[Tolo News] Pentagon Chief Robert Gates personally said sorry to President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai at a presser in Kabul on Monday.
Hours after his arrival in Afghanistan the US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates appeared in a joint presser and described the death of nine children in eastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Binny's house in Chitral... by a Nato-led air raid as "heart breaking".
Earlier President Karzai angrily rejected an apology from General David Petraeus, the US commander of Coalition forces in Afghanistan, over the incident.
In a Nato air strike last Tuesday nine kids, under 12, were killed while gathering firewood in volatile eastern Kunar province.
During the conference President Karzai respected the apology and called for civilian deaths to be stopped.
Gates said the US troops will be preparing to start a limited withdrawal from Afghanistan in July as planned.
But he underlined that US troops will not leave Afghanistan all together after July.
Afghan cops are expected to take the lead of security in the country until 2014. But as foreign military officials have said before, all withrawal plans will be implemented based on conditions on the ground.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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It is sad when children are caught in the middle of war. That said. Both the Tailban and AQ cause far more deaths amongst civilians than the U.S. & allies. The Taliban and AQ use children and civilians as shields. Islamists often use children and women for suicide bombers in the name of islam. Children are filled full of hatred in the mosques. Komeini used children to clear mine fields during the Iraq-Iran war. Qadaffy didn't mind killing children in the bombing of Pan Am 103. The 911 terrorists did not mind killing as many innocent people as they could. Women are stoned to death for what are deemed offenses against islam. Prostesters against regimes in islamic countries are often hung for dissent. It seems there is no outcry by islamics regarding their own intentional killings. When children are killed by accident in a combat situation, there is huge outcry against the West. Perhaps it is the large payments we make to the survivors of the unintentional victims that brings the large outcry. One certainly doesn't hear this outcry when the killings are muslim on muslim. So I say STFU already.
[Tolo News] There is evidence that Death Eaters in Afghanistan were supported from Iran, a senior foreign official said on Monday.
Isaf Spokesperson Gen. Josef Blotz highlighted that the supports from Iran are "in terms of weapons", but added that it is not the same as to put the Iranian government behind it.
Rocket attack from within Pakistain on Afghanistan is a matter of concern, Blotz said.
He described Pak missile attacks as a "real problem".
Senior Afghan military officials have said a district in eastern Afghanistan had repeatedly come under rocket attacks from Pakistain in the past 20 days.
No casualties were reported, but an Afghan official said more than 580 families were displaced by the attacks.
"Rocket attack from within Pakistain against targets in Afghanistan actually is a concern. It is really a problem. We have seen quite a number of these incidents," Blotz said.
"Isaf's mandate is clearly limited to Afghanistan, so we cannot go after these attacks directly inside Pakistain. This is very obvious, but we do have mechanisms and ways to go in order to address this issue," he further said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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Obama administration supports the deal before Congress raises concerns
WASHINGTON: The U.S. government quietly green-lighted a $77 million deal to provide at least 50 refurbished armored troop carriers to Moammar Gadhafi's army, approving a license that signaled growing American business contacts with his regime in the months before Libya imploded in civil war.
Oh good grief.
Congress balked, concerned the deal would improve Libyan army mobility and questioning the Obama administration's support for the agreement, which would have benefited British defense company BAE. The congressional concerns effectively stalled the deal until the turmoil in the country scuttled the sale.
Thank goodness for the unnamed members of Congress who balked.
The State Department's Directorate of Defense Trade Controls informed Congress that the troop transport deal had been returned without action -- effectively off the table, according to U.S. officials who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the deal's sensitive details.
State Department spokesman Mark C. Toner said the proposed license was suspended along with the rest of ''what limited defense trade we had with Libya.''
So what was the rest?
The Gadhafi regime's desire to upgrade its troop carriers was so intense that a Libyan official told U.S. diplomats in Tripoli in 2009 that the dictator's sons, Khamis and Saif, both were demanding swift action. Khamis, a commander whose army brigade reportedly attacked the opposition-held town of Zawiya with armored units and pickup trucks, expressed a ''personal interest'' in modernizing the armored transports, according to a December 2009 diplomatic message.
Since when did the US government start kowtowing to Qadaffy's sons?
The administration's own interest in the deal amounted to a first cautious step toward allowing a major arms purchase by Gadhafi's regime even as U.S. officials waved off other Libyan approaches for weapons systems and military aid.
Did Obama think that the leopard had changed his spots? Libya doesn't have any external enemies (okay, Egypt but they weren't going to do anything about it). The only reason for Qadaffy to buy armored personnel carriers and other weapons is so that he and his evil spawn sons can keep their boots on the throats of their own people.
Toner said senior diplomats had repeatedly warned the Gadhafi regime that ''we would not discuss the possibility of lethal U.S. arms sales until Libya made significant progress on human rights issues, visas and other areas of bilateral relationship.''
Progress? Why, Libya was a card-carrying member of the UN Human Rights Commission! How much more progress could one possibly want?
The old M113 troop transports are typically outfitted with a single machine gun. U.S. officials said the now-scuttled deal would not have added new cannons or other guns because of strict rules that all defense sales to Libya had to be ''non-lethal'' defense products. But despite the ''non-lethal'' restrictions, some defense industry experts said the proposal should have never gotten off the ground.
''This deal should have been a red flag,'' said William D. Hartung, director of the Arms and Security Initiative at the New America Foundation, a nonpartisan Washington think tank. ''Anything that makes troop transports more usable allows them to be applied to offensive purposes, even if you don't add guns.''
That does seem pretty basic, doesn't it...
On the whole, U.S. defense shipments to Libya under the Obama and Bush administrations have been tightly screened in recent years. U.S. sales were dwarfed by a tide of arms sold by European allies. European Union nations approved sales of $470 million in weapons to Gadhafi's military in 2009 alone -- a rush of Italian military aircraft, Maltese small arms and British munitions, according to a January EU arms control report.
Don't forget the French Mirage jets. Europe has been only too happy to sell arms in exchange for petroleum. Sort of like "blood for oil"...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2011 07:55 ||
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Why in the world would the Libyans want old crapped out M-113s when new heavily armed BMP-3s are available? Don't tell me. Khadaffy disgusted even the Russians, but not Obama.
