#2
Google Trans:
Facilities of the Ministry of Public Security in Ciudad Victoria Would Have Been the scene the explosion of a possible car bombAccording to information That Is Disclosed via Twitter.
According To TeleFórmula, Authorities Still Do Not know if it's a grenade or a car bomb, exploded in the backyard Which of the police complex in Ciudad Victoria.
Members of the police and administrative personnel at the time of Was the incident, Not Report any injuries, and so far are quartered.
Elements of the Mexican Army and Federal Police besieged the place, while the Attorney General of the Republic (PGR) and took cognizance of the fact
#1
make sure you drop the responsibility for this turd directly on the doorstep of the RINOs that let this not only get to a vote by killing the filibuster, but that also voted for confirmation.
thanks for nothing Ghramnesty you a$$-hat...
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/05/2010 16:31
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#2
Not really surprising. The idealogical make-up of the court is the same and it isn't worth expending political capital on this.
However, it really needs to be brough up again and again for the RHINOs in 2012 when they go to the voters and ask to be rehired.
#4
So ogabe got two mediocre legal minds on to the Court. Not like there weren't some of those before. Balance has not changed, time to sit back and watch the fun...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/05/2010 17:34
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#5
Could not have occurred without 5 Rinos and 2 so-called independents and a turncoat.
Hospital doctors who quit their jobs are being routinely forced to sign "gagging orders" despite legislation designed to protect NHS whistleblowers, it is revealed today.
Millions of pounds of taxpayers' money are being spent on contracts that deter doctors from speaking out about incompetence and mistakes in patient care.
Nearly 90 per cent of severance agreements hammered out between NHS trusts and departing doctors contain confidentiality clauses.
A joint investigation by the Bureau of Investigative Journalism and Channel 4 News has discovered that at least 170 doctors in England and Wales agreed such a settlement with the trust employing them backed up by pay-offs totalling more than £3m.
Fifty-five of the 64 contracts supplied by the trusts to the investigation team contained gagging clauses. The agreements have to be approved by the Treasury. The bureau discovered that a further 19 NHS staff who decided to go to employment tribunals after blowing the whistle on hospital standards eventually settled before their allegations were made public.
The widespread use of "gagging orders" against senior NHS staff who could raise patient safety concerns will intensify the doubts over the protection given to whistleblowers.
Campaign groups claim that NHS managers sometimes resort to intimidatory tactics to deter medics from coming forward, while others that break cover can face years of expense and uncertainty before their cases reach court. The result, they say, is that doctors accept the gagging clauses in order to protect their careers and avoid legal wrangling.
Mike Parker, of the Royal College of Surgeons, said: "The trusts find something upon which they can influence this individual and hold them virtually to ransom, and say: 'You speak up and this will happen.' It's effectively a form of bullying, if you like, but we do hear about this sort of thing happening."
Using Freedom of Information (FoI) requests, it emerged that 71 NHS trusts had entered into these agreements with a total of 170 doctors, although the true figure could be higher, as many failed to respond.
Twenty-two of the agreements were signed at the South London and Maudsley NHS Foundation Trust.
Forty spent a total of just over £3m on the agreements. However, a further 31 trusts simply refused to disclose the size of the payments. Further FoI requests discovered that another 19 health whistleblowers decided to take their cases to court, but abandoned them after signing so-called compromise agreements with employers.
David Bowles, the former chairman of an NHS Trust, told Channel 4 that he believed their use was "endemic". "You shouldn't be at a position of needing a compromise agreement with a whistleblower. You should never get to that point in the first place. You should have listened to the concerns and you should have managed them in accordance with legislation and indeed the NHS's own published code."
Worries over gagging orders in the NHS were underlined by the recent disclosure that Kim Holt, a pediatrician, repeatedly raised the alarm about children's services at St Ann's Hospital in Haringey, north London, more than year before the death of Baby Peter in 2007. Her employer, Great Ormond Street Hospital, reportedly offered her £120,000 to stay silent but she refused. The hospital denied it was an attempt to gag her.
Andrew Lansley, the Health Secretary, has acknowledged that a scandal of care at Mid-Staffordshire hospital went undetected because whistleblowers' warnings went unheeded.
Whistleblowers gained full protection from dismissal or victimisation under the Public Interest Disclosure Act (PIDA) of 1999, which was supported by unions and all political parties. It covers employees in both the public and private sectors.
It followed a succession of cases where whistleblowers had been ignored, including the problems at Bristol Royal Infirmary, where 29 babies and children died after heart surgery. In opposition, the Conservatives said they would give NHS staff the contractual right to report errors and failings to the health regulator without fear of reprisal.
Shonali Routray, a lawyer at the charity Public Concern at Work, stressed last night that the law protected whistleblowers even if they had signed confidentiality clauses.
But she added: "They have a real fear factor and discourage people from raising concerns. The worry is the person who has signed the agreement feels under pressure, or vulnerable, or do not understand their options."
A spokeswoman for the Department of Health said last night: "The Health Secretary has made it clear that patient safety should be at the heart of the NHS and that the improvement of whistleblowing policies is a key part of this ... organisations across the NHS will also need to be clear that whistleblowing is not something that should be regarded as letting down your organisation."
The Islamist rebel leading the anti-Kremlin insurgency in the Russian region of Chechnya Wednesday withdrew an announcement that he was stepping down and vowed to carry on killing "enemies of Allah".
It was not clear what had prompted the about-turn by Doku Umarov, who days before had released a video in which he clearly stated he was stepping down and even named a successor. "Due to the situation in the Caucasus I consider that it is impossible for me to quit my duties," Umarov said in a video posted on rebel websites and Youtube. Like, the Russians want you dead regardless ...
Umarov, whose group claimed the attacks on the Moscow metro that killed 40 people this year, said earlier this week he had grown tired and was stepping down in favour of a younger militant successor named Aslambek Vadalov.
"The previous declaration is annulled. It is a falsification," said Umarov, also known by his nom-de-guerre of Abu Usman, leaning on an automatic weapon. "I declare that my health is good to serve Allah. And I will serve the word of Allah and work to kill the enemies of Allah in all the time that he gives me to live on this earth."
In the video in which he had announced his resignation, Umarov was shown seated on the ground in an unidentified forested area in khaki trousers and a dark blue sweater. He was sitting between two other militants, one of whom was identified as Vadalov.
In the new video posted by the same sources as the first Umarov is this time shown sitting alone in full military fatigues with short sleeves talking in a wooded area.
Safwat Ghayyur, the most decorated policeman in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly NWFP, aka Terrorism Central, and who fought forces of Evil on the front lines as commandant of the paramilitary Frontier Constabulary (FC), was killed along with two gunnies in a suicide kaboom August 4. A total of four people were killed and nine injured in the attack that destroyed three vehicles.
Superintendent of police (SP) Cantt Peshawar, Shafiullah, was the first to confirm that Ghayyur was among those killed. He, however, said three gunnies and a driver were killed. The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain has took credit, according to Taliban sources.
Eyewitnesses told Central Asia Online that Ghayyur left his office at FC headquarters around 4.30 pm and his car had just halted at a traffic signal in FC Chowk when a boomer hit his vehicle. FC soldiers started firing immediately after the blast, sending bystanders fleeing for their lives. Hundreds of shopkeepers and shoppers ran inside the Deans Trade Centre for safety. FC soldiers shut the gates of their headquarters.
"The death of Safwat Ghayyur is a great tragedy. The Boskonians have struck at a time when the people of the province are already faced with devastating floods," said Bashir Ahmad Bilor, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly NWFP, aka Terrorism Central's senior minister. Terrorists had targeted the officer for a long time, he said.
In fact, the last entry for him in the Rantburg seach engine was a hit list with his name on it.
He broke the network of Boskonians across Beautiful Downtown Peshawar and surrounding tribal areas while heading the Peshawarquiet city police force last year. He was the first officer who headed a civilian force to carry out operations in the tribal areas against the Boskonians.
Apart from heading the FC and the Beautiful Downtown Peshawarquiet city police, Ghayyur served as inspector general of the Gilgit -Baltistan (previously Northern Areas) police. He also served in the intelligence bureau. He was a close relative of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, formerly NWFP, aka Terrorism Central Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and former federal interior minister Aftab Ahmad Khan Sherpao.
"We salute the martyrdom of Safwat Ghayyur. He was a brave officer who fought against Boskonians till his death," said Iftikhar. He added that Boskonians have grown frustrated and are targeting leaders like Ghayyur, "but they cannot deter us."
"Our jihad will continue until Boskonians are eliminated. If we are required to sacrifice our own lives, we will take pride in it," said Iftikhar, whose only son was killed in a terrorist attack last month.
The Obama administration declined Thursday to put North Korea back on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism despite pressure from lawmakers to do so.
In its report for 2009, the State Department kept the same countries on the list as it did in 2008 -- Iran, Sudan, Cuba and Syria -- with Iran again listed as the "most active state sponsor of terrorism."
Former US president George W. Bush de-listed North Korea in 2008 after it vowed to end its nuclear program, agreed to inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and pledged to disable its nuclear plants. The Obama administration has kept it off the list again after citing narrow legal definition for what constitutes support for terrorism.
In June 2009, 16 US Republican Senators urged President Barack Obama's administration to place the communist regime back on the US blacklist. The North conducted its second nuclear test the previous month and defied international criticism by firing a volley of short-range missiles and threatening to attack the capitalist South.
Though the report does not cover events this year, Republican senators renewed their call for North Korea to be listed again after South Korea and the United States blamed it for sinking a South Korean warship in March.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is working on a three-stage rocket to carry a satellite 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles) into space, Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
"The country's scientists are working on a three-stage rocket that will take us to 1,000 kilometres," Ahmadinejad, quoted by Fars, told a local television in the western city of Hamedan.
He said the rocket's engines would have a thrust of between 120 and 140 tonnes, four times greater than the rocket thrust used to launch Iran's first satellite into space in February 2009.
"Last time, we sent a satellite to 250 kilometres ... Next year it will be sent to 700 kilometres, and the year after that to 1,000 kilometres," he said.
The launch of Iran's first satellite, named Wipe Israel Off The Map Omid, stirred a wave of criticism from Western countries which fear the potential uses of the Islamic republic's ambitious space programme. Quick, NASA, partner up with those guys and help them with their metallurgy self-esteem!
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton pressed Americans on Wednesday to donate money to flood relief efforts in Pakistan, saying she is leading by example and just made a $10 donation herself. Well, I must admit, that's ten more than I'm giving...
A majority of people in the Arab world now hold a negative view of President Barack Obama and the United States in a substantial change from how he was seen at the start of his presidency, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.
Sixty-two percent hold a dim view of Obama and the United States compared with 20 percent who view them in a positive light, according to the 2010 Arab Public Opinion Poll released by Washington-based think tank The Brookings Institution.
In a survey early in his presidency, only 23 percent of respondents in six countries expressed a negative view of Obama and the United States, while 45 percent were positive about the new administration, which took office in January 2009.
In the latest poll, 63 percent said they were discouraged by Obama's Middle East policy and 16 percent said they were hopeful.
The findings also marked a reversal from the previous year, when more than half were optimistic about U.S. Middle East policy and only 15 percent were discouraged.
A majority (61 percent) of the nearly 4,000 people in Egypt, Jordan, Lebanon, Morocco, Saudi Arabia, and United Arab Emirates said they were most disappointed with Obama's policies on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.
Iraq was the second most disappointing issue, but it was a distant second with a mere 27 percent of respondents calling it a top priority.
More than half of those polled (54 percent) said an Israeli-Palestinian peace agreement would improve their views of the United States the most.
In last year's survey, half the respondents said withdrawing troops from Iraq was the number-one thing the United States could do to improve its image in the Arab world.
Among other findings, a majority of the Arab public now see a nuclear-armed Iran as being better for the Middle East.
!?!?
Fifty-seven percent believe Iran is trying to develop nuclear weapons, about the same as in 2009 but up from 39 percent in 2008.
Fifty-seven percent said that if Iran acquires nuclear weapons the likely outcome would be more positive for the Middle East, compared with 21 percent who say it would be a more negative development.
What happened in the past year that made almost 30% of Arabs decide to embrace the idea of Ahmadinejad with nukes? This statistic, if accurate, would seem to demand an explanation. Back in the day, a reporter or two might have gone to the Arab countries and found out for themselves. These days, any explanation offered by most 'journalists' will consist of whatever interpretation is most convenient for their own personal ideological outlook.
Last year, only 29 percent thought a nuclear-armed Iran would be good for the region, while 46 percent said the likely outcome would be more negative.
It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red. If they aren't complaining, it isn't legal.
So when Multnomah County shut down an enterprise last week for operating without a license, you might just sigh and say, there they go again. Shooting themselves in the foot. For the umpteenth time.
Except this entrepreneur was a 7-year-old named Julie Murphy. Her business was a lemonade stand at the Last Thursday monthly art fair in Northeast Portland. The government regulation she violated? Failing to get a $120 temporary restaurant license. Congratulations, nazis. You've ruined another future entrepreneur! Gonna be a big help in another 20 years or so. Might as well let them know today what they can expect tomorrow.
Turns out that kids' lemonade stands -- those constants of summertime -- are supposed to get a permit in Oregon, particularly at big events that happen to be patrolled regularly by county health inspectors. They're not so constant anymore. And things like this are the cause. Thanks, nazis, for ruining another bit of life. You all get my vote next time around! High five!
"I understand the reason behind what they're doing and it's a neighborhood event, and they're trying to generate revenue," said Jon Kawaguchi, environmental health supervisor for the Multnomah County Health Department. "But we still need to put the public's health first." How about the public's mental health? What's the last time you had an outbreak of cholera from a lemonade stand?
Julie had become enamored of the idea of having a stand after watching an episode of cartoon pig Olivia running one, said her mother, Maria Fife. The two live in Oregon City, but Fife knew her daughter would get few customers if she set up her stand at home. So she sent her off to the nazi lion's den.
Plus, Fife had just attended Last Thursday along Portland's Northeast Alberta Street for the first time and loved the friendly feel and the diversity of the grass-roots event. She put the two things together and promised to take her daughter in July. Careful, that place is populated by a bunch of idiots trying to prove the value of their phoney-baloney jobs.
The girl worked on a sign, coloring in the letters and decorating it with a drawing of a person saying "Yummy." She made a list of supplies.
Then, with gallons of bottled water and packets of Kool-Aid, they drove up last Thursday with a friend and her daughter. They loaded a wheelbarrow that Julie steered to the corner of Northeast 26th and Alberta and settled into a space between a painter and a couple who sold handmade bags and kids' clothing.
Even before her daughter had finished making the first batch of lemonade, a man walked up to buy a 50-cent cup.
"They wanted to support a little 7-year-old to earn a little extra summer loot," she said. "People know what's going on."
Even so, Julie was careful about making the lemonade, cleaning her hands with hand sanitizer, using a scoop for the bagged ice and keeping everything covered when it wasn't in use, Fife said. Man, with all those precautions, it kinda makes you wonder how people even survived the 50's.
After 20 minutes, a "bitch lady with a clipboard" came over and asked rhetorically for their license. When Fife explained they didn't have one, the woman told them they would need to leave or possibly face a $500 fine.
Surprised, Fife started to pack up. The people staffing the booths next to them encouraged the two to stay, telling them the inspectors had no right to kick them out of the neighborhood gathering. They also suggested that they give away the lemonade and accept donations instead and one of them made an announcement to the crowd to support the lemonade stand.
That's when business really picked up -- and two a$$hole inspectors came back, Fife said. Julie started crying, while her mother packed up and others confronted the inspectors. "It was a very big scene," Fife said.
Technically, any lemonade stand -- even one on your front lawn -- must be licensed under state law, said Eric Pippert, the food-borne illness prevention program manager for the state's public health division. But county inspectors are unlikely to go after kids selling lemonade on their front lawn unless, he conceded, their front lawn happens to be on Alberta Street during Last Thursday.
"When you go to a public event and set up shop, you're suddenly engaging in commerce," he said. "The fact that you're small-scale I don't think is relevant." That's funny. The rest of the crowd thinks you're wrong. Maybe you need to think about your role in society. Go find some restaurant that is deep-frying rats in their french fries or something.
Kawaguchi, who oversees the two county inspectors involved, said they must be fair and consistent in their monitoring, no matter the age of the person. "Our role is to protect the public," he said. Your "role" is to do what the public wants you to do.
The county's shutdown of the lemonade stand was publicized by Michael Franklin, the man at the booth next to Fife and her daughter. Franklin contributes to the Bottom Up Radio Network, an online anarchist site, and interviewed Fife for his show. Oops, bet you didn't count on the public having a say in the matter. How inconvenient they are. If you are trying to protect them, and they want you to go away, you are doing something wrong. Figure it out.
Franklin is also organizing a "Lemonade Revolt" for Last Thursday in August. He's calling on anarchists, neighbors and others to come early for the event and grab space for lemonade stands on Alberta between Northeast 25th and Northeast 26th. I wish people would put this much energy into getting rid of our current crop of legislators, and not waste their time toppling statues and whining about local officials who can be replaced later.
As for Julie, the 7-year-old still tells her mother "it was a bad day." When she complains about the health inspector, Fife reminds her that the woman was just doing her job. She also promised to help her try again -- at an upcoming neighborhood garage sale. "Just doing my job." Sounds a lot like Nuremburg.
