mail which is the link I offer for ease of reading. My thanks to Kateyo for making me aware of this. The family of Frank Hegarty are clear about what McGuinness did in his senior role in the IRA. Please go to the link and I invite even those who have some support for the idea of Irish Republicanism to read it and not feel a sickening sense of shame that such a man as McGuinness personifies their ideals. Don’t you deserve better than this monster?

This is the body of their brother, lying dead, dumped at the side of the road, the victim of the IRA. He was an alleged informer who had left Northern Ireland but was lured back to Londonderry. He was then killed. The family are clear that it was McGuinness who helped lure him back.  Frank’s mother Rose calls McGuinness “evil”. I second that emotion. Yet this most evil of individuals is exalted, is portrayed as a peacemaker – and yet it is obvious the only peace he ever offered was the peace of the grave.

I am so pleased that Suzanne, along with some other courageous journalists, are daring to shine a light on the dark deeds that McGuinness commanded. In this era of utter moral equivalency, at this time of moral decay, I believe this kind of information must be provided to the public. If the people of Ireland think such an evil man should be their President, then they deserve all they get. As it happens, I don’t believe he has any chance of winning the Presidency, but he is STILL avoiding JUSTICE for the crimes his IRA carried out. The brutal murder of Frank Hegarty is but one.