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2 suspected US missile attacks kill 45 in Pakistan
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 6: Politix
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
Caught romping in boss room
[Straits Times] TWO Malaysian civil servants were caught making out by their boss in the latter's room in Seremban, reported Harian Metro.

According to the daily, the 25-year-old man and 23-year-old woman would wait for everyone to leave before using the assistant director's room for their lustful acts.

However, they were caught when the assistant director returned to his office at 6.30pm last Friday to pick up some items. It is learnt they were still fully clothed when their boss walked in on them.

This was not the first time the couple had been caught for close proximity or khalwat, as they had been nabbed by religious authorities in a hotel last year and let off with a fine.

According to the Negri Sembilan Syariah Criminal Enactment, they can be slapped with a maximum fine of RM3,000 (S$1,234) or jailed not more than two years, or both.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  .. as they had been nabbed by religious authorities in a hotel last year..

So, in Malaysia, telling'm to "get a room" isn't an option. Remember to inform MSM of that when they're in Malaysia with Obama.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2009 9:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Uh, uh, SIMPSONS > it It IT IIIIIITTTTTT...@!

Gut Nuthin.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/08/2009 19:02 Comments || Top||


Nigerian car thief turns into goat!
In West Africa, widespread belief in witchcraft, black magic, and superstition undermine the fundamentals of journalism.

Abuja, Nigeria - In Nigeria recently, an angry mob demanded that police jail a goat. Vigilantes insisted the animal was a human car thief who transmogrified upon being apprehended. Nigerian law doesn't recognize magic, witchcraft, or voodoo. Yet, faced with an angry mob, police acquiesced, arresting the goat.
More at the link.
Deal with an angry mob or arrest a goat? Smart cops.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Err, how do you 'cuff a goat?
Posted by: gorb || 07/08/2009 0:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Just wait until the Abuja detectives get through grilling the suspect.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/08/2009 2:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Would he have turned into a goat if they were Arabs?
Posted by: Spot || 07/08/2009 8:49 Comments || Top||

#4  Prob'ly a beautiful she-camel, Spot, then seduced all the menfolk into desiring to marry her.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2009 9:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Well we've got a Kenyan ass turn into a president.
Posted by: Beavis || 07/08/2009 9:15 Comments || Top||

#6  In other news, Aberforth Dumbledore was arrested today.
Posted by: Korora || 07/08/2009 11:31 Comments || Top||

#7  If I were the cop, I'd ask to see the goat driving, if theey can't then jail the accusers for wasting the police's time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/08/2009 16:25 Comments || Top||

#8  At least he wasn't stealing naughty bits.
Posted by: whitecollar redneck || 07/08/2009 18:39 Comments || Top||


-Obits-
World bids farewell to icon Michael Jackson
The world bid farewell to Music legend Michael Jackson on Tuesday with tears, laughter and performances at his public memorial service, which was dedicated to celebrating the life of the world's only King of Pop.
We have an offensive going on in Afghanistan, a counter-offensive by the Taliban in the same place, the ayatollahs in Iran at each other's throats, AQI trying for a comeback in Iraq, Somalia about to fall to Islamists again, North Korea's trying to chew through the national straps, and Venezuela about to invade Honuras. Michael Jackson was pretty much everything on the news.
Thousands gathered outside the Los Angeles Staples Center and an estimated billion people tuned in on television and online as the memorial kicked off with messages of condolences from South Africa's anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, and singer Diana Ross, who were absent from the star-studded event along with Jackson's close friend Elizabeth Taylor.

"Michael was a giant and a legend in the music industry. And we mourn with the millions of fans worldwide," said Mandela's message, read out by singer Smokey Robinson as millions tuned in around the world to watch the tribute.

Music superstar Mariah Carey opened the night of performances with her cover of the Jackson Five's song "I'll Be There," which she sang standing in front of Jackson's gold-plated casket -- placed at the front of the stage.

Top singers Usher, Lionel Richie, Stevie Wonder, Jennifer Hudson and John Mayor also performed in between speeches from the likes of actress Queen Latifa, who read out a poem by famous author Maya Angelou, followed by a speech by a tearful Brooke Shields.

Basketball stars Kobe Bryant and Magic Johnson, Martin Luther King III were also in attendance.

