With grand designs on minimizing their housing footprint, Christopher Smith and Merete Mueller have spent the last 10 months building the tiny home of their dreams.
"It's 19 feet long wall to wall, Smith said. The interior square-footage is about 125 square feet. Room enough for gun safe, reloading bench, beer fridge, computer & LazyBoy. And I'll leave the toilet outside where it won't stink up the place. Yep, it could work.
The interior layout consists of a sitting area, kitchen and bathroom. A vaulted ceiling makes room for a sleeping loft that can accommodate a queen-size mattress.
Their design incorporates several sustainable elements, including: reclaimed windows, beetle-kill lumber, solar power and a composting toilet.
"Its just a five-gallon bucket that you put peat moss and sawdust in. How many could fit in AlGore's place?
"Its just a five-gallon bucket that you put peat moss and sawdust in, Smith said. You'd be surprised how well it works and how much it doesn't smell.
Wait till high summer and the flies. There was a reason for 'outhouses'.
They may want to pat themselves on the back and tell everybody how wonderful they are "minimize their housing footprint," but they certainly don't want to be tacky, dontcha know.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/29/2012 20:25
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#5
They're called 'RVs.'
In my neck of the woods, it's called a garden shed or the kids' playhouse. Something I think this couple won't be having. Exit left the gene pool.
#6
...And, parked out in that cute 4' long mud-puddle pocked driveway, sits a sleek, inoperative and "Totally Off-the Grid" Yugo "automobile"--- Song Lyrics:
(Parody of In The Ghetto by Elvis Presley by:Paul Shanklin...and broadcast by Rush on numerous occasions)
As the snow flies...
At a used car lot on the edge of town
A liberal guy and a liberal gal
Buy a Yugo
And they drive with pride
'cause if there's one thing that this world needs
It's environmental friends who'll take the lead
In a Yugo
They say, "People don't you understand?
Those Suburbans are ruining the land!"
But they'll wish they had a full-size van one day
They're pointing fingers at you and me
They say we're too blind to see
But do we simply use our heads
And choose a better way
As those small wheels turn
Fifty miles to the gallon and their knees on their chests
We're gonna save enough gas for all the rest
In a Yugo
Then one day on the interstate
They suddenly lose control
They swerve to miss a baby duck
And are squashed beneath a produce truck
But they drove with pride
And as the crowds drive past the little flat car
You know they saved a lot of gas but they didn't get far
In a Yugo
And as they're trapped inside
At a used car lot on the other side of town
A liberal guy and a liberal gal
Buy a Yugo
And they drive with pride...
Two major energy companies are planning to build new pipelines that will move as much as 850,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to refineries along the Gulf Coast by mid-2014, in the latest effort to cope with a surge of oil production in North America.
The separate projects, planned by Houston-based Enterprise Products Partners LP and Enbridge Inc. of Calgary, will compete with TransCanada Corp.'s proposed Keystone XL pipeline, a massive project to move crude from the oil sands of Alberta to U.S. refineries. The Keystone project was delayed late last year after pressure from environmental groups and has become a hot-button topic in the U.S. presidential campaign, with critics of the Obama administration contending that the delay will contribute to high gasoline prices in the future.
Enbridge and Enterprise already operate the Seaway Pipeline, which used to move oil northfrom Freeport, Texas, near Houston, to the massive oil storage hub in Cushing, Okla. Last year the companies said they would reverse the flow of that pipeline because a recent surge in Canadian and U.S. oil production has created an overabundance at that location. The reversal will let Seaway move as much as 150,000 barrels a day south to refiners by June 1 and 400,000 barrels a day by early next year by adding new pumping stations. A WSJ article reached thru my civil engineering daily news brief. I trust the link will let you in, unless it looks for my 'cookie'. A version of this article appeared Mar. 27, 2012, on page B1 in some U.S. editions of The Wall Street Journal, with the headline: Planned Pipelines To Rival Keystone.
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Foreign Policy magazine reported in an exclusive piece this week that Israel has purchased an Azeri airfield on Iran's northern border, prompting the United States to watch very closely. Journalist Mark Perry wrote the Obama administration is monitoring Israel's relations with Azerbaijan, particularly its military ties.
Yet another move by the honourable Obama administration to demonstrate its love and care for the nation of the juices. The most brilliant administration ever, indeed.
Israel has tightened up its relations with Baku over the past several years, helping Azerbaijan modernize its military with unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) and becoming its second-largest customer for oil.
In particular, the $1.6 billion Israeli deal to jointly manufacture 60 drones of various types with Azerbaijan infuriated Turkey, according to a retired U.S. diplomat quoted in the report. The IDF canceled a $150 million contract to develop and manufacture drones with the Turkish military after Ankara demanded an apology following the Mavi Marmara flotilla attempt to breach Israel's maritime blockade of Gaza. "The Israelis have bought an airfield," an official told the journalist, "and the airfield is called Azerbaijan."
The Americans believe Israel may use the site as a springboard for an attack on Iran's nuclear plants, or as a landing and refueling spot following one. The site could also be used for aircraft needed for search, rescue and recovery in the wake of an attack.
"We're watching what Israel is doing in Azerbaijan. And we're not happy about it," an official told the Foreign Policy writer.
See above about brilliance.
So the sneaky Jooooz need Champ less than Champ thought they did? Oh, that explains the hissy fit...
It wasn't an MBA Prime Minister Netanyahu got from MIT, it was the more technical and demanding MSc (Business Management). It's no wonder our beleaguered, beloved president can't keep up.
#1
Turbans (and mustaches) twisting like tops, I'll bet.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/29/2012 13:04
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#2
Azerbaijan is denying this. However, if true, it would be a good strategy. It would indeed keep the turbans is Iran in a tizzy and a little more unbalanced than they already are.
This administration is going to get itself into a position where their intelligence is going to dry up and they will have no allies anywhere on the planet.
The Swedish defense minister was forced to quit on Thursday after weeks of pressure over reports the government planned to help Saudi Arabia build a weapons plant. Arms sales to Saudi Arabia are controversial in a country which prides itself on standing up for human rights, and the reports about aid for the weapons plant sparked an uproar.
Defense Minister Sten Tolgfors survived initial reports in early March about plans for a state-run Defense research agency, FOI, to help Saudi Arabia build the plant by saying he had not known of them and that FOI had exceeded its authority. But reports of the details of the affair have continued to surface, steadily increasing pressure on him.
Roberta Alenius, spokeswoman for Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt, said, "He (Tolgfors) has resigned at his own request."
The minority center-right government, which consists of four parties, has fallen behind in opinion polls after the largest opposition party the Social Democrats named a popular new leader.
Reinfeldt, head of the largest government party, the Moderates, has had to delay further income tax cuts due to a slowing economy. He has until the next election in 2014 to win back some popularity.
Iran's "workshops" for making nuclear centrifuges and components for the devices are widely dispersed and hidden, adding to the difficulties of a potential military strike by Israel, according to a new report by U.S. congressional researchers.
Neither Israel nor the U.S. is certain of the locations of all such facilities, analysts at the Congressional Research Service wrote in the report obtained today [28 March 2012].
So? Get some, get most, get all -- whatever it takes to set Iran back on its heels. Has nobody in government heard of "jab, jab, cross"? I realize it's a boxing/martial arts thing, but if even so non-martial a little housewife like me knows of it, surely the cleverboots making such declarations would be aware of the concept! Not to mention that Israeli intelligence knows a great deal more about its neighbors than do the Americans -- at least those pontificating on putative impossibilities ...or perhaps Israel just takes the situation more seriously.
#1
For the U.S. State Dept. the truth will only be determined by a thermonuclear explosion over Tel-Aviv. Even then, deniers might shift the blame to other groups in order to facilitate obsfucation.
#3
Found them they are in an undisclosed location with Cheney.
Posted by: Oscar the Hairy1889 ||
03/29/2012 17:03
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#4
Compare wid DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ISRAELI SHOW
"ATTACK ON IRAN" PUT ON ICE UNTIL NEXT SEASON.
and
* SAME > US CONGRESSIONAL REPORT [CRS]: ATTACK ON IRAN [US andor Israeli] WOULD BE A FAILURE.
Still comes down to a MAJOR GROUND WAR/CAMPAIGN = IRAN GETS ITS NUKES, OR ELSE IRAN GETS INVADED.
Ditto likely Regional War as IMO Iran is unlikely to surrender even iff most or all of the country gets occupied by the US-Allies.
versus
* TOPIX > EXPERTS: EGYPT'S MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD TO LEAD RISE OF SUNNI BLOC, in Middle East + Nord Affrique' [North Africa].
Entire Arab-Muslim Middle East includ North Africa undergoing an indeterminate PERIOD OF DEEP-ROOTED, SELF-ANALYSIS + EVAL, as per Islam + Self, Ethnic Identity.
The leader for an al-Qaeda linked foreign militant network in Afghanistan has been killed in a joint raid of Afghan and NATO forces, the coalition reported on Tuesday.
He probably used to like to tell people "it's pronounced 'Make-doom!'".
He was reportedly killed Monday as troops were trying to capture him in the Shirin Tagab district of northern Faryab province, near the border with Turkmenistan.
Ah, an old favorite:
"Hokay Makhdum, drop the rod and git yer mitts in da air!"
"You'll never take me alive, infidels!" [blam] [blam]
"Hokay, have it your way. Open up boys!"
[BLAM] [kaBOOM] "urk!" [THUD] "rosebud" [rattle] [twitch]
The statement described Makhdum as the highest-ranking IMU insurgent operating in the country and accused him of leading attacks against Afghan and foreign troops throughout the northern provinces for the last eight months.
For a map, click here. For a map of Chihuahua state, click here. Updated with new information including identities of the victims and other new information
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Five Juarez municipal police agents were shot to death and another three were wounded in an assault at a residence in Juarez Wednesday night, according to Mexican news accounts.
El Diario de Juarez news daily identified four of the dead as Juan Rodriguez, Maria Romero, Blas Barrera and Brenda Ulloa. The fifth victim was identified only as Ceballos. The police agents were all from Cuauhtemoc and Babicora police stations.
The attack took place at about 2030 hrs near the intersection of calles Oasis de Lisboa and Rafael Murguia in the Praderas de los Oasis subdivision.
The officers were attending a cookout at the residence when they were shot. Uncredited reports say as many as 20 shooters entered the residence and fired on their victims.
El Diario de Juarez also reported that none of the five officers would be buried with honors since they were off duty when the shootings occurred.
According to La Polaka news daily, the killings were preceded by several narcomensajes or narco-messages against Juarez's controversial mayor , Hector Murguia Lardizabal, and his police chief Julian Leyzaola Perez, both civic functionaries with a hard nosed reputation in the city.
According to La Polaka, a total of 18 municipal police agents have been shot since the start of the year.
Juarez has been in the thrall of a deadly competition between local operatives of the Sinaloa cartel and the Juarez cartel and their enforcement wing, La Linea.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Dawn] All public and private organizations in the country are required to implement the Sexual Harassment Act but a female university teacher could pick up the courage of reporting her case only after reaching the safety of a foreign land.
Higher Education Commission's Executive Director Dr Sohail Naqvi confirmed to Dawn that a female faculty member of the Hazara University, currently doing PhD in the United Kingdom, has filed an application with the HEC that she suffered sexual harassment at the university.