#3
Just for fun, google up "DDTC" or ITAR and read about all the fun stuff that needs approval to be sold overseas and the myriad of hoops that must be jumped through to get said approval. Now fast forward and within the past two years there has been a push from certain quarters in DC ( centered at 1600 Pennsylvian Avenue) to redo the list and make things easier to work....glad in this case the bureacracy and adults are still in charge.
Obean has resorted to the politics of stalling.
The language in the text will deal with triggers rather than timelines for taking such a step, one diplomat noted. If gross violations of human rights are committed, the diplomat added, the elements of the text could be quickly turned into a resolution. I guess what's been happening so far isn't a gross violation of human rights.
Any resolution on military intervention in Libya, however, would be subject to a vote by the 15 members of the U.N. Security Council. Such intervention could face sharp criticism from Russia and China, who rarely approve of such measures. The UN is hamstrung. Set up a NFZ already and be done with it. China and Russia have something to try to prove with their inaction, but God alone knows what it is, and China and Russia don't understand what it is they are doing."
#1
We all know what the UN is worth, and how fast they are to do nothing. Obama is well...Obama. No one expects much of him and the people who voted for him were sucking California when they did. Hey, he's the One, and you can look at the rainbow while he steps in behind you.
But Bush was a Chimp, right? And we never stood a chance against Saddam either. Violence never settles anything, ask the Democrats.
But, let's get serious: would YOU invade Libya? What would THAT get YOU? They ARE all Moslems, right?
Let France handle it. Obama? Wasnt his Mother French? I think I saw her on a postcard once in a garter belt. And his daddy, one of them anyways, was from Kenya? And he was a Moslem, eh? You get what you pay for...and you always get what you deserve. America deserves Obama and we deserve what he does in Libya too.
We just couldnt resist his "charisma"....and his Hope and Change. And those Corinthian Columns and the rainbow.
Let me tell you how to spell S.U.C.K.E.R.
NO body is going to DO anything for Libya except watch.
NATO? Yeah?
[Ennahar] The president of the National Consultative Commission for the Promotion and Protection of Human Rights (CNCPPDH), Farouk Ksentini, said that under the lifting of emergency rule, the repentant who have surrendered under the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation, will now be able to return to normal life and no longer be held under house arrest. As for those who have been nabbed in cases related to terrorism, they will be brought to justice who will decide their cases.
The former Emir of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... as well as many former leaders of the terrorist organization, such as Khattab Mourad, alias Omar Abdelbir, a founder of the GSPC, Abdelkader Ben Messaoud, alias Abu Messaoud, former emir of the ninth zone of the GSPC, Cherif Said alias Abu Zakariya, a member of the Council of Elders of the GSPC, will return to normal life since they surrendered to security services as part of peace and national reconciliation.
These are currently in their families in secure areas chosen by the authorities for their safety. The situation of this category of former armed elements will be rectified on decisions of the authorities, especially after the lifting of the state of emergency imposed on defendants in terrorism-related cases to be under house arrest.
According to the presidential decree concerning the code of criminal procedures, resulting from decisions of the council of ministers which led to the lifting of emergency rule, people sued in terrorism cases will be assigned to residence in places defined by authorities in order to exploit the information in their possession so that to prevent future terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] Brent crude rose to $118 a barrel and U.S. oil hit the highest since September 2008 on Monday as fighting in Libya disrupted its supplies and renewed concern of wider disruptions in the Middle East.
While the Libyan crisis has cut supply from a country that normally provides almost 2 percent of world output, the prospect of unrest spreading to larger producers such as Soddy Arabia is a far more bullish scenario for oil markets.
"The major risk remains the prospect of the political unrest spreading to the Gulf producing region," said Caroline Bain, economist at the Economist Intelligence Unit. "However, The infamous However... even if there is civil unrest in Soddy Arabia, it is not a given that oil production will be affected."
Brent crude gained $1.60 to $117.57 at 1345 GMT. U.S. crude
was up $2.29 at $106.71, having earlier risen as high as $106.95, the highest since September 2008.
In Soddy Arabia, security forces have jugged at least 22 minority Shi'ites who protested last week against discrimination, activists said on Sunday, as the kingdom tried to keep the wave of Arab unrest outside its borders.
Citigroup and Commerzbank raised their oil price forecasts on Monday and the latter is now looking for a Brent price of $120 in the second quarter, citing the risk that disruption could spread in the Middle East.
RISK PREMIUM HIGH
Brent's highest this year is $119.79 reached on February 24. The European benchmark crude traded as high as $118.50 on Monday.
"Not only actual production losses but above all the threat of contagion spreading to neighboring regions will keep the geopolitical risk premium at a high level for the time being," Commerzbank said in a report.
The rally in prices has prompted the B.O. regime to consider releasing emergency oil stockpiles as policymakers seek ways to contain a negative spillover to the world's biggest economy.
There has so far been no formal response from the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries, which has brushed off the need to meet before a scheduled gathering in June.
OPEC ministers are holding informal consultations, but the group is not planning to hold an emergency meeting, an OPEC delegate said on Monday.
Libya, an OPEC member, usually produces 1.6 million barrels per day and its output has been cut by as much as 1 million bpd, according to the International Energy Agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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[Ennahar] The new Egyptian government led by Essam Sharaf, sworn in Monday at the head of the Supreme Council of the armed forces, Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, according to the state television.
Six departments were renewed, including oil, which goes to Abdullah Ghorab, Culture, Justice and Labor.
Foreign Affairs and the Interior were filled on Sunday. Nabil al-Arabi, replaced Ahmed Aboul Gheit at the head of diplomacy, Mansour al-Issawi was appointed to the Interior Ministry to replace Mahmoud Wagdi.
The new Prime Minister Essam Sharaf was named Thursday to replace Ahmad Chafic.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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If the story is true, it is not surprising. This is a way of life in this part of the world. Stonings, beheadings, hangings, intolerance, torture, notions of supremacy, ruthless dictatorships are common fare.
