AoS note at 1815 CT: all Snowden stories should be filed under Home Front: WoT as WoT-related.
NSA leaker Edward Snowden says he took his job with the National Security Agency for the sole purpose of obtaining evidence on Washington's cyberspying networks, the South China Morning Post reported Monday.
Snowden, who was in Hong Kong before fleeing to Moscow this weekend, told the newspaper that he sought a position as an analyst with the consulting firm Booz Allen Hamilton so he could collect proof about the NSA's secret surveillance program ahead of planned leaks to the media.
"My position with Booz Allen Hamilton granted me access to lists of machines all over the world the NSA hacked," he told the Post in a June 12 interview that was published Monday. "That is why I accepted that position about three months ago."
In his interview with the Post, Snowden divulged information that he claimed showed hacking by the NSA into computers in Hong Kong and mainland China.
"I did not release them earlier because I don't want to simply dump huge amounts of documents without regard to their content," he said. "I have to screen everything before releasing it to journalists."
Asked by the Post if he specifically went to Booz Allen Hamilton as a computer systems administrator to gather evidence of surveillance, he replied: "Correct on Booz."
His intention was to collect information about the NSA hacking into "the whole world" and "not specifically Hong Kong and China," he said.
The documents he divulged to the Post were obtained during his tenure at Booz Allen Hamilton in April, he said.
He also signaled his intention to leak more of those documents at a later date.
#5
It depends on your choice:
Was he (or did he think he was) defending the constitution by breaking his oath to his employer?
I am tempted, in this case, to think he was.
#6
His intention was to collect information about the NSA hacking into "the whole world" and "not specifically Hong Kong and China," he said.
That tells me that he intended to reveal this, including lists of foreign computers the NSA compromised, to those who are not our friends - severely damaging our national security. Intentionally.
Who knows what else he has on those 4 laptops. Encryption keys? Informer identities? If he's willing to reveal foreign systems we compromised - why not foreign nationals? I believe Wikileaks has absolutely no problem doing so - why should he?
h/t Donald Sensing
A trove of ancient manuscripts in Hebrew characters rescued from caves in a Taliban stronghold in northern Afghanistan is providing the first physical evidence of a Jewish community that thrived there a thousand years ago.
MOSCOW/HONG KONG - Russia defied White House pressure on Monday to expel former U.S. spy agency contractor Edward Snowden to the United States before he flees Moscow on the next stop of his globe-crossing escape from U.S. prosecution.
Snowden, whose exposure of secret U.S. government surveillance raised questions about intrusions into private lives, was allowed to leave Hong Kong on Sunday after Washington asked the Chinese territory to arrest him on espionage charges. The 30-year-old flew to Moscow as a transit stop before heading elsewhere, several sources said. But reports he would fly to Cuba were put in doubt when witnesses could not see him on the plane, despite heightened security before take-off.
Ecuador, which has sheltered the founder of the WikiLeaks anti-secrecy organization, Julian Assange, said it was considering Snowden's request for asylum. There is no direct flight to Quito from Moscow.
"He didn't take the flight (to Havana)," a source at Russia's national airline Aeroflot told Reuters.
As speculation mounted about where he would go next - Ecuador, Venezuela or Havana at a later date to escape the crowd of journalists on board Monday's flight - Washington was stung by Russian defiance.
Boy howdy, that's never happened before...
Snowden's flight to Russia, which like China challenges U.S. dominance of global diplomacy, is an embarrassment to President Barack Obama who has tried to "reset" ties with Moscow and build a partnership with Beijing.
Is it really possible for Champ to be embarrassed? It hasn't happened yet these past five years...
The White House said it expected the Russian government to send Snowden back to the United States and lodged "strong objections" to Hong Kong and China for letting him go.
But the Russian government ignored the appeal and President Vladimir Putin's press secretary denied any knowledge of Snowden's movements. Asked if Snowden had spoken to the Russian authorities, Peskov said: "Overall, we have no information about him."
He declined comment on the expulsion request but other Russian officials said Moscow had no obligation to cooperate with Washington, after it passed legislation to impose visa bans and asset freezes on Russians accused of violating human rights.
"Why should the United States expect restraint and understanding from Russia?" said Alexei Pushkov, the head of the foreign affairs committee in the lower house of parliament.
Putin has missed few chances to champion public figures who challenge Western governments and to portray Washington as an overzealous global policeman. But Russian leaders have not paraded Snowden before the cameras or trumpeted his arrival.
Because they understand that he's a skinny little creep...
Since leaving Hong Kong, where he feared arrest and extradition, Snowden has been searching for a country that can guarantee his security.
Ecuadorean Foreign Minister Ricardo Patino, on a trip to Vietnam, said Quito would analyze his asylum request with a "lot of responsibility". He was expected to hold a news conference around 7 p.m. (1200 GMT) in Hanoi.
A source at Aeroflot said on Sunday Snowden was booked on the flight due to depart for Havana on Monday at 2:05 p.m. (1005 GMT). But a correspondent aboard could not see him and the seat he was supposed to occupy, 17a, was taken by another passenger.
A State Department official said Washington had told countries in the Western Hemisphere that Snowden "should not be allowed to proceed in any further international travel, other than is necessary to return him to the United States".
Despite the Kremlin denials, U.S. Senator Charles Schumer
...who found the TV camera...
said Putin had probably known about and approved Snowden's flight to Russia.
"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States," Schumer, a senior Senate Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union". He also saw "the hand of Beijing" in Hong Kong's decision to let Snowden leave.
Outstanding command of the obvious, Chuckles...
But taking the higher ground after being accused of hacking computers abroad, the Chinese Foreign Ministry expressed "grave concern" over Snowden's allegations that the United States had hacked computers in China. It said it had taken up the issue with Washington.
#2
Dozens of "journalists" got punked into taking that slow Moscow-to-Cuber flight.
"Please enjoy the film "Battleship Potemkin" with Spanish subtitles, and don't use both sheets of toilet paper at one time. Lunch will be beet enchiladas"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/24/2013 10:13
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skinny little creep...
Never to be confused with the head of the Chicago Teachers Union who probably has done as much damage fundamentally to the country over a longer period of time.
#4
"Putin always seems almost eager to stick a finger in the eye of the United States," Schumer, a senior Senate Democrat, told CNN's "State of the Union"
Wonder if Chuckie had the same attitude prior to 2004?
#6
Reminds me of Opus' "I dare ya, I double-dare ya, I triple-dare ya ..." flipper-stomping rants aboard the Soviet sub, before the Sub's Captain fired him thru the missle tube.
[London24] The disabled man stabbed to death in Thamesmead on Saturday, June 15, 2013 was described as a 'great neighbour and friend' by one of the first people to find him.
The 56-year-old, who was confined to a wheelchair having had toes amputated due to gangrene, was found dead at 2pm, having had his throat cut.
Daha Mohammed, 51, also of Abbotts Close, was charged with the murder of Mr Greenaway and was due to appear at Bexley Magistrates' Court today.
A post-mortem examination at Greenwich Mortuary gave the cause of death as incised wounds to the throat.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] La Belle France has "all reason" to believe that the kidnapped Frenchies being held by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) are alive, President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... said on Sunday.
The Islamist group said in a statement posted on its Twitter account on Saturday that eight European hostages, including five from La Belle France, were safe.
The message repeated previous statements by AQIM that it would kill the hostages if there were any new French military intervention in North Africa, but said it remained open to negotiations to free them.
"We are still looking for contacts, we have all reason to believe that the hostages are alive but we must seek to free them," Hollande said during a visit to Qatar.
The AQIM statement coincided with rallies across La Belle France organized by the families of kidnapped Frenchies who were seized in Niger in September 2010 to mark more than 1,000 days of captivity.
French newspapers have reported the hostages had been transferred to Algeria and were in the hands of AQIM's new chief, Yahia Abou el-Hamam.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... has changed its official weekend to Friday and Saturday, state news agency SPA reported.
A statement on SPA said the change, decreed by King Abdullah, will take effect as of this weekend, "for the sake of putting an end to the negative effects and the lost economic opportunities consistently associated with variation based on work days between local departments, ministries and institutions and the regional and international counterparts."
The move brings the kingdom in line with the rest of the Gulf, as well as being closer to the working hours of international financial markets and businesses.
The Saudi financial market, the largest Arab bourse in capitalization, works five days per week but with the previous Thursday and Friday weekend, only three days had matched those of the main global markets.
In April, the Saudi Shura Consultative Council had agreed to study a recommendation to switch the Islamic weekend in the kingdom to Friday and Saturday.
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#1
also makes Saudi Arabia consistent with Israel (although some work places are open until noon on Friday in Israel)
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/24/2013 0:07
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#2
Having a two day weekend sort of implies they are working the other five days.
Posted by: Grunter in Sydney ||
06/24/2013 6:05
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[An Nahar] Britannia is planning to force visitors from India, Pakistain, Nigeria and other countries whose nationals are deemed to pose a "high risk" of immigration abuse to provide a cash bond before they can enter the country, a report said Sunday.
The Sunday Times newspaper said that from November, a pilot scheme would target visitors from those three countries plus Bangladesh, Sri Lanka and Ghana.
Visitors aged 18 and over would be forced to hand over £3,000 ($4,600, 3,500 euros) from November for a six-month visit visa.
They will forfeit the money if they overstay in Britannia after their visa has expired.
Initially the scheme will target hundreds of visitors, but the plan is to extend it to several thousand, according to the broadsheet's front-page report.
The weekly paper said the move by Home Secretary Theresa May is designed to show that Prime Minister David Cameron ... has stated that he is certainly a big Thatcher fan, but I don't know whether that makes me a Thatcherite, which means he's not. Since he is not deeply ideological he lacks core principles and is easily led. He has been described as certainly not a Pitt, Elder or Younger, but he does wear a nice suit so maybe he's Beau Brummel ... 's Conservative Party is serious about cutting immigration and abuses of the system.
The populist United Kingdom Independence Party has been encroaching on the Conservatives' traditional core vote in recent months.
Cameron wants annual net migration down below 100,000 by 2015.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Sounds like a great idea, how about trying this on the United States ?
[An Nahar] Dutch police on Saturday briefly detained two brothers aged five and seven who crashed a car after a mile-long joyride.
"A police patrol this morning saw a car with the doors open and two young boys stood next to it," in Bloemendael, west of Amsterdam, police spokeswoman Lenny Beijerbergen told Agence France Presse.
"The seven-year-old boy told police that he had driven the car around one-and-a-half kilometers (one mile), hit a metal post on the pavement and come to a standstill," Beijerbergen said.
A policeman tweeted a photo of the crash scene, saying that the car belonged to the boys' grandmother.
The photo, which was quickly removed from Twitter, showed the boys, the car and the uprooted post in a residential street strewn with debris from the car.
"At least I had my seat belt on! And my brother was in the child's seat," the seven-year-old driver said
"At least I had my seat belt on! And my brother was in the child's seat," the seven-year-old driver said when police turned up, national news agency ANP reported.
"The boys were taken to the police station, given a talking to and made aware of what they've done," Beijerbergen said.
"Then they were taken home. Thankfully they were both unhurt."
She said there was considerable damage to the car and the pavement.
"This is really quite remarkable, I've never seen anything like it, seven is very young," Beijerbergen said.
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Iran has denounced a recent decision by the Friends of Syria members to send weapons to the Syrian opposition fighting the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad The Scourge of Hama... , the Iranian state news agency reported on Sunday.
"Those who support sending weapons to Syria are responsible for the massacre of innocents and for the insecurity in the region," the official IRNA agency cited Deputy Foreign Minister Hossein Amir Abdollahian as saying.
Western and Arab countries meeting in Doha on Saturday mainly backing opposition fighters battling Assad said they would provide "urgently all the necessary materiel and equipment" to the opposition.
A final communique from the meeting said that the equipment would be channeled through the high council of the Free Syrian Army, AFP reported.
Foreign ministers from the 11 countries attending the conference agreed to provide the support to the opposition to "change the balance of power on the ground."
Abdollahian lashed out at the U.S. for its role in the Doha conference.
"Instead of sending weapons to Syria, Washington should support an end to violence and national dialogue so Syrians can decide their own future," AFP quoted him as saying.
He called on Washington to "stop supporting terrorism, the murder of people and the destruction of infrastructure in Syria".
On Saturday, Iran's Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Iran "will never allow -- as it has shown until now -- that a political solution be imposed on the Syrian people from outside," media reported.
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[Pak Daily Times] The port city having fame for its industries has now given birth to a unique yet frightening industry of 'kidnapping for ransom', within few months this industry has generated huge money at the cost of life and peace in metropolis.
