A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back. The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure.
But when British officials offered to let Mr Obama to hang onto the bust for a further four years, the White House said: "Thanks, but no thanks." He really knows how to piss-off our friends.
Diplomats were at first reluctant to discuss the whereabouts of the Churchill bronze, after its ejection from the seat of American power. But the British Embassy in Washington has now confirmed that it sits in the palatial residence of ambassador Sir Nigel Sheinwald, just down the road from Vice President Joe Biden's official residence. It is not clear whether the ambassador plans to keep it in Washington or send it back to London.
American politicians have made quoting Churchill, whose mother was American, something of an art form, but not Mr Obama, who prefers to cite the words and works of his hero Abraham Lincoln. Indeed a bust of Mr Lincoln now sits in the Oval Office where Epstein's Churchill once ruled the roost. Churchill was very opposed to Socialism and any form of Tyrany. Obama apparantly doesn't want anyone around, even in a bust, who is greater than he ever will be. Talk about Ego! Mr. Lincoln wasn't too fond of tyranny either, as I recall ...
Churchill has less happy connotations for Mr Obama than those American politicians who celebrate his wartime leadership. It was during Churchill's second premiership that Britain suppressed Kenya's Mau Mau rebellion. Among Kenyans allegedly tortured by the colonial regime included one Hussein Onyango Obama, the President's grandfather. Note the "allegedly".
The rejection of the bust has left some British officials nervously reading the runes to see how much influence the UK can wield with the new regime in Washington. My guess is none.
Now it is likely that Gordon Brown will offer a alternative symbol of Anglo-American fealty when he visits Washington to meet Mr Obama for the first time since he became President. Diplomats are still working to finalise a date for the visit which is expected in the final week of this month or early in March.
One suggestion, given Mr Obama's interest in the Lincoln era, is that Mr Brown should offer an artefact relating to the career of John Bright, the 19th Century MP and political reformer who became the most prominent British supporter of Lincoln's Union forces during the American Civil War.
A British Embassy spokesman said: "The bust of Sir Winston Churchill by Sir Jacob Epstein was uniquely lent to a foreign head of state, President George W Bush, from the Government Art Collection in the wake of 9/11 as a signal of the strong transatlantic relationship. It was lent for the first term of office of President Bush. When the President was elected for his second and final term, the loan was extended until January 2009.
"The new President has decided not to continue this loan and the bust has now been returned. It is on display at the Ambassador's Residence."
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2009
17:10 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
No doubt the special order Neville Chamberlain bust is en route.
#2
I also doubt the current 10 Downing residents recognize him.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2009 18:19
Comments ||
Top||
#3
So, Daddy was a commie and Grandpa a MauMau? This is going to be interesting.
This will not do much to harm our relationship with the Brits as I suspect Winnie is no more popular with Brown and Milliband than he was with Atlee or Bevan. And they are the ones who count, not those Little Englanders who want to get rid of the Asian immigrants.
The Taliban has declared a 10-day ceasefire in Pakistan's north-western Swat Valley after talks with local Government officials.
Taliban leaders say local officials have agreed to allow the introduction of Islamic sharia law in the region.
The valley was once one of Pakistan's most popular tourist destinations but it has been the site of heavy fighting between Taliban and Government forces since November 2007.
Yesterday Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari considered the Government was fighting for control of the country and that huge areas were already occupied by Taliban forces.
Talks in the Swat Valley are expected to resume later today.
A census of Gaza published today shows that the population in the Palestinian territory has risen by almost 40 per cent in the past 10 years, one of the highest growth rates in the world.
The census, which was carried out in 2007, found that the population in Gaza is now more than 1.4 million.
It shows the majority of Gazans - some 68 per cent of the population - remain UN registered-refugees.
With its population estimated to double in the next 20 years, Gaza's economy is hopelessly unfit to provide employment for its residents.
Many factors are responsible for Gaza's impoverishment but the freezing of international funds since Hamas won the 2006 Palestinian elections and then the following year seized full control of Gaza, has worsened the situation.
#4
And that population explosion is funded by the EU and US via UN aid. In effect countries with a 1 to 2 children per woman birthrate are subsidizing a paleo birth rate quadruple their own.
The editor and publisher of a major Indian newspaper have been arrested for "hurting the religious feelings" of Muslims after they reprinted an article from The Independent. Ravindra Kumar and Anand Sinha, the editor and publisher of the Kolkata-based English daily The Statesman, appeared in court yesterday charged under section 295A of the Indian Penal Code which forbids "deliberate and malicious acts intended to outrage religious feelings".
Original article by Johann Hari here. His response to riots and arrests here.
Sections of central Kolkata have been paralysed by protests for much of the past week after The Statesman republished an article by The Independent's columnist Johann Hari. Titled "Why should I respect oppressive religions?", the piece was originally printed in The Independent on 28 January. In it, Hari said he believed the right to criticise any religion was being eroded around the world.
The Statesman, a highly respected liberal English-language daily, reprinted the article on 5 February, causing a major backlash among a small group of Muslims who felt that the piece slighted the Prophet Mohamed and insulted their religion. Peaceful protests were held outside The Statesman's offices at the weekend but by Monday, demonstrations had turned violent. Angry crowds began blocking roads, attacking police and calling for the arrest of the article's author and the newspaper's publisher and editor. On Monday and Tuesday police used baton charges to try to disperse crowds and more than 70 protesters were arrested.
That was the correct response and the police should have continued until all protesters had been thumped vigorously. Then instead of dispersing them, arrest them.
Staff at The Statesman were forced to barricade the front entrance to their building and were escorted into their offices through a side door by police. The office is opposite the Tipu Sultan Masjid, Kolkata's largest mosque.
One journalist at The Statesman said: "The police have surrounded our building all this week but the protesters kept coming back. There was a small section who were absolutely hellbent on causing problems."
Last night, Hari defended his article. "I wrote in defence of the right to criticise religion all religion and it is vitally important to keep that right alive in the world's largest, and in many ways most admirable, democracy," he said. On two separate occasions Mr Kumar, The Statesman's editor, issued statements standing by his decision to publish the article. But he also said he had not meant to cause offence to any religion. A note published on 8 February said The Statesman had reprinted Hari's article because "it mourned the marginalisation of the middle, liberal path in modern society". It added: "The Statesman has always upheld secular values and has a record of providing space to all viewpoints, even contentious ones. If we were unable to fulfil this role, we would rather cease publication with honour than compromise our basic values.
"The publication of Johann Hari's opinion was not intended to cause hurt, or defame any community or religion. Nor was it intended to provoke societal tension. If unwittingly we have aggrieved any section of society, we deeply regret it."
That's where you went wrong. You do NOT regret provoking those who are looking for an excuse to be provoked. Their 'provocation' was the sunshine necessary to identify them.
As well as the protests, a complaint was also filed at a police station by a member of the public, Mohd Shahid, calling for arrests. Speaking to The Independent last night, Mr Kumar said he voluntarily attended the police station yesterday to try to calm tensions. "Upon learning that a case had been registered by Kolkata police, I contacted officers and offered to assist the investigation and to aid efforts to defuse tensions," he said. "Following this, the arrests were made early today and we were released on bail last night."
Since Mr Kumar's arrest yesterday protesters have dispersed.
Since they got what they wanted and didn't even have to behead anyone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
13:38 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
Two employees at an Oslo post office were taken to hospital and placed in isolation ward, when they showed suspicious reactions including a rash with itching after having handled a letter addressed to the Israeli Embassy.
The letter was Sunday morning under investigaton at the Norwegian Institute for Public Health, to check whether it has been contaminated with a chemical in some way, or with infectious matters. It was first thought it could be antrax, but this now seems unlikely, experts say, since the reaction was immediate.
The two postal employees have been released, since they are now without symptoms. They will now be questioned by the police, who are waiting for the results from the Public Health tests, before deciding on how to proceed.
According to NRK, it seems most likely that the letter was posted in Norway.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
13:37 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 14:01
Comments ||
Top||
#4
I get raw peanuts from my brothe in South Alabama and make my own peanutbutter.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2009 15:10
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Swarm tactics would be far less effective against a populace willing to throw hard objects at the terrorists. Guns are simply a more portable and more powerful version of a handful of pebbles or paving stones. I imagine cell phones would work, too, when wielded by girls who play fast-pitch softball.
#8
What people should understand is that "swarm" tactics can work equally well against terrorists, too. Because of modern communications technology that is available, anti-terrorist assets can be dispersed across an entire city. These assets would wear civilian clothing and blend in with the population. In case of an incident, those people closest to the scene could begin to converge on the trouble spot from all directions.
A potential attacker would be virtually surrounded before they even get started.
#9
I imagine throwing a phone at an armed terrorist is good way to get oneself killed.
Lots of people throwing lots of hard objects is very disconcerting when one is trying to shoot at them, Mike N... and utterly ruins one's self-image as the bad-ass bad guy controlling the situation. I'd happily sacrifice my cell phone in such a situation, especially as the data is backed up, and the device is insured. And, as Glailet Ghibelline8454 notes, doing nothing is a sure way to get oneself harmed, as all those injured and dead Indians discovered recently.
#10
I'm sorry, how is it posible to read my position as 'doing nothing'?
Well armed implies doing something said firearm.
And lots of people throwing lots of things would be marginally effective right up until they killed everybody.
Firearms good. Soda cans, not so good, but better than nothing.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 16:52
Comments ||
Top||
#11
As a side note, there's now an ad over to the right for salmonella peanut butter.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 17:00
Comments ||
Top||
#12
"And lots of people throwing lots of things would be marginally effective right up until they killed everybody."
If he is going to kill everybody ANYWAY what do people have to lose in fighting back? For example, if that shooters at Columbine a while back had faced a hail of books, backpacks and water bottles thrown at their heads, and then rushed by the entire population of the school, the shooter might have managed to kill a few but the death toll would have been a lot lower.
If everyone is going to get killed *anyway* there is no excuse for *not* fighting back. Didn't we learn anything from United 93?
#13
Crosspatch: easy to say, harder to do when someone has a gun and is shooting real, live bullets at everyone.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009 17:43
Comments ||
Top||
#14
Also consider the significant number of police trained in anti-terror in the U.S. since 911. Also many citizens go legally armed and are among the population at any given time. It is only in places like NY, California, D.C. and other places where gun grabbers have shelved the 2nd Amendment rights of citizens and made it difficult to have qualified, armed citizens at the ready to respond to swarm attacks.
Posted by: ed ||
02/15/2009 19:31
Comments ||
Top||
#16
So to die doing nothing is better than to die doing something?
The only reason a person would hold off is if they thought they had a chance to survive by doing nothing. If it becomes obvious that they are all going to die, there is absolutely NO benefit to remaining passive.
But we train kids these days to be sheep and so they are led to the slaughter when things like this happen.
#17
Nobody is disputing that doing something is better than doing nothing.
What we're saying is, that in real life when we're not watching 24, it's not as clear cut when shit hits the fan.
I'm not sure about you, but for myself, chucking my keys at a guy with a chinese AK seems like a bad idea compared to shooting him.
