Bloodthirsty Liberal

Seriously?

Add this twist to the scourges of human trafficking and flesh peddling: Pills sold as Viagara-style performance enhancers that contain the powdered tissue of aborted fetuses and dead infants.

South Korea has seized nearly 17,500 of the bizarre capsules from tourists’ luggage and international mail since last August, according to the state-run Korea Customs service said in a statement Monday. The capsules were made in northeastern China in a stomach-turning process in which dead babies’ bodies were chopped into small pieces and dried on stoves before being turned into powder, the Korea Customs Service said.

And that’s not all! Order now and you get more!

The pills, which are typically smuggled in by ethnic Koreans living in northern China, aren’t just creepy, the contain “super bacteria” that is hazardous to human health, the statement said. South Korea began cracking down on the drugs last year after a television network aired a documentary accusing Chinese pharmaceutical companies of collaborating with abortion clinics to make the pills from human fetuses and the remains of dead infants, accordiong to The Wall Street Journal.

In parts of China, consumption of human placentas is believed to help revive blood supply and circulation, according to the China Daily report. In addition, many believe the fetus is a “tonic” for disease has kept the pills in demand, according to the China Daily, which reported Beijing has been investigating the matter as well. But the latest use of fetal tissue is as a sexual performance enhancer, according to a report in the Global Times, a tabloid published by the official People’s Daily.

Sexual performance? You need to have sex to have sexual performance!

And while you don’t need women to have sex, for some of us, it helps!

Chinese dissident escapes Turmoil and intrigue bubble in China Where is blind Chinese activist Chen? The importance of Chen Guangcheng
The issue of forced abortions — and in some cases, forced sterilizations — in China has seized the spotlight in recent days with news of escaped activist Chen Guangcheng.

Chen, a blind, self-taught lawyer, rose to fame in the late 1990s because of his advocacy for what he calls victims of abusive practices, such as forced abortions, by Chinese family planning officials. He investigated forced abortions and sterilizations in eastern China — a practice China denies — and helped organize a class-action lawsuit on behalf of victims, for which he served four years in prison.

…

About 13 million abortions are performed nationwide each year, the commission has said — about 35,000 a day. It is unknown how many of those are coerced.

But the one-child policy has been blamed for abuses. In some cases, advocates say, fetuses identified as female are aborted, or midwives strangle a female infant with the umbilical cord during delivery, identifying the baby as “stillborn,” according to All Girls Allowed, a nonprofit group that aims to end female “gendercide,” educate abandoned girls, rescue trafficked children and defend women’s reproductive rights.

Other females are abandoned, left to die or raised as orphans.

…

Last summer, Xinhua reported that “millions of Chinese men of marrying age may be living as frustrated bachelors by 2020″ because of the gender imbalance. In 2010, China’s sex ratio at birth was 118 boys for every 100 girls, the news agency said.

…

The one-child policy could contribute to China’s high rate of female suicide, according to All Girls Allowed.

China is the only country in the world where the female suicide rate is higher than that of men — some 500 women a day, the group said, citing statistics from the World Health Organization and the U.S. State Department.

In its 2009 Human Rights Report, the State Department noted that “many observers believed that violence against women and girls, discrimination in education and employment, the traditional preference for male children, birth-limitation policies, and other societal factors contributed to the high female suicide rate. Women in rural areas, where the suicide rate for women was three to four times higher than for men, were especially vulnerable.”

Sometimes the consequences are even more severe. In October 2011, a woman who was six months pregnant died during a forced abortion in eastern China, according to Women’s Rights Without Frontiers.

Last month, a woman in the same region was forced to undergo an abortion while nine months pregnant, the organization reported. The baby was born alive, but then was drowned in a bucket, according to the organization. A photo of the infant’s body floating in the bucket was circulated on Weibo, the Chinese version of Twitter, sparking widespread outrage.

I don’t know about you, but I’ve had enough. In every way, I’ve had enough. Melamine in the infant formula wasn’t bad enough. Now they’re coming after the unborn—and even the recently born. And everyone else from the sound of it.

UPDATE
What was I just saying?

Vegetable sellers in China have been caught spraying cabbages with a formaldehyde solution to keep them fresh in transit, the state news agency Xinhua has reported.

Xinhua said the practice had been common in eastern China for years.

The agency said it was being done because most farmers cannot afford refrigerated trucks for cabbages.

Formaldehyde is a toxic cancer-causing compound often used as a disinfectant and for embalming.

It can irritate the skin and cause breathing and digestive problems.

Cabbage is a staple food in China, often used as a filling in dumplings, but also stir-fried or pickled.

