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15 dead in suicide blast at Pakistan tribal meeting
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Page 5: Russia-Former Soviet Union
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-Obits-
Virgin shark got pregnant in Virginia aquarium
Posted by: Oztralian || 10/10/2008 11:18 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Might want to check the employee records to see if any ex-lawyers have been cleaning after hours.

(for you local Josey Wales fans - no offense meant)
Posted by: swksvolFF || 10/10/2008 11:48 Comments || Top||

#2  This is not good news for men........
Posted by: Beavis || 10/10/2008 13:55 Comments || Top||

#3  The article was very interesting, until the final paragraph where the mandatory "Quit Being Mean To Sharks" warning was inserted......
Tell that to the victims of Grest Whites.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/10/2008 14:26 Comments || Top||

#4  "sharks are being killed at such a rate that unless we do something to stop that, we're not even going to learn all their secrets before they're gone"

I'll tell ya' the most important one for free: THEY HAVE VERY SHARP TEETH.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut || 10/10/2008 19:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Wasn't me. I wasn't there. Check the turkey baster for prints.
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 10/10/2008 19:17 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hundreds of stones removed from Dalai Lama's gallbladder
NEW DELHI: Hundreds of pebble-like stones, ranging from half a centimetre to one centimetre in size, were removed from the gallbladder of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Friday. The stones had been giving the Buddhist leader sleepless nights for the past few weeks.

A team of surgeons from Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi, led by Dr P K Chaubey, chairman of the hospital's department of minimal access surgery, removed the stones using the 15-minute keyhole procedure called laparoscopy.

During the procedure, the team sedated the Nobel prize-winning leader and made several tiny incisions in the abdomen. The team then inserted a laparoscope and a miniature video camera which gave a close-up view of the organs and tissues. The surgeons then carefully separated the gallbladder from the liver and bile ducts.

They then cut the cystic duct and removed the gallbladder through one of the small incisions.

According to surgeons who spoke to TOI on condition of anonymity, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama will be discharged from the hospital by Tuesday. He can resume normal activities like travel and public talks after a week.

Doctors said because the abdominal muscles are not cut during laparoscopic surgery, patients have less pain and fewer complications than after open surgery, which requires an incision of five to eight inches across the abdomen.

"All the stones have been successfully removed. The Dalai Lama had been feeling acute pain in the abdomen for the past few days because of it," a surgeon from the hospital said.

The Dalai Lama's aide, Chhime R Chhoekyapa, called the surgery a simple, routine procedure. Speaking to TOI, Chhoekyapa said: "The bursts of pain had been bothering the Dalai Lama since the end of August. His initial treatment took place in Mumbai where the stones were diagnosed. However, the surgery to remove them was successfully completed on Friday."

According to Chhoekyapa, the Dalai Lama's future travel plans aren't being changed. He will travel across Japan on a seven-day lecture tour from the end of this month and is expected to return by mid-November to his home in Dharamsala — where he set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.

"The Dalai Lama didn't have travel plans till the end of October. He may return to Dharamsala before leaving for Japan, if he feels up to it. Or else, he will leave straight for Japan from Delhi. He also plans to visit Meerut and Pune after his return from Japan," Chhoekyapa told TOI. The Dalai Lama arrived in Delhi on Monday from Dharamsala.

A typical gallbladder stone attack can cause steady pain in the right upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours.
Posted by: john frum || 10/10/2008 16:07 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...First of all, I wish His Holiness (for such is his title)a full and speedy recovery. But second, the guy's a vegetarian. How did he manage to come up with the risk factors for gallstones?

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 10/10/2008 18:51 Comments || Top||


Great Video: Dogs Greeting Owner After 14 Months In Iraq
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/10/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dogs have a really good long term memory.

My late father in law had a wonderful Australian shepherd mix who ALWAYS remembered me when my wife and I went down to his place every Xmas, even thoough she hadn't seen me in a full year.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 10/10/2008 1:54 Comments || Top||

#2  Sigh, when I first got married my wife would great me much the same way.
Posted by: Cyber Sarge || 10/10/2008 7:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Good stuff for sure. This fellow is wearing USAF rank chevrons. Forgive me, I love both dogs and Airmen, but the "14 months in Iraq" title may be incorrect. I beleive the Air Force uses 4 month rotations currently. Please correct me if I am wrong.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/10/2008 8:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Some rotations are indeed quite long--EOD, PJ, CCT for example. And often airmen opt to voluntarily extend deployment for various reasons.
Posted by: Heriberto Whusogum3364 || 10/10/2008 9:18 Comments || Top||

