Virginia Libertarian

Japan rejects US calls for apology over ‘comfort women’ | Special reports | Guardian Unlimited

Japan today said it regretted a US congressional resolution demanding that it formally apologise for the use of tens of thousands of Asian women as sex slaves during the second world war, and insisted it had already made amends to the victims.

The US House of Representatives passed a nonbinding resolution calling on the Japanese government to “formally acknowledge, apologise and accept historical responsibility in a clear and unequivocal manner” for the sexual enslavement of as many as 200,000 “comfort women” in the 30s and 40s.

The victims, mostly from Korea, China and the Philippines, were taken from their homes and sent to an estimated 2,000 frontline brothels across Asia, according to some historians.
“The resolution is regrettable,” the Japanese prime minister, Shinzo Abe, told reporters. “I explained my views and the government’s response on this matter during my visit to the US in April.”
Then, Mr Abe said he stood by an unofficial 1993 apology made by the then chief cabinet secretary that acknowledged the military had coerced the women.
Previously, however, he had claimed there was no evidence of coercion and aligned himself with nationalist Japanese MPs who insist the women were procured by private contractors.
The resolution, proposed by the California Democrat Mike Honda, had threatened to damage relations between Japan and its closest military ally.
In June the US ambassador to Washington, Ryozo Kato, warned that passage of the resolution would “almost certainly have lasting and harmful effects on the deep friendship, close trust and wide-ranging cooperation our two nations now enjoy”.

Ok, just how stupid are we that we not only push through resolutions for “official” apologies from our government over things done outside of anyone living’s lifetime, but now we are pusing through resolutions for other countries governments to give “official” apologies for things done outside of almost everyone livings lifetime.  What difference is this possibly going to make to someone?  Oh yeah, I forgot, once it’s “official” that the government did something wrong, then they can start trying to push through reparations.  It boggles the imagination that we would risk damaging our relationship with Japan over something this stupid…

Citizens Against Government Waste: Cost of Government Day, 2007: Taxpayers Released from State Servitude

Cost of Government Day for 2007 is July 11. Americans now work more than half of the year - 192 days to pay their share of the cost of government with 84.5 of those days due to federal spending alone. This year, the average American will need to work an additional 6 days out of the year to pay off his or her cost of government compared to 2000.

Hate-crime arrests in Quran desecrations at Pace University - Newsday.com

 A 23-year-old man was arrested Friday on hate-crime charges after he threw a Quran in a toilet at Pace University on two separate occasions, police said.

Stanislav Shmulevich of Brooklyn was arrested on charges of criminal mischief and aggravated harassment, both hate crimes, police said. It was unclear if he was a student at the school. A message left at the Shmulevich home was not immediately returned.

The Islamic holy book was found in a toilet at Pace’s lower Manhattan campus by a teacher on Oct. 13. A student discovered another book in a toilet on Nov. 21, police said.

Muslim activists had called on Pace University to crack down on hate crimes after the incidents. As a result, the university said it would offer sensitivity training to its students.

Hope you are ready for this and many other “hate” crimes cropping up as the Muslim extremist factions learn to work our system.  Not that they are any different than any other minority group that has learned to work the system, just look at what the NAACP has done over the past couple of decades in this area.

Citizens Against Government Waste: FEMA’s Ice Outrage: The Meltdown
The Federal Emergency Management Administration (FEMA) has decided to liquidate nearly 85 million pounds of ice, worth about $24 million, left over from the initial 224 million pounds it had purchased in the aftermath of hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. The agency had anticipated keeping the ice in reserve to address shortages during the 2006 hurricane season, but there were not as many storms as predicted.
So far, it has cost the agency $12.5 million to warehouse the ice in 23 facilities across the country. Paying to store the ice for two years is especially inexcusable since FEMA’s contract with the Massachusetts-based storage contractor, AmeriCold, mandated that the agency dispose of unused ice within three months of purchase.
Initially, FEMA attempted to donate the extra ice to another federal agency, but could not find any agency willing to take it. There was talk of giving it away to the public, but FEMA officials worried that, after so much time in storage, the ice might not be safe for human consumption. The idea of selling the ice, even at a discount, to willing industrial buyers in order to recover at least some of the costs was apparently never seriously considered. Instead, FEMA is paying $3.4 million to melt the ice, which is expected to take 11 months.

See, isn’t government great, look how well they manage!  Now consider, if a private company were to pull stupid stunts  like this one, how long do you think they would be in business?  Not long, I’d wager, but with your friendly federal government running the show, you can’t get rid of agencies like this.  Once they’re created, they’re here to stay.

Published July 23, 2007
Speakers: Barack Obama
John Edwards
Hillary Rodham Clinton
Dennis Kucinich
Mike Gravel
Christopher J. Dodd
Joseph Biden
Bill Richardson, Governor, State of New Mexico

This debate between democratic candidates was held in South Carolina on July 23, 2007. The candidates were asked questions submitted online by the public. The event was hosted by CNN and YouTube.

(more…)