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Drone strike killed senior Haqqani network commander
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
16:28 3 23:52 Uncle Phester [3]
15:34 4 23:31 Nguard [7]
13:14 1 15:04 trailing wife [6]
12:32 8 22:03 trailing wife [3]
10:26 7 19:43 Procopius2k [7]
09:24 3 17:10 Redneck Jim [5]
09:08 2 11:04 Uncle Phester [6]
08:20 2 12:36 Procopius2k [4]
07:46 2 13:16 3dc [1]
07:36 5 12:24 Besoeker [4]
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China-Japan-Koreas
Obama and Xi Jinping Agree to Limit Hydroflurocarbons
The United States and China announced Friday they would seek to eliminate some of the world's most potent greenhouse gases through the 1987 Montreal Protocol, the landmark treaty that successfully phased out ozone-depleting substances decades ago.

The move, announced at the Group of 20 summit in St. Petersburg, is significant because it provides a clear path for curbing a major contributor to global warming in the near term as world leaders grapple with the more challenging task of cutting carbon dioxide in the coming decades.
I though carbon dioxide was THE problem, right after water vapor. Now they tell us there is something else to worry about?
Obama and Xi Jinping said they would work to phase out hydrofluorocarbons (HFCs) -- a class of chemicals commonly used in refrigerators and air conditioners -- through the Montreal Protocol, even as they tried to make progress through the annual climate talks held by the United Nations.
Some refrigerant has already been phased out of cars and homes - CFC-12, maybe?
Other G-20 leaders also endorsed the approach Friday in a joint statement. The president of the Institute for Governance & Sustainable Development, a Washington-based nonprofit group, called HFCs "the biggest climate prize available to the world in the next few years." In an e-mail, he estimated that the accord could cut the equivalent of 100 billion tons of carbon dioxide by 2050 and would avoid up to nearly 1 degree in global warming.
Now we're back to CO2? I am so confused!
The Montreal Protocol succeeded in phasing out nearly 100 chemicals, but an unintended consequence was that it spurred the production of HFCs, which are short-lived and do not damage the ozone but are far more potent greenhouse gases than carbon dioxide. In addition to being used as refrigerants, they are used in insulating foams, solvents and aerosol products.
But they are short-lived, breaking down into what, Mr. Journalist? Unless your only purpose in the article was to make an empty suit look presidential.
Left unabated, HFC emissions could grow to nearly 20 percent of carbon dioxide emissions by 2050.
I wonder what unintended consequences will come out of this action?
Because there are always unintended consequences, which is why God invented engineers.
Posted by: Bobby || 09/07/2013 16:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1 
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 19:03 Comments || Top||

#2  Syria?

SQUIRREL!
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 23:27 Comments || Top||

#3  ...possibly the two of them could agree to personally demonstrate via PPV the positive effects of reducing to zero respiration-induced production of the known greenhouse gas CO2 via auto-erotic asphyxiation...?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:52 Comments || Top||


Economy
WaPo Notes Shrinking Labor Force
Front-page WaPo. Maybe Bezos is having an impact?
Americans are participating in the workforce at the lowest level in 35 years, according to government data released Friday, as lackluster job growth fails to offset the droves of people who have given up looking for work. According to the Labor Department, the economy added a disappointing 169,000 jobs in August. In addition, the government lowered its estimate of the number of jobs created in June and July by 74,000 positions.

The grinding pace of recovery has hollowed out the workforce. Government data showed that only 63.2 percent of working-age Americans have a job or are looking for one, the lowest proportion since 1978. Nearly 90 million people are now considered out of the labor force, up 1.7 million from August 2012.
And it only took the WaPo four or five years to report it.
There are demographic trends underlying the decline in the labor force. For much of the past generation, growing numbers of working women boosted its size, but that effect has leveled off. Meanwhile, the first wave of baby boomers is reaching retirement age, while younger workers are staying in school longer before looking for their first job.
And WHY are kids staying in school longer? A lack of jobs, perchance?
Many economists believe those shifts cannot fully explain the size of the decline. Research released this spring by two Federal Reserve economists showed that states with the largest drops in unemployment also had bigger declines in the labor force, suggesting the slow pace of recovery is the culprit.

In a remarks Friday while at the Group of 20 summit in Russia, President Obama said he is "determined that the world has confidence in the full faith and credit of the United States." He also touted gains in manufacturing jobs and new regulations aimed at fortifying the nation's banks.
We've enlarged the welfare rolls! More people are being assisted by the government! My plan is succeeding!
"We've put more people back to work, but we've also cleared away the rubble of crisis and laid the foundation for stronger and more durable economic growth," he said.
Is it a lie if he really believes it?
Sadly, he hasn't the intellectual tools to know the difference.
Still, the recovery may not be strong enough to stand on its own. The Federal Reserve has been pumping $85 billion a month into the economy, but will consider reducing that amount when officials convene for their regular meeting this month.

On Friday, Kansas City Fed President Esther L. George called for scaling back the program by $15 billion. In a separate speech, Chicago Fed President Charles L. Evans was more circumspect, but acknowledged the data has been murky.

Fed Chairman Ben S. Bernanke has said that the central bank will begin paring its stimulus this year, and many investors expect it will start this month. But Jared Bernstein, senior fellow at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, said he believes the August jobs report is evidence that the economy still needs the Fed's help.
Aren't the printing presses worn out yet?
Posted by: Bobby || 09/07/2013 15:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  220 Years Of Jobs Jobs Jobs

Warning: Nervousness Alert....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 18:53 Comments || Top||

#2  I thought it was because all the pRon stars had HIV?
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 18:55 Comments || Top||

#3  lessee...2013 minus 35 years... would be 1978. AKA the "Glory Carter Years™". So we get feckless Carter V2.0?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 20:22 Comments || Top||

#4  At this point Carter would be an improvement.
Posted by: Nguard || 09/07/2013 23:31 Comments || Top||


Citing costs, IBM to transfer employees to gummit exchanges.
Posted by: Besoekere || 09/07/2013 13:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Golly, it's a trend. Just like the anti-Obamacare types predicted from the beginning.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 15:04 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
VDH: If It Wasn’t Syria, It Would Have Been Something Else
It is very possible that the president will not obtain a join authorization to bomb Syria; if he chooses to go ahead and attack anyway, Obama will incite a constitutional crisis—the first time in history that a president has decided to go to war against the declared wishes of Congress. The public and the courts will adjudicate the legality of that act, and it would be contentious.

So the corner that Obama has painted himself into is now inescapable. Defying Congress will put the country into a Watergate/Monicagate mess.

Not doing anything will confirm the administration’s impotence and only enhance Russia, Iran, Assad, China, Islamists, and almost anyone else who does not like the U.S.

Doing something small, with or without congressional approval, will be looked upon as a cynical waste of human lives to restore Obama’s credibility, the sort of craven, immoral political act that a younger Obama made a career out of mocking.

Doing something big will invite public and global outrage if only moderately successful, and doom the Obama presidency if unsuccessful.

How did Obama get himself into this mess? It was bound to happen, given his past habits. All we are seeing now is the melodramatic fulfillment of vero possumus, lowering the rising seas, faux Corinthian columns, hope and change, the bows, the Cairo speech, and the audacity of hope. Hubris does earn Nemesis.

1) His inclination is to damn straw men, blame others for his self-inflicted errors, and spike the ball when he should keep quiet and become modest (cf. the bin Laden raid). So in Syria we heard the same old, same old: A host of bad guys, here and abroad, wants to do nothing. Obama alone has the vision and moral compass to restore global and U.S. credibility through his eloquence; but the world disappointed him and is now at fault for establishing red lines that it won’t enforce: He came into the world to save the world, but the world rejected him.

After five years of this, the world caught on, and sees juvenile and narcissistic petulance in lieu of statesmanship—and unfortunately a sinister Putin takes great delight in reminding 7 billion people of this fact almost daily. In terms of geostrategic clout, Obama has nullified the power of his eleven aircraft-carrier battle groups, Putin through his shrewd insight and ruthless calculation of human nature, has added five where they didn’t exist.

2) Obama thinks in an untrained manner and for all the talk of erudition and education seems bored and distracted—and it shows up in the most critical moments. Had he wished to stop authoritarians, prevent bloodshed and near genocide, and foster true reform in the Middle East, there were plenty of prior, but now blown occasions:
a) the “good” war in Afghanistan could have earned his full attention;
b) the “bad” Iraq War was won and needed only a residual force to monitor the Maliki government and protect Iraq airspace and ensure quiet;
c) the green revolution in Iran was in need of moral support;
d) Qaddafi could have been continually pressured for further reform rather than bombed into oblivion;
e) postwar Libya needed U.S. leadership to ensure that “lead from behind” did not lead to the present version of Somalia and the disaster in Benghazi;
f) long ago, the president could have either kept quiet about Syria or acted on his threats when Assad was tottering and the resistance was less Islamist;
g) he could have warned the one vote/one time Muslim Brotherhood early on not to do what everyone in the world knew it would surely do;
h) he need not have issued tough serial deadlines to Iran that we have not really enforced and probably have no intention of enforcing.

Instead, Obama relied on his rhetoric and talked loosely, sloppily and inconsistently from crisis to crisis, the only common denominator being that he always took the path of least resistance and thus did nothing concretely to match his cadences. Usually to the degree he made a decision, he made things worse with empty, first-person bombast.

3) Obama cannot attract top talent. Those from prior administrations who are gifted and worked for him or who were promoted by him—Robert Gates, David Petraeus, Paul Volcker, Richard Holbrooke, James Mattis, Stanley McChrystal—either were treated badly, not fully utilized, or ended up regretting their experience. Instead a host of mediocrities are recruited on the basis of either their partisanship, loyalty or demonstrated past lightness—an Eric Holder, Joe Biden, Susan Rice, Timothy Geithner, Chuck Hagel, etc.

Nowhere than in the present crisis is this unfortunate trend more telling:
Pro-war John Kerry has opportunistic anti-war baggage, pontificates rather than persuades, and freelances into serial embarrassments;

Martin Dempsey, to his credit, cannot square the circle of being an honest man assigned to say things he knows simply cannot be true, and so pleads the military’s version of the Fifth;

Chuck Hagel has not recovered from the confirmation hearings, and just wishes Syria would go away;

anything that a surprisingly quiet Joe Biden says on the crisis will probably be incoherent and incendiary, and surely contradictory of some past statement;

Susan Rice astutely outsourced this crisis;

Hillary Clinton whose “what difference does it make?” fingerprints are all over the Syrian and Libyan fiascos wisely got out of town ahead of the posse.

What is now the least bad choice between terrible and even more terrible alternatives? If the congressional vote is yes, the choice is cynically wasting a few American lives for a possible point, or killing lots more people for a more possible point. Not good choices.

If the congressional vote is, as I hope, no, Obama should quietly (i.e., don’t blame Congress, the world, the public, etc.) back out of the bombing mode, more quietly continue the belated work of promoting a pro-Western resistance to Assad, mend fences with allies most quietly, and prepare very carefully (but without the bombast) for a real crisis on the near horizon that will need the public, the Congress, our allies, and the president’s full attention and response. In our new Vienna-summit-to-Cuban-missile-crisis era of danger, I fear our enemies and rivals are digesting the Syrian misadventure and calibrating to what degree they might soon turn our present psychodrama into a real American tragedy.
Posted by: Sherry || 09/07/2013 12:32 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He came into the world to save the world, but the world rejected him.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 13:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Rejected him as a body rejects the wrong transplant.

Does VDH truly think that Obomba will do anything quietly and carefully as the last para suggests?
I think VDH is merely wishing for unicorns.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/07/2013 13:58 Comments || Top||

#3  -the first time in history that a president has decided to go to war against the declared wishes of Congress.

