The July 20 Plot of July 20, 1944 was a failed attempt to assassinate Adolf Hitler, the leader of Germany, and subsequently take power by means of an altered Operation Walküre plan which was supposed to subdue possible unrest. The key role was played by Wehrmacht officer Tom Cruise Claus von Stauffenberg who was in charge of the German Reserve Army's Walküre, a role which allowed him access to Hitler for reports. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
07/20/2007 09:19 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I like the Gunter Grass version in his "Dog Years": Hitler's dog sniffs out the bomb under the table and moves away from the Fuhrer. Great book...even if fictional...
#2
I think of this every July 20, but really should do some reading up on earlier, even more intriguing German Army plots to off the Fuhrer, one of which apparently was hatched much earlier, during the appeasement era, with the hopes that the western powers would stand up to Hitler during one of his moves in eastern Europe. Of course instead of that there was spinelessness, and the plotters shrunk back into the shadows. Involved a sabotaged transport aircraft, as I recall. Interesting thing was that it put a very concrete, dramatic edge on the general idea that not confronting Hitler early cost the world millions of needless deaths.
#3
I watched about this the other night on the Military Channel (was surfing as it began)
A team including a German architect, a ??? and a??? went to the actual site, doing all kinds of studies, then build an exact replica, using bombs of the same size, determining what had really happened, and why Hitler wasn't killed.
Seemed, two thing happened. The briefcase was originally set on one side of a table leg close to Hitler. Some general came in, felt the briefcase with his foot, and moved it to the other side of the table leg. It was that table leg that saved Hitler.
They showed, if the briefcase had not been moved, Hitler would have indeed been killed.
The other thing, they had two bombs, and when setting the detonators, before they second one was completed, someone came in, thus, the second bomb wasn't put in the briefcase.
They further showed, if that second bomb had just been placed in the briefcase with the other one, and the briefcase was moved, as it was, it still would have killed Hitler.
Was an interesting show -- I knew of the attempt and that was all.
Posted by: Mike ||
07/20/2007 6:48 Comments ||
Top||
#2
About 11:00 on a hot summer night. We didn't think there'd be TV. I mean, from the moon? How they gonna do that? I remember being crammed in to my parents bedroom with my 8 brothers and sisters trying to watch it on a 20" black and white TV because it was the only room in the house with air conditioning...
#3
I remember being allowed to stay up late and watch the whole event as it unfolded (I would have been 10 at the time) on a tiny B&W TV that got something like 3 channels, all of them fuzzy.
I don't think I slept a wink the whole night. It was a very exciting time for me as a little kid, for the space program, and for the USA in general. It's high time we got caught up in that excitement once again.
#4
I was eight months old. I had the honor of watching the Apollo-Soyuz mission in 75, I annoyed the crap out of my mom and dad, I wanted to see the Apollo-Soyuz go overhead, unfortunately it was cloudy where we lived. My dad walked me out on the front porch and I just stared at the sky. Years later I asked my dad where he was when Neil Armstrong made that first step. He said he was in the hospital waiting room. I was a rather sick little boy, I was in the hospital still an infant. I guess the bug got to me when I was young.
Niger authorities announced Thursday the month-long suspension of Radio France International (RFI) local broadcasts, saying the station was spreading lies about rebel Tuareg groups.
The Superior Council for Communication accused RFI of "broadcasting lies and information which obscures the reality" of the activities of the Niger Movement for Justice (MNJ). Council member Ousmane Toudou told AFP it was also accused of "broadcasting false information and of biased and partisan treatment of information".
RFI is widely listened to and broadcasts in French and, for the past few months, in Hausa, the most popular language in Niger. Last week, its management protested against a ban on sending one of its reporters to cover clashes between the army and the MNJ rebels, imposed by the authorities for "security reasons".
Meanwhile, RFI's Niamey correspondent Moussa Kaka told the Republican privately-owned weekly that the head of the army had threatened to kill him. General Moumouni Boureima reportedly made the threat at a reception hosted by the French ambassador in Niamey to mark the French national holiday on July 14.
Moussa Kaka? We don't make these names up, honest.
Kaka is a contributor to the Republican and also heads the Saraounia private radio in Niamey, which regularly airs the views of MNJ chief Agali Alambo.
Local media groups issued a statement Sunday complaining about a crackdown on the media ever since the start of a new uprising by the MNJ in February.
A UN-backed court has sentenced three ex-rebel leaders to prison terms of about 50 years each, the first punishments handed down by the war crimes tribunal since it was set up five years ago after Sierra Leone's decade-long conflict ended.
The men committed "heinous, brutal, atrocious, crimes never recorded in the history of mankind," Judge Julia Sebutinde said Thursday.
The three men were leaders of the Armed Forces Revolutionary Council, a junta that overthrew an elected government in 1997 and was ousted by a Nigerian-led peacekeeping force the following year.
Indicted in 2003, their joint trial began in Freetown two years later. Last month, they were convicted of 11 of 14 war crimes charges, including terrorism, enslavement, rape and murder. The ruling marked the first time an international court issued a conviction on the conscription of child soldiers, who in Sierra Leone were often drugged and forced into battle.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
The refineries are crappy. No foreigners wanted them, so Obasanjo tried to give them away to some cronies. Protests ensued. More chaos in this oil producing country.
