Israel is buying 28,000 U.S. M72A7 66mm one-shot anti-tank rockets. The 7.7 pound weapon has a range of 200 meters and is useful against structures as well as armored vehicles (although only the side armor of the latest tanks is vulnerable).
The two pound warhead is designed to have some anti-personnel effect. Also ordered are 60,000 training rockets (which are fired from a reusable version of the M72) for practice. The A7 model can be fired from inside a building. The $2,000 M72 is the cheapest weapon in this class, and light enough for infantrymen to carry several. The British military used gobs of these in the Falklands. They are the cat's pajamas for light infantry.
A Russian archaeologist says he has found the lost capital of the Khazars, a powerful nation that adopted Judaism as its official religion more than 1,000 years ago, only to disappear leaving little trace of its culture.
Dmitry Vasilyev, a professor at Astrakhan State University, said his nine-year excavation near the Caspian Sea has finally unearthed the foundations of a triangular fortress of flamed brick, along with modest yurt-shaped dwellings, and he believes these are part of what was once Itil, the Khazar capital.
By law Khazars could use flamed bricks only in the capital, Vasilyev said. The general location of the city on the Silk Road was confirmed in medieval chronicles by Arab, Jewish and European authors.
"The discovery of the capital of Eastern Europe's first feudal state is of great significance," he told The Associated Press. "We should view it as part of Russian history."
Kevin Brook, the American author of "The Jews of Khazaria," e-mailed Wednesday that he has followed the Itil dig over the years, and even though it has yielded no Jewish artifacts, "Now I'm as confident as the archaeological team is that they've truly found the long-lost city,
The Khazars were a Turkic tribe that roamed the steppes from Northern China to the Black Sea. Between the 7th and 10th centuries they conquered huge swaths of what is now southern Russia and Ukraine, the Caucasus Mountains and Central Asia as far as the Aral Sea.
Itil, about 800 miles south of Moscow, had a population of up to 60,000 and occupied 0.8 square miles of marshy plains southwest of the Russian Caspian Sea port of Astrakhan, Vasilyev said.
It lay at a major junction of the Silk Road, the trade route between Europe and China, which "helped Khazars amass giant profits," he said.
The Khazar empire was once a regional superpower, and Vasilyev said his team has found "luxurious collections" of well-preserved ceramics that help identify cultural ties of the Khazar state with Europe, the Byzantine Empire and even Northern Africa. They also found armor, wooden kitchenware, glass lamps and cups, jewelry and vessels for transporting precious balms dating back to the eighth and ninth centuries, he said.
But a scholar in Israel, while calling the excavations interesting, said the challenge was to find Khazar inscriptions.
"If they found a few buildings, or remains of buildings, that's interesting but does not make a big difference," said Dr. Simon Kraiz, an expert on Eastern European Jewry at Haifa University. "If they found Khazar writings, that would be very important."
Vasilyev says no Jewish artifacts have been found at the site, and in general, most of what is known about the Khazars comes from chroniclers from other, sometimes competing cultures and empires.
"We know a lot about them, and yet we know almost nothing: Jews wrote about them, and so did Russians, Georgians, and Armenians, to name a few," said Kraiz. "But from the Khazars themselves we have nearly nothing."
The Khazars' ruling dynasty and nobility converted to Judaism sometime in the 8th or 9th centuries. Vasilyev said the limited number of Jewish religious artifacts such as mezuzas and Stars of David found at other Khazar sites prove that ordinary Khazars preferred traditional beliefs such as shamanism, or newly introduced religions including Islam.
Yevgeny Satanovsky, director of the Middle Eastern Institute in Moscow, said he believes the Khazar elite chose Judaism out of political expediency to remain independent of neighboring Muslim and Christian states. "They embraced Judaism because they wanted to remain neutral, like Switzerland these days," he said.
In particular, he said, the Khazars opposed the Arab advance into the Caucasus Mountains and were instrumental in containing a Muslim push toward eastern Europe. He compared their role in eastern Europe to that of the French knights who defeated Arab forces at the Battle of Tours in France in 732.
The Khazars succeeded in holding off the Arabs, but a young, expanding Russian state vanquished the Khazar empire in the late 10th century. Medieval Russian epic poems mention Russian warriors fighting the "Jewish Giant."
"In many ways, Russia is a successor of the Khazar state," Vasilyev said.
He said his dig revealed traces of a large fire that was probably caused by the Russian conquest. He said Itil was rebuilt following the fall of the Khazar empire, when ethnic Khazars were slowly assimilated by Turkic-speaking tribes, Tatars and Mongols, who inhabited the city until it was flooded by the rising Caspian Sea around the 14th century.
The study of the Khazar empire was discouraged in the Soviet Union. The dictator Josef Stalin, in particular, detested the idea that a Jewish empire had come before Russia's own. He ordered references to Khazar history removed from textbooks because they "disproved his theory of Russian statehood," Satanovsky said.
Only now are Russian scholars free to explore Khazar culture. The Itil excavations have been sponsored by the Russian-Jewish Congress, a nonprofit organization that supports cultural projects in Russia.
"Khazar studies are just beginning," Satanovsky said.
Islamabad, Sept 20 (ANI): Several senior officers of Central Intelligence Agency (CIA) who are reported to be currently visiting Islamabad were the target of the blast at the Marriott Hotel which took place here tonight.
Well placed sources said that Marriott Hotel is usual hotel choice of the US officials and it seems that militants tipped off that certain high level US intelligence officers were currently staying at the hotel.
Try the Holiday Inn next time. Or bring the Pak delegation to New Delhi ...
While no confirmation was available but Pakistan sources said it was clear that the explosion was aimed at specific targets based on a tip off.
At least twenty people were killed, and scores others seriously injured, when an explosives laden truck rammed into Marriott Hotel here today. Over 50 people have been admitted in the local hospitals. The powerful explosion caused fire in many parts of the hotel besides damaging the buildings around the hotel.
Interesting stuff, caught via AOSHQ
Barack Obama has slammed the banking industry for its predatory use of sub-prime mortgages, which are pushing millions of American homeowners toward foreclosure.
But his campaign's Finance Chair, Penny Pritzker, owned a failed Chicago thrift that helped pioneer sub-prime financial instruments and faced accusations of abuse.
Superior Bank of Chicago went belly up in 2001 with over $1 billion in insured and uninsured deposits. This collapse came amid harsh criticism of how Superior's owners promoted sub-prime home mortgages. As part of a settlement, the owners paid $100 million and agreed to pay another $335 million over 15 years at no interest...
We've known about this in Chicago for a number of years; the Chicago Tribune covered it pretty well at the time. But Penny Pritzker has so much money she can pretty much buy whatever she needs, and especially can buy her way out of trouble, which is what her family did in the Superior fiasco. Someone should have gone to prison but didn't. Now she's Obama's finance chair. There's something about the grandchildren and great-grandchildren of wealthy families that makes them a positive argument for a 100% inheritance tax.
But this seven-year-old bank failure has relevance in another way today, since the chair of Superior's board for five years was Penny Pritzker, a member of one of America's richest families and the current Finance Chair for the presidential campaign of Barack Obama, the same candidate who has lashed out against predatory lending.
Though Superior Bank collapsed years before the current sub-prime turmoil that is rocking the world's financial markets -- and pushing those millions of homeowners toward foreclosure -- some banking experts say the Pritzkers and Superior hold a special place in the history of the sub-prime fiasco.
"The [sub-prime] financial engineering that created the Wall Street meltdown was developed by the Pritzkers and Ernst and Young, working with Merrill Lynch to sell bonds securitized by sub-prime mortgages," Timothy J. Anderson, a whistleblower on financial and bank fraud, told me in an interview.
"The sub-prime mortgages," Anderson said, "were provided to Merrill Lynch, by a nation-wide Pritzker origination system, using Superior as the cash cow, with many millions in FDIC insured deposits. Superior's owners were to sub-prime lending, what Michael Milken was to junk bonds."
In other words, if you traced today's sub-prime crisis back to its origins, you would come upon the role of the Pritzkers and Superior Bank of Chicago.
Republican vice presidential nominee Sarah Palin will meet next week with Afghan President Hamid Karzai in New York, on the sidelines of the opening of the U.N. General Assembly, according to Afghan officials in Washington.
The meeting is part of a broader effort to demonstrate the Alaska governor's ability to handle foreign policy issues, at a time when she has come under fire for a lack of experience on the international stage. The opportunity to speak before the United Nations annually draws the world's leaders to Manhattan, and the GOP presidential nominee, Sen. John McCain (Ariz.), plans to use the occasion to introduce Palin to those officials, McCain aides have said.
"It's a great opportunity for Governor Palin to meet and interact with some of the world leaders she will deal with as vice president," said one McCain adviser, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because her U.N. schedule had not been made public. "She'll talk about the issues facing the world."
Palin will meet with Karzai, and possibly other foreign leaders, during a midweek campaign swing through New York.
"Unfortunately, a few meetings at the U.N. won't change the fact that John McCain is promising four more years of the same cowboy diplomacy that has shredded our alliances and set back our ability to fight international terrorism," said Hari Sevugan, a spokesman for the Democratic nominee, Sen. Barack Obama (Ill.).
Palin, governor of Alaska for two years, has had limited experience abroad. She took one trip to Germany, Kuwait and Iraq in 2007, but barely crossed the Iraq border. She has also traveled to Canada. Democrats have mocked Palin for citing knowledge of Russia because she can see the nation from her home state.
While acknowledging her lack of a long foreign policy portfolio, McCain advisers have described Palin as a smart and decisive executive who has spent much of her time in office dealing with worldwide energy issues.
The request to Karzai for a sit-down came from Palin's team early this week and Karzai sent his agreement yesterday, officials at the Afghan Embassy said. Karzai, who will travel to Washington later in the week for a White House meeting with President Bush, expects to have separate telephone conversations with McCain and with Obama during his U.S. stay.
Palin's Democratic counterpart, Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. (Del.), who has traveled to Pakistan and Afghanistan as chairman of the Foreign Relations Committee, will also travel to New York for the General Assembly's opening. He plans to meet there with new Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari.
Obama sent Zardari a message of congratulations following his election early this month but has not spoken to him directly. McCain called Zardari to offer his congratulations, as well.
Zardari will spend most of the week in New York. A source close to the Pakistani president said there is a possibility that he might see McCain, but that if Palin requests a meeting, he will see her.
#1
I must have gotten it all wrong. I thought I had read somewhere that her first meeting with a foreign, Islamic politician would be with Barack bama.
Didn't wanna wait for the next boat I guess...
GAZA CITY (AFP) - Lauren Booth, the sister-in-law of former British prime minister Tony Blair, left the Gaza Strip on Saturday nearly a month after sailing in to protest an Israeli blockade of the territory. "Lauren Booth was able to leave Gaza today through the Rafah crossing with Egypt," Jamal al-Khodari, the head of the Popular Committee to Break the Siege, told AFP. Other activists close to Booth confirmed she had left. Soaked up enough of the Gaza lifestyle I guess?
The crossing -- the only gateway to Gaza not controlled by Israel -- was opened Saturday to allow 1,500 Gazans, mostly Muslim pilgrims on their way to Mecca, to leave the impoverished territory of 1.5 million people. Yeah. Mecca. Sure. That's where I'm going. Just let me get the HELL OUT OF HERE!
Booth had arrived in Gaza on August 23 with 43 other activists in two small fishing boats in a demonstration intended to highlight Israel's blockade of the territory, which has been ruled by the Islamist Hamas movement since June 2007. Since Hamas seized power, Israel has sealed Gaza off from all but vital humanitarian goods and severely restricted movement in and out. But although Israel controls Gaza's waters and airspace, it allowed the two boats to enter without incident in order to avoid a public standoff at sea. Authorities had however refused to allow Booth to enter Israel by land, saying she had reached the Gaza Strip illegally. Where ya going, honey? I don't think so...
Most of the campaigners who had sailed to Gaza aboard the two boats sailed back to Cyprus five days later, although nine, including Booth, remained in the Palestinian territory. Bye. We'll see you again I'm sure. Right?
The drumbeat. It's always there. Day and night. Rain or shine. Winter or Summer. Sunday or Monday. It comes at you from every direction. It comes over the TV, the radio, at work, at school, in music, in the newspapers, from the politicians, in conversation with others, even in church. It wears you down. It robs you of the will to resist its message. Even short-lived victories, which stop it briefly, leave you with the knowledge that it will return; each minor victory bound to be lost to the redoubled efforts of this patient and persistent force. You can't escape it. It never stops. It never gives up. It never ends. It rains upon you from every possible angle, from every possible source.
It's the drumbeat of the left. It is political, philosophical, theological, and social. It pervades every activity. It is post-structural, post-modern, post-everything in the parlance of the day. It is tolerant, diverse, non-judgmental, non-discriminatory, egalitarian, politically correct, multicultural, globalist, and collectivist. It insists that there are no rights and wrongs, no moral absolutes. It turns everything upside down in its looking glass world. It denies the correctness of all that produced what our culture revered before the deconstruction of the world in accordance with the tenets of cultural Marxism.
It denies God, human exceptionalism, and the soul. We are reduced to Darwinian animals floundering in an amoral sea of meaninglessness. It is a product of the nihilistic, existentialist philosophical movement, which went hand in hand with modern art, atonal music, scientific materialism and modern physics, and the generally discordant nature of the twentieth century.
It is said that a fish is not aware of the water in which it swims since it is totally immersed in it. This is the way cultural Marxism is taking over our world in its inexorable Gramscian march. We swim in it. It enters every pore of our existence. It is everywhere. We can't escape it. Many people accept this world without even realizing it, just as the fish accepts the water in which it swims. They don't realize it as the left creates new conventional wisdom and new intuitions about truth.
The cultural Marxists convince us that the truth is that there is no truth. And even though this unresolvable paradox lies at the very center of all this, the constant drumbeat keeps the masses in line, anesthetized enough to not make an issue of it. Fed a constant diet of sex, drugs, poisonous pop culture, materialistic trinkets, and unkeepable promises of security provided by huge leftist government, ever more globalist in nature, the masses are diverted from realizing, as they are told there is no truth, that this claim itself is subject to the same test. It is logically impossible for the leftist drumbeat to be true by its own axioms.
The principles upon which Western culture rests and upon which America was built are under attack by these slow acting but deadly forces. The drumbeat is grinding down the will of the West to maintain itself. The ideas of individual sovereignty and responsibility, natural rights, and objective truth have been derided by the left to the point that many of our young people reject them, if, indeed, they are even aware of them as the basis for our culture. All that ensures that a culture will pass its ideas down from one generation to the next is its cultural memory. The drumbeat is slowly but surely replacing our cultural memory.
As each school is renamed and the name of a Founder or other great person from our history is removed from its entrance way, we lose a bit of that memory. As our great authors and works of Western culture are replaced with those in line with the message of the drumbeat, we rapidly lose our cultural memory. As each school textbook is rewritten to reflect the new ideas of family and cultural heritage, our children are lost to the forces of the drumbeat as they learn to view America and traditional Western culture as oppressive and imperialistic. And it doesn't take long for there to be only a shell left, the substance of our culture sucked out and destroyed by the cultural Marxists.
If you believe that all this is a paranoid overreaction, you have plenty of company. Those of us who can still see the water and hear the drumbeat are subject to attempts to make us sound evil and foolish. To believe in traditional Western cultural values, American Exceptionalism, God, and moral truth is to be branded as old fashioned and foolish, even by the best assessments of those who have bought into the cultural Marxist's message. And by the worst of them, we are branded as stupid and evil, and in need of being destroyed.
It may be too late to do anything about this as the world plays out its story. The power-hungry arrogance of human beings seems to be the force that underlies the events carrying us forward to the final chapter. And as this arrogance and lust for power feeds the wills of those who would gain control of the world, humankind is gaining just enough knowledge to destroy itself in that arrogance. Never before in human history has there been such a confluence of forces. Technology, globalism, and the leftist drumbeat are joining together in a way that is allowing mankind to believe, on a worldwide scale, that it can control its own destiny.
The main thing that is being ignored in all this is human nature. It is all based upon the arrogant presumptions of the elitist cultural Marxists concerning how people ought to act. It leads to totalitarianism and destruction.
In truth, and in direct opposition to the drumbeat, each human being must be accorded his or her natural rights, individual sovereignty, and self responsibility to be in harmony with human nature. Each of us must have the freedom to succeed or to fail. Western culture, culminating in the great American experiment, has been perverted. Due to these perversions, many failures have already occurred, which have then, ironically, been used to justify further perversions of the same sort as those which caused the problems to begin with.
Generally, these perversions are manifested in bigger government, more laws, more bureaucracy, more regulations, more taxes, and government controlled redistribution of wealth, more collectivism, less individualism, and less freedom. We all hear it constantly from leftist politicians as they add their part to the drumbeat: government must do more to ensure Americans avoid the consequences of their choices. We all know the song, sung to the cheers of the unthinking throngs who would give up their very humanity for the promise of a free lunch. These are the joys of cultural Marxism.
#1
Pop a pill, guy. You'll feel better about things in a little while. The Left, with all it's many faces, carries the seeds of it's own self-destruction. Marxism evolved into Communism which degenerated into a corrupt dictatorship. American Communism deterrated into a thousand stupid causes. They all lock in on an ideal that they can't sustain because the have no means of self correcting their errors. People has an enormous tendency to sacrifice themselves to stupid, false gods. So, new pathetic players are added each year. Human nature.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 15:01
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#2
"they have no means of self correcting theirthink they make no errors"
Fixed that for ya', Richard.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 15:08
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#3
This drumbeat was FAR worse back when Reagan was President. Back before the Internet. Back before FoxNews. And back even before Rush Limbaugh. And yet, look at those Electoral Maps!
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/20/2008 15:56
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#4
Thing is, he has it right, except for the "inevitability" that he injects.
There are those of us who would rather fight and go down fighting than to believe that its all for naught.
But it does explain a lot of the hatred that Sarah Palin has drawn form these people -- she is the antithesis, and is successful, therefore a danger to them by revealing their psychoses.
In a report sure to spark a national conversation on race, an AP-Yahoo News study reported Saturday that white prejudice could be a significant enough factor to undermine Barack Obamas bid to be the first black president of the United States.
The AP-Yahoo study concluded that white Democratic racism may cause 2.5 percent of voters to "turn away from Obama because of his race," roughly the margin of George W. Bush's victory over John F. Kerry in 2004.
