#1
China is undoubtedly a key military player in all fields; SOF are no exception. They've even put units in international SF competitions (think the Army's Best Ranger competition on a grand scale).
#2
Training Pics at PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > PLAN SPECIAL FORCES UNIT.
* ION WMF > CHINA MUST BUILD EFFEC MILPOL INFLUENCE IN NUCLEAR MYANMAR IN CASE IT IS DENIED TRADE ACCESS TO THE SOUTH CHINA SEAS.
* WMF > WAR INEVITABLE?: US-ROK MILITARY DRILL IN THE YELLOW SEA PROVES THE YELLOW SEA IS NOW A US "SPHERE OF INFLUENCE", + NO LONGER CHINA'S SOLE DOMAIN. CHINA CANNOT GIVE UP TAIWAN + SOUTH CHINIA SEAS.
* SAME > CHINA CAN STRIKE + DESTROY THE KEY US-UK BASE ON DIEGO GARCIA AS LONG AS IT CONTROLS THE NANSHA ISLANDS NEAR THE PHILIPPINES. NUCLEAR "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN", I.E. NUCLEAR JAPAN + NUCLEAR SOUTH KOREA + NUCLEAR VIETNAM, + NUCLEAR INDONESIA, ETC. TO MAKE PLA CONQUEST OF THE PHILIPPINES IMPORTANT. CONVERSION OF THE PHILIPPINES INTO ANOTHER STRATEGIC "TAIWAN" OR "HAINAN" FOR PROJECTION OF CHINESE POWER INTO THE WESTERN PACIFIC.
What, then, are we to make of a recent survey for the Al Arabiya television network finding that a staggering 71 percent of the Arabic respondents have no interest in the Palestinian-Israeli peace talks? That low? The Paleos are the scorned of the Arab world.
"This is an alarming indicator," lamented Saleh Qallab, a columnist for the pan-Arab newspaper Al Sharq al Awsat. "The Arabs, people and regimes alike, have always been as interested in the peace process, its developments and particulars, as they were committed to the Palestinian cause itself." ...or not.
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.
A U.S. District Court spokeswoman, Robin Zier, told the Sun Journal that the trial could be held sometime next year, but no court has been designated. “It could be held in U.S. District Court in New Bern or Raleigh. Chief U.S. District Court Judge Louise Flannigan is assigned the case,” she said.
Facing charges are:
Daniel Patrick Boyd, 39, the suspected ringleader of the group.
Hysen Sherifi, 24, a Kosovan immigrant who legally relocated to the Raleigh area.
Anes Subasic, 33.
Zakariya Boyd, 20.
Dylan Boyd, 22.
Mohammad Omar Aly Hassan, 22.
Ziyad Yaghi, 21.
All are U.S. citizens except for Sherifi. They all face life sentences if theyre convicted of the charges of conspiracy to take part in a terrorist plot. The men were indicted July 2009 and for conspiring to murder, kidnap, maim and injure persons abroad.
Daniel Patrick Boyd of Johnston County went under the alias of Saifullah. The indictment said Boyd trained in Afghanistan from 1989-1992 and fought in the Soviet war in Afghanistan, which ended in 1989.
According to David Kris, an assistant attorney with the U.S. Justice Department,“Daniel Patrick Boyd is a veteran of terrorist training camps in Pakistan, who over the past three years, has conspired with others in this country to recruit and help young men travel overseas in order to kill. Boyd received military-style training for the purpose of engaging in terrorist training for the purpose of engaging in violent jihad.” The indictment also says that Boyd and several of the accused traveled to Israel in June 1997 to engage in “violent jihad” but subsequently returned to the U.S. after failing in their efforts.
Across the street from the federal courthouse in New Bern is Centenary Methodist Church, which also has a day care facility. The senior pastor of the church, the Rev. Susan Pate Greenwood, said no notices had been sent to parents of day care students because no notification of a trial date has been made. “There had been rumors, but no official notification from federal officials had been made with church officials,” Greenwood said. Greenwood said if the trial is held in New Bern next year, notifications would be sent out to parents. “We have no hard evidence of such a trial, but will be in contact with federal officials,” she said.
A New York City panel voted unanimously Tuesday to reject landmark status for a building near the World Trade Center site, paving the way for construction of a mosque and an Islamic community center.
Opponents of the project, including 9/11 first-responders and family members of victims of the Sept. 11, 2001, terror attacks, have said the location would be insensitive.
The mosque is slated to be part of an Islamic community center to be operated by a group called the Cordoba Initiative, which says the center will be a space for moderate Muslim voices.
Posted by: Black Charlie ||
08/03/2010 13:38
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#3
"moderate Muslim voices" If they were truly "moderate" they would understand that this is an obamantion to all AMERICANS or should be. Will the Japanese build a Military Museum in Pearl City? How about we erect some Hitler statues at the concentration camps? No if they were truly "moderate" they would give ground zero a WIDE berth to distance themselves from the "Radical" Muslims and their actions. Shame on NYC for not preventing this.
If the construction of said Mosque near ground zero is completed, you will be witness to the pinnacle of US Liberalism run amuck and will have experienced our great nation reaching rock bottom.
I'll be waving Old Glory to the bitter end! What a sad time to be an American.
#8
You know, I was also thinking, a committee might want to investigate where dollars were place. I am wondering if any, "conflicts of interests," due to donations may have occured.
#11
These people who are wanting to build the mosque are rubbing our noses in it. The people who made the decision to go forward are dolts who are too stupid to know their noses are being rubbed in it, are left-wing crazies who are kumbaya nuts and think they are being peaceful and loving and accepting, are getting money from the muzzies to pass on this POS, or nutsos who deny 911 happened or that it is somehow our fault. I've run out of reasonable explanations for the unreasonable. So the families of 3000 mass murder victims of the muzzies means nothing to these dunces. My question is this: Will the muzzies allow a synagouge to be built next to mecca? No? Then a mosque shouldn't be built next to the site of the WTCs. If this goes forward, I will never again go to NYC or spend a cent that goes to NYC.
Ewwww...
WASHINGTON - Ahead of her 90th birthday, veteran White House correspondent Helen Thomas, who resigned following her offensive remarks against Israel, may be getting a statue in her honor at the Arab American National Museum in Michigan.
Supporters of the initiative in Dearborn, a suburb of Detroit and the town with the second largest Arab community in the United States, are trying to raise money to have the copper statue constructed and put in the local museum.
But Thomas' remarks that Jews should "get the hell out of Palestine" and "go home" to Poland and Germany, which abruptly ended her 67-year-career, are not helping the cause. "There are people who don't want to donate because of it," said Anan Ameri, the Arab American National Museum's director. According to museum sources, some $30,000 is needed to have the statue erected.
Ameri said he does not think Thomas herself believes in what she said.
Then why did she say it? And why, immediately afterward, did so many in her circle say -- on the record -- that she said things like that all the time, in private? The question then becomes, if she was merely being a nasty liar when she said that, what does that say about the Arab-American community that they hold her up as a heroine and exemplar?
"She did good things during her career and contributed a lot and opened doors for women in this country," he said.
Thomas, who will be turning 90 on Wednesday, is a member of the museum's advisory board, and the museum has launched a 45-day online campaign to gather the remaining $10,000 that is needed to erect the statue, which is being constructed by former news photographer and sculptor Susan McElhinney. Well, that'll be the first erection that face ever inspired...
Senior Hamas commander Issa al-Batran was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that followed a Grad rocket attack on the city of Ashkelon. While several news outlets reported details of Batran's past, including previous attempts on his life, they failed to note a major component of Batran's personal life: his day job as a United Nations-employed schoolteacher. Had to bring home the bacon somehow. Couple wives and umpteen children, after all, and a Hamas hard boy paycheck doesn't stretch as far as it used to. How else does he send the wives to the Gaza resort and spa and the kiddies to kaboom college?
Batran taught at a UN school in Al-Bureij. According to the Bethlehem-based Maan news agency Batran worked in the school at least until January 2009, and possibly beyond that time.
His job as a schoolteacher was mentioned by Maan and other Arab news outlets in 2009, when several members of the Batran family were killed in an airstrike during the counterterror operation Cast Lead. At that time, his senior position in Hamas was not mentioned. Hamas has vowed Dire Revenge™.
A 32-year-old took the needle into his hands when he tired of the wait at Sundsvall hospital in northern Sweden and sewed up the cut in his leg himself. The man was later reported to the police for his impromptu handiwork.
"It took such a long time," the man told the local Sundsvall Tidning daily.
The man incurred the deep cut when he sliced his leg on the sharp edge of a kitchen stove while he was renovating at home.
"I first went to the health clinic, but it was closed. So I rang the medical help line and they told me that it shouldn't be closed, so I went to emergency and sat there," the man named only as Jonas told the newspaper.
After an hour-long wait in a treatment room, he lost patience and proceeded to sew up his own wound.
"They had set out a needle and thread and so I decided to take the matter into my hands," he said.
But hospital staff were not as impressed by his initiative and have reported the man on suspicion of arbitrary conduct for having used hospital equipment without authorization.
Arbitrary conduct? Wow.
While Jonas admitted to the newspaper that he has no prior experience of sewing up himself he sought to play down the fuss that his handiwork has caused, arguing that "through the ages people have always sewn themselves up".
#4
It seems to me they are mad at him because he worked outside the system. So, even though he got the job done and just paid for the supplies used, they are attacking him. Basically socialist/liberal actions par for the course. Not only this, he probably saved them money by not getting shots. Obama care (social welfare), here we come.
#5
I admire the guy for his willingness to take responsibility for himself. I had a patient like that decades ago. He had tripped on a Manhattan street, and cut his arm on broken glass. Went to a NYC ER, had his wound washed out & lightly covered, then waited for hours to get stitched. Cardiac arrests, drug OD's, etc, kept coming through the door, and he kept being put to the back of the line. Finally he had the bright idea of calling a taxi, going to Grand Central Station, hopping on commuter rail, going a few stations up into SW CT, taking a taxi to an ER there & getting stitched within minutes of arrival. Then he reversed the process to get back home to NYC. The only thing that irritated him was that it took so long for him to figure out what to do.
#2
"There are opposition forces to Karzai. . . . those who are more liberal, more educated, more pro-Western and, let's put it this way, more honest. Plenty of them,"
RRRRIIIGGGHT.
#3
I agree that Karzai and his family are a major reason there's so much corruption in Afghanistan. I'm pretty sure the last Afghanistani election was stolen in the time-honored Chicago Way. Karzai needs to go, but only if it's an Afghanistani that does the job. If the CIA OR the KGB killed Karzai, the resemblance to Vietnam would be complete. Another major thing that needs to happen in Afghanistan is the Pashtun tribes need a severe a$$-kicking - either by us, or by someone. that includes the half living in Pakistan.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2010 14:58
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#4
Beef up the Helipad on the Kabul Embassy roof so it will accommodate V-22 Ospreys.
#1
Providing utilities is a good move, provided the Taliban is not permitted to control the generators, systems, and billing mechanisms as they have with the current power grid and network.
#2
In Baghdad, the use of checkpoints, identification cards and walled-off communities helped to reduce violence because there were two feuding factions, riven by sect. Because the city had been carved into a collection of separate Sunni and Shiite neighborhoods, U.S. forces were able to place themselves along the borders. Both sides tolerated the tactics to a degree because they came to believe U.S. troops would protect them from their rivals.
The conflict in Kandahar is far murkier. There are no differences in religion or ethnicity: Nearly everyone here is a Sunni Pashtun. There are divisions among tribes and clans, but they are not a reliable indicator of support for the Taliban.
Desperation. Trying something on the off chance it might work.
Goodman Law Group reports that Erik Scott was shot by police outside a busy Summerlin, Nevada Costco store July 10. Many questions surround the shooting of Scott, who was carrying a licensed concealed weapon in a holster when he was surprised by officers as he exited the building with his girlfriend and other customers. Five of the seven shots that felled him were fired into his back.
Ross Goodman, attorney for the family of Erik Scott is questioning the official sequence of events. Erik was a graduate of the US Military Academy at West Point and had an MBA from Duke University. The case claims that if an educated, responsible, militarily-trained individual with a concealed weapons permit did not understand the instructions of the police, then any average citizen is at great risk of getting killed by police in a similar situation.
Much information regarding the incident has been withheld pending a coroner's inquest that was originally scheduled for September 3. The Clark County Coroner said the inquest was indefinitely postponed at the request of the District Attorney's office, which said additional witness statements are being gathered and surveillance videos are being reviewed by an out-of-state forensic laboratory. Testimony to be presented is expected to last two days, then a jury will determine whether the officers' actions were excusable, justifiable or criminal.
The district attorney won't release the recordings of 911 calls or surveillance videos until the inquest, and has not set a new date for the hearing. Until then, the family must rely on the statements of eyewitnesses, while continuing to request the release of the video data. Dozens of citizens have inundated the Costco Facebook page, and billboards in Las Vegas demand the video be released. An unauthorized transcript raises questions about what police were told by 911 callers.
Police claim Erik Scott pointed his gun at them outside the store's entrance after 911 callers reported him acting erratically and damaging merchandise. There are reports from witnesses that dispute each of those statements. Several witnesses said Scott appeared to be surprised and possibly confused by conflicting instructions from officers.
"We know there were four cameras outside of Costco that would've captured the shooting. We know that there was a camera within Costco, on the aisle, which would've covered allegations that Mr. Scott was acting erratically," said Goodman. "All they have to do is provide video and the tapes."
Erik Scott’s father, Bill Scott, 63, of Colorado Springs, is a journalist, author and former Air Force captain. He is calling for greater police accountability and for reform of Clark County's coroner inquest process. He said officer-involved shootings should be reviewed by third parties. “It’s been three weeks. They should release the video and 911 calls.”
#1
I like to look at both sides when I hear about police "overacting" and here is my two cents. I doubt that the cops would know he had a concealed weapon unless it was produced. Why were the police called in the first place and it seems that they showed up in force? He was with his girlfriend, what was here story?
#2
Read widely on this issue, there are many different versions. The only thing worse than having an eyewitness is having several dozen. I expect the video (or any other recordings) will turn out to be missing or defective & that there is/will be a coverup.
#3
In that case, I'd look for a civil wrongful death action from the family. Not all 4 tapes can go bad or missing without arousing suspicion. I'm initially with Cyber Sarge, but Clark County needs to come clean, even if they get some mud splattered on themselves.
Economist Raghuram Rajan of U. Chicago Rajan offers a bold and convincing diagnosis of how a screw-up in the regulation of poor peoples mortgages in one country has brought the world to the brink of economic disaster, where it teeters still. He goes beyond the proximate causes of the problem — the subprimes and derivatives and trade imbalances and the like. The ultimate cause, Rajan convincingly argues, is a widening of economic inequality that American politicians of both parties found politically intolerable, and chose to fix by turning the credit market into an under-the-table welfare state.
Rajan is describing not the moral problems of capitalism but the political problems. The median American is losing ground. And while people at the 90th percentile have never had it so good, Americans in the 10th percentile have endured a punishing economy for about a third of a century now. Their problems become particularly acute during recessions. For reasons that are not fully clear, recessions have changed in nature in the last 20 years. Historically, Western economies returned to full employment within a few months of hitting a recessions trough. Losing a job was a calamity, but a calamity of short duration. Since 1992, however, all recoveries have been "jobless recoveries" — in the 2001 recession, it took more than 38 months for the economy to return to full employment.
And, as Rajan puts it with some understatement, "the United States is singularly unprepared for jobless recoveries." This is only partly because the United States has a weaker welfare state than other industrialized countries. It is also because the American safety net - in which government provides fewer health and retirement benefits but incentivizes employers to fill the gap — winds up placing all of a persons eggs in the basket of his job. Lose your job and you lose not only your income but also your (and your childrens) health insurance and possibly (as in several scandalous recent cases) your pension.
Under such circumstances, any recession with the slightest perceptible effect on the public will end political careers by the score. And recessions are, alas, inevitable. The result, under both Democratic and Republican leadership, has been reckless government extension of credit. As a remedy for downturns, this has two political advantages. First, it does not bother conservatives as much as handouts do. Second, "easy credit has large, positive, immediate, and widely distributed benefits, whereas the costs all lie in the future. It has a payoff structure that is precisely the one desired by politicians, which is why so many countries have succumbed to its lure." You might say that the financial crisis reflects the emergence of the off-balance-sheet liabilities — the human costs — of deindustrialization.
#5
The covert collaboration of the MSM just became overt subversion of the Republic. Half the dentists in the country will cancel their subscriptions. Newsweak will have to replace their tag line, All Desntist, All the Time. Clift and Fineman need to get their resumes on the street. It's a money pit. The losses will be money diverted from Jane's re-election campaign. Good news all around.
#6
Outside of true believers (and dental patients), who reads it? True believers already get the joke, dental patients wish for Sports Illustrated.
Jane probably wants him tested for dementia.
#7
"Public trust" or not, if I was a vendor to Newsweak, I would be putting them on COD and hoping to get whatever money they owed paid back before the three month deadline.
Reading the article, Harman got Newsweak because he offered to fewest layoffs. WTF? This wasn't about rescuing a publication. This was about playing up to a buncha writers who really think they have this public trust that transcends the money side of the operation.
