BHOPAL: Three people were killed and at least 20 injured in Hindu-Muslim riots at Burhanpur town in south Madhya Pradesh on Friday. The district administration clamped curfew on the town and issued shoot-at-sight orders to bring the situation under control.
Rioters burned more than 60 shops in Gandhi Chowk area while houses and shops were ransacked in other parts of the town by rioting mobs. Police fired warning shots to disperse rioters.
Police said that the trouble started at 9:30 pm on Thursday when a religious procession was passing through a Muslim-dominated area of Burhanpur, a town close to Maharashtra border. Locals organise a three-day religious fair 'Balaji (Hanuman) Mela' right after Dussehra and a 'rath' with a Hanuman idol is taken out through the main thoroughfares of the town.
Police also said that the miscreants pelted stones on the 'rath' as it was passing through the area. This sparked clashes between the two communities. For next three hours, arson continued. The local administration tried to control the situation by organising a peace meeting of religious leaders but it did not work. Finally it imposed prohibitory orders late on Thursday night.
Fresh riots started on Friday afternoon when Muslims gathered at the Burhanpur's Jama Masjid for prayers. According to leader of opposition of Burhanpur Municipal Corporation Nafeez Mansaab, fresh clashes started after some unidentified men threw red 'gulaal' on Muslims offering prayers.
Almost immediately the town turned into a battlefield. Shops in Gandhi Chowk area were set one fire by a group of rioters, while another group attacked the police. Additional policemen were rushed to the town. Later curfew was imposed on the town.
Burhanpur SP Sunil Jain said, "Whatever the police could do to bring the situation under control was done. Shoot-at-sight orders have been issued and the entire town brought under curfew." Additional forces have been mobilised from the neighbouring districts of Indore, Dhar and Khandwa.
Burhanpur is an ancient town. Shahjahan's wife Mumtaz was initially buried here. Her mausoleum was later transferred to Taj Mahal in Agra.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/10/2008
19:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Muslims slaughtering cows, Hindus running processions past muzz indoctrination centers mosques on Friday. Riots in both cases. Military called in to provide "aid to the civil power." Been that way at least since the early days of the Raj. Probably will continue to be that way until India expels all its muzz to Pakiwakiland.
#2
A creepy country's creepy Star Chamber lets one of the West's best minds off on a technicality. Happy for Steyyn, but despairing for what Mark so rightly called the thin and fragile veneer of civilization
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/10/2008 20:15
Comments ||
Top||
#3
"Steyn; not guilty this time"
There - fixed.
/leftists assholes
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/10/2008 20:40
Comments ||
Top||
More comment to follow once Ive read the thing, but be clear on this: it is no victory to be told by a shadowy government agency that you will be permitted to publish. This ruling only preserves the tribunal from utterly discrediting itself, and as such keeps alive the possibility that some other complainant can drag Macleans or any other media organization through yet another travesty half-a-continent away, at great expense of time and money. It also prevents Macleans from appealing the tribunals decision to an actual court, wherein it might have had the relevant section of the B.C. human rights laws thrown out on constitutional grounds. (Or does it? Can you appeal when you win?)
#5
I read about 25 pages of the 50 page doc before I grew too disgusted to continue. The long and short of it is that the HRCs will decide whether what anyone says will be "discriminatory" and will "expose them to hatred and contempt." They need to do this, they say, because, "presented properly, individuals can be made to "believe anything."" These people don't think anyone should be able to write anything bad about any issue at all because it's so terrible to expose them to "hatred and contempt."
That means that when there really is something worthy of hatred and contempt--like murderous Islamic fascism, for example--no one can really tell the truth about it for fear of being charged by the HRC.
TWO men who tried to carry out car bombings in central London last year escaped the scene in rickshaws, Woolwich Crown Court has been told. Bilal Abdulla, 29, and Kafeel Ahmed, 28, took the pedal-powered cabs after they had left two Mercedes cars packed with gas canisters, fuel containers and nails outside a club and at a bus stop nearby.
CCTV caught Ahmed dumping an umbrella he was carrying in an apparent attempt to shield his face from cameras, prosecutor Jonathan Laidlaw said. He then took a rickshaw from Piccadilly Circus while Abdulla was also seen using the same method to get away, the court heard. The two men then met up in Edgware Road shortly after 2 am, 30 minutes after the attempted bombings.
Mr Laidlaw said the first car bomb was discovered by staff at the Tiger Tiger nightclub, where there were 556 revellers inside, after paramedics were called to treat a customer. A doorman and the club's general manager then noticed gas vapour and smelt liquid petroleum gas. A fire officer called to the scene pulled one of the large gas canisters from the car and realised there was another inside with wires and mobile phones attached.
"At that point the potential seriousness of the situation emerged and the Bomb Squad were called to the scene," Laidlaw said.
Meanwhile the second car was given a parking ticket and then towed away to a nearby pound. Police made it safe after realising it too had been rigged with bombs.
The court heard there had been repeated attempts to set off the bombs remotely using the mobile phone detonators, and although one of the initiators had undergone a slight explosion, neither main device had exploded. This was because the fuel to air ratio in the cars had probably exceeded ignitable limits, Mr Laidlaw said.
On Thursday, the court was told Abdulla and co-defendant Mohammed Asha, 28, were part of a small Islamist cell that had planned a series of car bomb attacks in revenge for Britain's treatment of Muslims in countries such as Iraq and Afghanistan.
The day after the London bombings failed on June 28, Abdulla and Ahmed drove to Scotland and tried to drive a Jeep Cherokee, packed with fuel containers and gas canisters, into the international terminal at Glasgow Airport. The Jeep became trapped in the terminal doors and Ahmed later died from burns he suffered as he tried to set the car alight.
Abdulla, an Iraqi, and Jordanian national Asha, who are both doctors, deny conspiring to murder and to cause explosions likely to endanger life.
NEW DELHI: Hundreds of pebble-like stones, ranging from half a centimetre to one centimetre in size, were removed from the gallbladder of Tibetan spiritual leader, the Dalai Lama, on Friday. The stones had been giving the Buddhist leader sleepless nights for the past few weeks.
A team of surgeons from Gangaram Hospital in New Delhi, led by Dr P K Chaubey, chairman of the hospital's department of minimal access surgery, removed the stones using the 15-minute keyhole procedure called laparoscopy.
During the procedure, the team sedated the Nobel prize-winning leader and made several tiny incisions in the abdomen. The team then inserted a laparoscope and a miniature video camera which gave a close-up view of the organs and tissues. The surgeons then carefully separated the gallbladder from the liver and bile ducts.
They then cut the cystic duct and removed the gallbladder through one of the small incisions.
According to surgeons who spoke to TOI on condition of anonymity, the 73-year-old Dalai Lama will be discharged from the hospital by Tuesday. He can resume normal activities like travel and public talks after a week.
Doctors said because the abdominal muscles are not cut during laparoscopic surgery, patients have less pain and fewer complications than after open surgery, which requires an incision of five to eight inches across the abdomen.
"All the stones have been successfully removed. The Dalai Lama had been feeling acute pain in the abdomen for the past few days because of it," a surgeon from the hospital said.
The Dalai Lama's aide, Chhime R Chhoekyapa, called the surgery a simple, routine procedure. Speaking to TOI, Chhoekyapa said: "The bursts of pain had been bothering the Dalai Lama since the end of August. His initial treatment took place in Mumbai where the stones were diagnosed. However, the surgery to remove them was successfully completed on Friday."
According to Chhoekyapa, the Dalai Lama's future travel plans aren't being changed. He will travel across Japan on a seven-day lecture tour from the end of this month and is expected to return by mid-November to his home in Dharamsala where he set up his government-in-exile after fleeing Tibet following a failed 1959 uprising against Chinese rule.
"The Dalai Lama didn't have travel plans till the end of October. He may return to Dharamsala before leaving for Japan, if he feels up to it. Or else, he will leave straight for Japan from Delhi. He also plans to visit Meerut and Pune after his return from Japan," Chhoekyapa told TOI. The Dalai Lama arrived in Delhi on Monday from Dharamsala.
A typical gallbladder stone attack can cause steady pain in the right upper abdomen that increases rapidly and lasts from 30 minutes to several hours.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/10/2008
16:07 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
...First of all, I wish His Holiness (for such is his title)a full and speedy recovery. But second, the guy's a vegetarian. How did he manage to come up with the risk factors for gallstones?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/10/2008 18:51
Comments ||
Top||
The World Bank Group's computer network one of the largest repositories of sensitive data about the economies of every nation has been raided repeatedly by outsiders for more than a year. It is still not known how much information was stolen. But sources inside the bank confirm that servers in the institution's highly-restricted treasury unit were deeply penetrated with spy software last April. Invaders also had full access to the rest of the bank's network for nearly a month in June and July.
In total, at least six major intrusions two of them using the same group of IP addresses originating from China have been detected at the World Bank since the summer of 2007, with the most recent breach occurring just last month. While it remains unclear how much data has been pilfered from the bank, it's a lot. According to internal memos, "a minimum of 18 servers have been compromised," including some of the bank's most sensitive systems ranging from the bank's security and password server to a Human Resources server "that contains scanned images of staff documents." One World Bank director tells FOX News that as many as 40 servers have been penetrated, including one that held contract-procurement data. I imagine Rantburg's many IT people are having thoughts right about now...
Meanwhile, the bank's treasurer, Kenneth G. Lay, has been briefing Zoellick's senior management team regularly on the situation since April. Other bank officials are also sleuthing. The bank's chief information officer, Guy De Poerck, has engaged Price Waterhouse Coopers to do a confidential million-dollar assessment that is expected to tell him what's going on in his own department. And a 22-page internal report by a computer security company named MANDIANT, dated August 18, fleshes out many details of the June-July breaches. But very few people have ever seen the report, and nobody has been permitted to retain a paper copy.
At the same time, De Poerck has been downplaying the problem to the bank's 10,000 rank-and-file staffers as mere intrusion "attempts" in his e-mails. Yet most of those staffers have been asked to change their password three times in the past three months. "As previously reported in mid-July," CIO De Poerck and a senior bank treasury official wrote in an August announcement to employees, "we would like to reassure you that there is no evidence that Bank staff personal information is at risk from the recent external attempts." My condolences to the 10,000 rank-and-file staffers, especially those reading this now. Please change your password again as a matter of principle.
In reality, the situation is serious enough that federal investigators have been called in. "We're not talking about hackers playing games or messing up our website," insists a senior member of the bank's IT department at its Washington headquarters. "It's about the FBI coming last summer and saying, 'You should take a look at your systems because we think something weird is going on.' It's about the intruders knowing what information they wanted and getting to it whenever they wanted to. They took our existing data stores and organized them in a way that they could be easily accessed at will."
In plainspeak: "They had access to everything," says the source. "They had the keys to every room at the bank. And we can't say whether they still do or don't until we fully and openly address what's happening here. IP adddresses in Macao and China, Indian IT subcontractors, World Bank public denial of any problems whatsoever... this story has it all. Go to the link to read the whole thing if you dare. ;-)
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 17:03
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Reading slashdot it sounds like someone cracked the security to MS's implementation of active directory ( or Linux/unix version,I forget what it's called ATM), which contains even more security information. Once that is cracked, you essentially own the bank.
TROY -- Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama's last name is spelled "Osama" on hundreds of absentee ballots mailed out this week to voters in Rensselaer County. The misspelling, which elections officials on both sides of the aisle insist was simply a typo, is causing embarrassment for the county.
''No question this is an honest mistake innocently done,'' said Edward McDonough, the Democratic commissioner. ''We catch almost everything.''
''This was a typo,'' said Republican Commissioner Larry Bugbee. ''We have three different staff members who proof these things and somehow the typo got by us.''
Nonsense, it was a Rovian plot! Bwha-ha-ha!
Officials say the flawed ballots were sent to approximately 300 voters. On row 1A Barack Obama's name is spelled Barack Osama.
Is it a Freudian slip, intentional act or a mistake? Voters are sure to have opinions, and one pol pointed out that the letters 's' and 'b' are not exactly keyboard neighbors.
But even the county Democratic election commissioner is apologizing for what he calls a terrible mistake. McDonough said the absentee ballots went out to voters in Brunswick, Nassau, Sand Lake, Schaghticoke and Schodack with the error. So far three people have called to point it out, he said. Those people will get new ballots sent to them.
One Sand Lake resident who caught the misspelling, and who asked to remain anonymous, was skeptical. ''It's a little suspicious and at least grossly incompetent,'' the voter said, wondering ''if I crossed out the name and wrote in the right spelling my ballot would be invalid?"
A spokesman for the group of pirates holding an arms-laden tanker off the coast of Somalia has threatened to blow up the ship in three days if no ransom is paid.
No need, the U.S. Navy will be happy to do it for you. You just have to be aboard when the Harpoons come in ...
Sugule Ali tells The Associated Press that the bandits who have been holding the MV Faina for the past two weeks met Friday and decided they will blow up the ship along with themselves and the crew, if they don't get the ransom.
Ali was speaking by satellite telephone from the ship.
The pirates had said Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price.
#2
if they blow it up, they will not be on it; but i don't know if they would take the crew off. if they didn't the boats they are in should become so much flotsam and jetsam ( one floats, one doesn't, but i never can keep them straight)
Pirates also released 29 Iranian seamen and their cargo ship hijacked in July, Iran's official IRNA news agency said Friday.
