* "Treeman" can now move his limbs
* Would like to get married in future
* In-depth - Dede's story
AN Indonesian man known as "treeman" because of the gnarled warts that covered him from head to foot is returning to normal after extensive treatment.
Dede, a 37-year-old from rural West Java, went home in August after nine months of operations to remove the woody growths that had smothered his hands and feet.
American dermatologist Anthony Gaspari was moved by Dede's plight after his story made headlines around the world last year.
He found Dede suffered from the Human Papiloma Virus (HPV), or common warts.
Because he had an immune deficiency, the virus flourished to a massive, debilitating infection.
Over the nine months, Dr Gaspari gave Dede chemotherapy and performed gruelling surgery to remove 6kg of branch-like warts.
"In the past I couldnt even put on my own shirt. Now I can do it myself. Its wonderful," The Sun newspaper today quoted Dede as saying.
Dede said he hoped to return to a normal life and find a new wife after decades burdened by the root-like growths, which had left him unable to move and work except in a travelling "freak show".
"Now I can live with my children... I can move and go anywhere," Dede said from his village in August.
Dede lives alone in the village after his wife left him and his teenage children went to stay with relatives because he could no longer care for them.
FILM stars including Forest Whitaker, Leonardo DiCaprio and Dustin Hoffman joined forces with Google in a campaign to get US citizens to vote in the coming presidential election.
The celebrities make rapid-fire appearances in a 5 Friends YouTube video that warns people their rights and futures are at stake and implores them to wield power over the outcome by voting.
In keeping with the video title, the movie stars urge people to send it to five friends so it spreads, as comedian Sarah Silverman put it, "rampant like herpes but for a positive".
"If you're not going to vote I don't even know what to say to you anymore," DiCaprio says after the video turns serious. "You know you have to vote."
Celebrities in the sometimes humorous, sometimes foreboding video direct viewers to www.maps.google.com/vote for geographically-tailored information about voting and voter registration.
"There's a lot of buzz about turnout this year, but one in four Americans still aren't registered to vote," Google said on its website, citing US Census data.
"Now is the time - voter registration deadlines are less than a week away in most states."
Along with the rest of America, I turned on my TV to get a first glimpse of Sarah Palin in action during the GOP convention. I had been aware of Palin before John McCain selected her, but only vaguely, and this would be my first chance to see her in action.
The day before her debut, I watched as she made the customary rounds that all speakers do, walking around the podium, checking out the TelePrompter and surveying the hall. She looked nervous. If looks could speak, she was saying, "Oh dear, what in the world have I gotten myself into? I am way out of my league."
Uh, oh, another Dan Quayle, I thought.
But what I saw the next night was not Quayle in New Orleans, but a tough, powerful, political figure, cool and confident, tossing off jokes and mocking her opponents. The fact that, nationally speaking, she was a political neophyte and yet was speaking so forcefully and powerfully on a national stage brought to mind Ronald Reagan and his powerful debut that has come to be known simply as "The Speech."
The fact that Palin was attacking her political enemies with such charm and with a twinkle in her eye reminded me of another legendary speech by Texas Governor Ann Richards in 1988, when she famously chirped that George H.W. Bush had been born with a silver foot in his mouth.
But Palin was like Reagan in ways beyond speaking style or delivery, because she had managed to capture, as few had, his spirit, the spirit that had turned working class Democrats who hadn't voted for a Republican in a generation into Reagan Democrats, voters who had suspended their dislike for Republicans in order to vote for Reagan.
The Obama campaign appeared to be flummoxed by McCain's choice of a running mate for a few days, as though they had been preparing for the usual suspects: Romney, Pawlenty, etc., but hadn't given a thought to the possibility of having to face Palin.
But then something happened to Sarah Palin. Handlers began to take her into back rooms and tell her how little she knew and how she'd have to quickly learn the names of presidents of small countries and bills in the Senate and how many missiles were in various nuclear arsenals around the world. And that process seemed to kill her confidence, shut down her natural political instincts and kill what made Palin such an interesting political animal.
The cocky, scrappy Sarah Palin who looked like Tina Fey and sounded like Ann Richards was replaced by the deer-in-the-headlights look that Americans have seen before in politicians ... a candidate who was unsteady, unsure of herself, trying too hard to be something she wasn't and trying to make the ridiculous argument that a handler had obviously given her: that being close to Alaska somehow gave her insight into foreign policy with Russia.
The Palin story is steeped in religion. Her supporters believe she is a modern day version of the biblical Queen Esther, sent by God to save the nation from peril "for such a time as this," and prophetic e-mails proclaiming that Palin is going to win are being forwarded around cyberspace as we speak.
But there may be another story that fits Palin's dilemma: In the story of David and Goliath, the young, future king decides that he will take on the 9-foot giant and goes to King Saul and tells him of his plan. Saul is bemused by the teenager who has no chance against the giant, but he consents and immediately gives him the appropriate gear, a heavy protective outfit worn to battle, known as a "coat of mail," along with the king's sword.
David, Scriptures imply, was physically overwhelmed by the get-up and barely able to move. Telling the king thanks but no thanks, the young shepherd boy threw off the gear and proceeded to gather stones found by a brook in his slingshot, which he used to fell the giant.
Not unlike the young shepherd boy, the best thing Sarah Palin can do in the remainig hours before she faces her own Goliath in the form of a tough, smart senator with three decades of experience, and the best thing the McCain campaign can do for her, is to let her rid herself of her coat of mail the overzealous handlers and let Palin run wild and be the natural, untamed politician she is.
David spent his youth battling bears and lions, but he knew nothing about battle. His victory came when he was freed of the then-modern tools of battle and allowed to bring his native skills, cultivated in the wild, to a battle for which he was by all accounts not trained for.
Palin's political skills are the equivalent of David's battle skills, honed in the Alaskan wilderness where she operated as her nickname "Barracuda" suggests, ruthlessly defeating opponents who crossed her (including her own mother-in-law, who ran for mayor after Palin) and political mentors who she thought had become corrupt (Gov. Frank Murkowski).
If that Palin shows up at Thursday night's debate, it will because she dismisses the advisers, trusts her instincts, regains her confidence and remembers where her success came from.
#2
KOMMERSANT > VENEZUELA'S CHAVEZ CALLS US CRISIS A FAILURE OF [US Free Market]CAPITALISM.
Compare wid FOX NEWS Questions > WALL STREET CRISIS > IS US FREE MARKET CAPITALISM DEAD? + WHERE ARE ALL THE US FREE MARKET CAPITALISTS AND FREE TRADERS? + THE END OF FREE MARKETS?
France heaped pressure on Gordon Brown last night by floating an ambitious plan for a €300 billion (£237 billion) bailout fund to rescue crippled banks across Europe.
As the world held its breath on the fate of Americas $700 billion bank bailout plan, President Sarkozy was seeking the backing of European leaders for his own lifeboat.
Mr Brown also faced demands for action from British banks, furious that the Irish Republics unilateral guarantee of all bank savings on Tuesday was robbing them of precious deposits. The British Bankers Association, which represents high street banks, said that the move was anti-competitive and that it was raising the issue with Dublin. Some banks would like to see the UK respond with its own explicit guarantee.
The Prime Minister has begun to set up an emergency committee to take charge of Britains response to the crisis. The body will be similar to Cobra, which is composed of ministers and government officials and meets regularly during crises such as last summers floods. Its secretariat will be run from the Cabinet Office.
Mr Sarkozy, whose country holds the European presidency, is seeking Mr Browns support before an emergency summit, scheduled tentatively for Saturday, with Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian Prime Minister, and Angela Merkel, the German Chancellor. His proposal was greeted with scepticism in Britain and outright hostility in Germany. It appears to involve the creation of a Europe-wide emergency fund that would be used to prop up banks when national governments are unable to intervene.
Ms Merkel said that Germany could not and would not issue a blank cheque for all banks, regardless of whether they behave in a responsible manner or not.
Amid the confusion and bickering between governments, France denied at first that it had put forward a proposal for a fund at all and then, after admitting that it had done so, denied that it would cost €300 billion. Paris said that the figure had come from the Dutch Government. Officials in The Hague said that they had no idea what the French were talking about.
Mr Brown is expected to announce his new crisis committee today or tomorrow at the same time as his reshuffle to replace Ruth Kelly, the Transport Secretary, who has asked to step down. Ed Miliband, one of Mr Browns key lieutenants, could be promoted. There is still a question mark hanging over Alistair Darlings future as Chancellor.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 19:48
Comments ||
Top||
#2
"Ms Merkel said that Germany could not and would not issue a blank cheque for all banks, 'regardless of whether they behave in a responsible manner or not'."
Can a German Chancellor be appointed Secretary of the U.S. Treasury?
#1
Better get your serving of defeat in soon. Looks to me like between the Pak army and the pressure being applied on the western border by us, the AQ and Taliban are fighting at an unsustainable level. And it looks like some of the tribal leaders are really turning. Am I wrong?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 19:57
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Britain had no alternative to supporting the United States in Afghanistan, but we should tell them that we want to be part of a winning strategy, not a losing one like Basra, he was quoted as saying. In the short term we should dissuade the American presidential candidates from getting more bogged down in Afghanistan . . . The American strategy is doomed to faillike the Surge.
#4
Having taken Vera Cruz, in the Spring of 1847 Maj. Gen. Winfield Scott undertook a daring expedition against Mexico City, in the heart of Mexico. [Knowing he couldn't garrison his supply line, he cut himself loose from it.] Hearing the news, the Duke of Wellington, 78-years old, said of Scott, then 61, "That poor young man is lost. He has been carried away by successes. He canât take the city and he canât back up on his bases. He wonât leave Mexico . . . .
But on 18 September, just five months after the fall of Vera Cruz, Scott took Mexico City. Hearing the news, the Wellington changed his tune, saying "He is the greatest living soldier."
#1
COLUMBIA Space Shuttle disaster > Columbia's mortal fiery breakup on the final legs of its otherwise successful mission can be symbolically be argued as HOWEVER PERFECT OR ROUGHLY SUCCESSFUL THE USA [COLUMBIA = surname for AMERICA=USA] DOES, IN THE END IT WILL LOSE OR DIE.
* IMPLICATIONS EVEN FOR GUAM, as per the death of COLUMBIA COMMANDER + TEAM MEMBER WILLIE MCCOOL.
#2
"The war against Israel is not a war against Israel. It is a war against the West. It is jihad. Israel is simply receiving the blows that are meant for all of us."
When Wilders speaks, it is like a ray of light penetrating the collective and deliberate gloom that the West imposes on itself. He is a kind of John Galt for Europe-forcing Europeans to remain conscious of what their own actions produce. Americans would do well to revisit consciousness, too; memories are failing.
Information Dissemination site has an excellent discussion of the piracy issue, especially off Somalia. Link to his site. Follow the links from there for in depth coverage of the issues. Also a great graphic and map on recent piracy incidents. Should serve as a guide to targeting the havens for those countries that have the stones to eliminate the threats.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/01/2008
18:12 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Here is the map of operations. Good targeting info, non?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/01/2008 20:46
Comments ||
Top||
The Iraqi government on Wednesday began assuming control of the U.S.-backed armed groups that have helped curtail violence here, in a high-stakes test for the American strategy to stabilize Iraq.
Iraqi authorities officially took command of about 54,000 so-called Sons of Iraq in the Baghdad area on Wednesday, and U.S. officials say they will transfer authority over additional members of the groups as conditions permit.
The Pentagon said in a report Tuesday that a smooth transition of the roughly 100,000 armed guards to Iraqi employment was "critical to providing stable security" in the country. Iraq's Shiite-led government has been wary of the largely Sunni forces, which include many former insurgents. Some have threatened to resume attacks if the government conducts widespread arrests or otherwise treats them harshly.
The handover of the armed groups was a low-key affair in Baghdad, where government offices are closed for a six-day holiday marking the end of the Muslim holy month of Ramadan. The transition was largely symbolic, since the U.S. military plans to stay involved with the groups for several months as the Iraqi government begins paying their salaries and decides how to employ them. ...
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008
17:56 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#3
Betty, that's why George fired all those AG, because they failed to do squat about it. That's also why the Donks went after him for firing people he hired.
#4
This is an Islamic strategy at gaining power. To recruit the dissaffected. If Obama Hussien is trully Muslim deep down, he welcomes such practices as that is how they gain power in a non Islamic country.
As a followup to my post yesterday on how to handle the financial crisis, the writer at the link describes the basics in simple terms. Worth a look.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008
16:36 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
well, I had a problem getting past this statement, " Teaser-rate mortgages first became widespread after Mr. Bush took office in 2001.)"
It's a meaningless statement and gives away the writer's bias.
He does do a fairly good job of explaining the food chain, and makes some good points. But the point that I believe he is missing is this:
There are lots of people who have lots of money. Right now, they are looking for places to put their money now where it can be safe and they can get their best return. So that means that there are plenty of people willing to lend money to credit worthy subjects. And yes, the interest rates will go up, because if you need credit, and credit is difficult to come by, you would be willng to 10% or maybe even more. Supply and demand, baby.
Yes, we need to do some things to make the credit continue to flow from the big institutions so that the engine doesn't freeze.
The problem is that the bailout it is just a big giant pile of money. Giving to these Senators and lobbyists is like giving food aid to Zimbabwe or North Korea. It doesn't get to where you want it to go, so why give it in the first place?
You have to have a plan that assures that the money goes to where it is needs to go to solve the crisis. If a well in a desert town in Africa has dried up, you need to give the residents the ability to continue to get water. Shooting a firehouse of water into a city that needs a well will solve nothing and waste lots of water.
Do we need to act fast, yes. But Paulson should be fired and someone who can enact a real plan needs to be put in his place.
#3
Funny thing is I was always having to nag my kids about leaving lights on, taking hour-long showers, cranking the AC down to 'meat-locker', etc. I guess UK parents must not have to pay the utility bills.
While I may disagree with lotp on some aspects of the present crisis, I do not disagree with her on its menace or magnitude. It is happening, folks. More evidence. It takes time for these forces to reach every part of the economy. Sort of like a tsunami. But it's headed your way. My opinion is no ifs, ands, or buts, its coming and you're the target.
Auto sales, which were weak over the past 11 months, fell off the table last month:
Ford Motor posted a 34% drop. Their truck and van sales fell 39%, SUV sales plummeted 57% and F-series truck sales dropped 42%.
Honda reported a 24% decline in sales;
Toyota U.S. Sept. sales drop 32.3%, light truck sales dropped 38%
#2
Well they have people so freaked out about this financial crisis that they naturally aren't going to be buying cars right now. People don't know if they are going to have a job tomorrow morning the way the news outlets are talking.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 16:38
Comments ||
Top||
#4
Again, Americans have gotten far to used to living high on borrowed money. Most sales of new autos are completed with a car loan, and that's harder to get lately.
The average car gets traded in at about six years and 70,000 miles. Most people who deferred buying in September can wait another couple of years if they need to.
#5
Carmakers have been borrowing from future sales for so long - using easy lending schemes and NINJA (no income, no job or assets) loans - that they are finally being forced to pay the piper. This collapse was a long time in coming. This wasn't a subprime bubble or a housing bubble - it was a credit bubble.
#6
Their are way too many car makers with way too many model competing model lines. The jig is up, it's time for consolidation.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 17:38
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Amsn Mike N. It is going to be hard, but it has to happen. There is no way that people are going to continue to purchase cars or trucks at the rates they have been the past several years. I wouldn't buy a new car if you paid me. It is a losing proposition as soon as you drive it off the lot.
My buddy just scored a used Honda Accord; settled with them at 8:30 PM last night (last day of the month so the sales guy's more likely to fold on price just to meet his monthly quota) and got $2000+ off list price. Sales guy's still worried about getting canned, so I don't think used car sales are doing that much better.
#10
Interesting that they have all these sales figures pulled together less than half a day after the end of the month. Suspicious even. It's not their norm:
http://www.forex-brokerage-firms.com/economicindicators/auto-truck-sales.htm
A narrow ribbon of fraying tar snakes up from the plains of Orissa to the hills of Kandhamal, an unlikely setting for what is being described as the country's latest battle over faith.
There is no railroad to this remote landlocked district dominated by tribes people. Here, they and a growing number of Hindu Dalits (formerly known as untouchables) who have converted to Christianity have lived together for centuries, tilling its fertile land, growing vegetables, turmeric and ginger.
It is also the place which has been rocked by violence between Hindus and Christians over the past month. Events here have triggered off anti-Christian attacks in a number of other states.
Villages have been attacked, people killed, churches and prayer houses desecrated. Radical Hindu groups have accused Christian groups of converting people against their will. Christian groups say these allegations are baseless.
Kandhamal continues to simmer a month after the murder of a controversial 82-year-old Hindu holy man and the consequent rioting between local tribes people and Christians.
Some 13,000 Christians are still living in tented refugee camps, with many having no homes to return to.
The popular narrative is that the conflict is all about tribes people, egged on by radical Hindu groups, targeting the Christian community to put an end to the church and its growing influence in the region.
But that is only a small part of Kandhamal's tangled conflict. To describe it as a war over religion is to simplify it, say analysts and officials.
They say it is essentially a decades-old conflict over identity, rights and entitlements.
Faith is now being used as a tool to rake up and settle old disputes. A similar bloody clash between the two communities in the early 1990s that killed some 24 people went largely unreported because it did not assume a religious hue.
At the root of the conflict is the unchecked rift among the majority Kandha tribes people - one of Orissa's 62 tribal communities who make up over 22% of the state's population - and the minority Hindu Pana Dalit community who have converted to Christianity in droves.
The Kandha tribes people comprise more than half of the district's 648,000 population and they openly say they are angry with their Christian neighbours.
Unlike their counterparts in many parts of India who have been ignored, exploited or displaced, the isolated tribes people of Kandhamal, in the words of local officials, are "proud and assertive".
Literacy among them has risen to around 40%, just under the 43% literacy rate for the district.
Living outside the pale of India's oppressive caste system and on the margins of society with their animist practices, Kandhamal's tribes people have not found a good reason yet to convert to Christianity in large numbers.
The untouchables on the other hand have borne the brunt of the caste system and have converted for a better life and more dignity.
Resultantly, the Christian population in the district has leapt by 56% between 1991 and 2001, when India's last census was conducted, while the average population grew up only 18% during the same period.
The pet complaint among the tribes people is that after converting to Christianity, their neighbours have become aggressive.
They say they have grabbed their lands - land owned by tribes people in India cannot be bought under the country's laws - and used fake certificates to declare themselves as tribes people to take advantage of complex affirmative action benefits like government jobs.
"The Christian converts have been stealing our crops and livestock. They are ploughing and taking away our lands using force, they are faking their identities to get jobs. They want to have the best of both worlds," says Lambodhar Kanhar, who heads an increasingly influential group local group of tribes people.
Officials say there is merit in some of these allegations and they should have been investigated and settled a long time ago. The failure to do so has led to growing animosity between the two groups.
"There are some issues. We are working to resolve the issues of land acquisitions and fake caste certificates," says the district's most senior official, Krishan Kumar.
Things began to take a religious turn some 40 years ago when a Hindu religious man, Laxmananda Saraswati, arrived here.
He set up schools and clinics, ran anti-liquor campaigns, openly railed against conversions and organised reconversions of some returnees to Hinduism.
He also became popular among the tribes people because his ire was mainly directed against Christian converts.
The holy man instantly became a target of his opponents, surviving some nine assassination attempts before he was murdered last month by a group of gunmen.
There are reports of local Maoist rebels claiming responsibility, but officials rubbish this suggestion, saying that rebels do not gain anything by killing a Hindu holy man.
By all accounts, Laxmananda Saraswati was both a revered and feared man: the first, for his social work; the second, for his rabble rousing against the minorities.
He had clear links with the radical Hindu group, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, whose pamphlets describe him as a "formidable force against conversions by Christians" and somebody who "enlightened innocent tribes regarding their land rights".
With his killing, what was essentially a movement for identity and rights mutated into a religious battle between the tribes people and the Christian converts.
A spokesman for Orissa's Christian community insists it is basically a religious fight, provoked by radical Hindu groups who want to polarise people ahead of general elections.
"Why is the violence happening now? The radical Hindu groups want to polarise people to benefit Hindu nationalist parties during polls. It is also part of a larger design to attack Christians," says Dr Swaroopananda Patra.
Officials say that this is only a part of the problem.
"It is a cocktail of problems: economic, ethnic, religious. Any of these factors can precipitate violence in these parts," says Krishan Kumar.
What is clear that none of this would have happened if the state had carried out its duties on time - addressed the tribes peoples' grievances, prevented land and identity fraud and protected both communities from rabble rousers.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/01/2008
15:08 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Affirmative action quotas, preferential minority contracts, collective property rights, no private property, religious hatred...
this fire isn't going out anytime soon...
Posted by: john frum ||
10/01/2008 15:18
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Compare wid WAFF > FLEMISH WANT LESS CONTROL FROM BRUSSELS. Dutchies versus Frenchies, Pan-Euro Germanic North vs. Pan-Euro Latin South, FLEMISH PRO-FEDERALIST/GOVT CENTRALIST vs. FRENCH NATIONAL CONFEDERATIONISTS.
RED LIGHTERS VS PINK LIGHTERS, .........@"CATS AND DOGS LIVING TOGETHER, MASS HYSTERIA" [Ghostbusters].
This Paulson handout bill is gonna be a seriously large gift to foreign investors, which is why foreigners like Brown, Trichet and China's mandarins are all rooting for it.
Rep. Brad Sherman, D California:
Larry I am glad you have a few seconds to talk to someone who voted against this bill. I am not changing my mind. I want to thank my colleagues who stood up to the purveyors of panic and voted against a very bad bill and voted with 400 eminent economists including three Nobel laureates who wrote to us and said don't panic, don't act hastily, hold hearings, work carefully. The fact is Larry if you read this bill, even you would have voted against it.
It provides hundreds of billions of dollars of bailouts to foreign investors. It provides no real control of Paulson's power. There is a critique board but not really a board that can step in and change what he does. It's a $700 billion program run by a part-time temporary employee and there is no limit on million dollar a month salaries.
Larry Kudlow:
Let me just ask you one question. I think you are referring to foreign banks headquartered in the United States. I do not see how foreign investors get bailed out.
Rep. Brad Sherman:
Larry you have to read the bill. It's very clear. The Bank of Shanghai can transfer all of its toxic assets to the Bank of Shanghai of Los Angeles which can then sell them the next day to the Treasury. I had a provision to say if it wasn't owned by an American entity even a subsidiary, but at least an entity in the US, the Treasury can't buy it. It was rejected.