Hence my first post.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 20:32
Comments ||
Top||
#18
I'm NRA and a handgun owner, but if you want a lot of armed people intervening on their own in a terror attack, they'd better DAMNED well be prudent and accurate shots with level heads, combat shooting training and a very good sense of ballistics and penetration for the weapon/ammo they are using.
It's one thing to defend yourself at close range against an attack clearly aimed at you personally. Even in this case, many handgun owners run the risk of injuring or killing bystanders, especially if they don't train often and well for such a scenario or if they carry with full jacketed ammo. In most states such injuries or deaths would mean at the very least crippling civil lawsuit and quite likely criminal charges.
The potential for all of that goes way up in the confusion of a terror attack. So does an armed citizen's chance of being taken for a terrorist and shot by law enforcement, including undercover cops.
Not saying it can't be done or that being armed is useless. Many homegrown wannabe terrorists will be deterred if they think they stand a good chance of being shot before they can pull off their attack.
But what happened at Mumbai doesn't fit the amateur wannabe scenario. It fits the scenario John Robb wrote about back in 2007 in an article called The Coming Urban Terror in which he noted that cities are very vulnerable to multiple simultaneous disruptions by groups who use cell phones etc. to keep authorities off balance with a stream of dispersed attacks.
Not sure I'm entirely comfortable with your average handgun owner blazing away at real or suspected terrorists as attacks unfold in such a scenario. Might do good, but the potential for killing innocents, getting shot by authorities or mucking up the situation are significantly higher than zero.
#19
I carry. And I hope to never need it. But if I do, I will revert to training. That means choosing the when to draw the weapon and shoot - then put as many shots as I need into the bad guy, until he quits moving. That many, and no more. And try to be aware of whats beyond my target to try to avoid collateral damage.
Its really that simple. You have to exercise SA, and have a plan to kill everyone you meet if things break the wrong way.
#1
The "Green Policy" idiots ignore the fact that the local flora evolved in response to frequent wildfires. Without fire, the trees, particularly, cannot sprout from seed. Granted, it's my understanding that the frequent wildfires were introduced by the aborigines upon their arrival on Australia as the easiest method to produce the widespread grasslands which their preferred prey needed to thrive, but the plants evolved to need that scenario nonetheless. Seriously, one would think the Greens had no consideration for the plants they claim to care so much about.
#2
tw, I have seen opinion that the aborigines merely took advantage of naturally occurring fires caused by lightning strikes. They may have enhanced the process by lighting more frequent fires of course but lightning alone might do it. Interesting to investigate and do some simulations. Should be amenable to proper analysis. No guarantee that the answer will be politically correct.
Posted by: Aussie Mike ||
02/15/2009 19:00
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Sounds like the American Indians in North America : they used to set forest fires every few years to clear off the undergrowth. That is why there are all the historical accounts of the cathedral aspect of the Eastern forests - no clogging underbrush because it was burned off.
#4
Aussie Mike, that's an interesting argument, and would make sense. You are closer to the situation than I -- does Australia get hit by lightening strikes often? I know that the American midwest and far west do; I saw an absolutely fascinating time-lapse photography thingy, taken from space over the course of one fire season (late spring through fall), and the fires just flowed in waves from west to east the entire time. Nonetheless, our Plains Indians periodically set fire to the Great Plains to encourage the growth of new grass to feed the bison which they hunted.
Shieldwolf, it never occurred to me to question why that was so, and I have spent a good deal more time than I liked getting rid of Chinese honeysuckle bushes and Japanese honeysuckle vines. Granted, those are invasive plants, not natives, but I see no reason why native plants would not behave similarly. Certainly poison ivy and Virginia creeper would quickly render a forest impassable given half a chance, even before bushy plants grew up to block easy movement along the ground. On the other hand, it's the vines and bushes that feed non-climbing wildlife, for the most part, not cathedral-like trees. It's clearly a good thing I needn't live by my wits and hunting skills!
#2
The union leadership believes their chips with the Donks says the American people are going to pay for their high end benefits with a continuing bailout, so why negotiate? /rhetorical question.
#3
As a former union member in the 60's and 70's (AFL-CIO)I'm still convinced the UAW and the big two (didn't it used to be three) automakers have a death wish. Both seem intent upon wrecking our auto industry by refusing to negotiate in any realistic fashion. If this sh*t continues we will no longer have an auto industry, and both the unions and automakers will play the blame game. Just sayinn'...ya' know.
#4
Nothin' at all like the steel industry, or the railroads, or the airlines, or the longshoremen, or...
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009 11:11
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Meanwhile, apparently no bitching or complaining laber problems on the Horizon at Princeton, Indiana Toyota, BMW Greenville, SC. or Benz, Tuscaloosa, AL.
#6
Having retired out of the auto industry (I was not in the UAW, so save your breath/fingers) I have a stake in this whole process and no say. I suspect I'll get a major reduction in pension but I am still working so is my wife. We'll survive. But having had to deal with people in the UAW on an almost daily basis for 30+ years I can say on pretty good authority that a lot of them have no grounding in the real world. Invariably their first reaction is always "the company's trying to fuck us"
#7
CH, you're about the only guy I have sympathy for in this whole mess. For any body who stuck out 20+ years having to work with the UAW on a daily basis and then see it all go in the crapper is going to be very hard. For the dealers, senior management, marketers, and especially the UAW those guys deserve what they get for killing the goose that laid the golden egg.
#9
besoeker i have been sayiing for quite some time now send the jobs down south, alot of ppl down here would work for less than these union ppl do now, if there is anything left too salvage after so much mismanagement that is
#11
Most of the transplant auto assembly plants are in the south. Toyota USA workers get about the same hourly rate as GM workers. The benefits are in line with that of other heavy industry but much less than the gold-plated health care that the UAW demands and gets. Biggest issue: no union work rules.
But as long as the Wagner Act demands that unions act as adversaries to corporations, none of this is going to change. UAW can't change its spots.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009 15:39
Comments ||
Top||
#12
We'll miss ya, Big 3. You once provided value.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 16:58
Comments ||
Top||
#13
It's just a very dim memory now but it seems to me that presidents like Truman, Eisenhower, Kennedy, Johnson and Nixon used to employ a technique called jawboning. They'd send some heavyweight guy to Detroit to get all these people to the same table and they'd stay there until a deal was made. No bailout. Just put the squeeze on both sides until they had a deal. I wonder if Zero ever heard of anything like that.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2009 17:37
Comments ||
Top||
#14
My memory is that the jaw boning was done from the White House press room or the East Room in a presser where the President told management to cave. I don't remember a President ever coming down on a union.
#16
The ATCs were government employees, who like all government employees sign a paper understanding that to strike against the government is illegal. If and when we end up nationalizing the Big Three per the Obama-Reid-Pelosi Plan Part III, the UAW will find life a little more interesting [particularly the part where their pension gets managed by the feds - see what happened to the railroads].
#17
my dad retired from GM and is a union guy. We get into vehement arguments over this type of stuff. I think the union needs to go the way of the dodo. All the basic worker's rights they fought for back in the 30s-50s (when there was a need for a union) are all common laws now - the union needs to go away, they serve no real purpose anymore.
#1
Condell seems to be one of a VERY few Brits who have any cojones. Maybe his outrage at the spineless inheiritors of Churchill and Thatcher will wake up before the whole island is Muslim.
Rep. Paul Kanjorski of Pennsylvania explains what former Treasury Secretary Paulson and Fed Chairman Bernanke told congress during the September 2008 closed door session. During the first third of the video an enraged caller is ranting to Rep. Kanjorski about how wasteful the first $700 billion bailout was. The best part is 2 minutes and 15 seconds into the tape where Rep. Kanjorski reveals what Paulson and Bernanke told congress that shocked them into supporting the first $700 billion bailout.
On Wall Street today, stocks had a late rally on talk of a possible buyout for Lehman Brothers, the troubled investment bank. The Dow Jones industrial average gained more than 164 points, to close well above 11433. The Nasdaq rose 29 points, to close at 2258.
The Next Day:
Wall Street waited today to see if federal officials will line up a private sale of Lehman Brothers investment bank. The Dow Jones industrial average ended with a loss of 11 points, to close just under 11422. The Nasdaq rose three points, to close at 2261. For the week, the Dow gained nearly 2 percent. The Nasdaq rose a fraction of a percent.
Nothing about a run on the MM funds on the 15th, 16th, or 17th either. Can't figure out why, unless an act of war was hushed up by the Bush administration?
#6
Here's a link to the Portfolio.com refutation that seems reasonable given the lack of traction for the Kanjorski comments given the noteriety they got on Rush's show.
Seems to me the sphincter tightening resulted from the collapse of the interbank lending market. But there is still no explanation as to why it seized up. That was nothing but raw fear. Why were they so scared?
Part of the reason the last quarter has been so bad is the fear that Paulson and Bernanke conveyed in the few television shows I saw. If what I saw was typical of what was being seen day in, day out, something was spooking those guys. What was it?
Gaming revenue fell for the 12th month in a row in December and last year's overall drop is historic.
Some locals who depend on conventions to survive say they can't afford the war of words going on between President Obama and Mayor Oscar Goodman.
Last week, both Wells Fargo and Goldman Sachs canceled corporate junkets scheduled to take place here in Las Vegas. They were trying to get away from the perception that they are taking the money given to them in these bailout packages and using it to treat their CEO's to lavish vacations.
The comment President Obama made about the matter at a town hall meeting on Monday was: "You are not going to be able to give out these big bonuses until you've paid taxpayers back, you can't get corporate jets, you can't go take a trip to Las Vegas or go down to the Super Bowl on the taxpayers dime."
Wednesday workers who were setting up for the Magic Apparel convention were steamed about the president's comments.
Electricians' union foreman Charlene Wallace says her crews are working, but just barely. "There's been a big impact because there's not as many people coming out to do the shows, so therefore the shows have gotten a lot smaller," said Charlene Wallace, Local 357 Foreman.
Smaller shows and fewer tourists equal big losses. Gaming revenues fell every month last year and they were down nearly 19% in December which is a drop of 9.7% for all of 2008. That is the worst gaming revenue decline in Nevada's history.
The president took particular aim at Las Vegas' convention business, but the ripple effect of his comments could stretch far beyond the convention floor.
Fewer convention workers, hurts the hands that feed them as one Valley caterer's business is down 50%. Local unions aren't seeing massive layoffs but expect fewer of their members to be hired.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/15/2009 10:37
Comments ||
Top||
#3
"And a great voice was heard throughout the land
Crying: 'Who's yo' daddy?'
And a thousand lesser voices were raised
Saying: 'It wuz me. I think. Mebbe.'"
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009 14:00
Comments ||
Top||
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi called on General Motors Corp. and Chrysler LLC to offer "credible" turnaround plans Tuesday, including pledges to meet tougher fuel economy requirements set by California and other states. They're in the process of going under for the third time. So put a brick in each of their pockets.
In letters cosigned by House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank, D-Mass., the California Democrat said the automakers should also commit to "protecting and sustaining the health and pension benefits" of workers and "an additional assurance that taxpayers benefit as corporate conditions improve and shareholder value increases." When they wink out of existence there isn't going to be any health and pension benefit for the workers and peasants. How's Studebaker-Packard's shareholder value doing lately? What kinda taxpayer benefit is American Motors providing?
