#2
This is John Bolton so there is a good mind behind the ideas but neither Jordan or Egypt want the Palestinians. If I recall correctly Jordan had to kick the trouble makers out around 20 years ago.
Robert Prince, the Seattle native and Army Ranger who, as a captain in World War II was the assault force commander of the daring mission to liberate Allied prisoners of war that became known as "The Great Raid," passed away New Years Day in Port Townsend, his family confirmed. He was 89.
"He died at home," Prince's son, Jim, a commercial fisherman from Port Townsend, confirmed Monday.
At Robert Prince's request, no services were held. Remembrances are suggested to the Children's Orthopedic Hospital or a charity of ones choice.
"He will be lovingly remembered by his family and friends as a warm, generous, but reserved and humble man," Prince's family said in a funeral notice.
A Garfield High and Stanford graduate, Prince was "a lifelong student of history, an avid follower of politics, and until recently, an enthusiastic Husky football fan," his family wrote.
Prince's humility extended to the mark in history he made as a soldier, from which he often deflected attention. His obituary says simply, "He served in the Southwest Pacific in New Guinea, the Philippine Islands and in Japan. He was awarded the Distinguished Service Cross for his role in the rescue of 571 Bataan prisoners of war from the Cabanatuan Prison Camp January 31, 1945."
Prince was only 25 when he was hand-picked by a man he deeply admired, Lt. Col. Henry Mucci, to lead 120 Rangers of the 6th Ranger Battalion, Alamo Scouts and Filipino guerrillas to rescue POWs from a Japanese prison camp near the town of Cabanatuan.
The raid was fraught with urgency. It had to be quickly and stealthily carried out behind enemy lines, because the Japanese War Ministry had issued a "kill all policy" to cover up war crimes by executing witnesses, in this case prisoners.
They had to get in and get out, and did. The highly successful Jan. 30, 1945 mission, portrayed in a 2005 film "The Great Raid," was quickly heralded across the U.S. Mucci, Prince, nine other Rangers and their wives were sent on war bonds campaigns, and to meet with President Franklin Roosevelt.
The Rangers' moment in history faded from the public eye, eclipsed with the invasion of Iwo Jima a month later.
Mucci and Prince both received the Army's highest award, the Distinguished Service Cross, which next only to the Medal of Honor is the nation's second highest award for valor. The two also were named to the U.S. Army Ranger Hall of Fame.
Prince, originally from Seattle's Madrona neighborhood, returned home to Seattle and his wife Barbara, leaving the Army as a major in February 1946.
The couple settled in Wenatchee where they raised two sons and focused on getting on with their lives. Prince's son, Jim, has said his dad never talked about the war or the mission to him or his brother until once, when their mom urged Prince to tell them.
Prince carved out a business career marketing Washington apples in Seattle and Wenatchee for 40 years. He retired in 1985 as president of Gwin, White and Prince Inc., and held several leadership positions in the fruit Industry.
He and his wife Barbara retired in Kirkland until 2003, when Barbara died, and Prince moved to a condominium in Port Townsend to be near his family.
Prince not only knew war as a veteran but as a parent. A son, Spc. 4 Stephen Robert Prince, was killed in action Aug. 11, 1969 near Quang Ngai, Vietnam while serving with the Army's 11th Light Infantry Brigade, 1st Cavalry Division. Stephen Prince had graduated from Wenatchee High School and attended the University of Washington before he was drafted.
In addition to his son, Jim, Prince is survived by daughter-in-law Mardee Stadshaug, grandchildren Amy Murray and Andrew Prince, and a brother, John, of Seattle. He was preceded in death by brothers Ken and Dick of Seattle.
After several books and the 2005 film rekindled interest in the famous raid that Prince had planned for Mucci, Prince was known to correspond with admirers who sought him out. In 2005, he was invited to speak in 2005 at a Ranger function at Fort Lewis.
P-I readers in 2005 also responded to an interview Prince gave at the time, including many from the Philippines expressing gratitude as well as relatives of the prisoners the Rangers freed.
"My father was one of the 500 men whose lives were saved and I would very much like to thank him," one woman wrote to the P-I, wanting to connect with Prince.
"As I sat in the theater watching "The Great Raid" it occurred to me that I would not have been born had it not been for those wonderful men who risked their lives to liberate the men of Cabanatuan. My father came back home, married my mother and was twice elected (to local political office in Mississippi,)" she wrote.
"Unforturnately, he was deeply scarred from his experiences at the hands of the Japanese and at the age of 42, he committed suicide. I was 9 at the time and my sister was 5. It was such a tragedy and a waste as he was a good man with so much potential."
Prince understood what she was talking about, which is why he deflected credit for the valor the Rangers showed that day.
His admiration, he always said, was for those he helped to liberate. They included many who had survived the Bataan Death March from the war's beginning through years of captivity.
In an Apr. 16, 1945 interview Prince gave to the P-I while home on leave, he said:
"People everywhere thank me. I think the thanks should go the other way. I'll be grateful the rest of my life that I had a chance to do something in this war that was not destructive. Nothing for me can ever compare with the satisfaction I got from freeing those men."
Since the MARINES have their great classic "GUNG HO", RICHARD WIDMARK for the Navy's UDTS, perhaps its time someone in Hollywood did one for the ALAMO SCOUTS, OSS in Europe + Pacific, etc. There are many stories, + Heroes, which remain untold or unknown to this day.
Yeah, it the Freepers, but it's funny as h-e-double-toothpicks. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009
18:15 ||
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#1
Did you still contain a consideration that you are old or callow? I'm ineluctable that not, the mechanism is that you are average, but people nearby are either old or callow, and that's chance all the time. What did you regard as with reference to retired people when you was 12. And you consideration that you've got to do so much previous getting retired after you reached 44. But you should get that the the most prominent mechanism is that as earlier you start retirement planning, the happiest pep you'll get after getting retired.
January 6, 2009: The Israeli economy grew by 4.1 percent in 2008. The Palestinian economy in Gaza didn't. Hamas blames Israel for the economic collapse in Gaza, because a blockade intended to keep out weapons, for use against Israel, also keeps out other goods. Israel applies economic pressure in much the same way Hamas does (by crippling economic growth in southern Israel with rocket attacks.) But Hamas and Israel have different priorities. For Israel it's survival and growth. For Hamas it's the destruction of Israel and the establishment of a worldwide Islamic religious dictatorship. From a distance, it's easy to ignore the goals of Hamas, but the closer you get, the uglier, and more lethal, Hamas becomes. For example, Egypt has remained very hostile to Hamas, and any ceasefire that does not curb the organizations violent behavior. A recent poll of Israelis shows 95 percent of Jewish citizens support the operations against Hamas. Those are numbers no politician in a democracy can ignore.
The Israeli Air Force has been launching about 90 attacks a day on targets in Gaza. Smart bombs and guided missiles have been used extensively. For the last two years, the Israeli Army has been developing new tactics and equipment for fighting Hamas and Hezbollah type gunmen in urban areas. The Israelis have built training areas, with dense urban construction, and run many of its ground troops through special exercises. How well the new tactics and training are will be seen in the next week or so. The new tactics are meant to minimize civilian casualties, while enabling Israeli troops to quickly move through the area and kill or capture enemy personnel and equipment. Reservist units being called up, that have not gone through the special training, are being sent to the new training centers for at least a few days of instruction on the new tactics. These new methods, while officially secret, apparently involve some new fighting tactics, and lots of electronic warfare. Hamas has had to operate with both cell phones and landline communications down. In addition, their walkie-talkies are sometimes jammed, and apparently listened to carefully by Israeli electronic warfare troops. This is causing command and coordination problems for Hamas fighters.
In the north, the military has warned civilians that Hezbollah may begin firing rockets if Hamas looks like it is taking too much damage (that is, being defeated in the court of public opinion.) So far, about 550 Palestinians have died, and seven Israelis (including three soldiers killed in a friendly fire incident).
Hamas cannot win when fighting Israel, and is determined to win an Information War. That means getting the maximum number of Palestinian civilians killed or wounded and getting images of that onto TV worldwide. While Israel is keeping reporters out of the combat zone (since December 29th), Hamas is not, and reporters from Moslem nations are eager to tell the story as Hamas wants it told (you get expelled from the area, or worse, if you don't, but that's a story that won't get reported until long after this is all over.) Getting enough diplomatic pressure on Israel to force a ceasefire allows Hamas to re-arm and increase its attacks on Israel. You only have to look at the Arab language message coming from Hamas through all this. The destruction of Israel and extermination of the Jews is what Hamas is all about. They make no secret of it, but do play it down in their non-Arabic press releases. That's because Hamas knows that, by playing the victim, they get more sympathy (and threats of sanctions against Israel) from the West, and mode aid (cash, volunteers) from the Islamic world. Hamas believes last year was a victory for them, as terrorist attacks killed 36 Israelis in 2008, up from 13 in 2007. Most of these attacks were not the work, directly, of Hamas, but rather West Bank based terrorists or Israeli Arabs caught up in the "destroy Israel" movement. Although most Israeli Arabs are better off than Arabs anywhere else in the Middle East, many still back calls for the destruction of Israel, because it's (for most Arabs) the right thing to do.
Calls for a ceasefire are going unanswered because Hamas and Israel cannot agree on the terms. Israel wants an end to the smuggling from Egypt and an international police force ensuring that no more rockets or mortar shells are fired into southern Israel. Hamas will not accept this, and is urging that Israel stop bombing targets in Gaza, and get its troops out of Gaza. In return, Hamas offers a ceasefire like the one that ended in December (fewer rockets fired into southern Israel, but no restrictions on the smuggling from Egypt). Arab diplomats are demanding acceptance of the Hamas rules, while European diplomats are urging Israel to "be reasonable".
#3
Saw this the other day. Sent a copy to my Brother who is an Alaskan Fisherman (a Dragger out of Dutch Harbor). The EcoThugs and Government are trying to do to him what they did so well to the Lumber Industry. You know he has to hire and pay for (and insure) an 'observer' to be on board to watch him fish...
Israeli forces have seized sparsely populated areas in northern and southern Gaza and by Monday morning were dug in on the edges of Gaza City, which has been isolated and surrounded.
As of this writing, Hamas is trying to draw IDF forces into the cities of Gaza, and the IDF is trying to coax Hamas combatants out into the open. While Hamas is trying to pull the IDF in, the IDF currently has the time to decide where and what to strike. It's up to the IDF to decide which bait to take and which not.
But there is a question as to how long the forces can stay in their current static, defensive position, which leaves Hamas the initiative to bait the IDF. Once the IDF takes the initiative and attacks, it will force Hamas to "shape" its forces accordingly. The longer the IDF waits outside the cities the greater Hamas's power in shaping the battle.
There are several ways Hamas will try baiting the IDF into the urban areas. For one, it will attempt to kidnap soldiers, which would require rescue missions. Sniper fire is another form of bait, as the sources of fire have to be taken out. At present, snipers are being killed with anti-tank rockets and helicopter fire. But once they fire from civilian buildings inside an urban setting, these methods will become tricky.
Hamas will eventually fire mortars at troop concentrations outside the cities from within built-up areas and the IDF will then have to direct fire at the source of the sniper or mortar fire, which would ideally be done by tank, artillery, or helicopter, meaning from the outside.
In short, each side is trying to "shape" the other to suit its advantages and mask its weaknesses.
Further movement into the heart of the built-up areas would mean deadly urban warfare, replete with house-to-house fighting in crowded streets and alleyways familiar to Hamas's 20,000 fighters. Hamas has booby-trapped the streets of Gaza cities with explosives placed along routes and at the entrances to buildings.
This will be devastating for ground forces walking into that kind of area and will cause most of the IDF's casualties. Hamas has also dug tunnels throughout the major cities and will carry out much of its fighting through them. A target seen in one building could disappear through a tunnel and appear in another building. Hamas combatants will appear and disappear through tunnels, engage on several streets and building levels, and it will seem like there are more of them than there actually are.
In a densely populated urban setting such as Gaza City, there are a lot of hiding places for snipers to shoot from; suicide bombers can come running up from everywhere and even fall onto troops from buildings. There is not much a force can do about that, except for shooting anything that moves.
Any Gazan approaching a force will be suspected of being a shooter or suicide bomber. Many members of Hamas's military wing will not be wearing their uniforms. These two factors will make extreme prejudice on the part of the IDF very difficult.
Hamas may use stone-throwing children as shields, from behind which they'll fire at IDF units. Past experience has shown that civilians caught in the hell of urban warfare will try to run away, which means a lot of movement on the streets and much confusion about the identity of combatants and civilians.
If the IDF is to perform what Spokesman Brig.-Gen. Avi Benayahu calls a "root canal and not just a filling" on Hamas's terror infrastructure, troops will have to go into the cities and take on the hardcore of Hamas's military wing. The IDF believes it has a good chance of inflicting damage on Hamas fighters inside the cities, as the military's training over the past two years has included testing fighting techniques - both in simulation and actual fighting - whereas Hamas fighters have not faced tough ground opposition in recent years.
Ten days of aerial bombardment have served to disrupt Hamas military coordination and the ground operation has severed Hamas military units from each other. Unlike Hizbullah, Hamas in Gaza has no territorial depth, and will find it hard to resupply its stocks of weaponry. The IDF is much better coordinated, its troops are trained in urban combat, and their marksmanship has improved radically in the past two years. The IDF has a range of aircrafts that provide ground units with tactical information as well as supporting fire.
Even though Hamas technically has superior numbers in the cities, the IDF can bring to bear a more effective fighting force. Technically, the IDF is invading Hamas territory, not occupying the Gaza Strip, so its operations there are offensive raids, whereas Hamas is playing defense. Since the aim is not to control the population of Gaza and occupy territory, IDF units can make aggressive incursions and retreat to staging areas.
This was not the case in Stalingrad, where each side was trying to take and hold territory. An occupying force needs to defend garrisons, which guerrilla fighters can attack in various ways [circa First Lebanon War].
There are two different types of urban combat: military-to-military and guerrilla. In the former, anything goes, including the use of artillery to bomb buildings, massive use of armor and indiscriminate aerial bombardment.
An example of this is the battle of Stalingrad. Gaza will not be Stalingrad. In Gaza, the IDF's armored units will become susceptible to anti-tank rockets in the narrow streets and tight corridors, which can easily disable the slow-moving machines. Pulling men out of burning tanks and APCs becomes more difficult under a hail of bullets and RPGs. During the Second Lebanon War, units would stop their advance to rescue and evacuate wounded comrades.
The units in Gaza have been trained to first suppress the source of fire and only then deal with wounded, so as not to put more soldiers into death zones already created by the initial burst of fire. In Gaza, the IDF will mostly be using infantry without armored support. Before taking over buildings, soldiers will have to sweep them for bombs. The main goal is to minimize the amount of infantry within the streets. The IDF will try damage the enemy as much as it can "from the outside" - using suppressing fire from tanks and helicopters.
Once the troops enter dense urban spaces to carry out missions, they will be operating in an extremely sensitive environment, requiring careful command and control abilities and specific fighting techniques.
They will have to work slowly but move quickly, and be very aggressive. Both sides aim to cause the other a maximum amount of casualties. So far, the Israeli public has displayed much more sensitivity to soldiers' deaths than Gazans have to Hamas combat dead. The commanders will have to learn their routes and know exactly which buildings they are to take.
They will need to know their environment well so that when the teams disperse nobody gets detached from the force. Most of the work for the commander is coordinating movement and fire. A company or platoon commander has to know where his soldiers are at all times and make sure there is no friendly fire, which is the most difficult part.
The problem with urban areas is that all IDF's technological advantage will be largely nullified. Everything becomes close-quarters battle. On the streets of Gaza it is easy to be surprised by the enemy, because targets cannot be seen properly. With technology diminished, training and technique come to the fore. Effective urban guerrilla fighting comes down to movement on the streets using cover fire from several different positions, and the IDF has been training intensively for this.
A force heading towards a target will want to enter its theater of operations through several different streets, so that each part of the force can have cover fire from the other. If one force is stuck another one can outflank the enemy.
In urban fighting cover fire is of supreme importance. Every corner wall that a soldier passes he momentarily loses eye contact with the rest of his force. These are perilous seconds.
Command and control becomes key and here again the IDF has been putting a lot of emphasis in its training over the past two years. In an urban area a commander will not always be able to see the troops he is controlling. Each movement has to be extremely well coordinated to avoid friendly fire, which is also a very big concern in an urban area.
The trick is to work slowly and systematically.
Units cannot allow themselves to be drawn into traps, which is exactly what Hamas is trying to do. The forces cannot work too slowly, however, as the threat to their safety increases in proportion to the amount of time they remain in the theater of operations.
#1
"Stalingrad" > HMMMMMMMM, IMO NO. Again, MUSLIM/ISLAMIC MIL HISTORY = there will likely be a ROUND TWO, etc. AS PER THE BATTLE/WAR FOR IRAQ BTWN ISLAMISTS + US-ALLIED.
I'm a'thinkin more of DAMASCUS ANDOR BASRA FOR A "STALINGRAD" SCENARIO, espec iff and when the ISLAMIST-HIDDEN IMAM/MAHDI choses to makes an Appearance during the OBAMA ADMIN 2009-2010, NLT 2012, VEE IRAN NUCLEARIZATION.
* 2012-2016 OBAMA SECOND? TERM > POSSIBLE, BUT MY GUT SAYS IT'LL BE TOO LATE FOR THE JIHAD + IRAN BY THEN.
#3
I would imagine that working after dark with night-vision goggles is one of the best technological advantages available to the IDF. I hope they make use of the advantage.
The Washington Post is reporting that Barack Obama has offered the job of surgeon general to Sanjay Gupta. Hes expected to accept the job, the Post says, citing two unnamed sources. Gupta declined the Posts request for comment.
Besides his CNN gig, Gupta also appears on CBS and writes for Time Magazine. He was a White House Fellow and a special adviser to Hillary Clinton when she was First Lady. Oh, and hes a neurosurgeon at Emory and associate chief of the neurosurgery service at Atlantas Grady Memorial Hospital.
Theres a certain logic to picking a TV talking head to be surgeon general, because the surgeon general is largely a talking head. The top doc does oversee the 6,000-member Commissioned Corps of the U.S. Public Health Service, but the real work of the job is traveling around the country, using the title as a bully pulpit to advance a public health agenda.
In this media-saturated era, who could do that better than a doc whos famous for explaining health issues on cable TV?
#1
In 2003, Gupta traveled to Iraq to cover the medical aspects of 2003 invasion of Iraq. While in Iraq, Gupta performed emergency surgery on both U.S. soldiers and Iraqi civilians. Gupta was embedded with a Marine medical unit at the time. A Marine named Jesus Vidana suffered a severe head injury and the Marines asked for Gupta's assistance because of his background in neurosurgery. Vidana survived and was sent back to the United States for rehabilitation.
I don't have a problem with this. I mean, shit, remember Joycelyn Elders?
#2
That's actually a smart pick. The Surgeon General is mainly a spokesman for various public health initiatives, not an administrator. Dr. Gupta is a good public speaker and a decent guy.
Posted by: Mike ||
01/06/2009 16:47
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#4
...I will NOT watch CNN because of their admission that they covered up/ignored evidence of Saddam Hussein's atrocities in Iraq so as not to lose 'access'. However, Dr. Gupta seems like a straight shooter and during a trip to Iraq got caught in an attack on US troops and jumped into an operating room to help save their lives. That counts for a lot, as far as I'm concerned.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
01/06/2009 17:16
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US Navy-lite uniforms, medals, sprokets, Hindi Turban head gear, multi-cult. What's not to like. The One quite possibly got it right this time.
#6
"got caught in an attack on US troops and jumped into an operating room to help save their lives"
Was he the one who was condemned by the media for actually getting involved, Mike? Or was that a different doctor/reporter? (Not that it matters - good for him for remembering he's a doctor first.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 17:50
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NEW DELHI: Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) apparently has plans to destabilize India by influencing developments in the north and west of the country, particularly in Mumbai, as part of its multi-pronged strategy.
Terrorists arrested in Jammu have made these revelations.
According to an article published in the latest issue of the Power Politics magazine, the ISI has circulated two maps to the Pakistan Army to boost troop morale by giving them a target to destabilize India by 2020.
One of the maps targets North India, and projects a desire to convert that region into 'Islamic Republic of Pakistan' by 2020. It mentions South India as disputed territory and treats Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Nepal as its neighbouring countries. The other map indicates a drastic change of Mumbai's topography, turning the metropolis into 'Muslimabad' by 2012.
The magazine carries the photographs of Jaish-e-Mohammad (JeM) activist Ghulam Fareed, identified as Pakistani soldier, (Belt No 4319184, 10 Azad Kashmir Regiment) from Ruperi village in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir's (PoK's) Bhimber district and the other two--Mohammad Abdullah from North-West Frontier Province (NWFP) and Mohammad Imran from Dera Nawab in Pakistan's Punjab--belonged to Harkat-ul-Jehad (HuD) terrorists group. They travelled from Karachi to Dhaka to enter India from Kolkata and they landed at Jammu from there.
The write up further states that according to the plan, ISI has been attempting to place India under seige both from the sea and land routes simultaneously.
Pakistan has moved its army to forward areas in Lahore strengthening international border and LOC with India to protect its vital installations.
The article, written by a Kashmir expert, carries both maps to substantiate the revelations.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009
16:00 ||
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Pakistanis sure like making maps...
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009 16:02
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#2
In fact the person who actually coined the word Pakistan came up with this map
When Pakistan was actually created, Jinnah called it "moth eaten".
