Aftermath News

Josef Fritzl: I did it for her own good

Telegraph | May 9, 2008

Josef Fritzl blames Nazis for crimes

By Andreas Sam in Vienna

Josef Fritzl, the Austrian father who kept his daughter locked in a dungeon for 24 years, has for the first time described in detail what motivated him to commit such horrific crimes and how he managed to keep them secret.

His explanations, which included bizarre claims that Nazis were responsible for fostering his twisted morality, were detailed by his lawyer after Fritzl wrote notes from his prison cell.

The 73-year-old said Hitler’s Germany had instilled “control and the respect of authority” in him, pushing him to imprisoning his daughter Elisabeth under his family home in Amstetten, west of Vienna, and fathering her seven children.

Blaming the Nazis for his attitudes, Fritzl wrote: “I have always had high regard for decency and uprightness. I was growing up in Nazi times, when hard discipline was a very important thing. I belong to an old school of thinking that just does not exist today.

“I grew up in the Nazi times and that meant there needed to be control and the respect of authority. I suppose I took on some of these old values with me into later life, all subconsciously, of course.”

Fritzl claimed that he had kidnapped the teenage Elisabeth to keep her away from alcohol and bad company. He also said he had “rescued” Elisabeth, who was then 18, to keep her from “going out to seedy bars” and “drinking and smoking.”

FULL STORY

Hart hails a “New World of globalization, eroding national sovereignty and a revolutionary changes in warfare.”

Why Is Gary Hart So Fearful Of Discussing His “New World Order”?

Prison Planet | Apr 30, 2008

CFR member contradictory, deceitful about context of term - ex-Senator repeats warning that Neo-Cons looking to stage incident as pretext to attack Iran

by Paul Joseph Watson

Note the black inverted pentagram behind him on the Democratic Leadership poster - PW

Former Senator Gary Hart seems to be having difficulties remembering his last lie because he fouled up again in his latest confrontation with We Are Change by reversing his assertion that he never used the term “new world order,” contradicting his previous falsehood, but still seemed fearful of discussing exactly what the term meant.

In the clip, Luke Rudkowski quotes Hart’s response to 9/11 at a September 12th Council on Foreign Relations in which he called for the disaster to be used to “make lemonade out of lemons” and create a “new world order”.

Hart lies by claiming the term was only used to highlight right-wing hostility to the phrase “new world order” which is completely false as you will see later and he also contradicts his previous response to the question in which he claimed to have never used the phrase “new world order” in his life.

Seemingly wary of the fact that a lot of people know exactly what “new world order” means now (global government, loss of sovereignty and individual liberty), Hart is frightened of admitting to using the phrase and refuses to discuss its meaning.

Full Story

The state’s juvenile prisons, group homes for the disabled, and state schools for people with mental disabilities all came under fire last year for reports of widespread physical and sexual abuse.

Dallas Morning News | May 4, 2008

By EMILY RAMSHAW

AUSTIN – Patients with severe mental illness are committed to Texas’ state psychiatric hospitals to be protected from themselves. Instead, some are suffering vicious abuse from the very caregivers hired to look after them.

And dozens more have participated in brutal beatings at the psychiatric hospitals since 2005, employee disciplinary reports show – using chokeholds, headlocks and threats of violence to restrain the patients under their watch.

In all, 72 employees across Texas’ 10 state mental hospitals have been fired in the last three years for allegations of physical abuse, according to a Dallas Morning News analysis of state personnel records. Hundreds more have been terminated for other violations, the records show, from sleeping on the job to over-medicating mentally ill patients.

State officials say there will always be some reports of abuse and neglect in an institutional setting. And they say they take any allegations of mistreatment seriously. But the records show that as in other state-run facilities, abuse and neglect are systemic.

The state’s juvenile prisons, group homes for the disabled, and state schools for people with mental disabilities all came under fire last year for reports of widespread physical and sexual abuse. The state psychiatric hospitals, like other systems for vulnerable Texans, are chronically starved for cash, advocates of more state funding say, and services at the local level can’t keep up.

