Protestors clashed with hundreds of riot police in central London as an anti-war demonstration turned violent. I have gotten over the fact that I will probably not be able to visit Egypt in my lifetime. But ENGLAND?? WTF???
One officer was knocked unconscious and two others received facial injuries as the mood turned sour at what had been a mainly peaceful protest. SOUR?? In the US, that would be a shooting offense.
A small group of protestors turned on mounted police and riot officers on foot, throwing missiles and smashing windows in Kensington, close to the Israeli Embassy. Oh, Jooooos. That explains it.
A crash barrier set up to help control the crowds was hurled through the large windows of a Starbucks Coffee shop. I don't like to insult my ancestral country. But the UK is going to HAVE to get its sh*t together. FAST
#1
Speaking at the rally Ms Booth criticised brother-in-law Tony Blair over his attempts to bring about a successful ceasefire.
Tony Blairs only comment regarding the ceasefire has been to say that it can only take place after the tunnels in Gaza are destroyed," she said. What he is suggesting means that after the massacre people will have no access to food, kerosene and medicines that came through those tunnels. That is not a ceasefire that is a slow agonising death.
Wasn't she one of the Boat People shown trying to buy up every Snickers bar in a well stocked Gaza food store when the Israelis wouldn't let her out?
I have no problem destroying all the tunnels. Then let the Egyptians and Euros run the Rafah crossing as a business. No military stuff comes through, everything gets inspected, and there is a 'state' price for everything (the Euros will be particularly good at this; I'd get Brussels in charge).
The UN no longer is allowed to put cash into Gaza; the 'refugees' [cough] get vouchers for use at the Euro store in Rafah.
And then let the Euros work on building some basic infrastructure and business so that Gazookians can be employed. Maybe Nike could put a sneaker factory in there.
And one more thing: anyone fires a rocket at Israel, the Euro station at Rafah closes for a time: one day per rocket. You fire 30 rockets, you figure out how you're going to eat for a month.
Now if the Gazooks really want peace [hah], over time they'll figure out how to be peaceful.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 19:14
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#4
I love a good bedtime story fantasy, Steve.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:21
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Gonna repent, Salim?
Yeah...
That's good. Go and sin no more.
SAN'A, Yemen (AP) The lawyer for Osama bin Laden's former driver says his client has been released from a Yemeni prison after serving out his sentence. Lawyer Khaled Al-Anas says Salim Hamdan was released Friday.
A Yemeni Interior Ministry official has confirmed the release but says it happened Saturday. He spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the media.
A U.S. military tribunal convicted Hamdan in August of aiding al-Qaida and sentenced him to 5 1/2 years in prison. He had already served five years and a month at Guantanamo Bay prison at the time.
The U.S. transferred Hamdan to his home country Yemen at the end of 2008 to serve out the rest of his sentence Yeah, a whole 2 months of it. But his old buddies at Guantanamo don't appear to be too happy... Washington lawyer David Remes, who represents 17 Yemenis, said some of his clients launched the latest hunger strike after Yemeni Salim Hamdan went home in November, a month shy of completion of his 66-month prison sentence."Theyve actually gone ballistic at the fact that Hamdan, who was convicted of supporting terrorism, was released and they, who have been charged with nothing, continue to languish there," said Remes, who met with clients before Christmas.
Long-held detainees, most held without charge since early 2002, were "elated" that Hamdan was leaving the prison camps, Remes said. But, "that doesnt mitigate the perverseness of the situation. If an ordinary detainee knew that all you had to be (was) Osamas servant to get out, a lot of them would have fabricated confessions that they were Osamas servant."
#1
Hey, if you can't blame the Juice, who can you blame? On the plus side, I'd say Israel doesn't have to worry any more about world opinion turning against them.
"In 2007 TROP reported that the Muslim and Jewish holy days overlapped for ten days. During this period, 'Muslims racked up 397 dead bodies in 94 terror attacks across 10 countries... while Jews worked on their 159th Nobel Prize.'"
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:19
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#3
Hell, they can't blame Chimpy McBushitler for much longer, anyways.
(You are right about that line, though, Barbara! Classic!!)
Mmmmmmmmmmmm...elephant.
HARARE, Zimbabwe, Jan. 10 (UPI) -- Zimbabwean soldiers are being given elephant meat to eat, an environmental group says. The BBC reported Saturday that the use of elephant meat began last June but has recently increased. Some days you eat the elephant, some days the elephant eats you...
Jonny Rodrigues of the Zimbabwe Conservation Task Force said several soldiers had complained to him that was the only meat they were given. Rodrigues said that army contracts to supply beef to feed soldiers had been canceled. "It is cheaper and easier to use elephant meat," he was quoted by the British network as saying. Unless you're an elephant... Hokay, is there such a thing as 'dark' and 'white' elephant meat?
The BBC said the Zimbabwean economy is collapsing and that soldiers have recently complained after being unable to withdraw their salaries in cash from banks. Piss off the army in a third world dictatorship? That's not good, Bob...
#3
Have the UN turn down free wine? Even "Zionist Oppressor" wine? You must be insane, Mr. Ambassdor.
And it's "conquered" territory, not "occupied" territory. You can thank the Mighty Syrian Army for that.
January 9, 2009: Russia is having a difficult time maintaining personnel strength in its armed forces. There are currently about 1.2 million troops (these include the paramilitary forces of the Interior Ministry). Over the next three years, that will intentionally be reduced to one million. This will be accomplished by eliminating over 100,000 unneeded officers, and nearly as many lower ranking conscript troops.
The Russians don't need the lost officers, and can't get all the conscripts they need anyway. Currently, about 40 percent of the troops are conscripts, who serve 18 months. Every six months, about a million men (aged 18-27) are eligible for conscription. But 80 percent get taken off the roles for medical reasons (usually by bribing a doctor), or get removed from the conscription database by bribing a government official. Many of the 200,000 who are called up every six months, are those who cannot afford the bribes, and simply don't show up. The police try to catch these guys, but often don't succeed, and eventually stop looking. Most of the volunteers are unenthusiastic soldiers, and the government would like to replace all of them with volunteers. But that costs more than Russia can afford at the moment. Meanwhile, it's estimated that conscripts, and their families, pay about $350 million a year in bribes to avoid service.
Russia is also having problems attracting volunteers to its armed forces. Although the pay is competitive, the reputation of the military is not good. The suicide rate inside the armed forces is more than twice that of the civilian population (currently about 30 per 100,000 people, and that's down nearly a third in the last six years). Even so, most Russian military personnel are career troops, including most officers. These are often people who are unable to get a civilian job, or prefer the predictability of military life.
The volunteers, or "contract soldiers" are paid about the same as policemen. But cops aren't on call all the time, don't have strenuous training exercises, or risk getting sent to places like the Caucasus to battle brutal criminal gangs and Islamic terrorists. This despite the fact that serving in such "combat zones" comes with combat pay that more than triples the contract soldiers income.
The army wants to more than triple the number of contract soldiers from the current 200,000. As in other countries with a volunteer force, the biggest problem has been a booming civilian economy. With the high price of oil, and large oil exports, Russia was awash with cash, and most of it is going into expanding the Russian economy. Every new civilian job, is one more obstacle for the army recruiters. But that is changing now, as the price of oil plummeted, and a recession has set in. But recession means the government is collecting less money. Moreover, the generals want to spend additional cash on replacing Cold War era weapons and equipment. This stuff is worn out, and often obsolete compared to what Western, or even Chinese, forces are using.
The military is trying to make life in uniform less unpleasant, hoping to entice more potential conscripts to do their time, and prevent a personnel, as well as equipment, shortage in the armed forces.
#1
They're going to have to seriously change their horrid habit of badly mistreating enlisted soldiers if they want to come close to the kind of professional force the US has.
And then there's the insistence on holding all decisions at high levels, reducing even mid grade officers to puppets in operational situations.
#3
We have all kinds of really uplifting opportunities today. If the Russians want to have a professional military like the US they have to change so many things about their culture. But once again the Russians have failed to reach escape velocity in their effort to escape their autocratic recidivism. And we've got a better chance of building a civil culture in Russia than Afghanistan or Pakistan. Some places are very hard to change especially when when the people don't want to change or don't really understand to what they could change or what the demands of really making the change are. And now Russia is cursed with oil. The situation in the armed forces is only a miniature of the whole nation. And a symptom.
#4
Agreed. Pay them better and stop the culture of mistreatment, particularly that directed at those in the lower ranks. Treat them as professionals and they will serve like professionals.
#5
Every six months, about a million men (aged 18-27) are eligible for conscription.
Not too sure about this. Implies about 4M individuals (including women) coming of military age each year. Way too many for a country of 140 million with a small, and declining birth rate. In fact the CIA factbook show about 821,000 men coming of military age annually.
The booming economy may have caused fewer volunteers, but the post bubble economy won't be able to afford a stronger military.
Fact is, they will have fewer soldiers and sailors just because of the declining population.
The IDF insists that the great majority of Gazan casualties have been "gunmen." The Palestinians say that at least half are "civilians." The consistent discrepancy between the reports from the two sides could stem from a disagreement over the definition of an active combatant.
On Thursday evening, the IDF estimated the death toll in Gaza had passed 700, of whom three quarters were said to have been combatants, 290 of them identified as known Hamas terrorists. Since Operation Cast Lead began, Israel has reiterated that it is not targeting civilians, only Hamas members.
Palestinian officials put the death toll at an estimated 750 on Thursday night. Mutasem Awad, coordinator for the Palestine Red Crescent Society told The Jerusalem Post Thursday that though its casualty count was not final, it knew for certain of 200 children and 85 women among the dead.
When asked whether the Red Crescent Society was capable of telling the difference between innocent civilians and gunmen, he acknowledged this could be tricky. "But militants usually wear uniforms and carry weapons, and we don't have [large] numbers [of dead] like this," Awad said. Israeli defense sources say many Hamas gunmen are fighting out of uniform, however.
Awad added that, "Many of the militants have died while they were not actively involved in the fighting. According to international law these people are considered civilians if they are not involved in actively fighting, but they were targeted anyway."
Florian Westphal, head of media relations for the International Committee of the Red Cross, based in Geneva, reported that "the records provided by 14 hospitals in the Gaza Strip to the ICRC [include] 3,070 wounded persons [who] were admitted to hospitals, of whom a third were children and women.
Avi Bell, a professor at Bar-Ilan University Law School and director of the Global Law Forum at the Jerusalem Center for Public Affairs, said the definition of an active combatant can be vague. "A warrior is considered one whether he is carrying a weapon or not, if he is fighting as part of an organized force. There are certain situations in which a combatant is clearly out of the fighting, such as if he was injured or released," he said.
According to Bell, the different numbers could also stem from differing definitions of combatant that relate to whether the fighting is defined as "international" - involving two states - or regional, like the conflict in Gaza. "Some commentators think that the definition of a combatant in [regional] fighting is much wider - for example, it can include inactive reserve forces," he said. "The gaps in the numbers could be explained by the fact that they [the Palestinians] define a combatant narrowly," he said. "Israel considers a civilian anyone who does not belong to the armed forces - unless they are actively involved in fighting. It also considers a combatant someone who is actively involved in planning the fighting, even if they are not armed. This concept is acceptable to most of the international community," he said.
Bell added that even if the legal definition was clear, Israel would not have accurate numbers yet.
#2
Awad added that, "Many of the militants have died while they were not actively involved in the fighting. According to international law these people are considered civilians if they are not involved in actively fighting, but they were targeted anyway."
so if I shoot, hide my gun, then walk by the guy I shot, I'm a civilian and untouchable? F*ck them. It's illegal to fight out of uniform (see: the oft-cited Geneva Accords (not the 'Juice are illegal' parts, the real parts). They can be summarily executed IIUC, And they were. I'd do the same.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:19
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#3
I believe that Hamas has said that all Juice are legitimate targets, even small children, since they will someday serve in the IDF. Now that some Arab human shields children are being killed, all they do is whine.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 16:32
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Awad knows that statement is total bullshit. He also knows that it gives him _just_enough_ cover that the MSM (who also know its BS) will feel justified in quoting anything he says as fact.
The incoming Obama administration will not abandon US President George W. Bush's doctrine of isolating Hamas, the chief national security spokesperson of the Obama transition team has told The Jerusalem Post.
Found out that the stove was hot, did they ...
US President-elect Barack Obama "has repeatedly stated that he believes that Hamas is a terrorist organization dedicated to Israel's destruction, and that we should not deal with them until they recognize Israel, renounce violence, and abide by past agreements," said Brooke Anderson in a statement to the Post. Those conditions match the international Quartet's longstanding demands from Hamas, shared by Israel.
The Obama spokesperson was responding to an article in Britain's Guardian daily on Friday, which asserted that three people with knowledge of discussions held in the Obama camp said that while the president-elect will not approve direct diplomatic negotiations with Hamas early on, his advisers are urging him to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, in light of the growing recognition in Washington that ostracizing the terror group is counter-productive policy.
"The president elect's repeated statements [about not dealing with Hamas] are accurate," Anderson said. "This unsourced story is not."
#1
Obama spokesman telling the Jerusalem Post about President-elect Obama's response to a Guardian op-ed piece? Why was not communicate directly to the Guardian, with a copy to the Jerusalem Post?
#4
Don't be silly, Darrell, the MSM is never required to name its sources. It's 'senior advisor who agreed to speak on condition of anonymity' for as many sources as you need.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 17:53
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#5
"his advisers are Bill Ayers is urging him to initiate low-level or clandestine approaches, in light of the growing recognition in Washington that ostracizing the terror group is counter-productive policy Bill's love of all violent, totalitarian groups that hate America.
There - fixed.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:43
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A senior Israeli military commander involved in Operation Cast Lead said on Saturday that Hamas militants are suffering from exhaustion and are deserting battle. Geez, they must be cutting back on the days off. The commander told reporters that Amir Mansi, the commander of Hamas's rocket-launching program in the Gaza City area who was killed by the IDF on Saturday, fired mortars himself after junior Hamas operatives refused to go outside, fearing an Israeli strike. To the last drop of somebody elses blood, right, boys?
The IDF official estimated that more than 300 Hamas operatives have been killed since Israel launched its ground offensive in Gaza one week ago. This is the highest estimate provided thus far, and the IDF said that Hamas has purposely refrained from releasing casualty figures among its military wing. The commander added that the army is working to tighten its grip on the northern section of the Gaza Strip.
The IDF earlier on Saturday killed Mansi, an expert with regard to long-range Grad rockets. He was identified by Israeli troops on Saturday firing mortars from Gaza. The soldiers opened fire, killing Mansi and injuring two Hamas operatives who were with him.
#3
I don't think they have psychic powers, more like a logical assumption...
Jerusalem Post
The IDF commander said the fact that Mansi was personally involved in attacking Israeli troops showed that the Hamas military wing was in a serious state of distress, as senior Hamas operatives would not ordinarily venture out into battlefields.
#4
and of course the fact that he did get whacked just re-inforces the underlings' belief that going out and fighting is a bad idea. That's a twofer for the IDF.
Also the Hamas launched rocket count seems to be down to 20 today. It was 70+ before Op Cast Lead. It was about 50-60 before the land operation and was 30 or so on Wed and Thurs.
Ha! Barry doesn't have enough problems?
WASHINGTON (AP) -- Get ready for the in-law in chief.
Transition officials said Friday that President-elect Barack Obama's mother-in-law, Marian Robinson, is moving into the White House to join Michelle Obama and their two children. It's not clear whether the move will be permanent.
Shades of Ms. Lillian ...
Katie McCormick Lelyveld, the press secretary for Michelle Obama, said Robinson would decide in coming months whether she wants to stay in Washington.
Robinson retired from her job as a bank executive secretary to help with her granddaughters during the campaign.
This is fine, of course. She gets to have the granddaughters in her life and Obama has one less (perhaps) distraction on the job.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:08
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#6
Black guy gets elected President. Mother-in-law moves into the White House with the family. We have the making for a TV sit-com here, folks. Working title: Everyone Loves Barry
#7
I think this is a wise idea. The girls have been in their grandmother's care for the last eighteen months or so, and before that their mother was responsible for their upbringing. The change from private to public life is hard enough on adults. The president will be surrounded by those catering to him all day long, the first lady will be busy hostessing -- a job for which I imagine she is ill-prepared, and which will therefore be highly stressful until she masters it (I do hope she makes a point to learn as much as Mrs. Bush will teach her -- I don't think she can count on much from her Democratic predecessor). Even six months with their grandmother in residence will ease the transition all around, and if possible a year would be ideal.
#8
Can you imagine being on the White House staff (Maid, Butler, Cook, Cleaning crew etc...) and having to put up with the mother-in-law?
Talk about torture...
When conflicts erupt, public opinion tends to divide between absolutists who have decided once and for all who is right and who is wrong, and more cautious people who judge a particular act as appropriate or not according to circumstances, prepared, if necessary, to withhold judgment pending further information. The confrontation in Gaza, as bloody and awful as it is, nevertheless contains a gleam of hope. For the first time in the conflict in the Middle East, the fanatical absolutists seem to be in the minority. The discussion among Israelis (Is this the right time for war? How far should we go? How long?) proceeds as expected in a democracy. What is surprising is that the Palestinians and their supporters are taking part in a similar public debate, to the point that, even after Israels launching of punitive operations, Mahmoud Abbas, president of the Palestinian Authority, found the courage to attribute initial responsibility for the suffering of Gazas civilians to Hamas, which had broken its truce with Israel.
Unfortunately, the reaction of global public opinionthe media, diplomats, and moral and political authoritiesseems to lag behind the thinking of those who are directly concerned. We cannot avoid the word that is on everyones lips and bolsters another kind of absolutismthe word that magisterially condemns Israeli acts as disproportionate. Captions on pictures of Gaza under attack express a universal and immediate consensus: Israel acts disproportionately. News reports and commentaries add other terms as opportunities present themselves: massacre, total war. At least the word genocide has been avoided so far. Will the memory of the so-called Jenin genocide, so often evoked before being discredited as a fiction, continue to restrain the worst of these verbal excesses? In any case, the absolute and a priori condemnation of the Jewish outrage defines the dominant line of thought in most parts of the world.
Disproportionate, of course, refers to what is out of proportioneither because no proportion has ever existed, or because an existing proportion has been broken or violated. It is the second meaning that is intended by those who castigate the Israelis for their reprisals, which are judged to be excessive, incongruous, and inappropriate, a violation of limits and norms. The implication is that there is a normal state of the Israel-Hamas conflict, some equilibrium that the Israeli militarys aggressiveness has disturbedas if the conflict were not, like every serious conflict, disproportionate from the outset.
What is this correct proportion that Israel is supposed to respect in order to deserve the favor of world opinion? Should the Israeli army refrain from employing its technical supremacy and limit itself to the weapons that Hamas usesthat is to say, crude rockets and stones? Should it feel free to adopt the strategy of suicide bombers and the deliberate targeting of civilians? Or, better still, would it be appropriate for Israel to wait patiently until Hamas, with the help of Iran and Syria, is able to balance Israels firepower? Or might it be necessary to level the playing field regarding not only means but also aims? Hamas, unlike the Palestinian Authority, refuses to recognize the Jewish states right to exist and dreams of the annihilation of its citizens; should Israel match this radicalism?
