A Russian warship on Friday rushed to intercept a Ukrainian vessel carrying 33 battle tanks and a hoard of ammunition that was seized by pirates off the Horn of Africa — a bold hijacking that again heightened fears about surging piracy and high-seas terrorism.
U.S. naval ships were in the area and "monitoring the situation" and a U.S. Defense Department official said Washington was concerned about the attack.
"I think we're looking at the full range of options here," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman said.
It was unclear whether the pirates who seized the 530-foot-long cargo ship Faina on Thursday knew what it carried. Still, analysts said it would be extremely difficult to sell such high-profile weaponry like Russian tanks.
The hijacking, with worldwide pirate attacks surging this year, could help rally stronger international support behind France, which has pushed aggressively for decisive action against Somali pirates.
Russian navy spokesman Capt. Igor Dygalo told The Associated Press that the missile frigate Neustrashimy left the Baltic Sea port of Baltiisk a day before the hijacking to cooperate with other unspecified countries in anti-piracy efforts.
But he said the ship was then ordered directly to the Somalia coast after Thursday's attack.
According to the British-based Jane's Information Group, the Neustrashimy is armed with surface-to-air missiles, 100 mm guns and anti-submarine torpedoes.
Ukrainian Defense Minister Yury Yekhanurov, meanwhile, said the hijacked vessel Faina was carrying 33 Russian-built T-72 tanks and a substantial quantity of ammunition and spare parts. He said the tanks were sold to Kenya in accordance with international law.
Ukrainian officials and an anti-piracy watchdog said 21 crew members were aboard the seized ship, including three Russians. Ukrainian President Viktor Yushchenko ordered unspecified measures to free the crew, but it was unclear whether any of the former Soviet republic's naval vessels had been dispatched.
A Kenyan government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, confirmed the East African nation's military had ordered the tanks and spare parts. The tanks are part of a two-year rearmament program.
"The government is in contact with international maritime agencies and other security partners in an endeavor to secure the ship and cargo," Mutua said in a statement. "The government is actively monitoring the situation."
A person who answered the telephone at Ukrainian state-controlled arms dealer Ukrspetsexport, which brokered the sale, refused to comment, and said all requests for information must be submitted in writing.
It was unclear where the shipment originated, though Ukrainian news agencies identified the ship operator as a company called Tomex Team based in the Black Sea port of Odessa. Calls to Tomex offices went unanswered Friday.
Lt. Nate Christensen, a spokesman for the Bahrain-based U.S. 5th Fleet, told the AP that U.S. vessels were aware of the seizure and said U.S. ships were "monitoring the situation," but refused to say more: "Obviously, we are deeply concerned."
U.S. Defense Department spokesman Bryan Whitman said the United States was worried about the ship's cargo.
"A ship carrying cargo of that nature being hijacked off the coast of Somalia is something that should concern us, and it does concern us. And we are monitoring the situation and taking a look at what the options might be," Whitman said.
Paul Cornish, head of the international security program at the London-based think-tank Chatham House said the tanks would be difficult to sell on to a third party — private buyers or warlords, for example — because of the logistics involved with keeping them operational.
"It's not like (stealing) a container full of machine guns, where all you need is a tin of bicycle oil," he said.
Roger Middleton, another Chatham House researcher, said it was unlikely the pirates knew there were tanks aboard the Faina, and also said unloading the cargo would be difficult.
"Most of their attacks are based on opportunity. So if they see something that looks attackable and looks captureable, they'll attack it," he said.
Middleton said it was unclear how the pirates might react if confronted by military action, noting that they have fled from authorities in the past. On the other hand, he said, they are usually well-armed and organized and are based in an unstable country — Somalia.
"It could potentially get pretty messy," he said.
Long a hazard for maritime shippers — particularly in the Indian Ocean and its peripheries — high-seas piracy has triggered greater alarm since the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks on the United States because of its potential as a funding and supply source for global terrorism.
Pirate attacks worldwide have surged this year and Africa remains the world's top piracy hotspot, with 24 reported attacks in Somalia and 18 in Nigeria this year, according to the International Maritime Bureau's piracy reporting center.
The issue burst into international view Sept. 15 when Somali pirates took two French citizens captive aboard a luxury yacht and helicopter-borne French commandos then swooped in to rescue them.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy this month called on other nations to move boldly against pirates, calling the phenomenon "a genuine industry of crime."
In June, the U.N. Security Council — pushed by France and the United States — unanimously adopted a resolution allowing ships of foreign nations that cooperate with the Somali government to enter their territorial waters "for the purpose of repressing acts of piracy and armed robbery at sea."
#1
DELTA FORCE, Ranger, andor SEAL Units + NATO should be in the region, iff not already watching specific vessels. Iff the RUSS SPETZIES can't recover this and other ships, they'll try to sink 'em.
#12
My money is on the SPETSNAZ. They don't do finesse work, but their sledgehammer is damn impressive. Just make sure no "civilians" are on board, 'cuz they are as dead as the pirates.
Environment: The solar wind is slowing, but Al Gore is still spewing hot air. The Oscar winner is promoting civil disobedience to stop energy and economic growth as the first U.S. emissions cap-and-trade program begins.
#1
The good news is that the gore/china/un idea to place the world on one currency - the carbon credit - is impossible since to fit the entire likeness of gore onto a bill the bill would cost more credits to make than its face value (pun intended).
#3
Maybe Owsley was right after all! You ex-hippies will remember him as the chemist who popularized LSD and manufactured some of the classics, including Purple Haze. Some time after parachuting over a rock festival throwing out his latest samples he had a vision: the earth was entering a new ice age! Never hesitant to act on his visions he moved to the Australian outback, where he's lived sheepishly for many years. My admiration for his prescience continues to grow.
#5
I think the Outback's big enough that the Aussies wouldn't notice, Jim.
Of course, the pollution from all that patchouli is another story....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2008 18:43
Comments ||
Top||
#6
That idiot is going to render my carbon credits worthless with his screwing around. Oh, their not worth anything anyway. JohnQC meekly leaves the room.
If this is true, I take back everything bad I said about his actions on this handout plan.
U.S. Sen. John McCain, R-Ariz., may be throwing a monkey wrench into efforts to pass a $700 billion bank bailout, instead favoring alternative plans that looks to free up capital and credit markets via tax and regulatory relief while allowing financial institutions to temporarily skip dividend payments to shareholders.
Republican and Democratic officials in Washington said McCain was offering alternatives Thursday to the $700 billion plan backed by the Bush administration, Federal Reserve chairman Ben Bernanke and U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson. That plan has the federal government acquiring bad mortgage assets from struggling banks with the goal of keeping them afloat and allowing more credit to flow.
McCain appears to be siding with conservatives and House Republicans who question the bailout and its costs to taxpayers as well as government rescuing private lenders and perhaps taking ownership stakes in rescued banks.
The alternative plan allocates less public money and relies more on tax breaks, lifting regulatory barriers and using less bailout-oriented mechanisms to free up capital and credit. It also seeks to create a privately funded mechanism to ensure mortgages and mortgage-backed securities.
One Republican official said McCain is standing up for taxpayers as he, President Bush, congressional leaders and presidential foe Sen. Barack Obama try to hash out a deal. A deal was close to being finalized Thursday but House Republicans and McCain are looking to get alternatives considered.
Bernanke and Paulson have warned that without action the flow of credit could totally freeze, more banks could fail and the rough economy sink into a recession.
A Democratic official said Thursday McCain and U.S. House Minority Leader John Boehner are the major barriers to passage of the bailout. Public opinion polls show voters upset with the bailout plan and its relief to Wall Street bank and investment houses.
Some economists and business groups support the bailout, echoing worries that if something is not done the economy and financial markets could collapse.
Democrats had wanted to put stipulations on the Paulson bailout plan including limits on CEO pay.
McCain's campaign and U.S. Senate office did not respond to requests for comment.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
09/26/2008 15:36
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Hopefully. It does fit with his history of trying to keep government spending down.
In CCAGWÂ’s 2007 Congressional Ratings McCain scored a 100%. Pretty damn good. Seems more and more like this "deal" for a bailout is nothing more than a payout with the taxpayers getting screwed.
#3
Dems in majority along with POTUS can pass this with or without the Republican minority. This is a win/win turkey shoot for McCain and the Republican party. Paloosi, The One (former ACORN Lawyer), Reid, and Big ACORN are leading the turkey flock.
#7
No. They are seriously afraid. The banking system came dangerously close to seizing up last Wednesday when LIBOR doubled. That was because banks did not want to lend to other banks overnight because they feared not being repaid the next morning.
If you aren't afraid, you don't have any idea what is going on and how close we are to SEAFU, Situation Extraordinary. And that is a large part of the problem, not enough people have enough fear. The problem is that one group that really does not yet have the fear is the average banker. Only the guys in the head shed who aren't supposed to talk about how close the system came to seizing are properly afeared. That's why Paulson is on one knee to Pelosi. It sure ain't the Botox. Unitl the fear is so wide spread and palpable that people don't snark about fear cards will this problem be solved. And it is going to take a whole lotta pain to generate that much fear.
#9
Fear is not unacceptable, it's desirable when there's somethin to be afraid of. And it'sa one of only two things that moves markets. The other is greed. We've had enough of that for a while.
#10
Yes NS, I respect you and generally agree. However, critical decision making (of the 700B USD variety) should always find it's foundation in knowledge, accurate knowledge. Not 'fear' instilled by the beltway crowd.
#11
Capitalism without failure is like religion without sin. Some banks need to fail and some businesses need to be crushed to powder, before we can have a firm foundation upon which to rebuild the economy. We have over-capacity in finance and in manufacturing. That capacity came about because of excessive credit availability. Some of that marginal capacity needs to be taken out; the alternative is an even bigger bubble - this time one that will take decades to recover from. We need to end this madness today; stand athwart history and yell "Stop!" with the incessant government tinkering, this time at huge taxpayer expense. You know, it's funny - when Bernanke talked about dropping helicopter-loads of cash, he never mentioned that we would be dropping them on the wealthy denizens of Wall Street.
#14
What Nimble Spemble said. But the Democrat don't fear enough yet, either, or they'd have skipped the posturing and got immediately down to the serious work of hammering out a bill that could pass both Houses of Congress with enough Republican votes to give the Democrats the cover they seem to feel they need.
#18
I'm no fan of the bailout, but NS has a good point. The Fed properly noted that the panic had gotten to the point of being potentially very harmful and also knew full well that the only thing that would settle things down would be a big enough move by the Fed to reassure everyone that the system isn't going to collapse. People weren't sure, so they - very rationally - attempting to prepare themselves for the possibility.
However, ZF is also correct, bad banks (like Inymac - maybe the planets worst.), have to go. Remember: It's the failed banks that cost you the most. We back the deposits and get nothing back.
What this move by the Fed has allowed, giving banks time to take an assessment of what lies ahead, is more important than the 700 billion. The consolidation in banking going on right now is what really is and will continue to be the true driver of the recovery and it will help make sure that our money goes to businesses that don't fail. Which means we get at least something for our money. Granted, what we get isn't worth nearly what we pay, but it's far better that we buy 'toxic paper' from a bank like JPM than paying out deposit insurance for MaMu.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/26/2008 21:38
Comments ||
Top||
Russia is to build new space and missile defence shields and put its armed forces on permanent combat alert, President Medvedev announced today.
In a sharp escalation of military rhetoric, Mr Medvedev ordered a wholesale renovation of Russia's nuclear deterrence and told military chiefs to draw up plans to reorganise the armed forces by December. He said that Russia must modernise its nuclear defences within eight years, including the creation of a "system of air and space defence".
The announcement puts Russia in a new arms race with the United States, which has infuriated the Kremlin by seeking to establish an anti-missile shield in eastern Europe. The US argues that the shield is aimed at rogue states such as Iran, but Russia is convinced that its own security is threatened. Some Race. But the last one worked out well for them so they should give it another go.
Mr Medvedev told military commanders that "all combat formations must be upgraded to the permanent readiness category" by 2020. He added that Russia would begin "mass production of warships, primarily nuclear cruisers carrying cruise missiles and multi-purpose submarines".
#1
A missile defense shield? Grand, sounds like a plan. Good luck with that, Premier Sockpuppet.
If Russia ever turns into a country which can pull off a technical feat like a missile defense shield that can actually protect them from US cruise missiles, then I'm willing to wager that they'll be the sort of country we don't need to fire cruise missiles at.
Kind of like China, actually. [knock on wood, hope they don't prove me wrong by invading Taiwan next week. It's been that kind of month.]
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/26/2008 16:25
Comments ||
Top||
#9
The Russkies are too dense to figure out that if they trashed the Nkors and the Iranians, the Americans wouldn't believe there is a need for a limited ABM system and would gut the program. Instead they do as they do cause a scorpion can't change its behavior.
#10
Wid the new US truuubles vee China ally Pakistan, + budding pan-Nation regional Islamist truuubles elsewhere, it remains to be seen iff Russ can't meet its 2020 deadline.
The Nanavati-Mehta judicial inquiry commission has based its conclusion that the Godhra train carnage was a “pre-planned conspiracy” on the recorded evidence of over 100 witnesses, who claimed to having heard a crowd of about a 1,000 Muslims shouting “set the train on fire and kill the Hindus.” The report said “instigating slogans” were also made over loudspeakers from a nearby mosque to attack Hindus.
The evidence recorded by the commission also claimed that a mob of Muslims attacked the train and stoned the coaches so heavily that the passengers could not come out. This was to ensure maximum casualties when the S-6 coach of the Sabarmati Express was “set afire.”
The commission, in its 168-page report, said the “conspiracy” was hatched by some local Muslims at the Aman guest house in Godhra the previous night. The conspirators immediately made arrangements for collecting about 140 litres of petrol from a nearby pump on the night of February 26, 2002, the next day when the train arrived in Godhra, Hasan Lala, after forcibly opening the vestibule between coaches S-6 and S-7, entered S-6 and threw burning rags setting it on fire.
The report named Moulvi Umerji of the local mosque as the “mastermind” of the conspiracy. It said Rajak Kurkure, Salim Panwala, Saukatlal, Imran Sheri, Rafiq Batuk, Salim Jarda, Jabbir, and Siraj Lala were among those who participated in the conspiracy to “cause harm to the kar sevaks travelling in that coach.”
According to the report, setting fire to the train was part of a “larger conspiracy” to “instil a sense of fear” in the administration and create “anarchy” in the state. It, however, has not named the architects of the “larger conspiracy.”
The commission disagreed with the contentions of the Banerjee committee and the Jan Sangharsha Manch, which represented the riot victims before the commission, that alarm chains could not be operated from outside under the modified system introduced by the Railways in 1995. Quoting a railway officer of the carriage and wagon department, Ahmedabad, it said the alarm chain could still be pulled from outside. Quoting a number of surviving passengers, the commission said they had seen the mob outside the coach throwing stones and also some “burning rags” and some “inflammable liquid materials” through the windows. “The passengers had informed DSP Raju Bhargava at about 8.30 a.m. that the train was attacked by a mob and many passengers were injured and killed. Where was the time or reason for the passengers to concoct a false story,” it asked. “Considering the situation prevailing then, it is highly unlikely that the passengers had any discussion amongst themselves and they had decided to give a false version about the attack on the train,” it said. The report said the passengers immediately after getting down from the coach gave the same version of the mob attack and throwing of inflammable materials inside the coach to the District Collector.
Godhra station superintendent Katija, who was also present with the Collector, gave the same evidence, corroborated by assistant station master Rajendraprasad Meena, who was present at “A” cabin, near which the incident took place, and the railway protection force commandants.
The commission said the passengers of the train were attacked the second time some three hours after the stone throwing and burning incident when the train was being shunted to detach the two affected coaches. Two Muslim mobs of about 700 people started pelting stones on the passengers waiting on the yard for the train to reassemble and resume their onward journey to Ahmedabad. The police had to open fire, killing two persons and injuring one to disperse the violent mobs. This refutes the theory that the fire was accidental, it claimed.
The commission claimed that there was no evidence to justify the contention that the kar sevaks had been fighting with Muslim vendors at stations before Godhra as alleged earlier, though there were some minor scuffles with three Muslim vendors on the Godhra platform. But though there was no “reliable evidence” to show that any attempt was made by the kar sevaks to abduct Sofiabanu, Salim Panwala spread a “false rumour” to that effect to collect a mob that started pelting stones on the passengers.
The commission dismissed as “not worthy of any credence” the Manch theory that there was no crowd, except a small group of curious on-lookers, no stone-throwing and no conspiratorial setting of fire.
Without mentioning the Banerjee report, the Nanavati commission rejected the “accidental fire” theory stating that the reasoning that a fire was caused by the overturning of a burning stove used for cooking by some kar sevaks in the compartment or that it was set off by an electric short circuit was baseless. There was no space for anyone to light the stove in the over-crowded coach carrying more than 200 passengers and any spillover of kerosene from the stove, though out of the question, could not have caused such heavy fire and damage. Dismissing the short circuit theory, the commission said in such an event the passengers would not have climbed up to the upper berths to protect themselves as electric lines were going through the top of the coaches, and rather they would have climbed down on the floor. In such an event, the windows on the platform side of the coach would not have been closed or the windowpanes broken by stone throwing.
“The smoke before fire” did not necessarily mean electric short circuit as propounded by the Manch but because the fire was caused by some inflammable materials thrown on the floor from outside, it concluded.
It said the Centre or the Railways had not appeared before the commission to claim the fire to be accidental and on the contrary the railway officials and the government railway protection force personnel present on the spot had stated that the attack was by the Muslim mob and that the coach was set ablaze by petrol,
Posted by: john frum ||
09/26/2008
14:40 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
At least three live bombs, stored in steel containers and connected to small LPG cylinders and detonators, were found close to the Pune-Bangalore national highway about 18 km from Dharwad city and 400 km north of the state capital on Friday.
These bombs were found on a service road next to a bridge on the national highway. The district police rushed to the spot following a tip off from villagers of Singanahalli in the neighbouring area.
The bombs were stored in cylindrical steel boxes and connected to LPG cylinders, iron pipes and detonators. “The bomb disposal squad (from Bangalore) has reached the spot. It will take some time to defuse them,” DGP Mr R Srikumar said.
The villagers called the Jeevan Raksha police station when they discovered these cylindrical steel boxes. The policemen cordoned off the highway and stopped vehicles from driving over the culvert, where the bombs were found. Soon sniffer dogs were also deployed around the area to spot more explosives in the region.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/26/2008
14:34 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke have put Congress in a hell of position. They have forecast financial doom unless their $700-billion bailout plan passes, yet their explanation of to how it will work, judging by their answers during congressional hearings this week, is basically “trust us.”
In any other circumstance, that posture would be unacceptable. But the prospect of an imminent financial meltdown looms. As Paulson and Bernake have repeatedly argued, the reason to stop this meltdown is not to save the irresponsible players who created this mess, but to save the rest of us from the consequences of their mess. So far, the “real” economy has weathered the financial turmoil amazingly well. But that won’t last if no one can get a loan. At the very least, we will likely face a sharp economic downturn on par with 1981-82 or 1974-75, and at worst a Japan-like disruption that will take years to work through. The cost of such an event would be far larger than that of the Paulson plan. . . .
Conservatives have proposed various alternatives to the Paulson plan. These alternatives have fallen into two categories. Some of them consist of excellent long-term reforms that do not address the issue at hand. . . . Other conservative proposals — we think particularly of the plan being promoted by Reps. Eric Cantor and Jeb Hensarling — are better geared to the problems of the moment, even if they are probably insufficient. Regardless, it seems to us unlikely that enough of a consensus will develop for an alternative to get it passed. If conservatives refuse to support the Paulson plan, whether because they cannot stomach it or prefer an alternative, it may become impossible to enact anything but a left-leaning deal that depends on votes from liberal Democrats. The result of their opposition would thus be to make the Paulson plan simultaneously more intrusive and less effective.
Rightly viewed, PaulsonÂ’s proposal is a distasteful emergency measure to right the credit markets and should be phased out as soon as possible. Liberals want to make it, instead, an endless warrant for financial socialism. . . .
Right now, conservatives have leverage in this debate. They should use it to stop liberals from hijacking the plan and, indeed, to improve it themselves. Their strategy should be to improve the plan rather than to try to kill it outright.
Republicans should push for every measure possible to lessen the need for the Paulson plan and to limit its scope. Proposals like reforming mark-to-market accounting rules that have worsened the crisis, suspending dividend payments by financial institutions, and allowing the Fed to pay interest on its reserves can help ease the crunch and increase capital in the system. Meanwhile, even if Paulson needs the $700 billion figure next to his “bazooka” and needs a great deal of discretion in operating the program, Congress should structure it so that it is reviewed every month and the possibility exists to pull the plug quickly if it isn’t working. If it is possible, Republicans should also try to include some of their long-term reform ideas in the package — as a supplement, rather than an alternative, to a solution to the current crisis.
We understand, and share, the instinctive repulsion many conservatives feel for the plan. But in a true crisis, the financial system needs a government backstop. Panics must be stopped because it is their very nature to damage the economy out of all proportion to reason. So something must be done, and it appears that the Paulson plan is going to have to be the template for that something.
Reasonable conservatives might well disagree with that judgment. We understand our compatriots who consider it too risky and too costly, not just to the U.S. government but to our principles. Would that the governmentÂ’s insistence on promoting bad loans and Wall StreetÂ’s recklessness had never brought us to this pass.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2008
13:34 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The handout needs to be shot, fed into a wood chipper, burned to ashes, be doused with holy water and finally thrown out of a plane at 20,000 feet to make sure it doesn't return in some other form.
#2
In case you're wondering, Rich Lowry, who writes the National Review's editorials, is really in the tank for this handout. His pals on Wall Street are counting on it.
John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis.
In response, Americans saw a familiar spectacle in Washington. At a moment of crisis that threatened the economic security of American families, Washington played the blame game rather than work together to find a solution that would avert a collapse of financial markets without squandering hundreds of billions of taxpayers' money to bailout bankers and brokers who bet their fortunes on unsafe lending practices.
Both parties in both houses of Congress and the administration needed to come together to find a solution that would deserve the trust of the American people. And while there were attempts to do that, much of yesterday was spent fighting over who would get the credit for a deal and who would get the blame for failure. There was no deal or offer yesterday that had a majority of support in Congress. There was no deal yesterday that included adequate protections for the taxpayers. It is not enough to cut deals behind closed doors and then try to force it on the rest of Congress -- especially when it amounts to thousands of dollars for every American family.
The difference between Barack Obama and John McCain was apparent during the White House meeting yesterday where Barack Obama's priority was political posturing in his opening monologue defending the package as it stands. John McCain listened to all sides so he could help focus the debate on finding a bipartisan resolution that is in the interest of taxpayers and homeowners. The Democratic interests stood together in opposition to an agreement that would accommodate additional taxpayer protections.
Senator McCain has spent the morning talking to members of the Administration, members of the Senate, and members of the House. He is optimistic that there has been significant progress toward a bipartisan agreement now that there is a framework for all parties to be represented in negotiations, including Representative Blunt as a designated negotiator for House Republicans. The McCain campaign is resuming all activities and the Senator will travel to the debate this afternoon. Following the debate, he will return to Washington to ensure that all voices and interests are represented in the final agreement, especially those of taxpayers and homeowners.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2008
11:48 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Whatever the hell it is he's doing, it better be right.
Meanwhile, ransom negotiations between the pirates and the Iranians have broken off. After the shipping company was sanctioned by the Treasury Department earlier this month, Iran told the pirates the deal was off, in part because the U.S. Navy patrols off the Somali coast. And, in yet another strange twist, the Iranian press claims that the U.S. has offered $7 million for the vessel. At last report, the Iran Deyanat was still anchored off Eyl, and no one is really sure what's inside its cargo containers.
#1
Within days, pirates who had boarded the ship developed strange health complications, skin burns and loss of hair. Independent sources tell The Long War Journal that a number of pirates have also died.
Should not have opened those lead boxes, Nadif.
The son of an Ohio garage mechanic, Galt left home at age 12 and began college at Patrick Henry University at age 16. There he befriended Francisco d'Anconia and Ragnar Danneskjöld. All three of them double-majored in physics and philosophy. They were the cherished students of the brilliant scientist Robert Stadler and the brilliant philosopher Hugh Akston.
After graduating, Galt becomes an engineer at the Twentieth Century Motor Works where he designs a revolutionary new motor powered by ambient static electricity with the potential to change the world. Like Ellis Wyatt, he creates what many had for years said was impossible. When the company owners decide to run the factory by the collectivist maxim, "From each according to his ability, to each according to his need", Galt organizes a successful labor strike (but this time getting employers, inventors, businessmen and industrialists to go on strike against statist laws that violate their rights), proclaiming his promise to stop the motor of the world. Galt begins traversing the globe, meeting the world's most successful businessmen, systematically convincing them to follow in his footsteps; one by one, they began abandoning their business empires (which, Galt convinces them, were doomed to failure anyhow, given the increased nationalization of industry by the government). This strike forms the backdrop of the novel as the mystery which protagonist Dagny Taggart seeks to uncover, with Galt as her antagonist (the novel was originally titled The Strike).