GM and Chrysler are set to submit extensive plans for restructuring their businesses to the Obama administration as part of the $17.4 billion in government loans that have kept them solvent. The market cap for GM is about $5 billion these days. We loaned them about $13 billion and we're going to loan them another $15 billion regardless of whether or not the turnaround plan meets San Fran Nan's test of 'credible'. And that's on top of the $18 to $20 billion GM owes to private lenders that they can't pay off. This is brilliant, simply brilliant use of public money ...
Both were ordered to make steep cuts in debt and rework agreements with the UAW. "We are writing to stress the importance of your submitting a credible restructuring plan that results in a viable industry," Pelosi and Frank said in their letters. "And while you're at it, find Judge Crater."
Chrysler has said it needs an additional $3 billion to ensure its survival on top of its $4-billion loan, while GM has not made any additional request for aid beyond the $13.4 billion it has received so far. Better to break either or both companies into their component parts and let them sink or swim, rather than creating a single point of failure. Even if the nation's driving Toyotas and Subarus, the military will still need Hummers and 2 1/2 ton trucks.
The letter from Pelosi and Frank to GM Chairman Rick Wagoner and Chrysler Chairman Robert Nardelli asks the automakers for "a demonstration of your ability to meet or exceed" federal fuel economy requirements and "the emissions standards adopted by California and other states, if they receive federal approval." And how does that make them more competitive? It won't, but the cars they build to meet those standards will cost more. Cost more=sell fewer. How can you go wrong?
California and 17 other states want to set limits on greenhouse-gas emissions from vehicles that automakers contend would lead to state-by-state sales limits on many models. The Obama administration may reverse a decision by the Bush administration and allow the rules to take effect within a few months. Brilliant. Simply brilliant.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Look at the market caps for some of the big banks that have received partial bail-outs from the Feds. It would have been cheaper for the Feds to simply buy out those banks.
Imposing the proposed ridiculous emissions and fuel economy standards would severely restrict auto sales for many years to come. The public can't afford what is being manufactured now.
#2
GM management must be wondering if it's really worth it to stay out of bankruptcy when the alternative is monthly meetings with SarBox Harry and Botox Nan, their new Super Board of Directors. A creditors committee could start to look pretty good, especially with Gittlefinger gelded. Now they could do an 11. Soon it will be directly to 7.
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2009 11:57
Comments ||
Top||
#11
Klang! Ahhhh...
Thanks for the drink, Frank!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 12:04
Comments ||
Top||
#12
To paraphrase the old saying about you and your bank: before Nancy and Harry loaned GM $13 billion, GM had a problem. Now Nancy and Harry have a problem.
Posted by: Matt ||
02/15/2009 12:05
Comments ||
Top||
#13
The Pelosi GT (parody by Iowahawk): http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rAqPMJFaEdY
#15
It would take a few dots to link together, but an agreesive GOPer should try to point out how Speaker Pelosi personally benefited from an exception to the minimum wage laws for the tuna processing plant somewhere in our pacific territories.
I don't recall all the details, but essentially a classic case of limousine liberal double standards. I recall that the Speaker's spouse had the interest, and I'm sure the big 3 would be interested in similar wage flexibility within the law and outside of bankruptcy filings.
#16
Guys like Wagoner and Nardelli have the UAW on one side and Frank/Pelosi/Reid on the other. If I was in their shoes I'd be so disgusted I'd quit.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
02/15/2009 16:48
Comments ||
Top||
#17
I can remember when Joan Claybrook was the head of NHTSA under Jimmy Carter. NHTSA tried to design a safe and efficient car. That experiment didn't work out so well; Washington doesn't do well at designing cars. Probably because there are so many attorneys in D.C. Lawyers designing instead of engineers is not a good deal. That has been a problem for a long time in the U.S.
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen found bodies of three unidentified civilians inside a vehicle in a town north of al-Kut city on Saturday, a security source in Wassit said. "The three bodies, found near al-Aziziya town, (80 km) north of Kut, away from the highway that links Kut to Baghdad, showed signs of having been tortured," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The bodies were removed to the al-Zahraa Hospital morgue in Kut," said the source.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Is that anywhere near WASSUP.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/15/2009 11:17
Comments ||
Top||
#2
round here it, pigden-speakers prounce it "Howzit"
Posted by: Oscar Hupoluque8053 ||
02/15/2009 15:42
Comments ||
Top||
Aswat al-Iraq: Forces from the Iraqi army's 6th Brigade on Saturday seized a weapons cache containing dozens of Grad, Strella, and Katyusha missiles in the city of Mosul on Saturday, the brigade commander said.
"The force seized the large cache in the area of al-Islah al-Ziraie, western Mosul," Brig. Ismail Abdullah told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"The cache, hidden underground, contained 54 RPG shells, 100 improvised explosive devices read for detonation, seven BKC rifles, 15 sniper rifles, 18 Kalashnikov assault rifles, 50 mortar shells, 10 Grad missiles, 10 guns with silencers, 10 boxes of ammunition, 26 Katyusha rockets, and two Strella missiles," Abdullah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
Strellas? Somebody going duck hunting maybe?
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2009 12:09
Comments ||
Top||
#2
My, is it elk season already?
Posted by: Steve ||
02/15/2009 14:12
Comments ||
Top||
(AKI) - Afghanistan on Friday condemned the killing of civilians in a raid conducted by Australian soldiers without any local forces in the south of the country. The Australian defence ministry said five children had been killed in a shootout between Taliban insurgents and Australian Special Forces in southern Uruzgan province on Thursday, where soldiers were "clearing" a number of compounds.
The Afghan defence ministry said one woman and two children were killed and eight other people were wounded in the attack.
"The defense ministry condemns the martyring of one woman and two children and the wounding of eight others ... in an operation by international forces ... and asks international forces not to conduct operations without the coordination of Afghan forces," the ministry said in a statement.
The commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) under which Australian troops operate issued a directive last September saying soldiers should not enter an Afghan house or mosque uninvited without having the lead from the Afghan army unless troops were in "clear danger".
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
That is the sort of ROE that got men killed in Iraq.
Man fails to kill himself despite inciting brown snake, which bit him nine times
A MAN who was bitten nine times by a deadly brown snake says it was no mistake - he had been trying to kill himself.
The incident with the King Brown happened 12 years ago. But the story has been retold thousands of times in newspapers across the globe. It has just resurfaced in Australia - only to be dismissed as an urban myth by radio commentators. But the extraordinary tale is true - and has an amazing new twist.
For the first time, Darwin-born Gordon Lyons, 55, has revealed the full story of that near-fatal day to the Northern Territory News.
He said his battle with one of the world's deadliest snakes was no drunken mishap - he was trying to kill himself. "I had lost my wife and was fighting for custody of my kids," he said. "I decided I didn't want to be here. I put the snake on me. I caught it and let it bite me."
Mr Lyons was driving along Mandorah Rd on the Cox Peninsula 12 years ago with a friend when he saw the snake. "We stopped and I caught it," he said.
After a few minutes, Mr Lyons made a spur-of-the-moment decision - to let the King Brown kill him. "I took it out of the bag, shook it to stir it up and it bit me, again and again," he said. "My mate was a big, burly bloke but he was horrified. He was crying."
Lyons, who had an arm amputated and almost died on the operating table after his heart stopped, said he no longer felt suicidal. "I'm all right now and wouldn't do it again."
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
At first I thought this article was about Alan Greenspan.
Southern Illinois University Carbondale - James Scales, the universitys director of Career Services who was accused this month of lying about his military service, will retire effective March 1, university spokesman Rod Sievers said Friday.
Sievers said Scales will immediately utilize his vacation days and not return to work. According to a university statement, Scales cited health and personal reasons.
Scales hung up the phone when asked for comment from the DAILY EGYPTIAN.
I have enjoyed my association with the university and value my colleagues here and the staff of Career Services, Scales said in a statement released by the university. It is time for me to retire and pursue other interests.
Scales came under fire after the DAILY EGYPTIAN reported Scales records did not match stories he had told the paper about service in Vietnam and other countries, and the receipts of various military accolades, including three Purple Hearts.
The Stolen Valor Act makes it a federal offense to lie about the receipt of certain military awards, including the Purple Heart. Violators face up to a year in prison or a fine of up to $200,000.
It was the best thing for him and for his health, Dean of Students Peter Gitau said. He was close to retirement even without the events of the past few weeks. Its a good thing for the university too. It enables the department to move on and focus on other things.
#4
Well, the man did have to retire in a hurry, Beldar, so that isn't exactly nothing.
It is my sense that other veterans and active military are getting a little intolerant of these fakes, and a little more willing to check up on stories that sound a little good to to be true, and to share what they find out with the larger public.
YMMV, of course.
#8
He will be collecting a nice pension so what does he care? Plus the job he just left....he might have gotten it due to preferential treatment as a vet and a combat vet.
So all is all it's a win for this fraud
I doubt he'll be prosecuted under "stolen valor"
Posted by: remain there ||
02/15/2009 11:35
Comments ||
Top||
#10
and the receipts of various military accolades, including three Purple Hearts.
A navy cook (While I was in) was surprised to get a Purple Heart, as he'd not been in any fighting, and indeed was a cook, checking it a bit further the citation read, "Removed shell fragment from eye," and after a bit of thought remembered that around 3 weeks before he'd had to get the ship's doctor to clean out an egg that shattered and went into his eye. Last I heard he'd returned the medal and was having trouble getting anyone to listen that "It was an Error", he'd NOT been wounded.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/15/2009 19:21
Comments ||
Top||
The Sudanese army says troops have repelled a rebel attack by the Darfur Justice and Equality Movement in the strife-torn (Darfur) region.
The military said JEM fighters suffered heavy causalities in Friday's raid, while the rebels claimed they had fended off the attack, a Press TV correspondent reported Saturday.
Government ground forces backed by warplanes carried out attacks on the JEM forces after learning their advance in the western town Jabal Marra, said a Sudanese army spokesman, Brigadier General Osman Al-Agbash.
Fourteen JEM armored vehicles were destroyed during the army offensive that left 4 soldiers dead and injured another 3.
JEM, for their part, claimed to have "easily" defeated the offensive adding that the group now holds a Sudanese army Colonel, Hamid Ahmed, captive.
"The offensive was easily and summarily defeated, despite use of 2 Antonov planes, 2 MIG 29 fighters and 6 tanks, two captured, three destroyed and one escaped," said a spokesman for the armed JEM, Ali Al-Wafi.
The assault comes as both the rebel group and Khartoum are meeting in Qatari capital Doha to discuss a possible ceasefire in the region.
The talks hosted by Qatar are the first such one-on-one meeting between the Sudanese government and JEM.
United Nations estimates put the death toll from the clashes in Darfur to 300,000 people, with some 2.2 million others displaced.
Khartoum, however, has officially documented 10,000 deaths.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
British officials are travelling to Guantanamo Bay today to visit Binyam Mohamed and make preparations for the detainee's expected release, the Foreign Office said. The team, who left Miami airport en route to the US prison camp on Cuba, include a doctor who will assess Mohamed's condition.
