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Pakistan: Six charity workers shot dead
Today's Headlines
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Page 6: Politix
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
NYPD: Couple Not Terrorists, Just Rich Kid Junkies
Investigators say they believe 27-year-old Morgan Gliedman and 31-year-old Aaron Greene are just two more products of privilege squandering their advantages on drugs.

"It looks like they're junkies," a high-level police source says. "Well-to-do junkies, not terrorists."

Indeed, in the first days of the investigation police reached the tentative conclusion that the explosives and weapons were just part of a drug-fueled, twisted sense of what constitutes cool. A neighbor lends credence to the police view when he adds, "There was always a heavy cloud of smoke emanating from the place, and one got the sense that they were both heavily into drugs."

Green's personal hygiene, cops say, is what might have been expected of a junkie."To be honest, you could smell him before you saw him," the neighbor says.

By midday Sunday, police had reached the tentative conclusion that the explosives and weapons were part of some drug-fueled fantasy life. To cops, Greene appears to be living proof that going to Harvard does not necessarily make you any less a knucklehead. As for Gliedman, it may turn out that the raid on the apartment was the best thing that could have happened for her child, who can now expect to begin life in the New Year away from explosives and guns.
So it's "move it along, nuthin to see here" time. Made official by the fact that the Times actually had something on it this morning...
But we could still give then ten years each just for being rich, spoiled morons with explosives...
Posted by: tu3031 || 01/01/2013 13:02 || Comments || Link || [336117 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A "Drug-fueled fantasy life" seems to have been a strong factor in most of the mass murders of recent years, to the point where I think the ones where I haven't heard it's a factor are only the ones where it's been suppressed.

In addition to that, there seems to be a strong overlap between drug use and terrorism, as well as drug trafficking and terrorism, not to mention drug manufacturing and terrorism...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 01/01/2013 14:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Good precendent for some future defense: just junkies who thought explosives were kewl, dood.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 01/01/2013 15:21 Comments || Top||

#3  ...products of privilege squandering their advantages on drugs.

Self-Radicalized
Posted by: DepotGuy || 01/01/2013 15:55 Comments || Top||

#4  saw an interesting article about "Non Mariuana" that tells much about Addiction, available in all gas stations.

It's NOT grass and not sold as grass, so it's legal(For Now)BUT still Smokable, and still gets you HIGH, So Kinda slips by the Radar.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 01/01/2013 16:31 Comments || Top||

#5  Salvia
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2013 18:35 Comments || Top||

#6  Stop droolin
Posted by: Shipman || 01/01/2013 19:57 Comments || Top||

#7  never touched it/smoked it myself. I know the Navy had a big cleanup about it
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2013 20:59 Comments || Top||

#8  Yep. Booted out three sailors last year at my command for using it.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/01/2013 21:32 Comments || Top||

#9  police also found the makings for more of the stuff, as well as a sawed-off 12-gauge Mossberg 500 shotgun, a Ruger 12-gauge shotgun, a dozen 12-gauge shotgun shells, 9 high-capacity rifle magazines, and 60 5.56-caliber tracer rounds. There was also a 37mm flare launcher, a replica of a M203 grenade launcher.

Plus a whole pile of manuals and books. That's a lot of initiative for 'junkies' whose main focus oscillates between being high and trying to get high. Maybe the cops are using 'junkie' as a generic term for druggies, but I'm not buying it. Definitely a "nothing to see here" cover story.
Posted by: SteveS || 01/01/2013 22:05 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Israel will cease to exist within a decade, says Muslim Brotherhood official
A senior Muslim Brotherhood official has said that Israel will cease to exist within a decade, the latest in a series of inflammatory comments by figures close to Egypt's Mohammed Morsi.

Essam el-Erian, deputy head of the Brotherhood's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, was trying to lay to rest a controversy over comments he made in an interview last week, in which he invited Egyptian-born Jews to return to the country.

In an interview with the Saudi-backed newspaper Al-Sharq al-Awsat, Mr Erian said that the "ideology of Zionism" had ended in failure and that "Palestine's occupiers" should leave to make way for the return of Palestinians.

"Jewish occupiers of the territory of historic Palestine are an obstacle to the Palestinians' right of return," he said. "Anyone who can read the future can see that this project has a decade, less than a decade to go, and it is our faith that the people of Palestine can then return to Palestine."

