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Car bomb kills at least eight in Mogadishu
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Page 4: Opinion
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-Lurid Crime Tales-
3 arrested after Quebec helicopter jail escape
[CBC.CA] Quebec provincial police say they've arrested three people in connection with the brazen daylight helicopter escape of two inmates from a Saint-Jérôme, Que., jail on Sunday afternoon.
Ooh! I seen dis movie!
Police won't confirm if the escapees are among those arrested.

Earlier today, police said the helicopter hovered over the building 60 kilometres northwest of Montreal at around 2:30 p.m. ET. The escapees climbed on board with the help of a rope ladder, Radio-Canada reporter Jean-Philippe Ouimet said.

Police have identified the two inmates as Benjamin Hudon-Barbeau, 36, and Danny Provencal, 33. Hudon-Barbeau is alleged by police to have ties to the Hells Angels, Radio-Canada reported. Police also said they were looking for an accomplice.

Police located the helicopter at around 3:30 p.m. in the Mont-Tremblant area, but only the pilot remained. Police said he was taken to an area hospital to be treated for shock.

"He's going to be questioned later on by investigators ... within the next couple of hours," Sgt. Benoit Richard said, adding that it's too early to say what the pilot's role was in the escape.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sergeant Major McGuire smiles and shakes his head.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 5:08 Comments || Top||

#2  I blame Hollyweird for spreading ideas like this. /sarc off - maybe
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/18/2013 9:29 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Trollhaven Copyrights 'Sold' Back To Stephens Media For $80k To Pay Legal Fees
Righthaven's copyright trolling operation collapsed after judges realized that it was all effectively a sham in which the real copyright holder (mainly newspaper publisher Stephens Media) had not really sold off its copyrights to Righthaven, meaning that Righthaven had no actual standing to sue. Technically, Stephens Media tried to give the copyright to Righthaven, but since it retained all of the listed rights under copyright law, it was clearly not an actual transfer. In one of those cases, concerning a guy named Wayne Hoehn, who fought back against a Righthaven lawsuit filed against him, Hoehn's lawyer, Marc Randazza fought for and won a request for legal fees. Righthaven stalled and complained and bullied, but the court told Righthaven to pay up.

Eventually, since Righthaven refused to cough up any money, the court granted Randazza's request to put Righthaven into receivership.

A comment sums it up better than the article itself:
1) Stephens Media decides to get them some of that awesome copyright trolling money.
2) Stephens Media spawns Righthaven.
3) Stephens Media takes their box o' copyright, dumps out all the contents, then sells Righthaven the empty cardboard box.
4) Righthaven brandishes the empty cardboard box in a threatening fashion demanding money.
5) Court says that's fscking retarded, demands Righthaven pay back legal fees.
6) Righthaven puts the empty box over their head and pretends they can't hear.
7) Court takes Righthaven away and starts auctioning it off. Realizes it has no assets except an empty cardboard box.
8) Randazza takes the empty cardboard box and sells it back to Stephens Media for $80k.

In the end, Stephens Media donates eighty thousand dollars and it's reputation to Randazza for no appreciable gain. Well done.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/18/2013 13:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Lucifer actor in Bible teevee series sets off firestorm
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 13:07 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe B.O. just looks like the Fallen One.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 15:42 Comments || Top||

#2  If Satan had a son....
Posted by: Beavis || 03/18/2013 15:52 Comments || Top||

#3  He'd be more competent, I'm sure.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 17:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Satan has been known by several different names, too.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 03/18/2013 17:53 Comments || Top||

#5  And he has a HOODIE!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/18/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||

#6  The fellow in the article appears serious and introspective. Obviously it can't be Obama.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 18:22 Comments || Top||

#7  I hear Spielberg just signed the devil to a 7 figure picture deal to play Obama in his next 'block' buster: Community organizer to world disorganizer.
Posted by: Airandee || 03/18/2013 18:39 Comments || Top||

#8  BO can't be the devil, The D makes WORK for idle hands. BO just makes idle hands.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/18/2013 19:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Firestorms are one of Lucifer's specialties....
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/18/2013 21:01 Comments || Top||

#10  Waiting for the protests about the analogy of the snake, then BO/Devil, then the snake appearing, kinda like Clark Kent/Superman.
But to compare a snake to BO, that is TOO MUCH!!!!no snake deserves that.
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 03/18/2013 22:07 Comments || Top||

#11  "Where's ya meshiah noooooowwww!"
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/18/2013 22:42 Comments || Top||


Secret White House tapes: LBJ knew about Nixon's 'treason' but never reported it
Posted by: Skidmark || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  BBC News added this:
The president did let Humphrey know and gave him enough information to sink his opponent. But by then, a few days from the election, Humphrey had been told he had closed the gap with Nixon and would win the presidency. So Humphrey decided it would be too disruptive to the country to accuse the Republicans of treason, if the Democrats were going to win anyway.

Nixon ended his campaign by suggesting the administration war policy was in shambles. They couldn't even get the South Vietnamese to the negotiating table.

He won by less than 1% of the popular vote.

Once in office he escalated the war into Laos and Cambodia, with the loss of an additional 22,000 American lives, before finally settling for a peace agreement in 1973 that was within grasp in 1968.