More...
TEHRAN, Iran - Iran's official news agency says pirates have released 29 Iranian seamen and their cargo ship hijacked off Somalia's coast in July.
The report Friday by IRNA quotes the Iranian shippping agency as saying the crew are safe and their vessel is sailing home.
The agency did not say if any ransom was paid for the release of the ship, Iran-Dianat, and the crew. The vessel was carrying mineral and industrial products from China to the Netherlands when it was hijacked in late July.
So that's the stuff that was killing pirates? I'd track this bad boy all the way to wherever it's going.
#4
Flotsam floats, USN, Ret. Jetsam was jettisoned, or thrown overboard.
From a google search:
Goods that remain floating on the surface after a shipwreck or accident are called flotsam (or floatsam or flotsan), while jetsam refers to goods thrown overboard, or jettisoned (see jettison), by a vessel in distress.
#6
The pirates had said Thursday they were willing to negotiate their ransom demand of $20 million, after nearly two weeks of insisting they would never lower the price.
It's a small world - selling panic is even setting in offshore Somalia.
#10
I'm still waiting for the ARCLIGHT strike on the nearest port. Follow up with a low-level spraying job from a C-130 using fire retardant on the ship (that stuff'l kill ya if you're not careful). What happens after that is kinda up to the players involved, but I'd suspect the world would have a few less pirates to deal with.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 20:52
Comments ||
Top||
In secular France, it is illegal for hotel owners to turn away women wearing Muslim headscarves but OK to ban those wearing head-to-toe burqas from state-sponsored French language classes.
Two recent decisions have demonstrated how tough and touchy it is to legislate religious expression in a country that has a long-standing separation between church and state and an increasingly multicultural society with a growing Muslim population.
"Religious freedom is not absolute," the head of France's government anti-discrimination agency, Louis Schweitzer, said in an interview with the Catholic daily La Croix, published Thursday. He said authorities are trying to find "the most reasonable compromise."
His agency ruled last month that it was acceptable to ban women wearing the burqa and niqab billowing clothes that cover the body and face worn by pious Muslim women from state-sponsored French language classes for immigrants.
Under French law, such classes are sometimes required in order to apply for French residency or citizenship.
Earlier this year, a national agency responsible for dealing with new immigrants complained that the presence of the veiled women "hinders the proper functioning" of the language classes and asked the anti-discimination agency, known as Halde, to examine the matter.
In its Sept. 15 decision, Halde called the burqa a symbol of "female submission that goes beyond its religious meaning" and said it is "not unreasonable, for public security requirements ... or the protection of civil liberties" to bar it from the publicly funded language classrooms.
Schweitzer said the decision came down to a practical question: Language teachers cannot provide proper phonetic instruction without seeing their students' faces.
The National Federation of French Muslims condemned the decision.
"I'm against bundling women up but I am also against those who prevent other people for learning," spokesman Elbekkay Merzak said in a telephone interview. "How can you bar someone from getting something so fundamental as language instruction?"
A French appeals court ruling this week showed that limits on the veil can only go so far.
On Wednesday, the appeals court in the northeastern city of Nancy confirmed a decision against the owner of a bed and breakfast inn who refused to board two veiled women. The court fined inn-owner Yvette Truchelut $6,000 over the 2007 incident.
Several decisions in recent years have sought to define how much religious expression is acceptable in France's public realm.
A controversial 2003 law banned students from wearing apparel with religious connotations, like the Muslim headscarf, Jewish skull cap and large Christian crosses, in public schools.
Some critics complained that the law which allows for discreet religious signs, like small crosses specifically targeted Muslims. France has an estimated 5 million Muslims the largest such population in Western Europe.
Many of those are immigrants from former colonies in North Africa. The state-sponsored language classes are part of revamped immigration procedures aimed at attracting better-skilled workers and better integrating newcomers. Conservative President Nicolas Sarkozy was elected last year in part on pledges to tackle illegal immigration.
HARTFORD, Connecticut - Connecticut's Supreme Court ruled Friday that same-sex couples have the right to marry, making that state the third behind Massachusetts and California to legalize such unions.
The divided court ruled 4-3 that gay and lesbian couples cannot be denied the freedom to marry under the state constitution, and Connecticut's civil unions law does not provide those couples with the same rights as heterosexual couples. This is bad because every other state in the Union now has to acknowledge these so-called marriages under Federal law.
Worse than that: once again a small cabal of judges, the kind of judges Barack Obama would appoint to the Supreme Court, have overriden the express will of the legislature and the people. And unless I miss my guess, the legislature and the people will roll over.
#1
Other States do not have to honor gay marriage, nor does the federal government, according to the Defense of Marriage Act passed in '96.
However, at the State level, voters in California are soon to initiative vote on a change to their State constitution that would outlaw same sex marriage.
There is a big fight in Massachusetts over it as well. The legislature and Supreme Court are overturning voter initiatives on dubious grounds to sustain gay marriage.
#2
Judicual fiat coming soon to a state near you. Sorry state Supremes -- a weekend costume party does not make a marriage -- it's a joke; a very poor joke.
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/10/2008 19:58
Comments ||
Top||
#3
When the real representatives of the people [not the pols] figure out that its a lot easier to remove judges from the bench and then appoint those who understand that law derives from the consent of the governed as much as government itself, then the fiats will curtail. It's a lot easier to replace judges than alter a Constitution.
#4
There are two sentences in this section. I'm no constitutional scholar, but what would you bet that a US Supreme Court would find that the first sentence trumps the second, and that the Defense of Marriage act is unconstitutional? Yes, it probably depends on who's on the bench that year...
Article. IV. - The States
Section 1 - Each State to Honor all others
Full Faith and Credit shall be given in each State to the public Acts, Records, and judicial Proceedings of every other State. And the Congress may by general Laws prescribe the Manner in which such Acts, Records and Proceedings shall be proved, and the Effect thereof.
Posted by: James ||
10/10/2008 20:39
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Prop 8 - CA state Constitutional Amendment will overrule our CA SC's slamming of the voters' will.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2008 21:00
Comments ||
Top||
Former President Jimmy Carter said on Friday the "atrocious economic policies" of the Bush administration had caused the worst global financial crisis since the Great Depression of the 1930s.
Carter told reporters on a stopover in Brussels that "profligate spending," massive borrowing and dramatic tax cuts since President George W. Bush took office in 2001 were behind the market turmoil and economic crisis.
"I think it's because of the atrocious economic policies of the Bush administration," said the 84-year-old Democrat, who served in the White House from 1977-1981 during a period of high inflation and energy crisis.
Whoever wins next month's U.S. presidential election would inherit economic problems that would force them to postpone implementing some of their proposed reforms, he said.
"The economic situation is an entrenched problem. It is going to take years to correct what has been done economically," Carter said, adding he hoped Democrat Barrack Obama would win and immediately improve Washington's image in the world.
Eight years ago, the United States had a budget surplus, low inflation and a stable, strong economy, he said.
Carter said he was astonished that the United States now owed China "in the neighborhood of $1 trillion."
Deregulation and what he called a withdrawal of supervision of Wall Street had encouraged irresponsible elements in the U.S. financial system, enabling banks to borrow 30 times their value.
Carter was on his way back from a private peace mission to Cyprus with fellow elder statesmen Lakhdar Brahimi of Algeria and Archbishop Desmond Tutu of South Africa, intended to give a push to talks between the Greek Cypriot and Turkish Cypriot leaders on a settlement to reunite the divided island.
#1
Who? Mr. Malaise himself who captain the ship into double digit inflation and double digit unemployment? How's that sweater thing doing? And you missed that little part about floating paper at Fannie Mae et al for the greater dogma of socialism there Jimmmy.
#7
"Profligate spending," massive borrowing and dramatic tax cuts -- seems like most of that was approved by Congress. Of course it wouldn't have been necessary if Carter had kicked butt in Iran instead of initiating mortgages to the uncreditworthy.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/10/2008 19:13
Comments ||
Top||
#9
I can't understand why anyone would even WANT to listen to jimmie-the-peanut-brain. He nearly destroyed the US government, had a HUGE hand in destroying a third of our military, and caused more pain and sorrow than any other president in history. And peanut-brain has the audacity to blame BUSH for what started on Carter's watch, and under his direction? Someone needs to lock this idiot inside a detention cell at a mental hospital somewhere - he's demented.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 22:20
Comments ||
Top||
#10
I'd add more but it seems like you've already covered the topic adequately.
#12
Don't forget that Mr. Terrorist loving Carter is responsible for a lot of the nation's woes. It was him, and his limp dick response to an overt ACT OF WAR on the part of Iran during the taking of our embassy which sowed the seeds of Al-Q and Dinnerjacket and 9/11.
He's also a Racist of the first order.
We are still trying to recover from Carter's presidency.
And Barak OBAMA is just like him -- right down to the liar's smile.
The latest weapon against the Taliban has been revealed - and it's not a new type of gun, bomb or hi-tech missile system ... It's the humble mobile phone. The Government is mooting using mobiles in a bizarre bid to beat the militants in a battle for the hearts and minds of ordinary Afghans.
The scheme has been dreamed up after the Taliban circulated anti-Western films on Afghanistan's six million mobiles and the internet, seizing a virtual monopoly on propaganda in the war-torn country. The films include footage of the bodies of Afghans killed in an August raid by U.S. forces. Video from a mobile showed rows of corpses, including at least 11 children - seemingly refuting Pentagon claims that only seven civilians died.
Now, under an attempt to undermine the powerful Taliban propaganda, ordinary Afghans would be equipped with mobiles so they could film their own 'video diaries'. The end result would be 100 short films for screening at a film festival next year.
It is not clear how a film festival - a concept that evokes cocktail parties and Hollywood glamour on the Riviera - might achieve a propaganda victory. Nor is it known whether any measures are being considered to stop the freebie mobile phones from being used to produce yet more pro-Taliban footage.
Nevertheless, the Foreign Office is said to think the uncosted plan, devised by outside consultants, 'has merit'.
It's not the first time that hi-tech phones have been used in the Afghan war. Taliban fighters have adopted Skype internet-based phones - which are heavily encrypted, unlike normal mobiles - to communicate in secret between cells strung across the country, it was revealed last month.
So they think ...
The idea of using mobile phones against the militants was revealed today as Nato chiefs urged defence ministers to let troops attack another pillar of Taliban power - the opium trade.
If we're handing out all these mobile phones, fine, but shouldn't we be able to download messages into them? Imagine the possibilities ...
During his September 16-17, 2008 visit to Lebanon and Syria, Spanish Foreign Minister Miguel Moratinos praised "the positive and helpful role that Syria has played in Lebanon" and called on the E.U. to strengthen its ties with Syria. He added that E.U.rope wished to play a role in the Muddle East, alongside the U.S. and other countries, as part of a new, multipolar world order that will be taking shape over the coming years. He called the issue of Hizbullah's weapons an internal Lebanese affair, and accused Israel of violating U.N. Resolution 1701.
Following are excerpts from his statements to the media:
#1
Only to be expected from People who gave us both Limpieza de sangre and equal rights for apes. Wish I could insert the pic from Cabaret ("I'm in love with a gorilla---but at least she's not a Jew")
FROM THE OFFICE OF PUBLIC AFFAIRS April 19, 2000
LS-564
TREASURY DEPARTMENT RELEASES CRA STUDY
The U.S. Treasury Department released a report on Wednesday detailing lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers and low- and moderate-income communities covered by the Community Reinvestment Act. The study found that such lending rose significantly, totaling more than $600 billion between 1993 and 1998.
The First Lady likes to say it takes a village to raise a child, at Treasury we say it takes capital to build a village," said Treasury Secretary Lawrence H. Summers. "This study is further evidence that a strong Community Reinvestment Act is critical to ensuring that all neighborhoods are part of our national economic prosperity."
The study focused on lending trends in 305 U.S. cities between 1993 and 1998. Highlights include: Does the name Henry Cisneros ring a bell?
- $467 billion in mortgage credit flowed from CRA-covered lenders to CRA-eligible borrowers.
- The amount of home mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers, low- and moderate-income communities rose 80% during that time. In 1998 alone, these institutions made $135 billion in mortgage loans to these borrowers.
- CRA-covered lenders and their affiliates increased mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers and communities at more than twice the rate of increase for other borrowers. The number of mortgage loans made by CRA-covered institutions and their affiliates to these borrowers and areas increased by 39 percent between 1993 and 1998, while such institutions' loans to other borrowers increased by only 17 percent.
- Subprime lending drove growth in lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers and areas for institutions not covered by CRA.
- CRA covered institutions increased their market share in prime mortgage lending to low- and moderate-income borrowers and areas. Lenders covered by the CRA primarily specialize in prime lending to borrowers without impaired credit. In this market, covered lenders and their affiliates increased their market share of lending. In 1993, such lenders accounted for 66 percent of prime mortgage loans to these borrowers and areas; by 1998, their market share had increased to 71 percent.
- In 84 percent of the metropolitan areas studied, CRA-covered lenders and their affiliates increased the share of their mortgage lending going to low- and moderate-income borrowers and areas, by as much as 12 percentage points
.