Secretly, these captains of industry, led by Galt and banker Midas Mulligan, create their own society—a secret enclave of rational individualists living in 'Galt's Gulch', a town secluded high in a wilderness of mountains in Colorado. Taggart accidentally finds the town—and a shocked John Galt—by crash-landing a light aircraft while pursuing Quentin Daniels.
An alarming number of students were conspicuously absent from class when schools in the East Valley reconvened in August.
Half of the 10 school districts in the area reported a loss in enrollment from the same time the previous year. Some of the biggest hits were felt in Mesa, Tempe and Apache Junction districts, where about 2,500 students who were expected to be there never showed up.
Despite tremendous growth in the East Valley over the last decade, the inability to predict population variations, the effects of competition created through open enrollment and the sudden change in the housing market have left school administrators and governing boards guessing about the future of their schools and grasping at ways to quickly address the holes left in their budgets as students seemingly disappear. And no mention of illegal aliens in the entire story. Authorities are "mystified". Could it be UFOs abducting children?
#1
... grasping at ways to quickly address the holes left in their budgets as students seemingly disappear.
When school budgets are set by population the integrity of the system is based upon preserving the flow of money to one's own little fiefdom. There is no loyalty to the taxpayer in economizing the resources. The Tranzies* never grasped that they took the money from other school districts that need it just as much, if not more.
*Transnational Progressive [aka International Socialist] who have no loyalty to an American national identity or border. They want to loot American resources for their own agenda. They demand obedience from the serfs taxpayer but give no loyalty or respect in return.
#2
Gee, that's too bad. only down side, what will the school do with all those dual languae ( or spanish only) texts if there are only English speaking students there?
#3
Last year, when the districts learned they had a butt load of unneeded ESL teachers, and already had a full complement of Spanish teachers, they made the ESL teachers an offer. Learn some other language to teach if you want to keep working.
#4
what's the problem here. I think if the school systems know that students are illegal aliens the they shit report the entire family too the INS. I know it's not the kids faults but I have enough trouble affording my kids education and by them making taxes higher too educate an illegal is a slap in the face
#5
That'd make sense, sinse. Too much sense, in fact. It's against the law for the schools to ask for proof of citizenship. You probably know this already but I remember when I was a young whippersnapper a long, long time ago I worked with school administrators in a very, very conservative California school district. I was ignorant and naive and my mouth dropped open when they told me that. I couldn't believe it. The two older men looked at each other and nodded when they saw the expression on my face.
But now, let's tie this in with a more current topic. How many of those 2500 students belonged to families who defaulted on their sub prime mortgages when they went back to Mexico?
#6
It's a good question how many went back to Mexico. I read elsewhere that North Carolina is now the fastest growing State in the US, because it is very liberal to illegals. Canada is also getting a lot of Mexican illegals, because it does not require passports of Mexicans to enter.
Remember also that Arizona was early on the bandwagon to e-Verify and prosecuting employers for hiring illegals, which was believed (no stats) to cause a big outflow of illegals at the time. And yes, Joe Arpaio's efforts as well, which truthfully I think were more PR than practical.
Otherwise, one city named Guadalupe, just South of Phoenix, has no police right now because they were policed by the Maricopa County Sheriff's Office (Joe again), and have canceled the contract.
Ironically, they are not Mexican, but Yaqui Indian, who are so government averse that many of them, though citizens, have little or no paper proof.
Another city in East Phoenix Metro is actually paying a landscaper $75,000 to fight the charge that they knowingly hired illegals.
WASHINGTON - Republican John McCain says he's going to be at the first presidential debate, even though Congress doesn't have a bailout deal.
With less than 10 hours until the debate was scheduled to start, the McCain campaign announced that the Arizona senator would travel to the University of Mississippi. The campaign said after the forum he will fly back to Washington to continue working on the financial crisis.
The campaign's statement said McCain is optimistic that there has been progress toward a bipartisan agreement. But earlier in the week, McCain said he would delay the debate "until we have taken action to address this crisis."
#1
I'm really afraid he's looking wishy washy. I'm conservative and want him to win so if I'm seeing him this way, how do the 'undecided' voters see him? That coupled with Palins weak performance with Couric has me concerned. (What the hell were they thinking sending her to Couric???) Neither of them are coming across solid and Obama is with the help of the MSM. I'm really concerned with losing 'undecided' voters. Lets pray the debates play out well.
On the other hand with McCain and Obama going to DC, Obama was denied his 3 days of preparation and practice for the debate - something the MSM headlined earlier this week. Maybe that was McCain's Machiavellian plan and maybe that is why Obama was relucant to go.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
09/26/2008 12:55
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I share your concerns, YS.
Unless the plan all along was to deny BHO prep time for the debates, this could backfire with undecided voters. It doesn't matter if it was the right call or not, in the sense that an effective and competent leader would make the same call (to delay the debates until a plan to address the impending economic crisis had been reached). Sadly, the usual toxic brew of electoral politics and partisanship in DC makes it almost impossible for the real truth to come out. There's just too much spin. As a McCain supporter, I'm also afraid that he looks wishy-washy here. If denying BHO his debate prep time was the original plan, then McCain needs to have a VERY strong performance against BHO to come out net positive here.
As you pointed out, adding Palin's less than impressive showing with Couric into the mix puts the McCain campaign on the defensive for right now. I must admit, watching Palin give her answer to Couric's question on the current bailout plan was a little painful, to say the least. They had to know that question was coming so either she needs more media coaching or they need to do better prep work.
The MSM's blatant favoritism for BHO is only exacerbating the current situation. I tend to believe that undecideds are more or less naive about the liberal bias in the media, otherwise they would be far less undecided. So all of this works against McCain/Palin. Then again, the media chips have been stacked against conservative candidates for quite some time now and the People have demonstrated a keen ability to see through much of the bias.
#3
I disagree Sam. He tried to say "Let's fix this" but Sen. Obama said "Business as usual". McCain is claiming more leads in the polls, but he can't afford to shoot himself in the foot by skipping out on the debate. The Obama campaign would have a field day with that one.
#4
McCain's grandstanding was stupid. Asinine even. He thought if he put his maverick stamp on the handout, the country would prostrate itself before him. The fact is that there's no way to prettify this handout. The best thing McCain could have done was distance himself from this septic tank. And what does he do? He jumps right into the tank. This moron is so stupid that if he wins the election anyway, it'll be proof that God has a special place in his heart for simpletons.
McCain could have pointed to Bush's collaboration with the Democrats on this handout bill as an example of how he's different from the Bush administration - he doesn't favor taxpayer handouts to businesses that make wrong-way bets with borrowed money. Instead, he tries to help Bush pass this handout bill. What is wrong with this guy?
#8
Agreed. I applauded the "screw the campaign, the country comes first" move, but sitting like a bump on a log in the meeting didn't help and going back on his promise to deal with the crisis first and worry about debates later does hurt him. Should have stayed in DC and used some of that famous temper of his to beat some sense into the lackwits in Congress. Also agree that Palin looked inept in the Couric interview.... of course that's just the clips that have been released by the network. No idea what the rest of the interview looked like that they decided not to show.....
Still voting against Obama though - no question there.
#9
"the bump on a log" is a media creation.... First report I read last night, stated McCain asked questions -- seems Obama took lead of the meeting (by Democrats giving the lead to him), completely screwed up, which led to the fighting.... again, misleading information from Dems and the press.....
#10
Bottom line is he made the assertion he was going back to help. He needed to take control or make some progress to back that up and he didn't. Bump on a log is my assessment of results not the media's democratic message.
#11
Consider, he was a "bump on a log" 'cause it was Obama that was the "leader" of the Dems, and the one that created the fight.... Bush turned the meeting over first to The Nancy and Harry, who turned it to The One. The rest was downhill from there.
Obama was so bad, he hit all the cable shows immediately, even surprising Brit with suddenly wanting to be on!
So, yea, McCain probably did sit quiet while all of that was going on. Like a fighter pilot, observing the enemy.
#12
McCain's greatest fault is that he wants to do the right thing. As we're all seeing, that can be a crippling short-coming in the political world, where bastardy is rewarded and the naked and ferocious pursuit of self-interest is the safest tactic.
Watch 'em. Those horrible bastards Dodd and Frank will come out of this as elder fucking statesmen. With hundreds of millions of dollars for ACORN's street samurai.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/26/2008 16:30
Comments ||
Top||
#13
Sherry__
I have done, as I usually do. Bottom line, my candidate made a play and wasn't able, for whatever reasons, including donk politicking, to follow thru on it. From the outside, it looks bad. period. Then he reneged on his promise to stick with it until there was a deal. And he didn't. No matter how you cut it that doesn't play well. Not to me and not to the independents who haven't yet made up their minds.
The question you have to ask yourself is which one of both candidates will handle Al Quaida a giant propaganda victory (meaning that nobody will ever want to tip American forces againts terrorists after seeing what hapenned to Irakis after the second "Saigon embassy" episode. The question you have to ask yourself is which one is the likelier to prevent you and your childen getting killed through Iran getting nukes and, say, handling them to terrorists.
#15
Mercutio is one of the good guys - I don't doubt he'll do what's best for the country when the time comes.
From what I can gather Senator McCain is trying to guide the herd of cats that live in the two Houses of Congress to a real solution, while the Democrats attempt to bully the Republicans into providing them cover, Candidate Obama demonstrates his inability to work with others, and Secretary of the Treasury Paulson is fussing in private and public because McCain didn't help force through Paulson's $700 billion proposal. As I understand it, the purpose of the proposal was actually to reassure world financial markets that the U.S. will not allow a local melt-down that would cause the world money flows to shut down, leading to a world-wide financial crash. It seems to me -- and Rantburg's financial mavens will please correct me -- that even though no plan has yet been put through, the world has calmed down considerably, in that we are no longer 500 trades from doom. Our Congresspeople will work through the weekend to hammer out a plan that enough of them can agree on to get passed, so I can look forward to the antics at 9 pm with anticipation. I hope Candidate McCain plans to play fighter pilot.
#17
Obama is smarting after McCain whacks him with experience like a senior would wield a cane.
I have to convince my mother not to vote for someone younger than her son.
At 47 Obama does not have the experience and it shows.
Obama is a creation of his advisors.
He must consult with his advisors and remouth their wisdom to appear wise.
John McCain overrides his advisors like he did on the surge (By the grace of God we were saved from assured defeat in Iraq because John McCain believed it was too important to fail.)
John McCain has a strategy how to win in Afganistan (actually Pakistan) just like we will and have to win in Iraq first.
The only reason Afganistan has turned bad to Obama's delight is because al kaida fled Iraq.
I'll bet Blair's sister in law is glad she got the hell outta there instead of waiting for her "friends" to come get her.
NICOSIA (Reuters) - Foreign activists who planned to sail to Gaza in defiance of an Israeli blockade have delayed their trip to late October, an organizer said on Friday. Members of the U.S.-based Free Gaza Movement had planned to sail to the Palestinian territory from Cyprus this week, but said they were held up while attempting to find a boat. Good planning. If you're gonna sail some place, who needs a boat?
There were also poor weather conditions in the eastern Mediterranean, and activists did not want their trip to coincide with the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan next week, a spokeswoman said. Ah, yes. Ramadan. Wouldn't wanna screw up Ramadan.
"The only analogy I can think of is like showing up with 22 people you don't know for Christmas dinner," said Greta Berlin, a spokeswoman for the Free Gaza Movement. Or 22 idiots who don't have a clue.
"We want to get past Ramadan, and the seas are very rough at the moment so we are going to postpone it until the third or fourth week of October," she said. ...and the dog ate our maps.
#2
In the meantime Black Sudanese are being massacred and raped without antone of those nice people of the SA Free Gaza movement losing any sleep at it.
#3
Winter weather in the Med can get pretty dicey as well; might want to make sure that boat you find has all the seams well-caulked ( or not as the case may be)
Iranian "President" Mahmoud Ahmadinejad rejects American ideas — all of our ideas, that is, but nuclear fusion. When Ahmadinejad told a crowd at Columbia University in 2007 that the United States must investigate "who was truly involved" in 9/11, students may have confused the speech with ethnic studies class. There should be no confusion.
It's bad enough this bird-brained troglodyte was again walking the streets of America's greatest city this week, a place teeming with women, Christians, Jews and gays. Ahmadinejad has something to offend all. Holocaust denier. Misogynist. Religious fanatic. Terrorist enabler. Homophobic inquisitor — though, Ahmadinejad does claim, "In Iran, we don't have homosexuals, like in your country." Yes, Ahmadinejad delivered an anti-Semitic lecture at the United Nations that could have been used at a battalion reunion of the Schutzstaffel. But let's not forget he also believes "a world without America . . . is attainable." So why isn't everyone troubled?
Why did CNN's Larry King, who nabbed Ahmadinejad for an interview, shower the Iranian strongman with queries that wouldn't have rattled Elizabeth Taylor? Why does the apologist fringe of the American left continue to assail U.S. policy rather than a belligerent Iran? Why aren't high-minded left-winger politicos as insulted by Ahmadinejad as they are by, I don't know, Sarah Palin? Instead, Ahmadinejad felt welcome. He spent a couple of hours schmoozing at New York's Grand Hyatt with representatives of the American "peace movement."
Jodie Evans, a founder of the anti-war group Code Pink, actually had a sit-down with Ahmadinejad. "It's rare," she explained, "for a head of state to take time during an official U.N. visit to meet with the peace community, especially in a situation where the host government — represented by the Bush administration — is so hostile." Human Rights Watch reports that Ahmadinejad, when he's not torturing dissidents, "has shown no tolerance for peaceful protests and gatherings." There is no Code Pink in Tehran for Ahmadinejad to sit down with. Then again, Code Pink's mission is to shut down the free expression of those it disagrees with — so perhaps the two parties had a congenial discussion. But back to planet Earth ...
Palin, in a speech she could not deliver in New York, accused Ahmadinejad of dreaming "of being an agent in a 'Final Solution' — the elimination of the Jewish people." True. Barack Obama condemned the speech in strong language, as well, and pointed out that the "threat from Iran's nuclear program is grave." True, as well. This is a stark reversal from Obama's earlier naïve assertion that he would meet with Ahmadinejad without any preconditions. As he well knows, no matter who wins in November, Iran can't be ignored.
The latest report from the International Atomic Energy Agency reports that Tehran's nuclear activities "present a decidedly bleak picture." Most observers believe Ahmadinejad is stonewalling inspectors while he works on a nuclear bomb and missile warheads. This report, incidentally, wasn't issued by bellicose Rovian Bushites hell-bent on waging war for amusement and oil, but a contingent of twinkle-toed worldly optimists.
How exactly will a new administration stop Iran if they continue to ignore diplomacy and sanctions as they have for the past six years? How will the world sanction Ahmadinejad when the U.N. Security Council includes Russia, a nation that has done its utmost to allow Iran's nuclear program to continue? No candidate has clued us in yet. No wonder Ahmadinejad feels so comfy in New York.
PUL-I-CHARKHI, Afghanistan (Reuters) - Afghan army recruit Mohammad Sediq is sitting out his class at a military academy on the outskirts of Kabul because his feet became swollen after he wore ill-fitting military boots without socks. Another former school dropout slumps on a chair at the back of an open-air class on map-reading staring blankly, either unable to comprehend the language or the subject. From such disparate and unlikely troops, the Afghan National Army (ANA), the key to the nation's long term stability, is being built from the ground up, as it were.
It lacks guns, tanks, planes. Its troops speak different languages, and its wages lag behind the salaries paid by a resurgent Taliban to their foot soldiers. But it has fighting spirit. It can move fast in the rugged Afghan terrain and most of all, it is beginning to win respect in a nation with few institutions or contemporary heroes.
"This is our pride. This is our hope for the future," says Major-General Zaher Azimi, a former mujahideen commander and now an adviser and spokesman at the Afghan defense ministry. "The only solution for Afghanistan in the long term is building Afghan institutions, and a strong military is the first of them."
Continued on Page 49
ISLAMABAD (Reuters) - Neither the United States nor its ally Pakistan will let a clash between their forces on the Afghan border escalate since both countries depend on each other for different reasons, analysts said on Friday.
U.S. and Pakistani forces exchanged fire on the Afghan border on Thursday after Pakistani forces shot at two U.S. helicopters from a Pakistani border post, the latest in a string of incidents that has ratcheted up diplomatic tension between the allies. The Pakistani military said its soldiers fired warning shots after the helicopters intruded over Pakistani territory, but a Pentagon spokesman insisted the helicopters had not entered Pakistan. No one was hurt.
Alarming as the sight of the nuclear-armed allies shooting at each other might be, Pakistani analysts said hostilities were unlikely to intensify although more such incidents were possible, with both sides driven by different compulsions.
"Don't expect Pakistan and the U.S. to go to war, that is not likely to happen," said political analyst, Hasan Askari Rizvi. "Pakistan needs the United States for economic reasons and the U.S. needs Pakistan for conducting its war against terrorism in Afghanistan. Both recognize the need, but both are also trying to maximize their gain by building pressure on the other."
The United States and its allies are struggling in Afghanistan with an intensifying Taliban insurgency, which has raised doubts about the success of the West's seven-year involvement.
U.S. officials say Taliban and al Qaeda-linked fighters use the ethnic Pashtun tribal regions along Pakistan's side of the border as an operating base to launch attacks inside Afghanistan, in Pakistan and to plot violence in the West. Targeting those safe havens has become a priority as frustration grows that Pakistan has not been doing enough to clamp down on fighters in the remote region.
As a result, the United States has stepped up strikes on militants on the Pakistani side of the border by missile-firing drones. This month, U.S. commandos mounted a helicopter-borne ground assault on a Pakistani border village. But Pakistan says such attacks violate its sovereignty and the army has vowed to defend Pakistani territory. "Pakistan does not want to engage in a conflict with the U.S.," said Talat Masood, a retired general and analyst."But at the same time it's saying 'please respect our sovereignty' and it's giving some sort of clear signal, while trying to be as conciliatory as possible," he said.
Pakistani President Asif Ali Zardari, the widower of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, said his country's forces had only fired flares at the U.S. helicopters to tell them they had crossed the border.
Zardari and his government have pledged its commitment to the U.S.-led campaign against militancy and the army has killed up to 1,000 militants in recent offensives in the northwest.
But the alliance with the United States and the attacks on militants are unpopular with many Pakistanis, and cross-border strikes by U.S. forces erode the public support the government is trying to nurture, said Masood. "It's very bad as far as winning the people over, which is essential for the war on terror," he said.
The U.S. attacks into Pakistan also put pressure on the government to stand up to what many see as U.S. aggression. "If they let U.S. activity go unchecked they lose domestic credibility. So they have to do this kind of thing but not with the intention of destroying U.S. helicopters," said Rizvi.
Even during the occupation of Afghanistan by Soviet forces in the 1980s, Pakistan did not try to shoot down intruding Soviet aircraft but only to scare them away, Rizvi said. "I don't think things will get worse but if they do, even then Pakistan will avoid shooting down American helicopters."
The United States is the biggest donor of aid to Pakistan, desperately in need of foreign inflows as it struggles with a sharply deteriorating economy.
Pakistani analysts also see the stepped-up U.S. strikes as an attempt by the U.S. administration to score points in the run-up to a November presidential election. As such, the U.S. attacks into Pakistan, particularly the drone missile strikes, were likely to continue and more minor clashes were possible, they said. "You cannot rule out the possibility of such an incident in future but things will not spin out of control," said Rizvi.
Posted by: tu3031 ||
09/26/2008
09:14 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
could someone please tell me what the US depends on Pakistan for? besides headaches and bullshit
#4
could someone please tell me what the US depends on Pakistan for?
Land supply route to our forces in Afghanistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2008 15:59
Comments ||
Top||
#5
it would probabaly be cheaper too build an airstrip big enough for c 130's too land than too use pakiland for a supply route. Wonder how much humanitarian, militery and other aid we give them each year for them too redistribute too the ppl we are fighting not too mention the hiding mullah omar bin laden and a host of others that we are still hunting
BEIJING — A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground.
The country's official news agency Xinhua posted the article on its Web site Thursday, and remained there for much of the day before it was taken down.
A staffer from the Xinhuanet.com Web site who answered the phone Thursday said the posting of the article was a "technical error" by a technician. The staffer refused to give his name as is common among Chinese officials.
The Shenzhou 7 mission, which will feature China's first-ever spacewalk, is set to launch Thursday from Jiuquan in northwestern China between 9:07 a.m. EDT and 10:27 p.m. EDT.
The arcticle, dated two days from now on Sept. 27, vividly described the rocket in flight, complete with a sharply detailed dialogue between the three astronauts.
Excerpts are below:
"After this order, signal lights all were switched on, various data show up on rows of screens, hundreds of technicians staring at the screens, without missing any slightest changes ...
'One minute to go!'
'Changjiang No.1 found the target!'...
"The firm voice of the controller broke the silence of the whole ship. Now, the target is captured 12 seconds ahead of the predicted time ...
'The air pressure in the cabin is normal!'
"Ten minutes later, the ship disappears below the horizon. Warm clapping and excited cheering breaks the night sky, echoing across the silent Pacific Ocean."
TANG KHATA, Pakistan (AFP) - Pakistan said Friday that troops have killed 1,000 Islamist militants in a huge offensive, a day after President Asif Ali Zardari lashed out at US forces over a clash on the Afghan border.
Five top Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders were among those killed in a month-long operation in Bajaur, currently the most troubled of Pakistan's unstable tribal areas along the porous frontier, a top official said.
In a further sign of the instability gripping Pakistan since the bombing of the Marriott Hotel in Islamabad last weekend, three suicide bombers blew themselves up in a shootout with police in Karachi. Separately, six people, including three children, were killed when a bomb derailed a passenger train near the central city of Bahawalpur, a railways official said.
Reporters were flown by helicopter to Khar, the main town in restive Bajaur, for a briefing on the military operation launched in August against Islamist militants who had taken control of most of the region.
"The overall toll is over 1,000 militants," said Tariq Khan, inspector general of the paramilitary Frontier Corps, adding that 27 soldiers had also been killed in the fighting. "This is a centre of gravity for the militants," Khan told journalists. "If they lose here they lose everything."
Of the five militant commanders killed, four appeared to be foreigners: Egyptian Abu Saeed Al-Masri; Abu Suleiman, an Arab; an Uzbek commander named Mullah Mansoor; and an Afghan commander called Manaras. The fifth was a Pakistani commander named only Abdullah, a son of ageing hardline leader Maulvi Faqir Mohammad who is based in Bajaur and has close ties to Al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Bajaur, which borders the Afghan province of Kunar, has seen some of the fiercest fighting between Pakistani forces and Islamist militants since former military ruler Pervez Musharraf joined the US-led "war on terror" in 2001. The operation came in response to international pressure on Pakistan's new civilian government, which ousted Musharraf last month, to prevent Pakistan-based militants from launching attacks in Afghanistan.
But tensions have escalated with Washington since a September 3 ground attack by US forces inside Pakistan, the first of its kind since 2001, left about 15 people dead.
Following an exchange of gunfire between US and Pakistani forces on the frontier on Thursday, new President Zardari told the United Nations that Pakistan would not tolerate violations of its sovereignty, even by its allies. The incident happened after two US military helicopters came under fire from the Pakistani side, a US military spokesman said, insisting that they had been about a mile and a half inside Afghanistan.
The Pakistani military said its troops had fired warning shots at two helicopters which were "well within Pakistani territory. Just as we will not let Pakistani's territory to be used by terrorists for attacks against our people and our neighbours, we cannot allow our territory and our sovereignty to be violated by our friends," he said, without citing the United States or the border flareup.
In Karachi, Pakistan's biggest city, three militants detonated suicide vests when police raided their hideout on a tip-off from a captured rebel, police said. "We have saved Karachi from death and destruction. We know who they were and what was their target in Karachi, but we cannot disclose it immediately," provincial police chief Babar Khattak told AFP.
House Republicans refused to support the Henry Paulson/Chris Dodd compromise bailout plan yesterday afternoon, even after the New York Times reported that Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson got down on one knee to beg Nancy Pelosi to compromise. One of the sticking points, as Senator Lindsey Graham explained later, wasn’t a lack of begging but a poison pill that would push 20% of all profits from the bailout into the Housing Trust Fund — a boondoggle that Democrats in Congress has used to fund political-action groups like ACORN and the National Council of La Raza:
In the Roosevelt Room after the session, the Treasury secretary, Henry M. Paulson Jr., literally bent down on one knee as he pleaded with Nancy Pelosi, the House Speaker, not to “blow it up” by withdrawing her party’s support for the package over what Ms. Pelosi derided as a Republican betrayal.
“I didn’t know you were Catholic,” Ms. Pelosi said, a wry reference to Mr. Paulson’s kneeling, according to someone who observed the exchange. She went on: “It’s not me blowing this up, it’s the Republicans.”
Mr. Paulson sighed. “I know. I know.”
