"Yet despite acknowledging Putin's evil, Obama is unable to confront it. He can respond only with confused half-measures that just make the situation worse. This is precisely the problem Obama's critics were worried about when he took the Oval Office: his total lack of foreign policy credentials left him adrift and unable to recognize that his balloon was losing altitude until it spectacularly crashed." Like we didn't see this coming..... Free space on the bingo card...
#2
Once again, apply these precepts to the Bammer's = USA's brouhaha wid Rising Iran + espec Nuke-armed, Nuke Club Member-State Rising China over in the East China Sea + South Sea + West-South Asia.
China vee Russian Far East???
Iff one believes that the USA is the proverbial "tip of the spear" as per establishing post-9-11 OWG-NWO = Space Govt-Order in the World, + also OWG Globalist "MUlti-Polar World = Multiple "Joint/Co-Superpowers, THEN ONE SHOULD BELIEVE THAT ITS IN OWG AMERIKA'S INTEREST TO DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY HELP IRAN BECOME THE WORLD'S FIRST ISLAMIC NUCLEAR SUPERPOWER [vee "MEDITERRANEAN/MIDDLE EAST/ISLAMIC UNION"], + TO HELP CHINA CONTROL 1/2 OF THE PACIFIC/ASIA-PACIFIC [vee "ASIAN UNION"]???
* Lest we fergit, 1990's CLINTONISM = "THE [post-Cold War, USSR] US MUST BE RESTRAINED/
CONTROLLED".
The OWG Mighty USSA = OWG Weak USRoAmerika Global SSR can't go to war or be a great power anymore iff its economy is controlled by Foreign Govts + State Multinationals + NAMS, or iff China controls 1/2 of CONUS-NORAM for "living space", etc. now can it???
A new poll out this morning has Anthony Carlos Danger Weiner ...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... setting an all-time Siena College Poll record with 80 percent of voters viewing him unfavorably, including three-quarters of Democrats and New York City voters.
Only 11 percent "still have a favorable view of America's most infamous tweeter," Siena pollster Steve Greenberg said.
Two-thirds of voters say the attention from the races involving Weiner and former hooker-loving Gov. Eliot Spitzer is embarrassing to New York.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth ordered the space pirate fleet to attack Zemblonia... current Gov. Cuomo has seen his favorability rating increase to the best level since February, just after he passed tough new gun law restrictions.
"Okay, Mr. Public, we're gonna see who you like best on the following list. Ready?"
"Um, yeah."
"Cuomo, Spitzer, Weiner."
"Do I get a shot after I tell you?"
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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Bye Bye asshole, seems even the Democrats have no use for a sex maniac.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2013 17:38
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Whassamatta? Everybody petered out on Weiner jokes?
The U.S. Air Force said that a well-known drag queen group was invited to perform on base during a Diversity Day celebration because drag is a symbol of gay pride and unity. But the performance sparked outrage among some airmen who called the drag show totally offensive and inappropriate. Some were outraged? Did you get their names ?
Jewels and the Brunchettes performed to a small crowd at the Los Angeles Air Force Base on Aug. 8, the military confirmed. Might be an even smaller crowd next year.
The Air Force said in a statement to Fox News that Diversity Day featured eight cultural groups and was meant to foster equality and diversity in the workplace. Any protestations from the US Naval Academy mascot ?
Photographs provided to Fox News show an individual wearing a giant wig and sporting form-fitting dresses performing to a sparse crowd underneath the American flag.
Drag acts to this day represent the struggle for freedom and equality of the LGBT community, while at the same time providing a deep-rooted historical form of entertainment for the LGBT culture, said Peggy Hodge, a spokesperson for the Office of Public Affairs. Bugger! I missed it. Perhaps next year.
#1
"Los Angeles AFB: Home of the Space and Missile Systems Center, and the 61st Air Base Group. Other tenant units include AFOSI Detachment 110 and the 369th Recruiting Squadron."
Doubt the display would have gone over as well at, say, Incirlik....
#2
ANYTHING the Military says is suspect, there's too much Official Nonsense and damn few brains.
Goes with the culture.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2013 15:27
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Twas me unnerstandin, havin groan up in the SF Fey Area, y'see, that a large percentage of drag kweens are actually straight fellas who like to play dress-up.
#6
Used to be, to drag meant to line up 2 cars, drop a hankie ( or sumpin) and drop the clutch and se what she'll do in the quarter mile....
now, not so much.
[Chicago Tribune] WASHINGTON - The Justice Department plans to change how it prosecutes some non-violent drug offenders, so they would no longer face mandatory minimum prison sentences, in an overhaul of federal prison policy that Attorney General Eric Holder will unveil on Monday.
Holder will outline the status of a broad, ongoing project intended to improve Justice Department sentencing policies across the country in a speech to the American Bar Association in San Francisco.
"I have mandated a modification of the Justice Department's charging policies so that certain low-level, nonviolent drug offenders who have no ties to large-scale organizations, gangs, or cartels, will no longer be charged with offenses that impose draconian mandatory minimum sentences," Holder is expected to say, according to excerpts of his prepared remarks provided by the Justice Department. "I have mandated"....an unelected official issuing mandates. Very nice, very democratic.
The United States imprisons a higher percentage of its population than other large countries, largely because of anti-drug laws passed in the 1980s and 1990s. Higher percentage of precisely what population ?
Holder will also reveal a plan to create a slate of local guidelines to determine if cases should be subject to federal charges. And State charges, what about them ?
The attorney general will point to the bipartisan backing of such goals in Congress, where there is "legislation aimed at giving federal judges more discretion in applying mandatory minimums to certain drug offenders."
Conservative groups with leaders including former House Speaker Newt Gingrich, anti-tax activist Grover Norquist and former Florida Gov. Jeb Bush have called for changing U.S. crime and prison policies, Justice Department officials note. Support from conservatives has come in part because of the enormous bite that prison costs take out of state budgets. Ok, so enforcement is now based on funding vs the law and what former elected officials think ?
The bipartisan backing could be important because the Obama administration will need Republican support for any major changes in Congress. Congress is not needed if he simply sets aside enforcement like he does in many other areas.
More recently, as crime rates have dropped sharply in most major urban areas, public demand for lengthy prison terms has waned, and both liberal and conservative states have changed their laws to incarcerate fewer people. Allowing the drug thugs to operate in urban areas once again will do what ?
Congress has moved more slowly than state legislatures. But conservative Republicans and liberal Democrats have both called for pulling back on the use of mandatory minimum prison terms.
In his speech, Holder plans to cite proposals by Sens. Richard J. Durbin (D-Ill.) and Patrick J. Leahy (D-Vt.), two of the Senate's leading liberals, and Sens. Mike Lee (R-Utah) and Rand Paul (R-Ky.), two tea party favorites, that would give judges more leeway in sentencing drug offenders.
"By reserving the most severe penalties for serious, high-level or violent drug traffickers, we can better promote public safety, deterrence and rehabilitation, while making our expenditures smarter and more productive," Holder says in his speech. Obviously the term "gateway" no long applies.
Holder is expected to say that laws like these could save the United States billions of dollars. Billions to be spend on what ?
The attorney general will also announce an updated plan for considering release for "inmates facing extraordinary or compelling circumstances - and who pose no threat to the public." What, inmates without tats must remain incarcerated ?
#1
Seems fair to me, don't enforce the laws, just execute the perps.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2013 10:36
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1. Anything Holder touches is almost by definition bad for the US
2. US Federal criminal law is completely out of control, and mandatory minimums are definately part of the problem.
3. Anyone who dislikes large, unaccountable government should oppose current drug laws.
4. Rather than address any of these real problems, looks like Holder is using them as a fig leaf excuse to release bad guys from prison just because they are black.