The White House tapes, combined with Wheeler's interviews with key White House personnel, provide an unprecedented insight into how Johnson handled a series of crises that rocked his presidency. Sadly, we will never have that sort of insight again.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 03/18/2013 6:56 Comments || Top||

#2  War as an extension of diplomacy politics, power, and money; who knew ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 8:40 Comments || Top||

#3  They say it's "treason" that we didn't "End The War" in '68 instead of '73, but the North didn't abide by the '73 treaty and by '75 the Dems were putting Southeast Asia, all 28 million or so of our allies, on their damn little auction block.

Those are unfacts and unpeople.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 8:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Once again, from wikipedia (yeah, I know):


Vietnamese refugees fleeing Vietnam, 1984

On 2 July 1976, North and South Vietnam were merged to form the Socialist Republic of Vietnam.[308] Following the communist takeover, 1–2.5[309] million South Vietnamese were sent to reeducation camps, with an estimated 165,000 prisoners dying.[310] Between 100,000[309][311][312] and 200,000[313] South Vietnamese were executed.[314] R.J. Rummel, an analyst of political killings, estimated that about 50,000 South Vietnamese deported to "New Economic Zones" died performing hard labor,[278] out of the 1 million that were sent.[309] 200,000 to 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees.[315]

Phnom Penh, the capital of Cambodia, fell to followers of the Communist Party of Kampuchea, commonly known as the Khmer Rouge, on 17 April 1975. Under the leadership of Pol Pot, the Khmer Rouge would eventually kill 1–3 million Cambodians in the killing fields, out of a population of around 8 million.[21][22][23][316] At least 1,386,734 victims of execution have been counted in mass graves, while demographic analysis suggests that the policies of the regime caused between 1.7 and 2.5 million excess deaths altogether (including disease and starvation).[316] After repeated border clashes in 1978, Vietnam invaded Democratic Kampuchea (Cambodia) and ousted the Khmer Rouge in the Cambodian–Vietnamese War. The Vietnamese installed a new government led by Khmer Rouge defectors, which killed tens of thousands and enslaved hundreds of thousands.[317]

In response, China invaded Vietnam in 1979. The two countries fought a brief border war, known as the Sino-Vietnamese War. From 1978 to 1979, some 450,000 ethnic Chinese left Vietnam by boat as refugees or were expelled across the land border with China.[318]

The communist Pathet Lao overthrew the royalist government of Laos in December 1975, establishing the Lao People's Democratic Republic.[319] The conflict between Hmong rebels and the Pathet Lao continued in isolated pockets. The government of Laos has been accused of committing genocide against the Hmong,[320][321] with up to 100,000 killed out of a population of 400,000.[322][323] From 1975 to 1996, the United States resettled some 250,000 Lao refugees from Thailand, including 130,000 Hmong.[324]

More than 3 million people fled from Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia, many as "boat people". Most Asian countries were unwilling to accept refugees.[325] Since 1975, an estimated 1.4 million refugees from Vietnam and other Southeast Asian countries have been resettled to the United States,[326] while Canada, Australia, and France resettled over 500,000.[327] In 1988, Vietnam suffered a famine that afflicted millions.[328] Vietnam played a role in Asia similar to Cuba's in Latin America: it supported local revolutionary groups and was a headquarters for Soviet-style communism.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#5  John Kerry to the white courtesy phone.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/18/2013 9:27 Comments || Top||

#6  All that happened _AFTER THE TREATY_.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||

#7  According to the tapes, Johnson learned through FBI wiretaps that Nixon had played a role

Why was the FBI, under Johnson, wiretapping the Nixon Campaign? Or am I missing something?

Posted by: CrazyFool || 03/18/2013 9:44 Comments || Top||

#8  ..does (D) answer your question. When (D) does it, it's OK. Anyone else and its so very very wrong.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/18/2013 10:23 Comments || Top||

#9  SO, according to the Wikipedia numbers, the domino theory, which the libs and the media laughed at, was a reality.

Gadzooks, we were sold down the river in SE Asia by the media? By the Dems? I am SHOCKED I TELL YOU SHOCKED.

They're doing the same thing in Africa and the ME and we will have hell to pay for that.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 03/18/2013 10:39 Comments || Top||

#10  LBJ knew about Nixon's 'treason' - but never reported it

Professional courtesy ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 11:24 Comments || Top||

#11  Without an end to the Vietnam War by Election Day, Nixon was voted into the White House.

Anyone who thinks it possible that the war could have ended in the fall of 1968 is trafficking in a rather extreme form of self-delusion bordering on auto-hypnosis. The Paris Peace Accords had behind them four years of grinding COIN, two invasions of neighboring countries, massive unrestricted bombing of the North Vietnamese ports, and the bloody repulse of the Easter Offensive. It's not as if Nixon just turned around after the election and settled things on his own terms. At worst, he shut down a miserable, pointless, toothless joke of a negotiation with his interference.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 03/18/2013 11:26 Comments || Top||

#12  We're not hearing the wiretaps of Nixon and the South Vietnamese embassy, we're hearing tapes of LBJ talking to various people and telling them "Nixon had blood on his hands" and it was "treason". Beyond that there is no proof that Nixon actually committed treason. There is no proof that Nixon did anything at all, not that I would put that type of shenanigan beyond him. But it was LBJ's war and it was fucked up from the get go. Even LBJ's Defense Secretary McNamara told him we couldn't win, at least not with LBJ's strategy. So for LBJ to try to blame it all on Nixon is 100 percent bullshit.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/18/2013 11:40 Comments || Top||

#13  Johnson opted to take the secret of the scandal to his grave, fearing that exposing Nixon would also reveal he had bugged the South Vietnam's ambassador's phone, and cause a national security mess.

