GENERAL Motors plans to cut 47,000 jobs worldwide, including 26,000 outside of the US, as part of a massive restructing plan, the company said today.
GM also said it could need up to $US30 billion ($47billion) in loans by 2011.
General Motor's Swedish unit Saab could file for bankruptcy protection "as early as this month'' if the US automaker does not obtain support from the Swedish government, GM said.
The announcement came as part of a massive restructuring plan GM submitted to the US Treasury as part of the terms of a $US13.4 billion loan.
With auto sales tanking, GM said it could need up to $US16.6 billion dollars more by 2011.
GM announced last year plans to try to find a buyer for the troubled Swedish brand.
"Given the urgency of stemming sizeable outflows associated with Saab operations, GM is requesting Swedish government support prior to any sale,'' GM said in the 117-page plan.
"The company has developed a specific proposal that would have the effect of capping GM's financial support, with Saab's operations effectively becoming an independent business entity effective January 1, 2010. Meanwhile Chrysler wants another $7 billion in US Government aid
#2
No problem. 30 billion divided by 300 million people is only $100 each. That's $100 from me, another from my wife, another from each of three kids... We'll be happy to chip that in if they just CANCEL THE F'ING $800 BILLION STIMULUS PLAN!
#3
Why does GM need $30 billion if they are not selling cars and are laying off 47,000? Seems like throwing good money after bad money. What strings are attached to the money?
#1
"The fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom" (Prov. 1:7) and other once well known Christian phrases are viewed as nutty to today's society. "to take in the things of the Spirit of God: for they seem foolish to him." (1 Corinthians 2:14).
"This gold rally is driven by safe-haven fears and has a very different feel from the bull market we've had for the last eight years," said John Reade, chief metals strategist at UBS. "Investors are seeing articles in the press saying governments should deliberately stoke inflation, and they are reacting to it."
Gold jumped to multiple records on Tuesday, triggered by fears that East Europe's banking crisis could set off debt defaults and lead to contagion within the eurozone. It touched €762 an ounce against the euro, £675 against sterling, and 47,783 against India's rupee.
Jewellery demand – usually the mainstay of the industry – has almost entirely dried up and the price is now being driven by investors. They range from the billionaires stashing boxes of krugerrands under the floors of their Swiss chalets (as an emergency fund for total disorder) to the small savers buying the exchange traded funds (ETFs). SPDR Gold Trust has added 200 metric tonnes in the last six weeks. ETF Securities added 62,000 ounces last week alone.
In dollar terms, gold is at a seven-month high of $964. This is below last spring's peak of $1,030 but the circumstances today are radically different. The dollar itself has become a safe haven as the crisis goes from bad to worse – if only because it is the currency of a unified and powerful nation with institutions that have been tested over time. It is not yet clear how well the eurozone's 16-strong bloc of disparate states will respond to extreme stress. The euro dived two cents to $1.26 against the dollar, threatening to break below a 24-year upward trend line.
Crucially, gold has decoupled from oil and base metals, finding once again its ancient role as a store of wealth in dangerous times.
"People can see that the only solution to the credit crisis is to devalue all fiat currencies," said Peter Hambro, chairman of the Anglo-Russian mining group Peter Hambro Gold. "The job of central bankers is to allow this to happen in an orderly fashion through inflation. I'm afraid it is the only way to avoid disaster, but naturally investors are turning to gold as a form of wealth insurance."
One analyst said the spectacle of central banks slashing rates to zero across the world and buying government debt as if there was no tomorrow feels like the "beginning of the 'Zimbabwe-isation' of the global economy".
Gold bugs have been emboldened by news that Russia has accumulated 90 tonnes over the last 15 months.
"We are buying gold," said Alexei Ulyukayev, deputy head of Russia's central bank. The bank is under orders from the Kremlin to raise the gold share of foreign reserves to 10pc.
The trend by central banks and global wealth funds to shift reserves into euro bonds may have peaked as it becomes clear that the European region is tipping into a slump that is as deep – if not deeper – than the US downturn. Germany contracted at an 8.4pc annual rate in the fourth quarter. The severity of the crash in Britain, Ireland, Spain, the Baltics, Hungary, Ukraine and Russia has shifted the epicentre of this crisis across the Atlantic. The latest shock news is the 20pc fall in Russia's industrial production in January. The country is losing half a million jobs a month.
Markets have been rattled this week by warnings from rating agency Moody's that Austrian, Swedish and Italian banks may face downgrades over their heavy exposure to the ex-Soviet bloc. The region has borrowed $1.7 trillion (£1.2 trillion) – mostly from European banks – and must roll over $400bn this year.
Austria's central bank governor, Ewald Nowotny, said the regional crisis had become "dangerous" and called for a pan-EU rescue strategy to prevent contagion.
Bartosz Pawlowski, from TD Securities, said the recent plunge in currencies across Eastern Europe had come as a brutal shock. "The rout could potentially lead to substantial problems, if not an outright collapse of the financial system," he said, citing the rising real burden of debt taken out in euros and Swiss francs.
Even Poland – a pillar of stability in the region – may ultimately need a bail-out by the International Monetary Fund. Latvia, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus have already been rescued. Romania's premier, Emil Boc said his country would decide over the next two weeks whether to seek an IMF loan. Turkey is next.
WASHINGTON (AP) - President Barack Obama has approved adding about 17,000 U.S. troops for the flagging war in Afghanistan, administration, defense and congressional officials said Tuesday.
The Obama administration is expected to announce on Tuesday that it will send one additional Army brigade and an unknown number of Marines to Afghanistan this spring and summer. Officials spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of the official announcement. About 8,000 Marines are expected to go in first, followed by about 9,000 Army troops.
The new forces represent the first installment on a larger influx of U.S. forces widely expected this year. Obama's decision would get several thousand troops in place in time for the increase in fighting that usually comes with warmer weather and ahead of national elections in August.
The additional forces partly answer a standing request from the U.S. commander in Afghanistan, Gen. David McKiernan, who has sought as many as 30,000 additional U.S. forces to counter the resurgence of the Taliban militants and protect Afghan civilians. The United States has slightly more than 30,000 troops in Afghanistan now. The new units are a Marine Expeditionary Brigade unit from Camp Lejeune, N.C., and an Army Stryker brigade from Fort Lewis in Washington state.
Ahead of his first foreign trip, Obama told a Canadian news organization that the United States will seek a more comprehensive, diplomatic approach to Afghanistan, where the U.S. has been engaged in war since 2001.
"I am absolutely convinced that you cannot solve the problem of Afghanistan, the Taliban, the spread of extremism in that region solely through military means," the president said in a White House interview with Toronto-based Canadian Broadcasting Corp.
#3
The wheels were turning for this before Bambi became president. Now if Bambi had a strong core (hah) he might have had a new policy in place ready to go, but of course he's hemming and hawing.
I'm not sure Afghanistan can be saved. I'm not sure pouring more American troops into the place will save it. Bambi is beginning to look like LBJ, not Carter.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2009 18:29
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#4
This is actually a setback, he's sworn to bring the troops home, now he proves it's just another lie to get elected.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/17/2009 19:54
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#5
"All hat, no saddle" - i.e., he looks the part, but has the clumsiness of a mule in dancing shoes.
He can campaign, but he can't govern. He's never before been forced to make a serious decision. We're in for a very long four years.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 21:45
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#6
I have a question for the Rantburgers who know far more about these military matters than myself: Putting aside the significant political challenges Afghanistan faces and given the current security situation on the ground, is 17,000 more troops enough to establish any semblance of law & order, or at least keep the inmates from taking over the asylum?
My gut tells me it's not enough. If so, and as someone who's not ready to give up and turn my back on the place just yet, this really pisses me off. Mainly because if 17k is nothing more than a half-ass attempt (as others have pointed out and I'm inclined to believe) then this is nothing but an empty gesture on 0's part. A gesture which says "I'm not seriously committed to success in so much as we can define it vis-a-vis Iraq. I'm only committed to covering my ass when things don't go well over there." It's nothing but the bare-ass minimum and he has to know it. The outrage of it all is that he's playing CYA with the lives and well-being of American boots on the ground.
I pray that's not the case. I hope that 17k more troops represents a serious commitment to victory and not some half-ass effort so he can say, "see, I tried." Sadly, I've been given little reason to believe that's the case.
#7
Related issue, eltoroverde: whatever the number of troops on the ground, can we keep them supplied? The route through Pakistan is subject to disruption whenever belligerent locals along the way feel the need for a bribe or exercise, the route through Russia is subject to disruption whenever they feel the need for a bribe or ego stroke, and idea of shipping through Iran is utterly absurd.
February 17, 2009: On February 16th, the French and British navies confirmed that two of their SSBNs, the French Le Triomphant and the British Vanguard, had collided with each other on February 4th. The Vanguard was on patrol, while the Le Triomphant was returning to port (Brest) from a patrol. It appears that the Le Triomphant hit the Vanguard, while running in a parallel collision course. Both France and Britain have long maintained a force of four SSBNs each.
Earlier, on February 6th, France had announced that the Le Triomphant had collided with some unknown underwater object, causing some damage to its sonar dome. Ten days later, the French admitted that they had lied, trying to cover up what really happened. By then, civilians had seen that the Vanguard had dents and scrapes along its side, indicating that the some other vessel had made contact with a long portion of the Vanguard's hull. This was visible on February 14th, as the Vanguard returned, early, to its base in Scotland.
How two SSBNs could bump into each other in such a large ocean, is to be the subject of a joint investigation by the two nations. There are several plausible reasons for such a collision taking place.
First, both France and Britain have their SSBN patrol areas in the same patch of ocean. That's because the range of their missiles, and the location of potential targets (Russia, the only nation with nukes aimed at Europe) means there's only a small area of the eastern Atlantic where these patrols are going to take place. So while the two nations SSBNs are still operating, underwater, in a large bit of the Atlantic, it's not as big as you might think.
Second, SSBNs operate as quietly as possible. They use passive (it just listens) sonar and move slowly (about 10 kilometers an hour). Just how quiet SSBNs are is considered classified information, as is the possibility that two of them could be very near each other, and be undetectable to each other. It may now be revealed if the U.S., or anyone else, ever sought to discover if this was possible. Certainly, the British-French investigation of the SSBN incident will probably make it clear if these boats are quiet enough underwater to be invisible to each other. Note that this invisibility may only happen because of special conditions underwater (different temperature or salinity layers of water, which channel the sound away from layers above and below). Since this is all very sensitive material, the full results of the investigation may not be released for decades.
Third, there is a lack of cooperation between the French and other navies. NATO has protocols for member nations to inform each other of the general area where each other's submarines will be operating. But France left NATO in 1966 (although it has been discussing rejoining), and does not participate in this submarine "deconfliction" program.
There's also the possibility that one, or both, boats were having problems with their passive sonar at the time of the collision. It's also possible that one of the boats did detect the other at a distance, decided to investigate further, and that all went badly.
The 428 foot long Le Triomphant class boats displace 12,600 tons, have a crew of 101 and carry 16 M51 ballistic missiles (weighing 56 tons each, carrying six warheads and with a range of 10,000 kilometers). The other three Triomphants, already in service, carry the older M45 missile (weighing 35 tons each, carrying six warheads and with a range of 6,000 kilometers). These boats will get the M51 after the "Le Terrible" enters service. The Triomphants replace the six SSBNs of the Redoutable class, 9,000 ton boats that entered service in 1971 and were retired in 1991. Each of these boats carried sixteen of the shorter range (5,000 kilometers) M4 missiles.
The Vanguard boats are a little larger (465 feet long, crew of 135), and entered service in the 1990s. They carry 16 Trident II missiles, weighing 59 tons, with a range of 11,300 kilometers and carrying up to eight warheads.
On February 6th, the French Navy announced that it always has two SSBNs available for duty, so that if one is unexpectedly put out of service, another is available to go out on patrol. Sea based, nuclear armed missiles are a deterrent to other nuclear nations only if you have one of your SSBNs at sea at all times.
Had these two boats hit each other sufficiently hard to cause a hull breach, and send one or both of them to the bottom, they would have joined many other nukes that have gone down since the 1960s. The nuclear reactors and warheads are built to stay submerged, and contain their radioactive material, for a long time. This has worked with the dozen or more other nukes that have gone to the bottom. Except, of course, for the Russian mass sinking of nuclear subs and reactors in the Arctic ocean in the 1980s and 90s. That was halted in the 1990s, because of the possibility of polluting Arctic fish stocks, by Western nations providing money to safely take apart and retire over a hundred obsolete Russian nuclear subs.
Like this mook wouldn't know?
JERUSALEM - The soldier Israel is demanding be released from captivity may be dead, a top Hamas official has said. Anyone surprised by that? Anyone? Bueller?
Senior exiled Hamas official Mussa Abu Marzuq said over the weekend that Shalit may have died during the recent Gaza war. Another one of the Heroes of Damascus...
"I don't have enough information, but Shalit may have been among the children who died. But really, I don't know," he told the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Hayat. Yeah, nobody tells me nuthin around here. "Shucks, he might be having tea with Osama Bin Laden for all I know!"
Israel has tied the Hamas demand that Gaza's border crossing be reopened to the Shalit issue. Hamas is desperately trying to delink the two. ...and now I think I know why.
Hamas "rejects any linkage of the truce question and that of the release of the soldier Gilad Shalit," the Hamas delegation told Egyptian mediators.
"If the Gilad Shalit issue is solved, other things will be able to fall into place," Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, told London's Daily Telegraph.
Israeli officials have not commented on Marzuq's statement. If he is dead, their only answer should be Hellfires and artillery. Nah, trade like for like. The Paleos want 400 or so mooks back for Shalit. If Shalit is dead, whack the 400 and then turn them over.
#5
I wonder how long Hamas has held Shalit's body in a storage freezer against future need? Among the children, as they say, whose bodies they like to scatter around the wreckage for propaganda purposes.
California, which is on the brink of running out of cash, will notify 20,000 state workers on Tuesday their jobs may be eliminated, a spokesman for Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger said on Monday.
The announcement came a day after California lawmakers narrowly failed to pass a $40 billion budget that would have plugged the state's deficit with a mix of tax hikes and spending cuts.
"In the absence of a budget, the governor has a responsibility to realize state savings any way he can," said Aaron McLear, a spokesman for the Republican governor. "This is unfortunately a necessary decision."
The layoff notices will affect about 20 percent of state workers, McLear said, adding the cuts would extend to every part of state government. The positions would be eliminated in June in preparation for California's next fiscal year, which starts in July.
California, America's most populous state and the world's eighth biggest economy, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending. To conserve cash, the state has stopped public works projects, furloughed state employees for two days a month and postponed sending out tax refunds.
#4
"California, America's most populous state and the world's eighth biggest economy, has experienced a dramatic fall in revenues because of the housing downturn, rising unemployment and a sharp pullback in consumer spending."
The writer misspelled "taxing and regulating businesses to death."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/17/2009 16:33
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#5
Employees aren't the problem, the programs are. Until they trim or eliminate the "unnecessary" programs and/or support for illegals this is all scare tactics.
#6
They will cut rank and file police, fire and other public safety personnel first.
"We have to protect our phoney baloney jobs here, gentlemen! We must do something about this immediately! Immediately! Immediately! Harrumph! Harrumph!"
If I ran my finances like the Democrat California legislature here's what would happen:
Year 1:
Things are OK and I get a $20,000 bonus on top of my $80,000 salary. I immediately buy a bigger house, new car and the RV I've always wanted.
Year 2:
There is no bonus this year. No problem, I borrow money from friends and relatives to make the payments.
Year 3:
My boss is cutting back and my salary is reduced to $60,000. I'm keeping the house, car and RV, but cutting back on food, clothing, health insurance, heating and maintenance on car and house.
#7
From what I understand from my aunt and cousins living in the northern part of the state, 250,000 jobs could be cut before they'd be affected. The state has a bloated bureaucracy, like most states. There are too many people paid for work they never do, and many, many more that do such sloppy work it has to be done over again. It's not just in the transportation sector, either - the worst offenders are in the revenue department and in public health. My news is second-hand, so if there's a Californian out there with better data, please let me know. I'm not criticizing California - we have similar problems here in Colorado, where a tremendous number of former Californians have moved to in the last 20 years (think there's a correlation?).
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 19:02
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#8
...the worst offenders are in the revenue department and in public health.
Dude, I could tell you some stories about the Mass. DOR that would make you blow gaskets.
Eight British Muslims plotted to cause unprecedented carnage by blowing up passenger planes over the Atlantic Ocean with homemade liquid bombs disguised as soft drinks, a prosecutor said at their trial Tuesday.
Peter Wright said the men planned to smuggle the bomb ingredients aboard jets bound from Britain to North America disguised as "soft-drinks bottles, batteries and other innocuous items" carried in hand luggage. "They were to be detonated in-flight by suicide bombers," including several of the accused, he said.
Eight men aged between 22 and 30 deny conspiracy to murder. But Wright said the defendants were close to carrying out their plan when they were arrested in August 2006. The arrests led to the grounding of hundreds of flights and disruption for thousands of people and triggered huge changes to airport security -- including restrictions on carrying liquids on planes -- that persist to this day.