He said a future state would include Muslim, Christians, Jews and Druze as Palestinian citizens.
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 19:32 || Comments || Link || [336118 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Israel will cease to exist within a decade, says Muslim Brotherhood official

Yeah, but if it comes to that, Snookums, they're takin' you with 'em.

Mike

Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 01/01/2013 20:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Prolly the same time [2025?] that China + PLA conquer Okinawa from Japan + US ...

To wit,

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > US PENTAGON TO COMPLETE MISSLE DEFENSE ISOLATION OF CHINA BY 2017.

* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > EX-JGSDF GENERAL YANO YOSHIAKI: CHINA'S PLA WILL NEED 15 DAYS TO CAPTURE OKINAWA IN A FULL-SCALE CONVENTIONAL WAR DESPITE STUBBORN MILITARY RESISTANCE FROM JSDF + INTERVENTION BY US FORCES. "2025 CHINESE OCCUPATION OF OKINAWA" REPORT - DENOTES HEAVY USE OF CONVENTIONAL AIRPOWER + MISSLE-BASED SATURATION STRIKES/BARRAGES BY CHINA AGZ OKINAWA AND MAINLAND JAPAN.

MAP = Military, Civilian areas all around Japan are possible targets for China + PLA.

* Also from SAME > EXPERTS: RUSSIA TO CONSIDER ONLY ITS OWN INTERESTS IN EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC, RUSSIA UNLIKELY TO INTERVENE OR FIGHT THE US in NE ASIA OVER CHINA, JAPAN-CLAIMED ISLANDS.

Read, UNLESS THE US + CHINA + JAPAN, etc. DOES SOMETHING STUPID.

* SAME > ZHANG ZHAOZHONG: CHINA MUST USE ITS MILITARY AIRCRAFT TO BREAK JAPAN'S ILLEGAL AIR DEFENSE IDENTIFICATION ZONES AROUND THE DISPUTED DAOYUS, CHINA CANNOT ALLOW THE US TO SURROUND IT WID ADVANCED STEALTH BOMBER, STRIKE AIRCRAFT.

* SAME > RUSSIAN VETERANS: CHINESE ECONOMIC WORKERS IN MONGOLIA DO A BETTER JOB ON TIGHT BORDER SECURITY THAN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA. MONGOLIA SLOWLY TURNING INTO A DISPUTE ZONE DUE TO SINO-RUSSIAN FREE TRADE.

Another TOO-MANY-CHINESE-IN-SIBERIA "SIBERIA" SCENARIO FOR RUSSIA IN MONGOLIA???

* SAME > RETIRED RUSSIAN MAJOR GENERAL: CHINA WANTS TO TAKE BACK RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES [Siberia + RFE]. RUSSIA SHOULD USE INDIA, VIETNAM, + JAPAN TO CONTAIN CHINA.

* SAME > CHINA'S FEAR OF US-JAPAN AXIS IN DAOYU ISLANDS DISPUTE WILL INDUCE CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT OF A MODERN AND POWERFUL CHINESE AIR FORCE. PLAAF STUDYING EMPLOYMENT AND CAMPAIGNS OF US, WESTERN AIR FORCES DURING US-LED "OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/STORM", ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAQI AND SYRIAN NUCLEAR REACTORS, US INVASION OF PANAMA, + WAR ON TERROR [2003 Iraqi Freedom, Drones].

* WAFF > JAPAN'S NEW PM [Shinzo Abe] TO TAKE KURILE ISLANDS AWAY FROM RUSSIA.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > US IS THE DEVIL BEHIND THE PROBLEMS CHINA FACES IN ASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/02/2013 0:14 Comments || Top||

#3  Prolly the same time [2025?] that China + PLA conquer Okinawa from Japan + US ...

To wit,

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > US PENTAGON TO COMPLETE MISSLE DEFENSE ISOLATION OF CHINA BY 2017.

* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > EX-JGSDF GENERAL YANO YOSHIAKI: CHINA'S PLA WILL NEED 15 DAYS TO CAPTURE OKINAWA IN A FULL-SCALE CONVENTIONAL WAR DESPITE STUBBORN MILITARY RESISTANCE FROM JSDF + INTERVENTION BY US FORCES. "2025 CHINESE OCCUPATION OF OKINAWA" REPORT - DENOTES HEAVY USE OF CONVENTIONAL AIRPOWER + MISSLE-BASED SATURATION STRIKES/BARRAGES BY CHINA AGZ OKINAWA AND MAINLAND JAPAN.

MAP = Military, Civilian areas all around Japan are possible targets for China + PLA.

