[Al Arabiya] The Palestinians on Sunday marked the 10,000th anniversary of the founding of Jericho, an oasis town in the West Bank that may be the world's oldest city.
This would be the Jericho that Joshua fought the battle at? Joshua, the Jewish guy, right?
The festivities included a special cabinet meeting chaired by prime minister Salam Fayyad that was to be followed by a 4.5 kilometer (2.8 mile) foot race, a military band and fireworks.
They celebrate the 10,000th anniversary with .. a cabinet meeting? What are they doing for the 20,000th?
"This occasion is not only a celebration, but is part of a national project to complete the building and preparation of the Palestinian state," Fayyad said at the opening of the ceremony.
Residents had complained ahead of the fete that the low-key celebrations would not do justice to the occasion, which has been planned since 2007.
And local officials said many important infrastructure projects that were supposed to have been completed by the anniversary were stalled by Israeli restrictions and lack of international funding.
The date chosen for the anniversary -- 10/10/2010 -- was mostly symbolic.
The oasis town near the Dead Sea is one of the oldest cities in the world, with evidence of settlement dating back to 9000 BC and urban fortifications dating back to 7000 BC, predating Egypt's pyramids by 4,000 years.
Jericho is the second most popular Palestinian tourist destination after Bethlehem and has seen a surge of visitors in recent years as security in the West Bank has improved following the devastating 2000 Palestinian uprising.
#2
ION PALEOS, DAILY TIMES.PK > RAMALLAH: THE PALESTINIANS ARE SEEKING A MAP FROM THE US SHOWING WHERE ISRAEL SEES ITS FINAL BORDERS + MAKING CLEAR WHETHER THEY INCLUDE PALESTINIAN LANDS + HOMES:AN OFFICIAL SAID WEDNESDAY [PLO Official YASSER ABED RABBOO] | PLO WANTS MAP FROM US WID [specific = defined]FUTURE ISRAELI BRODERS.
ARTICS > PLO = PALEOS are broadly willing to consider formally rcognition of ISRAEL AS A SOVEREIGN STATE, BUT NOT AS A "JEWISH STATE" as such may jeopardize the rights of Israel's legal Arab-Muslim Citizens whom comprise approxi 20% of Israel's tote population???
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe's Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai has asked the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and European Union not to recognise new ambassadors unilaterally appointed by President Bob (Muggsy) Mugabe, his front man said today.
"Those appointments are supposed to be by consultation," Tsvangirai's front man Luke Tamborinyoka told AFP.
"The letters were dispatched to the UN secretary-general concerning the appointments of ambassadors to the UN office's in Geneva and New York," he said.
Should be consulted
Letters were also sent to European Commission chief Jose Manuel Barroso and to the leaders of Italy, Sweden, Switzerland and South Africa, he said.
Under the Global Political Agreement (GPA) that created the unity government between Mugabe and Tsvangirai, the prime minister should be consulted on all appointments, Tamborinyoka said.
"The prime minister has asked these countries and the UN not to recognise the appointments as they are not representative of other parties to the GPA," he said.
Friction over key appointments has strained the coalition since it was formed last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/13/2010 00:00 ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Unknown assailants chopped a local Awami League leader to death at Hogoldanga village of Damurhuda upazila early yesterday.
Victim Mizanur Rahman Mizan, 43, was AL organising secretary and also a member of ward-7 of Natipota Union Parishad.
Angered by the incident, villagers laid siege to Hogoldanga police camp around 10:00 am. They also beat up camp In-Charge SI Monsur Ahmed inside the camp. Later other police personnel of the camp rescued him.
Police jugged one Rokunuzzaman, 32, from Damurhuda upazila town yesterday noon in this connection.
Police and family sources said a gang of 10 to 12 men went to Mizan's house around 12:30am and asked him to open the door.
Failing to get response from inside, the attackers broke open the door and entered the house around 1:15am. "They chopped and killed Mizan," victim's wife Doly Khatun told news hounds.
