#2
Assuming that "massage shoes" are a real commercial product, I doubt that two AAA batteries are not going to provide the juice for much of a massage.
Posted by: Oscar ||
05/12/2010 4:58 Comments ||
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#8
If you look at the picture, you'll notice an LED in the heel.
I've seen kids flashing their way through Wal Mart weaing these super annoying shoes, every step is a flash of coherent light and can not be seen by the wearer.
I class these as "Deliberate Fuck you" signals similar to sideways Ball caps, I've no doubt he's the result of some shoe salesmans practical joke.
Take the shoes and destroy them, Let the fool go.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/12/2010 8:55 Comments ||
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#10
Reminds me of electric socks I had with a built in toe warming strip. It was connected to a battery pack worn on the belt. Would be a neat idea to have foot warming electric shoes, but those small batteries probably wouldn't last long in such an application.
US President Barack Obama praised today the "broad and deepening" US partnership with Afghanistan and said he and his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai had renewed their goal to defeat al-Qaeda.
The two leaders met to mend fences after months of trading barbs over alleged vote-rigging and corruption in Mr Karzai's government.
"As we've seen in recent plots here in the United States, al-Qaeda and its extremist allies continue to plot in the border regions between Afghanistan and Pakistan and a growing Taliban insurgency could mean an even larger safe haven for al-Qaeda and its affiliates," Mr Obama said after White House talks.
"So today we are reaffirming our shared goal, to disrupt, dismantle and defeat al-Qaeda and its extremist allies in Afghanistan and Pakistan."
The Obama administration is rolling out the red carpet for Mr Karzai's four-day visit in the US capital as senior officials from both sides mapped out what Secretary of State Hillary Clinton has called their "shared" future.
Ties have strained as the Obama administration pressed Mr Karzai to clamp down on corruption, after he was returned to power for a second term in last year's fraud-tainted elections.
Mr Obama said today that Mr Karzai had made progress on corruption in his administration, but said "much more" needed to be done in terms of good governance.
Both leaders appeared to have aired their own concerns in their talks, which come as the United States boosts the number of US forces in Afghanistan fighting a deadly Taliban and al-Qaeda insurgency.
In a nod to the tensions, Mr Karzai hailed the "frank, productive" White House talks on the need to protect Afghan civilians amid anger in Afghanistan at the deaths caused by US air strikes. He also vowed to spend US financial resources with "extreme care".
"We discussed in quite (a lot of) detail and in a very frank and productive manner the issues of protection of civilians and with respect to the judicial independence of Afghanistan," Mr Karzai told a joint White House press conference.
His visit comes as the US military gears up for a crucial stage of Mr Obama's strategy to defeat the Taliban and allow the increased US military presence - nearly 100,000 US forces - to start coming home next year.
A US military official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said Mr Karzai wanted to negotiate a security agreement that would ensure a US commitment to Kabul beyond July 2011, when American forces are due to start a withdrawal.
Discussions this week have largely focused on the future of the US role in Afghanistan and what kind of legal "framework" should be drafted to define the relationship, the official said.
Such an agreement would cover the US-Afghan relationship over the next three to five years, he said.
One model was the security agreement signed with Iraq, and the Afghans have cited US accords with major allies such as Japan or Australia, the official said.
Mr Karzai was also expected to press for greater support for plans to reintegrate Taliban insurgents - over which Washington has expressed some misgivings.
U.S. troops in Afghanistan could soon be awarded a medal for not doing something, a precedent-setting award that would be given for courageous restraint' for holding fire to save civilian lives.
The proposal is now circulating in the Kabul headquarters of the International Security Assistance Force, a command spokesman confirmed Tuesday.
The idea is consistent with our approach,' explained Air Force Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis. Our young men and women display remarkable courage every day, including situations where they refrain from using lethal force, even at risk to themselves, in order to prevent possible harm to civilians. In some situations our forces face in Afghanistan, that restraint is an act of discipline and courage not much different than those seen in combat actions.'
Soldiers are often recognized for non-combat achievement with decorations such as their service's commendation medal. But most of the highest U.S. military decorations are for valor in combat. A medal to recognize a conscious effort to avoid a combat action would be unique. That's one way of putting it. I have others, but this is a family blog.
Consideration of such an award, first reported by an Associated Press reporter in Afghanistan, doesn't mean that, if approved, troops would be pressured to prevent such casualties at risk to themselves, Sholtis said.