* Also from SAME > EXPERTS: RUSSIA TO CONSIDER ONLY ITS OWN INTERESTS IN EAST ASIA AND PACIFIC, RUSSIA UNLIKELY TO INTERVENE OR FIGHT THE US in NE ASIA OVER CHINA, JAPAN-CLAIMED ISLANDS.

Read, UNLESS THE US + CHINA + JAPAN, etc. DOES SOMETHING STUPID.

* SAME > ZHANG ZHAOZHONG: CHINA MUST USE ITS MILITARY AIRCRAFT TO BREAK JAPAN'S ILLEGAL AIR DEFENSE IDENTIFICATION ZONES AROUND THE DISPUTED DAOYUS, CHINA CANNOT ALLOW THE US TO SURROUND IT WID ADVANCED STEALTH BOMBER, STRIKE AIRCRAFT.

* SAME > RUSSIAN VETERANS: CHINESE ECONOMIC WORKERS IN MONGOLIA DO A BETTER JOB ON TIGHT BORDER SECURITY THAN POST-SOVIET RUSSIA. MONGOLIA SLOWLY TURNING INTO A DISPUTE ZONE DUE TO SINO-RUSSIAN FREE TRADE.

Another TOO-MANY-CHINESE-IN-SIBERIA "SIBERIA" SCENARIO FOR RUSSIA IN MONGOLIA???

* SAME > RETIRED RUSSIAN MAJOR GENERAL: CHINA WANTS TO TAKE BACK RUSSIAN-OCCUPIED TERRITORIES [Siberia + RFE]. RUSSIA SHOULD USE INDIA, VIETNAM, + JAPAN TO CONTAIN CHINA.

* SAME > CHINA'S FEAR OF US-JAPAN AXIS IN DAOYU ISLANDS DISPUTE WILL INDUCE CHINA'S DEVELOPMENT OF A MODERN AND POWERFUL CHINESE AIR FORCE. PLAAF STUDYING EMPLOYMENT AND CAMPAIGNS OF US, WESTERN AIR FORCES DURING US-LED "OPERATION DESERT SHIELD/STORM", ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAQI AND SYRIAN NUCLEAR REACTORS, US INVASION OF PANAMA, + WAR ON TERROR [2003 Iraqi Freedom, Drones].

* WAFF > JAPAN'S NEW PM [Shinzo Abe] TO TAKE KURILE ISLANDS AWAY FROM RUSSIA.

* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > US IS THE DEVIL BEHIND THE PROBLEMS CHINA FACES IN ASIA.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/02/2013 0:14 Comments || Top||


Egypt's largest ultraconservative party splits
Splitters!
The leader of Egypt's largest Islamist ultraconservative party has announced he is forming a new political party, splitting from the Salafi Al-Nour party, which has emerged as the country's second strongest political group.

Al-Nour has been locked in an internal power struggle since October because its leaders disagreed over the role of a body of clerics in the party's politics.
We wear the curly-toed slippers!
Emad Abdel-Ghaffour, who headed al-Nour, said Tuesday he is forming the Al-Watan (Homeland) party and "opening a new page."
"bring me a page. A young one, with cherubic cheeks!"
Abdel-Ghaffour, also a presidential adviser, has been an advocate of separating the party from the Salafi clerical body which backed the party's creation. He has the backing of key Salafi clerics and politicians.
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2013 14:41 || Comments || Link || [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I dislike seeing these wackjobs described as "conservative."
Posted by: Iblis || 01/01/2013 18:15 Comments || Top||

#2  The DMM loves it and prefers that language...
Posted by: Steve White || 01/01/2013 18:56 Comments || Top||


Arabia
UAE state security detains 10 over Muslim Brotherhood links
State security in the UAE have detained more than 10 people, including three doctors, accused of having links to the Muslim Brotherood in Egypt.

The Sharjah-based Al Khaleej newspaper quoted an "authorised source" as saying that state security had been monitoring the men's movements for several years, and believed they had formed their own network in the UAE.

The source said they were organising well-planned and organised activities "on state land". They held secret meetings in various "administrative offices" around the country and recruiting UAE-based Egyptians to their organisation.

The group is also said to have set up UAE companies to support it financially, collecting large sums of money to send illegally to its parent organsiation in Egypt.

It is also believed to have collected confidential information about the UAE's defence capabilities.

UAE state security found a close relationship between the group and the Muslim Brotherhood in Egypt. There was continuous coordination between the two, secret meetings, and exchange of classified information.