The bill is very clear. Assets now held in China and London can be sold to US entities on Monday and then sold to the Treasury on Tuesday. Paulson has made it clear he will recommend a veto of any bill that contained a clear provision that said if Americans did not own the asset on September 20th that it can't be sold to the Treasury.
Hundreds of billions of dollars are going to bail out foreign investors. They know it, they demanded it and the bill has been carefully written to make sure that can happen.
#1
In case the explanation in the article isn't clear enough, this handout bill allows for the Treasury to buy toxic waste assets originated abroad. This means the US taxpayer might end up owning foreclosures on British, Spanish and Australian real estate, which are way more overvalued relative to median income than American real estate.
#5
Shades of Goodfellas - note that the banksters cleaned out the place before setting it on fire to make a $700b insurance claim - a claim they want honored by American taxpayers.
No one seems to remember that last Christmas - December 2007 - Wall Street handed out RECORD BONUSES of $35 BILLION DOLLARS. Much of the profits were made in the (then) lucrative Debt Speculation. Here we are bashing American Car Companies again. The Auto Bailout is a LOAN. The Bank BAILOUT is a blank check, and Uncle Sam gambling with your money. Get a clue. Wall Street partied too hard, and now I need to give them money? Their bonuses (1 years worth) amount to 5% of the $700 Billion. I say - let the banks fail. Ive been hearing - from the Wall Street Analysts - that GM and Ford are going bankrupt for years. Funny - I never heard anyone predict Goldman in July - or Fannie & Freddie in August??? Leave the American Car Companies out of this debate. I know theyre everyones favorite punching bag - but get a clue - this is a year old topic that was already approved before the so-called Wall Street Crisis. - AND - ITS A LOAN. NOT A GAMBLE.
A report marked confidential and bearing the official seal of Spain's Defense Ministry charges that Pakistan's spy service was helping arm Taliban insurgents in 2005 for assassination plots against the Afghan government.
The report, which was obtained by Cadena Ser radio and posted on the station's Web site on Wednesday, also says Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence spy agency or ISI helped the Taliban procure roadside bombs.
It alleges that Pakistan may have provided training and intelligence to the Taliban in camps set up on Pakistani soil. The report says the Pakistani agency planned to have the Taliban use the explosives "to assassinate high-ranking officials."
The August 2005 document does not describe its sources. Cadena Ser did not say how it obtained the report.
Western intelligence agencies have long suspected that elements of Pakistan's spy service have aided the Taliban in neighboring Afghanistan. But this report appears to be the first leaked to the media that spells out such a connection in writing.
A Pakistani official on Wednesday vehemently denied that any such link existed.
Chief Pakistani army spokesman Maj. Gen. Athar Abbas said the Spanish report was "baseless, unfounded and part of a malicious, well-orchestrated propaganda campaign to malign the ISI."
"ISI is the first line of defense of Pakistan and certain quarters are attempting to weaken our national intelligence system," Abbas said, without elaborating.
In Spain, the Defense Ministry and the prime minister's office said they had no comment on the document.
Fernando Reinares, a terrorism analyst at the Elcano Royal Institute in Madrid and former chief counterterrorism adviser at Spain's Interior Ministry, said the document appeared to be an internal report intended for high-level officials. Spain has about 800 soldiers deployed in northwest Afghanistan.
The report says "it appears possible" that advanced training camps exist in Pakistan "where the Taliban receive training, help and intelligence from the ISI," and where they are also developing new improvised explosive devices. The report says the Taliban had also been receiving help from al-Qaida.
Reinares said the report on the alleged ISI-Taliban link is in keeping with information from other Western spy agencies.
"The intelligence services have done nothing more then confirm a reality which has also been reported by other Western agencies," he told The Associated Press. Reinares said Spain has developed a strong military and police intelligence operation in Pakistan, particularly since the deadly terrorist attacks of March 11, 2004 on commuter trains in Madrid.
The ISI spy agency has helped kill or capture several top al-Qaida leaders since 2001, but there are lingering doubts about its loyalty not least because its agents helped build up the Taliban in the 1990s.
U.S. intelligence agencies suspect rogue elements may still be giving Taliban militants sensitive information to aid in their growing insurgency in Afghanistan, even though officially Pakistan is a U.S. ally in fighting terrorism.
Some analysts say elements in the spy agency may want to retain the Taliban as potentially helpful against longtime rival India and may believe that Pakistan's strategic interests are best served if Afghanistan remains a weak state.
India and Afghanistan and reportedly the U.S. suspect the ISI of involvement in the July 7 bombing outside India's Embassy in Kabul, which killed more than 60 people. Pakistan denies the allegations.
Pakistan's army chief this week named a general considered a hawk in the fight against al-Qaida and the Taliban to head the ISI.
The Taliban has regularly used roadside bombs to attack U.S. troops and Afghan security forces since the beginning of the insurgency following the fall off the movement in 2001.
The explosives used have become increasingly powerful in the past year and can rip through an armored military vehicle and kill everyone inside.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/01/2008
14:20 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: ISI
#3
It may have been common knowledge to many in the intel business, but not generally acknowledged in the press. Who leaked this and what did they hope to achieve? That is the question of interest. It seems to me that, given Spain's inclination to fold under pressure, this may be a move to get Spain's troops out of harm's way. Round up the usual leftist suspects and grill 'em the old fashioned way.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 15:38
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Richard of O has the same perspective as I - while the ties are obvious and universally known, why are they being leaked? One could ask why were they secret in the first place, but that's just how intel agencies (usually) operate. So either Spain's DM is seriously lax in its security (possible, and like Britain and more and more like the US) or somebody in Defense has a reason they want it out there. Perhaps an attempt to force Spain to withdraw, but I didn't even know they had any troops in there, certainly not pulling any triggers.
Gen. Athar Abbas said the charges were baseless, of course, but I notice several top dogs in the ISI and Pak Army were recently reassigned. Hmmm.
Commodities prices were on Monday heading for their biggest quarterly drop in more than 50 years on concerns that the US economic slowdown is hitting China, the worlds engine of raw materials demand.
A global benchmark of commodities prices, has fallen more than 23.5% since the end of June
Bankers fear that the drop in commodities prices will trigger a wave of liquidation among speculative investors, further depressing prices in the short term.
Kamal Naqvi, head of commodity hedge fund sales at Credit Suisse, told a gold conference in Kyoto that commodity hedge funds could lose up to 25 per cent of their assets by the end of September because of investor redemptions.
Redemptions are going to happen, Mr Naqvi said, referring to investors assets in hedge funds.
But he added that pension funds and other long-term institutional investors did not plan to liquidate their positions for the time being.
Chinas steelmakers were defaulting on contracts to import iron ore from India.
This has provided the starkest sign yet that Chinese demand for raw materials is cooling amid slower economic growth.
The Reuters-Jefferies CRB index, a global benchmark of commodities prices, has fallen more than 23.5 per cent since the end of June.
With just one trading day left in the quarter, that is its worst performance in any quarter since 1956, when the index was first published, and is double the size of the previous worst quarterly drop.
The drop in the Reuters-Jefferies CRB index is a sharp reversal of the strong gains of the first half of the year, when it posted a 29 per cent increase. The index is now 1 per cent down in the year to date.
Worries about Chinas commodities demand were exacerbated on Monday after news emerged that the countrys steelmakers were defaulting on contracts to import iron ore from India.
This has provided the starkest sign yet that Chinese demand for raw materials is cooling amid slower economic growth.
Michael Wittner, global head of oil research at Société Générale in London, said world economic growth was at risk.
He said slowing economic growth in the US and other developed nations might weigh on China and other developing economies via their trade links, but also a cooling in their domestic activity. The perception in the commodities market about emerging economies is in the process of changing, Mr Wittner said.
#3
World commodities prices have to fall a lot more. The US can't continue to run a trade deficit of $7-800 billion/year. Either the US earns those dollars back or the dollar heads for sustained devaluation.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 16:04
Comments ||
Top||
#4
I think you're right, nobody wants to answer the question of where we call the line on borrowing. We are living on credit and digging the hole deeper every day. They are going through money like drunken sailors in D.C. and now they want to add $700B to the tab, actually, with add-ons, its already over a trillion.
#5
Readw deficits don't matter. It's a global economy. A global trade deficit would matter, but that's not possibly since everyones deficit and surplus balance each others out.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 16:15
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Mike N, tell that to your credit card company. Or your mortgage lien holder.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 18:08
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Is not a good chunk of the commodity price fall actually the result of an increase in the value of the dollar? As vulnerable as the US economy is, it seems like others must be worse, because their money is 'fleeing' to the US.
#12
An individuals credit cards, mortgages etc and national trade deficits are separate issues.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 20:06
Comments ||
Top||
#13
It's all credit. Money is nothing but a promissory note to exchange some tangible asset for that funny piece of paper. Everything seems fine right up to the point the bank issues no more credit/other nations stop accepting your currency for payment.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 20:38
Comments ||
Top||
#14
Pay me in usable ammo, unfired, and I will be happy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/01/2008 20:58
Comments ||
Top||
DES MOINES, Iowa (AP) - Republican presidential candidate John McCain, once renowned for his jocular sessions with journalists, appeared irritable and at times sarcastic in an interview in which he defended running mate Sarah Palin's experience and campaign ads critical of rival Barack Obama.
Meeting Tuesday with the editorial board of The Des Moines Register, McCain was asked why he picked the Alaska governor, someone "who doesn't have a lot of experience."
"Thank you, but I disagree with your fundamental principle that she doesn't have the experience," McCain replied before citing Palin's work as a PTA member, city council member, mayor and governor. "You and I just have a fundamental disagreement, and I am so happy the American people seem to be siding with me."
When it was suggested that Palin's lack of experience worried voters, McCain turned sarcastic.
"Really? I haven't detected that in the polls, I haven't detected that among the base," he said. "If there's a Georgetown cocktail party person who, quote, calls himself a conservative who doesn't like her, good luck. I don't dismiss him. I think the American people have overwhelmingly shown their approval."
At another point, McCain was asked if he's strayed from his "straight talk" image with advertising that some have labeled deceptive. McCain dryly responded, "It would be valuable if you gave some examples for an assertion of that nature."
He went on to say: "I have always had 100 percent, absolute truth, that's been my life and putting my country first. I'll match that record with anyone and an assertion that I have ever done otherwise, I take strong exception to."
As examples, a questioner at the Register noted a McCain commercial that suggested Obama favored comprehensive sex education for kindergartners and assertions by his campaign that a "lipstick on a pig" comment Obama made was a reference to Palin. News media fact-checking the sex education ad deemed it deceptive and a distortion of Obama's position.
"It certainly is your opinion and I respect your opinion, but it's not the facts," McCain said in the interview. "I respect your opinion. I strongly disagree with your assertion."
He also sarcastically referred to his five years as a prisoner of war when answering a question about his having government-financed health care throughout his military and congressional career.
"The answer is that most of my life, in serving my country, I have had health care," he said. "I did go for a period of time when the health care wasn't very good."
McCain met privately with the newspaper's editorial board after holding an economic roundtable earlier in the day at a Des Moines business. The newspaper posted videos of the session on its Web site.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC ||
10/01/2008
14:04 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
#1
Oh, to be there on the day McCain finally gets fed up with these 'journalist' mooks and punches one of them in the snout.
BEIJING, China (CNN) -- The Chinese women's gymnastics team did not use underage competitors during this year's Summer Olympic Games in Beijing, the International Gymnastics Federation said Wednesday.
The federation said it has concluded its inquiry into the matter after it confirmed the gymnasts' ages through official documents that the Chinese Gymnasts Association provided. The documents included passports, identity cards and household registers.
However, the organization intends to further investigate the ages of two gymnasts, Dong Fangxiao and Yang Yun, who participated in the 2000 summer games in Sydney, Australia. The federation said it did not consider the explanations and evidence that Chinese authorities provided in regard to those athletes as satisfactory.
The International Olympic Committee had asked gymnastics officials to clarify the situation after numerous commentators, bloggers and others questioned whether about half the members of China's team were old enough to compete. Watch tiny gymnasts work out »
Athletes must be at least 16 in the year the games take place. In women's gymnastics, younger girls can have an advantage over older competitors on account of their often smaller, lighter and more agile bodies.
The Chinese women's gymnastics team won a gold medal in a team competition at the Beijing games, and five members won individual medals.
One of the challenges came from a blogger known as "Stryde Hax." The blogger claimed to have uncovered proof that Chinese gymnast He Kexin is only 14.
In Internet searches, "Stryde Hax" allegedly uncovered Web pages showing lists complied by China's General Administration of Sport that show a 1994 date of birth for He.
CNN was not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appeared to back up the claim. Other bloggers joined the search and reported similar results.
The New York Times conducted its own investigation, producing similar results that seem to implicate He and two other members of the team. The Times uncovered a 2006 biography on He that lists her birthday as January 1, 1994.
The International Gymnastics Federation, however, has said that those gymnasts were eligible and that the ages on their passports were correct.
#1
To be expected. The Chinese government can manufacture genuine official documents with false dates of birth any time it wants to. Just goes to show that people who say that the central government is good, while local government is corrupt are delusional - the corruption and evil-doing is orchestrated by the central government, with occasional scapegoats from the local government singled out to lull the masses.
#2
Unfortunately for the IGF + IOCC, HE's own interviews and comments as per the MSM-Net do NOT go against the allegations/accusations agz China's team. HE IS EITHER VERY SMART OR POL ASTUTE FOR AGE 12, OR SOMEBODY'S TELLING HER WHAT TO SAY BEFORE THE IOCC + WESTERN MEDIAS.
Also, as per normal Gender-based physiological science, it is anatomically or naturally possible for for a 12-year old to scientif pass for age 16 [intermediate range = "grey area"].
Bottom line up front: the European central banks are pumping massive amounts of liquidity into their systems, so the LIBOR dropped 3 of the 4+ percentage points it gained the previous trading day. However, rates are going up for 3 month money, indicating that there is massive strain internationally and the markets don't think that is a transient problem. While the central bankers say they'll keep up the liquidity bailout as long as is needed, it's not obvious that they have the economic strength to do this for a long time -- and especially if Congress doesn't act soon.
The volatility in wholesale money markets was underscored on Wednesday with big reductions in overnight unsecured interest rates, but rises in the cost of three-month money.
The Libor rate for overnight US dollar borrowing was fixed at 3.79 per cent, a plunge from 6.87 per cent on Tuesday, with a similarly large fall seen in sterling overnight interest rates.
But for those banks able to borrow longer-term, whether in dollars, euros or sterling, the interest rates on three-month money rose up to 4.15 per cent in the US, 5.28 per cent in the eurozone and 6.31 per cent in the UK.
The collapse of trust in money markets has led to more than 100bn being parked overnight at the European Central Bank by far the highest amount ever, underscoring the extent of stress in the global financial system.
Banks are increasingly dealing with central banks rather than each other as the crisis of confidence persists, but central banks around the world are finding it difficult to judge demand for funds as every banks needs are different.
The 102.8bn left on Tuesday night in the ECBs deposit facility, which pays a below-market interest rate of 3.25 per cent, highlighted banks reluctance to deal with each other. The sum was more than double the amount deposited on Monday night.
At the same time, other banks borrowed almost 16bn from the central banks marginal lending facility, which incurs a penalty interest rate of 5.25 per cent.
For a smaller economy, a similarly large amount of money some £7bn was squirreled away by UK banks in the Bank of Englands equivalent deposit facility on Tuesday night, earning an interest rate of 4 per cent, a percentage point below the Banks policy rate.
The Bank of England is now planning to drain £10bn of cash from banks that have found themselves awash with overnight money but are reluctant to lend it out.
In a sign of the difficulties of working out how much money to pump into the banking systems, the UK central bank offered two US dollar auctions on Wednesday morning, one overnight and one for a week, but found demand thin for both. Less than half the money offered was taken up in the $30bn weekly auction.
Since the failure of the US authorities $700bn bail-out plan, the ECB has dramatically expanded its financial market liquidity boosting operations.
In the latest move on Wednesday it pumped in an extra $50bn of overnight dollar liquidity at an interest rate of 3.25 per cent.
Jean-Claude Trichet, ECB president, pledged in a speech in Frankfurt late on Tuesday that the central bank would continue to support solvent banks access to liquidity and the functioning of money markets for as long as necessary.
But, separately, he also highlighted European policymakers concern about the scale of the global financial crisis when he urged US politicians to revive the planned rescue plan.
It has to go, for the sake of the US and for the sake of global finance, Mr Trichet said in an interview with Bloomberg Television.
The ECB has so far stuck to a strict separation of measures to help financial market liquidity and its monetary policy aimed at combating inflation. Its governing council is widely expected to keep the main policy rate unchanged at 4.25 per cent when it gathers in Frankfurt on Thursday.
Not quite. It implies that banks are scared to lend or borrow right now. These were dollar auctions because the European and UK banks are holding large amounts of dollar-denominated derivatives.
Silvio Berlusconi, the Italian prime minister, on Wednesday said he would not allow savers in Italy to lose any of their deposits as the crisis in the global financial system threatened to spread deeper into Europe.
The statement by Mr Berlusconi came just a day after Ireland extended a guarantee on all debts and savings accounts in six Irish banks.
France is also reported to be considering a similar deposit guarantee scheme to the Irish governments plans, as European governments seek to limit the impact of the crisis in the global financial system.
Angel Gurria, head of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development, which has compared and contrasted deposit insurance schemes around the world, said in a report published on Wednesday that European countries may have to agree a co-ordinated plan to halt damage to their banking sectors.
Considering the exposure of European financial institutions, we might have to start thinking of a systemic plan for Europe if things dont improve on the other side of the Atlantic, Mr Gurria said. The piecemeal approach may not work in Europe either.
European countries, ranging from Ireland to Germany, have stepped in to rescue ailing banks this week as the world has waited with increasing anxiety for the US Congress to approve a bailout package.
US legislators could vote on a new bailout plan later on Wednesday after Congress on Monday shocked investors by throwing out an initial $700bn rescue scheme.
Jose Manuel Barroso, president of the European Commission, said on Wednesday he was working with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and the European Central Bank to present proposals to leaders of the big four European powers at a meeting tentatively set for Saturday.
But the French government said no firm date had been fixed for the meeting, which officials said would only take place if there was a sufficient consensus on a joint approach.
Its not just a problem of injecting liquidity, Mr Barroso told a news conference. We also need to inject credibility in the European response. Thats why we are urging member states [to embrace]... closer co-operation. On Wednesday the EU executive unveiled proposals for tougher EU bank regulation.
Mr Barroso said the fact that EU member states, acting together or alone, had rescued several European banks this week showed the existing system of regulation, based largely on national governments and regulators, could cope for now.
But in the longer term, he said, the EU needed to go further in co-ordinated action to restore full confidence. We need a further strengthening of the supervision structures at European level, he said.
Christine Lagarde, the French economy minister, is also calling for the creation of a emergency fund for European banks, according to German newspaper reports.
Germany, which earlier this week injected billions of euros into troubled lender Hypo Real Estate, wants to stick to a piecemeal approach, leaving governments to address problems on a case-by-case basis, while pushing for stronger regulation at an international level.
The federal government cannot and will not issue a blank cheque for all banks, regardless of whether they behave in a responsible manner or not, Angela Merkel, the chancellor, told Bild daily in an interview to be published on Thursday.
Irelands decision on Tuesday to guarantee all deposits in Irish banks infuriated Britain, sucking money away from British banks where the guarantee is more limited, and is to be reviewed by Brussels as possibly constituting illegal state aid.
This has the potential to get nasty and nationalistic very quickly.
Banks will face tougher requirements on what capital they must hold to support their operations under new rules announced in Brussels on Wednesday. Supervisory arrangements for those with cross-border operations in Europe will also be strengthened.
Long-awaited reforms to the so-called Capital Requirements Directive are being used by lawmakers in Brussels to tighten banking practices and supervision in the wake of the credit crunch.
But, although the proposals were drafted after the financial crisis first struck in August last year, they pre-date the latest series of bank failures. Senior officials at the European Commission have acknowledged they will almost certainly need to be supplemented by other measures.
The legislation will require approval by both the European Parliament and member states, and could undergo further alterations in the process.
But on Wednesday, Charlie McCreevy, EU internal market commissioner, suggested that the recent turmoil might at least have provided a more favourable wind. Theres more support for what Im doing today than I had a month ago or even 10 days ago, he said.
On the supervisory front, the key change in the CRD is to make colleges of supervisors mandatory for all banks with cross-border operations. These colleges would be made up of officials from all the countries where the bank had operations and, where possible, decisions would be made by consensus.
However, the supervisor in the banks home country would have the final say in two key areas reporting requirements and the issue of extra capital requirements in specific jurisdictions.
There would also be a mediation mechanism in the event of disagreements through the London-based Committee of Banking Supervisors. Results would not be binding on the home country supervisor but it would then have to explain its actions.
The proposals fall short of centralised supervision, thought desirable by some of the EUs largest member states.
Even so, there is likely to be political resistance to these enhancements from some of the smaller countries especially in eastern Europe which fear they will play second fiddle to supervisors in the big financial markets.
Another of the more contentious proposals is that banks that devise and then offload securitised products should be forced to retain some of the risk.
Such products have been at the heart of the current financial crisis and under the new rules, originators would be required to retain capital for at least 5 per cent of the exposures they securitise. Commission officials had wanted to set the figure at 15 per cent, but the move prompted an outcry by banking groups ferocious, in the words of Mr McCreevy and the limit was revised downwards.
On Wednesday, banking associations would not comment on the final shape of the securitisation proposal.
Meanwhile, under the CRD, there will be a 25 per cent limit on all interbank exposures the amount they lend to each other with far fewer exceptions to this than permitted at present.
Finally, there are some technical provisions notably aimed at harmonizing the treatment of hybrid instruments (those with both debt and equity elements).
The commission, meanwhile, will bring forward separate legislation next month requiring credit ratings agencies to register and meet standards if they wish to operate in Europe.
When Hillary Clinton told a tall tale about "landing under sniper fire" in Bosnia, she was accused of "inflating her war experience" by rival Democrat Barack Obama's campaign. But the campaign has been silent about Obama's running mate, Joe Biden, telling his own questionable story about being "shot at" in Iraq.
"Let's start telling the truth," Biden said during a presidential primary debate sponsored by YouTube last year. "Number one, you take all the troops out - you better have helicopters ready to take those 3,000 civilians inside the Green Zone, where I have been seven times and shot at. You better make sure you have protection for them, or let them die."
But when questioned about the episode afterward by the Hill newspaper, Biden backpedaled from his claim of being "shot at" and instead allowed: "I was near where a shot landed." ...or near where there was a "loud noise". Or maybe it wasn't so loud. I forget due to my Post Traumatic Stress Syndrome.
