From those defenders of the faith at the Washington Post (partners with Newsweek):

Suspect, devout Muslim from Va., wanted Army discharge, aunt said

By Mary Pat Flaherty, William Wan, Derek Kravitz and Christian Davenport
Friday, November 6, 2009

He prayed every day at the Muslim Community Center in Silver Spring, a devout Muslim who, despite asking to be discharged from the U.S. Army, was on the eve of his first deployment to war. Yesterday, authorities said Maj. Nidal M. Hasan, a 39-year-old Arlington-born psychiatrist, shot and killed 13 people at Fort Hood, Tex.

In an interview, his aunt, Noel Hasan of Falls Church, said he had endured name-calling and harassment about his Muslim faith for years after the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks and had sought for several years to be discharged from the military.

"I know what that is like," she said. "Some people can take it, and some cannot. He had listened to all of that, and he wanted out of the military, and they would not let him leave even after he offered to repay" for his medical training…

As authorities scrambled to figure out what happened at Fort Hood, a hazy and contradictory picture emerged of this son of Palestinian immigrants, a man who received his medical training from the military and spent his career in the Army, yet allegedly turned so violently against his uniformed colleagues…

The Associated Press reported that Hasan attracted the attention of law enforcement authorities in recent months after an Internet posting under the screen name "NidalHasan" compared Islamic suicide bombers to Japanese kamikaze pilots. "To say that this soldier committed suicide is inappropriate," the posting read. "It’s more appropriate to say he is a brave hero that sacrificed his life for a more noble cause." …

Hasan steered clear of female colleagues, co-workers said. Despite his devout religious practices, he listed himself in Army records as having no religious preference.

A longtime Walter Reed colleague who referred patients to psychiatrists said co-workers avoided sending service members to Hasan because of his unusual manner and solitary work habits…

He had been affected by the physical and mental injuries he saw while working as a psychiatrist at Walter Reed for nearly eight years, according to his aunt. "He must have snapped," Noel Hasan said. "They ignored him. It was not hard to know when he was upset. He was not a fighter, even as a child and young man. But when he became upset, his face turns red." She said Hasan had consulted with a lawyer about getting out of the service…

The psychiatrist once said that "Muslims should stand up and fight against the aggressor" and that the United States shouldn’t be fighting the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan in the first place, according to an interview with Col. Terry Lee, a co-worker, on Fox News.

Hasan’s father, Malik, immigrated to the United States at age 16 from a Palestinian village in the West Bank, an area controlled by Jordan until 1967 but occupied by Israel since then…

Hasan was "like my sons," his aunt said, spending holidays and free time at her house. At the Muslim Community Center, Hasan stood out because he would sometimes show up in Army fatigues, said Faizul Khan, the former imam there.

"He came to mosque one or two times to see if there were any suitable girls to marry," Khan said. "I don’t think he ever had a match, because he had too many conditions. He wanted a girl who was very religious, prays five times a day." …

A co-worker at Walter Reed said Hasan would not allow his photo to be taken with female co-workers, which became an issue during Christmas season when employees often took group photos. Co-workers would find a solo photo of Hasan and post it on the bulletin board without his permission.

Lee told Fox News that Hasan "was hoping that President Obama would pull troops out. . . . When things weren’t going that way, he became more agitated, more frustrated with the conflicts over there. . . . He made his views well known about how he felt about the U.S. involvement in Iraq and Afghanistan."

And when he talked about fighting "the aggressor," he said that his fellow soldiers "should stand up and help the armed forces in Iraq and in Afghanistan," Lee said…

This is the spin from our media masters. Mr. Hasan is the real victim.

He certainly wasn’t a Muslim terrorist. No way.

And never mind his passing out of Korans before his shooting spree, and his shouts of “Ali Akbar!” as he was killing our soldiers.

But thank goodness we are making our military ‘more diverse.’ Imagine how limited any armed forces are without a healthy sprinkling of the enemy within their ranks.

Diversity is our strength.

From the laughable ‘news magazine,’ Newsweek (who are partners with the Washington Post):

Is Fort Hood a Harbinger? Nidal Malik Hasan May Be a Symptom of a Military on the Brink

Friday, November 06, 2009
By Andrew Bast

What if Thursday’s atrocious slaughter at Fort Hood only signals that the worst is yet to come? The murder scene yesterday afternoon at the Killeen, Texas, military base, the largest in the country, was heart-wrenching. Details remained murky, but at least 13 are dead and 30 wounded in a killing spree that may momentarily remind us of a reality that most Americans can readily forget: soldiers and their families are living, and bending, under a harrowing and unrelenting stress that will not let up any time soon. And the U.S. military could well be reaching a breaking point as the president decides to send more troops into Afghanistan.

It’s hard to draw too many conclusions right now, but we do know this: Thursday night, authorities shot and then apprehended the lone suspect, Maj. Nidal Malik Hasan. A psychiatrist who was set to deploy to Iraq at the end of the month, Hasan reportedly opened fire around the Fort Hood Readiness Center, where troops are prepared for deployments to Iraq and Afghanistan. And though this scene is a most extreme and tragic outlier, it comes at a time when the stress of combat has affected so many soldiers individually that it makes it increasingly difficult for the military as a whole to deploy for wars abroad. In an abrupt news conference, Lt. Gen. Robert Cone, the top commander at Fort Hood, said in response to the shooting that authorities would "increase the security presence" on the military base. On the surface, it seemed like a logical enough plan. But it makes one wonder how much any kind of lockdown will either get at the root causes of soldier stresses or better prepare them for more battle.

