#4
Maybe you are confusing LS, with Solyndra, Ener1, Beacon Power Corp, EnerDel, SpectraWatt, or any of the other N failed or failing green crony capital bets this admin has placed. Yeah, it's hard to keep track of them all.
#6
You might be correct phil_b but the result is the same. Devastation of the existing gps system, including military and aviation systems. And billions of dollars down the tubes.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/14/2012 20:21
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#8
Barbara, they don't just dream of that
Posted by: European Conservative ||
05/14/2012 20:34
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#9
Too true, EC. :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/14/2012 21:03
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#10
phil_b: It does interfere. No GPS receiver filter can be sharp enough that the front end of the GPS receiver doesn't get overloaded by adjacent strong signals. The LS spectrum was reserved for low power satellite signals and LS wanted to use many more and far more powerful transmitters in that spectrum.
Falcone forgot that you can't legislate the laws of physics.
Posted by: Aussie Mike ||
05/14/2012 23:30
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Egyptian security forces seized four vehicles transporting unlicensed fuel in the northern Sinai over the weekend. Security officials said the vehicles were carrying 1,640 liters of fuel in 82 tanks for sale on the black market. A driver was detained for investigation, they added.
Last week, security forces confiscated a truck in the Sinai carrying 10 thousand liters of fuel headed to tunnels under the border with Gaza Strip.
Egypt moved in February to shut down fuel deliveries to Gaza via the tunnel smuggling network developed by Hamas - sparking a fuel shortage that caused widespread blackouts. Hamas had long been using the tunnels - used to bring arms and other goods into Gaza - as a means of raising customs revenues on all goods entering the strip.
I could stop it -- just drop a match into the tunnels at the right time. I'd be standing at a distance, mind you...
While fuel is allowed into Gaza via Israel's Kerem Shalom crossing, Hamas eschewed such transfers as "prohibitively expensive" despite Israel selling fuel to the enclave at at market rates.
Observers note that tax-revenues from goods that pass through the Kerem Shalom crossing are paid to the Palestinian Authority in Ramallah rather than Hamas.
A recent deal between Cairo and Ramallah to build a fuel pipeline into Gaza and upgrade the coastal enclave's sole power plant has also infuriated Hamas. Under the agreement, tariffs generated by the deal will be paid to the Fatah-run PA in Ramallah rather than the Hamas administration in Gaza.
Lebanon's Hezbollah may not want a new war with Israel but an order to attack would come from Tehran in the event of a strike on Iran, a senior military official in Israel's northern command told AFP.
And if the regime of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad collapses, the resulting unrest could see Al-Qaeda type groups create chaos on the Syrian Golan Heights, he said in an interview conducted on Sunday, speaking on condition of anonymity.
Any military strike on Iran's nuclear facilities would likely spark a deadly response from its ally Hezbollah, whose leader Hassan Nasrallah warned on Friday that its missiles could strike anywhere inside the Jewish state.
But senior military officials do not believe Nasrallah wants another war with Israel and would only attack as a direct result of orders from Tehran.
"The biggest spending of Iran in 30 years has been on the nuclear programme, and Hezbollah is the second," the Israeli official told AFP, adding that Tehran's aim was to create "Iranian footprints near the border with Israel."
"If something would happen in Iran, it's a tool that they can use in all kinds of scenarios," he said.
"They (Iran) have so many high-ranking officials in Lebanon. I don't think this is a decision of Nasrallah -- he will get orders. That's why he was created," said the official.
"If you ask Nasrallah today, he would say 'no' (to a new war with Israel) but I don't think that's his call," he said. "Nasrallah understood the power of Israel and he is still licking his wounds."
He said other scenarios which could spark a new conflict between Israel and Hezbollah include an attack on Israelis abroad or the transfer to Hezbollah of chemical weapons from Syria, which is in the throes of a brutal crackdown on anti-regime protests.
In an operation staged by Turkish SAT commandos, 14 Somali pirates were rendered ineffective and seven Yemeni mariners saved.
According to an announcement released on the General Staff website, the operation staged by SAT commandos led by Rear Admiral Sinan Azmi Tosun assigned to the TCG Giresun Frigate in connection with NATO, is currently ongoing in the Gulf of Aden and surrounding regions against pirating.
The announcement went on to state that on Friday May 11th, S-70B Sea Hawk helicopter, positioned on the TCG Giresun Frigate, detected a pirate ship located 190 sea miles into the Oman shore which was preparing to stage attacks on commercial ships. According to the announcement, the ship was stopped following warnings and upon orders by the NATO Permanent Sea Task Force Group- 2 commanders staged an operation on the ship holding seven Yemeni ship crew and 14 Somali pirates. During the operation a significant number of weapons and ammunition was confiscated. The announcement went on to state that the TCG Giresun will continue efforts to prevent pirates and to ensure that commercial ships are able to travel safely through the Gulf of Aden and neighboring regions.
#1
Seems as if anybody looking for a little live-fire manuver action can take a week or so working on Somali pirates.
Presuming your national command authority doesn't like pirates, I mean.
Time to privatize the effort. Sell tickets. Discounts to those who bring their own weapons.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/14/2012 17:16
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President Obama has wound down America's war in Iraq, ordered the operation that killed Osama bin Laden and set in motion the end of U.S. combat operations in Afghanistan. All by himself!
He also has focused particular attention on veterans and military families, increasing funds for the Department of Veterans Affairs, implementing the post-Sept. 11 G.I. Bill and launching job programs for returning troops.
As he gears up his reelection effort, Obama is trying to use that record, and especially his emphasis on the home front, to win the political support of veterans and military families in a handful of important swing states.
Republicans have long defined themselves in part on their hawkish stance on national security issues and their popularity among the military and veterans. But the makeup of the nation's armed forces is changing, and Obama hopes to win over veterans by appealing to the same subgroups that propelled him to victory in 2008: women, minorities and young people.
"There's a different face of the American veteran now," said Lauren Zapf, 30, a Navy chic veteran who served in the Persian Gulf and who spoke recently at a gathering in Northern Virginia for Democratic U.S. Senate candidate Timothy M. Kaine. "The president's stance on social policies, his work with military families, what he was doing with policy in both Iraq and Afghanistan -- I and both of my friends appreciate that."
Posted by: Bobby ||
05/14/2012
15:33 ||
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#1
NO QUEERS, the Military is strict about that.
None Openly at least.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2012 15:50
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#2
Actually Jim that is no longer the case.
Note that Obama is taking credit for ending the war in Iraq....Yea right Bammy!
#6
I have no problem with an increase in copay, given that I prefer 2012 medicine rather than the 1970s or 1980s medicine at the time of the original commitment by both parties. However, when you add up all the bankrupt 'green' initiatives, you have to wonder if the money had been put towards existing commitments rather than for patronage rewards venture projects, how much would really be needed to offset the increase in expenses for the vets?
#7
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > AS FOREIGN TROOPS LEAVE, [levels of] AFGHAN REFUGEES AND POVERTY INCREASES.
Situation ascribed as similar to Afghanistan after the Soviet pullout + before the rise of the Taliban to post-Soviet/Najibullah Govt. power.IOW, IFF THE US-NATO ARE NOR CAREFUL, THEIR TROOPS WILL LEAVE IN 2014 ONLY TO HAVE TO COME BACK AGAIN DUE TO THE RETURN OF THE MILTERRS TO POWER???
As affected in Pakistan by ...
* TOPIX > PAKISTAN MAY BE DEPRIVED OF 90% OF US FUNDS, vee the introduction of Rohrabacher-led "Pakistan Terrorism Accountability" legislation before the US Congress.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > US BILL TO DEDUCT PAK AID FOR EVERY ISI-CAUSED [American Soldier] DEATH, to the tune of US$50.0Milyuhn per US Death.
* SAME > TIME FOR PAKISTAN TO "MOVE ON" OVER NATO SUPPLY LINES [+ reopen them]:SAYS FOREIGN MINISTER [Khar].
But KHAR still has to get through major internal opposition to reopening the routes.
Iran will launch next week an experimental observation satellite, on the day of talks with world powers over its controversial nuclear programme, the official IRNA news agency reported on Monday.
“The Fajr satellite will be launched on Khordad 3 (May 23),” the director of the Aerospace Industries Mehdi Farahi was quoted as telling.
It will be the fourth satellite sent into space since 2009 by Iran, whose space programme has attracted the concern of international community which is suspecting Tehran is seeking to develop long-range ballistic missiles capable of carrying conventional warheads or nuclear ones.
This is the first time that the Islamic republic has announced in advance a date for the launch of a satellite. Previous launches were reported after the operations were successfully undertaken.
In an unguarded moment in 2007, the man anointed to take over next year as the helmsman of the world's second-largest economy revealed his doubts about China's economic growth statistics.
The country's official gross domestic product figures are "man-made" and therefore unreliable, Li Keqiang told the US ambassador at the time, adding with a smile that he regarded them as being "for reference only".
Man-made in the same way statistics from the Soviet Union were always man-made -- that is, phony. Our CIA believed the Soviets then and apparently believe the Chinese today. Problem is we don't have a modern Daniel Patrick Moynihan to call attention to the stupidity.
When evaluating the speed of economic growth Mr Li, who is expected formally to replace Wen Jiabao as China's Premier next March, said he focused instead on three sets of data -- electricity consumption, rail cargo volumes and disbursement of bank loans.
If Mr Li's assessment is correct the Chinese economy is in a lot more trouble than headline GDP figures have indicated until now.
Less closely watched economic data released in recent days, including figures for electricity, rail cargo and bank loans, have all shown a steep drop in activity that appears to have caught policymakers by surprise.
#1
From Beijing...typical view. Banks don't loan. They only loan to big companies. The private loan market (read: informal borrowing) is the only way to get cash for expansion, and it's fraught with difficulty (obviously). Until they fix the banks, this problem won't go away. They won't fix the banks because then all the state-owned enterprises (read: GM) will go out of business.
Beijing rediscovers its Mackindrian + Mahanist roots???
ARTIC > China imports over 1/2 of its domestic fuel supplies as local wells + fields are not up to task. CHINA'S "ACHILLES HEEL"?, as a number of Perts + Bloggers fear that the US-West may use Nukes + "fracking" as MIL, GEOPOL WEAPON = TECTONIC/GEOLOGIC/GEOPHYSICAL WARFARE???
Intehwesting - SPECOPS/COMMANDOS/SAPPERS deployed on COVERT EARTH/NATURAL SCIENCE MISSIONS during wartime.
Key issue: they want to IPO the car loan business, for which they got $17.1 billion in govt money, $5.5 billion of which has been repaid so far. Key issue: will BoA dump its Countrywide unit too?
By severing itself from ResCap, Ally hopes to focus its efforts on its core auto-lending and online-banking businesses, though it still faces significant risks.
The lender has been hit with billions of dollars worth of lawsuits over soured mortgage securities and claims to buy back shoddily underwritten loans by mortgage insurers and investors.
#4
Not the vote count from blacks, but the Enthusiam gap and the monetary gap, yes. There's a reason most of his Campaign staff is white, and it's not because they can't find any qualified minorities I bet.
Also, new campaign slogan. Obama: Too much Rainbow, not enough jobs.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/14/2012 13:46
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#5
Any publicity for this bugger appears to be good publicity. I smell desperation.
The group that allegedly smashed up a Portland church hopes its "small act of vengeance will strike fear into the hearts of" Christian leaders who teach traditional sexual morality, according to an e-mail message the group released to the public.
Two versions send to different media outlets, the longer of which names names.
A group calling itself "Angry Queers" has claimed responsibility for throwing baseball-sized rocks through nine church windows in Portland's Mars Hill Church, including two 100-year-old stained glass panes.
Neither media outlet reported the message's invocations of violence against traditional Christians, which appeared in both versions
The "brand of Christianity" taught by Mark Driscoll, pastor of the largest Mars Hill Church in Seattle, "crusades against the 'feminization' of Jesus," the e-mail stated. "We angry queers are not fans of Jesus, but we have a problem with anyone who has a problem with femmes."