Graham told Greta van Susteren that Democrats had their own priorities, and it wasnÂ’t bailing out the financial sector:
And this deal thatÂ’s on the table now is not a very good deal. Twenty percent of the money that should go to retire debt that will be created to solve this problem winds up in a housing organization called ACORN that is an absolute ill-run enterprise, and I canÂ’t believe we would take money away from debt retirement to put it in a housing program that doesnÂ’t work.
Go to the link to read the rest. I'm losing patience with these people.
Filed, reluctantly, under Home Front: Politix instead of Lurid Crime Tales. I think I've reached the point where I oppose any bailout that doesn't include a line item for a couple million dollars for ME to buy canned goods and ammunition with.
The EVIL REPUBLICANS are SLASHING FUNDING TO NEIGHBORHOOD COMMUNITIES and COMMUNITY ORGANIZERS! MILLIONS OF DISADVANTAGED, MINORITIES, AND THE POOR ARE EXPECTED TO STARVE!
-- I predict that this will be the headline when this goes south. They did it before with Social Security.
WHILE WASHINGTON was seized with congressional negotiations over the Wall Street bailout, Iraq's parliament on Wednesday took another major step toward political stabilization. By a unanimous vote, the national legislature approved a plan for local elections in 14 of 18 provinces by early next year -- clearing the way for a new, more representative and more secular wave of politicians to take office.
The legislation eliminates the party slate system that allowed religious authorities to dominate Iraq's previous elections, and it provides for women to hold 25 percent of seats. Most important, it will allow Sunni leaders who boycotted the 2005 provincial elections -- and who have since allied themselves with U.S. forces against al-Qaeda in Iraq -- to compete for political power in the provinces that were once the heartland of the insurgency.
As always in Iraq's halting journey toward a new order, the reform was not complete. Elections were put off in the province surrounding the volatile city of Kirkuk, where Kurds, Sunni Arabs and other groups compete for power, and in three Kurd-run provinces.
Staging fair and peaceful elections will be another major challenge: In the south of Iraq, competition among Shiite parties, including those of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki and Mahdi Army leader Moqtada al-Sadr, could easily spill over into violence.
The importance of securing the elections is one good reason for President Bush's decision to withdraw only 8,000 of the 146,000 remaining U.S. troops in Iraq between now and February. Still, the precipitous drop in violence in Iraq during the past year offers strong reason for hope that a good election can be held -- and that the new Sunni and Shiite leaders who emerge will be well positioned to jump-start reconstruction in the provinces and negotiate with each other.
For some time, U.S. Ambassador Ryan C. Crocker has been citing provincial elections as the most important of Iraq's "political benchmarks."
This week's breakthrough follows others in recent months, including the reform of a law that purged former members of Saddam Hussein's Baath party from government posts. More steps are needed -- most important, agreement on a law distributing Iraqi oil revenue among provinces and allowing for new investment. But it's now clear that the political progress that the Bush administration hoped would follow the surge of U.S. forces in Iraq has finally begun.
How can the next president preserve that momentum? Democrat Barack Obama continues to argue that only the systematic withdrawal of U.S. combat units will force Iraqi leaders to compromise. Yet the empirical evidence of the past year suggests the opposite: that only the greater security produced and guaranteed by American troops allows a political environment in which legislative deals and free elections are feasible.
#1
The only candidate advocating mandatory 'voluntary' public service is Obama. It's easy when you lay the unpaid work burden upon the shoulders of those who can't vote. Like a lot of 'ideas' postulated this election, it's just another Orwellian Newspeak to accuse your opponent of contemplating what you are doing.
#2
this article was the biggest bunch of dung I have read in awhile.
Barak's father was African and Barack has zero connection to slavery.
I found this interesting though, "Baraq [Barack] was the name of the winged horse-like creature that took Mohammed to Paradise in the Night Journey. Baraq can also mean God's blessing. Obama is Swahili for Osama, who was one of Mohammed's chief warriors. Osama also means lion. Hussein reminds some Americans of Saddam Hussein, and Obama's supporters get upset if it is used. Hussein was the name of Mohammed's grandson. So Obama's entire name is based upon Islamic mythology and African conquest. Barack Hussein Obama means [Allah's blessing] [Mohammed's grandson] [One of Mohammed's finest warriors].
Since I am beginning to see Obama as a trojan horse, it seems to fit.
#3
It is curious that Blacks flock to a religion that comprised the administration of the slave trade for about 1400 years. African Arabs ran the slave trade, why would any black in America that claims to be the lingering victim of slavery want to hook up with the very religion that ran the slave trade? Very curious.
#4
Black, negro, african American, colored, whatever it is, I don't know what they want to be called this week. So don't think I'm making "nuanced" racial dispersions here.
The Democrats need to get their story straight. On one hand, it is beyond dispute at this point that Congressional Republicans were never on board. It is equally clear that the Democratic majority won't act without the "cover" of a substantial number of Republican votes--that is they demand that this deal not be done, in Chris Dodd's words, "on a three-legged stool."
So several things follow. First, this is precisely why Hank Paulson and Harry Reid summoned John McCain--to get Republican cover for the Democrats who despite the looming crisis can't bring themselves to govern (that is, to vote on and pass a bill which they believe is essential). Second, that is why McCain presented but did not endorse the GOP's wish list of conservative suggestions in the White House meeting. That is how one cajoles and drags along a recalcitrant party--by allowing them to have their say. (From reports it appears that the hyper-empathetic Barack Obama attempted to corner the Republicans, not a comforting sign that he knows how to negotiate with people who are in fundamental disagreement with him.) Third, while it would be nice for the Democrats to drag more Republican votes along, it is highly unlikely that they need as a mathematical matter all 100 Republican votes they have asked for. Whether they get 50 or 100, Democrats almost certainly could pass the Paulson bill in a form acceptable both to the White House and the Senate. But they don't want to--Chris Dodd told us that.
And finally, if there is no deal, if the stock market drops hundreds more points, if there is no abatement in the short term credit crunch, and if more banks and other institutions fold today, we'll see if running off to a debate and lifting whatever pressure exists to make a quick deal seems like such a good idea. Having spent over twenty years as a labor negotiator I can tell you: unless you provide contentious parties with a deadline, no matter how artificial, they will never reach a deal.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2008
08:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They want the power and the image, but they don't want the consequences. One of the precepts of late 20th Century Liberals - all show and talk, but no real viable solutions to major problems.
The Donks have a majority in both Houses. They can pass what ever they want. It's not the Trunks stopping them. They just can't get their act together.
#2
This might be another element in their hesitation (Bloomberg): "Calls to congressional offices are ``running 50 percent `no,' and 50 percent `hell, no,''' Democrat Paul Kanjorski told CNBC today. ``Out of 100 calls, you are lucky if one of them is positive.''"
#3
Procopius,
The polls show that the more worried people are about the economy, the more likely they are to vote for Obama. In that environment, there is absolutely no incentive to solve the economic crisis before the elections.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/26/2008 11:38
Comments ||
Top||
#4
there is absolutely no incentive to solve the economic crisis before the elections. If it can wait until after the election, it's not a crisis, just fakery. But remember, polls show Congressional approval ratings are abysmal, and every Representative is up for re-election, along with 1/3 of the Senate. Perhaps some of the Dem Reps are getting worried about their re-election. Also, too many people seem to think this crisis can be "solved". It can't, and instead must be worked through.
CBS News executives were red- faced yesterday trying to explain how David Letterman used unaired news footage of Sen. John McCain with Katie Couric to embarrass the Republican presidential candidate.
McCain canceled his appearance on Letterman's show late Wednesday, several hours before he was due to appear - claiming he had to return to Washington to deal with the financial crisis.
But when Letterman discovered the Senator sitting down with Couric at the same time he was supposed to be taping "Late Night," he unloaded on McCain. "I'm more than a little disappointed by this behavior," Letterman told viewers. "This doesn't smell right."
"This is not the way a tested hero behaves. Somebody's putting something in his Metamucil," he said.
Later in the show, Letterman showed an internal, live video of McCain being tended to by a make-up artist before the Couric interview. Both Couric and Letterman are on CBS. Letterman said on the air that McCain had called him personally to apologize and said he was racing to the airport. "He doesn't seem to be racing to the airport, does he?" Letterman told viewers.
"I feel like we've caught him getting a manicure," Letterman quipped, as a make-up woman dabbed at McCain's face.
Asked if CBS officials had a problem with Letterman using the internal news feed, a spokeswoman for "The Evening News" refused to address the issue.
But several CBS News executives - who asked not to be identified - said that the stunt did not go down well within the news division. "If we had done something like that to him, someone around here would end up getting fired," one said.
News officials found out Letterman was using the internal feed shortly after it showed up on an internal CBS feed carrying the "Late Show" taping. "They were pretty aggravated," a CBS News source told The Post.
"But they were not about to start a fight with Letterman," the source said. "We're in the middle of a heavy, heavy news cycle and Letterman is Letterman.
"He does whatever he wants and always has."
McCain spokeswoman Nicole Wallace said that the campaign canceled on Letterman because it "felt this wasn't a night for comedy."
#1
Who cares? No one takes CBS seriously anyway. It's their problem that the public expects this sort of adolescent behavior from them. I'd say the behavior is "unprofessional" but that would imply that someone, anyone, at NBC was attempting to uphold professional standards - haha. Now that's funny.
#2
Letterman stopped being funny long before he even made the move to CBS. There's a reason Leno won "his" Late Night slot. I think the last time I laughed at one of Letterman's gags was about 20 years ago. An over-the-hill has-been if there ever was one.
#4
The only person on TV that is less funny than Letterman is John Stewart. He's been doing the Daily Show so long he's starting to believe that he really is a news anchor or something.
Band of Brothers, but you could get that on DVD now anyway.
The non-traditional distributors are more entertaining without insulting your intelligence or raising your blood pressure. TLC/Discovery, et al. Dirty Jobs, Deadliest Catch, etc. The new series on the Alaskan Iditarod race looks interesting. I'm sure Todd and Sarah will probably watch.
#11
Agreed, P2K. If it weren't for HGTV, Food Network, Discovery Health, etc., I wouldn't bother with cable. Without those networks, doubt I'd bother with TV much at all.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2008 18:41
Comments ||
Top||
Jesus Jihad, a two-time convicted felon, said on the witness stand Thursday that his prison instinct took over when he began stabbing his wife last year. The rush from that instinct didn't subside until his wife was lying dead with 11 stab wounds, mostly in her back, in a parking lot in front of the couple's apartment. Jihad recalled that attack and the details that led to it Thursday as he took the stand in his murder trial.
Jiahd said the incident began because he thought his wife was conspiring with her sister to get him arrested, knowing if he had any contact with the law he would be subjected to a lengthy prison term because of his past felony record. But when he tried to talk to her about it in the kitchen of the couple's apartment, she became angry and a wrestling match began, he said from the witness stand. Jihad said he could not get through to his wife because she was high on cocaine and at that point knew he was in trouble for at least striking a woman during their scuffle. "The full force of the law was going to come down on me," said the convicted rapist and murderer. "So, I grabbed a knife and I stabbed her. That is how it happened. The rest of it, everyone already explained to you."
Jihad is accused of stabbing his wife, Aisha Hendricks, to death during a knife wielding rampage July 8, 2007, which also resulted in him critically wounding her sister, Emma Bowens, and slashing the face of Hendricks' son, D'Anthony Holmes, then 15. Hendricks, 35, was stabbed 11 times with two different kitchen knives and then thrown down a flight of stairs outside the couple's apartment on the 2300 block of 92nd Avenue in Oakland. Jihad, 56, who is being prosecuted under the state's "Three Strikes" law, faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
Continued on Page 49
#4
Another Jailhouse Philosopher. If Capote or Mailer were still around, he'd be the subject of their newest Pulitzer prize winner. Other then them and their ilk, the only people this will impress will be his fellow cons.
#6
well you're going back too where your instincts will work well.it's LOSE LOSE SITUATION FOR THE PPL OF THIS STATE . IF THEY PUT HIM ON DEATH ROW THEY WIILL HAVE TOO TAKE CARE OF HIM FOR 30 YEARS AND IF HE GETS LIFE THEN HE WOULD PROB LIVE TOO BE A 100
#8
As they say in Texas, "some folks jus' need killin'. This POS is one of them. He doesn't deserve a trial, he should be immediately killed in whatever way will leave his body most useful for science/organ donation and thus quickly disposed of. Hell, at least that way he would have been good for something other than causing a life full of problems for other people. Worthless bastard should have been executed long ago, apparently.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad spoke to the United Nations General Assembly on Tuesday, just a few hours after President Bush. The contrast was palpable. Ahmadinejad expressed continued defiance of the UN Security Council and the International Atomic Energy Agency, insisting that Iran would continue and even accelerate its nuclear program. Bush, by contrast, has overseen nearly six years of failure trying to stop Iran from doing exactly that. Iran is now closer than ever to achieving its long-held strategic objective of obtaining deliverable nuclear weapons. Why has Iran succeeded and the United States failed in this struggle? What does it tell us about the options available to our next President, in this increasingly dangerous situation? Will Iran be a centerpiece of the first presidential debate?
First, negotiating with Iran will not stop its nuclear weapons program. Sen. Barack Obama has said that he will speak with rogue state leaders like Ahmadinejad "without preconditions," implying this is a new idea. In fact, Britain, France and Germany ("the EU-3") have been doing exactly that for over five years. Throughout, they have been surrogates for America, and yet Iran has shown no inclination to terminate its nuclear program. Negotiation is like all human activity: It has costs as well as benefits. The history of Europe's efforts underscores a significant cost of negotiating with a nuclear aspirant: time. More time is almost always on the proliferator's side, because it allows for the complex work necessary to master the nuclear fuel cycle. The net effect of five years of EU-3 negotiation is that Iran is five years closer to achieving a deliverable nuclear weapon. We cannot afford more of the same.
Second, Europe still does not fully appreciate the risks of a nuclear-armed Iran, nor is it willing to take the steps necessary to prevent it. Europe's lack of real concern stems in part from the controversy over intelligence about Iraq, but also from the deeper EU mindset that its members have passed beyond history, and entered a zone of security that will persist as long as outsiders are not "provoked." This false sense of security saps EU willingness to take steps stronger than mere diplomacy, such as tough economic sanctions, much less contemplating the use of force. Thus, whatever impact on Iran that sanctions might have if imposed swiftly and comprehensively have only wound up giving the appearance of decisive action rather than the reality.
Third, the Security Council will not solve the Iran problem. Russia, and to a lesser extent China, have made it clear that they will block meaningful sanctions in the Council. This was the case in the first three sanctions resolutions, where Russian intransigence wore down the EU-3 to the point where they accepted only what Russia was prepared to allow, so they could "declare victory" even when weak sanctions resolutions were finally adopted. Russia has an enormous interest in protecting Iran from meaningful Security Council sanctions. Moscow hopes to sell nuclear fuel, and construct many nuclear power plants in addition to the one nearly complete at Bushehr, and sees Iran as a substantial market for high-end conventional weapons sales. Similarly, China's large and growing demands for energy make Iran an attractive partner for assured supplies of oil and natural gas, as well as a potential market. All of these interests and more virtually guarantee that the Security Council's role in dealing with Iran will remain minimal at best.
On Jan. 20, either President McCain or Obama will face very unattractive choices if he is serious about disarming this outlaw regime. One is regime change in Tehran, through support of the widespread discontent across Iran with the mullahs. The other is the targeted use of force against Iran's nuclear program. Both of these options are complex, risky and highly difficult. Unfortunately, the only other alternative - Iran with nuclear weapons - is far worse. Ready or not, our new President will have to make decisive and far-reaching choices.
#1
I really don't think anyone's going to do anything until they explode one in their desert. Then our politicians and diplomats will run around pissing their pants, talking about how they did their best, but had their hands tied by the administration. We'll either destroy them or be p*ssies and let them have it. Those are the only two choices, and I dont see much chance of action. So you know what that leaves.
#2
IMO IRAN believes that regardless of which GOP-DEM wins the US 2008 POTUS ELEX, the US will essens stay put in IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN or in the altern reduce its regional milfor presence - IOW, IRAN WILL GET ITS NUKES. TIME FACTORS > Iran ideally must conduct its own overt INDIGENS NUKE BOMB TEST(S) ASAP, NLT 2010 [absolut maxima 2012 = "pushing the envelope"]. THE BURDEN OF WAR + JIHAD DURING THIS PERIOD FALLS PREDOMIN ON THE ISLAMIST MILITANT-TERR AND ALIGNED COMMIE-ANARCHIST GROUPS.
The longer Radical Islam waits after 2010, the higher its risk of LOSING WHAT IT HAD REGAINED AND SUFFERING NEW EXCESSIVE LOSSES VEE US-ALLIES. Iff Iran does indeed already possess COVERT TACNUKE DEVICES, which RUSSIA, etal. itself had proclaimed times again over the years on the MSM-Net, THE IRAN MUST LEARN TO PROFICIENTLY AND INDIGENS MANAGE SUCH WEAPONS LEST IT GROWS OVERLY DEPENDENT ON THE VERY SAME NON-MUSLIM "INFIDELS/BARBARIANS" AND
"UNBELIEVERS" WHICH IT IS WAGING JIHAD AGAINST TO SAVE AND ACCOMPLISH ITS JIHAD IN ISLAM'S NAME.
#2
Did Russia have legal authority to attack Georgia?
Since the world has been rather mute on the subject, I think we have an answer. It's an internal question for the US [the only power on the planet with the means and a modicum of will] rather than a linguistics and semantics game.
#7
Did any of you read the article? It's a bunch of blather about whether or not the U.S. should be allowed to use British bases. Hey, Brits: we can let loose one hell of a cruise missile barrage without any landing rights at your bases!
#10
LOW-PROFILE HAPPY IRAN desires to keep things that way, at least vee ISRAEL, IRAQ, + AFGHANISTAN-PAKIS, and is likely doing everything to make sure the MILITANTS-TERRS don't do anything to validate US, ISRAELI, and or UNSC MILACTION AGZ IT.
THE REST OF ASIA, ETC., IS ANOTHER AND SEPARATE MATTER, as the Militant-Terr Gruppes are rampaging and waging Jihad far and wide. Methinks its safe to argue that, at least for the duration of the natural lifetimes of OSAMA BIN LADEN, ZAWI, MULLAH OMAR, NASRALLAH, SADR, and OTHER CONTEMPOR TOP ISLAMIST LEADERS, THE "MUSLIM/ISLAMIC CONQUEST OF MAINLAND ASIA" + ANY PERIPHERALS/LITTORAL ENCLAVES WILL BE THE PRIORITY FOR JIHAD, AS PER IN PARALLEL WID NUCLEARIZATION.
Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to force the Netherlands to continue paying for her security. The Hague stopped providing payments for the former MP because she moved to the United States. However, she insists that the Dutch government promised to continue paying. The former politician has been receiving death threats for years because of her continual criticism of Islam.
In order to try and prove that the Netherlands did make promises on her security, Ms Hirsi Ali has asked a court in The Hague to hear a number of witnesses. The first, a former political assistant of hers, will be heard this week. Her political patron, former minister Gerrit Zalm, and the former National Coordinator for Counter-Terrorism will be questioned later. After these preliminary hearings, Ms Hirsi Ali and her lawyer will decide whether there is sufficient evidence to initiate proceedings against the Dutch state.
The Dutch government agreed to remain responsible for the security of anti-Islam campaigner Ayaan Hirsi Ali after she moved to the US, the Telegraaf reports a witness as telling a Dutch judicial hearing on Wednesday. Iris van den Berg, who worked for Hirsi Ali at the time, told the court she was present at a meeting in June 2006 where anti terrorism coordinator Tjibbe Joustra told the former MP that the state would continue paying for her bodyguards at home and abroad. No end date for this agreement was given, she says. In December, Joustra and former finance minister Gerrit Zalm will give their version of events to the judicial hearing. In the meantime, Hirsi Ali has reportedly managed to raise enough money to pay for her own security.
Terrorists Insurgents shot dead four Muslim men across Thailand's restive south, police said on Friday. On Thursday evening at 6pm a 33-year-old man was shot dead while driving his wife home on a motorcycle from a market in Pattani province, they said, adding that his wife was unhurt.
In Yala province a 30-year-old man was shot dead in a drive-by shooting at 7.20 pm, the police said. Three hours later in nearby Narathiwat province, a 30-year-old man was shot dead at his house, they said. The following morning a 27-year-old man was shot and killed at 7am as he drove his motorcycle to work at a rubber plantation.
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Multi-National Force –West Marines discovered an explosive-remnants-of-war stockpile near Haditha Sept. 23.
The Marines with 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, currently assigned to Camp Pendleton-based Regimental Combat Team 5, discovered the munitions while on patrol approximately 20 miles west of the city.
"This find demonstrates the post PIC (Provincial Iraqi Control) capabilities of an Iraqi Police force in the lead, using its own intelligence to take the fight to the enemy by depriving him of a significant supply of ammunition,” said Lt. Col. Steven J. Grass, the battalion commander of Task Force 2nd Battalion, 2nd Marines, Regimental Combat Team 5. "It was a big win."
Among the contents of the find were approximately 10,000 82 mm rounds, 106 155 mm rounds, one 100 mm projectile, 19 rockets, and one rocket tube.
At least seven Islamic militants have been killed in a clash with the Indian army in the north-eastern state of Assam, the military says. Army spokesman Rajesh Kalia said that a platoon of soldiers encircled a hideout of militants in a village in the western district of Dhubri on Friday. The troops asked the militants to surrender, but they started firing at the soldiers, Mr Kalia said.
Clashes between the military and Islamic militants are unusual in Assam. However, there have been frequent clashes between the army and the insurgent groups fighting for independence or more autonomy over the last two decades.
Mr Kalia said that troops launched a full scale attack on the hideout after they were fired at, killing the militants. He said that the army recovered six revolvers and two kg of explosives from the dead militants after the encounter which lasted for more than two hours.
Mr Kalia said that the militants belonged to the Bangladeshi Islamic terror group, Harkat-ul-Jehad-al-Islami (HUJI). "We had information about the movement of HUJI militants in the Bansbari area, and the operation was launched on the basis of that intelligence," Mr Kalia said. He said that the army attacked as the militants were trying to meet another HUJI group near the state capital, Guwahati.
Mr Kalia said their location was tracked through a mobile interception system.
The HUJI has been blamed for recent explosions in various Indian cities, including the 2005 Delhi blasts, and Indian intelligence has said that some of them have been using Assam as a gateway into other Indian States. But this is the first time that there has been an encounter with the HUJI militants in the state.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/26/2008
06:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
The United States military says US and Afghan forces have exchanged gunfire with Pakistani troops across the border with Afghanistan. A senior US military official says a five-minute skirmish broke out after Pakistani soldiers fired warning shots near two US helicopters. No one was hurt in the incidents and the US maintains its troops did not cross the border from Afghanistan.
Cross-border action by US-led forces has angered Pakistan in recent weeks. The latest incident took place along the Pakistani border with the eastern Afghan region of Khost, an area which is a hotbed of militant groups. Forces from the US-led coalition and the Nato-led International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) patrol the frontier, but Pakistan has been angered by reported US operations across the border in pursuit of insurgents.
A BBC correspondent says the border between the two countries is very unclear and in effect is marked by a 3km-4km (2-2.5 mile) stretch of no-man's land. Nato said the helicopters - which belong to its Isaf mission - came under fire from a Pakistani checkpoint.
A US Central Command spokesman, Rear Admiral Greg Smith, said Pakistani soldiers at the checkpoint were observed firing on two US OH-58 Kiowa helicopters that had been covering a patrol of Afghan and US troops about a mile (1.6km) inside Afghanistan. "The ground forces then fired into the hillside nearby that checkpoint, gained their attention, which worked," he said. "Unfortunately, though, the [Pakistani] unit decided to shoot down a hillside at our ground forces. Our ground forces returned fire."
However, the Pakistani military gave a different account. In a statement, commanders said troops fired warning shots at the helicopters when they strayed over the Pakistan border. "When the helicopters passed over our border post and were well within Pakistani territory, our own security forces fired anticipatory warning shots," a statement said. "On this, the helicopters returned fire and flew back."
In New York, Pakistan's new president gave another version of events when he said that Pakistan forces had fired "flares" to warn the helicopters they were near the border. Later, in an address to the UN General Assembly, President Asif Ali Zardari referred to the cross-border tension when he said that his country could not allow its territory to "be violated by our friends".
An Isaf spokesman said he believed the incident was a misunderstanding, but he was certain the helicopters had been operating on the Afghan side of the border. The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan, in Islamabad, says that the border between Afghanistan and Pakistan is very unclear. There is an imaginary border called the Durand line which each side marks differently.
Pakistan says that the area of no-man's land along the border is its territory and Afghanistan makes similar claims. Tension between Washington and Islamabad has risen since 3 September, when the US conducted a ground assault in Pakistani territory, its first, targeting what it said was a militant target in the tribal region of South Waziristan.
