Amnesty Int. accuses Turkish gov. of human rights abuses, gov. shot live ammo at protesters, sexually abused women protesters. Like pal Obama, Turkey PM called opponents 'extremists,' report says Turkish gov. must learn to tolerate dissent-BBC

.
Protesters termed Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a "dictator:"

10/2/13, "Amnesty accuses Turkey of 'brutal' Gezi Park protest abuse," BBC

"Turkish authorities committed human rights abuses "on a massive scale" while trying to quell anti-government protests over the summer, Amnesty International says.

The group says live ammunition was used, killing one protester, and some women protesters were sexually abused.

It says other demonstrators were badly beaten, resulting in one death. The unrest began in May as a protest to stop the redevelopment of Istanbul's Taksim Square and Gezi Park.

But after a harsh crackdown by riot police, it snowballed into nationwide anti-government demonstrations that lasted for weeks.

Amnesty International's report says investigators interviewed scores of people who were injured, unlawfully detained, beaten or sexually assaulted during detention. 

Andrew Gardner, Amnesty International's expert on Turkey, said: "The attempt to smash the Gezi Park protest movement involved a string of human rights violations on a huge scale. 

"They include the wholesale denial of the right to peaceful assembly and violations of the rights to life, liberty and the freedom from torture and ill-treatment."

Among its findings, the report says:

• Protesters and others were severely beaten, resulting in one death and scores of injuries
• Police frequently fired plastic bullets directly at protesters' heads and upper bodies
• Tear gas canisters were fired directly at protesters and bystanders, and sometimes into residential buildings and medical facilities
• Chemical irritants were added to water cannon supply tanks
• Women protesters were sexually abused by law enforcement officials
• Live ammunition was used, killing one protester

"The levels of violence used by police in the course of Gezi Park protests clearly show what happens when poorly trained, poorly supervised police officers are instructed to use force - and encouraged to use it unsparingly - safe in the knowledge that they are unlikely ever to be identified or prosecuted for their abuses," said Mr Gardner in the report.

"The Turkish government must learn to tolerate the dissenting opinions expressed through street protests and ensure that police are equipped, trained and instructed to police them lawfully," he added.

Turkish authorities have not yet responded to the report. Earlier this year, the government said a policeman was also killed in the protests and some 600 officers injured.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan, who was branded a "dictator" by protesters, initially appeared to want to placate demonstrators but later hardened his rhetoric.

At huge rallies of his supporters he claimed the protesters were "extremists" who had been manipulated by "terrorists".

He also suggested that an international conspiracy with financial interests was behind the protests, but did not elaborate.

In June, the deployment of gendarmes - a military unit under control of the interior ministry in peacetime - caused shock among some protesters in Istanbul.

Gezi Park has since reopened although its future is still uncertain."

.

Politico 'reporters' Dovere and Epstein are lovesick over Obama, might need rehab for love addiction, say Obama gov. shutdown a show 'of resolve and strength that could redefine his presidency'

.
10/1/13, "Politico: Obama, in Govt. Shutdown, Puts on a 'Display of Resolve and Strength That Could Redefine His Presidency'," Newsbusters, Tom Blumer

"The folks in office administration at the Politico had better put in for extra janitorial help. With all the horse manure their reporters are slinging during the partial government shutdown, it's gotta be getting knee-deep in those hoary halls.

One of the more egregious examples of insufferable obsequiousness today came late this morning via Edward-Isaac Dovere and Reid J. Epstein. You see, in their narrow world, President Barack Obama's stature has done a sudden and complete turnaround because he and Harry Reid have chosen to shut down the government (HT the Weekly Standard; bolds are mine):

"Government shutdown: President Obama holds the line"

President Barack Obama started September in an agonizing, extended display of how little sway he had in Congress. He ended the month with a display of resolve and strength that could redefine his presidency.

All it took was a government shutdown.

This was less a White House strategy than simply staying in the corner the House GOP had painted them into — to the White House’s surprise, Obama was forced to do what he so rarely has as president: he said no, and he didn’t stop saying no.

For two weeks ahead of Monday night’s deadline, Obama and aides rebuffed the efforts to kill Obamacare with the kind of firm, narrow sales pitch they struggled with in three years of trying to convince people the law should exist in the first place. There was no litany of doomsday scenarios that didn’t quite come true, like in the run-up to the fiscal cliff and the sequester. No leaked plans or musings in front of the cameras about Democratic priorities he might sacrifice to score a deal.

After five years of what’s often seen as Obama’s desperation to negotiate — to the fury of his liberal base and the frustration of party leaders who argue that he negotiates against himself. Even his signature health care law came with significant compromises in Congress.