Hasan’s perspective is unknown. He had yet to fight abroad. But the accusations against him can’t help but bring to mind the violence scarring military bases all over the country after the duration of two long, brutal wars…

That the two wars currently being waged are taking a psychological toll on soldiers is no surprise. Some studies report that as many as a third of returning soldiers suffer from posttraumatic stress disorder, a constant, tension-inducing malady that leave men and women detached from their family lives, numb to their peaceful life stateside, and, let it be said, sometimes angry as hell. "No one comes home from war unchanged," says the Iraq and Afghanistan Veterans of America. And while those who have faced multiple deployments are the most likely candidates to lash out irrationally after returning, it’s impossible to discount how the grind of an eight-year war has affected the rest of the military, who see friends leave whole and return in pieces; who wonder constantly if they’ll be next. (As a psychiatrist, Hasan may have been particularly vulnerable: there have been numerous accounts of chaplains suffering from depression and PTSD after counseling returning soldiers. Hearing their horror stories, sharing their pain, and being unable to help often pushed these men over the edge. The fact that they were supposed to be healers, that they had never seen combat themselves, made it much harder to ask for help.) …

Of course, Hasan had not yet been deployed, and the true cause of Thursday’s tragedy is still unknown. And yet some are already suggesting that Major Hasan’s lack of combat experience precludes us from assuming the crimes were at all influenced by the stress of war. "They weren’t in Iraq," author Dinesh D’Souza said on television Thursday night, analyzing the culprit. "They were living a normal, everyday life." But he is wrong. In the midst of two wars, those living as military and military family experience a different—often, more distressing—everyday experience of "normal." And forgetting that, either in understanding this singular case, or making a decision about more deployments, is dangerous at best, and morally bankrupt at worst.

The U.S. is drawing down troops in Iraq at a quick clip, but Gen. Stanley McChrystal has requested tens of thousands more to fight in Afghanistan. Though President Obama has made no decision about the way forward, some suggest that as many 80,000 more could be sent in as reinforcements. That would put nearly 150,000 American soldiers in country for at least the foreseeable future, pushing a thumb down on an already stressed-out military. Of course, the vast majority of those under that stress, no matter how brutal, will not pick up a gun and shoot indiscriminately, like Hasan did. But the situation is bad, and getting much worse. From there, it isn’t much of a leap to argue that to further tax our military would do as much as anything to guarantee that the homegrown terror on display today could well repeat itself in the future.

You see, Mr. Hasan is a victim. Indeed, he is the first recorded case of Pre-Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.

Moreover, according to Newsweek, we should let the Taliban win in Afghanistan because of the actions of this murderous traitor.

But of course Newsweek will clutch at any straw to bring defeat to our country.

From those tireless defenders of the faith at the New York Times:

12 Dead, 31 Wounded in Base Shootings

By MARIA NEWMAN

November 6, 2009

At least one gunman killed 11 soldiers and wounded 31 others on Thursday afternoon at Fort Hood in Texas. Authorities then killed the gunman, who was identified as Nidal Malik Hasan, an Army major who was about to be deployed to Iraq or Afghanistan.

Major Hasan was a mental-health physician, according to Army records, who had been promoted in April. The Associated Press reported that his specialty was psychiatry.

Lt. Gen. Robert W. Cone, the commanding officer at Fort Hood, the largest active military installation in the country, said the base was placed in lockdown as military authorities, with the help of the Federal Bureau of Investigation, investigate the rampage. Other military installations were also put on alert, but not on complete lockdown, authorities said.

“This was a terrible tragedy,” said General Cone, speaking at a news conference Thursday afternoon. “Stunning.”‘

The Austin-American Statesman quoted Senator Kay Bailey Hutchison’s spokesman, Jeff Sadoski, as saying Major Hasan was upset about his deployment.

President Obama, speaking from the White House, called it “a horrific outburst of violence.”

“My immediate thoughts and prayers are with the wounded and with the families of the fallen,” the president said.

“We don’t yet know all the details at this moment,” he said. “We will share them as we get them. What we do know is that a number of American soldiers have been killed and even more have been wounded in a horrific outburst of violence.” …

General Cone said the shooting began at about 1:30 p.m. Central time, when a soldier entered the soldier readiness unit, where soldiers receive last-minute medical attention and other instruction before being deployed overseas, including to Iraq and Afghanistan.

“A soldier opened fire, and due to the quick response of the police forces, he was killed,” General Cone said.

“There were several eyewitness accounts that there was more than one shooter,” he said. Two other soldiers were also taken into custody, he said, but the authorities are continuing to sort out what exactly happened.

General Cone said that the sprawling base has facilities that house children, but that there were no children among the dead or wounded. Even as he spoke to reporters, sirens could be heard in the distance as the wounded were taken to area hospitals…

Yes, this was just a “a horrific outburst of violence.”

There is just no other explanation.

By the way, given that

Mr. Nidal Malik Hasan, is a mental health physician, it might be a little tricky to try to sell us on the notion that he was mentally ill.

That is, apart from his (soon to be heavily downplayed) religious persuasion.

Somehow in all the flood of recent news we almost missed this article from the UK’s Telegraph:

Attack in NHS hospital ‘every three minutes’

Someone is attacked in an NHS hospital in England every three minutes as doctors describe A&E departments as ‘war zones’, official figures show.

04 Nov 2009

Nearly 170,000 violent incidents take place in England’s NHS hospitals each year, data obtained under the Freedom of Information Act has revealed.

Labour’s laws on 24-hour drinking are being blamed for alcohol-fuelled violence in accident and emergency departments in particular.

There have been several murders and rapes at hospitals in recent years and thousands of attacks annually involve the use of knives and other weapons.