Pakistan reacted angrily to the action, saying 20 innocent villagers had been killed by US troops. Local officials have said that on two occasions since then Pakistani troops or tribesmen have opened fire to stop US forces crossing the border. The claims were not officially confirmed.
On Wednesday, a drone believed to be operated by the CIA crashed inside Pakistan. The US and Nato have called on Pakistan to do more to curb militants operating in the border area.
Posted by: john frum ||
09/26/2008
06:53 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
One of these exchanges will eventually lead to an escalation as those pakis hate us more than we hate them!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
09/26/2008 9:11
Comments ||
Top||
#2
ION TOPIX > NORTH KOREA > DPRK MAY ALREADY HAVE NUCLEAR WARHEADS [Mastery of Warhead + Ballistic missle "fit"], + SOUTH KOREA: A NUCLEAR-ARMED FORWARD DEPLOYED NORTH KOREAN ARMY IS A MAJOR THREAT TO SEOUL AND REGION. International Failure to stop the NOKOR NUCLEAR PROGRAMME [e.g. YONGYBON, etc] will result in a more potent and nuclearized DPRK State-Army and will have serious milpol repercusion throughout the region. NOKOR ARMY remnias forward-deployed and fully capable of mountng a SURPRISE ATTACK AGZ SEOUL + SOUTH.
Also from TOPIX > US MAY END OIL/FUEL SHIPMENTS TO NORTH KOREA + SOUTH KOREA: TRANSFER OF TROOP CONTROL MAY LEAD TO CONGRESSIONAL CUTS IN US TROOP NUMBERS. End of joint US-SOKOR COMBINED FORCES COMMAND in 2012 may induce the US Congress to reconsider the US milpol commitment to SOUTH KOREA, = US: INTELLIGENCE HAS CAPTURED 74 INTERNATIONAL TERRORISTS [includ AL Qaeda-linked JI Operatives] IN SOUTH KOREA DURING LAST FEW YEARS, + US: NORTH KOREAN LEADER's BROTHER [Brother = Bro-in-Law Kim Jong-Taem?] MAY TAKE OVER FROM KIM JONG-IL.
We've just been alerted that despite House Democrats relenting on extending bans on offshore drilling and oil shale in the continuing resolution (CR) appropriations bill, Democrat Senate Leader Harry Reid has decided to sneak an extension of the oil shale ban through as Congress fights over the financial bailout. Oil shale in America's West is estimated to hold be between 800 billion and 2 trillion barrels of oil -- that is more than three times the proven oil reserves in Saudi Arabia alone.
Here is the text of Reid's proposed new ban on oil shale, that he is trying to add as an amendment to the CR or move seperately as a "stimulus" package, or we should say an anti-stimulus package if this is included.
Sec 1602 continues ban on oil shale. The language follows:
SEC. 1602. Notwithstanding any other provision of law, including section 152 of division A of H.R. 2638 (110th Congress), the Consolidated Security, Disaster Assistance, and Continuing Appropriations Act, 2009, the terms and conditions contained in section 433 of division F of Public Law 110–161 shall remain in effect for the 19 fiscal year ending September 30, 2009.
It would be an insult to all Americans if Senate Democrats worked to bailout Wall Street while damaging our future prosperity by banning development of vast energy reserves in oil shale.
#4
When will the majority of Americans wake up and realize that the Democrats are bought and paid for? I'm still surprised that no one has started hunting these traitors down and doing them in.
This crazy, they aren't even hiding their treachery anymore.
#5
If Nevada is a part of the United States, they need to send Harry Reid packing his bags in Washington ASAP. I don't see how he can serve his constituents if he doesn't serve the country. He comes across as small, petty, cranky, and partisan. Those are some of the nicer adjectives I'm feeling.
#7
Anyone know why Reid/Dem,s are so against the oil shale extraction. The only thing I can think of is Harry thinks extraction will cause a huge sinkhole in Colorado and Nevada will slide into it.....
#8
Nevada from all accounts is a sea of abandoned McMansions baking empty under the desert sun. I think they're too distracted by the Road Warrior rejects rampaging through the wreckage harvesting the copper fixings to pay attention to minor crap like a senator trying to cripple our long-term national energy portfolio.
Hell, they might even see cutting off the gasoline as a way to rein in the Road Warrior rejects.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/26/2008 16:33
Comments ||
Top||
THE daughter of hate cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is a POLE DANCER, The Sun can reveal. Busty Yasmin Fostok, 27, leads a secret life after rebelling against her fanatical Muslim dad -- who rants against Western "depravity". She has performed in London pole dancing bars and gyrated half-naked in cages at club nights. And she admitted: "I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right." "Define 'right.'"
"Somebody's there and they give me money."
"Like me? Like this fiver?"
"Sure. [STR-I-I-I-I-I-P!] These're my uds!"
"Whoa! Now, them's gen-yew-wine!"
Yasmin, a party-loving girl who quit the family home in North London four years ago, added: "I don't get on with my dad."
I'd say leaving home was a good idea ...
Bakri, 50 -- in Lebanon after being kicked out of Britain -- told The Sun: "I am deeply shocked." Bakri is a Muslim preacher of hate who wants all women to be covered from head to toe. He hailed the 9/11 terrorists as the "Magnificent 19". His daughter says: "I don't agree with his views -- I just get on with my life and that's it." "We all have our little foibles. I'm a stripper, he's a dishpit." Photo at the link. She's cute.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2008
06:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
And getting welfare payments. I'm not so impressed.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/26/2008 7:27
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I do not approve of pole dancing as a career or even as entertainment, but I applaud her courage.
Perhaps predictably, self-styled sheikh Bakri, now exiled to Lebanon, dismissed the news as a 'fabrication' and described it as an attack on him and Islam. "The more you put pressure on me, the stronger I become. Islam will conquer Britain.
I have not seen my daughter for nine years , but because she is a member of my family people want to make things up about her. You are going to pay a heavy price," he warned. "You can read it any way you like. The time is now."
Yesterday Syrian-born Bakri, whose leave to remain in Britain was revoked after the 7/7 London attacks, changed his tune and claimed:"I have no daughter doing anything like this - all my children are practicising Muslims. I spoke to my daughter. At first I told her I was shocked at the stuff I was hearing. But then she told me it was all lies."
The 'Tottenham Ayatollah' then claimed the story was part of a plot to get back at him after police were forced to hand back £14,000 in cash they confiscated from Bakri's son Abdul after a judge ruled the cash was not intended for 'terrorist purposes.' "They are using members of my family to get back at me, because I have won. They are jealous because my son Abdul has got back the money that the police stole from him. Islam has prevailed and you are defeated. The lowest people on earth are non-Muslims and that is why we have to put up with these fabrications and lies."
Drooling infidels ogle your daughter and she appears to enjoy it. Looks like you've failed as an Islamic parent, holy man.
Remember Imam Omar crying and trying to weasel his way on board the ship that was taking Brits out of Lebanon back in 2006 when the Israelis had their little dust up with Hezbollah? When he finally had to face a situation where the violence he preached was really happening? But they got wise to him so he had to stay there? Wonder how he'll make out the next time.
Leave it to the SUN to bring us a story like this.
Of all the movies about the current Iraq War, good or bad, passionate or indifferent, The Lucky Ones is the only one to embrace "daft." This all-over-the-place road-picture dramedy puts three wounded GIs in a minivan and takes them to a bar and a church, through a car wreck and a tornado, dealing with each other's "issues" willy-nilly along the way. It's something of a well-intentioned mess.
Tim Robbins plays Cheever, the cynical Army reserve sergeant on his way home to his wife and son and suburban St. Louis life after a long tour and a back injury. Rachel McAdams is Colee, the limping, drawling and way-too-chatty country girl-private delivering a dead comrade's treasured guitar to his surviving relatives.
Michael Peña plays T.K., the luckiest one of all. He was hit by shrapnel, but the M-16 in his lap absorbed most of the blow. Not all of it, though. He has sexual-dysfunction worries.
#5
It is aggravating that if someone were just to produce a low budget movie with Americans as the good guys in the Iraq war, it would probably be a huge hit.
Hell, you could film it in Iraq, with Iraqis as extras and even supporting stars. To avoid any sectarian problems, make al-Qaeda the bad guys, and script the movie based on real anecdotes by US and Iraqi military.
The Pentagon would probably give full cooperation, which would multiply your budget by a factor, and you could use veterans as actors.
Even going direct to DVD, you would probably clear $50M net.
A rule of thumb is that a drama is made by its villains, not its heroes. No problem here. Some of the al-Qaeda shit would be banned in one of the Saw movies. It would have to be seriously toned down, and parts would have to be edited out to make it just an R rating (even though it would not need a rating, being DVD release.)
#7
I don't support Tim Robbins or his wife Susan Sarandon in their endeavors. They can get on without me. They think we are all chumps.
This movie sounds a lot like a remake of a movie about three retuning wounded vets during the WWII era except for the car wreck, tornado, personal issues, willy nillyness, Tim Robbins, etc. Forget it, it doesn't really sound similar.
I’m of two minds on the bailout – reasonable people object, but on the other hand, let’s not just wreck everything today because we want to stand on principles, okay? I don’t mind people standing on principles except when they’re also standing on my throat, and if it’s a choice between Liquidity with Troubling Implications and A Firm Stance On Sound Ideas that Incidentally Throws Everyone Into Super-Harsh Bankruptcy A-Go-Go, well, I cave. I’d also like to see the Congress manage to pass something without yoking a hundred dead-eyed hobby-horses to the bill, too; when I learned that Sen. Reid wanted to attach an amendment that extended the ban on shale oil exploration and drilling, almost 16% of my brain liquefied and shot out my ears.
Posted by: Mike ||
09/26/2008
06:30 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They seem hell bent to prevent us from having any kind of domestic energy production at all. And to top it all off, they don't want nuclear or natural gas either. Just solar and wind, and that wond run a damn thing. Wind and solar seem to work fairly good on a house by house basis, as in each house having some solar panels or a windmill, but you arent going to be running any steel mills or baseball stadiums off of solar power.
On Aug. 31, 2006, FBI agents searched the offices of six state lawmakers, including Cowdery and Weyhrauch.
The government had secretly taped Cowdery in a conversation that prosecutors say proved he conspired with VECO officials to bribe legislators to support changes in Alaska's oil tax structure. Weyhrauch allegedly promised to support VECO's position in exchange for consideration for future work as a lawyer.
VECO quickly came to symbolize outsized corruption in Alaska and Palin was able to capitalize: As the GOP nominee for governor, she campaigned as an outsider and made a public point of saying she didn't want money from the company or its employees.
By October 2006, Palin's campaign had received $30 from Weyhrauch in addition to Cowdery's $1,000. Separately, Cowdery's wife, Juanita, contributed $1,000; she is not accused of any wrongdoing. $1030.00 - Enough money to keep the campaign staff in coffee and doughnuts for a week. The real question is, did the First Dude use the 30 bucks to buy gas for his snowmobile?
The fact that Palin had kept Cowdery's donation was notable, given that on July 10, the day after he was indicted by a federal grand jury, the governor issued a statement asking him to "step down, for the good of the state." And a year earlier, Palin questioned whether Cowdery should retain his post leading a powerful Senate committee after a government witness claimed in a VECO-related trial that he was part of the bribery scheme.
Cowdery, who is not running for re-election this year, has denied wrongdoing. Weyhrauch, who no longer holds office, has pleaded not guilty and his trial is pending. Messages left for both men were not returned.
Palin has $49,540 in her gubernatorial campaign fund, according to the latest disclosures filed with the state.
How much money did it take The Chronic to figure that out?
And do they have a similar story about Tony Rezko? (Commencing breath hold... now.)
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
09/26/2008 8:37
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Everytime they do this, they just show the public that they can't come up with ANYTHING on Palin. So far the best they have is that she wanted her brother-in-law fired from his law enforcement job after he tazed a 10 year old and threatend to kill his father-in-law and beat his wife. And now $30!!! Jeesh. You'd expect more dirt from a squeaky clean person. She makes Mr. Clean look dusty.
I'm still waiting for the media to mention the money that Obama and Biden got from Fannie and Freddie or his connections with Ayers at the A. Foundation.
#5
OMG, $30! How much was spent to uncover this information? She most likely would have devulged this information if she remember this and she was asked. Come on, GMAFB.
#6
i'm having flashbacks of a Jewish carpenter saying something about motes vs. beams in respective eyeballs. Except it's filtered through the younger pastor of the church i attended long ago, and it's coming out as toothpicks vs. 2x4s up respective exit-onlys...
GERMAN commandos have stormed a KLM airliner at Cologne-Bonn airport, arresting two men suspected of wanting to carry out attacks, police said. The Amsterdam-bound jet was stormed at 6:55 am (1455 AEST), police spokesman Frank Scheulen said.
A 23-year-old Somali and a 24-year-old German citizen of Somali origin were arrested, said Scheulen, spokesman for North Rhine-Westphalia state police. Media reports said the two men had left notes in their apartments saying they were prepared to die in "holy war" and that they had been under police surveillance for several months.
#4
Y'know, while I don't think much of the french, I have to wonder if a 747 into THEIR "Holy Tower" wouldn't change things much for the better.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:20
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Y'know, while I don't think much of the french, I have to wonder if a 747 into THEIR "Holy Tower" wouldn't change things much for the better.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:22
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Y'know, while I don't think much of the french, I have to wonder if a 747 into THEIR "Holy Tower" wouldn't change things much for the better.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:27
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Y'now I don't think much of this Opera Browser, it Hiccups too much.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:34
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Not to worry. We've imported many more Somalis into this country so that we, too, can keep our hostage rescue people in tip-top form by giving them lots of practice.
#9
The GIA, or Armed Islamic Group, is a violent terrorist organization based in Algeria. The first major international incident involving the GIA was the 1994 hijacking of an Air France jet in Marseilles, in which hijackers reportedly attempted to crash the plane, fully loaded with fuel, into the Eiffel Tower - source
Some analysts believe this is what gave AQ the idea. Ignored by various American intel and law enforcement agencies till 9/11, after the concept was demonstrated in New York.
#11
This plane couldn't have been more than a 737 at best. Koln is a one hour flight to Amsterdam and I have taken it several times when the high speed train was on strike (even in Germany they go on strikes). Could even be a Fokker 50.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:34
Comments ||
Top||
#12
Tip top tip top tip top post Jim.
3x your normal insight.
(0x0)^2
Zilch
Still, effort counts, keep hammering at the keyboard, time will tell.
#13
Hmmm. Tipper's link says that the German border police had the aircraft doors re-opened just prior to takeoff. Nothing about stormin' commandos, just regular police work. Wonder which it was.
PAKISTANI troops have killed more than 1000 al-Qaeda and Taliban rebels, including five top commanders, in a month-long offensive near the Afghan border, the military said today.
Twenty-seven soldiers also died in the operation in Bajaur, one of Pakistan's seven lawless tribal regions along the porous frontier, said Tariq Khan, inspector general of the paramilitary Frontier Corps. "The overall toll is over 1000 militants,'' Mr Khan said who were taken by helicopter to see the scene of the fighting in remote Bajaur.
The fifth was a Pakistani commander named only Abdullah, a son of ageing hardline leader Maulvi Faqir Mohammad who is based in Bajaur and has close ties to al-Qaeda second-in-command Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Bajaur, which borders the troubled Afghan province of Kunar, has seen some of the fiercest fighting between Pakistani forces and Islamist militants since Islamabad joined the US-led "war on terror'' in 2001. It was also the scene of a missile strike that narrowly missed Zawahiri, Osama bin Laden's number two, in January 2006.
This article starring:
ABU SAID AL MASRI
al-Qaeda
ABU SULEIMAN
al-Qaeda
MANARAS
al-Qaeda
MAULVI FAQIR MOHAMAD
al-Qaeda
MULLAH MANSUR
al-Qaeda
Posted by: tipper ||
09/26/2008
03:21 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
They probably aren't counting all those underarmed, undershod Frontier Corps troops, the ones the various militant groups have been kidnapping in droves for the purpose of beheading practice.
#1
...Keep in mind that these idiots come out of the woodwork every time we have financial crises here, doing their usual chanting about how "now (COUNTRY'S NAME HERE) will take their rightful place as a world financial leader." And every time, their wishful thinking not only goes up in a puff of smoke, but they end up coming to us for help.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
09/26/2008 6:10
Comments ||
Top||
#2
They gloated well in the 70s too. That's all they have, 'gloat'. Nothing to fill the void that works. If we go down, so does the world. Gloat on that.
#3
Miguel DÂ’Escoto Brockmann, the former Sandinista revolutionary in Nicaragua who is now serving as president of the UN 192-nation General Assembly...
#4
Miguel DÂ’Escoto Brockmann, the former Sandinista revolutionary in Nicaragua who is now serving as president of the UN 192-nation General Assembly...
Because the people of his country enjoy living in mud huts.
#5
The gloating is a little premature. We have had others gloat in the past. As they say here in the South; how did that work out for ya all? To quote Mark Twain, "The rumors of my death have been greatly exaggerated" Same for the U.S.
#6
I welcome some other nation funding the world's economy and security on their taxpayers backs. I welcome the day a US president gives first priority to American economic well being, American jobs, American security and American blood.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2008 14:30
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Well said Ed. Americans serve their country well when called upon. I can't say that I think the current crop of Congress critters serve the people or the country well.
Every crisis also represents opportunity. Or so an American thinks. Much as I detest Obama's methods and his policies, even he would view all this as being more 'half-full' than the author of the article.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
09/26/2008 5:53
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Yeah, serves us right for having an election every four years come hell or high water. We should just appoint a President for Life like more civilized countries do.
#4
I agree with the author. A severe recession is baked into the economy now, and the deflation of housing and financial assets will strap consumers for the next 5 to 10 years.
There will be opportunities for individuals, but the overall economy has a lot of excess to work out.
#6
I'm in the market for a house in the Bay Area, CA and the prices haven't really come down at all. Not anywhere you'd want to live anyway. They are still 400K-600K for what is >200K here in Cinti.
#8
Previous periods of apparently existential crisis in the US have certainly produced one-term disasters: James Buchanan in 1857, Herbert Hoover in 1929, Jimmy Carter in 1977 spring unpleasantly to mind. But the genius of America is that apocalyptic challenges have also, in time, produced the men to match them: Abraham Lincoln in 1861, Franklin Roosevelt in 1933, Ronald Reagan in 1981.
So much for the Euro view of our history. Would agree with the assertion about Carter. Buchannan reflected the times. The three Presidents that are considered men to match the times; Lincoln, Roosevelt, and Reagan were outstanding communicators with the people. Lincoln, during his term, was not much liked by many within his own party. Hoover had a lot of the ideas that Roosevelt later implemented. Many would disagree with the direction Roosevelt took the country towards socialism. Interestingly, Hoover also tried to deal with immigration from south of our border. In 1929, President Hoover authorized the Mexican Repatriation program. To combat rampant unemployment, the burden on municipal aid services, and remove people seen as usurpers of American jobs, the program was largely a forced migration of an estimated 500,000 Mexicans and Mexican Americans to Mexico. Some of the 500,000 people that were "voluntarily repatriated" were Mexican-Americans. Warren G. Harding ought to be added to the list of one term incompetents. His administration could be characterized by corruption and incompetence. He is listed as dying of a heart attack but it was rumored his wife poisoned him because of his skirt chasing and "affairs of state."
If you take the value of all 12 Federal Reserve Banks as of March 2008 and sum them you get 881.16 billion dollars.
So now subtract out the 85 billion for AIG and you get 800 billion. Now subtract out the Freddie Mac/Fannie Mae bailout and your are less than $700 billion. So... What if they already had lost this money... then the $700 might be just to restore the FED if they had already lost some more?
#2
Will this nation survive the boomer generation? I'm beginning to doubt it. First they divided this nation in the 60's. This was the most divided our nation had been since the civil war. Their self centered ways have carried into our capitol and divided our leaders to paralysis. Our major cities are completely out of touch with the heartland to the point where their political leaders call us bible thumping and gun toting in synical distain. The boomer run media, on both sides, have given up on honest reporting and are waging a propaganda war for their side. The greed on behalf of our bankers and traders is unmatched in history and they have ransacked our national treasures.
Now our nation is in default, morally, ethically, politically, and now financially. No one to blame but our own boomer generation's self centered interests and greed. Who do they turn to now it has all gone to hell? The heartland. They want us to pay for the next three generations of Americans to fund their foolishness. Don't be sidetracked by the giant dollar ammounts. There is more at stake here than just being the greatest nation, our nation and our democracy is at stake at a time where our leaders are inept. God help us.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
09/26/2008 5:54
Comments ||
Top||
#3
The left will try to use uncertain and difficult times like these to further their agenda. It will be the baby boomers legacy. It's time for them to move on and let Gen X take the reins.
#4
As my record clearly indicates, I will gladly bash boomers when appropriate, but let's lay blame where it properly belongs:
Barney Frank — Date of Birth: March 31, 1940
Nancy Pelosi — Date of Birth: 26 March 1940
Harry Reid — Date of Birth: December 2, 1939
Ted Kennedy — Date of Birth: February 22, 1932
These silents, more than any boomer, together with their Greatest Generation leaders, Kennedy, Johnson, Nixon, Ford, and Carter, all of whom believed in FDR New Deal style Big Government interventionism and control, created the world the boomers live in. That the boomers didn't clean up the mess they were left is not to their credit, but they didn't make it and it's not their legacy.
#6
GB, you shouldn't have posted that picture. I was just about to calm down and go back to work and now my blood is boiling again.
Boomers haven't done everything right but we haven't done everything wrong either. We tried to do the best with what we found when we got here. Our parents gave us powerful cars, color TVs and nice suburban homes with green lawns. You can't blame us for enjoying them. We didn't know any better. We didn't think about the oil or what it was doing to us. How could we? It was all we ever knew. We might have been better people if we'd been challenged like our grandparents on the old frontier but we weren't. The challenges we face are far more complex and subtle.
But Barney Frank and the guys standing with him in that picture are rotten to the core. They are the ones who set up the system so you can't even get elected unless you take money from crooks like the people who were running Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. They are the ones who buggered the system for the crooks who gave them the money. They are corrupt old men from corrupt old families who've been buggering the rest of us for generations. Look at that smirk on Schumer's face. That bastard. He wants a depression so Obama can blame the Republicans and win the election. It won't matter to him. He'll be safe in his mansions and his limousines the whole time.
#7
The only dipshit missing in the picture is Harry Reid. Thanks for not publishing his picture. I'm afraid this would require an EMS run to my house. I would just implode.
I'm beginning to see that the whole bailout deal is a big political con game at election time. It does not pass the smell test. Bush appointed Paulson to Secretary of Treasury. He is a Democrat. What was Bush thinking? Paulson pulled $20 million out of Goldman Sachs as a separation package when he left. The donks have no intention of reaching across the aisle or compromising. They have no problem with destroying the country to gain power.
Wikipedia entry: From 1990 to November 1994, he was co-head of Investment Banking, then, Chief Operating Officer from December 1994 to June 1998;[8] eventually succeeding Jon Corzine (now Governor of New Jersey) as its chief executive. His compensation package, according to reports, was US$37 million in 2005, and US$16.4 million projected for 2006.[9] His net worth has been estimated at over US$700 million.[9] Paulson has personally built close relations with China during his career. In July 2008 it was reported by The Daily Telegraph that: "Treasury Secretary Hank Paulson has intimate relations with the Chinese elite, dating from his days at Goldman Sachs when he visited the country more than 70 times.
#8
The Dow Jones Industrial Average is moving along at about 11,000+ despite the desperate and dire financial emergency described by Henry Paulson. This so-called emergency rescue (bailout) package just had to be passed immediately to save the country from financial ruin. Really? Seems like he just wanted to give his buddies on Wall Street a big chunk of our change ($800 billion). WTF's going on here?
#9
You know. I just can't keep from thinking that this is all yet another 'Global Warming' type of Con.
I am not a economist just a simple techie who works hard, pays my bills, taxes, and mortgage, raise my kids and don't go over on the spending.
To me I think if banks make sub-prime loans to people who can't afford them.... and then goes under - well it sucks to be you. Other banks may take over your operations and do a better job.
And perhaps the market desperately needs a correction and not yet-another-crutch to hold it up.
When a politician says 'Trust me' (like Joe Isuzu) I get a red flag. When others start to suff all sorts on unrelated bullshit in (Auto loans? WTF?) - well it just sets my bullshit alarm off loud and clear.
Its quite obvious that most people don't understand derivatives and derivatives underlie all the current financial problems.
I first refer people to the Wikipedia link that explains them in brief. Click the article heading for the link.
now slide down to this point:
OTC and exchange-traded
Broadly speaking there are two distinct groups of derivative contracts, which are distinguished by the way they are traded in market:
* Over-the-counter (OTC) derivatives are contracts that are traded (and privately negotiated) directly between two parties, without going through an exchange or other intermediary. Products such as swaps, forward rate agreements, and exotic options are almost always traded in this way. The OTC derivative market is the largest market for derivatives, and is unregulated. According to the Bank for International Settlements, the total outstanding notional amount is $596 trillion (as of December 2007)[1]. Yes - that is not a typo - many many times the GNP Of this total notional amount, 66% are interest rate contracts, 10% are credit default swaps (CDS), 9% are foreign exchange contracts, 2% are commodity contracts, 1% are equity contracts, and 12% are other. OTC derivatives are largely subject to counterparty risk, as the validity of a contract depends on the counterparty's solvency and ability to honor its obligations.