Expect to see Newsweak heading for bankruptcy next year.
DUBLIN — Irish Republican Army dissidents detonated a bomb in a hijacked taxi Tuesday outside a police base in the Northern Ireland city of Londonderry, damaging buildings but wounding no one despite the attackers' inaccurate warning, police said. It was the fifth car bomb planted this year by IRA splinter groups trying to undermine Northern Ireland's 3-year-old government coalition of British Protestants and Irish Catholics. Dissidents also fired a homemade mortar shell at the same Londonderry police station in May but it failed to detonate.
None of those attacks since February — targeting police stations, a courthouse and the British spy agency MI5 — has injured anyone seriously.
Londonderry's police commander, Chief Superintendent Stephen Martin, said two masked men ordered a cabbie at gunpoint to drive into the city's Bogside district — a traditional IRA power base — shortly before 3 a.m. (0200GMT). There they loaded a bomb into the car's trunk. "They repeatedly pointed a gun at him and warned him, if he did not do as they instructed, he would be shot," Martin said.
He said the cabbie parked his car outside Strand Road police station, the city's police headquarters just north of the Bogside, and the gunmen ran away. The driver then warned police he'd been forced to park a bomb outside.
Martin said police almost simultaneously received a coded telephone warning from IRA dissidents warning that the bomb would detonate 45 minutes later. However, he said, it exploded less than 23 minutes later while officers were still evacuating nearby night spots and rousing people from their beds in nearby apartments.
The blast destroyed the vehicle but caused little damage to the police base, which has bullet-proof windows and a car-bomb barrier around its perimeter. Heavier damage was caused to fast-food outlets across the street. They had windows and fixtures destroyed.
Tuesday's device was much smaller than a typical IRA car bomb. Police said the attackers lifted it by hand into the trunk of the hijacked vehicle. Full-fledged IRA car bombs contain several hundred pounds of explosives packed into the entire rear of the vehicle.
Brian Rea, chairman of a Catholic-Protestant civilian board that oversees the police, denounced the IRA dissidents as "people who have no regard for human life and are only interested in causing maximum disruption and devastation to our community."
Londonderry Mayor Colm Eastwood said the dissidents' inaccurate warning could have ended in multiple deaths if the bomb had been bigger. "Police didn't even have time to evacuate a nursing home or apartments right beside the police station," he said.
Sinn Fein, the IRA-linked party that today is the major Irish-nationalist member of Northern Ireland's power-sharing government, said the dissidents stood no chance of achieving the traditional IRA goal of forcing Northern Ireland out of the United Kingdom.
The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose.
This didn't happen 10 years ago, when the Taliban ruled Afghanistan. It happened last year. Now hidden in a secret women's shelter in Kabul, Aisha listens obsessively to the news. Talk that the Afghan government is considering some kind of political accommodation with the Taliban frightens her. "They are the people that did this to me," she says, touching her damaged face. "How can we reconcile with them?"
In June, Afghan President Hamid Karzai established a peace council tasked with exploring negotiations with the Taliban. A month later, Tom Malinowski from Human Rights Watch met Karzai. During their conversation, Karzai mused on the cost of the conflict in human lives and wondered aloud if he had any right to talk about human rights when so many were dying. "He essentially asked me," says Malinowski, "What is more important, protecting the right of a girl to go to school or saving her life?" How Karzai and his international allies answer that question will have far-reaching consequences, not only for Afghanistan's women, but the country as a whole.
As the war in Afghanistan enters its ninth year, the need for an exit strategy weighs on the minds of U.S. policymakers. Such an outcome, it is assumed, would involve reconciliation with the Taliban. But Afghan women fear that in the quest for a quick peace, their progress may be sidelined. "Women's rights must not be the sacrifice by which peace is achieved," says parliamentarian Fawzia Koofi.
Yet that may be where negotiations are heading. The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views, particularly on the issue of women's rights. Already there is a growing acceptance that some concessions to the Taliban are inevitable if there is to be genuine reconciliation. "You have to be realistic," says a diplomat in Kabul. "We are not going to be sending troops and spending money forever. There will have to be a compromise, and sacrifices will have to be made."
For Afghanistan's women, an early withdrawal of international forces could be disastrous. An Afghan refugee who grew up in Canada, Mozhdah Jamalzadah recently returned home to launch an Oprah-style talk show in which she has been able to subtly introduce questions of women's rights without provoking the ire of religious conservatives. On a recent episode, a male guest told a joke about a foreign human-rights team in Afghanistan. In the cities, the team noticed that women walked six paces behind their husbands. But in rural Helmand, where the Taliban is strongest, they saw a woman six steps ahead. The foreigners rushed to congratulate the husband on his enlightenment -- only to be told that he stuck his wife in front because they were walking through a minefield. As the audience roared with laughter, Jamalzadah reflected that it may take about 10 to 15 years before Afghan women can truly walk alongside men. But once they do, she believes, all Afghans will benefit. "When we talk about women's rights," Jamalzadah says, "we are talking about things that are important to men as well -- men who want to see Afghanistan move forward. If you sacrifice women to make peace, you are also sacrificing the men who support them and abandoning the country to the fundamentalists that caused all the problems in the first place."
#1
--- Ten years ago Aisha would have merely been killed out of hand. Mutilation sends a more persistent message.
--- They will have to de-mine Afghanistan before it's safe for anyone to walk around there. --- Perhaps training Afghan women in martial arts & arming them with handguns might do more immediate good. Of course the Taliban might simply take the weapons from them.
#2
We are not going to be sending troops and spending money [there] forever.
Of course Afghanistan is likely to continue to foster jihad and slavishly adhere to militant Islam once we remove our troops & stop spending our money there. That's the real issue for the rest of the world.
#3
That's the real issue for the rest of the world.
Indeed. 'Twas Pakistan's ISI that sent the Taliban to conquer Afghanistan the last time, and supported them while they hosted Al Qaeda. What odds Pakistan would not take advantage of the situation to send all their problem jihadi groups across the border, there to practice their techniques on the native Afghans instead of Pakistani citizens?
#4
All I can think of is: I want to hear of the Taliban commander, the husband, and the brother-in-laws all being held down on the floor, one at a time, by a couple of burly SEALs, while another SEAL cuts the nose and ears off each one with a rusty knife - and then uses a blowtorch to remove just one testicle from each one.
Where's "Black Jack" Pershing when you really need him?
#7
The Taliban will be advocating a version of an Afghan state in line with their own conservative views
They are NOT conservative. I am conservative. The Taliban is reactionary; they are zealots.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 14:34
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#8
Lone Ranger: er, no, that's not how we're supposed to behave. We're Americans, not Taliban. That sort of thing done in the Philippines a hundred years ago didn't earn us any honor, and it wouldn't do so today.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 14:36
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#9
May not have won honor, but it certainly earned respect. "Let them hate, so long as they fear".
#10
The Landmarks Preservation Commission said in voting 9-0 that the 152-year-old building isn't distinctive enough to qualify as a landmark.
"This is not a building of special aesthetic character," said Commissioner Diana Chapin, echoing the remarks of her colleagues.
The dumba$$es on the commission ought to look at this cover of Time very closely and then maybe it will sink it to their dimwits what this mosque is about.
#13
The Christian convert who fled to Florida is having to go back to court to keep from being deported since her parents brought her here and then abused her. Of course, 20,000,000 Mexicans have no court date.
Israel's northern border erupted on Tuesday as the Israel Defense Forces exchanged fire with the Lebanese army, killing two Lebanese soldiers, in what appeared to be the most serious military confrontation since Israel's month-long war with Hezbollah in 2006.
What odds these were actually Hizb'allah foot soldiers in Lebanese army uniforms?
The Lebanese army confirmed that two of its troops had been killed when Israeli forces fired on a vehicle in which they were traveling, setting it on fire and wounding another.
In Lebanon, security sources said that Israeli shells fired at the southern Lebanese border village of Aadassi hit a house, wounding two - a soldier and a civilian.
Lebanese troops responded with artillery fire, Lebanese press reports said, while eyewitnesses said fire had broken out in two buildings in the village.
"It started when the Israelis wanted to cut a tree down inside Lebanon," one security source in Lebanon said. "The Lebanese army fired warning shots at them and they responded by shelling."
Since the end of the Second Lebanon War, the IDF has conducted patrols up to the international border, which in some places is on the Lebanese side of the border fence. It is possible that Tuesday's incident was caused by one of the sides misidentifying the correct location of the border. In Lebanon, there was a report that Lebanese soldiers demanded that Israeli troops leave the area before the exchange of fire took place.
Responding to the incident, Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman authorized Israel's UN ambassador Gabriella Shalev to lodge an official complaint against Lebanon with the UN Security Council.
In a statement, the Israeli government blamed Lebanon for provoking the clash, saying it took a particularly grave view of the action as IDF soldiers had been working in complete coordination with UN peacekeepers.
"Israel sees this incident as a violation of UN Security Council resolution 1701, one of a long line of violations, first of which is the massive arming of Hezbollah in southern Lebanon," the statement read. "Israel views the government of Lebanon as responsible for this grave event and warns of possible consequences if these violations continue."
Also on Tuesday there were reports that a Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon struck the northern Galilee - but police dispatched to the area could find no trace of an impact.
Residents living close to border reported hearing several loud explosions.
Aharon Valensi, head of the Upper Galilee Regional Council, told television news that residents of the area had been told to take cover in bomb shelters.
"We're ready," he said. "The IDF prepared us for situations like this and we just hope that it is only a localized incident."
Israeli military engineering units maintain a security fence along the border with southern Lebanon. The region has traditionally been a stronghold for Hezbollah but regular Lebanese troops returned to the area in 2006 following Israel's summer war with the Shi'a militant group.
A 12,000-strong United Nations peacekeeping force, UNIFIL, is also deployed in the area.
Following news of the incident, UNIFIL issued a statement calling on both armies to show "maximum restraint" and prevent an escalation of hostilities.
Tuesday's clash follows rocket attacks on Monday on the southern city of Eilat and neighboring Aqaba in Jordan, in which a Jordanian citizen was killed and five others were injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
08:50 ||
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#1
"The Lebanese army fired warning shots at them and they responded by shelling."
Yar! Good display of disproportionate force! It's the only thing those clowns understand.
HT to HotAir. I disagree with Hitchens on various things (see: atheism), but when he's right, he cuts like a knife
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010
08:20 ||
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#1
Hitch gets into high gear when his subject combines extreme stupidity and superstition with great influence, prestige or power: members of the House of Windsor, Mikey Moore, Hugo... This is Hitch in fine form-- "an awkwardness descended on the conversation":
As [Chavez's] tirade against evil America mounted, Sean Penn broke in to say that surely Chávez would be happy to see the arrest of Osama Bin Laden.
I was hugely impressed by the way that the boss scorned this overture. He essentially doubted the existence of al-Qaida, let alone reports of its attacks on the enemy to the north. "I don't know anything about Osama Bin Laden that doesn't come to me through the filter of the West and its propaganda." To this, Penn replied that surely Bin Laden had provided quite a number of his very own broadcasts and videos. I was again impressed by the way that Chávez rejected this proffered lucid-interval lifeline. All of this so-called evidence, too, was a mere product of imperialist television. After all, "there is film of the Americans landing on the moon," he scoffed. "Does that mean the moon shot really happened? In the film, the Yanqui flag is flying straight out. So, is there wind on the moon?" As Chávez beamed with triumph at this logic, an awkwardness descended on my comrades, and on the conversation.
Chávez, in other words, is very close to the climactic moment when he will announce that he is a poached egg and that he requires a very large piece of buttered toast so that he can lie down and take a soothing nap.
#5
I can`t decide whether he is guessing the weight, offering it to some heathen god or returning it to the fishmonger with a demand for something fresher.
Posted by: Grunter in Lima ||
08/03/2010 14:23
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#6
or "slices like an effin' hammer", as the case may be...
Assange seems to believe, incorrectly, that he is immune to arrest so long as he stays outside the United States. He leads a nomadic existence, operating in countries such as Sweden, Belgium and Iceland, where he believes he enjoys the protection of "beneficial laws." (He recently worked with the Icelandic parliament to pass legislation effectively making the country a haven for WikiLeaks). The United States should make clear that it will not tolerate any country -- and particularly NATO allies such as Belgium and Iceland -- providing safe haven for criminals who put the lives of NATO forces at risk.
With appropriate diplomatic pressure, these governments may cooperate in bringing Assange to justice. But if they refuse, the United States can arrest Assange on their territory without their knowledge or approval. In 1989, the Justice Department's Office of Legal Counsel issued a memorandum entitled "Authority of the Federal Bureau of Investigation to Override International Law in Extraterritorial Law Enforcement Activities."
This memorandum declares that "the FBI may use its statutory authority to investigate and arrest individuals for violating United States law, even if the FBI's actions contravene customary international law" and that an "arrest that is inconsistent with international or foreign law does not violate the Fourth Amendment." In other words, we do not need permission to apprehend Assange or his co-conspirators anywhere in the world.
Arresting Assange would be a major blow to his organization. But taking him off the streets is not enough; we must also recover the documents he unlawfully possesses and disable the system he has built to illegally disseminate classified information.
This should be done, ideally, through international law enforcement cooperation. But if such cooperation is not forthcoming, the United States can and should act alone. Assange recently boasted that he has created "an uncensorable system for untraceable mass document leaking." I am sure this elicited guffaws at the National Security Agency. The United States has the capability and the authority to monitor his communications and disrupt his operations.
Last year, the Obama administration stood up a new U.S. Cyber Command (USCYBERCOM) to "conduct full-spectrum military cyberspace operations" in defense of U.S. national security. With the stroke of his pen, the president can authorize USCYBERCOM to protect American and allied forces by eliminating WikiLeaks' ability to disseminate classified information that puts their lives at risk.
#2
Technically, in past wasn't these overseas captured made by the United States Marshals Service?
"In fiscal year 2008, the U.S. Marshals arrested more than 36,600 federal fugitive felons, clearing 39,700 federal felony warrants – more than all other law enforcement agencies combined. Working with authorities at the federal, state, and local levels, U.S. Marshals-led fugitive task forces arrested more than 73,000 state and local fugitives, clearing 90,600 state and local felony warrants."
#6
Nothing would go futher towards stopping this sort of nonsense than the sight of this a@shat in a US courtroom.
Except maybe a suicide by Pvt Manning (now reputedly being watched due to risk of same), followed by some heavy pressure on Iceland, Sweden etc by State and Treasury....
#8
In the news: 114 members of the House of Representatives voted NO on war funding on July 29.
At least you have 100+ congressmen happy with the guy. They won't expect (or probably thwart) Mr. President's "stroke of a pen" to authorize USCYBERCOM to do anything.
#9
Assange is just a mouthpiece for an advisory board which runs Wikileaks, comprising Assange, Phillip Adams,Wang Dan, C. J. Hinke, Ben Laurie, Tashi Namgyal Khamsitsang, Xiao Qiang, Chico Whitaker and Wang Youcai.
Any of these can be picked up anytime, but they are not, so why not?
#11
A US Federal jail cell just might be the safest place on earth for these traitors. And even then... Every single person they pass on the street, for the remainder of their lives, may be someone seeking blood revenge. Not only on them, but on their loved ones as well.
It's a cold cruel world and many of the people they have betrayed will not be nice people. Go take a read about the torutre rooms around the world, losers. You just got the attention of the type of people who play that game. And I'm not talking panties on the head. There is no way to know the darkness of heart, the country, the reach or the ability of those betrayed.
The chattering classes cheering them on will be little comfort to them now.
Posted by: Martini ||
08/03/2010 15:34
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#12
Wikileaks has done some good work exposing Chinese oppression and the shenanigans of the Russian mafia. If you're going to piss in those guys' messkits, though, you need to remember who your friends are. Assange and his gang have forgotten that, and they may well pay the price for it.
#13
Has anybody told Holder and zero? Those two clowns have other priorities, such as taking doctors to court for refusing to work for nothing & taking Arizona to court to protect itself from illegal immigration.
#16
Re #12: If anything "unfortunate" happens to Assange, like getting shot in broad daylight, or having an extremely fatal fall down some stairs, everybody will blame the eeeeeeevil US. It won't matter who did it - even if the assassin leaves a note in Russian, Chinese, Pashtun or whatever. It will still be our fault.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
08/03/2010 21:36
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#17
I could live with that, Rambler.
We're always to blame anyway.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2010 21:50
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Now, why would the editors of National Geographic have an agenda? Is that a trick question?
"Global warming is undeniable," and it's happening fast, a new U.S. government report says.
An in-depth analysis of ten climate indicators all point to a marked warming over the past three decades, with the most recent decade being the hottest on record, according to the latest of the U.S. National Atmospheric and Oceanic Administration's annual "State of the Climate" Hanson reports, which was released Wednesday. Reliable global climate record-keeping began in the 1880s. So we're looking at 120 years of data? Not much adjustment required for that. How'd you hide the decline?
The report focused on climate changes measured in 2009 in the context of newly available data on long-term developments. "Long-term" meaning over the last few decades.