In the bad old days, otherwise law abiding kids who smoked pot were criticized for deciding which laws they would obey and which laws they would not obey. After all, this is a democracy so if you don't like the law you should change it instead of breaking it. Now we have Holder and his boss who decide which laws they will enforce and which laws they will not enforce. As far as I'm concerned they're far worse than the old dope smoking hippies who were too stoned to get off their asses and change anything. They've just thrown democracy right out of the window.
#5
Concurrent with this is the move to block employers from refusing to hire convicts. Of course the same people pushing this are NOT going to relieve employers of liability when said employee engage in destructive/anti-social behaviors. Welcome to the Oligarchy.
First, I don't like this use of executive authority. Not disclosing the amount of drug seized is tantamount to lying to a court. I suppose that doesn't bother Mr. Holder, but if I were a federal prosecutor I'd refuse to comply.
Second, if you don't like the law, change it. Seems like there is enough sentiment in Congress to do so with bipartisan support. Who knows, perhaps working together on something would be contagious.
Third, marijuana laws for adults indeed are too severe. I'd remove prison time all together and make marijuana use and possession a misdemeanor punished with a modest fine. Serial abusers might get a little community service. Traffickers would face forfeiture and confiscation but no prison time. Marijuana might be a gateway drug for some but we've lost this part of the drug war pure and simple.
Fourth, Mr. Holder is correct in that low-level, nonviolent offenders without ties to gangs and drug lords should not be in prison. Prison is simply graduate school for hoodlums.
But the Attorney General should not be modifying the law, he should be following it, and advising Congress how to make it better. Don't look for Mr. Holder to do any of that.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013 13:48
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Eric 'my people' Holder seeks to end mandetory minimums, empty prisons.
The action by Holder is well within the general administrative authority of the prosecutorial discretion of the DOJ.
Notwithstanding the above I agree that, assuming a general consensus that the change is needed, it would be desirable to have Congress actually change the mandatory minimums rather than do this via administrative discretion.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/12/2013 17:36
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Many times the appearance of a severe sentence for "non-violent" drug crimes is because there wasn't enough evidence to get a conviction on a much more serious crime. Remember Al Capone was responsible for many deaths but he went "Up the River" for tax evasion. Think O.J.
#10
fwiw, the mandatory minimums for federal drug crime is here
the most famous issue here is that the minimum sentence begins at 28 grams for crack and 500 grams for powder cocaine
Congress should have fixed this years ago (about 200/500 would be more realistic) but perhaps no one wants to sponsor the 'leniency for crack possessors' act
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/12/2013 20:57
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#1
HA HA that was a good one. Irish old gentleman sitting at the bar sipping his mug of bear seemingly oblivious to the world around him. A black man burst in and exclaims "bout time!. letting black folk in this place". The old gentleman puts his beer down and calmly said, " there was a time they wouldn't let a good Irish Catholic in this here tavern. Then later on, old blue (a patron dog laying in the corner) over there was allowed in this here tavern. Yes, everything comes to him who waits". Then he just proceeds to sip his beer. The whole place burst out laughing and the dark complected chap.
[Ynet] Some 600 Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, operatives have crossed the tunnels from the Gazoo Strip into Sinai since the ouster of Egyptian President Mohamed Morsi, Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram reported.
It was further reported that security forces in Sinai captured a terror cell trained by a Paleostinian citizen in the peninsula. According to sources, the origin of their arms was from Libya and from Hamas in Sinai.
[Ynet] Three US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan's eastern borderlands on Sunday, US and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... officials said, the first NATO combat deaths this month.
The soldiers, from the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force (ISAF), were killed by faceless myrmidons in Paktia province, a US official told Rooters.
[Ynet] Syrian rebels claimed Sunday that they attacked an area where Hezbollah members and Iranian combatants were gathered. According to Al-Arabiya, the rebels killed 42 combatants in what they referred to as a "quality operation."
So possibly the rebels killed people, possibly the people they killed were Iranian and/or Hizb'allah fighters, and possibly 42 died. Did I mss anything?
Suspected Al Qaeda terrorists militants killed four Yemeni soldiers in their sleep early on Sunday in an attack on forces guarding the countrys only liquefied natural gas (LNG) export terminal, a local official said.
The assault follows an escalating campaign of drone strikes by the United States over the past two weeks and warnings of terrorist militant attacks that prompted Washington to close embassies across the Middle East and evacuate some staff from Yemen.
The official said the terrorists gunmen infiltrated a checkpoint guarding the Balhaf LNG terminal in the southern Shabwa province, killed one soldier and then entered a cargo container where four more troops were sleeping and shot them dead. The terrorists attackers fled in a vehicle, he said.
A Yemeni government spokesman said last week that the $4.5 billion gas facility, jointly managed by Yemen LNG and Frances Total, was one of two energy targets that suspected Al Qaeda terrorists militants had been plotting to attack.
The Balhaf facility, the largest industrial project ever undertaken in Yemen, opened in 2009. It is heavily guarded by Yemeni troops. It supplies gas cooled to liquid for export by ship, under long-term contracts to GDF Suez, Total and Korea Gas Corp.
A private security source working for oil and gas firms in Yemen said Sundays killing appeared to be in retaliation for recent drone strikes that killed scores of terrorists insurgents in the south.
The checkpoint they attacked is one of many leading up to the gas facilities, said the source, who spoke on condition of anonymity. The terrorists militants know that its impossible to penetrate all of the checkpoints and thats why they didnt attempt to go further. They just wanted vengeance.
He said there are usually up to 1,800 Yemeni soldiers guarding oil and gas facilities in Shabwa and the number has been increased in recent weeks.
The Yemeni government said last week that it had foiled a plot by Al Qaeda to seize the Al Dabbah oil export terminal in Hadramout and the Balhaf gas export facility. The security source said tight security arrangements are already in place in Yemen to protect oil and gas facilities and foreign experts working there from potential attacks by the terrorists militants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013
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A Forbes article about Mexican politics, and how President Pena may get his Pemex reform through the legislature with the help of opposition parties, and his ass protecting Pacto por Mexico.
A socialist wanting to move Pemex towards the private sector? The deuce you say!
From TFA:
Though largely off the radar north of the Rio Grande, last month's local elections in Mexico provide an opportunity to read the political tea leaves south of the border. As the first elections in President Enrique Peña Nieto's term, the local polls in thirteen states and the gubernatorial contest in Baja California provide a partial picture of the electorate's view of Peña Nieto's first seven months in office.
The results were a mild rebuke of the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI), which won approximately 55% of the posts contested, but suffered a net loss of 42 mayoralties--leaving a total of five million fewer citizens under PRI governments. However, the party is ahead in ten state assemblies, which will ease the eventual approval of constitutional changes considered in the upcoming energy reform. The results also highlighted the weakness of the major opposition parties following the 2012 presidential elections, given that they could only score important victories by running in coalition.
#2
So, Define "Privatization", do you mean The state "Privately owns it all?" or do you mean "Private people own it all, or will the "Private" people, simply not exist and the government IS the "Private" People?
Or perhaps the "Private" people simply are the people in government? (What a coincidence)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2013 10:46
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The initial plan was to follow Brazil's Petrobras model, where the state owned 60 percent of Pemex's shares and the rest would be publicly traded. That idea, which is running into opposition, would require revising the Mexican constitution.
The problem is that Pemex needs investment. Pemex's production has declined (it's dropped from 5th largest to 7th largest petroleum supplier in the world) and it has issues with corruption, high costs of employment and all the other inefficiencies of a state-owned corporation. Pemex has outsourced a good part of its technical work, but even that's running into a lot of problems, especially from the farther-Left.
Egyptian helicopters fired on a meeting of suspected terrorists militants in the country's Sinai Peninsula, officials said on Sunday, killing at least 12 terrorists people, as authorities stepped up their attacks following an Israeli drone strike in the region.
The helicopter attack came as Egyptian and Israeli officials tried to downplay the drone strike on Friday in the largely lawless Sinai, fearing popular criticism in a country already roiled by last month's military coup that ousted President Mohammed Mursi.