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009 16:04
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Rehmat Ali's concept of Pakistan was nebulous, impractical and fantasy-ridden. It was to include the entire northwest of India, Kashmir, the Kathiawar peninsula, Kutch, and several enclaves deep within UP, including Delhi and Lucknow. There were to be two independent Muslim states besides Pakistan: Bangistan comprising Bengal and Assam in the east and Osmanistan in the south. These two were to form a federation with Pakistan. The 243 principalities or Rajwaras were to be divided among caste Hindus and "others" and then herded together in a ghetto called Hanoodia. As for the Sikhs, they were to be pushed into an enclave called Sikhia. Other races and religions were to inhabit an encampment by the name of Hanadika. Every non-Muslim was to remain subservient to the master race he called "The Paks". And yes, the subcontinent was to be renamed Dinia. He did not say how he was going to bring all that about.
Looks like somebody in the ISI is also infected with the cartographic bug...
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009 16:06
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#4
Sounds like the ISI might wanna call a doctor, as their erection has defintely lasted more then four hours.
#8
ok i know this is off topic buti have said it before about the muslim bride ads. I sit a joke i don't get or advertising from someone who the founders of rantburg don't get too choose. Now i'm seeing an add too buy minutes on a phone too call pakistan. Is it a joke or am I going crazy or possibly am i misunderstanding that this site was set up too get real news about the WOT and not the usual bullshit from the MSM?
#9
BTW...don't know if any readers here would be interested. I'm reminded of this by 3dc's map: the Maldivies has been in the news of late (for those paying attention to the march of islam).
I wrote to a Hitlon resort in the Maldivies recently making inquiry about a reservation for the MONTH of February. I advised the reservationist at the Hilton that my wife is a staunch Catholic and wanted to know where she could attend Mass on Sundays. The response I got from the "nice islamic reservationist" is a hoot given the purported "tolerance" of islam.
Say the word - anyone - and I will post the tolernat islamic response here, in full, freudian typos and all.
#10
rabid whitetail: I don't like seeing the muslim adverts on this website either. But Mr. Fred has to pay for this priviledge we take advantage of.
What I would like to know...Fred...are you there...how much $$$$ do you get from the muzz to post there ads?
I'd like to know so then I know how much we need to send Fred so he does not have to take $$$ from the muzz advertizers.
It's none of my business. I understand that. But I am dusturbed to see muzz adverts here or anywhere.
As for the ads, they respond to key words in the website text. Since we do write about Muslims an awful lot, therefore we get ads about Muslims. Were we to write a great deal more about Israel (Joooooos and Juice don't cut it), we might get the lovely matchmaking applet I've seen at the Jerusalem Post. Master Fred doesn't choose the ads himself, just allows them to be placed on his site for some sort of fee or kickback.
#14
With regard to the muzz adverts that appear on this website ...I don't pretend to understand how it works. I was thinking Fred gets $$$ to put them up. Maybe he doesn't. Lord knows I don't click on the muzz chicks (though some do look hot....anybody here remember Grace from Ranger Up...where is she?)
Anyway..I was thinking...if Fred was getting paid to play the muzz adverts...then maybe we needed to know what it would cost us to pay Fred to take them off.
#15
MarkZ & others who object to the ads - howzabout Fred keeps the ads (however much they bring in, it isn't enough) AND we pay him.
Don't like 'em? Don't look at 'em. I'm very adept at totally ignoring website ads, and I'm not even coordinated.
One question, though, Fred (or mods, if they know) - I was once told that websites get more money if we clicked on the ads. Is that true? If so, I'll make it my business to click on the ads, though goodness knows I'm not interested in any of them. (Except Amazon - I try to remember to always come here first and click through to Amazon when I'm going to buy something there.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 18:05
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i wasn't saying frd shoudn't get the money from the adverts , but the last time i mentioned it alot of ppl acted like i was crazy or was just messing with me. I'm not an expert on how the adverts are selected so i didn't know that key words typed would bring certain ones up. But thanks for clarifying this for me everyone. Now i'm off too see my muslim bride. j/k
#17
By popular demand (hat tip to TW)...you will now read a response I received from a female muslim receptionist (Moli) in the Maldives after I made inquiry about renting a resort cottage for the month of February, 2009.
The resort I contacted was once upon a time branded a HILTON Resort (yes Paris...your trust fund is in good dhimmi shape). The name has been changed to The Conrad (as in Conrad Hitlon).
I made inquiry with two points in mind: the alledged love muslims have for children and alledged muslim tolerance of other religions.
I report. You decide. I have made no changes to the email I received from Moli, except the spelling of my last name. Note the Freudian slips.
Dear Mr. Z- - - - - -:,
Greetings from Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
Many thanks for your interest to spend the holidays at our Resort
The resort is Children friendly and we do have a Kids club " Maaja " for the kids between 03-12yrs. We are more than happy to welcome kids to this Paradise
Each villa is capable to accommodate 03 adults or 02 adults and 02 children . There is only one bed room with one king size bed and extra beds will be placed for the children. Checking the availability, we do have 02 Beach villas only from 02/03/09 onwards. Only our Beach villa has interconnecting villas. ( Deluxe beach villa are only adjoining ) Please note that we are not able to guarantee Beach villas interconnecting in advance as per hotel policy, but we do out utmost to assign accordingly.
Maldives is a 100% Muslim county, but there are many foreigners live in the county only for work. Non Muslims are not allowed to practice or propaganda their religion or principles in the country. There is no Church/Temples are allowed in the country. No Bible , or status /idols belongs to a religion are allowed to bring to the country. However, you can pray at your villa, ( absolutely should be respect to others )
Maldives is a whole year around Tourist destination and very friendly county. We do enjoy our life here without any issues. They respect all people with thief culture and life style.
Trust the above are in order, please let me know if you need any further details
Wishing you and family a merry Xmas and prosperous New year
Kind regards
Moli
Moli Rajeev
Reservations Manager
Conrad Maldives Rangali Island
P.O Box 2034
South Ari Atoll
Republic of the Maldives
Telephone main: [+960] 668 0629
Mobile: [+960] 790 5175
Fax main: [+960] 668 0619
Email: Moli.rajeev@conradhotels.com
ConradHotels.com ConradMeetings.com
The stunning twin island resort of Conrad Maldives Rangali Island has a host of new services and experiences for honeymooners, spa aficionados and gourmet travellers alike.
Any of our foreign friends who think about spending a dime (or your currency of choice) in the Maldives, I ask that you reconsider. Don't sdpend money on anythoing muzz. Please. I know the Maldivies is a beautiful place. I have seen the pictures of same on the internet. It is. The muzz there think allah created the Maldivies for the muslims forgetting that a hindu and buddhist culture centuries old (who lived in harmony with one another) was wiped out by muzz aggression.
Please: do not go to the Maldivies for vacation. A price needs to be extracted for intolerance. Do not tolerate the intolerant.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 18:22
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#19
Your point is well taken Barabra. But I don't like to see muzz adverts on this or any other website. I'd rather ante up to Fred so he doesn't need muzz adverts. Is that wrong?
#21
Too bad, MarkZ. The real bummer for surfing idiots like myself is that Maldives are a well known surfing destination. I understand it isn't the highest priority for most people but it sucks. Places like the Maldives and Indonesia are often featured in magazines like SURFER but I myself would also consider them strictly off limits, especially after incidents like the bombing of that nightclub in Bali. Tiger sharks in the water are bad enough, I don't want to have to deal with terrorists when I get out of the water. The Seychelles are still safe, aren't they?
Gandhi should have gone ahead and fought those bastards instead of letting them have their way. It certainly would have been a horrendous war but at least they didn't have nukes like they do now. I understand he believed in peace and love and all that and his methods worked with the Brits. But then, the Brits are civilized and rational people.
Perhaps you're approaching this in the wrong way. Every time you see an ad you don't like (for whatever reason), laugh at them for the money they're paying to a website that doesn't support them.
A year or so ago, on Tim Blair's old website, there appeared PETA anti-whatever ads. We laughed at them, disparaging discussing them in the comments. Even Tim mentioned them and made fun of them. This went on for days (or maybe weeks, I'm not sure anymore). And all the while he was getting paid by PETA - who undoubtedly hated everything he and most of his commenters stand for (starting with eating meat). Someone said Tim would get paid more if we clicked on the ads, so we set about to drain the PETA treasury. Dunno if it worked or not, but the ads eventually stopped.
Instead of getting annoyed, try laughing at them and their waste of money. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 18:38
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#23
Blogads attempts to target the displayed ad to the most relevant audience.
The software does this by looking the content of the page.
It however is full of references to Gaza, India, Pakistan, Islamic, Waziristan etc, words suggesting a certain target audience.
That Rantburg's audience is interested in those words for a particular reason is not apparent to the software. The plain fact is that the vast majority of people looking at web pages with the words being displayed on the Burg now, would probaly be interested in the muslim marriage service.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009 18:40
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#24
Ebbang...Dude...not that long ago the maldivies was populated by hindus and buddhists...comapred to muzz a very tolerant people. F*ck it. Tell your boyz the maldivies is off the rotation. Please.
Barbara...I get your point. I really do. Fred is maybe making jack off the muzz and we ain't buying. I just shake my head...
(BTW Barbara...thought of you Saturday night. Don't know you, but thought of you. I had "kettle pop corn" doused with sugar. Delicious. Thought to myself: the pop corn lady at RB would appreciate this...)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 20:01
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#26
Actually, Mark Z, sweet Moli sums it up in her email to you in this sentence,*ahem* and I quote:
They respect all people with thief culture and life style.
Thief culture and lifestyle. Doesn't get more real than that, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2009 21:19
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#27
Ima thinkin the Islamic Republic of Pakistan will be collected in a cave-housed tribal society with inbreeding, little education, females prohibited from venturing beyond their brood-lair-hives, and a profound reverence for those with the forehead-knot. Kinda like today....without deoderant or pomade for old ISI-leftovers
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2009 21:53
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CHENNAI: A day after the Sri Lankan army took over Kilinochchi, pushing the LTTE fighters to the northern jungles of Mullaittivu, India sent a select team of the Research & Analysis Wing (RAW) on a secret aerial surveillance mission across the Palk Straits.
Sources told TOI that the aircraft belonging to the Air Research Centre (ARC), a top secret wing of RAW, took off from Chennai airport around 3am on Saturday. Sources refused to confirm if the ARC exercise was on the request of the Sri Lankan government.
"The ARC aircraft, which took off from Chennai with high-tech espionage equipment, flew quite close to the Sri Lankan coast and got back to another airport without returning to Chennai," a source said. ARC, which has a fleet of Boeings and Embraers fitted with some of the best cameras for high-altitude photography, can fly well above 40,000 feet.
The vision of the cameras, made on the lines of satellite cameras, can penetrate clouds and get photographs of spatial resolution of less than one metre, which means a small vehicle or even a person on the ground could be photographed from those heights. For civilian flights, there are internationally accepted preset codes. The ARC aircraft uses codes and call signs other than these and keeps changing them before every exercise.
The exercises are so secretive that ARC uses its own pilots and not even those from the Indian Air Force. While it uses civilian and IAF airports across the country, there is no fixed air base for ARC, which remains more of a dynamic arrangement than an organisation. "There was little notice for Saturday's mission. The flight came from some other airfield and took off in the early hours," an airport source said.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/06/2009
15:56 ||
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#1
I suppose the could call it Air India, but that's already taken.
#2
As per WORLD MIL FORUM > Article claims that Sri Lanka's Army, upon its move into the LTTE HQ area, allegedly discovered not only large caches of CHIN-SUPPLIED ARMS, BUT ALSO EVIDENCIAS OF CHIN ADVISORS [PLA?] HELPING THE LTTE???
#3
ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDIA'S MASSIVE MILITARY BUILDUP: NEW DELHI THINKS CHINA HAS A MILITARY BASE IN CHITTAGONG [e.g. Bangla BNS Osman Miss/RocFac is a covert Chinese-controlled MISSLE LAUNCHING FACILITY]; + DOES BANGLADESH HAVE AN ARMY/AIR FORCE BASE IN SOUTHERN CHINA?
That's right! I'm back! ME! Mike Newdow!
A Sacramento atheist who has fought to remove the words "under God" from the pledge of allegiance wants to remove all religious references from the President-elect Barack Obama's inauguration. That's right, Barack! Pay attention to ME! ME! Mike Newdow!
Michael Newdow believes government references to God or religion are unconstitutional. That's right! Every four years, a president gets inaugurated and I crawl out from under my rock! ME! Mike Newdow!
This time, he's joined 17 other plaintiffs, including atheist and humanist organizations. And, believe it or not, there's 17 other people who are as big an asshole as I am! But I'm the important one! ME! Mike Newdow!!
He wants to remove the phrase "so help me God" from the oath of office. Because ME, Mike Newdow, doesn't like it and wants it changed!
Newdow, a Sacramento doctor and lawyer, sued his daughter's school district in 2000 for forcing public school children to recite the pledge, saying it was unconstitutional. And I lost! Like I always do! But ME, Mike Newdow, was famous! And I'm gonna be famous again! Look at ME! I'm famous!
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled in Newdow's favor in 2002, but two years later, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that he lacked standing to sue because he didn't have custody of the daughter on whose behalf he brought the case. He immediately filed a second lawsuit on behalf of three unidentified parents and their children in another district. The 9th Curcuit listened to me! Every quack and loon is welcome there! Especially ME, Mike Newdow!
In 2005, Newdow sued Congress and several federal officials, arguing the national motto of "In God We Trust" on coins and currency violated his First Amendment rights. That's right! ME, MIKE NEWDOW'S First Amendment rights!
Congress first authorized a reference to God on a two-cent piece in 1864. In 1955, the year after lawmakers added the words "under God" to the Pledge of Allegiance, Congress passed a law requiring all U.S. currency to carry the motto "In God We Trust." See ya again in four years after I lose again! ME! Mike Newdow!
#1
Echo: I love you, Narcissus...I love you, Narcissus...I love you, Narcissus...I love you, Narcissus...I love you, Narcissus...
Narcissus: Sod off, Swampy. Me and my reflection got this thing going. Three's a crowd.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2009 19:47
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#2
requiring all U.S. currency to carry the motto "In God We Trust."
A little hint not to trust money
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/06/2009 19:51
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#3
Newdow doesn't seem troubled enough to operate only on foreign currency, I'm sure. Can you say "2-bit attention whore"? I knew you could. His action on behalf of his "daughter" were tripped up by several factors, not least that he didn't have custody of the daughter. Can you say "obsessive"? He uses and manipulates for his own sick and pathetic 15 minutes (long past) of fame.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2009 20:33
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Palestinian officials had initially said that 40 people were killed in the attack, but UN sources put the number at 30 killed and 55 wounded this will be front page stuff in the Islamic and terrorism apologist world tomorrow
An IDF spokesman said that troops had fired mortar rounds at the school, after militants barricaded inside shot mortar shells at the Israeli forces.
"Initial checks ... show that from inside the school mortars were fired at Israeli forces," a spokesman said. "In response, the forces fired a number of mortar rounds into the area."
The army said that the bodies of numerous Hamas militants were found inside the school following the attack. we'll see how many report this
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 15:19
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#3
Considering the whole building was thoroughly booby trapped, I feel grateful the IDF didn't have to go in and take it. Hamas did the clearing job for them.
#4
Agreed with Barbara - when they line up behind children Space Invaders deep, they are knowingly putting them in danger and actually counting on it. Premeditated enough for me.
Bet that for every armed dude behind civvie shields there are 2 dudes, seperate, taping them from a distance.
#5
Two off-topic questions:
1) I see photos of IDF soldiers with some kind of big floppy helmet cover. What is that?
2) I also see photos of IDF infantrymen carrying some kind of really short assault carbine. What is it?
#8
My best guess is that the short assault rifle you see is most likely the T.A.R. 21.
The shower cap or mitznefet covering the helmet flops about taking on an irregular form that is harder to recognize in a shadow or out of the corner of your eye.
7. The presence or movements of the civilian population or individual civilians shall not be used to render certain points or areas immune from military operations, in particular in attempts to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield, favour or impede military operations. The Parties to the conflict shall not direct the movement of the civilian population or individual civilians in order to attempt to shield military objectives from attacks or to shield military operations.
Deliberately endangering civilians by hiding amongst them is a war crime, Bright Pebbles. The use of a civilian building by combatants renders it a combatant position, instantly removing its Geneva Rights protections. I'm sure there are plenty Rantburgers who can quote the appropriate chapter and verse.
The Israeli army said its soldiers came under fire from militants hiding in the school and responded. It accused Gaza's Hamas rulers of "cynically" using civilians as human shields. Residents confirmed the account, saying militants were seen staging attacks from the area.
In a statement, the Israeli army said an initial investigation found that "mortar shells were fired from within the school at IDF soldiers. The force responded with mortars at the source of fire. The Hamas cynically uses civilians as human shields."
The army said two Hamas militants Imad Abu Askar and Hasan Abu Askar were among the dead.
Two neighborhood residents confirmed the Israeli account, saying a group of militants fired mortars from a street near the school, then fled into a crowd of people in the streets. Israel then opened fire.
The residents, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they feared for their safety, said the Abu Askar brothers were known low-level Hamas militants.
As the IDF operation in the Gaza Strip entered its 10th day, Hamas has begun sending conflicting messages regarding its intentions. These contradictory messages, Palestinian political analysts said, reflected the state of confusion in Hamas and raised questions as to who was calling the shots in the Gaza Strip. While some Hamas leaders have been openly signaling their readiness to accept a new cease-fire, others are still calling for pursuing the fight against Israel "until victory."
What is clear is that Hamas is now desperate for a lull in the fighting. But it is also eager to score some kind of a "military victory" before a cease-fire is reached. Hamas can't accept a new cease-fire without having proved to the Arab and Muslim masses that it was capable of making Israel pay a heavy price for its military offensive. Hamas is fighting for its survival and its leaders know that their collapse would constitute a severe blow not only to the movement, but also to its patrons in Teheran and Damascus.
"It's hard to tell who's in charge in the Gaza Strip these days," said a Ramallah-based analyst. "Hamas's political leaders have disappeared after throwing away their mobile phones. No one knows exactly what Hamas wants."
The analyst said that according to his sources, the embattled Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip were no longer in direct contact with their colleagues in Syria. "The political leaderships of Hamas in the Gaza Strip and Damascus have been disconnected from each other," he added. "I doubt if there's any coordination between them." He pointed out that the decision to dispatch two senior Hamas envoys to Cairo for talks about a cease-fire came as a surprise to the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip. The two envoys are based in Damascus and report directly to Khaled Mashaal, he said.
Another Ramallah-based political analyst said that the political leadership of Hamas has given the movement's armed wing, Izaddin al-Kassam, full freedom to take any measures it deems necessary to prevent the collapse of the Hamas regime. "The gunmen on the streets are now in charge," he noted. "This is a dangerous situation, because they don't report to anyone at the top. This has created a state of anarchy and confusion."
Palestinian journalists in the Gaza Strip said on Monday that the general feeling was that Hamas does not exist any longer as a governing body. "All their government institutions have been destroyed," said a Gaza City reporter. "The Hamas leaders are now behaving like al-Qaida's Osama bin Laden and [his deputy] Ayman Zawahiri. Their only public appearances are through recorded messages aired on Arab TV stations."
On Monday, senior Hamas official Mahmoud Zahar made his first public appearance in a previously recorded message broadcast on a Hamas TV station. Zahar's appearance was reminiscent of similar appearances made by al-Qaida terror leaders. Until two weeks ago, Zahar, Prime Minister Ismail Haniyeh and Interior Minister Said Siam - the three top Hamas leaders - were still sleeping in their homes and moving around freely and fearlessly. Until then, they were also frequent guests on various talk shows in the Arab media - especially Al-Jazeera, which is being accused by some Palestinians as serving as a mouthpiece for Hamas.
Sources close to Hamas said that in light of the new reality, where the Hamas leaders in the Gaza Strip have virtually vanished, the armed wing was receiving its instructions from the movement's leadership in Syria. The sources said that Mashaal, the Damascus-based leader of Hamas, was in direct contact with commanders of Izzadin Kassam in different parts of the Gaza Strip. "There's a vacuum in the Hamas leadership in the Gaza Strip," they said. "The Hamas leaders in Damascus are now in charge. There's no one to talk to in the Gaza Strip."
A muscle-bound building boss who came home from a New Year's Eve fancy dress party kitted out as Thor scared off a burglar by charging at him in his superhero outfit.
Six-foot-tall fitness fanatic Torvald Alexander, 38, was wearing a full God of Thunder outfit - complete with flying red cape and tinfoil silver-winged helmet - when he spotted the raider in his front room rifling through a desk.
Mr Alexander, who runs building firm Alexander & Summers in Edinburgh, Scotland, said the burglar threw himself out of a first-floor window of his £350,000 home in the Inverleith area of the city when he opened the door and confronted him. The man landed on a roof outside the window, which broke his fall, enabling him to escape.
Mr Alexander said: 'As soon as he saw me, his eyes went wide with terror. He looked like he had had a few drinks and decided to do a late night break-in, but he hadn't counted on the God of Thunder living here.
'We were both startled but then the instant reaction was that I ran at him and he just jumped straight out of the window. I think I would be quite scared if someone looking almost like a gladiator ran at them. He might have thought the property was empty.'
He added: 'I had just got back from a fancy dress New Year's party and because I have a Norwegian name I decided to go as Thor. It took ages making the cape, helmet and breast plate, and I must admit it was a bit chilly walking home, but when I saw that guy I just went mad and charged at him, my cape flying behind me.
'I think if I had had Thor's hammer with me I might have scared him to death.'
