Arriving in the idyllic coastal retreat of Martha's Vineyard in Massachusetts, Mr Obama left behind him in Washington DC high profile debates over the budget, government surveillance and his health care reforms. Instead, he will spend the next eight days playing golf, going to the beach, and buying books from the Bunch of Grapes bookstore. In the air he swapped his suit and tie for khakis and a blue shirt with rolled-up sleeves, while Mrs Obama wore a yellow-and-white summer dress.
When President Barack Obama goes on holiday to the seaside things can get complicated. Rooms have to be found for dozens of Secret Service agents, someone has to carry a selection of presidential basketballs, and of course the family dog needs his own state-of-the-art aircraft. Bo, the president's Portuguese Water Dog, arrived separately on one of two MV-22 Ospreys, a hybrid aircraft which takes off like a helicopter but flies like a plane. It was the first time the Ospreys have been taken on holiday by a US president.
Menawhile the guys flying and maintaining them are facing a pay freeze and an increase in their families' medical.
More than 70 hotel rooms, each costing up to $345 (£220) a night, have been booked out for Secret Service agents, who took charge of luggage including two large mesh bags full of basketballs.
The Obamas are staying in Chilmark on the western tip of the island, an area that is dotted with multi-million dollar homes. The neighbours include actor Ted Danson and the singer Carly Simon. On several previous visits the Obamas had stayed at the 28-acre Blue Heron Farm, but it has since been sold to Britain's most celebrated architect, Baron Foster of Thames Bank.
The president has therefore had to downsize to a $7.6 million, 5,000-square foot retreat on nine acres which is owned by a businessman friend from Chicago. It includes a basketball court. As a result Mr Obama will be staying closer to public roads which will have to be closed as his motorcade heads for the golf course of bookshop.
The Martha's Vineyard Times newspaper warned residents to expect "extraordinary and lengthy up-island detours". Local officials also emailed residents, saying: "Anyone aggrieved by this closing should email or call the White House."
Expect a follow up call from the IRS.
Jay Carney, White House spokesman, said: "Obviously, when you're President of the United States, you carry a little baggage when you travel. And that's true whether it's on a summit, international meeting, a domestic trip, or for a vacation. I know he's looking forward very much to some down time with his family. I'm sure he'll see some friends."
My brother in Korea saw this. I checked several days last week. How did we miss it? Maybe we just assumed it was a already done deal? We saw it.
Senators, representatives, and their top aides will be able to stay under the current subsidized health care system. That means they will continue to get a taxpayer-funded contribution to help pay for their health care premiums.
A last-minute deal worked out before Congress went on their five-week summer vacation gets lawmakers out of the original language of Obamacare, which said members and their aides had to use its health care plans. That what happens when you pass a law before you read it!
Republicans like Sen. David Vitter of Louisiana slammed the move, calling it a "behind-closed-doors deal, announced right after Congress is safely away from the crime scene."
"This is exactly why America rightly hates Washington," Vitter charged. "Obamacare's a train wreck, even for Congress. So it gets fixed - for Congress only. What the flip about fixing it for America?" You mean the worker class, Senator? If the Pubs really want to crank the issue, have the House propose to give every person and every business a one-year waiver from Obamacare, and dare the Dems to vote against it...
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2013
10:11 ||
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#1
> taxpayer-funded contribution to help pay for their health care premiums
Which won't be treated as earnings for tax purposes!
#3
Even the notion of something like this pushes my blood pressure up, but I am more saddened than angry. If this exemption scheme stands, we have just been given irrefutable proof of the contemptible caliber of our elected officials. This, along with other recent scandals, leaves the sustainment of the republic in very real question.
Leadership requires empathy, an ability to put yourself in your subordinate's shoes. It also requires decisiveness and a willingness to accept responsibility. Believing themselves to be unique, the Chinese find it almost impossible to empathise.
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/11/2013 11:18
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#3
BP, I think you're reading into it things he didn't say. He _did_ talk about greed and status, but... the Big Marxist Enterprises like Russia and China have _always_ been about Greed and Status.
People weren't scared of Stalin because they thought the Red Army was going to come in and make everyone pay the burger-flippers a livable wage.
And the author realizes these things, that's why he specifically mentions "Sixty years of self-serving socialism."
#5
Read the article. Whatever he was that put him in the London Universitys School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) as a youth he has been and is an entrepreneur in a land where he is an outsider.
Worth the read, best not to comment until you do so. And the article has a link discussing the response to the original article.
Especially important read for those interested in doing business in China.
#6
Read the article before commenting. It's still quite clear he was in love of the top down model, where the state makes you a good person. It's never worked. It never will...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
08/11/2013 12:10
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#7
Let me try this, with emphasis:
Modern day mainland Chinese society is focused on one object: money and the acquisition thereof. The politically correct term in China is economic benefit. The country and its people, on average, are far wealthier than they were 25 years ago. Traditional family culture, thanks to 60 years of self-serving socialism followed by another 30 of the one child policy, has become a me culture. Except where there is economic benefit to be had, communities do not act together, and when they do it is only to ensure equal financial compensation for the pollution, or the government-sponsored illegal land grab, or the poisoned children. Social status, so important in Chinese culture and more so thanks to those 60 years of communism, is defined by the display of wealth. Cars, apartments, personal jewellery, clothing, pets: all must be new and shiny, and carry a famous foreign brand name. In the small rural village where we live I am not asked about my health or that of my family, I am asked how much money our small business is making, how much our car cost, our dog.
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 13:45
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#9
I've been a Sinophile for a while now - several Chinese girlfriends and on my way back again to visit Chongqing in about 4 weeks. I really love China and have thought about living there many times, but I just don't see it happening. He is right. It would be a great place to goof off a few years as an English teacher, but there are too many obstacles to setting up camp there for the long term.
#10
If you wait long enough China will be coming here as they buy America via bankruptcy court. I imagine that with Detroits voting history China would be more welcome than say the Koch Brothers.
#11
If you wait long enough China will be coming here as they buy America via bankruptcy court.
One of the writer's points is that China is working up to a couple of major economic crashes, due to Communist Party short-term thinking and -- my interpolation here -- a lack of basic economic understanding. China may well not have long enough to buy up the rest of the world, nor the financial depth or diversity or whatever to leave their money in investments abroad when things go badly wrong back home.
A good article, dear Shipman, which is generating a useful discussion. I'm glad you posted it.
I'm also looking forward to any thoughts Scooter McGruder might have, as he is over there now.
#12
I see China crashing economically and turning back to militaristic repression internally as well as external assholery around the local oil fields
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 17:11
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All things equal, China wants overseas PLA milbases, i.e. what the Superpower USA had after 1945 + Cold War, UK in the 19th thru mid 20th century, + "great power" world predecessors.
Despite its rhetoric, I see no sign that China is seriously willing to amend or give the above up - IFF ANYTHING, THE OPPOSITE IS TRUE I.E. CHINA IS PREPPING TO MILPOL CONFRONT + WAGE WAR TO ACHIEVE IT.
China's history points towards PROTRACTIVE OR PHASED, INTENSE "LIMITED WAR(S)" WHERE HIGH COMBAT = PLA CASUALTIES IS NOT A MAJOR OR DECIDING FACTOR.
Maryland is getting a second dose of the housing crisis -- a sequel that foreclosure experts and state officials knew was coming but no one wanted to see.
Between January and June, Maryland went from having one of the lowest foreclosure rates in the nation to the third highest as banks worked their way through a backlog of delinquent loans, created in part by the state's long foreclosure process. Live Free! For a while. In Maryland.
All the while, the backlog of troubled loans grew, mainly in states such as Maryland, where courts approve foreclosures and the process takes much longer. Lawmakers in Annapolis also passed a series of reforms to help homeowners try to save their homes, which made the foreclosure timeline even longer. Once among the shortest in the nation, Maryland's is now among the longest: an average of 575 days as of June, according to foreclosure-tracking firm RealtyTrac. In Virginia, where court approval for foreclosures is not required, it takes 184 days, the shortest of any state.
Home prices have gone up in her neighborhood, but not enough to help the Adegbuyis, who bought their house in 2005 for $583,000. In January, the county assessed it at $332,900, tax records show.
She and her husband began negotiating with her bank in 2008, after she was laid off from her workforce development job. That was the start of a five-year stint in paperwork purgatory that she said continues. The couple started to fall seriously behind on their mortgage after her husband was laid off in 2011. Welcome to the New O-Conomy! Get a green job! Move to California! Solyndra is hiring, aren't they?
Adegbuyi went to a June meeting of the Prince George's County Foreclosure Task Force, which reviews the county's response to foreclosures and proposes policies. She left frustrated with the task force's focus on housing counseling, down-payment assistance, and rehabbing vacant foreclosures. The county seems more focused on helping new people come in, she said. "What about the people trying to stay in their homes?" Stay in your home? Without employment? We need to work on a program for that! If only the evil re-thuglicans would raise taxes on the very wealthy, we could save these folks!
At the current rate, it will take 18 months for the backlog of foreclosures to clear, state policy analyst Flora M. Arabo said. While that is longer than officials would like, buying more time for struggling homeowners is worth it, she said. After all, the banks have plenty of money. We bailed them out once, didn't we?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2013
08:58 ||
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Just remind everyone that every foreclosure someone loses a house they couldn't afford, but it's normally bought by someone who can!