That'd be interesting information to anyone who is thinking of allying themselves with the United States. I've been telling you people for years that jimmuh carter was nowhere near being the worst president. Carter was a soft headed, nasty little fool but he didn't have the balls to be anywhere near as nasty as Johnson. The jury is still out on Obama.


Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/18/2013 11:49 Comments || Top||

#14  200,000 to 400,000 Vietnamese boat people died at sea, according to the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees

Thank Jimmy Carter's "no assist at sea" policy for a significant portion of those deaths.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/18/2013 16:57 Comments || Top||

#15  Thank Jimmy Carter's "no assist at sea" policy for a significant portion of those deaths.

I should have remembered about that. We all should.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 21:41 Comments || Top||

#16  I had a friend of mine that went through that. Amazed that he made it. So was he.
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/18/2013 22:49 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Roaches on a Bus
A Greyhound bus ride into New York City on Friday turned into a horror show for passengers suddenly swarmed by an invasion of cockroaches that forced the driver to pull over and evacuate the vehicle.
"Pull over and get out and nobody gets hurt. We're takin this bus to the Roach Motel".
Cockroaches began emerging about 15 minutes after the bus departed from Atlantic City, New Jersey, on Friday morning, a Greyhound spokesman said.
Spent the weeken boozing and gambling, did they?
The driver soon pulled over and the 48 passengers scuttled off the infested bus to wait for a replacement vehicle.
I don't think I'd have scuttled off. Jumped out a window of trampled everyone in front of me is more likely.
Cell phone photos showing armies of cockroaches scampering over the seats and floor were posted by local media outlets, supplied by passengers on the bus.
Armies? So they were armed? It was a bus-jacking!
"We at Greyhound apologize for this inconvenience and have spoken with each passenger regarding this incident," Tim Stokes, a spokesman for a Greyhound, a unit of Scotland-based FirstGroup Plc, said in a statement.
Counseling is now available for the passengers. They felt so violated.
"Currently, our team is investigating the situation and working to determine its cause," Stokes said.
The cause? Roach Freedom!!
The company said it had refunded the passengers' fares and that they arrived without further incident in New York City in the afternoon.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 03/18/2013 12:45 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don Marquis foresaw this.
Posted by: Korora || 03/18/2013 15:22 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Kidnappers Kill 5-Year Old Boy in Parwan
[Tolo News] A five-year old boy has been killed by his captors in northern Parwan province after he was kidnapped a week ago from Kabul province, local officials said Sunday.

The boy, Arshad, was kidnapped from Pul-e-Khishti area of Kabul city by two kidnappers and was understood to have been taken to the Ofyan area of Parwan a week ago.

He was killed Saturday after his family did not pay the ransom money, provincial spokesperson Roshan Khalid told TOLOnews Sunday.

"The kidnappers have been jugged
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
by the security forces, while they were mourning the boy in the area, and the police have started investigations," Khalid said.

"The kidnappers have confessed in the preliminary investigations about the kidnapping and the family of the boy has been informed," she added.

The murder happened the same day that a preliminary court in Herat
...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns...
sentenced to death two men for kidnapping and later killing the eight-year-old son of a Herat businessman more than two months ago.

The police had arrested 12 suspects, two of whom were found guilty of murder. The court also sentenced an accomplice to 20 years prison and five others received six to 16 years prison.

The defence attorney rejected the sentences and said that it is "unfair."

"Unfortunately, the preliminary court has completely ignored the justifications to my clients. We showed more documents that they were not involved in the murders and made the decision under pressure from popular demonstrations," said Ahmad Navid Ziaratjahi, the attorney.

The head of Herat's primary court Qazi Abdul Ghafar confirmed the sentences.

"We confirm the death sentences of those who were involved in the murder of the boy," he said.

Ali Sina, the eight-year-old boy who was kidnapped with assistance from his father's bodyguard late December last year, was killed by the kidnappers late January even though they received a ransom.

According to his father, the kidnappers had initially asked for $400,000 for his son's release, an amount which was negotiated down to $90,000. But the kidnappers killed and then buried Ali Sina to cover their tracks and conceal their identities.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Too Noisy?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/18/2013 21:58 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egyptian officials who eradicate locusts are 'enemies of God': Salafist preacher
Abdullah Abdel Hamid, a professor at Al-Azhar University and Salafist preacher, described Egyptian government officials as "enemies of God," following their late statements about eradicating millions of locusts who stormed several of Egypt's governorates in the last few weeks, Al-Watan newspaper reported on Friday.

"Locusts embody a gift from God to humans living on Earth; how dare they say such things?" Abdel Hamid said at a Friday sermon in the Egyptian canal city of Suez.

Abdel Hamid argued that no "police or military troops" could stop the locusts, as "God's will" cannot be challenged.

Since January, swarms of the insects — originating from Sudan — have been spotted along the Red Sea coast in south-eastern Egypt, north-eastern Sudan, Eritrea and Saudi Arabia.

In 2004, Egypt witnessed one of the most serious locust infestations in recent history, when farmers in 15 out of the country's 27 governorates suffered extensive crop damage.

At the time, the Land Centre for Human Rights, a local NGO devoted to agriculture issues, reported that 38 percent of the nation's crops had been damaged as a direct result of the arrival of locusts.

According to the UN Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO), one tonne of locusts eat the same amount of food in a single day as around 2,500 people.
Posted by: tipper || 03/18/2013 13:08 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dunno if they're halal or not but they are edible.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/18/2013 13:46 Comments || Top||

#2  invasive, out-of-control, destructive with no real productive use.

