[Pirate's Cove] The White House will neither confirm nor deny the trip, but, as The Blaze found out, the Ocean Reef Club sent out a message to all members about expecting a distinguished extinguished guest and disruptions. The Chicago Sun Times has also reported on Champ heading to the club for an uber-1%er weekend. Not good for Champs carbon footprint (nor the taxpayer coffers), since Air Force 1 is too large to land on the island, so at least 5 helicopters will be needed to move everyone, according to that article. Posting of Champ and girly bike foto encouraged.
For a lot of people, the smell of bacon cooking on the stove is one of the best things about waking up in the morning.
There's always been a problem, though - someone has to be up to cook it.
The folks at Oscar Mayer have found a way around that, though - an iPhone app and dongle that will make sizzling sounds and release a bacon scent when your alarm goes off.
The aroma comes from a diffuser made by Scentee, which uses high-frequency waves to release the aroma of a bacon scent capsule.
The setups won't be for sale, but you can win one by taking a quiz on the website of the Oscar Mayer Institute for the Advancement of Bacon, which we're absolutely sure is a real thing.
Mashable reports that the dongle and app are a real thing - they're a little iffy on how much the scent really smells like bacon, and spilling the concentrated bacon scent on your hands is definitely not recommended.
But for a bacon lover, what could be better? Tom Bick, senior director of integrated marketing and advertising at Oscar Mayer, said in a statement that the company was thrilled to give "bacon aficionados a new reason to welcome their morning alarm clocks."
h/t Gates of Vienna
Vladimir Putin isnt the Easter Bunny. On the other hand, he isnt Joseph Stalin. It takes a truly fevered imagination to see Russian forces in the Crimea as a prelude to Russian tanks rolling across Europe toward Berlin and Paris.
Putin is a power player who cares more about Russias national interests, and Russian minorities in his near abroad, than in that mythical force known as world opinion. Would that America had a president who cared more about our interests than in promoting globalism and the lefts social agenda.
The Crimeas population is 60% ethnic Russian. For most of the past 800 years, the Ukraine has been Russian.
An independent Ukraine disappeared in the 12th century. It reappeared briefly after the Bolshevik Revolution, only to be crushed by the Red Army and not emerge again until the fall of the Soviet Union. All of this fuss about the territorial integrity of a state born yesterday.
The Russian-backed government in Kiev came to power democratically, but was ousted by the Maidan mob. Were told that the interim government is pro-Western and pro-EU.
When Reagan was president, the expression pro-Western meant something. It meant pro-representative government, pro-human rights and pro-Western (Judeo-Christian) values.
Today, it means a willingness to accept same-sex marriage, abortion on demand, an anti-religion ethos the agenda of the EUs cultural commissars -- and the economic dictates of the Brussels bureaucracy.
Putin doesnt want to see the EU -- and, possibly, NATO --- on his doorstep. Do you blame him? If someone overthrew a democratically elected, pro-American government in Ottawa and replaced it with an interim regime hostile to our interests, that contained neo-Nazi elements and which immediately moved against English-speaking Canadians, it would irritate us too. It would, that is, if there was an American in the White House.
But dont I care about a possible Russian annexation of the Crimea and Eastern Ukraine (with its Russian-oriented, Orthodox population), conservatives who are still fighting the Cold War ask me? Not really. Ill tell you what does concern me:
But as then-Army Chief of Staff George W. Casey, Jr. said at the time of the Ft. Hood massacre (which the administration still refuses to call a terrorist incident), diversity is the New Action Armys most important product. Perhaps we could deploy an elite unit, armed with vibrators, to the Crimea to counter Spetsnaz commandos.
The Russians began moving military troops into the Ukraine during the Winter Olympics. Apparently, they stayed--more moved in. Here are some photos of troops in the Ukraine. See photos here
The on-the-ground troops are wearing black tactical masks. Their uniforms lack any insignia. Does that not go against Geneva Convention requirements?
#1
Does that not go against Geneva Convention requirements?
Noticed that too, but the lawyer in chief didn't earmark that for public consumption. Pointing it out is too aggressive I'd guess, brackets to fill and all.
#2
Why no insignia? Cold WX gear covering it up? Best excuse. They are not military, they are police, contractors, DHS, KGB, or some other agency that does not fall under the Geneva code. Badges? We don't need... You know the rest.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/06/2014 12:32
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#3
"See photos here" - linky brings me to a page with Bill Murray and Nicole Ritchie (?!).
Here's a link to some "selfies" that will cost some Cossack wanna-be some time digging latrines, though: <LINK>
Fixed. Sorry for the delay, but at least it will work for those perusing the archives.
#4
Speaking of uniforms, here at the buffalo airport this morning are at least 2 guys in khaki cargo pants black t shirts with 'Department of Homeland Security POLICE' across the back with automatics strapped to the hip. First time I have seen this. Anybody else seen these?
#5
Speaking of these badges, Geneva Conventions, etc. anyone know where I can get a copy of that "International Law" to which our president repeatedly refers?
#7
There was some going back and forth here about who were the fascists in the Ukraine. Jim Hoft found a diamond of a pic. It shows three masked vigilantes, one has a huge swastika on his chest and his buddy on the left has a hoodie that says, "I'm am Russian."
What's funny as hell, it was a Russian backed thinktank who published the pic to twitter. Doh!
The Russian Navy OchakovKara-class cruiser was sunk last night to block the Ukrainian Navy ships deployed in Novoozerne, the Ukrainian Ministry of Defence said in a press release today.
Nice trick: block the shipping channel and pin the Ukrainian ships to their docks.
The information was confirmed by the Ukrainian military of the South Naval Base who were observing the operation.
The RF ships blocking the Ukrainian ships in Donuzlav lake in the Crimea left the zone at 23.30 p.m. (March 5). Then, the Russian military towed their ship Ochakov to the navigating channel and filled her with water. Then, there was an explosion. The depth in this area is 9-11 m, it is possible now to observe the upper part of the ship. Therefore, the ships cannot leave the Donuzlav lake.
Pic at the link. Looks like the Russians put a cork in the bottle alright...
Ochakov was stationed in the Russian Black Sea Fleet as of 2011, however it has not been operational since the early 2000.
That sounds like much of the Russian navy...
In 1961 the Donuzlav Lake was connected to the Black Sea by inlet, in fact turning the lake into the bay of the Black Sea. It is the largest lake of Donuzlav Tarhankut group of lakes and the deepest lake in the Crimea and in Europe.
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#4
..I'm not a Military Strategery guy, and I didn't sleep in a Holiday Inn Express last night, but it is, I believe, not a far stretch to see this Ukraine thing blow up into something really bad. Although I am sure the P-gon Brass Hats are doing their best to keep a lid on it, President Ego and the Minions (TM) could push this beyond controllable (but, hey, at least it will get O-Care and the other scandals off the above-fold, eh?).
In a past life, I was required to be very aware of the price of precious metals and I have an empirically-founded belief that their prices represent, to a large degree, the confidence the world has in the ability of the US to keep things reasonably sane. Of recent, said prices seem to be saying "maybe not so much"..
#9
OTOH - perhaps the views are changing - what does Russia want and how will they get it? Is this simply blockading their own port? And that is defined as success how? Tactically? Strategically?
Sure, The Ukraine could go nuts and do something stupid, but every day which passes without violence makes Russia look sillier. More importantly, every day which passes makes the next violent incident more certainly Russian.
And if Czar Putin thinks he dealt with the Caucasus efficiently, wait until he faces fellow Slavs under like conditions.
If Germany and Turkey hold bilateral meetings, he's completely boxed himself in. Could happen by this weekend.
"Meloy explained that the idea is that orgasms could happen at the push of a button when the implant could be triggered by a hand-held remote control."
..as long as she doesn't start talking (or looking) like Rachael Maddow..
[DAWN] A Gay Paree court has sentenced a Frenchie to a year in prison for operating what prosecutors described as an al Qaeda propaganda website, the first conviction under a 2012 law outlawing "cyberjihad."
The Gay Paree prosecutor's office said Wednesday that Romain Letellier was convicted Tuesday night of defending and promoting terrorism. He was given a one-year prison term plus a two-year suspended sentence.
The 2012 law was aimed at toughening anti-terrorism measures after a young radical Islamic gunman attacked a Jewish school as part of a rampage that killed seven people.
The 27-year-old Letellier has been locked away I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! since his arrest in September in the Calvados region of Normandy. Letellier said he never intended to incite anyone to violence. No attacks are linked to the site he managed.
So he was just attitudinizing without an audience? What a pathetic, unmighty Lion of Islam.
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[The Telegraph] The letter penned by Maj Gen Cowan, who should be in charge of nothing is in charge of 20,000 soldiers and 2,500 officers in 3 UK Division, mostly based at Bulford, also criticised poor grammar and writing, advising against the "wanton use of capitals, abbreviations and acronyms" because they can leave the reader exhausted. Joseph Mendiola you have been forewarned !
#2
" Ahh, but the strawberries that's... that's where I had them. They laughed at me and made jokes but I proved beyond the shadow of a doubt and with... geometric logic... that a duplicate key to the wardroom icebox DID exist, and I'd have produced that key if they hadn't of pulled the Caine out of action."
[DAWN] MIRAMSHAH: A sabotage attempt to target a convoy was foiled when security forces defused an improvised bomb planted on Esha-Razmak road near Kam Sarobi in North Wazoo Agency on Wednesday.
Sources said that security forces convoy was on way to Bannu when they spotted an IED planted along the road on Esha-Razmak road.
The device was later defused. Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde... curfew was imposed for indefinite period due to security reasons in the tribal region.
The curfew has multiplied miseries of local people as all government offices, schools, hospitals and markets remained closed.
Meanwhile, ...back at the chili cook-off, Chuck and Manuel's rivalry was entering a new and more dangerous phase... fear gripped people due to low flights of US drones in different areas of North Waziristan Agency.
Tribal people said that they had spotted drones flying at low altitude in Ghulam Khan, Dattakhel, Hamzoni, Shawal, Mir Ali sub-division and Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... . They said that four to six drones had been spotted flying at low altitude in these areas.
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A Muslim teacher was seized Wednesday by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippine town of Patikul.
Officials said Alrashid Jahang was traveling on a motorcycle when intercepted by Abu Sayyaf gunmen led by Aljini Mundoc alias Ninok Sapari. Jahang, who teaches at a local elementary school, was heading to Jolo town when taken by the militants.
Mundoc was also linked to the kidnapping last year of two Muslim sisters Linda and Nadjoua Bansil, both filmmakers, in Patikul town. The sisters were with members of the Sulu Sultanate when Mundoc seized the pair while doing a documentary about Muslim coffee farmers in the area. He was also implicated in the 2012 kidnapping of a health worker in Patikul town.
Recently, police said suspected Abu Sayyaf gunmen wearing white robes or kandura seized three students of a private school and their family driver in the town of Jolo. Police said the victims -- two children and a teenager -- were in a car on their way to school when a jeep used by the gunmen blocked their path and forcibly took them.
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#1
Teachers' unions in the US seem never to have anything to say about this sort of thing. You'd have thought it might change a wee little bit with the eeeeevil Boosh out of office, but I guess complaining about how muzz extremists treat teachers while the beloved hussein is prexy don't cut it either...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/06/2014 10:30
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The Arafat technique. One group makes nice with peace talks, meanwhile, back at the jihad...
[An Nahar] The Qaeda-inspired al-Nusra Front in Leb on Wednesday grabbed credit for firing three rockets on the Bekaa town of al-Nabi Sheet, in the latest such attack this week.
"The heroes of al-Nusra Front in Leb shelled the lairs of the party of Iran (Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... ) with three Grad rockets ...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km.... in retaliation to its massacres in Syria," the group said on its Twitter page.
It also vowed "major operations (against Hizbullah) that will deprive its 'rabbis' of sleep and inject terror into the hearts of its members," noting that "such a party only understands the language of the sword."