The senior senator from Delaware went on to say that some sort of projectile "landed" outside a building in the Green Zone where he and another senator had spent the night during a visit in December 2005. The lawmakers were shaving in the morning when they felt the building shake, Biden said. Empty beer can? Oh, the building shook. Empty beer keg maybe?
"No one got up and ran from the room-it wasn't that kind of thing," he told the Hill. "It's not like I had someone holding a gun to my head." But it could've been. It was that close...
The rest of the press ignored the flap at the time because Biden was viewed as having little chance of ending up on the Democratic presidential ticket. But even after Biden was selected to be Obama's running mate last month, his claim to have been "shot at" drew no scrutiny from the same reporters who had savaged Clinton for making a similar claim that turned out to be false.
FOX News has been asking the Obama campaign for details of the alleged shooting in Iraq ever since Biden was tapped to be vice president. Biden campaign spokesman David Wade promised an answer last week, but failed to provide one. He...he...just can't talk about it.
Meanwhile, the gaffe-prone Biden has again raised eyebrows with another story about his exploits in war zones - this time in Afghanistan. Biden said he will grill Republican rival Sarah Palin in Thursday's vice presidential debate about "the superhighway of terror between Pakistan and Afghanistan where my helicopter was forced down. If you want to know where Al Qaeda lives, you want to know where Bin Laden is, come back to Afghanistan with me," Biden bragged to the National Guard Association. "Come back to the area where my helicopter was forced down, with a three-star general and three senators at 10,500 feet in the middle of those mountains. I can tell you where they are." They're everywhere! EVERYWHERE, I tells ya!!
But it turns out that inclement weather, not terrorists, prompted the chopper to land in an open field during Biden's visit to Afghanistan in February. Fighter jets kept watch overhead while a convoy of security vehicles was dispatched to retrieve Biden and fellow Senators Chuck Hagel and John Kerry. Sorry, senator. No limos are available.
NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!
"We were going to send Biden out to fight the Taliban with snowballs, but we didn't have to," joked Kerry, a Democrat, to the AP. "Other than getting a little cold, it was fine." Go get em, Joe. I'll cover you...
Biden never explicitly claimed his chopper had been forced down by terrorists. Nonetheless, John McCain spokesman Brian Rogers said Obama-Biden officials have been less than forthcoming about Biden's dramatic war stories. "They never explained Biden's helicopter story from last week - which is very similar to the story about getting 'shot at' in Baghdad," Rogers said. Yeah, McCain's just a big showoff, right, Joe?
A police officer didn't think much of a call to shoo off a bothersome "kitty cat" at a Casper home on Monday. But after the officer arrived at the home, he ran for cover after seeing a male mountain lion weighing 80 to 90 pounds.
Beverly Hood said she was inside when she first saw the mountain lion lying on her porch Monday. Hood said the lion hissed at her, but she wasn't scared.
She called 911, animal control and the Wyoming Game and Fish Department and reported that she had a bothersome "big cat." A dispatcher told Officer Mike Ableman that it was a house cat.
A game warden tranquilized the mountain lion and the animal was relocated.
#1
That officer was smart. A cat that size is perfectly capable of killing an adult human.
Some human will probably have trouble with that cat again. It's lack of fear is definitely a bad thing for both the cat and any person that it should happen to encounter.
#2
Reminds me of a story (possibly appocraphyl) that I read many years ago.
Seems there was this burglar who was climbing through a window. He saw a couple of cat's eyes and thinking that cats were better than dogs turned on his pocket flash light.
Seems the two cat's eyes that were a foot apart belonged to the same cat. The intended victim had a pet black panther.
The story came out when he proceeded to fall out of the window and got caught by the cops.
The Pentagon is inching closer to replacing the Humvee once called the "jeep on steroids" and currently the vehicular backbone of U.S. military operations in Iraq with the latest lightweight tactical vehicle under development.
The Defense Department next month is expected to select at least three of the seven competing teams to advance to the next phase of a multibillion-dollar competition to build a lighter, more agile tactical vehicle that can withstand roadside bombs and explosive devices.
Like the mine-resistant, ambush-protected vehicles, or MRAPs, urgently requested by the Pentagon more than a year ago, the lightweight vehicles will be equipped with V-shaped hulls to protect soldiers from the latest urban threats, while still providing maneuverability and speed.
Among the teams competing for a stake in the deal while mingling with military officials here Tuesday at a Marine Corps conference were: Northrop Grumman Corp. and partner Oshkosh Corp.; the U.S. subsidiary of BAE Systems PLC and its teammate Navistar International Corp.; General Dynamics Corp. and Humvee maker AM General; and Lockheed Martin Corp. and Armor Holdings.
The vehicles will feature technology to absorb shocks from blasts, travel 90 miles per hour, and be easier to transport into and out of battle zones compared with the heavier MRAPs. While no weight requirement has been set by the services, the vehicles must be light enough for a C-130J aircraft to transport two of them, according to industry officials.
#1
"a lighter, more agile tactical vehicle that can withstand roadside bombs"
A lighter weight vehicle with superior agility AND armor? What, no 100mpg carburetor? LOL With pixie dust specs like these, I boldly predict this development program will proceed for a bit...and get canceled.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/01/2008 12:33
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Minister, I think that "bit" you mention is the "bit" where a few people a) get very rich; and b) offered really high paying jobs in the civilian area.
#3
There are 3 serious teams with prototype versions of a Joint Light Tactical Vehicle in test by the US Army, a whittling down from a bunch of early stage proposals. Other teams are competing at the DOD level.
Blackwater and Raytheon are teamed - more here on their pitch to the special forces community.
Oshkosh & Northrup are teamed and building on their USMC vehicle experience, especially the TAK-4 suspension system they developed for the Marine Corps' Medium Tactical Vehicle Replacement (MTVR) trucks, which are designed for fast speed over uneven terrain and their electrical drive train.
Lots more to be found by googling. It's a major procurement and the various teams are focusing their offerings on different design strengths. DOD is inviting international participation along the lines of the JSF, which would enable interoperability with allies in the future (and shared development costs).
#5
"The HUMVEES will [still]be around for decades..."> THOUGHT SO.
"BEGINNING OF THE END" > Yessirree You Betcha, like the COLT .45, the JEEP per se, HUEY SLICKS AND COBRAS, Ma Deuce, M113's Series, .....@etc. FAMOUS LAST WORDS, FULL OF SOUND AND FURY, SIGNIFYING NUTHIN'.
#2
Hmm, I'll wait for the official report too. It could have been something unintentional or accidental. It's probably a very ambiguous headline on purpose.
#6
Anyone around here from the Dayton area? Any 'seething' going on?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/01/2008 14:53
Comments ||
Top||
#7
The Dayton paper has a linked article saying a can of pepper spray was subsequently found near the mosque. But I was under the impression that pepper spray is pretty durable on the skin (certainly that's my own experience when cooking with capsicum [hot] peppers), and I find it a bit odd that chemical testing in response to the 911 call found no chemical or pepper spray residue on the child.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 17:33
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Not that I am cynical or anything (HA!), but am I the only one that this may have been an inside job to gain sympathy?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/01/2008 17:45
Comments ||
Top||
#11
"My words can't keep them safe from what is nothing less than terrorism, American style"
As opposed to normal BOOM type of terrorism that they are used to? These are not actions I would condone, but Dayton has fairly high crime rate, making this seem tame in comparison (no booms just a bang every now and then).
The streets of Dayton were bogged down today with many people seething. Oh wait, that is because of major road construction. Move along, typical day, nothing to see here.
Even if it was some non-muslim jerk it seems a stretch to blame t on the "Obsession" Dvd. Could have been something that happened back in 2001 for all we know.
A running cliché of the political left and the press corps these days is that our current financial problems all flow from Congress's 1999 decision to repeal the Glass-Steagall Act of 1933 that separated commercial and investment banking. Barack Obama has been selling this line every day. Bill Clinton signed that "deregulation" bill into law, and he knows better.
In BusinessWeek.com, Maria Bartiromo reports that she asked the former President last week whether he regretted signing that legislation. Mr. Clinton's reply: "No, because it wasn't a complete deregulation at all. We still have heavy regulations and insurance on bank deposits, requirements on banks for capital and for disclosure. I thought at the time that it might lead to more stable investments and a reduced pressure on Wall Street to produce quarterly profits that were always bigger than the previous quarter.
"But I have really thought about this a lot. I don't see that signing that bill had anything to do with the current crisis. Indeed, one of the things that has helped stabilize the current situation as much as it has is the purchase of Merrill Lynch by Bank of America, which was much smoother than it would have been if I hadn't signed that bill."
One of the writers of that legislation was then-Senator Phil Gramm, who is now advising John McCain, and who Mr. Obama described last week as "the architect in the United States Senate of the deregulatory steps that helped cause this mess." Ms. Bartiromo asked Mr. Clinton if he felt Mr. Gramm had sold him "a bill of goods"?
Mr. Clinton: "Not on this bill I don't think he did. You know, Phil Gramm and I disagreed on a lot of things, but he can't possibly be wrong about everything. On the Glass-Steagall thing, like I said, if you could demonstrate to me that it was a mistake, I'd be glad to look at the evidence.
"But I can't blame [the Republicans]. This wasn't something they forced me into. I really believed that given the level of oversight of banks and their ability to have more patient capital, if you made it possible for [commercial banks] to go into the investment banking business as Continental European investment banks could always do, that it might give us a more stable source of long-term investment."
We agree that Mr. Clinton isn't wrong about everything. The Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act passed the Senate on a 90-8 vote, including 38 Democrats and such notable Obama supporters as Chuck Schumer, John Kerry, Chris Dodd, John Edwards, Dick Durbin, Tom Daschle -- oh, and Joe Biden. Mr. Schumer was especially fulsome in his endorsement.
As for the sins of "deregulation" more broadly, this is a political fairy tale. The least regulated of our financial institutions -- hedge funds -- have posed the least systemic risks in the current panic. The big investment banks that got into the most trouble could have made the same mortgage investments before 1999 as they did afterwards. One of their problems was that Lehman Brothers and Bear Stearns weren't diversified enough. They prospered for years through direct lending and high leverage via the likes of asset-backed securities without accepting commercial deposits. But when the panic hit, this meant they lacked an adequate capital cushion to absorb losses.
Meanwhile, commercial banks that had heavier capital requirements were struggling to compete with the Wall Street giants throughout the 1990s. Some of the deposit-taking banks that were allowed to diversify after 1999, such as J.P. Morgan and Bank of America, are now in a stronger position to withstand the current turmoil. They have been able to help stabilize the financial system through acquisitions of Bear Stearns, Washington Mutual, Merrill Lynch and Countrywide Financial.
Mr. Obama's "deregulation" trope may be good politics, but it's bad history and is dangerous if he really believes it. The U.S. is going to need a stable, innovative financial system after this panic ends, and we won't get that if Mr. Obama and his media chorus think the answer is to return to Depression-era rules amid global financial competition. Perhaps the Senator should ask the former President for a briefing.
#1
Geez, the left has really declared war on their once "golden boy". I kinda feel sorry for the guy sometimes. Not sorry enough to vote for his wife, but in retrospect, he wasn't near as far left as the new bunch that's running around.
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and her fellow Democrats, acting last week behind closed doors, cobbled together a temporary spending bill to keep the federal government running past Oct. 1st. The continuing resolution was needed because Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid simply have not done their jobs.
The 2008 budget year ended yesterday, but Congress hasn't approved a single one of a dozen annual appropriations bills needed to keep the federal government functioning on a day-to-day basis. Hence the $630 billion stop-gap measure, nearly the size of the failed Wall Street bailout. It passed the House on a 370-68 vote even though, as Rep. Jerry Lewis, R-Calif., candidly admitted, "very few people have any idea what's in it." Cornered House members had less than 24 hours to review the 357-page bill and 752 pages of accompanying material before being forced to either pass it - or shut down most of the federal government today.
One thing the continuing resolution is full of is earmarks, none of which were debated or voted on in public. The House Budget Committee's final tally is 2,760 earmarks totaling $19.1 billion (including presidential requests). None were publicly vetted through the regular legislative process or even posted on the committee's web site prior to the vote. And, since this temporary spending bill expires in five months, the whole dysfunctional process will begin anew in March unless theres a major shakeup of Congress in November.
House Appropriations Committee chairman David Obey, D-WI, who helped Pelosi craft the earmark-stuffed bill, admitted that the Democratic leadership deliberately decided to "kick the can down the road" and wait for a new president who presumably won't veto future earmark-laden legislation. This may be a good partisan strategy to protect the special interest recipients of all that pork, but Pelosi & Co. were elected to protect the people who pay the bills.
Obey defended the Democrats' lack of transparency, saying "you're damn right it has [been secretive] because if it's done in public, it would never get done. Ah, those pesky voters who expect to see what their representatives are doing! Obey thus abandoned any further pretense that he, Pelosi and their fellow Democrats meant it in 2006 when they promised to "drain the swamp" of political corruption. So in the middle of the worst financial crisis since the Great Depression, the Favor Factory is still working three shifts and earmarks are flying out the window as fast as ever, taxpayers be damned.
Israel has asked to buy up to 75 F-35 Joint Strike Fighters in a deal worth as much as $15.2 billion if all options are exercised, the Pentagon said Sept. 30.
The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale initially would be for 25 JSFs designed for conventional take offs and landings. The Defense Security Cooperation Agency said the sale initially would be for 25 fighters designed for conventional take off and landing.
But Israel would have the option of buying another 50 of the aircraft, either designed for conventional take off and landing or for short take off and vertical landing, the agency said.
"The total value, if all options are exercised, could be as high as 15.2 billion dollars," it said in a statement.
The F-35 is a stealthy new multi-role fighter built by Lockheed Martin that is intended to replace the F-16.
Israeli officials have said they plan to buy 100 fighters over the next decade.
It was unclear how soon delivery of the aircraft might begin.
The DSCA disclosed the proposed sale in a notification to Congress, which has 30 days to raise any objections to the sale. A deal would then have to be concluded with the Israelis.
"It is vital to the U.S. national interest to assist Israel to develop and maintain a strong and ready self-defense capability. This proposed sale is consistent with those objectives," the DSCA said.
"Israel needs these aircraft to augment its present operational inventory and to enhance its air-to-air and air-to-ground self-defense capability," it said
Excessive force in the apprehension of the Blues Brothers Somali pirates has been approved...
NAIROBI (Reuters) - Somali authorities have given Russia's navy the go-ahead to use force against pirates holding a Ukrainian ship hijacked with 33 tanks on board, a maritime official said on Wednesday. Russia has sent a warship, but it has yet to arrive off lawless Somalia, where gunmen demanding $20 million seized the MV Faina last week. U.S. naval ships are watching the vessel, hijacked near one of the world's busiest shipping routes.
"The Somali government has given permission to the Russian navy to enter Somali waters and use force," said Andrew Mwangura, an official of the Mombasa-based East African Seafarers Assistance Program. "On behalf of the seafarers' families, we are requesting them not to use force because it will put the men in danger."
The crew of 20 are mostly Ukrainians, but include two Russians. Another Russian died of illness after the hijacking.
Germany announced on Wednesday it would provide a frigate for an EU naval task force comprised of three frigates, a supply ship and three maritime surveillance ships to fight piracy off the African coast. Twice this year, French commandoes have stormed hijacked yachts, rescued captured French nationals and taken pirates away for prosecution.
#1
requesting them not to use force because it will put the men in danger."
Which men? The crew? They're already in danger, witness the death of one of them. The pirates? I should hope they're in danger; I'd hang any I caught alive by the end of the day.
#3
MOSCOW, October 1 (RIA Novosti) - The Russian Navy said Wednesday that no force would be used against pirates who seized a Ukrainian ship off the Somali coast last week, a Navy spokesman said. "The issues of releasing the ship and the crew will be resolved in line with international practice. The use of force is clearly an extreme measure as it could threaten the lives of the multinational crew," Capt. 1st Rank Igor Dygalo told RIA Novosti.
The pirates, who are demanding $20 million for the release of the ship, said earlier they would kill a hostage if an attempt was made to free the hostages by force. Among the hostages are three Russians, 17 Ukrainians and one Latvian. The ship's captain, Russian Vladimir Kolobkov, earlier died of a heart attack. Three pirates were killed in a shootout onboard, media reported, adding that none of the ship's crew was injured during the shootout.
Russia sent the Neustrashimy (Fearless) warship to the region on Saturday, but the Russian Navy said the decision had been made long before the seizure of the Faina. "The Russian Navy has repeatedly maintained that the goal for the Neustrashimy is to arrive in Somalia and protect Russian vessels for an indefinite period of time in areas dangerous for pirate attacks," Dygalo said.
Earlier Wednesday, Somali Ambassador to Russia Mohamed Handule said his country's President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed had authorized Russia's military to fight pirates off Somalia's coast and on land. "This permission allows the warship to use the whole range of the weapons on board," a Navy official said.
#8
Russia can sometimes do revenge well. After some Americans had been kidnapped in Lebanon, the kidnappers got the bright idea to kidnap some Russians.
The Russians counter-kidnapped their spiritual leader, and FedEx'ed a few of his body parts to them, asking where they should send the rest.
They not only released the Russians hostages, but drove them to the Russian embassy, begging them to ask their government to not mutilate their spiritual leader any more.
For once, I appreciated the Russian way of doing business.
#9
Actually, I think the Somali "government" is giving everybody permission to blast away...
MOGADISHU, Somalia (AP) Somalia will allow foreign powers to use force if necessary against pirates who are holding a ship loaded with tanks for US$20 million ransom, raising the stakes for bandits who are facing off against the United States and soon Moscow on the high seas.
And at least eight European Union countries want to join an international operation to protect shipping from pirates off Somali, according to France's defense minister.
"The international community has permission to fight with the pirates," Mohammed Jammer Ali, the Somali Foreign Ministry's acting permanent director, told The Associated Press on Wednesday.
Somalia's president, Abdullahi Yusuf, also urged foreign nations to help Somalis fight piracy. "The government has lost patience and now wants to fight pirates with the help of the international community," he said Wednesday in a radio address.
#10
Why would the US launch a rescue? No American ships have been hijacked and, as far as I know, no US crewman held hostage. The only US interest is to see that these weapons are not sold to the islamists. No need for billion $ destoyers racing around after every distress call from tramp steamers.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 17:18
Comments ||
Top||
#11
Wile E. Coyote mental moment: Russian ship on one side, US ship on the other; both lobbed shells at pirate held boat, both were too high. fast forward to only one boat left (hint: it ain't the Russians or the US)
sorry; this tragic comedy has just got to end in no good.
Yes, the crew. I highly doubt that the East African Seafarers Assistance Program would be pleading for the pirates.
Why would the US launch a rescue?
Practice? To set an example? Because perhaps it may be less expensive in blood and treasure to do something in the near future than have to deal with it later?
No need for billion $ destoyers racing around after every distress call from tramp steamers.
Wrong.
One, this is a unique situation.
Two, it isn't a "tramp steamer".
Three, Alfred Thayer Mahan's treatise on seapower still has some relevancy.
#13
Practice? To set an example? ... less expensive
Practice what? Shouting "Full speed ahead!" and sailing in big ovals?
Example? Can you point out the examples the US Navy has made of these pirates? The bodies hanging from the yardarm? Bases burned? Just last week a US Navy ship was attacked. It fired warning shots and kept going. I can imagine the stories those pirates are telling their mates, "Holy crap, Achmed. The US Navy missed us by a mile. The infidels can't shoot worth a damn. Allah ackbar!".
Less expensive? Here's an idea. Call up a Somali bigwig and tell them that any American ship hijacked will result in the immediate destruction of their base/town and all their wealth and wives destroyed. Costs 50 cents a minute. I just saved the taxpayers $50 million/year per ship in operating costs and another excuse to build a billion dollar weapon to babysit barbarians.
One, this is a unique situation.
It's a hijacked ship, just like 30 other ships this year. The weapons cargo concerns us because it probably will be sold on to islamists? Is the Navy doing anything about that?
Two, it isn't a "tramp steamer".
It's a POS Motor Vessel that should be broken for scrap and couldn't in any way get certification to sail in our waters.
Mahan's treatise
We have zero obligation to defend the world's oceans. What we are doing is lowering the cost of business for America's competitors and shifting the burden onto American taxpayers. Extremely self defeating. Take care of our own and our good friends and the rest of the world can take care of their own. If you want reading material, read about empires and over extension. An good analogue in that part of the world is the Ottoman Empire.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 21:54
Comments ||
Top||
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi has directed nearly $100,000 from her political action committee to her husband's real estate and investment firm over the past decade, a practice of paying a spouse with political donations that she supported banning last year.
Financial Leasing Services Inc. (FLS), owned by Paul F. Pelosi, has received $99,000 in rent, utilities and accounting fees from the speaker's "PAC to the Future" over the PAC's nine-year history. The payments have quadrupled since Mr. Pelosi took over as treasurer of his wife's committee in 2007, Federal Election Commission records show. FLS is on track to take in $48,000 in payments this year alone - eight times as much as it received annually from 2000 to 2005, when the committee was run by another treasurer.
Lawmakers' frequent use of campaign donations to pay relatives emerged as an issue in the 2006 election campaigns, when the Jack Abramoff lobbying scandal gave Democrats fodder to criticize Republicans such as former House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Texas and Rep. John T. Doolittle of California for putting their wives on their campaign and PAC payrolls for fundraising work.
But it's different when Democrats do it. Really.
Last year, Mrs. Pelosi supported a bill that would have banned members of Congress from putting spouses on their campaign staffs. The bill - which passed the House in a voice vote but did not get out of a Senate committee - banned not only direct payments by congressional campaign committees and PACs to spouses for services including consulting and fundraising, but also "indirect compensation," such as payments to companies that employ spouses.
"Democrats are committed to reforming the way Washington does business," Mrs. Pelosi said in a press release at the time. "Congressman [Adam] Schiff's bill will help us accomplish that goal by increasing transparency in election campaigns and preventing the misuse of funds."
Last week, Mrs. Pelosi's office said the payments to her husband's firm were perfectly legal, insisting she is compensating her husband at fair market value for the work his firm has performed for the PAC. But ethical watchdogs said the arrangement sends the wrong message.
"It's problematic," said Melanie Sloan, executive director of the Citizens for Responsibility and Ethics in Washington (CREW), a nonprofit ethics and watchdog group. "From what I understand, Mr. Pelosi doesn't need the money, but this isn't the issue. ... As speaker of the House, it sends the wrong message. She shouldn't be putting family members on the payroll."