Norse legend Thor has a magical hammer, called Mjolnir, which after knocking out a foe magically returns to the superhero. It can also throw lightning bolts at enemies.
Mr Alexander said that the burglar had not managed to steal anything, but had left his shoes and the garden fork he used to break in with at the scene. He said: 'He had obviously taken off his shoes to creep about in silence, but when he saw me he just jumped out of the window in his socks. It will make him think again before breaking into other people's homes. Hopefully it's taught him a lesson.'
Mr Alexander said he was going to contact the police and hand over the burglar's shoes in the hope he can be traced.
An £80million blockbuster based on the Norse superhero is due to be released in 2010 after Kenneth Branagh agreed to direct it. James Bond star Daniel Craig was rumoured to be taking the lead role, but no actors have so far been confirmed.
#11
Oh, for pete's sake! I dressed my younger brothers and sister in better-looking costumes that that! Good god, turn a hapless body-builder loose with a roll of tinfoil, and lord knows what you might come up with.
And, among the cosmopolitan Rantburgundians, need I remind anyone that in the British Isles and Europe, 'first floor' is what Americans could call the 'second floor'. (the initial floor- to us, the first floor - is what them over there call the 'ground floor'. Clear as mud? Good - I live to serve.)
Wow. A fluffy bunny actually killed...
In last Friday episode of Pioneers of Tomorrow, the bunny Assoud was seen dying in a Gaza hospital after being injured in an Israeli attack. They killed Assoud! Those bastards!!
#4
A bbq/rosemary braise baked in woodfire brick oven...yummm. Course it all depends on what the rabbit ate during its life as to adjust the marinade. Assud would taste like sh*t.
At least 30 people were reportedly killed and 53 wounded in an explosion in a UN-run school in the town of Jabalya in the northern Gaza Strip, according to Palestinians. The IDF issued a statement saying the school grounds were used by terrorists to fire mortar shells at the troops. According to the IDF, among the dead were members of a Hamas launching cell, including operatives Immad Abu Askar and Hassan Abu Askar.
The infantrymen returned mortar shell fire into the school grounds, the army said. Defense officials told The Associated Press that booby-trapped bombs in the school triggered the secondary explosions which killed scores of Palestinians on the site.
From the BBC's perspective:
Citgo, Venezuela's Texas-based oil subsidiary, has suspended its scheme to provide cheap heating oil to thousands of low-income families in the US. The programme is being halted because of falling world oil prices, the group that administers the scheme said.
The Venezuelan government says that since 2005, some 220,000 poor families in the US have benefited.
When the scheme was launched, critics said it was a publicity stunt by the Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez. Citgo, the US refining arm of the Venezuelan state energy company PDVSA, distributed fuel to communities in 23 states, including Massachusetts, Ohio and Pennsylvania, at a 40% discount. The scheme amounted to some $100m (£68m) of heating oil last year.
Joseph Kennedy of Citizens Energy, the charitable organisation that administers the scheme, said it had become a casualty of the fall in the global oil price. "The current economic meltdown," he said, "has forced Citgo to re-evaluate all the assistance programnes that they provide."
Yup, they put a Kennedy in charge ...
"All of us at Citizens Energy continue to do everything we can to advocate a continuation of this vital assistance," he said in a statement. Except pay for it YOURSELF out of your unearned wealth....
It is probably the Venezuelan government's highest profile cutback to date as a result of the low oil price and it will provide Mr Chavez's critics with ammunition for their argument that such schemes were a misuse of the country's oil resources, says the BBC's Will Grant in Caracas. Do you use knee pads, Mr. Grant, or is the pain part of the joy of servicing commies?
From the Wall Street Journal's perspective:
Citgo Petroleum Corp., a U.S. refiner owned by the Venezuelan government, will stop giving free home heating oil to poor U.S. households, as plummeting energy prices cut into Venezuela's revenue. Former U.S. Rep. Joseph P. Kennedy II said Venezuela would stop deliveries to his Boston-based nonprofit Citizens' Energy, which received $100 million of fuel last winter for low-income households across the Northeast. Citgo and the Venezuelan government declined to comment. The Venezuelan gummint declined to comment? What, they couldn't find a way to blame Bush?
The donations were part of a larger effort by Venezuela to use oil revenue to gain support at home and abroad. Let's see how many "friends" you have when you can't buy them, Oogo
In 2007, Venezuela donated $7.8 billion to Cuba, which some analysts say is approximately equivalent to what Cuba received from the United Soviet Socialist Republics during the Cold War.
The oil-fueled spending could slow. The Venezuelan government calculated its annual budget of $78 billion for 2009 using an oil-price forecast of $60 per barrel, almost twice the current $32.14 per barrel for Venezuelan crude. Oops
Venezuela central bank said it held $42 billion in reserves at the end of 2008 -- up 25 percent from 2007 and the highest level on record -- because of high oil prices through most of the year. And Oogo will spend it in a month. Welcome to real life, idiots.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009
13:12 ||
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#1
didn't see that one coming at all... noo...
heh
#2
"Sorry you were trusting my humanitarian message about how much more noble my way is and that I would show you my compassion, but I gotta go buy me some MIGs and some more toothpaste. Toodles, thanks for playing with me."
Lions Of Islam (TM), they is, they is!
Excerpt: The sources also said that senior Hamas officials have been spotted more than once wandering around the maternity ward of Gaza City's Shifa Hospital and even using the hospital to hold press conferences, on the theory that it offers a safe haven from Israeli fire. For the same reason, Hamas forces have taken refuge near buildings that serve as headquarters for various international organizations, such as the Red Cross and the United Nations.
#3
I would imagine that Israel has a plan for this. Using civilians for human shields and cannon fodder is part of the propaganda playbook for terrorists.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2009 14:05
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#5
the "plan" for this is actually quite simple:
Kill the bad guys where ya find 'em!
Especially in Israel's case, since:
(a) the worldwide media is going to criticize them no matter what they do
(b) if the Israelis DON'T actually kill civilians then the bad guys will just stage "massacres" anyway!
The Palestinians themselves will (eventually) prevent Hamas from using their children as shields if enough children die! Sad and sorry math but very true.
#6
Lets hope that Israel learned from the 2006 war with the Hezbos and have a plan for handling this.
One thing they need to do is get the media to actually admit - on the air - that Hamas is activly doing these things. Hiding behind women an children. Using Mosques, hospitals, and the like as cover.
And therein lies the problem - its going to get hard to trun the MSM against their allies.
#7
My guess is the plan is shoot carefully, but still shoot. For all the IDF knows the "Civilians" are actually volunteers with a illness or suicidal, who want to help out by sacrificing themselves for Allah since they can't shoot very well.
Posted by: Charles ||
01/06/2009 15:02
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#8
The IDF has some really good snipers, including several women as instructors, plus they have been watching the American success with the Designated Marksman rifles and scopes in Iraq. Expect to see a lot of Hamas dead with head shots from 5.56mm shots at about 300 meters.
#9
Charles Gibson opened up his news tonight with "reports of deaths as Israeli soldiers attack shelters" Along with (undoubtedly HamAss Supplied) pictures of dead civilians...
After hearing that I changed the channel - my blood pressure can't take his lying ass.
BTW - has he ever, ever, reported on the situation in Sderot? Or even mentioned it?
He's a heartbeat away from the presidency, but that apparently didn't help Joe Biden get a movie ticket Saturday night.
Employees at the Regal Brandywine Cinemas say the vice president-elect and his wife, Jill, tried to attend the 7:45 showing of "The Curious Case of Benjamin Button" at the theater on Concord Pike but left after they were told the movie was sold out.
There's been no confirmation from the Biden camp, but the theater employees say they are sure it was him.
Inshirah Muhamut, an associate manager, said she closed her box-office line when she saw what appeared to be a Secret Service agent coming her way. The man asked her about tickets for the movie, which stars Brad Pitt, then left.
A few minutes later, she said, the Bidens came into the lobby. Jill Biden walked up to speak with Muhamut while Joe stood nearby.
"She was asking me about other shows, but they really wanted to see 'Benjamin Button,' " Muhamut said. "He was maybe five feet away, looking at her. He was standing with his other Secret Service men."
Remarkably, none of the other moviegoers appeared to notice. Employees said nobody mobbed Biden or called his name or asked for an autograph. "It didn't seem many people recognized him," said employee Becky Gingrich, 21. "Honestly, I think people were just too wrapped up in themselves to notice."
The brush with Biden did give the employees a thrill, though. "I was a little excited -- I'm not gonna lie," said Muhamut, a 21-year-old senior at West Chester University. "The Secret Service guy told me to calm down."
Muhamut plans to go to the Jan. 20 inauguration, so seeing the Bidens up close was a kick. "I recognized him as soon as he came up," she said. "He had a black jacket and jeans on. He looked real casual. His wife had on a very stylish jacket."
Gingrich and Muhamut said the Bidens didn't ask for special treatment. They simply mulled over their movie options and left.
"We're just so crazy in here tonight [with patrons] that we would have had to go into the theater and move people around," Gingrich said.
Becky, bunch of big dudes in suits come in looking serious people do notice. They just didn't give a sh*t 'bout em. Its not like he wasn't recognized with his face all over the place for 5 months.
They simply mulled over their movie options and left.
Hate to tell ya smokin Joe, hasn't been anything worth that much money out in quite a while.
Turkey was holding a suspicious shipment bound for Venezuela from Iran because it contained lab equipment capable of producing explosives, a customs official said Tuesday.
Suleyman Tosun, a customs official at the Mediterranean port of Mersin, said military experts were asked to examine the material, which was seized last month, and decide whether to let the shipment to go to Venezuela.
Authorities detected the equipment during a search of 22 containers labeled "tractor parts," Tosun said. They were brought to Mersin by trucks from neighboring Iran, he said. Turkey's Interior Ministry said an investigation was under way.
"Experts from Turkey's Atomic Institute determined there were no traces of radioactive material, but said the equipment was enough to set up an explosives lab," Tosun said. "We have asked the military to send experts to determine whether to resume the shipment."
Some barrels, labeled with "danger" signs, contained chemicals. Tosun said details were still unclear.
An Iranian embassy official said the shipment contained "nothing important."
Iran and Venezuela operate various joint ventures in Venezuela, including plants to assemble tractors and cars. The two countries also have agreed to team up on petrochemical projects.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2009
12:53 ||
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WASHINGTON Roland Burris failed in his bid to take President-elect Barack Obama's Illinois Senate seat on Tuesday in a scripted piece of political theater staged just before the opening of the 111th Congress.
"My credentials were not in order, I will not be accepted, I will not be seated," Burris, 71, told a mob of reporters who had followed him across the street for a news conference in a cold and steady rain outside the Capitol.
The former Illinois attorney general said he was "not seeking to have any type of confrontation" over taking the seat that he was appointed to by embattled Gov. Rod Blagojevich. But Burris, who would be the Senate's only black member, also said he was considering a federal lawsuit to force Senate Democrats to seat him.
It was a major distraction for majority Democrats eager to project an image of progress with Obama on an economic stimulus package that could cost up to $1 trillion.
Democrats and Obama have said that the corruption charges against Blagojevich would strip credibility from anyone he appoints to the seat. Burris and many of his supporters have suggested that the real reason for the rejection involved race.
Blagojevich denies federal accusations that he tried to sell Obama's seat. Democrats, for their part, deny that race has anything to do with Burris' rejection and say that it's a reflection on Blagojevich.
That Secretary of the Senate Nancy Erickson turned away Burris was no surprise; Senate Democrats had warned for weeks that if Burris showed up to be sworn in on Tuesday without the signature of the Illinois secretary of state, he would be turned away. That's just what happened.
But if what Burris really wanted a circus, he got one.
A mob of reporters awaited him outside the Senate's North Door, where Sergeant at Arms Terrance Gainer and a throng of officers escorted him through security and up to Erickson's office on the third floor.
There, more reporters waited. Once again Burris went through a metal detector and into Erickson's office, nestled between the elevators and the press gallery.
Twenty-one minutes later, Burris left; a spokesman for Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid confirmed that Burris had been rejected.
Burris left the building, escorted by Gainer and his officers.
And soon, a noisy throng of reporters followed him across the street, and Burris confirmed that he'd been turned away.
An attorney for Burris, Timothy W. Wright III, said that "our credentials were rejected by the secretary of the Senate. We were not allowed to be placed in the record books. We were not allowed to proceed to the floor for purposes of taking oath. All of which we think was improperly done and is against the law of this land. We will consider our options and we will certainly let you know what our decisions will be soon thereafter."
Asked what his options were, Wright said there possibly could be a court challenge and he said that Burris also would continue to talk to the Senate leadership.
There had been earlier indications that the Senate would disallow Burris to take his seat, at least in part because his letter of appointment from Blagojevich was not co-signed by Illinois Secretary of State Jesse White.
Some of Burris' supporters have bemoaned the fact that Democrats would stand in the way of the Senate gaining its only black member. Burris himself downplayed the issue of race, telling reporters: "I cannot control my supporters. I have never in my life, in all my years of being elected to office, thought anything about race."
Earlier Tuesday, Burris had tense negotiations with Terrence Gainer, the Senate's sergeant at arms.
"I'm presenting myself as the legally appointed senator from the state of Illinois. It is my hope and prayer that they recognize that the appointment is legal," he said earlier in a nationally broadcast interview.
Burris dismissed the Senate Democratic leadership's position that he cannot be seated because he was appointed by a governor accused in a criminal complaint of trying to benefit financially from his authority to fill the seat that Obama vacated after winning the presidential election.
Burriss said his belief is that his appointment is constitutional and that "I have no knowledge of where a secretary of state has veto power over a governor carrying out his constitutional duties."
Burris also maintained that the announcement by Blagojevich Monday of a date for an election for a successor to Rep. Rahm Emanuel, D-Ill., proves the governor still has legal authority to carry out his duties. Emanuel will be Obama's White House chief of staff.
"There's nothing wrong with Roland Burris and there's nothing wrong with the appointment," Burris said.
Burris has found little support among fellow Democrats.
Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, D-Nev., had said Monday that Burris would not be permitted to take his seat because Burris "has not been certified by the state of Illinois," a reference to incomplete paperwork that only touches on the dispute. Senate Democrats maintain that Burris' appointment is tainted because of the charges against Blagojevich.
While Blagojevich has signed formal appointment papers, White has not, and Senate rules require that signature. Burris, in turn, has gone to court hoping to win an order for White to sign the necessary paperwork, and he has also threatened to sue to take his seat in the Senate.
#1
This is not my comment. I found it somewhere else. "On one hand, we have Dems threatening not to seat an African American duly appointed to serve in the US Senate by a sitting governor; an African American who has worked his way up from local office through statewide office before this appointment.
On the other hand, we have Dems cheering the naming of a wealthy white woman who has never held public office, interviews badly, but has an important surname and the right pedigree."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/06/2009 15:11
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#2
...and a "comedian" who may, or may not, have won the election.
Bush is out, gringo. We don't need you anymore to make him look bad...
Joe Kennedy announced yesterday hes laying off 20 employees and temporarily halting most of his winter fuel-assistance programs due to Citgo yanking $100 million in support for the nonprofit Citizens Energy. Joe will, of course, keep his job and his $400,000 salary. Nice work if you can get it.
Citgo, owned by the Venezuelan government led by leftist loudmouth president Hugo Chavez, recently informed Kennedy that it was temporarily suspending its oil donations for the low-income program. "Our friends in Venezuela" will now be known as "that fat rat bastard commie dictator".
Kennedy, who was clearly distraught by the unexpected decision, said Citgos move is apparently tied to the recent dramatic fall in crude-oil prices. Hey, gringo. I got commie revolutions to fund. Things are tough all over.
Hundreds of thousands of needy Americans in 23 states and on Indian reservations will have to go elsewhere to get heating fuel, because Citizens no longer has the resources, Kennedy said. Im very hopeful we can turn this around, said Kennedy, who vowed to try to meet with Chavez in Venezuela to pitch keeping the project. C'mon, el jefe. I may have to go out and get a real job...
He urged people to directly write to Chavez to appeal to him to restart the 2009 program, which was supposed to officially begin yesterday. Dear El Jefe,
It's a tough economy so please send us more free oil so senor Jose Kennedy doesn't have to go out and find a real job or, God forbid, run for office.
Muchos gracias,
Citgo, which declined comment yesterday, has been providing oil to Citizens since 2005. The Citgo donations have been controversial because of the perception that Chavez, a notorious anti-American, was using the program for propaganda purposes. Kennedy has countered that the U.S. gets much of its oil from far more controversial nations, such as Saudi Arabia. Fuck off, peons. I'm a Kennedy, dammit!
At a press conference yesterday at Citizens South Boston headquarters, employees who will lose their jobs stood in back of the stunned Kennedy as he announced Citgos move. I'll bet he wasn't nearly as stunned as they were...
Citizens will still run other energy-related programs, and Massachusetts homeless shelters and some needy individuals will get fuel delivered to their homes. Geez, no more "JOE FOR OIL" commercials? Joe standing on the bow of a tanker cruising into Boston Harbor like he drove it up himself? No more Joe in coveralls lugging the hose up to granny's three decker while granny waves out the window like this is what he does everyday? I'll miss them...
But Kennedy said Citgos support amounted to about 90 percent of the funding for Citizens fuel-assistance programs nationwide. So, Joe, I guess you'll be looking at a 90% pay cut then, right? Of course you will...
This may be two weeks old, but, we should be afraid, very afraid. It's an astonishing story. This seemingly trustworthy guy named Bernard Madoff was supposedly investing something on the order of $50 billion for some of America's richest people, pretended it was earning gobs of interest, actually used the principal of some to pay others wanting redemptions -- and lost practically everything.
Here's a more astonishing story. Our seemingly benevolent federal government has taken from the public enormous sums of money for Social Security and Medicare, made it seem it was putting much of it in a trust fund, actually ran up stratospheric sums in unfunded liabilities and is now faced with major perplexities.
There's a close but imperfect analogy here, because both Madoff and the government have engaged in something approximating a Ponzi or pyramid scheme in which the money of new investors pays off old investors until finally there's nothing left, and everyone goes home broke.
The pretense used to be that when you coughed up your payroll tax, you were actually putting money into a personal Social Security account for your own future benefit. What's actually happened, of course, is that the taxpayer dollars go to pay the immediate benefits of today's recipients, whose numbers are about to vastly increase, while the surplus magically disappears into the supposed trust fund.
If you conceive of a trust fund as actual assets held someplace, there is no such thing, just a government obligation to repay the money someday. The surplus theoretically holds down deficits and debts so that its retrieval through borrowing won't be devastating, but, in fact, our spendthrift government has been racking up record deficits even after using up the surplus dollars, and what's facing us is a fiscal doomsday.
According to Heritage Foundation analysts, the unfunded liabilities for both Social Security and Medicare add up to more than $46 trillion, some 50 times this year's approved bailout funds, and the equivalent of having to come up with money comparable to the bailout billions "every single year in perpetuity." That figure of $46 trillion, Heritage calculates, is more than all the taxes collected since the nation's founding. The prospect is devastating tax increases or scrapping everything else the government does or facing economy-wrecking deficits or some combination of the three.
The Madoff-and-entitlements analogy does break down on several points. For one, it's not the intended entitlement recipients who may suffer so much as the taxpayers both rich and not-so-rich having to make up for the lost money. For another, it was possible to ferret out what was happening as our entitlements programs got us into a jam. While Heritage and other think tanks would like the government to be more "transparent" about the entitlements issue, the facts exist for those willing to dig. Madoff's clients apparently had no way to get at the truth.
And while there may be no way for those who invested with Madoff to get more than a smidgen of their money back if any at all, there are solutions to the Social Security and Medicare shortfalls. For instance, you can change the index establishing future Social Security payments so that they do not increase beyond the cost of living, helping to make a major difference in payouts. Fixing Medicare is more complicated, but doable if the government acts soon. Right now, most baby boomers are contributors to the systems, but will soon start becoming recipients in huge numbers, a change that will make repairs exceedingly tough.
Two things you don't want to do -- start new entitlements until we've fixed the old ones, or try to solve the entitlement problems just with more tax money. That would be about the same as Madoff trying to get out of his hole by seeking more investors.
#2
The idea was tossed around a few weeks ago that the govt. might try to lay their hands on private retirement accounts some day. That discussion died down quite quickly, but eventually they'll start frantically looking for money to lay their hands on for the 'greater good'.
That would really suck to have your 401k nationalized, then get bumped from any benefits because your estate is worth more than they feel is your fair share, which is another item of scuttlebutt in the financial world.
Essentially, if your estate was worth more than the threshold amount, say $1Million, you'd be ineligible to collect benefits. I believe they will, in their death throes, enact something like this, congressional retirement accounts excluded of course.
#3
They'll start means testing Social Security and Medicare/Medicaid soon enough, with the result that people like me will get nothing back. After that they'll add a surplus-income tax. But I don't believe they'll actually touch IRAs and 401-Ks -- any legislator involved in that would not return in the next election.
#4
TW
Remember that upwards to 50% pay no taxes. These people are probably not concerned about 401Ks 201Ks or my 101K. When you add the left wing loons that know how to except their 401Ks, we lose.
If you think people laugh at your skiing skills then think again. A man was a put into a precarious and undoubtedly embarrassing position while skiing with his child at Vail mountain last Friday.
According to reports, the chairlift's fold-down seat was not in the correct lowered-down position - causing the man to partially fall through the resulting gap as he attempted to board the lift. He was prevented from plummeting to the ground below by his right ski, which became jammed in the ascending lift.