We absolutely support the right of our forces to defend themselves,' Sholtis said. Valuing restraint in a potentially dangerous situation is not the same thing as denying troops the right to employ lethal force when they determine that it is necessary.'
A spokesman for the 2.2 million-member Veterans of Foreign Wars, the nation's largest group of combat veterans, thinks the award would cause confusion among the ranks and send a bad signal.
The self-protections built into the rules of engagement are clear, and the decision to return fire must be made instantly based on training and the threat,' said Joe Davis, a spokesman for the Veterans of Foreign Wars. The enemy already hides among noncombatants, and targets them, too. The creation of such an award will only embolden their actions and put more American and noncombatant lives in jeopardy. Let's not rush to create something that no one wants to present posthumously.'
Giving a medal for restraint was proposed by British Maj. Gen. Nick Carter, ISAF's Regional Command South commander, during a recent visit to Kandahar by Army Command Sgt. Maj. Mike Hall, the top U.S. enlisted member in Afghanistan, Sholtis said. Ah, it's a British proposal to award not doing anything. That explains a lot.
U.S. Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, the ISAF commander, has placed a premium on preventing civilian deaths, having last year tightened the rules of engagement for air strikes and other combat operations in an effort to prevent fatalities. Such deaths build resentment among a populace the U.S. is trying to win over as part of its counterinsurgency strategy to simultaneously drive out the Taliban and strengthen Afghan government.
According to the United Nations, more than 2,400 civilians were killed last year, although estimates vary widely. From March 21 to April 21, 173 civilians were killed in Afghanistan a 33 percent increase over the same period the previous year according to the Associated Press, citing Afghan Interior Ministry figures.
Posted by: Steve ||
05/12/2010 14:09 ||
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KANDAHAR, Afghanistan While President Barack Obama works this week to repair his battered relationship with Afghan President Hamid Karzai , anger over his administration's decision to embrace the Afghan leader's half-brother threatens to undermine the U.S. campaign to purge the Taliban from southern Afghanistan's largest city.
Ahmed Wali Karzai is arguably Kandahar's most polarizing figure. As southern Afghanistan's most feared kingpin, the president's half-brother and a member of the influential Pashtun Popolzai tribe, he's amassed unparalleled power.
"I hold the key to five provinces," Karzai said in an interview with McClatchy this week while taking a break from meeting with a stream of Kandahar leaders waiting to confer with him.
"I am the top person, and I deliver," Karzai said. "I am the most successful person here."
Disenchanted Afghans, however, see in America's embrace of Ahmed Wali Karzai a disturbing sign that the Obama administration isn't serious about rooting out political corruption, building a responsive government and creating a respected police force in Kandahar .
Shoring up Ahmed Wali Karzai's grip on power, a growing number of Afghans are warning the United States , will only undermine the effort to establish a trustworthy and respected Afghan government.
"If Ahmed Wali was not there, I can tell you that the situation would improve," said Shekiba Hashimi , a female lawmaker from Kandahar who's running for re-election in Kabul this year. She said she'd changed her home base out of concerns that the president's brother will rig the ballots, as he was accused of doing last year when Hamid Karzai won a fraud-tainted presidential election.
Persistent allegations that Ahmed Wali Karzai has built a regional empire by working with major drug dealers, overseeing a feared militia, seizing land to build lucrative developments and intimidating political opponents have shaken but not eliminated international support for him.
"If they send one million soldiers to Kandahar and Ahmed Wali is still here, it will not improve the security situation," said a retired teacher in Kandahar who, like most Afghans interviewed about the president's half-brother, agreed to talk only if their identities were kept secret so Karzai couldn't try to punish his critics.
In many ways, the debate about Ahmed Wali Karzai mirrors the one about his older brother.
Some Western strategists see the pair as unpredictable partners, but both men hold powerful public offices; Ahmed Wali Karzai serves as head of Kandahar's provincial council, a post he said he could retain with ease.
"I can be away for the next five years and, when there is an election, I will just call and say: Here, I am elected and they will vote for me," Karzai said. "This is how it is. It's a tribal system."
President Karzai has steadfastly defended his brother and challenged Western leaders to back up allegations that Ahmed Wali Karzai is a crook.
