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Syrian Army Launches 'All-Out Attack' on Capital Region
Today's Headlines
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Home Front: Culture Wars
Ace:If It Will Save a Single Life, We Must Get Piers Morgan's Stupid Fat Face off the Television
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 20:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amen!
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 21:58 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Code Pink Protesters Delay Brennan Confirmation – VIDEO
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 20:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under:


Government
ObamaCare may help raise supermarket prices, too
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 20:05 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336076 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Kills Last Terror Suspect Linked to 2010 Metro Blasts
Russian special services reported on Wednesday that the last remaining rebel allegedly involved in the 2010 twin suicide bombing attacks that left 40 dead on the Moscow metro has been killed.

Gusen Magomedov was shot dead Tuesday night during an operation held by the Federal Security Service (FSB) in the North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

"Until today, Magomedov was the last remaining participant directly involved in organizing the terrorist attacks in the Moscow metro in March 2010," Russia's Anti-Terrorist Committee said on Wednesday. “Today he received his retribution,” it said.

According to law enforcement officials, Magomedov accompanied two female suicide bombers on their way from Dagestan to Moscow and escorted one of them to the metro on the day of the attack.
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 20:03 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336119 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good, the Russian seem to care less about public opinion and more about protecting it's nation.
Posted by: 49 Pan || 02/07/2013 21:51 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Piers Morgan Fan Goes On Shooting Rampage, Killing Three…
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 19:44 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336086 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Don't worry. The left and the MSM will ignore this as it doesn't fit the narrative.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 20:04 Comments || Top||



India-Pakistan
Pakistan Supreme Court again considers military’s secret detentions
A year ago, Pakistan’s Supreme Court ordered the country’s military to produce seven men who’d been held in a secret prison after the civilian terrorism charges against them had collapsed. It was a dramatic scene, as the men, who hadn’t been seen in years, appeared in court – emaciated, ill, with one carrying a colostomy bag.

The shock was so great that Rohaifa Bibi, the 59-year-old mother of two of the men, suffered a heart attack that night and died.

The men, however, did not gain their freedom. Instead, they were shunted into a military internment system that is a glaring example of how Pakistan’s legal system has failed to cope with Islamic extremist violence ignited by the country’s alliance with the United States after the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.

Poor investigations by intelligence agencies and police and low rates of convictions by the courts have prompted the military to take justice into its own hands. That’s resulted in the abduction of suspected extremists by intelligence agents, extrajudicial killings, and the trampling of due process.

Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 19:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336096 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey's Terror Finance Problem
Last week’s suicide bombing outside the U.S. embassy in Ankara, carried out by a Marxist Leninist group known as DHKP-C, drew condemnation from across the Turkish political spectrum. But the timing of the attack and the subsequent comments could not have come at a more awkward moment for Turkey. Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan’s government is now under heavy pressure to adopt legislation on the financing of terrorism. If it fails to do so by February 22, the Financial Action Task Force (the U.N. of terrorism finance) will add Turkey to the black list, which is currently only comprised to two countries: Iran and North Korea.
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 19:15 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336101 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amy possibility of official notice that Erdogan's administration financed the Mavi Maramara in that firet Gaza flotilla?
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 23:42 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
HaMDRoNe & SKeeTS
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 19:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under:


The Grand Turk
Turkey: Is Orthodox Denomination Connected to Coup Case?
The priest’s voice echoed off the crumbling plasterwork of the sanctuary, as only two worshippers took part in a recent Sunday service in Istanbul’s Meryem Ana Church. The low turnout is typical these days. The Turkish Orthodox Church is possibly the country’s smallest Christian denomination, and certainly its most controversial.

Turkish prosecutors allege the church, which traces its roots to the upheaval surrounding the founding of the Turkish republic, is connected to an ultra-nationalist movement, known as Ergenekon, which reportedly plotted to overthrow the government of Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdoğan.

Church spokesperson Sevgi Erenerol, sister of the current patriarch, has been imprisoned since 2008 on charges that include establishing and directing an armed terrorist organization as part of the supposed Ergenekon conspiracy. A host of ultra-nationalist groups established in 2004 and 2005 had “the same” founders, and “they were all gathering at the Turkish Orthodox Patriarchate,” claimed Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a human rights lawyer.

Meanwhile, Vural Ergül, a lawyer for Erenerol, calls the government’s case “fake and imaginary.” Ergül acknowledged the church’s links to prominent ultra-nationalists, including Ergenekon co-defendant Veli Küçük, who has been linked to the 2007 murder of three Christian missionaries in the eastern town of Malatya, but maintained that both his client and the Turkish Orthodox Church are victims of government persecution.

“Members of the church are scared and anxious,” Ergül said. “It is impossible not to see … [Prime Minister Erdoğan’s] intolerance against the church.”
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 18:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336082 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Panetta: Obama Absent Night of Benghazi
Defense Secretary Leon Panetta testified this morning on Capitol Hill that President Barack Obama was absent the night four Americans were murdered in Benghazi on September 11, 2012:

Panetta said, though he did meet with Obama at a 5 o'clock prescheduled gathering, the president left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under siege, "up to us."

In fact, Panetta says that the night of 9/11, he did not communicate with a single person at the White House. The attack resulted in the deaths of four Americans, including Ambassador Chris Stevens.

Obama did not call or communicate in anyway with the defense secretary that night. There were no calls about what was going on in Benghazi. He never called to check-in.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 16:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No one around for the 3am phone call.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 18:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Deja Vue
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 18:38 Comments || Top||

#3  the president left operational details, including knowledge of what resources were available to help the Americans under siege, "up to us."

And it turned out so well.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/07/2013 18:56 Comments || Top||

#4  Obama did not call or communicate in anyway with the defense secretary that night. There were no calls about what was going on in Benghazi. He never called to check-in.

I find that very, very difficult to believe. Nor can I believe the decision to "Stand Down" was left to Panetta or the Director, CIA.

Again, softball questions.

1.) Secretary Panetta, what guidance or orders DID you provide, when, and to whom?

2.) What communications did you have with the CIA Chief of Station in Tripoli.

3.) What recommendations did you or whoever was in charge at the WH get from General Carter Ham, Cdr, AFRICOM?

4.) You did not communicate with POTUS. Who at the EW did you communicate with?
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 19:03 Comments || Top||

#5  #4. Should read WH (white house) vs EW.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 19:04 Comments || Top||

#6  More like Deja Phooey, #2 tipper. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/07/2013 19:47 Comments || Top||

#7  More Likely it was Valorie Jarret who was absent that night and not Obama.

After Obama, without advise from her, authorized the killing of OBL, I imagine he is on a very short leash - not allowed to do anything without her approval.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 20:35 Comments || Top||


Government
Obamacare’s Fiscal Nightmare-If the law isn't scaled back by 2014, we're ruined.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 14:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336113 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Personally I think we are ruined anyway since no one in government really wants to scale back any spending.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 14:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, the majority of the people did not ask for or want ObamaCare.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 15:09 Comments || Top||

#3  They will do whatever it takes to push Armageddon out past the 2014 election.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/07/2013 15:15 Comments || Top||

#4  With the exception [heretofore] being the military, anyone who believes the gov't can run something more efficiently than the private sector is delusional. All of this has absolutely nothing to do with healthcare and everything to do with CONTROL!
Posted by: Besoekerr || 02/07/2013 15:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Yur right, the only jobs for govt are the icky no-win slogs that nobody else in their right mind would want (like fighting a war). But there has been considerable mission creep in almost every agency in the time since WWII.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 02/07/2013 22:02 Comments || Top||

#6  Isn't that why the US is copying the France in temporarily letting the Debt Ceiling free-fall for two years - the US Deficit, Debt burden is so huge the Fed is hoping MORE DEFICIT SPENDING + BORROWING WILL BRING IN ENUFF REVENUES TO PAY NEAR-TERM OR VERY-NEAR-TERM ACCOUNTS PAYABLE, AS OPPOSED TO THOSE IN LONG-TERM.

> STATE SOCIALISM = NEW "SOVEREIGNTY", ETC. UNDER OWG + NAU 2015???
> STILL-DEEP-IN-THE-RED DEFICIT/DEBT REDUCTION = NEW "BUDGET SURPLUS"???

POTUS Obama = POTUS CLinton = lower the deficit or debt burden via USDOD cuts - IOW,
"SEQUESTRATION" CUTS M-U-S-T OCCUR NO MATTER ANY PUBLIC RHETORIC TO THE CONTRARY???

ADVANTAGE = RISING CHINA + RISING IRAN + RADICAL ISLAM [Nuclear Jihad-Islamism].

SUB-IOW, NO WAR AGZ CHINA ANDOR IRAN, ETC. BECAUSE THE USDOD CAN NO LONGER AFFORD TO GET THERE "FURSTEST WID THE MOSTEST" [Confederate Gen. Nathan Bedford Forrest].

* "We're ruined' > And thus, Virgina, we learn why in 2014, one year after 2013, a number of US State-Local Govts voted to formally secede from the OWG Mighty USSA = OWG Weak USRoAmerika Global SSR.

But I digress ...
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 23:12 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Africa: 'Drone' a Dirty Word in the UN Lexicon
United Nations -- The "drone", one of the eminently controversial lethal weapons deployed by Colonialist United States in its war against man-made disasters, is obviously a dirty word in the U.N. lexicon.

So when Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Herve Ladsous was asked about U.N. plans to use drones in the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
(DRC), he demurred.

"I would not use the word drones," he told news hounds Wednesday, opting for a military euphemism: "unmanned aerial vehicles" (UAVs).

Ladsous said the United Nations
...Parkinson's Law on an international scale...
plans to use "unarmed UAVs" only for surveillance purposes - but with the express permission of the government of DRC and neighbouring countries.

"We will see how this experiment works," he said, adding that the United Nations will be "open" to sharing whatever intelligence it gathers with regional regimes in Africa, besides U.N. force commanders on the ground.

The "green light" for the use of unarmed drones in DRC - a country battling a violent insurgency - was given by the 15-member Security Council last November, and is aimed at monitoring the movement of gangs by the 17,500-strong U.N. Organisation Stabilisation Mission in DRC (MONUSCO).

But some U.N. diplomats fear that U.N. drones may eventually be armed with bullets, if and when the conflict in DRC takes a turn for the worse, as most African conflicts do.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 13:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran's Khamenei rejects US nuclear talks offer
Iran's supreme leader has dismissed a US offer of one-to-one talks on Tehran's nuclear programme.

Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said in a speech posted online that the US was proposing talks while "pointing a gun at Iran".

On Saturday, US Vice-President Joe Biden suggested direct talks, separate to the wider international discussions due to take place later this month.

But the US widened sanctions on Iran on Wednesday, aiming to tighten a squeeze on Tehran's ability to spend oil cash.

Iran, which is subject to an array of international sanctions, has long argued that its nuclear programme is for energy generation and research.

Tehran's critics believe the government is developing nuclear weapon
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 12:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yet Khamenei also offered one thread of hope to the US. He said: "You change, and we will also change our behavior, too."

Mmmm... nope. We won't. Obama might cringe and lick your boots, but he is not a good representation of the American public. Just push us, Mr. ButtTurbanFace and see how much you like it.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 14:39 Comments || Top||

#2  just nuke their facilities and let it stand as an example...threaten the USA for over 30 years and then try to acquire nukes and you see what happens....screw world opinion they hate us no matter what we do...turn iran into glass and cut off food exports to those that agitate against us...the countries of asia will be with us as long as they are threatened by china
Posted by: dan || 02/07/2013 20:16 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Alleged Fed bomb plotter to plead guilty
A 21-year-old Bangladeshi man who allegedly planned to blow up the Federal Reserve Bank of New York with what he believed was a 1,000-pound bomb is expected to plead guilty Thursday, federal prosecutors said.

Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis had been charged with attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and attempting to provide material support to al-Qaida.

He was arrested during a sting operation Oct. 17 and is expected to make his plea during a noon court appearance in New York, according to a statement from the Justice Department.

It's not clear whether Nafis actually maintained al-Qaida ties, and his attorney could not be immediately reached for comment.

One of the people Nafis apparently contacted was an FBI source to whom he proposed multiple targets, including a high-ranking U.S. official as well as the New York Stock Exchange, authorities said in a statement released after his arrest.

The undercover agent, they say, also provided bags of inert explosives to Nafis, who then stored the material in a warehouse in preparation for the strike.

They say Nafis further divulged a "Plan B" that involved carrying out a suicide attack should police thwart his efforts.

Packing his van with what he apparently believed were explosives, Nafis then allegedly traveled with the undercover agent to Manhattan's financial district, attached a detonator to the material and recorded a video statement in a nearby hotel.

His arrest was the "culmination of an undercover operation" after he was being monitored by NYPD detectives and the FBI New York Field Office's Joint Terrorism Task Force.
This article starring:
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 12:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Islamic summit backs Mali government, omits France
Leaders of Muslim nations declared support on Thursday for the unity and territorial integrity of Mali and condemned terrorism in the west African state but said nothing of infidel Crusader French military intervention to drive out Islamist fighters.
That would be a little much to ask...
A resolution adopted at a two-day summit of the Organisation of Islamic Cooperation backed the deployment of an international military mission in Mali under African leadership and called for a roadmap for presidential and parliamentary elections.

The omission of any mention of France reflected embarrassment over the recourse to a former colonial power in a Muslim country, even though the 57-member OIC condemned "terrorism and extremism and attacks on historic sites in Mali".

Paris sent troops and warplanes last month at the request of the Malian government to stop al-Qaeda-affiliated fighters that had captured the north of the country advancing towards the capital, Bamako, and help Malian forces retake northern towns.
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 11:58 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336076 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran shows footage 'extracted from US drone'
Iran has long claimed it managed to reverse-engineer the RQ-170 Sentinel, seized in December 2011 after it entered Iranian airspace from its eastern border with Afghanistan, and that it's capable of launching its own production line for the unmanned aircraft.