One of the biggest ovations came after remarks made by Berry Gordy, the founder of Motown records who launched Jackson's career. "The more I think and talk about Michael Jackson, I feel the King of Pop is not big enough for him. I think he is simply the greatest entertainer that ever lived," said Gordy to sustained cheers.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  bread/circus fellow 'burgers. The elites running the clown show in DC love this crap. Remember Cap/Trade aka Cap/Tax passed on the Friday that this whackjob died.

I heard LA was asking for funds to cover this crap - maybe Arnie can just write them an IOU.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 07/08/2009 1:18 Comments || Top||

#2  Greatest entertainer that ever lived Berry? Pretty sure Elvis will be waiting for you on that one up in that big gig in the sky. Or the Beatles if you consider a group an entertainer.

What a gong show this must've been - glad I didn't watch one min of this dog/pony media circlejerk. Empty suited celebs wailing about some degenerate narcisist w/a thing for juveniles.

Tom Cruise is saying "I told you Brooke Shields was crazy."
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 07/08/2009 1:22 Comments || Top||

#3  Even when you're out of the country, you stll see MJ's face all over the place. Sheesh!
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 07/08/2009 2:06 Comments || Top||

#4  And soon we'll be having the MJ impersonators, groan...
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 07/08/2009 2:54 Comments || Top||

#5  Oh, Gawd... Oh, no... Oh, please no...
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 5:00 Comments || Top||

#6  I refuse to celebrate the life of ANYONE who dies and leaves his estate $ 400,000,000. in the hole. Not to mention his alleged pedifelic proclivities and strange desire to be made physically white, marry wife, and through male donors 'sire' white children. Farewell to the bizarre freakshow. Now BEAT IT!
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2009 7:47 Comments || Top||

#7  I've always thought he may have had himself castrated at an early age to avoid the voice change of puberty.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 07/08/2009 8:19 Comments || Top||

#8  Michael Jackson was pretty much everything on the news.

That is what the 'news' is. It's entertainment. It's packaging. It's creative without substance except by error chance. It's the Roman Circus in altered form. It's the shadows on the wall. They are celebrating one of their own, one of their own creations.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2009 9:14 Comments || Top||

#9  And soon we'll be having the MJ impersonators, groan...

There's a reason to open yer wrists right now ...
Posted by: Steve White || 07/08/2009 9:19 Comments || Top||

#10  Second daughter works in a hospital; said that patients yesterday were bored, bored, bored because everything on TV was Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson, Michael Jackson. In desperation, some of them were watching Animal Planet.
Posted by: mom || 07/08/2009 10:02 Comments || Top||

#11  ENOUGH!
Posted by: Lagom || 07/08/2009 10:31 Comments || Top||

#12  ICON?











Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/08/2009 12:05 Comments || Top||

#13  To hell with that little freak. And his whole damn family. And Al "The Hustler" Sharpton...
Posted by: mojo || 07/08/2009 12:29 Comments || Top||

#14  your a bag of shit plus you re stupid when elvis died besides his garbage samples you may call music he was the posterchild for slimfast and no way he to be concidered a king hell his daughter even serviced jackson??? so just take your ass back underthe trailer and do yo meth ya tweaker
Posted by: Albert Spert5936 || 07/08/2009 13:01 Comments || Top||

#15  Even when you're out of the country, you stll see MJ's face all over the place. Sheesh!

You got that right. My friends in India are complaining that it has been all MJ, all the damn time since he croaked. I don't watch TV so it hasn't affected me too much.
Posted by: Injun Grinesing9686 || 07/08/2009 13:06 Comments || Top||

#16  Not to worry AH9418, I think they have to register with the state and knock on your door.

Thank you GolfBravo for the counter-slideshow to the worshiping of the moonwalk. I will maintain every time I hear the song thriller that it is about date-rape. How's that? Or the video of him staring at little boys floating in penis shaped boats? End of an era I say good.

Represents everything bloated and self serving about the hollywood superstar culture, its no wonder Americans are made fun of. And the 'reverends' et al go worship that golden calffin.

Its disgraceful. Guy I know said, "Despite everything he was a musical genius." No, I counter, he was a performer - listen to the music its crap, lyrics and riffs. All he did was sell image.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 07/08/2009 13:07 Comments || Top||

#17  All he did was sell image.