Earlier on Wednesday, state-run National News Agency said "a rocket landed in an agricultural area between the outskirts of the al-Nabi Sheet and al-Nasriyeh towns, causing no damage."
It said the rocket was fired from the Eastern Mountain Range on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
On Tuesday, three rockets fired from Syria struck residential neighborhoods in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh, in an attack that was swiftly claimed by the Qaeda-inspired Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant.
And on Monday, four people were maimed when eight rockets fired from Syria hit the Bekaa town of Brital and its surroundings. Al-Nusra Front in Lebgrabbed credit for that attack.
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[MAGHAREBIA] A recent festival in the southern Tunisian city of Nafta brought thousands of domestic and foreign tourists to an area once neglected over fears of terrorism. But the new event faced a backlash from religious bad boys.
Desert tourism in Tunisia received a blow after the revolution as a result of insecurity. Tourism Minister Amel Karboul highlighted her commitment to reviving the south by inaugurating the Electronic Dunes Festival on February 21st.
"We must as Tunisians embrace the desert....in order for tourists to follow us," she said at the opening of the 3-day event.
The culture and tourism ministries recently agreed to organise events in southern Tunisia. Culture Minister Mourad Sakli said that strengthening tourism in the region would include festivals and artistic events, and also the creation of a cultural crossway in the desert.
The Nafta event was the first in the planned series.
"We wanted to help the region and make it known to foreigners and tourists," Patrick-Ali Elouarghi, one of the festival founders, told Tunisian television. "Success has already exceeded all expectations."
Indeed, hotels in the south were for the first time fully booked.
"Tourism Minister Amel Karboul is betting on festivals, which are thronged by Tunisians and tourists alike," hotel owner Moez Boudelli told Magharebia.
Despite this success, bad boy groups used social networking pages and websites to launch a campaign against the minister, accusing her of "low morals, corruption, and hostility to Islam".
They also posted photos of youths at the festival. Islamist-leaning Al-Sada website said: "The tourism minister in Jomaa's government desecrates the Tunisian south; wine, prostitution and gambling under the protection of the police."
In a piece for an Ennahda-affiliated newspaper, news hound Mohammed Hamrouni wrote: "Amel Karboul addressed youth who were standing in front of her sipping beer. She told them, you are the ones who will make the future of Tunisia."
Others did not hesitate to leap to the defence of the tourism minister.
Tunisian writer and researcher Raja ben Slama wrote on her Facebook page: "There is a silly pseudo ethical campaign coming from sites claiming to be Islamists against the Minister of Tourism. These sites specialise in assaulting opponents and fabricating lies against successful women in particular."
"These sites began their campaign against the Minister of Tourism with, 'desecration of the South with alcohol, prostitution, and gambling...The funny part is that these sites hide the faces of men in the photos but show the faces of women as if for Dire Revenge™," she said.
"Every show of joy and delight, every celebration of life and art is considered indecency by pseudo-Islamists," ben Slama added.
Another supporter of the minister had a different theory. The "Plot for the Republic" Facebook page suggested a political motive for the social media outrage.
"The reason for the campaign against Amel Karboul and the festival in the South is not wine or dance and singing and not even 'the desecration of the South'... The real reason is that she dared replace her deputy, who was from Ennahda, with a person she can trust," the page commentary said.
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#1
"Every show of joy and delight, every celebration of life and art is considered indecency by pseudo-Islamists,"
Islamic fundamentalism defined in one sentence. The Arabs may finally be figuring this out.
Posted by: Florida Al ||
03/06/2014 19:40
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A villager in Narathiwat province was wounded when a bomb buried under garbage exploded on Wednesday while a soldier in Pattani province was injured by an explosion while removing a banner against the Thai Army.
The homemade bomb hidden in garbage went off at 9 a.m. in Yi Ngor district and injured a 47-year-old villager. Police found a Thai-language leaflet saying "Do you deserve to be Siamese soldiers after shooting innocent people?" at the scene. Police think the bomb was meant to target special taskforce soldiers who pass the spot daily.
In Pattani's Ma Yor district, Sergeant Chaisit Yingdamnoon recieved a slight leg injury when a bomb exploded as he was removing a roadside banner signed by "Patoni warriors", which slammed Thai army and called for the army to leave the region. Another two bombs were found nearby but were safely defused.
[Dhaka Tribune] An alleged bully boy was killed in what police called a 'shootout' in Damurhuda upazila, Chuadanga early yesterday.
The dear departed was identified as Abul Kashem, 35, son of late Juron Ali of Damurhuda upazila. Police said Kashem was an bully boy and had several cases against him.
A patrol team of police was attacked in Kanaibabur Aam Bagan area of Boalmari around 3:00am, officer-in-charge of Damurhuda Police Station Ahsan Habib told The Dhaka Tribune.
"The miscreants hurled three crude bombs and also fired gunshots," he said, adding that the law enforcers had been compelled to fire back in order to protect themselves. The body of Kashem was recovered from the spot later and police also recovered a locally-made gun, five rounds of bullets and four crude bombs from there, Habib said.
"Kashem was a terrorist. He has been named an accused in several cases, including murder and abduction, that were filed with a number of cop shoppes including Damurhuda Police Station," Habib added.
The incident comes amidst protests in the country over extrajudicial killings.
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#2
Deara Rantburgers. In this times of global warming I send you this piece of Siberian wisodom. "If you spit and ut freezes before it reaches ground it means it is minus 55 Celsius and you definitely need a thick coat."
that same 'spit' information was also in Jack London's short story, "To Light A Fire"
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03/06/2014 17:16
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Phil, I am a bit "knowy knowy" on Niagara Falls as I once did my Westinghouse Science Fair project on it when gas was still under .50 a gallon... They divert about 70% of the flow after the lights go out both for Hydro electric purposes over the Horseshoe Falls, but also to preserve the rock structure of Niagara itself. The tourist come to see Niagara Falls and not the Buffalo rapids!
My dad also grew up there and he told me when he was a teen in the 30's it froze over and you could walk out to the edge. This was before the diverter dams were built I think.
"Just because you guys are childish poopy heads doesn't mean we're gonna descend to your stupid face level, ya dumdums! We won't even say anything about how your Momma's favourite husband was a camel, because we're so dignified and restrained."
[Al Ahram] Qatar said on Wednesday it regretted the decision of three fellow Gulf monarchies to withdraw their envoys to Doha, but pledged not to pull its ambassadors from those countries.
Doha said the decision by Bahrain, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... and the United Arab Emirates was linked to "differences over issues outside the Gulf Cooperation Council", in an apparent reference to differing policies mainly regarding Egypt.
The three countries justified their recall moves by saying Qatar had failed not to meddle in the "internal affairs" of member states.
"The move taken by the brothers in Saudi Arabia, UAE and Bahrain has nothing to do with the interests of the Gulf peoples, their security and stability," said a council of ministers statement.
"Qatar is very keen on maintaining brotherly links between the people of Qatar and all other Gulf peoples," it said.
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[ST] MOSCOW (REUTERS) -- A Kremlin aide was quoted on Tuesday as saying that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow might be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off any loans to US banks. Good luck with that, Sparky...
Mr Sergei Glazyev, who is often used by the authorities to stake out a hardline stance but does not make policy, was cited by RIA news agency as saying Moscow could recommend that all holders of US treasuries sell them if Washington freezes the US accounts of Russian businesses and individuals.
The US Senate Foreign Relations Committee is preparing legislation to provide support to Ukraine and consulting the Obama administration on possible sanctions against individual Russians, the committee's chairman said on Monday.
The committee was also consulting with President Champ's administration on possible sanctions against individuals ranging from visa bans and asset freezes to suspending military cooperation and sales, as well as economic sanctions. Here comrade, please hold my horse while I shoot myself.
#1
Even Zerohedge hasn't figured out that we are looking at the end of multi-lateral trade. At best, we are looking at currency zones of trade. With perhaps gold as the basis for inter-zone trade.
#3
Being the world's largest oil producer gives Russia a bit of leverage, even if they produce most of what they consume.
With or without the Great, Awesome and Most Admirable Obama, the world has been on the edge of a meltdown for almost 10 years now. Just when it'll happen and what will happen is uncertain. An impossible situation, such as the one we're in, won't go on forever. "Too Big to Fail" is a key part of our impossible situation.
It appears bitcoin's recent turmoil has claimed its first life.
Autumn Ratke a 28-year-old American CEO of bitcoin exchange firm First Meta was found dead in her Singapore apartment on Feb. 28.
Local media are calling it a suicide, but Singapore officials are waiting for toxicology test results. Ratke formerly worked with Apple and other Silicon Valley tech firms on developing digital payment systems.
Ratke's death brings the number of questionable financial sector deaths this year to eight.
[Al Ahram] A UAE court Monday handed a Qatari and two Emiratis jail terms of between five and seven years for raising funds for a Moslem Brüderbund-linked group, state news agency WAM said.
Dozens of Islamists have been jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! in recent months in the United Arab Emirates as concern grows over the Moslem Brüderbund following the group's role in the Arab Spring uprisings.
The Federal Supreme Court in Abu Dhabi sentenced Mahmud al-Jidah, a Qatari, to seven years in prison followed by deportation, WAM said.
Abdul Wahid al-Badi and Saeed al-Buraimi, both Emiratis, were jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! for five years each. A third Emirati, Taher al-Tamimi, was acquitted.
Amnesia Amnesty International has called the trial a "farce" that "makes a mockery of the UAE's claim to be a progressive country that respects human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state... ."
The Gulf News daily said the three were accused of "aiding and abetting Al-Islah (reform)," identified by authorities as the local branch of the Moslem Brüderbund, and "collecting funds to support it".
On 21 January, the same court, whose rulings are final, jugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! 10 Emiratis and 20 Egyptians for periods ranging from three months to five years for forming a Moslem Brüderbund cell.
UN expert Gabriela Knaul this month criticised "violations" and a "lack of transparency" in court proceedings in the UAE and urged an independent probe into allegations of torture in prisons.
London-based rights watchdog Amnesty urged UAE authorities to "immediately quash the conviction" against Jidah, saying the trial had been "grossly unfair".
Jidah "was placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! without a warrant, blindfolded and flung into solitary confinement before being repeatedly tortured, ill-treated and forced to sign papers he wasn't allowed to read," said Amnesty's Said Boumedouha.
The UAE has not seen the widespread protests that have swept other Arab states since 2011.
But authorities have cracked down hard on dissent and calls for democratic reform, drawing criticism from human rights groups.
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[Dhaka Tribune] Hinting at the BNP and its key ally Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... , Prime Minister the loathesome Sheikh Hasina ...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as the Battling Begums.. yesterday told parliament that her government would take necessary steps against miscreants who killed people in the name of agitation.
"We will take legal action against them [miscreants] as the people demand for it. We will bring them to book," she said while answering to a supplementary question of Awami League politician AFM Bahauddin Nasim.
Nasim wanted to know what kind of measures the government had taken regarding the mayhem carried out by the BNP-Jamaat alliance centring the 10th parliamentary poll they boycotted.
Hasina said the BNP-Jamaat had killed people including law enforcers in the name of hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... and blockade as "they have no responsibility towards the country and its people.
"Failing to engage the people in their demonstration, the BNP-Jamaat was involved in killing and damaging people's property."
The premier said the BNP-Jamaat wanted to halt the supply chain of goods and essential commodities to worsen sufferings of the people.
"But the government was able to keep prices of essential commodities under control despite some problems," she said, adding that the BNP-Jamaat alliance had failed to create the worst situation as per their evil design though they had made huge damage to the country.
Responding to a supplementary question of independent politician Rustam Ali Farazi, the premier said despite challenges, her government would go ahead like the previous tenure for the prosperity of the country.
"We assumed power when the country was battered by militancy and terrorism and people were in panic. And facing all the challenges, we have reached the current situation. We have courage and stamina to face any situation. We are going ahead to our goals and we will succeed."
