From the pulpit of Obama’s Trinity Church, via YouTube:

Obama’s Church: Hillary Cried Because White Supremacy Failed

[My transcription, starting 19 seconds into the clip:]

Rev. Moss: We are delighted — he needs no introduction. He is a friend of Trinity. He is a brother beloved. He is a preacher par excellence. He is a prophetic, powerful pulpiteer [sic]. He is our friend, he is our brother. He is none other than Michael Pfleger. We welcome him once again…

[Skipping to 1:45 in the clip:]

Rev. Pfleger: … We must be honest enough to expose white entitlement and supremacy wherever it raises its head. I’ve said before — and I really [don't] want to make this political, because you know I’m very unpolitical.

But [garbled] when Hillary was crying, and people said that was put on, I really don’t believe it was put on. I really believe that she just always thought ‘this is mine. I’m Bill’s wife. I’m white. And this is mine. I just gotta get up and step into [sic] the plate.’

And then out of nowhere came, ‘hey, I’m Barack Obama.’ And she said, ‘oh, damn, where did you come from?! I’m white! I’m entitled! There’s a black man stealing my show!’ [He mock sobs.]

She wasn’t the only one cryin’. There was a whole lot of white people cryin’!

I’m sorry, I don’t want to get you in any more trouble. The live streaming [the internet broadcast of Trinity's services] just went out again.

[Leaves stage to standing ovation.]

Rev. Moss: We thank God for the message. And we thank God for the messenger. We thank God for Father Michael Pfleger. We thank God for Father Mike.

Not Reverend Wright, but a remarkable simulacrum.

In fact, the well known crackpot Reverend Pfleger is one of the very few white faces to grace the pages of the Reverend Wright’s Trumpet magazine:

Enlarge

As his introduction indicates, he is a darling of the Trinity Congregation and the Reverend Doctor Wright. And his replacement, Rev. Otis Moss, III:

“We thank God for the message. We thank God for the messenger.”

And one can easily see why.

(Thanks to Ann for the heads up.)

From those open border lobbyists at the Associated Press:

In Miami, Spanish is becoming the primary language

By GISELA SALOMON, Associated Press Writer Thu May 29

MIAMI – Melissa Green’s mother spoke Spanish, but she never learned — her father forbid it. Today, that’s a frequent problem in this city where the English-speaking population is outnumbered.

The 49-year-old flower shop owner and Miami native said her inability to speak “espanol” makes it difficult to conduct business, seek help at stores and even ask directions. She finds it “frustrating.”

“It makes it hard for some people to find a job because they don’t speak Spanish, and I don’t think that it is right,” said Green, who sometimes calls a Spanish-speaking friend to translate for customers who don’t speak English.

“Sometimes I think they should learn it,” she said.

In many areas of Miami, Spanish has become the predominant language, replacing English in everyday life. Anyone from Latin America could feel at home on the streets, without having to pronounce a single word in English.

In stores, shopkeepers wait on their clients in Spanish. Universities offer programs for Spanish speakers. And in supermarkets, banks, restaurants — even at the post office and government offices — information is given and assistance is offered in Spanish. In Miami, doctors and nurses speak Spanish with their patients and a large portion of advertising is in Spanish. Daily newspapers and radio and television stations cater to the Hispanic public.

But this situation, so pleasing to Latin American immigrants, makes some English speakers feel marginalized. In the 1950s, it’s estimated that more than 80 percent of Miami-Dade County residents were non-Hispanic whites. But in 2006, the Census Bureau estimates that number was only 18.5 percent, and in 2015 it is forecast to be 14 percent. Hispanics now make up about 60 percent.

“The Anglo population is leaving,” said Juan Clark, a sociology professor at Miami Dade College. “One of the reactions is to emigrate toward the north. They resent the fact that (an American) has to learn Spanish in order to have advantages to work. If one doesn’t speak Spanish, it’s a disadvantage.”

According to the Census, 58.5 percent of the county’s 2.4 million residents speak Spanish — and half of those say they don’t speak English well. English-only speakers make up 27.2 percent of the county’s residents…

James McCleary, his wife and two children left Miami in 1987 for Vermont, where he is now a farmer. McCleary, 58, said his inability to speak Spanish made it difficult for him to find work — it once took seven months to get hired as a cook.

