...During the lending boom, most mortgages were flipped and sold to another lender or servicer or sliced up and sold to investors as securitized packages on Wall Street. In the rush to turn these over as fast as possible to make the most money, many of the new lenders did not get the proper paperwork to show they own the note and mortgage.
This is the key to the produce the note strategy. Now, many lenders are moving to foreclose on homeowners, resulting in part from problems they created, and dont have the proper paperwork to prove they have a right to foreclose.
When you get a copy of the foreclosure suit, many lenders now automatically include a count to re-establish the note. It often reads like this: the Mortgage note has either been lost or destroyed and the Plaintiff is unable to state the manner in which this occurred. In other words, they are admitting they dont have the note that proves they have a right to foreclose.
If the lender is allowed to proceed without that proof, there is a possibility another institution, which may have bought your note along the way, will also try to collect the same debt from you again.
This process is not intended to help you get your house for free. The primary goal is to delay the foreclosure and put pressure on the lender to negotiate. Despite all the hype about lenders wanting to help homeowners avoid foreclosure, most borrowers know thats not the reality.
Too many homeowners have experienced lender resistance to their efforts to work out a payment structure to keep them in their homes. Many lenders bear responsibility for these defaults, because they put borrowers into unfair loans using deceptive, hard-sell practices and then made the problem worse with predatory servicing.
Most homeowners just want these lenders to give them reasonable terms on their mortgages, many of which were predatory to begin with. With the help of judges who see through these predatory practices, lenders will feel the pressure to work with borrowers to keep them in their homes.
Dont forget lenders made incredible amounts of money by using irresponsible practices to issue and service these loans. That greed led to the foreclosure crisis were in today. Allowing lenders to continue foreclosing on home after home, destroying our neighborhoods and our economy hurts us all. So, make it hard for your lender to take your home. Make em produce the note!
#2
Don't forget lenders made incredible amounts of money by using irresponsible practices to issue and service these loans.
And home buyers who never had the means to own a home also fully participated in creating artificial wealth upon which these same institutions employed to leverage even more paper. Don't forget the willing participants who acted as agents/buyers driving up the bloated value of these houses, not only stuck everyone else with the final bill, but they also drove up property taxes which will in turn tip even more people into financial difficulty. There are two parties to the process. Both of whom were consume with greed, one for money, but someone else for another's property.
#3
You do NOT own that house until the last payment is received.
There is many ways to skin a cat and to rob people.
Who is really robbed is the taxpayer who subsidize all these flakes.
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
01/31/2009 21:54
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#4
Moreover, a large house cost $60,000 to build,
give and take a few...that they are still
valued at $600,000 at many places prove that there is something rotten in Denmark.
And with the magic negro's money printing of
trillions, they will indeed soon cost $600,000
to built and all houses will be worth $600,000 then...and a car will cost a million and
a loaf of bread $1000.000
I remember paying 60,000 pesos in Argentina for
a stick of bread, while 30years earlier,
ten pesos could buy a car!
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
01/31/2009 22:05
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#5
Why this fucking turd of an article is not under opinion is beyond me.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/31/2009 22:21
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14-times Olympic gold medal winner Michael Phelps caught with cannabis pipe
THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history.
In our exclusive photo Michael Phelps, who won a record EIGHT gold medals for swimming at the Beijing games last summer, draws from a bong.
The glass pipes are generally used to smoke cannabis.
And after sporting chiefs announced laws which mean four-year bans for drug-taking, Phelps dreams of adding to his overall 14 gold medal tally at the 2012 games in London could already be OVER.
Those dreams seemed the last thing on his mind when he puffed from the bong during two days of partying with students last November, a quiet time in the swimming calendar when athletes would not expect to get tested for drugs.
One party-goer who witnessed the stars behaviour told the News of the World: He was out of control from the moment he got there.
If he continues to party like that Id be amazed if he ever won any more medals again.
Phelps aides went into a panic over our story and offered us a raft of extraordinary incentives not to run the bong picture.
It was on November 6, weeks after his Beijing triumph, that 23-year-old Phelps surprised students at the University Of South Carolina in Columbia by showing up unannounced at a house party.
He was visiting Jordan Matthews, a girl he was secretly seeing who was a student there.
Our source revealed: Michael came to visit Jordan but ended up just getting wasted every night.
He arrived with a group of girls hanging all over him. Jaws hit the floor when he walked in. You dont get many celebrities in Columbia, so when Phelps comes to your party its a very big deal.
An over 1,000-strong Ulema Council congregation at Jantar Mantar on Thursday demanded a separate criminal trial system for the nations Muslims.
The gathering of Muslims from Azamgarh, led by 20 ulemas belonging to Islamic seminary Jameat-ur-Rashad in UP, claimed that a National Judicial Inquiry Committee be set up to look into cases in which the Muslim men were arrested by police on charges of terrorism but released by courts due to lack of evidence. The Muslims freed of criminal/terror charges for lack of evidence should be compensated, demanded the congregation. It also demanded scrapping of the recently passed anti-terror law the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act.
The crowd arrived at Delhi from Azamgarh in UP by a special train, called the Ulema Express. The demonstration, which began at 10 am, was also attended by students of the Jamia Millia Islamia and Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU). Each of the ulemas who spoke to the cheering crowds, insisted that a judicial inquiry be set up especially to look into the September 17 Batla House encounter by a sitting Supreme Court judge. In that encounter, two terrorists from Azamgarh involved in the Delhi blasts were gunned down by the State police.
It is unacceptable to the Muslim community that innocent, educated young men should be picked up by law-enforcement agencies without any proof, to be released later by the courts for lack of evidence. The media highlights them as hardcore terrorists and their lives are tarnished forever. There should be a provision for compensation to such people, Ulema Council convener Amir Rashidi Madani said.
Blaming political parties for not supporting them on the issue, Madani said that the Ulema Council would field two candidates from Azamgarh Sadar and Lalganj Lok Sabha seats in the forthcoming Lok Sabha election. We are also trying for a third alternative. A few parties have approached us for support. But we want that any alternative should be headed by the Ulema Council, said Madani, whose son Aamir Talha was picked up by the Maharashtra ATS on terror charges. He was later released by the court.
The event was organised by the Coordination Committee of Indian Muslims, an umbrella organisation of five bodies and the Ulema Council of Azamgarh.
Posted by: john frum ||
01/31/2009
16:09 ||
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#1
Trying to create business by fueling fear. Fact of the matter, there's not enough gold to support the world economy anymore. Just scroll down to the story about Zimmies who only want SA Rands or US dollars to work their economy. There is an incredible amount of paper dollars, real and counterfeit, that make both internal and external commerce possible. It is the lingua franca of small business whether you or anyone 'pegs' a value to it. Anyone [that includes Mr. Soros] who thinks there's something else to replace it will only find out attempting to substitute both the implicit entity and the international recognition of the dollar will result in the possible near complete collapse of the market system beyond local subsistence for the near future.
#2
In the US, however, it would be a very good idea if the individual States created plans for the printing and distribution of State scrip.
Scrip is not legal tender, but when the national currency is vacillating wildly, scrip has a stabilizing influence. Some municipalities used it during the Great Depression, and it helped them enormously.
If a dozen states created their own scrip, commerce, local and State government would continue, and the marketplace would recover much faster, with a lot less pain.
No matter what happens to the dollar, scrip retains its value and liquidity, keeping the marketplace lubricated.
#4
If China were to start dumping dollars, the dollar would tank, leaving the chinese holding lots more worthless dollars. Not a very good strategy for the chinese.
About 6 to 7 trillion was lost in the dow crash, about 4 trillion in housing. That means that the dollar is much stronger (by virtue of their being fewer of them) The reduction in credit lines also reduces flow of "credit dollars" which pumps the value of physical dollars.
The bailouts look like they are heading to 4 trillion, which is still a lot less than the losses.
Now lets say the chinese went with gold. They'd have to move it and store it - far too likely to loose their new gold reserves to their own people. Remember these people are willing to risk death by just using cheaper paint on toys.
If we had inflation, sure its a good plan, but we are heading into layoffs and dropping gdp, and that means deflation.
It's Scrappleface
In office less than two weeks, President Barack Obama has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with an innovative plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up, in full, immediately.
The presidents plan is simple but ingenious, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, He targets wealthy individuals who filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of tens of thousands of dollars. Then he just nominates them for cabinet positions. They suddenly see the error of their ways, and they cut checks for the full amount owed, plus interest.
In the month of January alone, Mr. Obama has forced Timothy Geithner, former president of the Federal Reserve Bank of New York, to cough up $43,000 he owed the IRS, and former Sen. Tom Daschle to pay off his $128,000 tax obligation. Mr. Geithner will put his tax-paying experience to good use, overseeing the IRS as Secretary of the Treasury. Mr. Daschle hopes his recently-good behavior will garner Senate confirmation as the next Secretary of the Health and Human Services.
With the IRS underfunded as it is, said Mr. Gibbs, this collection method is much more efficient than dispatching field agents. Arresting these men, or compelling them to pay penalties would take years, and make them feel bad about themselves. The presidents method not only gets more money to the government to help our economy, but provides a self-esteem boost by giving these wealthy men important-sounding titles.
The Obama administration will reportedly expand the program by creating hundreds, perhaps thousands, of additional cabinet posts, available to any rich person willing to fess up and settle up with the IRS.
JAPAN will give Y1.5 trillion ($25.54 billion) in development aid to other Asian countries for infrastructure projects to battle the economic crisis, a top government official says.
Prime Minister Taro Aso will announce the package in a speech to the World Economic Forum today, Mr Aso's press secretary Kazuo Kodama said. "The Prime Minister will announce that Japan will provide official development assistance of no less than 1.5 trillion yen in total in order to help Asian countries to build infrastructure,'' he said.
Said infrastructure to be provided exclusively by Japanese companies ...
Aso is also to suggest an end to the blame-game surrounding the economic crisis after Russian prime minister Vladimir Putin and Chinese premier Wen Wen Jiabao made forceful speeches here pointing the finger at the United States. "We will say that we have no time to engage in a blame-game which is counterproductive and is in noone's interests,'' Mr Kodama said.
Global imbalances, he will stress, are the result of over consumption in the United States but also under-consumption and over-reliance on exports in major exporting countries such as Japan and China. "Countries must shed their dependence on external demand,'' he will say, according to his spokesman.
Elsewhere, Mr Aso is also to announce a new emissions plan for the country and will reiterate a pledge by Japan made last November to lend $US100 billion ($153.4 billion) to the International Monetary Fund.
ABC News has obtained the Senate Finance Committee Report on Tom Daschle's nomination to be Secretary of the Department of Health and Human Services, which indicates that Daschle's tax problems were even more substantial than earlier reported.
The report indicates that Daschle's failure to pay more than $101,000 taxes on the car and driver a wealthy friend let him use from 2005 through 2007 is not the only tax issue the former Senate Majority Leader has been dealing with since his December nomination prompted a more thorough examination of his income tax returns.
Mr. Daschle also didn't report $83,333 in consulting income in 2007.
The Senate Finance Committee Report also notes that during the vetting process, President Obama's Transition Team "identified certain donations that did not qualify as charitable deductions because they were not paid to qualifying organizations. Daschle adjusted his contribution deductions on his amended returns for 2005, 2006 and 2007 to remove these amounts and add additional contributions." This adjustment meant a reduction in the amount he contributed to charitable foundations of $14,963 from 2005 through 2007.
With the unreported income from the use of a car service in the amounts of $73,031 in 2005, $89,129 in 2006 and $93,096 in 2007; the unreported consulting income of $83,333 in 2007; and the adjusted reductions in charitable contributions, Daschle adds a total of $353,552 in additional income and reduced donations, meaning an additional tax payment of $128,203, in addition to $11,964 in interest.
On January 2 of this year, Daschle filed amended tax returns to pay the $140,167 in unpaid taxes.
The Finance Committee staff still is reviewing whether travel and entertainment services provided Tom and Linda Daschle by EduCap, Inc., Catherine B. Reynolds Foundation, Academy Achievement, and Loan to Learn should be reported as income. Earlier this month, the Wall Street Journal reported that Daschle made use of the jet belonging to EduCap, a non-profit student loan organization.
In office less than two weeks, President Barack Obama has already increased tax receipts at the U.S. Treasury with an innovative plan to get tax-dodgers to pay up, in full, immediately.
The presidents plan is simple but ingenious, said White House spokesman Robert Gibbs, He targets wealthy individuals who filed inaccurate tax forms, cheating the government out of tens of thousands of dollars. Then he just nominates them for cabinet positions. They suddenly see the error of their ways, and they cut checks for the full amount owed, plus interest.
11 days and counting
The Obama administration has asked the military's Joint Chiefs of Staff to cut the Pentagon's budget request for the fiscal year 2010 by more than 10 percent -- about $55 billion -- a senior U.S. defense official tells FOX News.
Last year's defense budget was $512 billion. Service chiefs and planners will be spending the weekend "burning the midnight oil" looking at ways to cut the budget -- looking especially at weapons programs, the defense official said.
Some overall budget figures are expected to be announced Monday.
Obama met Friday at the White House with a small group of military advisers, including Admiral Mike Mullen, chairman of the Joint Chiefs, Gen. James Cartwright, vice chairman, and Gen. Jim Jones, National Security Council chairman.
#1
I wonder if his lordship will ask ANY other agency of the federal govt to cut 10% of its budget. But then I already know the answer to the question...
#4
If I were a Pub congresscritter I'd call him on it. I'd show Bambi a little more of that vaunted, recent Pub unity and ensure that not a single Pub voted for the defense cuts. Bambi wants it, he gets the Donks to go along. All of them.
Would make 2010 very interesting.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 16:11
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#5
Someone had to feel the pinch do Acorn can get his 4 billions.
You knew this was coming -- Iran seeminly, doesn't understand The Chicago Way
US President Barack Obama's offer to talk to Iran shows that America's policy of "domination" has failed, the government spokesman said on Saturday.
"This request means Western ideology has become passive, that capitalist thought and the system of domination have failed," Gholam Hossein Elham was quoted as saying by the Mehr news agency. "Negotiation is secondary, the main issue is that there is no way but for (the United States) to change," he added.