She added that her government had succeeded in facing the global recession.
Referring to the achievements of her 2009-13 government, she said the government had achieved the targeted six-point growth of millennium development goal. It proved that the government had been in favour of development activities rather than corruption.
The premier also urged the countrymen to keep faith on the government.
Rustam Ali MP asked to the premier how she would ensure political stability, establish good governance and curb corruption.
Responding to a question of Rezaul Haque Chowdhury, Hasina said the government took various measures to keep the prices of essential commodities under control.
"The government will increase vigil at district- and upazila-levels and will hold regular meetings with stakeholders and review the prices of essential commodities of internal market to keep the prices under stable," she said.
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[Beirut Daily Star] Syria launched a series of Arclight airstrikes targeting a remote area of the Bekaa Valley border town of Arsal Wednesday, a security source told The Daily Star.
There were no immediate reports of casualties from the air raids on Ras al-Sirj and Iqbit al-Mbaida on Arsal's outskirts, the sources added.
Arsal mayor Ali Hujeiri said the warplanes carried out three Arclight airstrikes between 8 a.m. and 9 a.m.
"Syrian jets are bombing the barren terrain of Arsal. They have no specific targets," he told The Daily Star by telephone. "Several bombs fell in a field near a Lebanese Army checkpoint," Hujeiri added.
Hours after the Arclight airstrike, one rocket from Syria hit Janta, a border village in the Bekaa Valley where Hezbollah is known to have several training camps.
Syrian jets have frequently targeted Arsal, a predominantly Sunni area known for its strong support for the Syrian opposition.
In turn, Shiite-majority areas in east Leb have been repeatedly targeted by rocket fire from Syria claimed by radical Islamist groups linked to Al-Qaeda.
The hilly region around Arsal near the Syrian border has long been used as smuggling trails to arm Syrian rebels or move fighters back and forth between Leb and Syria.
Syrian Arclight airstrikes have intensified since Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... 's forces launched a military campaign to seize the rebel-held town of Yabroud located inside Syria, near Arsal.
Yabroud is a major rebel supply route that leads to border towns in northeastern Leb where the majority of the population supports the rebels.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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[DAWN] FAISALABAD: Police registered two cases on Wednesday against five lawyers and one of their clerks on charges of thrashing a policeman on court premises.
On Tuesday, ASI Shakeel Ahmad along with his colleague stopped a man later identified as Irfan, clerk of lawyer Imtiaz Luna, and asked him for identification. Irfan exchanged words with the coppers and refused his body search.
Irfan informed Luna about the incident who rushed to the spot along with his accomplices. They allegedly thrashed the ASI and dispersed.
Security measures had been put in place following attack on the courts in Islamabad.
Civil Lines police on the complaint of the ASI started the paperwork but haven't done much else under section 353, 186, 147, 148 and 506 of the PPC against Luna and four others.
A case has also been registered with Kotwali police against Irfan on the complaint of Constable Mubashar Niazi under sections 353, 186 and 506 of PPC.
However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... no arrest was made.
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[An Nahar] Apparently-coordinated attacks on army and police checkpoints in the Storied Baghdad area killed at least seven members of Iraq's security forces on Wednesday, officials said.
Gunmen attacked three checkpoints in Storied Baghdad, while a roadside kaboomwent kaboom! near a fourth in Tarmiyah, north of the capital.
The Storied Baghdad shootings killed at least two soldiers and four police, while at least one soldier died in the Tarmiyah blast.
The checkpoint attacks followed a series of nine bombings that hit six different areas of the capital earlier on Wednesday, killing a least 14 people and wounding more than 70.
Iraq has been hit by a year-long surge in bloodshed that has reached levels not seen since 2008, driven by widespread discontent among the country's Sunni Arab minority and by the bloody civil war in neighboring Syria.
Violence in Iraq has killed more than 1,800 people since January 1, according to Agence La Belle France Presse figures based on security and medical sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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[MAGHAREBIA] As Algeria prepares for the April 17th presidential election, Prime Minister Abdelmalik Sellal urged forces of Evil to renounce armed action and benefit from the reconciliation charter, which he said was still effective.
Since last Saturday, army units launched a wide military campaign that resulted in the deaths of at least six terrorists, according to the official count.
Algerian troops on Monday (March 3rd) took out two Death Eaters during a sweep of the forests of Sidi Ali Bouneb, located between the wilayas of blood-stained Tizi Ouzou and corpse-littered Boumerdes. ANP troops found anti-tank rockets, bombs, guns and ammunition, the defence ministry said. The weapons were smuggled from Libya, according to Tout sur l'Algerie.
At the same time, Algerian special operations units thwarted an attempt by Death Eaters to smuggle 47 rockets from Libya to northern Mali through Algeria and Niger. An Algerian army special operations unit seized 30 Katyusha rockets and 17 Strela surface-to-air missiles, El Khabar reported February 23rd.
Sellal made his appeal for peace during a February 26th visit to corpse-littered Boumerdes, a hotbed of terrorist activity. The premier also met with local elected officials and civil society representatives.
"I'm bringing to you a message from the president, and you have to understand that his hands are still extended for good and reconciliation," the prime minister said.
"We want reconciliation and good, but we're saying to those [i.e. terrorists] that you have made a mistake against the Algerian people and you have to review your positions because Algeria has set sail and there will not be a return to lean years and regret," he noted.
Some 8,500 forces of Evil have benefited from the Charter for Peace and National Reconciliation since it was implemented in 2006. During the same time, security forces killed 1,600 terrorists.
Journalist Mohammed Adnan said that through his call in corpse-littered Boumerdes, the Algerian prime minister was eyeing Islamists' votes by confirming that the reconciliation project was still in effect.
"Each time Sellal appears, he tries to highlight the major role that President Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age... has played in achieving peace and reconciliation, and in this way, he is indirectly calling on people to vote for Bouteflika, who has enabled Algeria to restore peace," he added.
In his turn, lawyer Merouane Azzi said that the prime minister's call was part of "efforts made by the state to stop bloodshed and realise security".
"At the same time, the counter-terrorism policy is still being implemented," Merouane said, adding that that the Algerian authorities realised there were some who had yet to benefit from measures approved under the charter, something that could prompt them to take additional steps to advance reconciliation.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart... Islamists, particularly members of the dissolved Islamic Salvation Front (FIS), see the next presidential election as an opportunity to re-present their demands in return for supporting a candidate who will respond to them.
El Hachemi Sahnouni, a FIS leader, said in an interview with Ennahar daily that "a large number of former leaders of FIS plan to support candidate Abdelaziz Bouteflika in the next presidential election, provided he abides by some demands."
He explains that the most important of those is the actual and strict application "of the national reconciliation law and its serious and gradual implementation before it turns into amnesty for all the cases that took place in Algeria throughout the past period".
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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Obama once again demonstrates which side of the Middle East he is on, and it ain't America's.
Bastard.
The United States has quietly instituted a policy of denying visa requests from members of Israel's security services, Maariv/nrg reports.
Senior security personnel who spoke to the paper said that over the past year they have seen hundreds of cases in which members of the Shin Bet and Mossad, and workers in Israel's defense industries, have been told they cannot visit America.
The situation has been discussed in Israeli defense circles, they said. No official statement has been forthcoming from either U.S. or Israeli leaders.
"If we don't say anything, we don't have to admit to it," thought the cleverest people in the room.
#6
Sounds like we caught somebody doing some spy work here recently.
So? We've caught Russians and Chinese spying on us as well, but there don't seem to be the visa issues there.
Back when the intelligence agencies had actual spies they might have been able to suggest methods of still cooperating with Israel without compromising stuff; that's supposed to be their job.
Boy howdy I bet that hurt. Egyptian coppers breaking an arm -- next thing you know we'll hear about Egyptian bankers fleecing the rubes. Is she gonna sue or just whine about it for the next decade?
[CAMEROONLATEST.BLOGSPOT] Fotokol, a locality in the Logon and Chari Division in the Northern Region was transformed last Sunday into a battle field between members of the boko haram sect and elements of the 34th motorized infantry battalion. Eyewitness accounts that some thirty heavily armed assailants belonging to boko haram infiltrated into their village. Sensing danger, the villagers informed the 34th motorized infantry battalion at Fotokol as well as elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion-BIR who surrounded the hiding commandos of the boko haram sect. Boko haram hard boyz opened fire and the BIR responded fearlessly killing some six bad boys.
The results of this exchange of gunfire that lasted a few hours was heavy and according reports the damages are enormous. Reports say six attackers of the sect were killed by the brilliant elements of Rapid Intervention Battalion and on the Cameroonian side, a soldier of the 34th motorized infantry battalion was also killed.
It is said that many soldiers as well as boko haram members were also injured. It has been observed that members of the sect boko haram easily cross the border in cycle of violences to Fotokol, kill and return back to Nigeria. Located just meters from Nigeria , Fotokol provides refuge not only to members of boko haram chased by the Nigerian army , but also Nigerians who fled the attacks of boko haram in their country.
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03/06/2014
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Top|| File under: Boko Haram
[FOXNEWS] A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify.
Lerner, who last year refused to answer questions about her role in singling out Tea Party and other conservative groups for extra scrutiny when they applied for tax-exempt status, was called back before the House Oversight and Government Reform Committee on Wednesday. Though Republicans argue she waived her Fifth Amendment right by giving a statement during the last hearing, Lerner continued to invoke that right on Wednesday.
"On the advice of my counsel, I respectfully exercise my Fifth Amendment right and decline to answer that question," she said in response to several questions.
But ranking Democratic Rep. Elijah Cummings ...Representative-for-life from Maryland, representing half of Baltimore City, which makes his district ultra-safe, and most of Howard County, which is out-populated by the city. Cummings' politix are so liberal they're tedious... , D-Md., got into a heated argument with Chairman Darrell Issa, R-Calif., after Issa tried to adjourn the hearing.
Issa at first stood up and prepared to leave as Cummings said he wanted to ask a "procedural question." In seconds, tensions flared.
"Mr. Chairman, you cannot run a committee like this," Cummings appealed.
Cummings' microphone was then turned off, and then flipped back on again. Issa sat down momentarily, but then abruptly told Lerner she was "released" and said: "We're adjourned, close it down."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Elijah Cummings is an Anti-American POS. And a Donk hack, BIRM
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2014 8:05
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#2
The old tactic of diverting attention by raising hell on something completely unrelated.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2014 10:10
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#6
Cummings did not have a question. He started to rant about how this was a trumped up investigation. Once Issa realized it was not a question but a political rant he shut off the show. Good move.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/06/2014 10:19
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#7
Cummings said all he wanted to do was get at the truth (before the committee packed up and went home while he was still talking for the cameras). He wouldn't know or be interested in the truth if it smacked him across the face. He just wanted to grandstand for the cameras and the folks back home.
FORT WORTH, Texas -- George P. Bush took the first step toward continuing his family's political dynasty Tuesday, shaking off an under-funded primary challenger and securing the Republican nomination for the little-known but powerful post of Texas land commissioner.
The 37-year-old Fort Worth attorney is the grandson of former President George H.W. Bush, nephew of former President and Texas Gov. George W. Bush, and son of ex-Florida Gov. Jeb Bush, who is frequently mentioned as a possible GOP White House hopeful in 2016.
He's also a Spanish speaker whose mother Columba was born in Mexico and who Republican leaders statewide long have toasted as key to wooing voters among Texas' booming Hispanic population.
"We don't have to change our conservative principles to win, we just need to change our tactics," said Bush, who spoke English and Spanish to the crowd at his victory party at a Fort Worth Mexican restaurant. His mother was among the attendees.
He noted that his campaign traveled to numerous heavily Hispanic areas, including making several trips to the Texas-Mexico border.
"You'll see that we have tea party friends, that we have mainstream conservatives, we have strong Latino support and a lot of younger voters," he said. Even though he is another Bush, his philosophy is very much like another popular and articulate Texas Latino politician, US Congressman Ted Cruz.