That's something American officials said they've been unable to do, and so after a protracted debate, American military leaders concluded that trying to sideline Ahmed Wali Karzai could backfire.
"I think it's in our best interest to figure out how to harness that leadership potential that he has," said Brig. Gen. Ben Hodges , the director of NATO operations in southern Afghanistan .
"I think that's a lot simpler and more productive for us than to continue to try and find the smoking gun," Hodges said. "People have talked about it for years. Nobody has turned up anything. I'm not so naive to say he's not involved in anything, but, without that, the president is right to say, 'Come up with evidence or quit bad-mouthing my brother.' "
To drive home the importance of gaining Ahmed Wali Karzai's cooperation, the head of the U.S. Central Command, Army Gen. David Petraeus , met with the Kandahar leader during a visit to Afghanistan two weeks ago.
Ahmed Wali Karzai has gone out of his way in recent weeks to deliver a cooperative message to the international community. He describes himself as the "Nancy Pelosi of Kandahar ," a crucial dealmaker capable of working with allies and rivals to stabilize Afghanistan .
One Western official who worked in Kandahar said the risks of ousting Ahmed Wali were too great.
"The notion that we could somehow or another come out successfully from an attempt to remove him from power is a recipe for failure," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to discuss the dilemma. "That will cause an irrevocable break with his brother with unknown consequences."
Tooryalai Wesa, the Western-educated Kandahar governor who's viewed by many as a weak, ineffective leader, reinforced American support for Ahmed Wali Karzai .
"He's the one keeping Kandahar in balance," said Wesa. "If you don't have him in the system here, you don't want to see what would happen."
#3
I think that the problem is both that Karzai is a weakling and a waffler, and his brother is a strongman and effective. And the former is the "de jure" leader, but the latter is rapidly becoming the "de facto' leader.
The sad truth of government begins with the fact that government starts solely by being the most powerful criminal organization in whatever country.
It becomes government because it delivers what it promises, and this is an essential point, because this determines if a government remains in power. A simple ratio of "government efficiency"-- promises:delivery.
When the organization becomes the government, in effect, everyone are members of the organization. Or, as Locke put it, everybody signs on to "the social contract", with the government, and the government becomes legitimate. Those on the outside become the new criminals at worst, or the political opposition, at best.
Ironically, no matter who the government becomes, if they want to stay in power, they eventually have to deliver what the public wants. The lesson long learned in China, when they were regularly conquered, that in a few generations, their conquerors would "become Chinese", by doing things "the Chinese way."
[Quqnoos] The US airbase at Bagram contains a facility for detainees that is separate from its main prison, says a BBC report
Nine former prisoners have told the BBC that they were held in a separate building, and subjected to abuse.
The US military says the main prison, now called the Detention Facility in Parwan, was the only detention facility on the base.
The International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) said that since August 2009 US authorities have been notifying it of names of detained people in a separate facility at Bagram.
The ICRC was responding to a question from the BBC about the existence of the facility, which many former prisoners refer to as the "Tor Jail" which translates as the "black jail".
They told consistent stories of being held in isolation in cold cells where a light is on all day and night.
They said they had been deprived of sleep by US military personnel there.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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Afghanistan's government, facing international pressure to wipe out corruption, said Tuesday it had dissolved 152 Afghan and 20 international aid organizations, some for misconduct.
The economy ministry said licenses for the non-governmental organizations (NGOs) were cancelled for three reasons, some at their own request, some because they were unable to secure funds and some for unspecified "misconduct."
"After a professional and legal investigation and examination, a decision was made that 152 domestic and 20 foreign NGOs be dissolved," the ministry said in a statement.
The Filtration and Dissolution Commission, headed by economics minister Abdul Hadi Arghandiwal, was set up by President Hamid Karzai to assess the conduct of almost 1,500 aid organizations operating in Afghanistan.
Karzai is currently on a state visit to the United States aimed at mending fences following a series of high-profile outbursts by both sides.
Despite promising to deal with endemic corruption when he took office for five more years in November, Karzai is widely considered to have taken little action other than blaming donor nations for lax supervision of pledged aid.
Tens of billions of dollars in foreign aid has poured into Afghanistan since the U.S. invasion to rid the country of the Taliban regime in 2001, yet much of it has disappeared into private pockets with little trace.
While Karzai's Washington visit is meant to return relations to an even footing, pressure for him to act tough on graft is unlikely to ease as Western public support on engagement in the country continues to fall.
