#1
Muzzammil Hassan is the founder and chief executive officer of Bridges TV, which he launched in 2004, amid hopes that it would help portray Muslims in a more positive light.
Well, Muzzammil, it might be just me, but I don't think beheading the wife is really the right approach towards achieving your noble goal...
#3
This was reported in the Buffalo newspaper today. Apparently the gentelman's wife had filed for divorce, and taken out a protective order against him. He is in the county jail awaiting trial.
#4
More -- I googled. There are two stories about this on the website of one of the Buffalo television stations. Here's one of the stories. Apparently the couple arrived on our fair shores from Pakistan. Their four children arrived in Buffalo in the usual way, I imagine.
THE Taliban is ina a large part of Pakistan, forcing the country to fight a war against it, that is about Pakistan's own survival, President Asif Zardari said. "(The Taliban) do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side.
''Yes, that is the fact," Zardari told US 60 Minutes in an interview to be broadcast on Sunday, excerpts of which were released today.
U.S. President Barack Obama said this week there was no doubt terrorists were operating in safe havens in the tribal regions of Pakistan, and the United States wanted to make sure Islamabad was a strong ally in fighting that threat.
Obama and Zardari spoke by telephone on Wednesday, the Pakistani foreign ministry said. The two discussed the surge in violence by al Qaeda and the Taliban, which has stepped up its insurgency against U.S. forces and the Afghan government.
Zardari said Pakistan had been in denial about the Taliban in the past. "Our forces weren't increased ... . We have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness," he said.
Zardari has now put 120,000 soldiers into the fight against the Taliban, despite concerns among many Pakistanis that it is fighting a proxy war for the United States. "We're not doing anybody a favor," Zardari said. "We are aware of the fact it's ... Taliban... trying to take over the state of Pakistan.
"So, we're fighting for the survival of Pakistan. We're not fighting for the survival of anybody else."
Zardari, who was elected last year after the assassination of his wife Benazir Bhutto in 2007, rejected suggestions that he lacks the full support of the military and intelligence services, saying he was confident they were behind him. "If that wasn't the case, then Islamabad would have fallen because obviously if the army doesn't do its job, these men are not restricted. They've blown up the Marriott Hotel before. They've attacked us inland before. They would be all around us, wouldn't they?" he said.
RALEIGH, N.C. Blackwater Worldwide is abandoning its tarnished brand name as it tries to shake a reputation battered by oft-criticized work in Iraq, renaming its family of two dozen businesses under the name Xe.
The parent company's new name is pronounced like the letter "z." Blackwater Lodge & Training Center the subsidiary that conducts much of the company's overseas operations and domestic training has been renamed U.S. Training Center Inc., the company said Friday.
The decision comes as part of an ongoing rebranding effort that grew more urgent following a September 2007 shooting in Iraq that left at least a dozen civilians dead. Blackwater president Gary Jackson said in a memo to employees the new name reflects the change in company focus away from the business of providing private security. "The volume of changes over the past half-year have taken the company to an exciting place and we are now ready for two of the final, and most obvious changes," Jackson said in the note.
In his memo, Jackson indicated the company was not interested in actively pursuing new private security contracts. Jackson and other Blackwater executives told The Associated Press last year it was shifting its focus away from such work to focus on training and providing logistics. "This company will continue to provide personnel protective services for high-threat environments when needed by the U.S. government, but its primary mission will be operating our training facilities around the world, including the flagship campus in North Carolina," Jackson said.
The company has operated under the Blackwater name since 1997, when chief executive Erik Prince and some of his former Navy SEAL colleagues launched it in northeastern North Carolina, naming their new endeavor for the area swamp streams that run black with murky water. But the name change underscores how badly the Moyock-based company's brand was damaged by its work in Iraq.
In 2004, four of its contractors were killed in an insurgent ambush in Fallujuah, with their bodies burned, mutiliated and strung from a bridge. The incident triggered a U.S. siege of the restive city.
The September 2007 shooting in Baghdad's Nisoor Square added to the damage. The incident infuriated politicians both in Baghdad in Washington, triggering congressional hearings and increasing calls that the company be banned from operating in Iraq. Last month, Iraqi leaders said they would not renew Blackwater's license to operate there, citing the lingering outrage over the shooting in Nisoor Square, and the State Department said later it will not renew Blackwater's contract to protect diplomats when it expires in May.
Blackwater spokeswoman Anne Tyrrell said the company made the name change was largely because of changes in its focus, but acknowledged the need for the company to shake its past in Iraq. "It's not a direct result of a loss of contract, but certainly that is an aspect of our work that we feel we were defined by," Tyrrell said.
KUALA LUMPUR (AFP) Heavily armed Somali pirates attacked six ships, including British, Indian and Singapore-managed vessels, earlier this week but all managed to escape, a global maritime watchdog said Friday.
"In the past two days, pirates have been actively attacking vessels with intent to hijack," Noel Choong, head of the International Maritime Bureau piracy reporting centre in Kuala Lumpur, said in a statement. "It appears that favourable weather conditions in the area and the high number of hijacked vessel that have been released recently may have prompted the pirates to actively seek for new targets," he added. But the ships -- managed by Indian, British, Greek, Singapore and Philippine companies and one unknown -- managed to escape from the pirates.
Choong said the strong presence of naval warships in strategic locations had prevented successful hijackings in recent weeks. "The number of successful hijackings has been reduced due to naval activities," he told AFP. He urged ships to maintain 24-hour visual and radar watches to prevent hijacks.
In one attack on Thursday in the Gulf of Aden, Choong said Somali pirates in a speed boat opened fire on a Indian-managed ship. "The master contacted naval warships. The pirate's boat came close to the vessel but aborted the attempt due to evasive actions taken by the vessel," he said.
In another dramatic attack, pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) at a Singapore ship in the Gulf of Aden. "The ship's master reported that pirates fired rocket-propelled grenades at the vessel. A military helicopter responded to its distress call," he said.
Choong said six pirates attacked a Philippine ship on Wednesday off Somalia. "Six pirates armed with RPGs and guns in a speed boat chased and fired their RPG at the bulk carrier. The vessel took evasive manoeuvres and escaped from the pirates," he said.
Choong said since January 2009, there had been 22 attacks, with seven vessels and 123 seamen being held by Somali pirates. Japanese warships are expected to soon join a growing fleet of foreign navies patrolling what have become the world's most dangerous waters, with more than 130 pirate attacks in 2008 alone. According to experts, a slightly lower rate of successful pirate attacks since the start of 2009 is due to a combination of weather conditions and increased navy surveillance.
MOSCOW (AFP) A Russian nuclear-powered cruiser has captured 10 Somali pirates in the Indian Ocean armed with grenade launchers, automatic rifles and landmines, a navy spokesman said Friday. "The nuclear cruiser Pyotr Veliky has detained three small pirate boats," said Igor Dygalo, adding that 10 armed men of Somali citizenship were seized in the operation Thursday.
The pirates had been spotted by the cruiser's helicopter southeast of the Yemeni island of Socotra in the Indian Ocean, the spokesman told AFP. "It was visually established how weapons were being dumped from the boats into the sea," Dygalo said in a separate statement.
He added that the navy managed to confiscate grenade launchers, automatic rifles, landmines and 500 grammes of a "narcotic substance," among other things.
The Russian military prosecutors were now investigating the pirates' case adding it would be then up to the Russian foreign and justice ministries to determine their fate.
#1
A giant at 6ft 7in with a wild straggly beard, the man lived in an old shack and self-made camps, hunted animals for food and only ventured out of the forest in summer when he wouldn't leave footprints leading back to where he lived.
A German-Afghan man was sentenced to life in prison for the honour killing of his sister on Friday, creating mayhem in the court room as family members screamed, assaulted journalists and attempted suicide.
The 24-year-old Ahmad-Sobair O. was convicted of murdering his 16-year-old sister Morsal O. on May 15, 2008 because she had turned away from her family. The girl died after suffering 23 stab wounds in a Sankt Georg district parking lot in Hamburg. Both siblings, who immigrated to Germany 13 years ago, have German citizenship.
He killed out of pure intolerance, Hamburg Judge Wolfgang Backen said while reading the verdict, adding that the murder was treacherous and a premeditated bloodbath after all other attempts to discipline his sister had failed.
His verdict sparked dramatic scenes in the court room as Ahmad Sobair O.s family and friends wailed and hit the security glass behind which he was sitting. The accused himself began screaming: You son of a whore! What is this, honour? I know no honour!
He also yelled that had the trial taken place in Kabul, Afghanistan, he would have already been released long ago.
The murderer's mother then tried to throw herself out of a courtroom window, but was restrained by family members. Relatives of the accused also assaulted and threatened a journalist in the room.
According to Backer, the late Morsal O. had been victim to many years of martyrdom in the form of threats and assault from her brother.
Before she was murdered, Morsal O. had been seen by emergency youth services on several occasions, suffering from pressures by her family, which did not approve of her Western lifestyle. After the verdict, her parents sharply criticised the judge, saying the girl bore some of the guilt for her own murder.
Backer said her parents had made their son into the executioner of their parenting methods.
Ahmad-Sobair O. has already been prosecuted for assaulting her and others. He was sentenced in March to one year and five months without possibility of probation on an assault charge. He had requested his March sentence be deferred, but was notified in writing - a day before the stabbing - that the request had been rejected.
A series of six honour killings - including the shooting at a bus stop of 23-year-old Turkish woman Hatun Sürücü in Berlin - shook Germany in 2005. Sürücü's youngest brother, Ayhan Sürücü, later confessed to killing her because his family did not approve of her lifestyle.
According to news agency DPA, some 50 women have been the victim of honour killings in Germany over the last decade.
#4
Sometimes, things have to get worse before they get better. What incidents like this do is cause Muslim women who want to assimilate and don't want to be killed by their families to completely dissociate themselves from both their kin and the Muslim community. I don't see any downside to the complete assimilation of foreign women into the German community.
#5
as family members screamed, assaulted journalists and attempted suicide.
Effing drama queens...
Ahmad, you're not in Afghanistan anymore.
ZF, you know, I think you've isolated the problem. I think ahmad should have stayed in afghanistan, and I think this should apply to 95% of the muslims living in Europe (they, or their predecessors).
#7
Barbarian meets civilization. Justice triumpts. End of story.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/13/2009 15:27
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#8
And in more European Muslim male "honor" news...
A Pakistani man has been sentenced to 20 years in prison by a French court for setting fire to an ex-girlfriend who had refused to marry him. Amer Mushtaq Butt doused the woman with petrol and set her alight as she was leaving her home in a Paris suburb. Chahrazad Belayni, a 21-year-old Moroccan-born woman, suffered third-degree burns to 60% of her body. The case has highlighted violence against women in poor urban communities with large Muslim populations.
Ms Belayni broke down in tears after the sentence was announced in court late on Thursday. "It sets a good example. For women who are victims of violence, I think 20 years is a good step," she said.
Prosecutor Camille Palluel said Butt had meticulously planned his attack "to end the life" of his former girlfriend in an attempt "to restore his honour".
Butt set fire to Ms Belayni in the street in the impoverished Paris suburb of Neuilly-sur-Marne in 2005 after she ended their relationship. She told the court how she threw herself to the ground and tried to extinguish the flames. She fell into a coma after the attack and has since undergone several operations.
Butt fled France for Pakistan after the attack but later returned to hand himself in. He pleaded guilty at his three-day trial, claiming it was a crime of passion.
#9
I think the Chinese approach would have been better. Line up the guy in front of a firing squad, shoot him, haul the family in front of a magistrate where they have to pay for the cost of the bullet and other costs associated with the firing squad, and for raising a child who turned out to be such a bloody waste as to need a .308 lobotomy.
#10
I think the Chinese approach would have been better.
This is probably the reason the Chinese Muslim community abuts Pakistan, but you don't hear of honor killings in China. The death penalty and the persecution of the remaining family members can be a serious deterrent.
#11
I wonder, do they call themselves "Afro Germans" over there?
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/13/2009 19:20
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#12
FYI there's some footage of this on youtube.
Search for "Morsal", "Obeidi", "Ehrenmord" (= honor killing). The voice over is in German but
its self-explanatory.
As for Redneck Jim's question, the murderer is referred to as "Deutsch-Afghane", which is preposterous, as he murdered his sister precisely because she wanted to assimilate.
This hostility and disrespect shown by Afghans of all people is a fruit of western restraint and kindness after 911.
The "War in Afghanistan" should have been a "War on Afghanistan", and liberation should have consisted of imposing western civilization on the Afghans, at gunpoint, without compromises, not of empty rituals involving fingers dyed purple.
Sorry for that rant, but that story really has me livid :(.
SEOUL (AFP) North Korea has apparently started assembling its longest-range missile and it could be ready for launch late this month, a South Korean newspaper said Friday.
Chosun Ilbo, quoting an unidentified Seoul government official, said the first and second stages of the Taepodong-2 missile had been transported by train to the launch site at Musudan-ri on the northeast coast. "It seems that the first- and second-stage rockets are now being assembled," the official was quoted as saying. The missile is then expected to be moved to the launch pad, put in an upright position and fuelled for test-firing, the official said, adding that the earliest it could be launched is February 25.
The date is the first anniversary of the inauguration of South Korean President Lee Myung-Bak. The North views Lee as a bitter enemy because he has taken a firmer stance on cross-border relations than his predecessors.
Chosun said increased activities by vehicles and people had been spotted at Musudan-ri but the missile is inside a plant, out of sight of satellites. It was not possible to confirm the report. South Korean authorities refuse to comment on intelligence matters.
Analysts say a missile launch would be intended to put pressure on Lee to drop his harder line, and to persuade US President Barack Obama to make the North one of his policy priorities. The new US administration is reviewing its policy on the nuclear-armed communist state. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will visit Japan, South Korea and China next week and a State Department official said the North would be an important topic.
The Taepondong-2 could theoretically reach Alaska but blew up after 40 seconds when it was first test-fired, from Musudan-ri in July 2006. South Korea has said any launch would bring the North increased isolation and added sanctions, while the United States said it would be provocative.
FORT BENNING, Ga. (AP) Dr. John Burson balked when a skeptical Army staffer asked him to undergo a three-day physical exam to make sure he was fit to deploy as a field surgeon to Afghanistan.
"Look, I'm training to run a half-marathon," replied Burson, 74, a retired lieutenant colonel. "You come down and check to see if I can make it."
Burson won the debate and was declared fit for duty. The ear, nose and throat specialist from northwest Georgia wrapped up a weeklong training course this week at Fort Benning before his scheduled deployment Friday for a 90-day rotation with a unit of the 101st Airborne Division.
The first of two stints in Iraq proved unforgettable back in 2005, he said. Burson was among several doctors assigned to keep watch over an imprisoned Saddam Hussein. The fallen dictator, who was three years younger than Burson, told him: "I'm glad they sent me one with gray hair this time."
Several of Burson's uncles and cousins enlisted during World War II, inspiring him to seek an Army officer's commission in the 1950s. But it would be five decades before he went to war. By the time Burson was trained as a young officer, the Korean War was winding down. Years later, after he left active duty to join the Army Reserve, his unit was told to prepare for a tour in Vietnam. But the call never came.
Burson retired from military service in 1985 and thought he'd hung up his uniform for good. Then an e-mail came a few years ago from the Army's surgeon general, who was seeking retired military doctors to volunteer for rotations in Iraq. Burson, then 70, sent a reply asking if he was too old. The answer led to his first war tour.
"He likes to say, 'Where else can a 74-year-old go and have fun?'" said Barbara Burson, his wife of 53 years. "I don't know if I see it as fun, but he enjoys doing it. And anyone would feel good about being able to contribute."
Burson isn't the oldest service member to deploy since the U.S. went to war in Afghanistan and Iraq, but he's certainly atypical. It's not clear how many others in their 70s have volunteered, or who's the oldest, said Wayne Hall, an Army spokesman at the Pentagon. Retired Army Reserve Col. William Bernhard, a Maryland physician, was 75 when he served in Afghanistan in 2006.
Burson keeps a steady exercise regimen, working out four to five times a week lifting weights, playing racquetball and occasionally mountain biking. Burson runs on an elliptical machine at home, which is easier on his knees. He used it to run the 12-mile half-marathon to sway the Army from requiring a new physical exam. Before his first rotation to Iraq four years ago, Burson had to pass a physical exam and the Army fitness test. Soldiers 62 and older have to do 16 push-ups and 26 sit-ups, and run 2 miles in 20 minutes. The youngest recruits must do twice as many push-ups and sit-ups, and run 2 miles in less than 16 minutes.