Egyptian officials said that three helicopters targeted terrorists militants in the desert town of Sheik Zuweyid late Saturday. The officials said another dozen terrorists were wounded in the attack.
Military spokesman Col. Ahmed Mohammed Ali later confirmed the attack in a post on his official Facebook page. He said 25 terrorists militants were targeted, but did not offer a breakdown of casualties.
The suspected terrorists militants targeted in the air assault were wanted for an attack on Egyptian soldiers last year that killed 16, Ali said. They also were wanted in connection to the abduction of seven security forces earlier this year, he said.
A resident of Sheik Zuweyid said that he saw the helicopter attack start on Saturday night. On Sunday, he said neighbours saw two funerals for slain terrorists fighters, one with four bodies and one with two. Mobile phone service also had been disrupted as the operation took place, he said. The resident spoke on condition of anonymity out of fear of retaliation.
Egypt's military and security forces have been engaged in a long battle against militants in the northern half of the peninsula. Terrorists Militants and tribesmen have used the area for smuggling and other criminal activity for years. Terrorists Militants have fired rockets into Israel and staged other cross-border attacks there on previous occasions.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013
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[An Nahar] The army succeeded on Friday night in thwarting a suicide kaboom against a checkpoint in the Bekaa region of Arsal, reported An Nahar daily on Sunday.
It revealed that soldiers had halted the attack shortly after it stopped a Syrian, a Paleostinian, and Danish citizen of Paleostinian origins at the Hmeid checkpoint on the outskirts of Arsal.
They were traveling from Syria in a Mitsubishi vehicle without license plates or identification cards.
Upon halting the vehicle, one of the Paleostinians, wearing an boom belt, stepped out of the car and attempted to blow himself up.
The soldiers however shot and killed him before he would carry out his attack.
His two companions have since been enjugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... A Kalashnikov rifle and another boom belt attacked to a hand grenade was found in their possession.
The Army Command had initially revealed the attack in a statement on Friday night, saying that it had arrested three gunnies as they attempted to infiltrate Leb from Syria earlier that day.
On July 14, the army arrested a number of individuals for transporting weapons in Arsal.
The Beirut-based, pan-Arab television al-Mayadeen said those arrested were two Syrians, a Lebanese and two Paleostinians who were carrying "boom jackets."
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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#1
so, a Syrian, a Paleostinian, and a Dane walk into a bar checkpoint....
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2013 8:17
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A total of nine individuals were found shot to death in Sinaloa state Saturday, according to Mexican news accounts.
A news report which appeared in the online edition of El Diario de Coahuila said that the victims were found near the village of Jahuara Dos in El Fuerte municipality in the Mexican sierras Saturday morning.
Three of the victims were stripped of clothing. All of the victims had been bound hand and foot, tortured and shot once in the head.
According to a wire dispatch which appeared in El Imparcial news daily, six of the dead were identified as Patricio Castro, Cervantes Efren Espinoza, Joshue Eleazar Cervantes Medina, Ruben Angulo Flores, Joel Vega Gaxiola and Juan Carlos Milan Bojorquez. All the victims were listed as residents of Guasave municipality.
According to official sources, the victims had been kidnapped over the course of two weeks in northern Sinaloa state.
Two weeks ago three other victims of executions were found in the same municipality. El Fuerte and its northern neighbor Choix municipality are considered to be Beltran-Leyva territory.
More than a year ago Choix municipality was the location of gang warfare between groups aligned with the Sinaloa Cartel against other drug gangs, including elements from the Juarez Drug Cartel and Los Zetas. Over that two week period a total of 57 individuals were killed in intergang fighting and in confrontations with security forces.
Two other individuals were killed in Culican municipality in Sinaloa state Saturday, according to the report in El Imparcial.
Cristian Vizcarra was shot to death in Benito Juarez colony Saturday afternoon while on his way home.
An unidentified man was found shot to death in Centenario neighborhood in the Barrancos sector.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
Pope Francis on Sunday urged Christians and Muslims to promote mutual respect , especially through the education of new generations. His remarks came at the end of his Angelus address when he sent greetings to Muslims throughout the world who have just celebrated the end of the fasting month of Ramadan.
The text of the Pontiff's address is at the link. I respect the man greatly; but the key word here is 'mutual'.
Any word on what we're supposed to do if there isn't any mutuality?
Is crusading still an honorable option?
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013
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Holy Smiting
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2013 8:39
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The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government has ended a peace deal with local tribes in Kulachi district near Dera Ismail Khan in the wake of recent jailbreak that saw escape of 250 militants.
Good idea. When one side is shooting off their guns it's not much of a peace deal...
The security forces began conducting targeted operations in Kulachi and other surrounding areas after the deal was called off. Several suspects were also apprehended during the operations.
Kulachi shares its boundaries with areas including Waziristan and Frontier Region (FR) Peshawar where militancy is on the rise. The provincial government, on suspecting that the militants were entering D.I. Khan and other areas through Kulachi, had struck a deal with the local tribes who vowed to prevent militants from entering Kulachi.
The deal was struck off on Sunday in the wake of the recent D.I. Khan jailbreak in which Taleban fighters managed to free nearly 250 prisoners, including 49 high-profile militants.
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013
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[An Nahar] Arsal municipal chief Ali al-Hujairi was maimed and his lover companion Mohammed Hasan al-Hujairi was killed when their convoy came under fire in the Bekaa town of al-Labweh on Sunday, shortly after a hostage swap that took place in Ras Baalbek, state-run National News Agency reported.
Two other companions of the municipal chief were also injured in the attack, NNA said, noting that Mohammed's body was transported to Dar al-Amal Hospital in Douris.
Ali al-Hujairi "was on his way back from a hostage swap that saw the exchange of Youssef al-Meqdad for several abductees who hail from Arsal when he fell into an armed ambush on the road between al-Labweh and al-Nabi Othman," the agency reported.
The ambush was staged by "gunnies who were in four cars: a Cherokee and a Yukon SUVs and two Mercedes cars," NNA said, adding that Hujairi was lightly maimed in the head while Ahmed Khaled al-Hujairi, aka al-Qatsheh, was critically injured.
"Ali al-Fliti, aka Ali Zahwi, received light injuries to his hand and he left hospital together with the municipal chief after they received the necessary treatment," the agency added.
As soon as the news of the ambush broke out, tensions soared in Arsal and a number of men fired their weapons in the air to condemn the attack, NNA said.
In the Bekaa town of Saadnayel, protesters blocked roads in condemnation of the attack as gunnies deployed on the streets, according to al-Mayadeen television.
Earlier, OTV said "al-Nusra Front bad boy" Abou Khaled al-Qatshi, who hails from Arsal, was killed in the ambush. But NNA said it received phone calls from a number of Arsal residents who denied that one of the maimed is a Nusra member.
Military sources told LBCI television that the gang that staged the attack also kidnapped Syrian national Mohammed Abbas.
Later on Sunday, the army heavily deployed in al-Labweh's square and on the road leading to Arsal, according to OTV.
A group calling itself "The Brigades of the Four Martyrs" has claimed the attack, Voice of Leb radio (93.3) said.
Later on Sunday, the army issued a statement confirming the casualties and saying the gunnies also kidnapped two Syrians who were in the convoy.
"Army units deployed in all Bekaa regions, especially in northern Bekaa, have taken extraordinary measures to prevent any escalation," it said.
Troops are also conducting "a major search and investigation operation to identify and arrest the perpetrators and refer them to the relevant judicial authorities," the statement added.
A military source told Agence La Belle France Presse that the incident comes in retaliation to a deadly attack on four young men near Arsal in June.
He said the attack was carried out by members of the Jaafar and Amhaz families as the car passed the town of al-Labweh.
The four men were killed on June 15 as they smuggled fuel in the region, a security source said at the time.
Members of the Jaafar family, to which two of the slain men belonged, responded furiously and the Lebanese army called for calm in the area, which is home to both Shiite and Sunni towns.