#1
He was very fortunate twice. First, that he didn't go straight down on rocks with his noggin. Second, that they didn't charge him with indecent exposure for mooning half Colorado.
#7
I have nightmares about this sort of thing.
In one, I was attending a reception for the governor and arrived in my suit and tie, only to find that I had forgotten my trousers.
Scientists mapped the Milky Way in a more detailed, three-dimensional way and found that it's 15 percent larger in breadth. More important, it's denser, with 50 percent more mass, which is like weight.
The new findings were presented Monday at the American Astronomical Society's convention in Long Beach, Calif.
That's not necessarily good news. A bigger Milky Way means that it could be crashing violently into the neighboring Andromeda galaxy sooner than predicted -- [I blame Bush...er.. Global Warming...neoconservatives...oh, yeah the Jews]
-- though still billions of years from now.
Geez talk about a reach! How could this be BAD news or good news? The simple fact is that this has absolutely no bearing on anyone other than the most abstruse of sciences. But the media has to qualify everything as BAD NEWS or else they feel no one will pay any attention.
#15
But now that I think about it, this is good news. After all, the heavier vehicle almost always does better in a crash, so.....Andromeda better start bulking up.
Canada's Jew-hating professors are back at it again, wanting to boycott Israeli academics, because Israel supposedly shelled Jihad U in Gaza. It's really embarrassing as a Canadian to see this kind of thing, but I can assure you not all Canadians agree with this, especially our Prime Minister.
Ontario's largest university workers union is proposing a ban on Israeli academics teaching in the province's universities, in a move that echoes previous attempts to boycott goods and services from the Jewish state.
The resolution, proposed by CUPE's Ontario University Workers Coordinating Committee, is in protest of a Dec. 29 bombing that damaged the Islamic University in Gaza.
"In response to an appeal from the Palestinian Federation of Unions of University Professors and Employees, we are ready to say Israeli academics should not be on our campuses unless they explicitly condemn the university bombing and the assault on Gaza in general," said Sid Ryan, president of CUPE Ontario.
The resolution is still being drafted but the union said it will seek to prohibit Israeli academics from speaking, teaching or researching at Ontario universities. The CUPE committee will distribute the resolution to its members at the end of the month.
It will be put to a vote at the committee's annual conference in February. Janice Folk-Dawson, chairwoman of the university workers committee, said: "Clearly international pressure on Israel must increase to stop the massacre that is going on daily. We are proud to add CUPE voices to others from around the world saying enough is enough."
Ms. Folk-Dawson said the committee felt it was crucial to do something.
"This is coming from the rank-and-file members, not just the leadership," she said.
Len Rudner, regional director of the Canadian Jewish Congress (CJC) in Ontario, called the resolution "unbalanced, unfair and unhelpful."
"Once again Sid Ryan is jumping before thinking," Mr. Rudner said. "I think it's ironic individuals who speak about freedom of speech jump to the opportunity to take that freedom away from other individuals."
While Ms. Folk-Dawson said the resolution will protect the quality of education by preventing Israeli academics from professing biased views, an Israeli professor at the University of Toronto opposed such a disruption to academia.
"I oppose any kind of ban to academic activity, whatever its colour or matter," said Emanuel Adler, chairman of Israeli Studies at the university.
"Students should receive the message that the situation is very tragic for both Israelis and Palestinians, but the conflict and the violence should not be brought inside the university."
He added that "if there is a place that some solution should come out of other than government it should be a place where creativity can lead to a peaceful resolution of conflict."
That sentiment was echoed by Daniel Silverman, program associate of Hillel at U of T, a Jewish student organization: "The university is a place for discussing all sorts of issues but it must be productive. [This resolution] doesn't serve any purpose; it doesn't promote dialogue; it creates divisions."
However, Mr. Ryan said the resolution was a reasonable response to Israel's attack on the Islamic University, which he likened to the torching of books by Nazis during the Second World War.
Israel has said the Islamic University is a legitimate target because it is closely tied to Hamas.
Mr. Ryan described the proposed resolution as the "logical next step" of a policy adopted by CUPE Ontario at a May, 2006, conference.
Resolution 50 supports "boycotts, divestment and sanctions aimed at bringing about the Israeli withdrawal from occupied territories and a just peace in the region."
The passing of resolution 50 saw the union face significant public scrutiny and Ms. Folk-Dawson said this time they are prepared for a backlash, adding, "We believe we are doing the right thing."
Approximately 100 committee members will vote on the resolution at the conference on Feb. 19 in Windsor.
If the resolution receives majority support, it will be on the agenda at CUPE Ontario's conference in May, when more than 1,000 would be expected to vote. Should it pass that point, the union would then ask the province's schools to respect the prohibition.
The proposal comes after an international academic dispute broke out in 2007 following the British University and College Union's decision to sever professional ties with eight Israeli universities.
Sheldon Levy, president of Ryerson University in Toronto, was among administrators around the world who condemned that decision. He could not be reached for comment yesterday.
#1
Nothing like racism and antisemitism to spice up the University, I guess.
I think it's ironic individuals who speak about freedom of speech jump to the opportunity to take that freedom away from other individuals.
It isn't about free speech. It is about imposing soul crushing government socialism and having a scapegoat. Welcome to modern Kristallnacht. Slow, methodical and just as deadly.
#3
Not Jew hating professors. Jew hating activists who have nothing better to do than show up at union meetings and elect their own. CUPE is evil. If there was a simple way to opt out of membership I doubt they would have 20% of their current numbers.
#2
Sometimes I wonder if they are just big jokers and we mostly don't get the joke.
I mean to pick a fight with the superpower that will crush you and claim victory just because you lived despite the collapse of everything. To lie bold-faced and without shame about mother of all battles nonsense. And the Jihad bunny in the first place.
Yikes!
A FORMER prison inmate has been awarded $500,000 after his manhood was consumed by flesh-eating bacteria while he was behind bars. Charlie Manning, 61, was serving a 13-month stretch at Stafford Creek prison in Washington state, US, for a boozy fight when he became sick, The Daily Telegraph reports. The prison doctor wrongly diagnosed his symptoms as an allergic reaction to medication.
Turned out he had necrotising fasciitis - and the bacteria destroyed his penis and one testicle.
"It's been a nightmare," Manning said. "I figured I should settle for what I could get because I just want it behind me. It's unreal. It's like something from Mars."
A prison spokesman admitted: "Not all medical judgments - whether performed in a prison or at a doctor's office - are infallible."
The Seattle Times said surgeons made a replacement penis with skin from Manning's thigh.
#4
A perfect explanation for how Chris Matthews feels a tingle down his "thigh" whenever he thinks of Obama.
Posted by: ed ||
01/06/2009 8:18
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#5
no the real smart ppl are the biggest crooks they just know how too rip me and you off and get the hell out of dodge, or just ask the gov for a bailout
A group of clerics and religious scholars have issued a fatwa or edict that says jihad will be obligatory for every Pakistani citizen in the event of any attack on the country by India. The fatwa was announced at a conference organised by the Tahaffuz-e-Namoos-e-Risalat Mahaz at Jamia Naeemia seminary in Lahore on Monday. The meeting, chaired by Federal Minister Noorul Haq Qadri, was arranged to discuss Pakistan's security concerns in the face of Indian war threats.
Besides declaring that jihad would be obligatory for all Pakistanis in case of an attack by India, a communiqué issued by the clerics said the Pakistan Government should end its support to the US war on Terror on the western border in case of hostilities with India. The conference demanded that Pakistan should "shrug off the Indian pressure and adopt a courageous and independent stance befitting a sovereign state". The clerics called on the government to "unveil the Indian conspiracies hatched against Pakistan before the world".
The communiqué said the clerics and scholars reaffirmed the "belief that the basic purpose of Pakistan's nuclear capability was to ensure the security of the country against any foreign aggression". Pakistan valued its nuclear scientists, particularly A Q Khan, the communique said. Besides the nuclear capability and defence preparations, the security of any country depended on its internal stability, it stated.
Jamia Naeemia's principal Sarfraz Naeemi said the TNRM will organise a rally in Lahore on January 14 to condemn the "anti-Muslim and aggressive policies" of Israel and India.
Besides Federal Minister Qadri, the conference was attended by leaders of political parties like the Pakistan People's Party, PML-N, PML-Q, Tehrik-e-Insaf, Sunni Tehrik, Jamiat Ulema-e-Pakistan and Jamaat Ahle Sunnat. Meanwhile, the hardline Jamaat-e-Islami has warned the Pakistan government about "India's hegemonic designs in the region with the support of Western powers". The Jamaat also said India would "suffer dearly in case of any misadventure".
"If India committed any aggression, it will not only suffer huge losses but also be responsible for the use of lethal nuclear weapons in the region," said a resolution passed by the Jamaat-e-Islami 'shoora' or council on Monday. The resolution described the Mumbai attacks as "a 9/11-like international conspiracy through which the Indian and US rulers wanted to achieve their designs in the region". It accused India's ruling Congress party of "resorting to inhuman and undemocratic tactics by creating fanaticism in Hindu-majority areas for the sake of winning elections".
The resolution expressed concern at the Pakistan government's "apologetic attitude and foreign policy" in the face of the aggressive designs of the "enemies". The resolution added that "complete harmony" is needed between the Pakistan Army and the people for countering threats to the country. The resolution also condemned the banning of "patriotic welfare organisations" like the Jamaat-ud-Dawah, Al-Rasheed Trust, Al-Ameen Trust and Al-Akhtar Trust.
#2
Pakistan must not have heard the saying, "When you're in a hole, quit digging." Sooner or later, that hole they're digging is going to fill up with water.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/06/2009 12:01
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#3
where do we start the line too piss in that hole at
Separatist militants shot dead five people in Thailand's Muslim-majority south, where a bloody jihad insurgency marked its fifth anniversary at the weekend, police said Tuesday.
An unknown number of terrorists militants attacked a military base in troubled Pattani province early on Tuesday, sparking a 10-minute gun battle that left a 47-year-old ranger dead, said police.
New Thai Prime Minister Abhisit Vejjajiva vowed soon after he was elected by parliament on December 15 to ease the southern tensions. His Democrat Party counts the south as one of its strongholds.
* NASA scientist writes to Obama
* Attacks our coal, climate policies
* Will destroy much life on Earth
AUSTRALIA'S use of coal and carbon emissions policies are guaranteeing the "destruction of much of the life on the planet", a leading NASA scientist has written in a letter to Barack Obama. In that case, we should all flee to Mars to escape this latest example of monstrous Oz imperialism.
The head of NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies, Professor James Hansen, has written an open letter to Barack Obama calling for a moratorium on coal-fired power stations and the use of next-generation nuclear power.
In the letter he says: "Australia exports coal and sets atmospheric carbon dioxide goals so large as to guarantee destruction of much of the life on the planet."
Prof Hansen said goals and caps on carbon emissions were practically worthless because of the long lifetime of carbon dioxide in the air. Unless some greedy plant life happens to suck it in.
"Instead a large part of the total fossil fuels must be left in the ground. In practice, that means coal," he wrote. "Nobody realistically expects that the large readily available pools of oil and gas will be left in the ground." The money quote. 20 million Australians to destroy all life while 100 times their number of Indians and Chinese have no effect? Coal and nuclear to be stopped but oil (and enemy empowerment) to go on as now? Can we spot the agenda here?
Prof Hansen said that emissions reduction targets, like Kevin Rudd's goal to cut emissions by a minimum of 5 per cent and up to 15 per cent by 2020, do not work.
"This approach is ineffectual and not commensurate with the climate threat," he wrote of reduction plans. "It could waste another decade, locking in disastrous consequences for our planet and humanity."
Professor Hansen also works in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and has given testimony on climate change to the US Congress. For whom else is he working?
He said he wrote to Mr Obama as the incoming US president is in a position to instigate global change and "his presidency may be judged in good part on whether he was able to turn the tide (on climate change) - more important, the futures of young people and other life will depend on that". Their future in their proper place, as subsistence farmers tilling the land for the benefit of a new aristocracy.
He called for the end of coal plants that do not capture and store carbon dioxide and for funding for "fourth generation" nuclear power plants that could run on material now regarded as waste. You can fuel a reactor with socialist scare propaganda? Who knew?
Ozniks on other boards are already demanding extortion payments from the rest of the world to hold this life-destroying holocaust at bay. One enterprising type is demanding Hawaii, the Fox newsbabes, and all the beer in Germany, and that's just for starters. He said he would blackmail the French too but they don't have anything he wants.
#1
Why would he single out Australia? Surely they use less coal than China. Wouldn't it be better to transfer Hansen out of NASA and into the Dept of Education. Stupidity at NASA has a higher ante than I would like. One more Al Gore loving crackpot in the education field will like adding someone with bipolar disorder to the Jerry Springer show. Who will notice? Crackpot consolidation is a good thing. Maybe NASA can be compensated for the transfer fee by some crackpot offsets.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2009 7:27
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#2
Hansen's spent a lot of time sniffing the climate model glue.
#3
Ozniks on other boards are already demanding extortion payments from the rest of the world to hold this life-destroying holocaust at bay. One enterprising type is demanding Hawaii, the Fox newsbabes, and all the beer in Germany, and that's just for starters. He said he would blackmail the French too but they don't have anything he wants.
#4
The only model that Hansen should be permit to get next to is Kendra, even then it would raise the IQ quotient of the room by 5. You know that old nagging self-doubting fear that others will discover you're a fraud, well, in Hansen's case there's validity to that paranoia.
#5
Professor Hansen also works in the Department of Earth and Environmental Sciences at Columbia University and has given testimony on climate change to the US Congress.
The end is NEAR! Here, BUY MY NEW BOOK, and
don't forget to speak to my agent about my lecture series.
#6
I presume the millions of methane-producing sheep exported from Oz and Kiwiland every year to Arabia for Eid slaughter are A-OK in Dr. Hansen's world.
#7
As stupid as this is, he may find a ready audience in Obama who has already declared his intention to make it impossible to build coal-fired power plants.
#9
Thought this was outside NASA? Put him in NOAA and have him go check penguin sh*t in Antartica at a station not powered by coal or oil. Stay in NASA, put him in the next test capsule and launch him by catapult - very green, wood replanted and all.
#10
Dr. Hansen gets paid to be a "Propaganda Specialist" to further the Global Warming/ now Climate change agenda. Conservative(?) Austrailia now gets attacked..
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/06/2009 10:41
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#11
Do they drug test at NASA's Goddard Institute for Space Studies? Well maybe they should...
#14
Hansen also testified in England on behalf of environmental zealots that broke into a power plant. He said that the co2 crisis was such that illegal steps to shut down coal plants were justified.
#15
Hansen seems to be advocating economic warfare against Australia. Maybe we should send the Aussie SAS after him. I'm sure we've got a nice padded cell for him.
Crackpot is too mild.Raving loony ratbag nutcase is more like it.
Gen 4 nukes are a good idea though.
The funny thing is we have the (left wing)Labor Party in power in Oz now and they have an irrational policy against nuclear power for Australia. Happy to dig up and sell uranium though. Go figure.
Posted by: Aussie Mike ||
01/06/2009 16:22
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#17
"Maybe we should send the Aussie SAS after him. I'm sure we've got a nice padded cell for him."
Aussie Mike, as an American citizen I must strenously OBJECT to this threat to our national sovreignty.
Unless you promise to throw away the key.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 18:28
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#18
James Hansen is disturbing the planet's Feng shui. He needs to get his personal kit together and leave......now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/06/2009 19:55
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#19
"Carbon and Coal emissions" > Okay, I'll bite, isn't that what the EnviroActivs were demanding of the WORLD = GLOBE = ALL OF PLANET EARTH to do, as opposed to using AAAAWWWLLL [oil] + NUKULAR???
JetBlue Airways and two airport security screeners at Kennedy International Airport have paid $240,000 to settle a lawsuit filed by an Iraqi passenger who said he was discriminated against because the T-shirt he was wearing bore Arabic writing, according to court records.
The passenger, Raed Jarrar, 30, an activist and lobbyist who holds a U.S. green card and lives in Washington, D.C., said he was told to cover his shirt and forced to sit in the back of the plane on the Aug. 12, 2006, flight.
The American Civil Liberties Union and New York Civil Liberties Union in August 2007 filed the case in U.S. District Court in the Eastern District of New York.
When he arrived at Kennedy for a flight to Oakland, Calif., Jarrar wore a shirt that said, in Arabic and English, "We Will Not Be Silent," a reference to a nonviolent resistance movement in Nazi Germany that has been adopted by anti-war activists in the United States.
One of the officials told Jarrar that wearing a shirt with Arabic writing was like "going to a bank while wearing a T-shirt that says, 'I am a robber,'" Jarrar said yesterday.
Reached by phone, one of the defendants, Franco Trotter, now a security screening manager at Orlando International Airport, declined to comment. The other screener, Garfield Harris, a supervisory transportation security inspector at Kennedy, could not be reached.
JetBlue said in a statement that it "continues to deny, outright, every critical aspect of Mr. Jarrar's version of events."
Jarrar, a former architect who moved from Baghdad to the United States in 2005, said he now works as a lobbyist for the Quaker organization American Friends Service Committee, trying to forge connections between Congress and the Iraqi parliament and pushing to end the occupation of Iraq.
About his experience, Jarrar said, "We are dealing with a mentality of discriminating against Arabs and Muslims and treating them as if they were criminals."
Jarrar said the settlement sends a message "that discriminating against Arabs and Muslims is wrong and is illegal."
#5
Paid for by taxpayers, no doubt. If Jet Blue paid, they'll probably be reimbursed. It's time airlines adopt formal, strict policies about behavior and appearance. We need these scumbags off our planes. Let the airlines take it to Congress to pass some indemnity to cover them. They can take alternate travel methods, including walking. We must put a lid on this rabble now while we can.
#6
You;ve got to hand it to this guy. Over a year ago he was blogging on behalf of the noble Al Qaeda led "resistance" in Iraq. When he got invited to the US and I bet he didn't have to go through this sh*t.
Next he pulls a publicity stunt and is now $240K richer. Only in America!
Hamas spokesman Mahmoud Az-Zahar claimed victory for Hamas on Monday, saying Hamas had succeeded in "destroying Israel's sense of security" with its rocket attacks. Zahar made his proclamation in video footage sent from a secret hideout, where he is taking shelter in order to avoid being targeted in an IAF strike. Other Hamas leaders have gone into hiding as well. ...except for the ones who have gone into pieces courtesy of the IDF.
This is a bit like Hitler in the bunker, except that not even Hitler was delusional enough to actually declare victory while the Red Army swarmed over Berlin.
Zahar directed his message to Hamas' troops, and promised them victory over the IDF. "We must be patient until we are victorious, Allah will help us," he said. Hundreds of Hamas terrorists have been killed since the "Cast Lead" operation began last week, including 100 since the start of Israel's ground operation, and several of the group's senior leaders have been assassinated. Dozens have been taken prisoner as well. If He exists at all, Allah is helping them to well-deserved extinction but they still aren't getting the message.
The Hamas leader called to murder Israelis and Jews worldwide, including children. "The Israelis have sentenced their children to death... They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world," he said. Hamas' platform calls for all Jews to convert to Islam or be killed, based on an Islamic saying (Hadith), and the group has not refrained from targeting children in the past. Since these baboons are happy to murder their own children by using them as boomers, they could scarcely be expected to spare anyone else's
Hamas will destroy synagogues and Jewish schools as well, Zahar said, just as Israel destroyed mosques in Gaza. Israel bombed several mosques used to store rockets and ammunition. It makes sense that an arsenal would be sacred to a demonic death cult, but one wonders why the world media go along with it.
Zahar suggested Hamas was prepared to seek a ceasefire, saying Hamas would discuss "whatever is good for our people." He issued a list of demands, saying any ceasefire must include a complete end to IDF counterterrorism activities, Hamas control of the Gaza coast and the opening of Israeli crossings. The best thing for his people would be for him and his cronies to catch a serious dose of Hellfire, followed by a much worse helping of its namesake.
Israel has not offered Hamas a ceasefire, and Prime Minister Ehud Olmert recently said operations in Gaza would continue "until we achieve our goals." "Die, monster, die" and take your evil media shills with you.
#3
The Palestinian territories are already cantonized by the nature of their inhabitants. The clans/tribes/whatever in the West Bank are closely related by blood, with all that entails, and unrelated to the closely related clans/tribes/whatever in Gaza. The cultures are different as well. West Bankers are business go-getters, interested in achieving the profits of corruption, which requires a peaceful atmosphere; Gazans prefer UN welfare and the pleasures and loot of jihad, and will support whichever group promises them the most of it. I recall the Bethlehem church hostage-takers, after being exiled to Gaza, complaining that they were completely shunned there, not because of what they'd done but because they weren't related to the locals.
#4
This is a bit like Hitler in the bunker, except that not even Hitler was delusional enough to actually declare victory while the Red Army swarmed over Berlin.
Hitler didn't have unquestioning support of every degenerate, who considers him/herself intellectual by virtue on not having to work with their hands, in the World.
Uh...is that what you call it?
The IDF is rolling through Gaza like the roman legions and you are declaring victory?
I swear, I'll never understand the arab mind.
The number of patients killed by hospital blunders has soared by 60 per cent in just two years, the Daily Mail can reveal. Official records show that 3,645 died as a result of outbreaks of infections, botched operations and other mistakes in 2007/08. That was up from 2,275 two years before.
Critics say quality of NHS care has suffered as doctors and nurses come under pressure to meet Government waiting time targets.
The sharp rise is also down to the fact that more trusts have started to record medical errors - revealing a death toll which in previous years remained hidden under the carpet. But experts say the true toll is certain to be even higher, because many hospitals still do not record all of the 'patient safety incidents' - meaning that lessons which could have been learned are lost.