According to the data available to the sources in Citizens Police Liaison Committee (CPLC), from January to June 2013 about 74 cases have been registered. While in year 2012 the kidnappings done for ransom money broke all the records as 132 cases were registered at various cop shoppes of the city.
It is pertinent to mention here, keeping the performance of the police department, that more than 50 percent of affectees never complained or reported the incident with police, but preferred to pay a huge amount for the safe recovery of their love ones. The number of unreported cases is much higher than those being reported.
SSP Anti Violent Crime Cell (AVCC) Niaz Ahmed Khoso told this scribe that 66 of the total 74 kidnapping cases were resolved, while police is trying hard to recover the remaining 8 victims still in the custody of kidnappers. However, there's no worse danger than telling a mother her baby is ugly... sources said most of these cases were settled after paying ransom money to the captors.
The trend of kidnapping for ransom is the easiest way to make money. Kidnapers demand money for the release of kidnapee, where majority of people are willing to pay ransom for the release of their loved ones.
Sources privy to the matter said that areas including Super Highway, Northern Bypass, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Defence, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Shah Latif Town, Gadap Town and Bin Qasim Town are most hit by this menace.
CPLC revealed that majority of the affected families declined to register the case and also restrained police from interference for recovery of victims. They pointed out that there are two kinds of kidnapping gangs operating in the city.
The major groups are operating from interior Sindh, where such sort of group has been operating for long, whereas, the recently emerging groups hold affiliation with different terrorist organizations.
Sources further revealed that a few of the groups were locally operating while many of them were circumstantial group formed because of poverty. They said that intercity groups were usually taking the victims to their hometowns, where accessibility of law enforcers is limited because of the tribal system.
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[Pak Daily Times] At least 15 people were killed in a grenade attack on Sunday in a remote village in northern Kenya where low-key clan festivities have displaced hundreds of people in the past week, the Kenya Red Thingy and local officials said.
Pastoralist communities in northern Kenya have long wrangled over the control of highly valuable grazing land.
But the fighting, in which more than 20 villagers have been killed in the past two days in Mandera county, near the east African nation's frontier with Æthiopia and Somalia, has marked an escalation in tension.
Residents say the political class in the area are using clan militia to jostle for top positions in the local administration and to settle old scores.
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[Pak Daily Times] The National Assembly on Sunday unanimously passed a resolution to condemn the ghastly terror attack on foreign tourists in Gilgit-Baltistan (GB), terming it a deliberate attempt to undermine Pakistain's image internationally and portray it as an unsafe place for foreign tourists. The politicians called for a new national security policy to tackle the growing menace of terrorism effectively. At the onset of proceedings, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan told the House about the shocking incident in Gilgit-Baltistan and said that he has suspended the region's chief secretary and IG. Following a lengthy debate on the tragic incident, the House adopted the resolution moved by Deputy Parliamentary Leader of Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) Shah Mehmood Wormtongue Qureshi on behalf of all the parliamentary parties, severely condemning the act of terror.
Condemning the killings of tourists from China, Ukraine and Pakistain, the House expressed its deepest sympathies with the families of the victims and appreciated the action taken by the interior minister in issuing necessary instructions to the law enforcement agencies and security forces and conveying condolences to the ambassadors of the countries concerned. It called upon the government to immediately take all necessary measures against the anti-state elements and enhance the professional capacity of the security and intelligence agencies by ensuring greater coordination among them. Speaking about the attack, Chaudhry Nisar said that the gunnies have not attacked the foreign tourists but Pakistain to send the message that Pakistain is not a safe country for tourists. He pointed out that the country is in a state of war and security system has failed to deal with the uphill task of terrorism. Referring to media reports, he clarified that he did not want to fight with anyone but wanted to place the truth before the people and sought some time to come up with the tangible results.
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[KPCNEWS] President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... accepted the resignation of his newly appointed prime minister on Sunday, a front man said, leaving his Paleostinian Authority in disarray at a time when he is focusing on a U.S. push to restart peace negotiations with Israel.
Prime Minister Rami Hamdallah had served only two weeks when he abruptly resigned last week over a conflict of authority with his deputies. Abbas initially asked him to reconsider, but ultimately accepted the resignation and asked Hamdallah to stay on as head of a caretaker government until a replacement is found, Abbas aide Nabil Abu Rdeneh told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named.
Such a caretaker government could remain in place for weeks. There was no sign of a likely candidate to succeed Hamdallah.
Abbas is likely to look for someone who has the blessing of the Western donor countries that prop up the Paleostinian Authority, has experience in economic affairs and also is close to his Fatah movement.
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[Bangla Daily Star] The prosecution yesterday pressed 10 charges against Faridpur BNP leader MA Zahid Hossain Khokon also known as Khokon Razakar in connection with his alleged crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
The prosecution submitted the charges against Khokon, who was a local leader of the Razakar force in Faridpur, to the International Crimes Tribunal-1 through its registrar's office.
They also appealed to the court to issue a warrant of arrest against the 70-year-old war crimes suspect, who is believed to be on the run.
The investigation agency designated to probe war crimes completed investigation into Khokon's alleged war crimes on May 29. It said it had found "sufficient evidence" about his involvement in war crimes.
Khokon, the incumbent mayor of Nagarkanda municipality in Faridpur, was "involved" in at least 13 incidents of war crimes, which left at least 50 people dead, eight others seriously injured and two women raped, the agency said.
Besides, the suspect was "involved" in forced conversion of nine Hindus, setting fire to numerous houses and two temples, and deportation of seven people, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] Investigations are ongoing over the discovery of two 122mm Grad rockets ...Soviet-developed 122-mm rockets, usually launched from trucks. Newer versions are reported to have a range of up to 30 km.... in the Kesrouan region of Ballouneh on Friday, reported the daily An Nahar Sunday.
Informed sources told the Central News Agency that initial investigations determined that the only forces that possess such rockets in Leb are Hizbullah and the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine-General Command.
Should neither of these two parties be responsible for the rockets, then they could be attributed to small terrorist cells, they added.
An Nahar said that the investigations are currently focusing on how the rockets and their launch pads were placed in the region and what their target was.
Sources told the daily that the incident was aimed at intimidation and creating confusion in Leb.
"The location where the launch pad was stationed makes it hard to determine the rockets' target," they added.
The Central News Agency noted that the rockets located in Ballouneh differ from the ones that were fired at Beirut's southern suburbs in May.
It explained that the two rockets that targeted the suburbs were fired in a traditional manner whereas the rockets found at Ballouneh were set to be remotely fired.
A rocket was fired from the region, but the other one failed to take off due to a technical malfunction, it added.
A strong blast was heard in the early hours of the morning on Friday in the Kesrouan district.
The blast that reverberated across several districts at around 12:43 am could have been caused by a rocket launch.
Later on Friday, launch pads with one of them a 122mm Grad rocket installed on it were discovered in the town of Ballouneh in Kesrouan.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Three volunteer rangers and three local residents, including two children, were slightly injured in an explosion in Yala's Muang district early Sunday morning.
While six rangers were traveling in a pickup truck on a local road to buy food in the town, a bomb was set off. The blast damaged the pick-up truck and wounded three rangers and three bystanders.
In Pattani, a placard warning of revenge against government officials was found on a road Sunday. A patrol team found a message on the Yala-Pattani road. It read, "As long as state authorities arrest our innocent people, it is time for revenge attacks."
The security team were patroling the area following Saturday's bombing in which an army colonel was killed and five other soldiers injured.
In Narathiwat province, a 50-man military and police force laid siege to a house in Rueso district and arrested a former Islamic teacher suspected of involvement in a violent attack.
Wae-aseng Nilubi, a former religious teacher at a private school in Raman district, was taken into custody. He is suspected of being a member of a separatist group under Abdul Roheng Da-eso, alias Pele. He is also thought to be an informant reporting the movements of government forces to the Runda Kumpalan Kecil (RKK) separatist movement and providing shelter for RKK members.
[An Nahar] Ten army troops were martyred and 35 others were maimed Sunday in a clash with supporters of Islamist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the state-run National News Agency reported.
The corpse count rose on Sunday evening after the Army Command had said earlier in a released statement that two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers died in the festivities.
It identified them as First Lieutenant Samer Jeryes Tanios, Lieutenant George Elian Bou Saab, Sergeant Ali Adnan al-Masri, First Soldier Rami Ali al-Khabbaz and soldiers Bilal Ali Saleh and Elie Nicola Rahme.
"An gang loyal to Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir attacked, for no reason, a Lebanese army checkpoint in the village of Abra" on the outskirts of the southern port city of Sidon, it said in an earlier statement.
The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the holy man had been stopped, a security source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"After the gunnies attacked (the army) with gunfire" the army fired back, the source added.
LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
According to state-run National News Agency, one of Asir's supporters was killed and 15 other partisans were maimed.
The army vowed it "will not tolerate" the latest developments, and that it "will continue to fulfil its mandate to suppress strife."
The military will "strike back with an iron fist anyone who... spills the blood of the army", the statement added.
Amjad al-Asir, the holy man's brother, was defiant when reached by telephone by AFP.
"The army is with Hizbullah -- we're being bombarded from all sides," he told AFP as kabooms were heard in the background.
"Sheikh Asir will stay on the battlefield along with those who support him. We will resist to the last drop of blood."
OTV said "Asir's gunnies widened their attacks and are firing towards Haret Saida from Abra."
"An RPG landed in the Alman area in Sidon district and a citizen identified as J. D. was maimed," al-Jadeed said.
"Sniper gunfire is targeting every military vehicle that passes in the vicinity of Abra and all roads linking the South to Beirut have been blocked by masked supporters of Ahmed al-Asir," military sources told MTV.
Al-Jadeed said the army came under sniper fire on Sidon's seaside road and "masked gunnies are trying to block roads near the Hariri mosque."
"The army reopened the Sidon-Beirut corniche road and is chasing the gunnies who blocked it," al-Mayadeen television said.
Agence La Belle France Presse reported that kabooms were heard two kilometers away.
An AFP correspondent saw civilians fleeing the fighting, both by car and on foot.
Businesses in Abra closed for the day in the face of the raging gunfire.
"The shells are raining down on us, and there is intense gunfire," a witness told AFP by telephone.
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[JOURNALSTAR] Suicide bombers targeted security compounds in Damascus and a boom-mobilewent kaboom! in a pro-regime district there Sunday, killing at least eight people, the latest in a surge of civil war violence in the capital.
In northern Syria, a boom-mobile killed 12 soldiers in Aleppo, according to the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights, which relies on a network of activists in Syria for information. It had no other details, and the government did not comment.
In neighboring Leb, meanwhile, fierce festivities erupted between the Lebanese military and supporters of a hard-line Sunni Mohammedanholy man, in the latest spillover from Syria. Six Lebanese soldiers were killed, according to the army, which vowed to hit back with an "iron hand."
Heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual name-calling or slapsy... with machine guns and rocket-propelled grenades in Sidon caused panic in the southern coastal city, which until recently had been largely spared the violence hitting other areas. Many people who were spending the day on the beach hurried home, while others living on high floors came down or fled to safer areas. Gray smoke billowed over parts of the city and residents caught in the fire appealed for help.
The fighting broke out in the predominantly Sunni city after supporters of Sheikh Ahmad al-Assir, a virulent critic of the powerful Shiite hard boy Hezbollah group, opened fire on an army checkpoint.
The military issued a statement confirming that six soldiers died in the shooting, including three officers. It said the shooting was unprovoked.
Syria's state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... SANA said three jacket wallahs blew themselves up while trying to break into the Rukneddine cop shoppe in northern Damascus, killing five people and wounding several others. SANA said three would-be suicide bombers also tried to break into the Criminal Security Branch in the southern Bab Mousalla area but were caught by security forces before they could detonate their explosives.
Activists confirmed the corpse count.
SANA said a boom-mobilewent kaboom! in Mazzeh 86 district in the capital, killing three people, including a 3-year-old boy. Residents of the district are mostly Alawites, an offshoot Shiite sect that Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... 's family belongs to. The opposition forces fighting against Assad's regime are mostly Sunni Mohammedans.
Nobody immediately grabbed credit for the Damascus kabooms, but they bore the hallmarks of al-Qaeda-linked groups that have joined forces with rebels fighting to oust Assad.
The attacks in Syria's two largest cities came as government forces pressed an offensive on the outskirts of the capital.
SANA carried a statement by the Interior Ministry saying that the Damascus attacks were a "new escalation by terrorist groups," a term used by the government to refer to the rebels.
More than 93,000 people have been killed in Syrian conflict that started in March 2011 as peaceful protest against Assad's rule. In the past year, the war has taken on sectarian overtones.