While Fife said she does see the need for some food safety regulation, she thinks the county went too far in trying to control events as unstructured as Last Thursday. Obama thingks you're wrong. But he would like you to keep wasting your energy on little crap like this so he can continue with an agenda that will make this an everyday occurence.
"As far as Last Thursday is concerned, people know when they are coming there that it's more or less a free-for-all," she said. "It's gotten to the point where they need to be in all of our decisions. They don't trust us to make good choices on our own." Next time, don't vote for Obama.
#2
you're suddenly engaging in commerce," he said.
Commerce! Oh, the humanity!. The man's got a point. Without the watchful eye of Government, we'd have thespians in the public parks, people practicing celibacy and gawd knows what else. Where would it end?
#3
I doubt there would be a problem if the kid set up the lemonade stand and took donations for the donk re-election fund. Does this mean that blind beggars selling pencils are going to have problems too? It is time to jerk the politicians' permits to operate who make such laws that allow kids to be abused.
#4
I used to think that writing my congressman was a waste of time. I've done it twice in my life and both times, in two different states the guy came through for me as put some foot to ass. The first time was when I was having trouble with the University of Northern Kentucky, after writing him the President of the University called my directly to 'rectify' the problem.
I wonder what 15 people writing their congressman about an outrage like this could accomplish, especially if he were running for reelection this Nov.
#6
apparently they have too many regulators if they have time to go after this. this is what over-intrusive government looks like.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/05/2010 16:19
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#7
this is truly a disgrace for you to use Nazi language to describe this situation. Were you thrown into a concentration camp? Asked to live in unbearable conditions struggling for a sense of decency...raped, watching family murdered? Did you experience this? or your ancestors? It's truly disrespectful to think of this situation in a Nazi context.
While the point you wish to make is technically accurate, the word Nazi has degenerated in colloquial English into a simple pejorative. It has occurred because 'manners' were out the window sometime in the 60s. The value of the word has become debased and will soon be joined by the word racist as another word that once carried value, but which has been abused to such an extent that it no longer holds its original intent. Today its largely employed as a descriptive of an authoritarian figure or person of position who acts without any sense other than the exercise of power.
#9
"disgusted" that horse is already well out of the barn. You want to blame, point your finger squarely at the "Bush is a Nazi" drumbeat from the lunatic left for 8 years from 2000-2008.
Posted by: No I am The Other Beldar ||
08/05/2010 17:39
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#10
Were you thrown into a concentration camp? Asked to live in unbearable conditions struggling for a sense of decency...raped, watching family murdered? Did you experience this? or your ancestors? It's truly disrespectful to think of this situation in a Nazi context.
Yes, actually. In fact, we're in Germany to watch my mother being honoured by several communities here for what she and her family endured at the hands of the Nazis. If you happen to wander into the Holocaust Museum in Washington, D.C. you can read my grandmother's war memoir in the archive there. The curators are particularly fond of it because Mama provided a lovely English translation with photos, maps, and informative appendices -- it was, after all, the kind of project my little PhD mother enjoyed getting her teeth into, so she did herself proud.
Oh, and what Procopius2k said about common useage. As a life-long pedant myself, I appreciate the limitations of the outlook.
We're trying to communicate here. You need to figure out what I was trying to say and not nitpick. Everybody but you figured out what I was trying to say. Except you. You need to think about what this means.
And yes, I know about the part of the Nazi government that you seem to be obsessed with. In fact, part of my family owned a newspaper and pi$$ed off the Kaiser and had to hightail it out of Germany with only the clothes on their backs and came to the good ol' U.S. of A.
Another part of my family can tell you everything you want to know about the Nazi military. They had to flee Morocco because they were coming. I've got some train stories for you when you come out from hiding behind your new nym.
No, I don't use the term disrespectfully. I just take advantage of it's common meaning for ease of communication. There is more to the Nazi party than just their military, you know. Like the fact that they had total control of the population. Sort of like what Obama is aiming for but on steroids.
So, tell me, why are you up on your ear about use of the common term? What are you trying to accomplish, and what will that accomplishment buy you? Is it realistic, or just honorable? Are you planning on going through your whole life with this chip on your shoulder?
And if you don't like that, please go somewhere else to take a dump.
#14
FYI, my wife's side were refugees from Hungary, driven out by the Nazis. We still have the immigration papers, they were lucky, they got out in 1938.
Marking the latest in a growing number of terrorism cases involving an Al Qaeda-linked group in Somalia, several Somali-Americans have been arrested in at least two U.S. cities for allegedly supporting and in some cases fund-raising for the group. Many others, believed to be overseas, were also charged.
In addition, federal authorities unsealed a years-old indictment against one the group's most prominent figures, Alabama-born Omar Hamammi, who has become a star of propaganda and recruitment videos produced by Al Shabab.
In the United States, arrests were made overnight near Minneapolis and Los Angeles. Two of those arrested were Amina Farah Ali and Hawo Mohamed Hassan of Rochester, Minn., naturalized U.S. citizens now indicted by a grand jury on charges of providing material support to a terrorist group.
Prosecutors allege they raised funds "by soliciting door-to-door" in Minnesota's Somali communities, telling potential donors that "the funds were for the poor and needy." Some of that money, prosecutors say, would then be funneled to the group Al Shabab, which has been designated a foreign terrorist organization by the U.S. government.
In an indictment unsealed Thursday morning, prosecutors also allege that seven others, including unidentified individuals in Minneapolis and Columbus, Ohio, helped Ali and Hallan "collect and forward funds to Al Shabab." Some of the alleged aides appear to be in Somalia, including one individual described as "the al-Shabab administrative governor" in parts of the war-torn country.
For more than two years, the FBI has been investigating how dozens of Americans from Minneapolis and elswhere were recruited to train and fight alongside the Somalia-based group, known as Al Shabab. Most recently, Al Shabab claimed responsibility for the deadly attacks in Uganda and pledged its allegiance to Usama bin Laden.
Federal authorities have long worried that Al Shabab could try to launch attacks inside the United States. In fact, in a May 21 intelligence bulletin, federal authorities noted that "Hammami has appeared in [Al Shabab] media productions urging individuals to travel to Somalia to take part in terrorist training."
"We cannot exclude the possibility that U.S. persons aligned with [Al Shabab] in the Horn of Africa may return to the U.S., possibly to carry out acts of violence," the bulletin said.
Fox News was the first news organization to uncover Hammami's identity and report that a grand jury had indicted him on charges of providing material support to a terrorist group. In a motion to unseal the case against him, prosecutors said Thursday that "widespread public and press discussion of the case and indictment" helped diminish a need to keep the case sealed.
The Justice Department is expected to provide more details about the cases unsealed Thursday during an afternoon press conference in Washington.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, armed militants carried cloth sacks through the streets of Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa towns. They demanded money from traders. They insisted women hand over jewelry. They asked fuel dealers to donate gasoline. And in case anyone missed the message of mandatory donations, militants drove through the streets with electronic megaphones mounted on vehicles.
"We shall intensify the jihad against the apostates and the unbelievers," vowed an al Shabaab official in Baidoa, according to residents there who were reached by phone.
"They (rebels) came to us with sacks and told us to put in some money," said a man who gave his name only as Sabriye, who runs a grocery store in Mogadishu's Bakara market, the largest open-air trading center in the country. "They tax us, shake us down, and are still ordering us to pay money for fighting," said the shop owner, who handed over $50.
Nurto Abdi, who sells costume jewelry in Baidoa, an al Shabaab-controlled town west of Mogadishu that once housed the federal parliament before it was overrun by militants, said he was ordered to donate 20 grams of gold. "I have contributed for my security, because if I refuse, it will cause problems," said Mr. Abdi.
Once these towns have paid up, al Shabaab is expected to move on. Already, traders and residents in smaller towns have been told to prepare their donations by Saturday.
Yesterday: Tax breaks for Blue Staters.
Today: Employment security for public sector unions.
WASHINGTON Legislation to provide billions to save the jobs of teachers and other public workers is on track to pass the Senate, helped along by the votes of a couple of GOP moderates.
Democrats cracked a GOP filibuster on Wednesday, and the House was being called back from its summer break for an expected final vote next week to help cash-strapped states and school districts.
The $26 billion measure would help states ease their severe budget problems and, advocates said, stop the layoffs of perhaps 300,000 teachers, firefighters, police officers and other public employees. Though scaled back, the bill also would salvage a victory for Democrats who have been unable to deliver most of the jobs help they and President Barack Obama promised.
Most Republicans oppose the measure, calling it a payoff to public employee unions and warning that it would make the states ever-dependent on federal money.
One police officer was killed in the jihad violence-plagued southern border province of Pattani while patrolling in Nong Chik district Wednesday night.
Pol L/Cpl Chatchai Khetjamnong, 31, was shot dead during an exchange of gunfire with unidentified assailants while he and other seven police officers in a patrol unit were on duty to provide security in the area.
An unidentified number of the suspected terrorists insurgents, armed with M16 and AK47 assault rifles, fired on a police pickup and two motorcycles carrying the police officers, followed by an extended exchange of gunfire between the security detail and its attackers.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/05/2010
11:31 ||
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#1
It must suck for AP since Bush left. Instead of dancing in the street, they gotta scramble for big words to find an excuse for this that gets Barry off the hook.
#2
Apparently, "unexpectedly" means "jobs went the opposite way than what we thought and the economy is still hurting and we have to spin this so teh 0ne doesn't look like more of an idiot".
#4
Those of us who live in fly-over land who don't work for the Federal government know the economy sucks and it is likely to continue to suck until the current crop of central-planning meddling big-government socialists are gone.
#4
What should really piss you off is the way the media and the unions helped boost Angle over the other woamn, so that that pathetic POS Reid had a chance to be reelected. Same game that gave us McLame in the last election, and Dole previously. Find the people that engineered that and find a way to out them. That is the real power source. AS for Carly, I'd vote for a sock puppet over Boxer, if for no other reason, because the sock puppet is smarter!
What she said was that the Dhimmicrats are trying to substitute government for god; that government should replace god in our lives. I have no objection to her saying that; she's not "playing the God Card".
Besides, she's right on this one.
I preferred Lowden over Angle, but then again, I don't live in Nevada so it wasn't my call. If I did live there, I'd vote Angle to get Reid out. If in six years I turned out to be unhappy with Angle, I'd vote her out.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2010 13:05
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#8
To all the athiests here whose panties are in a wad, she is right. This has been a Christian nation. All federally recognized holidays recognize that. No longer. Even comments on conservative blogs such as this one from individuals from the right indicate the people of America have moved away from what has made America a great nation.
"One Nation, Under God". Look at any coin or green back and you will see "In God We Trust".
Deutoeronomy 28
29...you will not prosper in your ways; but you shall only be oppressed and robbed continually, with none to save you. 30You shall betroth a wife, but another man will violate her; you shall build a house, but you will not live in it; you shall plant a vineyard, but you will not use its fruit.
33 A people whom you do not know shall eat up the produce of your ground and all your labors, and you will never be anything but oppressed and crushed continually.
34You shall be driven mad by the sight of what you see.
While Obama and Reid take all you own and give to those who do not even speak our language (and I am sure Reid has a chance to win because of how much people can't stand the notion of God), that will only be the beginning of America's troubles.
#9
Don't worry, I'll never vote for Reid for the following reason: Democrats in 2004-2007 were so against the war in Iraq that much opposition to the US was due to the people of Iraq not being sure if we were going to pull out and leave them to the Baathists and Islamic Fascists.
Harry Reid was a major proponent for us cutting and running from Iraq. This strengthened the opposition to us. So in my opinion Harry Reid has the blood of US servicemen on his hands.
So my vote will be against Reid. I just hate voting for such an idiot as Angle.
#14
Sir, my concern is not whether God is on our side; my greatest concern is to be on God's side, for God is always right Abraham Lincoln - America's 16th President
"Without God there could be no American form of
government nor an American way of life. Recognition of the Supreme Being is the
first the most basic expression of Americanism." Dwight David Eisenhower - America's 34th President
I was raised to believe that God has a plan for everyone and that seemingly random twists of fate are all a part of His plan. Ronald Reagan - America's 40th President
"We have some more differences for you here between President Obama and God. God asks for only 10% of your money. God gives you freedom to live your life as you choose. God's plan to save us is actually written down for people to read." Rush Limbaugh
#16
Maybe I should clarify. My dislike of Angle has nothing to do with her being a person of faith. It has to do with her being an idiot.
Whether or not a person declares they believe in God does not influence my vote because there are so many f*ing hypocrites out there. Case in point, Nevada's other senator, John Ensign.
I thought that was a prerequisite to become Senator or was that for Representatives. The other house simply called for imbeciles. Justices only have to be morons with some ability to read their clerks' writing.
#22
Of the three contenders in the Republican Primary, Reid prayed for Angle to win, his prayers were answered. Gomer Pyle could have beaten him.
This country is "Center Right", not far right. As a Goldwater conservative my position is to the right of the average person, but I try not to let my ideology get in the way of common sense.
I fear that Angle is looking like a Religious Kamikaze and the whole country will suffer for it.
The unusual deal is part of a new United Nations initiative to persuade energy-rich countries not to drill for oil and gas in environmentally sensitive areas. Ecuador has therefore agreed not to touch three oil fields in the Yasuni region of the Amazon for the next ten years, if rich countries buy enough 'Amazon bonds'. Under the terms, donating nations pay an amount per year for a decade - receiving no dividend except an environmental one. I offer a better deal, for 100 bars of gold bullion, I will do nothing for the rest of my life.
#2
Free-thinking Muslims have lacked courage to oppose what is going on...
And that is the biggest problem we face. The problems the author itemizes are of their own making. They never speak out, defy the imams, fight for their own freedom from the horrors of islamist fundamentalists. In this article the author insists the failure to eliminate creeping fundamentalism is everyone elses fault: government, law, teachers - everybody but the muslims.
Grow some balls and take action against those who demand your submission to their vision. Change must come from within. learn to say "no" to these bustards. Understand that islam is not compatible with life. Begin to understand that leaving the "faith" may be your only salvation from the brutality of islamists and the lifestyle they wish to impose.
A group of human rights lawyers want to stop the Obama administration from authorizing the military and the C.I.A. to kill the radical Muslim cleric Anwar al-Awlaki, an American citizen believed to be hiding in Yemen.
But the group has found itself in a Catch-22-like bind: because the government has designated Mr. Awlaki a terrorist, it would be a crime for the lawyers to file a lawsuit challenging the governments attempts to kill him.
On Tuesday, the lawyers waded into that thicket. After they filed a lawsuit challenging a Treasury Department regulation that requires them to obtain permission to provide uncompensated legal services benefiting Mr. Awlaki, who has been accused of terrorism ties but has received no trial, the government suggested it was inclined to approve their application for a license. It had been pending for 11 days.
The same government that is seeking to kill Anwar al-Awlaki has prohibited attorneys from contesting the legality of the governments decision to use lethal force against him, says the complaint, filed jointly by the American Civil Liberties Union and the Center for Constitutional Rights.
Should the lawyers overcome that hurdle, they would be in a position to seek court resolution of some of the most central legal disputes in the war against Al Qaeda including whether the whole world is a battlefield subject to combat rules, or whether Qaeda suspects far from the armed conflicts in Afghanistan and Iraq must, in the absence of an imminent threat, be treated as criminals entitled to trials.
#1
If these lawyers should be successful, then lawyers would be in a position to dictate how wars are fought and with whom. I just don't see how the suit could come out in their favor. This completely ridiculous and ought to be thrown out of the courts.
#2
This would mean that essentially some terrorist group such as AQ could obtain a lawyer, bring a suit and win the war in our court system. I think this highly unlikely but then again one never knows these days.
The U.S. Army inspector general is investigating whether aides to former Afghanistan commander Gen. Stanley McChrystal were insubordinate when they made a series of derogatory comments about top civilian leaders to a Rolling Stone reporter, McClatchy has learned.
The investigation comes as the Pentagon grapples with how much access the reporter who wrote the piece, Michael Hastings, should have to troops. Hastings was banned from a scheduled embed this September in Afghanistan for being untrustworthy, Col. David Lapan, the director of the Pentagon press office, said Tuesday.
Last month, however, the Army granted Hastings an interview with forces he'd embedded with previously in Afghanistan, saying it saw no harm.
The IG investigators have finished questioning officials and are completing the investigation, Army officials told McClatchy. The officials confirmed the investigation but wouldn't say who asked for it or specify what its scope is. The investigation began shortly after McChrystal was relieved of his command in June.
Maj. Gen. William McCoy Jr. said the investigation "is in review," but declined other comment.
Among those who've been interviewed are staff members of Rolling Stone, one Defense Department official told McClatchy. He spoke only on the condition of anonymity because the investigation is ongoing and can't be discussed publicly. Hastings said he declined to be interviewed and did not cooperate with the probe.
The Army inspector general can investigate whether military personnel have violated the Uniform Code of Military Justice, the military standards of conduct or Army regulations.
Article 88 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice says that an officer can face court-martial for speaking ill of his civilian leadership: "Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the president, the vice president, Congress, the secretary of defense, the secretary of a military department, the secretary of transportation or the governor or legislature of any state, territory, commonwealth or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct."