After initially saying only that a drone had been lost near the Afghan-Iran border, American officials eventually confirmed the Sentinel had been monitoring Iran's military and nuclear facilities. Washington asked for it back but Iran refused, and instead released photos of Iranian officials studying the aircraft.

The video aired late on Wednesday on Iranian TV shows an aerial view of an airport and a city, said to be a US drone base and Kandahar, Afghanistan. The TV also showed images purported to be the Sentinel landing at a base in eastern Iran but it was unclear if that footage meant to depict the moment of the drone's seizure.
Posted by: tipper || 02/07/2013 11:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Former 'Ground Zero mosque' imam accused of pocketing donations
[NEWSANDINSIGHT.THOMSONREUTERS]
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 11:27 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336084 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: WoT
John Bolton on Obama Drone Policy: Entirely Sensible, Extension of Bush Policies
[REASON]
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 10:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336106 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I happen to agree. Nobody's is saying it's ok to zap random citizens inside the us, or even in MOST foreign countries. That's clearly insane.

But a citizen who has joined a terrorist org, and is actively helping them in Afstan, Pakistan or Yemen? They have forfeited their protections, as far as I'm concerned.

Whack 'em.
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Nobody in the current administration will give Darth Bolton the time of day, proving once again that he's right.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 13:34 Comments || Top||

#3  I don't dispute those that clearly have aided/abetted, or have bared arms against U.S. Mil/civilians, etc, needed to be clipped - absolutely, clip'em all.

The issue is a gov't entity simply "accusing" whoever of being a terrorist or "an imminent threat" -and we are supposed to take their word for it like it's gospel. No thanks, not w/the same hacks that gave us benghazi. It's a slippery slope. Same thing w/the ability to indefinitely detain U.S. citizens accused of terrorism. Or, a film-maker who put out a shitty but unpopular film. That guy's in jail for some petty b.s. but Corzine is out walking free? Umm, okay.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 17:16 Comments || Top||

#4  The drone policy is idiotic. The reason we are zapping these guys is that 0 doesn't want to put any more prisoners in Gitmo, even if he can't close it. So he kills everyone. This will have consequences. And not the least among them is the loss of intelligence from interrogations. But 0 doesn't want to do anything that might be construed as torture. So he uses high tech assassins. He might want to contemplate how well that has worked in the past.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/07/2013 19:43 Comments || Top||

#5  Doesn't Obama pick each target?

I read that somewhere. That would be pretty darn bizarre for a president.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 20:36 Comments || Top||

#6  NS - interesting point.

CF - I thought LBJ and maybe Nixon picked targets in Nam but I could be mistaken. At any rate - Nothing surprises me anymore or has for a while.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 21:09 Comments || Top||

#7  *FK picked targets, too. How'd that work Bobby?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 02/07/2013 21:10 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Pending Jesse Jackson Jr. plea deal includes 'significant jail time'
[SUNTIMES]
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 10:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336074 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Enjoy your paid vacation, Junior. You deserve it.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 12:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Throw away the key.
Posted by: Victor Emmanuel Snilet8186 || 02/07/2013 13:16 Comments || Top||

#3  his Dad must be so proud. Carrying on the family graft and corruption
Posted by: Frank G || 02/07/2013 13:20 Comments || Top||

#4  No deal without names. Come on Triple-J, they're white men and half-white men, you can do it!
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 13:32 Comments || Top||


Britain
Statutory Rape of 13-Year-Old Yields No Jail Time, Because of Defendant’s Cultural Insularity
The Daily Mail (UK) reports:

A muslim who raped [in the sense of statutory rape -EV] a 13-year-old girl he groomed on Facebook has been spared a prison sentence after a judge heard he went to an Islamic faith school where he was taught that women are worthless.

Adil Rashid, 18, claimed he was not aware that it was illegal for him to have sex with the girl because his education left him ignorant of British law.

Yesterday Judge Michael Stokes handed Rashid a suspended sentence, saying: ‘Although chronologically 18, it is quite clear from the reports that you are very naive and immature when it comes to sexual matters.’

Earlier Nottingham Crown Court heard that such crimes usually result in a four to seven-year prison sentence.

But the judge said that because Rashid was ‘passive’ and ‘lacking assertiveness’, sending him to jail might cause him ‘more damage than good’.

Earlier the court heard how Rashid had ‘little experience of women’ due to his education at an Islamic school in the UK, which cannot be named for legal reasons....

In ... interviews with psychologists, Rashid claimed he had been taught in his school that ‘women are no more worthy than a lollipop that has been dropped on the ground’. ...

[The sentencing judge] said that Rashid knew what he was doing was wrong.

‘It was made clear to you at the school you attended that having sexual relations with a woman before marriage was contrary to the precepts of Islam,’ he said....

My quick thoughts:

1. In the abstract, while ignorance of the law is generally not a defense to a crime (an oversimplification, but one that’s apt here), it might sometimes play a proper role in sentencing. For instance, to the extent that one is sentencing a person to incapacitate him from committing future crimes, or to specifically deter him from committing future crimes, one might treat differently (A) someone who did the act knowing it was a crime from (B) someone who didn’t know the act was a crime. Person B, under the right circumstances, might be quite willing to change his ways simply because he learns that the conduct is illegal; one can’t say the same about person A.

One can see that especially clearly as to minor offenses that vary from place to place or are just not widely known, whether we’re talking about sentencing or just law enforcement discretion. If you’re busted for turning right on red in a place where that’s forbidden, and the police officer sees from your license that you’re from a place where it’s allowed, it might make sense for the officer to give you a break. You can imagine the same as to sentencing for regulatory offenses where the defendant seems otherwise law-abiding, and seems likely to abide by this law as well, now that he knows it.

2. This having been said, when the legal system sees the offense as serious enough — and inherently serious — there ought to be some substantial punishment just as a matter of retribution, and not just incapacitation or special deterrence of this particular offender.

3. This is especially so when there aren’t separate indications that this is an otherwise highly law-abiding person who has just made an error, or when the person’s own defense suggests a propensity for serious misbehavior (as the “women are no more worthy than a lollipop that has been dropped on the ground”); there, punishment for incapacitation or special deterrence might be quite useful. To be sure, we don’t deliberately treat people as guilty just because they hold reprehensible moral beliefs, or lack evidence of being generally law-abiding. But if a person is guilty of the crime, and seeks lenient treatment on the grounds that a harsh sentence isn’t really needed, then looking at his broader character is relevant to evaluating just how dangerous he is, and how much of a lesson he needs.

4. Finally, when the claim is “I didn’t know because I was raised in an insular community,” there is reason for punishment precisely to send a message to members of insular communities (and leaders of those communities) that they need to work harder to learn the important commands of the legal system. Conversely, cutting slack to people who don’t know the law because they grew up in an insular community — or to people who claim not to know the law for this reason — reinforces the tendency of many in insular communities to focus more on following the norms of their community than trying to learn and abide by the norms of society.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 09:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  5. Kill him because he is stupid and thinks that is an excuse.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/07/2013 11:15 Comments || Top||

#2  OTOH, the girl's father knows he will be punished severely for whacking the rapist. But then, some dads might go ahead and do it anyway.

Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 12:40 Comments || Top||

#3  ah, ignorance of the law is an excuse... I'll remember that...
Posted by: Count Galeazzo Slavique5214 || 02/07/2013 13:22 Comments || Top||

#4  Fine - lop of his head for having sex with an icky female instead of the traditional boy.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 13:44 Comments || Top||

#5  Cultural insularity defense - the girl is lucky she hasn't been killed for dishonoring her family. Or lucky she's not a member of that enlightened religion.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/07/2013 14:39 Comments || Top||

#6  Preview of the coming Islam defense in the US.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||

#7  Wouldn't hold over here Darth, we still have gun. And people who know how to use weapons of all sorts, including sling-shots, katana's, blow-guns, and bow's.
Posted by: Charles || 02/07/2013 18:48 Comments || Top||

#8  It would probably work in San Francisco, Charles. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/07/2013 19:49 Comments || Top||

#9  Fine - lop of his head for having sex with an icky female instead of the traditional boy.goat.
- CrazyFool
fixed it
Posted by: linker || 02/07/2013 19:54 Comments || Top||

#10  Charles,

That is why the left is doing its best to disarm us.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 20:04 Comments || Top||

#11  a rusty fishing knife will suffice
Posted by: Frank G || 02/07/2013 20:21 Comments || Top||

#12  Sounds good to me as long as the rusty knife is dull to boot.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 20:37 Comments || Top||

#13  Use a bread knife.

Did the peep try to hide his activities and inclinations?
Posted by: gorb || 02/07/2013 22:46 Comments || Top||

#14  If the blade isn't rusty the odds of a tetanus infection is greatly decreased...
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 23:37 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Pentagon to cut aircraft carrier presence in Persian Gulf due to budget strains
Update at 1120 CT: Mario Loyola at The Corner agrees with my question, below, and goes one (aircraft carrier) further. If we're not doing anything with them and if Iran knows we won't do anything with them, we might as well not have any carriers in the Arabian Sea.
The U.S. military is planning to shrink its aircraft carrier presence in the Persian Gulf from two to one due to looming budget constraints -- in a dramatic signal from the Pentagon about the real-world impact of automatic budget cuts that still have not been averted. U.S. military officials confirmed Wednesday that the Navy would reduce its presence. The decision will go into effect immediately.

"Facing budget uncertainty ... the U.S. Navy made this request to (Defense Secretary Leon Panetta) and he approved," Pentagon spokesman George Little said in a statement. "This prudent decision enables the U.S. Navy to maintain these ships to deploy on short notice in the event they are needed to respond to national security contingencies."

Under the plan, the deployment of the USS Harry S. Truman -- which was scheduled to leave Friday from Norfolk, Va. -- has been cancelled.

There have been two aircraft carrier groups in the Gulf for most of the last two years. The USS Dwight D. Eisenhower was in the Gulf but was brought home in December for maintenance. It will return later this month, at which point the USS John C. Stennis -- currently the only carrier in the Gulf -- will leave the region and return home.

Officials say that in the event Congress cannot avert $500 billion in defense cuts over the next 10 years, the Navy can't justify the cost of two carriers in that region.
The real question is, do we need two carriers in the Gulf on a routine basis?
The Navy could, however, be "surge-ready" one official said, and deploy more carriers in a crisis situation. It would take an aircraft carrier about two weeks to get to the Gulf from Norfolk, if needed.

The Navy has 10 aircraft carriers in its fleet and, as of today, only three were forward-deployed at any given time. Two were in the Persian Gulf and one permanently stationed in Japan. Now the Navy will only have two forward-deployed carriers.

Typically, carriers spend six months at sea, but in an already budget-constrained atmosphere, their deployments have lasted closer to nine months.

A Navy official says the Pentagon would save "several hundred million dollars per year" by reducing to one carrier in the Gulf.

The move by the Pentagon comes as lawmakers argue over how, if at all, to avoid a March 1 deadline -- after which automatic cuts to the Pentagon and other areas of the budget will begin to take effect.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/07/2013 08:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336090 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No consideration given to BRAC savings and base closures? Submarines? Blue Angels? Uniformed manpower? New construction? DoD Civilians God forbid? Only thing they could think of to cut was aircraft carriers which could assist Israel against Iran. Ok, I got it.

Cutting carriers will be used as stick to beat Republicans into budget compromise. It has been used very effectively by the Air Force for decades.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Hussien's work at bankrupting the capitalist super power United States of America as a tool to implement socialism is upon the United States of America is going full speed ahead.

Hussein's work at reducing the military might of the super power United States of America is going full speed ahead.

His efforts is aimed at reducing the influence of the United States of America around the world and to replace it with a one world socialist order allowing nations bound together via the UN more power and influence without interference of the US.

Even though some member states are in a crisis, the EU will become a greater influence economically. EUMC and the EU Rapid Reaction Force will continue to gain from a military power perspective. The Dollar will be replaced by the Euro or other currencies due to the increased US debt Hussein is inflicting on the US Treasury and financial system.

F16 fighters to the Muslim Brotherhood gives strength to the enemies of Israel which influences the Islamic nations to now consider Hussien a critical allie.

This is not simply fundamentally changing the US, it is about fundamentally changing the world. Ask George Soros about all of that.
Posted by: Dino Shomomp7692 || 02/07/2013 9:44 Comments || Top||

#3  Unfortunately, you speak with clarity and truth.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:22 Comments || Top||

#4  "EU Rapid Reaction Force"??

The ones that fly in on USAF C-17s? Or via Air Ukraine?

What color is the sky in your world, Dino?
Posted by: Steve White || 02/07/2013 12:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Hasn't the EU been building their "rapid reaction force" for decades? And the damned thing always ends up with French officers, German soldiers, and American logistics?

Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/07/2013 12:57 Comments || Top||

#6  The 2000 Treaty of Nice created the RRF (EU European Rapid Reaction Force) and was enhanced under the 2009 Lisbon Treaty. 1500 battle groups are already prepared for rapid deployment.

EU now consists of 27 states (10 permanent members, 17 observer states). A solution to the current EU economic crisis is the establishment of a central EU Bank.

What is now missing is a strong, long term, longer than 6 months of office of Presidency. A New Foreign Minister position was first introduced for consideration in 2004. And who better than Javier Solana as long term EU President per many who want to see an EU "Super State".
Posted by: Dino Shomomp7692 || 02/07/2013 13:56 Comments || Top||

#7  Treaty of Nice (Link) and to throw a bit of irony into the conversation, the recommendation to create the leadership position of the RRF that was eventually adoped as part of the EU treaty was titled "Assembly Recommendation DCLXVI" (Assembly Recommendation 666).

:)
Posted by: Dino Shomomp7692 || 02/07/2013 14:36 Comments || Top||

#8  I just wanted to chime in that I agree with Dr. Steve: if we're not doing anything with 'em, don't have 'em there at all.