#2
it's normally bought by someone who can
Not really. Housing is too darn expensive in general (even in Detroit) and that is part of the housing bubble. By old-time financing standards, very few would now qualify for home mortgages. One would think housing prices would plunge to affordable levels, but noooo-- the Feds have been intervening massively to support this whole corrupt and damaging process.
Yes maybe slow court proceedings may be aggravating the situation in Maryland - this is entirely under the control of the state legislator, who fund the courts. They have apparently decided on the go-slow approach (which also supports the housing bubble).
#3
The givernments have been fighting so hard to keep the values up because locals tied their tax revenue to housing values. This is just another land mine for the next administration to deal with. Add obamacare, higher taxes and a 18 trillion dollar debt, part time employment and you have a few other mines to avoid while digging out. Regardless what the MSM says things will get worse before they get better. And things may never be the same again as we settle to the new normal.
#4
I'm reminded of the comment that"You never really end a mortgage, it's extended forever", when I paid off my mortgage they wanted me to continue paying, even going so far as to call me in, and dun me for a debt THAT WAS NOT MINE trying to "Guilty" Me into paying.
The problem was, that I had kept records, and they coldn't shake me.
They're out of business now.
but I'm reminded they LIE and steal.
So now I don't use mortgage companies, if I can't buy it, I either wait, or don't buy it.
It's slow, but I'm debt free, (Not that it makes any difference to the Telephone you "debt companies" YOU OWE AND PAY NOW)
No I don't, and you're thieves.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/11/2013 23:04
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's military front man Ahmed Ali issued a statement on Saturday saying that army has "found and dealt with terrorist groups" in North Sinai, including culprits behind the killing of 16 Egyptian soldiers in 2012 near the border with Israel.
On 5 August 2012, unidentified Death Eaters attacked a security checkpoint during iftar (the meal that breaks the fast during Ramadan) leaving 16 Egyptian soldiers dead.
Ali added that among the groups spotted were those responsible for the kidnapping of seven soldiers who were held in captivity for almost a week last May.
"These terrorist groups were planning to commit crimes against members of the armed forces, the police and the honorable people of Sinai," added Ali.
Earlier on Saturday, eyewitnesses told Aswat Masryia that the army targeted armed Jihadists in the town of Al-Toma south of Sheikh Zweid in North Sinai.
Locals added that a number of homes in the area caught fire after a rocket was fired from the military.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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[Dawn] The British government on Saturday warned teachers, doctors and airport staff to be on alert for a rise in forced marriages over the school summer holidays.
Summer marks a peak in reports of young people -- mainly girls -- being taken abroad on "holiday," not knowing their families are forcing them into a marriage, the interior ministry said.
Britannia's Forced Marriage Unit dealt with some 1,500 cases last year, a third of them involving children aged under 17. In nearly half the cases the victims were taken to Pakistain.
"The rise in forced marriage reports over the school holidays is shocking," said crime prevention minister Jeremy Browne.
"Teenagers expecting their GCSE or A-level (exam) results should be embarking on a bright future, not condemned to a marriage with someone they have never met and do not want to marry.
"My message to young people who feel they are at risk is, please come forward -- you do not have to suffer in silence, there is help available and it can be stopped." The Forced Marriage Unit is handing out cards this summer providing information for potential victims, telling them to speak to police or airline staff if they believe they are being taken to be married against their will.
But the opposition Labour party said the warning might have been more helpful if it was issued before schools broke up for the holidays.
The Forced Marriage Unit said the victims it had dealt with last year were taken to 60 countries, including Bangladesh (11 per cent), India (8 per cent) and Afghanistan (2.1 per cent).
In 18 per cent of cases, the victim was male.
The government announced plans last year to introduce new laws for England and Wales that would see parents sent to jail if they force their children into a marriage.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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The Labour party thought it might be enough to just have a stab at something that could be good - they never thought of it, and it would never of been pushed through because everything for them is just another left turn. Wankers
[TRIBUNE.NG] As part of its ongoing efforts to curb the migration of the Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... sect members who are on the run from Borno, Yobe and Adamawa states where a state of emergency had been declared for the past few months, the Nigerian Army, yesterday, raided the Boko Haram shelter at Gidan-Igwai area of Sokoto.
"The operation was conducted as part of the ongoing efforts to rid Sokoto State of the fleeing gunnies from the volatile states of Borno, Yobe and Adamawa," the spokesperson of the 1 Brigade, Captain Yahaya Musa explained.
The operation, the authorities maintained, was staged following a hint given by the local residents, with Capt. Musa adding that the raid was "part of the routine operations of the Army to cleanse Nigeria of insurgency and other criminal activities."
"Sokoto is peaceful, unfortunately gunnies from other parts of the country are fast making it a safe haven and we are battle-ready to dislodge them. The operation by the army would be sustained and intensified just like our sister security organizations are also doing theirs, nationwide.
"I cannot however confirm any fatalities as at now but scores of arrests have been made whose details would be made available later," the spokesperson further said.
Capt. Musa expressed gratitude to the residents of the city for their usual support and cooperation, noting that the task of ensuring the security of lives and property of Nigerians is a collective one.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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[CBSNEWS] A wave of boom-mobileings targeting those celebrating the end of Ramadan across Iraq killed 69 people Saturday, a bloody reminder of the inability of Iraqi authorities to stop violence threatening to spiral out of control. A Moslem holy day isn't complete without a human sacrifice.
Violence has been on the rise across Iraq since a deadly crackdown by government forces on a Sunni protest camp in April, and attacks against civilians and security forces notably spiked during Ramadan. The surge of attacks has sparked fears that the country could see a new round of widespread sectarian bloodshed similar to that which brought the country to the edge of civil war in 2006 and 2007.
The bloodshed also comes after Iraqi security forces promised to step up efforts to increase security to protect the public during the Eid al-Fitr celebrations that mark the end of the Mohammedan holy month of Ramadan. This year's Ramadan was the most violence since 2007, with 671 people killed.
"My shop's windows were smashed and smoke filled the whole area," said shoe shop owner Saif Mousa, who survived an attack near his store in New Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... . "I went outside of the shop and I could hardly see because of the smoke. ... At the end, we had a terrible day that was supposed to be nice because of Eid."
A series of car bombs in mainly Shiite areas of Baghdad killed 60 people and wounded 200 on Saturday, police and medical sources said, part of a surge in violence in Iraq since the start of the year. The nine separate explosions targeted markets and busy shopping streets, the sources said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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This is the first time I have heard of Patch, which is apparently Ariana Huffington's attempt to publish local news, which tells you the marketing effort that was put into it.
AOL Inc. will replace the head of its struggling Patch local-news operation and plans to close or find partners for 400 of the unit's 900 community websites as it looks to cut jobs, two people familiar with the matter said.
AOL Chief Executive Officer Tim Armstrong announced the changes at a meeting with Patch editors this morning, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the information isn't public. On an interim basis, AOL executive Bud Rosenthal will replace Patch chief Steven Kalin, who is leaving the company, the person said.
AOL's Armstrong Says Adap.tv Gives Ad `Singularity'
AOL is still calculating the number of positions that will be eliminated as a result of the closures, which could number in the hundreds, one of the people said.
#1
When most people spent most of their lives within 20 miles of where they were born, local was very important. When people who arrived from beyond that 20 miles came in and told you how to live your life and what you can or can not do, local became less important.
#6
our local Patch site is pretty good. Lotta local news I can't get from the Big Local Rag
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 11:55
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I like the concept; what bugs me is "run by professional editors, photographers, videographers, and salespeople who live in the regions they serve, and is supported by a great team in our New York City headquarters" with the whole thing being advised by a board of 'esteemed' journalists.
IMNSHO, what is driving down the newspaper industry is the people working in it.
[Rooters] Inquiries into the bloody assault on an Algerian gas plant are uncovering increasing evidence of contacts between the assailants and the jihadis involved in killing the U.S. ambassador to Libya nearly a year ago.
The extent of the contacts between the Death Eaters is still unclear and nobody is sure there was a direct link between the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi and the carnage at In Amenas, where 39 foreign hostages were killed in January.
But the findings, according to three sources with separate knowledge of U.S. investigations, shed some light on the connections between Al Qaeda affiliates stretching ever further across North and West Africa.
At the center of the web is Al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), which has expanded far from its Algerian birthplace and now has links to other jihadi groups in Maghreb countries, including Tunisia and Libya. Their shared ideology combines with other, often financial, interests.
Despite being driven from large parts of the West African state of Mali by a French-led military operation early this year, AQIM Death Eaters are strengthening their presence elsewhere.
Four months after the In Amenas raid, the attack's criminal mastermind, Mokhtar Belmokhtar - who has strained but functioning relations with AQIM's leadership - grabbed credit for an attack on a uranium mine run by La Belle France's Areva in Niger far to the south.
Belmokhtar has also launched attacks in the past in Mauritania, while AQIM uses the centuries-old Mauritanian tradition of Islamic scholarship to give religious justification to its actions - as well as increasing its regional appeal.
With tension growing in Tunisia between opposition secularists and the Islamist government, hardline Salafists ...Salafists are ostentatiously devout Moslems who figure the ostentation of their piety gives them the right to tell others how to do it and to kill those who don't listen to them... are an increasingly important part of the equation there.