Shiny stuff. That was what all the big production videos with all the choreography and...yada³ were all about. Visual shiny stuff to distract from the crapy music, lyrics and riffs.
Posted by: Injun Grinesing9686 || 07/08/2009 13:21 Comments || Top||

#18  "your a bag of shit plus you re stupid when elvis died besides his garbage samples you may call music he was the posterchild for slimfast and no way he to be concidered a king hell his daughter even serviced jackson??? so just take your ass back underthe trailer and do yo meth ya tweaker"

-umm, what part of civil, well reasoned discourse don't you understand? I'll go back to the trailer as soon as you realize there's this thing on your computer called "spellcheck."

I agree swksvoIFF. IMHO his music was generally horrible. He wrote a couple catchy tunes prior to 1985. Everything after would've never made the radio had he not had his name attached to it after Thriller. Kind of like McDonalds - he sold a lot of stuff but doesn't mean it was really anything special.

Posted by: Andy Ulusoque aka Broadhead6 || 07/08/2009 14:24 Comments || Top||

#19  One day I hope to move up to having a house trailer myself...
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/08/2009 15:44 Comments || Top||

#20  Good to see you posting again Albert. When did you get back from your Molesting Cambodian Children 2009 Tour?
Posted by: ed || 07/08/2009 15:51 Comments || Top||

#21  Al the MJ coverage is part of a distance learning course called Narcissism 101.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/08/2009 20:49 Comments || Top||

#22  I hear there's a support group meeting tonight at the Bush Co. to cleanse our minds of the MJ drivel.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2009 20:53 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Michigan man throws cat up to 20 times
Police have arrested a Muskegon Heights man after they say he threw the family cat up to 20 times, possibly breaking the animal's back and leg.

Police say the 30-year-old man told them he found the cat eating his food on the kitchen counter, picked it up and threw it.

The Muskegon Chronicle reports the man eventually tossed the cat in a garbage can, thinking it was dead. A police officer notified the West Michigan Society for the Protection and Care of Animals, and two SPCA workers came to the home.

Television stations WZZM and WOOD say the cat was treated at an area vet's office and is recovering.

The cat attack took place Monday night.
You would think he would learn that cat doesn't agree with him, so he should stop eating it.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/08/2009 14:15 || Comments || Link || [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "Throw" him ten times as far in consideration for the size-weight difference, if he survives, use an axe handle on his leg and back and throw him again, and again.

Why yes I DO like cats, how did you know?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/08/2009 16:23 Comments || Top||

#2  "Throw the cat" is a euphemism for sex in the U.K.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2009 17:39 Comments || Top||

#3  The headline made me LoL!
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 07/08/2009 17:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Those Brits sure have a colourful language. Never would I have connected the two concepts, never!
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2009 19:52 Comments || Top||

#5  Lord only knows what they call actual cat throwing.
Posted by: SteveS || 07/08/2009 20:22 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Congolese army orders troops to respect human rights
[Iran Press TV Latest] The soldiers of the Democratic Republic of Congo have been ordered to respect human rights.
Now, there's a new one!
In a statement issued on Tuesday, the Congolese army also announced that it would punish any servicemen found guilty of committing crimes.

"From this day, any serviceman guilty of reprehensible acts will feel the full force of the law," said the statement from army headquarters signed by Colonel Leon Richard Kasonga, the spokesman for the Congolese army (FARDC).

The statement listed "rapes, forcing civilians to carry out forced labor, theft, extortion, torture, looting, malicious destruction of fields or the killing of livestock, or any other reprehensible act."

Any commanders who do not ensure that civilians and their belongings are protected from the army's troops will also be held responsible, it added, AFP reported.

The FARDC, which has about 140,000 troops, has often been accused of attacking civilians, particularly in conflict zones where they are pursuing rebels from the Ugandan Lord's Resistance Army and the Democratic Forces for the Liberation of Rwanda.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Congolese army orders troops to respect human rights
That'll work.
Posted by: Spot || 07/08/2009 8:51 Comments || Top||


Zim to discuss adopting rand, says minister
[Mail and Globe] Zimbabwe will look into the possibility of adopting the rand as an alternative to the country's existing multiple currency regime, Zimbabwe Industry and Commerce Minister Welshman Ncube said on Tuesday.

"We cannot re-enter the Zimbabwe dollar without the economy to support that, we need another solution. We cannot continue forever with multiple currencies," Ncube told an Africa forum. "If we can at least join rand monetary union, we will have money allocated to Zimbabwe through that system. No decision has been made, we will debate it and see what the best alternative is."

