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FARC Honcho Killed
Today's Headlines
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-Short Attention Span Theater-
Just in time for Christmas, the "Islamic tie"
Oooh. Snazzy...
The tie, which is based on Islamic values, was specially designed in the shape of a sword and decorated Prophet Muhammad's quotes. The tie's designer, Hemat Komeili chose the sword which represents the sword of Shiite Imam Ali, Mohammad's cousin and brother in law, who is considered holy in Iran.
...and it's Islamic Approved™!
According to the designer, the inventive design received approval from some of Iran's shiite scholars.

Since Iran's Islamic revolution in 1979, most men stopped wearing ties as it represented the 'corrupt' west. In the first days of the revolution it was even claimed that men wearing ties were arrested and according to unofficial reports, had their ties cut off.
Didn't Soupy Sales used to do that?
Posted by: tu3031 || 11/21/2010 11:52 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Trail Dust restaurant in Dallas is a steak restaurant with a dress code: NO TIES. If you wear a tie there, they will cut it off. Of course, nowadays, people wear ties there just to have them cut off. The ties are hung on the walls like trophies.

This Islamic tie would be a perfect tie to wear to the Trail Dust.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/21/2010 16:19 Comments || Top||


About Sunday's Blue Moon
"This was considered a very unfortunate circumstance, especially by the monks who had charge of the calendar of thirteen months for that year, and it upset the regular arrangement of church festivals. For this reason thirteen came to be considered an unlucky number."
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 03:32 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Interesting response to this article;

"Elida Skala 2 minutes ago Report Abuse
This is not why 13 is considered an unlucky number..

.Idiots writing these articles know no history. Its due to the Slaughter of the Knights Templars in France and the day The Grand Master Jacques De Molay was executed on Friday the thirteenth as ordered by the French King Phillipe and Pope Clement V in 1314 not 1930's"
Posted by: Dale || 11/21/2010 18:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Actually, Dale, it's older than that. There were thirteen people at the Last Supper.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/21/2010 19:59 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Madagascar forces storm rebel base
[Al Jazeera] An operation by security forces in Madagascar aimed at storming a base housing rebel soldiers has ended. Dissident soldiers who attempted a coup three days ago have been based at the barracks outside Antananarivo, the capital, and a solider who took part in the operation told Rooters news agency on Saturday that it ended.

"The mutineers gave themselves up," he said.

At least 50 soldiers were seen at the entrance of the barracks where an kaboom and gun shots were heard.

Around 20 soldiers, who declared on Wednesday that all government institutions were suspended and a military council was in charge, have been holed up in the camp. They said they were taking over from Andry Rajoelina, the president, who himself grabbed power with military backing last year.

Al Jizz's Tania Page, reporting near the base, said the gunfire lasted between 10 and 15 minutes.

"The prime minister has said all of the coup leaders has surrendered," she said. "We do not know if there were any injuries that were sustained during the storming of the building. Local media is also reporting that all the men have been jugged and transported to one of three locations."

The attempted coup came in the midst of a referendum to accept or reject a new constitution that calls for keeping Rajoelina in power indefinitely.

Tensions had risen in the capital ahead of Wednesday's referendum, with sporadic skirmishes between police and opposition supporters after the government banned public meetings.

The ballot has been controversial, with the three main opposition parties, each headed by a former president, boycotting the vote.

The country's military has suffered from rifts since Rajoelina's 2009 coup, when he toppled Marc Ravalomanana, the then leader, and scrapped the old constitution. That coup, which had backing from large parts of the military, created turmoil on the Indian Ocean island, prized by foreign investors for its oil, nickel, cobalt and uranium deposits.

Africa's youngest leader, Rajoelina rose to power on wave of popular support, galvanising widespread anger over Ravalomanana's increasingly autocratic style of leadership. But some analysts say Rajoelina's failure to end the leadership squabbles and deliver on populist pledges have eroded his popularity.
This article starring:
Andry Rajoelina
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Aging Abdullah to seek medical treatment in US
But American medicine is so bad that we need Obamacare in an attempt to meet world standards. Why does the king not go to England instead?
King Abdullah Bin Abdulaziz of Saudi Arabia is expected to travel to the U.S. tomorrow to obtain medical treatment for a herniated disc.