These days, Burson said, his preparation involves more paperwork than physical training, though he does have to go to the firing range to qualify with a 9mm handgun the only weapon he'll carry. "I'm not really a very good shot," Burson said. "I could probably do better throwing the pistol at a target."
In Afghanistan, Burson will oversee a medical staff treating about 1,000 soldiers. He'll likely spend much of his time working in a base clinic, but could be called to treat soldiers wounded during combat patrols. When he served in Iraq, it wasn't unusual for him to work through mortar rounds being fired at his base camp. "There's an element of risk," Burson said. "But statistically it's probably not any more hazardous than driving to work."
Lt. Col. Twanda Young said about 400 soldiers, reservists and civilian contractors go through the Fort Benning training center she commands each week, preparing to join units already overseas. Burson isn't the only gray-haired volunteer she's seen but she said his abilities make his age irrelevant. "He doesn't look 74," Young said. "He's very vibrant. He just wants to soldier like anybody else, which is a testament to his character."
Burson's wife said it's not surprising he wants to keep soldiering. Retiring doesn't seem to be in his blood. Several years ago, she said, Burson planned to retire from his medical practice and turn it over to his partner. When it came time to sign the paperwork, he couldn't bring himself to do it.
Could Afghanistan be her husband's last deployment? "We can't help but hope that," Barbara Burson said. "He doesn't make any promises."
Christmas could be coming to Massachusetts - in February.
As Congress heads for a possible showdown today on a massive $790 billion economic stimulus bill, state officials have unveiled a preliminary "state-reviewed, shovel-ready project" list that includes a new $6 million footbridge across Route 1 near Gillette Stadium and a $6.8 million repair of the concrete ceiling over the Mass Pike just under the Hynes Convention Center.
The list, which Gov. Deval Patrick's administration says is not final, includes nearly $4 billion for transportation, energy, health, education and other sectors that might get funding from the federal bill.
Most items are classic bricks-and-mortar projects - such as bridge, roadway and school repairs - and new construction, such as public parking garages and visitor centers at state parks.
Other items include computers and furniture for schools; phone and computer upgrades for the health-care system; heating systems and solar panels at state facilities; and paint jobs for public buildings and even the Tobin Bridge.
Then there are the items sure to capture the public imagination - for good or bad.
Some appear to directly contradict previously expressed wishes of Congress, such as no federal money going for swimming pools, museums and the like.
The Patrick administration's list has funding requests for swimming pools, tennis and basketball courts, and even to restore fairways at the Ponkapoag Golf Course in Canton.
Some listed items fall into the gray area between public and private projects.
The New England Patriots [team stats] might one day want to develop 150 acres, now parking lots, across Route 1 from Gillette Stadium and the new Patriot Place shopping center in Foxboro.
The land has been designated by the state as a potential "growth district" for biotech companies - so a $6 million pedestrian overpass bridge is on the governor's list.
"This is a public safety issue and an economic development issue," said Stacey James, a spokesman for the Patriots and team owner Robert Kraft.
Other items on the list include $10 million to restore granite landings and pathways along the Charles River in Boston and $20 million for a new cruise-ship terminal in Salem.
Cyndi Roy, a spokeswoman for Patrick, said the list merely reflects the suggestions and requests submitted to state task forces by public agencies, secondary schools and universities.
"It's not prioritized," said Roy, noting the state will comply with any restrictions imposed by Congress.
The state expects to get only about $1 billion to $2 billion for infrastructure items, so many projects simply won't get funding, she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:58 ||
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#1
You can see a wish list that the pols back home have put together. Just select your state or city.
I was about to go off on this then I thought better check my state out first. So what do I find?
LAKE OF THE PRAIRIE. Construction of a reservoir and Park facility to prevent flooding of 12 homes in an established neighborhood of western Lenexa. Will include wetland plantings for water quality. Park facilities will incorporate green infrastructure Cost: $12,000,000
#4
Virginia's legislature is in session right now - due to end 2/28.
Yesterday the Senate voted to not vote (as they were supposed to) on the severely tweaked second year of the biennial budget. Their reason? They think they're going to find out by next week how much pork Virginia is supposed to score in the non-stimulus bill.
They're dreaming.
We're f*cked.
Wonder if they're going to have to stop the legislative clock again?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2009 21:08
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Hurry, hurry, hurry. Congress will begin its 2009 travel season in earnest this weekend with two spectacular codels -- trips for House congressional delegations -- that are not to be missed.
On Saturday, Rep. John Tanner (D-Tenn.), chairman of the House delegation to NATO's parliamentary assembly, and his wife will lead a delegation of 13 lawmakers -- plus 10 spouses -- on a fine nine-day jaunt starting at NATO's headquarters in Brussels.
Before you start scoffing about how this hardly compares to Tanner's post-election delegation to Valencia and Rome in November, we would point out that the next stop is, yes, the City of Lights, Paris, where one could have a nice late Valentine's Day moment.
From there we move on to Vienna for a little Sacher torte and then to review NATO's strategy to defend the Bavarian Alps, stopping in the lovely ski center of Garmisch-Partenkirchen, with its breathtaking views.
The huge number of members, spouses and staffers, plus military escorts, will require taking one of the bigger military jets, but we're told these trips are an important use of taxpayer money.
The delegation is scheduled to include Democratic Reps. Ben Chandler (Ky.); Bart Gordon (Tenn.); Baron P. Hill (Ind.) Carolyn McCarthy (N.Y.); Kendrick B. Meek (Fla.); Charlie Melancon (La.); Dennis Moore (Kan.) Mike Ross (Ark.) and David Scott (Ga.). Republican Reps. John Boozman (Ark.); Jo Ann Emerson (Mo.) and Jeff Miller (Fla.) are also scheduled to be going.
If working on NATO matters is not for you, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) is leading a delegation to Europe next week for some important meetings in -- where else? -- the Eternal City, Rome. Details are sketchy so far, but we're hearing that there's a meeting with Pope Benedict himself. (Hey, ask him about that Holocaust-denier guy if you get a chance.) Pelosi is apparently going to get an award from an Italian legislative group -- she's huge over there -- and then maybe do just a bit of NATO stuff. There may be some other stops.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:56 ||
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Almost as soon as Judd Gregg became one of Barack Obama's prized Republicans, the administration indicated it wanted to have the director of the Census Bureau report to Rahm Emanuel, the president's chief of staff and main political strategist. While Obama may claim he plans to "restore science to its rightful place" in government, his actions appear designed to restore Democratic politics firmly in the government.
Under our Constitution, we must conduct an "actual Enumeration" every ten years "in such Manner as [Congress] shall by Law direct." Congress placed responsibility for conducting the enumeration in the Bureau of the Census in the Commerce Department.
Politicizing the science of the Census, however, would aid Democratic efforts to consolidate political control of the country. A desire to increase political control is the legitimate objective of any party in power, of course, but Democrats seem much more intent on using questionable and illegitimate means to do so.
The Census will determine how many tax dollars states get in a myriad of federal programs, money that can be used to buy influence, popular support and, yes, votes -- particularly in the large urban areas that form the power base of the Democratic Party. That's one of the major purposes of the mammoth spending (sorry, stimulus) bill pushed by Obama and congressional Democrats.
Just as important is the fact that the Census will determine not just how many congressmen each state gets through apportionment, but what the size and makeup of state legislative districts will be. Keep in mind that it is state legislatures that draw up congressional districts and, therefore, control not only the political makeup of state legislatures, but of Congress as well.
According to Bruce Chapman, a former Census director, if politicians control the Census, you may well get an order to adjust the Census count with "samples" and "modeling" that override the scientific consensus of the statisticians at the Bureau. Another career professional at the Census Bureau told the Wall Street Journal's John Fund that the only reason for such high-level White House involvement was politics, not science.
Of course, this could happen even if the Census Bureau continues to report to the secretary of Commerce, who ultimately reports to the president. But giving the White House more direct control over the Census certainly smooths the way for any attempts to manipulate the count to ensure that geographic areas that represent the heart and soul of the Democratic party are given the highest population numbers possible, even if that means using dubious methods that result in nonexistent individuals being counted. This is akin to what the Clinton administration did when it tried to use statistical sampling in the 2000 Census to help the Democratic party or when it sped up naturalization of a million new citizens in time to vote in the 1996 election, waiving legal requirements such as fingerprint checks. This allowed 80,000 individuals with criminal records to become citizens because Clinton wanted their votes in the election.
-- Hans A. von Spakovsky is a former commissioner on the Federal Election Commission and a former Justice Department official.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:54 ||
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#1
If the Trunks really wanted to play hardball, they should sell this as an attempt of the ten big states trying to make the other forty merely second standing vassals in the federal government. Do you really think the Donks are going to let California lose delegates to the smaller states?
#2
There is an initiative out here to redraw counties - counties - I thought it BS at first then found this:
Last week, Wyandotte County Sen. Chris Steineger said he'd be in favor of remaking Kansas government by consolidating counties, school districts and the number of legislators in a kansascitykansan.com OP/ED . On Monday, Steineger introduced legislation doing just that, according KSHB TV-41.
OK, whats that do? And who cares about Kansas anyways, right? Well let me give it a shot - they fold conservative counties into liberal counties with more population (see illegals, welfare bums, neo-hippies) and pack the state congress. Kansas turns blue. Extend that tactic to other 'flyover states' who suddenly have no money for schools but can spend tens of millions on university bathroom overhauls. Our governor Sebilius is jockeying for a spot in the fed, health & human services secretary, because her career in Kansas is doomed next election.
Control of the census gives them the ability to most effectively make this move, and others elsewhere. Many around here call that a tipping point and I can't say I disagree.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/13/2009 19:17
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#5
Just as important is the fact that the Census will determine not just how many congressmen each state gets through apportionment
Redistricting and a raw grab for power. So much for the most ethical administration (or was that the Clinton administration?). I forget amidst all the political blather and lying to the rest of us. Is there no shame?
Sen. Frank Lautenberg (D-N.J.) predicted on Thursday that none of his Senate colleagues would "have the chance" to read the entire final version of the $790-billion stimulus bill before the bill comes up for a final vote in Congress.
"No, I don't think anyone will have the chance to [read the entire bill]," Lautenberg told CNSNews.com.
The final bill, crafted by a House-Senate conference committee, was posted on the Website of the House Appropriations Committe late Thurday in two PDF files.
The first PDF was 424 pages long and the second PDF was 575 pages long, making the total bill 999 pages long. The House is expected to vote on this 999-page bill Friday, and the Senate either later Friday or Saturday. [Editor's note: The first PDF, as posted on the House Appropriations Committee website as of 8:20 AM Friday morning, had grown by 72 pages to 496 pages, increasing the length of the total document to 1,071 pages.]
Of the several senators that CNSNews.com interviewed on Thursday, only Sen. George Voinovich (R-Ohio) claimed to have read the entire bill--and he was speaking of the preliminary version that had been approved by the Senate, not the final 999-page version that the House-Senate conference committee was still haggling over on Thursday afternoon.
When CNSNews.com asked members of both parties on Capitol Hill on Thursday whether they had read the full, final bill, not one member could say, "Yes."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:53 ||
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#1
Not much new here. Congresspeople seldom bother to read the stuff they pass, this has been the case for years now.
Sometimes I ask the IT people to make a large one searchable if I need to use it a lot. I don't know what they do, but it comes back searchable.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2009 19:11
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#5
this is a letter a fellow constituent of mine sent to our Rep who read it in congress and then voted No on the stimulus package.
Dear Congressman McCotter,
I spoke with you on WJR Friday morning and want to thank you for your kindness
and patience. I couldnt get out everything I wanted to say because of my
frustration. I would love to talk before Congress and the Senate. I would like to
talk to them about the deplorable, reprehensible, and egregious waste they are
considering with our tax dollars. Im sorry this is long, but I want them to see what
I see.
The wasteful spending they are considering is unconscionable to me. And I
would like to ask them a few questions.
You see, I just lost my job. The company I worked for is eliminating 700 sales
positions nationwide, about 15 will be affected in Michigan.
I would like to ask the Congress and Senate if they know what its like to sit at the
dinner table and tell your 11 year old daughter that she cant get a school
yearbook because we need the money to buy groceries. And the stimulus
package wants to give $4 Billion to ACORN, a company, I believe, that is under
investigation for voter registration fraud. What jobs are they creating?
Do they know what its like to see the tears in your wifes eyes when you tell her
the conference call you were on just eliminated your position? And the stimulus
package wants to spend $335 million on STD prevention? What jobs does that
create?
Do they know what it feels like to tell your father in law that the daughter I
married and promised to provide for that you just lost your job? And Barack
Obama spends money on overseas abortions. And then says we need to end the
politics of this issue. If he believed that he wouldnt have done it, his decision was
nothing but political. What jobs in the U.S. does that create?
Do they know what it feels like to return the shirts you just bought for work, on
clearance, because you really needed new shirts and now you dont even have a
job? And Congress is taking an extra $93,000 each for petty cash increases. And
WE are told to cut back on our spending? When I told my 7 year old son we had
to make cuts he just wanted to know if we could still have our Sunday morning
treat of a donut before we go to church. Thats all he wanted. I said wed try our
best. Weve made sacrifices but you havent.
And do you know how it feels when you hear that companies given bail out
money from TARP funds gave $18 Billion in bonuses? Im wondering if I have
enough money to pay my bills for 2 months. All they get is a mild rebuke from
Washington saying, You shouldnt do that in these tough economic times. They
are an embarrassment. They should be forced to give back the $18 Billion with
interest and penalties.
Do they know what its like to speak with someone who was in tears over losing
their job because they think theyll lose their house? How about the always
upbeat guy who sounded depressed that he could lose his house because he
just lost his job? And yet the stimulus package is loaded with pork.
Do you know what its like to have another coworker lose their job and are
worried their spouses could be next? And this stimulus package wants $400
Million for HIV prevention. How does that create jobs?
Do they know how fearful it is to turn your heat down at night to 59 degrees and
65 in the day when your child is asthmatic and it can flare up from the cold? We
cant afford to raise our heat and the stimulus package wants to spend $75
Million on anti smoking ads. How does that create jobs?
By the way thats $810 Million for pet projects. I have an idea stop having sex
until your married and quit smoking! Theres your awareness program, that didnt
cost a dime. If they dont know by now they dont care.
The insults you pay to our auto executives when they ask for and interest bearing
LOAN by asking them how they flew here. But when the banking industry
seemingly makes a few phone calls they have $350 Billion given to them and we
dont even know where it went, except for the $18 Billion.
Do they know about the guy I just met whose entire company just took 20% pay
cuts so they wouldnt have to lay off employees? And this stimulus bill wants
Million for sod on the new mall thats already $600 million over budget. How
is that creating jobs?
Recent polls show that less than 50% of Americans approve of this stimulus bill
and yet Congress, with their recent 11% approval rating, the worst in history, tries
to ram this bill down our throats. The send it to the Democratic Senate and tell us
they know whats best for our country. According to that 11%, I guess. Congress
is supposed to govern for the people and not for themselves and yet when less
than 50% approve of a plan they approve it anyway.
Why doesnt the Senate have the guts to reject the pork spending portions of this
bill and start over? Why dont you get off your Ivory tower, pork barrel, ear
marked, pet project behinds and do what we need of you?
Congressman McCotter, thats what Id like to say to the Senate. I would gladly
go before them so they can hear what its like in the real world.
Sincerely,
A high-powered team of Los Angeles attorneys representing President Obama in his effort to keep his birth certificate, college records and passport documents concealed from the public has suggested there should be "monetary sanctions" against a lawyer whose clients have brought a complaint alleging Obama doesn't qualify for the Oval Office under the Constitution's demand for a "natural born" citizen in that post.
The suggestion came in an exchange of e-mails and documents in a case brought by former presidential candidate Alan Keyes and others in California. The case originally sought to have the state's electors ordered to withhold their votes for Obama until his eligibility was established. Since Obama's inauguration, it has been amended to seek a future requirement for a vetting process, in addition to the still-sought unveiling of his records.