Almost one in four attacks results in injury, yet only a fraction of them are ever reported to the police.

The statistics reveal the dangers that doctors, nurses, paramedics, patients and visitors face in our hospitals on a daily basis.

Some hospital A & E departments have been described as "war zones" on a typical Friday or Saturday night.

Staff report having knives pulled on them and being punched, kicked and spat at while running battles between rival gangswith knives have been reported in in A & E departments.

Health unions and patients’ groups branded the figures "shameful". …

Of 247 NHS trusts in England, nearly half responded to the Freedom of Information Act request for the number of violent incidents that had taken place "on hospital grounds".

They reported 80,831 violent incidents in 2006 and 74,712 in 2007 – in total and an average of 77,772 a year.

The same scale of violence across the remaining trusts would see a total of 169,997 incidents taking place each year.

The responses revealed several murders and rapes at hospitals in 2006 and 2007.

Among them, paranoid schizophrenic Telahum Tedola, 36, strangled Rosalind McManus, 58, to death. She was in the next bed on a mixed sex ward…

In April 2006, trainee accountant and former altar boy Stuart Harling, 19, stabbed nurse Cheryl Moss, 33, more than 70 times in a frenzied attack.

He had spent months playing violent computer games and researching how to kill…

Of the reported outbreaks of violence, 1,496 involved weapons in 2006 and 1,160 in 2007 – an average of 1,328 equating to around 2,902 across all the trusts each year.

In March, a report likened some wards at shambolic Stafford Hospital to a "war zone" and said that patients had been wandering around the hospital fighting each other.

In May, police had to seal off Ealing General Hospital’s A & E department in west London for six hours after a gang knife fight erupted in the grounds.

Last year, rival gangs armed with knives clashed in supposedly secure treatment areas at London’s King’s College Hospital A & E unit until 20 police officers arrived.

In 2006, 18742 attacks were recorded as having caused injury and 18,236 in 2007 – an average of 18,489 which means around 40,414 incidents result in harm annually across all the trusts.

But only 4,317 of the attacks were ever reported to the police in 2006 and 4,372 in 2007, an average of 4,345 a year which would equate to 9,497 across all the trusts annually…

Coming to a hospital near you.

From an elated Associated Press:

Majority leader: House will pass health bill

By ERICA WERNER and RICARDO ALONSO-ZALDIVAR (AP)

WASHINGTON — The second-ranking House Democrat predicted that historic health care legislation will be passed Saturday as the AARP, the nation’s premier lobbying group for the elderly, announced it was signing on to the bill.

Rep. Steny Hoyer said House leaders expect to have the 218 votes needed to pass the sweeping bill, which would extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured people and ban insurance companies from turning people away. President Barack Obama has the health care overhaul the defining social goal of his young administration. Hoyer acknowledged that the vote could be tight, and he said his prediction of passage is predicated on the expectation that a couple remaining obstacles can be surmounted…

"We certainly have well over 218 people who say they want to vote for the bill," Hoyer said in an interview with wire service reporters.

"The trick is making sure they have a comfort level with the provisions they are particularly focused on to allow them to do so," he said. "So I think that’s what we’re in the final stages of trying to get to." …

Hoyer said the bill’s endorsement by the powerful seniors’ lobby AARP, announced Thursday, was a significant boost…

The House bill would provide government subsidies beginning in 2013 to extend coverage to millions who now lack it. Self-employed people and small businesses could buy coverage through the new exchanges, either from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer protection rules.

What a laugh.

Of course the Democrats have the votes. All they need to decide is who is going to vote for it, and who will be allowed to be re-elected next year.

They also have to figure out how close they can make it without that strategy being too obvious.

Rep. Steny Hoyer said House leaders expect to have the 218 votes needed to pass the sweeping bill, which would extend coverage to tens of millions of uninsured people and ban insurance companies from turning people away…

The House bill would provide government subsidies beginning in 2013 to extend coverage to millions who now lack it. Self-employed people and small businesses could buy coverage through the new exchanges, either from a private insurer or a new government plan that would compete. All the plans sold through the exchange would have to follow basic consumer protection rules.

That’s certainly an accurate an unbiased description of the bill.

What media bias?

From the AARP website:

Estella Hyde, president of AARP Pennsylvania speaks during a rally to support national healthcare reform on front steps of the Pennsylvania State Capitol in Harrisburg, Pa., Wednesday, Oct. 14, 2009.

AARP Endorses Affordable Health Care for America Act

After carefully monitoring developments in Washington and studying the various legislative proposals, AARP’s all-volunteer Board of Directors — made up of working and retired doctors, nurses, business people, and teachers — has decided to endorse the Affordable Health Care for America Act (H.R. 3962/H.R. 3961) because it delivers on key priorities we’ve been fighting for.

What Health Reform Will Mean for You and Your Family

H.R.3962 and H.R. 3961, which will be voted on in the coming days, contain critical components AARP has been fighting for on your behalf — proposals that would improve health care for older Americans and their families.

They include:

    * Protecting and strengthening Medicare for today’s seniors and future generations of retirees.

    * Ensuring seniors can see the doctor of their choice or find a doctor if they need one by improving Medicare’s payments to doctors.

    * Lowering drug costs for seniors by closing the Medicare Part D "doughnut hole."

    * Taking steps to reduce waste, fraud, abuse and inefficiency in the Medicare program.

    * Requiring Medicare and insurance companies to provide for important preventive services like screenings for diabetes, cancer and osteoporosis free of charge for those who don’t have coverage.

    * Preventing insurers from denying affordable coverage to anyone because of their age or health.