Wright said the plot would have caused "a civilian death toll from terrorism on an almost unprecedented scale."
He said alleged ringleaders Abdulla Ahmed Ali and Assad Sarwar, both 28, "shared a common interest ... that involved inflicting heavy casualties upon an unwitting civilian population, all in the name of Islam."
The defendants, he said, were "men with the cold-eyed certainty of the fanatic." The blasts were intended as "a violent and deadly statement of intent that would have a truly global impact."
Wright said that the plot was organized in Britain but was being directed from Pakistan.
A court order restricts reporting of some details of the case, which is expected to last 10 months.
#1
Wright said that the plot was organized in Britain but was being directed from Pakistan.
There have been an awful lot of statements like this lately. Wouldn't it be amusing if the UN Security Council felt constrained to declare the Land of the Pure a terrorist entity?
HOUSEHOLDERS would be charged for each flush under a radical new toilet tax designed to help beat the drought. The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home's value - not its waste water output.
CSIRO Policy and Economic Research Unit member Jim McColl and Adelaide University Water Management Professor Mike Young plan to promote the move to state and federal politicians and experts across the country.
"It would encourage people to reduce their sewage output by taking shorter showers,recycling washing machine water or connecting rainwater tanks to internal plumbingto reduce their charges,'' Professor Young said. "Some people may go as far as not flushing their toilet as often because the less sewage you produce, the less sewage rate you pay.''
Professor Young said sewer pricing needed to be addressed as part of the response to the water crisis.
"People have been frightened to talk about sewage because it is yucky stuff, but it is critically important to address it, as part of the whole water cycle,'' he said. "We are looking at reforming the way sewage is priced and this plan will drive interest in the different ways water is used throughout Australia.''
The reform would see the abolition of the property-based charge with one based on a pay-as-you-go rate and a small fixed annual fee to cover the cost of meter readings and pipeline maintenance, Professor Young said. The pay-as-you-go rate would provide financial savings for those who reduce their waste water output.
Professor Young and Mr McColl will promote the plan nationally through their Droplet, a newsletter whose 6000 subscribers include state and federal politicians, water policy specialists and economists around the country.
Professor Young said a sewage pricing plan, like the one proposed, was already used in the US. "In places like the City of Bellaire, Texas (a virtual suburb of Houston), they do it and the system seems to work,'' he said. "As nearly all of (the homes in) mainland Australia's cities and towns already have water meters, introduction of a volumetric charge, such as that used in the City of Bellaire, would not be difficult to implement.''
Mr McColl said the plan had to be viewed in the context of "the crucial issues surrounding water resources'' in Australia. "We should be prepared for the (drought) situation we are going through now to occur again, as well as the potential impact of climate change, so we have to act now for the future,'' he said.
#2
My village monthly bill includes a water fee and a sewerage fee. I guess all that's left is a pull-the-handle fee.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2009 15:06
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#3
While water was not an issue, in the mid 1990's during the Saddam era, both the Palestine and Sheridan Baghdad hotels used cost 'cutting' measures. A hacksaw was used by the hotel staff to convert a single roll of toilet paper into TWO! Needless to say, great care was exercised during the execution of one's business.
#5
They are shifting to essentially the system we already have - and water shortages are not our problem. Your water supply is metered, and a fee charged per gallon to cover your usage. Then they assume that the water that comes into your house ends up going back into the sewer and you get charged a second fee to cover sewage treatment. If you use a lot of water washing cars or watering lawns, you are subsidizing toilet flushes, but for drought abatement purposes it works fine. Of course, the more logical approach would be to just raise the water fee/tax itself in order to encourage conservation.
Toger Woods may have nothing to come back to.
HOUSTON (Reuters) - Federal agents entered the Houston office of Stanford Financial Group on Tuesday, according to a Reuters eyewitness on the scene.
About 15 people, some wearing jackets identifying them as U.S. marshals, entered the lobby of Stanford's office in the Houston Galleria area, the eyewitness said.
Houston-based Stanford Financial Group, which says it oversees more than $50 billion of assets, is being investigated by U.S. regulators, according to a person familiar with the matter.
The New York Times reported that U.S. securities regulators had accused three top Stanford executives, including Robert Allen Stanford, of fraud. The Houston office of the U.S. Marshals Service had no immediate comment. A Stanford spokesman was not immediately available to comment.
Iraq may be emerging as the only sane Arab country
Public courtship and more daring clothing for women are increasing after years of growing intolerance, perhaps signaling the Islamic dogma and conservatism that accompanied Iraq's slide into sectarian slaughter may be losing their grip.
"You cannot imagine how happy I am today," said Usama Abdul-Wahab Khatab, a recent university graduate nestled beside his girlfriend at a riverside Baghdad park.
Although Iraq is predominantly Muslim, celebration of an originally Western day for lovers became popular after the ouster of Saddam Hussein. In Baghdad's Karrada neighborhood this Valentine's Day, shop windows were crowded with giant red teddy bears and stuffed hearts reading "Forever in Love." I blame Bush
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/17/2009
13:29 ||
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#1
This reminds me of when we were in Fallujah in November 04. We were clearing houses and while moving down a street, we took small arms fire and ran into a corner shop for cover. All over this shop (which had been pretty smashed up) there were Valentine's Day cards on the floor. Just kinda weird being shot at, looking around (in November) a card shop at Valentine's Day cards all over in Fallujah. I had never considered the fact that they would celebrate that holiday....
The United States Tuesday welcomed Venezuela's "civic" referendum lifting term limits for the president and all politicians, but urged support for democracy and tolerance in the country. I guess the big 0 approves of the way Huge-0 consolidates power. Imitation is the sincerest form of flattery ...
"We congratulate the civic and participatory spirit of the millions of Venezuelans who exercized their democratic right to vote," State Department spokesman Noel Clay told AFP. Why no mention of the vote-rigging and intimidation? Oh, right... I guess this is supposed to be the "change we can believe in."
#1
Apes are scary, dangerous creatures. I'm always a bit perplexed at the notion people find chimps cute or amusing; they're wild animals, yet with a "pre-sentient" level of intelligence (chimps are actually superior to humans in several cognitive area like short term memory, and as for "intelligence", I think they're now believed to have the abstract reasoning capacities of an 8 years old)... meaning they actually have all the dangerousness potential of both an human, and an animal - remember that story here about the old geezer who had a foot, his testicles, and most of his face ripped off by two "buddies" of his couple's pet chimp? They threw a party for their anthropomorphized chimp, and when the "buddies" didn't get a slice of cake as the chimp pecking order would have wanted it, they went berserk. And chimps and apes in general are very strong, and very fierce... and incidentally, a while earlier in 2008, there was a follow up to that one, as their own chimp had escaped into the wild, and they were calling people to be kind to him while police looked around, since he was "harmless" (well, he just had once bitten of a lady's finger when she tried to pet him). Chimps. Why do they ate us?
#3
mom's "why are people stupid about pets?" rant, version 5280:
The other day, a landlord in Beloit discovered that a noxious tenant left a 3 foot alligator behind when he skipped out. As the humane society spokesman observed, "We advise against keeping alligators as pets. They will get big enough to think of you as dinner."
Every creature is cute when it's small. Trouble is, people don't do their homework about animal care, and don't think about when the animal gets big. That's why our family has two rescued rabbits who originally had anxiety disorders from bad housing; one rescued turtle whose owner had bought him illegally small and kept him in a tiny, tiny bowl (he lives in a horse trough now, and is 7 inches long, on his way to becoming the size of a dinner plate), and a rescued corn snake whose original owner didn't have the sense to provide him with a heat source.
When we got one rabbit, she was 10 weeks old and her digestive tract was in trouble because of the noise and ill-care in her previous home. She could have died from those conditions. I carried her in my sweatshirt pocket for three days, and she calmed down. She is now the perfect kindergarten visitor; she will let 15 kids handle her without fussing.
THINK, PEOPLE, before you get any animal. If you know somebody who's waxing enthusiastic about getting any animal, ordinary or exotic, shake some sense into them and make them do their homework.
Keeping an ape casually as a pet without the proper means is insanity. Strong, intelligent, and no morals or governors on behavior other than desire. A deadly combination.
People originally kept animals as a food source (sheep, cattle, chickens, etc), or to help them get food or protect themsleves (dogs, horses, cats). The companionship thing was very much a fringe benefit.
I know a couple (college educated, FWIW) who have three horses, two of which are too old to ride, two neutered male goats, five cats (which I suppose keep the rodents down), and two dogs (neither of which hunt). They also have three children. They are barely making ends meet, and are saving nothing for their retirement or their kids schooling. This is near-criminal insanity. If you have the wherewithal to live your life in a fiscally responsible way and afford the luxury of a pet which does nothing, it's your money, go for it. If your like this family, or the chimp's owner, you're as irresponsible as someone who spends the money on gambling or booze.
It's a sign of inability to handle affluence when we take and keep animals like chimps for pets, or spend the money and effort as a society, generally speaking, that we do on pets who perform no task other than companionship.
/rant off
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/17/2009 17:23
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#5
Strong, intelligent, and no morals or governors on behavior other than desire.
Oh, enough about Elliott Spitzer!
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2009 18:37
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#6
Dr. White wins the thread! :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/17/2009 18:52
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#7
no mo uro, I partially agree with you. I'm a dog owner and occasional breeder (show dogs who can hunt quite nicely, thank you). I'm always leery of those who regard dogs as furry children.
They're not. They're interesting, social and highly able creatures in their own right but their abilities, mentality and motivations are not the same as ours.
That said, you miss several practical purposes for dogs today. In addition to detering breakins and theft, dogs also provide a documented health benefit. Stroking an amenable dog or cat measurably reduces blood pressure and improves cognition, coordination and other physiological capabilities in the elderly or those recovering from major injuries. This is the basis for training dogs and taking them to nursing homes as therapy animals.
They have a similar impact on owners with whom they've bonded. So it's not quite correct to say that dogs who aren't hunting are doing 'nothing' for their owners. They may in fact be contributing in several valuable ways.
Does not in the least excuse poor judgement on the part of dog owners, nor neurotic and superficial emotionalism.
OTOH you'll pry my dogs from etc. etc. Except maybe for one who right now is being extremely annoying. ;-)
#8
Baby rattlesnakes are adorable. Not that I'd have one in the vicinity, given a choice. Baby insects are generally unattractive, excepting certain caterpillars... but I believe larval mosquitoes are mighty hunters of even more noxious tiny creatures swimming in their water. ;-)
I rather imagine the first impulse toward domesticating both dogs and cats was the emotional responsiveness of puppies and kittens, their usefulness becoming apparent only as they grew up. I mean, who would think adding a wolf to the camp site would be beneficial with children around? lotp will confirm (or not!) based on her expertise, but don't adult dogs act pretty much like wolf puppies?
I'm shocked! SHOCKED!! It's a mystery, I tells ya!
A large stockpile of unexploded weapons has disappeared in Gaza, before United Nations experts were able to dispose of it safely, the BBC has learned. Must've been at lunch. Or dinner. Or both... Those meals run together at the UN ...
The explosives, including aircraft bombs and white phosphorus shells, were fired by the Israeli military during its recent offensive in the Gaza Strip. UN officials said they were urgently trying to establish where the arms had gone and have called for their return. Hang around for awhile, boys, because methinks I see "mysterious explosions" in Gaza's future. BIG "mysterious explosions". That should make them real easy to find. Just look for the guys with newly-amputated feet ... If they're lucky. Some of this stuff would turn them into well done hamburger...
Israel has accused Hamas of taking the stockpile, which was under Hamas guard. You're doing a good job guarding this stuff, Mahmoud.
What stuff?
Ah, you're a smart boy, Mahmoud. You'll go far...
Richard Miron, the senior UN spokesman in Jerusalem, said: "We are anxious to get the return of this ordnance. It's clearly extremely dangerous and needs to be disposed of in a safe manner. This is our primary concern." So...how much are you willing to pay, my UN friend?
A UN Mines Action Team has been in Gaza since the end of the war, last month, its job to locate unexploded Israeli ordnance and to organise its safe disposal. Two weeks ago, on 2 February, the UN team was given access to a storage site in Gaza City where more than 7,000kg of explosives was being housed. It included three 2,000-pound bombs and eight 500-pound bombs, which had all been dropped from aircraft but failed to explode. There was also a large number of 155mm shells for delivering the incendiary chemical white phosphorus. Ooooh. That would be a very impressive mysterious explosion...
Many of the explosives had been collected by the Hamas authorities in the Gaza Strip. ...and finder's keeper's.
The UN staff had been waiting for the Israeli army to allow them to bring specialist equipment into Gaza so they would be able to destroy the explosives safely. In particular, the team needed explosives or flares to set off a controlled explosion and they needed tools to allow them to extract fuses from some of the bombs. The UN staff were also waiting for permission from the Israeli military to use two safe areas to dispose of the munitions. Ah, so it's the Joooos fault... Great UN bomb disposal team. What did they issue them to work with, mallets?
On Sunday, when UN officials returned to the warehouse, >which was under a Hamas police guard, they say they found most of the explosives had gone missing. Geez, I just went out for a smoke and, when I came back...it was GONE!
Israeli military spokesman Peter Lerner said the stockpile had been "commandeered by Hamas". Aw, c'mon now, Pete. Let's not go casting aspersions here... Gee, I hope whoever took it doesn't have a work accident. Be a real bummer if his buddies got hurt. Be a real good time for a red-wire, blue-wire incident ...
Doctors appear to have safely and successfully treated patients with cancer of the blood and bone marrow with a combination of arsenic and vitamin A, according to long-term study in China.
In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, the doctors said they prescribed the regimen to 85 patients and monitored them for an average of 70 months. Of these, 80 patients went into complete remission and the researchers did not find any associated long-term problems in their heart or lungs and there was no development of secondary cancers.
"Two years after their treatment, the patients had arsenic blood and urine levels well below safety limits, and only slightly higher than controls," they wrote. "The treatment was effective ... and worked better than either drug given alone."
The authors recommended that the treatment be given to patients with blood and bone marrow cancer, or acute promyelocytic leukemia.
While vitamin A is regarded by some experts as a viable treatment, this is the first time that its use has been monitored for such an extended period of time.
Since the 18th century, arsenic compounds have been used as medicines to treat certain ailments. The US Food and Drug Administration approved it for the treatment of people with blood and bone marrow cancer in 2000.
#1
This is not a new story. It's just confirmation of existing treatment, with a bit of optimization. All-trans-retinoic acid has been a mainstay of treatment for APML for a long time, and arsenic trioxide has been a second-line treatment for a while.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
02/17/2009 18:40
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You just knew this was coming. I've got a rather colorful response, but since this is a family website .... (No time to do inline, darn it)
The West owes billions of dollars to developing nations in order compensate for climate change, India's government says.
In a submission to the U.N. Framework Convention on Climate Change, the Indian government warns rich countries against defining funding for adaptation or sustainable development in vulnerable nations as traditional development aid. Rather, it says, it is an "entitlement" for poor countries whose development will be further set back by global warming.
"There is a tendency to equate such resources to foreign 'aid' or Overseas Development Assistance," the government wrote, adding that financing should not be left up to the legislatures in wealthy nations, nor should it be in the form of loans. "The providers of finance cannot be discretionary 'donors,' but must be legally obligated 'assessees,'" the document says.
Financing efforts to fight climate change emerged as the single most contentious issue from the U.N. climate change convention in Poznan, Poland, last year, and the debate remains unresolved.
At issue is how to extort raise and spread the boodle distribute money to help poor countries and countries that are most vulnerable to climate change impacts.
Under the Kyoto Protocol, 2 percent of all carbon offset projects in developing countries are slated for an adaptation fund. In the last round of negotiations, developing nations won a measure of control over how that money will be distributed, in a provision that allows them to directly access the funds rather than go through an institution like the World Bank.
But when they pushed to increase the levy to 3 percent and also apply it to offset projects in former Communist countries as well as to the European Union's Emission Trading Scheme, wealthy countries blocked the bid. The added percentages would have meant millions more to the approximately $37 million worth of carbon emission reduction credits waiting to be liquidated.
"The developed countries could have done this as a goodwill gesture. That didn't happen, and the conference did end on a very sour note," said Raman Mehta, who works on climate policy for ActionAid in New Delhi, India.
Mehta noted that India's argument that climate financing should be an obligation rather than aid reflects the position of the G-77 group of developing nations and China.
In a submission earlier this month, the Chinese government called on developed countries to provide "new, additional, adequate, predictable and sustainable" funding of at least 0.5 percent to 1 percent of a nation's gross domestic product -- over and above existing foreign aid.
"Nobody is saying the West knew what it was doing and that it [industrial emissions] would cause climate change," said Mehta. But, he said, the reality is that the most poorest countries are going to be hit hardest by climate impacts, endangering many of the development gains made in the 1990s.