In the case, handled largely by Gary Kreep of the U.S. Justice Foundation, records were subpoenaed documenting Obama's attendance at Occidental College. The lawyer for the college, Stuart W. Rudnick of Musick, Peeler & Garrett, urgently contacted Fredric D. Woocher of Strumwasser & Woocher. "This firm is counsel to Occidental College. The College is in receipt of the enclosed subpoena that seeks certain information concerning President-Elect Barack Obama," he wrote via fax. "Inasmuch as the subpoena appears to be valid on its face, the College will have no alternative but to comply with the subpoena absent a court order instructing otherwise."
Within hours, Woocher contacted Kreep regarding the issue, telling him, "It will likely not surprise you to hear that President-elect Obama opposes the production of the requested records.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:51 ||
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#1
OK, so they find him not qualified. So what, Congress critters and the Senate puppies will pass a bill giving him a pass saying the American people voted for him and want him. It will go to the supreme court and the big O will be at the end of his four years before any ruling is released. This is too late and a waste of time.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/13/2009 12:53
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#2
We get president Hillary.
Posted by: ed ||
02/13/2009 13:32
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#3
Shouldn't that be President Biden?
And what the Fu-k is Obama hiding? Must be some mightly powerful stuff!
Can you imagine the outcry from the media if he was a R and tried hiding records like this?
#6
I always dismissed this line, but now...
...and they are thinking beyond 4 years, and maybe not just P.O.
And passport records; interesting.
And for the record, anyone serving public office should be requird to have these 3 materials available to the public. Part of the job. Don't like it? Don't apply.
#7
This exercise is extremely useful - it resembles a Lotto ticket in its low cost relative to potential high payoff. It would be interesting if this search for records reaches an adverse (to Obama) conclusion at a time three years hence, when the economy is still deep in recession. The Democrats could be swept out of office in a landslide.
#8
The continued attempts at obfuscation are quite curious. If there were nothing to it, why not reveal it? He is already president, and the public has a right to know the truth even if it something as simple as an embarassing name, or no named father, or bad grades in college.
#14
This doesn't raise nearly as much doubt in my mind about his citizenship as about his mother's desire to disclose his paternity. So what? He's the son of an American citizen. That's good enough for me. And who cares about his grades, if more than half the American people are dumb enough to elect him. They voted for him, let them suffer the consequences.
I am confident the Republic will survive. And if it's now so weak this would end it, then the sooner the better.
Appearing behind a podium that proclaimed, "Financial Stability and Recovery," Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner on Tuesday carefully read from a teleprompter and provided what his flack said was a "comprehensive" plan. It was not comprehensive in any way. It seemed so amateurish and shallow that the market dropped and commentators and senators were almost incredulous at the lack of detail.
But what were they expecting? Geithner doesn't know the details because he hasn't been given them yet. Those who expected the details of the plan were operating under the false assumption that the Treasury Secretary¯and by extension, the U.S. Government¯is in practical control and charge of the U.S. economy.
Geithner's performance followed President Obama having advertised Geithner's appearance in advance by saying, "He's going to be terrific. I'm going to make sure that Tim gets his moment in the sun." The sun? One analyst said Geithner looked like a deer caught in the headlights.
It turns out the speech, which did mention the spending of trillions of dollars, was delivered in the Treasury Department's "Cash Room." No kidding.
Senator Orrin Hatch had voted to confirm Geithner, saying that he "is not merely acceptable for the job¯he is highly qualified." That was largely because of his role as President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank in previous financial bailouts that have yet to succeed. Hatch understood this, but said that Geithner's recognition that mistakes had occurred "makes him more valuable, in my view, in the continuing effort to right our economic ship."
Why is he so valuable? It's not because he learns from his mistakes. As we have argued in previous columns, Geithner is valuable because he is a major player in the global financial community, a prominent figure in the "Group of Thirty" organization of central bankers and the Council on Foreign Relations. He is a former employee of Kissinger Associates and lived in China and speaks Chinese. His father, Peter Geithner, is a former top official of the Ford Foundation who knew Obama's mother when she was working on "microfinance" in Indonesia.
It would be a serious mistake to say that Geithner is incompetent. He knows exactly what he's doing. Essentially, his programmed performance was designed to send the message to the American people and the Congress that we can't be trusted with the details, even when they are available. It was pathetic to watch our elected senators at a subsequent hearing pleading for details. But it was also a "teaching moment." This is out of our hands. This is the "New World Order" and we had better get used to it.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:48 ||
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#1
What's that noise from the horizon?
wop wop wop wop wop wop wop
#3
From http://www.mara.org.uk/titanic.htm: The pilot of the Titanic who was steering the great vessels bow towards open sea was none other than George Bowyer, the pilot who had been on duty when the Olympic had ran headlong into the side of the HMS Hawke.
Orrin Hatch merely proves that even Repubs can be MORONS....X 2!
#4
Gee, half, they've only broken the budget process for the next ten years. How many trillions do they have to throw around before the rest of us have the right to ask who's making a profit off of it?
We're receiving E-mails from Capitol Hill staffers expressing frustration that they can't get a copy of the stimulus bill agreed to last night at a price of $789 billion. What's more, staffers are complaining about who does have a copy: K Street lobbyists. E-mails one key Democratic staffer: "K Street has the bill, or chunks of it, already, and the congressional offices don't. So, the Hill is getting calls from the press (because it's leaking out) asking us to confirm or talk about what we know--but we can't do that because we haven't seen the bill. Anyway, peeps up here are sort of a combo of confused and like, 'Is this really happening?'" Reporters pressing for details, meanwhile, are getting different numbers from different offices, especially when seeking the details of specific programs.
Worse, there seem to be several different versions of what was agreed upon, with some officials circulating older versions of the package that seems to still be developing. Leadership aides said that it will work out later today and promised that lawmakers will get time to review the bill before Friday's vote.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
11:46 ||
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#1
It's representative government where the lobbyists who put more money into reelection funds are represented over the stockholders who often whine and pout about how much the officer holder gets directly paid out of public funds. Government to the highest bidder. It's about the quality of the vote, and the lobbyists obviously have a better quality [re:Murtha et al - no matter how sleazy, they keep going back].
A Zimbabwean ministerial nominee, known for his alleged plot to kill President Robert Mugabe has been captured in the capital, Harare. Former lawmaker Roy Bennett, who in 2006 took asylum in South Africa when he was accused of plotting to assassinate the leader, was arrested by the police on Friday.
Bennett returned the country on January 30 to take the post of deputy agriculture minister after being nominated by Premier Morgan Tsvangirai. The white politician started confronting the ruling system when he was stripped of his farm as part of a land reform eight years ago.
"We understand that they are taking him to Marondera, where there is notorious torture and interrogation base," said Tsvangirai's party the Movement for Democratic Change, AFP reported.
Some describe the accusations and treatment he has received from the Mugabe government as unfair. "I am scared because I don't know what faces me on the other side," said Bennett who currently serves as the MDC treasurer general after his arrival.
Tsvangirai and Mugabe's perpetual political row saw many opposition figures including the premier himself repeatedly arrested. However, the two have lately agreed to form a unity government. Each leader has been given almost half the say in the make-up of the unity cabinet but Mugabe is yet to name his ministers. Outrage and condemnation from POTUS and the UN no doubt coming soon.
Spanish families who are resisting their government's mandatory homosexualist indoctrination program have made a video expressing their defiance.
"Freedom begins with defiance" the video begins. It then includes scenes of adults, teenagers, and children expressing their rejection of the classes, which are being given as a required civics course in the nation's schools, both public and private.
"We're not giving in" says one mother. "We're not going to enter the classes," say two teenagers. "We're going to continue fighting ... for our freedom and the freedom of all," say two groups of families.
The video has appeared in the wake of a recent decision by the Spanish Supreme Court, which has not been formally announced yet, but which purportedly confirms that the government may compel students to take the course, which is entitled "Education for Citizenship and Human Rights."
Although the course is billed as a type of civics instruction, it has been criticized for promoting secularist values strongly opposed to Christianity, including homosexualist ideology.
The course seeks to lead children to make a "critical evaluation of the social and sexual division of labor and racist, xenophobic, sexist, and homophobic social prejudices" and instructs teachers to "revise the student's attitude towards homosexuality." It also inculcates students with moral relativism, basing ethical standards on the opinions of society rather than religious teaching or unchanging natural law.
Despite the national Supreme Court's decision, families and even whole provinces are continuing to defy the government's attempt to impose the program. The Madrid association, Parents in Action, has recently filed over 130 new objections to Education for Citizenship, which may also be tested in the courts. The province of Andalucia's Supreme Court of Justice has also recently ruled in favor of conscientious objectors, ignoring the national Supreme Court's decision.
Al Qaeda has reorganized its notorious paramilitary formations, setting the stage for a dramatic come back. Formerly known as Brigade 055, the military unit has been rebuilt into a larger, more effective fighting unit known as the Lashkar al Zil, or the Shadow Army, a senior US intelligence official told me.
The Shadow Army is active primarily in Pakistan's tribal areas, and in eastern and southern Afghanistan, several US military and intelligence officials said on condition of anonymity. The force is well trained and equipped, and has defeated the Pakistani Army in engagements in North and South Waziristan, Bajaur, Peshawar, Khyber, and Swat. In Afghanistan, the Shadow Army has attacked Coalition and Afghan forces throughout the country.
Fighters with Afghanistan's Taliban militia stand on a hillside at Maydan Shahr in Wardak province, west of Kabul.
"The Shadow Army has been instrumental in the Taliban's consolidation of power in Pakistan's tribal areas and in the Northwest Frontier Province," a senior US intelligence official told me. "They are also behind the Taliban's successes in eastern and southern Afghanistan. They are helping to pinch Kabul."
Afghan and Pakistan-based Taliban forces have integrated elements of their forces into the Shadow Army, "especially the Tehrik-e-Taliban and Haqqani Network," the official continued. "It is considered a status symbol" for groups to be a part of the Shadow Army." The Tehrik-e-Taliban is the Pakistani Taliban movement led by Baitullah Mehsud. The Haqqani Network straddles the Afghan-Pakistani border and has been behind some of the most high-profile attacks in Afghanistan.
The Shadow Army's effectiveness has placed the group in the crosshairs of the U.S. air campaign in Pakistan's tribal areas. In October 2008, the U.S. killed Khalid Habib al Shami, the leader of the Shadow Army, in a strike on a compound in North Waziristan.
The Shadow Army has a clear-cut military structure, a U.S. military intelligence officer said. A senior al Qaeda military leader is in command, while experienced officers command the brigades and subordinate battalions and companies. There are three or four brigades, including the re-formed Brigade 055 and several other Arab brigades. At its peak prior to the U.S. invasion in 2001 the 055 Brigade had an estimated 2,000 soldiers and officers in the ranks. The rebuilt units consist of Saudis, Yemenis, Egyptians, North Africans, Iraqis, as well as former members of Saddam Hussein's Republican Guards. At present, the 055 Brigade has "completely reformed and is surpassing pre-2001 standards," an official said. The other brigades are also considered well trained.
The blending of the Taliban and al Qaeda units has made distinctions between the groups somewhat meaningless. "The line between the Taliban and al Qaeda is increasingly blurred, especially from a command and control perspective," a military intelligence official said. "Are Faqir Mohammed, Baitullah Mehsud, Hakeemullah Mehsud, Ilyas Kashmiri, Siraj Haqqani, and all the rest 'al Qaeda'? Probably not in the sense that they maintain their own independent organizations, but the alliance is essentially indistinguishable at this point except at a very abstract level."
The Taliban have begun an ideological conversion to Wahhabism, the radical form of Sunni Islam practiced by al Qaeda, further cementing ties between the two groups. "The radicalization of the Taliban and their conversion away from Deobandism to Wahhabism under Sheikh Issa al Masri and other al Qaeda leaders is a clear sign of the al Qaeda's preeminence," the official noted.
The establishment of joint Taliban and al Qaeda formations in the Shadow Army has been aided by the proliferation of terror training camps in the tribal areas and the Northwest Frontier Province. In the summer of 2008, there were reportedly more than 150 training camps and over 400 support locations in operation in those areas.
The Shadow Army has distinguished itself in recent years, particularly in Pakistan's tribal areas and in the Northwest Frontier Province. Baitullah Mehsud's Taliban forces defeated the Pakistani Army in South Waziristan during fighting in 2005-2006, and overran forts and fended off a Pakistani Army offensive in 2008.
In Swat, the Pakistani military was defeated by forces under the command of Mullah Fazlullah in 2007 and in 2008. Last month, the military launched its third attempt to secure Swat, with little success so far.
In Bajaur, the hidden hand of the Shadow Army can be seen in the sophisticated trench and tunnel networks, bunkers, and pillboxes built by Taliban forces. The Taliban "have good weaponry and a better communication system [than ours]." a Pakistani official said. "Their tactics are mind-boggling and they have defenses that would take us days to build. ... they are fighting like an organized force."
The Shadow Army also operates in Afghanistan. In July 2008, a unit comprised of al Qaeda, Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba, and Hizb-e-Islami conducted a complex assault on a US outpost in Wanat in Nuristan province. The force nearly overran the base, and nine US soldiers were killed. This is the largest loss by US forces in a single engagement in Afghanistan to date.
In addition, an engagement last year in Kabul province was likely the work of the Shadow Army. A French Army unit was ambushed just outside the capital. Ten soldiers were killed, and the Taliban seized abandoned French weapons.
The effectiveness of the Shadow Army is clearly visible in a video taken by an Al Jazeera reporter during an operation in Bajaur in the fall of 2008. The Taliban forces repel a battalion-sized assault from Pakistani Army troops that are supported by at least a platoon of tanks. The Pakistani tanks race away from the fighting, followed quickly by the Pakistani infantry after taking fire. The Pakistani tank commander calls for air strikes, but the infantry and tanks go into full retreat and return to base.
A U.S. Army officer who saw the video observed: "You just watched a full battalion, supported by tanks, break contact after an attack by a supposedly undisciplined, 'rag-tag' force of Taliban fighters. For the Taliban to drive off that unit, it has to be organized, disciplined, well-armed, and competent."
#1
One ARCLIGHT strike. That's all I ask for, is one ARCLIGHT strike. Looks like the US has the intelligence to pinpoint its best point of application.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/13/2009 12:43
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#2
Don't forget the US Capital, Congress and the US Senate in that ARCLIGHT strike. heh
Chinese government and freelance hackers are the primary culprits behind as many as several hundred daily attacks against U.S. government, electric-utility and financial computer networks, a senior congressman said.
"Sophisticated hackers could really wreak havoc on our financial systems if they were successful," House Homeland Security Committee Chairman Bennie Thompson said in an interview. The threat is "primarily from China."
While cyber plots to disrupt U.S. computer networks have been thwarted, significant vulnerabilities exist, said Thompson, a Mississippi Democrat.
Many of these problems will be detailed in a 60-day review the Obama administration on Feb. 9 said it would conduct on government cyber-security efforts, Thompson said. President Barack Obama also has said he would appoint a computer-security chief who will report directly to him, a move Thompson supports.
How about telling the Chinese government to stop the government hackers, or else ...
Currency trading is among the financial networks targeted by hackers, Thompson said. An attack would be particularly damaging in light of the financial system's troubled state, he said.
He said electric utilities' networks also have several points of weakness. "We were provided alarming data on the vulnerability of our electrical grid in this country," he said.
Wang Baodong, a spokesman for the Chinese Embassy in the U.S., denied that the Chinese government was attacking U.S. computer systems. "Allegations that the Chinese government is behind cyber attacks against the U.S. computer networks are totally unwarranted and misleading for the America public," Wang said in an e-mailed statement.
Wang said the Chinese government is "cracking down" on computer hacking and other cyber crimes.
The nation's new intelligence chief warned Thursday that the global economic crisis is the most serious security peril facing the United States, threatening to topple governments, trigger waves of refugees and undermine the ability of America's allies to help in Afghanistan and elsewhere.
The economic collapse "already looms as the most serious one in decades, if not in centuries," said Dennis C. Blair, director of national intelligence, in his first appearance before Congress as the top intelligence official in the Obama administration.
On Iran, Blair said that the Islamic nation "is clearly developing all the components of a deliverable nuclear weapons program".