Legal representatives of the Ethiopian-born detainee, who has refugee status in the UK, hope he will be cleared for release and return to Britain within days under a review ordered by the US president, Barack Obama.
Soon after to be awarded benefits and a flat to store ammo live in ...
A Foreign Office spokesman said: "A team of British officials have left Miami airport today to visit Mr Binyam Mohamed in Guantanamo Bay. The visit will make preparations for his return, should the ongoing US review into Guantanamo Bay detainees confirm a decision to release him. The team includes a doctor, who would take part in any return, so that he may assess Mr Mohamed's condition himself and report back."
Mohamed's lawyer, Clive Stafford Smith, said today he was "very hopeful" that his client would be back in the UK by the middle of next week. No official confirmation of a release date had yet been given, but Mohamed was first in the list of detainees being considered by the review, he said.
If he is cleared for release, it is expected that a British government plane would be sent to Guantanamo to bring him back to Britain. Stafford Smith said: "The doctor is going there because obviously it makes no sense for a British plane to show up in Guantanamo to pick him up and then a doctor to say he is not fit to fly."
It is not clear whether Mohamed is still on hunger strike. One of his legal team visited him two days ago to try to persuade him to end the strike so that he could be sure of being fit to fly, Stafford Smith said.
Obama issued an executive order on 22 January establishing a review of all those held at Guantanamo. Announcing plans on Wednesday for the visit by UK officials, the foreign secretary, David Miliband, stressed that Mohamed's return to Britain was dependent on the outcome of the review process, but said the US administration had agreed to treat his case as a "priority".
Mohamed, 30, came to Britain in 1994 and was granted asylum. He was arrested by American forces in Pakistan in 2002 on suspicion of involvement in terrorism.
And what was he doing there? Charity work? Ammo for the widows?
The detainee claims he was secretly flown to Morocco and tortured before being moved to Afghanistan and then to Guantanamo in September 2004. All terror charges against him were dropped last year, but he remains in detention.
Mohamed has said that he falsely confessed to a radioactive "dirty bomb" plot while being tortured in Morocco, and has claimed that Britain was complicit in his rendition and torture. The torture allegations are at the heart of a continuing legal row after high court judges complained that Miliband had blocked them, for national security reasons, from making documents relating to his case public.
Meanwhile, a US military interrogator has claimed in an affidavit that Mohamed co-operated in a terror investigation after he was captured and insisted he never witnessed the prisoner being abused.
Who are you going to believe, an American solider or an al-Qaeda trained terrorist?
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Who are you going to believe, an American solider or an al-Qaeda trained terrorist?
Well, if you're going to elect Barack Obama to the most powerful office in the world, that could be a difficult question to answer, let alone answer correctly.
#2
From the people who won't allow Geert Wilders on their soil. Geert only showed the world what the Binyam Mohameds of the world articulate and do in their own words and actions.
#3
has anyone ever seen any pictures of scarring from torture that everyone of these prisoners say happened? i know water boarding isn't the only torture suppposedly used
With rumors swirling that Israel and Hamas were just hours away from a cease-fire deal, the Prime Minister's Office issued a statement Saturday pouring cold water on the reports, and making it clear for the first time that Israel will not accept a truce that does not include the return of St.-Sgt. Gilad Schalit. "It should be emphasized that what is on top of Israel's priorities are the security of the residents of the South and the release of Gilad Schalit," the statement said. "Israel will invest all its efforts to further these two goals. The prime minister's position is that Israel will not reach an agreement on a calm before the release of Gilad Schalit."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
The Chinese engineer, kidnapped by insurgents, has reportedly been released in Swat here on late Saturday, Geo News reported. According to sources, insurgents have released kidnapped Chinese engineer here but no immediate reports on his wellbeing reached here.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Yea, gorb, they bought snake oil in the first place and now they object to its adequate representation in coinage? Petulant complainers and ingrates!
#3
Don't worry, within a few years you'll be able to get the Messiah's picture on a brand new one trillion dollar note. Which you'll be able to use to buy a cup of coffee.
#5
I noticed the person complaining was also black, this looks like a typical "Scam the Black/poor" to me.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/15/2009 11:46
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Don't worry, within a few years you'll be able to get the Messiah's picture on a brand new one trillion dollar note. Which you'll be able to use to buy a cup of coffee.
"A 100$ per pound humburger is not a ploblem---if there are plenty of hamburger". Robert Heinlein.
#8
About the only people who knew slavery living today in America were Korean immigrants and American POWs who got to experience slavery as practiced by the Japanese. Guess that's part of the reason why Korean store owners in the LA riots of the early 90s took up arms rather than make apologies when the bros came to rob and burn down their establishments. Never bought into that con game.
Iran is working to home in on its military anti-aircraft command, amid threats of an Israeli air strike on the country's nuclear sites.
Air Force Chief Brigadier General Ahmad Miqani said Saturday that the Iranian military has been ordered by the country's Commander-in-Chief Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei to set up a new Anti-Aircraft Command.
The command will deal with anti-aircraft warfare, or air defense which entails engaging hostile military aircraft in defense of ground objectives, and is also used to prevent unauthorized aircraft from entering the country's airspace.
The move will bring all anti-aircraft systems belonging to the military and the Islamic Revolution Guard Corps (IRGC) including radar equipment, surveillance and intelligence gathering devices, long-, mid- and short-range missiles and defense systems under the newly-established command.
The Iranian commander added that the move "aims to enhance and expand combat capabilities of the country's air defense unit."
"To counter the enemy's advanced military equipment, we [Iran] should be equipped with state-of-the-art air defense technology," explained Brig. Gen. Miqani, adding that Iran is working its way to assembling the required anti-aircraft artillery.
The new structural arrangements in the Iranian military comes as the newly-appointed head of US intelligence predicted that Israel and Iran would engage in a major military confrontation before the end of the year.
In a report to the Senate Intelligence Committee on the potential threats as foreseen by the 16 intelligence agencies in the United States, Dennis Blair said Tel Aviv would eventually declare war on Tehran as a last-ditch effort to curb Iran's enrichment capabilities.
The prediction by the US intelligence official came in line with remarks in a Friday interview by former Israeli UN ambassador Dan Gillerman revealing that Israel is preparing a military offensive against Iran.
"Israel has both the responsibility to defend itself and the capacity to defend itself, and I am sure that when the time comes and all other options have been exhausted, Israel will act in the only way it must to protect its people," said Gillerman.
Iran's Defense Ministry announced earlier on Wednesday that it had built a long-range anti-aircraft system capable of simultaneously striking multiple enemy targets.
"This long-range anti-aircraft system can identify and track multiple targets and is capable of simultaneously destroying them from a long distance," Brigadier General Mohammad-Najjar said at the Islamic Revolution's military achievements exhibition.
The newly-built Iranian missile, which calls to mind the controversial Russian S-300 surface-to-air missile defense system, is believed to have been built in order to shield Iran's nuclear facilities from an Israeli go-it-alone air strike.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
The birth of al Dixie Lan, fetch 50000 paper cups and 500 miles of kite string.
Gonna require a lot of
Repeaters repeaters repeaters repeaters repeaters repeaters
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi army forces arrested on Saturday a suicide bomber planning to attack a military checkpoint in northern al-Misayiab area, where pilgrims of the Arbaen were heading on foot to the holy Shiite province of Karbala, a military source said. The arrest comes just one day after a deadly attack by a female suicide bomber who targeted a gathering of pilgrims also in Misayiab, leaving more than 100 people killed or wounded.
"A force from the Iraqi army's 31st Brigade arrested a suicide bomber wearing an explosive belt and trying to attack a military checkpoint in al-Misayiab, (40 km) northern Hilla city," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry announced a financial reward for information about the bomber's safe house.
The Arbaeen marks the 40th day after the death of Imam al-Hussein, the Prophet Muhammad's grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar).
Scores of pilgrims from inside and outside Iraq have started the long trek on foot for the pilgrimage. Tight security measures have been in force and a large number of security personnel have been deployed in Iraq's holy sites in preparation for the occasion.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
Turkish foreign ministry summons the Israeli ambassador to protest at an Israeli army general's comments about Premier Recep Tayyip Erdogan.
Gen. Avi Mizrahi was earlier quoted by the Israeli media as saying that Erdogan should have "looked in the mirror" before lashing out at Israeli President Shimon Peres at the World Economic Forum in Davos, Press TV correspondent Mehdi Gholizadeh reported.
The remarks prompted the ministry to call on Israeli Ambassador Gabby Levy to pass Ankara's formal objection to Tel Aviv.
"The relevant statements of Avi Mizrahi are ungrounded and unacceptable and as such we have requested an urgent explanation from Israeli authorities," Turkey's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
The Israeli general had also accused Turkey of massacring the Armenians as well as suppressing the Kurdish minority in the country.
In January, Erdogan walked off the stage at a Davos summit after he was interrupted for criticizing Tel Aviv and Peres over the mass killing of Palestinians during the 23-day war on Gaza.
The incident strained ties between Israel and Turkey, who was acting as a mediator between Tel Aviv and Damascus. However, after Israel launched its military campaign against the Gaza Strip, Ankara suspended the mediation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
if that window licker Yippy is still Premier in a year, Ima be surprised
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/15/2009 10:49
Comments ||
Top||
BAGHDAD (AP) Iraqi officials deployed 5,000 plainclothes military personnel south of Baghdad on Saturday, beefing up security in an attempt to stop deadly bombings against Shiite pilgrims that have plagued the country over the past three days, police said.
The military personnel will monitor suspicious movements among the hundreds of thousands of pilgrims streaming toward Karbala, said Capt. Alaa Abbas Jaafar, press spokesman for the Karbala police. The government has already deployed 30,000 security personnel in the province that contains Karbala to protect the city, along with 1,500 female security guards to search women and 400 snipers on rooftops, Jaafar said.
Despite the tight security, bombings have killed 60 Shiite pilgrims and wounded 170 over the past three days. The attacks demonstrate the determination of some Sunni extremists to re-ignite sectarian warfare and underscores how fragile security remains here despite a significant decline in overall violence. The vast numbers of pilgrims and the distances many of them must travel make it extremely difficult to protect.
No group has claimed responsibility for the attacks, but Al-Qaida and other extremist groups have frequently targeted Shiite pilgrims during religious commemorations, which were severely curtailed under Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
So now he's in firm control of about six square blocks in Mogadishu ...
DJIBOUTI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament endorsed on Saturday the appointment of the Western-educated son of a slain former president as prime minister in a unity government tasked with restoring order to the failed Horn of Africa state.
After a 414-to-9 vote in his favour, Omar Abdirashid Ali Sharmarke, 48, took the oath of office at a session of the legislature in neighbouring Djibouti. "I will form a government of national unity that will give top priority to peace and security," he told parliament. "The nation and the people are waiting for us."
Sharmarke and President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, a moderate Islamist leader who chose Sharmarke to try to broaden the appeal of his government at home and abroad, face the herculean task of bringing peace to Somalia for the first time in 18 years.
Armed Islamist insurgents have declared jihad against the new power-sharing government, formed in a U.N.-brokered peace process in Djibouti. Some 1 million people live as internal refugees around the shattered nation.