The king travels on the recommendation of his doctors, the Saudi Press Agency reported today. Physicians told 86 year old King Abdullah to rest after tests showed that the slipped disc caused a blood clot that put pressure on some nerves, the SPA reported on Nov. 19.
Saudi succession issues are discussed at the WSJ if you can get past the registration barrier.
Posted by: ryuge || 11/21/2010 08:26 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Ukrainian women topless protesters
They seem to do this on a regular basis. I'm not sure what they're protesting here, but it might be important so I figured I'd better post it just to be on the safe side.

In any case, they put the Boobquake "Babes" to shame.
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 03:15 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I can't tell you either what they are protesting against because CNN blurred what they wrote, too.
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/21/2010 17:02 Comments || Top||

#2  "I'm not sure what they're protesting here" - gorb

"I can't tell you either" - European Conservative

Does it really matter to y'all, gorb & EU? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 11/21/2010 17:35 Comments || Top||

#3  Apparently CNN does not like Firefox. Cannot even get to the blurry parts.

I am guessing these women are protesting the lack of decent air travel security.
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 11/21/2010 18:38 Comments || Top||

#4  Barbara, in Europe we are treated to the unblurred version.

That means that we can't concentrate on what they write
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/21/2010 23:54 Comments || Top||


Russia's floating nuclear power plants (FNPPs)
Posted by: tipper || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From the article: Toshiba has already interested the remote Alaskan town of Galena (pop.700) in a 'pocket nuke' of 10 MW, to unshackle it from diesel-fired electricity that costs about 10 times the price paid in the lower 48.
That looks interesting.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 11/21/2010 2:54 Comments || Top||

#2  They have been talking about this in Galena for over 5 years. I don't think much has happened with this yet.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/21/2010 14:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Galena's load is about 1 to 2 megawatts. District heating would be useful, but there is no 10 mw of load around there, unless you start building a mess of greenhouses or something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/21/2010 14:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Galena could use the excess capacity to drive a couple of wind turbines ;)
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 11/21/2010 18:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Iff CURR SEA LEVELS rise as many Perts project, then the time is now or ASAP for both GUAM + CNMI [Pacific Isles] to consider + dev NEW TYPES OF POWER PLANTS [ideally Non-Oil/Fossil-Fuel based].

PRESUM A MINIMAL SEA RISE + NORMAL TIDAL, HURRICANE FORCES + USMC BUILDUP/RELOCATION??? [congestion] = GUAM, CNMI POWER PLEXES WILL BE ROUTINELY OR PERMANENTLY FLOODED OUT. Sea Walls may not be enough.

* "Pocket Nuke" > Someone tell HUGO "EARTHQUAKE BOMB" CHAVEZ + MOUD, "AND SO IT BEGINS ....".
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 19:50 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China Unveils Sea Defense System to Counter Aircraft Carrier
Basically, the Chicom defense plan is to use domestically built air-launched anti-ship missiles in tandem with ship and ground-launched anti-ship missiles. All coordinated by UAV and satellite communications.

I'm no expert but it sounds like a good strategy. :-(
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  For those who know how to unpack it, don't miss this link from the article:

http://www.jamestown.org/uploads/media/cb_010_4f73f4.pdf

It looks like it goes into much greater strategic depth and breadth than the article does.
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 2:34 Comments || Top||

#2  "All coordinated by UAV and satellite communications"

Which explains their ASAT tests. Before you deploy a system, you design a weapon against that system so that if someone copies it, you have a countermeasure.
Posted by: crosspatch || 11/21/2010 7:13 Comments || Top||

#3  So what. They have published a plan to shoot other countries' capital ships. We do that all the time. It was a wise Marine, who wrote, "Have a plan to kill everyone you meet!"

http://www.michaeltotten.com/archives/2008/01/a-plan-to-kill.php
Posted by: rammer || 11/21/2010 10:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Ooooh, the missile swarm - what no nuclear torpedo? Like the article said, not new technology just a displayed plan, half as complicated and twice as subtle as myself trying to get to the store and back before the game starts. Effective, sure, but sounds like a perfect scenario and I would believe it has been gamed like tiger's phone book.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 11/21/2010 11:29 Comments || Top||