The incident took place within 10 to 15 minutes in front of Doly and her two daughters Mitu and Mili. The gang beat feet the scene exploding two bombs when the villagers started rushing to the spot, said locals.
Police Super of Chuadanga Nazrul Islam said they suspect issues over the up coming Union Parishad election might appear to be the reason behind the killing.
According to local sources, several groups are active to secure the union parishad chair. Deceased Mizan had rivalry with one of the aspirants, Nurul Islam who is also an incumbent UP member.
When the offenders reached the spot, Mizan repeatedly phoned Hogoldanga police camp and Damurhuda Police Station for help but received no response, claimed Doly.
"Police reached the spot after one-and-a-half-hour of the incident," Doly added. She, however, could not identify the members of the gang.
Officer-in-charge (OC) of Damurhuda Police Station, Sikdar Moshiur Rahman said he received Mizan's phone call around 1:0oam when he was going to take meal.
"I started for his house, about 10 kilometres off the cop shoppe, soon after I received his call and reached there around 1:50am. But I found Mizan dead," added the OC.
Sub-Inspector (SI) of Hogoldanga police camp Monsur Ahmed denied receiving any phone call from Mizan on that night.
Our Kushtia correspondent reports, Mizan was made the acting UP chairman after the elected chairman, Moniruzzaman Moni was suspended on charge of corruption and landed in jail in 2007.
Moni secured bail in 2009 and since then he has been living in Dhaka. He is also the organising secretary of Damurhuda upazila unit BNP.
Arrestee Rokunuzzaman, who was jugged twice in 2007, is the younger brother of Moniruzzaman Moni, said police.
District police authority closed SI Monsur Ahmed at Chuadanga police line after the incident.
[Iran Press TV] The B.O. regime has announced plans to lift a moratorium on offshore oil drilling imposed after the catastrophic BP oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico.
The White House announced on Tuesday that it will likely lift the current ban on offshore oil drilling "very soon," AFP reported.
A too late attempt to get a few votes back in the Gulf? Couple of Louisiana congressional seats still in play?
The announcement comes as President Barack B.O. Obama issued a six-month freeze shortly after the BP Deepwater Horizon oil rig exploded in late April, killing 11 workers and contaminating the Gulf with an estimated 4.9 million barrels (206 million gallons) of oil.
The moratorium is set to expire on November 30, but speculation is running high that the ban could be lifted as soon as the end of this week.
Head of the Interior Department's Bureau of Ocean Energy Management Michael Bromwich has been working on a report due to be published later in the week, outlining the new procedures and rules that oil companies will be obliged to follow.
The six-month moratorium was lifted by a New Orleans federal judge in June following mounting pressure from oil companies and politicians. However, The infamous However... the ruling was annulled by a court in July and promptly reinstated by the government.
While environmentalists support the moratorium, politicians have expressed strong opposition to it, arguing that the ban would impose economic hardship on the region.
The White House has warned that companies will have to comply with the new drilling rules before any such projects can resume.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Any word on how many oil workers & pieces of equipment have moved to other countries during this illegal moratorium?
#4
Bambi may be lifting his ban but there's no word on when, or if, he'll issue new drilling permits. No permits, no drilling.
O'Bullshit does NOT own the gulf.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/13/2010 14:11 Comments ||
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#5
The senatorial race down here is between David Vitter, the Republican incumbent, and Charlie Melancon, a Democratic member of the House. The big issue in the race is: which one of them hates Obama more?
I think what you're going to see next is some statement from Barry implying that he would have kept the moratorium in place if not for Charlie Melancon's vigorous protests. And the in the second week of November, the lifting will be lifted.
Posted by: Matt ||
10/13/2010 14:43 Comments ||
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(KUNA) -- The Federal Reserve said here Tuesday that that the pace of the economic expansion "slowed" in recent months and that inflation "remained low." The minutes of the Federal Open Market Committees last meeting, which was held on September 21, indicated that several members of the Committee noted that "unless the pace of economic recovery strengthened or underlying inflation moved back toward a level consistent with the Committee's mandate, they would consider it appropriate to take action soon." The minutes noted that the participants in the meeting discussed several possible approaches to providing additional accommodation but focused primarily on "further purchases of longer-term Treasury securities and on possible steps to affect inflation expectations." According to the minutes, nearly all members agreed that the statement should reiterate the expectation that economic conditions were likely to warrant exceptionally low levels of the federal funds rate for an extended period.