A senior adviser to Mrs. Pelosi described the payments to FLS as "business expenses."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008
09:43 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This should be illegal and she should be jailed for it.
#4
Good looks will only go so far. Somewhere there is a man are quite possibly as many as 300,000,000 people who are sick and tired of putting up with her kak.
I confirmed for us here on GretaWire: the McCain campaign did NOT know about Gwen Ifill's book (I think I told them when I made my efforts - emails about midnight - to find out!) I am stunned....the campaign (actually both) should have been told before the campaign agreed to have her moderate. It simply is not fair - in law, this would create a mistrial.
I'm betting the Obama campaign knew ...
Addendum at 12:40 CDT: another long piece on this from WND.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008
09:41 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Par for the course, I'm sure dems wouldn't see it as a conflict of interest. Cause it doesn't conflict with their interests.
#2
I'm about done with this whole charade. McCain doesn't represent me; Biden represents everything I'm against. Teleprompter Barry is the answer to all of 'black' America's issues (oh, and watch the inner cities erupt if his 'holiness' should lose). Now a biased, agenda driven, 'smile hiding her anger' black PBS hack is to be the moderator for the debate. Sheesh. I just want to move to Alaska, ask Sarah and Todd out to dinner and get rip roaring drunk.
Posted by: Total War ||
10/01/2008 12:41
Comments ||
Top||
#3
I watched Palin's acceptance speech on the local PBS channel. All the NPR commentators appeared shell-shocked. Ifill, in particular, looked liked she had just eaten worms.
#4
OS is right. The media in this country needs to be brought down. They don't even pretend to be unbias anymore.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 14:02
Comments ||
Top||
#5
Of course the Obama campaign knew. The question in my mind is how did the McCain camp not know? Who the hell is running things over there? Have they ever heard of Google? They didn't think to look into the moderator until GSV inquired about it? As a McCain supporter, I'm embarrassed with the poor job they seem to be doing right now. They should have been on top of this before it got to this point as I'm afraid it will only make the campaign look more incompetent now.
STOCKHOLM, Sweden (AP) - Bad news for American writers hoping for a Nobel Prize next week: the top member of the award jury believes the United States is too insular and ignorant to compete with Europe when it comes to great writing.
Counters the head of the U.S. National Book Foundation: "Put him in touch with me, and I'll send him a reading list."
As the Swedish Academy enters final deliberations for this year's award, permanent secretary Horace Engdahl said it's no coincidence that most winners are European.
Continued on Page 49
#2
I wouldn't wipe my ass with many of the books that they call "literature". Political propaganda is a better word for it. The Nobel prize has the stain of elitism upon it.
#5
There was that really anti-American Indian woman, Cornsilk Blondie...Aryat something might be her name. Writes as if she's up for a BA in creative writing, and it's her seniour thesis.
#7
There was that really anti-American Indian woman, Cornsilk Blondie...Aryat something might be her name. Writes as if she's up for a BA in creative writing, and it's her senior thesis.
That's the core of being successful at winning a Nobel trailing wife.
Confess how Coarse and Unsophisticated the USA is. Add to your critique at least a liter of Snotty Snobbery illustrating how illiterate and Uncultured the Fat-Arsed Americans are.
In other werds grovel and apologize to the elite EYourpeans about breathing their air.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 11:53
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Yeah, RD. But then you could try a more practical approach and write something that people actually wanna read enough to plunk down a few bucks for it.
A reader is thinking ahead to the second and third presidential debates. In the first debate, he says, how many times did Obama try to tie McCain to President Bush? About a million? McCain needs to answer that. And he suggests that McCain answer as follows:
Say what you will about President Bush, senator, but he is the twice-elected president of the United States and a good and honorable man. I would rather be associated with him than with Billy Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, and Tony Rezko, to begin with.
My reader says this would be a showstopper and a debate clincher. I dont know about that, but I like it . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
10/01/2008
08:52 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
A one-time admirer of Osama bin Laden who plotted a hand-grenade attack at a mall jammed with Christmas shoppers and tried to trade two stereo speakers for the weapons was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday.
Derrick Shareef of Rockford said he once admired bin Laden as a sheik and a scholar but has changed his views and opposes violence. "I am not an extremist," said Shareef, who was sentenced on his 24th birthday.
U.S. District Judge David H. Coar said he hopes Shareef has changed but that a long sentence still was warranted to discourage others who might plan similar attacks. He could have given Shareef life in prison. "Almost every defendant who appears in this court says, 'I have now seen the light and if you just give me another chance it won't happen again,'" Coar told Shareef. "Some of these are people with criminal records as long as my arm."
Shareef was arrested Dec. 6, 2006, in a Rockford parking lot after he offered an undercover FBI agent two stereo speakers for four hand grenades and a 9 mm pistol. Agents said Shareef's plan was to detonate the grenades in garbage cans in the big Cherryvale Mall on Dec. 22 the Friday before Christmas. The blasts were expected to spray the mall with lethal shrapnel, the agents said. "There is absolutely no question that he intended to carry this out it would have killed many innocent people," prosecutor Sergio Acosta said.
Shareef's attorney Donald Young, accompanied by Shareef's mother, declined to comment. In an impassioned brief filed with the court, Young had portrayed Shareef as a confused young man who had grown up in a fatherless home and fallen under the sway of the informant, a onetime member of Chicago's big, drug-selling Four Corner Hustlers street gang.
Acosta, however, said that before Shareef ever met the informant he lived for a time in Phoenix with a man later convicted of aiding terrorists and espionage. Before his arrest, Shareef had been watching violent videos and jihad training videos, Acosta said. "So far as the informant leading him astray, the man (Shareef) was a ticking time bomb," Acosta told the court.
Young said Shareef now opposes violent jihad and has adopted more positive Muslim beliefs. He said Shareef has emerged as the imam of the Metropolitan Correctional Center, the federal jail where he is being held.
#1
"Almost every defendant who appears in this court says, 'I have now seen the light and if you just give me another chance it won't happen again,'" Coar told Shareef.
They're only sorry they got caught.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:19
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Young had portrayed Shareef as a confused young man who had grown up in a fatherless home and fallen under the sway of the informant, a onetime member of Chicago's big, drug-selling Four Corner Hustlers street gang.
Obviously, not his fault. Let this confused young man go and I'm sure he will become the Pillar of the Community he strives to be.
Oh, wait. 35 years. Nevermind...
#5
i was thinking the same thing about putting the grenades in trashcans. Guess it is good that they brainwash them into if=diocy most of the time before use
So get ready to cough it up, boys. Or have your EU buddies cough it up for you...
The Palestine Liberation Organization cannot win dismissal of a lawsuit by victims of bombings in Israel by claiming the attacks were acts of war rather than terrorism, a judge ruled Tuesday.
US District Judge George Daniels said the 2004 lawsuit on behalf of victims and their families can proceed toward trial. It seeks up to $3 billion in damages from attacks between January 2001 and February 2004. The lawsuit alleges that the PLO carried out the attacks to pressure the United States and Israel to submit to its demands and to terrorize, intimidate and coerce the civilian population of Israel into acquiescing to its political goals.
Daniels rejected the PLO's argument that two machine-gun attacks and five bombings were acts of war. The Jerusalem-area incidents killed 33 people and wounded hundreds, including scores of US citizens. Daniels said the attacks targeted public places - not military or government personnel or interests. Two bombings were on downtown streets; others occurred at a crowded bus stop, a cafeteria at the Hebrew University and a passenger-filled civilian bus. The use of bombs in these circumstances indicates an intent "to cause far-reaching devastation upon the masses," the Manhattan judge said, with a "merciless capability of indiscriminately killing and maiming untold numbers in heavily populated civilian areas." Such attacks "upon non-combative civilians, who were allegedly simply going about their everyday lives, do not constitute acts of war," he said. Daniels also said the violence meets the legal definition of "international terrorism."
The judge also rejected arguments that the PLO was entitled to sovereign immunity or that the lawsuit must be brought in Israel rather than the United States. It was brought under the Antiterrorism Act of 1991, which provides US residents, their survivors and heirs civil remedies in US courts if they are injured by international terrorism.
Lawyers on both sides did not immediately return telephone messages for comment. I'd get the money up front, boys, or you'll end being the ones suing them.
In the midst of a rather evenhanded editorial on the events of last Monday:
. . . Pelosi deserves no praise for her leadership on Monday. Even stipulating that we are in the closing weeks of one of the most important political campaigns in a generation, her inability to rise above the tendency to score political points was inexcusable. Monday's vote was a moment to set aside those instincts and talk about the package as an example of Washington's ability to work cooperatively in a time of crisis.
Instead, Pelosi accused Bush of economic policies that create "budgetary recklessness" and "an anything-goes mentality." And she closed with a partisan call to arms. "In the new year, with a new Congress and a new president," she said, "we will break free with a failed past and take America in a new direction to a better future." . . . But for the next president and the next Congress, whatever its makeup, Monday's performance should be looked at as an example of what it was, a performance designed to undermine the public's confidence in its elected leadership.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/01/2008
08:36 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
It was a purposeful deal buster, just like it was supposed to be.
#2
Let me get this right. When the Donks retook control of Congress in '06 after losing it in the mid 90s, they put back in place the same mafia leadership that occupied the leadership positions prior to the fall and you expected different results? There was a reason they lost power before. That hasn't changed one bit. Franks, Rangel, Pelosi, what's changed? [even the gullibility of the American public remains the same until it hits home again].
#3
Nancy Pelosi is a waste of oxygen. But ultimately I am glad the bailout failed. It's a bad move. There's only a handful of economists who think it is a good idea versus legions who say it is a bad idea. It's nice to see some Republicans actually be Conservative. Too bad they'll probably get that crap passed this time.
#4
That version of the bailout failed, AllahHateMe. They're supposed to vote on the next version tonight after three stars appear in the heavens, presumably to make sure Senator Lieberman was there.
#3
For those who don't speak french, it's an actual NEOCON french blog, not quite my cup of tea, but very, very odd in France, with "neocon" being a quasi-insult here... and even so at the right, where very few self-identify with neocons (the only two major exceptions I can think of are Guy Millières and Yves Roucaute, who are not "liked" by the mainstream of the french right, which is either crypto-socialists and/or gaullists, think sarko, or a fringe of wingnuts who hates America, capitalism, free-markets, love russia, idolize putin,...).
#1
Again, POST-"8-8-8"/GEORGIA the US is now ina war agz Radicla Islamism for the control and domin of ASIA and any local enclaves/littorals. although Islamist destabilizations will still occur outside of same in Euro, Africa, etal. *2008 -2012 [2016] POST-DUBYA PERIOD > THE ASIAN MAINLAND includ "NEAR-ABROAD" PERIPHER AREAS IS THE PRIMARY OR PRIORITY FRONT RIGHT NOW FOR THE MILITANTS-TERRORISTS AND ALIGNED [Commies-Anarchists], NOT THE OTHERS, ESPEC AS IRAN NUCLEARIZES.
ASIA =
* Large historically or mostly MUSLIM REGIONS-STATES. Read - MANPOWER + SYMPATHETIC GOVTS.
* Leads THIRD WORLD in MULTI-STATE DESIRE FOR INDIGENOUS NUCLEARIZATION ["Energy"}.
* NUCLEAR RUSSIA = potens MUSLIM-MAJORITY before or by 2050 [2050-2100].
* NUCLEAR CHINA = Muslim Uighurs + major PLA Mil-NucBases.
* NUCLEAR INDIA.
Also, as per ANTI-US/WESTERN OWG JIHAD > NUCLEAR ISLAMISM + ELIMINATION OF RUSSIA, CHINA, + INDIA, etal. > = LEAVES ONLY THE US + NATO [read - FUTURE EURABIA?] TO BE MILITARILY, POLITICALLY, ANDOR DEMOGRAPHICALLY SUBORNED OR DESTROYED.
We Americans are accustomed to regarding political rhetoric much as Dr. Johnson did epitaphs. "They are not," he wrote, "given under oath." In other words, we don't expect public men or women to speak the truth from public platforms. When it comes to our own parochial affairs, there's probably a bit of weary realism in that. However, this casual expectation of rhetorical hypocrisy has inhibited from the start our ability to recognize and deal with the threat posed by Islamist radicalism.
Time and again, the spokesmen for these movements have told the world precisely what they intend. Time and again, the scant handful of Americans who bothered to take notice have dismissed what was said as the product of political alienation, as the consequence of economic marginalization, as a hangover of post-colonial insecurity or as tactical bluster.
No. These people mean exactly what they say, and they mean it for precisely the reasons they say they do. They genuinely believe in the extreme and often heretical variants of Islam to which they cleave, that faith guides their actions, and their public statements are expressions of that faith.
Time and again, though, we willfully have blinded ourselves to this fact, partly because modern minds balk at accepting what is essentially medieval reasoning at face value, and partly because it's the conveniently amicable thing do to. That, plus the simultaneity of a national election and Wall Street crisis, account in large part for the silence that greeted last week's abominable speech by the Iranian president, Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, at the United Nations. In the course of a characteristically rambling diatribe, Ahmadinejad, one of the world's great public anti-Semites, had this to say:
"The dignity, integrity and rights of the American and European people are being played with by a small but deceitful number of people called Zionists. Although they are a minuscule minority, they have been dominating an important portion of the financial and monetary centers as well as the political decision-making centers of some European countries and the U.S. in a deceitful, complex and furtive manner. It is deeply disastrous to witness that some presidential or premier nominees in some big countries have to visit these people, take part in their gatherings, swear their allegiance and commitment to their interests in order to attain financial or media support.
"This means that the great people of America and various nations of Europe need to obey the demands and wishes of a small number of acquisitive and invasive people. These nations are spending their dignity and resources on the crimes and occupations and the threats of the Zionist network against their will."
There's a temptation to dismiss all this as simply "Protocols of the Elders of Zion" nonsense. But consider this other statement of Ahmadinejad's, made in a TV address in 2006: "Zionists and their protectors are the most detested people in all of humanity, and the hatred is increasing every day. ... The worse their crimes, the quicker they will fall." Or perhaps this, from 2005: "Israel must be wiped off the map. ... The establishment of a Zionist regime was a move by the world oppressor against the Islamic world." By "world oppressor," Ahmadinejad means the United States. He happens to belong to a Shiite sect that believes it can hasten the coming of the Mahdi, the Islamic savior, by the creation of chaos in the world. And like his brethren among the Sunni jihadists, he means what he says.
Mary Halbeck, one of the West's foremost scholars of jihadism and its religious origins, describes Islamist extremists as "committed to the destruction of the entire secular world because they believe this is a necessary first step to create an Islamic utopia on Earth." Their "view of the enemies of Islam means that their depiction in the Koran and hadith [commentaries on the Koran] is valid today in every detail. The Jews in particular have specific negative characteristics. ... They are notorious for their betrayal and treachery; they have incurred God's curse and wrath; they were changed into monkeys and pigs." This is what the men who brought the hell of 9/11 to America believed. This is what Ahmadinejad believes and what he simply awaits the opportunity to act on.
When the delegates to the U.N. General Assembly applauded Ahmadinejad's speech last week, and the American media passed over it in silence, this is the sentiment to which they gave their respective explicit and tacit approval. Shame on them; shame on us.
#3
It is wise to remember the paradox of Islam. In its founding, its main selling point was not religion, but that it was a better way of living, more civilized, than tribalism or other primitivism. And at the time, they were right.
However, the times changed, but Islam did not. Yet Muslims cannot bring themselves to face the obvious, that theirs is the primitive world to be overcome, and not the other way around.
This means that at the same time they are trying to advance what they think is civilization, they have become the barbarians they loathed, and fight only on behalf of destroying civilization.
Their old argument, that their way is better, is laughable, but the only argument they have. And this is obvious to them as well--that theirs is the inferior way, the primitive way.
The global banking system was gripped by a worsening crisis of confidence yesterday as the leaders of the US Congress struggled to salvage the administration's $700bn bail-out plan.
"Congress must act," said President George W. Bush, expressing disappointment the government's bill was thrown out the previous day. "The reality is that we are in an urgent situation, and the consequences will grow worse each day if we do not act."
With leaders of both parties pledging there would be legislation in Congress this week, senators were discussing bringing the bail-out plan before the upper house as early as tonight.
Although stock markets steadied after the savage sell-off on Monday night sparked by the failed vote, overnight interbank lending rates spiked to painfully high levels in the major currencies, with overnight dollar Libor leaping 4.3 percentage points to a seven-year high of 6.88 per cent.
The money market strains were exacerbated by the end of the financial quarter yesterday, a time when there is increased demand for funds and banks have to balance their books.
The language of bankers and analysts grew apocalyptic as they warned that the near total seizure gripping money markets could turn into widespread financial meltdown.
"This crisis of confidence seems grossly out of proportion with the albeit fragile fundamentals of the financial system and of the global economy," said Marco Annunziata, chief economist at UniCredit. "But it is now threatening to turn into a self-fulfilling run on the system which could trigger a global financial and economic meltdown."
Further signs of strain emerged in Europe when Dexia, the Belgian-French bank that specialises in local authority finance, received a 6.4bn ($9bn) cash injection from the Belgian, French and Luxembourg governments after its shares lost 30 per cent of their value on Monday.
Banks in Europe increasingly appeared to be conducting all money market operations through the European Central Bank as increased injections of funding were met with rapid increases in the amount of money banks were opting to put on deposit at the central bank. One senior liquidity manager at a large European bank said this was because almost no bank was willing to lend to any other.
That's the key evidence that that credit system is right on the edge of collapse, folks.
The 'system' is damaged but could function adequately - if the participants all had enough confidence to let it. That's what the bail-out is intended to do: the only reason to believe it could work is that it does not have to affect reality, just perception.
#2
increased injections of funding were met with rapid increases in the amount of money banks were opting to put on deposit at the central bank.
And this is the key reason the bailout will not work. I hate to go all Keynesian on you, but we are falling into a liquidity trap. Congress should instead be appropriating funds for major capital improvements, highways, nuclear power stations, etc., not rescuing the hos who got us into this mess. The capital gains and corporate income taxes should be repealed. We will need spending, not liquidity.
#3
There is a lot of anger about the bailout bill. I for one get tired of hearing that giant sucking sound that sucks taxpayer money into the Washington blackhole. Get rid of the lobbyists, graft, corruption, influence buying and pedaling, back-door deals, partisan politics, and insidious under-the table vote trolling. Do something about manufacturing, jobs, OUTSOURCING OF JOBS, energy, give-away programs and WE MIGHT MORE WILLING TO LISTEN TO YOU WHEN YOU ASK FOR MORE, AND MORE MONEY.
#4
"Sow the wind, reap the whirlwind."--King Solomon
Everybody has goofed here: politicians, bankers, and the rest of us. The politicians are playing power games instead of leading. The bankers see money, not wisdom in using it. And for three generations the rest of us have had the attitude, "I want it now."
#6
overnight interbank lending rates spiked to painfully high levels in the major currencies, with overnight dollar Libor leaping 4.3 percentage points to a seven-year high of 6.88 per cent.
Kind of like an adjustable rate mortgage ratcheting up, eh?
#7
Much more than that. Overnight lending between banks is quite literally what makes access to credit of all kinds possible for most consumers and businesses. When it dries up, expect an accelerating economic downturn to follow.
#8
Out of curiosity, what do all the banks decide to do with the money they aren't using to lend to each other anymore?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/01/2008 11:57
Comments ||
Top||
#9
They hold onto it in less productive and risk averse ways. They don't lend it out much, and certainly not to the people who are most likely to use it in economically productive ways. At best they deposit it with their national bank or the European Central Bank.
That means a substantial reduction in the 'velocity' of the money supply, i.e. how often a dollar or euro is traded for goods or services in a given year. Low velocity = low economic activity/productivity = recession or depression.
The effect starts slowly but then snowballs. That's why you can't look at the stock market today and decide things are just hunky dory out there.
Credit card and mortgage rates will go up - and go up much higher than they would otherwise have done. Businesses will find it hard to finance supply purchases and new hires - or worse, find themselves unable to collect what's owed them by other businesses on time (or at all) and unable to get a bridge loan. That means layoffs and bankruptcies. Consumers will spend less and as a result stores etc. will lay off workers. etc etc
This is the cascade of accelerating failures that we will either slow down now or lose control of quickly.
#10
The Freddy Krueger bailout bill moves through the Senate gaining more pork and earmarks.
$875 Billion and growing.
Really a bill onto itself, the mental health parity measure has been a bipartisan priority for top lawmakers in both chambers but has stalled because of disagreements again over how to pay for its estimated $3.8 billion five-year cost. In the current climate, that seems to be no longer a stumbling block, and if the Treasury plan becomes law, it will also.
The rural school aid is smaller about $3.3 billion over the next five years but has great importance for many Western communities and could be important then in the House.
Congressional Budget Office estimates indicate that the net impact will be to add almost $105 billion to an already large deficit next year, and fiscal conservatives will feel they are being straight-armed by the Senate which has refused to do more to offset the costs. Yahoo News at:
#11
I THINK Bush has the balls to veto it if it's too pork laden.
(I sincerely hope so)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 16:52
Comments ||
Top||
#12
RJ- I sincerely doubt it; the way he has been groveling this past week, it would not surprise me to see him at the table in the House or Senate ( whichever one finally approves the latest version last) and actually snatch it away and sign it before the previous signature is dry.
Excerpt:
But now it will get worse, as NATO announced a Winter offensive against the Taliban, taking advantage of the snow, bad weather and lack of mobility the Afghans suffer then. NATO has helicopters and air power, and has increasingly used this edge during the Winter.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008
06:44 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
1/ Colder air is thicker air, so the heliopters will work better.
2/ Talibunnies will stand out more against the cold background.
#2
2/ Talibunnies will stand out more against the cold background.
only while they're alive. Heh
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/01/2008 8:21
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Reminds me of the scene on the Unforgiven, where they are talking about how they'd rather be shot when it was warm. Cause everything hurts worse when its cold, like when its cold outside and you hit your thumb with a hammer, it hurts more.
#6
Betcha the Canucks are trembling in their mukluks.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 10:02
Comments ||
Top||
#7
It's how the American Army took the war to the plains Indians. It was hard and tough campaigning in the winter, nearly impossible, but still executed because the natives couldn't move without risking just as deadly exposure to the elements. Leverage your advantage over your opponent's disadvantage.
#12
iblis, the Halliburton Weather Control Division isn't stupid. They are holding off global warming in Afghanistan so that Bush can kill more innocent bunnies and fluffy ducks.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
10/01/2008 17:42
Comments ||
Top||
#13
Thank goodness the fuzzy kitties have gone undetected.