"Because the costs of development are going to go up because of climate change, therefore the West, which has been a beneficiary of free atmosphere, should compensate," he said. Report requires subscription, so is posted in its entirety. Link goes to the UN Framework Convention on Climate Change website, where presumably the documente referred to is buried posted.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/17/2009
12:17 ||
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#1
As I understand it, they want to tax us for being a strong progressive nation?
That's fixable. Simply return all Gifts, donations, and other "Good works" we Americans have provided, and we'll call it even.
This doesn't scan correctly, anybody else want to clear my idea? (Kauphy, more Kauphy)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/17/2009 13:40
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#2
I'm wit'choo, Jim.
First give us back the billions (more likely trillions) we've given YOU over the years, and then we'll talk. Idiots.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/17/2009 16:26
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#3
They just want a percentage of Al Gores profits.
#4
Since the current sunspot cycle has more or less provided virtually unimpeachabl evidence that the SUN, not humans, controls climate, this piece of blackmail will get all the attention it deserves - none. Stick it, India.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 16:42
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#5
Financing efforts to fight climate change emerged as the single most contentious issue from the U.N. climate change convention in Poznan, Poland, last year, and the debate remains unresolved.
So come back and see it when the UN resolves it...in about 2250. Or when India melts. Whichever comes first...
Ooooops. Look's like he picked the wrong guy to call names...
Immigration Minister Jason Kenney is poised to slash federal funding to Canada's largest Arabic group after its president called him a "professional whore" for supporting Israel. Looks like this whore's gonna keep his client's money...
In an exclusive interview with Sun Media from London, England, where he is to speak today at an international conference on anti-Semitism, Kenney said groups are free within legal bounds to say what they like. But groups whose leaders say intolerant or hateful things shouldn't get taxpayer funding. "We should not be rewarding those who express views that are contrary to Canada's best liberal values of tolerance and mutual respect." FILTHY INFIDEL PROFESSIONAL WHORE!!!
One of those groups, said Kenney, is the Canadian Arab Federation whose president Khaled Mouammar called him a "professional whore" after Kenney criticized the presence of Hezbollah and Hamas flags at anti-Israel rallies in Toronto. Kenney said the same group criticized Liberal MP Bob Rae because of his wife's involvement in Canada's Jewish community.
The federation received a $447,297 contribution from Kenney's department to operate a settlement program in Toronto for two years, teaching new immigrants language and job searching skills. Oooooh. That's a nice hit... Program translation: taught Arabic and applying for state benefits ...
Kenney said he has already asked department officials to weigh comments made by groups when evaluating funding applications, and the comments made by the Arab Federation president will affect its contribution when the current one expires in March 2010. Here's a nice shiny Canadian dime, Khaled...
Mouammar, however, says that Kenney's decision will hurt newcomers to Canada, not just Arabs. Arabs make up only 5% of those who receive his group's settlement services, which Mouammar said were among the best in the Toronto area. Mouammar said Kenney's decision is "vindictive" and accused him of promoting Islamophobia internationally. Yeah! That's right, Islamophobia! I said it! That should make him cave!
"This government is anti-Arab and anti-Muslim," he said, adding the federal government has refused to meet with the Canadian Arab Federation or the Canadian Islamic Congress since Prime Minister Stephen Harper came to power. Yes, and what a loss for Canada this policy is I'll bet...
In the interview and in his speech, Kenney was also critical of the Canadian Islamic Congress, saying its former president Mohamed Elmasry once tried to "legitimize the killing of all Israeli adults." Wahida Valiante, who succeed Elmasry as president of the CIC -- which doesn't get government funding -- said Kenney misrepresented Elmasry's comments on the world stage. Yeah, he was "misquoted'. He was "miscontstrued". What he said wasn't what you heard him say, INFIDEL!
#3
Islamophobia is the only rational response to the world today. Think about it.
Oh, you're just saying that because the precepts of Sharia law conflict with fundamental Western values and the most vocal advocates of Islam all seem to be violent murderers.
#6
If I recall correctly. Ms Mazie is a typical party hack - she put her time in and was supposed to be given the Governorship, but was such a non-entity a republican (Lingle) beat her out. In HI you have to be pretty damn bad to lose to a GOP'er, but she was given the congress seat as a consolation prize, anyway.
MINGORA, Pakistan -- Battle-weary residents welcomed a pro-Taliban cleric dispatched by the government Tuesday to convince militants in the former tourist haven of Swat to stop fighting in exchange for the imposition of Islamic law and suspension of military offensives there. We'll even bring the Vaseline...
Sufi Muhammad arrived in a caravan of some 300 vehicles in Swat's main city of Mingora a day after he struck the truce, which a U.S. defense official called "negative" and several analysts said represented a surrender to extremists fanning out from nearby strongholds close to the Afghan border. Where's the Predators when you need them?
"We are happy. People are welcoming us," Swat resident Shah Wali, who was traveling with the motorcade, told The Associated Press. Many in the caravan wore black turbans -- a Taliban trademark. People along the way lined the route, waving and cheering the procession, television footage showed. Hey, Mo didn't have no TV. Sharia, my ass...
Several Swat residents welcomed the attempt at peace after months of fighting that killed hundreds, forced up to a third of the valley's 1.5 million people to flee and halted tourism in the stunning scenic area now believed to be mostly under militant control. Yeah, boys and girls. Tell the Tourist board to start printing up the brochures. I can't wait to book my trip...
The provincial government in northwest Pakistan announced the deal Monday after it met with Islamists led by Muhammad, who has long demanded that Islamic, or Shariah, law be followed in this conservative corner of Pakistan. As part of the deal Muhammad agreed to travel to Swat and discuss peace with Maulana Fazlullah, the leader of the Swat Taliban and Muhammad's son-in-law. Which Muhammad is he? I get em mixed up.
The guy with the beard? Gee, thanks... Brown eyes, black hair, seedy looking. Does that help? No. Not really...
'Zat help?
Muhammad was detained in 2002 after he sent thousands to fight U.S. troops in Afghanistan, but Pakistan freed him last year after he agreed to renounce violence. Yes, that always works out so well...
It is unclear how much influence he has over Fazlullah or exactly where they would meet, though a spokesman for the Swat Taliban leader welcomed Muhammad and has spoken positively of the truce. The Swat Taliban said Sunday they would observe an initial 10-day cease-fire in a show of good faith. ...and resupply.
Pakistan's inability to re-establish its authority in Swat has embarrassed the shaky civilian government and the military. Actually, it hasn't. They don't feel shame like we do.
However, Pakistani leaders insisted the deal was not a concession, but an attempt to fulfill demands by locals for a more efficient justice system. Yeah...an "efficient justice system"! That's the ticket!
Some 2,000 militants are believed to operate in the valley, and, in defiance of the presence of some 10,000 paramilitary and army troops, they have already set up their own courts, meting out punishments in line with an exceptionally harsh brand of Islamic law. Another Proud Chapter in the History of the Mighty Pak Army...
Many analysts questioned whether the fighters would listen to Muhammad and said they doubted the deal would stop violence. Similar deals struck in the past have failed, including one last year in Swat that security officials said the insurgents used to regroup and re-arm. "This is simply a great surrender, a surrender to a handful of forces who work through rough justice and brute force," said Athar Minallah, a lawyer and civil rights activist. "Who will be accountable for those hundreds of people who have been massacred in Swat? And they go and recognize these forces as a political force. This is pathetic." Hey, a sane guy in Pakistan. I'd watch my back if I was him.
A senior U.S. Defense Department official, said "it is hard to view this as anything other than a negative development." He requested anonymity because of the sensitivity of relations with Pakistan and because he was not authorized to speak on the record. Hope and Change, bub. Ya may not like it, but ya better get used to it...
Officials said the main changes to the legal system under the agreement are included in existing laws that allow for Muslim clerics to advise judges when hearing cases and the setting up of an Islamic appeals court, would they said would ensure speedier and fairer justice. The rules do not ban female education or contain other strict interpretations of Shariah that have been demanded by many members of the Taliban in Pakistan -- restrictions imposed by the Taliban regime in Afghanistan before it was ousted by the U.S.-led invasion in late 2001. Ahhh, minor loophole. They'll just blow up or kill anything they don't agree with...
#1
Just like Chamberlain, if anybody thinks the militants will be satisfied with Swat they are out of their frickin' minds. More likely it's more of an admission of defeat or an attempt to buy time and get ready for a bigger war to come.
"Our whole struggle is for the enforcement of Shariah law," Swat Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said. "If this really brings us the implementation of Shariah, we will fully cooperate with it."
#3
Brown eyes, black hair, seedy looking. Does that help?
You just described 90% of the males in the Muddled East.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 14:16
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Analysts have derided the deal as a defeat that will embolden Islamists in the violent, nuclear-armed Muslim nation, but the government and pro-Taliban cleric Soofi Mohammad, who signed the deal, hailed it as a chance for peace. Information Minister Sherry Rehman denied it was a "concession."
"It is in no way a sign of the state's weakness. The public will of the population of the Swat region is at the centre of all efforts and it should be taken into account while debating the merits of this agreement," she said.
The government hopes that Islamist hardliners will now disarm in the Swat valley, where the deal will be implemented, and Rehman insisted President Asif Ali Zardari will only validate the agreement after peace has been established.
...and I hope monkeys holding winning lottery tickets will fly outta my ass.
ISLAMABAD, Pakistan (CNN) -- Gul Bibi and her three children fled the Taliban's bloody interpretation of Islamic law in Pakistan's Swat Valley, hoping one day to return.
But now that the Pakistani government has recognized Taliban rule in the region in exchange for a temporary cease-fire, she said those hopes have been dashed.
She warned that the government's deal with the Taliban will have worldwide implications.
"The whole point is, if it's not contained to Swat, it's going to spill all over in Pakistan and the West also doesn't realize the seriousness of the situation," Bibi said. "Probably your next 9/11 is going to be from Swat."
It is difficult to gauge the concerns of residents in Swat, because the government does not allow journalists into the area due to the ongoing military operation. Also, residents risk their lives if they openly criticize Taliban rule.
Bibi -- who used a false name to protect her identity -- told CNN that people in Swat do not support the Taliban's version of Islamic law. A strict Muslim herself, Bibi said she observes the teachings of the Quran, and the Taliban's interpretation of sharia has nothing to do with the Muslim religion. "They are killing people, they are beheading people, there is no accounting for what they are doing," Bibi said.
Their oppression is also focused on women. The Taliban have destroyed dozens of girls' schools in the region. Bibi is living in a house in Islamabad with other women who have fled Taliban rule in Swat. "For God's sake, in the West you must realize this: no education for women," she said. "You are going to destroy an entire generation."
Yes, they love their Palestinian "brothers". As long as they stay in Palestine...
Cairo -- Ma'an -- Palestinians traveling abroad have recently been subjected to alarming scrutiny by border officials in the Arab world. Evidently, their reputation precedes them...
Several days ago, the Egyptian government began asking Palestinians interested in visiting Egypt through its Cairo airport to present evidence of a return flight home, despite that Egypt had usually permitted Palestinians to enter without attaining a visa. Welcome to Egypt! When are you leaving?
But since the Hamas takeover of the Gaza Strip, Egypt's embassy has begun demanding more and more on the part of Palestinian travelers, who used to travel via Rafah with relative ease. Sorry. No AK's, RPG's or Semtex. Could you please add them to that pile over there? Thank you...
New instructions for Palestinians arriving in Cairo indicate that travelers should show a copy of their itinerary, including a return flight, and regardless of age. Travelers have also been asked to prove their residency status from the country of origin, such as the United Arab Emirates or Kuwait. I'm...ummmmmmmmmm...Irish. Begorrah, INFIDEL!
A Ma'an reporter made the journey from Amman to Cairo to test out the new policies, finding that a large number of Palestinians were stopped by Egyptian officials at the airport before being allowed to pass. Airport security sources told Ma'an under the condition of anonymity that the procedures had come by request of Palestinians, under the pretext that they do not want their citizens to reside permanently in Egypt. Now why would they want to leave the Islamic Paradise that Hamas and the PA made for them? Especially after the big "victory"? C'mon, Egypt is a paradise, ev'rybody knows that ...
But while travelers from the Gulf states typically possess return documents given their residency statuses, Palestinians in Jordan do not require visas, so Cairo officials are now demanding documents from them that do not exist. No papers? Okay. Back on the plane. Have a nice day.
Oddly, the story did not end at the airport, as Ma'an's reporter was similarly asked by hotel staff to hand over his passport at a hotel in Cairo, where other Palestinian guests were asked to do the same. A hotel worker explained that new instructions "require us to keep your passports through the night, and to give them back during the day; this is all under a security order." Wouldn't want you to lose them so you'd have to stay here for sixty or seventy years, would we?
In other Arab countries, including Lebanon, Palestinians are not permitted to apply for visas on their own, but must be invited by a resident already in the country. Similar entry requirements bar Palestinians from entering Qatar, Syria and Kuwait except through special security coordination. Love ya, guys, but from a distance, ya know?
Despite that visas are typically simple to obtain for most Arab countries, the United Arab Emirates demands that any Palestinian traveling there provide evidence of a work visa in their passport--or evidence of employment in Palestine. Unfortunately, the majority of Palestinians cannot prove their work status as turmoil in their homeland often prevents such basic consular services, leaving many Palestinians traveling abroad facing complicated processes for entering foreign countries. To much "seething" I'll bet...
#1
Got kicked out of Jordan.
Got kicked out of Lebanon.
Got kicked out of Tunisia [and back to Jordan].
Got expelled out of post-Saddam Iraq.
Got the Egyptians to give up Gaza which was never part of historical Palestine but part of Egypt.
Certainly have made many friends and influenced people. /sarcasm off
Nope, Pennsylvania has not moved to Gaza...
Gaza – Ma’an – The Palestinian Authority Ministry of National Economy accused the United Nations relief Agency for Palestinian refugees, UNRWA, on Tuesday of importing private-sector goods under its name behind the back of the ministry Not getting their cut are they?
The undersecretary of the ministry of the Ramallah-based government, speaking from Gaza, Nasser As-Sarraj made these accusations to Ma'an on Monday night. ...and while your at it, ask them who I pissed off to get stuck in Gaza, willya?
As-Sarraj, who is part of the Palestinian Authority (PA) Ministry in Gaza not to be confused with the separate Ministry of National economy of the de facto Hamas government in the same area, ...well it sounds confusing.
said UNRWA has been caught selling rice and sugar to local merchants without coordinating with the ministry first. They've not let us, how you say, "wet our beaks"...
When contacted, UNRWA spokespeople said they had not heard of any such accusations and were unaware of any investigations into the issue. We're shocked! SHOCKED, I tells ya!!
As-Sarraj said UNRWA employees were involved in bringing truckloads of goods into the Gaza Strip under title of the agency and selling them to the private sector, and called the act “illegal.” He said he brought the accusations to UNRWA’s attention Monday night. Bastards! We're not getting our cut either!
“We seized three truckloads of rice and sugar [being sold to] merchants of the private sector through UNRWA, and the [PA] coordination committee had no idea. UNRWA does not have the right to use its special position [in the Strip] to engage with the private sector.” Well, we got sick of Hamas stealing it all and figured we'd just eliminate the middleman...
As-Sarraj also claimed that UNRWA is investigating the issue. Not even any honor among thieves in Gaza anymore...
The leader of Hezbollah said Monday that his militant group has the Legitimate Right™ to possess air-defense weapons to face the Israeli warplanes that regularly fly over Lebanon.
Nasrallah spoke from under his bed via a video link to a rally commemorating last year's assassination of Hezbollah's top military commander, Imad Mughniyeh, who was killed by a car bomb in Syria.
Nasrallah said Israeli media report occasionally that Hezbollah has acquired sophisticated air defense missiles. "I will not deny or confirm" the reports, Nasrallah said, but added that such weapons would weaken Israeli air power and change the region's power equation. "What I want to confirm today is that we have the full Legitimate Right™ to possess any weapons, including air defense weapons. Also, we have the full Legitimate Right™ to use this weapon if we want," he said.
#5
"LEGITIMATE RIGHT" > IOW, NASRALLAH is trying hard NOT to say that the HIZBIES HEZBIES HUZBIES, etc = IRAN, + that LEBANON is now an UN-ANNEXED SOVEREIGN? PROVINCE OF IRAN???
Kansas has suspended income tax refunds and may not be able to pay employees on time, state officials said Monday. The state doesn't have enough money in its main budget account to pay its bills, prompting Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius to suggest borrowing $225 million from other accounts throughout state government. But the move required approval from legislative leaders, and Republican leaders refused Monday.
Budget Director Duane Goossen said that without the money, he's not sure the state can meet its payroll. About 42,000 state employees are scheduled to be paid again Friday.
He added that the state might also have to delay payments to public schools and to doctors who provide care to needy Kansas residents under the Medicaid program. Ah, yes, the old "give us what we wants, or yer kids gets it! maneuver."
Goossen said the state stopped processing income tax refunds last week. Hmm. I wonder if they would let the good people of Kansas stop filing their state returns until they get back to work on this? Yeah, I didn't think so, either.
Sebelius accused Republicans, who hold majorities in both chambers of the state legislature, of blocking the accounting maneuver to "play political games."