We have access to land bases in the region, and if we don't, we don't have allies to protect.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/07/2013 15:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Re: a previous comment: the Blue Angels are cutting back; they will not be @ Seafair, it was announced earlier this week. but i do have to ask, with all the carriers being nuke powered, and the Sailors are still getting paid, and gotta eat and train ( burn JP and such) what will the real savings be in the short term? if the CVs were still oil burners I can see that. But I guess the cost for the rest of the task force is where the real savings will be.....
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 02/07/2013 21:23 Comments || Top||

#10  I'm sure CHINA + PLA is happy about this news.

FYI I've been telling Guam locals that a combo of OWG-NWO, NAU 2015, Global Prompt Strike, Space/Star/OrbitStrike, US-World Econ woes, Debt burdens, etc. has resulted in Guam becoming a RDF/RRF Node for CONUS-based US Army + Marines includ Elites, + also as per LR Drones for the USAF, at least thru 2030 or 2050 depending on how development of cheap, reliable, + mass-producable NASA-JPL, DARPA-led Space Techs goes.

The day is slowly but steadily coming when none of the CONUS-based US Armed Services will need overseas bases for anything due to the advent or rise of advanced Space Techs for either
"Peacekeeping" or Warfighting. LEST WE FERGIT, THE US GOVT-DOD IS PROCEEDING ON THE BASIS THAT THERE WILL BE NO MORE MAJOR WARS, I.E. MIL WARS OR CONFLICTS BETWEEN TWO OR MORE LARGE NATION-STATES = NUCLEAR POWERS, THRU 2050 IFF NOT 2100.

'Tis why I'm also telling Guam locals GUam must act now to be either a DE FACTO FULL US STATE, OR ELSE A DE FACTO FULLY INDEPENDENT + SOVEREIGN NATION FROM THE US - the longer Guam keeps putting it off, the greater the risk the US will unilaterally make the decision for Guam widout need of Guam's assent, as due to PLANNED ANDOR UN-PLANNED CHANGES IN TECHS + WORLD ORDER.

Under OWG + NAU 2015, where the US is EFFFEC suborned under anti-sovereign, anti-Borders, + anti-US OWG "Union" + Interim?, the pecking order for scarce US $$$ will be LOWER OR WORSE FOR GUAM + US OVERSEAS TERRITORIES THAN AS AT PRESENT.

STATE SOCIALISM = NEW "SOVEREIGNTY", ETC. UNDER OWG + NAU 2015 + TRANS/INTERIM - e.g. STATE CAPITALISM?

As for IRAN, unless SHTF vee Third-Parties in the ME it will choose to remain on the strategic defensive. IN IRAN'S MIND, THE BURDEN IS ON THE US = US-ALLIES + ONLY SUCH TO PROVE IRAN HAS NUCBOMBS + TO INITIATE MILACTION AGZ SAME. IRAN WILL WAIT TO BE ATTACKED ANDOR INVADED.

THE BIGGER DANGER IS CHINA, AS A US-CHINA MIL + NUCLEAR CONFRONTATION CAN BLOW ALL OF EAST ASIA + MIDDLE EAST + INDO-PAK + AFPAK + CENTRAL ASIA WIDE OPEN. Iran + Persian Gulf will just be one combat front of several or many for the US-vs-China.

Be it IRAN or CHINA, alone or in joint, can Amers trust alleged Anarchist-for-OWG/Globalism POTUS Obama to defend AMerica = Amerika's interests. IFF CHINA REFUSES TO BACK DOWN, THE RISK IS THERE THAT TO AVOID A LIMITED OR FULL-SCALE NUCLEAR CONFLICT AGZ CHINA, THAT THE BAMMER MAY HAVE TO MAKE MAJOR UNILATERAL CONCESSIONS THAT NEITHER MAINSTREAM/ORDINARY AMERICANS NOR US OVERSEAS ALLIES WILL LIKE.

[HUGO CHAVEZ + US ISLAND/LAND-SINKING
"EARTHQUAKE/TECTONIC BOMBS" here].

Will the Bammer fight, or will "He saved/kept us out of [Nuclear] War"???

* FYI FREEREPUBLIC > [ABC News] JAPAN ACCUSES RUSSIA OF [airspace] INTRUSION, SCRAMBLES FIGHTERS.

* TOPIX > NO NEW US BASES IN ASIA [vee "Pivot"]: US COMMANDER.

US PACOM Chief ADM. Samuel Locklear.

* SAME > WHY ASIA TODAY IN 2013 LOOKS LIKE THE WORLD OF 1913?

WW1 POTUS Woodrow Wilson = WW2's UK PM Nelville Chamberlain = THEY, TOO, WERE BOTH CELEBRATED FOR KEEPING THEIR RESPECTIVE NATIONS "OUT OF WAR", for a short while anyway.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 22:51 Comments || Top||

#11  Joe, that is probably your most lucid comment to date. And rightfully so. After learning your native tongue I have become a fan of your insights, and agree with you wholeheartedly. Like the old Chinese curse says, "we live in 'interesting times'."
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/07/2013 23:07 Comments || Top||


LtCol(Ret) Bill Cowan USMC speaks out about drone zapping
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 07:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336070 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yes, Bill is a Fox teevee talking head, but he's got a combat record and assignment history to back it up.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  The issue with the drone program is -- and I have no problem with killing Americans overseas, who are a part of a terrorist organization. This issue is, is this the beginning of a slippery slope that we don't see any real boundaries to? How long does it take to go from killing Americans overseas with drones to killing Americans here in this country with drones? This is prettey much it for me too. Dangers exist when a President acts unilaterally, ignores the Constitution, and tries to find ways to dodge the checks and balances provided by Congress and the Courts. Currently, drones are being used by some police departments in the U.S. for surveillance. Is the next step, the targeting of criminals and suspected terrorists in the U.S.? Suppose the police run into a situation where mistaken identity occurs and some innocent gets killed? Waco and Ruby Ridge, it seems to me were over reaches of Federal power. Is the Constitution an outdated useless piece of paper or is it the law? The left demonized George W. Bush. However, he sought Congressional approvals to go into Afghanistan and Iraq. He sought and received a wider international approval for actions conducted by the U.S. Congressional oversight existed in the House and Senate for actions by the President. Do we have checks and balances on the President now?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#3  AH-6X Little Bird UAV
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 14:43 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Taliban to pacify Chicago By Donald Sensing
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/07/2013 05:07 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336106 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That's a way to take care of two problems. Fence off South Chicago and let em go at it.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  Would love to see the Left meet face to face with these people.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/07/2013 13:39 Comments || Top||

#3  Sniff, sniff, Defending Motherly Commie-Socs OWG Globalist Amerikans from Arrogant Fascist Male Brute Capitalist Nationalist Americans.

* INDEPENDENT.UK > REDS NOT DEAD? DOCUMENT WHICH DISSOLVED SOVIET UNION GOES MISSING.

Whoa - so technically, the USSR still lives widout the legal written evidence to say otherwise???

[FAMILY GUY'S PETER "ZOOOMG, ITS THE CHILDREN OF THE CORN"! GRIFFIN + SHOTGUN here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 23:55 Comments || Top||


Britain
1,200 May have Died from Neglect, ObamaCare Advocates Love Britain's National Health
Man with no shame: NHS chief
(ex-communist)
who presided over worst ever hospital scandal insists he has nothing to be ashamed of


The most powerful man in the NHS refused to quit last night despite presiding over one of Britain's most appalling hospital scandals.

While relatives of some of the hundreds of patients who died needlessly at Stafford Hospital called for his head, Sir David Nicholson said he was 'not ashamed' of his tenure in office.

Sir David, who helped appoint the hospital's chief executive, revealed he did consider resigning -- but decided against it, concluding that the scandal had been caused by a 'system failure'.
The failed system being, of course, socialism...
More National Health Horror Stories below:
Twenty more hospitals face probes over patient deaths amid fears hundreds are dying needlessly.

The real problem destroying the NHS? Jobsworths who want to please politicians more than patients.

The ex-communist NHS chief, the young wife he fast-tracked and a very lavish lifestyle.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/07/2013 01:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram 'should be contained'
[IOL.CO.ZA] Nigerian President Goodluck Jonathan
... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
said on Wednesday that Islamist beturbanned goon group Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
would pose a threat to other African nations if not contained, while also pledging support for Mali.

Jonathan, speaking in an interview with CNN, however did not offer details while denying the Boko Haram insurgency was spurred by deep poverty in Nigeria's mainly Moslem north and refuting widespread reports of major military abuses.

"Boko Haram, if it is not contained, it would be a threat not only to Nigeria, but to west Africa, central Africa and of course to north Africa," he said from Davos, where he was attending the World Economic Forum.

He mentioned Boko Haram members travelling to "link up" with members of al-Qaeda's north African branch operating in northern Mali and other north African nations.

"That is why the Nigerian government is totally committed to work with other nationals, other friendly governments, to make sure that we contain the problems in Mali," Jonathan said.

Nigeria has pledged to send 900 troops to Mali and is to command an African force being deployed there.

Asked whether misrule and corruption were helping feed the violence blamed on Boko Haram in Nigeria, Jonathan firmly denied it.

Most Nigerians live on less than $2 per day despite the country's status as Africa's biggest oil producer, and many have seen the insurgency as largely in response to conditions in the north, which has been particularly neglected.

"Boko Haram is a local terror group and we call on the rest of the world to work with us," said Jonathan.

"Because now we are talking about Algeria, we are talking about northern Mali, and what I believe is that if we allow terror to exist in any part of the world, it will not just affect that country or that state, but it will affect the rest of the globe, and we should not play politics with Boko Haram."
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  You're begging to the wrong Black Man, Obama won't help you, You can't vote for him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 16:55 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somali court jails alleged rape victim
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A Somali court Tuesday jailed a woman, who said she was raped by security forces, for insulting state institutions in a case that has sparked international alarm.

The woman and a journalist, who interviewed her but did not broadcast a story about the case, were each jailed for one year.

Judge Ahmed Adan said the woman was guilty of "offending state institutions" by claiming she was raped. He ordered her to start the jail term after she has finished breastfeeding her infant.

Journalist Abdiaziz Abdinuur, 25, is already in detention and was to begin his sentence immediately.

He was found guilty of offending state institutions "by making a false interview, and entering the house of a woman whose husband was not present."

Abdinuur works for several Somali radio stations and international media. He was detained on January 10 while researching sexual violence in Somalia. He did not air or print any report after interviewing the woman.

Three other defendants, including the husband of the alleged victim, and a man and woman who helped introduce her to the journalist, were found not guilty.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IF she lied, no compassion, IF she didn't hang them by the balls, until they come off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 13:48 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Hagel confirmation delayed
Sexual Harassment Investigation May Delay Hagel Vote

Hagel Refuses to Detail Foreign Funders
Add the above to the facts that he's not very smart, not very nimble in questioning, and not very prepared, and you wonder if Champ would like get out from under this one.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336092 views] Top|| File under:

#1  O probably offered Hagel as an unacceptable bone, then he will bring in an alternate that will still push O's agenda.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/07/2013 0:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Same as he did with the Liar Susan Rice.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 0:27 Comments || Top||

#3  The aide details, "Committee members have specific concerns with regard to foreign contributions to the Atlantic Council by Saad Hariri (or the Hariri family).

Likely the reason he was nominated in the first place.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 3:05 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe Champ put him up because he is not too smart- but controllable. Maybe, he wanted to appear to be reaching across the aisle. Maybe he had in mind someone else all the time.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:07 Comments || Top||

#5  Chump thought he had a dimwit Republican face to implement his Defense cuts, anti-Joooo agenda, and bow to the Mullahs. "Hey! He's one of yours!"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/07/2013 13:22 Comments || Top||

#6  rumor is that he spoke at a "friends of Hamas" lunch

seems there isn't any such organization registered as a charity org
Posted by: lord garth || 02/07/2013 22:06 Comments || Top||

#7  rumor is that he spoke at a "friends of Hamas" lunch

And he already has a lovely reputation as a friend of Hizb'allah. Such a lovely man.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 23:49 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Separate attacks kill 3 policemen, army officer in Iraq
[Iran Press TV] At least four people, including three policemen and an army officer, have been killed in two separate attacks security forces across Iraq, official sources report.

Iraqi officials reported on Wednesday that armed assailants carried out an attack on a military checkpoint in the city of Mussayib, south of the capital, Baghdad, killing three policemen and wounding three others.

According to reports, one police officer was also shot dead and another one injured by gunfire in Iraq's northern city of Mosul.

Meanwhile,
...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features.
If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!...

an army lieutenant colonel was killed and another officer wounded while on patrol after a roadside bomb went off in the town of Tuz Khurmatu, north of the capital.

Report further indicated that four people, including a policeman, were hurt in a similar attack targeting a military patrol in Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336113 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Bomb attack targets Yarmouk refugee camp in Syrian capital
[Iran Press TV] A bomb attack has targeted the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp in the Syrian capital, Damascus.

According to reports, a bomber blew himself up inside the refugee camp in the suburbs of the capital on Wednesday.

There have been no immediate reports of casualties due to the attack.

Meanwhile, heavy clashes reportedly broke out between the Syrian army forces and the militants following the explosion in the camp.

Earlier in the day, twin car bomb attacks on a military complex in the city of Palmyra in the province of Homs left 20 people wounded.

The incident occurred amid ongoing clashes between Syrian military forces and foreign-backed militants at the entrance of the Jobar suburb, to the south of Damascus.

On February 3, one person was also killed and two others injured after an explosive device planted underneath a vehicle detonated near al-Hijaz Square in the capital.

Many people, including large numbers of soldiers and security personnel, have been killed in the turmoil that erupted in Syria nearly two years ago.

The Syrian government says certain Western states, especially the United States, and their regional allies are fueling the deadly unrest.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa North
Salvation Front youth call for mass rallies, Friday of 'toppling the regime'
[Al Ahram] National Salvation Front (NSF) youth members together with other political coalitions called Wednesday for fresh rallies Friday under the banner "Toppling the regime."