* Exchange-traded derivatives (ETD) are those derivatives products that are traded via specialized derivatives exchanges or other exchanges. A derivatives exchange acts as an intermediary to all related transactions, and takes Initial margin from both sides of the trade to act as a guarantee. The world's largest[2] derivatives exchanges (by number of transactions) are the Korea Exchange (which lists KOSPI Index Futures & Options), Eurex (which lists a wide range of European products such as interest rate & index products), and CME Group (made up of the 2007 merger of the Chicago Mercantile Exchange and the Chicago Board of Trade and the 2008 acquisition of the New York Mercantile Exchange). According to BIS, the combined turnover in the world's derivatives exchanges totaled USD 344 trillion during Q4 2005. 344 trillion in one quater! Some types of derivative instruments also may trade on traditional exchanges. For instance, hybrid instruments such as convertible bonds and/or convertible preferred may be listed on stock or bond exchanges. Also, warrants (or "rights") may be listed on equity exchanges. Performance Rights, Cash xPRTs and various other instruments that essentially consist of a complex set of options bundled into a simple package are routinely listed on equity exchanges. Like other derivatives, these publicly traded derivatives provide investors access to risk/reward and volatility characteristics that, while related to an underlying commodity, nonetheless are distinctive.
Common derivative contract types
There are three major classes of derivatives:
1. Futures/Forwards, which are contracts to buy or sell an asset at a specified future date.
2. Optionals, which are contracts that give a holder the right to buy or sell an asset at a specified future date.
3. Swappings, where the two parties agree to exchange cash flows or returns.
Look at the table of common examples and then at the following:
Other examples of underlying exchangeables are:
* Economic derivatives that pay off according to economic reports ([1]) as measured and reported by national statistical agencies
* Energy derivatives that pay off according to a wide variety of indexed energy prices. Usually classified as either physical or financial, where physical means the contract includes actual delivery of the underlying energy commodity (oil, gas, power, etc.)
* Commodities
* Freight derivatives
* Inflation derivatives
* Insurance derivatives[citation needed]
* Weather derivatives Yes weather derivatives - Gustav and Ike?
* Credit derivatives
* Property derivatives
Even a Global Warming Derivative Global Warming Index
Investment bank UBS is trying to change weather investing by launching the first Global Warming Index (GWI), which provides a simple way to take a view on a wide range of weather variables. While initially linked to the temperature of several US cities, there are plans to add European and Asian ones soon. In fact, as UBS notes, there is no limit in principle to the number of cities to be included as references. In this sense, the UBS index would truly capture global phenomena in one stroke.
Thanks to this pioneering development, it is now possible to bet on whether Global Warming is true or false. If you believe the direst predictions will hold true and a persistent upward trend in global (or, at least for now, US) temperatures will become the norm, you would buy the Index (which goes up with the underlying temperature). If you think Mr Gore an alarmist sensationalist, you would sell the Index.
In common with equity, foreign exchange or interest rate underlyings, it is possible to devise structured products based on the GWI. For instance, rather than park money in a low-yielding savings account, an investor could instead enter into a weather-related guaranteed investment or a weather-related note, where returns would depend on the average quarterly performance of the Index. In essence, the warmer the globe gets (as measured by the GWI) the higher the return.
Most interesting are the opportunities to engineer basket, or diversified, structures around the GWI. In these exotic deals, the investor's return would depend directly on the (most likely, purely coincidental rather than direct) correlation between weather and one, two, or more different asset classes.
GWI-based basket trades could help investors in traditional assets to diversify (hedge) their positions via the addition of a non-correlated new variable. Given how closely correlated markets can be from time to time, it may not be a bad idea to include some weather in an old-fashioned menu. If anything, the GWI could be seen as a cheaper (not to mention more exciting) alternative to protecting returns through the use of same-family derivatives (such as equity options or currency forwards).
Now look further in the link. The Criticisms, the arbitrage-free pricing, the Benefits, the Leverage of an economy's debt.
Now take a look at this scaremongering report that ends up making sense.
the NO to Bailout article ends with this solution:
CLEARING THE DECKS FOR WORLD ECONOMIC RECOVERY
It is time to forget about paper and the price of paper, and to concentrate on production securing the tangible physical commodities and hard commodity production which are necessary for human life and civilization. It is impossible to prop up financial values in a panic, and it is foolish to try. To secure a decent future, we must now enact the following measures. Any of these points, all of which seek to defend the general welfare and the public interest, can and should be used as killer amendments to be attached to the current bailout monstrosity as a means of bringing it down.
Stop all foreclosures on homes, farms, businesses, factories, mines, transport systems, for a period of at least five years or for the duration of the present world economic depression, whichever takes longer. If you throw a family out of their home or shut down a family farm, taxicab company, trucking firm, ferry, airline, railroad, or factory of any kind because of debt, you will be on your way to Leavenworth. All politicians now say that we have to keep families in their homes. Excellent! A uniform federal law with real teeth is the way to do it.
Seize bankrupt banks and financial institutions. Put them through Chapter XI bankruptcy, and cancel the hopelessly unpayable parts of their debts, starting with their derivatives book.
Wipe out all derivatives, whether exchange traded or counterparty, without compensation. They have always been illegal. They are now a threat to all of our lives. Not one penny of public money must go to buy derivatives.
Securities transfer tax or Tobin tax on all financial transactions, including stocks, bonds, foreign exchange, etc. This is a sales tax on finance oligarchs who need to start paying their fair share. This will take the life out of the booze for many speculators.
Stop oil, food and commodity speculation with comprehensive re- regulation including position limits, 50 to 100% margin requirements depending on market conditions, and by distinguishing between legitimate hedgers and predatory speculators.
No tax increases on households. Surtax for foundations like the Ford, Rockefeller, Carnegie, Annenberg, and Gates Foundations, who use their funds not for charity but for subversion and divide and conquer social engineering to divide and weaken the American people in defense of the financier interest.
Restore business confidence and credit with new credit issue through the nationalized Federal Reserve, operating under the legal auspices of the US Treasury. Use credit as a public utility. Provide cheap, long-term credit for productive purposes only, not parasitical speculation or financial services.
Institute an absolute guarantee for Social Security, Medicare, Medicaid, Head Start, WIC, food stamps, unemployment insurance, and the other remaining elements of the social safety net. No “entitlement reform” under any circumstances. Austerity for bankers, not people. Use the proceeds from the Securities Transfer Tax to replenish the Social Security Trust Fund and preserve the other vital programs through the end of the twenty-first century.
Using New Deal methods, it is possible to stop a depression cold in a single day. We did it before, and we can do it again. Only 28% of the American people now support the monstrous derivatives bailout, with 37% opposed and 35% unsure, according to Rasmussen on Sept. 22. This is an issue powerful enough to crystallize the current party re-alignment in the same way that slavery in the territories did in 1860, or the last depression did in 1932. Within a month, the current empty husks of the gutted Democratic and Republican Parties could collapse, and be replaced by the pro-Wall Street Bailout Party led by Obama and his phalanx of rich elitists and Malthusian fanatics from both parties, and the pro-middle class and pro-worker Anti-Bailout Party with support from right-wing Republicans, libertarians, and working class Democrats. Who will have the brains and guts need to assert leadership over the Anti- Bailout Party? Will it be McCain? Or Hillary Clinton? Or someone else? We will soon find out.
I am not advocating or saying anything other than something smells rotten in the US and derivatives are deeply involved. The explanations by Paulson, Bernake and Bush are too simplex and likely complete fabrications to get us to agree to this for some reason likely unrelated to the mortgages. Why? If it was related to them the solution suggested by the Republican House would be jumped on as the obviously cheaper and more rational solution. It is being fought tooth and nail so something else needs the money...
#2
Anyone who thinks a Great Depression was or could be stopped in a single day, or over any period of time, using New Deal methods is an economic ignoramus who has been thoroughly brainwashed by the socialist totalitarians running the public schools.
#4
Nah, it's that messy snake hair. Ever trying getting a knot out of one of those. The bad hair day that bites back. Perseus' styling technique was remarkably similar to Alexander's approach to the problem. Classical.
#11
The explanations by Rummy Paulson, Cheney Bernake and Bush are too simplex and likely complete fabrications to get us to agree to this for some reason likely unrelated to the The War on Terror mortgages.
I read a lot of comments like that when we were going to Iraq.
RDS.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
09/26/2008 15:55
Comments ||
Top||
#12
Giving $700 billion to the same people who got us into this problem is a big mistake.
#14
Counterparty risk assumption was what brought Bear Stearns down and was starting to work in Morgan and Goldman. Basically, it is default risk. One party to a contract (Derivatives are contracts) is assumed to not be able to live up to its risk assumption and so someone else has to come in to take the risk (i.e. the government).
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:48
Comments ||
Top||
#15
3DC, This list is the "Dead Pool"!
1. Morgan Stanley (MPD).
2. Goldman Sachs (MPD).
3. JP Morgan Chase.
4. Deutsche Bank (Life Support Feeding directly from Central bank only).
5. ABN Amro (Suicide + poisoning Fortis).
6. Barclays (Alive).
7. Lehman Brothers (KIA).
8. UBS (Purple Debt Heart).
9. Bear Stearns (KIA).
10. Merryl Lynch (KIA).
11. Credit Suisse.
12. Bank of America (Civic Medal for adopting wayward youth Cuntywide).
13. Dresdner.
14. BNP Paribas (Wounds).
15. Citigroup.
16. Societe Generale (Recovering from trader cancer).
17. Royal Bank of Scotland.
18. Calyon.
19. HVB.
20. AIG (Feeding directly from Central bank only).
#17
The media could do a much better job of describing what is at stake. What follows is an example of what one local company is going through:
10 Sept 2008 --Money market fund Reserve Primary Fund (RPF) has $62.6 billion assets, of which $0.8 million are in Lehman Bros bonds.
15 Sept 2008 -- Lehman Bros files for bankruptcy.
16 Sept 2008 -- RPF marks Lehman bonds down to $0, prompting a flood of withdrawals from RPF. Not everyone can get out in time. The SEC freezes RPF assets.
25 Sept 2008 -- Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. announces $360 million of its funds are frozen in RPF. Goodyear said it will draw $600 million from a line of credit for normal business uses while it waits for its share of RPF to be paid out at some unknown time in the future.
--- Shelly Lombard, credit analyst with New York-based investment research firm Gimme Credit, said Goodyear "basically lost access to $300 million. Luckily, Goodyear is not in a liquidity crisis." But smaller companies in a similar situation with cash frozen in an account might not be so lucky if they are unable to tap a line of credit, Lombard said.
"That [money] stands between a company and bankruptcy. You can't pay your bills, you can't meet payroll, you go into bankruptcy," Lombard said.
I know money market funds aren't derivatives, this is simply to show the cascading effect of business failures on other businesses. Note that Goodyear had nothing to do with mortgages.
Put the link into the 'source' box, not the text of the story. AoS.
KMOV Channel 4's TV newscast night before last at 6 PM had a story, that stated that St. Louis County Circuit Attorney Bob McCulloch and St. Louis City Circuit Attorney Jennifer Joyce, both Obama supporters, are implying that they will bring criminal libel charges against anyone who levels what turns out to be false criticisms of their chosen candidate for President. It doesn't get any more Orwellian than this.
#3
Wouldn't he have to complain to these legal eagles in the first place that a "crime" was committed? Obama is of legal age and in complete use of his mental faculties, so where do the legal eagles here get off making a case on his behalf like this?
#4
..are implying that they will bring criminal libel charges against anyone who levels what turns out to be false criticisms of their chosen candidate for President.
Where has the "Truth Squad" been for the last 8 years of libels against Bush?
The Klan rides again to suppress those they oppose! Bull Connor would be proud. Home once again in their original habitat of the Democratic Party.
#5
Hey Tony, meet me at the JOINT... for some mostaccioli, we gots some Hoosiers out in St. Charles dat is saying bad things about Baraaaack. Jen is upset...and well, when Jen is upset, you knows the deal, hehehe.
#8
It is scary indeed and it's making me angry. No way in hell we can let these brownshirts win an election.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2008 9:58
Comments ||
Top||
#9
When the government involves itself with the politics of a political group and politician, a police state is formed. I am very sad to say it is nearing time for a armed uprising against these goons. If Obama is elected, I can see a Civil War happening.
#10
Something is rotten in Mizzou. Who but bird brains would have elected this shrilling fool McCaskill ? Never seen such an Obambi asskisser. This idiot makes me think Ima seeing Halfbright every time she appears and opens her stupid trap. Missourians have to ask themselves how this happened ?
2) This constitutes a gross example of tax payer's money misuse in order to reach private goals. In other ords: they should be forced to refund ten times the cost and spend the rest of their lives breaking big stones into little stones.
3) This comes dangerously close to the point where citizens are legitimate in exerting their right to "resistance to oppression" (French version) or use their Second Amendemnt rights (American version).
#15
The odds that this is really going to happen... especially in the last weeks before the election when the national-reach blogs are on top of things as soon as they happen? Not likely, guys. Candidate McCain has already spoken sharply to the mainstream media reporters; I'm sure there'd be a commercial the next day if these clever little county circuit attorneys tried to actually act on their dreams.
#16
In the news report no one raised the question whether these people are acting in their capacity as government officials or as members of the Obama campaign.
That's a lot more serious than an alleged mix-up of private and official email.
The threat is not so much actual prosecution of a critic but the chilling effect.
They're putting the peasants citizens on notice:
Criticize the One and you will draw the attention
of prosecutors and law enforcement (*) to yourself...
(*)
"law enforcement" = Obama campaign operating under the color of law.
#17
Ali Sina's latest essay WRT Obama and extreme narcissistic personality disorder seems an appropriate follow-up to this... he's calling for psych tests on the candidates.
(and having lived through Khomeini, he would know!)
www.faithfreedom.org, it's called "Understanding Obama"
#18
Well. let me one of those who critique Obama. Obama was considered a Moslem by the childhood friends he went to school with. He studied/memorized the Koran. He is considered a Moslem by many in the middle-east, including Khadafi. Obama's real name was Barry. He considered himself a complete failure during his community organizing days and went to Africa to try to find himself. He worked with domestic terrorist and agitator Bill Ayers. The community group he worked with, ACORN, has been in trouble for registering illegal immigrants and dead people for the vote. He attended a church preaching racist ideologies, which he has not disavowed--only has used political double-speak saying "that's not what I heard when I went there" similar to I did not have sex with that woman.
He is in favor of redistributing wealth. He has said that he is a blank slate upon which people write their own hopes and aspirations.
#19
I have lived in St. Louis my whole life, I served our country, I am a veteran (first Gulf War.) This has to stop. These two clowns, at the very least needs to have their offices flooded with phone calls from listeners from Rush, Glenn Beck, Hannity, Oreilly, Levin, Doyle, Crowley, etc. The Mrs. and I have had several conversations about putting a sign in our yard to support McCain-Palin. We are nervous about the fact that we have several neighbors that have Obama-Biden signs, are we going to have our house vandalized? Are our children going to be harrassed because we are expressing OUR FIRST AMENDMENT RIGHTS? We have had to discuss this and this makes my f***ing blood boil. The left is picking a fight with the wrong bull and they are too freaking stupid to know that the bull is not the least bit happy about being prodded. The left wants a war, to quote Gen. William T. Sherman, "if war is the remedy our enemies have chosen, let us give them all they want." I apologize for the rant but this story really, REALLY pushed me right over the edge.
CHICAGO, Sept. 25 (UPI) -- U.S. federal agents say they have enough evidence to indict Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich for fraud and conspiracy, WBBM-TV, Chicago, reported Thursday. The CBS-owned station also said an indictment of Blagojevich, the first Democrat elected to Illinois' governorship in 30 years, was "not imminent."
Neither the FBI, U.S. Attorney Patrick Fitzgerald nor Blagojevich's office had any immediate comment on the report.
Fitzgerald's office said June 30, 2006, it was looking into "very serious allegations of endemic hiring fraud" in the Blagojevich administration. Prosecutors also mentioned Blagojevich in an indictment as the intended beneficiary of at least one extortion attempt by Blagojevich fundraiser and businessmen Antoin "Tony" Rezko.
Rezko was convicted June 4 on 16 of the 24 counts against him. He awaits sentencing in October on mail and wire fraud, aiding and abetting bribery and money laundering convictions. He still faces two more trials.
The Chicago Sun-Times has reported Rezko could cut his prison time significantly by cooperating in investigations of other public figures, including Blagojevich. But Rezko lawyer Joseph Duffy called the idea of his client's involvement in other prosecutions "bogus."
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Indict a CHICAGO DEMOCRAT tied to The One on the eve of an election? Wouldn't look good if Barry had to testify in open court or even to a Grand Jury before the election, now would it?
#6
Illinois prisons are once again running low on Gubernatorial inmates. Only George Ryan remains in jail. Otto Kerner, Jr. was convicted of bribery and other charges and sentenced to three years in prison, but was released early when he developed terminal cancer and passed away in 1976. Daniel Walker served 18 months of a seven year sentence and remains with us, as far as I know.
Pack a smallish bag Governor Blagoveich. Joliet will furnish most of what you need.
#7
This has been building for a while. Blago also goes by the street name "unindited (as of yet) co conspirator B" during the Rezko trial.
Once Tony flips, Blago gets his turn on the stand.
What many outside of Chicago don't know is Blago thought HE was to be the new annointed one heading for the White House as recently as 2002.
Rezko was placing multiple bets by bankrolling both Blago and Obama at the same time.
You better flip, Tony, before sentencing, or we will see you in 2020.
At least 16 Taliban and two civilians were killed when army helicopter gunships attacked Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Thursday. "Helicopter gunships pounded positions of militants in the Damadola, Shinkot areas from morning until evening, killing 16 Taliban and wounding 20 others, most of them civilians," a security official told AFP. Two civilians were also killed in the shelling, he said. Meanwhile, an Utmankhel tribe jirga decided to take action against the Taliban and their backers in the area. Thousands of Salarzai tribesmen announced to launch an operation against the Taliban on the fourth day after Eid. The Salarzai tribesmen torched the houses of 18 people accused of helping or sheltering the Taliban. Around 234 families left the agency in the wake of the military operation against the Taliban.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on Wednesday to resume the strained peace process with new talks to be scheduled within three months. The leaders of the nuclear-armed nations agreed that their foreign secretaries "will schedule meetings of the fifth round of the composite dialogue in the next three months," a joint statement said after the summit at the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
The talks were Zardari's first with Singh since the widower of former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto won a presidential election this month to replace military leader Pervez Musharraf, who resigned under threat of impeachment. The two leaders also called for an ongoing ceasefire to be "stabilized."
Tensions have escalated along the common border since last July when New Delhi accused "elements" in Pakistan of involvement in a suicide car-bomb attack on the Indian embassy in Kabul that left at least 41 people dead.
Singh and Zardari also agreed that a special meeting of a joint anti-terrorist mechanism be held next month to address "mutual concerns," including the bombing of the embassy.
"Both leaders acknowledged that the peace process has been under strain in recent months," the statement said. "They agreed that violence, hostility and terrorism have no place in the vision they share of the bilateral relationship, and must be visibly and verifiably prevented," it said.
The neighbors launched peace efforts in 2004 after nearly going to war a fourth time over Islamist militant attacks in India linked to a nearly 20-year revolt against Indian rule in Kashmir that Pakistan supports, at least politically. While ties have warmed, the two sides have made no significant progress on their dispute over the Muslim-majority region they both claim.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
What is there to talk about? First things first. Stop making jihad and then you can talk.
Badanov posted a similar story about the same time as I did, and you know how we mods hate duplicates ;-) His comment: Another "shotgun wedding" with JPM ponying up a tiny entry fee.
Sept. 25 (Bloomberg) -- JPMorgan Chase & Co., the third- biggest U.S. bank by assets, agreed to acquire the deposits of Washington Mutual Inc. for $1.9 billion as the thrift was seized by regulators in the biggest bank failure in U.S. history.
The U.S. government closed Seattle-based Washington Mutual amid customer withdrawals of $16.7 billion since Sept. 15, the Office of Thrift Supervision said in a statement. WaMu had ``insufficient liquidity'' and was in an ``unsound'' condition, the OTS said.
WaMu's fate played out as Congress tried to reach an accord that will ease the global credit crunch, which has already driven Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and IndyMac Bancorp out of business, and Bear Stearns Cos. and Merrill Lynch & Co. into hastily arranged rescues. WaMu in March rebuffed a takeover offer from JPMorgan that WaMu valued at $4 a share. In most bank seizures, little or nothing is left for shareholders.``JPMorgan is getting a steal compared with what they were going to pay,'' said Scott Adams, a pension and investment analyst at the American Federation of State, County and Municipal Employees in Oakland, California, which owns WaMu shares. ``It's very tragic.''
WaMu collapsed after its credit rating was slashed to junk and potential suitors passed on making a bid. Facing $19 billion of losses on soured mortgage loans, the lender put itself up for sale last week.
New York-based JPMorgan won't acquire liabilities of the lender, including claims by shareholders and subordinated and senior debt holders, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. JPMorgan said it is adding branches in California, Washington and Florida and will have 5,400 offices with about $900 billion in deposits, the most of any U.S. bank. The branches will carry the Chase brand and will be integrated by 2010, JPMorgan said. They will be open for business tomorrow as usual, the OTS said in its statement.
WaMu had about 2,300 branches and $182 billion of customer deposits at the end of June. Its $310 billion of assets dwarf those of Continental Illinois Corp., previously the largest failed bank, which had $40 billion ($83 billion in 2008 dollars) when it was taken over in 1984. WaMu has fallen 95 percent in 12 months on losses tied to subprime lending and lost $6.3 billion in the past three quarters. It kept skidding even after joining a list of financial companies the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission protected from short selling in an effort to stabilize stock markets.
WaMu was the second-biggest provider of option ARMs, behind Wachovia Corp., with $54 billion held in its portfolio in the first quarter, according to Inside Mortgage Finance. Of the $230 billion in loans secured by real estate at the end of the second quarter, $16.9 billion were subprime mortgages. WaMu, which ranked sixth among U.S. mortgage companies last year, was the 11th-biggest subprime lender in 2006, according to Inside Mortgage Finance.
WaMu estimated losses of as much as $19 billion in the next 2-1/2 years. Standard & Poor's cut the bank's credit rating twice in nine days as chances decreased that any deal wouldn't be a buyout of the whole company, leaving creditors of the holding company to face substantial losses.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
New York-based JPMorgan won't acquire liabilities of the lender, including claims by shareholders and subordinated and senior debt holders, the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. said. JPMorgan said it is adding branches in California, Washington and Florida and will have 5,400 offices with about $900 billion in deposits, the most of any U.S. bank. The branches will carry the Chase brand and will be integrated by 2010, JPMorgan said. They will be open for business tomorrow as usual, the OTS said in its statement.
#6
I posted this after JPMC acquired Bear Sterns and it is appropo again -
Jamie Dimon has said in almost every public talk he has given in the past two years "There is a difference between buying a house and buying a house on fire."
Not all shareholders are getting screwed - JPMC shareholders look favorably on paying $1.9B for $310B of assets. WaMu common stock shareholders are now much better off than they were yesterday.
The WAMU shareholders and the Board let senior management run this company into the ground. It is a shame but. . .
#8
Should have kept it. Use the existing institutional structure, after firing the higher ups, to create the Bank of the United States to front for the Fed's distribution other banks while taking the lead the as the Bank of First Credit[c] directly in the commercial market. Credit crunch solved without the middlemen.
#10
Okay, folks. Try not let this ruin your faith in the Captains of Finance...
Alan Fishman was the new chief executive officer for Washingon Mutual — WaMu — the nation's largest savings and loan, which was taken over Thursday night by federal bank regulators and quickly dumped in a fire sale to JPMorgan Chase for the Wal-Mart-like price of $1.9 billion.
But don't cry for Fishman, who reportedly was sky-high — literally — last night, on a flight from New York to Seattle, when WaMu collapsed. Even though he's only been on the job for less than three weeks, he's bailing out with parachute worth close to $20 million, according to an executive compensation analysis conducted for the New York Times by James F. Reda Associates. That's right, $20 million for 17 days on the job ... and his company failed.
Fishman, who formerly was chairman of Meridian Capital Group, apparently was much coveted by WaMu, which was counting on him to lead the failing thrift out of mortgage troubles that pushed the bank to a $3.3 billion second-quarter loss.
According to filings with the Securities and Exchange Commission, WaMu threw a $7.5 million bonus at Fishman when it hired him on Sept. 8, and guaranteed him an immediate cash severence of $11.6 million — both of which he gets to keep.