    * Limiting how much your insurance company can make you pay out-of-pocket.

    * Providing affordable health insurance options for those who don’t have insurance or can’t afford it.

    * Providing benefits to help seniors and people with disabilities live in their own homes and communities.

On Your Side

While AARP is pleased to see that H.R. 3962/H.R. 3961 include many of the proposals that are most critical to protecting Medicare and ensuring Americans age 50+ have access to stable, affordable health care, we know the fight isn’t over.

That’s why we’re going to keep working with members of the House and Senate to ensure our priorities are included in any final health care reform bill.  

And, as the legislative process moves forward, we’ve let Congress and the Administration know that we will fight with the strength of our nearly 40 million members against any proposal that would hurt rather than help Medicare and older Americans’ access to affordable, quality health care.

What a shock, eh?

By the way, the AARP also endorsed Hillarycare back in 1994.

And we see how much that helped.

From a delighted Associated Press:

Senate Democrats advance climate bill without GOP

By Dina Cappiello, Associated Press Writer Thu Nov 5

WASHINGTON – Senate Democrats sidestepped a Republican boycott Thursday, pushing a climate bill out of committee in an early step on a long and contentious road to passage.

Other committees still must weigh-in on the measure, but the partisan antics early on threatened to cast a pall over the bill — one of President Barack Obama’s top priorities — as it makes its way to the Senate floor and as nations prepare to meet in Copenhagen, Denmark next month to hammer out a new international treaty to slow climate change.

Sen. Barbara Boxer, chairman of the Senate Environment & Public Works Committee, had delayed the crucial vote for days because of a Republican protest over whether the cost of the legislation had been fully examined. But the California Democrat moved quickly to pass the bill Thursday, which for the first time would set mandatory limits on heat-trapping gases, without any of the seven GOP senators on the panel present. The measure cleared the panel on a 11-1 vote.

Boxer said the Republican demand for more analysis was "duplicative and waste of taxpayer dollars." …

Sen. James Inhofe of Oklahoma, the ranking Republican on the committee, implored the panel to not proceed with what he called a "nuclear option" minutes before the vote. He left shortly after making his statement.

"We have not been able to find a time when a bill has been marked up without minority participation," Inhofe said…

Of the 11 Democrats present at the vote, only one — Sen. Max Baucus, D-Mont. — voted against the legislation, saying that concerns he had with the bill were not fully addressed…

Oh, those “partisan antics.”

Speaking of which, have you noticed how it’s as if the elections way back on Tuesday never happened.

Our so-called watchdog media and our so-called representatives have already gone right back to business as usual.

Buried at the bottom of an opinion piece in the ‘Globalist’ section of the New York Times we find this:

Bunkers or Breakthrough?

By ROGER COHEN

November 6, 2009

NEW YORK — In his last month as head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei finds himself at the explosive crux of the world’s nuclear politics, ferrying messages between the Obama administration and Tehran. “They are talking through me,” he says…

But, as ElBaradei told me in an interview, “there’s total distrust on the part of Iran.” This has now expressed itself in a demand for “guarantees.” …

ElBaradei’s message to Tehran: “This is an opportunity I have not seen before and it will not happen again.” His message to Washington: “Be patient.” …

The Islamic Republic needs to move on. It has sullied and weakened itself in recent months. It needs to put an end to the paralyzing behind-the-scenes fight over who would claim credit for any rapprochement with America. It must recognize, as ElBaradei put it, that “Obama is really sticking his neck out.” …

“I hope Iran will not miss this opportunity and will take a very small risk for peace. Otherwise everybody will lose.” ElBaradei said.

He also said inspectors had found “nothing to be worried about” in the underground facility at Qum built in secret by Iran. “The idea was to use it as a bunker under the mountain to protect things. It’s a hole in a mountain.” …

This is the second to the last paragraph in this meandering thought piece.

Meanwhile, the New York Times is also running this article on their own site – from Reuters:

IAEA Found Nothing Serious At Iran Site: ElBaradei

By REUTERS
Published: November 5, 2009

And it is based entirely upon the single paragraph from the New York Times article above.

The Times are so out of it doesn’t even know when they have broken news.

By the way, speaking of their creative reportage:

U.N. Relocates Foreign Staff in Afghanistan

By ALISSA J. RUBIN

November 6, 2009

KABUL, Afghanistan — The United Nations mission in Afghanistan announced plans on Thursday to relocate hundreds of foreign staff members, sending some out of the country, in the wake of a lethal attack on its workers at a guesthouse last week.

The relocation of its workers here, while temporary, was one more signal of mounting pressure on United Nations operations as security deteriorates around the region. The move comes just four days after the United Nations announced it was withdrawing its international workers from northwestern Pakistan, where insurgents are fighting Pakistani troops and have carried out a string of terrorist attacks…

This is how The Times is covering for their heroes at the United Nations fleeing Afghanistan and Pakistan.

From the Agence France-Presse:

United Nations special envoy to Afghanistan Kai Eide speaks during a news conference in Kabul November 5, 2009.

UN in Afghanistan to evacuate 600 foreign staff

by Waheedullah Massoud

KABUL (AFP) – The United Nations announced Thursday it will evacuate more than half its international staff based in Afghanistan after a deadly Taliban attack on a guesthouse for UN workers.

But the UN said it had no intention of abandoning Afghanistan, where 100,000 US-led foreign troops are battling a bloody insurgency eight years after the extremist Taliban regime was driven from power.

About 600 expatriate staff, from a total of 1,100 foreigners, will be temporarily relocated either within Afghanistan or abroad, UN spokesman Dan McNorton told AFP.