"It is a very serious issue. We will take action if the university fails to investigate and act on its own in a given time," he said.
Initial investigation has shown the charge was correct, according to an HEC official.
"There is a cult in the university and some top officers in its management, deans and female faculty members are involved in the racket," he said requesting anonymity.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... the university management, instead of explaining its position, has sought explanation from the complainant for "violating the procedure" by taking her complaint directly to the HEC.
In her application to the HEC, the complainant explained that she had no chance of being heard by the university as a powerful coterie there blocked and dumped such complaints.
She said she was "one of the many victims" of sexual harassment in the Hazara University, which is situated about 20 kilometres from Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... .She got the chance when she arrived in UK on a scholarship and decided to write to the HEC to save other students and faculty members, she said.
Vice-Chancellor Hazara University, Dr Syed Sakhawat Shah was not aware of the incident.
When Dawn pointed him the explanation sought by his university from the complainant, he said it would have been done "in routine" and without his knowledge.
However he promised to look into it.
"After getting her application we decided to countercheck as there could be personal vendetta behind it," said an HEC official.
"In probing the case, we contacted other female faculty members who confirmed the allegation of the complainant. They said some university officers and faculty members collaborated in the dirty affair," he added.
Subsequently, the HEC asked the university management investigate the matter itself and report back within six weeks. But the management went seeking an explanation from the 'victim' for approaching HEC over its head.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Often accused of ripping off plot lines from Hollywood, it was perhaps only a matter of time before India's Bollywood launched its own "Walk of Fame" in the style of Los Angeles' iconic boulevard.
Indian cinema's "Walk of the Stars" was officially opened Wednesday on a seaside promenade in the Bandra district of Mumbai, the country's entertainment capital -- the first of two competing projects under way in the city.
Like the Grauman's Chinese Theatre in Hollywood, Mumbai's new pathway will bear handprints and signatures of numerous actors -- along with a handful of life-size brass statues depicting some of the Indian greats.
From one of Bollywood's acting dynasties, movie star Kareena Kapoor was the main guest at the launch in a nearby hotel, where she unveiled a statue of her legendary grandfather, the late Raj Kapoor, sitting on a bench.
"I think people should come to actually dance with the stars. Some stars that are not here today with us, we can get to dance with them, touch them, feel them and actually realise what they were".
Describing herself as a "proud granddaughter", she and her father, actor Randhir Kapoor, perched with the statue for photographs -- as fans will soon be able to do on the promenade.
"Acting is something that the Kapoors have just lived for. Cinema is something that is in our veins, it's in our blood, and we're very, very proud to say that," she said.
The Kapoor family are the first to be honoured on the street "because they're technically the first family of Bollywood," said Nikhil Gandhi, business head of the UTV Stars television channel that has set up the walkway.
"We thought it would be a good idea for us to create something as a tribute to the biggest superstars of the industry," he told AFP. "The idea is to get fans closer to the superstars."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Wonder if they're any more level headed than our celebrities?
MINSK, Belarus: Several thousand people have turned out for an anti-government rally in Belarus to call for the freeing of political prisoners and for the former Soviet republic to become a European-style democracy.
Sundays protest rally was the largest since authoritarian President Alexander Lukashenko won another term in a December 2010 election and intensified his crackdown on the opposition.
The opposition has traditionally held rallies on March 25 to mark the anniversary of Belarus short-lived declaration of independence from Russia in 1918.
Lukashenkos government usually bans the rallies and sends police in to break them up. This year, the protesters were allowed to gather peacefully, but each one had to pass through security controls and be photographed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/29/2012
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#1
You murderous bunch in Belarus. To be an ass for the Russians. They do not even need you.
The army intercepted two vehicles carrying arms in the Bekaa border town of al-Qaa and jugged four Lebanese and six Syrian nationals, local newspapers reported on Wednesday.
An Nahar daily said that the army discovered a van and a pickup truck that were carrying arms and confiscated a number of machine guns, grenades, and a grad rocket.
According to al-Joumhouria newspaper the four Lebanese were identified as: Ibrahim Rayed, Abdul Karim Rayed, Hassan Ezzedine, and Ibrahim Ezzedine.
The daily noted that the four Lebanese are from the eastern town of Arsal.
The Syrians were identified as: Youssef Saeed, Bilal al-Masri, Hussein Hammad, Mahmoud al-Asaad, Mouheddine al-Zouhouri, while the sixth person remained unidentified.
Al-Joumhouria said that the detainees were referred to the Ablah military base.
Conflicting reports on whether Syrian security forces infiltrated al-Qaa emerged on Monday.
President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... denied on Wednesday in remarks published in An Nahar that the Syrian forces infiltrated the Lebanese territory.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2012
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#1
We must always be careful to distinguish al-Qaa from al-Kaa and al-Caa. Not to mention al-Q'aa, al-Q'åa, al-Q'åä, etc.
[Dawn] KARACHI awoke to scenes of familiar mayhem on Tuesday morning,
A sign it's left the realms of tragedy to become habit.
this time sparked by the murder of a political worker. Armed men reportedly barged into the house of Mansoor Mukhtar, an MQM activist in the city's PIB Colony area, and opened fire, killing the Muttahida worker and injuring his brother who later dead. Following the incident, most localities reverberated with the sound of bullets. A number of people were reportedly killed by gunfire while several vehicles were set ablaze. Shopkeepers downed shutters and the normally bustling streets quickly emptied as the MQM announced a 'day of mourning', while walking out of the National Assembly in protest. Violence was also reported from other cities in Sindh. Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... had been tense since Sunday night, when a firing incident marred a poetry recital organised by the MQM; one of the attackers, killed by the police, reportedly belonged to the ANP.
Tuesday's events prove that peace in Bloody Karachi is only an illusion; it is not a permanent feature but a temporary arrangement between the various forces wrangling for control of the city and its resources. Organised violence has become part of the city's culture. Before the latest incident, many people, unconvinced by the largely peaceful conditions that had prevailed for some months, had been debating when the next round of violence would break out. This kind of violence subsides as suddenly as it begins, while murders or other incidents of a criminal nature only serve as triggers; no one knows about the real causes of violence, perhaps apart from the city's political players who cut deals behind the scenes and the federal government's mystery man Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. . Is this cyclical, bloody nightmare the permanent fate of Bloody Karachi and its hapless inhabitants? An incompetent state and those who claim to represent Bloody Karachi are best placed to answer this.
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[Dawn] An activist of the Awami National Party (ANP) was rubbed out in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , DawnNews reported on Wednesday, flaring up violence in the city once again.
ANP activist Zain-ul-Abideen was killed in a targeted attack on his vehicle near the Matric Board Office in the Nazimabad area of the city. A companion of the dear departed activist sustained injuries as a result of the attack.
The killing was followed by reports of firing, forced shutdown of business and vehicle-torching incidents in various parts of the city.
At least six vehicles, including three cycle of violences, were set ablaze in Lasbela and Tin Hatti neighbourhood immediately after the incident.
The attack came a day after the city descended into violence as arsonists went on the rampage, killing at least 10 people and setting on fire over 40 vehicles.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] The city descended into anarchy on Tuesday with nearly a dozen people rubbed out, nine others maimed and over 40 vehicles set ablaze following the pre-dawn killing of a senior Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... worker and his elder brother in PIB Colony.
The daylong gun and arson attacks came as a grim reminder of the last summer wave of killings that came to a halt after police and Rangers were ordered by the Supreme Court in August to move in and establish the writ of the state. The measure worked but proved short-lived and violence broke out again within less than a year.
A police van parked on Stadium Road outside Liaquat National Hospital, where the bodies of the two brothers were taken, was the first to be set on fire before the violence spread to almost every district.
Early morning gunfire in different parts of the city compelled people to stay indoors, while the gun and arson attacks forced transporters, fuel station owners and traders to suspend their activities.
"We have confirmed reports of the killing of eight people, including MQM workers, and 35 vehicles were set ablaze in today's violence," said Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Hussain Wasan.
He added: "The killing of the MQM worker and his brother is definitely a condemnable act. Similarly, the violence after that is also a source of concern. The police and Rangers have been ordered for indiscriminate action against myrmidons, and results will be apparent soon."
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[An Nahar] Natural gas, whose price is at record lows thanks to a shale drilling boom, is gaining traction as an alternative energy in the United States, with automakers jumping on the bandwagon. I'm kinda dumbfounded it hasn't displaced gasoline by now. But try finding someone to convert your car -- a process I undertand takes under an hour.
The use of natural gas instead of oil-based gasoline to drive the country's cars and trucks "is definitely starting to take off," said Mark Hanson, an analyst at investment research firm Morningstar. Actually, I understand two CNG stations in the Baltimore area have recently shut down...
"The economics seem to work," he said, noting it was "just a question of what pace" the necessary infrastructure will take to develop.
Gas is in focus as a potential engine fuel because "it is tremendously good fuel," said David Cole, the chairman emeritus of the Center for Automotive Research.
Unlike gasoline, whose rising prices are causing pain at the pump for consumers, natural gas is cheap in the United States as supplies bulge from production in the country's vast shale gas formations.
In addition, natural gas burns while emitting less carbon dioxide than gasoline.
Thus, it is considered a "green" fuel even though in its raw state, the methane it emits is more destructive to the Earth's ozone layer than CO2, and the artificial fracturing of gas shales, known as "fracking," has drawn fire from environmentalists.
There are several forms of natural gas used to power vehicles. Compressed natural gas (CNG) is pressurized gas stored in a similar way to a vehicle's gasoline tank.
Liquefied natural gas (LNG) is produced by chilling natural gas to about minus 260 degrees Fahrenheit (minus 162 degrees Celsius). It can be used as engine fuel for heavy ground or maritime vehicles.
In Europe, the fuel of choice for automobiles is liquefied petroleum gas, typically a mixture of butane and propane made from refined crude oil or natural gas.
Across the Atlantic, the three big U.S. automakers are pumping out vehicles based on alternative fuels.
Ford Motor Company, the nation's second-biggest automaker, has the largest array of alternative-energy vehicles: eight powered by natural gas.
The smallest U.S. car maker, Fiat-controlled Chrysler, in early March unveiled a pick-up truck than can use liquefied natural gas, which will go on sale in June.
Sergio Marchionne, the chief executive of Fiat and Chrysler, views natural gas as having greater potential than electricity to power vehicles.
General Motors, the US giant at the top of the global auto industry, produces two vans that use compressed natural gas, the Chevy Express and the GMC Savana, and will begin production by the end of the year on two pick-up trucks running on CNG.
GM already has sold 1,200 of the vans to U.S. telecommunications titan AT&T.
The Detroit, Michigan auto maker is working on a number of different alternative fuels and particularly on electric vehicles.
But a GM front man, Dan Flores, said: "We think compressed natural gas offers a lot of potential. The technology is promising."
It is particularly appealing to businesses, especially service providers such as telecoms, package deliverers like UPS, or to local governments, which operate trash removal or emergency vehicle fleets.
CNG vehicles operate at relatively short distances from a refueling hub. The economies of scale for a large business or public body can potentially justify the cost of an investment in the specialized refueling equipment.
For individual consumers, the refueling infrastructure is limited. And compressed or liquefied gas is expensive and requires substantial storage capacity, restricting the vehicles' range.
Morningstar's Hanson said that currently there are only about 400 CNG stations in the U.S.