“The job market was very tough. It was very, very difficult,” he said.

His wife, Lauren, was born and raised in Miami and they visit at least twice a year, but she feels that it’s no longer her hometown.

“I don’t like being there anymore. It is very, very different,” she said. “I cannot live there anymore, I can’t speak their language.”

Nevertheless, she likes the diversity of the population of South Florida and regrets not learning Spanish in school…

Why pretend this is somehow unique to Miami?

Of course the only news here is that the Associated Press would even acknowledge this.

“Sometimes I think they should learn [English],” she said.

Obviously this woman is a racist xenophobic bigot. She needs to get with the program.

“I don’t like being there anymore. It is very, very different,” she said. “I cannot live there anymore, I can’t speak their language.” Nevertheless, she likes the diversity of the population of South Florida and regrets not learning Spanish in school.

That’s the spirit!

Who needs a job when you have “diversity”?

(Thanks to Franco for the heads up.)

From an elated Associated Press:

[AFP photo and caption:] Republican presidential hopeful John McCain on the campaign trail with US President George W. Bush in Phoenix earlier this week.

Army suicides reported up again — at 108

By PAULINE JELINEK, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – The number of Army suicides increased again last year, amid the most violent year yet in both the Iraq and Afghanistan wars.

Two defense officials said Thursday that 108 troops committed suicide in 2007, six more than the previous year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the full report on the deaths wasn’t being released until later Thursday.

About a quarter of the deaths occurred in Iraq.

The overall toll was the highest in many years, and it was unclear when, if ever, it was previously that high. Immediately available Army records go back only to 1990 and the figure then was lower — at 102 — for that year as well as 1991.

The 108 confirmed deaths in 2007 among active duty soldier and National Guard and Reserve troops that had been activated was lower than previously feared. Preliminary figures released in January showed as many as 121 troops may have killed themselves, but a number of the deaths were still being investigated then and have since been determined to have resulted from other causes, the officials said.

Suicides have been rising almost steadily during the five-year-old war in Iraq and nearly seven-year-old war in Afghanistan.

The 108 deaths last year followed 102 in 2006, 85 in 2005 and 67 in 2004.

The increases come despite a host of efforts to improve the mental health of a force stressed by long and repeated tours of duty. Increasing the strain on the force last year was the extension of deployments to 15 months from 12 months, a practice that is being terminated this year.

More U.S. troops died in hostilities in 2007 than in any of the previous years in Iraq and Afghanistan. Overall violence increased in Afghanistan with a Taliban resurgence and overall deaths increased in Iraq, even as violence there declined in the second half of the year.

At long last, some news the Associated Press will be only too glad to report about our military.

(Never mind their successes in Iraq.)

Two defense officials said Thursday that 108 troops committed suicide in 2007, six more than the previous year. The officials spoke on condition of anonymity because the full report on the deaths wasn’t being released until later Thursday.

Note that they couldn’t wait to get out this his historically important information. They had to post a leak from anonymous sources.

And speaking of information, we will again point out that according to an August 16, 2007 MSNBC article:

In a half million-person Army, the [latest suicide] toll translated to a rate of 17.3 per 100,000…

But what both the AP and MSNBC neglect to report this niggling detail from an April 15, 2004 report from the Defense Department:

[T]he national average of 21.5 [suicides] per 100,000 for males ages 20 to 34 the age span for most U.S. soldiers in Iraq.

So even this new higher rate is still much lower than the national average. But we can’t have context like that from the AP.

They have an agenda to push.

And speaking of agendas, notice the photograph (above) that Yahoo decided to run alongside this article.

From a distraught Associated Press:

Economy’s growth picks up slightly in first quarter

By JEANNINE AVERSA, AP Economics Writer

WASHINGTON – The economy plodded ahead at a 0.9 percent pace in the first quarter — slightly better than first estimated — but still underscoring caution on the part of consumers and businesses walloped by housing, credit and financial problems.