Namibia, Swaziland and Lesotho all use the South African rand alongside their own currencies.

President Robert Mugabe has said Zimbabwe may revive the use of its own currency because the US dollar was unavailable to a majority of people in the countryside, but Finance Minister Tendai Biti told Reuters on Monday that a return to the Zimbabwe dollar was a "very long way" off.

Zimbabwe has allowed the use of multiple foreign currencies since January to stem hyperinflation that left the Zimbabwe dollar almost worthless in the midst of a severe economic crisis. Ncube said the finance minister's mid-term monetary review, due on July 14, would include a report on the implications of joining rand monetary union.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Might as well, they've essentially got the same gov't with Zuma anyway. Zim will drive the Rand into obscurity. It's over R8 to the USD now. Watch it happen.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2009 7:56 Comments || Top||

#2  I had wondered what happened to the stories about hyperinflation & the Zimbabwean dollar. Completely vaporized, has it then?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 07/08/2009 9:46 Comments || Top||

#3  I got a ten Million Bill, (it's worthless)
Framed and captioned. I tell everyone
"I'm a Multi-Millionaire".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/08/2009 16:30 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Aminul sent to jail on surrender
[Bangla Daily Star] Barrister Aminul Haque, one of the powerful ministers of the four-party government, was finally sent to jail yesterday in connection with a graft case in which he was earlier jailed for 10 years in absentia.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Zelaya meets Clinton amid Honduras crisis talks
TEGUCIGALPA, Honduras (AFP) -- Ousted Honduran leader Manuel Zelaya met with US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton in Washington Tuesday, as the leaders who sent him away hinted at a possible exit in the crisis. Zelaya -- who the army prevented from landing in the capital Tegucigalpa during violent protests Sunday -- could come back if Congress grants him amnesty, a spokesman for the Supreme Court told AFP.

"The only one with the power to give amnesty is the Congress," said Danilo Izaguirre, spokesman for Honduras' Supreme Court.

Zelaya's highest-level meeting with the US administration so far in the crisis came Tuesday amid increasing pressure on the leaders who packed him away on June 28 over a dispute with the courts, politicians and the army over his plans to change the constitution.

"We are open to dialogue. We want to be heard," interim leader Roberto Micheletti said Tuesday, amid world-wide condemnation for the coup, as well as violence on the streets.

A spokesman for the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights on Tuesday condemned "excessive force" by authorities quelling protests in Honduras, after two deaths in weekend clashes with the army.
What about the excessive violence of the pro-Zelaya protesters? Does the Special Rapper have a comment about that?
A commission from the interim government also was in Washington as Zelaya met with Clinton.

Roberto Micheletti, who interim leaders insisted took power in a "constitutional succession," not a coup, said that Costa Rican President Oscar Arias, a Nobel Peace Prize winner, had agreed to mediate the crisis.

Meanwhile, pro-Zelaya protests sprang up Tuesday for the ninth consecutive day, with thousands on the streets of the capital Tegucigalpa. "We're going to continue with peaceful resistance, despite the repression," union leader Juan Barahona told AFP.
More at the link with man in the street interviews, etc
Posted by: Steve White || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let him land, then do an Aquino on him.
Posted by: mojo || 07/08/2009 10:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Spread nails on the runwaay, have a "Serious Accident" on landing, watch Obama whine.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/08/2009 16:34 Comments || Top||


Bolivia seizes giant cocaine laboratory
[Iran Press TV Latest] Bolivia has captured a mammoth cocaine plant in a rural area of Santa Cruz which could produce one hundred kilograms of the illicit drug daily. The large haul drew the interior minister Alfredo Rada to the area. He described the operation as "the most important hit against drug trafficking in a long time," reported BBC on Monday.

Rada expressed hope that the operations to uproot such processing plants would continue.

The government of President Evo Morales has followed a policy of "zero cocaine" and not "zero coca". This has put the Andean nation at odds with the United States which claims that by following such a policy the Bolivian government is encouraging the production of the illicit drug.

Bolivia last year ousted the US Drug Enforcement agents, charging them of espionage and sabotage. The US in turn scrapped trade benefits to the Latin country.