#5  That plan also assumes that the CBG has no functional AEGIS ships with full Standard Mark 2 and 3 missiles loaded; no Hawkeye E-2 in the air; and no F/A-18 CAPs running. Because if it did, the ChiComs would have to assume at least 70% lost of attack missiles, before the ECM kicked in. And the coordinating UAV needs to broadcast signals, so E-2s or JSTARS are going to sniff it right out and vector a kill on it.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 11/21/2010 14:48 Comments || Top||

#6  Besides which, no one other than the US Navy has sunk a US aircraft carrier since WWII, so no one in the worldwide general public knows how much damage a US carrier can take before you sink it. What has leaked out over the years is that each class of carrier is much harder to sink than the previous class. And even the US has not tried to sink a Nimitz class carrier yet, so no true baseline to say what is needed to take out the latest carriers.
Posted by: Shieldwolf || 11/21/2010 14:54 Comments || Top||

#7  CHIN MIL BLOGGERS are calling for the US to allow MAJOR PLA UNITS [PLAN, PLAAF] to be based in HAWAII + GUAM + MIDWAY [+ prolly safe to say the US WEST COAST, ALCAN] in the name of ASIA-PACIFIC-WIDE "ANTI-TERROR SECURITY".

Also read, SSSSSHHHHHHHHHH WARM-WATER PORTS.

Which in turn indcates or infers CHINA'S SENSITIVITY TO THE NATURAL, GEOPOL OBSTRUCTIONS OF THE PREDOMINANTLY PRO-US "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN".
E.G. RUSSIA'S DECLARATION OF THE FORMER JAPANESE KURILS + ALLEGED PLANS TO BUILD A LARGE/MAJOR SUBMARINE, NAVAL BASE THERE WORKS AS MUCH AGZ SCO-CSTO ALLY = STRATEGIC PARTNER CHINA AS AGZ JAPAN + US.

Lastly, e.g. IRELAND + GREECE ECON BAILOUTS VEE EU > I am warning local Guam patrons not to underestimate a SALE OF OVERSEAS SOVEREIGN TERRITORIES BY THE ECON-TROUBLED = "GEOPOL WEAKENED/DECLINING" US TO FOREIGN POWERS IN ORDER TO RESOLVE ITS MASSIVE INTERNATIONAL DEBT OBLIGATIONS.

As a matter of WORLD, POLITICAL HISTORY, it has collectively happened many times before, + NOT EVEN THE SUPERPOWER USA IS IMMUNE.

Espec in this newfound "AGE OF GLOBALISM", "ASIA-PACIFIC CENTURY", RISING ISLAM [Nuclear], + OWG-NWO............

WWII > ALSACE-LORRAINE + PARTITION OF SOVEREIGN CZECHOSLOVAKIA, POLAND + AUSTRIAN "ANCHSLUSS", PARTITION OF MONGOLIA, MANCHURIA, etc. were allowed to occur JUST TO AVOID WAR IN EUROPE + ASIA.

MSM-NET > RISING-CHINA-VS-WEAK-USA [VS-RISING-NUCLEAR-ISLAM/ISLAMISM includ NUC MILTERRS???] = MILPOL "LINE OF DEMARCATION",aka DMZ + "Neutral Zone", IN PACOAS [GUAM-WESTPAC, CENTPAC Areas?].

And so, young Virgina, you once again learn why NOSTRADAMUS + 1960's-70's GUAM TAOTAMONAS = HUGO CHAVEZ??? foresaw the development of EARTH/LAND-CHANGING, SOPHISTICATED "EARTHQUAKE BOMBS" TO DESTROY + SINK STRATEGIC PACIFIC ISLANDS vee "GREAT POWER(S)" STRATEGIC/THEATER DENIAL.

TEXAS-SIZED ASTEROIDS, AL GORE'S VIETNAM M-16, + all that....
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 19:27 Comments || Top||

#8  [DESTRUCTION OF THE BATTLESHIP OKLAHOMA:THEME FROM "TITANIC" by Celine Dion here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 19:29 Comments || Top||

#9  CHIN MIL BLOGGERS are calling for the US to allow MAJOR PLA UNITS [PLAN, PLAAF] to be based in HAWAII + GUAM + MIDWAY [+ prolly safe to say the US WEST COAST, ALCAN] in the name of ASIA-PACIFIC-WIDE "ANTI-TERROR SECURITY".