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#7
If you want excitement then MSM should post the number of dead in America's hospitals due to malfeasance and errors, just like they gleefully reported casualties in Iraq and Afghanistan [which BTW the hospital numbers would dwarf by comparison].
Two operatives of the banned Jamaatul Mujahideen Bangladesh, arrested along with 28 homemade grenades in Chittagong last week, will be sent to Dhaka today for interrogation, police officials said.
They're not going to feel so good ...
The two militants, Masum and Khorshed, were arrested by the Rapid Action Battalion on December 30 at their hideout at Teribazar in the port city.
Trapped like rats at their secret lair ...
They were remanded in the custody of Kotwali police for questioning on a court order.
That is going to be so-o-o-o-o not fun ...
A senior police official said that they were looking for six other JMB militants active in Chittagong following some leads after interrogation of the two.
Which they provided through broken teeth and jaws ...
'The JMB activists are regrouping here and may be plotting to strike again', he said.
He also said that the police had raided Halishahar residential area on Friday night to hunt down an activist of the JMB, but he managed to run away flee. 'A private university in the city and two madrassahs at Hathazari and Patiya are also under surveillance', he said adding that special measures had been taken here to thwart any attempts at subversion.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2009
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House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi's proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office.
Pelosi's rule changes -- which may be voted on today -- will reverse the fairness rules that were written around Newt Gingrich's "Contract with America."
In reaction, the House Republican leadership is sending a letter today to Pelosi to object to changes to House Rules this week that would bar Republicans from offering alternative bills, amendments to Democrat bills or even the guarantee of open debate accessible by motions to recommit for any piece of legislation during the entire 111th Congress. These procedural abuses, as outlined in the below letter obtained by HUMAN EVENTS, would also include the repeal of six-year limit for committee chairmen and other House Rules reform measures enacted in 1995 as part of the Contract with America.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
Could it be? Mrs Nancy is more dangerous for our country than the Pope of Hope ( by a Rantburg University grad student... and I'm so sorry, a senior moment lends itself to me misremembering just which grad student that deserves the credit.. I think I know.... I think I know... but just hate being proven wrong... and that's my story and I'm stickin' to it)
Now, back to our regularly scheduled commenting..... this Pelosi thing scares me plenty. I stopped the game of conjuring up in my head, the scenarios of what our country could become with the Pope of Hope as our president...
But, Miss Nancy? Who is there to stop her? Not enough Repubs in the house to stop her. We as voters have no control over her.... we can't, as a nation, call for her recall.... is she eligible for impeachment? I think not.
I will admit to grabbing a SF zip code and getting around her zip code thingy (more than once) to send her an email, stating my total opposition to some of her past actions....
Prolly didn't help, but at least, I got recorded as a "voter" in her district, opposing something she favored. Surely did help my attitude for the rest of the day.
She is truly the unstoppable woe... gathering more and more power to herself with the Pope of Hope in charge......
And there is something about him, and the wife that he has chosen, that I don't think he has the guts to stand up to Nancy.
And she is Number 3 in the line of succession to become our president.
Obama scares me.... this move by Grancy Nancy... I'm not sure my little bunker of a small Texas town can withstand her.
#6
Let's see: Pelosi stifles all debate; the Senate, according to Reid, can decide who wins an election or can be seated based on how they FEEL about the process.
Sounds like a real winner for the Democratic dictatorship to come. Oh yes, stir in the MN "recounts" for good measure for a bit of spice.
#7
Hilderbeast approved as Secretary of State. Biden resigns, returns to his (yet unresigned) and very warm senate seat. Hilderbeast annointed as moves up to VP, awaits the impeachment or resignation of The One. Clintonian staff already in place. Pat Robertson smiles.
#10
Interesting course of events, Besoeker. I do think that she can do more harm to "O" from State, however it would be more apparent. To sit back (as VP) and quietly wait doesn't really seem to fit Hil's modus operandi although it would give her enormous opportunities to appear 'detached' from the day-to-day 'drain-spin' that the chOsen will try to micro-manage.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/06/2009 9:50
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That may be in the cards anyway. I believe that Nancy P. is deranged and drunk on power. She is bound to cross the line in such a way that someone may be motivated to sanction her. She is very dangerous.
#13
Before we get heated about this, did she just restore the pre-1995 stuff or did she go beyond that?
Because to be honest the almost the same dual "our-party" versions of various bills was more of a trick the voters, cover my ass, sort of thing in the long run.
The Punjab government will take action against the banned Jamaatud Dawa (JD), Information Minister Sherry Rehman said in a TV interview on Monday.
Talking to a private TV channel, she said any action by the government must follow certain procedures. Proof against the JD had been shared with the Punjab government, which had assured the federal government of cooperation, she said. "I am absolutely sure the Punjab government will act."
In a statement issued after the interview, Special Assistant to Punjab Chief Minister Pervaiz Rashid said the provincial government had put five top JD leaders -- Mufti Abdur Rehman, Hafiz Saeed, Ameer Hamza, Colonel Nazir and Yasin Baloch -- under house arrest, sealed 61 offices of the charity and had taken over 19 dispensaries and 10 schools it ran. "Necessary measures are also being taken for assuming control of the central headquarters of Jamaatud Dawa at Muridke," he added.
Talking to India's NDTV channel, Sherry said locating Jaish-e-Muhammad chief Masood Azhar was like looking for a "needle in the haystack".
"He is certainly not strolling around outside my office. If we see him, we will nab him," she said, adding Pakistan was committed to taking action against any non-state actors found involved in the Mumbai attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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Warning: none of this is going to make any sense ...
Unidentified gunmen shot dead a Swechchhasebak Dal leader at Bijoynagar in the capital while another gang of miscreants stabbed a Jubo League activist to death in Bogra yesterday.
The deceased, Nazrul Islam, 35, president of Swechchhasebak Dal's ward-56 unit, was also the general secretary of Bijoynagar Bahumukhi Babosayee Samobay Samiti. Police and family members of the deceased suspected the murder had been committed due to feuds over the control of a political office or some business shops.
Nazrul, who died on the spot as the attackers pumped four bullets into several parts of his body, was the owner of Aqib Bumper, a shop of motor parts, located at 11, Bijoynagar. During the gun attack, one of the associates of Nazrul, Mahjuddin, also received bullet injury as the motorbike-riding criminals sprayed bullets indiscriminately at about 4:30pm. Mahiuddin, 25, was undergoing treatment at Dhaka Medical College Hospital. He received two bullets.
Talking to The Daily Star, Nazrul's brother Iqbal Hossain said: "Nazrul might have been killed by local Jubo League cadres as they had been threatening him to hand over an office at Bijoynagar which is controlled by Swechchwasebak Dal".
"One Mintu also might be the killer of Nazrul as there had been a feud between Nazrul and Mintu over some shops in the market."
Witnesses said a gang of four to five unidentified criminals riding on two motorbikes came to the spot and sped away after opening fires indiscriminately on Nazrul. Another youth Mainuddin, who was talking to Nazrul Islam at the time of attack, received bullets when he tried to run away.
Nazrul's brother Iqbal and cousin Robin Hossain, who were present on the spot, narrated the macabre incident saying the criminals fired six bullets from a very close distance.
Over 100 activists of Awami League and Jubo League came to Nazrul in the afternoon on Sunday and asked him to hand over the key of the office. They also threatened Nazrul with dire consequence if it was otherwise.
Local traders said Nazrul was one of the close accomplices of detained Ramna thana BNP president Chowdhury Alam, who is also the commissioner of Ward-56 of Dhaka City Corporation. The traders said they were informed of the feud between Nazrul and Mintu and due to the feud, Nazrul shifted his residence to Kuril from Bijoynagar.
Rezaul Karim, officer-in-charge (OC) of Shahbagh police station, told The Daily Star, "Nazrul might have been killed following the feud over the control of some shops in the market."
"We have also been investigating whether he was killed over any political clashes", the OC said, adding that none was arrested in this connection.
Our staff correspondent from Bogra reports: miscreants stabbed a member of Jubo League to death at Nataipara in Bogra town yesterday noon. The deceased was identified as Faruk Bari alias Sabuj, a student of Azizul Haque College.
Bangladesh Chhatra League (BCL) district unit leaders claimed that Sabuj was killed by BNP and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal (JCD) activists. However, JCD district unit President Khademul Islam denied the allegation.
BCL and Jubo League activists brought out a protest procession in the city in the evening.
Locals said a number of youth called Sabuj up at around 3:00pm while he was playing carom near his home, took him to a nearby place and stabbed him with sharp weapons. Sabuj succumbed to his injury at Ziaur Rahman Medical College Hospital at 7:00pm.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Caution:
I heeded Steve's warning, and STILL my head 'sploded!
#5
Looks like the RAB is onto something with their plausible deniability ( wrong time of day, miscreants and their accomplices, no stutter guns, and not even a trip to the hospital for those immortal last woids)
Awami National Party (ANP) NWFP Secretary General Tajuddin Khan on Monday accused the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) of pocketing millions of dollars during the war against Soviet troops in Afghanistan. Khan said in a statement that the JI provided support to the United States in Afghanistan and provided volunteers for the war to "earn millions of dollars". He said the people were facing an insurgency everywhere in the NWFP due to the failed policies of the Muttahida Majlis-e-Amal government in the province. He said the JI had invited 'foreign terrorists' to settle in Pashtun lands, who were now wreaking havoc across the country. Khan said military operations in the Tribal Areas and other parts of the NWFP would continue until the 'JI-supported terrorists' are completely eliminated.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
when you ask foreign terrorist too settle the land what do you expect? but feel free too keep killing them
Aswat al-Iraq: Police patrols on Monday found a stockpile of ammunitions, containing 100 mortar shells in the north of Kirkuk, a senior police officer said. "Police patrols found on Monday afternoon (Jan. 5) a large depot in Shawan region in the north of Kirkuk," Brigadier Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The cache contains 100 mortar shells," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Omar Abdullah was sworn in as the 'youngest' chief minister of Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) amid tight security on Monday. "I swear to uphold the sovereignty and integrity of India," he said, wearing a long black coat and white shalwar at the swearing-in ceremony in Jammu.
Omar's National Conference, which backs greater autonomy but rejects calls for independence, emerged as the single biggest party in elections that ended in December.
"(Omar) cannot ignore the massive freedom demonstrations. If he is sincere he should help address the aspirations of Kashmiris," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chief of the All Parties Hurriyat Conference.
Congress party chief Sonia Gandhi and her son Rahul attended the ceremony in Jammu. Omar is the grandson of IHK's first political leader after 1947, Sheikh Abdullah.
The England-born Abdullah was sent to Kashmir in 2002 to revive his ailing party, which had lost popularity under his father Farooq, the outgoing chief minister at the time. The former junior federal minister showed his credentials in a speech in defence of secularism in parliament earlier this year, when a row over the government transfer of forest land to a Hindu shrine in the state sparked Muslim anger.
Omar is a more popular choice than his father, who came under fire in the past for his extravagant lifestyle and outspoken advocacy of bombing nuclear-armed Pakistan, analysts say.
The National Conference won 28 of the state assembly's 87 seats, while the Congress Party bagged 17.
Posted by: Fred ||
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An Illinois woman has been charged with submitting false information on voter registration cards, including turning in cards from nursing home residents without their knowledge.
A federal indictment released Monday says 44-year-old Deidra Humphrey of East St. Louis forged voter registration cards to election officials in St. Louis city and county. It charges her with two felony counts of voter registration fraud.
U.S. Attorney Catherine Hanaway's office says Humphrey worked for ACORN and the Missouri Progressive Vote Coalition between June and August 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Regional leaders have stepped up their criticism of Israel's blistering assault on the Gaza Strip, as Mauritania withdrew its ambassador to the Zionist state in protest and Turkey's premier accused Israel of provoking the outbreak of fighting. For its part, Qatar continued to push for an emergency Arab summit over the Gaza attacks, which the nation's emir described as a "war crime."
"The Israeli aggression against our people in the Gaza Strip is a war crime," Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani said late Sunday in a televised address. He also renewed an earlier call on fellow Arab leaders to hold an extraordinary summit in support of Gaza. "The mobilization on the Arab street and several peace movements in the world have proven that this is the least the people expect from us. I believed and still do that we can do something," the emir said.
Sheikh Hamad said that "calls for a mutual cease-fire treat the culprit and the victim as equal and justify the aggression."
Mauritania, one of only three Arab League countries that has full diplomatic ties with Israel, has withdrawn its ambassador in protest over the Gaza offensive, a Foreign Ministry source said on Monday. Since Israel's offensive in Gaza started 10 days ago, Mauritania has seen daily protests, mostly from students who demanded that Nouakchott break all ties with the country.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan on Monday blamed Israel for the ongoing conflict in the battered Gaza Strip, saying it "provoked" the Islamist movement Hamas, which controls the enclave. The premier noted that Israel had continued a stifling blockade on Gaza despite pledging to lift it under the terms of an Egyptian-mediated truce, which Hamas had complied with by reining in fighters launching rockets into Israel.
Erdogan told Al-Jazeera: "A return to the situation before the truce happened because Israel continued the blockade, so I consider Israel the one which provoked and incited, not Hamas."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Israel should just tell the Arabs that the first Arab state that tries to "help" palestine will receive a nuclear package on their doorstep. Just the THREAT would curb a lot of this BS.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/06/2009 12:32
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The usual Muslim/Arab script. Pali's do the dying, everybody else makes lots of noise...
Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) — The sons of Bernard Madoff, who is accused of orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme, alerted prosecutors last week that their father mailed them jewelry, watches, and other items in violation of an asset freeze, his lawyer said.
U.S. prosecutors today asked a federal judge to revoke Madoffs bail because he violated the freeze. U.S. Magistrate Judge Ronald Ellis asked for legal briefs by Jan. 7 from the government and from Madoff, who remains free in his Manhattan apartment on a $10 million bond.
Madoff mailed five packages of items, including some very valuable jewelry, after his assets were frozen by a judge in a related civil lawsuit, said Assistant U.S. Attorney Marc Litt in court today. Defense lawyer Ira Sorkin said the objects, which included pens and $25 cuff links, were heirlooms innocently sent to Madoffs children and brother, Peter.
We believe the children brought it to the attention of the government, Sorkin said in an interview after court. Madoff, 70, was accused last month of directing a $50 billion Ponzi scheme out of his New York investment firm after his sons reported him to prosecutors, according to Martin Flumenbaum, a lawyer for Madoffs sons.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Could possibly be some additional charges levied due to his using the US Mail system.
India on Monday handed to Pakistan what it said was evidence linking the country to the militants who attacked Mumbai in November and it expected a prompt investigation India's foreign minister said. The government also said it was launching a major diplomatic offensive to maintain international pressure on Islamabad, which has so far rejected New Delhi's demands to hand over a list of terror suspects.
"What happened in Mumbai was an unpardonable crime. As far as the Government of Pakistan is concerned, we ask only that it implement the bilateral commitments that it has made at the highest levels to India, and practices her international obligations. These are clear," Pranab Mukherjee said.
"It is our expectation that the Government of Pakistan will promptly undertake further investigations in Pakistan and share the results with us so as to bring the perpetrators to justice."
The material includes details of interrogation of Mohammed Ajmal Amir Iman -- also known as Mohammed Ajmal Kasab -- who was the lone surviving gunman and who India says is a Pakistani national.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
damn - are they gonna build a warehouse for all this "deniable" evidence?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2009 0:29
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#2
WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC, seems INDIA's LARGEST OPPOSITION PARTY [BJP] has called for INDIA TO SEAL/WALL OFF ITS BORDER AREAS WID BANAGLDESH, BHUTAN, AND MYANMAR to protect from illegal incursions by CHINESE-ARMED MILITANTS ala MUMBAI???
Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP) might boycott the new government cabinet's induction ceremony today in Bangabhaban as its key ally in four-party alliance Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami was not invited, although two of its members-elect of the parliament were. "Not enough boodle!"
"Not enough religion!"
Posted by: Fred ||
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As Israel pounded Gaza with live ammunition for the second straight week, hackers waged their own war online, infiltrating Israeli sites and posting videos, photos, and slogans that condemned the aggression.
Hackers rewrote the content of several well-known Israeli websites and posted items about the atrocities committed by the Israeli army in Gaza. The hackers were thought to be operating from Lebanon, Morocco, Iran, and Turkey, the London-based newspaper Asharq al-Awsat reported Sunday.
The hackers targeted websites of small companies as well as government bodies, including the Israeli Defense Forces and the Israel Discount Bank, according to Israeli radio.
One of the hackers, who calls himself T@ke Sn!per, said his group targeted government sites and managed to hack more than 30, including websites of political parties and banks.
More than 10,000 pages were hacked, with one hacker managing to infiltrate about 2,485 websites.
Hackers also targeted the websites of several Israeli newspapers like Maariv and Yediot Aharonot where they posted pictures of dead Palestinians and of Iraqis tortured in American prisons.
The Israeli army has been posting videos of its airstrikes on Gaza and of Hamas rocket attacks inside Israel on You Tube. The virtual war could also be seen in debates on internet forums.
In October, Hamas announced a competition with cash prizes to encourage techies to break hard-line Israeli political organizations' websites.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Israel has some of the best programmers in the world. They'll want to get on top of this quickly, before worse is done.
#2
Similar to our recent election cycle where the Soros supported "KOS Kiddies" took charge to get "The One" elected.
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
01/06/2009 7:51
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The virtual war could also be seen in debates on internet forums.
Judging by the performance of the trolls who vented here at Rantburg I'd say they need to do a lot more work before anyone could call them effective. A little bit of logic would help but that doesn't seem to be their strong suit.
Former acting US ambassador to the United Nations John Bolton said Monday that settling the Arab-Israeli conflict on the basis of a two-state solution was no longer workable and suggested splitting Palestine between Egypt and Jordan. "Let's start by recognizing that trying to create a Palestinian Authority from the old PLO [Palestine Liberation Organization] has failed and that any two-state solution based on the PA is stillborn," Bolton wrote in The Washington Post. "Hamas has killed the idea, and even the Holy Land is good for only one resurrection."
Hamas won parliamentary elections deemed fair by international observers in 2006 but was boycotted by the West for refusing to give up armed resistance against Israeli occupation.
A two-state solution has been officially adopted as the basis for solving the Middle East conflict by all interested parties, including Israel and the administration of US President George W. Bush, in which Bolton has served. But he now argues that the peace process is "obviously not progressing ... probably going backward."
"Instead, we should look to a 'three-state' approach, where Gaza is returned to Egyptian control and the West Bank in some configuration reverts to Jordanian sovereignty," says the former ambassador, who now works for the American Enterprise Institute, a hard-line pro-Israeli think-tank in Washington. "Having the two Arab states re-extend their prior political authority is an authentic way to extend the zone of peace and, more important, build on governments that are providing peace and stability in their own countries," he wrote.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Interesting, but I don't see ISRAEL accepting this schema unless EGYPT agrees to share and give up at least 1/2 of the Sinai desert with Israel.
#4
His plan is horrible .... until it is compared with all the other plans.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2009 2:16
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#5
I say we give Lander County, Nevada to them. Just move them all to Lander County, we can call it Palestine, they can have a country bigger than their current country and everyone can be happy.
Or maybe the Israelis would take Lander County. God, I wish someone would.
#6
This could only work if the Jordanian and Egyptian governments guarantee they will enforce peaceful behaviour on their respective Palestinians. Which I am quite certain the governments won't want to do in the face of popular rebellion against the very idea of reigning in the Palestinians, whom they've been taught for generations are the front line and key issue against that horrid Zionist entity. Israel has tried this before, I believe, with no interest from the governments in question.
#7
I like John Bolton. He is brilliant and courageous but I think his plan is pie-in-the-sky wishful thinking.
King Abdullah, though married to a Paleo beauty, would probably decline the "honor" of making west bank Paleos his subjects. Also, Mubarak would have to be crazy to want to incorporate the Gazan cesspool into Egybt. Gaza makes the qatb oriented moslem brotherhood look moderate by comparison.
No, I don't think either state would want to injest that noxious poison....now the good King may want a piece of Jerusalem, but the rest of the west bank......thanks, but no thanks.
#8
There is a reason both countries passed up the opportunity to absorb the Paleos into their countries in the 50s. They know the Paleos are just fucking nuts.
Suspected Taliban shot dead two people in Swat on Monday, while a journalist said his house was blown up five days ago.
AFP reported one of the two dead people was a female dancer who did not heed the Taliban's warnings to abandon her profession, local officials said. The bodies of the two civilians shot dead on Monday were dumped in the valley's main town, Mingora, a security official said on condition of anonymity.
Meanwhile, journalist Hameedullah told Daily Times on Monday his house in Swat was blown up by unidentified men.
The Shakar Dara village in Matta tehsil was vacated of residents last week after security forces launched an operation to clear Taliban from the area. The residents were allowed to return on Monday after the troops' negotiations with local elders.
Upon returning, Hameedullah found his house had been razed to the ground. Assailants had also torched Hameedullah's shop in Mingora last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The country's transition to democracy from undemocratic Emergency Rule is set to be completed as President Professor Dr Iajuddin Ahmed Monday invited Leader of Parliament and Awami League president Sheikh Hasina for taking oath as the Prime Minister of the county at Bangabhaban today (Tuesday).
"The President congratulated Awami League Chief Sheikh Hasina over telephone at about 12:30 pm for being elected as the Leader of Parliament. The President also invited her to take oath as the prime minister at Bangabahaban tomorrow (Tuesday)," Secretary of President's Office M Sirajul Islam told a news agency on Monday.