After nearly three decades of severed ties, Obama said shortly after taking office this month that he is willing to extend a diplomatic hand to Tehran if the Islamic republic is ready to "unclench its fist".
In response, Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad launched a fresh tirade against the United States, demanding an apology for its "crimes" against Iran and saying he expected "deep and fundamental" change from Obama. Iranian politicians frequently refer to the US administration as the "global arrogance", "domineering power" and "Great Satan".
Tensions with the United States have soared over Iran's nuclear drive and Ahmadinejad's vitriolic verbal attacks against Washington's close regional ally Israel.
Former US president George W. Bush refused to hold talks with the Islamic republic -- which he dubbed part of an "axis of evil" -- unless it suspended uranium enrichment, and never took a military option to thwart Tehran's atomic drive off the table.
The new administration of Obama has also refused to rule out any options -- including military strikes -- to stop Tehran from acquiring a nuclear weapon.
Iraq's provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence. Polls closed at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday -- an hour later than planned -- after millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq. There were no reports of major violence.
Iraqi authorities imposed a huge security operation around the country that included traffic bans in major cities and extensive checkpoints and surveillance posts. The U.S. military also was out in force but did not take a direct role in the election security.
Results from the elections are not expected before Tuesday.
Polls opened shortly after dawn after a step-by-step security clampdown across the country, including traffic bans in central Baghdad and other major cities and closure of border crossings and airports. Iraqis passed through security checkpoints and razor-wire cordons to vote Saturday in provincial elections that are considered a crucial test of the nation's stability as U.S. officials weigh the pace of troop withdrawals.
Though there was no major violence during voting, there were some disruptions at the polls. A Kurdish official said hundreds of Iraqi Kurds stormed an election office in a disputed city after claiming many Kurds were not on voting lists for provincial elections. There were no reports of serious injuries.
The protest in Khanaqin on Saturday is part of lingering disputes over control of the city about 80 miles northeast of Baghdad. In August, Kurdish and Iraqi forces were locked in a tense standoff before the Kurds backed off.
Salahuddin Kekhaa, a Kurdish official in Khanaqin, says Kurds held a rally to claim that thousands of Kurds were left off voting list. Then they tried to break into the local election office but were turned back, he said
Ghufran al-Saidi, a Shiite lawmaker in the Sadr City district, said a military officer opened fire in Baghdad after voters chanted slogans at a polling station. He said two people were injured, one of them seriously.
Iraq's military spokesman, Maj. Gen. Qassim al-Moussawi, told Al-Arabiya television that one person was killed and one injured after some people tried to carry mobile phones through security cordons.
The reason for the conflicting accounts was not immediately clear.
In Tikrit, about 80 miles north of Baghdad, three mortar shells exploded near a polling station, but caused no casualties, said police, who spoke on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media. A bomb found near a Tikrit voting center was defused, police added.
In the Baghdad neighborhood of Karradah, Iraqi police and army soldiers manned a series of checkpoints -- some only 200 yards apart. Stores were closed and the streets cleared of cars.
A group of U.S. soldiers patrolled on foot, but well away from polling centers. The U.S. military assisted in security preparations for the elections, but said troops would only be called in on election day if needed.
In the western city of Fallujah -- once a center of the Sunni insurgency -- police used their patrol cars to help some people get to voting stations.
More than 14,000 candidates are running for 440 seats on the influential councils in all of Iraq's provinces except for the autonomous Kurdish region in the north and the province that includes oil-rich Kirkuk, where ethnic groups were unable to reach a power-sharing formula. Polls were to close at 5 p.m. Preliminary results are not expected before Tuesday.
Voters headed home waved their purple-tinted index fingers, which are dipped in ink to identify people who already cast ballots. The ink-stained fingers became an iconic image of Iraq's first post-Saddam Hussein elections four years ago.
Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, shadowed by a bodyguard, dipped his finger into an ink box after voting in the walled Green Zone enclave in Baghdad.
He appealed for a high turnout -- which would help boost his government's attempts to use the election as a sign of progress. "This gives a picture of trust in the government, the elections and the people's right to take part in this democratic process," he said.
Although violence is sharply down -- and with pre-election attacks relatively limited -- authorities were unwilling to take any risks.
An election without major attacks or charges of irregularities would provide a critical boost for Iraqi authorities as the U.S. military hands over more security responsibilities. But serious bloodshed or voting chaos could steal momentum from supporters of a fast-paced withdrawal of U.S. combat troops next year.
The provincial councils have no direct sway in national affairs, but carry significant authority through their ability to negotiate local business deals, allocate funds and control some regional security operations.
This election is also a possible dress rehearsal for bigger showdowns in national elections later this year, when the U.S.-allied government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki could face a power challenge from the country's largest Shiite party, the Supreme Islamic Iraqi Council.
In Baqouba, the capital of the violence-wracked Diyala Province northwest of Baghdad, long lines formed. "We were not able to vote during the 2005 elections because of the deteriorating security situation," said Ahmed Jassim, 19. "But now we feel safe enough to go out and vote."
Iraqi special forces in full combat gear patrolled streets in Baghdad's Fadhil district, which was once a hub in the Sunni insurgents' car bomb network. The tense atmosphere there contrasted with the more relaxed mood in other parts of the city.
In Baghdad's Azamiyah neighborhood -- once a stronghold of support for Saddam Hussein's regime -- a voting station at a girls' high school still carried a small image of Saddam, calling him the nation's "hero and martyr."
But one voter, Zaid Abdul-Karim, 44, said the elections will hopefully ease tensions between Shiites who gained power by Saddam's downfall and Sunnis who perceive themselves as sidelined since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003. "These are the people we need now: people who represent everyone in Iraq and have no sectarian bias," said Abdul-Karim, a government employee.
In the southern Shiite city of Basra, 40-year-old Haidar Mahmoud said he felt pressure to vote for the Supreme Council candidates, but changed his mind and backed al-Maliki's supporters. "If it wasn't for al-Maliki there would still be killing on the street. Maybe I can change Basra for the better by voting today," he said.
Among Sunni groups, powerful newcomers could reshape the political hierarchy. In Anbar province, the Sunni tribes which rose up against Al Qaeda and other insurgents -- and led to a turning point of the war -- are now seeking to transform their fame into council seats and significantly increase their role in wider Iraqi affairs. Their gains could come at the expense of the Sunni Iraqi Islamic party in the current government.
A couple who fled to Kuwait in 2004 to escape the violence returned to their northern Baghdad neighborhood to vote Saturday. Salih Zawad Ali and his wife Zeinab looked longingly around the Sulaykh district after casting their ballots. "I hope and pray we can come back," she said.
#1
Hows about that. They hold elections, no major violence and the seeds of democracy continue to germinate and spread the first, still vulnurable roots. You'd think the press and world would applaud. Oh wait...
#2
Many older men think about sex but don't have the drive to put theory into practice.
Hmm...they sort of left out that with a greater life experience, the older male engages in a cost benefit analysis of even bothering the make the effort. The younger dudes have a much higher level of tolerance for failure to 'connect' for all their time, resources, and emotions invested in the process. The older male simply applies experience to a return on investment [since the 'time' factor looms rather higher in their perspective than the younger male]. Older men have long found other social outlets to engage their attention through their life experience, something younger men have just now discovered by means of technology - PC and console games. Enough so, that it's effect is making it appearance in the marriage boycott phenomena. It's not just delayed adolescence, but also a withdraw from the hassle of it all.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat chief Maulana Fazlullah has said Islam recommends slitting the throat of a man if he is charged with espionage, adding that this is also the Sunnat of the Holy Prophet (PTUI) (PBUH) and his companions acted upon this.
Fazlullah was replying to allegations that the Taliban slits throats of people and even digs up dead bodies of men from graves and then hangs them. "I am also ready for a debate with the Ulema on this issue," he added.
Talking to the BBC, Fazlullah said he has given permission for girls' education up to the fourth class, and hinted at lifting a ban on female education in the Swat Valley. "We will shape up a new strategy which will send a good message to the world," he said.
Fazlullah said he was ready to help establish the government's writ in the Valley in accordance with Shariat and spirit of ideology of Pakistan, but made it clear that he will not allow the revival of Lord Macaulay system in the area.
When asked about the destruction of schools by the Taliban, he alleged that security forces had also bulldozed some of the schools in the Valley and "we have videos to prove this."
The Taliban demolished those educational institutions, which the security forces were using as bunkers. Even obscenity was being promoted there, Fazlullah stated.
The Taliban chief maintained that the military operation has been intensified in Swat after Army Chief General Ashfaq Parvez Kayani's visit to the area. He accused the security forces of killing civilians in Nangolai and Manglore and of throwing their bodies in the streets.
The government has already denied these allegations, The Nation reports.
#1
A little napalm in this guy's shorts would do wonders for his disposition.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/31/2009 12:25
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#2
Yes, mullah ulla bo-bulla, we're aware of your religion's preferred method of murder.
May I suggest you take up a new religion? You know, one without murder and throat slitting and suicide bombs, stonigs, acid attacks, child molestation, cousin marriage, bestiality, etc.
Rasatfarianism's nice and mellow. You might like it!
#1
These things always sound outrageous and sometimes they are.
OTOH, fed and state agencies are notoriously horrible customers for new, massive IT systems. They tend to have incomplete, conflicting and impossible requirements and assumptions for the system. The result is that the contractor is desperately trying to comply with shifting, inadequate and sometimes just plain crazy specs.
If they're working on an award fee basis - and these guys probably were - their only way to make any profit at all is through those 'bonuses' which are periodically awarded over and above approved expenses.
Sometimes those expenses fail to reimburse the basic cost of corporate level support. If so, the award fee is the only way to avoid LOSING money on the contract.
So the game is: the contractor tries to up his hourly rates, the GAO cuts them back. The contractor signs up to deliver a system according to specs, specs change, everyone has to negotiate who's to blame for how much of the mess.
Not to say that there aren't incompetant, greedy contractors. There are. But there are also, and even more prevalently, hugely incoherent agencies issuing conflicting, inadequate or changing specs too.
This has been a huge issue for IRS, FAA and a bunch of other large centralized control system acquisitions - to the point that some major players won't even bid on these contracts anymore.
The US and Europe are among the most threatened by jihadists following Israel's recent operations in Gaza.
IntelCenter's "Gaza Response: Analysis of Jihadist Statements & Threatened Targets v1.0 - 30 Jan. 2009" report illustrates how developments in one part of the world can significantly increase the threat level faced by countries not directly involved.
Since there is a well-established correlation between changes in threat messaging and where attacks are executed, especially for groups in the al-Qaeda orbit, there is a significant level of increased risk faced by those targets identified in this report. Twenty-three out of 53 statements issued by jihadists on Gaza included threats. The US was the target of 46.7% of the threats while Israel came in at 30% and Europe 10%. Israel's withdrawal of forces is unlikely to have a significant calming effect and the motivation for retaliatory strikes will remain high for the forseeable future. Terrorist planning for large-scale events occurs over a period of month and years, not weeks. The impact of this planning cycle is that retaliatory attacks are likely to occur long after the most recent fighting in Gaza has been forgotten in the West but will still be fresh in the minds of jihadists.
Full report: http://www.intelcenter.com/GazaResponse-v1-0-30Jan2009.pdf
#1
wow. knock me down with a feather another tequila. They're targetting us?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 20:43
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#2
They are already doing their worst possible.
How worst that sending your own children to blow
themselves up can you possibly do...
Now, they're down to empty threats.
Until we allow them nukes...
Then, upwind from a major city, a dirty bomb
will explode in an old freighter tramp ship, sickening, killing millions.
Nothing we can do about any of this, but hang
their enablers, the leftards that voted
the magic negro in...
Posted by: Ming the Merciless ||
01/31/2009 21:36
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#3
Well, now that CAIR has finally been jettisoned by the FBI (long over due), the Holy Land Foundation shut down, will the HAMAS support apparatus begin what they have not yet done in the USA...take violent action?
#4
I doubt it. Th epublic is far from fat,dum, and complacent, which is their prime seeding ground. If they stir up shit now, they will meet zero sympathy among the populace (regardless of the roll-over-and-beg attitude now in the Executive gov't branch). People are pissed, and not willing to tolerant shit IMHO
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 21:56
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George Obama, the half brother of U.S. President Barack Obama, has been arrested by Kenyan police on a charge of possession of marijuana, police said Saturday.
Inspector Augustine Mutembei, the officer in charge, said Obama was arrested on charges of possession of cannabis, known in Kenya as Bhang, and resisting arrest. He is scheduled to appear in court Monday, Mutembei said. He is being held a More..t Huruma police post in the capital of Nairobi.
Correspondent David McKenzie talked with George Obama at the jail where he is being held. Speaking from behind bars, Obama denied the allegations. "They took me from my home," he said, "I don't know why they are charging me."
George Obama and the president barely know each other, though they have met before. George Obama was one of the president's few close relatives who did not go to the inauguration in Washington last week.
In his memoir, Dreams from My Father, Barack Obama describes meeting George as a "painful affair." Barack Obama's trip to Kenya meant meeting family he had never known.
McKenzie tracked down George Obama in August 2008 and found him at a small house in Huruma, a Nairobi slum, where he lives with his mother's extended family. His birth certificate shows he is Barack Obama's half brother. The two men share the same Kenyan father. In the memoir, Barack Obama struggles to reconcile with his father after he left him and his mother when he was just a child.
Barack Obama Sr. died in a car accident when George was just 6 months old. Like his half brother, George hardly knew his father. George was his father's last child and had not been aware of his famous half brother until he rose to prominence in the Democratic primaries last year.
Unlike his grandmother in Kogela, in western Kenya, George Obama had received little attention from the media until reports about him surfaced in August 2008. The reports sprung from an Italian Vanity Fair article saying George Obama lived in a shack and was "earning less than a dollar a day." Those reports left George Obama angry.
"I was brought up well. I live well even now," he said. "The magazines, they have exaggerated everything.
Isn't that always the truth ...
"I think I kind of like it here. There are some challenges, but maybe it is just like where you come from, there are the same challenges," Obama said.
Obama, who is in his mid-20s, said at the time that he was learning to become a mechanic and was active in youth groups in Huruma. He said he tried to help the community as much as he can
#3
I've always wondered if Obama's African relatives had any kind of security around them. If not, sooner or later some crazy jeehad wannabe is likely to kindnap one of them and give them the Daniel Pearl treatment. Just to piss us off if for no other reason. After all what would Mohammad do?