The United States and NATO have 130,000 troops in the country keeping Karzai in power in the face of a Taliban-led insurgency, with another 20,000 on the way by August.
Dealing with ineffective aid groups is seen as one way of removing potential thorns.
"Some requested dissolution, some failed to present their bi-annual work reports to relevant authorities over the past two years and some were found to have engaged in activities contrary to what they pledged in their mandate," Sediq Amarkhil finance ministry spokesman told AFP.
Some 1,224 domestic and 301 foreign NGOs are still registered with the ministry, operating in a various sectors.
This is not the first time the Afghan government has dissolved aid organizations -- last year the commission cancelled the operating licenses of 255 domestic and 13 foreign NGOs.
Aid groups play a significant role in delivery of key and vital services both on humanitarian grounds, and strengthening the leadership and legitimacy of the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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AyPee summarized: American-Egyptian man got through JFK security with a metal box containing two 9 mm handguns, 250 bullets, several swords, daggers and knives in his luggage, was arrested upon landing in Cairo on an Egypt Air flight.
[Maghrebia] For some Tunisians, Facebook has turned into a battlefield where they are forced to trade cyber-blows with religious extremists whose arsenal includes death threats.
The conflict began in March when a group called Facebook Pesticide began pestering the social networking site's managers to shut down the pages of alleged troublemakers. Some Facebook Pesticide targets, who seem to be singled out for views the group deems anti-Islamic, got the boot.
"My Facebook page was blocked," said Nafti Houla, a user who claims he was shut down on April 28th as the result of such a campaign. For Houla, Facebook was a space to express "opinions on many national ethnic, political and labour issues".
An offshoot of Facebook Pesticide, the Electric Chair group, appealed directly to Facebook subscribers, urging them to attack anyone who challenges "the Islamic religion".
"Dear Subscriber, Facebook is full of fools who are on it for the sole purpose of insulting Islam and influencing young Arab Muslims," stated the appeal. "We will publish these links and report them to Facebook management so it closes their accounts. Invite your friends to make this page more effective."
In April, Khemais Khayati, a journalist, critic and founding member of the Association for the Defence of Secularism in Tunisia, received a message from the group asking him to give up his secularist ideas and to go pray, "before Azrael takes you".
The same group held simulated executions of several Tunisians, including Olfa Youssef, Saloua Charfi, Salah Zeghidi, Rima Essaidi and Sonia Bhiri, who are known in political and media circles for backing modernity and secularism.
"I get insulting and threatening messages all the time," said Youssef, an expert on Islamic issues. "But when I open a dialogue with them, I find they are bereft and suffering from deprivation, making me think that what is happening is orchestrated by the powerful heads of the Islamist leadership."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt's parliament voted on Tuesday to extend a decades-old state of emergency for a further two years, the official MENA news agency reported.
"The People's Assembly has approved by a 308-member majority the presidential decree to extend the state of emergency for a period of two years," MENA said.
A parliamentary source told AFP that 103 MPs had voted against the extension of the controversial emergency law, which MENA said is due to take effect on June 1 and run until May 31, 2012.
The People's Assembly has 454 members. It was not immediately clear whether the remaining 43 lawmakers had not attended the session or abstained from voting.
Egypt's emergency law, in place since 1981, gives police extended powers of arrest, suspends constitutional rights and curbs non-governmental political activity. Special courts set up under the law deny a right of appeal.
It has repeatedly come under harsh criticism from rights groups and regime opponents.
Earlier, Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif had asked parliament to extend the law, but sought to reassure critics by pledging only to apply it to cases of terrorism and narcotics.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
I'm surprised we haven't heard of talk like this here.
Anyone speaking out against the ONE could be tried in special courts without appeals process and the military could be brought in to quell 'dangerous' or 'seditious' protesters like the Tea Party.
#1
Actually, Obozo is not their friend. Narcissist slippery waffling Obozo may resort to unpredictable actions that may have a negative impact on Russia as well.
Rise of military establishment would be a good thing, as the the policies would regain focus and clarity.
Consultations between South Korea, the U.S. and China are underway as an investigation into the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan is slated to conclude around May 20.
Kurt Campbell, the U.S. assistant secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific affairs, and Sung Kim, the special envoy for the six-party talks, on Tuesday met with Chinese Vice Foreign Minister Cui Tiankai in Beijing to discuss North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's recent visit to China and the six-party talks.
