SATURDAY NIGHT MARTHA & THE MUFFINS, GRANT LEE BUFFALO.

Martha & The Muffins. Echo Beach. 1980.




This was their only international single, although they seem to have had a degree of success in their native Canada. Actually, they still exist (uninterrupted since 1977). Martha is Martha Johnson, the first Martha to join the band. She was recruited as a keyboardist, but soon did vocals too.


Grant Lee Buffalo with Fuzzy. 1993, from the album (their first) with the same name. Video quality is atrocious, sound's okay.





Guys were from LA.


Good night, and may the farce be with you.



MFBB.

MEET DONALD BERWICK, OBAMA'S ONE MAN DEATH PANEL.

I spotted this about one week ago on Call of the Patriot. I think it is well worth a read. I am talking about Obama's recess appointment of Donald Berwick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid. Berwick, who is advocating strict rationing of healthcare, to be determined by "boards of experts", has been named a "One Man Death Panel":

"...President Obama is now making a recess appointment of Donald Berwick to oversee Medicare and Medicaid. The purpose of the recess appointment is clear; Obama wants to avoid a confirmation hearing on Berwick in which this man's ideas ands previous statements would be brought to the fore; namely, thet Berwick has expressed support for the idea of rationing health care to people based on their age and the whole cost-effectiveness of treating the elderly..."

Yet another czar who, uncontrolled by Congress, will decide what is good for you. Cryptocommunist and Health Care Redistributor Donald Berwick. What a creep.



Americans should be very well aware where you're headed once you let a guy like Berwick decide who "deserves" what treatment. Read this Wesley J. Smith article, Continent Death: Euthanasia in Europe.

"... It gets worse: Repeated studies sponsored by the Dutch government have found that doctors kill approximately 1,000 patients each year who have not asked for euthanasia. This is not only a violation of every guideline, but an act that Dutch law considers murder. Nonvoluntary euthanasia has become so common that it even has a name: "Termination without request or consent."

Despite this carnage, Dutch doctors are very rarely prosecuted for such crimes, and the few that are brought to court are usually exonerated. Moreover, even if a doctor is found guilty, he or she is almost never punished in any meaningful way, nor does the murderer face discipline by the Dutch Medical Society. For example, in 2001, a doctor was convicted of murdering an 84-year-old patient who had not asked to be killed. Prosecutors demanded a nine-month suspended probation (!), yet even this brush — it can't even be called a slap — on the wrist was rejected by the trial judge who refused to impose any punishment. Not to worry. The appellate court decided to get tough: It imposed a one-week suspended sentence on the doctor for murder.

Even such praising with faint damnation isn't enough for the Dutch Medical Association. As a result of this and the handful of other non-punished murder convictions of doctors who engaged in termination without request or consent, the organization is lobbying to legalize non-voluntary euthanasia. Along these same lines — and demonstrating that the culture of death recognizes no limits — the day after the Dutch formally legalized euthanasia, the country's minister of health advocated the provision of suicide pills to the elderly who do not qualify for killing under Dutch law.

Lest we think the Dutch experience is a fluke, let us now turn our attention to Belgium. Only one year ago the Belgians legalized Dutch-style euthanasia under "strict" guidelines. As with the Netherlands, once unfettered, the euthanasia culture quickly began to swallow Belgium whole. Moreover, the slide down the slope has occurred at a greatly accelerated pace. It took decades for the Dutch euthanasia to reach the current morass. But Belgian euthanasia went off the rails from day one: The very first reported killing — that of a man with multiple sclerosis — violated the legal guidelines (not that anything was done about it). Moreover, while 203 people were officially recognized as having been euthanized in Belgium during the first year of legal practice, most euthanasia deaths were not reported (a violation of the law). The actual toll is probably closer to 1,000.

And Belgian euthanasia advocates have already begun agitating to expand the categories of killable people. A just-completed forum attended by hundreds of Belgian doctors and euthanasia enthusiasts advocated that minors be allowed to request euthanasia, as well as people with degenerative conditions, such as Alzheimer's, who are not imminently dying. Not only that, but the chairman of the conference wants to force doctors to participate in killing patients, even if they are morally opposed. If he gets his way, the law will soon require doctors who oppose euthanasia to refer patients who want to be killed to a colleague willing to do the deed. So much for choice..."