Every conflict, whether dormant or boiling, is by its nature disproportionate. If the adversaries agreed on the use of means and on each others claims, they would not be adversaries. Conflict necessarily implies disagreement, and thus the effort of each camp to exploit its advantages as well as the others weaknesses. The Israeli army is doing just that when it profits from its technical superiority. And Hamas does no differently when it uses Gazas population as a human shield, unhindered by the moral scruples or diplomatic imperatives that constrain its adversary.
To work for peace in the Middle East, we must escape the temptations of absolutism, which entice not only fanatical hard-liners but also angelic souls who imagine that some sacred proportion would bring a providential balance to murderous conflicts. In the Middle East, the conflict concerns not only the enforcement of rules of the game, but their establishment. One has every right to discuss freely the appropriateness of a given military or diplomatic initiative, but not to imagine that the problem is soluble in advance by the ostensible right-thinking of world opinion. To wish to survive is not disproportionate.
André Glucksmann is a French philosopher. Translated from the French by Alexis Cornel.
#3
Let us pray for the safety of Palestinian civilians who held hostages by Hamas and the safety of Israeli soldiers. May this campaign end swiftly and may Hamas be annihilated. May moderate Muslims emerge victorious in the struggle for Gaza!
NORFOLK, Va. -- President George W. Bush landed Saturday on the USS George H.W. Bush, a new aircraft carrier named after his father -- the ultimate honor for a decorated Navy pilot from World War II.
"So what do you give a guy who has been blessed and has just about everything he has ever needed?" the president asked the estimated 20,000 gathered for the commissioning at Naval Station Norfolk. "Well, an aircraft carrier. Laura and I are thrilled to be here to help commission an awesome ship and to honor an awesome man," Bush said.
The steel-gray vessel is more than three football fields long, one in the Nimitz class of nuclear-powered aircraft carriers that are the largest warships on the world. Its price tag is just as hefty: $6.2 billion.
The elder Bush, 84, told the ship's crew, his voice quavering at times with emotion, that they will form "an unbroken line of patriots protecting this special piece of American territory. As someone who has stood that watch and remembers the quiet solitude of that experience, I know you will find comfort and inspiration," he said, "particularly in the night sky, where it is basking in the splendor of the night stars that you will truly understand the majesty of creation and bear witness to the certain hand of God."
Doro Bush Koch, the president's sister and ship's sponsor, had the honor of bringing the carrier to life. With the words, "Man our ship. Bring her to life," hundreds of sailors charged up gangplanks as a band played "Anchors Aweigh". Four F-18s flew overhead, followed by a solo World War II torpedo bomber similar to the one the elder Bush flew during the war.
The mood was celebratory aboard the ship, spit and polished for its unveiling. The Marine One presidential helicopter ferried the president, his father and their wives to its deck. It was sunny, but a chilly breeze greeted the president, his father and their wives got off the helicopter with their wives. George H.W. Bush, sporting a purple scarf inside his overcoat, walked with a cane to a golf cart. He got in the back seat with former first lady Barbara Bush; the president grinned and waved as he took the driver's seat with his wife by his side.
Unexpectedly to onlookers, the entire section of the deck -- actually an elevator -- dropped slowly to the floor below. They drove to the ceremony site that overlooked thousands of guests attending the ceremony on the carrier, decorated in red-white-and-blue bunting. Ooooooh, there's elevators on aircraft carriers? Looks like AP sent out another one of their "military experts" out to cover this.
Defense Secretary Robert Gates, one of the first speakers, said there is no one more worthy than the former president to have the last ship of the Nimitz class to bear his name -- "the last of the World War II generation to serve as commander in chief."
A bronze statue on the hangar bay deck of the 1,092-foot warship depicts the former president as a youthful, smiling pilot in his flight suit. On an upper deck, a "tribute room" presents Bush's life from his days in the Navy to his four years in the White House.
No other former president has visited a carrier named after him. Ronald Reagan was the first living ex-president to have a carrier named in his honor, but Reagan was unable to visit the vessel before he died. Maybe Clinton will still be around to visit the honey barge that they'll eventually name after him...
#2
I do NOT approve of naming warships after still-living ex-Presidents. I didn't like it when they commissioned the Reagan and I don't like it now. Tell them brass-hat suck-ups in the Pentagon to knock it off.
#6
Mojo, as much as I respect President GHW Bush, I agree with you. Ships, buildings, highways, etc should not be named after living people. Too much chance for underhanded dealings.
Note: I do not think that there was anything underhanded in naming the USS Bush. However, just about every highway, public building, and federally funded outhouse in West Virginia is named after Robert Byrd. And don't get me started on the Charlie Rangel school of whatever in New York.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 16:42
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#7
The Charles Rangel School of Convienient Memory Loss. I believe...
#8
Personally, I like the WWII-era names for carriers and wish those would be used. I know a few of the amphib assault ships are using those names now, but Ranger, Wasp, Hornet, Essex, Saratoga, Yorktown, etc., are the kinds of names that should forever be carriers.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 17:59
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#9
USS KillYouDead would work for me
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 18:02
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AUSTRALIAN special forces troops have killed a Taliban leader believed to have orchestrated the rocket attack that killed an Australian soldier in Afghanistan last weekend.
Private Gregory Sher, whose funeral will be held in Melbourne today, died when a rocket struck the remote patrol base in the Baluchi Valley of Afghanistan's restive Oruzgan Province where he and other special forces soldiers were harbouring.
Defence head Air Chief Marshal Angus Houston, on a visit to troops in Afghanistan, said the special forces troops had just finished a successful operation that resulted in the death of a number of Taliban insurgents and the capture of two.
Unfortunately it also resulted in the death of Private Sher, the eighth Australian soldier to die in Afghanistan. As a member of the part-time 1 Commando Regiment, he was also the first reservist to die in Afghanistan.
In an impassioned speech, Air Chief Marshal Houston told special forces soldiers gathered in the dining area at their base in Tarin Kowt: "It is quite clear you made them pay for the death of a comrade.''
He praised them for continuing the operation in a completely professional manner, showing great distinction, courage and teamwork, despite this tragedy. "The results they achieved were nothing short of spectacular,'' he said later.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said it had been confirmed that one of those killed in the operation was a prominent and long-hunted Taliban leader from the Baluchi region. "They actually got the leader who we think orchestrated all of this,'' he said. "They went into an area this guy was the leader. They got him.''
Australian special forces have killed or captured more than a dozen Taliban leaders in the province in the past six months.
Air Chief Marshal Houston said the Australian special forces team were having a significant impact on the province. "Last year the violent incidents went up right acoss Afghanistan. The only province where there was a reduction in violent incidents was in Oruzgan. We were against the trend,'' he said.
Commander of Australian forces in the Middle East Major General Mike Hindmarsh said the special operations task group had been operating in Oruzgan since 2005, disrupting Taliban operations by targeting the leaders and bomb makers. He said most of the top leaders had now fled to Pakistan.
"They know it is just too dangerous to operate in that part of the world,'' he said. "Our aim is to keep whacking them and disabuse them of the notion that they can exist there at all.''
About three years ago, I celebrated my 30th birthday at my home. Among other people, I also invited Benjamin Netanyahu, who at the time was the leader of a small and defeated party with 12 Knesset seats. He sat down on a white sofa (he was suffering from back pains) and curiously looked around the room.
This was Kadima's heyday, yet Netanyahu tried to explain to anyone who was willing to listen that in the Gaza Strip Hamas was in possession of something called Grad. That word sounded strange to me back then.
So exactly do they possess? I asked. Grads, he said. They have Grad missiles. These missiles can reach Beersheba.
I looked at him and asked why he was so concerned. At the time, there was no hint of a flare-up in Gaza, or in the north for that matter. Why does he always have to be so grim, I wondered at the time.
Two days after my birthday I called Netanyahu to thank him for coming. I told him: Listen, Bibi, you know I love you, but why do you always have to be so depressing? Why scare people with this talk about Grads? Who cares about it? Why do you always think about the worst case scenario?
Netanyahu attempted to hear me out. What do you think I should to, he asked me refrain from expressing the bitter truth just because people are incapable of hearing it? Perhaps this is what you should do, I told him. If the people don't want to hear grim predictions, perhaps you should keep them to yourself, even if it's the truth?
Meanwhile, I was thinking to myself that Netanyahu's concerns are exaggerated, of course.
And this, perhaps, may be Netanyahu's tragedy. He is too right. He sees too far ahead. He predicted the emergence of the axis of evil 20 years before George W. Bush, and also foresaw the establishment of the Hamas government in Gaza when everyone was still euphoric about Kadima and Sharon.
#1
Epicenter author Joel C. Rosenberg used to work for the Steve Forbes campaign and was asked to be in Netanyahu's government. He is very visionary with a unique perspective--check out his website of same name or read the book for an additional forecast of the future of Israel.
#2
As far as mea culpas go, I'd rate this one no better than a 5 out of 10. Points for keeping it short, as the writer usually takes pages to explain why the were right to feel as they did at the time. But he lost points with his lame, "nobody wanted to listen" excuse. Hey sonny, you were just too stupid to listen. It was more important to you that your dinner party not be ruined than to have a serious discussion about the future with Benjamin Netanyahu. Doh!
And I say that about sums it up for liberals in general. Facts and consequences be damned. Just don't upset the dinner guests.
IDF troops in the Gaza Strip on Saturday targeted Hamas operative Amir Mansi, a senior member of Izzadin Kassam, the group's military wing.
A senior commander of IDF operations in the Strip said that Mansi was the head of the Gaza Strip rocket division, and was Mansi was previously involved in dozens of rocket attacks against Israel in recent weeks. He was also said to be a close associate of Hizbullah, and was known to receive information from the group on a regular basis.
Mansi was killed whilst attempting to fire mortars at Givati troops at Jabal Rice, in the northern Gaza Strip. Can we have the virgins pic? Pleeeease
A federal judge ordered a north Alabama sheriff jailed this week, saying the lawman intentionally served jail inmates "woefully insufficient" meals in order to pocket more than $200,000.
Morgan County, Alabama, Sheriff Greg Bartlett was ordered to jail Wednesday by U.S. District Judge U.W. Clemon in Birmingham.
After a Wednesday hearing, Clemon found Bartlett in contempt of court, saying he had failed to comply with a consent decree in the 2001 lawsuit regarding conditions at the Morgan County Jail, according to documents filed in the case.
Clemon ordered Bartlett released from the federal Talladega Correctional Facility the following day after the sheriff's attorneys pledged to provide better and healthier meals to inmates.
At issue is an Alabama law that attorneys for the inmates claim provides sheriffs with an incentive to skimp on feeding inmates. Under the law, sheriffs are permitted to keep -- as personal income -- money left over after purchasing food for inmates.
The state provides sheriffs with $1.75 per day per inmate for food, according to the Alabama Attorney General's Office. However, in a March 2008 opinion, the office affirmed that sheriffs may legally keep what is left over.
"There is no minimum amount of money that the Sheriff must spend on food," said court documents filed by Melanie Velez, an attorney with the Southern Center for Human Rights, representing the inmates. "Statutory permission to pocket the state's food subsidy does not, however, make it acceptable for the Sheriff to provide less than an adequate amount of food to detainees at the jail."
But in a statement issued Friday, Bartlett called coverage of the case misleading.
"The Morgan County Jail served over 328,000 meals in 2008 and only received 15 complaints on the issue of food," he said. "I have never or would not ever have tolerated an inmate being fed inadequate portions or meals for any reason. That never happened, to my knowledge."
A consent decree filed in September 2001 with the court required Bartlett to serve "a nutritionally adequate diet" to inmates.
However, Clemon wrote in court documents that a typical breakfast for county inmates was a serving of grits or unsweetened oatmeal; half an egg or less, sometimes cold; a slice of white bread; and unsweetened tea or a beverage such as Kool-Aid.
Lunch was either two peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, "with a small amount of peanut butter or an exceedingly thin" slice of bologna between two slices of white bread; a small bag of corn chips; and flavored water or unsweetened tea.
A typical dinner was two hot dogs or meat patties; a slice of bread; and mixed vegetables or baked beans, the judge wrote.
At times, when chicken was served, it was undercooked and pink, Clemon said. Salt, pepper, sugar or other condiments were not provided; they must be purchased by inmates at the jail store.
Inmates never receive milk, Clemon said, and receive fruit only three or four times a year.
The portions, Clemon wrote, are "woefully insufficient to satisfy the normal appetites of adult males. After eating each meal served by the Jail staff, the inmates remain hungry. Some inmates complain of recurring hunger pains." Many inmates have lost weight, he said, some of them as much as 50 pounds.
Inmates complain that they get enough food only by buying more at the jail store, the judge said, noting that some have spent as much as $100 there.
In 2007, the judge said, Bartlett and the sheriff of a neighboring county both paid $500 for half a tractor-trailer full of hot dogs. "They were served to the inmates at each meal until they had been depleted," Clemon wrote. Other inmate food was donated in bulk by schools and other locations, and the sheriff did not pay for it, the judge said.
Meanwhile, since he took office in 2003, "Sheriff Bartlett has deposited in excess of $200,000 to his personal account from the funds allocated to him by the State of Alabama and the federal government for the feeding of inmates," Clemon wrote. Last year, Bartlett made $95,000, the judge said.
"Sheriff Bartlett admits that he could double the food portions served to inmates of the Morgan County jail without significantly increasing his food expenditures," Clemon wrote.
"The court finds by clear and convincing evidence that Sheriff Greg Bartlett has converted to his personal use and benefit state and federal funds allocated for the feeding" of prisoners.
In an order filed Friday, Clemon noted that the sheriff, through his attorney, has pledged to use all state and federal funds for feeding inmates in the future, and that "fresh fruit, fresh milk, vegetables and whole grains will be a regular part of the monthly menu."
Daily meals will follow the USDA's Food Guide Pyramid, Clemon said, and condiments will be provided.
In a similar case in south Alabama, Mobile County Sheriff Jack Tillman pleaded guilty to two misdemeanors, perjury and an ethics offense, and resigned in 2006, agreeing to repay some of the $13,000 he shifted from a jail "food fund" to his personal retirement account, according to the Mobile newspaper Lagniappe.
#4
there is alot of stuff that lke this shit that goes on in small counties especially. and how is he still sheriff since they released him from jail after he promised too feed better meals? He was commiting embezzlement, in any other palce anyway, and i wondr who came up with the idea of keeping themoney saved that they get to pocket legally?
#5
"What we have heah, is a failure...to masticate"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:22
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#6
However, Clemon wrote in court documents that a typical breakfast for county inmates was a serving of grits or unsweetened oatmeal; half an egg or less, sometimes cold; a slice of white bread; and unsweetened tea or a beverage such as Kool-Aid.
Lunch was either two peanut butter or bologna sandwiches, "with a small amount of peanut butter or an exceedingly thin" slice of bologna between two slices of white bread; a small bag of corn chips; and flavored water or unsweetened tea.
A typical dinner was two hot dogs or meat patties; a slice of bread; and mixed vegetables or baked beans*, the judge wrote.
The next Oprah Diet(tm)? People will pay $$ to get the book.
*Actually, it reminds me of some of the meals in the field at the DISCOM support site in Korea
#7
The state provides sheriffs with $1.75 per day per inmate for food
That's $0.58 per meal -- I'm amazed he can make any money at all. The state needs some reprimanding too.
#8
"According to the Connecticut-based Criminal Justice Institute, the national average daily cost to feed an inmate was $3.62 in 2000, the latest year for which numbers are available." Source
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:20
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#10
This is one reason it's so hard to unseat an Alabama Sheriff. There's money in them thar criminals. This would be easy to fix, just change the law. That won't happen.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/10/2009 19:41
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Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.
How exactly does that fight inflation?
The country's acting finance minister, Patrick Chinamasa, made the announcement in a government gazette released Saturday. While Chinamasa did not give the date on which the $50 billion and new $20 billion notes would come into circulation, an official at the Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe said the notes would be distributed to all banks by the end of Monday.
Zimbabwe is grappling with hyperinflation now officially estimated at 231 million percent and its currency is fast losing its value. As of Friday, one U.S. dollar was trading at around ZW$25 billion.
When the government issued a $10 billion note just three weeks ago, it bought 20 loaves of bread. That note now can purchase less than half of one loaf.
Realizing the worthlessness of the currency, the RBZ has allowed most goods and services to be charged in foreign currency. As a result, grocery purchases, government hospital bills, property sales, rent, vegetables and even mobile phone recharge cards are now paid for in foreign currency, as the worthless Zimbabwe dollar virtually ceases to be legal tender.
Once a regional economic model, Zimbabwe is in the throes of an economic crisis, with unemployment running at more than 80 per cent and many families unable to afford a square meal. President Robert Mugabe's critics blame his policies for the economic meltdown but he in turn says the West is sabotaging his efforts.
In order to attract foreign currency, Zimbabwe's central bank has, since September, licensed at least 1,000 shops to sell goods in foreign currency. All mobile phone service providers are now licensed to accept foreign exchange for airtime and other services.
John Robertson, an economist in Zimbabwe, said he's puzzled by the introduction of the new $50 and $20 billion notes. "I am not really sure what these notes would be for," he said. "No one now accepts the local currency. It is a waste of resources to print Zimbabwe dollar notes now. Who accepts a currency that loses value by almost 100 percent daily?"
In August last year, the RBZ slashed ten zeros from the currency. But the zeroes have bounced back with more vigor.
A power-sharing deal between Mugabe and opposition leader Morgan Tsvangirai signed in September -- and brokered by former South African leader Thabo Mbeki -- raised hopes of halting Zimbabwe's plunge into economic destruction. But the pact has stalled over the allocation of key cabinet ministries, with Tsvangirai accusing Mugabe of grabbing all key posts such as defense, home affairs, local government, foreign affairs and finance.
#5
"In August last year, the RBZ slashed ten zeros from the currency. But the zeroes have bounced back with more vigor."
Why then not to make a currency-calender? slash the zeroes at the end of December, and until next year calculate the month by means of zeroes on the currenct you get as a salary.
Soviets had local bus tickets produced as long strips - with icons on, each being worth 2, 3 or 5 kopeeks. Zimbabwe could adapt this by having strips with number 1, 2 or 5 at the start (one can stamp the number at the start of the strip), and zeroes afterwards.
On the bright side, people in Zimbabwe are getting used to large numbers, which is good in astronomy. National science nevertheless.
Posted by: Gloluting Darling of the Heathen Rus4265 ||
01/10/2009 13:53
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#6
two words: scientific notation
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:25
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#7
We might wanna lay off Bob. Down the road, Barry may be asking him for advice.
In Toronto, anti-Israel demonstrators yell "You are the brothers of pigs!," and a protester complains to his interviewer that "Hitler didn't do a good job."
In Fort Lauderdale, Palestinian supporters sneer at Jews, "You need a big oven, that's what you need!"
In Amsterdam, the crowd shouts, "Hamas, Hamas! Jews to the gas!"