The e-mail, which is peppered with foul language, berates the Q Center, a local LGBT activist organization, for engaging in a dialogue with the Mars Hill's leadership. "What we have to say to the Q Center is this: F--K YOU, you don't represent us. You are disgusting traitors who prioritize social peace and the bourgeois aspirations of rich white cis gay people over the more pressing survival needs of more marginalized queers."
"F--k dialog with people who want us dead," the e-mail read. "The only dialog we need with scum like Mars Hill is hammers through their windows."
"We hope this small act of vengeance will strike some fear into the hearts of all of Mars Hill's pastors, and warm the hearts of our friends and comrades (known or unknown). It may not get better, but we can certainly get even," it concludes.
Neither media outlet reported the message's invocations of violence against traditional Christians, which appeared in both versions.
The long form of the e-mail has also appeared on several left-wing websites in the area.
#3
Bigotry against Christians has very nearly reached critical mass the left needs to attack them in an outright manner.
The distance from incidents like this to murder, mayhem, and a government that will look the other way or possibly abet these guys by disenfranchising Christians is a half of an eigth of a baby step.
I've been warning that this was coming for years. We are finally arrived at this point. Look for a lot more of these intimidation tactics in the runup to the election, and for a storm of them if Obama happens to lose.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
05/14/2012 9:14
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#4
The crazy left doesn't seem to understand that Christians basing their opinions on their beliefs are not the same as a group of folks coming up with a party platform (or how to disguise said platform from masses who would be appalled if they knew). The Christians are far less lokiely to change their opinion and in fact this violent nonsense probably reenforfes it.
#5
Besides which, Southern Baptists and Catholics make up a very large percentage of the military, and the private firearm owners in this country. 00 buckshot tends to slowdown those trying to damage a church. And attacking a church because it is a particular denomination is a Federal and state hate crime, giving those that choose to protect the church some great legal cover.
#6
sure they attack the Church because christians are non violent
Not for much longer. My Pastor has been talking about the rising bigotry and attacks on Christians for some time. And I know that other acquaintances that attend other churches have said the same thing.
You will soon see a reemergence of militant Christianity, and we will not roll over. These crap stains won't know what hit them when the backlash comes.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
05/14/2012 12:07
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#7
I am not a christian, but believe fully in any thug smashing property to make a bigoted, political point needs a bullet through the brain.
#12
In America, we don't hang homosexuals like they do in Iran.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
05/14/2012 19:06
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#13
A preacher once said that the gay mind set is a militant mind set. He also defined "righteous indignation" as not what someone does to you, but what they are doing to those around you. When/if they start attacking Christians, expect Christians to unload both barrels at the perpetuators.
Christian scripture records several unfortunate events regarding God's judgment vs militant gays. That string of events won't be stopping any time soon.
Sixteen Thai rangers, 10 of them women, were injured by a bomb explosion in Pattani province early Monday morning.
The 16 were in a group of about 20 rangers traveling in a pick-up truck and a military truck while returning to their base from providing security for the annual Red Cross fair organised in front of city hall.
The attack occurred shortly after midnight when the two vehicles stopped at Ban Don Rak intersection on Highway 42. A bomb inside a gas cylinder hung behind the stop sign was detonated by a radio signal by terrorists militants hiding nearby. The terrorists militants then opened fire at the rangers. After a brief exchange of shots the terrorists militants fled into the dark.
Sixteen rangers, ten women and six men, were injured by the explosion, but not seriously. The explosion shattered the windows of the two vehicles, which were also riddled with shrapnel.
Earlier on Saturday night, one policeman, a defense volunteer, and five civilians were hurt when a hand grenade exploded at a checkpoint, where police and defense volunteers were on security duty for the annual Red Cross fair.
The chief investigator of the Narathiwat provincial police, said the grenade was believed to have been hurled over a wall from a mosque near the checkpoint. The explosion caused minor injuries to seven people.
A suspect, identified as Hadafi Sedommad, was arrested. He was being interrogated.
#1
"The euro crisis is entering its final stages. Economic pain is now interacting with political resistance to produce intense financial pressure. I expect Greece to leave the euro – and perhaps very soon. "
#2
Unfortunately, I don't think so - as much as I loathe + detest the lack of opular referendums in the US-World as per approving the OWG-NWO + the Globalist Agenda + related, IMO the Globalists + aligned have come too far vee OWG-NWO to let a debilitating EuroDollar Crisis, etc. stop them.
No one said anything about stopping any political or ideo factionalism/sectarianism from occurring, let alone strifes + revolutions + civil wars.
#5
Greece can print as many Euros as they need. They are supposed to pay back the ECB if they do, but you know, sometimes it takes a while to write the check and mail it and stuff. There is this Parliament thing and some sort of election delieo. So, just be patient while we run the printing press.
#6
There were too many variables in the economies of Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ireland to have an effective uniform monetary policy. The economisst wonks in Brussels are as much to blame for the collapse of the Euro and the economy of Greece as do the Greek politicians and the spoiled brat citizenry.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/14/2012 10:40
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#7
There were too many variables in the economies of Greece, Italy, Spain, and Ireland to have an effective uniform monetary policy. The economisst wonks in Brussels are as much to blame for the collapse of the Euro and the economy of Greece as do the Greek politicians and the spoiled brat citizenry.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/14/2012 10:45
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#8
@!#$%^GTFRTEW@@#!@!! Double Post
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/14/2012 10:46
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#9
Given how German socialists are about to ride to the rescue (re the North Rhine-Westphalia elections), I think we'll have the euro to kick around for a bit longer.
#10
Why would Greece leave the Euro? It allows them to ignore fiscal reality. Germany pays the bills. And when it comes time to pay the piper, the Greek pols can blame someone else!
#11
As constituted, the EU is a nutty system. Can you imagine if CA decided to pull out of the dollar because the Federal government wouldn't finance its deficits and its retirement at 50 policy? And every time this happened, CA pols pulled the secession card?
Western intelligence agencies believe that al-Qaida doctors have been trained to implant bombs inside the bodies of suicide bombers, Britain's Sunday Times reported.
The doctors, thought to have been trained by a man who worked with the top bomb-maker for al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP), have the ability to put explosive compounds in breasts and abdomens of suicide bombers, the newspaper reported without citing its sources.
The lead doctor was thought to have been killed in a drone attack earlier this year and likely worked with the master bomber-maker, Ibrahim al-Asiri, according to the newspaper.
One of the weirder news stories I have read in a long time: Carnival Cruise Lines kicked off a passenger scheduled to given a speech on a cruise on suspicion that he was going to commit an act of terror on the ship.
The bizarre case involves a neurosurgeon from Tennessee who is named Dr. Kruse (I'm not making this up). Jack Kruse is also a popular motivational speaker. He was suppose to speak on May 7th as part of the 5th annual "Low-Carb Cruise".
Police became suspicious of Kruse due to a tweet posted May 6. It read security confiscated dynamite. talk won't be as explosive as one at PaleoFx. still have vial of Legionnaires for epic biohack. #lccruise12. The tweet appeared to come from Jack Kruse. Later it was discovered the tweet was posted by an imposter.
Carnival was also informed by a caller who told them a doctor on board was planning to perform a "viral bio hack" aboard the ship.
Before he could sail on May 6 out of Galveston, Dr. Kruse's cabin was searched and he was interrogated by Galveston police, Homeland Security, the FBI and the U.S. Coast Guard. Then ship security removed his luggage and escorted him to the by then empty pier.
Dr. Kruse told Nashville's News 2 he was eventually cleared by Homeland Security, but the Carnival ship captain would not let him continue on the cruise.
"Since the safety and well-being of my guests and crew is my number one priority, every security threat is taken seriously and fully investigated," Cutugno wrote. "It is for this reason that I felt it was in the best interest of all my guests to err on the side of caution and not allow him to set sail as planned."
Since returning home, Kruse says he's been in contact with the FBI agent who began the investigation.
"And he goes, 'we take this very seriously. This carries a 15 to 20 year sentence," Kruse added.
"It's amazing, the power of a tweet," he said. A physician I know staying in a cabin in Yellowstone National Park with his wife & children, about 30 years ago, was raided by the FBI one night on the suspicion he was a wanted felon. The cabin was ransacked, everyone lined up outside, he put on the ground & searched, the whole thing. He did resemble the wanted man. He told me this himself. The FBI didn't believe his story until they called the hospital director back home (in the middle of the night) to verify his credentials. At first the director thought he was being hoaxed.
I expect baseless accusations combined with the anonymity of social media and identity theft will become a popular form of entertainment for those so inclined to mischief, vengeance, paranoia, postpone a final exam, etc. A flood of baseless accusations would at some point overwhelm investigators and could possibly serve as a smoke screen for a real terror attack.
#1
A physician I know staying in a cabin in Yellowstone National Park with his wife & children, about 30 years ago, was raided by the FBI one night on the suspicion he was a wanted felon.
I believe one of the first recorded incidents of mistaken identity by the FBI took place in a April 1934 botched, FBI Dillinger raid near the Little Bohemia Lodge on Highway 51 in Manitowish Waters, WI. A car load of innocent locals was ambushed leaving at least one man dead. Many other botched FBI raids were to follow, which should indicated law enforcement at the local level is better left to local law enforcement. Just my humble opinion.
There are more foreign spies on U.S. soil now than at the peak of the Cold War, according to Hank Crumpton, former head of the CIA's National Resources Division, a highly sensitive operation charged with collecting foreign intelligence here in the U.S. Crumpton also led the covert response to 9/11 in Afghanistan, where the CIA helped topple the Taliban. Lara Logan interviews Crumpton about his 24 years as a legendary spy.
AFP - Israel demolished dozens of Palestinian homes, water cisterns and farm buildings built with European funds in 2011, and over 100 such structures are at risk, aid groups said in a report on Monday.
The figures, compiled by a group of local and international NGOs chaired by the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), were published just ahead of a meeting of EU foreign ministers in Brussels.
The Israeli military body in charge of civilian aspects of life in the West Bank says it is obliged to issue demolition orders against structures erected without the required construction permits.
OCHA says that a total of 620 structures in the Israeli-occupied West Bank were torn down in 2011, of which 62 were European-funded.
Of those affected, 600 were in the Area C zone of the occupied West Bank where Israel has full civilian and security control. Twenty of the demolitions were in Area B, where Israel and the Palestinian Authority have joint responsibility.
The Israeli military body in charge of civilian aspects of life in the West Bank says it is obliged to issue demolition orders against structures erected without the required construction permits.
A cute little game: the Europeans build illegally, then whine about the evil Israelis enforcing the law, something the wouldn't dare do at home.
Anahi aka Singer with RBD, sold over 58 million albums worldwide including albums in Spanish, Portuguese and English aka Maria in "Habia Una Vez Una Estrella (Once Upon A Time A Star)(1989)" aka Mariana in "El Ganador (The Winner)(1992)" aka Ana in "Inesperado Amor (Unexpected Love)(1999)" aka Mia Colucci in "Rebelde (Rebel)(TV 2004–2006)" aka Angelica Estrada in "Dos Hogares (Two Homes)(TV 2011–2012)"(age 29)
[Dawn] The chairman of Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf (PTI) Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... said the ruling mafia is taking its last breath and that the days are numbered for corrupt government officials.
Speaking to a women's gathering, he said that his party will bring back the nation's money that has been looted and saved abroad. "I have never surrendered to anyone and will never surrender in the future," said Imran khan.
The PTI chief further said that he will bring about unbiased accountability after coming to power. He announced that he will strive to give women all their rights and make sure that poor women will be provided legal assistance for their cases.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
Their days are numbered, and so are their Swiss bank accounts.
[Dawn] Top crude exporter Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... wants an oil price of around $100 a barrel and would like to see global inventories rise before demand picks up in the second half of the year, Oil Minister Ali al-Naimi said on Sunday.
International Brent crude settled at $112.26 on Friday, well off a peak of over $128 in March. Brent has mostly traded above $100 since early 2011, keeping fuel costs high and threatening to damage a fragile global economy.
"We want a price around $100, that's what we want," Naimi told news hounds ahead of an industry event in Australia. "A $100 price is great."
Saudi Arabia is working at bringing Brent crude prices to that level, he added. The kingdom, OPEC's biggest producer, said it pumped 10.1 million bpd in April, its highest for more than 30 years, as it bid to meet growing demand and curb oil prices.