The conflict has increasingly spilled across Syria's borders.
The festivities in Sidon centered on the Bilal bin Rabbah Mosque, where al-Assir preaches. The holy man is believed to have hundreds of armed supporters in Sidon who fought back Sunday. Dozens of al-Assir's gunnies also partially shut down the main highway linking south Leb with Beirut.
By Sunday evening, the army had besieged the mosque, sealing off access to it from all directions, and was going after al-Assir and his supporters, who have been agitating for months.
The NNA report said Assir was believed to be hiding inside the mosque with several of his followers.
The holy man and his followers support Sunni rebels in the Syria conflict, and he has threatened to clear apartments in Sidon where Hezbollah supporters live.
Sunday's festivities in Sidon deepened tensions in Leb. on edge since the Syrian conflict began more than two years ago.
Lebanese 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 an emergency meeting of the security cabinet for Monday. NNA also reported sporadic shooting in the volatile city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... in the north, and the army announced additional force deployments in around Beirut.
The violence came a day after an 11-nation group that includes the U.S. met in the Qatari capital of Doha to coordinate military aid and other forms of assistance to the rebels.
Syria's al-Thawra newspaper, the mouthpiece of the government, assailed the Friends of Syria meeting.
"It's clear that the enemies of Syria are rushing to arm the gunnies to kill the chances for holding the Geneva conference," the newspaper said, referring to a U.S.-Russia initiative for bringing Assad's government and rebels together to negotiate an end to the crisis.
The Syrian paper pledged that the army would "continue the showdown to eliminate terrorism and restore security and stability."
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06/24/2013
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Twelve Sudanese were killed on Sunday when a wall collapsed as they waited to submit their applications for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, official TV said. Smote them dead on the spot, did He? Wonder what they did to get that?
The accident happened in Gedaref town southeast of the capital Khartoum, Sudan TV reported. "We're here to go on the haj!"
[CRUMBLE! CRASH!]
"Not me! I ain't goin'!"
A witness, Ahmed Hashim, told AFP that the victims were crushed by the exterior brick wall, a type of fence, which suddenly collapsed outside a government office.
"A group of people had come to submit their applications for the Hajj," said Hashim, a shopkeeper near the accident site.
It was not immediately clear why the wall collapsed. We know why.
The Hajj pilgrimage is one of the five pillars of Islam and must be performed at least once in a lifetime by those who are able to make the journey to Mecca, in Soddy Arabia. ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... Guess they missed out on that pillar, huh?
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06/24/2013
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#1
Those whom Allah smites, are truly smitten, yea, even unto smithereens.
[Pak Daily Times] A soldier was killed in an improvised explosive device (IED) blast on Sunday in the North Waziristan Agency. According to a spokesman of the Inter Services Public Relations (ISPR), two soldiers were injured in the blast.
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06/24/2013
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Egyptian court on Sunday said Moslem Brüderbund members conspired with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Hezbollah and local bully boyz to storm a prison in 2011 and free 34 Brotherhood leaders, including the future President Mohammed Mursi.
The court statement read by judge Khaled Mahgoub named two members of Mursi's Moslem Brüderbund - Ibrahim Haggag and Sayed Ayad - to be among the alleged conspirators in the attack on Wadi el-Natroun prison on Jan. 29, 2011.
It is the first statement by a court that holds members of the Brotherhood, Hamas and Hezbollah responsible for the attack on Wadi el-Natroun and two other prisons in which members of the Paleostinian and Lebanese groups were held.
Mursi and other Brotherhood leaders have maintained that they were freed by local residents. Hamas, the Paleostinian chapter of the Brotherhood, has denied involvement in the attacks on prisons.
The prison breaks took place during the 18-day popular uprising that toppled the 29-year regime of autocrat Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... . The breaks led to a flood of some 23,000 criminals onto the streets, fueling a crime wave that continues to this day. Among those who escaped were around 40 members of Hamas and Hezbollah as well as the 34 Brotherhood leaders.
A total of 26 top police, prison and intelligence officials have testified before the court, which held its hearings in the Suez Canal city of Ismailia. Some gave their testimony in closed session.
The case began in January when a former inmate appealed a three-month sentence passed by a lower court that convicted him of escaping Wadi el-Natroun. The defendant was acquitted by judge Mahgoub, who on Sunday referred the testimonies and evidence gathered during the trial on the jailbreak at Wadi el-Natroun to prosecutors to investigate.
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06/24/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Unidentified men killed five members of a family in Rajana village of Toba Tek Singh in the night between Saturday and Sunday. Police said the accused barged into a house in village Rajana, Chak 264, tied their victims' arms and slit their throats. The deceased were identified as Javed, his wife Tahira, their two sons, eight-year-old Ali Hassan and six-year-old Mohsin, and four-year-old daughter. Police shifted the bodies to hospital for postmortem and opened investigation. Police have arrested the wife of accused Imran and launched a search for him.
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06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... on Sunday called for supporting the army in order to "foil strife," saying the festivities-hit southern city of Sidon "must be returned to its people away from the 'Asirist phenomenon'," in reference to Islamist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.
"The army and the state are our only option and I contacted everyone to tell them that Sidon must remain the capital of the resistance and must be spared the Syrian conflict," Jumblat said in an interview on al-Jadeed television, in the wake of festivities in Sidon's Abra between the army and Asir's supporters that left 10 army troops dead, among them two officers.
"Why should we be dragged into the Syrian trap in Sidon and Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... ? Let us dissociate ourselves in order to foil sedition and we support the army," he added.
He revealed that MP Bahia Hariri was "complaining of the presence of gunnies near her residence," adding that he contacted Hizbullah security chief Wafiq Safa and "he promised me to withdraw the Hizbullah gunnies from the area surrounding Abra."
"Sidon must be returned to its people away from the 'Asirist phenomenon' and the other activities," Jumblat added.
He stressed that "we cannot ask the army to negotiate with those who killed its officers and soldiers."
"There is a major rift and we must not await for the Syrian crisis to be resolved as they maliciously announced in Doha that the Syrian war will be long," Jumblat said.
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06/24/2013
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Emir of Qatar Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani will with the ruling family "and the people of solution and contract," Al Jazeera television's Arabic website reported on Monday amid reports that he is planning to hand over power to his son Tamim.
The Qatari-owned television network quoted "reliable Qatari sources," about the Sheikh Hamad's plans, but it gave no further details.
Diplomats said earlier this month that an orderly transfer of power, which would also include the powerful prime minister stepping down, was being considered, according to Rooters.
Quoting Qatari diplomats AFP had reported on June 15 that Sheikh Hamad was preparing to hand over power in the gas-rich Gulf state to his son.
A cabinet reshuffle is also expected in which powerful Prime Minister Sheikh Hamad bin Jassem al-Thani may lose his post, or at least the foreign affairs portfolio, the sources told AFP.
The emir "is convinced that he should encourage the new generation" of politicians and rulers, the source added.
"He hopes to transfer power to the crown prince, Sheikh Tamim (bin Hamad al-Thani), and to carry out a ministerial reshuffle" and appoint younger ministers, AFP reported, quoting an official.
Sheikh Tamim was born in 1980 and is the second son of the emir and his second wife Sheikha Mozah.
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[An Nahar] A 27-year-old man has been shot dead in Marseille in a slaying reminiscent of a scene from "The Godfather" that was the 10th murder of its kind in and around the city this year and the 34th since the start of 2012.
Djibril "Jean-Pierre" Abbas, who had a record of violent armed robbery and drugs offenses, was shot around 30 times after being ambushed by three men as he left a girlfriend's home in the Bon Secours district of the southern port on Saturday evening, police said.
The BMW he was driving was riddled with more than 40 bullet holes and police said the murder scene was strewn with shells of the kind used with Kalashnikov automatic rifles.
"This was a real ambush," a police source said of an attack that, in its brutality, recalled the killing of fictional mafia don Sonny Corleone in "The Godfather".
As in the post-war New York of Francis Coppola's 1972 masterpiece, the real-life contemporary violence in Marseille has its roots in feuds between rival gangs involved in the southern port's drugs trade, police say.
Gang-related murders this year have included one last month in which a 17-year-old dealer was shot 20 times with an automatic pistol and a double killing in March that took place in broad daylight and was witnessed by children on a rundown social housing estate.
The latter incident sparked a protest movement among local residents who have called on the government to put in place a "Marshall plan" for the city's poorest neighborhoods.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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#1
Hmmm, Kalishnikofs instead of Thompsons, it's The med after all, use what's handy.
And you don't have to rob the feds.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/24/2013 7:56
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#2
and police said the murder scene was strewn with shells of the kind used with Kalashnikov automatic rifles
7.62x39 undoubtably.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/24/2013 8:01
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#3
and police said the murder scene was strewn with shells of the kind used with Kalashnikov automatic rifles
7.62x39 undoubtably.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/24/2013 8:01
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[Pak Daily Times] Gunmen dressed as police potted 10 foreign tourists and a Pak in an unprecedented attack in Gilgit-Baltistan claimed by the Taliban, who said they had set up a new faction to target foreigners in Dire Revenge™ for US drone strikes.
The attackers struck late on Saturday at the foot of one of the world's highest mountains, Nanga Parbat, killing climbers at a base camp in the far-flung north not previously associated with violence or militancy. The foreigners were from Ukraine, China, Slovakia, Lithuania, Nepal, while one of them was Chinese-American. The deaths call into question the future of foreign mountaineering and trekking expeditions, which provide the last vestige of international tourism in a country on the frontline of al Qaeda and Taliban violence.
Officials on Sunday said one Pak was also killed while one Chinese national survived the attack, which comes just weeks after a new government took office. The climbers were staying at a base camp for Nanga Parbat, which at 8,126 metres is the second highest mountain in Pakistain and the ninth highest in the world. The base camp is at Fairy Meadows in the Diamer district of Gilgit-Baltistan, which borders China and Kashmire.
"The incident took place around 10:00 pm (Saturday, 1700 GMT). They were mountaineers," Diamer police official Mohammed Naveed told AFP. "Gunmen came and opened fire on them. It is confirmed that they have been killed," he said. Six Ukrainians and three Chinese were among the dead, Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar said. Ukraine's ambassador to Pakistain Vladimir Lakomov earlier told AFP that five Ukrainians were killed.
Nisar said the attackers were dressed as Gilgit Scouts, a paramilitary police unit. "They kidnapped two guides and through them reached the area. One guide was killed in the shootout. One is alive. He is now jugged Book 'im, Mahmoud! and being questioned," he said. The interior minister conceded there was no security escort for foreigners in that area of the mountains. The top bureaucrat and top police official in Gilgit-Baltistan were on Sunday suspended, state TV said. Local police told AFP that the bodies of the dead were en route to Islamabad by mid-afternoon Sunday after helicopters were dispatched to the area.
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06/24/2013
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#1
climbing is unislamic
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/24/2013 7:52
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[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Three boom-mobiles, including a suicide kaboom, and a mortar round killed at least six people on Sunday, most of them in northern Iraq where analysts fear tensions could trigger all-out conflict.
The deadliest attacks struck within territory which Iraqi Kurdistan wants to incorporate into its three-province autonomous region in spite of objections from Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... Diplomats cite the unresolved row as one of the biggest threats to the country's long-term stability.
In the town of Riyadh, just west of the ethnically mixed city of Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... three coppers were killed and 14 people were maimed when a suicide attacker set off a minibus rigged with explosives outside the police headquarters, police Brigadier General Sarhad Qader said.
Among the maimed in the 10:00 am (0700 GMT) attack were nine coppers, including local police chief Major Mundher Ahmed.
In central Storied Baghdad, a mortar round hit the Allawi neighborhood, killing two people and wounding five, officials said.
Another person was killed and 27 were maimed by two boom-mobiles targeting Shiite Turkmen areas of Tuz Khurmatu, another ethnically diverse town in the disputed territory which stretches from Iraq's eastern border with Iran to its western frontier with Syria.
The row is one of several between the central government and the autonomous Kurdish region, and diplomats and analysts often voice worry that tensions tied to the disputes could spill over into armed conflict.
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06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] Sunday's festivities in the southern city of Sidon spilled over other Lebanese regions, as roads were blocked in the North, the Bekaa and Beirut and army patrols came under fire in Ein el-Hellhole refugee camp.
This come after two army officers, a sergeant and three soldiers were martyred and several others were maimed earlier on Sunday in a clash with supporters of Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir in the Sidon suburb of Abra, the Army Command said in a statement.
The fighting erupted when Asir supporters surrounded an army checkpoint in Abra, where a vehicle transporting other supporters of the holy man had been stopped, a security source told Agence La Belle France Presse.