Saudi reform advocates say the authorities arrested a prominent activist, Abdullah Al Hamed on Thursday, along with his brother and five women, after a protest to call for the release of family members detained for several years without charge.
Fifteen women, led by Rima Al Juraish, had held a protest on Monday in front of the main security headquarters at Al Qassim province north of the capital, Riyadh.
Mrs JuraishÂ’s husband, Mohamed Al Hamly has been held for three years on suspicion of links to Islamic militants. The women said their detained relatives had no access to lawyers and were being mistreated in prison. They said they should be released or tried.
Saudi reformists say police came to Mrs JuraishÂ’s home to arrest her and some of the women who protested with her. Mr Hamed was called and when he asked the security services to show him a warrant, he too was detained.
The Saudi authorities have arrested thousands of people in their efforts to combat al Qaeda and groups inspired by it. Many have been released, but activists say some 3,000 remain under arrest.
“Why are there no trials for these people?,” asked Khaled Al Omair, a Saudi reformer. “We believe it is because most of them were arrested only because they have a friend or a relative who is an Islamic militant.”
Mr Al Omair said he and Mr Al Hamed were among a group of reformers who wrote a letter to King Abdullah three month ago asking him to address human rights grievances and to take steps against the interior ministry.
The Saudi authorities say they are committed to reform but in recent years they have moved against reform advocates who tried to press publicly for change or to collect signatures for petitions demanding improvements.
In February ten reformers were arrested at a meeting in the port city of Jeddah.
Mr Al Hamed, and two other activists, spent 17 months in jail until they were freed by King Abdullah shortly after he ascended the throne in 2005.
A university professor who was sacked from his job because of his political activism, Mr Hamed played a key role in drafting and circulating petitions calling for Saudi Arabia to become a constitutional monarchy in the aftermath of the September 11 terror attacks at a time when the kingdom and its rulers were shaken by the discovery that most of the bombers were Saudi nationals.
King Abdullah, then Crown Prince, welcomed the first petition and met some of its signatories, but afterwards the reform advocates came under intense pressure to cease their activism.
Five senior BBC production staff were suspended yesterday as Britain's most senior policeman raised the prospect of a criminal investigation into the corporation's rigging of phone-in competitions.
The staff, all senior producers or editors, were the first casualties of the row over viewer deceptions involving a series of flagship charity and children's shows.
A fraud inquiry now seems inevitable after Mark Pritchard, the Tory MP for The Wrekin, wrote to Scotland Yard to demand action.
Bolivia has secured the largest pledge of foreign investment in its history, after the country signed a $2.1bn deal with Jindal Steel and Power, an Indian steel company, to exploit a huge iron ore deposit. The agreement marks the first big investment by an Indian company in South America, a region whose mineral, oil and gas deposits have attracted interest from Chinese and Russian companies in recent years. It is hoped that the deal, signed on Wednesday night, could lead to other Indian investment in the region.
The agreement marks the first big investment by an Indian company in South America, a region whose mineral, oil and gas deposits have attracted interest from Chinese and Russian companies in recent years
It is a boon for Evo Morales, Bolivia’s radical leftist president and close ally of Hugo Chávez, the Venezuelan leader. Like Mr Chávez, the Bolivian leader has made increasing state involvement in the economy one of his main priorities.
In May 2006 he caught the world’s attention when he announced his government would nationalise Bolivia’s gas sector, the second largest in the region. “Just imagine: from this Mother Earth more natural resources continue to appear after 500 years of looting,” said Mr Morales after announcing the deal. “Together we are obligated to take advantage of these natural resources for the good of the region and the nation.”
Claro que sÃ. When the Capitalist bastards do it, it's looting. When WE do it it's .... stewardship.
The reaction of foreign investors such as Petrobras of Brazil, Repsol of Spain, Total of France and British Gas has been cautious. The companies migrated to new contracts giving the state a much larger share of tax revenues, but they have refrained from ploughing fresh large-scale investments into the country.
The governmentÂ’s scepticism about the interests of foreign investors complicated talks with Jindal, which has been negotiating for more than 18 months to complete the deal. Every few months, Mr MoralesÂ’s administration announced a new deadline to complete the talks, but those were routinely missed.
El Mutún is thought to be the biggest untapped iron ore deposit in the world.
The agreement gives Jindal access to 50 per cent of El Mutún, located in Puerto Suarez in south-eastern Bolivia near the border with Brazil. With an estimated 40bn tons of iron ore, El Mutún is thought to be the biggest untapped iron ore deposit in the world.
Under the terms of the deal, the Indian company will undertake to invest $2.1bn (€1.5bn, £1bn) in the project during the first eight years of the 40-year deal. The government is hoping at least 4,000 jobs will be created and expects to receive annual revenues of $200m, although Jindal claims up to 21,000 jobs could be created including workers not employed directly at the facility.
The agreement may soothe tensions between the government and business leaders in the south-east, a region generally hostile to Mr Morales. It should also help to modernise BoliviaÂ’s woefully antiquated mining sector.