There was no immediate breakdown of the numbers, but McNorton said the vast majority would be leaving the country on a temporary basis.

"The only people who will remain are regarded as essential staff. This is to ensure the safety of all our staff in Afghanistan," he said, adding the evacuations would begin immediately.

The UN has about 5,600 employees in Afghanistan, about 80 percent of whom are Afghans, and the relocations will affect around 12 percent of the total deployment.

The decision would be reviewed regularly and was likely to be effective for "a number of weeks while additional security is being put in place," McNorton said. Related article: Iraq model for Afghanistan

In a statement, the UN said it was "fully committed to helping all of Afghanistan’s people, as it has been for more than half a century".

"Every effort will be made to minimise disruption to our activities while these additional security steps are being taken," it said.

The move comes eight days after Taliban gunmen stormed a Kabul hostel in a dawn attack that killed five UN workers.

The head of the UN mission in Afghanistan, Norwegian diplomat Kai Eide, denied the evacuation amounted to a withdrawal from Afghanistan.

"We are not pulling out and will not pull out," he told reporters…

Just as we foretold. Not that it takes a Nostradamus. The United Nations always runs from the slightest danger.

That’s what makes them such great ‘peace keepers.’

That’s why would should pump billions into the organization.

In a statement, the UN said it was "fully committed to helping all of Afghanistan’s people, as it has been for more than half a century".

They have no shame.

"We are not pulling out and will not pull out," [Kai Eide] told reporters.

It is to laugh.

From the ‘death to America’ crowd at the Associated Press:

Chant: "Obama, Obama, you’re either with them, or with us."

Iran police, protesters clash at US Embassy rally

By Ali Akbar Dareini, Associated Press Writer

TEHRAN, Iran – Iranian security forces beat anti-government protesters with batons Wednesday on the sidelines of state-sanctioned rallies to mark the 30th anniversary of the U.S. Embassy takeover. The counter-demonstrations were the opposition’s first major show of force on Tehran’s streets in nearly two months.

The opposition sought to display unity and resolve after relentless crackdowns on their protests following the disputed June presidential election. Though the crowds were far smaller than during last summer’s outrage, authorities were ready with the same sweeping measures: dispatching paramilitary units to key locations and disrupting mobile phones, text messaging and Internet access to frustrate protest organizers.

The contrasts in the latest protest wave were stark: people chanting "Death to America" outside the former U.S. Embassy while hundreds of opposition marchers in central Haft-e-Tir Square denounced President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad with cries of "Death to the Dictator."

Other opposition protesters marched silently and flashed the V-for-victory sign. Many wore green scarves or wristbands that symbolized the campaign of opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi, who claims Ahmadinejad stole the election from him through fraud. Mousavi and his allies, including former President Mohammad Khatami, appeared to encourage opposition protesters to return to the streets.

Witnesses told The Associated Press that security forces — mainly paramilitary units and militiamen from the elite Revolutionary Guard — swept through the hundreds of demonstrators at Haft-e-Tir Square, clubbing, kicking and slapping protesters…

Pro-reform Web sites said police fired into the air to try to clear the square — about half a mile from the annual anti-American gathering outside the former U.S. Embassy. The report could not immediately be independently verified.

The state-run Islamic Republic News Agency reported police also used tear gas to disperse protesters in other parts of the city…

Outside the former U.S. Embassy, thousands of people waved anti-American banners and signs praising the Islamic Revolution.

The main speaker, hard-line lawmaker Gholam Ali Haddad Adel, denounced the United States as the main enemy of Iran. He did not mention the talks with the West, including the United States, on Iran’s nuclear program.

But he labeled opposition leaders as dangerous for the country, saying they claim to support the ideals of the Islamic Revolution but aid Iran’s perceived enemies.

President Barack Obama noted the anniversary of the takeover of the U.S. Embassy and urged the two countries to move beyond the "path of sustained suspicion, mistrust and confrontation." …

For the record, here is how Iran’s Press TV is reporting these demonstrations:

Iranians mark US embassy takeover

Wed, 04 Nov 2009

Rallies marking the 30th anniversary of the US Embassy takeover in Tehran have started in capital Tehran as well as other cities across the country.

Tens of thousands of people from all walks of life and many political persuasions have staged a rally at the site of the former US embassy in Tehran, better known in Iranian history as the ‘Den of Spies’.

November 4 marks three important events in Iranian history: the takeover of the former US embassy in Tehran by Muslim students following the Imam’s line in 1979 and the exile of the late Founder of the Islamic Republic Imam Khomeini by the deposed Shah in 1964.

The declaration of the day as the Students Day, however, is overridingly in remembrance of several students martyred in 1978 while taking part in a protest against the Shah.

Since the 1979 takeover of the US embassy in Tehran, Iranians have been celebrating the occasion every year by holding rallies on the anniversary and marking it as the National Day against the ‘Global Arrogance’.

People carried placards expressing their hatred of the bullying of arrogant powers and the US in particular. They also chanted slogans against the United States and Israel.

In 1979, Iranian university students took over the building to thwart what they called Washington’s plots against the Islamic Revolution that was only a few months old at the time.

Inside the embassy, the students found shredded documents which proved their convictions.

Meanwhile, small groups of supporters of defeated presidential candidates also held a rally in central Tehran on Wednesday.

The protestors gathered in Haft-e-Tir square, which leads to the former US embassy compound. The protesters chanted slogans against the government.

Police later dispersed the anti-government demonstrators.

Isn’t it amazing how Mr. Obama’s honeyed words have made Iran so much kinder to the US.