#5  RGR RGR Heriberto. I stand corrected.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/10/2008 9:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Had a Springer Spaniel that after I left to go play Navy, would not let either myself or Spousal Unit out of the car whenever we came back to visit Mom and Dad. Dad had to come out and actually hold his collar until we got out and then he would bee line for me to check me out and ensure i wasn't a bad guy; never bothered Mrs. Ret. Guess its cuz she was ( and still is) a little bit cuter than me...
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/10/2008 14:31 Comments || Top||

#7  Did you bring treats?  If not, there's your reason .... LOL

My oldest English Cocker spaniel is fully capable of carrying a mad until she's good and ready to drop it. Example: a couple years ago she saw me putting a crate in the car but she didn't get to come along on the trip. She loves trips but doesn't get to go on them very often now that she's not showing anymore.

When I got back that night with another dog and went to pet her she turned her back on me. Moved her head just enough so that my pat missed, too.

Took a bunch of special treats and extra lap time for me to be forgiven.
Posted by: lotp || 10/10/2008 14:56 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm suffering the rejection of our fox terrier this afternoon because I took her to the vet this morning. Lunch wasn't enough to restore my status.
Posted by: Darrell || 10/10/2008 15:16 Comments || Top||

#9 
Spaniels are easier than terriers - pretty food driven. ;-)
Posted by: lotp || 10/10/2008 15:21 Comments || Top||

#10  Now there's a slogan for bathroom walls, lotp!
Posted by: trailing wife || 10/10/2008 15:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Nope, no treats; just geting to see me should have beent treat enough.
/modesty off
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 10/10/2008 15:36 Comments || Top||

#12  I think I see the problem, USN Ret. LOL
Posted by: lotp || 10/10/2008 16:27 Comments || Top||

#13  They look like they have a good deal of Springer in them; and glad to to see their owner is home for pheasant season.
Posted by: regular joe || 10/10/2008 19:52 Comments || Top||

#14  wish I'd posted this
Posted by: Frank G || 10/10/2008 20:56 Comments || Top||

#15  ;-) Frank
Posted by: lotp || 10/10/2008 21:08 Comments || Top||

#16  ;-) ah well
Posted by: Frank G || 10/10/2008 22:54 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Trawler passenger shot dead by pirates in Noakhali
Pirates are everywhere: Bangladesh, Puntland, Nigeria, Wall Street ...
A trawler passenger was shot dead by pirates in the river Meghna in Hatiya upazila yesterday. Police said a gang of pirates numbering 7/8 opened fire on a Chittagong-bound goods-laden trawler coming from Char Iswar Bangla Bazaar near Char Isman at 7:00am, leaving one of its passengers killed on the spot.

The deceased was identified as Shamsuddin, 30, of Char Ishwar Purbo Gamchhakhali in the upazila. The trawler returned to Bangla Bazar Ghat soon after the incident.
Posted by: Steve White || 10/10/2008 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A trawler is a fishing boat. In this case a 'goods-laden' fishing boat. Huh? Sounds more like a smuggling boat. With a passenger? What kind of passenger rides a smuggling fishing boat? And the boat returned to Bangla 'soon after'? Was this really a gang of pirates, or a hit squad?
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/10/2008 10:06 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Grenade attack kills 5 state police in Mexico
Five state police officers were killed in the western Mexican state of Jalisco by grenade-lobbing gunmen who fired more than 800 bullets in the attack, authorities said Thursday.

The officers came under fire Wednesday night as they prepared to search a car they had just stopped in the town of Lagos de Moreno outside the western city of Guadalajara, the Jalisco state public safety department said in a statement. An unknown number of assailants arrived in two pickup trucks. Two bystanders also were wounded, the department said.

State Public Safety Secretary Luis Carlos Najera said authorities suspected the Zetas, an infamous group of hit men tied to the Gulf cartel. The Zetas have a history of aggression against Jalisco police, Najera told the Megaradio station.

The federal Attorney General's Office announced a reward of 5 million pesos (US$407,000) for information leading to the capture of those behind the attack.

Meanwhile in Ciudad Juarez, across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas, two state police officers were shot to death by gunmen in another car as they drove along a busy avenue, said Alejandro Pariente, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutor.

Hours after the Wednesday killings, a funeral wreath was left outside the state police headquarters in Ciudad Juarez, Pariente said. The wreath was accompanied by a threatening message and the name of the two slain officers and other policemen. ...
Posted by: ed || 10/10/2008 08:32 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  How much of this has to go on before Mexico earns the title of failed state?
Posted by: AlanC || 10/10/2008 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Mexico is still probably a lot safer than living in Washington D.C. or Detroit.
Posted by: bigjim-ky || 10/10/2008 14:48 Comments || Top||


Europe
Iceland for sale - minus Bjork
GREAT scenery and wildlife but financial situation in need of repair - collect in person.