And if you are not convinced yet, try Simon Caldwell:

WARNING TO BRITAIN AS ALMOST HALF OF BELGIUM'S EUTHANASIA NURSES ADMIT TO KILLING WITHOUT CONSENT.

By Simon Caldwell

Last updated at 7:48 AM on 10th June 2010

"...A high proportion of deaths classed as euthanasia in Belgium involved patients who did not ask for their lives to be ended, a study found.

More than 100 nurses admitted to researchers that they had taken part in ‘terminations without request or consent’.

Although euthanasia is legal in Belgium, it is governed by strict rules which state it should be carried out only by a doctor and with the patient’s permission.

The disturbing revelation - which shows that nurses regularly go well beyond their legal role - raises fears that were assisted suicides allowed in Britain, they could never be properly regulated.

Since its legalisation eight years ago, euthanasia now accounts for 2 per cent of deaths in Belgium - or around 2,000 a year.

The researchers found that a fifth of nurses admitted being involved in the assisted suicide of a patient.

But nearly half of these - 120 of 248 - also said there was no consent.

‘The nurses in our study operated beyond the legal margins of their profession,’ said the report’s authors in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

It is likely many nurses ‘ under-reported’ their involvement for fear of admitting an illegal activity, the study said.

But it added that many were probably acting according to their patients’ wishes, ‘even if there was no explicit request’.

Last night, Dr Peter Saunders, director of the Care Not Killing campaign in Britain, said: ‘We should take a warning from this that wherever you draw the line, people will go up to it and beyond it.’

‘Once you have legalised voluntary euthanasia, involuntary euthanasia will inevitably follow,’ he added...."

The recess appointment of Berwick to head Medicare/Medicaid encompasses of course far more than the possible falldown from "health care rationing" and the introduction of European euthanasia "mores" in the USA. Nevertheless, in this post I focused on euthanasia in particular because the topic struck a chord with me. In Belgium and Europe, we have seen this before, with the abortion debate.

It starts with "cases". And it ends up with wholesale murder.

It will be JUST THE SAME WITH EUTHANASIA. It is absolutely not that difficult to envisage a society in, say, thirty years time, where death panels, ruling that you can no longer contribute to society, will just get rid of you. Even if you are otherwise perfectly healthy. In Europe, in excess of 3,000 perfectly healthy human beings are murdered daily in the womb. Now these could have been productive citizens. And yet they went thru the meatmill. How much credit do you think you will be given when you're 75, shuffling along and no good for either working and/or paying taxes?



MFBB.

AFGHANISTAN UPDATE.

As per usual, news of the Belgian operations in AF is scarce, and this situation has in fact not very much improved since the introduction, about one year ago, of weekly overviews by the Belgian MoD, available in pdf on the Belgian Army site. Still, it's better than nothing. These are some nuggets found on the report issued on July 2nd, which covers the week starting on June 24th. I omitted paragraph 1, which dealt with the 300-strong contingent securing KAIA.






In short, for the PRT Kunduz, working closely together with the Germans in that region, there's amongst others talk about the EOD unit destroying and neutralizing ammo and two IED's on June 26th-27th. On the 30th the EOD personnel supported a German field unit.



The first photo shows a soldier from the PRT's EOD team neutralizing what seems to be an RPG round. The second one, an EOD member with one of our new Dingo's. When you look at these vehicles, it seems completely irresponsible ISAF soldiers were issued light Bombardier jeeps and landrovers for patrolling in the early years. Even so, I suspect Dingo's are not immune. I have been wondering whether an armored car with a V-shaped belly, not unlike the WWII-era German Sdkfz 222, would not be better suited to withstand IED's exploding right under the vehicle, since the blast would be deflected sideways under a certain ange. Check out the photos on that last link and you'll see what I mean.


As for the OMLT teams, between the 24th and 30th one was mentoring the activities of the staff of an ANA brigade. The other one was supporting a kandak, I assume that's an ANA infantry battalion. From the text, it would appear that the OMLT troop was assigned between the 24th and the 30th a new kandak to monitor ("eerste contacten met het toegewezen Afghaanse bataljon").




Soldiers from an OMLT team somewhere in Afghanistan's north. The Afghan to the right is possibly not an ANA soldier but someone from a village militia - at least that's what his outfit and headgear suggest. Notice the gun of the soldier on the left: it's an FN F2000 assault rifle, the version with the 40mm FN EGLM grenade launcher. The other trooper has the standard issue FNC assault rifle. Would love to have one of those.