Note: we don't usually link to blog posts. In this case Publius Pundit has pulled together links to sources on an important issue flying under the radar: a quiet coup by Putin in which elected officials and lawyers are being removed from office and in some cases removed period. Click on the link for Publius' full article and follow his links for the details. Chilling and important stuff.
On June 8th, Andrei Smirnov of the Jamestown Foundation reported that " Russia continues to be rocked by purges of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, where deputies (often called "senators") represent regional governments. On May 14, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council, dismissed four members of the Council." Mironov is a Kremlin sycophant, who has called for altering the Russian Constitution to allow "President" Putin to remain in power.
Two weeks later, a fifth senator was history. Smirnov writes: "On June 2, Senator Levon Chakhmakhchyan was arrested by officers of the Federal Security Service (FSB) on charges of bribery. Chakhmakhchyan represents Kalmykia, a region in southern Russia is and vice-president of the Association for Russian-Armenian Business Cooperation."
On July 19th, attorney Robert Amsterdam reported:
Today's news that the highly regarded lawyer Boris Kuznetsov is fleeing Russia after an absurdly baseless order for his arrest under the allegation of "revealing state secrets" represents yet another outrageous example of the state's abuse of the legal system ...
Where is my Murderous Tyrant Check-List? Promised reforms, consolidated power, murders opponents, starts up an army of brown-shirts and rev's of the juche.
He's checked off most of those boxes and is now ready to begin the fast and furious purges. Those who sit around him must know that they are already screwed and will suffer an unfortunate accident, such as a 30,000 ft fall or swim in the sea with a pair of cement shoes.
Won't be but months before we will see flag waving by women with babes in arms as all those new tanks and missles parade by. Wonder which country he will attack first in his quest for world domination.
Gonna get a bit sticky between him and all those caliphate wanna bees.
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 11:34 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Wonder which country he will attack first in his quest for world domination.
The Baltic nations lead my list, followed by Belarus or the Ukraine. Other bits and pieces of the Former Soviet Union to follow.
They'll want to work on isolating Europe from the US some more, or getting Europe more solidly hooked on Russian petro-chemicals before they make any moves outside the Former Soviet Union, but I suspect the Poles, Czechs, or Slovaks would be the first outside that area.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/20/2007 12:11 Comments ||
Top||
Meet the new Red Guard, soon to be just like the old Red Guard.
At a lakeside camp five hours drive north of Moscow, 10,000 young Russians are learning why the president, Vladimir Putin, is such a brilliant leader and why his opponents are so evil.
In the middle of the camp stand large portraits of Other Russia's leaders under the banner: "The Red Light Street". Vocal opponents of Mr Putin's rule, Other Russia's three male leaders, including the world chess champion Garry Kasparov, are portrayed as prostitutes. In lurid colours they pout and pose in stockings, their faces frozen in feline grins. "I didn't know who those people were until I came here," 20-year-old Lena from St Petersburg said."Now I know they are fascists."
Nearby, there was a poster depicting an intercontinental ballistic missile with the slogan: "Let there be sovereign democracy," a reference to the Kremlin's definition of democracy stripped of western influence.
The two-week summer camp is run by Nashi, the biggest of several pro-Kremlin youth groups, and in Nashi's vocabulary Mr Putin's enemies are fascists. Nashi, which means "ours", is funded by the Kremlin and was founded in the wake of popular demonstrations that toppled pro-Moscow leaders in Georgia and Ukraine. Its stated goal is to promote nationalist values for a greater Russia.
Western diplomats and critics say it appears aimed at giving the Kremlin a ready-made mass movement to call on in times of trouble. The group came to prominence last year when it hounded the British ambassador to Russia for months after he attended an anti-Kremlin conference. A spokeswoman said it had 100,000 members across Russia.
At Nashi's third annual summer camp at the Lake Seliger beauty spot many of the 10,000 Nashi activists wore red T-shirts with slogans proclaiming the greatness of Russia or Mr Putin. They start the day with mass exercise, then head off to play volleyball, sail boats or cycle around quiet roads. Such summer camps, which declined after the fall of communism, are now making a comeback under the sponsorship of political groups.
There are lessons outlining Mr Putin's foreign policies or economic initiatives, an army camp shows off Russia's military and a Nashi security service trains to work alongside police. "We have to show how the policies of Putin have worked," Nashi leader Vasily Yakemenko said. Behind him, a puppet-master prepared a show. Later, the Putin puppet would vanquish pro-western presidents in Georgia and Ukraine, the Russian exile Boris Berezovsky and the Other Russia coalition.
Activists said Nashi gave them pride in themselves and pride in Russia, directed them away from alcohol and drugs and gave them a summer holiday with friends. Most did not consider themselves political. Andrei, 22, was more candid. He said Nashi's aim was political and that previous Nashi members were already making their way through government ranks and pro-Kremlin businesses. "I think this camp is the Russian version of camps now being run in the West," he then said. "That's true, isn't it?" Unfortunately, there's more at the link.
#2
If we insist in putting in those Euro missiles that locals don't want, then we can expect a fascist government in Russia.
