Rome's Fiumicino airport has defended its security procedures after a drunk Norwegian tourist fell asleep on a baggage belt and travelled 160 feet before being identified by an X-ray scanner.
The 36-year-old, who has not been named, arrived at the international terminal of Italy's busiest airport at the end of last month with a backpack and a can of beer in his hand. Here, hold my beer...
The Norwegian was due to check in for a flight to Oslo and when he found no one on duty at the airline desk he leapt across the counter and fell into a deep asleep on the baggage belt with his bag beside him. ZZZzzz... I guess you don't want your beer back, huh
As the belt began to move the unsuspecting tourist reportedly travelled for 15 minutes through the secure baggage area in Terminal 3 before officials spotted his body curled up in a foetal position in an X-ray image on their monitors. Hey Maw, look what the cat dragged in! Ewww! Throw it out!
He slept through the whole episode and airport police had trouble waking him when they were called to the scene to investigate what had happened.
PUEBLO, Colo. -- President Obama, while villifying Mitt Romney for opposing the auto industry bailout, bragged about the success of his decision to provide government assistance and said he now wants to see every manufacturing industry come roaring back.
"I said, I believe in American workers, I believe in this American industry, and now the American auto industry has come roaring back," he said. "Now I want to do the same thing with manufacturing jobs, not just in the auto industry, but in every industry.
"I don't want those jobs taking root in places like China, I want those jobs taking root in places like Pueblo," Obama told a crowd gathered for a campaign rally at the Palace of Agriculture at the Colorado State Fairgrounds here.
He made the remarks while pushing for the renewal of a tax credit for wind energy manufacturing -- something Romney opposes -- and for the creation of credits for companies who bring jobs home from overseas, as well as the elimination of loopholes for offshoring.
"Gov. Romney brags about his private sector experience, but it was mostly invested in companies, some of which were called 'pioneers of outsourcing,'" Obama said. "I don't want to be a pioneer of outsourcing. I want to insource." So he wants to repeat the horrible failure with the auto bailout by taking over every other manufacturer. Basically he wants to nationalize the manufacturing sector (and unionize I bet). Yay communism! Can we fire his stupid ass yet?
House Minority Leader Nancy Pelosi (D.-Calif.) told a recent gathering of the Women's Political Committee that the spirits of suffragists Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton and Alice Paul spoke to her at the White House. Stay off the Shrooms, Nan!
Hilary only talked with Eleanor Roosevelt.
Pelosi said she heard them say: "At last we have a seat at the table". Did they say that in unison or one at a time?
A video recently posted on Youtube shows Pelosi speaking in May describing her first meeting with President Bush in the White House after becoming part of the Democratic House leadership.
In the video Pelosi says, "He's (Bush) saying something to the effect of we're so glad to welcome you here, congratulations and I know you'll probably have some different things to say about what is going on--which is correct. But, as he was saying this, he was fading and this other thing was happening to me." Shrooms will do that to you. So I hear.
"My chair was getting crowded in," said Pelosi. "I swear this happened, never happened before, it never happened since." Now we know The Wicked Witch of the West's problem. She not only hears voices, she does what they tell her to.
"My chair was getting crowded in and I couldn't figure out what it was, it was like this," she said. My chair would be crowded too, with all those people trying to sit in it at the same time.
"And then I realized Susan B. Anthony, Elizabeth Cady Stanton, Lucretia Mott, Alice Paul, Sojourner Truth, you name it, they were all in that chair, they were," said Pelosi. "More than I named and I could hear them say: 'At last we have a seat at the table.' And then they were gone." More people than she could name? That's probably not too many.
This was not the only time Pelosi has told this story. On June 6 of this year she told it during an event celebrating her 25 years of political service.
Pelosi has also told the story when speaking at colleges, including at Trinity Washington University's commencement on May 20, 2012. Pelosi's website contains a transcript of the tale as related in her 2005 commencement address at Goucher College in Baltimore.
Susan B. Anthony and Elizabeth Cady Stanton were activists in the women's rights movement during the mid to late 1800's. The Susan B. Anthony List, which works for pro-life women's leadership in government, uses her as a namesake. The organization claims Anthony and Stanton were strong pro-life supporters. I know she's nuts but I didn't know she was this far gone.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
08/09/2012
14:29 ||
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And the pro-lifers are very correct, if one bothers to read everything these women wrote. They knew EXACTLY why men wanted abortions and knew where such a society would go.
While I was visiting my mom in France, I read an article in Paris Match that I regret not filing: it was an interview with the leader of the "feminist" movement in France. She was extremely PO'ed about the way that the "change the whole system/take no prisoners!" attitude in the US movement severely hampered the French movement in terms of membership and persuasiveness. Her argument was that the French woman wanted a fair shake in employment, but no part in changing the way men and women interacted outside of work, and so didn't want to join a movement that they thought would change the latter, even if it improved affairs in the former.
The frenchMEN are idiots, and the FrenchWomen are as sane, if not saner, than the individuals sitting in the silos of our ICBMs. If Descartes was ressurrected and shown how France had changed, he'd give a gallic shrug and consider winning half the population to rational thinking as "not too shabby".
This is a speech given by Andrew C. McCarthy, the guy that prosecuted the Blind Sheikh -- long, but contains some real and scary info.
I was invited by the Center for Security Policy to give a speech at the National Press Club in Washington yesterday. The topic was our government's relations with the Muslim Brotherhood and why concerns about Brotherhood infiltration, raised by five conservative House members, are very real. The speech ran nearly an hour, and there was a little over a half-hour of Q&A afterwards. The event was carried by CSPAN, and for those interested, the link is here. Below is the prepared text of my speech:
#1
Well, if al-Qida are operating as NATO troops in Syria and are tremendously OK, what does that make the MusBros? I suspect someone is giving them a long leash looking to what happens when the Ramadongadingdong thingy finishes and the Arab Spring continues in the last remaining raghead kleptocracies, of which there may be about 7. (The Magic Kingdom, Qutar, Emirates, Jordan, etc).
It's a Sunni/Shiite dust-up, let them get on with it even if it means the MB think they're pulling strings. Just jerk their chain when required.
The Chinese are far more deserving of US attention.
And whilst the Russians protect the Alawites (and Christians) and don't get paid for their trouble, I see no problem with letting the MB think they're the biggest poodle in town.
I reiterate, get China sorted by strengthening your Pacific allies you know who they are by now. Out.
#2
I disagree that the MB should not be a concern. The MB are but one group of a much larger set of islamists worldwide. McCarthy's book The Grand Jihad links many on the left as being allied with the islamists either willfully or as useful idiots. I do agree that China should be a concern as well.
August 7th, the WSJ posted a story which mentioned that all new permits have been stopped for the construction of new nuclear plants in the U.S. by a regulator. . Link Strange how the coal industry has been slow-walked by this administration to the extent the coal unions are not supporting Obama. The oil industry has been slowed in support of Obama's leftist environmentalist base. Then there is Obummer's bowing to the Saudis. Then there has been his lackluster attitude and disrespect of one of our allies in the Mideast, Israel. McCarthy mentioned Obama's policy shift towards the Arab world. Gasoline prices have been busting our hump at the pump. Ten percent of personal income is going to gasoline. It is probably more when you factor the increased prices of foodstuffs and other consumables due to increased transportation costs. You have to question his leanings. Few if any in the MSM have raised such questions.
The Chinese are killing us also because of a lot of dumb trade and borrowing policies from China coming out of Washington.
We cannot afford four more years of Obama. He is killing us.
Iran's Foreign Minister, Ali Akbar Salehi, says some of the 48 Iranians kidnapped by Syrian rebels are retired members of the Revolutionary Guards and the army and were in Damascus on a religious pilgrimage.
The rebel Free Syrian Army describes those kidnapped Saturday as Revolutionary Guards on a "reconnaissance mission." But Iran's ISNA news agency quoted Salehi Wednesday, as denying that the Iranians have any current military connection.
Salehi's comments were published after he visited Turkey Tuesday to ask for help in securing the hostages' release.
Iranian officials have reached out to both Turkey and Qatar for help in freeing those kidnapped. Both nations support the Syrian opposition, while Iran backs the Syrian government.
Posted by: AU Auric ||
08/09/2012
12:31 ||
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...retired.... religious pilgrimage....uh-huh
Posted by: Large Guelph1068 ||
08/09/2012 14:12
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retired...now
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/09/2012 15:33
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Does that mean they won't get unemployment benefits while they're jugged?
WaPo gives Iran space on its opinion page:
"...Although Annan's efforts to end the crisis have been terminated, his six-point plan for political change is alive and well. Why should seeds of discord continue to be planted when the situation can be resolved rationally, through wisdom and providence? Those backing violence in Syria fail to see that whatever they seek through their actions won't materialize.
That is an idiotic statement. The people backing violence are rational -- cynical bastards yes, but also rational. If they honestly thought that wisdom and providence would give them what they want, that's what they would do. Pencilneck is killing his people because otherwise they'd depose and kill him. His actions make him a murderous thug, but it's entirely rational for him to behave that way. WaPo honestly thinks that we can 'imagine peace' in Syria? Good Lord, what rubes.
Abrupt political change without a roadmap for managed political transition will lead only to a precarious situation that would destabilize one of the world's most sensitive regions. Iran is part of the solution, not the problem. As the world has witnessed during the past decade, we have acted as a stabilizing force in Iraq and Afghanistan, two other Muslim countries thrown into turmoil. The stability of our region is paramount for world peace and tranquillity...."
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/09/2012
10:32 ||
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Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/09/2012 12:48
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Thanks, mods.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/09/2012 13:58
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#3
While I saw no hugging or kissing, I thought the Chicago cop's response was quite muted, even gentle. Not a great leap to figure out what was going on.
#4
Every high profile Democrat such as Obama, Pelosi, Reid, etc. came out in support of the OWS crowd. The response of the police would most likely be muted since most of the large cities are Blue run cities.
#2
Others can speak up, but in all my instruction and classes, never was there time spent upon the Constitution of the United States and the clear implications of the Oath of Office taken as an officer. In the early 70s the Army was in CYA mode after Mai Lai with a video instruction and some words from a JAG instructor, but really nothing of substance about illegal orders.
Someone needs to brush up on the Battle of Athens, Tennessee. Somewhere in the course they'd better include the 'what if your subordinates and men refuse your orders' placing you in the position between those above and those below. Do your loyalties belong to your pay master or to the oath you took?
#6
I agree with Bright Pebbles. If you planned to put down Occupy style riots your career would be over if you called it that. Yet if you called it Tea-Party riots you might get the same report out there, do some good, and get a promotion in the process.
#8
Y'all should have stopped reading at History Professor at University of Kansas, the only thing funnier than a need for an extensive storyplot is if the Proggly Madam would have instead chosen Greensboro, NC and those dastardly tea people abducted Roy Williams and raised a Wildcat flag.
Seriously, why does a game colonel need a history professor? Is there some insight about the mid-19th century production of wartime socks into what a 21st century behavior might be?
And so I guess letting my daughter watch the musical 1776 has turned her into a klam member, hilarious on so many levels, especially the picture of the two of them, drinking coffee late into a stormy night, building the plot.
#9
I may be a bit paranoid, but all of the things coming up about riot gear being bought for November, articles like this and general hostility toward those that don't tow the party line makes me believe that this is really pushing towards the goal of keeping Obama in office. Even if he loses the election.
#12
Tea party Glen Beck only chance of hurting people with a weapon is if you are highly trained. Soldiers and SWAT the rest of the people only have a 4 percent chance! I watched an FBI agent popping rounds at dear and in the direction of people good luck KIDZ!
#13
Not to mention that there are a lot of veterans among active Tea Partiers - and I knew of a handful of active-duty who were active also, but had to keep their involvement low-key. I was drawn into involvement in a local Tea Party myself, through friendship with a retired officer who was forming a local chapter. Having Tea Partiers in this scenario execute a coup against a legitimately-elected city government was really way, way out of line, and not credible ... considering that one of the three key principles was fidelity to the Constitution. (The other two being fiscal responsibility and free markets ... real free markets, without the thumb of big government on the scale.)
It is ... unsettling, though ... to read of high-ranked military officers appearing incapable of differentiating between the current administration and fidelity to the Constitution.