In Paris, the state-owned TV network France-2 broadcasts film of dozens of dead Palestinians killed in an Israeli air raid on New Year's Day. The channel subsequently admits that, in fact, the footage is not from Jan. 1, 2009, but from 2005, and, while the corpses are certainly Palestinian, they were killed when a truck loaded with Hamas explosives detonated prematurely while leaving the Jabaliya refugee camp in another of those unfortunate work-related accidents to which Gaza is sadly prone. Conceding that the Palestinians supposedly killed by Israel were, alas, killed by Hamas, France-2 says the footage was broadcast "accidentally."
In Toulouse, a synagogue is firebombed; in Bordeaux, two kosher butchers are attacked; at the Auber RER train station, a Jewish man is savagely assaulted by 20 youths taunting, "Palestine will kill the Jews"; in Villiers-le-Bel, a Jewish schoolgirl is brutally beaten by a gang jeering, "Jews must die."
In Helsingborg, Sweden, the congregation at a synagogue takes shelter as a window is broken and burning cloths thrown in. in Odense, principal Olav Nielsen announces that he will no longer admit Jewish children to the local school after a Dane of Lebanese extraction goes to the shopping mall and shoots two men working at the Dead Sea Products store. in Brussels, a Molotov cocktail is hurled at a synagogue; in Antwerp, Netherlands, lit rags are pushed through the mail flap of a Jewish home; and, across the Channel in Britain, "youths" attempt to burn the Brondesbury Park Synagogue.
In London, the police advise British Jews to review their security procedures because of potential revenge attacks. The Sun reports "fears" that "Islamic extremists" are drawing up a "hit list" of prominent Jews, including the Foreign Secretary, Amy Winehouse's record producer and the late Princess of Wales' divorce lawyer. Meanwhile, The Guardian reports that Islamic nonextremists from the British Muslim Forum, the Islamic Foundation and other impeccably respectable "moderate" groups have warned the government that the Israelis' "disproportionate force" in Gaza risks inflaming British Muslims, "reviving extremist groups," and provoking "UK terrorist attacks" not against Amy Winehouse's record producer and other sinister members of the International Jewish Conspiracy but against targets of, ah, more general interest.
Forget, for the moment, Gaza. Forget that the Palestinian people are the most comprehensively wrecked people on the face of the Earth. For the past 60 years they have been entrusted to the care of the United Nations, the Arab League, the PLO, Hamas and the "global community" and the results are pretty much what you'd expect.
You would have to be very hardhearted not to weep at the sight of dead Palestinian children, but you would also have to accord a measure of blame to the Hamas officials who choose to use grade schools as launch pads for Israeli-bound rockets, and to the U.N. refugee agency that turns a blind eye to it. And, even if you don't deplore Fatah and Hamas for marinating their infants in a sick death cult in which martyrdom in the course of Jew-killing is the greatest goal to which a citizen can aspire, any fair-minded visitor to the West Bank or Gaza in the decade and a half in which the "Palestinian Authority" has exercised sovereign powers roughly equivalent to those of the nascent Irish Free State in 1922 would have to concede that the Palestinian "nationalist movement" has a profound shortage of nationalists interested in running a nation, or indeed capable of doing so. There is fault on both sides, of course, and Israel has few good long-term options. But, if this was a conventional ethno-nationalist dispute, it would have been over long ago.
So, as I said, forget Gaza. And, instead, ponder the reaction to Gaza in Scandinavia, France, the United Kingdom, Canada, and golly, even Florida. As the delegitimization of Israel has metastasized, we are assured that criticism of the Jewish state is not the same as anti-Semitism. We are further assured that anti-Zionism is not the same as anti-Semitism, which is a wee bit more of a stretch.
Only Israel attracts an intellectually respectable movement querying its very existence. For the purposes of comparison, let's take a state that came into existence at the exact same time as the Zionist Entity, and involved far bloodier population displacements. I happen to think the creation of Pakistan was the greatest failure of post-war British imperial policy. But the fact is that Pakistan exists, and if I were to launch a movement of anti-Pakism it would get pretty short shrift.
But, even allowing for that, what has a schoolgirl in Villiers-le-Bel to do with Israeli government policy? Just weeks ago, terrorists attacked Mumbai, seized hostages, tortured them, killed them, and mutilated their bodies. The police intercepts of the phone conversations between the terrorists and their controllers make for lively reading:
"Pakistan caller 1: 'Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims. Keep your phone switched on so that we can hear the gunfire.'
"Mumbai terrorist 2: 'We have three foreigners, including women. From Singapore and China'
"Pakistan caller 1: 'Kill them.'
"(Voices of gunmen can be heard directing hostages to stand in a line, and telling two Muslims to stand aside. Sound of gunfire. Sound of cheering voices.)"
"Kill all hostages, except the two Muslims." Tough for those Singaporean women. Yet no mosques in Singapore have been attacked. The large Hindu populations in London, Toronto and Fort Lauderdale have not shouted "Muslims must die!" or firebombed Halal butchers or attacked hijab-clad schoolgirls. CAIR and other Muslim lobby groups' eternal bleating about "Islamophobia" is in inverse proportion to any examples of it. Meanwhile, "moderate Muslims" in London warn the government: "I'm a peaceful fellow myself, but I can't speak for my excitable friends. Nice little G7 advanced Western democracy you got here. Shame if anything were to happen to it."
But why worry about European Muslims? The European political and media class essentially shares the same view of the situation to the point where state TV stations are broadcasting fake Israeli "war crimes."
As I always say, the "oldest hatred" didn't get that way without an ability to adapt: Once upon a time on the Continent, Jews were hated as rootless cosmopolitan figures who owed no national allegiance. So they became a conventional nation state, and now they're hated for that. And, if Hamas get their way and destroy the Jewish state, the few who survive will be hated for something else. So it goes.
But Jew-hating has consequences for the Jew-hater, too. A few years ago the poet Nizar Qabbani wrote an ode to the intifada:
O mad people of Gaza,
a thousand greetings to the mad
The age of political reason
has long departed
so teach us madness.
You can just about understand why living in Gaza would teach you madness. The enthusiastic adoption of the same pathologies by mainstream Europe is even more deranged and in the end will prove just as self-destructive.
#1
Jews need to remember the lessons of the 2oth Century: arm yourselves and fight. Do not depend on others to defend you.
America, under the liberal fascists has turned anti-Jew and is now openly tolerating, and even accepting Jew hatred and bigotry from Mulsims and anti-semites.
The liberals are now no better than the accomplices the Nazis had in the 1930's. They may need to face the same fate, since reason appears to be out of their consideration.
#2
Agreed, Bigfoot Jusoper6812. Trailing daughter #2 led the tai kwan do black belt class today in weapons training. Nonetheless, just now I if I lived anywhere else but here or Israel, I would be in the process of moving either here or to Israel... and we were extremely reluctant to be transferred back to the States a decade ago.
Police rounded up three alleged would-be suicide bombers and six other suspects from various parts of the city after a tip-off about the plot to disrupt the processions on the 10th of Muharram in the provincial capital.
The capital city police got the tip that three would-be suicide bombers, Qari, Asad and Amjad had been tasked to carry out bombing during the Ashura processions. Security agencies were further alerted moments before an Ashura procession after reports that one of the bombers had reached Namakmandi.
Police later arrested the three would-be suicide bombers as well as six other suspects from different urban parts of the provincial capital, who were shifted to an unknown location. Security was at the highest alert in Peshawar, Hangu and Dera Ismail Khan during the last two days of Muharram.
A suicide bomber had struck in Dera Ismail Khan, killing seven people while curfew was clamped on Hangu after three cops were killed and as many abducted during a militants attack.
Peshawar remained quite peaceful as 4,000 cops were deployed across the city to thwart any untoward incident. It was for the first time in three years that no suicide bombing took place in Peshawar during 10 days of Muharram.
It is to be mentioned here that the first suicide attack occurred on seventh Muharram in 2007 in Dhaki Dalgaran wherein along with the then capital city police officer (CCPO), Malik Muhammad Saad, 16 other persons were killed.
ISLAMABAD: The Pakistan government has cut by 20 per cent the non-developmental expenditure of all ministries to meet defence needs amidst tensions with India after the Mumbai terror attacks.
The finance department had issued an official communication to federal government departments to scrap non-developmental expenditure with "immediate effect", official sources were quoted as saying by The News daily.
Finance ministry officials, speaking to the newspaper on condition of anonymity, cited two reasons for slashing non-development expenses defence requirements and the deteriorating financial position of Pakistan.
Development expenditure had also been whittled down before the appointment of the Advisor to the Prime Minister on Finance, Shaukat Tarin, who played a key role in obtaining an IMF bailout package for Pakistan.
"We have already earmarked enough funds for defence and would definitely provide more, if required, but this measure (of) bringing down allocations by 20 per cent is to arrest expenditures," he argued.
Tarin said the reduction was not aimed at generating money exclusively for defence purposes but to avoid wastage of available funds. The Pakistan-India tensions and the situation along the border had nothing to do with the recent cut in expenses, he insisted.
"We have also addressed to the defence ministry the same letter for the 20 percent cut made on other ministries, departments and state-run organisations," Tarin said.
The cash-starved country took the latest step to ensure the availability of funds for the armed forces in case of an emergency.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2009
07:42 ||
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#1
Not to worry.. Joe Biden is bringing 15 Billion dollars soon
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2009 7:43
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#2
Priorities made perfectly clear.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
01/10/2009 8:43
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#3
Erase that factory to make the new Chinese fighter/bomber and they have %20.
#2
Which great power will recover more quickly? Neither. China's toast. It's economy is based on exports and industrial growth. Exports will drop and they already have too many factories. Environmental destruction is costing output, productivity and lives. A political clampdown will be necessary and that will further depress the economy. The U.S. has decided to pursue a Keynesian neo-socialist policies. The country will stagnate until it reverses course. Which weak state will implode? Pakistan. Zimbabwe. Who cares? Bigger problem is what happens to the EU as Greece and Spain crumble. Which petrostate will get desperate? Venezuela. Chavez already sees the handwriting on the wall and is pushing for a lifetime Presidency. He won't be able to get it legally. What will the military do?
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan Muslim League-Quaid (PML-Q) President Chaudhry Shujaat Hussain said on Friday that China was an all-weather friend to Pakistan and there was no need to worry as long as Beijing was there to support Islamabad.
The former premier had hosted a dinner in honour of Chinese Ambassador Lou Zhaohui being awarded the Hilal-e-Quaid-e-Azam, the highest civil honour in the country. Shujaat said that the award symbolised the extraordinary personal commitment of the ambassador and his efforts in cementing Sino-Pak relations. The ambassador said that China and Pakistan had enjoyed traditional friendship, while the leaderships of both countries had played their role in strengthening bilateral ties.
Sino-Pak friendship is sweeter than honey, higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the Arabian Sea. I just did my job and would leave no stone unturned in cementing these relations, he said.
The PML-Q and its leadership played a pivotal role in cementing people-to-people contacts while Shujaat and Mushahid also played a role in bridging ties between the PML-Q and the Communist Party of China. We hope for a bright future of Pak-China friendship, he added
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2009
07:37 ||
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#1
Sino-Pak friendship is sweeter than honey, higher than the Himalayas and deeper than the Arabian Sea.
#2
Just now I imagine the fines hit particularly hard. No doubt some will be out of the business for good, and with money tight all over, the rest will behave for a while.
SIX Somalian pirates have drowned on leaving freed Saudi-owned supertanker Sirius Star nearly two months after it was captured off the east African coast, their leader said today. "Six of our boys perished at the sea while coming from the released Saudi supertanker" Mohamed Said said.
The heart [urp] bleeds ...
Their boat had capsized after freeing the vessel and its crew, he said via telephone from Harardhere, 300km north of Mogadishu. Four other pirates had also gone missing after the kidnapping ended, he said.
"The small boat that was carrying those killed and eight who survived was overloaded and at high speed as we are told by the survivors; they were afraid of a chase from outsiders (foreign navies of the Combined Maritime Forces) who invaded Somalia waters," he said.
Part of the $US300,000 ($420,600) ransom paid to free the tanker had also been on the boat and was now missing.
Haradhere resident Mohamud Aden said the capsize was an accident. "The pirates were full of joy and partially frightened by the presence of foreign war machines and overspeeding," he said. "That was a tragedy for the pirates."
The 330m Sirius Star, owned by the shipping arm of oil giant Saudi Aramco, was seized far off the east African coast on November 15, in what was the pirates' most daring attack and largest catch to date. It was still moored off Harardhere today.
The amount of the ransom paid for the ship's release was not known. Pirates had earlier said days after seizing the tanker they wanted $US25 million ($35 million) for its release.
Sources close to the negotiations said $US3 million ($4 million) were delivered to the pirate group onshore on Thursday. A dispute briefly erupted between the pirates over how the ransom money should be distributed.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
01/10/2009 9:59
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#2
Slightly betterfunnier different version from The Mail Online:
"However things went badly wrong for the pirates soon after the drop - they squabbled over how to split the money and then a wave washed off their getaway boat and drowned five of them. . . . [A]s they made off they continued to row about the payout.
'Two of them swam and survived. One is still missing. The weather was so terrible that it blew the boat over, then sank it. We got five dead bodies and we are still searching for the missing one. The waves were disastrous,' said Farah Osman, an associate of the gang.
It is not known what happened to the money or those who survived."
Hee hee hee.
Re the "terrible" weather - the pictures of the money drop show clear day, calm sea. Maybe a submarine karma rose up out of the sea to smite them?
Life is hard. It's harder when you're an idiot drowning pirate stupid. May it happen to ALL of them. :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 10:29
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#3
are they their own worst enemy or what.... I think they are about to get some lessons in modern seagoing warfare
Posted by: Davey Jones ||
01/10/2009 10:35
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#4
Maybe the Saudis don't much care for paying ransom. I can think of ways to make a speedboat capsize, if I knew where and when it was going, so perhaps the Saudis could too. Personally, I think ALL the pirates should suffer fatal accidents when leaving, since nobody seems willing to cause them fatal on-purposes before that.
So where's the sympathy meter? Broken and at the shop?
Five Somali pirates were drown in the sea after having taken fabulous amount of money from a Saudi tanker they have hijacked some two months ago off the coast of Somalia.
The pirates were coming towards the shore of Haradhere in Mudug region after having taken 3 million dollars from a Saudi oil tanker which they have set free on Friday afternoon they were on board two speed boats singing in colorful tone, and exchanging some ridiculous words unfortunately one of the boats carrying 9 Somali pirates capsized and five of the pirates who were not simmers were drown in the sea the while the other four swum to the shower said Ali Yussuf a resident of the pirates invested town of Haradhere speaking to Somaliweyn radio shortly after the tragedy occurred.
The resident also added that there are some great swimmers in the ocean with their boats ransacking for the remains of their fellow pirates drown in the Indian Ocean before making us out of they gained through unlawful means (ransom).
On the other hand some reports we are getting from the ground says that pastoralists traveling along the shore have slowly collected dollars floating on the surface of the sea, and some brought by the ebb tide to shore.
#2
The only thing worse than Lew Rockwell would be a Goldbug and since we've already posted one of those, things are getting better.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 10:15
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#3
TARP was presaged on the common wisdom that lending had come to a screeching halt. The graph embedded in the article shows otherwise. Someone is telling porkies. Wouldn't be Hank Paulson, would it?
If so, he would make Madoff look like a rank amateur, in pulling off the greatest bank robbery of all times..
#5
I've said it before, but I don't mind saying it again...the events that resulted in this economic collapse were waaay too conveniently timed. Massive increase in subprime-mortgage securitization...followed by oil shock...followed by Bear Stearns and AIG collapses...followed by Fan/Fred implosion...followed by the coronation of the Trillion Dollar Messiah. I don't like finding myself on the same side as the tinfoil-hat crew who think JFK was assassinated by the Illuminati, but there's no pheucking way it was just a series of random events.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/10/2009 15:29
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#6
We hit Peak Credit, there's no conspiracy needed.
#8
It's not the facts are wrong, it's that the chart the author is showing us isn't worth much. If anything, it would show that the bailout had the intended effect.
The bailout wasn't because 'all lending stopped' it was because if the worlds largest banks start falling like cards, then lending [i]does[/i] stop. Or if AIG goes, it takes corporate credit ratings all over the world down with it.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 21:09
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Iraqi authorities are holding a suspect in the October 2000 hijacking of a Saudi Arabian Airlines flight from Jeddah to London, the interior ministry said on Saturday.
Former Saudi military officer Ayesh Ali Hussein al-Harbi was arrested in Iraq last month, a ministry statement, said without specifying where or how. Two hijackers forced the Saudi Boeing 777 carrying more than 100 passengers and crew to fly to Baghdad before surrendering peacefully. The interior ministry did not specify whether Harbi was suspected of being one of the hijackers or of playing some other role in the plot. "During the investigation it was discovered that he entered Iraq in 2000 after his involvement in the hijacking of a Saudi plane, which was flying from Jeddah airport to Britain before landing at Baghdad airport," its statement said. The ministry said Harbi was also suspected of belonging to a three-member gang that carried out a string of murders of Iraqis, including police and military officials. It did not say whether he would face prosecution in Iraq or be extradited to Saudi Arabia.
Muslim rebels are believed to be behind the bombing of an electricity transmission tower on the Filipino island of Mindanao earlier today, which left several towns and villages without power. The Philippine army suspects that "rogue members" of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front planted four devices. The government-owned National Transmission Corporation says it could take two or three days to restore power.
The bombing occurred a week before China's State Grid Corporation was scheduled to take over the operation of the Filipino power grid. Around 40 transmission towers were damaged or destroyed last year in attacks.
Salman Sheikh was organizing a swim class for his two sons last summer when fellow Muslim parents approached him about starting a class for girls. Sheikh told them he would ask the Curran Aquatic Center in Cary, N.C., whether it could accommodate a group of Muslims who preferred a women-only pool.
Yes, of course, the leaders of the aquatic center said, and showed him a 15-yard pool that could be rented for $170 an hour. Problem was, the small pool overlooked a larger, Olympic-size pool, and Sheikh wondered whether the center could provide blinds to cover the windows and shield the women from onlookers. Sure, the centers leaders said, but it would cost $3,000 for custom-made blinds. Sheikh was ready to drop the idea. But the Muslim community in Raleigh, N.C., and Cary wouldnt let him.
Within a month, Sheikh, a native of Pakistan who works as a project manager for the North Carolina Department of Health and Human Services, raised the money and signed up 35 women for the first class. Last month, a group of women of all ages dipped their toes into the water for the first time.
This type of accommodation to the religious requirements of their faith is something Muslims are seeing more. All-Muslim Boy Scout and Girl Scout troops have cropped up across the country. Muslims are entering politics, studying Islam at major American universities, even finding halal, or ritually slaughtered foods, at local stores. I see this as a sign of Muslims learning to operate within American civic institutions, said Omid Safi, a professor of Islamic studies at UNC-Chapel Hill.
Many devout Muslim women adhere to their faiths requirements to guard their modesty, which for them means covering their hair and bodies in the presence of men who arent their relatives. By doing so, they believe they are deflecting the desires and gazes of the opposite sex and living the kind of life the Prophet Muhammad might have approved. In mostly Muslim countries, it is common to have separate pools for men and women. But in the United States thats virtually unheard of, and as a result many Muslim women grow up not knowing how to swim.