The AP-Yahoo study found that one-third of white Democrats cited a negative adjective when describing blacks and, of those, just 58 percent said they planned to back Obama. For example, AP reported that more than a quarter of white Democrats agreed that if blacks would only try harder, they could be just as well off as whites. Four in ten white independents agreed, while a quarter described blacks as "violent."
White Democratic supporters of Hillary Rodham Clinton were almost twice as likely as Obamas primary supporters to cite a negative adjective in describing blacks a finding consistent with trends in earlier polling. Only 59 percent of Clintons white Democratic supporters wanted Obama to be president.
The report may now begin a conversation on race, one notably absent considering the historic nature of Obamas bid and his own call for such a conversation in a speech delivered after racially charged remarks from his longtime pastor Jeremiah Wright emerged during the primary season. Just last month Obama accepted the Democratic nomination on the 45th anniversary of Martin Luther King Jr.'s "I Have a Dream" speech.
Throughout the 2008 presidential race, pollsters have been struggling to accurately gauge the degree of prejudice among whites and how that may affect the final outcome of this election. Democratic primary exit polls suggested that racism was a factor in the vote of as many as a fifth of white party members.
Analysts have long presumed that racism was under reported, as some who factor race into their vote would not be willing to admit that prejudice to pollsters.
Any possible latent racial prejudice among white Democrats has been of particular interest to analysts because it could potentially undo Obamas presidential bid. The AP study found that racism pervades political identity but that Republicans are already predisposed to support John McCain, regardless of their views on race.
To detect unreported racial biases, the study, among other metrics, sat those interviewed in front of monitors, using black and white faces to measure implicit racial attitudes, or prejudices that are so deeply rooted that people may not realize they have them. The survey then used statistical modeling to estimate the how representative those interviewed were of the electorate overall.
The survey's conclusions are likely to be controversial. AP reported that its team of pollsters set out to determine why Obama is locked in a close race with McCain even as the political landscape seems to favor Democrats.
The study, and report, both ignore other weaknesses widely considered by seasoned analysts to also undercut Obamas bid, among them his inexperience, generally liberal record and the fact that no northern Democrat has been elected president since 1960.
Still, analysts have also long agreed that race was a crucial unknown factor in this presidential race. The study also notes that race has helped Obama win near uniform support among blacks who have long tilted overwhelmingly Democratic though it does not consider whether some whites are also supporting Obama because his victory could symbolize a large step forward in race relations.
#2
So, properly speaking, would that statement be that "one-third of white Democrats are bigots", "one-third of white Democrats are racists", or "one-third of white Democrats are prejudiced."
And, left unsaid, how many black Democrats are bigots, racists, or prejudiced. Certainly many, judging from remarks by black "leaders", like Reverend Jeremiah Wright, this year.
So between the two groups, are 40% of Democrats bigots, racists, or prejudiced, or more like 50%?
#3
That seems to be the theme "du jour" for the donks and their proxies in the MSM. White shame. A vote for McPalin = racism.
This indicates that the donks and their friends in the MSM are becoming increasingly frightened they may lose this. More importantly this could actually backfire on the donks. Some of the rational voters who will not figure out who they will vote for until they get behind the curtain will remember this, resent it, and pull McPain.
#5
The report may now begin a conversation on race, one notably absent considering the historic nature of Obamas bid
I don't think so. The Obama/Axelrod 'hip-urban primary campaign' did a pretty damn good job of alienating traditional Democratic groups. The convention and post-convention antics have done further damage. Throwing in the continual-repeating line of "you won't vote for him because he's black" isn't going to help.
If there's going to be a 'conversation', I've a feeling it's going to be of the Clinton-era, encounter-group sort.
. . . a political campaign is a matter of building support. A candidate goes on all kinds of trips, pays for all kinds of advertisements, attends conferences and debates and makes appearances all over the place, in hopes of gaining a few voters along the way. When I wrote yesterday that at first I liked Obama and disliked McCain, I was being honest, and trying to explain that they each made their case over time, one gradually losing my interest and the other gaining my support. OK, so it's no news flash that a life-long Republican comes around to cheering for the GOP candidate, but it does bear mention that there have been a lot of folks waiting all year for a candidate to convince them that he deserves their support. There really is not that much that Obama or McCain have said, which changes either of their initial platforms very much, so it would make sense to see each platform grow gradually, and about to the same degree, though with more people identifying themselves as Democrats, Obama frankly should be doing better than he is seeing in hard numbers. And that brings us to what, precisely, would be dragging him back. And that is where the trolls come in.
People plain do not like trolls. Some of us work for trolls, like the caveman who steals your work for his own credit, or the sadist who likes abusing his staff as far as he can get away with it. Some of us see them in traffic, the guys who cut you off in traffic while signaling a gesture that most parents would not want to have to explain to their kids. And of course, there are the political trolls. And like all trolls, people react to them adversely, but what sets them apart is that they also tend to damage their patron at times. And so it is, that Barack Obama's pet trolls have been chewing away at support he needs in the election, weighing him down and making his message look, well, like he's lying through his teeth. It's one thing for The Obama campaign to examine Governor Palin's record as an executive, but out of line to attack her family as their trolls have done so gleefully. And since Obama has not made much of an effort to rein them in, the implicit approval of their attacks has attached him to the stench of their conduct. So too, the smear attempts by trolls to deny John McCain's heroic service in Vietnam has come back to make people wonder about why Barack Obama has not tried much at all to make clear that he respects John McCain's service. Barack Obama has been a little too cute the past month, with monsters who - if not under his direction, they have certainly not been condemned by his campaign - have tried to damaged the public perception of John McCain and Sarah Palin, but have instead provided each a stage to defend their records (which they have done well) and to make regular folks question why a man like Obama, Mister 'Above the Rancor', would let his people act like thugs. While Obama has tried to distance himself from the dirty tricks, they are very similar to tactics he used to defeat Hillary Clinton in the primary season, further staining the image he tried to paint for himself.
It is true that Barack Obama can win this election. But he has a big problem with the trolls he set out to trip up his opponent. They are working, instead and with great energy, at tearing apart the underpinnings of Obama's own character and judgment, and at the moment, trolls like Brian are creating an increasing momentum - for the McCain campaign.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/20/2008
13:24 ||
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#1
McCain can't take credit for these guys. The only one who could possibly get them to change their behavior is Obama. There's not much danger of that, though. They're just one of life's freebies for Republicans.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 15:08
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It's the Kommie Komputer Klan (KKK). They operate just like the old one. This is just the beginning. First it's to scare and silence those they wish to strip away power from [they don't share]. They'll continue to escalate their efforts working themselves up to the next level of destructiveness and intimidation. We've detected the initial out break of vandalism. Meanwhile, the behavior gets a blind eye from the party that believes it gains something from the Klan members, just like it did for many generations from the old one. A wink, a nod, a tsk-tsk, but no call for harsh and swift criminal punishment.
#4
A better questions is where are they going to get that $1T?
They have already spent this year's tax revenues, and are in deep deficit. Their typical source for enlarging the national debt, sort term T-bills, are in the basement. Nobody wants to buy them.
In 1895 was the last time the US Treasury about went bankrupt. And if nobody will lend the US government money, technically it is bankrupt right now. That is, literally no money in the bank to pay for *anything* else.
Literal bankruptcy. And there is absolutely nothing, zero, the US government can do about it. Their checks will no longer clear.
#7
Interesting times. Looks like the congresscritters, the executive branch, and the permanent bureaucracy have plundered us, the tax-payers, FBO themselves and the undeserving. BTW, we apparently will continue to pay bonuses and pensions to the people who drove Fannie and Freddie into the ground. It's time for a tax revolt: No taxation without representation.
#8
rjschwarz: But that's the point. Money just doesn't "go into the national debt." Every penny that goes in is owed to *somebody*, importantly somebody who credited the US for that debt.
If nobody is willing to be a creditor any more, then the national debt can't increase. Because there is no more money to spend.
The national debt is best described as like a casin* losing streak. The gambler has lost, so he bets double or nothing. But that only works as long as the casin* will cover his debt. Eventually, he is so deep in the hole that he wants to double the bet to the entire value of the casin*.
And for once, the casin* says "no".
"Pay up." At that point, the gambler is in very deep trouble. He can no longer bet, even though he wants to.
And if nobody will credit the US, it cannot spend money it doesn't have, either.
The U.S. Coast Guard says it intercepted a submarine-like vessel carrying 7 tons of cocaine off Central America's coast. The Coast Guard says a U.S. Navy aircraft spotted the 60-foot vessel Wednesday about 400 miles south of the Mexico-Guatemala border.
The Coast Guard sank the vessel after determining it was too unstable to be towed to port. The Coast Guard's statement Friday did not say if anyone was arrested. Officials didn't immediately return calls seeking comment.
The bust came four days after the U.S. Coast Guard and Navy seized another homemade submarine carrying 7 tons of cocaine. That craft was towed to a Coast Rican port and four Colombians on board were arrested.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008
11:05 ||
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Talk about polluting the ocean ..... but yeah, 7 tons is a whole lot of cocaine. Bolivia and Venezuela are really looking to prop up the economies run by their dictators, huh.
#6
BP - these vessels are neither flagged nor registered
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 13:43
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"sank the vessel after determining it was too unstable to be towed to port"
That's about four less occupants for federal prison. I'm glad we've learned from Gitmo.
Iraqi officials say gunmen have killed a cleric loyal to U.S. foe Muqtada al-Sadr in the southern city of Basra. Police say Sheik Oday Ali Abbas al-Ajrish was killed Friday evening near his home. A Basra police officer and a medic from the city's morgue confirmed the killing. They requested anonymity because they are not authorized to speak to the media.
This article starring:
SHEIK ODAI ALI ABAS AL AJRISH
Mahdi Army
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008
10:54 ||
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wow, that's too bad. HEY! College football's on!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 13:54
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However, if you want to build a defense posture based on deterrence, then you have to maintain a credible deterrent. In other words, potential aggressors have to be convinced that no matter what they throw at you in a surprise attack, you can retaliate with devastating force. Unfortunately, recent revelations about U.S. Air Force nuclear surety practices have called into question whether the strategic deterrence mission is still getting the high-level attention it deserves.
The U.S. Air Force has decided to further compromise the credibility of our nuclear deterrent by ceasing production of Minuteman missile motors next year for the first time since construction began 50 years ago.
Once production ceases, skills unique to the Minuteman will quickly wither away. And yet the service cannot prove today that its missiles will remain workable until 2030, as mandated by law. That evidence will not be available until 2014, long after production capability to respond to any performance shortfalls has disappeared.
#1
The LGM-30 is rapidly becoming antiquated. Having been in service since 1970, an upgrade from late 1950s technology, a modern version ICBM would be as different as a Porsche 911 is from a Model T Ford.
Quite literally, as Model T's were still being made in 1927, and Porsche 911 in 1963 - just 36 years later.
And the Minuteman 3 was made in 1970 - 38 years ago.
Japan said Thursday it had shot down a mock missile in the US desert, taking another step to build a shield with the United States against a possible North Korean attack.
Japan became the first country other than the United States to test the new US-developed Patriot Advanced Capability-3 (PAC-3), a surface-to-air missile that tracks and hits incoming targets, the defence ministry said.
In the test Wednesday in the southwestern US state of New Mexico, Japan's air force shot down a mock missile that was launched from 120 kilometres (75 miles) away, a defence ministry spokesman said.
"The success of the test was significant as it proved that Japan's missile defence system will function effectively," the spokesman said.
The U.S. Energy Department has delivered more than 1 million barrels of emergency exchange oil due to supply disruptions caused by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike.
Officials said the emergency oil was delivered along pipeline systems from the U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve to various oil company refineries since Sunday.
The deliveries included 678,000 barrels to the ConocoPhillips Co.'s Wood River refinery, 250,000 barrels to the Marathon Petroleum Co.'s Midwest refineries and 109,000 barrels to a Placid Oil Co. refinery.
The U.S. Strategic Petroleum Reserve, which has a 1 billion-barrel capacity, is the largest stockpile of government-owned emergency crude oil in the world, the Energy Department said.
#4
"delivered more than 1 million barrels"
Don't give 'em a lot of credit.
Perspective: U.S. petroleum consumption is almost 21 million barrels PER DAY.
http://www.eia.doe.gov/basics/quickoil.html
#5
Darrell, its not really meant to run the whole country, its more useful for exactly what it is being used for; a regional or temporary supply to combat a short term disruption. It would be physically impossible to draw 21 million bbl. a day from one source anyway. There is no conceivable disaster that could stop ALL domestic production and ALL imported crude deliveries. So I think its being used for exactly what it was made for. At a million bbl. a day it would last almost 3 years.
A large explosion has rocked the Pakistani capital, Islamabad, causing many casualties, reports say.
The blast is reported to have happened in the area of the Marriott Hotel.
Reuters news agency quoted an unnamed police official as saying the explosion was caused by a suspected suicide bomber, but this has not been verified.
#1
AP: A huge explosion ripped through part of the heavily guarded Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital on Saturday. Many people, including foreigners, were seen running out, some of them stained with blood.
There was no immediate word on casualties at the site, which is a favorite place for foreigners to stay and is heavily guarded. Ambulances rushed to the scene, where a fire also burned.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 10:51
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#2
At the risk of sounding like a smug, uncaring bastard I'll go ahead and say; The chikcens have come home to roost.
#3
Bomb rocks Islamabad hotel, at least 17 dead: TV A suspected car bomb caused a huge explosion outside the Marriott Hotel in the Pakistani capital on Saturday and the Dawn television station said at least 17 people had been killed.
A reporter at the scene told CNN that as many as 200 people were feared to be inside the building. Television images showed flames and smoke pouring out of the hotel and bodies being carried away.
"The explosion happened as a car reached the barricade outside the hotel," a senior police official said, adding that it appeared to have been a suicide attack.
A Reuters witness said he could see fires in at least two places in the hotel and at least 20 cars parked on the street outside had been destroyed. Television pictures later showed flames spreading to other parts of the 290-room hotel, located close to the city centre and very popular with tourists.
Witnesses reported that ceilings in the hotel lobby and dining area had collapsed.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 11:13
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#4
AP: Police say at least 40 people have died in a massive explosion that destroyed the luxury Marriott Hotel in Pakistan's capital.
Senior police official Asghar Raza Gardaizi said he fears there are dozens more dead inside. He said that the Saturday blast, which reverberated throughout Islamabad, was caused by more than a ton of explosives.
The blast left a crater some 30 feet deep in front of the main building.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 11:50
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#7
Not that Mr. Wife has ever travelled to Pakistan, but it is partially for this kind of information that I read Rantburg. May the victims of yet another jihadi atrocity rest in peace, and the jihadi murderers quickly meet their just reward.
#8
now where would someone get a ton of explosives in a sovereign stable state with border integrity? Oh, yeah, this is Pakland. My bad. Seems like the Pakis have more to worry about than the occasional drone attack, hmmmm?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 13:47
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#9
This was an attack on Westerners IN Pakistan, not really on Pakistan itself. Though am sure that is only a minor difference to those who carried it out.
#12
The spiral is intensifying: The Taliban/NWTA and Pakistani Government are locked in a fight to the death. Not unlike AL Queada in Iraq and the Anbar councils.
Let's watch.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/20/2008 15:37
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#13
New Claim: that senior CIA officials were believed to be at the hotel at the time, and it was an assassination attempt.
#15
I was being sarcastic (how unusual?). I have no doubts the explosives, if found undamaged, would bear ISI fingerprints, even if this were not an ISI-directed mission
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 17:37
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#16
I'm certainly glad they didn't find out about our alternate site at Ramna-4.
#18
All you need is ammonium nitrate fertilizer and fuel oil mixed in (ANFO). Then you need a detonator charge go give it the shock it needs to go off. Fast, cheap, and easily stows in a delivery truck.
Posted by: Alaska Paul back home ||
09/20/2008 20:25
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#19
this likely wasn't Abu Timothy. This was a TTP/Taliban effort with backing, indirectly from the ISI. Time for the ISI to have several "casualties"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 20:50
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#20
Past time, Frank.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 20:52
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#21
I stayed at this hotel several times in the early '90s. It is right next to the US Consulate in the tony Clifton section of Karachi.
#23
you're talkin' about the Karachi Marriot, remoteman. This is the Islamabad clone.
The explosive of choice for these guys tends to be RDX. lets see what it turns out to be this time. its not all that difficult to buy PETN and dynamite and blasting caps around here, by the way.
LOS ANGELES -- Teens choose to drop out of high school for a variety of reasons, and these days, the large numbers of students making that choice is alarming many educators. Couldn't have anything to do with the 3 million illegal immigrants in California. Nah, the 60% dropout rate at, largely Latino, Jefferson High School in LA is a coincidence. More money, that's the ticket. After all, everyone knows illegal immigrants contribute more taxes than they consume. That's why we Californians can't understand the state's inability to balance the budget. It must be that little minority of Trunks in the legislature. If only the Donks could get a 100% majority and a Governor.
The educators often hear stories like that of Tanya Stoddard, 37, who dropped out of high school in her senior year. "Right when it happened I felt completely brokenhearted, like a total failure," Stoddard said. "I just felt incomplete."
A series of family problems, health and economic woes made school seem irrelevant, Stoddard said, so she left school before graduating and supported herself with a series of odd jobs.
In California, educators are using new tracking data called the Statewide Student Identifier System to get a better handle on the dropout rate and where kids end up going. Recently, they were surprised to learn the figures were twice what they originally thought. "When you look at the dropout figures for California, the 24.2 percent figure is totally unacceptable," said Jack O'Connell, the state's superintendent of public instruction.
That figure is based on the state's new formula for calculating dropout rates. The method for tracking dropouts varies around the country, and other estimates often are much lower. But any way you count them, the dropout numbers can translate to social problems.
"We know that dropouts are much more likely to engage in crime. They're much more likely to be unemployed. They're much more likely to be dependent on welfare," said Russell Rumberger, who heads up the California Dropout Research Project at the University of California at Santa Barbara. "So they suffer individually as well as society suffering in terms of absorbing all the costs that these dropouts generate."
His research shows California dropouts from a single year, the class of 2009 for instance, could cost state and federal governments nearly $50 billion dollars over the course of their lives in lost wages, social programs, incarceration and health care costs.
But some students are able to get back on the right track and become role models. It took Stoddard just two years to realize the lack of a high school diploma would hold her back from any kind of real success in life, so she went back to school, earned undergraduate and graduate college degrees and now is planning to pursue a doctorate in education. "If your intention is to drop out, pleased don't," she said. "I can't tell you the heartache that comes with dropping out. Even when you say it doesn't matter, it really does. It will stop you from being able to achieve."