The psychotic Roseanne Barr has some really sound advice for Bruce Springsteen. Assuming Springsteen is dumb enough to flush his career before a worldwide audience, here's what the idiot offers as advice.
The Boss oughta demand during his half-time appearance this Sunday that Obama stop bombing Pakistan (which even President Karzai of Afghanistan has requested) and stop funding the Israeli war machine! TELL OBAMA TO STOP BOMBING PAKISTAN AND MAKE ISRAEL STOP BOMBING GAZA!!!!
It's highly unlikely Springsteen would pay any mind to this idiocy and he'll be wise to keep to performing and leave the politics for another day. The NFL has made it clear they'd like halftime and pregame performers stick to music and leave the politics off stage. Barr's career peaked in about 1990 when she was named "America's Pig" by some celebrity media outlet or another. It's been downhill ever since, now she is just a has-been local pig.
Same for Madonna, who was "America's Slut" in the same article, but who has since been eclipsed by hordes of younger competitors.
#1
and Rosie O has quit blogging. Where o where will we turn for our fat loudmouthed stupid celeb news? Oh, that's right, Whoopie is still around, and Oprah, and.....
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 9:39
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#2
Frank, don't forget the harpies on "The View". Affectionately known in my house as "PU".
#4
Springsteen is doing the Super Bowl halftime show? He's kind of a risky choice, if you ask me. All that campaigning he's done for candidates like John Frickin' Kerry? I think I'd rather see a good old high school marching band.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/31/2009 12:46
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#5
Preview of Springsteen's performance:
Mumble mumble mumble MUMBLE mumble mumble
Mumble mumble mumble MUMBLE mumble mumble
Mumble mumble mumble MUMBLE mumble mumble
Born in the USA!
Born in the USA!
Mumble mumble mumble MUMBLE mumble mumble
#6
Springsteen is still known as "The Loss" in my house.
Having spent most of my life in Jersey few things are more nauseating to me than the local worship of Springstein and that other useful idiot turd Bon Jovi.
#2
The Russians don't put up with that kind of nonsense, to their credit. They probably seized the silly suit as evidence and made the guy stand out in the Moscow cold.
Posted by: Jonathan ||
01/31/2009 10:09
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#3
Greenpeace idiot doesn't look like he was doing anything bad -- I don't know if we should be celebrating the return of Stalin, even when it's red on green.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/31/2009 10:19
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Assuming the greenpeace idiot in question isn't Russian (probably a good bet), R Joe, it really doesn't make any difference whether we think he wasn't doing anything bad.
It's incumbent upon visitors to a country to find out about that country's laws and endeavor not to break any. I certainly wouldn't go to a country like Russia and pull some kind of stunt. Protesting in front of their embassy in this country is a lot safer and will get just as much accomplished as this clown did (nothing, but they feel good about it), without the risk of a Russian jail.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:35
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#6
I couldn't be less sympathetic to a Greenpeace demonstrator. All I'm sayin' is being dragged off by the Ruskie miltia for handling out pamphlets is a trip down memory lane most of us would prefer not to take.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/31/2009 13:13
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A Cody man has been cited for public intoxication while riding his horse on a busy street during a weekend snowstorm.
Police received a call at 4 p.m. Sunday from a motorist who was concerned that Benjamin Daniels, 28, was creating a road hazard by riding his horse in conditions of poor visibility.
An officer stopped Daniels to explain that drivers were having difficulty spotting his slow-moving white horse as he was riding along Yellowstone Avenue near Wal-Mart, said Assistant Police Chief George Menig. "Because of the wind, the blowing snow and the color of the horse, we were worried he was a danger to himself and motorists," Menig said.
Steady snow, gusting winds and subzero temperatures continued throughout the day.
As police continued to observe Daniels, it was clear that he was "highly intoxicated," Menig said.
Police saw Daniels drinking beer as he moved behind Cassie's Bar and Supper Club, apparently in an attempt to avoid them, Menig said. Although some who are cited for public intoxication are issued a ticket but not detained, police believed Daniels could not safely be released until he was sober, Menig said.
Daniels had been spotted earlier riding along Highway 120 between Road 2AB and the Shoshone River. Menig said police did not know the reason for his excursion.
Police contacted a friend of Daniels, who picked up the horse.
Menig said he could not recall any other recent citations for public intoxication while on horseback. "This is another first for me in Park County law enforcement," he said.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 12:21
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#3
Coulda been me and Ace comming back from the Big Orange. I'm glad he knows the way home. One can be sited for riding while intoxicated here in Tennessee.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2009 17:30
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#4
Cody is a neat town. I desire to visit there again some day.
This story only makes that desire stronger.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
01/31/2009 17:35
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#1
Hmmm...they demand sex education for safe sex practices [well, you know they're going to do it anyways, so just show them how to be safe about it regardless of gender they play with].
Yes, I know, the principle escapes these usual suspects.
As the world decries Israel's attempt to defend itself against the rocket attacks coming from Gaza, consider this: When Hamas routed Fatah in Gaza in 2007, it cost nearly 350 lives and 1,000 wounded. Fatah's surrender brought only a temporary stop to the type of violence and bloodshed that are commonly seen in lands where at least 30% of the male population is in the 15-to-29 age bracket.
In such "youth bulge" countries, young men tend to eliminate each other or get killed in aggressive wars until a balance is reached between their ambitions and the number of acceptable positions available in their society. In Arab nations such as Lebanon (150,000 dead in the civil war between 1975 and 1990) or Algeria (200,000 dead in the Islamists' war against their own people between 1999 and 2006), the slaughter abated only when the fertility rates in these countries fell from seven children per woman to fewer than two.
The warring stopped because no more warriors were being born.
In Gaza, however, there has been no such demographic disarmament. The average woman still bears six babies. For every 1,000 men aged 40-44, there are 4,300 boys aged 0-4 years. In the US the latter figure is 1,000, and in the UK it's only 670.
...THE REASON for Gaza's endless youth bulge is that a large majority of its population does not have to provide for its offspring. Most babies are fed, clothed, vaccinated and educated by UNRWA, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East. Unlike the UN High Commission for Refugees, which deals with the rest of the world's refugees and aims to settle them in their respective host countries, UNRWA perpetuates the Palestinian problem by classifying as refugees not only those who originally fled their homes, but all of their descendants as well.
UNRWA is benevolently funded by the US (31%) and the European Union (nearly 50%) - only 7% of the funds come from Muslim sources. Thanks to the West's largesse, nearly the entire population of Gaza lives in a kind of lowly but regularly paid dependence. One result of this unlimited welfare is an endless population boom. Between 1950 and 2008, Gaza's population has grown from 240,000 to 1.5 million. The West basically created a new Near Eastern people in Gaza that at current trends will reach three million in 2040. Within that period, Gazans may alter the justifications and directions of their aggression but are unlikely to stop the aggression itself.
The Hamas-Fatah truce of June 2007 allowed the Islamists again to direct all their energy on attacking Israel. The West pays for food, schools, medicine and housing, while Muslim nations help out with the military hardware. Unrestrained by such necessities as having to earn a living, the young have plenty of time on their hands for digging tunnels, smuggling, assembling missiles and firing 4,500 of them at Israel since 2006.
It was supposed to be a prank. But coming on the day after 9/11, it was one he would regret profoundly. Posing as an anonymous tipster, homicide Det. Keith Bradshaw called a police buddy and in his best Arabic accent left a chilling message on his voice mail. One of their colleagues, he said, was taking secret flying lessons, intended to knock down the Twin Towers and was an Islamic militant.
The butt of the joke-gone-bad, forensics employee Abdullah Yousufi, complained to the Ontario Human Rights Commission. A tribunal hearing starts Monday. "This was over years ago," Bradshaw's lawyer, Gary Clewley, said yesterday. "He owned up to it, he apologized, he was disciplined. What the hell does (Yousufi) want? It seems gratuitous to me."
Yousufi, a long-time civilian employee of Toronto police, has filed two complaints with the commission, documents show, the first in May 2002. Besides the prank, Yousufi alleges harassment and a poisoned work environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith." In April 2004 Yousufi complained again to the commission, this time about the "negative workplace consequences" of filing the first complaint. He alleges he was denied training and his employer used the Civilian Review Process to mask an attempt to demote him.
Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living."
After Bradshaw left the message on Sept. 12, 2001, Internal Affairs launched an investigation, putting Yousufi under surveillance. Bradshaw confessed to the prank, Clewley said. He was disciplined by having several hours of pay docked.
#1
great writing.
Yesterday, Yousufi declined to comment. "I'm in a really bad situation right now," he said. "I have to take the stand, but I still have to earn a living."
so he actually did comment. He did leave off the part where he feels a hostile work environment because he's a thin-skinned prick, IMNSHO - The guy played a joke and paid for it.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 10:21
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#2
"environment because of his ethnicity, "a non-white person of Afghan descent who is perceived to be of the Muslim faith."
So, is he NOT of the Muslim faith?
If his charges are valid, I sympathize. However, it is hard to tell from the info given in the article.
#1
Sad, but it seems that every UC and Calif. State University is over populated with Israel bashing and pro-sharia/Jihadists. Where's Planned Parenthood when you really need the?
Sad, but it seems that every UC and Calif. State University is over populated with Israel bashing and pro-sharia/Jihadists. Where's Planned Parenthood when you really need them?
#1
You know when these cases get re-opened 20 years later, it's usually because the perps were known all along, but their political cover has just evaporated.....
It appears that the FDIC closed three banks yesterday
Utah's MagnetBank became the fourth bank failure of the year, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. was forced to directly refund depositors after being unable to find another institution willing to take over its operations.
That marked the first time the FDIC has been unable to find an acquirer for a failed bank in nearly five years, according to FDIC spokesman David Barr. "This bank did not have an attractive franchise value, and not many retail deposits or core deposits," Barr said. The FDIC had conducted an extensive marketing process for the bank's assets, he said. Translation: It was broke
#1
"This bank government did not have an attractive franchise value, and not many retail deposits or core deposits,"
Coming soon to a Treasury Auction near you. Maybe they'll have to sell off some of their holdings [like 80% of anything west of the Pecos - but you better get a contractually binding release from all those nasty restrictions of use otherwise it's just a title change without change of ownership].
The EU competition commission recently fined a cartel of marine hose manufacturers for price fixing. Marine hose is a rubberized pipe used to transfer oil between storage facilities and oil tankers and offshore platforms. The main customers are oil companies. The companies involved had met secretly to set prices and bids and to allocate markets.
The fine totals $173 million, and is directed at six global companies. They include Bridgestone Tire and Rubber (Japan), Trelleborg SA(Sweden), Manuli Rubber Industries (Italy), Dunlop Oil and Marine (UK-based, but a part of Herman conglomerate Continental Tire Group), and Parker ITR (Us/Italy). Also involved in the cartel was Japan-based Yokohama Rubber, but that company revealed the cartel to EU authorities and so avoided the fine.
The US and UK are both said to be pursuing criminal cases on executives involved in the cartel. The UK is moving ever more aggressively on cartel busting, with higher fines, especially to companies that obstruct investigations.
Olbermann is the early forerunner in the contest of who can spread the most contagious Bush Derangement Syndrome, and the fruits of his labors are a plunge in popularity compared to Fair and Balanced FOX.
Posted by: Age Of Pericles ||
01/31/2009
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President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta on Friday agreed to convene a Pak-Afghan jirga, and make the initiative a frequent and effective process between the two countries.
Pak army effective or UAV effective?
The announcement was made during the visiting Afghan minister's meeting with Zardari at the Presidency. Issues regarding bilateral relations, and the regional security situation were discussed between the two leaders.
While praising Afghan hospitality during his visit to Kabul earlier this month, President Zardari said he was looking forward to welcoming his Afghan counterpart Hamid Karzai in Pakistan. Zardari said the Joint Declaration on Directions of Bilateral Cooperation, signed during his Kabul visit, provided a framework for bilateral relations in the future, adding the two sides would follow it for promoting mutual ties.
The Afghan foreign minister also met his Pakistani counterpart Shah Mehmood Qureshi at the Foreign Office. The two ministers expressed satisfaction over the ongoing bilateral cooperation, saying both the countries were ready to further strengthen the coordination, both at the strategic and tactical levels.
Foreign Minister Qureshi expressed the hope that the new United States government under Barack Obama would adopt a comprehensive and holistic approach in addressing the challenge of terrorism in the region. Qureshi hoped the surge in US troops' number in Afghanistan would be coupled with a political and development surge as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday that Israel will strike against Gaza militants again if necessary.
Barak said he hoped the truce that ended Israel's three-week offensive against Gaza's Hamas rulers holds. But he stressed that Israel is prepared to act again if Hamas continues to fire rockets at southern Israel.
"Hamas was hit like it was never hit before," the defense minister told Channel 10 TV on Friday. "If we need hit Hamas again, we will."
Israel launched its offensive on Dec. 27 to stop eight years of near-daily militant rocket fire from Gaza at southern Israeli towns. Nearly 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, about half of them civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights. Thirteen Israelis were also killed, three of them civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
Defense Minister Ehud Barak said Friday that Israel will strike against Gaza militants again if necessary.
Um, we knew that already Barak (and we hope you're not kidding)... why don't you move the narrative along on this:
Nearly 1,300 Palestinians were killed in the fighting, about half of them civilians, according to the Palestinian Center for Human Rights.
Instead of letting the Palestinian freakin' Center for Human Rights own the theme of civilian casualties, why not make some news by beginning every press discussion with:
"It's unfortunate that Hamas continues to hide behind the skirts and short pants of Palestinian women and children in order to cause civilian casualties."
"Clearly Hamas is the enemy of both the Israeli and Palestinian peoples... "
Say it until it sticks. Hey it worked for Cato the Elder.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/31/2009 8:24
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#2
Oh, it's necessary.
Starting yesterday.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:41
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.(AKI) - Sri Lanka's president has urged the Tamil Tiger rebels to allow an estimated 250,000 civilians trapped in the northern war zone to flee to safety following reports of heavy civilian casualties during the conflict with government forces. President Mahinda Rajapaksa has pledged to guarantee safe passage for the civilians trapped in the region.