At a press conference held at the Wafd Party headquarters, youth members of the front called for mass demonstrations to take place in Egypt's squares.

The groups also announced they will form a legal committee to trace the killers of the revolution's youth. The committee is also to follow up on all cases related to the January 25 Revolution including those related to the detained, missing and tortured during the presidential palace demonstrations.

Last Friday's demonstrations at the presidential palace turned violent after demonstrators threw Molotov cocktails at the presidential headquarters and police responded firing tear gas and rubber bullets.

Many were detained during Friday's violent events. Two died during the clashes including Amr Saad, a member of the Popular current who succumbed to injuries from a live bullet.

On Monday, another member of the Popular Current, Mohamed El-Gendy, died from torture allegedly inflicted in police detention last week.

Other political groups present at the press conference included the Kefaya movement, the Maspero Youth Coalition and the National Association for Change.

Several political groups from Alexandria and Suez have also called for mass marches to take place Friday, including the Suez Revolutionary Bloc and the Alexandria Youth Coalition.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Home Front: Culture Wars
The Three Types of People You'll Meet in Liberal Hell
@ Sultan Knish
First they came for the Cakemakers.

Over in Oregon, two lesbians came to Sweet Cakes and demanded a wedding cake. The owner let them know that he only does cakes for men and women looking to get married. No sooner did the door close than the Oregon Department of Justice, which had already solved all the other crimes in the state, began an investigation.

Aaron and Melissa Klein, their 3 kids and their little cake shop (caramel pecan cheesecake available) had run afoul of the political establishment. "I'd rather have my kids see their dad stand up for what he believes in," Klein said, "then to see him bow down because one person complained."

Bowing down is the expected position these days. You either bow down or get fined and prosecuted to death.

The latest wave of laws on abortion and gay marriage are meant to make it impossible to hold beliefs, religious or otherwise, in contradiction to those of the state. That's a somewhat new phenomenon in the United States, but a familiar one in Europe. And the consequence of these Orwellian measures is the stratification of these societies into three categories.

The Party - This is the group whose dogma is legislated into law in a thousand formal and informal ways. Its members may belong to the government or non-profits that act as a collective political movement pushing to enact and implement even the most radical elements of that dogma. Or they may still work actual jobs. But it doesn't really make much of a difference.
He outlines two more 'classes': the People and the Ghetto. It seems to echo some of the things VDH has written about how Mexifornia works, and while you can be bureaucratized to death in the coastal areas, they don't really try to enforce things in much of the interior.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The bitterest curse is to see clearly.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/07/2013 4:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Charge them $1000.00per ounce, You didn't refuse.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 7:49 Comments || Top||

#3  Liberal Hell is like a circular firing squad--unsustainable, but that is a comforting thought.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:16 Comments || Top||

#4  RJ: I just quoted the introduction of the article, the whole thing is probably ten times as long (or longer).
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/07/2013 11:22 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Women's Unclean Breasts Cause Diarrhoea, Says Egypt Prime Minister Hisham Qandil
[M.IBTIMES.CO.UK] The inability of women in rural Egypt to clean their breasts is causing a diarrhoea epidemic, according to the country's Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.

Qandil was speaking about the spate of recent epidemics in Egypt's rural communities. During the address, he said he had witnessed children suffering from diarrhoea immediately after they have been breastfed because their mothers were unable to clean themselves probably.

He added that many women in rural Egypt don't even bother to clean their breasts at all before feeding their toddlers.

Qandil made his remarks during an address at a cabinet meeting. Women members present were noticeably uncomfortable as Qandil made the comments.

Qandil previously caused widespread anger by offering a bizarre solution to Egypt's power crisis. He urged the Egyptians to wear cotton clothes and gather in a single room to conserve power.

Qandil, 50, is the youngest Prime Minister of Egypt in the last five decades. He served as the Minister of Water Resources and Irrigation before being appointed by President Mohammed Mursi.

Egypt is currently hosting the Islamic Summit attended by the leaders of other Muslim countries.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336116 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  Apparently he's too young - way way W-A-Y WAYYYY TOO YOUNG, for the job???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  The scary part is that thus far its the US-West that has to appease or accomodate such Islamic thinking, NOT for the Hard Boyz + Clerics to learn modern science or subjects.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  The water is filthy, there's no tradition of soap, and they wipe their bottoms with their left hands; I do not doubt the minister's testimony. Mr. Wife's first six months in Cairo -- during which he enjoyed alternating food poisoning and dysentery, and lost something like thirty pounds -- were very educational: he learnt that past his lips must go no meat, no salads, bottled water in sealed bottles only that he opened himself, no ice, brush teeth with bottled water only... or liquor, but bread, beer, beans, and unpeeled fruits that he peeled himself were reasonably safe
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 5:55 Comments || Top||

#4  So TW, I gather he allowed himself the occasional date while in Cairo?
Posted by: Shipman || 02/07/2013 12:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Yeah, so wash 'em once in a while.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 12:32 Comments || Top||

#6  Mr. Wife's first six months in Cairo -- during which he enjoyed alternating food poisoning and dysentery...

Heh. Sounds like my first few visits to India, only a bit worse. There are actually safe places you can eat in India, if you can tolerate every dish starting with a half kilo of crushed green chili's.
Posted by: SAM at Work || 02/07/2013 12:40 Comments || Top||

#7  You know ... here I was this morning sipping on my coffee and just wondering to myself if Egypt was really being run by a bunch of idiotic bigots. Then this article pops up on the news. Well - that sure clears things up.

Remind me again ... why the he** is America giving these clowns foreign aid and defense equipment. WHY ????
Posted by: Raider || 02/07/2013 13:10 Comments || Top||

#8  Remind me again ... why the he** is America giving these clowns foreign aid and defense equipment. WHY ????

Um...opportunity for GRAFT?
Posted by: Marilyn Clolugum3480 || 02/07/2013 13:15 Comments || Top||

#9  Breast inspectors? Queue starts here...
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 13:27 Comments || Top||

#10  There are actually safe places you can eat in India, if you can tolerate every dish starting with a half kilo of crushed green chili's.

Mr. Wife loved his time in India -- it's one of his favourite countries, SAM. He brought me home a cookbook. The only other county he brought me a cookbook from was Greece.

He only once got sick in India: amoebic dysentery, for which he spent two weeks in hospital in Bhopal, with his colleagues considerately calling me every day to lie about his condition. But he probably picked that up by touching a surface contaminated with spores, which float through the air over there from the desiccated fecal matter in the streets. Fortunately, India has the world's experts on such things as well, and they sent Mr. Wife home to me cured. One day I would love to go over there and thank them all personally.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 14:24 Comments || Top||

#11  So, why, exactly is O sending over F-16s to Egypt, when they are broke, out of food, fuel, and no enemies to deal with that really need F-16s? Like, WTF? Am I missing something here?
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/07/2013 15:22 Comments || Top||

#12  Gonna need the F-16s and tanks to put down the coming "civil unrest" (read full-scale foot riots)

As for cookbooks, saw one once in the remainder bin titled "You've Had Worse Things In Your Mouth". (memorable due to the enormous black woman clad only in a apron on the the cover) I'm guessing they never sold it in Egypt.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/07/2013 15:41 Comments || Top||

#13  He only once got sick in India: amoebic dysentery, for which he spent two weeks in hospital in Bhopal, with his colleagues considerately calling me every day to lie about his condition.

I've had that, among a few other things over there. Nearly killed me. And the course of three powerful antibiotics wreaked havoc on my natural intestinal flora.

Oh yes, the dessicated fecal matter, what a refined way to express it. Will be back in New Delhi in a month. Can't wait. There's a little place in East Patel Nagar where the beer is COLD and the curry is incendiary. It hurts so good.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man || 02/07/2013 18:59 Comments || Top||

#14  Alaska Paul - Hussein Obammer thinks they need protection from those awful warmongering racist Zionists next door. Next question?
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/07/2013 23:15 Comments || Top||

#15  I've had that, among a few other things over there. Nearly killed me

Amoebic dysentary nearly killed Mr. Wife, too. Trailing daughter #1 and I came home from visiting friends to find my darling mother-in-law sitting in the corner of the living room in the dark, praying. He'd called her to say his goodbyes before they took him to the hospital, just in case. He assumed the sudden, heavy anal blood flow was a bad sign, for some reason... But Daddy looked up the doctor handling his case, and said he was the best in the world for tropical diseases, so I gave over worrying.

Think of us as you enjoy the wonderful food, my dear. Mr. Wife loved his time there.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 23:35 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Panetta to propose military pay cut
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Outgoing Defense Secretary Leon Panetta reportedly believes the military should receive a pay cut in order to respond to the budget cuts facing the Pentagon -- a position that might strengthen the Republican push to reverse President Obama's executive order raising the salary of Vice President Joe Biden and other federal officials.

"Panetta will recommend to Congress that military salaries be limited to a one percent increase in 2014," CNN reports, explaining that Panetta is "effectively decreasing troop salaries next year . . . The decision comes as the secretary is stepping up the rhetoric about dire cuts at the Pentagon if sequestration goes into effect."

The debate about sequestration did not stop Obama from ending a pay freeze for some government officials, effectively authorizing a pay raise that costs $11 billion.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sure, like people are in The Service for the money.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/07/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  "Panetta will recommend to Congress that military salaries be limited to a one percent increase in 2014," CNN reports, explaining that Panetta is "effectively decreasing troop salaries next year . . .
Pretty much everything that is FUd up with this government is contained in that paragraph.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/07/2013 0:45 Comments || Top||

#3  I remember the Carter years. We do NOT want to let the fkwits put us back there.
Posted by: OldSpook || 02/07/2013 1:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, everyone knows it's the soldiers, sailors, Airmen, and Marines [less than one percent who serve our nation] who are responsible for the country being bankrupt. We simply must find the money to pay for SES and congressional pay raises somewhere. While we continue to change the gender and demographics ratios, we know a large percentage of men of the ranks are southern conservatives anyway. [sarcasm off]
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 2:58 Comments || Top||

#5  "Panetta will recommend to Congress that military salaries be limited to a one percent increase in 2014,"

This is the joke of Beltwayspeak. Cutting = less future expansion in expenditures.

You don't cut pay, you cut missions.

Pull the remaining ground based commitments to Europe, Japan (Okinawa), and Korea, leave a MAG team. These are first world countries.

Pirates are terrible, but we can't afford to provide the world with a free navy to keep the lanes clear anymore. Your problem. What the heck are any American flag merchants doing in the Indian Ocean? If one is jacked, you go in, burn the port to the ground holding them. It'll reduce recidivism and costs to a minimum.

You want to really cut pay, you cut everyone's pay by the same percentage. That includes Congresscritters, Executive Branch patronage appointments, and even the Judges [the 'no cut in pay' line in the base document is overcome by the Judiciary's 'interpretation' of the 14th and the 'equal before the law' they've been using for decades for the rest of us]. Soldiers understand 'shared' experience, otherwise 4000 years of history usually means they end up running the place when you start playing that game. Considering they rebuilt German, Japan, and Iraq, they have a better track record than the corruption class running this place now. That's the real danger, because if they display competency that these hacks lack, people might actually prefer them to be in charge.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/07/2013 9:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Okay Leon - you & the Commander-in-Chief first. Ductus Exemplo, bitchez!
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 9:59 Comments || Top||

#7  P2K - as usual, you bring a solid analysis.

Beso - exactly. Panetta & the DADT repeal & female in combat-arms MOS nonsense will be an albatross for a while. It's not politics, it's biology & mathematics.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 10:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Not to mention all the non-salaried lifestyle benefits the President gets, like Air Force One to Hawaii.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/07/2013 10:26 Comments || Top||

#9  Speaking of USAF free-rides for congresscritters - anyone else hear about SanFranNan having her T-bird taken away by USAF?
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 10:44 Comments || Top||

#10  We'll be shutting down the Washington Monument, too! Happy now?
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 13:33 Comments || Top||

#11  Only if all government staffers, including members of Congress, the White House (including the President) and the Justice Department all take pay cuts as well.

You do not want to see our men and women pissed off at you. Our military hasn't even come close to crossing the Rubicon yet so don't give them a good reason to and throw your worthless butts out of office. Even though I hate everyone of the current Administration's worthless asses that is a precedent I do NOT want to see set.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 14:43 Comments || Top||

#12  5-10% (or more) across the board cut in non-military departments across the entire government.

There are several cabinet dept's that should be cut 100% but I'll take 10% to start.

This regime has given me blood pressure problems and I foam at the mouth and growl all the time.
ARRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!!!!!
Posted by: AlanC || 02/07/2013 17:05 Comments || Top||

#13  I've got a very limited amount of sympathy for the DOD on the sequester issue. Pancetta is throwing this out because it is politically unpopular. But the DOD wastes money like no one's business. Just my personal experience saw the USMC choose a paper proposal for a weapons system that was only marginally less expensive than a proven, off-the-shelf alternative (ours). That winning contractor could never deliver a working system. Both they and the USMC spent $millions trying until they exhausted both patience and $$ so the program was dropped. Stupid from the start. Same crap, different day with the DOD (and lots of other federal, state and municipal agencies). So make the cuts. They need to focus on missions and stop pissing money down rat holes. Perhaps having a bit less will force them to do that.
Posted by: remoteman || 02/07/2013 17:21 Comments || Top||

#14  What about the czars? Are they gonna cut the czars?
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||

#15  There are literally hundreds of DoD 'pet rock' civilian contract projects that could easily be cut and NO ONE would notice, nor would there be any impact on readiness.

DoD contracting needs an giant enema, has needed one for years.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 19:08 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
8 police officers poisoned in Afghanistan's Ghazni Province
[Iran Press TV] At least eight Afghan police officers have been poisoned in Afghanistan's central-eastern province of Ghazni, Press TV reports.

Local officials have confirmed the incident which took place in the Andar District of the region on Tuesday. Afghan police authorities say the poisoned officers have been transferred to a local hospital.