Bolivia is the world's third largest producer of cocaine.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Probably forgot to give Morales his cut.
Posted by: AzCat || 07/08/2009 0:53 Comments || Top||

#2  In Santa Cruz? More likely they were shutting down an attempt to set up a rival cartel 'gainst Morales' mob. Seeing as Santa Cruz is down in the lowlands where they pump gas, away from the coca fields... and has been making noises about secession for years how.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 07/08/2009 9:43 Comments || Top||

#3  The headline should read "Bolivia nationalizes cocaine lab".
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/08/2009 16:18 Comments || Top||


Court: Zelaya could return if granted amnesty
The Honduran high court says ousted President Manuel Zelaya can go back to the country if he is granted amnesty by the Congress.
That makes sense. I could fit into my old pants if I wasn't fat, too.
"The only one with the power to give amnesty is the Congress," said Danilo Izaguirre, spokesman for the Supreme Court on Tuesday, AFP reported.
And only a diet and daily trips to the gym will do it for me.
Zelaya was removed from power on June 28 ahead of a poll on constitutional reform that would allow him to stay in power for another term. But his opponents launched a coup to strip Zelatya from power and expeled him from the country.
It's not a coup if they're following constitutional procedures.
Zelaya's attempts to return to his homeland has, so far, failed as the provisional government headed by Roberto Micheletti has not allowed him to return.
"Piss off! We've rented yer room!"
The Honduran caretaker government had announced earlier that it would arrest Zelaya if he tried to return to the central American country.
Unless the Honduran parliament sees fit to pardon him or I go on a diet.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The granting of amnesty implies that Zelaya committed a crime. As in an offense against the Honduran constitution.

It's about time the MSM should report what the crime is, instead of leaving this as a 'donut' story.
Posted by: WTF || 07/08/2009 3:49 Comments || Top||

#2  If you strike the king, you must kill the king.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2009 9:04 Comments || Top||


Economy
California IOU holders may turn to check cashers
California "IOU" recipients can turn to credit unions and check-cashing storefronts if a state budget deal does not appear by Friday and if three major banks refuse to accepting the notes beyond Friday as planned, analysts said on Tuesday.

The willingness of the smaller institutions to take IOUs from the cash-strapped state should also stop the development of a secondary market for trading them, although individuals could end up paying hefty fees to get their hands on cash.

The state government of California, the world's eighth largest economy, is experiencing a severe revenue slump brought on by recession, rising unemployment and the lengthy housing downturn, forcing it to issue IOUs in lieu of some payments.

The government of the most populous U.S. state began its fiscal year on July 1 with a $26.3 billion budget gap and risks burning through its cash unless Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger and lawmakers quickly balance the state's books. Most U.S. states are not permitted to run budget deficits.

Three major banks are currently accepting the IOUs, but only through Friday. After that recipients may turn to credit unions to cash them or, perhaps, to check-cashing storefronts.

Their cashiers could see more than $3 billion of the IOUs at their windows this month should the state budget crisis persist and big banks hold to their Friday cut-off for processing them.

Check-cashing storefronts are especially well poised to score IOUs, said Daniel Penrod, a senior industry analyst at the California Credit Union League.

"I could see a lot of bank customers turning to a third-party source and losing a lot of their paycheck," Penrod said.
Posted by: tipper || 07/08/2009 02:18 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I could see a lot of bank customers turning to a third-party source and losing a lot of their paycheck," Penrod said.

Barry to step in soon and.... save the people.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2009 7:53 Comments || Top||

#2  "forcing it to issue IOUs in lieu of some payments."

They are not entirely out of cold hard cash. Rather, they are CHOOSING who to give the cash to and CHOOSING who to give the IOUs to.

Prioritization right there.

The department issuing IOUs is not important. Abolish that department and its jobs and its laws and its positions.

Rinse, repeat.
Posted by: Ptah || 07/08/2009 10:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Using scrip of any kind means that you have to follow the rules of scrip. The first thing is to have "buy in" from the retail community. Forget banks, because you do not want IOUs to be saved, but spent. Saving them defeats the purpose.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 07/08/2009 10:27 Comments || Top||

#4  The first rule of scrip is that after the final transaction it can be turned in to the issuer for actual money. Has the California state government (Governor Schwarzenegger, I assume) announced any plan for that to take place at some fixed future date?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2009 19:56 Comments || Top||

#5  "Has the California state government (Governor Schwarzenegger, I assume) announced any plan for that to take place at some fixed future date?"