Cabinet members of the victorious AL-led grand combine which achieved majority of the seats in the ninth parliamentary election will take oath at the Darbar Hall of Bangabhaban at 6:30pm. The selection of the forthcoming Cabinet is at the final stage but the names of the members, however, could not be known immediately.
Outgoing President Prof Iajuddin Ahmed will administer oath to Sheikh Hasina and other cabinet members in a formal occasion ushering in the exist of an elected government after two years of rule of the Army-backed Caretaker Government.
Earlier, the newly elected members of parliament (MPs) of the AL-led grand alliance, which bagged 262 seats of the 300-seat parliament, took oath at Sangsad Bhaban on Saturday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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U.S. diva Mariah Carey reportedly scooped up a whooping $1 million to perform only four songs at a lavish New Year's Eve bash in the Caribbean thrown by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, press reports said Monday.
As several Middle East countries cancelled New Year celebrations in a show of solidarity with Palestinians in Gaza under attack by Israel, Saif Gaddafi, 36, held an intimate bash on the Caribbean island of St. Barts, where Carey was vacationing with husband Nick Cannon, British tabloid The Sun reported.
The songstress was paid to sing a set of four classic tracks at the island's Nikki Beach Club where U.S. producer Timbaland and rapper Jay-Z also performed as part of the event. "They all had a great time," a guest was quoted by the paper as saying.
Meanwhile, in the Middle East several concerts and shows were cancelled as Israel began a deadly assault on Gaza just four days before New Year's Eve. As the death toll of just days of bombings climbed a somber mood dominated the area, events scheduled to take place in Egypt, Bahrain, Jordan, Lebanon, Turkey and the UAE emirate of Dubai were all cancelled or replaced with low key celebrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Obviously the nut doesn't fall far from the sprocket tree.
#2
Isn't Saif Qaddafi the one who aided the Christian aid workers held hostage in a shipping container in Afghanistan? Aiding People of the Book, are we, or a closet Christian? In another fun twist of fate, Catholic, Muslim, & Jewish paths cross again:
According to Edward Kritzler, in Jewish Pirates of the Caribbean, many of these British Caribbean islands were settled by Jewish pirates! Sephardim living in Spain were hired on as pilots and cartographers, hiding under the banner of new Catholic converts when Spain banned all Jews. He claims Colombus was a closet Jew, looking for a new homeland following the time of the Inquisition, which drove the Dispora to the Dutch and British for protection. They hired them on to build their empires. Cromwell gave them his blessing, but then he also deported the Irish "pigs" to run the pubs and brothels for the sailors! Jamaica and other islands prospered, as they became merchants, shipping traders, and planted crops. These same islands also have taken in many of the Paleo diaspora, too, where they have lived together fairly peacefully. Interesting book, btw, with unusual history taken from ships' logs at the Jamaican National Library.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani said Monday his government remained committed to punishing Pakistani nationals accused of taking part in the Mumbai attacks if "credible" evidence is given against them. Gilani made the comments during talks with Richard Boucher, the US assistant secretary of state for South and Central Asia, who arrived in Islamabad early Monday in a bid to defuse simmering tensions between Pakistan and India.
Gilani spoke of "Pakistan's persistent efforts to defuse the current tensions with India, and his government's commitment to take action against any Pakistani national in case credible evidence is provided," his office said.
Earlier Monday, Indian Foreign Minister Pranab Mukherjee said that New Delhi had handed over to Islamabad what it said was evidence linking the Islamic militants who carried out the late November attacks to "elements in Pakistan."
Pakistan said it had received the dossier and was reviewing it. New Delhi has blamed the attacks - which left 172 people dead, including nine of the gunmen - on the banned Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba, which is fighting Indian rule in divided Kashmir.
Islamabad had repeatedly said that India had not provided any evidence linking the Mumbai attackers with Pakistan.
Mukherjee said the Indian dossier included details of the interrogation of Mohammad Ajmal Amir Iman - also known as Mohammad Ajmal Kasab - who is the lone surviving gunman and whom India says is a Pakistani national.
It also details the militants' communications with "elements" in Pakistan during the attack, recovered weapons and other equipment, retrieved global positioning system data and satellite phones.
A number of US officials have visited both Pakistan and India, including US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and her deputy John Negroponte, following the attacks in a bid to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed rivals.
Boucher, who arrived in Pakistan early Monday, also met with Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi and President Asif Ali Zardari, who gave him an award for his "service to Pakistan." Zardari said Boucher had been "instrumental in promoting a stable, broad-based and long-term Pakistan-US relationship," the Associated Press of Pakistan news agency reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#4
"Personality is the glitter that sends your little gleam across the footlights and the orchestra pit into that big black space where the audience is."
TOULOUSE - ATTACKERS launched two cars packed with petrol bombs at a synagogue in France's south-western city of Toulouse on Monday night, causing damage but no casualties, officials said.
One car was set on fire and pushed by the other until it hit the door of the synagogue, at a time when about a dozen people were attending a class with a rabbi. The building caught fire but all those inside escaped unharmed.
Police found unexploded petrol bombs inside the second car, which did not catch fire. They said they were investigating the attack and had not made any arrests.
Earlier, Interior Minister Michele Alliot-Marie met leaders of France's Jewish and Muslim communities and security chiefs to deliver a message that the Gaza Strip conflict should not lead to violent acts in France.
You're a little late to the party, Michele ...
In recent years, flare-ups between Israel and the Palestinians have been followed by acts of violence against Jewish people or buildings in France, which has large Jewish and Muslim communities.
Some analysts have attributed the problem to a build-up of resentment among children or grandchildren of immigrants from Arab countries who feel they are poorly integrated into French society and are victims of discrimination in the job market.
Gee, wonder why they haven't integrated into French society? Maybe the Franco-french haven't been very accommodating. Maybe the immigrants haven't been interested. Maybe both.
Such frustrations, coupled with feelings of solidarity towards the Palestinians, have resulted in attacks on Jewish targets that have been strongly condemned by almost everyone in the French political establishment.
An Interior Ministry source said Ms Alliot-Marie was keen to avoid a repeat of such events. 'The past has shown that there are sometimes risks and it was better to make an appeal for calm. Events in the Middle East must not lead to community conflicts on French soil,' said the source, declining to be identified.
Worked well tonight, didn't it ...
The head of an umbrella body of Jewish groups, the Representative Council of Jewish Institutions in France, said in an interview with Le Figaro that aggressive behaviour by some protesters at pro-Palestinian marches had worried him. 'We must really not import the conflict here. It must not, it cannot happen,' said Richard Prasquier, who was among those who attended the meeting with Ms Alliot-Marie.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Btw, "voitures-béliers", stolen cars filled with gas bottles is a very common tool used by "Youths" to torch schools, swimming pools, etc, etc, even the odd police station (whereas when not used as an incendiary weapon, it's a lmost a trademark of gypsies to break into shops & warehouses), so it's almost a signed act.
Anyway, waayyy to late to lament having imported the muddle east conflict in France, this was done systematically by the Chattering Class over the last decades, setting the israelis as bullies and the paleos as downtrodden "David" fighting the imperialistical "Goliath", exactly as the soviet propaganda about "liberation struggle" & "decolonization" wished. There always since have been random acts of terrorism by leftist groups such as AD, but the genie got out of the bottle in 2000, when the Youths reached critical mass (about 15% of the french population muslim???? More as one looks at younger age groups), and this really backfired onto shirak & co, especially during the 2005 ramadan riots. Not that french cops didn't warn long before that that in their minds, Youths (be they black or arab, but heavily muslim regardless) were re-enacting the "intifada", with them cops as the israeli.
Anyway, France, among others, including the USA with others specs, has got itself a deadly demographic & cultural timebomb, and while the wingnuts blame the Joooooooos or the Capitalists for this mass-immigration of a demanding and asserting and even colonizing third-world into their homelands, I'd say the french (the english, the germans, the americans,...) have no one to blame but *themselves*. Congratulations, dudes and dudettes!
#2
a5089 is right. When the history of our age gets to be written, it will be the story of what happens to societies when they lose social cohesion. The change from, we are all in this together as a country despite our differences, to, I only owe/need my family/clan/ethnic group/religion. It won't be a pretty story.
#4
All the 'integration' in the world wont make you prosperous if you are an illiterate, ex-felon that can't speak the language of the country you were born in. You have to be reasonable about your expectations in life.
#5
Fear, intimidation and prolific procreation are methods the muzzies have always used to spread their death cult. This is but one small example. Yeah, if and when the French finally wake up it won't be pretty but it's about damn time they did.
#6
I would say nearly every large city in America has had demonstrations in the last week or so. Nothing set afire yet. We have time to act. But, we aren't. Just as freakin' dumb as the EU's.
#7
There was a whopping 200 people protesting in San Francisco yesterday, and many of those were the professional International ANSWER types. And reaction on the SF Chron forums was decidedly in favor of the Israelis and against both hamass and the protestors. (Note that these same forums would be rabidly anti-Bush...not a conservative hangout.) We are not done yet, by any stretch.
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi army forces on Monday found a weapons depot in Muqdadiya district in the northeast of Baaquba, a security source said. "Army forces found on Monday (Jan. 5) scores of Katyusha rockets, mortar shells, and bombs in a stockpile of weapons and explosives in Muqdadiya district, northeast of Baaquba," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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The commander of the Tutsi Congolese rebels General Laurent Nkunda has been removed by his inferiors for causing trouble for the group.
Nkunda, the head of the National Congress for the Defense of the People (CNDP), has been stripped from power following a decision by the ranking officers in the group's chain of command, BBC reported. The commanders reportedly appointed a 'transitional council' afterwards to provisionally take the helm.
The group has been in constant hostilities with the Rwandan Hutu rebels.
The opposition reached its crescendo in 1994 when over 100 days of ethnic clashes from April into July some 800,000 people mostly Tutsi were slaughtered making it the bloodiest war since the World War II.
Also in fierce opposition to the Congolese authorities, the Tutsi leader fought a month-long campaign against government forces in the eastern province of North Kivu in August displacing 250,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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Sri Lankan troops battling Tamil rebels yesterday captured part of the highly strategic Elephant Pass in a second major success just days after taking the guerrillas' political headquarters, the army said.
Military spokesman Udaya Nanayakkara said the southern part of Elephant Pass, a causeway linking the northern Jaffna peninsula to the mainland, fell to troops advancing north from Kilinochchi which was seized on Friday. "Troops are now consolidating in the southern part of Elephant Pass," he said.
Tamil Tiger rebels had held the Elephant Pass since April 2000. There was no immediate comment from the ethnic rebels, who have seen their northern fiefdom crumble in recent months in the face of a massive government onslaught.
The Sri Lankan army's advance to the causeway, if confirmed, would deal another serious blow to the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The fall of Elephant Pass would enable government troops from the south to link up with government forces in Jaffna who have been cut off from the rest of the island by LTTE positions. The advance also further isolates Tamil Tiger rebels in a section of northeastern coastal jungle around Mullaittivu, the last remaining town in the hands of the LTTE.
An army statement said government troops were now advancing with "high morale" following the fall of Kilinochchi and were causing "heavy damages to the terrorists."
Just a few dozen people were still in Kilinochchi when government soldiers secured the town after months of heavy fighting. One resident told an AFP reporter who was flown to the town by the military on Sunday that the guerrillas had ordered civilians to shift to Mullaittivu, where the rebels are known to have their main military facilities.
For their part, the pro-rebel Tamilnet website said Tigers were putting up stiff resistance to the military advance on Mullaittivu and said they killed 53 soldiers and wounded another 80.
The military official leading the government assault said his forces were now advancing on Mullaittivu and LTTE leader Velupillai Prabhakaran. "We are taking the offensive to the Mullaittivu jungles where Prabhakaran is hiding," Major General Jagath Dias told reporters.
Sri Lanka officially marked on Monday the capture of Kilinochchi by flying the national flag and observing two minutes of silence to honour the security forces, officials said. The flag fluttered from homes and rooftops of government buildings as people stood still at shops and offices in the capital Colombo, witnesses said.
"State television and radio stations blacked out their regular bulletins to mark the occasion. It was two minutes of silence across the airwaves," said Anusha Pelpita, director of the government's information department. Private television channels stopped their live programmes and played patriotic songs followed by the national anthem, officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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ABC News' Rick Klein and Z. Byron Wolf Report: Among those who will take the oath of office Tuesday, when the 111th Congress convenes, is a man who has no intention of further service as a member of Congress: Sen. Joe Biden.
Biden, D-Del., was reelected to the Senate on the same day that he and Barack Obama won the presidential election. He plans to be sworn in Tuesday for the seventh time as a senator, even though he'll resign his seat shortly before taking the oath of office as vice president Jan. 20.
We've asked Biden's office why he thinks it's appropriate to take an oath for a term he won't come close to filling out. We will update this posting when we get a response.
Obama, by contrast, resigned his Senate seat shortly after Election Day -- creating the vacancy that is has caused so much controversy in Illinois and beyond.
ABC's George Stephanopoulos asked Biden last month on "This Week" why he hadn't resigned from the Senate -- and part of the answer Biden gave was, at best, misleading. "Two reasons," Biden said. "One is that, from my perspective, I shouldn't acknowledge it, but being sworn in for the seventh time as a United States senator from Delaware, the greatest honor I've ever had is the people of Delaware electing me. And, and it will in no way effect the seniority of the person who will follow me, number one.
"Number two, there was a period there when it was thought that it may be useful for me to be in the Senate, in terms of some of the votes that were going to be cast in the Senate that may have been very close, that would have been consistent with our incoming administration's position that I could have been voting on those. It turned out that did not occur."
Biden's swearing-in for the seventh time will extend a state record that may never be broken. And he could have voted -- but didn't -- during this post-election period that he's still been a senator.
But his claim about his decision not affecting seniority isn't true. If Biden were to resign before Tuesday, his replacement could be sworn in before the other freshman senators. The new senator from Delaware would get seniority over all other newly elected senators -- giving him a better shot at top committee assignments and choice office space.
As it is, Biden's replacement will move to the back of the line -- at best No. 98 in seniority when he finally gets the job Jan. 20, and lower still assuming the Minnesota recount and the Illinois debacle are still unresolved. It probably won't matter much in the long run: Delaware's governor has said she will name former Biden aide Ted Kaufman to the job, and Kaufman has said he won't seek a full Senate term on his own.
But in the meantime, keeping the job has allowed Biden -- one of the Senate's least-wealthy members -- to continue to collect a salary during the transition period. At his annual Senate salary of $169,300, that's meant another $28,000 so far.
Biden also remains chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he told Stephanopoulos that he would immediately yield committee leadership responsibilities to his successor in that post, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"Two More Weeks of Senator Biden -- But Why?"
Some Senator from Pennsylvania stuck his head out of his limousine and saw his shadow so there are two more weeks of Biden.
#5
Biden also remains chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee. But he told Stephanopoulos that he would immediately yield committee leadership responsibilities to his successor in that post, Sen. John F. Kerry, D-Mass.
#6
Narcissists put in place by the narcissistic media. We are headed for interesting times indeed. When these folks enable the next attack on a major city, will flyover Americans care or even notice it?
Posted by: ed ||
01/06/2009 8:04
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When these folks enable the next attack on a major city, will flyover Americans care or even notice it?
That depends. If it is some Liberal craphole like NY, DC, SF...etc.) not so much. Good riddance actually. However, if it is in the heartland, there won't need to be that bounty I spoke of last night.
Oh, Barbara, no bag limits. The goal will be to thin them down to manageable levels.
#10
Yes Ed, we care - its not like we don't have family and friends around the US and world; the percentage of flyovers who volunteer for military service and volunteer for fire fighting is outstanding. Yes we notice, especially when coasties move out here because they can't take it where they left from yet still cling to their failed policies and try to enact them here. We have our own stuggles exasberated by city folk crap like fart taxes - an idea which would never originate in flyover country.
When we do visit we are treated as hinterland rubes and not listened to, yet we forgive with soft words and continue on. Out here we wave at people because that might be the only car we see for 10 miles; we don't have AAA we have Good Samaritan. Y'all come out here and make fun of us like its some sort of cowboy wave. We forgive with soft words and drive y'all back to the airport.
No offense, but if you are tired of tripping over garbage, then clean your house. How are we supposed to respect you big time states when those people allow crap like MN happen with barely a whimper. We are the Greeks of yore compared to what we see when we visit. Show us something worth saving and we will be there.
/rant, no offense intended - Rantburgers and Soldiers are always welcome at my house.
In its latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression, The New York Times has begun selling display advertising on its front page, a step that has become increasingly common across the newspaper industry. "See? We're no worse than the rest of the rabble"
The first such ad, appearing Monday in color, was bought by CBS. The ad, two-and-a-half inches high, lies horizontally across the bottom of the front page, below the news articles and a brief summary of some articles in the paper. In a statement, the paper said such ads would be placed "below the fold" -- that is, on the lower half of the page. "that speaks to our still relevant standards"
In the past, The Times has printed an occasional front-page classified ad -- two or three lines of text at the bottom of the page. And a few years ago it began selling display ads -- which are much larger and can combine images and text -- on the front pages of sections inside the paper. "we can do either, or both, for cash. Hey mister, I'll do you good!"
But The Times did not sell displays on the first page of the first section, a move regarded by traditionalists as a commercial incursion into the most important news space in the paper.
Most major American papers sell front-page display ads, including The Wall Street Journal, USA Today and The Los Angeles Times, but some others, including The Washington Post, do not. *sniff* The Times would not disclose the rates it charges for ads on the front page. Ordinarily, such space would be coveted by advertisers for its prominence, but it remains to be seen how well it will sell in the current climate, in which ad spending is plummeting.
An ad on a paper's front page "really stands out; it's very attractive," said Beth Fidoten, senior vice president and director of print accounts at Initiative, a media buying firm. Generally, she said, papers do not charge significantly more for that space than for other premium spots, "but the way it's usually done is the advertiser has to make a significant commitment to multiple ads." The NYT closed at $7.06 today, down from a 52 week high of $21.14, and down from $48.01, four short years ago. Pinch's economic miracle!
Posted by: Frank G ||
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#1
Can't wait to read the books. Pinch has always been a '68er wannabe - Bring down the System, all that crap. Didn't figure he'd kamikaze the family jewels, though.
#4
As late as the early 1970's, front page ads were commonplace in major newspapers in most large cities. But in those days, we hadn't yet felt the full effects of the class of '68, and capitalism was not perceived of as being 'crass' by most folks. Ads were simply a way of making money. There's nothing wrong with advertising anywhere a paper wants, AFAIC.
Still, imagine the horror of the millions who have convinced themselves that reading 'the Times' every day makes them automatic smart people, better than the rest of us, and above all that evil capitalism. Their consternation is my joy.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/06/2009 6:16
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#12
Alas, a $5.00 crack whore would not publish classified information about the most effective antiterrorism tactics used since 9/11.
When they published those articles which essentially compromised our ability to successfully monitor and track terrorists, I decided they were worse than Al-Jazerrya...at least AJ makes no bones about their bias.
They cloak themselves in the thin disguise of objective journalism and all they are is a cover to cover op-ed piece with very little balance.
Even their sports writers bash GWB!!! I saw a piece in the "elegant living by diletants" section of the Rag and it was a wall to wall piece of liberal nonsense and anti Republican crap.
The Yellow Press of the 1890's has nothing on the morons and malcontents that "write" for the times....
I wouldn't even wrap my garbage in that waste of newsprint.
Posted by: James Carville ||
01/06/2009 10:50
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#13
Unlike the Times, most crack whores turn a profit...
Major clashes between IDF troops and Hamas gunmen reportedly took place late Monday evening in the northern Gaza Strip.
The clashes marked the first time the IDF extended its ground operation into the densely populated Gaza urban centers.
Live footage from Al-Jazeera showed numerous explosions and fires in the area where the soldiers were said to be operating. Heavy firepower could be heard, and reports told of dozens of artillery shells, as well as air support which had been concentrated in the area.
Just over an hour earlier, the IAF bombed at least 40 smuggling tunnels along the Philadelphi Corridor on Gaza's southern border with Egypt. There were no immediate reports of casualties in the strikes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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4:51 PM A senior IDF officer in the Gaza Strip said, "Many houses in the area are booby-trapped and underground tunnels were built under them meant to enable the kidnapping of soldiers."
According to the officer, forces discovered a booby-trapped mosque, and among the weapons, found motorcycles meant to be used for kidnapping soldiers. (YNET)
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/06/2009 11:31
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#2
Any observed evidence of booby traps, retreat. Call in 1000 lb JDAMs, or even better, bring up a tank and fire away from 300-500 yards. Keep pumping them in until it's just a smoking mass of rubble. Mosks have priority. Destroy them all. Take down all their hovels if necesssary. These dimwits elected this trash and fully support them in every way. Time to show them what that vote meant.
The Obama transition team was aware of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's relationship with the firm currently being investigated, CDR Financial Products, because Richardson had introduced the firm's founder, David Rubin, to Obama fundraisers during the Democrat convention in Denver last August.
Richardson withdrew his name from nomination for Commerce Secretary due to a grand jury investigation into possible financial dealings between his New Mexico administration and Rubin's firm, CDR Financial.
But it isn't just Obama and Richardson that Rubin has ties to. According to federal law enforcement officials familiar with the investigation, federal officials are also looking into CDR's political and financial ties to Pennsylvania Gov. Ed Rendell, as well as to Democrat state and local officials in Illinois, California, Florida, and Pennsylvania.