In recent years the country has faced a series of food safety scandals, including the lacing of baby-milk with the industrial chemical melamine.

…

[Formaldehyde] has also been reportedly used to soak some dried seafood to make it appear more fresh and plump.

[Bleeping] China, man. Remind me to order Japanese next time I crave a dumpling.

This guy asks the philosophical question: is it genocide if the people doing the killing and the people doing the dying are of the same race and religion?

He thinks not, technically (though that may not matter to the victims), and offers another explanation:

Rather, what happened in Cambodia is what happened in the French Revolution, and in Stalin’s purges and mass collectivization campaigns, and in Mao’s Great Leap Forward and Cultural Revolution, only on a proportionately larger scale. It was mass murder in the name of equality. It wasn’t “genocide”; it was Communist utopianism carried to its logical extreme. The Khmer Rouge, who called themselves Maoists, believed that the most important social and political value was equality and that in order to create their new, classless society in which everyone was equal, it was necessary to exterminate anyone who might be smarter, or better educated, or wealthier, or more talented than anyone else. Thus, they killed the educated, the bourgeoisie, the middle classes, and the rich; movie stars, pop singers, authors, urban residents, and workers for the former government; and anyone who protested — as well as the families of all the above. Towards the end, they also killed cadres who were thought to be a political threat. Whatever their crimes were, the Khmer Rouge do not seem to have been motivated by racial, ethnic, or religious hatred.

Why then do Cambodians and the world call the mass murders by the Khmer Rouge “genocide”? I can think of several possible reasons. One is the superficial similarity to other mass slaughters — as noted earlier, the pictures of the Cambodian killing fields look very much like the pictures from the German concentration camps. Surely many people who are largely ignorant of history know only that similarity. Another reason is the fact that the victims of genocide are sympathetic. The U.N. creates commissions, and wealthy countries send money. Cambodia today is filled with NGOs bringing aid of various kinds. The desire for international sympathy might explain why Cambodians use the genocide label.

However, I suspect that the most important reason for the usage worldwide is that many people in the international media, international agencies, and international NGOs (not to mention academia) are reluctant to face up to the crimes committed by Communism in the name of equality. To do so might call into question the weight attached by them to equality as the most important social value and undermine the multicultural faith that evil is predominantly the product of inequality, racism, ethnic hatred, or religious fanaticism. That cannot be permitted, so such crimes must be either ignored or mislabeled. And, of course, the remaining Communist regimes in the world are only too happy to cooperate in characterizing the killing fields as the products of irrational paranoia on the part of Pol Pot and his gang rather than the perfectly rational result of the quest for perfect equality.

No one has ever been punished for the Khmer Rouge’s crimes. After the Vietnamese army drove Pol Pot and the Khmer Rouge from power, they continued to be recognized as the Cambodian government by much of the world. Pol Pot kept his seat in the U.N. until the early 1990s, supported by both China and the U.S. (to our everlasting shame). He died in his bed in 1998 surrounded by his wife and grandchildren. The trial of four senior members of the Khmer Rouge is still under way. They are the only ones to have ever been charged. All the rest have effectively if not formally been forgiven, as the price of the political settlement that finally brought peace to Cambodia.

Justice has not been and may never be served. All we can do is bear witness. I am glad I went to the killing fields to see the evidence of these horrible crimes, even as the world ignores their true meaning.

I just did my part, but I think this piece should be read and understood by every thinking person in the world. The Killing Fields were not genocide, but political mass murder. The same goes for Mao’s purges, and the same goes for Stalin’s, and the same goes for those of the Kims of Korea. How many tens of millions have died in the pursuit of “fairness” and “equality”?

Just sayin’.

PS: Did you know about Pol Pot’s Cambodia remaining a member in good standing at the UN? I would say nothing about the UN surprises me anymore—but that does!

Not funny, but… well, just not funny:

For procrastinators in Israel who want to be prepared in the event of a war: Thursday is the last chance for Israelis to acquire a free gas mask and chemical attack defense kit. The vast majority of distribution stations, which have been open for the past two years, located in cities throughout the country, will stop operating at the close of business on March 1. Only six stations will remain open.

Officials report large crowds at stations over the past few days, as Israelis seek the government-supplied protective gear in the wake of increased tensions with Iran. Several stations have already shut down because they have run out of the gas mask kits, Home Front Security officials said.

Some 4 million kits have been distributed in the past two years, but officials estimate that only about 120,000 remain in stock. Budgetary issues prevented the Homefront Command from acquiring more kits, and ad campaigns during the period stressed that there was a limited supply of kits. It is estimated that at least a third of Israelis do not have kits right now, and unless more money is allocated to the program, they will have to purchase the kits themselves. At least NIS 1 billion (about $350 million) is needed to acquire more kits, but even if the money is found quickly, it would take at least several months to manufacture the masks according to IDF specifications.