In Europe, natural gas also is sparking interest amid rising gasoline prices, but so far it remains only a small portion of the market.
In La Belle France, for example, it represents less than one percent of the vehicle fuel consumed and only 200,000 vehicles are outfitted for liquefied petroleum gas, of the 31 million privately owned.
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#1
I was talking to a friend who has converted many engines and a few vehicles in the past. He told me that a fuel injected engine was "hard" but a carb based engine was easy and he suggested an Impco carb. (even offered me some old ones for free but I no longer have carb based transport - excepting the mower).
#2
the energy density of CNG is about 30-40% less than gasoline; also, using cng results in more methane emissions
but the cost per volume of CNG is about half that of gasoline so, yes, for fleet operations within a region, the numbers work pretty good
Posted by: lord garth ||
03/29/2012 0:32
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Very nice, but must still be compared against the lack of International Govts-Perts consensus on "Peak Oil/Resources" [+ GWCC], etc.
By most accounts, the GULF OF MEXICO is still leaking flumes of Oil, while on a NORTH SEA RIG [North Atlantic] a "DEEPWATER/BP HORIZON" STYLE EVENT may be unfolding as per NATURAL GAS.
Its quite possible that our OWG-NWO that no AMerican = Amerikan has voted for, nor been asked to, may wake up one day circa 2040 and discover the World is low or zilch in fossil fuels, etc. because DA [COMMON = UNIVERSAL]MATH METHOD(S) WAS SCREWED UP = NEVER AGREED UPON.
* OLD ADAGE = WHAT DOES TRUTH HAVE TO DO POLITICS", correct???
Ya know, besides the life and survival of all Mankind both on Earth and in Deep Space.
[YEAR 2040 = INTERNATIONAL OUTLAWING OF
"FRACKING" here].
#4
It not yet a consumer item. The markup is enough to buy 4000 gallons of gasoline at current prices.
Chrysler, Ford, GM Introduce Natural-Gas Pickup Trucks Built in Saltillo, Mexico, the 2012 Ram 2500 Heavy Duty CNGpriced at $47,500, or roughly 30% more than a comparably equipped three-quarter-ton Ramis offered only in a crew-cab, long-box configuration with four-wheel drive.
#5
Pickup trucks in general are grotesquely overpriced compared to items like sedans. The manufacturers get away with it because pickups are in high demand. I set no store whatsoever in statements like "30% more than comparably..."
News coverage of most aspects of the petroleum economy is utterly inadequate. You can drive massive amounts of political and economic agendas through holes left by the media. Inadequate emphasis is given to the differences between CNG and LNG. "CNG trucks are well suited to the severe service market as the payback period can be a little longer," said Ann Duignan, an analyst for J.P. Morgan, in a recent investor note, adding that "some conversions cost up to $18,000, and fleets are balking at this incremental cost." My friend Jim, an over-the-road trucker, years ago mentioned his company didn't bat an eyelash at buying him a new tractor with $8,000 worth of a diesel pony engine, designed to run A/C in his cab and to keep his batteries charged when he has to park for his mandatory rest breaks. Many jurisdictions now ban prolonged idling of parked semi truck/trailers. That money was spent years ago.
Jim drives his truck 100,000 miles a year, gets 7 mpg diesel. He burns about 14,285 gallons of diesel a year, at current prices of $4.10/gal (his company probably pays a bit less than the pump price), he burns up $58,5xx worth of fuel - per year. He is paid much less than the cost of fuel to run his rig.
So some conversions cost $18,000. B. F. D.
Reporters and analysts must be selected for their cluelessness and inability to operate a calculator.
#6
A 2011 article in WSJ sheds some light on heavy trucks running on NG:
-- A trash truck that costs $200,000 outfitted for diesel costs only another $10,000or 5% more equipped for natural gas, said Kevin Walbridge, executive vice president of operations at trash-hauler Republic Services Inc. That price premium has fallen as trash-truck manufacturers have cranked out steadily larger volumes.
-- UPS pays about $95,000 for an average long-haul "tractor"the front part of the 18-wheeler, housing the engine and driver. It recently ordered 48 natural-gas versions at a cost of $195,000 apieceabout double the cost of a diesel model
A trash truck cost 5% more to run on NG, while a UPS semi tractor costs 100% more - this makes little sense.
#7
Here in Perth, it took about 10 years to go from no petrol stations selling CNG, to almost every station selling CNG.
CNG vehicles here do more miles than all petrol and diesel vehicles combined.
And NG is 3 times the cost of the US, because NG is priced based on long term contracts to East Asia.
The real scandal is that vehicle manufacturers wasted billions on electric cars, while spending almost nothing on developing NG vehicles (European bus manufacturers excepted).
#9
They also make a CNG compressor for the home so you can fill your car at home.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
03/29/2012 12:27
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#10
I think y'all missed the news that earlier this week Zero's administration more or less banned the construction of serious power plant construction except for natural gas plants.
This will have the effect of increasing consumption of natural gas being used for power (substituting for coal, which we weren't importing to begin with) and thereby decreasing the amount available (and/or increasing the price) for use for transportation where it could possibly decrease oil imports.
(And y'all were wondering how greenhouse regulations were going to make money for the Saudis. Now you know).
#11
With the proper people in government this could be the biggest development since the model T. I hate to say government but that's our world today.
Commercial aircraft, all manor of equipment basicly anything that uses gas or diesel. Heating for homes to mention another. Downunder they are selling NG at 4.5 cents/cubic liter to China. The Aussies don't get that break. The Gulf is loaded with this gas. So much that 600 million years ago they claim a massive methane burp caused a massive extinction. Yes, we are due. Duke energy has several lines into the Gulf now.
#12
So much that 600 million years ago they claim a massive methane burp caused a massive extinction.
I'm inclined to deposit that into the circular filing cabinet along with the other climate speculator guesses (I refuse to dignify these charlatans with the words "scientist" or "theory", both of which relate to people who have come up with models that are replicable and have both explanatory and predictive power).
#13
If you have a cng filling location near your location, then you can easily buy a used cng fleet car (police cars are particularly nice) for under 10k.
#15
Well, other than being hard to transport, the US has more Natural Gas than any fuel. Ditch the golfer in chief and get someone who will make an easier transition (due to market forces - not government)
I Am all for it - when I see all the stinking pumps at the rual gas stations I frequent.
You still need to burn off that nasty oil tho. That will not change.
#16
Well, other than being hard to transport, the US has more Natural Gas than any fuel. Ditch the golfer in chief and get someone who will make an easier transition (due to market forces - not government)
I Am all for it - when I see all the stinking pumps at the rual gas stations I frequent.
You still need to burn off that nasty oil tho. That will not change.
[Shabelle] A huge deadly land mine blast has rocket on Wednesday Ethiopian troops in Beledweyne town, centralSomalia, about 350 Km north ofMogadishu, reports said.
Local residents who spoke to Shabelle Media by phone told that the army's convoy was targeted a landmine as they were passing on a road in the heart of Beledweyne which leads to the western villages of the town, causing an unconfirmed casualty on the Ethiopian troops.
Shortly after the blast, hundreds of another Ethiopian troops who drove from near bases have immediately arrive at scene to evacuate their loss, opening fire many passerby civilians, some of the got injured by the systematic gunshots.
No one has immediately claimed the responsibility of the attack so far,but the town has seen a lot such kabooms since Al-shabab fighters withdrew last year.
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[An Nahar] Abu Mohammed Toufic Taha, the head the takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... i network that has been recently discovered in Leb, is one of the most active members of al-Qaeda in Leb, reported al-Joumhouria newspaper on Wednesday.
It said that he is also in constant contact, through the internet, with al-Qaeda leader Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... from whom he receives orders and directions.
He is also in contact with a Saudi member of al-Qaeda, Majed Abu Mohammed al-Majed, who was charged with recruiting fundamentalist groups and sending them to a number of Arab and European countries, added the report.
Majed had even lived in the Ein el-Hellhole Paleostinian refugee camp in southern Leb where he and Taha worked for months on forming several Death Eater cells in Leb, it said.
A security source told al-Joumhouria that Taha, who was born in Ein el-Hellhole in 1962, is a former member of the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Paleostine. ... a breakaway faction of the Pöpular Frönt för the Liberation of Paleostine. The are regarded as the most intellectual of Paleostinian fedayeen groups, smoking cheap cigarettes and drawing heavily on Marxist-Leninist theory to explain their crappy lives. They can occasionally be seen strutting through the streets of Paleostine, dressed up like soldiers and lugging firearms, though they seldom manage to hit anything and then usually by accident. This may be because of their habit of wearing black masks that cut off most of their vision. That would also explain their habit of occasionally walking into walls, which is a well-known attribute of those immersed in true understanding of the dialectic...
Several arrest warrants had been issued against him for his involvement in the kaboom that targeted Lebanese soldiers in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich 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... in 2008 and for organizing assaults against the United Nations ...an international organization whose stated aims of facilitating interational security involves making sure that nobody with live ammo is offended unless it's a civilized country... Interim Force in Leb.
He has also been found to be involved in attacks against the Lebanese army.
The source revealed that Taha "enjoyed a solid friendship" with the head of the Fatah al-Islam A Syrian-incubated al-Qaeda work-alike that they think can be turned off if no longer needed to keep the Leb pot stirred. group, Shaker al-Absi, with whom he worked with during the events of Nahr al-Bared in 2007.
Taha also received orders from former leader Fatah al-Islam Abdul Rahman Awad, who was killed in an army ambush in Shtoura in 2010.
The Nahr al-Bared camp in northern Leb was at the heart of festivities between the Lebanese army and Fatah al-Islam group between May and September 2007.
Absi disappeared at the end of the conflict and his whereabouts remain unknown.
Taha later began forming Death Eater cells in Leb, which included members of Fatah al-Islam, in cooperation with Majed and the head of the Jund al-Sham group in Ein el-Hellhole Sheikh Osama Amin al-Shehabi, reported al-Joumhouria.
Investigations revealed that Taha was responsible for three cells aimed at carrying out attacks in Leb.
The first cell, located in the Iqlim al-Kharroub region, has been planning on poisoning water wells and setting off explosives in al-Mukhtara and al-Jahlieh in order to create inter-Druze strife.
The second cell, found in al-Sarafand in the South, is behind the repeated firing of rockets from southern Leb towards Israel, which were aimed at sparking a war between Leb and the Jewish state, said al-Joumhouria.
The third cell, found in Lala in the Bekaa valley, was planning on kidnapping foreigners in order to swap them with Fatah al-Islam inmates in Roumieh prison.
It was also planning on blowing up the Jeb Jennine power plant
The newspaper stated that these cells have been uncovered and its members were jugged.
Taha was also in contact with similar cells outside of Leb, it added.
The takfiri network, which was planning on carrying out attacks against the Lebanese army, was uncovered after the army intelligence placed in durance vile a Lebanese national who had extensive activity with al-Qaeda.
He confessed the details of the takfiri cell, which includes seven individuals: six Lebanese and Taha, who is Paleostinian.
Two of these individuals are also members of the army, said al-Joumhouria.
The six Lebanese nationals have been placed in durance vile, with one confessing that the network was aimed at attacking the army, creating chaos in Leb, and "avenging the Fatah al-Islam deaders," it continued.
