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Today: 66 articles and 119 comments as of 10:27.
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Tens of Thousands of Protesters Defy Syrian Regime Gunfire, 13 Dead
Today's Headlines
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Southeast Asia
Two terrorists killed in attack on Thai army post
Two terrorists militants were killed and one soldier injured when terrorists insurgents attacked a military base in Narathiwat province on Wednesday night.

About 20 terrorists militants attacked the base for Narathiwat Task Force 30. Two terrorists militants were killed and one soldier injured the fight, which lasted about 30 minutes. Two rifles were recovered from the bodies of the two terrorists militants.

The dead terrorists attackers were identified as Mumalo Wataebungae, 29, and Muhamad Manor Kamasa, 28. There was an arrest warrant out for each of them for violating the emergency law and for an ambush on a military unit in Ruso district in 2009.

A police official said the recovered rifles had been stolen from the base for Narathiwat Task Force 38 during an attack by terrorists militants on Jan 19 this year. Four home-made hand grenades were also recovered by a police team which examined the site of the battle this morning.
See also:
Thailand calls on OIC to condemn violence
Posted by: || 05/12/2012 23:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Britain
Al-Qaeda leaders believed that UK double agent in underwear bomb plot was from radical Islam
He was recommended by a close relative who was trusted by leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), the network's Yemeni wing, according to US intelligence.

His British passport made him attractive as a recruit for a suicide mission as he would be able to board a flight to America under the visa-waiver programme.

But AQAP strategists were persuaded that he was a true believer willing to blow himself up on a plane to the US by what they believed to be his reliable family roots.

The mole, who has been moved with his family to a country outside the Middle East under Western intelligence protection, was reportedly born in the region, but grew up Europe and had British citizenship.

"He apparently came from what AQAP regarded as a good family, meaning that they believed he was a radical Islamist in his DNA, and was brought in to the group by a close male relative," said Dan Goure, a Pentagon consultant and vice-president of the Lexington Institute, a national security think-tank.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 16:18 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He was recommended by a close relative who was trusted by leaders of al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula

"I'd like you to meet Donnie Brasco. He's a friend of mine."
Posted by: Gabby Cussworth || 05/12/2012 19:23 Comments || Top||


Europe
Greece will run out of money soon, warns deputy prime minister
Greece's deputy prime minister has said the country will run out of money in six weeks unless it honours its bitterly-disputed EU bailout deal.
Speaking exclusively to The Sunday Telegraph, Theodoros Pangalos said he was "very much afraid of what is going to happen" after Greek voters rejected the deal in elections last Sunday.

"The majority of the people voted for a very strange mental construction," he said. "We want to be in the EU and the euro, but we don't want to pay anything for the past."

The main beneficiary of the election, the hard-Left Syriza coalition, came a startling second on a promise to tear up the deal, which promises EU loans to keep massively-indebted Greece afloat, but demands crippling spending cuts in return. Germany, the principal lender, has said it will stop payments if Greece breaks its promises on spending.

Mr Pangalos warned: "There is a school of thought that says the Germans are bluffing. They need Greece and will never throw us out of the eurozone. But what will happen, which is almost certain, is they will not give us the money to pay our debts.

"We will be in wild bankruptcy, out-of-control bankruptcy. The state will not be able to pay salaries and pensions. This is not recognised by the citizens. We have got until June before we run out of money.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 16:10 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Europe Blinks: Troika Willing To Change Terms Of Greek Bailout Deal
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 16:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Germany is only bailing out it's own banks.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 17:22 Comments || Top||

#3  "The majority of the people voted for a very strange mental construction," he said. "We want to be in the EU and the euro, but we don't want to pay anything for the past."

My G*d - they're Arabs.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/12/2012 22:33 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
New terrorism etiquette
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 16:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Emerging Al-Qaeda Strategy Targeted at Damaging the Pakistan Army in Muslim Eyes
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 15:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
‘Sharia Judge,’ 2 Others Killed in Dagestan
Three Islamist insurgents, including a man tasked with delivering judgment according to sharia law, were killed by law enforcement officers in Kizlyar forest in the Russian province of Dagestan on Friday.

The sharia judge, Magomed Makhmudov, found dead with a machinegun next to him, was the only militant to be identified so far, the National Anti-Terrorist Committee said. He was on a wanted list since 2011.

Heavy gunfire on the outskirts of the forest prevented the law enforcement personnel from picking up the other two bodies for identification, a law enforcement source said earlier.

The special services located the so-called “Kizlyar gang” near the eponymous village earlier on Friday, reports said.

Attempts were made to detain them, but the insurgents fought back with automatic rifles and a grenade launcher, injuring three policemen and four army soldiers, two of whom were hospitalized. An operation to detain or eliminate them was in progress.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 15:43 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Allan Snackbar, asshole.
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 15:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Faster, please.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/12/2012 18:31 Comments || Top||

#3  The special services located the so-called "Kizlyar gang" near the eponymous village earlier on Friday, reports said.

Hat tip to the Sevices, and all this time I thought the only thing they did was hand out soccer balls.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 20:08 Comments || Top||


-Election 2012
Obama Can't Frighten Us with the Romney Boogyman
A letter to the Editor of the WaPo, under the heading "Fooled Once by President Obama." Some in his base are really disappointed!

In his May 8 op-ed column, “Lessons from LBJ,” Richard Cohen misinterpreted the reasons for the lack of enthusiasm for President Obama among those who should be his most ardent supporters.

I was among those in 2008 who began giving time and money to Mr. Obama when the conventional wisdom was that Hillary Rodham Clinton had the nomination locked up. We fought hard for Mr. Obama and triumphed. His reward to us was what we call “Bush’s third term.”

In 2012, Mr. Obama cannot frighten us with the Romney bogeyman because we already know from experience that Mr. Obama will be little better.
That's it. I'm not sure of the point. He's mad? Not going to vote? He'll vote for Mitt because it doesn't matter? Hopes Hilly will run, because she is so far left? I don't get it!
Posted by: Bobby || 05/12/2012 15:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Another Rube Self-Identifies.™

With all this whine going around, I'll have to order some more cheese.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 20:59 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Rape victim Christian girl aged 12 receives threats instead justice after a year
The police in Pakistan are nearly as bad as the police in the UK at protecting Muslim rapists.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 15:31 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Poor girl.
There are many more Christians who are also enduring the same sort of satanic abuse from these Demons. And, as Demons, doing the work of their father, Satan; they are damned for eternity.

The WTSHTF days are upon us.
Posted by: canalzone || 05/12/2012 22:51 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
YouTube:Jabhat Al-Nusra - Statement #1 Honesty of the Promise Operations
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 14:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Christians, Jews to unite against Islam?
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 13:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If only...........!
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 05/12/2012 15:24 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Crossword puzzle writer questioned in plot against Hugo
Honest, we don't make this stuff up...
Venezuelan intelligence agents have questioned a crossword compiler on suspicion of inciting the murder of Mr Chavez's brother, Adan.

Neptali Segovia was accused of hiding a coded assassination message in the Ultimas Noticias newspaper. Answers to some of the clues in his crosswords included the words "kill", "gunfire" and "Adan", it is alleged.

Mr Segovia denied the accusations, saying he had volunteered to be questioned to clarify the issue.

The accusation against him was made earlier this week by TV pundit Miguel Angel Perez Pirela, who presents a programme on state channel VTV.
And thus is a Hugo buddy and supporter...
He said a team of psychologists and mathematicians had concluded that the Spanish-language crossword contained a coded assassination plot against Adan.

"These sorts of messages were used a lot during World War II," he said, comparing it to secret codes used by the French Resistance.
I say we start checking the New York Times puzzles for secret messages...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/12/2012 12:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What a bunch of bozos. Everyone knows that the secrets are hidden in the Sudokus.
Posted by: Perfesser || 05/12/2012 14:17 Comments || Top||

#2  I do love my crossword puzzles. I've been a proud "Washington Times" subscriber since 1983; even through the bumpy times. The WT puzzle is great...Monday's is always too easy and they get more difficult as each week moves on toward Friday. The Friday puzzle is always a "bear", but I ace 'em. Conversely, the daily WaPo puzzles (Style Section), are an insult to any conservative's intelligence. That's OK. From what I've seen, Libs don't ever even attempt to do these puzzles. They're challenging; so, they must be racist. Wouldn't you agree?
Posted by: canalzone || 05/12/2012 23:24 Comments || Top||


Hugo back home
CARACAS, VENEZUELA – Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez returned home Friday after 11 days of cancer treatment in Cuba, saying his latest round of radiation therapy was successful.
Successful at what? There's two broad categories of radiation therapy: curative and palliative. Which did Hugo receive?
"I should say that we have successfully completed the medical treatment," the socialist leader said as dozens of uniformed soldiers holding assault rifles stood in formation along a red carpet on the tarmac at Simon Bolivar International Airport. "Of course, I must rigorously follow the medical advice in these coming days in order to continue recuperating," he said.

"Aside from some discomforts that are normal in this type of treatment, absolutely nothing occurred that forced it to be stopped, suspended or make changes to the initial plan," added Chavez, disclaiming rumors that complications arose during his treatment.

The communist thug socialist leader looked energetic and seemed to be in good spirits, breaking out in song before finishing his nationally televised address.

The president's treatment has forced him to slow his daily routine and prevented him from actively campaigning as he has in the past. Opposition presidential candidate Henrique Capriles, meanwhile, has been traveling across this South American country for weeks to drum up support ahead of an Oct. 7 presidential election.

Chavez vowed to invigorate his campaign.

"As the hours and days pass, I'm sure that with God's favor, medical science and this soldier's body that envelops me, I will get back to where I must be, in the front line of the battle, alongside the Venezuelan people, promoting the socialist revolution."

Upon his return, Chavez accused his political adversaries of leading an international campaign aimed at raising doubts regarding his commitment to democracy. He also claimed that opposition groups are planning to stir up violent political upheaval ahead of the upcoming vote.
He's projecting. Again...
Capriles told journalists earlier Friday that he opposes any type of violence.

"I'm against any type of violence, no matter where it comes from," said Capriles, speaking during a campaign event in the president's home state of Barinas.
Posted by: Steve White || 05/12/2012 12:42 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Euro exit will cost Germany 77 billion euros in Greece
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 12:41 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  That seems cheap considering the continual bailout costs.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 05/12/2012 14:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Count up how much its cost already and see what would have been saved had they faced reality at the start rather than buttress up the failing fantasy.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 05/12/2012 16:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Glad I kept my old Marks, Francs, and photographs.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 18:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Cheaper in the short term.
Posted by: DarthVader || 05/12/2012 21:10 Comments || Top||


Socialist Hollande has 3 homes on French Riviera
Ordinarily I wouldn't post something like this but the irony is just plain glorious...
France's new Socialist president owns three holiday homes in the glamorous Riviera resort of Cannes, it emerged today.

The 57-year-old who 'dislikes the rich' and wants to revolutionise his country with high taxes and an onslaught against bankers is in fact hugely wealthy himself. His assets were published today in the Official Journal, the gazette which contains verified information about France's government.
Published a week after the election, not a week before the election...
To the undoubted embarrassment to the most left-wing leader in Europe and a man who styles himself as 'Mr Normal', they are valued at almost £1million.
Embarrassed? Nah, he's a socialist, he's incapable of being embarrassed. The critics are just all racists, that's all...
It will also reinforce accusations that Hollande is a 'Gauche Caviar', or 'Left-Wing Caviar' - the Gallic equivalent of a Champagne Socialist.

Among other assets are three current accounts in French banks - two with global giant Societe Generale and one with the Postal Bank - and a life insurance policy.

But it is the fabulous property portfolio which is causing the greatest stir among millions of ordinary French people who voted for Holland over the conservative Nicolas Sarkozy last Sunday. Hollande regularly attacked the 'Bling-Bling' presidency of Sarkozy, whose multi-millionaire lifestyle with Italian-born heiress Carla Bruni contributed to his humiliating election defeat after just one term in office.

As well as the spacious Paris apartment he shares with his lover Valerie Trierweiler, Hollande owns a palatial villa in Mougins, the prestigious hill-top Cannes suburb where the artist Pablo Picasso used to live. It is valued by the Official Journal at €800,000 (£642,000), and is just a short drive from Hollande's two flats in the Cannes. They are each priced at €230,000 (£185,000) and €140,000 (£112,000).

Hollande has promised to cut his pay by 30 per cent after he is officially sworn in as President next week, but he will still be on €156,000 (£125,000) a year, plus fabulous expenses and other perks.
Enjoy, France, you're going to get what you voted for...
Posted by: Steve White || 05/12/2012 12:37 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Every little commie believes he or she will be a commissar when the revolution comes. Turns out the real commissars make sure that never happens.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 05/12/2012 13:52 Comments || Top||

#2  Media couldn't do a little vetting before the election? Why does that sound familiar?
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 14:11 Comments || Top||

#3  The Onion made a story about the 2008 elections that said (paraphrasing) : Americans Awaken in horror to the Realization they elected the government they deserved.
Posted by: badanov || 05/12/2012 14:12 Comments || Top||

#4  Had the same thought Frank, this comes out now? But then again, Obama is from Chicago, unless he is on vacation then he is from Hawaii.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 18:20 Comments || Top||

#5  "Media couldn't do a little vetting before the election?"

Of course not. Silly Frank.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 21:11 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq's Kurds deny hosting Mossad agents
The government of Iraq's Kurdish region fired back on Saturday over allegations by Iranian diplomats and officials that Kurdistan was playing host to Israeli intelligence.

Kurdish authorities described the claims, made in previous weeks, as "untrue", after Iran's consul in regional capital Arbil said Israeli spies were using Kurdistan as a base to work against neighboring Iran.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 12:11 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Ahmadinejad Calls Israel "an Insect Challenging Iranian Nation"
"Israel is nothing more than a mosquito which cannot see the broad horizon of the Iranian nation," Ahmadinejad said, addressing a large gathering of the Iranian people in Khorassan Razavi province, Northeastern Iran, on Saturday.

He reiterated that the Zionists accompanied by their western masters have long attempted to impede Iran's progress through ballyhoo and by leveling different accusations against the Iranian nation, but to no avail.

"Our enemies know that if Iran can maintain the same speed in development of the country, it will become a developed country and they will no more be able to challenge us," Ahmadinejad said.