Prices have stayed high in 2012 due to concern about disruption to global supply from US and European sanctions aimed at hurting Iran's crude export revenues and forcing Tehran to halt its nuclear programme.
Naimi said last week that producers were pumping enough to deal with the impact of the sanctions on the oil market.
He reiterated on Sunday that producers were pumping 1.3 million barrels per day (bpd) to 1.5 million bpd above demand, which is helping to build inventory.
"That should give comfort to consumers," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
"We want a price around $100, that's what we want,"
WE don't care what YOU want Bloodsucker.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2012 0:40
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#2
$200 per barrel would be even better, for them.
#3
I think they realize that $200 a barrel would result in lower revenues. People in some places wouldn't be able to afford petroleum products at $200 a barrel and the reduction in consumption would more than offset the increase in price. At $200/bbl their revenue would likely see a net decline.
What we need to do is just keep burning as much oil as we can now that we know we are awash in oil. Use all of theirs up. Once their oil is gone, they can go back to driving camels from oasis to oasis across the desert.
#4
In the meanwhile, however, their oil wealth has bought Harvard and several other major US universities and allows them to manipulate markets and hence political decisions
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
05/14/2012 10:26
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#6
In the meanwhile, however, their oil wealth has bought Harvard and several other major US universities and allows them to manipulate markets and hence political decisions.
And when they are broke, and facing the prospect of eating sand, we can buy those assets back, at a discount of course.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
05/14/2012 12:26
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#7
Sure. But they will have used the substantial power they have until then, often to our detriment.
#8
Sure. But they will have used the substantial power they have until then, often to our detriment.
Of course. I would expect we would return the favor in spades. There are organizations that have been keeping score, the databases grow, the drive arrays get bigger.
What amazes me, is there haven't been as many 'accidents' or mysterious deaths as I would expect at this juncture. They'll come though...eventually.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
05/14/2012 15:52
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#9
Offer $50, watch them panic, all those "Princes" will be cut off flat.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2012 15:55
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#10
Sure they do. It makes the math a lot easier. Just add two zeroes to every barrel you sell and you figure out your sales revenues.
Posted by: American Delight ||
05/14/2012 16:56
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#11
All oilmen probably understand that at $200 per barrel, CNG becomes the automobile fuel of choice, nuking oil demand and then some. As an automotive fuel, CNG's GGE measure is 1/4 less efficient than gasoline. In other words, GGE to gasoline parity at a current gasoline price of $3.50 (corresponding to $112 Brent crude) would mean a GGE price of $2.60 (meaning a home natural gas price of $1.80/therm). Home natural gas prices are now $1/therm, including delivery charges. Bottom line? At $200 per barrel, the gasoline component of oil demand will collapse to nothing.
Russia is testing Italy's Centauro wheeled tank and considering building it under license, a representative of the Oto-Melara company which makes the tank said on Saturday. When the trials are complete at the end of this year, Russia will consider creating a joint venture for production of the tank with an enterprise from the Russian military-industrial complex, he said.
Russian truck maker Kamaz in Naberezhny Chelny could be involved in the deal, according to a source in Russian arms sales holding Rosoboronexport. Commenting on the report that Russia is considering building Centauro tanks under license, Yury Borisov, first deputy head of the military-industrial commission, said Russia will only buy foreign weapon models on a one-off basis to study the manufacturing technology and then set up its own production.
A number of military experts earlier said licensed production of those machines in Russia is unlikely. Russia signed a deal with Italy in December for the semi-knocked down assembly of 60 Lynx light multirole armored vehicles (LMV) from Iveco.
Italy already has 400 Centauros in service. The 24 ton tank has a four-man crew, top speed of 100 km/h (60 mph) and range of 800 km (500 miles). It has a main gun and two 7.62 mm machineguns.
#2
I understand this was a political payoff. Inferior product. Major upgrading needed. Years behind what the Russians could produce. Only thing Russia could use this for is for civilian city control.
#3
Only thing Russia could use this for is for civilian city control.
They need a 120-mm gun for that? I guess it would depend on what your definition of 'control' is, though.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/14/2012 10:45
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That 100 Km per hour, is that forward or reverse?
I thought Italian tanks had one forward speed and three reverse speeds on all of their military vehicles.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/14/2012 10:48
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Bill Clinton,
That is 60 years out of date. Current Italian products have been pretty good since the 1980's.
The bigger problem with this deal is industrial espionage. I expect the deal to "fall apart" once the Russians have stolen everything they can steal.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
05/14/2012 11:41
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#6
So the advantage is speed but, I'll ask the stupid question, what happens when somebody shoots a bullet through a tire? Does the crew have to get out and change the flat?
But besides that; Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti...or would you really rather have a Corvette?
#8
It's a TD, not a tank. Armor is good against up to 14.5mm rounds and 25mm on the front. Bolt-on armor is available.
Problem with TDs, mobile guns, SPs, etc, is that when a commander needs tanks, anything bigger than a VW Bug gets hauled in if he doesn't have the real thing on hand. A characteristic of non-tanks is lack of serious armor....
In WW II, US TDs worked best in the defensive role, being unnoticed by not moving until giving away their position by shooting at German armor. Then they'd scoot to an alternate firing position.
Terrible thing to use them in the offensive role. Churchill, referring to a big--for the time--gun US TD said it can prevail by "speed and cunning tactics", which is to say, we have more when we run out of these.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
05/14/2012 15:01
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#9
Italian tracked-vehicles have always had a nice reputation. ;-)
The United States is loosening some of its restrictions on weapons sales to Bahrain, a Persian Gulf ally that has grappled with massive protests pushing for greater democracy. But the U.S. move has upset rights activists, who say the country is still attacking and abusing dissidents.
The U.S. froze its weapons sales to Bahrain in October over human rights concerns. [State Department spokeswoman Victoria]Nuland said the U.S. was still withholding antitank missiles and Humvees, along with “certain additional items for the Bahrain Defense Force,” stressing that the newly released items “are not used for crowd control." The Bahraini crown prince met with U.S. officials this week. Nuland did not specify what would be sold to Bahrain, but Bloomberg News reported that the equipment includes air-to-air missiles and ammunition.
The unrest has left the United States open to accusations that although it has championed other "Arab Spring" uprisings, it has been less aggressive in backing calls for change in Bahrain, a strategic ally. The nonprofit Human Rights First slammed Friday's announcement. Nuland insisted the U.S. was concerned about excessive force by police. “We urge all sides to work together to end the violence and refrain from incitement of any kind, including attacks on peaceful protesters or on the Bahraini police,” she said.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN PARLIAMENT CONDEMNS [proposed] MERGER OF SAUDI ARABIA, BAHRAIN, Aarguing that sucha move will only extend the Bahraini Crisis into Saudi Arabia proper, + hence foster more Regional unrest + instability.
* IRNA > MAJLIS SPEAKER: BAHRAIN NOT A BITE TO BE EASILY SWALLOWED.
* SAME > IRAN MPS CONDEMN UNIFICATION OF BAHRAIN, SAUDI ARABIA.
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > SAUDI MERGER WID BAHRAIN SIMILAR TO HITLER'S [Austro-German]"ANSCHLUSS": KEVIN BARRETT.
ARTIC > BARRETT = unlike pre-WW2. where the majority of Austrians supported their country's quasi-union wid Hitler's Nazi Germany, THE SAUDIS MAY NOT ENJOY ANY MASS POPULAR SUPPORT FROM ORDINARY BAHRAINIS, SUNNI OR SHIA, TO INCLUD MANY IN BAHRAIN'S GOVT + ARMY-POLICE???
versus
* OTOH DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN [Navy]TO EXPAND OPERATIONAL ZONE IN [Northern]INDIAN OCEAN.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > COMPLEX US AIR-SEA BATTLE STRATEGY KEEPS EYE ON IRAN [ + SSSHHHH China], espec as per Scenarios where Iran closes of international access to the Persian Gulf.
Taken collectively, IMO the US Navy-DOD is well-aware that Iran would like to control or dominate both or all sides of the Persian Gulf, + isolate or restrict any US-led, anti-NucProg invasion force to the Sea of Oman + beyond where Iran can better employ its LR Air + Missle firepower, Submarines, etc. agz same + keep the US = US-NATO/Allies out of southern Iran.
* NEWS KERALA > JAILED ISLAMIST PAK ARMY OFFICER CALLS FOR CUTTING ANTI-TERROR ALLIANCE WID US.
As per IRAN, it means PAKISTAN'S NUKES-WMDS may be used as part of its defense agz US-led ground invasion. PAKI OR NORTH KOREAN OR OTHER NUCBOMB, ALL IRAN NEEDS IS ONE OR MORE LOW-YIELD NUCBOMBS TO DETONATE INSIDE A US MIL BEACHJEAD ANDOR AIRHEAD CAUSING MASS US, ETAL. MIL CASUALTIES. It only needs a few or handful of Nukes-WDMS that are used well agz US Milfors.
The nervousy twitchy, blame-happy, "Bring the Boyz home now or else" US Congress + Activists-Politicos, MSM, etc. will do the rest for Iran.
[An Nahar] The British town of Sandwich will Sunday stage a dramatic re-enactment of the moment when the town's earl was said to have invented the sandwich, to mark the 250th anniversary of the bread-based meal.
Dressed in 18th-century costume, actors will recreate the night when the John Montagu, the fourth Earl of Sandwich -- a rapacious card-player -- "called for a slice of beef between two toasted pieces of bread so that he could carry on gaming uninterrupted", said a website for the event.
Legend states that others began asking for "the same as Sandwich!" and thus named what was to become a classic foodstuff.
The southeastern English port town is also holding a sandwich-making competition and concerts of the "bawdy and lively tunes" favored by the earl, who also had a "penchant for dressing in Turkish robes", the website said.
The current earl will host a huge sandwich lunch in tribute to "the fourth earl of Sandwich who, 250 years ago, had his masterly inspiration in creating the universal fast food the world knows and loves," a poster said.
Historians are sceptical of the claim that the earl actually invented the sandwich, arguing it belongs to a long line of bread-based snacks stretching back much further than the 18th century, but this has not stopped the town from celebrating its local hero. Every schoolboy knows, or should know, that the 'sandwich' was actually invented by the Earl of Shrewsbury. At this very moment I am in the process of eating a tuna salad shrewsbury. And for breakfast I'll probably have a bacon, egg, and cheese shrewsbury.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
I will not enter the name of that infamous town in Austria so beloved by Brits & Americans that they steal the road signs as souvenirs.
#2
Woddy Allen explains it in "How to end with culture":
The sandwich was invented by the John Sandwich. His first try was a slice of bread between two slices of veal. Commercially lay it was an abject failure. Second version was three slices of bread: it got good critics but sales were just so-so and he ran in finanacial trouble so he had to use turkey because it was cheaper. THen after weekd of intense invetigations and experimenting, many sleepless nights and drastic cuts in his household expenses he came upon the winning formual: a slice of turkey between two slices of bread. This was an instant success, he was charged to provide the buffet for the Royal Jubilee and it success led the king to grant him the title of Count.
[Bangla Daily Star] Bulgaria's ambassador to Yemen escaped a kidnap attempt on Saturday while he was driving through Sanaa in a diplomatic car, local and Bulgarian officials said on Sunday.
"Masked gunnies stopped the car of the Bulgarian ambassador to kidnap him, but the diplomat managed to escape and hide in a nearby shop," a security official told AFP in Sanaa.
The attempt against Ambassador Boris Borisov and his wife took place on Algeria Street, a main thoroughfare in the Yemeni capital, at around 17:00pm, another official said.
In Sofia Bulgarian Foreign Minister Nikolay Mladenov confirmed the incident, adding that Borisov was injured in the fight.
The ambassador will return to Sofia shortly for treatment and the embassy in Sanaa will be closed for business for the next few days, Mladenov told national radio.
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05/14/2012
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[Al Ahram] Millions of Egyptians were glued to their sofas until early Friday morning, watching the first televised presidential debate between frontrunners Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa ... who was head of the Arab League for approximately two normal lifespans, accomplishing nothing that was obvious to the casual observer ... and Abdel-Moneim Abul-Fotouh. Prior to the debate journalist Hafez El-Merazi, ONTV anchor Reem Maged, Dream TV anchor Amr Khafaga and MP and columnist Amr Shobaki hosted a show outlining the rules of the debate. They also compared different US and French presidential debates.
