KABUL (Reuters) - Defeated Afghan tribal forces were preparing to launch a counter-attack on Gardez in a bid to oust tribal rivals who seized the town in a bitter two-day battle. Padshah Khan Zadran, recently appointed as governor by the U.N.-backed Afghan government, was massing fighters at Satih Kandaw, 16 miles south of Gardez, from where he was driven by the forces of a rival ethnic Pashtun tribe on Friday. "He (Zadran) is now busy with the funerals of his supporters. We have heard that he has vowed to take revenge for his defeat and has already started to set up a new force for taking back Gardez," one resident in the town said. Plant the deaders and then go back to work. Thank you for the crisis. Afghaistan really needs this.
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02/02/2002 ||
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There were no arrests yesterday. Today will see the first large protest, as the "Another World is Possible" group is set to march under police permit to the Waldorf-Astoria, where much of the event is being held. FoxNews sez today's protest is bigger, but it's cold outside so most will probably spend their time sharing hot air to keep warm. Main rally starts at noon. Stay tuned for live coverage...
11:00 A.M. update: FoxNews says there are 200-300 kiddies, hippies and assorted loons in front of the Waldorf. A woman can be heard ranting over a P.A. system in the background. Minimal arrests. They haven't started breaking things yet.
12:00 P.M. update: Only two arrests so far. New York has an ordinance against wearing masks at public meetings - something about secret societies - and one of the arrestees refused to take his off. Still no sign of the Forces of the Black Mask.
2 P.M. update: Things are loud, but peaceful. The WEF website has been down for three days. Three different groups of script kiddies have claimed credit.
3 P.M. update: Waldorf protest wound up, kiddies wandered off to protest elsewhere.
"I think it's a healthy sign that there are demonstrators in the streets," said fifth columnist Bill Gates. http://salon.com/news/wire/2002/02/04/wef_criticism/index.html Posted by Kristin 2/4/2002 9:07:56 PM
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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The New Jersey state Department of Education has decided to add the names of George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin to the state's proposed history standards after coming under fire for omitting the Founding Fathers from the original revisions drafted last month. State Board Commissioner William L. Librera, who took office last month, had the proposed standards changed Thursday to include the Founding Fathers as well as major U.S. presidents. The decision to include the names came less than two days after state legislators and members of the public learned from a report in The Washington Times that the original draft left out the Founding Fathers. There's gotta be some kind of reason for keeping children ignorant. Want to bet the Vanguard of the Proletariat Professional Educators come up with another try?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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The U.S. military will be taking up positions alongside federal agents at the nation's borders. The announcement was made after President Bush said he wants U.S. border defenses strengthened during Tuesday's State of the Union address. Marine Gen. Peter Pace, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said such operations eventually will be overseen by a new military commander for operations protecting the United States. Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said he would present plans for the new command to Bush next week. The command would direct the nation's air, land and sea defenses against attacks on the United States from terrorists or other enemies. Rumsfeld said the military's presence would not be permanent. Despite what Bill O'Reilly says on FoxNews, it wouldn't make much sense to deploy infantry at the borders. It's simply not cost-effective. There are things the military has, like ground surveillance radars and infrared tracking equipment, that would be useful as an adjunct to the Border Patrol. Most countries with long, vulnerable borders like ours have border forces that are paramilitary in nature, rather than police forces as ours are. The Russians not only had (probably still have) a fully military border guard force, but laid land mines and had sniper towers. We probably don't want to go quite that far, but we do need to tighten access.
From a Canadian - what do you think about Canada applying for statehood (perhaps 4 or 5 states)?
Personally I would be for it - it's mostly the snobbish elite that gets nationalistic, and they're the only ones who get on TV - most of us really do love the USA and what it stands for. 99.9% of regular Canadians honestly do appreciate you.
Truth to tell, the idea scares me. It's a logical idea: We're all North Americans. It'll probably come naturally in the course of the next century. But we don't all think alike. Canada's got a lot more Social Democrat strain than the US. Posted by Fred 2/3/2002 6:18:45 PM
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02/02/2002 ||
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New York Post sticks its tongue out at Madeleine Albright for her self-serving critques of Bush's State of the Union speech. Sure hope Bush gets re-elected in 2004. He'll need at least eight years to clean up the mess Madeleine and crew left at State.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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Law enforcement officials are tracking a terrorist cell that works in Central Florida. Al-Qaida groups launder money through legal businesses. The money is then transferred to off-shore accounts in the Bahamas or the Caribbean. The money winds up in Afghanistan and other countries, funding terrorism. "In nine counties there's a lot going on," the Orange County Sheriff said. "We get a lot of raw intelligence and the feds are also looking at suspects and running down leads." There are probably dozens or even hundreds of similar investigations going on throughout the country. Some "Channel 9 Eyewitness News" guys happened to notice this one and the report pops up over the background noise. The public will have forgotten by next week.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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President Pervez Musharraf has said Pakistan was a 'soft state' with poor law and order. "Poor law and order situation is hampering progress of the country," Musharraf said while addressing the Darbar of Punjab Police at District Police Lines, Lahore. "Here in Pakistan law breaking is considered a prestige point and it is regarded as a symbol of power by the influential and resourceful people. Every law enacted in Pakistan is neither followed in letter and spirit nor there is any check on such violations which has aggravated the situation." In a country where having a price on one's head is a sign of prestige, it's hard to understand how they've made as much progress as they have. Pakland seems to have more loons per square yard than any other country in the world, with the possible exception of "Palestine."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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Washington has begun negotiations with former foe Hanoi for access to a key Soviet Cold War naval base on Vietnam's central coast after the Russian lease expires in 2004. The US military is seeking an "arrangement" that will allow it to use the base at Cam Ranh Bay for port calls and support for its operations in southeast Asia, Pacific commander Admiral Dennis Blair told reporters after talks with Vietnamese officials. The more things change, the more they stay the same. Cam Ranh is one of the prettiest places you'd ever want to go.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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According to these Marines, they don't just pleasure themselves to freak out the snipers, but also to embarrass the female Army guards in the camp's interior. The weirdness doesn't end there. They've also eaten their toiletries and urinated on equipment. "The other day," says Westbrook, "one of the guys tried to do a naked cartwheel." In the most bizarre twist, Lance Corporal Devin Klebaur says a few have also been known to "put toothpaste in their ass." "What's the purpose?" I ask. "I'm not sure," he says, puzzled. (via Drudge) That's nasty. Maybe they thought it was Preparation H. On the other hand, maybe not only are they nut bags, they're perverted nut bags.