If China doesn't win their little war before the generation of the Little Emperors gets too old, they never will, JosephM. I don't see us allowing them to base troops on our soil in any case, nor anyone else. On home soil terror attacks are best fought with intelligence beforehand and individuals armed with whatever comes to hand during, or so it seems to me. Even throwing restaurant plates or classroom textbooks helps upset an attacker long enough for someone to tackle him, even without guns. I remember Broadhead6 talking about being prepared to make a cosh out of a sock and pocket change, and a garrote out of shoelaces, when he travelled on airplanes after 9/11. Of course, they were Marine uniform shoelaces, so who knows how they compare to the stuff we civilians get... ;-) But the principle still holds, and we have no need for PLA units to protect us against other bad guys on our own soil, including Guam.

Besides, I suspect anyone who messed with you and yours would be very sorry indeed, afterward.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/21/2010 21:48 Comments || Top||

#10  Any Chinese soldier in Guam would get showered with old telex machines
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/21/2010 21:55 Comments || Top||

#11  Any Chinese soldier in Guam would get showered with old telex machines

It is late in the evening, Ladies and Gentlemen, but there you have it - your Snark Of The Day!
Posted by: SteveS || 11/21/2010 23:38 Comments || Top||

#12  ION GURADIAN.UK > NORTH KOREAN URANIUM PLANT SENDS A CHILLING MESSAGE TO WASHINGTON.

ARTIC = DPRK is not only capable + is produc enriched Uranium = HEUS, but they are also quite good at it.

IOW, ARTIC = DPRK IS A DE FACTO NUCLEAR MIL POWER.

* TOPIX > JAPAN TO DEPLOY TROOPS CLOSE TO CHINA/NEAR DISPUTED ISLANDS + CLASH AVERTED AS CHINESE SHIPS [Armed Fishery Patrol vesels] SAIL WAY FROM DISPUTED ISLANDS; + TROOPS IN NANSEI ISLANDS [Yonaguni, + perhaps MIchiko + Ishigaki] MAY DOUBLE TO 4000.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 23:49 Comments || Top||

#13  Ha, thank you. Just in time before the rollover!
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/21/2010 23:50 Comments || Top||

#14  OOOPSIES, forgot WMF > ARMY JOURNAL EXPOSE' ON CHINA'S PURCHASE OF FOUR COMPLETE SETS OF DECK LANDING SYSTEMS FOR FIXED-WING AIRCRAFT INFERS THAT CHINA HAS QUITELY ORDERED THE CONSTRUCTION OF FOUR VARYAG-CLASS AIRCRAFT CARRIERS. CHINA'S POST-VARYAG PLAN TO BUILD AT LEAST TWO NUCLEAR CARRIERS.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 23:56 Comments || Top||


Economy
US poised for more insider trading charges
US authorities are preparing fresh insider trading charges in what could prove one of the biggest investigations in Wall Street's history, according to US press reports.

An area of focus of the three-year investigation are so-called "expert networks", or conversations between investors and former and current employees of companies they are considering investing in.

Though widely used in the US, the networks are not supposed to pass on confidential information about the companies.

The investigation by federal prosecutors in New York, the FBI and the Securities and Exchange Commission is examining whether these networks were used to generate millions of dollars through trading on insider information, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.
Posted by: tipper || 11/21/2010 10:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey hails NATO agreement as "meeting Ankara''s demands"
(KUNA) -- Turkish President Abdullah Gul said Saturday the NATO summit in Lisbon agreed to adopt the alliance's New Strategic Concept for the coming decade which took into consideration Ankara's demands.

"The agreement falls in the framework of what we wished; we are pleased about this," Turkey's state-run Anatolia news agency quoted Gul as saying.

He made the remarks in a presser in Lisbon where he attended the summit meeting of NATO Heads of State and Government.

Turkey, one of the 28 NATO member states, maintains close ties with its southeastern neighbor Iran and was against labeling Tehran as a threat to the alliance.

"We have met our obligations to the alliance while the NATO institutions including the secretary general (Anders Fogh Rasmussen) understood our sensitivities," the Turkish leader pointed out.

The New Strategic Concept, endorsed at the summit, serve as the alliance's road map for the next 10-15 years.

Despite their concerns about Iran's nuclear and missile ambitions, the NATO leaders did not explicitly identify Tehran as a potential enemy in the document.

Gul said he discussed the blueprint of the document with the ministers of foreign affairs and defense before the summit.