O'Connell said one solution, particularly in California, is to invest more in education. Let's tax all the money from the people who have it (except Hollywood) and give it to the people that don't have any. It's the patriotic thing to do.
"The state of California today, if you look at dollars per student, we rank 46th out of all 50 states in terms of dollars per student," he said. "That's abysmal." Illegal Immigration Costs California $10.5 Billion Annually
Aside from money, experts say the focus should be teacher accountability, which often creates problems with powerful unions. Also important are community involvement and a stronger relationship between school and student, so kids view learning as a priority and not a problem.
#2
Whatever the problem with the dropout rate, throw more money at it. That will fix it right up. No doubt about. Always does the job.Give the kids more support for dropping out of school. Look at how succesful this solution has been for solving the teen pregnacy problem. Subsidize the things you want to reduce. we hardly have a teen mom problem at all, unless you count Alaskan daughters of politicans.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 10:52
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#3
My sarcasm just swept me away in my las post. I also wanted to say something serious. So here goes. Teens should not be making vital decisions for infants. Tens should not have serious responsibilities for infants. Not if you don't want build a system of screwed up, disfunctional kids you grow up to be disfunctional adults who produce more disfunctional kids. What would happen if pregnant teens and their breeders lost their babies to either responsible adult family or responsible strangers? No apartment and massive government assistence to the little mommie. Other grownups would find the best solution for the interests of the infant. Mommie and daddie would go to some rehabilitation camp to finish school and grow up. OK, maybe not quite that, but take the reward out of teenage pregnacies.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 11:08
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#4
"Right when it happened I felt completely brokenhearted, like a total failure, ..."
I guess these things are like acts of God: they just happen.
/sarcasm
#5
Between the rampaging illegals, the Donk stranglehold on both the Legislature and the state's 55 electoral votes, and its large cities exhibiting all the wonderful attributes of Calcutta and Beirut, maybe it's time to put a mechanism in the Constitution that would enable booting California out of the Union.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
09/20/2008 12:19
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#6
Unfortunately, California already spends a disportionate amount on education. Education spending ought to be reduced. The foolish voters a few years ago passed an initiative giving education the biggest slice of the budget pie. There is a bottomless pit on education spending and it needs to stop. But it can't happen unless voters reverse themselves. Californians have to face the fact that a massive tax increase is staring them squarely in the face. They still have no current operating budget, unless one was concluded this morning. And, once again the solution is not cutting expenditures nor implementing a hefty tax increase...it is to borrow yet more. But, this charade may be ending. Selling bonds and continued borrowing are going to be much more difficult following this financial travesty. California voters better grow up and face problems like adults, not spoiled children.
#7
This article also rates a "Master of the Obvious" graphic. I lived in California for over 20 years starting in the mid 1970's. I went to college later than most folks, on the proverbial Ten-Year Plan of night school while working full time. In any class that required group projects with a written termpaper at the end, I could always tell which members of my group were, like myself, products of K-12 education outside of California...we'd invariably be the only ones who could construct a coherent sentence, never mind a paragraph.
California schools - all of them, I don't care where they're located - are nothing more than tax-supported moron factories. Back in the 1980's, I remember talking to an older co-worker whose parents brought her out to California after WWII. In those days, many California schools would bump a kid from a decent Eastern or Midwestern school district ahead by two full grades. Of course, they won't do that now...better to bore the hell out of them and encourage them to add to the dropout rate so the district can whine for more money for "dropout prevention programs." I also found Census data indicating that my old Ohio school district, located in a solidly middle-class but by NO means "rich" district, was sending more kids on to college, with higher SAT scores, than California districts like La Jolla and Beverly Hills.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
09/20/2008 12:35
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#8
Two problems can be solved at once, here. To start with, higher education in the US is on the verge of collapse as a system. It has overbuilt on the idea of endlessly increasing student bodies and budgets.
Yet at the same time, only a fraction of the degrees given are worth anything. A large portion are crap degrees.
So some day soon, business will realize that a college degree just deprives them of four of the most productive employee years. Employees that they have to educate from scratch, anyway.
This means that the sign will go up: hiring preference to non-college degree applicants. Once this happens, oddly enough, it will force high school students to get a high school diploma as well.
Colleges will still be here, just reduced to what they were originally intended to be.
#10
The educators often hear stories like that of Tanya Stoddard, [age] 37
A proof of the quality of that education being that the example given is of a girl who dropped out because of her family situation, then went back two years later to get her GED certificate, thus essentially graduating from high school. It would have been useful to the discussion had the university-degreed journalist noticed -- and provided perspective on -- what percentage of dropouts are actually merely stop-outs who finish later, and what percentage of those stop-outs go on to get higher degrees. Both my parents, for instance, had to stop out of high school. Both subsequently went on to earn PhDs, and both taught at the graduate level, Daddy as a full professor.
#11
Trailing Wife makes a good point. In the US, we give second and third chances to almost everyone. Sex offenders seem to be an exception. A few like her parents do very well, indeed. Most high school dropouts get locked in to a less prosperous future because of early bad decisions. In other countries, for the most part kids are locked in to an educational path early, before puberty in some cases, with little chance to break out of the preordained path. Late bloomers are out of luck. Kids who drop out of school do have chances later on to reenter, but why give them incentives to drop out at all? I'm talking about government support for children raising infants. It is very costly, especially to the future of those babies.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 18:28
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#12
Some boomers had a parent or parents who only completed the 8th grade, entered the work force, worked hard during and after the depression, became productive citizens, married, raised families, paid taxes, fought in wars, and stayed out of jail. Government, money and teachers have little to do with personal choices and outcomes. Parential example, motivation, grit, and a swift kick in the arse have about as much to do with staying in school as anything. I do not accept the premise that a lack of education is an excuse or justification for criminal behavior or a ticket into the cult of victimization.
I reported last week that the much anticipated, long awaited DreamWorks-Reliance deal was already done, and likely to be signed any day. But at the time I was also told there were just some other issues surrounding the debt financing that had to be wrapped up (probably because the world has been in a financial crisis). Suddenly, the Wall Street Journal comes out with a story just now saying the deal is "done". I presume what the paper means is that it was signed today. My own sources tell me that DreamWorks informed its owner Paramount within the last 24 hours that it has executed its deal with Reliance. But today Paramount waived certain provisions from the original deal to clear the way for the DreamWorks principals and their employees to join their new company "without delay".
The DreamWorks principals will have one of India's largest entertainment conglomerates set up its new $1.2 billion film company. Mumbai-based Reliance ADA Group will invest $500 million equity and provide another $700 million in debt through J.P. Morgan Chase toward the new venture, which will produce a slate of about 6 films a year. The deal now means that David Geffen has engineered his most fervent wish: to give Steven Spielberg and his DreamWorks chief exec Stacey Snider enough film financing to produce independently so they can leave an ugly relationship with Paramount behind them.
Next comes a distribution deal, which is why GE's Jeffrey Immelt and Universal's Ron Meyer were dining with Spielberg and Snider last Thursday and why NBC Universal boss Jeff Zucker spent the better part of that afternoon with Steven planning out the rebuild of the fire-ravaged Uni backlot. Given how Spielberg sees Universal as his professional home (he never moved his offices even after Paramount bought DreamWorks), I've always assumed he'd land there. Now, with Immelt and Zucker paying homage, it looks like another done deal no matter how much Geffen would dearly love to play one studio off of the other and mastermind a bidding war for Spielberg/Snider. And David himself? He keeps telling everyone that all he wants is to say goodbye to the movie biz.
Continued on Page 49
Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which has inspired a multitude of songs by stars and amateurs alike, is now getting an official soundtrack. Next up...official action figures, play sets, backpacks, breakfast cereals, lunchboxes and Happy Meal toys. Get them all now, and be one of the kewl kidz!
''Yes We Can: Voices of a Astroturf Grassroots Movement,'' which takes its title from an Obama campaign slogan, features Kanye West, John Legend, Sheryl Crow, Stevie Wonder and others. It will be available for sale exclusively through Obama's campaign starting today.
Proceeds from the CD ($24.99 for a digital download, $30 for a physical product) will help fund Obama's campaign until Nov. 4, Election Day, according Hidden Beach Recordings, which created the CD.
Steve McKeever, CEO and founder of Hidden Beach, a longtime Obama supporter, said he had been talking to people within the Obama campaign about a project like ''Yes We Can'' for a while. ''We had conversations quite some time ago about how to harness what was happening really organically and naturally with so many artists,'' he said. ''The whole concept (was) how do we translate that to inspire and invigorate and also give people a keepsake that they can own while at the same time providing some important capital needed for this campaign.'' If the recording gig goes south, he's a natural speechwriter for John Kerry.
While most of the songs on the disc have been previously released -- such as John Mayer's ''Waiting On the World to Change'' and Stevie Wonder's classic ''Signed, Sealed, Delivered I'm Yours'' -- a few of the songs are new, including John Legend's ''Pride in the Name of Love'' and ''Promised Land,'' a song by Malik Yusef featuring Kanye West and Adam Levine of Maroon 5.
The ''Yes We Can'' CD is only the latest musical project inspired by Obama. Earlier this year, an all-star music video featuring Legend, Scarlet Johansson, Kate Walsh, Common, and others, led by the Black Eyed Peas' will.i.am and titled ''Yes We Can,'' became a viral sensation, garnering millions of views on the Internet. Will.i.am followed that up with another celebrity-filled video, ''We Are the Ones.''
There also have been songs by amateurs posted regularly on YouTube.com, while other celebrities -- including Jay Jay French of Twisted Sister -- have sung Obama-inspired songs. Recently, Dave Stewart debuted his own all-star video, ''American Prayer,'' which featured Whoopi Goldberg, Barry Manilow, Forest Whitaker and Cyndi Lauper.
While Republican presidential candidate John McCain has had songs penned for him, such as ''Lead the Way'' by a lawyer named Judd Kessler, he has not inspired the same groundswell of musical support.
The McCain camp said it had no plans to release a CD of its own and greeted news of Obama's with a dig. ''It's ironic that on a day when the economy is in turmoil, Barack Obama fails to release an economic plan, but instead chooses a celebrity rock album,'' said spokesman Tucker Bounds.
Obama said today he was holding off on detailing his plans for the nation's credit crisis because he doesn't have a freakin' clue did not want to risk roiling the markets at such a sensitive time.
After the election, the CD is due to be released through other outlets.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 10:05
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#3
A pair of Official Obama(tm) Underoos would be, like, totally cool. Expecially if they had an embedded music chip that played Hail To The Chief when you ...um...uh, never mind.
#4
The McCain camp said Its ironic that on a day when the economy is in turmoil, Barack Obama fails to release an economic plan, but instead chooses a celebrity rock album, .
#9
a Michelle mask should be a suitable ED-inducing contraceptive
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 15:42
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#10
After watching that horrid third rate can we fis it video, it finally hit me where i had seen the BO logo. this is another edition of stealing trademarks for your own use: this is an AMTRAK logo, right down to the 5 alternating stripes (repesenting rails) fading off to the right.
wasn't enough he tried to use the Grest Seal of the POTUS, now he wants to make the trains run on time. last guy that said that got a necktie party IIRC.
South Africa's governing African National Congress (ANC) has called on President Thabo Mbeki to resign amid claims he conspired against its chief.
It comes days after a judge suggested the president had interfered in a case against party rival, Jacob Zuma. The ANC's Secretary General Gwede Mantashe told reporters Mr Mbeki had "welcomed the news", but it is not clear if he has agreed to step down. Mr Zuma is expected to succeed Mr Mbeki in scheduled elections next year.
The decision was taken at a meeting of the ANC's National Executive Committee (NEC). The committee, which is made up of mainly Mr Zuma's supporters, cannot force Mr Mbeki, who denies the allegations, to go. Mr Zuma toppled his rival as ANC leader in bitterly contested elections last year, while Mr Mbeki fired him as deputy president in 2005.
Mr Mantashe said the NEC had "decided to recall the president of the republic before his term of office expires". He said Mr Mbeki "did not display shock" at the decision. "He welcomed the news and agreed that he is going to participate in the process and the formalities," Mr Mantashe said.
Earlier this month a High Court judge dismissed corruption and other charges against Mr Zuma, saying there was evidence of political interference in the investigation.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/20/2008
09:00 ||
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#1
I hear drums
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 9:43
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#2
So, South Africa moves from a President who doesn't believe HIV causes AIDS to a President who acknowledges HIV but believes that a shower after having unprotected sex with an HIV+ woman protected him.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/20/2008 15:19
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New Delhi: Whether as bait or actual commitment, the United Progressive Alliance government has promised the United States that India will acquire 10,000 MW worth of nuclear power generating capacity from American firms -- more than what it is currently negotiating to buy from Russia and France combined.
This startling figure lay buried in the testimony -- or "testimoney" -- of William Burns, U.S. Under Secretary for Political Affairs, before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee in Washington on September 18.
"The Indian government," said Mr. Burns, "has provided the United States with a strong Letter of Intent, stating its intention to purchase reactors with at least 10,000 Mega Watts (MWe) worth of new power generation capacity from U.S. firms." India, he added, "has committed to devote at least two sites to U.S. firms." Until recently official U.S. expectations of contracts in the nuclear arena were pegged much lower. In testimony to Congress in 2006, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice had spoken of the U.S. building only one or two reactors.
In its January 16, 2008, replies to Congress, the U.S. State Department said India indicated it planned to import at least eight 1000 MW reactors by 2012 from international sources. In a cautious vein, the State Department spoke of the employment spin-offs "if American vendors win just two of these reactor contracts."
But some time between January and September, India appears to have sweetened the deal by sending across a "strong Letter of Intent" for the purchase of at least 10 U.S. reactors over an undefined time period.
Speaking to The Hindu on condition of anonymity, official sources familiar with India's current plans for the expansion of nuclear power said Mr. Burns's figure indicated two things. "The government appears to have dramatically scaled up both the amount of new nuclear generating capacity it wants built as well as the share within that for imported light water reactors," said a senior official.
Under the current plans of 20,000 MW worth of nuclear power by 2020, half that amount is supposed to come from India's indigenous pressurised heavy water reactors, 2,000 MW from its fast breeder reactors, and 8,000 MW from imported LWRs. With Russia already building two 1,000 MW reactors at Koodankulam, that leaves 6,000 MW of capacity to be apportioned between Russia, France and the U.S.
"But if the target is being hiked to 30,000 MW or higher, then obviously the share of imported LWRs is also being scaled up." In a recent speech, Atomic Energy Commission chairman Anil Kakodkar spoke of India importing up to 40,000 MW of LWRs by 2020. Even so, officials are surprised by the scale of the promise India appears to have made to the U.S. "Even if the number of imported LWRs increases dramatically, the fact is the Americans are in third position in terms of technology," said an official, expressing surprise that U.S. companies like GE and Westinghouse -- which lag far behind their Russian and French counterparts in technological terms and have not built new reactors in the U.S. for decades -- could eventually get such a large order.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/20/2008
08:11 ||
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New Delhi: A terror suspect arrested from Delhi's Jamia Nagar on Friday has confessed his involvement in the recent blasts in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi, sources said.
Saif is the son of an Indian member of parliament
Saif admitted that his associate Bashir alias Atiq masterminded all the blasts. Sources also claim that it was Saif who planted the bomb outside Regal Cinema in Central Delhi. Saif was arrested following a fierce exchange of fire between the Special Cell of the Delhi Police and five suspected Indian Mujahideen terrorists, who were holed up inside House No L-18, Batla House in Jamia Nagar.
Police gunned down two suspects while the other two managed to escape. Bashir, whom the police had been searching for in the area, was shot dead during the encounter.
This article starring:
BASHIR ALIAS ATIQ
Indian Mujaheddin
Posted by: john frum ||
09/20/2008
07:55 ||
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Two short quotes on this latest folly by government.
SEC are insisting the bans are temporary measures and that they believe short selling is a "legitimate trading investment technique in normal market conditions", the hedge fund sector thinks it is being scapegoated.
"The knee-jerk reaction of politicians is just mind-blowingly stupid," said one short trader. "Obvious pressure has been applied on the FSA to be seen to be doing something and they have come up with this little gem the problem in the markets is nothing to do with short selling."
and
Some analysts warn that the regulators' moves against short selling may actually damage the intended beneficiaries of the crack-down, with the prime brokerage units of banks suffering a sharp fall in revenues. "The ban on short selling will mean some hedge funds will not be able to execute strategies they want to do," Andrew Shrimpton, a partner at the hedge fund consultants Kinetic Partners, said. "It is going to impact the profitability of prime brokers, there is no question of that," he warned.
#3
Naked shorting driven by false rumors started by employees of brokerages and the naked shorters themselves is even more destructive. Prove it. Post citations & urls to document your assertion.
#4
SPOD: Naked shorting driven by false rumors started by employees of brokerages and the naked shorters themselves is even more destructive.
Lehman, Bear Stearns and AIG weren't driven out of business by false rumors. Potential buyers looked over their books in detail and saw so much toxic waste that they balked. Again the problem is that they're insolvent by some huge margin (liabilities >>>>> assets). This ban on shorting is simply a government-mandated transfer of cash from people who were right and had puts expiring on Friday or short positions in hard-to-borrow stocks to the people on the other side of their trades.
If these companies were worth anything, don't you think Warren Buffett would have stepped in and bought them out? T. Boone Pickens? Foreign sovereign funds? The shorts did not drive them out of business - their balance sheets did. The bottom line is that their demise had everything to do with their bad bets and excessive leverage, and nothing to do with short selling. All that short sellers - and stockholders liquidating their holdings - did was recognize their impending closure. The idea that short sellers prevent companies from continuing to exist is wrong. There are plenty of large pools of capital out there - including pools of capital owned by short sellers, whose objective is to make money rather than hew to any particular method of trading. If it made sense to acquire companies like AIG, Lehman and Bear Stearns, these pools of capital would already have pounced.
Lehman's market cap is now around $1b. Why hasn't someone swooped in to buy the company and pay off the creditors? Why is Lehman's debt trading at $0.30 on the dollar? Are short sellers shorting their debt as well? Are bond buyers so irrational that they won't buy debt in cases where they think repayment is certain for $0.30 on the dollar? Maybe the reason is that they don't think repayment is such a sure thing.
The Securities and Exchange Commission on Sept. 17 took several coordinated actions to strengthen investor protections against "naked" short selling. The Commission's actions will apply to the securities of all public companies, including all companies in the financial sector. The actions are effective on 2:01 a.m. ET today.