Israel and its close ally the United States have recently intensified their war rhetoric against Iran. The two arch foes of the Islamic Republic accuse Iran of seeking a nuclear weapon, while they have never presented any corroborative document to substantiate their allegations. Both Washington and Tel Aviv possess advanced weapons of mass destruction, including nuclear warheads.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 10:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think he needs some lessons from Juche Man, if Korea will let him out of the Gulag to go teach.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/12/2012 11:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Oh Noes! Not the dreaded ballyhoo™!
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 11:17 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Marriage is for Churches; States Grant Licenses
A new perspective on the gay marriage debate and a new twist on separation of church and state.
The May 10 editorial "Mr. Obama's welcome evolution" was wrong. As a Unitarian Universalist, I support gay marriage, and my denomination has married same-sex couples for many years. But that is where marriage belongs: in church, or wherever a couple choose to sanctify their relationship.

The state has no business in marriage decisions. It should offer to all couples, gay or straight, a license that serves as a legal contract defining their rights and responsibilities in matters such as inheritance, medical decisions and child-rearing.

Government sanctioning of marriage is a violation of separation of church and state, which is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution. I support civil unions for all. Let's get the word marriage out of the statute books.
The definition of the word marriage need not change with the changing opinions or morals of some of the people in order for all to be equal.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/12/2012 10:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  This has always been my question about marriage. As a conservative/libertarian why does gov't have anything to do with weddings? Of course the answer is obvious. Gov't involvement revolves around 2 related issues: 1. Rights of women and 2. Money.

The more gov't has used marriage as a tool in the alotment of preferential treatment the more people want to get married (gay or straight) to reap the bennies.

I questioned a close relative about this a few years ago when she was getting "married" to another woman. Living near P'town, not exactly a hostile environment, there were lots of supporters but when I asked exactly what she expected to gain that she didn't already have?

Her honest and simple answer was "Money" in the forms of government benefits. Just one more special interest group doing the rent-seeking dance.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2012 10:34 Comments || Top||

#2  This is about a powerful secular entity using that power to impose its political views and moral code view on a religious institution. Nothing more.
Posted by: badanov || 05/12/2012 11:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Civil unions are secular but legal ceremonies but marriages religious ceremonies, where blessing by God is sanctioned; if gay marriage becomes a constitutionally protected right then churches could be accused of discrimination for upholding their doctrinal beliefs and lose tax-exempt status. This is more than just a political ploy to raise funds and not homophobic but another attack on Judeo-Christian beliefs. ALL Americans are protected constitutionally already from discrimination.
Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 || 05/12/2012 11:07 Comments || Top||

#4  Oddly enough, I view it that way too. As a Catholic, Marriage is a *Sacrament*. The state cannot grant such a thing. All the state can do is stay out of our way due to the good old 1st amendment.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/12/2012 11:08 Comments || Top||

#5  Badanov nailed it.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/12/2012 11:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I understand that marriage is a two step process in the Catholic Church. First the couple initiate it by taking their vows before a priest. However the second process is that it must be consummated. If not couples are legally able to divorce.
Question; how does a gay couple "consummate" their marriage, when studies show the majority do not engage in anal sex?
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 11:43 Comments || Top||

#7  In some cases this is already the case.

Take Immigration for example - the K1 'fiancee' visa. (This is from about 10 years ago - and I am not a lawyer and did not stay in a...)

The couple *is* allowed to participate in a religious ceremony of 'marriage' before the actual immigration (or approval). But they cannot 'register' or otherwise legally marry. (Actually there is nothing to stop them from doing so - however they will then have to convert (or re-apply) for a Spousal Visa which is different.)

This clearly defines a separation of the 'religious' marriage and the secular 'legal civil union'.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/12/2012 12:10 Comments || Top||

#8  "separation of church and state, which is guaranteed in the U.S. Constitution."

No, it is not. Not at all. Do you read?

I just have a penchant against the state telling private organizations what to do against their will. If we have to go over institutional integrity with this ignorant group of wannabe europeons, I'm gonna lose my damn mind.

Also, let's be perfectly clear about Marriage, it is in place to ensure procreation and solid Family relationships. Soooo, if the Church you walked in refuses to marry you because they are un-comfortable, go to one that will or go to city hall and see what they say. Maybe they will.

But don't bring out your little dictator to order my Parrish to marry you. Get bent.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 13:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Obviously the state makes sure that women of child bearing age are banned from marriage.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 16:27 Comments || Top||

#10  So I guess now I can call myself doctor, chef, and imam. Those are all certifications of a level of conditions and achievement, how is this different?

This quip is absolutely right. Perhaps deh creative gheys can come up with a special unique word to describe their coupling.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 18:01 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Qadaffi's torture victims reverse roles
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/12/2012 09:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I'm having a terrible trouble "giving a fuck"...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 16:21 Comments || Top||


Europe
Green terrosists kneecap nuclear executive and threaten more shootings
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 08:19 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Anarchist and green. Idiots - the first against the wall when they achieve the anarchy the want will be them. Anarchy leads to Dictatorship and mass murder as "order" is imposed at the desire of the poeple. History teaches that quite clearly, from ancient times, all the way to Lenin, Mussolini, Hitler, Mao and Pol Pot.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/12/2012 11:12 Comments || Top||

#2  "Anarchist" is code for hard left.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 12:04 Comments || Top||

#3  You know, I'd think that if the company wanted to...get a little payback, they could always hire the italian mafia.

Mafia vs Greenies....I'd pay to watch.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Halliburton Lost Drill Bit Division || 05/12/2012 12:29 Comments || Top||

#4  "We are wild lovers of freedom, and will never renounce the revolution or the complete destruction of the state and its violence."

They're going to substitute their own brand of violence for that of the state. At least they admit it.
Posted by: Bobby || 05/12/2012 15:31 Comments || Top||

#5  As OldSpook said, I don't think anarchists have thought it through. If there were no State, there would be nothing to prevent people from hunting down anarchists and anyone else they didn't like. It would truly be survival of the fittest.

As Hobbes said, without a state or some kind of rules in society, life would be poor, nasty, brutish and short.

I realize that many states are oppressive. However, the answer is not anarchy.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/12/2012 18:55 Comments || Top||

#6  Well I don't know about that. I haven't seen many 60 somethings rioting and professing anarchy. I think that in the Hobbesian anarchist world most of the anarchists I have seen would do ok for a few years. And they would certainly not need to kowtow to those who were old or rich. Looking forward to a life within the rules without the possibility of success, certainly could make anarchy seem a rational choice.
Posted by: rammer || 05/12/2012 19:58 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Roadside bomb kills four in Peshawar
At least four people were killed and 12 others wounded when a remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle in the northwestern city of Peshawar on Saturday morning. Local media reported the explosion happened at about 9:00 a.m. local time when a remote-controlled bomb hit a police vehicle passing on the road.

At least one policeman was killed and several women were wounded in the blast. The blast also destroyed five vehicles. All the wounded were rushed to the hospital, where at least four of the critically injured people died.
Posted by: ryuge || 05/12/2012 05:58 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hezbollah says able to strike anywhere in Israe
The leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah said his militant group was capable of striking any target in neighbouring Israel, saying "the days when we fled and they did not are over".

"Today we are not only able to hit Tel Aviv as a city but, God willing, we are able to hit specific targets in Tel Aviv and anywhere in occupied Palestine," Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah said in a televised address.

"For every building destroyed in Dahiya, a building will be destroyed in Tel Aviv," he said, referring to Hezbollah's stronghold in a suburb of southern Beirut.

Nasrallah's comments were some of his harshest words against Israel in several months, and came amid rising tensions between Israel and Hezbollah's main backer, Iran.

Israel argues Iran's nuclear enrichment project is being used to make an atomic bomb and has warned it could launch a strike to stop Tehran. Iran says its nuclear programme is for civilian purposes.

Hezbollah has long been seen as a proxy for Iran and Syria and many analysts believe that in the event of an Israeli attack on Iran, Hezbollah could return fire.

"The days when we were forced from our homes and they were not forced from theirs are over," Nasrallah said, to cheers from a crowd of supporters watching his speech.

"The days when we were afraid and they were not are over," he said. "And we say to them: The time has come when we will remain and you will be the ones who disappear."
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 03:21 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yea, well. That's too bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:28 Comments || Top||


The ayatollah of rejection may be contemplating compromise
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 01:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No. They just playing "western" idiots like a violin.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:29 Comments || Top||


Iran Presses for Official to Be Next Leader of Shiites
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 01:09 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


-Election 2012
Romney 50% Obama 43%
Let's have a gay old time.
Posted by: tipper || 05/12/2012 00:53 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Let's hope "ooooh! Shiny!" distractions don't work. It's all the lying lefty socialist loser has
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  But...but...but Romney is a bully!
Posted by: Abu Uluque || 05/12/2012 11:46 Comments || Top||

#3  AllBeChe mourning newz had that very theme running today. Embarrassing...no not because it is inaccurate but because it is ineffective and three days behind the meme.

I knew bullies. I fought bullies. Romney is no bully. Just ask Bully Pulpit.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 13:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Read a joke online a few weeks back...a liberal, a moderate, and a conservative walk into a bar; bartender says, "What'll ya have, Mitt?" That kinda summarizes the guy for me. That being said, as The Holy Blogfaddah teaches, anything - anything at all - is orders of magnitude better than the empty-suited communist Hugo Chavez-wannabe currently defiling the White House. Compared to Ogabe, Mitt's the political offspring of Abe Lincoln and Dwight Eisenhower, with a dollop of Sarah Palin thrown in for a little spice.

I'm also hopeful that Mitt's not going to make the same stupid phuecking mistake that McCain and Palin did in '08 - that is, thinking that the Obama lapdogs of the MSM will give him anything remotely resembling a fair shake. I think that he and his advisers realize that the MSM's the enemy, and that they'll have to work up other means of getting their message out.

Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 05/12/2012 14:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Well, at least now we know how far he will go, how much he will evolve, and what he will do... to stay in office.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 14:28 Comments || Top||

#6  You ain't seen nothing yet, Besoeker.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 14:32 Comments || Top||

#7  McCain was ahead at one point too. In fact, when Romney ran against Kennedy for the MA Senate seat, he blew a lead in that race as well.

Just sayin'.
Posted by: Iblis || 05/12/2012 15:01 Comments || Top||

#8  As a Massaholic I am familiar with Mittens. He has never been what would call ideologically consistent. Given MAs penchant for socialist proclivities that's the way Mitt bent.

My one hope for the last year has been that the Tea Party type Repubs. take over both houses of Congress. That should be enough to get Mitt bowing in the correct direction.
Posted by: AlanC || 05/12/2012 15:18 Comments || Top||

#9  McCain was ahead at one point too. In fact, when Romney ran against Kennedy for the MA Senate seat, he blew a lead in that race

No it wasn't McCain, it was Palin who was ahead; Obama was ahead all along until the Palin effect then there was the banaking crash and that plus Mcain's stupidity on the dabate issue put him ahead.
Posted by: JFM || 05/12/2012 18:47 Comments || Top||

#10  "anything - anything at all - is orders of magnitude better than the empty-suited communist Hugo Chavez-wannabe currently defiling the White House"

I'd vote for a syphilitic camel before I'd vote for Bambi, Ricky.

Syphilis can be cured.

Stupid socialism can't. :-(
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 19:14 Comments || Top||

#11  The "syphlitic camel" has my vote as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 20:06 Comments || Top||

#12  Yer a discerning voter, B. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 20:51 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
UK, US intel communities unhappy over leaks
Detailed leaks of operational information about the foiled underwear bomb plot are causing growing anger in the US intelligence community, with former agents blaming the Obama administration for undermining national security and compromising the British services, MI6 and MI5. Mike Scheur, the former head of the CIA's Bin Laden unit, said the leaking about the nuts and bolts of British involvement was despicable and would make a repeat of the operation difficult.

He noted that the leak came on the heels of a series of disclosures over the last 10 days, beginning with a report that the CIA wanted to expand its drone attacks in Yemen, Barack Obama making a surprise trip to Afghanistan around the time of the Bin Laden anniversary and "then this inexplicable leak".

Robert Grenier, former head of the CIA counter-terrorism centre, said: "As for British Intelligence, I suppose, but do not know, that they must be very unhappy. They are often exasperated, quite reasonably, with their American friends, who are far more leak-prone than they. The Americans are doing a very good job of undermining trust, and the problem starts at the top."
Posted by: Pappy || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fishes rotting from the head syndrone as I see it. But that is just me.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 3:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Heroin haul worth $13.75m seized: officials
[Dawn] Pakistain said Friday it had seized one of its largest ever hauls of heroin, impounding 125 kilograms (275 pounds) of the narcotic worth an estimated $13.75 million on the international market.

The seizure is the largest since May last year when the authorities seized 375 kilograms of the drug.

The authorities examined a refrigerated container at 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...
port and found bags of heroin concealed by solution tape and balloons.
I had no idea heroin needed to be refrigerated. You learn something new every day.
"All 5,400 bags were de-stuffed and thoroughly examined and we found 830 pouches each weighing between 145 grams to 155 grams. The total weight of heroin was 125 kilograms," Babar Ali Shah, a customs official told news hounds.

"We have placed in long-term storage
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
the clearing agent and one of his employees," Shah said.

Officials said the heroin was smuggled from neighbouring Afghanistan through Pakistain's northwestern province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...

"This is the second biggest heroin seizure in the history of Pakistain,"another customs official Qamar Thalho said, putting the value of the stash at $0.55 million on the local market and $13.75 million on the international market.

He said the narcotic hidden in a container was booked for Malaysia.

Pakistain has more than four million drug addicts in a population of nearly 180 million, according to figures compiled by the ANF, which is responsible for investigating and prosecuting drug offences.

Opium poppy is grown on the Pakistain-Afghanistan border, a region infamous for Taliban and al Qaeda-linked strongholds, and branded the most dangerous place in the world for Americans by US President Barack Obama
The Cambridge police acted stupidly...
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  i ownder if they will sell it too the mexxicans
Posted by: chris || 05/12/2012 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  It is worth "$0.55 million on the local market and $13.75 million on the international market."

Quite the mark-up!
Posted by: American Delight || 05/12/2012 8:27 Comments || Top||

#3  That is because it is stepped on or cut 20x.
Posted by: dacama || 05/12/2012 9:47 Comments || Top||

#4  Prolly still a pretty nice nap when stepped on X20.
Posted by: canalzone || 05/12/2012 22:31 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Our War: Ambushed
The BBC documentary "Our War: Ambushed" features candid helmet camera footage from soldiers of the British 1st Battalion Royal Anglian documenting their 2007 tour in Now Zad and Sangin districts in Helmand province, Afghanistan. The video includes a thorough diagram and corresponding footage of a close small arms engagement that resulted in the deaths of one British soldier and multiple Taliban insurgents.
Posted by: Mercutio || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Lawyers have gall to thrash another cop
[Dawn] Exhibiting little remorse lawyers on Thursday beat up a policeman who showed up at the sessions court to record his statement in a case.
Pakistan is a very, very special place.
On Wednesday, an assistant sub-inspector of the Green Town police fell a victim to a lawyer's violence on the sessions court premises.