LBCI television said the clash in Sidon allegedly erupted over the army's arrest of two individuals linked to the Bilal bin Rabah Mosque.
"The Lebanese army checkpoint in al-Taamir is being targeted by gunfire from the Ein el-Hellhole camp," Future television reported.
The state-run National News Agency National News Agency confirmed the news, saying that one of the Lebanese army's positions came under fire from the Taamir-Ein el-Hellhole area.
Also, an army base was hit with an RPG at the Abu Ali roundabout in the northern city of Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... , but no casualties were reported, LBCI television said.
"Several roads were blocked with burning tires in Tripoli in protest at the festivities in Sidon."
The same source noted: "Gunmen on cycle of violences are roaming Tripoli's streets and an exchange of gunfire erupted between the army and gunnies at the Abu Ali roundabout."
Moreover in the North, a number of young men blocked the el-Mina-Beirut highway in Tripoli facing the Quality Inn Hotel in solidarity with al-Asir.
But later on Sunday, roads leading to the Abdul Hamid Karami Square in Tripoli were reopened in both directions.
Meanwhile in Beirut, dozens of young men roamed the Tariq al-Jedideh area on cycle of violences while chanting slogans in support of Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir.
"Young men blocked the al-Barbir road near al-Khasheqji mosque with trash bins," Radio Voice of Leb (100.5) noted.
LBCI said protesters blocked the road in Beirut's Verdun Street in protest at the Sidon festivities.
The tension of Sidon also spilled over to the Bekaa as the Taalabaya-Saadnayel road was blocked in both directions, al-Jadeed television said.
"Gunmen appeared in al-Masnaa area and in the central Bekaa town of al-Fayda as the Qob Elias-Aammiq road was blocked with burning tires in support of Asir."
"The Ras Baalbek road was blocked with burning tires in protest at the martyrdom of Captain George Abu Saab in Sidon's Sunday festivities," LBCI added.
According to LBCI, the Halba-Qobaiyat road in the northern city of Akkar was blocked at the intersection of the town of Menjez.
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06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] 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... assured on Sunday that the army is "fully authorized" to strike the attackers in the latest festivities between the gunnies of Salafist holy man Sheikh Ahmed al-Asir and the army's forces in the southern city of Sidon.
"The military institution is granted the full authorization to hit the attackers and arrest the perpetrators and the instigators and bring them to justice," Suleiman said on Twitter.
He explained: "This is in order to preserve the security of the Lebanese and the dignity and image of the army."
In a released statement, the president also slammed calls for troops to defect from their units.
"Joining jihad against the army only serves the interests of Leb's enemies, he stated.
"These calls will not be heeded by Lebanese and Paleostinian citizens or army troops."
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06/24/2013
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Speculation of why and how aside, the photographs are interesting, especially from a naval warfare standpoint. MOL Comfort (ex APL Russia) sank due to yet unclear reasons, sailing from Singapore to Jeddah and after that to North Europe, leaving behind hundreds of drifting containers and a huge aftershock hitting liner sector and all of the maritime industry. This is the 1st case in liner sector, when modern ocean-going liner container vessel (built in Japan!) sank in the ocean after breaking in 2 parts, like a poorly built and managed bulk carrier or over aged coaster. Nothing like this ever occurred, and no one believed it was possible, even theoretically. It just could not happen, but still, here it is.
At present stage, even the weirdest theories of the real cause of this accident can not be ignored, something like explosion or several explosions, or whatever else one may fantasize.
Putting aside some exotic versions, most likely causes that come into mind are some basic design and building faults; serious disbalance of the loaded containers weight due to false cargo weight declarations and faulty cargo plan; faulty ballasting of the container ship. Most probably, if that's the case, the sinking was caused not by just one of the above-mentioned factors, but by their combination, and triggered by rough weather. If it is going to be found, that there were a few factors involved, then, the questions arise which require sound and unequivocal answers.
Are there some basic faults rooted deep inside ocean-going container vessels design, building and management, or was the disaster the result of a combination of negative factors. If it's a combination of negative factors, what is the presumption of such a combination, is it negligibly small, or the odds of another incident are alarmingly high. We do not also have to forget another risk quite a number of experts are already worried over -- the risk of major fire on a giant ocean-going container vessel.
One thing is clear, though. The liner sector, 1st of all majors, are going to do whatever it takes to hide unfavorable factors and especially, basic faults, if there are any. The awesome container transportation mechanism they created may not stand serious modifications, called by safety needs.
#7
Latest theory is that the weight of ship's cargo containers is much greater than the containers' weight as stated on the shipment paperwork. It's a long-standing and all too-common problem.
pictures suggest fairly heavy seas created enormous strain on the ship structure but surely Mitsubishi must have built to survive this kind of event which is not that unusual
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/24/2013 14:13
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What it looks like based on the hull cracks and assuming no foul play, is what is called 'hogging'. Basically the interval of waves was such that the midsection was at the peak of the waves, while the bow and stern were in the troughs. Excessive weight toward the ends would exacerbate the action.
What's concerning is that, if there was excessive container weight, it was either still within the ship's design specs (and this was just a freak accident) or the crew was so used to carrying, or ignored, the excessive weight's effect on the ship.
A box of feathers costs the same to ship as a box of lead labelled "feathers"?
What could possibly go wrong?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/24/2013 18:06
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#13
+1 for hogging. The photos of the ship taken just as the crew abandoned to the lifeboat show large, long-period swells that fit perfectly with the ship's length for a hogging situation.
India New Times News says 4,000 of the 4,500 containers had weapons for Syria. Dono whether to believe that or not, but they ong>were onboard. Same media says that 4,000 of them sank, too. Big problem for Obama, since this weapons ship was at sea g>before Obama committed to giving the weapons to the Free Syria Army.
#15
they don't dolly those containers up the gangplank. A dock crane should have a load gauge that could be compared to the listed tare weight
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/24/2013 20:35
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#16
They don't weigh the containers?
In some places they do get weighed. Ports and shipping lines, however, are driven to get the ships turned around in the quickest amount of time. The metaphorical box of lead should really be two boxes of lead. Shippers don't want to pay for two boxes. The port wants the containers loaded and the shipping line wants the ship back underway.
Still, it happened in the Arabian sea, so who really knows at this point.
[An Nahar] Prime Minister designate Tamma Salam called on Sunday for drawing an end to the "premeditated festivities" in the southern city Sidon.
"We call for supporting the army and the security forces in their bid to put an end to Sidon's festivities," Salam said in a released statement.
He stressed: "Perpetrators must be tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! and armed appearances should be terminated because they are threatening the lives of the residents and the civil peace in the city."
The premier-designate had discussed the current situation in Sidon in phone calls with 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... , caretaker Prime Minister Najib Miqati, former premier Fouad Saniora, caretaker Interior Minister Marwan Charbel and the southern city's MP Bahia Hariri.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... Miqati condemned the attacks against the army, the "security valve of Leb and the Lebanese people."
"We call on the people to embrace the army and support its mission in safeguarding security and stability," Miqati said in a released statement.
He added: "We also warn against getting dragged into attempts to blow up the situation in Leb."
"We urge wisdom, patience and avoiding emotional reactions to what is taking place which do not serve this critical situation."
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06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] Two Philippine soldiers were killed in a clash with communist rebels waging one of Asia's longest running insurgencies, the military said Sunday.
The troops were on a routine patrol when they encountered the New People's Army (NPA) fighters in the town of Esperanza on the southern island of Mindanao on Saturday, army front man Lieutenant Colonel Leo Bongosia said.
Two soldiers were killed, while the rebels managed to escape following the clash -- the latest outbreak of hostilities after peace talks broke down earlier this year.
Last week, NPA rebels attacked a tree plantation in the same town and killed five workers after the owner refused to give in to alleged extortion attempts.
Another NPA unit elsewhere in Mindanao kidnapped five unarmed soldiers in civilian clothes as they bought supplies in the market.
The 4,000-strong NPA is the armed wing of the Communist Party of the Philippines, which has been waging a 44-year Maoist insurgency that has claimed at least 30,000 lives.
President Benigno Aquino had hoped to reach a peace deal with the communists by the time his six-year term ends in 2016.
The talks however collapsed in April after the government rejected rebel demands to free dozens of tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! comrades.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] Scholars, intellectuals and holy mans have stressed the need for scholars and students of Madaris Arabia to get acquainted with modern subjects.
During their speeches at a training session organised by the Pakistain Ulema Council (PUC), they said that being an expert of religious education, an educator should also have the knowledge of worldly matters.
In their lectures to students, PUC Central Chairman Hafiz Muhammad Tahir Mehmud Ashrafi, prominent intellectual Allama Sidiq Azhar, Mian Saifur Rehman, Khushnud Ali Khan, Tahir Malik and Dr Khaliqur Rehman provided guidance on different religious and worldly matters. They said that present-day circumstances required the scholars and students to get acquainted with modern subjects and focus on inter-faith and inter-sectarian dialogue. The leaders said that in order to mitigate the concerns that have been created or are being created about the students and scholars of Madaris Arabia, it was important to tell the world that Madaris Arabia were the true representatives of Islam. Those who use their seminaries to promote terrorism, extremism, inter-faith and inter-sectarian divisions and conflict are not the representatives of Islam, they said. The students and scholars, who attended the training session, appreciated the efforts of the PUC. They said that training sessions like these would provide guidance to the scholars and students of religious seminaries, and help them acquire awareness of the demands of present-day circumstances and guide them on what they needed to do in order to meet these demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Hot Blue on Blue action.
See everything!
From TFA:
NBC's David Gregory is taking a lot of heat for asking the Guardian's Glenn Greenwald on Sunday's Meet the Press if he should be charged with a crime for aiding and abetting National Security Agency leaker Edward Snowden.
Point 1: if Champ and Holder can investigate Dave Rosen of the AP, they should be investigating Greenwald. If they do the former but not the latter it's the sort of educational glaring inconsistency that explains everything.
Point 2: if David Gregory can't see how idiotic it is for a journalist to be advocating that another journalist should be charged for leaking information, then it just makes clear that Gregory is so deep in the tank for Obama that he's grown gills.
Someone quipped on Twitter Sunday this is like watching Hitler attack Stalin. Hard to know who to root for...
It doesn't make me happy but I'll root for Stalin every time. But then again, to everyone's surprise (including mine) I live in Communist China now. There's no sales tax here and I don't pay a dime to the IRS. And when the ChiComs read all my emails and monitor my internet searches, at least they are up-front about it.
#1
I don't recognize this site anymore. Why are you people standing up for useful idiots who are aiding and abetting Putin and the PRC? When did it become patriotic to defend flaming a*****es like Assange and Snowden and Manning and Glenn Greenwald?
How does that work, exactly?
Up is down and day is night. At Rantburg, of all places.
#2
We live in whats called an open society, which of course means they open our emails, open our phone records, and open our medical records. Jay Leno
#6
I'm certainly not defending the foks [Greenwald or Snowden]. Remember, Snowden did vote for the Champ and I suspect Greenwald did as well. But what exactly are the crimes? What are the specific charges? Snowden still enjoys the "presumption of innocence" until proven guilty of something in a formal court of law. Rants from a fawning, feckless media don't constitute justice.
The irony here is, Snowden suspected he'd get no justice going through established whistleblowing channels. We also suspect that there will be no justice via a legal prosecution of Snowden. The regime has little desire to hang this laundry in an open courtroom, they'll just run out the clock as they are doing with F&F, Benghazi, and the rest, hoping it will go away or be forgotten.
It's classic black humour. Already knowing full well nothing will come of it in the end, we might as well watch it all and have a good laugh.
As far as the "damage to national security", please add it to Champ's bill will you ?
F--- you. Four laptops loaded with NSA sigint, hand delivered first to his Chinese minders and now to the FSB. And to you that's a joke? Because of your sick hatred for the man in the White House?
The lefties who cheered for our enemies to spite Bush made me sick. You're doing the same thing now, and it's equally repulsive.
#9
The truth of the matter is that all the ideals we would LIKE to believe in about America are pretty thin to useless. When No one is the govt. is actually your friend you DO call it a "regime". No one in the present US govt. is our friend. Few ordinary people all across America today actually identify with Obama or TRUST him and they sure don't trust the IRS or the NSA or a host of other bureaucracies who have absolutely no loyalty to common ordinary individual Americans. The Washington bureaucracies serve THEMSELVES. They don't serve the US people.
Snowden was a fool and his only future now is to slit his wrists in some un- airconditioned back room upstairs in Ecuador looking out the windows at the pigs in the yard with the chickens. His bottom line is he DID take four laptops of secret data with him. He isn't a boy scout and he will be caught and shoved head first down the toilet.