As the Saudis found to their dismay, American sons cannot be guaranteed to follow their fathers' philosophies. Fascinating that this grandson continues that family tradition.
#1
I met him in Colorado Springs in 2004 during W's reelection campaign. Very well spoken and seemed to be very genuine. Especially next to the politicians from the area that were there as well. P stood out and was the only one I didn't feel like washing after I shook hands.
Best of luck to him and I really hope he is still the nice guy I met way back then.
#3
As per the MSM-Net, since the Commie Party USA repor wants to sue the Democrats for usurping = stealing their agenda, methinks I see an opportunity for Bro + alleged Commie Uncle NEIL BUSH???
[An Nahar] Arab Democratic Party Secretary-General Rifaat Eid ...secretary general of the Leb Arab Democratic Party, a Pencilneck regime front organization... denied on Wednesday that his father and the party's leader and ex-MP, Ali Eid, had fled to the neighboring country Syria.
"Perish the thought!"
"My father is practicing his normal life in Hikr al-Dahri town in (the northern district of) Akkar," Eid said in comments to LBCI.
Al-Mustaqbal ... the Future Movement, political party led by Saad Hariri... newspaper reported earlier on Wednesday that ex-MP Eid escaped to Syria after an arrest warrant was issued against him.
"We were created to confront others not to run away," the party's Secretary-General said, addressing former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. .
In November, State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr issued a search and investigation warrant against former MP Eid.
The Internal Security Forces Intelligence Bureau had summoned Eid to question his alleged involvement in the August double bombing in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... .
But the northern leader said he was willing to appear before any security agency except for the Intelligence Bureau.
Eid's driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali is being held by the Intelligence Bureau on charges of smuggling to Syria Ahmed Merhi, one of the main suspects in the bombings against al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli on August 23.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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[MAGHAREBIA] A high-ranking al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) official was among the seven gunnies killed in the recent Algerian military operation in the Sidi Ali Bouneb region, Liberté reported on Wednesday (March 5th). Sahara emir Bourahla Moussa (aka Abou Daoud) was a deputy of Mokhtar Belmokhtar. The 55-year-old was considered the likely successor to AQIM chief Abdelmalik Droukdel ... aka Abdel Wadoud, was a regional leader of the GSPC for several years before becoming the group's supremo in 2004 following the death of then-leader Nabil Sahraoui. Under Abdel Wadoud's leadership the GSPC has sought to develop itself from a largely domestic entity into a larger player on the international terror stage. In September 2006 it was announced that the GSPC had joined forces with al-Qaeda and in January 2007 the group officially changed its name to the Al-Qaeda Organization in the Islamic Maghreb.... .
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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[Osun Defender] Senator Ahmed Khalifa Zannah, who represents Borno Central Senatorial District in the Nigeria National Assembly, has confirmed that 11 villagers in Jakana were burnt to death by Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect fighters on Monday, as previously reported
The Senator told some journalists in Abuja that the hard boyz earlier warned the villagers of the attack before they stormed the community and burnt down one third of it.
Senator Zannah said youths and other strong adults fled the area, leaving only the aged and those who had no means of escaping.
It was gathered that it was a reinforcement of soldiers finally forced the sect to retreat.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[UK.REUTERS] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with the Panamanian government due to a "conspiracy" against him.
"We're not going to let anyone get away with interfering with our fatherland, you despicable lackey, president of Panama," Maduro said in a speech to commemorate the anniversary of late socialist leader Hugo Chavez's death.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
State oil company should have fun shipping their oil to China around one of the Capes.
[Al Ahram] The co-founder of US-based anti-war group Code Pink ... a U.S. anti-war group. The group describes itself as a women-initiated grassroots peace and social justice movement working to end the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, stop new wars, and redirect our resources into healthcare, education, green jobs and other life-affirming activities. It was founded in 2002 by Jodie Evans, Medea Benjamin and some of the other usual antiwar suspects. Its website lists hysterical allegations of US war crimes, and states that thousands of civilians were killed in Fallujah in 2004. Maybe it was millions. Benjamin was a 2000 candidate for the U.S. Senate on the Green Party ticket. She lost... said Tuesday that Egyptian police detained her at Cairo's international airport when she tried to enter the country en route to the Gazoo Strip and treated her roughly, fracturing her shoulder as they handcuffed her before deporting her.
Egyptian officials denied Medea Benjamin was assaulted, saying she had refused to leave despite being told that the border to Gazoo was closed because of military operations in the area.
However, there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened... other members of the same delegation of women activists heading to Gazoo were allowed into Egypt, and it was not clear why Benjamin was singled out for deportation.
Speaking from Turkey, where she was deported, Benjamin told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named she was roughed up by Egyptian airport officials and security agents, who declined to explain why she was barred from entry, telling her only that she was on a blacklist.
When she refused to board a plane to Istanbul without first meeting with US embassy officials, the 61-year-old Benjamin said security agents wrestled her to the ground, sat on her back and yanked her arms behind her.
"They put [on] extremely, extremely tight [plastic] handcuffs," she said. She said it was then that her shoulder was dislocated and that a doctor later reset it but told her it was fractured and that a ligament had been torn. She said the police dragged her across the airport to a plane for Istanbul.
"It was as if I was some kind of crazy terrorist," Benjamin said.
Benjamin was held in the Cairo airport for nearly 14 hours, half of the time in a cell for deportees.
US State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said consular officers in Egypt were in contact with Benjamin. "Due to privacy considerations, we can't provide additional details, but I can assure you that our consular officers in Egypt did provide all of the assistance necessary," she said.
Benjamin was heading to the Gazoo Strip as part of a delegation of women activists to express support for the impoverished territory, subjected to heavy restrictions by Israel and Egypt. Benjamin said she had obtained a visa, had coordinated with the Egyptian embassy in Washington and the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, and that the delegation had coordinated with Egypt's foreign ministry regarding their visit to Gazoo.
Egypt's foreign ministry front man Badr Abdel-Ati said Benjamin had a visa to Egypt but that officials told her the Gazoo border was closed. "She refused to return on the same flight," Abdel-Ati said.
Another member of the women's delegation, Anne Wright, arrived in Cairo after Benjamin and was allowed into the country without any problems. Wright told AP that around 20 other members of the 100-member group were already in Egypt.
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03/06/2014
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#1
I wouldn't assault her with a ten-foot pole - pleased to hear the Egyptians are not so particular.
#3
Every time, well, uh, no, uh occasionally, er, that ain't right either, now-and-then, when a truncheon swings, the baby crusty old hag Medea cries bitches a blue streak to the usual suspects in the media...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/06/2014 9:32
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#4
It was as if I was some kind of crazy terrorist,
And your complaint is what exactly??
You were and are an active supporter of terrorists so it is perfectly reasonable to so treat you.
#8
Some people pay good money for that sort of thing.
Made in US Amerikka by Koch Industries, no doubt. / sarc
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/06/2014 10:33
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#9
but I can assure you that our consular officers in Egypt did provide all of the assistance necessary
*snickers*
Sounds like your friends in DC turned you in. Be an optimist, it was for your own protection. But also consider you took on Pelosi's right to authority and that you are no longer useful and in fact a liability to the cause.
[Al Ahram] The United States said Wednesday its intelligence services and military worked with Israel to track a ship carrying an intercepted shipment of advanced Iranian rockets for Paleostinian bad boys.
White House front man Jay Carney said Washington started to work with Israel through intelligence and military channels and at the national security advisor level as soon as it knew the shipment was on the move.
President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... also directed the US military to work out contingencies in case it became necessary to intercept the vessel, White House front man Jay Carney told news hounds aboard Air Force One.
"Throughout this time our intelligence and military activities were closely coordinated with our Israeli counterparts who ultimately chose to take the lead in interdicting this shipment of illicit arms," Carney said.
"We will continue to stand up to Iran's support for destabilizing activities in the region in coordination with our partners and allies," he said.
The IDF blogs the thing with maps, pictures and video, showing their work as it's said in the teaching biz. Feel free to draw your own conclusions, dear Reader.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
You sure it was Israel, not Iran you were working with?
[Shabelle] Tension between the Puntland ...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion... state and Mudug region increased significantly after a political falling out.
I've no idea where that is -- it isn't on our map.
This disagreement became officially known after armed gunnies in Galmudug ...a semiautonomous region in central Somalia, bordering Puntland on the north. Galmudug is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation, but rather considers itself autonomous within the larger Somali federalism, for what that's worth... 's southern Galkacyo assailed to kill and injure people from the west of Galkacyo in Puntland.
These gunnies have killed up to 2 people and injured at least another 2 according to a statement to the media by an official named Abdi Kafi who accused the perpetrators of Galmudug.
The relations of Puntland and Galmudug are slowly increasing but recently it is unknown to what extent of the impact it will have.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/06/2014
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Are Galmudug and Puntland at odds
Behind smooth diplomatic facades?
Galmudugians hoot
As they loot, shoot, and scoot,
"Snooty Puntlanders treat us like clods!"
#2
Looks like all those pics are of a single rooftop in Galkacyo...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/06/2014 11:59
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#3
Or they're selling a lot of that color tile, which was in the old days "traditional" because it was thought to produce the lowest temperatures in the blazing heat.
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2014 10:09
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#6
Buenos Dias!
Posted by: Caesar Gray1629 ||
03/06/2014 10:18
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#7
Parkins and her friends, part of a series on dangerous women? She has studied fencing.
wiki entry: Parkins was born in Vancouver, British Columbia. At the age of sixteen, she and her mother moved to Los Angeles, where she enrolled at Hollywood High School and began to study acting, tap, ballet, and fencing at the Falcon School, where her mother played the piano. Her earliest employment was as a backup singer and dancer in the nightclub acts of major stars, including comedian George Burns. She made her film debut in a low-budget crime caper, 20,000 Eyes.
In the late 1960s Parkins was linked to several men, but she insisted most of the stories were made up by gossip magazines. Some of the men included Omar Sharif, Adam West, David Hedison and Marcel Marceau. In a 1965 interview Parkins said: "I get calls now, from young actors I used to have crushes on. They'll ask me out now, when they wouldn't a year ago. And I love to say 'No' to them. I'd have liked it once, but now I don't need them." Hard heart-breaking woman...
#9
I think your right Billy about 'shelved design' - look at her left foot in that - it's not all there. (come on guys - if you concentrate real hard you can focus on her foot...)
[An Nahar] The al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front in Syria and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... haven't taken a decision to "officially enter Leb," as the two groups are still dealing with agents for them to "send messages to Hizbullah." ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory...
"Both groups have the necessary logistic capabilities to carry out attack in Leb similar to those in Iraq but there's no decision yet to move the conflict to Leb," a leader in al-Nusra Front said in comments published in al-Akhbar newspaper.
However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... the leader said that the decision might "be changed in the upcoming days in light of the developments in Syria's Qalamoun."
The Syrian army and Hizbullah fighters have expelled rebels from several strategic towns in Qalamoun, but Yabrud -- the largest in the region -- has so far remained an opposition stronghold.
"ISIL and the al-Nusra Front still haven't appointed an Emir in Leb to run the Lebanese front."
The leader told al-Akhbar daily that the two groups are tasking agents for them in Leb, similar to Naim Abbas, a top of the Qaeda-linked Abdullah Azzam Brigades ... Leb's current al-Qaeda affiliate, named after a guy whose car the current head of al-Qaeda had boomed... , who was tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! by the army in February.
The leader stressed that the Abdullah Azzam Brigades is the only active group in Leb, pointing out that the bombings carried out by it inflicted heavy damage and caused a high number of casualties.
"Those who were arrested by Lebanese security forces are only implementers and not planners."
"The bombings that have so far occurred are merely messages to Hizbullah over its involvement in the war in Syria," al-Nusra Front leader said, noting that the kabooms are targeting civilians "to push the party's withdrawal" from the neighboring country.