Iceland, which is going cap in hand to Russia for a €4 billion ($5.49 billion) loan to bail out its failed banks, was offered for sale as a wholesale lot on eBay on Friday. Bidding started at 99 pence but had reached £10 million ($17.28 million) by mid-morning on Friday.

Globally renowned singer Bjork was "not included" in the sale, according to the notice, but there were nonetheless 26 anonymous bidders and 84 bids. "Located in the mid-Atlantic ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland will provide the winning bidder with - a habitable environment, Icelandic Horses and admittedly a somewhat sketchy financial situation," the notice read.

Bidders' questions included: "Do you offer volcano/earthquake insurance?", "Is it possible that my payment will be frozen?", and "Will you accept COD as a form of payment?"
Posted by: tipper || 10/10/2008 09:59 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Should be a good investment: with global warming it will have to be renamed North Bermuda or something.
Posted by: Glenmore || 10/10/2008 10:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Can I pay with Lehman CDS?
Posted by: European Conservative || 10/10/2008 10:58 Comments || Top||

#3  So when are they going to nationalize Bjork to stabilize their international credit flow?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 10/10/2008 10:58 Comments || Top||

#4  Payback time, Vikings.
All your blonde women are belong to us
Posted by: European Conservative || 10/10/2008 11:16 Comments || Top||

#5  Remember that Bjork is no longer valid in China.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 10/10/2008 14:04 Comments || Top||

#6  The last joke I heard was that Apple would be buying them, and renaming the country to
iCeland.
Posted by: Tranquil Mechanical Yeti || 10/10/2008 14:52 Comments || Top||

#7  Spent some time in Iceland back when. Lots of blondes, not very many really pretty girls though.
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 || 10/10/2008 23:21 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Osama's on the Ballot
TROY -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's last name is spelled "Osama" on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County. The misspelling, which elections officials on both sides of the aisle insist was simply a typo, is causing embarrassment for the county.

''No question this is an honest mistake innocently done,'' said Edward McDonough, the Democratic commissioner. ''We catch almost everything.''

''This was a typo,'' said Republican Commissioner Larry Bugbee. ''We have three different staff members who proof these things and somehow the typo got by us.''
Nonsense, it was a Rovian plot! Bwha-ha-ha!
Officials say the flawed ballots were sent to approximately 300 voters. On row 1A Barack Obama's name is spelled Barack Osama.

Is it a Freudian slip, intentional act or a mistake? Voters are sure to have opinions, and one pol pointed out that the letters 's' and 'b' are not exactly keyboard neighbors.

But even the county Democratic election commissioner is apologizing for what he calls a terrible mistake. McDonough said the absentee ballots went out to voters in Brunswick, Nassau, Sand Lake, Schaghticoke and Schodack with the error. So far three people have called to point it out, he said. Those people will get new ballots sent to them.

One Sand Lake resident who caught the misspelling, and who asked to remain anonymous, was skeptical. ''It's a little suspicious and at least grossly incompetent,'' the voter said, wondering ''if I crossed out the name and wrote in the right spelling my ballot would be invalid?"
Posted by: Beavis || 10/10/2008 14:36 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Truth in advertising.
Posted by: Iblis || 10/10/2008 19:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Clashes break out in MP, three killed
BHOPAL: Three people were killed and at least 20 injured in Hindu-Muslim riots at Burhanpur town in south Madhya Pradesh on Friday. The district administration clamped curfew on the town and issued shoot-at-sight orders to bring the situation under control.

Rioters burned more than 60 shops in Gandhi Chowk area while houses and shops were ransacked in other parts of the town by rioting mobs. Police fired warning shots to disperse rioters.

Police said that the trouble started at 9:30 pm on Thursday when a religious procession was passing through a Muslim-dominated area of Burhanpur, a town close to Maharashtra border. Locals organise a three-day religious fair 'Balaji (Hanuman) Mela' right after Dussehra and a 'rath' with a Hanuman idol is taken out through the main thoroughfares of the town.

Police also said that the miscreants pelted stones on the 'rath' as it was passing through the area. This sparked clashes between the two communities. For next three hours, arson continued. The local administration tried to control the situation by organising a peace meeting of religious leaders but it did not work. Finally it imposed prohibitory orders late on Thursday night.