The new reading on gross domestic product, released by the Commerce Department on Thursday, was an improvement from the government’s initial growth estimate for the January-to-March quarter as well as the economy’s performance in the final quarter of last year. Both periods were pegged at a 0.6 percent growth rate…

The first-quarter performance matched analysts’ forecasts and offered a somewhat encouraging sign because it showed the economy was still growing at that time. The figure didn’t meet a definition of recession, which under a rough rule is two straight quarters of shrinking GDP, and might raise hopes the country can dodge a full-blown downturn.

Fallout from the housing crisis continued to be a big drag on overall economic growth…

Consumers are pulling back as high energy and food prices leave them with less money to spend on other things. Falling home values are making many homeowners feel less wealthy and less inclined to spend. And, the credit crunch has made it harder to finance big-ticket purchases.

“Consumers are hurting,” said Ken Mayland, president of ClearView Economics…

Looking ahead, top forecasters at the National Association for Business Economics predict the economy will eek along at a 0.4 percent growth rate during the April-to-June period, which is expected to be the weakest quarter of the year. Growth should pick up to a 2.2 percent pace in the third quarter, energized by the Fed’s powerful series of rate reductions and billions of dollars worth of tax rebates flowing into the hands of Americans from Uncle Sam…

Even if economic activity strengthens later this year, the unemployment rate — now at 5 percent — is expected to climb to 6 percent or higher early next year. Businesses, which have trimmed their work forces to cope with the economic slowdown, will be reluctant to bulk back up until they feel certain the economy’s recovery will be enduring…

Looking forward, inflation pressures could get worse given surging food and energy prices. Oil prices, which have racked up a string of record highs, are hovering above $131 a barrel. Gasoline prices have marched higher, too, moving closer to $4 a gallon nationwide.

Those high prices are a double-edged sword for the economy. They can put a damper on growth and also can spread inflation if they force companies to boost their prices.

So much for the “recession” we were in the middle of, eh?

And yet the AP’s economic expert, Ms. Aversa, still manages to find the dark cloud surrounding the silver lining.

Things still could get worse.

Keep the hope alive, Jeannine.

From her deathless fans at the Associated Press:

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., views the presidential carvings at Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, S.D., Wednesday, May 28, 2008, as she campaigns in South Dakota.

Democratic presidential hopeful Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton, D-N.Y., views the presidential carvings at Mount Rushmore, near Keystone, S.D., Wednesday, May 28, 2008, as she campaigns in South Dakota.

Well, her face certainly is craggy enough these days. Though I don’t think that is the only requirement for qualification.

(And somehow one can’t imagine Cary Grant crawling all over her, either.)

Perhaps the AP is suggesting Mr. Obama promise to put her on Mt. Rushmore as a way to sugar her off.

Of course a Supreme Court nomination for either herself or her husband — or both, would also be welcomed.

From ABC’s Tampa, FL affiliate WFTS-TV:

Federal judge sides with DNC in Florida delegate lawsuit

Reported by: Chad Cookler

TAMPA, FL — For the 2nd time this year, a federal judge has thrown out a lawsuit filed by a Florida democrat delegate angry over party rules that have threatened to keep Florida Delegates from being seated at the upcoming Democratic Convention.

Once again US District Judge Richard A. Lazzara ruled Wednesday the DNC did not violate any laws in stripping Florida’s delegates of their voting powers.

DiMaio argued in his lawsuit that the DNC had discriminated against Florida’s voters by stripping the state of its delegates after both states moved their primaries earlier than they were allowed to by the national party.

Lazzara rejected DiMaio’s arguments once, but an appeals court in Atlanta sent the case back to him because suit was filed before the primary actually occurred

DiMaio’s suit claimed the party is discriminating against Florida voters because party leaders selected other early primary states for their racial makeup and geographic location.

Well, it looks like rioting in the streets is now Hillary’s only chance.

[Please scroll down for the update to this article.]

As you probably know by now, we (and others) noted Mr. Obama’s claim in his Memorial Day speech to have an uncle who liberated Auschwitz in WWII.

The Obama camp have since stated that Mr. Obama misspoke, and that he was talking about his grandmother’s brother “Charlie Payne.”