Blair's focus on the economic meltdown represents a sharp contrast from the testimony of his predecessors in recent years, who devoted most of their attention in the annual threat assessment hearing to the issues of terrorism and the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.
Blair's conclusions are likely to bolster President Obama's case for swift action on a nearly $800-billion stimulus package nearing final approval in Congress.
"Time is probably our greatest threat," Blair said. "The longer it takes for the recovery to begin, the greater the likelihood of serious damage to U.S. strategic interests."
He said that one-quarter of the world's nations had already experienced low-level instability attributed to the economic downturn, including shifts in power. He cited anti-government demonstrations in Europe and Russia, and he warned that much of Latin America and the former Soviet satellite states lacked sufficient cash to cope with the spreading crisis.
"The most likely potential fallout for U.S. interests will involve allies and friends not being able to fully meet their defense and humanitarian obligations," Blair said. "Potential refugee flows from the Caribbean could also impact homeland security."
The decline in oil prices in recent months might benefit consumers in the short term and "put the squeeze on the adventurism of producers like Iran and Venezuela," Blair said, but he warned that prolonged price drops could result in a supply crunch if they lead to cuts or delays in investment in oil development and infrastructure.
Economic crises in recent decades have tended to be confined to specific regions -- such as the Asian financial meltdown of the 1990s -- meaning affected countries could rebuild by focusing on exporting more of their goods.
But "countries will not be able to export their way out of this one because of the global nature" of the crisis, Blair said.
U.S. intelligence analysts fear there could be a backlash against American efforts to promote free markets because the crisis was triggered by the United States.
"We're generally held to be responsible," Blair said.
Blair's written testimony also looks at other security threats. The United States' most dangerous enemy remains Al Qaeda, he said, but he noted that the terrorist network "is less capable and effective than it was a year ago" because of the toll U.S. missile strikes and other measures have taken on the militants' sanctuary in Pakistan.
Some of Blair's most pessimistic language was reserved for Afghanistan, where the security situation has deteriorated substantially because of rampant government corruption and a resurgent Taliban, which carried out fresh attacks in the nation's capital this week.
As a result, Blair said, the upcoming Afghan presidential election "will present a greater security challenge" than the most recent campaign, in 2004, and he added that "insurgents probably will make a concerted effort to disrupt it."
Blair's comments came as the Obama administration is close to a decision on sending tens of thousands of additional troops to Afghanistan.
On Iran, Blair said that the Islamic nation "is clearly developing all the components of a deliverable nuclear weapons program" and that only an internal political decision might prevent the country from crossing the weapons threshold.
Otherwise, he said, "they could have a weapon as early as 2010, but it might take them until 2015."
#3
Blair also thought there was no China threat. Back in May 2001:
A confidential Pentagon strategy review has cast the Pacific as the most important region for military planners and calls for the development of new long-range arms to counter China's military power.
The review concludes that American bases in the Pacific are likely to become increasingly vulnerable as China and other potential adversaries develop more accurate missiles.
So it urges that the American military become less dependent on military bases and put more emphasis on fighting from a distance.
The review is part of a broad effort by Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld to transform the military after the cold war, a shift that would redirect the focus of American military planning from Europe to Asia.
It is directed by Andrew W. Marshall, a 79-year-old civilian analyst at the Pentagon and a close adviser to Mr. Rumsfeld, who has long pressed for a radical overhaul of America's armed forces.
But in the Pacific, the review has drawn a skeptical response from Adm. Dennis C. Blair, the head of the United States Pacific Command and the top American military man in the region.
While supporting the call for change, Admiral Blair believes China will present less of a military threat to American military bases and naval forces in the region. Military officers in the region are also concerned that the diminished importance of bases close to the action in a new Pentagon strategy could also make it harder for the United States to maintain political support in Japan and South Korea for a continued American presence there.
#4
Blair is apparently fluent in Double Speak, a prerequisite in Washington. Which is it, Al Qaeda is degraded and less a threat than a year ago or they have formed an effective Shadow Army with the Taliban?
From the previous article:
The effectiveness of the Shadow Army is clearly visible in a video taken by an Al Jazeera reporter during an operation in Bajaur in the fall of 2008. The Taliban forces repel a battalion-sized assault from Pakistani Army troops that are supported by at least a platoon of tanks. The Pakistani tanks race away from the fighting, followed quickly by the Pakistani infantry after taking fire. The Pakistani tank commander calls for air strikes, but the infantry and tanks go into full retreat and return to base.
A U.S. Army officer who saw the video observed: "You just watched a full battalion, supported by tanks, break contact after an attack by a supposedly undisciplined, 'rag-tag' force of Taliban fighters. For the Taliban to drive off that unit, it has to be organized, disciplined, well-armed, and competent."
#5
A U.S. Army officer who saw the video observed: "You just watched a full battalion, supported by tanks, break contact after an attack by a supposedly undisciplined, 'rag-tag' force of Taliban fighters. For the Taliban to drive off that unit, it has to be organized, disciplined, well-armed, and competent."
This video shows either that the Taliban are strong, or the Pakistani army is weak. Either way, it's a little disconcerting that the Paks are having so much difficulty holding off the Taliban.
#6
CNN NEWS > QUEST-knows-Bizz Show > QUESTIE's GUEST PERT claims that the US-GLOBAL ECON IS GOING TO BE BAD OR SERIOUSLY PROBLEMATIC OER THE NEXT TWO TEARS [circa 2011-2012 r.o.]
versus
ASIAN BLOGGERS/NETTERS > SAME BUT FOR QUESTIE's PERT'S "TWO YEARS" TIMES TEN PLUS 10-20 YEARS ADDITIONAL [Year 2029-2049/2050 r.o.]???
D *** NG IT, can mainstream America = Amerika stretch that JUST-ENUFF-FOR-COFFEE-N-DOUGHNUT-PER-AMERIKAN REBATE FROM PORKULUS to 2012 0r 2050???
#7
RUMORMILLNEWS > PRISONPLANET - THE COMING DEPRESSION/ THIS "DEPRESSION" WILL LAST 23-26 YEARS.
Also on RMN > BENJAMIN WOLFORD: AMERICA "BLACK OPS" IN JAPAN IS BEING EXPOSED [Pro- MAFIA? USGovt-orchestrated/controlled Covert Opers and crimes agz Nippon].
The police wiretaps and surveillance captured wild plans for jihad, from bombing the Montreal Stock Exchange to the sordid kidnapping, robbery and murder of a randomly selected gay man. But the recordings from a wannabe terrorist's home also contained key evidence, including the clinking propane bottles of a homemade bomb, that led yesterday to the conviction of a man who tried to terrorize Montreal's Jewish community.
Omar Bulphred pleaded guilty to arson and uttering threats for firebombing a Jewish school and Jewish community centre. No one was injured in the attacks. Mr. Bulphred, 23, was handed a sentence of seven years. Quebec Court Judge Louise Boudreau accepted a plea bargain that gave him credit for time served since his arrest, leaving a remaining sentence of 40 months.
Crown prosecutor Mario Dufresne said wiretaps were key to snaring Mr. Bulphred and his underling accomplice, Azim Ibragimov. "It's a very efficient means of collecting evidence, and in this file they were very important to link together the accused," Mr. Dufresne said outside court.
Mr. Bulphred apologized in court for his "cowardly acts," but the contrition and plea bargain left one Jewish leader cold. "This is a homegrown Montreal terrorist who ignited firebombs with a view to destroying people and property," said Adam Atlas, a vice-president of the Canadian Jewish Congress. "The signal sent by the court is not severe enough to dissuade others."
Mr. Bulphred was attending class at the Aerospace Trade School of Montreal on a late winter day in 2007 when a police technician bugged his apartment. Over a month, the wiretaps and surveillance showed the two men researching bomb-making and looking at a nuclear plant and a military base as terrorism targets. They talked about snatching the first gay man they could find at a Montreal rave party. Mr. Bulphred mused they could stab him in the leg to force him to give up his bank machine code, or perhaps they could cut his throat "like a chicken."
On April 8, 2007, the police arrested the two men. "It was getting too dangerous, considering the last conversation. We couldn't afford to wait," Detective-Sergeant Sylvie Beauregard said in testimony under publication ban until yesterday. The wiretaps revealed the limits of police surveillance and the laborious gumshoe work required to bolster bugs.
The first attack took place Sept. 2, 2006, when a Molotov cocktail was thrown at the Skver-Toldos Orthodox Jewish Boys School. Ten days later, a letter was delivered claiming responsibility on behalf of the "Islamic Jihad" and demanding the release of 17 Muslim terror suspects arrested earlier that year in Toronto.
The police got a breakthrough when firefighters doused a small accidental fire in Mr. Bulphred's apartment, where investigators found the same matches used in the school attack. The Algerian-born Canadian citizen was known to police for the anti-American and anti-Jewish rants he wrote while in jail on previous petty offences.
Police watched Mr. Bulphred, but gave up for lack of evidence. Investigators got back on his trail through Mr. Ibragimov, a grocery bagger of Kazakh origin, whose handwriting matched threatening notes. Mr. Ibragimov then bragged about the attack to an undercover cop.
Despite the police shadow, the pair struck again on April 3, 2007, using a bomb made with propane canisters to strike the YM-YWHA Ben Weider Jewish Community Centre. The contraption caused only minor damage. Police had interrupted their surveillance that day. A wiretap recorded March 30 featuring clanking sounds and the two men talking about bottles was only heard the day after the attack.
WASHINGTON The compromise economic stimulus plan agreed to by negotiators from the House of Representatives and the Senate is short on incentives to get consumers spending again and long on social goals that won't stimulate economic activity, according to a range of respected economists.
"I think (doing) nothing would have been better," said Ed Yardeni, an investment analyst who's usually an optimist, in an interview with McClatchy. He argued that the plan fails to provide the right incentives to spur spending.
"It's unfocused. That is my problem. It is a lot of money for a lot of nickel-and- dime programs. I would have rather had a lot of money for (promoting purchase of) housing and autos . . . . Most of this plan is really, I think, aimed at stabilizing the situation and helping people get through the recession, rather than getting us out of the recession. They are actually providing less short-term stimulus by cutting back, from what I understand, some of the tax credits."
House and Senate negotiators this week narrowed the differences between their competing stimulus plans. In so doing, they scrapped a large tax credit for buying automobiles that would've caused positive ripple effects across the manufacturing sector. They settled instead on letting purchasers of new vehicles deduct from their federal taxes the state and local sales taxes on the cars they bought.
The exception to this is for buyers of plug-in hybrids, cars that run off a battery that can be charged at home or in the office. Buyers of these vehicles, available in very limited supply, could get a tax credit of up to $9,100.
A Republican-backed proposal that would've provided a $15,000 tax credit to first-time homebuyers also was scaled back dramatically. Instead, the compromise provides first-time homebuyers a tax credit of up to $8,000, and it doesn't have to be repaid over the life of the mortgage. Incentives already in place offer buyers a $7,500 credit that must be repaid, so the bill is an improvement, but short of what many economists think is necessary.
Another reason that some analysts frown on the stimulus is the social spending it includes on things such as the Head Start program for disadvantaged children and aid to NASA for climate-change research. Both may be worthy efforts, but they aren't aimed at delivering short-term boosts to economic activity.
"All this is 25 years of government expansion jammed into one bill and sold as stimulus," said Brian Riedl, the director of budget analysis for the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy research group.
The view wasn't much more supportive on the other side of the political spectrum. In a brief on the stimulus compromise, William Galston, a senior fellow at the center-left Brookings Institution and a former Clinton White House adviser, warned Thursday that a bank-rescue plan being finalized will make the $789 billion look like "pocket change."
"While the stimulus bill is a necessary condition for economic stabilization and recovery, it is hardly sufficient," Galston wrote. "As the lesson of Japan in the 1990s shows, fiscal stimulus without financial rescue yields stagnation at best."
" . . . Serious observers believe that recovery cannot begin until we acknowledge that losses in the financial system amount to some trillions of dollars, rendering many institutions insolvent. The temptation will be to muddle along, hoping that these institutions can gradually regain strength without putting massive amounts of taxpayers' money at risk. If we go down that road, we are likely to end up with zombie banks whose balance sheets are riddled with near-worthless investments banks that cannot lend to credit-worthy customers and who cannot trust one another," Galston wrote.
With the economy in a tailspin, doing nothing isn't an option, however.
"Something is better than nothing, and bigger was better than smaller in terms of the stimulus needed," said Chris Varvares, president of prominent forecaster Macroeconomic Advisers in St. Louis. "The economy needs a fiscal jolt."
Even some proponents of a stimulus are disappointed, however. Harvard University economist Martin Feldstein, a former adviser to President Ronald Reagan, was an early supporter. He said that government is now the only engine left to spark economic activity, but he said that the compromise falls short of what's needed.
"If the choice is between the current bill and an improved bill, I would say wait and improve the bill," Feldstein told CNBC on Wednesday after the compromise was announced. "I am disappointed with the structure of this bill."
Like Yardeni and other analysts, Feldstein wanted more incentives for consumers to make big purchases that have ripple effects across the economy. When a car is purchased, it helps not only the carmaker, but its suppliers, the trucking companies and railroads that transport cars, the states that issue license plates and so on.
Still, could this stimulus get the U.S. economy back on its feet?
By itself, probably not. The stimulus plan, however, is supposed to work in tandem with new efforts by the Treasury and the Federal Reserve to rid banks of distressed assets that are poisoning their balance sheets, and with other federal efforts to halt mortgage delinquencies and foreclosures. Much will depend on the details of both federal attack plans, which the Obama administration promises are coming soon.
There's also the problem of time. Much of the stimulus is to be spread over a two-year period or longer and 2009 looks increasingly bleak.
A Wall Street Journal survey of 52 mainstream economic forecasters published Thursday found that while most forecasters still think there could be slow growth by the second half of the year, that won't offset steeper-than-projected declines in the first half of 2009.
That means this is essentially a lost year for the economy. Most scenarios envision the economy picking back up again next year.
The president of the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, in a speech in Detroit Thursday, tried to put a brave face on the tough year ahead. Thomas Donohue acknowledged that big business didn't get in the stimulus bill some of the tax-relief measures it most wanted, but promised the Chamber's support.
"The bottom line is that at the end of the day, we're going to support the legislation. Why? Because with the markets functioning so poorly, the government is the only game in town capable of jump-starting the economy," Donohue said.
#1
Of course it will work. It will fill the DNC with lots and lots of pork bought support.....
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
02/13/2009 9:55
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#2
The segment of society most likely to spend the money, as said P.O.
Investers say no as well. Every time they d!ck with the economy it resets my wait 6 months before investing because the gov is involved clock. Businesses (and shareholders especially it is their duty/responsibility), if they want to not be gov gimps, need to stop rearranging deck chairs and get involved against the GTA quick.
Victuals
Gasoline
Gas & Electric bills
Trash
Phones & Internet
2009 Hunting license Mutual Funds and IRA 52" LG Flat Screen New F-150 Cabin in North Ga. Mtns Euro Vacation
Food
Mortgage (for a house I can afford)
Power
Network (Internet, Phone, Cable)
Clothing and Personals
Water, Sewer, Garbage (for a clean house)
Home Defense Budget (aka 'Guns and Ammo") Big Screen TV I'll never watch Boat I'll never use RV I can't afford gas for That trip to see inlaws in Philippines Vacation is Disneyland - someday! someday! Booze and Hookers (guess I'm not a Kennedy)
#5
My Stimulus/Survival plan,
1. Whenever I go to the store I buy (Say) 2 cans instead of one, the other can goes into a pantry/survival food store
2. Likewise cash, an big manila envelope with "Emergency funds" printed on it gets half my cash.
3. No point in hording gas, when I did that my son found it and emptied it.keep the truck full and don't fill up until nearly empty. also keep a full 5 gallon can in the locked toolbox(doesn't use oil, so no reserves). Do carry water, also good for emergencies such as fires and when there's no water to drink
That's about it.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/13/2009 19:43
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#6
Forgot, Bank at a Credit Union, never at a Bank, keep very little in account use cash as much as possible.
Keep credit cards either paid low or not at all, we have one in my wife's name for emergencies (None yet)
Do not confuse credit cards with Check Cashing cards, very handy, I only write checks to pay bills far away.