Instead, over and over and over again, Obama delivered the simple line: Republicans want to repeal a law that was passed and upheld by the Supreme Court — to give people health insurance — or they’ll do something that everyone outside the GOP caucus meetings, including Wall Street bankers, seems to agree would be a ridiculous risk.
... The White House believes Obama will take less than half the blame for a shutdown – with the rest heaped on congressional Republicans.

The divide is clear in a Gallup poll also out Monday: over 70 percent of self-identifying Republicans and Democrats each say their guys are the ones acting responsibly, while just 9 percent for both say the other side is.

If Obama is able to turn public opinion against Republicans, the GOP won’t be able to turn the blame back on Obama, Greenberg said. “Things only get worse once things begin to move in a particular direction,” he said. “They don’t suddenly start going the other way as people rethink this.”

You can't get much more absurd than claiming that Obama's presidency has been marked by a "desperation to negotiate." It's beem more like: "We do what we want. Bleep you."

Just one example:

In February, "Obama has eschewed direct negotiations for a nationwide barnstorming tour to place blame for the automatic cuts to defense and domestic programs on the Hill GOP.

Translation: Obama wasn't negotiating at all. Where did I find this? Why, at the Politico, of course. Zheesh.

Here's one factor the two pretend geniuses Dovere and Epstein didn't consider: If Obamacare's exchange rollout continues to be as awful as its first day, Republicans are going to start looking pretty smart for having demanded a one-year delay, and their determination to hold out for such a deferral will be strengthened.

Will it work out that way? Who knows? But I do know, regardless of outcome, that the Politico pair are living in fantasyland by casting Obama's go-to strategy of childish name-calling and whining as a paradigm of "resolve and strength."
 
The Weekly Standard's Daniel Halper notes that "[N]o Republicans are quoted in the story. And not one person skeptical of the president's strategy not to negotiate with Republicans is quoted in the story."

Why, of course not. That would disturb the fantasy.

Cross-posted at BizzyBlog.com."



.

Former George Bush #1 official Bartlett wishes for death of Tea Party

.
10/1/13, "MSNBC's Wagner Touts Guest Bartlett's Call for 'Well-Deserved Death' for 'Tea Party'," NewsBusters

"On the Monday, September 30, The Last Word with Lawrence O'Donnell, substitute host Alex Wagner read a tweet written by guest Bruce Bartlett in which the former George H.W. Bush administration official expressed hope that the Tea Party would soon "die a well-deserved death."

After Bartlett referred to "Tea Party clowns" as he hoped that Republican leaders would manage to "put them down or limit their influence," Wagner expresed her approval of her guest calling Tea Party Republicans "clowns" as she began her response:

Bruce refers to the "Tea Party clowns," and I think a lot of people would agree with that designation...

Wagner had raised Bartlett's tweet:

Bruce, you sounded a note of hope in the wilderness earlier tonight. You tweeted: "There's a slight possibility that Boehner is a genius and the Tea Party will die a well-deserved death in the next few days. Fingers-crossed."

Lots of fingers crossed on that. Can you explain your thesis there?

Bartlett began:

Well, it was based on a report by Byron York in the Examiner, and Byron is very, very well-connected on the right side of the Republican party, and he was saying basically that there's really only 30 members who are really, really dug in on this anti-Affordable Care Act position and absolutely refuse compromise. And he said there's 175 who will instantly vote for a clean continuing resolution if they are simply given the freedom to cast that vote.

He continued:

And, as yet, they have not been given that freedom. And I think -- my thinking was that Boehner is waiting for the public opinion, for Wall Street, for the other players in the Republican party to finally read the riot act to these Tea Party clowns and maybe put them down or limit their influence in the Republican party to where we can have a meaningful governing coalition.

Before reading a quote from former Senate Republican Leader Trent Lott criticizing the Tea Party, Wagner began her response:

Bruce refers to the "Tea Party clowns," and I think a lot of people would agree with that designation, but the question is, where, what happens at the end of this in terms of national standing? And, in particular, I want to focus on Ted Cruz because David Corn of Mother Jones interviewed former Republican Senate Majority Leader Trent Lott, and Trent Lott said this about the Tea Party wing of the GOP..."

Nobel Peace Prize winner Obama again forces US taxpayers to send money to vicious regimes in Africa that use child soldiers including Somalia, issues fatwa on eve of gov. 'shutdown'

.
9/30/13, "Obama waives ban on aiding regimes that use child soldiers," Washington Examiner, Joel Gehrke

"President Obama determined that it is once again in the national interest of the United States to waive a provision of a law against aiding regimes that use child soldiers to provide non-lethal assistance and peace-keeping support to several African countries.