Republican leaders said it's illegal under Kansas law to shift the funds around as long as the state continues to face a projected deficit in the budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30.
GOP leaders are hoping to pressure Sebelius into signing a bill making $326 million in adjustments to the budget for the fiscal year that ends June 30. Almost half of the adjustments are spending cuts. Legislators approved that bill last week, but it has not reached the governor's desk. Sebelius hasn't said whether she will sign it.
#1
Playing political games? So that's what it's called when lawmakers follow the laws that they themselves passed? What happened three months ago, when they had plenty of time to comply with the law?
#3
Please read the NRO article posted in non - wot for more information about what is going on.
Synopsis: Republicans want to cut spending across the board. Sebelius wants to keep spending on her pet programs. Her governess better take that Obama job, because she is going to lose this publicity stunt.
#4
If you choose the option to roll over your refunds to the next tax year for credit and keep that up till it matches most of what's due, what's the state going to do when they get their own IOUs for a fiscal year?
#5
Procopius,
You can guess how that will work - your tax refund credits will not be usable for paying your taxes; your taxes must be paid with real money. Or eventually, toilet paper, whichever is worth more (see Zimbucks for example.)
#6
California, Kansas, and next the Federal Government? At some point someone is going to have to get serious about working us out of this financial hole--either to stop digging or to come up with a realistic plan to create jobs for people. We have outsourced jobs to other countries for several decades now. We have not addressed the illegal alien problem. We have lost large chunks of our manufacturing base. We have made bad trade decisions. We have lost our ability to provide our own energy--other than by buying from someone else such as OPEC nations. We have strangled ourselves with regulations. We have a government that is not responsive to the people and is out of control. We have politicians that promise everything and deliver little in order to get elected or re-elected. Our financial institutions are in a disarray. Greed and power have driven our country to the brink of collapse. Maybe tomorrow I'll have a better outlook after a drink and a good night's sleep.
#2
Well, the state and local governments are looking for new revenues to tax, here's one they've avoided for years. Will (tax) necessity become the 'mother' of invention (legalization)? Do it in the name of the children (LOL). /sarcasm off
#4
Well folks, thee is at least one rantburger on that list of clients released by the cops. He was visiting Phoenix at the time and had a great reason to celebrate. The woman he saw was worth every penny, or so I'm told.
Herodotus recorded around 430 B.C. of the Persians: "If an important decision is to be made, they discuss the question when they are drunk. The following day, the master of the house submits their decision for reconsideration when they are sober. If they still approve it, it is adopted; if not, it is abandoned. Conversely, any decision they make when they are sober is reconsidered afterwards, when they are drunk."
Several months ago, a rabidly anti Israel group on the Hampshire College campus began a campaign to try to get the college to divest from six companies that they claim helped "the Israeli occupation of Palestine." Those who came up with this formulation regard all of Israel, including Tel Aviv, Haifa and Ben Gurion Airport, as "occupied Palestine." In other words, their goal is to end the existence of Israel.
This divestment effort is part of an international campaign against Israel. Until now, every American university administration has categorically rejected this attempt to single out Israel in a world filled with massive human rights abusers. But Hampshire caved in to student and faculty pressure and as Board of Directors agreed to divest from these six companies along with a series of others that did not meet the standards of Hampshire College. The student group, supported by many faculty members, claimed total victory, issuing a press release that boasted that Hampshire has become the first college in the United States to divest from Israel. It urged other universities to follow its lead. Note that the instigators are complete terrorist kool-aid drinkers; advocating the complete destruction of Israel; and not mere critics of various Israeli policies.
Those supporting the petition include the notorious anti-Semite Cynthia McKinney, America and Israel basher Noam Chomsky and other Israel haters. The six companies include General Electric, ITT, Motorola and other corporations that employ thousands of American workers. The divestment campaign applies to Israel and Israel alone. Hampshire will continue to deal with companies that supply Iran, Saudi Arabia, China, Cuba, North Korea, Zimbabwe, Libya, Syria, Sudan, Belarus and other brutal dictatorships around the world that routinely murder civilians, torture and imprison dissenters, deny educational opportunities to women, imprison gays and repress speech. Indeed many of those who support divestiture against Israel actively support these repressive regimes.
This divestment campaign has absolutely nothing to do with human rights. It is motivated purely by hatred for the Jewish state. As New York Times columnist Tom Friedman put it: "Criticizing Israel is not anti-Semitic, and saying so is vial. But singling out Israel for opprobrium and international sanctions--out of proportion to any other party in the Middle East--is anti-Semitic and not saying so is dishonest."
The petition itself mentions nothing about terrorism directed against Israeli civilians, rocket attacks aimed at its kindergartens, and the unwillingness of Hamas even to recognize Israel's right to exist. It seeks to express "solidarity with Palestinian students whose access to education is severely inhibited by the Israeli occupation." It fails to add that Palestinian students have more and better access to education than Arab students in nearly every other part of the Middle East. It fails to mention that students are routinely arrested for expressing dissenting views in Iran, Saudi Arabia, Syria and other Muslim nations. It fails to mention that Israel has affirmative action programs for its Palestinian students. It fails to mention that when Israel ended the occupation of Gaza in an effort to trade land for peace, all it got in return was more than 6,000 rockets fired from Gaza at its children. It fails to present any balance concerning the Israel-Palestine conflict.
When protests over Hampshire action began, the administration issued a statement of clarification, which did not mention Israel but claimed, obliquely, that "the decision expressly did not pertain to a political movement or single out businesses active in a specific region or country." [To read the entire statement, go here.]
But Hampshire President Hexter acknowledged that "it was the good work of SJP"--the virulently anti-Israel group called Student For Justice in Palestine--"that brought this issue to the attention of the committee."
They can't have it both ways. They undertook no action based on alleged violations by any country other than Israel, which allowed the anti-Israel group to claim victory, as they have been doing even after the "clarification." Virtually every media report was headlined "Hampshire First College in United States to Divest From Israel." I see dhimmis like the Hampshire administrators as the witch-doctors and shamans of a new kind of cargo cult. They believe that if they shake their feathers and rattle their gourds in the right direction, the gods (in the form of wealthy oil ticks) will shower them with recycled petro-dollars. Unlike the original cargo cultists, though, they are probably right.
#2
This looks like the action of a fifth-rater trying to claw their way up the rankings the easy way, rather than improving academically. But perhaps Hampshire College is one of those quiet jewels of academia known only within the region. Still, I don't remember them courting trailing daughter #1, for all she was a National Merit scholar; perhaps they don't aspire that high.
#3
When I was up there in the giant reeducation camp (UMASS, Amherst, Mt. Holyoke, Smith, and Hampshire) known as the Pioneer Valley before I escaped in the 70's, Hampshire College was known as the home of the real weirdo's. One of those free form, no grades, make your own major, have your graduation class pose in the nude for their class picture (no kidding) colleges which seemed to cater to rich, liberal NYC kids. It's 50 g's a year to go there, so I doubt that's changed much...
Saint John's is more of a mixed bag - or used to be. Now, I'm not quite sure. But in the early 70s SJC had people like Leo Strauss and Herman Kahn give talks or visit with students. I'm pretty sure Hampshire wasn't as welcoming ....
Washington sent Special Forces into Pakistan last summer after intercepting a call by the Pakistani army chief referring to a notorious Taleban leader as a “strategic asset,” a new book has claimed.
The intercept was ordered to confirm suspicions that the Pakistani military were still actively supporting the Taleban whilst taking millions of dollars in US military aid to fight them, according to the “The Inheritance,” by the New York Times correspondent David Sanger.
In a transcript passed to Mike McConnell, the Director of National Intelligence in May 2008, General Ashfaq Kayani, the military chief who replaced Pervez Musharraf, was overheard referring to Maulavi Jalaluddin Haqqani as “a strategic asset”. The remark was the first real evidence of the double game that Washington had long suspected President Musharraf was playing as he continued receiving US military aid while aiding the Taleban.
Mr Haqqani, a veteran of the anti-Soviet mujahidin wars of the nineties, commands a hardline Taleban group based in Waziristan and is credited with introducing suicide bombing into themilitantsÂ’ arsenal.
“They must have dialled 1-800-HAQQANI” a source told Mr Sanger. “It was something like, ‘Hey, we’re going to hit your place in a few days, so if anyone important is there, you might want to tell them to scram’.”
The intercept was the clue that led the CIA to uncover evidence of collusion between the Pakistani Inter-Services Intelligence agency (ISI) and Mr Haqqani in a plot to carry out a spectacular bombing in Afghanistan. Two weeks later, IndiaÂ’s Embassy in Kabul was bombed, killing fifty-four people and prompting a CIA mission to Islamabad to challenge the government with their evidence.
The first cross-border strike took place in early September without IslamabadÂ’s knowledge after Washington concluded that no one could be trusted with the information.
General Kayani, a former ISI chief, became army chief when Mr Musharraf relinquished that post in 2007, a year before he was forced to quit as president. Worryingly for Washington, General Kayani remains PakistanÂ’s army chief.
Mr Musharraf reacted angrily to the book’s allegations of double-dealing, which appeared in the Pakistani press for the first time yesterday. “Get your facts correct, I have never double-dealt,” Mr Musharraf told Pakistani television stations.
“There is a big conspiracy being hatched against Pakistan, to weaken the Pakistan army and the ISI to weaken Pakistan.”
Mr SangerÂ’s book, detailing the foreign policy challenges inherited by the Obama Administration, was published in the US last month. In it, US intelligence officials also speak of their fears that Islamist militants might launch a spectacular attack on Indian soil in the hope of ramping up tensions on the subcontinent, leading Pakistan to deploy its nuclear weapons.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009
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#4
Somebody remind me why we give money to Pakistan. This article isn't news to anyone who reads the DS&TP, but maybe the public will come to understand that the Taliban is just one of Pakistan's faces.
#5
As with the approach to the economy (deficits are dealt with; with even larger deficits) Obama will quadruple aid to Pakistan and declare the problem solved.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/17/2009 10:47
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#12
Of course former President General Dr. Musharref never double dealt. The accusation is insulting. Triple at least, quadruple or more most often. As others more knowledgeable than I have frequently commented, politics in the Land of the Pure far outdoes the Byzantines in complexity.
The men and women involved with antiterrorism have a reputation of being among the best in Europe. They can often be found in super-modern offices tucked into beautiful buildings of considerable antiquity. They usually ask that their names remain secret.
One of the reasons for their expertise in the age of jihad is that they have been confronting Islamic extremism longer than most European countries. While Britain was concentrating on the Irish Republican Army, and Spain on Basque separatists of the Euskadi ta Askatasuna, the French were involved with after-effects of their North African empire. And few countries in the world have witnessed more Islamist violence than Algeria, over which France fought a long, colonial war before it gave in and accepted Algerian independence.
Although Islamists from every country can be found in France, it is from North Africa that most of France's anti-terrorism worries come. European imperialism that ended in the last century has had its blowback effect as the former colonized flood into the space of the former colonizers. They crowd into the despairing suburbs, hoping to better their lives in a European dream that constantly eludes them. "We keep strong relationships with former colonies," said a French official. "We have the most intimate relationships, but they are complicated. Love and hate. And, unfortunately, some who live here feel discriminated against - racism."
Antiterrorism authorities here are known for their capacity to infiltrate potentially unfriendly organizations in order to monitor them. They have a much higher number of people versed in foreign languages and cultures than their American counterparts. When it comes to home-grown Islamic threats, of the kind that bombed the London subway, "in France we have better control over our domestic situation than do our British friends," an official told me. "We also have tools, legal weapons, that are unlike others in the western world," said another.
The French authorities also have powers of surveillance and communications intercepts that would make even Dick Cheney blush. The horror! The horror!
The sharpest tool in the French antiterrorist arsenal is a law, unique in the French legal system, that makes "an intention to commit a crime a crime itself," an official explained. It sounds a bit like the American RICO laws, which have been used successfully against gangsters. "We use it carefully so we don't get the European Union human-rights courts on our neck," he said. The trick is to create "very close relationships between intelligence and law enforcement activity, and by prosecuting defendants for conspiracy. I believe it is easier to charge someone with conspiracy in France than in the United States."
The French pay a great deal of attention to what one policeman called the "genealogy" of terror, the grievances, the links, the associations of radicalism, the funding connections. There are increasing efforts in Europe to build bridges to other legal systems in Europe.
I found my sources here perhaps more philosophical than their counterparts elsewhere. There is an understanding that, although modernization - better education and living conditions to lift people out of poverty and ignorance - can help with Islamic radicalism in the long run, there is also an inevitable backlash against modernization itself. Modernization can create its own fear, especially in the Muslim world where the new can seem a threat to religion.
There is a human tendency to react against perceived corruption and decadent idolatry. There may be a direct link between the reaction of Moses to the golden calf, the proclamations of Martin Luther nailed to the church door, and the election of Hamas in Gaza, which was a reaction against the corrupt ways of Fatah. But understanding why people might turn to terrorism is only part of the puzzle of how to prevent it. The French legal system tries to "avoid legal overreactions which can be criticized from a legal point of view," according to one judge, but at the same time be effective in combating terror.
"We know we are succeeding in blocking several terrorist attempts each year," an official said, "but one day we know we will be unlucky. Unfortunately it is a probability."
#1
As long as you don't consider the urban bi-weekly car burning championships "thawing" all terrorist attacks on its soil.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/17/2009 9:46
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#2
There's little that they can do about generic rioting, it's the hard boyz plotting that they can deal with.
This was one of the things that was so annoying about French hypocrisy in 2003. Anyone with a minimal knowledge of French history and politics knew about the -fact- that they stomp with both feet when it comes to counter-intelligence.
#4
"The French authorities also have powers of surveillance and communications intercepts that would make even Dick Cheney blush."
They also allow interogation techniques that would get ACLU lawyers salivating at the chance to sue. IIRC they use electric shock techniques to the point that some "subjects" have died.
But they don't have to worry because the European Union Human Rights Courts are too busy complaining about American orange jumpsuits.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/17/2009 11:36
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#5
Actually, there's a ritualistical yearly condemnation of french police tactics & jail living conditions by various NGOs & EU right orgs, not that it makes any difference. Supposedly, France is second to and right behind TURKEY when it comes to that kind of stuff, in continental Europe, not that I think that is very credible, looking at my perception of eastern european polices and all. Still.
NEW YORK (CNN) -- The founder of an Islamic television station in upstate New York aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has confessed to beheading his wife, authorities said. Hey, it was that or throw acid in her face. Probably couldn't find enough employees after hours to put together an decent impromptu stoning party.
Muzzammil Hassan was charged with second-degree murder after police found the decapitated body of his wife, Aasiya Hassan, at the Bridges TV station in the Buffalo suburb of Orchard Park, said Andrew Benz, Orchard Park's police chief. Second degree? What the fuc& did he use to decapitate his wife? A samurai sword that just happened to be laying around for the kids to play with or something?
Hassan was arrested Thursday. One day too late.
His wife filed for divorce January 6, and police had responded to several domestic violence calls at the couple's home, Benz said. Figured they had nothing to worry about when they took his bow saw away.
Hassan went directly to the police station after his wife's death and confessed to killing her, Benz told CNN. Benz declined to give further details. She was spying for the Americans, I tell you!
Attempts to reach an attorney for Hassan were unsuccessful, and his family didn't return calls from CNN. Probably wondering what all the fuss was about.
He had two children, 4 and 6, with his wife. He had two other children, 17 and 18, from his previous marriage. So, kids, what do you think of Islam now?
He launched Bridges TV, billed as the first English-language cable channel targeting Muslims inside the United States, in 2004. At the time, Hassan said he hoped the network would balance negative portrayals of Muslims following the attacks of September 11, 2001. Point taken.
The station's staff is "deeply shocked and saddened by the murder of Aasiya Hassan and the subsequent arrest of Muzzammil Hassan," a statement from Bridges TV said. He should have been set free the minute he said he wouldn't do it again.
"Our deepest condolences and prayers go out to the families of the victim," the statement said. The unspeakable horrors he must have suffered before being driven to behead the bi+ch.
#1
I talked to a liberal friend of mine last night. He said that promoting this story promotes hate. The term asshat come to mind. Liberal refuse to condemn Islam no matter how true the stereotype, down to the letter of the Hadiths.
#3
And umpteen NYT articles on Abu Ghrab* wasn't intended to incite hate? Your liberal acquittance just admitted its not about knowing truth, its just all about power.
*While even greater mistreatment of prisoners was going on in our own stateside facilities, but who's Govs and AGs were Donks, therefore unworthy of such attention.
#6
The founder of an Islamic television station in upstate New York aimed at countering Muslim stereotypes has confessed to beheading his wife, authorities said.
Oh, well. Looks like it just didn't work out, Muzzammil...
#14
Qur'an 4:34 tells men to beat their disobedient wives after first warning them and then sending them to sleep in separate beds. It is worth noting how several translators render the key part of this verse, æóÇÖúÑöÈõæåõäøó, waidriboohunna.