The study also found that from 1996 to 1998, the first three years these data were collected, lending by CRA-covered institutions to small businesses located in low- and moderate-income communities averaged $33 billion annually. In addition, community development lending by these institutions averaged $17 billion annually.
#3
Interesting that they don't seem to notice the skyrocketing rate of inflation in housing costs during those same years. Good thing for me I bought in 1994. I couldn't afford it now. Everybody tells me how I made a huge amount of money but it does me no good because if I sold the place to get the money out of it I'd have to turn around and sink it all into another place. It's nuts. I didn't buy it as an investment. I bought it because I needed a roof over my head. My opinion is it's a bad mistake to bail out borrowers or lenders because this market needs a serious correction.
#3
The article was very interesting, until the final paragraph where the mandatory "Quit Being Mean To Sharks" warning was inserted......
Tell that to the victims of Grest Whites.
#4
"sharks are being killed at such a rate that unless we do something to stop that, we're not even going to learn all their secrets before they're gone"
I'll tell ya' the most important one for free: THEY HAVE VERY SHARP TEETH.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/10/2008 19:08
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Wasn't me. I wasn't there. Check the turkey baster for prints.
#2
Alcohol, food and gender relations are the key barriers to social interaction between Muslim and non-Muslim Australians, a study suggests.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
10/10/2008 11:18
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Well thats ok, I don't think I would have got along with Carrie Nation either.
Little story, went and visited a friend in Virginia who had just got back from Iraq; I had to spend the night in Atlanta due to storms. That morning we went to play golf and heck yeah we had some beers. Paired with a couple of mohommatons to make a four-some. They were nice at first but then started avoiding us, not even chit chat during the tee box. Now I'm not so sure what was bothering them more, that we were drinking in front of them or that we were so much better than them at golf while we were drinking.
#8
It seems many Arabs have problems with self-control. Booze tends to release inhabitions. It seems Mohammad might have known his audience.
Of course if one is always using training wheels on a safe flat track they won't be prepared for the tour de France race that is the real world. Entire nations might just come in last place.
#10
I carry it on my breath most everywhere I go.
Works like a charm, I've not had a muslim talk to me in years. At least nobody that LOOKS muslim.
Its like AIDS, you can't always tell by looking at them.
/bourbon breath
A blast from the past. It appears Shining Path have become muscle for the local coke dealers...
Twelve soldiers and seven civilians have been killed in a bomb attack by rebels in a remote coca-growing region of south-east Peru, the military said. A military convoy was returning to base when a device hidden under one of the vehicles exploded. The survivors were then caught up in a gun battle.
The armed forces blame the Shining Path group, which wrought havoc in Peru during the 1980s and early 1990s. It is the worst attack in a decade by the Maoist-inspired organisation.
The surviving soldiers returned fire on the rebels for several hours. Peru's military command said women and children were among those killed. Many more were injured during the attack in the Andes mountains, at Huancavelica province.
It came amid reports that Peru's army had launched an operation to remove some 300 Shining Path rebels who work closely with cocaine traffickers in the region.
The BBC's Dan Collyns in Lima says soldiers killed in the attack were part of that operation, which is focused on isolated jungle in the Ene-Apurimac valley - a hotbed for traffickers and guerrillas. Our correspondent says the number of confrontations between the armed forces and the rebel groups, which the authorities call "narco-terrorists", is increasing.
In the 1980s and 1990s the guerrilla group attempted to impose a communist regime. Almost 70,000 people were killed during the violence. However, the conflict has been largely dormant in recent years, and analysts say the Shining Path is a fraction of its former size.
JERUSALEM - Israel's most famous missing soldier escaped from captivity in Lebanon and probably died 20 years ago while trying to make his way home through difficult terrain, Hezbollah told Israel's government, according to a newspaper report Wednesday.
The Lebanese guerrilla group submitted the report on airman Ron Arad's fate to the Israeli government as part of a July prisoner swap in which Israel freed five Lebanese militants for the bodies of two Israeli soldiers. Israeli security officials confirmed that the Maariv daily accurately summarized Hezbollah's account. However, they dismissed Hezbollah's claim, noting that the group provides no evidence that Arad died.
Arad's plane was shot down Oct. 16, 1986 by Lebanese militiamen. The plane's pilot was rescued by helicopter and the Israeli military believed Arad, the plane's navigator, was captured alive. Arad was initially held by Amal, a Shiite Muslim group and Hezbollah rival. Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah suggested in a 2006 speech that Arad may have died in the late 1980s, after managing to escape.
In its report to Israel, Hezbollah was more specific. "The Israeli pilot escaped from his holding cell on the night between the fourth and fifth of May 1988, and headed south toward the (Israeli) occupied security zone," Maariv quoted the Hezbollah report as saying.
The guerrilla group said Arad may have died from a number of causes in the remote, mountainous area, including fever, thirst or falling off a cliff. Hezbollah said it believes Arad is dead, but acknowledged that his remains were never found.
The Israeli officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because of the classified nature of the information, said they believe Hezbollah submitted the report in a halfhearted attempt to meet Israel's demand for information about Arad as part of the prisoner swap.
GREAT scenery and wildlife but financial situation in need of repair - collect in person.
Iceland, which is going cap in hand to Russia for a 4 billion ($5.49 billion) loan to bail out its failed banks, was offered for sale as a wholesale lot on eBay on Friday. Bidding started at 99 pence but had reached £10 million ($17.28 million) by mid-morning on Friday.
Globally renowned singer Bjork was "not included" in the sale, according to the notice, but there were nonetheless 26 anonymous bidders and 84 bids. "Located in the mid-Atlantic ridge in the North Atlantic Ocean, Iceland will provide the winning bidder with - a habitable environment, Icelandic Horses and admittedly a somewhat sketchy financial situation," the notice read.
Bidders' questions included: "Do you offer volcano/earthquake insurance?", "Is it possible that my payment will be frozen?", and "Will you accept COD as a form of payment?"
MIRANSHAH, Pakistan (AFP) - A US missile strike targeting a high-level meeting of Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders in a Pakistani tribal area missed most of them by just minutes, security officials said Friday.
Two missiles hit the house of Pakistani Taliban leader Hafiz Sahar Gul in the North Waziristan district bordering Afghanistan on Thursday night, killing nine people including six Arab militants, the officials said. "There was a meeting of around 30 foreign Al-Qaeda and local Taliban commanders in the house of Hafiz Sahar Gul but the majority of them left the building ten minutes before the missile struck," a security official told AFP. "The six Arabs who were killed are all believed to be lower level operatives," the official added on condition of anonymity.
Officials did not immediately give the identities of the targeted militants. But they said that they were not Al-Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden or his deputy, Ayman al-Zawahiri.
Residents said the other three people killed in the strike in the remote village of Tapi were women and children, but there was no official confirmation.
Last week around 20 Al-Qaeda-linked militants, mostly foreign nationals, were killed in a suspected US missile strike in Mohammad Khel village in North Waziristan, Pakistani security officials said.
#1
A shame, but at least they won't be able to meet at Mr. Gul's house any more. With winter coming on, cozy meeting places are no doubt terribly important. We will pass over, unremarked, how annoying Mr. Gul must find the need to suddenly acquire a new home staffed appropriately with wives and children.
#3
Glenmore, i was thinking the same thing while reading this. But then i just put if off too being all the political bullshit we have too go through just too shoot the missile in the first place.
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 12:10
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Lots of security leaks on the Pakistani side, from what I've read. It apparently frustrates the CIA guys terribly.
Always remember how Paki ISI/Generals went to talk to Taliban re handing over Osama in 2001 but instead told them to hold tight and not hand over!!!!2 faced scumbags!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
10/10/2008 12:28
Comments ||
Top||
#7
I'd forgotten that, Paul. Thanks for the reminder. :-)
#1
Yep, Gov. Palin had all those special doors opened for her because of her class. So, why all the viscous 'trailer trash' attacks upon a proletarian by the Donks, Champions of the Working Class(tm)? Other than the upper echelons of the Donks seem to contain a rather large contingent of the coastie limousine socialist crowd and dilettantes.
More than 250 Muslims from the DC Metropolitan Area attended the first official fundraiser of Islamic Center of Northern Virginia (ICNV) at the Audrey Moore Recreation Center in Springfield, Virginia. This June 2nd gathering attracted mostly students, graduates of Fairfax's George Mason University (GMU), and DC Area Muslim families.
Although the event goal was to raise $250,000 to complete the final logistics of the construction, the fundraiser only raised $41,000. The ICNV executive members commented, "It is just a start."
ICNV is located on Shirley Gate Drive in the heart of the city of Fairfax. The building is equipped with most of the sewage and plumbing lines according to county regulations, has electricity, running water, and HVAC units. At this point, the ICNV committee is in the process of installing the sprinkler system, elevators and outside parking lot lights. Once the final logistics of this last phase are complete, the center will be able go through county inspections in order to obtain their occupancy permit.
Event keynote speaker Imam Safi Khan of Dar us Salaam in College Park, Maryland spoke on the importance of establishing more Islamic centers as Muslims grow in numbers. Balance at the link. Thanks to the INS, I'd say the Virginia Republican vote may certainly be in question. Fox Noise just had a release on the attendance of one of Obama's staff at a Islamic meeting in Springfield, VA. Nothing on the web yet.
#1
Don't forget to include the cost of bugs in the construction budget.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 10:12
Comments ||
Top||
#2
I typically see about ten times as many women in Muslim costume on a single trip to the Tysons Corner Mall as I saw in a week travelling to European cities such as Amsterdam and Brussels, which are supposed to be Muslim hotbeds. And none of the European Muslim women were wearing the full burqa-type get-up (covered face) like they do at Tysons Corner.
#1
The whinings by the gov't stiffs about how they were "chust vollowing orters" [/faux German] are so laughable. None of them thought to raise a red flag ("I thought the 12,000 was a bit much but House Authority said it was OK.") D#mb@$$es!
#3
Wrong and stupid are merely intersecting sets, not fully overlapping, although both are unacceptable. Not understanding that is what got the idiots sacked.
Former Lehman Brothers CEO Dick Fuld was under oath Monday when he was grilled on Capitol Hill about his role in the current financial meltdown. But if Members really want to understand the credit mania, they should also call Chris Dodd.
The Connecticut Senator has been out front denouncing the "companies that form the foundation of our financial markets," for "their insatiable appetite for risk." He has also decried "reckless, careless and sometimes unscrupulous actors in the mortgage lending industry" and he has proclaimed that "American taxpayers deserve to know how we arrived at this moment." To that end, we propose he take the stand -- under oath.
#2
It's good to see that Sen. Dodd (D Countrywide) is following in the footsteps of his father -- as a feckless crook. Sorry America, but my dipshit fellow Nutmeggers will doubtless vote him in again and again to rape and pillage you taxpaying suckers.
Posted by: regular joe ||
10/10/2008 20:11
Comments ||
Top||
A suicide blast at an anti-Taliban tribal meeting in a restive Pakistani region bordering Afghanistan on Friday killed at least 15 people and wounded dozens, security officials said.
The explosion happened a day after a force of pro-government tribesmen destroyed two militant hideouts in the Orakzai district, one of Pakistan's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions, they said.
"Initial reports from the area say that a bomber struck at a meeting of a tribal lashkar (force), killing at least 15 people and wounding dozens more," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
08:38 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[34 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
15 dead in suicide blast at Pakistan tribal meeting: officials
Kill Kill Kill KILL YOURSELVES AND EVERY ISLAMO YOU COME ACROSS!!!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/10/2008 16:37
Comments ||
Top||
Five state police officers were killed in the western Mexican state of Jalisco by grenade-lobbing gunmen who fired more than 800 bullets in the attack, authorities said Thursday.
The officers came under fire Wednesday night as they prepared to search a car they had just stopped in the town of Lagos de Moreno outside the western city of Guadalajara, the Jalisco state public safety department said in a statement. An unknown number of assailants arrived in two pickup trucks. Two bystanders also were wounded, the department said.
State Public Safety Secretary Luis Carlos Najera said authorities suspected the Zetas, an infamous group of hit men tied to the Gulf cartel. The Zetas have a history of aggression against Jalisco police, Najera told the Megaradio station.
The federal Attorney General's Office announced a reward of 5 million pesos (US$407,000) for information leading to the capture of those behind the attack.
Meanwhile in Ciudad Juarez, across the U.S. border from El Paso, Texas, two state police officers were shot to death by gunmen in another car as they drove along a busy avenue, said Alejandro Pariente, a spokesman for the Chihuahua state prosecutor.
Hours after the Wednesday killings, a funeral wreath was left outside the state police headquarters in Ciudad Juarez, Pariente said. The wreath was accompanied by a threatening message and the name of the two slain officers and other policemen. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
08:32 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
How much of this has to go on before Mexico earns the title of failed state?
NATO defense ministers Friday authorized their troops in Afghanistan to attack drug barons blamed for pumping up to $100 million a year into the coffers of resurgent Taliban fighters.
"With regard to counter-narcotics ... ISAF can act in concert with the Afghans against facilities and facilitators supporting the insurgency," said NATO spokesman James Appathurai, referring to the NATO force.