#14
...oh, and does it dawn on these people that the war in Iraq turned when the Iraqi people had enough of the insurgents and the lack thereof in Afghanistan is going to make it damn difficult to sustain whatever is left in place. It's called consent of the governed. We showed up with all sorts of trinkets and bobbles and money, but it wasn't till the other side clearly PO'd the general population that stuff turned around. When you ID as the 'red team' people who hold fundamental beliefs that the majority of the population hold, you've set yourself up for eventual long term failure and you have to expect a number of 'aw sh*t' events that will undermine 'winning the hearts and minds' to expand any further support.
#15
Tea party Glen Beck only chance of hurting people with a weapon is if you are highly trained. Soldiers and SWAT the rest of the people only have a 4 percent chance! I watched an FBI agent popping rounds at dear and in the direction of people good luck KIDZ!
Clyde Omoluter9733, if you would be kind enough to clarify your above using very simple words, I would be grateful. I can't find any sense in it at all, which suggests I'm not thinking very clearly tonight.
#17
And ye shall know the truth and the truth shall set you free. (overlooking the Hall of Fallen Heroes, CIA main entrace, McClean, VA)
I can throw out quotes too:
"We must dare to think 'unthinkable' thoughts. We must learn to explore all the options and possibilities that confront us in a complex and rapidly changing world." - J. William Fulbright
Funny thing - I was trained to think of all possible possibles and any impossibles that came to mind, at all times. You didn't; you were at fault when something went wrong and you weren't ready. That's one of the curses of the gold braid.
[Yemen Post] Yemen's security authorities have detected about 20 boom belts that could have been used in suicide kabooms, local sources said on Wednesday.
Mayor of the capital Sana'a Abdul-Qader Hilal affirmed that the police detected last week bombs and boom belts in a shop in Al-Qadysia street.
He spelt out that the belts were discovered after a jacket wallahwent kaboom! himself in a market in late July.
He affirmed that the police found out that the bomber was planning to carry out a terrorist operation that was designed to raise instability in Sana'a, hinting that residents contributed in foiling the conspiracy.
Al-Qaeda carried out a number of terrorist attacks in Sana'a, and the most deadliest one was carried out against a military parade rehearsal that killed about 100 soldiers in May.
Since its defeat in June, Al-Qaeda forces of Evil have grabbed credit for deadly attacks in Sana'a and other cities that targeted military and security chiefs, personnel, cadets and offices.
The authorities have defused many bombs near key security and private installations in recent weeks.
About 45 Yemenis were killed and dozens others were maimed as Ansar Al-Shariah attacked a rally of the Popular Resistance Committees in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... Yemeni analysts say that hat Ansar al-Sharia ...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends... h is no longer to engage in direct festivities with the army or carry out operations against sensitive facilities and it resorted to carry out such accessible attacks.
Rajeh Badi, an advisor of Primer Mohammad Salem Basindwa, said Al-Qaeda restarted its attacks to show that it is still able to carry out operations anywhere and in any time.
[Yemen Post] The Yemeni authorities carried out a successful Arclight airstrike on Tuesday killing one of the most Al-Qaeda wanted leaders and six other fighters including foreigners, two days after Al-Qaeda bomber killed and injured scores in Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... province, Saba reported.
The Arclight airstrike in the Manasih area, Baidha, targeted Abdullah Awadh Al-Masri, known as Abu Osama Al-Maribi, who was the officer in charge with explosives production and one of the most dangerous leaders of Al-Qaeda in Baidha, it said.
The six others gunnies included Abu Jaafar Al-Iraqi, a Bahraini, Abu Al-Bara Al-Sharori, a Saudi, Abu Musab Al-Masri, an Egyptian, Abu Hafsa, a Tunisian and Ibrahim Al-Sakhi, a Yemeni, Saba said.
In Abyan where an Al-Qaeda bomber killed about 45 pro-government fighters and injured tens others two days ago, the authorities killed two terrorist suspects and locked away Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! three others.
The operations came within an extensive hunt for Al-Qaeda faceless myrmidons who were reported to have planned to regroup and recruit new fighters after their defeat in the south in the past few months.
The Yemeni army drove faceless myrmidons out of their strongholds in Abyan and Shabwa provinces in May and has launched a hunt for the remaining myrmidons.
In retaliation, Al-Qaeda has carried out deadly attacks in several Yemeni cities including the capital Sanaa targeting military and security leaders, personnel, cadets and offices.
More recently there have been reports warning of Al-Qaeda comeback in Yemen coinciding with sporadic raids on villages and camps in some key towns.
#1
How is it that it's always 'foreign militants' getting killed? In Iraq, then A & P'stan, now in Yemen. They could save on transportation costs and all just stay home to get killed.
#2
Hey Rantburg ... those comments about Arclight are dating you! Hahahahaha!! That's old stuff ... old stuff indeed.
And in refernece to the other comment - the presence of foreign militants shows that local AQ either has high goals, or lacks essential abilities for its jobs. They are bringing in foreign fighters with more experience in certain operations, because the locals don't have enough depth. Hence the locals are getting hammeed. However, as this article shows .. somebody smart has figured out the process. Because now the foreigners are gettign hammered too. :-)
#3
Raider, some Rantburgers (not me, of course) fondly remember Arclights, and have commented on their effectiveness in installing a proper attitude in the foe. Have commented often enough, in fact, that the mere mention is good for a free imaginary beer in the O Club. See you there!
#4
Arclight: (ark-lite) An aerial bombing strategy when carried out by the United States is generally characterized by Jane Fonda as genocidal baby killing and a war crime.
An explosion ripped through the capital of Russia's Chechnya region on Monday, killing at least four interior ministry soldiers and wounding three people.
The blast, which Interfax news agency said occured as the soldiers left an armored vehicle near their garrison quarters, destroyed the fragile peace of the broader North Caucasus region.
Local authorities said the blast could have been carried out by two suicide bombers. Witnesses said they heard two explosions, the second of which sent flames and smoke into the air.
An Open Day for Bulgarians was held on Tuesday at the Chinese frigate Yantai, which arrived at the Black Sea port of Varna to make a five-day goodwill visit. Black Sea, eh? The Turks let it through the Straits of Bosporous?
More than 1,000 people climbed aboard the first Chinese navy ship visiting Bulgaria.
"We came here mainly because China is a friendly country for us, Chinese people are our brotherly nation, and we came to look at the ship, which came to visit in Varna for the first time," a visitor told Xinhua. And then the imaginary visitor's imaginary lips fell off. Come on, ordinary people talk like that all the time. I read quotes like that in Pravda on a daily basis...
Another visitor, Ivan Lambov, a former master mariner, said that he very much enjoyed the frigate and the organization onboard.
"This ship is strong, and probably it has been tested in combat conditions," Lambov said. Nope!
He said he understood from media reports that Yantai has performed duties in anti-piracy areas. "To be in anti-piracy areas and on duty, you have to be in form because modern pirates are not what they once were: it is no joke to fight against pirates," Lambov said. They run at the first whiff of grapeshot. They attack the defenseless, not armed ships. Unless they screw up. And there are no pirates in the Black Sea...
Meanwhile, Senior Captain Li Hua, Yantai frigate Commander, told reporters the ship was launched in 2010 and was commissioned in 2011. He said this is the newest Chinese navy ship, equipped with the most advanced Chinese technology. Hopefully we got some spies onboard, but with CIA these days, I doubt it.
#1
"An Open Day for Bulgarians was held on Tuesday ..."
Bulgarians? Are you kidding? So - are they struggling with despondency over a lack of medals in the Olympics?? What exactly did the Chinese do - give them tea and twinkies?? Hahahahaha!!!
#2
Thanks for posting that for me, gromky. Didn't need to credit me, but thanks.
Russia always seems to just be anti whatever we do or want no matter what, even if it works to their disadvantage in the long run. It is as if they see their primary role in the world as being the "anti-US" for some reason.
#6
It is as if they see their primary role in the world as being the "anti-US" That does seem to be the case. Ever since their god (Marxism-Leninism) died, Russia has been at a loss for an over-riding purpose.
#7
Actually, it is my understanding that they regularly test fire a dummy toward an internal test range: their silos are designed to spit their missles out and close up before the engines ignite. Makes for really bad accuracy, so I figure this is an attempt to incrementally improve the algorithms.
We have no idea how good they're getting, since we have NO idea what part of that test range they're TRYING to hit. If the KGB had their way, they'd see where it landed and draw the bullseye there.
Three Taliban leaders were captured in joint Afghan and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... troop operations in Afghanistan, Isaf said in a statement on Wednesday.
"An Afghan and coalition security force tossed in the calaboose Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! a Taliban leader in Nahr-e Saraj district of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... province, today," it said.
The commander allegedly controlled an krazed killer cell responsible for multiple attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the region.
Another senior Taliban leader was captured in the Chimtal district of northern Balkh province, the statement added.
He allegedly funded krazed killer operations and co-ordinated attacks throughout the district. During the operation, the security force tossed in the slammer I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! one other suspected krazed killer.
Afghan and NATO troops on July 31 also tossed in the calaboose Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! a mid-level member of the Taliban called Haji Shakur. He apparently controlled dozens of krazed killer fighters was active in the Chora and Caluchi districts of Uruzgan province. He is accused of providing those under his control with ammunition and weapons, and recruiting local Afghans from the area for the Taliban.
The operation was conducted by Afghan cops, and supported by coalition troops.
Three International Security Assistance Force service members died following an beturbanned goon attack in eastern Afghanistan today.
The exact location of the incident or the nationalities of the troops have not been released yet, according to ISAF protocol.
Improvised Explosive Devices have been responsible for 50 percent of US soldier casualties this year, according to the website.
The tally of Isaf soldier deaths in Afghanistan this year now stands at 278. The majority of those who died are Americans, with 211 US soldiers 28 British soldiers killed.
Roadside bombs are frequently used by hard boyz to target foreign and Afghan National Security Forces.
A United Nations ...When talk is your weapon it's hard to make yourself heard over the sound of artillery... report released on Wednesday says that there has been a 53 per cent increase in civilian casualties caused by assassinations in the first half of this year in Afghanistan, compared to the same period in 2011.
Overall, however, the report prepared by the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA), demonstrates a 15 percent decrease in the number of civilian casualties from January 2012 until mid year where 1,145 people have been killed and 1,954 others have been maimed.
Anti-Government elements, according to the report, continue to target community leaders, governmental authorities and civilians that they suspect of supporting the government or military forces.
The UN has attributed 80 per cent of the casualties to anti-government groups, saying Improvised Explosive Devices (IEDs) account for 29 per cent of the casualties, while assassinations account for 22 per cent of the casualties. 882 people have been killed and 1,593 others maimed by anti-government elements, 14 per cent less than the same period last year.
Pro-government elements were responsible for 10 per cent of the casualties, showing a 25 per cent reduction in compared with the last year.
The UN has asked all parties to ensure civilian casualties are minimised, calling on anti-government elements to immediately cease using IEDs and suicide kabooms.
Because that always works.
The reports show that 114,900 people have been displaced due to conflict related violence which is 14 per cent higher than the same period last year.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
08/09/2012
00:09 ||
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Not ready for Prime Time...weather proof dome, open air generators. May not be associated though. A 33kw laser needs a lot more that what these boxes will deliver.
The Muslim Brotherhood is busily propagating conspiracy theories about Israeli guilt for Sunday's terror attack in Sinai, which killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. But there's a bright side to this story: For the first time ever, many Egyptians aren't buying it.
True, dozens of demonstrators converged on the Israeli ambassador's house Monday to demand his expulsion, asserting that Israel was to blame. But the real mob scene occurred at the slain soldiers' funerals -- where crowds chanted slogans denouncing not Israel, but the Muslim Brotherhood, and physically attacked a representative of the Brotherhood-led government, Prime Minister Hesham Kandil.
Nor did the media blindly regurgitate the usual conspiracy theories of Israeli guilt: They duly reported the Egyptian military's assertion that the attack was perpetrated by terrorists from Sinai aided by Palestinians from the Gaza Strip. Prominent Egyptian commentators even criticized the army for ignoring the intelligence warning Israel had shared, and President Mohammed Morsi for pardoning thousands of radical Islamists and freeing them from jail. And both in television interviews and on social media sites, many ordinary Egyptians blamed the attack not on Israel, but on Morsi, for having reopened the Gaza-Egypt border.