While the deaths were believed to be linked to control of the lucrative smuggling trade in the region, they came amid tensions between Leb's Sunni and Shiites communities sparked by the conflict in neighboring Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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[An Nahar] Two customs inspectors at New York's John F. Kennedy airport fell ill Sunday after handling a parcel in a mail center that apparently contained a toxic chemical, local media reported.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) confirmed that it dispatched a hazardous response team to screen the two workers and the package for what a front man called "possible contaminants."
On its website, the New York Post claimed the parcel had tested positive for a nerve gas known as VX, but police sources told Agence La Belle France Presse it could be several days before the exact nature of the substance is established.
Local news channel WNBC said the two customs inspectors had recovered from their nausea and declined further medical help. Citing a law enforcement official, the station added that the package may have originated in China.
The incident - which had no impact on any JFK passenger terminal or flight operations - came after a week of heightened concerns in the United States over a potential terrorist attack overseas.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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#3
The first test was 'chemical-grade weapons and nerve gas.' The second test was " VX nerve gas". They finally figured out it was "nail polish remover".
So 2 of TSA's finest wanted some downtime AND the nerve gas test kit instructions were printed in English?
Heh, Skid. That would rather explain the line: "It was unclear why tests were positive for the deadly agent or why retesting remained positive," wouldn't it?
[Tolo News] Afghan security officials on Saturday said that Al-Qaeda and Haqqani Network activities in Pakistain pose a major threat to Afghanistan's current and future security, adding that while Afghan forces are capable of combating the threat, they will need further support to be fully successful.
Sediq Sediqi, the front man for the Ministry of Interior (MoI), called on the international community to help address the issue of terrorist and insurgency supporting groups like Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani Network operating in Pakistain.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... Mr. Sediqi also expressed confidence in the Afghan forces ability to manage the threats posed by these groups. "We cannot rejects threats from Pak soil, but Afghan cops are ready to faces these challenges," Mr. Sediqi said.
Members of the Security Commission in Parliament were a bit less confident, cautioning that the Afghan forces' success in combating threats from groups like Al-Qaeda and the Haqqani network would be contingent on whether or not they are properly equipped. "If the forces are not equipped with the necessary weaponry, Afghanistan will face a serious crisis after 2014, said MP Mirdad Khan Nejrabi, the head of the Security Commission.
"Pakistain and Death Eater networks in Pakistain pose serious threats to Afghanistan's security," Mr. Nejrabi said, reinforcing the remarks made by Mr. Sediqi.
Fatema Azizi, another MP on the Commission, was critical of the way funding has been used for the Afghan cops and eager to see support for more equipment."The Afghan forces are not equipped with the weapons they need despite millions being spent on them," she said.
With the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... mission in Afghanistan coming to an end, and the U.S. pulling troops out by the end of 2014, the window of opportunity for the Afghan forces to lobby for more training, financial and technical support is closing fast. That time pressure is bringing Kabul and Washington together, despite numerous differences and tensions between officials, to hammer out a Bilateral Security Agreement (BSA) that would lay the roadmap for security cooperation and assistance between the U.S. and Afghanistan for the foreseeable future.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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[Dawn] Four coppers were locked away Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! on Sunday for their negligent behaviour during an attack by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) on the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan ... the Pearl of Pashtunistan ... , DawnNews reported.
According to police sources, investigations revealed that the arrested officials namely Qaisar Khan, Sufaid Khan, Ateequr Rehman and Khan Bahadur were found guilty of negligence during the jailbreak.
Earlier on July 30, Pak Taliban bully boyz had freed nearly 250 inmates, including 35 'high-profile krazed killers', during a brazen overnight attack on the central jail in Dera Ismail Khan.
Meanwhile, ...back at the saw mill, Scarface Al had tied Little Nell to the log and was about to turn on the buzz saw... amid threats of possible terrorist attacks, security has been beefed up at the Central Jail Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Police have been deployed on the streets and the bridge leading from Central Jail to Rashid Minhas road in Karachi has also been closed to traffic.
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[An Nahar] Pakistain Sunday accused Indian forces of firing on its border posts in disputed Kashmire and in neighboring Punjab province, where it sparked an "intermittent exchange of fire" between the two sides.
The fighting is the latest in a spate of recent cross-border skirmishes between the two nuclear-armed neighbors who have fought three wars since independence from the British rule in 1947, two over the Mohammedan-majority region of Kashmire.
Tensions have recently flared up in the heavily militarized Kashmire valley with both sides accusing each other of cross-border firings.
But the first of Sunday's incident's took place near the border close to the eastern city of Sialkot in neighboring Punjab province.
"Indian Border Security Forces resorted to unprovoked firing on Pak Rangers posts near Pukhlian, Head Marala area, in Sialkot sector," a senior military official, told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Intermittent exchange of fire continues. No loss reported so far," added the official on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to talk to the media.
The official said that after the exchange of fire in Punjab, the Indian troops also fired at the Line of Control (LOC) in the disputed Kashmire region.
"Indian troops also resorted to unprovoked firing at LOC in Nakial sector near Kotli," he said.
Indian Defense Minister A. K. Antony on Thursday hinted at stronger military action along the LoC after Delhi accused The Mighty Pak Army of involvement in a deadly overnight ambush on Monday that killed five Indian soldiers.
Pak Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... tried to ease tensions with India by urging both sides to work swiftly to shore up a 10-year ceasefire threatened by the recent attacks.
But Pak military officials Thursday made fresh allegations of their own, accusing Indian troops of opening fire and seriously wounding a male civilian in the Tatta Pani sector along the LoC.
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#1
Pakistan doing a "North Korea" agz India = "Japan", for CHINA???
I have said before that any mil conflict in the East China Sea + South China Sea can likely also extend to the mainland, as in IMO China will use the same to settle outstanding strategic or geopol issues around its periphery.
[An Nahar] Syrian rebel fighters kidnapped 13 Kurds in the northern province of Aleppo on Sunday, turning them over to jihadist fighters already holding 250 kidnapped Kurds, an NGO said.
It might be time for the Saladin Boys Club to stage a little raidipoo.
Collecting heads or collecting hostages?
Yes.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the 13 were snatched at a roadblock in the Sfeira region of Aleppo and passed them on to al-Nusra Front, a jihadist group affiliated with al-Qaeda.
Al-Nusra and the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIS), another al-Qaeda-linked group operating in Syria, have kidnapped more than 250 Syrian Kurds since the end of July.
The majority were taken hostage as the two groups overran two Kurdish villages, Tall Aren and Tall Hassel, at the end of July.
Syria's Kurds have been battling jihadist fighters for months in northern and northeastern Syria, where the minority hopes to establish an autonomous zone.
The festivities have intensified since mid-July, when Kurdish fighters pushed jihadists out of the village of Ras al-Ain and its adjacent border crossing with Turkey.
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[POSTANDCOURIER] Three Republican candidates already have announced they are gunning for South Carolina's senior senator when he seeks re-election next year.
And if they can force him into a runoff next June, that could pose problems for the state's most visible political figure.
Last week, state Sen. Lee Bright of Spartanburg announced he was running, joining Piedmont businessman Richard Cash and Nancy Mace, a consultant who also was the first woman to graduate from The Citadel. Still more candidates could emerge before filing ends in March.
Larry Sabato, director of the University of Virginia's Center for Politics, said it's too early to predict outcomes, but Graham is most vulnerable in the June primary rather than in the general election.
"The fact that Graham has drawn these opponents reflects what we have all heard over the past few years -- many tea party Republicans want him out," he said. "If anyone, or the combination of multiple candidacies, forces him into a runoff, Graham could be in real trouble."
Winthrop University political scientist Scott Huffmon said Graham's early advantage is that his announced and potential challengers come from the dissatisfied wing of the party and seem destined to divide that slice of the vote.
He predicted they'll create "a lot of sound and fury, signifying nothing."
"The loudest people of the party don't tend to be his fans," Huffmon added, pointing to those who don't support any reaching out across the aisle to Democrats, as Graham has done in the past.