Deja vu, professor?

The names have changed, but the story line is damn too familiar. Maybe you need to re-read this little piece. Too many parallels playing out.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 14:09 Comments || Top||

#4  Some rejected him early on as one does bad shellfish.
Posted by: rjschwarz || 09/07/2013 14:24 Comments || Top||

#5  everyone is talking about how stupid O is ... but how much have you heard about IRS, NSA, Fast and Furious & voter fraud this week? Look, squirrel!
Posted by: Slineck Lumumba4123 || 09/07/2013 14:52 Comments || Top||

#6  i don't think they've been forgotten, It's that the possibility of a constitutional crisis rather trumped all those for now.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 19:14 Comments || Top||

#7  Doesn't matter if he does it, as Congress would do nothing. Obama could sacrifice babies on live TV to Allen and the press would probably have orgasms.

At this point, I think it's quite fair to consider that we're a failed nation as we don't follow our own laws and president=Tyrant.

I have very little hope left for this country.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Oil Rig Insanity Division || 09/07/2013 19:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Doesn't matter if he does it, as Congress the Democrat-controlled Senate would do nothing

Fixed it for you, Silentbrick. Under the circumstances, it does not matter in the least what the Republicans in the House, led by Mr. Boehner, might want to do. A little reminder that winning Congressional elections matters just as much as winning the presidential one.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 22:03 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Christian Airman Punished by Lesbian Commander Faces Possible Court Martial
[Breitbart] Updating our earlier report on Senior Master Sergeant Phillip Monk, a Christian serving in the Air Force whose unit is now commanded by a lesbian: according to Monk’s complaint filed with his superiors, he was relieved of duty for refusing his commander’s order to say he supports gay marriage.
This article starring:
Phillip Monk
Sergeant Phillip Monk
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 10:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If only he was a Muslim and decapitated his CO.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 11:11 Comments || Top||

#2  Obviously they've forgotten Tailhook. Congress controls the promotion list. The House can sit on the submitted lists forever. No promotions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 11:40 Comments || Top||

#3  P2k; do you really think those RINOS in the house ( starting with boner) will stall promotions, especially diversity enabled categories? only straight white males will be held up, all other rainbow elements will get their star ( or next bar)
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 15:53 Comments || Top||

#4  Its the commander how should be under court martial for denigrating his culture and personal beliefs.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/07/2013 16:35 Comments || Top||

#5  P2k; do you really think those RINOS in the house ( starting with boner) will stall promotions, especially diversity enabled categories? .... Posted by USN, Ret

Ladies and gentlemen, the promotion board voting is concluded. Will the recording secretary please read aloud the diversity percentages? Hopefully, we've met our goals and the Personnel Command's guidance.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 17:38 Comments || Top||

#6  Me, I'm waiting to see if they change the mandatory diversity training course this Spring or after "Syria" (whatever comes first.)
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 19:11 Comments || Top||

#7  The Chairman of the Armed Services committee and the majority thereof have the power. 'Boner' would have to either replace them, likely to cause a revolt cause they're not just handed out like candy, or suspend the rules, the better run around, but that too will have serious repercussions.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 19:43 Comments || Top||


14 Principled Anti-War Celebrities We Fear May Have Been Kidnapped
....although Asner has now come out from under his rock....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 09:24 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I think Asner just needed a back shave...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 11:12 Comments || Top||

#2  they weren't anti-war, they're anti American
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 11:33 Comments || Top||

#3  Buncha twits, we're better off without them.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 09/07/2013 17:10 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
I Came, I Saw, I Skedaddled
Decisive moments in Barack Obama history

Posted by: Beavis || 09/07/2013 09:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Funny Stuff, well written and right on point. Thanks for the input Beavis.
Posted by: Au Auric || 09/07/2013 10:53 Comments || Top||

#2  ....nice....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 11:04 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Biden wants 'Big Sis' on Supreme Court
[CNN] - Vice President Joe Biden made it clear Friday how he feels about departing Homeland Security Secretary Big Sis.

"I think Big Sis should be on the Supreme Court of the United States," he said Friday morning at her coming out going away ceremony. His statement was met with raucous applause by those attending, including current and former cabinet secretaries, law enforcement officials, and Attorney General Eric 'My people' Holder.

Big Sis announced in June she would leave her current position this month. She's now preparing to start her next gig as president of the University of California system.
Just in time for the bubble to pop. May God watch over them all, because Ms Janet Napolitano most certainly won't.
As President Champ was choosing Supreme Court nominees in 2009 and 2010, Big Sis' name was floated as a potential contender to replace retiring Justice David Souter and Justice John Paul Stevens. He ultimately tapped Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan, respectively, for the nominations.

Sis, 55, has a law degree but has never been a judge.
Job experience is not an issue with the regime.
A former Democratic governor of Arizona, Napolitano was also a onetime U.S. attorney and state attorney general.

While in private practice, she was a lawyer for Anita Hill when she testified in the 1991 Clarence Thomas confirmation hearings for the high court.

During her tenure as homeland security secretary, she was criticized strongly for her department's initial response - and her public statements - to the Christmas 2009 attempted terror bombing of a Detroit-bound airliner.

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg, 80, is the current court member most frequently mentioned as the next to step down, but she has voiced her intention to stay on as long as possible.

Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 08:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Most recently known for the massive number of laws that she would not enforce, primarily (but not always) w/r to immigration.
Posted by: tipover || 09/07/2013 12:04 Comments || Top||

#2  ...and privacy, that's only for the Left right people.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 12:36 Comments || Top||


Government
Warbucks for Warmongers
[Daily Caller] Two things make the world go around, money and seks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 07:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Resurrecting the term 'Merchants of Death' in 5,4,3...
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 10:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Soro's bet in mid-aug needs the S&P 500 to tank like a war would tank it.
The story and Moneynews dot com

George Soros Takes a Giant Put Position Against the S&P 500
Thursday, 15 Aug 2013 12:58 PM
Hedge fund titan George Soros' biggest position is a huge bearish bet that the Standard & Poor's 500 will go down, MarketWatch reported.

Soros has a history of rolling the dice on risky propositions in the past and making giant gains. He is known as "The Man Who Broke the Bank of England" because of his successful bet against the British pound that led to $1 billion in profits during the 1992 Black Wednesday U.K. currency crisis.

In its 13F Securities and Exchange Commission filing for the second quarter of 2013, Soros Fund Management reported it bought a put on 1,248,643 units of the SPDR S&P 500 Trust (SPY) exchange-traded fund (ETF) in the second quarter – its largest holding, according to MarketWatch.

Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 13:16 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Chicago WIA/KIA update: 224/53 in the month of August 2013
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 07:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  try harder!
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#2  You see what happens when the Supreme Court rules that Chicago has to relax its already-lenient gun laws.
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/07/2013 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  From Hey Jackass:

From the start of the Memorial Day weekend through the end of the Labor Day weekend, we tallied a total of 173 homicides and another 717 shot and wounded. In other words it was average despite all the #CrimeIsDown chatter because:

2012: 172
2011: 163
2010: 173

Summer 2013 by the numbers:

173 dead
717 wounded
782 males
107 females
27.6 average age
143 blacks killed
36 teenagers killed
138 killed < 35 years old
19.4% shot-to-kill ratio
7 police involved shootings
59 shot in the head
38 shot & wounded in the ass
Team Englewood lead w/ 18 dead

As Cubs fans have been saying for the last 105 years, wait until next year.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 10:31 Comments || Top||

#4  A small town in Syria.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 11:12 Comments || Top||

#5  Anyone found the.....'Red Line' ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 12:24 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Hentoff on the 'Extermination of Christians'.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 07:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:


Caribbean-Latin America
Bad guys torch 30 homes in Choix, Sinaloa

For a map, click here. For a map of Sinaloa state, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

Two men were killed and as many as 30 homes have been torched by armed suspects in Sinaloa state Wednesday, according to several Mexican news accounts.

An APRO wire dispatch published on the website of El Diario de Coahuila news daily said that homes in Choix municipality, specifically in ejido El Corral Quemado were attacked by an unknown number of local gunmen, said by Sinaloa state authorities to be members of local organized crime groups.

A separate account published on the website of Milenio news daily said that a total of 14 homes, all of them abandoned, were destroyed by fire set by local criminals. The homes had been abandoned in reaction of threats by organized crime groups in the area, or were unoccupied as residents went to work in the fields. Some residents were out tending livestock when they watched their homes destroyed first by small arms fire then by deliberately being set afire.

A separate news report posted on the website of El Debate news daily said that the number of residences destroyed was 15. However, a police source quoted by the newspaper said that 13 homes were torched and two vehicles were destroyed by fire.

At least one unarmed civilian, a farmer was shot to death in Choix municipality, according to another news report posted on El Debate.

José Juan Berrelleza Renteria, 20, was shot by armed suspects Wednesday while on his way to work in the fields.

Armed suspects traveling in the area aboard vehicle have been attacking civilians from the east, or Chihuahua side of Choix municipality. The armed suspects who killed Berrelleza Renteria drove on to the villages Saucillo and Las Punta, firing into homes in which women and children has taken refuge. The news report did not say if anyone was hurt in the subsequent incident.

Yet another news account in El Debate said that Mexican Army units near Urique in far western Chihuahua exchanged gunfire with armed suspects, who were presumably moving into Chihuahua state from Choix. One unidentified armed suspect was killed by army counterfire. The article does not specify a date, but the news report was posted early Saturday morning, meaning the incident possibly took place some time on Friday.

Thursday a total of 13 security patrols were dispatched to the area, including 50 Sinaloa state police agents, presumably mixed federal and Sinaloa state elements. If those patrols penetrated into Choix, attempts by armed suspects to filter back into Chihuahua would explain Mexican Army units fighting them in Urique.

Photographs posted on El Debate indicate that Mexican Army units are included in those patrols.

Choix municipality was the focal point of some of the worst intergang fighting between groups sympathetic to the Sinaloa cartel and groups aligned with the Beltran-Leyva Organization, including Los Zetas and Juarez cartels in the summer of 2012. At that time, Choix was considered to be Beltran-Leyva territory, but now the area is in some dispute.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com. His latest work of non-fiction, The Wounded Eagle: Volume 2 went on sale September 1st at Amazon.com and Smashwords.com.
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2013 06:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
France's Hollande seeks coalition in favor of Syria action
[Al Ahram] Leaders of G20 nations on Friday agreed chemical weapons had been used in Syria but disagreed on who was responsible for last month's attack, French President Francois Hollande said.

Hollande, whose country has pushed with the United States for military strikes to punish Syrian leader Bashar al-Assad, said he would seek to bring together a coalition of states in favour of such an intervention if the U.N. Security Council could not agree action.

"(In such a case) a broad coalition should be formed and is being formed among all those countries that do not accept that a country, a regime, should use chemical weapons," he told a news conference after the summit.

Hollande said France would await the conclusions of U.N. inspectors investigating last month's chemical weapon attack in Syria before deciding on any action.

"We shall await the report of the inspectors just as we will await (U.S.) Congress," he told a news conference after a summit of G20 nations in Russia's St. Petersburg, referring to an expected U.S. vote on military strikes.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Oh, man. Is he gonna regret that picture...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Chat is outta the bag, I'd advise him to embrace the picture and hope for the best.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:37 Comments || Top||

#3  Making Niki look good.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:28 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Soldiers, Palestinians clash near Ramallah
[Ynet] 50 Paleostinians hurled stones and Molotov cocktails at security forces near Ramallah. The soldiers used crowd dispersal measures.