I can see why he feels an affinity for them
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2013 14:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Good shot Frank. Succinct, on point, scores on the empty net.
Posted by: AlanC || 03/18/2013 14:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Dunno if they're halal or not but they are edible.

I don't either, but they are the only insect listed in the Bible as kosher.
Posted by: trailing wife || 03/18/2013 15:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Frank wins the Snark O' the Day™! :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 03/18/2013 16:24 Comments || Top||

#6  Now if we can get Abdullah Abdel Hamid to issue a fatwa prohibiting travel more than five miles from one's birthplace...
Posted by: Pappy || 03/18/2013 17:01 Comments || Top||

#7  I've had one. Chocolate covered. Crunchy, kinda tasteless...
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/18/2013 22:44 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Tsvangirai officials arrested
[UPI] Police did not give a reason for arresting a bigwig in Zim-bob-we Prime Minister Morgan Tsvangirai's offices and his lawyer Sunday.

Police raided the home of Thabani Mpofu, confiscating laptops and mobile phones, sources, whose names were not reported, told NewsDay Zim-bob-we.

Tsvangirai's chief adviser Alex Magaisa, alerted Mpofu's lawyer, Beatrice Mtetwa to the raid, at which point she came to the scene, asking police for a search warrant, the sources said.

Police did not provide Mtetwa with a search warrant or an inventory of the items they confiscated, NewsDay reported.

Officers then accused Mtetwa of using her mobile phone to take photographs and record conversations between her and police. There was a scuffle when Mtetwa refused to hand over the phone and police incarcerated
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
her for obstructing the course of justice, NewsDay reported.

Mpofu was also arrested, though his charges were not reported.

Police also arrested Anna Muzvidziwa and Felix Matsinde, both of whom work in Tsvangirai's communications offices. The reasons for the arrests were not given.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Most holy relics being demolished
[Bangla Daily Star] The authorities in Saudi Arabia have begun dismantling some of the oldest sections of Islam's most important mosque as part of a highly controversial multi-billion pound expansion.

Photographs obtained by The Independent reveal how workers with drills and mechanical diggers have started demolishing some Ottoman and Abbasid sections on the eastern side of the Masjid al-Haram in Makkah.

The building, which is also known as the Grand Mosque, is the holiest site in Islam because it contains the Kaaba -- the point to which all Muslims face when praying. The columns are the last remaining sections of the mosque which date back more than a few hundred years and form the inner perimeter on the outskirts of the white marble floor surrounding the Kaaba.

The new photos, taken over the last few weeks, have caused alarm among archaeologists and come as Prince Charles -- a long-term supporter of preserving architectural heritage -- flew into Saudi Arabia yesterday for a visit with the Duchess of Cornwall.

The timing of his tour has been criticised by human rights campaigners after the Saudis shot seven men in public earlier this week despite major concerns about their trial and the fact that some of the men were juveniles at the time of their alleged crimes.

Many of the Ottoman and Abbasid columns in Makkah were inscribed with intricate Arabic calligraphy marking the names of the Prophet Muhammad (pbuh)'s companions and key moments in his life. One column which is believed to have been ripped down is supposed to mark the spot where Muslims believe Prophet Muhammad (pbuh) began his heavenly journey on a winged horse, which took him to Jerusalem and heaven in a single night.

To accommodate the ever increasing number of pilgrims heading to the twin holy cities of Makkah and Madina each year the Saudi authorities have embarked upon a massive expansion project.

Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Salafists

#1  The "architectural heritage" of pagan cultures and religions; the ghosts of Balmoral Castle, yes, I see the obvious linkages.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 4:45 Comments || Top||

#2  Interesting relics of a death cult. I wouldn't call them holy.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 03/18/2013 12:05 Comments || Top||

#3  To accommodate the ever increasing number of pilgrims heading to the twin holy cities of Makkah and Madina each year the Saudi authorities have embarked upon a massive expansion project.

One massive, glassy, parking lot?
Posted by: Pappy || 03/18/2013 13:05 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Maduro urges Obama to halt "plot" against rival
Because Nick the Mad cares about the life and welfare of the opposition leader...
CARACAS - Venezuela's acting president urged U.S. leader Barack Obama to stop what he called a plot by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to kill his opposition rival and trigger a coup before an April 14 election.

Nicolas Maduro said the plan was to blame his opponent's murder on the OPEC nation's government and to "fill Venezuelans with hate" as they prepare to go to vote following the death of socialist leader Hugo Chavez.

Maduro first mentioned a plot against his rival, Henrique Capriles, last week, blaming it on former Bush administration officials Roger Noriega and Otto Reich. Both rejected the allegations as untrue, outrageous and defamatory.

"I call on President Obama - Roger Noriega, Otto Reich, officials at the Pentagon and at the CIA are behind a plan to assassinate the right-wing presidential candidate to create chaos," Maduro said in a TV interview broadcast on Sunday.

Maduro, who is Chavez's preferred successor, said the purpose of the plot was to set off a coup and that his information came from "a very good source."
Deep inside his head...
During his 14 years in power, the charismatic but divisive Chavez, who died March 5 after a two-year battle with cancer, often denounced U.S. plots against him and his "revolution." Critics dismissed those claims as a smokescreen to keep voters focused on a sense of "imperialist" threat.

In kicking off the opposition's campaign in the provinces on Saturday, Capriles said Maduro would be to blame if anything happened to him. Capriles, a 40-year-old centrist state governor who cites Brazil as his economic model for Venezuela, accuses Maduro of using his boss's death as a mawkish campaign tool ahead of the April 14 vote.