AQIM is believed to be involved in fighting with the Tunisian army on the Tunisian-Algerian border, according to an Algerian security source.
At the same time, AQIM is building links with groups such as the 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... Tunisia, which seeks to expand its followers through Salafist missionary work or "dawa" rather than violent jihad.
AQIM's links to Libyan groups have grown stronger during the chaos that ensued after the 2011 overthrow of Muammar Qadaffy ... who had more funny outfits than Louis XIV... , who had kept all Islamists in check.
Some of the men involved in the Algerian raid took part in the attack on the U.S. consulate in Benghazi on September 11, 2012, when Ambassador Christopher Stevens and three other Americans died, one source with knowledge of the inquiry said.
A second source said there had definitely been some kind of contact between the Benghazi and In Amenas attackers but could not say to what extent.
A third source said some of the jihadis at In Amenas had bought weapons and stayed for months in the Libyan city of El Aouinet near the Algerian border, where they met some of the men behind the Benghazi attack.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
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#1
It's the partially-deflated balloon concept. The ideal would be to reinforce the 'deflated' areas, before squeezing the 'inflated' ones.
#3
"... Kept all Islamists in check" > as did Mubarak as now Assad, thus of course the US = Bammer Admin has to get rid of him widout need of imposing any conditions on the opposition.
ALL THE US IS DOING IS INDIRECTLY HELPING TO PROMOTE + EXPAND RADICAL ISLAM'S GLOBAL JIHAD + FUTURE OWG ISLAMIST-JIHADIST [Nuclear?] CALIPHATE.
Shia Iran desires to be the world's Islamic/
Islamist Global Nuclear Superpower - IFF THE KSA, ETAL. = SUNNIS DON'T OR WON'T DO IT, IRAN WILL.
Shia or Sunni, IMO wid the OWG Caliphate will also come NUKE-WMD ARMED RADICAL ISLAM = MILTERRS, + regardless iff State(s)-sponsored, autonomous, or independent???
[Al Ahram] Speaking to Al-Ahram Arabic news website on Saturday, an informed source denied claims of coordination between the Egyptian armed forces and Israel in the attack launched on Friday in North Sinai, but did reveal details of the military operation.
According to the anonymous source, the attack was part of an unannounced operation by the military to crack down on "snuffies and jihadists" in the restive Sinai peninsula. He added that at least four jihadists were killed in the attack.
"The intelligence apparatus found out that there was a plan by jihadists to target several vital spots in Sinai and to destroy the Al-Salam bridge crossing the Suez canal on the second day of Eid El-Fitr [Friday]," said the source, adding that a state of emergency was declared among forces of the second field army and border guards. In addition, special forces, paratroopers and Apache helicopters were deployed.
"Motion above the bridge was halted until the Egyptian military helicopters attacked the spot, and succeeded in destroying the [jihadists'] rockets," he said adding that the rockets destroyed were made in Iran.
On Friday, a loud kaboom coming from the area of Ajraa in Egypt's North Sinai was heard at 4:15pm by residents of south Rafah, according to armed forces front man Ahmed Ali.
Egypt's official MENA news agency said the kaboom destroyed a rocket launcher set up near the border to launch attacks against Israel, and at least five Islamic bully boyz were killed. But it did not elaborate.
The attack was followed by conflicting media reports, some claiming the attack was launched by the Israeli forces in coordination with Egyptian authorities. In response, Ali vehemently denied the claims, requesting media to verify its information before publishing, especially on issues of national security.
The Israeli army spokeswoman declined to comment on the alleged attack.
According to Al-Ahram Arabic news website's source, the denial of the military front man came amid strict orders by the armed forces not to reveal any official information until the end of the operation against jihadists.
On Wednesday, Egypt's army said that the army's crackdown on "terrorism and jihadists" in Sinai from 5 July to 4 August resulted in the apprehension of 227 individuals -- with 103 tossed in the clink Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! and 124 either killed or injured.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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[Al Ahram] A coalition of Tunisian opposition parties intends to propose next week a cabinet of independents to end the political crisis shaking the country, one of their number said Saturday.
"The National Salvation Front will continue to work toward a government of national salvation and make its proposals on independent figures to constitute it next week," said Karima Souid, from the Massar party.
"The front will also set out a precise road map," she added.
The front is a mixed bag of parties running from the extreme left to the centre-right that is demanding that the Islamist-led government of Prime Minister Ali Larayedh step down.
The North African country has seen almost non-stop political turmoil since the February liquidation of opposition politician and MP Chokri Belaid.
His killing was followed by the murder on July 25 of another opposition figure, Mohamed Brahmi.
The murders have been blamed on radical Islamists, and the cabinet has been accused of not doing enough to prevent such killings.
The opposition has rejected talks with the government until it steps down, while the Ennahda party that heads the coalition has ruled out any dialogue conditional on its ouster.
But Souid said there "can be no discussion until a government of national salvation is put in place. That is non-negotiable."
Larayedh has refused to resign, and vowed Thursday that his cabinet will make every effort to turn to dialogue with its critics to resolve the crisis.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[DAILYCALLER] San Diego Mayor Bob Filner's endurance in the face of mounting sexual harassment accusations may be driven by his need to get out of an even bigger problem: a federal criminal investigation that has received little attention from the national media.
The San Diego Creeper is the subject of an FBI probe of what looks like a quid-pro-quo arrangement with a local developer. In June local media obtained a voicemail Tom Story of Sunroad Centrum Partners left for various city council members regarding a $100,000 "gift" he made to two public projects Filner favored.
At the time, Sunroad was looking to use public land for a project in Kearney Mesa. Story's strikingly direct voicemail indicates Filner agreed to give Sunroad the easement in exchange for the donation.
"I'd like the council member to know that we have reached an agreement with the mayor's office," Story's message said. "We have paid him the money that was requested and was told that the mayor would support the override."
The FBI will not comment on open investigations.
But in early July Brent Seibert of U-T San Diego reported that FBI agents had visited more than one city council member about the $100,000 in checks. Other observers of America's Finest City report that Filner may be deposed in the potential extortion probe August 19.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
More: it wasn't really a Q-P-Q. Sunroad did a poor design and realized they needed a 5' easement for fire code on the Condo windows on a park edge - a park they paid for and turned over to the City. They offered to give $100K to the City for the easement (half the $200K it would cost them to upgrade the windows) - a reasonable deal which municipalities do all the time and apply to the area of development or that particular park - what would the City build against a fenceline 2' from Condo windows anyway? The problem is Mayor Grabby Grabby used the $ for two of his pet causes in another area of town unrelated to the development, and unapproved by the Council. That is more like extortion
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 11:24
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian security forces stood guard at checkpoints as more than 100 cars, some carrying dozens of jihadists, took part in a funeral procession for four slain fighters in the northern part of the Sinai Peninsula on Saturday. A little-known Death Eater group, Ansar Beith al-Maqdis , said its men were the target of a reported Israeli drone strike in Egyptian territory that killed the four Death Eaters.
The strike was a rare operation that could indicate increased cooperation between Egypt and Israel against Death Eaters in northern Sinai after the ouster of Islamist president Mohamed Morsi from power last month. Egyptian security officials confirmed the men were killed in an Arclight airstrike.
Hundreds of people, including armed jihadists, rustics carrying weapons and family members of the dead took part in the funeral, where the bodies were displayed in the back of pick-up trucks draped by black flags inscribed with Islamic verses. The flags are often used by al-Qaeda Death Eaters, but also by Islamists. Some in the procession rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against Israel and Egypt's army, currently battling gunnies in the area.
The procession passed through checkpoints peacefully, though it is believed that many who were present are wanted by police for carrying out near daily attacks on security forces in Sinai.
Security officials said the nature of the attack, possibly from an Israeli drone, made it difficult to try and stop the procession for fear of enflaming an already volatile situation.
The officials also said that since only some 50 fighters are known to them in Sinai --while others remain unidentified -- it was not immediately possible to distinguish between Death Eaters and others during the procession. They also said that checkpoints leading to the cemetery where the men were buried were manned by just a handful of personnel ill-equipped to take on such a large group of possibly well-armed fighters.
Ansar Beit al-Maqdis said in a statement posted on a Death Eater website that a drone crossed into Egyptian airspace Friday and killed four fighters as they were preparing a cross-border rocket strike into Israel. It said the dead were members of Egyptian Sinai tribes and that the rocket squad's leader escaped.
It denounced the Egyptian military for allegedly having allowed the attack. "What is greater treason than the Egyptian army allowing the Zionist drones to violate Egyptian airspace now and then?" it said.
The statement's authenticity could not be confirmed, but it was posted on an Internet website commonly used by Death Eater groups.
The strike is likely to increase tensions in the border region. Insurgents, who have close ties to Paleostinian Death Eaters in the neighboring Gazoo Strip, have stepped up attacks on police and military targets since the July 3 coup that toppled Morsi. Some residents of Sinai have alleged that Morsi did not clamp down hard enough on Death Eaters during his year in office out of concerns it would anger some of his supporters.