Most Russians are quick to comment: we pulled out of Eastern Europe and now you are pulling in. Right. The current madness started with Clinton's Islamofascist subsidies to Bosnia and Kosovo.
#4
"I think this camp is the Russian version of camps now being run in the West," he then said. "That's true, isn't it?"
Yes, that's true, we have many camps that are very similar. We call them Universities.
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 11:00 Comments ||
Top||
#5
If we insist in putting in those Euro missiles that locals don't want, then we can expect a fascist government in Russia.
My understanding is those missiles are defensive in nature, not offensive and not aimed at Russia and wouldn't be necessary if Russia wasn't helping Iran.
Most Russians are quick to comment: we pulled out of Eastern Europe and now you are pulling in. Right. The current madness started with Clinton's Islamofascist subsidies to Bosnia and Kosovo.
Here you may be correct. But I think puto has a lot to be paranoid about and has learned from previous tsars the value of having his own private army. When you're as big a jackass as he is you're bound to make some enemies.
#6
Putin has stopped pretending that he is even remotely a democratic leader. Expect a lot more assassination attempts on Berezovsky and other KKKremlin critics.
#7
The Russians have NO right to complain about what the US is doing in Eastern Europe : we going in as trading partners and security partners, not raping and pillaging our way through the whole country like the Red Army did, and then establishing military dictatorships to oppress the local peoples - like the Russians did after WWII.
ABM systems in Poland are no more a threat to Russia than an air bag in my car is - UNLESS the Russians are trying to rebuild the old Soviet Empire and want to be able to threat the Poles into submission. And one historical fact the Russians leave off - they have ALWAYS operated as invaders and oppressors in Eastern Europe, never as friends and business partners.
The area these Putinjungen should be worried about is the Russian Far East and Chinese intentions towards the same. Lots of Chinese maps show the whole of the Russian Far East as parts of the old Chinese Empires, and that was all the excuse that the ChiComs need to invade and annex Tibet, as well as those border zones with India and Vietnam. But Putin is using sales to the ChiComs to prop up his arms industry and so is aiding and abetting the coming invasion just like Stalin did with the Nazis. However, this time around, the Russians do NOT have the manpower reserves to trade 1 for 1 casualties with the ChiComs, let alone lose 3 million troops in the first year of combat. Also, the ChiComs could easily take the Russian Far East in less than a year {using the advanced weapons sold to them BY the Russians} and then present the world with a fiat accompli : accept that the area is now China or lose access to all the oil, gold, natural gas, and other resources that come from there.
Russia announced Thursday the tit-for-tat expulsion of four British diplomats, a visa ban on British officials and the suspension of bilateral counter-terrorism cooperation amid a mounting diplomatic row. “The British ambassador has been officially notified that four British embassy employees have been declared persona non grata,” foreign ministry spokesman Mikhail Kamynin said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
A South Korean man who lives in New York was arrested on Wednesday and charged with repeatedly lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about spying work he allegedly did for his native country, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Park Il Woo, known as Steve Park, was accused in court papers of giving information he had gleaned from the North Korean government to South Korea. At one point, he allegedly told a South Korean official that he had been asked by North Korean officials to bring insecticide, anesthetics and veterinary products on this next trip there.
Mr Park, who has lived in the US for 20 years, was not charged with espionage or any form of spying. Instead he faces three counts of lying to the FBI about his contacts with South Korean officials. If convicted he could be sentenced to a maximum of 15 years in prison.
Mr Park told him that he could act as a “go-between” between the US and North Korea because he frequently traveled there.
An FBI agent wrote in an affidavit that he showed Mr Park, 58, a photograph of a South Korean official and Mr Park denied knowing him. Mr Park then drove directly to a meeting with the official, the affidavit said. Under US law, agents of foreign governments must register with US officials.
William Smith, the FBI agent, also wrote that Mr Park told him that he could act as a “go-between” between the US and North Korea because he frequently traveled there.
It could not be determined who is representing Mr Park. He was released on a $150,000 personal recognisance bond.
Jacques Chirac was interviewed on Thursday by a judge investigating a graft case of fake jobs allegedly involving members of his party during his time as Paris mayor, a spokeswoman for the former French president said.
In a commentary in Le Monde daily, Chirac said he was willing to respond to investigators. “I am ready to testify and to respond. Testifying before (public) opinion, responding to the judges. In both cases, I will do it in good faith,” he wrote. Chirac has consistently denied any wrongdoing during his 18 years as mayor of the French capital from 1977-95.
Judge Alain Philibeaux, from the court in Nanterre near Paris, had been interviewing Chirac as an “assisted witness” since Thursday morning, a spokeswoman for Chirac said, adding the hearing was still under way.
ChiracÂ’s lawyer said last month that Chirac, who lost his immunity from prosecution on June 16, one month after leaving office, would not meet judges over any cases involving him during his 1995-2007 presidency.
He could face questioning on a number of cases but the only dossier explicitly to target him dates back to December 2002 and involves fraudulent payments allegedly made to members of ChiracÂ’s conservative Rally for the Republic (RPR) party by the City of Paris.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Nicolas Sarkozy, French president, has proposed that France and Britain hold regular meetings to “harmonise” their positions ahead of important European Council summits, raising the suggestion on the eve of Gordon Brown’s first visit to Paris as UK prime minister.