The United States had been pushing for NATO's 50,000 troops to take on a counter-narcotics role to hit back at the Taliban, whose increasing attacks have cast doubt on the prospects of a Western military victory in Afghanistan. However, Germany, Spain and others were wary and their doubts led to NATO imposing conditions on the anti-drug mandate for the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force.
Troops will only be able to act against drug facilities if authorized by their own governments; only drug producers deemed to be supporting the insurgency will be targeted; and the operation must be designed to be temporary lasting only until the Afghan security forces are deemed able to take on the task.
NATO defense ministers will review the success of the mission when they next meet February in Poland. Despite the limitations, U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates welcomed the NATO move. "Secretary Gates is extremely pleased that, after two days of thoughtful discussion, NATO has decided to allow ISAF forces to take on the drug traffickers who are fueling the insurgency, destabilizing Afghanistan and killing our troops," said Pentagon press secretary Geoff Morrell.
Germany and Spain agreed to the anti-drug mission after an appeal for help from Afghanistan's defense minister. "We've asked NATO to please support us, support our effort in destroying the labs and also the interdiction of the drugs and the chemical precursors that are coming from outside the country for making heroin," Gen. Abdul Rahim Wardak told reporters after meeting his NATO counterparts Thursday. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
07:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Troops will only be able to act against drug facilities if authorized by their own governments; only drug producers deemed to be supporting the insurgency will be targeted; and the operation must be designed to be temporary -- lasting only until the Afghan security forces are deemed able to take on the task.
Why do they even bother with limp wristed, half-hearted crap like this? Either burn it down wherever you find it or let the Afghans deal with it. They have made it so complex now that they won't know what's going on. You'll have to make a federal case out of burning down a field of poppies.
#2
IMHO this is insanity. How about BUYING the poppies instead of burning or spraying them? Presently, we purchase most of our medicinal opium from Turkey. I'm quite certain that the Afghan farmers would be more than willing to part with their cash crop for a fraction of what we presently pay the Turks. This would effectively end the Taliban drug trade and build trust with the Afghanis. Thank me.
#3
the only problem with buying the fields of poppies is that the afghans are greedy. They know the US has the money so they reall raise the price every crop. Also isn't the winter about too start over there so the poppies are out of season right now?That would be a great time too start an eradication plan huh.
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 9:56
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Can't believe what a bunch of frickin' weiners they are. Maybe I'm just paranoid but it makes me wonder if some of them are getting a piece of the action and if NATO got serious about going after the poppies it'd cut into their profits.
#5
Many, many politicians' and diplomats' hands are dirty with opium money. If you arrested / executed all of them, politicians and diplomats would become endangered species...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
10/10/2008 12:08
Comments ||
Top||
#7
"NATO defense ministers Friday authorized their troops in Afghanistan to attack drug barons"
Ok, now the mob will start pumping cash into politicians' campaign coffers and we will start to hear them demanding a withdrawal. Once the heroin supply is placed at risk, all the stops will be pulled out and cash will be pumped to the politicians to stop any such action. Spending a few million to protect a much larger investment isn't a problem for these people.
Posted by: online poker ||
10/10/2008 14:51
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Ok, now the mob will start pumping cash into politicians' campaign coffers
A close examination of the donations to the "annointed one" would show this is already taking place. Obama has received almost a quarter of a billion dollars in campaign contributions that cannot be traced. If you don't think some of it's from people involved in the drug trade, you're hopelessly naieve.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 16:13
Comments ||
Top||
Oil prices plummeted to a one-year low below $83 a barrel Friday in European trading as investor fears of a severe global economic downturn caused by the crisis in credit markets sparked a panicked sell-off of both crude and equities.
Light, sweet crude for November delivery was down $3.85 to $82.74 a barrel in electronic trading on the New York Mercantile Exchange by midmorning in Europe, the lowest since October 2007. The contract fell $1.81 overnight to settle at $86.62.
...
"We haven't seen the bottom of this yet," Pervan said. "We thought $75 would be a floor but if the market mood doesn't change, $50 to $60 a barrel is not out of the question."
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 10 cents to $2.32 a gallon, while gasoline prices dropped 8.33 cents to $1.94 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery fell 18.1 cents to $6.64 per 1,000 cubic feet. In London, November Brent crude fell $4.46 to $78.20 a barrel on the ICE Futures exchange.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
07:53 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
Every $10 drop is $45 billion/year that stays and circulates in the US economy.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 10:00
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Gas is down to $3.34 here. If you can find it.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/10/2008 12:11
Comments ||
Top||
#6
that's the next excuse for the big refineries. Time too change over too the winter mix so gas won't go down much
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 12:15
Comments ||
Top||
#7
In 1981, at $38 a barrel, the world economy choked and went down the tubes. The inflation adjusted equivalent of $38 oil - the price at which the world economy chocked about 30 years ago - is around $70 today. My feeling is that oil could go down to $30, as excess capacity piles up.
#11
Last night the station selling for $2.82 had a large crowd buying gas, station a mile away posting $2.99 had one customer. Supply and demand strikes again.
#13
Chris, winter blend should actually be a little bit cheaper.
The gasoline price may not come down as far as crude oil (percentage) because gasoline did not keep up with the price of crude at the height (hard as that is to believe.) Refining and marketing margins were non-existent when gas was over $4 or so. NOW they're making money.
#17
Glen i was actuualy making a reference of the cost too changing the refinery over too make the fuel. but anyway, why the hell is gas still $3.89 here in GA?
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 17:05
Comments ||
Top||
#19
With the price of fuel down it will be cheaper to build, transport, and install solar and wind, improve and repair power grid. People will have more money in pocket to upgrade. McCain's plan covers that.
#21
$2.86 at Sam's Club this afternoon, just outside Richmond (Va.).
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/10/2008 18:54
Comments ||
Top||
#22
Ever notice that when oil goes up 10 dollars a barrell the prices of gas goes up 95% overnight?
But when the price of oil goes down, the price of gas goes up 95%?
I say we load up some Q-ships with MOABs and take care of this little problem right now. A 6-element Q-ship ARCLITE mission would be able to lay waste to most of Central Manhattan, given the state of US AA it would be cheep and easy. The resulting shock would deh.... ummmm lead to ummm
The Bush administration is nearing a decision to remove North Korea from a terrorism blacklist and may do so as early as Friday in a bid to salvage faltering nuclear disarmament talks, The Associated Press has learned.
U.S. officials said Thursday that no final decision had been made but diplomats briefed on the matter told the AP that they believe an announcement that North Korea will be tentatively taken off the State Department's list of state sponsors of terrorism is imminent.
The delisting depends on North Korea agreeing to a plan to verify an account of its nuclear activity that it submitted over the summer, the diplomats said. North Korea would be put back on the list if it doesn't comply with the plan and abandon nuclear arms, they said.
The diplomats spoke on condition of anonymity ahead of an expected announcement, which would follow meetings last week in Pyongyang between North Korean officials and U.S. envoy Christopher Hill as well as days of intense debate in Washington. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
07:48 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Jesus, why doesn't he just give him a hand-job too?
They just kicked the IAEA inspectors out of their nuke plant, and shot off a couple of missiles this week and Bush is putting together a nice fruit basket for them.
#2
Yeah, appeasement has worked so well for over half a century. And thanks in advance, Mr. Hill, for all the great work you have done.
/vomit in the back alley
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/10/2008 8:32
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Missiles fired into the sea, removal from the list .... maybe Kim's dead after all, or so close as to not make a difference, and this is the transition dance.
#4
we need too just start doing our own missile test. The ICBMs' probably have a lil dust on them. And i know but that will affect Seoul.Screw them too
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 12:13
Comments ||
Top||
Pakistan has made public its casualty numbers in the war on terror. In the last seven years, their security forces have lost about 1,400 dead and 3,400 wounded, mainly fighting the Taliban and al Qaeda along the Afghan border. The Pakistanis believe they have killed 2,244 hostile Pakistanis (mainly Taliban) and 581 foreigners (al Qaeda). The terrorists have also suffered at least 1,400 wounded. Several thousand Taliban, and about 600 al Qaeda suspects have been arrested.
Counter-terror operations have greatly increased in the last year, with nearly half the Taliban and al Qaeda casualties occurring in that period. Pakistan has tried, without success, to negotiate agreements with the tribes (most of whom are hostile to the Taliban and al Qaeda). Meanwhile, the terrorists continued to make attacks outside the tribal areas, including many assassination attempts on Pakistani leaders. This reached a point where Pakistan largely dispensed with the carrot, and went in big time with the stick.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008
07:42 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In seven years they have lost less than half of what we lost on the morning of Sept. 11, 2001.
Why am I not that impressed by these numbers.
Rhetorical question- Because they spawned that filth, now they should clean it up.
#1
As someone stated yesterday on the Burg, "the market could be reacting to a potential Obama presidency." If McCain can turn it around, it will certainly be interesting to see if the market trends upward.
Since McCain is weak on economy and proposed more bailout money ($300 billion) against his many of his base, I don't see how the market would feel more confident unless he pulled a rabbit out of his hat. I hope he can, we all need some good ideas.
#3
--- I think participants in the market & those of us waiting on the sidelines have more confidence in McCain than in Obama as far as managing the crisis. No way to tell for sure, until the day after the Election.
--- Keep in mind that change is inevitable despite the Big 0's promises. Our predicaments will be quite different by Election Day, and also by Inauguration Day.
#4
IIUC, CNN + CNBC > Washington desires to buy shares in failing US Banks but widout using the labels "NATIONALIZATION" or "GOVT. OWNERSHIP".
D *** NG IT, WE WANT TO MAKE IT ABSOLUTELY CATEGORICALLY POSITIVELY UNDENIABLY
................., FINGER-POINTING CLEAR TO THE AMER PEOPLE, ITS NOT SOCIALISM - ITS GOVERNMENTISM AND GOVT.CENTRIC REGULATION, ETC. AND DON'T YOUSE FERGIT IT!
Fannie Mae, the nation's biggest underwriter of home mortgages, has been under increasing pressure from the Clinton Administration to expand mortgage loans among low and moderate income people and felt pressure from stock holders to maintain its phenomenal growth in profits.
At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval.
Mr. Obama's conversations with the Iraqi leaders, confirmed to The Washington Times by his campaign aides, began just two weeks after he clinched the Democratic presidential nomination in June and stirred controversy over the appropriateness of a White House candidate's contacts with foreign governments while the sitting president is conducting a war.
Some of the specifics of the conversations remain the subject of dispute. Iraqi leaders purported to The Times that Mr. Obama urged Baghdad to delay an agreement with Mr. Bush until next year when a new president will be in office - a charge the Democratic campaign denies.
Mr. Obama spoke June 16 to Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari when he was in Washington, according to both the Iraqi Embassy in Washington and the Obama campaign. Both said the conversation was at Mr. Zebari's request and took place on the phone because Mr. Obama was traveling.
However, the two sides differ over what Mr. Obama said.
"In the conversation, the senator urged Iraq to delay the [memorandum of understanding] between Iraq and the United States until the new administration was in place," said Samir Sumaidaie, Iraq's ambassador to the United States.
He said Mr. Zebari replied that any such agreement would not bind a new administration. "The new administration will have a free hand to opt out," he said the foreign minister told Mr. Obama.
Mr. Sumaidaie did not participate in the call, he said, but stood next to Mr. Zebari during the conversation and was briefed by him immediately afterward.
The call was not recorded by either side, and Mr. Zebari did not respond to repeated telephone and e-mail messages requesting direct comment.
The British defence ministry has admitted that a computer hard drive, containing the names and personal details of half the people serving in the country's armed forces, has disappeared. The hard drive belonged to a contractor and was used by the firm to test computer equipment.
Defence officials have only just made the discovery and say the data could have disappeared weeks ago.
The incident is the latest in a series of scandals concerning confidential government documents, which have been lost or misplaced in recent years.
#1
On Linux there is native support for encrypted filesytstems in other words: if someone steals the disk and insertas it into a systems whre he is admoinstrator he will get zero information of it unless he knows the pass phrase (who can be arbitraruily long).
I know there is user space support for the same in Windows. For reasons I will noit discuss this is not as goodd as Linux kernel sapce solution but it is still wmuch<.b> better than strolling around with laptops containing unencrypted information. I were Britain's defence minister there would be a lot of ministry's IT personel either performing sepuku or volunteeering for Afgahanistan.
Only Iowahawk can come up with something like this. Read the entire thing at the link.
ST. LOUIS - Attorneys for the voting registration organizations ACORN and Project Vote filed an anti-discrimination voting rights suit in the U.S. Federal District court this morning, alleging the United States government is involved in "a widespread, systematic effort to disenfranchise Imaginary-Americans and deprive them of access to polls."
"Participation in our electoral process is a fundamental right, and the foundation of our democracy," said ASDF ASDFG, a spokesperson for the National Association for the Advancement of Imaginary People, one of the groups named as plaintiffs in the class action. "We will not be silent when government denies people access to the polls on the basis of color, or sex, or existential status."