From China’s Xinhua news service:

Contestants vying for the Miss Earth 2009 crown pose with a placard during a media presentation in Manila, the Philippines, Nov. 4, 2009.

Miss Earth 2009 competition kicks off

Some 90 contestants from around the world declared their personal environmental campaigns, with the theme for this year’s competition focused on ‘Beauties for a cause’. …

You didn’t know there was a Miss Earth competition and that it involved flying 90 contestants to Manila from all around the world?

Then you probably didn’t know that it has been going on since 2001 – and that it is televised in more than 80 countries. (Which must entail quite a bit of energy.)

And you also were probably unaware that since 2006, the Miss Earth pageant has hosted the United Nations Environment Programme’s Champions of the Earth, an annual international environment awards established in 2005 by the United Nations to recognize outstanding environmental achievers and leaders at a policy level.

And you were probably also unaware that the Miss Earth winner is the spokesperson for the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP).

And there you were thinking that it was hard to meet beautiful women if you worked for the UN.

Here is how the winner is selection, courtesy of Wikipedia:

Miss Earth – Pageant system

Since the Miss Earth pageant has an environmental cause, it is primarily looking for young women who will stand for the protection and preservation of the planet. These women are pageant winners or chosen by national Miss Earth directors from different nations.

On national level competitions, the Miss Earth’s cause is carried out to assure that each of the participating candidates are not just physically beautiful, but environmentally knowledgeable. As soon as the national winners are chosen, they will be subject to evaluation by the pageant organizer.

During the pre-finals weeks, the candidates are evaluated on each activity and event they have. Preliminary swimsuit and evening gown competitions also take place. In the pre-judging session, the delegates face the panel of judges for an interview in their simplest look (without make-up), where they speak of their environmental platform and personal thoughts.

As soon as the preliminary activities and interview are completed, the judges and the executive staff will select sixteen candidates who will comprise the group of semi-finalists.

During the live finals, the sixteen semi-finalists will be announced. All previous scores will be disregarded and thereafter compete in the swimsuit round. The top eight scorers in swimsuit will move on the next level of competition. The final eight portion will have interview and evening gown competition components. The scores from these two events will be averaged and the four highest scorers will continue with the last competition – the final interview.

In the final interview, all four finalists will answer one environmental question, the candidates will be assessed based on the judges over-all impression on the candidate to determine the final ranking.

Funny how important the swimsuit competition is, though.

In any case, the runners up are sent to re-education camps until they get their answers right.

Personally speaking, however, we still prefer Russia’s Miss Atom Beauty Contest.

As we posted back in February 2009, via the “Science And Technology” section of ABC News:

Nuclear Beauties Wanted for Russian Competition

By CLARISSA WARD

MOSCOW, Feb. 17, 2009 — Ask any little girl in Russia what she wants to be when she grows up and she’ll probably say an actress or a singer, maybe even a teacher. But it’s highly unlikely that nuclear physicist will be anywhere near the top of the list.

Russia’s nuclear industry has been trying to change all that in recent years, rolling out the annual Miss Atom Beauty Contest. The competition is open only to women who work in the nuclear world and, as the Web site describes, "Miss Atom is the first and only industry-wide, Web-based project for nuclear belles."

The goal of the competition? To show that smart women working with hazardous materials look pretty good when they’re not wearing chemical protection suits…

More than 160 women have entered this year’s beauty contest and there is an eclectic range of impressive contenders…

Among the top prizes this year: week-long trips to Croatia, Cuba and Morocco, as well as digital cameras, diamonds and cosmetics. The winner of Miss Atom 2008, Yulia Nagaeva, went on an all-expenses paid, luxury tour of Italy. Nagaeva, who develops new markets for nuclear fuel, said she loved the experience of competing…

That’s more like it.

From the UK’s Guardian:

Human rights ruling against classroom crucifixes angers Italy

European court of human rights rules crucifixes that hang in classrooms violate religious and educational freedoms

John Hooper in Rome

November 3, 2009

There was uproar in Italy today over a ruling by the European court of human rights that the crucifixes that hang in most Italian classrooms are a violation of religious and educational freedoms.

The seven judges, whose decision could prompt a Europe-wide review of the use of religious symbols on public premises, said state schools had to "observe confessional neutrality".

Except on the far left, the ruling met with condemnation among Italian politicians and was denounced by the Vatican. Silvio Berlusconi’s education minister, Maria Stella Gelmini, said: "No one, not even some ideologically motivated European court, will succeed in rubbing out our identity."

A Vatican spokesman, Federico Lombardi, said the crucifix was a fundamental sign of the importance of religious values in Italian history and culture, and was a symbol of unity and welcoming for all of humanity, not one of exclusion.

A European court had no right intervening in such a profoundly Italian matter, he said, adding: "It seems as if the court wanted to ignore the role of Christianity in forming Europe’s identity, which was and remains essential."

The ruling marked the end of an eight-year battle by a Finnish-born mother, Soile Lautsi. She took her cause to court after failing to get crucifixes removed from the school at which her two children were being taught at a town in north-east Italy.

Lautsi appealed to Strasbourg three years ago when her case was thrown out by Italy’s constitutional court.

Although more than 7% of Italy’s population is now of immigrant origin, multiculturalism has made few inroads and most Italians argue passionately, as did their government’s advocate in Strasbourg, that the crucifix is a symbol of national identity.

The court disagreed. "The presence of the crucifix could easily be interpreted by pupils of all ages as a religious sign, and they would feel that they were being educated in a school environment bearing the stamp of a given religion," it ruled, ordering the Italian state to pay Lautsi €5,000 (£4,476) in damages.

Classroom crucifixes were made compulsory by two laws in the 1920s when Italy was a fascist state.