[Asharq al-Aswat] The kingdom of Soddy Arabia's highest religious authority condemned yesterday as un-Islamic calls for demonstrations, a day following a similar statement from the Saudi Interior Ministry.
The full statement by the Council of Senior Scholars is as fellows:
The Council of Senior Scholars in the Kingdom of Soddy Arabia issued a statement here today in which they underscored the importance of scholars in times of crisis and turmoil which are spreading across the world nowadays.
The statement, broadly, calls for unity of ranks because it is one of the most fundamentals of Islam, an aspect that the Prophet Mohammed (peace be upon him) strongly asserted.
In their statement, the senior Scholars noted that while appealing to God Almighty to bestow stability on all Mohammedans and to agree on the right path by rulers and ruled alike, they thank God Almighty for the united word of the Kingdom of Soddy Arabia as described in the Holy Book of God Almighty and the Sunnah of the Prophet Mohammed (PTUI!) under the wise leadership that has the right legitimacy.
Keeping the unity of the group is one of the greatest pillars of Islam, the statement emphasized.
Through its progress and advancement, the Kingdom has managed to preserve the Islamic identity, and now as it owns legitimate means to defend it, the council said. The kingdom will never allow -God willing- any incoming thoughts, neither from the West nor from the East, to distort this identity or to wreak havoc among the community, the council added.
By serving the two holy mosques, Soddy Arabia has secured to its self a special merit among the Islamic World, the council said.
The council added, 'Consequently, the Council of Senior Scholars as it senses the bliss of the unanimity of opinion, in the light of the Holy Koran, the Teachings of the Prophet and under the wise leadership, calls on all to spare no effort to strengthen the unity and warns against any thing that may cause sedition.'
The statement also warns against all deviant intellectual and partisan links, stressing that the reform and advice have their legitimate approach that brings interest and averts evil, and not by issuing statements of intimidation and inciting strife.
Since the Kingdom of Soddy Arabia is based on the Holy Qur'an, Sunnah, pledge of allegiance, unity and obedience, the reform and advice can't be carried out by demonstrations and means and methods that stir discord and divide the group, the council said adding that the scholars of this country have agreed on prohibiting such acts and have warned against them.
The council also emphasizes the prohibition of demonstrations in this country since the legal manner to realize interests should not be accompanied with trouble but counseling which is enacted by the Prophet Mohammed (PTUI!).
The council said it is important that the legal, control and executive authorities should carry out their duties as mandated by the State regulations and directives of the leadership and punish any negligent person.
The council appealed to God Almighty to protect the country and all other Mohammedan countries from all evils.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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Can you guess where Pyongyang is in the picture?
"Western countries have started to suspect that the North was begging for food because of internal political campaigns... rather than a genuine need for food," the source was quoted as saying. They may have increased food production last year, but I'm sure that was more than offset by raids on rice stores.
SEOUL, March 7 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Monday rejected North Korea's proposal that the four North Koreans who are refusing to be repatriated after their fishing boat carrying 27 others strayed south last month be brought to inter-Korean Red Thingy Cross talks later this week to reunite with their families, officials said.
The rejection came after the North abruptly proposed holding Red Thingy Cross talks on Wednesday at the inter-Korean truce village of Panmunjom to discuss the repatriation of all of the 31 North Korean people held in the South.
A South Korean Unification Ministry official, speaking to reporters on the customary condition of anonymity, said his side has agreed to hold the meeting on Wednesday but without the presence of four North Koreans who have expressed their wish to defect.
In a message to its South Korean counterpart, the North Korean Red Cross proposed holding a working-level Red Thingy Cross meeting at the truce village of Panmunjom straddling the two countries, the Unification Ministry said in a statement.
During the meeting, the North plans to bring the families of its four nationals, who, after nearly a month of questioning here, have decided not to return with their 27 fellow countrymen.
The standoff over the handling of the 31 North Koreans, who arrived here by crossing the Yellow Sea border on Feb. 5, is a new thorn between the countries whose relations plunged to the worst level in years after the North shelled a South Korean island late last year.
South Korea claims four in the group have decided not to return home according to their free will, and has offered to send back only the remaining 27 through the border truce village of Panmunjom.
On Friday, North Korea rejected South Korea's move, saying the other four must be returned and accusing Seoul of forcing and coercing them into defection in a plot against Pyongyang.
"The North is demanding that our side bring the four nationals while three North Korean Red Thingy Cross officials will come to the (Red Thingy Cross) meeting with their families," the ministry said Monday.
The ministry official said the South is ready to hold discussions with the North to "confirm the free will of the four people," and that the South has asked the North to allow the return of the remaining 27 North Koreans through Panmunjom later Monday.
In a briefing earlier Monday, South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung said his government remains firm in its position not to repatriate the four North Koreans who want to stay in the South.
"There is no change in our basic position that a decision made based on the free will of a person must be respected," he said, declining to specify the whereabouts of the other 27 North Koreans.
Cho Byung-jae, foreign ministry spokesman, also supported the will of the North Korean defectors, expressing hope that the standoff over the issue will not hurt the efforts of the Koreas and regional powers to resume stalled nuclear talks on the North.
"I expect that the repatriation issue will not cause any trouble" for the resumption of six-party denuclearization talks that involve the two Koreas, the U.S., Russia, Japan and China, he said.
The four North Koreans wishing to stay are the 38-year-old captain, a 21-year-old nurse, a 44-year-old unemployed man and a 22-year-old female statistician, according to the ministry.
Defection is considered an act punishable by death in North Korea. Despite the harsh penalty, defections from the impoverished state have recently risen. Since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, more than 20,000 North Koreans have arrived in South Korea, mostly via China.
Chun declined to comment on what the South would do with the 27 North Koreans if the North continued to refuse their repatriation.
There were no children among them, according to South Korean officials. They are believed to have launched the boat from North Korea's western port city of Nampo, about 60 kilometers southwest of Pyongyang, according to officials.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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The NORKIES want ALL OF 'EM, OR NONE OF THEM ["This means War" + all that].
North Korea's latest cyber and GPS jamming attacks on Friday were the culmination of a long process. The North began developing electronic warfare capabilities in 1986 when it founded Mirim University, the present-day Automation University, in Pyongyang, to train specialists.
