Friday, December 11, 2015

Irish said NO to extradition to the US, will the Spanish? #JihadJane

Back in May Ali Charaf Damache walked out of court a free man when an Irish judge refused an American extradition application. Damache is wanted in America on charges related to the Jihad Jane terror plot.

This afternoon Damache was arrested in Spain. Damache has, apparently, been in Spain for a while and the Spanish authorities acted on an arrest warrant from the FBI.

It'll be mighty interesting to see if Damache is extradited by the Spanish after the Irish refused.

Wednesday, December 09, 2015

Stop the fossil fuel subsidies! Let the poor freeze!

That's the logic of this little tidbit.

Friends of the Earth estimates that the fossil fuel industry here benefits from about €386 million annually in subsidies.

This figure is made up of the share of the public service obligation (PSO) levy allocated to subsidising peat and securing gas supply, totalling €169.2 million this year, combined with fuel allowance payments to low-income households of about €217 million annually.

First of all, we need to stop burning peat in an industrial fashion (I actually thought that was finished). I'm with the so-called "Friends" on that one. As for the rest of their alleged subsidies to the fossil fuels industry? Poppycock.

The fuel allowance to low income households is a government program to assist those on low or no wages. It is in no way a subsidy to the "fossil fuel industry" unless the Friends would rather see our poor freezing in their homes. We can debate the merits of the program and the manner in which its operated without resorting to lunacy. If the poor didn't receive that fuel allowance then, presumably, they'd have to give up some other essential items in order to avoid freezing in their homes. You want homes of the poor (everyone really, no?) better insulated? Sure, let's have that conversation, but stop talking nonsense.

As for the subsidy to secure gas supply, I'd like to see their numbers on that one. I doubt they're rooted in reality.

Monday, December 07, 2015

Was confusing visa waiver program with fiancé visa deliberate?

Tonight the President of the United States confused the visa waiver program – which tens of millions of Europeans & Japanese and Australians and others have used and still use to travel to America – with the fiancé visa.

I know most Americans would have no idea, but that would be the equivalent of a bank president confusing a $100 purchase on a credit card with a $100K loan to someone starting a new business. That's how much difference there is in oversight and vetting between the two methods of entry to the USA.

I can't help thinking that his error was deliberate to lead the American people to believe that that Tashfeen Malik was not subject to vetting and oversight before she entered America. That's simply not the case.