If the IG finds violations, he must inform whoever asked for the investigation, and the Army will be compelled to respond.
Shortly after the Rolling Stone article was published, McChrystal was summoned to the White House and relieved of command. He then retired from the Army. That retirement took effect Sunday. Several of McChrystal's aides, who weren't named in the story, remain in the Army, however.
In the article, "The Runaway General," one unnamed McChrystal aide ridicules Vice President Joe Biden _ who'd opposed the troop "surge" for Afghanistan _ and another describes Richard Holbrooke, the U.S. special envoy for Afghanistan and Pakistan, as a "wounded animal."
McChrystal is quoted as saying that the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Karl Eikenberry, who wrote an e-mail opposing sending the additional troops, "covers his flank for the history books." A McChrystal aide calls National Security Adviser Jim Jones, a retired Marine general, a "clown."
McChrystal has never disputed the accuracy of the account.
The White House didn't respond Tuesday to e-mails seeking comment.
Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Homeland Security, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.
#4
So if they can find somebody that actually was insubordinate and was responsible for these actions, are they going to 'unretire' the General? Ask for a do-over, we were just playin' for funsies kind of thing?
Shoulda gotten this in gear before he 'retired.'
#5
I'd make a real good bet that McChrystal was Regular Army [generally mandatory at O4]. When you sign that little piece of paper you'd better read it very carefully for the phrase something like "may be recalled back to active duty by the Secretary of the Army at anytime".
Just hours before reports emerged that hackers were for the first time attempting to take over specific infrastructure plants, a former CIA director told ABC News that weaknesses in critical infrastructure systems in the U.S. were among the country's greatest threats to national security.
Just hours before reports emerged that hackers were for the first time attempting to take over specific infrastructure plants, a former CIA director told ABC News that weaknesses in critical infrastructure systems in the U.S. were among the country's greatest threats to national security.
"One of [the greatest threats] is the vulnerability of our electricity grid to hacking and to physical attack on things like transformers," former CIA Director John Woolsey said Tuesday. "We have 18 critical infrastructures in the United States: water, food, sewage, etc. All of the 17 others depend on the electrical grid.
"So the vulnerability of that grid to things like hacking is a very serious problem," he said.
The same day, officials at the Department of Homeland Security confirmed a report by The Associated Press that last month hackers targeted critical infrastructure systems with malicious computer code. While it is hardly the first time hackers have attempted to gain access to infrastructure systems, experts said it was first time they employed a certain type of "worm," called Stuxnet, that was created to seize complete control of a specific critical infrastructure location.
An obscure al-Qaida-linked group said Wednesday one of its suicide bombers attacked a Japanese oil tanker in the Persian Gulf last week a claim that, if true, would be the first time the terror network has attacked the Japanese.
There have been conflicting reports about what happened to the M. Star supertanker, which was damaged July 28 in the Strait of Hormuz a transit point for about 40 percent of tanker-shipped oil worldwide. An investigation into the cause of the damage is ongoing.
The Brigades of Abdullah Azzam posted a statement on the Internet claiming responsibility for attacking the vessel. The statement's authenticity could not be independently verified but it appeared on websites that usually carry militant groups' messages.
The ship's owner, Mitsui O.S.K. Lines, said it was aware of the militant posting and was investigating the claim.
A crew member was injured and the tanker sustained a square-shaped dent on the rear side of the hull during an incident that occurred as the Marshall Islands-flagged vessel entered the strait shortly after midnight. At the time, the ship, loaded with 270,000 tons of oil, was heading from the petroleum port of Das Island in the United Arab Emirates to the Japanese port of Chiba outside Tokyo.
The militant statement identified the purported bomber as Ayyub al-Tishan and carried his picture, showing him dressed in a white Arab robe and head-cover and pointing to a photograph of a tanker on a laptop. It said the bomber was a "martyr" meaning he had died in the attack. It also said it had delayed the announcement until several group members who were involved in the operation "returned safely to base."
The statement claimed the attack meant to "weaken the international blasphemous system that plundered the wealth of the Muslims" and mocked officials who had said the tanker may have been damaged from an earthquake, describing those remarks as an effort by authorities to conceal the nature of the attack because of the effect it could have on oil prices and world economy.
Originally, Mitsui said the tanker damage was caused by "an attack from external sources" while the vessel was passing through the strategically vital waterway between Iran and an enclave of Oman surrounded by the United Arab Emirates.
#5
The tanker was struck at a point where there is nothing important and the hull is at its strongest (in front of the oil tanks) , the hull is obviously double hulled , and would help in absorbtion of any 'wave' damage caused by a small blast
To me it looks like a small boat with an inadequate amount of explosives for the intended purpose rammed the tanker .. Notice the damage is deeper lower down the hull , would be nice to see images of below the water line
Eye witness reports needed really , i.e. what colour smoke was given off , weather conditions , analysis of chemical components scrapped off the hull (postblast residue) and a myriad of other things
All in all looks like an amateur job with weak explosives hitting the harded part of the hull and the blst wave not focused in one direction
But I aint no expert - disclaimer :)
Posted by: Black Charlie ||
08/05/2010 12:03
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#6
Good stuff. Missed Saturday's 'class', so sorry to re-hash.
I'll stay tuned.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
08/05/2010 12:28
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#8
Looks like it might have been poked with a really big finger? Can we check it for really big fingerprints, I'm thinking maybe the magic finger of the 12th Imam, who was coaxed out of the well in Qom to frighten the infidels? Or maybe SHort Round has unleased the secret Iranian Jin special operative?
Too late ... Wikipedia's lawyers clearly had fun with the request [pdf], particularly because the bureau, in citing federal law, conveniently omitted the words "badge" and "identification card," apparently to make it seem like the law simply governed images as opposed to fake credentials. "While we appreciate your desire to revise the statute to reflect your expansive vision of it," the site's lawyers wrote, "the fact is that we must work with the actual language of the statute, not the aspirational version ... that you forwarded to us." The site went on to politely decline the request and indicate it would gladly see the feds in court: "Badges and identification cards are physical manifestations that may be used by a possessor to invoke the authority of the federal government. An encyclopedia article is not."
#2
I received a FBI cover letter under Director Robert S. Mueller, III signature. It was a solicitation for money under some phishing scheme. I sent it on to the IC3 white-collar crime complaint site. I don't know whether anything was ever done about it. You've got to wonder if the FBI is used in internet white collar crime via phony emails if they can protect their seal.
Drip ... drip ... drip ...
This trickle of disclosures about the true capabilities of body scanners--and how they're being used in practice--is probably what alarms privacy advocates more than anything else. And that's how you take away one's liberties. Just stick the knife in a millimeter at a time.
#2
Any data government acquires will be used for it's own purposes.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
08/05/2010 11:58
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#3
The feds going to tie this into ObamaCare to reduce costs? You need an MRI or CAT scan? Not now. If you've had a recent airport scan it will replace any requests by doctors for MRIs, PET scans, or CATs.
This is from 7/23/09, but better late than never.
When Obama won the Presidency with the help of the LEFTIST Media, Hollywood and Entertainment Liberals, Ethnic Socialists (ACORN), Stupid Non-Business Professionals and Bush Haters, I wrote:
It won't take 6 months until the people figure this guy out and realize how horrible a mistake they've made. And when they come to that realization, the damage to the United States of America will be so great, that it will take a generation or more to repair - IF EVER.
The IDIOTS who not only voted for the Messiah, but also worked their sorry asses-off to promote his Lordship, are now left holding the bag.
Here are two things they will NEVER do: And he details them
In just 6 (SIX) months, the Messiah's polls are showing the following: And he details them, too!
I gotta check with this guy and see if he's any good at picking horses too.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 3:24
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#2
From the article:
"The IDIOTS who not only voted for the Messiah, but also worked their sorry asses-off to promote his Lordship, are now left holding the bag.
Here are two things they will NEVER do:
1 They will NEVER admit to making a blunder out of all proportion by electing a snake-oil salesman with no positive social history or management experience of any kind.
2 They will NEVER take responsibility for the curse theyve imposed upon the immediate and long-term future of their country.
In essence, the people responsible for putting this horror-show in power are in themselves responsible for every cataclysmic decision he makes and the consequences thereof."
This guy nails it. One of the most distinguishing characteristics of the left, particularly the NPR-listening ruling elite wannabes, is that they never, ever admit when they make a mistake, no matter how obvious it might be that that is precisely what they have done. Obama could set fire to a building full of second graders, the event could be captured on film and broadcast to the world, and most Obama voters would either deny that it had happened or spend the rest of their lives developing the most twisted and circular "logic" to explain how it was a really great thing he did, and they were NEVER wrong to vote for him.
To that type of insecure person, the allure of calling yourself a leftist is that those in charge on that side give permission to anyone to go through life thinking that they are perfect beings who never make mistakes simply if they ascribe to the agenda. The best example of this is the "it would work, if only the right people were in charge" socialists. They never question themselves or their failures of their agenda, because they lack the courage or mental tools or intellectual stamina to do so, and their "movement" gives them permission to be that way.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/05/2010 6:13
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#3
Being a lefty (in love with yourself) means never having to say sorry.
#4
Maybe, if Americas first Emperor would stay home more and travel less, and work a little bit instead of being on television just about everyday, or forget about his Wednesday Date Nights with his Amazon Wife, or stop running to papered Town Hall Meetings, perhaps he would have a little bit of time to do the work of the nation.
how amazingly spot on...
not gonna happen, take himself out of the spotlight where he can adore himself and work? never! that would be so droll. besides work is for the little people.
Posted by: abu do you love ||
08/05/2010 17:36
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#5
It won't take 6 months until the people figure this guy out and realize how horrible a mistake they've made.
Watch this for a minute or two and see if you can pull away. :-)
For me, it started with a very simple explanation of leftist politics is. Now I feel like a doofus for not figuring this out this simple test by myself before.
And while you are at it, see if you can spot which part of the curve we are on as we spiral into some form of leftist government. Can anyone say Rome The Sequel? The striking similarities are detailed near the end of the video.
We need to stop this process now before it is too late.
Man your pitchforks!
Oh - and please feel free to post other good videos in the comments that may fill in my/our understanding of this topic better.
Now after that, check out this video of why direct democratic election of our president is probably a bad idea. The first video explains why leftists seem to like it so much. They just seem to gravitate towards any form of government to the left of where we are now. So the Founding Fathers chose to go with the indirect form of a democracy called the Electoral College. Now if we can just eliminate voter fraud, we may be able to get back to where we were years ago.
The questions go back and forth between the U.S. ambassador in Kabul, Karl W. Eikenberry, who once was the military commander in Afghanistan, and "special envoy" for "AfPak" Richard C. Holbrooke, usually airborne; Deputy Secretaries of State James B. Steinberg and Jacob J. Lew; Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton, also frequently airborne; and Mr. Eikenberry's four deputies, who also hold the rank of ambassador. A lot of cooks have produced a thin diplomatic and economic gruel. CYA (cover you're a**) appears to be the operative phrase that holds it all together.
#8
That could make for some spectacularly messy derailment situations. I can just imagine drivers freaking out driving on a clear, sunny day when one of those things suddenly passes overhead too--unless they're set to move much slower than the traffic beneath them.
Posted by: Dar ||
08/05/2010 13:42
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#9
Ummm, in the old days we called these "The El".
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
08/05/2010 14:17
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#10
I was thinking more along the lines of Grave Digger.
#1
A great example of what is happening throughout the contracting system in our Federal Government. The real tragedy is that our Marines are expected to launch successful combat operations from these piles of crap. I wonder how many (more) will die because of greed and cronyism.
The USS Murtha is a very fitting name for one of these crap wagons.
#3
A great example of what is happening throughout the contracting system in our Federal Government.
Based on personal experience:
1. Lack of contracting professionals and procurement experts on the government side hurts. It's traditionally been a thankless job, and even though the professional standards have been raised (and the salary as well- a bit), it continues to be a thankless job. You can make more money in the private sector and have fewer ulcers.
2. The article mentions lobbyists. Keenster mentions cronyism. Left out is the political interference (and outright threats). Remember who approves the promotions...
3. The Navy's long had a problem with shipyards. One ship I was on was the last built by a particular East Coast yard and contained every leftover from past projects (think 25 models of pumps, all doing the same job). It got accepted because it was desperately needed. My last ship went through a Navy yard as its last overhaul project; it went back into drydock less than a year later when an INSURV showed the hull to be dangerously thin in places (something that should've been caught).
And yes- both states the yards were in had political clout.
Black political activists who also call themselves members of the Tea Party movement on Wednesday rebuked charges of racism running rampant in the group.
At a news conference in Washington, the black members asserted that the Tea Party is not at all racist and that the accusations come from outsiders trying to discredit and sabotage the movement.
"The injection of race has come from those who want to destroy us," said Selena Owens, an regular speaker with the Tea Party Express, one of the many libertarian, anti-tax groups in the movement that organized the news conference.
Herman Cain, a radio talk show host, said the accusations are "hurled at us to divide us and to deflect attention away from the failed policies of this congress and this president."
Kevin Jackson, author of "The Big Black Lie" added, "There are two kinds of people I have never seen at a Tea Party: a racist and anyone who owns a yacht. And if they do own a yacht, they pay their taxes."
The Tea Party Express organized the news conference to refute accusations of racism that have been heightened by the recent split with former group leader Mark Williams. Recently, Williams posted a letter on his blog written from "Colored People" to Abraham Lincoln, which suggested that black people would choose slavery over having to do real work.
"Our slowness to split with Mark should by no means condone racism. It was just out of loyalty to our friend," said William Owens, a black conservative author who has also been a featured speaker on past Tea Party Express tours.
The letter Williams wrote on his blog immediately led to a war of words between him and the NAACP, or National Association for the Advancement of Colored People, which specifically called Williams a racist and suggested there are many more inside the Tea Party movement.
The black activists at Wednesday's event were at some times dismissive of the NAACP, and at other times outright hostile toward the organization.
"I don't think the NAACP are even relevant anymore," said Tim Johnson, vice chairman of the North Carolina GOP. "I think they just did that to get some news coverage."
Niger Innis, a spokesman for the Congress of Racial Equality was more direct.
"I have nothing but respect for the tradition of the NAACP, but I have nothing but contempt for the current leadership and tactics of the current leadership," he said. "There's still a need for the [group], but not if they continue to let themselves be prostituted by some elements of the Democratic party."
When asked about an incident where Rep. Emanuel Cleaver, a black Democrat from Missouri, was allegedly spit on during a Tea Party rally on Capitol Hill last march, Robert Broadus, who is running for a U.S. congressional seat in Maryland, said, "It never happened."
Innis added:"There's no evidence, and we are a country of laws."
#1
Black political activists who also call themselves members of the Tea Party movement
You are in danger of being called racists, Uncle Toms, crackers, or right-wing extremist red necks by those in power. In other words, "We have a good scam/shakedown going for us, don't mess with it."
[Dawn] Indian police battled Maoist rebels who ambushed their patrol in dense jungle on Wednesday, as violence worsens in an insurgency that has seen bigger and bolder attacks on government forces this year.
Police said the security patrol came under fire from about 200 Maoists perched on a hilltop in the southern jungle of Chhattisgarh state, a rebel stronghold.
Police shot back, and a six-hour gunbattle followed, in which five Maoists were maimed, state police chief Vishwa Ranjan said.
Police had earlier said that 70 coppers had gone missing during the attack, but Ranjan said they had only temporarily lost contact with the force due to heavy rain.
"The gun fight is over and all coppers are safe," Ranjan told Rooters. "They are on (their) way back, but returning very slowly as there is a possibility of landmines or ambushes."
The ability of the rebels to take on large groups of well-armed security personnel highlights their growing military sophistication in large swathes of India, especially remote rural areas left out of the booming economy.
In the past, security forces have suffered heavy casualties in such ambushes.
In a separate attack, five people were killed when the rebels blasted a vehicle carrying security guards of a bank in the eastern state of Jharkhand, police said.
Recent attacks on police have raised questions over the security forces' capabilities to tackle the Maoists, especially during a counter-offensive by security forces this year.
In April, a similar ambush by the Maoists killed 75 coppers and a month later 35 people, including security forces, died when the rebels bombed a bus. Both attacks occurred in mineral-rich but largely poor Chhattisgarh.
The rebels say they are fighting for the rights of poor farmers and landless labourers and are planning to topple the Indian state by 2050.
They operate from jungle bases and carry out hit-and-run attacks on police, railways and government buildings in east, central and southern India where they control vast swathes of mineral-rich land with billions of dollars in business potential.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Hat tip to El Blog del terror for the additional information.
The Mexican Navy 6th Naval Zone seized 203 tons of chemical precursor in the port city of Manzanillo, Colima, Tuesday according to Mexican press reports.
The seizure is the largest in Mexican history and comes less than a week after the "King of Crystal" Sinaloa Cartel capo Ignacio Coronel was killed by Mexican Army troops in Jalisco.
No arrests have been reported so far in the case. The chemicals were aboard a ship and had been admitted illegally into the country.