Pickthall: “and scourge them”
Yusuf Ali: “(And last) beat them (lightly)”
Al-Hilali/Khan: “(and last) beat them (lightly, if it is useful)”
Shakir: “and beat them”
Sher Ali: “and chastise them”
Khalifa: “then you may (as a last alternative) beat them”
Arberry: “and beat them”
Rodwell: “and scourge them”
Sale: “and chastise them”
Daryabadi: "and beat them"
Asad: “then beat them”
A powerful roadside bomb injured five police officers as they were passing by in their vehicle during a routine inspection in the back road of Pattani's Tambon Paklor. All were admitted to nearby hospital while [one] appeared to be in the severest condition with both legs broken from the explosion.
The detonator linked to the 15-kilogramme bomb via a 200-meter electrical wire was set off the bomb by terrorists suspected insurgents hiding in the wooded area, police said.
LOGAR PROVINCE, Afghanistan — Close to 3,000 American soldiers who recently arrived in Afghanistan to secure two violent provinces near Kabul have begun operations in the field and already are seeing combat, the unit's spokesman said Monday.
The new troops are the first wave of an expected surge of reinforcements this year. The process began to take shape under President George Bush but has been given impetus by President Obama's call for an increased focus on Afghanistan.
U.S. commanders have been contemplating sending up to 30,000 more soldiers to bolster the 33,000 already here, but the new administration is expected to initially approve only a portion of that amount. White House press secretary Robert Gibbs said Monday the president would decide soon.
The new unit — the 3rd Brigade Combat Team of the 10th Mountain Division — moved into Logar and Wardak provinces last month, and the soldiers from Fort Drum, N.Y., are now stationed in combat outposts throughout the provinces.
Militants have attacked several patrols with rifles and rocket-propelled grenades, including one ambush by 30 insurgents, Lt. Col. Steve Osterholzer, the brigade spokesman, said.
Several roadside bombs also have exploded next to the unit's MRAPs — mine-resistance patrol vehicles — but caused no casualties, he said.
"In every case our vehicles returned with overwhelming fire," Osterholzer said. "We have not suffered anything more than a few bruises, while several insurgents have been killed."
Commanders are in the planning stages of larger scale operations expected to be launched in the coming weeks.
Militant activity has spiked in Logar and Wardak over the last year as the resurgent Taliban has spread north toward Kabul from its traditional southern power base. Residents say insurgents roam wide swaths of Wardak, a mountainous province whose capital is about 35 miles from Kabul.
The region has been covered in snow recently, but Col. David B. Haight, commander of the 3rd Brigade, said last week that he expects contact with insurgents to increase soon.
"The weather has made it so the enemy activity is somewhat decreased right now, and I expect it to increase in the next two to three months," Haight said at a news conference.
Haight said he believes the increase of militant activity in the two provinces is not ideologically based but stems from poor Afghans being enticed into fighting by their need for money. Quoting the governor of Logar, the colonel called it an "economic war."
Afghan officials "don't believe it's hardcore al-Qaida operatives that you're never going to convert anyway," Haight said. "They believe that it's the guys who say, 'Hey you want $100 to shoot an RPG at a Humvee when it goes by,' and the guy says, 'Yeah I'll do that, because I've got to feed my family."'
Still, Haight said there are hardcore fighters in the region, some of them allied with Jalaludin Haqqani and his son Siraj, a fighting family with a long history in Afghanistan. The two militant leaders are believed to be in Pakistan.
A new report from the RAND Corp. think tank argues against that approach. It contends a "game-changing" strategy is urgently needed in Afghanistan that would have the additional troops train Afghan security forces rather than directly confront militants.
"It is unlikely the United States and NATO (on their own) will defeat the Taliban and other insurgent groups in Afghanistan," said the paper, which was being released Tuesday.
Logar Gov. Atiqullah Ludin said at a news conference alongside Haight that U.S. troops will need to improve both security and the economic situation.
"There is a gap between the people and the government," Ludin said. "Assistance in Logar is very weak, and the life of the common man has not improved."
Ludin also urged that U.S. forces be careful and not act on bad intelligence to launch night raids on Afghans who turn out to be innocent.
It is a common complaint from Afghan leaders. President Hamid Karzai has long pleaded with U.S. forces not to kill innocent Afghans during military operations and says he hopes to see night raids curtailed.
Pointing to the value of such operations, the U.S. military said Monday that a raid in northwest Badghis province killed a feared militant leader named Ghulam Dastagir and eight other fighters.
Other raids, though, have killed innocent Afghans who were only defending their village against a nighttime incursion by forces they didn't know, officials say.
"We need to step back and look at those carefully, because the danger they carry is exponential," Ludin said.
Haight cautioned last week that civilian casualties could increase with the presence of his 2,700 soldiers.
"We understand the probability of increased civilian casualties is there because of increased U.S. forces," said the colonel, who has also commanded Special Operations task forces in Afghanistan and Iraq. "Our plan is to do no operations without ANA (Afghan army) and ANP (Afghan police), to help us be more precise."
The U.S. military and Afghan Defense Ministry announced last week that Afghan officers and soldiers would take on a greater role in military operations, including in specialized night raids, with the aim of decreasing civilian deaths.
The presence of U.S. troops in Wardak and Logar is the first time such a large contingent of American power has been so close to Kabul, fueling concerns that militants could be massing for a push at the capital. Haight dismissed those fears.
"Our provinces butt up against the southern boundary of Kabul and therefore there is the perception that Kabul could be surrounded," Haight said. "But the enemy cannot threaten Kabul. He's not big enough, he's not strong enough, he doesn't have the technology. He can conduct attacks but he can't completely disrupt the governance in Kabul."
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/17/2009 9:31
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Other raids, though, have killed innocent Afghans who were only defending their village against a nighttime incursion by forces they didn't know, officials say.
(AKI) - Islamic militants killed eight Algerian soldiers in two separate attacks on Sunday, days after seven people died in roadside bombs, local media reported on Monday. According to the Kuwaiti news agency, Kuna, the two attacks occurred in the provinces of Tebessa and Boumerdes in the east of the country.
Rebels reportedly detonated a bomb as a military truck passed through Stah Aftis village near the border town of Tebessa, 700 kilometres east of Algiers, killing five soldiers and wounding four others.
Three soldiers were also shot dead by Islamic militants at a checkpoint in Bordj Menail in the Boumerdes region just east of the capital. The off-duty soldiers were in civilian clothes when their bus was stopped by Islamist rebels disguised as soldiers, said the Algerian daily, El-Khabar. The militants then killed them.
The latest attacks bring to 15 the number of people reported to have been killed by Islamist rebels since 12 February, when Algerian president Abdelaziz Bouteflika said he would stand in elections to seek a third term in office.
Al-Qaeda's north African wing, formerly known as the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC), has claimed responsibility for a number of bombings and attacks in the country in recent years.
During the 1990s, the country was wracked by an insurgent conflict that killed an estimated 150,000 people. The violence has largely subsided after the government offered successive amnesties to encourage rebels to disarm.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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(AKI) - Imprisoned Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan is "seriously ill", according to a spokesman for his separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Baryar Kabar said the founder of the PKK "has been struck by a skin disease".
In an interview with Adnkronos International (AKI), Kabar said that Ocalan "is subjected to severe psychological pressure and is not allowed access to any news from the outside world except for a small radio with a single station and is allowed to read only one newspaper a month, from which the most important news is removed."
Ocalan has been the sole inmate on the prison island of Imrali since his capture in 1999.
At the weekend police clashed with thousands of Kurdish protesters in southeastern Turkey who demonstrated to mark the tenth anniversary of the capture of the separatist leader.
Eighty-six people were reportedly arrested and at least eight protesters and 17 police officers were hurt when protests turned violent.
Protesters in Diyarbakir, the region's largest city, threw rocks at armoured police vehicles and police used tear gas and water cannon to disperse a crowd of about 2,500 people that gathered in front of the headquarters of the Democratic Society Party (DTP), the only legal Kurdish political grouping.
Baryar Kabar spoke to AKI about Ocalan's prison term. He said in the past ten years, the Kurdish leader had been in solitary confinement 11 times for periods of 10 to 15 days.
"This most severe treatment is not in line with the law or international practices," he said.
On the tenth anniversary of Ocalan's detention, Kabar said "we are telling the world that we will continue our fight until the party leader is freed".
"His freedom would mean freedom for all the Kurdish people," Kabar said.
"The arrest of Ocalan was the result of a huge international plot with the purpose of carrying out mass extermination. But the Kurdish people have become aware of his enemies' objectives and very decisive about pursuing its international fight until the achievement of its legitimate national rights," he said.
Clashes were also reported in Istanbul and the southern port city of Mersin at the weekend.
Ocalan, who founded the separatist PKK in 1978, was arrested on 15 February 1999, while fleeing the Greek Embassy in Nairobi after a year-long manhunt.
He was sentenced to death later that year for treason and his sentence was commuted to life in prison in 2002.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
If I recall correctly a lot folks got killed by the PKK before Ocalan's capture. After he was out of circulation things died down to the current status.
Five militants were killed and several others were wounded after fighter jets attacked suspected militants' hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Monday. The jets struck the suspected hideouts of militants in Mamond tehsil, killing five extremists and injuring scores others. Several militants' positions were also destroyed in air strikes. Meanwhile, security forces backed by fighter jets and artillery pounded militants' positions situated in Inayat Klay, Rehman Abad, Shainkot and Bai Cheena areas of Khar tehsil. However, curfew is still in force in Bajaur Agency for the past 12th day.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Yeah, and just wait until we send the Giants out there.
#2
Kathleen you ignorant slut! By her own hand she allowed $20 BILLION in new business to be postponed or walk away to other states.
In order to make herself more marketable to the Messiah she personally hosed a $3+ BILLION coal fired plant project in western Kansas. That in turn caused a $16 BILLION refinery project to walk away because this administration has it's head firmly planted up it's collective a$$.
#3
This is embarrasing for us conservative Kansans.
Fox news had it right this morning in their interview with Dennis McKinny.
Following article sums up the situation very well. It is from National Review Online one of the best sources of information in the blogosphere.
That Kansas Comedy [Denis Boyles]
The Drudge-driven story in Kansas, that state tax returns are on hold, is, of course, not what it seems. The state is not really going to stop funding schools, close the hospitals, and start starving old folks, as local news reports have suggested.
Instead, the story is an example of Democratic Gov. Kathleen Sebelius's skill at playing the Kansas media the way Joshua Bell saws a fiddle — while the state GOP plays it like Cap'n Hook.
The state's broke and, like many of us, has been living on credit. It's against the law in Kansas to run up a deficit — and Sebelius has pushed that deficit to record levels — but when things get tight, there's a legal way to gain a little change to get by.
Sebelius knew about this coming shortfall because the state legislature has been telling her about it for months. Instead of following the rules, she let the clock run out, cancelled a meeting to discuss the problem with legislative leaders, and then sent out a press release claiming the poor would soon die because Republicans had made her stop sending people their tax refunds. The press did the rest.
But as Kansas House Speaker Mike O'Neal, an expert in state constitutional law, told Kansas Liberty, a statewide news site, "Kansas for years has had on the books procedures a governor can follow in times like these, but she's refused to exercise those options, to the detriment of the state. She's better than that." What Sebelius wanted the lawmakers to do, he said, was against the law.
Her motive? A budget bill has to be signed, and it contains cuts in programs Sebelius likes. Critics say she's trying to buy time and will sit on the budget for as long as possible once it crosses her desk, something she herself has promised to do, saying she's worried about "errors" in the budget. The budget she proposed, meanwhile, would have resulted in an illegal deficit of many millions of dollars.
Meanwhile, O'Neal's encouraging state employees who are worried about getting their paychecks to call the governor.
"TheyÂ’re capable of making payroll if they choose to do it," OÂ’Neal said.
— Denis Boyles is the author, most recently, of Superior, Nebraska. He directs the Brouzils Seminars and is completing a book on early twentieth-century publishing for Knopf.
#4
KSU Wildcat is absolutely right, in addition the gov wants to raise revenue with an increased tax on tobacco - which would work yet they are trying to statewide ban smoking at the very place people smoke the most; bars (see also additional revenue from beverage purchase). Then you have KU rennovate its sports facilities for tens of millions and then state gave them money to rennovate student bathrooms etc. its just bad financial management at the governor's position.
This is not news; it has been flagged for about 6 months now - but sebelius dropped the soap and campaigned for obama. She is nothing more than a career politician who sees her tenure in this state as just one more hoop to jump through before national politics. Her original idea was to run for Brownback's senate seat but found she would get hammered at the polls her only out is to be named into a federal position. This is a political move pure and simple.
Also in the works is county redrawing. (posted last Friday, no mo uro asked why 140 years, well it sounds cool). During sebelius' tenure (we all know) the money flows east to the constituants. Democrat politics pure and simple (conservative independant here, out here we have fine representatives from both parties and don't want to get mucked into the poor spending and social policies of Wichita and to the east; Wichita which raises money for schools then spends millions on a park for example).
Sebelius is a poor leader, Greensburg tornado she consulting with the democrat leadership before making any decisions about what to do, our federal level public service members were visiting a 24 hours before the gov even mentioned anything on TV. All she has to do is follow legal procedure but she is trying the same tactic we are seeing on the federal level of scare and spend outside of proper budget procedure; Kansas Law.
This is not, repeat not, Republicans holding payroll hostage.
IMHO, the deal about the coal plant - it was slated to pass but then suddenly there was an environment issue, sierra club and everything. Read like a shakedown for under table games which the company got too expensive/got tired of playing.
In his first remarks on Israel's recent elections, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday warned that Jerusalem's incoming government would be defeated in Lebanon just as its predecessors were.
"The good news is that Israel has become more candid and more clearer," Nasrallah said, in reference to the success of hawkish Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman. Addressing his supporters via video, Nasrallah urged them "not to let [the election results] frighten you, because whoever comes to frighten us, all of them have been defeated in Lebanon - Begin, Sharon, Rabin, Barak, Netanyahu, Olmert, and Livni. There is one who has yet to try and that is Lieberman... He too will be defeated."
Also on Monday, Nasrallah renewed his promise of wreaking vengeance on Israel over the 2008 assassination of the Islamist group's military commander, Imad Mughniyeh. If the next Israeli government decides to send its army and military brigades into Lebanon's towns and villages, "they will be destroyed at the hands of Imad Mughniyeh's trainees," Nasrallah told a rally gathered to commemorate the first anniversary of the militant's assassination.
"We have fought this struggle against this [Israeli] enemy ... on the basis of surprises," Nasrallah said, drawing cheers from thousands of supporters waving Hezbollah's yellow flags at a complex in the group's stronghold south of Beirut. "This promise will be fulfilled, God willing...," he said, adding that he would say no more on the matter.
Israel has never confirmed it was behind the car bomb attack, although it welcomed the death of a man who had been on the United States' most wanted list for 25 years.
Mughniyah had been blamed for a wave of Western hostage-taking in Beirut in the 1980s and deadly attacks on U.S. and Israeli targets in Lebanon and beyond.
The leader of the Iranian-backed group also said that Hezbollah has the right to acquire air-defense weapons and to use them against Israeli warplanes that violate Lebanese air space on a daily basis. These remarks by Nasrallah were the first indication that the group might have already obtained such a system that could inflame tensions with Israel 2-1/2 years after the enemies fought a 34-day war.
"Every few days there is [an Israeli media] report that the resistance has obtained advanced air-defense weapons, of course I don't deny or confirm this," Nasrallah said. "What I want to confirm today is that we have every right to obtain any weapon, including air-defense weapons, and we have every right to use this weapon," he added.
Nasrallah said obtaining such a system would tip the balance in any conflict with Israel because Israel relies heavily on air supremacy in its military planning.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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IAF jets bombed the Philadelphi route, an area of smuggling tunnels near Gaza's border with Egypt, for a second time on Monday in response to Qassam rocket fire that hit the Negev earlier in the day.
Israel's military said the strikes targeted tunnels used to smuggle weapons in from Egypt and was retaliation for the rocket attacks.
Palestinian rockets hit Israel Monday morning, as talks dragged on over a long-term truce that would bring quiet to Israel's south and the coastal territory. Two rockets fired from Gaza hit southern Israel Monday, one exploding in an open area in the Sha'ar Hanegev region and the other hitting inside a kibbutz in the Sdot Negev region. No injuries were reported in either incident, but some property sustained damage.
Gaza rockets are a near-daily occurrence in southern Israel, even after the devastating three-week Israeli offensive in Gaza that was meant to bring a halt to the fire.
Gaza man killed in accidental scrap metal recycling blast
Palestinian hospital officials said Monday that a 25-year-old Gaza man has been killed and five people have been wounded in a blast along the border with Israel.
Palestinian security officials said the explosion in the northern Gaza town of Beit Lahiya was caused when people who were melting down scrap metal for recycling inadvertently threw an explosive device into the fire.
Residents initially reported Monday that a shell exploded.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
I wish we could send Bill Murray to Gaza since he has become a complete idiot nuisance especially at the AT&T in Pebble. What a jerk!