By law, the president has to notify Congress that he is waiving the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 within 45 days of making the decision. Obama's press team published the presidential determination on Monday afternoon, with Congress on the eve of a government shutdown.

The Child Soldiers Prevention Act waiver applies fully to Chad, South Sudan and Yemen. Congo and Somalia received partial waivers.

Obama first waived the provision in 2010. Samantha Power, then the National Security Council senior director for multilateral affairs and human rights, promised "at the time that the waivers would not become a recurring event," as The Cable recalled.

"Our judgment was: Brand them, name them, shame them, and then try to leverage assistance in a fashion to make this work," Power said. "Our judgment is we'll work from inside the tent."
Power is now the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations.

Here's the text of the presidential determination:

Pursuant to section 404 of the Child Soldiers Prevention Act of 2008 (CSPA) (title IV, Public Law 110-457), I hereby determine that it is in the national interest of the United States to waive the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to Chad, South Sudan, and Yemen; to waive in part the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to the Democratic Republic of the Congo to allow for continued provision of International Military Education and Training (IMET) and nonlethal Excess Defense Articles, and the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of nonlethal defense articles; and to waive in part the application of the prohibition in section 404(a) of the CSPA with respect to Somalia to allow for the issuance of licenses for direct commercial sales of nonlethal defense articles, provision of IMET, and continued provision of assistance under the Peacekeeping Operations authority for logistical support and troop stipends. I hereby waive such provisions accordingly.

You are authorized and directed to submit this determination to the Congress, along with the accompanying Memorandum of Justification, and to publish the determination in the Federal Register. BARACK OBAMA" via Instapundit


.

Company in charge of 34 ObamaCare state exchanges is under investigation for defrauding the British government

.
9/30/13, "Company with $1.2 billion Obamacare contract under investigation for ‘serious fraud’," Daily Caller, Brendan Bordelon

"A British multinational being paid $1.2 billion to implement Obamacare’s federal insurance exchanges is under investigation after allegedly overcharging the British government by tens of millions of dollars.

Reuters reports that Britain’s Serious Fraud Office is now looking into Serco, a massive service and security firm employing 120,000 worldwide, after the company reportedly overbilled its government client as much as $80 million for criminal electronic monitoring devices.

Around one in six of the criminals listed were already in prison, had left the country, were not required to wear a device, or were even dead.

The alleged fraud prompted an audit from the U.K.’s Ministry of Justice earlier this summer. Late last week, the ministry sent information from that audit to the Serious Fraud Office, asking that it consider a criminal case against the company.

In early July, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) granted Serco a $1.25 billion contract to review and process paper insurance applications for Obamacare’s 34 federally-operated state exchanges. News of the investigation broke days later, and the Obama administration rushed to defend its corporate partner.

“Serco is a highly-skilled company that has a proven track record in providing cost-effective services to numerous other federal agencies,” said a spokesman for HHS’ Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, the agency charged with implementing the exchanges.

“The selection met all of the requirements for a full and open competition,” he continued, “and the timing enables us to be ready for marketplace open enrollment starting on October 1.”

Alan Hill, the spokesman for Serco’s American subsidiary, told The Washington Post in July that a “firewall” existed between the American and British wings of the company. “When a foreign entity is involved, I think that means that U.S. interests are protected,” he said.

The firm has already hired hundreds of new employees to fill Obamacare processing centers in Missouri, Arkansas and Kentucky. The Missouri office alone filled 600 new jobs in the last week in preparation for the individual exchange roll-out scheduled for Tuesday.

Serco already handles processing and records management for many U.S. agencies, including the Patent and Trademark Office and portions of the Department of Homeland Security. But this is their first foray into health care, at least in the United States.

In Britain, Serco operates off-hour general care clinics for the state-run National Health Service. Last September, The Guardian revealed that the company had presented false data on the performance of these clinics 252 separate times.

“To falsify returns once is once too many,” a former Conservative health secretary said at the time. “To falsify 252 times represents a pattern of behavior which should lead to a full review.”

All of Serco’s British contracts are currently under review. In a statement released last Thursday, the company claimed it had properly billed the U.K. government for the monitoring devices and pledged to continue cooperating fully with the Ministry of Justice." via Lucianne

.