Meanwhile,
...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard...
Taliban have claimed responsibility for the poisoning, saying two of the police officers have been killed and six others have gone into a coma.

The incident is considered the latest in similar poisoning incidents in the war-torn country.

On January 8, a total of 250 Afghan police officers were poisoned in a police station in Afghanistan's northern province of Balkh.

Also on June 25, 2012, some 76 Afghan policemen were poisoned in a police academy in Lashkargah city in Afghanistan's southern province of Helmand.

Earlier in the same month, at least 116 students, mostly girls, were poisoned at the Hazrat Imam Zada Yahya high school in the northern province of Sar-e-Pol.

The school girls showed symptoms of exposure to toxic gas, including headache and nausea.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336071 views] Top|| File under: Taliban


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Military Court Orders Extradition of Syrian Deserter
[An Nahar] The Military Court has ordered the extradition of a Syrian officer-turned-rebel who entered Lebanon illegally back to his own embattled country, a judicial source told Agence France Presse on Wednesday.

The defector risks the death penalty for treason if he is actually handed over to the regime of President Bashar Assad, Lebanese human rights organizations warned.

A military court sentenced Lieutenant Mohammed Hassan Tlass to two months in prison which he has already served, a fine of 100,000 Lebanese pounds ($67) and his extradition, a judicial source told AFP on condition of anonymity.

During his trial, the 30-year-old said he was a member of the rebel Free Syrian Army and had entered Lebanon to bring a wounded comrade to safety.

According to procedure, he will be handed over to the General Security at midnight to be returned to Syria.

Interior Minister Marwan Charbel told AFP by phone that the extradition was unlikely to be carried out, however.

"The Lebanese government, as part of its policy of disassociation vis-a-vis the Syrian conflict, has taken the decision to review each extradition case in which the person risks prison or death.

"I have not examined this case, but such extraditions are generally not carried out," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


India-Pakistan
Man hurt in twin blasts near PAF base
[Dawn] A passer-by was injured in two cracker blasts that took place outside a Pakistan Air Force base on Sharea Faisal on Tuesday evening.

A spokesperson for the PAF said that miscreants hurled two crackers or hand grenades in front of the Sharea Faisal air base flyover at about 7.15pm during busy traffic hours and as a result one pedestrian got injured at the exit end of the flyover and was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for treatment.

Police said that those who hurled the crackers were riding a cycle of violence.

"So far, these can be described as cracker blasts since the bomb disposal unit have not found a lever or pin of the hand grenade," said Shah Faisal Colony SP Zahid Hussain.

Following the incident, a large number of policemen and Rangers officials arrived at the scene.

The PAF spokesperson said that security agencies were in full control of the situation and carrying out a thorough investigation into the incident through all available means including the CCTV footage. Security at all PAF bases was already on high alert, the spokesperson added.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa Subsaharan
Boko Haram Kills Six Park Rangers in Revenge Attack
[THISDAYLIVE] Members of the Boko Haram sect Tuesday killed at least six park rangers in a reprisal attack after troops backed by helicopter gunships destroyed their base in a Nigerian game reserve.

Security forces last week killed 17 militants and destroyed two Boko Haram training camps in the North-east, one in a forest and one in the Sambisa Reserve.

The officer in charge of the Sambisa Reserve, Hassan Malgwi, said gunmen believed to be Boko Haram attacked the staff camp after midnight.

"Six people were killed. Many of our staff are still missing as the camp is now deserted," he said.

Violence has persisted since a Boko Haram commander declared a ceasefire last week, raising doubts about his credibility.

President Goodluck Jonathan has highlighted links between Boko Haram and Saharan Islamists, including al-Qaeda's North African affiliate, as a reason for joining efforts by French and West African forces to fight them in Mali.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336097 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Army Launches 'All-Out Attack' on Capital Region
[An Nahar] The Syrian army launched an "all-out offensive" on Damascus province on Wednesday, a security official said, as a watchdog reported the fiercest bombardments and fighting in the region for months.

"The province was bombed very badly, in attacks that have not been seen in months. There was also very heavy fighting," said Rami Abdel Rahman, the director of the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

A Syrian security official in Damascus who declined to be named said that "the army has launched a coordinated all-out offensive on all of the areas surrounding the capital.

"All entries to Damascus have been sealed," he added.

Local residents said that "unusually intense bombing" was heard throughout the capital all day on Wednesday.

The offensive came as fierce clashes erupted between rebels and soldiers in the northeast and southwest of Damascus, as well as in the southern district of Qadam and eastern Jobar and Qaboon districts in the capital.

These areas of Damascus are among the strongest bastions of the rebellion against the regime of President Bashar Assad.

In the south-central city of Palmyra, two suicide car bombings targeting a military intelligence headquarters killed 19 members of the security forces, the Observatory said.

The watchdog said at least 122 people -- including 32 civilians, 51 rebels and 39 troops -- were killed nationwide on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336111 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Afghanistan
Taliban torch three NATO fuel tankers in Afghanistan
[Iran Press TV] Taliban militants have torched three NATO fuel tankers in Afghanistan's western province of Herat carrying supplies to the US-led forces stationed in the country, Press TV reports.

According to local authorities, heavily armed militants set alight the convoy of fuel tankers in the city of Robat Sangi on Tuesday. One driver was killed and three other drivers were wounded in the attack.

The militant group has claimed responsibility for the deadly attack.

Taliban militants frequently attack trucks carrying supplies from Pakistan to the US-led forces deployed in Afghanistan. Pakistan is the cheapest way for the Western military alliance to dispatch supplies to the foreign forces in the landlocked country.

Militants in neighboring Pakistan have also destroyed hundreds of oil tankers and containers carrying fuel and other supplies to foreign forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336082 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  Analysts argue that as 2014 approaches, the Taliban etal. in both Afghanistan + Pakland will remain close or widin easy striking range of NATO + AFPAK Army-Police supply toutes, posts as part of their strategeery to intimidate Kabul + Islamabad into improving the Militants' authority widin the new post-2014 joint/
coalition AFPAK Govts???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 0:53 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah censures Israeli-run 'global terror campaign'
[Iran Press TV] Lebanese resistance movement Hezbollah has denounced a "global terror campaign" run by the Israeli regime after Bulgaria accused the movement of being behind the bus attack that killed five Israelis last year.

"Israel is running a campaign of global terror against Hezbollah in particular because it failed in its aggression and incitement against it as well as failed to find an environment suitable to prevent Hezbollah from moving," Hezbollah Deputy Secretary-General Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday.

Qassem also said the Tel Aviv regime is "running an international campaign to terrorize people and countries from Hezbollah and to shed a light on the resistance to corner it."

He made the remarks a day after Bulgarian officials accused the Lebanese resistance movement of carrying out a bomb attack on a bus in the city of Burgas, killing five Israelis in July 2012.

Following the recent accusation, the Israeli regime and the United States have pressured the European Union to list Hezbollah as a "terrorist" organization.

Qassem added the Israeli campaign is aimed at distracting the world from the regime's practices of aggression and occupation and to avenge its loss against Hezbollah.

"Hezbollah is strong and increasing its readiness, support, and training to face these challenges and all these accusations against Hezbollah will not have any effect and will not change facts and reality," Qassem said.

"We will not accept occupation and we will not succumb to pressure or alter our priorities," he added, stating that that Hezbollah's "compass" will remain directed at "the Israeli enemy."
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336074 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


India-Pakistan
Suspected US drone kills three in North Waziristan
[Dawn] At least three people were killed in a suspected US drone attack in the North Wazoo tribal region on Wednesday, DawnNews reported.

Sources said the attack took place in the northwestern tribal region's Spinwam tehsil.

Three people were killed in the attack that targeted a compound, sources said adding that more casualties were feared.

The attack destroyed the compound and area residents recovered the bodies from under the rubble.

North Waziristan, which is close to the Pak-Afghan border, is one of the seven regions in Pakistain's Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata). An myrmidon insurgency led by the Pak Taliban plagues the region and the area is known to be infested with myrmidons, including those from Al Qaeda and the Afghan Taliban.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336104 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Counter-terrorism police unit being used for escorts
[Dawn] A special police unit meant to function exclusively as a counter-terrorism strike force set up in 2009 has ended up providing 'gunmen' and escorts to anyone who enjoys political clout, it emerged on Tuesday.

A brainchild of former inspector general of Sindh police, Babar Khattak, the Rapid Response Force (RRF) mostly caters to the security needs of politicians and other influential persons by providing security guards and police escorts despite the presence of the Security Headquarters set for the purpose, sources in the department told Dawn.

'We want policemen in black uniforms as gunmen,' insists every other politician in the province, the sources said.

The unit, set up as a counter-terrorism force, was never supposed to provide guards for the influential, a senior police officer at the Central Police Office said.

The unit was initially named 'counter-terrorism force'. The name was hijacked by the crime investigation department (CID), which set up a 'counter-terrorism unit' of its own mainly to attract American funding in the war against terrorism, sources privy to the then developments told Dawn.

Subsequently, it was renamed 'special police group', then 'counter-terrorism task force', but which again proved contentious and was finally named Rapid Response Force, the sources said.

Initially, the unit had 2,000 personnel and was formed on army regimentation according to which 80 per cent of the personnel were supposed to be present on duty while 20pc could be on leave.

The concept of the force was to carry out raids anywhere required within the jurisdiction of any police station and the men were supposed to wear masks during operations, the sources added.

Likewise, the force was supposed to be employed in a situation of terrorism.

Citing a recent instance of successful deployment of the RRF, an official pointed out that at the Pakistan Air Force's Mehran base its men had played an important role in addressing the situation. However, over the time the role of force has been reduced to an anti-riot force, the sources admitted.

At present, the force comprises 1,000 men made up of 10 companies, each consisting of 50 men headed by a DSP.

Special allowance was the main attraction in the force, which has now been drastically reduced, the sources pointed out. As the general degradation in the police department, the standard of the RRF has also drastically dropped.

Earlier, an eight-month elite course was mandatory for induction in the force, but now men who have undergone just a few weeks courses are being accommodated in the force, the sources said.

"The day former IG Babar Khattak retired, all funds meant for the RRF were diverted away," complained a top officer seeking anonymity.

Several senior officers at the Central Police Office were of the opinion that a former DIG of the RRF had played havoc with the force and treated it in a step-motherly manner, siphoning away all funds meant for the betterment of the new force.

Now, when there is paucity of funds for the RRF, the post of DIG-RRF often remains vacant, the sources pointed out.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


"Non-political forces conspired against Benazir's 1989 govt"
[Dawn] Former Director General Intelligence Bureau (IB) Masood Sharif Khan Khattak on Wednesday submitted a written reply before the Supreme Court, claiming that non-political forces were behind the vote of no-confidence against the elected government of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto during 1989.

He submitted the reply before the three-member bench comprising Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Gulzar Ahmed and Justice Sh Azmat Saeed that resumed hearing into the allegations regarding misappropriation of the IB's secret funds during 2008 and 1989.

Khattak, in his nine-page reply naming late President Ghulam Ishaq Khan and former Chief of the Army Staff Gen Mirza Aslam Baig
...occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter was rubbed out died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol..
as the most powerful personalities, said that they wanted to keep late Benazir Bhutto out of power through their pre-poll rigging efforts in 1988 elections, which started with the formation of the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad (IJI).

He said: "Those, who wanted to keep PPP and Shaheed Mohtarma Benazir Bhutto out of power through pre-poll activity against her, were surely going to also try and remove her from the corridors of power in the shortest possible time frame after they had been forced to hand over power to her due to the weight of the 92 PPP MNAs-elect of that time."

He said being head of the IB, it was his duty to keep abreast with all such happenings that were aimed at destabilising the constitutionally elected government at that time.

He maintained that they knew about such a move ahead of its tabling in the Parliament.

The former IB chief, referring to the IJI's vote of no-confidence on October 23, 1989, said that everything was wrong with such a vote when the moving force behind it was not political.

He said that with the with the complete backing of the former COAS Mirza Aslam Baig, the former president, and the then Punjab government, Benazir Bhutto was only reduced to the limits of the federal capital with no access to intelligence from military intelligence agencies, and therefore the ex-PM was heavily dependent upon the IB about such movements.

"I must say here in very unambiguous terms, that even if any government of Pakistan when placed under extreme unconstitutional pressures, does spend any funds to ward off unconstitutional steps aimed at dismantling that government, there would be nothing illegal about," he added.

He said that he was on the right side of the constitution against extra-constitutional efforts and had to suffer extensively for that reason.

Refuting claims of a report by an English daily, Khattak said that he outrightly denied the aspersions that the amounts during his period as IB chief were distributed right, left and center with ulterior motives.

He said that he had appeared before the Lahore High court during February 1992 and maintained that those funds were indeed spent towards furthering the national interest.

He further said that the case was heard in 1991-92 in the LHC in connection with the accountability cases prepared by the then presidency under the direct supervision of former President GIK and his 'henchmen', including Roedad Khan.

Khattak maintained that since 21 years had passed and he did not recollect what he had argued before the LHC, but added: "I do remember having said and conclusively proved before the court that the amounts mentioned were actually spent for the bona fide purposes that they were meant for."

He contended that since no wrongdoings had been committed in his case, the LHC had shelved the case 21 years ago.

During the hearing, the chief justice directed Khattak to submit his reply with the registrar office.

Masood also apprised the bench that whatever he had written in his reply was based upon his memory and the court could contact the LHC registrar to obtain facts surrounding the case.

Tariq Lodhi, another former DG IB, also appeared in response to a notice and submitted a reply claiming confidentiality.

The bench directed him to go through its earlier order.

It also allowed Attorney General Irfan Qadir to make certain submissions on behalf of the current incumbent DG IB.

The bench told him that whatever objections he had, he could produce them in writing in the next hearing.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Jets strike militant hideouts in Orakzai; eight killed
[Dawn] Fighter jets attacked hard boy positions in the Orakzai Agency
... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
killing eight hard boys, DawnNews reported.