Saleha Bhatti of Raleigh, who accompanied her 16-year-old daughter, Sanaa, to the swim class, said that was the case in her family. Had she stayed in Pakistan, she might have taken lessons at a womens pool, but in the United States, it wasnt an option. We never had the chance to learn, Bhatti said.
Jenny Jaber, a convert to Islam who lives in Raleigh, said learning to swim should not be a luxury. Indeed, she said, learning to swim is encouraged in the oral sayings of the Prophet Muhammad, known as the hadith. Ive wanted to waterproof this community for a long time, said Jaber, who worked as a water safety instructor until she converted. Were around water all the time, and it unnerves me to see these women standing on piers.
Many of the women came dressed in full-length Burkinis, swimming costumes that looks much like a scuba-diving suit but are made of water-protected polyester rather than rubber.
#7
Hey, they want to pay for their own special requirements, go for it. I just don't want them imposing their BS on me and/or expecting me to pay for the privilege.
#8
If the Boy Scout troop was sponsored by a mosque, then most or all of the scouts would be Muslim. When I was a scout, my troop was sponsored by my Catholic parish; as far as I knew, all the scouts were Catholic.
It's not clear if they excluded infidel scouts from the troop.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 20:22
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A waiter at a Jewish wedding who is considering converting to Islam interrupted the celebration's final prayers with recorded Arabic chants of "God is great," sparking fear among the 700 guests of a terrorist attack, Nassau police said Friday. Stephen Buttafuoco, who was fired from Morrell Caterers at Woodbury Jewish Center, had gone to a Manhattan rally opposing the Israeli campaign in Gaza a day earlier, recording protest chants on his cell phone.
Following an investigation, Buttafuoco, 23, of 27 Chelsea Ave., West Babylon, was arrested Friday and charged with felony aggravated harassment, police said. A grand jury will consider whether to also charge Buttafuoco with disruption of a religious service. Neither the caterer nor the synagogue could be reached for comment.
The guests couldn't at first decipher the angry-sounding chants blaring over the public address system shortly after 1 a.m. Jan. 4. "They just figured it was the children playing with the DJ's microphone," said Nassau Det. Sgt. Michael Marino. But when they heard "Allahu akbar," Arabic for "God is great," "followed by some kind of demonstration of anger," Marino said, the guests became frightened. "They thought that this could lead to some kind of terroristic act," Marino said.
Buttafuoco, who will be arraigned Saturday in Hempstead, told detectives that he was trying to privately disrespect Judaism and didn't realize the recording was being played throughout the building, just in the sanctuary, where he was. He couldn't be reached for comment. Police said he was not arrested until Friday because detectives wanted to rule out terrorist connections.
Police said Buttafuoco told detectives he is not related to Joey Buttafuoco, the man involved in a notorious 1990s love triangle with Amy Fisher.
#4
And now his head will be cut off.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru
No. But felony... that means a prison term, and with name like his, it is almost guaranteed that Tiny may consider him an object of his amorous advances.
#8
"Buttafuoco told detectives he is not related to Joey Buttafuoco, the man involved in a notorious 1990s love triangle with Amy Fisher."
"I wanted to dis' Judaism and scare the Jooooos as part of my preparation to convert to The Religion of Peace,™ but I ain't kin to that crazy guy! I got standards!"
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:38
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The United States is seeking to hire a merchant ship to deliver hundreds of tons of arms to Israel from Greece later this month, tender documents seen by Reuters show. The U.S. Navy's Military Sealift Command said the ship was to carry 325 standard 20-foot containers of what is listed as "ammunition" on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to the Israeli port of Ashdod in mid-to-late January.
A "hazardous material" designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details were given. "Shipping 3,000-odd tons of ammunition in one go is a lot," one broker said. "This (kind of request) is pretty rare and we haven't seen much of it quoted in the market over the years," he added.
And I'd get it done and delivered by the 19th ...
The U.S. Defense Department, contacted by Reuters on Friday in Washington, had no immediate comment. The MSC transports armor and military supplies for the U.S. armed forces aboard its own fleet, but regularly hires merchant ships if logistics so require.
The request for the ship was made on Dec. 31, with the first leg of the charter to arrive no later than January 25 and the second at the end of the month. The tender for the vessel follows the hiring of a commercial ship to carry a much larger consignment of ordnance in December from the United States to Israel ahead of air strikes in the Gaza Strip.
A German shipping firm which won that tender confirmed the order when contacted by Reuters but declined to comment further.
Shipping brokers in London who have specialized in moving arms for the British and U.S. military in the past said such ship charters to Israel were rare. A senior military analyst in London who declined to be named said that, because of the timing, the shipments could be "irregular" and linked to the Gaza offensive.
The ship hired by the MSC in December was for a much larger cargo of arms, tender documents showed. That stipulated a ship to be chartered for 42 days capable of carrying 989 standard 20-foot containers from Sunny Point, North Carolina to Ashdod. The tender document said the vessel had to be capable of "carrying 5.8 million pounds (2.6 million kg) of net explosive weight", which specialist brokers said was a very large quantity.
The ship was requested early last month to load on December 15.
I think the message is clear: neither the Bush team nor the Israelis think Bambi will stand by Israel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009
01:43 ||
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#1
3000-odd tons is about 25 flights of a C5. Between Greece and Israel, that could be done with one plane in about 11 days figuring two trips a day. With 5 planes, in about two days.
In the 1973 war, I remember plane after plane after plane flying out of Dover headed for Israel.
So here we have a huge shipment that has been announced to the world ahead of time. Seems like a plan designed to attract at attack attempt to me.
#5
Perhaps the Army Corps of Engineers needs some tools for their tunnels inspection work on the Egyptian side of the Gaza border... or that moat concept that's been bruited about, running from the Mediterranean to the Dead Sea.
#6
"Shipping 3,000-odd tons of ammunition in one go is a lot,"
That's less than the average monthly amount destroyed by US forces in Iraq. How about transferring some of the 500,000 ton US war reserve in Korea to Israel?
Posted by: ed ||
01/10/2009 8:39
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#7
I would be for giving Israel all the JDAM adapter kits, dumb bombs, rifle ammo, artillery shells, first aid kits, smoke rounds, and tank shells they want.
#9
In the 73 war, the US dipped deep into our reserve stocks of ammo. Israel was down to ammo stocks measured in DAYS.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 12:48
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#10
Israel can supply its own small cal rounds, unless it is running out of brass and powder. But, I'd hate to see them short on the big stuff. They indicated to the towel heads that the worst was yet to come. This supports that. Keep those rounds outbound.
OSLO (Reuters) - Oslo police detained at least 27 people on Thursday after pro-Israeli and pro-Palestinian demonstrators clashed in one of the worst such outbursts in the Norwegian capital since the 1980s. Shop windows in the city centre were shattered and police repeatedly used teargas to break up groups of activists demonstrating over Israel's crackdown in the Gaza Strip.
The violence started when about 1,000 pro-Palestinian supporters showed up at a rally sponsored by Norway's largest opposition party in support of Israel. Television pictures showed they burnt Israeli flags and threw projectiles at police clad in body armour who separated the two groups.
"This has nothing to do with the situation in Gaza," Johan Fredriksen, chief of staff of the Oslo police, told the website of the daily Aftenposten. "These people came to the protest with knives, bats and Molotov cocktails," he said, speaking about the pro-Palestinian side.
You know, you have to wonder whether there's a glimmer of common sense here and there in Europe. Call me crazy but one or two of the multi-culti-multi-tudes might just be seeming to get it ...
"You have to go back to the early 1980s to find a similar situation in Norway," Fredriksen said, adding that police were still concerned about security across the city.
Clashes also took place near the Israeli embassy.
Tabloid VG on its website said that Oslo was the site of a "street fight" with groups of men throwing rocks and bottles at police. One police car was trashed and one officer injured.
Before the flare up, some 15,000 people walked through the city centre for a peaceful, torch-lit protest, police said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009
01:39 ||
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#1
These people came to the protest with knives, bats and Molotov cocktails
How'd you like to be this guy's cellmate?
HOUSTON A Texas death row inmate with a history of mental problems pulled out his only good eye and told authorities he ate it. Andre Thomas, 25, was arrested for the fatal stabbings of his estranged wife, their young son and her 13-month-old daughter in March 2004. Their hearts also had been ripped out. He was convicted and condemned for the infant's death. Well at least he can't see anymore to rip anyone else's heart out.
While in the Grayson County Jail in Sherman, Thomas plucked out his right eye before his trial later in 2004. A judge subsequently ruled he was competent to stand trial. Geez, judge. Didya think he was just showing off?
A death-row officer at the Polunsky Unit of the Texas Department of Criminal Justice found Thomas in his cell with blood on his face and took him to the infirmary. "Thomas said he pulled out his eye and subsequently ingested it," agency spokesman Jason Clark said Friday. You did...what?
Thomas was treated at East Texas Medical Center in Tyler after the Dec. 9 incident. Then he was transferred and remains at the Jester Unit, a prison psychiatric facility near Richmond southwest of Houston. The "Jester Unit"? Yeah, he's a Barrel of Laughs...
"He will finally be able to receive the mental health care that we had wanted and begged for from day 1," Bobbie Peterson-Cate, Thomas' trial attorney, told the Sherman Herald Democrat. "He is insane and mentally ill. It is exactly the same reason he pulled out the last one." I dunno, honey. I don't think there's enough money or time on the planet to help this guy.
At his trial, defense lawyers also argued he suffered from alcohol and drug abuse. I think that's the least of his problems.
Thomas does not have an execution date. I think I might wanna set one. Preferably as soon as possible.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals in October upheld his conviction and death sentence for the death of 13-month-old Leyha Marie Hughes. Also killed March 27, 2004, were his wife, Laura Christine Boren, 20, and their son, 4-year-old Andre Lee. Thomas, from Texoma, walked into the Sherman Police Department and told a dispatcher he had just murdered the three and had stabbed himself in the chest. He told police how he put his victims' hearts in his pocket and left their apartment, took them home, put them in a plastic bag and threw them in the trash. Court documents described the three victims as having "large, gaping wounds to their chests." People like this walk the planet. Isn't that comforting...
(IsraelNN.com) The Lebanese Army Friday arrested what it said was a squad numbering seven people who it says are responsible for the Katyusha rocket attack Thursday against Israel's North.
The suspects admitted that they were members of the Lebanese Hamas movement.
The Lebanese Army and a UNIFIL force discovered an additional, ready-to-launch rocket pod.
Well, it is a Day of Wrath...
Solidarity rallies with the war-battered Gaza Strip led to scuffles between dueling Palestinian factions on Friday, reflecting competing efforts to assert legitimacy over the fractured Palestinian political scene.
Police loyal to Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas stood by while protesters allied with his Fatah Party struck demonstrators from the rival Hamas with flag sticks.
According to news agency AFP, the clashes erupted after the Hamas rulers of Gaza had called for a second week in a row for Palestinians to mark a "day of wrath" against the Israeli bombardments.
Fist fights erupted and security forces used teargas and batons to disperse the demonstrators who had taken part in rival protests. Thirteen people were taken to hospital and several others were detained, witnesses said. Police spokesman Adnan Dameiri said no one was detained, but that some protesters were removed from the scene.
West Bank police have suppressed Hamas rallies in recent weeks, preventing supporters from waving their flags and marching through city centers.
Simmering tensions between Hamas and the Fatah party burst into all-out street warfare in June 2007, when the Islamists seized the Gaza Strip and ousted forces loyal to the Western-backed president, who now only holds sway in the West Bank. Looks like that "Palestinian Unity" thing still needs a little work...
Iranian banks illegally shifted billions of dollars through American financial institutions in recent years, and authorities suspect some of the money may have been used to finance Iran's nuclear and missile programs.
Now that it's after the election the NYT is willing to report on at least some of the nefarious activities of the Mad Mullahs™ ...
Details of the illicit transfers came to light on Friday when New York State and federal authorities announced that a large British bank had agreed to pay $350 million to settle accusations that it had helped the Iranian banks hide the transactions. The British bank, the Lloyds TSB Group, "stripped" information that would have identified the transfers in order to deceive American financial institutions, which are barred from doing business with Iranian banks, Robert M. Morgenthau, the Manhattan district attorney, said. Lloyds acknowledged its conduct and agreed to turn over detailed records of the transactions.
"They went to great lengths to obliterate any identification," Mr. Morgenthau said.
MOMBASA, Kenya, Jan. 9 (UPI) -- A supertanker that was hijacked by Somali pirates as it carried 2 million barrels of oil to the United States has been released, the pirates said Friday. Mohamed Said, who said he was one of the pirates, told The Times of London by telephone that everyone on board the Sirius Star had been freed unharmed.
The tanker was captured in the Indian Ocean 420 miles off the coast in November. The pirates sought $25 million for its release but later cut their ransom demand to $3.5 million. The ship was owned by Vela International Marine, a subsidiary of Saudi Aramco. Vela refused to comment on any payments, but pirates said that their demands had been met.
Andrew Mwangura, head of the Seafarers' Assistance Program in the port of Mombasa, Kenya, said that the Sirius Star, more than 1,000 feet in length, is too big to dock in Mombasa. He said that the vessel might simply continue on its voyage, rounding the Cape of Good Hope.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009
00:14 ||
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For the first time since Operation Cast Lead was launched, an Israeli journalist was allowed to enter the Strip alongside the fighting forces. What does it look like on the frontline?
Gaza City was quiet most of the day, but it was exactly this calm that had Givati Brigade Commander, Colonel Ilan Malka, so concerned: "Everyone should drill the procedure for thwarting attempted abductions. That's what (Hamas) are aiming for now. We also have to review the procedures for thwarting suicide attacks against the troops," he told his officers in one of the security briefings. The warning is not an empty one. By night, the IDF had scores of abduction alerts, suggesting Hamas is preparing to kidnap soldiers in the area Givati forces were deployed in.
"When we took over the area so aggressively, Hamas pretty much disappeared," Malka said, standing in his impromptu headquarters on the outskirts of Gaza City. "But I'm convinced they are still here, either underground or in hiding. They will venture out to try and abduct soldiers so they can boast accomplishments."
Malka is proud of Givati's achievements -- the brigade was able to penetrate Hamas defenses within hours and take over a fortified and booby-trapped hub with virtually zero resistance. His primary concern right now is to keep the scene from turning into a snare.
We stopped in a backyard of an auto shop. The APC (armored personnel carrier) backed up until it nearly touched the wall -- or the hole in the wall -- into which we leaped out. The Givati force moved through holes cut into the wall surrounding each house, as they took over the neighborhood, careful not to expose themselves to sniper fire or to the traps laid for them in the buildings' foyers. We're here with several reservists form the brigade's reconnaissance company. They have a large reserve force and the Palestinian neighborhood soon rustles with officers who have come to join the fighting. "I couldn't stay home when the guys are fighting," said Omri, while on the way to meet Lieutenant Colonel Ofer Levy, the brigade's deputy commander. "We try not to stand next to windows, so to avoid sniper fire," explains another officer, ducking under a wide window. In the kitchen, we find remnants of meal left abruptly. The homeowners, like more than a 1,000 of the neighborhood's residents, fled following IDF warnings.
Levy said that Hamas operatives were caught so off guard that they left their explosives in plain sight and vanished. The soldiers, he added, keep uncovering tunnels; but before we can visit one, a more urgent matter must be dealt with: The Brigade's commander, who is in a GOC security assessment, orders all fighting, projectile fire and aerial strikes stop at 1 pm for three hours of a "humanitarian pause," at which time local residents would be able to stock up on essential provisions. "We can't go forward but we can fire if we are in danger," I'm told.
One of the company commanders runs over and excitingly tells us that the "Caterpillars" -- D9 bulldozers used by the IDF -- have uncovered a tunnel full of containers; but someone tells him that this tunnel is a familiar find. We head out to inspect the tunnel, which is located in fairly dangerous territory, in order to decide what to do with it. We get a short security briefing, individual "combat numbers" and off we go, moving through the alleys, the soldiers pointing their weapons at the top floors or the holes in the walls, as need be. Hamas is nowhere to be found, but it could reappear at any moment. We arrive at an open area and the troops deploy quickly. We are treading through the Gaza quagmire -- and there is a lot of it around.
We run across a local family in one of the buildings. Grandparents, a few young parents, some children and a few toddlers. Sitting on a rug, their legs are covered in blankets and two soldiers are standing guard nearby. "What about them?" I ask. "They're free to go if they want to, but they don't want to," said Eilon Perry, Givati's operations officer. "They informed us they would be staying in the house and we have no choice but to accept that."
The family suddenly notices the cameras, and immediately, the expression on their faces changes. "We have no food," they say in Arabic, as one of the youngsters suggests we interview him in English about their plight. Givati troops are extremely concerned about being portrayed as abusing innocent civilians. Perry points to a stack of canned goods, water bottles and other provisions. "We provided some of that and they cook and eat quite well," said Perry. The Palestinians seem to understand him and one of them smiles. It's a war -- they had to try.
A sniper lies in wait on one of the building's top floors, peeping through a hole in the wall. Those holes are the scars left across Gaza, the ones that will be there long after the IDF leaves. The commander and his soldiers recite a prayer before heading out to the tunnel again. The number of religious soldiers and settler youth in the brigade and in other IDF combat units is high and increasing, I'm told. The officers tell me how important the support of the home front is to them. There is a real sense of accomplishment and they are convinced that the ground incursion is important. Many of them fear the military would avoid it and believe that it is the only way to secure peace and quiet for southern Israel. "Besides, we got tired of hearing how Israeli citizens are getting hit while we did nothing about it," said Alon from the Golan Heights, while petting his dog. He is an Oketz serviceman -- the IDF's K-9 unit -- which is a pivotal part of the force. The troops have two bomb-sniffing dogs with them, sniffing the entryway to each house before we go in. The dogs are equipped with special boots on their paws, to keep them from being hurt by the shredded metal and broken glass covering the ground.
We make our way to the tunnel on foot at first, but the last leg is exposed to the neighborhood north of us. The company commander and I go into the belly of a tank that lets us out at the tunnel's entrance. Nobody is taking any chances. The tunnel is built out of a vertical shaft leading into an underground passageway lined with cement. It is clearly packed with explosives and would be dangerous to move through. The tunnel leads into a house some 300 yards away. "My god," said the commander. "It leads up to that house... I almost decided to camp there for a few hours before I saw it was booby-trapped. Had we stayed there we would have been in for a very nasty visit."
Through the entirety of the "humanitarian pause" in the fighting, the streets were empty. Maybe it was because the stores were closed and maybe because the neighborhood, which was crowded up until a few days ago, is empty. The force is patrolling through it, uncovering weapon and rocket caches; D9 bulldozers follow, ripping out launching pads. Other operational activities target buildings suspected as rocket manufacturing facilities and weapons' labs. Still, caution is the order of the day and the company is vigilant -- they are happy to report having only a few minor casualties since the operation began, and say that things have been quiet in their sector. They pray it stays that way. This is definitely not the same military we saw in the Second Lebanon War. I wouldn't want to run into any of these warriors in a dark alley.
Just before we turn back, I ask the brigade commander how long he thinks they would be staying in the Strip. "For as long as we have to," he says. "I honestly don't know. We're ready to say for weeks, or months." Will the operation be expanded? "We currently have no such plans," he said, trying to keep a businesslike expression. His officers were already looking at a map of another area in the city.
