Nightowl Newswrap

post from They gave us a republic... - Front Page on 20 July 2012 01:00:00 AM. © They gave us a republic... - Front Page

Sanctions probably wouldn't have accomplished much, but the vetoes gave Assad a moral victory. "Russia and China have vetoed a UN Security Council resolution that threatened Syrian authorities with sanctions over use of deadly force against civilians in the ongoing conflict."

The austerity that has Spain in flames is what the Grand Bargainers have planned for us. "Tens of thousands of public employees, trade union members and other Spaniards are marching in 80 Spanish cities to protest the latest batch of austerity measures approved by the government."

World's youngest democracy has no trouble convicting former leader for crimes; why can't one of the world's oldest do it? "Tunisia's ex-strongman Zine El Abidine Ben Ali has been sentenced in absentia to life in prison for complicity in the murders of 43 protesters in the 2011 revolution that toppled him, a military judge has said."

Yes, we have redistribution of wealth - in the wrong direction "The bottom 50 percent of American households hold just 1.1 percent of the nation's wealth, after its share declined steadily following the financial crisis, a report from the nonpartisan Congressional Research Service found."

Seriously, don't eat here - it's worse than fucking walmart: homophobes and liars. "On Monday, a Baptist Press story quoted Chick-fil-A's president Dan Cathy admitting his company's anti-gay ideology - a stance the company previously attempted to deny. But after two days of Cathy boasting about the story, the company's Facebook page now features a message flatly contradicting its head. In his interview with the Baptist Press, Cathy admitted that the company indeed has an anti-gay political agenda."

In fact, boycott all these Reichwing-supporting fuckers. "Many of the country's most common brands are run by rich conservatives who are using their personal wealth to bankroll outside spending groups that are running attack ads smearing progressives. From Marriott Hotels to Brawny paper towels, and from the Los Angeles Lakers to the Coachella music festival, corporate executives at these organizations have given millions of dollars to groups like Mitt Romney's Super PAC Restore Our Future."

That's because RMoney's policies would explode the debt. "Given a chance to talk about the economy this morning, though, a Romney adviser failed to deliver specifics about how his plan would boost economic growth while also balancing the budget, as Romney claims he will do."

How to make two failing states worse: Syria-Iraq border violence. "Syrian rebels have captured a number of positions on the country's borders with Turkey and Iraq."

And finally...

We're glad, but we wonder how long they'll last after the Taliban return "The British Museum has assisted in the return of 843 artefacts to Afghanistan, almost 20 years after they were stolen or smuggled abroad. The items include examples of the Begram Ivories, seen at the British Museum's Afghanistan 2011 exhibition, and an important sculpture of Buddha. Both were stolen from the National Museum of Afghanistan during its civil war and ended up on the black market. The artefacts were passed to the museum for safekeeping, ahead of their return. The items were seized by customs officials and the Art and Antiques Unit of the Metropolitan Police as they passed through Britain, presumably for sale on the black market. All the artefacts were identified by experts at the museum. Other objects - some of which were saved by private individuals - include Bronze Age carvings and medieval Islamic coins. Neil MacGregor, director of the British Museum, said the pieces' restitution was "the outcome of the ongoing dialogue between our cultural institutions, as well as the support of the authorities, to identify and preserve items from the national collection of Afghanistan that had been illegally removed during years of conflict". Assisted by the Royal Air Force, the collection left the UK last week, bound for Kabul, via the army base in Helmand."