It added that members generally thought that the statement should note that the Committee was prepared to provide additional accommodation if needed to support the economic recovery and to return inflation, over time, to levels consistent with its mandate.
"Such an indication accorded with the members' sense that such accommodation may be appropriate before long, but also made clear that any decisions would depend upon future information about the economic situation and outlook," it noted.
"Many participants noted that if economic growth remained too slow to make satisfactory progress toward reducing the unemployment rate or if inflation continued to come in below levels consistent with the FOMC's dual mandate, it would be appropriate to provide additional monetary policy accommodation," the FOMC said in the minutes.
#1
Blah, blah, blah!
Why do I suspect that this is just easing us into the idea of super-inflation.
Maybe another couple 'bailouts', we'll call them 'quantitative easing', would help.
(KUNA) -- The number of foreigners residing in Italy continued to grow, though less than the rate of two previous years, to account for seven percent of the country's total population, official statistics showed here Tuesday.
The number of foreign nationals staying in the country reached 4.235 million at the turn of January 2010 with an increase of 344,000 at a rate of 8 percent of foreigners' total number last year, the National Institute of Statistics of Italy (ISTAT) said in a special bulletin.
The hike in the number of foreigners in 2009 is less than those registered in 2007 as it amounted in 2009 to 479,000 by 16.8 percent increase compared to the previous year, while the hike amounted to 459,000 people at a rate of 13.4 percent in 2008, the official institute also remarked.
ISTAT pointed out that this slowdown is primarily attributed to the decrease in the arrivals of Romanian citizens who represent the biggest foreign community in Italy.
In the same vein, the number of foreign children born in Italy hit 77,000 in what makes them account for 13.6 percent of the total birth rate in 2010 with an increase amounting to 6.4 percent compared to the number of foreigners born in 2008, noting births from foreign spouses as one of the main causes behind an increase in the number of foreigners, ISTAT said.
[Iran Press TV] France faces major disruption as workers plan to take to the streets once again to protest against the government's proposed pension reform program.
This is the fourth such strike since politicians approved the increase of the minimum retirement age from 60 to 62.
Labor unions have threatened the government with an open-ended strike to protest plans to hike the retirement age.
Half of flights to and from Paris Orly airport will be cancelled on Tuesday because of walkouts. The Paris Metro is also expected to be badly hit due to the transport workers' strike.
Continuing protests have already caused disruptions and shut down ports across the country.
Opposition parties accuse President Nicolas Sarkozy of seeking to provoke a "showdown" that could lead to the economy being blocked by strike action.
"He wants to use this law as proof of his supposed reforming courage by bringing the unions to their knees and reversing major social advances," AFP quoted an opposition Socialist leader, David Assouline, as saying on Monday.
The pension bill is a key piece of the reform program of President Sarkozy, whose opinion poll ratings are currently at record lows.
The French government hopes to implement the change as part of a larger reform package meant to cut pension costs.
Other points of the bill, which include raising the age for full state pension to 67, remain to be voted on, and the Senate's deliberations are expected to last until October 15.
Three mass protests over the past month have failed to convince the government to drop the plan.
French labor unions have also called for a national day of strikes on October 16 over the government's tough economic policies.
#3
5 weeks vacation, 37 hour work week, high wages, insane health and retirement benefits.
And yet companies in France still manage to turn a profit.
Weird.
Sad part is some CEO won't get his $100,000,000 bonus this year, he'll have to settle with $40,000,000 and a GulfStream IV instead of the GulfStream V jet.
Pisser, huh?
This Saturday, one of Greece's most respected newspapers, To Vima, reported that the nation's largest government health insurance provider would no longer pay for special footwear for diabetes patients. Amputation is cheaper, says the Benefits Division of the state insurance provider.