For instance, surface air temperatures recorded from more than 7,000 weather stations around the world over the past few decades confirm an "unmistakable upward trend," the study says. Ahhhh! A new definition of "Global Warming"! Lots of stations, short time period! I noticed a weather station near my home the other day. It was on an overpass above the intersection of two major highways in the middle of a big city.
And for the first time, scientists put data from climate indicators--such as ocean temperature and sea-ice cover--together in one place. Their consistency "jumps off the page at you," report co-author Derek Arndt said.
Three hundred scientists analyzed data on 37 climate indicators, but homed in on 10 that the study says are especially revealing.
Those indicators include: humidity, sea-surface temperature, sea ice cover, snow cover, ocean heat content, glacier cover, air temperature in the lower atmosphere, sea level, temperature over land, and temperature over oceans. And the accuracy of the data is consistent over the period?
The influx of greenhouses gases into the atmosphere has also hit oceans particularly hard, the NOAA report says.
New evidence suggests that more than 90 percent of that heat trapped by greenhouses gases over the past 50 years has been absorbed into the oceans. Oh, I'm sorry; not 30-40 years, the period examined must be as much as 50 years. That's a great base for extrapolation!
Because water expands as it warms, the added ocean heat is contributing to sea level rise as well as to the rapid melting of Arctic summer sea ice. That melting in 2010 is on track to be worse than 2007, when Arctic ice cover reached its lowest point on record. Like my gin-and-tonic overflows when the ice melts.
Such climatic shifts are already ushering in extreme weather, which plagued much of the globe in 2009, according to the report.
The NOAA report--published in the Bulletin of the American Meteorological Society--is different from other climate publications, because it's based on observed data, not computer models, making it the "climate system's annual scorecard," the authors wrote. "It's telling us what's going on in the real world, rather than the imaginary world," said Kevin Trenberth, a senior scientist at the Boulder, Colorado-based National Center for Atmospheric Research. Another revelation: Computer models are no good!
Even so, the report "does not carry the authority of the IPCC [Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change] by any means," Trenberth noted. That's partially because IPCC reports--the latest of which came out in 2007 with a similar claim that warming is "unequivocal"--are produced on longer time scales, with more time for review.
And even with real-world data, "the theory with regard to global warming is still incomplete"--especially since the atmosphere is so complex, Trenberth cautioned. This "can be seen at a glance," for example, "by looking out of the window at the wondrous, great variety in clouds." I'm sure the sixth-graders lap this up like warm milk.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2010
06:52 ||
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#3
I have said it before and I'll say it again. Yes, there is global warming going on. The ice sheets have been retreating for thousands of years (Long Island was a glacial end moraine.) I would be very surprised if a PART of it was not caused by fossil fuel combustion. The question is, how much? 1%? 10%? Not 100%.
Next point: Crap and trade will do nothing to reduce global warming. It is merely camoflage for the hidden real purpose of the legislation - global income redistribution. In fact, by transferring combustion from the more efficient and modern world to the less developed world the CO2 production per unit of economic activity will go UP.
#4
For instance, surface air temperatures recorded from more than 7,000 weather stations around the world over the past few decades confirm an "unmistakable upward trend," the study says.
Well Doh.... when you start placing the 'asphalt and AC weather stations' in the middle of asphalt parking lots and next to AC exhaust... the measurements tend to go up. They also tend to become completely irrelevant.
#5
The question is, how much? 1%? 10%? Not 100%.
Another key question is, what can we do that will stop global warming by the end of the lifetime of our grandchildren? There is ZERO evidence concerning this. If the human race and its current economic activity were to vanish overnight, climate trends would continue for decades or centuries regardless.
#7
Two critical things to remember about the whole MMGW thing.
1) Carbon Dioxide in Earth's atmosphere amounts to 390 ppmv (parts per million by volume) (or 0.0390% of the total). Of that, the human contribution is 12 ppmv (~3%). Three percent of a trace gas. Even the serious MMGW scientists say that the human contribution alone cannot do squat, *unless* is somehow makes the *natural* CO2 producers crank out vastly more CO2, in a self-reinforcing cycle.
And no such cycle, out of a dozen or so proposed cycles, has been proven, and several have been disproven.
2) The Earth's thermosphere, which is the "greenhouse blanket" around the Earth, mitigating temperatures, has radically contracted in the last two years, almost certainly caused by the lack of solar activity. With this contraction, *vastly* more powerful than *anything* humans could do, we are getting just the *opposite* of a greenhouse effect.
A greenhouse effect results in stable temperatures that are a little warmer than the air outside the greenhouse. The opposite of this is lower than normal lows *and* higher than normal highs, at the same time. Remember last winter?
#9
Article: "Three hundred scientists analyzed data on 37 climate indicators, but homed in on 10 that the study says are especially revealing."
Translation: We kept only the indicator's that support our position. The 300 scientists made this conclusion while attending a junket conference in Tahiti.
Article: "Such climatic shifts are already ushering in extreme weather, which plagued much of the globe in 2009, according to the report."
Translation: Extreme weather is a new phenomenon that did not exist prior to 2009.
Article: "An in-depth analysis of ten climate indicators all point to a marked warming over the past three decades,..."
Translation: Just ignore the two decades of cooling prior to the 3 decades of warming. Our thermometer thingies weren't properly calibrated then.
Article: "Reliable global climate record-keeping began in the 1880s."*
*Fine Print: "Reliable global climate record-keeping began in the 1880s, except for long periods of war, civil, social and economic disruption. Global in the sense that it covered much of North America. May not include large parts Europe, Central and South America, Central and East Asia, all of Africa, much of the Pacific, Indian, Arctic, and Atlantic Oceans and Antarctica. Reliable in the sense that the measurements have all been properly fudged adjusted to take into account the Urban Heat Island Effect, proximity to asphalt parking lots and the hot air discharge of nearby air conditioners.
#14
Global warming IS undeniable. Ten thousand years ago the place where I live was covered by two miles of ice. Then those damn SUV driving saber tooth tigers caused the environment to heat up.
The Environmental Protection Agency on Thursday blew off requests to overturn its finding that greenhouse gases endanger human health. And they still don't like Climate-Gate either, because it weakened their position.
The EPA's decision to reject those petitions was hardly a surprise - the agency was, in effect, being asked to check its own work. But the EPA used the occasion to attack the arguments of its critics, many of them reliant on the "Climate-gate" episode, in which hackers released embarassing emails sent by climate scientists. Because the British media showed no inclination to investigate the issue, since the 'science' was certain.
The EPA's response cited several self-conducted investigations that have cleared researchers involved in the scandal of charges of misconduct. It conceded that errors had been found in a landmark United Nations report on climate change. But it said that none of these raised doubts about the overall direction of climate science, and the certainty that climate change was happening and would get worse. Just yesterday, I saw National Geographic had an article saying global warming was a certainty, based on present temperature measurements, nevermind that messy history stuff.
The finding had been challenged by the states of Virginia and Texas, as well as the Competitive Enterprise Institute, the U.S. Chamber of Commerce, the Ohio Coal Association, and evil coal giant Peabody Energy.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2010
06:27 ||
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#1
Congress can amend the statutes regulating what the EPA can and can't do at any time they wish. These protests should be directed to Congress & expressed at the ballot box.
#2
I've had a subscription to National Geographic for 35 years, and I'm actually considering canceling it because of the way they are ignoring the discrediting of global warming.
It used to be an occasional article which could be over looked but they are becoming increasingly shrill just like the rest of the loonies.
#3
I read an article on Israel in NG a few years ago. It was so slanted that I would have cancelled the subscription based on that alone -- but the subscription was paid by my doctor's office, so their balance sheet remained safe. They did a big write-up on Afghanistan more recently, complete with the poster-sized maps they do so well. Again, party line, despite the gorgeous photos. I wouldn't have known, had I not been a loyal Rantburger.
#4
Family had a long, continuous tradition of taking National Geographic, from early 50's (grandparents), through 70's (parents), until a few years ago, when I dropped it for being too much politics and not enough science. Great maps and pretty pictures just weren't enough.
#5
when I dropped it for being too much politics and not enough science
Same problem with Scientific American, which now has as many non-science articles as science ones.
Can anyone recommend an excellent, reasonably highbrow science publication for laymen that is NOT infected with heavy political bias? Open to anything in English or French at this point. Russian too, if such a journal exists.
#7
I gave up on SA, too, but still get Discover. Not quite as high-brow...
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2010 12:44
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#8
Tree huggers now run the EPA with the support of tax and spend politicians who see a different kind of green potential, your money going to them. The conspirators have got it all worked out.
#9
Lex, the best thing I can do is recommend "Watts up with That?", an online "magazine" that deals primarily with climate, but digresses into other science quite frequently. There are NO print magazines that are even halfway as honest as WUWT. They've been voted "the best science news site on the Web" for the second year in a row. Lots of top-named "skeptics" contribute articles there, and the readership is about as diverse as Rantburg.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2010 15:48
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#10
Watts Up is also on a slant but with the opposite slope of SA. Watts Up still views the news primarily from a scientific view, not ideological as does SA, but it still has a slant. New Scientist is in the middle.
#14
The left is always ready to quote Eisenhower on the 'military industrial complex' but has also buried what immediately followed that quote -
Today, the solitary inventor, tinkering in his shop, has been overshadowed by task forces of scientists in laboratories and testing fields. In the same fashion, the free university, historically the fountainhead of free ideas and scientific discovery, has experienced a revolution in the conduct of research. Partly because of the huge costs involved, a government contract becomes virtually a substitute for intellectual curiosity. For every old blackboard there are now hundreds of new electronic computers.
The prospect of domination of the nation's scholars by Federal employment, project allocations, and the power of money is ever present and is gravely to be regarded.
Yet, in holding scientific research and discovery in respect, as we should, we must also be alert to the equal and opposite danger that public policy could itself become the captive of a scientifictechnological elite.
#15
The NG article on Israel several years back was the final straw for me. Cancelled and never looked back.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
08/03/2010 18:16
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#16
Thanks, Mods, for corrrecting the yellow highlight on the first paragraph. I was momentarily confused between re-writing and commenting. After it went up, I decided it shoulda been yellow.
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/03/2010 18:25
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#17
The EPA has come a long way since Nixon set them up to protect bald eagles. Hopefully the new Republican House will defund them in January. Obama will veto any attempt to eliminate the agency, but he can't force Congress to appropriate money to pay for it.
#18
Then watch the usual suspect use the aristocracy judiciary to dictate to Congress to appropriate the money. At that point the Constitution is all but a relic in word.
#1
This article begs the question of whether or not banks require regulation by governments. They most certainly do. Krugman himself lost his credibility before the current crisis by his failure to predict it (I did, and I am no candidate for the Nobel Prize in anything.)
#3
High ratios of house price to earnings are a sign of economic failure.
Keeping housing prices high (=maintaining a high ratio of house prices to earnings) has been the official goal of the White House & Congress going back several administrations. Apparently they are bent on economic failure.
#4
The credit bubble was the response by BOTH parties to 1) the increase in inequality that attends a winner-take-all information technology economy, and 2) the extreme increase in economic insecurity affecting American families that are now vulnerable to highly volatile jobs, housing and stock markets.
U Chicago prof. Raghuram Rajan deserves to be much better known. In Christopher Caldwell's excellent Weekly Standard profile, he nails it:
Rajan offers a bold and convincing diagnosis of how a screw-up in the regulation of poor people’s mortgages in one country has brought the world to the brink of economic disaster, where it teeters still. He goes beyond the proximate causes of the problem—the subprimes and derivatives and trade imbalances and the like. The ultimate cause, Rajan convincingly argues, is a widening of economic inequality that American politicians of both parties found politically intolerable, and chose to fix by turning the credit market into an under-the-table welfare state.
...as Rajan puts it with some understatement, "the United States is singularly unprepared for jobless recoveries." This is only partly because the United States has a weaker welfare state than other industrialized countries. It is also because the American safety net—in which government provides fewer health and retirement benefits but incentivizes employers to fill the gap—winds up placing all of a person’s eggs in the basket of his job. Lose your job and you lose not only your income but also your (and your children’s) health insurance and possibly (as in several scandalous recent cases) your pension.
Under such circumstances, any recession with the slightest perceptible effect on the public will end political careers by the score. And recessions are, alas, inevitable. The result, under both Democratic and Republican leadership, has been reckless government extension of credit.
As a remedy for downturns, this has two political advantages. First, it does not bother conservatives as much as handouts do. Second, "easy credit has large, positive, immediate, and widely distributed benefits, whereas the costs all lie in the future. It has a payoff structure that is precisely the one desired by politicians, which is why so many countries have succumbed to its lure."
#5
a screw-up in the regulation of poor people's mortgages in one country has brought the world to the brink of economic disaster
If it was just the poor people's mortgages we would have a minor problem. It was the whole mindset of 'can't lose at real estate' buyers and 'bad loans won't be MY problem' lenders. And the dishonesty of the entire system that allowed - encouraged - them.
#6
Also, they thought they could move entire physical industries overseas but that they'll still be able to make money in the finance industry _anyway_. They think that even though everyone else will be unable to pay their bills, they'll still be able to get blood from the turnip, after all, they wrote the "blood from the turnip" clause in the contract. Never mind that it doesn't mean you'll _actually be able to get blood from the turnip_ when the government shuts down drilling in the Gulf, or irrigation in the Central Valley. Turnips themselves may be in short supply.
#7
#1 This article begs the question of whether or not banks require regulation by governments. They most certainly do.
Regulation should serve to protect individuals and organizations either from direct criminal action, or those actions/inactions that indirectly cause harm (ie. negligence on the part of the responsible party). This applies to all entities regulated by government (be it a bank, a coal company, a t-shirt vendor, etc.). Regulation should not exist to control the marketplace through theoretical models, or to pick winners and losers based on ideology, preference, or political gain. It is not the role of government to decide who will be successful; it is their role to protect the citizenry and sovereignty of this country. Do banks require regulation? Of course they do. The question is to what end are they being regulated?
#8
A bigger question regarding bank regulation is, what are you going to do about regulatory capture, so that the regulations are going to achieve something instead of making it worse?
All the storm we went through in 2007 and 2008, remember, was after Sarbannes/Oxley went through so we wouldn't have this sort of stuff happen anymore. It cost a lot, but we still have these sorts of accidents anyway.
#9
we still have these sorts of accidents anyway
Snow Thing, are you sure they're accidents? Seems like a lot of connected people got quite wealthy from them.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
08/03/2010 16:26
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#11
This article begs the question of whether or not banks require regulation by governments. They most certainly do.
Not. It was regulation by government that exacerbated this mess. The investment banks should never have been allowed to lever their capital 30-40 x whcih they were by the Fed. It is regulation by the government that allows people to ignore the risks their bank takes by insuring deposits. It was regulation by the government that allowed ratings to be paid for by the seller rather than the purchaser of securities. And it was regulation by the government that killed the IPO market and technology innovation. Regulation initially promises to remove risk and provide security. But this is only a charade. Regulation hides risk until it reveals the emperor has no clothes. With catastrophic consequences for all. Because there is risk in the world and it cannot be regulated.
By July, Krugman had lost his "Battle of the Blog." On July 23, Latrina commented, "Who is this Sean from Florida? He takes everything that [the] Professor [says] and shreds it, piece by piece. He shouldn't be allowed to post his comments on this blog since he seems to be winning all the debates. We progressives need to stick together and embellish our talking points without someone from the outside pointing out fallacies in our ideology."
I assume that's sarcasm, but it's the Times, so who knows.
#1
With all of the devastation criminal aliens are causing to our national forests you'd think more "environmentalists" would be pushing for secure borders. I mean...they do want to protect natural habitats right? Oh, only if it means protecting them from evil corporations. You know, the guys who harvest the wood needed for the furniture that the tree huggers have in their houses. Yeah, and the guys who mine the coal that powers those homes. I forgot...my bad.
#2
Actually, ICE is doing a LOT right now. A news story today, for example, is that ICE is detaining a LOT fewer illegal aliens than it did in 2008. And ICE is cooperating a LOT less with State and local authorities than it used to.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 9:52
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#4
So, if they can't control the border and can't handle 10 million illegals, how are they going to deal with 10 million tax resisters? Major black/alternate market in the making as we speak now with millions facing permanent official unemployment. The fertile ground of an alternative economy. If narcs and illegals can go north, money can go south [as it already is].
A semi-secret government contractor that calls itself Project Vigilant surfaced at the Defcon security conference Sunday with a series of revelations: that it monitors the traffic of 12 regional Internet service providers, hands much of that information to federal agencies, and encouraged one of its "volunteers," researcher Adrian Lamo, to inform the federal government about the alleged source of a controversial video of civilian deaths in Iraq leaked to whistle-blower site Wikileaks in April.
Chet Uber, the director of Fort Pierce, Fl.-based Project Vigilant, says that he personally asked Lamo to meet with federal authorities to out the source of a video published by Wikileaks showing a U.S. Apache helicopter killing several civilians and two journalists in a suburb of Baghdad, a clip that Wikileaks labeled "Collateral Murder." Lamo, who Uber said worked as an "adversary characterization" analyst for Project Vigilant, had struck up an online friendship with Bradley Manning, a former U.S. Army intelligence analyst who currently faces criminal charges for releasing the classified video.
