WikiLeaks: US taxpayer money used for child sex slavery in Afghanistan

And it's not important for American taxpayers to discover this horrible news because...why? What kind of person in Washington hides this information? Even worse, what kind of person believes this should be protected data? As we have witnessed with the ongoing child rape story within the Catholic Church, covering up problems like this are immoral, but also a crime. Are those suggesting legal action or death to Julian Assange really interested in a similar cover up?

The now infamous Wikileaks recently released a cable from Afghanistan revealing U.S. government contractor DynCorp threw a party for Afghan security recruits featuring trafficked boys as the entertainment. Bacha bazi is the Afghan tradition of "boy play" where young boys are dressed up in women's clothing, forced to dance for leering men, and then sold for sex to the highest bidder. Apparently this is the sort of "entertainment" funded by your tax dollars when DynCorp is in charge of security in Afghanistan.

DynCorp is a government contractor which has been providing training for Afghan security and police forces for several years. Though the company is about as transparent as a lead-coated rock, most reports claim over 95% of their budget comes from U.S. taxpayers. That's the same budget that Dycorp used to pay for a party in Kunduz Province for some Afghan police trainees. The entertainment for the evening was bacha bazi boys, whose pimps were paid so the boys would sing and dance for the recruits and then be raped by them afterward. That's your tax dollars at work -- fighting terrorism and extremism in Afghnistan by trafficking little boys for sex with cops-in-training.

This documentary (a preview is below) details the practice:

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Madoff's son dead in apparent suicide

Reuters:

Mark Madoff, the elder son of convicted swindler Bernard Madoff, was found hanged in his New York City apartment in an apparent suicide, police said on Saturday.

"He was found hanged in his apartment. It was an apparent suicide," New York City police spokesman Paul Browne said.

Mark Madoff, 46, was found dead on the two-year anniversary of the arrest of his father. Bernard Madoff is now serving a 150-year prison sentence after confessing to running a decades-long Ponzi scheme that bilked investors out of millions.

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Simon's Cat in 'Santa Claws'

A helpful reminder that cat people may want to be cautious with the tree. As a kid, we once made the mistake of decorating the tree with the old-fashioned popped corn and cranberry garland. Sounded great until we ran out to see relatives and came home to discover the tree laying on its side, Christmas bulbs everywhere (and some broken) and our friendly dog running for the nearest hiding spot. That turned out to be the first and last year we tried the old "food on the tree" decorations. Read the rest of this post...

CHART: Bush tax cuts & the deficit

We've shown this before, but it's time to be reminded.


The colored worm is the entire projected deficit, seen from 2009. Bush tax cuts are that fat brown stain through the middle. Krugman's right: "There are no deficit hawks in Congress."

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WikiLeaks: Vatican pressured Ireland to grant immunity in child rape cases

So what is worse between Ireland caving to Vatican pressure on such a disgusting affair or making this information available to the public? In most, if not all, of these cases it's easy to see how those in power are upset that their secrets are being aired out. But for everyone else, it's just as easy to see why the public has a right to know. This black box in government should be offensive to anyone who prefers democracy. If freedom haters like Joe Lieberman want to prosecute someone, it ought to be those who were actually violating the law or blocked justice.

Requests for information from the 2009 Murphy commission into sexual and physical abuse by clergy "offended many in the Vatican" who felt that the Irish government had "failed to respect and protect Vatican sovereignty during the investigations", a cable says.

Despite the lack of co-operation from the Vatican, the commission was able to substantiate many of the claims and concluded that some bishops had tried to cover up abuse, putting the interests of the Catholic church ahead of those of the victims. Its report identified 320 people who complained of child sexual abuse between 1975 and 2004 in the Dublin archdiocese.

A cable entitled "Sex abuse scandal strains Irish-Vatican relations, shakes up Irish church, and poses challenges for the Holy See" claimed that Vatican officials also believed Irish opposition politicians were "making political hay" from the situation by publicly urging the government to demand a reply from the Vatican.

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2010 campaign included $132 million in ads from anonymous donors

Great job by the Supreme Court. They're helping deliver the best system that money can buy.

Independent groups that do not disclose the identity of their donors spent $132.5 million to influence elections nationwide this year, accounting for about a third of all spending by outside groups in the 2010 election cycle, a report released Friday found.

The analysis by the office of New York City Public Advocate Bill de Blasio aimed to quantify how federal campaigns had been affected by the Supreme Court's so-called Citizens United ruling. The ruling, handed down in January, cleared the way for companies and labor unions to spend unlimited funds to influence elections, often using money from anonymous donors.

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Very important person

While Paris was getting snow, I spent most of the week over in London, where it was quite cold and humid. For years I've been meaning to slip in a bit of touristy stuff but somehow never manage. This time, I scheduled the time to do a few walking tours. After freezing my way through a very cold walk of The Tower of London (which was great, but gruesome) I made it back to the British Museum for the first time since 1989. Back then, I was a grungy backpacker and didn't even know where to start. A tour in any museum like that always helps one squeeze in the highlights. I especially enjoyed the Assyrian frieze, the Elgin Marbles (which will be returned to Greece) and the Sutton Hoo pieces.

I also did an interesting walk of The City of London. This is the oldest part of London, where the Romans first settled. Today it's the banking/insurance district, so lots of flash cars and people like the pompous ass above. While I've been there many times for work, walking the old medieval streets and learning more about the history was fascinating. I had no idea there were so many old churches (or at least, walls of old churches) in that area. We also walked by the spot where the first coffee house was established in London. The coffee houses were the first places where trading took place in England. Maybe next year I need to find more time to squeeze in a few more walks. It's such a fantastic way to discover a new location. Read the rest of this post...

Assange now expects to be indicted by US

Isn't it interesting that they may be referencing the New York Times and the Pentagon Papers, as if that was destructive to society. That case was hardly a booming success, but in all likelihood this is about intimidating Assange. It's easy to see why many in Washington don't like their dirty laundry being aired out, though the public does deserve to know how and where their money is being spent.

Supporting alleged child sex slavery, cash grabs involving US taxpayer money, conspiring with China and corporate corruption, allies who support terrorism, consumer privacy, may be something the public deserves to know about. But then again, who really needs to know about any ugly details that Washington doesn't think the public should know about? They've been so right about everything else like the wars and Wall Street, so they know what's best for Americans. The Guardian:

Jennifer Robinson said her team had heard from "several different US lawyers rumours that an indictment was on its way or had happened already, but we don't know".

According to some reports, Washington is seeking to prosecute Assange under the 1917 act, which was used unsuccessfully to try to gag the New York Times when it published the Pentagon Papers in the 1970s. However, despite escalating rhetoric over the last fortnight, no charges have yet been lodged, and government sources say they are unaware any such move is being prepared.

Robinson said Assange's team did not believe the US had grounds to prosecute him but understood that Washington was "looking closely at other charges, such as computer charges, so we have one eye on it".

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