#1
Considering the exposure time is essentially infinite, one would think the Israelis would be able to see the tunnels through use of advanced ground penetrating radar and image processing.
#3
Bah, just fill the tunnels with Carbon monoxide gas and then see how many bodies you can find in it later. Honestly, persistant nerve agents are better but CO will do the job.
#4
They have a large reserve force and the Palestinian neighborhood soon rustles with officers who have come to join the fighting. "I couldn't stay home when the guys are fighting," said Omri
?
The reserves can opt in by their own volition? How does that work?
US consigns 3,000 tonnes of "ammunition" to Israel
January 10, 2009, 11:22 AM (GMT+02:00)
The US Navy's Military Sealift Command is hiring a merchant ship to carry the arms on two separate journeys from the Greek port of Astakos to Israel in mid-to-late January, according to Reuters. A 'hazardous material" designation on the manifest mentions explosive substances and detonators, but no other details. One broker said that the size of a shipment of this kind has not been seen for years. DEBKAfile's military sources note that the Israel's air, ground, tank and sea offensive against Hamas in Gaza entered its 15th day Saturday, Jan. 10.
#8
Explosives usually bring their own oxygen to the show, for example, ammonium nitrate:
[NH4}+ [NO3]-
3 Oxygen atoms provide the combusion with the hydrogen to make steam, but you can also get lots of noxious compounds, to with the nitrogen atoms around.
If you want to suck the oxygen out of the tunnel, then use a FAE explosive, or napalm, which is not in vogue now.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 12:28
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#9
Detonating the explosives kills a few. By filling it with CO gas, you get more than a few. They won't want to give those up and will keep trying to get it and I doubt many of the scum are familiar enough with CO to recognize why people who go in don't come out. Besides, if it explodes, they know it's Israel or a work accident. If they don't explode and anyone going in just never comes out, it has far better effects psychologically on them.
#10
How about connecting Gaza tunnel system to the Mediterranean sea: Hamas "fighters" would be able to hide from Zionists and take swim lessons at the same time?
#12
CO has the same density as air (essentially N2) and will diffuse quickly and lose it's concentration. you need a heavier molecule that will stay settled in the tunnel. i suggest propane (without the mercaptin(sp?) that usually makes it smell) odorless and heavier than air it is a fatal atmosphere to breathe for very long.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/10/2009 15:30
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#13
But Abu, what happens when the gophers light up a smoke?
#16
Do what we used to do to gophers when we were kids: calcium carbide in water, let er bubble, then light er off. Bloody hell underground when the acetylene gas explodes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 18:18
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#17
You had all the fun a very interesting childhood, AP. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 19:11
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#18
AP used to waterboard rodents, just to teach the others a lesson
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 19:18
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#20
It's spelled 'mercaptan', Abu, because chemicals of that class (with the -SH group) are able to capture mercury atoms and detoxify them. That they smell like s^%t is, in fact, because s^%t contains the methyl mercaptan, CH3SH.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
01/10/2009 21:40
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The body of a freedom fighter was recovered from a latrine tank at Basho village in Mohammadpur upazila on Thursday afternoon.
We have no idea where that is ...
Family sources said freedom fighter Jafar Biswas, 60, was missing for last three days. Jafar had a long standing dispute with his rival in the village, said police adding that he might have been killed following the rivalry. A case was filled in this connection but, none was arrested.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009
00:05 ||
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Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, as Israel's government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
One Israeli airstrike killed two Hamas militants and another unidentified man, while another flattened a five-story building in northern Gaza, killing at least seven people, including an infant, Hamas security officials said. By midday, 19 Palestinians had been killed.
In all, Israeli aircraft struck more than 30 targets before dawn, and constant explosions continued after first light. Friday's deaths in Gaza pushed the Palestinian death toll to more than 760 in the two-week-old conflict, with at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials. Thirteen Israelis have died.
In Israel's first official response to the U.N. Security Council resolution, Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's office said Israel "has never agreed to let an external body decide its right to protect the security of its citizens."
The military "will continue acting to protect Israeli citizens and will carry out the missions it was given," the statement read. The rockets fell in Israel on Friday "only prove that the U.N.'s decision is not practical and will not be kept in practice by the Palestinian murder organizations."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
00:00 ||
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#1
What I want to know is if the punishment applies equally to Hamass.
#2
Friday's deaths in Gaza pushed the Palestinian death toll to more than 760 in the two-week-old conflict, with at least half of them civilians, according to Gaza health officials.
Well, they are only civilians part time. The rest of the time they are volunteers for Hamas as teachers, and massage specialists, and gardeners, etc. Love the civic attitude with those guys.
#3
Note that the death toll has only doubled since the first three days, but the percentage of "civilians" has climbed from 15% to 50%. More Hamass arrogance to think we'd believe that bs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/10/2009 14:09
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The Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) of Pakistan have been ranked among the 'most dangerous' places in the world, according to the Press Trust of India that cited a report by a US think-tank which has called on the incoming Obama administration to declare the area part of the 'Afghan war theatre'. There goes the tourist trade... Maybe they should move to Edwardsville, Alabama ...
Observing that a "nuclear Pakistan as a base for international terrorism is a prospect that the world cannot afford", the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) asked the US government to redefine the territory of war in the region to include FATA.
It said this would help the US Central Command (CENTCOM) cooperate with the Pakistan Army in both military and economic development efforts as needed and agreed on by both the countries.
The observations were part of a report titled 'FATA: A Most Dangerous Place', authored by Shuja Nawaz a Pakistani journalist who has just been appointed the first director of the South Asia Centre at the Atlantic Council of the US.
"FATA remains a most dangerous place, with the failure of governance and the rise of militancy affecting Afghanistan and Pakistan not only individually and separately but also jointly," Nawaz was quoted as saying by the Press Trust of India in his concluding observations.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
I sense I will be reading about Edwardsville in the very near future.
#2
I've got an idea. Why don't all the folks in the FATA move to Ironton, CO (current year-round pop 0). If they can stand the "cruel Afghan Winter", they can stand Ironton (halfway between Ouray and Silverton). I'm sure the locals could use some help with the mines there. Might be a problem for a few of the folks - Ironton is at 12,028 feet (3667M) above sea level. While there are some high mountains to the north and west, most of the FATA doesn't get more than a few thousand feet above sea level. The lack of oxygen should keep 'em from gettin' too rambunctious.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/10/2009 21:00
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Israel carried out a series of air strikes throughout the Gaza Strip after nightfall. Hamas said one of its fighters was killed and four others were wounded. Medical officials said 10 civilians were also wounded in the strikes.
An Israeli air strike in the city of Gaza damaged a building that housed production and transmission facilities for a number of television stations, most of them Arabic, journalists said. At least two people were wounded.
An Iranian state television station said two of its staff were wounded by the Israeli rocket strike on the building housing its office in Gaza.
"Israeli rocket strikes Gaza media building, wounding two," Press TV said in a breaking news headline, after initially reporting no casualties in the incident. "Israeli forces have targeted Press TV and al-Alam television stations in the Gaza Strip," the English-language satellite station said. Al-Alam is Iran's Arab-language television station.
An Israeli military spokesperson said the building had not been targeted, though it may have sustained "collateral damage".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Jean Claude? Pierre? Etienne? Jacques? Four teenagers from the Paris suburbs have been charged with beating a Jewish schoolgirl and taunting her over the Israeli offensive in Gaza, officials said Friday.
The 14-year-old victim told investigators she was called a "dirty Jew," kicked in the legs and forced to eat snow by a group of youths outside her high school in the rough suburb of Villiers le Bel.
One of her attackers allegedly told her: "We don't like what your brothers are doing in Gaza," lawyers said.
A special judge for minors charged the three youths late Thursday with acts of violence linked to a person's religion, and a fourth for failing to prevent a crime, the state prosecutor's office said.
According to defense lawyers, the judge suggested the youths, aged between 13 and 15, could be sent on a course on the subject of racism and anti-Semitism. Suggested? Yeah, that'll show 'em ya mean business, judgey. Hope they don't burn your Mercedes in the parking lot...
All four have been suspended from school and are set to face disciplinary action. Double secret probation, probably...
France, home to Europe's biggest Arab and Jewish populations, has been on alert for an increase in anti-Semitic violence as the conflict in Gaza stirred communal tensions.
On Monday, unidentified attackers rammed a burning car into a gate outside a synagogue in southern France, while French Jewish groups have recorded a spike in anti-Semitic taunts and attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
It seems to me that they were not arrested for taunting her, but for kicking her - in other words, for assault.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 0:17
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#2
Yes, but using the word assault would make it sound as bad as it actually was.
Posted by: Jumbo Angomock9536 DBA Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 0:34
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#3
Had to check to see if the original article omitted "beating" in the title. I think whoever made that decision should be taunted for it.
At some point, someone is going to have to make them afraid to do this type of thing or they will just get more bold and vicious.
Another scoop for PressTV Iran... Iranian hackers have launched a massive campaign against Israeli web sites and have managed to bring many of them to a standstill. Ashyaneh, a group of Iranian hackers brought down the Israeli secret service's web site on Wednesday for more than two hours. The group has hacked over 50 Israeli web sites since Wednesday in a show of anger against Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Fars news agency reported on Friday. The news agency said that it will reveal further details on the serial cyber attacks in the near future.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
And the Iranians have deployed the dreaded 157th Photoshop Brigade!
Four small bombs exploded outside a theatre and near a major government building in an eastern Pakistan city late last night, but there were no casualties, police said.
The explosions spurred panic in Lahore, a cultural hub that has largely escaped the scores of suicide and other bomb attacks that have bedevilled Pakistan in the past two years. The blasts occurred near the building housing the Punjab province assembly and the Al-Falah Theatre.
"These were four, locally made, low-intensity timed devices," senior police official Haider Ashraf said. "Two of them had been planted in the power plant of the theatre. Another two exploded at the main gate."
He said no one was hurt or wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
Looks like Pakistan needs to ARCLIGHT itself.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 0:10
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A Malaysian Muslim group began a boycott of some major U.S. products on Friday as Italian politicians joined Jewish groups in condemning a trade union's call to boycott Jewish-owned shops in Rome.
The Muslim Consumers Association of Malaysia said Muslims in the Southeast Asian country would not buy goods produced by U.S. toothpaste manufacturer Colgate-Palmolive Co, soft drink maker Coca-Cola and coffee chain Starbucks to protest U.S. inaction against the attacks. "We urge Muslim consumers internationally to unite so that we can teach a lesson to Israel and its allies," Ma'amor Osman, an official with the association, told reporters in the compound of the national mosque after Friday (Jumaa) prayers. "This is to object to the arrogance and cruelty of Israel and its allies towards the Palestinians." He urged the Malaysian government to end all its contracts with U.S.-owned firms. And I, for one, refuse from this moment to buy anything made in Malaysia. Tell all your friends. So...what can I throw out that I've got from Malaysia? I think I got an ashtray around here someplace. Or some fake dog shit. Check your DVD player. And your DVDs.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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(AKI) - Turkish police discovered explosives, bombs and arms in a suburb of the capital Ankara early on Friday allegedly related to the shadowy Ergenekon organisation and its bid to topple the Islamic-rooted government.
Media reports say the search was conducted on a vacant property after a sketch was found at the home of Ibrahim Sahin, an Ergenekon suspect. Three shoulder missile launchers, TNT molds and plastic explosives were found in two separate bags, Turkish media reports said.
Sahin was among the 37 people detained on Wednesday in the latest wave of arrests linked to the Ergenekon operation. Three retired generals and active military officers were among those arrested for their suspected links to the right-wing group.
Turkey's military chief met prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan and president Abdullah Gul on Thursday to discuss the latest detentions.
In a statement, the general staff said separate talks between armed forces commander General Ilker Basbug, Erdogan and Gul had centred on Wednesday's detentions. The military, which has unseated four governments in the last 50 years, has denied any link to the group, known as Ergenekon.
A total of 86 people including retired army officers, politicians and lawyers, are facing trial over allegations they were planning a coup attempt.
Sahin, the former head of the Turkish anti-terrorist Special Forces was tried in Turkey's infamous Susurluk case that became one of the most crucial scandals in the country's political history. In the late 1990s, the Susurluk case, aimed at unveiling a shadowy illegal organisation, known as "the deep-state", began after a traffic accident involving a parliamentarian, a police official and a fugitive. The case uncovered the mysterious relationship between the country's Mafia, police and political figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Not gonna play Guess That Party?
Mayor Sheila Dixon was indicted Friday on charges that she accepted illegal gifts during her time as mayor and City Council president, including travel, fur coats and gift cards that she allegedly used for a holiday shopping spree.
A grand jury indicted Dixon on 12 counts, including four counts of perjury and two counts of theft over $500. She was also charged with theft under $500, fraudulent misappropriation by a fiduciary and misconduct in office.
The State Prosecutor's Office, which has been investigating corruption at City Hall for nearly three years, said Dixon received holiday gift cards for four years from several people. Prosecutors said the gift cards were to be distributed to needy families, but were instead used by Dixon to buy herself electronics, clothes and other merchandise and also handed out to members of her staff. That's great. You stay classy, Sheila...
"I am being unfairly accused," Dixon said in a statement. "Time will prove that I have done nothing wrong, and I am confident that I will be found innocent of these charges."
Dixon said she would not step down. "I will not let these charges deter me from keeping Baltimore on the path that we have set, or from carrying forward the significant progress we have made thus far," she said. Her kids must still need a Wii...
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
I saw the first report on CNN around 2:45 PM Eastern time yesterday. They didn't mention her party affiliation then, either. I'm guessing Reform Party...
A lawsuit that accused Vice President-elect Joe Biden's youngest son and brother of cheating a business partner out of money has been settled, an attorney said Friday.
A stipulation of settlement in the case against Hunter Biden, a former Washington lobbyist and son of Delaware's senior senator, and James Biden, the senator's brother, was filed late last month in New York state court.
Nicholas Gravante Jr., an attorney for the Bidens, said Friday that the settlement terms are confidential. In their response to the complaint, the Bidens denied any wrongdoing.
The lawsuit was over an effort led by the Bidens to take control of hedge funds run by the Paradigm Companies. A partner in the deal, Anthony Lotito Jr., claimed that the Bidens negotiated their own deal behind his back and cheated him out of money.
James Biden had past financial dealings with Lotito, the lawsuit said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(AKI) - Rockets fired by Hamas militants on Friday struck Tel Nof, a major Israeli airbase near Tel Aviv, the group's military wing the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades claimed on its Al-Aqsa TV channel.
The alleged rocket strike came after Israeli firepower continued to pound the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip on the 14th day of Operation Cast Lead. "With the help of Allah, we at 8 a.m. this morning managed to penetrate the furthest north into Israel that our rockets have yet reached," said the Ezzedin al-Qassam Brigades.
Tel Nof airbase is located just 27 kilometres from Tel Aviv and houses a number of Israeli fighter and helicopter squadrons. Israel allegedly stores its nuclear weapons around the base.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The way to stop this is for the Juice to deploy an F-150 to tow a tactical nuclear mortar launching Q Ship along the border.
Straight 6, 5 speed and a sliding rear window to facilitate communication between the trucks driver and the ships captain.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 0:15
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#2
You're obviously the love child Joe Mendiola and Shipman should have had ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/10/2009 1:37
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I'd hate to meet the one they shouldn't have had.
Posted by: Ulong the Ruthless3244 DBA Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 2:40
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First signs of Hamas cracking, Israel lets Gazan delegates leave for Cairo
DEBKAfile Exclusive Report
January 10, 2009, 12:29 PM (GMT+02:00)
Israel's Gaza offensive on 15th day
Israel's Gaza offensive on 15th day
As Hamas showed first signs of cracking under Israel's massive 14-day assault, three Gaza leaders were allowed by Israel and Egypt to make their way secretly to Cairo for a second round of ceasefire talks â this time without conditions.
DEBKAfile's military sources report Jemal Abu Hashem, who rarely appears on public, Salah Bardaweel, leader of Hamas parliament faction, and Heiman Ta'a, member of the military wing's command were allowed to exit Gaza, Friday, Jan 9 and make their way to the northern Sinai town of El Arish. From there, an Egyptian military flight flew them to Cairo. They were permitted to leave after consenting to an unconditional ceasefire, dropping their demand for open Gaza crossings and accepting that Israeli forces would hold their present lines.
#6
Hamas hitting a major Isreali airbase is like the proverbial room full of monkeys sitting at typewriters trying to write Shakespeare...sooner or later they (Hamas) are bound to get something done.
#7
Actually, Hamas hits their target 100% of the time. They aim at the ground, and they always hit it. Sometimes the ground is near a kindergarten, sometimes it is near a military base.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 11:53
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Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 13:39
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Actually, the nearest Israeli military base is about 35Km due east of Rafah, about halfway between Rafah and Beersheba. Even if Hamass could hit it, they wouldn't do any damage. Everything essential to operations is pretty well hardened. Google Earth coordinates: 31°14'3.25"N, 34°37'36.59"E. There's another airfield near Ashdod - they MAY have hit that. The only other military airfield in the area is Dimona, and it's outside even the farthest range of a Grad rocket.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/10/2009 14:04
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Oil prices have fallen back close to 40 dollars having begun the session higher, at the end of a very volatile week.
New York's main contract, light sweet crude for delivery in February, fell 1.35 dollars to 40.35 dollars per barrel. Brent North Sea crude for February shed 96 cents to 43.71dollars on London's InterContinental Exchange.
Oil prices had fallen Thursday on concerns over a US stockpile buildup and worries that the global economic slump would further dampen demand, traders said. The US Department of Energy said on Wednesday that stockpiles of crude increased 6.7 million barrels last week, far higher than predictions from analysts for a gain of only 700,000 barrels.
News of the buildup in recession-struck United States, the world's biggest crude consuming nation, pushed New York crude down 5.95 dollars and London Brent oil by 4.67 dollars on Wednesday. The market also remains concerned over higher US jobless numbers and President-elect Barack Obama's mammoth task of stimulating growth.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#3
What I have never understood is why, when the price of crude oil goes up, the price at the pump goes up immediately. However when the price of oil drops, the price of gas does not. The explanation of that is usually that the price of oil is the price at the well head, and it has to be shipped, refined and delivered to the pump for the price to go down.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 18:30
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Seriously, if you don't like the price DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT
(Electric vehicles if you live in a city, Cheap non ac, non ps, no boombox-gps-dvd and other toys)
I don't recommend motorcycles, but a three wheeler with roof would be nice.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/10/2009 21:07
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#5
Interesting times for micro-producers out here in the midwest. Lots of 'em are shutting down production in hopes that they can hang around long enough to see a recovery.
I hope they're not using their Dense Inert Metal Infrared Incendiary High Explosive Armor Piercing Anti Personnel Heat Seeking Depleted Uranium White Phosphorus Napalm Hollow Point Laser Guided Flame Throwing Thermobaric Nuclear Cluster Bomb Munition...
(AKI) - Mounting evidence is emerging that Israel is using non-conventional weapons against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip in its latest offensive, according to an Italian research group.
The New Weapons Committee, an independent Italian group of academics, researchers and professionals, released a report on Friday raising questions about Israeli weapons use following a report in a British newspaper.