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#1
Texas model: Keep Linda Graham below 50%, so him and a single challenger go head to head, with everyone getting behind the sngle challenger. Worked for Ted Cruz.
#2
let him bring his Daddy McCain in to campaign for him. That should cook his goose
Posted by: Frank G ||
08/12/2013 8:20
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#3
Big money Republican contributors will back Graham so it's gonna be tough to beat him in the primary. It'd sure frost those guys if Graham then lost in the general election and a donk took his place.
Disclosure: I have two articles that are still archived at Frontpagemag.com, written for David Horowitz's temporal newsrealblog.com, before he pulled the plug a few years back.
David Horowitz is a former cultural communist (I used to read his work in Ramparts when I was a wee lad in the 1960s) who turned anticommunist based on his experiences and since, at least in some respects, has been anticommunist.
But with the appearance of Diana West's book and M. Stanton Evans' book eight years before, Blacklisted by History, Horowitz and his crew seem not to want to go too many bridges farther than necessary, if only to burnish their credentials as anticommunists, in defending the actions of Franklin Roosevelt and attacking Joseph McCarthy later in the 1950s.
The behavior of Horowitz and company is bizarre, especially in the view of Horowitz's marketing as a former communist in countering every provable argument in favor of what McCarthy did, using a combination of smears, personal attacks, a dash of mendacity and a dollop of facts.
However clumsily McCarthy pursued communist infiltration of the American government, based on historical documents in American and later in Soviet archives, the facts show that McCarthy was exactly on the right track; that the Soviet Union was using its nexus in the American communist party to put its people into areas they should not have been, and at the time the Roosevelt administration appeared to do whatever they could stop attempts to secure those offices.
Pajamas Media and American Thinker writer Clarice Feldman weighs in on the fight against West though claiming not to have read the book, trumpeting Radosh's arguments while diminishing West's, and in the same act her very own. In the linked article West makes an appearance as does Feldman in the comments section.
I have always liked Horowitz. My own political journey, in a few ways at least, mirrors his. In discussing the current crop of leftists in the government he has been passionate about the subject, trying to get readers to accept that, while maybe they are being lied to, much more is to be said. A great writer.
But Horowitz has a blind spot when it comes to his people. I don't know if it is because of his old habits as a former communist or because linecrossers to the right such as himself are so hard to find. The Alex Knepper saga is one rather sorry example. This latest episode with Ronald Radosh is the most glaring example.
To allow a writer to make such accusations as Radosh did, then criticize West when she comes to her own defense, is indefensible. Piling on, Feldman not only repeats Radosh's claims and attacks West for daring to defend herself and her work, she also adds in a critique of West's pedigree as a Yale educated writer, by a blogger, as a matter relevant to the basic charges in West's work.
Horowitz, weakly in my mind, reminds readers that he offered all the space West would need to defend herself against Radosh, similar to telling Joachim Peiper he can resupply inside Bastonge.
You know how it is sometimes with people you love, admire or respect. Sometimes they will present a side of themselves that is ugly and impossible to accept, let alone defend. I've done it before myself, in fact very recently, and I will do it again, probably because of a combination of ignorance, stupidity and laziness, but never out of mendacity.
I'd like to think that Horowitz in ignoring historical facts West has presented, is not acting out of mendacity. His body of work over the years suggests he is not, but this latest episode leans against my own personal blindspot when it comes to Horowitz,.
This argument is not over, and may well not be over for some time to come. Much more will be written on this, and I look forward to reading it. Like the 3.5 years of Mexican reporting, this is a journey, not a destination.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and nationa political news for Rantburg.com and Borderlandbeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
[An Nahar] The head of Tunisia's ruling Islamist party Ennahda is to meet the powerful UGTT trade union chief on Monday on the crisis sparked by the killing of an opposition politician.
The UGTT said that its head, Houcine Abassi, would meet Ennahda leader Rached Ghannouchi and Mustapha Ben Jaafar, speaker of the National Constituent Assembly.
Nearly 500,000 Tunisians are members of the UGTT, and the union can paralyze the country with strike action.
The planned meeting comes after Ben Jaafar announced the suspension of the assembly's work drawing up a new constitution while the Islamist-led government and the opposition hold talks on ending the political crisis.
Ben Jaafar has proposed the UGTT as mediator for the talks.
The union has called for the resignation of the Islamist-dominated cabinet and its replacement by a government of technocrats.
Ennahda has rejected the proposal so far.
Ghannouchi said on Facebook on Saturday that he had met the head of employers' organization Utica, Wided Bouchamaoui. Utica too has called for the formation of a cabinet of technocrats.
Meanwhile Tunisia's Tamarod, a movement that has modeled itself on the one in Egypt that led to the army ousting the elected Islamist president, said five of its activists were on hunger strike in front of the constituent assembly to demand its dissolution and the resignation of the government.
Tamarod Tunisia says on its Facebook page that it has collected 1.6 million signatures in support of both measures. The figure, which has not been verified, would amount to some 15 percent of the country's population.
Tunisia's opposition coalition, made up of parties from across the political spectrum, has refused to meet Ennahda until a new government is formed.
Hundreds of opposition supporters have kept up protests every night in front of the assembly but on August 6, tens of thousands took part in demonstrations.
The opposition is hoping to raise the pressure on the government with a new demonstration on August 13 to mark the anniversary of the promulgation of the Personal Status Code in 1956 under Tunisia's first president, Habib Bourguiba.
The code gave Tunisians unequaled rights in the Arab world at the time, and the country's ruling Islamists have regularly been accused of trying to roll them back.
Ennahda's critics have blamed the Islamists for the rise of the ultra-conservative Salafist movement in the country since January 2011, whose violent actions are a threat to stability in the country.
Radical 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... were blamed for the liquidation of opposition MP Mohamed Brahmi at the end of July, the second opposition politician to be killed this year.
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[Ynet] A 23-year-old soldier was placed in durance vile Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! near Lyon in central La Belle France for allegedly intending to attack a mosque, the French Interior Ministry stated.
It was also reported that the soldier lobbed a Molotov cocktail at another mosque in the Bordeaux area about a year ago. None were hurt.
Zimbabwe on Saturday rejected a report by British Newspaper Times concerning signing up a secret contract between Harare and Tehran to export uranium to Iran, calling it a story made up by the western media, IRNA reported.
According to the report of South Africa News Agency, Zimbabwe's Minister of Mines and Mining Development Obert Moses Mpofu said, "We are free to trade with all countries, but the Ministry has not signed any contract about uranium with Tehran".
He added this is the kind of story and misinformation usually made by the western media. Mpofu went on to say when Zimbabwe is a free country, why should it sign a secret trade contract?
Times wrote Friday that a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to export uranium to Iran had been signed last year between Harare and Tehran, in spite of serious warning of Washington.
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#1
As .com used to say, watch the hands, not the mouth...
[An Nahar] Supporters of ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi rallied on Sunday to demand his reinstatement, amid last ditch efforts for reconciliation ahead of a threatened crackdown on protests.
A large convoy of cars carrying pictures of the deposed president beeped their horns as they drove through a neighborhood in east Cairo.
Hundreds at a women's march in central Cairo chanted against army chief Abdel Fattah al-Sisi who was behind Morsi's overthrow, shouting: "Sisi is a traitor, Sisi is a killer."
Morsi loyalists, led by the Moslem Brüderbund, have kept up two huge camps in Cairo to protest against the Islamist president's ouster by the military on July 3, with regular demonstrations around the country.
They say nothing short of his reinstatement will persuade them to disperse, despite several warnings by the interim leaders that the camps will be dismantled after the Eid al-Fitr holiday which was to end on Sunday.
In a sign of the mounting tensions, a brief overnight power cut at the main sit-in outside the Rabaa al-Adawiya mosque struck panic among the pro-Morsi demonstrators, with some taking to social media to announce the assault had begun.