The shipments were in 16 shipping containers aboard 13 vessels which came from China, Japan and Korea. Chemicals were in 970 drums of 200 pounds each and more than 300 bags of 300 kilograms each
1000.â0.45359237 pounds
2205 lb (to four significant digits)
98.42% of a long ton
One long ton (2,240 lb) is 101.605% of a tonne
110.23% of a short ton
One short ton (2,000 lb) is 90.72% of a tonne
#7
200 tons? The little box of generic decongestant that I had to give my name, address and show photo id to buy contained 720 milligrams of pseudoephedrine HCl. Yeah, less than a gram. Compared to that, 200 tons is, let's see... divide by...carry the one...it's a whole *bleep*ing *bleep*load.
#9
I live in Missouri and have noticed that there are MANY fewer events over the past year where some dingdong has brewed up some sort of crank in their bathtub and blown up their house.
The local constraints on the sale of cold medicine have made buying cheap Mexican drugs more appealing to whacked out losers than making their own.
This has protected untold numbers of children, firefighters and policeman from exposure to hazardous situations.
I say this is great. Stopping whacked out losers from using drugs is a fools errand. Stopping whacked out losers from messing about with toxic chemicals and explosives is the work of angels.
[Al Arabiya Latest] At least 21 people have been killed in fighting in south Sudan's Lakes state after rustlers attacked a cattle camp, a south Sudanese military spokesman said on Wednesday.
"The attackers killed one, and then took all the cows from the cattle camp," said Major General Kuol Diem Kuol, from the southern Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA), of the incident in Yirol County. "Then those in the camp chased and fought back, killing 20 of the raiders," he said.
Clashes between ethnic groups in south Sudan erupt frequently -- often sparked by cattle rustling and disputes over natural resources -- while others are retaliation for previous attacks.
But Kuol said the attack was not due to ethnic divisions.
"These were criminal cowboys wanting to steal, and it is not a tribal issue," said Kuol, who added that SPLA forces had been sent in to secure the area.
"The situation is now under control," he said.
At least 700 people have been killed and more than 152,000 people forced from their homes in the south since January, according to UN estimates.
South Sudan is still recovering from decades of war with the north, during which about two million people were killed in a conflict fuelled by religion, ethnicity, ideology and resources, including oil.
The south is expected in January to vote in a referendum set up under a 2005 peace deal, which promised it the chance to choose independence or to remain part of a united Sudan.
Kuol also said rebels from the Lord's Resistance Army (LRA) had killed a truck driver in Nzara County in Western Equatoria state on July 29.
"The rebels come across from their bases in Democratic Republic of Congo and attacked, then they returned," said Kuol.
Local media reports suggested hundreds had fled their homes in fear of further LRA raids.
The Ugandan-led LRA began its campaign of brutal guerrilla raids two decades ago, but has launched attacks on a vast swathe of land across several nations.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
D *** NG IT, GREAT JUMPIN' JEHOSOPHAT, Der's a' Cow, Herd Rus'lin agoin' on in the Drylands!
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 1:19
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#3
How many Rantburgers recognize the old geezer in the photo? You'd have to be almost as old as HE is to remember...
Khartoum would make a great target for that small asteroid (500m diameter) that's "supposed" to hit the Earth in a few years. It'd make a big hole - which would fill up, making a huge lake - and get rid of a lot of troublemakers.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/05/2010 13:44
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Republican U.S. Rep. Robert Aderholt of Haleyville has become the first member of Alabama's congressional delegation to announce he has joined the new Congressional Tea Party Caucus.
The tea party caucus was formed last month by Republican Rep. Michelle Bachman of Minnesota.
Aderholt announced Tuesday on his Facebook page that he agrees with the tea party movement's support for smaller, more conservative government and has joined the new caucus.
Aderholt said in his Facebook posting that he has gone along with the goals of the tea party movement and voted against health care reform, bailouts and other "liberal spending policies that the majority in Washington has pushed on America."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Guess he's looking at his re-election prospects
Posted by: Kelly ||
08/05/2010 15:24
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[Tolo News] Twenty Taliban hard boys were killed and dozens were wounded in operations conducted by Afghan forces in the eastern Laghman province on Tuesday
"In operations conducted in Badbakh village in Laghman, 20 bad boys were killed and numerous others were injured," the Police Chief of Laghman, Azizullah Gharanai told TOLOnews reporter.
Meanwhile, Zabihullah Mujahid, a front man for Taliban, told TOLOnews that they had killed 27 Afghan and foreign soldiers in these operations that were launched by foreign troops.
He added that they had jugged 13 Afghan soldiers from the battlefield, a claim denied by the provincial police chief.
"We were ambushed by the Taliban and I don't know how many of my fellow soldiers have been killed or wounded," an Afghan injured soldier who has been taken to Laghman Public hospital told TOLOnews reporter.
Afghan and foreign troops target Taliban hideouts in the country's volatile regions in an effort to wipe out bad boys.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Six people have been arrested on suspicion of stealing credit cards, personal information and banking details as part of a suspected online banking fraud.
On Tuesday 3 and Wednesday 4 August 2010, officers from the Metropolitan Police Service's (MPS) Police Central e-Crime Unit (PCeU), assisted by the MPS Territorial Support Group and the Irish Garda Síochana Fraud Investigation Bureau, executed five search warrants across London and at an address in Navan, County Meath, Ireland.
Five men and one woman, aged 25 to 40, were arrested on suspicion of conspiracy to commit online banking fraud and Computer Misuse Act offences. They all currently remain in custody at a central London police station whilst enquiries are ongoing.
The arrests are part of Operation Dynamophone, an investigation by the PCeU into a network of suspects believed to have systematically obtained large quantities of personal information, such as online bank account passwords and credit card numbers. The network is suspected of using online phishing in order to steal money from those accounts and use credit card details fraudulently. The offences have been committed almost entirely online.
Enquiries indicate that more than 10,000 online bank accounts and 10,000 credit cards have been compromised. Attempted bank account take-over fraud amounting to approximately £1.14 million has been identified with £358,000 stolen successfully . The total amount stolen using compromised credit cards has yet to be established, but by using the industry agreed standard formula is estimated to be worth more than £3 million.
The online scam is believed to have stemmed from the gang sending large quantities of unsolicited spam emails, directing unsuspecting victims to spoof web sites, purporting to be legitimate online banking sites. Once victims reached the site, they were lured into providing their banking passwords and other personal information. This information was used by the suspected fraudsters to then unlawfully enter the victims' online bank accounts and transfer funds. Credit card details were obtained and exploited in the same way. The full extent of this network's profit has yet to be established.
Detective Inspector Colin Wetherill, from the PCeU, said: "We have taken this action to shut down an organised criminal network running an online phishing and account take-over operation. A great deal of personal information was compromised and cleverly exploited for substantial profit. By disrupting the operation we have hopefully prevented further loss to individuals and institutions across the UK.
"We are working to reduce the harm caused by organised criminals operating online and to bring to justice those committing these offences. However, we all have a role to play in protecting our personal information and I would urge the public to exercise great care when supplying their personal details online and to take the advice given at www.getsafeonline.org."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > JAPAN'S [missing]ELDERLY/SENIOR CITIZENS DO NOT EVEN EXIST, MASSIVE NATIONWIDE SOCIAL SECURITY FRAUD [Pensions] BY JAPANESE FAMILIES.
Tokyo Govt-Police discovering that a large number of Japan's allged 100-YEARS-OR-OLDER SENIOR CITIZENS never were legit Octogenarians andor are no longer alive save in Name + usage by family members in various illegal or fraudulent, post-death Pension schemes.
Two civil liberties organizations, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have filed a lawsuit against the administration of President Barack Obama to prevent the US government from carrying out lethal operations against Anwar Al Awlaki.
In a briefing on Aug. 3, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs joined the battle. Ari Shapiro, a reporter for National Public Radio, asked: "Should Americans worry that if they go overseas, their own government could target them to be killed?"
"Let's be clear about Anwar Al Awlaki, okay?" snapped Gibbs in response. "The United States hasn't decided that Anwar Al Awlaki is aligned with a terrorist group. Anwar Al Awlaki has in videos cast his lot with Al Qaeda and its extremist allies. Anwar Al Awlaki is acting as a regional commander for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. So let's not take a tourist that might visit Italy overseas and equate him to somebody who has on countless times in video pledged to uphold and support the violent and murderous theories of Al Qaeda."
Later, he repeated the White House position in response to another question: "I will repeat that Anwar Al Awlaki is someone who has sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, is a regional commander for that group in Yemen, has and continues to direct attacks there and, as we know, against innocent men, women and children in this country. And this President will take the steps necessary to keep our country safe from thugs like him."
The Awlaki lawsuit will proceed and is likely to be thrown out in a fairly low-level court. The ACLU, the Center for Constitutional Rights and Nasser Al Awlaki are all acting according to their convictions and mandates. The administration is proceeding according to its mandate. The debate will no doubt continue.
But while the case proceeds in the courts, there is certainly one legal measure the United States can definitely take: strip Al Awlaki of his citizenship. This would at least remove the complication of Al Awlaki's being a US citizen. This is do-able and it should certainly be done with dispatch. As Gibbs noted, Al Awlaki has sworn allegiance to Al Qaeda and jihad; he certainly should not have any further legal ties to the United States or any protections whatsoever as an American citizen.
Another measure that should be taken is to declare Al Awlaki a traitor. There is certainly a precedent for this. Adam Gadhan, another American citizen who swore allegiance to Al Qaeda and took on a prominent role as an Al Qaeda spokesman, has been charged with treason and is being sought on that charge. Al Awlaki has provided plenty of grounds for a charge of treason. He should be indicted for it and stripped of his citizenship. And then he should be hunted down and neutralized by whatever means necessary.
#1
For about the first time in his life, Gibbs is telling it like it is:
"Let's be clear about Anwar Al Awlaki, okay?" snapped Gibbs in response. "The United States hasn't decided that Anwar Al Awlaki is aligned with a terrorist group. Anwar Al Awlaki has in videos cast his lot with Al Qaeda and its extremist allies. Anwar Al Awlaki is acting as a regional commander for Al Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula. So let's not take a tourist that might visit Italy overseas and equate him to somebody who has on countless times in video pledged to uphold and support the violent and murderous theories of Al Qaeda."
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 3:26
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Jim,
The ACLU is completely off the tracks?
Karl,
When were they ever ON the tracks. My goodness these Harvard lawyers give me a nose bleed.
Jim,
Maybe we could talk AQ into blowing that place up.
Karl,
It would save us about $2.0 trillion in crazy crap legislation from the coo coo zoid left.
#4
This points to the fact that, in the Jihad against the US, we actually need new laws.
There should be a separate part of the USCode which defines the rules for illegal combatants and those who assist illegal combatants or who encourage illegal combatants. If it was written correctly, many of the board of directors of, say, CAIR, would also come under this.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/05/2010 15:03
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Thirteen individuals were murdered in northern Mexico, victims of ongoing drug and gang related violence which included an ongoing campaign of violence against Mexican Federal police forces in Juarez, Chihuahua, and an armed confrontation between rival gangs which took the life of a civilian near Monterrey, Nuevo Leon. For a map, click here
Mexican Federal agents suffered a fifth attack since Sunday night Tuesday evening in Juarez, according to Mexican press reports. Armed suspects shot at the Hotel Continental which is used as a headquarters for Mexican Federal police in Juarez at about 1700 hrs, on calle Ignacio de la Peña. One unidentified agent and one unidentified civilian female were wounded in the attack. Nearby unknown persons left "narcograffiti" warning on a wall at the Leyes de Reforma school near the intersection of calles Jesus Escobar and Division del Norte. Mexican federal agents had been under threat of further attack since last month's car bombing with repeated warnings scrawled on walls around Juarez expressing the threats.
Three unidentified individuals were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Tuesday evening, say Mexican news reports. The assault took place near the intersection of calles Orquideas and Claveles in the Campesina district where armed suspects riding aboard a Ford Lobo pickup fired on two men and a woman. The trio attempted to flee aboard a Chrysler PT Cruiser but failed and died in the streets.
An unidentified woman in her 20s was found shot to death near Chihuahua, Chihuahua, according to Mexican press accounts. The find was made on a dirt road near Rancho de Enmedio and Tabalaopa. Police think the victim was kidnapped earlier in the day from Chihuahua city.
Armed suspects riding in a convoy of more than five vehicles attacked a farmhouse using fragmentary hand grenades near northern Chihuahua, Chihuahua Tuesday evening, say Mexican press accounts. Witnesses said a number of people had been hiding near the house, and when authorities arrived to investigate, seven suspects were arrested.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in two separate crimes in Juarez Wednesday, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. The first urder took place at a traffic light at the intersection of calles Rivera Lara y Oscar Flores where a man driving a Ford Focus attempted to escape an attack by an armed suspect with a rifle. The second murder took place at a junkyard on calle Zapotecas in the Aztecas district where a man was shot in ambush.
Two men were found murdered in two separate crimes in Juarez Wednesday according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. The first man was found near then intersection of calles Libramiento Independencia and Puerto de Palos decapitated with his hands and feet bound with a message written on cardboard. The second victim was found floating in a canal near calle Ejercito Nacional and had also been bound by his hands and feet and gagged with tape.
A confrontation between armed suspects has left an unidentified man dead and another wounded near Cadereyta, Nuevo Leon, say Mexican press reports. The battle took place at Km Marker 13 of the Allende-Cadereyta road east of Monterrey early Wednesday morning. Competing armed groups monitoring the section of the road fired upon the van carrying the victims. The attack ceased when a Mexican Army patrol arrived on the scene. Police also recovered three stolen vehicles at the scene: a Toyota Sport Runner, a GMC Sierra pickup truck and a Ford Lobo pickup truck.
Four unidentified individuals were shot to death in three separate crimes in Tijuana Baja California, according to the Mexican narcocrime blog Nota Roja.
[Al Arabiya Latest] A group linked to al-Qaeda has claimed that a boomer from its organization was responsible for an attack on a Japanese supertanker last Wednesday near the Strait of Hormuz.
"Last Wednesday, after midnight, the martyrdom-seeking hero Ayyub al-Taishan ... blew himself up in the Japanese tanker M Star in the Strait of Hormuz between the United Arab Emirates and Oman," the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam group said in a statement posted on an Islamist website used by Boskonians.
Mitsui OSK Lines had previously reported that its tanker the M Star appeared to have been hit by a kaboom July 28 in the waterway between Iran and Oman.
The U.S. monitoring group SITE said the statement claimed the attack was carried out in the name of Omar Abdul Rahman, the Egyptian "Blind Sheikh" imprisoned in the United States for his role in the 1993 World Trade Center bombing in New York.
The attack sought "to weaken the infidel global order which is thrust unto Mohammedan lands and which loots its resources," the brigade said, according to SITE. "We delayed the publication of the statement until our heroes returned safely to their bases."
Mitsui OSK Lines officials had said crew members saw a flash and heard a kaboom in the incident shortly after midnight local time a week ago.
One crewman was slightly injured in the explosion, which caused minor damage to the ship, including an indentation several meters across in the hull, according to pictures published by state-run UAE news agency WAM.
Mitsui had dismissed reports it might have been hit by a freak wave.
The Japan-bound vessel -- crewed by 16 Filipinos and 15 Indians -- was carrying 270,000 tons of crude oil but did not suffer a spill.
One of the crew saw a flash on the horizon, while several other sailors heard a kaboom. Other crew members said that the weather was fine and there were no reports of high waves in the region.
The ship arrived under its own steam in United Arab Emirates for repairs, and an investigation into the incident was launched.
Attacks claimed by the Azzam Brigades include deadly bombings at the Egyptian resort of Sharm al-Sheikh in 2005 and the firing of rockets which missed two U.S. warships in Jordan's Aqaba port the same year.
A statement last year signed by the Ziad al-Jarrah division of the Azzam Brigades took credit for firing two rockets into northern Israel.
The group claimed that Wednesday's attack was a blow to the global economy and the oil market and that those who have offered other explanations for the incident, which have ranged from a freak wave to an internal explosion, are trying to cover up the operation.
The oil market ignored the incident last Wednesday, with oil prices easing in response to news that U.S. oil inventories had risen.
Traffic near the busy Strait was not disrupted and the tanker diverted to a UAE port where it is being examined.
"They could be claiming this to try to get the global spotlight to seem bigger than they really are," said Theodore Karasik, a security analyst at Dubai-based group INEGMA.
Azzam Brigades, believed to be an al-Qaeda-linked group in the Levant and Egypt, has previously taken responsibility for attacks that other groups have claimed.
Karasik noted that the timing of the claim -- a day after deadly clashes on the Israeli-Lebanese border and two days after rocket fire on Israeli and Jordanian Red Sea port thriving towns -- might be an effort to raise tensions further in the region.
This article starring:
Omar Abdul Rahman
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
Seems to me the photo showed the hull bent inward from the waterline up. Hard to do if you are a passenger.
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 0:45
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Typical, "sieze the moment," since no one knows what really happened. I think it's pretty obvious though it wasn't the Al Queda schmucks.
[Arab News] Two human rights groups on Tuesday accused the B.O. regime of trying block their efforts to serve as lawyers for the father of a US-born Mohammedan cleric who wants to challenge a US order to capture or kill his son.
The Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union said they agreed to pursue the case in July at the request of the father of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico.
US authorities have tied Nasser Al-Awlaki's son to the failed bombing attempt of a US commercial jet on Christmas Day in 2009 and also to an Army major who went on a shooting spree that killed 13 people last year at Fort Hood in Texas.