During Thursday's proceedings Imtiaz Wahla, a sub-inspector of the Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Area cop shoppe, came to record his statement before Additional District and Sessions Judge Zafar Iqbal in connection with a theft case.

A former Lahore Bar Association vice-president, Qamar Shahid, got a theft case registered against Atif whom the SI exonerated following an investigation. The policeman told the judge the theft case was bogus, inviting wrath of Advocate Qamar Shahid who abused the SI.

The judge concluded the proceedings and asked the counsel to advance final arguments on the next date of hearing.

Advocate Shahid and his associates, however, continued 'proceedings' outside the courtroom and stopped SI Wahla on his way back. The lawyers thrashed the police official and tore his uniform.

Eyewitnesses said the incident created panic and no one dared rescue the cop who fell unconscious, with bleeding on his head and bruises.

The Islampura station house officer shifted the injured official to hospital and started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Qamar Shahid, Touseef Ulfat, Sajid Awan and other lawyers.

Meanwhile,
...back at the sandwich shop, Caroline was experimenting with ingredients of increasing volatility...
the lawyers secured pre-arrest interim bails from the court of AD&SJ Nadeem Shaukat till May 25.

LBA President Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali condemned the incident and said a general house meeting would be convened soon to take notice of such incidents.

He hastened to add the coppers also provoked lawyers to act violently.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


US bills seek ban on trade; 90pc aid cut
[Dawn] The US Congress on Thursday proposed stopping preferential trade with Pakistain and reducing aid to just 10 per cent of available funds unless Islamabad reopened 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...
supply routes.
Oh dear. That isn't a good sign.
The politicians also approved a proposal to stop all reimbursements to the country if Pakistain continued to ignore US demands.
Definitely not a good sign. Someone's bank account could become very lonely. Of course, it would also have to get through the Democrat-controlled Senate and somehow avoid the Obama veto pen...
The restrictions, included in two bills passed separately by House panels, are the harshest since Pakistain joined the US-led war against terror 11 years ago.

The restrictions were endorsed by an overwhelming majority as both Republicans and Democrats castigated Pakistain for closing the supply routes and for allegedly patronising various terrorist groups.

"The bill places appropriate conditions on aid to Pakistain," said Congressman Adam Smith, a ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee. "It is imperative that Pakistain support our counter-terrorism efforts and work to prevent the interdiction of improvised bombs to Afghanistan."

On Wednesday, a House appropriations panel for foreign aid denied $800 million to Pakistain from a special fund for training and equipping Pakistain's military in counter-insurgency tactics.

During a debate inside the aid panel, Congressman Jesse Jackson accused Pakistain of "harbouring a runaway" and likened the US-Pakistain relationship to a "bad marriage".

This bill has been referred to the full committee but no date has yet been announced for the full committee session.

Last week, government officials in Islamabad had told opposition members and politicians opposing the reopening of routes that the United States could slap strict sanctions on Pakistain if the supply lines remained closed.

Although the bill adopted by the aid panel specifies an amount -- $800 million -- the bill passed by the powerful Armed Services Committee on Thursday could have more serious repercussions for Pakistain. It contains language that can be interpreted to stop all military assistance to Pakistain if relations between the two countries continue to deteriorate.

The bill urges Pakistain to tackle all terrorist groups operating from its territory and deal with the menace of improvised bombs if it wants to continue receiving US economic and military assistance.

One section of the bill urges "prohibiting preferential procurement of goods or services from Pakistain" until it reopens the ground lines of communication for coalition operations in Afghanistan.

Pakistain closed the supply lines after the Nov 26 US raid on a border post that killed 24 Pak soldiers.

Additionally, this section would prohibit all reimbursements to Pakistain until the US secretary of defence provides a report to Congress that outlines: "the model for reimbursement, including how claims are proposed and adjudicated; new conditions or caveats that the government of Pakistain places on the use of its supply routes; and the new cost associated with transit through supply routes in Pakistain."

The secretary of defence will also have to certify that Pakistain is committed to: supporting counter-terrorism operations against Al Qaeda, its associated movements, the Haqqani network, and other domestic and foreign terrorist organizations.

Another certification will state that Pakistain is "preventing the proliferation of nuclear-related material and expertise; and issuing visas in a timely manner for United States visitors engaged in counter-terrorism efforts and assistance programmes in Pakistain."

Section 1217 extends the Pakistain Counter-insurgency Fund through fiscal year 2013 but contains amendments that require the secretaries of defence and state to submit an update on the strategy to utilise the fund, and the metrics used to determine progress with respect to the fund. This section would also limit the authority of the secretary of defence to obligate or expend funds made available to the Pakistain Counter-insurgency Fund during fiscal year 2013 to not more than 10 per cent of the amount available until such time as the update is submitted to the appropriate congressional committees.

On Wednesday afternoon, another panel denied $800 million that was requested for a special fund for training and equipping Pakistain's military in counter-insurgency tactics.

The overwhelming support to the proposed restrictions on Pakistain indicates that the bill will pass the full House because it enjoys bipartisan support.

The bill authorises $554 billion for national defence and $88.5 billion for overseas contingencies operations. It is nearly $4 billion more than President B.O.'s budget request.

Separately, the US House Appropriations Subcommittee for State and Foreign Operations has called for a complete ban on economic or security assistance to Pakistain until the secretary of state certifies that Pakistain is cooperating and taking action against terrorist networks. The House subcommittee has proposed that no assistance under Economic Support Fund, International Narcotics Control and Law Enforcement, Foreign Military Financing Programme and the Pakistain Counter-insurgency Capability Fund be released until the secretary of state certifies to the Appropriations Committee. The bill also requires the Pak military and intelligence agencies to stop "intervening extra-judicially into political and judicial processes in the country".
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Its apparen causing Islamabad to move quickly to meet + finally decide on reopening the land routes or not.

Iff Pakland does decide to reopen, IMO this may cause Iran to intensify its efforts to dominate the Arabian side of the Persian Gulf, + Iraq + Kuwait, in order to "politely" forcefully make the Gulf all but absolutely untenable as a staging area for pro-Invasion major US-NATO/Allied fleet + air + amphib units.

THE PRO-DIPLOMACY BAMMER MAY NOT WANT WAR IN THE GULF THIS SUMMER OR EARLY FALL, BUT HE MAY YET GET IT ANYWAY TO SAVE THE KSA + SMALLER GCC STATES FROM COLLAPSE, + FREE FLOW OF GULF TRADE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/12/2012 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  it would also have to get through the Democrat-controlled Senate and somehow avoid the Obama veto pen...

True, but after all that crowing about how he personally shot Osama, who was lounging by the Motel Six pool in Abbotabad, it might be hard to sell the American people on why we should send money to these back-stabbers. Especially when the economy at home is in the dumpster.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2012 12:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Why leave them with 10%?
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2012 19:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
IDF Ups Security Overseas On Iran Attack Intel
Intelligence shows Iran, Hezbollah planning attacks on senior officers and official military delegations traveling overseas.

The IDF has significantly boosted security for senior officers and official military delegations traveling overseas in recent months, amid intelligence that Iran and Hezbollah are plotting attacks against such targets, a senior IDF officer revealed on Thursday.

News of the increase in security comes following a recent wave of attempted bombing attacks that Iran and Hezbollah are believed to have tried to carry out in Thailand, Georgia, India and Azerbaijan. All of the plots were foiled except a bombing in New Delhi that injured the wife of a Defense Ministry official stationed in the Israeli Embassy.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Terror Networks
CIA Hunts for Mole
The United States' top spy chief, retired Lieutenant General James Clapper, is asking for an internal investigation of the CIA. The uncovering of a clandestine CIA operation involving the installation of double agents inside the ranks of al-Qaeda by the mainstream media has left Lt. Gen. Clapper demanding answers about a possible mole within the ranks of America's supposedly top-secret spy agency.
Why now? People in the CIA have leaked all sorts of things to the newsies for years, especially when they wanted to embarrass the previous president.
Perhaps a more pertinent question is "Who benefited?".
The CIA has not formally acknowledged the existence of an investigation but a spokesperson for the agency says it is only expected given the latest news involving a double-agent in Yemen. The CIA has worked undercover with a spy that infiltrated al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, only for the media to report on the clandestine operation before it was disclosed that the US was instrumental in orchestrating the mission.

If the reportedly new investigation involving a CIA mole can be confirmed, it will mark at least the seventh criminal case launched by the Obama administration involving the leaking of classified documents -- something the president insisted on ending while running for office by offering protection for whistleblowers.
Posted by: Pappy || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  An Intelligence agency that does not look at it's own executive branch is kind of... lame. Certainly not Cheka.

If I was losing agents in foreign countries, I may have some issue with that, like Lebanon or every other station in the world for that matter.

This has been a long, slow, bloodbath. I do not need "Classified documents to prove it either.

Entire Stations? Disappeared? I'm pissed off about all of this actually.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 0:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmmm. A mole, leaking all kinds of classified info the media and our enemies (yeah, yeah, I know it's redundant)? Has anyone tried checking into the activities of this guy in DC, black, 6 feet or so tall, thin build, who goes by aliases including "Barry Soetero" and "The One?"
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo0 || 05/12/2012 5:50 Comments || Top||

#3  ...I think the real point here is this: previous administrations simply didn't have the cojones to crack down - hard - on the idiots at the Agency who decide that their personal attitudes outweigh national security. For better or worse, the Obama Administration has no such compunctions, and is no mood to tolerate that particular nonsense.

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 05/12/2012 6:14 Comments || Top||

#4  Start at the NY Times & Whitehouse and then work backwards to the leaks.

There should be a very short list of who knew what details and when.
Posted by: airandee || 05/12/2012 8:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Lt. Gen. Clapper demanding answers about a possible mole within the ranks of America's supposedly top-secret spy agency.

I recommend you begin General Clapper, by quietly polygraphing the most recent former Director.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 10:05 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Japanese nation to go extinct in 1,000 years
[Bangla Daily Star] Japanese researchers yesterday unveiled a population clock that showed the nation's people could theoretically become extinct in 1,000 years because of declining birth rates.

Academics in the northern city of Sendai said that Japan's population of children aged up to 14, which now stands at 16.6 million, is shrinking at the rate of one every 100 seconds.

Their extrapolations pointed to a Japan with no children left within a millennium.
I don't think it works like that. I suspect that below a certain density of possible mates, people either go outside the group or give up...or choose to have large families.
"If the rate of decline continues, we will be able to celebrate the Children's Day public holiday on May 5, 3011 as there will be one child," said Hiroshi Yoshida, an economics professor at Tohoku University.

"But 100 seconds later there will be no children left," he said. "The overall trend is towards extinction, which started in 1975 when Japan's fertility rate fell below two."
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See also TOPIX > [Japan] YOUNG POPULATION DECLINING, EXCEPT FOR OKINAWA PERFECTURE.

Oki at 17.7% has Nippon's highest percentage of persons under age 15.

WE-DON'T-HAVE-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS US ALLY NIPPON MAY GO EXTINCT SOONER THAN 100O YEARS IF IT GOES TOO FAR VEE RILING UP WE-DO-HAVE-NUCLEAR-WEAPONS RISING CHINA ....

* SAME > TOKYO RAISES Y$76.0+MILYUHN TO BUY SENKAKUS ISLANDS.

* WORLD MILITARY FORUM > EXPERTS: US + JAPAN FORCING WAR ON CHINA IN NE ASIA DUE TO PLANNED JAPANESE SDF GARRISONS ON YONUGUNI ISLAND NEAR TAIWAN AND TINIAN ISLAND IN MARIANAS NEAR GUAM BASE, TAKEOVER OF US MILITARY BASES IN OKINAWA. A

Or vee ASEAN in the South China Sea...

* CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Scarborough Shoal] WAR DECLARATION? CHINA PREPARED TO RESPOND TO ANYTHING THE PHILIPPINES DOES, including but not limited to Military.

* SAME > MILITARY NEWSPAPER WARNS MANILA [+ US by implication or inference]. "Seizure" by the PHIL, OR ANYONE SUPPORTING OR BACKING THE PHILIPPINES, of Huangyan Island sovereignty is unacceptable to China + PLA.

* SAME > MAJOR GEN. LUO > CHINA WILL NOT ABANDON THE "WAR OPTION".

* FREEREPUBLIC > CHINA WARNS PHILIPPINES OF WAR.

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA-PHILIPPINES STANDOFF - WILL THE US GET INVOLVED?

US in difficult position of supporting its Treaty obligations to defend its PHIL Ally while simul attempting to appear neutral.

* SAME > OFFICIAL: US-PHILIPPINES TREATY [Mutual Defense] COVERS CONFLICT AREA.

* SAME > [PHIL Senator] TRILLANES: PHILIPPPINES CAN'T [militarily] FIGHT CHINA, as it lacks the unilateral mil capability to either seriously confront or combat China, let alone defeat China.

* SAME > PHILIPPINE MILITARY [is now] MUM/QUIET ON PANATAG SITUATION.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 05/12/2012 0:37 Comments || Top||

#2  So long? I'd put it as 1 -1.5 generations for Europe. And, IMO, Japan just as bad.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Almost as stupid as CAGW predictions and that's really saying something.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#4  The same extrapolation would say the population of Africa would reach 100 billion.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 8:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Just dont send any more people to Guam, it might tip over.
Posted by: OldSpook || 05/12/2012 11:15 Comments || Top||

#6  Japan's adult diaper use now exceeds child diaper use so this might be a bit on the long side for an estimate.
Posted by: Water Modem || 05/12/2012 11:33 Comments || Top||

#7  Or it might be that people's life expectancy is rising.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 12:06 Comments || Top||

#8  And you can get a child in 1 month... if you impregnate 9 women....