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/17/2009 9:36
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ROME — Italy will not accept any Guantanamo Bay detainees when the U.S. prison shuts down, a close ally of Premier Silvio Berlusconi said Monday after meeting with U.S. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi.
Feel the love, Nan ...
Gianfranco Fini, the speaker of Italy's Chamber of Deputies, said he knew of no Italian citizens at Guantanamo. People can be held in Italian prisons only after they are sentenced by the Italian judiciary or countries with which Rome has a bilateral agreement, he said.
Italian reports, citing human rights organizations, say as many as a dozen people who had been residents of Italy but not citizens are being held at Guantanamo. Italian officials have not addressed the issue.
Nor will they ...
President Barack Obama has ordered the prison in Cuba to be closed within a year and his administration is reviewing the Guantanamo cases to determine whether the suspects remaining there should be tried in U.S. courts or released to other countries.
"I don't think we'll see a situation where the president will be asking countries to accept people," unless it is the inmates' country of origin, said Pelosi.
Put 'em in Berkeley. Enroll them in classes. You won't be able to tell them apart from the local crazies. Except for the scimitars ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Dump them in Marin county, Nan. I bet they'd make swell nannys. Especially for those kids with discipline issues...
#3
An off-the-wall idea, evacuate GTMO, leave them behind, be sure there's NO fuel, ammo, weapons, food, or transportation of any kind, let them eat concrete.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/17/2009 13:28
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Some people harness the awesome power of Google Earth to view distant lands they may never reach, take in a crime in progress, or maybe even find a 3 billion dollar shipwreck. At least that's the claim of Nathan Smith, a Los Angeles musician who appears to have spotted the remains of a Spanish barquentine while zooming in on a shoeprint shaped object in the Aransas Pass in Texas. This assumption was based on historical records which put a lost barquentine (three masted sailboat) near that location south of Refugio, Texas, in 1822.
After consulting with a few experts, he traveled to the location which just happens to be the private ranch of the late Morgan Dunn O'Connor. The result of this drama will end up being decided in the courts with the family of Mr. O'Connor and Mr. Smith in a bitter dispute over salvage rights. If the courts determine that the land is located within a navigate-able waterway, the first person to find the wreck is entitled to the spoils, otherwise the bounty goes to the O'Connor family.
As if this wasn't complicated enough, the state of Texas is also considering its options because it disputes the existence of a commercial waterway near the wrecks location. If this is proven true, the state might have found a surefire way to balance its books come budget time. U.S. District Judge David Hittner will rule on the salvage rights within two months time.
Stop smooching. "Stop that this instant!"
That's the message of a new sign that went up outside a train station in northern England on Monday. "Put those lips away now, dammit!"
The goal is to stop departing passengers from pulling up in their cars at a crowded drop-off point and pausing to kiss each other farewell. "And no fondling, either! You, there, Miss! Let go of that! You don't know where it's been!"
Virgin Rail says it installed the sign while refurbishing the station after a local business networking group said the place had to become more efficient. "Dat's right. Kissin' ain't efficient!"
But profit margins may have been a factor, too. Ohoh. Cherchez le pound. Or maybe le euro.
Virgin Rail says that if passengers want to share an embrace before they part company, they should pay to park their cars nearby where they can kiss all they want. "All we're askin' is for a bit of financial support here!"
"How much financial support?"
"How much you got?"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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North Korea has been preparing for a test-launch of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile since January, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee said Monday. Lee's remarks in parliament appear to mark the first time for a high-level South Korean government official to publicly reveal the North's launch preparations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Mighty nice of Kimmie to provide free target missiles to shoot down.
MALAYSIA'S marine police on Monday captured a group of seven pirates from Indonesia who had been attacking vessels in the Straits of Malacca, the Star newspaper reported. The seven were arrested after they threw three grenades at the police boat and the police damaged the engine on the pirates' vessel, marine police official Mohamad Kamsani Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying by the Star.
One of the captured pirates was wounded by the police gunfire and three escaped, the police official said. 'With the engine damaged, we managed to corner and detain the suspects after a 30 minute chase,' Mohamad Kamsani said.
Police said that they suspected the gang had been behind thefts from ships worth 400,000 ringgit (S$168,172) over the past year.
Unlike attacks in the Gulf of Aden, pirates around Indonesia and Malaysia tend not to seize ships and cargo, preferring to steal money and the personal property of crews.
Following a spate of pirate attacks in the South China Sea, the International Maritime Bureau in December warned ships to be vigilant.
Piracy in the Straits of Malacca, which were used by 70,000 ships in 2007, has been on the wane since 2005 when the Joint War Committee of the Lloyds Market Association added it to its list of war risk zones, sharply raising insurance premiums.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#2
Recent studies actually back up Mr. King's statement. It turns out that mild anti-Zionism is the gateway drug to unapologetic rabid antisemitism. See a href=http://www.h-net.org/~antis/papers/jcr_antisemitism.pdf>this epidemiology-style study for details.
Recent studies actually back up Mr. King's statement. It turns out that mild anti-Zionism is the gateway drug to unapologetic rabid antisemitism. See Anti-Israel Sentiment Predicts Anti-Semitism in Europe published in 2006 in the Journal of Conflict Resolution for details.
Extract: The research in this article shines a different, statistical light on this question: based on a survey of 500 citizens in each of 10 European countries, the authors ask whether those individuals with extreme anti-Israel views are more likely to be anti-Semitic. Even after controlling for numerous potentially confounding factors, they find that anti-Israel sentiment consistently predicts the probability that an individual is anti-Semitic, with the likelihood of measured anti-Semitism increasing with the extent of anti-Israel sentiment observed.
Jesse Jetstream can ignore King now that King is dead. King's death was very convenient for a lot of hacks who would like to claim his mantle, despite the fact that the content of their character is questionable indeed.
#5
Martin Luther King, Jr., was a man of conviction. Jesse Jackass is a man strongly in need of being convicted. I respect MLK - I have NO respect for Jesse Jackass or any of his spawn. You can also add Louis Farrakan and Al Sharpton to the list along with JJ.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 21:35
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#6
MLK Jr had his failings (as do I/we all). I respect his sacrifice and committment, and deplore what was done with his "be judged by the color of their skin but by the content of their character. ..." theme. He would power a small city with his grave spinning if able to see Monica Conyers, Maxine Waters, Dollar Bill Jefferson, et al
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/17/2009 21:44
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Kadima officials say they agree with Avigdor Lieberman's hard-line right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party on 90 percent of all issues. Vice Premier Haim Ramon from Kadima told Ynet that 90 percent of Yisrael Beiteinu's policies are in line with Kadima's. "Even on the subject of loyalty and everything concerning national service - we agree," he said.
Lieberman had earlier set five demands as precondition for joining a coalition with Kadima. The demands include the destruction of the Hamas's government, setting pledging allegiance to the Israeli regime as a precondition for citizenship, the formulation of a bill supervising "Israel's method of government" within three months, and setting up an emergency cabinet for immigrant absorption.
Yisrael Beiteinu's demand to make swearing allegiance to Israel mandatory for citizenship is a controversial issue as it would facilitate stripping many Arabs of their citizenship. If you're not loyal to a state how can you describe yourself as a citizen?
Ramon however added that the party had not yet reached a clear verdict on the allegiance clause of the bill. "It's a complicated subject and we have to discuss it within the framework of a committee," he said.
Uncertainty about the results of the elections has left Israel in a political limbo. Both Kadima and its rival party Likud, which have claimed victory in the elections, have been trying to win the support of other parties including Yisrael Beiteinu to form a coalition.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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(AKI) - Pakistani militants on Monday said they had extended the deadline for the execution of a senior United Nations official kidnapped in the west of the country in early February. The group, calling itself the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, on Friday said it would kill American John Solecki in 72 hours, but a spokesman told the media on Monday it would extend the deadline for the government to accede to its demands.
The group reportedly told the Quetta Press Club on Monday that the deadline for Solecki's execution had been extended for a few days.
Solecki, the head of the office of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees in Quetta, was kidnapped on 2 February after gunmen ambushed his car and shot dead his driver, Syed Hashim Raza.
Pakistani media said police were searching for Solecki in Dalbadin, Naukandi, and areas along the border between Pakistan and Afghanistan. The Taliban is active in the region which has also seen unrest from groups demanding greater local autonomy.
The BLUF has demanded UN intervention to secure the release of 141 women held in Pakistani prisons and resolve the issue of Baluchi independence. Solecki was apparently shown in a video aired by Geo News on Friday. The video showed the face of a blindfolded man, apparently that of John Solecki.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Looks like a job for the UN commando brigade.
Oh...wait.
Senator Roland W. Burris of Illinois on Sunday defended his evolving descriptions of conversations he had with allies of former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich in the months before Mr. Blagojevich appointed him to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. "I did not donate one single dollar, nor did I raise any money or promise any favors of any kind for the governor," Mr. Burris, a Democrat who was sworn in as a senator a month ago, said at a contentious news conference.
Mr. Burris tried to explain why he did not mention three phone conversations with Mr. Blagojevich's brother -- in which he now says he was asked for fund-raising help -- during testimony last month before a committee of state lawmakers weighing whether to impeach Mr. Blagojevich. "Anyone who suggests otherwise," Mr. Burris added, "or would insinuate that my testimony in person or in writing is anything other than fully compliant with the committee and consistent with the truth is simply playing at partisan politics."
Mr. Burris said that none of his comments had been inconsistent and that he had hidden nothing, telling reporters, "If you all report this correctly, this is no story."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
His testimony is another example of "living document" in liberal parlance.
#1
This is even a bigger problem for US subs than others due to our superior silent running, materials and coatings technology. It is our silent service's biggest worry - running into each other. Of course, the lower the speed the more silent and then the least damage (fingers crossed).
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
02/17/2009 9:50
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#2
Must have been really slow speeds for both submarines to not notice it until later. I'm just really glad no one was hurt.
The Islamic Council of Norway on Monday distanced itself from remarks attributed to a leading Islamic scholar quoted as saying the Holocaust was a 'divine punishment' against the Jews.
Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian-born, Qatar-based scholar made the alleged comments in a speech on the Arab broadcaster al-Jazeera in January, prompting widespread condemnation.
Senaid Kobilica, leader of the Islamic Council of Norway, issued a statement saying it was 'unacceptable' if such an important religious figure as al-Qaradawi had made such remarks, according to Olso daily Aftenposten. Kobilica said the council also planned to raise the matter with the European Council for Fatwa and Research, of which al-Qaradawi is member.
Islamic leaders in Denmark and Sweden have also distanced themselves from the comments.
Danish Imam Abdul Wahid Pedersen told Danish news agency Ritzau that he did not support al-Qaradawi's stance, and that it could not be excused by the angry debate following the recent Israeli offensive against Hamas in Gaza. Pedersen was seen as a moderating force two years ago during the crisis sparked by a Danish newspaper's publication various cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#2
"Shhhh. Don't say such things in languages the kufr understand, you idiot! Now we're going to have to taqqiya to keep them fooled until we take control of the government."
Democrat Al Franken has started using the title "senator-elect," despite the fact that his contest with Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has not yet been decided. A Minnesota court is currently hearing Coleman's challenge to the recount.
A press release sent out by his staff Monday announcing a series of town halls with local mayors reads: "Sen.-elect Franken held the first in a series of roundtable discussions with Minnesota Mayors today in St. Paul. Franken and metro-area mayors discussed the economic realities facing their cities, budget cuts, President Obama's measures for economic stimulus, and how to grow Minnesota's economy."
The Democratic mayor of St. Paul is also quoted in the release referring to Franken as the victor. "Right now, Washington is debating matters of enormous consequence to Minnesota's economy," Mayor Chris Coleman says in the release. "Senator-elect Franken understands what our cities need to prosper, and we're ready for him to go to Washington to be a voice for us."
Since taking the lead in the recount, Franken has insisted that he is the rightful winner of the Minnesota Senate race but did not use the phrase in a press release until Monday. Franken staffers and attorneys have used the phrase but often drawn flack from Republicans for doing so.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
From the look of his waistline, nobody calls him late for dinner either.
*rimshot*
#4
Dunno what Besoeker is saying. But if Franken ever gets to Washington DC expect the old Air America blowhard to join the chorus of those who are calling for a revival of the Fairness Doctrine. OTOH, if Coleman could somehow pull out a miracle the Trunks might be able to stage a filibuster once in a while.
The Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi (TNSM) has endorsed the truce signed with the NWFP government about enforcement of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation in Malakand Division. TNSM chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad will head to scenic Swat valley today in the form of caravan at 11am. Earlier, the shura of the TNSM presided over by Sufi Muhammad met here in Temar Garah to discuss the truce inked with the NWFP government on implementation of Sharia in Malakand region. Talking to Geo news after the meeting, TNSM spokesman Amir Izzat Khan said that the Nizam-e-Adl Regulation's accord was endorsed by the council in today's meeting. He further told that the tehrik had closed down its protest camp set up in Temargarah. Sufi Muhammad will remain in Swat till complete restoration of peace, he said.
This article starring:
Malakand Division
Temar Garah
AMIR IZZAT KHAN
Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi
MAULANA SUFI MUHAMAD
Tehrik-e-Nifaz Shariat Muhammadi
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Just one more step toward the disollution of Pakistan by the US and India. Keep it up, dickweeds, and you'll find out how the world REALLY feels about you.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 15:42
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Only time will tell whether the peace deal signed in Swat bears fruit and brings lasting peace to the valley. In this regard, however, it may be worthwhile to give readers a background into the origins of the Taliban in Pakistan. Also, it will be seen that the nizam-e-adl regulation agreed to now is similar to what Sufi Mohammad's Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) had announced on its own way back in November 1994. Coincidentally -- or perhaps not -- that was also the month when the Taliban captured Kandahar.
Mullah Omer started his Taliban movement with less than 50 madressah students and after the fall of Kandahar, thousands from Pakistani madressahs rushed to join the new force and by December 1994 he had a force of 12,000. A new phenomenon had been created in Pashtun society -- that of madressah students and mullahs, with guns in their hands, ruling the Pashtuns. In Pashtun society no clear role is defined for religious functionaries in the social system. Government officials posted in these areas and the Maliks/Khans are considered leaders, who get legitimacy from the authority they exercise on behalf of the state, with religious functionaries given a limited role of dealing with rituals.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009
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#1
As for the TNSM, it was formed by Sufi Mohammad in 1988. He himself is a simple and peaceful man who does not preach violence except in the way of jihad against non- Muslims
How reassuring General Munir
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009 7:13
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#2
Till the 10th century most of the population were followers of Buddhism and were very peaceful and docile people. In the 16th century the Yousafzai tribe captured the valley.
So they ceased being peaceful when they were forcibly converted to the religion of peace?
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009 7:16
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#3
I'm confused, Brigadier Munir, ret'd. I see no mention of the ISI in this tale of the development of the Taliban. Why is that?
NEW DELHI: India has increased defence budget by 34 % to Rs.1,41,703 crore.
The stand-in Indian Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee has presented the interim budget in the Lok Sabha for the next fiscal.
Mukherjee said the increased plan expenditure for defence this year would be Rs 86,879 crore. Last year's plan expenditure was only Rs 73,600 crore, thereby providing an increase of Rs 13,279 crore this year.
"Mumbai attacks have given a new dimension to cross-border terrorism. In this context, I propose to raise defence allocation to Rs.1,41,703 crore," said Mukherjee.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009
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In his address before a delegation of visiting American Jewish leaders on Monday, Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu indicated that his offer to the Palestinians should he be appointed prime minister would be considerably less than a sovereign state.
Netanyahu told about 100 leaders from the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations that while he would not want to govern the Palestinians, Israel must maintain control of all borders, airspace and electronic traffic.
"Regardless how the solution is achieved, the Palestinians should run their lives," he said. "They should govern themselves, but they shouldn't have certain powers that would threaten the state of Israel."
Netanyahu also ruled out unilateral territorial pullbacks, charging that Israel's withdrawal from Gaza in 2005 has allowed the Islamic militant Hamas to take over the coastal territory.
Prior to Netanyahu's speech, the American Jewish delegation heard an address from Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni, the leader of Kadima and Netanyahu's rival to the premiership.
The group has already met with Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Bank of Israel Governor Stanley Fisher during its visit, which began earlier this week. The delegates are also scheduled to speak with President Shimon Peres and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat over the coming days.
The group comprises 51 member organizations representing virtually all political and religious streams of America Jewry; from the Orthodox Union to the Union of Reform Judaism, as well as the American Friends of Likud and the local branches of Peace Now.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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I do not know what is going on here, and I don't think I want to.
Someone, apparently someone in Asia, wants dollars. A LOT of dollars. There is a forced-liquidation event underway that is massive, it is against all asset classes and it is spreading.
It originated at approximately 7:15 CT this evening and originated out of Asia somewhere. All of the primary currency crosses got hit at once - Euro, Pound, Yen - all weakened dramatically against the dollar and it is still going on. The Asian stock markets got walloped at the same time in coordinated waves of forced selling.