Moreover, the outrage shifted the balance of power between the army and the Brotherhood in the cabinet, enabling the army's representative, Defense Minister Hussein Tantawi, to force Morsi to seal the Egypt-Gaza border "indefinitely," just days after having triumphantly reopened it. The army also poured troops accompanied by bulldozers into the Gaza border region to begin sealing the Gaza-Sinai smuggling tunnels -- a step Israel had long pleaded for in vain. It even launched its first-ever air strikes on suspected terrorists in Sinai.
Finally, the public outrage seems to have emboldened Egyptian liberals: Former parliamentarian Mohammed Abu Hamed, for instance, launched a blistering attack on Morsi in which he even took the courageous step of defending the peace with Israel.
There's no guarantee any of this will last: Anti-Israel incitement has been the norm in Egypt for decades, and anti-Israel sentiment runs deep. But if Sunday's attack proves the start of a process that leads ordinary Egyptians to reevaluate who their real enemies are, that would be an enormous boon not only for Israel, but for the prospects of a lasting Middle East peace.
#1
Oh My, the government is finding it hard to make the people hate Israel, their sworn enemy.
This will be fun, you think WE have troubles with Obama, how about thinking f a whole government BASED on Obamas at every level.(And the people don't like it)
Fun, Fun, Fun.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/09/2012 5:25
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.....how about thinking of a whole government BASED on Obamas.
Redneck Jim
As I watch the US Justice Dept., EPA, senior echelons of our military, and others, I am very much thinking about it.
[Dawn] The army said on Tuesday it was carrying out targeted actions against snuffies in North Wazoo, but denied planning joint operations with the United States.
"Targeted actions in Operation Tight Screw (OTS) by Pakistain Army against snuffies in North Waziristan ... being undertaken since the beginning of this year," a senior military officer said.
The purpose of OTS was to squeeze space for the snuffies in North Waziristan, he said, adding that it was an ongoing process.
The military had not yet formally announced the start of the OTS. An operation in North Waziristan for eliminating Haqqani network's
sanctuaries has been a longstanding demand of the US and is one of the major issues which have been weighing down the ties.
According to some western analysts, delay by Pakistain "on the pretext" that its troops and resources have been stretched thin because of counter-militancy operations in other tribal agencies put its sincerity in the war on terror under doubt.
Militants affiliated with the terror group have, meanwhile, mounted high profile attacks inside Afghanistan. A New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... report had
said that it was a widely held perception within the B.O. regime that the US could be one major attack away from launching a unilateral action against Pakistain.
With passage of time Pakistain has come under increased pressure to act against the most dreaded Afghan cut-thoat group having sanctuaries on its soil.
The army officer rejected the impression of any joint operation being planned, as reported by Wall Street Journal after ISI chief Lt-Gen Zaheerul Islam's visit to Washington last week.
He insisted that coordinated actions on both sides of the border had always been part of the routine and shouldn't be misconstrued as joint operations. Joint operations with the US are a highly sensitive issue in the country rife with anti-Americanism. Any such agreement could
intensify public criticism of the army.
"When, where and how to carry out operation within our territory is for us to decide," the officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] Four personnel of the Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... Constabulary were killed and 12 others injured in a kaboom near the Sami area of Kech district on Tuesday night.
Official sources said that two trucks carrying BC personnel were on their way to Turbat when a powerful blast took place close to one of the vehicles.
"Three BC men was struck down in his prime and 12 others received serious injuries," the Assistant Commissioner of Kech told Dawn, adding that the fourth man died later.
The dear departed were identified as Qazi Zaman, Sheh Haq, Manzoor Ahmed and Hikmat Ali.
Security officials said that personnel of the Frontier Corps and Levies took the bodies and the injured to the district hospital in Turbat.
The condition of five personnel is stated to be serious.
"Unknown people had planted a bomb at the roadside and detonated it through remote control," a security bigshot said, adding that personnel in the second truck remained safe.
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By Ed Rogers
It is only mid-August and President B.O. has officially run out of things to say. I've said before that I think the Obama campaign is not properly pacing itself. I've thought his campaign was running too hot and it would exhaust itself before November.
Obama does not appear to be building his campaign to a crescendo that will drive up turnout but is instead building a campaign of distractions and pot shots that will turn voters off and suppress turnout. Low turnout should be among Obama's greatest fears in 2012. Perhaps he is hoping the campaign will be so bad that it will suppress Willard Mitt Romney's ...former governor of Massachussetts, currently the presumptive Publican nominee for president. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field. On the plus side, he isn't President B.O... turnout, too.
Yesterday revealed two examples of how low the Obama campaign has reached. I think we are beyond the kitchen sink and Obama is now throwing pieces of pipe out of the wall.
Obama has a new ad out in which he and his superPAC accuse Romney of killing a woman. That's right, Romney killed her by investing in a company that failed. Her husband worked at that company and, somehow, the Bain Capital investment led to her illness and death. Yes, it is a little hard to follow. The woman's death is a tragedy, but Obama doesn't mind using it in a twisted way to try and tar Romney and distract voters from his own economic record.
Next, Obama rolled out a rehearsed, childish put-down of some aspect of Romney's tax plan. The news of the day from the president of the United States was him calling Mitt Romney "Romneyhood" at a fundraiser in Connecticut. It is so dumb I don't mind repeating it. But with so much of the media willing to play along, Romney couldn't let the sound bite stand and have it be declared clever by the Obama apologencia -- the Romney campaign had to have its own childish retort. So yesterday was about Romneyhood and "Obamaloney."
I guess that is a score for Obama, since he needs the campaign to be a discouraging farce so that no one will notice how his stewardship of the economy is ruining their lives and destroying kids' futures.
Oh, well. I can't wait to see what happens next.
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#1
This is Obama and the the Democrats. More attacks to come. This is his history. He takes the easy route always. He has totally lost the conservative Democrat. I believe they will stay home. The media is the biggest enemy in our election process. After the election they will hammer every negative they can find or make up. They really need to go out of business.
#4
Obamaloney is a bit strained but DOES do a better job of conveying the truth than "Romneyhood", which could be turned around to point out that classic remakes of "robin hood" has good Robin and his merrie band attacking on overoppressive, overtaxing government to return money to the people. Tax cuts tend to do that...
#5
Ptah, totally agree. Perhaps due is a history show exploring the real Robin Hood, you know the one who held the shire's physician hostage, destroyed roads and bridges, and raped ducks. Also hung out with that radical bible clinger Tuck and did you know Little John is a slang for somebody who pistol whips people with a Glock. True stuff, saw it in a commercial.
No. They need to be put down, like a rabid animal. I read somewhere (wish I could find the link) that 95% of the media in this country is owned by just 5 or 6 groups, and that they all share seats on each others Boards.
There must be someway to break these groups up with RICO or Anti-Trust laws. The Left, and their control of the Media has to stopped. We cannot afford to wait for them to go bankrupt. I fear it is too late to save the Republic, we'll have to wait for it to collapse, and be ready to move fast against the Left when it does.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
08/09/2012 13:28
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#7
On the plus side, he [Obummer] isn't President B.O...
That's good enough reason to vote for Mitt. However, there are other good reasons too. He has executive experience and has done something positive in this life besides be a community organizer and who is driven by a hatred and envy of success, a hatred for anyone who disagrees with him, and one who is full of racism and anti-semitism.
#10
It's not so much that he's run out of things to say, but who in hell is listening to him besides the true believers? I see him on TV, I turn the channel. Hear him on the radio, click. He's got nothing to say to me that I'm interesting in hearing or that I haven't heard from his lying ass before. I've tuned him out, as have a lotta people I know.
[Ynet] Twelve Israelis from Ghajar, Nazareth arrested on suspicion they smuggled 21 kg of demolition blocks, weapons and narcotics from Lebanon to Israel. Ibtin resident also arrested. Suspects may have been waiting for orders from Hezbollah
Cleared for publication: Thirteen northern Israel residents were incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! last month on suspicion they planned terrorist attacks. Police and Shin Bet forces seized 21 kg of C4 explosives, advanced explosive mechanisms, weapons and narcotics. The suspects were on orders from Hezbollah and were meant to target Israelis. Serious indictments have been filed against 10 of the suspects.
An investigation was launched in early July after Israeli intelligence officers received information regarding the smuggling of a large quantity of explosives.
The information was relayed to the Shin Bet and a joint investigation revealed that 24 demolition blocks had been smuggled from Leb to Israel via the village of Ghajar on June 5. Advanced operating systems had been utilized in the operation.
Security forces apprehended two separate cells -- a Ghajar cell responsible for smuggling the weapons, and a Nazareth cell that was meant to receive the explosives, hide them and transfer them to terrorists. One of the suspects is a resident of Ibtin.
Police sappers who examined the devices found they were ready to be detonated and unlike other devices could cause multiple mass-casualty attacks. The explosives had been hidden in the backyard of one of the suspects in Nazareth.
Police added that an M-16 rifle stolen from a high ranking IDF officer had been found buried in another backyard where a two-barrel machine gun was also found buried under concrete floor. The suspects from Ghajar apparently engaged in drug smuggling and trafficking.
A police official said that the Lebanese explosives supplier, George Nimer, is a member of Hezbollah and a drug pusher also known as Abu Ali. Nimer worked with Saed Kamhuz, an Israeli citizen charged with various security and drug charges who had escaped to Leb.
Police explained that the Lebanese contacted a person named Shahid Ibrahim of Ghajar who transferred the explosives to another resident who arranged that they be delivered to Kafr Kana, where couriers named Abdullah Zoabi and Arafat Byumi collected them.
Byumi is suspected of transferring the explosives to the head of the Nazareth cell, Abdel Bassat Zoabi. Funds and SIM cards were later transferred to the Hezbollah contact person via Jordan. This was done to arrange a secure line between Abu Ali and Bassat.
Police said that another person, yet to be identified, was meant to collect the devices and carry out terrorist attacks. A police official said that more than NIS 400,000 were transferred to Leb in exchange for the explosives.
According to the police, the Ghajar smugglers are drug pushers who exploited the village's special geographical location. "Some of the weapons were possibly meant to be used for criminal purposes and are not necessarily connected to terrorist plans."
A total of 13 suspects in their 30s and a 17-year-old were incarcerated Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! . Ten suspects are still in jug and have been charged with serious security offences.
Abdel Bassat is being charged with aiding an enemy at a time of war, contact with a foreign agent, possession of weapons, conspiracy to commit a crime, and drug trafficking offences.
Northern District Police chief Ronny Atiya said that the operation prevented large-scale terrorist attacks. Police said that Hezbollah is highly motivated with the aim of harming Israeli and Jewish targets and is collecting intelligence in preparation for a large-scale attack.
'State tries to humiliate Arabs'
Ghajar front man Najib Khatib said that the arrest caught everyone in the village by surprise. "I think the arrest was out of place," he said. "I find it hard to believe they are involved in security offences, the residents here are quiet and are not looking for trouble."
An excerpt
Economic growth requires good spending, not more spending. After all, Washington could pay every American $10,000 to dig a hole in his or her neighbor's yard and then another $10,000 to fill it in. It would be a ludicrous policy, yet Keynes argued that the unemployed would be better off if paid by the government to "dig holes in the ground."
Most jobs bills are little different than paying people to dig holes. Politics, not economics, dominates. University of Chicago economist Raghuram Rajan admitted "When people say austerity is not the answer, fine, if you have great things to spend on, let us know what they are." The ARRA ignited a lobbying frenzy, turning the measure into a Christmas tree for legislators to hang long desired projects and favored social spending. By one estimate the bill "created" jobs at an average cost of $278,000. The cost of some individual jobs exceeded a million dollars each.
Tom Evslin, who coordinated Vermont's federal "stimulus" money, concluded that "much of the money ended up continuing bloated programs rather than providing a transition to a sustainable future." He pointed to broadband and energy programs, where private investment "dried up as companies waited to see if they could build with taxpayer money. Entrepreneurial effort turned from innovation to grant-grabbing." Last September the New York Times reported that critics "say the money has gone to areas where it is not needed, to promote broadband where it already exists and for industrial parks designed to attract business and jobs that may never materialize." RTWT
#1
Economic growth requires growth. There will be damn little of that in the next 4 years, regardless of who is elected president in 3 months. The main questions are, who will be blamed for the lack of growth between the election of 2012 and the next one of 2014, and how will the dwindling wealth of the US be re-distributed? Eventually the electorate will figure it out. I'm not holding my breath as to just when they will figure it out.