One Paleostinian sustained injuries and was evacuated to the Ramallah Hospital.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Scuffles in Alexandria during pro-Morsi protest
[Al Ahram] Scuffles erupted outside Alexandria's Al-Qaed Ibrahim Mosque after noon prayers on Friday when local residents attacked dozens of supporters of former president Mohamed Morsi.

Stones were thrown back and forth between the groups, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

The National Alliance to Support Legitimacy, led by Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund, called for demonstrations on Friday to press for Morsi's reinstatement and other key demands.

The alliance condemned Thursday's kaboom against Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and reiterated its call for protests to remain peaceful.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


-Lurid Crime Tales-
TSA Agents Targeted By Texas Airport Police, Sting Nets Up to 40
At least two Transportation Security Administration officers at Dallas/Fort Worth International Airport have been arrested in a police sting operation involving stolen parking passes and dozens of others could be in trouble, NBC 5 has learned.

Sources familiar with the probe said it started several months ago with an undercover investigation by the airport's Department of Public Safety.

Investigators found an American Airlines worker had stolen 100 parking passes for employee parking lots and recruited TSA officers to sell the passes to co-workers for $100 apiece, the sources said.

One person who was aware of the investigation said as many as 20 TSA officers are suspected of selling or buying the passes. Another person said the number was closer to 40. It was not immediately clear whether or not the airline employee also had been arrested.

TSA spokeswoman Carrie Harmon referred questions to airport officials.

DFW Airport spokesman David Magana declined to comment on the investigation or confirm any arrests.

TSA officers at DFW Airport -- even part-time -- are required to pay $102 every quarter to park in two employee parking lots. The stolen airline parking allegedly sold for $100 allowed employees to park for one year.
:)
Posted by: Angaimp Panda2522 || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  And of course nobody could possibly figure out who was using a stolen pass.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Should be some type of gov't provision. Obamaparking card, or something.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 7:50 Comments || Top||

#3  When I was a TSA sup @ BLI, parking was one of the perks.
And to think I gave that up for a job with real respect: cleaning the bus station urinals with a toothbrush
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 11:26 Comments || Top||

#4  Yes, similar to gov't contracting USN. About as personally rewarding as sitting on the curb outside a gaye bar and winking at patrons.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 12:22 Comments || Top||

#5  "a job with real respect: cleaning the bus station urinals with a toothbrush"

ROFLMAO, USN!

That one's a winner. :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 09/07/2013 13:52 Comments || Top||


Economy
Is a Lack of Pr0n Killing Job Growth
The adult film industry appears to have made a disappointing August jobs report look even worse.

The report shows carnage in the movie business. It lost 22,000 jobs on the month, or nearly 6 percent of its total jobs:

That's a huge drop. It's probably enough to change how analysts see this jobs report, from kinda gloomy to really gloomy. But what's behind it?

The data don't tell us, right away. But news reports would suggest that pornography is a strong possibility.

More specifically, the temporary shutdown of America's adult film industry last month.

In the middle of August, an adult actress, who goes by the name Cameron Bay, tested positive for the HIV virus. That prompted studios to stop filming. A week later, the trade group that called for the shutdown essentially called it off, because all other performers who had worked with Bay tested negative for the virus.

It appears that the shutdown fell in the window when the government was collecting its jobs data for the month. The Labor Department collects employer data in the "pay period including the 12th (of the month), which may or may not correspond directly to the calendar week." Last month, the period that includes the 12th ran through the 24th. That means the shutdown was happening while the government was pulling its numbers together.
Posted by: Beavis || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wonder if they filed for unemployment.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Very few get contracts with an adult film 'label'. Most are 1099 employees.
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 0:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Oh, so it turns out the Modern version of the oldest profession actually matters. Who would have guessed that? I mean, isn't it logical to shut down history's all time A-#1 source of exchange, to improve the economy?
Posted by: Beau || 09/07/2013 0:50 Comments || Top||

#4  It lost 22,000 jobs on the month, or nearly 6 percent of its total jobs:

Is this a great country or what?
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:42 Comments || Top||

#5  I suggest a task force led by bill clinton, Anthony wiener, and ex mayor of san Diego to stop the job loses.

All newly displaced workers should text Weiner today.
Posted by: airandee || 09/07/2013 8:00 Comments || Top||

#6  What the heck, it's been a crash and burn summer for the regular and equally crappy film industry who's only savior is overseas sales. Which seems why Hollyweird has given up on the American market and amplified its usual anti-American political messages.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:39 Comments || Top||

#7  ...OK airandee, installment numero uno of "Anthony Does New York"....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 20:41 Comments || Top||

#8  DrudgeReport links to an article claiming a third actor has tested positive for HIV...
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 21:50 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Anti-government demonstrators call for general strike in Tripoli on Sunday
[Libya Herald] Anti-government demonstrators demanding that Congress sack Prime Minister Ali Zeidan and his government called today for a general strike in Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
on Sunday. The demonstrators were responding to the power and water cuts that are bringing misery to the capital. The call came this afternoon when some two hundred protestors gathered in Algeria Square in Central Tripoli after Friday prayers.

All shops, businesses and government institutions, with the exception of hospitals, should stay closed on Monday said a statement read out at the protest. The demonstrators had started from outside the mosque in Shara Mizran and moved to the Dawa Al-Islamiyya Mosque in Algeria Square.

Rolling electricity cuts have been taking place in the capital since the end of Ramadan but have been getting longer in recent days because of fuel supplies not reaching the power stations supplying the capital. Cuts are now five hours and even longer. The water cuts started three days ago and have affected most of the capital.

People in Tripoli, protestors told the Libya Herald, had been patient with the government but their patience was now exhausted -- the city and country were now in a crisis and it had to go. Zeidan, they claimed, had lost control of the situation.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
PA Minister: Next Prisoners' Release In October
[Ynet] Following August release of 26 prisoners, Minister Karaka says next group to face release on October 29, regardless of progress of Israel-PA peace talks. Abbas suggests issue of borders hinges on talks
Whatever. The gyrations they all have to go through because The Second Smartest Man In The Room wants a legacy and a new hat. Any bets on how long these men are free before being rearrested by the Israelis for cause?
Paleostinian Minister of Prisoner Affairs Issa Karaka said that the next Paleostinian prisoners' release as past of the peace talks' resumption will take place on October 29.

According to Karaka, the next group of prisoners will be released regardless of diplomatic progress of the talks, adding that the prisoners will only be released to the Gazoo Strip and the West Bank.

The minister noted that the fourth and final group of prisoners will be released on March 28.

Earlier in August, the first group of Paleostinian prisoners was released as part of an Israeli gesture to the Paleostinian Authority in the wake of resuming peace talks.

The first group consisted of 26 prisoners who were from the Ayalon Prison to the Gazoo Strip and the West Bank.

Divided into to four groups, over a 100 security prisoners are expected to face release.

Referring to negotiations between Israel and the Paleostinians, PA President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
suggested Friday that Ramallah might renege on its agreements regarding territories in case Israel overturns past understandings.

"We have presented our views, and the Israelis said they wanted to strike what was agreed on regarding borders and security with (former PM) Ehud Olmert," the Paleostinian president said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria offers bounty for foreign 'terrorists'
[Al Ahram] For the first time in Syria's 2-1/2 year conflict, the government is offering a bounty to anyone who captures a foreign "terrorist" - the word authorities use for rebels fighting to topple Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...

In a brief statement on Syrian television, authorities said they would give 500,000 Syrian pounds to anyone who brought in a "non-Syrian terrorist" and 200,000 pounds to anyone who gave information on their whereabouts or helped apprehend them.

The pound officially trades at 128 to the dollar, but the black market rate stands is about 200 to the dollar.

State media said the identities of those who provided information would be kept secret and their "protection ensured".

In an indication that it would grant amnesty to rebels who informed on their comrades, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
added: "Their affairs will be settled if they are Syrians who have been wanted in recent events."
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  he's referring to Leb Hezbollah fighters...right?



right?
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:11 Comments || Top||

#2  ...nothing even remotely likely to evolve from "boots on the ground" I'm sure....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 13:16 Comments || Top||


US envoy to UN says Syria's Assad barely dented chemical weapons stockpile
[Al Ahram] US Ambassador to the United Nations
...boodling on the grand scale...
Samantha Power said on Friday that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
had barely dented his stockpile of chemical weapons in an alleged attack near Damascus last month.

"We assess that although Assad used more chemical weapons on August 21 than he had before, he has barely put a dent in his enormous stockpile," she said at the Center for American Progress think tank in Washington.

"We have exhausted the alternatives" to military action, she said, adding that Assad must have weighed the fact that Russia would back him in the controversy over his alleged use of chemical weapons and it was naive to think Russia would change.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


US orders diplomats out of Lebanon
[Dawn] The State Department on Friday ordered nonessential American diplomats and the families of staffers at the US Embassy in Beirut to leave Lebanon immediately due to security concerns as the Obama administration and Congress debate military strikes on neighboring Syria.
This would likely be in response to Iranian threats to rape and murder Americans.
The department also authorised the voluntary departure of diplomats and families at the US Consulate in Adana, Turkey, which is the closest American diplomatic post to Syria in Turkey.

In a new travel warning for Lebanon, the department said it had instructed nonessential staffers to leave Beirut and urged private American citizens to depart the country "due to threats to US mission facilities and personnel."
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Perhaps "nonessentials" should be ordered out of the White House.

Moderate Syrian rebel photo.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 3:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Bitter clingers?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:23 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
4 wounded in shooting at US anti-violence vigil
[Al Ahram] Police say four people were shot and maimed when gunfire broke out at an anti-violence vigil in the U.S.

The Charlotte Observer reports that Mothers of Murdered Offspring sponsored the Thursday night vigil. They were calling attention to the death of a man who police say was fatally shot when he tried to rob a convenience store.
Boy howdy, seems like a worthy cause...
Darwin is always a worthy cause.
A police statement says officers were called by someone at the vigil who said a person whipped out a rod and began firing.

Officers found no shooting victims at the scene but learned that each victim had called for help from a different location after the crowd scattered.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If this continues we're going to have to bring in Mexicans to rob our convenience stores.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Sounds like one of the Palestinian Unity™ parades in Gaza City...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:44 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
Forget rabbit, duck season -- it's drone season for hunters in Colorado town
Hunters in Colorado are lining up for a hot new license: $25 to shoot down a government drone over the village of Deer Trail.

Supporters acknowledge the licenses would be only symbolic, and a town election authorizing them is more than a month away. Still, about 1,000 people have applied for one.

The scheme is part protest against government surveillance and part promotion to get Deer Trail some attention. It's working, at least on the second point. The federal government issued a warning against shooting at drones.


Posted by: Beavis || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Funny Pic.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/07/2013 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  ...only $25.0 and suitable for framing...
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 13:13 Comments || Top||

#3  Shhhhhhhhh.......Be vewwy vewwy quiet..... I am hunting dwones..........
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 14:38 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Delusional: Weiner's Inner Circle Says He'll Rise Again
"The truth of the matter is he's been beaten up now for two months nonstop. When he does something for the future, it will be fair of him to say 'asked and unanswered'" when reporters ask him about his personal life, said Brandt, who is also a longtime supporter of Bill and Hillary Clinton."
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Well, if this doesn't work out, maybe he can get a job doing Pr0n. I hear they have some openings.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Cuz he's..."Carlos Danger: Man About Town"!!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 2:04 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm sorry but I couldn't resist any longer.
Weiner's Inner Circle Jerk says he'll rise again.
Posted by: Phusosh Bonaparte6402 || 09/07/2013 7:53 Comments || Top||

#4  He can't get a real job. His asshole arrogant narcissistic personality only works at political jobs. In any other he'd be beaten out back by the dumpster every day
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 9:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Frank G - that would make him a strong candidate for President of the United States.