But don't worry, we have the best and brightest in charge of ObamaCare; they'd never resort to anything like that ...
[Iran Press TV] As part of its efforts to join the European Union, the Turkish government has called on France to support Ankara's bid for EU membership.
Bwha-ha-ha-ha!! The FRENCH? Really? The French are the ones who oppose most the Turks getting into the EU! How's that keeping the 4ID out of Turkey in 2003 working out for you guys?
"We have extended a request for stronger French support in the opening of more chapters in our membership negotiations," Turkish Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu told his visiting French counterpart Bernard Kouchner on Tuesday.
The French minister said his country was ready to "help Turkey" open three more policy chapters in its membership bid on competition policy, social policy, and employment as well as public procurement.
"Turkey has passed through a process of a constitutional referendum and you have general elections ahead. The EU will become a reality for Turkey if you make necessary reforms. The ball is in your court," Kouchner said.
The two countries also agreed to boost political cooperation and intelligence sharing in the fight against the separatist group Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK).
Kouchner confirmed that the two sides were engaged in "necessary cooperation" in the fight against terrorism.
Turkey started its EU membership talks in 2005 but has made little progress due to a dispute over Cyprus and opposition of several EU nations including France and Germany.
[Iran Press TV] Seven members of Turkey's top legal administrative body have resigned as opposition within the justice system soars against the country's government-led reforms.
Four permanent and three alternate members of the Higher Board of Prosecutors and Judges (HSYK) resigned on Monday, claiming that the judiciary's independence was at stake.
The move comes as the judiciary body is to be re-structured in line with reforms that were endorsed in a nationwide referendum last month.
"The public law has been compromised," the board's Deputy Chairman Kadir Ozbek said in a news conference on Monday.
"We prepared a draft model for a new commission but we could not share it with the ministry of justice. We have not been able to express our opinions and that's why we are resigning as seven members collectively," he explained.
Turkey's justice ministry immediately denied Ozbek's allegations in a statement, saying the claims were neither realistic nor in line with the result of the September 12 referendum.
According to the statement, the constitutional amendment was agreed on before it entered into force and those behind the recent claims were trying to misinform the public.
The commission in question is set to be revised in elections later this week. The body currently consists of 12 members who are chosen by the Council of State and the Supreme Court.
The recently approved reform package will expand the commission by 15 members, 10 of whom would be selected by the government and the remaining five would be picked by the president.
Analysts have described the HSYK resignations as a "tactical move" aimed at disrupting the changes and influencing the election of new members, given the fact that most of the board members are due to retire in the days to come.
Turkey's judiciary, known as a protectorate of the country's secular establishment, has long been at odds with the government led by the Islamic-oriented AK Party.
The Turkish government says it plans to reform the country's judiciary to bring it in line with European standards.
It's unclear how the current deal will work out for taxpayers over the long run, but there have been concerns. Considering the people who live there and their political choices, it will be bad.
As alluded to, the Chinese can play afford to play the property game in CA. They have the cash [not just for the land, but also the requisite politicians in Sacramento]. It's a replay of the 80s when the Japanese were buying up property as well. They just need to hire the right people to make sure they're not paying incredibly inflated prices even with the wad of cash they have on hand.
#7
"This sale will allow us to bring in desperately needed revenues and free the state from the ongoing costs and risks of owning real estate."
This is so stupid and so typical of the corruption in California. I say we don't need the people in those buildings either. Good riddance.
Californians will pay top dollar in rent for decades and then buy them back at a huge premium, if they can manage the bond at some point. Just giving money away to the plutocracy, business as usual.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
10/13/2010 9:42 Comments ||
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#8
It's unclear how the current deal will work out for taxpayers over the long run, but there have been concerns.
Since when has there been a concern for taxpayers in Kalifornica?
#9
We're suffering a virtual infestation in Georgia. I certainly hope they don't bring their politics with them. Never seen so many California auto tags.
#10
It's unclear how the current deal will work out for taxpayers over the long run.