Maduro, 50, a former bus driver who is trumpeting his working-class roots like Chavez, has a lead over Capriles of more than 10 percentage points, according to two recent opinion polls. Both were conducted before Chavez's death.

Maduro has sought to emulate the late president's common touch and emotional bond with voters but has struggled - beyond copying Chavez's bombastic rhetoric against foes at home and abroad.
He's struggling because he's not too bright. If he had been really bright Chavez wouldn't have let him be that close to the throne.
In Sunday's interview, recorded at the military museum where Chavez's body was carried in a somber funeral procession on Friday after 10 days of mourning, Maduro said he had cried more when Chavez died than when his own parents passed away.

The election campaign began in a particularly nasty atmosphere, with both sides accusing each other of dirty tricks, and Capriles and Maduro landing very personalized blows.

At stake in the election is not only the future of Chavez's leftist revolution but also the continuation of Venezuelan oil subsidies and other aid crucial to the economies of leftist allies around Latin America, from Cuba to Bolivia.
All the more reason to hope Capriles wins...
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Venezuela's acting president urged U.S. leader Barack Obama to stop what he called a plot by the Pentagon and the Central Intelligence Agency to kill his opposition rival and trigger a coup before an April 14 election.

But, but, but that's wat we do! And when we don't, feel free to blame us and demand financial restitution anyway. Failing that, closer contacts with the UN, US State Department, Amnesty International, and some Hollywood screen writers should help.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 4:52 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China - Flyash Liberation Army has new rival: Corrosive Sea Sand

Work on a slew of major projects in the southern Chinese metropolis of Shenzhen has been abruptly suspended following reports that the concrete used for their construction was made from cheap, unprocessed sea sand.
emphasis on cheapThe Shenzhen Housing and Construction Bureau held an emergency news conference on March 15 to announce that it had launched a full-scale investigation into the practice. Their investigations have thus far established that 15 of the 92 concrete-mixing plants in Shenzhen used untreated sea sand as a raw material in concrete which had been sold to local developers.
oops
The use of unprocessed sea sand as a raw material in concrete is considered highly hazardous due to the large amounts of salt and chloride it contains, which can corrode steel reinforcements and lead to the collapse of entire buildings.
"Say goodbye, rebar"
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2013 14:04 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Salt doesn't help the chemical processes in concrete either...you can easily break it up with a hammer (or a small earthquake).
Posted by: tipover || 03/18/2013 16:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Lest we fergit, despite their on-going problems wid defective Civil-Contruction Engineering, China desires to proceed full speed ahead wid a post-Three Gorges, World's-largest dam project that is said could de facto slow down the rotation of the planet we like to call Earth???

And exclusive of any US-vs-Rising-China"Peak Oil/Resources" issues.

This will not end well.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2013 20:01 Comments || Top||

#3  I assume that's a five year plan, Joe?
Posted by: Frank G || 03/18/2013 21:44 Comments || Top||

#4  I suspect this was a corner-cutting measure devised by suppliers because of a lack of government regulation. Kind of like the melamine milk imbroglio.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 03/18/2013 22:39 Comments || Top||

#5  If you're that sure about the Melamine Milk thing... I have thought, in my more paranoid moments, that that was their way of keeping the "wrong" people from buying their kids milk and a corresponding IQ boost.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 03/18/2013 22:45 Comments || Top||


China Premier Li Rejects 'Groundless' U.S. Hacking Accusations
[An Nahar] China's new premier Li Keqiang on Sunday rejected U.S. accusations of hacking, saying that Beijing did not support cyber spying after President Barack Obama
Ready to Rule from Day One...
stepped up rhetoric on the issue.

"China itself is a major victim of cyber attacks," Li told a news conference after China's parliament meeting. "China doesn't support cyber attacks. Indeed we oppose such activities.

"I think we should not make groundless accusations against each other and spend more time doing practical work that will contribute to cyber security," he said.

Last month, a report from U.S. security firm Mandiant said a unit of China's People's Liberation Army had stolen hundreds of terabytes of data from at least 141 organizations, mostly based in the United States.

The document provided the most detailed public account so far linking cyber attacks to China and provoked vehement denials from China.

Obama weighed in on the issue last week, saying that cyber threats affecting U.S. firms and infrastructure were increasing, and some were "state sponsored".

"We've made it very clear to China and some other state actors that, you know, we expect them to follow international norms and abide by international rules," he said in an interview with ABC News.

Li said that the China-U.S. relationship, between the "biggest developing country and the biggest developed country", was vital and they should work to ensure their mutual interests outweighed their differences.

"Conflicts between big powers are not inevitable," he said, adding that visiting Washington officials had "told me candidly in our talks that they came for the U.S. interests. I told them I work for Chinese interests."
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Chinese Communist honesty is on a par with Chinese communist quality controls on PLA owned companies (anyone know which ones might not be?)
Reliance on their word is a fools act, but some are so self-delusional that facing that fact is too painful to consider. It would mean questioning all the other gibberish that their socialist professors told them years ago at the Ivy League Schools for the Ruling Class.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 03/18/2013 14:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Love that picture just for the Geek-ette Gams.
maybe the leadoff pix for a new series
"Wimminz who Code"
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 03/18/2013 22:15 Comments || Top||


China's New President Calls for 'Great Leap Forward Renaissance'
[An Nahar] China's new President Xi Jinping said Sunday he will fight for a "great renaissance of the Chinese nation", as the world's most populous country completed its once-in-a-decade power transition.