The group also organised many lectures about elections and ways to change Arab regimes.

Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 08:21 || Comments || Link || [336079 views] Top|| File under:


Al-Jadeed TV airs Saudi cleric giving fatwa allowing Syrian Jihadis to rape
Cultures have a multiplicity of words for the things most important to them. Ick.
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 01:15 || Comments || Link || [336091 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Terror suspect absconds while being monitored
Ibrahim Magag absconded on Boxing Day after failing to show up at the address where he must spend the night under the conditions of his Terrorism Prevention and Investigation Measures (Tpims) notice.

The 28-year-old is the first person to go missing while subject to a Tpims notice, a monitoring system that replaced control orders.

The notice was imposed on him in court to prevent him from fundraising and travelling overseas but it is now feared the Somali could have tried to flee the country.

Magag is described as a 6ft 2in black man of slim to medium build. He has a beard, but detectives warned he may try to change his appearance.

He was last seen in the Camden area of north London at 5.20pm on December 26 wearing a khaki robe, a black Berghaus windcheater and navy Converse trainers.

The suspect’s identity had not previously been revealed as those subject to a Tpims notice are normally permitted to retain their anonymity.

But on the advice of police, Theresa May, the Home Secretary, yesterday applied to the High Court for his anonymity to be lifted to help with the investigation.

Police have alerted borders agencies to Magag’s disappearance in case he tries to leave the country and travel to his native Somalia or elsewhere.

But Magag was not considered “at this time” to represent a direct threat to the British public, the Met spokesman said.
Posted by: lotp || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  in case he tries to leave the country and travel to his native Somalia

They could offer him a free ticket and be way ahead.
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/01/2013 9:11 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
N. Korea's Kim Calls for More Weapons, End to Confrontation
"Stop confronting me. You wouldn't like me when I'm confronted."
North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has used a New Year speech to call for the development of more advanced weapons, as well as an "end to confrontation" on the Korean peninsula.

In the surprise address broadcast Tuesday on state television, Kim called on his country to hold fast "to the ideals of independence, peace and friendship."

"This year, the entire Korean nation should turn out in a nationwide patriotic struggle for reunification in unity so as to usher in a new phase in the reunification movement," he said. "An important issue in putting an end to the division of the country and achieving reunification is to remove confrontation between the north and the south."

Kim, whose government provoked international condemnation by carrying out a successful long-range rocket launch in December, also called for the development of more "cutting edge arms and equipment."

The speech was the first televised New Year address by a North Korean leader in 19 years. During the leadership of Kim's late father, Kim Jong Il, the New Year message was delivered in the form of a state media editorial.

Kim's speech also called for an improvement in living standards in the impoverished communist country. He said bolstering farming would "provide the people with a better, more bountiful diet."

"Becoming an economic power is the most important task in our efforts to follow our great work of establishing a strong communist country," he said.

But he made no mention of his country's nuclear weapons program, which has landed in the country under devastating international sanctions.
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 07:30 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kim's speech also called for an improvement in living standards in the impoverished communist country. He said bolstering farming would "provide the people with a better, more bountiful diet."

"until then, we will broadcast video of me gorging. That will have to suffice"
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2013 9:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Failed state leaders always have such nice speeches.
Posted by: DarthVader || 01/01/2013 10:14 Comments || Top||

#3  I've been expecting this for a while - IMO the Kim family + Pyongyang Boyz well-recognize that China's econ influence in their country will increase wid the new Sino-DPRK FTAS, hence also China's political + military influence in time.
IN SHORT, THE DYNASTY + DPRK-SPECIFIC COMMIE PARTY'S DAYS ARE NUMBERED, NATURALLY OR FORCIBLY, UNLESS SOMETHING CHANGES N-O-W, NOT TOMORROW.

The DPRK desires German-style peaceful reunification, but at the same time demand that the DPRK Commie Party be guaranteed permaNent half-share or more in the post-reunification inter-Korean Govt. IOW, THE KIMMIES + PYONGYANG BOYZ PER SE WILL COVERTLY INDIRECTLY CONTROL ANY REUNIFICATION GOVT = SOUTH KOREA, WHICH THE ROK'S DEMOCRATIC SOCIALISTS ARE AGAINST.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 01/01/2013 18:56 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Report: Turkey, Jailed Kurd Leader Discuss Disarmament
[An Nahar] Turkey's intelligence agency has discussed the issue of disarmament with the incarcerated
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
Kurdish leader in a bid to bring an end to the nearly three-decade old insurgency, a newspaper reported on Monday.