Egyptian security officials, speaking anonymously on Friday, said that a drone firing from the Israeli side of the border had killed five suspected Death Eaters. The conflicting accounts could not be reconciled. Both said the site of the strike was about five kilometers (three miles) inside Egypt.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
why not do a stop-and-ID/search-and-confiscate on each and every car in the procession?
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 11:28
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[AnNahar] Spanish and French police said Saturday they have dismantled a human trafficking ring that smuggled Chinese migrants into Europe and the United States, arresting 75 suspects including "main operatives" based in Barcelona.
Fifty-one suspects were tossed in the clink Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! in Spain and 24 in La Belle France after a two-year joint investigation, a police statement said.
The traffickers charged 40,000 to 50,000 euros ($53,000 to $66,000) per person to provide "false identities and transport Chinese citizens to the United States and countries such as Spain, La Belle France, Greece, Italia, the United Kingdom, Ireland and Turkey," the statement said.
In some cases the ring was involved in the sexual exploitation of migrants, it added.
Spanish police seized 81 fake passports from Asian countries such as Taiwan, South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Hong Kong and Singapore.
The investigation into the ring described as "complex" began in July 2011.
"The composition of this perfectly structured, hierarchical organization, with its kingpin in China and independent cells operating in different countries, completely shut off from each other, complicated the investigation," the police statement said.
The traffickers accompanied their clients all the way from China to Spain, "the last stop (serving as a) trampoline to the final destination, usually the United Kingdom or the United States," it said.
Major Hasan is a Virginia-born army psychiatrist and a recipient of the Pentagons Global War on Terrorism Service Medal, which seems fair enough, since he certainly served in it, albeit for the other side. Most Americans think hes nuts. He thinks Americans are nuts. Its a closer call than youd think. In the immediate aftermath of his attack, the U.S. media, following their iron-clad rule that Allahu akbar is Arabic for Nothing to see here, did their best to pass off Major Hasan as the first known victim of pre-Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder. It comes at a time when the stress of combat has affected so many soldiers, fretted Andrew Bast in a report the now defunct Newsweek headlined, A Symptom of a Military on the Brink.
Major Hasan has never been in combat. He is not, in fact, a soldier. He is a shrink. The soldiers in this story are the victims, some 45 of them. And the only reason a doctor can gun down nearly four dozen trained warriors (he was eventually interrupted by a civilian police officer, Sergeant Kimberly Munley, with a 9mm Beretta) is that soldiers on base are forbidden from carrying weapons. Thats to say, under a 1993 directive a U.S. military base is effectively a gun-free zone, just like a Connecticut grade school. Thats a useful tip: If youre mentally ill and looking to shoot up a movie theater at the next Batman premiere, try the local barracks theres less chance of anyone firing back.
#1
The whole system is now based upon lies. And then they wonder why things don't work out the way they believe they should. However, they prefer to continue to lie to themselves and everyone else rather than to acknowledge the fundamental concept that their actions can not solve problems because their premises are lies and falsehoods.
#2
disinclined, OH I really like that word. What we have here are con men in charge of all story telling. The good con men in the old days knew when to get out most times. When you have played a con too long things will fall apart. That is what is happening here now. The con man believes his own lies. Like stolen Valor. They can't let go of their story. It becomes real to them. "The whole system is now based upon lies".
[Ynet] President of the Iraqi Kurdistan Region threatened to militarily intervene in the Syrian civil war in order to protect the Kurdish population living under the Assad regime.
"If the reports about innocent Kurdish citizens being slaughtered beyond our borders are true, we will use our military force to protect them," said Kurdish leader Massoud Barzani.
Syrians might want to be careful -- the Iraqi Peshmurga is a pretty decent light infantry force.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/11/2013
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#1
Now is their time, a window has opened, call up the turko types, make it happen. This is where a ground truth (and a port) can kick histories ass.
#3
Kurds aren't Muslim and/or Anti-American. Obama and his Dept of State don't care about them
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 17:09
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#4
#2 AFAIK the US = Obama Admin is NOT arming the anti-Assad Syrian Rebs despite the MSM-Net rhetoric, which is why the Syrian Rebs are angry + critical of the US + Obama.
The Bammer is NOT enforcing his own "red lines" agz anyone e.g. Syria + Iran - APPLY THIS TO CHINA OVER IN EAST ASIA [East China Sea + South China Sea, ASEAN, etc.].
IMO all the Bammer is accomplishing is getting everybody p.o'ed at the US - Allies, Enemies, Frenemies, Moderates, + Non-Aligned.
HOW BAD IS IT WHEN EVEN HIS OWN DEMS/DEMOLEFT ARE CONFUSED ABOUT WHAT HE'S DOING!?
[Al Ahram] Egypt's liberal Constitution Party issued a statement on Saturday voicing its concern over the situation in Sinai following unconfirmed leaks of Israeli-Egyptian coordination during an attack against jihadists in the Sinai Peninsula on Friday.
In its statement, the party affirmed its full support for the armed forces "in their quest to impose Egyptian sovereignty on Sinai".
The party, however, also called on the armed forces to explain the Sinai situation to the media and the Egyptian people with more "honesty and transparency" as long as it doesn't put national security at stake.
On Friday, a loud explosion coming from the area of Ajraa in Egypt's North Sinai was heard at 4:15pm by residents of south Rafah, according to armed forces spokesman Ahmed Ali. Egypt's official MENA news agency reported that the explosion destroyed a rocket launcher set up near the border to launch attacks on Israel, and at least five Islamic militants were killed.
The attack was followed by conflicting media reports, some claiming the attack was launched by Israeli forces in coordination with Egyptian authorities. In response, Ali vehemently denied the claims, asking that media verify its information before publishing, especially on issues of national security.
For their part, the Salafist Al-Nour party stressed that "a security solution" to the situation in Sinai is not the answer.
"The security solution on its own will make matters more complicated," said Galal Murra, the secretary general of Al-Nour party who warned of negative consequences if violent tactics were used against the people of Sinai.
Murra further called on the need for dialogue with the people of Sinai "in order to create a complete vision for a means of getting out of this crisis."
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] Pakistain Army on Saturday, for the first time entered into the remote northern town of Chilas, headquarters of Diamer District, 128 KM off Gilgit, to conduct an operation to arrest myrmidons behind killing of security officials and other terrorist activities.
"Troops of Pakistain Army have entered into the city and it is totally cordoned off and some four localities were searched out for particular people," an official of administration said requesting not to be named.
He disclosed that only the top military officials were leading the operation so entire details about what has been achieved so far is neither known by administration nor police had any idea.
An army colonel, a captain and a senior superintendent of police (SSP), investigating the June 23 killing of nine foreign tourists and one of their Pak guides in the area, were killed on August 6.
Victims of the mountain assault included climbers from China, Lithuania, Nepal, Slovakia, Ukraine and one person with joint US-Chinese citizenship. One Chinese climber had escaped the attack.
Helicopters of Army Aviation kept hovering over the small town while exit and entry points of the city were sealed and people coming from far flung parts faced hardship to get access to hospitals.
People in this remote area spent the Eid Day inside their homes after gathering at the congregation and offering prayers because the city was heavily flooded with troops.
"It is unique and unusual so people got scared and preferred to remain at home because movements of the residents were already restricted by the troops in the heart of city where they initiated an operation," a local news hound, Muhammad Aslam told Dawn.com on phone.
The markets were closed and intra city movements were also restricted but people had access to hospital with patients but only inside the town. However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... some shops were opened in the late evening, said a resident.
Dwellers of the town were experiencing a new phenomenon which they never thought of in their lives as military troops kept patrolling in the town and people saw them from the windows of their homes.
The prayers leader in the town of Chilas, who led the prayers on Eid Congregation, Maulana Muhammad Ayaz came down hard on those who were behind attack on foreigners and three high profile security officials.
"How can we say they are Musselmens? They are not even human. We strongly condemn the barbaric acts and want government to push them behind bars," he spoke to the huge crowd.
"We are with the government, and they should have been nabbed Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! ," he continued. "May all of them go to hell," he cursed. "How they can justify shedding blood of innocent humans."
Separately, in an usual move another place Darel valley, some 80 KMs west of Chilas, Brugi village, witnessed arrival of troops who cordoned off the area and looked for some men.
The operation was led by Muhammad Navid, ASP Head Quarters Chilas, recently given charge of the Superintendent of Police following liquidation of the Senior Superintendent of Police Hilal Ahmed.
Contact could not be established with Darel valley due to telephone network problem and situation could not be learnt.
Police remained tight lipped and did not leak any information regarding the operation while administration officials avoided phone calls unlike their routine.
It looked like either things were not in their hand or they were directed to keep secret until a specific time the information about what has been achieved so far.
Both the administration and Police sounded reluctant to share information and insisted to wait and see which way the wind blows. "You see we have really no idea as to what is going on as search is being conducted people are taken into custody but we can't tell you the number of detainees and who are arrested until and unless we ourselves come to know," a police official said seeking complete anonymity.
"May be seniors or the head of administration of the district are in position to tell what has been done so far," he said.
However, corruption finds a dozen alibis for its evil deeds... another Police official said GB scouts, Frontier Constabulary and Police Force were also assign various duties. "The only thing I can tell you four localities in the town, namely KKH area, Jalil Muhallah, Shaheen Kowt and Takkia points are searched hitherto," said the official wanting not to be named because he was not authorised to be quoted anywhere.