Uber, who formerly founded a private sector group called Infragard that worked closely with the FBI, compares the organization's techniques with Ghostnet, the Chinese cyber espionage campaign revealed last year that planted spyware on computers of many governments and NGOs. "We've developed a network for obfuscation that allows us to view bad actors," he says.
Nobody does volunteering like Americans, as I discovered when I joined the International School of Brussels PTA... although the Japanese mothers took the idea and ran with it most beautifully, once exposed to the concept. More meat at the link -- it turns out data mining is only against the rules for government intelligence agencies. Mr. Uber is terribly brave to go public like this.
A Jordanian citizen was killed and three others were wounded by Grad rockets fired on Monday from Egyptian territory at the Gulf of Eilat and Aqaba. One rocket struck open space north of Eilat, three struck Aqaba's hotel area, one rocket apparently landed in the sea and one landed in Sinai. On an Army Radio show on Monday morning, the presenter, a well-known comic, ridiculed the rocket launchers for having bad aim and mistakenly hitting Aqaba. But the perpetrators, apparently members of the group known as Global Jihad, intended to hit Aqaba no less than Eilat. They consider the Hashemite kingdom to be as legitimate a target as Israel, if not more so.
Aqaba has become an attractive destination for European, American and even Israeli tourists in recent years, and is an important source of income for Jordan. Hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested in new hotels in the area, which is what makes it attractive to terrorists.
Concern over possible missile strikes or major terror attacks has spurred the Jordanians to closer security collaboration with Israel, despite this past year's rift between the Israeli government and the Jordanian monarchy. Throughout this period, the parties have continued coordinating on security matters; the information on more than one occasion thwarted an attack on Israeli or Jordanian soil. It seems that quite a few people in Israel are unaware that they owe their lives to Jordanian security forces.
The authorities haven't determined from where the Grads were launched. Israeli sources think they were fired from Sinai, a charge the Egyptians have roundly denied. The Egyptians say this couldn't happen when Egyptian security forces are so effectively deployed in Sinai. But Sinai was and still is a hotbed for Global Jihad. Weapons are being smuggled from Sinai into Gaza, including Grad missiles. Some of these missiles presumably remain in Sinai, waiting to be launched.
A Grad missile was fired at Ashkelon Friday, causing no injuries. Radical Islamist groups in Gaza could be behind both attacks. There are at least five groups identified with Al-Qaida or Global Jihad: Jaish al-Umma (army of the nation ), which first appeared in the Gaza Strip in June 2007, although it was officially established only two years ago; Jaish al-Islam (the army of Islam ) - a group associated with the Dughmush clan;
The Dughmushes have their own army? They've certainly moved up in the world -- back in the day nobody claimed more than a brigade.
and Jund Ansar Allah (army of the supporters of Allah ), which clashed with Hamas a year ago in Rafah, ending in Hamas killing 24 of its activists after the group declared an Islamic emirate in Gaza. This group was assisted by non-Palestinian Global Jihad activists; Jaish al-Momaminin (the army of the believers ); Al-Qaida Palestine, which took responsibility for the attack on the American school in Gaza; and Kataib al-Suyuf al-Haq al-Islamiyah (the brigades of the swords of Islamic justice ).
And thus anybody with any pretensions gets to be an emir, and Number Threes are thick upon the ground.
Global Jihad activists have come to the Gaza Strip, trained there, armed themselves and returned to Sinai to commit acts of terror against tourist targets in Sinai and elsewhere in Egypt. That may be the case this time as well.
Posted by: ryuge ||
08/03/2010
02:26 ||
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#1
Concern over possible missile strikes or major terror attacks has spurred the Jordanians to closer security collaboration with Israel,
Not news. The IDF has for decades been the Hashemite kingdom's first line of defense.
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said today he felt "vindicated" that a House panel's report, which charged California Democratic Rep. Comrade Maxine Waters with violating ethics rules, did not implicate him. Too bad for Maxine, though. Oh, well, off to P'town...
The panel said Waters may have violated House rules by seeking a meeting between Treasury Department officials and representatives of a bank - Boston-based OneUnited - where she had a piece of the cheese and her husband was suckling. Frank said he turned over all his records and was interviewed by the ethics panel, but since he wasn't charged "obviously dey got nuttin' on me." Well, nothing they could prove...
Or nothing they were willing to prove. Congressman Frank wields a lot of power, and clearly isn't going to be rejected by his voters for being caught with a live boy...and a dead girl is unlikely, thank goodness.
Identified in the ethics panel report as "Representative A," Frank, who had previously admitted meeting with Waters in published reports, told investigators Waters spoke to him about her husband's involement with OneUnited and her possible conflict of interest. Frank told Waters to "'keep your head down, Maxine'," according to the report, adding that he "would take care of the grease." Yeah, that sounds legit...
Frank said today he worked to make sure that OneUnited would be eligible for the government's Troubled Asset Relief Program because he is an inveterate back-scratcher and OneUnited is the only such bank in Massachusetts.
#3
not "...Fire Island? Senior Discount denied? Do you know who I am?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 20:12
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Barney seems to have a thing for corrupt black female pols...
U.S. Rep. Barney Frank said yesterday he has “no regrets” about his role in helping a troubled Boston bank qualify for a $12 million federal bailout now at the center of ethics charges against California Rep. Maxine Waters.
In fact, Frank - chairman of the powerful House Financial Services Committee - says he never helped OneUnited at the behest of Waters, whose husband had served on the bankÂ’s board.
Instead, the Bay State congressman said he worked to promote the bailout at the request of scandal-plagued then-state Sen. Dianne Wilkerson.“I was already working on behalf of OneUnited, I was called by Senator Wilkerson and others, I don’t remember who. I was out in California doing a hearing and got a call from Wilkerson,” he told the Herald yesterday.
At the time Frank said he acted on WilkersonÂ’s behalf, the senator was one month away from federal bribery charges to which she recently pleaded guilty. She had previously pleaded guilty to failure to pay federal income taxes and been cited for unreported campaign donations and expenditures. In 2001, she was fined as a sitting senator by the State Ethics Commission for failing to report consulting fees from OneUnitedÂ’s predecessor, the Boston Bank of Commerce, for which she had lobbied.
...and the kicker.
OneUnited received $12 million from the massive federal TARP program. So far, OneUnited hasnÂ’t proven too good an investment - the bank has missed five dividend payments to the Treasury Department.
#1
"It will be primarily an air attack with covert work to start a 'velvet' revolution so [the] Iranian people can take back their country," said retired Air Force Lt. Gen. Thomas McInerney, a former fighter pilot.
#7
The bluster offensive begins. Culminates in November retraction.
If it works, fine. Bluster on.
Non-trivial problem: no one takes Barry seriously. Neither does anyone consider him to be dangerous in any but a goody two-shoes lefty junior professorish way.
#8
I still think the best approach to this would be with the blackest of black ops. In this case, for the Israelis to park a semi truck in some ordinary place upwind of a major support city for the Iranian regime, like Qom.
Vents open in the top of the semi, and large quantities of invisible radioactive isotopes start billowing out. Once done, the truck driver returns and drives away.
A few days later, tens of thousands of people get very sick, long after the truck has been disposed of in a very deep ocean trench. Then the rumor is planted that the government had a nuclear accident, but has not informed the public, because it would expose their nuclear weapons program.
#9
Turning Qom into a radioactive glass bowl would go a long way towards putting an end to Iran's overarching plan to re-establish the Persian Empire, also. Just saying...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2010 14:28
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#10
Id be happy with an overt strike on Iranian facilities and power bases asap.. The Iran saga is just too tedious to do anything else with . Once they have been bitch slapped down , the middle east will be a lot quieter .. As soon as the powers that be realise that , the sooner there will be an end
Posted by: Black Charlie ||
08/03/2010 14:46
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#11
I agree with Black Charlie. But then, I'm a neocon warmonger...
#13
Moose that's absolutely brilliant. Its a shame nobody would ever greenlight such a thing in DC
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
08/03/2010 19:10
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#14
I agree with old patriot. The second wave should involve Windex. However, I don't expect anything from Oblahblah beyond strong words. And that might be pushing the envelope for him.
#15
Vents open in the top of the semi, and large quantities of invisible radioactive isotopes start billowing out. Once done, the truck driver returns and drives away.
They could blame it on all those pork-contaminated radioactive cigarettes they claim to have imported from America.
In a decision that could lay the groundwork for an Arizona-style immigration policy, Virginia's attorney general said state law enforcement officers are allowed to check the immigration status of anyone "stopped or arrested."
Attorney General Ken Cuccinelli issued the legal opinion Friday extending that authority to Virginia police in response to an inquiry over whether his state could mirror the policies passed into law in Arizona.
"It is my opinion that Virginia law enforcement officers, including conservation officers may, like Arizona police officers, inquire into the immigration status of persons stopped or arrested," he wrote.
The decision comes after a federal judge blocked Arizona from implementing its provision that would require law enforcement to check the immigration status of anyone they stop and suspect of being an illegal immigrant.
Cuccinelli's ruling could justify that kind of policy in Virginia. However, Cuccinelli reiterated in the opinion a prior finding that while state officers have the authority to arrest suspects on criminal immigration violations, they are advised against arresting over civil immigration violations. Overstaying a visa would fall under the latter category.
The attorney general for Virginia is an interesting man. See here.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Virginia is also suing the Federal government over imposing the purchase of health care insurance on its citizens.
Security forces killed 12 Taliban while two security personnel were injured in an attack by militants on Monday in Upper Orakzai. Security sources said militants attacked a checkpost in Dabori Afghan Top area and injured two security men. Troops retaliated and killed 12 Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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[Dawn] Suspected al-Qaida militants on Monday blew up the house of a policeman in a former stronghold of the Sunni insurgency west of Baghdad, killing him, his wife and 4-year-old daughter, hospital and police officials said.
Separate attacks in Baghdad, including one targeting police, killed five people and wounded 15.
Al-Qaida militants have been targeting policemen and members of anti-al-Qaida Sunni militias, shaking an increasingly fragile security situation in Iraq as politicians wrangle for months over forming a government. July was the deadliest month for Iraqis in two years, though violence remains down from 2008.
The policeman's house was blown up before dawn in the Karmah district outside the city of Fallujah while the family was sleeping, police and hospital officials said.
Seven other family members, including four of the policeman's sons, were wounded in the blast, the officials said, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to talk to the press.
The police officials said they suspected al-Qaida militants were behind the attack.
Also on Monday, police officials said a roadside bomb apparently targeting a police patrol missed and killed three civilians traveling in a car and wounded eight bystanders in the western part of Baghdad.
Shortly after midnight, police and hospital officials said gunmen in a car opened fire at a cafe in Baghdad's Shiite district of Sadr City, killing two people and wounding seven.
Residents said the attack may have been the work of vigilantes angered by suspected drug use at the cafe.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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Interior Minister Rehman Malik accused banned group Sipah-e-Sahaba Pakistan (SSP) for the assassination of MQM MPA Raza Haider, who was gunned down in Karachi along with a police constable on Monday.
Talking to reporters at the Parliament House, Malik said there were reports of death threats to Haider's life, which had been conveyed to certain senior officials. He said the perpetrators of this act wanted to destabilise Karachi, which amounted to instability in the rest of the country.
He appealed to the MQM not to be scared of the elements that did not want peace in Karachi, assuring them that "we will definitely apprehend the killers". He asked MQM chief Altaf Hussain to appeal to his party workers to stay calm. The minister said the elements behind this incident wanted to create rifts between the ANP and MQM.
Separately, speaking in the Senate, Malik claimed that creating unrest in Karachi -- the country's commercial hub -- was part of a "larger scheme" to destabilise Pakistan. Oh sure, like that could happen ... Like you could tell...
"I'm going to tell you that a bigger formula has been framed against Pakistan. It is part of a larger scheme to destabilise Pakistan," he remarked. Malik said a joint investigation team of law enforcement agencies and intelligence agencies would be looking into all aspects of the MPA's murder.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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The attorney for the man charged with last year's deadly shooting rampage at Texas' Fort Hood Army post says his client, who is still on the military's payroll, can't find a bank willing to cash his checks.
While Maj. Nidal Hasan sits in Bell County Jail in Belton, Texas, waiting for his next hearing in October, his lawyer, John Galligan, has been shopping around to banks trying to find a financial institution willing to take on his client as a customer.
"Various banks have refused, without any specificity, to permit Hasan to open a checking account where he can have his military pay deposited," Galligan told ABC News.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#5
He's still getting a check? Why do the survivors of these victims have to put up with this crap? Why do the taxpayers have to put up with this POS? It's not like he didn't do it. There's no mistaken identity. He admits to it. Good for the banks for refusing to cash the checks that he should be getting.
#8
why not because they have convicted him yet? @ the last comment. Hell I have a hrd time getting a check cashed and i didn't kill a bunch of fellow soldiers so cry me a river asshole.
Posted by: chris ||
08/03/2010 17:32
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#9
There is a fed law that restricts them from doing any business with a suspected terrorist or anyone suspected to supporting terrorism. The banks are covering their six.
Posted by: 49 Pan in Atlanta ||
08/03/2010 18:48
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#10
"Pay" ?
WTF
Posted by: john frum ||
08/03/2010 18:57
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#11
perhaps you oughtta rethink your fervid support, Atty John Galligan?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 19:12
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#12
"Various banks have refused, without any specificity, to permit Hasan to open a checking account where he can have his military pay deposited," Galligan told ABC News.
I'm sure they would like to say, "We don't want the murdering Muslim asshole's money".
But that would be sooooooooo unPC.
#13
#10 - American procedural law or legal ritual, suspect is 'presumed' innocent till proven guilty in a court of law. Till such time his pay accrues. I guess technically someone could be appointed to be a pay officer and he can sign for the money or for a partial. That the victims haven't gotten a lawyer to put a claim on that accumulating money is a missed opportunity. I'm sure some lawyer someplace could get an interpretation that stipulates it's 'terrorist' money and subject to confiscation. However most such 'activists' lawyers are actually spending time representing Gitmoites and not victims.
Ineffectual Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas told a visiting US official on Monday that Israel must commit to clear terms of reference for peace talks before the start of direct negotiations, Palestinian officials said.
US President Barack Obama's administration is putting pressure on the Palestinian president to agree to direct talks, which Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has said he is ready to begin immediately.
US official David Hale, a deputy to Obama's Middle East envoy George Mitchell, had asked Abbas when direct talks could begin, said members of the Palestine Liberation Organisation's (PLO) executive committee briefed by Abbas.
Mitchell has conducted five rounds of indirect talks between Abbas and Netanyahu since May. Obama has said he wants direct talks to begin by September.
"The president answered Hale that we, in principle are not against direct negotiations," Saleh Rafat, an executive committee members said. "However we should hear from the Israelis the terms of reference for the negotiations and a halt to settlement activities," he said. Netanyahu has said the Palestinians can bring all issues to the table and accuses Abbas of wasting time.
The Palestinians aim to found their state in the West Bank and the Gaza Strip with East Jerusalem as its capital. Israel occupied the territories in a 1967 war.
Abbas has sought progress in the indirect negotiations before any move to direct talks. He has spoken of unprecedented international pressure to convince him to resume direct peace talks with Israel.
Last week, the Arab League's peace process committee approved a move to direct negotiations when Abbas sees fit. The PLO executive committee said in a statement after its meeting that the Palestinian demands were a guarantee for the success of future direct negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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Democratic Rep. Barney Frank is coming to California to raise cash for Democratic Sen. Barbara (Call me Senator!) Boxer's re-election bid.
The Massachusetts representative, who chairs the powerful House Financial Services Committee, shared the news in a Q-and-A in the New York Times Magazine:
Any plans for a summer vacation?
Well, we do have a campaign, and everyone should be campaigning. My partner, Jim, and I are going to California this month. I'm going to do a fund-raiser for Senator Boxer, speak to the Orange County Democrats and also just hang out.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Probably why he wanted to save that buck on the ferry ride over to Fire Island.
[Dawn] During an interview with the ABC channel on Monday, US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates hinted at carrying out an operation in Pakistan along with Afghanistan in order to root out the Haqqani network, reports said.
Gates said the United States was strengthening its military capabilities in eastern Afghanistan, which, he said was the centre of the Haqqani network.
"Cooperation with Pakistan is being promoted in order to ensure safety on the Pak-Afghan border," Gates said.
While discussion the possibility of taking action against the Haqqani network, Gates hinted that the United States might carry out an operation for that reason in both Pakistan and Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
If we were really going to DO it, would we be talking about it? (Obviously, we shouldn't be.)
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Islamic satellite channel al-Daleel announced the groundbreaking launch of a new express service that delivers fatwas round the clock to Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan. "Fatwas R' Us". How can I help you?
Yeah, my old lady's being a pain in the ass.
Mullah Mahmoud, you wanna take this one....
Al-Daleel TV, supervised by prominent Saudi cleric Sheikh Salman al-Oouda, issued a statement declaring that the final touches of its new show Fatwa of the Hour are in place and that it is ready to launch on the first day of Ramadan, which falls on August 11 this year. This hour's fatwa: 3 in 1 Oil. Lubricant of Satan...