“You get what you pay for,” said Rep. Garnet Coleman, D-Houston, who has bipolar disorder. “When you financially dumb something down, you make services cheap, something’s got to give. Unfortunately, it usually ends up being a mentally ill or disabled Texan.”

Officials with the Department of State Health Services, the agency that runs the psychiatric hospitals, say abuse and neglect are “absolutely not” pervasive – and verified cases are actually dropping.

In the last two years, they confirmed 15 “Class I” cases – the most serious abuse. On average, investigators substantiate 5 percent of the more than 2,000 allegations they examine annually. And 90 percent of patient deaths since 2005 were attributed to natural causes, agency spokesman Doug McBride said. Five were suicides, and none were the result of abuse.

“Keep in mind there are about 7,400 employees, 18,000 patient admissions and probably hundreds of thousands of staff-patient interactions in a year,” Mr. McBride said.

State officials acknowledge that the psychiatric hospitals are stressful environments; there are times, Mr. McBride said, when employees “do not handle a situation appropriately.” But they say the rules for reporting abuse and neglect are stringent – and confirmed cases of physical and sexual abuse are reported to police.

And they balk at the suggestion that conditions bear a resemblance to the state schools for people with mental disabilities, where the U.S. Justice Department has intervened twice in recent years.

The state psychiatric hospitals, which have about 2,500 patients daily, had 137 confirmed abuse cases in 2007. The state schools for people with disabilities, which have twice as many residents, have an average of 300 confirmed abuse cases per year.

But some advocates fear the mentally ill patients may face greater risks. Patients of the psychiatric hospitals are largely indigent, transient and not connected to their families, so they have few allies as they bounce through the mental health system.

“It’s a population that’s easy to abuse because they’re not on the radar in any way,” said Richard Hansen, a Texas mental health advocate who was chemically restrained, shackled and beaten to the point of broken ribs years ago while suffering from bipolar disorder in a New York mental hospital.

But there are few alternatives, advocates say, because smaller community-based services are as strapped as the state system.

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Was the DC Madam murdered to protect high officials in the US Government? Four out of four commentors on Fox News seem to agree.

Fox News: Alex Jones on DC Madam Palfrey’s Murder

Reuters Apr 29, 2008

BEIJING (Reuters) - Thousands of children in southwest China have been sold into slavery like “cabbages”, to work as labourers in more prosperous areas such as the booming southern province of Guangdong, a newspaper said on Tuesday.

China announced a nationwide crackdown on slavery and child labor last year after reports that hundreds of poor farmers, children and mentally disabled were forced to work in kilns and mines in Shanxi province and neighboring Henan.

“The bustling child labor market (in Sichuan province) was set up by the local chief foreman and his gang of 18 minor foremen, who each manage 50 to 100 child labourers,” the Southern Metropolis Newspaper said.

“The children generally fall between the ages of 13 and 15, but many look under 10,” it added.

The newspaper said 76 children from the same county, Liangshan, had been missing since the Chinese Lunar Year festival in February, 42 of whom had already left the region to work.

“The youngest kids found in the child labor market were only seven and nine years old,” it said.

According to a contract exposed by an undercover reporter, a child laborer is paid 3.5 yuan ($0.50) an hour and must work at least 300 hours a month.

“These kids are robust and can do the toughest work,” a foreman was quoted as saying, as he pulled a scrawny girl to stand beside him, the paper said.

Xinhua news agency said the county government had sent officials to rescue the children, but some were unwilling to leave, having been sold into slavery by their parents or volunteering to work themselves.

BBC | Apr 29, 2008

Police in Mozambique have been accused of killing and torturing people with near total impunity.

The human rights group Amnesty International has published a report saying the Mozambique police appear to think they have a licence to kill.

The group says officials have responded to rising crime rates with often lethal force, but that they almost never face criminal proceedings.

Police in the southern African nation refused to comment on the report.

Amnesty’s report was published just a day after Mozambique’s League for Human Rights said the country’s human rights situation had deteriorated in 2008.