Growth also requires providing goods or services which someone values (needs or wants) and can afford; to create an added value. Growth requires creating wealth. Digging holes doesn't do it; ultimately government jobs don't do it either. They suck up wealth that is created by the private economy. Over-regulating the private economy with inane regulations also dries up wealth. Money needs to keep circulating, creating wealth for individuals along the way--there has to be some velocity to money.
#4
Face it, you are all working for the bankers now, and they are not ever going to take the blame, if it's a blame-game you want.
They will wreck your country and the world and then make you pay for the repairs with slave labour.
The more people who opt out of their game/system, the less their chances of success.
Unfortunately, most are wage slaves not based on a cash economy, so not many options there, apart from demanding to be paid in cash.
Fortunately, I am not in that position, so I can hate whatever I like, (bankers, politicians, etc), with not much comeback, but I fear the majority are, how do the English put it, stuffed for at least the next three generations
Some additional information, not much, just that they are going to try to get in there "before Friday" and that there is only a little twilight around noon at this time of year at the station's location.
Temperatures recently were -9F (-23C) which is not impossible to operate in though weather can change dramatically with a change in wind direction.
[Dawn] Three incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! gun-hung tough guys and two soldiers were killed in a shootout at a detention centre in the garrison area in provincial metropolis on Monday night, sources said.
They said that the incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! gun-hung tough guys overpowered the sentries at a detention centre in R.A Bazaar near Corps Headquarters.
The incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! gun-hung tough guys snatched guns from the guards and fired at them before escaping from the compound, they added.
Sources said that two guards received injuries in the firing. The injured soldiers later gave up the ghost, they added.
They said that other guards, taking position at the observatory towers, fired at the fleeing turbans. All the three fleeing persons were killed on the spot, they said. The names and identities of the dear departed could not be ascertained.
The residents of the area said that two low intensity kabooms were also heard in the vicinity. However, facts are stubborn; statistics are more pliable... officials of Eastern cop shoppe expressed ignorance about the incident and said that no FIR was registered till Tuesday evening.
Army troops cordoned off the Cantonment area after the incident and launched extensive search operation, which continued till late night. All roads in the red zone and its surrounding localities remained closed to traffic till late night.
About two years ago, gun-hung tough guys had snatched weapons from guards at a detention centre in the Cantonment area, however, they were overpowered by the security forces.
In Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... , two pro-government tribal elders were killed and as many members of a peace committee received injuries in two separate incidents.
In the first incident, unidentified armed persons rubbed out two pro-government elders, Malik Khan Mohammad and Malik Islam Khan, in Shah Khani area of Nawagai tehsil on Monday night.
Both the elders were at their homes when the assailants attacked them with automatic weapons.
Scores of local people and peace volunteers rushed to the area immediately but the attackers managed to escape, Izhar Khan, a member of Charmang Peace Committee, told Dawn.
The residents of the area said that both the dear departed elders had played vital role in elimination of gun-hung tough guys in the area. "Both of them have no personal enmity with anyone. They were receiving threats from unidentified persons for the last several months," they added.
No group grabbed credit for the killings, however, local people pointed finger at turbans.
The administration launched investigation into the incident and jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! several persons in the area during a search operation.
Also, Malik Najeebullah Khan, a senior member of Mamond Peace Committee, and his driver were maimed when a roadside remote controlled bomb, planted by unidentified turbans, went off in the border area of Gardi Bagh on Tuesday morning.
Eyewitness said that Malik Najeeb was going to Khar in his car when a roadside kaboomwent kaboom! with a big bang. The residents of the area and members of peace committee rushed to the site and shifted Malik Najeeb and his diver Fateh Khan to agency headquarters hospital in Khar for treatment.
Hospital sources said that both the injured were at death's door.
"The administration has launched investigation in to attack and several suspects have been jugged Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! ," an official told Dawn.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] NOW it is the realm of television programming and advertising that has attracted the Supreme Court's attention. Summoning the chief of the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority in response to petitions moved by two conservative figures, the former amir of the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Qazi Hussain Ahmed ...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went... and a retired Supreme Court justice, Wajihuddin Ahmed, the court on Monday demanded action within a week against 'obscene' and 'vulgar' programming and advertisements on private TV channels aired in Pakistain. Pause for a moment and consider the various problems that afflict this country and that the court is embroiled in. That obscenity and vulgarity on television -- and this before the debate about whether the impugned content is at all obscene or vulgar -- figures in the scheme of things to fix at the highest levels at the moment is somewhat worrying.
Two points need to be made here. First, the excesses that do frequently occur on television -- from content that foments religious intolerance to coverage of terrorist attacks that are insensitive to victims' families and badly handled, and from opinion-laden shows that are divorced from fact to invasion of privacy and worse in intrusive programming -- do need serious redressal. However, it's easy to be generous with someone else's money... government regulation is not the way to go. The Musharraf era epitomised the problem: even the most ardent supporters of a free and independent media in power cannot be trusted to not use government regulation to stifle media freedom. Where self-regulation thus far has failed, perhaps what the government can do is act as a controller for the creation of a regulatory body that is truly independent, professionally run along non-ideological lines and responsive to both the media's and consumers' concerns. But to trust the government with a direct and hands-on role in regulating media content is
an unwelcome idea: today it is obscenity and vulgarity, tomorrow it will be the 'national interest' and 'national security' that will demand certain lines be drawn.
Second, the outmoded idea of what content is vulgar or obscene needs to be discarded. Strangely, violence on television -- domestic, criminal, extrajudicial -- rarely attracts the same kind of censure as does content in which women are attired in a certain way or filmed interacting with men in a certain way. The same goes for intolerance, xenophobia, bigotry and hate spewed on TV: it doesn't attract the same kind of censure as does a woman dancing or singing lustily. The collective ownership that society wants to impose on its women is a problem itself. In the name of moral policing, Pakistain has ended up with deeply skewed priorities: keep the women covered up; let the monsters run loose.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
well SHOOT, and here I was thinking this was another article about Nanny Bloomberg and his unceasing battle against Supersized sodas.
[Jerusalem Post] Eyewitnesses report exchange of fire between PA police, unknown assailants, no casualties reported.
Paleostinian Authority police traded gunfire with unknown assailants at the prime minister's compound in Ramallah on Wednesday, a Rooters witness said, but there were no immediate reports of injuries.
PA Prime Minister Salam Fayyad ...Fayyad's political agenda holds that neither violence nor peaceful negotiations have brought the Paleostinians any closer to an independent state. The alternative to both, violent negotiations, doesn't seem to be working too well, either... was away touring the southern West Bank, near Hebron, at the time.
Paleostinian Authority officials declined to comment, citing the sensitivity of the incident, and there was no immediate indication of who was behind the attack.
The exchange of gunfire in the West Bank city lasted around a minute, several witnesses confirmed, and the Paleostinian Authority's official news agency, WAFA, said that there had been no casualties.
Fighting had subsided by the time Paleostinian Authority special forces arrived, a few minutes after the incident began. Police were deployed in force, scouring the area for shell casings.
The shooting occurred on a main thoroughfare clustered with modern government buildings under constant police guard.
The Paleostinian Authority has launched a security crackdown in the West Bank in recent months, arresting scores of suspects in a security sweep that has sparked anger against PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... 's Fatah-led government.
The crackdown, led by elite presidential guards and the counter-terrorism unit, is seen as a determined bid by the Western-backed authority to regain control of key areas and smash armed elements that could challenge its power.
Its forces have targeted not only gang leaders and criminal groups, but also rogue security officers suspected of arming and directing them. Fayyad told Rooters in June that the operation would be broad-based and long lasting.
Abbas and Fayyad have brought stability to much of the West Bank in recent years, focusing attention on building up a professional security force.
Western nations and Israel have praised them on this front, but they have riled some faction leaders at home who are eager to maintain their independence and strength.
An Alaska Airlines 737-400 originating from Ontario, California made an emergency landing at San Jose, California after a "catastrophic electrical failure" resulted in a rapid loss of cabin pressure.
The transponder was rendered inoperative making things more difficult for air traffic control.
No injuries were reported but sphincters probably got quite the workout among all involved.
#1
Hope this is not a taste of things to come as the 787's ECS ( Environmental Control System) including the pressurization is electrically powered, as opposed to running off engine bleed air.
#2
737-400 is as bog-standard and reliable as they come. I can only see incompetent maintenance - probably due to incompetent management - as the cause here.
#3
The thing that really makes ME nervous about getting aboard a 787 is the really wide use of composites in the airframe. Okay, okay, I know that modern composite materials are supposed to be stronger than metal, but I just can't shake the feeling that plastic airplanes belong on my 5 y/o great-nephew's bookshelf - not 35K feet in the air.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/09/2012 9:59
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#4
Hopefully the good folks at NTSB are getting themselves spooled up for a comprehensive investigation on this one. Alaska's already proven its willingness to risk passengers' lives to save a buck.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
08/09/2012 10:03
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#5
C'mon you guys. Where's that Amerlia Earheart spirit today??? Any landing ... is a good landing! RIGHT?!!
#7
Put me in the camp that is actually more comfortable with composites than metal. They *should* stand up better to vibration and pressurization cycles than metal does.
I do have a problem with all-electric designs. There should be at least ONE mechanical backup system even if you have redundant fly-by-wire systems. So rather than having three independent mechanical hydraulic systems, have only one that is the emergency backup and have two fly by wire systems for normal use. Not having redundant mechanical systems still saves a lot of weight.
[Ma'an] For the first time since the October War in 1973, the Egyptian army on Wednesday launched Arclight airstrikes in the Sinai Peninsula targeting jihad boy groups. More than 20 were killed.
A Ma'an news hound in el-Arish said Egyptian helicopters targeted armored vehicles belonging to "terrorists" in the villages of al-Toumah, al-Shallaq, and al-Atayqa.
The Arclight airstrikes started at 3 a.m. and stopped at 5 a.m. causing serious casualties.
Infantry soldiers then besieged what they described as jihad boyIslamic fascistiwith the help of Bedouin tribes trying to control al-Toumah village, which houses the largest number of suspected krazed killers.
Egyptian security sources said the groups fought back and attacked bunkers in el-Arish. Six officials were maimed, according to one source, during fierce festivities between troops and the attacking krazed killers.
Military sources told Ma'an that a bunker near el-Arish airport and other bunkers in the city were attacked by jihadists. Two officers and a civilian were maimed in the attacks. The civilian was hit by a gunshot to the head and was transferred to el-Arish Hospital. Medics described the case as critical.
The attackers at the army bunker wore black uniforms similar to those who carried out Sunday's attack killing 16 Egyptian officers, another Egyptian military source explained.
"There are states behind what the beturbanned goons are doing in Sinai. It is far beyond Sinai groups' level," he said.
According to Egyptian security sources, over 2,000 Islamic militants reside in the Sinai region.
Security sources have begun briefing the Egyptian media on the details of the Sinai operation. Al-Youm al-Sabaa quoted a security source as saying that Egyptian authorities received Israel's consent prior to launching the air strikes in Sinai. The source further said that Israel consented to Egypt's use of advanced military equipment in the attack on area C, a region close to the border with Israel.
Egyptian daily al-Youm al-Sabaa reported that the offensive in northern Sinai ended after five hours of festivities with armed hard boyz and Egyptian air strikes. An Egyptian military official said that Egyptian troops were still pursuing hard boyz in several areas.
According to a report in Al Masrawy newspaper, the decision to attack in Sinai was made on Monday during a meeting between the Egyptian military command and police forces. It was decided that the Egyptian Air Force would strike three different terror nests, including nests in the city of Rafah and Sheikh Zuwayed.
Security sources in the Sinai city of Sheikh Zuwayed reported that the army is currently raiding hundreds of houses in the region hoping to trace faceless myrmidons and confiscate weapons.
They added that the heavy gunfire had virtually stopped but that there are sporadic blasts and that aircrafts are still circling the skies.
Medical sources have said that the bodies of the faceless myrmidons that died in the soperation have yet to arrive to hospitals in the area.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... as a reaction to Sunday's deadly attack on Egypt's border with Israel, that left 16 Egyptian border troops dead, media outlets have reported that Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has announced its decision to deploy forces along the border with Egypt and has raised the security alert level. The decision comes as an effort to prevent weapons smuggling from the Gazoo Strip into Egypt.
In a statement posted on Hamas' website, the Gazoo ruling movement condemned "the ugly crime committed against the Egyptian soldiers," and sent its condolences to "the families of the victims, to Egypt's president and to his government."
#2
The Egyptians don't have a lot of finesse, and their ROE wouldn't be acceptable to Brussels. But they do have a hammer which they can drop from time to time.