A defector who graduated from the university recalled that 25 Russian professors were invited from the Frunze Military Academy in the former Soviet Union to give lectures, and some 100 to 110 hackers were trained there every year.
Mirim is a five-year college. The Amrokgang College of Military Engineering, the National Defense University, the Air Force Academy and the Naval Academy are also reportedly training electronic warfare specialists.
Jang Se-yul of North Korean People's Liberation Front, an organization of former North Korean military officers and servicemen, recalled that when he fled the North in 2007, "I heard that the North Korean military has about 30,000 electronic warfare specialists, including some 1,200 personnel under two electronic warfare brigades."
"Each Army corps operates an automation unit, or an electronic warfare unit." Jang used to be an officer of a North Korean electronic warfare command.
Material published by the North Korean Army in 2005 quotes leader Kim Jong-il as saying, "Modern war is electronic warfare. Victory or defeat of a modern war depends on how to carry out electronic warfare."
In a 2006 report, the South Korean military warned North Korean hackers could paralyze the command post of the U.S. Pacific Command and damage computer systems on the U.S. mainland.
Experts believe that the North's 600 or so special hackers are as good as their CIA counterparts. They attempted in August 2008 to hack the computer of a colonel in South Korean Field Army headquarters. In 1999, the U.S. Defense Department said the most frequent visitor to its website was traced to North Korea.
Due to economic difficulties since the 1990s, the North Korean regime had a hard time boosting its conventional military capabilities and instead focused on strengthening so-called asymmetric capabilities that would allow it to achieve relatively large effects with small expenses. That includes not only nuclear and biochemical weapons and missiles but also special forces and hackers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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State of the art NKor Difference Engine for the hackers to practice on.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
03/08/2011 17:17 Comments ||
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[Emirates 24/7] The French finance ministry confirmed Monday it had come under cyber attack in December from hackers targetting G20 documents.
Budget Minister Francois Baron said an investigation was underway into the origin of the attacks.
"We have leads," unconfirmed at this stage, Baron said.
Patrick Pailloux, directeur general of the French National Agency for Information Technology Security, told Gay Paree-Match magazine hackers were after "documents related to the French presidency of the G20 and to international economic affairs."
"The actors were determined professionals and organised. It is the first attack of this size and scale against the French state," he added.
More than 150 ministry computers had been hacked and numerous documents pirated. Individuals were not targetted in the attack.
Bercy has filed an official complaint with the French courts and the French secret service has taken up the case.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
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That comes after several Democratic Senators, including Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, called for President Obama to consider releasing oil from the reserve.
Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner also said last week that the U.S. was prepared to act and tap the SPR if necessary.
But that could be a big mistake for one significant reason. This isn't really a crisis yet. Yes, oil and gas prices have surged due to unrest in Libya but there hasn't been much impact on global supply as of yet. Instead, what's going on reeks of speculation. Whoaaa! Tap the Strategic Oil Reserves! Oh my! That sounds important, doesn't it! BFD. AFAIAC, tapping the reserves is a diversion. The oil is there to give us time and resources to stomp someone's a$$ if we get cut off for some reason. Nothing short of that should necessitate getting into it.
If politicians tap it, they are just trying to draw attention away from the poor political decisions that put them into a position to feel that they needed to reduce the political heat.
If we had our own oil supply, we wouldn't need to worry about the price of oil. But they keep playing games rather than just make the easy, obvious decision that cuts into the size and power of government.
After they draw down the reserves, then what? They have to fill them back up again. Duh. And how do you fill them? Buy more oil. Which increases the price. And you end up losing in the end. Except maybe the peasants are too stupid to notice that they just got had. Again.
#4
The visual is based upon a alleged German study that stipulates that by gazing at it for a period of time, male blood pressure will drop. This article will certainly cause some blood pressure to rise at the Burg, by selling security to cover for political ineptness.
#5
There is no shortage of oil. Speculators are driving the price up. The SORs should be kept for that purpose. Open up drilling in the Gulf. Bring back jobs to the area at the same time. Obey the Federal judge's ruling. Open up drilling and nuclear and there will be plenty of energy in the good old USA.
Since the speculative bust in 2008, don't forget that our government has been printing/creating money by the proverbial boatload. More dollars chasing the same oil supply.
#8
Is it just an impression I have or is it always the Democrats who want to tap the Strategic Oil Reserve instead of preserving it for its intended purpose of getting us through a real crisis?
#9
Speculation played a much bigger role in the 2008 petro price spike than currently. There is real uncertainty among Muslim oil producers and the good old USA has been devaluing its dollar just as fast as it possibly can.
Every day the US refuses to put serious effort into decreasing its dependency on imported oil increases the amount of future pain it must endure.
#10
Its my theory that having the SOR helps keep prices down; that is tap it and that card is played and, as said, it has to be refilled at some point.
Much more effective to start handing out permits or at least quite publically promote own energy policy. Those OPEC number crunchers keep the price as high as possible but lower than the perceived threat of the US/North America getting off the teat.
It makes good TV, but anything more than sound bites is ignorant or suicidal.
#11
Its my theory that having the SOR helps keep prices down
That would be the wise play. Decide how much reserve is needed for national emergencies and use the overfill to smooth price fluctuations and reduce speculation. Fill low, tap high and even make a profit on the difference. No doubt that would pinch the rice bowl bowl of quite a few very rich and generous political contributors so the odds of it are nil.
Scary? Why? Got something to hide?
"Well, it's a disturbing use of a Congressional hearing. I mean, there's awesome power associated with being Chairman of the Committee, being able to investigate and do oversight and to use it to essentially go after a religious minority group, I think it is a scary proposition. I would submit to all Americans that look, could be Muslims today, could be others tomorrow. This is a very bad precedent, and I have actually gone to Congressman King and asked him to broaden the scope of the hearings. He has so far declined." Broaden the scope? Why? Looking for something to hide behind? Safety in numbers? Trying to broaden the investigation so it doesn't probe too deep?
#5
...and I have actually gone to Congressman King and asked him to broaden the scope of the hearings.
This is the favorite Progressive diversion tactic. It's as predictive as it is simple.