NEVER, NEVER SET UP A PAYMENT PLAN THAT AUTOMATICALLY PAYS SOMETHING ON A REGULAR BASIS
Yep. I got burned that way, not again.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/13/2009 19:51
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An al Qaeda leader, in a video released on Islamist websites on Friday, urged Somali militants to step up attacks against Somalia's new moderate government, which he dismissed as U.S.-backed.
"Aim your arrows towards them..., direct your battles against them and intensify your campaign against them," Abu Yahya al-Libi said on the video. He called for a jihad, or holy war, against the new government of Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist who was elected late last month as president. "Prepare to fight against the campaign of conspiracies illustrated by the recent farcical presidential election ..., which America -- the world leader of infidels -- was the first to welcome," Libi said.
This reads like the Onion but it isn't, we swear ...
A Turkish militant group, which has hundreds of Turkish, Chechen and Uzbek fighters allied to the Taliban, reported that a sharp drop in donations is hampering its fight against NATO soldiers.
The group, based near the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, made the revelation on an Islamic website last Friday.
Just as financial support from donors in the Middle East and Turkey has dropped off, prices for ammunition and weapons on the black market are skyrocketing. A rocket shell that used to cost $20 US now goes for $100, according to Seyfulkahar al-Muhaciri, part of the volunteer brigade of fighters.
A spike in the cost of copper a year ago pushed up ammunition prices, and the world's slumping economy has forced Arab donors to cut their support, said John Thompson, a Canadian military and security analyst. "Everyone has taken a hit from the subprime mortgage crisis, and that includes the funding sources the jihadis are used to."
U.S. missile strikes launched from remote-controlled Predator drones are inflicting losses on fighters based on the Afghanistan-Pakistan border, said al-Muhaciri.
Such air strikes often target foreign fighters affiliated with al-Qaeda, said Thompson. "If you look at the al-Qaeda command council from 2001, 80 per cent of those people are dead," he said.
The presence of drones overhead means fighters spend a lot of time in hiding, said al-Muhaciri.
Militants need to buy expensive missiles to defend against the drone attacks, but black market arms dealers are reluctant to sell to them for fear of antagonizing the U.S. and NATO, he added. If the Taliban or its allies were to acquire expensive anti-aircraft weapons, NATO would lose its primary strategic advantage, said military analyst Sunil Ram. "If they can start knocking down NATO aircraft, that changes the war," he said.
Adding to the difficulties of the insurgency, said al-Muhaciri, there is a shortage of women to cook and clean for fighters on the front line. Only 15 Turkish women so far have come to Afghanistan with their men, he said.
#2
If the Taliban or its allies were to acquire expensive anti-aircraft weapons, NATO would lose its primary strategic advantage, said military analyst Sunil Ram. "If they can start knocking down NATO aircraft, that changes the war," he said.
The poor, deprived darlings! Perhaps they should consider lowing themselves to marry a few local girls for the duration. After all, they can always triple talaq divorce them when they've won their little war. And surely the local daddies will be thrilled to so easily improve their breeding stock, as they have been elsewhere.
Oh, wait. Elsewhere the locals greatly resent having their daughters taken by force by foreigners, and being saddled with the resulting offspring when the foreigners die or leave without warning. Still, that's later, not now, when the need is so great.
It seems to me, in my ignorance, that if Taliban or their clever Turkoman allies shot effective anti-aircraft missiles at NATO, ie U.S., Predators, the Predator operators would know exactly where to concentrate their fire to kill the clever bad guys... thus eliminating both clever Turkoman bad guys and their ever so expensive anti-aircraft missiles. But then, I daren't claim to truly understand the intricacies of such things.
Adding to the difficulties of the insurgency, said al-Muhaciri, there is a shortage of women to cook and clean for fighters on the front line. Only 15 Turkish women so far have come to Afghanistan with their men
#3
*sigh* PIMF. Multi-tasking is not one of my strengths. Let's try that again, correctly ordering the quotes and responses.
If the Taliban or its allies were to acquire expensive anti-aircraft weapons, NATO would lose its primary strategic advantage, said military analyst Sunil Ram. "If they can start knocking down NATO aircraft, that changes the war," he said.
It seems to me, in my ignorance, that if Taliban or their clever Turkoman allies shot effective anti-aircraft missiles at NATO, ie U.S., Predators, the Predator operators would know exactly where to concentrate their fire to kill the clever bad guys... thus eliminating both clever Turkoman bad guys and their ever so expensive anti-aircraft missiles. But then, I daren't claim to truly understand the intricacies of such things.
If the Taliban or its allies were to acquire expensive anti-aircraft weapons, NATO would lose its primary strategic advantage, said military analyst Sunil Ram. "If they can start knocking down NATO aircraft, that changes the war," he said.
The poor, deprived darlings! Perhaps they should consider lowing themselves to marry a few local girls for the duration. After all, they can always triple talaq divorce them when they've won their little war. And surely the local daddies will be thrilled to so easily improve their breeding stock, as they have been elsewhere.
Oh, wait. Elsewhere the locals greatly resent having their daughters taken by force by foreigners, and being saddled with the resulting offspring when the foreigners die or leave without warning. Still, that's later, not now, when the need is so great.
#4
Adding to the difficulties of the insurgency, said al-Muhaciri, there is a shortage of women to cook and clean for fighters on the front line. Only 15 Turkish women so far have come to Afghanistan with their men, he said.
Poor old Jihadis will have to learn to clean and cook for themselves.Oh how the Saudis would be turning in their graves at the idea!
Japan's plan for any future influenza pandemic calls for shutting down airports, closing schools and organizing mass cremations of the dead in hopes of keeping the virus off its shores or at least containing it.
The government plan estimates that a new human flu virus could infect a quarter of the population and force 40 percent of the workforce to stay home. It could cause as many as 640,000 deaths in Japan if it were to spread across the country, the health ministry said Thursday.
While there have been no warnings of increased risk this year, flu fears have been stoked in Japan in the wake of hit film "Kansen Retto" ("Infected Archipelago"), which portrays an outbreak that causes death and chaos. The government also held a highly publicized pandemic preparedness drill last month.
This week, major electronics maker Panasonic Corp. ordered the families of Japanese overseas employees to return home from developing countries that may be at risk, including China, most parts of Asia, the Middle East and Africa. The company denied the measure was taken to save money...
The World Health Organization has called on countries to develop national plans on how to control the virus should it begin to spread among humans.
Japan's plan would keep open just four airports and three ports, where a strict quarantine would try to prevent the virus' entry if it emerges overseas. Charter flights would bring healthy Japanese back home, but those infected would be asked to stay abroad and foreigners would be restricted from entry.
Authorities charged a man Friday with lighting one of Australia's deadly wildfires and whisked him into protective custody amid national fury that arsonists may be to blame in the blazes that left more than 180 people dead.
...The suspect's identity was being kept secret for his own safety, Victoria Police Assistant Commissioner Dannye Moloney told a news conference. He was brought from Morwell, near the fire zone, to the state capital of Melbourne, Moloney said. I wonder if the mods will have to move the article from Non-WOT once the identity is revealed?
#3
cuz I was just wondering if there is a way to thread somebody onto a spit without causing death
Easy make a smallish cage of re bar with a detachable end or side slide in arsonist, rotate until well done. Preferably over a fire the perp started.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/13/2009 19:13
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#4
On a related note, on a trip to Colonial Williamsburg I saw a big fan geared down to the spit, rotated by the rising gases for unattended roasting, it was in a chimney, but should work over open fires.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/13/2009 19:17
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Bangalore: In a shift that has Russia and Europe worried, Israel may have overtaken Russia as the biggest beneficiary of India's defence budget in the last two years, officials in the know said. Also worrying the Russians and the Europeans is the growing importance of the US for the Indian military.
Requesting anonymity, a senior official in the defence ministry said that Russia has been the biggest supplier to India's defence sector for decades.
But it may have lost out to Israel, which seems to have cornered a larger share of India's defence spend recently. "I don't have country-wise data but it may be due to differences over Gorshkov and other Russian programmes," the official said.
The Americans, too, have grabbed significant Indian deals. Worried over the developments, Europeans are hoping that India brings in more transparency and balance to its procurement process. Several European firms at the Aero India expressed concerns over the influence that politics has on the country's defence purchases. Of particular concern to them is the trend of purchases without a multi-tender process.
Requesting he not be named, a senior executive of a European defence firm said, "We are okay with open tendering. But the trend of FMS (foreign military sales) deals and joint development programmes are skewed against us, and in favour of the US and Israel."
Over the past few years, India has entered into joint development of several missile systems with Israel as also procurement of top-end technologies without a tender process. After the November 2008 terror attacks on Mumbai, the two countries decided on the joint development of medium-range surface-to-air missiles (MRSAM) for the Air Force.
Though it is technically a joint development between Israel's IAI and Rafael, and India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO), a significantly large portion of the contract - worth Rs 12,000 crore - will go to Israel. On similar lines, there's a Barak new generation missile project underway for the Navy. "Most of Israeli procurements have not been through open tenders," said the European firm official.
Another European executive said that some of the biggest deals India has signed with the US, too, have been without an open tendering process. Among them are the purchase of USS Trenton for the Navy and the purchase of C-130 J Hercules transport planes. These were done through the FMS route, meaning a government-to-government deal.
Unlike the US, Europe hasn't been able to corner India's defence share by offering government-to-government deals. A missile programme between European manufacturer MBDA and DRDO is on the cards but otherwise, the last few years haven't been very encouraging for European firms. In fact, a deal for the purchase of 197 Eurocopter helicopters was cancelled in the final stages after several years of field trials and evaluations. The Europeans are still not convinced on the reasons given for cancelling the contract.
Some European and Russian officials warn that strict export controls and technology denial regime in the US may become a challenge for India later. A case in point is the recent replacement of Boeing with a European consortium EADS for consultancy for the light combat aircraft Tejas.
Posted by: john frum ||
02/13/2009
06:02 ||
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#2
Also, with the US Navy/Marine Corps being the only large scale users of LPHs and LPDs, where else were the Indians going to buy a ship like the USS Trenton? At least if the Indians buy the older class of LPH/LPD from the US, they can be certain of getting more than one of the class at a time if they so wish. And the ship(s) will have already passed sea trials and the shakedown cruise.
#3
"the purchase of C-130 J Hercules transport planes."
Yeah, I mean why the heck didn't India buy lots of those great A400Ms from Airbus?????
Well sure they're delayed but only till 2011, errr 2014, what's that? oh at least 2016? Whatever, so what if they're overweight and under functional you're just nit picking!!!
#1
Predictably - they left off the cabal of Democrats in congress who forced banks to make risky sub-prime loans through the passage of the Community Reinvestment Act. They make only an oblique reference to Bill Clinton for this. Barney Frank and his butt-buddy at Fanny Mae, Herb Moses who engineering "affordable" loans are not mentioned. Oh and Chris Dodd is left out too.
#7
Let's not ignore the hundreds of thousands of loan takers who knew they didn't have the means to pay for someone else's property they took on a contract they knew they could not/would not honor.
#8
Although as an overspending consumer, I am guilty, but blaming consumer spending, when that was the economic solution touted after 9-11 and by the Dems today, struck me as odd for Time.
#9
It was a con job on several levels. Some big developers in the Atlanta area were targeting obviously unqualified or marginally qualified buyers, doing the finance and construction, then immediately selling the loans to Fannie and Freddie.
#10
I have a son in the RE game and as he has explained to me the main problems with sub-prime loans weren't the really poor folk. Yes they were a small part of it but their biggest contribution was in affording the real crooks a moral footing. The requirements for sub prime lending fostered by Barney and the boys were taken full advantage of by every shyster, weasel and crook around. (See Besoeker's Atlanta example).
This was the impetus for every two-bit yuppie that thought his sociology degree and $40,000 a year job was enough to buy a $600k house and there were all the contractors, bankers et al were more than happy to puff it up.
Then the Wall Street sleaze took over with their AAA rated tranches.
#12
The loans were one thing, but it was the derivatives of those loans that are the real pickle. I heard yesterday that the total derivative obligation exceeds the GNP of the entire world. That is criminal.
#13
to #4, they most certainly were not mostly jewish. damn skippy my jewish grandparents who are turning in their grave right now would have kicked the lot of these con artists to the curb and told them to get real jobs besides ripping off fellow americans.
#15
I heard yesterday that the total derivative obligation exceeds the GNP of the entire world. That is criminal.
What is criminal is that so many people bought these things without asking elementary questions.
Talk about the madness of crowds.
On second thoughts. What is criminal, is bailing out the idiots who bought this stuff. And those who did so on behalf of others should be fired and then sued.
Feb 28 marks the anniversary of Operation Gunnerside in 1943, which was a commando attack against the Norsk Hydro power plant in Vemork, Norway. Feb. 20 marks the anniversary of the sinking of the Lake Tinn railroad ferry in 1944, containing the last of Vemork's heavy water slated for shipment to Germany for the Nazi atomic bomb project. These two attacks, combined with screwups by Hitler and his brass, prevented the Nazis from developing the atomic bomb.
The Nazi atomic bomb project required heavy water as a "moderator, a substance that slows down the neutrons emitted from U-238...Slower neutrons give more collisions and more fission elements. (Haukelid, p. 235)" When Germany conquered Norway, they gained the only plant in Europe to produce heavy water in any quantity; and it was a slow, slow process even at Norsk Hydro.
Hitler had been so convinced of his Wehrmacht's invincibility that he told those scientists working on the atomic bomb that, by the time they got the bomb ready, Germany wouldn't need it. As the Nazi war machine bogged down in Russia, Hitler changed his mind and gave the bomb project greater priority; but by then the scientists had lost more than a year of progress.
In 1942, the Germans demanded that Norsk Hydro increase its production of heavy water. The Special Operations Executive in London, directing organization for planning and supplying resistance fighters and commandos, decided to destroy the Germans' supply of heavy water. A 35-man British commando force in two gliders, Operation Freshman, crashed in Norway in bad weather. Those surviving the crash were tortured and shot by the Gestapo.
On Feb. 28, 1943, Norwegian commandos under the leadership of Jens Poulsson and Knut Haukelid infiltrated the Norsk Hydro plant . They succeeded in blowing up the machinery for creating heavy water, stopping production for two months. An Allied bombardment of the plant did some damage; and Norwegian workers carefully and continually sabotaged production by adding tiny amounts of cod liver oil to the water being processed.
The Germans decided to ship the remaining heavy water to Germany. The Germans carefully guarded the railway line--but forgot to post guards on the railroad ferry on Lake Tinn. Haukelid and fellow resistance leader Rolf Sorlie gained access to the ferry and planted a time bomb on the night of Feb 19, 1944. The bomb went off Sunday morning, when the ferry was over the deepest part of the lake. The ferry sank in 5 minutes, dropping the barrels of heavy water 1300 feet to the bottom of the lake. Eleven Norwegian civilians and between 13 and 20 German soldiers were lost in the wreck.
Haukelid's comments on why he fought the Nazis are valuable:
"(We) felt quite simply that our country and our people were worth fighting for....What counted was not where or how we lived, but that we were Norwegians, and were holding our bit of the front."
#1
Oh man, if that had happened today, CNN would be all over the 11 civilian dead, interviews with the family, "the Nazis weren't going to make a bomb anyway, it's just peaceful nuclear research", and so on.
#2
I was riding my bike along the levee the other day and saw a couple of kids who looked about 13 on the river side. The boy was sitting up and the girl was face down in his lap, actively.
#7
Chantelle and Maisie were released from hospital yesterday. They are living with Penny, Chantelles jobless dad Steve, 43, and her five brothers in a rented council house in Eastbourne. The family live on benefits.
Pretty much says it all....I suspect that more "local" news sources will be reporting on this kind of social-engineering in the good old USA soon....
WASHINGTON, D.C. - A senior U.S. lawmaker said Thursday that unmanned CIA Predator aircraft operating in Pakistan are flown from an airbase inside that country, a revelation likely to embarrass the Pakistani government and complicate its counterterrorism collaboration with the United States.
The disclosure by Sen. Dianne Feinstein (D-Calif.), the chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee, marked the first time a U.S. official had publicly commented on where the Predator aircraft patrolling Pakistan take off and land.
At a hearing, Feinstein expressed surprise at Pakistani opposition to the ongoing campaign of Predator-launched CIA missile strikes against Al Qaeda targets along Pakistan's northwest border.