Changes needed

“Police in Mozambique seem to think they have a licence to kill and the weak police accountability system allows for this,” said Michelle Kagari, deputy director of Amnesty’s Africa Programme, in the report, entitled “Licence to Kill”.

“In almost all cases of human rights violations by police - including unlawful killings - no investigation into the case and no disciplinary action against those responsible has been undertaken, nor has any police officer been prosecuted.”
Amnesty’s report highlights individual cases including that of Afonso Penicela, who was allegedly grabbed from his home by police, beaten up, shot in the back of the neck and set on fire.

He survived long enough to tell his family what had happened to him, before dying in hospital from his injuries.

No police officer has been arrested over Mr Penicela’s death.
In February, police opened fire on a group of people protesting in the capital Maputo about increased transport fares, Amnesty’s report says.

Three people were killed and around 30 injured in the incident.
Amnesty has recommended urgent changes to police codes to bring them into line with international standards.

The 18,000-member force in Congo is the UN’s largest peacekeeping operation. It has been plagued by sexual abuse and corruption scandals.

Telegraqh | Apr 29, 2008

By Our Foreign Staff

The United Nations covered up evidence that peacekeeping troops were involved in smuggling gold and ivory and trading arms with rebel fighters in the Democratic Republic of Congo, it has been claimed.

UN peacekeepers in Congo are accused of smuggling gold and trading in arms.

A BBC investigation claims to have obtained new witness accounts which contradict UN claims that no weapons transfers occurred.

The UN launched an investigation into the Pakistani and Indian peacekeepers after the allegations were first aired last year, and although there were indications that a Pakistani soldier had been involved in drug smuggling, no evidence of arms trading turned up.

The BBC’s Panorama programme, returning to the region to follow up its original report, said it found witnesses who backed claims of arms trading between the UN and militia in the mining town of Mongbwalu.

They said weapons were given to militias there to guard the perimeters of gold mines and to secure the region. A former militant, who was not named, told the BBC he saw seven boxes of ammunition being brought from a UN camp to resupply a militia called the Nationalist and Integrationist Front during a battle.

Former leaders of the militia jailed in the capital, Kinshasa, also claimed they received weapons from UN peacekeepers.

A previous BBC report also claimed that a separate contingent of Indian peacekeepers had flown a UN helicopter into Congo’s Virunga National Park to trade ammunition for ivory with a Rwandan rebel group whose commanders directed Rwanda’s 1994 genocide.

In July, the UN said it had opened an investigation into charges that Indian peacekeepers sold arms to Congolese militias near the Rwandan border.

The BBC said “confidential UN sources” said they had been blocked from thoroughly investigating the allegations of arms trading for “political reasons”, saying this suggested that reports were buried to avoid embarrassment to key allies in US anti-terrorism efforts and major contributors to UN missions.

The UN has said it was looking into charges that the probe by its internal watchdog, the Office of Internal Oversight Services, was obstructed by peacekeepers.

A UN spokesman in Congo said the BBC report did not appear to raise new allegations, and added that investigations are continuing into accusations of misconduct. “It is clear that there were cases of unacceptable conduct by individuals, but there is no proof to establish the traffic mentioned,” said Kemal Saiki, a spokesman.

He said UN investigations had yet to turn up “irrefutable proof” of weapons or munitions transfers. Pakistan denied the previous allegations against its peacekeepers, and spokesmen for the country’s Foreign Ministry and its military could not be reached for comment on the latest claims.

The Indian Army told the BBC that the previous UN probe showed nearly all allegations were based on hearsay.

The 18,000-member force in Congo is the UN’s largest peacekeeping operation. It has been plagued by sexual abuse and corruption scandals.

The Guardian | April 22, 2008

Elana Schor in Washington

The US army doubled its use of “moral waivers” for enlisted soldiers last year to cope with the demands of the Iraq war, allowing sex offenders, people convicted of making terrorist threats, and child abusers into the military, new records released yesterday showed.

The army gave out 511 moral waivers to soldiers with felony convictions last year. Criminals got 249 army waivers in 2006, a sign that the demand for US forces in Iraq has forced a sharp increase in the number of criminals allowed on the battlefield.