Protest organizers told Agence La Belle France Presse that as the electricity went out, they reinforced their barricades, added sandbags to the entrances of the protest site, and sent volunteers to find out what was happening, only to be told it was a false alarm.
The main coalition of Morsi supporters, the Anti-Coup Alliance, said 10 marches would take off from various parts of the capital on Sunday "to defend the electoral legitimacy" of Egypt's first freely elected president.
The fresh rallies came as Al-Azhar, Sunni Islam's highest seat of learning, called for reconciliation talks in the latest of a string of attempts to find a peaceful solution to the political deadlock.
Al-Azhar's Grand Imam, Ahmed al-Tayyeb, is to begin contacts with political factions on Monday aimed at convincing them to sit down to talks later this week, state media reported.
"Al-Azhar has been studying all the proposals for reconciliation put forward by political and intellectual figures... to come up with a compromise formula for all Egyptians," Tayyeb's adviser, Mahmoud Azab, told the state-owned Al-Ahram newspaper.
But the Moslem Brüderbund is unlikely to accept such an invitation after Al-Azhar sided with the military over Morsi's ouster.
Tayyeb appeared with army chief Sisi when he announced on July 3 that Morsi had been deposed and laid out a political roadmap for Egypt's transition which provides for new elections in 2014.
Morsi's turbulent single year in power polarized Egyptians and his ouster by the military only deepened divisions.
The Islamist leader was widely criticized for concentrating power in Brotherhood hands and under his tenure Egypt saw political divisions spill out onto the streets in deadly festivities while the economy tumbled.
On June 30, millions erupted into the streets to demand Morsi's ouster, openly calling on the army to remove him.
The interim leadership is now under immense pressure at home to crack down on the pro-Morsi protests, and immense pressure from the international community to avoid bloodshed.
Senior U.S., EU and Arab envoys flew into Cairo in recent weeks to try to persuade the two sides to find a peaceful way out of the crisis.
But the government vowed on Wednesday to clear the Islamist protest camps, saying foreign mediation had failed.
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Bahrain has deported an American female nursery school teacher for her online publications and social media activities linked to radical opposition groups, as well as violating terms of her work permit.
Nursery school teacher? The sheikhs couldn't hire a Filipino for that?
The ministry of state for communications said in a statement on Saturday that it received a "complaint about an individual using Twitter and other websites to publish articles" on Bahrain that were "deemed to incite hatred against the government and members of the Royal family, as well as spreading misinformation and encouraging divisions in Bahraini society based on religious sect".
Was she an ACORN worker?
The American teacher,
...perhaps a member of the Chicago Teachers Union...
who wrote under a pen name, violated the Labour Laws of Bahrain by working illegally as an unaccredited journalist.
That's just the excuse they used; the reason is that she was a pain in the ass...
She published a number of articles for online journals including Muftah (where she holds the title of co-editor and works as a reporter), Lebanon's Hezbullah-linked As Safir newspaper
Oh, so she was one of those Shiite-Americans. Presumably an immigrant or first-generation American, with fluent Arabic.
and the outlawed Bahrain Centre for Human Rights newsletter, among others.
According to her landlord, she had a Hezbullah flag along with other paraphernalia of the Lebanese terrorist organisation in her residence. This along with her social media activities led to the complaint filed with the ministry.
The principal at the school where the woman taught said in the statement: "We cannot have someone teaching impressionable young children who supports an internationally recognised terrorist organisation like Hezbullah."
So she'll just have to go back home to Seattle to do that...
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Gunmen shot the mayor of a town in Lebanon and killed two of his companions only hours after he oversaw a hostage swap with a rival clan in an area increasingly driven by sectarian divisions, security sources said on Sunday. The attack near the border with Syria highlights how the civil war there has worsened enmity between Lebanese Shia and Sunni militias that support opposing sides of the two-year-old conflict.
Mayor Ali Hujeiri was shot in the majority Shia town of Labweh as he returned from the hostage exchange with a rival Shia clan. The sources said the attack was carried out by residents of the area, but did not elaborate.
The hostages were being held in relation to an incident in June in which four of Labwehs residents were killed by rebel fighters, the sources said.
The Bekaa Valley region, where the attack happened, is religiously mixed. Some areas are controlled by the Shia militant Hezbollah group which is helping President Bashar Al Assad crush the revolt. Other parts, like Arsal, are Sunni, and residents provide a safe haven for majority-Sunni Syrian rebels. The recapture of the Syrian border town of Qusair in June by Assads forces, spearheaded by Hezbollah guerrillas, led to an influx of Syrian rebel fighters and civilians into Lebanon and more violence spilling over into the Bekaa region.
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Media Research Center boss Brent Bozell thinks that Bezos will change the WaPo character if he decides to turn a buck or two. We shall see.
From TFA:
But for Bezos, they're getting out the marching band for a victory lap. Post media blogger Erik Wemple said Amazon's breakout will look like a weak first act if the liberal media is saved: "Should Bezos succeed in even tweaking this sector's vicious cycle, his contributions to retailing and e-commerce may well look like modest achievements."
The first question now is whether Bezos bought the Post to be an instant power player inside D.C. (that's what D.C. assumes without blinking) or to make money. Is the Post a nostalgic plaything for Woodward and Bernstein worshipers, or is it possible he'll betray journalists and take it in a more tabloidish direction, like The Huffington Post?
[Ynet] Housing minister Ariel announces apartments up for sale three days before second round of peace talks begins. 'No country takes orders from other countries about where to build,' he says
See the outcome of the brilliant work of The Two Smartest Men In The Room.
Three days before the second round of peace talks begins, Housing and Construction Minister Uri Ariel announced that some 1,200 new apartments in Jerusalem and the West Bank are up for sale.
Nearly 800 of the 1,200 apartments will be built in Jerusalem: 400 in Gilo, 210 in Homat Shmuel and 183 in Pisgat Zeev. The settlement of Ariel will get 117 units; Efrat will get 149; Ma'ale Adumim -- 92 and Beitar Illit -- 36.
"The Israeli government is working to reduce the cost of living in all parts of Israel. No country receives orders about where it can and cannot build from other countries," Ariel said.
"We shall continue to market apartments all around the country, in the Negev, in the Galilee and in the center, to meet the needs of all the people of Israel. It's the right thing to do both for Zionism and for the economy."
Finance Minister Yair Lapid criticized the move calling it a "big mistake."
"Solutions for the housing problem should be implemented where there is demand. The use of resources designated for housing for the middle class for the purpose of unnecessarily defying the Americans is not conducive for the grinding of the peace processor."
It's not like this particular iteration of the peace process was ever going to result in anything like a peace treaty anyway...
The announcement was also criticized by the opposition.
Naturally.
"Building thousands of housing units in the settlements is a side bomb placed by the government to kill the negotiations before they even begin," said Meretz Chairwoman Zahava Gal-On. "We will not have an agreement with the Paleostinians as long as settlement construction continues. There will be no peace agreement that is not based on 1967 lines with land swaps and the division of Jerusalem."
The statement came after weeks of discussions between Naftali Bennett's Habayit Hayehudi party and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is leading the release of Paleostinian prisoners as part of renewed peace talks.
While Minister Ariel considers the move a victory, even his close advisers admit that the process is in the very earlier stages and that construction could take as long as two years to begin.
A source at the Habayit Heyehudi said, "There is a media battle in the Right. It's true we won't see construction in the near future but this is a first stage that sets the wheels of bureaucracy in motion after a long period of no construction."
[Dawn] After a demonstration by a mob outside the Pakistain High Commission in New Delhi on Wednesday over the killing of Indian soldiers along the Line of Control, the Foreign Office asked India to beef up security of Pak diplomats and high commission staff.
Indian Deputy High Commissioner Gopal Baglay was summoned to the Foreign Office and asked to convey to the Indian government that Pakistain expected it to meet its responsibility of protecting Pak diplomats and allied staff posted there.