Same qualifications as the current officeholder. Just more .... exposure.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/07/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#6  ...among the non-real jobs available with his qualifications I suspect would be on MSNBC.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 12:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Wonder if this mental pr0n guy has any diseases we should know about. Full disclosure and all that.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 19:47 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Qaida Suspects Gun Down Yemen Intelligence Officer
[An Nahar] Suspected al-Qaeda gunnies rubbed out a Yemeni intelligence officer on Friday in the southeastern city of Hadramawt, a security source told Agence La Belle France Presse, in the second shooting in as many days.

"Two men on a cycle of violence shot up intelligence officer Omar Mahfudh, killing him on the spot as he emerged from al-Qatn mosque," the source said, adding al-Qaeda was behind the shooting.

On Thursday night retired army colonel Abdel Magid Abdullah, 70, was killed in similar circumstances by gunnies who fled on a cycle of violence in Huta, capital of the southern province of Lahj.

The shootings are the latest in a wave of almost daily attacks blamed on al-Qaeda in recent weeks against army and intelligence officers in southern Yemen.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Africa North
Egypt's interior ministry calls on media to only publish official info on bomb blast
[Al Ahram] Egypt's interior ministry issued a statement on Friday urging media outlets not to publish any information on Thursday's kaboom unless provided by the ministry itself.

The blast in eastern Cairo targeting Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim's convoy left dozens injured and a passerby dead after he departed this vale of tears on Friday, although the minister escaped unharmed.

"The ministry of interior is the one to issue statements regarding the incident and any related information," read the statement.

The ministry went on to add that the criminal investigation directorate, the national security directorate, the general security directorate and other apparatuses concerned with criminal evidence have finished surveying the scene of the incident.

The team will continue to collect information, study surveillance cameras and discuss testimonies of eyewitnesses and passersby.

"The team has discovered important information that will explain the circumstances of the accident and will identify the culprits," said the statement, vowing to provide the media with latest updates as long as it "does not violate security measures."

Initial reports said that the blast was the result of a boom-mobile. According to security sources, the owner of the car which went kaboom! is currently being interrogated.

Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported earlier that initial investigations showed at least 50kg of explosives or other chemicals were used in the blast.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Defence Day: President, PM call for unity to fight terrorism
[Dawn] Pakistain's top civilian leadership on Friday urged the nation to unite in order to fight the growing menace of terrorism and militancy.

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...
, in his Defence Day address to the nation on Friday, said that September 6 symbolised unity and sacrifice.

The day is observed in Pakistain in memory of sacrifices given by Pak soldiers in the 1965 war when they bravely defended the country against an onslaught by the Indian military.

Sharif said that the sacrifices of Pakistain's Army would always be remembered, declaring that the army's resolve in the face of the current circumstances was inspirational.

The prime minister stressed that as Pakistain currently faces multiple security challenges such as terrorism and external aggression, the entire nation stands united beside the armed forces.

Meanwhile,
...back at the Council of Boskone, Kinnison began his slow infiltration of the sewer system...
President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
also called for a renewed resolve in fighting Death Eaters in order to defend the country from all sorts of external and internal threats.

"Let us also pay homage to our sons and daughters who laid down their lives in the defence of the motherland. Their sacrifices will never go in vain," President Zardari said in his message to the nation.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


The Grand Turk
US Moves To Reduce Diplomatic Personnel In Turkey Over Threats
[Ynet] The US State Department on Friday moved to reduce its diplomatic presence at its consulate general in Adana, Turkey, due to security threats, it said in a statement.

"The Consulate General in Adana has been authorized to draw down its non-emergency staff and family members because of threats against US government facilities and personnel," the department said.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Think the SS has upped security around the Obomba brats?

Are they getting free birth control in case of rape?
Posted by: AlanC || 09/07/2013 13:42 Comments || Top||

#2  ...güle güle...

Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 17:20 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Police Detain Suspect Near US Embassy In Tel Aviv
[Ynet] Police incarcerated
Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages!
a man walking by the US embassy in Tel Aviv as he was carrying a bag that the embassy's security personnel found suspicious. Police bomb squad was called in to the scene to examine the bag.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Drone strike killed senior Haqqani network commander
[Dawn] A drone strike in the North Wazoo tribal region in the early hours of Friday killed a senior commander of the Haqqani network, intelligence officials said.

Mullah Sangeen Zadran, blacklisted as a terrorist by the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
and United States, was among six fighters killed in a drone strike in a Haqqani stronghold area of North Waziristan agency. Zadran was wanted for kidnappings and sending hundreds of imported muscle into Afghanistan.

The United States has blamed the Haqqani network, a faction of the Taliban waging a 12-year insurgency in Afghanistan, for a series of high-profile attacks in recent years.

Two announcements made by mosque loudspeaker in Miranshah
... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas...
, the main town in North Waziristan, said his funeral would take place at 3pm on Friday.

Two Pak intelligence officials, who spoke to news agency AFP on condition of anonymity, confirmed his death and said an Arab fighter was also among the dead.

Pak officials said the US drone fired two missiles, destroying a compound overnight in Dargah Mandi, a Haqqani stronghold about 10 kilometres from Miranshah.

Earlier reports had suggested six suspected forces of Evil were killed and three others maimed in the missile strike in the remote semiautonomous tribal area. Reports now confirm Zadran was among the dead.

In 2011, the US State Department described Zardan as shadow governor of Paktika
...which coincidentally borders South Wazoo...
, one of the most volatile Afghan provinces on the Pak border and as a lieutenant of Haqqani leader Sirajuddin Haqqani.

It alleged Zadran led fighters in attacks across southeastern Afghanistan, and was believed to have planned and coordinated the movement of hundreds of imported muscle into Afghanistan.

He was also connected to roadside kaboomings and was believed to have orchestrated the kidnappings of Afghans and foreigners in the border region between Afghanistan and Pakistain.

Pakistain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs condemned the attack, calling it a violation of the country's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [9 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Russia Sends Warship With 'Special Cargo' To Syria
A Russian warship carrying "special cargo" will be dispatched toward Syria, a navy source said on Friday, as the Kremlin beefs up its presence in the region ahead of possible US strikes against the Damascus regime.

The large landing ship Nikolai Filchenkov will on Friday leave the Ukrainian port city of Sevastopol for the Russian Black Sea port of Novorossiisk, from where it will head to Syria's coast, the Interfax news agency quoted a source from the Saint Petersburg-based central naval command as saying.

"The ship will make call in Novorossiisk, where it will take on board special cargo and set off for the designated area of its combat duty in the eastern Mediterranean," the source said.

The source did not specify the nature of the cargo.
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ESE assault force.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  S-300 air defense systems.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 3:36 Comments || Top||

#3  S-300 air defense systems

Unless they send personnel to operate them...
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:30 Comments || Top||

#4  That's the ESE part g(r)
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:40 Comments || Top||

#5  I fear the Russians might be providing to the Syrians, in the "special cargo", the required ingredients for personal gas warfare.

Posted by: Au Auric || 09/07/2013 9:14 Comments || Top||

#6  That's the ESE part g(r)

ESE or Ese may refer to:

East-southeast, a cardinal direction
Easy Serving Espresso Pod
Ethical Sensory Extrovert
European School of Economics
European Society of Endocrinology
Exonic splicing enhancer, an RNA sequence which guides splicing machinery
Extensible Storage Engine
Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education
Early streamer emission, a theory stating that if a lightning rod has a mechanism producing ionization near its tip, then its lightning capture area is greatly increased
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 11:09 Comments || Top||

#7  Ese is Mexican slang for dude.
Posted by: Caesar Gray1629 || 09/07/2013 12:29 Comments || Top||

#8  P-800 Yakhont anti-ship missile? Syria could cover much of the eastern Mediterranean and could even hit air bases in Cyprus.
Posted by: mossomo || 09/07/2013 17:39 Comments || Top||

#9  And what is Champ to do if a US destroyer or two are on the bottom following the first salvo ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 17:40 Comments || Top||

#10  Do I have to do everyting? PDF warning.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||

#11  And what is Champ to do if a US destroyer or two are on the bottom following the first salvo ?

One of the possible consequences of the Player 2 Moves phase. Sure, the SAG should be able to defend itself. At least on paper. Despite never having done it under war conditions. (as Clauswitz said, "shit happens")

A counter-attack may lack results, but consider the Arab embrace of failure as victory And that even scorched paint on a USN vessel would be a mini-triumph.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 18:12 Comments || Top||

#12  good thing they alerted with that Chinese Sunburn mod attack on the Jooooz. We know what they had have
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 18:25 Comments || Top||

#13  Are you sure the Russian special cargo isn't Putin's bane "P. Riot"?
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 18:31 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Saudi police deny report of young man killed in security raid
[Al Ahram] A young Saudi man was killed during a raid by security forces in the restive town of Awamiya in the eastern part of the country, a local news website reported, in a development that could further stoke tensions in the area.

Saudi police denied any connection to the death of the young man and suggested it may be crime-linked.

Occasional unrest has erupted in the eastern part of the U.S.-allied kingdom since 2011 among minority Shi'ite Moslems who complain of discrimination. Soddy Arabia
...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
, the world's largest oil exporter, denies any discrimination and accuses Shi'ite-majority Iran of inciting tensions.

The website www.rasid.com quoted witnesses as saying that dozens of security vehicles blocked the roads into Awamiya on Thursday while forces raided the homes of two wanted activists on a list published by the authorities in January 2012.

"Information circulating around indicated that security forces opened fire during the raid, after which the youth Ahmed Ali al-Muslab fell," rasid said.

It quoted activists as saying that the youth was passing by the area of the raid when he was hit in the foot and back while trying to flee arrest. Activists had emailed what they said were photographs from the scene, showing walls and doors punctured by bullet holes.

A front man for Saudi police in the eastern region said the central hospital in Qatif notified police shortly after mid-day on Thursday that a dead man with gunshot wounds had been brought in by his father.

The police said the father told police afterwards that two masked men on a cycle of violence had brought the body of his son and dumped it in front of the house and fled.

"Security authorities began investigating and searching for the suspects," the police said in a statement sent to Rooters.

At least 21 people have been rubbed out in the region since early 2011, when Shi'ites there staged protests against the involvement of Saudi forces in ending demonstrations in neighboring Sunni-ruled Bahrain, which has a Shi'ite majority.

Saudi Arabia last year ordered the arrest of 23 Shi'ites in the Eastern Province, where many of the kingdom's minority Shi'ite Moslems live, saying they were responsible for unrest.

The Interior Ministry said on Thursday that one of the desperados had turned himself in to authorities. The surrender cuts the number of people still on the lam on the original list to eight.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Hamas


Africa North
Clashes in Egypt leave two dead
[Al Ahram] Clashes between protesters supporting ousted president Mohamed Morsi and local residents in several locations around Egypt led to the deaths of at least two pro-Morsi protesters on Friday, as thousands of Islamists erupted into the streets in another sign of defiance.

Supporters of Morsi, who was ousted by the military amid nationwide protests in early July, held demonstrations around the country against what they describe as "a military coup" despite an ongoing crackdown on pro-Morsi protests and a wave of arrests of members of his Moslem Brüderbund.

In the Nile Delta city of Damietta, Moslem Brüderbund member Ibrahim Selim was killed after a pro-Morsi rally was attacked, Al-Ahram Arabic news website reported.

Another Morsi supporter was killed in Egypt's second largest city, Alexandria, during festivities between locals and anti-Brotherhood protesters.

Twenty-three Brotherhood supporters were placed in durance vile
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
following the festivities in the coastal city.