Human rights groups have accused the rebels of holding the civilians hostage and accused the military of launching heavy attacks in areas where civilians are located, including a government-declared "safe zone" in the north.
Sri Lanka's military says it is trying to secure the north-east coastline to encircle Tamil Tiger rebels as part of a final assault in the north of the island. Troops were on Tuesday moving north from the captured rebel town of Mullaitivu to take a 30kilometre stretch of land. The military says it hopes to control the entire north within weeks.
The United Nations has expressed concern about the fate of the civilians and one UN official said both sides appeared to have committed "grave breaches of human rights."
The rebels from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam and the military deny the charges.
In an appeal published on a government website on Friday, President Rajapaksa said the rebels' refusal to let civilians leave the area was endangering their lives. He accused the LTTE rebels of putting their heavy artillery inside the "safe zone" and using it as a "launching pad" for attacks on government troops.
"I urge the LTTE, within the next 48 hours to allow free movement of civilians to ensure their safety and security. For all those civilians, I assure a safe passage to a secure environment," he said.
The military said the president's statement did not amount to a unilateral 48-hour truce and said the offensive was continuing on Friday.
Meanwhile, the Paris-based Reporters without Borders (RSF) appealed to the president to allow both local and foreign journalists to freely report on the fighting against the Tamil Tiger rebels. The group also asked the government to bring an end to violent attacks against members of the independent Sri Lankan press. "Like the Israeli army in Gaza, the authorities in Colombo have decided to prevent media and humanitarian organisations from working freely," RSF said in a statement.
The International Committee of the Red Cross said humanitarian aid workers must be allowed to enter the strife-torn region and their premises must be protected from shelling and looting, as required by international humanitarian law. The ICRC noted it is the only international aid agency to have remained permanently in Vanni over the past four months with the agreement of both sides, working with the Sri Lanka Red Cross Society.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
"Like the Israeli army in Gaza, the authorities in Colombo have decided to prevent media and humanitarian organisations from working freely," RSF said in a statement.
When the press stops acting like a wholly owned subsidiary of the enemies of freedom, when "international non-Governmental organizations" quit aiding, abetting, and directly assisting warring factions, then perhaps we could find a little outrage in our souls at their present "predicament". At the moment, not a drop!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/31/2009 13:19
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(AKI) - Nine militants suspected of links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were due to appear in a Pakistani court on Friday accused over a string of suicide attacks that killed dozens of people and damaged the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Police said they arrested the gang earlier this week in the northeastern garrison town of Rawalpindi. The suspects are expected to be charged under anti-terror legislation and held in custody for up to 14 days.
The suspects are reportedly wanted chiefly in connection with five high-profile suicide attacks, including one outside the Danish embassy and another on an Italian restaurant in Islamabad. The devastating embassy car bombing on 2 June last year killed six people including a Dane. The blast caused severe damage to a nearby United Nations agency and damaged the embassy building and the residences of the Indian and Dutch ambassadors.
The bombing of the popular Luna Caprese Italian restaurant on 15 March last year killed a female Turkish aid worker and injured at least 10 other foreigners including four American Federal Bureau of Investigation or FBI officials.
Police also suspect the gang of helping orchestrate a suicide bombing near the Islamabad's Red Mosque on 7 July last year which killed 19 people, mostly policemen and injured dozens. The gang is also accused over the killing on 25 February last year of Pakistan's chief military medical officer and an attack earlier that month against an army medical corps bus.
Police claim that gang was involved in logistics and providing suicide bombers for targeted attacks, including one on Independence Day in the eastern city of Lahore on 14 August last year and an earlier attack on the Naval War College, also in Lahore.
The Pakistan Observer daily quoted senior police officers as saying the Rawalpindi gang had links to Al-Qaeda's top commander in Pakistan, Usama al-Kini, who was killed in a US missile strike in the South Waziristan tribal region bordering Afghanistan on 1 January. The gang's ring leader, Mohammed Illyas, also known as Qari Jamil, was identified as a former detainee in the US-run military prison for terrorist suspects, at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, according to an unnamed senior police investigator.
This article starring:
Mohammed Illyas
al-Qaeda
Qari Jamil
al-Qaeda
Usama al-Kini
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces seized a weapons cache in an abandoned house in Falluja on Friday, the city's police chief said.
"A joint force from the 6th Emergency Contingent and the Falluja Police Department seized on Friday (Jan. 30) arms and munitions inside an uninhabited house in the area of Amiriyat al-Falluja based on intelligence tip-offs," Col. Mahmoud al-Issawi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The cache contained 11 mortar shells, 13 improvised explosive devices with detonation wires, 24 RPG-7 shells, target-setting field maps, BKC bandoliers and four Kalashnikov assault rifles," Issawi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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With the focus on the economic stimulus package shifting to the Senate, the partisan split evident with the Democrat-only passage of the bill in the House last night overshadowed a lot of the discussions on both sides of the aisle today. So much so that various leaders were practically disowning the word bipartisanship as if deadly germs were part of its etymology.
At a news conference earlier today, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi defended the Democrat-only passage of the economic stimulus package, contending that Republicans were indeed included; their suggestions on tax cuts had become part of the bill itself, she said. But several G.O.P. senators and representatives hit the airwaves today, criticizing the spending portions and promoting their view of a more palatable alternative -- bigger, broader tax cuts and incentives.
When Mrs. Pelosi was asked whether the vote -- 244 to 188 without a single Republican's approval -- represented a failure on her part to advance President Obama's desire for a broad bipartisan bill, she practically snapped:
"I didn't come here to be partisan. I didn't come here to be bipartisan. I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
I came here, as did my colleagues, to be nonpartisan, to work for the American people, to do what is in their interest
If you want to do something in the people's interest, Nancy, you will pull this bill and resubmit it only when all the pork and special interest/Democratic wet dream projects are removed.
At that time, the cost of the bill should total about $6.95. Total.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 0:25
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#2
There was a bipartisan effort shown in voting. Both repubs and demos teamed up to vote against it.
#3
She thinks of herself as being equally Democrat, leftist, socialist, communist, communist Leninist-Trotskyite, Maoist communist, UFO cultist, PETA agitator, etc. But not Republican or conservative, since they aren't "really" Americans, in her eyes.
#4
"I am the Speaker of the House. I dont get into that... popular culture" she said at her weekly press conference, interrupting a questioner who asked about their impact on the stimulus debate.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2009 9:46
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#5
apparently, a side effect of excessive botox on stoopid people is a permanent rictus
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:04
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#6
Frank: Picture for a moment if you will, that lovely face without the dentures.
(AKI) - The former imam of the northern Italian city of Varese, Abdelmajid Zergout, has been sentenced to five years in prison for a series of suicide bomb attacks in Casablanca in 2003. Forty-five people were killed - including 12 suicide bombers - in several attacks which occurred in the Moroccan city in May 2003. The bombings were the deadliest terrorist attacks in the country's history.
In April 2008, nine people were convicted over the bombings and one of them was sentenced to death, while six others received life imprisonment. According to media reports, prosecutors had been seeking a 30-year sentence during the trial that took place in Rabat. Among the charges, the former imam was accused of "founding a criminal gang to undermine public security".
Zergout had already faced two trials in Italy on charges that he founded the Moroccan group and was extradited to stand trial in Morocco after facing judges in a Milan appeals court. The former imam is married with three children.
This article starring:
Abdelmajid Zergout
al-Qaeda in Europe
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
Forty-five people were killed - including 12 suicide bombers - in several attacks which occurred in the Moroccan city in May 2003.
In my opinion, this should read: 33 people were killed. In addition, 12 subhumans also died.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 21:15
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The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."
Steele takes the helm of a beleaguered Republican Party that is trying to recover after crushing defeats in November's national elections that gave Democrats control of Congress put Barack Obama in the White House.
GOP delegates erupted in cheers and applause when his victory was announced, but it took six ballots to get there. He'll serve a two-year term.
Steele, an attorney, is a conservative, but he was considered the most moderate of the five candidates running.
He was also considered an outsider because he's not a member of the Republican National Committee. But the 168-member RNC clearly signaled it wanted a change after eight years of Bush largely dictating its every move as the party's standard-bearer.
Steele became the first black candidate elected to statewide office in Maryland in 2003, and he made an unsuccessful Senate run in 2006. Currently, he serves as chairman of GOPAC, an organization that recruits and trains Republican political candidates, and in that role he has been a frequent presence on the talk show circuit.
He vowed to expand the reach of the party by competing for every group, everywhere.
"We're going to say to friend and foe alike: 'We want you to be a part of us, we want you to with be with us.' And for those who wish to obstruct, get ready to get knocked over," Steele said. "There is not one inch of ground that we're going to cede to anybody," he added. "This is the dawn of a new party moving in a new direction with strength and conviction."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Bravo, the Republican Party finally gets one right!
#2
The Trunks are like the economy, at a certain point the only way that remains is up. Real change usually comes after a major disaster. Not that they'd listen, but I'd recommend the development of a 'lessons learned' cell to document fundamentals so you don't have to keep relearning from the same mistakes over and over again. You also need a mechanism to make sure you don't slip back into bad habits once you fix what needs fixing. Of course, all that requires a degree of intelligent self reflection that egos at that level seem particularly resistant to.
#5
I'm pleased with this. I think Mr. Steele gets modern politics. Now what he needs are:
1) an organization that gets modern political social organization and the Web 2.0 (Obama got it)
2) a commitment from Republicans for a 50-state, 435-district strategy (don't laugh, it worked for Howard Dean)
3) emphasis on rebuilding from the state and local levels on up
4) relentless push-back on the MSM nonsense and stereotypes
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:24
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#6
"When do we stop harping on "...first black..." for everything?"
Hopefully before the Dems and Lefties (but I repeat myself) do, Alan.
Which is likely, seeing as to how they'll NEVER stop.
Don't forget, according to the Dems & their ilk, any black person who aligns with the Republicans isn't really black - they're "House Negroes" or worse. >:-(
When I look at Michael Steele, I don't see a black man - I see a man of honor and conviction who's good-looking too ;-p.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:27
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#7
Ken Blackwell is another fine man, although he ran and withdrew for RNC. Steele, Jindal, Palin, Blackwell....
I like that lineup. I'm getting tired of the RINOs like McMaverick, Specter, Collins, Snowe,...... who can never be totally counted on for GOP support
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:09
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#8
In the 1960s, somebody introduced Rep. Shirley Chisholm at a banquet or other such event. Before she launched into her speech, she said, "I'm looking forward to the day when I'm not introduced as the "first black'."
I think that was before her party glommed onto the identity politics meme. That'd be about 1967, when I was first old enough to start reading the news.
I've forgotten exactly when identity politics took off. Right about the time the govt started quota programs?
#10
Steele was my choice and frankly, I think he represents the only hope conservatives have right now to form a new political majority for the 21st century. As has been stated several times already, this guy gets it. Most of all, he can articulate and communicate sound conservative principles in a way Bush & Co. never could and never did. Few other Republicans right now, minus probably Jindal, Crist, and Pawlenty (I wish I could say Palin, too, but I still think she lacks the media savvy that is necessary to get ahead nowadays, for [better or] worse. Give her some time though and watch out!) are up to the task, either. The fact that he won the RNC Chair as a relative outsider means that the RNC gets it, too. At least one can hope.
Congratulations, Mr. Steele! I look forward to seeing what you can do to reinvigorate the moderate conservative intellectual movement in America. After all, it starts and ends with ideas and ideals and the same conservative ideas and ideals that made this country great can help make it even greater.
Now more than ever, we need to get back to basics-- what works and what doesn't-- and it is up to sensible and level-headed conservatives to lead the charge, as they always do.
#12
The Repubs have called me for money and I've told them that they won't get once cent until they actually demonstrate that they've returned to conservative principles and show that they are fighting against the rampant socialization of the economy that is now underway. Steele's election is certainly a step in the right direction. Prime example of how the Repubs had fallen...can anyone name the previous RNC chairman?? Anyone? Buehler?
When the chairman of the political organization is invisible, then the organization is essentially invisible. Steele will change that in a big way. Again, excellent first step.
#13
Jindal is a non-starter for me. I can't stand that ignorant creationist crap he's pulling in LA. Which is odd since the Catholic Church is against creationism.
Steele should be a good start for rebuilding the GOP. I look forward to seeing what happens in the next couple years.
#18
Jindal is very smart and a personable straight shooter (think about how hard it was to get elected Governor in La. as a child of Indian immigrants??). Don't sell him short.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 21:59
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#19
I find Jindal to be a very able administrator but I have not seen a whole lot of leadership talent. He would be a competent executive, but not a charismatic one.
#20
It is no coincidence that both of the party chairmen (RNC head Steele - Maryland and DNC capo Tim Kaine - Virginia) are based in states adjacent to Washington DC. Actually the DC suburbs, as soon as Kaine wraps up his term as governor and leaves Richmond.
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Friday clashed with four gunmen suspected of killing a candidate in Mandili district, eastern Baaquba, shooting down one of them and arresting three others, a Diala security source said. "Police forces clashed with four gunmen in a house in the village of Muhammad Malih, south of Mandili district, (55 km) north of Baaquba, arresting three of them and killing a fourth who declined to surrender," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
An official security source in Diala told Aswat al-Iraq earlier on Friday that an armed group suspected of affiliation to al-Qaeda network had intercepted during a late hour of Thursday (Jan. 29) Abbas Farhan, a candidate from the Reform & Development bloc, in a village in Mandili, where he was campaigning, and opened fire at him, killing him instantly along with his brother and cousin who were escorting him.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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The Taliban on Friday distributed leaflets in Miranshah and Mir Ali in the North Waziristan Agency warning the Pakistan Army not to set up medical camps, open schools or hospitals in the area. The Taliban warned the army and the NGOs to stop their activities in the agency as 'through these activities they were misleading the tribal people'. "We warn the army and NGOs to refrain from mischief and carrying out such work otherwise they will be responsible for any losses," said the leaflet in Urdu, a copy of which was obtained by AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
Only the Taliban are allowed to treat, educate and feed the people. No one else may attempt to buy the support of the communities. The government must give us the materials for these activities. Or we will blow up the schools, burn hospitals and execute the teachers and doctors. Because we are humanitarian and we 'care.'