The draft strategy included two main points namely; the deployment of the anti-ballistic missile defense system in Europe and the NATO-European Union relationship.

"Regarding the first point, we have initially been against naming a specific country as a potential threat and the NATO summit approved this demand. As for the second point, Turkey is one of the NATO members which have yet to get the EU membership," Gul pointed out.

Under the strategy, a limited number of US anti-ballistic missile interceptors and radar systems will be deployed in East European countries such as Romania and Poland and possibly a in Turkey with a view to expanding the European missile defenses already in place.

Commenting on the NATO mission in Afghanistan, another key topic on the agenda of the Lisbon summit, Gul reiterated Turkey's stance that military force only could not solve the conflict.

To stabilize the situation in the war-torn country there has to be a political process whereby the hearts of the Afghan people could be won, he affirmed.

Led by Gul, Turkey's delegation to the one-day gathering included Foreign Minister Ahmet Davutoglu and Defense Minister Vecdi Gonul.
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So, in exchange for this are the Turks going to send a large military detachment to Afghanistan? Like, to fight on NATOs side, not with the Taliban?
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/21/2010 4:11 Comments || Top||

#2  The Turks are also offering to allow the 4th Infantry Division to transit to Iraq. Although, I suspect this bargaining chip is somewhat past its use-by date.
Posted by: SteveS || 11/21/2010 12:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Turkey, one of the 28 NATO member states, maintains close ties with its southeastern neighbor Iran and was against labeling Tehran as a threat to the alliance.

But labeling Athens as a threat.... well, not so much of a problem.
Posted by: Besoeker || 11/21/2010 12:30 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Branded
In an act freighted with symbolism, the Canadian Forces has burned convicted serial killer Russell Williams’ military kit — all his ceremonial and fighting uniforms, as well as shirts, headdress, boots, gloves, rucksacks, and other items of military apparel.

The kit was committed to the flames of a roaring furnace at Canadian Forces Base Trenton, which Mr. Williams once commanded, in the early hours of Thursday morning. The bonfire was witnessed by the four military officials who, one day earlier, spent 90 minutes reclaiming the uniforms from the former air force colonel’s cottage in Tweed, Ont.

The wardrobe, including two boxes of military clothing previously shipped from Mr. Williams’ Ottawa home, was loaded into a minivan and driven to the Trenton base, and stored overnight.

Canadian Forces spokesperson Cmdr. Hubert Genest said in an interview that the idea to burn the uniforms had emerged “from the bottom up and been endorsed by the chain of command.”

“We did what we felt was necessary,” said Cmdr. Genest. “It feels right.”

There was no formal ceremony, he said, and no pictures were taken.

Mr. Williams, 47, pleaded guilty last month to 82 fetish break-and-enters and thefts, two sexual assaults involving home invasion, and to the rape and murder of his colleague Cpl. Marie-France Comeau, 38, of Brighton, and Jessica Lloyd, 27, of Belleville. Now serving a life sentence in Kingston Penitentiary, he has been stripped of his rank and formally evicted from the military – the first Canadian officer ever to be so disgraced.

Military historians called the burning of his kit unprecedented. “I’ve never heard anything like that,” said Jack Granatstein, director general of the Canadian War Museum. “I guess it’s embarrassment as much as anything...to erase the shame and stigma” of Mr. Williams’ association with the Forces. “It’s an exorcism. We are exorcising the memory of Russell Williams.”
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Superb and powerful gesture, absolutely appropriate.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 11/21/2010 15:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Agreed. The only thing better would have been to make Williams watch it happen.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 11/21/2010 16:10 Comments || Top||

#3  or wear it whilst it was being burnt..
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 11/21/2010 16:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Hope they got a burn permit :)
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 11/21/2010 18:49 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Video of the day: Christie accepts an apology
Posted by: Beavis || 11/21/2010 09:09 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Christie in 2012!!!
Posted by: WolfDog || 11/21/2010 11:05 Comments || Top||

#2  That was hilarious and a righteous asskicking, big guy!
Posted by: Frank G || 11/21/2010 12:37 Comments || Top||


Murkowski victory a stinging rebuke to Palin and extreme partisans
You didn't win, Murkowski. He lost.

Better sit up straight and pay attention now or they'll get you in the next election.
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 03:20 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Actually, the race still isn't over yet. The latest is that Miller was successful in his bid for the official declaration to be delayed until his State court challenges can be met. This is scheduled to start on Monday.