To be sure, I have already read at least one complaint of an OMLT trooper suggesting the Afghans are rather lukewarm to ask for advice. Nuggets of info like that jibe with the not exactly flattering news we have received so far of ANA progress. In fact, a disturbingly high number of reports talk about general inefficiency at best, and outright hostility at worst. It is also quite certain the taleban have infiltrated the ANA, a given underscored today, alas, by the murder of three British troops by a rogue ANA soldier.


Most of the action however clearly was with the six F-16 fighter bombers operating from Kandahar Airfield. The overview reads:

(4) F-16 detachment in Kandahar (OGF):

June 25th: two planned missions, no weapons systems engaged
·
June 26th: two planned missions of which one was retasked to support ground troops in contact with the enemy. Two bombs were dropped [GBU-12's - MFBB]. No collateral damage.

June 27th: two planned missions, no weapons systems engaged.
Also on June 27th: two quick intervention missions in support of ground troops in contact with the enemy. A "show of force" sufficed to end the skirmish.


June 28th: two planned missions of which one was retasked to support ground troops in contact with the enemy. No weapons systems engaged.

June 29th: two planned missions of which one was retasked to support ground troops in contact with the enemy. Strafing with Vulcan cannon. No collateral damage.

June 30th: two planned missions, no weapons systems engaged
Also on June 30th: three rocket attacks on KAF. No Belgian wounded nor damage.

Here's a magnificent shot of one of our F-16's over Afghanistan. This time the PANTERA ('sniper') pod is clearly visible. It represents a sea change compared to the 'old' LANTIRN pod. The armament is standard - I actually do not think the Belgian Air Force in AF uses other bombs than the GBU-12. Apart from that, the imho useless Sidewinders.





This is actually a USAF photo, taken in December 2008, by Staff Sgt. Aaron Allmon. Possibly from a KC-135 tanker.



Belgium has currently some 600 personnel in Afghanistan. While the F-16's have a combat mission, and the EOD unit (often embedded in German columns) and the OMLT teams regularly come under fire, no Belgian unit has as yet seen action or experienced the shock of ground combat like the Brits, Dutch, Danes or Canadians did. The cowardness of Belgian politicians who are otherwise very eager to have the new NATO HQ in Brussels, is appalling. It can even get worse. Negotiations for a new government are currently in a stalemate but there remains a solid chance that the next PM will be Elio di Rupo, chairman of the Parti Socialiste. Would this man make it Belgian PM, the Belgian mission in AF would very likely come in jeopardy, or otherwise reduced to a canteen commando.



MFBB.

KILL THE GROUND ZERO MOSQUE.

KILL. IT.



MFBB.

INDIA: MUSLIMS CHOP OFF CATHOLIC PROFESSOR'S HAND FOR USING PHROPET MUHAMMAD'S NAME IN EXAM QUESTION.

Via CathNews India, July 6, 2010:

"Suspected Islamic militants have chopped off a Catholic professor’s hand in Kerala for allegedly insulting Islam in an exam question paper.

Professor T.J. Joseph was attacked on July 4 in while returning home from Sunday mass with his mother and sister, a Catholic nun.

Kochi inspector-general of police, B. Sandya, told ucanews.com that an Islamic extremist group is suspected of the crime and have arrested four people and impounded a vehicle.

She said the attackers used the vehicle to block Joseph’s car before dragging the professor from his vehicle and chopping off his right hand. The attackers then threw the hand away before fleeing.

Church-managed Newman College in Thodupuzha had suspended Joseph, its Malayalam professor, on March 25 for allegedly preparing a question paper with insulting references to the Prophet Muhammad.

St. Joseph Sister Mary Stella said the assailants attacked her brother with an axe and swords.

“They also attacked our elderly mother,” before fleeing, she said.

Her brother had been threatened three times following the question paper row, she added...."

This paragraph was of particular interest to me:

"... Police say officials suspect the Popular Front of India, an extremist group and its political wing the Social Democratic Party of India (SDPI) for being behind the attack.

Thodupuzha, the commercial center of Idukki district, saw angry protests by various Muslim organizations in March when the question paper outcry first broke and several people were injured in clashes with police..."

It seems the lefist/islamic alliance is not merely a European and American phenomenon.

Islam is cancer. Accept it.

Hat tip Patriot's Corner.



MFBB.