"As I understand it, these are flown out of a Pakistani base," she said of the planes.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/13/2009
00:01 ||
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#1
Uh, she hasn't noticed Pakistan's little civil war yet? The one she just probably made worse?
#5
Don't blame me - I voted for whoever was her opponent
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/12/2009 22:10
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#6
Feinstein doesn't care about Pakis, right Diane?
I mean they're a buncha towelheads. Who cares about their problems, right Diane?
It is much more important to display your personal knowledge of a sensitive intelligence situation than to advance American national security interests.
#7
We really need to start shooting traitors in the United States. This POS has just moved closer to the top. Not AT the top, but within the top 25...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/12/2009 22:25
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#8
OP, I disagree.
We need summary trials with appropriate punishment; not just shooting traitors, but non-jury trials for traitors ending with the most appropriate punishment.
Punishment, that is, upon being found guilty, of course.
In the Pacific, Japanese depth charge attacks initially proved fairly unsuccessful against U.S. and British submarines. Unless caught in shallow water, a U.S. submarine commander could normally dive to a deeper depth in order to escape destruction.
The deficiencies of Japanese depth-charge tactics were revealed in a press conference held by U.S. Congressman Andrew J. May, a member of the House Military Affairs Committee who had visited the Pacific theater and received many intelligence and operational briefings. Incredibly, May mentioned the highly sensitive fact that American submarines had a high survivability rate because Japanese depth charges were fuzed to explode at too shallow a depth.
Various press associations sent this leaked news story over their wires, compounding the danger, and many newspapers (including one in Honolulu, Hawaii) published it. Soon, Japanese forces were resetting their depth charges to explode at a more effective average depth of 75 m (250 feet), to the detriment of American submariners. Vice Admiral Charles A. Lockwood, commander of the U.S. submarine fleet in the Pacific, later estimated that May's revelation cost the United States Navy as many as ten submarines and 800 seamen killed in action.[5]
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Depth_charge
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
02/12/2009 22:30
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#11
Great addendum, Large. And, fittingly, the paper in which this article on DiFi's idiocy appeared (at least the one from which it was posted) was the same rag in which the US codebreaking advantage over Japan was disastrously published following Dai Nihon's Midway debacle. Fortunately the Japs never picked up on it - and FDR's initial inclination to prosecute the Trib's publisher (a longtime political enemy) was squelched.
But back to the topic - geez. And remember - DiFI is the "smart" CA senator, and within the pathetic donk ranks, one of the LEAST idiotic and irresponsible.
Is there some way to ensure that only the ones responsible in the US get what they deserve (voters and office-holders), while not harming the sensible ones or the best ones out there on the front lines?
Musharraf, who controls the country's military forces, has long approved U.S. military strikes on his own. But senior officials in Pakistan's leading parties are now warning that such unilateral attacks -- including the Predator strikes launched from bases near Islamabad and Jacobabad in Pakistan -- could be curtailed.
#13
Someone should investigate how DiFi went from being the Mayor of San Francisco with a stated net worth of $5Million to being obscenely wealthy from her tenure in the U.S. Senate.
#20
When the report of the first American KIA's at Paki bases surfaces, I'll be sending them to her with my note. There people are the worst of the worst.
#21
I know that it's easy to Rage and Seethe (TM) at this woman for making this statement, but wasn't it the GOP's own Orin Hatch who revealed that the government was listening in on Bin Laden's satellite phone calls? They dropped to zero instantly. Ask yourself; what was the bigger breech?
#25
We strongly object to Sen. Feinstein's remarks being characterized as anything other than a reference"
In other words: Jeeez dont take her statement out of context. The chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee often crafts her most important policy decisions based soley on open source news reports. You gotta problem with that?
#26
Even if it was in Open Source, one can not divulge classified information as she did...oh, but adhering to classified procures is for the little people. Does anyone know whether any of these panjandrums in the Sen or House of Reps are polygraphed during their 5-year re-investigation? If so, how can many of them possibly pass?
#27
Polygraph congress members? Not in anyone's lifetime, that's reserved for the military, Klingons and contractors, the little people. President Reagan couldn't even get Secretary of State George Schultz to consent to drug testing at State. Schultz said he's resign first. Reagan let it slide.
#29
No it's a valid good question and even BETTER idea! But as you know of course, these ladies and gentlemen are held to an entirely different standard than you or I.
#34
DiFi directed millions of government contracts to her Husband's construction company.
Correction: DiFi diverted BILLIONS of Dollars in government contracts to her husbands contracting firm. The hounds of Hell were hot on her heels too, I don't know if anyone remembers, but she stepped down from that plum committee seat very quietly on a Friday, some months back.
Oh, before I forget, she's a committed gun grabber also. CommieRatScrewingBitch!
#35
Once again the female politicians representing the state of California open their mouths and insert both of their feet. This woman may not be as obnoxious as Pelosi but she may be dumber. Now she has put at risk our fighting members of our Armed Forces and their equipment. She should be banned from her current position and given a tiolet brush and told she now has new responsibilities.
From the below article, "Who is Pulling Geithners Strings?"
Senator Orrin Hatch had voted to confirm Geithner, saying that he "is not merely acceptable for the job¯he is highly qualified." That was largely because of his role as President of the New York Federal Reserve Bank in previous financial bailouts that have yet to succeed. Hatch understood this, but said that Geithner's recognition that mistakes had occurred "makes him more valuable, in my view, in the continuing effort to right our economic ship."
From http://www.mara.org.uk/titanic.htm: The pilot of the Titanic who was steering the great vessels bow towards open sea was none other than George Bowyer, the pilot who had been on duty when the Olympic had ran headlong into the side of the HMS Hawke.
Orrin Hatch merely proves that even Repubs can be MORONS.
#37
Don't blame me - I voted for whoever was her opponent.
Google Dick Mountjoy. I voted for him. Never heard of him till I read his little blurb in the voter's pamplet. As far as I could tell he never advertised or campaigned much at all. Not that the RNC or country club RINOs would give him a red cent or a thin dime. Seems he was the sponsor of Prop 187 which voters approved and would have denied government services to illegal aliens (the state supreme court ruled that one unconstitutional, or course). The guy never stood a chance against Feinstein, an incumbent with a massive war chest.
I wouldn't be too quick to assume that Feinstein is one bit less looney than Boxer either. That may be her image but I've yet to hear of her doing even one little thing I agree with. Seems to me she's always on the wrong side of everything just like Babs. She wears a pearl necklace and tries to come off as a nice, respectable grandmother but I don't buy it. After all, she is from San Francisco, same as Nancy Pants.
Thanks a lot, newc. I'll have you know there are those of us in this state who DO NOT for people like Feinstein. But, as I've said many times before, this state has been screwed over by Republicans and Democrats in the White House who refuse to control the border. All those illegal aliens vote Democrat. Get it? GW Bush maybe never dreamed that Feinstein would do such a stupid, traitorous thing as this but he failed in ways that helped her.
The deputy chairman of the British financial regulator quits after allegedly contributing to a major banking failure by ignoring warnings.
HBOS ex-chief James Crosby left the Financial Services Authority (FSA) on Wednesday after his former head of regulatory risk Paul Moore accused him of contributing to the bank's failure.
According to Moore, Crosby risked too much and would not listen to warnings that the bank was rapidly approaching failure.
He also claimed that he had been sacked by Crosby in 2005 after confronting him on the issue.
The credit crunch took its toll on HBOS last month, prompting the bank to be absorbed into the Lloyds Banking Group as a result of a successful government-brokered takeover bid.
Premier Gordon Brown, whose government used to take Crosby's economic advice, however, insisted that the bank had sunk "because its whole business model was wrong" and not because of the surrounding allegations, BBC reported.
"It is important that the FSA show at this time that it is operating to the best standards possible," he added while defending the Crosby resignation.
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Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/13/2009 19:54
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Israel warned Hezbollah this week that it will respond harshly to any attempt to down an Israel Air Force jet over Lebanon or to avenge last year's assassination of the organization's operations officer, Imad Mughniyeh.
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#1
hezbollah. For every Seven you strike, seventy of yours shall fall.
A close aide of Baitullah Mehsud and senior commander of the banned Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Thursday claimed responsibility for the suicide attack on Awami National Party (ANP) MPA Alam Zeb Khan in Peshawar.
"We carried out this attack and will continue such attacks on ANP leaders in future," Hakeemullah Mehsud, who heads the TTP in Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber tribal regions, said in telephone calls to media offices in Peshawar.
Alam Zeb Khan died of excessive injuries when a powerful bomb went off near his car in Peshawar on Wednesday. He became the first target of the Taliban since the Pukhtoon nationalist party took power last year. The ANP became a major target of the outlawed TTP after its peace deal with Maulana Fazlullah in Swat collapsed and a military operation began to target the Taliban.
Asfandyar Wali Khan, central ANP president, survived a suicide attack on Eid Day at his Wali Bagh residence last year, while relatives of several ANP MPAs from Swat have also been targeted.
Meanwhile, Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti announced Rs 5 million for the grieved family and recommended the federal government's higher gallantry award for the deceased MPA. The CM's Gallantry Medal, along with Rs 500,000 in cash, was also announced for the late MPA's family.
The chief minister assured the family members that the ANP government would bring the perpetrators of the crime to justice.
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JERUSALEM - Israel's centrist Kadima party, led by Tzipi Livni, kept its tight lead over the rightist Likud of Benjamin Netanyahu in this week's general election, according to final results released on Thursday. The official results, released after military and overseas votes were counted, gave Kadima 28 seats in the 120-member parliament and Likud 27 seats. These figures were in line with preliminary results released after Tuesday's election, which also gave most of the remaining seats to right-wing parties.
Principal among those was Yisrael Beitenu of Avigdor Lieberman, which was confirmed as having taken 15 seats. Labour, which has headed many Israeli coalitions, slipped into fourth place with 13.
The ultra-Orthodox Shas took 11 seats and United Torah Judaism five. Extreme right National Union won four seats, Arab party Ram Tal four, the Arab communist party Hadash four, the left-wing Meretz three, extreme-right Jewish Home three and another Arab party, Balad, three.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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A multinational naval force seized nine suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Thursday after receiving a distress call from an Indian merchant vessel, the U.S. Navy said.
"The guided missile cruiser USS Vella Gulf intercepted and apprehended nine suspected pirates today in the Gulf of Aden," the U.S. Fifth Fleet said in a statement.
An Indian ship, Premedivya, had sent out a call to all ships in the area, reporting it had come under attack by a small skiff and that suspected pirates were attempting to climb on board, it added.
First anti-piracy attacks
After inspecting the skiff of the suspected pirates, teams from Vella Gulf and the guided missile destroyer USS Mahan found weapons and a rocket propelled grenade launcher, the statement said.
The task force has now detained 16 pirate suspects in two days--its first such actions against those behind a spate of ship hijacks that has raked in millions of dollars in ransom payments and driven up insurance costs.
On Wednesday the U.S. Navy said it had arrested seven suspected pirates in the Gulf of Aden after a Marshall Islands-flagged ship sent a distress call to say pirates had tried to force their way on board.
Pirates attacked more than 130 merchant ships in the Gulf of Aden last year, an increase of more than 200 percent on 2007, according to the International Maritime Bureau which tracks piracy and shipping security issues.
Vella Gulf is part of the new counter-piracy multinational task force, CTF 151, operating in and around the Gulf of Aden, Arabian Sea, Indian Ocean and the Red Sea.
More than 150 suspected pirates were arrested by naval patrols in the Gulf in 2008.
Heavily armed pirates operate high-powered speedboats and sometimes hold ships for weeks before releasing them for large ransoms paid by governments or ship owners.
Somali pirates only days ago freed a Ukrainian ship they had held since September with battle tanks and other weaponry on board after receiving a ransom of more than three million dollars.
The release of the ship and its crew of 20 seamen after 134 days marked the end of one of the longest and most dramatic sea-jackings in recent years.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
I agree, OS. Secondary choice of punishment - drag them behind the stern on long ropes attached to the neck. Hopefully some hungry shark will remove the need to drag them back aboard.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/13/2009 12:11
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pro-Taliban warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani was behind the daring suicide and gun assault on the Afghan capital, Kabul on Wednesday, top Taliban sources told Adnkronos International (AKI). Pakistani and Arab groups were also behind the attacks, the sources said.
After a deadly attack on the Serena Hotel in Kabul in January 2008, Haqqani tried to copy the Laskhar-e-Toiba style Mumbai attacks with an assault on Afghan ministries that killed 28 people and injured many others, the sources claimed.
Sirajuddin, the son of legendary Afghan war hero, Jalaluddin Haqqani, who fought the Soviet occupation in the 1980s, has taken over his father's network and is known in Taliban circles as Kalifah (or successor).
Originally from the Afghan province of Khost, Sirajuddin is believed to be operating from Pakistani tribal area of North Waziristan on the Afghan border.
He has recently expanded his network in the Afghan provinces of Khost, Paktia, Paktika and Ghazni, and established his network in the Afghan province of Kandahar.
Sirajuddin is known to have contacts within the Pakistan and Arab militant networks and and draws on their expertise for various terror attacks. NATO forces have placed a 200,000 dollar bounty on him.
Last year CIA predator drones carried out multiple attacks in North Waziristan in a bid to kill Haqqani and his elderly father Jalaluddin. Both survived the attacks but the women and the children belonging to the family of Jalaluddin Haqqani were killed and his religious school was completely destroyed.
Sirajuddin Haqqani runs an independent network of militants but like his father pledges his allegiance to Taliban leader Mullah Omar and is part of the Taliban's command structure.
Earlier on Thursday, the Taliban's al-Hamza Brigades were thought to have carried out the deadly attacks in the capital Kabul - according to messages posted to various jihadist websites and reportedly signed by the Taliban.
"Sixteen mujahadeen martyrs from the al-Hamza Brigades executed the Kabul operation on the orders of (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar," said the message.
Eight attackers died in the coordinated assault against government ministries in central Kabul, in which they used Kalishnikov rifles, grenades and explosive vests.
Twenty others were killed in the attack, which came on the eve of a visit by US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke.
Six people died in the bomb and gun attack on the Serena Hotel in January 2008. The hotel was hosting a Norwegian delegation at the time.
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The International Criminal Court said Thursday it has not issued an arrest warrant for Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir for crimes in Darfur, contrary to press reports that it had been issued, as a rebel leader said he should turn himself in.
"At this moment, there is no arrest warrant," ICC spokeswoman Laurence Blairon told AFP after the New York Times reported Wednesday that judges had decided to issue a warrant as requested last July by chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo, sayinf an anouncement would be made when there was something to announce.
Khalil Ibrahim, head of the most active rebel group in Darfur, called in Doha on Thursday for Sudan's President Omar al-Beshir to give himself up to the International Criminal Court.
"I advise Beshir to turn himself in, voluntarily," the leader of the Justice and Equality Movement said, adding that he would welcome any arrest warrant for the Sudanese president.
"If Beshir does not turn himself in, no doubt, we will arrest him and hand him over to the international court," Ibrahim said from Doha, where peace talks were being held under the auspices of Qatar, the United Nations, African Union and the Arab League.
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India has mended its stand on Sri Lanka, insisting no longer that the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) lay down weapons as a pre-condition for talks with Colombo for a political settlement.
Instead of asking LTTE to lay down weapons, India now wants the group to at least agree in principle to lay down its weapons as this can pave the way for negotiations with the Sri Lankan government. The subtle change in India's stand was reflected in Indian President Pratibha Patil's address to parliament on Thursday when she said the two sides could return to the negotiation table if "the Government of Sri Lanka suspends its military operations and the LTTE declares its willingness to lay down arms simultaneously".
The main Tamil Nadu party -- Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam -- and other parties have been protesting at what they see as the Indian government taking the side of the Sri Lankan government in asking LTTE to first lay down arms before any negotiations can be held. Notwithstanding the government changing this stand, two Marumalarchi Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (MDMK) MPs -- Krishnan and Ravindran -- interrupted the president's address to protest India's not pressurising the neighbouring government to stop the massacre of the Tamils in the island nation.
Eight MPs from Tamil Nadu, including top Communist Party of India leader D Raja, turned up in black shirts and white lungi to register their protest at the government for not having a clear policy on the Sri Lankan conflict. The Tamil Nadu parties have been demanding the Indian government intervene to put in a check on the Sri Lankan government's killing of "innocent" Tamils. They advocate that India should even intervene militarily if the killing of Tamils does not stop.