"These several actions today make it crystal clear that the SEC has zero tolerance for abusive naked short selling," said SEC Chairman Christopher Cox. The new rules, adopted on an interim final basis, require short sellers and their broker-dealers to deliver securities by the close of business on the settlement date three days after the sales transaction date and impose penalties for failure to do so. If a short sale violates the close-out requirement, SEC will prohibit any broker-dealer acting on the short seller's behalf from further short sales in the same security unless the shares are not only located, but also pre-borrowed. The commission also eliminated the options market maker exception from the close-out requirement.
Cox had plenty of realtime data on the shorts being sold. Even without knowing if any particular position was covered, he could easily see that massive naked short selling was occurring - and given that computerized trading is done nearly always based on technical indicators, that was coming very close to causing a total meltdown in the market on Wednesday.
Cox was looking at far more than the beatdown of Lehman stock. There were a lot of other banks whose stock values were driven down as much as 80% in a 2 hour period of trading at the height of the panic on Wednesday. As a result, there was a period on Wednesday when it would have literally been impossible for most banks in the US to meet liquidity requirements. The entire credit circulation system was in serious danger of being cut off by the tourniquet of naked short selling that day.
#6
Lotp: I'm nearly as ignorant of the market process as a hog is about the sabbath. Can you explain the down side of just letting the entire wad collapse vs the "W" bail out?
#7
Short version: the daily exchanges of credit that keep banks open would have been cut off. Not just to the Lehmans of the world, but to your local bank.
Which would have prevented them from doing things like meeting their obligations for cash to small and medium sized businesses that typically generate working capital from the banks, using their inventories and/or receivables as collateral.
Which would bring those businesses to a halt, with the result that they would lay off workers and stop ordering materials ....
Meanwhile, the banks themselves would have had to shut due to the liquidity required by regulation. Which would have caused a serious collapse of the dollar, of international financial circulation and quite possibly a global depression.
No exageration. There are that many international financial institutions who drank the coolaid of packed subprime mortgages or derivatives based on them.
#9
Cox had plenty of realtime data on the shorts being sold. Even without knowing if any particular position was covered, he could easily see that massive naked short selling was occurring - and given that computerized trading is done nearly always based on technical indicators, that was coming very close to causing a total meltdown in the market on Wednesday.
We have had meltdowns in the market before. The Dow fell 23% in 1987. What we saw on Wednesday was a 5% drop. It was many things, but a meltdown it was not.
#11
lotp: Short version: the daily exchanges of credit that keep banks open would have been cut off. Not just to the Lehmans of the world, but to your local bank.
Stock price collapses don't crush banks. Insolvency (debts > assets) does. What Paulson is trying to engineer is a situation where busted banks can raise new capital to avoid bankruptcy by issuing new stock. The problem with this strategy is that investors know that in the absence of short-sellers, these prices are cooked/inflated. Nobody trusts the valuations. (This is why the Chinese market remains at 1/3 of its peaks despite government exhortations and a prohibition on shorting). If stock prices are going to crash anyway and stockholders are going to get the shaft, why is Paulson doing what he's doing? Probably as a favor to his friends on Wall Street - they can survive recapitalizations via stock issues (if they manage to carry them out successfully), but they'll be turfed, in the event of bankruptcy filings, in favor of new management. What happens to stockholders who subscribe to these issues is not Paulson's problem - after all, it is written (of the brokerage industry) - "Where are the customers' yachts?"
#12
I think I agree, ZF, that this bailout is an effort to help bankers and not depositors or the economy. Bankers should be hung out to dry with their shareholders.
#13
Heres another thought. Lehman had huge stock option programs for its senior executives. In the past four years, Lehman bought back $6.5b in stock in order to pump up the value of their stock options. If Lehman had that $6.5b last week, would it have folded? I dont know. But having kept that cash would have increased Lehmans shareholder capital by almost 1/3. Should companies with lavish executive stock option programs be allowed to buy back stock? Now thats a question thats worth pondering, because it directly affects the solvency of the companies that do the buybacks.
Yet another question - is Paulson doing this ban on short selling to protect the massive stock option holdings of his friends and ex-colleagues at the big banks?
#14
By liquidity do you mean capital requirements which are driven by the stupid mark to matrket rules
Capital requirements are one part of it. I'm not at all sure I agree that mark to market rules are stupid, but leaving that aside for the moment, there were other liquidity issues as well.
In particular, given the free for all panic in financials (not the whole market, ZF, but in banking-related instruments in particular) even banks in relatively good position were finding that they could not borrow the usual very short term (overnight, mostly) funds they rely on. Those funds are what enables them to offer low credit card / loan rates, among other things, because they don't have to keep more cash on hand than needed by borrower demand each day.
It was the imminent freeze up of that funding that threatened to bring the banking system to a halt. The Federal Reserve loosened overnight borrowing requirements, but that alone wasn't enough to halt the unraveling.
And if that had happened, we would have been looking at a lot more than a 5% drop in the DOW. But in any case, it wasn't the DOW that was the immediate concern - it was what was on the verge of spreading throughout the national and international banking systems that caused Cox to halt the short selling in financials.
Which is exactly what the SEC is supposed to do: ensure orderly markets and, in rare instances when a market ceases to be orderly, to halt trading. In this case they halted only what they had to to stop the panic/greed attack, i.e. the massive naked short selling of financial instruments and bank equities that was spinning out of control on Wednesday.
Those who say no such danger existed need to back that up, big time -- and to present a credible case for how exactly they have access to the data to do so. The SEC has sophisticated tracking systems that monitor in real time what is happening in the markets - information no one else has in aggregate or in total detail. They did not take this action lightly or to bail out buddies - unless everyone in this country is their friend.
#15
This WSJ article summarizes how close we came to some serious disaster on Wednesday. Excerpt:
When government officials surveyed the flailing American financial system this week, they didn't see only a collapsed investment bank or the surrender of a giant insurance firm. They saw the circulatory system of the U.S. economy -- credit markets -- starting to fail.
Huddled in his office Wednesday with top advisers, Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson watched his financial-data terminal with alarm as one market after another began go haywire. Investors were fleeing money-market mutual funds, long considered ultra-safe. The market froze for the short-term loans that banks rely on to fund their day-to-day business. Without such mechanisms, the economy would grind to a halt. Companies would be unable to fund their daily operations. Soon, consumers would panic.
RTWT
I'd like to remind sceptics that here at Rantburg we had a couple people urging us to withdraw cash - several $1000 per person, as I recall ....
#18
lotp - distinctions like this are important. I am still waiting for anyone to post cites and urls documenting the epidemic of NSS you referred to earlier.
#20
Meanwhile, back at the SEC:
"The Commission staff is recommending to the Commission a modification to its order prohibiting short selling in securities of specified financial firms. This modification would extend, for the life of the order, the exemption for hedging activities by exchange and over-the-counter market makers in derivatives on the securities covered by the order. "
Had to really dig to find this one. It was not referenced at the SEC's main web page, I found it cited in another financial article.
JEDDAH: Inspired by men in the family who lease cars to close relatives, two women from the Al-Mutari family are making money by giving financial aid for an extra charge.
"I started using my daughter's dowry money," said one of them. "My daughter received her dowry more than a year before her wedding. I used 50 percent of that money and started lending to friends and family for an extra charge. When it was time for her wedding I returned the money and a little extra. I had managed to collect enough money to continue my business."
Most of her customers are relatives in the tribe. But other people also seek financial aid from her.
"I receive more customers during the month of Ramadan than any other month," she said. "Most people tend to give their homes a makeover during Ramadan. So cash is needed to pay for the new furniture and I offer the best and fastest service possible. People come for everything: furniture, gold, home appliances and even mobile phones." For each SR1,000 she charges SR300 extra.
So she's a loan shark. In Arabia.
These women said they sought religious counsel to ensure that their business is permitted in Islam. They were advised that their lending is permitted if they make the purchases of the items, and then sell them to their customers with the markup, rather than lending the cash and charging the fee based on the amount of money loaned.
#3
The first thing that came to mind when I read this was the Grameen Bank. (They also charge high interest rates, not this high, but in the range of 20%) If the Saudi ladies in question could use this to get little enterprises running, that might be a very good thing indeed.
WASHINGTON: A former supporter and generous donor to Hillary Clinton announced on Wednesday she had endorsed Republican John McCain for president, saying she did so because the Democratic nominee Barack Obama was too elitist.
Even before jumping ship for the McCain campaign, Lynn Forester de Rothschild did not hide her dislike for Obama, who narrowly defeated Clinton in a months-long battle for the Democratic nomination.
In July she told CNN: Frankly I dont like him. I feel like he is an elitist. I feel like he has not given me reason to trust him. Rothschild, wife of British banker Sir Evelyn de Rothschild, and long-time member of the Democratic Party, gave more than 100,000 dollars to Clintons failed bid for the partys nomination.
Senator Clinton disagrees with her decision, said Clinton spokeswoman Kathleen Strand.
Appearing on CNN on Wednesday, Rothschild backtracked somewhat to stress that she didnt not like Obama, but I said critical things about him because I dont think he should be president in this election. Rothschild said she was resigning Wednesday from the Democratic National Committees platform committee, but that she would remain a registered Democrat.
Meanwhile, school burned to the ground during Friday prayers
Two suspected leading terrorists insurgents were shot dead during a firefight with police in the southern insurgency-torn province of Yala on Friday. Pol. Lt-Gen. Adul Saengsingkaew, deputy police chief, said one police officer was wounded in the exchange of fire.
The dead men were identified as Isma-ae Pajoo and Maso Gaji. Both were leading members of an insurgency group, allegedly involved in many deadly bomb attacks in the three restive southern provinces in the past two years and were the subjects of arrest warrants. The deputy police chief added that Isma-ae Pajoo was believed to have planned many terror insurgent attacks. Police had been monitoring the movements of the group, and its two leading members were recently killed during a raid. Yala deputy governor Kritsada Boonraj said the situation had improved as local villagers had become more cooperative with the authorities and gave useful information which led to many arrests of suspected terrorists insurgents.
Meanwhile, terrorists insurgents set fire to a school in Bannang Sata district. The flames quickly spread, completely destroying the six-room school building and all documents. The intruders spilled fuel across the floor and set it on fire. According to preliminary investigation, police said at least three arsonists broke into a classroom while the school's security unit was at Friday prayers in the town. The intruders spread fuel on floor and set it on fire. The school director said the security unit usually guarded the school around the clock but the arsonists took advantage of the Ramadan fasting period when all Muslims needed to maintain their religious practice to enter the premises and burn the school.
The man behind the "surge" strategy in Iraq will take charge of US Central Command tasked with bringing fresh direction to an Afghan campaign that was seen as "marking time".
But he will face a tough battle to bring unity to the 40 nations and 53,000 foreign troops in Afghanistan that come under several different chiefs.
In a downbeat assessment of the current state of the campaign in Afghanistan, the officer said there was "100 per cent chance of success if we do it the right way but if we do it the wrong way there is a zero per cent chance".
That covers all the options, I think ...
He admitted that it was unlikely other nations such as Germany would get more involved in the fighting in southern Afghanistan. He also warned that like the British Army, the American military was suffering from the effects of continual operations over seven years. "At some point we have to refit, rest our force and retrain them before we redeploy them."
Gen Petraeus will look to unite commanders in Afghanistan and Iraq for "unity of purpose" so there could be "unity of effort," the military official told defence correspondents in London.
Adding to his concerns a district governor in southern Afghanistan allied to President Hamid Karzai has been killed in a "misunderstanding" between coalition and Afghan forces. Roozi Khan, the governor of Chora district in Uruzgan province, was shot dead at his home but no details were released.
Following comments made by Robert Gates, the US defence secretary, that Britain may increase its force next year the US officer said "force strength from elsewhere would be welcome".
American troops are expected to surge to Afghanistan in increasing numbers from 30,000 to 44,000 next year. "You will get more combat operations for a period of time," the officer said.
The US official said American military power was "finite" and that there was a "bottom line" on resources. Although he was not "despairing" it was up to the community of nations to "embrace the challenge" of Afghanistan and "honest leadership" was needed.
To resolve the problems of Afghanistan it would take a "long time" if not a couple of decades.
Iran was singled out as a "malign influence" for its "seepage" of weapons across the border. The officer said America would not tolerate the arrival of more armour piercing bombs, known as explosive formed projectiles, from Iran.
He said rogue elements of the Iranian regime, not necessarily connected to the government, were using "front companies" to fund the military operations in Iraq, Lebanon and Afghanistan. The officer suggested that US forces would "selectively go after nodes of that network" but ruled out any "combat operations in Iran".
It is expected that Gen David McKiernan, the current US commander, will unite the commands of the International Security Assistance Force and the mainly US special forces of Operation Enduring Freedom under the banner of Commander Forces Afghanistan.
#2
The Pakistan military had better get its act together, because Petraeus WILL succeed in Afghanistan and on both sides of the Pakistan border, so the jihadis that survive will be infecting deeper into Pakistan. The more jihadis Pakistan kills now, the better off their country will be. Neither McCain nor Obama are going to back out of this one.
#4
Has a new general in command ever been told that it's ok if he fails? The task before the general is very difficult to succeed at, but this guy's been through all that in Iraq. He's better at these things than we are. Back off on the lecturing and just watch and learn. He may fail, but don't plant that in our minds. Bad luck.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 14:41
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#5
Actually Richard they've interpreted directions in manners that indicated they understood they were to 'manage' the situation or to 'avoid defeat' which is not the same as 'winning'. The decades along our border with Mexico when Apaches raided into our country and then ran back behind 'sovereign' borders handed commanders a similar situation in which they were not permitted to 'solve' the issue with a pure military solution. It just wasn't the State Department wags in the way, but also a post Civil War Congress dominated by the Democrats who wouldn't give the military the means to carry any such operation out. [It took the vicious raids into Texas by the Apache, to convince enough Texas Democrats to actually get the Army's funding bill through one year. Otherwise, there was to be no funding at all. Payback for Reconstruction.]
#1
temperature of many of the 200 or so magnets in the affected sector to soar by as much as 100C, which would normally take about two weeks to be cooled again.
#8
So this is why we can't detect any evidence of another advanced civilization in the universe? They all reach that one 'Oops' moment?
or
Is it God's alarm. You know God gets a little busy and focused on something over there ->. So, he sets up an ringer, sorta like on your dryer telling you its time to pull and fold the laundry before the wrinkles set in. DING! Ah, they need my attention. Which gets us back to point one, why we can't seem to find another advanced civilization in the universe. Maybe you don't want Daddy's attention. :)
Barack Obama, who lamented Friday that "we have not managed our federal budget with any kind of discipline," is nonetheless promising to spend $50 billion on a United Nations anti-poverty program that critics say will drive up American debt.
"The short-term weakness in the capital market is a reflection of long-term problems that we have in our economy," Obama told reporters in Florida. "We have been loading up enormous amounts of debt."
Yet Obama and his running mate, Joe Biden, have pledged tens of billions in new spending on a U.N. program that promises cash to poor countries. The program is one of eight sweeping "Millennium Development Goals" the U.N. adopted in 2000. "Obama and Biden will embrace the Millennium Development Goal of cutting extreme poverty around the world in half by 2015, and they will double our foreign assistance to $50 billion to achieve that goal," the candidates vow in their campaign platform.
Johns Hopkins professor Steve Hanke said such spending would merely drive up American debt, while doing almost nothing for the world's poor. "It goes down a bureaucratic rat-hole, lining the pockets of people who are connected to the power structure," said Hanke, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. "It's basically a system to redistribute income from middle class people in the United States to rich people in poor countries. It never reaches those people who are living on a dollar a day."
Hanke said such expenditures are especially unwise in the wake of significant expansions of government and spending during President Bush's tenure. "We've been spending like drunken sailors and making obligations into the future like drunken sailors," he said. "We're on an unsustainable path in terms of the fiscal situation in the United States because of massive spending growth and commitments."
In December, Obama also sponsored the Global Poverty Act which, if passed, would require the president to commit to cutting global poverty in half by 2015. Critics say that would cost American taxpayers $845 billion.
Susan Rice, one of Obama's top foreign policy advisers, says the U.S. should give 0.7 percent of its Gross Domestic Product to developing nations.
#4
Barack Obama, who lamented Friday that "we have not managed our federal budget with any kind of discipline," is nonetheless promising to spend $50 billion on a United Nations anti-poverty program that critics say will drive up American debt.
#5
The MDG's are the Holy Grail of UN scams. Does this true-believer tranzi really think that commie redistribution through the UN on a global scale is going to solve something? Or is there another motive? The only thing that has been proven to happen is those soul sucking bureauocratic leeches and despots will line their pockets with our money, and then like drug addled whores demand more.
The sooner we bail out of that pile of shit the better.
Over heard a saying in my new hometown the other day that would apply to both Barry and the UN: "They are both about as useful as tits on a bullfrog".
#6
said Hanke, a senior fellow at the Cato Institute. "It's basically a system to redistribute income from middle class people in the United States to rich people in poor countries. It never reaches those people who are living on a dollar a day."
I don't know - Obama should know a bit about people who live on a dollar a day month shouldn't he?
Funny how a person who allows his own brother to starve claims to give a rats arse about the poor.
#8
Has anyone added up the amount of money that Obama has promised to throw away through UN programs? It would make for a good ad, especially now.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 11:43
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#9
It's basically a system to redistribute income from middle class people in the United States to rich people in poor countries.
But not to worry:
Biden said Thursday that paying more in taxes is the patriotic thing to do for wealthier Americans... "We want to take money and put it back in the pocket of middle-class people," Biden said in an interview on ABC's "Good Morning America."
#10
Funny how a person who allows his own brother to starve claims to give a rats arse about the poor.
To be fair, I don't see why a person deserted by his father as a baby (I can't remember if Daddy Dearest went off to Harvard before or after little Barry was born) should concern himself about the fortunes of the numerous half-siblings said father spawned with a variety of women not Barry's mother, some of whom Daddy Dearest actually bothered to marry. Equally, a polite, "I'll see what I can do about all this when I get home," uttered while exploring said Daddy's family home to those still living there is really along the lines of, "We must get together for lunch sometime," not a binding promise for action... no matter that the denizens cling to their perception of unearnt riches flowing from America.
Barack Obama, esq. is rightfully concerned about the poor in his own country. Giving US$50 billion to the U.N. is my concern as a voter. The various Obama relatives back in Africa don't honestly interest me at all. He, and we, owe them nothing.