Security sources told the newspaper that Taha is still in the Ein el-Hellhole camp and he is under the protection of a well-known Paleostinian Death Eater known as Abu Ahmed al-Mubarak, as well as a number of Jund al-Sham members.
Despite the ongoing contacts with the army command and the Paleostinian organizations, it is unlikely that he will be handed over to the Lebanese authorities due to a lack of a unified Paleostinian leadership, reported al-Joumhouria.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The UN and Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... 's envoy on Syria, Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , will brief the Security Council next Monday after Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... said it accepted his proposals for peace, the ex-UN chief's front man said.
Annan will not travel to Tehran next week, his front man Ahmad Fawzi told AFP Wednesday after Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi had earlier said the ex-UN chief "is probably coming to Tehran on Monday".
Annan will be "briefing the Security Council Monday by video from Geneva," said Fawzi, who added Annan would not travel to Iran next week.
Syria has accepted a proposal crafted by Annan to end the bloodshed in the country, although Western states have expressed scepticism about the Damascus regime's sincerity.
Annan's plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire and media access to areas affected by the fighting, which has killed almost 10,000 people according to monitors.
The plan also calls for an inclusive Syrian-led political process, the right to demonstrate, and the release of people jugged arbitrarily.
Annan has discussed the plan in recent days with two key Syrian allies, China and Russia.
Russia urged the Syrian opposition on Wednesday to "follow the example" of the Damascus regime and support Annan's mediation efforts, while China called on both parties to honour their commitments.
Damascus blasts kill 27 as Syria gears up for monitors
Germany's foreign minister called for urgent implementation of the plan and said the regime would be judged on deeds, not words.
"The six-point plan by Kofi Annan is supported by the United Nations ...the Oyster Bay money pit... Security Council. It is supported by Germany," Guido Westerwelle said at a news conference with Paleostinian prime minister Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... "We haven't yet had an official response from the Syrian regime. But I want to stress that for us, it is actions, not words that count -- nor declarations of intent."
Iran's Salehi, hosting Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan in Tehran, said that "with the mission of Mr Kofi Annan and with the support of Turkey, Arab nations and the UN we hope there will be a way out for the Syrian issue."
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[Yemen Post] Mohammed Naji al-Shaif, an influential tribal chief and Parliament member, said that the former ruling General People Congress party is gonging to nominate former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh's ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... eldest son, Ahmed, to represent it in the next presidential election set to take place in 2014.
In an interview with the state-run al-Jamohoria newspaper, al-Shaif revealed that Ahmed, 40, is set to run for presidency in 2014.
"For me I don't have any ambitions to run for President," he noted.
Speaking about the upcoming national dialogue, al-Shaif called on all political parties, and social factions to engage in the dialogue, considering it the only viable exit route of the current crisis that dragged for over a year.
He reaffirmed his willingness to stand by the Southern Movement if it chooses federalism, stressing that federalism is the best solution for the southern issue.
"If the upcoming national dialogue will not put Federalism on the table then there is no need to hold it,"
"The National Unity Government was not up to people's aspirations," al-Shaif said, adding that President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi should dismiss Mohammed Salem Basindoh's, the Prime Minister, government and form another unity government.
Apparently Saleh, 70, had stepped down only to give way to his son to succeed him.
Ahmed is the commander of the elite Elite Republican Guards, the best trained and equipped troops in the country.
After months of being defiant in the face of relentless, massive protests, Saleh, 70, was pressured to sign the GCC-brokered deal that eased him out of power in exchange for immunity from prosecution.
Although he relinquished power and another president took over, Saleh still somehow is pulling the strings of the country though his well-placed relatives and cronies
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North Korea on Wednesday revealed details of a satellite it says it is preparing to launch into space next month. An unnamed official was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying that the satellite, which is to be carried into orbit by a rocket, weighs 100 kg and has a lifespan of two years. It is equipped with a camera enabling it to send back pictures and other observational data, the official claimed.
Experts say a proper working satellite would weigh 500 kg and have a lifespan of at least five years. A satellite expert at a state-run research institute here said a satellite weighing 100 kg would be an experimental satellite and really the earliest stage of satellite development, equivalent to the South Korea's first series of satellites Uribyeol 2 and 3 launched in the 1990s.
"With that claim North Korea has practically admitted that the rocket being launched does not aim to put a working satellite into orbit. Such a small satellite could be mounted along with the payload of a rocket being launched by any other country. There is no reason to build an expensive launch vehicle for it."
He said this shows the North "is really only interested in testing the missile rather than putting a satellite into orbit."
A government official here said, "Faced with mounting international condemnation, North Korea is trying hard to back up its absurd claim that it is preparing to launch a rocket for scientific purposes and not testing an intercontinental ballistic missile."
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/29/2012
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#2
IANANP (I am not a nuclear physicist) but:
Nuclear payload? I have doubts they could even make a functional warhead that light. Might could buy one someplace but even then, I think it would need to be a 'fresh' one, as I think it would need a Tritium boost, and that decays fairly quickly.
Non-nuclear EMP device would be quite limited in range.
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#1
I was reviewing an article from yesterday. The comments list on the right side shows the current comments, not the comment list from the day of the article. Is this change correct?
Elle MacPherson (Australian) aka Julie Madison in "Batman & Robin (1997)" aka Mickey Morse in "The Edge (1997)" aka Sheela in "Sirens (1993)" aka Jane Lindquist in "If Lucy Fell (1996)" aka Candy in "The Mirror Has Two Faces (1996)" aka Samantha Mastandrea in "With Friends Like These... (1998)" aka Cover-girl on Sports Illustrated magazine's annual Swimsuit Issue - 1986, 1987, 1988, 1994, and 2006 (age 48)
WASHINGTON (AP) -- U.S. military commanders in Afghanistan have assigned "guardian angels" -- troops that watch over their comrades even as they sleep -- and have ordered a series of other increased security measures to protect troops against possible attacks by rogue Afghans.
What's the proportion of 'rogue' Afghans these days? 80%?
No. Many simply walk away when they realize they weren't meant for the military life, or kill fellow Afghans.
The added protections are part of a directive issued in recent weeks by Marine Gen. John Allen, the top U.S. commander in Afghanistan, to guard against insider threats, according to a senior military official. And they come in the wake of a spike in attacks on U.S. and coalition forces by Afghans, including the point-blank shooting deaths of two U.S. advisers in Afghanistan's Ministry of Interior.
Some of the changes have been subtle, others not so much.
In several Afghan ministries, Americans are now allowed to carry weapons. And they have been instructed to rearrange their office desks there to face the door, so they can see who is coming in, said the official, who spoke on condition of anonymity to describe the internal directive.
While Allen did not detail the new measures in a briefing earlier this week, he acknowledged that changes had been made.
"We have taken steps necessary on our side to protect ourselves with respect to, in fact, sleeping arrangements, internal defenses associated with those small bases in which we operate," Allen said, adding that now someone is "always overwatching our forces."
#4
Back when the 'temporary' WWII barracks were still being employed in the 70s and 80s, someone on shifts usually had to pull fire watch during the night when the rest of the unit was in shuteye.
#7
It's not politically correct to say this, but the transfer of Pashtuns to Pakistan, much as Germans throughout Central Europe were deported to Germany after WW2, would solve many problems in Afghanistan. The way to do this would be to arm the non-Pashtuns and come up with a plan for them to conduct Manifest Destiny-style Pashtun-fighting* campaigns, complete with the occasional massacres and land rushes (conducted after major league demining efforts and the clearing of Pashtuns from the region). And obviously, Karzai should be given the opportunity to be the first Pashtun to swim from Antarctica all the way to Sri Lanka.
* How did the Arab expeditionary armies cause the native infidels to abandon their faith? By persisting over hundreds of years in campaigns that repeatedly dealt crushing defeats to rebel infidels, thereby causing the kafirs, in successive stages, to (1) ask why their gods had abandoned them, (2) ask why their gods were punishing them, (3) questioning whether their gods were weaker than their Muslim enemy's god and finally (4) accepting that since the Muslim god was helping his followers win battles, he must be more powerful than the local infidel gods.
#9
I fondly remember the stories papa used to tell me about how the NVA NaZIS NORTH KOREANS and KGB used to guard all the AMERICAN soldiers during the previous wars. WHEN THE F--K ARE PEOPLE GOING TO WAKE THE F--K UP THOSE IDIOTS ARE ON JIHAD AND WHEN OUR DUMB ASS LEADERS GET DONE THINKING THEY ARE PLAYING THEM OFF ON EACH OTHER THEY WILL I REPEAT WILL TURN ON THOSE THAT WERE THERE! THIS HOLE F---KING THING IS BEEEEEEYOND PATHETIC!!!!!!!
The U.S. Treasury Department on Wednesday set additional sanctions against Iranian engineering firms with ties to the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corp (IRGC), which it said has continued to expand its control of the Iranian economy, Reuters reported.
It also sanctioned individuals and shipping companies with ties to the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL).
"By designating the individuals and entities today, Treasury is sending a clear signal to the international community that Iran's attempts to evade international sanctions will not go unnoticed," Adam Szubin, director of the Treasury's Office of Foreign Assets Control, said in a statement.
The department imposed additional sanctions on Iran Maritime Industrial Company SADRA, which it said has offices in Iran and Venezuela. It said SADRA was owned by Khatam al-Anbiya, an engineering company used by the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corp to fund its operations. It also sanctioned Deep Offshore Technology PJS, which it said was a subsidiary of SADRA.
"We will continue to target the Iranian regime and specifically the IRGC as it attempts to continue its nefarious infiltration of the Iranian economy," Szubin said.
In addition to freezing assets of the companies, any foreign financial institution that does business with the firms risk losing its correspondent account access to the United States, the department said.
It also designated Malship Shipping Agency Ltd and Modality Limited, which it said were affiliates of the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), and two individuals, Seyed Alaeddin Sadat Rasool and Ali Ezati, who it said worked for IRISL.
"IRISL has played a key role in Iran's efforts to advance its missile program and transport other military cargo," the department said.
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RT @Treadstone71LLC: #Iran Maritime Industrial Co. (SADRA), offices in Iran-Venezuela, owned by Khatam al-Anbiya, used by #IRGC to fund ops http://feeds.bignewsnetwork.com/?sid=204474065
This clearly will be the tip of the iceberg. The Syrian secret police, I suspect, have operatives in Turkey doing exactly the same thing. Lebanon goes without saying.
AMMAN, Jordan: A Jordanian police official says 10 Syrian security defectors have been arrested on suspicion of spying on refugees and dissidents for President Bashar Assads embattled regime.
The official says the 10 have been living in a compound run and guarded by Jordanian police in Mafraq, near the Syrian border. He says the men fled from the compound last Thursday but were arrested the same day. He says the men were all low-ranking army and police deserters who escaped to Jordan during the Syrian uprising. They claimed they fled because they opposed the Syrian regimes alleged torture of civilians.
Jordan hosts an estimated 80,000 Syrian refugees.
The official insisted on anonymity, saying Sunday that public comment could undermine the ongoing investigation.
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#1
Iran sent bunches of rousers to Syria. They want to take down Jordan. Want to shell up with 2 to 4 intels in a group of 55. Want to try Golan again The rest will stir up trouble with weapons already placed. Lots of coverage by Iran surrounding Israel.
Israel needs only to speak quietly in Yiddish and forget the world. They are not there for you so use shields.