The new show is 10 minutes long and will be aired every hour. Each episode, which will be aired live, will feature inquiries via mobile text messages and phone calls and a guest who will answer them on the spot. We'll be back in an hour, right after "Sweating to the Oldies"...
The new fatwa express show, the statement added, aims at offering a fast service for Muslims whose request for religious edicts generally increases in the holy month. Fast service fast about fasts and fasting...
"In Ramadan, Muslims have several inquiries about issues like what invalidates fasting, when is it allowed to exceptionally break the fast, and so on," said Abdel Rahman Qaed, head of the channel's Scientific Affairs Department, in a press statement. Did ya eat already?
Ummmmmm...yes.
Oooooh, boy...looks like you're going to hell.
Qaed added that the purpose of airing the show every hour is to make sure all inquires are answered without delay. Hi! We're back! This hours fatwa: Ramadan stampede do's and don't's...
"We feel it is our duty to offer clear answers to matters that are sometimes ambiguous for many Muslims and to do so promptly," he added. Hey. Ambiguous. Like an explosion in Gaza...
Qaed declined to reveal the names of guests to be hosted in the show, but stressed that they are all very well-established and trust-worthy scholars whose names are linked to rational interpretation, extensive knowledge, and power of speech. Hey! It's Jerry Lewis!!!
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
should combine with Miss Cleo - fatwas by a seer, saves the emails and calls. I'm feeling Jinnish
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 19:20
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The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion of the sun, scientists have warned. The sun exploded? Why wasn't I told? The sun exploded! GODDAMN!!!
Experts said the wave of supercharged gas will likely reach the Earth on Tuesday, when it will buffet the natural magnetic shield protecting Earth. We're all gonna die! ...or have great tans.
It is likely to spark spectacular displays of the aurora or northern and southern lights. Y'mean it's just twinkly lights? That's it? The sun explodes, and that's it?
Scientists have warned that a really big solar eruption could destroy satellites and wreck power and communications grids around the globe if it happened today. But it hasn't happened yet...
NASA recently warned that Britain could face widespread power blackouts and be left without critical communication signals for long periods of time, after the earth is hit by a once-in-a-generation "space storm". But we wouldn't notice because we'll be wiped out... "Once in a generation" really means every other year, just like floods, right? Well, as long as it's just Britain, what the hell do I care? The Daily Telegraph disclosed in June that senior space agency scientists believed the Earth will be hit with unprecedented levels of magnetic energy from solar flares after the Sun wakes "from a deep slumber" sometime around 2013. It remains unclear, however, how much damage this latest eruption will cause the world's communication tools. What's your data telling you Chuck?
Time to put in for another grant.
#3
Its the late 1960's SIRIUS Event for me + VIETNAM WAR-era Guam.
On a separate note, AFAIK there was only one visually-observable ball of light oer GUAM's Hagatna Bay after Midnite this AM. May or may not had missed others becuz I went to sleep. NO KNOWN OR REPORTED EARTHQUAKES IN WESTPAC OR EAST ASIA REGIONS ASOF THIS POST.
#9
It is a fairly small flare from a fairly small sunspot, just the first one we have had for a while. It also looks more dramatic that what people are used to seeing because of new spacecraft that are observing the Sun.
#11
Ok, this is a class C3 flare. Classes go A, B, C, M, and X. A C class is in the middle. The classes also have a broad range. A C2 is twice as strong as a C1. A C3 is twice as strong as a C2. So this flare is in the lower end of the C class. Flares of that size do not generally cause any damage. They do give some pretty northern lights. It is NOT a "solar tsunami". It is more like a medium sized solar breaker.
The sun is powered by fusion; it is exploding all the time. Flares and coronal mass ejections are the result of the sun's magnetic fields reconnecting ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnetic_reconnection )
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
08/03/2010 5:37
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#14
The issue is whether comms and other satellites will be affected.
It's true that there are solar flares regularly, although this one is fairly large for our sun. (The scale is used for all stars, including many that are much more massive than Sol.) What has people watching this one is that the flare line is lined up with Earth right now.
#20
Between this and imminent global warming were doomed as a species! Unless, of course, the US Congress enacts legislation that will save the world from impending doom. Maybe they could tax the sun, and if that doesn't work they could ask the UN to impose sanctions on the sun.
[Dawn] Somali pirates seized on Monday a Panamanian freighter with 23 crew from Egypt, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka in the Gulf of Aden, European anti-piracy forces said. Early in the morning, the MV Suez indicated it was captured "under small arms fire from a pirate attack and minutes later she reported pirates on board," the European Union NAVFOR Somalia mission said in a statement.
A helicopter was dispatched "but pirates had already taken over the command of the vessel," it added of the 17,300-tonne freighter.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon today announced a new international panel to oversee investigations into the Gaza flotilla incident, a decision that came after heavy U.S. involvement and with the support of the Israeli government.
The four-member panel will be led by the former prime minister of New Zealand, Geoffrey Palmer, and the outgoing president of Colombia, Alvaro Uribe. Turkey and Israel will each appoint one member in the coming days, both expected to be high-level diplomats or judicial officials. t will meet on Aug. 10 and issue its first report in SepteImber. U.S. representative to the U.N. Susan Rice issued a statement Monday praising the panel and clearly defining its limits. if this comes out well, give 2 cheers to the Obama Admin - of course it would be better if the UN sunk to the bottom of the ocean and Turkey would renounce Islamism but those aren't going to happen soon
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/03/2010
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#3
The fact that there is a commission of inquiry at all is a weapon aimed at Israel, as President Obama well knows. Had the U.S. vetoed it, there would be no inquiry.
Kim Jong-il is anything but a "dear leader" to North Koreans after decades of mismanagement, poverty and repression, a senior defector told the Chosun Ilbo on Friday.
"After years of despotism, there are very few people in North Korea who like Kim Jong-il. It's South Koreans, not North Koreans, who are the problem. If a lot of people in South Korea fail to grasp the truth about the sinking of the Cheonan and continue to support Kim Jong-il, our very future will be at risk, let alone any prospects of reunification," said Hwang Jang-yop (87), a former secretary of the North Korean Workers Party and the highest-ranking defector from the communist country.
The South Korean Left is one of the most successful sales forces in all history. No matter what the Norks do, the Left always, always blames someone else.
The last time Hwang spoke with the Chosun Ilbo was in April, right after the arrest of a North Korean hit squad sent to assassinate him. At the time he said he was "extremely disappointed" that 30 percent of young South Koreans do not believe North Korea sank the South Korean Navy corvette in March, causing the death of 46 sailors.
"Who other than Kim Jong-il would commit such a heinous act?" he demanded. "It is so obvious to me who was behind the attack, but there seems to be a lot of ignorant people in South Korea. People know so little about how savage and dirty Kim Jong-il is."
He said this willful blindness "is a more serious problem than the fact that North Koreans are oblivious of what is going on outside of their country." While it is not surprising that North Koreans have no idea of what is happening in the outside world, "South Koreans are refusing to believe the truth and that is very frustrating."
Hwang also spoke about the latest political developments in the North. "Some young lad named Kim Jong-un is apparently going to be the successor, but I believe this move will only hasten North Korea's ruin," he said. Another hereditary transfer of power for a third generation will be impossible, he believes. "The failing health of Kim Jong-il will erode the cult around him," Hwang said. "And when his absolute grip on power starts to weaken, ambitious people will emerge to challenge his authority and a generational power transfer would only trigger a power struggle and lead to the fall of the Kim dynasty."
He called on South Korea not be afraid of China stepping in when the North Korean regime undergoes sudden changes. Instead, as Kim Jong-il loses his power and North Korea embraces a Chinese-style market-opening strategy, South Korea could look for opportunities to achieve reunification.
Regarding propaganda leaflets sent to North Korea by activists in South Korea, Hwang said, "It is good to let North Koreans learn about what is going on in the outside world, but it's a bad idea to link such activities to retaliation after the sinking of the Cheonan," he said. "We must not stoop to the same level as Kim Jong-il."
Although a provocation by North Korea deserves an immediate response from the South, Hwang said Seoul does not necessarily have to get its own back if it misses the right timing for a reprisal. "If Kim Jong-il dares to attempt another provocation, the only thing South Korea needs to do is to demonstrate its strength, which can eliminate the North Korean regime," Hwang said. "Kim Jong-il is threatening to turn Seoul into a sea of fire. How can people who make such threats be considered fellow Koreans?"
Instead, the South should "shed light on Kim Jong-il's traitorous acts so that the people of North and South Korea can learn about them and change their views," Hwang said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Unfortunately hereditary leaders are the norm in human society
#2
"All South Korea has to do is show its strength" HMMMMM, HMMMM, wehell, the SOKORS may yet get their chance.
To wit,
TOPIX > VARIOUS > NORTH KOREA THREATENS
"PHYSICAL RESPONSE" [attack]TO SOUTH'S UPCOMING NAVAL DRILL + NORTH KOREA THREATENS TO ATTACK SOUTH DURING NAVAL DRILL.
Again, IMO its no longer enough for Kimmie = DPRK/NOKORS to initiate new NORTH-KOREA-VERSUS-SOUTH-KOREA-ONLY Mil incidnets in order to achieve Regional or International econ concessions. PRESERVING "DYNASTIC" POWER + REGIME + WORSENING FOOD,ECON PROBS + STALLED SIX-PARTY NUC TALKS + NEW, MORE SANCTIONS,...@ETC. = NORTH KOREA INCREASINGLY NEEDS A DE FACTO
"GREAT POWER(S)" MILPOL CONFRONTATION TO GET ANY KIND OF LOCAL CONCESSIONS.
IOW, again again KIMMIE may rant agz SOKOR mil drill, etc. BUT IT MAY NOT BE AN ACTUAL SOKOR-SPECIFIC MIL ASSET/TARGET THAT IS ATTACKED OR DESTROYED. AFAIK the USS "GW" = "Mighty/Holy George" CVN is still in the area, + also USFK, USFJ REGIONAL JOINT MILBASES.
NINEWA / Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen have imposed a vehicle ban in al-Zanjieli region in western Mosul since Saturday after an attack on one of its patrols, a member of al-Hadbaa list said on Monday.
“Al-Zanjieli region has been placed under a vehicle ban since Saturday after the bombing attack on a police vehicle patrol,” the member, who asked to remain unnamed, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
A police source had said on Saturday (July 31) that an improvised explosive device went off targeting a police vehicle patrol in al-Zanjieli region, wouding seven persons, including five cops.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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[Straits Times] A RABIES epidemic has gripped Bali, an island of three million people and one of Asia's top tourist destinations. Well...it was...
Seventy-eight deaths have officially been logged in the past two years, including that of a 40-year-old woman a week ago, and many other deaths have likely gone unreported. The Indonesian government says it is overwhelmed, with more than 30,000 dog bites reported in just the first half of this year across Bali. In a highly criticised move, officials killed about 200,000 dogs, instead of initially conducting mass vaccinations as recommended by the World Health Organisation. FILTHY INFIDEL BEASTS!!!
'We have a serious problem with the anti-rabies vaccine for humans ... we are very short of treatment across the island,' said Nyoman Sutedja, chief of Bali's provincial health ministry, who expects all stocks to run out by next month. 'We need help.' Hospitals across Bali have faced periodic shortages of free post-exposure vaccines since the outbreak began, leaving poor residents with few options. The shots remain available at pharmacies, but many Balinese cannot afford them.
'The sad part is they get to the hospital and they get turned away because they don't have any vaccines,' said Janice Girardi, an American who runs the nonprofit Bali Animal Welfare Association, which has vaccinated 45,000 dogs and recently received funding to conduct an islandwide campaign. 'Then they go home and die.'
There's an adverb missing here. They go home and die, horribly. Killing all the stray dogs is a sensible response, under the circumstances; poverty is so much more life-affecting, when one lives in a poor country.
Several countries, including the United States and Australia, have issued travel warnings advising vacationers to consider getting pre-exposure rabies vaccinations before arriving and to avoid contact with dogs while in Bali. A handful of foreign tourists have reported dog bites, but none have been fatal. Say, Bill, what's that foamy crap on your mouth?
Shots given immediately after contact with saliva from a rabid animal can easily prevent death. But once symptoms appear, treatment is useless.
Rabies kills some 55,000 people annually - mostly children - with nearly 60 per cent of those deaths from dog bites in Asia, according to the WHO. The disease still exists in the US, but human deaths are extremely rare. Nearly all bites occur from wild animals, such as raccoons or bats.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
There goes my Yoga vacation to Bali. Between the booms and wild rabid dawgs, Bali ain't fun no mo'.
Posted by: Alaska Paul at FL360 ||
08/03/2010 1:14
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#2
"Here, Cujo, nice boy. Come here"
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/03/2010 8:32
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#3
The traditional solution to the stray and feral dog problem in South America was itinerant "dog poisoners", who would go from town to town. Each town would provide them with a 55 gallon drum, a specified poison, hunks of rotting meat to marinate in the poison in the drum, and a wheelbarrow.
Then, in the early a.m., after due notice to the public to keep their dogs inside, they would put out the meat around town for the stray dogs. An hour or two later, the poisoner would collect the dead dogs, and any uneaten meat, for disposal.
Though this was not terribly demanding work, such people were paid handsomely, and often developed severe psychological problems, which is no surprise.
#4
An even more traditional solution to stray and feral dogs is to open Korean restaurants. Kagoi! About the only dogs or cats I saw in country were on the side of the fence housing the US Forces.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Members of an Arab nomadic tribe are settling in a contested region straddling north and south Sudan, hoping to vote in referendum next year that will define its status, a Sudanese official said on Sunday.
Members of the Misseriya tribe,
the "show me" tribe
who are accused by southerners of being close to the Khartoum government, are said to be moving into parts of Abyei, the chief administrator of the region Deng Arop Kuol told reporters in the Sudanese capital.
"The issue that is concerning the people of Abyei and troubling them very much is the issue of settlement that is taking place within the boundaries of Abyei," Kuol said.
"It is the Misseriya who are settling in those areas. The target is to settle in 20 locations in the area north of Abyei and they already started to settle in those areas now," he said.
Which just goes to show that Misseriya loves company.
To your room, ryuge! And do try to pretend to be ashamed of that. :-)
"We are getting information that they intend to settle 25,000 families in those areas and the number of people will go up to 75,000 in those areas. We believe it is something organised," Kuol added.
As south Sudan holds its referendum on independence in January, residents of the oil-rich Abyei region will simultaneously vote on whether they want to belong to north or south Sudan.
Abyei's referendum law gives the right of vote to members of the southern Dinka Ngok tribe and it is up to the referendum commission to decide which "other Sudanese" are considered residents of the region and can therefore vote.
The law has angered the Arab Misseriya -- a nomadic tribe that migrates each year to the Abyei region looking for pastures for their cattle--because it does not guarantee them voting rights.
The referendum commission for Abyei has not yet been formed, because representatives of north and south Sudan have failed to agree on who will head it -- leaving the question of Misseriya eligibility still open.
"The Misseriya... are in no way meant to vote in the Abyei referendum because they are not residents. They are meant to be nomads," said Kuol.
"You do have to live like a refugee, I don't care what Tom Petty says."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
*slinks off to room with a deadpan expression concealing a self-satisfied smirk*
SEOUL, Aug. 3 (Yonhap) -- North Korea has begun its two-month-long mass gymnastics extravaganza Arirang Festival with slogans praising its leader Kim Jong-il, official media reported Tuesday.
Named after the famous Korean folk song, the festival has been held almost annually since 2002. The 80-minute show features synchronized acrobatics, gymnastics, dances and flip-card mosaic animation. Performed by about 100,000 people, it is believed to be the largest gymnastics show in the world.
The North's Korean Central Television Station said the festival kicked off Monday at the May Day Stadium in Pyongyang "with cheerful tones and slogans paying homage" to Kim, the 68-year-old leader who runs a massive cult of personality around his family.
Last year, the festival drew about 1.4 million people from home and abroad, according to the communist state's official media.
How many were eaten?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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I guess the Daimler folks aren't capable of being shamed ...
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il reportedly gave some 160 Mercedes-Benz sedans to his high-ranking officials as gifts despite ongoing UN sanctions that ban exports of luxury goods to the communist country.
Radio Free Asia reported that the cars were handed out last Friday in the northern city of Hyesan.
The report said how and when the vehicles were brought into the country and how much they cost is not known.
160 x $50K each x say another 50% to get around the various problems in importing the cars. That's about $35 million.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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#1
It cost money to buy loyalty. If i didn't get a Mercedes I would be looking for an exit.
The Swiss government has promised to investigate if there is evidence that North Korea has illegal funds stashed away in the country, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday.
Roland Vock of the Swiss State Secretariat for Economic Affairs told the radio station that Swiss bank accounts of North Korean officials or financial institutions on the list of the UN sanctions targets were automatically frozen and are subject to investigation by Swiss prosecutors and the financial supervisory agency.
Hint, Roland: look in the stash next to all the Jewish money from World War II ...