I think at some point an instinctive 'lets boink like bunnies and multiply' kicks in.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 05/12/2012 12:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Water Modem: I did not need to know that. Now I have the image of fat Otaku's running around in diapers.
Posted by: Charles || 05/12/2012 16:45 Comments || Top||

#10  Oh, look! Someone drew a straight line on a logarithmic graph and extrapolated ten centuries into the future. Social scientists should not be allowed anywhere near numbers.
Posted by: SteveS || 05/12/2012 17:28 Comments || Top||

#11  Ah, by then the world's temperature will have risen an extra 40 C and the ocean will have risen 80 feet.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 17:48 Comments || Top||

#12  This is stupid to extrapolate so far out. Here in Estonia, we've been at 1.2 since the fall of communism. Now we're at replacement rate. Gotta have something to do during the global recession ...

Circumstances change.
Posted by: Mizzou Mafia || 05/12/2012 17:52 Comments || Top||


-Election 2012
Obama Meets With Left-Wing Critics Of Israel To Plot Next Moves
President B.O. sat down yesterday with a cadre of far-left foreign policy writers, several of whom regularly lambast the state of Israel, to get advice on a range of critical foreign policy issues, among them Afghanistan, Israel, and NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
, according to press accounts.

The group of nine included several writers who promulgate fringe views about the state of Israel, advocate in favor of divestment from Israel, and describe the Jewish State as an "apartheid" state--views that are also endorsed by the most extreme anti-Israel advocates.

Liberal author Peter Beinart--who has compared Israel to the segregated South and advocates boycotting areas of the country that he deems "non-democratic"--is reported to have joined forces with several other Israel bashers, such as the New Yorker's David Remnick and Time magazine's Joe Klein, for a powwow with the president. Left-wing activist Jane Mayer of the New Yorker also attended the meeting.

The meeting also raises questions about how Obama might approach the issue of Israel in a more flexible second term.

"If President B.O. believes Peter Beinart's opinions are credible or anywhere near mainstream thought, then that is a five alarm fire for Israel supporters all across the world," said one senior GOP adviser. "It's completely irresponsible to have the president meet with a radioactive writer and anti-Israel activist who has been shunned, alienated, and isolated by even the most left wing factions of the organized pro-Israel community."
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Little more about Mr. Beinart need be said:

“For more than a half-century, anti-intellectualism has had a pretty good run in presidential politics. In fact, Republicans would never have gotten where they are without it.”
¯ Peter Beinart


Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 3:33 Comments || Top||

#2  President B.O. sat down yesterday with a cadre of far-left foreign policy writers

Never mind far-left.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:47 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Echoes of '67: Israel unites
By Charles Krauthammer

In May 1967, in brazen violation of previous truce agreements, Egypt ordered U.N. peacekeepers out of the Sinai, marched 120,000 troops to the Israeli border, blockaded the Straits of Tiran (Israel's southern outlet to the world's oceans), abruptly signed a military pact with Jordan and, together with Syria, pledged war for the final destruction of Israel.

May '67 was Israel's most fearful, desperate month. The country was surrounded and alone. Previous great-power guarantees proved worthless. A plan to test the blockade with a Western flotilla failed for lack of participants. Time was running out. Forced into mass mobilization in order to protect against invasion -- and with a military consisting overwhelmingly of civilian reservists -- life ground to a halt. The country was dying.

On June 5, Israel launched a preemptive strike on the Egyptian air force, then proceeded to lightning victories on three fronts. The Six-Day War is legend, but less remembered is that, four days earlier, the nationalist opposition (Mena­chem Begin's Likud precursor) was for the first time ever brought into the government, creating an emergency national-unity coalition.

Everyone understood why. You do not undertake a supremely risky preemptive war without the full participation of a broad coalition representing a national consensus.

Forty-five years later, in the middle of the night of May 7-8, 2012, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shocked his country by bringing the main opposition party, Kadima, into a national unity government. Shocking because just hours earlier, the Knesset was expediting a bill to call early elections in September.

Why did the high-flying Netanyahu call off elections he was sure to win?

Because for Israelis today, it is May '67. The dread is not quite as acute: The mood is not despair, just foreboding. Time is running out, but not quite as fast. War is not four days away, but it looms. Israelis today face the greatest threat to their existence -- nuclear weapons in the hands of apocalyptic mullahs publicly pledged to Israel's annihilation -- since May '67. The world is again telling Israelis to do nothing as it looks for a way out. But if such a way is not found -- as in '67 -- Israelis know that they will once again have to defend themselves, by themselves.

Such a fateful decision demands a national consensus. By creating the largest coalition in nearly three decades, Netanyahu is establishing the political premise for a preemptive strike, should it come to that. The new government commands an astonishing 94 Knesset seats out of 120, described by one Israeli columnist as a "hundred tons of solid concrete."

So much for the recent media hype about some great domestic resistance to Netanyahu's hard line on Iran. Two notable retired intelligence figures were widely covered here for coming out against him. Little noted was that one had been passed over by Netanyahu to be the head of Mossad, while the other had been fired by Netanyahu as Mossad chief (hence the job opening).
Ah hah! The missing piece that explains all.
For centrist Kadima (it pulled Israel out of Gazoo) to join a Likud-led coalition whose defense minister is a former Labor prime minister (who once offered half of Jerusalem to Yasser Arafat) is the very definition of national unity -- and refutes the popular "Israel is divided" meme. "Everyone is saying the same thing," explained one Knesset member, "though there may be a difference of tone."
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Means nothing what they think. Any Second - any second that green light. So, Iran, it shall be done lest you pull up your sleeves for real and the trust thing is just plain gone.

What you have Tehran, is bad options or rubble. But hey, you have choices. Israelis do not.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 1:19 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Assad's Russian lifeline
As West remains on sidelines in Syria, Moscow continues to arm Assad regime, underwrite its survival.

Yet in the last year, Oktyabrsk has played a key role in the international structure that enables the survival of the Assad dictatorship in Syria. It is the main point from which ships bearing the Russian arms that underwrite the Assad regime's survival set off undisturbed on their journey to the Syrian coast.

Chartered by the state-owned Russian arms corporation Rosoboronexport, the ships make their way from Oktyabrsk to the Black Sea. They cross the Bosphorous Straits to Limassol in Cyprus and continue to the Russian deep sea port in Tartous, Syria. These shipments form a vital node in Moscow's tireless effort to prevent revolution in Syria.

They have received insufficient international attention.

If Syria constitutes, as some believe, the central linchpin to understanding events in the Middle East, then the signs are not positive. The Western preference for disengagement from the Mideast mess is not being mirrored by non-Western powers. Rather, as the determined and efficient arms line to Assad shows, Moscow's Syria policy combines clear goals with a brutal effectiveness in their pursuit.

Why is Russia so determined to preserve Assad's rule? The first reason is economic. As Russia returned to international prominence over the last decade, arms exports to Syria increased exponentially. Between 2007 and 2011, imports from Russia accounted for 78 percent of all Syrian arms imports, according to a recent report by the Stockholm Peace Research Institute (SIPRI).

The second-largest supplier of arms to Assad in the 2007 to 2011 period was Belarus, which accounted for 17% of Syrian imports. The isolated Lukashenka regime in Minsk does not pursue an independent policy in terms of arms supplying. Rather, it sells Russian arms systems in coordination with -- and probably under the direction of -- its Russian patrons.

So put the figures together and you have 95% of Syrian arms imports arriving from Russia or its satellites. It doesn't end there. The remaining 5% of arms imports, says SIPRI, come from Iran. But the Iranians, too, are largely providing Syria with Russian arms systems.

Moscow's economic interests in Syria are not limited to the sphere of arms exports. Russian companies are heavily engaged in infrastructure projects and oil and gas exploration.

Total investment in Syria amounted to $19.4 billion in 2009.

The second reason Russia is invested in Assad's reign is strategic. The naval base at Tartous gives the Russian Navy the capability to operate in the Mediterranean and thus to reach the Red Sea via the Suez Canal, and the Atlantic through the Strait of Gibraltar, in reduced time.

The Russians also have an interest in maintaining a troublesome client in the Levant in order to act as a potential tool of disruption and political pressure against the West in its own backyard. Moscow sees itself as threatened by NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis....
expansion eastwards.

It is useful to have a well-placed client whose capacity for trouble-making might act as a deterrent to Western schemes.

This element, which dovetails perfectly with the Assad regime's well-known practice of creating problems and then offering its services to help solve them (at a price), dates back to the period of the Cold War.

More nebulously, Russia fears the spread of Islamism to the North Caucasus and Central Asia, and perhaps also the spread of the belief that dictators are fallible further west of Russia itself.

Finally, Russian support for Assad produces a self-evident reason for doubling down on itself: namely, the fact that the opposition to Assad is well aware who is keeping him afloat, and is keeping accounts. As a Free Syrian Army officer in Antakya told this news hound, a post-Assad Syria would "neither depend on, nor have relations with, nor take weapons from Russia."

How important are the Russian weapons to the dictator's survival? They constitute a single but vital component in the determined international coalition gathered behind Bashir al-Assad. The Iranian Quds Force and Hezbollah are there on the ground, providing assistance and engaging where relevant in direct combat. Russia and China are blocking any moves for real action against the regime by way of the UN.

Were the Russian lifeline to be removed, perhaps Iran, China or North Korea might try to make up the difference. But as of now, it is Russia which is pumping the iron lifeblood into the veins of the regime.

Against this, the Free Syrian Army is still running its meager arms smuggling operations across the mountains from Turkey and Leb, backed by myriad and confused channels of Sunni Islamist, Qatari and Saudi money. The demonstrators are still going out to be killed in Deraa, Homs, Idlib and Hama.

The West, meanwhile, is still backing the stillborn Annan peace plan.

The lost blue-bereted UN observers are floating around those parts of Syria they are permitted to enter.

The B.O. regime may well still be seeking to convince Russia of the need to make Assad step aside. Washington correctly assesses that only Moscow might have the power to achieve this. The problem is that Russia shows no interest in assisting the US.

Instead, it is backing its client to the end. In so doing, Moscow is demonstrating that it well understands the harsh and Hobbesian nature of patron-client relations in the Middle East. If the dictator survives, Moscow and Tehran's triumph will be well-noted by regional elites.

As will the West's hapless flailing.

Day by day, the killings and the chaos in Syria are continuing. Day by day, the guns and ammunition are being loaded aboard at the quiet port of Oktyabrsk in southern Ukraine. And day by day, Russia is building political and strategic capital in the traditional way -- through strong will, clear direction, and the backing of clients -- in the face of a Western policy in utter disarray.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Bipolar world is back? Hip, hip, hurrah!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:33 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Aslam Beg's assertion
[Dawn] AN army chief disowning the actions of his subordinate/s in the line of duty is an extraordinary phenomenon. In an application to the Supreme Court, which had asked him to clarify his role in what came to be known as Mehrangate, Gen (retd) Mirza Aslam Beg
...occasionally incoherent retired four-star general who was the Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army, succeeding the creepy General Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, after the latter was rubbed out died in an air crash in 1988. The general was involved up to his hairy ears in the Mehran bank scandal, shuffling millions in public money to buy or lease politicians, and is believed one of the prime movers in the sale of Pak nuclear technology to Iran. He ranks second only to Hamid Gul in the volume and flavor of his anti-Western vitriol..
said he had "knowledge" of the affair but was not involved in the disbursement of money to certain politicians to manipulate the 1990 elections. More astonishingly, the former army chief said he had no control over the ISI. He may be technically correct as officially the latter is under the prime minister, but the reality in Pakistain, as he knows, is different. An army's various formations are answerable to its chief. Were different units to operate on their own, the army would turn into a political party rather than be a fighting force. No army can operate in war and peace without the intelligence agencies serving as its eyes and ears. Thus for Mr Beg to attempt to dissociate himself from the ISI defies common sense and brings ridicule to the office of the chief of staff of one of the world's largest standing armies.

Years before Assad Durrani, a retired ISI chief, submitted his affidavit to the SC, giving details of the money gifted to some politicians with a view to creating a pro-army, pro-Ghulam Ishaq Khan alliance, Mr Beg had gone public with his disclosure about the money illegally obtained from the now defunct Mehran Bank and given to some of Pakistain's most corrupt politicians to help create the Islami Jamhoori Ittehad to undermine Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
's electoral chances. 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...
, another retired ISI chief, also admitted that the establishment led by President Ghulam Ishaq Khan wanted to create "a balance of power" in politics by propping up an anti-PPP alliance. We now leave it to the court to decipher Mr Beg's rigmarole when he says he "only instructed" Mr Durrani to "maintain" accounts. The court must now also rule on the relationship between the army and ISI chiefs. Can an army chief be exonerated from the doings of its intelligence arm -- in military affairs or the dirty world of politics?
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Beg and Gul still live Zia's dream.
Posted by: Gruth McGurque5303 || 05/12/2012 11:28 Comments || Top||


Concerns about security situation in Pakistan exaggerated: Gilani
[Dawn] Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
on Friday urged the British investors to focus on Pakistain and not to be overly concerned about the "exaggerated perception" about security situation in Pakistain.
But there is plenty of reason to be concerned about the unexaggerated perception, which is just about as bad.
Addressing at a businessmen reception, Prime Minister Gilani said he was cognizant of the concerns about security situation in the region and said the perception was contrary to the situation on ground.

"Despite the negative security perceptions of Pakistain in the media, the trade and investment environment has remained positive," he said.

Gilani said those who have done business in Pakistain continue to return due to the opportunities offered by the market.

He said the British companies are conducting substantive profitable business and giving attractive dividends to their share holders and the companies create employment and develop our economy.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Yeah, we have more than enough confidence in you, don't we?
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 0:53 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Hope
Watching this should be a requirement for all the self-centered little brats in the world.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Amen to that...should be required viewing for the little OWS bastards..
Posted by: Warthog || 05/12/2012 12:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Thanks for posting this, B.

What an inspiring man! I wish I had half his strength.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 21:09 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Soldiers raid Islamist base in Nigerian city after blasts
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Nigerian troops cooled for a few years
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
a suspected leading Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
bad boy in a raid yesterday, a day after the restive city where the Islamist group is based was rocked by blasts and gunfire.

"We had an operation this morning... at a Boko Haram hideout (in the northern city of Kano). We made some arrests but details will be given later," Kano military front man Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi told AFP.

A security source involved in the raid in the Farawa neighbourhood of Kano, the largest city in the north, said a suspected high-profile member of the group, Suleiman Mohammed, was cooled for a few years
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
along with his wife and five children.

"We recovered three pistols, a rifle, 1,000 rounds of ammunition and 10 IEDs (improvised bombs)," the source said, adding that the house was destroyed during the raid.

Yesterday's raid came a day after several kabooms and gunfire rocked the restive northeastern city of Maiduguri where Boko Haram has its base.