Wonder if, at the company level, they might start thinking well of the IDF, if they have to cooperate to nab the bozos bothering both sides.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
08/09/2012 8:17
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[An Nahar] Syria said its troops seized a rebel-held Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... district on Wednesday after storming it and "annihilating" most of the krazed killers, as a long-threatened ground assault on the key city was launched.
The rebels promptly denied the claim, acknowledging that a "barbaric and savage attack" on the neighborhood of Salaheddin was under way but later saying they had recaptured much of what they lost.
The offensive came as Amnesia Amnesty International raised concerns about the plight of civilians in Syria's commercial capital and warned both sides they would be held accountable for attacks on residential areas.
Early in the afternoon, state news agency SANA said "our brave armed forces have taken full control of the district of Salaheddin" and "inflicted heavy losses on groups of armed terrorists, killing or wounding a large number of them."
Dozens of rebels were captured, including foreigners, and others surrendered, SANA said. It said troops seized a large number of arms.
State television said the "armed forces dealt violent blows to the mercenary terrorists" in Salaheddin, "annihilating most of the terrorists."
But rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) front man Colonel Abdel Jabbar al-Oqaidi said: "It is not true the regime army has seized control of the district.
"It is true that there is a barbaric and savage attack," he told Agence La Belle France Presse via Skype. "They are using all the weapons at their disposal to attack Salaheddin, including fighter jets, tanks and mortars."
He said there was fighting in many districts, but it was concentrated on Salaheddin because of the "great symbolic value for us and the army."
Hours later, rebel commander Wassel Ayyoub said the FSA had launched a counter-attack and retaken part of Salaheddin.
"For an hour and a half, the Free Syrian Army has staged a counter-attack and reclaimed three streets out of five seized by regime forces," he told AFP by telephone.
"We staged our counter-attack after 700 fighters arrived from the southern neighborhood of Sukkari, Bustan al-Qasr, Shaar and Hanano" in the east, said Ayyoub, who heads the Nour al-Haq Brigade.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights likewise said the rebels were making gains.
"Clashes also raged in Aleppo's al-Midan district as rebels tried to seize" an air force security bureau, the Britannia-based watchdog said.
At least 37 people were killed in Aleppo -- 17 civilians, 10 rebels and 10 soldiers -- from a total of at least 162 nationwide, it said.
"I believe the real number is much higher but it is impossible to document the figures because of the ferocity of the festivities" in Aleppo, Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said.
A total of 225 people -- mostly civilians -- died in Syria on Tuesday, one of the worst days for casualties in the nearly 17-month uprising the Observatory said last week has cost more than 21,000 lives.
Amnesty showed satellite images indicating an apparent increased use of heavy weapons in the Aleppo area, and warned forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Despoiler of Deraa... and rebels that attacks on civilians would not go unpunished.
"Amnesia Amnesty International is sending a clear message to both sides in the fighting: any attacks against civilians will be clearly documented so that those responsible can be held accountable," Amnesty's Christoph Koettl said.
The London-based watchdog said images from Anadan, a small town near Aleppo, revealed more than 600 probable artillery impact craters from the fierce fighting over the city.
It said a July 31 image showed what seemed to be impact craters next to what appeared to be a residential housing complex in Anadan.
Amnesty said it was concerned the deployment of heavy weaponry in residential areas would lead to further human rights ...which often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses and breaches of international law.
On Tuesday, Assad vowed to crush the rebellion that erupted in March 2011.
"The Syrian people and their government are determined to purge the country of Death Eaters and to fight the Death Eaters without respite," he was quoted by SANA as telling a visiting Iranian envoy, using his regime's terminology for rebels.
Assad earlier appeared on television for the first time in more than two weeks in greeting Saeed Jalili, a top aide to Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
Jalili said Tehran would "never allow the resistance axis -- of which Syria is an essential pillar -- to break.
"What is happening in Syria is not an internal issue but a conflict between the axis of resistance on the one hand, and the regional and global enemies of this axis on the other," he said.
On Wednesday, Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi acknowledged that retired members of the Revolutionary Guards and army were among 48 Iranians taken hostage in Syria by rebels.
"A number of the (hostages) are retired members of the Guards and the army. Some others were from other ministries," Salehi was quoted as telling news hounds as he flew back from Turkey, which he asked for help in freeing the Iranians.
It was the first time Tehran admitted any of those kidnapped had a connection to its military, having previously insisted the 48 were pilgrims.
On Tuesday, Jordan's King Abdullah II said Assad might make a "worst case scenario" retreat to an Alawite stronghold if he falls.
"I have a feeling that if he can't rule Greater Syria, then maybe an Alawi enclave is Plan B," Abdullah told U.S. television network CBS.
"That means that everybody starts land grabbing which makes no sense to me. If Syria then implodes on itself that would create problems that would take decades for us to come back from."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
"What is happening in Syria is not an internal issue but a conflict between the axis of resistance on the one hand, and the regional and global enemies of this axis on the other," he said.
Precisely why we should order more popcorn and stay the hell out of it!
#3
Since the end of WWII we have established a sad record of supporting the wrong causes g(r)om. It thought it most interesting that the Hillary Clinton visit to SA included the usual canned admonishment for peace and tollerance, along with siting SA as an example for nations who might wish to depaart the league of nuclear armed nations. No mention as to actually why the SA nuclear weapons program was dismantled (just prior to the ANC taking power). That would have been....racist!
[An Nahar] A car boom targeting Shiite pilgrims in Iraq and the shooting of a lawyer and his family left 19 people dead on Wednesday, after al-Qaeda warned it would target lawyers and retake territory in a new campaign.
The attacks were the latest in an apparent spike in unrest since the beginning of the Moslem holy fasting month of Ramadan, bringing to 88 the number of people killed so far this month.
In the deadliest incident on Wednesday, a vehicle packed with explosives destroyed a group of Shiite worshippers during a commemoration ceremony in al-Tanmiyah village, around 50 kilometers (30 miles) southeast of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... The 6:45 pm (1545 GMT) attack killed 11 people and maimed 20 others, according to a police lieutenant colonel and a medic, both of who declined to be identified. Most of the victims were men, the officials said.
It also sparked a large fire in a nearby market and damaged adjacent houses.
The gathering had been to mark the day Imam Ali, a central figure in Shiite Islam and the cousin and son-in-law of the Prophet Mohammed, was maimed, days before his eventual death in 661 AD.
The blast struck just before the iftar meal that breaks the daily fast Moslems engage in during Ramadan.
Earlier on Wednesday, gunniesrubbed out a lawyer, his judicial investigator son and six of their family members in a town north of Storied Baghdad.
The shooting took place at the home of Khayrallah Shati, a lawyer in the town of Baiji, 200 kilometers (120 miles) north of the capital, killing him, his wife, five sons and another relative who was staying with them.
"Khayrallah Shati, his wife and five sons, and a family guest staying with them, were killed early this morning in Baiji," a police officer said on condition of anonymity.
"Gunmen raided his house and opened fire on the family.... Initial reports are that this is a terrorist attack, but the investigation is still ongoing."
The officer said one of Shati's sons was a judicial investigator.
An official in the main hospital in Salaheddin lovely provincial capital Tikrit said the facility received eight bodies -- seven men and a woman -- all with multiple gunshot wounds.
Al-Qaeda's front group the Islamic State of Iraq said in July that it was launching a "new military campaign aimed at recovering territory."
An earlier message posted on various jihadist forums said the ISI would begin targeting judges and prosecutors, and try to help its prisoners break out of jails.
The latest violence brings the number of people killed in attacks in Iraq this month to at least 88, including 47 security forces members, according to an Agence La Belle France Presse tally based on security and medical sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
Al Qaeda targeting lawyers?
What is this? A PR offensive?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/09/2012 10:32
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#2
It's one of those modern world complexities - you just don't know who to root for nowadays.
#3
...land...service..the basic concept is that the franchise should not be universal, but kept to those who have/had skin the in game. Why steal when you can vote for a politician to do it for you 'legally'. It's still stealing, but somehow the ritual of voting makes it OK.
#5
"..the basic concept is that the franchise should not be universal, but kept to those who have/had skin the in game."
"appears things began going downhill when voting was permitted by non-landowners."
--I concur gents. Statist politicians need the recipient/dependant class to keep them in power. Their policies are otherwise counter-intuitive to any citizen w/an ounce of personal pride.
So much for his supposed pious perfection after he divorced the divine Jemima.
The Taliban have threatened to kill Pak cricket star turned politician, Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... , if he holds a planned march to their tribal stronghold to protest US drone attacks.
Although the Pak Taliban also oppose the strikes, front man Ahsanullah Ahsan said they would attack Imran Khan because he calls himself a "liberal" a term they associate with a lack of religious belief.
The threat could surprise many in Pakistain who have criticised Khan for not being tough enough on the Taliban and instead focusing his criticism on the government's alliance with the US.
Ahsan spoke to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in an interview on Monday in the bad turban group's stronghold of South Wazoo. "We will kill him," said Ahsan.
Some of his critics have nicknamed him "Taliban Khan" because of his views and his cozy ties with conservative leaders who could help him attract right-wing voters in national elections likely to be held later this year or early next year.
Khan has described himself as a liberal in various TV interviews, but he has also made clear that he is a practicing Moslem. Ahsan, the Taliban front man, seemed to ignore that distinction and said the forces of Evil didn't want Khan's help in opposing drone attacks.
Khan has said he is planning to lead thousands of people in a march to Waziristan in September to demonstrate against the strikes.
"We will not accept help or sympathy from any infidel," said Ahsan, referring to Khan. "We can fight on our own with the help of God," he said, as drones buzzed overhead.
The front man for Khan's party could not be immediately reached for comment. Ahsan said the Taliban consider anyone who participates in elections, even religious parties, as infidels and will target them.
"The election process is part of a secular system," said Ahsan. "We want an Islamic system and will create hurdles to secularism." An AP news hound interviewed Ahsan at a remote compound on a forested mountainside in South Waziristan.
He was taken there from a compound in the Shawal area that housed several dozen Taliban fighters armed with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Artillery fired by the Mighty Pak Army regularly pounded the ground near the compound.
The military launched a major offensive against the Pak Taliban in South Waziristan in 2009 and has claimed to have largely cleared the area.
But the forces of Evil regularly launch attacks, and the interview held with the AP indicated they move relatively freely. Ahsan arrived for the interview in a pick-up truck with two other Taliban capos.
He was wearing a white shalwar kameez and a woolen Chitrali cap. He spoke with an assault rifle laid across his lap, and he and the other commanders had gun sex in celebration at the end of the interview.
The Taliban have threatened to kill Pak cricket star turned politician, Imran Khan, if he holds a planned march to their tribal stronghold to protest US drone attacks.
Although the Pak Taliban also oppose the strikes, front man Ahsanullah Ahsan said they would attack Imran Khan because he calls himself a "liberal" a term they associate with a lack of religious belief.
The threat could surprise many in Pakistain who have criticised Khan for not being tough enough on the Taliban and instead focusing his criticism on the government's alliance with the US.
Ahsan spoke to The News Agency that Dare Not be Named in an interview on Monday in the bad turban group's stronghold of South Waziristan. "We will kill him," said Ahsan.
Some of his critics have nicknamed him "Taliban Khan" because of his views and his cozy ties with conservative leaders who could help him attract right-wing voters in national elections likely to be held later this year or early next year.
Khan has described himself as a liberal in various TV interviews, but he has also made clear that he is a practicing Moslem. Ahsan, the Taliban front man, seemed to ignore that distinction and said the forces of Evil didn't want Khan's help in opposing drone attacks.
Khan has said he is planning to lead thousands of people in a march to Waziristan in September to demonstrate against the strikes.
"We will not accept help or sympathy from any infidel," said Ahsan, referring to Khan. "We can fight on our own with the help of God," he said, as drones buzzed overhead.
The front man for Khan's party could not be immediately reached for comment. Ahsan said the Taliban consider anyone who participates in elections, even religious parties, as infidels and will target them.
"The election process is part of a secular system," said Ahsan. "We want an Islamic system and will create hurdles to secularism." An AP news hound interviewed Ahsan at a remote compound on a forested mountainside in South Waziristan.
He was taken there from a compound in the Shawal area that housed several dozen Taliban fighters armed with AK-47s, rocket-propelled grenade launchers and anti-aircraft guns. Artillery fired by the Mighty Pak Army regularly pounded the ground near the compound.