First step is to expand any discussion by introducing seemingly related issues. Initially, this will help to avoid refuting the facts but more importantly it is the gateway to your opponents opinions. Now this next part is key. You must encourage your opponent to comment on those ancillary issues. This usually can be accomplished by making emotionally charged comments or asking loaded questions. Remember, the goal here is to illicit your opponents opinions - not any pesky facts. So if they go back to the facts sometimes a rude interuption, inane chatter, or talking loud will be neccessary. Also, you will need to somewhat anticipate thier opinions and prepare your attack based on irrational grounds. (Phobia, racism, crazy...you know the drill) Finally, question your opponent's intentions by insinuating there is an alterior motive. Wa-La...you've just avoided the original topic and questioned your opponent's credibility all at the same time. And all you we're doing was "broadening the scope" of the discussion. Give it a try? See if you can debate like a Progressive congressman. Who knows, maybe one day, you too, can even be a "journalist" - just like Lawerence .
#7
What the Mohammaden is afraid of is all of the discovery documents that will be made public if this series of hearings is completed - lots of single individual attacks that were thwarted and did not make the national news will come to light.
Western cuts and swiftly rising defence spending in emerging economies are redrawing the global strategic map, a leading think-tank said as experts predicted further difficulties for budget planners in 2015.
In its annual Global Military Balance report, the London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies (IISS) said the shift in economic power was already beginning to have a real military effect and closing any strategic gap.
"Western states' defence budgets are under pressure and their military procurement is constrained," John Chipman, IISS director general said.
"But in other regions notably Asia and the Middle East military spending and arms acquisitions are booming. There is persuasive evidence that a global redistribution of military power is under way."
Brig Ben Barry, the IISS army expert, warned that a further round of spending cut could emerge as forces withdraw from front line fighting in Afghanistan, triggering new cuts that were avoided in the UK's Strategic Defence and Security Review. A failure to return to economic growth by that date would trigger more politically damaging cuts, he said.
Asian Pacific nations particularly China were increasing defence spending by double digits annually, he said, with growing evidence Western states were losing their technological edge in areas such as stealth technology and cyber warfare.
Most estimates suggest Washington still accounts for roughly half of all global defence spending each year, much of it spent on conflicts in Iraq and Afghanistan. Estimates of Chinese defence spending vary wildly, with many analysts suspecting it dramatically under-reports.
Elsewhere in Asia, the IISS said North Korea's military ranks as the fourth-largest in the world, with only China, the United States and India ahead of it.
Approximately five per cent of North Korea's estimated population of 24 million are active military personnel "and these forces are equipped with a substantial array of military equipment", the study said.
The North sparked regional security fears in November when it disclosed an apparently functional uranium enrichment plant to visiting US experts.
The announcement raised concerns that the reclusive Stalinist state could produce highly-enriched weapons-grade uranium on top of the plutonium it already possesses.
The IISS said North Korea which has carried out two nuclear weapons tests has enough plutonium to produce four to eight warheads.
That's gotta hurt.
In the announcement, the president said his administration remains committed to closing the controversial detention facility but will rescind its previous suspension on bringing new charges before military commissions. The commissions are military proceedings rather than trials in civilian courts.
#1
In addition, the senior administration officials said they would try to repeal the law that prevents the transfer of Guantanamo detainees for trial in the United States.
The above comment is the kind of thing an adult would say to comfort a petulant child after delivering dissapointing news. The casual observer will view it as, yet another, typical Obama throw-away statement. This may stray abit OT but think about this statement in the context of recent history. For instance;
AG Holder testified that, in colusion with the WH, the DoJ will no longer defend established law (DOMA) before the courts. The Dept. of Homeland Security continues to unabashedly promote it's policy of selective enforcement of immigration laws. And for good measures the Dept. of Justice has challenged Arizona State Laws in Federal courts. The EPA is sidestepping congress to enact legally binding energy regulations. The FCC is writing it's version of net neutraily and has even proposed an internet "kill switch". The Dept. of the Interior continues it's battle for the moritorium on oil drilling permits in defiance of multiple court decsions. HHS continues to provide selective waivers for the Health Care Law. The Dept. of Treasury is writing the new regulations that would traditionally be written by congress. And now, the Executive branch is publicly annoucing that it's dedicating resources to "repeal" yet another established law they don't agree with.
You know, not too long ago the Congressional Progressive Caucus was screaming about Executive over-reach.Now that it's their guy - not so much. Curious...ain't it?
#2
For some reason code pink refuses to picket Obama over his ILLEGAL detention and trial of suspected terrorists. Is there anything left that was lambasted by the left when Bush was in office that has somehow become legal with Barry in office? Will scan for references of Obama-Hitler on lefty blogs.
Although M14 rifles were pulled from depot storage, fitted with scopes, shipped to Afghanistan and issued to Army and Marine designated riflemen, the guns proved less than ideal for todays warfare.
First, their fixed stocks could not be adjusted to fit the length-of-pull needed for todays body armor. And second, the 40-year-old rifles could not accommodate modern accessories such as lasers, night vision scopes and lights, which require MIL STD 1913 Picatinny rails.
Fortunately, a solution had already been developed by the U.S. Navys Surface Warfare Center at Crane, Ind.
One year before the 2001 terrorist attacks, U.S. Navy SEALs had gone to Crane to request an updated version of the 42-year-old M14. Great believers in the M14s reliability and the 7.62x51 mm NATO cartridges lethality, they wanted a shortened version with a pistol grip and adjustable-length buttstock for close-quarters use.
The design task fell to David Armstrong, an accomplished small arms engineer who previously had developed the well-received SOPMOD (Special Operations Peculiar Modification System) for the M4 carbine. A mechanical engineer, machinist and recreational shooter, Armstrong began by searching for an off-the-shelf collapsible buttstock.
After trying several, he chose a Sage Intl collapsible, pistol-grip stock made for the Remington Model 870 shotgun. The telescoping design offered five lengths of pull, in 1-inch increments, that worked well with body armor. Armstrong connected the Sage buttstock to the forward section of a modified M14 fiberglass stock. He also replaced the rifles standard 22-inch barrel with an 18-inch unit, reducing its overall length by nearly 10 inches, to 35 inches.