The debate was divided into two parts, each consisting of 12 questions. The first half was hosted by TV presenter Mona El-Shazli. The first part discussed the constitution, executive authorities, the economy, preferred systems of taxation and campaign financing. But ultimately, the over four-hour long debate returned time and again to two hotly debated topics: religion and the former regime.
Abul-Fotouh, a former leading figure in the Moslem Brüderbund, attempted to capitalise on Moussa's past position as foreign minister in Mubarak's government in the late 90s. Moussa fired back, portraying Abul-Fotouh as beholden to the Brotherhood and other Islamist forces.
Each candidate was posed 24 questions with two minutes to respond. At the end of each question, the two candidates were given a few minutes for their rebuttals, sparking a war of words.
Felul or Brotherhood
Moussa asked the first question: "You visited the Abbasiya sit-in and led one of the protests; then, one day later, you described the same protests as inappropriate. They really are inappropriate and chaotic, but why the contradictory stance?"
Abul-Fotouh stated that there was no contradiction, explaining that he took part in a peaceful march in solidarity with ten Egyptians who bit the dust because the ruling military council failed to protect them.
He then shot back, asking Moussa the expected question: "I'd like to ask Mr Amr Moussa, as a member of the past regime...that people revolted against, if can he become part of the solution?"
Distancing himself from Mubarak, Moussa firmly stated that the regime fell with its men on 11 February, and he was not one of them. He then turned the table on Abul-Fotouh, accusing him of still being a member of the Brotherhood, and charging that his opposition to the former regime is founded on narrow Brotherhood interests -- not Egypt's.
When it came to questions regarding healthcare, pensions, economic policies, a new constitution, the Islamist candidate offered more specific responses than the ex-diplomat, sticking to his programme and often referring to facts and figures. Moussa spoke broadly, at times answering questions with questions. This, however, was not allowed, as well-known television anchor and moderator Yusri Fouda made clear.
Islamist or Secularist
In one of his questions, Moussa asked Abul-Fotouh: "You once said in a televised interview that Moslems can convert to Christianity and vice versa... is this still your position?"
Abul-Fotouh, taken aback, waffled at first and then stressed the importance of freedom of belief and of a moderate understanding of Islam. He, however, fought back and attempted to corner Moussa and paint him as too secular.
Moussa was twice asked: "What do you mean by the general principles of Sharia?" After equivocating, the one-time 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... chief insisted that the general principles of Islamic Sharia law, as they existed in the 1971 constitution, should be applied.
"We want to know your vision about applying Sharia law, especially as you are now backed by radical Islamist groups; and in politics nothing is for free, there must be a deal and we need to know," Moussa shot back.
Iran an Arab country
The highlight of the show was when Moussa described Iran as an Arab country.
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[Al Ahram] Algeria's Islamist Front for Justice and Development issues calls for popular uprising in wake parliamentary polls it says were rigged in favour of ruling party
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[An Nahar] The head of the dissident Free Syrian Army charged in remarks published Sunday that al-Qaeda has links with the powerful airforce intelligence of the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... .
"If al-Qaeda beturbanned goons have indeed entered the country, it happened with the cooperation of that agency," FSA chief, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, told Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper.
He also held the Syrian regime responsible for Thursday's twin suicide kabooms in Damascus ...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat... that killed 55 people and maimed 372 and called for an international investigation.
"If the (U.S.) information that al-Qaeda had entered Syria is accurate, the regime alone is responsible for their entry. We know that the al-Qaeda beturbanned goons are linked to the Syrian airforce intelligence," Asaad said.
Asaad also denied claims by Damascus that jihadist and Salafi groups were active in Syria.
Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before the Syrian revolt, released a video on Saturday claiming responsibility for the attacks as Dire Revenge™ for regime bombing of residential areas in several parts of the country.
But claims by the group, including for past bombings, have been hard to verify.
The main opposition coalition, the Syrian National Council, has accused the authorities of resorting to "terrorism" itself in a bid to torpedo a peace plan drafted by U.N. and Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... 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... .
Asaad stressed that the FSA has so far complied with the plan whereas the regime has committed scores of violations. He said he believes the plan has failed and called for not taking a long time to announce its failure.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
See also DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > ISRAEL FEARS ASSAD FALL MAY BRING AL-QAEDA TO GOLAN, i.e. the strategic Golan Heights which will only add to Israel's growing headaches vee the post-Mubarak SINAI [Egypt] - JORDAN???
Israel's biggest single fear ala Syria Crisis is the security of its northern borders.
* TOPIX, WORLD NEWS > IRAN: US IS READY/
PREPARING TO ABANDON ISRAEL, despite POTUS Bammer's + Admin's rhetoric to the contrary???
Two British servicemen have been rubbed out in southern Afghanistan by members of the Afghan national police force, the Ministry of Defence has said.
A soldier from 1st Battalion Welsh Guards and a Royal Air Force airman died in Lashkar Gah, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province.
The MoD said the two had been providing security near a base on Saturday. Their next of kin have been informed.
It comes as Afghanistan announced plans to take over security in the Nahr-e-Saraj area where UK forces operate.
The number of UK military deaths in Afghanistan since 2001 is now 414.
The men, who were serving as part of an advisory team, were killed on Saturday as they provided security for a meeting with local officials near Patrol Base Attal.
Defence Secretary Philip Hammond said he believed one of the gunnies was then killed by his Afghan police colleagues, while a second escaped.
[Bangla Daily Star] A series of festivities between BNP-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... supporters and law enforcers in Chittagong yesterday left at least 100 people including police personnel and journalists injured.
During the two-hour-long festivities, which took place mainly near the BNP's city unit office at Kazir Dewry, commuters were rushing in panic for safer places as the one-kilometre area stretching from Almas Cinema to Enayetbazar and the nearby lanes, turned into a battlefield.
The opposition activists set three cars afire and vandalised around 50 vehicles, said police. Traffic was halted on different important roads including that from Tiger Pass to Wasa intersection because of the festivities.
BNP alleged that the law enforcers tried to foil their scheduled rally organised by the 18-party alliance while police claimed the festivities ensued as Jamaat-Shibir activists hurled brickbats at them.
The clash soon spread to other areas including Lalkhan Bazar, Ashkardighirpar, Mehedibagh, New Market and Chawkbazar.
Law enforcers fired a large number of rubber bullets and tear gas shells, and charged batons on the opposition activists. Police could not give any detail about the number of rubber bullets and tear gas shells they fired, but said their ammunition ran out.
Police also stormed into the BNP office, charged batons on the opposition activists and fired tear gas shells in a room where BNP leaders including its Vice-chairman Abdullah Al Noman and city unit President Amir Khasru Mahmud Chowdhury took shelter.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Yemen Post] At least 10 Al-Qaeda Islamic fascistiwere killed as the army continued to advance to clear Islamic fascistifrom their positions in Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... , which was held by Al-Qaeda last year, local sources said.
The deaths occurred in the Jaar city south of Zinjibar in the second day of the fiercest battles against the myrmidons, the sources said.
On Saturday, the Yemeni army launched expanded operations to retake the towns in Abyan, which were held by Al-Qaeda last year including Zinjibar. About 25.000 troops are participating in the operations. Several soldiers have been reported dead in the two days so far.
The forces have waged fierce battles with Al-Qaeda Islamic fascistiin several areas including Doufas where Islamic fascistiraided several military posts in March and this month killing and abducting scores of soldiers and looting military equipment. Many Islamic fascistihave been killed in the battles, military sources said.
Popular fighters have helped the forces to fight the Islamic fascistiin the past few weeks.
The Yemeni army is also receiving direct support from the US including drone operations which have killed many gun-hung tough guys including big shots wanted by the US authorities.
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[An Nahar] Egyptian presidential candidate Ahmed Shafiq's campaign boasted on Saturday that the former air force chief had shot down two Israeli planes during war, as it dismissed accusations of corruption.
Shafiq, former president Hosni Mubarak's ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... last prime minister before an uprising toppled the dictator last year, claimed to have downed the planes during the War of Attrition which Egypt declared between 1969 and 1970.
"General Ahmed Shafiq has a great military record and career," his campaign statement said.
"Everyone recognized his achievements, starting with the downing of two Israeli planes during the War of Attrition, when the member of parliament (who accused Shafiq of corruption) was may be three years old," it said.
Lawmaker Essam Soltan had accused Shafiq of selling land at below market price to Mubarak's sons, who face trial with their father on corruption charges.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
"I shot down 20....no, 200, Jooooo jets!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2012 8:17
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#2
In Dec 1969, one Israeli jet was shot down by an Egyptian. The pilot was said by the Egyptian military at the time, to be a man named, Lt. Ahmed Atef.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
05/14/2012 10:04
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I believe SAM's have been responsible for most of Israel's aerial losses.
[Al Ahram] Regime forces battled rebels and carried out raids across Syria Sunday in a surge of violence that killed 23 people, monitors and activists said, as a tenuous UN-backed truce entered its second month.
The fresh wave of bloodletting came as the UN mission in Syria said it now has 189 military observers on the ground, nearly two-thirds of its planned strength of 300.
The observers are tasked with shoring up the ceasefire brokered by UN-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... peace 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... that was supposed to take effect on April 12 but which has been broken daily.
"There are now 189 monitors on the ground," Hassan Siklawi, a representative of the UN mission in Syria, told AFP on Sunday.
The deployment of extra monitors came as the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights reported at least 23 people killed on Sunday, including five soldiers who died in shootouts with armed rebels in the southern province of Daraa.
Two non-combatants were killed in the crossfire, it added.
In central Hama province, five people were killed by gunfire, including a woman, when regime forces raided the village of Al-Tamanaa Al-Ghab, the Britannia-based watchdog said, adding that 18 people were maimed and several houses set on fire.
A man and his son were killed and 10 other people maimed when they were shot by regime forces in the town of Qusayr in central Homs province, where armed rebel groups have strongholds, the watchdog added.
Also in Homs, a civilian was killed by sniper fire in the town of Rastan.
Three non-combatants were killed by regime forces near Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... , two in Idlib province and one in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... province, while two army deserters were killed, one in Douma, the other in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, the watchdog said.
And in neighbouring Leb, sectarian festivities in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... between factions supporting and opposed to the Syrian revolt left one person dead on Sunday, a security source said.
The violence in Syria has escalated over the past week, despite the arrival of more ceasefire observers, with twin suicide kabooms in Damascus on Thursday killing 55 people and wounding 372.
The attacks have raised fears that thug elements are taking advantage of the deadlock in Syria to stoke the unrest.
Al-Nusra Front, an Islamist group unknown before the Syrian revolt, released a video on Saturday claiming responsibility for the Damascus attacks as Dire Revenge™ for regime bombing of residential areas in several parts of the country.
Claims by the group, including for past bombings, have been difficult to verify.
The head of the dissident Free Syrian Army in remarks published on Sunday charged that Al-Qaeda has links with the powerful airforce intelligence of the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa...
"If Al-Qaeda gunnies have indeed entered the country, it happened with the cooperation of that agency," FSA chief, Colonel Riyadh al-Asaad, told Kuwait's Al-Rai newspaper.
Asaad denied claims by Damascus that jihadist and Salafi groups were active in Syria, and blamed the Syrian regime for Thursday's devastating kabooms in the capital, calling for an international investigation.
State media has accused the West and its regional allies of opening the door to Al-Qaeda through its backing of the opposition.
A Turkish journalist held prisoner in Syria for two months said on Sunday that he and a Turkish cameraman feared they would die, and spent 55 days isolated in cramped cells where they slept on the floor.
The two Turkish journalists, who were tossed in the calaboose Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! by a pro-regime militia in March and handed over to Syrian intelligence, returned to Istanbul this weekend after being freed thanks to Iranian mediation.
More than 12,000 people, the majority of them civilians, have died since the Syrian uprising began, according to the Observatory, including more than 900 killed since the April 12 truce went into effect.
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[Yemen Post] The Yemeni authorities released four Indian tourists, three men and a woman, who were kidnapped on Saturday in the district of Al-Haima Al-Kharijya outside the capital Sanaa, the interior ministry reported.