Posted by: Steven ||
10/01/2008 23:35
Comments ||
Top||
Three Special Forces soldiers were severely wounded in a fierce gunfight by suspected terrorists militants who ambushed their vehicle from both sides of the road in Bacho district. The attack came as the army pickup transporting six Special Forces soldiers entered Ban Champakor in Narathiwt's Bacho district. Attackers used M16 and AK47 from both sides of the road, leaving the vehicle riddled with bullets. They retreated back into the jungle area after exchanging fire for about five minutes, authorities said.
In Bangkok, Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat announced a plan to visit the restive south where more than 3,400 people have been killed since January 2004. Somchai did not give exact date but added that the visit will be made in the coming days. Speaking to reporters on Wednesday, Somchai said he was concerned with the situation in the deep South and added that he would personally oversee handling of the unrest. "I have to take responsibility of this southern issue by myself as the officials in the area are already working to full capacity," he said.
Meanwhile, in Yala's Yaha district, gunmen shot dead two young men Tuesday evening, The two were identified as Bukari Daeboh, 25, and Sudeng Sungaibadu, 23. Police found shotgun shells and a metal casing of an AK47 round near the two victims. Separately, in the same district, Darululome Nibongbaru private Islamic school came under arson attack Tuesday evening. Firemen rushed to the site and succeeded in containing the fire from spreading to the rest of the building.
Three men including one suspected terrorist militant were shot dead in Thailand's violent south, police said on Wednesday. Two Muslim villagers, aged 26 and 25, were killed in separate drive-by shootings in Yala province late Tuesday.
In a third incident the same evening, some 50 police and military forces stormed a house in Narathiwat province where they said three militants were staying. After sporadic gunfire, a 23-year-old Muslim local villager was shot dead. Police said he was a suspect in an earlier terrorist separatist bombing. Authorities said a 20-year-old was arrested at the scene.
I don't believe that there is any overlap in these two stories, but I'm not sure with the drive-by shootings.
#1
My fantasy is that Palin in the debate who the MSM consider an unsophisticated dunderhead from the sticks is nice during the debate but at the end she says: "Joe, here are your testicles back."
#2
My fantasy is that Palin in the debate who the MSM consider an unsophisticated dunderhead from the sticks is nice during the debate but at the end she says: "Joe, here are your testicles back."
Not with Gwen Ifill as moderator. She's so far in the tank for Obama (book deal, being one aspect), it's pathetic. Her GOP Convention post-Palin speech commentary was very indicative of where she's at politically.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/01/2008 9:51
Comments ||
Top||
#3
There is no impartiality, anywhere.
The only difference between them and me, is that I will accept the will of the majority and not be a crying little bitch about who wins.
#5
As much as I like Palin, her performance during her two interviews were less then stunning. I want more from her but in reality I'm not expecting more. I think she will hold the line during the debate but will not propel forward. All Biden has to do is hold steady. They are ahead in the polls in every way and McCain is running a craptastic campaign. His trip to DC last week backfired and made him look inept. I'm pissed that he is not taking off the gloves and getting down to brass tacks. He seems tired and just going through the motions.
Its going to be an interesting 4 years after the chosen one wins.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
10/01/2008 10:59
Comments ||
Top||
#6
We'll see. If past performance is an indicator, the Governor will be ok, even in a hostile environment. Apparently she did debates quite nicely when running for her current office. And it will be different for the honourable Senator Biden, who is used to being able to pose the gotcha questions, not having to answer in public, and with a limited time limit.
#8
I just came across this tidbit at the NPR website, swksvolFF: Rather than having the candidates engage each other, the debate will be set up more like a dual conversation with the moderator, PBS journalist Gwen Ifill.
#3
That was the very first thought that popped into my head grom.
THEY don't, the little people do, if you dig hard enough. Of course it will probably come at the cost of half the Royal Navy, but hey, when's the last time they really used it anyway?
#11
On a population basis, the UK is 1/5 the size of the US but Brown's bailout is 2.5 times the cost of the original $700 billion Paulson proposal here in the US (assuming the numbers came in at about that level).
On a per-person basis, Brown's bailout is 12.5 times more costly.
Not the bailout cost. I positively despise Gordon brown, but this won't cost 1.9 trillion (unless every UK bank goes bust, and then it will be academic).
#13
I read this as the PM is increasing the British equivalent of the FDIC's guarantee to £50,000. Not a bailout, but a move to calm retail depositors and prevent a run on banks.
Posted by: ed ||
10/01/2008 16:13
Comments ||
Top||
#14
Rumours the FDIC will have the power to borrow as much as needed from the treasury.
#15
IOW, High Muslim Birth Rate-Immigration + Bankrupt London Govt = Armed Forces equals BRITARABIA, LONDONISTAN, WHITEHALL CALIPHATE, etc.
Looks like those LONDON PRO-ISLAMIST ACTIVISTS are right on the money > THE BRITS ARE DOING MORE TO DAMAGE OR DESTROY THEMSELVES AND THEIR NATION THAN ANY ISLAMIST TERROR = INVADING MUSLIM ARMY EVER COULD.
#5
Must not have been a football game that night. Needed something to bring out the primal thuggery and hooliganism.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/01/2008 6:58
Comments ||
Top||
#6
Another manifestation of the utter moral bankruptcy of our society. And Britain's problem is that it is not Puritanism or Methodism that is rushing in to fill this vacuum but Islam.
#10
there were several groups of youths who ran from behind the cordon and looked like they were taking pictures with their mobile phones
What do you expect when you raise them in a culture devoid of values? Sadly, the answer to this nihilism is ignored in England: the church.
#12
People who make spectacles out of their suicides and - worse - disrupt the lives of others in doing so don't deserve much sympathy. Ask any train driver how they feel about jumpers on the line, for instance.
Nevertheless, the shouting minority are still a bunch of a***holes.
#13
I remeber watch something similar to this in person. I was in Denver on the 16th St mall when a woman was threatening to jump off a parking garage. The crowd was cheering her on. Definately not what she expected. Cops got to her in time though.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
10/01/2008 13:52
Comments ||
Top||
#15
Most of the time, suicides are looking for attention. Sometimes they really want to die, too, but in my admittedly limited experience the ones who really wanted to die just did it rather than drawing a crowd first.
She wasn't a jumper, but I ran a call one time where a women was on a pay phone with 911 threatening to shoot herself - something about a boyfriend problem. (Never got the complete story.) 2 cops were there trying to talk her out of the gun when she decides to put the gun to her left upper shoulder and pull the trigger. (I'm betting both cops had to change their drawers later. Considering the area, I'm surprised she didn't have an encouraging audience too. Probably the whole thing didn't take long enough to draw a crowd, and it was kinda cold to be outside besides.)
Why the left shoulder, you may ask? This is just a guess, of course, but she probably watched too many old movies and TV shows - the hero always gets shot through the left shoulder and it's always not serious and he always he goes right on doing his hero stuff, so getting shot in the left shoulder is obviously not only non-lethal but not even very painful, right?
Except back here in the real world, at a minimum it would puncture a lung and blow a big hole in your back. In her case, the .32 bullet deflected off her clavicle and bounced around inside her chest cavity somewhere. We got her to the hospital still alive, but she died on the operating table. And I think the most surprised person in the room was her.
While I feel sorry that anyone gets to the point where they think they want to die, it also makes me angry. It's a permanent solution to a temporary problem, and if they do succeed, it's their final act of control over those left behind.
Pfui.
And f*ck those assholes who cheered him on. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/01/2008 19:34
Comments ||
Top||
THREE death row Bali bombers today vowed there would be retribution if their executions went ahead.
Amrozi - who played a lead role in the 2002 Bali bombings that killed 202 people, including 88 Australians - also said he would carry out another bombing if given the chance.
Better execute him then. And execute whoever tries to exact retribution.
His comments came as people gathered in Bali to mark the third anniversary of the second bombings in 2005 that killed 20 people, including four Australians.
Amrozi remained defiant today, as he and his co-accused - his brother Mukhlas and Imam Samudra - were allowed out of their cells at their island prison off Central Java to mark the Islamic holiday Idul Fitri. "If it's true that there will be an execution, then all the people committing the execution will be condemned to die by God," Amrozi told journalists at the jail on Nusakambangan Island.
"Is anyone ready to die? Only God knows about that.
"If it's true that later on I will be executed, certainly there will be someone who will take revenge. I don't have to say who will take revenge."
Mukhlas also said "all the executors," including President Susilo Bambang Yudhoyono, would pay if the three bombers were put before a firing squad. "Execution is the biggest criminal act (possible), especially when it is applied to warriors like us," he said.
"All those who are involved in the execution will be condemned by God," he ranted, adding shouts of "God is great".
"The followers will take revenge actions, other warriors. If anyone kills us then there will be a (sic) revenge from all over the place.
"I've never regretted these bombings ... I will not ask for forgiveness from those infidels."
The three bombers last week reportedly said they were confident they would not be put to death this year. The Indonesian government halted plans for their executions out of respect for the holy Islamic fasting month, but is expected to resume preparations shortly.
The three men have exhausted all legitimate legal options. However, their lawyers have launched yet another action in Indonesia's Constitutional Court, arguing that execution by firing squad amounts to torture because they might not die immediately.
#1
These guys are real lions of islam, they have done nothing but cry about it since they were found guilty. Now they are down to baseless threats. I only wish I could supply the gun, I've got the perfect one for such an occasion.
#3
A worn out 45-70 that only generates abut 65% of the muzzle velocity that it should. But make sure you chew the bullet heads before you shoot them. Maybe dip them in Tabasco right before firing, and don't aim for the heart, aim for the stomach.
There is but one issue in the 2008 election. The economy. Or more to the point, the economic meltdown. Whoever wins this debate will win the election. Or perhaps more accurately, whoever loses this debate will lose the election. Period.
It is important to understand this for anyone trying not to lose this upcoming election. That would obstensibly include Arizona Senator John McCain. And it may not be as simple as what side of the Paulson Plan debate you are on. The housing-mortgage virus is eating up billions of dollars of wealth daily and this tends to irritate those who are losing the wealth. That would now include everyone in the country who owns any stock, mutual fund shares or real estate. In othe words, a large share of voters.
When folks are this angry, there is hell to pay and "hell to pay" includes figuring out who to blame. For all of McCain's wanting to stay "above the fray" and his too-clever-by-half comment that now is not the time to assign blame, he is not hearing the public. It is indeed time to assign blame. With this kind of financial destruction on the part of most American families, someone is going to get blamed. You can count on it.
Let me repeat. Someone will get blamed. You will either enter that debate or you will lose that debate. Period.
And short of properly assigning blame to the liberal policies and politicians who are responsible for this mess, the blame will autmatically fall to the current Presidential administation and by extension, his party. Right or wrong, that's how our politics play out. McCain simply has no choice now. He will start doing what he claims he loves to do related to government corruption -- naming names -- or he will be thrown on the ash heap of electoral shame alongside Bob Dole, George H. W. Bush and so on.
The good news for McCain, should he decide to grasp it, is that the party against which he is (supposed to be) running can easily be pegged with the lion's share of the blame regarding our economic meltdown. There is no doubt that liberal policies on energy and housing have combined to put the country in this situation, and only unwinding these policies will lead the nation out of this problem. Naming names properly will name a whole lot of folks with "D" beside their names.
Congress, of course, is now led by the very people who put us into this mess to begin with. If McCain thinks he can thread the needle in a bi-partisan fashion here, he is sadly mistaken. If he does not point out the facts, then his party will take the blame for and he will not win the election. It cannot happen. As far as he has run from President Bush, he will never get as far away from Bush as Obama can.
Bush has actually been on the right side of the energy production debate and the Fannie Mae-Freddie Mac regulation debate all along. The President has been a feckless advocate of the correct positions on these issues to be sure, but at least one can legitimately claim that the administration was intellectually correct on Fannie, Freddie and oil.
McCain himself eloquently and correctly pointed out problems with Fannie and Freddie back in 2005 and 2006, only to have the reforms he wanted defeated by Democrats in Congress. President Bush was with McCain on these issues. Obama meanwhile, garnering more Fannie Mae contributions in two years than all other senators not named Chris Dodd in the last nine, has been on the wrong side of these issues. This is a slam dunk waiting for McCain simply to take advantage of it.
Recently he has been out rambling on about government spending , CEO pay and earmarks. Yawn. None of this is pertient unless you point out that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were Democrat earmarks and that the worst CEO pay abuse in recent memory is Franklin Raines' incentive compensation from Fannie triggered by fraudulent accoutning. McCain did not bother to point any of that out of course. We must not "assign blame.'
The simple fact is this: if the Democrats do not get their deserved blame for this economic situation, Republicans will experience a bloodbath on Election Day. The way our elections work, it is up to McCain to make that happen. The fact that he seems not to understand it is why many conservatives loathed the idea of a McCain nomination to begin with.
It can be argued that if McCain will not assign blame, he will not win the White House. He says he wants to lead. That sometimes mean calling out friends and colleagues in the opposition.
We soon will see whether McCain has it in him to put his country ahead of his instinct to reach across the aisle. If he does not show this ability, he will never occupy the Oval Office.
#1
And the more general point that goes along with those made in this well done little essay: the detachment of responsibility from action, of record and accountability, will be almost complete. A very dangerous - not to mention infuriating and demoralizing - thing.
GOP failure in both energy and mortgage finance consisted of failing to block, or undo, Dem policies that have, indisputably, proven disastrous. That is one sort of failure.
But the donks' failures are of basic policy - their ideas were stupid, and they've led to bad consequences. Yet they stand poised to PROFIT from this record of dereliction? Ponder that for a second.
And of course it goes beyond energy and finance. Think of the despicable, unprecedented (since the Civil War) behavior of many Dems, esp. their leadership, WRT life-and-death issues in the GWOT these last few years. The attempted sabotage of the final phase in Iraq. The unbelievable slander of serving US forces, even of Marines involved in a court martial. The poison dumped into our political culture with the absurd and outrageous assertions made about Bush and intentional deception on issues of war and peace.
The GOP's failings and flaws are many; there are also many fine Dems who clearly have smarts and decency to spare - but the latter have not uttered a peep going on 8 years now, as their once-great party has become an irresponsible and loathsome force on key national issues.
All this - easily a record of accomplishment earning the Dem party as currently configured political oblivion - will be REWARDED with the White House? With an unprepared, arrogant, cowardly, creepy nobody farcically "shouldering" the burdens of leadership?
The link between action or policy and consequence and accountability seems just about gone. One can be wrong about a war - and contemptibly indecent in pushing one's views - and suffer no consequences. One can slander American warriors, trample on the emotions of the families of the fallen, cling steadfastly to policies that impoverish and disrupt, poison the political culture with preposterous claims, echo despicable foreign contempt for American sacrifice and decency in promoting security and human freedom - and prosper in an election, in America.
#2
The polls indicate that a large majority of people believe that the Republicans are directly responsible for this mess. I guess that's the only explanation that they've heard so far.
#4
The reality is that we have a totally unpalatable choice in either one of these candidates. McCain, should he win, would almost certainly be a one-term President even if he wanted a second term.
Obama...I suspect he will be the most hated President in American political history if he gets elected. The ignorant fools on the Left want this guy bad enough to sell their souls to the Devil to get him. If he gets elected, I suspect it won't take long for them to get buyer's remorse. I also suspect the U.S. Secret Service is really going to earn their pay for four years in an Obama presidency.
#7
The polls indicate that a large majority of people believe that the Republicans are directly responsible for this mess.
Has anyone heard any mention of the Community Re-investment Act from the media (outside of Fox news)? OR of the Demon Rats blocking of any reforms from Bush or McCain?
#8
You don't know what kind of doggy doo Obama has ready to throw at McCain. I wonder if they have a gentleman's agreement not the mention certain things.
#3
Couldn't agtee more with you Betty. It's almost as if McCain is setting her up as a scapegoat for when he loses, instead of releasing the unique phenomenon that is the Barracuda. Why was she forced to take trivia pursuit quizzes when she could have been doing what she does best, energizing the base in her own unique manner. Maybe McCain is the one who should be dropped from the ticket.
#4
The fact that the "press" is so in the tank for Obama means people would be very hard pressed to find anyone in that field that wouldn't be biased against the Republicans. Maybe they just chose the most biased one and will release the Barracuda and let all hell break loose. Maybe.
Either way, I'm so sick of the talking heads talking down to us for not supporting this moron that I'm about to skin the next one that I see at a rally yammering on about how great the "ONE" is and how stupid we are.
#6
The sort of biased moderator we have all come to expect in these debates. How about a bumper sticker for these elitist Obama supporters that says: "In the Bag for Barack?"
"Thank you for the question, Ms. Ifill patronizing though it is. And, yes, if pressed, I could probably stand up right now, walk across the stage and name every country on that blank map of the Middle East youve so graciously set up for me. But I think Ill pass.
First of all, Id rather not spend next week fielding questions about whether I saw Tina Fey doing another impression of me of Saturday Night Live, this time bending over to point out Yemen during which, of course, shell throw in a blank stare and gratuitous wiggle of her butt in order to suggest that the only reason John McCain picked me for the vice presidential slot was because I was once a beauty queen.
Second of all, Id rather not log onto the Internet next week and discover that one of your producers has surreptitiously supplied Bill Maher, who two weeks ago called me a category five moron, with a camera angle that shows a flash of cleavage which, of course, he will freeze-frame and weave into an obscene rant.
The point, Ms. Ifill, is that ever since I accepted Sen. McCains invitation to be his running mate, Ive become an object of ridicule and derision among the media elites whose commitment to political correctness apparently admits an exception for howling, sophomoric sexism as long as it is directed at their ideological adversaries.
Its not that I expected a fair shake, Heaven knows. I realize that theres a deep-seated emotional investment among liberal commentators in the candidacy of Barack Obama. I watched them chew up and spit out one of their perennial darlings Hillary Clinton when she stood in the way of their group hug. I heard Senator Clinton called a big f -ing whore by an Air America host; I heard one MSNBC host accuse her of pimping out her daughter, another call her a she-devil, and a third suggest that she needed to be taken into a backroom and beaten senseless to convince her to drop out of the primary race. And I heard a CBS News anchor yes, the same one who turned a recent interview with me into a pop quiz ask Sen. Clinton if she remembered being nicknamed Miss Frigidaire in school. Ugly stuff, isnt it? So its no surprise that when Senator McCain began to surge in the polls after he selected me as his running mate, the liberal media would come loaded for bear every time I made a public statement.
Ever since Senator McCain made that selection, by the way, Ive been working hard to get up to speed on foreign policy and global issues. The reason I wasnt up to speed beforehand is that, curiously enough, Id been focusing all my energy on doing the jobs Id been elected to do. When I was elected mayor of Wasilla, I tried to be a good mayor. When I was elected governor of the Alaska, I tried to be a good governor. I didnt regard either position as a stepping stone to anything else. I saw no need to go on fact-finding tours, at taxpayers expense, to foreign countries in an effort to bolster my geopolitical credentials for higher office.
By the time John McCain and I take office in January, rest assured I will be up to speed on geopolitics. I will be altogether qualified to be a heartbeat from the presidency. And Ill surround myself with altogether qualified advisers and staff, not yes-men and yes-women. Because I know from experience the very experience my opponent, Sen. Biden, lacks what it is like to make an executive decision. I know what it is like, after the legislative wrangling is done, after the wheeling and dealing by party hacks who are determined to maintain political cover and plausible deniability, to have the buck stop at my desk, to enact a law by my signature, to put my name on the bottom line.
So no, Ms. Ifill, I think Ill keep my seat. You can take down your blank map. I came here tonight to discuss, to the best of my abilities, the international and domestic issues that confront the United States and to provide the American people with an insight into my governing philosophy. I didnt come to convince voters that I could be a Jeopardy champion. If thats the main qualification for the vice presidency, then Id suggest both Sen. Biden and I step aside for Ken Jennings."
#8
I completely agree with you Betty. With the craptastic campaign McCain is running, he does not deserve to win. His "bipartisanship" banter is feeble and will not work because the Dems do not want no participate. He comes off tired, out of ideas and just holding on until the end. I cannot believe this is the best this country has to offer for presidential nominees. We republicans deserve what is about to be served to us. We have failed as a party and have been out performed by the Democrats. They have proven they want it more then we do and therefore deserve it.
We let ourselved down.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
10/01/2008 11:06
Comments ||
Top||
#9
They have proven they want it more then we do and therefore deserve it.
Well they've certainly worked harder to steal it, if that's what you mean. I confess that I get rather upset when someone tries to steal my vote. Makes me ornery and more likely to vote against that party. So while McCain isn't the perfect candidate for me, when I see ACORN, Soros, Move.on, the Ohio SoS, the MSM, and Democratic glad-handers large and small out there trying to take the election for themselves, it makes me determined to help Mr. McCain.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008 13:34
Comments ||
Top||
#10
i'm w/ you Steve -- the expectation that my gender / social class / whatever should determine my vote, and likewise, that if i rebel against that notion, that i'm somehow not an 'authentic' whatever because of it is galling.
#11
James Taranto, editor of the Wall Street Journal's OpinionJournal.com, discusses Ms. Ifill in today's Best of the Web. He thinks this is all a tempest in a teacup:
Journalism entails endless conundrums of this sort. Every reporter who covers a particular campaign has an "investment" in that campaign. This is presumably why debate moderators are not usually selected from the traveling campaign press.
Further, it is quite possible that the appearance of a conflict of interest will actually work to neutralize the reality of such a conflict--that is, that Ifill, knowing her book puts her under additional scrutiny, will take extra care to be fair.
It also occurs to us to wonder just how important the moderators of these debates are. We've watched every presidential and vice presidential debate since 1988, and in our memory the moderators are just a blur--an endless procession of Jim Lehrers, a significant percentage of whom were Jim Lehrer.
There is one exception: CNN's Bernard Shaw, who opened the second Bush-Dukakis debate by asking the Massachusetts governor: "If Kitty Dukakis were raped and murdered, would you favor an irrevocable death penalty for the killer?" This was a highly dramatic question, one that some Dukakis partisans thought unfair to their man.
In truth, though, Shaw's question worked to Dukakis's disadvantage only because Dukakis played to type, answering it with a rote recitation of his position against capital punishment. He could have answered in a way that was both human and thoughtful: "If someone did that to my wife, I'd want to rip the bastard limb from limb with my own hands. But in a civilized country...
#12
The Repubs were not going to get anything close to an unbiased, neutral moderator. Might as well accept one with an obvious conflict of interest - she has a motivation not to be too flagrant with everyone watching.
Detective work by an Australian online poker player has uncovered a $US10 million cheating scandal at two major poker websites and triggered a $US75 million legal claim.