The felons accepted into the army and marines included 87 soldiers convicted of assault or maiming, 130 convicted of non-cannabis-related drug offences, seven convicted of making terrorist threats, and two convicted of indecent behaviour with a child. Waivers were also granted to 500 burglars and thieves, 19 arsonists and nine sex offenders.

The new data were released by the oversight committee of the House of Representatives. Henry Waxman, the Democratic chairman of the oversight panel, said that while “providing opportunities to individuals who have served their sentences and rehabilitated themselves” is important, the waivers are a sign that the US military is stretched too thin.

The number of moral waivers in the military, mostly for misdemeanours such as speeding fines, reached 34,476 in 2006, or nearly 20% of all enlisted soldiers, according to the Palm Centre at the University of California. Recruits with felony convictions are more likely than other soldiers to drop out or be released from the military.

More than one felony conviction disqualifies recruits from the army or marines, but the navy and air force can admit those with multiple offences.

Bloomberg | Apr 21, 2008

By Jim Kennett

April 21 (Bloomberg) — Halliburton Co., the world’s second-largest oilfield contractor, said profit rose 5.8 percent after crude topped $100 a barrel, prompting producers to increase spending on Middle East and Latin American projects.

The number of drilling rigs active outside North America rose 6.5 percent as New York oil futures traded 68 percent higher than a year earlier. Revenue jumped 18 percent to $4.03 billion as sales gains outside North America made up for pricing pressures in the U.S., Halliburton said.

“The story with Halliburton is international, and the international story is supported by sharply higher oil prices,” said Gene Pisasale, who helps oversee $25 billion in assets, including about 682,000 Halliburton shares, at PNC Capital Advisors in Baltimore. “That bodes well for international exploration, much of which is oil-oriented.”

Competition from rival oilfield contractors is affecting the prices Halliburton can charge on long-term projects in such markets as the Middle East and West Africa, Chief Executive Officer David Lesar told investors on a conference call. Losing a bid can mean the company is out of business in that region for a number of years, he said.

Margin Concerns

Those comments and concern over rising diesel costs, which are narrowing profit margins on some well services, held back Halliburton’s shares today, said Mark Urness, an analyst at Calyon Securities USA Inc. in New York.

Halliburton rose 3 cents to $47.46 in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. All but five companies in the 15- member Philadelphia Oil Service Sector Index had bigger gains. Schlumberger Ltd., the biggest oilfield contractor, climbed 5 percent.

Halliburton’s per-share profit matched the average of 10 analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Earnings from the company’s largest division, which helps clients maximize production from established fields, rose 11 percent.

Demand strength in the Middle East and Latin America made up for a 2 percent decline in North American business and a “relatively flat” environment in Europe, Africa and the former Soviet Union, Halliburton said.

`Next Leg Up’

Lesar, 54, said more demand growth is coming. “The fundamentals of the world oil and gas market are projecting that the next leg up in the extended cycle is near,” he said in the statement.

Schlumberger, based in Houston and Paris, on April 18 reported a 13 percent gain in first-quarter net income. Baker Hughes Inc., the No. 3 oilfield-services company, is scheduled to report its results tomorrow.

Halliburton’s profit from drilling and evaluation services climbed 6.1 percent. The segment includes drill-bits, drilling fluids and directional drilling, which allows a customer to change the direction of a well to target a reservoir.

Worldwide, the number of active rigs rose 2.4 percent from a year earlier, with most of the gains occurring in South America and the Eastern Hemisphere, according to a count by Baker Hughes. North American drilling activity climbed 1.4 percent, driven by a 2.1 percent increase in the U.S.

International Expansion

Halliburton is adding research and training centers from Russia to Singapore as it diversifies away from North America, which accounted for 47 percent of revenue last year. U.S. and Canadian business is dominated by regional natural-gas markets, where weather can cause prices to surge or plummet.

Lesar splits his time between the U.S. and Halliburton’s regional corporate headquarters in Dubai. The Eastern Hemisphere accounted for 41 percent of Halliburton’s first-quarter revenue. Lesar has said he’d like the region ultimately to account for half of sales.