Iraqi police banned vehicles from Mosul's streets on Friday ahead of Saturday's election, which is the first in three years. Voters go to poll on Saturday to select members of ruling provincial councils here and in most of the country. As a sign of the tension, Mosul residents to stay at home until they are ready to vote the following day. Similar bans were not due to take effect in the rest of the country until late Friday. The measures in Mosul were imposed the day after gunmen assassinated a local Sunni candidate.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Jamaat-e-Islami is virtually isolated in the four-party alliance on the issue of trial of war criminals as two of its three other partners are keeping their distance from the religion-based party.
Supporting a transparent trial of war criminals, the BNP and Bangladesh Jatiya Party said it is Jamaat that has to face the situation.
Jamaat leaders admitted that they are unlikely to receive any support from others on the issue.
BNP Secretary General Khandaker Delwar Hossain recently said BNP and Jamaat will now work from their own standpoints as the four-party alliance was formed for elections only.
Against this backdrop, survival of the four-party alliance has come under question.
Meanwhile, Jamaat-e-Islami formed a committee headed by party Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid to draw up its strategy and next course of action in connection with the possible war crime charges some of its leaders are now staring at, sources in Jamaat said.
Jamaat's highest policymaking body Majlish-e-Sura has given the party's working committee the authority to report the present political situation and the party's poor performance in the December 29 elections. It also gave the committee the authority to prepare a report on the issue of the trial of war criminals and a guideline in this regard to follow in future.
The Majlish-e-sura yesterday made the decision wrapping up its two-day meetings at Al-Falah Auditorium at Moghbazar in the capital.
Sources in the Majlish-e-sura hinted the possibility of changes at the party's top level at the end of this year when an election in Jamaat will decide its next top brass. They said the intention of the election would be to wash off the war criminal label of Jamaat.
Jamaat leaders hope that the United Nations will be involved in the trial, in which case the party would accept the verdict and remove the guilty people from the party.
The BNP secretary general yesterday said they would support the trial of war criminals if it is conducted properly without any political motive.
"We support the demand for the trial of war criminals in principle and none should have any objection against it," Delwar said talking to reporters at his home in Armanitola.
He also said the ruling party has to be alert about transparency of the trials. "It is an old issue and the trial should have been conducted a long time ago. It was the duty of those who were in power after the Liberation War, but they did not carry out the trials," he said.
Delwar said Awami League came to power in 1996 but they did not take any initiative to try the war criminals.
"We will keep a safe distance from Jamaat over the issue," a close aide to BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia told The Daily Star last night.
"We do not want to interfere in the issue of trying war criminals as we want an end to the issue once and for all," the aide said over telephone, adding, "They [Jamaat] themselves will have to face the situation."
BNP standing committee member Shamsul Islam said, "We do not have any coalition with Jamaat at present. They were our ally in the national elections and it is over. BNP and Jamaat took part in the upazila parishad elections separately."
He, however, said the issue might be raised before the party's standing committee meeting scheduled for tomorrow.
Bangladesh Jatiya Party leaders also said they support the government's initiative to try war criminals. "Jamaat leaders who were involved in committing war crimes should be brought to book," a leader of the party told The Daily Star last night.
Meanwhile, Islami Oikya Jote Secretary General Abdul Latif Nezami said, "All Jamaat leaders, especially the incumbent ones, were not involved in war crimes in 1971. We therefore think that there is not much scope to maintain distance from Jamaat on this issue."
Jamaat-e-Islami directly opposed Bangladesh's independence and many of its leaders were allegedly involved in war crimes.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion.
U.S. Attorney Rod Rosenstein says Makwana was fired Oct. 24. Rosenstein says that on that day, Makwana programmed a computer with a malicious code that was set to spread throughout the Fannie Mae network and destroy all data this Saturday. Makwana's federal public defender did not immediately return a call seeking comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
Looking at the headline, I thought maybe it was about Bawney Fwank.
For those who care, Glen Allen is on the western outskirts of Richmond.
Interesting logistics - wonder why he moved here of all places after he was canned?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:49
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Turkey's prime minister received a hero's welcome home Friday after he reproached Israel's president over the Gaza offensive and stalked off the stage at the World Economic Forum.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
That's what the Davos theatrics was all about - 'show' for the home folks. The Jews have always been a handy scapegoat for European or Muslim politicians.
Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos informed Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni on Friday of Spain's plan to amend legislation that granted a Spanish judge the authority to launch a much-publicized war crimes investigation against senior Israeli officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Hundreds of British energy workers walked off the job Friday to protest the use of foreign labor on British job sites, the latest sign of an increasing backlash against foreign workers amid the global recession.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
This sort of protectionist attitude is very hard to argue against when others are blatantly doing it, to your disadvantage. Open markets only work when all parties are acting equally reciprocally.
#3
...and paying taxpayers' money to foreign companies which employ subcontractors who in turn exclude British workers, at a time of high unemployment amongst British construction workers, benefits whom, besides the foreign workers? Our economy as it is relies far too much on 'unconstructive' jobs. We've got more than enough dole-bound construction workers costing us as it is.
I'm not in favour of protectionism, but when everyone else does it (and we all know the French etc have one standard when it comes to public contracts for them, and another standard for the UK), you're the pooch who gets screwed.
#4
Of course 'foreign labor' has several meanings. In the US that means anyone from outside the local area when it comes to bidding for public works, which always seemed to be sized or contractually defined such that the good o'local boys always seem to get them. You know that piece of road construction that seem to have to be done and redone again and again. Or the construction of public buildings going to "Friends of..." That's where the 5% of the Reelection Stimulus package is going to be employed in patronage to the local infrastructure and reelection coffers kickback work.
#5
This is all to the good. I fully understand and generally support the anti-protectionist agenda but this is an exception.
Britain has deeded its sovereignty to the unelected, unaccountable EU. This means that much of the law that Brits are forced to live under is not in the control of people they elect.
This may be the lever to pry open the situation and get someone with backbone to step up and demand that the UK leave the EU.
This is really a case of "taxation without representation" in the new world of oligarchic bureaucracy. Listen to Bulldog et al, go to
http://eureferendum.blogspot.com/
for the whole story.
#4
#2 does this mean that there is an axle of evil? Posted by: bman
#3 Yes and it needs to meet the Subaru of Freedom. Posted by: .5MT
The only effective solution to the Korea/Iran/Syria axle of evil is the Mack of Military Might and the Peterbuilt of Professional Pounding. Might not hurt to do some Dodge Ramming, either.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/31/2009 12:23
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#5
You forgot "Catapillar Crawling".
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/31/2009 15:52
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Amidst parent Tribune Co.'s struggle to emerge from bankruptcy protection, the Los Angeles Times said Friday it is cutting 300 positions and will shrink the number of daily sections to four from five.
The paper's publisher, Eddy Hartenstein, informed staff in a memo on Friday, explaining the cuts "are designed to help us deal with the economic realities of the day."
"Not a day goes by that we don't give our readers the latest news and analysis on the deepening troubles of the U.S. economy," Hartenstein wrote. "The same challenges that face the companies we report about also are affecting us."
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
Announcing layoffs on Friday is "buried" in the Saturday news is the most hackneyed PR ploy in the book. Most real businesses learned long ago not to eliminate jobs on Friday because the workers go home without answers to their questions (severance, optional arrangements etc) all weekend to stew and return Monday with their lawyers in tow.
This underscores the ongoing buggy whip mentality of newspapers as businesses.
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/31/2009 8:11
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#2
1. It's a start.
2. How about outsourcing to, say, India your entire management staff.
#3
I just cancelled my local paper. I noticed last fall that I wasn't reading it much - mostly it went straight into the recycle bin, or piled up all week and then went into the bin. So I switched to Friday-Sunday delivery, since the TV section is in Saturday's edition and I calculated the delivery price for the 3 days was about the same as my going out and buying one each Saturday, when the aggravation factor was accounted for.
As soon as I switched, the TV section got MUCH skimpier. I also found over the last 3 months that I don't have time to sit down and read the Sunday paper, and I honestly don't miss it. I miss the idea of reading the paper, but news delivery had changed so much in my lifetime that what I was used to for decades is no longer true. Now by the time I get home in the evening I already know the news, and I found TV listings on my cable company's website that even let me choose the channels I care about, and pops up with whatever's on according to the time I access it. Just don't need the paper anymore. It's sad, but my life has managed to go on surprisingly well without it.
I don't know the answer for the newspapers.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 11:01
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#4
Mrs. Besoeker and I discussed cancelling the Atlanta Constipation. Petsmart cage liners are an even greater expense and the bird really enjoys the sports section, so we retained the subscription but only until the bird dies.
#5
I think the newspaper industry will closely track the fortunes of the cage bird breeding industry.
My supermarket is giving away the (NY)Daily News, and there are piles of mouldering local papers in the lobbies of all the local apartment buildings I go into.
Only one hour after Gov. Rod Blagojevich was impeached out of office on corruption accusations by the state Senate Thursday afternoon, the Lt. Gov. Patrick Quinn took the public oath of office in Illinois state house of representative chamber.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
I am very uncomfotable with this process. Yes, Blago is a bad guy, but where was the due process etc.. that is part of our constitution?
Besides, I miss the soap opera.
#2
bman, from what I can gather from reading a law blog - where this was brought up - the Illinois constitution says the Illinois House has the right/responsibility to impeach, and they get to set the standards. It has nothing to do with our Constitution.
One commenter there said, "The house impeached based on the totality of Blago's actions over the past few years." He also said that Blago "had due process based on the constitution and the senate rules for the trial."
Considering this is Illinois, I'm wondering what the "totality of actions" was that was so different from the rest of the politicians in the Illinois swamp - unless maybe it was that he got caught.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 12:31
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#3
Barbara, exactly. The constitution covers what the gov't can do in criminal cases - where people are going to be deprived of their liberty and/or their property. The governorship was not Blago's property. He has not lost his liberty - he was not sent to prison. He was simply removed from office. In fact, for the moment, he has more freedom, because he doesn't even have to go to work every day.
Impeachment by the House, and conviction by the Senate are inherently political processes. They have nothing to do with due process.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 16:17
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Cypriot authorities on Friday searched a cargo ship suspected by the United States of carrying Iranian arms to Hamas militants in Gaza. Officials refused to divulge any details about the ship or its cargo.
The Cypriot-flagged container ship Monchegorsk is anchored off the island's southern port of Limassol, where it arrived Thursday after a stop in Port Said, Egypt. The U.S. military stopped the vessel in the Red Sea last week, but allowed it to continue because the U.S. could not legally stop its journey or seize its cargo.
Cypriot President Dimitris Christofias said the ship had violated United Nations resolutions, but gave no details, saying only that the ship was being searched. "We're handling this responsibly, I can't at this time make any remarks that ... may create more problems," Christofias said.
He added: "We are investigating what it's carrying and I've told you that we must handle these things very responsibly and very seriously and without a lot of clamor in the media."
A European diplomatic source said Thursday that the Cypriot authorities had detained what he called an Iranian arms ship en route to Syria.
The move apparently came after Israel and the United States requested that Cyprus stop the ship, based on suspicion that the boat was carrying a large amount of weaponry, including artillery rounds and rockets that Israel believes are destined for either Hezbollah or Hamas. The vessel left the Persian Gulf a few weeks ago and reached about 60 miles from Cyprus on Wednesday.
Cyprus' Parliament Speaker Marios Garoyian described issues raised by ship as very sensitive. "Our aim is to resolve the matter in the best possible way without harming the interests of the Republic of Cyprus ... The less that is said the better," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
we must handle these things very responsibly and very seriously and without a lot of clamor in the media."
What am I bid for this boatload of bombs? Who'll give me $5 million? 5 and a half? 6? Give me 6, 6, going once... Sold to the gentleman in the back with the mask.
(AKI) - Gaza's ruling Islamist group Hamas on Friday praised the Turkish prime minister's walkout from the Davos economic summit in protest at Israeli president Shimon Peres' defence of the recent Gaza offensive.
"Erdogan defended the cause of Gaza and all the victims of the Zionist war - especially women and children - in front of leaders attending the Davos forum and the head of the Zionist evil, Peres," Hamas said in a statement posted to its website.
Hamas hailed Erdogan's decision to abandon the Davos meeting as "victory for the victims of Gaza's al-Fakhura school and the thousands of people killed and injured in the Zionist massacre."
An Israeli aistrike on the United Nations run al-Fakhura school in northern Gaza on 6 January killed 40 people. Over 1,330 Palestinians died and more than 5,400 were injured in Israel's three week long offensive.
Israel - "the Zionist enemy" - would continue to commit crimes against Palestinians and to exploit international meetings such as Davos to downplay these, Hamas said.
Erdogan angrily left the forum when he was denied the chance to respond to remarks by Peres questioning what he would do if rockets were fired at Istanbul every night.
Erdogan, who accused Israel "knowing very well how to kill" was greeted by thousands of cheering people at the airport in Istanbul when he returned.
Thousands of Palestinians gathered in the streets of the West Bank after Friday prayers to show their support for Erdogan, responding to a call from Hamas, reported the Palestine-Information Centre website, which is said to be close to the hardline group.
Palestinian militant group Islamic Jihad's spokesman Dahoud Shehab was quoted on Friday by Palestinian news agency Maan as thanking Erdogan for his staunch support for the Palestinian cause. "We wish Arab countries would do the same thing and react in a similar way to Turkey," Shehab said, quoted by Maan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: The Diwaniya Police Department has taken draconian security measures within preparations for the country's local elections, the department chief said on Friday. "Police forces tightened security measures to protect ballot stations and voters on Saturday (Jan. 31) as 15,000 personnel were deployed all over the province of Diwaniya," Brig. Abdelaziz al-Salihi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Enough security forces were sent to ballot stations in the province and all the roads leading to the stations with heaps of dust and barbed wires," Salihi added.
After the inclusion of those born in 1991, the number of voters in Diwaniya province reached 594,000. Candidates in the province are 888, including 238 women, from 57 political entities, six of which are coalitions, vying over 28 seats in the upcoming provincial council of Diwaniya.