Yet the appointments of Ahmed, the former leader of a sharia courts movement, and Sharmarke, a former U.N. employee and member of Somalia's large diaspora, have provided a new political dynamic that is giving some cause for hope. "I am more optimistic about the future of Somalia than I have been in a number of years," Professor David Shinn, an Africa expert at George Washington University, told Reuters. "The selection of a PM from the large Darod clan is a wise choice to balance President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed's Hawiye clan connection," he said, adding that Sharmarke's distinguished family and diaspora connections would also be advantages.
"I think this selection increases the possibility that the Sheikh Sharif government will be able to pull Somalia out of its downward spiral and eventually even create an administration that is broadly accepted by Somalis."
The leading Islamist insurgent group al Shabaab, however, is determined to stop that. It has attacked both the government and African Union (AU) peacekeepers in recent days and held anti-government protests in areas of south Somalia it controls. An al Qaeda leader, too, urged Somali militants to step up jihad against the government in a video released on Friday. Washington believes al Shabaab is al Qaeda's proxy in Somalia, and the group is known to have foreign fighters in its ranks.
The government controls only a few blocks of Mogadishu, whereas Islamist insurgents control other parts of the city and large swathes of the south.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
A BRITISH soldier was killed in action in southern Afghanistan yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said.
The Royal Marine, from 45 Commando, came under fire in an area southwest of Sangin in the strife-torn Helmand province and died of his wounds while being flown to hospital. The marine was part of a patrol supporting a bomb disposal team. His next of kin had been informed, the MoD said.
The soldier was the seventh member of the British military to die in Afghanistan this year and the 144th British fatality since the start of operations in 2001.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Hoard not life nor stint to pay
For such was never England's way
Unruly trade unionism that systematically drained out thousands of crore taka in the past few decades and protected plunderers of national resources is creeping back into Titas Gas Transmission and Distribution Company Ltd (TGTDCL) as the new government took office last month.
Awami League lawmaker Israfil Alam, who once used to be a meter reader, is allegedly patronising a group of 30-40 people who are staging showdowns at Titas Bhaban in Karwan Bazar every day since last month, sending a wave of chill among TGTDCL officials and employees.
Intriguingly, this "pro-AL" group is being backed by one of the three pro-BNP trade unions in Titas. Sources say the group identifying themselves as the leaders of 'Titas Gas Sramik League', which is a convener committee of Jatiya Sramik League, is gathering at Titas premises to show off strength though it doesn't belong to any Titas trade unions.
This convener committee was formed on June 23, 2005.
This group is trying to establish supremacy over Titas management so that it can resume illegal activities including transfer and posting of the employees it could not do in the last two years, sources say.
The group is serving the purpose of the pro-BNP Titas Gas Jatiyatabadi Sramik Karmachari Union that does not want any election to Collective Bargaining Agent (CBA) in fear of possible defeat. The election has been stalled for 20 years.
This trade union is allegedly the main protector of corrupt meter readers and other staffs. The leaders of this group would help out a corrupt meter reader or staff even if he belongs to some AL banner and thus protect their personal interests.
"The situation is taking a worrying turn day by day as the group claiming themselves as Awami League supporters are becoming desperate to establish authority in the organisation," says a TGTDCL official wishing not to be identified.
It is learned that they have submitted a list of people to the authorities for transfer, he said, adding, "We are very concerned that anything dangerous may happen anytime if such trends continue."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Saudi Arabia for the first time appoints a woman to assume a post in the Council of Ministers as the kingdom undergoes a government reshuffle.
Nour Fayez was named as Deputy Minister for Women's Education on Saturday, the first ever female who has been appointed to a senior government post in the oil-rich country.
The appointment is considered as a breakthrough in a country where women are even banned from driving.
Fayez was named as a member of the Council of Ministers as Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdul Aziz reshuffled the cabinet.
The reshuffle included changes in economic, justice and information ministers and the appointment of Prince Faisal bin Abdullah bin Muhammad as Minister of Education and Faisal bin Moamar as the Deputy Minister of Education.
The king also named Muhammad al-Jasser as Central Bank Governor to replace Hamad al-Siyyari.
Abdul-Aziz Khuga, a former ambassador to Lebanon was appointed Minister of Culture and Information and Sheikh Mohamed Essa was appointed as Minister of justice.
The reshuffle, the first since King Abdullah came to power in 2005, also included military officials as General Abdul Rahmanal-Murshid was named the commander of ground forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
Pakistani authorities say the suspects of the Mumbai terror attacks will be formally charged before a local anti-terror court. "The security has been put on high alert in the federal capital and the garrison city of Rawalpindi where the suspects will be presented to the court," a senior police official told Press TV on Saturday.
The official, who requested anonymity, said that the Federal Investigation Agency had requested the government to provide two bulletproof vehicles for the transport of the suspects to the trial, which would be held in the Central Jail Adiala in Rawalpindi. He, however, did not give any information regarding the trials' date.
Meanwhile, Pakistan's Interior Ministry chief Rehman Malik said Saturday that the country might ask India to hand over Ajmal Amir Qasab -- the lone terrorist captured during the Mumbai attacks. He said the handover would strengthen efforts to prosecute the other suspects detained over links to the strikes.
Did his lips fall off?
Malik said that Qasab has been among the nine suspects the ministry has listed for prosecution, adding India should handover Qasab, if the court deems his presence necessary. Apart from Qasab, six of the nine suspects are currently in custody while the other two remain at large.
On Thursday, Pakistan acknowledged for the first time that part of the conspiracy behind the Mumbai attacks was hatched within the country. Qasab was captured alive and nine other terrorists were killed by the India's NSG (National Security Guard) commandos. The terror attacks claimed over 170 lives, including terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
Follow-up. And no, the Trib fails to mention that he's a Democrat.
U.S. Sen. Roland Tombstone Burris, who repeatedly denied anyone tied to disgraced former Gov. Rod Blagojevich solicited him for cash in exchange for his seat, now acknowledges Blagojevich's brother asked him three times to help with fundraising.
Translation: he lied and he's admitting it, which is now safe to do since he has the seat and Blago is gone.
Leading House Republicans said Saturday they plan to call on an Illinois House special investigative committee to ask the Sangamon County state's attorney's office to investigate Burris.
Springfield being in Sangamon County.
In an affidavit Burris quietly filed nine days ago with the head of the House committee that recommended Blagojevich's impeachment, Illinois' new junior senator also said he spoke with three close associates of the governor about being appointed to the Senate. Prior, Burris only acknowledged having spoken to one such friend.
It's his third story and I'm betting, as an astute and close observer of Illinois politics, that it won't be his last. And he'll try to slide them in just as quietly.
Burris said he refused the fundraising request for Blagojevich, who was removed from office after being charged Dec. 9 with corruption, including trying to sell the Senate seat Burris now holds.
The new affidavit--filed only after he was seated in Congress--is Burris' third account of what happened behind the scenes preceding Blagojevich's decision to pick him as President Barack Obama's replacement in the Senate. It also reflects a major omission he made before the panel. Democratic leaders in the U.S. Senate initially refused Burris entry, but relented in part on the condition that he testify fully and openly before the House impeachment committee.
This is Illinois: did you clowns really think he was going to testify 'fully and openly'?
Initially, Burris stated unequivocally in an affidavit, "there was not any contact between myself or any of my representatives with Governor Blagojevich or any of his representatives" regarding the Senate appointment prior to Dec. 26, when he met with a Blagojevich attorney. But during Jan. 8 testimony before the House committee, Burris disclosed that months earlier he had expressed his interest in the Senate seat to Blagojevich's former chief of staff Lon Monk, now a state lobbyist whose activities have come under federal scrutiny.
But despite being asked specifically at the hearing if he had met with Blagojevich's brother about the Senate seat, Burris cited only his meeting with Monk.
In this newest version, Burris said he talked about his interest in the Senate seat with Blagojevich's brother, Robert, who called him three times to seek his assistance in fundraising for the then-governor. The first conversation was in early October, before Obama was elected president, and the other two were shortly after the Nov. 4 election. Burris said he told Robert Blagojevich he couldn't contribute to the governor's campaign fund "because it could be viewed as an attempt to curry favor with him regarding his decision to appoint a successor to President Obama."
Burris said he filed the affidavit "to change completely supplement my answer" to questions by the House members about what conversations he had with the governor and his associates.
The real question is, why file the new affidavit? Is this because Fitzgerald has something new going, or was a newspaper going to reveal the information? It certainly wasn't because he had a guilty conscience or anything.
In a statement released Saturday, Burris said he didn't disclose the facts because he "was not given the opportunity to" during the impeachment committee hearing. "I was asked to raise money by the governor's brother and made it unequivocally clear to him that it would be inappropriate and pose a major conflict because I was interested in the Senate vacancy," Burris said in the statement.
"Especially since your brother is on the way out and couldn't get elected to streetsweeper."
"I did not donate or help raise a single dollar for the governor from those conversations and would never consider making a donation through a third party."
"No, no, certainly not!"
Burris also disclosed in his new lie affidavit that he spoke about his interest in the Senate with three other Blagojevich insiders, Doug Scofield, John Wyma and former chief of staff John Harris, who was arrested and charged with Blagojevich.
On the day before Burris testified to the House panel, he met with Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D- Nevada) and Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.). Both senators stressed the importance of Burris's testimony on whether he should be seated. "Roland Burris, to me, appears to be candid and forthright," Reid said after the meeting. "Without any hesitation, he prepared an affidavit that the impeachment committee for the Illinois state assembly already has. And he's going to go answer any other questions they might have. He's not trying to avoid any responsibility or trying to hide anything," Reid said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Perhaps some of those conversation with Blago's brother are on FBI tape. Hmmm.
#2
It is time for a new category on the 'burg. I suggest 'The Sucker State Way' since Illinois was originally known as 'The Sucker State' until Lincoln.
It will go well with the 'Name that Party' section
#6
ATTENTION ALL FUTURE NATIONS: When writing your constitutions, be sure to include a right for the people to demand the execution of corrupt politicians.
This will not become the norm in your nation as it has ours.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
02/15/2009 12:25
Comments ||
Top||
Very, very long piece in the NYT about the Maghreb, the Sahara and Mauritania. Pro'ly more words in the article than people there. Lots of hand-wringing and calls for nuance. Usual NYT premise: non-whites aren't ready for democracy.
By NICHOLAS SCHMIDLE
IN THE MONTHS AFTER 9/11, American forces in Afghanistan bombed the Taliban and, in vain, hunted for Osama bin Laden, while in Washington counterterrorism experts worried about "the next Afghanistan," a safe haven where terrorists would train, test their weapons and organize attacks on the United States. These discussions produced a double-barreled national-security strategy that dominated President George W. Bush's tenure. The first element of the strategy was to identify and eliminate terrorist networks that already existed. The second was to prevent new networks from flourishing by promoting open, democratic societies that, the thinking went, would be less susceptible to Al Qaeda's message than closed ones. Hard and soft power would be brought to bear on all the potential Afghanistans, while Afghanistan itself would be kept from regressing.