He also was eligible for annual bonuses of up to 365 percent of his annual base pay — set at $1 million — to go with millions of shares of company stock.
Fishman does lose out on a big bonus that would have kicked in had he remained on the job through 2009. Documents show WaMu was going to pay their new boss $8 million to simply not screw up and get fired — all negotiated as the Seattle-based banking giant's loses climbed to an estimated $20 billion.
Maybe we should start shooting some of these bastards?
#12
I have to confess to a certain sense of satisfaction. About 5 years ago I got really annoyed with WaMu which had been a customer-friendly organization up to that point. They started treating their depositors as prey rather than customers. Apparently they were changing their focus from small depositors to big-time mortgage business. So I closed my accounts and wrote them a letter saying they'd end up going down the tubes unless they cleaned up their act.
I'm not one to say "I told you so", so I'll just say "NYAH, NYAH, you steatopygians"!
#15
RE: #3 -- There was a brief window where you could have bought shares at $2.01 last week and sold them for a 50% profit, but if you had those shares now you're pretty much SOL.
Posted by: Dar ||
09/26/2008 17:05
Comments ||
Top||
#16
The market place rewards the bad management of companies by them going out of business or someone else taking them over. The DJIA did not show the dire consequences today that the pundits predicted. The market place is correcting some of the bad things brought on by government boondoggles such as Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac and the subprime debacle.
#19
You know, I wonder if there weren't some clues a couple of weeks ago. WAMU moved a lot of business into San Antonio, earlier this year - and coindidentally my dearly beloved daughter, the former Cpl/Sgt Blondie who got into a job as office drone and occassional sales-person for a small firm which sold permanent shade structures, scored a small sales coup when she 'sold' a shade structure for a small WAMU outlet(under construction) very close to where we live, earlier this summer. About a week weeks ago, the local office of WAMU that she had been working with, suddenly cancelled the purchase order for the shade structure. No shade structure, no payment - she will have to return/pay back the commission that she got for the sale.
We're really interested now in what they will do with the building on the corner which was supposed to be a WAMU account...
#20
Sgt. Mom - according to the analyst call last night with the big JPMC dogs - all overlapping bank branches (JPMC and MaMu) will be evaluated to see which one stays open and assumes the local market. It will depend on location (primarily) and age and condition of the structure.
(AKI) - Source IRIN - As fighting in Pakistan's northern areas intensifies, about 2,800 families from the tribal area of Bajaur are reported to have crossed into neighbouring Afghanistan. Most are believed to be based in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, along Pakistan's western border.
AFP quoted Afghanistan's deputy refugees minister, Abdul Qader Ahadi, as confirming they had entered Afghanistan after "they escaped fighting between Pakistani Taliban and the security forces". He told the news agency most were women and children. Each family comprises about 20 people on average.
Pakistan's autonomous Human Rights Commission (HRCP) this month put the number of people displaced by conflict in Bajaur, Swat, Waziristan and other northern areas at 700,000. HRCP said those people had been forced to flee areas along the Pakistani-Afghan border due to US bombings targeting militants and from other areas due to Pakistan security forces fighting militants.
HRCP has estimated at least 2,000 civilian deaths over the past year due to conflict. "You cannot defeat militants by the indiscriminate killings of civilians. What is needed is an effort to build a consensus and find a political solution to the issue," Iqbal Haider, co-chairman of HRCP, told IRIN.
Haider also called on the Pakistan government to "do more" to help people caught up in conflict.
Meanwhile, angry protests broke out on 23 September in Mingora - a city in the Valley of Swat, some 150km north-east of the North West Frontier capital, Peshawar - as thousands of people protested against the suspension of power, gas and water, mainly due to militant attacks on installations. Severe food shortages have also been reported in the area due to a disruption in transport amid intensified conflict.
Security forces opened fire on protesters, killing at least six people, the BBC reported on 23 September, and this has led to a fresh wave of anger, say observers.
"We have been without power for three days. Due to this, the pumps do not run and there is no water in homes. Now even gas supplies have been suspended. What can we do but protest even if government forces mow us down like animals?" Naeem Ahmed, a resident of Mingora, told IRIN by telephone.
The situation also means displacements from Swat are continuing, with thousands of people moving to Peshawar or other cities. The UN Refugee Agency (UNHCR) spokesman, William Spindler, told a media conference in Islamabad on 23 September that "90,000 are believed to be displaced in Swat according to a recent government assessment".
UNHCR is seeking 17 million dollars to assist more than 300,000 people in northern Pakistan, forced out of their homes by floods or fighting.
"Anyone who has the means to go or has relatives based in other cities has now left Swat," Sher Mohammad Khan, a Mingora-based lawyer and human rights activist, told IRIN. He said the attack on a 132 kilowatt power grid station had been "carried out very expertly with the main control room targeted" and there was little hope of the electricity supply being restored to Mingora "for months".
After the burning of power installations, "people had expected gas plants would be protected by security forces but this too has not happened and they have been destroyed as well," Khan said.
While the situation in Swat is worsening, the largest displacements in recent weeks have been those in Bajaur, with 400,000 people leaving their homes. Some have returned, but many are still housed in camps in the adjacent district of Lower Dir or in other parts of the NWFP.
Efforts by the Pakistan government and international agencies to provide food to displaced people and improve housing conditions have been stepped up over the past two weeks.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
The world knows the "Taliban" as armed fighters who have unleashed a wave of violence in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, including devastating suicide bomb attacks by them and their allies, the most recent on the luxurious Marriott Hotel in high-security Islamabad last week.
But not all taliban wield guns. In seminaries scattered over the restive, northern parts of Pakistan, taliban - an Arabic-based word that means student in Pashto, the language of Pakistan's Pakhtoons and Afghanistan's Pashtuns - study the Koran and swear by peace.
"Yes. I'm proud to be a talib. Because being a talib I am able to study Koran and teach it to others," says Rahimdad, 21, from the Darul Uloom Islamia seminary in Khairabad village of Mardan district, 120 kilometers north of this border city, when asked if he was a talib.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Technically taliban is plural for taleb, student in Arabic. I don't know if taleb/taliban is specific to students in religion or if students in say mathematics would get the same appellation of taliban.
What we call Taliban were intially the "students" trained in the Deobandi Madrassa (Deobandi is a city in Pakistan) or in one of its subsidiaries.
The Deonadi madrassa has been a cesspool of fundamentalism since XIXth century.
#2
so just because some taliban are likeable, all taliban should be liked? Just as stoopid as "because some taliban are terrorists, then all taliban are terrorists."
If you're complaining about the bad connotations that the word is getting, blame the muslims who are giving it a bad name, not the non-muslims who are using the name the bad taliban call themselves.
Lebanon's' Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Israel of launching an intelligence war against Lebanon to block national reconciliation.
Berri, addressing an Iftar banquet hosted by his Amal movement on Thursday, also declared support for the agreement reached with Mustaqbal Movement leader Saad Hariri on removing banners and posters from Beirut in the next three days as a measure towards healing the nation's political rifts.
The speaker also declared support for meeting by local communities throughout Lebanon to facilitate reconciliation.
He noted that Israel was in the process of obtaining sophisticated weapons while it prevents Lebanon from acquiring night visual equipment for its army.
He said Lebanon would succeed in adopting a defense strategy in cooperation between the people, the army and the country's resistance forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) yesterday approved the charge sheet against former premier Khaleda Zia and 15 others, including 10 former ministers, in a case filed in connection with illegally awarding Barapukuria coalmine operation contract to a Chinese company.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Russia is to move faster to modernize its military given the 'pressing circumstances', says Russian President Dmitry Medvedev amid increasing signs of US' hostility. "Modernization of the armed forces" had to take place "much faster because circumstances are pressing us to act this way," Medvedev noted.
In its most recent defiance of the Russian will, the United States has moved closer to partially stationing its proposed anti-missile tracking radar in the Czech Republic. Last month, in an interview with the Press TV, Russian political analyst Victor Nadein Raevskiy said "Iran does not have missiles that could reach that far,... of course, it is some kind of protection against Russian rockets."
Medvedev said the plan is to assume a faster pace given the 'pressing circumstances'. "If you can aim at rockets, then you are brave enough to begin the war," he added.
Moscow has as well claimed the plan constituted a 'nuclear deterrence' and a 'threat to its security'.
The decision for the modernization, announced by the president earlier in the month, was, as well, 'undoubtedly' moved by the country's August 8 confrontation with Georgia in which the United States has likewise been implicated. Invading South Ossetia, the Georgian forces had endangered the lives of the Russian peacekeepers and citizens in the independence-leaning republic.
Russia accuses Washington of having been planning the war since long ago while making political capital of the uneasy aftermath to boost the chances of one of the rivaling US' presidential candidates.
Earlier in the month, Russia's State Duma deputy, Sergei Markov, told Press TV that "it is not a conflict between Russia and Georgia. It is a conflict between Russia and the United States. The United States, in fact, attacked Russia with Georgian hands."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
Russia is to move faster to modernize its military given the 'pressing circumstances'
You mean like having a hard time beating the Georgians?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
09/26/2008 11:52
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Moscow wants another arms race? You'd think they would have learned from the last one. But that's OK. Now we can go back to Star Wars! You never know what kind of really cool technology our engineers can cook up if they have the right kind of government contracts.
The Foreign Ministry says pirates have seized a Ukrainian-operated ship off Somalia. The ministry says the Faina was sailing with 21 people on board under the Belize flag, though it is operated by Ukrainian managing company Tomax Team Inc. The ministry says in a statement that the ship's captain reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men Thursday afternoon.
Better call the Belize Navy then ...
The ship's passengers include 17 Ukrainian citizens including the captain, as well as three Russians and one Latvian citizen. The ministry had no information on the ship's cargo. But the Interfax news agency cited an unnamed source as saying the ship was loaded with about 30 T-72 tanks and spare parts for them.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...saying the ship was loaded with about 30 T-72 tanks and spare parts for them.
#2
Well the tanks might not do them any good. But...
The Ukrainian vessel was heading for the Kenyan port of Mombasa loaded down with rocket-propelled grenades, anti-aircraft guns and 30 Russian T-72 tanks.
“They really hit the jackpot this time,” said a regional arms expert. “There is not much they can do with the tanks, but the RPGs and the Zu-23 anti-aircraft guns will soon find their way into Somalia’s arms markets. “These are the sort of weapons that fighters in Somalia really like.”
A Western diplomat in Kenya, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to reporters, said the pirates would not have the know-how or the equipment to unload the tanks, which weigh more than 80,000 pounds.“If there are tanks on board,” the diplomat said, “I don’t think there’s a chance in hell they can get them unloaded.”
Plus, if they try, it provide the incentive to blow Eyl off the map.
#7
Probably bound for Ethiopia and paid with US tax dollars. Bet the American taxpayer just increased the Islamic Courts' firepower by several fold.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2008 14:23
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Looks like they've pissed some people off this time...
MOSCOW - Russia's navy dispatched a warship to Somalia's coast, officials said Friday, a day after pirates there carried out their boldest attack yet — the capture of a Ukrainian vessel manned with Russian and Ukranian crew and loaded with 33 tanks and ammunition bound for Kenya.
A Kenyan government spokesman, Alfred Mutua, confirmed that the East African nation's military had ordered the tanks and spare parts and said Kenya had made such a huge order of tanks as part of a two-year rearmament program for the military. "We will do whatever it takes to secure the ship," Mutua told The Associated Press when asked whether Kenya will send a naval vessel to intercept the hijacked vessel.
Roger Middleton, a researcher at London's Chatham House, said it was unlikely the pirates knew there were tanks aboard the Faina, and he said unloading the cargo would be very difficult. "Most of their attacks are based on opportunity. So if they see something that looks attackable and looks captureable, they'll attack it," he told AP."I'm not sure how helpful such a high-profile cargo will be for them. It makes them much more vulnerable," he said. "I'd imagine they're quite worried."
Dygalo said Russia's navy would periodically send ships to piracy prone areas to protect Russian citizens and Russian ships. He said the frigate set sail on Wednesday "with the aim of providing for a naval presence in a number of oceans and sea regions." According to the British-based Jane's Information Group, the frigate Neustrashimy is armed with surface-to-air missiles, 100 mm guns and anti-submarine torpedoes. Yushchenko, meanwhile, ordered unspecified measures to secure the release of the crew.
Middleton said it was unclear how the pirates might react if confronted by military action, noting that they have fled from authorities in the past. On the other hand, he said, they are usually well-armed and organized and are based in an unstable country — Somalia.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
09/26/2008 16:17
Comments ||
Top||
#12
This cargo was headed for Kenya not Ethiopia. Contract is between Kenya and Russia. This being a Ukrainian operated ship and assuming owned by a Ukrainian then Russia will have no problem whatsoever just sending in Spetznaz or blowing it up. My bet is that knowing it is now Russian and the cargo Kenya's the pirates will find some way to appease both for a nifty but doable sum of money. Then the Russians will cut their throats after the negotiations.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:29
Comments ||
Top||
#13
They don't have the ability to roll a 80 ton crawler crane out on a dock and unload the tanks? That's a small crane and simple rigging. If they have a concrete dock, they're in business. Maybe I should start a consulting firm for clients like this. I'd probably make a fortune and never be so much as questioned for it. Oh! Wait, I'm not French. Nevermind.
Military prosecutors have asked the judge who presided over the war crimes trial for Osama bin Laden's driver to order a new sentencing hearing, arguing the detainee should not have received credit for time served, officials said Thursday. The motion filed Wednesday argues that Salim Hamdan, who is eligible for release by January, cannot receive trial credit for his time detained at the Guantanamo Bay Navy base as an "enemy combatant."
"We're not looking to jack up the sentence, just to have it on a legally correct basis," said Army Col. Lawrence Morris, the chief prosecutor for the Guantanamo tribunals.
A panel of six American military officers sentenced Hamdan to 5 1/2 years in prison last month, making him eligible for release by January. The judge informed the jurors that time already served would count toward the sentence before they began deliberations.
Hamdan, the only convicted detainee at Guantanamo, was found guilty of supporting terrorism but acquitted of the more serious charge of conspiracy at the first American war crimes trial since World War II. Prosecutors recommended a sentence of 30 years to life in prison.
Hamdan, 40, could be held indefinitely regardless of the sentence. The Pentagon reserves the right to hold him and other "enemy combatants" who are considered dangerous to the United States _ even those who are acquitted or complete sentences in the tribunal system.
The motion calls for the judge to order the same jurors back to Guantanamo for a new hearing, said Air Force Maj. Gail Crawford, a spokeswoman for the tribunal system.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
(SomaliNet) An Egyptian official said on Tuesday that kidnappers who had seized 19 hostages including European tourists in a remote desert area of Egypt had threatened to kill them if attempts were made to find them by plane. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the kidnapped tour operator contacted his German wife and told her of the threat, which she reported to Egyptian authorities.
The masked kidnappers took the 19 people - five Italians, five Germans, a Romanian and eight Egyptians - while they were on an adventure safari in south-western Egypt on Friday.
It was the first time foreign tourists had been kidnapped in Egypt. The case posed a new challenge to the security-conscious government in a country which depends on tourism for six percent of the national economy.
The official said Egyptian authorities had traced to the Sudan calls from the kidnappers to the tour operator's German wife. But a Sudanese foreign ministry official said it was unlikely the hostages were in the Sudan because of border security and the lack of hiding places in the remote area.
Security sources said on Monday the kidnappers were demanding $6-million (R70-million) to free the hostages, but said there was no sign militant Islamists were involved.
Meanwhile, attacks on tourists in the Nile Valley and the nearby deserts have been rare in recent years, though a series of bombings targeted tourists in the Sinai Peninsula between 2004 and 2006. Tourism minister Zoheir Garrana told Egyptian television on Monday that the kidnappers were "most likely" Sudanese. But a security source said they could also be citizens of nearby Chad, where Sudanese and Chadian rebels operate, or Egyptian.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad. Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.
Charges were later dropped against all but one of the Marines, with a military prosecutor calling allegations against Mr. Sharratt "incredible."
Noah Geary, a Washington County lawyer representing Mr. Sharratt, said his client will file suit today in U.S. District Court in Pittsburgh accusing Mr. Murtha of violating his constitutional rights as well as slander for statements about the Haditha incident. A 1:30 p.m. news conference has been planned to announce the suit.
"He just held innumerable press conferences, just repeatedly kept saying this was cold-blooded murder," Mr. Geary said of the congressman. While Mr. Sharratt killed three insurgents, Mr. Geary said, he followed the rules of engagement for combat.
The Haditha incident remains a political flash point in the Iraq War, with critics saying Mr. Murtha, a Marine Corps veteran of Vietnam, defamed American troops.
Mr. Murtha could not be reached last night and a spokesman did not respond to a message requesting comment.
One of the Marines at Haditha, squad leader Frank Wuterich, sued Mr. Murtha shortly after the congressman's first public remarks at the beginning of 2006. That lawsuit has been in abeyance as Mr. Wuterich remains the only member of the eight-man squad still facing charges in connection with the deaths. Prosecutors accused Mr. Wuterich, the staff sergeant, of leading some members of his squad to attack Iraqi civilians as revenge for a roadside bomb that killed one Marine and wounded two others. The defendants said any civilians who died were killed unintentionally, caught in the crossfire of a battle that broke out with insurgents after the blast.
Mr. Geary said Mr. Sharratt shot three individuals later identified as insurgents.
In the year after he was cleared, Mr. Sharratt left the Marine Corps. His father, Darryl, said he telephoned Mr. Murtha's office more than 40 times seeking an apology. Sometime last year, Darryl Sharratt said, he reached the congressman personally. "He kept skirting the issue," Darryl Sharratt said. "This was right after Justin was exonerated and at no time did he acknowledge the fact that Justin was exonerated. He played the role of politician."
#1
Justin Sharratt has rights too. A congressman bullied a court to ruin his career. I do not see how Murtha's state will survive his CONTINUED career.
#2
Now Murtha is going to realize what "Semper Fi" means. He was probably absent that day during his supposed training (Probably was busy politicking).
#4
the corps should kick murtha out... and sue him for defamation of character if he ever refers to himself as a marine again...
calling him a douchebag would be complimentary.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
09/26/2008 2:54
Comments ||
Top||
#5
This is what happens when you exclusively surround yourself with like-minded, partisan entrenched commrades beholding to MoveOn.org and George Soros.
I would prefer a firing squad for sedition and treason since Murtha aided and abetted a foreign enemy during war with his PR remarks, but I'll take what I can get.
#7
LTC (ret) Bill Russell is running against Murtha this year.  You could consider donating to his campaign if you want to see the Murth go down.  And be sure to go to his Honor the Heroes page and watch his Defend the Heroes ad.
#9
I'm not an attorney but there is the GTLA. I have served in a couple of cases as an expert witness where a government entity was sued. I don't know whether the good Lance Corporal will be able to get much because of the Government Tort Liability Act (GTLA).
A government employee is not liable for causing personal injury or property damage, provided his conduct "does not amount to gross negligence that is the proximate cause of the injury or damage."
Maybe this falls into the category of gross negligence.
In our State, government liability is capped at $300,000.
Perhaps, the case will bring further attention to what a dipwad Murtha is and topple him out of office. One can hope. He does not serve the people well.
Thailand's Court of Appeals confirmed a two-year jail term for defamation on former Prime Minister Samak Sundaravej, who stepped down earlier this month after another court found him guilty of a conflict of interest.
A judge reading the verdict on Thursday said there was no reason to suspend jail terms handed down by the Criminal Court, which had found Samak and co-defendant Dusit Siriwan guilty of defaming a former deputy governor of Bangkok in 2006. "After considering what the defendants have done, there is no reason to withhold their penalty," the judge said. Samak showed no emotion when the verdict was announced and slipped out of court through a side door, avoiding the hundreds of journalists waiting at the main gate.
He was freed on 200,000 baht ($6,000) bail while waiting for a decision on an appeal request, lawyer Prachum Thongmee told reporters. "We are trying to get permission from either the court or the attorney-general to appeal to the Supreme Court within the legal window of 30 days," Prachum said.
Samak is still a member of parliament, so parliamentary privilege should allow him to stay out of jail until the end of the House of Representatives session in November. The lawsuit was a crucial factor behind the decision of many MPs in the ruling People Power Party to ask Samak, their party leader, not to run for prime minister again after he was forced to step down. Plaintiff Samart Rachapolrasit, who was the subject of slanderous remarks by Samak in two TV shows, said he would also seek 100 million baht ($3 million) compensation from Samak in the Civil Court.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Local police are looking for two 'suicide bombers' who reportedly drove around the city in a rented car and then disappeared near Faizabad on Thursday morning. The car owner told police that the men had booked the car and a driver for Thursday morning. The driver heard the two discussing an attack on important sites in Rawalpindi including the airport, Pir Wadhai Bus Terminal and hotels. The car owner subsequently reported the matter to Civil Lines Police, following which both men -- the car owner and the driver -- were taken into custody. Police raided various sites but have found no evidence of an attack. Regional Police Officer Nasir Khan Durrani and DSP of Civil Lines Raja Taifoor confirmed the arrests. They identified the rented car owner as Riaz but have not disclosed the driver's name. They said the two were being interrogated.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
(PTI) The Sri Lankan forces have reached the outskirts of Kilinochchi town, a stronghold of Tamil rebels, and the LTTE supremo is now a "caged animal", the army chief said here today even as fierce clashes left 38 dead. "Our forces are around four to five kilometres from Kilinochchi town. In fact we can see some of the buildings," Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said. He asserted that the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was "now a caged animal". He'll get away, is my guess. His faithful minions will die in droves, but he'll be too Important to the Movement® to eat a bullet.
Stating that the operations were reaching a decisive phase, Fonseka told a book release function here that the military campaign won't stop "until we liberate our motherland from the LTTE".
While refusing to give a time period for capture of the LTTE areas including Kilinochchi where the outfit maintains its administrative structure including the police headquarter, Fonseka hinted a fresh offensive would be unleashed in the coming days. "We will fire the first shots towards Kilinochchi town next week," he said.
Meanwhile, defence ministry said at least 37 LTTE cadres and a soldier were killed in fierce clashes in the northern region of the country as security forces stepped up their offensive against the Tamil Tigers. In an air raid, fighter jets carried out an attack on LTTE reinforcement troops gathering point in North of Akkarayankulam Tank in Kilinocchi today, officials said adding Air Force pilots confirmed that a large number of LTTE cadres were wounded during the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Clashes between two warring tribes in Kurram Agency have temporarily halted as negotiations for peace in the area started in Peshawar on Thursday. A tribal jirga from Kurram Agency consisting of 100 members, 50 each from the Toori and Mangal tribes, the political agent, and various lawmakers began negotiations to devise a practical mechanism for restoring peace in the agency. Meanwhile, at least three persons were injured when a hand grenade detonated in Maro Khel area in Lower Kurram Agency. People of the agency are facing a shortage of medicines and edibles in the area due to the closure of the Thall-Parachinar Road for many months. The agency has also been without electricity for several days, causing a severe shortage of drinking water.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
The British newspaper The Guardian on Thursday quoted European officials as saying that the United States earlier this year refused to agree to an Israeli strike on Iranian nuclear facilities.
According to the report, "European diplomatic sources" said that "Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites but was told by President George W. Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency."
The Guardian quoted the sources as saying that the issue was raised during a one-on-one meeting between Bush and outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert during the American president's trip to Israel in May to mark its 60th anniversary.
The sources reportedly attributed the American rejection of an Israeli attack to two factors: fear of Iranian retaliatory attacks on American targets, and concern that an Israeli strike would not successfully take out Iran's nuclear facilities, which are not concentrated in a single area, and some of which are subterranean.
Haaretz reported earlier this month that the U.S. denied Israel a security aid package including "bunker-buster" bombs, permission to use an air corridor to Iran, and an advanced technological system out of concern that Israel would use it to attack nuclear facilities in Iran.
An Israeli spokesman denied The Guardian report Thursday, saying that the "unnamed European source attributed words to the prime minister that were not spoken in any working meeting with foreign guests."
But, spokesman Mark Regev told The Guardian, "The need to prevent Iran from obtaining nuclear weapons is raised at every meeting between the prime minister and foreign leaders. Israel prefers a diplomatic solution to this issue but all options must remain on the table.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iff RUSSIA is going to keep being anti-US bellicose and empowering a NUCLEAR IRAN despite recognizing that one day the same may turn agz Russia, who is Dubya to get in the way of a future RUSSO-IRANIAN NUCLEAR LOVER'S QUARREL???
#2
"Israel gave serious thought this spring to launching a military strike on Iran's nuclear sites but was told by President George W. Bush that he would not support it and did not expect to revise that view for the rest of his presidency."
In an ideal world:
Dubya: "I don't want you to launch a military strike. If it needs doing, I'll do it after the election, and I'll take out their military and leadership at the same time. You can't hit enough targets simultaneously. I can."
Saudi researchers have mapped the first Arab genome in a project to put the Arab world on the global genetic map and improve healthcare.
And, surprise surprise, there's a whole lot less variation than in the human genome otherwise ...