Sarko will sing the lead and Brown will sing the 'harmony'.
The proposal echoes previous – and unsuccessful – initiatives to form a “troika” of the European Union’s three biggest members to shape the 27-member organisation’s agenda.
Mr SarkozyÂ’s spokesman said France and Germany had recently shown the fruits of their strong partnership by delivering a draft institutional treaty for the EU and resolving governance problems at EADS, the aerospace group in the way the French wanted.
German and French leaders hold summits every six to eight weeks and joint cabinet meetings every six months. But the spokesman said neither country considered this bilateral arrangement to be “exclusive”. He said the EU could benefit from Britain’s economic dynamism, adding that the country should be at the “heart of the European construction”.
Mr Sarkozy has long argued that the bigger EU countries should take the lead in steering the enlarged organisation. As French interior minister, Mr Sarkozy helped set up regular meetings with his counterparts in the UK, Germany, Spain, Italy, and Poland to co-ordinate immigration and anti-terrorism policies.
However, smaller EU members – and the European Commission – have resented any suggestion of being dictated to by the big powers.
Since it threatens their own rice bowls.
“We are all for harmonising positions. But our view would be that it should not be at the expense of the small [member countries],” said one British diplomat.
German diplomats said on Thursday that Berlin would be relaxed about any moves to formalise French-British relations, as Germany already has close ties with both capitals.
(AKI) - TurkeyÂ’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) is poised to capture around 330 parliament seats in SundayÂ’s elections allowing the Islamic-rooted party to form a single party government, a survey shows. Some 42,5 million Turks are eligible to vote and according to the survey, Sunday's turnout will be around 84 percent.
On Tuesday, Turkish prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said he would retire from politics if the AKP fails to garner enough votes to form a single-party government, a decision which now seems unlikely if results of the pre-election poll by the A&G Survey company, prove correct. A&G carried out its survey in 65 different cities and 7,208 people from various parts of the country were asked to indicate their political preferences.
The survey results show that three parties: the AKP, the secularist left-wing PeopleÂ’s Republican Party (CHP) and the far-right Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) will be the only parties to win seats since only they stand to win more than 10 percent of votes needed to ensure representation in parliament.
The AKP will have between 47.5 - 50 percent of the votes; the CHP will have between 18 - 21 percent, and; the MHP will have between 13 - 14.5 percent, the survey results indicated. Although other surveys have suggested that the AKP will win some 45 percent of the votes, none had given it a 50 percent share of all ballots cast.
A&G head Adil Gur defended his company's results arguing that the surveying techniques used were sound. "The CHP - MHP coalition formula is just wishful thinking, they would win around 200 seats at most", Gur told Adnkronos International (AKI). “The AKP will have between 320 - 330 seats, CHP between 120 - 130 and MHP between 70 - 80," he said.
In the 2002 elections the AKP had 34.28 percent of the votes and won 363 seats. However, despite its chances of a greater percentage share in Sunday's elections the party is likely to win less seats this time because of the presence this time of three parties in parliament. In 2002 besides the AKP, only the CHP managed to pass the 10 percent treshold.
“Although criticised for having an Islamist agenda by the secularists, the AKP is percieved as a moderate right-wing party standing at the centre of the political spectrum,” said Gur. According to him, only 8 - 12 percent of AKP voters define themselves as religious. “They choose the AKP not for ideological reasons but for sociological. Most of the votes will come from outskirts of metropolitan areas where very poor and uneducated people live," he said.
“However, nearly 60 percent of CHP voters have ideological concerns; they are concerned about the secular republic,” Gur said.
The far right nationalist MHP which failed to enter parliament in the last elections is set to capitalise on concern over an increase in separatist Kurdish PKK violence, Gur indicated.
According to the A&G survey, 25 independent candidates will also be elected, mostly from the south eastern Anatolia region where Kurdish politicians will run as independents. The Kurdish Democratic Society Party (DTP) was unable to pass the 10 percent threshold at a national level in 2002 elections, a situation prompting it to allow its members to run as independents this time round. Candidates standing as independents only need to win 10 percent of the vote in the constituency they are constesting to qualify for parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/20/2007 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Muslims everywhere are chosing Islamofascism. Our leaders are chosing to not let that sink in.
#2
I'm not convinced that the AKP is a fire-breathing Islamicist party. I think they're more what we might refer to in the Islamic world as 'mainstream conservative' -- wanting to live in a modern society with technology, elections, rules for elected officials, and peaceful relations with neighboring countries, but also a socially conservative lifestyle.
I think of what the Iranians would have if they could just dump the Mad Mullahs™, for example, and think it would be something like that.
Anyway, the AKP doesn't worry me very much in the grand scheme of things.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/20/2007 11:02 Comments ||
Top||
University of Colorado regents will decide whether to fire professor Ward Churchill after a special meeting and hearing Tuesday. Here's how the day is scheduled:
8 a.m.: The Board of Regents will meet in public in the University Memorial Center to announce it will go into executive session, behind closed doors.