They say Mr. Payne served in the 89th Infantry Division which liberated the Ohrdruf concentration camp, which was a satellite of the Buchenwald prison network near Weimar, Germany.

In our efforts to fact this hitherto unmentioned fact about Mr. Obama’s ancestors, we contacted a site which purports to honor the 89th Infantry Division:

Introduction

This website has been created to honor the service of the 89th Infantry Division during the Second World War. The 89th, known as the Rolling W, served with distinction during combat operations in Europe from March-May, 1945.

This website was created by 89th veteran Raymond E. Kitchell and his son Mark R. Kitchell. We are grateful to the contributions of histories, stories and pictures from numerous 89th Infantry veterans and their families, and from the 89th Infantry Division Society.

Granted this site is not the 89th Division’s official website. But other searches via the National Archives and the Kansas WWII veterans sites have yet to produce a Charles Payne who would have been at Buchenwald.

Moreover, this site claims to welcome queries about members of the 89th Division:

To the extent time and capacity exists, we will try to answer questions and/or direct inquiries to prime and knowledgeable sources where available and welcome comments and new inputs. We will add to the website content as time and resources permit.

Please send all emails to:

Webmaster, Raymond E. Kitchell
markkitchell@yahoo.com

Co-Webmaster, Mark R. Kitchell
markkitchell@yahoo.com

So in the interest of finding out the facts about Mr. Payne,  I sent Mr. Kitchell and son the following email:

—– Original Message —–
From: Steve Gilbert
To: markkitchell@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 6:14 AM
Subject: Any Record Of Charles W Payne?

Mr. Kitchell,

As you may have heard by now, Barack Obama has claimed that his great uncle Charlie Payne was a member of the 89th Div that liberated Buchenwald.

According to records his full name is either Charles W Payne or Charles T Payne (most likely the former), and he was born in 1924 — and he is still alive today.

He most likely was from Kansas at the time of enlistment.

Do you have any record of this gentleman?

Thank you,

Steve Gilbert
sweetness-light.com

PS – If you go to my website, you will see that I was probably the first to note the error in Mr. Obama’s first claims about his “uncle.”

Obama Claims His Uncle Liberated Auschwitz | Sweetness & Light
http://sweetness-light.com/archive/obama-claims-his-uncle-liberated-auschwitz

And Mr. Kitchell’s helpful reply:

Please crawl back under the rock you came out from.

Good day

Raymond Kitchell, veteran 89th Inf Div

I have since been sent this followup email:

From: Mark Kitchell [mailto:markkitchell@yahoo.com]
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 10:47 AM
To: Steve Gilbert
Subject: Re: Any Record Of Charles W Payne?

I don’t claim to represent anyone. You are the one who came to my son and I asking for information.

Please spend ample time chasing down the lies fed to you by chickenhawks Bush & Co. Like 90% of this administration, they don’t have the foggiest idea what we went through or what we saw at Ohrdruf.

I wonder how many people who visit the 89th Infantry site and support Mr. Kitchell’s work realize his politics are those of Cindy Sheehan?

  Update!

As noted in the comments below, S&L correspondent “Cigarskunk” has since emailed Mr. Kitchell and gotten a confirmation (of sorts) for Mr. Payne’s service in the 89th:

—– Original Message —–
From: cigarskunk
To: markkitchell@yahoo.com
Sent: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 6:38 PM
Subject: Searching for Charles W Payne

Dear Sirs,

In light of the recent controversy over the military service of Barrak Obama’s grandfather, Charles W Payne, I was hoping to contact you to get some kind of verification of his membership in the 89th.

I’ve checked the records of http://www.kshs.org/genealogis…..p;branch=N and they only list him as being in the Navy.

I would like to get a second source to confirm that Obama is still lying on this subject as my grandfathers, father and uncles all served in WWII, Korea and Vietnam and I don’t particularly care for politicians lying about the service of family members to further thier political agendas.

Thank you in advance!

From: markkitchell@yahoo.com
To: cigarskunk
Subject: Re: Searching for Charles W Payne
Date: Wed, 28 May 2008 18:52:48 +0200

You are the one who is lying. Mr. Payne served in the 89th Divison, 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K.