In his first speech as head of state, Xi called for "the continued realization of the great renaissance of the Chinese nation and the Chinese dream", laying out a vision of a stronger military and ever-higher living standards.

The 25-minute speech closed a parliament meeting which named Xi as head of state and Li Keqiang as premier, four months after the pair took the top two posts in the ruling Communist Party -- the real source of their power.

Both Xi and Li stuck to the party's long-held consensus on the need for economic reforms to ensure growth, while increasing military power and avoiding political change that could threaten its grip on power.

Analysts said Xi's concept of a "great renaissance" was a slogan designed to have broad appeal, without any firm commitments to specific reforms.

Xi has close ties to China's expanding military -- which put its first aircraft carrier into service last year -- and he called for the armed forces to strengthen their ability to "win battles".
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Xi should've gone with a new Sparrow Campaign.
Posted by: Pappy || 03/18/2013 11:47 Comments || Top||


Europe
EU wants to fund Cyprus bailout by seizing 10% of everyone's bank account
Did the government leaders and banking bigs in Cyprus happen to move their money last week, just before the news broke?

If we had a media worth its name they'd dig in and answer that question. But they won't because they are moral and intellectual cowards.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/18/2013 09:22 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Also caused a run on all the banks as people withdrew their money.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/18/2013 9:24 Comments || Top||

#2  The fruit of Socialism is desolation, bankruptcy, followed by desperate acts.
Posted by: Dino Shomomp7692 || 03/18/2013 10:01 Comments || Top||

#3  Darth, last time I checked, the ATMs in Cyprus weren't giving out money, only accepting deposits.

Word from this morning was that Cyprus's parliament is refusing to rubber-stamp the EU plan. Which may also explain why there haven't been word of any bank runs in the PIIGS yet.
Posted by: Mitch H. || 03/18/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Russians wanted to bail out Cyprus govt by getting rights to Cyprus natural gas. Cyprus govt sez no. Putin not happy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/18/2013 10:41 Comments || Top||

#5  What a ripoff of Goodfellas.
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/18/2013 11:12 Comments || Top||

#6  We'll accomplish much the same thing via increases in capital gains and taxes & fees in gov't run medical care.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 11:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Update:
Banks shutter until Thursday.

Yeah, that will help....
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/18/2013 11:53 Comments || Top||

#8  It's okay, once the levy's hit, the government officials are happy to donate all their personal possessions to those hit by it. You know, when the rioters knock politely with torches and machete's
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 03/18/2013 12:08 Comments || Top||

#9  Now you know why the ruling class here wants an end to the 2nd Amendment.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/18/2013 12:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Banks shutter until Thursday.
Which Thursday?
Posted by: tipper || 03/18/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||

#11  No connect to our proposed "financial transaction fees". No, certainly not.

Why do you ask ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 12:37 Comments || Top||

#12  And regarding the media.......

Google "Cyprus NPR", and be treated to sparseness.
Posted by: no mo uro || 03/18/2013 12:49 Comments || Top||

#13  Fox reports: "The White House is monitoring the situation in Cyprus".....

But not condemning the move.....

Posted by: Besoeker || 03/18/2013 13:14 Comments || Top||

#14  Coming soon to your 401k
Posted by: Injun Turkeyneck6368 || 03/18/2013 13:47 Comments || Top||

#15  The good news is Chinese savers haven't woken to the fact the same thing is happening to them by stealth.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/18/2013 15:17 Comments || Top||

#16  Checking, Savings, Retirements, + Stocks.

IIRC FOXNEWS Segment = Russia is now ahead of EU'ers in terms of gross bank deposts widin EU Banks + as per Corporate/Econ investments, so iff this action occurs Russians will likely be hit much harder than ordinary EU'ers???

OWG Americans = Amerikans should expect the same as per NAU 2015 + Trans-Pacific, Trans-Atlantic Union, ...@etc.

D *** NG IT, AREN'T WE GLAD WE WEREN'T ASKED TO VOTE BY OUR REPRESENTATIVE GOVT. ON WHETHER WE WANTED OWG + "GLOBALISM" OR NOT???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2013 20:21 Comments || Top||

#17  Wiki has a writeup of the sovereign debt crisis HERE.

Here is the part about Cyprus:

The economy of the Republic of Cyprus was hit by several huge blows in and around 2012 including, amongst other things, the exposure of Cypriot banks to the Greek debt haircut, the downgrading of the Cypriot economy into junk status by international rating agencies and the inability of the government to refund its state expenses.[130]

In September 2011, the small island of Cyprus with 840,000 people was downgraded by all major credit rating agencies following the Evangelos Florakis Naval Base explosion in July and slow progress with fiscal and structural reforms. At the same time yields on its long-term bonds rose above 12%. Despite its low population and small economy Cyprus has a large off-shore banking industry that was shaken to its foundations during the financial turmoil. With a total nominal GDP of €19.5bn ($24bn[131]) the country was unable to stabilise its banks, which had amassed €22 billion of Greek private sector debt and were disproportionately hit by the haircut taken by creditors.[132][133][134]