Geneticists from Saudi Biosciences say unlocking the genetic profile of 100 people from Saudi Arabia and other Arab countries will help tackle medical problems in Saudi Arabia, encourage development of personalized medicine and encourage sorely-needed scientific research.
Just screen one, the other 99 will be the same ...
The collaboration between the private Saudi company, Danish firm CLC Bio and the Beijing Genomics Institute will make their sequencing of Arab genomes available on a public database.
"The advantage of the project is that it studies the differences between peoples, and that will explain the spread of specific illnesses such as diabetes, heart diseases, etc.," said Saeed al-Turki, Arab Human Genome Project Coordinator. "Twenty-five percent of the Saudi population has, or is liable to have diabetes and that will form a big burden on health services," he said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Saudi family tree looks like a ball of yarn.
Posted by: ed ||
09/26/2008 1:38
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Why, Besoeker, do you think any confirmation is necessary?
"Saudi project puts Arabs on genetic map"
I'm more interested in dealing with the Saudi project that they have never been appropriately repaid for: 9/11.
#11
my thoughts exactly JFM. I predict this is how the wars of the future will be fought.
Little merit on that. In the weeks after 9/11 I skimmed over a book who contemplated seval end of world scenarios. First one was Saudis using renegade western and japanese scientists to produce a virus targeted at everyone else.
#12
They'll discover they're all going to have to marry non-Saudis in order to get rid of all the problems they've bred in over the centuries... and the dowries/brideprices will be high because nobody else wants to bring such problems into the family line. There is a peril in actually knowing; hence the penalty for eating that apple from the Tree of Knowledge of Good and Evil, back in the day. ;-)
#15
I would think that unearned wealth is all the nurture required to explain epic cultural Saudi laziness. And that probably is a significant contributor to the diabetes thing, too. Why bother bringing genetic predisposition into things?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/26/2008 16:36
Comments ||
Top||
The Pakistan government should check alleged illegal activities in 'a handful madrassas', United States Consulate Principal Officer Brian Hunt said on Thursday. He also asked religious scholars to impart teachings of peace and tolerance to their students, Dawn News reported. During his visit to the Jamia Maqsoodia in Lahore, Hunt said that most of the madrassas were contributing to the society by educating the poor but a handful of people were misusing the institution. The US diplomat said it was important to recognise the services of these charitable madrassas.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
That's the hand with a thousand fingers handful.
#7
Yep golden christmas foil paper, I love unwrapping christmas presents.
Reminds me of the fellow who put a size 26 DD bra out instead of a christmas stocking, hoping santa would fill it for him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:13
Comments ||
Top||
Political posters are to start being removed from the streets of Lebanon as part of ongoing reconciliation efforts between rival factions, parliamentary majority leader Saad Hariri vowed on Thursday. "They will be removed within three days... first from the Beirut district and then throughout the rest of Lebanon as soon as possible," Hariri told reporters after meeting with parliament speaker Nabih Berri.
Beirut's streets and buildings are plastered with posters, party flags and portraits of martyrs and political leaders both dead and alive, emblematic of the intense divide among feuding clans. The posters have often led to violent incidents. Last week, two people were killed over the hanging of a political banner in the north of the country.
Lebanon's rival political leaders have been working toward reconciling their differences in recent weeks ahead of a national dialogue that will set the tone for parliamentary elections due next year.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
A tribal lashkar forced Taliban out of Malagori area near Jamrud in Khyber Agency, officials said. Tension had increased between the Taliban and the residents at Malagori during recent days, the officials said. The residents had formed a 3,000-strong armed group to drive the Taliban out, the officials said.
On Thursday, Taliban vacated the area to avoid clashes with the lashkar. Subsequently, the lashkar torched Taliban bases and centres in Tortopay and Zag Gujjar Dand areas. A source also confirmed that on one occasion there was an exchange of fire between Taliban and the Malagori lashkar. A Taliban was injured, while two others were detained and four vehicles were taken into custody.
The lashkar said any person giving shelter to Taliban would be fined Rs one million.
A spokesman for the lashkar told reporters that around 150 Taliban had fled the area.
Abduction: Meanwhile, suspected Taliban killed one person and abducted another from a mosque in Khyber Agency on Thursday. The armed men attacked Jamia Azizia mosque in the Sheikhwal area. The mosque is built on land owned by MNA Noorul Haq Qadri and Senator Abdul Malik Qadri. Roz Khan, who had dedicated the land for the mosque, was killed and a cleric was abducted in the attack. Witnesses said the Taliban sprayed the sides of the mosque with bullets. They kept firing for a long time but the administration did not take immediate action by blocking roads and erecting checkpoints to intercept the criminals, a resident said.
Threats: Separately, the Government Girls School and College in Jamrud received threatening letters from the Taliban on Thursday. The letters warned girl students not to attend school and asked the parents not to send their daughters to college, threatening them of dire consequences otherwise.
School sources said that the letters were found when the school opened on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
The Centre has taken the first step towards banning the Indian Mujahideen - which has claimed responsibility for the serial bombings in Varanasi, Faizabad, Lucknow, Jaipur, Ahmedabad and Delhi - by asking states to share all the details about the outfit emerging during the ongoing probe.
The move is a part of an exercise initiated recently to collect evidence against four of SIMI's national level fronts - Tahreek-e-Ehyaa-e-Ummat(TEU), Tehreek-Talaba-e-Arabia (TTA), Tehrik Tahaffuz-e-Sha'aire Islam (TTSI) and Wahadat-e-Islami - which have so far not been banned in the absence of "concrete evidence". "Since the IM is believed to be a hardline splinter of SIMI, it is important to get all the details about the outfit before making a complete dossier, an essential prerequisite before banning any outfit," said a senior home ministry official, adding the ongoing investigation has, so far, only thrown up sketchy details.
The recent claims made by both the Delhi and Mumbai Police have pinpointed the IM's command in the hand of the Pakistan-based banned outfit LeT which through one of its commanders, Abu Al Qama, has not only been managing the new outfit but also acting as a vital link between both IM and SIMI for carrying out operations in India. "These are the preliminary findings which need to be corroborated by more concrete evidence in due course. The home ministry has been in touch with states before imposing a ban on the outfit," said the official.
Currently, both LeT and SIMI are two of the 34 terrorist organizations banned under provisions of the Unlawful Activities (Prevention) Act (UAPA), 1967. Though LeT is banned in Pakistan as well, the outfit is still active there, with all its infrastructure intact, through its front, Jammat-ud-Dawa.
The security agencies here are looking for details whether SIMI too is similarly working in India through its 50 fronts. The mystery, officials believe, will be unravelled only after the home ministry's current move on seeking details of all these fronts.
While four out of SIMI's 50 fronts are currently operating at the national level, the remaining 46 are active in eight different states.
While four out of SIMI's 50 fronts are currently operating at the national level, the remaining 46 are active in eight different states.
Security agencies suspect that all these fronts "are being used for carrying out SIMI's activities, including collection of funds, circulation of literature and regrouping of cadres". Twenty-three out of the 46 outfits are active in Kerala followed by eight in Maharashtra, seven in West Bengal, three in Bihar, two in Uttar Pradesh and one each in Madhya Pradesh, Karnataka and Delhi. Though some of them are put under the list of banned outfits by the respective states, most of these organizations have been working without any restrictions.
This article starring:
Bihar
Delhi
Karnataka
Kerala
Madhya Pradesh
Maharashtra
West Bengal
ABU AL QAMA
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Indian Mujahideen
Pakistan placed all airports on red alert Thursday after a telephone caller warned of a suicide bomb threat, officials said. Passengers were briefly evacuated from the capital's Benazir Bhutto International Airport while security officials searched the area, but all flights were operating as normal, they said.
The security boost comes just days after a massive suicide truck bombing at the Marriott Hotel in the capital Saturday left 60 people dead and more than 260 wounded.
"We have raised the security level to red alert. It was already on high alert but after the bomb threat in Islamabad we stepped it up," senior airport security-force official Mohammad Irfan told AFP.
British Airways cancelled its six weekly flights to Islamabad earlier this week, citing security reasons.
In Islamabad, officials said security had been massively stepped up at the entrance and exit gates after a caller made a specific warning about an attack on the airport on Thursday. "The airport received a telephone threat that a bomb could go off inside the building about midday," Islamabad airport official Mohammad Malik told AFP. "Passengers were evacuated for a short time for debriefing on measures that security forces were taking because of the threat but then they were allowed to return. But there was no delay to flights."
Road traffic to the airport was also suspended for a short time.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
A Canadian man accused of participating in military exercises and firearms training as part of a group authorities say plotted to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister was found guilty Thursday.
The man's attorney says the plot was a "jihadi fantasy" and that his client knew nothing about it. A judge ruled Thursday that evidence of a terrorist group was "overwhelming." The man is the first person to be found guilty of a terrorist offense in Canada since the country enacted anti-terrorism laws in 2001.
The arrests of the 18 group members, known as the "Toronto 18," made headlines around the world and heightened fears in Canada, where people believe they are relatively immune from terrorist strikes. Prosecutors said there were plans to truck-bomb nuclear power plants and a building housing Canada's spy service. Seven of those arrested have since had their charges either withdrawn, or stayed. The trials of 10 adults, including the alleged ringleaders, have yet to begin. The young man was the first to go on trial.
Superior Court Justice John Sproat found the man guilty of knowingly participating in a terrorist group. As the 94-page judgment was handed down, the defendant's mother wept quietly in the back of the court. The man has not been identified because he was 17, a legal minor, when he was arrested in 2006. He is now 20.
Prosecutors argued he attended a training camp where he participated in military exercises and firearms training and that he knowingly participated in a potentially deadly conspiracy. He had pleaded not guilty to terrorism-related charges. Sproat rejected the defense argument that the plot was a "jihadi fantasy" that the defendant knew nothing about. "He clearly understood the camp was for terrorist purposes," he said.
The defense had cast the plot as "musings and fantasies" with no possibility of being carried out. "It might well have been said prior to Sept. 11, 2001 that a plan to kill thousands and destroy landmark buildings in lower Manhattan and Washington had no possibility of implementation," Sproat said.
Sproat rejected defense arguments that two camps organized by the alleged ringleaders were simply a religious retreat or recreational in nature. "Apparently benign activities may be used to identify and indoctrinate recruits," he said.
Sproat called the young man an "acolyte" of the "charismatic" ringleader. Evidence was clear the youth listened carefully to his mentor, the plot's ringleader, and wanted to please him, and therefore understood what the camps were about, the judge said.
Defense lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky said it's hard to know what sentence will be imposed but said his client was involved peripherally and doesn't have a criminal record. He faces a maximum 10-year sentence.
Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor and national-security expert, said the guilty verdict is the first test of Canada's anti-terrorism legislation and that it shows its a tough law. "You can be convicted for terrorism even if nothing particular happens as a result of a plot, even if the plot looks amateurish, even if you didn't fully know the details of the conspiracy you were a part of," he said.
The prosecution's star witness, Mubin Shaikh, infiltrated and spied on the alleged terror cell members before their arrests. Shaikh is a former Canadian army cadet. Shaikh said outside court that the youth should not have been found guilty. Shaikh called the man a "naive Muslim kid who fell into the wrong circle of Muslim kids. I don't believe he's a terrorist."
Shaikh, however, was happy the judge found his testimony about the alleged ringleaders credible. Shaikh received about $300,000 for infiltrating the group.
Sproat noted that the defense did not make any suggestion that the payments influenced Shaikh's evidence. Sproat said he found Shaikh to be a truthful and reliable witness, a development that doesn't bode well for the adults in their trials. "I've been telling the truth since day 1," Shaikh said. "I'm very happy that the judge validated that and confirmed that. That will carry through to the remaining adult trials."
This article starring:
Defense lawyer Mitchell Chernovsky
The prosecution's star witness, Mubin Shaikh
Wesley Wark, a University of Toronto professor
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under: Global Jihad
#1
Do they have hard labor camps in the Yukon? Perfect environment to live out your jihadi fantasy.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:35
Comments ||
Top||
The Anti-Corruption Commission (ACC) is unlikely to file any case against former premiers Sheikh Hasina and Khaleda Zia regarding their wealth since enquiry has not found any ill-gotten wealth accumulated by them.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Do they have an Anti Anti-Corruption Commisssion?
They might wanna think about it...
The group of 19 hostages including 11 European tourists were transferred to Libya and the Sahara kidnappers holding them may be from one of the many rebel groups in Sudan's war-torn Darfur area, a Sudanese government spokesman said on Thursday. "There are indications that they may have been one of the rebel factions from Darfur," said Ali Youssef Ahmed, head of protocol in the Sudanese Foreign Ministry.
The bandits have asked for Germany to be responsible for paying a ransom of six million euros, an Egyptian security official said on Thursday. "There are negotiations ongoing with the kidnappers now. The Egyptian negotiating team is working to get the hostages released in coordination with its Sudanese and German counterparts," the source told reporters, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak to the press. "The kidnappers and the tourists have moved to Libya, about 13 to 15 kilometres (eight to nine miles) across the border," Yousuf told AFP. "All hostages are well, according to our information, and we are monitoring the situation."
An Egyptian security official confirmed the group had moved. "They've been moved to Libya. Whether this is a release or a deepening of the crisis we don't know," he told AFP, asking not to be named.
The group of five Germans, five Italians and a Romanian, as well as eight Egyptian drivers and guides, was snatched by masked bandits while on a desert safari from the Egyptian oasis of Dakhla to the Gilf al-Kabir plateau in the desert on Friday. The kidnapping, in a remote and thinly policed area near Egypt's borders with Sudan and Libya, is the first of its kind from Egyptian territory but has features in common with other kidnappings at the western end of the vast north African desert.
The kidnappers have threatened to kill the hostages if authorities try to find them by plane, an Egyptian official said earlier the week, although the country's tourism minister was quoted on state media denying there was any such threat.
There has been contradictory information about the identity of the kidnappers. Egyptian officials have said the kidnappers could be Sudanese or Chadian, while Sudanese officials have said they believed the hostage takers were Egyptian. Through phone calls between the owner of the adventure tour company, who is held captive with the tourists, and his German-born wife in Cairo, the kidnappers have asked for the ransom.
Analysts say the kidnappers do not appear to have political or ideological motives, unlike the militant Islamists who attacked tourist targets in the Nile Valley and the Sinai Peninsula in the 1990s. But the incident is an embarrassment to the Egyptian government, which counts preserving law and order in a troubled region as one of its major achievements. Tourism accounts for over 6 percent of Egypt's gross domestic product.
This article starring:
Ali Youssef Ahmed
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Now you can send in the Bulgarian Medical Corps.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:30
Comments ||
Top||
Autism experts, politicians, lawyers and civil rights campaigners are urging Jacqui Smith, the home secretary, to intervene in the case of the British hacker Gary McKinnon so that he can be tried in Britain rather than being extradited to the US. McKinnon, recently diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome (AS), has exhausted all legal challenges but Smith can intervene on compassionate grounds.
McKinnon, 42, from north London, is accused of hacking into US military and Nasa computers and causing $700,000 damage. Having lost appeals against extradition to the House of Lords and the European court of human rights, he could be extradited to the US any day.
Karen Todner, his solicitor, said yesterday that she was still waiting to hear from the home secretary regarding a plea that he be allowed to stand trial in the UK. "I hope that she will be brave enough to make the right decision or, at the very least, ensure that he would be allowed to serve his entire term in this country," said Todner.
He can stand trial in the U.S. and plead his case. We're not without compassion if there are extenuating circumstances. But isn't it suspicious that the perp was 'recently diagnosed'.
Autism specialists are also calling on Smith to exercise her discretionary right. "I believe Gary to be 'guilty' of having AS," said Dr Luke Beardon, senior lecturer in autism at the autism centre at Sheffield Hallam University."That he hacked into the Pentagon is apparent; it is also crystal clear to me that he did this as a direct result of following the obsessional interest which drives him, with no malicious intent to harm the computers or any human beings whatsoever."
Sir John Stanley, Tory MP for Tonbridge and Malling, wrote to Smith earlier this month expressing his concern about the "one-sided nature" of the UK-US extradition agreement. Campaigners are due to protest against the extradition outside the US embassy in London on Sunday.
Posted by: Steve White ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Ignorance of the law is no excuse for breaking it. That's one of the legal underpinnings of our society. I don't care why they're ignorant, to me, insanity is NOT a defense. Neither is anything else that takes responsibility away from the person responsible for the crime.
#2
Asperger's Syndrome does not excuse law-breaking. Even psychopaths must obey the law or be punished, and Aspies are no less culpable, just as they must wear appropriate clothing when they appear in public,.
#3
If you could hear my reaction, you might diagnose me as a sufferer of Tourette's Syndrome. But I don't want to be pooplisted, so I'll just keep it between me and my display.
#6
"I hope that she will be brave enough to make the right decision or, at the very least, ensure that he would be allowed to serve his entire term in this country,"
That's his lawyer talking? Might be time to look for another one, rain man.
#7
Lock him up in an institution for the criminally insane if you like. It doesn't matter where he's locked up as long as he's locked up for a long, long time.
Political analysts say the interim authority now looks more intent on finding an honourable exit for itself than forcing reform on the top political parties
BANGLADESH'S "Battling Begums", behind bars and suspected to be heading towards the end of their careers just a few months ago, are back with a vengeance at the helm of the country's politics as December elections approach.
That fact has analysts worried that changes needed to rid the country of corruption and put its politics on a more stable and less violent course are not going to come anytime soon. The pair, Sheikh Hasina and Begum Khaleda Zia, were heirs to political dynasties and alternated as prime ministers in the 15 years through 2006.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
Iraqi forces launched a major hunt for Al-Qaeda gunmen in the restive province of Diyala on Thursday after 35 people were killed in an ambush of a police convoy. Wednesday's attack, which saw the entire patrol wiped out, was one of the deadliest against police in recent months despite massive military crackdowns in the region, one of the most dangerous in Iraq.
The US military also reported that an American soldier was killed in a suicide bombing in the province on Wednesday, but did not give further details.
Soldiers backed by commandos are sweeping the area following the ambush, Interior Ministry spokesman Brigadier General Abdel Karim Khalaf said. "We have a major operation under way in the area after Al-Qaeda ambushed the policemen. Army, police commandos and rapid-action groups have joined a search for the attackers," Khalaf told AFP.
Khalaf, who is also acting police chief in Diyala, said the people ambushed were on an anti-Al-Qaeda reconnaissance patrol when gunmen struck in the village of Al-Dulaimat near the town of Khan Bani Saad, north of Baghdad. The attackers shot dead 12 policemen and eight pro-government Sunni militiamen, according to an initial toll given by a security official. Town Mayor Naif Abdullah said another 15 wounded policemen were declared dead on arrival at a hospital in Baghdad. Some of them were buried on Thursday, local residents said.
Khalaf said the victims had traveled to an orchard to investigate reports that Al-Qaeda operatives were in the area. "We sent troops to check the report and not fight," he said. "They stepped out of their vehicles and walked about 300 meters when they were struck by gunfire."
Security officials said the area around the village was a longstanding Al-Qaeda stronghold.
Among those killed were allied fighters of the so-called "Awakening Council" group which is battling Al-Qaeda in the region. Diyala remains the most dangerous of Iraq's 18 provinces despite a US-backed offensive which the security forces launched against Al-Qaeda and other insurgents in May.
BAGHDAD: Premier Nuri al-Maliki has promised to improve Iraq's armed forces to the level that they no longer need support from US-led troops, his office said on Thursday.
Following a meeting with Interior Minister Jawad Bolani and other key security officials, Maliki said he was happy with the progress of building the new Iraqi armed forces, but more needed to be done. "We see that our forces have a high level of capability and this makes us feel proud and honored, but we want the performance to be complete so they won't need [external] support," his office quoted him as saying.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
#1
Isn't Palin's son due to be deployed in Diyala Province? Hope he is not being set up as a target.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
09/26/2008 16:37
Comments ||
Top||
(AKI) - The Israeli government has decided to set up a new authority to tackle the threat to national security posed by Islamist terror groups, Israel Radio reports.
The authority will be headed by the Israeli Defence Ministry's anti-terrorism chief. Its members will include the chiefs of Israel's Mossad intelligence agency and its domestic spy service Shin Bet, as well as its security forces. The authority's purpose is to provide assistance and coordination between the various agencies. It will meet when required and at least twice a month.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
In an emotional address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Asif Ali Zardari demanded a United Nations investigation into the murder of Benazir Bhutto to reassure the people of Pakistan that the international community cares about them and to prove that the UN charter of justice is more than rhetoric.
A good deal of the president's long address was devoted to the memory of the fallen leader, whom he credited with enunciating the 'doctrine of reconciliation', which he compared with the Marshall Plan that had rebuilt a war-ravaged Europe. He urged the UN to move forward quickly on the murder investigation so that the people of Pakistan and the world will know once for all who took away 'one of the greatest women in history'.
Zardari said, "The Bhutto doctrine of reconciliation is a roadmap not only to a new Pakistan, but to a new era of peace and co-operation between East and West, between people of all faiths, a roadmap that if followed will avoid a clash of civilisations and clash of religions that is the terrorists' ultimate goal. The Bhutto doctrine is the new century's equivalent of the Marshall Plan that saved Europe after World War II."
Zardari said Pakistan is a victim of terrorism and its people have begun to wonder if they stand alone. Pakistan has lost more soldiers in this war than all the 37 countries that have their forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan, he pledged, will never surrender to terrorism or succumb to it and was now reaching out to the entire civilised world for support. In a reference to the violation of Pakistan's sovereignty, Zardari said, "Violating our nation's sovereignty is not helpful in eliminating the terrorist menace. Indeed this could have the opposite effect." He said, "Attacks within Pakistan that violate our sovereignty actually serve to empower the forces against which we fought together." He said Pakistan would work patiently to persuade leaders in FATA and the Pukhtunkhwa province to accept the writ of government and turn their back on terrorists.
Zardari said Pakistan would work together with Afghanistan and the NATO forces stationed there to ensure the safety of 'our common border'.
In the sole reference to Kashmir, he said, "We will continue the composite dialogue with India so that our outstanding disputes are resolved. Whether it is the core issue of Jammu and Kashmir, or co-operation on water resources, India and Pakistan must accommodate each other's concerns and interests, we must respect and work with each other to peacefully resolve our problems and build South Asia into a common market of trade and technology."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
You're president of the country where it happened. There's a guy who bragged about it who lives in your northwest frontier provinces. Work it out yourself, sovereign.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
09/26/2008 8:40
Comments ||
Top||
#2
For justice, we must go to Don Corleone...the UN!
Wait a second. Where are we going?
Dubai's chief of police has threatened to create sleeper cells in Iran if it is proven that it is involved in any attempts to destabilize the Gulf region.
Lieutenant General Dahi Khalfan said that Gulf countries have the financial ability to infiltrate Iranian ranks since Iran has 15 million citizens of Arab origins that potentially could be recruited, especially given that they live in dire conditions, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported Wednesday.
"It is not in Iran's interest to play this game, especially that Gulf countries respect their neighbors. If they have a cell we can have thousands."
"It is not in Iran's interest to play this game, especially that Gulf countries respect their neighbors. This shouldn't come from a neighboring Muslim country," the paper quoted Khalfan as saying. "We ask them to resort to reason, but if they have a cell we can have thousands."
Khalfan's statements came in the wake of allegations by a senior Iranian defector that Iran runs a network of agents in the six Arab monarchies of the Gulf that could be used to destabilize the region. Adel al-Assadi, who was consul general in Dubai with the rank of ambassador before defecting in 2001, said Shiite Iran's Revolutionary Guards started to set up the sleeper cells right after the 1979 Islamic revolution in Tehran. Iranian Defence Minister Mustafa Mohammad Najjar denied the claim.
Khalfan expressed his surprise at Iran's threats to close the Strait of Hormuz and attack oil tankers in the case of an American or Israeli strike: "As if we in the Gulf countries are a party in the conflict. If Iran closes the Strait of Hormuz, our oil resources will be jeopardized unless we find another route for our oil tankers."
That is why Khalfan suggested reviving an idea that late Prime Minister Sheikh Rashid bin Saeed Al Maktoum suggested in the 1980s following Ayatollah Khomeini's attack on oil tankers. His idea was to dig a canal from Ras al-Khaimah to the Arabian Sea. "If the Gulf countries do not take an action about this canal, our oil will be in danger in case the U.S. or Israel takes any rash steps," explained Khalfan.
However, he said Iran is unlikely to strike oil facilities in the Gulf and argued that it is more probable that it would attack oil tankers and blockade the Strait of Hormuz. "Plus, the whole world will stand by the Gulf countries to protect the oil and will not allow any impulsive party to ruin a wealth that the entire world depends on," Khalfan said in the interview. "The world will not come to our rescue for our sake, but rather for protecting their own security."