"We summoned the Indian deputy high commissioner to the Foreign Office to stress that protection of the Pakistain High Commission and Pakistain House is the responsibility of the Indian government," Foreign Office front man Aizaz Chaudhry said. "We called for strengthening security of Pakistain representation in New Delhi."
The demonstration was largely peaceful, except for charged youths raising anti-Pakistain slogans.
The protesters belonging to the Youth Congress demonstrated outside the high commission and the Pakistain House, the residence of the high commissioner, over the killing of five Indian soldiers in an apparent terrorist attack near the LoC.
Pak Deputy High Commissioner Mansoor Ahmed Khan was summoned on Tuesday to the Indian ministry of external affairs over the LoC incident and Defence Minister A.K. Antony in a statement in parliament accused "men in Pakistain Army uniforms" of having aided the attackers.
Pakistain rejected the allegations and reiterated its commitment to the 2003 ceasefire agreement.
"Pakistain remains committed to the ceasefire agreement of 2003 which is an important confidence building measure and should be respected in letter and spirit," Mr Chaudhry said.
Pakistain also had accused India on Tuesday of unprovoked firing in Pando Sector, near Muzaffarabad, in which two soldiers were seriously injured.
The military operations chiefs of the two countries spoke to each other over the hotline in an attempt to calm down tensions.
According to ISPR chief Maj Gen Asim Bajwa, Director General of Military Operations Maj Gen Ashfaq Nadeem in his conversation with his Indian counterpart said there was no truth in the (Indian) allegation of LoC violation.
The Indian DGMO shared his side's version of the event.
"Pakistain Military has strongly protested Indian violation of LoC in Pando Sector," Gen Bajwa added.
Under the ceasefire agreement reached on Nov 25, 2003, the two sides committed not to target each other's posts and personnel.
The agreement has largely held and was considered as one of the main successes in the grinding of the peace processor. However, if you can't say something nice about a person some juicy gossip will go well... violations increased in January this year and have been holding up the third round of the resumed peace dialogue between the two countries
The two sides are now preparing to restart the round and dates for talks on Wullar Barrage and Sir Creek have been proposed by Pakistain.
Meanwhile, ...back at the abandoned silver mine, the water was up to Jack's neck and still rising. And then he smelled the smoke... Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan warned that baseless Indian allegations against the Pakistain Army would undermine the grinding of the peace processor.
Rejecting the Indian government's accusation about an attack on its troops, he asked how the Pakistain Army could have launched such an attack 5km across the boundary line.
The minister said the Indian media was unleashing negative propaganda against Pakistain. The hue and cry of the Indian government and media was beyond comprehension, he added.
He advised the Indian government not to blame the Pakistain Army for its own failures.
Chaudhry Nisar said Pakistain wanted peaceful relations with India and it was possible only through bilateral efforts.
He said unnecessary allegations would only vitiate the atmosphere and block the way for resolution of outstanding issues through talks.
AFP adds: The foreign ministry said Pakistain wanted a strengthening of existing channels to stop "such ill-founded reports" in the future.
Indian army front man Rajesh Kalia said the two sides had exchanged fire late on Tuesday but only "small arms" were used.
In India, the opposition accused the government of letting Pakistain off the hook over the killing of soldiers, as the attack triggered uproar in parliament.
Indian army had initially blamed the attack on Pak troops but later withdrew the statement.
"Our defence minister has given a clean chit to Pakistain," Sushma Swaraj, lower house leader of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP), said. He "has let the country down. He must apologise to the nation", she said as the uproar forced parliament's adjournment.
Senior BJP leader L. K. Advani told politicians "this is no time for talks" as news channels ran footage of the arrival of the soldiers' flag-draped coffins in New Delhi.
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[Dawn] At least five people, including one policeman, were killed in different incidents of violence in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Unknown gunnies opened fire near Chawla Market in Nazimabad, killing police official Nazim Abbas.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... four people died in separate firing incidents in Karachi's Baldia Town, Garden and Orangi Town areas. A woman killed in Garden Town was attacked at a traffic signal while she was on her way home.
In a separate incident, police launched investigations in Musharraf Colony and tossed in the slammer Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! five persons involved in extortion activities. According to the police, the arrested persons namely Wasif, Nazeer, Waqas, Wasim and Riaz were wanted in extortion and other crimes. Four TT pistols and other weapons were recovered from the suspects during the raid.
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[Ynet] Security officials say will disperse Morsi supporters' camps in Cairo on daybreak Monday, two weeks after bloody festivities claim lives of dozens
Egyptian security forces will besiege two sit-ins by supporters of the country's ousted president within 24 hours, police officials said Sunday, setting up a possible confrontation between the military-backed government and the thousands gathered there.
One police official suggested action against the sit-in protests by supporters of ousted President Mohamed Morsi could begin as early as daybreak Monday.
Officials, who spoke anonymously in line with regulations, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named they are also preparing for possible festivities that might erupt in reaction to the cordons they will set up barring anyone from entering.
Egypt's new leadership says that the sit-ins and protests have frightened residents of Cairo, sparked deadly violence and disrupted traffic in the capital. Leaders of the sit-in say their protests have been peaceful and blame security forces and "thugs" for violence.
The Arab world's most populous country is readying itself for more potential bloodshed. Already more than 250 people have been killed in violence since Morsi's ouster.
A last-ditch effort over the weekend by the Sunni Mohammedan world's pre-eminent religious institution, Al-Azhar, also failed to push the two sides closer to reconciliation. Mass rallies two weeks ago called by military leader Gen. Abdel-Fattah al-Sissi showed that a large segment of Egypt's population backs action by the armed forces.
The Interior Ministry had said earlier it would not clamp down on the protesters but will take gradual measures, which include the cordons. Other measures suggested include the use of water cannons and tear gas to minimize casualties.
The protesters, expecting an imminent security push to clear them out, have begun fortifying their positions.
At Egypt's main protest camp in eastern Cairo, vendors say they have sold hundreds of gas masks, goggles and gloves to protesters readying themselves for police tear gas. A few meters (yards) away from the vendors, three waist-high cement and wooden barriers have been constructed by protesters to keep armored vehicles from crushing the sit-in.
The protests include many women and kiddies. Organizations like UNICEF have cautioned against what they say is the deliberate use of children in Egypt who are "put at risk as potential witnesses to or victims of violence." Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund group says it cannot control whether families choose to stay camped out.
Some of the Islamist group's top leaders have used the sit-ins as a cover to avoid arrest. Others have already been incarcerated Into the paddy wagon wit' yez! and face charges of inciting violence. Morsi has been held at undisclosed locations since his ouster and is facing a criminal investigation.
Tensions between Mohammedans and Christians south of Cairo have been especially high since the Islamist president's ouster. On Sunday, 15 people were maimed when a Mohammedan woman tried to stop a Christian neighbor from building a speed bump in front of her home. Officials say both families started fighting and assailants tossed gasoline bombs into four Christian homes and a local church.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
08/12/2013
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#1
If I was in charge of Egypt... I would lob some of those anti-personal rounds into these MB protesters, the ones that activate upon movement, then sit back and watch the hilarity ensue.
#2
15 people were maimed when a Mohammedan woman tried to stop a Christian neighbor from building a speed bump in front of her home. Officials say both families started fighting and assailants tossed gasoline bombs into four Christian homes and a local church.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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#1
Edna Goodrich (born Bessie Edna Stevens; December 22, 1883 May 26, 1972) was an American Broadway actress, Florodora girl, author, and media sensation during the early 1900s. At one point, she was known as one of America's wealthiest and best dressed performers.
Edna and her mother moved to New York City, where both found work as chorus girls. Edna Goodrich joined the cast of the Florodora musical, as one of the famed sextets, all of whom were extremely beautiful, 5'4", and 130 lbs. Out of more than 70 women who became a Florodora girl, Edna was one of a handful who achieved lasting fame.
Posted by: Au Auric ||
08/12/2013 9:29
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[GOOGLE] Al-Qaeda front group the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant on Sunday claimed a wave of attacks that killed 74 people and injured hundreds during the Eid al-Fitr holiday a day earlier.