They have been applied less rigorously since 1984, when Catholicism ceased to be the state religion.

One government minister, Roberto Calderoli, of the Northern League, said yesterday: "The European court has trodden on our rights, our culture, our history, our traditions and our values."

Claudio Scajola, a member of Berlusconi’s Freedom People party, said: "The crucifix is a universal symbol of love, meekness and peace. Preventing it from being displayed is an act of violence against the deep-seated feelings of the Italian people and all persons of goodwill."

The mayor of Rome, Gianni Alemanno, said he was flabbergasted. And the new, ex-communist leader of Italy’s biggest opposition group, the Democratic party, Pierluigi Bersani, protested: "An ancient tradition like the crucifix cannot be offensive to anyone."

On the Facebook website, 23,000 people signed up to two pages opposed to the court’s decision within hours of the news breaking.

The government’s lawyer said he would seek leave to appeal to the Strasbourg court’s 17-member Grand Chamber. If his petition is rejected, or if an appeal is subsequently thrown out, then Italy would be obliged to comply.

They made their bed. Now they have to lie in it.

Still, isn’t there a little irony in this coming from a body that calls itself a "court of human rights"

Isn’t freedom of religion a human right?

From an annoyed Associated Press:

Obama’s half brother recalls their abusive father

By William Foreman, Associated Press Writer Wed Nov 4

GUANGZHOU, China – President Barack Obama’s half brother has broken his media silence to discuss his new novel — the semi-autobiographical story of an abusive parent patterned on their late father, the mostly absent figure Obama wrote about in his own memoir.

In his first interview, Mark Ndesandjo told The Associated Press that he wrote "Nairobi to Shenzhen" in part to raise awareness of domestic violence.

"My father beat my mother and my father beat me, and you don’t do that," said Ndesandjo, whose mother, Ruth Nidesand, was Barack Obama Sr.’s third wife. "It’s something which I think affected me for a long time, and it’s something that I’ve just recently come to terms with."

Like his novel’s main character, Ndesandjo had an American mother who is Jewish and who divorced his Kenyan father. The novel, which goes on sale Wednesday by the self-publishing company Aventine Press, is one of several books in the works by relatives of the president…

For the past seven years, Ndesandjo has been living in the booming southern Chinese city of Shenzhen, near Hong Kong, and has refused all interview requests until now…

Shortly after divorcing the president’s mother, Obama Sr. met Nidesand while studying as a graduate student at Harvard University. Nidesand returned with Obama Sr. to his native Kenya in 1965, where Mark and his brother David were born and grew up. David later died in a motorcycle accident.

In Kenya, Obama Sr. also had four children with his first wife, Kezia, some of them while he was still married to Nidesand. Nidesand and Obama Sr. eventually divorced amid allegations of domestic abuse. Nidesand returned to the United States and later married a man whose surname Mark Ndesandjo took…

Obama, in his book, also quotes Ndesandjo criticizing their father, saying, "I knew that he was a drunk and showed no concern for his wife and children. That was enough." …

Ndesandjo said the White House was aware of the book project. A White House spokesman declined to comment on Ndesandjo’s interview or to discuss President Obama’s relationship with his half brother…

Closely patterned on Ndesandjo’s own life, the novel depicts David, an American who leaves the U.S. corporate world after the 9/11 attacks to create a new life in China. He falls in love with a Chinese dance instructor and develops a bond with an orphan who is a gifted pianist battling a serious illness.

In the book, David also writes letters to his American mother asking for details about her failed marriage to his late abusive Kenyan father.

In one passage, Ndesandjo writes, "David easily remembered the hulking man whose breath reeked of cheap Pilsner beer who had often beaten his mother. He had long searched for good memories of his father but had found none."

Ndesandjo said such passages were drawn from his own experience.

"I remember situations when I was growing up, and there would be a light coming from our living room, and I could hear thuds," he said in the interview, tears welling in his eyes. "I could hear thuds and screams, and my father’s voice and my mother shouting. I remember one night when she ran out into the street and she didn’t know where to go."

Ndesandjo said his mother often called Obama Sr. "a brilliant man but a social failure."

The novel never mentions other wives David’s father might have had. Nor does it include a half brother who would become the first black U.S. president…

Another of the president’s half brothers, George Obama, 27, of Huruma, Kenya, has penned a memoir that will be published by Simon and Schuster in January 2010.

Other Obama relatives working on books include a half sister, Maya Soetoro-Ng, daughter of Obama’s mother and her second husband, Lolo Soetoro; and Craig Robinson, first lady Michelle Obama’s brother.

We actually posted about Mr. Obama’s abusive (bigoted and polygamist) father way back in January 2007.

It’s nice to see the Associated Press finally catching up.

By the way, note that Mr. Ndesandjo could not get a real publisher – and he had to go the self-publishing route.

Why is that, do you think?

From a tearful Associated Press:

Dejection fills ballroom after gay marriage vote

By John Curran, Associated Press Writer

PORTLAND, Maine – Cecelia Burnett and Ann Swanson had already set their wedding date. When they joined about 1,000 other gay marriage supporters for an election night party in a Holiday Inn ballroom, they hoped to celebrate the vote that would make it possible.

Instead, they went home at midnight, dejected and near tears after a failed bid to make Maine the first state to approve same-sex marriage at the ballot box.

"I’m ready to start crying," said Burnett, a 58-year-old massage therapist, walking out of the ballroom with Swanson at her side. "I don’t understand what the fear is, why people are so afraid of this change.

"It hurts. It hurts personally," she said. "It’s a personal rejection of us and our relationship, and I don’t understand what the fear is."