Meanwhile, Hassan al-Waeli, the chief of Iraq's Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC)'s office in Diwaniya, said that 10,500 employees will work in 243 election centers distributed over 1,569 stations all over the province.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
The idea of a free and fair election must scare the bejeebers out of these AQ and Mehdi Army types.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
01/31/2009 14:33
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Hat tip to Beavis who posted a similar article on the night shift.
ABC News has learned that the nomination of former Senator Majority Leader Tom Daschle, D-SD, to be President Obama's Secretary of Health and Human Services has hit a traffic snarl on its way through the Senate Finance Committee.
Another cabinet appointee with tax problems? Oh well, lucky for us the media and the Senate are so forgiving these days ...
The controversy deals with a car and driver lent to Mr. Daschle by a wealthy Democratic friend, a chauffer service the former Senator used for years without declaring their use on his taxes.
It remains an open question as to whether this is a "speed bump," as a Democratic Senate ally of Mr. Daschle's put it, or something more damaging. After being defeated in his 2004 re-election campaign to the Senate, Daschle in 2005 became a lobbyist consultant and chairman of the Executive Advisory Board at InterMedia Advisors.
Based in New York City, InterMedia Advisors is a private equity firm founded in part by longtime Daschle friend and Democratic fundraiser, Leo Hindery, the former president of the YES network (the Yankees' and Devils' broadcast network).
That same year he began his professional relationship with InterMedia 2005, Mr. Daschle began using the services of Hindery's car and driver. The Cadillac and driver were never part of Daschle's official compensation package at InterMedia but Mr. Daschle -- who as Senate Majority Leader enjoyed the use of a car and driver at taxpayer expense -- didn't declare their services on his income taxes, as tax laws require.
During the vetting process to become HHS Secretary, Mr. Daschle corrected the tax violation, voluntarily paying $101,943 in back taxes plus interest, working with his accountant to amend his tax returns for 2005 through 2007. Mr. Daschle reimbursed the IRS $31,462 in taxes and interest for tax year 2005; $35,546 for 2006; and $34,935, a Daschle spokesperson said, adding that Mr. Daschle had asked his accountant to look into the tax implications of the car and driver five months before Mr. Obama won the presidency.
Right about the time Obama sent him a signal, I'm guessing ...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
He's a Democrat, so this is no big deal. Paying taxes on time is for the little people anyway.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/31/2009 0:22
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Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 1:17
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#4
that is the "Daschole" type...
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 3:00
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#5
Wormy, the lot of em. Let's conduct a random DoJ and IRS financial investigation of the entire Congress just for good measure. Make them pass a urinalysis and a poly as well. It it's ood enough for soldiers and DoD, good enough for these vermin.
But came back from nowherville
to steal from you and me!
A grand-dragon lives forever but not so little puffs
Painted wings (wheeeee) and giant screams make way for other nuts.
One grey night it happened, the paper was no more
And puff that mighty
FILLER IN NAME HERE , he ceased his fearless roar
#10
But he's a Democrat! He evaded those taxes for the children!!
By the way...can someone remind the newsdesk that this story should run on Page J25, underneath the Saks Fifth Avenue ad?
Posted by: New York Times ||
01/31/2009 14:46
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#11
Credit where credit's due - while I don't read Jake Tapper's blog entries that often, he's always seemed to play it straight without the DNC spin you'd expect from an MSMer in good standing.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/31/2009 14:49
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#12
The IRS will not prepare peoples returns except for three categories - the blind, the mentally incompetent, and congressmen. At least the first two [with assistance] are smart enough to use the service. [And of course how appropriate they are categorized together].
(AKI/DAWN) - Pakistan's prime minister's adviser on interior affairs Rehman Malik told the Senate that a new strategy had been worked out to combat militancy in the volatile Swat area.
Winding up a discussion on the situation in Swat on Thursday, he said he was confident that law enforcers would succeed in flushing out terrorists from the valley in a few weeks.
Malik said the new strategy would effectively deal with elements challenging the government's writ. In a blunt warning to the terrorists, he said: "We are after you. We will not let you do what you want to do."
The adviser said the situation in Mingora had been brought under control in four to five days through the new policy.
He said the militant organisations behind the trouble in Swat included Al-Qaeda, Tehrik-i-Taliban led by Maulana Fazlullah, Tanzeem-i-Islami, Tora Bora group and Qari Mushtaq group.
He said that a Taliban 'commander', Qari Hussain Ahmed, ran a training camp for suicide bombers in Waziristan and Maulana Naamdaar had a role in bringing suicide bombers from Waziristan to Swat.
Qari Hussain was reported killed in January 2008 when his house was destroyed in an air strike. Malik said the objective of the militants was not to enforce Islamic Sharia law, but to destroy Pakistan.
However, he said, the government would continue to pursue its policy of dialogue, development and deterrence, adding that the use of military force was not the only option for restoring peace.
He asked the militants to stop killing innocent people, lay down arms and start working for the country.
The adviser said that army contingents and paramilitary forces in Swat had been re-energised, curfew had been imposed in some areas and joint pickets had been set up.
Malik appealed to the media to black out terrorists and desist from glorifying them. Those attacking politicians and infrastructure, including schools and basic health units, were enemies of the country, he said.
He told the house that around 1,200 civilians had been killed and 2,000 injured in violence, while 189 military personnel had lost their lives.
Malik also said that 123 government schools and 10 private schools had been destroyed and many CD shops and barbers' salons set ablaze. He said a so-called 'Taliban court' had 'summoned' 40 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Ooooh Oooooh! I know! *raises hand*
How about: "kill them"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 9:45
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New Delhi, Jan. 30: A high-profile India-Russia naval war game has morphed into Goan beach parties for the Russian sailors after it was suddenly scaled down with the two countries pulling out ships and a submarine that were to participate in it.
The latest edition of the Indra (short for India and Russia) series of naval exercises was to start on January 26 and conclude today. The war game was to take place off the west coast and the Russian ships were to converge in Goa at the end. The two navies were expected to practise maritime law enforcement, counter-piracy and anti-smuggling drills.
Instead, only one Russian ship, albeit its largest non-carrier vessel from its Northern Fleet, the nuclear-powered Pyotr Velikiy (Peter the Great), had an elementary passage exercise with the INS Delhi, a destroyer from the Indian Navy, for a few hours before it sailed into Mormugao.
The Russian sailors, tired from a long voyage from South Africa, began "resting and recuperating" in a beach resort. Goa is a favourite destination for Russians.
The Indra exercises began in 2003. Though much of the Indian Navy's inventory is of Russian origin, the operational practices of the two forces are divergent.
Indeed, the Indian and US navies have developed a far greater capability to carry out sophisticated war games in the last eight years. This year, India and the US have drawn up a series of even more complex joint drills.
A senior naval officer said the war game was scaled down after the Russians pulled out one of the major vessels in the six-ship flotilla from its Northern and Pacific fleets citing technical reasons. The Admiral Vinogradov, an Udalok-class missile and anti-submarine destroyer that set sail from Russia's Pacific Fleet base in Vladivostok on December 9, was pulled out of the drill along with its support tugboats and tankers.
An Indian Navy officer said the Russians cited "technical difficulties" and also offered to host another set of drills off the east African coast where the Vinogradov has been engaged in anti-piracy patrols.
Partly disappointed, the Indian Navy, that was not keen on Indra 2009 in any case because it is actively engaged or deployed for its own war games since 26/11, also pulled out a frontline frigate (imported from Russia), a submarine and helicopters that it had planned to use for Indra 2009.
Although the Indian Navy is wary about mentioning it, it is aware that in 2004 the nuclear-powered Peter the Great had developed such problems that a former Russian navy chief feared "it could explode at any moment".
Posted by: john frum ||
01/31/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: A gunman who shot down a U.S. soldier and wounded another in the district of Baiji was killed by U.S. army fire on Friday, a police source said. "A gunman from Baiji opened fire on Friday afternoon at U.S. soldiers who were standing in front of al-Rifaie school, which is used as a voting center, in the central part of the district, (35 km) north of Tikrit city, killing one of them and injuring another," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The U.S. soldiers fired back at the gunman, killing him instantly," the source said, adding "the U.S. soldiers arrested the gunman's brother inside his house in central Baiji".
Aswat al-Iraq news agency managed to contact a source within the U.S. forces' Joint Coordination Office who said that "a gunman opened fire at the U.S. servicemen in Baiji district and the U.S. soldiers fired back and shot him down".
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
"Don't shoot him, you'll just make him mad."
Anybody else know where the quote's from?
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/31/2009 15:48
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#2
Mongo - Blazing Saddles
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 15:53
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#3
Mongo like candy
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 19:27
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Members of a Gaza family whose farm was turned into a "fortress" by Hamas fighters have reported that they were helpless to stop Hamas from using them as human shields.
They told the official Palestinian Authority daily newspaper that for years Hamas had used their property and homes as military installations from which the group would launch rockets into Israel, dig tunnels and store arms. According to the victims, those who tried to object were shot in the legs by Hamas operatives.
Palestinian Media Watch quoted the official Palestinian Authority daily, Al-Hayat al-Jadida as reporting on January 27, "The Abd Rabbo family kept quiet while Hamas fighters turned their farm in the Gaza strip into a fortress. Right now they are waiting for the aid promised by the [Hamas] movement after Israel bombed the farm and turned it into ruins."
According to the report, the hill on which the Abd Rabbo family lives overlooks Sderot, making it an ideal military position for Hamas fighters.
The Abd Rabbo family members emphasized to the paper that they were not Hamas activists and that they were still loyal to the Fatah movement, but that they had been unable to prevent the armed squads from entering their neighborhood at night.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
i tell you i for one am just "shocked"...
does Jimmah Carter know hamass would do such a thing?
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 2:11
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#2
know? He would approve
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 10:11
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#3
Indeed... Ima have recurer dream of holdering a sawed off shotgun and having mai pick of time travel.... 1932 or 1976, I always end up having to whiz....
Hamas is calling for new leadership to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) dominated by its arch-rival President Mahmoud Abbas and factions loyal to him.
Claiming victory in a devastating 22-day war with Israel in which 100 Palestinians were killed for every Israeli, the group is reasserting control over the enclave and resuming its political challenge to the moderate Abbas.
Several thousand Hamas supporters rallied in Gaza yesterday in support of the call to abolish the PLO, made two days ago by the group's exiled leader, Khalid Meshaal.
Meshaal advocates a new umbrella body to represent Palestinians in Gaza, the West Bank and in the diaspora. His proposal was echoed in similar statements to cheering crowds yesterday by a senior Hamas political leader, Khalil Al Hayya.
In the first public appearance by a prominent Gaza Hamas leader since Israel's attacked on December 27, Al Hayya said the PLO was "dead", and sent to the "morgue" by those who founded it.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Zimbabwe's main opposition is headed into a unity government within weeks, bowing Friday to pressure to conclude a deal with a president it considers a brutal dictator so a spiraling humanitarian crisis can be tackled.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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(Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the current economic crisis is a "continuing disaster" for America's families and urged the Congress to approve the multi-billion dollars stimulus package.
"Today we learned that our economy shrank in the last three months of 2008 by 3.8 percent. That's the worst contraction in close to three decades," said the president at a White House gathering. "This isn't just an economic concept. This is a continuing disaster for America's working families," he warned. "The recession is deepening, and the urgency of our economic crisis is growing."
Obama said the government can't drag its feet or delay action much longer. "They (Americans) need action now. They need us to pass the American Recovery and Reinvestment Plan," said the president, urging the Senate to approve the 819 billion dollar stimulus package immediately.
"I'm pleased that the House with the urgency necessary in passing this plan. I hope we can strengthen it further in the Senate," Obama said. "What we can't do is drag our feet or delay much longer. The American people expect us to act, and that's exactly what I intend to do as president of the United States," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
closer to the truth:
B.O. a continuing disaster for US economy.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
01/31/2009 2:31
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#2
This is a continuing disaster for America's working families," he warned. "The recession is deepening, and the urgency of our economic crisis is growing."
That's why for their own good they and their children are going to be made tax serfs for the rest of their lives.
#4
I've been wondering what future generations will call this period of economic turmoil. The Great Post Mellenial Clusterfuck? The Clinical Depression? Weneed a name!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/31/2009 12:22
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#5
I favor "The Zero Times".
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
01/31/2009 16:06
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(AKI) - An Egyptian firm based in the city of al-Sadat is alleged to have supplied Israeli soldiers with provisions during the recent Gaza military offensive despite restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid for Palestinians, according to an Egyptian magazine.
"While Egyptians were pained by what was happening in Gaza, and the imams launched appeals to God to save the innocent in the Gaza Strip, Israeli soldiers fed on Egyptian delicacies," said the article published by Egyptian magazine al-Usbua.
The article, written by Egyptian journalist Akram Khamis in the magazine's latest edition, claims that during Israel's three-week long offensive, the firm's trucks carried food to Israeli soldiers through the al-Awja border area, 70 kilometres south of the Gazan town of Rafah.
"Many Egyptian trucks went back and forth along the road that takes you from Sadat City to the Israeli border, on the eastern part of Egypt, to deliver the goods of the food-producing firm, to another one that works for the Israeli army," the magazine claimed.
The journalist presented as proof certificates and permits issued by Egyptian authorities to enable to this commercial operation to be carried out.
The documents showed the name of the firm's owner and the delivery dates which coincided with the closing of the Rafah border by Egyptian authorities.
The government of Egyptian president Hosni Mubarak was widely criticised in the Arab world for failing to open the border crossings with Gaza to allow in humanitarian aid.
More than 1,330 Palestinians were killed and another 5,400 were injured during Israel's Operation Cast Lead. Thirteen Israelis were killed during the conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Egyptian security forces arrested two armed Palestinians as they emerged from a border tunnel with the Gaza Strip on Friday, and were searching for seven others believed to have slipped into Egypt, security sources said.
"Two Palestinian smugglers were caught immediately upon exiting a tunnel in the al-Barahma area of the border between Egypt and Gaza, and they were armed," one source said.
The sources said the detained Palestinians told investigators that seven other Palestinians had entered Egypt through the tunnels earlier on Friday, and Egyptian security forces were searching the area.
For the 1.5 million people in the Gaza Strip, the tunnels have become a main source of goods, including fuel, since Israel tightened its embargo after Hamas seized control of Gaza from the forces of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in 2007.