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02/02/2002 ||
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Sheik Mubarak Ali Shah Gilani, leader of Jamaat Al-Fuqra, made frequent recruitment visits to the U.S., often seeking African-American converts to Islam. After Gilani founded Muslims of the Americas in Brooklyn 20 years ago, his followers fanned out to rural areas in New York, Virginia and Colorado to practice their religion. In 1992, Colorado SWAT teams raided a Muslims of the Americas settlement near Buena Vista, Colo., searching for evidence of workers' compensation fraud. Instead, they found evidence linking members to the firebombing of a Hare Krishna temple in Denver and the stabbing death of Rashad Khalifa, a controversial Muslim cleric in Tucson. For "a religion of peace" these guys sure go in for contention and killing.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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Tamil Tiger rebels there are taking advantage of the current ceasefire with the government to step up forced recruitment of teenagers. Local people also say there has been a marked increase in extortion and abduction for ransom by the rebels. Local people say the rebels are now demanding that teachers and government officials pay 12% of their salary as an unofficial tax, as opposed to five percent previously. "The guerrilla is the fish, the people are the sea." And if you don't kick in, we'll kill you. These Vanguards of the People are so inspiring.
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02/02/2002 ||
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A radical Palestinian group is scaling down its involvement with Yasser Arafat's Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) in protest at the Palestinian Authority's arrest of its leader. The Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine (PFLP) says there can be no Palestinian unity while Ahmad Saadat remains in jail. Seems like he got arrested because he wasn't cooperating with Arafat. So how's this different? Or does that mean they'll be good if he's sprung?
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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The kidnappers of US journalist Daniel Pearl sent a new e-mail message Saturday indicating he was still alive. The e-mail was sent from the same address as earlier e-mails containing threats to kill the reporter. "Pearl is (may be) alive and make real efforts to get him out... I am sorry. I sent the e-mail in which the deadline of Daniel. Please pardon me! It was a fake mail. It also reveals the fact that the last mail is also a fake mail... The facilitator known as Arif was killed because the group thought it was sent from him." The e-mail doesn't indicate he's alive, only that the sender hasn't seen him lately and thinks he might be. Arif would seem to be tied to the group, and his carcass was found at Ahmedpur East in Punjab province. Pearl's probably in the same area.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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A hand grenade exploded at the home of interim Prime Minister Hassan Abshir Farah, injuring four people, two seriously, the police chief in the Somali capital said Saturday. Farah had earlier attempted to play the incident down. "We cannot even rule out the possibility that the hand grenade might have accidentally fallen from one of our armed men," he stated. "There is nothing to worry about." But according to the eyewitnesses, the grenade was tossed from outside the compound and hit a man on the shoulder before it exploded under a tree where Farah's bodyguards were sitting. "Nothing to worry about. It's just a grenade."
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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Vice Admiral V J Metzger, commander-in-chief of the US Seventh Fleet, has cancelled his visit to Mumbai, following an Intelligence Bureau (IB) report which had said he could be the target of a terrorist attack. Metzer, who was to arrive on a brief visit to the city, was to be targeted by a Chechen terrorist believed to have slipped into the city along with two al Qaeda operatives, according to the IB report. Police have, however, launched a massive manhunt for the terrorist, who has been active in Kashmir for seven years.
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02/02/2002 ||
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A Saudi man convicted of shooting a fellow Saudi to death was beheaded in Taif, the Interior Ministry announced. Saad ibn Mubarak Al-Harthi was sentenced to death by an Islamic court for shooting Badr ibn Masâhal Al-Harthi during a row. Cheeze. In the good old days, he coulda just gone to Afghanistan if he wanted to kill someone.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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Interior Minister Prince Naif said yesterday that he could neither confirm nor deny reports that some Saudis had been tortured while returning to the Kingdom from the United States. However, he said that if it had occurred "it may have been as a result of hasty action on the part of American security agencies and there could be no justification for that." We can't confirm or deny that Prince Naif beats his wife, fondles little boys, and stiffs his creditors, either.
Posted by: Fred Pruitt ||
02/02/2002 ||
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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.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