The Cypriot Government was reported to have been requesting a bailout from the European Financial Stability Facility or the European Stability Mechanism on June 25, 2012, citing difficulties in supporting its banking sector from the exposure to the Greek debt haircut.[135] Representatives of the Troika (the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, and the European Central Bank) arrived to the island in July for investigation over the financial problems of the country and submitted the terms of the bailout to the Cypriot government on the 25th of July.[136] The Cypriot government expressed disagreement over the bailout terms, and continued negotiation with Troika representatives concerning possible alterations to the terms throughout the following months.[137] On the 20th of November the government handed its counter-proposals to the Troika on the terms of the bailout,[138] with negotiations continuing. On the 30th of November it was reported that Troika and the Cypriot Government had agreed on the bailout terms with only the amount of money required for the bailout remaining to be agreed upon.[139] The bailout terms were made public on the 30th of November.[140] They include strong austerity measures, including cuts in civil service salaries, social benefits, allowances and pensions and increases in VAT, tobacco, alcohol and fuel taxes, taxes on lottery winnings, property, and higher public health care charges.[141]

On 16 March 2013, the EU and IMF agreed a €10 billion deal with Cyprus,[142] and announced an unprecedented one-off levy of 6.7% for deposits up to €100.000 and 9.9% for higher deposits on all domestic bank accounts.[143]
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/18/2013 21:20 Comments || Top||

#18  As per RUSSIA TODAY, apparently a higher confiscation = tax rate of 13% [higher?] is already being mulled by the EU + IMF for those making large bank deposits, wid the lowest rate reduced to 3.0% for lessor depostors???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/18/2013 23:42 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Father Emil Kapaun to receive Medal of Honor for Korean War heroism
From last week, but important to all of us. I had never heard this story until now. What a wonderful man.
Father Emil Kapaun will be awarded the Medal of Honor on April 11, the White House announced Monday.

The White House issued a news release Monday saying that President Barack Obama will award the medal to members of Kapaun's family. The release said Ray Kapaun, one of Emil Kapaun's nephews, and other family members will be present at the White House ceremony.

"Father Emil led by example," Ray Kapaun said Monday. "His devotion was deep, to his faith, to his country and to the men who were there with him.

"My one regret is that my Dad (Emil Kapaun's brother, Eugene) didn't live to see it. But Dad is standing beside Emil right now."

The news release said "Chaplain Kapaun will receive the Medal of Honor posthumously for his extraordinary heroism while serving with the 3d Battalion, 8th Cavalry Regiment, 1st Cavalry Division during combat operations against an armed enemy at Unsan, Korea and as a prisoner of war..."

The Secretary of the Army and the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff recommended Kapaun for the Medal of Honor in 2009. Obama called Helen Kapaun, Kapaun's sister-in-law, in December to tell her he would give Kapaun the award, the family has said.

"It's about time," said Mike Dowe, one of Kapaun's close friends in the prisoner of war camp. He had written a recommendation for Kapaun to receive the Medal of Honor in 1953. He had written and lobbied members of the Congress and Army officials ever since.

Father John Hotze, who was assigned years ago by the Wichita diocese to investigate Kapaun's candidacy for sainthood, said he had interviewed at least 15 of Kapaun's fellow prisoners of war. He said they all felt "confused" about why Kapaun did not get the Medal of Honor after the war.

"They felt confused because they'd seen others get the medal, and they'd seen up close what he had done that they felt was so deserving," Hotze said. "They will look on this as a great accomplishment for Father Kapaun -- and that it should have happened 60 years ago."

Kapaun was ordained a priest in 1940 at what is now Newman University in Wichita. In 1944 he joined the U.S. Army Chaplain Corps, and served as the auxiliary chaplain at an army air base near Herington. He served from 1945 to 1946 in India and Burma. He rejoined the Army chaplain service in 1948.

He was sent with the 8th Cavalry Regiment to Japan and deployed with his soldiers when they became part of the first reinforcements sent to the Korean War in July 1950, one month after North Korea invaded South Korea. He earned a Bronze Star for heroism in action on Aug. 2, 1950. Soldiers who served with him said he repeatedly ran through enemy fire, dragging wounded soldiers to safety. On at least one occasion, his tobacco pipe was shot out of his mouth in battle.

In November 1950, after the Americans and their allies had destroyed the North Korean Army and advanced to within miles of the Chinese border, the Chinese Army sent hundreds of thousands of soldiers south. The 8th Cavalry, in the battle of Unsan, was destroyed by Chinese troops who greatly outnumbered them.

Kapaun would later be awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his actions at Unsan; he dragged many wounded to safety under fire, and soldiers said he saved more lives when he persuaded the Chinese to quit shooting into a dugout where he was protecting dozens of wounded Americans.

According to Monday's news release from the White House, "When Chinese Communist Forces viciously attacked friendly elements, Chaplain Kapaun calmly walked through withering enemy fire in order to provide comfort and medical aid to his comrades. When they found themselves surrounded by the enemy, the able-bodied men were ordered to evacuate. Chaplain Kapaun, fully aware of his certain capture, elected to stay behind with the wounded. As hand-to-hand combat ensued, he continued to make rounds. As enemy forces approached the American position, Chaplain Kapaun noticed an injured Chinese officer amongst the wounded and convinced him to negotiate the safe surrender of the American forces. Shortly after his capture, Chaplain Kapaun bravely pushed aside an enemy soldier preparing to execute a comrade ... "

Now a captive, along with hundreds of other wounded and hungry American soldiers, Kapaun was force-marched north, to prison compounds established in North Korea just south of the Yalu River border with Manchuria.