Although demonstrations were held in the capital, in several Nile Delta cities, in Ismailia on the Suez Canal and in Upper Egypt's Assiut, numbers seemed to be significantly lower than previous weeks.

According to political analyst Amr El-Shobaky, the Moslem Brüderbund and their allies are constrained by the arrests of key leaders.

"The Brotherhood's strong organizational skills are contingent on blind obedience to their leaders. With their leadership behind bars they cannot deploy their supporters effectively," El-Shobaky told Ahram Online.

Those behind bars include Morsi himself, held incommunicado since his ouster, the group's spiritual leader Mohamed Badie, and second-in-command Khairat El-Shater. All are facing related charges of inciting violence.

The crackdown comes after a violent dispersal of pro-Morsi protest camps in Cairo on 14 August which left hundreds of protesters dead and sparked days of intense violence nationwide.

Since then, intermittent festivities have taken place between Morsi supporters, anti-Brotherhood civilians and security forces. A number of coppers and members of the security forces have also been killed in the festivities.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Police Storm Temple Mount After Stones Thrown, Arrest 15
[Ynet] Police enter Temple Mount in Jerusalem after stones thrown at them at end of Friday prayers. Wednesday similar incident took place as tensions run high

For the second time in a week, police forces have broken into the Temple Mount complex in Jerusalem in wake of stone throwing by Mohammedan worshipers.

The police used stun grenades to take control of the area and the stone throwing ceased. No injuries were reported.

When the forces exited towards the Mugrabi Gate to deal with additional disquiet, stone throwing resumed. The forces then reentered the area, emptied it from worshipers and dispersed the stone throwers. Some 15 people were tossed in the calaboose
Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try!
Police also stormed the Temple Mount on Wednesday morning, following stone throwing at visitors and coppers by masked men on the scene. Security forces under District Commander Yossi Pariente dispersed the stone throwers.

Police said they did not to use riot control measures and that there were no reported injuries. The stone throwers fled into mosques and security forces remain in the courtyard.

At the same time, on the road to Jerusalem, police stopped dozens of buses carrying Arab worshipers who were on their way to the Temple Mount. Police turned them around, believing their intention was to cause disturbances at the location.

In recent weeks, tension has risen following calls from radical Arab elements to "to protect the Temple Mount from Jewish visitors" and not allow them to go up the mountain. On Tuesday, Jerusalem district police arrested the head of the northern branch of the Islamic Movement, Sheikh Raed Salah, on suspicion of incitement in a speech last week in Kfar Kara in Wadi Ara.

It is suspected that Salah accused Israel of responsibility for the fire at the Al-Aqsa Mosque and said that "the Israeli occupation" is working to burn the Arab world and Egypt. Following the hearing held yesterday in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Salah was banned from entering the city for 180 days.

He was ordered to maintain a distance of 30 km from the capital, and to leave a deposit of NIS 50,000. Salah refused the conditions and will be brought before the court Wednesday for a continuance of the hearing.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  close it down
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 9:33 Comments || Top||

#2  Damn, can't the Joooos find the Paleos a fine boulder or something to trank over? They seem big into oddly shaped stuff. Maybe an chunk of iron...
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 18:32 Comments || Top||


-Land of the Free
This Week in Guns, September 7th, 2013


By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

The state of California is gearing up to seize legally acquired guns of individuals who have run afoul of the law.

According to David Codrea, the ATF raid on the gun shop where the weapons were purchased that were used in the Sandy Hook massacre was a staged media event. As if nothing Obama's security apparatus does is staged. Bastards.

Troy Industries' hiring of Jody Weis as a mouthpiece has prompted Hammerhead Armaments to suspend sales of Troy Industries' products.

Chicago's top cop, Garry McCarthy, has threatened to shoot armed citizens even if they are legally licensed to a carry guns in his city. Threats against legally armed individuals: 1; Threats to gangbangers actually murdering others: 0. Way to go, baby. Mayhem! It's the Chicago way!

Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:

Pistol Ammo


.45 caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ventura Munitions, Wolf Polyperformance steel cased, .37 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, reloaded, .39 per round

.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: -.02 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory,BVAC reloaded, .29 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000, 500 or 250 rounds: LAX Ammunition, reloaded, .27 per round (w/ ammo can)

9mm Parabellum, 115 grain, From Last Week: +.02 each

Cheapest, 50 rounds: Battle Bag Ammo, Geco Ruag, .30 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Battle Bag Ammo, reloaded, .25 per round

.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: -.13 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, BVAC reloaded .37 per round
Cheapest, Bulk, 1000 rounds: LAX Ammunition, Fiocchi, .41 per round

Rifle Ammunition


.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: -.01 each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Munire USA, Monarch, steel cased, .38 per round
Cheapest Bulk 500 rounds: Cheaper Than Dirt, Tulammo, steel cased, .40 per round

.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: -.10 each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammunition to Go, MFS, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Wideners, Prvi Partizan steel cased, .70 per round

7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: +.01 each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Firearms for Sale, Wolf WPA, steel core and case, .27 per round
Cheapest, Bulk, 1000 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .27 per round
Cheapest, Brass casing: Ventura Munitions, Fiocchi, .54 per round

.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: -.02 each
Cheapest, 50 rounds:Firearms for Sale, Aguila Prime, .08 per round
Cheapest, Bulk, 500 rounds: Smokey Mountain Munitions, Winchester, .15 per round

Guns for Private Sale
Rifles


.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average price: $1,050 Last Week Avg: $820
California: Bushmaster M-17 Bullpup: $1,200
Texas: Anderson AM-15: $999
New York: Daniel Defense M$ V7: $905
Maryland: Spikes Tactical: $1,300
Florida: Smith & Wesson M&P : $850

.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,660 Last Week Avg: $1,554
California: Sig Sauer 716: $1,450 (Same Gun)
Texas: DPMS w/scope: $1,300 (Possibly same Gun)
New York: SCAR 17 (misplaced ad: $1,750)
Maryland: DPMS LR-308B: $2,500 (Same Gun)
Florida: DPM s LR308: $1,300

7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $717 Last Week Avg: $737
California: Saiga SGL 26-61: $950
Texas: Century Arms (underfolder): $525
New York: Saiga: $750
Maryland: WASR: $900
Florida: Zastava Pap: $460

7.62x54mm (Dragunov Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,425 Last Week Avg: $1,425
California: Romak PSL: $1,650 (Same Gun)
Texas: None
New York: None
Maryland: None
Florida: Romak PSL: $1,200 (Prolly same gun as before)

Pistols

.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $571 Last Week Avg: $634
California: Rock Island Armory: $425
Texas: Taurus PT1911: $500
New York: Colt Commander XSE 1911: $700
Maryland: Metro Arms: $580
Florida: Sig Sauer w/ laser: $650

9mm Beretta 92FS Average Price: $481 First Time Listing
California: $475
Texas: $500
New York: None
Maryland: $550
Florida: $400

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: badanov || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I wouldn't be overly sympathetic to the gun store, I live in the hellhole of CT and the reporting on this has been selective. The gunstore referred to is Riverview Firearms and while the "raid" may have been a staged media event, the owner certainly deserved to lose his FFL. He had numerous firearms stolen, at least 30+, by an employee and a customer. He also failed in some sales to do the background check required by state & federal law until after the customer had already left with the gun. Also one or more employees sold ammo to people they knew were criminals and let those criminals handle guns.
Posted by: Chantry || 09/07/2013 18:40 Comments || Top||

#2  nice to know, "Chantry". a link to any news links you have would make a great post
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 20:20 Comments || Top||

#3  a link to any news links you have would make a great post

Yes please, Chantry. Rantburg is a community project, and you are clearly the expert about your part of the world. Thank you in advance!
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 21:47 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
New Chinese helicopters wow crowds
Yes, dear Readers, there is video. Don't break the BBC by visiting all at once, 'k?
Posted by: Whomoper Oppressor of the Danes1311 || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ...meh...Red Bull Helio much more entertaining....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 10:57 Comments || Top||

#2  Lot of Apache/Cherokee/SeaHawk stuff integrated there. Also looks fairly simple to operate like a KMax. Might be worth trying to 'acquire' one.....
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 11:20 Comments || Top||

#3  Hmmm. Kinda reminds me of this.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) || 09/07/2013 13:42 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Iran threatens brutal attacks on Americans, Obama family if US hits Syria
[DAILYCALLER] In an unprecedented statement, a former Iranian official has warned of mass abductions and brutal killings of American citizens around the world and the rape and killing of one of Obama's daughters should the United States attack Syria.

Alireza Forghani, the former governor of southern Iran's Kish Province, threw down the gauntlet last week. Forghani is an analyst and strategy specialist in the supreme leader's camp and closely aligned with Mehdi Taeb, who heads the regime's Ammar Strategic Base, a radical think thank, and thus speaks with the blessing of the Islamic regime.

"Hopefully Obama will be pigheaded enough to attack Syria, and then we will see the ... loss of U.S. interests [through terrorist attacks]," he threatened. "In just 21 hours [after the attack on Syria], a family member of every U.S. minister [department secretary], U.S. ambassadors, U.S. military commanders around the world will be kidnapped. And then 18 hours later, videos of their amputation will be spread [around the world]."
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  That alone shows the depravity of the "leadership".
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 0:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Hmm. Maybe there is a good reason to go to war with Syria after all. Sort of a two-fer.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:25 Comments || Top||

#3  Drawing all the snakes out of the pit into the sun is just a logical consequence, wouldn't give B. Hussein too much credit for a fortunate accident.
Posted by: Beau || 09/07/2013 0:41 Comments || Top||

#4  The hardare is there, Iran is the prize. Threaten MY President and his Family, it makes me antsy.... It makes me more than antsy. Hell, I do not even like this President but this does make me ANGRY.


Maybe it is time to look at Iran first. Actually, I have
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 1:17 Comments || Top||

#5  Ah...more "alligator mouth/hummingbird ass" from Iran. Haven't heard much of that since the syphilitic little dwarf lost his job...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:20 Comments || Top||

#6  This morning, the Muslim Brotherhood warned the United States that if the United States continued meddling in Syria, Libya, and other potential hot spots in the Middle East, they intend to cut off America's supply of 7-11
and Motel 6 managers.

If this action does not yield sufficient results, cab drivers will be next, followed by Dell, AT&T, and AOL customer service reps.

Finally, if all else fails, they have threatened to not send us any more presidents.

It's gonna get ugly, people.

Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 7:10 Comments || Top||

#7  The Taliban got away with 9/11. Bush's ultimatum, his 'Red Line', began to fade away when Powell essentially told the Pakistanis to ignore Bush's statement to a joint session of congress.

Given the history of the past 12 years why should a rational thug not make these threats? What exactly does he have to fear?

The Friday after 9/11 2001 the Iranians didn't dare perform their usual 'Death to America' chant at the official prayers.

About 5 years later the Western political class accepted Iran's Rushdie rules as legitimate.

Why should a rational Iran not interpret this as a victory?
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 09/07/2013 17:12 Comments || Top||

#8  Why should a rational Iran not interpret this as a victory?

It's distressing that you make a great deal of sense, Elmerert Hupens2660.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 21:58 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Iran Aggressively Recruiting 'Invisible Army' Of Latin American Converts To Infiltrate U.S. Through Southern Border
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  How will they be able to distinguish terrorist activity from the usual mayhem let loose, but suppressed by the media, of the illegals? or Cartels?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:15 Comments || Top||


#3  Good news, Au Auric. Thank you.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 15:03 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
U.N. Team Find Burned Villages, Abuse in C. Africa
[An Nahar] Aid workers who carried out an emergency mission to the north of strife-torn Central African Republic found villages abandoned and burned, and evidence of widespread rights abuses, the U.N. refugee agency said Friday.