"In the late hours we had two kabooms followed by sporadic gunshots. I don't have any further information now on casualties," a security official who did not want to be named told AFP.

He said the attack happened near a church in an area where a mosque owned by Boko Haram was razed during a 2009 crackdown on the group. AFP saw truckloads of soldiers deployed to the area yesterday.

The military and local residents reported a third blast on Thursday in a different area of the city.

"There was a blast in an open field by the riverside. We still don't know who the target was but nobody was hurt," military front man Lieutenant Colonel Sagir Musa told AFP.

Residents said it happened near a football field where a match was being played and caused people to flee.

Meanwhile,
...back at the ranch, Butch and the Kid finally brought their horses under control...
Nigeria is open to talks aimed at ending the violence shaking the country, Vice-President Namadi Sambo said, condemning attacks carried out in the name of Islam as a distortion of the faith.

"The Government is ready to discuss. History has proven that even wars that are fought for decades, at the end, are only concluded by dialogue," Sambo told a peace symposium on Thursday in Abuja.
Sure. But the most effective talks are along the lines of, "Ok, enough already! We surrender -- please be kind."
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


Arabia
Saudi Double Agent had British Passport
[An Nahar] The double agent who infiltrated al-Qaeda and helped foil a plot to blow up a U.S.-bound airliner held a British passport in addition to being a Saudi national, CNN reported Thursday.

The man was sent by Saudi counterterrorism agents into Yemen as a mole after it was learned that al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula was developing an updated model of the underwear bomb that failed to explode in a Christmas Day 2009 attempt.

CNN, citing counterterrorism sources, reported that the man grew up in Europe and at some point fell in with beturbanned goon sympathizers who tried to recruit him for terror attacks.

It said that the Saudi man's British passport enhanced his value to the terror group, because he could travel without a visa to the United States.

But when he learned that a concrete terror plot was in the works, the man contacted Saudi counterterrorism officials from Yemen.

The Saudis then informed the Americans of the planned operation and let them know that they had succeeded in infiltrating the group, according to CNN.

The spy spent weeks with the al-Qaeda affiliate, garnering sensitive information that was passed on to the Americans.

That intelligence allowed the CIA to launch a drone strike on Sunday that killed Fahd al-Quso, a senior al-Qaeda operative in Yemen wanted for the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole.

A source working closely with U.S. intelligence agencies and the U.S. military also told CNN that the al-Qaeda chapter in Yemen now has "a whole outfit designated to target the U.S. homeland."

The new details about the Saudi mole and the failed al-Qaeda bomb plot come after U.S. spy chief James Clapper earlier this week ordered an inquiry into leaks to media about the top secret operation.

The internal review is being conducted across 16 intelligence agencies, as U.S. officials expressed fear that the disclosures could jeopardize future sensitive espionage work.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia

#1  The new details about the Saudi mole and the failed al-Qaeda bomb plot come after U.S. spy chief James Clapper earlier this week ordered an inquiry into leaks to media about the top secret operation.
The internal review is being conducted across 16 intelligence agencies, as U.S. officials expressed fear that the disclosures could jeopardize future sensitive espionage work.


"I ordered the drone attack...It was my designation that allowed al-Quso's targeting.....a Saudi national working at my direction..."


yeah....no idea where the leak came from. None at all.
*football spiked!*
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 9:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
Victim's kin hurls shoe at Breivik in Norway trial
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A family member of one of Anders Behring Breivik's 69 victims in his shooting massacre on Norway's Utoeya island last July threw a shoe at him in court on yesterday, screaming "you killer, go to Hell!"

The shoe hit Breivik's lawyer and the incident, followed by applause, "bravos" and tears among onlookers in the courtroom, led to a temporary suspension of proceedings on the 17th day of the trial.

The attacker, a man of Iraqi origin whose brother was one of the 69 people Breivik killed on July 22, was quickly brought under control by security guards and escorted out of the courtroom as he continued to shout in English: "Go to Hell!"
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Algeria Ruling Party Wins Legislative Vote, Islamists Say Results 'Fraudulent, Dangerous'
[An Nahar] Algeria's former single party tightened its grip on power in an election that bucked the regional trend, according to results Friday that drew accusations of fraud from the defeated Islamists.

President Abdelaziz Bouteflika
... 10th president of Algeria. He was elected in 1999 and is currently on his third term, which is probably why Algerians are ready to dump him...
's National Liberation Front (FLN) won 220 out of 462 seats up for grabs in Thursday's election, the first since the Arab Spring, improving on its share in the outgoing national assembly.

An alliance of moderate Islamist parties and the four other Islamist groups could only manage a combined 66 seats, a major setback after predicting victory during the campaign.

The National Rally for Democracy (RND) of Prime Minister Ahmed Ouyahia, a nationalist party close to the military and loyal to Bouteflika, was second with 68 seats, compared to 62 in the outgoing house.

Algeria's governing coalition so far included the FLN, the RND and the largest of the legal Islamist parties, the Movement of Society for Peace.

Friday's provisional results, which have yet to be confirmed by the constitutional council, mean the FLN and the RND could form a majority without the Islamists.

The main Islamist alliance, Green Algeria, garnered a paltry 48 seats and charged widespread fraud.

"There has been large scale manipulation of the real results announced in the regions, an irrational exaggeration of these results to favor the administration parties," it said in a statement. "This will lead to a travesty of the election, contradicting the spirit of the political reforms, and will kill off what little hope and trust the people still had."
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Norwegian Ambassador To Israel Denies His Country's Antisemitism
What 'Post' readers of conscience
What, pray tell, is a reader of conscience? It sounds like someone has been insulted, but it isn't quite clear who, or on what grounds.
need to know about Norway: The Norwegian government has consistently proved itself to be a friend of Israel
.
What the Norwegian ambassador to Israel would like Israelis to know about his country, in response to recent articles and op-eds that have appeared in the Jerusalem Post. We leave the Rantburg reader to make his own judgement.
Norway has been a strong supporter of Israel since its foundation. We remain committed to Israel's right to exist within secure and internationally recognized borders, and we have over the years committed financial and political resources, as well as the lives of Norwegian soldiers, to that end.

The Norwegian government, like the Israeli government and the Paleostinian leadership, remains committed to a two-state solution. Just as there is widespread opposition in Norway to the expansion of the illegal Israeli settlements in the West Bank, there is widespread support for the Israeli right to live in security. We consistently condemn the targeting of civilians by rockets from Gazoo.

Nevertheless, The Jerusalem Post persists in regularly publishing strongly anti-Norwegian articles. The latest example is the article by Michael Sharnoff, prominently placed in the 1 May edition. Mr. Sharnoff's article follows a familiar pattern. He makes harsh allegations against "Norway," "the Norwegian leaders" and "Oslo," claiming that many in the Norwegian government have recently displayed a pattern of anti-Semitic attitudes "which would make Islamist Orcs and similar vermin very proud," and also claims that the actions of Norwegian leaders "exhibit traits of genteel anti-Semitism."

He even goes so far as to claim that "If Vidkun Quisling was alive today and read the anti-Israel and anti-Semitic statements that were coming out of Norway, a big smile would appear on his face." Anyone with even a cursory knowledge of Norwegian history would know how insulting the reference to Quisling is to Norwegians.

If you want to make a serious allegation, you have to make sure you have your facts straight. This is the problem with Mr. Sharnoff's article. Actions and statements are described as anti-Semitic without real justification, and then attributed to Norway or the Norwegian people in general. In the following I will address some of the claims made in the article.

Claim: Norway is singling out Israel among all other nations for international opprobrium.

Fact: Even a brief glance at the website of the Norwegian Ministry of Foreign Affairs shows that Norway's commitment to human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
, democracy and peace is worldwide, not confined to one country or part of the world.

Claim: Then-Socialist Left Party leader Kristin Halvorsen proposed a boycott of Israeli products in 2006.

Fact: It is true that Kristin Halvorsen publicly supported her own party's campaign. She also subsequently made it clear that the Norwegian government is opposed to a consumer boycott of Israel. The Norwegian government does not believe that boycotts are an effective way to promote political change. But a consumer boycott is a legitimate way to protest policies that you are against, and cannot in itself be claimed to be anti-Semitic.

Claim: Norway has refused to follow the US and EU in classifying Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, as a designated terrorist organization.

Fact: Norway does not have a national list of designated terrorist organizations. This is a general policy which is not particular to Hamas. What we do have is legislation that outlaws terrorist actions, and we have shown, not least through our military commitment in Afghanistan, that we are unwavering in our resolve to combat international terrorism.

Claim: The Norwegian Minister of Foreign Affairs Jonas Gahr Støre has insisted that Israel dismantle the security barrier.

Fact: Norway has consistently recognized the security needs of Israel and Israel's right to self defense. According to the advisory opinion of the International Court of Justice published on 9 July 2004, the construction of the security barrier in The Paleostinian Territory was contrary to international law and should be dismantled. It should also be remembered that the problem the court found with the security barrier was that it was built on occupied territory and that other considerations than security were important for the route that was chosen for the barrier.

There are no limitations on building barriers within a country's internationally recognized borders. In a UN General Assembly resolution, 150 countries, including all EU member states, urged Israel to implement the advisory opinion. Singling out Norway is not justified.

Claim: During the Durban II Conference in Geneva, Norway remained in attendance during Iranian president Ahmadinejad's speech.

Fact: It is misleading to mention this without at the same time mentioning why Norway remained in attendance. It is Norwegian policy not to cede the podiums of the UN to jihad boys, but rather to use these podiums to confront them publicly. The Norwegian Foreign Minister was the next speaker at the Durban II Conference, and used the opportunity to sharply criticize the Iranian president.

Claim: The University of Trondheim in Norway tried to impose an academic boycott against Israeli universities in 2009, but the motion ultimately failed.

Fact: It is wrong to claim that the Norwegian University of Science and Technology in Trondheim tried to impose such a boycott. It is true that a proposal to that effect was made to the board by faculty members and students, but the board unanimously voted against a boycott. The government also made clear that such a boycott, if adopted by a university, would be illegal under Norwegian law.

Claim: In October 2010, Norway's Foreign Ministry announced that it would not permit the German shipbuilder HDW to test its Dolphin-class submarine, built for the Israeli navy, in Norwegian territorial waters.

Fact: It is true that Norway has strict rules for the export of arms, including services, to countries that are at war or where there is a threat of war. This applies to many countries around the world, so there is no singling out of Israel.

Claim: Norwegian retail chain Vita's decision to stop selling cosmetics produced in an illegal settlement in the West Bank is an example of "genteel anti-Semitism."

Fact: Companies are free to make their own ethical choices, including when it comes to products from settlements that have been established in contravention of international law. There are companies around the world, including in Israel, that make the same choices. The claim that Vita's decision is "genteel anti-Semitism" remains unsubstantiated by the author.

Claim: Norway does not propose academic boycotts against universities in China, Britannia, Turkey, Armenia, India or Morocco, nor does it enact sanctions and divestment programs.

Fact: This is correct. But Norway is not enacting sanctions and divestment programs nor proposing academic boycott against universities in Israel either, so it is not very relevant.

In sum, Mr Sharnoff's claims do not hold.

The Norwegian government has consistently proved itself to be a friend of Israel. We have not always agreed with everything Israel has done. Even the best of friends do not agree on everything. But we have demonstrated our willingness to employ our political and financial means to assist Israel. The kind of name-calling that Mr. Sharnoff resorts to is not conducive to a sensible political exchange. And as shown by the above, his allegations are built on a flimsy foundation.

The writer is the Norwegian ambassador to Israel.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:43 Comments || Top||


Arabia
US Counter Terror Trainers Arrive in Yemen
[Yemen Post] Senior Yemen security officials told Yemen Post that the United States sent counter terror trainers to Yemen this week in an effort to strengthen the Yemeni government's ability to fight al-Qaeda.

He said that this was not the first time US trainers are involved in Yemen and more will be sent throughout the year.

The official said that US is worried that Yemen is not capable of fighting al-Qaeda backed groups and wants to assure that the country's capabilities are higher in standard then were it stands today.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


India-Pakistan
Rallies flay bombing of Khattak's mausoleum
[Dawn] The bombing of the mausoleum of nationalist leader and renowned poet Ajmal Khattak was widely condemned across Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
on Thursday.

In Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, the activists of Awami National Party held a demonstration at Sher Shah Suri Road to protest bombing of the mausoleum of their late leader.

Led by Provincial Minister for Information and Culture Mian Iftikhar Hussain, the protesters termed it a cowardly act. ANP provincial general secretary Arbab Tahir, district president Arbab Najeebullah, Tajuddin Khan and Haroon Bilour also participated in the protest demonstration.

Wearing red caps and black armbands, the protesters rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against terrorists. They said that hard boyz involved in the heinous crime would be placed in long-term storage
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
soon.

They said that bully boyz were attacking shrines of Pakhtun heroes that could not be tolerated.

The under-construction mausoleum of Ajmal Khattak, Pashto poet and two-time central president of ANP, was bombed on Wednesday night and 12 persons were maimed in the incident.

Speaking on the occasion, Mr Hussain said that Ajmal Khattak was a revolutionary poet, who raised voice for humanity and against violence though his poetry. He not only served Pashto language but also rendered sacrifices for the party and peace, he added.

"The hard boyz can't frighten us," the minister said. He added that hard boyz were enemies of the entire Pakhtun nation.

He also condemned killing of Maulana Naseeb Khan, a religious scholar of Darul Uloom Haqqania, who was assassinated few days ago.

However,
Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried...
he alleged that the slain holy man was mediating among terrorist groups for their reconciliation.

The minister said that differences were created among religious political parties over the murder of Maulana Naseeb. They were holding each responsible for his killing, he added.

He said that the liquidation of the holy man would be thoroughly probed and people involved in his killing would be awarded punishment.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Afghanistan
UN: Civilian Deaths In Afghanistan Fall 20 Percent
After five years of rising deaths, civilian casualties in Afghanistan dropped 20 percent in the first four months of the year, the United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
said, a rare piece of good news as foreign combat forces prepare to pull out by the end of 2014.
 