I think I read someplace that they're supposed to redeem the scrip in the fall (October?), including interest, tw.

So they're still living in fantasy-world.

They ain't gonna redeem jack. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 07/08/2009 21:22 Comments || Top||


Europe
Italy: Police arrest activists amid tight security for G8
[ADN Kronos] Italian police on Tuesday arrested at least 32 people amid tight security ahead of Wednesday's G8 meeting in the quake-stricken city of L'Aquila. Twenty-seven anti-globalisation activists were detained in the Italian capital Rome and five French youths were arrested in Pettino near the site of the summit.

Elsewhere, five French youths armed with clubs and batons were arrested by police on Tuesday in the town of Pettino in the central region of Abruzzo. The French nationals were arrested near the 'Red Zone', an off-limits area for traffic and and pedestrians near the summit location.

"The van was stopped while it was travelling on a road in Pettino," Giovanni Di Niso, police operations commander in L'Aquila told Adnkronos. "Right now surveillance levels in the surrounding areas are quite high."

In Rome, 27 anti-globalisation activists were detained on Tuesday after they set on fire large rubbish bins in the centre of the capital. They were among an estimated 150 protesters, some of them had their face covered and wore helmets, when they took to the streets.

In June Italian anti-terrorist police arrested several people in in nationwide raids in relation to a potential terror attack on the Group of Eight meeting.

The Division of General Investigations and Special Operations (DIGOS) and police from Rome, the Sardinian city of Sassari and northern cities of Milan and Genoa were involved in the police operation. Six people were reportedly arrested in the police raids which were the result of a two-year investigation.

Among those arrested was Luigi Fallico, a former member of the terrorist group the Red Brigades, a group responsible for bank robberies and political assassinations in the 1970s and 1980s.

Those arrested by police are alleged to have been involved in a plot to target the G8 meeting which was to have been held on the island of Maddalena off the coast of Sardinia. It is now due to be held in L'Aquila, site of the devastating April earthquake in the region of Abruzzo, outside Rome in July.

G8 leaders - representing Britain, Canada, France, Germany, Italy, Japan, Russia and the United States - are due to meet in L'Aquila from 8 to 10 July.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I've come to the conclusion that G8 summits are conducted purely for the activists. Lord knows nothing useful is done by the main participants.
Posted by: Spot || 07/08/2009 8:56 Comments || Top||


Germany's Constitutional Court hits hard reset on EU Lisbon Treaty
Last week's ruling by the German Constitutional Court,
that ratification of the Lisbon Treaty by the German parliament is unconstitutional,
coupled with demands by one conservative party for changes to the constitution,
to prevent such goings-on in the future,
may not only jeopardize Berlin's schedule for the ratification of the Lisbon Treaty. The Karlsruhe ruling also threatens future steps toward European integration.
Those who want a United States of Europe, American style, to counterweight America, must be livid. Details and background at link.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They don't need a counterweight to American power, Obama is already filling that role admirably.
Posted by: AzCat || 07/08/2009 0:50 Comments || Top||

#2  If the Euros had a speck of intelligence left, they'd be more concerned about American disengagement and a 'balance' to the people to the East who want to return to the 'good old days' of their make believe glory in the absence of hard diplomacy in their inventory.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2009 9:00 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Darkness covers Karachi due to failure of grid stations
[Geo News] The hustle and bustle of life has been adversely hit by the breakdown occurred in many grid stations besides breakage of many high tension electric wires here in Karachi, leaving the metropolis covered with darkness on Tuesday, Geo news reported. People, having been suffered too much, have been sick of continuous power failures meanwhile, KESC has been carrying out load shedding for two to three hours after every alternative hour while cable faults have also added oil to the fire. According to KESC sources, the WAPDA is providing the required electricity to it but owing to flaws in KESC's own power generation units due to technical faults, it is unable to meet the metropolis electricity needs. KESC is entirely dependent upon electricity being produced by WAPDA and Gas, which has failed so far to end electricity crisis here in Karachi, KESC sources added. The electricity impasse has also disappointed the traders and businessmen as their businesses have come to halt, traders' sources said.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  In case there is any doubt which side of the LOC the story is about this story is in GEO Pakistan.
Posted by: tipover || 07/08/2009 1:55 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, but they have nukes. That's the important thing.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 5:04 Comments || Top||

#3  we could point out that "nukes" could power the grid... heh...
Posted by: 3dc || 07/08/2009 10:01 Comments || Top||

#4  Foster would be proud
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2009 15:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Looking at the the world nighttime map, nuclear weapons aren't the only thing Pakistan has in common with North Korea.
Posted by: ed || 07/08/2009 16:04 Comments || Top||

#6  I haven't seen "Redi Killowatt" in years.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 07/08/2009 16:38 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
Google to Challenge Microsoft With Computer Operating System
July 8 (Bloomberg) -- Google Inc., owner of the most- visited Internet search engine, is developing a computer operating system based on its Chrome Web browser, taking aim at Microsoft Corp. in its strongest market.