The new suit was prompted by on a series of law enforcement raids of ACORN offices in 10 states over the past week, as well as a reported Justice Department investigation. Federal and state officials say they were acting on tips of fraudulent voter registration forms, after election officials reported a flood of unusual applications submitted by ACORN canvassers. In Las Vegas the Clarke County election commission reported thousands of registrations signed by the Dallas Cowboys, while in St. Louis officials discovered thousands of others signed by Power Rangers, Menudo, and Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. In Cleveland, Ohio Republican officials complained to the Federal Election Commission after early-voting sites barred observers when thousands of Invisible-Ohioans arrived at the polls aboard hundreds of invisible ACORN buses. In Ida Grove, Iowa, Ida County Registrar Debby Ballard expressed concern when a convoy of Chicago ACORN semis submitted 4,000,000 provisional ballots, 17 seconds before a 5 pm deadline.
"I'm proud that Ida County can boast of a 114,312% voter registration rate, but I'm not sure if I can get all of them processed by Monday," said Ballard. "I've got a pilates class in Sioux City."
#1
i can't even believe they would let this lawsuit into a court. A nd IF they lose they should be made too pay for every dime of it. Criminals are charged court cost so should civil suits
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 12:18
Comments ||
Top||
#3
In the non-satire veain, even the Seattle papers are carrying articles about the increasing number of ACORN-related votoer fraud issues popping up all over the US. its almost like its planned.....
#4
lotp, i've read so much BS in the last few years i don't know the diff anymore
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 17:08
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Actually this can never happen in the Seattle area. Imaginary Americans (and even non-americans) have no problems registering to vote at least in Snohomish County (just north of seattle).
Took my wife in to regiser to vote. They didn't even ask for **any** ID - never mind citizenship - not even a utility bill.
Just said that they would send out a ballot on the 16th by mail (Snohomish County has mandatory vote-by-mail).
Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM) chief Maulana Sufi Muhammad said that he will persuade his 'warring fellows' to disarm in case shariah is implemented in the North West Frontier Province, Aaj TV reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sufi Muhammad was addressing a gathering at the Timergarah Rest House ground in Lower Dir where he and his supporters are staging a sit-in. He said he would not end the sit-in unless the government fulfilled its promise of enforcing shariah in Malakand division. He said he would launch a movement to disarm his 'annoyed fellows' after the implementation of shariah in the NWFP. The TNSM chief has rejected the draft law for implementation of shariah in Malakand prepared by the NWFP government, saying that the government should enforce shariah in the division, the channel reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: TNSM
#1
Arabs and their goddamned shariah. They're wearing me out with it.
At least 21 Taliban were killed in airstrikes on their hideouts in Ghat Peochar and Landai Sarshur areas in the restive Swat district, a military spokesman said on Thursday. "Twenty-one Taliban were killed in bombing by jet aircraft on Ghat Peochar," Col Nadeem told Daily Times.
He added that several suspected Taliban hideouts were also destroyed in the strikes. However, Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan denied the military's claims. He said the jets fired around 20 bombs, with one of them hitting a primary school. Khan said that three bombs hit several houses, but no loss of life was reported.
Meanwhile, six members of a family were killed in Darmai area of Matta tehsil as a shell fired by security forces accidentally hit the house of a local, identified as Wazirzada. The dead include two women, three children and a male member of the family.
Kurram clashes: At least eight persons were killed when local tribesmen and security forces clashed with the Taliban in Kurram Agency on Thursday. According to the political administration, the dead include seven Taliban and a local tribesman. The clashes began when the Taliban attacked Ali Zai village in Lower Kurram Agency. Security forces and a lashkar of the Toori tribe retaliated, killing six Taliban. A tribesman was also killed in the clash.
Earlier, the Taliban attacked Pewar village late on Wednesday night, however, security forces and a local lashkar killed one of the attackers in the clash.
Meanwhile, telecommunication services have been resumed in the area after a month-long suspension. The services were disrupted after unidentified men blew up a telephone exchange in Sadda a month ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[26 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
the Taliban Airforce didn't scramble to protect them?
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2008 18:30
Comments ||
Top||
An unidentified aircraft bombed an rebel stronghold in central Somalia on Thursday, witnesses said, but it was not immediately clear if there were any casualties.
US forces have launched several airstrikes inside Somalia in recent months against al Shabaab insurgents who have been fighting Somalia's weak Western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian military allies since the start of last year. "A plane bombarded the outskirts of our village," said Hassan Maalim in Goobgudud, 30 kilometres southwest of Baidoa. "The whole earth shook but we don't know the damage or death it caused. It was flying over us since morning."
The identity of the aircraft was unclear. In May, US war planes killed al Shabaab leader Aden Hashi Ayro, who was said to be al Qaeda's top man in the country. That attack took place in Dusamareb, also in central Somalia. Washington says al Shabaab has links to Al Qaeda and says it has provided a safe haven for militants including the bombers of US embassies in Kenya and Tanzania in 1998.
Underlining growing insecurity in the capital Mogadishu, the children's charity SOS said on Thursday it was closing two schools there and evacuating four teachers who were detained by Somali security forces during a nearby gunbattle on Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
Thank you for your interest in documentary, "Why We Fight - Now". As you can probably guess, we are extremely excited about getting this product out to various audiences and one way we hope to accomplish this is by getting the movie aired on network television. It is still too early to say which, if any, network will pick this movie up. Once there is a decision, we will post that information at the following website: Please check there often because we are going to try and update it as we get new information.
V/R
Augie
Captain Chris Augustine
Public Affairs Officer
U.S. Army Special Forces Command (Airborne)
Commercial: (910) 432-4587
Blackberry: (910) 689-6187
NIPR: augustch@soc.mil
ako: christopher.augustine@us.army.mil
SIPR: augustch@usasoc.socom.smil.mil
#2
I'll be looking forward to seeing this...but it still begs the question of why, why,WHY stuff like this didn't start being put together seven years ago. One of G-Dub's myriad mistakes in the GWOT was the failure to start up the modern equivalent of this outfit. I'm just an ex-enlisted squid with a commuter-school business degree, and even I knew on 9/11 that the MSM would be in full fifth-column mode in no more than six months, and that a successful war effort would necessitate getting the good guys' case out to the public over the MSM's heads.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/10/2008 0:35
Comments ||
Top||
#3
In addition to the Office of War Information Bush should have sold war bonds as a way for people to show their support, provide the gov with a flush of cash, and prevented the massive budget spending that occurred. Yeah I know they'd have to be paid back eventually but so will the deficit spending dollars.
#4
I agree - but I think we all share the blame. Bush got beat up badly starting on 9/12/2001 and we did not vocally and publicly stand up for him or for the war. Congress and the media respond to credible pressure, if it's large and loud enough. We didn't supply it. And so he caved and wiggled and spent like a drunken sailor to keep the Dems at arm's length while continuing the war.
Remember too that the military and the feds DID try some of this and got huge pushback from the left. So we ended up with the 'truth' firmly locked into everyones' minds: there were no WMDs, we kill civilians and torture prisoners, etc etc.
#6
All wars have two fronts. The point of combat and the one at home. The generals at the Pentagon never have wanted to fight the second one. Go look at the effort in the national mobilization in WWII when the MSM was actually on our side. Now compare it to the efforts since. They outsourced the telling of the story to the MSM, who we pretty much understand worked as the conduit for the enemy. They never questioned their actions or veracity of their propaganda, but undermined and undercut our boys at every opportunity. That which they could not explode out of proportion, they literally made up. Now the Generals(tm) keep crying they don't want to become involved in politics. However, that means they have no say in the Home Front War. How has that worked out for them? They 'study' Clausewitz at the War College, but they ignore his dictum "war is nothing but the continuation of policy with other means". They're in politics whether they like it or not and they have to play the game.
#8
The generals at the Pentagon never have wanted to fight the second one.
There's a reason. Or maybe two.
Posted by: General James Mattoon Scoot ||
10/10/2008 10:24
Comments ||
Top||
#9
I'll be looking forward to seeing this...but it still begs the question of why, why, WHY stuff like this didn't start being put together seven years ago.
Because there were de facto restrictions placed on the military in getting their side of the story out on the domestic front? Seems I recall attempts to set up such things, which were not only met by alarmed cries of "propoganda", but threats of legal financial action.
(PTI) Pakistani security officials today arrested a suspected suicide bomber who was trying to board a plane at the international airport in Rawalpindi in the guise of a woman. The alleged bomber, who was clad in a burqa, was apprehended at the airport's departure lounge. A woman security official detected the bomber during a search and informed police personnel.
Police took the man into custody and were trying to ascertain his identity. Officials told the state-run APP news agency that the man was carrying a bag.
The alleged bomber was arrested hours after a suicide attacker struck at the office of the Anti-Terrorism Squad in the high-security Police Lines on the outskirts of Islamabad. Ten policemen were injured in that attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with Al Qaeda in talks backed by the United Kingdom and hosted by Saudi Arabia, according to a commentary released here on Thursday.
Stratfor, the news intelligence service, reports that the assurance from the Taliban benefits Saudi Arabia, since it has a key interest in bringing an end to the Osama Bin Laden chapter. The Saudis could also use an Afghan state with a major Taliban presence to counter the rise of Iran. The talks, hosted by Saudi King Abdullah himself, were held from September 24 to 27 in Mecca and involved 11 Taliban delegates, two Afghan government officials, a representative of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar and three others. Taliban leader Mullah Muhammad Omar has made it clear that he is no longer allied with Al Qaeda.
According to Stratfor, Mullah Omar likely is in the Pashtun corridor of Balochistan province and Osama Bin Laden and Ayman Al-Zawahiri likely are in the Dir/Malakand region. The Afghan Taliban movement has splintered into three groups: Taliban forces linked to Omar but based in Afghanistan and engaged in the fighting; Taliban elements allied with Pakistan, and Taliban fighters connected to Al Qaeda. The analysis predicts that ultimately there will be a negotiated settlement with a new leadership that will retain its ideology but within the confines of the Afghan nation-state and will abandon not just Al Qaeda but also its transnational objectives of a supranational caliphate. The Taliban leadership knows it paid a heavy price for its unwillingness to part ways with Al Qaeda. The Taliban leaders have also noted that Al Qaeda has lost appeal among the locals and realise that if they do not change, they could be sidelined by more pragmatic elements.
Riyadh's ability to significantly neutralise jihadists at home has given the Saudis great influence over the Taliban's thinking. The Saudis have an interest in laying Bin Laden and the core Al Qaeda group to rest. Also, Pakistan, which used to work in tandem with the Saudis on the Taliban issue, is in disarray. With Islamabad fighting its own Taliban insurgency, the Saudis have taken the lead in Afghanistan. It is also quite likely that the Pakistanis need the Saudis to use not only their financial clout but also their political clout with Washington as relations between Islamabad and Washington deteriorate. Facilitating a new power-sharing arrangement in which the Taliban return to power in significant ways could serve as a major check on growing Iranian regional influence. Saudi Arabia already has Pakistan as a regional ally and has used it to block Iran from expanding its influence eastward. With the return of the Taliban to power in Kabul, Riyadh hopes to reverse the inroads Tehran has made there during the last seven years.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#5
Saudi Arabia really knows how too neutralize the extremists at home all right. they send them abroad
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 10:03
Comments ||
Top||
#6
That's a feature, not a bug Chris. It's how the royal family avoids outright warfare between the religious extremists among the senior princes and their more secular brothers.
The big issue that's hidden behind that is the huge growth in royals and others for whom there are no jobs.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Been gone for two weeks, (out of the country and out of touch, except for a bit of CNN, which is SO depressing), from the headlines, looks like I haven't missed a thing...
Posted by: Bobby ||
10/10/2008 7:28
Comments ||
Top||
North Korea's naval command on Thursday accused South Korean ships of violating its territorial waters in the Yellow Sea and warned that escalating tensions could lead to a clash.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
See also TOPIX > NORTH KOREA WARNS SOUTH NOT TO PROVOKE A WAR.
#4
Wow, they must really be looking at empty larders this year. They're doing pretty much everything short of standing on the DMZ making faces en masse.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/10/2008 10:45
Comments ||
Top||
Pirates are everywhere: Bangladesh, Puntland, Nigeria, Wall Street ...
A trawler passenger was shot dead by pirates in the river Meghna in Hatiya upazila yesterday. Police said a gang of pirates numbering 7/8 opened fire on a Chittagong-bound goods-laden trawler coming from Char Iswar Bangla Bazaar near Char Isman at 7:00am, leaving one of its passengers killed on the spot.
The deceased was identified as Shamsuddin, 30, of Char Ishwar Purbo Gamchhakhali in the upazila. The trawler returned to Bangla Bazar Ghat soon after the incident.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
A trawler is a fishing boat. In this case a 'goods-laden' fishing boat. Huh? Sounds more like a smuggling boat. With a passenger? What kind of passenger rides a smuggling fishing boat? And the boat returned to Bangla 'soon after'? Was this really a gang of pirates, or a hit squad?
An administrator and a teacher of a madrassa have been arrested for their alleged involvement in training two female students for suicide bombings. Dera Ismail Khan Anti-Terrorism Court Judge Faizullah Khan cancelled the bail of the administrator, Samiullah Qureshi and teacher Saif Ali Khan while another teacher, Shoaib Khan, also accused of the crime, was still missing.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
The government of Iceland on Thursday seized control of the country's largest bank -- the third bank takeover this week -- and suspended trading on the stock market, as the North Atlantic island nation grapples with an unprecedented financial meltdown that has made it the first national casualty of the global economic crisis.