8:15 a.m. until at least 4 p.m.: In private, regents will be briefed by the board's attorneys before holding a hearing.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Just a thought; If Winston were alive, he'd probably thrash the living crap out of someone who so freely tarnishes the name. Either that or Winne would come up with some devastating quip that'd memorialize Ward's conspicuous lack of manhood throughout the ages.
#4
The American Civil Liberties Union and its Colorado chapter released an open letter Thursday urging the regents to reject Brown's recommendation that Churchill be fired, saying it could create a dangerous precedent by chilling public debate.
"The cure for unpopular speech is public debate, not silencing a voice you don't want to hear," said Cathryn Hazouri, executive director of the Colorado ACLU.
So it's the ACLU's position that academic fraud is a protected form of free speech?
I think my surprise meter's broken. It's not showing ANYTHING.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/20/2007 16:44 Comments ||
Top||
#5
Wardo's lawyers are looking forward to the termination so they can get the lawsuit filed. That, and Wardo the Fake Injun, will continue to be paid his salary during the length of the lawsuit...including CU will have to pay his legal expenses by the tenure rules. Sue for free, get
paid by the 'little Eichmans' forever?
#7
I'm guessing this will be the topic on Fox's half hour Comedy news show on Sunday's. That show is a kick. One of the few I actually check the clock and tune in to. "Im the ACLU".
Posted by: AT ||
07/20/2007 18:28 Comments ||
Top||
If you haven't seen the Exalted Cyclops speech, you're missing something. I half expected the Capitol cops to come in with tranquilizer guns and a net. Jaw dropping...
Resignations and the onÂgoing furore over allegedly politicised hiring and firing at the US justice department have left so many top positions vacant that the department is all but operating on autopilot, the Financial Times has learnt.
Six top DoJ officials have quit since February, when the sackings of at least nine US attorneys prompted an outcry in Congress. Outside Washington, 23 of the 93 US attorneysÂ’ offices, which investigate and try most cases, are devoid of permanent political leadership.
The remaining top officials, including Alberto Gonzales, attorney-Âgeneral, are the subject of multiple investigations by Congress and the DoJÂ’s inspector-general.
That has forced lawyers in the field to make decisions with much less input from Washington than in the previous six years, often on contentious topics such as whether to seek the death penalty in states where it is unpopular. The practical result has been to depoliticise many field offices, giving thousands of career DoJ attorneys freedom to resolve cases the way they see fit.
“There’s open contempt between the field and main justice [DoJ headquarters],” said one career prosecutor, who like others did not want to be named lest they attract attention from Washington. “The field is fine. We just do what we do. The department [in Washington] is crippled.”
Democrats in Congress, who want Mr Gonzales to resign, decry the situation. “It’s clear that the justice department can’t function as long as Gonzales is in charge,” said Senator Chuck Schumer, who has spearheaded the Democratic investigations of the DoJ.
and who is mad at losing a chance to grandstand during confirmation hearings
“US attorney vacancies are at an all time high and, on any issue where thereÂ’s an element of trust, the attorney-general has no Âcredibility.”
Most offices are pushing forward without difficulty and have passed some high-profile milestones, including the indictment of a sitting congressman for corruption; the arrest of plotters alleged to be targeting New YorkÂ’s John F. Kennedy airport and the Fort Dix military base; and record settlements for overseas bribery and exporting military technology.
The DoJ has a vacÂancy rate of less than 3 per cent, which covers law enforcement agencies including the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
But Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, pointed out that the White House has submitted nominees for only four of the 23 open US attorney positions. “The current status is unÂacceptable,” he said. The crisis of leadership at the justice department has allowed the White House to play politics with law enforcement.”
#2
Ah, the infamous Leaky Leahy. Doesn't Rush call him Senator Depend?
Sounds like the work's getting done, though, and that's the most important thing.
Posted by: The Doctor ||
07/20/2007 11:05 Comments ||
Top||
#3
You had better fill this void, congress. There are plenty of appointees that need to be appointed and you are too busy with pajama parties to do it.
You as a collective body are ruining our justice system and our civil institutions are evaporating due to your imbecilic preoccupation of the War and George Bush. A war which may I add is thrust upon you. YOU HAVE no control of the war you pantywaists. If you cannot change your attitude, I will see you to justice.
This, 110, is the worst congress in history. I call you Nero.
#4
But Patrick Leahy, the Democrat who chairs the Senate judiciary committee, pointed out that the White House has submitted nominees for only four of the 23 open US attorney positions.
With a dildo like you running the committee, maybe he doesn't wanna waste the time...
The power of Pakistan's president has been dented after the supreme court struck down his order to sack the country's chief justice.
Musharraf bid to sack Pakistani judge `illegal'
Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry has become a symbol of opposition to President Musharraf
A panel of 13 judges today ruled that General Pervez Musharraf's move in March to suspend Iftikhar Mohammed Chaudhry was "illegal".
The chief justice has become a popular symbol of opposition to Gen Musharraf.
Lawyers stood and applauded as the decision was read out in court, while shouts of "Go Musharraf, Go" resounded among the hundreds of his supporters gathered outside.