Israel bombed the tunnels during its recent 22-day Gaza offensive, and its military fears Hamas could use them to re-arm. But many tunnels have sophisticated systems and seem to have survived weeks of Israeli bombardment.
Roughly 1,300 Palestinians and 13 Israelis were killed in the Gaza offensive before both sides declared an end to the fighting on Jan. 18.
While Egyptian forces frequently report finding and destroying tunnels on the border with Gaza, the tunnels are usually found empty. Arrests of Palestinians accused of smuggling or caught in the tunnels are rare.
Egypt, which has kept its Rafah border crossing with the territory largely closed, has agreed to help stop the tunnel smuggling with international technical assistance.
But no firm plan is yet in place as Israel and Hamas argue through Egyptian mediators about installing a longer term ceasefire that would meet Israel's demands for shutting off the arms supply and Hamas' demands for an easing of the blockade.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Pakistan's commitment and efforts in fight against terrorism is more than any other country. Speaking at a Friday meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gilani noted that the root causes of terrorism needed to be addressed to eliminate the menace. The Pakistani premier added that his country was facing economic and security challenges in this concern, The News International daily reported.
Gilani's comments come while the US and international forces in Afghanistan have frequently criticized Pakistan for 'not doing enough' in routing insurgency - especially in tribal regions along the Afghanistan border where militants attack NATO supply routes. This is while Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik announced on Thursday that a new strategy had been formulated to restore law and order in troubled northwestern Swat Valley. He assured that the security forces will flush terrorists out of the region over the next few weeks.
Moreover, Malik pointed out that the situation in Mingora is currently under control as a result of the new strategy - the details of which remain confidential.
According to an official count around 1,200 civilians have been killed and 2,000 others have been injured in various incidents of violence in Swat Valley. Some 189 military personnel have also lost their lives since clashes started in the area in late 2007.
This article starring:
Qari Mushtaq Group
Tanzeem-e-Islami
Tora Bora Group
Maulana Fazlullah
Tehrik-e-Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: A ban will be imposed on vehicles all over Thi-Qar as part of tight security measures to protect the course of the local voting process on Saturday while Iraq's Independent Higher Electoral Commission (IHEC) announced the start of electoral silence and removal of all electoral banners and stickers, a police official in the province said on Friday.
"The ban will be imposed all over Thi-Qar as of 10:00 p.m. today (Jan. 30) until Saturday (Jan. 31)," Brig. Rasoul Khayoun al-Jabiri, the province's police assistant chief, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Provincial council elections are scheduled to be held in 14 Iraqi provinces on Saturday (Jan. 31).
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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(AKI) - Pakistani security forces on Friday continued an operation against militants in various parts of the troubled Swat valley in the country's North West Frontier Province. One person was killed and two others injured in the town of Charbagh after they violated a curfew that has entered its sixth day, reports quoted security forces as saying.
The curfew remains in place in Charbagh, Sangot, Manglore, Kozabandai and Darra Banka areas reports said.
Pakistan's army chief Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani pledged on Wednesday to restore government control of the Swat valley, which is currently controlled by Taliban militants in an Islamist insurgency that began there two years ago.
The Taliban have established their own writ in Swat with a parallel system that includes courts, police and even a electric power-distribution network and road construction.
A Taliban bombing and arson campaign has also forced hundreds of private schools to close in a campaign to end education for girls in the district. The Taliban claim education for girls is un-Islamic. Nany CD shops and barbers' salons have been set ablaze.
Hundreds of people have died in battles between troops and militants in Swat, a mountainous region of the NWFP which until two years ago was a popular tourist area.
Civilians deaths are frequently reported in the violence. The Taliban linked militant leader in Swat, Maulana Fazlullah's men are accused of killing dozens of state employees and government supporters.
Pakistan's president Asif Ali Zardari, also vowed this week to curb militancy in Swat and prevent the Taliban from setting up its own courts. His pledge came as security forces on Wednesday found eight bullet-ridden bodies in Swat's main town of Mingora on Wednesday.
Pakistan rejects western accusations that its security forces are not doing enough to clamp down on the upsurge of militancy in Swat and other areas of the Northwest which United States believes is a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda militants.
More than 1,500 people have been killed in a huge surge of militant attacks across Pakistan over the last year and a half, waged by militants opposed to the government's support for the so-called US-led war on terror prosecuted by former president George W. Bush.
The US special envoy to Afghanistan and Pakistan Richard Holbrooke, will make his first trip to the region next week, the US State Department said on Thursday.
US President Barack Obama has ordered a review of strategy in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: TTP
Four soldiers were killed and eight injured when an army convoy was attacked with a remote-controlled bomb in Malakand, a private TV channel reported on Friday. The channel said security forces cordoned off the area after the attack, which occurred in Jalala area of Malakand.
Swat: Six persons were killed as the military operation in Swat continued on the sixth day. The forces continued pounding Taliban hideouts in several areas of Chaharbagh tehsil, including Coat and Darul Uloom. Troops advanced into the valley and consolidated their positions in Matta and Manglawar areas of the district.
The curfew in Sangota, Koozabandai, Darra Bandai, Nangoi and parts of Shakardara also continued on Friday.
Education: A private TV channel said Swat Taliban chief Maulvi Fazlullah had 'permitted' education for girls in the valley up to the fourth grade.
Also on Friday, the security forces in Bajaur Agency blew up the house of a Taliban commander, Umar Sheikh, in the agency's Nawagai tehsil, sources said. The forces continued pounding Taliban hideouts in Sparay, Gataki and Rawishah areas of Mamoond tehsil.
Meanwhile, officials of Peshawar's Yakatoot police station arrested two suspected terrorists from the Ring Road area, sources told Daily Times on Friday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Aswat al-Iraq: A ban on vehicles was announced in the city of Karbala on Friday evening on the eve of the country's local elections, an official source in the province said.
"The ban will be effective as of Friday evening until 10:00 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 31) with the exception of vehicles carrying special badges including journalists'," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The ban is part of a security plan in preparation for the provincial council elections that are due to start at 07:00 a.m. Saturday (Jan. 31)," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Bangladesh has imposed travel restrictions on people suspected of war crimes, the Bangladeshi interior minister said on Friday, as the new government prepared to put them on trial over atrocities committed during the 1971 war that led to the country's creation.
Sahara Khatun's statement came a day after parliament unanimously adopted a proposal for speedy trials of war criminals in line with an election pledge by Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, who took power this month.
"My ministry has already ordered concerned authorities to guard all points so that no war criminal can flee the country," Khatun told reporters.
The war criminals include people who opposed the creation of Bangladesh. Around 3 million people were killed during the war, according to official records in Bangladesh. Hasina's father Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the country's founding leader and first president, launched a move for trying the war criminals but it stalled after he was killed in a 1975 army coup.
No successor government initiated the trials but Hasina said she would pursue the guilty if her party was voted back to power.
"All relevant information about the war criminals has already been sent to the respective places," Khatun said.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
(Xinhua) -- The United States will make an emergency contribution of 20.3 million U.S. dollars for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, the White House announced on Friday.
"The Obama administration today announced an emergency contribution of more than 20 million dollars to relief efforts in Gaza as part of the Emergency Refugee and Migration Assistance Fund," White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said.
The money will go to UN agencies and the International Committee of the Red Cross, which are distributing in Gaza emergency food assistance, providing medical care and temporary shelter, creating temporary employment and restoring access to electricity and potable water, according to statement by the State Department.
Some 1,400 Palestinians were reportedly killed and 5,500 others wounded in the Israeli aerial and ground strikes since Dec. 27, 2008.
The latest offensive by Israelis was to halt years of Hamas rocket fire on southern Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
My email to president@whitehouse.gov:
Subject: charity for terrorists
Dear President Obama,
I was horrified to read that your administration has announced over $20 million in aid to the Hamas-controlled Gaza strip.
http://news.xinhuanet.com/english/2009-01/31/content_10738795.htm
I could not be more unhappy to hear that my tax dollars are being wasted in this way, especially during a time of such financial difficulty here in the USA. Like many Americans, I have lost my job and am struggling to make ends meet.
There is no less worthy recipient for our tax dollars than the Hamas-supporting denizens of Gaza. They have voluntarily (and persistently) chosen the path of terrorism, and war. Perhaps if they had to suffer the consequences of their actions, they will not be so eager to continue pursuing the path of violence... and give peace in the region an opportunity to grow.
Please re-consider this awful, wasteful, and counter-productive decision.
#2
ION COUNTERTERRORISM BLOG > NEFA: ISLAMIC MOVEMENT OF UZBELISTAN RELEASES VIDEO MESSAGE FROM GERMAN MILITANTS FIGHTING IN UZBEKISTAN [ Love of Mullah Mohammed Omar + Come to Uzbekistan as 75% of country is already under their control]; + WAPO > KRAUTHAMMER: OBAMA MISLEADS AMERICA's STANCE ON MUSLIMS, + CONSERVATIVE GRAPEVINE > TOP FOUR MYTHS OF THE ISRAELI-PALESTINIAN STRUGGLE.
#7
The biggest problem is that he's going to "give" the money to the Useless Nitwits and the Red Thingy to distribute. We KNOW the Useless Nitwits are in bed with Hamass, and it's probably true of the Red Thingy, too. The split will be $10 million for Hamass, $10 million in graft and corruption for the Useless Nitwits and the Red Thingy, and $0.3 million for the people of Gaza.
I think I need to go clean the double-barrel.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/31/2009 12:42
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#10
Howdy I am a racist stupid Muslim who enjoys self-sodomy.losers! How does it feel to be a minority, a fascist one at that!
President Obama needs to do much more. He needs to first cut off all ties with Israel.
Then he needs to give the zionists an ultimatum-leave Palestine and go to Mongolia (the new homeland for the Jews) or we'll bomb you to kingdom come!
Mr. Obama, thanks, but you need to do much more. By the way, Mr. Obama don't listen to these Rantburger, white fascists. I can prove to you Mr. Obama, that the Rantburgers are fascists with pure logic. Here's how:
Rantburgers support zionists (whether they like them or not)
Zionists (and the zionist flag) were the only party officially sactioned by Hitler's Third Reich.
A=B;B=C;A=C thus Rantburgers are indeed fascists.
Please remeber Mr. Obama that zionists and their filthy white, fascist, Rantburger allies are the real enemies of America.
#12
Oooooh, that's funny! JUSTICE, you really are such an ignorant fool. You understand nothing, and you learn nothing, and then you display the result for all to marvel at, a living, breathing example of why you and yours are so despised around the world.
#13
Also Return to Zed, I hope you don't mind if mai new dawg is ride in the front seat. Also I has GPS so don't try any trickery... Ima watch the metre and no tip for you if cheat!
Twelve dormitories of Jagannath University have long been under the occupation of former lawmakers, leaders of Chhatra League and Chhatra Dal, local criminals and even government organisations like the Dhaka City Corporation (DCC) and police.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#1
May explain why over 1.0Milyuhn Bangladeshis chose to move and emigrate to INDIA, as per INDIAN/PAKISTANI DEFENSE FORUMS POSTERS - all Housing twent occupied by the Govt = Dear Leaders???
Line forms on the right, El Jefe. And it's a long one so expect to wait...
Ailing Cuban leader Fidel Castro demanded on Thursday that President Barack Obama return the US naval base at Guantanamo to Cuba without conditions, and he accused the new US leader of supporting "Israeli genocide" against Palestinians.
Castro, who had recently praised Obama as "honest" and "noble", lashed out at his administration for stating that Washington will not return Guantanamo if it has any military use for the United States and without concessions in return. "Maintaining a military base in Cuba against the will of the people violates the most elemental principles of international law," Castro wrote in a column posted on the government-run website. Ah, the old Good Commie-Bad Commie game... And trotting out 'international law', no less ...
"Not respecting Cuba's will is an arrogant act and an abuse of immense power against a little country," Castro said, resorting to a charge he has leveled against the 10 previous US presidents since he came to power in a 1959 revolution. Cuba indefinitely leased Guantanamo to the United States in 1903 after the United States occupied the country during the 1898 Spanish-American War. Castro charges that the base at the south-eastern tip of Cuba was taken over illegally. Maybe we'll break his balls and give it back to Spain...
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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#5
The MSM of the time, the detestable "Yellow Press" of Pulitzer and Hearst, incited the Spanish-American War as part of their white-hot circulation wars.
It was perhaps the earliest example of feckless and amoral activist media actually influencing world events. Fidel should therefore blame their latter-day successors, rather than William McKinley's, for the loss of Guantanamo.
#7
One of the issues here is the long-term resentment some Cubans have over the Spanish-American war. To wit: they believe that their ancestors were in the process of chasing the Spanish off the island and didn't need our help. We Americans barged in at the last minute, took all the credit, and then arranged affairs on the island to suit our purposes.
We should also recall that many Americans at the time wanted to annex Cuba outright and prepare it to be a state (in retrospect, a great idea). President McKinley was afraid of European opinion (nothing new there) and declined to do that. The result was that we installed (and periodically re-installed) a tame government that did as it was told.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:16
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#8
all true, but as long as there is a Castro-style dictatorship, we should keep Gitmo open and defended.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 10:23
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#9
If we're going to give it back, we should move all the criminals and other refuse Castro has sent us over the years, and move them to Gitmo first. Oh, and leave there all the terrorists we can't figure out what to do with.
The depth of the downturn in Japan, the world's second-largest economy, emerged yesterday with industrial production showing a record 9.6 per cent decline last month and unemployment up by 0.5 per cent to a three-year high of 4.4 per cent.
Output fell at its fastest pace since records began in 1953 and it was considerably worse than the 9 per cent consensus forecasts expected by the market and up from a previous record of 8.5 per cent a month earlier. It is particularly worrying for a country that relies heavily on global exports of cars, electronics and machinery.
At the same time, the threat of deflation is looming over Japan as new data showed that the consumer price index rose by only 0.2 per cent in December, compared with a 1 per cent increase in November. Deflation held the Japanese economy in a slump for nearly a decade until 2006.