The US Treasury Department last month blacklisted Anwar Al-Awlaki as a "specially designated global terrorist," saying he is a leader of Al-Qaeda hiding in Yemen. The administration in April authorized operations to capture or kill him.
The ACLU and CCR said that as a result of the Treasury's designation, they can no longer provide legal services to the father without permission because it would benefit his son. Despite requesting authorization, the Treasury Department has not responded, they said.
The two groups sued in US District Court for the District of Columbia challenging the restriction on legal services. If they win, they plan to file suit on behalf of Al-Awlaki's father challenging the order to capture or kill the cleric.
"We don't believe we should have to play 'mother may I' with the government when we want to challenge the government's efforts to kill an American citizen outside the theater of war and without due process," said ACLU Executive Director Anthony Romero.
The Treasury Department had no immediate comment.
In its lawsuit, the groups asked for the court to block the restriction on legal services or order the Treasury Department to issue permission so they can pursue a challenge against the authorization to capture or kill him.
Without the Treasury Department's authorization, the two groups said they could face legal repercussions and prosecution if they represented the father, even if they do so for free.
While US authorities have tied Al-Awlaki to the Christmas bombing attempt and the Fort Hood shooting spree, no charges have been publicly filed against him.
White House front man Robert Gibbs deflected questions about what legal process was used to issue the order against the cleric. "There's a process in place that I'm not at liberty to discuss," he said.
"Let's not take a tourist who might visit Italy overseas and equate him with somebody who has on countless times in video pledged to uphold and support the violent and murderous theories of Al-Qaeda," Gibbs said.
A US Treasury official said last month that Al-Awlaki is the fourth person with a US passport or Social Security number to receive such a terrorist designation since the executive order was put in place during the George W. Bush administration in 2001, shortly after the Sept. 11 attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
American Civil Liberties Union said they agreed to pursue the case in July at the request of the father of Anwar Al-Awlaki, a cleric born in New Mexico.
Another aclu coup.
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 0:50
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Posted by: Paul Zimmerli ||
08/05/2010 12:11
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#7
This is an easy to solve problem.
1) Strip al-Awlaki of his American citizenship. There is a legal procedure to do that. The rationale: he's openly consorting with a declared enemy of the U.S.
2) Charge him with treason. That follows the rationale for #1.
3) Announce that because of #1 and #2, he is now a legitimate war target.
American tourists visiting Italy can rest easy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2010 12:11
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#8
#4) - Declare war on the ACLU. They ALWAYS back our enemies and attack our friends. The Anti-Christian Lawyer's Union has declared war on the American Constitution and what it represents. They should suffer the consequences. Hangin's too good for 'em - ship 'em to Yemen.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/05/2010 14:10
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#9
It amazes and saddens me that we have a real 5th column of traitors in this country.
Imagine the ACLU doing this during WWII?
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 14:28
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#10
It amazes and saddens me that we have a real 5th column of traitors in this country.
Imagine the ACLU doing this during WWII?
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 14:28
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[Dawn] A hand-grenade attack inside a North Nazimabad mosque during prayers on Wednesday night left five people injured as the daylong violence which included arson attacks and incidents of firing claimed at least 22 more lives, raising the corpse count to 76 in three days.
Police said at least two men in shirts and jeans and wearing helmets stopped their cycle of violence at the Sawari Masjid and Madressah Shams-ul-Uloom in Block N of North Nazimabad and one of them entered the premises.
"The Isha prayers were in progress when he hurled a hand grenade which exploded in the middle of the third row," said an official at the Taimuria police station.
"The men beat feet, leaving five people injured in the mosque. The injured were taken to the Abbassi Shaheed Hospital and their condition was said to be stable, he said.
Allama Maulana Ghulam Ahmed Siyalwi, a religious scholar and senior member of Jamiat Ulema-i-Pakistain (JUP), was among the injured. He is the patron-in-chief of the seminary attached to the mosque.
The JUP leadership, meanwhile, ruled out any ethnic motive behind the attack, but said they suspected it to be a message to the party which had sought intervention of the army and the chief justice for stopping the Karachi bloodshed.
"We believe that they are the same forces of Evil who have vitiated the scenic city's peace over the past three days and want to threaten the party, which only on Tuesday appealed to the army chief and the chief justice for action," said Tariq Mahbood of the JUP.
Earlier in the day, panic and fear ruled the scenic city as gunnies carried out attacks in different areas and killed 22 people. The violence, which was sparked by killing of Muttahida Qaumi Movement MPA Raza Haider on Monday evening, claimed 76 lives by Wednesday night.
Qasba Colony and neighbouring Orangi Town emerged as the worst-affected areas where gunnies roamed freely. Police force and Rangers were nowhere to challenge them. A front man for the Edhi Foundation said the charity's ambulance shifted more than 50 injured to different hospitals. Half of them were women and children who were hit by bullets while they were in their homes.
Similarly, there was no let-up in arson attacks. Three houses in Qasba Colony were set on fire in the early hours of the day. More than 30 shops of cellphones in Al-Falah of Saddar and a number of carpet showrooms in North Karachi met the same fate.
Nearly a dozen pushcarts parked on roadside in North Nazimabad and several shops in a shopping mall in Buffer Zone were also set ablaze.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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A day after Bristol Babycakes Palin announced her engagement to Levi Baby Daddy Johnston was off -- again -- she said she wanted her ex to be more like her dad, who "works his butt off." Ummm... That doesn't sound a lot like Levi...
"It is true that I wanted Levi to be at home, complete his education and get a regular job," Palin told "Good Morning America" in an exclusive statement. "Levi told me he wanted the same thing." "... or maybe to start a band. Or join a commune..." He told you he loved you, too, dumbass...
The couple's tumultuous on-again, off-again relationship became decidedly off Tuesday when Palin, 19, said Johnston may have fathered a child with another teenage girl. "At least we think it's a child..."
The news, she told People magazine, came the same day last month that they went public with their rekindled romance. "Hey, there! You with the stars in your eyes...!"
Now, it seems, the war of words between the young parents has picked up again after a brief respite. "I suppose you realize this means war!"
"I see that Levi's representative said I expected Levi to be more like my dad. Exactly," Palin said in her statement to "GMA." "My dad works his butt off and always put his family first. Every woman should want a husband like that," she said. "That is what I expected from Levi." "She's too demanding for me," replied Levi.
Palin, mom to 19-month-old Tripp, didn't name the young woman she believes is pregnant with Johnston's child. "Actually I don't care who it is. I'm just happy it's not me..."
Rumors swirled last week that Johnston, 20, had impregnated his former girlfriend, Lanesia Garcia. But Garcia, 20, told Usmagazine.com Saturday that those reports are "not true at all." "Nope. Levi didn't validate his manhood on me!"
Palin claims she has only seen Johnston once in the past three weeks. What eventually pushed her away were his fame-hungry ways. "Yup. Yup. I'm gonna be a star!"
"The final straw was him flying to Hollywood for what he told me was to see some hunting show but come to find out it was that music video mocking my family," she told People. "He's just obsessed with the limelight and I got played." Picked right up on that, didn't she? No, not right away, but she finally got it, and good for her ...
But she hasn't lost hope that she'll find love and a man to be a father for Tripp. "I have faith that I'll find it," she told People. "Through this whole experience I know I need a man who's going to be completely honest with me and someone who loves me and Tripp and wants to be with him all the time. I also want someone who has religious beliefs and a good family." There are lots of nice fellows out there. Levi's not one of them. If she's smart her next move will be to stop talking with People, US and the other trash magazines ...
She's got support from her mother. ... who appears to be a paragon of patience...
"I wish for Bristol to be able to move forward in life with her same forgiving, gracious, optimistic spirit, but from henceforth she'll know to trust but verify," Sarah Palin said in a statement to People. "Bristol is strong, she is independent, and she knows what is right for her son." "She's just not real bright when it comes to fellows..."
While Sarah Palin didn't condone her daughter reuniting with Johnston, the now split couple ecstatically announced their second engagement in July via the cover of Us Weekly magazine. I missed it. I had to wash my hair that week.
"It felt right," Palin told the magazine at the time, "even though we don't have the approval of our parents." [gag]
She added that she planned for Johnston and Tripp to wear matching camouflage vests at their outdoor wedding. It's too much for me. I'll be spending the rest of the evening drinking...
In June, Bristol Palin told ABC's "Good Morning America" that she was reuniting with Johnston for the sake of their 1-year-old son, Tripp. "I am doing my best to raise a happy, active and healthy boy," Palin said. "I believe that wherever possible, if the parents can cooperate and co-parent in a positive way, the child will benefit. Levi and I are turning a new page here as co-parents to this wonderful boy and putting aside the past because doing so is in Tripp's best interest."
Palin and Johnston's first engagement fell apart in March 2009 after they appeared together throughout Sarah Palin's 2008 vice presidential campaign. Following the breakup, Palin became a spokeswoman for teen abstinence, while Johnston chose a decidedly different path: posing for Playgirl magazine and exploring his options in the reality TV realm.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
She's just young and stupid. At least she's a bit older and wiser now.
Posted by: Martini ||
08/05/2010 1:58
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#2
...Just had to deal with a moron along the same lines as young Levi here. Lad is the babydaddy for a young woman of my acquaintance, and he has ZERO motivation to do anything. I got him a job at our factory and he lasted three days.
Was complaining about the sweat in his eyes.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
08/05/2010 9:36
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#3
"A man may smile, and smile - and be a villan."
-- Wm. Shakespeare
#5
If Levi is going to continue to be a tabloid himbo and Short Attention Span Theater star, this photo can be easily merged with a goat body to form a satyr. Of course, with any luck his 15 minutes are finally over.
In a letter to the EPA the Texas Attorney General and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality refused to "pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection Agency". Yes folks, you read the language right. And there's more.
On behalf of the State of Texas, we write to inform you that Texas has neither the authority nor the intention of interpreting, ignoring, or amending its laws in order to compel the permitting of greenhouse gas emissions. ... You have declared that EPA's decision ... renders such gases immediately "subject to regulation" ... simultaneously, however, you recognize that permitting greenhouse gases under the Act is "absurd" ...
In order to avoid the absurd results of EPA's own creation, you have developed a "tailoring rule" in which you have substituted your own judgement for Congress's ... the State of Texas does not believe that EPA's "suggested" approach comports with the rule of law. The United States and Texas Constitutions, United States and Texas statutes, and EPA and TCEQ rules all preclude ...
We start with the constitutional difficulties ... each of these objections to EPA's demand for a loyalty oath from the State of Texas would suffice to justify our refusal to make one. Indeed, it is an affront ..."
#4
More and more states are doing this. In VA and MO its healthcare, in AZ its immigration, in TX its crap and trade (not to mention the myriad states that are backing those I just mentioned). MO also has some really interesting legislation on gun rights. The list goes on and on. At the end of the day, if enough states fight back, what can the feds really do about it?
#6
Seems like Obama and his cronies have started immense pushback in many places. Pursuit of the liberal utopian nightmare by statists is causing people to wake up. The toppling of the house of cards has begun.
#9
Sounds like the Supreme Court is gonna be very, very busy when all of these disputes between Obama and the states percolate to the top of the judicial system.
#10
A list of the big State bloc issues that are all basically addressing the same problem, an omnipresent and obnoxious federal government treading on the authority of the States.
1) 10th Amendment Resolutions and Bills.
2) Firearms Freedom and ATF Regulations.
3) Medical Marijuana.
4) Health Care Freedom Act.
5) REAL ID.
6) Bring the National Guard Home Act.
7) Constitutional Tender. (Constitutional Tender laws seek to nullify federal legal tender laws by authorizing payment in gold and silver or a paper note backed 100% by gold or silver within States.)
8) Cap and Trade and EPA Regulations.
9) Federal Tax Funds. (Federal taxes first go to the State governments, which then forward a percentage to the federal government for constitutionally authorized expenses.)
10) Sheriffs First. (Federal agents, to make an arrest, search, or seizure within the state, must first get the advance, written permission of the elected county sheriff of the county in which the event is to take place.)
11) Limitations on Interstate Commerce clause.
Projected future blocs.
12) National Health Care Nullification.
13) Patriot Act Nullification.
14) No Child Left Behind Nullification.
15) State Initiated Constitutional Amendment Without Constitutional Convention.
The organisers of an aid flottilla to Gaza said in Stockholm on Wednesday they would make a new attempt to reach the Palestinian territory before the end of 2010.
"We are going to send a flotilla if the siege is not lifted," Ship to Gaza Sweden spokesman Dror Feiler told AFP after the group's meeting in Stockholm.
A six-ship fleet first attempted to reach the Palestinian territory on May 31 but it was halted by an Israeli raid that left nine Turkish activists dead.
"We will go (again) before the end of this year and we are quite sure that this flotilla will be more boats, bigger boats, it will be several passenger boats," said Feiler, who took part in the flotilla's first trip.
"And as determined before, we will not accept Israeli control, we will not accept Israeli inspections and we will go to Gaza," the Israeli-born Swedish artist and longtime activist said.
"We hope that Israel and the international community will realise it is not possible to stop this and that it is not acceptable to continue with the siege," he added.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said in a statement it planned to enlarge the coalition "to include the various groups around the world that want to join us, as well as intensify our efforts to mobilise a new flotilla."
"We are buying boats, we are getting a lot of funds to get more boats," Feiler said, adding the "Ship to Gaza" movement had spread to France, Spain, Italy, Switzerland, Norway, Australia, United States and Canada.
Wednesday's meeting was "coordination of our efforts, discussion with the new groups," Feiler said.
He said an exact date had not been set for the future attempt because of boat purchasing and licensing issues, and the weather.
Israel sparked international outrage when its commandos attacked the fleet early on May 31. Israeli troops then forced the six ships in the convoy to dock at an Israeli port, before detaining those on board.
UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Monday announced the formation of a four-member panel to probe the deadly raid. Israel has backed the investigation.
The Freedom Flotilla Coalition said Wednesday it had "fundamental concerns" with the panel, and that the easing of the Gaza blockade announced by Israel on June 21, was "purely cosmetic."
Israel imposed the siege on the Gaza strip in June 2006 after its soldier, Gilad Shalit, was captured by Gaza militants, tightening it a year later when Hamas seized power in the coastal strip.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
wellby the loks of the SK ship being sunk by torpedpe you evidentlly can''t prove it. sink away
Posted by: chris ||
08/05/2010 0:22
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#2
Might be a bit mean, but I hope the bastards sink at sea before Israel has to intervene. I think it would be better for the world to remove fools like these and leave Israel alone for once. Instead they'll just keep pushing for terrorism in the Middle East until they force a war.
#3
Israel sparked international outrage support when its commandos attacked the fleet early on May 31
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 0:59
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#4
Time to lay down a smart-mine field and make sure everyone knows exactly where it is.
If someone chooses to sail into a mine field, bad luck for them.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 3:08
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#5
Shoot holes in the sails.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/05/2010 7:36
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#6
Is Imam Feisal Abdul Rauf (NYC 911 mosque) backing this one?
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday directed the prisons authority to produce detained Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee before it on August 10.
The order came after the hearing on a complaint case (information obtained by an investigating agency) from the prosecution that alleged that Sayedee committed war crimes, genocide, crimes against humanity and peace during the Liberation War of Bangladesh in 1971.
Sayedee is the fifth person against whom the prosecution placed allegations before the tribunal of committing offences under International Crimes Tribunal Act, 1973.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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[Iran Press TV Latest] Hezbollah has advised Tel Aviv to think twice before committing another act of aggression against Lebanon, saying the resistance movement is capable of striking the heart of Israel.
One day after deadly clashes between Israeli and Lebanese troops, Hezbollah's deputy chief Sheikh Naim Qassem said on Wednesday that the Shia group is ready to deliver a harsh response to Israel if Tel Aviv attempts to wage another war on the country.
"Israel must understand that any aggression on Lebanon, no matter how small, gives us the complete right to retaliate when and how we find appropriate and in line with Lebanon's political interests," Sheikh Naim Qassem told AFP in an exclusive interview.
"When Israel threatens to destroy Lebanon, it knows Hezbollah is capable of making Israel suffer properly. Israel's territory will be completely exposed and they will have to bear responsibility for that aggression and pay the price," he added.
Qassem's remarks came after a deadly clash on the Lebanese-Israeli border left three Lebanese soldiers, one journalist and a senior Israeli officer dead. Several soldiers from both sides were also injured.
Lebanese forces say the border clash erupted after Israeli troops violated the UN Security Council Resolution 1701 and entered the Lebanese territory. Israel, however, claims that its troops were trying to uproot a tree whose branches were tripping anti-infiltration devices, on the Israeli side of the border.
The Israeli army returned to the conflict zone on Wednesday and removed the tree.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
ION TOPIX > {Examiner.com] ISRAEL ATTACKED IN NORTH AND SOUTH, by Iran??? POTENTIAL IRAN CONNECTION to recent Israel, Jordan, + Egypt rocket attacks + deadly "Tree Incident" between Israeli IDF + Lebanon Armed Forces [LAF].
versus
* IIRC BHARAT RAKSHAK [old] > ISRAEL'S SOUTH IS [relatively] UNDEFENDED AND WIDE OPEN TO ATTACK.
#2
The Israeli army returned to the conflict zone on Wednesday and removed the tree.
And we can remove Hezbollah too.
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 1:39
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#3
Usually when they bluster and threaten this much they're up to no good.