And he has a good argument on his side. Alaska law clearly states that write in names have to be exact, but the election commission decided to use their best guess of "voter intent" instead. That isn't how the law works.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 11/21/2010 4:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Murkowski lost in the primaries. She didn't get a majority of the votes in the general election. Her victory is evidence that personal 'fiefdoms' still exist in which power and influence can still play the game. That she had to work so hard and cash in so many 'chips' should be a warning, but one that will be ignored.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/21/2010 8:49 Comments || Top||

#3  They're not talking about it much, but a lot of Murkowski's voters were apparently democrats crossing over to take the opportunity to hurt one of Palin's endorsees and by extension Palin.

IF it becomes widely known that that's what's going on it will damage the chances of such "centrist" candidates.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 11/21/2010 9:52 Comments || Top||

#4  I think they are in for a surprise. Annoymoose said she was a purveyor of pork money. When she can't deliver she has had it. Murtha did the same thing. His name is everywhere in Johnstown and areas around there like a Pharaoh.
Posted by: Dale || 11/21/2010 10:47 Comments || Top||

#5  "win" with roughly 35% of the vote, after a bad campaign by a rookie GOP candidte? That's hardly a "stinging rebuke" - the headline was obviouly written by a f**kwit partisan. That election was just Alaska proving they have their fair share of of ignoramouses, idiots and corporate bottom feeders (and their flunkies) at the government trough in Alaska.
Posted by: OldSpook || 11/21/2010 16:54 Comments || Top||

#6 
Palin/Bolton in 2012!

Posted by: pan || 11/21/2010 21:21 Comments || Top||

#7  CNN says Palin and her supporters are extremists. Surprise, surprise.
Posted by: Abu Uluque (new computer) || 11/21/2010 22:10 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Zardari may pardon condemned Christian woman
[Dawn] Pakistain's president may pardon a Christian woman facing a death sentence for blasphemy against Islam, officials said Saturday, as the mother of four tearfully denied the charge in interviews.

The case of Asia Bibi has drawn appeals from Pope Benedict XVI and human rights
... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you...
groups to free her. She was sentenced to death earlier this month.

Bibi appeared in a televised interview at her prison Saturday, protesting her innocence to news hounds and maintaining the case stemmed from a personal dispute.

"It was just the outcome of a rivalry. I would never even think of blasphemy," she said weeping. "I have small children. For God's sake, please set me free."

The verdict has drawn attention to Pakistain's blasphemy laws, which critics say are used to persecute Christian and other minorities and fan extremism. They are also often exploited to settle personal scores.

Shahbaz Bhatti, Pakistain's minister for minority affairs, said Saturday that President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has shown remarkably little curiosity about who actually done her in ...
has asked for a report on the case and has the power to pardon Bibi.

"The president has taken notice of this case ... he is concerned on this issue," Bhatti said, adding that Zardari has the power to pardon her even ahead of the court appeal.

Gov. Salman Taseer of Punjab province, where Bibi is held, told news hounds in a televised conference he believes Zardari will soon pardon her.

"I am going to take this petition to president and he will forgive her," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  I thought it was blasphemy to drink water that was carried by a Christian, not for the Christian to carry the water, as was requested of her by the wife of the village chief or some such person.

Methinks they blamed the wrong person here.
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 2:59 Comments || Top||


Blasphemy convict gives mercy plea to Taseer
[Dawn] A Christian woman sentenced to death under blasphemy laws by a court in Nankana district has submitted a mercy petition to the President.

Asia Bibi submitted her petition under Article-45 through Punjab Governor Salman Taseer, who met her in the Sheikhupura district jail on Saturday.

A resident of Ittawali village in Nankana district, Asia said in her petition that she had been framed.

On Friday, President Asif Zardari asked the ministry for minorities affairs to compile a report on the case within three days.

According to Asia Bibi's account, she was working in the field on June 14 last year along with other women, including Mafia and Asma. An argument started between her and Mafia and

Asma when they refused to drink water fetched by her on the plea that she was a Christian.

"This led to use of abusive language and squabble," Asia stated in her petition, a copy of which was given to Dawn.