"It is happening again what we saw in Lebanon two years ago, when Israel used white phosphorus, dense inert metal explosives, and thermobaric bombs, against Hezbollah" said Paola Manduca, a genetics teacher and researcher at the University of Genoa and member of the committee in a media release. "(These) three types of offensive instruments, are known for the kind of wounds they cause," she said.
Evidence of the use of these white phosphorous shells and other weapons, including cluster bombs and depleted uranium cannot be directly verified due to the lack of access to the Gaza Strip, said the report.
However, the committee said there was "significant" evidence to cause concern. "The images and the testimonies that have resulted from the conflict, show significant resemblance with those gathered and verified in the July and August conflict in 2006 in Lebanon," said Manduca.
Hamas just dusted off the Hezbollah media playbook. Even using the same useless fools ...
The use of phosphorous or any other 'incendiary weapon' , used as a weapon, is banned by the United Nations' Geneva Convention on Conventional Weapons. It also bans the use of white phosphorous as an incendiary weapon against civilians and in air attacks against military forces in civilian areas.
However, neither Israel, nor the US are signatories to the UN protocol.
Earlier this week the British daily, The Times, published photos of Israeli artillery units on the Israeli-Gaza border taken on 4 January marked with a M825A1 designation, which, according to experts, indicates ammunition containing white phosphorous. However Israel responded to the claims published in The Times saying that the M825A1 round was not a white phosphorous shell but an empty shell that contained no explosives and was to mark a target before a strike.
The British defence think-tank, Jane's Missiles and Rockets, told the London daily that the M825A1 rounds contained white phosphorous.
They're smoke rounds. Of course they contain WP.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy Cross and some human rights groups said phosphorous weapons burns should be treated as chemical weapons.
One of the doctors currently treating injured Palestinians in Gaza described the situation of the victims on the ground. "Many arrive with extreme amputations, with both legs crushed, (wounds) that I suspect are wounds inflicted by Dime (Dense inert metal explosive)," said Norwegian doctor Mads Gilbert.
So he's a weapons expert now? Maybe the Israelis will fire one up his ass.
He's sure quoted frequently, isn't he ...
Following the 2006 Lebanon war, Israel admitted using white phosphorous shells.
The United States also admitted using white phosphorous in 2005 against alleged insurgents in Fallujah, Iraq. The case was brought to light a year later in 2006 after an Italian documentary aired on state television RaiNews24.
The NWC is composed of loonies academics, nutters researchers and quislings media professionals and provides risk assessment surveys on the impact of the latest weaponry. The group was established in the third quarter of 2006 after the Lebanon war.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Those damned Juice. Violating an agreement they're not party to.
And I'll bet they break all the cricket rules when they play rugby.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/10/2009 0:22
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#2
In case you are interested, Dense inert metal explosive reduce collateral damage by restricting the lethal range of the explosion.
Although the casual reader of this article would get the impression DIME is a particularly nasty type of explosive, when it is in fact an explosive designed to reduce casualties in urban environments.
#5
Yup, they are using WP *SMOKE* rounds, not WP anti-personnel rounds. There's a major difference. They use the smoke rounds to cover movement of troops to prevent casualties from snipers. We used them in Iraq. A lot of them in Fallujah.
Nothing to see, move along. Normal media attempting to grow any little pimple they can find into a mountain.
#6
In other words, the rounds are either being fired ON IDF forces for screening or between the forces and a source of hostile fire. Much of it could be IDF troops calling for smoke rounds on their own positions.
#11
The Juice are firing satellite based "Stupidity Rays" into Gaza, a clear violation of international law. Apparently they've been doing this for several years.
#16
White phosphorus is banned against civilians, but there are no civilians! They have been warned to get out and anyone left is obviously Hamas so this is fair fighting.
#17
Ah the Norwegian "doctor".
He's also an expert on CPR.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/10/2009 16:59
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an independent Italian group of academics, researchers and professionals said Paola Manduca, a genetics teacher and researcher
So what makes a genetics teacher (not to mention academics, researchers and professionals) qualified to discuss weapons of war as an expert. Being a professional software engineer doesn't make me an qualified expert in Genetics.
Didn't they make this exact claim during Fallujah?
Sorry, TB122. That sounds an awful lot like the bullsh*t Paleo argument that all Israelis are valid targets because they eventually grow up to serve in the IDF. And, as crosspatch pointed out in #5, the WP rounds are smoke, not anti-personnel.
Unidentified gunmen shot dead two government employees in North Waziristan Agency late on Thursday, an official said. The ambush took place in Asadkhel village, around 35 kilometres south of agency headquarters Miranshah. Amanullah Jan, a junior administrator in Razmak town, and his security guard were killed, while Jan's deputy and another guard were injured after gunmen hiding on a roadside shot at their car, a local official told AFP. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
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Even by Washington standards, the deterioration in the federal government's budget situation since September has been breathtaking.
The Congressional Budget Office projected Wednesday that the budget deficit for the current fiscal year would total $1.2 trillion. CBO's forecast does not include President-elect Barack Obama's two-year economic-stimulus bill, which is expected to cost $800 billion or more.
Money we don't have. Why not call it an 'economic pillage bill' ...
The CBO report also predicted "a marked contraction in the U.S. economy" in 2009. The gross domestic product (GDP) is expected to fall by 2.2 percent this year, steeper than in any year since 1946, when America was demobilizing from World War II. "CBO anticipates that the current recession, which started in December 2007, will last until the second half of 2009, making it the longest recession since World War II," the report said. "It could also be the deepest recession during the postwar period."
The unemployment rate, which was 6.7 percent in November, is expected to average 8.3 percent in 2009. The jobless rate will average 9 percent in 2010, when the economy will slowly recover, CBO projected. CBO expects the unemployment rate to peak at 9.2 percent in early 2010.
A major factor affecting the slow recovery will be muted consumer spending "as households continue to adjust to the large declines in net wealth of the past few years," the report said. CBO also estimated that the national average price of a home will plunge by an additional 14 percent by the second quarter of 2010. "Foreclosure rates are likely to remain high while house prices continue to fall," the report predicted.
"Things are deteriorating extremely fast at the moment," said Nigel Gault, chief economist at IHS/Global Insight. "CBO is telling the incoming Obama administration that the long-term budget outlook is much worse than previously thought."
After the economy begins to recover, the deficits could be problematic. "The deficit numbers are staggering," said Maya MacGuineas, president of the Committee for a Responsible Federal Budget, a bipartisan budget-watchdog group. "Long-term deficits can undermine the economic recovery because borrowing so much money can push up interest rates," she said. Higher interest rates could stifle business investment and choke off recovery in interest-sensitive industries like housing and autos.
CBO's economic forecast reflects "the magnitude of the depths of our economic situation," said Stan Collender, a longtime budget analyst who is managing director at Qorvis Communications. "CBO's budget forecast clearly demonstrates that there is a worst-case scenario. It can't get much worse. The budget outlook is a lot bleaker than anybody dared imagine before now."
Diane Lim Rogers, chief economist for the Concord Coalition, a nonpartisan organization advocating responsible fiscal policy, expressed concern over "the dramatically bad effect of a bad economy on tax revenues."
CBO reduced its estimate for total tax revenues over the next 10 years by more than $2 trillion since its last budget outlook was issued in September, Ms. Rogers noted. The revenue projections were "very distressing and disturbing because they are based on CBO's forecast beyond the recession, which includes a recovery," she said. CBO expects the next expansion to last at least 10 years.
Budget experts hope Mr. Obama will address the long-term budget problems in the economic speech he is to deliver Thursday at George Mason University in Fairfax. "Obama has been dealt a bad hand, but the time for leadership is now," said David Walker, former head of the Government Accountability Office who now is president and chief executive of the Peter G. Peterson Foundation. Nothing is impossible for The One, just let him keep his Crackberry.
#1
"the dramatically bad effect of a bad economy on tax revenues."
This is true for all levels of government, in all developed countries.
Governments are trying to cover their shortfalls by borrowing, but we are on the verge of a lenders revolt as they realize these debts can never be repaid in uninflated dollars/pounds/etc.
2009 will be the year governments ran out of money.
BTW, reading chicken entrails is as accurate as the economic models they are using to predict the end of the recession in 2010.
#3
I dunno. I am seeing pretty good indications of a bottom forming up in the real estate market. Unemployment is more due to states increasing their minimum wage rates on Jan 1 causing many small businesses to cut staff. California's increased unemployment, for example, is probably mostly caused by increases in the minimum wage.
#8
You never hear about federal government layoffs.
Yep, we've seen it when the downsized the military in the 90s. The Army went from around 900,000+ to 480,000 by the time Clinton I moved on. Of course we found out later, that was a little too much but still dawdled around before upping it a mere 30,000, on a temporary basis. Now if Obama wants to create 'new' jobs, how about increasing the force structure by a couple hundred thousand? Nah, were're the handout votes in that? /rhetorical question
Depressed, ya say? I suppose that would help if you're gonna do something like this...
A Pakistani businessman, depressed by the impact of economic crisis, killed himself with an electric saw by almost severing his head in his Sharjah home, Al-Ittihad newspaper said on Friday.
"Whattaya think, Muldoon?"
"Craftsman, Sarge, the 7 1/2 incher."
The man, aged 60, was the head of several construction firms affected by the international credit crunch.
His body was found in a pool of blood on Wednesday, with the electric saw still running, the newspaper said, quoting police in Sharjah, one of the seven emirates making up the United Arab Emirates. His wife said her husband had complained recently about the difficulties he faced because of the lack of finance needed for company projects and to honour promises to his clients.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#2
Getting that in China, too - not the suicides, but formerly prosperous businessmen unable to cope with a suddenly competitive environment. They were fine as long as the orders kept pouring in. I knew people who set up factories without an idea of who was going to buy their product, or even what exactly the product was going to be. Just hang out a shingle, post an ad on alibaba, and watch the money roll in.
At first glance, the town of Edwardsville, Ala., with a population of 194 people, might raise a few eyebrows with its bid to receive $375 million from the economic stimulus package being assembled by Barack Obama and lawmakers in Congress.
The tiny town, located near the Georgia border and 26 miles from the nearest "big city" of Anniston (population: 24,276), added 33 proposalsabout two thirds of them related to "green" energyto the list of "ready- to- go" projects assembled by the U.S. Conference of Mayors. Total sum: $375,076,200.
That comes out to nearly $2 million per Edwardsville resident, although E. D. Phillips, the town's representative to the U.S. Conference of Mayors, says the projects would affect a wider region that comprises about 80,000 people. That number includes residents of nearby rural areas that aren't already incorporated into towns, along with the residents of Talladega Springs (population: 124), which partnered with Edwardsville and local municipal utilities on the projects.
There's certainly no denying that Edwardsville has big ambitions. Through the various proposals, which include a renewable energy museum, scenic railroad, and vineyards, these small Alabama communities envision themselves becoming a cutting-edge demonstration project for energy sustainability and a hub for tourism. Edwardsville. Come for the energy museum, stay for the hookworm...
"I know we look like some little Podunk town, and by the census, we are," Phillips says. "But we really think we've done some amazingly progressive things in the past two years." Our trailer parks now have that there e-lectricity...
The town's proposals began to develop more than two years ago, when Phillips and another town official became intrigued by the argument that renewable energy could create a rural renaissance. If any community needed economic revival, it was Edwardsvilleeven before the recession. At 28.7 percent, the town's poverty level was nearly equal to that of Nepal and more than twice the national average, according to the 2000 census.
Along with the more traditional proposals to replace streetlights with solar-powered lights (cost: $3,479,200), to install solar panels on the town hall (cost: $77,000), and to build solar-powered recharging stations for electric golf carts and vehicles (cost: $620,000), Edwardsville and Talladega Springs have assembled a set of even more far-reaching projects.
An outlay of $50.4 million, for example, would go toward installing water pipelines beneath roads to soak up the sun's rays, transferring heat. That technology is currently being used in the Netherlands, which found that while the cost of installation was double that of normal gas heating, the system halved the amount of energy required. And since sumbuddy else'll pay fer it, why not?
With big dreams, however, come big price tags.
"Do you know how hard it is to fund some of these projects when your tax base is so low?" Phillips says. "So we just breathed this sigh of relief when we found out about the stimulus package . . . especially when it had a focus on renewable energy." I had to buy me a new drool bucket...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#7
Enterprise is a long way from Edwardsville. Still, I'd consider moving there if they can pull this off. I have a proposal to make high-quality fertilizer from horse and chicken poop and to capyure the methane to use for heating. A little bit of chemistry and I could make ethylene.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/10/2009 16:13
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U.S. President-elect Barack Obama said on Friday he views Iran as a "genuine threat" but still favors initiating a dialogue with the Islamic republic.
Asked about Iran at a news conference, Obama said he would not go into detail on his policy toward Tehran because of the principle that there is only one president at a time. But he said, "I have said in the past during the course of the campaign that Iran is a genuine threat to U.S. national security."
"But I have also said that we should be willing to initiate diplomacy as a mechanism to achieve our national security goals, and my national security team, I think, is reflective of that practical, pragmatic approach to foreign policy," said Obama, who takes over from President George W. Bush on Jan. 20.
Remind me, it was the pragmatists who told us to play footsie with Saddam. And with Gorbachev ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#3
Neville Chamberlain was an appeasement PM, but after his fall from position, he worked in the Churchill war cabinet and had a key role in the formation of the Special Operations Executive. At least he saw the error of his actions and tried to contribute positively to the war effort.
When things go south for us, I would not expect any of our leaders to do anything but deflect the responsibility to others.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 12:45
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#4
he views Iran as a "genuine threat"
Well then unleash your hounds of the MSM on them, demonizing the Iranian leadership at least as much as you had them demonize Palin and McCain. You know for that little leverage effect when the ambassador sends word back to Tehran that the Yanks are taking notice. Then we'll know you're serious.
Five people were killed and 14 others sustained injuries in clashes on Friday that erupted after Shia protesters demonstrated against the imposition of curfew in Hangu during Ashura, sources said. Fearing sectarian clashes, the district administration had imposed curfew in the city on Thursday, barring Shia mourners from taking out Ashura processions. The protesters opened fire on Friday when the security forces tried to stop them from entering the city. The security forces retaliated. Casualties in the crossfire could not be confirmed. Later, the clashes spread to other parts of the city and led to the killing of five people and injuries to 14, including a security officer.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
Ramparts.jpg is what outa be on the RBee Mug. Also it would be nice on the non-existent RBeeee Hoodee.
SPRINGFIELD -- A potentially troublesome new detail emerged about Roland Burris' controversial U.S. Senate appointment Thursday after a state House panel voted unanimously to recommend Gov. Blagojevich be impeached.
For the first time, Burris indicated that he asked Blagojevich's former chief of staff and college classmate, Lon Monk, to relay his interest in the Senate seat to the governor last July or September. "If you're close to the governor, you know, let him know I'm certainly interested in the seat," Burris said he told Monk.
And just how much were you interested?
That testimony appears to differ from an affidavit Burris submitted to the impeachment panel this week in which he stated he spoke to no "representatives" of the governor about the Senate post prior to Dec. 26.
Federal prosecutors, who identified Monk as "Lobbyist 1" in their criminal complaint against Blagojevich, indicated they tapped Monk's phone in November as Blagojevich moved to fill President-elect Barack Obama's Senate seat.
Whether the new Monk detail poses any threat to Burris' efforts to persuade Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) to allow him to be seated isn't clear, but Republicans on the state impeachment panel see a contradiction.
"There is an inconsistency between his testimony and the affidavit," said state Rep. Jim Durkin (R-Western Springs). "I'll leave it to Sen. Reid to determine what value that has to their process."
Burris' lawyer, Timothy Wright, said it was improper to consider Monk a "representative" of the governor -- the language used in Burris' affidavit -- since Monk no longer was on the state payroll when he and Burris spoke last year.
Burris "was talking to him as a friend and expressing his interest," Wright said. "He wasn't talking to him as a representative of the governor."
Just friendship, that's all. It's the Chicago way ...
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) did not weigh in on whether Burris had passed the test to lay claim to the state's vacant Senate seat. "Roland Burris has now testified, and we will carefully review that testimony," Durbin said.
The full state House is expected to vote today on the panel's recommendation to impeach Blagojevich. Blagojevich's office blasted the 21-0 panel vote, calling the outcome a "foregone conclusion" and predicting a "much different" outcome in the state Senate, where a trial would be held. "The governor believes that the impeachment proceedings were flawed, biased and did not follow the rules of law," the Blagojevich statement said.
#1
Burris is retired and owes over 1 million smackers on previous campaigns.
Quite was run up running against Blagojevich.
I'm of the opinion it was a favor to an honest but broke pol. to alibi himself against charges he wanted to sell the office. (I gave it to a guy with no money... come on...)
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar on Friday told reporters that the Taliban had freed abducted members of a jirga of Bajaur Agency's Mandal tribe. Talking over telephone, Omar said the jirga members had been released unconditionally in Ambar tehsil of Bajaur. The political administration has not confirmed the release of the 13-member jirga so far. Salarzai Tehsildar Adalat Khan told Daily Times that the political administration had no clue about the jirga members' whereabouts. Omar also said the TTP stood by its decision of not fighting security forces in Bajaur. He said the decision was made to improve law and order in the agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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(AKI) - Italian foreign minister Franco Frattini on Friday called the Islamist Hamas movement "a problem" and said the government would not enter into negotiations with it. "We cannot negotiate with Hamas," said Frattini during an interview aired on Italian television.
Frattini also said that the movement was to blame for the current Israeli military offensive in the Gaza Strip that has claimed the lives of 770 Palestinians and 14 Israelis in the past two weeks. "Hamas unfortunately uses human shields and uses children and civilians for cover," Frattini said.
Nevertheless, the foreign minister, who belongs to the conservative People of Freedom Party of prime minister Silvio Berlusconi, said Italy would send a humanitarian convoy to Gaza as part of an aid package.
In the medium term, Frattini said that a special session of the Group of Eight or G8 countries would be dedicated to conflicts in the region. The special session would also include what he called "moderate Muslim" countries, such as Egypt and Turkey.
Israel continued its air and ground offensive in the Gaza Strip on Friday despite the approval of a United Nations Security Council resolution that calls for an immediate, durable and fully respected ceasefire and unimpeded humanitarian access to Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Pakistan's main spy agency has given India information about the Mumbai terror attacks, the prime minister said yesterday, while denying media speculation of a rift between him and the president.
The comments came as US Vice President-elect Joe Biden arrived in Pakistan for talks with the country's top military and political leaders. The US Embassy confirmed the visit but gave few details.
The US has an interest in the stability of Pakistan's civilian government which is considered weak because of its support of the American-led war on terror. There are multiple centers of power within the government, and the military and the Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency are believed to have significant independence.
The November attacks in Mumbai that killed 164 people underscored the threat terrorism poses to the whole of South Asia. New Delhi says it has passed on evidence to Islamabad that proves Pakistani militants were behind the slaughter.
Pakistani Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told reporters the ISI "had given feedback and information sharing that has been passed on to India" after studying that evidence. He gave no more details.
On Wednesday, Gilani fired the national security adviser hours after the official told reporters the sole surviving Mumbai attacker was a Pakistani citizen something that Islamabad had previously been unwilling to acknowledge.