The military launched a major offensive against the Pak Taliban in South Waziristan in 2009 and has claimed to have largely cleared the area.
But the forces of Evil regularly launch attacks, and the interview held with the AP indicated they move relatively freely. Ahsan arrived for the interview in a pick-up truck with two other Taliban capos.
He was wearing a white shalwar kameez and a woolen Chitrali cap. He spoke with an assault rifle laid across his lap, and he and the other commanders had gun sex in celebration at the end of the interview.
Posted by: Large Darling of the Antelope3345 ||
08/09/2012 9:43
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#2
You have to try REALLY hard to be on the low end of the curve for human intelligence ... but I give the Taliban credit. They are definitely getting there :-)
[Dawn] A double suicide kaboom killed three NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... soldiers in eastern Afghanistan on Wednesday, Afghan and Western officials said.
NATO's US-led International Security Assistance Force said three of its troops died in an "insurgent attack" in the east but gave no further details in line with policy.
A Western military official told AFP on condition of anonymity that the three soldiers were killed in a suicide attack in Asad Abad, the capital of Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... The nationalities of the soldiers were not disclosed, but American troops provide the bulk of the NATO mission in Kunar, a flashpoint for Taliban and other gunnies on the Pakistain-Afghanistan border.
Local police chief, Mohammad Aywaz Naziri, told AFP that two snuffies wearing boom jackets blew themselves up as a group of foreign troops walked to the nearby governor's compound.
"This morning two jacket wallahs targeted US soilders... who were walking from their base to the governor's compound," Naziri said. One Afghan was also killed in the blast, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
How long have they been doing this NATO troop thing where they don't identify the nationalities of casualties?
Heavily armed gunmen have opened fire on an Army patrol near a university in the southern Philippines, killing three soldiers and a 10-year-old boy, and injuring 13 others.
Army Colonel Daniel Lucero said the soldiers were heading down the road on a truck near Mindanao State University (MSU) in Marawi City late Wednesday when about 15 gunmen raked the patrol with gunfire. The soldiers returned fire and injured several of the attackers, who fled from the scene.
Marawi Mayor Fahad Salic said the boy was killed while inside his house in downtown Marawi. He believes that the incident may have been caused by a stray bullet.
Lucero said the gunmen were believed to be gangsters unleashed by politicians who wanted to harass the military for backing government efforts to prevent fraud in next year's local elections.
Casino magnate and GOP donor Sheldon Adelson has filed a $60 million libel suit against the National Jewish Democratic Council. The NJDC had demanded that Mitt Romney and other Republicans refuse donations from Adelson because he had personally approved of prostitution at his Macau resorts. The Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee repeated the same claim, but backed down in response to Adelsons threat of a lawsuit, admitting that the statements were untrue and unfair and we retract them.
The lawsuit against the NJDC alleges that their goal in making these accusations was to advance their perceived political interests by assassinating Mr. Adelsons character, punishing him for exercising his right to make monetary contributions to political causes and candidates of his choice, and demeaning him within the Jewish community.
However, the NJDC has refused to acknowledge its error, and is planning to take this battle to court.
#3
The NJDC is refusing to back down because they need the publicity for fundraising.
It would be amusing if all the money they raise is diverted towards fighting the lawsuit. Think of it as another campaign contribution by Adelson - money spent by NJDC on the lawsuit isn't spent attacking Romney. Pocket change for Adelson (who's 79), but potentially ruinous for NJDC.
#4
$60,000,000.00. This how you do it. Don't just defend yourself, let the left wing smear machine you will break their bank acconts.
Posted by: Uluse Oppressor of the Texans7477 ||
08/09/2012 11:32
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#5
Lemme get this straight: Prostitution is OK in Nevada and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid, a Democrat from Nevada, says nothing about it. But it's not OK for Sheldon Adelson to keep a few girls at his Macau resort where, presumably, prostitution is also OK.
But wait, there's more. What about those Secret Service boys who got caught with their pants down in Cartagena? What if they wanted to kick in $100 bucks or so for the candidate of their choice? Is the NJDC gonna go through all the bordellos in the whole wide world looking for johns who might contribute to Mitt Romney? How come the never got after Teddy Kennedy?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
08/09/2012 12:26
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#6
Prostitution is not legal in all NV counties, especially the major (Clark, Douglas, Washoe, etc.). Usually it's OK in the lesser neighboring county
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/09/2012 13:56
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#7
Free speech doesn't include libel methinks.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
08/09/2012 15:03
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#8
Liberals say, "Free speech for me, but not for thee."
[An Nahar] A Russian general Wednesday denied reports he had been killed by rebels in Syria during an operation against Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... top coppers.
General Vladimir Kuzheyev told news hounds at a hastily arranged presser at the Russian defense ministry in Moscow that he was flattered by the attention and happy to report he was well.
"I thank the media for devoting such great attention to my humble persona," Kuzheyev said in comments also posted on the defense ministry's official website and replayed on state television. ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
"As a general, I understand that this information was not just a provocation aimed against me but also -- and most importantly -- against my country."
A video released on YouTube by the armed opposition's Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... Area Military Command claimed the killing of a Russian advisor to the Syrian defense minister and identified him as General Vladimir Khodzhev.
The post showed a document with a photograph of a man resembling the Russian general who emerged in Moscow on Wednesday. It added that his local translator had also been died in the rebel attack.
"This proves the involvement of the Russians in the humanitarian crimes against our people and our nation," the rebel commander said in the post.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
"As a general, I understand that this information was not just a provocation aimed against me but also -- and most importantly -- against my country."
Typical Russian paranoia. No known cure, except the one the General appears to have narrowly dodged.
[An Nahar] A Turkish lawyer who defended suspected al-Qaeda snuffies has been killed in fighting in the Syrian city of Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , Turkey's Anatolia news agency said Wednesday.
Osman Karahan, who represented several suspects accused of carrying out four truck kabooms in Istanbul in November 2003, was buried Tuesday after being killed in the heavy combat gripping the key northern city, his brother Ekrem Karahan told Anatolia.
"Osman's friends said, 'He will be buried here because he's a martyr,'" Ekrem Karahan said.
The Istanbul attacks, which targeted two synagogues, the British consulate and the local headquarters of HSBC bank, killed 63 people and maimed hundreds.
In 2007 seven men were sentenced to life for the blasts.
Karahan himself was charged with funding members of al-Qaeda, but a Turkish court cleared him in 2006.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
A lawyer? Notice that these aren't poor miserable suicide bombers. These jihadists are professional doctors, lawyers, engineers, architects, etc.
Posted by: American Delight ||
08/09/2012 19:20
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A CIVILIAN employee of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... has been incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in Germany on suspicion of spying at the giant US air base at Ramstein as part of a terrorist plot.
The 60-year-old suspect, identified only as German citizen Manfred K, is behind bars on the orders of Germany's federal prosecutor as the inquiry into his activities continues.
He was incarcerated Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! at the base on Monday. "He is strongly suspected to have accessed state secret material," said the prosecutor. Material, it is alleged, was transferred from the base computers to his home laptop.
"There is the suspicion that this was in order to pass on the obtained data to unauthorised third parties", said the arrest warrant issued for him. It is understood the material included information on aircraft and weapons stockpiles at the base, where more than 16,000 Americans are employed.
His home computer was also seized and a number of files taken away from his flat in Kaiserslautern, some ten miles from the base, which has endured several terrorist attack alerts in the past five years. He appeared briefly in court on Monday and was remanded in jug.
Ramstein is the biggest US air base in Europe and a major hub for Afghan operations.
AFP - Egyptian police have nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! a Canadian student in Sinai on suspicion of involvement in an ambush that killed 16 soldiers, security officials said on Wednesday.
The said the man, identified as David Edward, was in possession of an Egyptian identification card belonging to someone else and had taken pictures of armoured personnel vehicles.
A Canadian embassy official said he could not confirm or deny the arrest, due to privacy reasons. The Egyptian police didn't seem to have any privacy concerns...
The officials said Edward entered the country on Sunday, the day cut-throats killed the soldiers in an ambush, and was a student at a Canadian university.
Egyptian troops and police are conducting a sweeping crackdown on Islamist cut-throats who targeted the soldiers.
Egyptian security can be suspicious of foreigners and has nabbed Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! several over the past year on suspicion of spying or involvement in unrest, eventually releasing them. 'David' had a phony ID card and pics. He's not going to be released soon...
#4
Well ... whether he's a jerk or a wannabe terrorist ... he has now volunteered for a private tour of Egypt's jails and interrogation system. I'm guessing that's somewhat less enjoyable than going to a rock concert in Toronto or Vancouver. Some young fellows make poor choices. :-(
[An Nahar] Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi ordered spy chief Murad Muwafi on Wednesday to retire in a shuffle of military and intelligence ranks after the deadliest thug attack on troops in decades.
The decision extended to Abdel Wahab Mabrouk, the governor of North Sinai where a weekend attack that killed 16 soldiers took place.
Morsi also ordered Defense Minister Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi to find a new head for the military police, his front man Yasser Ali said in a televised statement.
Ali did not say if the attacks prompted the changes, but a bigwig close to Morsi said he decided to sack the generals because of the attack, which led to air strikes against the thugs.
Hamdi Badeen, the head of military police, was replaced because he failed to secure the funeral for the slain soldiers, with some protesters trying to assault Prime Minister Hisham Qandil.
"The prime minister was subjected to an insult. It was unacceptable," said the official on condition of anonymity because of the subject's sensitivity.
Morsi appointed Mohammed Rafaat Abdel Wahad Shehata as the interim head of General Intelligence.
Earlier on Wednesday, Muwafi, himself a former governor of North Sinai, issued a rare public statement saying his agency had forewarned of the weekend attack.
But he said the intelligence did not specify where the attack would take place and he had passed it on to the "relevant authorities," adding that his powerful agency's role was only to collect information.
Morsi is thought likely to have reached the decisions with the military top command, which ruled the country between president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's ouster in February 2011 and Morsi's inauguration as his successor in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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#1
So basiclally the Prime Minister losing face was more important than the soldiers losing their lives?
[An Nahar] A man was killed and several people were maimed in a Syria-related clash between residents from two villages in northern Leb on Wednesday, officials told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"A man was killed and several injured when men from Sunni-majority Akroum village clashed with the majority Shiite village of Hourani," a security official said on condition of anonymity.
The man killed was from Akroum, and there were maimed on both sides.
A local official said the clash broke out when several Syrians from the border town of Qusayr, in the central province of Homs, tried to make an illegal crossing into Leb at the village of Hourani.
"This led to intermittent festivities that continued for three hours," said the local official. "The Lebanese army is now patrolling the area."
Leb's borders with Syria have seen frequent violence, with regular exchanges of fire in recent weeks, some of them deadly, as well as shelling from Syria into Leb, stoking fears of a spillover of the Syrian crisis.
Syrian troops have laid landmines on the border with northern Leb, and Syria and Leb last month traded accusations of violating each other's territory.
Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Horror of Homs... says Leb does not do enough to stop "armed terrorists" and weapons from being smuggled across the border.
Last week, President Michel Suleiman ...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too... accused Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... of violating Lebanese territory after a house in the eastern Qaa region was hit by a blast and shells fired from Syria hit several villages along the northern border.
The protest was the first of its kind by a Lebanese president since Syrian troops withdrew from Leb in 2005 after nearly three decades of political and military hegemony over the neighboring country.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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Internal Revenue Service supervisors "urged" their subordinates to ignore cases of fraud in applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers, which allow foreign nationals to get tax refunds, the Treasury Inspector General for Tax Administration reported today.
"Complaints from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees that their supervisors were urging them to ignore potential fraud in a program that reviews and verifies applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) have been validated," TIGTA announced in a new report.
"IRS management is not concerned with addressing questionable applications and is interested only in the volume of applications that can be processed, regardless of whether they are potentially fraudulent," the announcement also stated.
J. Russell George, who leads TIGTA, "found an environment which discourages employees from detecting fraudulent applications." George acknowledged.
The IRS disbursed $6.2 billion in tax refunds to people ITINs, which the IRS uses as "a means to efficiently process and account for tax returns and payments for those not eligible for Social Security Numbers."
#1
"Complaints from Internal Revenue Service (IRS) employees that their supervisors were urging them to ignore potential fraud in a program that reviews and verifies applications for Individual Taxpayer Identification Numbers (ITINs) have been validated," TIGTA announced in a new report.