Soldiers held captive with him there said he saved hundreds of lives, in part by making cooking pans out of discarded roofing tin. That allowed soldiers to boil drinking water out of snow, which held off dysentery. He also picked the lice off sick and dying soldiers, stole food from guards to share with his fellow prisoners, washed their underwear, dug latrines, and rallied starving prisoners in sub zero temperatures to hang on to hope. Hundreds died but hundreds survived.

He also defied the Chinese guards, resisting their attempts to brainwash him and other Americans. He also continued to pray and hold religious services with fellow prisoners -- acts that the Communist guards had prohibited.

Kapaun, weak from seven months of starvation, had suffered from several ailments in the days leading up to his death. But POWs including Dowe had stolen food and medicine for Kapaun, and had begun to restore his health.

Seeing this, Dowe said, the Chinese guards forced their way into the hut where Kapaun was resting and ordered him taken to the camp "death house," a "so-called hospital," as Dowe called it, where Kapaun could be isolated from food and water. Kapaun died two days later.

"He was martyred," Dowe said Monday. "The Chinese communists were afraid of him because of the inspiration he projected for us as a God-fearing, free man."

In 1993 the Catholic church declared him a "Servant of God," the first step toward possible canonization. The Wichita Diocese of the Catholic Church has spent years gathering evidence for Kapaun's candidacy for sainthood. That evidence, including eyewitness accounts of his faith and heroism in the North Korean prison camps, is now in Rome being evaluated, church officials have said.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Father Kapaun joins a distinguished group of chaplains who have been awarded the MOH. Others include Fr. Vincent Capodanno (also a Servant of God), Fr. Charles Watters, Fr. Joseph O'Callahan.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 03/18/2013 10:26 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Six-year-old girl 'raped'
[Dawn] A six-year-old girl was allegedly raped by unknown men at a private hospital, police said on Saturday.

A rape case has been lodged with Morgah police station on the complaint of the girl's father.

According to the FIR, the girl's father, who is an armyman from Haripur, said he had brought his daughter to the hospital on March 14 for an eye operation. However the doctors set the operation date for March 15.

He said when he received his daughter after the operation, she was bleeding.

He claimed he informed the hospital administration but they did not look into his complaints. He then shifted his daughter to Fauji Foundation Hospital (FFH) where the doctors carried out medical tests which showed that the girl had been raped.

After the rape was confirmed, a case was registered under Section 376 against the unknown men, the police said.

When contacted, ASI Muhammad Aslam Shahid, the investigating officer, said the girl was allegedly raped but police took her for medical examination to Benazir Bhutto Hospital. The report will be received on Monday or Tuesday.

To a question, he said they did not consider Fauji Foundation Hospital's reports.

When contacted, the executive director of the private hospital, Brigadier (retired) Muhammad Rizwan, said the incident was in his knowledge but it had been wrongly reported with the police.

He said: "The father of the girl informed the hospital administration that a case had been registered on the report of the Fauji Foundation Hospital's duty doctor who sent the case to the police after seeing the bleeding".

"The girl's father gave us a written statement that no case of sexual abuse occurred in the hospital," the hospital's executive director claimed.

To a question about the FIR, he said the case was registered on the basis of Fauji Foundation Hospital's doctor's report but the police took the girl for medical examination to Benazir Bhutto Hospital after which things would become clear.

"We have also formed a three-member committee to probe the issue internally. If there is any involvement from among the hospital staff, appropriate action would be taken," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If there is any involvement from among the hospital staff, appropriate action would be taken,"

Like putting those scalpels to good use on perpetrators' balls? Or like a slap on the wrist?
Posted by: JFM || 03/18/2013 5:19 Comments || Top||

#2  What was the operation, doesn't say.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 03/18/2013 11:35 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Man Involved in Burj al-Shamali Camp Dispute Handed over to Army
[An Nahar] A man accused of killing another in a family dispute at Burj al-Shamali Palestinian refugee camp in the southern city of Tyre was handed over to the army on Sunday.

According to the state-run National News Agency, Qassem Jamal Saleh, who opened fire on Saturday night at Imad Zayyan al-Qassem, killing him, was handed over to the army in Tyre barracks.

The news agency said that calm and stability returned to the Palestinian camp.

The dispute wounded five other people.

Palestinian factions at the camp said on Saturday after holding urgent talks that the dispute is personal.
Posted by: Fred || 03/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-03-18
  Car bomb kills at least eight in Mogadishu
Sun 2013-03-17
  Bomb-making 'factory' unearthed in Karachi
Sat 2013-03-16
  Egyptians Protest for Army to Return to Power
Fri 2013-03-15
  Iranian Fighter Tries to Intercept U.S. Drone in Gulf
Thu 2013-03-14
  Sources: Benghazi suspect detained in Libya
Wed 2013-03-13
  Srinagar: 5 CRPF jawans, 2 ultras killed in terror attack
Tue 2013-03-12
  Egypt's Gamaa Islamiya to form 'militias' in Assiut to replace striking police
Mon 2013-03-11
  Haqqani Facilitator, 10 Insurgents Arrested in Afghan Raids
Sun 2013-03-10
  Bomb kills five, wounds 28 in Pakistan's Peshawar
Sat 2013-03-09
   Mob in Pakistan torches Christian homes
Fri 2013-03-08
  N. Korea to sever hot line with Seoul, nullify non-aggression pacts
Thu 2013-03-07
  Libya Interim Head's Car Comes under Fire
Wed 2013-03-06
  Syria rebels detain UN Golan observers
Tue 2013-03-05
  Chavez Dead
Mon 2013-03-04
  Twenty Islamists Killed in Northeast Nigeria

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