Sung Kim flew to Seoul on Wednesday and met with chief South Korean nuclear negotiator Wi Sung-lac to review North Korean activities after the shipwreck and discuss bilateral cooperation.
On Thursday, Deputy Foreign Minister Lee Yong-joon will fly to Washington to prepare a "two plus two" meeting of foreign and defense ministers of the two countries in July. He will also discuss possible sanctions against the North over the sinking of the Cheonan with U.S. officials.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/12/2010 22:20 ||
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North Korea has created a nuclear fusion reaction with its own technology, the official Rodong Shinmun daily claimed Wednesday. Nuclear fusion is related to the production of hydrogen bombs. The North conducted its first nuclear test in October 2006.
In a front-page story, the paper said scientists "have achieved brilliant success in nuclear fusion reaction." "It brought a solid breakthrough toward the development of new energy." No country has yet managed to put nuclear fusion-based power generation to commercial use.
A senior South Korean government official said the report is "preposterous."
On past showing elsewhere, it would seem possible to accumulate H-bomb technology about three to four years after developing an A-bomb.
Lee Chun-geun, a researcher at the Science & Technology Policy Institute, said, "North Korea is conducting research on developing nuclear weapons with enhanced explosive power by putting some elements that trigger nuclear fusion into A-bombs."
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/12/2010 22:14 ||
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Weapons on an arms-laden aircraft seized in Bangkok en route from North Korea last year were intended for sale to the militant Islamist organisations Hamas and Hezbollah, Israel's Foreign Minister has claimed.
Avigdor Lieberman described North Korea, Syria and Iran as a new axis of evil' during an official visit to Japan today.
He accused them of building and spreading weapons of mass destruction, adding that they posed the biggest threat to world security'.
Mr Lieberman told reporters: We saw this kind of cooperation only two or maybe three months ago with the North Korean plane in Bangkok with huge numbers of different weapons with the intention to smuggle these weapons to Hamas and Hezbollah.'
Mystery has surrounded the destination of the Ilyushin-76 aircraft, which was found to be carrying 35 tonnes of weapons including rockets and grenades when it was seized on landing for a re-fuelling stop at Bangkok on December 12.
Its East European crew told Thai officials that their aircraft carried nothing more suspicious than oil-drilling equipment. However a tip-off from foreign intelligence services believed to be American led to a search of the aircraft that uncovered the weapons hoard, while flight documents indicated the plane's destination was Iran
Analysts have said that while the aircraft may have been heading for Iran, the weapons could have been earmarked for radical Islamist groups such as Hamas and Labanon-based Hezbollah which Iran has bankrolled and supplied with weapons in the past.
Mr Lieberman's comments come as the hostile rhetoric between Israel and Iran heats up. Over the last two days the Israeli Prime Minister, Binyamin Netanyahu, has accused Iran of trying to provoke war between Syria and Israel while the Minister for Strategic Affairs Moseh Ya'alon reminded Iran that a military option still existed against its nuclear programme. In response, Iran's parliamentary Speaker threatened a final and decisive war' against Israel.
Syria has also been warned over the potential transfer of Scud misiles to Hezbollah, with the United States raising the issue with the Syrian Embassy four times in recent weeks
[Al Arabiya Latest] The French parliament on Tuesday unanimously adopted a resolution condemning the full-face Islamic veil as an affront to the nation's values, setting the stage for a law banning it.
The vote in the National Assembly put France on course to become the second European country after Belgium to declare the wearing of the burka or the niqab illegal in public places.
President Nicolas Sarkozy's right-wing UMP party and the opposition Socialists made a rare show of unity in backing the non-binding resolution that declared the veil "contrary to the values of the republic."
"The full veil challenges the values that we share and the very principles according to which we live together," Justice Minister Michele Alliot-Marie told the assembly ahead of the vote.
"The government is determined to take all means to combat these practices which are contrary to the values of the republic," she said.
The non-binding measure was approved by a vote of 434 to 0 in the 577-seat National Assembly, although about 30 Communist deputies had earlier walked out of the chamber in protest.
Next week, Sarkozy's cabinet will examine a draft bill that could impose fines on women who wear the full veil and threaten with imprisonment men who force their wives or daughters to cover themselves.