The system will be designed at first for low-cost laptops called netbooks, Google said in a blog post. The company is in talks with partners on the project and computers running the software will be available in the second half of 2010.

The plan escalates Google's rivalry with Microsoft, which extends to Web search, browsers and business applications such as word processing and spreadsheets. Windows, Microsoft's flagship product, runs about 90 percent of the world's personal computers. Google is also trying to spur Web-ad sales after reporting its first sequential revenue drop as a public company.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 07/08/2009 10:48 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Um....no thank you. Microsoft may not be everyone's favorite company, but I'll take them over Apple any day and as for trusting my computer to Google that way.

Hell no.
Posted by: Silentbrick || 07/08/2009 13:22 Comments || Top||

#2  I have two words for Google: "money pit".
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 07/08/2009 14:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Netscape II
Posted by: ed || 07/08/2009 15:38 Comments || Top||

#4  It doesn't matter whether Google kills Microsoft or not. Microsoft will never again wield the power they did back in the 90's. The OS is becoming increasingly commoditized, and Google is smart to take advantage of that.
Posted by: Iblis || 07/08/2009 16:10 Comments || Top||

#5  Most people don't realize how bad MS Windows is, because they have never seen a viable alternative. Ditto IE and Word.

I'll dump Windows in a heartbeat for anthing that promises me better protection from all that crap that inevitably infests Windows machines because of its dismal security and awful user interface.
Posted by: Phil_B || 07/08/2009 17:18 Comments || Top||

#6  As a Mac/iPhone user, I'll take Apple any day, thankyouverymuch. If Apple ever got 90% of the market they'd be as insufferable as MS, but they won't so I'm not worried.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/08/2009 17:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Back in the early 80's Apple was starting to get a toe-hold in schools to the exclusion of others.

I recall thinking that Apple was acting mighty anti-competitive when they sued MS for Windows.
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats || 07/08/2009 18:02 Comments || Top||

#8  Lest we fergit, GOVERNATOR DA ARNUUULD SKYNET > > "JUDGEMENT DAY IS INEVITABLE"!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/08/2009 18:57 Comments || Top||

#9  You guys are thinking too much at the homeowner and individual level, start thinking at the SMB and corporate level and this is real money. License fees being paid to microsoft can sometimes drive a company from being profitable to being in the red. Google just potentially threw down the gauntlet that would let a lot of businesses go away from Microsoft Windows running Microsoft Office and associated CAL costs with servers. Think how much money a company with 500+ users can save if they didnt have to pay for CAL's for each of their employees who need to use Sharepoint or Office or any number of associated programs. I know if I'm running even a small business and I have for example 25,000 a year just in licensing fees alone I would highly be interested in anything that saves me that money.
Posted by: Valentine || 07/08/2009 20:13 Comments || Top||

#10  I look after a couple of dozen Mac users located hither and yon with no central office in a rapidly growing small company. All biz apps are hosted web applications. Most work happens in Google Apps (gmail, docs, chat, calendar, etc.) plus hosted business software like Salesforce.com and some web based collaboration apps we host ourselves. Everybody has a Blackberry or an iphone which play great with Google Apps. Our licensing, administration and user support costs are *tiny* compared to anything we'd see with Microsoft desktop and server software and the end user satisfaction is incomparable. Our one Windows based app is an accounting package we run painfully via hosted Windows desktop. (Somebody really needs to do a proper web based small biz accounting app).