Gen Musharraf sparked the most damaging crisis of his eight-year rule when he attempted to sack Mr Chaudhry for allegedly pulling rank to secure a police job for his son and enjoying unwarranted privileges such as the use of government aircraft.
advertisement
However, opponents accused the military ruler of removing the independent-minded judge in order to forestall legal challenges to his plan to be elected for another five-year term.
The move sparked months of political unrest and forced a series of embarrassing climb-downs by his government.
The court ruling comes as Pakistan continues to be battered by a wave of bloody attacks, triggered by the storming of a radical mosque by commandos last week in Islamabad.
More than 200 people have since been killed and another suicide attack today claimed four lives in North Waziristan.
Mushahid Hussain Sayed, the secretary general of the ruling Pakistan Muslim League, said the government accepted the decision and called for unity.
"This process shows that Pakistani people, state and society are dynamic, vibrant and open," he said.
"It testifies to Pakistan's strength as a democratic society."
However, Ayaz Amir, one of Pakistan's leading newspaper columnists, described the verdict as a massive blow for Gen Musharraf.
"This will have dealt him the psychological effects of failure. A military order has been challenged and overturned," he added.
More than half of Pakistan's 60-year history has been spent under military rule, and most civilian governments have been contemptuous of the judiciary.
Indeed, the chief justice's victory was won after months of large-scale protests led by lawyers who were frequently beaten by cane-wielding policemen.
A pro-Chaudhry rally in the volatile city of Karachi was cancelled after gunmen opened fire on protesters killing 40 people in May, while a suicide bomber killed 15 more people at another rally in Islamabad at the weekend.
Meanwhile, a senior supreme court official who refused to bring evidence against the chief justice was shot dead at his home.
Gen Musharraf announced earlier this week that he hoped to be re-elected as president and to continue as army chief after elections early next year.
The most senior surviving leader of Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge regime, accused of genocidal policies that led to the deaths of 1.7 million of his countrymen, declared his innocence yesterday as he prepared to face trial.
"Those were other bloody-handed henchpersons, yer Judgeship!"
He spoke a day after prosecutors in the tribunal examining the deaths gave a list of five former Khmer Rouge leaders they believe should be tried, along with the evidence to back the charges. Judges will decide whether to proceed. "They did not specify the names of the people, but I know I am included," Nuon Chea said at his home in north-west Cambodia near the Thai border. Now an ailing 82-year-old, Nuon Chea - the former "Brother Number Two" in the Khmer Rouge, right-hand man to the group's notorious leader, the late Pol Pot - has consistently denied any responsibility for the mass brutality.
"I was president of the National Assembly and had nothing to do with the operation of the government," he said. "Sometimes I didn't know what they were doing because I was in the assembly. I will go to the court and don't care if people believe me or not." He was the chief ideologue for the communist Khmer Rouge when it held power in the late 1970s. Its ideology was largely responsible for the genocide. The prosecutors said the acts allegedly carried out by the five unnamed Khmer Rouge leaders "constitute crimes against humanity, genocide, grave breaches of the Geneva Conventions, homicide, torture and religious persecution".
Nuon Chea said: "I had no intention to kill my people. The tribunal should not rely solely on the law but on intention."
"My heart, pure! My love for the children, unbounded! You could look it up!"
Former Khmer Rouge leaders have usually denied knowledge of large-scale killings, even though mass graves have been found around the country. They sometimes blame neighbouring Vietnam, Cambodia's traditional enemy. After bloody border raids by the Khmer Rouge on Vietnamese villages in 1978, Hanoi invaded Cambodia to oust the Khmer Rouge and install a puppet government, garrisoning the country for about a decade.
"There are two kinds of war, one to protect your country, one where you invade another country," said Nuon Chea, in apparent reference to battles with Vietnam. "I was trying to protect my country."
He said there were more police than usual outside his house since Wednesday's announcement of the legal moves and he had to be careful what he said. "It happened 30 years ago and it's very difficult to remember. Some of them [tribunal members] never experienced that. They weren't there, how could they know what was going on?"
Marcel Lemonde, of France, one of the tribunal's co-investigating judges, declined to discuss when the suspects' names would be made public and when they might be arrested, though he indicated it could be soon.
Ros Saroeun, a 53-year-old taxi driver, reflecting the opinions of many Cambodians, said: "I am delighted they will be brought to trial. They caused the death of more than 30 of my relatives."
The late Khmer Rouge leader Pol Pot died in 1998 and his former military chief, Ta Mok, died in 2006. In addition to Nuon Chea, former foreign minister Ieng Sary and former head of state Khieu Samphan live freely in Cambodia but are in declining health. Kaing Khek Iev, also known as Duch, who headed the Khmer Rouge's S-21 torture centre, is the only former senior official in government custody. His lawyer said he had been told his client was soon to be transferred from a military prison to the detention facility at the tribunal's headquarters, an indirect confirmation that he was one of the five suspects named by prosecutors. He said Duch "welcomed the news and wished for his trial to take place as quickly as possible".
The maximum penalty for crimes falling within the tribunal's jurisdiction is life imprisonment.
Cambodia sought UN help in 1997 to set up a tribunal, but it took years of talks before the agreement to hold trials.