That bill will then go before parliament in July where it will face some resistance over proposals to make it illegal for reasons of security to wear face-covering veils anywhere in public.
The Socialist opposition is calling on the government to restrict the ban to state institutions to avoid a court challenge that would derail the legislation.
"We fear that you will go too far," Socialist Jean Glavany told the justice minister. "We must defend the republic with wisdom and perspicacity."
Debate on the burka ban has prompted warnings that it could stoke tension in a country that is home to Europe's biggest Muslim minority, estimated at between five and six million, and where Islam is the number two religion.
Police carried out a full security sweep of parliament ahead of the vote, using sniffer dogs to search the chamber and adjoining corridors, and also securing rooftops.
After declaring the burka "unwelcome" in officially secular France, Sarkozy last month moved to support a total ban despite warnings from the State Council, a top administrative body, that such a move may be unconstitutional.
Before joining his fellow communists, deputy Alain Bocquet denounced the measure as a ploy to woo the far-right and warned that a ban will lead France to "division."
In the resolution, lawmakers declared that "radical practices which violate the dignity and equality between men and women, such as the wearing of the full veil, are contrary to the values of the republic."
Parliament "deems it necessary that all useful means be put in place to ensure the protection of women who are subjected to violence and pressure and in particular are forced to wear the full veil," it said.
Fewer than 2,000 women wear the head-to-toe veil, according to the interior ministry.
The head of France's Council of the Muslim Faith, a government body created to promote inter-faith relations, warned that the veil ban risks leaving many Muslims feeling like outcasts.
"Rather than enacting a law barring women from expressing their malaise, we should think about what prompted them to want to cover themselves," said Mohamed Moussaoui, who met lawmakers ahead of the vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION COUNTERRRORISM BLOG > [Canada]"TORONTO 18" LEADER PLEADS GUILTY IN TERROR TRIAL | HE ORGANIZED TRAINING CAMPS TO PREPARE RECRUITS TO STORM PARLIAMENT HILL + BEHEAD POLITICIANS. Take local Pols hostage + kill them unless troops were pulled out from Afghanistan.
Also intended to dwarf the LONDON SUBWAY TERROPS IN SCALE, + HIs schema be such that CANADA would NOT, NEVER be able to fully recover from His planned attack.
#2
Nothing to do with the topic JM, not a thing. Then again, your posts never are, are they? It is tiresome to need to filter out the yelling of posts that are apropos of nothing in the item. If you won't use your indoor voice, then at least try to limit your ramblings to the item posted. Yeesh.
It is, however, relevant considering (what JoeM was pointing out) they got one guy caught confessing a building-storming training camp, and the full security sweeps before this vote. I would find it interesting if 1/5 of a car-b-q crowd suddenly rushed the building, no?
Raging Muslim students in Sweden attacked artist Lars Vilks during a free speech lecture in Sweden. 15 Muslims screaming Allahu Akbar' rushed the podium, headbutted Vilks, broke his glasses and tackled him to the floor. The whole assault was caught on tape.
#5
You can see many of the spectators holding up fists in solidarity and shouting Allah U Akbar. Some of them looked "normal" and would probably be outraged if they were ever "racially profiled".
Posted by: I see all ||
05/12/2010 11:22 Comments ||
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[The News (Pak) Top Stories] Elected representatives of Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) from Mansehra have asked the government to stop military action in the area forthwith.
Addressing press conference on Monday, member National Assembly Laiq Muhammad Khan and Mufti Kifayatullah, member of the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly, said Kala Dhaka was a peaceful area. They said there was no terrorist in the area and the government was launching military action for the sake of US dollars.
The lawmakers said arrest of two militants identified as Saqib and Waqar in the Bakaryal was no justification for launching what they said was a military action in Kala Dhaka. They said Interior Minister Rahman Malik and Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti had promised that there would be no military operation in the area but that promise was not honoured.
The legislators said the government had constituted a 25-member jirga to help hand over wanted persons to the government. They said despite the assurances, the government had launched military action in the area, which was a cause of concern. They said that most of the Kala Dhaka people were working in Karachi, Lahore, Rawalpindi and other big cities and any untoward incident could create problems for the government.
The JUI-F leaders said there was acute scarcity of commodities due to indefinite curfew in the area and the residents were on the verge of starvation. They said the JUI-F fully supported the movement for creation of a Hazara province and flayed the renaming of the province as Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] The lone surviving gunman of the 2008 Mumbai attacks could be executed this year if he does not appeal his death sentence, a senior Indian government official said on Tuesday.
Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, 22, was found guilty of waging war on India, mass murder, conspiracy and terrorism offences last week over the assault, which left 166 people dead and more than 300 injured.
Home secretary G.K. Pillai said Kasab's fate depended on whether the Pakistani national challenged the sentence through the higher courts and filed an appeal for clemency to the country's president.
"If he doesn't file any appeal anywhere I think the chances of him getting hanged this year are quite high," he told the CNN-IBN news channel in an interview.
Calls for swift justice have mounted in India since Kasab's conviction given the prospects of a lengthy, possibly open-ended, appeal in the courts and an apparent stay on executions.
Although it retains the death penalty, India has not carried out an execution since 2004 and only two since 1998. Dozens of death row prisoners are still waiting for a decision on their clemency appeals.
They include the killers of former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi, who was assassinated in 1991, and a Kashmiri separatist who attacked India's parliament in 2001.
The chief minister of Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital, said last week that he would push for the sentence to be carried out.
"We would want Kasab hanged at the earliest. We will ask the Supreme Court to fast-track the hearing of appeal," Ashok Chavan told the Hindustan Times newspaper.
Kasab was one of 10 militants who attacked the city's main railway station, three luxury hotels, a popular tourist restaurant and a Jewish centre on November 26, 2008, sparking a bloody, three-day siege.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
Wehell, as per NEWS KERALA, TOPIX, + OTHER NET > the US is NOT at this time ruling out any links between DAVID HEADLEY + SHAZAD FAISAL - DITTO KASAB? OTHER(S)???
IOW, WILL KIMO-KASAB-E ["Lone Ranger" TV Show] ACCEPT THE US GOVT'S VISA TOURIST TRAVEL PLAN TO GITMO, or FORT LEAVENWORTH!
[Dawn] The US State Department said on Tuesday it was looking into putting the Pakistani Taliban, the group tied to the failed car bombing in New York's Times Square, on the US list of "foreign terrorist" groups.
Adding the Pakistani Taliban to the list would trigger punitive measures such as freezing assets tied to the group, barring foreign nationals with links to it from entering the United States and making it a crime to give any material help.
"It is something we are considering in light of what happened, and obviously the investigation will yield information that might give us greater clarity," State Department spokesman P.J. Crowley told reporters.
Crowley said there was a lengthy legal process before a group could be designated a "foreign terrorist organization" and he did not know when a decision would be made.
"We have been focused on this group for some time and, without being specific, we have been working with our Pakistani counterparts and we have taken appropriate action to diminish the capabilities of this group and others in the region," Crowley said, referring to military action to target Pakistani
Taliban leaders.
Five Democratic US senators sent a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Tuesday urging her to ensure the Pakistani Taliban was on the list.
"The Pakistani Taliban is a murderous organization dedicated to killing civilians, harming US interests in the region and has even taken credit for terrorist acts committed on US soil," the senators wrote.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
ION TOPIX > [Mujahideen Officials]TALIBAN: AT LEAST 55 US SOLDIERS KILLED AND 37 INJURED IN OPERATION AL-FATAH IN HELMAND PROVINCE???
Talibs claim = allege THREE C47 CHINOOKS shot down???
American commanders, worried about increased violence in the wake of Iraq's inconclusive elections, are now reconsidering the pace of a major troop pullout this summer, U.S. officials said Tuesday.
The withdrawal of the first major wave of troops is expected to be delayed by about a month, the officials said. Waiting much longer could endanger President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the force level from 92,000 to 50,000 troops by Aug. 31.
Posted by: ed ||
05/12/2010 01:21 ||
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#1
Waiting much longer could endanger President Barack Obama's goal of reducing the force level from 92,000 to 50,000 troops by Aug. 31.
Well we certainly wouldn't want to do that now would we?
[Ma'an] The de facto government in Gaza "will defeat the siege," officials said at the opening of a new cement apartment complex in the Jabaliya neighborhood of the northern Strip. I may be wrong, or I may be quibbling, but I was under the impression that "cement" is what holds "concrete" or "mortar" together. It's kinda crumbly and fragile without sand and/or gravel...