At the same time the US futures markets got nailed as well, down some six handles on the /ES in a near-vertical drop. While this sounds "not that big" to move these markets in a coordinated fashion like this is a trillion-dollar enterprise - this is not some small company that went bankrupt, or even a large company.
There is no news coverage at the present time identifying the source of this but it is not small and contrary to some reports it is not "automatic selling"; this is forced liquidation.
Folks, if this translates into Eastern Europe where there are severe instabilities already brewing literally everything in the financial world could come apart "all at once."
The worse news is that if this happens Bernanke will have killed us (in the US) by extending those swap lines all over the planet during the last six months. These will become utterly uncollectable and they are massive, in the many hundreds of billions of dollars.
To those who are reading this, I hope if you're in the markets you are prepared for extreme levels of violence. You must expect that the authorities will try to arrest the destruction if they are able, but you must also be prepared for the possibility that we have reached a "critical mass" point beyond which "duck and cover" is the only winning strategy.
Unfortunately.
I hope I'm wrong; this is going to be a long night.
#2
Some Euro banks and a number of countries moved significantly closer to bankruptcy today. Everyone is getting out of the Euro and I expect all the rest of the European currencies. Where else to go except the USD? (and gold of course)
This sounds good - flight to safety, US as refuge etc. - except that late last Fall Bernanke extended currency swap capability to quite a few central banks in an attempt to keep liquidity in the market. As a result those countries can, and probably will, insist that we buy their currencies and give them dollars. Since their currencies are not backed by much in the way of economic soundness, it means we've weakened our own position.
There's not enough gold to run or sustain the world economy. Any other commodity [outside of a physical disaster area like Katrina] is presently subjected to downward pressures with raising unemployment and savings. So, were else is the a common unit of transaction that is identifiable across the globe from high end offices to the barter on the street other than the dollar? Remember, you don't have to be faster than the bear, you just have to be faster than anyone else in the group.
Here's a pic of a Roman latrine [minus the plaster and graffiti on the walls] with the lads using the standard butt wipe of the times - sponges. Clean and reuse, how green can you get? :)
Paging Mike Rowe - we may have a new "Dirty Jobs" episode.
#14
Some excellent trade goods for barter are: cigarettes, TP, toothpaste, soap...etc. We don't think about these things, but in really hard times they are going to become scarce.
#16
Some excellent trade goods for barter are: cigarettes, TP, toothpaste, soap...etc. We don't think about these things, but in really hard times they are going to become scarce.
I had an aunt who passed away a few years back. She was 96 and had obviously lived through the degression. During her estate sale a total of nearly 200 roles of toilet paper were removed from her pantry. Some of the family thought it was hilarious. I did not, and I still don't.
#17
Where's George Soros, and what has he been up to? Seems he tried this against the Pound not too long ago...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 16:51
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#18
Lest we fergit, TOPIX [old] > THE RISE OF THE REST [of the World], notsomuch a per se decline or rollback? is US geopol power-influence.
* MSM-NET > Many Netters + MilPol-Geopol Perts, etc. still believe that POTUS OBAMA + ADMIN will end up being a "JIMMY CARTER II", i.e. EXPANSION OF AMER'S ENEMIES EVERYWHERE AS COUPLED WID AMER INACTION = ROLLBACK???
WHAT IS THE ROLE, + ULTIMATE INTENTIONS, FOR THE USA I.E. IS THE USA INTENDED TO PROPAGATE ITS GEOPOL INFLUENCE VERSUS TO BE DESTABILIZED AND DESTROYED???
#19
tw, regarding the "ick" factor....they never went away completely. There's still a few nutz here in the states who do the "reusable butt wipes" thing because they think it's "environmentally friendly". (I never let them anywhere near my washing machine, nor do I use theirs, for obvious reasons...)
(AKI) - Yemeni police arrested an alleged Saudi Al-Qaeda militant with in the southwestern province of Ibb, located 192 kilometres from the capital Sanaa. The arrest took place on Sunday during Yemeni police raids agaist suspected new Al-Qaeda cells made up of former Guantanamo detainees, said Saudi daily al-Watan. Not to worry. If they don't give him a good talking-to and let him go he'll tunnel out of jug to the nearest mosque.
Police raided an apartment in Ibb, where the alleged Saudi militant lived with his wife. During the raid, his wife managed to escape, said the daily. "See ya, honey! I'm outta here!"
In early February, Saudi Arabia issued a list of 83 militant fugitives based overseas and called on them to turn themselves in to authorities and "return to a normal life." Some of those militants are thought to be hiding among local tribes in Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Yemen
Police said it has recovered explosives, including hand grenades, detonators and Kalashnikovs rounds from a building near Patrolling Post here on Monday. SSP Patrolling Police Chaudhry Ghulam Abbas Tarar told that 41 detonators, three hand grenades and a large quantity of KalashnikovsÂ' rounds were recovered from a building near Kotla Jam check-post in Sargodha. He told that police had initiated the investigation into the recovery of arms.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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Civil war is a war between groups meant to take control of a region or a nation. A civil war will always have two sided violence meant to bring about a governmental change or to enforce a substantial change in the policies of an incumbent government.
The Geneva Conventions consisting of four treaties signed between 1864 and 1949 essentially deal with humanitarian concerns regarding non-combatants and POWs during a war between two or more countries. Although not explicit on what a civil war is the Geneva Conventions do identify the factors that can make situations qualify as 'wars that are not of an international character'. Those factors are (1) that those in revolt must be in possession of a part of the territory of the violence torn country (2) that the insurgents must be able to exercise de facto civil authority in the territory that they claims to control (3) that the insurgents must have recognition as belligerents; and (4) that the legal government of that country must be compelled to take recourse to deploying its regular military forces against the belligerents.
The belligerents in Pakistan control the entire FATA as well as the settled district of Swat. Their activities largely go unchallenged by state authorities. Even with the Army deployed in Swat the political leadership cannot go to Swat and hold open courts to listen to the grievances of the people there. In Peshawar too the government is confined. In FATA the writ of the state stands entirely eroded. In short the belligerents in Pakistan do effectively hold a vast tract of Pakistani territory. The belligerents also exercise de facto civil authority over Swat and FATA to varying degrees in different areas. The belligerents exercise civil authority in parts of FATA and in all of Swat to the extent of holding courts and execution of the sentences awarded by those courts.
In light of the third factor necessary for a conflict to fall in the category of a war that is 'not of an international character' the insurgents must have recognition of being belligerents. For an internal conflict to be called a civil war the forces opposing the state have to be belligerent. So what is a belligerent? A belligerent is one who fights or engages in war. The fighters in FATA and Swat can be called by any name; yet, their characterization as belligerents is something that cannot be controversial.
The fourth condition that qualifies for any armed conflict to be 'a war that is not of international character' is the deployment of the regular armed forces of the country against its belligerents. In Pakistan, the regular Army, since 2003, has suffered nearly two thousand killed and many more wounded in action against the belligerents proving that Pakistan faces two sided violence in which the regular armed forces of Pakistan are confronted by well armed belligerents. The Pakistan Air Force has been freely called into action in Swat and FATA.
The above commentary clearly indicates that the situation in Pakistan's northwest qualifies to be 'a war that is not of an international character'. Therefore, it is time Pakistan recognizes realities and understands that a bloody civil war is raging in the country and that this civil war has the potential of spreading across Pakistan. The situation needs to be faced squarely. An all out military operation alone will never yield results. A multi faceted approach is now necessary for a final and durable solution failing which Pakistan's future will remain in the balance. Priceless Pakhtun blood cannot be shed endlessly without serious implications for Pakistan.
Gen Musharraf's unplanned and haphazard military deployment in FATA in 2003 aggravated the situation and Pakistan now needs to resolve matters instantly. It is unfair on the Pakistan Army to make it fight an endless war within its own territory with colossal collateral damage. Pakistan Army needs to be preserved. Even the western leaders now talk of a non military composite political solution to Afghanistan which has a direct bearing on Pakistan's northwest. The political leaders now need to initiate political steps towards resolving the violence.
The writer is a former director-general of the Intelligence Bureau and former vice-president of the PPP Parliamentarians
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009
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(AKI) - At least 30 people died in a suspected US drone attack in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Monday. Initially, 15 people were killed in the attack but many bodies were trapped under the rubble and 30 bodies have so far been recovered, Pakistan's Geo News reported.
Four US drones fired four missiles at suspected militant hideouts in Sarpal in the Kurram tribal agency. An unspecified number of people died in the attack.
Sources quoted by Geo News said there was a camp of Afghan Taliban commander Bahram Khan Kochi in the area and US drones continued patrolling the area after the attack.
The area has been the scene of an ongoing sectarian war between Taliban militants and local Shia militias.
Two missiles on Saturday reportedly destroyed a house near the Afghan border being used by Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. At least 28 militants, including foreign fighters, were killed in that attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Hey, these are Obama's misles now. So, they are now being sent without preconditions? Outta sight!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/17/2009 11:20
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Gov. Paterson has secretly granted raises of as much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers at a time when he has asked 130,000 state workers to give up 3 percent pay hikes because of the state's fiscal crisis, The Post has learned.
What did you think he was going to do with the pörn tax?
The startling pay hikes, costing about $250,000 annually, were granted after the governor's "emergency" declaration in August of a looming fiscal crisis that required the state to cut spending and impose a "hard" hiring freeze.
One raise was approved as recently as last month - when Paterson claimed the budget deficit had reached an unprecedented $15.5 billion.
#6
I read "Animal Farm " some years ago, and the man was spot on, I hear the sheep chorus daily, "Men Baaaad" only now it's changed to
Whoever's against ME, Baaaad ("Me" being Democrats.)
("DEM"S GOOD, OTHERS BAAAAD)
I would have to say the DNC either uses Animal Farm as it's "Bible", or was the model "Animal Farm " was based on.
I frankly don't see any difference.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/17/2009 14:08
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#7
As I recall, Orwell was directly criticizing the Soviet Union under Stalin.
Fears are growing that Ireland could default on its national debt after the cost to insure against possible losses on loans to the country rose to record highs at the end of last week.
Credit ratings agency Moody's recently followed rival Standard & Poor's in warning it might downgrade Irish debt, amid fears that one of Europe's former success stories is falling into a deepening recession. The cost to hedge against losses on Irish debt tripled last week to a record 355 basis points - meaning that for every £100 of debt, investors have to pay £3.55 to insure against default, according to data firm CMA Datavision. It was about 262 basis points at the end of January.
Moody's has warned there is a more than 50% chance Ireland will lose its triple A rating within 12 to 18 months.
The spread between Irish and German debt rose last week to 203 points, meaning Ireland has to pay 2% more interest than Germany to borrow in the financial markets because of its perceived higher risk.
Ireland last week announced an additional €7bn (£6.3bn) injection into its top banks, Bank of Ireland and Allied Irish Banks, which are suffering from an increase in bad loans. Thousands of Irish citizens are struggling to pay their mortgages which they arranged at the peak of the country's real estate bubble. Unemployment is at a 15-year high.
The IMF tried to calm investors by saying the country, once known as the Celtic Tiger because of its economic growth, did not need any financing from it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Even if they did, the IMF has run out of money.
She was severely injured by an aircraft crash on February 22, 1943, when a USO plane carrying Froman and 38 others crashed into the Tagus River in Lisbon, Portugal. One of fifteen survivors, Froman sustained horrible injuries: a cut below the left knee nearly severing her leg, multiple fractures of her right arm, and a compound fracture of her right leg that doctors threatened to amputate.
The co-pilot, John Curtis Burn, who broke his back in the crash, held on to Jane to keep her afloat. After being rescued, they were sent to the same convalescent home, where they battled their long recoveries together. John Burn and Jane Froman were later married, only to be divorced eight years later (1948-1956).
Froman underwent 39 operations over the years. She stubbornly fought amputation, but with dignity and aplomb wore a leg brace the remainder of her life. However, she returned and entertained the troops in World War II, despite having to walk with crutches, giving 95 shows throughout Europe
#2
That is either Ron Jeremy or Khalid Sheikh Mohammed in the telly. If pr0stitution were redefined as p0rn, they could tax the former governor Eliot Spitzer and a lot of other big enchilados for p0rn. Anyway, what is the difference between pr0stitution and p0rn--both involve $ex between consenting adults for money?
I saw where a female p0rn star was considering running for the Senate. She said it couldn't be any dirtier than what she had been doing...and I thought what a naive babe.
Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith Monday said, Australia will help Pakistan win war on terrorism and added we will allow increase in Pakistan's army personnel who come for training. Shah Mahmood Qureshi said the two countries have discussed prospects of increasing cooperation in economic, trade, agriculture, livestock and defence fields. He said the two sides also discussed how they can enhance investment opportunities for Australia in Pakistan and in this connection pinpointed areas of oil and gas, mining, power generation, agriculture and dairy development. The Australian Foreign Minister said the two countries need to adopt an aggressive approach in consolidating cooperate in economy, trade and investment. He said Australia would also increase educational scholarships for Pakistan.
He said the two countries can benefit from each others' experience in different fields. He hoped that there would be regular consultations between chiefs of armed forces of the two countries. The Australian Foreign Minister said his country strongly supports democratic Pakistan. Replying to a question the Australian Foreign Minister described Swat agreement with Tehrik Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi as welcome development and said problems cannot be resolved through military means alone. He said there was also need to pursue dialogue and development as part of the counter-terrorism strategy. He also appreciated Pakistan's response to Indian dossier on Mumbai attacks and called for resumption of composite dialogue between the two countries.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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The French State was responsible for deporting Jews during the Second World War, the top judicial authority ruled for the first time yesterday, but it dismayed families of victims by declaring that they had already been compensated.
The decision by the Council of State, the final arbiter on civil law matters, made formal a doctrine that has been accepted by successive governments since 1995. It was advising on a case brought by Madeleine Hoffman-Glemane, 75, one of hundreds of victims who have sued recently for damages over their arrests and deportation during the Nazi occupation from 1940 to 1944.
The council called for a "solemn recognition of the responsibility of the State". France was "responsible for damages caused by actions which did not result from the occupiers' direct orders but facilitated deportation from France of people who were victims of anti-Semitic persecution", it said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Well come on, how much more do they fricking want? Reminds me of that quote from Booker T. Washington about professional grievance-mongers.
#2
There comes a time when this has to stop, it was terrible what happened but what in another 100 years people are going to be still trying to claim something
Posted by: Alex ||
02/17/2009 3:12
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#3
Well, Alex that's why the special interest groups still throw out the words 'slavery' or 'segregation' to get resources and power over others several generations removed from those times and regardless of those who in the group targeted for emotional blackmail who's ancestors 'gave their last full measure of devotion' to end the practices.
#4
well it's about time for african americans in the US yelling for reparations from slavery too but do you think it is going too and none of these ppl where ever slaves in the first place unlike the jews of europe who were
#5
Keep in mind that not just Jews were slaves. I was in Norway 20 years ago for an Air National Guard deployment. The aircraft were deployed in a cavern complex cut into a solid rock mountain by Norwegian prisoners. Many died in that mountain and the locals still did not like Germans AT ALL. Their Fathers and Grandfathers died in there.
That being said, time to move on. This court case is just greed.
#6
Same story here in Canada with the Natives and land claims and 'opression of culture'....
By the way, 'true' native culture from before the 'white man' came used to be that if didn't work you starved. There were no nanny-state programs back then. It was work your butt off to survive or you die.
Since I come from British/Spanish/French lines, how about I find a shopping mall in London, Paris or Madrid and claim it was built on my ancestral lands, without my consent, and demand compensation?
#7
Yes indeed, those greedy Jews want more. My mother and my grandmother got so much compensation from the German government that they could buy a cup of coffee and a sandwich once a month. My grandfather got nothing, because he died a few years after the war.
I rather imagine the French government, insisting as it always has that it held no responsibility for the actions of those Vichy swine during the war, was rather less generous to the Jewish citizens it shipped off to German concentration camps. But no matter, everyone will accept that it is only the greed of that small remnant still living that caused them to sue for compensation.
Agreed, the descendants of the victims should get nothing in the way of compensation from the various governments involved, nor am I aware of any movement to get us compensation. But the actual victims, especially those who have gotten nothing except further humiliation thus far...
All you clever people who posted in this thread, please tell me: how much compensation have Madame Madeleine Hoffman-Glemane, 75 and her hundreds of greedy Jewish fellows actually received from France since the end of the war, that you declare is quite, quite enough? I myself suspect if they got anything at all, it was rather less than the cost of a monthly sandwich and cup of coffee.
Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has described a deal with local Taliban as 'ridiculous' while dismissing allegations against ISI. "It's really ridiculous to sign a deal with those who killed hundreds of army personnel in Swat," Musharraf told reporters in a press conference in Islamabad -- his first official-media appearance since his resignation last year. It's pretty ridiculous to complain about the occasional violation of national sovreignty by drones, pilotless or otherwise, while handing over judicial and de facto administrative sovreignty to a pickup team of turbans.
He condemned a conspiracy against Pakistan's army and the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI) as 'propaganda', saying such moves would harm international efforts against terrorism, a Press TV correspondent reported. "If Pakistan's army or the ISI were weakened due to certain conspiracies, the international community would lose the war on terror," he added.