The cut-throats were killed when three myrmidon hideouts were destroyed in the action in the tribal region on Wednesday.

Assistant political agent Rafiq Mohmand told DawnNews the hideouts were targeted in Upper Orakzai's Arghanju area.

Over 92 per cent of the area in the tribal region has so far been cleared of hard boys. However,
a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package...
myrmidon hideouts still exist in parts of Orakzai.

Orakzai is one of Pakistain's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pak Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked cut-throats are said to have carved out strongholds.

The area was the original base of Pak Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud before he moved to South Wazoo to take up the Taliban leadership after the death of his predecessor, Baituallah Mehsud.

Unlike the six other tribal agencies, Orakzai does not border Afghanistan. The rugged mountainous territory provides a crucial link for cut-throats operating in other tribal regions, as it borders Khyber and Kurram on the Afghan frontier. It also borders Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province and Pakistain's main northwestern city, as well as the garrison town of Kohat.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336081 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Home Front: Politix
Drone Strikes, Waterboarding, and Moral Preening
On May 29, 2009, President Obama gave a speech at the National Archives in which he said the following:

Now let me be clear: We are indeed at war with al Qaeda and its affiliates. We do need to update our institutions to deal with this threat. But we must do so with an abiding confidence in the rule of law and due process; in checks and balances and accountability. For reasons that I will explain, the decisions that were made over the last eight years established an ad hoc legal approach for fighting terrorism that was neither effective nor sustainable -- a framework that failed to rely on our legal traditions and time-tested institutions, and that failed to use our values as a compass.

The president went on to trumpet the fact that he banned the use of enhanced interrogation techniques, saying, "I know some have argued that brutal methods like waterboarding were necessary to keep us safe. I could not disagree more." Mr. Obama argued that (among other things) they undermine the rule of law. And during the 2008 campaign and shortly thereafter, Obama insisted that his policies would "regain America's moral stature in the world." This was a common Obama theme: He would act in ways that respect international law and human rights and remove the stain from America's reputation.

I thought of all of this in light of this report by NBC's Michael Isikoff. Thanks to Isikoff, we've learned that "a confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be 'senior operational leaders' of al-Qaida or 'an associated force' even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S."
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But remember, "I am a "King" who can order the death of his subjects without due process.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 3:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama insisted that his policies would "regain America's moral stature in the world." How's that working out for us Hussein?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:28 Comments || Top||

#3  Normally I'd offer an opinion about drone strikes. But I got some sorta message today from an outfit calling itself "SkyNet" that says I've reached obsolescence.

Alright ... guess I'll go deal with it. There sure is a lot of noise coming from the sky this morning.
Posted by: Raider || 02/07/2013 10:31 Comments || Top||


Africa North
France calls for UN force in Mali by April
[FRANCE24] French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on Wednesday that France wanted a United Nations peacekeeping force to take over from the African-led military mission in Mali by April. France has deployed nearly 4,000 ground troops.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Southeast Asia
Philppine military won’t interfere in Sayyaf-MNLF fighting
A senior member of the Moro National Liberation Front (MNLF) called for Muslims to stop killing Muslims yesterday as the group massed for a bigger assault on Abu Sayyaf strongholds in Sulu. The fighting, which broke out Sunday morning, has caused hundreds of villagers to flee their homes in Patikul town, where Abu Sayyaf terrorists bandits are believed to be holding Jordanian journalist Baker Abdulla Atyani.

The government of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) has sent out relief and health workers to the town, while police and military units are moving to prevent the fighting from spreading to populated areas.

Habib Mujahab Hashim, a senior member of the MNLF’s central committee and chairman of the group’s Islamic Command Council, said there was a pause in the fighting yesterday as the guerrillas under Ustadz Habier Malik regrouped in preparation for a bigger offensive. He said, “If this does not stop, it could lead to mutual annihilation. The only way out is to talk brother to brother.”

Many MNLF and Abu Sayyaf members are related by blood or marriage along with members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front.

The Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) yesterday said it would not meddle in the hostilities, except to ensure the safety of civilians in the affected areas.

Col. Orlando de Leon, commander of the 2nd Marine Brigade, said, “They have their own agenda. Preventing the resumption of hostilities is hard… any time, it could erupt. What we want to prevent is a spillover.”

He added, “We are ready to treat the wounded. That is provided by international humanitarian law.”

Hashim expressed worry that prolonged hostilities could lead to a serious clan war. He said, “It’s sad that Muslims are killing fellow Muslims. We also don’t condone Muslims killing Christians.”

He said he had talked to senior MNLF and Islamic religious leaders to intervene and stop the fighting, but was told that they would do so only on instructions of Misuari. He said, “They said any movement to interfere might be perceived as sabotage."

Misuari reportedly ordered the offensive after the Abu Sayyaf refused to turn over several of its hostages to the MNLF.

On Saturday night the Abu Sayyaf released a Filipino television crew, but not to the MNLF, and refused to hand over Atyani to Malik’s group. The release of the two Filipino hostages, reportedly in exchange for ransom, prompted the MNLF to attack the Abu Sayyaf’s jungle hide-outs on Sunday.

Sixteen MNLF fighters have been reported killed, with several of them beheaded, while the group estimates that the Abu Sayyaf has lost 14 men.

Misuari is running as an independent for a fresh term as governor of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM).

Yesterday, President Aquino emphasized that the government did not give permission for the MNLF offensive. He said, “There is no sanction, there is no clearance. They didn’t tell us that they were going to attack the Abu Sayyaf."

What he had ordered, Aquino said, was to bring about 300 families displaced by the fighting to safer ground. He also ordered the military and police to confine the violence to Patikul.

He said, “On Sunday when I first heard about the clash, our first priority of course (was the safety of) our citizens or civilians who might be caught in the conflict areas.

Sources said Misuari hoped that securing the release of the hostages would boost his chances in the ARMM race in May and improve his standing in the Organization of Islamic Conference.

The President’s Liberal Party is fielding ARMM officer-in-charge Mujiv Hataman against Misuari and former Sultan Kudarat congressman Pakung Mangudadatu of the United Nationalist Alliance for governor in the autonomous region.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336096 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  Yuuuppp, but what does the MILF sayeth to this???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/07/2013 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  "We'll go in later and shoot the winners."
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 11:55 Comments || Top||

#3  Hey, let's you and him fight!
Posted by: SteveS || 02/07/2013 15:27 Comments || Top||

#4  Send popcorn
Posted by: Harcourt Trotsky2332 || 02/07/2013 17:20 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
French tanker hijacked off Ivory Coast released
[FRANCE24] A French-owned, Luxembourg-flagged tanker that was hijacked by suspected Nigerian pirates off Ivory Coast last week has been released with all 17 members of its crew safe and sound, the boat's owner said on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336113 views] Top|| File under: Pirates

#1  Apparently kidnapping and holding the pirates' families or mailing them all heads of their first cousins works well...

The French have become increasing ill tempered with Islamic groups, perchance because of the troubles with the Moslem Ghetto riots a few years back?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/07/2013 17:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Parties affirm solidarity with Kashmiris
[Dawn] Political and religious parties held rallies and other events to mark Kashmir Day, with a significant show of strength displayed by the Jamaat-ud-Dawa,
...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba...
here on Tuesday.
"Here" refers to Karachi.
The JuD rally was also addressed by leaders from Indian-held Kashmir over the phone, who vowed to continue their struggle and lauded the moral support being extended by the people of Pakistan to the Kashmir cause.
They tried to call leaders from Pak-occupied Kashmir but the line was busy.
Hundreds of JuD workers took out a procession from the Safari Park and marched to the Karachi Press Club in the second half of the day. At the KPC, those who addressed the rally included party leaders and such veterans from Indian-held Kashmir as Syed Ali Geelani of the Tehreek-i-Hurriyat, Shabbir Shah of the Jammu and Kashmir Democratic Freedom Party and Asiya Andrabi of Dukhtaran-i-Millat.

"It's not time to open trade with India but to get Kashmir freed from it," a JuD statement quoted Mr Geelani as having told the rally. "The spirit in the Pakistanis for the Kashmir cause is phenomenal and the people here expect that Pakistan will continue its moral, diplomatic and political efforts for Kashmir freedom."

The rally was also addressed by JuD Karachi chief Eng Naveed Qamar and leaders from other political parties, including the Jamiat Ulema-i-Islam, Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf and the People's Youth Organisation. Another rally was organised by the Jamaat-i-Islami, which was taken out from the Jail Chowrangi to the Mazar-i-Quaid.

A large number of JI workers, including women and children, attended the rally addressed by JI Sindh chief Dr Mairaj-ul-Huda Siddiqui, acting JI Karachi chief Barjees Ahmed and JI Karachi general secretary Naseem Siddiqui.

"We do not accept the United Nations which cannot stop the barbarism in Kashmir, Syria, Burma and other parts of the Muslim world," said Dr Siddiqui while speaking at the rally. "Over 100,000 Kashmiri youngsters have been killed and thousands of
women raped by Indian troops over a decade, but the brutality has failed to inspire the UN to move."

The two rallies also caused gridlock on M.A. Jinnah Road that stretched to Saddar and other adjoining areas. Officials said traffic flow normalised after traffic police presence was increased.

Showing solidarity with the Kashmiri people, Millat-i-Islamia Council Pakistan also organised a symposium to discuss challenges faced by the people struggling for freedom and a possible solution to the conflict between the two countries.

Chairman of the Anjuman Faizan-i-Raza Shah Turab-ul-Haq Qadri and Allama Shariq Adnan Rizvi also spoke.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba


Africa North
Tunisia PM forms new government after assassination
[BBC.CO.UK] Tunisia is to form a non-partisan government of technocrats to run the country until elections can be held, the prime minister has said.

Hamadi Jebali made the announcement at the end of a day that saw a leading opposition figure killed and protests break out in several major cities.

Anti-Islamist politician Chokri Belaid was shot in the head and neck in Tunis.

His killing was the first political assassination since the Arab Spring uprising of January 2011.

He was shot dead at close range as he left for work by a gunman who fled on the back of a motorcycle.
Murdering people while riding double on a cycle of violence must be in the Koran or something.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria, Sunni-Shiite Splits Arise at Muslim Summit
[ABCNEWS.GO] An Islamic summit that opened in Egypt on Wednesday lay bare the multiple divisions within the Moslem and Arab worlds, with conflicting approaches to the Syrian civil war exposing the Sunni-Shiite sectarian fault lines that have torn the region for years.

Egypt's Islamist leader sharply criticized Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
's embattled regime in his address to the two-day summit, though he hedged his comments by only making an indirect call for the Syrian leader to step down.

The Syrian government "must read history and grasp its immortal message: It is the people who remain and those who put their personal interests before those of their people will inevitably go," Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi said.

The conflict in Syria has been deeply divisive
...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled...
in the Middle East, pitting a largely Sunni opposition against a regime dominated by Assad's Alawite minority -- a heterodox offshoot of Shiite Islam. Sunni nations such as Egypt, Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face...
and Turkey have thrown their weight behind the rebels, while Shiite heavyweight Iran is Damascus
...The capital of Iran's Syrian satrapy...
' closest regional ally.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  The best part? They've got modern weapons* now.


(dat includes WMD)
Posted by: Pappy || 02/07/2013 9:26 Comments || Top||

#2  Gee, ya mean all is not sweetness and brotherhood in murderous muzzieland?
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 11:57 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Spain Police Seize 4 Tons of Cocaine in Cow Hide Shipment
[An Nahar] Spanish police said Wednesday they had seized 4.1 tons of cocaine worth nearly a quarter of a billion euros in one of the biggest ever seizures of the drug in the country.

The cocaine was found at a warehouse in the eastern city of Elche, hidden in containers of cow hides that came by boat from Colombia and were to be delivered to a shoe maker, police said in a statement.

The cocaine was stored in thousands of packages containing just over a kilo (two pounds) of the drug each, enough for around 82 million doses.

The cocaine is worth nearly 242 million euros ($327 million) and was destined for distribution in Spain and across Europe.

Police detained three Spanish men, including the suspected leader of the drug trafficking ring, and searched 16 houses, businesses and warehouses that belonged to the suspects.

The authorities seized two shotguns, a hunting rifle, a box of ammunition, three machetes, two computers, and six luxury vehicles, as well as 6,755 euros in cash.

Police swooped on traffickers just as they appeared to be getting ready to remove the cocaine from the warehouse in several trucks.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Russia Says Kills Last Militant Linked To Moscow Metro Bomb
[Jpost] Russia said on Wednesday it had killed the last surviving North Caucasus bad turban wanted for organizing twin bombings on the Moscow metro that killed 40 people in 2010.

Moscow is fighting an Islamist insurgency in the mountainous North Caucasus more than a decade since it re-established federal control over Chechnya after two separatist wars.

Almost daily violence is reported in the volatile region, but snuffies have also struck the Russian heartland, claiming responsibility for a suicide kaboom that killed 37 at Moscow's busiest airport in 2011 and the metro bombings in 2010.

"Until today, Gusen Magomedov was the last remaining participant directly involved in the organization and carrying out of terrorist attacks on the Moscow metro in March, 2010," Russia's anti-terrorist committee said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336089 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm guessing Gusen's life since March 2010 hasn't been all that nice, what with the Russian security forces hot on his heels.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 12:20 Comments || Top||

#2  At least I hope it hasn't.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/07/2013 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Killed or captured and tortured until he was out of useful information.

The Russians have interrogation techniques that would make alarm a Pakistani ISI officer.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/07/2013 17:26 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Argentine FM: 'there's no such thing as Falkland islanders'
[Iran Press TV] Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman has said that there is no such thing as Falkland islanders, but they are British citizens living in the disputed territory.

Speaking at a press conference in London on Wednesday, Timerman said "The Falklands islanders do not exist. What exists is British citizens who live in the Islas Malvinas."

Moreover, he said the United Nations only recognizes two parties in disputes over the Malvinas Islands, Argentine and the UK.