[Shabelle] Heavy festivities between Somalia government soldiers supporting by neighboring Kenyan military and Al-Qaeda-affiliated Al-shabab Islamic fascistitook place overnight in southwest region of Lower Jubba, military officials said.
Reports said the battle sparked shortly after the Islamic fascistiattacked with mortars on joint military positions controlled by TFG and Kenyan forces at Hosingo village near the border line, causing casualties of death and wounds on both sides.
A senior Somali force commander the region who spoke to Shabelle Media on condition of anonymity said that both rivals have used each heavy artillery fire and machine guns. He added, "Both Somali andKenyaforces fought back and killed four Al-shabab fighters and two soldiers during the attack and counter-attack at Hosingo village."
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[Emirates 24/7] Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... will reject any initiative made at an Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... summit relating to the violence in Syria, a foreign ministry front man said on Wednesday, adding it would only deal with Arab countries individually.
Syria was suspended from the league in November over a violent crackdown on the uprising against President Bashar Al Assad's rule.
The Arab League, meeting in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... this week, is expected to issue a statement on Syria.
"Since its membership was suspended, Syria will only deal with Arab countries based on state-to-state relationships. Therefore we will not deal with any initiative issued by the vaporous Arab League at any level," front man Jihad Makdisssi said in a statement released to journalists.
Relations between the Arab bloc and Damascus further soured after the Arab League froze a monitoring mission in Syria and proposed a plan for Assad to make a transition from power.
Arab leaders in Storied Baghdad are expected to endorse a six-point proposal from U.N.-Arab League special envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , which seeks a ceasefire and political dialogue in what Iraq called a "last chance" for Syria.
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#1
They stink and don't bathe.. Are the sunnis here the same ones killing American soldiers everywhere else or are they different like they believe in a different number of pages in the Koran?
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of pimping in La Belle France, faced new legal worries across the Atlantic on Wednesday, with the first hearing in a US civil suit accusing him of sexual assault.
The hearing in New York state court in the Bronx was the first in civil action brought by the hotel maid whose accusation of attempted rape last year triggered the spectacular downfall of one of the world's most powerful politicians.
Although US prosecutors tossed out criminal charges against Strauss-Kahn after deciding that Nafissatou Diallo's allegations would not stand up in court, the maid's lawyers are now pursuing unspecified damages.
"She wants recognition of her status as a victim and the reality of the attack she suffered," her French lawyer Thibault de Montbrial told French television channel LCI.
He said Diallo was still employed by the Sofitel hotel and expected to go back to work there at some point, adding that she still required treatment on her shoulder, "which was injured during the assault."
Strauss-Kahn and Diallo are neither required, nor expected, to be present in court.
Judge Douglas McKeon is due to start by hearing arguments on whether the suit should be dismissed because Strauss-Kahn had diplomatic immunity as head of the International Monetary Fund when he was tossed in the calaboose May 14.
The ruling may not come for several weeks, McKeon told AFP.
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The US Navy has intervened over the adaptation of a British aircraft carrier for a new generation of fighter jets, to assure ministers that the cost will be less than half the Ministry of Defence's estimate.
Converting HMS Prince of Wales
Assuming it is ever built, a dubious assumption...
so that it can be used by the Joint Strike Fighter will require significantly less than the £2 billion quoted by officials, the assistant secretary of the US Navy, Sean J Stackley, insisted.
In a letter seen by The Daily Telegraph, he told Peter Luff, the defence procurement minister, that the necessary equipment would cost £458 million before installation. Defence experts estimate the installation cost at £400 million.
The carrier project has been overshadowed by cost and technical issues. In the Strategic Defence and Security Review of 2010, which scrapped Harrier jump jets, the Coalition opted for a conventional take-off and landing model of the new, American-built fighter instead of a jump-jet variant. But ministers were on the point of changing their minds after MoD officials forecast that the cost of adapting a carrier to use the conventional planes would rise from £500 million to £1.8 billion.
Following the intervention by the US Navy, David Cameron has ordered a Treasury-led re-examination of the project. The Major Project Review Group will submit a report on April 16 which it is understood will be considered by the National Security Council the next day.
The letter from Mr Stackley outlined studies concerning a sophisticated but untested catapult system to help aircraft reach take-off speed.
That would be the electromagnetic system that is to replace steam catapults.
He reassured the British that the risks of the project, and of a new arrester wire system for deck landings, would be underwritten by the US, which is installing the system on one of its carriers. Mr Stackley ended by saying: "The department of navy is committed to supporting the success of the UK CVF (conventional carrier)."
The Americans sent the letter following tense meetings with British officials on the margins of Mr Cameron's trip to Washington last week.
"They want to ensure that the information the British Government is working from is accurate because currently that quite clearly is not the case," said a Whitehall source.
Two British carriers are being built, but one will be mothballed following the SDSR.
Makes no sense to build it then.
It's one way to store spare parts...
Reverting to jump jets for both of them would not help American military planners, who want to be able to base a squadron of their own jets on a British carrier.
Since the U.S. will be going down a carrier or two by 2025...
There are also said to be technological concerns over the jump jet version of the fighter and the Americans might be positioning themselves to ditch it altogether.
"This letter could be a warning shot saying if you Brits go back to jump jet carriers then there might be no planes to fly off it," said a defence source.
Translation: the U.S. doesn't have to build the jump jet version of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter.
Richard Scott, of Jane's Defence Weekly, said: "The trouble the Government has is in getting reliable cost data but at least the costs the Americans are giving are quite reassuring."
Not calculated the way they did Obamacare before it passed, one hopes.
An MoD spokesman said: "Work is ongoing to finalise the 2012-13 budget and balance the equipment plan. This means reviewing all programmes, including elements of the carrier strike program me."
The Brits really ought to have the ability to launch conventional aircraft from perhaps the only carrier they'll build for the next fifty years. I really don't see them building and mothballing a second carrier, so Prince of Wales will be it. A jump jet only carrier, for Harriers or F-35B fighters, makes no sense in the long term. Do it right or don't bother and invest the money in Type 45 destroyers, subs and intel ships instead.
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#1
"Jump jets" > IOW, the AV-B Harriers the F-35 was supposed to replace + which may now be "un-scrapped" to UK strategic, mission requirements + budget barriers.
The only reasons for the UK to keep one
"Vanguard" FBM Sub; while seemingly also building then mothballing the lead "Queen Liz" CVF for 50 years or so is per its superior technology + in particular the UK-PERCEIVED LACK OF MAJOR GEOPOL OR EXISTENTIAL THREAT TO ITSELF + NATO-EU DURING THIS PERIOD.
IOW, LIKE THE USA LONDON BELIEVES IT + NATO-EU IS SAFE FOR 50 YEARS OR MORE FROM THE ISLAMIST GLOBAL JIHAD, BE IT VIOLENT ANDOR POLITICAL-ELECTORAL JIHAD, ETC.
Apparently Sandhurst + Parliament missed or had forgotten that part of Muslim/ME mil histoire' where they kept initiating minor or limited-scale, destabilizing predatory raids agz the Crusader Kingdoms in-between major campaigns = major Crusades???
#2
Asking the US Navy to help with cost control is like asking Captain John Smith to take the Titanic 'just a bit closer to that iceberg so we can see it better.'
remember this is the same USN that starred in that spell binding tale 'The $5 Billion Misunderstanding (the A-12 Avenger debacle),' and also sold Congress the fairy tale that the Super Hornet has 85-90% commonality with the regular one, when in reality there is only about 10-15% commonality.
And spent who knows how much on the F-14D 'Bombcat' as well as new wings for the Intruder, only to retire both, sinking the Intruders for fish houses, and cutting up the Tomcats to keep parts out of Iranian hands. (and to bolster support for the Lawn Darts)
#3
Brit R/Royce AV-8/Harrier Program needs to have continued DOD sustainment budget backing.
This [...now marginalized] A/C platform, and any subsequent configuration upgrades, provide an awesome array of tactical capabilities to the Department of the Navy.
#4
I love carriers but I don't really see the British power projecting anymore. The modern era is about finding an ally who will provide runways or determining that the conflict is not your business. The only real exception is the Falklands and I don't see anything being planned now being ready in time to be a factor, and I'm not sure the British government would have the balls of Thatcher to use the iron fist if required.
#5
The US Navy has intervened over the adaptation of a British aircraft carrier for a new generation of fighter jets, to assure ministers that the cost will be less than half the Ministry of Defence's estimate.
This from the service that hasn't been able to produce a successful new tactical aircraft program in almost thirty years and for whom 'cost overrun' is such a common occurrence that it ought to be in the contracts.
I truly respect and admire the USN, but their procurement people are as bad as the USAF's. I can only imagine what Neptunus Lex would have done with this story.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
03/29/2012 5:50
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#6
Of course the estimate is lower. They took the graft out of the estimate. Not to say it isn't still "in there" but that's what cost over-runs are for.
#8
Two British carriers are being built, but one will be mothballed following the SDSR.
Makes no sense to build it then.
It's one way to store spare parts...
Contract was signed by the previous PM the dismal Brown, to be built the MP, electoral back-garden and had a clause that meant cancelling them cost more than building them.
Pure pork from the worst Prime-Minister in British history.
#9
With the upcoming dominance of drone aircraft, carriers as we know them will be militarily obsolete. Drones can be launched at much higher g forces and recovered on a barge.
With proper drone design work, the carrier of the future could conduct operations entirely submerged.
At this point carriers are little more than portable political tripwires, which if attacked have so many people on board that the attack guarantees war.
[An Nahar] Kazakhstan on Wednesday said it had thwarted acts of "terrorism" in its biggest city Almaty linked to an exiled banker who is a leading foe of President Nursultan Nazarbayev. ...has served as the President of Kazakhstan since the Fall of the Soviet Union and the nation's independence in 1991. Contrary to commonly held belief, there is a difference between Kazakhs and Cossacks: Kazakhs have mustaches. Or maybe it's the other way around...
The general prosecutors said in a statement that the security services averted the attacks "at the preparatory stage" that were criminal masterminded by a Kazakh citizen named Alexander Pavlov.
It said that Pavlov has since 2005 headed the "personal security" of the exiled banker Mukhtar Ablyazov, an opponent of Nazarbayev who is wanted by Kazakhstan on charges of fraud and has decamped to Britannia.
It said that Pavlov, who has also been hiding in exile since 2009, "carries out confidential missions" on behalf of Ablyazov.
Ablyazov, who once headed an opposition party in Kazakhstan, until 2009 was chairman of the BTA Bank which enjoyed rapid growth but then hit problems when the economic crisis struck. The state intervened and Ablyazov decamped to London.
The prosecutors said that the ringleaders of the plot planned on March 24 to set off a series of kabooms in parks in Almaty and administrative buildings in the city.
"The main aim of the acts of terror was to scare the population and create an atmosphere of chaos and panic, destabilizing the social-political situation in the country," the prosecutors said.
The statement did not give details on how the attacks were thwarted.
Apparently accusing Ablyazov and his allies of links to Islamist gunnies who have been behind a series of attacks in Kazakhstan in the last year, it said they had "contacts with representatives of radical religious groups".
This was aimed at carrying out "joint acts of terror" as well as inciting inter-communal conflict in the majority Moslem but secular Central Asian state.
While the main protagonists are living in exile "a number of people have been jugged and are making confessions," the statement added.