#12
Shat..the numbers I've been seeing is more like 850 billion totoa. That's money leaving the US economy permanently. That's pure BS and pure tranzi socialism.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
09/20/2008 16:26
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Joe Biden's off-the-cuff remarks on the trail have at times taken the Obama campaign off-message, but the Delaware senator's latest riff just may have landed him in hot water with voters -- and die hard football fans -- in a key battleground state.
Speaking to members of the University of Delaware football team Friday morning, the Democratic VP candidate said he thinks the Fightin Blue Hens (1-1 this season) could thrash a certain team from Ohio.
"I was out in Ohio," he said while fiddling with a football in his hands. "I told the folks in Ohio that we'd kick Ohio State's ass!" (It remains unclear if Biden actually ever told Ohio voters this.)
Biden, a proud University of Delaware alum, was clearly trying to rally his Division 1-AA team ahead of their match-up with Furman this weekend, but the comments couldn't have come at a worse time for faithful Buckeye fans who saw their team suffer a 35-3 trouncing at the hands of USC last weekend.
The comments also come as polls show the race in Ohio could hardly be tighter: A CNN poll of polls in the Buckeye state shows Obama holding a slim 1 point lead there. Close enough, presumably, that enough angry OSU fans could just make the difference -- at least that's what Republicans are hoping.
The state GOP is already attacking the Democratic ticket over the comments, as well as his comments yesterday suggesting it was patriotic for some wealthier Americans to pay higher taxes. "As if his comments about it being a patriotic duty for Ohioans to pay higher taxes weren't bad enough, now Biden is taking pot shots at the Buckeyes," GOP State chair Bob Bennett said. "Barack Obama and Joe Biden must really think they can win this election without Ohio, because they're doing their best to lose it with stupid comments like these. Keep talking, Joe."
David Wade, a spokesman for Biden said, "I think this episode explains exactly why we'll win Ohio: Joe Biden is loyal to his home team, and John McCain is loyal to President Bush."
"We forgive the Republicans on this one, though," he added. "After watching John McCain flip flop on everything from taxes to torture, they're just mystified by someone who takes a position and sticks with it."
Michigan Democrats, fans of OSU arch rival University of Michigan, weighed in on the back-and-forth, calling John McCain a "Panderer in Chief" for recently purchasing Ohio State apparel on a campaign swing.
"John McCain won't be hailing any victors on Election Day if he thinks Michigan fans will let this recent pander slide," said Liz Kerr, a spokesperson for the Michigan Democratic Party.
#5
Steady on, Perfesser. The McMaverick is going to win.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
09/20/2008 11:47
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#6
This just gives me confidence in the choice I made in the election.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 14:45
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#7
Two good things happened last week:
1. We saw exactly how use both Reid, Obama, and Pelosi are in a crisis.
2. Pelosi, Gore, and some other elites lost a ton o money.
Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez has eroded democracy by stacking the courts and dampening freedom of expression during his nearly 10 years in power, a rights group said on Thursday.
New York-based Human Rights Watch praised Chavez for a 1999 constitution that enshrines basic rights but said the leftist leader and fierce critic of the US government had failed to implement its laws. The report was published a week after Chavez expelled the US ambassador in a tit-for-tat diplomatic fight that also saw Venezuela recall its top diplomat from Washington and prompted the US government to sanction senior Venezuelan officials it accuses of helping drug smugglers.
It prompted an angry reaction from Chavez allies, who view human rights groups and nongovernmental organizations with suspicion and often accuse them of trying to undermine the president. Human Rights Watch said the biggest single attack on Venezuelan democracy in recent history was a short-lived 2002 coup against Chavez, but it criticized the president for using the putsch to justify discrimination against his opponents.
"Unfortunately the Chavez government has exploited it ever since to justify policies that have degraded the country's democracy," said the group's Americas director, Jose Miguel Vivanco. He also called for Venezuela to review the naming of 12 additional magistrates to a 20-member Supreme Court, stacking the tribunal in favor of the government. Government supporters dismissed the report and accused Vivanco of being on the US government payroll.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
"Venezuelan democracy"
Now there's an oxymoron.
With the emphasis on the Chavez moron.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 1:09
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Barb, they do have a vague semi-functional democracy. Hugolito lost the last referendum. The November elections will tell.
Security was put on high alert across Punjab on Friday following reports that four would-be suicide bombers had entered the province, Geo News reported. The channel quoted sources in the Interior Ministry as saying the alleged suicide bombers, aged between 14 and 20, could wreak havoc on a large scale before Eid. The bombers are aiming for law-enforcement personnel and sensitive installations in Punjab, the report said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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At least 20 people were killed and 18 sustained serious injuries in clashes between the Toori and Mangal tribes in Kurram Agency on Friday.
The clashes between the two rival tribes have been continuing for the seventh straight week, with both sides using heavy automatic weaponry. Sources said local residents were facing food shortages due to the closure of several highways for the last year.
They said electricity supplies to the area had been cut off for the last six weeks.
Security forces also bombarded suspected Taliban hideouts in different areas of Swat district, including Tehsil Matta, Tehsil Charbagh, Isharband, Mangol Tan and Allahabad.
The security forces' operation to clear landmines and defuse explosive devices from Koza Bandi also continued for the second consecutive day. Up to 60 percent areas have been cleared so far. According to a statement issued by the Media Information Centre Swat, around 75 Taliban have been killed with a similar number injured in the past 14 days in Koza Bandi.
Bombs also exploded in Matta Bazaar and Adam Khor Bazaar in Miran Shah, but no injuries from either incident have been reported. In another incident, a container coming from Afghanistan to Peshawar was partially destroyed in a blast near Sultan Khel on the Pak-Afghan highway. No causalities were reported.
Militants also fired a rocket on court road near the district session judge's court, but no injuries were reported. The bomb disposal squad said the rocket was a RPG-7.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The successful operation leading to the gunning down of SIMI operative Bashir alias Atiq who was involved in Ahmedabad and New Delhi blasts has once again underlined the importance of co-ordination between intelligence and investigative agencies at the Centre and in states.
Sources put down the breakthrough to the coordination among cops of the Capital, Gujarat, Maharashtra and Rajasthan, with the Intelligence Bureau acting as the facilitator.
According to sources critical inputs came from the Gujarat police, which has extracted reams of crucial information from the SIMI/Indian Mujahideen activists being held for the Ahmedabad blasts and the failed attack on the diamond city of Surat.
The IB officials, after the input had been vetted by their units in Maharashtra and Gujarat, passed it on to Delhi Police which developed it with the help of scientific investigation before zeroing in on the hideout at L-18 at Batla House in Jamia Nagar.
Apparently the Ahmedabad crime branch which is probing the serial blast cases of July 26 in which 57 were killed, had collected phone call details of Mufti Abu Bashar and Sajid Mansuri, two important suspects in these blasts.
After the Delhi blasts, there was suspicion of the same persons being involved. "As the same module was behind both the blasts, we further questioned Bashar and Sajid Mansuri on the Delhi blasts", said a crime branch official. Delhi police took Bashar away on Thursday.
Joint Commissioner of Police (crime) Ashish Bhatia, told TOI that Bashar's statement was vital for further investigation. "We got his call list and analysed it. We found some of the numbers from Delhi's certain areas, Jamia Nagar among them. We gave this list to central agencies," he said.
These agencies - Intelligence Bureau (IB) and National Security Guards (NSG), then further analysed and corroborated the location of the calls. The agencies were also given the statements of the accused recorded by Ahmedabad crime branch which also talked about Bashar's visits to Delhi.
"The Mufti was needed to identify the places we suspected. He took us to Jamia Nagar and we confirmed it was the same place mentioned in the statement. A local STD PCO booth was used to make calls to various places in India, which we identified. Then we kept these flats under surveillance," said a senior Delhi police official.
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Police said on Friday they had foiled a major terror plot and arrested three terrorists in the Kror Lal Esan area of Multan, according to Samaa TV. A huge quantity of weapons, including rocket-launchers and machine guns, have also been recovered from the alleged terrorists, the channel quoted sources in police as saying. The police have not revealed the identity of the arrested persons.
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Iran and Syria, both under fire for allegedly engaging in clandestine nuclear activity, are two possible candidates for a seat on the board of the United Nations atomic watchdog, much to the consternation of Western states, diplomatic sources said on Friday. A seat is set to become free this year with the expiry of Pakistan's one-year term and will be allocated to another country within the so-called Middle East and South Asia (MESA) group. Diplomats close to the IAEA told AFP that there are four possible candidates: Iran, Syria, Afghanistan and Kazakhstan. MESA has until the end of the general conference to decide on a single candidate and the choice is normally adopted by consensus. The nomination of either Iran or Syria will almost certainly run into resistance, diplomats said, and a vote would have to be called at this year's General Conference, unprecedented in the IAEA's history. Western states were hoping that MESA would choose a candidate that would allow the nomination to be adopted by consensus, "that is to say, neither Syria nor Iran", one diplomat said.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Why not bring back El Baredei? He was Iran's mole on the IAEA before. Now he could be back in full time pay.
The number of Muslims globally supporting suicide attacks and Al Qaeda chief Osama Bin Laden has fallen sharply in the past six years, a survey by a US think-tank showed on Thursday.
The Pew Research Centre however warned in its Global Attitudes Project that significant Muslim minorities in eight countries continue to endorse suicide bombings and support the Al Qaeda chief.
In Lebanon, the number of Muslims who said suicide attacks can be justified often or sometimes in defence of Islam fell from 74 percent to 32 percent between 2002 and 2008, the study showed.
Suicide bombings: In Pakistan, support for suicide bombings has fallen by 28 percent to five percent in the past six years.
In Jordan, support has dropped 18 percent since 2002, but a quarter of Jordanian Muslims still support suicide attacks.
Even though numbers have fallen by 15 percent in six years in Indonesia, around 10 percent continue to support suicide attacks.
Nigeria, Africa's most populous nation, where around half the population is Muslim, also saw a 15 percent decline in support, but that left nearly one-third still supporting suicide bombings.
Turkey and Tanzania saw declines in support for suicide bombings by 10 and six percent, respectively.
Support in Turkey was the lowest of any of the countries surveyed, with only three percent telling Pew pollsters in March and April that they back suicide bombings.
Large numbers of Muslims in the eight countries also said they had lost confidence in Bin Laden in terms of world affairs, although support for the Al Qaeda leader remained high in some countries.
In Nigeria, support for Bin Laden is at 60 percent, the same as it was five years ago.
Support for Bin Laden fell from nearly six in 10 Indonesian Muslims, and from nearly half in Pakistan in 2003 to one-third today.
The most dramatic drop in support for Bin Laden was seen in Jordan, where around 19 percent of Muslims expressed confidence in him this year, down from 60 percent just three years ago.
More than 24,000 people in 24 countries were surveyed this year for the project, including just under 8,000 in the eight countries asked for their views on suicide bombings and Bin Laden.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Not as trendy as it once was?
Not as much fun as they thought it would be?
After all, Osama is so 2001....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 1:08
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#2
New colors and fabrics this fall Barb, so watch out!
#3
Wonder if its confusion over names; there is that other guy in the news lately that has a similiar name and it appears increasing numbers of folks are not liking him, either........
Iran's supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei denounced Esfandiar Rahim Mashaie, the aide to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad who said Iran was a friend of the Israeli people, but also urged an end to the war of words.
"Someone made a statement about people who live in Israel. It was an inaccurate statement," Khamenei said in his sermon on Friday prayers in Tehran. "To say that we are friends of the Israeli people like all the other people of the world is not fair comment, it is an illogical comment," he said in the sermon broadcast live on state television.
"Someone said something false and there were reactions. These should end," the leader said, calling on opponents of the government to end debate "on this minor question."
Khamenei said Israelis have "usurped the houses, land, fields and businesses" of Palestinians. "It is Israeli people who inhabit the settlements... and which the puppet Zionist government arms against the Palestinians," he said. "The Islamic republic's position is very clear. We have no problem with Jews, Christians or the faithful of other religions, but we have a problem with the usurpers of the land of Palestine," he said.
A few hours later Mashaie, a vice president in charge of the tourist board, issued a statement saying he fully respected the Khamenei's policies. "I act within the framework of the policies defined by the supreme leader," said his statement as carried by the official IRNA news agency.
"Please don't kill me!"
Later lawmaker Ali Motahari also announced that he was dropping plans to petition Ahmadinejad to address parliament on the issue.
Mashaie said in mid-July that Iran is a "friend of the Israeli people." He returned to the theme in August, saying he had "no hostility against the Israeli people." His remarks prompted fierce criticism from leading religious and political leaders, notably in his own conservative faction, which called for his dismissal.
On Thursday, Ahmadinejad, whose son is married to Mashaie's daughter, defended his associate by insisting that he had been misquoted by the media and never made the offending comments. Ahmadinejad also rejected the views of religious leaders on the topic.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Vice President in charge of tourism to Iran? Gotta be a pretty low bar for success there
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 8:19
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The fighting between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday. akistan has had 55 polio cases this year compared to 32 last year and 39 in 2006. Pakistan is one of the few countries where the disease still exists.
"We haven't been able immunise children for quite some time in parts of Swat and parts of the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA), which means we have a build-up of susceptible children that haven't been immunised," said Melisa Corkum, a UNICEF communications officer. "Vaccinators are really putting themselves at risk in these areas."
Polio can be prevented with the use of vaccines that have eliminated the virus as a public health threat in most of the world. But apart from the fighting between the army and the Taliban fighters, vaccinating teams also have to contend with suspicion, and even hostility from people who believe the vaccination campaign against the highly infectious disease is a plot.
Some Muslim clerics in the conservative Tribal Areas have opposed anti-polio campaigns, saying it is a foreign-funded ploy to sterilise people.
Last year, a doctor and a health worker were killed in a roadside blast in Bajaur Agency, leading to the suspension of a vaccinating campaign. A Health Ministry official said vaccinators had even been attacked during brief peace pacts between the Taliban and government forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Be pure! and Islamic!.....and crippled!
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 8:16
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#2
As bad as this is, there is an email rumor going around that some Imam chopped the arm off a child who had been vaccinated. While not impossible, it was just a tad too much like the anecdote used in the movie Apocalypse Now!, so I am dubious.
However, it did make me think a bit about Col Kurtz: "We must kill them. We must incinerate them. Pig after pig. Cow after cow. Village after village. Army after army. "
North Korea said on Friday it did not wish to be taken off a US terrorism blacklist, a reward it would be given if it abided by a disarmament deal, indicating it was stepping away from the pact.
The North also said it had begun work to restore its Soviet-era nuclear Yongbyon plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium which was being taken apart under a disarmament-for-aid deal it reached with five regional powers, including the United States. "The DPRK (North Korea) neither wishes to be delisted as a 'state sponsor of terrorism' nor expects such a thing to happen," the North's official KCNA news agency quoted a Foreign Ministry spokesman as saying.
Analysts have said the North might be trying to pressure the outgoing Bush administration as it looks for diplomatic successes to bolster its legacy. The North might also be thinking it can wait for a new US president to try to get a better deal. Last month, North Korea said it planned to restart Yongbyon because it was angry at Washington for not taking it off a terrorism blacklist. In early September, it made minor but initial moves to restart the plant, US officials said.
Washington has said it will remove Pyongyang from the list once the state allows inspectors to verify claims it made about its nuclear arms production. Once removed, the North can better tap into international finance and expand its meagre trade. The disablement steps - mostly completed - were aimed at putting Yongbyon out of the plutonium production business for at least a year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
HMMMMM.....
ION TOPIX > CHRISTIANITY SPREADING FAST IN MONGOLIA, + BEIJING REASSERTS DESIRE FOR MULTI-ETHNIC STABILITY IN MONGOLIA.
President Dmitry Medvedev said on Friday he did not want disputes with the West to push Russia behind a new Iron Curtain, and blamed NATO for provoking last month's conflict in Georgia.
"We are in effect being pushed down a path that is founded not on fully-fledged, civilised partnership with other countries, but on autonomous development, behind thick walls, behind an Iron Curtain," Medvedev said in an address to a gathering of civil society groups. "That is not our path. For us there is no sense going back to the past. We have made our choice," he said.
Protecting Europe: He also said the NATO alliance's role in the Georgia conflict showed it was unable to provide security in Europe, creating a need for a new security mechanism. "That is understood even by those who in private conversations with me say ... 'NATO will take care of everything'. What did NATO secure, what did NATO ensure? NATO only provoked the conflict, and not more than that."
No war: Meanwhile, Russia's Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Yakovenko said on Friday there was no possibility of a war with the United States and the European Union should guarantee security in Georgia. "Regarding the possibility of war between the United States and Russia, this possibility is ruled out," Yakovenko told reporters in Moscow. "We hope that the European Union will guarantee security" in Georgia.
Yakovenko also criticised the United States for acting in "bad faith" by not granting visas to representatives of the disputed Georgian regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia - the scenes of a military conflict last month. "The US has been blocking the issuing of visas. We consider this bad faith in carrying out its obligations as a government that undertakes to organise the United Nations. We think visas... must be given," Yakovenko said.
Russia recognised the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia after the war in Georgia. No other country except Nicaragua recognises the territories, which broke away from the rest of Georgia with Russian support in the 1990s. The Russian minister also said that the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), the main guarantor of a ceasefire in Abkhazia, should have its name and mandate changed or move out of the disputed territory.
"It's logical to move it to the territory of Georgia, since the main threat to stability comes from there," Yakovenko said, referring to UNOMIG which has headquarters in the Georgian capital Tbilisi and separatist Abkhazia.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
KOMMERSANT > MEDVEDEV HOPES THAT WASHINGTON WON'T CHOOSE PRESIDENTS FOR RUSSIA. Infers that US elements are desirous of exerting [pro-US?]decisive influence on a host of Russ professional, managerial, labor and political classes, etc.???
#2
Amazing what a turn around the Russians have made. Apparantly being dissed by the world and having investment dry up and financial markets meltdown has helped the Oligarchs come to their senses.
#4
This is just the Russian's way of saying, "Nice continent you have there. Be a shame if something happened to it."
The Soviet's, and now Russia's, goal for the past 60 years has been to split Europe from the USA.
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 8:57
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#5
The Soviet's, and now Russia's, goal for the past 60 years has been to split Europe from the USA.
Even if were to watch History Channel, it is clear how the U.S. purposefully aided and abetted to the partition of Europe into the "zones of influence" first in Yalta in 1943, then in Potsdam in 1945. That goes for the "Soviet" goal.