Halliburton derived 54 percent of its profit from North America in the first quarter, down from 58 percent a year earlier. Latin American operations had a 45 percent increase in earnings. Brazil’s recent deepwater discoveries, fields called Tupi and Carioca, will fuel increased spending by oil companies, PNC’s Pisasale said.

“With the recent developments in Brazil, you’re going to see a lot more activity down there,” he said. “The Tupi and the Carioca discoveries, which are particularly huge, multibillion-barrel fields, bode well for service companies like Halliburton and Schlumberger.”

State Oil Companies

Overseas work is being driven by government-owned oil companies that increasingly hire Halliburton and other services providers to do work previously done by international oil companies like Exxon Mobil Corp. Service companies work under contracts, while oil companies take a stake in the field being developed.

Halliburton’s work with state oil companies includes a three-year contract to drill wells at Saudi Arabia’s massive Khurais project and a three-year deal with Mexico awarded in January. Today, the company announced a contract for the offshore portion of Saudi Arabia’s Manifa oil project.

Halliburton is the largest oilfield contractor in North America and the largest provider of so-called pressure pumping, which injects water or sand into rock formations to make gas flow more easily.

Increased competition cut into pricing for pressure pumping, or fracturing as it is sometimes called, in the past two quarters, according to Halliburton.

Gulf Daily | Apr 19, 2008

WASHINGTON: Pope Benedict yesterday chided Americans for a moral breakdown he said had fuelled the church’s child sex abuse scandal, as he addressed the paedophile priest scandal that has rocked the US church.

In a speech to US Catholic bishops, the pontiff berated the bishops for their poor handling of a scandal surrounding sexual abuse of children in the church.

But he urged efforts “to address the sin of abuse within the wider context of sexual mores” as well as a reassessment of “the values underpinning society.”

“What does it mean to speak of child protection when pornography and violence can be viewed in so many homes through media widely available today?” the pontiff said on the first full day of his US visit.

“Children deserve to grow up with a healthy understanding of sexuality and its proper place in human relationships. They should be spared the degrading manifestations and the crude manipulation of sexuality so prevalent today.”

Describing clerics who sexually abuse children as “gravely immoral,” the octogenarian Pope warned that the scourge of paedophilia “is found not only in your dioceses but in every sector of society.” “It calls for a determined, collective response,” he said, but did not outline any firm action that the Vatican intended to take to purge the church of paedophile priests.

At the first public Mass of his US pilgrimage at the National Park stadium in Washington, he however, praised the United States as a land of opportunity and hope, though he lamented that the America’s promise fell short for Indians and blacks.

Hope for the future, he said, “is very much a part of the American character.”

Tens of thousands of worshippers filled a stadium on a clear spring day and cheered Benedict as he arrived in a white popemobile, standing in the back and waving. A crowd of 46,000 was expected, and the demand for tickets doubled the supply, organisers said.

The Pope, wearing scarlet vestments, led the service from an altar erected in the middle of the recently inaugurated baseball stadium. Rows of red-robed church leaders joined him. In brilliant spring sunshine, the pope walked down from the altar to distribute Holy Communion near the end of Mass.

“Americans have always been a people of hope,” he said during his homily. “Your ancestors came to this country with the experience of finding new freedom and opportunity.”

The US Catholic church plunged into its worst crisis in 200 years in 2002 when the archbishop of Boston confessed he had protected a priest who had sexually abused young members of his church - opening a floodgate of thousands of similar abuse cases around the country dating back decades.

Benedict angered victim support groups by praising the bishops’ efforts to heal the wounds from the scandal.

“The Pope continues to stand behind his men - the bishops who conceal clergy sex crimes,” said a Survivors Network for those Abused by Priests member, Joelle Casteix.

Related

Pope ‘led cover-up of child abuse by priests’

Pope ‘obstructed’ sex abuse inquiry
Confidential letter reveals Ratzinger ordered bishops to keep allegations secret

Pope says clergy abuse scandal sometimes ‘badly handled’