Four gunnieskidnapped the foreigners when they were on their car for unclear reasons, but late on Saturday they were released and in good condition, the ministry said.
Measures are underway to hunt the abductors from this district, it added.
Kidnapping foreigners has recently declined very much in Yemen. Some tribes used to abduct foreigners in their areas to ask for ransoms or to pressure the authorities to meet special demands including release of detainees or to supply basic services.
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[Al Ahram] Gunmen opened fire on card players in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Sunday, killing three people including a prison warden, residents said.
It was unclear who the assailants were, but the shooting was similar to a wave of attacks blamed on Islamist group 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... , which has been waging an insurgency focused in Nigeria's mainly Moslem north.
A front man for a military task force in the city, Lieutenant Iweha Ikedichi, said "we heard of an incident around the area ... we are waiting for details."
Residents said three assailants arrived on one cycle of violence and opened fire, leaving three dead.
"They just opened fire and sped away," one resident said. "Soldiers from (the task force) have deployed in the area."
Boko Haram's insurgency has seen bombings and shootings that have killed hundreds. Its deadliest attack yet occurred in Kano, the largest city in the north, in January, when coordinated attacks left at least 185 people dead.
Police, soldiers and other members of the security forces have often been the group's targets.
Authorities said on Friday that they had placed in long-term storage Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! Boko Haram's alleged head of operations for Kano in a raid.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Ugandan troops have captured a senior member of the Lord's Resistance Army ... The Lord's Resistance Army is a religious and military group formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, and who is periodically possessed by demons, Beelzebub and Legion prominent among them. Kony advises his soldiers to draw crosses on their chests as a protection against bullets. This does't work, but nobody outside the LRA minds. The group is based on a hodge podge of apocalyptic Christianity, mysticism, and traditional Acholi religion, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on an odd interpretation of the Ten Commandments. The LRA is famous for systematic criminal conduct, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and kiddies, forcing children to participate in hostilities, and occasional cannibalism. The LRA operates mainly in northern Uganda and also in parts of Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo... in a milestone arrest that could signal they are closing in on notorious rebel leader Joseph Kony.
Caesar Acellam, considered the fourth-highest ranking member of the LRA, was tossed in the calaboose Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! by Ugandan forces in Central African Republic, and was flown to the South Sudanese headquarters of the regional armies hunting the LRA.
"My coming out will have a big impact for the people still in the bush to come out and end this war soon," Acellam told news hounds.
Acellam, aged 49, a tall man walking with a limp from an old wound, was flown to the base in the South Sudanese town of Nzara for medical checkups.
The Ugandan army is leading a US-backed African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force tasked with capturing the LRA's leaders, several of whom are wanted for war crimes by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... in The Hague.
Acellam was captured Saturday and made available a day later to confirm his arrest following a brief firefight near the border with the Democratic Republic of Congo.
"The general of the division, Caesar Acellam, who has fought in the jungle since 1984, is from now on in the hands of the Ugandan Army," Acellam told news hounds, referring to himself in the third person.
The LRA's top three commanders are Okot Odhiambo, Dominic Ongwen and Kony. All are on the lam and wanted by the International Criminal Court along with another man, Vincent Otti, who is however thought to be dead.
"He's a big fish," Ugandan army front man Felix Kulayigye said of Acellam, who was captured along with a Ugandan woman, a Central African teenager and a baby. None of them was hurt in the arrest.
"The fact that Caesar Acellam is prisoner is a major step for us towards ending the rebellion," Kulayigye said.
Ugandan army units had reportedly waited in ambush for three weeks for the rebel after they tracked his group of around 30 fighters, army sources said.
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... Acellam split from his men a few days ago, for reasons that were not immediately clear. He surrendered after the army fired a few shots.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
The Ugandans have come a long ways in their developments of the trappings of civilization.
Twenty years ago, this guy's head would be on a stick and his skin would be nailed to the wall of some mud hut.
I am not sure this is progress though, the LRA leadership deserves no civil treatment.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
05/14/2012 2:31
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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. The deputy prime minister also warned that chaos could boost the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which won an unprecedented seven per cent of the vote, and 21 seats, in Sunday's election.
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."
That's the history of your country over the past 2500 years -- hide everything from the Emperor, King, Prime Minister or General, and yet demand everything from the state. Why is this a surprise?
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.
The Germans could well be bluffing. The German economy needs export markets or else it's SOL. The Greeks can't buy German goods unless they have money. So there you go.
"We have been spending the future for half a century. What [the anti-bailout forces] are really asking from the EU is not just to pay our bills, but also to pay for the deficit which we are still creating.
"I'm sure the Germans don't want Greece to leave the euro. What I don't know is how much they're willing to pay. It depends on the German man on the street. Is he willing to pay his taxes to save Greece? I doubt it."
The German citizen on the street? Hans, Frans, Dieter and Mustafa? I doubt they're willing to pay a pfennig. But they're not in charge...
After each of the top three parties at the election failed to form a government, Greece's president, Karolos Papoulias, will on Sunday hold last-ditch talks to cobble together a national unity coalition. The alternative is a fresh election next month which polls show Syriza is likely to win.
Mr Pangalos compared Syriza's charismatic leader, Alexis Tsipras, to Venezuela's Hugo Chavez. "Are the Germans going to pay for a guy that wants to imitate Chavez?" he said. "Except that Chavez has oil, and an army."
The deputy prime minister also warned that chaos could boost the neo-fascist Golden Dawn party, which won an unprecedented seven per cent of the vote, and 21 seats, in Sunday's election.
"In the places where the police voted, the fascists got 25 per cent," he said. "They are a serious threat. They have used violence already -- you don't know where it will stop.
"You know how it happened in Germany -- it started with the Jews, then the Communists, then everybody -- it could happen here. This is the country, after the Soviet Union and Germany itself, with the biggest percentage of [Second World War] casualties in its population."
If Greece isn't serious enough to want to save itself, if all it wants to do is blame others, if the only people it can turn to are socialists (bolshevik or national), then perhaps that's what the Greeks deserve. Let them spend two generations in the wilderness; then perhaps they'll behave more like Hungary or Latvia...
Mr Pangalos's Pasok, the Greek Socialist Party, lost three-quarters of its seats at the election after voters blamed it for the bailout deal and the cuts, which have caused enormous hardship but failed significantly to reduce Greece's debt.
The economy has shrunk by 8.5 per cent in the last year. More than a fifth of the population is out of work and youth unemployment is almost 54 per cent.
Pasok, together with the main conservative party, New Democracy, previously won up to four-fifths of the vote. Last week, the two established pro-bailout parties were reduced to 32 per cent between them.
The streets are calmer since the election. Though Greeks are fearful, there's also satisfaction at the blow they've dealt to their former rulers. But the casualties of the bailout are everywhere. On the pavements, junkies openly inject in the middle of the day. And what is striking about Athens beggars is how clean and well-groomed so many are: not stereotypical street-dwellers, but working and professional people deep down on their luck.
Yiannis Bournos, Syriza's European policy spokesman, told The Sunday Telegraph that Greece could afford to reject the bailout deal because European policymakers dared not risk Greece triggering a domino effect -- and a potential depression - across Europe.
"Mr Schaeuble [Germany's finance minister] is pretending to be the fearless cowboy on the radio, saying the euro is secure [against a Greek exit]. But there's no way they will kick us out," he said. "If we left the euro, the financial markets would attack Italy. If you owe 3000 euros to the bank and don't pay, they will kill you. If you owe 10 billion euros, they will do everything for you."
He criticised the deputy prime minister's remarks, saying: "Mr Pangalos is in his own sphere. When reality does not agree with him, reality has a problem. It's unbelievable to see the same representatives of the banking interests and of neoliberalism saying that nothing can change. It reminds me of religious fundamentalism. There have been so many changes in Europe in the last two weeks."
Mr Bournos said that even if the EU cut off payments the Greek government could still pay salaries and pensions from its domestic tax revenues. He said the country would seek alternative sources of financing from China, Russia and the Middle East.
The Greeks have always been willing to trade in the Soviet Russian orbit...
Left-wingers hope that the election of a new socialist president in France, together with concerns expressed in Italy and the Netherlands about the austerity package, will soften hearts in Berlin. At least in public, however, German officials continued cranking up the pressure yesterday.
"If Athens doesn't stand by its word, that is a democratic decision," said the Bundesbank chief, Jens Weidmann, in an interview with the Suddeutsche Zeitung newspaper. "But that means the basis for further financial aid falls away."
Mr Weidmann insisted the consquences of Greece leaving the euro "would be more serious for Greece than the rest of the eurozone".
Jonathan Tepper, an economist with Variant Perception, said a debt default and Greek euro exit would happen at only moments' notice after weeks of denials by all concerned.
"To avoid immediate runs on banks, it would be done in a 'surprise' announcement over a weekend when markets and banks are closed," he said. "If necessary, Monday and Tuesday would be declared bank holidays as well."
During this period, diplomats in Athens have been told, cash machines would be turned off and all banks closed. Inside, staff would be "redenominating" euro notes into the new drachma, probably by rubber-stamping them. Capital controls would be imposed to stop Greeks transferring money out of the country electronically and border checks would be reinstated to prevent them taking out unstamped euros in suitcases.
Mr Tepper is one of a growing number of economists who believe that the so-called "Grexit" might actually be better than years and years of EU-mandated misery. "In the past century, 69 countries have exited currency areas with little downward volatility," he says. "The experience of emerging-market countries, such as Argentina, Russia and the 'Asian tigers,' shows that the pain of devaluation would be brief, and rapid growth and recovery would follow."
Most economists think that a new, free-floating drachma would immediately crash by up to 50 per cent against the euro and other currencies, effectively halving the value of everyone's savings and spelling catastrophe for those on fixed incomes, like pensioners.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2012
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I imagine the Chinese economy needs export markets even more than the German one does.
#2
Most economists think that a new, free-floating drachma would immediately crash by up to 50 percent against the euro and other currencies, effectively halving the value of everyone's savings and spelling catastrophe for those on fixed incomes, like pensioners.
But, but, but isn't that the ultimate goal of all governments? The currently programme of theft creeping inflation takes so very long.
#6
They can simply print physical Euros and essentially force the ECB to write the issuance as a loan to them (at no interest). They will not run out of money, unless they want to.
#7
spelling catastrophe for those on fixed incomes, like pensioners.
Not to mention retired politicians, judiciary, non-attending public servants or those poor suffering denizens of the Isle of The Blind.
#8
Greece leaving the EUro only means speculation about when the Spanish leave will commence. It makes much more sense and would be easier if Germany left the EUro. That would be ripping the Band-Aid off.
Posted by: Barbara ||
05/14/2012 18:27
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#15
DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > MERKEL TELLS GREECE TO BACK [EU-demanded] SPENDING CUTS, OR FACE
[EuroDollar = EU?]EURO EXIT.
versus
* CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Ex-Minister]CHRYSOHOIDUS: GREECE FACES CIVIL WAR IFF FORCED TO LEAVE EURO.
* SAME > RUSSIA TODAY - "EUROPE ON BRINK OF ARMED-REVOLUTION".
Mama Russia to save US-World + OWG-NWO + JudeoChristianity.
* TOPIX > HOLLANDE FRANCE AGENDA SIMILAR TO "OCCUPY" MOVEMENT, e.g. in USA.
Rise of SARKOLLANDE = US to begin proudly surrender like France???
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > WORLD BRACES FOR EURO BREAKUP.
OWG "BIRTH PAINS", but the UNO = future "Star/
Stellar" Space Socialist OWG Hospital has no Demapol, etc. to give to the Babes.
No anti-Pain drugs for the Babes, + no Milyuhns-n-Dilyuhns of Cigarette/Cigar Packs for the nervous Daddy-os to smoke.
[FRANCE-BELOVED JERRY LEWIS = "ROCK-A-BYE-BABY" END SCENE here, where super-nervous, Quintuplet Daddyo Jerry is comically smoking 00-000's of cigarettes at one time in hospital baby ward].
On a separate note, as usual it once again looks like 1960's-1970's Guam Taotamonas were on the money. as per the probs of a new EU that didn't even exist yet back then. THE US IS NOT IMMUNE AS PER OWG NAU.