The list of candidates for the next Afghanistan was long. Just about every Muslim-majority country, or even those with sizable Muslim minorities, was considered suspect. Intelligence analysts fixed their attention on remote islands and jungles in the Philippines and Indonesia and on the rugged mountains of Pakistan's tribal areas. Africa emerged as one of the greatest areas of concern, and the Sahel, a scrubby band of ungoverned terrain straddling Saharan and sub-Saharan Africa, proved especially troublesome. An Islamist government in Sudan was host to bin Laden for five years during the 1990s. In Algeria, an Islamist insurgency ultimately commanded by the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat, better known by its French acronym, G.S.P.C., was entering its second bloody decade. And in Mauritania only 3.5 million people occupied an area the size of Texas and New Mexico combined, making it -- despite decades of oppressive military rule -- one of the least-controlled parts of the world.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Let me solve it for you Mr SCHMIDLE.
The place is full of Muslims. Any place that's full of Muslims is on its way to Hell.
#2
Usual NYT premise: non-whites aren't ready for democracy.
I didn't think the NYT thought whites were particularly ready for democracy either other than the Peoples Democratic type where a ruling elite took care of things for the little people.
Police have recovered three suicide jackets from a bag here on Saturday. According to sources, the police was informed of a suspicious bag lying outside a bakery in sector G-11. The police, upon inspection, recovered three suicide jackets from the bag. Police said further investigation is underway.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
The Iranian Majlis Speaker says the government should loosen its grip on economic affairs and let the country move toward privatization.
"For the sake of the country's economic development, the government should allow the people to take control of economic affairs," said Ali Larijani.
According to Article 44 of the Iranian Constitution, the economic system shall be based on public, cooperative and private sectors, with proper and sound planning.
All large-scale industries, mother industries, foreign trade, large mines, banking, insurance, power supply, dams and large irrigation channels, radio and television, post, telegraph and telephone, aviation, shipping, roads, rails and the like, are public property and at the disposal of the government.
"The government, which now runs 80 percent of Iran's industrial sector, should only supervise affairs and allow economic problems to be resolved through national participation," Larijani continued.
He further stressed the necessity of implementing Article 44 of the Constitution to ensure Iran's economic development.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
"...the government should loosen its grip on economic affairs and let the country move toward privatization. "
Gee, you think the Obamanation might get the hint?
The Saudi king on Saturday dismissed the chief of the religious police and a cleric who condoned killing the owners of TV networks that broadcast "immoral" content, signaling an effort to weaken the country's hard-line Sunni establishment. The shake-up -- King Abdullah's first since coming to power in August 2005 -- included the appointment of a female deputy minister, the highest government position a Saudi woman has attained.
The king also changed the makeup of an influential body of religious scholars, for the first time giving more moderate Sunnis representation to the group whose duties include issuing the religious edicts known as fatwas.
The king changed the makeup of an influential body of religious scholars known as the Grand Ulama Commission. Its 21 members will now represent all branches of Sunni Islam, instead of the single strict Hanbali sect that has always governed it.
Abdul-Aziz bin Humain will replace Sheik Ibrahim al-Ghaith as head of the Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice, which runs the religious police, according to the agency. Bin Humain, who is believed to be more moderate than his predecessor, will head a body whose agents have been criticized by Saudis for their harsh behavior.
Abdullah also removed Sheik Saleh al-Lihedan, chief of the kingdom's highest tribunal, the Supreme Council of Justice. Al-Lihedan issued an edict in September saying it was permissible to kill the owners of satellite TV stations that show content deemed to be immoral. It was denounced across the Arab world.
He was replaced by Saleh bin Humaid, who until Saturday served as the head of the Consultative Council.
Abdullah has said that reforming the judiciary, a bastion of hard-line clerics implementing Islamic law, is one of his top priorities. Judges currently have complete discretion in issuing sentences, except in cases where Islamic law outlines a punishment, such as capital crimes. That discretion has led to cases that have drawn widespread condemnation. In one, a woman from the eastern city of Qatif was raped but received more lashes than one of her seven assailants. The judge ordered the punishment because she was in a car with a man who is not a relative when the two were intercepted by their attackers.
Another major change targets education. The king appointed Prince Faisal bin Abdullah, his son-in-law, as education minister. Noura al-Fayez has been appointed Faisal's deputy for girls' education -- the first time a woman has been appointed a deputy minister.
The former Saudi ambassador to Lebanon, Abdul-Aziz al-Khoja, will become information minister, according to SPA. Abdullah al-Rabia, a surgeon who has carried out about a dozen operations separating conjoined twins, has been appointed health minister.
#1
Boy, Abdullah is adventurous. He must be quite sure of himself, in that web of tribal and family loyalties. The most significant is the Grand Ulama Commission change. That is not a cosmetic change by any stretch of imagination. Did the contract with al-Wahhab expire?
#2
Wondering about that myself. I would think that the Grand Ulama Commission is about as important to the House of Saud as the Archbishop of Canterbury used to be to the English crown.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009 1:04
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Too many of the Wahhabists have been linked to the various Al-Q factions in Saudi Arabia, and their clerics did not issue the expected fatwas soon enough or harsh enough. The deal between the Royal Family and the Wahhabists was that the Royals ruled and the Wahhabists got to run Mecca and the religious side. Now that Al-Q factions have been busted trying to whack the Royal Family and the Wahhabists did not step up and denounce/deny/inform on the same, the Royals look to be doing some punishment.
#4
I'm the rank amateur of the bunch so I'll put up a target to be shot at.
Two things have happened and both are elections that George Bush made happen.
Iraq. The Iraqi people, in an election broadly ignored but of immense significance, rejected the Iranian theocratic model and chose secular civil government. Certainly it wasn't the elimination of all religious elements, but it really was a clear rejection of those Sunni as well as Shia elements of Iraqi society who wrap themselves in Islam.
The United States. Bambi is clearly a weak horse. The threat to Saud is now clearly Iran. By continuing to be a reactionary theocracy he risks further alienating the US from being actively involved in the defence of the status quo in the region. Not good. Got to keep cozy. Make Hillary a hero. Good things.
He feels sufficiently secure to tack because a lot of his internal opposition, or at least its muscle, is lying dead in the plains of Iraq and the mountains of Afpak courtesy of the US Army. It seems to me there is a lot less domestic terrorism in Arabia and not just because of internal security.
The Sauds have done well by sticking with the Americans. They know that the ride is not always smooth. They're probably as fond of Jimmy Carter as I. But they know these periods don't last long, their alternatives are few and far less palatable. So better to accommodate the current Clown in Chief and hope he too is a single termer to preserve the long term relationship.
And who knows, perhaps he just wants to do the right thing and this has been his first chance.
#6
Nimble, I don't think it has much to do with 0, seems to be entirely internal affair. The only influences that may have some clout is Iraq's secularization and Iran's belligerence. And if there was an American influence, I would credit W, not 0.
The timing is coincidental, no doubt Abdullah worked on the change since he took over, things are not exactly on a fast track in Soddy due to how society works.
It has to be seen if this is one-in-the-lifetime thing or a step towards other changes.
#7
Sure didn't mean to sound like I was giving 0 credit. I think the Sauds may be concerned he won't defend them so they're in curry favor mode. Not that he planned it that way, but just that he's such a naif that they need to protect themselves from his ignorance.
#8
He couldn't have done this without broad support from the other Royals and some of the Religious sector.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/15/2009 9:28
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Nimble, I would agree with trying to protect themselves from 0's ignorance part. I simply don't see the curry favor mode part. Soddys hold some money bags in US, but with the economy tanking, they may not see any necessity for the curry favor mode seeing their investments evaporate.
#10
They can afford to take a long view on the investments. For all we know, they're on a buying spree picking up bargains.
But they do need to keep us sufficiently interested that we continue to defend them for free while we pay for the oil they have others pull oil out of the ground for them.
#14
I'm inclined to give the guy a break. He might just want to improve his country's long term prospects. Clearly they need a new direction.
Shortly after becoming King he left his country and went on a tour in 2007 to meet with Christian leaders that he would consider of his stature, including the Pope and Queen Elizabeth, who like him have national and religious responsibility.
I'd guess the conversations went about like this:
King: How can I get you Christians out of my neighborhood? It's making Islam look bad.
Pope/Queen: Get your Muslims to quit exploding things. It's not safe and people hate it. It's making us look bad.
King: Hmm, I do have some hot heads running things. Let me see what I can do.
Pope/Queen: Okey dokey, good luck on that. You want some tea with that crumpet before you go?
So he pretty much knows that something has to change at home if he is ever going to get rid of us and run his own show.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces in Kirkuk arrested a key member of an organization belonging to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in the central part of the city on Saturday, a senior security official said. "Forces from the Kirkuk Districts' Police Department on Saturday evening captured Shakir Mahmoud Awwad, a leading member of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq group, in the Ahmed Agha souk (market)," Brig. Sarhad Qader, the department chief, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "Awwad, a local resident of al-Huweija district, southwest of Kirkuk, is on the security agencies' list of wanted persons on charges of involvement in terrorism," Qader added.
This article starring:
SHAKIR MAHMUD AWWAD
Islamic State of Iraq
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq
At least 30 people were wounded in attacks by March 8 partisans against unarmed civilians who took part in a mass rally in Beirut's Martyrs Square marking the fourth anniversary of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination on Saturday. The victims were evacuated to the Makassed Islamic Hospital in Beirut's Tarik Jedideh district and the Sacred Heart Hospital in Hazmiyeh.
Usual thuggery by the Hezbies ...
That's why they're called Hezbullies.
Army troops intervened to protect hundreds of thousands of unarmed civilians who took part in the rally marking the Hariri crime anniversary. The attackers used sticks, rocks, daggers and fire arms in their assaults. It could not be determined if any arrests were made after the serial attacks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
Hundreds of thousands of Lebanese flocked to Beirut's Martyrs' Square on Saturday to mark the fourth anniversary of former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri's assassination as Lebanon gears up for parliamentary elections. Demonstrators carried Lebanon's flag as well as party flags of Hariri's al-Mustaqbal Movement and political allies. Some held pictures of Hariri and his son and political heir, Saad Hariri.
Others had stickers reading "We won't forget you" on their shoulders. Giant screens showed pictures of the slain leader and a choir sang patriotic and Arab national songs.
The crowds fell silent around 1:00 p.m. to mark the time when Hariri was killed. The silence was interrupted only by the sound of church bells and the call for prayers from mosques in a show of Christian-Muslim unity. The slain leader was buried at al-Amin mosque that oversees Martyrs' Square, popularly renamed Freedom Square after Hariri's death.
Endless bus convoys poured into the capital coming from all around Lebanon to take part in the commemorative event. Entrances to the square were clogged with a sea of marchers.
The rally took place as final preparations are underway in The Hague for the launch of the international tribunal set up to bring Hariri's killers to justice.
It also came as the country prepares for legislative elections in June. Politicians of the March 14 alliance dedicated their speeches to Hariri and other figures killed in a series of blasts. The March 14 officials also promised victory in the June 7 elections and vowed "not to kneel."
"We move forward with the Lebanese towards the 7th of June -- Our date with free choice," Saad Hariri addressed the crowd from behind bullet-proof glass. "Parliamentary elections are fateful because they provide an opportunity to build a free state," he said.