As for Russia, it does not have such silly goals.
#6
Russia is a criminal enterprise. GC's propaganda notwithstanding, they got a dose of reality in their stock drop this week and the fleeing of investment when the thuggery became more obvious.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 9:35
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#7
General_Committee of the CCCP must have forgot his Yalta history lessons. That's where Truman and Churchill demanded free elections and Stalin demanded a sphere of influence (sounds familiar even today). So GC where were the free elections Stalin promised?
Posted by: ed ||
09/20/2008 9:55
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#8
Someone here has forgotten that the Red Army occupied most of Eastern Europe by May '45. And the lines of separation pretty much were the result of both sides committing their total resources just to get where they did. While Lend-Lease aided the effort, the heavy load was done by the Soviets themselves. So I'm interested in the 'rationale' explanation of what alternative [outside the ridiculous proposition that we should have made a deal with Hitler or that we should have gone immediately to war directly with the Soviet Union] both the US and England had in moving them out of where they stood.
#14
While Lend-Lease aided the effort, the heavy load was done by the Soviets themselves.
Soviet Union vastly exagerated its 1941 and 1942 (the numbers simply don't match when you contrast what was on the front and what the Germans alleged to have destroyed) so the Allie"d contributions looked indignificant by comparison.
Also Russai din't build a single locomotive in teh war. It was the Allies who provided so the Soviets could cioncentrate on tanks not to mention the contributions in factory equipment or raw materials.
Also in 1941, the resources used in building U-Boots would have allowed to double the production of the Mark IV (the best Ger!an tank). IN 1942, 40% of German war spending was used to fight the allies.
I will pass what would have happened to 19444 and 1945 Soviet aces if they had meet in 1942 when they were still green all those planes and seasoned Germn pilots who were fighting the Allies. Not to mention the havoc those thousands of 88 guns would have caused on the Soviet Armor if they had been deployed in the East as AT guns instead of in the West in the AA role.
But all of this is a moot point. It was Soviet Union's backstabbing of Russia and indirect help lent to Germany againbst France who caused Germany beung so close to win teh war and the Allies having to undertake the ibdredibly difficult operation of an amphibious landing.
#16
Everybody's stock numbers went up on Friday, General_Comment, after the US$500 trillion bailout was announced, coupled with the temporary halt of naked short selling.
#17
JFM's post is a bunch of linguistic vomit, so I'll skipp addressing that one altogether, except noting that U.S. has done virtually nothing until late 1944. Speak with German war veterans, they will tell you that the Eastern Front was the "hell on Earth," and if they had a choice they would have picked up the Western Front any second. Also, if you look at German's losses, that's where the major losses occured. Land lease since you mentioned it was a drop in the bucket.
#18
What U.S. does matters less and less in view of the rise of China. Also whatever U.S. does with Russia is just 4% of the Russian foreign trade.
Even if everybody's numbers went up, the fact the numbers went down before that just verified my point that RTS is populated by sleazy american speculators.
#19
Why American speculators, General_Comment? The problems in the U.S. stem in significant part from very large sums of money coming from Asia and the Middle East, from what I understand. Sleazy speculation is a hobby of the monied around the world, and the monied Russians are no less enthusiastic hobbyists than the rest.
#21
German war veterans preferred the Western front because their Western opponents were civilized. Those conquered by the Germans preferred to be liberated by Western armies for exactly the same reason. And of course, General_Comment, you will note that World War II, like World War I, started as a local European war that required the U.S. to cross the ocean to end. I say this despite the fact that my maternal grandfather earnt an Iron Cross for something or other in the first one, which of course mattered not a whit to the Nazis his countrymen elected before the second.
#22
Primarily U.S. based pension funds, and hedge funds.
The more fools they, then. Russia has been called the Wild East because of the lack of rule of law ever since the collapse of the Soviet Union. When Mr. Wife's company expanded there after he'd been involved in opening the Eastern European markets, they made a point of owning* the factories and distribution centers, to at least control quality and reduce the percentage of deliveries that went missing. The experience was quite useful when the company entered the Chinese market.
*I can't remember whether it was Russia or China or both that allowed foreigners to own only a 49% share of domestic companies. However, the American company Mr. Wife works for always makes sure they have control. No Chinese milk debacles for them.
My assertions are based on facts and statistics (and spare me chapes jikes about statistics. I can gibne the complete numbers for every one of my quantitative assertions.
There were two who are npt quantitative. That Soviet Uniojn aallied with the Nazis to bri,ng down Poland and that Soviet Union helped Nazi Germany against France by providing it with raw ùaterials (notably oil) and through the action of the Communist Party.
Anyway I stand by what I said, if Sovoet Unuion lost so many men it was duie to her own treachery. It was not teh white knight in its shining armor but a gangster in conflict with another gnsgster.
Alos: I wnated to praise the Russian soldier who was not guilty of Stalin deeds and whose superiors
disn't hesitate a second in using him for clearing mines by detonation. Then I rembered the rapes. I can understand but not justify what happened in Germany ((with Stalin's poet Ilya Ehernburg calling for "breaking the racial pride of the German woman") given what Germans had done in Russia, but they did the same as well in Hungary or Rumania (on paper Axis allies) as in Poland or Czechoslowakia. So sorry I cannot praise them.
#24
Alos Germas who fought in Normansy told of the Material Schlage. Never in teh East front had they met such firepower. Never had they been stopped on the trcaks the way they were in the West.
And unlike in the Eastern Front Allied artillery strikes diid not stop after a few salvos (the Soviets had nay guns but few shells per gun) or as soon as the front moved a few miles (the Soviets relied on filed phones) and unless that by luck the target was on a preset point the Soviet artillery was never able to send shells just five minutes after a German movement was detected like the Allies routinely did.
#25
"German war veterans preferred the Western front because their Western opponents were civilized. Those conquered by the Germans preferred to be liberated by Western armies for exactly the same reason."
TW, I just have one question for you: were Germans civilized between 1939-1945????
#31
EC - my comment was my own, and not trying to interpret yours. I stand by mine. GC? I'll respond to any comments I wish, this is not Russia, where dissenters are silenced.
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 18:12
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#32
When manners were distributed some went into hiding, obviously
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/20/2008 18:12
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#33
directed to GC
Posted by: European Conservative ||
09/20/2008 18:13
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#34
FG, you CAN respond to any questions you want, another question is SHOULD you?
#37
I enjoy tweaking you. Weak authoritarians have such thin skin. That's enough for today, maybe ;-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 18:21
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#38
FG, I am not necessarily authoritarian, but even if I were I would not have the thin skin, b/c I do not feel the need to apologize . . . . Those who feel the need to justify or apologize can be "tweaked."
#39
TW, I just have one question for you: were Germans civilized between 1939-1945????
Do you think the Germans were civilized during that period, General_Comment?
My formerly German mother just called me to say hello, and wished me to share her thoughts on the question. In her opinion the Germans at the time certainly considered themselves to be civilized, but she strongly disagrees. Are they now, is perhaps a better question. Mama shared the following tale to illustrate her answer:
It seems the gentleman who hid my grandparents and a dozen or so other Jews during the war was proposed for the Verdienstkreuz for it, the highest honorecently ur Germany can award a civilian. A ceremony was arranged at which the German ambassador to The Hague made the presentation to the elderly hero, now a professor emeritus. But it quickly became clear that the ambassador knew nothing of the man to whom he was awarding the medal, nothing of the exploits for which the country he represents chose to honour him, and rather resented having to take time from his busy schedule to be there. Openly insulting, in other words.
That is the behaviour of a man the German government hired to represent them to the outside world, to show the world what their very best look like. Mama asks, "Would you call that civilized?"
#40
I give the Soviets a ton of credit for stopping the Nazi's with the blood of the Russian people. Well done. Then what happened? Don't even try to justify any other Soviet acts on this board, we all know history a bit too well for any of that nonsense to float.
#46
Interestingly, according to the editors of the Wall Street Journal, the top two holders of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac debt are the Chinese and Russian governments. link -- scroll about halfway down. Perhaps that has something to do both with the situation of the Russian stock exchange and President Medvedev's statement.
#50
don't provide it, deny the Stalinist information collection at all points
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 21:27
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#51
Old enough to remember the cold war and all the bullshit russia pulled all over the world. Arming marxist guerillas in central and south america and invading Afghanistan. Not old enough for the duck and cover stuff, but old enough to be constantly reminded that we WOULD have a nuclear war some day and it would destroy the planet. Young enough to be a Beavis and Butthead fan.
Old enough to be a John Wayne fan.
Young enough to go back and get my degree.
Old enough to remember watching the wall come down-live.
That's my age bracket.
#52
bigjim-ky, a poetic response, dude.
Go have fun with buddies, drink some beer, leave this stuff to professionals.
And now a joke: American geologists were surprized to discover that above a significant deposits of an American oil there was . . . some Arab country! :)
#53
to #39 TW: As you can see that's basically supports my point about being careful to use the term "civilized." It is loaded and sometimes is a code word for "we are better than you are."
#61
expectations are destined to be dashed. Expect away ...heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 23:13
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#62
General_Comment -- your "clever" sayings, your attempts at American humor, are beginning to wear a little thin --
Come with some facts, some thoughtful words -- and your stay will be extended.
Otherwise -- some reasonable actions are being considered.
Oh -- and get your time zones right... if you are going to banter with our regulars here, at least get to know where they are from. Sending folks off to bed (isn't it past your bedtime) at 4:00 in the afternoon -- just adds more to your not understanding, or having even enough knowledge to contribute here in Rantburg U.
(I don't often comment, 'cause I too, have little knowledge of topics often discussed here, but I do know when I can add a few cents to the conversation)
But, I'm smart enough to know, we Mods are watching... you might want to go play somewhere else, where your school-age humor, your lack of fully understanding our American slang doesn't so stand out with lots of the remarks you make..
You seem to want to practice your words, and our ways with us... trying on words, but your methods are lacking.
I really don't want to be witness to seeing you ban from Rantburg U. But, you just are not yet ready.
#63
Why don't GC or the others ever recognize the War in the Pacific or India, or Oz or Alaska or China or the seas when they yell about the Soviets in WW-II
You would think the only theater of action was the Eastern Front.
The US was everywhere but the Eastern Front (although we did have experts observing it and some help...)
We supplied the fricking Eastern Front.
While the war raged we built over 130 carriers (all types) thousands and thousands of all else.
Fricking soviets didn't help in the East until after we basically won the war and then stole everything they could.
Bastards even imprisoned or pilots and troops that end up on their eastern shores..
ISLAMIC fundamentalists have offered weapons to Burma's opposition groups with which to fight the ruling military junta. And the resistance groups - which feel they have been left high and dry by the international community - are seriously considering the offer.
Former students, who were forced to flee Rangoon after pro-democracy protests in 1988 were violently put down, are said to be discussing the offer in the Thai border town of Mae Sot.
They know accepting arms from a group linked to the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq could polarise the West against them and damage their revolution. But there are no other offers of weapons to fight the military regime, which is officially known as the State Peace Development Council.
Members of the resistance inside Burma want guns and don't care where they come from. They have decided fighting is the only way to freedom and are compiling an arms shopping list.
The prospect of a holy war developing in Burma is likely to be greeted with trepidation by neighbouring states including China, which is one of the military junta's prime supporters.
Thailand already has a grinding Muslim insurgency in its deep south, fed by militant Islamists operating out of northern Malaysia.
Meanwhile, the Karen National Liberation Army, which has waged a war of independence in Burma since 1949, has expressed dismay at the offer of guns from religious zealots. "We are fighting an honourable war to free our people from oppression and want absolutely nothing to do with terrorists," says the KNLA's Colonel Nerdah Mya. "We don't do deals with the devil."
Both INDIA + BANGLIS have complained about the BURMESE GOVT's seeming tolerance for their country being used by Militant Groups as a covert third-party route for attacks + arms transfer.
#3
TOPIX > CHINA TO USE "PREEMPTIVE STRIKES" [hit hard, hit often, hit first] AGZ SEPARATIST, ANARCHIST FACTIONS [public disorder], espec agz UIGHURS AS PER RECENT OLYMPICS.
#5
and what exactly is your source? which "islamist fundamentalists" are you describing? and which section of the "opposition"? we're not one large homogenous mass, you know. also, mae sot is an unlikely venue for this sort of "deal". since the pro-democracy protests of last year, the thai army and intelligence services have been carefully monitoring both mae sot and mae son hong
#6
If you click on the title of the article, thinyen, the link will take you to the original, which is apparently in The Townsville Bulletin, which says about itself
The Townsville Bulletin has been a part of the lives of North Queenslanders since 1881.
According to the article, Former students, who were forced to flee Rangoon after pro-democracy protests in 1988 were violently put down, are said to be discussing the offer in the Thai border town of Mae Sot. Beyond that, any information you can share that would refine our understanding will be greatly appreciated. No doubt some of our correspondents in Thailand will be able to add to your comments.
(AKI) - A sixteen-year-old teenager has been sentenced to five years in jail for political activism. Ebrahim Mehrnahad was sentenced by a court in Zahedan, capital of Iran's Sistan-Baluchestan province for 'conspiracy against the central powers'.
Mehrnahad is the younger brother of Yaghoub Mehrnahad, a journalist and activist who was hanged on 4 August in Zahedan for alleged membership of Jundallah (Soldiers of Allah), an armed Baluchi group.
Ebrahim was also a member of a youth cultural association, founded by his late brother.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Fifteen Somali civilians at least were killed Friday when insurgents fired mortar shells on Mogadishu airport, drawing retaliatory fire from African peacekeepers, witnesses told reporters.
The incident broke out minutes after a plane delivering goods for the African Union (AU) force stationed at the airport landed, in defiance of a three-day-old insurgent "ban" on using the facility. Insurgents fired several mortar shells at the airport but many missed their target, local residents said, adding that the AU forces fired shells back.
An official at the city's main Madena Hospital said about 50 wounded civilians had been admitted. Two of them, including a two-year-old child, later died of their injuries.
Somalia's Al-Shebab movement earlier this week warned that all flights should cease as of September 16, arguing that the airport was an instrument of Ethiopia's military occupation of Somalia. Commercial activity at the airport has since stopped.
The airport is used for both commercial and military flights but is also the main base for the Ugandan contingent of the African Union peacekeepers, who were reinforced by Burundians earlier this year.
With the war-torn Somalia's roads dotted with rogue checkpoints and freelance gunmen and its waters infested with pirates, traders have warned the airport's closure would only further stifle an already agonizing nation.
Earlier on Friday, the government's director of civil aviation said it had cancelled the licenses of all airlines that heeded the "unimportant and baseless" threats from the Islamists and had stopped flying into Mogadishu airport.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Mahmoud al-Zahar, a senior Hamas official in Gaza, on Friday accused Israel of reneging on offers made during the negotiations for the return of abducted Israel Defense Forces soldier Gilad Shalit.
In an interview with the Palestinian Ramatan News Agency, Al-Zahar claimed that Israel had offered to free 450 Palestinian prisoners once Shalit was returned to Israel, and then release an additional 550 Palestinians approximately two months later. Al-Zahar said that Israel is now offering to release only 450 prisoners in exchange for Shalit, and warned Israel that back-pedaling could lead to the negotiations being scrapped altogether.
Another senior Hamas official was also quoted on Friday as saying the group will not renew negotiations for Shalit's release unless Israel meets its preconditions, the London-based newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
According to the report, Hamas laid out three conditions for the renewal of negotiations with Israel: release of all Palestinian prisoners whose names appear on the list that had been given to Israel via Egyptian mediation; implementation of all Israeli commitments in the framework of the ceasefire agreement, including the reopening of Gaza Strip crossings for the passage of goods; the opening of the Rafah crossing.
The newspaper further states that Ofer Dekel, Israel's chief negotiator for securing the release of Shalit, has transferred an Egyptian-brokered list to Hamas of the 450 Palestinian prisoners that Israel would be willing to release in exchange for Shalit. However, the Hamas official stated his organization's insistence on the original list of names, which includes prisoners serving lengthy prison terms, members of the Hamas parliament, as well as women and children.
Hamas also demands the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Egypt, according to the report. "It doesn't make any sense that Egypt will moderate our prisoner exchange talks with Israel while it imprisons our members," the official said.
This article starring:
Mahmoud al-Zahar
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Interesting how that whole negotiating thingy works.
#2
This is bad news in that it definitely means that Shalit is dead (and probably has been since 45 mins after his capture).
Hamm-Ass is trying to get Israel to give them everything they want before negotiations even continue. Then of course they will break off again (has Hamas ever, in its entire existence, honored any deal?) and Israel will have to make even more concessions. Rinse, Repeat.
#3
he's dead, Jim. Dr. Steve first noted (and I jumped on that bandwagon like Amy Winehouse on a bowl of crack) that we should exchange like-for-like. A dead Shalit? 450 dead Paleos, or 1000 dead Paleos, or 1500? how many do you want?
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 15:58
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U.S. troops hunting for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militant raided a house Friday and killed seven people, including three women, drawing an angry protest from Iraqi officials that all the victims were civilians.
The U.S. military said the raid in Adwar _ a Sunni town 70 miles north of Baghdad and just south of Saddam Hussein's hometown of Tikrit _ targeted an extremist responsible for suicide attacks and roadside bombings.
Neighbors and Iraqi officials claimed all the dead were from a poor family that had been uprooted by sectarian violence and had no links to the insurgency. Iraq's government demanded that those responsible for the raid be punished.
The dispute comes as the United States and Iraq are negotiating a security agreement to replace the U.N. mandate for foreign forces, which expires at year's end. Iraqi negotiators have insisted on oversight of U.S. military operations and the lifting of blanket immunity for American troops and security contractors.
U.S. airstrikes and conflicting claims about civilian deaths have been common throughout the war, prompting public outrage and underscoring the challenges faced by American forces fighting enemies who live among the population and don't wear uniforms.
Iraq's largest Sunni Arab bloc denounced Friday's raid. "Even if, as they claim, a man attacked them, that does not give them the excuse to target women and children," said Salim Abdullah al-Jubouri, a spokesman for the Iraqi Accordance Front.
Dozens of people marched to the site chanting "God is great" and "We condemn this inhumane act."
Abdullah Hussein Jibara, deputy governor of Salahuddin province, said he did not accept the initial explanation given by the Americans.
"We think that this tragedy could have been avoided if there were real coordination between U.S. forces and Iraqi authorities," Jibara said. "We condemn this random targeting of civilians, including women and children."