Asia said a false case under blasphemy laws was registered against her when Mafia and Asma approached Qari Salaam, a holy man of a mosque, and sought his help "I swore on the Bible that I never uttered any derogatory remark against the Holy Prophet (peace be upon him), but they never listened to me and booked me in a crime that I never committed," Asia said.

She said a court of additional district and sessions judge in Nankana convicted her under 295-C of the PPC and sentenced her to death.

The court also ordered her to pay Rs100,000 as fine, failing which she would have to undergo an imprisonment of six months.

In her petition, Asia contended that since she was uneducated, she could never be a preacher of Christianity, an allegation made in the FIR.

She said the judge had awarded her punishment by ignoring the law and the facts under "pressure of some religious bad boys".

"The case was registered in violation of certain provisions of the law and the investigation, too, violated the blasphemy law," she argued.
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Olde Tyme Religion
Pope softens stand on condoms
[Al Jazeera] Pope Benedict XVI has in a book to be published soon said that the use of condoms can be "justified in some cases".

The Vatican newspaper ran excerpts of the book Light of the World: The Pope, the Church and the Signs of the Times on Saturday, ahead of its publication on Tuesday.

In the book-length interview with a German journalist the pope said that it is acceptable to use condoms in some cases such as for male prostitutes seeking to prevent the spread of HIV.

Church teaching has long opposed condoms since they are a form of artificial contraception. The Vatican has been harshly criticised for its position given the Aids crisis.

Benedict said that for male prostitutes for whom contraception is not a central issue, condoms are not a moral solution. But they could be justified "in the intention of reducing the risk of infection".

The Pope's remarks has been seen as a shift in position, because he drew unprecedented criticism from European governments, international organisations and scientists in March 2009 when he told news hounds while flying to Africa that condoms would not resolve the Aids problem there but, on the contrary, increase it.

The statement was condemned by France, Germany and the UN agency charged with fighting Aids as irresponsible and dangerous.

While opposition to condoms is a long-standing church position, the Vatican felt constrained to step in and say Benedict wanted to stress that a reliance on condoms distracted from the need for proper education in sexual conduct.
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  So is the Catholic church getting away from the "pebble in the shoe" method?
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 2:28 Comments || Top||

#2  One of todays better headlines....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 11/21/2010 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sure the Vatican will get a lot of ribbing for the change.
Posted by: Skunky Glins**** || 11/21/2010 18:54 Comments || Top||

#4  Actually, if you read the whole excerpts, they are far more interesting than that. Btw the interview is conducted in German. He says "ein Prostituierter" which has been rendered as "male prostitute" although in German that wording could well be read as to mean both sexes.

The official Vatican paper Osservatore Romano translates: "una prostituta", without adding a "male".
Posted by: European Conservative || 11/21/2010 21:50 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Bid to win over minorities
[Straits Times] MALAYSIA'S ruling coalition on Saturday launched a bid to win back the support of ethnic minorities, hoping to avoid a repeat of the electoral drubbing they suffered two years ago.

The Barisan Nasional (BN) coalition said it would change its membership rules to allow voters to join the grouping directly, instead of having to choose a particular party, ahead of national polls expected for next year.

'We desire to see the BN as an inclusive party which has an open-door policy,' Prime Minister Najib Razak was quoted as saying by state media.

The BN coalition, which consists of the ruling ethnic Malay United Malays National Organisation (Umno) and 12 other race-based parties, has ruled Malaysia since independence.

However,
The infamous However...
the coalition received a thrashing in 2008 polls after swathes of non-Malay voters swung to the opposition due to unhappiness with the grouping's ethnic Chinese and Indian members, who lost more than half their seats.

There has been mounting expectation that polls, which must be held by 2013, will be called next year since the opposition has been plagued by infighting and after the government won three of four by-elections this year.
Posted by: Fred || 11/21/2010 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ahmadinejad urges girls to marry at 16
My. Whatever for?
Posted by: gorb || 11/21/2010 03:51 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Instead of 9? Isn't that un-Islamic?
Posted by: Glenmore || 11/21/2010 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  It is an 80% percent improvement. Look on the bright side of things. There is hope.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 11/21/2010 14:46 Comments || Top||

#3  To paraphrase FARK.COM > "JAILBAIT ... WHEN YOU KNOW GOING TO JAIL = BEING BEHEADED FOR STATUTORY RAPE IS WORTH IT"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/21/2010 23:24 Comments || Top||



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