Officials from the National Intelligence Organization (MIT) held a four-hour meeting with Abdullah Ocalan on December 23 to urge outlawed Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) Orcs and similar vermin to lay down their arms, the Hurriyet newspaper reported.

But Ocalan demanded that he must have a direct contact with the PKK and his detention conditions must be improved, according to the paper.

Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said in a televised interview Friday that his agents were meeting with Ocalan, who is being held in solitary confinement on a remote island prison off Istanbul.

"I cannot hold such meetings myself as a politician but the state has agents ... and they do (hold talks)," Erdogan told the state-run TRT television.

"The meetings on the island are still under way because we must get a result. If we see a light (for a result), we continue to take steps," he said, referring to the meetings with Ocalan.

Ankara initiated clandestine talks with the prominent figures of the rebel group in 2009 to negotiate peace, but the talks failed.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336070 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Levies men executed by abductors of ex-ISI officers
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 06:33 || Comments || Link || [336093 views] Top|| File under:


Bashir's assassination united the nation: Ghulam Bilour
[Dawn] Federal Railways Minister Ghulam Bilour, elder brother of assassinated minister Bashir Bilour, on Monday said his brother’s liquidation had united the nation, DawnNews reported.
Ghulam's the guy that offered $100,000 for the assassination of the guys who made a movie making fun of The Profit (PTUI)...
Speaking at a public gathering in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, the federal minister said although the Pak Taliban had taken his brother’s life, they would not be able to evade the consequences.

During the course of the gathering called to commemorate Bashir Bilour, the federal minister said he could not be intimidated, nor would he cave in before the Taliban.

He added that the reaction in the wake of Bashir Bilour’s death had shaken the Taliban.

On the occasion, Awami National Party (ANP) chief Asfandyar Wali Khan paid tribute to the assassinated minister, adding that, Bashir Bilour was a brave man who would be the first to reach the site of a blast.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336074 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Iraq
Iraq Demands End to 'Illegitimate' Demos
[An Nahar] The Iraqi authorities on Monday called for an end to what a bigwig said were illegal and illegitimate protest rallies in Sunni-majority provinces that have cut key trade routes.

The remarks released by the office of Ali al-Alaak, cabinet secretary general, came as protests blocking a key highway linking Iraq to Syria and Jordan entered a ninth day and authorities north of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
declared general strikes.

The protests were sparked by the arrest on December 20 of at least nine of Finance Minister Rafa al-Essawi's guards, and have spurred allegations that the Shiite-led government uses anti-terror legislation to target the Sunni minority.

A statement posted on Alaak's office website acknowledged that the constitution guaranteed freedom of expression, assembly and dissent, but added that such freedoms must be practiced "in a way that does not oppose public order."

"These should not be carried out without the knowledge of authorities and their permission," it said. "What is happening now... is breaking the law and the constitution."

It said government employees must disregard a call from provincial authorities for a general strike aimed at pushing for the release of prisoners.

"All government offices in the provinces should not obey these illegitimate orders, or they will be held legally responsible," it said.

Nineveh province's three-day general strike extends to Tuesday, while Samarra, in Salaheddin province, began its own strike on Monday.

Protesters in Anbar province, meanwhile, blocked off the country's main highway to Syria and Jordan for a ninth straight day.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336087 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel: Ex-Soldier Detained in Egypt
There are fools and idiots everywhere.
A former Israeli soldier, 24, known in Israel for his pro-Palestinian activism and radical views, was detained in Egypt, apparently having entered the country without travel documents, Israeli news media reported on Monday. The man, identified as Andrey Pshenichnikov, was recently detained in Israel after residing for a while in a Palestinian refugee camp in the West Bank; he was charged with entering Palestinian territory, which is off limits to Israeli citizens. After his release he told the newspaper Haaretz that he supported the armed Palestinian resistance. Israeli Foreign Ministry officials said that they had requested information from the Egyptian authorities and were awaiting a response. Citing unnamed Egyptian officials, The Associated Press reported that Mr. Pshenichnikov was trying to reach Gaza through Sinai to fight alongside Palestinians.
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  let him go.