The fiberglass stock, however, did not satisfy him. The [M14] design has always been tough to beat for reliability, but required laborsome bedding and tuning for best accuracy, he explained. Earlier sniper versions of the M14, especially the M21 Sniper System, which used a resin-impregnated stock with epoxy bedding, proved so temperamental that snipers were instructed not to remove the action from the stock while cleaning it.
Armstrong took the bold step of designing his own chassis stock, machined from aircraft-grade aluminum. Not only would this be more rigid than fiberglass, but it would include an aluminum bedding block and an assortment of Picatinny rails for optical and illumination accessories. The result was a true drop-in stock, requiring no bedding or special fitting. This stock floats the gas system through a replacement operating rod guide screwed to the rigid stock fore-end and a simple spacer replacing the front band, he said. He also modified the Sage buttstocks cheek rest to give it 2 inches of vertical adjustment in 1/4-inch increments.
In addition to installing quad Picatinny rails around the fore-end, he attached a short-rail scope mount that replaced the M14s stripper clip guide. The final additions were a more effective flash suppressor, three ambidextrous 1 1/4-inch sling slot locations, and a Harris Engineering S-LM Series S bipod. Patented to the U.S. Navy with Armstrong as its inventor, the chassis stock is now produced under license by Sage Intl in Oscoda, Mich.
Simply adding the chassis stock system cut the group size of a basic M14 in half without the need for glass-bedding, he reports. Firing five-shot groups with M118 ammunition at 600 yards, Naval technicians at Crane recorded 2 to 2.5 minute-of-angle (m.o.a.) extreme spreadsmeaning 12 to 18-inch groups. Standard M80 ball ammunition shot nearly as well.
When the U.S. Army and Marine Corps later sought modernized M14s, Armstrong merely switched the Navys Mk. 14 Mod 0 rifles short barrel for a full-length 22-inch version to create the Armys Enhanced Battle Rifle (EBR) and the Marines M39 Enhanced Marksmans Rifle (EMR). These versions measure 38.5 inches overall, with the stocks collapsed, and 45 inches when fully extended.
Although 3 pounds heavier than the standard M14, the EBR and EMR compare favorably to Americas current 7.62 mm sniping platforms, such as the Armys M24 and M110, and the Marine Corps M40A3. The Army is issuing two EBRs per infantry squad, while the Marines have placed the EMR at platoon-level.
The Army EBR is fitted with a Leupold 3.510X scope, and the USMCs EMR optic is the Schmidt & Bender M8541 Scout Sniper Day Scope, the same scope used by Marine snipers. Thus equipped, these designated riflemen have the ability to engage enemy personnel to 800 meters.
Each service is now building its own rifles, with Navy Mk. 14 Model 0s being produced at the Crane facility, while Army rifles are assembled at Rock Island Arsenal, Ill., and the USMC version at Marine Corps Base Quantico, Va.
Some 5,000 EBRs have been produced at Rock Island Arsenal, with funding for another 1,200. A further 2,000 Sage stocks have reportedly been sold directly to military units and individuals for conversion of M14s. Still more rifles issued to Marines and SEALs suggest that perhaps 10,000 of these modernized M14s are now in service.
#2
That's a lot of rework for a 50 year old rifle. Give me a Browning BAR semiauto in .300 Winmag or .338 Winmag twice as far for, I'll bet, a third of the price.
#3
Actually, a 7.62x51mm AR is the better weapon to issue - same ergonomics as the M-16 with the range of the M-14. Plus, all of the goodies developed for the M-4 series of rifles fit right onto the A-4 version of 7.62 NATO ARs.
[An Nahar] Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri ... the Hizbullah sock puppet ... stressed that the cabinet formation process is not facing problems that cannot be solved and denied that the March 8 forces ... the opposition to the Mar. 14th movement, consisting of Hizbullah and its allies, so-called in commemoration of their Mar. 8th, 2006 demonstration of strength in Beirut ... were rejecting to give President Michel Suleiman shares in the government.
"No one, including (FPM leader) Michel Aoun ...a wholly-owned subsidiary of Hizbullah... is rejecting to give President Suleiman a share," Berri told As Safir daily in remarks published Monday. "However, The infamous However... there are (different) point of views on the type" of shares.
The cabinet "definitely" won't see light before March 14, Those are the good guys, insofar as Leb has good guys... Berri said in other remarks published in al-Joumhouriah newspaper that hit the newsstands last week.
He stressed that a technocrat cabinet is not useful. "It should be a technocrat-mixed politicians government."
The AMAL movement leader told both dailies that the March 14 campaign against Hizbullah's arms has no "political or national prospect."
"A non-sectarian state would sanctify the resistance. But in Leb, the ugly sectarianism is controlling the stances and interests of some" parties, Berri said in reference to the March 14 forces.
Asked about the fate of national dialogue sessions amid the ongoing campaign against Hizbullah's arms, Berri said: "There is no new dialogue in the future."
"The defense strategy is summarized in the 'army-people-resistance' equation which was endorsed by the policy statement of Caretaker Premier Saad Hariri," the speaker stressed.
On protests against Leb's sectarian system, Berri described the demands of youth to topple confessionalism as a "lifesaving boat that could save us all and save the country."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
[Iran Press TV] An Iranian university professor says Mir Hossein Mousavi, a key opposition leader in Iran, has been backed by the MKO terrorist group.
"With regards to Mr. Mousavi until Election Day [in Iran on June 12, 2009], there was openness. He had his rallies. But the fact remains that after the election, he led riots on the streets of Tehran. And he also had the - he quietly acknowledged the backing of terrorist organizations like the dreaded Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MKO), which openly support him now. He's never distanced himself from them," said Mohammad Marandi, a Tehran University professor, in an interview with CNN.
"Mr. Mousavi hasn't played his cards correctly. And he's lost a lot of credibility among those people who did vote for him," Marandi further said in his interview with CNN's In the Arena program.
He underlined the way that Mousavi and Mehdi Karroubi, another key opposition leader in Iran, acted was unacceptable.