Local media reported President Asif Ali Zardari was not informed of the decision, intensifying earlier media speculation of a split between the country's top two leaders.
Analysts say there is confusion at times over who is in charge in Pakistan.
Upon taking office Zardari promised to support reducing the presidency's powers, but there has been little visible progress on that front. Zardari, who also heads the ruling Pakistan People's Party, is believed to be stronger than Gilani, even though the prime minister is technically the chief executive of the government.
Both officials have sought to downplay reports they are feuding.
"There is no misunderstanding," Gilani insisted to reporters Friday, while denying reports that Zardari was displeased with the decision to sack the adviser, Mahmood Ali Durrani.
A Zardari spokesman said Thursday that the two were "on the same page" and it was Gilani's prerogative to fire Durrani.
The Mumbai attackers are suspected to be members of Lashkar-e-Taiba a militant group created by Pakistani intelligence agencies in the 1980s to fight Indian rule in Kashmir, a Himalayan region claimed by both countries and the trigger for two of their three wars.
Some analysts say the group maintains ties to Pakistani intelligence and that the government cannot act too aggressively against it as a result.
In recent weeks, several US envoys have visited India and Pakistan to defuse tensions between the nuclear-armed neighbours and press Islamabad to take action against extremists on its soil.
Biden is travelling to Pakistan in his capacity as a US senator. He is being accompanied by US Sen. Lindsey Graham. Biden takes office as vice president on Jan. 20, but has not yet resigned his Senate seat.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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The Punjab Police have included names of four Jamaatud Dawa leaders, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, in a list of leaders of banned organisations, a private TV channel reported on Friday. The channel said police also issued a list of 30 suspected militants involved in extremist activities. Police sources said other Dawa leaders put on the list were Abdur Rehman Makki, Abu Hashim and Ameer Hamza, the channel added. Three people mentioned in the 30-name list were category 'A' - most wanted -- and carried Rs 40 million as head money.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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(AKI) - The top United Nations human rights official has proposed a mission to assess violations and possible war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas in the Gaza conflict and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire. This is the same guy who wanted Hamas assessed for violating Israeli human rights, right... No. Wait. Never mind.
"The situation is intolerable. The ceasefire called for by the UN Security Council must be implemented immediately. The violence must stop," High Commissioner for Human Rights Navi Pillay told a special session of the Human Rights Council in Geneva. Methinks the "High" Commissioner has been hitting the bong a lot lately...
"The vicious cycle of provocation and retribution must be brought to an end," she said, pointing out that the ongoing conflict had already killed hundreds of people since Israel began its military operation in a bid to end Hamas rocket attacks from Gaza.
Pillay stressed unequivocally that international human rights law must be applied at all times. But only by the evil Zionists. Hamas gets a free pass ...
She urged the parties to the conflict to fulfil their obligations under international humanitarian law to collect, care for and evacuate the wounded and to protect health workers, hospitals, medical units and ambulances.
"Accountability must be ensured for violations of international law," she said, suggesting that the council should consider authorising a mission to assess violations committed by both sides in the conflict and ensure accountability.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#3
"top United Nations human rights official has proposed a mission to assess violations and possible war crimes"
Send the dumbass right over and stand him in proximity to Rafah crossing where the heavy stuff is being used to demolish the tunnels. He can glimpse up close and personal just what is being used.
You say he's come up missing? Oh, we had his ticket right here.
#4
What about the 100K people the Tamil Tigers just disappeared in Sri Lanka
Not important because they are Hindu and Buddhist?
Only Muzzies matter to the UN?
Eager to shift the course of the government's financial sector bailout fund, President-elect Barack Obama and congressional Democrats want to apply greater scrutiny and a more defined mission to the beleaguered $700 billion rescue program.
The House could act as early as next week on a new tack for the Troubled Asset Relief Program that would set tougher conditions on recipients of the money, including limits on executive pay, and require the Treasury Department to use some of the money to reduce mortgage foreclosures.
At the same time, Obama's selection for treasury secretary, Timothy Geithner, is broadening the program's goals, aiming to unfreeze credit for homeowners, consumers, small businesses and local governments.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#2
The House could act as early as next week on a new tack for the Troubled Asset Relief Program that would set tougher conditions on recipients of the money, including limits on executive pay, and require the Treasury Department to use some of the money to reduce mortgage foreclosures.
Ready to try anew tack Cap'n?
Yes, Ensign: Pass the Word: Abandon ship, prepare to scuttle.
Italian politicians from right and left joined Jewish groups Friday in condemning a trade union's call to boycott Jewish-owned shops in Rome in protest at the Israeli bombing offensive in the Gaza Strip. While the union denied accusations of anti-Semitism, Rome's right-wing mayor Gianni Alemanno visited the city's ancient Jewish quarter known as the Ghetto and said the "criminal" proposal echoed the race laws under fascism in the 1930s.
"I am an Italian citizen and it infuriates me that people don't differentiate between the mentality and opinions of an Italian from what is happening in Israel," Jewish Italian shopkeeper Giuseppe Livoli told La Repubblica newspaper.
Italian newspapers reproduced handbills they said were dished out Thursday by the small Flaica-Cub union, linked to the retail and food sectors. The flyers urged a boycott of "shops in central Rome linked to the Israelite community." Why don't ya go down there and break lotsa shop windows? That showed them "Israelites" back in the thirties that ya meant business...
But the union's provincial president Giancarlo Desiderati said on its website Friday that "we never singled out Rome's Jewish community ... We condemn any form of anti-Semitism." Of course ya do...
"What we propose with our initiative is a definitive boycott of Israel because whoever uses military force against unarmed civilians, whether they are Palestinian or Israeli, commits a crime against human life," said Desiderati. Unless it's "resistance". Then we're cool with it...
The head of Rome's Jewish community, Riccardo Pacifici, said he would be suing the union under Italian anti-racism laws.
Rome's Ghetto is home to what may be the oldest surviving Jewish diaspora in the world, dating from the 2nd century BC. Singled out by race laws under dictator Benito Mussolini in the 1930s and '40s, thousands died in Nazi concentration camps. You remember Benito, don't ya boys? He made the trains run on time.
Italy's main trade unions denounced the boycott proposal as "shameful" and suggested that Rome shopkeepers throw the Flaica handbills which they said listed streets dominated by Jewish shops under the slogan "sales dirtied by blood" in the trash.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
I am guessing that I should not hold my breath waiting for this union to boycott Muslim owned shops...they wouldn't want to offend anyone, of course.
U.N. peacekeepers and Lebanese army troops found an old cache of rockets near the border with Israel on Friday, a day after at least four rockets were fired into northern Israel.
The U.N. force, UNIFIL, said the cache, consisting of 34 Grad-P rockets and some boxes of ammunition, were placed in two old bunkers covered by camouflage nets and appeared to date from the 2006 war between Lebanon's Hezbollah and Israel.
"There is no sign of any recent use of the bunkers and the weapons appear to date from the period of the 2006 conflict," a UNIFIL statement said.
The Lebanese army said in a separate statement the weapons found near the village of Kafr Hamam were a rocket launcher and 24 rockets. It described the weapons as old and unusable.
At least three Katyusha rockets were fired into Israel from south Lebanon on Thursday, wounding two people, in an attack linked to Israel's deadly offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The Lebanese government condemned the attack as a violation of a U.N. Security Council resolution that halted the 2006 war while Hezbollah denied any responsibility. Some Lebanese officials pointed a finger at Palestinian militants.
The statement quoted UNIFIL commander Major General Claudio Graziano as saying the peacekeepers and Lebanese troops were taking concrete measures to ensure the border area was free of any illegal armed personnel, assets and weapons.
"Recent developments have prompted us to enhance our joint presence on the ground. It was in the course of this intensified patrolling activity that the weapons cache was found," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
look on the bright side...It only took them 3 years
#3
Maybe it was the signs in Arabic, English, Hebrew, French and six other languages that said "This way to the secret Hizbollah rocket cache" that helped.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/10/2009 16:35
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President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday conferred one of Pakistan's highest civilian honours on US Vice President-elect Joseph Biden in recognition of his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development" in the country.
The ceremony for conferring the Hilal-i-Pakistan award, which was held at the presidency here, was attended by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi and US Ambassador Anne W Patterson.
The citation for the award said Biden was being recognised for his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development in Pakistan and for his outstanding contribution to the strengthening of US-Pakistan relations".
The citation for the award said Biden was being recognised for his "consistent support for democracy and socio-economic development in Pakistan and for his outstanding contribution to the strengthening of US-Pakistan relations"
Biden, as a Senator, co-sponsored the Biden-Kerry-Lugar legislation for expanding socio-economic aid to Pakistan USD 15 billion over next five fiscal years besides advocating an additional USD 7.5 billion over the subsequent five years. They get billions of our money, Joe gets a swell award. You're welcome, Joe...
The bill calls for tripling non-military aid to Pakistan to 1.5 billion dollars annually during 2009-13 while making military aid conditional on certification that Pakistani security forces were working to prevent al-Qaida and its allies from operating in Pakistan or launching attacks into Afghanistan from its territory.
Earlier on January 5, Zardari had conferred top civilian honour 'Hilal-i-Quaid-i-Azam' on US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher for his role in promoting "stable, broad-based and long-term" bilateral ties.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2009
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#1
In some ways, it's like being decorated with a Red Star of Lenin by the Soviets.
#4
Pakistan gave the same Hilal(cresent)-i-Pakistan award to the Chinese ambassador, but it didn't do them much good as there was no cash coughed up. Guess they weren't as impressed by gaudy baubles as Joe is.
#5
USD 15 billion over next five fiscal years besides advocating an additional USD 7.5 billion over the subsequent five years.
So Biden proposes US aid pay for the entire defence budget of Pakistan ($4.4B in 2008). Is Pakistan covered under TARP (vast sums spent w/ no oversight or expectations of results).
Posted by: ed ||
01/10/2009 8:32
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#6
$15 billion and he only gets a medal? Didn't learn much in the Senate.
#14
heard in a stage whisper: "I didn't know he was Asian?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 16:11
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I was going to ask if we have to give Zardari the Presidential Medal of Freedom now, but I looked up who has gotten them during Bush's administration and there are a few that leave me depressed. For instance, in 2004:
Doris Day (actress and singer)
Estee Lauder (entrepreneur)
Rita Moreno (actress, dancer and singer)
Arnold Palmer (professional golfer)
Two groups of people one supporting the acting Khatib and the other favouring the newly appointed Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque involved in scuffles and shoe-throwing at each other before Jum'a prayers yesterday. The incident took place over who would lead the prayers. ...and they were winging shoes around, so you know this was serious.
Witnesses said when acting Khatib and senior Pesh Imam of the mosque Maulana Mufti Mohammad Nuruddin stood up to lead Jum'a prayers, some people shouted in protest. Siddown, ya bum!!
And another group of people tried to shout them down. This resulted in scuffles and hurling of shoes. I curse your mother's moustache!
Your goat has cooties!
Eat my shoe, ya bastid!
At this stage, Nuruddin began leading the prayers, and the situation calmed down.
But trouble resumed after the prayers, leaving several people injured witnesses said.
Police however said they have no report of injuries in the incident.
Nuruddin took over as acting Khatib following the death of Khatib Obaidul Haque about one and a half years ago. The caretaker government recently appointed Mufti Mohammad Salauddin as Khatib.
Meanwhile, two rival groups siding with the newly appointed khatib and opposing the acting Khatib had assembled in the area since morning yesterday. And this might have dissuaded the new Khatib from coming to the mosque to lead Jum'a prayers.
Nuruddin said he led the prayers as instructed by the mosque authorities.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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(AKI) - A pro-Syrian Palestinian group is the prime suspect behind the rockets fired at northern Israel from Lebanon on Thursday, according to a key Middle East analyst. Talal Nizameddin, political analyst at The American University of Beirut, told Adnkronos International (AKI) that the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine General Command (PFLP-GC) was believed to be responsible for the attacks.
"This group is based at two refugee camps in Lebanon," he told AKI. "There are expectations that if there is another attack against Israel, I believe both camps will be the first thing the Israeli army will bomb, as a controlled response to send a signal to the Syrians."
Israel immediately responded with mortar shell attacks against southern Lebanon after the rockets struck the Israeli city of Nahariya in the Galilee region, slightly wounding three people.
On Thursday, the spokesman of the PFLP-GC Anwar Raja neither confirmed nor denied responsibility for the rocket attacks.
The Lebanese Shia Islamist group Hezbollah and Gaza's ruling Hamas both denied any involvement in the Katyusha-rocket attacks, while the Lebanese government condemned the attacks against Israel calling them a violation of a United Nations ceasefire resolution.
Nizameddin, lecturer and associate dean of student affairs at The American University of Beirut, said that people in Lebanon were shocked at the rocket attacks against Israel and feared reprisals. "People in Beirut are silent and a bit shocked about the strikes (in Israel and Lebanon) and are waiting for what will happen next," said Nizameddin in a telephone interview from Beirut.
Nizameddin also said that a speech by Lebanese Shia cleric Hassan Nasrallah, in which he threatened a "new war" against Israel, on Wednesday was 'historic.'
During the speech, Nasrallah said Israel should prepare 'for every scenario'.
"He (Nasrallah) said this is a historic and decisive point in the struggle," Nizameddin told AKI. "To me, it confirms the feeling that the balance of power is being changed. How will the supporters of Hezbollah react to this. This is the question."
Nizameddin said that countries in the region may be polarised and forced to choose between resistance or dialogue.
"Are we ready for a wider confrontation? Or do we just lick our wounds for the time being and come back stronger another time, that is the decisive question," Nizameddin said. "The balance of power is also about Saudi Arabia and Egypt, Jordan, Fatah, the Palestinian Authority on one hand, and Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hezbollah on the other.
"It is about deciding the future of the region? Is it resistance or dialogue? But obviously with Israel being the stronger part in the dialogue," said Nizameddin.
The PFLP-GC is a splinter group of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine or PFLP, which is currently based in the Palestinian city of Ramallah.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
"It is about deciding the future of the region? Is it resistance or dialogue? But obviously with Israel being the stronger part in the dialogue," said Nizameddin.
Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi force arrested a man wanted by security authorities in central Kut city on Friday, a security source in Wassit province said.
"A force from the Iraqi interior ministry's Quick Response Department conducted a security operation on Friday (Jan. 9) in the area of al-Aswaq (markets) in central Kut, resulting in the capture of a wanted man," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The detainee is charged with involvement in armed operations against Iraqi security forces during confrontations that erupted in the city between gunmen and Iraqi security forces in March 2008," the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Ugandan rebels have killed 38 south Sudanese villagers since Christmas in the latest of a wave of attacks that have left hundreds of people dead in the region, a Sudanese official said on Thursday.
Jemma Nunu Kumba, governor of south Sudan's Western Equatoria state, said thousands of civilians had fled the area fearing more attacks by Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) fighters. The guerrillas returned to their murderous ways after a brief lull that ended when regional militaries launched an offensive against their Congolese hideouts in mid-December.
"They have caused unprecedented havoc, killing almost 40 people between Decemebr 24 and January 1," Kumba told Reuters. "We are now a target area. This is more than hunger. This is revenge."
The LRA's elusive commander Joseph Kony and two of his top deputies are wanted by the International Criminal Court in The Hague for their role in one of Africa's longest-running wars.
Some 2 million civilians were displaced in northern Uganda and the conflict has also destabilised neighbouring parts of volatile northeastern Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC) and oil-producing southern Sudan.
LRA fighters killed 20 people on Friday in a raid on a park ranger station in the Congolese town of Negero, local officials said, while UN officials say LRA fighters killed nearly 200 people during three days of raids in DRC in late December.
Catholic charity Caritas said it believed more than 400 Congolese died in a series of Christmas week massacres.
Posted by: Fred ||
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This is about as bad as it gets folks. I don't think I've seen anything like it since 1994. Sure its been very cold at times over the past 14 years, but the total area impacted by this cold wave will be huge. By next Thursday and Friday, extremely cold air will chill the entire area from the Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, and the cold is also going to reach the Deep South. Only the far West will be unscathed.
From the central Plains to the Northeast temperatures are going below zero; there is no question about it. Meanwhile, the Upper Midwest and northern New England could experience readings lower than 30 below zero!
One might have to go back to Jan. 1994 to find anything worse. In that bitter outbreak, temperatures went below zero from the central Plains to the East Coast. In New York there is a chance it will go below zero next Thursday or Friday night. The last time New York City experienced a below-zero temperature was Jan. 1994.
Did I mention there could be a snowstorm to boot? Yes, that very well could happen. Low pressure riding the leading edge of the bitter blast could put down a significant amount of snow starting in the Midwest Tuesday then reaching the East on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#4
Two Australians killed by advancing glacier. The steep overhanging terminus is characteristic of a rapidly advancing glacier. The Fox glacier has been advancing for close to 10 years.
#6
Well, from up here the weather report is 6 to 8 inches of snow once this wave finishes with us, but the temp is a balmy 19 degrees. The windchill does bring it down to single digits, though.
Just hopin' the snowblower works and we don't run out of half and half for the Tsar's coffee....it could get ugly if we do.
#7
Just shoveled half the drive (lengthwise) and it is still snowing.. Time for some Irish coffee. (about 6 inches so far - meaning 1 & 1/2 foot where the plow fills the drive)
#8
Our community weekly describes the local head of Public Works very patiently trying to explain to hollering local citizens that no, there isn't any more road salt left to buy. You can't buy what isn't there, and apparently every community north of the 35th parallel has bought extra this year.
#9
Here in Anchorage, the temps have been sub zero for weeks. Anchorage -6F, Fairbanks -39F, Fort Yukon -42F. We are waiting for global warming....waiting....waiting......patiently....dammit!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 12:55
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#10
Our family visited the Fox Glacier in Jan 2005. Active moraines on both sides, active face in front, easy to get to. We kept our distance, but a number of people went up the moraines on the side, and even to the face. Playing the odds. The two chaps crushed in the ice fall played the odds and lost.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 14:01
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#11
as I told AP the other day - it's been cold here too. I have my long shorts on
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 14:27
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#12
Here in Perth we keep cool by opening all the doors at night.
#13
Here in the central Virginia area it's supposed to be highs in the 40's (& maybe 50's a day or two) through next weekend. What got my attention during the weather forecast last night was the 12º for a low next weekend.
Yeah, I know you all in Alaska, the north, and the Great Plains are laughing at me, but 12 is pretty low for our area, even in the dead of winter. I don't think we're supposed to get any snow, though, which is good.
I'm definitely getting older - I don't look forward to 18" of snow bringing the area to a screeching halt winter like I used to. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/10/2009 15:13
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#14
The last nights we had -20°C or so... some areas in Germany had -30°C
Bring on Global Warming
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/10/2009 15:33
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#15
It's winter. It's cold. It's gonna snow.
Man up, boys and girls.
(AKI) - Six of the main insurgent groups operating in Iraq have vowed to carry out joint attack against US forces to avenge the deadly ongoing Israeli offensive in the Gaza Strip.