There was no resistance from the public and the operation is underway smoothly, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Two coppers and five activists of Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... , student wing of 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... , were maimed in a clash at Nangalkot upazila in Comilla Saturday.
The clash erupted when a patrol team of the law enforcers came under attack by Shibir activists in Eidgah Maidan area in the evening, quoting Shwapan Debnath, officer-in-charge of Nangalkot Police Station, our Comilla correspondent reports.
The Shibir activists, gathered at an earlier time, threw brick chips at the coppers during the clash that left two cops injured, the OC said.
Police fired 17 rounds of rubber bullets and five tear-shell canisters to bring the situation under control, he added.
About 50 Shibir men at a meeting were planning for arson attacks in the upcoming Jamaat shutdown called for August 13 and 14, the police official alleged.
Jamaat upazila unit ameer claimed that five Shibir activists sustained bullet injuries in the clash, the correspondent said.
Fearing arrest the ameer requested this correspondent not to disclose his name and the names of the injured Shibir members.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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This hits on my favorite sitting down activities, military shooters. I knew the army was using them to recruit, and to a lesser extent training, but now they have apparently intensified use of video games. Perhaps the US government could get into the act and use video game technology on how to get a job, and to use credit wisely, or how not to have children out of wedlock. You never see those video games.
From TFA:
This summer, the US Army's research & development command, RDECOM, has kicked off an experiment to try infusing the latest commercial video game technology into the Army's most important combat simulator. The new tech brings real potential for better military training -- but also a very real danger.
Famous for powering games like 2012's Borderlands 2 and XCOM: Enemy Unknown, Epic Games, Inc.'s award-winning Unreal Engine is already used for military software ranging from medical simulators to the free game/recruiting tool America's Army. But what the Army wants to do this time is much more ambitious. It wants to use the latest version of the software, Unreal Engine 3, to improve the revolutionary but still somewhat stilted Dismounted Soldier Training System. Unlike earlier simulators that trained aircraft pilots in mock cockpits or tank crews in dummy vehicles, DSTS is the Army's first attempt at immersive virtual reality for ordinary infantrymen -- who after all suffer the vast majority of casualties in war.
If you can put a game in 128Gs, that's a small chip these days. Install on a decent flat screen TV, which requires you to run a 10-20 minute game scenario to teach basic lessons of life, for 6 to 8 hours of operating time before it shuts itself off requiring a restart. Then hand them out as ObamaTVs, you know they'll grab them, free, free, free. Probably one of the few 'moral' teachings experiences they'll get in their environment. Probably a lot cheaper in the short and long run than all the graft being handed out under the guise of community organizing.
I'm the most libertarian here, but I think there's a case for licensing users of interest bearing loans. Have a test proving you can use credit wisely, calculate the interest and show you can work out the full cost before contracts with interest bearing credit are legal.
Male feminist Hugo Schwyzer goes off his meds, or maybe back on his meds -- it's so confusing -- to confess his sins. No, he didn't come to Jesus, for he would have found real redemption. Instead, he came to the Twitter and fired off a barrage of tweets confessing he is a liar and a fraud, and he will never teach wimmyns studies again, and he will be off the internets 4evah. No really, he means it this time. You can trust him on that. No more, Ever. You can bank on it. Really. Finis. Finito...
From TFA:
This week, the Pasadena Star-News reported that following the sexting scandal and extramarital affairs, Schwyzer would be taking some sick time. At least one trustee doesn't want him to return to teaching "Navigating Pornography."
Schwyzer returned to Twitter yesterday, admitting in dozens of tweets to years of deception as he weaseled his way into feminist academia. He also said he was in the middle of a manic episode. Maybe he can go to the same hospital that Bob Filner went to. I hear Filner was cured in record time!
[Al Ahram] An Egyptian prosecutor in Fayoum governorate south of Cairo ordered on Saturday the detention of 10 members of the Moslem Brüderbund for 15 days, pending investigations for allegedly inciting violence on Friday, which left several injured.
According to state news agency MENA, an 11th defendant was sent to his family instead of being tossed in the clink Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! because he is under 18 years old.
Clashes erupted in Fayoum on Friday when Brotherhood members allegedly attempted to break into the security directorate building during a march organised by the pro-Morsi National Alliance to Support Legitimacy.
Police used teargas to disperse the attempt and the two sides exchanged birdshot.
At least six police suffered from temporary suffocation, including three conscripts. An injured police officer was released on Saturday from the medical insurance hospital.
Another 13 injured were treated in a hospital owned by the secretary general of the Freedom and Justice Party in Fayoum.
Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... television earlier reported 28 injuries in the festivities, including a police officer.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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[Bangla Daily Star] A Bangladeshi man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for plotting to bomb the US Federal Reserve in New York.
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis, 22, apologised to a judge, to his parents and to the city of New York before the sentence was handed down.
Officials said he took dummy explosives to the central bank branch and tried to set them off using a mobile phone.
In February, he pleaded guilty to attempting to use a weapon of mass destruction and to supporting al-Qaeda.
Nafis told the court he had rejected radical Islam, in a five-page letter to the federal judge.
Lawyers say Nafis was radicalised at university in Bangladesh and suffered from personal issues.
"I'm ashamed. I'm lost," he said. "I tried to do a terrible thing. I alone am responsible for what I've done. Please forgive me."
It's good he figured this out now, so he can anti-proselytize in prison from his own experience. From a previous article about this case:
During a recorded meeting in Central Park with the [FBI] agent, Nafis said his goal was Muslim global domination."I don't want something that's like small. I just want something big," he said. "Something very big. Very very very very big, that will shake the whole country, that will make America, not one step ahead, change of policy, and make one step ahead, for the Muslims ... that will make us one step closer to run the whole world."
This article starring:
Quazi Mohammad Rezwanul Ahsan Nafis
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Ahram] Air strikes by the Syrian military killed at least 20 people in the northwestern province of Latakia overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said on Saturday.
"The toll in several air strikes on the town of Salma in Jabal Akrad rose to at least 20 people," Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
Abdel Rahman said 10 of those killed were believed to be civilians, although many of the bodies were so badly disfigured that it was not immediately possible to identify them.
At least six of those killed were Syrian rebel fighters, while four were foreign volunteers, he added.
"The number of deaths is expected to rise because of the number of maimed and those at death's door among them," he said.
Latakia province is a stronghold of the Alawite minority of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath...
In recent days, rebel forces have captured a number of villages in the Jabal Akrad, a mountainous district in the north of the province.
The army has hit back, sparking fierce fighting that has left dozens dead on both sides, according to the Observatory.
In Aleppo province, further east, government troops stormed a village overnight, killing 12 people, the Observatory said.
Fierce fighting also erupted during the night between government troops and rebels in the Barzeh neighbourhood of Damascus, the Britannia-based watchdog said.
The army shelled both Barzeh and the Jubar district of the capital, it added.
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[WashingtonPost] Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen is focusing on expanding its presence in a remote eastern province that is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, even as the group remains the target of U.S. drone strikes and Yemeni military assaults, according to Yemeni officials.
Last year, a U.S.-backed Yemeni military offensive drove the militants from the southern province of Abyan, which the fighters had seized during the Arab Spring revolt in the country and controlled for more than a year as they sought to create an Islamic emirate from which to attack the Yemeni government and Western targets.
But in recent months, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, as the affiliate is known, has bolstered its presence in Hadramaut, the country's largest province. Hadramaut -- which some scholars say roughly translates as "Death is among us" -- abuts Saudi Arabia, a key U.S. ally.
Not that it matters, because The Two Smartest Men In The Room couldn't be less interested. But at least it's on record.
[Ynet] Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sent a letter to US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... , in which he accused Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... of incitement against Israel.
PMO sources said that the letter mentioned quotes in which Abbas speaks against Israeli presence in the future Paleostinian state, and additional quotes from the official Paleostinian television broadcasts. "Incitement and peace cannot go hand in hand," Netanyahu wrote in the letter.
#1
iiuc, the us-israel agreement that catalyzed the current 'negotiations' has a clause which requires the US to explicitly call out any substantial PA incitement
of course like most diplo stuff, the actual wording has various terms of art which allow parties to disagree on what they are required to do, and, or course, well obama's team is capable of kinds of machinations on top of that
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/11/2013 11:57
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#2
kinds of machinations on top of that
Gee, my Lord, your are a master at understated euphemisms.
I would have said that they are lying back-stabbers.
[NEWS.AU] THIS week, this website ran a piece which was very popular with readers. Call me a miserable cynic, but I found it one of the most indulgent pieces of tripe in history.
So here's what happens next. We run Shannon Kaiser's list again and I tell you what I think of each of the author's points. And everybody goes away happy - cynics, fans, everybody. Shannon Kaiser is identified later in the piece as a "life coach." You know this is gonna be a fun ride.
Because you see, the true secret to happiness is not mindless, second-hand, dog-eared platitudes and faux nuggets of wisdom like Kaiser's woeful excuse for a list.
It's saying what you really think and being bold enough to stand behind it. Enough preamble.
The list. Hers and mine ...