Rendell placed Rubin on a political patronage commission in Pennsylvania, and Rubin was also given a seat on a Los Angeles City commission back in 2002, both seemingly as the result of political contributions to political action committees. Rubin has also been a financial supporter of Rev. Al Sharpton.
CDR also had close business ties to Freddie Mac and Fannie Mae, marketing and selling financial instruments created through low-income housing "lease to own" programs across the country. "If someone wants to understand just how deep Democrats are into the housing bubble and the economic crisis, they should look at some of the financial wheeling and dealing around some of those 'lease to own' programs," says a former Freddie Mac lobbyist based in Washington. "It's a veritable 'who's who' of Democratic state and local politics from New York to Los Angeles."
Rubin, founded the firm known for many years as Chambers, Dunhill, Rubin & Co, though there is no Chambers or Dunhill associated with the firm. It appears that after a number of embarrassing investigations into alleged IRS investigations into back-door deals related to municipal bond financing in Atlanta and other localities in the late 1990s, the firm's name was changed to CDR Financial.
Richardson's relationship to Rubin goes back to the early 2000s, in which time Rubin has given Richardson and his PACs more than $100,000. In October 2003, Rubin gave $25,000 to Richardson's Moving America Forward. In 2004, Rubin cut another check for another Richardson PAC, "¡Si Se Puede! Boston 2004." Translated, from the Spanish, the PAC is called Yes, We Can, and it financed Richardson's political activities for the 2004 Democratic National Convention in Boston.
According to a Bloomberg News report and New Mexico records, between 2003 and 2004, CDR made $951,566 advising the New Mexico Finance Authority on $420 million of interest rate swaps. By comparison, when New York City offered $900 million in derivatives, it paid its adviser about $400,000.
"Long before Bill Richardson was governor, New Mexico was known to be one of the most corrupt states in the country," says a current Federal Bureau of Investigations official who has overseen criminal investigations related to drug-trafficking and organized crime in the state. "If there is anything to this investigation, it appears that it's just politics as usual for New Mexico."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
It is interesting that the jet-setting couple, former Ambassador Joe Wilson and wife, Valerie Plame, slithered out of DC and retired to a ranch in New Mexico. He was the last man out of Baghdad before Oil-for-Food was set up...turned down the chic Paris apartment for a ranch on the border?
#3
Fox News for a while that Washington State Gov. Christine Gregoire was 'in the loop' to replace Richardson as the Commerce Sec. Now it seems that's not the case.
Perhaps someone (thankfully) in the "O-Team" decided that a raving moonbat nutcase might not be the best suited individual for this job.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
01/06/2009 11:36
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Queen Chris took off to visit the troops in the ME.
But I got a story from my little sister in Michigan, seems their governor is also being looked at as commerce secretary.
Question: after looking at the economic powerhouse that is Michigan, why would there be any other candidates considered?
A Minnesota board has certified election results showing Democrat Al Franken has won the U.S. Senate recount -- by 225 votes. But that doesn't mean the former Saturday Night Live comedian's race against his Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, is over. Fox News has learned that Senate Democratic leaders will try to seat Franken on Tuesday, but a legal challenge probably will keep the race in limbo. Franken aides say the Democrat has no plans to travel to Washington yet.
Posted by: Fred ||
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They just need to clean up that little issue of having more ballots than voters.
#9
It seems Skidmark misread the propaganda he was supposed to post. 2004 was beyond the level of error. The only rcount was in Washington State where the Democrats kept counting until they got the result they wished.
In 2000, the same was attempted in Florida, but the Supreme Court of the USA stopped that cheating attempt to recount until the desired results were obtained by the Democrat criminals. Later independent audits showed that Bush did win that election legitimately. It is only the mentally ill who continue this fight 8 years later.
#10
And thanks to the Free Market system they continue to self-regulate themselves by annually replacing faded Gore and Kerry bumper stickers so that the DMV does not, as with driver's ed vehicles, have to put a cone on top of their vehicle to warn of additional driving hazards.
#11
Interesting historical note. Gore never believed for a second that he had won in Florida in 2000. The lawsuits and endless recounts were intended to prevent the Florida vote from being certified. If it hadn't been certified by the time the electoral college met to vote, Gore would have won the electoral vote, and thus the presidency.
#13
Franken getting more than a dozen votes would have been a disappointment. Like Obama, evidently Minnesotans think pretty highly of him. Be careful what you'ze ask for.
The Taliban in North Waziristan Agency on Monday killed two Afghans and a Pakistani national, on suspicion they were spying for the United States. Bodies of the two Afghans - Umar Siddiq and Qasim Khan - and Azizur Rehman, resident of Bannu, were found on the Bannu-Miranshah Road near Norak, around 20 kilometres east of Miranshah. The bodies of the Afghan citizens were found hanged upside down from a tree, while Aziz's body lay on the ground. A note left nearby by the Taliban said the bodies were "a gift from Mujahideen to the US secretary of state. Anyone who goes hunting for dollars would be treated the same way".
Posted by: Fred ||
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The Taliban in Mohmand Agency on Monday took an 11-member delegation of tribal elders from Bajaur Agency hostage, sources told Daily Times. The sources said the elders of the Mandal tribe had gone to the Anbar mountains to meet the Taliban and discuss rocket attacks in Mandal area of Bajaur from Anbar area of Mohmand. Officials of Bajaur's political administration confirmed the abduction. Mandal tribesmen asked the Taliban to free all the hostages, and threatened to advance on Anbar tehsil if the demand was not met.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The Israeli attack on Gaza is likely timed to coincide with the February elections in Israel and this month's inauguration of President-elect Barack Obama in anticipation of launching a comprehensive Middle East peace plan. The ultimate goal of the Gaza invasion is to create the conditions to introduce international troops into Palestine. Part of the purpose is to prop up the regime of President Mahmoud Abbas and allow the Palestinian leader to extend his mandate across all of Palestine. By calling for international military support, Abbas is seeking to end both the violence and the Israeli occupation at once. The hope is that he will re-establish his legitimacy and provide the grounds for a two-state solution as prescribed in President George Bush's 2002 UN Security Council Resolution 1397, "of two States, Israel and Palestine, living side by side within secure and recognized borders," a proposition openly rejected by Hamas, the Palestinian Islamic Resistance Movement, and Likud, the Israeli right-wing party.
The idea for an international military intervention was first proposed by Martin Indyk, the former US ambassador to Israel under presidents Bill Clinton and George Bush 43, in a 2003 Foreign Affairs article, "A Trusteeship for Palestine?" The main idea is to replace the Israeli occupation with an international force that would train and guide the Palestinians into self-rule, while ensuring the security of both Israel and Palestine.
Indyk reiterated the plan in the summer of 2007 soon after Hamas took over Gaza. In a follow up to the Foreign Affairs article, he proposes the international force "partner" with the Palestinian Authority - rather than replace it as he had initially proposed - in an effort to extend control over all of Palestine, including Gaza. He argues that Hamas' control of Gaza does not undermine the trusteeship's long-term goal, but provides an opportunity to isolate Hamas (Fatah did stand down the majority of its troops), suffocate it (through the siege), and then dismantle it (following an invasion, which we are tragically witnessing today).
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Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Lemme guess who's gonna have to bankroll this 'International Force'.
AND take all the bullsh*t for it.
AND listen to all the bellyaching from the left end.
AND put up with the Paleostains.
AND be vilified for all our efforts.
#4
An international force comprised of Iraqi Kurds might be good. They would be Sunni and trustworthy which is a rare combination (and Shia Kurds could be ready for action on Israeli's northern border if needed, a direct threat to Syria).
Plus it would give Iraq some high profile international prestige.
#2
Trying to chisel an Illinois political activist seems like an unlikely proposition. Maybe they hoped to lure a Hollywood type into a rental. My advice to future innaugural landlords would be to get a substantial deposit from any Clinton supporters.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/06/2009 7:40
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#3
All pfffft and no odor.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009 7:46
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#4
Rantburg should offer to rent these folks virtual inaugural space for $10,000/night.
Posted by: ed ||
01/06/2009 7:57
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#5
The behavior of the crowd at the inauguration of the first Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, might give us a clue about what is in store. They swarmed through the White House and stripped the place.
#6
A pox on the entire sordid event. Snow, freezing rain, and lots of it, two days prior...two days following. Icey roads, gummit closures, I-95 closure, six feet of snow piled in the HOV. Winds, Norwesters, Noreasters, Southeasters, Westeasters.....strong ones. Whole Foods closures. Arugula shortages. Food riots... and on, and on.
while I am encouraged by some of BO's nominees, I am dismayed by the pick of Penetta. He's the moron that won't let TSA profile who they search. Ergo, you have 90 year old grannies being patted down and their wheelchairs being X-Rayed while the 25 year old moslem radical goes straight through.
It is a miracle we have not had a catastrophe because of this airhead.
Bush appointed a fine and very able man to head the CIA and now we have a politician of the worst order running an organization that has been out of control since Clinton filled it with hacks and politicians. They might as well turn off the lights and lock the doors over at Langley, the CIA is now officially worthless. It is not the elephant's burial ground for tired old political hacks.
Posted by: James Carville ||
01/06/2009 10:58
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#9
These folks forgot a cardinal difference between Republicans and Democrats. Republicans are generous with their own money. Democrats are generous with other people's money. When is comes to opening their own wallets, the Dems are a stingy lot.
Heh. I've been scratching my head, trying to figger out who was coming to DC that had USD20,000 to 'rent' someone's crappy condo for a long weekend.
The numbers never made sense. O's election army was a bunch of college kids and Acorn activists.
In the meantime, we are facing an ever-widening security zone and the question of exactly *where* one finds parking for 10,000 charter buses. And how do you get all their passengers back in the buses at the end of the day?
#11
Story problem: Bob the entrepreneur has rented a Washington duplex for $995. He plans to sublet it as a crash pad to hippies, ACORNistas and miscellaneous lefties for $5 per head. How many 'renters' does Bob need to break even?
Extra credit: Assume that the smell of patchouli and bong water will never come out of the carpet and Bob's deposit is history. How many extra 'renters' are needed now to break even?
#12
Looking at the entire Hops and Chains crowd now flowing into DC and if you were to compare it to a NASCAR entry, they would all need that big ol' yellow paint stripe on their back bumper.
#13
"The behavior of the crowd at the inauguration of the first Democratic President, Andrew Jackson, might give us a clue about what is in store. They swarmed through the White House and stripped the place."
IIRC, Grunter, they got that crowd out of the White House by moving the likker punch bowls to the lawn.
Just sump'in for Bambi's underlings to keep in mind.... :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 15:23
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#18
Seafarious, are you assuming The One's supporters and minnions know how to read and know what egress means?
I'm just a polite local welcoming visitors to my fair city and giving them some assistance in navigating around an often-confusing streetscape. And yes, the egresses are really something to see. Don't forget your camera!
More than 70,000 Iranian student volunteers have registered to carry out suicide bombings against Israel because of Israel's assault on the Gaza Strip. According to the official IRNA news agency, hardline student leader Esmaeil Ahmadi says the students want to fight Israel in support of Hamas - Gaza's Islamic militant rulers. Five hard-line student groups and a conservative clerical group launched a registration drive last week to ask the government to allow them to stage the suicide attacks. President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's government has not responded to the call yet. The government never responded to similar requests in the past. This raises the likelihood that the calls are mainly for propaganda purposes
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
70,000.... do I Hear 80,000.
70,000 going once...
twice...
SOLD! To the idiots that believe anything from Iran.
If they had them, why advertise it?
Plus, by the time they get them there, there isn't going to be Hamas left in Gaza.
Pragmatically, IRAN knows Israel will attack it iff it goes NUKULAR - however, THE ISLAMIST JIHAD NEEDS NUCLEARIZATION AND FOR IRAN TO GO DE FACTO NUKULAR. As R. LEE would say, IRAN has itself a DEEEEEEEELLLLEEEEEEMMMMMMAA [dilemma].
#5
Signing up on the list is one thing.
Getting inside israel with a bomb and having the stones to set it off is quite another.
Big talk that amounts to squat.
#6
Let's hope the Iranian's suicide training program is extremely realistic.
Posted by: ed ||
01/06/2009 8:07
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#7
The way I see it, once Gaza is pretty well scrubbed of Hamas and its rocketry, Israel has little reason to not go ahead and denuclearize Iran. Preferably while Bush is still POTUS.
U.S. President George W. Bush said on Monday any ceasefire to end the Gaza crisis must include provisions that prevent Hamas from using the coastal strip to fire rockets into Israel.
" I know people are saying: let's have a ceasefire. (Those have) noble ambitions. But any ceasefire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets, "
U.S. President George W. Bush
"Instead of caring about the people of Gaza, Hamas decided to use Gaza to use rockets to kill innocent Israelis," Bush told reporters after a White House meeting with a Sudanese official. "Israel's obviously decided to protect itself."
He said that the United States was concerned about the humanitarian crisis unfolding in the Gaza Strip on the 10th day of a relentless Israeli air and land assault against Hamas gunmen. "All of us of course would like to see, you know, violence stop, but not at the expense of an agreement that does not prevent the crisis from happening again," the U.S. President said.
"I know people are saying: let's have a ceasefire. (Those have) noble ambitions. But any ceasefire must have the conditions in it so that Hamas does not use Gaza as a place from which to launch rockets."
More than 555 Palestinians have been killed since Israel's Operation Cast Lead was launched on Dec. 27 to end Hamas rocket attacks across the border into southern Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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A Golani soldier managed to single-handedly foil an attempt to kidnap him during nocturnal operations in the Gaza Strip overnight Sunday, Israel Radio reported.
Soldiers from the IDF's Golani infantry brigade were fighting in the northern part of the Gaza Strip when they entered a house on which they had previous intelligence indicating that it was used as a Hamas command center. Upon entering the house, the soldiers discovered entrances to several tunnels, which the Hamas terrorists holed up in the house had used to escape underground to neighboring houses. According to the report, the terrorists were shooting into the building when the soldiers entered.
One of the soldiers reportedly followed the gunmen into a tunnel and managed to contain several Hamas fighters in an underground firefight, before teaming up with his comrades again. Two IAF helicopters were scrambled to support the infantrymen, Israel Radio said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Unknown gunmen killed a leading figure of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan [PUK] under President Jalal Talabani, the chief of the local police said on Monday. "Unidentified gunmen shot and killed a member of the PUK, Subhi Hassan, in Jemen region, north of Kirkuk," Brig. Sarhad Qader told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The gunmen also killed and injured two other men who were accompanying him," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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Heavy fighting between Israeli forces and Hamas fighters broke out in a densely populated area of Gaza City on Monday evening, as at least 12 children became some of the latest victims of the Israeli onslaught. Israeli troops battled Hamas fighters in Gaza's main city for the first time Monday - after dozens died in a day of clashes - while the government fended off worldwide calls for a cease-fire.
Amid raging combat in Gaza City, and as the Palestinian death toll rose to at least 555, French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev both demanded a halt to the conflict. But Israeli ministers said the offensive would go on.
Large explosions and heavy gunfire rocked the Shejaiya neighborhood of eastern Gaza City as night fell. Israeli military sources confirmed there were heavy clashes. Flares lit up the skies over the blacked-out neighborhood as attack helicopters could be seen hovering above.
Hamas said its fighters had shot missiles against seven tanks in the district. Its Islamic Jihad allies said several of its members were killed in the fighting.
Israeli fighter-bombers carried out more than 30 air strikes during the day. The military said they hit a mosque where it claimed "arms were being stored, as well as houses containing arms caches and vehicles that were transporting rocket launchers and armed men."
Warships off the coast also bombarded targets to help the ground offensive launched on Saturday night.
The Israeli strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians on Monday, including 12 children, medics said. A couple and their five children were killed by one naval shell, medics said. Three children were killed by a tank shell in Zeitun in the Gaza City suburbs, and two were killed in Shati by a naval strike, they said.
The UN estimates that civilians make up one quarter of the dead - including almost 100 children - that have been killed since Israel launched "Operation Cast Lead" on December 27. More than 2,700 have been wounded.
Three Israeli civilians and one soldier have been killed by rockets fired from Gaza since Israel's operation started. More than 30 rocket and missile attacks were reported on Monday. One hit a kindergarten which was closed because of the crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
The Gaza denizens should really read Psalm 18 that the IDF radio broadcast to the troops.
Psalm 18
1I will love thee, O LORD, my strength.
2The LORD is my rock, and my fortress, and my deliverer; my God, my strength, in whom I will trust; my buckler, and the horn of my salvation, and my high tower.
3I will call upon the LORD, who is worthy to be praised: so shall I be saved from mine enemies.
4The sorrows of death compassed me, and the floods of ungodly men made me afraid.
5The sorrows of hell compassed me about: the snares of death prevented me.
6In my distress I called upon the LORD, and cried unto my God: he heard my voice out of his temple, and my cry came before him, even into his ears.
7Then the earth shook and trembled; the foundations also of the hills moved and were shaken, because he was wroth.
8There went up a smoke out of his nostrils, and fire out of his mouth devoured: coals were kindled by it.
9He bowed the heavens also, and came down: and darkness was under his feet.
10And he rode upon a cherub, and did fly: yea, he did fly upon the wings of the wind.
11He made darkness his secret place; his pavilion round about him were dark waters and thick clouds of the skies.
12At the brightness that was before him his thick clouds passed, hail stones and coals of fire.
13The LORD also thundered in the heavens, and the Highest gave his voice; hail stones and coals of fire.
14Yea, he sent out his arrows, and scattered them; and he shot out lightnings, and discomfited them.
15Then the channels of waters were seen, and the foundations of the world were discovered at thy rebuke, O LORD, at the blast of the breath of thy nostrils.
16He sent from above, he took me, he drew me out of many waters.
17He delivered me from my strong enemy, and from them which hated me: for they were too strong for me.
18They prevented me in the day of my calamity: but the LORD was my stay.
19He brought me forth also into a large place; he delivered me, because he delighted in me.
20The LORD rewarded me according to my righteousness; according to the cleanness of my hands hath he recompensed me.
21For I have kept the ways of the LORD, and have not wickedly departed from my God.
22For all his judgments were before me, and I did not put away his statutes from me.
23I was also upright before him, and I kept myself from mine iniquity.
24Therefore hath the LORD recompensed me according to my righteousness, according to the cleanness of my hands in his eyesight.
25With the merciful thou wilt shew thyself merciful; with an upright man thou wilt shew thyself upright;
26With the pure thou wilt shew thyself pure; and with the froward thou wilt shew thyself froward.
27For thou wilt save the afflicted people; but wilt bring down high looks.
28For thou wilt light my candle: the LORD my God will enlighten my darkness.
29For by thee I have run through a troop; and by my God have I leaped over a wall.
30As for God, his way is perfect: the word of the LORD is tried: he is a buckler to all those that trust in him.
31For who is God save the LORD? or who is a rock save our God?
32It is God that girdeth me with strength, and maketh my way perfect.
33He maketh my feet like hinds' feet, and setteth me upon my high places.
34He teacheth my hands to war, so that a bow of steel is broken by mine arms.
35Thou hast also given me the shield of thy salvation: and thy right hand hath holden me up, and thy gentleness hath made me great.
36Thou hast enlarged my steps under me, that my feet did not slip.
37I have pursued mine enemies, and overtaken them: neither did I turn again till they were consumed.
38I have wounded them that they were not able to rise: they are fallen under my feet.
39For thou hast girded me with strength unto the battle: thou hast subdued under me those that rose up against me.
40Thou hast also given me the necks of mine enemies; that I might destroy them that hate me.
41They cried, but there was none to save them: even unto the LORD, but he answered them not.
42Then did I beat them small as the dust before the wind: I did cast them out as the dirt in the streets.
43Thou hast delivered me from the strivings of the people; and thou hast made me the head of the heathen: a people whom I have not known shall serve me.
44As soon as they hear of me, they shall obey me: the strangers shall submit themselves unto me.
45The strangers shall fade away, and be afraid out of their close places.
46The LORD liveth; and blessed be my rock; and let the God of my salvation be exalted.
47It is God that avengeth me, and subdueth the people under me.
48He delivereth me from mine enemies: yea, thou liftest me up above those that rise up against me: thou hast delivered me from the violent man.
49Therefore will I give thanks unto thee, O LORD, among the heathen, and sing praises unto thy name.
50Great deliverance giveth he to his king; and sheweth mercy to his anointed, to David, and to his seed for evermore.
#2
French and Russian presidents Nicolas Sarkozy and Dmitry Medvedev both demanded a halt to the conflict.
Demanded? In the face of open American support? Why do they work to make themselves look unimportant?
Separately, verses 37-42 are, I think, Israel's key statement. The Gazans are right to panic; perhaps they should flee altogether in the face of Israel's clear intentions.
#3
strikes killed at least 50 Palestinians on Monday, including 12 children
Just for perspective, the median age in Gaza is 17.2 years and males can carry weapons long before that age.
#5
if hamas was winning i wonder how many ppl would be calling for the cease fire. And wtf is a russian pres calling for the end of any war for. they helped start most of them for the last 60 years
#8
WAFF.com > IN GAZA FIGHT, IRAN LURKS IN THE BACKGROUND; + ISRAEL PRANKING [daring]HIZBOLLAH BY FLYING OVER LEBANON [Israeli AF demands to be shot at]?
STAR TREK'S CHEKOV > VILD VEEESIL ["Wild Weasel" AirOps]
Israeli troops engaged in heavy gun battles late Monday with Hamas fighters in Gaza City for the first time since the start of the army's ground offensive, military sources and witnesses said. Large explosions and heavy exchanges of fire rocked Shejaiya neighbourhood of eastern Gaza City as Israel pressed its campaign to halt Hamas rocket attacks.