Reader Yerushalimey has noted in our comments section that he has been unable to order a mask from Amazon. I would offer Aggie’s and my services in ordering and forwarding a supply, but I wonder how many Homeland Security violations that would entail. I’m sure there are already channels and charities in place that can pick up the slack. Maybe when the birthright groups fly over, they can fill the baggage hold with gas masks and chemical attack defense kits?

It is perfectly fine to deny the Armenian genocide

France’s Constitutional Council ruled on Tuesday that a new law that would make it illegal to deny the mass killing of Armenians by Ottoman Turks nearly a century ago is unconstitutional, a move quickly welcomed by Turkey.

The decision by France’s highest legal authority invalidates the law, which President Nicolas Sarkozy was due to ratify by the end of February, ahead of a parliamentary recess for the April-May presidential election.

Shortly after the ruling was announced, Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu said the cabinet would meet to consider whether to restart economic, political and military contacts with France which were frozen after the French parliament passed the law on Jan. 23.

Cowards.

- Aggie

Ok, everybody needs to watch this. It is about how governments use lies.

- Aggie

Hey Israel, you think you have it tough? UN employees in your neck of the woods only threaten genocide.

In other places, they actually carry it out:

A former Hutu militia leader employed by the United Nations is facing fresh allegations over his role in the 1994 genocide after the International Criminal Court in The Hague released him on December 23 saying there was insufficient evidence to convict him.

Callixte Mbarushimana is alleged to have directed and participated in the murder 32 people including U.N. employees he was hired to protect.

…

Alex told RFI that he met Callixte Mbarushimana in Kigali in April of that year.

He said that Mbarushimana, then Executive Secretary of the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda (FDLR), approached him in the United Nations gardens and said « we will eliminate them all ».

Despite numerous complaints, Mbarushimana continued to work for the United Nations. After Rwanda he was given posts in Kenya, Angola and Kosovo.

He was dismissed from the U.N. in 2001…

You’re surprised an alleged mass murderer stayed in the employ of the United Nations for seven years after his heinous crimes? Really?

I mean, seriously? You don’t get out much, do you?

This is the same organization that held a moment of silence for Kim Jong-Il, after all. It’s nothing if not consistent.

Good. Screw ‘em:

Israel is set to join France and recognize the 1915 Armenian genocide, according to a report Sunday on Channel 10 News.

…

According to the report, the committee is expected to pass the initiative, though it is still unclear what the exact wording will be and whether terms such as genocide or disaster will be used.

Channel 10 noted that the Prime Minister’s Office is concerned that such a decision might worsen the already tense relations between Israel and Turkey. The report said that Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin will be attending Monday’s discussion due to the sensitivity of the issue.

…

The deterioration in the relationship between Turkey and Israel began when Turkey demanded that Israel apologize for the deaths of nine Turkish nationals onboard the Mavi Marmara in May of 2010. The Turkish citizens were killed when Israeli soldiers who boarded the Gaza-bound ship were forced to open fire after being attacked by the activists on board with clubs and knives.

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu refused to apologize for the incident, and Turkey responded by downgrading its diplomatic ties with Israel.

Last week, Israel ordered the cancelation of a sale of advanced intelligence equipment to Turkey, worrying that the technology might get into the wrong hands.

I believe the Turkish position with regard to the Armenians is that they tripped and stubbed their toe, one million of them en masse. Nothing to do with Turkey, much less genocide.

Israel has nothing to lose by this. If Turkey is so threatened by the recognition of the Armenian genocide, that’s their problem, one of many, not Israel’s.

We now present a new genocide—slaughter and inhumanity on unimaginable scales.

The hits just keep on coming:

Hundreds of rebels have been killed in Sudan’s South Kordofan state following clashes with the army, governor Ahmed Haroun has said.

He said the SPLM-North rebels were killed when the army repelled an assault on the city of Teludi.

The rebels have not commented on the claims but previously accused the army of “ethnic cleansing” in the oil-rich area.

The state borders South Sudan, which became independent in July.

“Hundreds of soldiers from the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement (SPLM-North) were killed during an attack on the city of Teludi this morning,” Mr Haroun said.

Mr Haroun is indicted by the International Criminal Court for alleged war crimes in Darfur, where he was once the governor.

…

Sudan lodged a complaint with the UN Security Council in August, accusing South Sudan of backing the rebels.

The SPLM, in power in South Sudan, denies Khartoum’s claims, even though it fought alongside the northern rebels during Sudan’s decades-long civil war.