With 87 percent of precincts reporting, gay-marriage foes had 53 percent of the vote in a referendum that asked Maine voters whether they wanted to repeal a law allowing same-sex marriage that had passed the Legislature and was signed by Democratic Gov. John Baldacci…

For the gay rights movement, which has gained a foothold in New England, it was a stinging defeat. Gay marriage has now lost in every state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote. Gay-rights activists had hoped to buck that trend in Maine, framing same-sex marriage as a matter of equality for all families in a campaign that used 8,000 volunteers to get out the message.

Five states have legalized gay marriage — Iowa, Massachusetts, Vermont, New Hampshire and Connecticut — but all did so through legislation or court rulings, not by popular vote.

Portland resident Sarah Holman said she was torn, but decided — despite her conservative upbringing — to vote in favor of letting gays marry.

"They love and they have the right to love. And we can’t tell somebody how to love," said Holman, 26.

While the gay marriage opponents claimed victory, Jesse Connolly, campaign manager for No on 1/Protect Maine Equality, held off conceding until early Wednesday, when he issued a statement vowing to continue to press the issue.

The fight for marriage equality will continue, he told supporters at the Holiday Inn ballroom, where a buffet table included a three-tiered wedding cake — with two grooms standing side by side, two brides standing side by side and the inscription: "We all do!"

"We’re not short-timers. We’re here for the long haul and whether it’s just all night and into the morning, or it’s next week or next month or next year. We will be here. We’ll be here fighting. We’ll be working. We will regroup."

For Burnett and Swanson, the July 10 wedding date — and a reception cruise on Casco Bay — is off.

Of all the things for the Associated Press to focus on.

Of course this is how they felt about most of the results from yesterday. Even their too close for comfort win in New York.

Gay marriage has now lost in every state — 31 in all — in which it has been put to a popular vote.

Isn’t it amazing how after all we have been told about how popular homosexual marriage is, that there still is no state where the citizenry have passed it.

If only we could do away with that ridiculously old-fashioned idea of the ballot box.

Portland resident Sarah Holman said she was torn, but decided — despite her conservative upbringing — to vote in favor of letting gays marry.

"They love and they have the right to love. And we can’t tell somebody how to love," said Holman, 26.

Luckily, the AP was able to find a typical Maine voter.

Oh, wait…

From a tear-soaked Agence France-Presse:

Republican victories taint Obama anniversary

by Sebastian Smith

NEW YORK (AFP) – Republicans won two key state elections, dealing a stinging blow to President Barack Obama and his Democrats 12 months after they swept to power.

Obama’s favored candidates lost battles for the governorships of New Jersey and Virginia in Tuesday’s elections but gained a vacant congressional seat in a strongly Republican district of upstate New York that amounted to scant compensation for the president.

Republicans Chris Christie in New Jersey and Virginia’s Bob McDonnell unseated Democrats to boost their party still reeling from the scale of Obama’s historic White House victory on November 4 last year…

Obama spokesman Robert Gibbs played down the wider significance of the three off-year election races.

"I don’t think the president is looking at these and believes that they say anything about our future legislative efforts or our future political efforts," Gibbs said.

Exit polls conducted by television networks tilted in favor of his argument, with 55 percent of Virginia voters and 60 percent of New Jersey voters saying Obama did not factor into their decision.

But the devastating losses in both states amounted to a serious wake-up call for the Democrats ahead of crucial mid-term congressional elections next year…

Ahead of the 2010 mid-terms and with Obama bogged down in confrontations over the economy, health care reform and the Afghanistan war, the off-year races were given greater clout…

If the races showed that Obama’s Democratic machine is not invincible, they also bared rifts in the Republican Party over how to rebuild after last year’s drubbing in presidential and congressional elections.

Hoffman’s storming run made him a standard bearer for the wing of the Republican Party organizing nationwide "tea party" protests against Obama.

Other Republicans argued for a more centrist stand aimed at attracting independent voters. The official Republican candidate, Dede Scozzafava, dropped out of the race over the weekend and endorsed Owens over Hoffman…

You know it really is despicable of the Republicans to “taint” our dear leader’s anniversary this way.

(Though you can’t even say it is typical of them. Alas.)

Exit polls conducted by television networks tilted in favor of [Mr. Gibbs’] argument, with 55 percent of Virginia voters and 60 percent of New Jersey voters saying Obama did not factor into their decision.

Ever notice how exit polls always say exactly what our one party want said? Isn’t that odd?

Too bad they can’t manipulate the real polls as easily. Though, of course their hope springs eternal.

Ahead of the 2010 mid-terms and with Obama bogged down in confrontations over the economy, health care reform and the Afghanistan war, the off-year races were given greater clout.

Still, we can’t help but feel for Mr. Obama, being “bogged down” by “confrontations.”

Why don’t we just give him everything he wants. After all, we elected him king, didn’t we?

And by a landslide 6% against a juggernaut candidate.

And, luckily for our one party media, the election also exposed the dangers of rebuilding the shattered GOP on the "tea party" wing of the party.

If only we had listened to that true (er) blue Republican — Dede Scozzafava.

By the way, it’s not just France’s AFP who see this as a personal affront to Mr. Obama, but also the UK’s Telegraph:

Barack Obama’s bad night: results from key US votes

04 Nov 2009

Republican wins in the battles for the New Jersey and Virginia governorships have tainted the first anniversary of Barack Obama’s presidential election victory.

With almost all votes counted in the two key elections, the gain of a vacant congressional seat in a strongly Republican district of New York state was scant compensation for the US president…

We’re starting to feel bad about the whole thing.