The killing of civilians has soured the feelings of many ordinary Afghans towards foreign forces
Not to mention towards the jihadis...
The Talibs have an advantage. They can always change turbans, go to the mosque and say if necessary, "Wudn't me, it was someone else" and be believed. Whereas we can't do that very well. And that's all the advantage they need in the end.
and has been a constant strain on ties between the Afghan government and its Western backers in the increasingly unpopular war.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [10 views] Top|| File under:

#1  As the Taliban gain in power & influence, I expect they will close the civilian death gap, just as they did between 1996 & 2001.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/12/2012 1:01 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, the only civilians who get killed when the Taliban take over again will be women who dare to go outside and show some skin (i.e., their hands or their eyes), and anyone the Taliban decide isn't pious enough. Just like the old days.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 05/12/2012 12:46 Comments || Top||

#3  No mention however of the bastards dressing up like army guys and shooting our soldiers. and any attempt to do apre-emptive strike is verboten.
either glass the place
or bring our guy and gals home.
Posted by: USN,Ret || 05/12/2012 17:54 Comments || Top||

#4  No reason we can't do both, USN,Ret.

In reverse order, of course.
Posted by: Barbara || 05/12/2012 19:23 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemenis Urge End To Shelling In Sanaa, Trial For Involved Officials
[Yemen Post] Hundreds of thousands of people staged protests in Yemeni cities to call on President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi and the power-sharing government to put an end to the shelling on the districts of Arhab, Nihm and Bani Al-Harith outside the capital Sanaa.

They also demanded the government to return the families, which have been displaced due to the shelling by the Republican Guard, to their areas. Many families were displaced due to the battles between tribal fighters and the Republican Guard in these areas last year.

The people rallied after the prayers on Friday and condemned the aggressions on these areas, which have recently resumed amid the implementation of a power-transfer sponsored by the GCC and the UN.

The revolutionaries, who refuse to leave change and freedom squares since they pitched their tents on the streets in main cities in early 2011, named the day: the Friday of Arhab, Nihm and Bani Jamrmouz....a humanitarian tragedy.

In Street 60th in Sanaa, the people demanded to prosecute those involved in the military operations against these areas in north of Sanaa and called for forming committees to asses the losses of the affected and damages to their houses and properties including farms.

Furthermore, they urged to restructure the armed forces on modern technical, scientific, professional and national bases to eradicate regionalism, which has been deepened by the former regime. They vowed to boycott any national dialogue unless their demands were met.

When the popular uprising escalated in mid-2011, the Republican Guard fought tribes which raided military posts in these areas killing soldiers and taking over some of the posts.

The battles continued sporadically until the power-transfer deal was reached in November ending the 2011 turmoil.

Recently, the attacks on the districts resumed but the reasons were unclear, amid orders by Hadi to reform the army.

So far, Hadi has removed big shots who were very loyal to the former president including his relatives. Some of the dismissed commanders rebelled against the decrees replacing them but they have given up.

The elder son of ex-president, Ahmed Ali Abdullah Saleh, is the commander of the Republican Guard.

Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
US lawmakers want Haqqani declared a terror group
[Dawn] Lawmakers from both US parties are urging Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton
... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another John C. Calhoun ...
to designate the Haqqani network a foreign terrorist organization.
Somebody really hasn't been paying attention.
A letter obtained by The News Agency that Dare Not be Named argues the Pakistain-based beturbanned goon group "continues to launch sensational and indiscriminate attacks against US interests in Afghanistan."

It says the Haqqani network "poses a continuing threat to innocent men, women and kiddies in the region."

The politicians are Sen. Dianne Feinstein and Rep. C.A. "Dutch" Ruppersberger, both Democrats, and Sen. Saxby Chambliss and Rep. Mike Rogers, both Republicans.

The State Department says Clinton is reviewing whether the amorphous group meets the criteria for a terrorist organization. In the meantime, many of its leaders have been individually designated as terrorists.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  I thought they waere already xonsidered aterrorist group!
Posted by: chris || 05/12/2012 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Yeah, well they like checking boxes on and off in that party.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Nothing gets past those folks.
Posted by: gorb || 05/12/2012 20:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, that would be a fast moving railroad locomotive followed closely by numerous flatcars, a dozen boxcars, and at the end is a caboose. We'll stop just short of referring to it as a train however. I'm sure you'll understand.
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 20:21 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Zambia says there is no Somalia ambassador in Zambia
(Sh.M.Network)-A media release from the Zambian Ministry of Foreign Affairs obtained by ZANIS says the Somali Embassy inLusakadoes not have an Ambassador following the demise of Omar Muhamud Umal in August, 2010.

The Statement says the Somali Government is yet to replace the late Umal while Mr. Shirwa Abdullahi Ibrahim is First Counsellor In-Charge of Political Affairs at the Embassy.

The Statement further says the matter at hand is an internal matter pertaining to the Embassy and the Somali community in Zambia.

Zambia was reacting to the incidence where two people were fighting at the Somali embassy each claiming to be the duly accredited envoy
It states that the Government of the Republic of Zambia stands ready to facilitate the resolution of disputes involving any member of the diplomatic Corps.

The statement further refutes allegations that Somalia nationals have access to Government Departments in Zambiaa move that is contrary to the PF government's policy on corruption.

"The Ministry will highly appreciate if any member of the diplomatic community has information on this so that it can be brought to the attention of the Ministry in order to ensure that culprits are brought to book," the statement reads in part.

Zambia was reacting to the incidence where two people were fighting at the Somali embassy each claiming to be the duly accredited envoy to Zambia.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Saudi King Sacks Adviser Critical of Gender Mixing
[An Nahar] King of the Arabians, Sheikh of the Burning Sands Abdullah
... Fifth out of 37 sons of King Abdulaziz to ascend to the throne. He is, after his half-brothers Bandar and Musa'id, the third eldest of the living sons of Abdul Aziz ibn Saud. Abdullah's mother is from the Rashid clan, longtime rivals of the Saud. He has 6 sons and 15 daughters and about $20 billion. His youngest son is just seven years old...
on Friday sacked one of his advisers, an outspoken critic of the sexes mingling outside the home, something banned in the ultra-conservative kingdom.

The state news agency SPA published the decree announcing the dismissal of Sheikh Abdul Mohsen al-Obeikan, an adviser to the royal cabinet, without providing further details.

The move comes several days after Obeikan, speaking on local radio, lashed out at the interaction of men and women in court, accusing the judges of seeking to "Westernize society."

"Women suffer from gender mingling and harassment in the courts," said the sheikh, a former judge, while demanding the segregation of the sexes in court.

"Some influential people have plans to corrupt Mohammedan society by seeking to change the natural status of women," he said, accusing judges he did not name of "wanting to replace justice based on (Islamic) Sharia law with secular laws."

His comments provoked an outcry in the Saudi press, with the daily Al-Jazeera
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS...
newspaper asking in an editorial: "What is the point in having an adviser... who behaves with such recklessness?"
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Umbrella stab victim dies of mercury poisoning
A German man has died after being stabbed in the backside by a stranger wielding a poison umbrella which injected him with mercury, fatally poisoning him.

Police have admitted they have been left at a loss by the attack, which took place nearly a year ago, when the 40-year-old man was attacked by the mysterious stranger in Hannover.

The case mirrors the murder of Bulgarian dissident Georgi Markov who was killed with a poisoned umbrella in London in 1978 at the height of the Cold War.

A post-mortem and toxicological examination being carried out on the German man are expected to point to mercury poisoning as the cause of death, Der Spiegel news magazine said on Friday.

The man was diagnosed with mercury poisoning a few weeks after the attack, and fell into a coma.

He had said he was attacked by a slim stranger who had a sticking plaster on his face.

After months in a coma, the victim had seemed to be improving, a spokeswoman for the state prosecutor said. He had been in a rehabilitation centre, but this Wednesday he suddenly died.

The prosecutor are now searching for the mysterious assailant, investigating a possible charge of grievous bodily harm resulting in death.
Posted by: Chavish Elmegum2631 || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If mercury was the cause, dimethyl mercury was probably the agent used. It's probably the strongest neurotoxin. It has a delayed effect. By the time symptoms are noted, little can be done to reverse them. Getting a few drops on latex gloves worn over the hands skin killed Prof. Karen Wetterhahn. Two of the lab techs who first synthesized dimethyl mercury died within weeks.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 05/12/2012 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Cheka back to it's old tricks?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:40 Comments || Top||

#3  Bear in mind that in the Markov case the poison used was ricin. The only physical evidence was the tiny ball used as the delivery mechanism, otherwise most likely no one would have connected the incident to anyone.
Posted by: ed in texas || 05/12/2012 8:39 Comments || Top||

#4  Pracitce run for a high-value target?
Posted by: USN,Ret || 05/12/2012 9:05 Comments || Top||

#5  Oddly, an Italian nuclear scientist was kneecapped, a Libyan oil minister found floating in the Danube, several Iranian scientists killed, a British UN inspector in Iran in an untimely accident, a British MI5 codebreaker murdered bizarrely, and several years ago an ex-KGB poisoned with radioactive thalium--a flashback to the Cold War by those that fought it?

Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 || 05/12/2012 11:33 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Refuses to Submit Torture Report to U.N.
[An Nahar] Syria's authorities have refused to submit a report on torture in the country to a United Nations
...an idea whose time has gone...
committee scheduled to discuss the situation there next week, its secretary said on Friday.
Golly. What a shock that is, to be sure.
The Committee Against Torture monitors the implementation of the U.N.'s anti-torture convention by state parties and is currently meeting in Geneva.

"There is no assurance that a delegation (from Syria) will come but we have been informed that no report would be submitted," committee secretary Joao Nataf told Agence La Belle France Presse in an email.

He added that the meeting would take place on Wednesday as scheduled.

The Committee Against Torture is holding its 48th session from May 7 to June 1 when it will focus on a number of countries including Canada, Cuba and Syria.

All states party to the convention are required to submit regular reports to the panel of 10 independent experts which then makes recommendations.

In November last year chairman Claudio Grossman wrote to the Syrian authorities highlighting the committee's concern over reports of the spread of torture in the country where a bloody crackdown on protesters was unleashed in March 2011.

Grossman asked Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
to provide a special report stating the measures being taken to ensure its obligations under the Convention Against Torture were being fulfilled.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


India-Pakistan
Two men found shot dead
[Dawn] Two young men who had been missing since Wednesday were found rubbed out in a Korangi No 6 area within the remit of the Awami Colony cop shoppe early on Thursday, police said.

They said some faceless myrmidons brought 24-year-old Samiullah and 26-year-old Mohabat Khan to the Korangi No 6 area near the petrol pump street on three cycle of violences.

They pushed them over the road and opened fire on them and fled, the police said quoting some area residents as saying.

The police said Mohabat got two bullets to the head and Samiullah three bullets to the head and the neck.

The police took the bodies to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

They said that identification of the two victims became possible through a phone number slip which was found with the victim.

When the police called on the number, it turned out to be one of the victims' family's, who were informed about the incident, the police said.

The family rushed to the JPMC, where the victims were identified as Samiullah and Mohabat Khan.

Awami Colony cop shoppe SHO Javed Brohi said that Mohabat was a resident of Manghopir area where he worked in a marble factory on the main Manghopir Road while Samiullah was a resident of Qasba Colony and worked at a towel factory in Korangi.

Both victims were unmarried and hailed from Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.

The exact motive for the double murder remained unclear. The police, however, suspected that it could be part of ethnic violence in the city.

An FIR (156/2012) under Sections 302 (premeditated murder) and 34 (common intention) of the Pakistain Penal Code was registered against faceless myrmidons on a complaint of one of the victims' cousin, Sarwar Khan, at the Awami Colony cop shoppe.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Peru ministers resign over rebel clashes
[Bangla Daily Star] Peru's interior and defence ministers resigned yesterday in the face of a public outcry over a failed security operation against Shining Path rebels.

Interior Minister Daniel Lozada and Defence Minister Alberto Otarola had been facing censure in congress.

Both had been criticised after at least nine soldiers and coppers were killed in festivities with the rebels.

There was particular outrage after the father of one dead officer was left to recover his body from the jungle.

"Recent events have led me to take this decision so that our government and the people can unite behind our security forces, to give them the support they need to defeat narco-terrorism" Mr Otarola said.

The festivities happened last month in the Apurimac-Ene valley in southern Peru, a stronghold of the Maoist Shining Path group.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: Commies


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Two Servicemen Killed, Seven Wounded in Caucasus
[An Nahar] Two Russian soldiers died in a shootout with Death Eaters in the Caucasus region of Dagestan
...a normally inoffensive Caucasus republic currently bedevilled by low-level Islamic insurgency, occasional outbreaks of separatism, ethnic tensions and terrorism, primarily due to its proximity to Chechnya. There are several dozen ethnic groups, most of which speak either Caucasian, Turkic, or Iranian languages. Largest among these ethnic groups are the Avar, Dargin, Kumyk, Lezgin, and Laks. While Russers form less than five percent of the population, Russian remains the primary official language and the lingua franca..
where violence shows no sign of easing, police said Friday.

The shootout, which also left four servicemen and three coppers maimed, took place just outside the village of Tsetkovka in the Caspian Sea region on Thursday, regional police said.

"As a result of the fighting, two servicemen died of gunshot wounds," police said in a statement. Two servicemen and three coppers were hospitalized in the Dagestani town of Kizlyar, while another two servicemen were hospitalized in Grozny in next-door Chechnya.

Citing preliminary information, a front man for Dagestani interior ministry told Agence La Belle France Presse that one of the Death Eaters had been killed in the shootout. He declined to elaborate.

Dagestan experiences almost daily shootings and bombings that officials blame on small-time Mister Bigs and Islamists with links to Chechnya, where the Kremlin fought two wars over the past 20 years.

Fuelled by endemic poverty and corruption, the Death Eaters are seeking to establish an independent Islamic state across the northern Caucasus.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Islamic Emirate of Caucasus


Caribbean-Latin America
6 die in shootout in Durango state

For a map, click here. For a map of Durango state, click here.

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of six unidentified armed suspects were killed in far western Durango state Friday according to Mexican news accounts.

In a Friday evening post on the website of El Siglo de Durango news daily, it was reported that six individuals were found dead in Pueblo Nuevo municipality in what is described as the aftermath of a shootout between rival drug gangs.

The shootout took place near the village of La Hierbabuena, which is on the Durango state border with Sinaloa state, roughly 25 kilometers west of El Rosario, Sinaloa.

According to the report, local officials have been to the area and have recovered the dead, but so far only one individual, Jesus Peinado, has been identified.

Army units with the Mexican III Military Region are said to be in the area.

Pueblo Nuevo was the location last year where nine unidentified individuals died in an intergang shootout. At the time, officials found two burned out vehicles and three men dressed in military uniforms, but no weapons, fuelling speculation that one side of the gunfight included members of Los Zetas.