"Give me the information," he said. "Which bank [of about 500 Swiss banks], what money talking about, where money is coming from, then I can pass information to" the Swiss intelligence agency so that it can begin its probe. He said he meets American officials "very regularly" to exchange information.
Earlier on, Luxembourg also said that under the UN and U.S. sanctions, the country is closely watching for any illegal activities by the North using accounts there and will take "appropriate legal steps" if it finds them.
The entire Nork regime is an 'illegal activity'. Why not just freeze the funds on behalf of the suffering Nork people?
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il's slush funds in banks in Switzerland and Luxembourg are estimated at more than US$4 billion.
So he can afford a couple hundred Mercedes Benz's for his pals ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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#1
That statement by the Swiss govt should bamboozle the rubes, so the business of money laundering banking can continue---business as usual.
Posted by: Alaska Paul at FL360 ||
08/03/2010 1:07
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Korea and the United States have agreed to start talks about the revision of a bilateral atomic energy agreement this fall, it emerged on Monday. Seoul is keen to reprocess its own spent fuel rods, which it is barred from doing under the agreement, but Washington has so far been reluctant to permit it since the process results in the production of weapons-grade plutonium.
But in a meeting Monday with senior Foreign Ministry officials in Seoul, Robert Einhorn, the U.S. State Department's special advisor for non-proliferation and arms control, apparently signaled willingness to consider Seoul's proposal to use a process known as pyroprocessing, which does not produce plutonium that is pure enough for nuclear weapons.
A diplomatic source said, "The U.S. has shown some confidence in Korea's pledge to reuse the spent nuclear fuel peacefully. Concrete technical matters will be reviewed by scientists and engineers of the two countries in negotiations."
And if the Chinese and Norks push too hard, the South can always reuse the spent nuclear fuel not so peacefully. Think about it Beijing ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Well at least he's honest about what he (and, sadly too many others) believe...
They truly think they can do whatever they want under the insanely broad interpretation of the commerce clause. They really do think they are our lords.
#6
The Federal Government Can Do Most Anything In This Country -
Except -
Balance its own budget
Stop printing money and bonds without backing
Control its own border
Say no to special interest groups
Stop selling the seat of representatives to the highest bidder
Reestablish integrity and trust in elected offices
#7
All it takes to put a stop to the corruption in Washington is to hang either a "Representative" or a "Senator" (NOT the baseball kind). Unfortunately, in today's society, there's absolutely no consequences for ignoring or trampling the Constitution into the pig swill running deep in Washington's streets. The current "ethics" investigations prove that beyond doubt. Hang a couple of them and see how fast the rest either retire or start "acting honest". Jefferson said it best: a little rebellion now and then is necessary to keep the politicians in this nation honest. We haven't had a really decent spot of rebellion since the early 1920's.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/03/2010 15:08
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#8
An extraordinary piece of arrogance that slipped out.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A delegation from Luxembourg visited the U.S. detention facility in Guantanamo Bay on Monday with the intention of adopting at least one detainee in Luxembourg, sources told Al Arabiya. "Yasss. We haven't had any krazed killers in awhile. We thought we'd like to try one." "One and only one, mind you. We're a small country."
If the resettlement takes place, it will be the first time a detainee is sent to Luxembourg. "That one looks healthy. What's his name?"
"Knuckles." "He's not too pushy, right? We're a small country, we don't want to get taken over."
The Embassy of Luxembourg in Washington and the U.S. State Department refused to confirm or deny the visit. "We can say no more!"
"But you ain't said nothin' yet!"
The State Department said that as a general policy they do not comment on ongoing negotiations with possible host countries. "They wanta adopt a homicidal maniac that's their lookout. I'd stick with a puppy, myself!"
Since U.S. President Barack Obama took office, 64 detainees have been transferred from Guantanamo: 36 individuals to 25 different countries. Currently there are 176 detainees remaining in the facility; the majority of them Yemini nationals. Nobody wants to adopt Yemeni nationals. They're bad luck. Try spaying them ...
Four of them have won court ordered releases, but the details of their resettlements have not yet been worked out. This comes at a time when 27 detainees have been approved for transfer on a U.S government review board's recommendation.
Sources have confirmed to Al Arabiya that there are two Yemenis awaiting resettlement in Europe. A Yemini national was sent to Spain earlier this year. However since the failed Christmas day bombing Nigerian man flying out of Amsterdam led a botched attempt to detonate explosives on board a Detroit-bound flight there has been a ban on sending detainees to Yemen.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, 23, is believed to have received training in terrorist tactics in Yemen. This is what happens when you don't spay them, see?
The U.S. does not repatriate detainees to their home countries if the country is on a list of those known to torture or mistreat their citizens. Last month, The U.S. was heavily criticized for sending an Algerian detainee to his country despite his fear for his safely.
Diplomatic negotiations are currently underway with numerous countries, mainly in Europe and other nations to resettle detainees. So far the U.S government refuses to resettle detainees in America.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The Dawlat al-Qanoon Alliance had a meeting on Monday in the Iraqi ParliamentÂ’s building in Baghdad, which was not attended by the allianceÂ’s head, Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki.
“Maliki did not attend the meeting because he was busy with his executive duties as prime minister,” Ali al-Allaq, a leading figure of the Dawlat al-Anoon Alliance, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
He explained that the meeting discussed ongoing negotiations with other blocs to form the new Iraqi government.
“The meeting also discussed the stance of the Iraqi National Alliance (INA) that has decided to suspend negotiations with the Dawlat al-Qanoon,” al-Allaq added.
On July 31, 2010, the INA announced that it rejects the nomination of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to a second term, and that it will suspend negotiations with the Dawlat al-Qanoon until the latter proposes another nominee
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010
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British Prime Minister David Cameron stands by his comments on Pakistan and the export of terrorism which sparked a row with Islamabad, his spokeswoman said on Monday before a visit by President Asif Ali Zardari.
"He stands by his remarks," said the spokeswoman, while stressing that the British premier had not been referring to the Pakistani government itself supporting terrorism. "He was referring to elements within Pakistan supporting terrorism, not the Pakistani government," she said, after Britain's high commissioner to Islamabad was summoned to the Foreign Ministry.
Information Minister Qamar Zaman Kaira said after the latest comments that the response was "very unfortunate" but that President Zardari would not postpone his visit to Britain in protest.
The British spokeswoman had earlier insisted that there were "very good, strong" links between Britain and Pakistan on many levels, adding: "We want to continue to work very closely with Pakistan in the future."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
After the pak temper blows over, they realize he was right.
#2
Pakistan's absurdly incredulous response to these comments shows we aren't going to get any kind of sensible behaviour out of them for some time to come. Cameron should put his cards on the table and give some specific examples, just in an effort to shut up the moonbats.
#3
Cameron got a little bit of it right in Pakistain, but he got a lot wrong on his visit to Turkey. He needs to get a spine real quick in foreign affairs or his government isn't going to be very successful.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/03/2010 7:57
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Indian troops fired live ammunition and tear gas into crowds of anti-India protesters on Monday, killing seven, police said as tens of thousands of people demonstrated across Indian-held Kashmir.
More than 60 protesters and almost 70 government officials were injured as violent clashes erupted between government forces and protesters in dozens of places across the region, as the protesters defied a round-the-clock curfew.
At least two people were killed and another three wounded when government forces fired to disperse protesters blocking a highway in Sangam, a village south of Srinagar, said a police officer on condition of anonymity.
Indian forces also fired on thousands of people holding street protests in the southern town of Kakpora, killing one and wounding five, the officer said.
As the news of the killing reached nearby villages, thousands more took to streets and burned a police station and scores of vehicles parked there, the officer said. In the northern village of Kralpora, protesters set a security bunker on fire and ransacked a counterinsurgency police force camp, the officer said. Troops opened fire, killing one protester and injuring seven others, three critically, he said.
In another police firing incident, one person was killed and another wounded in the southern village of Chawalgam, the officer said.
Protesters also burned a government building and a local intelligence office in Budgam, a town to the west of Srinagar, the region's main city. Four protesters were wounded there, the officer said.
The other injuries occurred in clashes elsewhere in the region, the officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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Russell Defreitas, 67, a US citizen born in Guyana, and Abdul Kadir, 58, of Guyana conspired to blow up buildings, fuel tanks and pipelines at the airport in the New York City borough of Queens. The men, who were arrested in June 2007, face up to life in prison.
Defreitas, who had worked at the airport, provided knowledge of its facilities and layout, US prosecutors said, while Kadir, an engineer, helped with technical aspects such as how to blow up the buried fuel pipelines.
Officials have said the plot was nowhere near being operational when the men were arrested.
Two other men were arrested in the plot. Kareem Ibrahim of Trinidad and Tobago was deemed too ill to be tried but may face trial later. Guyanese Abdel Nur, 60, pleaded guilty in June to a separate charge of material support to terrorism and faces up to 15 years in prison. Interesting: four jamokes, none named 'Fred' or 'Steve' or 'Joe' ...
A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader and a member of the Sindh Assembly, Raza Haider, and his security guard were gunned down by unidentified motorcyclists inside a mosque in the Nazimabad area on Monday.
Life in the provincial capital was crippled following the incident, as at least 35 people were killed and more than 125 injured in incidents of violence that broke out in various areas in response to the killing.
Around three-dozen vehicles and several shops were set ablaze, while massive traffic jams were witnessed at almost all major thoroughfares of the city.
Two unidentified men shot dead 50-year-old Haider and his security guard Khalid Khan inside the Jamia Masjid Aqsa in Nazimabad Block No 2, when the lawmaker was getting ready to say his prayers at the mosque.
Bodies of the two victims were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. MLO Dr Sheraz told Daily Times that the MPA sustained six bullet wounds -- three from a sub-machine gun and three from a 9mm pistol -- while his guard had sustained only one bullet injury.
The condition of a teenage boy Arsalan, who was also wounded in the attack, was stable, he added.
Liaquatabad Town SP Waqar Mallan told Daily Times that police found empty shells of a 9mm pistol and an SMG from the crime scene. The SP added that the culprits arrived at the mosque on two motorcycles and a white-coloured car.
"Two of the four men on the motorcycles entered the mosque and after shouting 'Allah-o-Akbar' opened fire on the MQM leader and his guard," the officer said.
"The sketches that we are preparing with the help of eyewitnesses would be provided to the media after they are finalised, but our first priority is to control the law and order situation," he added.
Meanwhile, violence and anarchy spread throughout the city following the MPA's murder. Besides several vehicles and shops, a petrol pump, roadside stalls and pushcarts in various parts of the city were set ablaze by protesters.
Routine life was suspended and commercial activities came to a halt due to the violence, as several people stuck in traffic jams had parked their vehicles on the roads and walked to their destinations.
The MQM Rabita Committee announced three days of mourning. The committee said special prayers would also be organised for Haider.
Separately, MQM chief Altaf Hussain called for a high-level probe into Haider's murder.
Condemning the killing, Altaf termed it a big tragedy, according to a statement by the MQM. President Asif Ali Zardari, Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani, PML-N chief Nawaz Sharif, and the four chief ministers strongly condemned the killing of the MQM leader.
The PM appealed to MQM party workers to avoid taking any extreme measures to express outrage against those who had committed this heinous crime.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#2
It isn't clear. It sounds like the assassins actually rode into the mosque on the motorcycle. Might have made for a quick get away but it'd be kinda hard to sneak up on somebody with all the noise a motorcycle makes. Maybe it's a normal thing for people to ride into mosques on motorcycles in that part of the world. Would Allan be OK with that?
Lahore High Court Justice Ijaz Ahmad Chaudhry on Monday disposed of a petition seeking directions for the initiation of contempt of court proceedings against officials of the Foreign Ministry for failing to write a letter to a US judge who is conducting the trial of Pakistani national Dr Aafia Siddiqui.
The judge held that that there was no need of the court's directions, as departments concerned had no tangible evidence in order to prove the innocence of Dr Aafia before the US court.
He remarked that the petitioner, Barrister Javed Iqbal Geoffrey, could write the letter and provide evidence, if he had any, to the US District Court in his personal capacity.
On Monday, the interior secretary appeared in court and submitted that the government had no documentary evidence regarding Dr Aafia and her children's abduction from Karachi.
He said Aafia's son was also questioned about their abduction but he was unable to substantiate the presumption of their kidnapping from Pakistan.
The interior secretary said police had also failed to collect any evidence in this regard during the course of investigation.
He said an official letter along with press clippings of the facts about the case of Dr Aafia had been sent to the Pakistani ambassador in the US, who would deliver it to the US State Department and the trial court, which was going to announce its verdict in Aafia's trial on August 16.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran will set Tel Aviv on fire if Israel attacks the Islamic republic over its controversial nuclear program, newspapers on Sunday quoted Iran's envoy to the United Nations as saying.
"If the Zionist regime commits the slightest aggression against the Iranian soil, we will set the entire war front and Tel Aviv on fire," Mohammad Khazai said in the northeastern town of Kashmar, the Farhang-e Ashti daily reported.
The government-run Iran newspaper quoted him as saying that the "noise" about an Israeli attack on the Islamic republic is a "sign of the enemy's fear."
Israel has never ruled out taking military action to thwart Iran's program of uranium enrichment, accusing its arch-foe of seeking to acquire atomic weapons -- a charge Tehran denies.
Iranian officials have frequently warned of a crushing response in the event of an attack either by Israel or the United States, which has led international efforts to bring a halt to Tehran's uranium enrichment work.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Like they set Baghdad ablaze during the Iran/Iraq war?
Iran is a paper tiger, and it wouldn't even be that if not for the conscious complicity of western journalists and other spies and traitors.
#3
Actually, Israel could have some fun with this, at Iran's expense. Whenever Iran threatens Israel, hinting at nuclear weapons, the Israelis should let it be known to the Paleos that the Iranian nukes will wipe *them* all out as well.
The Israelis might even start showing "the horror of nuclear war" videos on a TV channel set up especially for the Paleos. 24 hours a day of movies like "Threads", and endless documentaries about Hiroshima and Nagasaki.
[Arab News] Forty-two Paleostinians were wounded early Monday in a kaboom that hit Deir Al-Balah city in the central of the Gazoo Strip, witnesses and medical sources said.
They said that the heavy blast occurred in a house where an activist of the armed wing of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, lives. In the meantime, Hamas security services which control the Gazoo Strip told reporters that the house has been hit by an Israeli warplanes but Israel formally denied the reports.
Al-Qassam brigades leader Alaa Al-Danaf homes was the target in Deir Al-Balah city, which was destroyed with five other nearby houses by a missile fired from an Israeli F16 fighter jet, Adham Abu Salimyya told the local news agency Maan.
Israeli warplanes has launched two pre-down air strikes on tunnels in the southern Gazoo Strip on Sunday in response to a homemade rocket fired from the territory that struck southern town of Sderot.
A Hamas senior commander and homemade rocket-maker was killed during the air strikes. This incident was the first of its kind in Gazoo since Israel wound up a three-week military offensive on the Gazoo Strip in January 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
In the meantime, Hamas security services which control the Gazoo Strip told reporters that the house has been hit by an Israeli warplanes but Israel formally denied the reports.
Wow, this suggests that Israelis have managed to fit mufflers on their glass F-16s! Is there anything these guys can't figure out how to do?
#3
Maybe solar flare did it - induced electric current in Hamas detonator circuit. Because the Israelis have figured out how to control the solar flares.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he was ready for face-to-face talks with his US counterpart Barack Obama, whom he said was being influenced by Israel in his global policies.
Criticising Obama for missing "historic opportunities" to repair the broken relations with Iran, Ahmadinejad said he was ready to discuss issues concerning the international community with the US president. "We are hopefully coming for the UN assembly," Ahmadinejad said in an address to expatriate Iranians, which was broadcast live, on state television.
"We are ready to sit down with Obama face-to-face and put the global issues on the table, man-to-man, freely, and in front of the media and see whose solutions are better. We think this is a better approach."
Ahmadinejad is expected to travel to New York for the UN General Assembly meeting next month.
The Iranian president has previously challenged Obama to hold a public debate with him on issues concerning the international community.
He has on various occasions blamed the US for "global disorders," particularly the financial crisis in the world economy.
His call on Monday comes after a series of punitive sanctions imposed on Iran by the UN Security Council, the US and the EU over Tehran's controversial nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad criticised Obama for missing what he said were "historic opportunities" to repair relations with Iran, with whom the US has had no direct diplomatic ties for more than 30 years.
"He (Obama) said he wants to make changes and we welcomed (that). Unfortunately, he did not correctly exploit historic opportunities," the president said, adding that Obama "overly values Zionists."
Obama had in March 2009 extended a hand of diplomacy towards Iran in an attempt to break the deadlock between the two countries, but since then the animosity between the two nations has steadily worsened. Ahmadinejad said he was informed that Obama "is under a lot of pressure."
"Somebody should answer questions whether the US government is dominated by the Zionists or the Zionist regime is controlled by the US government." Israel, like the US, has not ruled out a military strike against Iran to halt its nuclear programme.