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni President Abdu-Rabo Mansour Hadi has called the United States for aiding his country, pointing out that the US assistance is significant for Yemen, the Yemeni News Agency (Saba) said on Tuesday.
In a meeting with the U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Near Eastern Affairs, Jeffrey Feltman, Hadi affirmed that Yemen faces major political and security challenges, pointing out that the situation is critical.
He reviewed with the US official the Yemeni-US relations, counterterrorism, piracy in the Aden Gulf and its impacts on Yemen's economy.
They further discussed the Yemeni political settlement on the base of GCC power transfer deal and the United Nation Security Council Resolution 2014.
During the meeting, Hadi stressed that the GCC deal and its implementation mechanism is the only appropriate way to avoid Yemen plunging into conflicts and divisions.
For his part, Fletman said the U.S. follows the implementation of the political settlement in Yemen according to the Gulf initiative, praising successes Yemenis reached in their critical conditions, pointing out that there are significant progresses.
He further cited that the U.S. will provide all kind of support for Yemen to overcome the difficult circumstances, stressed the importance of developing a strategy to help Yemen to overcome the economic and security challenges.
Fletman further emphasized that Pesident Barack Obama I am the change that you seek... and his administration are following closely the events in Yemen and realize the nature of these challenges that really require assistance.
The US State Department had highlighted the US commitment to Yemen's political transition as well as the need for the transition process to allow broad participation by the Yemeni people," the State Department said.
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[Dawn] Chief of Army Staff Gen. Ashfaq Pervez Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... on Wednesday reiterated that American Arclight airstrikes on Salala check posts last year were an attack on Pakistain's illusory sovereignty, DawnNews reported.
The army chief is holding talks, at the General Headquarters (GHQ), with top US commanders for the first time since American Arclight airstrikes killed 24 Pak soldiers last year and triggered a near collapse in the nations' already troubled ties at a vital stage in the war in neighboring Afghanistan.
The meeting between Gen. Asfhaq Pervez Kayani and the top US commander in the region, Gen. James Mattis, and the top commander in Afghanistan, Gen. John Allen, could be a significant step toward rebuilding a relationship seen as key to US hopes of withdrawing from Afghanistan.
Pakistain retaliated for the Arclight airstrikes by kicking the US out of a base used by American drones and closing its border to supplies meant for NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... troops in Afghanistan. Public meetings between US government and army officials, previously frequent visitors, have been sharply curtailed.
A Pakistain army statement said the men were to discuss the investigation of the American Arclight airstrikes in November on the Afghan border and ways to improve frontier coordination. The talks were being held at army headquarters in Rawalpindi, just outside the capital, Islamabad, a senior officer said on condition of anonymity because the talks were still under way.
Mattis said earlier this month the talks would be about opening the supply lines.
The US has said the attacks were an accident, but Pakistain claimed they were deliberate. It has since sought to refashion the contours of an alliance already hobbled by mistrust and Pak anger at American drone strikes against bully boyz on its soil.
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[An Nahar] At least 27 civilians, five rebel fighters and four regime troops were killed on Wednesday, activists said, as Syrian forces attacked rebel bastions and United Nations ...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas... chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... urged Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... to "immediately" implement a U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... peace plan he reportedly accepted.
Thirteen people were killed in Homs, six in Hama, three in Idlib, two in Deir al-Zour, one in Daraa and another in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , the Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said.
The United States accused the Syrian leader of failing to fulfill a pledge to respect the plan.
"Assad has not taken the necessary steps to implement" the peace plan crafted by former U.N. secretary general Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland told news hounds in Washington.
China and Russia also upped the pressure, urging both their ally Syria and the opposition to honor commitments to halt armed conflict, which has claimed thousands of lives since it first erupted in March 2011.
Moscow strongly urged the Syrian opposition to "follow the example" of the Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... regime in supporting Annan's mediation efforts to stop the bloodshed.
And in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , Arab foreign ministers thrashed out a resolution on Syria to be debated at a landmark Arab League summit on Thursday, even as Damascus warned it would not abide by any of its initiatives.
On the ground, Syrian forces backed by tanks attacked the central town of Qalaat al-Madiq and other areas on Wednesday, sparking festivities which cost at least 21 lives, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
The monitoring group said four non-combatants were killed in shelling, while five rebel fighters and four soldiers died in fierce festivities in Qalaat al-Madiq and surrounding villages.
The army also tried to storm other rebel positions across the country, including in northwest Idlib, in central Homs and in the southern province of Daraa, the Britannia-based group said.
It said troops entered the town of Qalaat al-Madiq, in Hama province, just after dawn following a 17-day barrage of shelling and heavy gunfire to root out rebels. The army, however, was not in full control of the town.
The army's offensive is part of a drive by the regime to claim control of key rebel strongholds as it tries to crush an unprecedented revolt.
Fierce festivities were also reported in the province of Daraa, cradle of the year-long revolt that has left more than 9,000 people dead according to the United Nations.
The Arab summit in Storied Baghdad will stop short of calling for Assad to quit or discuss arming his foes, both sharply divisive ...politicians call things divisive when when the other side sez something they don't like. Their own statements are never divisive, they're principled... issues, Iraq's Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said on the eve of the meeting of the region's leaders.
Qatar, which wanted a hard line to be adopted against Assad, is to send a low-level representative to the summit, in a show of displeasure with the attitude of its Iraqi hosts.
The U.N. chief, who was to attend the summit, urged the Syrian president "to put commitments into immediate effect. There is no time to waste."
He expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... at the continued bloodshed but welcomed Syria's acceptance of the six-point plan put forward by Annan as an "important initial step" towards ending the bloodshed.
Ban said he would "meet key (Arab) leaders in Storied Baghdad to discuss how the U.N. and Arab League states can work together in helping the joint special envoy's diplomatic efforts to get the six-point proposal implemented."
In Washington, Nuland said that the United States was concerned over "arrests and violence continuing in Syria today," vowing to "keep the pressure" on the Syrian leader.
"We will judge him on his actions, not his promises," the State Department spokeswoman said.
Annan said on Tuesday that Assad's government had accepted his plan, a move cautiously welcomed by Western nations.
The plan calls for a commitment to stop all armed violence, a daily two-hour humanitarian ceasefire and media access to all areas affected by the fighting in Syria.
The plan also calls for an inclusive Syrian-led political process, a right to demonstrate, and the release of people jugged arbitrarily.
A copy of the draft resolution being debated by Arab foreign ministers in Storied Baghdad urges the Syrian regime to "immediately stop all actions of violence and killing, protect Syrian civilians and guarantee the freedom of peaceful demonstrations for achieving demands of the Syrian people."
The text, obtained by Agence La Belle France Presse, also calls on the Syrian government and all opposition factions "to deal positively with the envoy (Annan) by starting serious national dialogue."
But Syrian foreign ministry front man Jihad Makdissi said Damascus will reject any initiative stemming from the Arab summit. "Syria will not cooperate with any Arab League initiative at any level," he said.
"Since its suspension from the vaporous Arab League, Syria has been dealing with member states on a bilateral level," he said in a statement.
The 22-member pan-Arab body in November voted at an extraordinary meeting to suspend Syria until Assad implements an Arab deal to end the crackdown on dissent.
Western powers cautiously welcomed the statement by Annan's camp that Assad had accepted his peace plan.
"Given Assad's history of over-promising and under-delivering, that commitment (to Annan) must now be matched by immediate actions," U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as America's Blond Eminence and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Chateaubriand ... said.
WASHINGTON, March 28 (Yonhap) -- The commander of U.S. troops on the Korean Peninsula expressed concern Wednesday that North Korea's new leadership will trigger a military conflict based on a "miscalculation."
Before the House Armed Services Committee, Gen. James Thurman said the North continues improving its ability to attack the South Korean capital of Seoul. "The first thing I worry about every day is a miscalculation on somebody's part that causes a conflict that he hadn't planned for," he said at a hearing on the security condition on the peninsula.
He also said he is worried about the asymmetric capabilities, including special operations forces and cyber-attack units.
"North Korea threatens Seoul with a mix of conventional artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles, a significant percentage of which are positioned in protected positions dispersed across the western half of the peninsula," he added. "They have a considerable number of indirect fire systems. And as expansive as Seoul is, any round coming our direction could potentially do damage."
Thurman said Pyongyang's plan to launch a satellite with a ballistic missile and continued verbal threats are increasing tensions on the peninsula. He was skeptical that the North will stop the development of ballistic missiles despite restrictions under U.N. Security Council resolutions.
"They will not -- I don't believe -- give up their capabilities in regard to ballistic missiles, because they see that as a means to protect the regime," he said.
Regarding the North's power transition, he echoed many experts' view that it seems to be moving relatively smoothly.
"To date, the leadership transition appears to be proceeding without discernible internal challenges and with significant Chinese political and economic support," he said. "With the Kim Jong-un regime focused on continuity and consolidation of power, there are no indications the regime will depart significantly from Kim Jong-il's policies."
Thurman, however, questioned whether the new leader, believed to be in his late 20s, is in firm control of the regime on his own. "I think he's being closely advised by his uncle, Chang Song-thaek, and some of the other old, elite advisers that are shepherding him along," he said.
Thurman dismissed media reports of a possible reduction in U.S. troop levels on the peninsula. "There are no plans that I'm aware of that draw down any forces on the peninsula. There may be some adjustments inside those capabilities, but it's -- those adjustments would be to improve our overall force posture," he said.
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"North Korea threatens Seoul with a mix of conventional artillery, multiple rocket launchers, and ballistic missiles, a significant percentage of which are positioned in protected positions dispersed across the western half of the peninsula"
Forget about the ballistic missiles. Any time the Norks wish, they can raze Seoul in a few hours from their protected positions. This vulnerability has existed for decades. Why the SKors have concentrated so much of their population and economy in such a vulnerable position is only to be marveled at.
#5
Yeah, like the South Koreans can just up and move their capital and largest city.
The West Germans did move their capital to Bonn after the partition. The interesting question is why the South Koreans never did something similar. My guess? Coup insurance. The Chinese always placed their capitals near barbarian frontiers because it made sense for the emperor to have direct control over the battle-tested frontier armies rather some potentially independent-minded generals who could fund themselves by levying taxes on merchants plying the lucrative trade routes between China and neighboring kingdoms.
NEW DELHI: Obsolete air defense and a severe shortage of ammunition weaken India's defense capabilities, the head of the army told the prime minister in a letter leaked yesterday, plunging the army's relations with the government to new lows.
My bet is that the Indian military chiefs are every bit as good at playing their parliament as US military chiefs are at playing Congress...
How good can the American chiefs be, if their budgets are cut so drastically?
In the letter dated March 12, excerpts of which were printed by the DNA newspaper, Army Chief Vijay Kumar Singh said the tank fleet of the world's second-largest standing army was devoid of ammunition, elite special forces were "woefully short" of essential weapons and air defense was 97 percent obsolete.
"The state of the major (fighting) arms i.e., Mechanized Forces, Artillery, Air Defense, Infantry and Special Forces, as well as the Engineers and Signals, is indeed alarming," Singh wrote in the letter.
Sandwiched between fellow nuclear powers China and Pakistan, India is the world's top weapons importer. It is spending billions of dollars updating equipment purchased from Moscow in Soviet times, but it often takes decades to finalize contracts. Procurement has been slowed by corruption scandals.