The preacher of Adwar's main mosque, Amir al-Douri, called on the Iraqi government to take legal measures against the U.S. soldiers who carried out the raid and to demand a full explanation from the U.S. Army.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#2
"As the Iraqi waif held up her pet baby duck, trembling in fear at the brutal American killer bearing down on her, little did she know that she was to be stomped to death in the mud, underneath his clog heeled boots, while the evil Zionist murderer laughed and screamed the lyrics of 'Hava Nagila' while spraying the room with machine gun fire."
Sri Lankan soldiers and sailors killed 63 Tamil Tiger rebels on a second day of fierce combat in the north of the Indian Ocean island nation, the military said on Friday.
The Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) said they had repulsed an army advance, killed 25 troops and wounded 40 in Vannirakulam, the site of heavy fighting for weeks, pro-rebel web site www.tamilnet.com quoted unnamed rebel officials as saying. There was no independent confirmation of the casualties from Thursday's battles, which followed one of the single bloodiest days of fighting since the military cranked up an offensive drive three months ago. At least 71 were killed on Wednesday.
Most of Thursday's fighting occurred near Nachikkudah, a northwestern port about 300 km north of that was the site of fierce land and sea clashes that the military said killed 25 "Sea Tigers" and another 17 rebels. Eighteen were wounded. In the same clashes, five soldiers died and 14 were wounded.
Fighting at various points further east killed another 20 rebels, and one was killed in the far northern Jaffna Peninsula, the military said. Three soldiers were killed and two were wounded, the military said.
Defensive: Tamil Tigers risk losing their mini-state as Sri Lankan forces make a determined push after decades of bloodshed. After months of bitter fighting, security forces have reached the outskirts of the Tiger political capital - Kilinochchi - the six-kilometre long township along the main A-9 highway to the Jaffna peninsula.
Aid workers who evacuated Kilinochchi this week - in line with a government order to leave ahead of an expected military show down - said bombs and artillery shells were landing just within the political offices of the Tigers. "The military advance is getting closer to Kilinochchi and the Tigers may simply melt away," an aid official who declined to be named said soon after leaving the north.
Sri Lanka's top brass had said they want to take Kilinochchi before the end of the year, but defence analysts argue that it must be done sooner as monsoon rains could intensify and render heavy armour ineffective from about October. For the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), Kilinochchi is the showpiece town where they hosted visiting foreign dignitaries and peace brokers. The Tigers also maintain their 'police headquarters,' their 'high courts' and their 'Bank of Eelam' which functions as the quasi-monetary authority of the de facto separate state within Sri Lanka.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Pleading for info for my no-knowledge mind -- would someone please give a short history of all of this fighting in Sri Lanka?
Such a small country for such fighting and deaths. And I can only grasp, it's got to be the terrorists against the people. How long has this been going on? Who's in charge? Are we there? Who's on who's side? Who are the "big" guys standing silently watching all that is happening?
I do so appreciate the spotlight being focused on them each day -- but I missed the Sri Lanka course at Rantburg U.
#3
So far as I can tell, Sherry, the roots of the fighting in Sri Lanka (Ceylon) were laid centuries ago and are ethnic / racial as well as class / economic in origin. The majority Sinhalese are related to northern Indians (IndoAryans) who asserted control there when a powerful prince was exiled and settled there with his troops and court about 500 BC. The minority Tamils are related to the Dravidians of southern India whose subordination in India proper has long been a source of deep resentment and sometimes open armed conflict. Tamils have also been on Sri Lanka for millenia - what is now the island nation of Sri Lanka used to be connected by a narrow natural causeway to southern India, their home.
Those are the roots of the conflict, but of course it has many more modern twists and turns. For instance, some of the Tamils in Sri Lanka were brought there more recently by the British as indentured plantation workers. After independence, part of that Tamil group returned to India proper but the rest remained on Sri Lanka ... I don't have a good read on whether there is much division between them and the Tamils whose roots go back many many centuries but looking at a map about where the plantations were, it seems likely that economic inequities are one reason for the Tamil Tigers to seek an independent and socialist state in the north/east.
Also, although Hinduism today has elements both of the original Dravidian gods/practices and those of the IndoAryans, there are differences of focus among the millions of Hindus and some of the Dravidian foci are strong among the Sri Lankans who identify as Hindu (mostly Tamils). 70% of Sri Lankans are Buddhist, though, especially the Sinhalese who have been Buddhist continually for many many centuries....
Maybe the closest parallel is northern Ireland, although Ireland was never the center of wealth etc. that Ceylon historically had been. Plus, while the ethnic differences between the English and the Celts have been bitter, in Sri Lanka it's not just ethnic and language but also racial differences between the indo-aryan Sinhalese and the dravidian Tamils.
Anyway, that's the impression I've pieced together. I may be missing key elements or getting things wrong, tho. Perhaps John Frum will stop by and comment from his perspective.
#2
the Czechs are a lovely, practical people. That, of course, is why so many congregated in Prague (was it called Stanislaus Square? I can't remember, but it's a very pretty place) singing the national anthem when they thought the Soviets were going to reprise 1968. They all had the impulse not to submit quietly to foreign tyranny.
South Korea, which once had the third-largest foreign military contingent in Iraq, will pull all of its troops out off the country on schedule by the end of this year, a military official said on Friday.
Local media had reported the South may extend its deployment again as a favour to its major ally, the United States, which is re-examining its forces in Iraq after improvements in overall levels of security this year. Defence ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae told a news briefing that when the deployment was extended by one year in December 2007, it was on the condition that the pullout would be completed by the end of 2008. "And there is no change whatsoever to the plan that everyone in the (unit) would withdraw by the year end," he said. South Korea sent 3,600 soldiers to Iraq in 2004, which was then the largest foreign military presence after the United States and Britain.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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BARNALA: An angry panchayat here not only blackened an Armyman's face for trying to sexually abuse a girl but made her slap him repeatedly in front of a gawking crowd as punishment.
This came even after he apologized and bent down to touch the girl's feet. As if this was not enough, a fine of Rs 50,000 was also imposed on him.
A sepoy in the Army, Sukhchain Singh had come to Nainewal village on leave. Late on Wednesday he entered the house of the girl on seeing her alone. Singh, according to villagers tried to molest the girl, but she resisted and raised an alarm. Hearing her shouts, her neighbours immediately reached the place though at that time he managed to flee.
But the girl, still seething, told her parents about the incident. Soon, Singh was tracked down and on Friday the matter was placed before the village panchayat and a farmers' union. Asked to appear before the panchayat, where he admitted his mistake, an annoyed panchayat blackened his face and asked him to touch the girl's feet in reverential apology.
Then the girl was made to thrash her molester. Finally, he was asked to give Rs 50,000 as fine to the girl's family. Singh is married and has a daughter.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Wow! Perhaps someone ought to tell this panchyat what a strap-on is for the next time this kind of thing happens.
#2
This is actually extremely good. It shows authority taking charge and issuing an appropriate penalty, quickly and with minimum debate. None of this "blame the victim" crap.
And you can bet both that every other girl will be emboldened to object in the future when attacked, and the word will get around to the young men to watch their manners, or else.
#6
I still am a firm believer that women, even in desperately poor countries, need to develop a female ethic that requires them to carry any kind of bladed weapon, and to cut a man who attacks them.
Even a piece of broken glass can give a nasty gash, which is darned effective in stopping aggressive males. And once enough women start carrying, men will have no choice but to behave better.
#7
I agree, Moose. The best self-esteem and self-protection metho is by having the means to defend youself. A blade, a razor, and the willingness to use it, would make current Islamic culture crazy. I'm ggod to go with that. I don't fear women, cuz I don't mistreat them
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 20:10
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Prominent Sunni Muslim religious commentator Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi charged on Thursday that Shiite Muslims are "invading" Sunni societies.
"I stick to what I have said about an attempted Shiite invasion of Sunni societies," the Egyptian-born cleric, who is based in Qatar, said in a statement. "We must face up to it otherwise we will have betrayed our mission," Qaradawi added. He also described Shiites as "heretics".
Qaradawi said he was responding to recent criticism by two prominent Shiite clerics, Lebanon's Mohammed Hussein Fadlallah and Iran's Ayatollah Mohamad Ali Tashkiri, of earlier remarks he had made about a Shiite "invasion."
Sunnis represent the majority of Muslims in the Middle East, but Shiites form the majority in Iran and Iraq and have a substantial presence in Lebanon.
Sunni leaders in the region have voiced concern about a Shiite resurgence following sectarian strife between the two communities in Iraq after the overthrow of Saddam Hussein's Sunni-dominated regime in the U.S.-led invasion of 2003 and its replacement by a Shiite-led government.
This article starring:
Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
OH, NOES!
Anyway, this is kinda funny, this is tthe very same Holy Man who piously announces the upcoming conquest of Europe by islam, through dawa and as europeans will convert... seems like invasions of societies are a two-way street, and he doens't like it. Ah.
Twenty-four-year-old Bashir alias Atiq, who was gunned down in an encounter with Delhi Police on Friday morning at Batla House, is now described as the mastermind of Indian Mujahideen (IM), which carried out blasts in UP, Hyderabad, Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi. The other terrorist shot dead in the encounter was identified as Mohammad Sajid.
The emergence of this new module of IM which coordinated the attacks with SIMI has surprised investigators since Abu Bashir and Abdus Subhan, a close ally of SIMI chief Safdar Nagori, were described as the brains behind these attacks. But special cell of Delhi Police, working with central intelligence agencies, zeroed on Bashir alias Atiq after the Ahmedabad blasts. ''We had information that Atiq had gone to Ahmedabad from Delhi by train before the blasts, along with 10 persons, and returned to the capital on the day of the blasts with 12,'' said joint commissioner of police (special cell) Karnal Singh.
This IM module is being described by the investigators as the one which prepared the bombs which were quite similar to the ones in Ahmedabad, Delhi, Jaipur, UP and Hyderabad. Right from the explosives used to the wooden case, the clock timer and two detonators, everything carried the same signature.
Intelligence officials say there could be two modules and the work of planting explosives had been divided. Normally, the modules are not aware of each other's existence.
Abdus Subhan alias Tauqeer still remains the key factor and common link to Abu Bashir and Atiq alias Bashir. However, Abu Bashir had never met his namesake, claimed investigators, and had no direct role in the Delhi blasts though he told the investigators that he was aware of the blasts being planned in Delhi.
The operation at Batla House was planned by the cops after central intelligence agencies and special cell tracking the movements of Atiq came to know he was hiding there. The reservations had been done under assumed names. The police had learnt that Atiq used to visit Delhi frequently and meet his sympathisers from SIMI but avoided using mobile phones. He used them only while communicating with Taqueer or Qayamuddin, said an officer.
The cops claim more attacks had been planned in Delhi and with Friday's operation, they have foiled them. Atiq had told his parents in Azamgarh that he was going to Delhi to join a computer class.
However, speaking to various news channels, Atiq's brother Raqib, who also works for a news channel said: "My brother was never involved in terror activities and was framed by the police. And now he is dead."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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The Qaumi Amn Jirga (National Peace Council) of Swat warned on Friday it will distance itself from a peace agreement that it claims to have brokered between the security forces and Taliban if the military does not vacate Kooza Bandai within days. But ISPR spokesman in Swat Colonel Nadeem, said the peace agreement was made between the Taliban and the Amn Jirga. "We are not involved," he said. Security forces continued pounding Taliban hideouts on Friday, but no casualties were reported. Later, unidentified men carrying weapons attacked a vehicle owned by a private security agency, killing two staffers, and fled with Rs 9.8 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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Four members of the Iranian security forces, including a general, were killed in an armed clash with rebels in the southeast, the semi-official Fars news agency quoted a police official as saying. "Brigadier General Muhammad Sar-Golzaie was killed during clashes with armed rebels on Thursday night in Sistan-Baluchestan province," said Salah Asgari. He said that three other soldiers had been killed in fighting in recent days without specifying where. "Several rebels were also killed," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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The second most senior Muslim policeman in Britain has been suspended, officials said on Friday, days after the country's top Muslim officer was forced to take leave after alleging racism by bosses.
The move against Commander Ali Dizaei, which comes in the wake of Assistant Commissioner Tariq Ghaffur's suspension, prompted claims that London's Metropolitan Police has a problem in handling ethnic minority officers. Both the suspended officers work for the city's force, which declined to comment on the latest developments.
National Black Police Association President Dizaei is reportedly alleged to have advised defence lawyers on how to undermine a prosecution involving Metropolitan Police. Ghaffur was suspended earlier this month by the force's head Sir Ian Blair after commenting publicly on his race discrimination claim against Blair and other senior officers, prompting an extraordinary public spat.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
I don't get it. Wish they would explain it so that a dumb American can understand. This dumb American doesn't understand what the fuss is about.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 11:38
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#2
He bellowed "Racism" his bosses said "Cool it" he didn't so was told to go home (On leave) and think it over.
Simple
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/20/2008 13:48
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#3
Call me when it becomes "suspended by the neck".
Bhopal A 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradeshs Jabalpur town was set on fire by two unidentified men, police said on Friday. The altar and statues inside the 150-year-old St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in the cantonment area of Jabalpur, about 300 km from here, were burnt in the fire on Thursday night. The church was closed at the time.
Parish priests told police that the two entered by breaking the glass panes of the door and set fire to the cathedral altar. The altar, statues of St. Peter and St. Paul, and the carpet were damaged. However, fire fighters were alerted and the blaze was soon doused.
The sisters staying in the building adjoining the boundary wall of the cathedral spotted the duo fleeing the spot on a motorcycle but could not see their faces since it was dark, a police official said. A complaint has been lodged against unidentified people in the cantonment police station and investigation is underway, Jabalpur District Collector Hari Ranjan Rao told IANS on phone.
This is the third case of assault on Christian missionaries in the state in the past few weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2008
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The United States drones continued their flights over various areas of North and South Waziristan on Friday, creating panic and fear among the locals. According to Express News, the US spy planes were seen flying over Ghulam Khan, Hamzoni, Ditta Khel and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan and Angoor Adda and Mateen areas of South Waziristan. According to the channel, the continued drone flights have increased fear among locals, already worried about the security situation in their areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
I know Drone has been in usage for ages but I wish we could get something more better.
A latest poll by CBS News and the New York Times showed that Illinois Senator Obama led McCain by 48 percent to 43 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
The Downstream Media are going to play this economy fo reverything it's worth. It might not matter how bad Obama and Biden screw up.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/20/2008 0:20
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#2
I hope someone will do a study where they show the average percentage that we can expect the polls to tighten in GOP favor in the week before the election. That has happened consistently in the last 3 presidential elections. I just wonder what the handicap is that we can, from past experience, expect.
Besides, if you look at the realclearpolitics.com/Real Clear Politics electoral map, there is something that I think is very worth noting. Obama is ahead but they give Colorado to Obama. Hmmm. Colorado has been going to the GOP in the last presidential elections. And since Palin will appeal more to the outdoors spirit of Colorado than Bush could have done, I find it hard to believe the state will go blue. If the map stays consistent (it gives OH to McCain and PA to Obama - then if McCain pulls Colorado, which is likely, McCain wins.
#3
I am just a little skeptical of all polling done by in-the-tank dinosaur media:
"Hello, this is an automated election year poll by the New York Times and CBS News. Please listen carefully to the following questions:
If you are an educated, nuanced, sensitive person who supports peace, prosperity, and change, and who will therefore vote for Obama/Biden, please press 'one' (because he is the ONE).
If you are a backward, ignorant, gun-clinging racist Neanderthal who has not heard the disastrous economic news and who therefore still intends to vote for McCain and his lipstick-wearing side-kick, please press 'two,' assuming of course that you can read numbers.
#6
Betty, Colorado has turned a little blue in recent years. Lots of folks from Laficornia moving there, for openers. The Boulder region is very blue, and the urban area of Denver is very blue. Colorado may have the tightest state race in this election.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2008 11:20
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#7
enough of these polls are of the push variety that in a reasonably close race, they reflect the pollster biases more than the biases of the polled. It seems to me that a minority of voters, but enough to decide a close election play musical chairs until the last few weeks. What's going on then will have significant weight with these voters. Since June, McCain has been playing the game smart, Obama, stupid. Let's hope that these things remain the same. Since it was clear in last few weeks that Obama might lose, he has started talking tough, alienating these whishy-washies. I say, keep screwing it up. Obama. Alienate more and more of those folks.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
09/20/2008 11:32
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#8
Another aspect of these results is that if Wall St. crisis calms down (it's primarily a confidence crisis), the polls should turn right around toward McCain.
I personally believe we are very close to the bottom, if we have not already seen it.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/20/2008 12:01
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#9
What in hell is wrong with this electorate? In a time of crisis is there anyone more inappropriate than Hussein to be in charge ? Good Gawd, throwing gasoline on a raging fire would be much safer than letting this fool sit in the White House when critical decisions have to be made. Are we now a nation comprised of a majority of idiots ?
#11
Yes, if you believe the Times and CBS News, Woozle.
Posted by: Bobby ||
09/20/2008 12:12
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#12
Just keep reminding people that Obama wants to give $50 billion to the UN.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/20/2008 13:34
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#13
Yeah, and I'm terribly sorry about all those blue Kaliphornicators moving to Colorado. Last time I drove from Denver to Colorado Springs it all looked just like Orange County. But I remember back in the '70s it seemed like everybody in New York and New Jersey was moving here. Now it seems like everybody from Mexico is moving here. That'll turn ya blue, alright.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
09/20/2008 13:48
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#14
Support your candidate!
There are less than two months until the election, an election that will decide the next President of the United States. The person elected will be the president of all Americans, not just the Democrats or the Republicans.
To show our solidarity as Americans, let's all get together and show each other our support, for the candidate of our choice. It's time that we all come together, Democrats and Republicans alike.
In a Bi-Partisan effort for America: If you support the policies and character of John McCain, please drive with your headlights on during the day.
If you support Obama, please drive with your headlights OFF at night.
#15
Be cool everybody. Donate some money and, if you can, some time to the Republican Party. Speak reasonably and convincingly about this election to your independent and moderate Democrat neighbors. Don't take the bait when your local Leftist starts ranting about how Dick Cheney secretly runs a shadow government from the basement of Walmart's corporate headquarters... or whatever. Let him make a chump out of himself without your help.
We can win this one if we stay calm - because the other side isn't. McCain is a much better candidate than I thought he would be; and the Palin thing is unspeakbly awsome.
Again, don't panic. We can (and probably will) win this.