Ahmadinejad, under whose presidency Iran has been slapped with four sets of UN sanctions, has remained steadfast in pursuing a sensitive uranium enrichment programme, which Washington and other world powers want Tehran to abandon. Iran says it is not enriching uranium for any military aims.
Under Ahmadinejad, animosity between Iran and Israel has also increased dramatically, with the world powers lashing out at him for his regular anti-Israel tirades.
In front of a cheering audience, Ahmadinejad blasted Obama and Western powers for supporting Israel, the sole if undeclared nuclear weapons power in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Ahmadinejad says ready for 'face-to-face''fact-to-bellybutton'talks with Obama
#4
"We are ready to sit down with Obama face-to-face and put the global issues on the table, man-to-man, freely, and in front of the media and see whose solutions are better. We think this is a better approach."
I'm sure that would be a wonderful, insightful debate. They could argue which form of tyranny is more desirable; european socialism or just good ol' fashioned dictatorship. Who knows they might even be able to find some commond ground. Perhaps they could discuss how best to ensure "fairness" in the media...
Two men charged with plotting to blow up New York's John F. Kennedy Airport were found guilty Monday.
A federal jury in Brooklyn found Russell Defreitas and Abdul Kadir both guilty of conspiracy charges in connection with the plot to destroy the airport.
The jury found Mr. Defreitas, a naturalized U.S. citizen and former cargo handler at the airport, guilty of all six charges against him. Mr. Kadir, a Guyanese citizen who once served as a Parliament member there, was found guilty on five of the six charges. He was acquitted of a charge of surveillance of a mass-transportation facility.
The men face the possibility of life in prison. Their sentencing is scheduled for Dec. 15.
The men were arrested in 2007 before they could move beyond the planning stage of the alleged plot, prosecutors said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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It's official: Sidney Harman, the businessman who made his fortune selling stereo equipment, has secured a deal to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Co. and will announce the deal later Monday afternoon.
The New York Times and others have previously reported that Mr. Harman was the front-runner to come away with the news weekly, but have cautioned that no deal was certain. Politico's Playbook email newsletter said this morning that a deal with Mr. Harman was imminent, but also cautioned that "no deal like this is done until it's done." "It ain't over 'til it's over, y'know?"
The deal is now done, according to people familiar with the process. "Hokay. It's over."
Mr. Harman and the Washington Post Co. declined to comment. "We can say no more!" The Times quoted one person briefed on Mr. Harman's bid saying his plan would retain 250 of Newsweek's employees. Newsweek counted 379 full time staffers at the end of March, according to the sale book posted by PaidContent, but a significant number have left in the time since. Losses at the magazine could approach $70 million this year, this person told the Times. Mr. Harman reportedly bid $1 for the magazine but agreed to assume the magazine's liabilities; those details could not be confirmed on Monday. That's why I didn't get it. I bid $20 but wouldn't assume the debt. I've got enough of my own.
Post Co. chairman Donald Graham put the long-running and iconic newsweekly on the block in May, saying it would lose money again this year and "might be a better fit elsewhere." ... like maybe the trashcan...
The Post Co. sold its other magazine, Arthur Frommer's Budget Travel, last December. Despite the legacy of the flagship Washington Post newspaper, The Post Co. now finds the majority of its Kaplan business in the educational test-prep services, prompting Mr. Graham to reposition it as an "education and media company" in 2007. The Washington Post Co. decided to sell Newsweek one year after the title introduced a major redesign to its print edition's look, editorial mission and business model. Perhaps publishing's most spectacular crash and burn ever... Newsweek has been cutting spending, but revenue has been falling as well. That's because nobody reads it... Newsweek's ad pages fell 9.6% in the first half, compared with a narrow 0.4% gain at Time, according to the Publishers Information Bureau. They don't read it because it stinks, which doesn't mean it smells funny...
Other once-mighty magazines have sold for astonishingly low prices, such as the $1 deal for TV Guide, but those prices don't look quite so minimal once you factor in the losses and liabilities -- such as the obligation to keep serving millions of subscriptions that may or may not be profitable -- attached to such acquisitions. The TV Guide crash came when cable replaced broadcast teevee. The Newsweak crash came when Howard Fineman and Eleanor Clift replaced news.
Bidders that were rejected or dropped out include Fred Drasner, Avenue Capital, OpenGate Capital, Newsmax and the hedge fund manager Thane Ritchie.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Change the name. Dentists Illustrated. All dentist-all the time.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Islamist charities, some with suspected ties to militants, stepped in on Monday to provide aid for Pakistanis hit by the worst flooding in memory, piling pressure on a government criticized for its response to the disaster that has so far killed more than 1,100 people.
The international Red Cross said hat up to 2.5 million people have been affected by heavy flooding brought on by torrential monsoon rains.
"According to official sources, flooding caused by torrential monsoon rains has killed more than 1,100 people in Pakistan and affected up to 2.5 million people across the country in the past week," the International Committee of the Red Cross said.
The floods are testing an administration heavily dependent on foreign aid and which has a poor record in crisis management -- whether fighting Taliban insurgents or easing chronic power cuts.
Islamist charities believed to have ties with militants may gain support if their relief efforts pay off, as they did after a 2005 earthquake in Kashmir killed 75,000 people.
"We have lost everything. We only managed to save our lives. Nobody has come to us," said Mihrajuddin Khan, a school teacher in Swat Valley. "We are being treated like orphans, animals."
Rescuers are struggling to distribute relief to tens of thousands of people trapped in submerged areas where destroyed roads and bridges make access difficult.
Islamabad may look to Western countries, who want it to do more to tackle Pakistan-based militants who attack NATO forces in Afghanistan, for financial support to ease the crisis.
Ties to militants
The U.S. embassy announced $10 million in immediate humanitarian aid, with more to be earmarked as necessary. The European Union will donate €30 million.
Salman Shahid, spokesman for the Falah-i-Insaniat Foundation (Foundation for the Welfare of Humanity), said the Islamist group had set up 13 relief and six medical camps, and a dozen ambulances were providing emergency treatment. Several other Islamist groups are also helping out with the relief effort.
Falah-i-Insaniat is believed to have ties to Jamaat-ud-Dawa charity, which the U.N. Security Council banned last December for its alleged links with Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT), the group blamed for the 2008 attack on the Indian city of Mumbai.
"We're very much there. We're the only group that is providing cooked food to trapped people and those laying on the roadside," Shahid told Reuters from the group's headquarters in Lahore. "Our volunteers are evacuating people."
Some analysts expressed doubts that Islamist groups and their militant wings could capitalize on the disaster because army offensives have weakened them.
Others said the Islamists' camps had set a dangerous precedent.
"It is very likely that they will exploit the governance vacuum, in the wake of this tragedy, to fuel their own recruitment," said columnist Huma Yusuf.
A similar dynamic happened after the 2005 Kashmir earthquake, she said, when extremist groups gained immense popularity from their relief efforts. Pakistan is fighting insurgents from al Qaeda and homegrown Taliban in the northwest.
Military in charge
Authorities are expecting the death toll to rise, as more of the heavy monsoon rains lashing the area for the past week are forecast. Pakistan's National Disaster Management Authority said more than 29,500 houses were damaged and a key trade highway to China was blocked by flooding.
"Our main challenge of getting a clearer picture is access," said Nicki Bennett, senior humanitarian officer at United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs.
Officials said it was too early to estimate the damage the floods had caused to the economy, but the rains had so far spared the main agricultural heartland in the Punjab.
"The entire infrastructure we built in the last 50 years has been destroyed," said Adnan Khan, spokesman for the provincial Disaster Management Authority in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
The disaster management authority said tents and hygiene kits had been delivered. Helicopters and boats have been dispatched.
But analysts say the government really lacks the resources to take on a disaster of this scale, leaving the military in charge.
More than 30,000 Pakistani troops have rescued some 19,000 people from marooned areas so far. Some army bases used to strike at militants in Nowshera, some 100 km (60 miles) northwest of the capital Islamabad, have been flooded.
The government's failure to help victims reinforced the long-held view that Pakistan's civilian authorities are ineffective, leaving the military to act at troubled times.
The government of President Asif Ali Zardari has limited control over the military. It has also been relatively ineffective in tackling corruption and reforming the economy.
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Israel's Defense Minister Ehud Barak has voiced concern that once-stalwart ally Turkey could share Israeli intelligence secrets with Iran, revealing a deep distrust as Ankara's regional interests shift.
The leaked comments by Barak cast doubt on how much Israel is willing or able to reconcile with Turks outraged at its navy's killing of nine of their compatriots aboard an aid ship that tried to run the Gaza Strip blockade on May 31
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#1
That's why you don't share American or any other tech with Turkey, China, or anyone else for that matter.
#5
It should be assumed that Turkey is and has shared Israel (and NATO) intelligence secrets with Iran - and Syria - and everybody else belonging to their murderous and vile cult.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Syrian Foreign Minister Walid al-Muallem said on Monday that the U.N. tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of former Lebanese prime minister Rafiq al-Hariri has "political goals."
"The international tribunal is not seeking to reveal the truth (about the murder) but to achieve political goals," Muallem was quoted as saying in local media.
"The international tribunal is a Lebanese matter and we will not deal with this court," he said at a meeting of Syria's Baath party late on Sunday.
Hassan Nasrallah, leader of Lebanon's Hezbollah, said on July 22 that he knew the U.N. tribunal was set to indict members of his Shiite party for Hariri's assassination.
His comments raised fears of renewed conflict in Lebanon and prompted Syrian President Bashar al-Assad and Saudi King Abdullah bin Abdl Aziz to make an unprecedented joint visit to Beirut on Friday in a bid to ease the tensions.
Hezbollah, whose main backers are Syria and Iran, is the most powerful military and political force in Lebanon and fought a devastating war with Israel in 2006.
Syria was widely believed to have been involved in Hariri's murder, forcing it to withdraw its troops from Lebanon after a 29-year presence. Damascus has consistently denied any part in the killing.
The United Nations set up the special tribunal to investigate Hariri's assassination in 2007.
The first reports by a committee of the tribunal, which is due to give its verdict by the end of this year, concluded there was evidence implicating Syrian and Lebanese intelligence services.
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Crude oil surged above $81 a barrel for the first time since May as a rally in global equity markets increased speculation the economy is strengthening.
Oil jumped as much as 3.6 percent after equities climbed on better-than-expected earnings and the Institute for Supply Management's U.S. manufacturing gauge fell less than forecast. The dollar dropped against the euro, boosting the investment appeal of commodities.
Crude for September delivery rose $2.44, or 3.1 percent, to $81.39 a barrel at the 2:30 p.m. close of floor trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange. Earlier, it touched $81.77, the highest price since May 5. Futures climbed 4.4 percent in July, the biggest monthly gain since March. Prices are up 17 percent from a year ago.
The Standard & Poor's 500 Index increased 2 percent to 1,123.86 following positive earnings reports from companies such as Humana Inc. and Oshkosh Corp. It jumped 6.9 percent in July, the biggest monthly advance since July 2009. The Dow Jones Industrial Average strengthened 191.94, or 1.8 percent, to 10,657.88.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#1
Cap & Trade is the cure for this ailment, and also will certainly reverse the trend of equity warming.
[Tolo News] Son of the Afghan Minister of Refugees and Repatriation was abducted on Sunday night by unknown gunmen, Security officials said
The incident happened on Sunday night in the Afghan capital Kabul near the minister's house when his sons were on their way home from office.
The gunmen trying to kidnap the Afghan minister's son, faced severe struggle from his relatives, but they finally succeeded to abduct his son, injuring three of his relatives and his other son, Kabul police said.
"Four armed men disguised in police uniform stopped in front of his car and after struggling, the kidnappers fired at them in which three men, including the minister's son were injured," Chief of Criminal Investigation for Kabul police, Abdul Ghafar Sayed Zada told TOLOnews reporter.
Armed abductions and robberies using police uniforms have increased concerns among Kabul residents.
Residents say the kidnapping was one of the few incidents of its kind that has happened in Kabul in recent years.
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Chris My Thigh is Tingling! Matthews, during his syndicated The Chris Matthews Show over the weekend, warned viewers that a big win for Republicans in the upcoming midterms could lead to a bunch of "oddballs" coming to Washington. Matthews, citing a New York magazine article by Jennifer Senior, alerted his audience that if the Tea Party is successful in November it could be reminiscent of the Republican class of 1994 when a bunch of "nutty standouts" arrived. Matthews then went on to list two groups of Republicans who were elected in 1994 and placed them in two groups: "the black helicopter crowd of paranoids" and "hypocrites who stood on the party's family values platform and then managed to slip off."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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#6
Hell, at this point I would take people that sit around flicking boogers at a wall instead of passing laws at this point. Would be cheaper to pay them $500,000/year and fill congress with do nothings than what we have now.
#9
Democrats still crow about their fiscal discipline of that time frame, fiscal discipline forced upon them by those oddballs. We need more of that. A lot more.
#10
Matthews then went on to list two groups of Republicans who were elected in 1994 and placed them in two groups: "the black helicopter crowd of paranoids" and "hypocrites who stood on the party's family values platform and then managed to slip off."
We still have two groups in Washington: The group that doesn't know cowpucky from shoepolish and the group that wants to turn America into a socialist/marxist hell. Wait a minute; maybe that's only one group.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Marilyn Maxwell, entertained the troops during World War II and the Korean War on USO tours with Bob Hope aka Helen Bailey in "Salute to the Marines" (Died in 1972 at age 50)
Ten Taliban members and 35 al Qaeda members and affiliates have been removed from a UN sanctions terror list after an exhaustive review of 488 names, Austria's UN ambassador announced on Monday.
"As a result of the review of 488 names, 45 were de-listed," chairman of the UN Security Council panel Thomas Mayr-Harting told the reporters. The council maintains a blacklist of individuals and entities linked to al Qaeda and the Taliban.
He said that those removed, following requests from governments, include 10 individuals associated with the Taliban as well as 14 individuals and 21 entities linked at some point to al Qaeda.
Amongst the 10 Taliban removed from the list was a former Afghan envoy to the UN, author of My Life with the Taliban, Abdul Salam Zaeef and two officials who are now deceased. A final decision for the 66 amongst them is still pending.
As part of his efforts to promote national reconciliation, Afghan President Hamid Karzai had asked the security council to remove names of some Taliban members who were not linked to al Qaeda, from the terrorism blacklist.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Sure, Karzai, whatever you want. Now the Taliban & Al Qaeda will think you're cool & not wanna killya.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Yemeni Houthi rebels on Sunday set free 100 soldiers captured in recent fighting, days after announcing the release of 200 other troops, a mediator told AFP.
Sheikh Hassan bin Abdullah al-Ahmar said the latest batch of soldiers released had been held by the Houthi rebels in the region of al-Amishiya in northern Amran province.
"They have arrived in my home town of Amran and are my guests," said Sheikh Hassan, a pro-government prominent tribal chief who helped to mediate the prisoners' release.
He said the rebels promised to free another 128 soldiers "tomorrow or the day after."
On Wednesday, the Shiite rebels let go 200 soldiers they had captured two days earlier and promised to release other prisoners, both civilian and military, in the coming days.
The rebels and the army engaged in deadly fighting in July that lasted nine days, rattling an already fragile truce agreed in February which had ended a six-month round of fighting in a conflict that started in 2004.
Yemeni President Ali Abdullah Saleh on Saturday accused the rebels of rejecting a February truce, through repeated acts of aggression.
"In their latest acts of aggression, the Houthi rebels attacked the MP Saghir bin Abdul Aziz in his home and army units," Saleh said in a speech reported by the state news agency Saba.
"The state has abstained from all military action, while knowing that the rebels are pursuing other plans, as advocates of war who do not want peace."
"We will, however, insist on implementing the six provisions (of the truce) and on returning to peace," he said, adding that he hoped to see Qatar "convince the rebels to apply the points of the ceasefire."
Earlier in July Qatar's ruler Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa al-Thani visited Yemen, and said Doha was prepared to help safeguard the country's unity and consolidate the truce, an offer welcomed by the rebels.
Meanwhile on Saturday Yemen's security commission, which is responsible for ensuring compliance with the ceasefire agreement, accused the rebels of repeated violations.
These have included "killing and wounding numerous citizens, kidnapping others, cutting off roads, dynamiting houses and looting property," a spokesman for the commission was quoted as saying by Saba.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
sounds like the Houthis might be whooping the Yemeni soldiers asses.
Posted by: chris ||
08/03/2010 17:27
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If the Yemen soldiers are getting beat by these rebels, I see it as a bad thing.
If you think it was a time for Democrats running for office to rally around the chief executive- -you probably haven't been following the campaigns this summer.
Former Governor Roy Barnes was not be available to meet Mr. Obama. The Democratic gubernatorial candidate was in south Georgia- - far from Atlanta.
In Houston County, Mr. Barnes had breakfast with peach and pecan farmers
In Monroe County standing before the Sheriffs of middle Georgia, the former governor said, "I'd rather be with these folks, if you want to know the truth, I'm not running for governor of Washington D.C. I'm running for governor of Georgia."
Candidate Barnes also visited Thomasville and Bainbridge before ending his day in Donalsonville. Mr. Barnes also told reporters President Obama was okay with his abscence from Atlanta. The President called after the July 20th vote.