And indeed, Mr. Kitchell has now updated his website thusly:

Introduction

Concerning the service of Mr. Charles Payne: C.T. Payne was a soldier in the 89th Infantry Division. He served in the 355th Infantry Regiment, Company K. The 355th Infantry Regiment was the unit to liberate Ohrdruf. Mr. Payne was there.

We are grateful to Mr. Kitchell for this information, however grudgingly given.

But it would seem that all Mr. Kitchell did was go to the listing on his site which we had already visited. And that only lists one C.T. Payne.

Mr. Kitchell has still not produced any evidence to substantiate that this Mr. Payne is actually Mr. Obama’s great uncle, such as a serial number.

And, as we have noted, in most genealogy charts he is listed as Charles W. Payne rather than as Charles T.

Of course it would also be helpful if the Obama camp would tell us his great uncle’s full name and date of birth and other such handy details.

From a deeply worried Associated Press:

Dem lawyers: Fla., Mich. can’t be fully restored

By NEDRA PICKLER, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – A Democratic Party rules committee has the authority to seat some delegates from Michigan and Florida but not fully restore the two states as Hillary Rodham Clinton wants, according to party lawyers.

Democratic National Committee rules require that the two states lose at least half of their convention delegates for holding elections too early, the party’s legal experts wrote in a 38-page memo.

The memo was sent late Tuesday to the 30 members of the party’s Rules and Bylaws Committee, which plans to meet Saturday at a Washington hotel. The committee is considering ways to include the two important general election battlegrounds at the nominating convention in August, and the staff analysis says seating half the delegates is “as far as it legally can” go.

Saturday’s meeting is expected to draw a large crowd, with Clinton supporters among those encouraging a protest outside demanding that all the states’ delegates be seated. Proponents of full reseating have mailed committee members Florida oranges and pairs of shoes to get their attention.

DNC officials are concerned about a potentially large turnout at the “Count Every Vote” rally outside the event and have asked the hotel staff to increase security to keep everyone safe. The DNC says the roughly 500 seats available to the public inside were taken within three or four minutes of becoming available online Tuesday.

The DNC analysis does not make recommendations for how the Rules and Bylaws Committee should vote, but gives context from the party’s charter and bylaws for the committee to consider…

Alice Huffman, a member of the Rules and Bylaws Committee from California who is supporting Clinton, said she has been barraged with e-mails in the past few weeks. She said the senders include Floridians who are upset that they are being disenfranchised, and she has started printing out the messages so she’ll have a record to explain her decision.

“This is a really, really significant issue to women. Obviously it’s a significant item to people of color too. So I’m just preparing myself as best I can,” said Huffman, president of the California NAACP.

The shoe shipments are being organized by WalkAMileInOurShoes.org and the orange idea was promoted by a group called Florida Demands Representation, which plans to bus Floridians to Saturday’s rally outside the meeting. Blaine Whitford, a volunteer helping organize the effort, said they are unaligned with any candidate.

Susie Buell, one of Clinton’s top fundraisers, has formed a political action committee encouraging women to support full seating of the delegates. The WomenCountPAC has taken out ads in USA Today and The New York Times promoting attendance at the rally.

Isn’t this always way Democrats do things?

They break the rules (even their own) and then try to force their own way by trotting out the biggest mob.

Remember the Democrat Party actually called themselves “Republicans” when they first started their party.

It was the Federalists who labeled them contemptuously as “Democrats” because of their tendency to rely upon the mob. (Just like the worst elements were during in revolutionary France at the time.)

It was ever thus.

From those concerned scientists at the Los Angeles Times:

(ABC News Photo Illustration)

Lead exposure in children linked to violent crime

A study finds that even low levels can permanently damage the brain. The research also shows that exposure is a continuing problem despite efforts to minimize it.

By Thomas H. Maugh II and Marla Cone, Los Angeles Times Staff Writers
May 28, 2008

The first study to follow lead-exposed children from before birth into adulthood has shown that even relatively low levels of lead permanently damage the brain and are linked to higher numbers of arrests, particularly for violent crime.