#16
The thing htat is wrong is 90% of the country doesn't realize that we even have a Congress and that it's controlled by Democrats for the past two years. McCain needs to mention the Democratic controlled Congress didn't do this, or didn't do that a bit more often. This country needs a balance of power and that has been lacking for far too long.
British Prime Minister Gordon Brown voiced opposition on Friday to US strikes against the Taliban and Al Qaeda in Pakistan but said the two sides were close to reaching a deal on the issue. He was asked about US drones striking targets in the Tribal Areas. Brown told Sky news television, "We've made it absolutely clear that is not what we would do...I believe America and Pakistan will reach an agreement about the best way forward." He added, "We, of course respect the territorial integrity of Pakistan."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Between Brown and Gates I'm not sure what will come about.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
...Over at Instapundit, the Perfessor posted a comment that made me realize just how bad it nearly got:
"Trust me you do not want to experience a full-scale bank run in contemporary America. Im not sure how many people realize how close we were to the wheels coming off at about noon yesterday, as major commercial-paper processing banks like State Street lost 30% 60% of their value in about 2 hours. Want evidence: When was the last time you heard of the U.S. government identifying a problem, developing a multi-hundred-billion-dollar program and announcing it within about 48 hours?"
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/20/2008 8:20
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#2
Yup. This MBA is no fan of government intervention, but what happened over the last few trading days was a near total meltdown of the market.
Free markets depend on information and on reliable mechanisms for trades to complete. Neither was in evidence on Thursday as naked short selling vastly outstripped both the financial institutions' shares outstanding and the resolution process - remember, short sales have 14 days to complete. That's why short selling was shut down temporarily, a modified version of the SEC's rarely used power to shut down all trading if markets become deeply disorderly.
#3
Free markets have better sense than the Clinton Administration. Read this Sept. 30, 1999 NYT article to see what precipitated all this and when it started:
http://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9C0DE7DB153EF933A0575AC0A96F958260&scp=1&sq=&st=nyt
Helicopters flew over Mamoond tehsil in Bajaur Agency after 5pm on Friday and shelled the Damadola area, sources said. Fighter aircraft also flew over the area and bombed suspected Taliban hideouts. No casualties were reported.
According to witnesses, smoke was seen rising from the locations bombed by fighter planes. The sources believe a number of Taliban had been killed in the bombing. The security forces have also captured at least four Taliban in a clash in Loyesam, the sources added.
A curfew remained in place in the agency, for the 15th consecutive day, bringing life to a halt, causing a shortage of fuel, potable water and food. Mosques have remained closed for the past many weeks, and it is the first Ramazan in which people are offering Traveeh prayers at home.
Meanwhile, the security forces gained total control of Siddiqabad, Toheedabad, Rehman Baba, Shandai Mor, Faja, Sabu Kalay, Yousufabad, Sharpana, Nawidand, Shomlo Qila and Mamizo areas of Khar tehsil.
Security forces have also established checkposts in the area and are patrolling the roads.
Missing: Residents of Salarzai and Khar tehsils, who had been displaced by the fighting, told Daily Times that they found valuables missing from there on their return, saying criminals operating in the area in the guise of the Taliban were responsible for the theft.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Missing: Residents of Salarzai and Khar tehsils, who had been displaced by the fighting, told Daily Times that they found valuables missing from there on their return, saying criminals operating in the area in the guise of the Taliban were responsible for the theft.
....and anyone mind you, Who merely suggests it waz the Thieving Talibs Themselves, will be "questioned" in the guise of Theives!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
09/20/2008 6:44
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"We ... will do everything possible to restore regular, friendly relations," Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said Friday at a meeting with representatives of public organizations. Meanwhile, he accused NATO of provoking the conflict in Georgia last month, and called for new pan-European security arrangements.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#3
I'm sure we won't get the real story so we're left with estimating that 'things did not go as planned' in the execution department. The other posting on a 25% increase in Offense Defense spending [when foreign investments are drying up] implies they discovered some serious holes in their ops and equipment. This is the 'saying nice doggie while reaching behind for another rock' phase.
#5
Russia's invasion of Georgia should become the new dictionary definition of "fail". It is like the scene in a bad comedy when the hero slams the door to his car and it completely falls apart, leaving only the frame, seat and detached steering wheel in his hands.
If Medvedev and Putin are smart, they need to back burner every ambitious idea they have and do what is necessary to get their economy at peak efficiency.
To a great extent, this means re-democratization, replacing most of the FSB government managers with successful businessmen, and adopting the national slogan: "The business of Russia is business." None of their other concerns matter to a fraction as much as doing this. It's not because they want to, it's because they have to.
One of the few intelligent things that Jesse Jackson once said was that "If 100 businessmen agree on something, it becomes the law." And while he said it derisively, it is not untrue.
But the zinger is that it is not easy to get 100 businessmen to agree on *anything*, so if they do, there are probably a very, very good reasons to make it the law.
This is because the invisible hand of economics is the closest thing there is to the invisible hand of god.
President Evo Morales offered Friday to include eastern provinces' autonomy demands in his proposed new constitution, raising hopes for a solution to Bolivia's bloody political crisis.
But the leftist leader and his adversaries in the conservative lowlands have been battling over greater local self-rule since Morales took office in 2006, and it is far from clear whether the president's offer will lead to an agreement.
On Friday, the two sides discussed the autonomy question _ a hot-button issue in Bolivia, whose feeble but heavily centralized government struggles to contain the country's deep racial, cultural and geographical divides.
Morales _ riding high after winning 67 percent support in last month's recall election, including surprising gains in the traditionally hostile lowland east _ is now pushing for a national vote to approve a new constitution granting greater power to Bolivia's long-oppressed indigenous majority.
"Who knows, maybe it's a problem, maybe it's a crime to work on behalf of the forgotten," Morales said during a brief visit to Panama. "But that's the most important thing _ these transformations of democracy."
Opposition leaders, meanwhile, note that Morales lost in three of four lowland provinces and say voters there back demands for regional autonomy left out of the draft constitution.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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A guy in my office has a niece with the Peace Corp in Bolivia --
She's on her way home to the States. They were all pulled out because of the "political unrest."
Resurgent Taliban, according to a new report, "have turned much of Afghanistan into 'No Go' zones for aid workers and civilians".
The report, issued by the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) this week, says the security situation in Afghanistan is assessed by most analysts as having deteriorated at a constant rate through 2007. Statistics show that although the numbers of incidents are higher than comparable periods in 2006, they show the same seasonal pattern.
The more significant change in 2007 is the shift from large-scale armed clashes in the field to asymmetric or terror-style attacks.
The nature of the incidents has, however, changed considerably since last year, with high numbers of armed clashes in the field giving way to a combination of armed clashes and asymmetric attacks countrywide. The Afghan National Police (ANP) has become a primary target of insurgents and intimidation of all kinds has increased against the civilian population, especially those perceived to be in support of the government, international military forces as well as the humanitarian and development community.
The more significant change in 2007 is the shift from large-scale armed clashes in the field to asymmetric or terror-style attacks. The former do still take place and as air support is often used, casualty figures are still high. On average, however, these clashes are fewer and smaller than in 2006.
Possible reasons include the high numbers of Taliban fighters killed during summer 2007, including many mid-level and senior commanders. Another reason must be the realisation that these types of attacks are futile against a modern conventionally equipped military force supported by a wide range of aircraft.
According to the CSIS report, insurgency within the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) has significantly evolved over 2007, being no longer a traditional rigid structure, operating in a top to bottom order, and more importantly, no longer a Taliban-dominant insurgent network.
Interacting networks including the Taliban, the Haqqani Network, Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, and Tehrik-e-Nafaz-e-Shariat-e-Mohammadi drive the concept of the insurgency in Afghanistan. The interactions that occur between differing networks are governed by a set of internal rules, a basic ideology, which in turn generate state the entire insurgency.
Over 2007, the Taliban leadership in the south has been weakened as a result of the capture or killing of senior Taliban leaders. While the insurgency in the south remains Taliban-led, the once overarching influence of the Taliban over the insurgency in the east is diminishing. The insurgency in the east has become a conglomerate of disparate insurgent groups, operating independently from the once prevailing influence of the Taliban senior leadership in the south.
The report notes that 2007 has seen an unprecedented number of offensive actions taken by insurgent elements against the Government of Pakistan and security forces within FATA and the NWFP. To date, Pakistani security forces have been unsuccessful in mitigating insurgent presence, have sustained record losses, and have raised serious questions on the Pakistan military and Frontier Corps's capacity and capability to conduct effective military operations in FATA and the NWFP against militants and extremists.
The report notes that the GoP plans to reduce the military's presence within FATA and increase reliance on the less capable Frontier Corps. Under the plan, the military assumes a greater role in the border security mission while the Frontier Corps will have greater focus on security and stability missions within the general populace of FATA/NWFP.
This has the potential to allow for further insurgent gains in FATA and NWFP and embolden a stronger more viable insurgency. Due to the Government of Pakistan's failed policies and security initiatives within FATA, insurgent elements have been able to expand their influence in the settled areas of NWFP and further solidify greater portions of FATA as insurgent safe-havens.
The report states that the insurgency's objectives in 2008 have been to retain its sanctuary in FATA, enabling it to reconstitute fighters and plan and stage operations in Pakistan, Afghanistan, and internationally. It also wants to destabilise the Government of Pakistan and to prevent Islamabad from focusing effective military operations in FATA, defeat the Afghanistan government and the International Security Assistance Force and make the latter pull out so that the Taliban can return to power.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Get the UN and NATO building some roads in talibanistan, then we'll see some very elevated taliban KIA numbers. Make you wonder why the first thing that should have been done hasn't even started? "No Go" zones. HA! They mean No Road zone.
#2
Don't believe anything CSIS says. They are rotten to the core, their primary membership includes Henry Kissinger, Zbigniew Brzezinski, Carter SECDEF draft-dodger Harold Brown, the slimy Richard Armitage, and other such luminaries.
Jeddah Holy city of Makkah is to be turned into a smart city.
Now if they can only do something about the inhabitants ...
Advanced technological facilities will be provided for the benefit of millions of pilgrims who visit the holy city for Umrah almost all year round and Haj every year.
You'll always know where the moon is ...
It is with this objective that a two-day international conference on intelligent cities is to be held in Makkah in January next year. The conference will be organised by the Makkah Municipality in association with the Communications and Information Technology Commission and the Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques Institute for Haj Research.
Mohammed Maqazi, head of the conferences scientific committee, said that the transformation of Makkah into a world-class intelligent city will help address the needs of pilgrims from around the world. The pilgrims need accommodation, meals, information and communication channels, and various modes of transportation.
A combination of the latest technologies that integrate fixed and wireless broadband networks, fixed and mobile GIS and GPS applications, and user-friendly information and communication points can greatly enhance the visitors experience, and the citys objective of quality services to the visitors of the holy sites, he explained.
Because it's all about 'user-friendly' ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/20/2008
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IIRC, plans are being lain for CHINA??? to build and dev a MOBILE, HI-TECH CENTRIC "ROLLING" CITY roughly similar in design to the CYCLON BASE SHIPS ON BSG, capable of independent maneuver and which will convert/recycle any internal wastes into reusable energy-products [e.g. human wastes].
OTHER PLANS > STATIC? FLOATING CITIES dependent on SOLAR-OCEAN ENERGY.
#2
Hmmmmmmm - Mayhaps they could explain to us infidels how come they use advanced technology invented and/or manufactured by infidels and Jooooooos in their "holy" cities - when mo-ham-head (bees pee upon him) had NONE of these things?
Allen won't like them dissin' their pedophileprofit prophet....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/20/2008 1:06
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We in the West managed to provide "accomodation, meals...and transportation" long before broadband networks. We cleverly deployed the infidel innovation of free markets and voila! Food, housing, ways of getting around are not so much an issue for the overwhelming majority. We can send millions of pilgrims to Disneyworld every year without shortages, pestilence or riots. Amazing.
Allowing people the freedom to do as they please would do a lot more to improve their lives than more bandwidth. Choice would be unislamic, of course. So, that's out. If you have to live in a repressed tyrannical theocracy at least you can have faster downloads. They'll need some way to unblock the pron, naturally, but I bet they'll figure that out. How that's gonna make more food or improve transportation is a little murky, but who cares. You'll be able to browse the Koran online from cafes and kiosks throughout the city! O frabjous day! The hooples are gonna eat it up!
Posted by: Baba Tutu ||
09/20/2008 2:33
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As I remember, Mullah Omar's definition of high tech was gold plated automatic faucets for his cattle.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/20/2008 12:07
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I can see the boys at deleted by censor licking their chops.
President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Dr Manmohan Singh are expected to discuss cross-border terrorism in an upcoming meeting in New York.
In what will be their first meeting after Zardari's accession to the Presidency, the two leaders are also expected to discuss cross-Line of Control confidence building measures, including announcing the dates for lunching trade on the Srinagar-Muzaffarabad route.
Officials said Singh was likely to underline cross-border terrorism and infiltration needed to cease to ensure a conducive atmosphere for continuing the dialogue process. Indian Foreign Secretary Shiv Shankar Menon on Friday emphasised that an environment free from terrorism was necessary for the normalisation of relations with Pakistan. "We want an end to cross-border terrorism and ceasefire violations, and would like Pakistan to abide by its commitments," he said.
Menon hoped that the upcoming meeting between Singh and President Zardari would help normalise relations. Singh is leaving for the United States on Monday to address the UN General Assembly in New York and to sign a nuclear agreement with George W Bush administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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A bomb exploded at a madrassa (religious school) run by Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam in Quetta on Friday, killing five people and injuring 10 more. Television footage showed a gaping whole in the external wall around the seminary on the outskirts of the city of Quetta and one partly demolished adjacent room.
"The madrassa people say that someone threw explosives into the madrassa, but we are investigating." But police officer Raja Ishtiaq told AP the blast occurred inside the room and that police were investigating how the bomb got there.
"The madrassa people say that someone threw explosives into the madrassa, but we are investigating," police official Wazir Khan Nasir told Reuters. But police officer Raja Ishtiaq told AP the blast occurred inside the room and that police were investigating how the bomb got there.
The walls had fallen outwards, another police official said, suggesting there could be some explosives inside the room. "We are looking into all possibilities including whether they were preparing some explosives."
A witness who identified himself as Shahbaz Ahmad said students had been scuffling with a man who tried to push past them after they asked him why he wanted to enter the compound. "When they barred his way, he blew himself up," Ahmad, a young man with a black beard, told reporters at a city hospital. Ahmad had no visible wounds, but moments later, he collapsed unconscious and doctors rushed to revive him.
The madrassa is situated about 15 kilometres north of Quetta. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the explosion so far.
Later on Friday, unidentified gunmen riding a motorcycle fired at a police patrol vehicle in Quetta, killing one officer and wounding a policeman and a passer-by, Ishtiaq said. It was unclear if the two incidents were related.
Two men were wounded after unidentified attackers lobbed a hand grenade into a house here at Killi Chashma Achozai area of Balochistan in another incident, police said. The motive behind the incident could not be ascertained. Area police have registered a case.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/20/2008
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#1
Ahmad had no visible wounds, but moments later, he collapsed unconscious and doctors rushed to revive him.
Drama queen
Posted by: Frank G ||
09/20/2008 8:09
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"including whether they were preparing some explosives." Explosive Device Construction 101, final grades: 5 F-'s
10 F+'s
1 D(for the Drama Queen, probably pissed his pants too)
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Japan said Thursday it had shot down a mock missile in the US desert, taking another step to build a shield with the United States against a possible North Korean attack.
I reported last week that the much anticipated, long awaited DreamWorks-Reliance deal was already done, and likely to be signed any day. But at the time I was also told there were just some other issues surrounding the debt financing that had to be wrapped up (probably because the world has been in a financial crisis). Suddenly, the Wall Street Journal comes out with a story just now saying the deal is "done". I presume what the paper means is that it was signed today. My own sources tell me that DreamWorks informed its owner Paramount within the last 24 hours that it has executed its deal with Reliance. But today Paramount waived certain provisions from the original deal to clear the way for the DreamWorks principals and their employees to join their new company "without delay".
Barack Obama's presidential campaign, which has inspired a multitude of songs by stars and amateurs alike, is now getting an official soundtrack. 
New Delhi: Whether as bait or actual commitment, the United Progressive Alliance government has promised the United States that India will acquire 10,000 MW worth of nuclear power generating capacity from American firms -- more than what it is currently negotiating to buy from Russia and France combined.
New Delhi: A terror suspect arrested from Delhi's Jamia Nagar on Friday has confessed his involvement in the recent blasts in Ahmedabad, Jaipur and Delhi, sources said.
Barack Obama, who lamented Friday that "we have not managed our federal budget with any kind of discipline," is nonetheless promising to spend $50 billion on a United Nations anti-poverty program that critics say will drive up American debt.
Joe Biden's off-the-cuff remarks on the trail have at times taken the Obama campaign off-message, but the Delaware senator's latest riff just may have landed him in hot water with voters -- and die hard football fans -- in a key battleground state.
Urban Dictionary: swonse/swanse1. 
At least 20 people were killed and 18 sustained serious injuries in clashes between the Toori and Mangal tribes in Kurram Agency on Friday. 
The fighting between the Pakistan Army and the Taliban and hostility towards vaccinating teams has led to a sharp increase in polio cases in Pakistan this year, health workers said on Friday. akistan has had 55 polio cases this year compared to 32 last year and 39 in 2006. Pakistan is one of the few countries where the disease still exists.
U.S. troops hunting for a suspected al-Qaida in Iraq militant raided a house Friday and killed seven people, including three women, drawing an angry protest from Iraqi officials that all the victims were civilians.
Bhopal A 150-year-old church in Madhya Pradeshs Jabalpur town was set on fire by two unidentified men, police said on Friday. The altar and statues inside the 150-year-old St. Peter and St. Paul Cathedral in the cantonment area of Jabalpur, about 300 km from here, were burnt in the fire on Thursday night. The church was closed at the time.
The United States drones continued their flights over various areas of North and South Waziristan on Friday, creating panic and fear among the locals. According to Express News, the US spy planes were seen flying over Ghulam Khan, Hamzoni, Ditta Khel and Mir Ali areas of North Waziristan and Angoor Adda and Mateen areas of South Waziristan. According to the channel, the continued drone flights have increased fear among locals, already worried about the security situation in their areas.
A latest poll by CBS News and the New York Times showed that Illinois Senator Obama led McCain by 48 percent to 43 percent.