Could it have been $ Billions $ in refund checks that have been going to the same addresses, which caused the row ? Even IRS agents can tell right from wrong!
[Dawn] An activist of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement ...English: United National Movement, generally known as MQM, is the 3rd largest political party and the largest secular political party in Pakistain with particular strength in Sindh. From 1992 to 1999, the MQM was the target of the Pak Army's Operation Cleanup leaving thousands of urdu speaking civilians dead... was rubbed out outside his house in Lines Area on Tuesday afternoon, police said.
They added that Mohammad Ali, 35, was asleep on a charpoy in a narrow lane behind the Jacob Lines technical school when he was killed within the remit of the Brigade cop shoppe.
The attackers had parked their cycle of violence at Tauheed Chowk and walked up to him, said Brigade SHO Humyun Khan, adding that they escapede after killing him. Later, he said, people rushed to the scene and found the victim lying in a pool of blood.
Subsequently, they informed the police who reached the scene of the crime and shifted the body to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities. A large number of MQM activists also reached the hospital after learning about the killing.
The victim was said to be sa joint-in-charge of unit 53, the police said, adding that he owned a compressor shop in the Lines Area.
Tension gripped the locality following the murder.
SBP man murdered
Earlier on Tuesday morning, an employee of the State Bank of Pakistain heading to work was rubbed out near his house in Shershah, said police.
They added that two schoolgirls were also maimed in the firing but their condition was said to be stable.
The police said Khadim Shah, 55, was targeted on Jinnah Road within the remit of the Shershah cop shoppe. He sustained multiple gunshot wounds and died before he could be taken to hospital.
Two girls going to school were also maimed in the firing, said SSP-West Amir Farooqui. They were taken to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... where they were provided treatment. Both were stated to be in a stable condition, the police added.
The police shifted the victim's body to the CHK for medico-legal formalities.
SSP Farooqui said that the victim was a grade 1 employee at the SBP and hailed from Charsadda, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Initially, the police believed that personal enmity was the motive for the murder, but the SSP West said that they had come across some clues to the killing showing that personal dispute was not the motive.
Investigations were under way to find the exact reason for the murder, the police said.
Man found rubbed out
An unidentified man was found rubbed out off the Northern Bypass within the remit of the Surjani Town cop shoppe on Tuesday, said police.
They added the victim was trussed up and had been subjected to severe torture before being shot in the head.
The police believed that the victim had been kidnapped somewhere else and his body was dumped at the scene after the murder.
The body was later shifted to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities.
Woman strangled to death
The body of an unidentified woman was found near a restaurant, off the Superhighway, early Tuesday morning, police said.
They added that the victim, in her mid-40s, had been strangled to death with a dupatta. The body was found near Malik Agha Hotel.
After medico-legal formalities at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, the police shifted the body to the Edhi morgue for want of identification.
Two killed in accidents
A woman was killed and her husband injured when a fast-moving coach hit them on Mai Kolachi Road within the remit of the Jackson cop shoppe.
The police said that Shabnam, 22, and her husband, Akhtar Ali, were riding a cycle of violence when the coach knocked them down.
While the coach driver managed to escape following the incident, the police impounded the vehicle.
In another accident, a motorcyclist died after a fast-moving truck hit him near Ghani Chowrangi within the remit of the Site-B cop shoppe.
Saqib, 35, son of Shafeeq, was maimed in the accident, the police said, adding he died during treatment at Abbasi Shaheed Hospital.
The people caught the fleeing driver and handed over him to the police.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/09/2012
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[Jerusalem Post] Global Jihad hard boyz operating in Egyptian peninsula receiving financial, logistical support from Salafi-linked terror cells abroad, senior Israeli official reveals.
Global jihad hard boyz in Sinai receive financial and logistical support from other Salafi terror cells in Afghanistan and Iraq, a senior Israeli official revealed on Wednesday.
The groups are usually not connected to Iran, which is working to establish its own terrorist infrastructure in Sinai via Hezbollah, according to the official.
The groups are usually not connected to Iran, which is working to establish its own terrorist infrastructure in Sinai via Hezbollah
A large proportion of the weaponry used in the recent spate of attacks against Israel originated in Libya, where arms depots were raided and cleared out following the revolution there last year.
Israel is particularly concerned about sophisticated shoulder-to-air missiles that can threaten Israeli aircraft flying near the border. Another concern is the possibility that sea mines the Libyan military previously deployed will find their way to Sinai and the Gazoo Strip.
"There is no shortage of weapons and explosives in Sinai," the official said.
The official said that the cross-border attack from Sinai on Sunday -- during which armed Beduin from Sinai killed 16 Egyptian soldiers, stole an armored vehicle and infiltrated Israel -- was motivated by the groups' interest in establishing themselves as a new player in the region. The assessment within the Israeli intelligence community is that the attacks will continue and might increase in frequency.
The IDF and the Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) cannot yet identify a group that is responsible for the attacks, although Egyptian media reported on Wednesday that the Army of Islam, a Gazoo-based group affiliated with al-Qaeda, was involved. According to Israel, the perpetrators are global jihad operatives, brought together by a common cause -- to attack Israel and Egypt -- and financial incentives for their families.
"These are attacks that are aimed at establishing the groups' reputation and position within Sinai," the official said, adding that the operatives were not subordinate to the Beduin sheikhs who traditionally were in charge of everything that happens in the peninsula.
The focus for Israel now is on increasing its intelligence-gathering capabilities in Sinai. The government is expected to decide in the coming weeks which intelligence agency -- Military Intelligence or the Shin Bet -- will be placed in charge of covering Sinai. Such a decision will draw an immediate budget increase for the chosen agency.
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[Dawn] The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf over his failure to implement its directive of writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari, ... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ... DawnNews reported.
"We hereby issue a notice to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf...to show cause why he may not be proceeded against for committing contempt," the court said in its short order.
"We issue notice to Raja Pervez Ashraf under (the) contempt of court act 2003, read with article 204 of the constitution to show cause as to why he may not be proceeded (against) in contempt of court and (is) not complying (with the) relevant direction of the court," Justice Khosa said.
"He shall appear in person at the next date of hearing. Hearing adjourned until August 27," the judge added.
Dictating the order, Justice Khosa moreover said that Yousuf Raza Gilani ... Pakistain's former prime minister, whose occasional feats of mental gymnastics could be awe-inspiring ... was disqualified for failing to implement the court's directives.
The order said that Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf was also given a similar directive, adding that, the July ruling had said that failure to implement court orders would lead to initiation of proceedings.
Posted by: Fred ||
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China and ASEAN Much Further Apart than the Smiles Suggest
For more than two decades Beijing has pursued a consistent policy in the South China Sea composed of two main elements: gradually strengthening the country's territorial and jurisdictional claims while at the same time endeavoring to assure Southeast Asian countries of its peaceful intentions.
Recent moves by China to bolster its maritime claims have brought the first element into sharp relief, while reassurances of benign intent have, however, been in short supply. Indeed, far from assuaging Southeast Asian concerns regarding its assertive behavior, China has fuelled them by brazenly exploiting divisions within the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN) to further its own national interests.
Commentaries in China's state-run media analyzing the South China Sea issue have become markedly less conciliatory. Opinion pieces highlight several new themes in China's official line. One theme is that China's territory, sovereignty as well as its maritime rights and interests increasingly are being challenged by Southeast Asian nations and Japan in the South and East China Seas. China's response, it is argued, should be to uphold its claims more vigorously, increase its military presence in contested waters, and, if necessary, be prepared to implement coercive measures against other countries. As one commentary notes "Cooperation must be in good faith, competition must be strong, and confrontation must be resolute" (Caixin, July 13).
Another theme is that, while China has shown restraint, countries such as the Philippines and Vietnam have been pursuing provocative and illegal actions in a bid to "plunder" maritime resources such as hydrocarbons and fisheries which China regards as its own (China Daily, July 30).
A third theme is that Manila and Hanoi continue to encourage U.S. "meddling" in the South China Sea and that the United States uses the dispute as a pretext to "pivot" its military forces toward Asia (Global Times, July 11). To reverse these negative trends, Chinese commentators have urged the government to adopt more resolute measures toward disputed territories and maritime boundaries. Nationalist sentiment, they argue, demands no less.
Recent measures undertaken by the Chinese authorities do indeed suggest a more hard-line position. Ominously, some of the initiatives have included a strong military element, presumably as a warning to the other claimants that China is ready to play hardball. Much more at link
Posted by: Water Modem ||
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#1
China has suffered in the past; China requires these resources; China is everyone's big brother in the region; therefore everyone needs to go back to the old way of doing things where everyone kowtows to China. Just because they were down and out for a century doesn't mean anything has changed. That's China's viewpoint, for what it's worth.
I think direct American intervention should be highly conditional and require regional players to pony up significant forces and/or money. Saudi Arabia, Kuwait, Germany and Japan covered the entire cost of Desert Storm. Much like Desert Storm, any American intervention in SCS should be predicated on the strong-arming of all interested parties for either money or significant military participation. Otherwise...
I understand that a lot of people think our participation in WWI and WWII, where we lost 500,000 men, only to be jeered by the Brits for being late to the festivities, set the pattern for posterity regarding an aggressive American posture towards big wars far from our shores. It has to be said however, that our 19th century forebears seem not to have been particularly concerned that they missed out on the Napoleonic Wars, the Franco-Prussian War, the Crimean War or any of the other big wars fought in Europe during that era.
#3
Why doesn't China build nuke reactors and get themselves off of oil and the logistical nightmare that dependency requires. They could proclaim how advanced/clean they are to the world. It's not like environmentalists are gonna say squat to the PRC.
#4
"Need" doesn't have anything to do with it. "Deserve" is more like it.
China operates on a scarcity mindset. There's not enough to go around, is the cultural thinking. Everything is a zero-sum game. In order for us to win, others must lose. This is why China makes so many seemingly self-destructive moves. From their point of view, it's the right thing to do.
#5
I don't think anything as rational as scarcity is driving Chinese moves. It's the cult of "we are the greatest and we will bend the world to our will". It's the one religious aspect of a basically irreligious society (even before communism).
#6
Yeah, what Zhang Fei said. The name 'China' means Middle Kingdom - between Heaven and Earth. The rest of you can all go *bleep* yourselves. Divine right, destiny and all that nonsense.
As someone (P2K?) mentioned in another thread, this all bears a disturbing resemblance to the Japan's militaristic expansion that lead to a big-ass war in the Pacific.
#2
WORLD NEWS > [Nippon FM]GENBA STANDS FIRM ON SENKAKUS, as per Japan and only Japan having sovereignty over same.
* TOPIX > STUDY: NORTH KOREA [technically] ABLE TO TEST NUCLEAR BOMB IN TWO WEEKS.
* PACIFIC NEWS CENTER [Guam K-57 News] > YOMIURI: JAPAN-US CONSIDER DEPLOYMENT OF AAFB'S [Andersen AFB] GLOBAL HAWKS TO SURVEY CHINESE MILITARY ACTIVITY AROUND SENKAKUS, + also to bolster US-Japan military exercises.
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > A BILL [covertly = PCorrectly] REQUIRING US INTERVENTION IN SOUTH CHINA SEA SETTLEMENT IS INTRODUCED, before the US Congress.
* SAME > JAPANESE ANGRY AT CHINESE BUYOUT OF JAPANESE ASSETS | [WSJ.com] FRICTION AS CHINA CLOUT [investments] GROW IN JAPAN.
* SAME > [Poster Thread] CHINA BYPASSES USN STRAIT OF MALACCAS BLOCKADE: MYANMAR PIPELINE ONLINE IN 2013?
China = Iran; Strait of Hormuz = South China Sea = looks like China doing the blocking, not the USN = US-Allies.
OTOH, will the Philippines = Vietnam = invite RUSSIA, INDIA, JAPAN, + ISRAEL, ETC. TO SET UP AT SUBIC FREEPORT ANDOR MANILA BAY???
China has to know that the only thing Russia + Vladvedev are going to do wid the new SCS Sansha is blow it up into coral-weenies.
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [Pan-Mongol, Chinese] OUTRAGE AS CHINA LAYS CLAIM TO GENGHIS KHAN.
> Mongols, both in + outside of China = GENGHIS IS OUR SYMBOL/ICON, NOT YOURS.
> Many Chinese = GENGHIS was an uncivilized, uncouth, bloody Barbarian Warlord not worthy to be called "Chinese".