Earlier studies linking lead to such problems used indirect measures of both lead and criminality, and critics have argued that socioeconomic and other factors may be responsible for the observed effects.

But by measuring blood levels of lead before birth and during the first seven years of life, then correlating the levels with arrest records and brain size, Cincinnati researchers have produced the strongest evidence yet that lead plays a major role in crime.

The researchers also found that lead exposure is a continuing problem despite the efforts of the federal government and cities to minimize exposure.

The average lead levels in the study “unfortunately are still seen in many thousands of children throughout the United States,” said Philip J. Landrigan, director of the Center for Children’s Health and the Environment at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York.

The link between criminal behavior and lead exposure was found among even the least-contaminated children in the study, who were exposed to amounts of lead similar to what the average U.S. child is exposed to today, said Landrigan, who was not involved in the study. ..

Nationwide, about 310,000 children between the ages of 1 and 5 have blood lead levels above the federal guideline of 10 micrograms per deciliter, and experts suspect that many times that number have lower levels that are still dangerous.

“It is a national disgrace that so many children continue to be exposed at levels known to be neurotoxic,” said neurologist David C. Bellinger of Harvard Medical School, who wrote an editorial accompanying the study published in the online journal PLoS Medicine.

Although some urban soil is still contaminated with lead from gasoline, 80% of lead exposure now comes from houses built before 1978. Paint in such houses can contain as much as 50% lead, and even if it has been covered by newer, lead-free paint, it still flakes or rubs off.

About 38 million U.S. homes, 40% of the nation’s housing, still contain lead-based paint, according to the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. The problem is particularly acute in urban areas, which typically have older housing that has not been renovated.

More recently, parents and authorities have become concerned about increasing levels of lead-based paint in toys imported from China.

Researchers have long known that lead exposure reduces IQ by damaging brain cells in children during their early years.

It is also known that lead increases children’s distractibility, impulsiveness and restlessness and shortens their attention span, all factors considered precursors of aggressive or violent behavior.

A landmark 1990 paper by Denno linked lead to increases in criminal behavior, but the children in the study were not tested for lead levels. The diagnoses were based on their physicians’ evaluation, Denno said.

The Cincinnati lead study enrolled 376 pregnant women in Cincinnati’s inner city between 1979 and 1984, measuring their blood lead levels during pregnancy and the children’s levels during their first seven years of life.

In the new study, environmental health researcher Kim N. Dietrich of the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine studied 250 of the original group, correlating their lead levels with adult criminal arrest records from Hamilton County, Ohio.

He and his colleagues found that 55% of the subjects (63% of males) had been arrested and that the average was five arrests between the ages of 18 and 24.

The higher the blood lead level at any time in childhood, the greater the likelihood of arrests. “The strongest association was with violent criminal activity — murder, rape, domestic violence, assault, robbery and possession of weapons,” Dietrich said.

Blood lead levels in the children ranged from 4 to 37 micrograms per deciliter.

The researchers found, for example, that every 5-microgram-per-deciliter increase in blood lead levels at age 6 was accompanied by a 50% increase in the incidence of violent crime later in life. Confirming previous findings, the effect of lead was strongest in males, who had an arrest rate 4 1/2 times that of females...

How many billions of taxpayers dollars have already been spent to end this dubious threat? And now we are told that nothing has changed.

Moreover, given that almost all paint was lead based just a few years ago, why were children less violent until fairly recently?

How about the children in China? Are they all violent criminals?

Of course these questions will never be addressed.

There is no grant money in them.

The Cincinnati lead study enrolled 376 pregnant women in Cincinnati’s inner city between 1979 and 1984… He and his colleagues found that 55% of the subjects (63% of males) had been arrested and that the average was five arrests between the ages of 18 and 24.

Still, it must be lead that is causing all of this.

There is just no other explanation.

From those truth-seekers at Al Jazeera:

NGO and UN staff ‘abusing children’

Children in the Ivory Coast, Sudan and Haiti have faced abuse by staff from aid agencies and the United Nations, a London-based charity has reported.

Save the Children said its researchers had evidence that children from the age of six are being traded for food, money, soap and mobile phones in war zones and disaster areas.