The Army of the Mujahadeen in Iraq, the Islamic Army in Iraq, the Islamic Resistance Movement, Hamas Iraq, Ansar al-Sunna and the Islamic Front for the Iraqi Resistance announced a campaign entitled "Against the Occupier - In Support of Gaza" in an advertisement published in pan-Arab daily Al-Quds al-Arabi. "We oppose the Israeli criminals who are carrying out genocide in Gaza. Our formations will wage a series of attacks against US troops in revenge against the Zionists," the ad read.
Radical Iraqi Shia cleric Moqtada al-Sadr also published an appeal in the daily inviting "the noble Iraqi resistance" to carry out revenge attacks against US soldiers.
Give em hell, boys. I'll stay here and...think up inspiring Muslim stuff.
He'll eat a goat in their honor ...
"We must raise the Palestinian flag over Sunni and Shia mosques and also over churches in response to the Israeli attacks on Gaza.
"We must also respond with attacks against the Zionists' main ally," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#4
oh, i doubt he will eat the goat. Islamic law allows the buggering of animals, but you cannot eat the meat of said animal and it must be sold in another village.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/10/2009 15:44
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#5
"your goat - it looks....loose. Like a wymyn with bare ankles. Say! You're not from this village, are you?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/10/2009 15:53
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#6
Islamic law allows the buggering of animals, but you cannot eat the meat of said animal and it must be sold in another village.
How charming. Screw your livestock and screw your neighbors.
Russia said Friday it was preparing to resume natural gas shipments to Europe as the European Union sought an agreement that would allow a team of international observers to verify that fuel isn't being stolen as it passes through Ukrainian pipelines.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#2
Pooty Poot playing mind-f*ck with the mental and moral midgets of the EU. Just a little incident to let the EU know who is in charge of the gas, and the supply valve.
The EU is doing conversions to wood pellets as a fuel on a grand scale. Canada produces about 1.2 million tons a year. A lot from the east, and the majority from BC production goes to Europe. There is not enough capacity in Scandinavian forests to supply the demand.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/10/2009 13:01
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#3
Now they understand why he wanted control of the southern line thru Georgia. When he accidently turns it off in mid-winter, it's off. Got it yet EU ?
Former Director of Intelligence Bureau (IB) Ajit Doval will make a first-hand assessment of security scenario in Karnataka before suggesting fresh measures for its improvement. When asked by Deccan Herald about his role as security advisor to the state government, Doval sought not to elaborate on the issue before making an assessment of the task at hand.
I have been advising some other state governments too, he said. Besides Karnataka, Gujarat and Uttarakhand have also been seeking Dovals expert advise on security issues.
IB Director from 2004-05, he has received a special compliment from Laldenga of Mizo National Front who claim that Doval has won over 6 of his 7 army commanders. Leading from the front, Doval spent long periods incognito with the Mizo National Army in the Arakan in Burma and inside Chinese territory. Besides, he is understood to have spent an estimated six years in Pakistan too.
Leading from the front, Doval spent long periods incognito with the Mizo National Army in the Arakan in Burma and inside Chinese territory. Besides, he is understood to have spent an estimated six years in Pakistan too.
An IPS officer of 1968 batch (Kerala cadre), the ex-IB chief was actively involved in the conflicts relating to Mizo, Punjab, and Jammu and Kashmir. He is the first police officer in India to get Kirti Chakra.
Supposed to be one of the best minds on counter-terrorism operations, he has participated in some of the most daring operations and dramatic crisis-management-negotiations in the country for over last two decades.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/10/2009
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US policy to win in Afghanistan must recognise the poor nation's limitations and its neighbourhood, especially its intertwined relationship with Pakistan, the top US military commander in the region said on Thursday.
"Afghanistan and Pakistan have, in many ways, merged into a single problem set, and the way forward in Afghanistan is incomplete without a strategy that includes and assists Pakistan," and also takes into account Pakistan's troubled relationship with rival India, Army Gen David Petraeus said.
He predicted a long war in Afghanistan, without quantifying it.
Petraeus told a Washington audience that a winning strategy in Afghanistan would look different from the one in Iraq. He offered few specifics as the incoming Obama administration assesses its options in the seven-year-old Afghanistan war that has gone much worse than anticipated, just as US fortunes have improved in Iraq. He also suggested the US and its partners might one day have common purpose with Iran, another Afghanistan neighbour, in stabilising and remaking that country.
"There has been nothing easy about Afghanistan, indeed nearly every aspect has been hard and that will continue to be the case in 2009 and the years beyond," Petraeus said in an address to the United States Institute of Peace.
The address was part of a conference highlighting world trouble spots at the moment of political transition in the United States. The institute released a sober outline of problems in Afghanistan as part of the session.
The report said the US and its partners have short-changed Afghanistan by focusing on short-term goals pursued without a cohesive strategy or clear understanding of how the decentralised country works. It suggested US president-elect Barack Obama should refocus the US war and rebuilding effort in Afghanistan and think of the project as the work of at least a decade.
Petraeus' own review of US strategy in Afghanistan is expected to be presented to Obama the week after he takes office. The plan would shift the focus from the waning fight in Iraq to the escalating Afghan battle.
US President George W Bush's in-house Iraq and Afghanistan adviser has already done a separate assessment; it has not been made public. The US is rushing 20,000 troops into Afghanistan to combat the Taliban.
US officials have warned the violence will probably intensify in the coming year. More US troops, 151, died in Afghanistan in 2008 than in any other year since the 2001 invasion to oust the Taliban.
A suicide bomber struck US troops patrolling on foot in southern Afghanistan on Thursday, killing at least two soldiers and three civilians and wounding at least nine others, officials said.
Iran: On Iran, Petraeus said he would leave the details to diplomats. But he suggested that the long-time US adversary could be part of a regional effort to correct Afghanistan's situation. Afghanistan's strategic location and recent history both as a cradle of terrorism and source of most of the world's heroin make it of interest to nations from the West to the Middle East and beyond.
"Iran is concerned about the narcotics trade - it doesn't want to see...extremists running Afghanistan again any more than other folks do," Petraeus said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
We need to get serious about some cultural issues in Afghanistan. First of all, pick a language and teach all children in all provinces in that language. Second, build out a national entertainment/news/TV/Radio infrastructure in that language. Kids from all parts of Afghanistan should be sharing a common cultural identity. Third, get serious about building serious transportation infrastructure that interconnects all the provinces. People need to share a common language, a common cultural identity, and be able to travel easily. Producers in one province should be able to get goods to other markets. Workers in one place, to jobs in another.
Use some cultural propaganda. Have TV shows where a young couple, maybe one Uzbek and the other Pashtun marry. The old people don't like it but they are portrayed as backwards hillbillies and the kids as hip modern movers and shakers who succeed despite the comical backwardness of their tribal elders.
The people need to become Afghans and blur the tribal lines. That will begin to reduce the influence of the Pakis and other outsiders and give them confidence in their own abilities. Language, culture, communications. Those are the keys.
#4
A common language is an excellent idea. English is necessary for success, not just in the West, as it is the international language of the scientific world, and would open up the 21st century to them. Back in the 80's, the US took quite a few Afghan refugees in and they have done well. I know a Pashtun US graduate that speaks English well, knows 3-4 regional dialects, is computer literate and currently serving covertly. We need many more or they will never give up the poppy trade.
#5
The new National Afghan Military Academy, modeled on West Point, is a start at producing leaders with a shared national rather than tribal identity. Gonna take time.
#6
We have no business civilizing the Afghans or establishing a single culture or language for them or the Paks. We would be pissed if someone tried to do that to us.
We should tell them that it's their country, if they want the Taliban, they should just wait and if they don't they better get cracking because we're going home. If bad things happen to us that come from there, we'll be back and bad next time.
We have no national interests at stake in either Pakistan or Afghanistan and we should get out toot sweet. Or recognize with whom we are really at war and call it a Crusade in South Asia.
Sri Lankan forces captured the strategic Elephant Pass base from the Tamil Tigers on Friday, ousting the rebels from their last stronghold on the Jaffna peninsula and boxing them into a shrinking pocket of land in the northeast.
In a nationally televised address, Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa praised the victory. "Our soldiers by this evening have been able to totally liberate Elephant Pass from the clutches of the rebels," he said. The capture of the base gives the government nearly full control of the northern peninsula, the Tamil's cultural capital, for the first time since 2000. It also puts the country's major north-south highway completely under its control for the first time in 23 years. The rebels are now confined to a small area off jungle around their last remaining stronghold of Mullaittivu. The rebels were not available for comment.
The government, which seized the rebels' administrative capital of Kilinochchi last week, has promised to crush the rebel group and end the Indian Ocean island nation's 25-year-old civil war. But, in a reminder of the rebels' ability to cause destruction even as they suffer conventional defeats, the rebels detonated a roadside bomb in the country's east on Friday that killed three air force troops and four civilians, military spokesman Brig Udaya Nanayakkara said.
On Friday, government forces marching from the north and south broke into Elephant Pass and fought heavy battles with the rebels, the military said. The base is located on the isthmus connecting the northern Jaffna peninsula with the rest of the island. Analysts said the guerrillas appeared to have withdrawn their artillery and heavy weaponry from the area and were sacrificing their bases on the peninsula to consolidate forces near Mullaittivu, where they were likely to make a stand.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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As budget cuts force many U.S. newspapers to retrench on their foreign coverage, veteran journalist Charles Sennott saw virtually no chance of getting another assignment abroad. So Sennott left The Boston Globe to start his own news organization, GlobalPost.com. It launches Monday with 65 journalists, including veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press. Newspapers in Toilet: Women, Minorities, Hack Journalists Hardest Hit...
The free Web site, supported by ads, will offer regular dispatches for an American audience to supplement coverage from the AP, Reuters and other news organizations still covering the world. GlobalPost also will sell stories to papers to run in print or online.
"We cannot cover every plane crash or be there for every press conference," Sennott said. "What we can do is have a network of talented writers who live in the places they write and who deliver stories that are comparable to a metro newspaper's columnist, stories that connect the dots, that give you a sense of a place in a relatively short space."
At launch, GlobalPost will span nearly 50 countries, including Brazil, Indonesia and other regions that Sennott believes are undercovered in American media. Reporters also will be concentrated in key emerging markets like China and India.
Journalists will generally be paid $1,000 a month as part-time freelancers, meaning they'll likely continue working for other outlets as well. In fact, Sennott has discouraged applicants from leaving full-time jobs.
GlobalPost is providing its recruits with digital video cameras and some travel expenses, but they will work from home, eliminating office costs. In high-cost regions like Iraq and Afghanistan, the company looked for freelancers who already have contracts with larger organizations footing the bill.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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#1
So, a blog, then. I thought journalists hated blogs?
#4
There's a few of these out there. Politico and PJM are the better known ones, but there's also one covering San Diego and a couple others funded by foundations (who also donate to left-side-of-the-political-spectrum groups).
This one has seed money from a former Globe publisher and a hi-tech exec.
(AKI) - The separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) has rejected Turkish estimates of the number of militants it claims to have killed by the military during 2008. "The statistics published by the Turkish government regarding the number of deaths and injured among the rank and file of the PKK during 2008 are totally unreal, " a source for the PKK's military wing told Adnkronos International (AKI).
The source claimed that the figures were "greatly exaggerated" to dampen the anger of Turkish public opinion and to cover up the "serious losses" suffered by the Turkish army in its conflict with the PKK.
The comments followed the release of statistics by the Turkish army showing that 670 PKK fighters were killed in 2008, while hundreds of others were detained and imprisoned by Turkish security forces.
The military source said the only correct thing contained in the Turkish government's estimates was the admission by the Turkish army that it launched 373 attacks against PKK bases. "As for the rest, the numbers they compiled are false and greatly exaggerated," he said.
"No, no, certainly not!"
"Turkish forces sustained more than a thousand deaths and hundreds of injuries in 2008, but the army leadership does not at all acknowledge these serious losses," he said.
Turkish warplanes and Iranian artillery are reported to have bombarded Kurdish rebel hideouts in northern Iraq on Monday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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Three NATO soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan Friday while a suicide bomb blast ripped through a fruit market in a small town, killing five civilians and a police commander, authorities said. The multinational NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not say how the soldiers were killed or give their identities.
In another attack against foreign soldiers, a remote-controlled bomb struck convoys in Khost Province on Friday, wounding two soldiers in a US-led coalition that works alongside ISAF, a military official said.
Meanwhile, in the southwestern town of Zaranj near the border with Iran, a suicide attacker "detonated himself near our operations deputy who was buying things from a shop," Nimroz Province police chief Abdel-Jabar Pordili told AFP. The blast killed five civilians as well as the deputy provincial police operations chief, said the provincial governor, Ghulam Dastagir Azad. Six other people, including a policeman and two children, were wounded, he said. There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast but it was similar to scores of others carried out by the Taliban.
The Taliban did however claim an attack Thursday in Kandahar Province that the US military said killed two US soldiers. Afghan officials said two civilians also died and more than a dozen were wounded.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A fierce gunbattle between government forces and militants holed up in icy Himalayan caves for nine days in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) has ended after about a dozen militants escaped, the army said on Friday.
They said soldiers had begun mop up operations in the rugged mountains of Poonch near the Line of Control. The gunbattle, the longest in the recent years in the disputed region, began on December 31 after a security patrol was fired upon. "The operations concluded in the afternoon of January 8," army spokesman Colonel DK Kachari said in a statement. "Possibility of terrorists having slipped out taking advantage of the rugged terrain and prevailing climatic conditions cannot be ruled out." The army had said three soldiers and four militants were killed in the clash. Overall violence has fallen significantly across Kashmir since India and Pakistan began peace talks in 2004. But New Delhi paused that dialogue after the Mumbai terror attacks in November, which it blames on Pakistan-based terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/10/2009
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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.
AUSTRALIAN special forces troops have killed a Taliban leader believed to have orchestrated the rocket attack that killed an Australian soldier in Afghanistan last weekend.
A federal judge ordered a north Alabama sheriff jailed this week, saying the lawman intentionally served jail inmates "woefully insufficient" meals in order to pocket more than $200,000.
Zimbabwe's central bank will introduce a $50 billion note -- enough to buy just two loaves of bread -- as a way of fighting cash shortages amid spiraling inflation.
The body of a freedom fighter was recovered from a latrine tank at Basho village in Mohammadpur upazila on Thursday afternoon.
Israeli jets and helicopters bombarded Gaza Friday and Hamas responded with a barrage of rockets, as Israel's government said it will press forward with its offensive despite a U.N. resolution calling for an immediate cease-fire.
Israel carried out a series of air strikes throughout the Gaza Strip after nightfall. Hamas said one of its fighters was killed and four others were wounded. Medical officials said 10 civilians were also wounded in the strikes. 
Four teenagers from the Paris suburbs have been charged with beating a Jewish schoolgirl and taunting her over the Israeli offensive in Gaza, officials said Friday. 
Iranian hackers have launched a massive campaign against Israeli web sites and have managed to bring many of them to a standstill. Ashyaneh, a group of Iranian hackers brought down the Israeli secret service's web site on Wednesday for more than two hours. The group has hacked over 50 Israeli web sites since Wednesday in a show of anger against Israeli atrocities against the Palestinian people in the Gaza Strip, Fars news agency reported on Friday. The news agency said that it will reveal further details on the serial cyber attacks in the near future.
Four small bombs exploded outside a theatre and near a major government building in an eastern Pakistan city late last night, but there were no casualties, police said.
A Malaysian Muslim group began a boycott of some major U.S. products on Friday as Italian politicians joined Jewish groups in condemning a trade union's call to boycott Jewish-owned shops in Rome.
(AKI) - Turkish police discovered explosives, bombs and arms in a suburb of the capital Ankara early on Friday allegedly related to the shadowy Ergenekon organisation and its bid to topple the Islamic-rooted government. 
Oil prices have fallen back close to 40 dollars having begun the session higher, at the end of a very volatile week. 
Unidentified gunmen shot dead two government employees in North Waziristan Agency late on Thursday, an official said. The ambush took place in Asadkhel village, around 35 kilometres south of agency headquarters Miranshah. Amanullah Jan, a junior administrator in Razmak town, and his security guard were killed, while Jan's deputy and another guard were injured after gunmen hiding on a roadside shot at their car, a local official told AFP. No one has claimed responsibility for the attack so far.
Even by Washington standards, the deterioration in the federal government's budget situation since September has been breathtaking.
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Omar on Friday told reporters that the Taliban had freed abducted members of a jirga of Bajaur Agency's Mandal tribe. Talking over telephone, Omar said the jirga members had been released unconditionally in Ambar tehsil of Bajaur. The political administration has not confirmed the release of the 13-member jirga so far. Salarzai Tehsildar Adalat Khan told Daily Times that the political administration had no clue about the jirga members' whereabouts. Omar also said the TTP stood by its decision of not fighting security forces in Bajaur. He said the decision was made to improve law and order in the agency.
The Punjab Police have included names of four Jamaatud Dawa leaders, including Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, in a list of leaders of banned organisations, a private TV channel reported on Friday. The channel said police also issued a list of 30 suspected militants involved in extremist activities. Police sources said other Dawa leaders put on the list were Abdur Rehman Makki, Abu Hashim and Ameer Hamza, the channel added. Three people mentioned in the 30-name list were category 'A' - most wanted -- and carried Rs 40 million as head money.
(AKI) - The top United Nations human rights official has proposed a mission to assess violations and possible war crimes committed by both Israel and Hamas in the Gaza conflict and reiterated calls for an immediate ceasefire. 
Two groups of people one supporting the acting Khatib and the other favouring the newly appointed Khatib of Baitul Mukarram National Mosque involved in scuffles and shoe-throwing at each other before Jum'a prayers yesterday. The incident took place over who would lead the prayers.
Ugandan rebels have killed 38 south Sudanese villagers since Christmas in the latest of a wave of attacks that have left hundreds of people dead in the region, a Sudanese official said on Thursday.
This is about as bad as it gets folks. I don't think I've seen anything like it since 1994. Sure its been very cold at times over the past 14 years, but the total area impacted by this cold wave will be huge. By next Thursday and Friday, extremely cold air will chill the entire area from the Great Plains to the Eastern Seaboard, and the cold is also going to reach the Deep South. Only the far West will be unscathed.
US policy to win in Afghanistan must recognise the poor nation's limitations and its neighbourhood, especially its intertwined relationship with Pakistan, the top US military commander in the region said on Thursday.
Sri Lankan forces captured the strategic Elephant Pass base from the Tamil Tigers on Friday, ousting the rebels from their last stronghold on the Jaffna peninsula and boxing them into a shrinking pocket of land in the northeast.
As budget cuts force many U.S. newspapers to retrench on their foreign coverage, veteran journalist Charles Sennott saw virtually no chance of getting another assignment abroad. So Sennott left The Boston Globe to start his own news organization, GlobalPost.com. It launches Monday with 65 journalists, including veterans of major news organizations such as CNN, The Washington Post, Time magazine and The Associated Press.
Three NATO soldiers were killed in southern Afghanistan Friday while a suicide bomb blast ripped through a fruit market in a small town, killing five civilians and a police commander, authorities said. The multinational NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) did not say how the soldiers were killed or give their identities.
A fierce gunbattle between government forces and militants holed up in icy Himalayan caves for nine days in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK) has ended after about a dozen militants escaped, the army said on Friday.