The building, constructed out of materials banned from entry by Israel, was only one of several development initiatives the de facto government has planned, officials said, calling all the efforts Hamas' will to break Israel's siege.
Deputy Prime Minister in Gaza Ziad Thatha attended the ceremony, officiated by the Ministry of Public Works, saying, "The government will defeat the siege through major accomplishments towards reconstruction of what the Zionist war machine has destroyed."
Minister of Public Works Yousif Al-Mansi explained the three tiers of development initiatives going on in the area, "The first stage of reconstruction has been completed," he said, noting that it included the registration of material losses from Israel's Operation Cast Lead, which destroyed thousands of buildings, many of them totaled.
In conjunction with Gaza's municipalities, neighborhood committees and the union of engineers, officials computerized the data under a project with the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, Al-Mansi explained.
The second stage of the development projects, the minister continued, was the massive task of cleaning the destruction from the war. "More than 90% of the wreckage has been cleared," he said, noting that much of the scrap was being reused to construct projects like the Gaza City Port, re-paving roads and general construction.
The actual repairs - stage three - are being done in conjunction with international aid agencies, and include the construction of 381 homes and the repair of 263 others, Al-Mansi said.
Other families have been assisted financially to rebuild their own homes, with a total of 33 million US dollars distributed to families who suffered damages due to the war.
Since 2007, Israel tightened an already strict import policy for Gaza, turning a blockade into a siege, which has lasted three years. Items permitted into the Strip are reportedly limited to 81 items, as court documents from an ongoing trial lead by Israeli rights group Gisha revealed last week.
In the state's reply to Gisha's request for information, Israel wrote that the siege was "a central pillar in the armed conflict with Hamas."
Posted by: Fred ||
05/12/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Man, everything with these guys is an act of defiance.
It's kinda crumbly and fragile without sand and/or gravel...
Oh, they've got plenty more of that around the cess pools.
#2
This is disgusting! "Other families have been assisted financially to rebuild their own homes, with a total of 33 million US dollars distributed to families who suffered damages due to the war."
The article makes the Palis seem like victims.
Barf!
When the government you support (Hamas) shoots several thousand rockets and missiles at a neighboring country, they should expect that that country (Israel) will take steps to put a stop to it.
No country would allow this threat against it's civilian population.
It's called self defense.
And that's exactly what happened.
Now the little b!tches are crying to the media.
The Palis are a bunch of scam artists.
Even their fellow Arabs know this.
Ever see the 60 minutes Pallywood episode or the other Pallywood videos?
Definitely watch some of these if you can spare the time!
"Hey, uh, you guys..stop it..seriously..uh, I'm warning you..if you do that again I'll, I'll.....just stop..ok?..ok..well, we'll talk about later then, ok?"
#2
The Mullahs have all but officially demanded that Iran be invaded and occupied in case of US-Israeli attack, whereupon "PEOPLE'S WAR" [Nuclaeriazed?] will be waged upon the CRusader-Zionist infidel forces.
* MUSLIM FORMER SSRS > BROADLY, THE WHOLE OF CENTRAL-WEST ASIA WILL BE WHAT OVER-THE-BORDER NVA-VC BASES IN CAMBODIA + LAOS + CHINA
["Ho Chin Minh Trail", "Parrot's Beak", etc.] WERE DURING THE VIETNAM WAR, SAVE FOR IRAN HAVING NUKES-WMDS.
Jihadists took to Internet to voice hope that if Britain's Prince Harry is able to pilot a helicopter, that fighters shoot him down, the SITE monitoring service has said.
"Reports of Prince Harry of Wales having sufficient skill to pilot an Apache helicopter sparked jihadists to discuss the possibility of his being shot down and killed or captured," SITE said. "The availability of a high-profile target in Afghanistan, Iraq, or any battlefield of jihad, usually sparks such discussion," SITE said.
"One jihadist, writing on al-Fallujah, hoped that if captured, the prince could be exchanged for captive radical clerics Abu Qatada the Palestinian and the "Blind Sheikh" Omar Abdul Rahman," according to SITE.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Dawn] The US State Department said on Tuesday it was looking into putting the Pakistani Taliban, the group tied to the failed car bombing in New York's Times Square, on the US list of "foreign terrorist" groups.
Jihadists took to Internet to voice hope that if Britain's Prince Harry is able to pilot a helicopter, that fighters shoot him down, the SITE monitoring service has said.