In two separate cases, Michael Josem, from Chatswood, analysed detailed hand history data from Absolute Poker and UltimateBet and uncovered that certain player accounts won money at a rate too fast to be legitimate. His findings led to an internal investigation by the parent company that owns both sites. It found rogue employees had defrauded players over three years via a security hole that allowed the cheats to see other player's secret (or hole) cards.
Now the owners of the sites have filed a $US75 million claim against the makers of the software that powers them, claiming they were unaware of the security holes when they purchased the sites in 2006, MSNBC reported this month.
Suckers at every level ...
Official investigators - brought in following Josem's revelations - have named one of the world's most successful poker players, Russ Hamilton, as the main perpetrator of the fraud.
Suspicions of unfair play at Absolute Poker were first raised late last year. Josem plotted the win rate of several thousand players against the suspicious accounts and found the cheats won money at a rate that was 100 times faster than a good player could reasonably win. The cheating accounts played every hand as if they knew every card that the other players had and folded hands at just the right time.
The findings led to an investigation by the Kahnawake Gaming Commission, which licenses several hundred online casinos and poker rooms. It found Absolute Poker attempted to cover up the cheating by deleting gaming logs and records and fined it $US500,000.
Absolute Poker repaid those who had lost money but refused to release the cheater's identity because a private settlement was reached.
A few months later, Josem and players from the Two Plus Two online poker forum used the same methods to uncover almost identical cheating occurring at Absolute Poker's sister site, UltimateBet. One player account, NioNio, netted a profit of $300,000 in just 3000 hands and won 13 of the 14 sessions recorded on the MyPokerIntel.com website, which tracks high stakes online tournaments.
#1
Tons more of these, just haven't gotten caught like here. I don't know why anyone ever does any sort of gambling online, it's just too easy to cheat.
From Newsbusters. Check out the table at the end: the age 18-54 crowd doesn't watch Network News. The network news operations are zombies -- they're dead but just don't know it yet.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
OTOH, CNN has copied a lot from the FOX format such that FOX now follows CNN's lead in breaking stories.
#2
I rarely watch even my local news anymore. I WANT to watch it, and I tune in about once a week HOPING to see something, but alas, it just sucks too much to waste my time.
I was with a bunch of moms today and not one of us took the local paper. What's worse is that I was at a party last weekend and a group of women were planning a trip to the movies but none of them got the local paper. And they were all in their early 60's.
#5
I had the option of getting local channels for a nominal fee when I got my little satellite dish installed a few years ago. I told them to stuff the local channels. Network free. Ahhhh!
#6
My mom and grandma watched the evening news religiously. Once, when I was about 10, Wells Hangen was reporting live from Saigon when a grenade went off nearby. A piece of shrapnel hit him in the leg. He calmly stated that he'd been hit by shrapnel, he wasn't seriously injured, but he'd have to sign off.
The network cut to the commercials. I think one of them was for aspirin.
Chicago news anchor Bill Kurtis addressed my high school in an assembly in 1974. He stated that television news was more of a "headline service".
#7
Their loyal viewership is literally dying off. I'm surprised they haven't manufactured a Longevity Crisis(c) to rush a hundred billion dollar package through Congress to keep that viewership on life support. They can even have a nifty motto - Don't Pull That Plug!
#8
It may be that the in-the-tank media is now only preaching to the already converted. They're the only ones still watching.
Which is why BO's numbers in the polls worry me. You can't get those kind of numbers with just True Believers; you need the great middle.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/01/2008 9:42
Comments ||
Top||
#9
I trust those people so little that if the New Yuk Times wrote the sun was going to rise in the east tomorrow morning, I'd have to get up and check. They can't be believed on ANYTHING because they play politics with EVERYTHING.
#10
I am positive that the polls are slanted to create an Obama lead. All the media, pollsters included are banking on an Obama win, and you know what happens to banking on a gamble. Also, there are a lot of people who will never vote for him or any black associated with the 'black movement'. When polled, they will say sure, count me in, but in fact, no way.
It's no surprise that the black caucus is attached at the hip with Fanny Mae and this financial crisis. This entire debacle was created to funnel money to blacks so they could buy 'affordable housing' even without the means to repay the loans.
It's not the fault of black people, but the fault of the congressional black caucus voting for a payback for their constituants. What could be better than piles and piles of money to play with ?
No bailout ! Your party, my dime ? No way.
Maybe if the MSM ran this story they would begin to recover. Don't bank on that either.
#11
"This entire debacle was created to funnel money to blacks so they could buy 'affordable housing' even without the means to repay the loans."
At the start, and in concept yes. But once the rules changed that (seemed to) guarantee loans made to people who clearly lacked the wherewithal to repay, McMansions, and zero down flipping became all the rage. There really is enough blame to go around.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/01/2008 12:23
Comments ||
Top||
#12
The MSM have shot themselves in the feet. They used to slightly mask their bias'. Now it so obvious that they are nothing but "trumpeters and cheerleaders" for BO and a left agenda. The lying and their agenda have left people distrusting anything they say. Bring on the fall faster please. They abuse the freedoms of the First Amendment.
Here's an example of how easily they do it: The lying and their agenda have Left people distrusting anything they say.
Recognize your own sentence? The MSM is so far in the tank for these folks they can't be trusted to report anything straightforwardly. Obama is the worst candidate a major party has put forward for the POTUS in my fairly long lifetime. I've NEVER seen them in such cahoots before, not even in 2004. If it wasn't for their complete sellout in becoming a fully-owned subsidiary of the Democrat Party, Obama would be back finishing up a very obscure first term as junior Senator from Illville.
(AKI) - Saudi Arabia on Tuesday handed over 16 Iraqi detainees as part of a prisoner exchange between the two neighbours. The Iraqi government says the 16 were among a total 443 Iraqis detained in Saudi Arabia.
A statement from National Security Adviser Muwafaq al-Rubaie, cited by the news agency, Voices of Iraq, said the Iraqi judiciary would investigate each case.
"The prisoners are being interrogated and they will be tried before the Iraqi courts after investigation," al-Rubaie's office said in a statement. "This came after directives from Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to develop Iraqi-Saudi relations and after three visits paid by al-Rubaie this year, during which he tackled the pending issues between the two countries and focused during the last visit on the Iraqi prisoners in the kingdom," the statement added.
"According to mechanisms agreed by the two countries, the Iraqi government started studying a draft of the agreement which will be presented to the cabinet to approve it then to be sent to the parliament to ratify it."
Iraq said that eight Saudi detainees had already been returned to their country.
The exchange is the outcome of a joint security operation between the two countries. It comes amid indications of a decrease in tension between the Shia-led government and Iraq's predominantly Sunni Arab neighbours. The Iraqi government said it will persist with efforts to free the remaining Iraqi prisoners in Saudi Arabia.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
TOPIX > NORTH KOREA ALLEGEDLY FIRES ON CHINESE FISHING BOAT. Being seen by various Pundits as a SNIPE AGZ CHINA.
ION CHINA, WORLD MILITARY FORUM > CHINA'S NEW UNDERWATER MONITORING SYSTEM CAN BEAT THE FIVE US AIRCRAFT CARRIER BATTLE GROUPS, in WESTPAC up to 800-1000 KMS.
US officials have expressed the desire to talk directly to Dr A Q Khan in the third round of the Pak-US Strategic Dialogue held here on Monday but Pakistan has rejected the demand.
Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it would be in the interest of both the nations not to talk about the past. "There might have been mistakes on both sides and even someone could have practised hypocrisy but it is over now."
Pakistan, however, offered to get all the answers from Dr Khan in case the US has any further unanswered questions, a diplomatic source told The News.
A number of officials who participated in the dialogue said that the talks were held in a very pleasant atmosphere and both parties spoke candidly and openly. On the question of Dr A Q Khan the Pakistani point of view was very clear, that Dr Khan is a national hero, and a complete investigation has already been done but if the US wants to ask further questions it could be arranged only through Pakistanis.
Another official said on condition of anonymity that Pakistanis asked the United States to release the funds for upgrading of F-16 fighter planes because under the current situation in Fata and along the Pak-Afghan border the importance of effective air power has increased manifold. The US officials gave a patient hearing to the Pakistani point of view and agreed with it in principle. However, they said that though certain members of US Congress are opposed to it at this stage, the US administration is committed to provide funding for F-16 up-gradation and efforts were on to get it approved from the Congress.
At the outset of the meeting Pakistan's Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said that it would be in the interest of both the nations not to talk about the past. "There might have been mistakes on both sides and even someone could have practised hypocrisy but it is over now. There is an elected government in Pakistan and no one should ask questions about the commitment of Pakistan's military and political leadership in the war against terror."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
Finance their F-16s so they can fire on U.S. commandos making cross border raids? All the while denying us access to even speak with Khan? Yeah, that sounds equitable. Really its a sweet deal for us.
#2
bigjim,
We don't NEED to talk to Khan - don't even WANT to - as long as we have a proxy on the payroll we can 'trust' (that is, who has something to lose by crossing us).
#3
#2 bigjim,
We don't NEED to talk to Khan - don't even WANT to - as long as we have a proxy on the payroll we can 'trust' (that is, who has something to lose by crossing us).
Glenmore since we're dealing the cards [$$$, Technology] we should be able to get BOTH God Damn It!
And for Heaven's sake why the hell wouldn't we want to hook the Bastard A Q Khan up to a polygraph?
Afterall don't you remember the coxksucker spoke to OBL, the Norks, the Iranians, most of the Gulf States, Syria etc. AND how 'bout hiz ring of scientist, smugglers, hiz international smuggling group and connections, flunkies, etc.
#7
Polio's making inroads, how about we introduce "Black Death"?
(After making sure they thoroughly believe medical help/ vaccines/ medicine is really a JOOOOO plot to sterilize them all, Oh wait, that part's been done)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 16:17
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Maybe the US should ask again and add "Or Else..."?
A rare outbreak of common sense at the SEC. This provides some needed slip in the 'mark-to-market' rule which is what the market needs for now.
Under pressure from banks and legislators, the Securities and Exchange Commission issued an interpretation of an accounting standard that could make it easier for banks to report smaller losses, or perhaps even profits, when they announce results for the third quarter, which ended Tuesday.
The move on Tuesday drew praise from the American Bankers Association, which had complained to the S.E.C. that auditors were forcing banks to value assets at unrealistically low "fire sale" prices, rather than at the higher values the banks believe the assets should be worth in an orderly market.
Some congressmen had pressed to order a suspension of the fair-value rule, known as S.F.A.S 157, as part of the bailout bill that the House defeated on Monday but that may be revived later in the week. That bill stopped short of that, but did require a study of the rule and authorized the S.E.C. to suspend it.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Steve that's Rubbish! It's like trying to turn a ship, by holding a magnet near the compass.
Everyone will know that the accounts are meaningless, and so no-one will lend to anyone.
#2
Disagree with BP's assessment. First, there is no known inventory of the asset values. Just because these are default mortgages doesn't mean they have below par value. In fact, I believe this is a win-win-win for bankers, investors, the Fed. I will be leading the way with my broker finding the best managed funds to take a share of their potential come-back valuation but the mark-to-market has to be fixed first exactly to allow market value to rule versus regulatory auditors subjective assessments.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/01/2008 7:08
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Is this a temporary rule?
It seems like it could be misused easily. It will make it much harder for investors to evaluate a company's true ROI.
#4
This rule is total BS. These values should be footnoted, and the data should be available, but the statements should be constructed on a historical cost basis with sufficient reserves in management's judgment.
There are more games that can be played with "fair" value to manage earnings than with historical cost.
And I am getting sick of the misuse of the word "fair". If we could come back in 200 years, I think we would find that the definition of "fair" had become "liberal manure".
#6
I guess if it was footnoted it would be possible to factor that in, but it would make it "Skill Level 5" at least. I think investing in the future is going to be somewhat more complicated with several hundred billion dollars of dubious assets in the finance industry.
#7
Part of the problem today is that people are sitting on the sidelines of investment because they can't be certain what they are buying for their money. Companies over-leveraged their assets so much that it is hard to know what they have at this point. Investors are waiting for things to shake out. Because of organizations like Fannie and Freddie where the books were cooked, money was looted, and risky loans were re-packaged and sold under various instrument names and backed by other financial esoterica that were sold. Consequently, a financial cancer was spread through our economy.
However, I can't believe that you can't value assets in some meaningful way. If I bought a $30,000 truck earlier in the year and I go out of business because of bad management, health reasons, business climate changes, etc. that truck might be sold for $1.00 today! That's what's being said about these large investment firms that are in trouble. Somewhere between around what I paid for the truck and virtually nothing ($1.00) is some reasonable valuation that people might agree on. If people come to look at my truck and make offers, one will arrive at some kind of reasonable valuation for this asset. I can sell the asset for some value--maybe. There is some risk I might end up eating a loss and go on. That's the risk inherent in being in business. Or the government might bail me out for not knowing how to run a business. Political correctness would say that no one should fail.
"Failure" is a signal that we need to learn something that we are not doing right. In engineered systems that rely on feedback control, deviation from expected performance is used to control the system and get it back on track. Mistakes and failure are essential to learning. Maybe oversimplified.
#8
OK, my take here is to have the Government actualy take all the mortgages failing, restore the original terms, make all a fixed interest and jail the thieves who played the shell game of "Selling Mortgages" Then jacking up the interest.
A fixed mortgage rate
(And a law oulawing "Variable Rate loans) will not only fix this mess, it'll prevent it happening again, and the US Government will profit handsomly to boot.
That's my.02 .
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 10:04
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Variable rate, interest only, ARM and other specialty loans have their place. They can be real handy for some people in the right situation. Some people know that they will only live in a house for a certain period of time, say if you were living on location for a job, or you were going to retire at a known time in the future and move abroad. They were not originally conceived to get people into houses that they obviously could not afford, but that's what happened. You need to reinforce good qualifications for buyers and make it stick, those pre-qualifications are already there, and they work well, if applied.
#10
If you want to diddle the books you always do it in stock account. Why? because it's the only category that appears in the balance sheets and profit and loss. It's always about valuation. That's why they have auditors, who if they are any good should know what to look for.
#12
GAAP standards only require them to do sampling I'm pretty sure, at least for external auditors. If they actually catch you with auditing, you have probably gone buck wild anyway.
#14
BP is right. Now that everyone knows that nobody knows what these things are worth, any new rule 'interpretation' is meaningless.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 13:21
Comments ||
Top||
#15
The notion that a temporary market glitch should be allowed to bankrupt firms due to strict application of an accounting regulation is batty.
These mortgages have value, just not one that makes their holders happy. The temporary lack of a market does not mean they are worthless. Many of these securities are intended to be held for years. All are backed by real estate of some worth and many have income from payments arriving monthly.
The market locked up because some major players decided they would not accept market prices but would hold out for government intervention. They know that their bought Congresscritters will pay more for this paper than the market. The House bill allowed the Treasury to pay some holders more than they paid for the securities originally.
As a practicing senior-level accountant for over 20 years, I will say that mark to market is one of several FASB / government originated decisions that have made business more difficult in the last two decades.
Pension valuations will make this situation look like a walk in the park.
A senior Iranian parliamentarian has warned that his country may revise its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Mousa Qorbani was speaking to IRNA on Tuesday on the sidelines of the Parliament or Majlis open session. He said that the recent reports of IAEA Chief Mohamed ElBaradei and the UNSC indicate that the West lacks good-will towards Iran despite the fact that the country has had extensive cooperation with the agency.
The comment came after IAEA Chief Mohammed ElBaradei suggested in his latest report that Iran was withholding information necessary to explain 'serious' intelligence, asking the country to comply with the agency's demands. According to ElBaradei, ten countries have provided the IAEA with documents which accuse Iran of conducting dubious tasks - such as the 'green salt project, high explosives testing, and the missile re-entry vehicle project' - in relation to its nuclear program.
Iran has dismissed the claims as based on 'fake' and 'fabricated' data and has requested the UN body to provide the country with the original documents - which can be used to prove whether or not they are authentic.
On Saturday, the UNSC also passed a resolution on Iran, demanding the country to 'comply fully and without delay' with the council's previous demands. Under US pressure, the UNSC has intervened in Iran's nuclear case and has so far imposed three rounds of sanctions against the country, requiring it to halt uranium enrichment.
Qorbani, a member of Majlis's presiding board, also said that despite Iran's widespread cooperation with the agency, the IAEA, under US pressure, issued a series of reports that provided the pretext for the West to derail Iran's nuclear program.
"There is no need to continue cooperation with the IAEA beyond the legal frameworks," he stressed. "Iran is no longer to abide by Modality Plan," the MP said, adding that the Islamic Republic will give a "swift response" to the anti-Iran resolution.
Earlier, Iranian Parliament (Majlis) Speaker Ali Larijani also said that the resolution might cause Tehran to reconsider negotiations over its nuclear program. "This move once again provides clearer indication that US verbiage regarding Iran's nuclear issue is based on mere political pretense and not on legal proceedings," Larijani said.
His warning comes after the UN nuclear watchdog, in its September 15 report on Iran, also declared that it could not find any 'components of a nuclear weapon' or 'related nuclear physics studies' in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Iran has dismissed the claims as based on 'fake' and 'fabricated' data
You mean like the Israelli fabricated "Hole in the desert" that did not have any nuke materials, did not have iranian techs and whose remains are radioactive?
Oh, that kind of "Fabricated" Data.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:43
Comments ||
Top||
(PTI) After inking the first civilian nuclear agreement with France, India today assured its European partners that it plans to enter into similar pacts with them in future. "Today we signed a bilateral agreement in this area with France and we expect to finalise agreements with other European partners too," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured CEOs of major European companies while addressing the India-EU Business Summit here.
Singh said India has opened up its civil nuclear commerce sector for foreign collaboration. France is the first country to open nuclear commerce with India in 34 years after the 45-member Nuclear Suppliers Group (NSG) granted a waiver to New Delhi on September six. The agreement, hailed by both New Delhi and Paris, will form the basis of wide-ranging bilateral cooperation from basic and applied research to full civil nuclear cooperation, including reactors, fuel supplies, nuclear safety, radiation and environment protection and nuclear fuel cycle management.
India, which has 17 nuclear reactors and is building five more, has plans to have around 40 reactors by 2025. India's nuclear sector is worth USD 100 billion.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
Troops backed by gunship helicopters killed 13 Taliban militants in fresh clashes in the troubled tribal district of Bajaur on the Afghan border, officials said Tuesday.
Four Islamist insurgents were killed Tuesday and two were wounded in the shelling of a suspected vehicle in the town of Mamond, a security official said. Troops killed another five extremists after a group of militants launched an attack on a military checkpost in the same town, sparking a gunbattle that lasted nearly one hour, the official said.
A further four militants were killed overnight when jets pounded suspected hideouts in the area, security officials said. The house of a known Taliban commander, Maulana Muhammad Muneer, was damaged, they said.
Our Khar correspondent adds: Three explosives-laden vehicles were destroyed in ongoing military operation in Bajaur Agency on Tuesday.
Sources told The News that military operation continued against militants in Kitkot area of Bajaur. Gunship helicopters pounded hideouts of the militants in Rashkai and other areas, leaving five militants dead.
Three explosives-laden vehicles were targeted in fresh raid and were completely destroyed. Sources said the destroyed vehicles were being moved to various parts of the country for terrorist activities.
APP adds: Meanwhile, following the suit of Salarzai and Charmang tribesmen, hundreds of tribal people of Utmankhel tribes after raising a grand laskhar have decided to launch full-fledged laskhar campaign against militants after Eidul Fitr.
The elders of Utamankhel had in a peace jirga earlier decided to extend full support to security forces in their efforts of purging extremists from Bajaur Agency. The tribesmen had vowed that they will strongly resist any miscreants activities and foreign troops attacks in their respective areas. Strict action would be taken against those elements found guilty of giving shelter to Taliban fighters and their houses would be put on fire. It was decided that 'laskhar' will start its campaigns after Eidul Fitr and will continue armed patrolling in Utmanzai to help law enforcing agencies maintain law and order in the agency.
Peace committees at village level would be set-up which will monitor the situation.
Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Iqbal Khan Khattak speaking on the occasion said maintaining law and order was the joint responsibility of tribal people and the government to ensure lasting peace in the Agency as government alone can't do anything, saying the cooperation of locals was must to flush out militants from Bajaur Agency. He said, "Islam is the religion of peace and strictly prohibits taking lives of innocent Muslim brothers."
He urged the tribespeople to raise against militants who were bent upon destroying peace of the agency and to push tribal people to backwardness. He said the designs of such elements could be frustrated with the help of brave tribesmen.
Meanwhile, strong anger against militants has gripped Salarzai tehsil after the Monday deadly clashes between extremists and tribal lashkar in which nine tribesmen and four militants including militants commander Abdul Muttalib were killed. The Salarzai tribesmen have vowed to wage Jihad against Taliban fighters and militants soon after Eidul Fitr celebrations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
sure is funny how the paki troops NEVER kill any civilians, But the US can drop 1 missile in a desert with no one around and there will be at least 20
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I don't know about everyone else but I'm really upset that Bush, our representatives and the media seem to be attempting to create a run on the banks and stock market by shouting "fire". They didn't pass that bill and this morning the stocks went back up. Hmmm.
I was driving this morning and some unknown news announcer was telling listeners how to explain the financial crisis to children in an age appropriate way. Something like, "Tell them that when it comes to matters about money and keeping the house that mommy is nervous and concerned but hopefully everything will turn out ok."
#2
The danger is real, Betty, not faked. The international credit and currency exchange system is tottering very very close to the edge of a cliff we really do not want to go over.
Look: I'm as skeptical as anyone about government action in the markets. But there really is a potential here for massive world wide depression. Paulson was trying to STOP a cascading set of failures already under way in the finance system, not trigger one.
#3
I don't think anyone has a problem with saving the financial system, but they could pick one of the intelligent ideas that have been floated to them.
#4
Potential? I'd say certainty. We're only discussing whether or not we can cushion the blow.
And then I awaken this morning to the whiney voice of Robert Reich III complaining on NPR about the effect of this on...early wave boomers...like him. ME, ME, ME, for ever. An assh*le like that ought to be thanking the Lord for all his blessings and worrying about the poor of all ages who won't be able to pay for heat this winter and will resort to open flame heating that will burn their house down while they sleep. But instead, I guess he's worried about not being able to summer on the Riviera. It's exactly that attitude that has made this reckoning inevitable. Let it be swift.
#5
Look. Let's get past the "cliff" metaphor and talk about what's really down there. Not "there be monsters"... what's really the downside of not doing anything? I'd like to know beyond "it's scary, trust me".
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/01/2008 9:34
Comments ||
Top||
#6
It's far enough down that there are some clouds obscuring the view, but ....