Count on it, You'll pay more, much more than if you'd kept them. and at least double their selling profit, otherwise they wouldn't be a sale at all.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/13/2010 14:26 Comments ||
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#11
Talk to some of those Californians, Besoeker. Go ahead. I dare you. They won't bite. Ask them where they lived before they moved to California. Then let us know what they say.
Of course she was, EU honey - you said she had a Southern accent. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/13/2010 18:51 Comments ||
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#16
This is like the junkie selling all his possessions because he just has to get that one last fix. He'll worry about no longer having a car or a refrigerator tomorrow.
Former White House correspondent and professional harridan Helen Thomas has acknowledged she looned out with remarks about Israel that led to tar and feathers. But she says the comments were "exactly what I thought," even though she realized soon afterward that it was the end of her job. "Being an anus is just part of my girlish charm!"
"I hit the third rail. You cannot criticize Israel in this country and survive," Thomas told Ohio station WMRN-AM in a sometimes emotional 35-minute interview that aired Tuesday. There are lots of ways of criticizing Israel. Some of them are valid, some of them reek.
It was recorded a week earlier by WMRN news hound Scott Spears at Thomas' Washington, D.C., condominium. "Howl into the microphone, please, Ms. Thomas!"
Thomas, 90, stepped down from her job as a columnist for Hearst News Service in June after a rabbi and independent filmmaker videotaped her outside the White House calling on Israelis to get "out of Paleostine." Had she criticized Israel as a social democracy with a welfare program that's unsustainable who woulda cared? Maybe a few people would have gotten their backs up at criticism of Israeli wines, probably not as many people would have huffed up at criticism of Tel Aviv drivers. The bit about "go back to Europe" was in an entirely different category.
She gave up her front row seat in the White House press room, where she had aimed often pointed questions at 10 presidents, going back to Eisenhower. Back when Ike was in office she seems to have been a lot more coherent.
She has kept a low profile since then. Who's noticed? Has anybody been paying attention to her?
She did get that lifetime achievement award from CAIR as a result of her little outburst.
"(It was) very hard for the first two weeks. After that, I came out of my coma," said Thomas, whose parents immigrated to the U.S. from Leb. I'm not too sure what that fact has to do with anything. Lots of people's parents emigrated from someplace else. Helen's 90 years old. You'd think that by now she'd be old enough to form her own opinions.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/13/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
You cannot criticize support the destruction of Israel in the U.S. and survive
#2
She is lying. She did survive after all, and suffered no physical damage. All she suffered was hurt feelings and a rather late retirement from her career of rhetorical distortion. And still she dares to complain.
#4
Thomas has a strange notion of criticism. More like irrational mumblings. She is pro-Arab and rabid antisemitic. Reflects her early upbringing and Lebanese roots.
#5
Really? This shows how stupid she really is (not that I've ever thought otherwise). Hey, Ms. Thomas, why don't you write a little article on how sacred the current administration beholds radical Islam where they can't even utter "The War against violent Islam" or even "War on Terrorism" and how cozy their relationship is with advocacy groups that have leaders who have affiliations or membership within groups supporting terrorism. In case you missed it, the religion of every person killed, targeted, or captured by NATO forces on the battlefields in Iraq, Pakistan and Afghanistan is Islam.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
10/13/2010 10:08 Comments ||
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I fully believe that she would root for the 'Final Solution' of Nazi Germany. When she said "back to europe" I think she really meant "back to the 'showers'". As ugly inside as outside.
#13
The poor old dear cried when she was told during a radio interview that President Obama thought her statement to those Jewish kids was offensive and out of line, and that it was a good thing she retired. link
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.
[Iran Press TV] The 
(KUNA) -- The number of foreigners residing in Italy continued to grow, though less than the rate of two previous years, to account for seven percent of the country's total population, official statistics showed here Tuesday.
This Saturday, one of Greece's most respected newspapers, To Vima, reported that the nation's largest government health insurance provider would no longer pay for special footwear for diabetes patients. Amputation is cheaper, says the Benefits Division of the state insurance provider.
Former White House 