DUESSELDORF - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up its criticism of her European austerity policies. The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.
She remains popular in Germany for her steady handling of the euro zone debt crisis, but the sheer scale of her party's defeat leaves her vulnerable at a time when a backlash against her insistence on fiscal discipline is building across Europe.
According to first projections, the centre-left Social Democrats (SPD) won 38.8 percent of the vote and will have enough to form a stable majority with the Greens, who scored 12.2 percent.
The two left-leaning parties had run a fragile minority government for the past two years under popular SPD leader Hannelore Kraft, whose decisive victory on Sunday could propel her to national prominence.
Merkel's Christian Democrats (CDU) saw their support plunge to just 25.8 percent, down from nearly 35 percent in 2010, and the worst result in the state since World War Two.
"This is not a good evening for Merkel," said Gero Neugebauer, a political scientist at Berlin's Free University. "The SPD is strengthened by this election, which will stir things up in Berlin."
The chancellor needs the support of her rivals to pass a new "fiscal compact" that is meant to anchor budget discipline across the EU. The SPD is already pressing her to delay a parliamentary vote on the pact, keen for her to commit to new growth measures beforehand. Many in her party will blame the result on regional leader Norbert Roettgen, Merkel's environment minister in Berlin, who bungled his campaign early on by refusing to commit to staying in the state in the event of a loss.
Roettgen ran on a platform of budget consolidation in a state that, with 180 billion euros in debt, is Germany's most indebted. Kraft, on the other hand, advocated a go-slowly approach to debt reduction, emphasizing the need to invest in cities, education and childcare.
In that sense, the result will be seen by some as a double defeat for Merkel. Voters in NRW not only rejected her party but also the austerity measures that she has forced on struggling southern states like Greece, Spain and Portugal.
The Free Democrats (FDP), a pro-business party that rules in coalition with Merkel's conservatives at the federal level, scored 8.6 percent to make it back into the state assembly. The party hailed the result as proof of a comeback after a collapse in support over the last three years.
The upstart Pirates, a new party that campaigns for internet freedom, continued their strong run at regional level, making it into their fourth straight state parliament, winning 7.6 percent of the vote.
NRW, a diverse state with struggling cities in the rust-belt Ruhr region and home to one third of Germany's blue-chip companies, has a history of influencing national politics. Seven years ago, a humiliating loss for then-Chancellor Gerhard Schroeder's SPD in the state prompted him to call early elections, which he subsequently lost to Merkel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
05/14/2012
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This is just sad because the CDU was never really given a chance. They didn't really have enough of an advantage over the SPD to actually put their plans into full force.
If Germany swings back to the SPD, they are toast.
#3
The word "austerity" should be replaced with "responsibility". In most cases no real "austerity" is being called for. Is it considered "austere" to retire at 63 instead of 60 in the case of France or 60 instead of 50 in the case of Greece?
The EU's external action service (EEAS) plans to spend up to €50 million on private security guards for its Afghanistan mission over the next four years.
It unveiled the tender on Thursday (10 May), saying the money would be spent on "protection of staff, their families in the country, visitors from headquarters or other EU institutions, the premises and the goods of the EU delegation in Afghanistan."
The contract - valued at between €30 million and €50 million plus VAT - is to cover at least 100 security guards, as well as "mobile patrol teams, equipment [and] armoured cars."
It is aiming to sign up a big company with prior experience in Afghanistan - the winning bidder must have an annual turnover of at least €20 million and 400 staff.
Five companies are eligible to compete - the Hungarian-based Argus, Canada's Gardaworld, British firms G4S and Page Group, and French company Geos - after getting on an EEAS private security shortlist last year.
The tender also stipulates applicants must present "an official document issued from the competent Afghan authority that certifies that the company is entitled to operate security services in Afghanistan" before the contract is signed.
For a map, click here For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey city, click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The 49 individuals found butchered on a remote section of highway east of Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon may have been the victims of a Los Zetas plot for a spectacular Mother's Day massacre, according information taken from Mexican press accounts, private emails and other sources.
Since late April the Los Zetas criminal gang has been under immense pressure from an alliance between the Gulf cartel, the Los Zetas' mortal rival and the Sinaloa drug cartel. That alliance was formalized sometime last year, and its existence was revealed following the capture of Victor Manuel Felix Felix in Tabasco state.
Victor Manuel Felix Felix is the brother in law to Sinaloa chief Joaquin Guzman Loera AKA El Chapo, and was also chief financial officer for the Sinaloa Cartel, as well as the Pacifico cartel. In Felix Felix's possession were documents which indicated that an alliance between the two groups had been formalized and that the Sinaloa Cartel and Gulf Cartel would combine their efforts to the east coast for the transshipment of drugs north to the United States.
That alliance was a formalization of what had already taken place in the fall of 2010, indicated by a fax sent to numerous Mexican news organizations which threatened 11 more car bombs like the one which was detonated in Zuazua, Nuevo Leon in December 2010 if authorities did nothing to stop Los Zetas' kidnapping operations in the state.
We now know that Los Zetas were during that time, indeed kidnapping bus passengers in Linares, which is in eastern Nuevo Leon and in San Fernando in central Tamaulipas state.
The San Fernando kidnappings and murders led to the discovery of one of the largest mass graves in modern Mexican history with a total of 193 individuals found dead in hidden mass graves in the spring and summer of 2011. Uncredited reports at the time said that Los Zetas hijacked buses, raped and killed female passengers and then held tournaments to see who would live to become shooters for Los Zetas and who would die.
Later news reports said that Los Zetas operatives in San Fernando became aware that the Gulf Cartel was bringing new shooters up from southern Mexico and that provided the impetus for the hijackings.
The increased pressure placed on Los Zetas came in late March of 2012, when as many as 13 individuals said to be Los Zetas were killed and dismembered, their body parts placed on display along with a narcomanta, which challenged Los Zetas leader Heriberto Lazcano Lazcano and Nuevo Laredo chief Miguel Treviño Morale AKA Z40. The message said, absurdly, that El Chapo would conduct a clean campaign to rid the city of Los Zetas.
It was later reported that the 13 dead were in fact not criminal gang members but random individuals who had been kidnapped and killed for the purpose of terrorizing local criminal groups.
Since that time, several similar events have taken place, most, though not all, in Nuevo Laredo, which is considered to be Los Zetas territory.
And Los Zetas have responded in kind, killing and butchering at least 10 individuals in Sinaloa state, the home turf for the Sinaloa cartel, as well as conducting their own operations in alliance with Beltran-Leyva and Juarez criminal groups against Sinaloa cartel groups in Choix, in the sierras of eastern Sinaloa state earlier in May. Those gunfights ended with 57 dead including 35 in intergang firefights.
In April, 14 unidentified individuals said to be members of Los Zetas were found in Nuevo Laredo, butchered and stuffed into an SUV, it said by Los Matazetas, said to be aligned with the Sinloa Cartel and based in Veracruz state.
These examples are only the ones Mexican press and private social media have been allowed to reveal to the pubic due to threats from criminal gangs. Indeed, it was not until almost 10 days after it took place that at least one US publication, the Houston Chronicle, has reported on the fight for Nuevo Laredo by mentioning the March massacre of Los Zetas operatives in Nuevo Laredo.
But it is apparently the find in Jalisco state five days ago of 18 individuals butchered and stuffed into two SUVs that information came out describing a spectacular plot for a massive Mother's Day massacre.
May 10th is traditionally Mothers Day in Mexico. In the United States, this year Mothers Day is May 13th.
According to a press account on the website of La Prensa news daily by reporter Elizabeth Ibal, two SUVs were found in Ixtlahuacan de los Membrillos municipality just south of Guadalajara city near the Querencias break leading to El Rancho Querencias with the bodies stuffed inside. A warning was left to El Chapo, which said, in part, that the dead were an example of what will happen to those who help the Sinaloa Cartel in Jalisco state.
Jalisco state underwent a change early last March when a Mexican Army detachment detained two of the remaining top leaders of the Jalisco Nuevo Generacion drug cartel, Erick Valencia Salazar, AKA El 85, and Nemesio Oseguera, AKA El Mencho.
Valencia Salazar was also the leader of the Matazetas group which first appeared in Mexican press reports in the fall of 2011, which at first was said to be a vigilante group independent of any drug cartel. That group was responsible for the murder of 35 individuals said to be members of the Los Zetas in Veracruz state. It was later reported that none of the 35 were affiliated with any criminal group,and were in fact innocents kidnapped to be used as grisly props.
The vacuum left by the troubles of Jalisco Nuevo Generacion appears to have allowed Los Zetas and their allies Milenio Cartel to fill vacuum in Jalsico state.
According to the report in La Prensa, a number of individuals had been kidnapped and held by this criminal alliance, 13 of which had escaped captivity.
An anonymous commenter on Borderland Beat ( for which this writer also writes) said on May 9th just after the news broke of the discovery of the 18 dead, said that the plan of the Zetas-Milenio group was for a massive and spectacular bloody Mothers Day massacre of their rivals. The rescued 13 individuals may have placed a crimp in those plans,and possibly led to the massacre in Nuevo Leon.
It is also possible that the Zetas-Milenio group already had set their plans in motion, and it is also possible Mexican security forces were unable to rescue other kidnapping victims in time.
There is no question that the victims in the Cadereyta massacre had been kidnapped from southern areas of Mexico and possibly originated south and central America. A Sunday morning report in Milenio news daily said as much. The attorney general of Nuevo Leon Adrian de la Garza stated that some of the dead were from other states, and a spokesman of the Nuevo Leon Secretaria de Seguridad Pública (SSP) stated that the dead had been killed at least 48 hours before their discovery, and had been transported, possibly by dump truck.
The narcomanta at the site, which was spray painted graffiti said 100 percent Zetas, a possible reference that the murders were done only by Los Zetas and not Milenio cartel members.
It was Los Zetas which killed 72 migrants in the summer of 2010 after the victims refused to pay tribute for passage. A Los Zetas criminal group was detained last month in northern Coahuila state along with several migrants. The upshot is that Los Zetas are involved in the passage of illegal immigrants into the United States. Its is likely that many of those were included in the dead in Cadereyta.
Borderland Beat reporter Chivis contributed to this report.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Ranturg.com
(Sh.M.Network) -- Kenya's anti-terrorism police have launched major manhunt for a German national who sneaked into the east African nation to plan terrorism attacks in the country.
Police Commissioner Mathew Iteere has also summoned Ahmed Khaled Muller to surrender to the nearest cop shoppe for questioning over Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... links.
"The Kenya Police has cause to believe that this person could be in possession of information on planned Al-Shabaab criminal activities," Iteere said in a statement released in Nairobi on Saturday.
The police chief also appealed to Kenyans to help the anti- terrorism coppers to arrest the German whose alias names are Andreas Martin Muller and Abu Nusaibah and whose picture has also been circulated
"Kenya Police would wish to inform the public that one person going by the name Ahmed Khaled Mueller, a German national is believed to have entered the country either illegally or by disguising himself and the nature of his mission in Kenya," he said.
A string of grenade attacks in Nairobi and Mombasa recently have sent Kenyans living in other cities in the East African nation, specifically Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret, into panic as they fear beturbanned goons may strike in their towns.
The latest development comes a week after the police chief released the photograph of Amar whom the police said was behind the recent grenade attacks inNairobiwhich left at least two people dead and more than 15 others injured.
The police said Amar's picture was taken in a beach in Kismayu a few months ago before he returned to Kenya to carry out grenade attack on God's House of Miracles International Church in Nairobi on April 29 which Al-Shabaab has since grabbed credit.
More than 30 people have been killed in Kenya mostly in northern region blamed on Al-Shabaab who have since joined al Qaeda network to cause terror attacks in the East African nation.
The deaths have been recorded after Kenya sent its troops into Somalia in October 2011 to hunt down the faceless myrmidons who were blamed for a series of murders and kidnapping on the Kenya soil.
The Kenyan police have particularly warned against the laxity in the screening of cars for explosives at all shopping malls and any business or social gatherings with at least 10 people at any given moment that these might be vulnerable to attacks.
Iteere ordered Mueller to report to the nearest cop shoppe from where he will be handed over to the Anti-Terrorism Police Unit.