The statement comes from the former US -backed military ruler just hours after a deal was reached with Taliban militants in the Swat Valley permitting the militants to establish their own rule and court system in insurgency-hit Malakand Division in North West Frontier Province (NWFP) in the coming four to six months.
Pervez Musharraf also denied allegations of adopting a double standard policy towards Taliban during his eight-and-half-year military rule, calling such allegations as distortion and fabrication of the facts.
"I was not alone in whatever I did in my eight years, but the international alliance shared the same. Why no one made such allegations when I was in power," he said in a reference to recent media reports questioning his commitment to the so-called 'war on terror'.
In late 2001, former President Musharraf joined the Bush administration's drive against terrorism and deployed thousands of Pakistani troops in rugged tribal regions bordering Afghanistan to hunt-down pro-Taliban and al-Qeada-linked insurgents.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
"If Pakistan's army or the ISI were weakened due to certain conspiracies, the international community would lose the war on terror," he added.
I smell blackmail again Perv!!!!
Two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League locked in a fierce clash on Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus yesterday that left at least 50 people injured, five of them with bullets.
The sporadic clashes continued till filing this report at 2:00am today starting from around 2:00pm yesterday.
Witnesses said the clashes began between the two groups when cadres of Ayon group swooped on Jony group at Bottola, in front of Maulana Bhasani Hall, over establishing supremacy on campus.
A group of unidentified men at one stage also attacked the residents of acting Proctor Prof Md Nasiruddin and General Secretary of Jahangirnagar University Teachers Association Prof Shamsul Alam Selim.
Police raided Bangabandhu Hall and AFM Kamaluddin Hall late last night but failed to seize any arms except a few iron rods. Police, however, arrested 19 students of Ayon group, sources at the Savar Police Station said.
Chhatra League central committee suspended all activities of JU Chhatra League unit for a month more following the clashes. Last month, the two Chhatra League factions clashed with each other on campus that left 30 students injured. The central committee had then suspended activities of its JU unit for a month.
"A few activists of Ayon group beat up Nayan, an activist of Jony group, in Bangabandhu Hall in the morning. Hearing the news, activists of Jony group launched a hectic search for the attackers on campus and finally they beat up some activists of Ayon group in Bangabandhu Hall around noon," a student said.
In the meantime, a few activists of Jony group took position in Bottola area and the activists of Ayon group attacked them with sharp weapons that left five injured.
Following the attack, over 200 activists of Jony group launched an attack on the activist of Ayon group with firearms at Battola.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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A top Iranian cleric says the future of possible talks between Iran and the US lies in the hands of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution.
Following the Obama administration's plans to remake America's approach to diplomacy with regards to Iran, there have been calls in Iran to take up the invitation for direct talks.
A member of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Ayatollah Seyyed Ahmad Khatami, said on Monday that Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei has the final say in defining the Islamic Republic's foreign policy toward the White House.
"Those who claim that once they come to power, they would stop the uranium enrichment program have no knowledge of the constitution; the final decision on the issue will be made by the Leader of the Islamic Revolution," said Ayatollah Khatami.
While the president is the most public face of the Islamic Republic, under Iran's constitution the Leader of the Islamic Revolution has the final say in all matters of state.
President Barack Obama, in what appeared as a sharp U-turn from the policies of the former US administration, said in his first White House news conference last Monday that he saw the possibility of diplomatic openings with Iran in the months ahead where both sides "can start sitting across the table, face to face."
Later on Tuesday, Iran's president welcomed the idea of dialogue with the US provided that the tone for change in the new administration is not just a tactical one.
"It is clear that change should be fundamental, not tactical, and our people welcome real changes," said President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad. "Our nation is ready to hold talks based on mutual respect and in a fair atmosphere."
Under former US president George W. Bush, Washington pursued a carrot-and-stick policy toward Tehran over its nuclear program and by setting preconditions of halting enrichment it snubbed calls by Ahmadinejad for talks on the long-standing dispute.
Earlier in June after world powers offered political and economic incentives to Iran in return for the suspension of its enrichment program, Ayatollah Khamenei said Iran would never back down on its nuclear program.
President Obama, who is reportedly mulling over a response to a congratulatory letter from Iran's president for his victory in the US presidential race, has been urged to address his opening to Ayatollah Khamenei.
However, Iranian parliament speaker Ali Larijani said in early February that Tehran is still waiting for a concrete offer from Washington that would kick off the long-awaited negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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California legislators met Monday to reconsider a proposal to close the state's $42 billion deficit after aborting a vote late Sunday night because they failed to find one last Republican vote needed during a marathon weekend session.
Darrell Steinberg, the Democrat state senate leader, expressed confidence that another Republican senator would join two Republicans who have committed to vote with the Democratic majority in approving a budget that would raise taxes and cut spending. The three Republican votes were needed to reach the two-thirds majority that California requires from both houses of its legislature to approve budgets and tax increases.
Voting was scheduled to begin Monday mid-afternoon and go on for hours --possibly into the night. The state assembly was expected to pass the budget with at least three GOP assembly members voting with the Democratic majority. Senate leaders, along with Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger, met individually with Republican senators over the weekend in hopes of persuading one to be the final vote.
The budget put up to vote during the long-weekend session outlined spending for the next 17 months. In addition to the revenue increases, it proposed cutting $15 billion in spending, including $8.6 billion from education and $1.4 billion from payroll costs, to be achieved in part by furloughing 200,000 state workers at least one day a month. The plan also called for $11 billion in borrowing and $700 million in tax breaks for large corporations.
Much is riding on Monday's vote for Gov. Schwarzenegger, who hammered out the budget in closed-door negotiations with Democratic and Republican leaders of both houses. Gov. Schwarzenegger "understands this is going to be a very difficult vote that's going to require real courage and leadership from our state legislators," said Aaron McLear, the governor's spokesman.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
Somebody should start a California state ballot proposition to the effect that: Whenever the legislature fails to enact a balanced the budget before the start of the fiscal year the legislature shall be dissolved and new elections held. All legislators who held office at the time of the failure would be banned from running in the new election. But, since we need a budget before any new legislature could get around to it, it would be up to the governor to propose a balanced budget to be approved by the voters in a timely manner. If he failed he would then lose his job as well and it would be up to the lieutenant governor to take a crack at it. If he failed the Secretary of State would be next...and so on down the line.
The only way we ever get decent laws in this state is by ballot propositions where the people get to vote. Unfortunately, these propositions are often taken to the state supreme court where the judges arbitrarily declare them unconstitutional. We should be able to recall the judges when that happens. After all, we are the people, we are sovereign and they are a bunch of nincompoops. What? You really think they know any better than we do? I don't. And it's better if we do it this way than having to march on the capitol with machetes and pitchforks.
Being as how I am nothing but a poor, dumb computer programmer and not a lawyer I don't have the first clue how to start a ballot proposition. I don't have any time or money for such an endeavor either. Wish I did. But I'd be willing to stand in the shopping malls on Saturdays to collect signatures for the petition.
#2
FOX NEWS AM > KANSAS, CALIFORNIA TO SEND "IOU's" TO STATE TAXPAYERS [those owed Refunds, etc].; + 34 US STATES WILL DECLARE NEGATIVE BUDGET SPENDING GAPS/DEFICITS THRU YEAR 2010.
The Lebanon Army has arrested a resident of south Lebanon suspecting of gathering information on the Islamist Hezbollah group on behalf of Israel, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on Monday.
According to the report, the arrest was coordinated with Hezbollah's security services. The report released only the man's first name, Marwan, and said he was arrested about 10 days ago after months of surveillance.
Sources involved with the investigation said the man, a resident of the southern Lebanese city of Nabatiyeh, confessed to having been employed in France by Israeli intelligence services during the early 1990s with the task of spying on Hezbollah.
He was then asked to relay information about the group's headquarters, guerillas and military plans, according to the report. The man was also allegedly told to gather information about the Lebanon Army, said the newspaper.
The investigation revealed that Marwan was not involved in carrying out any sort of attacks and that he acted alone, according to the report. Marwan also apparently decided to cut off all contacts with Israel following the Second Lebanon War, said the report.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/17/2009
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#1
so I guess this officially makes Hezbollah the official army of Lebanon and the next time the shoot rockets at Israel they can rightfully declare war and bomb the piss out of whomever is in the way?
#2
Unfortunately, RW, most of those "in the way" are UN troops. Totally devastating Beirut and destroying everything between the Litani and Beirut, plus the Bekaa valley, would be better. Between Iran, Hezbollah, and Hamass, the next war may see Israel demonstrate its nuclear capability.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/17/2009 15:00
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#3
tell ya the truth i see the UN as an enemy too so tough cookies for them, and the world community hates us and Israel already so what either one have too lose
The text of the declaration, as read out by the NWFP Information Minister revealed that the judicial system in Malakand would be in accordance with the Shariah Mohammadi as prescribed in Fiqqah (Islamic Jurisprudence). The sources of Fiqqah (Islamic Jurisprudence) are Quran, Sunna, Ijma and Analogy and there will not be any decision against it. An appellate court (Dar Ul Quza) known as Sharia Appellate Bench will be established at Divisional (Malakand) level and its decision will be final.
The implementation of the Shariah judicial system will be made all over Malakand Division and Kohistan District of Hazara will be included after return of peace with consultation of Maulana Sufi Mohammad. In this respect, an appeal was made to Maulana Sufi Mohammad to call off his "peaceful protest" and extend cooperation to the government in return of peace in the whole of Malakand Division.
The declaration on behalf of Government is signed by provincial ministers Mian Iftikhar Hussain, Syed Zahir Ali Shah, Haji Hidayat Ullah Khan and Engineer Humayoon Khan, Secretary Home and Tribal Affairs Fayaz Khan Toru and Secretary Law Mohammad Farooq Sarwar. Maulana Mohammad Ali Naib Amir, Badshah Sarwar member of Shura and Amir Ezzat Khan spokesman represented the banned Tehrik Nifaz Shariah Mohammadi in the agreement.
Terming the consensus between the government and Maulana Sufi Mohammad as historic, the Chief Minister said that it was endorsed and accepted by most of the political forces. He was of the view that this decision was in line with the wishes and expectations of the people from Malakand Division as there was a vacuum since long. In this respect, he reminded that this part of the province was merged in the country in 1969 and its people were uncomfortable with the existing civil laws framed some 100 years back. He said that the first ever attempt was made in 1994 and second in 1999 by the successive governments. However, due to lack of implementation procedure, the people became unhappy. Now through the proposed regulations, a procedure according to the wishes of the people was suggested for early implementation of the already existing laws, which Amir Haider Khan Hoti believed would ensure early and speedy justice.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/17/2009
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This should have some "interesting" consequences.
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.
HOUSEHOLDERS would be charged for each flush under a radical new toilet tax designed to help beat the drought. The scheme would replace the current system, which sees sewage charges based on a home's value - not its waste water output. 
The leader of Hezbollah said Monday that his militant group has the Legitimate Right™ to possess air-defense weapons to face the Israeli warplanes that regularly fly over Lebanon.
The men and women involved with antiterrorism have a reputation of being among the best in Europe. They can often be found in super-modern offices tucked into beautiful buildings of considerable antiquity. They usually ask that their names remain secret. 
(AKI) - Islamic militants killed eight Algerian soldiers in two separate attacks on Sunday, days after seven people died in roadside bombs, local media reported on Monday. According to the Kuwaiti news agency, Kuna, the two attacks occurred in the provinces of Tebessa and Boumerdes in the east of the country.
(AKI) - Imprisoned Kurdish militant leader Abdullah Ocalan is "seriously ill", according to a spokesman for his separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK). Baryar Kabar said the founder of the PKK "has been struck by a skin disease". 
Five militants were killed and several others were wounded after fighter jets attacked suspected militants' hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Monday. The jets struck the suspected hideouts of militants in Mamond tehsil, killing five extremists and injuring scores others. Several militants' positions were also destroyed in air strikes. Meanwhile, security forces backed by fighter jets and artillery pounded militants' positions situated in Inayat Klay, Rehman Abad, Shainkot and Bai Cheena areas of Khar tehsil. However, curfew is still in force in Bajaur Agency for the past 12th day.
In his first remarks on Israel's recent elections, Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah on Monday warned that Jerusalem's incoming government would be defeated in Lebanon just as its predecessors were. 
IAF jets bombed the Philadelphi route, an area of smuggling tunnels near Gaza's border with Egypt, for a second time on Monday in response to Qassam rocket fire that hit the Negev earlier in the day. 
Stop smooching.
North Korea has been preparing for a test-launch of its long-range Taepodong-2 missile since January, South Korean Defense Minister Lee Sang Hee said Monday. Lee's remarks in parliament appear to mark the first time for a high-level South Korean government official to publicly reveal the North's launch preparations.
MALAYSIA'S marine police on Monday captured a group of seven pirates from Indonesia who had been attacking vessels in the Straits of Malacca, the Star newspaper reported. The seven were arrested after they threw three grenades at the police boat and the police damaged the engine on the pirates' vessel, marine police official Mohamad Kamsani Abdul Rahman was quoted as saying by the Star. 
Kadima officials say they agree with Avigdor Lieberman's hard-line right-wing Yisrael Beiteinu party on 90 percent of all issues. Vice Premier Haim Ramon from Kadima told Ynet that 90 percent of Yisrael Beiteinu's policies are in line with Kadima's. "Even on the subject of loyalty and everything concerning national service - we agree," he said. 
(AKI) - Pakistani militants on Monday said they had extended the deadline for the execution of a senior United Nations official kidnapped in the west of the country in early February. The group, calling itself the Baluchistan Liberation United Front, on Friday said it would kill American John Solecki in 72 hours, but a spokesman told the media on Monday it would extend the deadline for the government to accede to its demands.
Senator Roland W. Burris of Illinois on Sunday defended his evolving descriptions of conversations he had with allies of former Gov. Rod R. Blagojevich in the months before Mr. Blagojevich appointed him to fill the Senate seat vacated by Barack Obama. "I did not donate one single dollar, nor did I raise any money or promise any favors of any kind for the governor," Mr. Burris, a Democrat who was sworn in as a senator a month ago, said at a contentious news conference.
Democrat Al Franken has started using the title "senator-elect," despite the fact that his contest with Sen. Norm Coleman (R-Minn.) has not yet been decided. A Minnesota court is currently hearing Coleman's challenge to the recount. 
The 
Only time will tell whether the peace deal signed in Swat bears fruit and brings lasting peace to the valley. In this regard, however, it may be worthwhile to give readers a background into the origins of the Taliban in Pakistan. Also, it will be seen that the nizam-e-adl regulation agreed to now is similar to what Sufi Mohammad's Tehrik-e-Nifaz-e-Shariat Mohammadi (TNSM) had announced on its own way back in November 1994. Coincidentally -- or perhaps not -- that was also the month when the Taliban captured Kandahar.
(AKI) - Yemeni police arrested an alleged Saudi Al-Qaeda militant with in the southwestern province of Ibb, located 192 kilometres from the capital Sanaa. The arrest took place on Sunday during Yemeni police raids agaist suspected new Al-Qaeda cells made up of former Guantanamo detainees, said Saudi daily al-Watan.
(AKI) - At least 30 people died in a suspected US drone attack in northwest Pakistan near the Afghan border on Monday. Initially, 15 people were killed in the attack but many bodies were trapped under the rubble and 30 bodies have so far been recovered, Pakistan's Geo News reported.
Gov. Paterson has secretly granted raises of as much as 46 percent to more than a dozen staffers at a time when he has asked 130,000 state workers to give up 3 percent pay hikes because of the state's fiscal crisis, The Post has learned. 
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Former Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf has described a deal with local Taliban as 'ridiculous' while dismissing allegations against ISI. "It's really ridiculous to sign a deal with those who killed hundreds of army personnel in Swat," Musharraf told reporters in a press conference in Islamabad -- his first official-media appearance since his resignation last year. 
Two factions of Bangladesh Chhatra League locked in a fierce clash on Jahangirnagar University (JU) campus yesterday that left at least 50 people injured, five of them with bullets. 
A top Iranian cleric says the future of possible talks between Iran and the US lies in the hands of the Leader of the Islamic Revolution. 
California legislators met Monday to reconsider a proposal to close the state's $42 billion deficit after aborting a vote late Sunday night because they failed to find one last Republican vote needed during a marathon weekend session.
The Lebanon Army has arrested a resident of south Lebanon suspecting of gathering information on the Islamist Hezbollah group on behalf of Israel, the Lebanese newspaper Al-Akhbar reported on Monday. 
The text of the declaration, as read out by the NWFP Information Minister revealed that the judicial system in Malakand would be in accordance with the Shariah Mohammadi as prescribed in Fiqqah (Islamic Jurisprudence). The sources of Fiqqah (Islamic Jurisprudence) are Quran, Sunna, Ijma and Analogy and there will not be any decision against it. An appellate court (Dar Ul Quza) known as Sharia Appellate Bench will be established at Divisional (Malakand) level and its decision will be final.