The takeover Thursday of Kaupthing bank now leaves the government in control of Iceland's three major banks, following the seizure earlier this week of Landsbanki, the second largest, and Glitnir, the third biggest bank. The government said domestic depositors would have their money guaranteed and that bank operations, including ATM machines, would continue to operate normally.
But there was nothing normal about this fiscal crisis,which in a few days has wiped out much of the wealth that had been accumulating here for the last decade.
The financial crisis has also caused an unusual public dispute within Europe, as hundreds of thousands of Europeans have money deposited in Icelandic banks, mainly through an online bank called IceSave, a Web-only bank operated by Landsbanki.
Iceland's recently privatized banks had invested heavily overseas, turning this remote country into a financial powerhouse known as the "Nordic Tiger." But the three banks' overall indebtedness was more than 10 times the gross domestic product of Iceland itself, and their growth and reach over the last 10 years had far outstripped the ability of this small country's central bank to back them up.
When global credit markets tightened, it threatened to bankrupt the entire country.
"The Nordic Tiger is not a tiger anymore," said Reykjavik University economics professor Oddgier Ottesen. "It's a kitten."
The government, desperate for cash, will hold talks next Tuesday with Russia about a possible $5.4 billion loan, and the prime minister said help from the International Monetary Fund was "definitely an option."
Iceland's spectacular fall has also meant pain for ordinary Icelanders who had heavily invested in stock in the three banks. In a country of just 310,000 people, as many as 80,000 held bank stock that is now worth nothing, according to Frosti Olafsson, deputy director and chief economist with the Iceland Chamber of Commerce. The country's pension funds were also invested in the banks.
The country's battered currency, the krona, has lost a third of its value in recent days. Since many Icelanders took out foreign-currency loans for home mortgages and car purchases, the collapse of the krona has increased the amounts they owe.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under:
Iraqi Premier Nouri al-Maliki vowed on Thursday to capture the assassins of a Shiite MP, the first lawmaker to be killed in 18 months, and ordered a top-level investigation. Maliki said he appointed a panel headed by Interior Minister Jawad Bolani to probe the assassination of Saleh al-Ogayly, 41, in Baghdad's Sadr City district, a Shiite stronghold.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
#1
"arrest the usual suspects!"
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/10/2008 20:51
Comments ||
Top||
A local religious scholar, Hafiz Azizuddin, was shot dead on Thursday, police said. Police sources said the scholar was shot dead when two motorcyclists opened indiscriminate fire at his dera (outhouse) located in village Ghor Ghashi. Police have registered a case and started investigations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Religious scholar Shot Dead in his Out House
W-o-W!
Mr. Fred you missed an inglorious Ending!
/ROTFLMAO!!
Big Cheese Eats Lead in his Honey House!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/10/2008 2:27
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Caught with his pants down.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 8:10
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Shit-bag Bagged in the Shitter
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/10/2008 18:24
Comments ||
Top||
#4
A yes, "dera", from "derriere" a borrow word from french since they didn't have outhouses before the 1834 French mission to Kabul.
ISLAMABAD Commenting on references to Pakistan by the two US presidential hopefuls in their debate in Tennessee on Tuesday the Pakistan government reiterated that if it will take action on its own on reports of Osama bin Ladens presence within its border.
If we have any knowledge of Osamas location within our borders it goes without saying that, we will take action ourselves, Information Minister Sherry Rehman told reporters here.
Uh-huh. Just getting around to finding out that Binny is hiding out near Peshawar, are you ...
She asked Pakistans allies to share intelligence over any high-value targets. We will pursue them on the ground. However, we will not allow anyone to challenge our sovereignty and no country should violate Pakistans territorial integrity, she said.
"Nope, nope, can't do that, nope, nope ..."
Though media reports highlighted Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obamas statement with headlines that the US forces will launch strikes inside Pakistan, officials here said Obamas remarks have been twisted by a section of the Pakistani media as well as his Republican rival John McCain even though he made it conditional to Pakistani response. Despite sparring over Pakistan in their second debate, the two candidates ended up saying the same thing, though in somewhat different words, an official here said.
While Barack Obama said the United States should only take action inside Pakistan if the government there was unable or unwilling to do so, Republican Senator John McCain was more conciliatory, recommending that the US used soft language with Pakistan but carry a big stick.
Obama was at pains to establish that contrary to McCains charge, he had never threatened to invade Pakistan. He said: I want to be very clear about what I said. Nobody called for the invasion of Pakistan. Senator McCain continues to repeat this.
Because Senator McCain is correct ...
Both candidates favoured working with Pakistan in the hunt for Al Qaeda and other groups allegedly operating out of Pakistans tribal areas into Afghanistan. They were both equally determined as to how they would deal with Osama bin Laden.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Islamabad to Take Action on its Own Over Osama Presence
Sure they will: they will move him to a safer place.
#3
No, invest in bullets and make a list of people stockpiling. That way you're always prepared and never have a "Y2K" stash rotting away in your basement.
Thailand's political stalemate erupted into open conflict this week, but far from being the "final battle" that the government's opponents anticipated, it has left the country even more divided and further than ever from a solution.
The dim hopes of compromise that Prime Minister Somchai Wangsawat had carefully nurtured since taking office three weeks ago were abruptly snuffed out when police armed with tear gas grenades clashed Tuesday with protesters carrying sharpened sticks and iron bars, leaving at least one person dead and hundreds injured.
The protesters, from the People's Alliance for Democracy (PAD), were picketing parliament in an attempt to prevent Somchai from presenting his address to the opening session.
On the surface, the protest was part of the group's attempts to force Somchai, whom they accuse of corruption and cronyism, to resign. But many analysts believe the alliance's underlying hope is to create a state of violent political paralysis that will provoke the military into launching its 19th coup since the country became a democracy in 1932.
"Some PAD members would like the military to intervene," said Somchai Pakapaswiwat, a political scientist at Thammasat University. "But this is normal. When people are fighting a big power they want another big power to intervene," said Somchai, who believes any armed military intervention would be a retrograde and dangerous step.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
A lashkar of local tribes on Thursday torched several suspected hideouts of pro-Taliban extremists in Mandal area of Bajaur Agency.
The local tribes in Mandal have launched a crackdown against the Taliban for establishing peace in the area. Meanwhile, government and private organisations and shopping centres resumed business in Khar and adjoining areas after law and order returned to normal.
Residents of Duadzai area in Peshawar's suburbs on Thursday organised a lashkar (volunteers' militia) to curb terrorist activities in the area. The lashkar of 300 men, along with the police, has started patrolling the areas between Mamunkhatki and Mathra Pul for maintaining peace.
Residents in other parts of the provincial metropolis and its surrounding areas have already formed lashkars for maintaining peace.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Sounds like the Pak version of vigilante committees to me.
#2
Sounds like full-on tribal war as she is fought on the Frontier. Butcher & bolt, burn their houses while they simmer in the hills looking down at the smoke.
That's going to get ugly, quick.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/10/2008 10:41
Comments ||
Top||
Unidentified assailants blew up a CD shop with explosives late on Wednesday night, police said. Police sources said that the explosives, which had been planted at the music store's entrance, completely destroyed the shop. A number of police officials, including District Police Officer Nisar Ahmad Tanoli, reached the spot immediately after the blast, registered a case against unidentified assailants and started investigation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
Welcome to First Wazoo Bank. How can I help you?
Yes. I'd like a loan to open a combination CD store/barbershop/girls school. I'll make hundreds!
Ummmmmmm...we'll get back to you.
#3
#2 They should put Korans in the shop as a kind of human shields. Posted by: JFM
JFM, it's ok for the talibunnies to blow up a copy of the Koran, but an infidel defiles it just by looking at it. Just another example of the phony-baloney stupidity that is Islam.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 17:04
Comments ||
Top||
#4
OP: the phony-baloney stupidity is not just limited to islam... democrats are fighting for market share on it too
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/10/2008 19:33
Comments ||
Top||
#3
A society that allows leftists to mock and deride middle class virtues ends up like this. If the society is smart it re-learns what the Gods of the Copybooks have been teaching. If it's not, it dies one way or the other.
#5
I think the DOW numbers are broken. Yahoo finance lists the DOW jumping from -160 to -900. My brokerage acocunt say +10 and NASDAQ +22.
Posted by: ed ||
10/10/2008 10:09
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Word, Partier. And that's why this election is so important. We're going to make a decision about who we want to be, one way or another. I hope we can do it at the election.
One thing that occurs to me is that the delay between the election and the inauguration needs to be shortened. We son't need a repeat of the 1932 fiasco. And with communications as swift as they are, there is no reason the victor should not enter office December 1.
#7
Except its an Electoral College system. Florida 2000. The courts aren't set up for one clean clearing of issues. It's all one court and one appeal at a time. Filing and refiling each step up the ladder.
#8
"A society that allows leftists to mock and deride middle class virtues ends up like this."
I don't buy it. I've been watching the Dems as powerless for the last 8 years. Wasn't it a society of conservatives who were in power since 2000 and promoted a house for everyone? To deregulate as much as possible?
Warren Buffet, #1 manager of money and quite generous guy, is called it poetic justice.
I've been watching both parties for 50 some years now. I lived through the 60s and 70s and watched the intentional, all-out war of the left on the 'bourgeois' values of the middle class - on the streets, in intentionally crude and corrosive popular culture, via promotion of abortion on demand without parental notification, through the creation of a massive welfare apparatus and above all through lawfare.
And by the way, the Dems have controlled Congress for the last few years.
#13
I've been watching the Dems as powerless for the last 8 years.
The Democrats have had simple majorities in both House and Senate since the 2006 election. That they haven't been able to pass the legislation they desired -- defunding the military, rescinding tax decreases, mandating Kyoto standards -- has been a function of extremely inept party leadership, not powerlessness. The only real success the Democrats can claim during their period of power is ramming through that abortion of a "Rescue Package" last week, all $850 billion and 450 pages of it. The house for everyone thingy was a Democrat-required regulation put on the mortgage industry when President Clinton lived in the White House, expanded by Democrat-headed Congressional committees as payoff for permitting the current administration their war on terror. Do try to pay closer attention, dear Clineth Gonque1423.
#14
---- AFAIK, the fiasco of 1932 was the continuing decline of the US economy between Election Day in November 1932 to Inauguration Day in March in 1933. When FDR took office a nationwide run on banks (with many closing permanently) was well under way. Hoover tried to coordinate his efforts with the President-elect, who ignored him completely while things went from bad to worse. One of the first things FDR did officially was order a Bank Holiday.
---- The situation is much more complicated than it was in 1932-3. The Powers That Be seem almost clueless. The candidates promise a lot, but are not promising, if you get my drift, and I think you do.
#15
Clineth has a point. I distinctly remember the Democrats as the minority party trying to filibuster the big budget increases George Bush put forward. Shut the Senate for weeks, they did, until the Republicans relented and cut the budget.
The Democrats have always stood for good management. That's why they've gone through the budget with a fine-tooth comb to eliminate waste and excess in government. Where did you Barack Obama got that idea, anyway? Why it was Nancy Pelosi and Stoney Hoyer who have pushed for tighter regulation of government spending.
And the Democrats have been solid on earmarks. Robert Byrd has been a real leader in that regard.
And of course the Democrats pushed real hard to regulate Freddie and Fannie. Why, we have C-SPAN video showing Barney Frank and Chris Dodd demanding that we rein in the excesses.
So you're right, Clineth, the Democrats shouldn't be blamed for any of this.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2008 14:11
Comments ||
Top||
#16
Please, Steve White, use the /sarc on ; /sarc off tags! I almost had a stroke! ;->
#18
I am a non-partisan blamer. The housing for everyone thingy needs to have a wooden stake driven through its heart.
I got my doubts about that. I suspect if policy weren't so hostile to heavy industry in this country we could "solve" the problems with Wall Street by making the mortgages good again.
#19
There is plenty of blame to go around on this one. Both parties have plenty to regret and learn from. I suggest the best place to look for culpability is in the mirror.
#20
AH9418 was spot on. In fact Roosevelt pointedly and publicly refused to speak to Hoover, thus assuring any effectiveness Hoover might have had was thoroughly undermined. The current donks learned from a master.
History has been conveniently re-written on FDR. Older folks in fly-over country remember precisely when the government give-away programs began. Like Pearl Harbor, they came about on FDR's watch. I remember some saying in the 1950's and 60's "if the SOB hadn't died in office, he would have STILL been president." The 22nd Amendment was passed as a direct result of Roosevelt's tenure. Presidents prior to FDR had operated under a gentleman's agreement or understanding that two terms was all anyone should aspire to.
#23
I'm watching to see the capital flight begin when people with money realize what Obama has in mind. Obama's going to make criminals of a lot of people who will be getting their money out of the US any way they can.
Bangladesh Bank (BB) has sought directions from the foreign ministry in regard to the suspended bank accounts of the International Islamic Relief Organisation (IIRO), which has an alleged link with the al-Qaeda. The BB in a letter apprised the foreign ministry last month of the requests made by the two private commercial banks to resume the bank accounts of IIRO.
The US Embassy in 2006 requested Bangladesh to provide information about some alleged terrorist organisations and the IIRO. Following the allegation of the IIRO's link with the al-Qaeda, the Bangladesh Bank suspended its bank accounts in Bangladesh.