"The UNHCR team confirmed widespread lawlessness in the region. Local people spoke of physical assaults, extortion, looting, arbitrary arrest and torture by gunnies," said Melissa Fleming, spokeswoman for the U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees.

The team traveled to a region some 500 kilometers (310 miles) north of the capital Bangui last week.

"We are, in general, increasingly worried about the civilians caught in the middle of the fighting and who are at the mercy of anyone with a gun," she said, adding it remained unclear who was fighting.

Local communities said the spike in violence in the north may have been in retaliation for a clash last month with civilian groups who were trying to protect their families and property.

Around the town of Paoua in the region, the aid workers came upon a scene of devastation.

"They found seven villages burned to the ground and deserted -- and an eighth village partially burned -- with villagers hiding in the bush," Fleming said.

Residents of Paoua and people who fled to the town to escape fighting told U.N. staff that they were spending the night in the bush for safety reasons and only returning during the day, keeping away from roads to avoid detection, while rain was making living conditions even worse.

Widespread unrest has gripped the country since March, when a coalition of rebel groups known as Seleka deposed president Francois Bozize, who had ruled since a 2003 coup.

Fleming said it was difficult to say how many people had been displaced by fresh violence in recent weeks in the northern region, given security problems and restricted access.

Before the Seleka seized power, the north was home to almost 160,000 people, she noted.

As of Wednesday morning, UNHCR staff had registered 3,020 displaced people in the region around Paoua since fresh violence erupted two weeks ago.

And agency front man Babar Baloch told Agence La Belle France Presse thousands more were believed to have fled from other parts of the nation, adding to the estimated total of at least 206,000 displaced people across the country since December.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Around the town of Paoua in the region, the aid workers came upon a scene of devastation.

Somebody must've told them that there was a decent restaurant up there...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:47 Comments || Top||


Britain
Violence Fear For East London As EDL Insists Tomorrow's Anti-Muslim March Still On
[Express] THE English Defence League has lost a last minute legal bid to overturn a police ban on it marching through the centre of an east London borough tomorrow.

The far right group wanted to demonstrate in the heart of Tower Hamlets, home to Britannia's largest Mohammedan population and the large East London Mosque.

The Metropolitan Police had allowed it to protest but with strict conditions that meant any march would be held at the outskirts of the borough and close to Tower Bridge.

The EDL led by Tommy Robinson, wanted to march further east with some 2,000 supporters.

It argued in the High Court today that parts of Tower Hamlets are "subject to Sharia Law".

But a judge agreed with the police's argument there was a potential for serious disorder.

Thousands of counter-demonstrators from Unite Against Fascism, the Socialist Workers' Party and United East End - an umbrella outfit of local community groups -- are expected to rally against the EDL.

A similar march planned two years ago was banned from entering the borough, but that did not prevent running battles on Tower Hamlets streets after a coach full of far right demonstrators broke down in a heavy populated area.

In the court today, EDL lawyers said the police restrictions were "disproportionate".

The lawyers said the EDL described itself as a "human rights
One man's rights are another man's existential threat.
organization" which wanted to highlight the "stranglehold" that "radical Islam" had on British Mohammedans.

But Mr Justice King said the EDL had not shown the police decision to be unlawful, irrational, unreasonable or disproportionate.

Meanwhile,
...back at the mall, Clarissa suddenly spied Mr. Bartlett at the checkout counter. He was buying Grecian Formula!...
Express Online has learnt Tower Hamlets Council, led by controversial Lutfur Rahman, Britannia's first directly elected Mohammedan mayor, had itself launched its own last minute legal challenges.

It wants the march banned outright but the police and Home Secretary Theresa May declined to accept that request last month.

The council's most senior officer, Stephen Halsey, ordered his legal team to launch a judicial review of that decision but a judge rejected its application on Tuesday night.

It then requested an oral hearing with another judge, but the council declined to elaborate on that action this afternoon.

The council had already rejected a request by the EDL to rally in Altab Ali Park in Whitechapel -- a park named after a young man murdered in a racist attack in 1978.

Mr Halsey has told councillors in the borough to be prepared for trouble, warning them to wear high visibility jackets so that they can be identified if violence breaks out.

He said in a briefing note seen by Express Online: "I have arranged for our CCTV control centre to operate to capacity throughout the day.

"Our own enforcement officers will be patrolling the borough at key locations providing reassurance and a visible presence.

"The youth service will be out on the street to ensure that our young people are safe and to help counter any misinformation."

The EDL is expected to muster at noon tomorrow just south of Tower Bridge in Tooley Street, from where they will be escorted by police to Aldgate on the borough's boundary -- the potential flashpoint.

They will be allowed to protest for 30 minutes before being turned back by police.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria peace envoy Brahimi says no strikes without UN approval
[Al Ahram] The United Nations peace envoy for Syria, Lakhdar Brahimi, said on Friday no state had the right to "take the law into their hands" and conduct military action against Syria without UN Security Council approval. Brahimi spoke on the sidelines of a G20 summit after meetings with foreign ministers including Russia's Sergei Lavrov, who said many nations realize that striking Syria without Security Council backing would scuttle the chances of reaching a political solution.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  "Gentlemen! We've got to protect our phony baloney jobs!!"
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:35 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Hafiz Saeed leads mass rally in Islamabad
[Dawn] Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT) founder Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
appeared openly at a rally in Islamabad on Friday, denouncing India as a terrorist state as thousands of his supporters chanted for "holy war" against the rival nuclear nation.

India has accused Hafiz Muhammad Saeed of criminal masterminding the 2008 attack on its financial capital Mumbai where gunnies killed 166 people over three days. The United States has offered $10 million for information leading to his arrest and conviction.

As dusk fell, more than 10,000 people gathered in Islamabad in a show of defiance certain to enrage India further following weeks of tensions over the disputed Kashmire border.

"The United States and India are very angry with us. This means God is happy with us," Saeed told the crowd as supporters chanted "Jihad!" ("Holy war") and "War will continue until the liberation of Kashmire". He did not use the word "jihad" himself.

"We are ready for every sacrifice for the liberation of Kashmire," the stocky and bearded former professor added at the rally marking Pakistain's Defence Day.

Speaking about Sarabjit Singh, an Indian prisoner who died in a Pak jail this year and was given a state funeral back home, Saeed told the crowd: "He was a terrorist. How can the Indian government give state honours to a terrorist? This means the Indian government and army are terrorists."

India has called on Pakistain to bring Saeed to justice, an issue that has stood in the way of rebuilding relations between the nuclear-armed neighbours since the Mumbai carnage.

Saeed is the founder of the LeT, a Death Eater group banned in Pakistain but tolerated unofficially and believed to be close to the army. Saeed has long abandoned its leadership and is now the head of its charity wing.

India is furious that Pakistain has not enjugged
... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not...
him since it handed over evidence against him to Islamabad, and allows Saeed to live freely in the city of Lahore in a villa with cops stationed outside.
Because he's an ISI resource. The run-of-the-mill seedy Pak politician doesn't get that.
Relations plunged to further lows last month after the killing of five Indian soldiers along the so-called Line of Control that separates the two sides in the Himalayan region of Kashmire.

BELLIGERENT MOOD

Seeking to defuse tensions, Pakistain's civilian leaders have kept a conciliatory tone, but on Friday, as thousands gathered in Islamabad, emotions spilled into the open.

The mood was strikingly anti-Western and belligerent, with speakers openly declaring their sympathy for the Taliban fighting Western forces in neighbouring Afghanistan.

"India should stop describing Kashmire as its indispensable part," Saeed said from a makeshift stage mounted on a truck. "Otherwise every part of India would be dispensable for us."

As the crowd cheered, two men performed a patriotic song threatening to "turn the whole of India into Mumbai".

Others chanted "Whoever is a friend of India is a traitor" and waved black and white striped flags.

"They should know there are a lot of people here who are waiting for the conquest of India," Hamid Gul
The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command...
, a former chief of the ISI intelligence service, told the crowd.

"It will be our privilege to take part in this war."

Saeed founded the LeT, which India blames for the rampage in Mumbai, in the 1990s. He has denied involvement in any attacks.

He abandoned the leadership after India accused the LeT of being behind an attack on the Indian parliament in December 2001.

His charity, linked to the LeT, enjoys popular support for its humanitarian work.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba

#1  Forget Syria these are the people who need exterminating.
Posted by: Paul D || 09/07/2013 11:07 Comments || Top||


Firing leaves at least eight dead in Peshawar
[Dawn] At least eight unidentified people were killed late Friday night when unknown gunnies attacked their vehicles in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, the capital of troubled Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province bordering Afghanistan, said a police official.

SHO Badaber Police Station, Abidur Rehman told Dawn.com the incident took place near Gulzar Chowk in Peshawar's Matni area -- a buffer zone between lovely provincial capital and lawless tribal region of Dara Adamkhel.

"At least eight people are killed and number of others are inured," said Rehman. He said vehicles travelling to southern districts including a 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...
-bound Bus on Kohat Road were the apparent target of the attackers.

The dead bodies and injured were being shifted to Leady Reading Hospital in Peshawar.

Police and other law enforcement forces have cordoned off the area and a search operation to arrest the myrmidons was underway.

Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Jane reached into her purse for her .38...
local residents reportedly came out on the street and exchanged fire with the attackers alongside security forces. The clash lasted for an hour at least.

The motive and the perpetrators of the attack were not immediately known.

Earlier in the day, at least five people were maimed when a cycle of violence packed with explosives detonated inside the Hashtnagri cop shoppe, located in the centre of the city.

More than 40,000 Pak people have been killed in attacks by al Qaeda and Taliban-led hard boyz in the last decade.

Washington considers the tribal belt as the main hub of Taliban and al Qaeda hard boyz plotting attacks on the West and in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [16 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa North
Gabes prison escapees killed at Algerian border
[MAGHAREBIA] The Algerian army killed two people who tried to infiltrate the country through the border with Tunisia, Tunisie Numerique reported on Thursday.

The soldiers opened fire when the trespassers refused to stop at their orders.

After arresting the others, the security services understood that the suspects were among the Tunisian inmates involved in the Gabes prison break.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


India-Pakistan
Pakistan denounces North Waziristan drone attack
[Dawn] Pakistain's Ministry of Foreign Affairs on Friday condemned the latest US drone strike inside Pak territory in which at least six snuffies were killed and three others injured.

The latest drone attack took place early Friday in northwestern Pakistain's North Wazoo tribal region.

Hours after the strike, the Foreign Office issued a statement saying drone strikes were a violation of Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and territorial integrity, adding that Pakistain had repeatedly emphasised the importance of bringing these to an immediate end.

The government "has consistently maintained that drone strikes are counter-productive, entail loss of innocent civilian lives and have human rights
When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much...
and humanitarian implications", the statement said.

At least six suspected snuffies were killed and three others maimed in a US drone strike on a compound in Ghulam Khan Tehsil of North Waziristan near the Pak-Afghan border.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [6 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Obama says he will address the US about Syria on Tuesday
Pic from the Ace of Spades.
[Al Ahram] Rule 1: A shot every time he sez "Make no mistake."

Rule 2: Chug a beer every time he sez "bipartisan."