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#1
"I'd rather be with these folks, if you want to know the truth,
Or.... if you want to know the truth, visit these people, not Obama.
[Maghrebia] A group of Ait Aissi residents on Sunday (August 1st) blocked the road from Beni Douala in Tizi-Ouzou, demanding the release of at least four young men who were arrested on Saturday as part of the investigation into the July 25th attack on the gendarmes' headquarters in the town, El Watan reported. Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb claimed responsibility for the attack, which killed a municipal guard and wounded at least eight policemen. The detainees are suspected of providing support to terrorists, but their fellow citizens said they are convinced of the young men's innocence.
In other news, local press reported that two suspected terrorists were arrested over the weekend in the village of Bordj-Ghedi, 30km southeast of Bordj Bou Arreridj.
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#1
See also NEWS KERALA > AL QAEDA WARNS IT WILL KILL MORE FRENCH [citizens] IN NORTH AFRICA.
[The Nation (Nairobi)] More than 20 police officers wearing hoods ransacked her home in Kawangware at about 1.30am.
They then handcuffed and blindfolded her husband before driving off with him.
The man they took away in connection to the July 11 bombing in Uganda last month was Mr Idris Magondu, 42. He was arrested alongside two other Kenyans -- Hussein Hassan Agade, 27, and Mohamed Aden Addow, 25. They would later be charged with 76 counts of murder, even as they did not enter a plea.
Depressing operation
Ms Saida Rosemary, Mr Magondu's wife, termed the arrest operation "depressing", adding that her husband was innocent and could not have participated in the bombings.
"On the day of the Ugandan bombings, we went for shopping at Eastleigh with my husband before we returned to the house," Ms Rosemary told journalists.
"The landlord sent us a message thinking we had been attacked. Suddenly, there were loud bangs demanding we open the door."
According to Ms Rosemary, her husband whom she says worked as a driver and preached part-time, was arrested by more than 20 police officers wearing balaclava helmets, while armed with automatic weapons.
In the course of arresting her husband, she says, the policemen ransacked the house, destroying household items, including sofa seats, ceiling boards and food.
The police officers, Ms Rosemary adds, confiscated all her personal belongings including her national identity card, family photo album and mobile telephone. They did not write an inventory of the items they had seized and confiscated.
After handcuffing her husband and blindfolding him, she says, the hooded men drove away with him, arrogantly telling her that she would never see him again and that she should start looking for another man.
The following day, she said, she searched for him at various police stations, in vain. On July 27, Ms Rosemary says, she was advised by some of her friends to look for him at the Kileleshwa Police Station.
At least 76 people died in Kampala, on July 11, after bombs went off at two venues where soccer fans were watching the World Cup final game between Spain and the Netherlands.
Ms Rosemary describes her husband as a "peaceful, God-fearing and law-abiding citizen".
Kenya Muslim Human Rights Forum chairperson Al Amin Kimanthi on Saturday accused Kenyan authorities of breaching the law and handing the suspect over to Uganda.
Hassan Elijuma Agade, too, is yet to come to terms with the circumstances surrounding the arrest of his son Hussein Hassan Agade, who was on Friday arraigned in a Kampala court in connection with the Kampala bomb blasts.
From his house in Kawangware, he seemed lost in thought while speaking to the Nation.
"He is a very polite young man, very understanding and had just started his marriage life; his wife is six months pregnant. I don't understand when they implicate him in this," said Mr Agade, who works with Afya Sacco.
The Attorney General is yet to respond to a suit by relatives of two of the arrested Kenyans.
In court yesterday, the State lawyer wanted court to give them more time to file their response to the case. Their application was, however, filed before the two were arraigned in a Ugandan court last week.
The charges include terrorism, murder and attempted murder.
The parties are expected in court today for the AG to respond.
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#1
her husband was innocent and could not have participated in the bombings
If he's innocent you still have a serious problem: SOMEBODY has to take the fall and he seems to have made some powerful enemies who are happy for it to be him.
Canada's Minister of Transportation John Baird ordered a probe after a video posted on YouTube showed two fully veiled women boarding a passenger airplane without showing their faces. Canadian authorities want to ensure that the airline personnel are verifying the identity of all passengers before they board. The video purportedly shows a group of passengers boarding an Air Canada flight from Montreal's Pierre-Elliott Trudeau airport to London's Heathrow airport on July 11. The short clip, shot by a British traveller, shows a man boarding a flight with four women, two with face veils and the other two without. The man handed their passports, and the veiled women were allowed to board, apparently without showing their faces. The footage is shot at a distance and it is impossible to see what happens next. "If the reports are true, the situation is deeply disturbing and poses a serious threat to the security of the air travelling public," Baird said in a statement on Sunday.
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#1
Where's the picture of the guy in the burka that usually goes with articles like this?
[Tolo News] Afghan security officials acknowledged on Monday that a military operation is launched name Shamsher "Sword" in different parts of Ghazni, a southern Afghan province
This military push is part of efforts to improve Afghan security and secure the coming parliamentary election, said a top military commander.
Afghan military officials commented that the operation is on the ground with the cooperation of police forces, national security forces and coalition troops.
A top commander in southern Ghazni province, Gen. Rajab Ali Rashed, said the offensive is launched in Andar, Moqur, Qara Bagh and De Yak districts of the province that will last for ten days.
"We are on the threshold of Afghan parliamentary election and after receiving an order from corps, we launched a joint operation in the name of Shamsher "Sword" consisting of Afghan National Army, National Police, National Security Forces and coalition troops in four districts of the province," said Gen. Rajab Ali Rashed.
Meanwhile, security forces said that an overall offensive is to follow the operation in Ghazni province and its preliminary stage has started.
The operation is underway at a time that insecurity is at its highest since the fall of the Taliban regime in 2001 and provincial residents have always complained about insecurity. .
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[Bangla Daily Star] Despite having the mandate from the Supreme Court, the government yesterday decided in principle that it would not ban any religion-based political party.
The SC in its landmark verdict gave the government the mandate to ban religion-based political parties. Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina, however, categorically told her cabinet colleagues that her government would not ban any such party since banning them could make them take up underground politics and create trouble in the country.
Presiding over the weekly cabinet meeting at Bangladesh Secretariat, Hasina said it is the Election Commission which will oversee the political parties as to whether they fulfil the terms and conditions for getting registration with the commission.
"Restoration of the '72 constitution does not mean that many religion-based political parties will be banned. The government will take no measure in favour or against any party," a senior cabinet minister quoted the premier as saying.
The government would not put any pressure on the Election Commission to ban any party. If any party fulfils the criteria for registration of political party with the commission, it will be allowed to do politics, the minister quoted the prime minister as saying.
The minister, also a close aide to Hasina, said the EC set the terms and references for registration with the EC as political parties during the caretaker government. "At that time, all the parties were considered equally. So, it is the Election Commission to make the decision in this regard," added the minister.
At the cabinet meeting, Hasina also reiterated that the words "Bismillah-Ar-Rahman-Ar-Rahim" in the preamble to the constitution will remain as it is, since it reflect the beliefs of the people, highly-placed government sources told The Daily Star after the meeting.
A number of the ministers sought premier's move in preventing ministers and lawmakers from speaking too much about the restoration of '72 constitution without knowing much details. The ministers told the cabinet that people are confused due to some of their colleague's misleading and contradictory speeches on the constitution amendments, sources that attended the cabinet meeting told The Daily Star.
In response, the premier directed all her colleagues not to make any misleading statements on the amendments since an all-party parliamentary committee is dealing with the matter.
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#1
"...does not mean that many..."
Parsing. This still puts the trouble making religious parties on notice.
Iran's President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad says the Islamic Republic seeks its due position in the management of the world without a military confrontation.
The Iranian president identified the current global issues with the West's unilateralism and monopoly of power, and said, "We are not afraid of expressing ourselves, yet we do not seek a military confrontation."
He made the comments in an address to a gathering of Iranian expatriates in Tehran on Monday.
President Ahmadinejad underscored the new management mechanism of the world, which has been monopolized by the West, should be modified and made to allow for the participation of all nations.
Commenting on Iran's nuclear program, the Iranian chief executive slammed the Western powers for the sanctions and accused them of hypocrisy, saying they "have more than 20,000 atomic bombs altogether and they still fear Iran for not having one."
He further pointed out that the West has maintained its double standards on supporting tyrannical systems while pretending to promote democracy around the globe.
The president lauded the Iranian culture for its 'limitless capacities' and noted that the West fears Iran's cultural potential which enables the country to reach across to other nations and spread globally.
He said the "arrogant powers seek to control the world by plundering the wealth of the Middle East."
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[Dawn] A tense government had the Senate adjourned amid a debate on flood havoc on Monday to mourn the assassination of an MQM provincial legislator in Karachi, which it called part of a "trap to destabilise Pakistan".
Interior Minister Rehman Malik immediately pointed fingers at the banned Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkar-i-Jhangvi groups for the shooting down of Sindh assembly member Raza Haider and appealed to government allies, Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) and Awami National Party (ANP), for patience and calm after an ANP senator said his party members in Karachi were being attacked in retaliation.
"This is a trap to destabilise Pakistan," an apparently agitated minister said as he informed the house of the Karachi shooting and called for a suspension of the debate on floods until Tuesday as a mark of mourning, to which both the opposition and treasury benches agreed.
Mr Malik described the incident as one of "a formula and a larger scheme against Pakistan" and said "it is time to get together to fight" it.
"Our enemies want to burn Karachi," he said, and added: "If Karachi is destabilised, then the whole country will be destablised."
He did not specify these "enemies" but said he had been warning about the designs of sectarian Sipah-i-Sahaba and Lashkari-i-Jhangvi groups for the past one year though the government would keep its options open to track down the culprits.
After ANP's parliamentary leader in the house, Haji Mohammad Adeel, intervened to say his party members and offices were being attacked in Karachi right now, Mr Malik appealed to both the ANP and MQM not to be driven by sentiments and let authorities take the necessary action. "We are awake and we are taking action. We will leave no stone unturned to take action."
Most of a total of 11 senators from the opposition and government-allied parties who spoke earlier on three adjournment motions on the flood situation expressed dissatisfaction with the government's relief effort, with the hardest comments coming from Haji Adeel who said his home province Khyber Pakhtunkhwa's relief "expectation from the centre and other provinces had not been met" and, in a comment that could raise many eyebrows, asked: "Should our people then look to somewhere else?"
Even Science and Technology Minister Mohammad Azam Swati of JUI was not satisfied with the government's performance after a visit to three of the flood-hit districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and proposed diversion of funds budgeted for "non-productive programmes" to flood relief.
PML-N parliamentary leader Ishaq Dar and party colleague Pervez Rashid both called for a better government mobilisation for relief from floods that now threaten other provinces as well, but used the debate to urge President Asif Ali Zarari to put off his visit to Britain later this week to protest at British Prime Minister David Cameron's remarks in India last week about alleged role of Pakistani intelligence in promoting "export" of terror. Islamabad rejects the allegations.
Hafiz Rashid Ahmed from the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (Fata) introduced a private constitution amendment bill, seeking to fix a time-limit to abolish interest-based banking in Pakistan. The bill was referred to the standing committee concerned by PPP's Khatu Mal Jeewan, who was chairing the proceedings at the time.
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A suicide car bomber killed six children in an attack targeting an Afghan government official on Monday in the volatile south.
A senior adviser to President Hamid Karzai was hit by a separate bomb attack in eastern Nangarhar province, leaving him and his travelling companion badly wounded, and injuring five civilians.
The Taliban claimed responsibility for the attack in the east.
The Interior Ministry originally said five children were killed in the blast, and Dand district governor Ahmadullah Nazick said that a sixth had died by the early afternoon.
The car bomb was followed by a roadside bomb attack 10 metres away, after the police arrived at the scene, and wounded two policemen, said the district criminal investigations chief Hussain.
Karzai, who has said his government will aim to take full responsibility for security in Afghanistan by the end of 2014, condemned the attack, describing it as the "work of imbeciles".
In eastern Nangarhar, adviser on tribal affairs to the president, Waheedullah Sabawoon, was on a personal visit in Jalalabad, capital of the province, when a bomb placed in a rickshaw exploded and hit his vehicle.
Elsewhere, insurgents ambushed a key supply route for coalition forces in the central province of Ghazni, killing two Afghan guards escorting a truck along a highway heading for Kandahar, said Ghazni government spokesman Ismail Jahangir.
In London, the defence ministry identified two NATO soldiers killed in Helmand on Sunday as British nationals.
One of the soldiers was killed by small arms fire in Lashkar Gah district while the second died by a roadside bomb in the Sangin region.
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Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan spokesman Azam Tariq on Monday asked reporters and journalists to be impartial in their profession.
"The media should avoid creating rifts in the ranks of mujahideen who are fighting a holy war," the TTP spokesman said while addressing media organisations on phone from an undisclosed location on Monday.
This sounds like a demand to avoid "slander of Islam", a legal concept in Sharia meaning anything that deters someone from respecting and obeying Islam - including correctly demonstrating the nature of the attack. The penalty is death. No doubt the Pakistani-educated reporters, having endured Islamiyat courses throughout primary and secondary school, understood exactly what was implied.
He said that the US commander in Afghanistan, General David Petraeus, was dictating the government and forces in Pakistan to secure US interests here. Pakistan has become a part of the NATO plan, which would further create problems for the country, he added.
Tariq said the government and other institutions in Pakistan were protecting NATO's interests in the region. He vowed that the TTP would continue its resistance against such forces until the Pakistan government parted ways with the US-led NATO forces.
He also said that the TTP and the people of Pakistan were aggrieved on the damage caused by floods throughout the country, which have claimed the lives of the poor people. He added that despite the floods, the group's activities were in full swing.
Tariq said that the US-led forces were facing a humiliating defeat in Afghanistan and added that the Taliban would stand victorious in Afghanistan against the evil forces of the US and NATO. He also said that their skirmishes with security forces were going on in different parts of South Waziristan and Orakzai agencies.
He paid tribute to Faisal Shahzad for his "bold activities" in the US and said he had rendered great sacrifices to uphold the cause of Islam. "America is not safe on its own land," Tariq added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/03/2010
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The federal trial of seven alleged terrorists could be held in U.S. District Court on Middle Street in New Bern next year. A tentative trial date had been set for next month in New Bern, but the case was continued because thousands of pages of Arabic documents had to be translated, according to district court officials.
Senior Hamas commander Issa al-Batran was killed Saturday in an Israeli airstrike that followed a Grad rocket attack on the city of Ashkelon. While several news outlets reported details of Batran's past, including previous attempts on his life, they failed to note a major component of Batran's personal life: his day job as a United Nations-employed schoolteacher.
A 32-year-old took the needle into his hands when he tired of the wait at Sundsvall hospital in northern Sweden and sewed up the cut in his leg himself. The man was later reported to the police for his impromptu handiwork.
The Taliban pounded on the door just before midnight, demanding that Aisha, 18, be punished for running away from her husband's house. Her in-laws treated her like a slave, Aisha pleaded. They beat her. If she hadn't run away, she would have died. Her judge, a local Taliban commander, was unmoved. Aisha's brother-in-law held her down while her husband pulled out a knife. First he sliced off her ears. Then he started on her nose. 
In a decision that could lay the groundwork for an Arizona-style immigration policy, Virginia's attorney general said state law enforcement officers are allowed to check the immigration status of anyone "stopped or arrested." 
The attorney for the man charged with last year's deadly shooting rampage at Texas' Fort Hood Army post says his client, who is still on the military's payroll, can't find a bank willing to cash his checks.
Democratic Rep. Barney Frank is coming to California to raise cash for Democratic Sen. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Islamic satellite channel al-Daleel announced the groundbreaking launch of a new express service that delivers fatwas round the clock to Muslims during the holy month of Ramadan.
The earth could be hit by a wave of violent space weather as early as Tuesday after a massive explosion of the sun, scientists have warned. 
The Swiss government has promised to investigate if there is evidence that North Korea has illegal funds stashed away in the country, Radio Free Asia reported Saturday. 
Korea and the United States have agreed to start talks about the revision of a bilateral atomic energy agreement this fall, it emerged on Monday. Seoul is keen to reprocess its own spent fuel rods, which it is barred from doing under the agreement, but Washington has so far been reluctant to permit it since the process results in the production of weapons-grade plutonium. 
A Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader and a member of the Sindh Assembly, Raza Haider, and his security guard were gunned down by unidentified motorcyclists inside a mosque in the Nazimabad area on Monday. 
[Arab News] Forty-two 
Two men charged with plotting to blow up New York's John F. Kennedy Airport were found guilty Monday.
It's official: Sidney Harman, the businessman who made his fortune selling stereo equipment, has secured a deal to buy Newsweek from the Washington Post Co. and will announce the deal later Monday afternoon.
Crude oil surged above $81 a barrel for the first time since May as a rally in global equity markets increased speculation the economy is strengthening.
The President flew into town Monday morning.
[Dawn] A tense government had the Senate adjourned amid a debate on flood havoc on Monday to mourn the assassination of an MQM provincial legislator in Karachi, which it called part of a "trap to destabilise Pakistan". 