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Via Instapundit
All of the major news outlets are reporting that the stimulus bill voted out of conference committee last night has a meager $789 billion price tag. This number is pure fantasy. No one believes that the increased funding for programs the left loves like Head Start, Medicaid, COBRA, and the Earned Income Tax Credit is in anyway temporary. No Congress under control of the left will ever cut funding for these programs. So what is the true cost of the stimulus if these spending increases are made permanent?
Rep. Paul Ryan (R-WI) asked the Congressional Budget Office to estimate the impact of permanently extending the 20 most popular provisions of the stimulus bill. What did the CBO find? As you can see from the table below, the true 10 year cost of the stimulus bill $2.527 trillion in in spending with another $744 billion cost in debt servicing. Total bill for the Generational Theft Act: $3.27 trillion. Detail table at link.
Posted by: ed ||
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Loss of control of the Justice system - no weight nor measure,
Impossible monetary policy. Currency drift and inflation. Loss of control of rates.
Policy will force business to close under difficult regulatory requirements forcing more stress upon the economy.
Government revenue shall continue to decline.
The SEC still has not cleaned house at the banks and the CRA is still not fixed ruining lots of trust out of the window.
Lack of confidence is the lending market.
Health care companies may be fored out of business by competiton from the government.
#3
Now up to 1600+ pages which few could have possibly read or digested. Poor start for confidence building of the little people..., but that really isn't the goal of the package anyway. What was I thinking?
#4
In a small attempt to regain some human perspective, Mrs. Besoeker and I extend our prayers and thoughts to the families of the victims of Continental Flight 3407. Dear Lord take them into your care.
Conversation at the store other day:
guy: was shopping the other day and I saw this 18-19 year old girl, good looking, had on a tight shirt which said, "Got d!ck?"
me: Well, that had to make the shopping interesting huh?
guy: well, yeah she was good looking but honostly all that tells me is tramp and as a father would never let my daughter dress like that. Personally, when I see a girl I like I like to work for it, its more satisfying. I don't like it thrown in my face and just given to me. Its slutty.
me: sooo...you're not a democrat?
guy: (laughing) heard this the other day, "If Obama is the answer then what the h*ll was the question?!"
Seeing how all neo-hippies and baby boomers like to quote Eisenhower's "Beware the military industrial complex" (a quote I find ironic since it was just that which gave him the materials to fight, but that's for another thread) try this one we came up with last night, "Beware the agenda driven political machine."
So to all you who voted these thieves into office thinking, maybe sincerely, hope would triumph morality onto a ruling machine built on power and greed I offer this: "I changed my baby's diaper this morning, has Obama changed you?"
The U.S. President Barack Obama vowed on Thursday to support U.N. moves to bring to justice the killers of the former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri ahead of the fourth anniversary of his assassination.
"As we share our grief with the Lebanese people over the loss of Prime Minister Hariri, we also share our conviction that his sacrifice will not be in vain," Obama said in a statement ahead of Saturday's anniversary.
"The United States fully supports the Special Tribunal for Lebanon, whose work will begin in a few weeks, to bring those responsible for this horrific crime and those that followed to justice."
His predecessor George W. Bush, who left office last month, had also pushed for a thorough investigation of the killing of Hariri and 22 other people in a car bomb explosion in Beirut in February 2005.
Some anti-Syrian politicians have said Syria was behind the suicide bombing but Damascus denies this. The assassination sparked a worldwide outcry that forced the withdrawal of Syrian troops that had been in Lebanon for nearly 30 years.
The U.N. tribunal to try Hariri's alleged killers is due to open its doors on March 1, housed in the former headquarters of the Dutch intelligence service on the outskirts of The Hague.
The tribunal will have 11 judges, including four from Lebanon.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
UN tribunals... yep, that's an easy one for Barry. Never mind the potential future consequences to Americans.
(AKI) - A senior Pakistani official on Thursday admitted for the first time that last year's terrorist attacks in the Indian city of Mumbai were partly planned in Pakistan. Advisor to the prime minister on Interior Rehman Malik said that several suspects were now being in custody and a case has been filed which could lead to their prosecution.
Relations between between India and Pakistan have been tense since the November attacks after New Delhi said all 10 gunmen were Pakistani. At least 170 people were killed when terrorists targeted two luxury hotels and other locations in the heart of the city.
Malik made the comments during a media briefing on a government probe into the attacks.
"Some part of the conspiracy has taken place in Pakistan. We have lodged an FIR [first information report] into the case," he said, referring to a police complaint.
Pakistan denied any responsibility in the immediate aftermath of the attacks, but later admitted that the only gunman captured alive during the three-day siege was Pakistani.
India has accused the banned Lashkar-e-Toiba militant group of being behind the attacks and has demanded key leaders be extradited to face charges in India.
New Delhi also shared intelligence with the Pakistani government which it says contains evidence to support its case.
Malik said Pakistan had assured India of its full cooperation in the investigations of Mumbai attacks and that Pakistan had been a victim of terrorism for a long time.
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A roadside bomb killed eight Iraqi pilgrims and wounded 46 near a revered shrine on Thursday as millions of Shiite pilgrims converged on the central Iraqi holy city for Arbain, one of the most important dates in the Shiite religious calendar, police said.
Police said the blast took place less than 1 km (half a mile) from the Imam Hussein shrine in central Karbala, 80 km (50 miles) southwest of Baghdad, despite intense security. "The explosion came as a result of a small, locally made bomb" in an alley leading to the Imam Hussein shrine, said General Uthman al-Ghanimi, an army commander in Karbala.
Millions of Shiites are travelling to Karbala for Arbain, a ceremony next Monday that marks 40 days after the Ashura anniversary of the killing of Imam Hussein by Sunni caliph Yazid's armies in 680.
The killings came one day after deadly bombings near a Baghdad bus station shattered a relative lull in violence since largely peaceful provincial elections in Iraq on Jan. 31.
The Karbala explosion followed a string of incidents on Wednesday, including one attack that targeted Shiite worshippers in two areas of Baghdad travelling on foot to the holy city.One pilgrim was killed and 14 others wounded, security officials said.
Insurgents have targeted the Shiite shrine city on a number of occasions in the past six years. A blast 11 months ago at the same Karbala shrine left 43 people dead.
On Wednesday, the United Nations mission in Iraq condemned the targeting of pilgrims and incitement of sectarian tensions just as Sunni-Shiite and insurgent violence in Iraq drops to its lowest level since the war.
On April 28 a year earlier, a suicide car bomb attack near the Imam Abbas shrine, a second revered shrine in the city, killed more than 70 people and wounded nearly 160. Two weeks before that, a similar bomb attack close to the Imam Hussein shrine killed 42 people and wounded scores more.
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Military censors have permitted Israeli news organizations to reveal on Thursday that two Israeli Druze have been recently convicted of providing military information to Syria.
The two Druze maintained lines of communication with two Syrian army officers, providing him with information during the course of the Second Lebanon War in the summer of 2006.
Nazareth District Court sentenced Yusef Shams to four years in prison and his relative, Ata Farhat, to three years behind bars.
Prosecutors say that the defendants were in contact with the Syrian officers between June 2006 until the time of their arrest in July 2007. Shams and Farhat were well aware that their contacts were with Syrian military officials.
Authorities say Shams and Farhat coordinated their contacts with the officers and communicated messages between them which were sent by the Syrian officers. The convicted spies also carried out a number of tasks assigned to them by the officers.
Yusef Shams is prominent in the exporting of apples from the Israeli-controlled Golan Heights to Syria. During their contacts with the officers, the subject of apple sales to Syria was discussed. In addition, Shams is said to have provided information on IDF activity, including military maneuvers, concentration of forces on the Golan Heights, and details on IDF units which took part in military activity.
Shams and Farhat also provided information on bomb-proofing military posts along the border with Syria, construction activity on army posts on the Golan Heights, and a demonstration by Druze who were said to be opposed to Syrian rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Ooh. Isn't that against the way they do things?
Interior Adviser Rehman Malik has claimed that a money exchange company in Islamabad was involved in transferring money to a suspect of the Mumbai attacks in Spain, said a private TV channel. The money was transferred through Paracha International Exchange's Euro 2005 branch in Islamabad to Javed Iqbal in Barcelona. The branch was later found sealed. Representatives of other branches have denied that such a transaction took place. But one of the two owners confirmed the transaction, and blamed his partner for it.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen captured 16 persons wanted on "criminal and terrorist" charges in Basra on Thursday, the Basra police media office said. "Basran policemen conducted search raids in different areas of the province, arresting 16 on charges of involvement in criminal and terrorist cases," the office told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Three among the 16 persons captured were three smuggling small amounts of kerosene in the area of Abi al-Khaseeb, (20 km) southern Basra," the source added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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BAGHDAD - The US military has released more than 100 prisoners from Abu Ghraib jail, which has been renamed Baghdad Central Prison, Iraqi officials said on Thursday. The human rights ministry told AFP the 107 Iraqis were freed from the prison in west Baghdad on Wednesday under the US-Iraqi security pact that calls for American soldiers to withdraw from Iraq by the end of 2011.
A series of releases started on February 3 as a key part of the deal signed in November that provides for a gradual return of Iraqi sovereignty and a handover of security responsibilities. Under the agreement, prisoners must either be set free or handed over to the Iraqi authorities.
Detainees are being released who the US and the government of Iraq think no longer pose a threat to the security or stability of Iraq, US Brigadier General David Quantock, who is charge of the prisoners, said last week.
The US-led coalition currently has about 15,000 prisoners in custody after six years of insurgency and sectarian warfare since the March 2003 invasion that toppled Saddam Hussein from power.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Nothing compared to the damage that is going to happen with the release of 50,000+ released from California prisons.
#3
No, more evidence that things are moving to normal.
We were NOT going to lock up 15,000 people indefinitely. At some point their situation has to be resolved. Most of these jokers are low level punks and fools. The Iraqi system can handle them and, if necessary, make them wish they were back in American hands.
This is good news. These jokers are irrelevant.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2009 9:44
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The Turkish Army denies the allegations that there is a link between its top officials and a secret terrorist group known as Ergenekon.
"The Turkish Armed Forces, as an institution, cannot have any relations to individuals or institutions that operate illegally," the General Staff said on Thursday in a statement posted on its website, the Turkish daily Hurriyet reported. "We are extremely uncomfortable that the judiciary is being dragged into unproductive discussions. It causes untold harm to the Turkish justice system when doubts are raised over the judiciary," it added.
That's a pretty clear warning ...
The statement was released after the former head of the Turkish Special Forces Ibrahim Sahin who has been arrested over the Ergenekon case claimed that two senior military officials were aware of their activities.
Sahin is charged with having established death squads composed of police officers to assassinate prominent intellectuals, businessman and non-Muslim leaders across the country. Sahin claims the so-called S-1 squads allegedly recruited 150 to 300 police officers and soldiers under the orders of the General Staff's press information chief, Brigadier General Metin Gurek.
According to Sahin, Gurak gave him orders to select officers to form the new "S-1" anti-terror unit, the Turkish daily Radikal revealed. Sahin was allegedly told to select trustworthy military and police officers.
The Ergenekon suspect also claimed that Chief of General Staff General Ilker Basbug was aware the ex-police officer was asked to head up the new unit.
Sahin's links with Ergenekon came under spotlight last month when police found a map in his house that led them to a hidden weapons cache.
On Tuesday, Turkish security forces arrested 12 people including five officers as part of the Air Force investigation into links between military officers and the terrorist group. The detained people are believed to have met in covert places known as Karargah houses to discuss strategies to influence the Turkish military.
Ergenekon was reportedly planning to trigger a coup in the country through creating insecurity and chaos which prompt the army to intervene.
Eighty-six alleged members of the organization are standing trial while others are expected to be indicted. The organization's members included high-ranking generals and retired officers and ultranationalist figures.
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#1
Sounds like Erdogan is afraid of his military, and is trying to use the Judiciary to "send a message". Stupidity cubed, IMHO. The military doesn't need a "shadow group" to take over the government - they've been quite willing to do so at the first sign of a deviation from Attaturk's secular path. Expect another military coup in Turkey within the year.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/13/2009 12:52
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#2
"Sahin claims the so-called S-1 squads allegedly recruited 150 to 300 police officers and soldiers under the orders of the General Staff's press information chief, Brigadier General Metin Gurek."
Now you don't often hear of a Press Secretary getting involved in assassinations... other than Scott McWhatsis, of course
#3
Scott McClellan, I think, who ordered the assassination of his own mediocre credibility at the hands of his publisher, and his own stoopid mouth
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/13/2009 18:06
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#4
Isn't it somewhere in Turkey's constitution (or whatever) that the army is authorized to take over the government if said gov't doesn't stay secular?
I think I read that somewhere - supposedly set up by Attaturk.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/13/2009 19:14
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Palestinian Authority Acting Chief Mahmoud Abbas has urged the diplomatic isolation of a right-wing Israeli government led by Likud.
Meanwhile unnamed senior political sources in Jerusalem (al-Quds) was quoted by Haaretz as saying that France, Britain and Italy have promised Abbas that they would not allow any new Israeli government delay or freeze the peace process.
The source also noted that Abbas and his aides view Likud leader Benjamin Netanyahu's remarks on the continuation of peace talks as 'empty promises.'
Abbas met last week with French President Nicolas Sarkozy, British Prime Minister Gordon Brown and Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi, and discussed with them his "deep concerns" about the establishment of a right-wing government in Tel Aviv.
Abbas stressed that such a development means a final blow to the peace process. He also expressed concern that Netanyahu's leadership would result in renewed expansion of settlements in the West Bank.
During all his meetings, Abbas called on the European leaders to adopt a hard line against an Israeli government that opposes the creation of a Palestinian state.
The Palestinian Authority Acting Chief also demanded that the three European states insist on the Middle East Quartet's demands, including a two-state solution.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#5
I think the word we're looking for here is "ingratitude". If it weren't for the Israelis, Abbas would be dead inside of three days. Hamas'd have his carcase hung over a balcony.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/13/2009 9:49
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#6
What the HELL is ABBA doing getting involved in Israeli politics? They should just sing and shut the f...huh...what...not the singing group? Oh. Never mind.
Police freed over three hundred teachers and employees of Ahsanullah University of Science and Technology (AUST) from their terrible ordeal of confinement for over 10 hours at its Tejgaon premises.
About 600 students of the Civil Engineering Department of the university confined those teachers and employees to the university building at 11 am protesting the expulsion of their two fellow students.
Police freed them at 9 pm by charging truncheons on the agitating students leaving around 20 students injured while five others were arrested.
The students padlocked the main entrance of the university and vandalised its furniture demanding cancellation of the authorities' decision of expelling the two students.
During the agitation, they also set chairs, tables and other furniture on fire in the evening and said they would not sit for the exams scheduled for Saturday.
Witnesses said confined teachers and staffers of the university including women remained unfed from 11 am to 9:30 pm.
The university authorities on February 3 expelled those two students of the Civil Engineering Department for three terms for their brawl with students of the Electrical Engineering Department on November 27.
Following the incident of November 27 a probe committee was formed that recommended expulsion of the two students on January 10.
But the protesters termed the investigation report biased and demanded withdrawal of the decision. They said they would stay back on the campus until their demand is met.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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An Iranian court sentences three men to death for bombing a mosque in the southern city of Shiraz and killing a number of people.
Iranian Judiciary spokesman Ali-Reza Jasmshidi said on Thursday that three men among a total of 15 people arrested as part of the case had been sentenced to death.
Seven of the suspected terrorists have been charged with involvement in the attack, three of whom have confessed to being brainwashed by a Western terrorist cell.
The bombing, one of Iran's most fatal terrorist acts, claimed the lives of 14 people and injured almost 208 others in April 12, 2008.
Iran says the attack had been carried out by individuals who were trained and financed by Israeli, US and British spy agencies.
Jamshidi earlier warned that the Islamic Republic might press charges against the United States, Britain and Israel over their involvement in the bombing.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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Two dacoits, escaping police pursuit, collided with a speedy water tanker in Korangi Industial area in Karachi. The accident left one dacoit dead while other sustained injuries on Thursday, police sources said. According to details, police singled two bike riders to halt but they, refusing to obey orders, increased bike speed following that police, in pursuit of them, opened fire, which dacoits retaliated. Meanwhile, they collided with speedy water tanker coming from the front. Police said they arrested one injured dacoit and recovered weaponry and a bike from his possession.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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Israeli warplanes on late Wednesday night struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis.