P.S. Gazooks? he's a Zionist spy
Posted by: Frank G || 01/01/2013 10:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Darwin Award awaits...
Posted by: PBMcL || 01/01/2013 11:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Andrey Pshenichnikov? Unfortunagtely American adoption is no longer an option. You can keep him Egypt.
Posted by: Besoeker || 01/01/2013 12:13 Comments || Top||


Nablus Palestinians Protest against PM Fayyad
[An Nahar] Nearly 300 Paleostinians staged a demonstration in the northern West Bank town of Nablus Monday, protesting against the economic situation and against Paleostinian prime minister Salam Fayyad
...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either...
An Agence La Belle France Presse correspondent said the protest came after Fayyad on Sunday announced that the Paleostinian Authority would as of 2013 enforce the payment of electricity bills by refugee camp residents, who have so far not had to pay them.

The demonstrators rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud accusing Fayyad of "starving" them, the correspondent said, and one protester tried to set himself on fire.

The government of the West Bank has been mired for months in financial crisis. Earlier this month Paleostinian government employees across the West Bank went on strike over unpaid salaries.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336078 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ahmadinejad Slams Pressure to Impose Islamic Values
[An Nahar] Iran's diminutive President Mahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad has again spoken out against the use of pressure to impose Islamic values on people, especially university candidates, media reported on Monday.

"You cannot impose things by issuing decrees and directives -- a choice imposed by force has no value whatsoever," Ahmadinejad said in a speech on Sunday.

"In some universities, female students are forced to wear the chador (covering the whole body, leaving only the face exposed), but the way they are forced to wear it... it is better not worn since it becomes worthless," he said.

He also criticized criteria on the selection of university candidates, citing the case of a student denied university admittance in the 1980s because he had shaved. Being unshaven in Iran is a sign that you are a good Mohammedan.

Ahmadinejad also mentioned another case of a girl refused a university place because she had "talked to a boy in the street and had her headscarf back an inch," thereby showing her hair.

He said that after he intervened in both cases they were granted places.

Ahmadinejad also denounced some of the questions posed to candidates during interviews for government jobs.

"We have asked people if they drank alcohol or have illicit sexual relations. This is an insult and goes against religion," he said.

Ahmadinejad, whose second and final presidential term ends in 2013, has repeatedly drawn the ire of ultra-conservative religious figures in the Islamic republic by advocating a more liberal view of Islam, criticizing in particular the use of force to compel women to cover their hair.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [336072 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Scary. I actually agree with Ahmadinejad...
Posted by: Glenmore || 01/01/2013 9:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I was thinking the same thing. I thought there was something wrong with me.
Posted by: Fred || 01/01/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#3  What we got here boys is an Apostate, you know what we do with Apostates around here?
Posted by: Shipman || 01/01/2013 12:18 Comments || Top||

#4  I am not a Midget! I am a Free Man!
Posted by: Shipman || 01/01/2013 12:18 Comments || Top||

#5  What Ahmadinejad is arguing for is a de-tensioning of the rack. It's not out of any sort of liberalism. It's to keep Iranian society from approaching full-boil discontent.
Posted by: Pappy || 01/01/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Face of Al-Qaeda mastermind's Western bride who met her husband via video-date
Posted by: tipper || 01/01/2013 20:09 || Comments || Link || [336109 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a strange, strange world where someone like ol' anwar could be an inciter of killers and at the same time a cartoon character...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 01/01/2013 20:57 Comments || Top||



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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Tue 2013-01-01
  Pakistan: Six charity workers shot dead
Mon 2012-12-31
  Qaeda in Yemen offers bounty for killing US ambassador, troops
Sun 2012-12-30
  Pakistan reports 21 tribal policemen kidnapped, found dead
Sat 2012-12-29
  At Least 15 Killed in Sect Attack in North Nigeria
Fri 2012-12-28
  Militants kill two, kidnap 22 Pakistani soldiers
Thu 2012-12-27
  Somalia sets 100 days for Al Shabab militants to surrender
Wed 2012-12-26
  6 Killed in Attack on Nigerian Church
Tue 2012-12-25
  Drone Strikes Kill Six Qaida Suspects in Yemen
Mon 2012-12-24
  Tunisia arrests 16 al-Qaeda suspects
Sun 2012-12-23
  Egypt vice-president resigns on final day of referendum
Sat 2012-12-22
  Scuds pummel Syrian rebel positions
Fri 2012-12-21
  U.N. Security Council Approves Mali Intervention Force
Thu 2012-12-20
  Yemeni President Restructures Army, Removes Saleh Cronies
Wed 2012-12-19
  Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan; eight dead in 48 hours
Tue 2012-12-18
  Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp

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