The United States govt is STILL not your friend. It will not get better and your elected representatives are a nasty opportunistic completely bought bunch of shills.
The MSUSAMedia does have gills. We did elect a walking pile of garbage and half of the american population has a buttcrack at Walmart.
The only people I trust are the United States Marines. And since the actual Boyscouts went pinkboy I can't even be sure of that.
But then I am not Perry Como in a pastel sweater myself and I do have a concealed carry. I admire Boeseker and several of the others here. I still trust these guys....
Oh, BTW, you still live in a country where you do need to lock your doors at night. Howdy Doody is long gone and I never did like Buffalo Bob.
I deleted several replies that were sure to get me sink-trapped. It's clear to those of us who lurk here daily that you HAVE not been reading the threads from the start on this subject. Those from the Intel community here have had mixed opinions and so have many others. Is he a traitor? Yes, I think so. But then I also think this entire Administration is a bunch of traitors far worse than Clinton and his mafia were. And yet, at this time, what is there that we can do about it? All the admin is going to do is stuff Snowden down a hole til he's forgotten. His bosses won't be held accountable, and neither will anyone else.
At this point in the game, all we can do is find a little humor in it to laugh at since the culture war is still in a tense peace.
I really don't see what you are expecting Lex. The people here are way past tired of venting angry words about the crimes of this government. It won't solve anything and it doesn't even make you feel better. It's not like we can force the government to do anything right now either.
If venting like this is what keeps you sane, fine, vent away. But understand that just because you vent, it doesn't change the reality of this moment.
#17
To be fair, the American Left used 'regime' to describe the Bush administration, and they certainly hated him, and likely hated the America he (and we) stand for.
Lex: who in the world are you? And why have you not been reading the Burg consistently?
See my two points in salmon color above. I stand by them: this administration has attacked journalists who do their jobs but are giving Glen Greenwald a pass. Why? And David Gregory, a useless idiot, doesn't understand that he's a tool and is destined to be a resident in the American Gulag someday. He'll no doubt petition Stalin Obama: "if only he knew".
Now then: it's a little hard to know for sure what to think of Snowden since we don't have all the facts. He sure does look like a traitor. But consider: what 'secrets' did he reveal? What sources did he compromise? What's the harm? All that goes into the calculation of whether and how he's a traitor.
Further, Lex: who's behind him? You mean to tell me that Snowden, a high school dropout, working a temporary job, who stated even before the got the job that he was going to reveal secrets, somehow used his 'sys admin' privileges to fill four laptops (rather dramatic that, eh)? Really?
Who helped Snowden? Who gathered the information? Who got him the job? He's a catspaw.
But I've been saying that the last two weeks. If only you'd been here.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/24/2013 7:38
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#18
Sorry if I have offended with my 'regime' descriptor Lex, but one has to somehow separate cheap political theater from reality. The benefits [mind you there are painfully few] of old age, hemorrhoids and poor vision one must sit still long enough to concentrate, to reflect on history and personal experience, while at the same time not disrupt steady blood pressure. Having an understanding of Chicago machine politics is also a plus. More than a few who frequent this blog are quite adept at sitting still and using common sense to make fairly accurate intelligence assessments. Black humour if you will, sometimes help mask the pain.
The commonly used term "irreparable harm to national security" is somewhat vague. Forgive me, but I prefer specifics. To coin a phrase somewhat in vogue, my day-to-day "line in the sand" has become.... 'dead Americans'. If Americans somewhere are dying, then the system is not working properly, be it Waco, PanAm 103, Beirut Marine Barracks, The World Trade Center, FOB Chapman in AFG, Benghazi, or the Boston Bombing.
Political embarrassment does not necessarily constitute "Irreparable harm to national security". I have no particular use for the Snowdens, but no one has turned up dead yet, so let's conduct the damage assessments and use this incident as an opportunity to, if nothing else, fix some obvious OPSEC problems.
#19
Besoeker makes an excellent point we should remember: political embarrassment does not equate to a breach in national security. Every president since Washington has tried to invoke this humbug at some point, and it rarely works.
Again, to Lex: Edward Snowden is a mope. He's a cheap version of Julian Assange. I see little difference in ensconcing him in Ecuador versus a maximum security prison in the U.S. They're welcome to the skinny little creep.
I have yet to see a true breach of national security. Maybe there is and the right people in Washington are keeping their mouths shut (for once) to try and limit the damage. Perhaps we'll hear at some point what secrets he revealed that harm our country.
But what's been put out so far is a big nothing-burger. You mean the NSA intercepts communications abroad? You mean they're really doing the job we've been paying them to do this past half-century or more, and that the whole intelligent world knows they've been doing all this time? Really?
On what day did you fall off the turnip truck, Lex?
What this scandal (that's what it is so far), the IRS scandal, the AP tapping scandal, the Benghazi affair (which DID impact national security), and our Middle Eastern policy have shown us is this:
1) our current administration is incompetent at governance
2) that's because it spends way too much time trying to control its citizens
To some, those points are a feature, not a problem. That's another problem.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/24/2013 9:01
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#22
I agree with Besoeker, Threater Flusoper9823, Silentbrick, Steve White, badanov, and others here. We have a far too bloated government that is self-serving. We are over-regulated and the free-market has be damaged severely. PC dictates over having meaningful debates. Bills are passed in Congress without anyone reading them. It is left to the agencies to make requirements up as they go along. It is full of corruption. The administration can't tell the truth to the people about anything. The government has created a schism between itself and the people--basically a culture of us (the government) vs. them (the people). There is no accountability in government. Whistle-blower laws have not worked well--nearly everyone trying to address corruption has paid a heavy price. Scandal after scandal has emerged that has not been addressed in a way that say, Watergate was. Benghazi, Fast & Furious, Soyndra, Cash for Clunkers, corporate bailouts (mainly to pay off the unions), the IRS, NSA, and others. The main stream media has been "bought" and are basically willing watercarriers for the present administration and the left (check journolists and check George Soros). People are basically here to provide taxes and serve the government--except for the 47% who don't pay taxes. The Constitution and the rule of law have been undermined. Immigration reform has become a cruel joke. The existing laws are not enforced. Voting laws have been corrupted. Election outcomes are suspect. I worry that we are not far from a complete breakdown of order.
If people have been paying attention to this site over the years, posters have criticized both Bush when appropriate and Obama. It just seems that things have drifted far left and basically we have a government that is driven by a cult of personality and aided and abetted by the press. The 1st, 2nd, and 4th amendments have suffered greatly over the recent years in the name of protecting the country from terrorism--I'm afraid as Franklin said, if we continue down this path, and give up freedom for security we won't have or deserve either.
So I ask you Lex, what do you expect from the people of this country at this time?
#23
Basically, short of an all out nuclear exchange or the release of a custom made bug more lethal than the original Black Plague, no outside power has the ability to bring this country down anytime in the near future. It's the internal destruction both of the culture and the legitimacy of the government that can end this experiment. We're headed there fast. We're watching the warning signs of the end of the republic. We're about the Gracchi brothers period that the Romans went through to the Caesars. Democracy is an unnatural form of governing in history far more than the hierarchical versions of rule. "Power tends to corrupt, and absolute power corrupts absolutely." - Baron Acton
#24
I began reading this site about eight or nine years ago. I'm a national security liberal who was disgusted by the Howard Dean and other Bush-derangement syndrome Democrats' vicious, in many cases bad faith, attacks on our president and our military. I didn't agree with everthing, esp the TeaParty silliness on domestic issues when that started to gain a following a few years later, but I did enjoy the insider view on military and intel matters that came from OldSpook, Pappy, Bulldog and TrailingWife.
For job and other reasons (family health and financial issues), around 2010 I stopped visiting and sinking time into political bloggery including this one. I was not a fan of Obama's prior to that time, but since then I've seen him demonstrate an iron ruthlessness in the WOT - drone attacks, continuing with Gitmo and renditions, and overruling his advisers on snuffing Bin Laden - and I've changed my view. It also helps that, in the teeth of TP madmen he persevered with that crucial reform that has, finally, allowed my family to get health insurance instead of being denied same by a rapacious for-profit health insurance mafia due to the bogus pretext of what they call a "pre-existing condition." (Y'all in the military have never faced this absurd, outrageous abuse. No civilized country allows this like we do.)
So when the Snowden $hit hit the fan, I came back to Rantburg expecting to see some sanity on this issue instead of the paranoia, the ignorance of technology and the law, and the frothing hatred of the president that we now see from both the Nutroots and the far right maroons. I would have thought the intel/military community here would have understood how the NSA works and has worked, for many years now, or that electronic intercepts have been around for effing SIXTY ONE YEARS. One could also expect a right-leaning crowd to get its schooling on legal-constitutional nat. sec'y matters from rational, deeply informed insider experts like National Review's Andy McCarthy.
But no. More frothing paranoia. Embarrassing ignorance. And of course, an old friend of Rantburg who calls this out is labeled a "troll" when he stands up for national security and the incredibly tightly restricted surveillance procedures that have been plain as day to anyone who was paying attention all these years.
and now the final descent into incoherence, above, from Boris badenough: from his refuge in the PRC, he praises for the banditry and thuggery of Communist China and by implication Putin's mafiya state (the late great Hitchens called it "cockroach capitalism").
I don't recognize this place. I don't recognize my fellow citizens anymore either: right and left descending deeper into paranoia and Internet- fueled stoopidity. I feel like a JFK supporter in 1963, surrounded by little Bircher nutcases and Stalinists...
#25
and now the final descent into incoherence, above, from Boris badenough: from his refuge in the PRC, he praises for the banditry and thuggery of Communist China and by implication Putin's mafiya state (the late great Hitchens called it "cockroach capitalism").
I suggest you either get your eyes checked, or you get checked for a reading comprehension problem.
I did the blue colored commentary on the article including the headline, as well as my two comments.
How the f*ck you got that from what I have posted is anyone's guess.
You know, we went through this very thing waay back in 2005 when a lot of "national security liberals" decided that Bush was evil and the left were good. So, now you got what you wanted, a liberal in the White House, but you attack us for using humor in the face of the raw power that that very liberal wields against conservatives.
And I can tell you are a liberal by what you have written. It's all about behavior instead of freedom with your ilk, isn't it. You talk the talk about national security but you walk the walk of your boy God Barky.
Good luck with that in the future because, in my opinion it has none here.
#26
Champ is doing everything Bush was accused of. The short term damage of the Snowden leak is considerably less than the long term damage this administration is doing.
#27
"Raw power"? That's your weird paranoid fantasy. The Chinese use "raw power." So does Putin. Nothing that has benn done by either party or recent president in this country comes anywhere close to what is done, routinely, by the leaders of China and Russia. Putin has ordered the assassination of over a dozen Russian journalists; the siloviki have killed dozens more Russian citizens.
And now as of 11:17am ET, it appears that the FSB is now Snowden's master. Even odds that this deluded little $hit follows in Philby and Mackean's footsteps for the next 5-10 years. Or until Putin's chased out by his own people, finally rising up against his mafiya thuggery and bandit state. At which point Snowden will be on the run again.
[PS "Covert", before you attack someone's good faith and threaten him at someone else's website, you might want to stop using that site to tout your commercial interests. Bad form.]
#28
Hey Lex, Badanov's comments are blue, I'm the one in the PRC now. As someone with a pre-existing condition, I too appreciate finally being able to get insurance, but Obamacare is totally overblown, and the deductibles are high and the coverage is pretty crappy. I'm not a fan, but I don't apologize for giving 'em credit for being open about watching everything and everyone. You might like living in a secret surveillance state but I think I actually prefer a more openly oppressive society.
#29
If there is paranoia on the part of the public outside of the bubble of government, there is nothing like truth to remove that paranoia. Suppose, for a minute that what you are hearing is not paranoia but what is actually going on? One does not get much comfort from watching CSPAN Congressional intelligence and security hearings. Specifically, I'm referring to the House hearings where the NSA head, and representatives from the FBI and another agency testified. This appearance to seemed be a mutual admiration society annual get-together which was scripted beforehand. What is it that the American people cannot hear? Americans give their lives to protect this country. Don't we and they deserve more? Currently, there is an impenetrable curtain of secrecy and over-classification of information. Just as Snowden deserves a hearing where he is not considered guilty before such a hearing, the government needs to explain what irreparable harm has been done to our country by Snowden. A good airing-out needs to occur. National security is important. Freedom is more important.
#30
Oh, for the curious: just learned that Russian Internet connections are down. Skype ne rabotayet. Incoming phone call from R. was cut short just now.