"The United Nations does not recognize a third party in the conflict," Timerman said.

The Argentinean Foreign Minister refused to attend a London meeting to discuss the Malvinas as his British counterpart William Hague admitted previously that the Falkland government representatives will also be present.

Argentina has repeatedly announced that the islander's vote does not count as they believe the Royal Navy has expelled the Argentineans who originally lived on the territory and has replaced them with British settlers.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There's no such thing as a General Belgrono either.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/07/2013 0:43 Comments || Top||

#2  How do you say "squirrel!" in Spanish?
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 10:40 Comments || Top||

#3  La ardila.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/07/2013 12:04 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh, God. They've created imaginary refugees from the Malvinas. Watch for them to show up on TV with the "keys" from the homes they were chased out of.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/07/2013 12:59 Comments || Top||

#5  Anything to distract from your crumbling economy, eh puta?
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/07/2013 16:38 Comments || Top||


Africa North
ElBaradei condemns fatwa approving murder of NSF members
[Egypt Independent] Political powerhouse Mohamed ElBaradei denounced a fatwa Wednesday that authorized the murder of National Salvation Front members.

The NSF leader and Dostour Party head said the fatwa issued by Mahmoud Shaaban, a professor of religious rhetoric at Al-Azhar University, was an attempt to incite violence.

"When such people incite killing in the name of religion without being arrested, we can kiss the regime goodbye," tweeted ElBaradei. "How many crimes were committed against and in the name of Islam."

Shaaban based his fatwa on a Hadith that says: He who swore allegiance to an imam and gave him his hand and the fruit of his heart shall obey him, and he who disputes him shall have his neck smitten.

Several Islamist figures have attacked NSF leaders recently for refusing to support President Mohamed Morsy, claiming the NSF was behind violent clashes that swept across Egypt following the revolution's second anniversary last month.

Mohsen Rady, the Freedom and Justice Party's Secretary in Qalyubiya, told Al-Masry Al-Youm Monday that the NSF wanted to bring Egypt to its knees through violent protest.

Other religious groups have also called for the murder of protesters. Last week, Islamist groups Jihad Organization and Jama'a al-Islamiya said members of the elusive Black Bloc, a group of masked protesters that have not made their agenda clear, should also be killed.

"God orders us to kill, crucify or cut off the hands and feet of those who spread mischief on earth," said Jama'a al-Islamiya's Mufti Abdel Akhar Hammad, citing a verse from the Quran. "The president must give that order."
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336092 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Ah yes. The RoP & tolerance. And people wonder why Islam is despised, hated and feared?

Right there in the "Holy" books as pronounced by the highest religious "scholars", an injunction to kill anyone that doesn't submit to their slavery.

Yep, sounds like a leftist creed to me.
Posted by: AlanC || 02/07/2013 7:09 Comments || Top||


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336114 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Cerina Vincent[Filmography](age 34)



Intelligent Design


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/07/2013 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  OK I'll say it: Table cloths.... why do they hate us?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/07/2013 0:39 Comments || Top||

#3  By the standards posted by CBS for the Grammys, that tablecloth would be forbidden....
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 02/07/2013 21:18 Comments || Top||

#4  Good. Please make the tablecloth go away.
Posted by: gorb || 02/07/2013 22:31 Comments || Top||

#5  my thoughts also, Gorb, but CBS sez can't show the sides of boobies or 'puffy bare' flesh down around waistage area...... and no thongs. don't understand why they don't like flip flops, tho'.....
Posted by: USN,Ret. || 02/07/2013 22:44 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Zambia ex-leader refuses to answer graft charges
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zambia's ex-president Rupiah Banda will not appear before a government anti-graft panel which has summoned him to answer corruption charges, because he has immunity, his lawyer said on Tuesday.

The summonses form part of a wide-ranging and sweeping anti-corruption campaign launched by Banda's successor Michael Sata, mainly targeting high profile members of the former administration.

"He is not going there! For what?" one of Banda's lawyers Sakwiba Sikota declared.

Banda, who took office in 2008 but lost the 2011 election to Sata, had been ordered to appear before the anti-graft task force on Thursday.

But Sikota told AFP late Tuesday that Banda "is not going to appear before the investigations wing."

Anti-Corruption Commission chief Rosewin Wandi said even as Banda has immunity for any offences committed while he was in office, he was wanted to answer charges into "allegations of corruption and other criminal activities" in which he had been named.

Sikota insisted the former head of state was protected by presidential immunity and as such could not appear before the investigating team.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Rats - I thought the headline read "Zombie ex-leader"
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 02/07/2013 19:21 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Twin car bombing kills 35, injures 30 in Syria's Homs
[Iran Press TV] At least 35 people have been killed and 30 others injured in a twin bombing in the Syrian city of Palmyra in the province of Homs.

The bombs detonated near a military security branch in the city's countryside on Wednesday, Xinhua reported.

The incident occurred amid ongoing clashes between Syrian military forces and foreign-backed militants at the entrance of Jobar, a suburb of the capital Damascus.

There were also reports of clashes in the suburbs of the southern town of Zamalka.

On Sunday, Syrian government forces clashed with a group of armed men, who were trying to enter the city of Talkalakh, located 49 kilometers (30 miles) west of the city of Homs.

Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011. Many people, including large numbers of security personnel, have been killed in the violence.

Several international human rights organizations say the foreign-sponsored militants have committed war crimes.

The Syrian government says the chaos is being orchestrated from outside the country, and there are reports that a very large number of the militants fighting the Syrian government are foreign nationals.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Government
Postal Service bids farewell to mail delivery on Saturdays
[Iran Press TV] The long-threatened dismantling of the United States Postal Service has begun in piecemeal fashion as the agency announced on Wednesday plans to end Saturday mail deliveries cutting a deeper path for privatized delivery and inciting the "death spiral" of an American institution.

Confirming earlier reports, Postmaster General Patrick Donahue said that the Saturday mail cutback will begin the week of August 5.

The Associated Press reports that "under the new plan, mail would be delivered to homes and businesses only from Monday through Friday, but would still be delivered to post office boxes on Saturdays. Post offices now open on Saturdays would remain open on Saturdays."
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Less Crap.
I'm all for it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 13:56 Comments || Top||

#2  When companies start to flounder, they typically retrench and focus on their core competencies. By cutting back on Saturday delivery, the Post Office is focusing on their strength - not delivering the mail.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/07/2013 15:31 Comments || Top||


Europe
Bulgaria: IDs, location of 2 terror suspects known
The two living suspects behind a bus attack that killed five Israeli tourists in Bulgaria last year have been identified and both are now living in Lebanon, a top Bulgarian security official said Wednesday.

The bomb that exploded July 18 as the Israeli tourists were boarding a bus at the airport in Burgas also killed a Bulgarian bus driver and the suspected bomber. Three men are suspected in the attack, including the dead bomber.

On Tuesday, an official Bulgarian report said investigators had "well-grounded reasons to suggest" that two of the suspects belonged to the militant wing of the Islamist group Hezbollah. The report said they had been living in Lebanon for years, one with a Canadian passport and the other with an Australian one.

Stanimir Florov, head of Bulgaria's anti-terror unit, said Wednesday that the names of the suspects were known, they were now based in the same country and "we have asked Lebanese authorities to assist in our investigation." He did not elaborate.

The identity of the bomber remains unknown even though his DNA samples have been shared with intelligence agencies in other nations, he said, adding that no DNA match has been found in their databases.

Florov said the bomb was likely supposed to explode while the bus was in motion "but the terrorists obviously made a mistake."

Europol Director Rob Wainwright confirmed that comment, telling The Associated Press that investigators believe the bomber never intended to die. A Europol expert who analyzed a fragment of a circuit board from the bomb determined that it was detonated remotely, he said.

If the explosives had blown up while the bus was full, there would have been many more victims and much of the evidence would have been destroyed, Florov said.

"In that case, the investigation would have started from ground zero," he said.

Canadian Immigration Minister Jason Kenney told the National Post that one of the suspects was born in Lebanon, came to Canada at age eight, became a Canadian citizen and then left at age 12. He said he assumed the man was a dual Lebanese-Canadian citizen.

"I understand he may have been back to Canada a few times since then, but he has not has been a habitual resident in Canada since the age of 12," Kenney said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336074 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Africa North
French troops kill 'several hundred' Islamist militants in Mali, official says
[FOXNEWS] Hundreds of Islamist militants have been killed in Mali by French troops, France's defense minister said.
Feel-good story of the day!
Jean-Yves Le Drian said "several hundred" militants died in airstrikes on vehicles carrying fighters and during combat with French forces, resulting in "great damage on the jihadist terrorist groups," the BBC reports.
How's that "Lions of the Desert" thing working out for ya?
It is unclear how France came up with the death total, but the country says only one of its own -- a helicopter pilot -- has died since its Jan. 11 intervention.
That's... ummm... a 1:a whole bunch kill ratio.
France has around 4,000 troops on the ground in Mali alongside forces from the African Union, while it estimates that the Islamist groups are 6,000 5,000 4,000 3,000 fighters strong, the BBC reports.
And dwindling, I hope.
France, fearing Mali was becoming a haven for international terrorists, became involved in the conflict after Islamist extremists started moving toward the capital.
Brilliant move on the turbans' part. Up until then the International Community™ was dithering as usual.
President Francois Hollande said Wednesday France may start pulling out its troops out of Mali at the end of March.
Good idea. Kick ass. Take names. Then it's Miller time. If they come back, do it again. Beats hell out of Nation Building™.
Government spokeswoman Najat Vallaud-Belkacem said the pullout will depend on an increase in the deployment of African forces, who are meant to take over the international effort to secure Mali and help its weak army keep the peace.
Along with, no doubt, a bunch of ineffective UN Peacekeepers.
French forces are now clashing with Islamist militants who have been firing rocket launchers in the northern Malian city of Gao.
"Vous, there, with the RPG! [BANG!]"
"Aaaiiieee!"
"Droppez le rocket launcher and step away avec yer hands up!"
"Rosebud!"
"He's dead, Jean-Luc!"

Jean-Yves Le Drian said French aircraft are continuing airstrikes every night on suspected militant arms depots and mine-making sites.
Not all that many good hiding places out there on the burning sands, are there? Especially if part of your allies have now switched sides.
Malian soldiers on Wednesday found a stash of industrial-strength explosives in Gao that can be used to make roadside bombs. Soldiers, patrolling on foot, made the discovery after a local official alerted them to the scene.
It helps when the locals can't stand the enemy.
A News Agency that Dare Not be Named reporting team also viewed the stash of Nitram 5, which had been hidden inside rice bags that were dumped in a small square with other garbage from the town.
Kinda makes you wonder where that kind of stuff comes from, and who pays for it.
There have been concerns of a counterinsurgency in the weeks since French troops took over the cities of Timbuktu and Gao, especially after four Malian soldiers were killed when a land mine went off near their vehicle.
Actually, there are concerns of an insurgency. Counterinsurgency is putting the insurgency down. Insurgents are the guys hiding explosives in rice bags.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336095 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  It's a dirty little war in Africa - and not getting much independent press coverage. The French seem to have the press reports very much under control. The French public doesn't seem to care - as long as it doesn't cost a lot of money. I'm all in favor of jihadists being unseated from power ... but you don't hear much about how that's being done.
Posted by: Raider || 02/07/2013 15:30 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Taliban dismiss outcome of Pak-Afghan-UK conference
[Dawn] An Afghan Taliban front man on Wednesday dismissed the outcome of a conference in London between the leaders of Afghanistan, Pakistain and Britannia which aimed to work towards a peace deal within six months.

The conference and other "horse trading" were "the real obstacles of effective and fruitful negotiations between the factual sides," Zabihullah Mujahid wrote on the Taliban's website.

Following talks hosted by Britannia, Afghan, Pak and British leaders on Monday had vowed to achieve a peace settlement for Afghanistan within six months.

The three leaders also said they supported the opening of an office in Qatar for the Afghan Taliban to hold talks.