Defense Minister A.K. Antony confirmed the existence of the letter and said it should not have been made public. Politicians from all parties reacted angrily and some called for the army chief's resignation if he was found to be behind the leak.
"The government is determined to do all that is needed to continue to assure the safety and security of India," Antony told parliament. "Publishing secret documents will not help the nation." In a rare show of unity, opposition parties rallied around the government, a sign of concerns about the army chief's habit of challenging his civilian masters.
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#1
El Hefe discovered that now all by Himself, did He???
Obvious thingys are obvious.
* IIRC WAFF [old] > INDIA'S PILOTS ARE SCARED OF THEIR MIGS, thus of course Indjuh keeps buying 'em.
#3
See also CHINESE MIL FORUM > RELATED > INDIA'S MILITARY IS AS ROTTEN AS INDIA'S POLITICAL SYSTEM | [The Hindu] I WAS OFFERED Rs$14 CRORE AS BRIBE, SAYS ARMY CHIEF [Singh], to ignore purchase of large numbers of defective military vehicles + equipment.
[Dawn] Elders of South Wazoo Agency on Tuesday urged the government not to reopen NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supply route in the country until the US stopped the deadly drone attacks in the Federally Administered Tribal Areas.
Malik Khan Marjan, Malik Ashraf Khan, Malik Faridullah, Malik Jalal Khan, Malik Shahjehan, Malik Ghulam Khan and others, who converged on the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar Press Club to address a news conference, regretted non-implementation of parliament's unanimously-adopted resolutions on security and said the government should stop following policies meant to please the US
and instead act to serve the country's interests.
They also urged the government to declare Fata a separate province, saying it'll bring the hitherto neglected region on a par with the country's developed areas.
Tribal elders also complained of being stressed out by growing socioeconomic problems in their area and said their member of the National Assembly had miserably failed to deliver over the last four years.
Mr Marjan said people of South Waziristan were leading a miserable life absence of basic facilities, local MNA Kamran Khan's negligence and US drone attacks. He criticised the MNA for failing to get even a single development scheme initiated over the last four years and leveled corruption charges against him.
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#1
They hate those drone attacks, don't they?
That's because THEY ARE EFFECTIVE!
[Emirates 24/7] Gunmen kidnapped Soddy Arabia's deputy consul from outside his residence in the southern Yemeni port city of Aden on Wednesday, a Yemeni security official said.
The gunnies snatched Abdallah Al Khalidi as he was about to get into his car and they sped off with him in another vehicle, police in the city's Mansoura district said.
Security in the country's second city, and in southern Yemen generally, has tanked during the political turmoil that began with mass protests against then-president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... in early 2011, and saw fighting among pro- and anti-Saleh factions of the military as well as tribal militias.
A Saudi foreign ministry front man confirmed the kidnapping, saying: "It happened this morning. The embassy already contacted the highest security authority in Yemen. They are investigating and trying to find out the reason."
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#1
So the same type of plot thwarted against a Saudi diplomat in DC a few months ago, wasn't so far fetched after all.
[Shabelle] Unidentified gunnies have shot and dead overnight two senior Somali government officials in the heart of the lawlessMogadishu, security officials said.
Yasin, a staff working forSomaliapalace was bumped off on Tuesday evening by gunnies armed with pistols as he walked from work to his house at Hamar cinema in Shibis district under government control.
Similarly, masked gunnies assassinated Muhaydin Wehliye Ageey, one of the Criminal Investigation Department CID officials inMogadishu. Witnesses said the gunnies shot Ageey on the head and instantly was struck down in his prime.
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[Dawn] It may be the 'high security' capital of a country grappling with terrorism that is chock-a-block with police, rangers and check posts but Islamabad and its security apparatus proved no match for two banned leaders.
For six hours, Maulana Mohammad Ahmed Ludhianvi, leader of the banned outfit Ahl-e-Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASWJ) and Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... chief Hafiz Saeed ...founder of Lashkar-e-Taiba and its false-mustache offshoot Jamaat-ud-Dawa. The United Nations declared the JuD a terrorist organization in 2008 and Hafiz Saeed a terrorist as its leader. Hafiz, JuD and LeT are wholly-owned subsidiaries of the Pak intel apparatus, so that amounted to squat... played a game of cat and mouse with the Islamabad police on Tuesday.
They appeared and disappeared; were stopped and freed; intercepted in their cars and protected by their armed guards, as crowds gathered to watch the spectacle and traffic jams ensued.
Eventually the harassed, red-faced and embarrassed coppers managed to hold Maulana Ludhianvi, only after negotiations and while Saeed beat feet.
He was shifted to Industrial area cop shoppe and started the paperwork but haven't done much else under PPC section 188 on the complaint of a police officer. Within minutes, however, the city administration granted him bail.
At this point interior minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, current Interior Minister under the Gilani administration. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. He later joined the Pak Peoples Party and was chief security officer to Bhutto. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. intervened and blocked his bail orders.
Maulana Ludhianvi was not released till the filing of this report.
He, along with Hafiz Saeed, had appeared at Parade Ground, defying a ban on their entry into Islamabad, to participate in a protest and sit-in organised by Defaa-e-Pakistain Council (DFC) against the government's presumed move to restore NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... supplies.He somehow got information that the capital police and administration were going to arrest them, after which both the leaders disappeared from the Parade Ground. Later Maulana Ludhianvi was spotted at the camp of missing persons' families while delivering speech.
Secretariat Police SHO, however, intercepted him and held him while he was leaving the camp by saying that "the police are arresting you in connection with the case registered with Margalla cop shoppe." But Maulana Ludhianvi demanded his arrest warrant.
As the police failed to produce the arrest warrant, the activists of ASWJ took their leader away in a Sport Utility Vehicle (SUV).
This led to alerting of the patrolling officers and coppers deployed at the checkpoints. They were asked to check each and every vehicle.
Besides, the police also blocked the slipways and attached roads of main arteries to intercept and arrest Maulana Ludhianvi.
As a result, hundreds of vehicles were stuck up in the worst traffic jam making miles long queues on I.J. Principal Road,
Expressway, Islamabad Highway and Ninth Avenue.
At around 6pm, the vehicle of Maulana Ludhianvi was spotted in the traffic jam on the Ninth Avenue near Industrial Area cop shoppe while heading towards Rawalpindi. In response, the police placed blocks and parked their vehicles on the avenue.
All the SHOs, sub-divisional coppers, superintendents of police, were called at the Ninth Avenue along with contingent of Anti-Terrorism Squad, Anti-Riot Unit and police reserves to intercept and arrest the Maulana.
The guards of Maulana Ludhianvi -- Punjab Police commandoes -- aimed their weapons at the capital police and the officers while the activists cordoned their leader's vehicle to avoid his arrest.
Later the activists of ASWJ removed the blocks from the road and made the way for their leader. However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the driver of Superintendent of Police City Circle chased the SUV and intercepted it on I.J. Principal Road.
Maulana Ludhianvi again demanded his arrest warrant, but neither the police nor any assistant commissioner or magistrate issued it. Later politician Ijazul Haq, ASWJ's leader Fazaur Rehman Khalil and Abdullah Gul, son of Hamid Gul The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command... , also reached the spot for negotiation.
In the meantime, Deputy Commissioner Amir Ahmed Ali also reached and thorough negotiations were held between the DC, SSP Yousuf, Mr Haq, Maulana Khalil and Abdullah Gul. After half an hour negotiation Mr Haq, Maulana Khalil and Mr Gul returned to take Maulana Ludhianvi to cop shoppe.
Before leaving the spot Maulana Ludhianvi addressed the activists and asked them to remain there. Till the filling of the report, negotiations were still in progress in the cop shoppe.
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[Emirates 24/7] Mali's junta on Tuesday announced a new constitution that rules its members out of upcoming elections, seeking to show it will not cling to power as West African leaders planned a mediation visit.
Five days after the internationally condemned military coup that toppled President Amadou Toumani Toure, the junta lifted its night-time curfew and reopened the borders in a bid to show the country was returning to normal.
West African leaders meeting in neighbouring Ivory Coast Tuesday again denounced the coup -- and warned that the region's troops were on standby if the junta failed to engage in dialogue.
In a statement read out by a soldier on Mali state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, the junta said the new constitution would guarantee the rule of law and basic human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... in "a pluralist democracy".
Under the terms of the constitution, no member of the junta, known as the National Committee for the Recovery of Democracy and the Restoration of the Rule, would be permitted to stand for office.
The coup came just weeks ahead of the first round of presidential elections scheduled for April 29. The junta cancelled that vote and has not yet set a new date for elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/29/2012
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You had a well working French- Ploy Constitution working for you #mali Do you now see what you have done?
[Emirates 24/7] Egypt's military ruler Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi on Wednesday granted opposition figure Ayman Nur full political rights, allowing him to run in a May presidential election, state media reported. This is the guy Hosni jugged last election...
Nur, who challenged ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... in a 2005 election, last year lost an appeal to erase a five-year jail sentence passed on forgery charges. The sentence made him ineligible to run for office.
Tantawi decreed that Nur "could engage in all his political rights," the official MENA news agency reported.
Nur shot to fame when he ran in Egypt's first multi-candidate presidential election, losing overwhelmingly to Mubarak who had ruled Egypt since 1981 and was finally ousted by a popular uprising last year.
Months after the election in which he clinched 7.6 percent of the vote, he was sentenced to five years in jail on what many saw as politically-motivated charges.
The sentencing was denounced by the United States, which called for Nur's release. He was finally freed in 2009 on health grounds.
To run for Egypt's top job, Nur who founded the Al-Ghad party, must either be nominated by a party or secure the endorsement of 30 MPs or 30,000 eligible voters from 15 provinces.
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[Shabelle] Kenyan military commanders inside Somalia said Wednesday that they have released several TFG officials from a detention center Jubba regions, south west, according to a politician.
Mohammed Amin Abdullahi, Somali MP confirmed to Shabelle Media by phone while he was in the region the release of the officials who were set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock by Kenyan army last week after rift loomed largely between TFG forces and Raskamboni,pro-government clan militias.
Mr.Abdullahi stated, "Kenyan military physically abused Somali officials for the duration of the prison and freed after Somali government submitted a request to the army."
On the other hand,Manjor Diriye Mohammed, one of local business people in Dhobalay town told Shabelle Media that Kenyan army near the town have Wednesday seized lorries carrying Sugar from Mogadishu, Somali capital.
Kenyais a key ally of Somali government soldiers battling against Al-shabab Orcs and similar vermin linked with Al-Qaeda in south-westernSomaliaprovinces which are close to the border.
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Between March 13th and March 23rd Mexican Army and Naval Infantry units have seized a total of 7,791.35 kilograms of marijuana, 13 kilograms of methamphetamine, 22.255 kilograms of glass methamphetamine and MP $6,470.00 (USD $507.07) in cash in ongoing counternarcotics operations throughout Mexico.
Army units with the Mexican 26th and 29th Military Zones seized drugs and other contraband March 21st in Veracruz state. Soldiers conducted these operations in Tuxpan, Jesus Carranza, and Minatitlan Orizaba municipalities, taking possession of .100 kilograms of marijuana, 33 packages of marijuana divided for retail sale, 77 packages of cocaine divided for retail sale, one rifle, two handguns, 51 rounds of ammunition, two weapons magazines, two radios and a motorcycle.