1. Stop worrying, if it is supposed to happen it will.
Riiight. So straight off the bat with some deterministic bullsh-t. Tornados, hurricanes, earthquakes are things that will happen regardless of what you do. Your bald tire blowing on a high-speed curve is something it's within your power to control. 2. Allow yourself to be a beginner. No one starts off being excellent.
Actually, this is one of the few bits of good advice on the list. Don't settle for being incompetent for longer than absolutely necessary. They come to see the guy fly through the air with the greatest of ease. They won't pay as much just to see him fly. But first he's gotta learn to fly. 3. Don't let your happiness depend on anything outside of yourself.
OK, so if I'm starving to death and my nation is at war and the neighbours play ACDC really loudly late at night and everyone I know has cancer, I'll just stay nice and happy. Uh-huh. Sure thing. Whatever you say, Sarah. We're not as close as the ungulates, but man is a social animal. Without the comfort of others we're unhappy almost by definition. Home and family and friends make up the core of most mature adults' comfort zone. 4. Stay close to everything that makes you feel alive.
Yeah, but let's say I like the sea. And let's I say I want to live in a dwelling larger than a shoebox? How's this going to help me in an Australian city in 2013? Don't get too far from your oxygen tank. 5. Listen to your body, it will lead you to unlimited health.
My body says it wants coffee. I'm listening hard. It also says it wants hot chips. I'm not sure these things are the source of unlimited health. If I go back to the gym this afternoon my muscles are going to scream because I've been sluggish and barely moving for the past few months. If I listen to my muscles I'll drop the whole idea, go to McDonald's, and have a chocolate shake. If I ignore my body I'll start getting back into some semblance of health until my next trip to the emergency room. 6. Surround yourself with people who see your greatness.
Sorry Sarah, but it's a bit embarrassing when I keep bringing my mother to work. I'm not sure if she's suggesting groupthink as a way of life or setting up your own cult of personality. In fact, I'm not sure there's a difference. But it sounds like it leads to "brook no opposition." 7. Make peace with your past.
See also Point 21: "forgive yourself". Warning: this list repeats itself a lot. Does that mean shrug off responsibility for damage you've done? 8. See all setbacks as growth and expansive opportunities.
Actually, the word "expansive" means spacious or roomy, not something with potential to expand. Just sayin'. Sometimes setbacks are a sign you should be in a different line of work. 9. Comparing yourself to others will hurt your health and steal your joy.
Funny, because all the other boring predictable lists like this say you should emulate those you admire. Don't bother with that ''if he can make it, so can I'' nonsense. You can't. 10. Don't give up, EVER.
Yeah, that's OK good advice. Unless you happen to be a stalker, of course, in which case you should give up immediately. Keep at it. Eventually you'll perfect that perpetual motion machine. 11. You always have a choice. No you don't. This is the oldest, stupidest, lamest myth in the book. Surely the secret to happiness is to make the right choices at those moments when you genuinely do have a choice, and to suck it up the rest of the time without sooking. Surely the really happy people are the ones who can cop bad stuff without sooking, aren't they? Sometimes the choice comes down to "blindfold and cigarette?" 12. Stop chasing what's not working.
Yeah that's not bad advice. Otherwise paraphrased as not throwing good money after bad. So a decent point, but not even faintly original. I'm not too sure how it relates to "Dont give up, ever." 13. Believe wholeheartedly in miracles.
OK, so now we're getting religious. You can believe in miracles, but you can't order them up to taste. 14. Don't postpone joy.
I want to go skiing today. There is lots of snow. It's August. I really, really want to go skiing. See, but I have to be at work. That's a great recipe for playing with yourself when you should be working. When you're dead, nobody's going to say "he or she lived a good life. He or she had lots of orgasms." If they remember you at all, it'll be as the man or woman who founded Consolidated. 15. Trust the universe, there is a plan greater than yours.
No there isn't. No one is up there plotting your life for you. Even the most ardent biblical scholar will tell you your destiny is fairly and squarely in your own hands. That's why there is this whole concept of forgiveness. Why would Jesus or the giant spaghetti monster or anyone forgive you if you weren't responsible for anything you did because the universe has planned it all? Honestly, nothing makes me angrier than people who believe in determinism. If the universe has a plan greater than mine, why should I believe in miracles? For that matter, why even bother? The universe is a lot bigger than me or any other non-solipsist. 16. Wake up every morning with a grateful heart.
Righto, so there's another decent one on this list. Some things you should be grateful for, others not. If you're walking down the street in Zanzibar and somebody splashes you with acid, don't be grateful for that. The Count of Monte Cristo had lots to be grateful for. None of them was the Chateau d'If. 17. Remember things take time.
Yeah, ya pretty much covered that one up in Number 2, Sarah. Time takes things, too. 18. Always trust your gut. Hang on, why do I need to trust my own gut if the universe has got it all planned for me? Do I turn internal or external? Help me, Sarah. I'm confused. My gut's wrong about forty percent of the time. How's yours do? 19. No need to change people; just love them for who they are.
Sorry Sarah, Billy Joel beat you to that one. Also, you should learn how to use semicolons better. Himmler and Heydrich were just lovable souls, all unspoiled. 20. Don't resist change.
But so much change these days is change for change's sake. The shallowest people I know are the ones who hang out for a new version of the iPhone. The bovine recital that "change is good" doesn't reflect a lot of thought. Change wasn't good for Herculaneum. 21. Forgive yourself.
Hang on, isn't that the universe's job? Or God's job? Damn, I'm confused. Forgiveness is God's job. The sort of people who go through life casually forgiving themselves for having done terrible things are called "sociopaths." 22. Your life is a creative adventure.
And people pay you good money as a life coach to hear that? Lots of people lead lives that aren't in the least creative, and probably even more lead lives that aren't adventurous. 23. Release expectations and enjoy the journey, there is no destination.
Woman uses old travel cliches and horrible mixed metaphors in already shaky list. That sounds like there is no purpose to life. We're born, we spawn, we die, just like flies. 24. Just do you.
I'm sorry but that just sounds rude. You'll grow hair on your palms. 25. You're not broken or damaged. You are perfect just the way you are.
Wait a minute. So if we're perfect, why do we need a life coaches? And what the hell is a life coach anyway? What sort of pretentious bullsh-t job title is that? Just go away you horrible woman and don't ever write anything on the internet ever again. I'm not a life coach or anything, but it's my opinion that maturity consists of dealing with the mental, moral, and physical damage inflicted by floating down the stream of life toward the falls that mark the end.
Coué, who I believe was the founder of the life coach racket, used to have people recite the mantra "Every day in every way I become better and better." Some did, most didn't. I think the same success ratio applies today.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/11/2013
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Guess who has become a life coach, too? (French link)
#3
Of course there is always #26: walk down to CVS and pick up a handful of happy pills.
Some folks should be depressed. They have made miserable lives for themselves and as time goes on all the people they blame for their miserable lives have moved on (see number 6 on the list). This article is a pick me for those folks who only have self loathing remaining.
Happiness is all the fucking around you, get a piece, steal a piece, borrow a piece or look on with binoculars and a cheap liver dish. Life is good, respect it and take care of smaller things.
[BBC.CO.UK] A Buddhist mob has attacked a mosque in the Grandpass area of the Sri Lankan capital Colombo, leaving at least five people injured.
Buddhists and Musselmens clashed after the attack, and police imposed a curfew in the area.
Last month, a group of Buddhist monks had protested near the mosque, demanding it be relocated.
In recent months hardline Buddhist groups have mounted a campaign against Musselmen and Christian targets.
Several houses were also damaged in Saturday's festivities. Two of the injured were coppers guarding the mosque.
A Musselmen resident of the area said that a mob threw stones at the mosque when worshippers were performing evening prayers, the BBC's Azzam Ameen reports from Colombo.
The police and special task force commandos were dispatched to the area and have been able to bring the situation under control, a police front man told the BBC.
Buddhists monks had reportedly protested against the presence of the mosque but had agreed to allow Musselmens to continue praying there until the end of the Islamic fasting month of Ramadan.
But area Musselmens says Sri Lanka's religious affairs ministry had given them permission to continue using the site and had also provided special police security due to the threat of possible attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Buddhists learn faster than Christians it seems.
For a map, click here For a map of Chihuahua state, click here.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A total of five individuals were killed in ongoing drug related violence in southern Chihuahua state, according to Mexican news accounts.
A report appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Juarez about three men who were shot to death in a home invasion in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality Saturday.
According to the report a number of armed suspects entered a residence in Mesa de San Rafael demanding weapons. The occupants of the residence handed over three weapons: one AK-47 rifle, one 9mm pistol and one .22 caliber rifle. Armed suspects then dragged the victims from the residence and shot and killed the three.
The victims were identified as Pedro Aviles Orozco 22, Raymundo Ponce Rios, 53 and Nahum Escarcega Aviles, 36.
Reforma de Mesa is the location where six unidentified men were shot to death in a massive shootout that took place two weeks ago. According to Mexican news accounts at the time, the firefight was so intense almost 400 rounds from AK-47 rifles were fired. Several buildings and vehicles in the area were destroyed by fire as well.
Meanwhile, also in Guadalupe y Calvo municipality, one unidentified Mexican Army soldier was shot to death and two more were wounded when armed suspects executed an ambush against a military unit.