Fresh riots started on Friday afternoon when Muslims gathered at the Burhanpur's Jama Masjid for prayers. According to leader of opposition of Burhanpur Municipal Corporation Nafeez Mansaab, fresh clashes started after some unidentified men threw red 'gulaal' on Muslims offering prayers.

Almost immediately the town turned into a battlefield. Shops in Gandhi Chowk area were set one fire by a group of rioters, while another group attacked the police. Additional policemen were rushed to the town. Later curfew was imposed on the town.

Burhanpur SP Sunil Jain said, "Whatever the police could do to bring the situation under control was done. Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued and the entire town brought under curfew." Additional forces have been mobilised from the neighbouring districts of Indore, Dhar and Khandwa.

Burhanpur is an ancient town. Shahjahan's wife Mumtaz was initially buried here. Her mausoleum was later transferred to Taj Mahal in Agra.
Posted by: john frum || 10/10/2008 19:52 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Muslims slaughtering cows, Hindus running processions past muzz indoctrination centers mosques on Friday. Riots in both cases. Military called in to provide "aid to the civil power." Been that way at least since the early days of the Raj. Probably will continue to be that way until India expels all its muzz to Pakiwakiland.

So what else is new?
Posted by: Jolutch Mussolini7800 || 10/10/2008 23:19 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
$40K Raised for Ongoing Effort to Open Fairfax Masjid
More than 250 Muslims from the DC Metropolitan Area attended the first official fundraiser of Islamic Center of Northern Virginia (ICNV) at the Audrey Moore Recreation Center in Springfield, Virginia. This June 2nd gathering attracted mostly students, graduates of Fairfax's George Mason University (GMU), and DC Area Muslim families.

Although the event goal was to raise $250,000 to complete the final logistics of the construction, the fundraiser only raised $41,000. The ICNV executive members commented, "It is just a start."

ICNV is located on Shirley Gate Drive in the heart of the city of Fairfax. The building is equipped with most of the sewage and plumbing lines according to county regulations, has electricity, running water, and HVAC units. At this point, the ICNV committee is in the process of installing the sprinkler system, elevators and outside parking lot lights. Once the final logistics of this last phase are complete, the center will be able go through county inspections in order to obtain their occupancy permit.

Event keynote speaker Imam Safi Khan of Dar us Salaam in College Park, Maryland spoke on the importance of establishing more Islamic centers as Muslims grow in numbers.
Balance at the link. Thanks to the INS, I'd say the Virginia Republican vote may certainly be in question. Fox Noise just had a release on the attendance of one of Obama's staff at a Islamic meeting in Springfield, VA. Nothing on the web yet.
Posted by: Besoeker || 10/10/2008 09:34 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't forget to include the cost of bugs in the construction budget.
Posted by: ed || 10/10/2008 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  I typically see about ten times as many women in Muslim costume on a single trip to the Tysons Corner Mall as I saw in a week travelling to European cities such as Amsterdam and Brussels, which are supposed to be Muslim hotbeds. And none of the European Muslim women were wearing the full burqa-type get-up (covered face) like they do at Tysons Corner.
Posted by: Ulusoling Hatfield4645 || 10/10/2008 13:27 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
60[untagged]
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4Taliban
3al-Qaeda in Pakistan
2al-Qaeda
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Mahdi Army
1Islamic Courts
1TNSM
1Govt of Iran

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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.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
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Two weeks of WOT
Fri 2008-10-10
  15 dead in suicide blast at Pakistan tribal meeting
Thu 2008-10-09
  Boom Bitch Kills 10 in Diyala Province
Wed 2008-10-08
  World's Stock Markets Plunge
Tue 2008-10-07
  Iran forces down Corporate Executive ''Fighter Jet''
Mon 2008-10-06
  Saudi hosts Afghan peace talks with Taliban reps
Sun 2008-10-05
  Baitullah makes appearance amid reports of his death
Sat 2008-10-04
  US drone strikes kill 20 in North Waziristan
Fri 2008-10-03
  'Biggest suspect' in ship piracy arrested
Thu 2008-10-02
  U.S. Begins Transferring Sunni Militias to Iraqi Government
Wed 2008-10-01
  Baitullah reported titzup
Tue 2008-09-30
  ISI chief, four corps commanders changed
Mon 2008-09-29
  At least six dead in Tripoli kaboom
Sun 2008-09-28
  Sudan desert chase 'n gunfight kills 6 kidnappers
Sat 2008-09-27
  Car boom kills 17 in Damascus
Fri 2008-09-26
  Shots fired in US-Pakistan clash

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