Me thinks they got rearmed to the teeth with a sh!tload of new weapons.
Tons of it, and the UN Inspectors didn't see a thing. Of Course.
Not Good.
Stay vigil, Israel!
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 3:13
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Lebanese authorities have detained a senior member of a Christian party allied with the Shiite Hezbollah on suspicion of spying for Israel, a source close to the party told AFP on Wednesday.
"Fayez Karam of (retired) General Michel Aoun's Free Patriotic Movement is being held for questioning for his possible involvement in espionage" on behalf of Israel, the source told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Karam was a general in the Lebanese army during the country's 1975-1990 civil war but quit the military after Aoun, who was army chief and who fought Syrian troops near the end of the war, went into exile in France.
Aoun returned to Lebanon in 2005, one month after Syria withdrew its troops following a 29-year presence.
In a controversial move in 2006, he entered an alliance with the Iran- and Syria-backed Hezbollah. He also caused a stir by visiting Damascus and Tehran.
More than 70 people have been arrested on suspicion of spying for the Israeli Mossad since April 2009, when the government launched a nationwide crackdown on alleged rings. The arrests include members of the security forces and telecom employees.
Three men have since been sentenced to death, including one found guilty of aiding Israel during its devastating 2006 war with Hezbollah.
This article starring:
Fayez Karam
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
Good lord, another one! Is there so much as a single Lebanese not spying for Israel?
[Straits Times] THAI police said on Wednesday they had arrested a man linked to the 'Red Shirt' opposition movement in connection with a grenade blast in Bangkok last week.
Sorathien Singkanya, 23, had confessed that the grenade belonged to him but denied planting it himself, Police Major General Wichai Sangprapai said.
The blast on a road in Bangkok on July 30 seriously wounded a scrap scavenger.
Police said Sorathien was in possession of two grenades and five firecrackers when he was detained in the capital. He is also accused of being involved in more than a dozen other violent incidents.
Two months of mass protests by the Red Shirts in the capital from mid-March triggered clashes between demonstrators and troops that left about 90 people dead - mostly civilians - and nearly 1,900 injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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[Ma'an] Monday's deadly rocket attack on Jordan and Israel was launched by a Palestinian faction with the help of Egyptian operatives, security officials in the Sinai believe.
An Egyptian security source told Ma'an that the faction launched seven Grad-grade rockets toward the Red Sea resort cities of Eilat and Aqaba.
Government officials said Wednesday that the explosives were loaded onto two vehicles and launched from the Egyptian town of Taba. One of the rockets, the source added, landed on the Egyptian side of the border near a building block containing security offices in Taba.
Following the launch, the vehicles returned to the Egyptian side of Rafah and disappeared, the source added.
The security source said intelligence officials were aware that factions had come to poses weapons with an 18-kilometer range at least four months ago.
As early as June, the official said, top-level security meetings were held in Cairo, where the possibility of a Palestinian cell in the northern Sinai was addressed, "but did not go anywhere."
The revelations stand in contrast to Egypt's initial denials.
On Monday, security officials told Ma'an that Egyptian forces carried out extensive searches in Taba, which also borders Eilat, finding no suspicious activity or "extremist operatives."
Cairo backtracked Wednesday, however, telling the official Egyptian newspaper Al-Sharq Al-Awsat on Wednesday that Palestinian factions were behind the launch of five projectiles from the Sinai. The report quoted a security source saying Monday's attack was carried out by Palestinian factions controlled by Hamas in Gaza.
The newspaper quoted a source saying "Egypt will not accept in any way its lands being used by any party to harm Egyptian interests" and confirmed that despite earlier denials, evidence indicated that the rockets were launched from the Egyptian peninsula.
The projectiles landed on both sides of the Red Sea, in the Israeli town of Eilat and in the Jordanian port city of Aqaba, where one Jordanian man was killed and several others were reported injured.
An Israeli report said two of the projectiles, originally said to have landed in the Red Sea, landed in the salt flats area near the town.
Speaking at a news conference in Eilat, Southern District Police Commander Yohanan Danino told the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth that recent events had placed the southern resort town on the list of areas threatened by terror.
The Egyptian news site Al-Youm As-Subeh quoted another security source who accused the Palestinian political party Hamas of involvement in the incident, adding that "members of the movement had recently infiltrated through the tunnels to fire the rockets."
The source went on to accuse Hamas of wishing to divert attention to Egypt and "raise doubts" about it to the international community.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
If accurate, then I guess Egypt is starting to suffer from a lack of cohesion. Kind of like the Lebanese army.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran has obtained four S-300 surface-to-air missiles despite Russia's refusal to deliver them to Tehran under a valid contract, a semiofficial Iranian news agency claimed Wednesday.
The Fars news agency, which has ties to Iran's elite Revolutionary Guard, Iran's most powerful military force, said Iran received two missiles from Belarus and two others from another unspecified source.
Fars didn't elaborate, and there was no immediate official confirmation of the report.
Russia signed a contract in 2007 to sell S-300 missiles to Iran, a move that would have substantially boosted the country's defense capacities. Israel fears that supplying S-300s to Iran would change the military balance in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
ION NORTH KOREA has repor also deployed SAMS [SA-10's] to near its border wid South Korea.
* JOONGANGDAILY > DMZ MOSQUITOES SPREADING MALARIA, to nearby SK Towns + Areas. The DPRK had stopped spraying due to nasty Post-CHEONAN chill in relations wid the ROK.
#4
Russia - which has sold other air-defense missiles, aircraft and other weapons to Iran - is in a difficult position in the international standoff with Iran, in part because it does not want to jeopardize decades of political and trade ties with the Islamic republic.
Still, Moscow has lately shown increasing frustration with Iran, and last month backed the new sanctions.
#7
The scuttlebut is this is a bluff. Could be the Persians are looking to secure their ratlines. However, the silence on the rogue Belarus connection should give pause.
#8
At the risk of being yet another pedantic nerd, there's missiles and there's launchers. Sure, four S-300 SAMs will look really really cool in the Mohammed Day Parade, but without the whole radar/launcher/fire control mess all you got is a cool parade float and a scary press release.
Hezbollah promises action against Israel's potential acts of aggression on Lebanon's Army, responding to the Israeli invaders' recent killing of four Lebanese.
"The Israeli hand that targets the Lebanese Army will be cut off," the Lebanese resistance movement's Secretary General Seyyed Hassan Nasrallah said on Tuesday.
"...in any place where the Lebanese Army will be assaulted and there is a presence for the resistance, and it is capable, the resistance will not stand silent, or quiet or restrained," Nasrallah said in a speech transmitted via video link in the Lebanese capital, Beirut, on Tuesday.
Earlier in the day, Israeli troops entered Lebanese soil, exchanging fire with Lebanon's Army.
The offensive, joined by the Israel Defense Forces and the regime's Air Force, saw the military launching rocket and suspected phosphorous bomb attacks on southern Lebanon.
Three Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist from the Beirut-based al-Akhbar newspaper and one senior Israeli Army officer were killed in the crossfire. It also resulted in injuries on both sides.
Lebanon's President Michel Sleiman, Prime Minister Saad Hariri as well as Iranian and Jordanian officials have also voiced their condemnation of the invasion.
The Hezbollah leader furthermore praised the Lebanese Army's bravery against the incursion, which he denounced as violation of Lebanon's sovereignty.
He said Tel Aviv has repeatedly breached the United Nations Resolution 1701, which ended Israel's 2006 war on Lebanon, regretting the international bodies' refusal to probe the incidents.
About 1,200 Lebanese, most of them civilians, were killed during the 33-Day War. The Israeli military, however, was met with Hezbollah's resistance and was eventually forced to withdraw without having achieved any of its objectives.
Nasrallah also held Israel responsible for the assassination of the country's former leader Rafik Hariri, who was killed alongside 22 other people in a massive car bombing in the capital on February 14, 2005.
"I accuse the Israeli enemy of the assassination of (former) Prime Minister Rafik Hariri and... I will prove this by unveiling sensitive information at a press conference on Monday."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
"You cutta offa my hand, I cutta offa you pr@*k!"
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 1:10
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#2
HAARETZ > NASRALLAH: HEZBOLLAH WILL RESPOND IFF ISRAEL ATTACKS LEBANON'S ARMY.
* SAME > [Syria's] ASSAD: WE WILL SUPPORT LEBANON [+ Hezbollah] IN FACE OF CRIMINAL ISRAELI AGGRESSION.
* ISRAEL NN > LEBANESE ARMY ADMITS: WE FIRED FIRST. But-t-t, the LAF was protectng Lebanese sovereignty.
#3
Nasrallah is in my list of people in this world that need to be hit in the face, full force, with an aluminum baseball bat.
no threat intended or implied [sarc]
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
08/05/2010 3:16
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#4
Last night we were watching "The Bourne Identity" and my grandson (21) aked me if the CIA really had Assassins.
I answered "I'm afraid Not".
He asked
"Why do you think not?
and I replied
"There are too many assholes living today who should be dead, if CIA Assassins existed, they wouldn't".
Too bad.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/05/2010 13:10
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[Arab News] It's been almost two decades since U.S troops were forced out of Somalia after the "Black Hawk Down" battle. Troops from neighboring Ethiopia spent more than two years trying to restore order before withdrawing last year. Now, the US is backing a push by African states to add troops to combat Somali militants.
But Somalia experts who have watched violence spin in circles for nearly 20 years are warning that more troops will not bring peace, and will encounter fierce resistance from the dangerous militant group that claimed deadly twin bombings in Uganda last month. Boy howdy, what would we do without experts ...
Last week African heads of state who met in the Ugandan capital -- the site of the July 11 blasts that killed 76 people watching the World Cup final on TV -- pledged to add 4,000 new troops in Mogadishu. Those troops will add to the 6,000 peacekeepers from Uganda and Burundi now stationed in Somalia's capital to protect the transitional government there.
Somalia has been mired in chaos since warlords overthrew the country's autocratic president in 1991. While few good answers have been found to end near-continuous violence, analysts say the solution does not lie in sending foreign troops to battle the country's most dangerous militant group, Al-Shabab.
"African leaders are daydreaming. You can't solve Somalia's problems by sending in more troops," said Zakaria Mohamud Haji Abdi of the Alliance for the Re-liberation of Somalia, a group established to oppose Ethiopia's recent foray into Somalia. "With its devastating effects, the culture of using military might has been tried but failed. Now it is the time to nurture the culture of dialogue." Zakaria is the very model of an unbiased expert. Ask him ...
Violence in Somalia has raged for so long that the conflict rarely grabs the world's attention. Somalia's UN-backed transitional government has made little progress expanding its power or winning over the Somali people.
But the July bombings focused renewed attention on the Horn of Africa nation. The US pledged to financially support any newly deployed African Union troops. Uganda, angered by the attacks, sought an increased mandate for troops to hunt down terrorists.
"A guerrilla war is rarely won militarily. A political solution should be envisioned," said Roland Marchal, a Somalia expert at the Center for International Studies and Research in Paris.
"This does not mean by itself a cease-fire or the wish to get a power-sharing agreement with Al-Shabab. But one should move from the current context where progresses are measured by an increased number of trained soldiers and militants killed," he said.
Somalis, even those from different clans and ideological affiliations, are known to unite when foreign troops arrive. Al-Shabab recently vowed that new AU troops will be "annihilated." The militant group also urged Somalis to fight the peacekeepers.
The US sent troops to Somalia in the early 1990s but withdrew shortly after the military battle chronicled in the book and movie "Black Hawk Down." Ethiopia sent forces over the border in late 2006, but withdrew them in early 2009 claiming they had defeated Al-Shabab, a growing militant force that now counts militants from the Afghanistan and Iraq conflicts among its ranks.
Today the Somali government is confined to a small slice of Mogadishu, and Al-Shabab attacks are encroaching in on the government's foothold. But Al-Shabab is unlikely to topple the thousands of well-armed AU troops there.
Analysts say the stalemate should be used to kick-start a locally driven reconciliation that allows Somalis to find peace, like administrations in two northern regions -- Somaliland and Puntland -- did in the 1990s.
Marchal recommends establishing a panel of senior Muslim politicians and Westerners who can try to coax the militants into a reconciliation conference. He says the current transitional government is not the right channel for reconciliation.
Kisiangani Emmanuel, a researcher at the South Africa-based Institute for Global Dialogue, said the international community needs to signal a willingness to accept any government that is acceptable to Somalis -- including insurgents -- regardless of the affiliations of its leaders.
"Military approaches have only helped to radicalize more youths and exacerbate fundamentalism in Somalia," he said.
"The international community needs to realize that its current and previous policies on Somalia have largely strengthened religious extremism and Somalis' distrust of the West."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
#1
somalia is notrtn fighting over
Posted by: chris ||
08/05/2010 0:23
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#2
Gee... thanks "experts". How much money did that take. Here is a free analysis.
The people in Somalia will not stop fighting until THEY WANT to stop. As of right now, they show no signs of wanting to stop. So, troops may calm things locally, but will not fix things in the long run. Only the people wanting to violence to end will stop the cycle. Or several thermonuclear bombs can also stop the cycle. Either way.
#3
One way to tame Somalia would involve the West and the Arab countries worried about Al-Q funding an expanded French Foreign Legion to be headquarter in Mogadishu -- bring the Legion back to 25,000 troops with its own air force again, and then tell them "Clean up your backyard". It would take probably 2 years for a revamped Legion to kill off enough of the hotheads to make the country stable.
[Straits Times] A MALAYSIAN state is to allow Muslim girls under the age of consent of 16 years to wed in a bid to stem unwed pregnancies, angering the country's women's activists and politicians.
The Islamic council in the southern Malaysian state of Malacca on Tuesday announced that it would to allow marriage for Muslims below the current minimum age of 16 years for females and 18 for males.
'This is an outrage. We're turning back the clock when there's ample evidence to show that we should not condone child marriages,' said Ivy Josiah, executive director of Women's Aid Organisation, a rights group.
Muslims make up about 60 per cent of the 28 million population of the South-east Asian country and fall under Islamic family and criminal laws individually drafted and run by each of the country's 13 states. Non-Muslims come under federal civil laws. The chief minister of Malacca, Mohammad Ali Rustam, said permission would only be granted after consent by the teenager's families as well as the state Islamic courts. 'For the state government, this is the best step to deal with the problem of abandoned babies and unwed pregnancies,' he was quoted as saying by the Utusan Malaysia newspaper.
Malacca earlier announced that the state would open a special school for Muslim girls who become pregnant out of wedlock, a move that also came under fire from rights groups. 'This is a knee-jerk reaction, and such policies should not be carved out by state religious authorities but the federal Ministries of Women, Education, and Health,' said Ms Josiah.
Family and Community Development Minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil said that underage marriage was 'morally and socially unacceptable'. The number of underage pregnancies in Malaysia rose to 111 in the first four months of this year from 107 in 2008, according to government numbers. UN data showed that in 2006, the latest for which numbers are available, the rate per 1,000 births was 12 in Malaysia compared with 52 per 1,000 in neighbouring Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
UN data showed that in 2006, the latest for which numbers are available, the rate per 1,000 births was 12 in Malaysia compared with 52 per 1,000 in neighbouring Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim country.
No need for a moral judgement here.
Posted by: Spearong Prince of the Bunions9034 ||
08/05/2010 1:55
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Commander of the Iranian Army's Ground Forces has downplayed the US threat to attack Iran, saying the Islamic Republic will give a crushing response to any strike.
"If any threat strikes against Iran, the Islamic Republic armed forces are fully prepared to counter them on the ground, sea and air," IRNA quoted the Brig. Gen. Ahmad-Reza Pourdastan as saying on Tuesday.
Pointing to Sunday's remarks made by the Chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, concerning the possibility of a US attack against Iran, General Pourdastan explained that the US does not possess the military potential to attack Iran.
"Military threats of US officials against the Islamic Republic are nothing new, we're certain that the US military forces are in an appalling condition," he added.
"The increasing number of deaths and suicide among American forces attest to the failure of the US in Iraq and Afghanistan," he further explained.
General Pourdastan highlighted that the Iranian army's ground forces have profound defensive military capabilities and will give a crushing response to any threat against the Islamic Republic.
"Iran is keeping a watchful eye on the Islamic Republic's enemies," he said, adding that the country has launched various drills to remain prepared.
On Sunday, Mullen said that the US military plans to attack Iran, although he expressed concern over the repercussions of such a strike.
In a quick response, Iran called the remarks imprudent saying, they grow out of US frustration for their failure in the region.
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08/05/2010
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The Iraqi government has released from prison a top Saddam Hussein loyalist after he was found innocent of helping the former regime punish opponents by draining the country's fabled marshlands, a judge said Wednesday.
Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad was No. 54 out of 55 on a former U.S. military list of most-wanted Saddam officials.
Iraqi High Tribunal spokesman Judge Mohammed Abdul-Sahib Yaseen said al-Muhammad was recently released from a prison just outside Baghdad after being cleared of the charges in the marshlands draining case. The trial ended this week.
Al-Muhammad was a Baath Party regional command chairman and militia commander from Anbar Province. He was captured in January 2004.
He "was proven innocent because of a lack of evidence," Yaseen said.
The U.S. military said it did not have any legal authority in whether to release al-Muhammadi, and referred all questions to the Iraqi justice ministry.