The incident took place in an area known as Nuestra Señora on a road that connects Guadalupe y Calvo and Baborigame, according to a separate news account which appeared on the website of El Diario de Juarez. The wounded soldiers were evacuated by air to Chihuahua city for medical attention.
About 40 days ago five members of a family were ambushed and killed by armed suspects along a stretch of road between Guadalupe y Calvo and Barboringame, according to previous news accounts.
The news report said that security agencies were attempting to gain the upper hand against criminal groups which operate in the area. Past news accounts have indicated that criminal activity such as kidnapping and gang recruitment is so bad in some areas that ground transportation service between some towns has either been suspended or bus drivers refuse to take on male passengers.
The fifth victim, this time in Bocoyna municipality, was found shot to death. Robertino Avila Justo was found near Creel, where the victim and another traveling companion were detained at a criminal checkpoint. The companion was released, but the victim was killed. A state autopsy report said the victim had been tortured prior to being executed.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Posted by: Fred ||
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From the article: The next time a young woman starts singing Hakuna Matata in a courtyard somewhere, then finds herself thrown to the ground with an assault rifle to her head in the name of public safety, we may be able to see footage of it, and to ask ourselves: Does this approach to keeping the peace make sense?
This is not "keeping the peace". It is making war on the civilian population to terrorize them and keep them in their places.
#2
The author and his ilk's issue is not really with militarization and subsequent actions. It's that the subsequent actions are aimed at the "wrong people".
#3
Some forty Detroit police officers dressed in commando gear ordered the [art] gallery attendees to line up on their knees, then took their car keys and confiscated their vehicles, largely on the grounds that the gallery lacked the proper permits for dancing and drinking.
I'm skeptical that the events described actually happened. Particularly in view of Pappy's observation. I mean, The New Yorker? Same crowd who still worships Rigoberta Menchu.
[Al Ahram] The deposed president of the Central African Republic, Francois Bozize, has surfaced in La Belle France, where he told a radio station on Saturday that he would seek to return to power c.
Bozize, 66, fled the Central African Republic after the Seleka rebel coalition seized power on March 24 in the latest coup to hit the chronically unstable nation.
His home country issued an international arrest warrant for him in May on charges including crimes against humanity.
But the current interim president, Michel Djotodia, has since said Bozize could return, without specifying whether he would be tossed in the clink Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! if he did so.
Bozize was thought to have fled to Cameroon after he was tossed but his precise whereabouts were unknown.
In the interview with RFI radio on Saturday, Bozize said he was in La Belle France "to visit family who has always lived here".
A spokeswoman for the French foreign affairs ministry told AFP that Bozize had been granted a visa in 2012.
Bozize also announced the creation of an organization that would "follow closely and report everything that happens in the country, so as to inform the international community which seems to be unaware of the serious crisis building in the Central African Republic".
Asked if he wished to return to power, Bozize responded: "Yes, regain power. If the opportunity presents itself, I will."
He said though that any such attempt would be through "political means, as using force only comes when a political solution cannot be found".
Bozize accused neighbouring Chad of aiding the coup.
The rebellion, he said, "took power because it was helped by an external power... This was Chad."
"I did not think I had a problem with Chad and its president, Deby. I was surprised to see the forces of his country finish the rebels' actions" he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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That's a dclaration of war, execute him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/11/2013 23:13
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[NYDAILYNEWS] Anthony Carlos Danger Weiner's ...aka Hot Dog Tony, the remarkably offensive sex maniac six-term New York congressman who resigned in 2011, then decided everybody had forgotten by 2013, when he decided to run for mayor of New York City... campaign fund-raising has virtually dried up since revelations of a sexting relapse rocked his bid for mayor.
Weiner (inset) received an average of just $1,897 a day in donations since the new sexting scandal erupted July 23, campaign finance records released Friday show.
Weiner's wife, Huma Abedin, collected no money on his behalf since the new sexting allegations emerged, after she collected nearly $150,000 in the first 50 days of his candidacy.
Weiner's campaign reeled in $821,706 in the first 50 days of his candidacy. But from July 24 through Aug. 5, Team Weiner took in a measly $24,014, the records show.
Despite the diminished fund-raising, Weiner still has a $6.17 million war chest, which includes more than $4 million raised before he quit Congress plus $1.46 million received under the city's campaign finance program.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Is six million enough to buy the office?
Posted by: Bobby ||
08/11/2013 9:28
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#11
They must've expected or anticipated this to happen - my instinct are saying some kind of ulterior agenda or interest is at play, but what???
Iff Babe Huma is planning to run for political office as a Muslim + femme victim of arrogant Fascist Male Dastardliness, it may not be enuff by itself.
[Ynet] If reports of Israel's alleged attack of terror cell in Sinai are true, it would be second time since 1979 peace treaty Israel has breeched Egyptian illusory sovereignty -- a risky move justified only if terror cell was posing immediate threat to Israeli lives
If the reports of an Israeli drone attacking a terror cell preparing to launch a rocket into Israel from Egypt are true then it would be the first time since Egypt and Israel signed their peace treaty in 1979 that Israel's forces have operated within Sinai, or Egypt for that matter -- except a single incident during the terror attack along Route 12 two years ago. Like now, at the time, an Israel aircraft -- according to Egyptian media reports, a helicopter -- entered into Egypt, fired on terrorist but also at Egyptian soldiers, who return fire with a rocket in its direction.
The difference between what happened then and what allegedly happened Friday is that the alleged drone attack of the Death Eaters near Egypt's Rafah in Sinai was probably undertaken at Israel's own initiative. The reason for the initiative is what is called 'a live prevention' of an imminent attempt to launch either a rocket or a long-range missile. It is safe to assume that those behind the attack are a group of Salafist Bedouins attempting to launch either a Fajr or M75 Fajr-like missile made in the Gazoo Strip by either Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, or the Islamic Jihad ...created after many members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood decided the organization was becoming too moderate. Operations were conducted out of Egypt until 1981 when the group was exiled after the assassination of President Anwar Sadat. They worked out of Gaza until they were exiled to Lebanon in 1987, where they clove tightly to Hezbollah. In 1989 they moved to Damascus, where they remain a subsidiary of Hezbollah... An additional possibility is that the Death Eaters attempting to fire the rocket were Paleostinians, maybe Hamas men, or more likely, members of the Popular Resistance Front or the Paleostinian Islamic Jihad. They all have an interest to spike unrest in the West Bank, mainly because of the renewal of peace talks between Israel and the Paleostinians with the conclusion of the Ramadan -- always an explosive time.
The fact that the rocket was to be launched from Rafah seems to hint at the possibility that it was indeed Paleostinians, as there is no small number of tunnels connecting Gazoo to the Egyptian town in the area. In such a scenario, one can assume that the Death Eaters passed through the tunnels, set-up the launcher in Rafah and then attempted to launch a rocket from it, in a bid to put the Egyptian army in a bind with Israel.
It is safe to assume that Israel would not risk its relations with Egypt if there was not a direct and immediate threat to the lives of Israeli citizens. If so, the incident can be seen as a 'ticking bomb' taken out so as to save lives, and as such, as a call that trumps diplomatic and political considerations.
Two birds, one rocket
The interest of Jihadist or Salafist groups to fire into Israel is that of killing two birds with one rocket onslaught. They want to directly cause harm to Israel but also to pull Israel and Egypt into conflict. The Egyptian army has been working tirelessly recently to 'cleanse' Sinai of terrorists, and Israel is more than aware of its efforts.
We can presume that Israel is content with the army's determined battle against terror groups and organizations active in Sinai. Nonetheless, Israel cannot let Death Eaters attack its communities in the Negev with rockets or missiles. The defense establishment in Israel has been keeping mum in regards to reports, but a source said: "We are aware of the intensified Egyptian army activities against terror in the Sinai region."
The comment can be understood as an apology of sorts that Israel -- according to foreign media reports, in light of the direct and imminent threat to its citizens' lives -- was forced to act on its own over Egypt's sovereign soil.
It is also safe to assume that the Egyptian army will not be pleased by the fact that targets were engaged on sovereign Egyptian territory by Israel aircraft. However, alcohol has never solved anybody's problems. But then, neither has milk... in light of the fact that it was allegedly an unmanned aircraft, and the event did have a humanitarian justification, it is possible that with a little help from our American friends, the incident might just pass without response.
#5
Israel is prob covertly breathing a deep sigh of relief that Baby Assad + SA is winning in Syruh, allowing the IDF to keep its eye on Egypt + Iranian shennanigans in KSA + Emirates.
[Ynet] Suspect crosses fence from Gazoo Strip, as troops observe him, fire warning shot. Suspect fails to stop, prompting IDF to shoot at him, killing him
IDF forces shot up a Paleostinian man who attempted to cross the Gazoo Strip border fence.
The soldiers fired at the Paleostinian, who was carrying a suspicios object, after he touched the ground at a point where exlosives were laid in the past.
Multiple IDF troops arrived at the scene and an investigation of the incident was launched.
According to preliminary details, the soldiers fired a warning shot at the suspect, in an attempt to stop him, as they suspected he was carrying explosives.
The suspect reportedly did not stop, prompting the IDF unit to fire in his direction, resulting in his injury.