"Any person who knows the whereabouts of the said Mueller is requested to give this information to the nearest police officer, security officer or cop shoppe," Iteere said.
"The public is also warned that this person is possibly armed. Mueller is also believed to use alias names Andreas Martin Muller and Abu Nusaibah," Iteere said.
The attack comes a month after theU.S.embassy warned of an imminent terrorist attack inKenyais possible.
A warning from the embassy said the likely targets include Nairobi hotels and prominent Kenyan government buildings including places foreigners assemble, including shopping malls and night clubs.
"The U.S. Embassy informs U.S.citizens residing in or visiting Kenya that the U.S. Embassy in Nairobi has received credible information regarding a possible attack on Nairobi hotels and prominent Kenyan government buildings," the embassy said in a statement on April 23.
The warning comes as the country's security forces have been on high alert across the country especially in northern Kenya over an imminent suicide kaboom attack by members of the Al-Shabaab group from neighboring Somalia.
Kenya sent troops into Somalia to battle Al-Shabaab rebels in October 2011 after several attacks, including the kidnapping of a French woman and a British tourist -- and the killing of her husband -- damaged its key tourism industry.
Kenya's government says armed attacks and kidnappings threaten the country's tourism industry--a key driver of the economy--that had bounced back after near collapse following post-election violence four years ago in which more than 1,200 people died.
Al-Shabaab forces of Evil have vowed to attack Nairobi after the east African nation which hosted protracted negotiations that culminated in the signing of the federal charter for Somalia in 2005, invaded Somalia to flush out the faceless myrmidons it blamed for kidnappings of tourists.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Yemen Post] Yemen's authorities have stated that they put Yemen's military and security services on high alert, pointing out that they imposed tight security measures around vital and economic facilitates and foreign embosses.
The Interior Ministry said in a statement that measures were taken in anticipation of terrorist operations planned by Al-Qaeda in retaliation for raids that have been carrying out by the Yemeni army against its strongholds in some towns of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... governorate.
The Interior Ministry affirmed that it ordered all its services to strongly respond against any terrorist acts, urging them to be on full alert.
"The military also reinforced its presence in the entrances of the Capital Sana'a and the main cities of other governorates, and increased security forces tasked with protecting embassies and consulates" military sources said.
They said the defense and interior ministries informed all embassies in Sana'a that they took strict measures to protect embassies amid concerns of potential al-Qaeda attacks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wreckage, Captain Poindexter awoke groggily, his hand still stuck in the Ming vase... Bulgaria's ambassador to Yemen Boris Borisov escaped on Sunday an abduction attempt while he was driving through the Capital Sana'a.
Masked gunnies stopped the car of the Bulgarian ambassador to kidnap him, but the diplomat managed to escape and hide in a nearby shop, sources affirmed.
Oman has ordered the staff of its embassy to leave Yemen and head to Muscat after the embassy received threats from an unidentified group, Alahale reported, quoting a diplomat at the embassy on Saturday.
A Saudi diplomat , Abdullah Al-Khaldi and a Swiss teacher, Sylvia Abrahat, have been kidnapped by al-Qaeda-linked a group since more than a month.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Al Ahram] Lebanese troops exchanged fire late Saturday with a group of young Islamists protesting in Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... for the release of a terrorism suspect.
In a separate incident in the early hours of Sunday, one man was killed in festivities between Tripoli's largely Sunni Mohammedan district of Kobbe, hostile to the Syrian regime, and members of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Supressor of the Damascenes... Alawite community. Such incidents are frequent.
The outbreak of gunfire between the Islamists and the army happened as the youths, sympathisers with the ongoing revolt in Syria, tried to approach the offices of the pro-Assad Syrian Social Nationalist Party.
There were no reports of casualties.
Earlier Saturday around 10O young men, mostly Islamists, blocked the northern and southern roads into Tripoli , demanding the release of a fellow resident accused of terrorism.
The protesters set up camp at the southern entrance of Tripoli, the largest city in northern Leb.
Black flags bearing the profession of Islam, "God is Great", were planted alongside the Syrian flag of independence, a symbol of revolt in the neighbouring country.
"We will not leave until my brother is released," Nizar al-Mawlawi, whose 27-year-old brother Shadi was tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! by Lebanese security forces on Saturday.
According to a statement from the Lebanese security services, Shadi al-Mawlawi was tossed in the clink Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! as part of an "investigation into his ties to a terrorist organization," without going into details.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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(Sh. M. Network)-At least three people were killed and two others injured in hand grenade attacks at a base controlling by Somalia government forces in Mogadishu, witnesses said on Sunday.
The first attack took place on Saturday night around 8:00 pm local time at a military base in Bar-Ubah junction, killing three local civilians with some reports soldiers were among the dead, according to the witnesses.
The second blast was reported went off at 30 venues inMogadishu, causing uncorfirmed casualties. Somali soldiers in the kaboom site reportedly opened fire following the double attacks, but no fatalities were reported so far.
The motive for the kabooms in Mogadishu on Saturday night is not yet known.
Since august 2011, when Somali government soldiers backed by AU forces took overMogadishufrom Al shabab, kabooms and coordinated attacks become common in the capital that claimed the lives of innocent people and troops.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Dawn] Two people were killed 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 Sunday when unknown gunnies opened fire on a car in the Dhoraji area.
The firing injured four passengers in a car, two of whom were identified as Maulana Aslam Sheikhupuri and Maulana Hassan Aziz.
Sheikhupuri and Aziz shuffled off the mortal coil shortly after the attack while the two injured security guards were admitted to Jinnah Hospital.
According to reports, Sheikhupuri was a holy man of a seminary of Gulshan-e-Maymar.
The police and Rangers immediately cordoned off the area.
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05/14/2012
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[Dawn] Pakistain Mohammedan League (N) will change the fate of Sindh by bringing progress and prosperity to its people. This was stated by PML-N Chief Mian Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... in a telephonic address to a gathering near Press club Thatta on Sunday.
He said that his party will eliminate the dacoit culture and bring peace and tranquility in Sindh. He called upon people to support his party for the betterment of the country.
PML-N Sindh President Syed Ghous Ali Shah said that all parties and people must respect the judiciary and accept its decisions. Earlier PML-N took out a rally from Edhi center, marched on national highway and gathered in front of press club Thatta.
The participants, led by Syed Ghous Ali Shah and Marvi Memon, carried banners and placards inscribed with party slogans. Other speakers included district president Abbas Attai and Apa Neelam Abbasi.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Dawn] Gunmen rubbed out a top Afghan peace negotiator in the capital Kabul on Sunday, police said, dealing a massive blow to the country's attempts to negotiate a peace deal with Taliban jihad boys.
Maulvi Arsala Rahmani was one of the most senior members on Afghanistan's High Peace Council, set up by President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... two years ago to open talks with jihad boys.
"He (Rahmani) was stuck in heavy traffic when another car beside him opened fire," said General Mohammad Zahir, head of the investigations unit for Kabul police.
Rahmani, a former Taliban minister, was on his way to a meeting with politicians and other officials in a government-run media centre in the heavily barricaded diplomatic centre of Kabul.
"His driver did not immediately realise that Rahmani had been killed," police official Zahir told Rooters, adding that no one had been tossed in the clink Book 'im, Mahmoud! in connection with the shooting.
Taliban front man Zabihullah Mujahed, denied involvement in Sunday's liquidation.
The head of the peace council and former Afghan president, Burhanuddin Rabbani ... the gentlemanly murdered legitimate president of Afghanistan... , was assassinated by a jacket wallah last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
I bet that's our fault too, Hamid?
Posted by: Frank G ||
05/14/2012 8:09
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[Yemen Post] A saboteur had half of this body burned after noon Sunday while attempting to attack a power supply line in Yemen's Marib province, Almasdar Online reported, quoting a statement by an official at the electricity ministry.
"Abdullah Medraj, who was blacklisted on charges related to attacking power supply lines, was burned after he fell while attempting to throw a steal stick at one of the power lines in the Al-Jadaan area," the source said, according to the website.
"When he got his body burned, Medraj fired bullets in the air and the people rushed to the area and took him to hospital," the source continued.
The security authorities in Marib have ordered to hold him inside the hospital since he was wanted on ten attacks on power lines in the past few months, the source said.
Under orders from President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, the authorities have recently blacklisted and started hunts for suspects in Marib accused of sabotaging power lines.
Hadi urged the authorities to give top priority to protecting power supply lines and key public properties in tribal areas , saying in a speech earlier this month lawsuits should be filed against saboteurs immediately.
Tribesmen in this notorious province usually attack power lines and oil pipelines to pressure the government to meet special demands.
Many cities including the capital Sanaa have been plunged into darkness through 2011-2012 because of persistent attacks sending the Marib gas-fired station of commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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Tribesmen The Gov't in this notorious province usually attack power lines and oil pipelines to pressure the government tribesmen to meet special demands.
#3
Surprised he survived at all. That being said, electrical burns are pretty nasty and painful. If he was 'involved' with a medium voltage line or higher (above 1,000 volts), there might be good portions of his body missing too.
On another note, Yemen's grid system is pretty meager and appears to have little or no redundancy from its central steam generation source (except for natural gas low-capacity 'booster' stations in the major cities). Looks like it would be fairly easy to knock out the whole southwest portion of the country with little effort (other than the occasional 'toasty' individual).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
05/14/2012 8:15
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#5
Copper thieves get free hospital stays. This wannabe gets thrown out into the dumpster tomorrow.
Posted by: Charles ||
05/14/2012 13:28
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#6
"Abdullah Medraj, who was blacklisted on charges related to attacking power supply lines, was burned after he fell while attempting to throw a steal stick at one of the power lines in the Al-Jadaan area,"
Do rou mean STEEL?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
05/14/2012 15:32
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#7
Good question, or is there a deally like the power pole on a bumber car which they draw a current through. Yemen, who knows, to tell the truth I was expecting a hand saw. I love the first alert, fire off a few rounds and see who shows up.
[Dawn] UN leader the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... has called on Sudan to move its troops out of the disputed territory of Abyei after rival South Sudan withdrew its security forces.
Ban called on both governments to fall in line with a UN Security Council deadline to start talks on all their disputes, said UN front man Martin Nesirky in a statement released late Saturday.
"The secretary general welcomes the withdrawal of the South Sudan Police Service from the Abyei area. He strongly urges the government of Sudan to also remove its forces from the area," said Nesirky.
Sudan and South Sudan agreed in June last year that they would move their forces out of Abyei and set up a joint administration in the disputed territory which Khartoum troops seized in May 2011.
Since then South Sudan has formally seceded from the north and growing border tensions have created fears that the two could fight a new all out war.
Two million people died in two decades of north-south civil war up to 2005.
The UN Security Council passed a resolution on May 2 giving the two sides two days to halt hostilities, two weeks to start talks under African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... auspices and three months to reach an accord.
Ban "urges the governments of Sudan and South Sudan to resume negotiations under the auspices of the African Union High-Level Panel to resolve the outstanding issues between them," said the front man.
He also said the two sides must activate agreed measures to draw up their border, one of many disputes left hanging over them since their split last year.
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05/14/2012
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The Mexican presidential campaign week began with at least international press atwitter about the appearance of Playboy Playmate Julia Orayen who appeared on stage just prior to the start to hand out placards to determine the order of debate of the candidates for all of 15 seconds.
Her appearance reportedly set off a trending topic on Twitter ranging between 3rd and 4th of all topics.
This writer watched trending topics as well following the debate, but did not notice Ms. Orayen's name or references to her in any trending topic during the date, but it was hard to miss her the following day as international press wire claims, absurdly, that the model stole the show.
And of course without missing a beat, feminist sympathizers tried to write the appearance off as the "hyper-sexualization of Mexican women." This writer missed something because what I saw was a willing young woman dressed in revealing clothing. I was not under the impression her arm was twisted to make the appearance, nor she had stolen anything but a few glances.
The rest of the political week was spent with the respective camps spinning their candidate reactions to questions posed by Mexican citizens and to responses.
Last Wednesday, the camp of Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Pieto responded to leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador to the charge of almost MX $1 billion (USD $73,782,800) spent by Pena Nieto of self promotion in his first year as governor of Mexico state. The response was a countercharge that while head of government of Distrito Federal, Lopez Obrador himself spent MX $674,125 (USD $49,729,607) between December 2000 and June 2005 on personal communications.