An Israel Defense Forces spokesman said that the strike before dawn Thursday came in response to mortar fire Wednesday on the western Negev. There were no reports of casualties in the attack.
"As the sole authority in the Gaza Strip, Hamas bears full responsibility for all terror activities originating within its area of control," the IDF said.
Palestinian militants in the Gaza Strip fired two mortar shells at the western Negev over the course of Wednesday, a day after Israel held general elections, the results of which are likely to influence any future peace deal in the region.
A Qassam rocket fired by Gaza militants exploded late Tuesday evening in an open field near the western Negev city of Sderot, just half an hour before the polls were to close.
Also Tuesday night, someone opened fire on a car with Israeli license plates near the settlement of Beit El in the West Bank. No injuries were reported in the incident.
Security personnel who examined the scene of the shooting found 17 bullet shells on the ground.
Approximately 40 Qassam rockets, mortar shells, and Grad missiles have been fired at Israel since a shaky cease-fire with Hamas took effect over two weeks ago, according to the Israel Defense Forces
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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COLOMBO - Sri Lankan troops declared a new safe zone for civilians Thursday as they battled to finish off the island's drawn-out ethnic conflict with separatist Tamil Tiger rebels, the defence ministry said. Concern has mounted for tens of thousands of non-combatants trapped in the war zone, with the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) saying hundreds have already been killed.
Britain named former defence minister Des Browne as a special envoy to the war-scarred island nation, amid mounting international concern about the fate of civilians, but Colombo quickly rejected the move, a top official said. London said Browne was to focus on the "immediate humanitarian situation in northern Sri Lanka", but the cabinet of Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapakse said the envoy would not be accepted here, the official told AFP.
The government has asked men, women and children to move to a 12-kilometre (7.5-mile) stretch of coastline as troops advanced on rebel positions in the north in a bid to crush all remaining pockets of Tiger resistance.
You'll find the last of the Tigers in the 'safe' zone. Along with their artillery ...
In creating the new safe zone, the government effectively scrapped a 35-square-kilometre (13-square-mile) designated no-fire area. "The Sri Lanka army, fully committed to provide maximum safety for the lives of entrapped or forcibly detained civilians... calls upon the public to move into those specified areas at the earliest," the defence ministry said.
Military officials said there was heavy fighting in the area where some 700 Tiger rebels were believed to be offering stiff resistance. No details of casualties from Thursday's clashes were released by either side.
Security forces seized nine mortar tubes from a fortified camp at Kuppilankulam on Wednesday, the ministry said in a statement, adding 28 Tamil Tiger guerrillas had been killed in fighting in the area. Also seized were a workshop for making hand grenades and roadside bombs, and several vehicles including an armour-plated van used by Tiger leader Velupillai Prabhakaran, the ministry said.
The defence ministry said the ICRC had been informed of the creation of the new safe zone, where the international relief agency already operates a make-shift medical facility.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2009
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The banned Lashkar-e-Tayyaba angrily condemned Islamabad on Thursday for filing a case against some of the group's top operatives. Pakistan lodged a first information report against eight suspects, including the presumed mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi. "We strongly condemn the lodging of the FIR against LT," Lashkar spokesman Abdullah Ghaznavi told AFP over the telephone. The case was brought to 'win appreciation' from India and the US and to "implement India's agenda of suppressing the people's struggle for freedom in Kashmir", said Ghaznavi.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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#1
"Me me me me!"
Posted by: Grolush Darling of the Hatfields3195 ||
02/13/2009 20:35
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Egyptian police have arrested 40 suspected smugglers and seized contraband goods in a new crackdown on smuggling along the country's border with the Gaza Strip, an Egyptian security official said Thursday.
The official said hundreds of security forces have been deployed in and around the town of Rafah, located along the sensitive border with the Palestinian Hamas-run coastal area. The goods seized in the latest raids are worth about $1 million, he said but did not elaborate.
The campaign reflects the government's intention to curb border smuggling through Rafah, which has been the main artery for both commodities and weapons to Palestinians in the Gaza Strip, mostly through a maze of underground tunnels along the boundary.
The crackdown started last weekend, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity because he wasn't authorized to speak to the press.
The smuggling of weapons and goods - mostly food items - spiked after Hamas seized control of Gaza in 2007, routing their Fatah rivals from the area, and Egypt and Israel imposed an economic blockade on the strip.
Israel destroyed many of the underground tunnels in intense bombing raids during its 22-day offensive on Gaza last month, launched in reprisal for Hamas' rockets targeting southern Israel. However, some tunnels appeared to have been revived after the Israeli offensive ended.
According to the Egyptian official, new checkpoints have also been set up along Rafah's entrances and exits.
He said about 1,000 policemen are patrolling narrow alleys and hillsides near Rafah, and town residents and visitors are subjected to extensive questioning and searches by police.
The official added that the goods seized included food items, television sets, kitchen blenders and other commodities.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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#1
Israel destroyed many of the underground tunnels However, some tunnels appeared to have been revived after the Israeli offensive ended.
Face it Israel had no intention of completely shutting down the tunnels. And still doesnt! Some say its to gather intelligence. Others say its an exploitation of the blockade policy. Still others say intentionally leaving the tunnels operational is an excuse to continue military strikes. Any way you slice it its bullshit.
Kadima will not join 'an extreme right coalition' led by hawkish Israeli politician Benjamin Netanyahu, a senior party member says.
Interior Minister Meir Sheetrit told the Army Radio on Thursday that Kadima would not allow itself to be persuaded into joining a government with values opposing the party lines. "We will join a Netanyahu government only if it is not an extreme right-wing government," he was quoted by Haaretz as saying. "We are not afraid to sit in the opposition."
The remarks were made amid speculations that Netanyahu would ask Kadima leader Tzipi Livni to join his coalition. Netanyahu's Likud party may also offer Kadima portfolios of foreign affairs and defense.
"We need to think about what's best for Israel and get away from the politics," Sheetrit said. "Currently, it seems most likely that the government to be formed will be an extremist religious coalition led by Netanyahu."
"If a government like this is established I anticipate it will have a very hard life, and the lives of Israel's citizens will be even harder," he added. "With all due respect to Netanyahu, he can not manage a government like that. He will have trouble in every realm."
Ambiguity in the result of Israel's election has left the regime in a political limbo. With both Likud and Kadima claiming victory, right wing Yisrael Beitunu of Avigdor Lieberman has been sending mixed signals. Lieberman had earlier said that the party did not rule out joining Kadima despite Yisrael Beitunu's right wing leaning.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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#1
But at least we'll be alive.
p.s. If Bibi manages to form a ruling coalition, I expect a third to a half Kadima MKs to defect to Likud ("return home" they'll call it) within a few months.
Aswat al-Iraq: An Iraqi security force in Mosul arrested on Thursday a leader of al-Qaeda network who was responsible for financing families of gunmen in the province of Ninewa, a security official said.
"A force from the Quick Intervention Crops (QIC)'s 3rd Brigade arrested Ali Salem Ahmed in Dorat al-Yarmuk area, western Mosul, for financing families of gunmen and wanted persons in the province," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Four million Iraqi dinars, some papers and seals were seized with Ahmed," he added.
"Salem was arrested just one day after soldiers from the QIC's 3rd Brigade captured the assistant director of the Social Care Department in Ninewa and his son in al-Sokkar neighborhood, northern Mosul, on charges of financing armed groups," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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Oil prices slid closer to a new multiyear low Thursday because of growing doubts that the $789 billion stimulus package will reinvigorate the economy and demand for energy. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, reached a new high for 2009 on Thursday and appeared headed back to $2 a gallon as refiners cut back on production.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery tumbled $1.96, more than 5 percent, to settle at $33.98 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange. The contract has closed lower every day this week.
There were also more signs of economic weakness.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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The government has decided to hold the trial of the Mumbai terror attacks suspects at Rawalpindi's Adiala Jail, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. The FIA has sought two bullet-proof vehicles to shift the suspects to the jail and also asked for Rs 20 million. The proceedings of the trial may be n-camera. Whoopdy doo. Let us know when Omar Saeed Sheikh is dead.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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Medicine bottles, transferred to the Gaza Strip as humanitarian aid by Israel, were used by Hamas as grenades against IDF troops during Operation Cast Lead. Pictures of the grenades were obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post.
The medicine bottles were manufactured by the Jerusalem Pharmaceutical Company, which is based in el-Bireh, a town adjacent to Ramallah, and the global pharmaceutical company Shire.
The medicine bottles were filled with explosives, holes were drilled in the caps, and fuses were installed. Once Hamas fighters lit the fuses, they had several seconds to throw the grenades at soldiers. The IDF also found small explosive devices that used medical syringes to hold their fuses.
The medical grenades were discovered in northern Gaza by troops during last month's three-week battle against Hamas. The grenades were taken to military explosives experts, and then disassembled and studied.
One bottle turned into a grenade originally contained a drug called Equetro, which is used by people who suffer from episodes associated with bipolar disorder. Another bottle had contained a vitamin supplement called Super-Vit.
"This is another example of Hamas's cynical use of humanitarian supplies to attack Israel," a Defense Ministry official said Thursday. "Israel facilitates the transfer of the supplies to the Gaza Strip, and Hamas uses the supplies to create weapons."
During the offensive, the IDF encountered a variety of improvised explosive devices (IEDs) that were manufactured by Hamas and Islamic Jihad inside the Gaza Strip. Some were anti-personnel bombs and others were planted on the sides of roads or underground to be activated against IDF tanks and armored personnel carriers. Some of the IEDs were fitted with advanced wireless detonators and others were attached to a wire.
In one instance, a Merkava tank from Brigade 401 rolled over a large explosive device that lifted the tank in the air but did not cause any serious damage, due to a plate of reinforced steel that was installed on the tank before the operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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#1
The inventiveness of these "people" is infinite.
#3
One bottle turned into a grenade originally contained a drug called Equetro, which is used by people who suffer from episodes associated with bipolar disorder
They must have a Gazillion of those bottles laying around.
(AKI) - The Taliban's al-Hamza Brigades carried out the deadly attacks in the capital Kabul on Wednesday that killed 28 people and injured scores, claimed messages posted to various jihadist websites and signed by the Taliban.
"Sixteen mujahadeen martyrs from the al-Hamza Brigades executed the Kabul operation on the orders of (Taliban leader) Mullah Omar," said the message.
Eight attackers died in the coordinated assault against government ministries in central Kabul, in which they used Kalishnikov rifles, grenades and explosive vests.
Twenty others were killed in the attack, which came on the eve of a visit by US special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, Richard Holbrooke. A further 52 people were injured. The Taliban claimed the assault shortly after it began.
"The attack was conducted in revenge for those prisoners who died at the hands of the Crusaders and their servants in Pul-i-Charkhi prison during the last Eid Festival of Islamic Sacrifice," the purported Taliban message said.
Most Taliban prisoners are held in the US-run Pul-i-Charkhi jail outside Kabul. The jail gained notoriety for its treatment of prisoners as long ago as during the Soviet occupation of Afghanistan (1979-1989).
The message claimed that a Taliban member named Mullah Musa Kalim had lead the squad of suicide attackers. It described how several of the militants detonated their explosive belts at the justice ministry's correction department, managing to target several generals from the Afghan army.
The message also described the assault on the justice ministry in which militants claimed to have killed dozens of policemen and ministry workers during a three-hour siege. Four of the militants were 'martyred' during the siege, the message claimed.
The message claimed in total eight militants died in the Kabul assault and eight survived. It claimed 100 policemen and ministry employees were killed and over 15 injured.
The tactics used by the Taliban militants who carried out the assault bore similarities to those used in last November's deadly attacks on the Indian city of Mumbai, according to Afghan intelligence officials.
Indian officials have blamed Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Toiba for the Mumbai attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A top Iraqi official confirms that Iraq is holding four former detainees from the Guantanamo detention facility to see whether they pose a threat.
Acting Justice Minister Safaaulddin al-Safi told the Associated Press that a judge has approved their continued detention for two weeks while authorities interrogate and investigate them. The four were arrested in Afghanistan and held at Guantanamo before being handed over to the Iraqis last month. Al-Safi said the four are not wanted for crimes in Iraq but authorities want to make sure they pose no threat if set free.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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Heavy exchange of fire was reported between militants and security forces after militants lodged rocket attacks at Meryan police station in Bannu on Thursday. But no immediate report on causalities was confirmed, sources said. According to sources, five rockets were fired at Meryan police station in Bannu which triggered exchange of fire between militants and security officials, sources added saying, local armed persons also helped security officials fire on militants. Sources told Geo News, police station building received minor damages in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/13/2009
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WASHINGTON - John Kerry, chairman of the U.S. Senate's foreign relations committee, will meet Syrian President Bashar al-Assad next week during a Middle East trip as Washington works to keep a dialogue between the two countries despite years of tension.
Assad said recently Syria wanted to have a constructive dialogue with the United States, and President Barack Obama, who took over from President George W. Bush last month, said during his campaign he wanted to reach out to Syria.
I'd reach out to Assad, too, if I were suitably armed ...
Kerry's spokesman Frederick Jones said the senator would be traveling to Syria, Egypt, Jordan and Israel as chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee and not as an emissary of the Obama administration.
Jones said Kerry had met Assad before and had conducted a "continuing dialogue" with Syrian officials, including a recent meeting with Damascus' ambassador to Washington.
Kerry met with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton on Thursday, Jones said.
Trying to make me feel sorry for him?
Syria and the United States are on poor terms because of Damascus' support for the Palestinian group Hamas and the Lebanese movement Hezbollah. Under Bush, Washington withdrew its ambassador in Damascus following the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri and accused Syria of allowing Islamist fighters to infiltrate Iraq. Cooperation between Syria and Iran has also angered Washington.
One of Dubya's bigger mistakes was not taking Assad down in 2003 when we had the opportunity.
The Wall Street Journal said on Thursday that Representative Howard Berman, chairman of the House (of Representatives) International Affairs Committee, also would meet Assad this month. A Berman aide said that for security reasons the committee would not confirm or deny reports about travel plans.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/13/2009
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#1
Kerry's going to see an Ass-hat durign his trip?
#2
What a great President he would have made, yet he has competition from this other guy who campaigns and stutters and makes long windes incoherrent speaches and yet holds title for air time in the media... for some reason. .....anyone? ... Ferris?
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Chinese government and freelance hackers are the primary culprits behind as many as several hundred daily attacks against U.S. government, electric-utility and financial computer networks, a senior congressman said. 
An al Qaeda leader, in a video released on Islamist websites on Friday, urged Somali militants to step up attacks against Somalia's new moderate government, which he dismissed as U.S.-backed.
The deputy chairman of the British financial regulator quits after allegedly contributing to a major banking failure by ignoring warnings. 
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Pro-Taliban warlord Sirajuddin Haqqani was behind the daring suicide and gun assault on the Afghan capital, Kabul on Wednesday, top Taliban sources told Adnkronos International (AKI). Pakistani and Arab groups were also behind the attacks, the sources said.
Two dacoits, escaping police pursuit, collided with a speedy water tanker in Korangi Industial area in Karachi. The accident left one dacoit dead while other sustained injuries on Thursday, police sources said. According to details, police singled two bike riders to halt but they, refusing to obey orders, increased bike speed following that police, in pursuit of them, opened fire, which dacoits retaliated. Meanwhile, they collided with speedy water tanker coming from the front. Police said they arrested one injured dacoit and recovered weaponry and a bike from his possession.
Israeli warplanes on late Wednesday night struck a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip town of Khan Younis. 
Oil prices slid closer to a new multiyear low Thursday because of growing doubts that the $789 billion stimulus package will reinvigorate the economy and demand for energy. Retail gas prices, meanwhile, reached a new high for 2009 on Thursday and appeared headed back to $2 a gallon as refiners cut back on production.
Medicine bottles, transferred to the Gaza Strip as humanitarian aid by Israel, were used by Hamas as grenades against IDF troops during Operation Cast Lead. Pictures of the grenades were obtained exclusively by The Jerusalem Post. 