I get the appeal of Chrome OS. Netbooks are getting cheap to the point of being disposable-less than a decent bar tab. Perfect for worry free travel provided they boot fast and run Google Apps like greased lightning. Our head techie has been playing around with running bootleg Mac OS on Netbooks (not ready for prime time). Giving our staff Windows XP netbooks would be truly retrograde and the Linux user distributions are still too much work to set up and support users on. We'd start buying Chrome OS netbooks today if they were available.
Posted by: Classical_Liberal || 07/08/2009 22:23 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thaksin spotted in Msia
[Straits Times] FORMER Thai prime minister turned fugitive Thaksin Shinawatra was spotted in Malaysia recently, but left the country before he could be arrested by the authorities, Thai Deputy Interior Minister Thaworn Sennian claimed on Monday.

Mr Thaworn told reporters in Pattani that Thai Embassy officials had informed the Malaysian authorities that Thaksin was staying at the Shangri-La Hotel. 'Somehow, Thaksin managed to get wind of the impending arrest and escaped,' he said, without giving details.

According to Thaworn, Thaksin had since left for Fiji.

The policeman turned telecommunications billionaire ruled the country from 2001 to 2005 before he was ousted in a military coup on Sept 19, 2006, while he was attending the United Nations General Assembly. He came back briefly last year, after his allies won the December 2007 general election, but remained in exile to escape the two-year jail term imposed on him for abuse of power.

Two prime ministers aligned to him were forced out of office and their party lost power to a coalition led by Democrat Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva.

Thaksin has been shuttling between his exile homes in London, Dubai, Hong Kong and recently, Germany, using various passports of other countries after his passport was cancelled by the Thai Government. Despite his absence, he remains popular with the north and northeast population, which was clear during two by-elections when his allies in the Phue Thi Party won.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Family loses conversion battle
[Straits Times] A SIKH family lost a court battle on Monday in Muslim-majority Malaysia for the right to cremate one of their relatives after officials said the man had converted to Islam years before his death.

The case threatens to revive complaints among non-Muslims that their religious rights are being sidelined - a grievance that has sparked interfaith tensions and severely eroded minority support for the government.

The family of Mr Mohan Singh has been fighting Islamic authorities for custody of his body after Mr Mohan, 41, died of a heart attack on May 25.

Officials from the Islamic government department of central Selangor state insisted Mr Mohan converted to Islam in 1992, but the family said he practiced the Sikh religion until his death.

Malaysia's secular High Court ruled on Monday that it had no jurisdiction in the case, saying that the matter of Mr Mohan's conversion to Islam had already been decided by the Islamic Syariah court, said the family's lawyer, Mr Rajesh Kumar.

Islamic authorities were expected to bury the body later on Monday according to Muslim rites, since the Syariah court had already declared Mr Mohan as a Muslim last month, Mr Rajesh said.

Malaysia has a double-tier court system for civil matters - Muslims go to the Syariah court; non-Muslims go to secular courts. But in interfaith disputes, non-Muslims complain they lose out as Syariah courts get the final say and rarely rule in their favour.

The government has pledged to tackle legal ambiguities related to religious conversions. Authorities recently said minors can no longer be converted without both parents' consent, but the decision has not been made legally binding.

Officials have not announced any new proposals to resolve disputed conversions in cases where someone has died.

Ethnic Malay Muslims comprise nearly two-thirds of Malaysia's 28 million people. Minorities include ethnic Chinese and Indians who are mainly Buddhists, Christians, Hindus and Sikhs.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2009 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Wed 2009-07-08
  2 suspected US missile attacks kill 45 in Pakistan
Tue 2009-07-07
  Taliban launch counteroffensive against U.S. Marines
Mon 2009-07-06
  China: At Least 140 Killed in Uighur Riots
Sun 2009-07-05
  British Forces Join Afghan Operation
Sat 2009-07-04
  US forces repel Taliban suicide assault, kill 22 Taliban fighters
Fri 2009-07-03
  15 dead in suspected US missile strike in Pakistan
Thu 2009-07-02
  Mousavi, Karroubi call Short Round govt ''illegitimate''
Wed 2009-07-01
  11 cross-dressing Haqqani turbans arrested in Khost
Tue 2009-06-30
  Iran confirms Ahmadinejad's victory
Mon 2009-06-29
  Mousavi's website shut down
Sun 2009-06-28
  Saad al-Hariri Leb's new premier
Sat 2009-06-27
  Council appoints commission to probe election
Fri 2009-06-26
  Mousavi warns of more protests
Thu 2009-06-25
  Somali legislators flee abroad, Parliament paralysed
Wed 2009-06-24
  Khamenei agrees to extend vote probe


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