The charity said an international watchdog should be set up to look at the alleged abuse.

Jasmine Whitbread, the charity’s chief executive, said: “It is hard to imagine a more grotesque abuse of authority or flagrant violation of children’s rights.

“This research exposes the despicable actions of a small number of perpetrators who are sexually abusing some of the most vulnerable children in the world, the very children they are meant to protect.”

The UN secretary-general described the report as “very serious” on Tuesday.

Ban Ki-moon said: “I think the report is very valuable and it does give us some good points that the United Nations should continue to address.

“This sexual exploitation of minors by any aid workers or peacekeepers … that is a very serious issue.

“I have made it always clear that my policy on this sexual exploitation abuse is zero tolerance, we will address this issue with the same level of emphasis. 

“However, on all these cases which have been raised, we will very carefully investigate and whenever there is necessary matters, we will take necessary measures on this.”

The charity said “endemic failures” in responding to official reports of the abuse were letting down the victims and that better reporting mechanisms should be introduced.

Whitbread said that the UN as well as humanitarian and aid agencies have made important commitments to tackling the problem in recent years.

But she said most had failed to turn their promises into action.

She called for all agencies working in emergency areas, including her own charity to “own up to the fact that they are vulnerable to this problem and tackle it head on”.

The UN Department for Peacekeeping Operations (UNPKO) was said to be the group most likely to be responsible for abuse.

Save the Children said there had been 15 claims against UNPKO staff and partners last year, of which three were upheld.

Nick Birnback, a UNPKO spokesman, said it was “entirely unacceptable” that those sent to help the most vulnerable are instead causing grievous harm.

“Clearly a lot more has to be done,” he told BBC radio but he rejected allegations that the problem was widespread and those responsible were getting away with it.

“The vast majority of UN peacekeepers all over the world, of which we have over 100,000 now, serve with honour and courage in very difficult situations and don’t engage in this unacceptable behaviour,” he said.

The reputation of UN peacekeepers has been tarnished in the past by cases of sexual abuse against women, notably in the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Ivory Coast and Haiti.

In November last year, the UN said that more than 100 Sri Lankan soldiers were to be sent home over charges that they paid for sex while stationed in Haiti.

In 2005, the world body recommended that the soldiers involved be punished, their salaries frozen and a fund set up to help any women or girls made pregnant.

The UN’s “zero tolerance” policy towards sexual misconduct includes a “non-fraternisation” rule barring them from sex with locals.

It was brought in after revelations in December 2004 that peacekeepers in the DRC were involved in the sexual abuse of 13-year-old girls in exchange for eggs, milk or cash sums of one dollar.

Where is the outrage?

Of course UN “peacekeepers” sexually abusing women and children is old news.

But you think some “human rights” group would at least pretend to be offended at this latest report.

From the DNC’s Associated Press:

The era of big Clintons is soon over

By CALVIN WOODWARD, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON – There’s been a Clinton running for the White House or living in it for approximately forever.

Bill, it could be said, was born to run. Running became Hillary’s destiny, too.

One quarter of Americans have never known life without a Clinton trying for or having the presidency. Millions have gone from diapers to diplomas in the time of the Clintons.

When Hillary Rodham Clinton finally exits the 2008 Democratic presidential race, she will end a decades-long, power-couple streak of unique political energy, savvy ideas, colossal policy flops and raw ambition dressed in pants suits and briefs, not boxers.

“Every day is an adventure,” Bill said cheerfully at the start of it all. And how.

By now, the Clintons have been assigned mystical qualities of perseverance. The notion that the adventure is over is almost beyond comprehension.

“I never quit,” she says. “I never give up.”

Even in defeat, Hillary Clinton has made history as the first woman favored for a major party presidential nomination — the first with a real shot at the presidency.

She’s gotten more than 17 million votes in her own right this year, enticingly close to the number won by Barack Obama, who is making history, too, because he’s black.

With her cachet, not to mention her job in the Senate, Clinton won’t drift far from the nation’s consciousness. (Nor is Bill likely to get out of the country’s face.)

“Whatever else you might say about them, they have contributed to substantive dialogue and policy,” says Mary Matalin, a Clinton-era Republican strategist. “Hats off to them substantively.