Prediction: Snowden will end up in a pod-moskovskiye safe house and will be drained of every last scrap of info on our sigint techniques. Then traded for favors a la the Cuban for Turkey-based missile swap in 1962.
#31
You may have something there, Lex, after all Snowden 'missed' his plane to Cuba. Add-in four laptops...three of which were most likely stolen from his employer...and the Ruskies might as well have an office in the NSA now.
#33
We are way past paranoid fantasy. When a president uses the tax authority of his government to stop funding his political opponents, a known fact, that is not fantasy but a reality of what a tyrant does. Tyrants use taxing power against his opponents. That is raw power. You think of it as using force, but what is force if not the ability to cut off funding?
Sorta like when you complain about my "bad form". That's what tyrants do. When you disagree with an opponent you go after the opponent rather than debate the merits. That's what liberals do. That is what you are doing.
Something else I should say just to clarify: I am not trading on what I write here to sell books. That is separate. You want to make issue of some nexus between what I have written in my capacity as a citizen and what I am trying to sell, I can't stop you.
As for the issue of my putative threats, I fail to see in what way you were threatened here.
You should probably clarify rather than let the comment stand, so I can be clear about the nature of the supposed threat I pose to you.
#34
Way too much above to comment except to say that "regime" usage is apropos since it identifies a rigged system where traditional/oppositional ideas are thwarted by the tri-fecta: out of control Government, the educational system and media.
Posted by: Jack Salami ||
06/24/2013 12:15
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#35
Obama didn't pressure the IRS. That came from a mid-level Republican IRS manager who was just trying to interpret a stupidly-crafted SCOTUS decision that put him and his colleagues in an impossible damned-if-we-do, damned-if-we-don't position. Enough with the conspiracy lunacy.
Oh fer god's sake. That's just stupid.
It was the Chicago way: "will no one rid me of this meddlesome Tea Party?" And lo, it happened. Funny thing, too, that all the progressive 501(c)4 applications from the same time period sailed through the approvals process without having to disclose their donors.
You can push your nonsense at Kos but it doesn't fly with educated people.
#37
B - Perhaps I misinterpreted your thinly-veiled threat, above, to the effect that I should be blocked from the burg: "Good luck with that in the future because, in my opinion, *it has none here *."
Fwiw, I may well leave the site if the new, prevailing view here is that our elected democratic gov't is somehow a totalitarian "regime." That's bat$hit crazy, and can only be said by blowhards who have never lived and worked under such a regime.
#42
As a point of order, the collection of tax is the use of force by a government against its citizens. Don't want to pay taxes, ask Wesley Snipes. When I ring people up, sales tax is not an option. Now, how we feel that lost revenue is being spent directly influences how we feel about that tax being collected and/or what it is used for. So yes, the politicizing of what should be, for its own sake, completely neutral parts of the government is and always should be a concern. These are faceless tax collectors, the tax collectors' historic take being well deserved, and they should be monitored and rocked when out of line out of mission. Its why no taxation without representation should mold you to the bone.
Second, I can imagine being a wide receiver for the Saints and being both appreciative of the knowledge that the defense end is/was targeting opponents' offense for injury, and also being disgusted that your worst fears were confirmed and by your own team nonetheless.
Back on point, this administration, if I can call it that, has more leaks than the halftime of the Super Bowl. In fact, I could argue that it is administration and policy by leaking - and it makes people whose jobs and perhaps ideology is guided by it. Like planning your vacation dependant upon what the coworkers at the water cooler have to say. Rumor has it that Branson is for loosers, well re-plan for California or shuttupaboutit.
And for the record, I don't remember any high-5'ing here at Rantburg, and even a few threads of good posters throwing some flags at the guy/situation.
#43
Nimble - my convictions haven't changed. I want my elected leaders to ruthlessly prosecute the WOT while working within the bipartisan, carefully crafted restrictions imposed on the surveillance state. Please read Andy McCarthy's detailed, expert inside description ( cf his recent National Review article on blowhard Foghorn Leghorn) to see just how careful and sweeping these restrictions actually are.
As I said above, I support this president's ruthless prosecution of the WOT just as I supported the previous one's. Has each made mistakes? Of course. So did JFK (read Donald Kahan's take on his misjudgments of Khrushchev). So did Reagan.
But these were honest mistakes made by democratically elected leaders trying to thread the needle. None of your/Snowden's new-found mates in the Kremlin, or the Ecuadorian embassy or the ClearChannel broadcast booth, gives a rat's ass about preserving this balance. Those odious characters deserve our scorn, not slavish praise and foolish defense.
#45
"...and the Ruskies might as well have an office in the NSA now."
I assume they already do. We've built a surveillance apparatus so far reaching and with so many participants accessing it that it's a sure bet the systems will be subverted.
#47
The endgame here is that Putin will demand, in exchange for handing over Snowden once they've drained him of all his sigint files and knowledge, that the US neuter the Magnitsky Act, cease all support for NGOs in Russia, and give him a green light for his head-bashing and gulag activity domestically.
Plus more intel-sharing. Which means the net effect of this little $hit's misguided stunt will be to increase repression globally and to reinforce Putin's repression. Molodets!
Nope. I hate the administration that used the feral government to drive its critics out of the political arena, and which turned the tools for security against foreign threats towards the people that much.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/24/2013 13:39
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#49
The endgame here is that Putin will demand, in exchange for handing over Snowden once they've drained him of all his sigint files and knowledge, that the US neuter the Magnitsky Act, cease all support for NGOs in Russia, and give him a green light for his head-bashing and gulag activity domestically.
Who will want him back? Let him stay with his new friends.
#50
I'd like him to come back, be convicted and given a Pollard-ish sentence, with some reduction if he agrees to pass on to the other inmates whatever his gf taught him about pole-dancing.
He and Manning could entertain the gang a la Bialystok & Blum: everybody now - "Pris'ners in love..."
#51
As should have been obvious ever since Greenwald revealed that Snowden approached him long BEFORE taking the NSA job, this is a case of espionage, pure and simple. Not a brave truth teller, not John Galt striking at the evil statists blah blah blah.
Check out the latest from Hong Kong:
http://m.scmp.com/news/hong-kong/article/1268209/exclusive-snowden-sought-booz-allen-job-gather-evidence-nsa
#54
As I said above, I support this president's ruthless prosecution of the WOT just as I supported the previous one's. Has each made mistakes? Of course. So did JFK (read Donald Kahan's take on his misjudgments of Khrushchev). So did Reagan.
Ruthless? He discovered the Pakistan continued to shield Bin Laden but did nothing whatsoever to counteract this.
RUTHLESS?
He passively-aggressively gave up our hard-won basing rights in Iraq (to the tune of ~ 5k dead American soldiers) but then acts so surprised when he's unable to get Iraq to do anything to stop the flow of Iranian arms to Syria.
I suppose that's supposed to be ruthless too.
I'm not the one who said all the bad things in the Russian/American relationship were Bush's fault and pretended they weren't going to be there _after_ Obama was elected.
I'm not the one who said that my Administration would have more flexibility in dealing with Russia after I was re-elected. Mr. Ruthless did.
Finally, I'm not the one who refused to send an in-extremis force to help an ambassador under attack by terrorists we armed in the first place.
Hmm., now that I think about it, that _is_ pretty ruthless. For an agent provocateur, but not for anyone else. Was that the sort of ruthless you were hoping for?
And now you're concerned that the Moscow/Shanghai/Beijing branches of the Red Mafia are dangerous. And we all have to shut the fuck up and be good little cheerleaders of the Diaper Baby branch of the Red Mafia currently controlling DC.
Well, I got news for you: Snowden only acted on the set of moral values that people like Obama, and Bill Ayers, and Sec. of State John F. Kerry, have been teaching for the last forty-five years or so: that we were morally wrong and the Moscow-based and Beijing-based branches of the Red Mafia were morally right.
If this batch of craven idiots really were serious about the sudden existance of (former)-Soviet antagonism they would resign in shame.
#55
One final note on the new Cold War and its discontents: Snowden and his supporters wouldn't be able to tell the lies and half-truths he has to both himself and to the TV cameras, nor enable those of Putin and whoever is China's Mini-Mao right now, if Obama did not create for himself credibility problems, both by turning the federal bureaucracy into an enforcement mechanism against his political opponents and by creating a far-reaching surveillance network, that judging by the Boston Bombings, _didn't work_.
#56
IF there's a New Cold War, the Obama Administrations' bureaucratic war-by-other-means against his domestic opposition has been about as useful to the US as George Wallace's various efforts on behalf of segregation.
#57
Mid level IRS manager? Would that be the registered democrat Lois Lerner currently on paid leave after taking the 5th? Does that mean to you that the 8 democrat Senators asking for Tea Party scruitiny in 2010 had no bearing on the IRSA decisions at the highest levels?
#58
Let's compare Obama and Bush - again, I've supported both, first against the bat$hit left and now against the right-wing neo-Bircher nuts. Here's Richard Clarke reminding everyone of the basic facts:
"What would be best for the country on the issue of counterterrorism is if we could somehow manage to return it to a nonpartisan matter. Unfortunately, this early in the election year, that seems unlikely. Therefore, voters should be advised to look carefully at claims that are made by both sides, and stick to the facts.
"Ten facts that tell the true story:
First, the Bush administration moved assets to Iraq away from the search for Al Qaeda in Afghanistan and Pakistan.
Second, in 2006, the Bush administration closed the Bin Laden unit at the CIA in a reorganization.
Third, Bush changed his rhetoric from wanting Bin Laden dead or alive to publicly minimizing his importance. (Mitt Romney followed this pattern, saying in 2007, Its not worth moving heaven and earth spending billions of dollars just trying to catch one person.)
Fourth, in 2007, candidate Obama said he would send troops into Pakistan to get Bin Laden, unilaterally if necessary, and was criticized by leading Republicans (Romney included) for saying so.
Fifth, after he took office, Obama directed an increased priority be given to getting Bin Laden.
Sixth, the President personally participated in repeated high-level meetings on his aggressive new strategy for getting Al Qaeda and its leaders in Pakistan.
Seventh, Obama ordered a dramatic increase in drone attacks in Pakistan, wiping out Al Qaeda leaders and making it almost impossible for Bin Ladens senior commanders to operate there.
Eighth, the President rejected cabinet members advice and ordered the raid that killed Bin Laden to go ahead.
Ninth, it was the commander-in-chief who ordered that additional helicopters be made part of the operation, a decision that turned out to be crucial.
Tenth, Bin Laden is dead.
This is not to say that counterterrorism professionals werent hard at work in the Bush administration trying to do what they could to get Bin Laden. But it is to note that the elected and politically appointed officials of that administration did much less than they could have done to get Bin Laden both before 9/11 and after it.
Nor is it to say that the threat from Al Qaeda is over. Its franchises, particularly the one in Yemen, are still a significant danger, and the group there still wants to target the United States. Drones and Special Forces used by the Obama administration are stepping up the tempo of operations even further against Al Qaeda in Yemen.
Because the effort to eliminate Al Qaeda is not yet over, who our elected and politically appointed leaders are still matters. And so do the facts.
#60
Cut and pasted. It's the administration's line.
And if there's anything more to Al Qaeda than Osama Bin Laden, it's wrong.
He was discovered living in a special Pakistani military zone. Which fact Pakistan has suffered NO consequences for. And which we can't really do anything about, as Super-Genius moved troops back to Afghanistan, where we have to supply them via one of two routes: Through Pakistan, or Through Putin's Commonwealth of Independent States.
We bomb Al Qaeda in Yemen and supply them in Libya and Syria. And they nearly took over Mali from what they managed to get in Libya.
#61
And part of the cost of shifting all that stuff to Afghanistan was that the US gave up basing rights in Iraq. Just in time for the Syrian Civil War. (The other side of which is supported by Putin, who you think opposing is important when you can beat up straw men, but apparently not otherwise).
#62
Thing -"admin talking points"? You do realize that Clarke served in *Bush's* admin, don't you? He knows, as everyone does now, that Bush and Romney tried to pooh pooh the importance of Bin Laden.
If you want to make an argument supported by logic and evidence, cool. I gave you one: a detailed, point by point comparison of the two admins re Bin Laden in 2004-2011. It's about as complete and devastating a defense of Obama's record on ObL as you'll find. Your turn.
#63
The NSA is the Obama Regime's KGB. Agents and controllers. Domestic intelligence gathering for the purpose of targeting internal threats to the Regime was standard procedure.
The KGB infiltrated opposition groups to influence and provide information back to the directorate. The NSA is now doing the same thing.
But Obama, his regime, and his sycophants (aka fawning parasites) as you can tell on this thread are in full panic mode. Snowden has now in the presence of the world's most famous former KGB agent who is far more capable, cunning and lethal to the Obama Regime. And frankly, I don't give a damn about the Obama regime, nor does the rest of the world.