Sudan agreed to give the south independence in July, but held on to South Kordofan, Abyei and Blue Nile states.

Where’s Mia Farrow looking concerned—gaunt and concerned? It’s just not an African genocide without Mia’s pained expression. Sting? Bono? Bueller…Bueller? Anyone?

PS: Is the Symbionese Liberation Army still in one piece? Maybe they should get the band back together to help the Sudan People’s Liberation Movement.

Nah, forget it.

Who can take these factions seriously anymore? I’m sorry about the hundreds dead and all—and the rapes, maybe they need a Sudan Jobs Act to cut down on the rapes—but when I read the name Sudan People’s Liberation Movement, I have to laugh. Taking the word for how it is, I think genocide and ethnic cleansing may be cultural norms in some societies.

That doesn’t make me racist, it just makes me literate.

G’day, Al:

African Union troops fought house-to-house battles with militants Thursday to clear space for aid groups bringing in food supplies after intelligence reports showed insurgents reinforcing for a possible attack on squalid camps of famine refugees.

Heavy fighting erupted on the line of control between the government side and territory held by al-Shabab, Somalia’s dominant militant group.

At least six people were killed. The AU troops also paid a heavy price, with one official saying 19 were wounded, and some of them were put on an ambulance jet bound for Kenya.

Somalia’s famine is unfolding in the middle of a war zone, greatly complicating international efforts to prevent a wave of death. Some 2.2 million people live in an inaccessible famine zone controlled by the al-Qaida-linked al-Shabab.

I’m tempted to dismiss the 2.2 million people with a “Fine, don’t eat”, but it’s not really their fault. It’s not my fault, either, and not yours.

But it is militant Islam’s fault, again.

You want to know the truth? Overpopulation will lead to massive loss of life. But not in Kansas. And not in Melbourne, or Singapore, or Botswana, or Alberta, or Luxembourg. No, I’m afraid the famines, droughts, and genocides will be limited to benighted places like Somalia, North Korea, and other failed and mismanaged states. And to people who willingly or not live under murderous thugs like al-Shabab and the Taliban.

Dystopian films like Mad Max will come to be seen as cinema verité. Pass the Milk Duds, would ya?

Who he?

This who:

A book about China’s disastrous Great Leap Forward policy has won the £20,000 BBC Samuel Johnson Prize for non-fiction.

Mao’s Great Famine, by Dutch historian Frank Dikotter, beat five other short-listed titles to the award.

Chair of the judges Ben Macintyre praised the book as an “epic record of human folly”.

He added it was “essential reading for anyone seeking to understand the history of the 20th Century”.

Mao’s Great Famine reveals new details of the period from 1958-1962, providing fresh historical perspectives on Mao’s campaign to increase industrial production during which tens of millions starved to death.

Excuse me? Tens of millions? Tens?

The book supports an estimate of “at least” 45 million premature deaths in China during the famine years. Dikötter characterises the Great Famine as “The worst catastrophe in China’s history, and one of the worst anywhere.”

I forget where I read this, but one of the problems with making such sweeping generalizations is that the base-line of deaths in China would already be very high. Not 45 million high, but high. So you can’t blame Mao for all 45 million—maybe just 30-35 million. I just want to be fair.

And Mao is still a revered figure in China. Reduced somewhat, but revered. Stalin has his own nostalgic types, in spite of (or because of) 20-25 million deaths on his hands.

So why not Hitler? I just want to be fair. Add the six million Jews to the 20+ million Soviets to the millions here and there across Europe (and North Americans, Australians, etc.) and you get an estimated 60-70 million deaths. Okay, significantly higher than Stalin or Mao—about the same as the two of them combined—but where do we draw the line? Forty-five million cool, 60 million bad? Thirty-five million, and your style of dress becomes chic (Mao hats, jackets, and red stars); 70 million, and swastikas and brown shirts are permanently unfashionable? Little Red Book, yes; Mein Kampf, no?

I usually rely on Michael Kors to tell me what’s in and what’s not, but he (and the rest of humanity) is curiously silent on this puzzle.

PS: Mao’s genocide wasn’t a “catastrophe” or a “folly” (I think of an avalanche as the former and the Spruce Goose as the latter). It was a massacre, wholesale slaughter, a holocaust (lower case). Mao, Stalin, and Hitler get us to close to 150 million deaths by themselves. Add WWI, the Armenian massacre, pogroms against Jews across Europe and the Middle East, and a few other genocides I might be forgetting, and we’re well rid of the 20th century and its 200 million (?) deaths.

I feel like I ought to print a sign up to apologize for being born in it.