If credit dries up that has a massive effect on the economy. Small and mid-sized businesses depend on working capital to operate and expand, so a credit crunch means fewer jobs and more layoffs. Families that are using credit to skate by a rough spot will spiral down and the rate of home foreclosures will increase exponentially - i.e. slowly at first and then massively over time. We might well be looking at 15-20% unemployment, 25% credit card rates (if you can get them), ARMs adjusting to 15-20% or more annual rates in a year or two ....
Overall the biggest danger is that there is a mid-term and long-term flight from the dollar. We have been financing our wealthy lifestyles (and yes, I mean YOU are wealthy compared to the middle east, africa and major parts of Europe) through national borrowing and because of the wealth spinoffs of easy consumer and business credit. When Bush was thwarted at every turn by the Left wrt the GWOT, he bought them off with a variety of financial measures that he didn't like. He stopped pushing Social Security reform. He accepted Medicare part D as written. And he let the dollar drop (as it would have anyway) in order to force others to indirectly help fund the war(s).
It was inherently a balancing act. I'm not going to argue here whether or not he could have done some of it differently. Certainly a huge portion of the mess we're in has its roots in Congress -- and in the divided, spoiled voter population that elects them.
But be that as it may, where we are now is that the whole rickety mess is in danger of crashing down onto the main day to day economy, here and around the world. Overly leveraged derivatives would have had a market correction anyway. What makes this one so very dangerous is that it is hitting developed economies globally and that it will spread at the speed of 24 hr/day computerized trading.
Can anyone tell me exactly who will benefit directly from this bailout and why that will help the rest of the economy.
Also, the same people that got us into this mess seem to be the same people that are going to benefit the most. WTF up with that?
What would happen if these banks that are in such trouble were just abandoned and their assets parcelled out to conservative, solid banks; then take some of that bailout money to fund mass infrastructure improvements for power plants, bridges, etc. to help the employment picture and get the money into the system?
Oh, yeah, kill the cap gains tax and cut business taxes.
#8
Okay. So there's the hard bottom of it, apparently. What does the recovery from that point look like?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/01/2008 10:52
Comments ||
Top||
#9
Bachmann (R-MN) summarizes the situation this way: "We're told on the one hand that we're facing financial Armageddon, but we weren't given evidence to explain why ... and we weren't given information to show why this bailout was the only solution." Also, evidence showing this bailout would even work was lacking. Also, no alternative measures or points of view were ever considered.
#10
It's far enough down that there are some clouds obscuring the view, but ....
If credit dries up that has a massive effect on the economy. Small and mid-sized businesses depend on working capital to operate and expand, so a credit crunch means fewer jobs and more layoffs. Families that are using credit to skate by a rough spot will spiral down and the rate of home foreclosures will increase exponentially - i.e. slowly at first and then massively over time. We might well be looking at 15-20% unemployment, 25% credit card rates (if you can get them), ARMs adjusting to 15-20% or more annual rates in a year or two ....
Overall the biggest danger is that there is a mid-term and long-term flight from the dollar. We have been financing our wealthy lifestyles (and yes, I mean YOU are wealthy compared to the middle east, africa and major parts of Europe) through national borrowing and because of the wealth spinoffs of easy consumer and business credit. When Bush was thwarted at every turn by the Left wrt the GWOT, he bought them off with a variety of financial measures that he didn't like. He stopped pushing Social Security reform. He accepted Medicare part D as written. And he let the dollar drop (as it would have anyway) in order to force others to indirectly help fund the war(s).
So he basically let himself be blackmailed into Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.
SO, the inevitable result... another cycle, and we get to be given the choice to Rob Peter to Pay Paul to hold everything together again.
And the end result of this will be another blackmail a couple months down the road... until we're instituting the European managed economy system ourselves, and the blackmailers are pushing something else for the cures of its ills, and blaming 'free market capitalism' for the problems with the previous iteration of the socialist system.
I find it interesting that one of the alleged precipitators of this crisis, "Mark to Market," was part of the Sarbannes-Oxley regulations. I know people whose primary response to S-O was that they wouldn't start a public company in this sort of regulatory environment.
I remember when it was being sold as the answer to all bad asset valuation problems and other assorted skullduggery.
I wonder what the proposed regulations will look like for Febuary's crisis, or the one it causes?
#11
We need a way out that doesn't lead to just a next step in the blackmail/rob peter cycle. Down that road lies Stalin and Hitler, throwing away human lives like dogfood and saying they're the only ones that can stop Hitler and Stalin.
#12
So he basically let himself be blackmailed into Robbing Peter to Pay Paul.
How many Rantburg regulars wanted Bush to pull out of Afghanistan, Iraq, our naval presence in the Gulf, our special ops people in Africa and South America where Hezb'allah and Al-Qaeda have training and recruiting camps ... on the basis of fiscal responsibility???
Can't say as I remember many.
Alternately, how many people here really think Bush had or could have generated sufficient public support for the GWOT to get the public to live frugally and to get financial traders and leaders to curb their greed?
And how many people here think any of us or all of us could have curbed the power and money greed of Pelosi, Reid etc etc and gotten them to act on behalf of the greater good of the country? Or Republicans like Ted Stevens, for that matter?
If you think you could, go run for office or otherwise take a visible leadership role. Because Bush and Rumsfeld etc. couldn't.
#14
You're going to lose all those things anyway under President Obama. Oh, I'm sure he'll make a token effort, set up to fail, rather like the Bay of Pigs was.
Maybe I should have been against the war from the start, in both Iraq and Afghanistan, until the American Public started putting down the crack pipe that we could shovel money to Saudi Arabia and expect everything to turn out ok?
#16
lotp, what you say only serves to minimize Bush's culpability. That's fine.
But, it has long been said that Bush's biggest failure vis a vis the GWOT was his failure to ask / push on the American people the cost and what they needed to do to help.
Something like War Bonds for instance might have helped to fund this. Now, that would also have cut into consumer spending, etc. etc.
I don't think that there is necessarily a good answer but his approach of sucking up to the Dems certainly didn't help.
#17
Granted. But I've long said here that Bush couldn't do it alone. He needed a lot of public sentiment pushing Washington and he didn't get it from you and me in any way that counted.
#18
I think we could stand to have some serious credit tightening in this country. We've got way too many:
* People who buy more house than they should.
* College students taking out loans for dubious majors that would be cheaper at public colleges and in-state colleges anyway.
* People maxing out on multiple credit cards.
* People who are buying groceries on credit and then putting them into their gas-guzzling SUV with satellite radio, DVD player, and navigation system and driving off while chatting on their high-end mobile phones.
I could go on and on. The point is that we've got way too many people in this country who are living beyond their means. There's way too much "buy now, pay later".
The same is true for businesses and working capital. It's ridiculous how many businesses borrow money to cope with even day-to-day operations. Tighten the credit and those of them who deserve to survive will adapt accordingly. I carry some cash for day-to-day expenses and I save in advance for large purchases. They can too.
Screw the bail out. It's way too much, way too fast, way too vague, way too based on numbers pulled out of Paulson's rear end, way too rewarding to risk-takers and idiots, and way too socialistic. No way.
#19
Tighten the credit and those of them who deserve to survive will adapt accordingly. I carry some cash for day-to-day expenses and I save in advance for large purchases. They can too
Sounds good in theory. But if your employer goes out of business because a larger firm slowed down payments for goods/services that were honorably delivered, you might find that your cash stash dwindles quickly.
#20
Then your employer was not very diversified in clients, didn't get a suitable payment plan, and was maybe a bit over-extended. Look, I've been there. I'm a consultant and I've been down to one client and eagerly awaiting the check. People will always take risks and some will fail, but it's high time for a lot of people to be a little more financially conservative.
#21
Screw the bail out. It's way too much, way too fast, way too vague...
Is there a way to do it slower or in smaller pieces?
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/01/2008 15:06
Comments ||
Top||
#22
Darrell, agreed re: financial conservatism. Mr. Lotp and I have lived beneath our income means for a good while and it has served us well during harder times.
However: the point here is that we are facing a potential correction so hard and so deep that many people may be harshly impacted, including the fiscally responsible.
#24
The first thing we have to do is stop calling this a bailout. That word serious overstates what this bill actually is.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/01/2008 15:32
Comments ||
Top||
#25
Could someone please tell me exactly what this "bailout" will do?
Is the gov't going to cut a series of checks (electronicall not on paper) totalling $700b and start passing them out to the big players in the market? If not, what ARE they going to do?
#26
I feel for President Bush, as he had to fight this WoT and Homeland Security, still deal with the aftermath of 9-11, Katrina, Ike, and he inherited this greedy globalized mess that has been decades in the making. It's tempting to vote Obama just to let it all land in their liberal laps, along with a lot of the blame.
It is already affecting main street, btw. Our wholesale small business, locally supplying mostly new construction, uses credit to buy inventory. Many customers have been squeezed for sometime now, and aren't paying their bills, because the construction companies are filing bankruptcy, with excess homes selling below the cost to build them. The banks don't want to extend the line of credit any more than it is. Home equity loans aren't available, even with good credit ratings, so contractors like roofers are idle. You feel guilty for buying a new gas guzzler even when you can afford it, as others resent it. It wasn't that long ago that many had union jobs with union wages and benefits, but cheap immigrant labor and outsourcing broke the unions. Plumbers have to purchase products at a good price and try to make it up in labor costs. People lost health insurance and began using adjustable ARM's and credit cards to make ends meet. The high cost of transportation made the cost of everything go up so Walmart was welcomed. The trade deficit grew even larger and the small shops closed because you can't compete with those that buy in such unimaginable quantities, often container ship loads full, as these large companies. Add a local disaster like the floods or a personal setback such as cancer, and people just despair. Then they wake up and see their life savings plummet 30% in one day. Retirement becomes out of the question, yet they have elderly parents to care for and children to put through college. Family and friends are asking for personal loans and even hand outs. All of this is no fault of their own and it is human nature to scapegoat and blame. I know many people working multiple jobs and are skimping to get by,and rightfully angry, but maybe it is the area where you live or the circles you keep. Wall Street and the Beltway often seem oblivious to anything west of the Potomac. "Woe to those who make unjust laws" wail the prophets. I certainly wouldn't want to be a Congresscritter or a banker or a stock broker that gambled away someone's pension while paying themselves millions in bonuses. Their yachts can even be renegotiated if filing bankruptcy but a primary mortgage cannot. I'm afraid it will get ugly and violent but I also fear the solution Congress comes up with will be even worse--kinda like having to choose between the cobra and an asp. It just sucks. Worry-wart Mom has been put on fulltime prayer duty--the saint is about to personally strangle Pelosi herself!
#27
"Our wholesale small business, locally supplying mostly new construction"
I'm afraid that's a tough row to hoe even with a bailout. You've chosen a business that has always been highly cyclic, and this is a pretty deep cycle.
#28
Re #21: "Is there a way to do it slower or in smaller pieces?"
I'd prefer we stuck with the Wachovia model of a few days ago. Wachovia bought a boatload of trouble by acquiring Golden West in 2006. The feds assisted in a Citibank buy of Wachovia. Minimal cost to taxpayers and Wachovia gets what it deserves for making a spectacularly stupid mistake. Let natural selection improve the market.
#29
@25 - From what I've been able to gather, Big Poppa Gov is going to come buy ALL the craptastic securities that no one else wants... at least right now.
Their theory is that someday someone will want them again and The Gov't will sell them out. (I'm not holding my breath for that scenario.)
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
10/01/2008 17:22
Comments ||
Top||
#30
LOTP re Bush asking for us to sacrifice...after 9/11 there was the fear that the economy would go into the toilet. Instead of expressing confidence in the core underpinnings of the economy and instead of preparing the country for a prolonged and expensive war, Bush told us to go shopping. It was an opportunity missed.
He should have slammed the brakes on non-defense spending, called for an increase in the size of the military and pushed for the sale of war bonds. He had the American public and the Congress in the palm of his hands and he wasted it. It was, IMO, the greatest failure of his presidency.
#31
That said, I am going to batten down the hatches because I think this is going to get really ugly and will last for a while.
The only potential silver lining I can see in this is that hopefully it teaches the general population that you have to be able to pay for what you buy and that we don't get to have everything we want. Not sure that the government types are ever going to get that message though.
#36
Look, lets be honest. We stopped being an economic superpower years ago when we exported most of our manufacturing jobs to less expensive wage sie like China, India and Mexico. We have been living on the colective national credit card for years. Literally, we don't reward saving or prudence in any concrete way, and the sad reality now is that those of us who have behaved responsibily are essentially being forced to subsidize more drunken-sailor behavior or rest losing everything.
There are so many guilty parties I cannot begin to name them all, but the fix is generational and will require national will. Spend less than you take in, encourage businesses through tax breaks and protectionist tariffs (free trade is a myth, we have had our heads handed to us becasue we actually believed the other people would be honest and play fair, time to cut them out and take the pain). A whole generation or two must essentially accept less quality of life and carry the burden of paying down the debt.
Since we have so diluted the American character with unfettered immigration of the least worthy from other nations, dumbed down our education system to the point that it does not produce sufficient qualtity of high quality, industrious workers, and so designed governments intrusion into every aspect of our daily lives that half of us carry the other half through a class-warfare tax system...... we can't do it!
So, and bullshit bandades politician lies will lull the fools back into the cauldron for more cooking, but the Republic is done.
Look for violence within 25 yrs as parts begin to separate (probably the Southwest) and balk at paying the freight.....
Wish this was all wrong...... but the 450 page bailout did it for me..... buying votes while the ship sinks by promising to only take the water out of one side of the bucket....
God, to have had this happen in my lifetime......overwhelming sadness.
The Pakistan Army is backing tribal militias that are rising to battle pro-Taliban groups in the hope that this will turn the tide in the restive northwest of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
According to the report, Taliban groups in areas like Bajaur along the Pak-Afghan border -- Pakistanis allied with Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists in Afghanistan -- were trying to carve out enclaves along the border. To fight them, the government has deployed more than 8,000 troops in the Bajaur region. "But a steady supply of Islamist guerillas is pouring in from Pakistan and Afghanistan, and the fighting shows little sign of abating," the paper said.
However, the report went on to add, the tribal militias could provide a counterweight. "The tribesmen have risen against the militants. It could be a turning point in our fight against militancy," the paper quoted NWFP Governor Owais Ghani as saying. The province is "providing them financial as well as moral support," Ghani said.
According to the journal, military commanders believe that "the struggle for control of the tribal region is crucial to containing the spread" of Taliban and Al Qaeda to other parts of NWFP.
"The threat of Bajaur radiates in all directions and affects the entire region," Frontier Corps Inspector General Maj Gen Tariq Khan was quoted as saying.
Civil war: The paper said some analysts worry that "the emergence of the militias could escalate fighting in the border region into a mini-civil war" between the pro-Taliban people and those who oppose them.
Indigenous resistance: The report said that militias had been formed in Kurram and Khyber agencies as well as Dir. "Initially, the lashkars, as the militias are known, were organised as indigenous resistance groups without help from local government administrations, but now both the military and the provincial government support them," it said.
It also quoted the leader of the Salarzai tribal lashkar, Malik Munasib Khan, as exhorting villagers to fight the estimated 4,000 Taliban who had moved into Bajaur over the past year.
"They are killing our people and destroying our land," Khan was quoted as telling villagers at Raghagan last Friday.
According to the report, the army concurred with the Salarzai militia's claim of controlling 4,000 armed fighters. Militia leaders were quoted as saying that they had driven Afghan Taliban and Al Qaeda terrorists out of their region, torching their homes and installations.
It said some in the Salarzai tribe had initially been sympathetic to Taliban. "But many rebelled after the Taliban tried to impose a harsh system of Islamic rule on the local population," it said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
If I was a certain clan in Pak-Land whose land Binny and the other Al Qaeda big wigs are I would be negotiating with the US Government directly. My opening bid would 100 million and two hundred green cards.
#2
They could set up as goatherds in California and the Southeast, so they'd have familiar jobs; in California the goats could clear eucalyptus trees and brush from the fire-prone hillsides, and in the Southeast the goats could eat kudzu. The follow-on sales might be a bit problamatic, though -- I'm not sure eucalyptus-flavoured chevre' would be a big seller.
#5
Oddly enough I had the idea of getting a few goats to clear my land last week, the first person I contacted said she only raised Show Goats? And wouldn't lend me any. Odd?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 9:24
Comments ||
Top||
#6
There are a few goat herders who provide grazing/clearing as a service. I'm not surprised that breeders who show their livestock wouldn't lend them out to random inquirers, tho. I have show dogs who can flush and retrieve birds or course rabbits/hares, and I certainly wouldn't lend them out to random hunters ....
#7
Penguin is right. The best deals to be had are probably from Uncle Sam, if you don't mind relocating. But hurray! Offer is available for a limited time only.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/01/2008 12:41
Comments ||
Top||
#8
I believe I was unclear, I've never heard of SHOW goats.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
10/01/2008 16:11
Comments ||
Top||
The House is limiting e-mails from the public to prevent its websites from crashing due to the enormous amount of mail being submitted on the financial bailout bill. As a result, some constituents may get a 'try back at a later time' response if they use the House website to e-mail their lawmakers about the bill defeated in the House on Monday in a 205-228 vote.
"Don't go away mad. Just go away. And vote for us in November."
"We were trying to figure out a way that the House.gov website wouldn't completely crash," said Jeff Ventura, a spokesman for the Chief Administrative Office (CAO), which oversees the upkeep of the House website and member e-mail services.
The CAO issued a "Dear Colleague" letter Tuesday morning informing offices that it had placed a limit on the number of e-mails sent via the "Write Your Representative" function of the House website. It said the limit would be imposed during peak e-mail traffic hours.
"This measure has become temporarily necessary to ensure that Congressional websites are not completely disabled by the millions of e-mails flowing into the system," the letter reads.
Ventura likened the problem to a bottleneck scenario on a highway, where multiple lanes of traffic converge into a smaller set of lanes. In that situation, some cars get to move forward while others have to remain at a standstill.
"What we had to do was basically install the digital equivalent of a traffic cop," Ventura said. "It was a question of inconveniencing everybody or inconveniencing some people some of the time, while servicing other people the other half of the time."
Member offices began to notice an overwhelming number of e-mails last week as the economy roiled and the Emergency Economic Stabilization Act of 2008, or "bailout package," became of interest to millions of Americans. All the clogs in the traditional e-mail service have since been resolved, according to the CAO.
However, Ventura ventured that the problems on the House website might not be resolved until the economic package was finalized. "We think we will see this spike [in Web traffic] until when and if another bill is hammered out," Ventura said. "There's going to be a lot of interest in this all week."
The error message in its entirety reads:
"The House of Representatives is currently experiencing an extraordinarily high amount of e-mail traffic. The Write Your Representative function is therefore intermittently available. While we realize communicating to your Members of Congress is critical, we suggest attempting to do so at a later time, when demand is not so high. System engineers are working to resolve this issue and we appreciate your patience."
#3
Well Congresspeople, do you just think maybe the people you think are chumps people in flyover land are slightly pi$$ed? Congressional elections are coming up in November. We won't forget you.
#4
This is what makes me believe the bailout ain't gonna happen. I can sorta see the wisdom in it even though I hate giving money to the crooks who got us into this mess. But it's like immigration. If you get that many representatives this close to an election with their constituents so pi$$ed off and watching so closely they're gonna get scared. And then ask yourself: How many of them really understand this problem any more than the average Joe Sixpack? Then you factor in that little speech that Madam Pelosi delivered on Monday and you have a very bad combination of factors. Bad for the bailout anyway.
The email crash makes me glad I sent my little rant to Madam Pelosi yesterday. Not that I'm under any illusions that she would ever read mine but the sheer volume has to be getting some kind of a message across.
Then I think, you know, what if she delivered that speech knowing full well that self-respecting Republicans could never vote in favor of the bailout after being slapped in the face like that? That leads to the question: What if the donks really want a depression? Because they think they can blame the Republicans and thereby get Obama elected? I wouldn't put it past them.
Nitric acid and nails were used in the crude bomb that went off at 9. 35 p.m. on Monday in the marketplace of Bhikku chowk at Malegaon, according to a source in the control room there.
The blast, which occurred when hundreds were offering namaz at the nearby Noorani masjid, claimed four lives -- Syed Akhtar (18), Rafiq Akbar (30), Sheikh Mushtaq Sheik Yousou (28) and Shagufta Bano Sheik Liaqat (10). The dead were not from the masjid but were locals who came to the market.
The Maharashtra police are awaiting forensic reports.
The bomb was kept on a motorbike which, locals said, was lying outside a shop owned by Abdullah Jamaluddin Ansari, 70. After a couple of hours, Ansari asked a worker in a hotel opposite to his premises to report about the bike at the police chowk, 30 feet from the blast site. But the police paid no heed, it was alleged. Ansari is among those critically injured.
In the impact of the blast, shutters of shops caught fire though there was no damage to the property inside. An old clock in Ansari's shop stopped after the explosion, indicating the time of the blast as 9.37 p.m. Windowpanes of a hotel were shattered up to the second floor.
Mufti Nizamuddin, administrative member of the All Sect Organisation of Malegaon, who was at the Noorani masjid at the time of the blast, said: "Seeing the chaos and angry at the police inaction in moving away the motorcycle, some youths gathered outside the police booth and started protesting. The police then started firing from inside. The locals got further irritated as the police, instead of helping the people, resorted to firing. By this time, some went to the masjid, where the evening namaz was drawing to a close, and reported to people there about the blast. A little after 10 p.m., people started gathering on the street. More police vans were called in. There was a huge crowd and the people started throwing stones at the vans. The police fired some more shots. Some came forward to pacify the crowd."
Following the blasts, there was tension in the area, which led the police to fire in the air. Deputy Chief Minister R.R. Patil said 58 rounds were fired, all in the air.
Seventy-four civilians and 10 police personnel were injured. The injured were taken to the Noor, Farhan and Wadia hospitals.
Assistant Superintendent of police Viresh Prabhu was injured in the firing, according to the control room. The police claimed that the mob attacked the police, while the locals said they threw stones at the vans.
According to official reports, no civilian was dead in the firing. However, local activist Syed Asif Ali of Citizens for Peace and Justice claimed that two people died in the firing and 50 were injured. Sheikh Rafiq Sheikh Mustafa was killed in the firing, he said. The other name could not be confirmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Indian Mujahideen
Disagreements between Somali pirates holding a ship laden with tanks and heavy weapons escalated into a shootout and three pirates are believed dead, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday. The pirates denied the report.