#3
This is the great weakness of China. They really have no allies. They are surrounded by a great wall. China is everything and all others are a lower class of people. Just a bully in the world. Some very intelligent people exist in powerful positions but they are not able to overcome the thirst for money and power of others about them.
Natural to rewrite history also. The game is played by their rules and they must always win.
#4
Someone should politely remind them of a similar attitude of the Japanese concerning events in China from 1936 on. It was the actions of another American administration concerned with the integrity and sovereignty of China that provoke the Japanese response of Dec '41. Maybe they need to contemplate what their world would look like today if America had just looked the other way to those events in the Far East.
#5
Someone should politely remind them of a similar attitude of the Japanese concerning events in China from 1936 on. It was the actions of another American administration concerned with the integrity and sovereignty of China that provoke the Japanese response of Dec '41. Maybe they need to contemplate what their world would look like today if America had just looked the other way to those events in the Far East.
They're in the catbird seat. Europe is disarmed and not particularly interested in fighting a war in Asia. Asian countries are feckless - the reason China is so big in the first place is because it has always been able to divide and conquer the states on its borders. Because Mongolia aside, throughout history, the standard posture of the states on China's borders has been to hope that the dragon eats them last. They have always preferred to fight each other, alone or with Chinese help, than band together against China. Genghis Khan and Nurhaci were the two exceptional non-Chinese leaders who managed to tame China. But their avarice led them to bite off more than their descendants could effectively rule. Neither was able to bend China to their will for posterity.
#6
As a China-watcher who's read a fair amount of Chinese history, what sticks out is China's grabbiness with respect to territorial issues. The amusing thing is that it was a Chinese grad student who disabused me of the notion that China is a peaceful country. In a moment of candor, he said, quite logically, that big countries like China don't get that way by peaceful means. The National Review's John Derbyshire had this to say about China:
The Chinese people respond eagerly to these ultra-nationalist appeals: That is precisely why the leadership makes them. Resentment of the U.S., and a determination to enforce Chinese hegemony in Asia, are well-nigh universal among modern mainland Chinese. These emotions trump any desire for constitutional government, however much people dislike the current regime for its corruption and incompetence. Find a mainlander, preferably one under the age of thirty, and ask him which of the following he would prefer: for the Communists to stay in power indefinitely, unreformed, but in full control of the "three T's" (Tibet, Turkestan, Taiwan); or a democratic, constitutional government without the three T's. His answer will depress you. You can even try this unhappy little experiment with dissidents: same answer.
Is there anything we can do about all this? One thing only. We must understand clearly that there will be lasting peace in East Asia when, and only when, China abandons her atavistic fantasies of imperial hegemony, withdraws her armies from the two million square miles of other people's territory they currently occupy, and gets herself a democratic government under a rule of law. Until that day comes, if it ever does, the danger of war will be a constant in relations between China and the world beyond the Wall, as recent events in the South China Sea have illustrated. Free nations, under the indispensable leadership of the United States, must in the meantime struggle to maintain peace, using the one, single, and only method that wretched humanity, in all its millennia of experience, has so far been able to devise for that purpose: Qui desiderat pacem, praeparet bellum.
Every culture has a religion. The Chinese are remarkably irreligious in the conventional sense, except for a cargo cult version of paganism that should be familiar to anyone who's heard of the prosperity gospel. What passes in China for religion is a cult of national greatness - the model for Imperial Japan's world tour in the 1930's and 1940's. I believe China's neighbors are about to discover anew what their ancestors had to put up with on a routine basis before European adventurers set firm boundaries on Chinese territorial expansion 200 years ago. Our interest in the matter is the same as our interest in preventing Japan from annexing China during the pre-war era - it's never a good idea to allow an aggressive and ideologically hostile power to grow too big. More security for them means less security for us.
#7
Trade-wise, I think we need to treat China the way we treated the Soviet Union. However, the problem with trying to enact a trade embargo on China is that nobody else will go along. Chinese exports to the US, at $400b, are only 7% of its $5.7t economy. And that $400b number exaggerates the value added, given that perhaps 10% of the $250 wholesale price of an iPad is composed of value added by Chinese labor, the rest being materials cost (of commodities imported from the rest of the world).
There are also factors beyond our control. The big change in China's economy occurred not in 1973, with Nixon's opening to China, but in 1979, when Deng Xiaoping, China's leader at the time, started dismantling China's centrally-planned economy. Every year after 1979 has featured high single-digit or low double-digit economic growth. The Chinese will eventually present a much more serious security problem than the Soviets because their economy is now capitalist in all but name, and they have 1.2b productive people, compared to the Soviet Union's 200m people at its peak.
As a long-time amateur China-watcher (and former Soviet-watcher), my contention is that the problem with China isnt Communism - its the Chinese (much as the problem with the Soviet Union wasnt Communism - it was Russians who viewed themselves as world conquerors). When Imperial Japan went on its world tour, its model was Imperial China during its moments of martial vigor. The Chinese put on a mask of amity during their period of weakness, but now that China has grown strong, that mask is slipping. I suspect that future historians will look back upon the Maoist era, when China closed itself off from the world, as a period of respite for Chinas neighbors - a time for them to prepare for a revived China red in in tooth and claw. However, historians may also record Chinas feckless neighbors (aka future provinces, in the Chinese mind) as having wasted the breathing space afforded them - all you have to do is look at their minuscule defense budgets. With the exception of Vietnam and India, Chinas neighbors appear to have settled upon a common policy based on (1) Uncle Sam providing for their defense and (2) fighting China to the last dead American.
[Jerusalem Post] Nasrallah approves complex infiltration involving drug pushers in Leb and Israel, security officials say.
The Shin Bet prevented a series of planned Hezbollah terrorist attacks recently, after a group of Israeli Arabs helped smuggle 20 kg. of high-grade explosives into the country.
On Wednesday, eight residents of Nazareth and the town of Ghajar -- half of which is in Israel and the other half in Leb -- were charged in the Nazareth District Court with helping to smuggle the explosives. Most of them are believed to be drug pushers.
A number of Ghajar residents smuggled the C-4 plastic explosives into Israel in a single bag by on June 5. Each kilogram was wrapped separately and could have been used to assemble a separate bomb.
The bag was transferred a few days later to a resident of Nazareth, Abed Zoabi -- a known drug pusher -- who hid it in his backyard. The Israel Police found the C-4 in mid- July.
"The explosives could have been used against any type of target inside Israel," a senior Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) official said on Wednesday.
"This is just the tip of the iceberg of Hezbollah's efforts against Israel.... The attempted attack here and the recent attack in Bulgaria are all carried out by the same organization."
. "This is just the tip of the iceberg of Hezbollah's efforts against Israel.... The attempted attack here and the recent attack in Bulgaria are all carried out by the same organization."
The Shin Bet official said that such an operation -- smuggling explosives into Israel from Leb -- would have needed approval from the top Hezbollah echelon, likely including the organization's leader, Hassan Nasrallah.
The official said it was possible that Hezbollah was working with other people to recruit faceless myrmidons who would then be used to carry out attacks in Israel. So far, the Shin Bet has not enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! anyone who was supposed to carry out the attacks.
Zoabi, according to the Shin Bet, was in touch with a Lebanese drug pusher named George Nimer who has ties with Hezbollah and instructed Zoabi to hold on to the bag of explosives. Nimer told Zoabi that someone would contact him soon to collect it.
The Shin Bet said there was concrete intelligence linking Nimer to Hezbollah and to specific operatives in the organization. Zoabi and Nimer spoke by cellphone after two of Zoabi's friends helped smuggle Israeli SIM cellphone cards to Jordan whence they were then sent to Leb.
One of the suspected drug pushers enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! in Ghajar, Shahid Ibrahim, received the bag and hid it for a short time in a field he owns near the village.
Ibrahim's brother-in-law is Said Kahamuz, an Israeli citizen and former resident of Ghajar who fled to Leb in 2006 as he stood trial for smuggling drugs into Israel.
The Shin Bet official said that revelation of the terrorist plot was not expected to lead to a drop in Hezbollah's motivation to attack Israelis at home and throughout the world.
"Hezbollah is trying to create a deterrent with Israel and they think that attacks like these will achieve that," the official said.
While Arab Israelis have been enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! before on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks, the current arrests included one of the largest hauls of explosives that were ready for use.
The Nazareth Magistrate's Court extended the custody of the defendants until August 29.
"The uncovering of this cell prevented major terrorist attacks," Northern District police head Asst.-Ch. Roni Attia said in Nazareth on Wednesday.
"Now, when the complex security reality is knocking on our door, inside and outside the country, the public has an opportunity to take a close look at the systematic and combined work of all the security forces," Attia said.
He added that the northern police district dedicates considerable resources to counterterrorism, alongside crimefighting.
In 2001, residents of Rama, near Karmiel, and Daliat al- Carmel, near Haifa, were enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! for smuggling narcotics and arms from Leb.
Security forces said the weapons were destined for faceless myrmidons in the West Bank.
In 2002, a group of Israeli Arabs was enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! for sending sensitive information to Hezbollah in exchange for cash and for drugs that were later sold in Israel.
Security forces enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! residents of Ghajar and Kiryat Shmona in 2003 on suspicion of taking part in smuggling large quantities of arms and drugs on behalf of Hezbollah, and collecting sensitive information in Israel.
In recent years, several Israeli Arabs were enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! on suspicion of plotting attacks after falling under the ideological sway of al-Qaeda.
Maw is purely worn out and doesn't care even the littlest bit anymore, son. Sorry, but even a mother's love is not limitless under such strains.
Residents of Ghajar expressed disbelief that young men from the village were among the 14 involved in the terrorist plot, a lawyer representing one of the accused told The Jerusalem Post on Wednesday.
"Everyone is in total shock.
The people of Ghajar are citizens of Israel in every sense of the word and they would not do something like this," attorney Kamal Hattib, a Ghajar resident, said.
Hattib, who represents defendant Musa Hattib, said his client "has nothing to do with any sort of terror plot," adding that he "is the last person who would do something like this."
Hattib said the court and the security services agree, as his client is only facing charges that deal with drug trafficking and not security offenses.
Smuggling has been a way of life for some residents of Ghajar, an Alawite village of around 2,500 residents on the Golan Heights. The village straddles the border of Leb and Israel with residents living on both sides, while the Hatzbani River, a popular conduit for contraband, runs along the edge of the village.
Since the Second Leb War in 2006, the IDF and security services have operated a checkpoint at the entry to the village. Residents complain that the "blockade" has dried up local businesses and limited employment opportunities for the village's youth.
Hattib, who has also represented villagers in a lawsuit seeking compensation from the state for damage caused to local houses during the Second Leb War, said, "There is a blockade here, and you are searched every time you leave or enter the village. With all of that and the army, and the police, they still can't secure this one part of the border? The government needs to wave a flag of surrender, because they have failed completely and they are to blame."
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.
Rome's Fiumicino airport has defended its security procedures after a drunk Norwegian tourist fell asleep on a baggage belt and travelled 160 feet before being identified by an X-ray scanner. 
PUEBLO, Colo. -- President Obama, while villifying Mitt Romney for opposing the auto industry bailout, bragged about the success of his decision to provide government assistance and said he now wants to see every manufacturing industry come roaring back.
[Yemen Post] Yemen's security authorities have detected about 20 
[Yemen Post] The Yemeni authorities carried out a successful 
Three Taliban leaders were captured in joint Afghan and 
Three International Security Assistance Force service members died following an
The Muslim Brotherhood is busily propagating conspiracy theories about Israeli guilt for Sunday's terror attack in Sinai, which killed 16 Egyptian soldiers. But there's a bright side to this story: For the first time ever, many Egyptians aren't buying it.
Wazoo
[Dawn] Three 
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
[Dawn] NOW it is the realm of television programming and advertising that has attracted the Supreme Court's attention. Summoning the chief of the Pakistain Electronic Media Regulatory Authority in response to petitions moved by two conservative figures, the former amir of the 
Syria said its troops seized a rebel-held 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A 
A Russian general Wednesday denied reports he had been killed by rebels in Syria during an operation against 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
A CIVILIAN employee of 
A man was killed and several people were 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
An activist of the 
The Supreme Court on Wednesday issued a show-cause notice for contempt of court to Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf over his failure to implement its directive of writing a letter to Swiss authorities to reopen graft cases against 
By: Ian Storey (The Jamestown Foundation)