Lopez Obrador responded to Mexican journalist Aristegui Carmen in a radio interview that his administration spent less than MX $1 billion during his tenure.
In 2001 MX $148 million (USD $10,919,854.40).
In 2002, MX $149 million (USD $10,993,637.20)
In 2003, MX $72.9 million (USD $5,378,766.12).
In 2004, MX $92.2 millones (USD $6,802,774.16).
In 2005, MX $93.3 million (USD $6,883,935.24).
He added that if the PRI figures are true he will renounce his candidacy, adding Pena Nieto should renounce his because Lopez Obrador's figures are correct.
Meanwhile, Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota promise while in Guerrero state Wednesday that she will press for as parental responsibility law that will provide for monetary child support for unwed mothers.
Vazquez Mota spent the days following the debate dodging charges during a radio interview/talk program called Third Degree, in which she was questioned about the inclusion of Juan Molinar in her campaign. The subtext of the question was her support for families in such proposals as the parental responsibility law is in contrast to the inclusion of Molinar in her campaign.
Molinar is a PAN politician who was president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa's director of Instituto Mexicano del Seguro Social, or Mexico's Social Security agency when the ABC daycare fire took place in Hermosillo, Sonora. That fire took the lives of 49 children, most of them under the age of four. Molinar resigned from IMSS as a result of the investigation.
Vazquez Mota weakly told the panel that the inclusion of Molinar was not her idea. She shifted the blame to PAN president Gustavo Madero Munoz. Madero has not responded to the interview to date.
In the last part of the week,responding to polls which now place her in third place behind Lopez Obrador, she attacked her next rival, Gabriel Quadri as being a part of s system that allows " education chiefdoms" as she put it, which she vowed to end as president. Quadri's party, Partido Nueva Alianza (PANAL) founder is teacher's union president Elba Esther Gordillo.
The most harrowing experience of the week for a Mexican presidential candidate has to go to Pena Nieto who went to the Universidad Iberoamericana Thursday to give a talk to students.
In a posting to its website, El Sol de Mexico reported that Pena Nieto managed to "...overcome questions about his relationship with former President of Mexico, Carlos Salinas de Gortari, the leader of the teachers union, Esther Gordillo, and his management as governor of the State of Mexico."
The actual exchange was much, much worse than that, because Pena Nieto faced a raucous and unhappy crowd of students who continually hammered Pena Nieto for his actions in the earliest weeks of his administration in Mexico state in 2006.
Students shouted "murderer" at the PRI candidate, referring to the two protesters who were killed by Pena Nieto's security forces in an action to end a blockade that was started to stop a new airport project from beginning. The issue was land expropriation by the state government, which would have presumably placed several local flower vendors out of business.
The engagement was so out of control that PRI president Pedro Coldwell suggested that the incident be investigated. Universidad Iberoamericana is Vazquez Mota's alma mater.
The big question coming out of that is why Pena Nieto would walk into such a firestorm in the first place. The answer may well lie in the one area that both PAN and PRI agree on, law and order.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political new for Rantburg.com
[Al Ahram] Two men were killed on Sunday and 29 other people were maimed after their convoy that was illegally crossing from Egypt into Libya entered a minefield, a medical source said.
Mahmoud Zahran, a Health Ministry official in the northern Egyptian city of Marsa Matrouh, said an Egyptian and a Sudanese man died when their vehicle, which was travelling in a convoy with two others, hit landmines inside Libya.
Health officials and Egypt's state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? all the injured were Egyptians, except for two Sudanese. Reports had earlier said the two dead were both Egyptian.
Egyptians have traditionally sought work in Libya, but the conflict that toppled Muammar Qadaffy ...Custodian of Wheelus AFB for 42 long years until he was ejected from the gene pool by his indignant citizens... last year forced many to leave.
A recovery in Libyan oil output to near pre-war levels is luring many back, however, at a time when Egypt's economy has been hammered by the uprising that ousted Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
Egypt's state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? the injured were brought to a hospital in Salloum, an Egyptian town near the border.
The north coast of Egypt and Libya is littered with landmines laid during World War Two by Germany and Britannia and their respective allies.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Bangla Daily Star] Ghulam Azam, considered by many as the symbol of war crimes during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, was yesterday indicted on five charges of crimes against humanity.
After framing the charges, the International Crimes Tribunal-1 set June 5 for the trial to begin with opening statement from the prosecution.
The charges against Ghulam Azam include involvement in murder and torture of unarmed people; and conspiracy, planning, incitement and complicity to commit genocide and crimes against humanity during the 1971 war.
The charges were based on 60 incidents of crimes against humanity.
Ghulam Azam was the ameer of East Pakistain 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... during the Liberation War. He campaigned across Bangladesh and even in Pakistain (then West Pakistain) in an attempt to foil the liberation efforts.
He played a key role in forming Shanti (peace) Committee and Razakar, Al Badr and Al Shams forces, which actively helped the Pak forces in committing massacres across the country. Three million people were killed and over two million women were raped during the nine-month war.
Yesterday, Tribunal-1 Chairman Justice Md Nizamul Huq read out the charges with an introduction to the formation of the tribunal, a brief history of the Liberation War, a profile of Ghulam Azam and submissions of the prosecution and the defence along with the court's views on the case.
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05/14/2012
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[Dawn] A blast occurred near police's Chamkani check post in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar's cattle market early on Sunday, DawnNews reported.
Seven people were maimed when the blast targeting a police check post, destroyed a cattle market situated on Peshawar's Ring Road.
Police and emergency response teams rushed to the spot and the injured were shifted to Peshawar's Lady Reading Hospital.
The condition of one injured was stated to be critical.
Fear and panic gripped the area after blast and police cordoned off the area and began investigations.
SSP Rural Shafiullah said that five to six kilograms of explosives were used in the home-made-remote-detonated bomb and that no damage to coppers had been reported.The blast inflicted minor damage to the outer wall of the police check post.
In a separate incident a tribal chief Sardar Mohammad Sultan was killed in a gun attack by cut-throats in eastern Kurram agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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#1
Man those terrorist cattle are a real bitch!
Posted by: Water Modem ||
05/14/2012 22:43
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[An Nahar] Four people, including a Lebanese soldier, were killed and at least 25 injured on Sunday in a shootout between the residents of rival neighborhoods in the northern port city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... as the area witnessed intermittent festivities, the army and media reports said.
"The Tripoli festivities left at least four people dead and 25 maimed, most of them civilians," reported al-Manar television.
State-run National News Agency said festivities renewed between Bab al-Tabbaneh and Jabal Mohsen in a fierce manner at around 10:30 p.m., with Energa-type rifle-launched anti-tank grenades and rocket-propelled grenades (RPGs) widely used.
LBC television said an Energa grenade hit a high school for girls in al-Zahriyeh area, causing no casualties.
Army troops, mainly from the Commando Regiment, began deploying in the afternoon in the city's Syria Street and the areas that witnessed festivities at dawn, state-run National News Agency said.
MTV said a clash erupted between the army and gunnies in Bab al-Tabbaneh after troops entered one of its neighborhoods.
NNA reported later that citizens Mustafa Ali Mustafa and Rami Saad Harrouq were maimed by gunfire in Syria Street.
A number of residents blocked the al-Mallouleh roundabout and Syria Street's Abu Ali roundabout to protest the wounding of the two, said NNA.
Meanwhile, ...back at the game, the Babe was wondering why the baseball kept getting bigger and bigger. Finally it hit him... LBC television reported that "Islamists have refused to end their sit-in at the Abdul Hamid Karami Square in Tripoli," as MTV reported "the sound of heavy gunfire coming from Al-Nour Square."
The fighting erupted at 2:00 am after an Energa-type rocket fell in the area of al-Qobbeh, a largely Sunni district hostile to the Syrian regime, killing a man identified as Issa Ali, the National News Agency reported.
The rocket attack was followed by a gunbattle between the mainly Sunni residents of Qobbeh and Bab al-Tabbaneh, and the Alawites of Jabal Mohsen, who support Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... .
The fighting with Energa rockets and Rocket Propelled Grenades lasted from 4:00 am till 7:00 am, NNA said, adding that sporadic bursts of rockets machineguns were heard afterwards.
Lebanese soldier Faisal Hussein Abdullah was killed by sniper fire at the Mallouleh roundabout of Tripoli as he was heading to his work from the Bekaa to his hometown in Akkar, the military command said in a communique.
Eighteen-year-old Mahmoud al-Duhaibi's body was also found on the side of a road at the northern entrance of the city, NNA said.
The gunbattles and sniper attacks left at least nine people injured, including a child and two soldiers.
Lebanese army commandoes began deploying in Syria street to stop the fighting which came against the backdrop of the General Security Department's arrest on Saturday of Shadi al-Mawlawi for allegedly contacting a terrorist organization.
His seizure drew the condemnation of Islamists who blocked the northern and southern roads into Tripoli and set up camp at the city's southern entrance.
The army communique said the military conducted patrols and set up roadblocks in Tripoli and vowed to "deal firmly with those who tamper with the city's security and stability no matter to which side they belong to."
While conducting patrols in the area of the fighting, two soldiers were maimed in a sniper attack, the army said.
Security sources told LBC TV network on Sunday that the General Security Department handed al-Mawlawi to the judiciary, which will release him if no evidence was found of his link to any terrorist organization.
But judicial sources denied the report in remarks to Voice of Leb radio (100.5).
President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... called for an emergency meeting for the Higher Defense Council on Sunday afternoon.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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[Yemen Post] About 25.000 Yemeni troops take part in a large-scale military campaign against Al-Qaeda in some towns of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... governorate, military sources said.
According to Al-Masdar Online, about eight brigades of the Southern Military Region are fighting al-Qaeda with the aim of recapturing some towns controlled by the terrorist group.
The brigades started on Saturday its military campaign against Zinjibar and Jaar, two town Al-Qaeda took control on them one year ago, the sources reiterated.
The military carries out a plan prepared by Yemeni and American experts, and Yemen's air and marine forces take part in the campaign, the sources pointed out.
They said that President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi ...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh... approved the military plan that is under the control of senior military commanders including Minister of Defense Mohammad Nasser Ahmed.
The sources affirmed the military advanced on two fronts amid air cover in fighting that killed six soldiers in two days, affirming that military units attacked Jaar from the west and that the troops could reach some outskirts of the town.
Yemen President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi vowed early of May that he will defeat Al-Qaeda. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... Al-Qaeda attacked military positions hours after his address, killed and captured dozens of Yemeni troops.
Yemen's Chief of Staff Ahmed Ali Al-Ashwal met on Sunday with chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack Obama Why can't I just eat my waffle?... , John Brennan. According to the military-run 26 September, both officials discussed mutual relationships and cooperation's between the Yemeni and US militaries, in particular counter-terrorism.
Sources had told Yemen Post that the United States sent nearly 45 counter-terror trainers to Yemen this week in an effort to strengthen the Yemeni government's ability to fight al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
05/14/2012
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Top crude exporter 
[Bangla Daily Star] Bulgaria's ambassador to Yemen escaped a kidnap attempt on Saturday while he was driving through Sanaa in a diplomatic car, local and Bulgarian officials said on Sunday.
Jerry Lewis doppelgänger Amr Moussa
...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...
[Bangla Daily Star] A series of 
[Al Ahram] Gunmen opened fire on card players in the northern Nigerian city of Kano on Sunday, killing three people including a prison warden, residents said.
International Criminal Court
DUESSELDORF - Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservatives suffered a crushing defeat on Sunday in an election in Germany's most populous state, a result which could embolden the left opposition to step up its criticism of her European austerity policies. The election in North Rhine-Westphalia (NRW), a western German state with a bigger population than the Netherlands and an economy the size of Turkey, was held 18 months before a national election in which Merkel is expected to fight for a third term.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Two people were killed in 
Nawaz Sharif
the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
[Al Ahram] Two men were killed on Sunday and 29 other people 
[Bangla Daily Star] Ghulam Azam, considered by many as the symbol of war crimes during the Liberation War of Bangladesh, was yesterday indicted on five charges of crimes against humanity.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