A Mexican Army unit with the 2nd Military Zone seized 9,255 kilograms of glass methamphetamine in 22 packages, personal quantities of cocaine and a vehicle in Gonzalez Ortega colony in Mexicali municipality in Baja California March 21st.
An army unit with the Mexican 2nd Military Zone in Aeropuerto colony in Ensenada municipality in Baja California March 21st found one plastic bag containing a total of 2.75 kilograms of marijuana.
An army patrol with the Mexican 2nd Military Zone near El Rancho Las Viboras near Valle de la Trinidad in Ensenada, Baja California March 21st seized 3 rifles and 111 rounds of ammunition.
A Mexican Army patrol with the 2nd Military Zone in Las Americas division of Mariano Matamoros colony in Tijuana, Baja California March 21st conducted an apparent traffic stop, seizing a personal quantity of marijuana, one handgun, one weapons magazine, seven rounds of ammunition and one vehicle.
An army patrol with the Mexican 2nd Military Zone March 21st in Mexicali colony in Ensenada, Baja California detained one unidentified individual and seized packages of glass methamphetamine divided for retail sale, .400 kilograms of marijuana and eight packages of marijuana divided for retail sale.
A Mexican Army unit with the 8th Military Zone rescued three hostages March 22nd in Tamaulipas. The operation took place near Ursulo Galvan where soldiers also seized four rifles, 39 weapons magazines, 991 rounds of ammunition and one vehicle.
An army unit with the Mexican 8th Military Zone seized a large quantity of marijuana in Tamaulipas state March 22nd. The unit had been sent to a location near Ejido Puertecitos in Ciudad Camargo municipality where soldiers found a abandoned building with 4,713.6 kilograms of marijuana in 590 packages inside.
Mexican Navy Infantry units seized several liters of precursor chemicals in the port of Manzanillo, Colima March 13th. The chemicals, which can be used to manufacture synthetic drugs, was found aboard a container ship bound for Guatemala from Shanghai, China. A total of 32,000 liters of methylamine were found inside 160 200-liter barrels.
A Naval Infantry unit at a military checkpoint near Huehuetan, Chiapas March 14th, searched a tractor trailer rig, finding chemicals used for the manufacture of synthetic drugs and a quantity of glass methamphetamine. Marines found 99 200-liter drums and 12 50-liter drums, containing methylamine and etilfenilacetato. Marines also found 13 kilograms of glass methamphetamine in 13 packages and MP $6,470.00 (USD $507.07) in cash. The unidentified truck driver was detained at the scene.
Marine personnel attached to the Mexican 14th Naval Zone seized several packages of drugs in Chiapas state March 17th. The marines were part of the Unidad de Inteligencia Tactica Operativa (UNITO) unit which searched a tractor trailer rig stopped between Huehuetan and Viva Mexico. Aboard were found 269 packages of powder cocaine and 22 packages of methamphetamine. The total weight of the seizure was not disclosed. The driver, Victor Perez Chavez, 50, was detained at the scene.
A Mexican Naval Infantry unit found a hidden synthetic drug laboratory in Sinaloa state March 19th. The unit was on patrol in San Ignacio municipality approximately 4.67 kilometers from Ejido Toyhua when it found the lab hidden in the brush, where were found nine 200-liter drums and 11 50-liter drums containing chemicals as well as 525 kilograms of chemicals in 21 bags, containers and other equipment.
A Mexican Naval Infantry unit located a hidden laboratory for the production of synthetic drugs in Michaocan state March 23rd. The unit was on patrol near El Costeño in Aquila municipality when it found the lab. Marines seized several dairy and other containers, at least 100 kilograms of unidentified chemicals, one pressure cooker, other smaller containers, one 9mm pistol, one weapons magazine and nine rounds of ammunition.
An army unit with the Mexican 4th Military Zone located several kilograms of marijuana in Sonora state March 22nd. The unit was on coastal patrol when soldiers found an abandoned ship with 252 packages of marijuana totalling 3,074.6 kilograms.
March 21st a Mexican Army unit with the 4th Military Zone conducted a traffic stop near Hermosillo, Sonora, detaining Mario Francisco Sanchez Paez AKA El M-1, and another unidentified suspect. Sanchez Paez was wanted by Sonoran state authorities for kidnapping.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
BENGHAZI, Libya: A powerful Libyan militia says it has begun withdrawing from the countrys main airport and will hand over security to the government, whether a police force is ready to assume control or not.
The militia from Libyas western mountainous area of Zintan has been in control of the international airport since the fall of longtime ruler Muammar Qaddafis regime in August, in the absence of a police or military force. Zintan militia spokesman Khaled Al-Zintani says former rebels have told the government they will leave their posts Sunday evening.
The government promised in a statement to take over security at the airport by Sunday afternoon, but later issued a statement saying the handover was running behind schedule. The statement did not elaborate.
Didn't need to. Insh'allan bureaucratic efficiency...
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Zintan militia spokesman Khaled Al-Zintani says former rebels have told the government they will leave their posts Sunday evening.
Ohhhh ok. Theyre former rebels ya see. That musta been back in their rebellious days. Looks like theyre all about Militia work now. Gosh, I remember when they were simply The Opposition Reluctant warriors really when you think about it. Oh yeah Rag-Tag was all the rage back then. Hell, the O-Team, at one time, even used to call em civilians. Of course, that was after ole Mo called em vermin. Yep, pay no attention to that islamacist thing. Like Hillary said, We came We saw he died. (Deal with it.)
[Yemen Post] Yemen's Interior Ministry has said it has discovered suspicious moves of Al-Qaeda operatives between the governorates of Shabwah and Hadhramout.
the Interior Ministry website stated in its website on Tuesday that Al-Qaeda gunnies are existed in the southeast of Radoom district of Sahabwah, and Al-Shajnah mountain.
It pointed out that other gunnies are moving between the regions of Hisn Basuliman and Ain Balmah of Hajar and Dawan districts.
The ministry further revealed that Al-Qaeda has plans in Hadhramout and Shabwah to capture some areas, as well as carrying out some armed operations against vital government facilities.
The ministry spelt out that there is coordination between security administrations in Hadhramout and Shabwah to encounter Al-Qaeda plans, affirming that all precautionary procedures are taken to encounter any potential operations.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Hubba Hubba Club, Nunzio had his hands full of angry bleached blonde... security services seized large quantities of weapons in Qataba district of Al-Dhala'a governorate while they were en route to Al-Baidah governorate that in which Ansar Al-Shariah ( supporters of the Islamic law) has several strongholds.
It also confirmed the weapons seized included shells, grenades, machine guns, pistols and Ak47.
The Ministry has stated last week that security services unveiled a terrorist plan of Al-Qaeda gunnies to target vital government facilities in a number of the governorates.
It made it clear that Al-Qaeda gunnies plan to use car booms against public institutions and vital position, stressing that it will seriously deal with Al-Qaeda threats.
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[Dawn] Several thousand people erupted into the streets of Mali's capital Wednesday in support of last week's military takeover and a new constitution hastily written by the coup leaders.
A bloc of West African nations suspended Mali's membership and is sending five presidents to Mali to try to "restore constitutional order" a week after soldiers ousted the democratically elected leader of this vast and impoverished country.
The Economic Community of West African States, or ECOWAS, is also putting a peacekeeping force on standby but the junta leaders are working hard to give the semblance of normality here, and thousands are hoping the junta will stay.
"It's the first time I'm really proud of Mali and of Africa," said Niamoye Toure, a young doctor. "Honestly I'd given up on Mali. It's only now with the military that I've regained some hope."
Toure said the marchers wanted ECOWAS to recognize the new leadership.
"Capt. Sanogo isn't here to hold onto power, but just to bring some order to the country," she said, referring to coup leader Capt. Amadou Sanogo.
The new constitution was read on state TV late Tuesday night. The 69-article constitution includes many of the guarantees of the former law, including the guarantees of free speech, liberty of movement and freedom of thought.
New measures include the creation of a military-led council headed by Sanogo. It says that the new head of state is simultaneously the head of the army, the head of the government and the head of the judiciary.
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[Yemen Post] Yemeni army forces heavily shelled Tuesday evening a suspected bad boy hideout north of the Yemeni capital of Sana'a, mistakenly killing two civilians and wounding others, local sources told Yemen Post. "Whoops! Sorry! Our bad!"
Units of the Elite Republican Guards bombarded a suspected hideout of snuffies in Arahb area, some 35km north of Sana'a, said a tribal source.
The bombardment left at least 2 civilians killed and some others maimed, said the tribal source, adding that the bombardment caused severe damage to some buildings in the area.
A security source confirmed to Yemen Post that two civilians were mistakenly killed on Tuesday evening, declining to release any further information.
Arahb was the scene of violent festivities between rustics supporting the revolution and army forces, leaving dozens killed, and hundreds maimed.
The festivities started between the two sides when rustics, mostly affiliated with the Islamic Islah party, attempted to forcibly stop some military vehicles from leaving their area for fear that it was going to be used in the clampdown against peaceful protesters.
Separately, Yemeni President Abdu Rabu Mansour Hadi appointed today a new security chief for the southern restive province of Lahj.
Yesterday, he dismissed a longtime supporter of former President Ail Abdullah Saleh from the Yemeni Economic Corporation.
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[Shabelle] Reports from Bay region say gangs have attacked with hand grenades on a house belonging to Hudur district commissioner forSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG) in Baidoa town.
The security officials of Baidoa town, 250 Km south ofMogadishusaid several Somali gunnies have overnight thrown around 6:00 pm a hand grenade inside the house of Mohammed Mo'allin, but the official survived from the attack.
Witnesses told Shabelle Media by phone that undisclosed number of nearby local civilians sustained injured from fire shot by security guards of the attacked house.
On Wednesday morning, the security forces of Somali government have conducted a search operation to secure the town after several attacks hit since the allied forces took over Baidoa from the Al-shabab Islamic fascistilast month without any resistance.
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
Two major energy companies are planning to build new pipelines that will move as much as 850,000 barrels of crude oil a day from Canada to refineries along the Gulf Coast by mid-2014, in the latest effort to cope with a surge of oil production in North America.
The leader for an al-Qaeda linked foreign militant network in Afghanistan has been killed in a joint raid of Afghan and NATO forces, the coalition reported on Tuesday.
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
Describing herself as a "proud granddaughter", she and her father, actor Randhir Kapoor, perched with the statue for photographs -- as fans will soon be able to do on the promenade.
KARACHI awoke to scenes of familiar mayhem on Tuesday morning, 
An activist of the Awami National Party (ANP) was 
Zawahiri
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
[Yemen Post] Mohammed Naji al-Shaif, an influential tribal chief and Parliament member, said that the former ruling General People Congress party is gonging to nominate former President 
North Korea on Wednesday revealed details of a satellite it says it is preparing to launch into space next month. An unnamed official was quoted by the official KCNA news agency as saying that the satellite, which is to be carried into orbit by a rocket, weighs 100 kg and has a lifespan of two years. It is equipped with a camera enabling it to send back pictures and other observational data, the official claimed.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Former IMF chief Dominique Strauss-Kahn, accused of pimping in 
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
Wazoo
Hamid Gul
Yemen's Interior Ministry has said it has discovered suspicious moves of Al-Qaeda operatives between the governorates of Shabwah and Hadhramout.