Leb witnessed a string of of kabooms in recent months targeting mainly strongholds of Hizbullah, which has drawn the ire of Sunni bad boy groups in part because of its role fighting alongside the regime in Syria.
"The Jihadist leadership is convinced that the fall of the Syrian regime will lead to the fall of Hizbullah," the leader added.
Hizbullah has dispatched fighters to battle alongside the Syrian regime against rebels seeking the overthrow of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... .
The conflict, pitting a Sunni-dominated rebel movement against Assad, whose Alawite faith is an offshoot of Shiite Islam, has raised sectarian tensions in Leb.
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A total of three individuals were killed on ongoing drug and gang related violence in southern Chihuahua state municipalities since last Sunday, according to Mexican news reports.
The deputy commander of the Chihuahua state police was found shot to dead on a road between Parral and Los Charco on Sunday, according to a news report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Chihuahua news daily.
Javier Enrique Nuñez, 42 had been shot multiple times by armed suspects who used 9mm and 12 gauge weapons. He was described as a sub commander of the State ministerial police in Villa Colorado.
Also near Parral a man in his 20s was shot to death in an apparent hit in Matamoros municipality Tuesday.
According to a news account in El Diario de Chihuahua, armed suspects aboard several truck were firing on the victim, identified as Juan Antonio Barragan Noriega, 22, before he was struck with gunfire and died.
Mexican press are calling the incident a shootout, which means the victim at least tried to shoot back at his attackers. The shootout took place near the Chihuahua state and Durango state borders.
Meanwhile in Parral Tuesday a man in his 20s being treated in a hospital was shot to death by an armed suspect.
Alejandro Julian Almanza, 24, was shot by an unidentified man who demanded to see his victim, shot him and then took the victim's cell phone. The shooter used a 9mm semiautomatic pistol in the attack.
According to the El Sol de Parral news daily account, several dozen witnessed the shooting.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
[DFW.CBSLOCAL] How to discipline or punish children is always a hot topic. Give the little darlings lots of love and attention...
Questions always arise over what is effective and when is the line crossed? Yelling, shouting, and raising your voice...may feel natural. If they get out of line, knock them into next Thursday.
But a new study says those actions should only be used to get a child's attention.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
those actions should only be used to get a child's attention.
Some kids are pretty stubborn that way - kind of mule-like - & you can't get their attention with much less than a 2 x 4 upside the head.
#3
These are not adults, they don't have judgment to be argued with. A swat on the backside is what they are capable of understanding, if I do this, I get spanked, Therefore I don't do this. Versus son, electricity can hurt you because you're grounded and when you stick a fork into that wall socket you'll complete the circuit which will cause an over current to short out your nervous system. Yeah right.
And more than anything else, you are not your child's friend, you are his parent. The so called experts are quacks.
#9
I haven't spanked my son (7yo) and yell at him rarely. For him, quiet explanation on what is happening and why works well. If he does act up, I will yell briefly and since I do it so rarely you would think I just beat the kid with a belt.
Now for a kid like I was.... a switch might have been the better discipline tool. I'm glad my son is not like that!
I think what is effective depends on the kid in question. Some require a whack upside the head (or spanking). Others more. With some a quiet explanation or expression of disapproval would do.
Funny when my 7YO (autistic) son gets in trouble and we yell at him he runs off to his room shouting 'Don't Kill Me!'. I have no idea where he picked that up - I don't think we killed him before and swatted him on the butt only once.
#11
..I have heard it said that yelling at monkeys makes them even less likely to perform as desired. The presented alternative is, therefore, in this specific case, more likely to result in more satisfying and quieter results..
[The Telegraph] Ruling could be turning point for white farmers seeking to regain land. A near koffee-nasal moment. Such regal naiveté could only be uttered in perfidious Albion.
[DAWN] ABDUL Razzaq Buneri, an Awami National Party (ANP) leader and Pakhtun trader, refused to pay Rs20 million to the Pak Taliban after he received numerous threatening telephone calls which were traced to Afghanistan and North Wazoo.
Recently, the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) killed two police personnel in charge of his security; and his home and business in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... were targeted twice in three months. Although ANP politicians have chosen to lie low in Karachi's Pakhtun-dominated areas, they have been intimidated into leaving their constituencies, their offices forcibly closed and their leaders murdered.
By attacking local ANP leaders and Pakhtun elders, extorting and threatening residents and businesses, and forming parallel courts providing rough justice in exchange for support, the TTP is consolidating its hold over parts of Karachi. Aqeel Yousafzai, a Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. -based security analyst, explains that killing influential Pakhtun elders is a key Taliban strategy, initially successful in Afghanistan, then Fata and KP and now happening in Karachi. Previous infighting between Hakimullah Mehsud's Karachi faction and the hardline Waliur Rehman group, the latter which attacked ANP activists, also resulted in much violence in these areas.
Shahi Syed, ANP's president in Sindh, concurs. With more than 800 workers killed between 2008 and 2013 in Pakistain, including over 60 in the last three years in Karachi, he explains that his party is a target because they had initially opposed the Taliban's ideology, as they believe in Bacha Khan's philosophy of non-violence.
According to a TTP krazed killer from the Khan Saeed faction in Sohrab Goth, "We target specific traders, especially from the ANP, and collect money from them or those who make money through illicit means," he says on condition of anonymity. He confirms that the TTP shura decided to target liberal political parties, including the ANP, for their secular doctrine and also because they were responsible for offensives against the TTP in Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... and districts of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... .
Over the last two years the TTP has shifted its strategy to territorial control, becoming increasingly involved in the city's pie fights, thus adopting the modus operandi of its more secular rivals -- something which, incidentally, had already been practised by sectarian organizations, particularly in North Karachi.
According to French analyst Laurent Gayer, there exists a blueprint for unofficial governance involving the coercive exploitation of economic rents, and the provision of public services, either by rebooting public institutions or by setting up de facto bodies providing health services, justice, and security.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... while TTP affiliates from South Waziristan, Swat (Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... faction responsible for killing ANP leaders) and Mohmand Agency ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... (with extortion expertise) may wield power in certain townships by forming organizational networks and relationships with local krazed killer groups, it is hugely unlikely that this would translate into votes or a solid support base.
Explaining that the TTP in any case has no political ambitions in urban centres, and continues to use Karachi mainly for fundraising, Muhammad Amir Rana, director at the Pakistain Institute for Peace Studies, says its activities could be controlled if provincial governments had larger security budgets.
In several Pakhtun townships, the TTP, with its illicit enforcement authority, is virtually the only decision-maker. Local residents say almost nothing gets done without its nod. Protection money rackets previously exclusive to certain political parties have multiplied since 2000, with competitive players fundraising for both the Pak and the Afghan Taliban. The TTP has also penetrated lucrative businesses, particularly in Sohrab Goth, forcibly imposing flat rates to eliminate competition among transporters, in order to receive regular hefty commissions.
The police, for their part, claim that Karachi's diverse population poses tough challenges. With the Pakhtun community constituting 22pc of the population, the TTP finds ethnic sanctuaries in a city policed by under-resourced and ill-trained personnel. "It is difficult to identify and arrest high-level Taliban capos living in rented homes in Defence, Gulshan-e-Iqbal and Nazimabad. Home to over one million undocumented Democrats Karachi allows the TTP to disappear without a trace. We don't have a defined database to identify terrorists, like Nadra," says Karachi police spokesperson Imran Shaukat.
Although the police lost more than 200 officers to violence in 2013, the fact that law enforcement agencies have largely failed to bring the perpetrators to account is partly because witnesses are threatened in court and with no witness protection programme, there is little chance of successful prosecutions.
And of course, because the police worry about being killed.
So where do we go from here? As the distance between governance, policing, economic progress and urban militancy decreases, we need steadfast political will, a counterterrorism budget and a few good men to clean up the mess.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
a blueprint for unofficial governance involving the coercive exploitation of economic rents, and the provision of public services, either by rebooting public institutions or by setting up de facto bodies providing health services, justice, and security
We have our own methods to coerce economic rents, and don't need yours, thank you very much.
#2
Karachi police have insufficient technology to create a proper "defined database" to identify terrorist suspects, so they carry the information in their heads. Unfortunately, those heads keep getting cut off.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's government-appointed human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. organization has announced its findings of a six-month investigation into last August's bloody dispersal of the Rabaa Al-Adaweya sit-in, concluding that while supporters of ousted Islamist president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... fired first, security forces on the scene responded with excessive force, "firing out of proportion" and leaving over 600 dead.
The National Council for Human Rights (NCHR) presented the report at a presser in Cairo Wednesday, where Nasser Amin, a human rights lawyer and a member of the council's fact-finding committee, offered what he said was a detailed account of events on 14 August, when security forces dispersed the pro-Morsi camp in the Cairo district of Nasr City.
According to the council's report, police were present at the sit-in at roughly 6am. Warning shots were fired around 7:20am to inform protesters of peaceful exits and warning them not to attack the police.
Amin pointed out that the interior ministry did not provide the council a copy of its dispersal plan for 14 August and that the fact-finding committee had to reach its own conclusions.
The festivities first began at 8:10am, with police firing teargas and protesters hurling stones and Molotov cocktails, Amin said.
Around 11am the first gunshot was fired on Al-Tayaran Street, by the Republic Guard headquarters, killing a police officer who had been calling on protesters to leave via a secure and safe exit.
"The scene dramatically changed after that, and gunshots were excessively fired from all sides," said Amin.
Between 1 and 2:30pm was what Amin described as a cease fire, during which pro-Morsi groups tried to enter the sit-in. They were barred from entering by security forces, who by then had managed to again clear the safe exits.
At this point in the presser, Amin screened video footage showing alleged gangs at Rabaa Al-Adaweya.
"The presence of gangs was dangerous because it made civilians a target as well," said Amin. Behind him, the video footage showed protesters hiding from gunshots.
The report accused "extremist members" from the protest camp of using civilians as human shields, which led to deaths and injuries.
No video footage of the police in action during the dispersal was screened at the presser on Wednesday.
When members of the audience pointed this out and criticised the council, Amin responded that the footage of the Islamist protesters was the "only footage they could find."
Another video that Amin screened was one of Moslem Brüderbund leader Mohammed El-Beltagy.
The footage showed El-Beltagy speaking on the stage in Rabaa Al-Adaweya, reportedly during the midday cease fire, when he announced that over 300 people had been killed.
Amin referred to this footage as a "very important testimony" regarding the commission's body count from the dispersal because the day's "most aggressive battle" occurred before the cease fire.
The battle after the cease fire lasted only an hour, he said.
According to the report, 632 were killed in the dispersal, all of them civilians with the exception of eight coppers.
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[Tolo News] The Hezb-e-Islami Shura Alliance announced its support for presidential candidate Zalmai Rassoul ... former foreign minister and a very close confidant of Hamid Karzai. Before serving as foreign minister Rassoul also spent seven years laboring as a national security adviser to the president. An ethnic Pashtun born in Kabul, Rassoul was the valedictorian of his class at the illustrious Franco-American school in Kabul, Lycee Istiqal. He has an MD from the Paris Medical School in France..... on Wednesday. Alliance leaders emphasized the importance of ending corruption, poverty and addressing the continued threat of violent extremism.
"From now on, we are with Zalmai Rassoul and will work for his success," a prominent member of the Alliance named Waheedullah Sabawoon said.
Hezb-e-Islami Shura is mostly consisted of the members of Hezb-e-Islami who have separated from the leadership of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar ... who used to be known in intelligence circles as The Most Evil Man in the World but who now seems merely run-of-the-mill evil... and Hezb-e-Islami Afghanistan, which are considered anti-government groups.
"Today we say goodbye to lies, corruption, drugs and terrorism and will go towards peace and truthfulness," head of the Alliance Qazi Muhammad Ameen Weqad said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system... Zalmai Rassoul has said that greater competition and great participation would make the elections more transparent.