"I think that the fact is that Mr. Mousavi and Mr. Karroubi are seen by the vast majority of people to have gone way too far to have caused riots, to have affected the accepted backing of the United States, terrorist organizations, like Mujahideen-e-Khalq (MKO) monarchists, and this is just something that in Iran is unacceptable," he noted.
Elsewhere in his interview, Marandi said the United States does not approve of real change in the Middle East as it dismisses the basic demand by all regional nations that the rights of Paleostinians be respected.
"I don't believe that the United States government welcomes change in the region because obviously the first thing that the Egyptians or the Jordanians or the people of Soddy Arabia today will want is Paleostinians to have rights and the right of return and the siege in Gazoo to end and so on and so forth," the scholar explained.
"And this will bring about enormous confrontation between these countries and the United States as US policy currently stands," said Marandi.
Marandi also took issue with the interviewer who claimed that basic freedoms such as freedom of speech in Iran are violated.
"Some of the websites in Iran that speak about the Iranian president, about his policies and attack him severely, why don't you have them translated and you'll see, no, there's a great deal of openness in the country," Marandi said.
He further underscored Iran is ready for détente with the US if Washington sets aside its hostile policies on Tehran.
"Their reading of Iran is incorrect, and they have to change their policies towards Iran. And if the United States puts aside this Iran phobia and Islamic phobia, I think that they'll see that the Iranian people and the Iranian government is - is more than willing to move forward towards rapprochement as long as the United States is sincere. And I don't think that the United States should view Iran as some sort of inherent threat," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/08/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Another James O'Keefe coup (he of the ACORN pimp sting).
Well played, sir...
A man who appears to be a National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has been captured on camera savaging conservatives and the Tea Party movement.
"The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian -- I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move," declared Schiller, the head of NPR's nonprofit foundation, who last week announced his departure for the Aspen Institute.
In a new video released Tuesday morning by conservative filmmaker James O'Keefe, Schiller and Betsy Liley, NPR's director of institutional giving, are seen meeting with two men who, unbeknownst to the NPR executives, are posing as members of a Muslim Brotherhood front group. The men, who identified themselves as Ibrahim Kasaam and Amir Malik from the fictitious Muslim Education Action Center (MEAC) Trust, met with Schiller and Liley at Café Milano, a well-known Georgetown restaurant, and explained their desire to give up to $5 million to NPR because, "the Zionist coverage is quite substantial elsewhere."
When the ersatz Islamists declare they're "not too upset about maybe a little bit less Jew influence of money into NPR," Schiller responds by saying he doesn't find "Zionist or pro-Israel" ideas at NPR, "even among funders. I mean it's there in those who own newspapers, obviously, but no one owns NPR."
#2
National Public Radio senior executive, Ron Schiller, has left NPR this week for the Aspen Institute.
Nothing to do with this sting, just a coincidence. Uh huh
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/08/2011 15:23 Comments ||
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#3
"The current Republican Party, particularly the Tea Party, is fanatically involved in people's personal lives and very fundamental Christian -- I wouldn't even call it Christian. It's this weird evangelical kind of move," declared Schiller, the head of NPR's nonprofit foundation, who last week announced his departure for the Aspen Institute.
How disconnected from reality can you be and still manage to breathe?
Dana Davis Rehm, NPR's senior vice president of marketing, communications and external relations, has released this statement:
"The fraudulent organization represented in this video repeatedly pressed us to accept a $5 million check, with no strings attached, which we repeatedly refused to accept.
"We are appalled by the comments made by Ron Schiller in the video, which are contrary to what NPR stands for.
"Mr. Schiller announced last week that he is leaving NPR for another job."
According to the NPR article, this is already making waves on Capitol Hill. The vote against funding should pass easily, I expect.
#6
Is Betsy Liley still at NPR (National Palestinian Radio)? It seems that NPR doesn't appreciate Tea Party taxpayers and all the other taxpayers who foot part of their bill. The bad publicity will also kill off some donors who think they might be giving to a good cause. Defund NPR!
[JTA] - A student has brought a federal civil rights lawsuit against the University of California, Berkeley, saying the university did not protect her from being attacked because she is Jewish.
Lawyers for Jessica Felber, 20, say the case, filed in US District Court in Oakland, Calif., on March 4 against the university, the regents of the University of California and their ranking officials, is the first of its kind.
Her suit alleges that Husam Zakharia, a fellow student and the head of Students for Justice in Palestine, rammed into her with a metal cart because of the pro-Israel sign she was holding during a pro-Israel demonstration on the Berkeley campus on March 5, 2010.
The rally, organized by the student Zionist group, Tikvah, was a counter to anti-Israel events being held that same week as part of Israel Apartheid Week.
Felber was treated for her injuries, and Zakharia was arrested for battery but later released.
The complaint alleges that the Students for Justice in Palestine and the Muslim Student Association, another pro-Palestinian group on campus, harass and attack Jewish students, and that the university knows about it and has not taken sufficient steps to protect its Jewish students.
The complaint further charges that university officials have tolerated the growing cancer of a dangerous anti-Semitic climate on its campuses that violates the rights of Jewish and other students to enjoy a peaceful campus environment free from threats and intimidation.
The suit calls for damages and a jury trial.
Pro-Israel and anti-Israel students have clashed before on the Berkeley campus. In November 2008, Zakharia was one of three student cited for battery in a physical altercation over displaying the Palestinian flag at a pro-Israel event.
#4
CrazyFool: There should be. I've met some NextGen young Jewish men in the US who are tall, muscular, and not to be messed with. They tend to pull at least one tour with the US military, and have a good attitude about life and things.
Put several of them on a pro-Muslim campus and the Muslims will take a wide berth around any Jewish groups. Or they will get royally thumped.
#6
Been there since at least 2008? Sounds like a common parasite to me. Perpetual student.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
03/08/2011 9:52 Comments ||
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#7
This is Hella bullshit. The helpless female act doesn't apply in 2011. Not that Zakaria is right either. If you're gong to start agitating on campus it matters not what religion or gender you hail from, when you start waving signs, you open yourself up to violence in this day and age. Woman or not she should have known better, and that is the sad truth of how low the bar has dropped here in the US. If she were my own daughter, I would be telling her to stop unless she is a black belt and can back up talk with walk, which she can't. Women. Wise up.