US government agencies go on shopping sprees before budget expiration-Washington Post

.
9/28/13, "As Congress fights over the budget, agencies go on their ‘use it or lose it’ shopping sprees," Washington Post, David A. Fahrentholdt
---------------------------

9/30/13, "US Government Shutdown: don't blame the Republicans – blame whoever spent all the money," UK Guardian, Tim Stanley

"Okay, so let's get the mainstream media analysis of the looming shutdown out of the way first. The House Republicans are led by a moderate weakling (Boehner) who is being held hostage by a gaggle of Tea Party crazies determined to destroy a humanitarian law known as Obamacare that is a once-in-a-lifetime chance to rescue us from disease, poverty, global warming and Robin Thicke. Obama (Father of the Nation and possibly Jesus, but he's too humble to admit it) and the lions of the Senate are standing their ground. And so the Federal Government faces catastrophe because a GOP alliance of cowards and loons won't see reason and bend to the public will as represented by the glorious Democrats. Prepare yourself for society to collapse as museum workers don't turn up for work in the morning…

The reality is that this crisis has been caused by two things: a) overspending and b) the Constitution of the United States. On the overspend, the US has reached this point of crisis because it has failed to curtail spending effectively – and it has failed to do that because Democrats have consistently refused to make genuinely tough choices (the dreaded sequester was, itself, a plan to delay making a plan that has now started catching up with the President who called for a sequester in the first place). I could recite all those big debt numbers that run into hundreds of zeroes but for a simpler sense of the madness consider the spending spree that has been going on in just the past few days. In a dash to "use it or lose it", The Washington Post reports that,

This past week, the Department of Veterans Affairs bought $562,000 worth of artwork. In a single day, the Agriculture Department spent $144,000 on toner cartridges. And, in a single purchase, the Coast Guard spent $178,000 on “Cubicle Furniture Rehab.”

Why the heck does the Agriculture Department require so much toner? Is it 3-D printing wheat? And, while we're at it, if we're being told that the shutdown will only affect "non-essential personnel" doesn't that imply that the US government currently employs a lot of "non-essential" people? If so, why?

Now spending wouldn't be a political issue if one party controlled all three branches of government, but it does not."...

[Ed. note: George Bush overspent badly during his 8 years, bailed out the banks, and destroyed the Republican Party. As a result, almost no Republicans were left in the House after the Nov. 2008 elections. In Nov. 2010 the Tea Party filled the House with scores of new members but a lot of them wanted to do what their constituents elected them to do. The GOP didn't want that. The GOP today has merged with far left democrats and wants the same things they want. The GOP has worked hard to get rid of TP people and in some cases has succeeded. Help from the IRS came in handy. Call them what you want, the Silent Majority, the TP, they're ordinary Americans who see a ruling class that must be replaced.]

(continuing): "The American people voted in 2012 for divided government, giving the presidency and Senate to the Democrats and the House to the Republicans. Republicans in the House are thus not only constitutionally entitled to opposed Democrat spending plans like Obamacare but they actually have both a mandate and a democratic responsibility to do so – a responsibility to represent the will of the people, a majority of whom are against Obamacare. We call this the American Way. A lot of observers don't seem to understand it, which is depressing.

You might say that the American Way is the wrong way, that political partisanship is heading towards a shutdown and – who knows? – the End of the World? But that's not what history teaches us. The US government has shut down SEVENTEEN times in the past. When it did so in 1996, the economy chugged along nicely without that bit of federal assistance and the end result was welfare reform. This from Bloomberg is revealing:

A quick check of the performance of the S&P 500 stock index during previous shutdowns suggests that equity prices might actually benefit from a brief suspension of federal government activities.

What a surprise. Life with a little less government activity is just fine."

===================

Comment: If George Bush hadn't done such a bad job the House wouldn't have been lost and we wouldn't have ObamaCare. So technically ObamaCare is Bush's fault.



.

US Senator Angus King says ObamaCare opponents are 'guilty of murder.' Whatever happened to 'Gabby opened her eyes today'?

.
9/30/13, "Sen. Angus King: Obamacare opponents ‘guilty of murder’," Washington Times, J. Chasmar

"Sen. Angus S. King Jr., Maine independent, said in an interview with Salon magazine that conservative groups campaigning against Obamacare are “guilty of murder.”"...

.

Forgetting 'Gabby opened her eyes today' yet again, more violent rhetoric from top democrat on Monday, 'gun to our head,' from Reid

.

More violent rhetoric from Obama's top legislator on Monday for US children to emulate. Obama publicly labels Americans who hold views different from his own as ‘the extreme right wing‘ so I guess he sees himself as ‘the extreme left wing.’ 
.

9/30/13, “House to try ‘conference’ approach to funding, but shutdown all but certain,” nbcpolitics.nbcnews.com, Carrie Dann, Michael O’Brien et al.

“Democratic Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid was insistent: “We will not go to conference with a gun to our head.”…
 
The president urged Republicans to pass a “clean” funding bill rather than tying an Obamacare-delaying provision to the legislation and accused GOP leaders of acting to “save face after making some impossible promises to the extreme right wing of their party.”" (11 parags. from end)



.