"Competition among parties will give people the chance to select their favorite candidate and will ensure transparency in the elections," Rassoul said.
With elections getting closer day-by-day, and the campaign season entering its final stretch, the presidential hopefuls are looking to secure the critical support and endorsements that could give the edge they will need in April.
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[NEWS.YAHOO] Three Gulf monarchies recalled their ambassadors from Doha Wednesday in an unprecedented escalation in tension with fellow Gulf Cooperation Council member Qatar, accused of backing the widely banned Moslem Brüderbund.
Regional heavyweight Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain said the decision was made in protest against Qatar's alleged interference in their internal affairs. Doha said it regretted the recall of its envoys but would not follow suit.
GCC nations "have exerted massive efforts to contact Qatar on all levels to agree on a unified policy... to ensure non-interference, directly or indirectly, in the internal affairs of any member state," the three states announced in a joint statement.
They said they had asked Qatar, a perceived supporter of the Moslem Brüderbund, which is banned in most Gulf states, "not to support any party aiming to threaten the security and stability of any GCC member," citing antagonistic media campaigns.
Critics accuse the influential Doha-based Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... satellite channel of biased coverage in favour of the Moslem Brüderbund, and several of its journalists are on trial on Egypt for allegedly supporting the group.
The joint statement said Doha had failed to comply with a commitment by Qatar's emir Sheikh Tamim bin Hamad al-Thani to non-interference, made during a summit in Riyadh last year with Kuwait's emir and the Saudi monarch.
During the tripartite meeting in Riyadh in November, Kuwait's emir Sheikh Sabah al-Ahmad al-Sabah had tried to ease tensions between King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah ... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old... and Sheikh Tamim.
But the ambassadors' recall followed what newspapers described as a "stormy" late Tuesday meeting of foreign ministers from the six-nation Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) in Riyadh.
The pan-Arab Al-Hayat daily reported that the "marathon" talks lasted nine hours because of "differences on several issues, among them inter-Gulf relations".
Kuwaiti parliament speaker Marzouk al-Ghanem expressed "deep concern and alarm" over the recalls, and the Qatar Stock Exchange closed 2.09 percent down following the decision.
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[DAWN] A roadside kaboom targeted a security forces' convoy in Hangu district ... Hangu is famous for its greenery, hills, beauty and water. Most of the people of this area are Bangash & Orakzai Pashtuns. Part of the Bangash are Shia. The Orakzai and the Sunni Bangash are determined to kill them... on Wednesday, killing six Frontier Corps (FC) personnel whereas a policeman and another person were killed in separate incidents of violence in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province.
Military sources confirmed that a security forces' convoy was travelling from Hangu to Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... when it was targeted near Warmagal area on the Hangu-Kurram Agency border. Six soldiers were killed whereas eight others sustained injuries.
The sources said the vehicle was also damaged in the attack.
The sources added that the blast was carried out using an Improvised Explosive Device (IED) and might have been detonated through a remote control.
In another incident in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. 's Yakatoot area a policeman was killed as a result of firing.
According to the police, unknown motorcyclists shot up the checkpost of Yakatoot cop shoppe killing a policeman on duty.
The body was shifted to Lady Reading Hospital.
Peshawar, the capital of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa province, lies on the edge of Pakistain's tribal areas.
The city has seen frequent attacks by turbans in the past few years, with targets ranging from civilians to coppers and other law enforcement personnel.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shattered spaceship, Fffflirgoll the Arcturan slithered stealthily toward the control room, where the humans had barricaded themselves... another person was killed in a grenade attack in Charsadda's Prang area.
Police said the victim was collecting sand when a grenade concealed in a pile of sand went off and killed him.
Two bodies found in Khyber
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, Bossy's udder had begun to ache... two bodies in gunny sacks were recovered from Khyber Agency's Jamrud tehsil today.
According to political sources, the bodies were found from the Shah Kas area in Jamrud Tehsil. The victims had been bumped off.
Their bodies were shifted to the tehsil office.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind... political administration of the area launched a probe into the incident.
Khyber is part of Pakistain's semi-autonomous tribal belt on the Afghan border. The Taliban and other Al Qaeda-linked groups, who stage attacks in both countries, are known to have strongholds in the zone.
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[Al Ahram] Former US secretary of state Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Richelieu ... has compared Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... 's recent steps in Ukraine to aggression by Adolf Hitler ...late Fuehrer of Germany, founder of the Third Reich, currently communing with his pals Himmler and Heydrich. He is reincarnated every few days as a politician somebody doesn't like... in 1930s Nazi Germany, a local paper reported. To me, it looks a lot more like Hungary in 1956, or Dubček's Czechoslovakia.
Yes, but you know what a háček is, and how to use it. Clearly you oughtn't be trusted.
Clinton, speaking at a private event Tuesday in southern Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,, said Putin's apparent deployment of Russian troops into neighboring Ukraine -- a former Soviet satellite state -- to protect Russian citizens and Russian-speakers recalls moves by Hitler to protect ethnic Germans living outside of Germany. Or perhaps we might look at events leading up to the Crimean War in 1853. But that's probably too far back in a world where memories end sometime in 1943.
The Long Beach Press Telegram which reported the story said Clinton noted that Putin has sought to provide Russian passports to people in Ukraine with ties to Russia. Kinda like, you know, Russia protecting Orthodox Christians under Ottoman rule...
In the aftermath of the ouster of Ukraine's pro-Moscow president Viktor Yanukovych, Kiev's new authorities have accused Putin of inflaming tensions by sending troops into the Crimea, a majority-Russian peninsula in Ukraine. Russia destroyed the Ottoman fleet at Sinope...
"Now if this sounds familiar, it's what Hitler did back in the 30s," the Press Telegram quoted Clinton as telling attendees at a fundraiser for the Boys and Girls Clubs of Long Beach, Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party,. Tell 'em what happened in 1854, Hillary!
"The ethnic Germans, the Germans by ancestry who were in places like Czechoslovakia and Romania and other places, Hitler kept saying they're not being treated right. 'I must go and protect my people,' and that's what's gotten everybody so nervous," she added. The Orthodox Christians who were groaning under the Ottoman yoke, were a pet concern of the Tsars.
Clinton is a potential 2016 Democratic presidential candidate, and she has generally shied away from much detailed public discussion of foreign policy since leaving the State Department early last year. She's afraid somebody's going to say "Benghazi."
Her comments could be seen as offsetting her role in President Barack Obama's I am not a dictator!... much-publicized move to "reset" relations with Moscow in 2009 when she was chief US diplomat. Tell 'em about the Confederation of Independent States in 1992, Hill...
With pro-Kremlin forces seizing control of the strategic Crimea, Clinton said Putin "believes his mission is to restore Russian greatness," in part by reasserting dominance over former Soviet states. Perhaps he could start with Chechnya? Or Dagestan?
Clinton spoke of the hopes for a negotiation that will reduce tensions in what has become Europe's worst security crisis since the end of the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Kosovo is the parallel that comes to mind. Not much concern for territorial integrity there.
#6
She knows something about which she talks. When Slick Willy was not fooling around (or maybe during), he had his DOJ go after the Branch Davidians and Randy Weaver at Ruby Ridge.
#7
And who is Chamberlain in this scenario, eh, Nevilla?
Posted by: regular joe ||
03/06/2014 10:56
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#8
Umm, madam Secretary, there is a cable from the US Embassy and Ambassador in the Ukraine warning that war was no longer unthinkable between Russia and the Ukraine. Even warned about it coming to a head before 2015, and specifically starting in the Crimea. This was October, 2009. Why did you leave the state department with no apparent contingency plans for the current Sec State, and no preparations, despite being warned by your ambassador more than 4 years prior to the event.
[Tolo News] Afghan presidential candidate Qayoum Karzai has ended his bid and thrown his support behind former Foreign Minister Zalmai Rassoul ... former foreign minister and a very close confidant of Hamid Karzai. Before serving as foreign minister Rassoul also spent seven years laboring as a national security adviser to the president. An ethnic Pashtun born in Kabul, Rassoul was the valedictorian of his class at the illustrious Franco-American school in Kabul, Lycee Istiqal. He has an MD from the Paris Medical School in France..... , sources close to Karzai said on Wednesday.
The official announcement is expected within 24 hours, the sources added.
The news comes after efforts to form a coalition between Qayoum Karzai and Rassoul failed last week despite initial signs that one of the candidates might fold his campaign in favor of the other.
Qayoum Karzai - the brother of current Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... - and a number of participants of the Jirga that was held to discuss the possible coalition last week announced on Friday that the campaign would continue uninterrupted.
However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... it was made clear during the course of the Jirga's negotiations that President Hamid Karzai did not want to see his brother contest the April election.
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#1
Tomahawks that circle for hours, take and send back pictures but cannot return but must be signaled to strike and explode. 1) The gps of the target is not known until arrival and the target is to be targeted visually remotely. 2) The target is a moving target (warship, military convoy, troop concentration) and to be targeted visually.
[An Nahar] Israel said Wednesday it fired at and hit two members of Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... as they tried to plant a bomb near the Israeli-Syrian border, but Syrian state media accused the Jewish state of targeting its forces.
"Earlier today, two Hizbullah-affiliated snuffies were identified attempting to plant an bomb near the Israel-Syria border in the northern Golan Heights," the army said in a statement.
"IDF (Israeli army) forces... fired towards the suspects (and) hits were identified," it said.
The army did not specify what weapons were used to fire at the suspected Hizbullah members.
The incident came just over a week after reports that Israeli warplanes bombarded a Hizbullah position in Janta on the Lebanese-Syrian border.
Israel neither confirmed nor denied carrying out the two February 24 strikes, with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu saying the Jewish state would do "everything necessary" for its own security.
Hizbullah threatened to retaliate for what was the first reported Israeli air raid on a position of the Shiite party inside Leb since the 2006 war between them.
Syria's state news agency SANA, citing a military source, said that Israeli forces fired four tank shells toward the Golan village of al-Hamidiya, hitting a school and a mosque early Wednesday. It said Israeli forces also fired another four shells toward another area called al-Houriyah, and then opened fire a third time, again toward al-Hamidiya.
It said the attacks maimed seven members of the security forces and four civilians. It provided no further information.
The Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights also reported that Israeli forces fired several tank shells and two missiles toward the Golan Heights. The group said one missile hit a school in the village of al-Hamidiyeh, where Syrian troops were concentrated. The Observatory obtains its news from a network of activists in Syria.
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#1
The other missile struck a meeting of The Fluffy Kitty Club.
Posted by: Steven ||
03/06/2014 1:36
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#2
... the Baby Duck Fanciers Club having been moved closer to anti-aircraft gun sites for protection.
[An Nahar] A U.S. drone strike in northern Yemen on Wednesday killed four suspected al-Qaeda members, including an Iraq veteran, a military official said.
The unmanned aircraft fired two rockets at a vehicle in the Khalka area of Jawf province, the official said, adding that among those killed was Ali Juraym, a local bully boy chief who had fought in Iraq.
The American military operates all drones flying over Yemen in support of Sanaa's campaign against al-Qaeda and has killed dozens of bully boyz in a sharply intensified campaign in the past year.
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[DAWN] While there are growing demands for a full-scale military operation following the post-ceasefire terrorist attacks, some experts are urging the government to better understand the bully boy mindset and use that to the state's advantage.
"Our society is polarised along the superficial 'only talks' and 'only military operation' lines. What we need to do is understand the thought process of the bully boys, their differences with each other and use these differences to pit them against each other," said an official from the security establishment, speaking on condition of anonymity ... for fear of being murdered... .
Recently a new group calling itself Ahrarul Hind (liberators of India) has surfaced and is claiming to be a splinter of the banned TTP.
It has vowed to continue attacks, particularly in the major cities across Pakistain, having grabbed credit for the Islamabad court attack. It is headed by Umar Qasmi, a figure unheard of by bully boy circles in North Wazoo and in the cities.