Meanwhile, Islami Bank earlier this year informed the BB in a letter that the IIRO has been involved in health, education and socio-economic development programmes of the country since 1990 and neither the BB nor the NGO Affairs Bureau has taken any regulatory measurers against the IIRO so far. It also mentioned that the NGO Affairs Bureau has recently approved a Tk 60 crore 'Health, Education, Socio-Economic Development' project for the years 2007-12.
The IIRO has already allocated Tk 10 crore for the first phase of the project and asked the project officials to withdraw the fund from Islami Bank, Gulshan Branch. Following the approval of the fund Islami Bank sought permission from the BB to re-activate the frozen account of IIRO so that it can withdraw the fund.
The IIRO has a fund of Tk 26.56 lakh with the Bahrain-based bank, the Bank Alfalah, and IIRO requested the bank to resume the operation of its account. Following the request Bank Alfalah requested Bangladesh Bank to provide it with the information about the present condition of IIRO bank account.
Earlier, Bangladesh Bank following the reports of alleged link of the IIRO with the al-Qaeda halted two bank accounts of the IIRO at Islami Bank and Social Investment Bank Ltd (SIBL) with whom IIRO had 50,445 shares worth Tk 1,000 each. The BB suspended distribution of dividend against the shares of the IIRO with the SIBL while the Islami Bank voluntarily froze bank accounts of IIRO.
A high official of the Bangladesh Bank said the US Embassy had sought account information of IIRO under an UN resolution. But as the government currently is undertaking a project funded by the IIRO, the BB is seeking information from the foreign ministry regarding the status of the IIRO bank accounts.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Security officials found a letter from the TTP at the Islamabad explosion site, signed by commander Waliur Rehman on a Jaish-e-Islami letterpad. Written in Pashto language, the letter seeks permission from an undisclosed authority to launch an attack on the Anti-Terror Squad saying the plan of action had been finalised. Sources said intelligence agencies were investigating.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
Routing out insurgents from Afghanistan and rebuilding the war-torn nation has so far cost Canada an estimated 10.5b dollars (Canadian). That amount is expected to nearly double to 18.1 billion dollars (15.8 billion US), or about 1,500 dollars (1,309 US) per Canadian household, by the mission's end in 2011, parliamentary budget officer Kevin Page said in a report.
"This is the first comprehensive costing of Canada's Afghanistan mission covering military operations, development aid and reconstruction costs, and the long-term costs of taking care of Canada's veterans," he told reporters.
Military operations accounted for much of the costs, at up to 7.42 billion dollars (6.47 billion US), followed by veterans' benefits at 2.08 billion dollars (1.81 billion US), and 0.97 billion dollars (0.85 billion US) in aid for Afghanistan. The study does not include the cost of diplomatic efforts, nor does it presume to "put a monetary value on the heroic efforts of brave Canadian soldiers who have given up their life in service to Canada," said the report.
Accelerated procurement of military equipment and danger pay for soldiers was also excluded from the final amount "due to lack of reliable data," it said. "This suggests that the estimates provided may understate the costs of Canada's mission in Afghanistan," Page said in his report.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
(AKI) - Tehran's City Council has voted unanimously for a proposal to dedicate a street in the Iranian capital to slain Lebanese militant Imad Mughniyeh. Imad Mughniyeh was the intelligence chief and commander of Hezbollah's secretive military wing, the Islamic Resistance. He was killed in a bombing in Syrian capital Damascus on 13 February 2008.
Hezbollah and Syria have blamed Israel for assassinating him and Hezbollah has repeatedly vowed dire revenge for the killing.
Imad Mughniyeh Street will replace 'Baharan Street' which means, spring. The naming of the street follows a stamp issued by Iran in March to commemorate Mughniyeh (photo), described as an 'ambassador of the culture of martyrdom' by former Iranian commander of Iran's Revolutionary Guards, Gen. Rahim Safavi.
Mughniyeh was considered the mastermind of several hijackings and other terrorist acts, including bombings against French and US military barracks, that resulted in the death of 58 French soldiers and 241 US Marines in 1983. He was on the FBI's top ten most wanted list with a five million dollar reward for his capture.
He was wanted by Israel and the US due to his alleged role in the bombings of the Israeli embassy and the Jewish community centre in Buenos Aires in 1992 and 1994, as well as a wave of abductions of westerners in Lebanon in the 1980s.
This article starring:
Imad Mughniyeh
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[23 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#12
RENSE > IRAN: IRAQ MUST RID ITSELF OF ALL US TROOPS; + REDDIT > MULLAH OMAR: THE US MUST WITHDRAW ALL OF ITS TROOPS OR FACE THE SAME FATE AS THE SOVIETS.
Turkish police have arrested 10 suspects in connection with an attack on police that left four dead and several others injured in Diyarbakir.
The arrests came after a series of raids on homes in the mainly Kurdish-populated southeastern city.
Two unknown assailants opened machine-gun fire on a police vehicle Wednesday, killing four officers and their driver. Five more officers injured in the attack remain in serious condition. Ankara blames the attack on Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants.
The incident came as Turkey's parliament Wednesday extended the government's mandate to order strikes against Kurdish insurgents in northern Iraq.
The motion gives Ankara another year-long authorization for cross-border operations against PKK hideouts in northern Iraq. Turkey charges that thousands of PKK militants are holed up in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
In a major shift in stance on registration with the Election Commission (EC), Jamaat-e-Islami yesterday said it will get registered as a political party within the stipulated time, and if necessary amend its constitution for that.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
My late father in law had a wonderful Australian shepherd mix who ALWAYS remembered me when my wife and I went down to his place every Xmas, even thoough she hadn't seen me in a full year.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
10/10/2008 1:54
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Sigh, when I first got married my wife would great me much the same way.
#3
Good stuff for sure. This fellow is wearing USAF rank chevrons. Forgive me, I love both dogs and Airmen, but the "14 months in Iraq" title may be incorrect. I beleive the Air Force uses 4 month rotations currently. Please correct me if I am wrong.
#6
Had a Springer Spaniel that after I left to go play Navy, would not let either myself or Spousal Unit out of the car whenever we came back to visit Mom and Dad. Dad had to come out and actually hold his collar until we got out and then he would bee line for me to check me out and ensure i wasn't a bad guy; never bothered Mrs. Ret. Guess its cuz she was ( and still is) a little bit cuter than me...
#7
Did you bring treats? If not, there's your reason .... LOL
My oldest English Cocker spaniel is fully capable of carrying a mad until she's good and ready to drop it. Example: a couple years ago she saw me putting a crate in the car but she didn't get to come along on the trip. She loves trips but doesn't get to go on them very often now that she's not showing anymore.
When I got back that night with another dog and went to pet her she turned her back on me. Moved her head just enough so that my pat missed, too.
Took a bunch of special treats and extra lap time for me to be forgiven.
Governments rushed out new emergency measures in a desperate bid to staunch underpin confidence on Thursday, rallying shell-shocked markets as the US treasury secretary warned more banks could go under.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
KOMMERSANT > MEDVEDEV DECLARES SOCIALISM BUILT [ in USA, i.e. Financial Socialism]. Argues Financial Socialism is just one step above self-regulated Capitalism, and that the USA = US Govt is preparing nationalize many financial/banking assets; + NATO BEEFS UP DEFENSES OF ITS FLANKS. Prelimin Dev of NATO defense plans starting first wid considertaion and review for ESTONIA, then all of East Europe next year.
Also from KOMMERSANT > MEDVEDEV DELCARES THE FIVE GUIDELINES FOR EUROPE'S RELATIONS AND SECURITY. IMO, Rusia is basically setting the base framework for OWG-NWO. i.e. Europe/EU + Russia???
A suspected Tamil Tiger suicide bomber attacked a convoy ferrying a Sri Lankan cabinet minister outside the capital Colombo on Thursday, killing at least one person, a military spokesman said. Brigadier Udaya Nanayakkara said a woman suicide bomber believed to be from the rebel Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE) triggered the blast at the passing convoy escorting Agriculture Minister Maithripala Sirisena. The minister was not hurt, but the vehicle carrying his secretary was damaged in the attack and the deputy agriculture minister, Siripala Gamlath, was among seven people injured. Nanayakkara said the minister had been returning to the capital after attending a harvest festival event.
It was not the first time that Sirisena, secretary of the ruling Sri Lanka Freedom Party, escaped an assassination bid.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
Unidentified men hurled a hand grenade at the car of Baloch Republican Party (BRP) leader Saifullah Jattak on Thursday, partially damaging the vehicle. The Sariab police station house officer said Jattak was attending a meeting at the Government Degree College to review preparations for a BRB session when the culprits threw a hand grenade at his car which was parked outside the college.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Oh yeah, china is doing great despite putting 10,000 only children into the hospital, diverting water from farmers to the olympics, poisoned pet food, narcotic children toys, gross coal plants powered by sketchy mining practices, etc. Think about how great china is, other than barry they are the only ones who have done a spacewalk without the need to already be in space. Oh, and their new line of military submarines will come in handy if/when the gorges dam fails.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices closed at their lowest level in a year Thursday, falling below $85 a barrel even after OPEC signaled it may try to slow crude's downward spiral by cutting production. At the pump, retail gas prices kept falling, with a gallon of regular shedding 4.4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.403, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
In Oklahoma, regular gas dropped to an average of $2.987 a gallon, the first time average prices have fallen below $3 in any state since Feb. 21, said Fred Rozell, director of retail pricing at the Oil Price Information Service in Wall, N.J. "Barring some sort of major event, it looks like we'll see $3 gas as the national average in the next few weeks," Rozell said.
Light, sweet crude for November Delivery fell $1.81 to settle at $86.62 a barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange, the lowest closing price since Oct. 15, 2007. In aftermarket trading, prices edged below $85, a key technical level that traders say could signal another plunge. In London, November Brent crude fell $1.70 to settle at $82.66 on the ICE Futures exchange, after earlier falling to a one-year low of $80.40.
Crude has shed about $60 -- or 40 percent of its value -- since soaring to a record $147.27 on July 11. The massive losses come as a global financial downturn forces people and businesses everywhere to cut back. Overall demand for oil fell for a fifth straight week and year-on-year demand fell for a 24th straight week" this year, noted trader and analyst Stephen Schork in his Schork Report. "In fact last week demand ... fell to the lowest level since the week following the 9/11/2001 attacks."
Demand for gasoline was also weaker, falling 5.3 percentage points over the four weeks ended Oct. 3 compared to the same period a year earlier, according to the EIA report.
In other Nymex trading, heating oil futures fell 7.59 cents to settle at $2.4186 a gallon, while gasoline futures fell less than half a penny to $2.0273 a gallon. Natural gas for November delivery rose 8.3 cents to settle at $6.825 per 1,000 cubic feet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
South Africa's former defense minister on Wednesday launched a scathing attack against the ruling African National Congress and suggested that hundreds of members loyal to ousted president Thabo Mbeki were on the verge of forming a breakaway party.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
At least 27 Islamic militants were killed in military operations across insurgency-hit Afghanistan, authorities said on Thursday, while villagers reported that 10 civilians died in the firefight. The bloodshed in clashes on Wednesday underscored a deterioration in security this year that has led to new emphasis on a political solution to a Taliban-led insurgency launched after the Islamist regime was toppled in 2001 by US-led forces.
The claim of the heavy civilian death toll in the Uruzgan Province on Wednesday could not be independently verified because of the remoteness of the area.
Afghan and international troops were on patrol when they were attacked with guns, mortars and rocket-propelled grenades (RPG), a statement from the United States military in Afghanistan said. "ANSF [Afghan National Security Forces] and coalition forces responded to the attack with small-arms, RPG and supporting fire, killing 12 militants," it stated. "Local Afghan villagers told ANSF and coalition forces that militant fire killed 10 Afghan civilians in a nearby village," the military added.
Provincial governor Assadullah Hamdam, however, quoted a lower toll of six and said victims died when a rocket aimed at the troops missed its target and hit a civilian house. "As our combined troops were passing by the area the enemies fired a rocket at it. The rocket missed the troops and hit a home, killing six civilians including women and children," he told AFP.
Several other people were injured in the attack in the province's Shahid-i-Ihsas district, the governor said, without being able to give an exact figure. Hamdam added that his information had came from "local officials."
The coalition statement said three women and six children were taken to an international military hospital for treatment for injuries from the rebel attack. No casualties to the troops were reported, it added.
In separate unrest, troops killed nine rebels in the southern province of Helmand, a stronghold for the Taliban insurgents. "ANSF and coalition forces maneuvered on the enemy position and returned fire using small arms, RPG and close air support, killing nine militants," the US-led coalition said in a statement.
The Afghan Defense Ministry, meanwhile, said combined forces had killed six militants in an operation in Farah province's Bakwa district. In another incident, a "terrorist" died when a mine he was planting exploded on a road in Khost Province on the border with Pakistan, the Defense Ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
I gotta wonder why civilians don't head for the cellars when firefights break out in their neighborhood/village/general vicinity. That's how most of Europe survived WWII, after all. Which was a much, much more indiscriminate kind of war.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/10/2008 10:43
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Mud buildings, no basements except those dug as Armories
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/10/2008 11:07
Comments ||
Top||
(PTI) Weeks after carrying out a bloody suicide bombing in the heart of Pakistan's capital, suspected militants struck again on a high security police complex here and also hit a jail van in NWFP, killing 16 and injuring ten.