Pueblo Nuevo is astride Mexico Federal Highway 40, which links the Sinaloa port city of Mazatlan with Durango, the capital of Durango state. That particular stretch of highway has recently been expanded to four lanes in a Mexican federal government effort to improve road nets between the west and east coasts.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:


Europe
Wave Of Violence In Germany Over Party's Use Of Anti-Muslim Cartoons
GERMANY is beginning to regret its decision to allow a far-right political party to display anti-Moslem cartoons near mosques as part of an electioneering campaign.

Spikes in violence at recent gatherings -- including a major riot on Saturday that left two coppers seriously injured with stab wounds -- have triggered fears of more bloodshed.

Courts in Germany took the view that cartoon images of the Prophet Mohammed and Allah -- both outlawed under Islam -- were acceptable in a country where freedom of expression is enshrined in the constitution. But with resistance growing to the tactics of the radical Pro NRW party, Germany is looking to defuse tensions.

More than 100 people were tossed in the calaboose
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
at the protest in Bonn on Saturday where the coppers were stabbed in the legs; a further 27 officers were maimed. One man has been charged with trying to incite the deaths of three coppers among the crowd of 600 Salafist Moslem demonstrators outside the King Fahd Academy in Bonn.

The far-right Pro NRW party has said it intends to send activists to 25 mosques in the run-up to the state election in North Rhine-Westphalia on 13 May, staging protests in Cologne, Bonn, Düsseldorf, Aachen, Wuppertal and Solingen.

Last week, a state court lifted a prior ban on the group using Mohammed caricatures in its election campaign, despite criticism that the images were purely being used for provocation. Also last week, 81 people were tossed in the calaboose
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
in Solingen after violence broke out during a protest of Salafist Moslems against Pro NRW. The group had set up a stand showing cartoons of Mohammed outside a mosque.

German interior minister Hans-Peter Friedrich of the Christian Socialist Union (CSU), said he had been in touch with state officials in the past week, hoping to find a way to defuse the situation. He put the blame for the violence firmly on the shoulders of the Moslems.

"Salafism's fanatical members represent a special danger to German security," he said this week. "The Salafists
...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them...
deliver the ideological basis for many who then become violent."

Critics say the violence would never had happened if Germany had treated the cartoons they brandish the way it treats Nazi symbols -- with a blanket ban.

North Rhine-Westphalia interior minister Ralf Jäger said he recognised the hatreds stirred up by the Pro NRW supporters, calling their cartoon campaign "targeted provocation".

Pro NRW, which has 250 members, has said it is also planning to award a cash prize for the "best" anti-Islamic caricature. Party campaign manager Lars Seidensticker says he did not understand the outrage, and says his party would bear no responsibility for any violence.

"If the situation is so tense that you can't do a campaign like this against Islamist influences any more, then the politicians are responsible for doing away with Germany," he said, alluding to a 2010 book by banker Thilo Sarrazin called Germany Does Away with Itself, which criticised Islamic immigrants in Germany.

He added: "Mosques are potential centres of a new civil war that we have to prevent. That's why we have to pull out the Islamist evil by its roots."
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ahh, those cartoons can be vicious, don't ja know?
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 1:31 Comments || Top||

#2  "Freedom of speech go Hell! Death to the Juice!"
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 4:35 Comments || Top||

#3  So...

The cartoons must go, but not the violence prone criminals and their recruiting centre...

This must make sense to the left somehow...
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 8:27 Comments || Top||

#4  crowd of 600 Salafist Moslem demonstrators outside the King Fahd Academy in Bonn.

there's 600 deportees to kick off the public dole. Ship em back to Islamo-hell
Posted by: Frank G || 05/12/2012 9:27 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Army battles mutineers in eastern DR Congo
[Bangla Daily Star] The army in Democratic Republic of Congo was engaged yesterday in heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or desultory fighting...
in Nord-Kivu province with mutineers who have formed a new rebel force, the rebels and a government official said.

"The festivities are going on at Bunagana. We are six kilometres (four miles) from the town of Bunagana," a mutineer who was formerly a member of the rebel National Congress for the Defence of the People (CNDP) told AFP.

The fighting broke out on Thursday night close to the eastern border with Rwanda and Uganda.

"The situation is bad. The mutineers are close to Bunagana town. Residents who spent the night in Bunagana left this morning for Uganda," said an agent of the government's intelligence service based in the town.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
2 More Palestinians Carrying Explosives Arrested Near Tapuch Junction
Two Paleostinians were placed in long-term storage
Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'!
near Tapuch Junction after they wee found in possession of two bombs and Molotov cocktails.
Fifth such arrest in about a week -- the very definition of unimaginative insanity
.Border Guard sappers defused the explosives safely. The men were turned over to security forces for further interrogation.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The question is how much has gone through
Posted by: BernardZ || 05/12/2012 5:18 Comments || Top||

#2  If any would gone through, you'd hear it.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 9:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Why not just say there was an accident and blow them up?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 05/12/2012 16:29 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Muslims In Houston Post-9/11: Policing Their Own
Rather than accept the teachings of their imam in public and quietly disagree, as is traditional, several young Mohammedans complained. Others switched mosques. Last Ramadan, there was talk of a petition against 57-year-old Imam Inshanally. The reaction, experts say, mirrors a trend across the country where young Mohammedans increasingly are speaking out against perceived blots in their community.

"People are allowed to have unusual beliefs," Gilani said. "But when he speaks for Houston Mohammedans, saying the government and non-Mohammedans are doing things they're clearly not, we would hate for people to think that's what the normal Houston Mohammedan thinks."

Forty percent of suspected foiled domestic terror plots since 9/11 were brought to the attention of authorities by Mohammedans, according to a February study by The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina.
Growing up in the shadow of 9/11, with the hate crimes and stereotypes that followed, young Mohammedans in particular are intensely aware of how their faith is regarded by outsiders and feel a need to self-police their own community, experts say.

"They went from being this hidden minority group to being a group where their every movement was scrutinized," said Lori Peek, a sociologist at Colorado State University and author of "Behind the Backlash: Mohammedan Americans after 9/11." In her study of young Mohammedans, Peek found many recoiled at first, keeping a low profile. Some even rejected their faith.

But then increasingly, they galvanized, she said, seeking to reclaim Islam's image in America, correct misconceptions about their faith and root out bad apples in their community. Forty percent of suspected foiled domestic terror plots since 9/11 were brought to the attention of authorities by Mohammedans, according to a February study by The Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security in North Carolina.

Peek said young Mohammedans are saying, "If people are going to be policing our actions, we have to turn inwards and police our own community. It's the only way we can ever fight back against these stereotypes.'"
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Inshanally's problem are the following: (1) he isn't anti-American enough and (2) he's allegedly entrapping would-be jihadis. Young Muslims are looking for someone a little more conventionally moderate, i.e. someone who gets funding and recruits candidates for terrorist attacks.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 05/12/2012 1:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Policing the actions which lead to "sterotypes" can also accomplishes other, more clandestine outcomes such as "grey men."

I conducted a very cursary look at the website of the "Triangle Center on Terrorism and Homeland Security." Not surprisingly, in it I detected what appear to be the typical social leanings and approaches dogma of the left. While one professor's publications and curriculum vitae do not constitute an accurate sampling, the link below may be instructional. Found therein: >[.B.W. Jentleson and Steven Weber. The End of Arrogance: America in the Global Competition of Ideas. Harvard University Press, 2010.]

Klik
Posted by: Besoeker || 05/12/2012 3:27 Comments || Top||

#3  The Guyana native, who has been in Houston since 1999, has previously faced backlash at mosques in New York and Cedar Rapids, Iowa. Siddiqi said Inshanally is unfairly targeted because of his aggressive preaching style, insisting, "He's the most qualified person for the job."

Policing their own or defending their own? He still has his job after 13 years...
Posted by: Omoluque Hapsburg8162 || 05/12/2012 10:39 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
JI slams govt for inefficiency
[Dawn] Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
amir Syed Munawar Hassan
... The funny-looking Amir of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He joined the National Students Federation (NSF), a lefty student body, and was elected its President in 1959. He came into contact with the Islami Jamiat-e-Talaba (IJT) Pakistan and studied the writings of Mawlana Syed Abul Ala Maududi, The Great Apostasizer. As a result, he joined IJT in 1960 and soon he was elected as President of its University of Karachi Unit and member of the Central Executive Council. He was Assistant Secretary General of Jamaat-e-Islami Pakistain in 1992-93, and became Secretary General in 1993. After years of holding Qazi's camel he was named Amir when the old man stepped down in 2009...
has said that the government has done nothing to reduce electricity shortfall during its last four-year rule and his party would soon launch a countrywide protest against loadshedding.

He was talking to media persons after offering condolences in a meeting with the family of a local JI leader here on Thursday. He said that the country had been facing problems in every sector of life due to bad governance of the rulers. Mr Hassan said that his party wanted the institutions to be strengthened so that the country could be put on path of progress.

Answering a question, he said that it seemed that the rulers had decided to restore NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
supply via Torkham. "We have made it clear that the NATO supply would not be allowed at any cost because the US has been indulging in violation of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty," he said.

The JI amir reiterated that after his conviction Primer Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani
... Pakistain's erstwhile current prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics can be awe-inspiring ...
should step down, as he was morally bound to do so. Any delay in this regard is unacceptable, he added. He said that the PPP-led government had not only failed to implement the apex court verdict, but they also violated the principles and norms of governance. He said that the JI had been working for the supremacy of judiciary.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Embarrassment and patriotism
Around 7:45 in the morning on 2nd May 2011, two consecutive calls on my cellphone pulled me out of bed. 'Osama has been found and killed in Abbottabad
... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden....
,' said the caller, my younger brother. This electrifying revelation worked more than what the early morning coffee does to you. A strong sense of disbelief, shock and shame overtook me.

A year later, early morning on May 3, I found an absorbing account of a visit to Osama's compound in Abbottabad in my email. An old friend Peter Bergen, author and terrorism expert, had managed to get access in February this year, and thus came back with a riveting account of the compound.

May 2 was the most shameful day for Paks; it exposed the many lies they had been told
The news of his elimination reminded me of an observation Amrullah Saleh, the former chief of Afghan intelligence - National Directorate of Services (NDS) - had made at a conference organized by the Jamestown Foundation in Washington on 13 December 2010, had

'Unless all these boys [OBL, Mullah Omar
... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality...
, Hekmetyar] are pulled out of the basements of their hideouts in Pakistain, there will be no peace in Afghanistan, nor will the violence come down,' Saleh had thundered in a gathering of almost 350 people at the National Press Club, where I was also to read a paper on the troubles in the border regions.

Saleh repeated those words immediately after the Operation Neptune Spear - mounted to take out Bin Laden - and exuded a certain sense of vindication in several interviews he gave in days after Osama's elimination. And rightly so.

Although skeptical Paks and officials, particularly those from the security apparatus, dismissed certain details of the Washington narrative on the raid, yet his wives admitted before the Abbottabad Commission, that Osama was indeed present in the compound when the US SEALs hit. They had been living there since late 2005. The commission even reconstructed a video that the Americans claimed had been recovered from the Bin Laden house. The film, released a few days after the incident, depicts Bin Laden sitting in a small cabin-sized shabby room in front of a small, possibly 21-inch old-fashioned TV and playing with the video remote control. The widows' deposition before the Commission essentially gave a lie to all the skeptics who - still mired in a state of denial - refused to believe that OBL was present at the time of the raid.

May 2 indeed was the most shameful day for Paks; it exposed the many lies they had been fed and living with.And it was in this context that the American ambassador to Pakistain, Cameron Munter, took on the skeptics by posing counter-questions to news hounds at a press stakeout 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...
on 9 May 2011: 'We need to know what was he doing all these years in Pakistain', Munter asked, echoing the suspicions running deep in Washington since the killing of Bin Laden. Most outsiders, including US politicians in the Congress, began questioning the possible motives of the ISI and other Pak security institutions: Had they been protecting Bin Laden, the most wanted terrorist since he disappeared in December 2001 from the Tora Bora cave complex in Afghanistan?

The wives practically demolished all the conspiracy theories and questions surrounding the debate over Osama's life at the compound. He was there indeed and went cold within seconds after a SEAL pierced his head and chest with two bullets through the silencer-armed rifle. He was almost instantly dead because of the fatal gunshot in the head.

What an unbelievable end to the man who challenged the sole superpower and was solely responsible for sucking the USA into the history's longest conflict, being fought in the largely mountainous and socially tribal Afghanistan that refuses to transition into a democratic and pluralistic society. Much of it we owe to the legacy that Osama has left behind in the region. Some of the supporters of Osama's ideology continue to be a source of external pressure, embarrassment and diplomatic isolation of Pakistain.

Ironically, rejection and denial followed foreign secretary Hillary Clinton
... sometimes described as The Liberatress of Libya and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another George C. Marshall ...
's May 7 remarks in New Delhi about Dr 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...
's perceived presence in Pakistain. Hina Rabbani Khar, the foreign minister, demanded "actionable proof" if the US had it. But viewed against the abysmally low trust in Pakistain's security establishment, why will the American establishment risk failure by sharing information about the new most wanted terrorist? No amount of denial will fend off external pressures. Only demonstrable actions can help, at least restraining the anti-US and anti-India rhetoric. There is no way around this at all, unless those in power are bent upon piling more misery and isolation on the people of Pakistain.

Why are we upset over Zawahiri's alleged presence somewhere in Pakistain? After all, beside the late Osama bin Laden
... who was laid out deader than a mackerel, right next to the mackerel...
, Abu Zubaida, Khalid Sheikh Mohammad, Aimal Kansi, Adil Al Jazeeri, Ramzi bin al Shibh, Abu Faraj al Libi, Ilyas Kashmire, Abu Yazid, Tahir Yuldashev inter alia were all discovered either in the tribal areas or in big cities such as Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Bloody Karachi, and Abbottabad.
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [11 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Well, if the democrats of their day LAST TIME did their duty, you would have known all about him and everywhere he was. Some people just do not have the memory. Ollie North does.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 1:34 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Gunmen gun down two Puntland officials in Bosaso town
(Sh. M. Network)- Unidentified gunnies have shot and killed on Thursday evening two officials in Puntland
...a region in northeastern Somalia, centered on Garowe in the Nugaal province. Its leaders declared the territory an autonomous state in 1998. Puntland and the equally autonomous Somaliland seem to have avoided the clan rivalries and warlordism that have typified the rest of Somalia, which puts both places high on the list for Islamic subversion...
administration in side Bosaso town, the commercial and coastal city of northern Somalia, witnesses reported.