Hamas said in a statement that its fighters had fired missiles at seven tanks in the same district. The Islamic Jihad movement said several of its members were killed in the fighting.
Israeli military sources confirmed that troops were involved in heavy clashes in that area.
Fifty Palestinians -- including 12 children -- were killed in the Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Monday, the head of the territory's emergency services told AFP. Israeli fire killed a mother and four of her children in Gaza City after a rocket hit their house, medics said.
The official, Muawiya Hassanein, said 555 Palestinians have now been killed since the start of Israel's offensive to halt Hamas rocket fire on Dec. 27. He added that 2,700 people have been wounded in air raids and tank shelling.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
including 12 children
Most of whom were shooting at the Israelis or carrying ammo for those who were. The rest were being used as human shields. At least that would be my bet.
#2
Fifty Palestinians -- including 12 children -- were killed in the Israeli offensive against Hamas in the Gaza Strip on Monday
I wonder how many of those were killed by indiscriminate fire by Hamass TOWARD the Israelis, and how many were killed by the Israelis returning fire. I'd bet at LEAST 50/50, if not weighted heavily against Hamass.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/06/2009 10:58
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#3
Imprimus, Glenmore & OP: you've only Paleos (via their mouthpieces) word for 12 children.
#4
Most of whom were shooting at the Israelis or carrying ammo for those who were. The rest were being used as human shields. At least that would be my bet.
I'm so confused! I thought they loved Death and all? So, you give them free Martyrdom, and they whine about it? Talk about being forced-fed chocolate! That's what this guy sez, too :
#6
Im sick of hearing about civilian deaths... Based on new reports from gaza every single death was an innocent women or child. The fact is once you strap a bomb vest to your women and children.. They are no longer Off limits!
#7
Even France 2 has bee fooled by Hamas propaganda
PARIS: Frances public broadcaster was forced to apologize to viewers yesterday after it mistakenly used amateur footage shot in 2005 to illustrate a report on the current Gaza conflict.
France 2 television on Monday broadcast part of an amateur video presented in a voiceover commentary as showing the fallout from an Israeli air strike on a civilian area in Gaza on January 1.
Dating from September 2005, the video, which has been widely circulated on the Internet, actually shows civilians wounded in the accidental explosion of a pick-up truck loaded with Hamas rockets at a rally in Jabaliya refugee camp.
China arrested almost 1,300 people for terrorism, religious extremism or other state security charges in the country's Muslim-majority western Xinjiang region last year, state press said Sunday.
The vast desert area bordering Central Asia is home to more than eight million members of China's ethnic Uighur population, Muslims who have complained for decades of political and religious repression.
The Procuratorial Daily said the arrests came as the government made "maintaining social stability" a priority last year, when Beijing hosted the 2008 Olympic Games in August. A wave of unrest, at times resulting in violence, erupted in Xinjiang ahead of the Olympics. According to state press reports, the unrest was largely fomented by Uighur Muslim separatists.
The paper said 1,295 people were arrested on suspicion of endangering state security in the first 11 months of 2008, and that 1,154 were formally charged and faced trials or administrative punishment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
where's all the human rights advocates croaking about this travesty? Oh, that's right, only the U.S. who acts like the proverbial sorority girl that wants to be liked by everyone worries about what those crackpots think. The Chinese could give a rip & act accordingly. I grudgingly respect them for it.
#2
WORLD MIL FORUM > DESPITE INTERNAL CHANGES PROMOTING NON-VIOLENCE, THE "EAST TURKISTAN ISLAMIC MOVEMENT" [Xianjing = UIGHURS] AND "TIBET INDEPENDENCE" FACTIONS HIDE THEIR MALICIOUS INTENTIONS AGZ CHINA AND NATIONAL UNITY.
* SAME > CENTRAL MIL COMMISSION ORDERS ARMY TO PREPARE FOR STRONGER MILITANT SEPARATIST VIOLENCE, ESPEC IN URBAN AREAS.
Two foreign journalists released Sunday from captivity in Somalia recounted their ordeal on Monday, with one saying a pint of beer was his first priority upon regaining his freedom.
British reporter Colin Freeman expressed relief at being released, but in an account for The Daily Telegraph newspaper, he also told of the darkest moments of his captivity with a Spanish photographer, including when kidnappers put a gun to his head and acted out his "imminent execution."
The indication that they were finally to be released came when one of their Somali captors stuck his head into the cave where they were being held, saying there was another telephone call from London. "It was at least the 10th call from London since we were snatched and while each offered a welcome lifeline to the outside world, they were always fraught with tension," wrote Freeman, the chief foreign correspondent for The Sunday Telegraph. "Occasionally, there would be news that the talks to free us were progressing well, but more often the word was of endless complications.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas strongman in Gaza, on Monday urged Hamas fighters to "crush" IDF forces who have invaded the territory. He also hinted at greater efforts to attack Israeli civilians.
Speaking on Hamas's Al-Aqsa TV, Zahar praised Hamas fighters and urged them to "crush your enemy." He promised that Hamas would ultimately emerge victorious in the fight against Israeli forces.
He said Israelis "have legitimized the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."
Zahar added that "the rockets launched by resistance fighters have broken Israel's security perceptions."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Buck Russell: Take this quarter, go downtown, and have a rat gnaw that thing off your face! Good day to you.
#2
Related story from non-collaborationist media here, including the additional detail that Zahar made his victory proclamation from a secret hideout, where he is cowering with some fellow rats.
#6
the word is that all the Gaza based hamas leadership, being in hiding, is now completely cut off both from Hamas troops and from diplo activity. Both troops and diplo activity (such as it is) are being directed from Hamas leadership in Damascus. This has implications, perhaps, for issues of who has control on the ground in those parts of Gaza where the IDF is not currently present.
#8
He said Israelis "have legitimized the killing of their children by killing our children. They have legitimized the killing of their people all over the world by killing our people."
The name Samir Kuntar ring a bell, you ugly prick?
Let's hope there's an Israeli JDAM with his name on it.
US troops are helping Egypt prevent "arms smuggling" from tunnels in the Rafah border-crossing, as Israel continues its attacks on Gaza.
NBC anchorwoman and chief foreign affairs correspondent Andrea Mitchell said Sunday that US military officers from the Corps of Engineers had been stationed on the Egyptian side of the Rafah crossing in order to prevent "arms smuggling from illegal tunnels" by Palestinian fighters.
" And there are US Army Corps of Engineer personnel on the ground right now on the Egypt side looking at the tunnels to see how Egypt could be reassured that there won't be continued smuggling through on that," she said on Meet the Press.
The US and Israel say the tunnels are used for smuggling arms into the Gaza Strip. Israeli warplanes have bombing the Rafah border to destroy the tunnels.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Exactly what do they've to monitor---since IDF is blowing it all up?
#2
They monitor the Egyptians, g(r)omporu, to keep them honest... and our Army engineers probably pinpointed the location of many of the tunnels the IAF destroyed.
Nine Taliban militants were killed in a gunfight early Monday by Afghan and NATO troops in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a senior police official said. The gunfight erupted after Taliban-linked militants attacked Afghan and NATO security forces in the restive province's Panjwayi district, the top police commander for southern Afghanistan, Ghulam Ali Wahdat, told AFP. The troops were on a routine patrol when they came under attack, he said.
"We were conducting an operation in the area. Taliban attacked one of our patrols. We engaged them and nine Taliban were killed," Wahdat told AFP. Kandahar is one of the most troubled regions in Afghanistan, and one where Taliban militants are most active.
Meanwhile, British, Afghan and coalition forces captured four key Taliban strongholds in southern Afghanistan during a massive operation that saw them fight at close quarters, knee-deep in mud, reports late Sunday said. Britain's Ministry of Defense released details of the operation, which was fought over 18 days around the town of Nad-e-Ali in Helmand Province and left five members of the British forces and around 100 Taliban fighters dead.
More than 1,500 troops were involved, making it one of the largest operations mounted by the Royal Marines since the US-led invasion of Iraq in 2003. It culminated in a battle on December 25, Christmas Day.
"Almost every day we were involved in intense firefights ranging from rocket-propelled grenades and small-arms 'shoot-and-scoots' to four-hour battles with the enemy forces as close as 30 meters," said Captain David Glendenning, commander of the Royal Marines' artillery support team.
Some of the British troops had to trudge more than 60 kilometers through mud while fighting insurgents, the Ministry of Defense said.
One marine recalled his experience: "I was in Nad-e-Ali for just over two weeks ... Some of the places we stayed in were a nightmare - sleeping in the mud was the worst.
"[At times] we were exposed and moving ahead of our infantry protection. It felt like we were being watched and it was difficult to tell who the enemy was - it was pretty scary."
The ministry said the operation was aimed at improving security in the provincial capital Lashkar Gah, ahead of a voter registration program due to start early this year. It involved Danish, Estonian and Afghan troops, and saw the marines at one point fight hand-to-hand in a "360-degree battle," the ministry said. The deaths during the operation of four British servicemen and an Australian serving with the British forces were announced at the time.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
how do you say "good hunting" in British?
Our allies (brits, aussies, danes, estonians) continue to do good and unheralded work.
Former Malaysian prime minister Mahathir Mohamad on Monday called for a global boycott of the U.S. dollar and U.S.-made products, including Coca-Cola, in protest over Washington's backing of Israel. The former premier said while governments might not be able to support the move as many were "scared stiff" of the superpower, the people could play their part to "save Palestine."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Scrap the proposed free trade agreement w/ Malaysia, tariff and boycott Malaysian imports. Help eliminate the $20 billion annual trade deficit and put Americans to work instead of islamic supremacists.
Posted by: ed ||
01/06/2009 2:08
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#2
Malaysia, where pork is unclean and monkeys are dinner.
As with the dismemberment of the Ottoman Empire, we can chalk Malaysian Islamism up to the errors of British imperialism. They should have let the Reds have the place.
#8
"by claiming the a Jewish cabal 'ruled the world'"
This always fascinates me. The same clowns that say Jooooooos are bad and unclean and Allan wants all of them killed ALSO think that this teeny tiny minority of people somehow manage to rule the entire world.
If you really believe that, Mo, you should be scared sh*tless of them and what they can do to you anytime they decide to.
Loser.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/06/2009 13:59
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#9
I can never remember if the Jews are the "apes" or the "pigs". Either way, it fascinates me that they can be so lowly and yet rule the world. That's the nice thing about Islam -- no logic is allowed.
#11
"In June this year Dr Mahathir described Westerners - or more particularly "Anglo-Saxon Europeans" -- as proponents of "war, sodomy and genocide"."
BEIJING, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A Sierra Leone cargo ship with 32 Chinese crew members on board outran four pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden Monday, Chinese officials in Beijing said. The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said the pirates gave chase in the eastern region of the gulf about 3:50 p.m., with speeds reaching 19 nautical miles per hour, Xinhua reported.
Nearby warships dispatched to protect the ship found it secure about 40 minutes later, the state-run Chinese news agency reported.
The center said the cargo vessel was loaded with more than 10,000 tons of silicate and oil equipment bound from Singapore to the Republic of Djibouti in northeastern Africa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/06/2009
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#1
WORLD MIL FORUM > seems RUSSIA plans to sizably comlement/increase its naval presence agz SOMALI PIRACY, espec vee redeployment of its PETER THE GREAT battlecruiser???
Getting crowded down there, and serious for the Pirates.
#3
Djibouti does NOT have any significant known or discovered oil fields - makes me wonder what was REALLY on that Chinese freighter. Maybe Djibouti is buying some of the nice weapons that Singapore produces, mainly 5.56mm stuff.
#4
First the Russ, ala PETER THE GREAT etal. now China.
WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC TRANSPORT MINISTRY: CHINA SHIPPING HAS 15 MERCHANT CARRIER APPLICATIONS REQUESTING PLAN NAVAL ARMED ESCORT AGZ SOMALI PIRATES???
#5
OTOH, and also from WMF > IIUC JAPAN ORDERS FULL-SCALE EXPLORATION AND SURVEY OF SEABED RESOURCES WITHIN EXCLUSIVE EEZ, DISPUTED ISLANDS IN EAST CHINA SEA. SEEN AS JAPANESE COUNTER-RESPONSE TO RECENT CHINESE-LED EXPLORATION EFFORTS AND PLAN NAVAL INCURSIONS. POSSIBLE JAPAN-CHINA CONFLICT SCENARIO OVER CHINA SEA RESOURCES MAY DEV WITHIN TEN YEARS [2019 = 2020 r.o.]???
Boy oh boy, US EnviroLefties-Anarchists, Globies, + anti-US International protagonists, etc. JUST LOVE THAT SECOND DECADE 2010 - 2020 [2015-20], DON'T THEY!?
Police have arrested 50 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group for organizing Gaza protests in Cairo, a security official said Monday.
He said the arrests Monday followed calls by the outlawed Brotherhood on members and other opposition groups to stage more demonstrations to protest Israel's Gaza offensive.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Protests have taken place across Egypt since the Jewish state began its Gaza offensive Dec. 27. In some cases, police clashed with protesters and made arrests.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
treat em gentle - the #5 truncheon
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/06/2009 0:34
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Surely there is some tunnel to Gaza that they can be shoved into before sealing it.
The new government should start the process of setting up a war crimes tribunal in the very first session of the national parliament and seek help from the United Nations, said War Crimes Facts Findings Committee Bangladesh.
Addressing a press conference yesterday at it office, the committee presented terms of reference for trial of the war criminals of 1971 and demanded to update laws for the tribunal.
The Committee said the tribunal should be formed under section 3 of article 47 of the Constitution and the International Crimes Tribunal Act-1973, and it should be supported by the United Nations for international acceptance. But the support is not mandatory for holding trial of war criminals, it said.
If the government does not start the process at early stage then there would not be much progress in this regard, they said.
The Facts Finding Committee said ordinance No. 63 of 1975 and Second Proclamation Order No. 3 of 1975 promulgated by late president Ziaur Rahman on December 31, 1975 would have to be repealed to make the ground for smooth holding of trial.
The committee also demanded formation of a Historical Clarification Commission comprising national and international experts. The role of the commission would be to explain the sequences of genocides and war crimes by Pakistani Army and local collaborators against the people of Bangladesh. Such a commission was formed in Guatemala in 1997.
The facts findings committee said the trial would have to be against three kinds of war criminals-- Pakistani Army, their auxiliary forces like Rajakar, Al Badar and Al Shams and also other local collaborators who were not registered as Rajakars.
"The crime was committed against the people of Bangladesh. So the terms and reference would have to be set by the people of Bangladesh not by others," said committee convenor Dr MA Hasan while reading out a written statement.
Major General (retd) Amin Ahmed Chowdhury of Sector Commanders Forum and Akku Chowdhury of Liberation War Museum were also present.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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#1
Overt use of the UN to accomplish internal political goals. Not surprising - we'll see more of this.
Indian police arrested four Bangladeshi criminals, three of them convicted of murdering former Awami League (AL) lawmaker Ahsanullah Master, in Gariahat of Kolkata Sunday evening. The other criminal has been convicted of murdering a former Titumir College students' council vice-president and sentenced to life-term imprisonment.
Murderers of the AL lawmaker are Nazrul Islam Dipu, Wahidul Islam Tipu and Sahayet Hossain Manju. Dipu has been sentenced to death while the other two were sentenced to life-term imprisonments in the Ahsanullah Master murder case. Ahsanullah was gunned down on May 7, 2004, in Tongi.
Arrestee Zakir Hossain Rupak was sentence to life-term imprisonment for killing former Titumir College students' council vice-president Ankhi, also a Chhatra League leader, a few years ago.
Kolkata Criminal Investigation Department (CID) officials held a press conference yesterday at its headquarters at Bhabani Bhaban where CID Special Superintendent Anil Kumer told reporters that the arrestees admitted their involvement in the two murders, a correspondent in Kolkata reports.
Dipu told Kolkata police during interrogation that former MP Ahsanullah Master's killing was led by Gazipur BNP leader Hasan Ali Sarkar, now in a Bangladesh jail.
He said he came to India with a fake Bangladeshi passport and later went to Belgium where he sought asylum. Failing to get asylum there he went to Nepal with a fake Belgium passport. He returned to Kolkata three months ago and during this period his wife had met him.
Rupak said he took refuge in Bangalore and had been to Bangladesh several times afterwards. All four had been staying at a rented flat in Garia area for some time.
Kolkata CID said they arrested the four under Section-14 of the Foreigners' Act. They produced them before a court yesterday and the court ordered to keep Dipu and Rupak under police custody till January 9 and Tipu and Manju till January 17.
Bangladesh CID chief Additional Inspector General Mohammad Javed Patwari told The Daily Star, "We hard about the arrest but we did not get any formal message from the Indian police."
On May 7, 2004, gunmen shot and killed Ahsanullah, also president of Jatiya Sramik League, and Ratan and wounded 17 others at a biennial conference of Awami Swechchhasebak League, the AL volunteers' front, at Noagaon near the legislator's house in Tongi.
Identifying Nurul Islam Sarker as the mastermind for the murder, Matiur Rahman, brother of Ahsanullah, filed a murder case with Tongi Police Station on May 8 against 17 people.
On April 16, 2005, a Dhaka court handed down death sentences to 22 people and life terms to six others for assassinating Ahsanullah.
Tipu, Dipu and Manju hail from Gopalganj and Rupak from Dhaka, our Benapole correspondent reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/06/2009
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EnCana's natural gas infrastructure in northern British Columbia has been the target of a fourth explosion, but officials with the Calgary-based energy giant still don't know why it is the focus of a bomber's anger. Guess. What do you need, a written manifesto published in the New York Times?
Gas line workers discovered a partially destroyed metering shed on Sunday at a wellhead near the community of Tomslake, southeast of Dawson Creek on the eastern side of the Rocky Mountains.
There was no damage to the wellhead and no leak, said a spokesman with EnCana. An amateur bomber who only knows to blow up the shed, not actually destroy the equipment inside?
#2
Start blowing up wellheads, and someone will get REALLY pissed. That's when people in delapidated old pick-ups start randomly driving around, with a loaded rifle on the floorboards.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/06/2009 10:47
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
It's an astonishing story. This seemingly trustworthy guy named Bernard Madoff was supposedly investing something on the order of $50 billion for some of America's richest people, pretended it was earning gobs of interest, actually used the principal of some to pay others wanting redemptions -- and lost practically everything.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi plans to re-write House rules today to ensure that the Republican minority is unable to have any influence on legislation. Pelosi's proposals are so draconian, and will so polarize the Capitol, that any thought President-elect Obama has of bipartisan cooperation will be rendered impossible before he even takes office.
An Illinois woman has been charged with submitting false information on voter registration cards, including turning in cards from nursing home residents without their knowledge.
Jan. 5 (Bloomberg) — The sons of Bernard Madoff, who is accused of orchestrating a massive Ponzi scheme, alerted prosecutors last week that their father mailed them jewelry, watches, and other items in violation of an asset freeze, his lawyer said.
As Israel pounded Gaza with live ammunition for the second straight week, hackers waged their own war online, infiltrating Israeli sites and posting videos, photos, and slogans that condemned the aggression.
U.S. diva Mariah Carey reportedly scooped up a whooping $1 million to perform only four songs at a lavish New Year's Eve bash in the Caribbean thrown by the son of Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi, press reports said Monday. 
ABC News' Rick Klein and Z. Byron Wolf Report: Among those who will take the oath of office Tuesday, when the 111th Congress convenes, is a man who has no intention of further service as a member of Congress: Sen. Joe Biden.
In its latest concession to the worst revenue slide since the Depression, The New York Times has begun selling display advertising on its front page, a step that has become increasingly common across the newspaper industry.
The Obama transition team was aware of New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson's relationship with the firm currently being investigated, CDR Financial Products, because Richardson had introduced the firm's founder, David Rubin, to Obama fundraisers during the Democrat convention in Denver last August.
A Minnesota board has certified election results showing Democrat Al Franken has won the U.S. Senate recount -- by 225 votes. But that doesn't mean the former Saturday Night Live comedian's race against his Republican opponent, incumbent Sen. Norm Coleman, is over. Fox News has learned that Senate Democratic leaders will try to seat Franken on Tuesday, but a legal challenge probably will keep the race in limbo. Franken aides say the Democrat has no plans to travel to Washington yet.
Two foreign journalists released Sunday from captivity in Somalia recounted their ordeal on Monday, with one saying a pint of beer was his first priority upon regaining his freedom.
Mahmoud Zahar, a top Hamas strongman in Gaza, on Monday urged Hamas fighters to "crush" IDF forces who have invaded the territory. He also hinted at greater efforts to attack Israeli civilians.
Nine Taliban militants were killed in a gunfight early Monday by Afghan and NATO troops in the southern Afghan province of Kandahar, a senior police official said. The gunfight erupted after Taliban-linked militants attacked Afghan and NATO security forces in the restive province's Panjwayi district, the top police commander for southern Afghanistan, Ghulam Ali Wahdat, told AFP. The troops were on a routine patrol when they came under attack, he said.
BEIJING, Jan. 5 (UPI) -- A Sierra Leone cargo ship with 32 Chinese crew members on board outran four pirate boats in the Gulf of Aden Monday, Chinese officials in Beijing said. The China Maritime Search and Rescue Center said the pirates gave chase in the eastern region of the gulf about 3:50 p.m., with speeds reaching 19 nautical miles per hour, Xinhua reported.
Police have arrested 50 members of the opposition Muslim Brotherhood group for organizing Gaza protests in Cairo, a security official said Monday.