#65
Forget bin Laden. He was never anything but a small time terrorist and a tool or our real enemies. The Paks could have turned him over to us any time they wanted but they never did. Why not? The worst enemies of the United States are China, Iran, Pakistan and Saudi Arabia. And how does Obama deal with them. He kisses their asses. Get real.
#66
AoS - you're behind the curve. John Shafer, a conservative Republican manager in the Cincinnati IRS office, has put forth sworn testimony that debunks your fevered conspiracy theories. Issa tried and failed to quash it, but it's out now. The White House didn't direct this, sorry.. Time to bring your knowledge up to date, Ace.
Any time you want to explain Lois Lerner and the many Democrats in that office who did what they were told to do by the White House, do so.
#68
You were doing well until you got to the It was a Bush-Republican Mid-level Manager case closed part. Let that segment go, you still have a fighting chance with the rest.
#69
Fine, Shipman, whatever. Just tired of the conspiracy-everywhere mindlessness that seems to have infected so many minds here. The paranoid style may be a hardy perennial in US politics, but it's toxic. Bad for the discussion, bad for the country.
#70
Back on topic, Russian experts weigh in on what's likely happening with the once (and future) would-be male modeling king at his safe house in the ol' Soyuz.
http://www.foxnews.com/world/2013/06/24/snowden-unexpected-windfall-for-russian-spies/
Interesting thoughts above on whether he's actually in a third country - probably Belarus, on the Old Smolensk Road.
You merely posted a victory-lap newsclip and didn't actually stop to address any of my arguments. You argue by refusing to acknowledge that giving up all influence in Iraq has had detrimental effects on things you claim are important: Opposing Vladimir Putin and his allies in Syria, for example. And you refuse to acknowledge that not following up on the linkage between Bin Laden and the Pakistani government that was sheltering him has also hurt us.
What next, you'll have another newsclip talking about how the apparent life imprisonment of the Pakistani agent who _found_ Bin Laden in a Pakistani prison is apparently a good thing? Maybe it'll have some Senior Bush-Administration Bureaucrats and you'll pretend that makes the points inarguable?
Maybe if the administration hadn't worked so hard to remake the intelligence apparatus in its own image it wouldn't have been so damn easy for Putin to have penetrated it like this?
#73
Lex (Luther?) I see you are taking the Elijah Cummins route of "nothing to see here". Perhaps you can go back a few weeks and check this WSJ story: http://blogs.wsj.com/washwire/2013/06/18/new-irs-interview-more-blip-than-bombshell/
And while you are checking your dnc meme list for retorts, the IRS scandal is far from over with this bunch, unless you subscribe to Jay the Carney saying it happened a long time ago.
#74
Thing -I don't agree with everything Obama's done. UMO we shoulda kepta base in Kurdistan, but I'm not a military strategist. Iraq is and was a mess with no good options. Ditto for Iran, and for Putin's gangster state. He's made a few mistakes. So did W, and Reagan, and JFK, and ....
Which is why I refuse to play the game of saying that President [insert your favorite scapegoat here] is an Alien Sent to Destroy Life On Earth / The Manchurian Candidate / the Golem or whatever. A little more complicated than all these fever swamp conspiracies make it out to be.
#77
Dear Lex, let me say only that I really don't belong on a list of those who have an insider perspective on matters military and intelligence, but I am highly flattered that is how you mis-remember me. Please be a little more polite in your opening remarks next time, to avoid the "Chew toy!!" reaction.
Other than that, I am too tired to contribute intelligently to this thread. A rough start, but y'all have done what we do best at Rantburg: bring out the facts from different sources, and beat them into submission. Snowy Thing, in my opinion you win the thread.
[Beirut Daily Star] Former Prime Minister Saad Hariri Second son of Rafik Hariri, the Leb PM who was assassinated in 2005. He has was prime minister in his own right from 2009 through early 2011. He was born in Riyadh to an Iraqi mother and graduated from Georgetown University. He managed his father's business interests in Riyadh until his father's assassination. When his father died he inherited a fortune of some $4.1 billion, which won't do him much good if Hizbullah has him bumped off, too. warned Sunday against any attempt to goad the southern city of Sidon against the Lebanese Army.
"Hariri warned against any attempt to lure the city of Sidon into a confrontation with the state and the Lebanese Army, stressing the need for all steps to be taken to protect the city and its residents and end the spreading strife threatening Leb."
Several soldiers and gunnies loyal to an anti-Hezbollah sheikh were killed Sunday in festivities in Abra, east of Sidon, security sources said, in an act the Army warned was reminiscent of events that preceded Leb's Civil War.
Hariri said there was no excuse to breaking the law or attacking the Lebanese Army in his home city.
"The major sin, of which Hezbollah is responsible through provoking the citizens in the capital of the south and through spreading security outposts in the neighborhoods, should not be a pretext to break the law or to use weapons against the posts of the Lebanese Army or any other legitimate security forces," he said.
"I call on all citizens not to be dragged into any negative reactions that would provide cover for the acts committed by Hezbollah, and give those harmed by the extension of state authority the chance to achieve their political and security goals," the statement added.
Hariri also said he relied on the wisdom of the Lebanese Army command to take measures to protect the city and prevent it from "falling in to the traps of the instigators and the calls launched by those who hide behind Hezbollah's weapons awaiting opportunities - in the name of the defense of these arms - to undermine the prestige of the State and of all forces calling for an end to the policies of hegemony."
Hariri expressed his deepest condolences to the families of the victims and said the soldiers killed in the fighting were "deaders of the entire nation."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] Saudi police have killed a man who fled when they tried to arrest him for allegedly taking part in unrest that shook the kingdom's Shiite-populated Eastern Province last year, a report said Sunday.
Security forces tracked down Morsi Ali Ibrahim Al-Rabah, "who was involved in criminal acts that targeted Saudi nationals and citizens of his village", the official SPA news agency reported, quoting an interior ministry front man.
The front man said police shot up Al-Rabah, who figured on a list of 23 Shiites wanted in connection with unrest in the Shiite village of Al-Awamiya, when he fled as they tried to arrest him.
He was maimed and died in hospital, the front man said.
Al-Rabah had "taken part in opening fire at citizens and members of the security forces, killing and wounding some," said the front man, adding that authorities will continue to hunt down wanted suspects.
It urged the remaining 10 suspects on the same list, to "quickly hand themselves over to security services," adding that "this will be taken into account when looking into their cases."
Thirteen suspects have been killed in shootouts during raids or have been jugged Please don't kill me! and are on trial.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Observers of Middle East affairs, particularly the inter-related affairs in Syria and Iran, are busy thinking about the possible outcome of the G8 Summit in Northern Ireland.
According to reports coming out of Washington, there has been a fundamental shift in Barack Obama Ready to Rule from Day One... 's approach to the Syrian crisis after his administration became "convinced" of the Assad regime's use of chemical weapons on more than one occasion. This is something that means, according to the report, that the Assad regime has "crossed clear red lines," prompting a move to arm the rebels.
Before the supporters of the Syrian revolution could recover from this surprising turn of events, other, more delightful reports referred to the likelihood of Washington setting up a no-fly zone in southern Syria, a move which gives the impression that Obama and his advisors have finally realized the risks of solely issuing statements. This comes, of course, while Iran's Supreme Guide Ayatollah Ali Khamenei continues to send troops, Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... is providing lethal weapons, and Hassan Nasrallah is deploying fighters to "guard" Shi'ite shrines across Syria.
However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... as the popular saying goes: "What is right is always right."
Just hours after this early ecstasy, Ben Rhodes, the U.S. deputy national security adviser, clarified the White House's real stance. In an eloquent speech, Rhodes went into detail, stressing the "difficulty" of enforcing a no-fly zone and the "high cost" of such a move. He even elaborated on the need for the weapons to reach the non-radical elements of the Syrian opposition. Following this, President B.O. himself came out to reiterate Rhodes's statement.
Incidentally, Rhodes is the man responsible for drafting Obama's famous "A New Beginning" speech, which the president delivered in Cairo in 2009. He is also one of Obama's top advisors and had a direct influence on Washington's decision regarding Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... stepping down, as well as Obama's political stances on the "Arab Spring."
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
See also TOPIX > [Deseret News] CHARLES KRAUTHAMMER: AMERICA [Obama] ARMING REBELS IN SYRIA IS MEANINGLESS.
Another "Ouch!" Artic from Charles bombing the Bammer.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Russia Today] UN: IMPOSSIBLE TO DETERMINE SYRIA CHEMICAL ATTACK PERPETRATOR EVEN WID US EVIDENCE.
IOW, the Bammer may had no case for any WMD-based "red lines" being violated by Baby Assad, thus also no reason to arm the Rebs???
#2
Obama is a MOUTH, he won't fight for anything or anyone. THAT is his basic Character. He is a mouth and nothing else.
Syria is a fascist dictatorship which is very Mohammed, the PBUH actually was a 7th cent. Assad only much worse. Moslems don't DO democracy.It makes no difference for us to ARM EITHER SIDE, THEY ARE KILLING EACH OTHER, WE BENEFIT BY THAT. NONE OF THEM ARE OUR FRIENDS. SCREW STABILITY IN THE MIDDLE EAST. In Egypt the heart of the Arab Spring the Army ( even as we watch ) is ready to save the Nation. Drive down any of the biggest avenues in Cairo and look at the swank private clubs and swimming pools for ARMY only. Morsi and the Islamists always were a side show beside the Egyptian military.
POWER in Egypt kisses the Military pubes or it gets a new hat.
Obama is a fool. And worse, he is a WEAK fool. And the US bureaucracies will DO it to you if you can't stop them. Can you spell rancid R.O.T.T.E.N. boyz and gurlz?
Right now all of us have about as much chance as Snowden. That's the foundation of any sympathy for him. He and we are all looking at the friendly open society and the Disneyland ideals of the proud USA being stripped down to its underwear like Ambassador Steven was while we were just innocently selling guns, and taken for a short smooth ride to the nearest ditch. I Pledge Allegiance to the Flag....say it real loud, I can't hear you.
[Pak Daily Times] At least six bad boys, including a commander, were killed during an operation by security forces in Dera Bugti district of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... on Sunday.
A front man for the paramilitary forces said that unidentified gunnies attacked an FC checkpost in Matt area of Sui in Dera Bugti, and managed to flee. He said the FC chased the attackers and conducted an operation in Sui town, adding that six armed bad boys, including a farari (runaway) commander, were killed during the three-hour operation.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Top|| File under: Baloch Liberation Army
[Pak Daily Times] Unidentified miscreants targeted a Levies vehicle with small arms, killing the driver and wounding two Levies personnel, in Washak, Balochistan on Sunday. Levies Force said that their team was on a routine patrol on Saturday night in Tehsil Basima in Washak District when some unidentified men suddenly opened indiscriminate firing on the vehicle, killing the driver on the spot and injuring two Levies personnel. The wounded personnel were shifted to a local hospital. Levies force cordoned off the area and started a hunt for the culprits.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] At least one security man was killed and two others were injured in a militant attack in the Frontier Region of Bannu District on Sunday, official sources said. According to the officials, a security forces' vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in Khawa Khawar area of Bannu, killing one security person and injuring two others. The casualties were shifted to a nearby hospital. Security forces later launched a search for the militants.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Top|| File under: TTP
Nelson Mandela, the former president of South Africa, took a turn for the worse and was in critical condition today in his battle with a lung infection, according to a statement from the South African president's office.
"The doctors are doing everything possible to get his condition to improve and are ensuring that Madiba is well-looked after and is comfortable. He is in good hands," South African Jacob Zuma said, using Mandela's tribal nickname.
Mandela had been listed in "serious but stable condition" for since he entered the hospital June 8. Mandela was rushed to the hospital in the early morning hours of June 8, after his health deteriorated rapidly from a recurring lung infection. The 94-year-old Nobel Peace prize winner's medical team informed the president's office that Mandela's condition become critical over the past 24 hours, according to the statement.
Zuma reiterated today that Mandela's health was not compromised when the ambulance that was bringing him to the hospital broke down.
"There were seven doctors in the convoy who were in full control of the situation throughout the period. He had expert medical care," Zuma said. "The fully equipped military ICU ambulance had a full complement of specialist medical staff including intensive care specialists and ICU nurses. The doctors also dismissed the media reports that Madiba suffered cardiac arrest. There is no truth at all in that report."
Mandela was forced to wait for a second ambulance after the first one broke down, the South African government admitted Saturday.