The casualties were less in the police lines complex attack in Islamabad as the suicide bomber struck the Anti Terrorism Squad office when most of the security personnel were out on patrol in view of the joint session of the Parliament reviewing strategy to combat upsurge in violence.
Though initial reports had put the casualty figure at eight killed, the Islamabad Chief Commissioner Kamran Lashari later said ten people were injured.
Confusion prevailed as officials did not know the whereabouts of a police commando team which had left the building minutes before the blast. But, police officials said the casualty figure was clarified when the team returned.
There was also confusion over how the attack was carried out. Some reports said a suicide bomber rammed an explosive-laden vehicle into the building, while others said a man carrying boxes of sweets came out of the car and entered the ATS office shortly before the blast occurred.
Officials said they had found a letter in Pashto at the blast site warning more such attacks would be carried out if the Pakistan government does not stop supporting the war on terror.
The attack follows the deadly September 20 suicide blast on the five-star Marriott hotel here that claimed nearly 60 lives. The Marriott was considered popular among foreigners.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan
#1
Will these kind of attacks make Pakistan angry enough to seriously fight back, or scare them into essentially giving up?
A suspected U.S. missile strike targeted two areas in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border Thursday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said. The strikes appeared to be part of a surge in U.S. cross border assaults on alleged militant targets in Pakistan, which have strained ties between the two anti-terror allies.
Two local Pakistani intelligence officials, citing reports from informants and agents, said one strike occurred at a house in Tappi village in North Waziristan tribal region. Some of those killed were believed to be foreigners. A local tribesman, Shoaib Dawar, said Taliban militants surrounded the house.
A second strike was reported at a house in the village of Dande Darpa Khel. The site was near a seminary of veteran Taliban commander Jalaluddin Haqqani, considered an archenemy of the U.S. No casualties were immediately reported from the latter strike.
Pakistani officials have protested that such strikes violate the nation's sovereignty. The U.S. rarely acknowledges such missile strikes, some of which are believed to be carried out by the CIA.
More, from Pak Daily Times
MIRANSHAH: At least seven people, including three foreigners, were killed in a missile attack by a suspected United States drone, 20 kilometres east of Miranshah, local witnesses said on Thursday. The attack on Ghundai village in North Waziristan Agency targeted the house of Muhammad Sultan, son of Zaley Gul. Local tribesmen recovered seven bodies from the bombed site and feared the toll could rise. "There are three foreigners among the dead," they said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
Syrian security forces have killed three suspected "terrorists" in clashes at the Palestinian refugee camp in Yarmuk, south of Damascus, private Dunia television reported on Thursday. "A clash took place between security forces and presumed terrorist elements in the Yarmuk camp, and three of them were killed and one wounded," Dunia said, quoting witnesses.
Other television reports said that Iraqis and Saudis were among the suspected terrorists.
"One of the men, who was wearing an explosives belt, was overpowered by the Syrian security forces," the television added, saying calm had returned to the camp. The report did not say when the incident occurred.
Other television reports said that Iraqis and Saudis were among the suspected terrorists.
About 424,650 Palestinian refugees are registered in Syria. Half of them live in 13 camps spread around the country. The Yarmuk camp, about 15 kilometers south of the capital, is the largest with around 112,550 residents. On September 27, a car bomb exploded near a Shiite shrine in southern Damascus, killing 17 people and wounding 14 others, in one of the deadliest attacks in a dozen years.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The Yarmuk camp, about 15 kilometers south of the capital, is the largest with around 112,550 residents. On September 27, a car bomb exploded near a Shiite shrine in southern Damascus, killing 17 people and wounding 14 others
#2
About 250,000 paleostains fled Israel in 1948, taking refuge in camps set up in Jordan, Syria, Lebanon, and Egypt. That was 60 years ago. The number of paleos in refugee camps has increased to at least 3 million, but they're STILL living in refugee camps. Ninety percent or more of them were not born in "palestine", but in their current country of residence. They can't become citizens, however, because that would eliminate the "right of return" that would totally destroy Israel. They're kept caged up by their Arab brothers, just to keep a feud alive. They can't hold jobs outside the camps, so the unemployment rate is 90% or more. Their primary purpose is to grow the next group of jihadis and terrorists to use to attack Israel. Oh, what lovely people the Arabs are...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/10/2008 17:33
Comments ||
Top||
(PTI) Sri Lankan fighter jets today pounded two LTTE camps in rebel-stronghold Mullaittivu even as 46 Tamil Tigers and eight soldiers were killed in intense gunbattles across the restive northern region. The Air Force fighter jets launched strikes at two rebel camps located in Puthukuddiyirippu in Mullaittivu this morning, an Air Force official said. According to Air Force spokesperson Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, the air sorties were made after receiving precise information.
At least five LTTE cadres were killed and as many injured in two separate confrontations in Muhamalai in Jaffna peninsula today, the Defence Ministry said.
In a separate incident at Monarawewa in Mullaittivu, one LTTE rebel and a security personnel were killed in the clash, the military said. As many as 15 Tamil Tigers were gunned down and 26 others injured in Andankulam in Mullaittivu yesterday, the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said, adding six soldiers also lost their lives in the clash. Another soldier was killed during a mortar attack by LTTE in Gajabapura in Mullaittivu yesterday, the MCNS said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
(PTI) Pakistani combat jets and helicopter gunships today destroyed a major Taliban militant base killing twenty militants in the country's restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province.
Army officials said the fresh offensive was aimed at destroying militant bases in the Taliban stronghold of Matta. Local residents said the jets bombed militant positions in Peochar, Shawar and Landai Sar, which are considered strong bases of the Taliban.
Taliban spokesman Muslim Khan said bombs dropped by the jets caused casualties among the militants and had also destroyed houses. The army said 20 militants were killed in the air strikes in Matta area of Swat.
Shells fired by the security forces landed on two homes, killing nine civilians. In one incident, five members of the same family were killed, the residents said.
A majority of people in Matta sub-district have already fled their homes and only 10 per cent of the original population, considered to be militants or their supporters, were in the area when the forces launched the bombardment. The bombing damaged communications and electricity supply networks, residents said.
The fresh offensive came a day after top security officials briefed lawmakers on the security situation and the war on terrorism during a joint session of parliament. The session will continue for the next few days. Several parliamentarians were not satisfied over ISI chief Lt Gen Ahmed Shuja Pasha's briefing yesterday and raised questioned as to who had allowed US forces to conduct air strikes in the tribal regions and why Pakistan has been pushed into a "state of war".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[22 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
oh when they kill civilians they are "supporters" of the militants
Posted by: chris ||
10/10/2008 9:58
Comments ||
Top||
(AKI) - Since the Pakistani border city of Chaman and the Afghan city of Kandahar play a pivotal role in financing the Taliban's operations in southeastern Afghanistan, there is growing speculation that the Taliban is funnelling money through hawalas or money brokers in the United Arab Emirates where Chaman and Kandhari businessmen trade.
Many Chaman businesses have offices in Dubai and the port city and free trade zone of Jebel Ali, and insiders say that the Taliban have convinced local businessmen to move their money through hawalas to Taliban leaders including Mullah Abdul Razaq, Mullah Abdul Rahim and Mullah Rozi, and several others.
Mullah Abdul Razaq, a resident of the Pakistani town of Chaman and former minister of interior affairs in the deposed Taliban regime, is considered a key player in the suspected money trail from the region to the Middle East.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[20 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
North Korea today barred international inspectors from its Yongbyon nuclear reactor complex, dramatically raising the stakes in a standoff with the United States over a proposed inspection scheme for nuclear facilities.
The move came as the Bush administration is engaged in deep debate over whether to adjust its inspection plan to accommodate North Korea's concerns and whether to speed up North Korea's removal from a list of state sponsors of terror. Assistant Secretary of State Christopher R. Hill visited Pyongyang last week, but U.S. officials have been noticeably mum about what, if any, proposals he brought back to Washington.
The International Atomic Energy Agency, which has been monitoring the site, announced in Vienna that Pyongyang "informed IAEA inspectors that effective immediately access to facilities at Yongbyon would no longer be permitted."
North Korea "also stated that it has stopped its [nuclear] disablement work," its statement said. "Also, since it is preparing to restart the facilities at Yongbyon, the DPRK has informed the IAEA that our monitoring activities would no longer be appropriate," the statement said, referring to North Korea by the acronym for its formal title, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.
Pyongyang has said it is suspending steps on dismantling its facility because it accuses Washington of failing to follow through on a pledge to remove it from the State Department terror list. The Bush administration has refused to take that move until North Korea agrees to a verification plan.
In July, the United States requested "full access to all materials" at sites that might have had a nuclear purpose in the past. It sought "full access to any site, facility or location" deemed relevant to the nuclear program, including military facilities, according to the four-page document. Investigators would be able to take photographs and make videos, remain on site as long as necessary, make repeated visits and collect and remove samples.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/10/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[17 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"In a move that probably came as a surprise to some Hottentot tribesman somewhere..."
#3
When are we going to quit playing the rope-a-dope game with the Norks? If either pres candidate gets power, I do not see things changing with basically the same State Dept people in the driver's seat.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/10/2008 8:29
Comments ||
Top||
Paris Hilton outlines what the White House would be like if she were president and doles out a little advice to Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin, in an interview with Harper's Bazaar.
"My advice to Sarah Palin is, youve got a hot bod; dont keep it to yourself," the socialite tells the magazine. "Why wear a pantsuit when you can wear a swimsuit? Welcome to the Lower 48, girlfriend." You tell em Paris! I mean is there is an expert in Decour, style, and class its you! oh wait...
Hilton threw herself into the political arena in August when she released a Web video to get even with Republican presidential nominee John McCain for using her image in an ad mocking Barack Obama as an international celebrity.
In the video, she launched her "fake" presidential campaign, and followed it up Wednesday with another video, in which she solicited advice from actor Martin Sheen, who played the president on the television show "The West Wing." I still think she'd make a better president than Obama. If nothing else it'll cause the Muzzies heads (both the bigger and the smaller) to explode.
Following up with some humor, she added, "I will also be wearing platform shoes when I meet with foreign dignitaries to accentuate my well-toned calves."
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.
At the same time the Bush administration was negotiating a still elusive agreement to keep the U.S. military in Iraq, Democratic presidential candidate Barack Obama tried to convince Iraqi leaders in private conversations that the president shouldn't be allowed to enact the deal without congressional approval. 
(PTI) Pakistani security officials today arrested a suspected suicide bomber who was trying to board a plane at the international airport in Rawalpindi in the guise of a woman. The alleged bomber, who was clad in a burqa, was apprehended at the airport's departure lounge. A woman security official detected the bomber during a search and informed police personnel.
The Taliban have agreed to sever ties with Al Qaeda in talks backed by the United Kingdom and hosted by Saudi Arabia, according to a commentary released here on Thursday.
ISLAMABAD Commenting on references to Pakistan by the two US presidential hopefuls in their debate in Tennessee on Tuesday the Pakistan government reiterated that if it will take action on its own on reports of Osama bin Ladens presence within its border.
Security officials found a letter from the TTP at the Islamabad explosion site, signed by commander Waliur Rehman on a Jaish-e-Islami letterpad. Written in Pashto language, the letter seeks permission from an undisclosed authority to launch an attack on the Anti-Terror Squad saying the plan of action had been finalised. Sources said intelligence agencies were investigating.
Turkish police have arrested 10 suspects in connection with an attack on police that left four dead and several others injured in Diyarbakir. 
Unidentified men hurled a hand grenade at the car of Baloch Republican Party (BRP) leader Saifullah Jattak on Thursday, partially damaging the vehicle. The Sariab police station house officer said Jattak was attending a meeting at the Government Degree College to review preparations for a BRB session when the culprits threw a hand grenade at his car which was parked outside the college.
NEW YORK (AP) -- Oil prices closed at their lowest level in a year Thursday, falling below $85 a barrel even after OPEC signaled it may try to slow crude's downward spiral by cutting production. At the pump, retail gas prices kept falling, with a gallon of regular shedding 4.4 cents overnight to a new national average of $3.403, according to auto club AAA, the Oil Price Information Service and Wright Express.
South Africa's former defense minister on Wednesday launched a scathing attack against the ruling African National Congress and suggested that hundreds of members loyal to ousted president Thabo Mbeki were on the verge of forming a breakaway party.
(PTI) Weeks after carrying out a bloody suicide bombing in the heart of Pakistan's capital, suspected militants struck again on a high security police complex here and also hit a jail van in NWFP, killing 16 and injuring ten.
A suspected U.S. missile strike targeted two areas in a Pakistani tribal region near the Afghan border Thursday, killing at least nine people, intelligence officials said. The strikes appeared to be part of a surge in U.S. cross border assaults on alleged militant targets in Pakistan, which have strained ties between the two anti-terror allies. 
(PTI) Pakistani combat jets and helicopter gunships today destroyed a major Taliban militant base killing twenty militants in the country's restive Swat valley in North West Frontier Province.