The draining of marshlands illustrated Saddam's ruthlessness in pursuing opponents. A Sunni Muslim, Saddam built a massive network of dams and earthen walls to dry the marshes to punish Shiite rebels who hid there after staging an uprising against his regime. By the time Saddam was overthrown in 2003, the marshes had shrunk by 90 percent from their size in the 1970s.
Another among the 32 defendants tried for the draining of marshlands was Mizban Khudr Hadi. Also a former Baath party regional commander and No. 23 on the most-wanted list, Hadi was convicted and sentenced to death in the case. He was earlier also convicted in a separate case, on charges of helping to plan the forced displacement of Kurds from northeastern Iraq.
Others on the most-wanted list tried for the marshlands included former Defense Minister Sultan Hashim al-Taie, the No. 27 on the list, and Aziz Saleh al-Numan, the list's No. 8, who chaired the Baath party in Baghdad. Al-Taie was sentenced to 15 years in prison and al-Numan was handed seven years behind bars.
Al-Muhammad was the only one to be freed of the 32 defendants tried in the marshlands case. Sentences for many of the rest ranged from seven years to death by execution -- although charges against some were dropped because they are being tried in unrelated cases. And others already have been executed, also in other cases.
For thousands of years, wetlands fed by the Tigris and Euphrates rivers in Iraq's south boasted hundreds of species of birds and fish, and are said to have played an important role in the development of an agriculture-based culture that helped raise civilization to new heights.
Some biblical scholars identified the vast marshes as the site of the fabled Garden of Eden. But after the 1991 Gulf War, the marshes became a casualty of Iraq's religiously based politics.
An $11 million U.N. project removed some of the barriers and helped restore more than half of the original marshlands by 2006.
Since his release, hundreds of people have been visiting al-Muhammadi in his house in Saqlawiyah, 45 miles (75 kilometers) west of Baghdad, said a security official in the nearby city of Fallujah. Police are guarding his house, said the official.
This article starring:
Aziz Saleh al-Numan
Khamis Sirhan al-Muhammad
Mizban Khudr Hadi
Sultan Hashim al-Taie
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Iraqi Baath Party
#1
guess we know who will be in charge after eb=nough of ourt troops get out,
Posted by: chris ||
08/05/2010 0:08
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[Dawn] A boomer attacked a vehicle carrying the Chief of Pakistain's Frontier Constabulary in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar on Wednesday, killing him and two others. Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain took credit for the attack.
Rescue workers frantically tried to extinguish fires that engulfed several cars in the minutes after the attack near a major market in the scenic city.
Sifwat Ghayur, the head of the Frontier Constabulary, was killed in the attack along with his driver and bodyguard, said Abdul Rahman Khan, a local police officer. The explosion also injured 14 other people, he said.
Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain took credit for the killing and threatened more such assassinations.
"We killed him, he was our target... all such officers who are active against us will suffer the same fate," Azam Tariq, a front man for Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain, told AFP by telephone.
"He was conducting different operations against us...one of our fidayee (suicide kaboomers) has done this job," he added.
It was unclear whether the boomer attacked on foot or was in a vehicle, said Khan.
The attack comes as the northwest, which has been plagued by violence at the hands of the Pak Taliban, is trying to get back on its feet after heavy monsoon rains a week ago triggered devastating floods that have killed 1,500 people.
This article starring:
AZAM TARIQ
TTP
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian security said on Wednesday that Gaza fighters may be behind rockets that hit Israel and Jordan on Monday, Egypt's official news agency MENA reported.
"The preliminary information that the security has received indicates that Palestinian factions from the Gaza Strip are behind that operation," the state news agency quoted an unnamed security source as saying.
The rockets supposedly came from Egypt's Sinai, where Islamist armed groups have operated in the past, hit Israel's and Jordan's Red Sea ports on Monday, killing a Jordanian civilian and injuring three others, Jordanian and Israeli police said.
The violence came hours after Lebanese and Israeli troops exchanged fire in a fierce battle on their border that killed a senior Israeli officer, two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist.
It also followed days of Israeli strikes carried out in retaliation for rocket attacks from the Palestinian territory on Israeli communities.
A top Jordanian government official said that Jordan did not believe it was the target of the rocket attack.
Also, an Egyptian intelligence official said that police backed by 100 Bedouin trackers combed the area where the rocket supposedly came from and said there was nothing.
He added that the region close to the border was also covered by surveillance cameras which saw nothing.
"They (Jordanians and Israelis) said that the rocket was fired from the Pharaoh hotel. We searched and we found nothing," he said.
"If the rocket was fired from near the hotel, it is impossible to reach Eilat or Aqaba because of the distance. Rockets can't fly 25 kilometers (15 miles)," he said speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press.
Soviet-style Grad rockets of the type used by fighters in Lebanon and Gaza, however, are known to have ranges of at least 25 miles (40 kilometers).
He said he believed the rockets were fired from a mountain in Israel by Palestinian armed groups.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
TOPIX > {Netanyahu] ISRAEL THREATENS TO RETALIATE AGZ ATTACKS ON THREE FRONTS.
versus
* SAME > AHMADINEJAD CALLS FOR [firm] INTERNATIONAL RESPONSE TO ISRAELI ATTACK ON LEBANON.
* SAME > TERRORISM UNDER THE GUISE OF A [AMerican] UNIVERSITY? Islamic American University.
***cough *** cough ****......D *** NGED SOLAR CME = AURORAS!
[Dawn] Pakistan People's Party's Information Secretary Fouzia Wahab on Wednesday said it was useless to blame any single party for the recent killings in Karachi as everybody knew this was terrorism and that the terrorists were responsible for these killing.
Talking to a private television channel, she said the people behind these killings wanted to destabilise Pakistan and they were attacking innocent civilians in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Punjab and Karachi.
"We should not blame each other as it will not help in fighting this threat head on. I want to quote yesterday's statements by Altaf Hussain who has asked the people to remain calm but even then we saw that 47 people have been killed," she added.
Replying to a question relating to President Zardari's visit to the UK at this critical juncture, she said: You cannot link the two issues as the visit was decided months earlier.
President Zardari has played an important role in the past in bringing all the political parties together and he will continue to play that role, she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
President B.O. will likely become a "born-again moderate" after the November elections, according to the Senate's top Republican. Nothing leads me to believe he's half that bright...
In an interview with The Hill this week, Senate Minority Leader Mitch McConnell (Incumbent R-Ky.) acknowledged that Obama doesn't call him very often. "I sit by the phone and I wait, but it never rings..."
But he thinks that will be changing soon. "Frankly, I think how much he calls me depends on how much he thinks he needs me," McConnell said. "I don't blame him for that. He's had a huge number [of Democrats] in the House and a big number in the Senate, and I'm sure calling Mitch McConnell is not the first thing on his agenda every day." If the Pubs take the Senate in November they're not obligated to keep this guy as majority leader.
The Kentucky senator who has marshaled unyielding opposition to Obama and Democratic congressional leaders for the past year and a half said he stands ready to work with the White House in the next Congress. He cited common ground with Obama on issues such as trade, nuclear power and the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. "There are things that he is doing, and there are some things that he says he's for that he's not yet done that could produce more bipartisan agreement, and if there is a mid-course correction in November, I think the president will become a born-again moderate," McConnell said. I doubt if he even has the concept.
McConnell's remarks reveal his confidence about the midterm elections, though he repeatedly refused to forecast the future. "What I would hope, for the sake of the country, is that if there is a mid-course correction, the president will give up on his left-of-center agenda and meet us in the middle," he added. He's so far left of center the center's not even on his horizon.
White House Deputy Press Secretary Bill Burton noted that Obama and McConnell have a meeting scheduled for Wednesday at the White House, adding they meet on a monthly basis. Burton said, "The president has consistently reached out to Republicans and included many of their ideas in every major piece of legislation he's signed. In fact, he's hoping to get Republican support for some policies they've previously supported in the small business legislation that is currently before the body. The president will continue to work with Republicans without regard to this coming Election Day or any other day on the calendar." Then his lips fell off. They shriveled up and began to smoke right before his eyes...
For now -- three months before the election -- McConnell is comfortable attacking Obama and congressional Democrats. "This is a very, very anti-business administration," he said, later calling Democrats "naïve" and accusing them of embracing "Washington takeover" policies.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#2
Once again, McConnell (R-Incumbistan) demonstrates (1) his utter cluelessness and (2) why he absolutely, positively must be run out of his leadership post on a rail if the good guys win in November. This jackass and his equally worthless careerist-hack House counterpart Boehner are two of the biggest reasons why the Trunks lost both houses in 2006.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/05/2010 1:24
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#3
Obama's had a great run. Now he tacks to the middle and starts politicing and campaigning.
Yeah, Mitch "Charlie Brown" McConnell will give him another shot, and all the Charlie Browns in the country will sigh and relax. Barack "Lucy" Obama will squeak through in 2012 and veer hard left again.
Losers. Vote them all out. If we don't, we deserve what we get.
#5
McConnell is presuming that because Clinton did this, Obama will as well.
This is a grave error. Clinton had an agenda of Clinton. Obama is a true-believer leftist. If some guy on a blog can figure this out, why can't McConnell and his staff?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
08/05/2010 5:57
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Posted by: Frozen Al ||
08/05/2010 11:23
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#9
Moderate? How about the latest rumor that the August surprise from Zero will be to direct, by Executive power, that Fannie and Freddie forgive all the underwater portion of every mortgage in America that they insure (which is the vast majority). The self-imagined Emperor is simply going to direct we the taxpayers absorb trillions of dollars of debt, buying gratitude and votes. Should that come to pass, there cannot be a greater theft in the history of mankind......
#12
McConnell is presuming that because Clinton did this, Obama will as well. This is a grave error. Clinton had an agenda of Clinton. Obama is a true-believer leftist.
A few other differences:
1) Clinton was a quick study who loved to immerse himself in and master the details of complex subjects-- free trade, fiscal matters, etc. Barry is a BS artist who has no expertise in anything and who, acc. to his pal Valerie Jarrett, is "easily bored" by the stuff that we mortals have to contend with.
2) Clinton had substantial executive experience prior to coming to Washington, having served as a governor for 8 years. Zero has zero executive experience, or managerial experience of any kind at any level.
3) As a son of the white rural lower middle class, Clinton was focused on the needs of people who, in his formulation, "work hard and play by the rules"-- IOW, middle America in the flyover states. Barry's milieu is that of his mom and his pals in Hyde Park: the academic leftist and race-baiting identity politics crowd. His people and his policies serve the people who work hard to GAME the rules.
[Maghrebia] the jailed "emir" of a Mauritanian jihadist group vowed retaliation against France and Mauritania for the military raid on an al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb camp in Mali, AFP reported on Tuesday (August 3rd). The July 22nd operation by Mauritanian troops and French commandos killed 7 gunnies.
"There are men who are prepared to take Dire Revenge™," El Khadim Ould Semane told ANI via telephone from the Nouakchott prison. His al-Qaeda-linked organisation, Ansar Allah El Mourabitoune vi Biladi Chinguitt, was dismantled by Mauritanian security forces in May of 2008.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
Google Translate. For a map, click here
More than 100 heavily armed suspects riding aboard a large convoy of pickup trucks invaded the tiny southern Chihuahua town of San Juanito Tuesday afternoon, according to Mexican press reports.
Wearing black uniforms and hoods, the armed group took over the town's municipal police station and disarmed the police. Reports say the gunman wore logos of "El Chapo", probably a reference to the Sinaloa drug gang.
No shootings, abductions or deaths were reported during the six hour invasion.
Reports are during the night the convoy moved on to the southern Chihuahua town of Creel about 17 kilometers south of San Juanito searching for specific individuals.
#2
See also FREEREPUBLIC > [Mexi El Presidente]MEXICO: CARTELS MOVE BEYOND DRUGS, SEEK DOMINATION [$$$ Monopoly + even Replacement of Govt by sheer FORCE OF ARMS].
IMO I don't think El Presidente/Hefe-in-Chief C. means in just Mexico = USA???
#5
Nope, no problems on the Southern border. Just a bunch of benevolent peace loving migrant workers down there. The real bad guys are the racists who want to secure the border.
#6
I believe there was a scene in the movie Viva Villa! (1934), to the effect of "No, Poncho! Not the ants!", by an individual about to experience the quaint Mexican custom of burying someone up to their neck in an anthill. They learned the trick from the "Native Americans".
#8
So is Mexico in civil war yet?
Nah, no problemo. Security on the border is better than it has ever been. But global warming is a problem (sarc on). Amnesty's the problem also(continued sarc on). How to legalize all these undocumented Democratic voters. Jobs opportunities are really good right now too.
[Maghrebia] Algerian security services arrested 11 suspected members of a terror-support network in Bouira, east of Algiers, Echorouk reported on Tuesday (August 3rd). The group is accused of money laundering and providing logistical support to some 25 terrorists in Khemis, Ain Bessam and Jebaihia. According to security services, terrorists specifically recruited the men, all of whom are local merchants and tradesmen with no criminal records. They were reportedly seen as unlikely to arouse suspicion.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
The leader of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelmalek Droudkal, said he negotiated with Paris for the release of the French hostage Michel Germaneau before the operation that led to his execution according to a complete message broadcast Sunday by Islamist websites.
"Shame on France and its president, who launched their raids while negotiations were under way," said the head of AQIM in this audio message, of which excerpts had already been released July 25 by the Al- Jazeera Channel to announce the execution of the hostage.
The French authorities never reported negotiations to free the hostage. Thus, on July 26, the French Minister of Defense, Herve Morin, had indicated that Paris could not have "any discussion" with the kidnappers of Michel Germaneau.
" The death of Michael Germaneau is announced through an ultimatum (launched July 11) without any discussion", said Mr. Morin.
"We never had any specific demands. They even refused any discussion for the delivery of drugs that Michel Germaneau needed for his heart problems," added the French minister.
In the full version of the message, the leader of AQIM has also confirmed that six members of his group were killed during the operation launched by the Mauritanian army against AQIM's in the desert of Mali, with logistical support of France who wanted to try to free the hostage.
Michel Germaneau was held by a cell led by Algerian AQIM Abdelhamid Abu Zeid, described as "violent and brutal", which had already executed, 13 months ago, a British hostage, Edwin Dyer, who was kidnapped six months before.
London had refused to yield to the demands of AQIM, which demanded the British to work for the release of several members of the organization prisoners in the Sahel.
These same requirements were made by AQIM, which also holds two Spanish-hostages to guarantee the life of Michel Germaneau.
Following the announcement of his execution, French President Nicolas Sarkozy had promised that this "barbaric act" would not remain unpunished.
"They murdered in cold blood a person of 78, sick, to whom they refused to send the drugs he needed," he declared in a televised speech.
"I condemn this barbaric act, that heinous act that made an innocent victim who devoted his time helping local people," he had said following a meeting of a council of security and defense attended by ministry officials and intelligence.
The death of the French hostage has been the subject of numerous condemnations including those of Washington and the European Union who have denounced a "cowardly act".
Three French hostages are still abroad since the end of 2009: an intelligence officer in Somalia and two journalists in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[Dawn] Pak police said on Wednesday they had killed a suspected terrorist and jugged another in a shootout in Islamabad.
A third suspect fled after the incident, which happened at an auto repair garage in the thriving city, police front man Muhammad Naeem said.
Officers raided a house where the three suspects lived and seized a large quantity of weapons, including automatic rifles and hand grenades, Naeem said.
"One terrorist was killed and his accomplice was jugged after a brief exchange of fire in Islamabad on Wednesday," Naeem said.
"Police officials in plain clothes tried to arrest gunnies as they entered the garage but they opened fire," he said.
Naeem said the suspects belonged to a terrorist network but declined to give further details, saying more information would be released after the suspect had been questioned.
Bombs and attacks blamed on Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked Boskonians have hit soldiers, government officials and civilians across Pakistain since government troops besieged a radical mosque in Islamabad in July 2007.
Pakistain is under pressure from the United States to do more to tackle Islamist networks that have carved out training grounds and havens in the northwest for preparing attacks on Western troops in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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[Tolo News] Afghan security forces started a military operation against Taliban forces of Evil in the northern Baghlan province, officials say.
Local officials in the northern province of Baghlan have demanded extra troops and equipment to fight the increasing Taliban insurgency in the province.
A senior military official said more troops will be deployed to the province to maintain security, following the wipeout of Taliban from the region.
Despite the increasing lack of security in the province, the government opposition forces have lost fighting with Afghan security forces, said the Provincial Police Chief of Baghlan, Gen. Muhammad Kabir Andarabi.
"The enemies do not have the necessary ability to fight against our forces, but they sometimes cause threats on the roads," he added.
The governor of Baghlan said the province lacks sufficient ammunitions to fight against the government opposition forces, and warned that security will not be maintained in the province unless checkpoints are not established in the province's volatile areas.
"Our police forces have either Hungarian weapons or guns made in the Czech Republic, and this is incomparable with the gunnies who have machine-guns," the governor of Baghlan, Munshi Abdul Majid told TOLOnews reporter.
Local residents are concerned about the increasing insecurity in the province, and also complain about police's misbehaviour with the residents.
"When the government starts operation, it must not pull out the Army and Police forces after a few days," a resident told TOLOnews reporter.