"Today we stand at the threshold of the international tribunal," Hariri told the cheering crowd. "The hour of truth and justice has come and your voice will overcome that of the oppressors and we will know the truth."
Phalange Party leader Amin Gemayel said the elections will mark a "choice between our camp which wants freedom, sovereignty and independence and the other camp which wants a return to hegemony and foreign tutelage."
"We promise victory in the upcoming legislative elections," Gemayel told the rally.
"We shall never kneel," vowed Lebanese Forces leader Samir Geagea. "We shall achieve that last scene of the March 14 dream."
At Saturday's rally, there was also hope that Hariri's killers could eventually be brought to trial, as the international tribunal prepares to begin its work in The Netherlands on March 1.
In his speech, Progressive Socialist Party leader Walid Jumblat vowed there will be "no compromise on the international tribunal."
Mustaqbal MP Bassem Sabaa and National Liberal Party leader Dory Chamoun also addressed the crowds. "Our hopes are pinned on you to continue the march. All martyrs are looking up to you June 7 is coming up so don't put Cedars' martyrs down," Chamoun said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) has sought 14-day physical remand of six suspects allegedly involved in Mumbai attacks here on Saturday.
According to Foreign Office sources, Rawalpindi anti-terrorism court has issued 14-day physical remand of six alleged suspects involved in Mumbai attacks including Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
State lawmakers are calling for a criminal investigation into whether U.S. Sen. Roland Burris committed perjury before a state impeachment panel, in the wake of a Sun-Times exclusive story published online today.
The development comes after the Chicago Democrat failed to initially disclose under oath to a House panel that he was hit up for campaign cash by former Gov. Rod Blagojevich's brother.
State Rep. James Durkin (R-Western Springs) said Saturday that the Sangamon County state prosecutor's office will be asked to review Burris Jan. 8 sworn testimony before the House panel to determine whether Burris (D-Chicago) perjured himself.
"I don't trust anything that comes out of Roland Burris mouth or from his pen," Durkin said.
"We had a major league situation facing us. This is a United States senate seat that came under the most clouded of circumstances," Durkin said. "This is supposed to be about the year of reform this is about ethics and about transparency."
Durkin questioned why he found out about the additional testimony Friday night from the Sun-Times.
"Why were we kept out of the loop? Why were we kept out of the latest filing of Roland Burris?"
Word that Burris' account of his appointment has changed yet again came as a surprise to some of his colleagues in the Senate, who were not aware of the affidavit's filing until learning of it from press accounts. It was unclear what response might be triggered by Burris' revisions.
An aide to Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.), who initially sought to block Burris from being seated, said the Senate leader intended to take a closer look at Burris' new affidavit. But Reid's office declined to say whether the new revelations would reopen the question of whether Burris should be Illinois' junior senator.
"Senator Reid is reviewing the affidavit," Reid spokesman Jim Manley told the Sun-Times Saturday.
After Reid's hand was essentially forced by Burris and African-American supporters in Congress, Burris was formally seated in mid-January, leaving the Senate few options in responding to the matter. If criminal charges were ever to surface against Burris, the Senate Ethics Committee could probe his conduct and recommend censure, but outright removal from the Senate would require a two-thirds vote.
Sen. Dick Durbin (D-Ill.), who also had reservations about Burris' appointment, intends to more closely examine Burris' evolving storyline before determining a response, a spokesman said. The No. 2 Senate Democrat left for a trip to Greece, Turkey and Cyprus today and won't return until Friday, his office said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Yeah, that "Burris = Mr. Clean" thing sounded like pretty much a stretch for a Chicago politician.
#4
Durban will have a response when he is told what to think.
Interesting question is WHERE IS THE ILLINOIS ATTORNEY GENERAL? Did she enter the witness protection program? or did she find a hidden door in her wardrobe and is vacationing in Narnia?
She missed ALL of Blagos's crimes and is nowhere to be seen on this one... and of course the Dems want her to run for Governor.
Malaysia has released three alleged members of a Southeast Asian terrorist network who had been imprisoned without trial for years, a human rights group said Saturday.
Businessman Suhaimi Mokhtar was arrested in 2002, engineer Zaini Zakaria in 2003 and businessman Mohd Khider Kadran in 2004 under Malaysia's Internal Security Act - which allows indefinite detention without trial - during a crackdown on the al-Qaida-linked Jemaah Islamiyah network.
Southeast Asian security officials said Zaini had withdrawn from a foiled 2002 al-Qaida strike in which he and two others were to pilot planes in a second wave of Sept. 11-style attacks.
The trio were freed from a prison Thursday but must report weekly to police and remain within the districts where they live, said Syed Ibrahim Syed Noh of the Abolish ISA Movement.
"We welcome their release, but we are concerned with the selective release," he told The Associated Press. There are still about 40 people held under the act, including four suspected Jemaah Islamiyah members, he said.
Home Ministry officials could not be reached for comment Saturday.
No reasons were given for why the three men were released, but authorities say some suspects were freed in the past after repenting following rehabilitation programs and counseling.
The Malaysian government jailed more than 200 suspects between 2001 and 2003, but many have been released over the past few years.
Syed Ibrahim said the Abolish ISA Movement plans to hold a rally in March to demand the act be repealed. Critics say the law is abused to silence dissidents, but the government defends it as necessary to protect national security and ensure stability.
At Jemaah Islamiyah's peak in early 2000, it had members in several Southeast Asian nations. Officials say the group has been decimated in recent years in a regional crackdown supported by the United States and other Western governments.
Among the strikes attributed to Jemaah Islamiyah and affiliate groups are the 2002 bombings on the Indonesian resort island of Bali that killed 202 people, mostly foreign tourists; the 2003 and 2004 attacks on the J.W. Marriott Hotel and the Australian Embassy in Jakarta; and the 2005 triple suicide bombings on restaurants in Bali.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Jemaah Islamiyah
Aswat al-Iraq: The Interior Ministry has reinforced the troop presence in the cities of Karbala, Najaf, and Hilla after Friday's suicide bombing that targeted pilgrims heading for Karbala, a ministry official said on Saturday.
"Minister of Interior Jawad al-Bulani has met with the top (Shiite) clerics in Najaf and briefed them on the ministry's efforts to maintain stability and work on protecting civilians," Maj. General Abdelkareem Khalaf, the director of the ministry's National Command Center, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Khalaf did not give further details on Bulani's meeting with the clerics.
A female suicide bomber blew herself up on Friday (Feb. 13) amidst a gathering of Shiite pilgrims in the district of al-Misayiab, north of Hilla, the capital city of Babel province, 110 km southwest of Baghdad, killing and wounding more than 100 Karbala-bound people for the Arbaeen pilgrimage.
Earlier on Saturday, the ministry announced a financial reward for information about the bomber's safe house.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
(AKI) - Fresh violence between Israel and Palestinian militants on Friday threatened an agreement on a long-term ceasefire in the Gaza Strip. Officials from the ruling Islamist Hamas movement had earlier said an agreement with Israel on a long-term truce may be announced within days.
Two rockets and a mortar shell fell fired from Gaza hit southern Israel, the Israeli military said.
According to the Palestinian news agency, Maan, the Hizbullah Brigades in Palestine claimed responsibility for the attacks that targeted Sderot and the western Negev, but no one was injured in the violence.
Later on Friday an Israeli warplane retaliated and bombed a target in the Gaza town of Khan Younis, killing one suspected militant and wounding at least one other.
A Israel Defense Forces spokesman said the strike hit two Islamic Jihad militants who were planning a terrorist attack in Israel. According to the Israeli daily, Haaretz, the dead man was a member of the small Popular Resistance Committees group.
The Khan Younis strike was followed by air attacks on what the military claimed to be six weapons smuggling tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border.
There were no reports of Palestinian casualties in raids on the tunnels.
There have been several rocket fire and shooting incidents on the Gaza-Israel border since the end of Israel's three-week offensive in which more than 1,330 Palestinians were killed in the coastal territory.
Israel stopped its military action, Operation Cast Lead, on 18 January and Hamas declared a ceasefire the same day.
Friday's exchanges came as Hamas officials said talks in Cairo on a long-term truce were close to success.
Earlier Hamas said it was ready to release kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit and endorse a long-term truce with Israel.
Shalit would be freed as part of a prisoner exchange with Israel that could see as many as 1,000 Palestinians, including women and children released.
However, Hamas has demanded the release of 1,400 prisoners, but diplomats have said Israel would free closer to 1,000.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
Untill, and unless, the world recognizes that it is the Palestinians who consistently refuse to honor and / or break any and all "peace" agreements with Isreal this bulls**t will continue. Just sayin' ... ya' know.
During a decade in Congress, California Representative Grace Napolitano has pocketed more than $200,000 of political contributions by charging as much as 18 percent interest on money she loaned to her own campaign.
The suburban Los Angeles Democrat made the $150,000 loan in 1998, when she was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives. Through Dec. 31, her campaign committee has used d More..onations to pay Napolitano $221,780 of interest while reducing the principal by just $64,727, a review of her Federal Election Commission filings shows.
As recently as June 2008, Napolitano held a fundraiser asking supporters and political action committees for money to pay down the 1998 debt. Napolitano, her spokesman and her campaign's lawyers didn't respond to requests for comment.
"I find this practice quite reprehensible," said Craig Holman, government affairs lobbyist for Public Citizen, a Washington advocacy group. Interest payments from Napolitano's campaign treasury have "proven exorbitantly profitable," he said. "Candidates are not supposed to personally benefit from these campaign funds."
The Federal Election Commission in 1999 ruled the loan and its 18 percent rate were allowed by U.S. election laws, after a complaint by Napolitano's 1998 Democratic primary opponent. The commission agreed with Napolitano's explanation that the interest charges were justified because Napolitano had to pay penalties for taking the money from a retirement account.
#1
As Instapundit would say, they told me back in 2000 that if I voted for Bush, our elected representatives would find a way to make bribery legal and they were right.
#3
Hollyweird bookkeeping. That's why blockbuster movies and long running series never seem to make 'net profits' and that only the 'smart' people in the tar pit settle for a small take of the gross. Somehow, years after the event, there are still charges for 'advertising'. And you wonder why, outside of Congressional public show trials hearings, things never really get changed. Here's your answer.
BAGHDAD -- Two years ago the American authorities arrested Sheik Mazin al-Saedi, a senior aide to the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, accusing him of organizing kidnappings and killings.
This week in Baghdad, the city once terrorized by those killings, Sheik Mazin mingled in a white-walled art gallery as the patron of an exhibition of paintings and sculptures that would not, exactly, be out of place in Chelsea or SoHo: abstract art, expressionist paintings and conceptual works larded with symbols of Iraq's ancient history and today's reality.
The goal was "to show the entire world that we are not as the media portrays us, a movement that believes only in bearing arms and knows no culture other than that of violence," Sheik Mazin said of Mr. Sadr's movement, which is widely blamed for its part in the violence that followed the American invasion in 2003. "The Sadr movement," he said, "is also one that believes in ideas and encourages and patronizes the arts."
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
An explosive device detonated on Saturday near Israel Defense Forces soldiers patrolling along the border with Gaza. No injuries or damage were reported in the blast.