Further rules?
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  A shot for every time he uses "my"?
Posted by: Pappy || 09/07/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  Last one to pass out wins.
Posted by: gorb || 09/07/2013 0:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Every time he says 'uh', you get to punch the person on your left.
Posted by: SteveS || 09/07/2013 1:12 Comments || Top||

#4  "Let me be clear"...Since the guy's a lying sack of shit, I haven't listened to the him for about three years. I think I'll continue the streak.
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:40 Comments || Top||

#5  Foreign student loans, the downside.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 2:25 Comments || Top||

#6  "the world set a red line" - do two shots
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:10 Comments || Top||

#7  Reference to previous administrations: one shot.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 11:13 Comments || Top||

#8  I'm putting a vacation slip in for Wednesday. To recover from alcohol poisoning
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 11:30 Comments || Top||

#9  What tu said. I might have a drink but I can't bear the stench of so much bullshit.
Posted by: Caesar Gray1629 || 09/07/2013 12:24 Comments || Top||

#10  I think the end game gets very messy... After loosing his Syria Attack.... its just the beginning of Obama's path to becoming a eunuch. Politics recognizes wounded prey quickly.

So if he wants to avoid becoming a eunuch Obama needs to deal with the Pubs in the House under the table...
He knows well what they want starting with a termination of Obamacare and a budget and oil/gas pipelines in the USA.

The question becomes how willing is Obama to avoid singing soprano and how much the congress-critters can quit drooling and deal at the cost of an attack on Syria.
Posted by: 3dc || 09/07/2013 15:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Given the man's word is worth less than stock in Solyndra, any deal needs to be above board and public. Thus, it's not going to happen. Ego being what it is. The question he has to face is whether Syria is worth his crown.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 15:42 Comments || Top||

#12  A shot of Bushmills any time he blames the previous administration.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/07/2013 16:30 Comments || Top||

#13  I might have a drink but I can't bear the stench of so much bullshit.

Agreed. I estimate at least half a bottle of Jack will be required. I'd rather just self-medicate thusly and pass out before it starts.
Posted by: RandomJD || 09/07/2013 16:31 Comments || Top||

#14  ...aside the affair, must have some really good stuff in his file...:

Petraeus calls on Congress to back White House on Syria

HT: Drudge
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 17:24 Comments || Top||

#15  A shot of Bushmills any time he blames the previous administration. Posted by BrerRabbit

You'll have to move to far Northern Ireland and the city itself to keep up with that bargain.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 17:31 Comments || Top||

#16  He'll with this nonsense. I am at Sisters Folk Festival watching Baskery, the Swedish version of the Dixie Chicks.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||


Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Obama team thought Iran would not tolerate Assad's use of WMDs
Iran is enduring economic sanctions designed to slow the country's nuclear weapons program,
... which has thus far been a resounding failure, but do go on...
but President Obama's team thought the regime might abandon dictator Bashar Assad over his use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war.
This is mind-numbingly, double-face palm stupid.
Samantha Power, the U.S. Ambassador to the United Nations, hoped that a team of UN investigators -- many of whom, presumably, have a longstanding relationship with Iranian leaders -- could write a report that would convince Iran to abandon its ally at the behest of the United States.
Ms. Powers has never spent a day in the real world in her entire life. She's a child of privilege, an adult of leisure, an academic, a government "elite" who's never once had to face the consequences of the many bad decisions she's made and bad advice she's given out.
"We worked with the UN to create a group of inspectors and then worked for more than six months to get them access to the country on the logic that perhaps the presence of an investigative team in the country might deter future attacks," Power said at the Center for American Progress as she made the case for intervening in Syria.

"Or, if not, at a minimum, we thought perhaps a shared evidentiary base could convince Russia or Iran -- itself a victim of Saddam Hussein's monstrous chemical weapons attacks in 1987-1988 -- to cast loose a regime that was gassing it's people," she said.
Samantha: let me clue you in. Syria and Iran are allies. That means they're sticking together. That means Iran won't throw Syria over unless it's in their best interests to do so, and you haven't made that case.
Rather than "cast loose" Assad after the latest chemical weapons attack, as the Obama team hoped, "Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Khamenei has warned the Obama administration against any proposed military strike on Syria," as the International Business Times reports.
Neither Russia nor Iran will cast loose Syria. They can't and keep any credibility. As it turns out, credibility is something Ms. Powers has never experienced.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [8 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Finger on the pulse...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:53 Comments || Top||

#2  Samantha Powers: I dub thee Derp of Oil

Congratulations on your new title. There's no way you can disappoint us.
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2013 2:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Just a guess: They didn't bother to ask, did they?
Posted by: badanov || 09/07/2013 2:25 Comments || Top||

#4  but President Obama's team thought the regime might abandon dictator Bashar Assad over his use of chemical weapons in Syria's civil war.

Same "team" who sought to blame Nakoula Basseley Nakoula for the attack on Benghazi ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 2:36 Comments || Top||

#5  President Obama's team thought

A question begging statement.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Iran does not Bluff.
Posted by: airandee || 09/07/2013 7:49 Comments || Top||

#7  Must be teh Bushmill's talking.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 09/07/2013 9:58 Comments || Top||

#8  like Susan "an internet video" Rice was gonna have the brainpower to think different. Amateurs and fools, reflecting this unserious POS Preznit
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 9:59 Comments || Top||

#9  Useful idiots was suppose to be a term for the bourgeois not the party leadership.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 10:16 Comments || Top||

#10  Good grief. I'm more convinced than ever that liberalism is a form of mental illness: there is definitely something wrong with these people, as if they are really little children in adult bodies.

Naiveté as extreme as Samantha Powers' is truly painful to behold.

Posted by: Dave D. || 09/07/2013 11:11 Comments || Top||

#11  Maybe they won't tolerate the use by Assad if it happens. They may yet to be convinced it wasn't a false flag op by the rebels.

But the hundreds of YouTube vids are proof.

If its on the internet it must be true.

Bonjour.
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 09/07/2013 11:55 Comments || Top||

#12  Word, Dave D.
Posted by: Barbara || 09/07/2013 14:35 Comments || Top||

#13  Liberals think with emotion not tempered or cross checked with logic (or facts). Thus they believe in things that feel good at the time and are not necessarily good for in the long run or in the big picture of things.

Hence the contradictions. They in their ignorance will get a lot of people killed when they are in positions of authority.

Dangerous fools.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 16:54 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Algerian troops kill Boumerdes terrorists
[MAGHAREBIA] Algerian soldiers on Thursday (September 5th) eliminated two bully boyz in a military operation in corpse-littered Boumerdes, APS reported. According to El Watan, the ANP operation followed the arrest of an armed Islamist in Baghlia a week ago, who provided information about the movement of bully boyz in the region. Four bad boyz were potted during the last two weeks in corpse-littered Boumerdes province.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Israel police arrest 15 Palestinians in Jerusalem clashes
[Al Ahram] Israeli police fired stun grenades at stone-throwing Palestinian protesters after Friday prayers in Jerusalem's Old City, arresting 15 of them, police said.
Howling mob erupts from mosque, fling rocks at cops. Cops react. Damn those Zionists.
"Several hundred Palestinian youths demonstrated after Friday prayers in the Al-Aqsa compound, and threw stones at Israeli security forces," spokeswoman Luba Samri said.

"The police stormed the compound and dispersed the stone-throwers using stun grenades.

"One policeman was injured and 15 of the protesters were arrested," she told AFP.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Alyssa Diaz[Filmography](age 28)



Subtle Design Feature


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/07/2013 3:47 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday Gam Shot 09/06

Orsi Kocsis [Hungarian][Filmography (Who Cares)](age 29)



Goulash not Designed for Work


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/07/2013 3:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Birthday Gam Shot 09/05

Rose McGowan[Filmography](age 40)



Designed for Allstate Insurance


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 09/07/2013 3:51 Comments || Top||

#4  Oh my. A three-fer.

My humble thanks dear GBUSMC.

BTW, I like subtle, it seems similar to goulash which, while a little spicy for work, would make a great main course at home. Especially if you have the right All State policy.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/07/2013 8:07 Comments || Top||

#5  "Goulash not Designed for Work"

90,000,000+ Americans can disregard this warning.
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 8:12 Comments || Top||

#6  GolfBravo, you must work terribly hard finding all these pictures - is Fred properly compensating you?
Posted by: Glenmore || 09/07/2013 9:44 Comments || Top||

#7  Fred doesn't need to worry, I expect that the job GB does here is filled with its own rewards. I am just glad that he shares what he can with us.
Posted by: rammer || 09/07/2013 10:11 Comments || Top||

#8  Its a dirty job but someone has to do it. GB sacrifices so we don't have to.

Thanks GolfBravoUSMC!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 09/07/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||

#9  GBUSMC is the gold standard for endorsing Malware Fighters.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 10:59 Comments || Top||

#10  As a little kid, I didn't like goulash. Dad said it was good for me; once again Father Knows Best.
Posted by: USN, Ret. || 09/07/2013 11:05 Comments || Top||

#11  I'm late. Are there any leftovers?.
Posted by: Dale || 09/07/2013 18:52 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Rebels Withdraw from Christian Town
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels who seized an entry to a Christian town north of Damascus this week have now withdrawn to protect religious and archaeological sites there, an opposition statement said.

"Free Syrian Army (FSA) units on Wednesday destroyed posts at Maalula and Jabadine held by the army on the Damascus-Homs road after fierce festivities with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's forces and auxiliaries," the Syrian National Coalition said overnight.

"The FSA was stationed for several hours in the vicinity, but did not attack any church or convent," the statement added.

The Coalition stressed its "commitment to protect all Syrians, no matter what their religion, race, confession or political belief, and its constant concern to preserve Syria's human and religious heritage by every means possible".

On Wednesday, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said jihadist fighters of the al-Nusra Front seized a military post at Maalula after a suicide kaboom.

It said regime warplanes later launched three air raids on the checkpoint taken by the Islamists.

A video posted on the Internet by rebels showed fighters speaking into walkie-talkies as the voiceover said: "holy shit! Allahu akbar (God is greatest), liberation of the Maalula checkpoint."

The Observatory, which relies on a community of activists, doctors and lawyers on the ground for its information, said the assault began when a vehicle driven by a jacket wallah went kaboom! at the checkpoint.

A resident of Maalula, a picturesque town 55 kilometers (34 miles) north of Damascus that sits nestled under a large cliff, told AFP the Al-Nusra Front assault began at 0300 GMT on Wednesday.

Speaking by phone from the Mar Takla Greek Orthodox monastery, the woman -- who asked not to be named -- said the rebels used shells and anti-aircraft machineguns, adding that some projectiles had hit the town center.

"It's the first time that we've been attacked," she said.

Maalula is a symbol of the Christian presence in Syria, and many of its inhabitants speak Aramaic, the language spoken by Jesus Christ that only small, scattered communities around the world still use today.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Leaving any live Christians behind?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:21 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Twitter Again Shuts Down Shaboobs
Twitter has for the second time this year shut down the main Twitter handle of al-Shabab, Somalia's al-Qaida-linked terror group, less than 24 hours after a U.S.-based terrorism expert reported violations of Twitter's terms of service.

The closure comes only days after al-Shabab claimed a failed assassination attempt against Somalia's president and tweeted that the next time the president wouldn't be so lucky.

Al-Shabab uses Twitter mainly to make claims of enemy kills and to spread its view of events in Somalia and East Africa. A United Nations report on Somalia released last month said U.N. experts believe the person running the account is British.

Twitter in January suspended al-Shabab's previous account after the group used the platform to announce a death threat against Kenyan hostages.
Posted by: Steve White || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [4 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


India-Pakistan
President Says Maldives 'Ready' for Fair Elections This Weekend
[An Nahar] The president of the Maldives on Friday promised a free and fair election this weekend 18 months after a violent change of leadership shook the Indian Ocean archipelago.

"The atmosphere is ready for free and fair elections," Mohamed Waheed told Agence La Belle France Presse as the candidates standing in the presidential poll wrapped up campaigning in the popular holiday destination.