"TTP leaders have entered the talks process simply seeking to liberate the tribal areas. As if there is no such demand to impose Sharia across the country. They are ignoring mujahideen in the cities," said Asad Mansoor, front man of the newly-formed group.
The Mohmand chapter of the TTP has also been critical of the talks but says it would abide by the decision of its leadership.
"We go with mutual consultation. Our leadership has decided to opt for a month-long ceasefire and we will abide by that despite the fact that we have reservations over the continued killing of our members by the state," TTP Mohmand's front man Omar Khorasani told Dawn.
Talking to Dawn in a recent meeting in Afghanistan, head of the TTP Mohmand chapter Khalid Khorasani (previously going by the name Umar Khalid Khorasani) said that his group had sufficient representation within the TTP high command and they had agreed to the peace talks.
"Think about it, the man leading TTP's negotiations committee is Qari Shakeel Ahmed Haqqani who is in fact my deputy. So the allegations that we want to sabotage talks is not true," he told Dawn.
But behind the scene, the actual thinking bears striking resemblance to that of Ahrarul Hind. "Some of our leaders in Waziristan have a very limited vision. They would simply be content with some concessions over Waziristan.
Our agenda is not simply gaining Waziristan but a global caliphate," said a senior TTP Mohmand commander who rejected the recently emerging claim of TTP Mohmand running the shadowy Ahrarul Hind.
"We have nothing to do with that group. In fact if you know who they are then tell us," he said while talking to Dawn on phone.
The claim that they know nothing about this group is hard to digest.
The Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) staunchly opposes the talks, fearing that the agreement would most likely include a clause to eject imported muscle from Pakistain, a move they have no plan to undertake.
Ahmad Marwat's JundAllah, a group TTP views with suspicion, is also opposed to talks. "If you speak to jihad veterans here, they have hardly heard of this particular faction or the people behind it. We don't know where they have come from," said TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid.
However at this difficult juncture, the Punjabi Taliban headed by Asmatullah Muavia and Al Qaeda have rallied to TTP's support.
"We stand with TTP during their negotiations with the government and would continue to do so unless this process takes them towards parliamentary politics or they begin to drift away from the real goals," an Al Qaeda member close to Ahmed Farooq, the group's media head in Pakistain, told Dawn.
Sources in North Waziristan have told Dawn that the TTP central leadership is frustrated with some groups for not abiding by the ceasefire.
Perhaps one of the manifestations of this frustration is a number of TTP members contacting this correspondent and some other journalists covering militancy and desperately trying to find out if they have any information on the "miscreants within jihadi groups trying to sabotage talks".
The central leadership of the TTP has warned of action.
"We have a religious obligation to uphold agreements. Some unknown forces are out to sabotage the process. If we discover that they are mujahideen groups then we would have to take them to task," asserted Shahidullah Shahid in a statement.
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[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan ... Turkey's version of Mohammed Morsi only they haven't dumped him yet... said Wednesday he was ready to step down if his ruling party, in power since 2002, loses key local elections later this month.
"I am ready to quit politics unless my party emerges winner in the elections" scheduled for March 30, said Erdogan, who is battling a damaging corruption investigation which poses the greatest challenge yet to his 11 years in power.
But the opposition slammed Erdogan's remarks as a "show of defiance".
"It is equal to taking hostage the will of people and disrespecting the society. Are the people obliged to vote for Erdogan?" asked Mehmet Sandir, the deputy head of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP).
The graft scandal broke last December with the detention of dozens of Erdogan allies on allegations of bribery, money laundering, gold smuggling and illicit dealings with Iran.
Erdogan has accused associates of ally-turned-opponent Fethullah Gulen, an influential Mohammedanholy man based in the United States, of concocting the probe.
But the scandal -- and his hardline response to it -- have done unprecedented damage to the premier's image at home and abroad.
Opinion polls show the scandal is hurting Erdogan's Justice and Development Party (AKP), which weathered mass street protests mid last year.
A January survey by the Metropoll research company showed support for the AKP at 36.3 percent, far below the 50 percent it garnered in 2011's parliamentary elections.
The Turkish strongman remained defiant, saying Wednesday the number of supporters filling election rallies suggested a backlash in his favour.
But Erdogan has come under increased pressure since last week, when audio tapes leaked online put him at the heart of the corruption allegations.
The recordings were purportedly of Erdogan and his son Bilal discussing how to hide large sums of money.
Erdogan denounced them as fakes, part of a "vile attack" by his political rivals ahead of this year's elections.
But the tapes prompted opposition calls for the beleaguered government's resignation.
And thousands of people have taken to the streets across the country in protest, with police on occasion firing tear gas and rubber bullets to disperse the demonstrators.
The embattled premier has responded by sacking or reassigning hundreds of police and prosecutors believed to be linked to the Gulen movement, and tightened his grip over Internet and the judiciary.
Gulen himself denies any involvement in launching the scandal.
In the latest blow to so-called Gulenists, the Turkish parliament, where Erdogan's AKP has comfortable majority, passed a law last Friday to shut down a network of private preparatory schools most of which are run by the movement.
In remarks published in local media Wednesday, Erdogan vowed to take action against the Gulen group after the elections.
"We will promptly take several measures after the March 30 local elections," he said, without elaborating.
At its February meeting, Turkey's National Security Council discussed "organizations and structures" that threatened the country's national security interests.
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#1
um, if you loose an election, what happens next is not normally referred to as "quitting".
[DAWN] The meeting between negotiators from the government and the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) concluded in Akora Khattak on Wednesday with both sides agreeing to certain terms and conditions, DawnNews reported.
The current government committee includes Irfan Siddiqui, retired Major Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousufzai and the negotiators nominated by the TTP include Maulana Samiul Haq ...the Godfather of the Taliban, leader of his own faction of the JUI. Known as Mullah Sandwich for his habit of having two young boys at a time... , Maulana Abdul Aziz ...nutball holy man who runs the Lal Masjid in the heart of Pakistain's capital. After instigating a rebellion against the state in 2007, he was caught trying to sneak away dressed in a burka. He rejects democracy as un-Islamic, which it probably is... and Professor Mohammad Ibrahim.
Haq, chief of the Taliban negotiating committee, told news hounds after the meeting that the Taliban committee was seeking a meeting with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... . He praised the Taliban for announcing the ceasefire and said he had asked the faceless myrmidons to track down whoever was responsible for the recent violence.
Moreover, he also said that the announcement of a ceasefire from both sides was a major progress and that the Taliban had been asked to probe into those responsible for recent attacks.
The chief Taliban mediator added that Afghanistan, India and the United States wanted the dialogue process to fail.
He further said that the government and Taliban should jointly unveil the enemy.
Haq said that the Taliban had not put forward any demands to change the democratic system.
Talking about the Ahrarul Hind, the group that grabbed credit of the recent attack in an Islamabad court, he said that he had never heard the organization's name before and the Taliban were also unaware of the outfit.
The head of the committee representing the government, Irfan Siddiqui, said they had discussed various options for how the negotiating process could continue and the results of today's meeting were satisfactory.
Siddiqui said that the Taliban should openly condemn incidents of terrorism.
He also said that the dialogue process had entered its second phase now, which included decision-making steps.The first round of talks was meant only to increase and facilitate contacts between the two sides, he added.
Another government negotiator retired Major Amir told media representatives that the suggestions presented during the first round of the meeting had been agreed upon by both sides.
Rahimullah Yousufzai told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named that the negotiators had decided to push forward with the process because the Pak Taliban had said they were not responsible for the recent attacks.
''In this situation, we opted to continue the talks, and we hope the Taliban will condemn these attacks and trace those who are behind it,'' Yousafzai said.
During the meeting, held at Maulana Samiul Haq's Dar-ul-Uloom Haqqania seminary, the members consulted on the dissolution of existing committees and the formation of new committees to carry forward peace talks, DawnNews had quoted sources as saying.
Reports said the government had decided to dissolve the existing committee and form a new committee to represent it in the talks.
Sources told DawnNews that the new government committee would likely comprise of members from the Pakistain Mohammedan League - Nawaz (PML-N) led government at the centre as well as members from the armed forces.
Moreover, Chief Minister Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Pervez Khattak or his representative would be added to the committee.
The new committee was likely to also include a high-ranking official from the Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI) and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan would be its focal person.
The recommendation for the formation of a new committee was made by Major Amir during a meeting of the current negotiators with Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif.
On Tuesday, the government decided to resume peace dialogue with the outlawed group which was suspended last month after the TTP Mohmand claimed to have killed 23 detained Frontier Corps personnel.
The two committees had met twice prior to the suspension of the dialogue process.
The process appeared to gain new life over the weekend when the Pak Taliban declared a one-month ceasefire and the government responded by saying it would halt Arclight airstrikes against hard boy hideouts in the tribal areas.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the four-member government negotiating team, headed by Irfan Siddqui, with Prime Minister Sharif. It was attended by Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar and Major (retired) Amir, Rustam Shah Mohmand and Rahimullah Yousufzai.
The killing of eight troops this week, including six just hours before the negotiators met Wednesday, have also strained the process.
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[DAWN] THE government-Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain talks are now becoming an unending soap opera with its interminable twists and turns.
The latest one came on Wednesday with the reports that while the two committees in their latest meeting had set the stage for some jaw-jaw, the government committee wants itself disbanded and a new one formed to carry out the second phase of the negotiations.
If the reports are to be believed, the new committee will have the PML-N's peacenik number one, Interior Minister Nisar Ali Khan, as the focal person, along with military officials, representation from the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government as well as the governor of the province.
Background conversations with those close to the government committee reveal that Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has more or less agreed to these suggestions and will reconstitute the committee to make it more representative (by including a key person of the federal government and of the KP government which is ruled by a party that is one of the biggest proponents of the talks) as well as the military, which is a stakeholder by all accounts.
He has, goes one rumour, even assured the committee members that he will be able to convince the military to join the new committee instead of observing from the sidelines.
However, a woman is only as old as she admits... the possible inclusion of the military has already become controversial.
Khurshid Shah of the PPP, the leader of the opposition in the National Assembly, opposed the idea on the floor of the assembly on Wednesday morning, calling it "dangerous".
What the PTI thinks of the suggestion is unclear at the moment; parliamentarian Shafqat Mahmood explained that the party was still to sit down and consider the proposal though he said that his party was in favour of any step that will make the talks "more meaningful" with those who are willing to talk.
But while the political parties have already begun to voice an opinion on the ongoing issue of talks, the army continues to maintain an eerie silence. When asked a military official simply said that the "chief was out of the country and that there had been no formal request for the military's participation in the talks. The issue will be decided on his return and when and if a request is received".
However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... the current committee is quite certain that its job is now ending.
These suggestions, said a committee member, reflected the general opinion of all the members. Rahimullah Yusufzai, a journalist and member of the government committee, points out, "I had said from the first day that our role was that of controllers; in addition, we had always pushed for strengthening the committee, making it more effective."
Someone close to another committee member explained it thus: "The TTP is going to begin negotiations by asking for prisoners to be released, the withdrawal of the military from certain areas and other such conditions. The committee cannot deliver on these demands."
He did not need to add that the military is the only player that can deliver on these demands. But this is what the committee members meant when they said after the meeting in Akora Khattak that the first phase was over -- where a ceasefire has been publicly announced (who cares for minor hiccups such as the attacks in Islamabad and Hangu) and both sides were now ready to talk.
In the second phase, conditions will have to be communicated by both sides and what the TTP will ask for is not a secret and neither is the identity of the institution capable of delivering on them.
But there are a number of reasons why the inclusion of the army on the committee will be problematic.
First and foremost, it will be an official recognition of the imbalance in the civil-military relations in Pakistain. In a working democracy, the army reports to and is subservient to a political government.
Hence, any committee that includes a government representative and reports to the prime minister directly should be able to speak on behalf of the military.