"President Karzai, president Zardari and the prime minister affirmed that they supported the opening of an office in Doha for the purpose of negotiations between the Taliban and the High Peace Council of Afghanistan as part of an Afghan-led grinding of the peace processor," a joint statement had said following the trilateral summit Monday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: Taliban

#1  And I Dismiss the Taliban, so what?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 13:59 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Obama was for military involvement in Africa before he was for it
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336075 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
9-Year-Old Gives Birth In Mexico
Mohammed is being sought.
A 9-year-old Mexican girl gave birth via Cesarean section to a baby in January as a search continues for the 17-year-old father of the child.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336107 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At least the birth took place in Mexico and not Herndon, VA. where US taxpayers would have likely picked up the tab.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 2:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Are you from Herndon, Bes? I'm 5 miles South.
Posted by: Eric Jablow || 02/07/2013 8:56 Comments || Top||

#3  No Eric, like many, Lord Fairfax found me crass and vulgar. I had a small place up there while contracting. Used to like to hit Route-50 west when I had time off, get out to the Middleburg or Upperville horse country, very civilized. Back in rural Georgia now.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 9:10 Comments || Top||

#4  Was Menendez anywhere near Jalisco, Mexico nine months prior to this?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Besoeker, do you know if the town of Kennesaw, Georgia, still has an ordinance that requires citizens to have and maintain a firearm in their households?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/07/2013 10:33 Comments || Top||

#6  Oh yes they do JohnQC. I am in Cumming, GA
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 10:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Bloomberg visited shortly after Sandy Hook
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 10:36 Comments || Top||

#8  was her name Aisha by any chance?
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/07/2013 10:50 Comments || Top||

#9  Yes, Kennesaw still has the firearms law, but it has little to do with crime. Locals had their hands full back in 64. Ran short of ammunition, beans, nearly everything. They vowed never to run low again. Yes, crime rate in that area is also pretty low....not sure why.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 13:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Seems like there is a GA delegation in Rantburg. Chez Abu is just north of Atlanta 'bout half way to Chattanoogie
Posted by: abu do you love || 02/07/2013 16:56 Comments || Top||

#11  I'd rather be in Blue Ridge Abu.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/07/2013 16:59 Comments || Top||

#12  Gimme lake Oconee
Posted by: Beavis || 02/07/2013 17:23 Comments || Top||

#13  Given a choice, I'd rather be in the Ozarks.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/07/2013 23:10 Comments || Top||


Europe
EU to Discuss Adding Hezbollah to Terror List
[BUSINESSWEEK] The European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
said it will discuss designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group after Bulgaria implicated the Leb-based organization in the 2012 bombing of a tourist bus.
"They boomed a busload of tourists. Does that make them terrorists?"
Don't be silly: they weren't tourists, they were Israelis. That changes things, donchaknow.
"The European Union and the member states will look into several options; this is one of them, but not the only one," Maja Kocijancic, a spokeswoman for EU foreign-affairs chief Catherine Ashton, told news hounds today in Brussels. Persons and organizations placed on the terrorist list are subject to stepped-up police and judicial surveillance and can face other restrictions including an asset freeze, according to the EU's website.
"There are lots of other options. Like... ummm..."
An investigation by Bulgaria found "evidence of links and financing" from Hezbollah based on information about the suspected conspirators in the attack, Bulgarian Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said yesterday. That prompted Israel and the U.S. to renew calls for the EU to follow them in designating Hezbollah as a terrorist group.
The EU's position, if I recall (and understand) correctly, has been that since Hezbollah is a political party and a significant faction in the Leb govt, it's not a terrorist group despite the activities of its "armed wing," which is somehow distinguished from the rest of it.
The EU has declined to label Hezbollah a terrorist group, which would block its fundraising and other activities in Europe, because some Europeans governments see it as a legitimate political organization and a powerful influence in Leb.
I just said that. Maybe I didn't mealy-mouth it enough.
'Negative Impact'
Placing Hezbollah on the EU terrorist list would have a "negative impact on the commercial relationship between Leb and Europe, which is the first commercial partner of Leb," Sami Nader, an economist and a professor of international relations at Beirut's St. Joseph University, said in a telephone interview. "That would shake the trust in the Lebanese economy and banking system at a time when we need to increase our relationship with the rest of the world."
Counterbalancing that is the fact that Hezbollah's the big cheese in Leb, fully capable of starting wars on a whim or occupying downtown Beirut when it gets its back hair up. It controls significant territory which is closed to outsiders, to include the Leb army. And as we've seen in the past week, Hezbollah "security officials" seem to be exempt for making appearances in Leb courts. I'm guessing it's the largest political entity in Leb. And it's an integral part of the Iran-Syria-Hezbollah axis of evil. So the question for the EU becomes: Are you going to continue doing business with a rogue terrorist group that's within 2.6 hairs of controlling Leb, whether Leb wants it or not?
The EU is reviewing the findings of the investigation by Bulgaria into the July 18 attack near Burgas, a holiday spot on the Black Sea, Kocijancic said.
There's gotta be an out there, somewhere. Maybe the fact that Hezbollah "rejects" the findings? That usually does it.
"We will look into the outcomes of this investigation and discuss the appropriate response," Kocijancic said.
"The options include spitting and going blind. We shall decide which is appropriate in due course, unless Short Attention Span Syndrome kicks in, which it probably will."
In addition to the terrorist list, "there are also actions that can be taken through various channels," she said, citing "judicial action, political and diplomatic measures," and the EU's police-coordination arm, Europol.
Right. Issuing a warrant for the killers that'll never be served might do it, and then they won't have to do any more.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Africa North
'Over 200 Nigerians trained for 10 months in Timbuktu'
[DAILYTRUST.NG] Hundreds of Boko Haram members stayed at training camps with Malian militants for months in Timbuktu, learning to fix Kalashnikovs and launch shoulder-fired weapons, a report has said.

The Nigerians fled the city into the desert, along with the other militants, days before a French airstrike on January 20, American newspaper Wall Street Journal reported.
Which means they were tipped in advance about the operation. The question is: how well were they concealed in the desert?
A man who said he was hired to cook for the militants said the Boko Haram members trained for about 10 months at what is now a bombed-out customs-police building on Timbuktu's desert fringe, intermingling with a local al Qaeda offshoot called Ansar Dine.

"Every day I saw people coming here, saying they want to sign up," said the man, whose description of the militants' activities matched those offered by four neighbours.

The Wall Street Journal quoted locals as saying that until just a few weeks ago, the bombed-out customs-police building in Timbuktu was one of bustling training centers populated not only by local al Qaeda-linked militants but also by hundreds of Boko Haram members.

Well over 200 Nigerians arrived in Timbuktu in April 2012 in about 300 cars, the cook said, after al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) swept into the city.
That's two thirds of a Nigerian per car...
Residents said about 50 Boko Haram militants lived and trained at the customs building, and 50 more lived in an annex across a giant sandy lot, while others took up in other abandoned government buildings.

The presence of Nigerian trainees in Mali confirms statements earlier made by authorities that some Boko Haram fighters trained in Mali.

Last year, a senior security chief gave a briefing in which he said Nigeria was going to Mali primarily to uproot the Boko Haram training facilities.

Also, Chief of Army Staff Lt-General Azubuike Ihejirika said last month that Boko Haram received training in Mali, making it imperative for Nigerian troops to join the international campaign to free northern Mali from militants.

Running a war college

The Wall Street Journal report quoted neighbours as saying that in Timbuktu, AQIM ran a sophisticated war college from several abandoned buildings. Judging by locals' accounts of the training, this was where Boko Haram militants gained skills to allow them to expand beyond their typical quick-hit bomb strikes.

On dunes just west of the customs house, Boko Haram fighters fired shoulder-fired arms, the cook and four neighbors said--though it couldn't be determined if they were describing sophisticated rockets or more rudimentary mortars. In its Nigeria attacks, Boko Haram appears not to have used shoulder-mounted weapons.

Within a week of the foreign militants' arrival, the al Qaeda-backed groups began offering jobs to locals. A gunman came to the cook's door, looking for someone fluent in the Hausa language--which the cook had learned in Kumasi, a trading town in Ghana with a large Hausa population. They paid him about N3,000 a day, he said, to cook for Ansar Dine and Boko Haram.

A restaurateur said he sometimes brought tubs of couscous and spaghetti to the training camp, but said the Boko Haram fighters didn't extend much courtesy to locals. "They are extremely rude," said the restaurateur, adding: "They pay whatever price you want."

On a typical day, after rising before dawn to pray and read the Quran, the militants ran five laps around the sand-choked lot, the size of several football fields, said the cook and neighbors who witnessed the exercises. After push-ups in the sand, the militants ate a breakfast of bread and powdered milk.

They then met with specialists, the cook said. He described an arms specialist from Pakistan, who he said taught Boko Haram and Ansar Dine members how to break apart and reassemble assault rifles, over and over again. There was a computer specialist who appeared, to the cook, to be mostly occupied making fliers extolling the fundamentalist cause. A heavy arms specialist who the cook said was from

Afghanistan told militants how to breathe steadily when firing a shoulder-mounted rocket.

"Swear to God, every day, new people, they come," said Moulhar Arby, a girl in the earthen-wall house next door to the customs office. "Nobody knows how they come here."

Commanders from Boko Haram and Ansar Dine gave newcomers 4,000 West African CFA, the local equivalent of N1,250, to enlist, the cook said. After training, he said, recruits were given about N4,700--their first taste of money following months of sharing bathrooms with scores of militants.

Days before the French bomb hollowed out the customs building, the Nigerians sneaked away, neighbors said. Every night, a few came back to toggle the lights, these people said, presumably to convey to surveillance planes above that Boko Haram was still in Timbuktu, the report said.

Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336075 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa

#1  Well over 200 Nigerians arrived in Timbuktu in April 2012 in about 300 cars,
Winnegagoes Death Ships pulling the family technical. Makes sense.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/07/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley for handgun purchase licenses
[WASHINGTONTIMES] Maryland Gov. Martin O'Malley will urge state lawmakers on Wednesday to pass legislation requiring residents to obtain a license before purchasing a handgun, but Second Amendment advocates hope to drown out his message.

Mr. O'Malley, a Democrat, will testify before the Senate Judicial Proceedings Committee in favor of his bill, which would also ban assault weapons, limit magazine capacities to 10 rounds and require prospective gun buyers to complete a safety course and pay a $100 application fee.

However, gun-rights advocates will descend upon Annapolis to rally against a bill that they say tramples on gun owners' rights and won't stop criminals who carry illegal guns.

"The overriding problem with the governor's bill is that it does little to address the bad guys with the guns," said Delegate Michael D. Smigiel Sr., Cecil Republican, who said rally organizers are expecting 1,000 to 3,000 people. "It deals with ways of curtailing law-abiding citizens from being able to exercise their full Second Amendment rights."

Mr. O'Malley proposed his legislation last month in an effort to fight gun violence and prevent incidents similar to last year's deadly shootings in Newtown, Conn., and Aurora, Colo.

While requiring a permit to carry a handgun in public is the norm throughout most of the U.S., only nine states currently require a license or permit to purchase a handgun, according to Johns Hopkins University's Center for Gun Policy and Research.

Maryland would join Massachusetts, New Jersey and New York as states that require applicants to also provide fingerprints and give state officials authority to reject applications.

Connecticut and Iowa require fingerprints but have no authority to reject applicants. Illinois, Michigan, Nebraska and North Carolina require licenses, but do not reject applications or require fingerprints.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Alabama does NOT have this crap, Move down here, please.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/07/2013 13:41 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia Rebels Call for Decriminalization of Drug Crops
[An Nahar] Colombia's leftist FARC guerrillas on Wednesday called for the decriminalization of the cultivation of marijuana, coca leaf and poppies in the country.

The rebel group, which allegedly finances its operations in part through drug trafficking, said some cultivation of these crops should be legalized for "therapeutic or medicinal uses, industrial uses or for cultural reasons."

In a statement read out in Havana, where the FARC is engaged in peace talks with the Colombian government, the group called for ending drug eradication programs in order to "improve living and working conditions in rural areas."

To that end, it proposed "halting the policy of criminalization and persecution, suspending aerial spraying and other forms of eradication that are having negative socio-environmental and economic impacts."

The statement was read out by Ivan Marquez, the FARC's lead negotiator in the talks with Bogota.

The proposal was part of an eight-point position paper on land use, which the rebels say is at the center of their almost half-century-old insurgency, the longest in Latin America.

The peace talks, which began in November, are the fourth attempt to settle the conflict through negotiations and the first in a decade.

With an estimated 8,000 fighters, the Revolutionary Armed Forces of Colombia (FARC) is the country's largest and oldest rebel group.

Besides drug trafficking, the group has funded its insurgency through extortion and kidnapping.

It renounced kidnapping for ransom in February 2012, but is currently holding two policemen as "prisoners of war."
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336077 views] Top|| File under: Narcos


India-Pakistan
No headway in 150 graft cases against govt officials
[Dawn] The timely disposal of around 150 graft cases against public servants hangs in the balance as the special provincial anti-corruption court has been lying vacant for around two months following the expiry of the tenure of the previous judge, it emerged on Tuesday.

The provincial government has set up the lone special anti-corruption court in Sindh for speedy trial of bribery and corruption cases against public servants.

Around 150 cases were awaiting decision when the two-year tenure of Judge Rashida Asad as the presiding officer of the special anti-corruption court, set up in Bloody Karachi
...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous...
, came to an end on Dec 10, 2012 and since then the court has been lying vacant.

Court sources said that it was the responsibility of the provincial law department to move a summary to the high court concerned for the appointment of a district and sessions judge to the provincial anti-corruption court. However,
alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk...
so far no notification regarding the filling of the important slot has been issued.

An apparent delay on the part of authorities concerned to make immediate efforts for the appointment of a judicial officer in the special anti-corruption court not only put the speedy disposal of the graft cases at stake, but might also be damaging for the prosecution side.

It is generally believed that a delay in trial almost always benefits the accused side and damages the case of the prosecution.

Over 5,000 complaints pending for want of approval

Thousands of complaints and inquiries are pending before the anti-corruption establishment (ACE) for want of 'approval' of competent authorities

Sources said that around 5,000 complaints and inquiries were pending as the anti-corruption committees (ACC-I & ACC-II) apparently have little time to take up these inquiries and complaints to grant approval for registration of cases, which would lead to trial.
Posted by: Fred || 02/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336084 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  "LEAVE MY BAKSHEEH ALONE!"
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/07/2013 13:26 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
38[untagged]
5Govt of Syria
3al-Qaeda in North Africa
3Arab Spring
3Govt of Pakistan
3Hezbollah
3Taliban
2Narcos
2Boko Haram
2TTP
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Abu Sayyaf
1Pirates
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1Muslim Brotherhood

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2013-02-07
  Syrian Army Launches 'All-Out Attack' on Capital Region
Wed 2013-02-06
  Fat Lady Sings for Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed
Tue 2013-02-05
  Second big turban nabbed in northern Mali
Mon 2013-02-04
  Ansar Dine #3 arrested in northern Mali
Sun 2013-02-03
  Yemen Troops Kill 12 'Qaida Militants' in Restive South
Sat 2013-02-02
  Syria Suicide Attack on Regime Kills 53
Fri 2013-02-01
  Binori Mosque cleric among 10 killed in Karachi
Thu 2013-01-31
  Boko Haram 'commander' declares ceasefire
Wed 2013-01-30
  Mali and Niger forces retake Ansongo
Tue 2013-01-29
  Sahel jihadist groups splinter
Mon 2013-01-28
  Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts
Sun 2013-01-27
  French and Malian troops begin restoring control in Timbuktu
Sat 2013-01-26
  Green-on-green clash in Khyber tribal region kills 32
Fri 2013-01-25
  AQAP #2 killed for the THIRD time in Yemen
Thu 2013-01-24
  US drone strike near Sanaa kills 7 hard boyz

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