#8
Injun Gluck7122, the trailing daughters both have black belts: td #2 is a third degree in Tae Kwan Do, plus plays Kendo, Capauiera (spelling? the Brazilian one), and Jujitsu; td #1 has only a second degree in TKD, but is actually more dangerous. I suspect neither would have been prepared for ramming with a metal cart.
The bullshit is that the perpetrator went unpunished for two attacks. But they don't like uppity, pro-Zionist Jews at the University of California, where this is only a more extreme version of common behaviour. There is a nasty history of blatantly closing eyes to violence against Jews right in front of official faces, campus police refusing to intervene, and so forth. I hope Ms Felber uses her settlement to fund the next couple of cases.
#9
Are alternative viewpoints allowed here? Greenpeace activists, all activists have to realize that protesting something on a premises, somewhere, anywhere where it pisses someone off and to not be hassled while doing it, civilly, is not an automatic guarantee. I respectfully think that Ms. Felber was naive to not realize she was in a situation rife for a problem, which, as the saying goes in logging communities' "Uncle Jethro sez you stand in front of a logger you might get sawed in half"
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
03/08/2011 17:24 Comments ||
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#10
Or in other words. Theres how it "should" be and how it is "actually" is. As I recall the last time I was robbed the Police didn't arrive for almost thirty minutes. Should it have been that way? No. Was it? Yes.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
03/08/2011 17:29 Comments ||
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#11
The other thing here is the statement I find puzzling: "A student has brought a federal civil suit against the University of California, Berkeley, say the University did not protect her from being attacked because she is Jewish."
Does the University afford protection to any type of protesters at all times? What do they protect the protectees with? Personal Bodyguards? Human shields? I'd like to direct your attention to the time I protested rainforest deforestation at my university dressed as a tree stump. I was almost ran over by a motorist. To feel owed protection is a nice theory, but it doesn't hold water. Just ask my dead Jewish relatives. They wanted police protection but instead they were murdered. So it falls to the individual to cooly assess risk. If Ms. Felber had done a risk assessment, she would not have been standing there if she eshews bodily harm, because she would have realized it was a likely outcome.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
03/08/2011 17:45 Comments ||
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#12
According to an article at the time of the original incident
Felber was holding a sign that read Israel Wants Peace when Zakharia intentionally slammed her from behind with a shopping cart filled with toys donated for the welfare of Arab children in the Hamas-controlled Gaza region.
Felber told Israel National News that she responded to the incident by immediately placing her attacker under citizens arrest. Police arrested him later that day and Felber expressed hope that the District Attorney will see the case through and file charges against Zakharia.
Felber said that Fridays incident was not the first time Zakharia used violence against pro-Israel advocates. According to her, physical intimidation has frequently been employed as a tool by SJP to silence students opposing their anti-Zionist activities on campus. SJP students have been terrorizing us for three years with intimidation, accusations and threats. This incident is simply the culmination of it all and we are not going to tolerate it anymore.
SJPs tactics backfired on at least one occasion when, in November 2008, the group attempted to disrupt a concert organized by the Zionist Freedom Alliance during Israel Liberation Week on the UC Berkeley campus. After striking a ZFA activist in the head, Zakharia found himself beaten to the ground. Following the incident, Zakharia and two fellow SJP members, along with two Zionist activists, were cited for battery but no charges were officially filed.
Were Ms Felber and her fellows black instead of Jewish, would this be ok?
#13
No. But the clashes have been on going, altercation is the pre-existing climate between Paleos-Israelis in the ME and on Berkeley. She had to have known it was a possibility, unless she is delusional. Either way, file under "shit happens" and go forward...to court where now lots of lawyers can make a living. Yay! Next!
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
03/08/2011 18:12 Comments ||
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#14
Fire and Ice, why do you find it necessary to lick Muslim boots? The campus police are legally required to provide a safe protesting area on campus by several California court decisions, and chose NOT to enforce the law against the Muslim attacker. Personally, I think the Jewish should have double-tapped the Mohammaden attacker.
#15
Of course she knew it was a possibility. That is totally irrelevant to the law suit, which correctly notes that the university has a history of selective and prejudicial support for the palestinian activists over Jewish students.
#16
For the reader (unnamed) Conflating their emotion and anger of what might be a legit gripe with winning in a courtroom, good luck with that.
What protection does the University afford to any type of protesters and during what circumstances? What do they protect the demonstrators with? Personal Bodyguards? Human shields? A rent a cop? Of course, the plaintiff knew the inherant risks, and has a right to a court trial. But she may not get as far as she would want unless she can prove conclusively that only Jewish students don't get protection. Many campuses afford almost nil protection to ANY kind of protestors beyond a minimal amount, and that would be under aggravated circumstances.
Come on, young women are getting raped on campuses all accross the US, one girls wants to bring the legal over a minor assault, go for it babe, but Im not getting emotional over your bad drama. Some people got beat down with a baseball bat around here during a home invasion for forty dollars. So spare me the sob story. Do colleges really give a shit about young undergrads? Only as far as it affects their jobs.
Dream the dream, but look for the case being only able to bring minimal punishment or downgraded or thrown out in court for the very reason that demonstrators get freaky at campuses all over the US and most administrations don't give a Rats ass beyond how it affects their job. Does the University afford protection to any type of protesters at all times? What do they protect the protectees with? Personal Bodyguards? Human shields?
Religious fanatics of any faith are on my shit list. Muslim, Jewish or Christian. Or Mormon. I don't really care what religion you are as long as you keep 3 feet or more away from me.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
03/08/2011 22:26 Comments ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Hamid 
[Asharq al-Aswat] The kingdom of 
[Emirates 24/7] The French finance ministry confirmed Monday it had come under cyber attack in December from hackers targetting G20 documents.
That comes after several Democratic Senators, including Jay Rockefeller of West Virginia and Jeff Bingaman of New Mexico, called for President Obama to consider releasing oil from the reserve. 
Michel Aoun
[Iran Press TV] An Iranian university professor says Mir Hossein Mousavi, a key opposition leader in Iran, has been backed by the MKO terrorist group.