"I have given an assurance of my government's full support for anyone who wins the election," he added, speaking from the cramped capital of the nation of around 350,000 people.

In February last year, the Maldives' first freely elected president, Mohamed Nasheed, resigned after a mutiny by police which he claimed was a coup orchestrated by former dictator Maumoon Abdul Gayoom.

Waheed, who was vice-president under Nasheed, was swiftly sworn in to replace his former boss who continues to call the current administration a "traitor government".

Both men are standing in Saturday's vote, along with Gasim Ibrahim, a wealthy tourist resort tycoon, and Abdulla Yameen, the half-brother of Gayoom.

Nasheed is expected to easily win, but he needs more than 50 percent to avoid a run-off when his opponents would be expected to join together to oppose him.

His opponent in a run-off on September 28 would most likely be Yameen, observers say.

"We are apprehensive that renegade elements within the police and military... might intervene during voting or during counting," Nasheed told a presser on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [14 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I figured this was Zero sucking up to the Argies again
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 10:17 Comments || Top||

#2  Anyone get the Dagwood reference?
Posted by: Grunter || 09/07/2013 22:22 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Army Launches Assault to Secure Key Airport near Damascus
[An Nahar] Syrian armed forces launched a massive operation on Friday to secure a strategic military airport near Damascus ahead of possible U.S.-led military strikes, a monitoring group said.

Troops bombarded rebel positions in Moadamiyet al-Sham, a town southwest of Damascus near Mazzeh airport, one of the country's key air bases, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.

Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman said: "The regime is trying to seize control of Moadamiyet al-Sham before a probable Western strike, because the town commands access to Mazzeh airport."

The base is guarded by the army's elite Fourth Armored Division -- a unit led by Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Supressor of the Damascenes...
's brother Maher -- which is responsible for security in and around Damascus.

The army has been unsuccessfully trying for months to take Moadamiyet al-Sham back from the rebels.

Western leaders accuse the Assad regime of unleashing chemical attacks on August 21 east and southwest of Damascus, including in Moadamiyet al-Sham, that killed hundreds.

U.S. President Barack Obama
I inhaled. That was the point...
has been trying to secure international support for a punitive strike on regime targets and will seek congressional approval for such action next week.

The Syrian government denies using chemical weapons, blaming instead rebels trying to topple the regime of using the poisonous agents.

The Britannia-based Observatory, which relies on a network of activists and medics on the ground for its reports, said at least four surface-to-surface missiles fired by regime forces struck Moadamiyet al-Sham Friday.

Rebels and troops also clashed in the area as Assad's forces tried to rout the myrmidons, it added.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


11 G20 States Urge 'Strong Response' to Syria Chemical Attack
[An Nahar] Eleven G20 states on Friday called for a "strong international response" to a chemical weapons attack in Syria they said was clearly carried out by the regime.
"Manolo! Fetch me the stiff notepaper... and my best calligraphy pen. There's a strong response to be written!"
"The evidence clearly points to the Syrian government being responsible for the attack, which is part of a pattern of chemical weapons use by the regime," said the statement which was supported by states including Britannia, La Belle France and the United States.

"We call for a strong international response to this grave violation of the world's rules and conscience that will send a clear message that this kind of atrocity can never be repeated," said the statement which was released by the White House.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [13 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Well, write up a feasible Operations Order and send it. It never hurts to try. Also, make sure there are some back up FRAGOS in case it gets nasty.

Europeans are warriors, unless it comes to budgets.
Posted by: newc || 09/07/2013 1:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Harrrumph harrrumph harrrumph!!!
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:30 Comments || Top||

#3  I urge a strong response too: kill 10 randomly chosen Saudi "princes".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 09/07/2013 6:27 Comments || Top||

#4  ^

















































































see above
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:39 Comments || Top||

#5  If we scroll back a few years would this be any different -


Eleven G20 states on Friday called for a "strong international response" to a chemical weapons attack in Syria man made global warming they said was clearly carried out by the regime human behavior.

The science was 'irrefutable'. /sarc off
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:07 Comments || Top||

#6  Strong response (TM) by you and whose army? I am so sick of these parasites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 13:04 Comments || Top||

#7  G20: The Syrian chemical attack was horrible. SOMEBODY MUST DO SOMETHING about it.
Germany: Not us,though. UK: Us neither. Russia: Hell, no. ... The rest of the G20: Umm, not us either.

I don't think the US should get involved at all. However, the G20 should just STFU unless they are willing to DO something about it.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 09/07/2013 13:47 Comments || Top||

#8  Can we get an after action report from the G-20 visit to the Sultanov Ballet Academy please ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 09/07/2013 13:56 Comments || Top||

#9  ...you too can help fight hunger by adopting a starving Russian ballerina.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 14:03 Comments || Top||

#10  Not much hand wringing over 100k dead before the gas attack. Those people are just as dead but not gassed so it is ok. Throw out a few heart wringing zingers and the well fed elites see opportunity knocking.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 09/07/2013 19:59 Comments || Top||

#11  Déclaration des 11 (+Allemagne qui a signé aujourd’hui) en marge du G20 sur la Syrie

Déclaration commune sur la Syrie

OMG....how does John Kerry do it?....

Here is a link to the Joint Statement...slightly less to it than a Diet Coke Lite....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:02 Comments || Top||


The Grand Turk
Turkey says almost all G20 leaders support operation against Syria
[Al Ahram] Turkish Prime Minister Tayyip Erdogan said on Friday almost all leaders at the G20 summit in St. Petersburg accepted the need for an operation to be carried out against Syria following a chemical weapons attack there last month. "Almost all the leaders who have attended the summit are closely following the massacre the Syrian regime carried out on its people and the leaders have expressed that an operation is extremely necessary against Damascus," Erdogan told reporters.
PM Erdogan has been saying a great many things, lately. He was so much happier -- and quieter -- before he broke up with his BFF Bashar A.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [7 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  He's still in the early Anger Stage of Grieving TW, best to cut the poor wasbeen some slack.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 8:38 Comments || Top||

#2  Turkey is just next door. Nothing really to stop you from intervening Mr. Erdogan. Be our guest. Show us that Turkey has arrived on the international scene to carry out region responsibilities. Heck, even some African nations are doing their thing in Somalia. What's holding you back?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 09/07/2013 9:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep. Turkey had the opening of a century when this tussle started and did squat. Now they marginal to the situation. Marginal suits them well.
Posted by: Shipman || 09/07/2013 17:37 Comments || Top||

#4  What can they do? They've hundreds of senior officers sitting in jail*, many more forced into early retirement, and the best of the rest are not likely to be politically trustworthy. Who, then, can they trust to run a neighborly little war?

* do a search of Ergenekon and Sledgehammer for the details, or just read this.
Posted by: trailing wife || 09/07/2013 17:58 Comments || Top||

#5  ...per Fred's post (above): "11 G20 States Urge 'Strong Response' to Syria Chemical Attack"

Lemme see..... 11 of twenty equals...er,... um...carry the 12...er...most(?!)...yeah, MOST!

Perhaps Turkey is sourcing their math teachers from the NEA...?
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:25 Comments || Top||

#6  mod - Please correct above "mosts" to "almost alls" - Thankx!
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 23:42 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
U.S. Treasury Blacklists Iran Sanctions-Busting Ring
[An Nahar] The U.S. Treasury blacklisted Friday a key Iranian businessman and five others whom it said were trying to help Iran circumvent international sanctions to export oil.

The Treasury identified a Seyed Seyyedi, the director of Sima General Trading, as a key player in the network that includes Greek shipowner Dimitris Cambis, the National Iranian Oil Company (NIOC) and the Naftiran Intertrade Company Sarl (NICO).

Seyyedi, it said, controls a number of companies in the United Arab Emirates that have been "used by him to assist NICO and NICO front companies, such as Sima General Trading, in its sanctions evasion schemes."

The others blacklisted, four Iranians and one Iran-born British citizen who work for NICO and NIOC-linked firms, were named as helping Tehran in its efforts to beat sanctions.

"In its efforts to evade sanctions, the government of Iran relies on front companies, financial institutions and businessmen willing to engage in deceptive transactions to conceal the direct involvement of the Iranian government and its instrumentalities," the Treasury said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Europe
Poland reduces public debt through pension funds overhaul
[Rooters} WARSAW, Sept 4 - Poland said on Wednesday it will transfer to the state many of the assets held by private pension funds, slashing public debt but putting in doubt the future of the multi-billion-euro funds, many of them foreign-owned.
They'll be safer and appreciate more rapidly under gov't control, you'll see.
The changes went deeper than many in the market expected and could fuel investor concerns that the government is ditching some business-friendly policies to try to improve its flagging popularity with voters.
Deeper changes than expected you say? In Poland as well?
The Polish pension funds' organisation said the changes may be unconstitutional because the government is taking private assets away from them without offering any compensation.
Yes, more commonly referred to as theft, and coming soon to a country near you.
Posted by: Cretle Snutch3791 || 09/07/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [5 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Confiscation is the new "overhaul"...
Posted by: tu3031 || 09/07/2013 1:49 Comments || Top||

#2  The model for Obastard's regime. Hillary's on board, she likes taking things.

I figure this will be a hot topic by January assuming Syria doesn't explode in our face.
Posted by: AlanC || 09/07/2013 8:29 Comments || Top||

#3  ...and now, something completely different...or not.....Ireland On Tap, Next Up For Citizen Fund Confiscation (Again) (WARNING: Nervousness Alert)....
Posted by: Uncle Phester || 09/07/2013 13:41 Comments || Top||

#4  Rangel and others in the US Dem side have floated this balloon here. "We'll confiscate incorporate your funds in an account that will pay you a guaranteed by your tax dollars and credit return that will exceed your private IRA/401K returns since we've cratered the economy Never mind the inflation rate or Social Security/Medicare funds which we've handled just as well"
Posted by: Frank G || 09/07/2013 17:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Doesn't Poland (and the rest of Europe) have any lampposts left?
Posted by: Barbara || 09/07/2013 19:32 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
28[untagged]
9Govt of Syria
6Govt of Iran
5Arab Spring
2al-Qaeda in North Africa
2Govt of Pakistan
2Palestinian Authority
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1TTP
1al-Nusra
1Hamas
1Lashkar e-Taiba
1al-Shabaab
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
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trailing wife
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Two weeks of WOT
Sat 2013-09-07
  Drone strike killed senior Haqqani network commander
Fri 2013-09-06
  Reports: Egypt to dissolve Brotherhood as NGO
Thu 2013-09-05
  Egypt's Minister Mohammed Ibrahim survives bomb attack
Wed 2013-09-04
  Spain Arrests Suspected Jihadist Leader
Tue 2013-09-03
  Syria asks UN to 'prevent any aggression'
Mon 2013-09-02
  Taliban target U.S. army base in Nangarhar, attack ongoing
Sun 2013-09-01
  Leader of Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood Badie suffers heart attack in jail
Sat 2013-08-31
  Breaking: Obama hands the ball off to Congress
Fri 2013-08-30
  Egypt Police Arrest Senior Islamist Beltagi
Thu 2013-08-29
  Report: 20 Injured In Another Chemical Attack In Syria
Wed 2013-08-28
  DEATH SENTENCE FOR Maj. NIDAL HASAN
Tue 2013-08-27
  Belmokhtar, MUJAO launch new jihadist group
Mon 2013-08-26
  Security forces claim seizure of 500 kgs explosives in Khyber
Sun 2013-08-25
  Hungry Boko Haram hard boyz turn cannibal
Sat 2013-08-24
  Twin blasts at Lebanese mosques kill at least 43

Better than the average link...



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.
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