The Israel Air Force bombed two Hamas weapons manufacturing facilities in the northern Gaza Strip late Friday, hours after an IAF strike killed one Palestinian militant and critically wounded another east of Khan Younis. Palestinian sources reported that six people had been wounded in the attack.
The IDF spokesman's office issued a statement saying that IAF fighter planes had also hit four tunnels used for arms smuggling along the Gaza-Egypt border. Secondary explosions were noticeable following part of the strikes, proving the presence of weapons and munitions, the statement said.
Earlier Friday, the IDF said the IAF strike near Khan Younis had targeted two Islamic Jihad militants who were planning a terror attack within Israel. The strike was the result of a joint operation of the IDF and the Shin Bet Security Service, the IDF spokesman said.
The Israeli attacks on Friday came in response to ongoing rocket and mortar shell fire at Israel from the Gaza Strip. Two Qassam rockets and a mortar shell exploded in the western Negev Friday afternoon, causing no casualties or damages.
One of the rockets struck an open area in the Eshkol region and about an hour later another hit near the city of Sderot. There were no immediate claims of responsibility. Rocket fire has continued sporadically since Israel and Hamas unilaterally declared cease-fires after 22 days of fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Friday's rocket fire was the first such attack since Wednesday, when militants fired at least two mortar shells at Israel. In response to that attack, Israel Air Force plans targeted a Hamas post in the southern Gaza Strip, causing no casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
PARIS: Europe sank even deeper into recession than the United States in the closing months of last year, according to figures published Friday, as finance ministers of leading industrialized nations gathered in one of the worst-affected countries, Italy, for discussions on the crisis.
In the fourth quarter, the economy of the countries sharing the euro declined by 1.5 percent, according to the European Union's statistics office. That is even worse than the 1 percent decline in the U.S. economy during that period, compared with the previous quarter.
"Today's data wipes out any illusion that the euro zone is getting off lightly in this global downturn," said Jörg Radeke, an economist at the Center for Economics and Business Research in London.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Italy badly needs to devalue but can't obviously. Who drops the Euro first? Spain, Italy or Greece?
#9
...the recession, which started in the United States before spreading to most of the rest of the world.
Just one more thing for Europe to blame on us...
...because they need someone the blame because their bankers and investors held a lot of bad paper (sub-primes et al) because investing in Europe has been made unsustainable by socialist governments and programs whom the Euros voted and continue to vote into power. Don't expect them to figure it out.
While the make-up of the next government remains a question mark in Israel, it appears that the United States and the European Union have already weighed in with a clear preference for a unity government that includes Kadima and Likud.
The U.S. official position is that it looks forward to "working with any government," but in back-channel messages the Obama administration has made it clear it would like to see a unity government in Jerusalem over a narrow right-wing government which would in all likelihood result in a freeze in peace talks with the Palestinians. Aides to Likud chairman Benjamin Netanyahu confirmed on Friday that Washington officials did indeed relay the message while associates of Kadima chief Tzipi Livni denied receiving such a message.
Officially, the State Department said the coalitional line-up is an internal Israeli matter with which Washington does not involve itself.
The European Union's foreign policy chief says a new unity government of Israel's Kadima and Likud political parties would help Mideast peace talks. EU official Javier Solana says an Israeli government led by Netanyahu would be more difficult for the peace process.
In the most likely scenario for a unity government, Netanyahu would be prime minister while Kadima would hold ministries such as finance, defense or foreign affairs.
Solana also said Friday in Washington that there could be a deal within 48 hours between Israel and Hamas on a long-term cease-fire in Gaza. Egypt is mediating the talks.
The over/under for Islamic Jihad breaking the cease-fire is 3 days, followed by EU condemnation of Israel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
(With apologies in advance to 'Burg's ladies)
The only proper response is a certain Mediterranean gesture.
#3
If the Israelis were feeling witty, they could respond that they would prefer a more democratic European government, and that Obama create a co-presidency with RNC chairman Michael Steel.
#6
I would like to see a government at least partially composed of Kadima, simply because a woman named Tzipi MUST be high on the cool/interesting factor.
If *I* met a suitably aged single girl named Tzipi, I would be locked on to her like a hellfire.
The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) failed to produce the suspects of the Mumbai terrorist attacks before an anti-terrorist court for the second consecutive day here on Saturday. The judge of Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Rawalpindi waited till 3:30 pm for the accused to be produced before him. Since the SIC has registered the case under the Terrorism Act, therefore, the accused had to be presented before the ATC.
According to details, Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi belongs to the Lashkar-e-Taiba, the militant organisation accused by India to be behind the Mumbai attacks. Zarar Shah allegedly prepared a website for the Daccan Mujahideen.
Khan reportedly arranged boats for the attackers to travel from Karachi to Mumbai while Javed Iqbal allegedly coordinated with the attackers through email and Internet. He was arrested in Spain. Besides, Hamad Khan is accused of being the mastermind of the attacks while Muhammad Riaz has been accused of sending Ajmal Kasab to Mumbai.
The accused had to be produced before the court on Friday but the FIA could not produce them even on Saturday. Reliable sources told The News that the Special Investigation Cell had sent the arrested accused to the Adiala Jail on judicial remand. They said the FIA did not want to present them before the media and hence had shifted them to a special cell in the jail.
The counsel for Hamad Ameen Sadiq, Shahbaz Rajpoot Advocate, told The News that the FIA was bound to produce the accused before the court within 24 hours of their arrest.
This article starring:
Daccan Mujahideen
Ajmal Kasab
Daccan Mujahideen
Hamad Ameen Sadiq
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Javed Iqbal
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Muhammad Ashfaq
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Muhammad Riaz
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Zarar Shah
Daccan Mujahideen
Zarar Shah
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
JIHADISTS are celebrating the worst tragedy in Victoria's history.
Terror watchdogs said fundamentalists had blogged on websites across the globe, applauding the lives lost and destruction in the Victoria fires. Senior analyst at SITE Intelligence Group Adam Raisman said they were posting pictures of burnt homes and devastated victims and "taking joy in the scenes", the Sunday Herald Sun reports.
One jihadist wrote: "It would be an act of revenge for Australian's participation in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq."
Bushfires victims said they were stunned. "We're minding our own business and trying to cope with all this and they are celebrating our suffering," said Denise McCann who lost her home in the Kinglake blaze.
Regional Islamic Council vice-president Dr Ameer Ali said the comments did not represent the wider Muslim community. "They have no idea what they are talking about," he said.
You guys really don't want to make the Aussies mad. You really don't.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Regional Islamic Council vice-president Dr Ameer Ali said the comments did not represent the wider Muslim community.
It never represents the view of the wider Muslim community closest to the place of occurrence. Strange isn't that.
Posted by: Boss White ||
02/15/2009 0:55
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Any word yet on the identity of the suspect taken into custody? Just wondering.
The Taliban has established itself across a large part of Pakistan, forcing the country to fight a war against the hard-line Islamist group that is about Pakistan's own survival, President Asif Zardari told CBS News in an interview to be broadcast on February 15.
"[The Taliban] do have a presence in huge amounts of land in our side. Yes, that is the fact," Zardari said in an excerpt of the interview released two days before it is scheduled to air.
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 February 11, 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.
"Our forces weren't increased," Zardari said, suggesting he thought Pakistan had been in denial about the Taliban in the past. "We have weaknesses and they are taking advantage of that weakness."
Meanwhile, a senior Taliban official claimed a U.S. missile strike killed "at least 25" Al-Qaeda-linked militants in Pakistan's South Waziristan region on the Afghan border on February 14.
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."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
The words all sound correct but they comport so poorly with the reality of events. Or perhaps they're beginning to appreciate how well Bambi deals with reality.
A suspected Tamil Tiger rebel hurled a hand grenade at a bus full of war displaced refugees, killing a woman and wounding 13 others on Saturday, the military said.
The bus was attacked in Puliyankulam village in the north while transporting people who fled the embattled region into government territory, military spokesman Brig. Udaya Nanayakkara said.
Rebel officials could not be contacted for comment. The military's claim could not be independently verified because journalists are barred from the war zone.
A 59-year-old woman was killed and the wounded included four children, Nanayakkara said.
The government has accused the Tigers - who have recently lost their main strongholds to the government and are cornered in a small sliver of coastal land - of holding scores of people as human shields and killing civilians who want to escape.
The rebels have denied the allegations.
On Friday troops fought the Tigers near Vishwamadu village, which was recently captured by the government, and found five rebel bodies along with assault rifles, Nanayakkara said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
Information Minister NWFP, Mian Iftikhar Hussain has said that headway has been made towards implementation of Shariah regulation in Swat valley. He said the government is in contact with Maulana Sufi in this regard. Mian Iftikhar Hussain said the NWFP Chief Minister Amir Haider Hoti has convened an important meeting for February 16 in which, he said, key decision are expected to be made.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/15/2009
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
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.
A bust of the former prime minister once voted the greatest Briton in history, which was loaned to George W Bush from the Government's art collection after the September 11 attacks, has now been formally handed back. The bronze by Sir Jacob Epstein, worth hundreds of thousands of pounds if it were ever sold on the open market, enjoyed pride of place in the Oval Office during President Bush's tenure. 
Gaming revenue fell for the 12th month in a row in December and last year's overall drop is historic.
Man fails to kill himself despite inciting brown snake, which bit him nine times
British officials are travelling to Guantanamo Bay today to visit Binyam Mohamed and make preparations for the detainee's expected release, the Foreign Office said. The team, who left Miami airport en route to the US prison camp on Cuba, include a doctor who will assess Mohamed's condition.
DJIBOUTI, Feb 14 (Reuters) - Somalia's parliament endorsed on Saturday the appointment of the Western-educated son of a slain former president as prime minister in a unity government tasked with restoring order to the failed Horn of Africa state.
A BRITISH soldier was killed in action in southern Afghanistan yesterday, the Ministry of Defence said.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security forces in Kirkuk arrested a key member of an organization belonging to al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in the central part of the city on Saturday, a senior security official said. "Forces from the Kirkuk Districts' Police Department on Saturday evening captured 
At least 30 people were wounded in attacks by March 8 partisans against unarmed civilians who took part in a mass rally in Beirut's Martyrs Square marking the fourth anniversary of ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's assassination on Saturday. The victims were evacuated to the Makassed Islamic Hospital in Beirut's Tarik Jedideh district and the Sacred Heart Hospital in Hazmiyeh.
BAGHDAD -- Two years ago the American authorities arrested Sheik Mazin al-Saedi, a senior aide to the anti-American cleric Moktada al-Sadr, accusing him of organizing kidnappings and killings.
PARIS: Europe sank even deeper into recession than the United States in the closing months of last year, according to figures published Friday, as finance ministers of leading industrialized nations gathered in one of the worst-affected countries, Italy, for discussions on the crisis.
The Special Investigation Cell (SIC) failed to produce the suspects of the Mumbai terrorist attacks before an anti-terrorist court for the second consecutive day here on Saturday. The judge of Anti-Terrorist Court (ATC) Rawalpindi waited till 3:30 pm for the accused to be produced before him. Since the SIC has registered the case under the Terrorism Act, therefore, the accused had to be presented before the ATC.