The suggestion made on Wednesday, on the other hand, is based on the recognition that be it Irfan Siddiqui (an unelected official whose presence in the government depends on his ability to keep Sharif happy) or Interior Minister Khan (an elected representative) they cannot make a commitment on behalf of the military because the latter operates independently of the elected government.
However correct this may be, would the PML-N and Sharif like to officially acknowledge this? A third-time prime minister and the first to survive a military coup to return to the parliament, Sharif has so far presented himself as a leader in control of the foreign and security policy. Will he now let this image shatter even if the inclusion of the military to the talks will prove for once and for all that he and the army are on the same proverbial page?
Apart from Sharif's preferences, the military will also not find this easy to manage. In background conversations, army officers express their discomfort with the government policy to talk to the forces of Evil who continue to carry out attacks on the armed personnel without any respite.
On Wednesday itself, an attack in Hangu claimed the lives of six FC soldiers and injured 11 others. And unlike the government, military officials have been arguing for months that despite the different names, organizations and origins, most turban groups are one and the same.
In this context, it is not going to be easy for the military leadership or its representatives to sit across the table from the TTP, so to speak.
Agreed that the military made similar agreements -- and equally publicly -- in Musharraf's time.
But it is difficult to find even a retired military officer who is now willing to defend agreements such as Shakai and Sararogha. And the agreements with people such as Hafiz Gul Bahadur are more limited in their scope while ensuring that these forces of Evil do not attack the military.
The TTP, on the other hand, has acquired an image far different from Gul Bahadur. It is now seen as the organization that personifies the existential threat to the country and to the armed forces. Talking to it and that too publicly will earn the military far more ire than it earned Prime Minister Sharif.
After all, if the constituencies of the two are considered, Sharif's support base has accepted his efforts at peace quietly -- so far -- but the military leadership's constituency may find it hard to swallow.
In other words, it could prove to be a big gamble for Chief of Army Staff Raheel Sharif, this early on in his tenure.
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[ABC.NET.AU] The United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... special envoy to Crimea has been forced to abandon his mission to the tense region after he was threatened by pro-Russian gunnies and later heckled by protesters.
Despite a flurry of diplomatic activity, there has been little progress on resolving the standoff between Russia and Ukraine over the Crimean peninsula.
Seasoned diplomat Robert Serry had been sent to assess the situation for UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... .
He was confronted by between 10 and 15 gunnies outside the Ukrainian naval headquarters in Crimea's capital Simferopol, and warned he "should leave Crimea".
After he was prevented from returning to his vehicle, he took refuge in a café where he called his UN colleagues and tried to work out how to get back to his hotel.
A hostile group of activists shouting pro-Russia chants briefly blocked his exit.
Mr Serry then left on foot for his hotel after his safety was assured. He was then driven to the international airport, where he boarded the first flight out of the region - to Istanbul.
"He's fine. The self-defence militias in Simferopol have guaranteed his security," his assistant told AFP by phone from the car.
UN deputy secretary general Jan Eliasson said: "He is in good shape physically but he feels threatened."
Mr Serry is expected to travel on to Kiev.
Some initial reports had spoken of a kidnapping but the United Nations quickly denied that.
Sergei Aksyonov, the newly installed pro-Russian prime minister of Crimea, was quoted by Russian agency RIA Novosti justifying the threats made against Mr Serry.
"We did not send them an invitation. They did not warn us of their arrival. The usual procedure in these instances was not followed," he said of the UN mission.
Posted by: Fred ||
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UN 'rats always forget they're not world government.
[MAGHAREBIA] Former Algerian premier Ali Benflis on Tuesday (February 14th) officially filed his candidacy for the April 17th presidential election, Liberté reported.
Ten candidates had registered to run before the deadline expired midnight Tuesday, AFP reported. Moussa Touati of the Algerian National Front (FNA), Abdelaziz Belaid of the El-Moustakbel Front (FM), Algerian Rally head Ali Zaghdoud and Workers Party leader Louisa Hanoune are among those in the race.
President Abdelaziz Bouteflika ... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third or fourth term, who will probably die in office of old age... dropped off his papers and also confirmed his candidacy on television, the first time he has spoken in public since returning from hospital treatment in Gay Paree last year after suffering a mini-stroke.
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[An Nahar] Syrian warplanes renewed air raids on the embattled rebel stronghold of Yabrud on Wednesday, launching 10 strikes on the town near the border with Leb, an NGO said.
"Warplanes carried out 10 raids on the outskirts of the town of Yabrud and the Rima area," the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
It added that regime forces also shelled parts of Yabrud and troops backed by pro-regime militia and Hizbullah ...Party of God, a Leb militia inspired, founded, funded and directed by Iran. Hizbullah refers to itself as The Resistance and purports to defend Leb against Israel, with whom it has started and lost one disastrous war to date, though it did claim victory... were engaged in fierce festivities with rebels including jihadists.
The Syrian Revolution General Commission and Local Coordination Committee activist groups said the air raids involved the use of explosive-packed barrel bombs.
Syrian forces are trying to capture Yabrud in a final push to secure the entire Qalamun region which lies next to the Lebanese border and on the strategic Damascus-Homs highway.
Last year they secured several key towns on the highway, leaving just Yabrud in rebel hands.
On Monday, regime forces captured the nearby village of Sahel and army officers there told Agence La Belle France Presse on Tuesday they planned to move next on Flita, the last rebel post before Yabrud.
Elsewhere, the Observatory reported barrel bomb raids in the eastern Sheikh Maqsud and Hanano districts of Aleppo city in northern Syria.
And in the northwestern Idlib province, regime planes struck the town of Khan Sheikhun as rebels and troops battled on the ground by a checkpoint at the town's eastern entrance.
Opposition fighters seized the checkpoint and others in the Idlib countryside on Tuesday in festivities that killed at least 18 rebels, the Observatory said.
In northwestern Hasakeh province, Kurdish fighters announced they were withdrawing from the town of Tel Brak between the cities of Qamishli and Hasakeh, the group said.
The fighters, from the armed wing of the main Kurdish Democratic Union Party (PYD), captured the town on February 22 from the jihadist Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... .
The withdrawal was announced in a statement saying local residents had agreed to take responsibility for security there and to prevent ISIL from re-entering.
Syria's Kurds have largely avoided taking sides in the conflict between the regime and opposition, focusing on protecting majority-Kurdish areas and cementing autonomy.
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[Al Ahram] Chemical weapons used in two incidents in Syria last year appear to come from the stockpiles of the Syrian military, United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. Sherlocks said on Wednesday in a report that went beyond previous findings.
The team of independent experts, led by Brazilian Paulo Pinheiro, said that chemical agents used in the Damascus suburb of al-Ghouta on Aug. 21 and in Khan al-Assad near Aleppo in March 2013 bore "the same unique hallmarks".
"The evidence available concerning the nature, quality and quantity of the agents used on 21 August indicated that the perpetrators likely had access to the chemical weapons stockpile of the Syrian military, as well as the expertise and equipment necessary to manipulate safely large amount of chemical agents," the Sherlocks said in the report.
"Concerning the incident in Khan al-Assal on 19 March, the chemical agents used in that attack bore the same unique hallmarks as those used in al-Ghouta," the report said.
Without categorically saying which side was to blame, chief United Nations investigator Ake Sellstrom, who led a team of inspectors in Syria, said in January it was "difficult to see" how the opposition could have weaponised the toxins used.
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[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] The Israeli navy seized a ship in the Red Sea on Wednesday that was carrying dozens of advanced Iranian-supplied rockets made in Syria that were intended for Paleostinian snuffies in the Gazoo Strip, the military said.
It said the Panamanian-flagged cargo vessel Klos-C was boarded in international waters without resistance from its 17-strong crew, and would be escorted to the Israeli port of Eilat within days.
"It was a complex, covert operation," military front man Lieutenant-Colonel Peter Lerner said of the seizure some 1,000 miles (1,800 km) from Israel.
Dozens of M302 rockets were found aboard the Klos-C, a weapon which could have struck deep into Israel from Gazoo and would have significantly enhanced the firepower of Paleostinian Death Eater groups such as Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,.
"The M302 in its most advanced model can strike over 100 miles, and if they would have reached Gazoo, ultimately that would have meant millions of Israelis under threat," said Lerner.
Israeli television footage showed what appeared to be marines inspecting a rocket on the floor of a ship hold, with cement bags labeled "Made in Israel" in English next to it.
Lerner said the rockets were flown from Syria to Iran, from which they were shipped first to Iraq and then toward Sudan. Had they reached the African coast, they would have probably been smuggled overland through Egypt to Gazoo, he said.
Iran had orchestrated the shipment, Lerner said, describing the process as months in the making.
The maritime tracking site marinetraffic.com showed the last position of the Klos C as the Oman Gulf on Feb. 22.
Lerner said the crew came from a number of different countries and there was no immediate indication that they knew the nature of their cargo.
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#1
sink the ship. Use the M302s in retaliation for future Gazan fire. Win-win-win-....
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/06/2014 8:02
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
The Russian Navy 
Wazoo
A Muslim teacher was seized Wednesday by Abu Sayyaf militants in the southern Philippine town of Patikul.
[An Nahar] The Qaeda-inspired al-Nusra Front in 
A villager in Narathiwat province was wounded when a bomb buried under garbage exploded on Wednesday while a soldier in Pattani province was injured by an explosion while removing a banner against the Thai Army.
ul pictures at the link.
[ST] MOSCOW (REUTERS) -- A Kremlin aide was quoted on Tuesday as saying that if the United States were to impose sanctions on Russia over Ukraine, Moscow might be forced to drop the dollar as a reserve currency and refuse to pay off any loans to US banks.
It appears bitcoin's recent turmoil has claimed its first life.
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since the Lower Paleolithic. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangla. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide. She and the head of the BNP, Khaleda Zia show such blind animosity toward each other that they are known as 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DAWN] FAISALABAD: Police registered two cases on Wednesday against five lawyers and one of their clerks on charges of thrashing a policeman on court premises.
[MAGHAREBIA] As Algeria prepares for the April 17th presidential election, Prime Minister Abdelmalik Sellal urged 
Bouteflika
[CAMEROONLATEST.BLOGSPOT] Fotokol, a locality in the Logon and Chari Division in the Northern Region was transformed last Sunday into a battle field between members of the boko haram sect and elements of the 34th motorized infantry battalion. Eyewitness accounts that some thirty heavily armed assailants belonging to boko haram infiltrated into their village. Sensing danger, the villagers informed the 34th motorized infantry battalion at Fotokol as well as elements of the Rapid Intervention Battalion-BIR who surrounded the hiding commandos of the boko haram sect. Boko haram 
[FOXNEWS] A House hearing on the IRS targeting scandal rapidly broke down into a heated and deeply personal argument between a top Democrat and Republican, moments after former IRS official Lois Lerner once again invoked her Fifth Amendment right not to testify. 
FORT WORTH, Texas -- George P. Bush took the first step toward continuing his family's political dynasty Tuesday, shaking off an under-funded primary challenger and securing the Republican nomination for the little-known but powerful post of Texas land commissioner.
[Osun Defender] Senator Ahmed Khalifa Zannah, who represents Borno Central Senatorial District in the Nigeria National Assembly, has confirmed that 11 villagers in Jakana were burnt to death by 
[UK.REUTERS] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro said on Wednesday he was breaking diplomatic and commercial relations with the Panamanian government due to a "conspiracy" against him.
[Al Ahram] The co-founder of US-based anti-war group 
[Shabelle] Tension between the 
[An Nahar] The al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-Nusra Front in Syria and the 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[DFW.CBSLOCAL] How to discipline or punish children is always a hot topic. 
Mohmand Agency
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
Kurram Agency
Hillary Clinton
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[An Nahar] Israel said Wednesday it fired at and hit two members of 
[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister 
Nawaz Sharif
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[An Nahar] Syrian warplanes renewed air raids on the embattled rebel stronghold of Yabrud on Wednesday, launching 10 strikes on the town near the border with 