"The Islamic State mobilised... in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and the southern states and others to convey a quick message of deterrence on the third day of Eid al-Fitr" in response to security forces' operations, a statement posted on jihadist forums said.
Iraqis have angrily blamed the authorities for failing to prevent a series of deadly bombings and other attacks on Saturday, which came as the country marked the end of the Musselmen holy month of Ramadan, its deadliest in years.
The attacks came just weeks after assaults on prisons near Storied Baghdad, also claimed by the Al-Qaeda front group, freed hundreds of prisoners including leading myrmidons, prompting warnings of a surge in violence.
Nine people were killed in fresh violence around the country on Sunday
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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[ARABNEWS] OHIO: Mohammedans across the US celebrated Eid on the same day to everyone's joy and relief. Mosques overflowed with happy worshippers who stood as one ummah in prayer and thanksgiving, enjoying the mild weather, treats and spiritually motivating sermons of the day.
US President Barack Obama Republicans can come along for the ride, but they've got to sit in the back... and First Lady Michelle also sent their warmest greetings to Mohammedans celebrating Eid Al-Fitr around the world, calling it "part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions."
"Michelle and I send our warmest greetings to Mohammedans celebrating Eid-Al-Fitr in the United States and around the world," Obama said in his message.
"For millions of Americans, Eid is part of a great tapestry of America's many traditions, and I wish all Mohammedans a blessed and joyful celebration. Eid Mubarak," Obama said.
There was some difference of opinion the night before on the sighting of the Shawwal moon. Many mosques in Maryland, Ohio, and other states, announced that the moon had been sighted in Chile therefore Eid would be celebrated on Thursday. Organizations like reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... Hilal rejected Chile as not fulfilling their criteria and said that Eid would be on Friday. Late reports of moon sightings in Arizona and Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, settled the score.
Delivering the second khutbah on the topic of 'Future Mohammedan' at Masjid Noor, which was being telecast live on the internet and Guide us TV, Sheikh Yusuf Estes shared some interesting facts. He said that of the 1.6 billion Mohammedans around the world only 12 percent were Arabs. He emphasized therefore importance of learning Arabic so the future Mohammedans would understand the Qur'an and follow it.
He said a lot of the young children had beautiful recitation but they did not know what they were reading. Referring to a recent recitation competition, Sheikh Estes said only one child knew the translation of what he was reciting. Islam he said was the fastest growing religion in the West but the future Mohammedans needed to learn it so they could practice it and be good ambassadors for it.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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#1
Bullshit, Redneck im.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
08/12/2013 0:49
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#7
Well if it isn't now, it soon will be. My nightmare vision is that at the point where the entire world has finally, with absolute will and iron fist, rejected islamofascism - the US will continue to defend it.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
08/12/2013 22:09
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#8
Re # 7, Steve, that was bad, real bad. i barfed my dinner out my noze, so i did.
[An Nahar] The United States condemned the perpetrators of deadly attacks in Iraq Saturday as "enemies of Islam," in an unusually detailed statement following the latest violence in the war-ravaged country.
The State Department said the boom-mobiles that tore through Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... cafes and markets, as well as other blasts and shootings elsewhere, were "cowardly" attacks "aimed at families celebrating the Eid al-Fitr" holiday that marks the end of the holy fasting month of Ramadan.
The violence killed at least 61 people and came just weeks after brazen assaults, claimed by an Al-Qaeda front group, on prisons near Storied Baghdad that freed hundreds of bad boys, and amid high daily corpse counts in Iraq.
State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki, however, went further, reiterating the $10 million award offered for Al-Qaeda in Iraq's purported leader Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, who is believed to be sheltering in Syria.
"He has taken personal credit for a series of terrorist attacks in Iraq since 2011, and most recently claimed credit for the operations against the Abu Ghraib prison outside Storied Baghdad, the suicide kaboom assault on the Ministry of Justice, among other attacks against Iraqi security forces and Iraqi citizens," Psaki said.
Posted by: Fred ||
08/12/2013
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#1
if al Q in iraq is an 'enemy of islam' than what is al q in syria or al Q in yeman or the moslem brotherhood or boko haram or the mullahs of iran, etc.
Posted by: lord garth ||
08/12/2013 0:07
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#3
We've got two choices in this war. Wipe out Islam or get the muslims to wipe the terrorists out of Islam. I know which will be cheaper in treasure and blood however improbable, so I applaud the DOS for making even a feeble move in the right direction.
#4
I'm sure the holy rollers are interested in what Jen Psaki knows what is and is not islam, and that the flip side of the coin is the USA is the defender of Jen's idea of true islam.
And knowing that this administration didn't go to the mat for the guy who found bin laden, why in the world would somebody accept this bounty?
They're the supreme authority on every goddam thing, grom.
Just ask 'em. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
08/12/2013 13:28
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#6
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Iraq-based] ANSAR AL-ISLAM CALLS FOR SUNNI JIHAD IN IRAN, as due to its beliefs about growing or expanding Iranian = Shia Islamic influence in Iraq proper.
AND
* TOPIX > AL-QAEDA VOWS MORE IRAQ ATTACKS.
The hell you say!?
VERSUS
* TOPIX > [Long War Journal] US STATE DEPARTMENT CONFIRMS AL-QAEDA IN IRAQ LEADER HAS RELOCATED TO SYRIA, ostensibly to visit his Boyz there.
Thus of course proving he has no connection or linkage [wink-wink] to the latest attacks in Iraq???
Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian man who climbed over the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says, BBC reported.
The man, who has not been identified, was earlier seen digging into the ground on the Gazan side of the fence, a military spokesperson told the BBC. He then clambered over the fence, allegedly carrying a suspicious object.
Gun? Bomb? Lollipop?
The incident took place in an area where Palestinian militants have in the past mounted attacks on Israeli forces.
The Israeli military spokesperson said its soldiers fired warning shots into the air after the man crossed the fence, but that he did not turn back. "Once all means were exhausted, the soldiers fired towards the suspect."
So a dumb hard boy...
Some of 'em are ambitious, some went into it because the sheltered workshop was too hard.
The spokesperson did not give further details on what the Palestinian was carrying, but a military source told the Reuters news agency that no weapons were found on him.
Next time don't climb the fence carrying a lollipop...
Posted by: Steve White ||
08/12/2013
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[NBC40.net] NORTH WILDWOOD - A disabled U.S. Army veteran, who served our country for 19 years, says he was kicked off the North Wildwood boardwalk last night, simply for having his service dog by his side. North Wildwood? .... Alabama? No. Georgia? No. Texas? No. Virginia then? No. Ok, I give up, where is it then? Oh, THERE.
Jared Goering served 1 tour in Iraq, 2 in Afganistan, and spent 19 years as an active member of the Army. Jared said, "I served from 1993 to 2012." He then told NBC40 he couldn't sleep Thursday night because he felt so disrespected by a North Wildwood police officer.
Goering said. "Just like any veteran with disabilities with a service dog, to come back and be harassed and shown no respect, it upset me - it really bothered me. I was up most of the night thinking about it. Upsets me as well.
A North Wildwood police officer issued Jared and his wife a summons because of the dog. Should be a former policeman, and a man in search of a new line of work.
#1
New Jersey!! I am not surprised. I have had only terrible times in that place. Especially the police whether local or state. As a serviceman driving through the state with out-of-state plates, I was always stopped for alledgedly having minor problems with my car or I was holding up traffic (?) not speeding.
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.
[Ynet] Three US soldiers were killed in Afghanistan's eastern borderlands on Sunday, US and 
Egyptian helicopters fired on a meeting of suspected 
Nawaz Sharif
[Dawn] At least five people, including one policeman, were killed in different incidents of violence in 
Israeli soldiers have shot dead a Palestinian man who climbed over the border fence separating Israel and the Gaza Strip, the Israeli military says, BBC reported.