"When the ambulance experienced engine problems it was decided that it would be best to transfer to another military ambulance which itself was accompanied for the rest of the journey by a civilian ambulance," the president's office said Saturday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
06/24/2013
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#1
Zuma reiterated today that Mandela's health was not compromised when the ambulance that was bringing him to the hospital broke down.
Petrol syphoned out I'd guess. Keeping the oud bugger alive until the Champ, FLOTUS, and the kids arrive no doubt.
The fact is that even Amnesty International refused to take on Nelson Mandelas case because they asserted that he was no political prisoner but had committed numerous violent crimes and had had a fair trial and a reasonable sentence.
Nelson Mandela was the head of UmKhonto we Sizwe, (MK), the terrorist wing of the ANC and South African Communist Party. He had pleaded guilty to 156 acts of public violence including mobilizing terrorist bombing campaigns, which planted bombs in public places, including the Johannesburg railway station. Many innocent people, including women and children, were killed by Nelson Mandelas MK terrorists.
South African President P.W. Botha had, on a number of occasions, offered Nelson Mandela freedom from prison, if he would only renounce terrorist violence. This Mandela refused to do.
At least eight people were killed in fierce clashes in the Lebanese city of Sidon on Sunday between the army and followers of a Sunni Muslim cleric who have been caught up in sectarian fighting fueled by the war in neighboring Syria.
Guns and rocket fire rattled the port city 40 km (28 miles) south of Beirut that has been on edge since violence erupted there last week between Sunni and Shiite Muslim fighters, at odds over the Syrian conflict.
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/24/2013
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#3
There are probably 500 women out there, who could make great a U.S. President; Hillary Clinton is just not one of them. After all her lies to prop up Bill Clinton's presidency and after all her lies to prop up Obama's presidency, why would anyone believe her on anything? Can the Democratic Party produce a presidential candidate that is not scummy?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/24/2013 8:28
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#12
Where's the hook and gong to shuffle this contemptible, woman-in-waiting, off the political stage? She, like Champ, are failures at just about everything they do. They both satisfied the Peter Principle long before they started! Surely, we have much, much better.
Posted by: Sum Dum Guy ||
06/24/2013 12:56
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#20
At least Justinian's Theodora admitted she was once a prostitute.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
06/24/2013 13:40
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#21
Can the Democratic Party produce a presidential candidate that is not scummy?
I don't believe so...not after the ones I've seen. LBJ, jimmuh carter, Bill Clinton, Obama. That's not a very good track record. Our only hope is to get a Republican nominee who truly understands what's at stake and who his or her opponents are...and that's a slim hope.
Posted by: Kelly ||
06/24/2013 14:21
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#24
The justification to nominate Hillary is that she is a woman? OK, I'll concede there is a question about that? What a crock! By that reasoning the Donks should work their way down the list so that they elect every permutation of the human condition into the office (except for anyone conservative or Christian). For example are Donks going to select a LGBT candidate, then LBGT Native-American-Hispanic, Aleutian Island native, former drug user, etc.? Scratch the last one, that's already been done.
#25
NO, not only no, but HELL NO not Mrs Billy (Liar) and her husband. (The third time POTUS)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/24/2013 14:51
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#26
Ay-Pee had a story about the Nutroots Progressives demanding she lean left if she wanted their "full-throated support" - a phrase I found ironic when used on a Clinton
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/24/2013 14:58
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#27
I'm afraid before the trunks get anyone else elected, they're going to have to figure out it's not about ideas, it's about personality/charm/charisma.
Worse, it needs to be someone the media finds charming.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/24/2013 17:59
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#28
It seems that if you associate with celebrity, demonize and lie about your opponent or his or her party, appear on all the TV programs that are in the vogue, stack the vote, get packaged as the next saviour, pull in campaign funds here and abroad, you are likely going to win no matter what kind of scoundrel you are.
#29
I think that "What difference, at this point, does it make" will be Hillary Clinton's famous last words. She has more skeleton's in her Arkansas closet than a low-budget horror movie. Democrats would never dare open that door, but if Republicans learned anything from the 2012 election it should be that nice people don't win prisidential elections.
At 70 years of age, and with questionable health, Hillary Clinton probably wil not have the physical stamina for a prolonged presidential campaign against the Republican's stable full of strong young candidates.
My second biggest disappointment during the 2012 elections was the defeat of Mia Love (for the Utah House of Representatives). Mia Love, in my opinion, is exactly the kind of candidate the Republican Party absolutely needs to promote, if they want to avoid complete Obsolescence by 2024.
Michelle Obama is without doubt being groomed as a presidential candidate. The FLOTUS has traditionally always been off limits to any smear tactics. But I think at this point it would be completely naive to believe that if the shoe was on the other foot Democrates would be doing everything in their power to smear her reputation. Michelle Obama is NOT a nice person. Unless Republicans plan to relegate themselves to the dust bins of history, today is the day they need to get their "heads out" and engage in the same dirty game Democrats have forced into play over the past decade.
Kelly Ayotte, Susana Martinez, and Sarah Palin, in my opinion, will never be politically strong enough to win the presidency. Hence my disappointment at the young female minority void left by Mia Love's defeat.
I fear for the survival of the Republican Party beyond 2014 without the appeal of young female minority candidates. They would eliminate the current political void, and compliment the policys of Bobby Jindel, Ted Cruiz and Marko Rubio.
I don't think Hillary Clinton can win in 2012. I expect the Democrats to alternatively trot out someone like Michelle Obama, Elizabeth Warren or more likely some bad mouthed canidate like Jim McDermott.
Mia Love will run again in 2014. I don't live in Utah and I don't support her per se.
I see her candidacy only as the harbinger of the direction the Republican Party is going.
The Republican Party can remain the party of "old white men" or they can throw that mantle back where it belongs around the necks of the Democrats.
Hillary Clinton, Joe Biden, Nancy Pelosi, Harry Reid, John Kerry, Chuck Hagel, Elizibeth Warren and Jim McDermott, are the most prominant faces of the Democrat Party. Old white people.
The next three and a half years affords the Republicans a great opportunity to become the party of the young upcoming political all-stars. Or they can continue their downward spiral toward the garbage heap of political history.
FROLOVO, Russia, June 22 (UPI) -- A Russian was arrested for making off with a bridge this week after police said they followed drag marks to his home. Stealing a bridge, eh? "Tell me/Where in the world is/Carmen Sandiego?"
The 23-year-old beauzeau in the northern Vologda region apparently hooked the small steel bridge to his tractor and hauled it away to sell as scrap metal. Gives new meaning to the phrase "pons asinorum".
Police told Russia's RIA Novosti news agency they followed the trail the bridge [sic] left on the ground to the suspect's house in the village of Frolovo. The man had allegedly used a cutting torch to disassemble the bridge, but had not yet sold them. "So, I just need to find buyers for this--"
"Police! Freeze!"
"****!"
RIA Novosti said the alleged bridge thief was added to the roster of daring Russian unauthorized removals of items made from metallic elements, which includes several locomotives and a special bicycle ridden by a circus bear. Robbing a bear? Can you say "Darwin Award"?
#2
Satisfying libido needs in the Caribbean--I'm only surprised the lady was of age (one not one of those Bunga Bunga) things. What is his "voting present" record? Menendez was appointed to head the Senate Foreign Relations Affairs Committee. He is an active proponent of the amnesty bill to recruit new Democrats into the party.
[CHRON] Wading into an increasingly volatile fray, Egypt's military on Sunday gave the nation's Islamist rulers and their opponents a week to reach an understanding before planned June 30 opposition protests aimed at forcing out the president, in a toughly worded warning that it will intervene to stop the nation from entering a "dark tunnel."
The powerful military also gave a thinly veiled warning to President Mohammed Morsi's hard-line backers that it will step in if the mostly secular and liberal protesters, who have vowed to be peaceful, are attacked during the planned demonstrations.
In a bid to project a business-as-usual image, Morsi's office said in a statement late Sunday that the president met with the army's chief, Defense Minister Gen. Abdel-Fattah el-Sissi, to discuss the "domestic scene and the government's efforts to maintain the security of the nation and the safety of its citizens." There was no mention of el-Sissi's warning.
Seeking to assert Morsi's seniority over el-Sissi -- the president is the supreme commander of the armed forces -- the brief statement, alluding to June 30, said he ordered the quick completion of plans to protect the state's strategic and vital installations.
The opposition argues that Morsi and his Moslem Brüderbund, despite having won a series of elections since the 2011 revolution that ousted autocrat Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... , have squandered their legitimacy with heavy handed misrule. It contends that the Islamists have encroached on the independence of the judiciary, sought to monopolize power, and pushed through an Islamist-backed constitution, breaking promises to seek consensus.
Morsi's supporters say the opposition has shunned his offers of dialogue and now are turning to force to remove him because they have been unable to compete at the ballot box.
On Sunday, a court compounded Morsi's troubles by saying members of his Moslem Brüderbund conspired with Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, Hezbollah and local gunnies to storm a prison in 2011 and free 34 Brotherhood leaders, including Morsi. Also, the most iconic youth figure of the 2011 revolution, Wael Ghonim, called on Morsi to step down before June 30 to prevent bloodshed.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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[An Nahar] French President Francois Hollande ...the Socialist president of La Belle France, an economic bad joke for la Belle France but seemingly a foreign policy realist... on Sunday urged support for the Syrian opposition but said it should "clarify" its ties with myrmidons, in talks with Jordan's King Abdullah II.
"We want the opposition to be given the necessary support," Hollande said in Amman during a one-on-one meeting with the king at which journalists were present.
"We share the same point of view. We want to help the Syrian opposition to organize themselves and clarify their relationship with myrmidon groups."
Hollande flew in for a brief visit from Qatar, where foreign ministers of the "Friends of Syria" group, which includes La Belle France, agreed on Saturday to boost assistance to the Syrian opposition.
He urged the mainstream rebel Free Syrian Army to "retake" areas that have fallen into the hands of myrmidon groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/24/2013
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Top|| File under: al-Nusra
Unidentified men in the Russian republic of Dagestan attacked an imam of a mosque and injured his wife and son. The incident occurred in the village of Kohabrosso in Untsukulsky district.
Dagestan's Interior Ministry said, "Three unidentified men broke into the mufti's house and tried to kill him."
Mufti? I thought he was an imam.
RIA Novosti said the assailants opened fire on the imam, who then returned fire.
Naturally, the mufti imam was packing heat.
The imam's son and wife were wounded and hospitalized.
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.
David Cameron
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Mehmood 
Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine
[An Nahar] Ten army troops were martyred and 35 others were 
[JOURNALSTAR] Suicide bombers targeted security compounds in Damascus and a 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Twelve Sudanese were killed on Sunday when a wall collapsed as they waited to submit their applications for the annual Hajj pilgrimage, official TV said.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] An Egyptian court on Sunday said 
[Pak Daily Times] Unidentified men killed five members of a family in Rajana village of Toba Tek Singh in the night between Saturday and Sunday. Police said the accused barged into a house in village Rajana, Chak 264, tied their victims' arms and slit their throats. The deceased were identified as Javed, his wife Tahira, their two sons, eight-year-old Ali Hassan and six-year-old Mohsin, and four-year-old daughter. Police shifted the bodies to hospital for postmortem and opened investigation. Police have arrested the wife of accused Imran and launched a search for him.
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
[An Nahar] A 27-year-old man has been shot dead in Marseille in a slaying reminiscent of a scene from "The Godfather" that was the 10th murder of its kind in and around the city this year and the 34th since the start of 2012.
[ENGLISH.ALARABIYA.NET] Three 
[An Nahar] Sunday's 
Najib Miqati
[An Nahar] Two Philippine soldiers were killed in a clash with communist rebels waging one of Asia's longest running insurgencies, the military said Sunday.
...Second and fourth President of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[Pak Daily Times] At least one security man was killed and two others were injured in a militant attack in the Frontier Region of Bannu District on Sunday, official sources said. According to the officials, a security forces' vehicle was targeted with a remote-controlled bomb in Khawa Khawar area of Bannu, killing one security person and injuring two others. The casualties were shifted to a nearby hospital. Security forces later launched a search for the militants.
FROLOVO, Russia, June 22 (UPI) -- A Russian was arrested for 
[CHRON] Wading into an increasingly volatile fray, Egypt's military on Sunday gave the nation's Islamist rulers and their opponents a week to reach an understanding before planned June 30 opposition protests aimed at forcing out the president, in a toughly worded warning that it will intervene to stop the nation from entering a "dark tunnel."
Unidentified men in the Russian republic of Dagestan attacked an imam of a mosque and injured his wife and son. The incident occurred in the village of Kohabrosso in Untsukulsky district.