The figures come as factories across Japan are shedding jobs and reducing operating times, with large companies such as Toyota and Honda being forced to suspend plants for weeks at a time. The Japanese electronics industry eliminated 27,000 jobs yesterday with NEC anouncing plans to cut 20,000 jobs worldwide and Hitachi said that it would shed 7,000 jobs after warning of a £5 billion loss this year.
Kaoru Yosano, the Economics Minister, said: "I am extremely worried about industrial production. Probably such a sharp decline was never experienced and is likely to continue."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009
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#1
"Japan, the world's second-largest economy"
That should give larger, more populous nations an inferiority complex.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 10:52
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The police in Layyah on Friday arrested another person from the district's Kot Sultan area, accusing him of blasphemy, Station House Officer (SHO) Rauf Khalid told Daily Times.
The man, Mubashar Ahmed (45), is the fifth person of the Ahmadiyya community to be detained in the blasphemy case since Wednesday.
Four other minor boys, aged between 14 and 16, have also been charged in the case under Section 295-C of the Pakistan Penal Code.
According to the First Information Report (FIR), the boys are accused of writing blasphemous material in latrines of Kot Sultan's Gulzar-e-Madina mosque. The boys are students of grade nine and 10 at the Superior Academy in Chak 172/TDA of Layyah.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Afghanistan will postpone its presidential election until Aug. 20, about four months later than the constitution specifies, to give incoming U.S. forces more time to stabilize the country's most violent regions, the national election commission said Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Conservative News and Reporting
"News for the Rest of Us"
Michele Chang
Secretary of Defense Robert Gates is extremely frustrated with orders that the White House is contemplating. According to sources at the Pentagon, including all branches of the armed forces, the Obama Administration may break with a centuries-old tradition.
A spokesman for General James Cartwright, the Vice Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, states that the Obama Administration wants to have soldiers and officers pledge a loyalty oath directly to the office of the President, and no longer to the Constitution.
"The oath to the Constitution is as old as the document itself." the spokesman said, "At no time in American history, not even in the Civil War, did the oath change or the subject of the oath differ. It has always been to the Constitution."
The back-and-forth between the White House and the Defense Department was expected as President George W. Bush left office. President Obama has already signed orders to close Guantanamo and to pull combat troops from Iraq. But, this, say many at the Defense Department, goes too far.
"Technically, we can't talk about it before it becomes official policy." the spokesman continued. "However, the Defense Department, including the Secretary, will not take this laying down. Expect a fight from the bureaucracy and the brass."
Sources at the White House had a different point of view. In a circular distributed by White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs, the rationale for the change was made more clear.
"The President feels that the military has been too indoctrinated by the old harbingers of hate: nationalism, racism, and classism. By removing an oath to the American society, the soldiers are less likely to commit atrocities like those at Abu Ghraib."
"We expect a lot of flak over this," the classified memo continues. "But those that would be most against it are those looking either for attention or control."
The time frame for the changes are unknown. However, it is more likely that the changes will be made around the July 4th holiday, in order to dampen any potential backlash. The difference in the oath will actually only be slight. The main differences will be the new phrasing. It is expected that the oath to the Constitution will be entirely phased out within two years. This is total crap. Having some Turner Diary wet dream, Michele? Completely unconfirmed. The spokesman didn't say any of this. Gibbs didn't say any of this. And there is no memo.
#2
Blackfive has already called bullshit on this, based on some of his (as of now) off the record contacts. So as far as I'm concerned, that means it's well and truly bullshit.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
01/31/2009 3:19
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#3
If that is true, notivce the if I don't like that at all. First thing Hitler did when Hindeburg died was to make the military pledge an oath of loyalty to him. To him and nothing else.
This was important because in Germany an oath was something that you carried to the last consequences (a trait of character Nietzche had mentionned several decades before).
#5
I modified the title to alert people, since this is flying around the blogosphere.
The hoax is credible to many based on a deep distrust of Obama's commitment to our way of life and Constitution. But remember the story about the boy who cried 'Wolf!!'. Too many of these hoaxes and people will ignore any real attacks on our basic liberties and legal mechanisms.
We need to be vigilant but also to check out claims carefully.
#7
Soldiers acting like in Abu ghraib are animals!
News Alert Dude, their fellow soldiers thought the very same thing as they court martialed their asses and sent them to confinement for a very long time. It wasn't the UN or any international court, or a special prosecutor who rendered justice, it was their peers. Unlike 95% of these of this planets human institutions, the American military has very good record in cleaning its own house. It's one of the reason that unlike nearly any other army in history, the little children, regardless of color, race, or creed do not run away from them, but seek them out as protectors.
#8
The irony of this being a hoax will probably be utterly missed by many in the administration and media, who will be utterly puzzled, and ask themselves:
"So what is wrong with making the military swear a loyalty oath to Obama? 'They're *ours* now.'(*)"
(*) This was the infamous statement heard at the Bill Clinton inauguration, when there was an overflight of USAF fighter aircraft. One prominent leftist sneered, expressing his long held hatred of the US military, for which he was chided by another prominent leftist, who said, "No, no. They're *ours* now!"
#9
:) How are you going to clean the mess you generated in Irak?
Some mess, real free elections [not found in the vast majority of muslim countries] and economy that is growing along with business and industry. How many people in this world want that kind of mess! As for the death rates due to violence, it far less than Chicago.
#10
We already cleaned house in Iraq - Saddam is gone. Iraqi's don't have to worry about his death squads, torture chambers, rape squads, industrial shredders, or rape rooms again.
To prosecute someone they must have done something wrong or illegal - and despite what the MSM and you on the moonbat left say what Bush did wasn't _wrong_ either legally or morally. Nor did he lie. Why do you think Queen Nancy didn't impeach? Because she knew that an impeachment would reveal their lies.
Now if we were to prosecute your U.N. officals (starting with Koffi Annan) that would be a start. We can start with Oil for Palaces (Iraq) and then move on to Nookie for Food (Congo)
#11
"Some mess, real free elections [not found in the vast majority of muslim countries] and economy that is growing along with business and industry"
What free elections?
Muslims have their own rules and way of life based on tribes and religion. Is it normal that USA impose its way of life to bedouins by invading and killing people? I don't understand you people from behind Atlantic ocean!
#12
Is it normal that USA impose its way of life to bedouins by invading and killing people?
No different than the Arabs streaming out of their part of the world conquering the remnants of the Roman and Sassanid Empire and imposing their way of life on people from the Ebro to the Indus. It all depends upon who's ox is getting gored, isn't it.
#13
Muslims have their own rules and way of life based on tribes and religion.
Ah, so they're incapable of democracy, eh?
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/31/2009 10:21
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#14
I would understand if you invaded Irak for a kind of crusade war or christian agenda; but to impose your way of life with your burgers and naked women! arrrrgh man! You should invade Rwanda! they need burgers there!
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 11:01
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#19
"I just want to understand how you guys from USA ... think"
That's pretty hard for most people who don't live here, and grew up believing that their government/religion knows best and should be in charge of everything.
Most of us don't think like that at all. Although the PC Lefties are trying their best, most of us still think free speech means free speech, not "free unless it hurts somebody's feelings." We also believe everybody in the world should have as much freedom and liberty as we do, because we believe that life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness are natural - not government-given - rights.
But a lot of us are beginning to not be concerned so much about the rest of the world being free, since so much of the rest of the world doesn't seem to care if they're free. We've already got too many people in this country who think the government is supposed to take care of their every need, instead of working to take care of themselves.
When you surrender the care of yourself and your family to the government, you sell yourself into slavery to the government. Most of us aren't interested in being slaves - but it appears to us most of the rest of the world doesn't care if they are.
Does that help any?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/31/2009 11:13
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#20
troll alert - don't bother throwing pearls before swine.
We live in a federalist republic, not a democracy. At least read our constitution prior to spouting off stupidities. Idiot troll.
By the way, this is total b.s. All our top brass would resign and there would be a revolt if this crap were true.
#26
and football! and more whiskey! and some tequila too! After that, everyone looks sexy(!)
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/31/2009 14:31
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#27
See the shallowness and superficiality of Mr. Midoman's thoughts, though he boasted last night of speaking the three languages of his native Barbary Coast (Arabic, Berber, and French) plus English. He thinks that what we ultimately offer to him are the twin evils of women who dress as they choose, and food different than that his mother makes... and that he is superior because he has learnt to access the internet that we invented and that is available to him because some of us wish to use it while in his part of the world. But he need not, does he not wish it, yet believes that because we make it available to all, therefore he must and will conquer us.
The silly man ignores all evidence of the last two centiries that his Allah favours our cause, not his.
The UN nuclear chief said on Thursday that Iran should fully disclose its nuclear programmes at the same time the US starts dialogue with Tehran without preconditions. Iran's foreign minister said President Barack Obama must declare how his policies will differ from former President George Bush's.
The manoeuvring over possible US Iranian dialogue came as Mohammad Al Baradei welcomed Obama's statements that the new US administration was willing to talk to Iran after the Bush administration's refusal to deal with Tehran.
In an interview on Tuesday, Obama condemned Iran's threats to destroy Israel and its alleged pursuit of nuclear weapons, but added: "It is important for us to be willing to talk to Iran, to express very clearly where our differences are, but where there are potential avenues for progress."
"That is the way to go," Al Baradei said at the World Economic Forum in Davos. "It is long overdue." "Iran should answer technical questions from the IAEA and the dialogue should start without preconditions," Al Baradei said in the presence of Iran's Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/31/2009
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
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.
THIS is the astonishing picture which could destroy the career of the greatest competitor in Olympic history. 
Iraq's provincial elections have wrapped up without any reports of serious violence. Polls closed at 6 p.m. (10 a.m. EST) on Saturday -- an hour later than planned -- after millions of voters cast ballots for influential regional councils around most of Iraq. There were no reports of major violence.
Tehrik-e-Taliban Swat chief Maulana Fazlullah has said Islam recommends slitting the throat of a man if he is charged with espionage, adding that this is also the Sunnat of the Holy Prophet 
President Asif Ali Zardari and Afghan Foreign Minister Rangin Spanta on Friday agreed to convene a Pak-Afghan jirga, and make the initiative a frequent and effective process between the two countries.
(AKI) - Nine militants suspected of links to Al-Qaeda and the Taliban were due to appear in a Pakistani court on Friday accused over a string of suicide attacks that killed dozens of people and damaged the Danish embassy in the Pakistani capital Islamabad. Police said they arrested the gang earlier this week in the northeastern garrison town of Rawalpindi. The suspects are expected to be charged under anti-terror legislation and held in custody for up to 14 days.
With the focus on the economic stimulus package shifting to the Senate, the partisan split evident with the Democrat-only passage of the bill in the House last night overshadowed a lot of the discussions on both sides of the aisle today. So much so that various leaders were practically disowning the word bipartisanship as if deadly germs were part of its etymology. 
(AKI) - The former imam of the northern Italian city of Varese, 
The Republican Party chose the first black national chairman in its history Friday, just shy of three months after the nation elected a Democrat as the first African-American president. The choice marked no less than "the dawn of a new party," declared the new GOP chairman, former Maryland Lt. Gov. Michael Steele. Republicans chose Steele over four other candidates, including former President George W. Bush's hand-picked GOP chief, who bowed out declaring, "Obviously the winds of change are blowing."
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen on Friday clashed with four gunmen suspected of killing a candidate in Mandili district, eastern Baaquba, shooting down one of them and arresting three others, a Diala security source said. "Police forces clashed with four gunmen in a house in the village of Muhammad Malih, south of Mandili district, (55 km) north of Baaquba, arresting three of them and killing a fourth who declined to surrender," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The Justice Department says it foiled a plot by a fired Fannie Mae contract worker in Maryland to destroy all the data on the mortgage giant's 4,000 computer servers nationwide. The U.S. Attorney's Office says 35-year-old Rajendrasinh Makwana, of Glen Allen, Va., is scheduled for arraignment Friday in U.S. District Court in Baltimore on one count of computer intrusion. 
Aswat al-Iraq: The Diwaniya Police Department has taken draconian security measures within preparations for the country's local elections, the department chief said on Friday. "Police forces tightened security measures to protect ballot stations and voters on Saturday (Jan. 31) as 15,000 personnel were deployed all over the province of Diwaniya," Brig. Abdelaziz al-Salihi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Enough security forces were sent to ballot stations in the province and all the roads leading to the stations with heaps of dust and barbed wires," Salihi added.
Aswat al-Iraq: A gunman who shot down a U.S. soldier and wounded another in the district of Baiji was killed by U.S. army fire on Friday, a police source said. "A gunman from Baiji opened fire on Friday afternoon at U.S. soldiers who were standing in front of al-Rifaie school, which is used as a voting center, in the central part of the district, (35 km) north of Tikrit city, killing one of them and injuring another," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The U.S. soldiers fired back at the gunman, killing him instantly," the source said, adding "the U.S. soldiers arrested the gunman's brother inside his house in central Baiji".
Hamas is calling for new leadership to replace the Palestine Liberation Organisation (PLO) dominated by its arch-rival President Mahmoud Abbas and factions loyal to him. 
(Xinhua) -- U.S. President Barack Obama said on Friday that the current economic crisis is a "continuing disaster" for America's families and urged the Congress to approve the multi-billion dollars stimulus package. 
(AKI) - An Egyptian firm based in the city of al-Sadat is alleged to have supplied Israeli soldiers with provisions during the recent Gaza military offensive despite restrictions on the flow of humanitarian aid for Palestinians, according to an Egyptian magazine.
Egyptian security forces arrested two armed Palestinians as they emerged from a border tunnel with the Gaza Strip on Friday, and were searching for seven others believed to have slipped into Egypt, security sources said. 
Pakistan's commitment and efforts in fight against terrorism is more than any other country. Speaking at a Friday meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Gilani noted that the root causes of terrorism needed to be addressed to eliminate the menace. The Pakistani premier added that his country was facing economic and security challenges in this concern, The News International daily reported. 
(AKI) - Pakistani security forces on Friday continued an operation against militants in various parts of the troubled Swat valley in the country's North West Frontier Province. One person was killed and two others injured in the town of Charbagh after they violated a curfew that has entered its sixth day, reports quoted security forces as saying.
(Xinhua) -- The United States will make an emergency contribution of 20.3 million U.S. dollars for humanitarian assistance in the Gaza Strip, the White House announced on Friday. 
Conservative News and Reporting