#3
According to Kaing Khek Iev (alias Deuch,former governor of Tuol Sleng (S-21) as mentioned above), his immediate boss was Nuon Chea & the executions of 'important comrades' were approved by the aforementioned. IIRC Deuch claimed that it was Nuon Chea who ordered the S-21 posse 'not to bother about confessions, just smash them' after the crushing of So Phim's Eastern Zone in 1978. Deuch was apparently horrified by the order - "killing people without torturing them first - that's obscene!" Even though the KR hierarchy seem to define shamelessness, I'm slightly surprised that this scumbag (a member of the CPK's Standing Committee no less) has the balls to claim that he had 'had nothing to do with the operation of the government'. Oh well, I suppose he has nothing to lose...
Google has made it officially clear that they are committed to making their wireless spectrum proposal win the FCC decision.
Google said they would bid $4.6 billion for the 700 megahertz band wireless spectrum, if the FCC approved their proposal. Why? Google said they want to put their money where their "principles are," by making a bid at "giving abundant access to this rich resource" on "a global scale."
Postscript from Greg: A larger context in which to see this is net neutrality. Google is clearly interested in expanding its mobile services and this undoubtedly reflects that ambition but it's also a hedge against non-net neutrality. Google could potentially build out a broader wifi network for general Internet access, using the spectrum licenses, which Google currently provides in Mountain View, California.
WASHINGTON - Former CIA operative Valerie Plame lost a lawsuit Thursday that demanded money from Bush administration officials whom she blamed for leaking her agency identity. Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had accused Vice President Dick Cheney and others of conspiring to disclose her identity in 2003. Plame said that violated her privacy rights and was illegal retribution for her husband's criticism of the administration.
U.S. District Judge John D. Bates dismissed the case on jurisdictional grounds and said he would not express an opinion on the constitutional arguments. Bates dismissed the case against all defendants: Cheney, White House political adviser Karl Rove, former White House aide I. Lewis "Scooter" Libby and former Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage.
Plame's lawyers said from the beginning the suit would be a difficult case to make. Public officials normally are immune from such suits filed in connection with their jobs.
Didn't stop them from ginning up the publicity though, did it.
#1
Actually, I think the Wilsons were lucky the judge dismissed this case so early in the process. Plame and Wilson would have been thoroughly eviscerated by a competent defense attorney. Court TV wept.
#5
Good point, doc, having a good defense attorney work Joe and Val over in depositions (video-taped, of course) would have warmed the deepest cockles of my heart.
Posted by: Steve White ||
07/20/2007 11:04 Comments ||
Top||
#6
Apathyyia? Never! No, no no.
WaPo sent me a supercalifragilisticexpiallidocious Breaking News Alert yesterday. The very first one they've sent me since... Glasgow Airport was on fireCharlie Sheen got engagedMusharraf stormed the Red Mosque Scooter Libby got commuted. Obsess much?
"Plame's identity was revealed in a syndicated newspaper column in 2003..."
The fact that nobody was indicted, much less convicted, in "leaking" or "revealing" Plames' indentity proved unequivocally that she did NOT have Under-Cover status when the story was first published. The dismissal in the Wilson's civil suit underscores this fact. Of course, this does not stop the leftist media from continuing to refer to this melodrama as "The CIA "Leak" Case" when it was clear long ago there was nothing to leak. After all, that would put an end to speculations of...[Gasp]...a coverup at the highest levels.
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.
Niger authorities announced Thursday the month-long suspension of Radio France International (RFI) local broadcasts, saying the station was spreading lies about rebel Tuareg groups.
Saudi reform advocates say the authorities arrested a prominent activist, Abdullah Al Hamed on Thursday, along with his brother and five women, after a protest to call for the release of family members detained for several years without charge.
Five senior BBC production staff were suspended yesterday as Britain's most senior policeman raised the prospect of a criminal investigation into the corporation's rigging of phone-in competitions.
On June 8th, Andrei Smirnov of the Jamestown Foundation reported that " Russia continues to be rocked by purges of the Federation Council, the upper house of the Russian parliament, where deputies (often called "senators") represent regional governments. On May 14, Sergei Mironov, speaker of the Federation Council, dismissed four members of the Council." Mironov is a Kremlin sycophant, who has called for altering the Russian Constitution to allow "President" Putin to remain in power. 
A South Korean man who lives in New York was arrested on Wednesday and charged with repeatedly lying to the Federal Bureau of Investigation about spying work he allegedly did for his native country, prosecutors said on Thursday.
Jacques Chirac was interviewed on Thursday by a judge investigating a graft case of fake jobs allegedly involving members of his party during his time as Paris mayor, a spokeswoman for the former French president said. 
The most senior surviving leader of Cambodia's infamous Khmer Rouge regime, accused of genocidal policies that led to the deaths of 1.7 million of his countrymen, declared his innocence yesterday as he prepared to face trial. 
WASHINGTON - Former CIA operative Valerie Plame lost a lawsuit Thursday that demanded money from Bush administration officials whom she blamed for leaking her agency identity. Plame, the wife of former Ambassador Joseph Wilson, had accused Vice President Dick Cheney and others of conspiring to disclose her identity in 2003. Plame said that violated her privacy rights and was illegal retribution for her husband's criticism of the administration.
