Short takes

NOTE: Expatica changes their links. Use this one.
Euthanasia by any other name.
There's a fine line between Euthanasia and "terminal sedation" that is worrying to Dutch medical officials.

According to the Rotterdam researchers, 43.8 percent of patient deaths in the Netherlands are the result of a "medical decision.

Medical decision = euthanasia and terminal sedation combined. A horrifying number.

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Non!
More German publications are electing to provide English language editions. That must aggravate the French to no end.

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Humanitarian Swindle
Why?

EU has pledged more than $260 million (€216 million) to help refugees and that Germany also has earmarked more than $105 million for the reconstruction of Sudan after a peace agreement is signed.

Sudan is an oil-exporting country that could, and should, provide for her own needs.
Note the escalation of the number of people in need in the part about UN food Program needs more money.

Ed: It's hard to avoid the conclusion that international humanitarian aid is a means to launder money for donating countries. It would be interesting if someone added up the billions the U.N. has collected in the last five years alone, money purportedly spent but never audited or accounted for.

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Tell us what you really think
What are the the "political ulterior motives" alluded to in this damning assessment of the international community's response in Sudan.

Instead, Darfur has tragically revealed the international community's impotence. Consistently turning a blind eye, underestimating, playing down and ignoring the actual situation, combined with pursuing individual interests provided the catastrophe in Darfur with a devastating backdrop.

And,

Another lesson shows that the international community can only intervene energetically in crises such as in Darfur when it isn't weighed down by internal rivalries. The tragedy in Darfur was also substantially influenced not by international ignorance, but by opposing political, economic and cultural interests.