Baghlan was one of the secure provinces of Afghanistan, but situation has been deteriorating in the province in the past two years.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Taliban
[Straits Times] A MALAYSIAN woman lost a court battle on Wednesday to nullify her conversion to Islam when she was a child, but vowed to fight on to be recognised as a Hindu.
The interfaith dispute could further anger non-Muslims who have long complained that their religious rights are being sidelined in Muslim-majority Malaysia, and may erode minority support for the government.
Malaysia's secular High Court ruled it had no jurisdiction to hear the case as Banggarma Subramaniam is a Muslim and should refer to the Islamic Syariah court, said her lawyer Gooi Hsiao Leung.
Mrs Banggarma has said she and her three siblings were under the care of a government orphanage in northern Penang state when she was converted to Islam by welfare officials in 1989 when she was seven years old.
She ran away when she was 16 and got married two years later in 2001 in a traditional Hindu ceremony. When she returned to the home to collect her identity card and other documents, she was given the Muslim conversion certificate which listed her name as Siti Hasnah Vanga-rama Abdullah.
She has been unable to register her marriage or name her husband as the father of their two children in their birth certificates as she is listed a Muslim. Mrs Banggarma's husband must convert to Islam to legally wed her as marriage between Muslims and non-Muslims is not allowed in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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[The Nation (Nairobi)] The Libyan government was conned of $4 million (Sh320) by a Zimbabwean national who was overseeing its investments in the southern African country. The case now before a Harare magistrate is set to expose Libyan leader Muammar Gaddafi's shadowy investments in Zimbabwe.
Gaddafi has been rumoured to have strong business links with President Robert Mugabe and his family.
In 2002, Mugabe's eccentric wife Grace was said to have sold a mansion in of one of Harare's plush suburbs to Gaddafi for $5 million. The mansion known as Gracelands had been built using funds meant for poor civil servants.
The latest controversy surrounds a former employee of Zimbabwe's state broadcaster who was left in charge of businesses belonging to the Libyan government two years ago.
According to the state, sometime in 1999 the Libyan government invested in Zimbabwe's transport and property sectors. Tripoli registered a company known as Crieff Investments, which later changed to Aldawlia Investments. It bought 12 haulage trucks and properties, which included 10 flats in Harare.
In 2008, Stanely Masendo, a Zimbabwean national was left to manage the company after Libya's representative fell ill. Mr Masendo allegedly forged documents to collect income from the company and the offence was discovered early this year.
Harare and Tripoli have in the past tried to enter into joint business deals involving the importation of fuel to the landlocked Zimbabwe. However, most of the deals have fallen through because Zimbabwe did not have enough money to meet its part of the bargain.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under:
#1
ION TOPIX > [ROK] KOREA CONFIRMS IT HAS TRADE PROBLEMS WID LIBYA, IRAN.
* RELATED > TOPIX/JOONGANGDAILY > KOREA TIES WID AFRICA BOTCHED + FOR SPY CASE, LIBYA ASKS US$1.0BILYUHN FROM SEOUL:SOURCE, + IRAN SANCTIONS A KOREAN CONUNDRUM.
* SAME > POLICE FEAR 60,000 CARS COULD EXPLODE [Missing Tonnes of cheap or illegal, imported CHINA-MADE AC REFRIGERANT].
[The Nation (Nairobi)] Three women died instantly when a blast hit a group of women engaged in cleaning a road in Mogadishu.
The attack took place around mid-day on Wednesday and caused the injuries of another 12 people, seven of them being women cleaners.
The killings took place at Bondhere, particularly around a monument for the unknown soldier, one of the neighbourhoods close to Villa Somalia, the state house in Mogadishu.
Those maimed were shuttled to Madina, the main referral hospital for war casualties in the war-torn scenic city.
Mr Abdullahi Hersi Wardhere alias Istakin, the commissioner of Bondhere, the district where the bombing occurred accused al Shabaab radicals of being behind the deadly act.
He added that the government security forces apprehended and then killed a man alleged to have triggered the detonator.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: al-Shabaab
The Rev. Joseph Tracy said he's tired of going to funerals. And now, he suspects he'll be going to more of them. "It's open field day now," said Tracy, the pastor of Straightway Baptist Church here. "The criminals are going to run wild."
Gang activity. Drug dealing. Cold-blooded killing. Tracy worries that a decision to shrink the police force by almost 30 percent will bring more of everything.
The pastor voiced his concern on Friday at a raucous special City Council meeting at which East St. Louis Mayor Alvin Parks announced that the city will layoff 37 employees, including 19 of its 62 police officers, 11 firefighters, four public works employees, and three administrators. The layoffs take effect on Sunday.
Parks said the weak economy has robbed the city of badly needed money. For example, revenue from the Casino Queen was $900,000 below budget expectations last year. There are no signs of improvement, Parks said.
"I want our citizens to know we have some of the bravest police officers and firefighters in the country," Parks said. "But we don't have the money to pay them. We have to have fiscal responsibility."
City officials wanted police and fire unions to accept a furlough program that would have required employees to take two unpaid days in each twice monthly pay period. If accepted, emergency responders would have seen a pay cut of about 20 percent for the rest of the year.
Parks said the two sides couldn't reach an agreement. On Friday, he stared at a standing-room only crowd and told his emergency response chiefs words they didn't want to hear: "Tell your workers to start packing their things."
The news spurred shouts from the crowd.
"The blood is on your hands," yelled Michael Hubbard, an East St. Louis police officer.
Hubbard said he will be the lone patrolman for East St. Louis' midnight shift when the cuts go into effect.
"This is devastating," Hubbard told a reporter after the meeting.
East St. Louis has been crippled by crime and poverty for decades. Police officials say the cuts will mean fewer officers for patrols, investigations and juvenile cases. Fire officials said the region should be upset because the department will have fewer people at the ready to fight fires on some of the region's major highways and bridges.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under:
#1
See also TOPIX/FREEREPUBLIC > THE TOP FIVE MOST CRIME-RIDDEN US [Federal] JUDICIAL DISTRICTS ARE ALONG THE MEXICAN BORDER.
#5
You would have to have a history book to find out how long East St. Louis has been a pest hole. Likely well before World War I. Even at its peak in the 1950s, it was a destitute, decaying stink pit.
#6
Looks like the city tried to make an acommodation, granted a hard one, and the unions said shove it.
Times are hard, folks. The public sector unions seem to think they have some kind of immunity to them.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/05/2010 14:21
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#8
Actually, in the 1930s, 40s and 50s, East St. Louis was not a bad town; it had bad neighborhoods but it also had a branch of the major railroad stockyards and slaughterhouses in town. It had several very nice working class clean neighborhoods, with well-maintained houses, no garbage, and safe streets after dark. Then the stockyards and slaughterhouses shutdown, and the city decayed. Now, something along the lines of 90% of the population is on some major form of public assistance, and all the nice working class neighborhoods have vanished or transmuted into slums.
#9
I don't see how this is a bad thing. If we can end war by getting rid of our army, getting rid of the cops should drive the crime rate to near zero. I look forward to seeing the data from this fascinating experiment.
#10
working class neighborhoods have vanished or transmuted into slums.
Posted by Shieldwolf
Great experiment in E. St. Louis in the late 50's and 60's with highrise public housing..... that's until the electricity was turned off for non-payment and the windows were all broken out. The projects have long been raised and hauled away. Been a dismal place for half a century or more.
#12
I guarantee that were 50,000 visas granted immediately to anyone with a college degree to move to East St. Louis for the next few years and work towards citizenship, it would become a great town. Managed immigration is a tool we choose not to use to our sorrow.
With his poll numbers dropping through the White House basement floor and his 49th birthday at hand, President Barack B.O. Obama sure could use some real party time with the guys back home in Chicago.
And nothing says "let's party!" like a political fundraiser. Obama will headline one Thursday for his beleaguered basketball buddy, Alexi Giannoulias, who is campaigning as a Democrat for Obama's old Senate seat.
Naturally, all the guests will applaud when Obama gives Alexi a big hug, smiles and says, "My man."
But who are the guys behind the guys who won't be there to soak up the recognition? Shouldn't there be table of empty chairs, to silently honor those who are otherwise indisposed?
I'm guessing that Tony Rezko, the president's benefactor, friend and personal real estate fairy, would love to attend. He was the star of a Sun-Times report published Monday about a $22 million development loan from the Giannoulias family's now-defunct Broadway Bank to a Rezko company.
It would be nice for Rezko to show up. That way, Obama could point, then shout for all to hear: "That's not the Tony Rezko I know!"
Sadly, Tony has no time for fundraisers these days. He's in federal custody, awaiting sentencing on his convictions for political influence peddling.
Rezko has other pending cases, too, including one involving bouncing $450,000 in checks written against his Broadway Bank accounts to pay gambling debts.
The Rezko thing isn't Giannoulias' only problem. Giannoulias is getting thwacked on a daily basis for what Tribune investigative reporters David Jackson, John Chase and Ray Gibson disclosed in April. It was $27.7 million in loans from Broadway Bank to some earthy felons who ran their own street-loan business.
Every 10 minutes or so, Giannoulias' opponent -- the serial embellisher U.S. Rep. Mark Kirk -- and his Republican allies suggest that Giannoulias was a mob banker. "To hear my opponent Congressman Kirk say it's a mob bank is offensive," Giannoulias told WGN-AM morning host Greg Jarrett the other day. "It's dangerously inaccurate. I wouldn't know what a mafia guy looked like if he walked down the street."
OK, fine. But could he recognize Michael "Jaws" Giorango and Demitri Stavropoulos? They received the $27.7 million in loans from Broadway Bank. The majority was loaned when Giannoulias was a senior loan officer. He touted his bank experience in his campaign for state treasurer.
Giorango and Stavropoulos, according to the Tribune, used the money for real estate deals and for street loans -- a curious practice that I'm told is legal.
Giorango was convicted in 2004 of promoting a nationwide prostitution ring. Some of the call girls worked for famous Chicago madam Rose Laws. He was sentenced to two years in federal prison.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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#1
So Obama delivers a big Union speech about Card check the day before he does a Chi-Town fundraiser? But Im sure thats just a cowinkeedink.
#2
Traffic today in Hyde Park was a bear. From the Ryan all the way to and past Cottage Grove, and then in the neighborhood, we had Chicago and state police just about at every corner, barriers sitting on sidewalks ready to go across streets, etc.
Usual rubber-necking by the clueless which made it even more difficult to get to the hospital.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/05/2010 12:08
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#3
Move your practice to Atlanta Georgia Doctor White. We need the doctors down here and thankfkully, Barry seldom visits or vacations south of the Mason-Dixon.
Seven people on trial on suspicions of spying for Iran in Kuwait have denied the charges, saying their earlier confessions in Kuwaiti custody came under torture.
Kuwaiti and Saudi officials had confirmed discovering an Iranian spy cell, including a woman and six men.
But the suspects pleaded not guilty during a Tuesday hearing in a Kuwait and rejected the charges of spying for the Islamic Revolution Guardian Corps (IRGC), BBC reported.
The defendants, three of whom are Iranian nationals, said they had been forced to confess to the espionage charges under pressure and torture in Kuwaiti prisons.
Hassan al-Matruk, the defense lawyer for the defendants, called for an investigation by a medical team into his clients' torture claims.
The only woman in the alleged spy ring, an Iranian, was not present in the Tuesday court session. Unlike the six men, she is not detained as she had been released without bail pending trial.
The defendants, including a Kuwaiti and a Syrian national and two others who do not have a passport, are charged with passing on confidential military information to a foreign state, taking pictures of Kuwaiti military installations and spying for Iran.
On May 1, Kuwait's Al-Qabas daily claimed in a report that security agencies in Kuwait had busted a spy cell working for the IRGC.
Iran instantly dismissed the report as "baseless" and condemned it as a "ploy to cause regional phobia towards the IRGC and its efforts to promote security in the Middle East."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[Al Arabiya Latest] Israeli troops on Wednesday uprooted trees along the border with Lebanon where deadly clashes had erupted the previous day when the Jewish state tried to carry out the same operation, an AFP correspondent witnessed.
The troops were seen using a crane that reached over a fence in a disputed border area near the village of Adaysseh and uprooting trees that were then thrown inside Israeli territory.
The same operation on Tuesday sparked a deadly border battle that killed two Lebanese soldiers and a journalist as well as a senior Israeli officer.
The Israelis apparently proceeded with the operation as the trees blocked their view into Lebanon.
Following reports that Israeli troops are redeploying along the border after deadly clashes, a Lebanese army spokesman earlier said that Lebanon stands ready to retaliate in the event of any new "aggression."
"The answer will be the same in the event of any aggression along the border," the spokesman, who requested anonymity, said. "Any aggression against Lebanon will have serious consequences."
"We have been told that they are going to try and uproot the tree again today," he said.
The Israeli army radio reported that Israeli troops were redeploying to the site of the gunbattle along the Lebanese border.
It said an important security cordon and armored vehicles were deployed around the site.
In a diplomatic boost for Israel, the U.N. peacekeeping force in southern Lebanon (UNIFIL) said Israeli soldiers were inside Israeli territory when the border clashes erupted.
"UNIFIL established ... that the trees being cut by the Israeli army are located south of the Blue Line on the Israeli side," said a statement quoting UNIFIL military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Naresh Bhatt.
He was referring to a border line drawn by the United Nations between Israel and Lebanon after an Israeli military withdrawal from southern Lebanon in 2000.
Israel claims its troops were fired upon while conducting maintenance work along the border on Tuesday, while Lebanon said its troops opened fire after an Israel patrol crossed the border fence.
Both sides blamed each other for the skirmish which killed two Lebanese soldiers, a Lebanese journalist and a senior Israeli officer.
The United States and the United Nations urged both sides to show restraint.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/05/2010
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Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#5
So removing trees is aggression? Posted by: gorb
Gorb, anything that makes it harder for Lebanon to attack Israel is "aggression" by definition.
The next "northern border" of Israel will be the Litani, if Lebanon doesn't curb Hezbollocks. Of course, Lebanon CAN'T, so it loses. Too bad, so sad. If there IS another Lebanon/Israel war, both Beirut and Damascus may end up glowing at night. I think the Israelis are getting tired of this sh$$.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
08/05/2010 14:36
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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 Islamist rebel leading the anti-Kremlin insurgency in the Russian region of Chechnya Wednesday withdrew an announcement that he was stepping down and vowed to carry on killing "enemies of Allah".
The Obama administration declined Thursday to put North Korea back on a blacklist of countries supporting terrorism despite pressure from lawmakers to do so.
President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said Iran is working on a three-stage rocket to carry a satellite 1,000 kilometres (more than 600 miles) into space, Fars news agency reported on Thursday.
A majority of people in the Arab world now hold a negative view of President Barack Obama and the United States in a substantial change from how he was seen at the start of his presidency, according to a public opinion poll released on Thursday.
It's hardly unusual to hear small-business owners gripe about licensing requirements or complain that heavy-handed regulations are driving them into the red.
On Tuesday and Wednesday this week, armed militants carried cloth sacks through the streets of Mogadishu, Kismayo and Baidoa towns. They demanded money from traders. They insisted women hand over jewelry. They asked fuel dealers to donate gasoline. And in case anyone missed the message of mandatory donations, militants drove through the streets with electronic megaphones mounted on vehicles.
One police officer was killed in the 
Wikipedia's lawyers clearly had fun with the request [pdf], particularly because the bureau, in citing federal law, conveniently omitted the words "badge" and "identification card," apparently to make it seem like the law simply governed images as opposed to fake credentials. "While we appreciate your desire to revise the statute to reflect your expansive vision of it," the site's lawyers wrote, "the fact is that we must work with the actual language of the statute, not the aspirational version ... that you forwarded to us." The site went on to politely decline the request and indicate it would gladly see the feds in court: "Badges and identification cards are physical manifestations that may be used by a possessor to invoke the authority of the federal government. An encyclopedia article is not."
[Al Arabiya Latest] At least 21 people have been killed in fighting in south Sudan's Lakes state after rustlers attacked a cattle camp, a south Sudanese military spokesman said on Wednesday.
[Tolo News] Twenty Taliban 
Two civil liberties organizations, the Center for Constitutional Rights and the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), have filed a lawsuit against the administration of President Barack Obama to prevent the US government from carrying out lethal operations against 
[Arab News] Two human rights groups on Tuesday accused the 
A day after 
Hey, there! You with the stars in your eyes...!"
In a letter to the EPA the Texas Attorney General and the Texas Commission on Environmental Quality refused to "pledge their fealty to the Environmental Protection Agency". Yes folks, you read the language right. And there's more.
[Bangla Daily Star] The International Crimes Tribunal yesterday directed the prisons authority to produce detained Jamaat-e-Islami Nayeb-e-Ameer Delwar Hossain Sayedee before it on August 10.
[Straits Times] A MALAYSIAN state is to allow Muslim girls under the age of consent of 16 years to wed in a bid to stem unwed pregnancies, angering the country's women's activists and politicians.
The leader of al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), Abdelmalek Droudkal, said he negotiated with Paris for the release of the French hostage Michel Germaneau before the operation that led to his execution according to a complete message broadcast Sunday by Islamist websites.
[Tolo News] Afghan security forces started a military operation against Taliban 
With his poll numbers dropping through the White House basement floor and his 49th birthday at hand, President 