“They’re really kind of giants in this world.”

In the 2012 and 2016 presidential campaign years, Hillary Clinton, now 60, will still be younger than the Republican candidate, John McCain, is now. Meantime, she could become a powerhouse senator in the manner of the stricken Edward M. Kennedy. Or a Supreme Court justice. Or Obama’s running mate.

Soon, though, there will be no Clinton running for president or about to. Imagine that…

In case there was still any doubt about who the Democrat chosen one is, it is now official.

From those seekers of the truth at the Associated Press:

String of shootings in New York City leave 8 hurt

Tue May 27

NEW YORK – A string of shootings in a New York City neighborhood sent eight people, including half a dozen teenagers, to nearby hospitals with gunshot wounds, police said Tuesday.

All of the victims were expected to recover from their injuries.

The six teens were found near Harlem’s Marcus Garvey Park, where a crowd had gathered. It was not immediately clear whether they were wounded at the park or as they fled when gunfire erupted about 10:15 p.m. Monday, police said.

The victims — between the ages of 13 and 18 — were found on several blocks along Lenox Avenue, from 125th Street to 128th Street.

They had been shot in the chest, thigh, torso, abdomen or foot, police said. A 15-year-old girl had been grazed on the forehead. No arrests had been made.

Police flooded the area and blocked off streets in the hours after the shooting at the park as they searched for suspects. Residents were told to go inside their homes.

Two men, ages 26 and 20, were wounded in unrelated shootings about half an hour before and after violence broke out at the park, police said.

Apart from the flawed grammar, doesn’t the headline and the article make it sound like this “string of shootings” just happened — like “spontaneous generation”?

The AP ‘style book’ used to encourage its reporters to use the active rather than the passive voice in their articles. But no more.

For no one is responsible. There are no culprits. (Unlike, say, the weather changing.) Only victims. Shootings just occur.

Still, compare and contrast the AP’s version with this report on (apparently) the same incident from the New York Post:

MAYHEM IN HARLEM

7 WOUNDED AS GUNFIRE SPARKS PANIC

By TOM LIDDY, CRISTINA CARREGA and LARRY CELONA

May 27, 2008 — Harlem erupted in mayhem last night when bullets began flying on jampacked streets across the neighborhood, sending panicked residents running for their lives.

Seven victims, all youths in their teens or early 20s, were wounded – including one who was in critical condition.

The other victims were stable.

The trouble began just after 10 p.m. at a Memorial Day barbecue in Marcus Garvey Park.

A witness said a fight over girls broke out and violence spread like wildfire. People were shot at four or more locations.

“First thing, I heard six shots, then I heard about another 12 shots another 10 minutes later,” said a terrified Ellen Resnick, who had just arrived at her home on Lenox Avenue.

“I saw cops running in all directions after gangs of kids.

“There’s tons of kids and millions of ambulances and police cars.”

A 21-year-old woman who had been at the park – and who asked that her name not be used – said, “All of a sudden, we saw these dudes fighting, and then there was shots, and we ran.”

Another witness, a 29-year-old woman who also requested anonymity, said, “I was scared for my life. I didn’t know what was going to happen.”

The victims were shot in an area bordered by West 131st Street to the north, West 125th Street to the South, Lenox Avenue to the east and Adam Clayton Powell Boulevard to the west.

The victims were taken to Harlem and Lincoln Hospitals, police sources said.

One of the victims, who was shot in the thigh, was 13. A 15-year-old boy was shot in the foot. The ages of the other victims weren’t immediately known.

Cops from every borough rushed to the scene.

One patrol car racing to the area was involved in a crash. It was not immediately clear if anyone was hurt.

Arriving police found the streets filled with pedestrians ducking for cover.

“Hell, yeah, I was running,” said a 16-year-old boy. “That was some scary s – - -!”

It was not clear whether all the victims were intended targets or if any passers-by were hit.

Police believe were looking into the possibility that one gunman was responsible for all the shootings, a source said.

Of course not even the New York Post dared to mention the racial composition of the group.

Perhaps they supposed that went without saying.