[UTSANDIEGO] Mayor Bob Filner is ending his intensive behavioral therapy triggered by sexual harassment allegations earlier than expected while officials on Friday said the locks had been changed at his office.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... his political support continued to crater as his last two allies on the City Council called for his resignation, making it unanimous, and U.S. Sen. Barbara Call me Senator! Boxer Senator-for-Life from Caliphornia... reiterated her call for him to step down in an impassioned open letter to the mayor.
It was another head-snapping day in the monthlong scandal that has enveloped City Hall as investigations by state, federal and local agencies continue into the sexual harassment claims and more.
City Attorney Jan Goldsmith confirmed that the locks were changed at the 11th-floor City Hall office of the mayor but said he couldn't say why.
"The fact is that I had the locks changed to protect the Mayor while he is away," Burdick told the Voice of San Diego via email Saturday. "My concern is/was that if anything was removed while the Mayor was away, it could raise all kinds of questions about preservation or spoliation of potential evidence. Because I could not possibly determine everyone who had keys, I believed it was necessary to ensure the integrity of his physical office in his absence. The Mayor will be given the keys upon his return."
An attorney hired by Filner to represent him in a sexual harassment lawsuit filed by his former top communications aide, Irene McCormack Jackson, said Filner will continue his therapy as an outpatient.
"Upon completion of the treatment program, Mayor Filner is planning to continue therapy sessions on an outpatient basis," said a statement from the office of attorney, James L. Payne of Los Angeles. "Mayor Filner is taking personal time next week and will be unavailable for comment. At this time, we do not have information as to when he will be available for comment."
Posted by: Fred ||
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"The Mayor will be given the keys upon his return."
Along with a six month stay at a resort in Zanzibar.
[Ynet] Institutionalized favoritism has enabled Paleostinians to monopolize refugee issue
A few weeks ago, the Israeli government passed a bill that will commemorate February 17 -- the date of an Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... call on member states to impose restrictions on the lives, property and legal status of Jews. Will similar recognition of the Jewish persecution in, and eventual expulsion from, Mohammedan lands occur in the current peace talks, which will certainly address the Paleostinian refugees of 1948?
Continued on Page 49
[Al Ahram] A Danish Mohammedan leader who seven years ago traveled the Mohammedan world fueling the uproar over newspaper caricatures of the Prophet Muhammad is back in the headlines in Denmark after doing an about-face on the issue.
Once a leading critic of the Danish cartoons, which sparked fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... protests in Mohammedan countries, Lebanese-born Ahmad Akkari now says the Jyllands-Posten newspaper had the right to print them.
His unexpected change of heart has received praise from pundits and politicians in recent weeks, though some question his sincerity. It has also disappointed some in the country's Mohammedan minority who were deeply offended by the cartoons.
Akkari, now 35, was the front man for a group of imams who led the protests against the drawings in Denmark. They traveled to Leb, Egypt and Syria to elicit support, saying the Danish government wouldn't listen to their concerns.
Their journeys helped turn the dispute into an international crisis. Dozens were killed in weeks of protests that included violent attacks against Danish missions in Syria, Iran, Afghanistan and Leb. Tiny Denmark found itself on a collision course with the Mohammedan world -- something Akkari now regrets.
"I want to be clear today about the trip: It was totally wrong," Akkari told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named this week. "At that time, I was so fascinated with this logical force in the Islamic mindset that I could not see the greater picture. I was convinced it was a fight for my faith, Islam."
He said he's still a practicing Mohammedan but started doubting his fundamentalist beliefs after a 2007 trip to Leb, where he met Islamist leaders.
"I was shocked. I realized what an oppressive mentality they have," Akkari said.
A year later, he moved to Greenland, the desolate Danish Arctic island, where he worked in a school for two years.
"I had plenty of time to read and write. And think," said Akkari, who has shaved off the patchy beard he used to wear.
Islamic law generally opposes any depiction of the prophet, even favorable ones, for fear it could lead to idolatry. Arguing that such religious sensitivities should not limit the freedom of speech, Jyllands-Posten in 2005 invited Danish cartoonists to draw the prophet.
At the time, Akkari joined Mohammedan hardliners demanding an apology from the paper and action against it by the government. He appeared to advocate violence against a more moderate Danish Mohammedan in a secret TV recording, but later said it was just a joke.
Akkari now says printing the drawings was OK and that his reaction at the time was wrong. Last week he even apologized in person to one of the cartoonists, Kurt Westergaard, who has faced multiple death threats and murder attempts from krazed killers. Many Mohammedans consider Westergaard's drawing, which depicts Muhammad with a bomb-shaped turban, as the most offensive.
"I met a man who has converted from being an Islamist to become a humanist who understands the values of our society," Westergaard said of Akkari. "To me, he is really sincere, convincing and strong in his views."
Akkari's former colleagues in the Islamic Society of Denmark are not impressed, and have reportedly accused him of being an attention-seeker trying to get back into the limelight.
Group front man Bilal H. Assaad declined to comment on Akkari on Thursday but said "it is still not OK to publish drawings of Muhammad. We have not changed our position."
The group is believed to represent about 10 percent of Denmark's estimated 200,000 Mohammedans.
Michael Ulveman, who was an adviser to then-Danish Prime Minister Anders Fogh Ramussen during the cartoon crisis, also expressed doubts about Akkari's sincerity.
"I think Ahmad Akkari should go on al-Jazeera and tell the Arabic world about his new realization," Ulveman wrote on his Facebook page. "That would have real value for Denmark and the freedom of speech. And convince many of us about the depth and reach of his reorientation."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Ahmad, laddie, you just got yourself squarely in the crosshairs of a contract fatwa, though, if you are sincere in your change of mind, it is admirable.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
08/11/2013 14:11
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screw him. Too little too late. Dr. Frankenstein had regrets too
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 14:50
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[Washington Post] Defense attorneys say freedom is imminent for a second member of the trio of Mexican drug kingpins responsible for the 1985 slaying of a Drug Enforcement Administration agent, one of the capo's attorneys said Saturday. In the United States, outrage grew over the surprise decision to overturn Mexican drug lord Rafael Caro Quintero's conviction in the notorious killing.
Caro Quintero walked free Friday after a federal court overturned his 40-year sentence for agent Enrique "Kiki" Camarena's kidnapping, torture and murder. The three-judge appeals court in the western state of Jalisco ordered Caro Quintero's immediate release on procedural grounds after 28 years behind bars, saying he should have originally been prosecuted in state instead of federal court.
Also imprisoned in the Camarena case are Ernesto Fonseca Carrillo and Miguel Angel Felix Gallardo, whose cartel based in the northwestern state of Sinaloa later split into some of Mexico's largest drug organizations.
Fonseca Carrillo's attorney, Jose Luis Guizar, said his team had filed an appeal based on the same procedural grounds used by Caro Quintero and expected him to be freed within 15 days by a different court in Jalisco.
"At its base, the issue is the same as Rafael's," Guizar said.
Mexican officials did not respond to calls seeking comment Saturday.
The U.S. Justice Department said that it found the Mexican court's decision to free Caro Quintero "deeply troubling," but former DEA agents said they were pessimistic that the B.O. regime would bring similar pressure to bear.
Nearly 20 years after the enactment of the North American Free Trade Agreement, U.S.-Mexico trade exceeds $1 billion a day. The two countries have worked closely against narco mobs over the past seven years, with the U.S. sending billions of dollars in equipment and training in exchange for access to Mexican law-enforcement agencies and intelligence.
The administration said little last year after Mexican federal police opened fire on a U.S. Embassy vehicle, wounding two CIA officers in one of the most serious attacks on U.S. personnel since the Camarena slaying. Twelve coppers were tossed in the calaboose Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! , but there is no public evidence that the United States or Mexico pursued suspicions that the shooting was a deliberate attack by corrupt police working on behalf of organized crime.
"I'm sure there's going to be a lot of complaints about it, but do we have a Department of Justice that's going to stand up for this right now? I don't think so," said Edward Heath, who ran the DEA's Mexico office during the Camarena killing, referring to last week's ruling. "Everybody's happy, businesswise."
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Quintero will have a Fast-and-Furious gun in about 10 minutes after leaving prison courtesy of Atty General Holder
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/11/2013 11:29
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Before AOL ponied up the wampum for Huffington Post, their cash burn rate was $1 million a month, so this is an improvement. Hard to get my head around how leftists like Arianna Huffington can convince other rich folks to fund her money-losing projects, and not wind up in court.
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.
Maryland is getting a second dose of the housing crisis -- a sequel that foreclosure experts and state officials knew was coming but no one wanted to see.
[
[Dawn] Pakistain Army on Saturday, for the first time entered into the remote northern town of Chilas, headquarters of Diamer District, 128 KM off Gilgit, to conduct an operation to arrest 
[Bangla Daily Star] Two 
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
[Bangla Daily Star] A Bangladeshi man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for plotting to bomb the US Federal Reserve in New York.
[Al Ahram] Air strikes by the Syrian military killed at least 20 people in the northwestern province of Latakia overnight, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights group said on Saturday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[WashingtonPost] Al-Qaeda's branch in Yemen is focusing on expanding its presence in a remote eastern province that is the ancestral homeland of Osama bin Laden, even as the group remains the target of U.S. drone strikes and Yemeni military assaults, according to Yemeni officials.
Barbara 
[Al Ahram] A Danish 