Reports coming out from the town said that Major Hassan and Ali Bibi he assassinated officials were said to have been rubbed out by masked men armed with pistols. Both officials have been serving for Puntland army.

The attackers who were behind the liquidation of the two soldiers have beat feet from the scene of the crime immediately after the shooting.

Puntland security forces started operations overnight that lasted since on Friday morning, according to locals who spoke with Shabelle Media Network station in Mogadishu by phone. No arrests were so far reported.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Europe
The war on Israel, Irish-style
Special report: Irish journalist slams silence of politicians in face of 'group anti-Semitism' mindset; says that in Ireland either one obeys anti-Israel orders of left-wing mind-thugs, or one is lynched

The most serious event of the past week wasn't related to Prime Time's libel of Father Kevin Reynolds, and it wasn't what Cardinal Sean Brady did or didn't do nearly 40 years ago. Far more serious than either for the health of this Republic -- though connected to both by a sanctimonious tissue of lethal intolerance -- was the intimidation of the band Dervish into cancelling a tour of Israel.
 
Dervish's website was hit by venomous abuse from anti-Israeli activists, on the instructions of the Irish Paleostinian Solidarity Group. Every bit as sinister as this has been the silence from politicians and "civil liberties groups": the exception, of course, being Alan Shatter, who is Jewish. It was as if the intellectual thugs of the IPSG were trying to vindicate my recent suggestion that the largest threat to personal freedom these days comes not from government, but from single-interest pressure groups.
 
Tactics and techniques that would be called fascist by liberals if used against them were at the heart of the campaign against Dervish. For in the left-liberal culture, certain subjects are beyond the usual courtesies of a tolerant civilization, and instead may be subjected to outright bigotry and bullying. The legitimate targets for this salon-terrorism are the Catholic Church, American Republicans, and of course Israel.
 
So Prime Time's libeling of Father Kevin Reynolds was not just a bizarre departure from some cultural norm, but actually was its very quintessence. In other words, when a black African woman and an Irish Catholic priest contradict one another, it is axiomatic that the white man must be lying. Indeed, the prevailing dogma rules that the opposite is quite simply impossible. With that contaminated mind-set at the helm, no wonder RTE sailed right into the iceberg upon a sunlit noon.
 
And one can go absolutely nowhere with this culture. It permits no conversation, no exchange of ideas and no freedom of speech. One complies, or one is lynched: take your pick. It is the liberal version of Sharia law: one obeys the instructions of the secular mullahs, and one hopes to have a peaceful life. But if you think peace results from the triumph of intolerance, just wait for the 4 am knock on your door -- because sooner or later, the mind-thugs will be coming for you too.
 
And consider the deeper historical continuity within which the Boycott Israel campaign stands. This is the state whose Taoiseach went to offer his condolences on the tragic death of Herr Hitler just weeks after allied troops had liberated Buchenwald, Belsen and Dachau. This was the state that became a safe haven for Nazi war-criminals in the 1950s. This was the state where the Mayor of Limerick in 1970 praised the anti-Jewish boycott in the city in 1903, and far being expelled from the Labour Party, was re-elected TD for the party.
 
This was the last state in the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
to exchange full diplomatic relations with Israel. This is the state which recently tolerated the day-long enactment of mock-executions of "Paleostinians" by "Israelis" on its main shopping thoroughfare. No, there might not be any personal anti-Semitism in this Republic: but group anti-Semitism seems to have a secure place in the Irish psyche. And the handful of stupid Jews who are backing the Boycott Israel campaign clearly have absolutely no idea of the underlying (and no doubt subconscious) emotions beneath this Israelophobia.
 
For only such a truly deranged pathogen could single out Israel for a boycott, while in every other state in the region, there are mass violations of civil rights by government-authorized murder-gangs. In Egypt, Islamic mobs have killed hundreds of Christians, devastating Coptic communities whose roots predate the arrival of Islam. Before the catastrophic Anglo-French destruction of the Ottoman Empire, the largest single ethno-religious group in Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
were the Jews: and next came the Christians, who between them outnumbered the Sunnis, Shias and Kurds together.
 
Today, all non-Moslem ethnic groups are facing utter extinction in Iraq. The Jews are gone, and the few remaining Christians are clinging on by their eyelids. Across the Arab world, fundamentalism is triumphant, as "honor-killings" -- that truly moronic oxymoron - achieve a lawful status in Egypt and Jordan, as they soon will -- make no mistake - in Libya and Syria. Women caught in "adultery" -- even when raped - and homosexuals may legitimately be killed by self-appointed executioners.
 
The one country in the Middle East that does not recognize the deranged and barbaric precepts of Sharia law is Israel. Yet this is the one and only state in the region that the Irish Left not merely wishes to stigmatize, but they want to terrorize the rest of us into stigmatizing also. And to judge from the abject silence of our politicians, they seem to be succeeding admirably.

This story was originally published by the Irish Independent
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


-Election 2012
State Probes Possible Voting By Foreigners In Florida
Thousands of foreign citizens -- particularly in South Florida -- might be registered to vote in Florida and could have unlawfully cast ballots in previous elections.

The potential problem is largest in Florida's largest county: Miami-Dade, where the elections supervisor is examining 2,000 potentially unlawful voters, WFOR-CBS 4 News reported Tuesday. Broward is examining 260 suspected foreign voters. One suspected noncitizen voter has been registered for about 40 years, CBS 4 found.

Over the past year, the Florida Division of Elections has begun identifying potential foreigners on the rolls in coordination with the Department of Highway Safety and Motor Vehicles, Division of Elections front man Chris Cate told The Miami Herald. He said the state has forwarded the names to county elections supervisors, who are in charge of the rolls.

"There will be more names," Cate said.

The discovery of potentially unlawful voters is sure to fuel the partisan debate over voter fraud and voting rights. With 1.2 million registered voters in Miami-Dade, 2,000 potentially ineligible voters might not seem like a big number. However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
it is more than enough to swing a close election in a state like Florida, where the 2000 presidential election was decided in favor of George W. Bush by 537 votes.

It is unclear how many -- if any -- foreign citizens cast ballots or when, CBS 4 reported. Elections supervisors in all Florida counties are contacting these voters and asking them to prove their citizenship within 30 days.

"If we find out after the fact that you are actually a noncitizen, and you are registered to vote, then we would report you to the State Attorney's Office," said Christina White, Miami-Dade's deputy supervisor of elections, according to CBS 4.

With few exceptions, only U.S. citizens who are lawful Florida residents without felony records are eligible to vote in the state. A voter who unlawfully casts a ballot could be charged with voter fraud, a third-degree felony, punishable by a maximum five-year prison sentence and $5,000 fine.
Getting them off the voter roles will be a major accomplishment. Waiting for cries of "Racism!!" in 5 .. 4 .. 3 ..
Posted by: trailing wife || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  At least they were not dead democrats, they were just fraudulent? Wait, do I have that right? They are fraudulent democrats that are alive.

A democrat that perpetrates fraud in democracy. Go figure.
Posted by: newc || 05/12/2012 1:21 Comments || Top||

#2  At least they're not "white Hispanics".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 05/12/2012 5:07 Comments || Top||

#3  Don't assume they are all Dems. Might be Cubans voting R.
Posted by: lotp || 05/12/2012 9:33 Comments || Top||

#4  If the office of "Secretary of State" of your state is held by a Democrat, you can be pretty sure there is voter fraud going on. The Democrats have a program called The Secretary of State Project designed to get Democrats elected to that office in states across the union in order to facilitate such fraud.
Posted by: crosspatch || 05/12/2012 11:55 Comments || Top||

#5  What would happen if you deleted the voter rolls and had everyone re-apply. Give Em e couple years before the election, demand certain safeguards, such as witnesses or a photo taken and face matching to Prevent multiple submissions.
Posted by: Rjschwarz || 05/12/2012 12:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Just ask Ozzie Guillan. They don't all vote d, some remember the olde days.

Nice blame Bush entry.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 05/12/2012 13:59 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Tens of Thousands of Protesters Defy Syrian Regime Gunfire, 13 Dead
[An Nahar] Syrian forces killed at least 13 people as tens of thousands of protesters defied regime gunfire and erupted into the streets on Friday, a day after twin bombings killed dozens of people in Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
, a monitoring group and activists reported.

Four people were killed in the central province of Hama, two in the northeastern province of al-Hasakeh, two in the southern province of Daraa, one in the central province of Homs and one in the northern province of 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...

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said

For its part, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said troops shot and maimed five protesters in the capital and 20 in the Hama town of Helfaya, where two civilians also died, and they killed one demonstrator in the northern city of Aleppo.

Aleppo-based activist Mohammed al-Halabi said the protester died from his wounds after regime forces opened fire in the Salaheddine neighborhood.

For its part, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said troops killed a would-be jacket wallah in the city.

"The Syrian authorities have foiled an attempted suicide kaboom in al-Shaar area in Aleppo, and killed the would-be attacker," the channel added, saying the attacker's car was laden with 1,200 kilos (2,640 pounds) of explosives.

Halabi said "thousands of people are protesting in spite of gunfire. They are condemning the criminality of yesterday's bombing."

They also condemned 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...
for failing to stop the violence in Syria, calling for "immediate international military intervention," Halabi said.

The crackdown took place a day after Thursday's kabooms struck the capital during the morning rush hour.

They were the deadliest in 14 months of unrest, killing 55 people and wounding nearly 400, to a chorus of international condemnation.

The United Nations called on both sides in the conflict to cooperate with a month-old ceasefire as Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
's regime and the opposition traded accusations over the perpetrators of the Damascus carnage.

Elsewhere in the country, five civilians were maimed when regime troops opened fire in the Tadamon neighborhood" of Damascus to quell protests, said the Britannia-based Observatory.

Thousands of people took part in anti-regime demonstrations across Syria after the weekly Moslem prayers, with the Observatory singling out Idlib province in the northwest, Hama in the center and the eastern province of Deir Ezzor.

Thursday's bombings have raised fears that thug elements could be taking advantage of the deadlock in Syria to stoke the unrest.

World powers condemned the attacks that targeted a military intelligence building and urged both sides to the conflict to adhere to the ceasefire brokered by 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...
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...

The Security Council urged the regime and rebels to "immediately and comprehensively" implement Annan's six-point peace plan, "in particular to cease all armed violence".

U.N. leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
, who warned earlier this week of possible civil war if Annan's plan failed, also renewed a call for all sides to cease violence and "to distance themselves from indiscriminate bombings and other terrorist acts."

Syria's U.N. envoy, meanwhile, said Britons, French and Belgians were among imported muscle killed in the country's escalating conflict and that there was al-Qaeda involvement.

In northwest Idlib, a flashpoint of unrest, protesters held up slogans reading: "When are you going to understand? There is no al-Qaeda here," according to amateur videos posted by activists on YouTube.

Ambassador Bashar Jaafari told the Security Council 12 imported muscle had been killed and 26 nabbed
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
in recent festivities with Syrian forces, "including one French citizen, one British citizen, one Belgian citizen."

A list of the 26 nabbed
Drop the rosco and step away witcher hands up!
had been sent to Ban and the Security Council.

Syria's main regional ally Iran accused Western powers of orchestrating Thursday's bombings, with First Vice President Mohammad Reza Rahimi saying the attacks were aimed at halting reforms in the country.

"The terrorist acts were guided by (global) arrogance and the enemies of free nations," Rahimi said, quoted by state news agency IRNA, using the Islamic Theocratic Republic's term for Western powers.

Assad's regime and the opposition traded accusations over the attacks.

The government blamed foreign-backed "terrorists," while the main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, said authorities were resorting to "terrorism" to bury the Annan plan.

Middle East expert Joshua Landis wrote on his blog that, given that law and order was breaking down in Syria, "we should expect the spread of radical groups."

"The Syrian state, being one of the most intrusive and repressive in the Middle East, was able to thwart radical groups," he wrote. "As its capabilities decline, so will its ability to keep such groups from penetrating Syrian society."

The uprising in Syria began as a peaceful popular revolt but has turned into an insurgency amid mounting calls to arm rebels seeking to overthrow Assad.

More than 12,000 people, the majority of them civilians, have died since the uprising began, according to the Observatory, including more than 900 killed since the April 12 truce went into effect.

Neeraj Singh, front man for the U.N. observer mission overseeing the putative truce, said 105 monitors had so far arrived in Syria out of an expected total of 300, and had been deployed in flashpoints including central Homs and Idlib.

"Where we have our military observers on the ground, they have had a calming effect on the situation," Singh said. "At the same time, we have seen a worrying trend of improvised bombs being used."

In other developments, the European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
is set to slap new sanctions on Syria, imposing an assets freeze and visa ban on two firms and three people, EU diplomats said in Brussels.
Posted by: Fred || 05/12/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [12 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria



Who's in the News
47[untagged]
5Govt of Pakistan
2Govt of Syria
2al-Qaeda in Arabia
2al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Islamic Emirate of Caucasus
1Jamaat-e-Islami
1Narcos
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Shabaab
1Arab Spring
1Boko Haram
1Commies

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

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

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2012-05-12
  Tens of Thousands of Protesters Defy Syrian Regime Gunfire, 13 Dead
Fri 2012-05-11
  Somali Gov't, Al shabab claim victory over Bay,Bakol fighting
Thu 2012-05-10
  Damascus bombings kill 40, wound 170: state TV
Wed 2012-05-09
  Annan Fears 'Civil War' Looming in Syria
Tue 2012-05-08
  Al-Qaeda underwear bomb plot was targeted by US drone
Mon 2012-05-07
  Nine soldiers killed, military convoy attacked in N Wazoo
Sun 2012-05-06
  Man wanted in USS Cole bombing killed in Yemen: tribal chief
Sat 2012-05-05
  Pro-Regime Gunmen Kill 12 'Qaida' Militants in Yemen
Fri 2012-05-04
  Bajaur teenyboomer kills 24
Thu 2012-05-03
  Afghanistan: Pakistani driving truck bomb arrested
Wed 2012-05-02
  Suicide bomb blast hits hotel in Somalia, two MPs believed dead
Tue 2012-05-01
  'Egyptians thwart Iranian plot to kill Saudi envoy'
Mon 2012-04-30
  US drone 'kills three militants' in Miramshah
Sun 2012-04-29
  Syria Troops Kill 10 Rebels in Damascus Region
Sat 2012-04-28
   21 Taliban Insurgents Killed in Clashes

Better than the average link...



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