Khalfan asked Iran to be reasonable and not to involve the Gulf in its conflict with Israel and the U.S. and to stop issuing provocative statements that antagonize Gulf countries. Khalfan added that incidents like the Gulf war proved that Gulf countries are all united in both distress and prosperity. "We have very strong ties. It's true we don't have big troops, but we have technology, and this is what warfare depends on. The best example is Hezbollah's war with Israel. Military show off is no longer intimidating."
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
If he knew where they were, he wouldn't "Threaten",
post under "Hot air", and cross file under "Bullshit"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
09/26/2008 10:44
Comments ||
Top||
The Iraqi Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent, the country's leading humanitarian organization, has been crippled by allegations of embezzlement and mismanagement, including what Iraqi officials call the inappropriate expenditure of more than $1 million on Washington lobbying firms in an unsuccessful effort to win U.S. funding.
The group's former president, Said I. Hakki, an Iraqi American urologist recruited by Bush administration officials to resuscitate Iraq's health-care system, left the country this summer after the issuance of arrest warrants for him and his deputies. He and his aides deny the allegations and call them politically motivated.
The Red Crescent oversees the largest humanitarian operation in the country, with thousands of employees and an annual budget of $60 million funded in large part by the Iraqi government. The group has ceased nearly all its humanitarian work in recent months after the government froze its assets. The agency, which distributed more than 35,000 emergency food packages in June, handed out just 2,000 in July.
The crisis at the Red Crescent -- detailed in interviews, internal agency documents and investigative reports -- illustrates many of the challenges Iraq faces as its leaders seek to assert more control over security, reconstruction and humanitarian work. Iraqi officials point to Hakki and other former exiles brought to Iraq by the U.S. government as one reason that key institutions remain inefficient and corrupt.
"We are supposed to be an organization that helps people, and instead we have been infected by a culture of corruption," said Abdul Kareem Aboud al-Humeidi, a critic of Hakki who was elected interim president of the Red Crescent this summer. "If the whole world is so concerned about the humanitarian crisis in Iraq, why has no one fixed the problems at the Red Crescent?"
In several telephone interviews from Beirut, Hakki said his expansion of the organization's size and budget has helped millions of Iraqis. He called the probes a ploy by Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to purge him and other allies of former prime minister Ibrahim al-Jafari from top jobs in the country.
"I risked my life to come to Iraq and build the largest and the only effective organization working in the country," said Hakki, 64. "I will not stand by and let the Iraqi Red Crescent be destroyed."
Hakki's management practices caused alarm among his colleagues shortly after he arrived at the Red Crescent. A former adviser to Saddam Hussein's Health Ministry, Hakki fled the country in 1983 and eventually settled in Florida, where he became a U.S. citizen. He developed a urology practice, taught at the University of South Florida and became known for his patented work on prosthetic penile implants.
Just before the 2003 invasion of Iraq, the Bush administration asked Hakki to return to Baghdad. At the time, the administration sought to fill positions in Iraq with Republican supporters; Hakki has donated $13,800 to Republican candidates and party organizations since 1988. Jafari, Iraq's premier from mid-2005 to mid-2006, appointed Hakki to lead the Red Crescent. Jafari declined to comment for this article.
"We were impressed with him at the beginning. He was an American and an academic," said Humeidi, then a member of the board of directors.
But Hakki soon clashed with the head of the society's accounting division, Faiza Fadhil Whayeb, who insisted that Hakki and his deputies put out all contracts for competitive bidding, according to Humeidi and other agency officials. Hakki refused, they said. In an interview, Hakki said it was sometimes necessary to avoid time-consuming bidding procedures because of the pressing need and the difficulty of working under wartime conditions. Whayeb said she could not comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
A senior Iranian official says Iran is not obliged to answer allegations of weaponization studies by the US at the international nuclear agency.
Iran's Parliament Speaker Ali Larijani said all issues raised by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) regarding Iran's nuclear activities have already been answered. He said Iran sees no obligation to answer what is claimed in the studies the US is asserting Iran carried out.
Addressing an IAEA meeting in Vienna, the chief UN nuclear inspector, Mohammed ElBaradei, said he believed Iran is withholding information needed to explain 'serious' intelligence, alleging that the Islamic Republic had pursued 'studies of weaponization.'
The former Iranian chief nuclear negotiator added that after Iran's cooperation, it was expected that the IAEA head make a more far-reaching probe into this issue. He said the same path taken to answer the previous six questions raised by the IAEA could have solved any questions regarding these new purported studies.
Larijani said raising the question of weaponization studies means that an official claim has been made and now the IAEA has to investigate it.
Iran says accusations that the country has been involved in 'green salt project, high explosives testing, and the missile re-entry vehicle project' have been based on 'forged' documents and 'fabricated' data. Iran has asked the IAEA to provide the country with copies of the documents concerning the 'alleged studies'. The agency, however, says it is not 'in a position' to do so.
Iran's ambassador to the IAEA, Ali Asghar Soltanieh blamed the United States on Monday for hindering the IAEA's progress by not providing enough evidence to back up its claims on Tehran's nuclear activities.
The Islamic Republic has also expressed concern that the resolution of some of the issues raised in the documents would require agency access to sensitive information about its military and missile related activities that any government would be reluctant to disclose for security concerns.
"(We do) not seek to 'pry' into Iran's conventional or missile-related military activities. Our focus is clearly nuclear material and activities," ElBaradei responded.
The IAEA chief said the 10 countries, which provided the agency with documentation related to the allegations, should share it with Iran so that the Islamic Republic can determine the factually correct parts.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
Dozens of Muslim protesters attacked participants of Bosnia's first-ever gay rights festival in Sarajevo on Wednesday, injuring at least two journalists and one police officer. The scuffle broke out at the end of the opening ceremony of the four-day festival in front of the Academy of Fine Arts in downtown Sarajevo. Police said at least eight people were injured when attackers dragged some people from vehicles and beat others in the street. A policeman was also injured.
Sarajevo hospital said six people were admitted with head wounds and that a Danish visitor was the most seriously hurt. "When I was getting out of the academy, I was suddenly struck in the back," Pedja Kojovic, a local journalist, told reporters. "Three other people then came running and beat me up."
Emir Imamovic, a journalist who tried to help Kojovic, was severely beaten, police said.
A heavy police deployment prevented more violence from spoiling the event, with a security cordon keeping protestors shouting "kill the gays" and "Allahu Akbar" (a Muslim expression meaning God is Greatest) at bay.
About 50 people participated in the opening day of the festival, which had already prompted fears of violence. Islamic media campaigned this month against the organization of the festival during the Muslim holy month of Ramadan and anonymous death threats were made against its organizers and media that supported it. Organizers said the timing of the indoor festival of art, film and workshops about sexual minorities was coincidental.
Many, including members of various ethnic political parties, have declared homosexuality an illness and labeled the behavior deviant.
Sarajevo, known for centuries for the peaceful coexistence of its Muslims, Christians and Jews, became a majority Muslim city after the 1992-95 war.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Emir Imamovic, a journalist who tried to help Kojovic, was severely beaten, police said.
Funny how the order of the day is "never get involved" - unless it's a cause the journalist supports, in which case it's get involved. Sickening.
#2
Interesting journalistic cover word "becoming".
Personally I'd much rather have 2 million gays in the UK than 2 million followers of the paedo-prophet.
Incidentally, Soho in London is so cosmopolitan that the gays are complaining that "their" bars are being filled up with non-gays. hehe makes me laugh anyway.
(AKI) - The kidnappers of the 19 tourists abducted in southern Egypt last week are heavily armed, according to government-backed daily Al-Ahram. Al-Ahram said there are at least four kidnappers and they are armed with RPG rocket-launchers.
The five Germans, five Italians and one Romanian tourist were visiting the remote desert Gilf al-Kebir area near the Sudanese border when they were abducted last Friday. The captors are believed to have taken the tourists across the border to Sudan. The kidnappers, whose nationality is uncertain, are demanding a ransom of up to 15 million dollars for the tourists' release, the Egyptian state news agency MENA reported.
It is the first time tourists have been abducted in Egypt, a country that was the target of Islamist militant bombings and shootings of tourists during the 1990s. Italian and German diplomats are working closely with Egyptian officials to free the kidnapped tourists.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Oh My God! No! The kidnappers were ARMED?! HEAVILY ARMED!?! Horrors! What kind of kidnappers ARE they anyway, barbarians?! What Is This World Coming To! Armed kidnappers! HEAVILY armed!! Who'd have thought it! (Oh, they are from the Sudan? Well, then!! Nobody expects much of THOSE people! Sniff.)
I wish the world would treat kidnappers like they used to treat pirates. Kill On Sight.
For that matter, I wish the world would treat pirates like they used to treat pirates.
Just about used up my years supply of !!! points in this one post. Got to get some more.
Got a few left over, tho. !!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
09/26/2008 6:44
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Here 'ya go Whiskey !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Brother-in-law's Italian, I get 'em for next to nothing.
#3
While WM gets his !! restocked, I cannot help but wonder how the melt down of the various world markets has affected Joe's CAP LOCK FLUID supply; it has to be running dangerously low.
#4
I cannot help but wonder how the melt down of the various world markets has affected Joe's CAP LOCK FLUID supply; it has to be running dangerously low.
(PTI) Pakistani Taliban fighters publicly flogged two butchers for allegedly selling the flesh of dead animals in the troubled northwestern Swat valley today. Heavily armed Taliban fighters brought the blindfolded butchers to a crowded market in Kabal sub-district and flogged them before a crowd of about 200 people. The media was also called by the Taliban to cover the event.
The butchers were also fined Rs 10,000 each for their "crime" by the Taliban, who have considerable influence in several parts of Swat district despite a major operation launched against the militants by the Pakistan Army.
TV channels aired footage of the butchers being held down on the ground by four masked Taliban fighters while a fifth militant flogged them with a whip. All the militants were heavily armed and had their faces covered.
The Taliban in the Swat valley of North West Frontier Province are led by radical cleric Maulana Fazlullah, a deputy of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Wouldn't selling the flesh of live animals have been worse?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
09/26/2008 0:37
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Yup, the Paks have the situation under control.
#7
Was it known that the animals had been interfered with before being slaughtered? After all, while I understand it is permitted to sell the meat of interfered with animals to the next community, it is not permitted in the community where the animal should have been able to assume at least that kind of safety. Besides, even if a permitted sale, I wouldn't want to feed that to my family.
The government has ordered an inquiry into reports of girls from the northeast being trafficked to Malaysia for sex work. NGOs claimed that as many as 150 girls were reported to have been promised jobs in Singapore but landed up in clubs in Kaula Lampur instead.
The ministry of overseas Indian affairs (OIA) has ordered an inquiry into the reports. "I am looking into the matter. We have also alerted our embassies in Singapore and Malaysia," Vayalar Ravi, OIA minister said. The minister has directed the Protectorate of Emigrants (PoE) officer to track records on the basis of which these girls were taken.
Complaints were received from Naga Peoples Movement for Human Rights (NPMHR) and Shakti Vahini regarding trafficking of girls from Zeliangrong community in Tamenglong district in Manipur. The two NGOs were alerted after three girls escaped from their traffickers in Malaysia and were rescued by a priest. He, in turn, got in touch with NPMHR, Unifem and Shakti Vahini.
Shakti Vahini's executive director Ravi Kant said, "This information only hints at what could be a larger racket of human trafficking from the N-E." While details are not forthcoming, NGOs said that a Singapore-based group was recruiting girls not just from Manipur but Guwahati, Kolkata, Dimapur and Shillong. NGOs also claimed that five girls on their way to Singapore were intercepted and rescued at Dimapur recently.
The N-E has emerged as a source-transit-destination point for trafficking of women and children. The region's proximity to the country's porous borders has made human trafficking from Nepal and Bangladesh easy while girls from Manipur, Nagaland and Assam find their way to Delhi, Mumbai and southeast Asian countries.
Human trafficking, coupled with trafficking of drugs and arms, has left the entire region in turmoil and internal strife. Concerned over the increasing number of fake recruiting agencies, the ministry has planned to strengthen the Emigration Act that will allow authorities to take stringent action against fraudulent agents. The amendments to the legislation are in the pipeline.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
If Malasia had "The Sun" news-paper, it woul be titled
Lebanon's Al Mustaqbal Movement leader MP Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, but should be under state-army control. Right. They promised. You believe them.
Hariri made the announcement in addressing an Iftar banquet, hardly two hours after meeting the Hezbollah team at his Beirut residence. By meeting the Hezbollah team "we broke thick ice," Hariri said. He's meeting with a bridge salesman tomorrow morning, too. Gonna get a real good buy.
The meeting was meant to achieve a "disengagement of the popular clash," Hariri said. "We would not issue a certificate of pardon to anybody ... history would judge who caused harm to the capital," he added. "We shoulder the responsibility of safeguarding the second independence ... achieved by the March 14 alliance," Hariri said as the cheerful crowd applauded. "We want the state and the army to be the arbitrators. We don't want Beirut to remain a hostage of factional sedition," Hariri stressed.
He said the Taif accord "remains the framework that commands national tracks as well as the state base."
Hariri praised the speech of President Michel Suleiman in New York and his commitment to the international tribunal. "This speech is a new motivation for the national dialogue" he said
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
"Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, ".....as long as I live! 5-4-3-2-----
#2
MP Saad Hariri declared after meeting a Hezbollah team on Wednesday that Beirut will never again be a hostage to Hezbollah weapons, but should be under state-army control.
Im quite sure Mr Hariri is just as cynical about Leb politics as we are. What is he supposed to do? Having managed to bargain a promise out of Hezb, hes trying to make it worth 1 cent on the dollar instead of zero by waving Hezbs promise around in public.
Should he wait for the 3rd ID to rescue him? The IDF? The French army?
The police and the Shin Bet arrested five Palestinians and an Israeli Arab resident of Taibeh for allegedly stealing assault rifles from two Israel Defense Forces soldiers in Tel Aviv and then selling the guns in the West Bank.
Authorities on Thursday afternoon lifted a media gag order on the details of the affair, according to which a Palestinian resident of the West Bank village of Nur el-Shams, Omar Shafai, admitted to investigators that he swiped the guns belonging to two IDF soldiers near the Haganah Bridge in Tel Aviv in two separate incidents.
The first theft occurred in late January of this year, when Shafai assaulted a soldier who was standing near the bridge adjacent to the Ayalon Freeway. Shafai wielded a rock against the soldier's head and fled with his weapon.
Shafai was arrested by authorities while attempting to sell the weapon in the West Bank. Investigators also learned that he assaulted a soldier who was walking along the Haganah Bridge in mid-July of this year. Shafai allegedly beat the soldier with an iron rod he had obtained beforehand. After the soldier regained consciousness, he noticed that his rifle had been stolen.
Shafai subsequently came into contact with a weapons dealer in Qalqilyah, who then referred him to an Israeli Arab resident of Taibeh, Darwish Nasser, who purchased the rifle from Shafai. The two are believed to have met near the Geha junction in between Ramat Gan and Kiryat Ono.
Shin Bet investigators learned that Shafai attempted to steal a number of other weapons from soldiers numerous times, without success. He will be tried in an IDF tribunal in the northern West Bank on charges of aggravated assault and illegal sale of arms. Darwish was indicted in Petah Tikva District Court on arms possession and arms selling. Indictments against the remaining suspects are likely to follow.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
US President George W. Bush vows to back Lebanon's sovereignty and independence in a meeting with his Lebanese counterpart Michel Suleiman. "We're most impressed by the national dialogue that you're holding in an attempt to seek reconciliation.... Our mission is your mission: A country that is strong, and capable, and a country where people can live in peace," Bush told reporters on Thursday after talks with Suleiman at the White House.
In response, Suleiman showed appreciation for the US support for Lebanon. He also pledged to build 'a prosperous and democratic Lebanon.' "We are also here to reaffirm the need to liberate all Lebanese territories; and also to make it very clear that the future of Palestinian refugees is in their homeland, not in Lebanon," he said.
There are reports that some 400,000 Palestinian refugees are living in 12 camps in Lebanon.
Michel Suleiman was elected Lebanese President and sworn into office on May 25, 2008. His election put an end to a months-long political crisis in Lebanon. Before assuming office as president, he held the position of commander of the Lebanese Armed Forces. After LAF commander Emile Lahoud took office as president in November of 1998, Suleiman succeeded him, taking his place in December.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
This one's a sing-along: add your crossfire comments below.
Three criminals were killed yesterday in shootouts between their cohorts and law enforcers in Faridpur and Magura.
The dead are Babu Kosai and Golakata Jahangir of Faridpur, and Raju alias Rajib, 37, of Magura.
Our Faridpur correspondent reports: Acting on a tip-off, Rab members raided an abandoned building at Domrakandi in the town where Babu and Jahangir were holding a meeting with their cohorts.
Sensing the presence of Rab members, the criminals opened fire on the law enforcers prompting them to retaliate, said a Rab official. Babu and Jahangir were killed on the spot while their accomplices managed to escape, he added.
The Rab official said they also recovered three firearms and six rounds of bullet from the scene.
Our Magura correspondent adds: The police arrested Raju at his residence at Chaklapara in the town at about 3:20am. "Evening, Raju. Nice night, ain't it. How's about we take a little drive?"
Following his confessions, "AAAAAAHHHHHHHHEEEEEE!"
"Oh, grow up. I'll bet you hardly ever used that finger."
police took him to a place near Char Muraridaha village to recover illegal arms.
When the policemen reached the spot, Raju's accomplices fired shots at them prompting the law enforcers to retaliate, said a police official. "It's da RAB! And they've got Raju! Quick, open random reckless fire in their direction!"
Raju was killed in crossfire "Urp.....rosebud..."
while his cohorts managed to flee, he said adding that a police constable was also injured in the incident.
Police said Raju was wanted on twelve systems in a number of cases.
Posted by: Fred ||
09/26/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[0 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Following his confessions, police took him to a place near Char Muraridaha village to recover illegal arms.
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.
John McCain's decision to suspend his campaign was made in the hopes that politics could be set aside to address our economic crisis. 
By David Harsanyi
BEIJING — A news story describing a successful launch of China's long-awaited space mission and including detailed dialogue between astronauts launched on the Internet Thursday, hours before the rocket had even left the ground.
WHILE WASHINGTON was seized with congressional negotiations over the Wall Street bailout, Iraq's parliament on Wednesday took another major step toward political stabilization. By a unanimous vote, the national legislature approved a plan for local elections in 14 of 18 provinces by early next year -- clearing the way for a new, more representative and more secular wave of politicians to take office. 
Jesus Jihad, a two-time convicted felon, said on the witness stand Thursday that his prison instinct took over when he began stabbing his wife last year. The rush from that instinct didn't subside until his wife was lying dead with 11 stab wounds, mostly in her back, in a parking lot in front of the couple's apartment. Jihad recalled that attack and the details that led to it Thursday as he took the stand in his murder trial.
By John Bolton
Ayaan Hirsi Ali wants to force the Netherlands to continue paying for her security. The Hague stopped providing payments for the former MP because she moved to the United States. However, she insists that the Dutch government promised to continue paying. The former politician has been receiving death threats for years because of her continual criticism of Islam. 
CAMP FALLUJAH, Iraq – Multi-National Force –West Marines discovered an explosive-remnants-of-war stockpile near Haditha Sept. 23.
THE daughter of hate cleric Omar Bakri Mohammed is a POLE DANCER, The Sun can reveal. Busty Yasmin Fostok, 27, leads a secret life after rebelling against her fanatical Muslim dad -- who rants against Western "depravity". She has performed in London pole dancing bars and gyrated half-naked in cages at club nights. And she admitted: "I'm willing to go topless if the venue is right."
Of all the movies about the current Iraq War, good or bad, passionate or indifferent, The Lucky Ones is the only one to embrace "daft." This all-over-the-place road-picture dramedy puts three wounded GIs in a minivan and takes them to a bar and a church, through a car wreck and a tornado, dealing with each other's "issues" willy-nilly along the way. It's something of a well-intentioned mess.
On Aug. 31, 2006, FBI agents searched the offices of six state lawmakers, including Cowdery and Weyhrauch.
GERMAN commandos have stormed a KLM airliner at Cologne-Bonn airport, arresting two men suspected of wanting to carry out attacks, police said. The Amsterdam-bound jet was stormed at 6:55 am (1455 AEST), police spokesman Frank Scheulen said.
Would you buy a used car from this guy?
At least 16 Taliban and two civilians were killed when army helicopter gunships attacked Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Thursday. "Helicopter gunships pounded positions of militants in the Damadola, Shinkot areas from morning until evening, killing 16 Taliban and wounding 20 others, most of them civilians," a security official told AFP. Two civilians were also killed in the shelling, he said. Meanwhile, an Utmankhel tribe jirga decided to take action against the Taliban and their backers in the area. Thousands of Salarzai tribesmen announced to launch an operation against the Taliban on the fourth day after Eid. The Salarzai tribesmen torched the houses of 18 people accused of helping or sheltering the Taliban. Around 234 families left the agency in the wake of the military operation against the Taliban.
Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari and Indian Prime Minister Manmohan Singh agreed on Wednesday to resume the strained peace process with new talks to be scheduled within three months. The leaders of the nuclear-armed nations agreed that their foreign secretaries "will schedule meetings of the fifth round of the composite dialogue in the next three months," a joint statement said after the summit at the sidelines of the U.N. General Assembly meeting.
(AKI) - Source IRIN - As fighting in Pakistan's northern areas intensifies, about 2,800 families from the tribal area of Bajaur are reported to have crossed into neighbouring Afghanistan. Most are believed to be based in the Kunar province of Afghanistan, along Pakistan's western border. 
The world knows the "Taliban" as armed fighters who have unleashed a wave of violence in Afghanistan and neighboring Pakistan, including devastating suicide bomb attacks by them and their allies, the most recent on the luxurious Marriott Hotel in high-security Islamabad last week.
Lebanon's' Parliament Speaker Nabih Berri has accused Israel of launching an intelligence war against Lebanon to block national reconciliation. 
The Foreign Ministry says pirates have seized a Ukrainian-operated ship off Somalia. The ministry says the Faina was sailing with 21 people on board under the Belize flag, though it is operated by Ukrainian managing company Tomax Team Inc. The ministry says in a statement that the ship's captain reported being surrounded by three boats of armed men Thursday afternoon.
(SomaliNet) An Egyptian official said on Tuesday that kidnappers who had seized 19 hostages including European tourists in a remote desert area of Egypt had threatened to kill them if attempts were made to find them by plane. Speaking on condition of anonymity, the official said the kidnapped tour operator contacted his German wife and told her of the threat, which she reported to Egyptian authorities. 
One of the Marines cleared in the killings of Iraqi civilians in the town of Haditha plans to sue his congressman today for statements he says defamed him and other members of his squad. Former Marine Lance Cpl. Justin Sharratt, 24, of Canonsburg, will file a civil lawsuit against U.S. Rep. John P. Murtha, D-Johnstown, who was widely quoted two years ago saying that eight Marines carried out a cold-blooded killing of 24 civilians in the Iraqi town on Nov. 19, 2005.
Local police are looking for two 'suicide bombers' who reportedly drove around the city in a rented car and then disappeared near Faizabad on Thursday morning. The car owner told police that the men had booked the car and a driver for Thursday morning. The driver heard the two discussing an attack on important sites in Rawalpindi including the airport, Pir Wadhai Bus Terminal and hotels. The car owner subsequently reported the matter to Civil Lines Police, following which both men -- the car owner and the driver -- were taken into custody. Police raided various sites but have found no evidence of an attack. Regional Police Officer Nasir Khan Durrani and DSP of Civil Lines Raja Taifoor confirmed the arrests. They identified the rented car owner as Riaz but have not disclosed the driver's name. They said the two were being interrogated.
(PTI) The Sri Lankan forces have reached the outskirts of Kilinochchi town, a stronghold of Tamil rebels, and the LTTE supremo is now a "caged animal", the army chief said here today even as fierce clashes left 38 dead. "Our forces are around four to five kilometres from Kilinochchi town. In fact we can see some of the buildings," Lieutenant General Sarath Fonseka said. He asserted that the leader of the LTTE, Velupillai Prabhakaran, was "now a caged animal".
A tribal lashkar forced Taliban out of Malagori area near Jamrud in Khyber Agency, officials said. Tension had increased between the Taliban and the residents at Malagori during recent days, the officials said. The residents had formed a 3,000-strong armed group to drive the Taliban out, the officials said. 
A Canadian man accused of participating in military exercises and firearms training as part of a group authorities say plotted to storm Parliament and behead the prime minister was found guilty Thursday.
In an emotional address to the United Nations General Assembly, President Asif Ali Zardari demanded a United Nations investigation into the murder of Benazir Bhutto to reassure the people of Pakistan that the international community cares about them and to prove that the UN charter of justice is more than rhetoric.
The Iraqi Red 
Dozens of Muslim protesters attacked participants of Bosnia's first-ever gay rights festival in Sarajevo on Wednesday, injuring at least two journalists and one police officer. The scuffle broke out at the end of the opening ceremony of the four-day festival in front of the Academy of Fine Arts in downtown Sarajevo. Police said at least eight people were injured when attackers dragged some people from vehicles and beat others in the street. A policeman was also injured.