The U.S. destroyer USS Howard and several other American ships have surrounded the Ukrainian cargo ship Faina, which was hijacked Thursday and is now anchored off the lawless coast of Somalia. The pirates have demanded a ransom of $20 million and the U.S. Navy cordon aims to prevent them from taking any of the weapons ashore.
The official in Washington who reported the shootout spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak on the record. He refused to elaborate and said he had no way of confirming the deaths.
But the pirate spokesman insisted the report was not true, that his colleagues were just celebrating the Muslim feast of Eid al-Fitr despite being surrounded by American warships and helicopters. "We didn't dispute over a single thing, let alone have a shootout," pirate spokesman Sugule Ali told The Associated Press by satellite telephone Tuesday. "We are happy on the ship and we are celebrating Eid," Ali said. "Nothing has changed."
"Just a lot of gun sex. What else would we do on a holiday?"
Earlier Tuesday, Andrew Mwangura of the East African Seafarers' Assistance Program cited an unconfirmed report saying three Somali pirates were killed Monday night in a dispute over whether to surrender. Mwangura said, however, he had not spoken to any witnesses.
Elsewhere in Somalia, pirates freed a Malaysian tanker Tuesday after a ransom was paid, according to a Malaysian shipping company.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
How long can we keep a guided missile destroyer and our other Navy ships tied up on these skidmarks? Why don't we just take the damned ship and send it on its way?
#6
Why don't we just take the damned ship and send it on its way?
1. Ukranian crew as hostages.
2. Reports of 50 or so pirates on board.
3. As a result, a direct boarding (even a helo approach) won't work. It'd have to be a SEAL assault. And that's based on the probability of success.
4. If it's feasible, a SEAL assault means getting plans of the ship, rehearsing the assault, getting permission from the Ukranian government (it's technically Ukranian territory), getting approval from National Command Authority. Since the Somalis have given the Russians permission, the Russians could include other forces in any action.
4. Of course they could just sink the ship, but the paperwork is a drag.
At least five people have been killed after a US drone strike at a house in northwest Pakistan, according to Pakistani officials. The attack happened at about midnight on Tuesday near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, two intelligence agency officials told Reuters. "We have reports of five dead including foreign militants," one of the officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday. In the past month, US forces have carried out seven missile strikes by pilotless drones and a commando raid on the Pakistani side of the border.
Earlier on Tuesday, the Pakistani military said it would not allow any incursions by the US-led NATO troops into its tribal region near the Afghan border.
Pakistan has angrily protested the missile strikes and cross-border commando raids in recent weeks, which have killed many innocent civilians, including women and children. Pakistan's new leadership has unequivocally told the United States that they will not tolerate violations of their air and ground space. Tension has risen palpably in the region since the recent confrontations between US and Pakistani forces, but cooler heads have prevailed so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Lead, follow of get out of the way.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/01/2008 6:55
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Late Tuesday, missiles fired by a U.S. drone aircraft struck the Taliban commander's home near Mir Ali, a town in North Waziristan, which borders Afghanistan, said two intelligence officials, who asked for anonymity because they were not authorized to speak to media.
Citing reports from their field agents, the officials said six people died, but did not identify any of the victims.
I notice there's not the usual harrumph harrumph harrumph from the Pakistanis.
(PTI) Amid intense US pressure to deliver on the war on terror, the chief of Pakistan's powerful ISI has been shunted out of Islamabad and replaced by Lt Gen Ahmad Shuja Pasha, considered close to the reform-minded Army Chief Ashfaq Parvez Kayani.
Lt Gen Nadeem Taj, on the hit list of US for alleged ties to Taliban extremists and militant groups in the Pak-Afghan border, was replaced by Pasha, who was serving as Director General of Military Operations in the General Headquarters.
An army statement yesterday announced the elevation and appointment of Pasha, said to be close to army chief Kayani, to the sensitive post of Director General of the ISI to replace Taj, who was hand-picked by Gen (Retd) Pervez Musharraf, the former Pakistani President.
Pasha's appointment was approved by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, who directly looks after the affairs of the intelligence establishment, 'The News' daily reported.
Pasha has been overseeing Pakistani military operations against insurgents in the country's restive northwest. He had also commanded troops for the UN mission to Sierra Leone in 2001-2002 and was appointed as an adviser on peacekeeping operations by the world body last year.
Taj, a distant relative of Musharraf, has been transferred to head the Gujranwala-based 30 Corps. He was appointed as head of the ISI in September last year, shortly before Musharraf stepped down as Army Chief.
The US had been pressing Pakistan hard to replace Taj as late as Sunday night. Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari reportedly met CIA Director Michael Hayden this weekend in New York. What they discussed specifically is unclear but Hayden reportedly provided Gilani with a proposal for "ISI reform" in July, media reports said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: ISI
#1
Interesting. Can the good John Frum comment on the true significance?
A court on Tuesday ordered the Interior Ministry to issue red warrants for five absconders involved in a case of attempted murder of President Asif Ali Zardari during his detention in May 1999.
Additional District Judge Irfan Siddiqui also ordered to confiscate the property of former National Accountability Bureau chief Saifur Rehman Khan, his brother Mujibur Rehman, former police inspector general Rana Maqbool Ahmad and then jail superintendent Najaf Mirza.
The court declared the accused as proclaimed offenders under sections 87 and 88 of the Criminal Procedure Code, and ordered the ministry to contact Interpol for the absconders' arrest, after a senior investigator informed the court he had been unable to serve non-bailable warrants (NBWs) to them because they were abroad.
According to prosecution, the accused took Zardari from judicial custody to interrogate him over the murder of Justice (r) Nizam Ahmed and his advocate Nadeem Ahmed in 1995.
During the interrogation, Zardari's tongue was found slashed. Investigators alleged that Zardari had tried to commit suicide, while Zardari accused police of torture and giving him death threats.
Zardari filed a complaint of attempted murder against the accused after an inquiry found that his charges against were right.
The hearing was postponed until October 25.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
All right. I've had enough. ISSUE THE RED WARRANTS!
Oh, no! Not the RED WARRANTS, sir!
Tribesmen backed by army helicopter gunships battled the Taliban in Bajaur Agency on Tuesday, killing several of the Taliban, a tribal elder said.
The latest clash broke out in Mulla Saib Dara village, when a 6,000-strong tribal lashkar tried to set fire to the Taliban houses and hideouts. "Fighting is going on and to help us, the army sent some gunships which fired at the Taliban, killing several of them," tribal elder Malik Younus told Reuters.
He said his men would battle the Taliban until they were cleared from the region. "It's now clear to everybody that we can't tolerate lawlessness in our land. Everyone has to obey our tribal rules and they can't make our land a hub of terrorism," Younus said.
Four Taliban were killed and two were wounded in the shelling of a vehicle in Mamoond town, a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity. Troops killed another five Taliban after their group launched an attack on a military checkpost in the same town, sparking a gunbattle that lasted nearly an hour, the official said.
A tribal lashkar killed two Taliban and captured another in Lower Kurram, following the kidnapping of a tribal elder, local administration told Daily Times.
Ferozkhel tribesmen set up pickets at various locations to search missing elder Malik Gulistan who was kidnapped by the Taliban on Monday. "A vehicle ignored tribesmen's signals to stop. Two Taliban were killed and one injured during clash between the two sides," the political administration said.
Helicopter gunships also destroyed what authorities claim were Taliban explosive-laden vehicles at a basic health unit. The local administration said the Taliban subsequently blew up two security checkposts and a bride in retaliation to the vehicle attack late on Monday.
Residents said government helicopters dropped leaflets in various parts of the agency calling for the support. But a Taliban spokesman dismissed the significance of tribal lashkars. "There is no revolt against the Taliban," spokesman Maulvi Omar said over telephone from an undisclosed location, Reuters reported. "It's government propaganda. Nobody dares stand up against the Taliban," he said.
Omar said the Taliban had killed 15 tribesmen in fighting over the past two days.
Following the Salarzai and Charmang tribes, the Utman Khel tribe has also announced it will form a lashkar againt the Taliban after Eid, APP reported.
Earlier, an Utaman Khel jirga said it would help security forces in flushing the Taliban out of the agency. The jirga participants said they would resist the Taliban and foreign forces in their areas. They said strict action would be taken against those backing or sheltering the Taliban.
Assistant Political Agent Muhammad Iqbal Khan Khattak told the jirga that the government alone could not fight the Taliban, and that it needed the tribesmen's support to eliminate the Taliban from the area.
The Kala Khel tribe has also raised a tribal lashkar of 5,000 men to fight the Taliban and expel them from Darra Adam Khel.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[14 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
The ten Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders, including four university teachers, who were arrested in Rajshahi two weeks back on suspicion of inciting anti-government activities and involvement in militancy were released on bail yesterday.
Hundreds of activists, who drove to Rajshahi from the capital as news on their getting bail came through, greeted them at Rajshahi Central Jail gate in the evening. They posted bail from the Rajshahi District and Sessions Judge's Court earlier in the day.
The Hizb ut-Tahrir high-ups were detained at Rajshahi City Press Club on September 18, before a scheduled press conference there. Invoking Section 54 of the Criminal Procedure Code (CrPC), police showed them arrested on suspicion of using religious sentiments to foment anti-government activities and having involvement in militancy. A metropolitan magistrate court later in the day rejected their bail petitions as police said investigation into the allegations were still going on.
The accused appealed to the district and sessions judge's court after the lower court again rejected their bail petitions the following day. They posted bail yesterday in the morning and were freed after paperwork reached jail authorities in the evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Hizb-ut-Tahrir
#1
ION HIZB UT-TAHRIR > TOPIX - HIZB UT-TAHRIR LEADER CALLS FOR NUCLEAR WAR, by PAKISTANI MILITARY-NUCLEAR FORCES agz USA including LR strikes at DOHA + BAGRAM.
ALso from TOPIX > HIZBULLAH TO BEGIN FORMATION OF A NAVY.
#3
HIZB UT-TAHRIR LEADER CALLS FOR NUCLEAR WAR, by PAKISTANI MILITARY-NUCLEAR FORCES agz USA including LR strikes at DOHA + BAGRAM.
Oh yeah, that's a GREAT idea. Get us REALLY mad. Nuke retaliation on every city in Pakistan except Karachi. ARCLIGHT strikes on burgs too small to be considered even remotely a "city". A four-lane superhighway from Karachi to Kabul, with a nearby rail link. Everything else in Pakistan either glowing or rubble. Death toll of about 125+ million Pakistanis, and everyone else a refugee.
It would at least end the "Pashtunistan" problem.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/01/2008 20:51
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Too complicated by half. the next rendition of a 'one size fits most' aircraft. Thought we learned that lesson with LawnDart v. 1.0 and 2.0.
while the composites and stealth parts are really groovy, I think the added burden of the lift fan for the STOL/VTOL versions are going to prove a maintenance nightmare in the forward operating areas. The weight penalty imposed by that equipment eats into payload; the only good part is that the airframe doesn't need the strengthening necessary for cat shots ( for the USN version) More F22s would have been preferable and then plow the JSF bucks into UAVs. THe USAF has been mossasses-like in recognizing the value of the UAV ( don't want to give up their ascots)
Meanwhile tanking and cargo capacity is declining. C5s and C-141s being grounded / restricted due to airframe problems, only (finally) funded a few more (5 i think) C-17s.
Next up is Bomber 2018, aka B-3. That aircraft willl impinge on cargo and CSAR Helo funds.
A Sri Lanka navy patrol destroyed two Tamil Tiger boats, killing eight rebels on board, in a clash off the island's northern coast, the defence ministry said Tuesday.
The navy did not give its own losses during the battle, which occurred late Monday. There was no comment from the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The attack came as ground troops continued to fight fierce battles as part of their offensive against the rebels' mini state in the north of the island.
Troops killed 39 rebels and wounded 52 during separate clashes across the north on Monday. The ministry said five soldiers were also killed and 16 wounded in Monday's fighting. The figures raise the number of rebels reported killed by government forces to 7,060 since January, when Colombo pulled out of a Norwegian-brokered ceasefire.
The defence ministry has acknowledged the loss of 691 of its soldiers over the same period. Casualty figures cannot be independently verified since the ministry blocks independent journalists from travelling to the conflict areas.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
(PTI) The Sri Lankan navy destroyed two LTTE boats off the northeast coast killing eight rebels on board as fighting in the embattled north killed 45 Tamil tigers and five soldiers, the defence ministry said today.
The Special Boat Squadron (SBS) sailors of Sri Lanka Navy attacked and destroyed two LTTE assault boats when they appeared off Pooneryn Sea in Kilinochchi last night, navy sources said. The SBS launched a surprise attack at the terror boats killing all the eight rebel sailors on board, they said.
Meanwhile, in ground clashes in the Kilinochchi district 26 rebels and three soldiers were killed, while fighting in Vavuniya, Welioya and Kokavil killed 19 LTTE cadres and two other soldiers, the defence ministry said.
Troops killed at least 11 LTTE militants in Andankulam in North-eastern Welioya yesterday, the military said adding 50 rebels were also wounded in the fierce clashes in the region. "Two valiant soldiers laid their lives in the battle while another seven were wounded in the incidents," the Media Centre for National Security (MCNS) said.
At least three tiger rebels were reportedly shot dead in North of Kokavil this morning when troops intercepted an LTTE movement, MCNS said. Troops captured three LTTE bunkers in Andankulam area, wounding 16 tiger rebels during the confrontation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
Lillian was one of the early stars in Gilbert and Sullivan operettas, was married four times (once to a bigamist), and was Diamond Jim Brady's girlfriend for umpty years.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008 11:23
Comments ||
Top||
#5
In those days, Jack, being on the stage took LOTS of talent, instead of a willingness to "let it all hang out". Even the second- and third-tier players had to have above average talent. Some of today's "stars" would never have made it beyond church plays in small towns.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/01/2008 20:33
Comments ||
Top||
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday he has asked the Saudi Arabia's king to help facilitate peace talks with the Taliban in order to bring an end to the Afghan conflict.
Mr. Karzai said there have not yet been any negotiations, only requests for help. But he said Afghan officials have travelled to both Saudi Arabia and to Pakistan in hopes of ending the conflict.
"For the last two years, I've sent letters to the king of Saudi Arabia and I've sent messages, and I requested from him as the leader of the Islamic world, for the security and prosperity of Afghanistan and for reconciliation in Afghanistan ... he should help us," said Mr. Karzai.
Mr. Karzai said the government is trying to encourage militants to lay down arms. He underscored that he has in the past reached out to Taliban leader Mullah Omar to "come back to your home soil and work for the happiness of the people."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
Does it have a back end to it?
I mean what does it pay? Cause the Saudis only understand one thing, $$$$.
Dexia, a Franco-Belgian bank that specializes in lending to local governments, got a $9.2 billion injection of capital to stave off imminent collapse after a loss of public confidence led to a 30 percent decline in its stock price Monday, according to announcements from the French and Belgian governments.
It was the fifth time in recent days that European officials have had to respond to a crisis at one of their financial institutions, abruptly ending the confidence European officials displayed as recently as last week that their financial system was not as endangered by the troubled mortgage loans undermining the U.S. system. With the pace and scale of events seeming to quicken, the Irish government guaranteed the debt of six financial companies amid a sell-off of bank stocks, and European officials discussed possible broader action to address problems with the global financial system.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#4
A key quote from Bright Pebbles' excellent link:
But the AIG case shows the importance of another link across financial markets, namely massive regulatory arbitrage. The K-10 annex of AIG’s last annual report reveals that AIG had written coverage for over US$ 300 billion of credit insurance for European banks.
The comment by AIG itself on these positions is: “…. for the purpose of providing them with regulatory capital relief rather than risk mitigation in exchange for a minimum guaranteed fee”.
AIG thus helped to organise regulatory arbitrage on a gigantic scale. A formal default of AIG would have had a devastating impact on banks in Europe. This explains why AIG’s problems had sent shock waves through the share prices of European banks.
For the time being the US Treasury has saved, inter alia, the European banking system, but given that AIG is to be liquidated European banks now have to scramble to find other ways of obtaining the ‘regulatory capital relief’ they appear to need urgently.
After a long and bitter legal battle, a group of retired Gurkha soldiers, who served in the British Army, have won the right to settle in Britain.
Those who retired before 1997, when their regiment was based in Hong Kong, were not eligible for an automatic right to stay on grounds that they do not have strong residential ties with Britain. They need to apply for British residency and can be refused.
But on Tuesday, in what was hailed as a landmark judgment, the High Court ruled in their favour in a case brought by five ex-Gurkhas and the widow of another colleague. Justice Blake said Britain owed Gurkhas a "moral debt of honour" in view of their long service, conspicuous acts of bravery and loyalty to the Crown. The ruling, which is likely to benefit some 2,000 retired Gurkhas, was described by the community as a vindication of "commonsense."
"Today we have seen a tremendous and historic victory for the gallant Gurkha veterans of Nepal. This is a victory that restores honour and dignity to deserving soldiers who faithfully served in Her Majesty's armed forces. It is a victory for commonsense; a victory for fairness; and a victory for the British sense of what is right," said their lawyer Martin Howe.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
This could actually help. Remember they were primarily responsible along with the SAS of securing Malaysia during that little flare up. Now having about 1,000 well trained veteran Gurkhas deployed in various sections of Londonstan and the Midlands may give pause to any Islamic partying.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/01/2008 7:04
Comments ||
Top||
#2
They refuse these guys and let in a flood of worthless, illiterate, lunatics that don't know what those rolls of white paper are for in a bathroom. WTF? Not the right kind of "ASIANS"?
#4
About bloody time. Labour have allowed every creep who claims to be from cess-pits like Somalia in willy-nilly, in the name of 'humanity' and refused honourable Nepalis who have actually risked their lives fighting for this country. Why? Because they have documentation and so CAN be barred entry. Let the gurkhas in, throw the parasites back out.
#5
As I write these last words, my thoughts return to you who were my comrades, the stubborn and indomitable peasants of Nepal. Once more I hear the laughter with which you greeted every hardship. Once more I see you in your bivouacs or about your fires, on forced march or in the trenches, now shivering with wet and cold, now scorched by a pitiless and burning sun. Uncomplaining you endure hunger and thirst and wounds; and at the last your unwavering lines disappear into the smoke and wrath of battle. Bravest of the brave, most generous of the generous, never had country more faithful friends than you.
- Professor Sir Ralph Turner, MC, who served with the 3rd Queen Alexandra's Own Gurkha Rifles in the First World War.
Leaders of the rival Palestinian groups Fatah and Hamas marked the end of the holy month of Ramadan on Tuesday with pledges to seek unity at talks in Cairo in the coming weeks. Healing the deep rift between them is seen as a vital step towards an eventual peace deal with Israel.
But there was no evident sign of a change of position on either part signaling that their feud, which climaxed with militant Islamist Hamas fighters forcing Fatah forces out of the Gaza Strip in June 2007, would soon be resolved.
"We hope the current national dialogue sessions in Cairo will succeed in ending the division caused by a party that rejected the choice of the people," said top Hamas official Ismail Haniyeh, referring to Fatah. Fatah had "cooperated with the (Israeli) occupation against their people", he added.
His comments came just days after he suggested that the path to dialogue with president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party was "impassable."
Another Fatah leader had criticized Hamas on Sunday for its refusal to start talks and relinquish control of Gaza, and accused Washington of being an obstacle to talks with Hamas, which it considers a terrorist organization, according to China's Xinhau news agency.
Azzam al-Ahmad, the head of Fatah's parliamentary bloc, said on Sunday that Washington does not support talks with rival Hamas. There is "a consistent American veto and interference in the internal Palestinian affairs" that Hamas boosts by its refusal to start talks give up control of Gaza, he was reported as saying.
The Islamist group sought success in Egyptian-sponsored unity talks with the Fatah faction of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas Fatah, but would make no concessions, said Haniyeh.
Abbas marked the feast of Eid al-Fitr by laying flowers at a monument to fallen soldiers in Ramallah, his de facto capital in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. "President Mahmoud Abbas and the Palestinian leadership are exerting great efforts for the success of the dialogue that Egypt is holding," his spokesman Nabil Abu Rdainah said.
A deal in Cairo would pave the way to "comprehensive national dialogue that will be followed by a meeting of Arab foreign ministers", he added.
Egyptian intelligence chief Omar Suleiman conducted separate talks with the two sides throughout September. He met Fatah last week and will see Hamas officials on Oct 8. A Fatah official said all factions may convene in Cairo on Nov. 4.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
Consumers facing rising unemployment kept their spending unchanged in August even though incomes rose, according to a government report Monday that showed optimism about the economy's direction was fading.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
So in other words we acted like sensible f*cking people for a month?
Yeah, well Christmas is coming up and some of us need to 'bank' the extra for gifts for family and friends and travel. Some of that travel will probably involve GAS. August is about the start month to getting the act together.
#3
Haven't they been telling us we need to save more anyway? Now they sound worried that we arent buying as much miserable crap. I have no idea what these goons are going to do to the economy in the next month so I save more and spend less on non-essentials, where is the mystery in that?
#4
If American consumers saved a reasonable proportion of their income and lived within their means, the entire US economy would collapse within weeks. This has been true for some years (? decades).
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made a call for peace to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the Taliban Supremo offered international forces a safe retreat from Afghanistan if they agree to withdraw from the war-torn country. "A few days ago I called upon their leader, Mullah Omar, and said 'My brother, my dear, come back to your homeland, come and work for the peace and good of your people and stop killing your brothers'," Karzai told reporters on Tuesday.
Karzai denied reports that negotiations with the Taliban had taken place in Saudi Arabia but said he had written to the Saudi king to ask him to help bring peace to Afghanistan and the region. "There have been no negotiations in Saudi Arabia. If any negotiations take place, it will be in our own land," Karzai said after prayers on the first day of celebrations following the fasting month of Ramadan.
Karzai is an ethnic Pashtun, the country's biggest ethnic group that includes Mullah Omar and most members of the Taliban.
Karzai also said he would assure the protection of Mullah Omar and other Taliban members who wished to make peace with international forces in Afghanistan. "They should come back and not be afraid of the foreigners. I will stand in front of the foreigners," said Karzai.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
#1
maybe Karzai should be dealt soem of the taliban=s special treatments for their prisoners. He is about as full of shit as the rest of the region.
#6
Kumbaya. Messianic thing coming out (again). It is very creepy. Joseph Goebbels was good at this kind of thing too--controlling the media. Oh, I forgot we are already there with the MSM. Telling the big lie repeatedly--oh we are already there again with the MSM. A BO Presidency and a Democratic controlled Congress ought to give the American people a lot of concern. Big spending, big government control, gun control, and increased taxes should just about tank the country into depression and move it rapidly towards socialism. There won't be talk radio around due to the so-called "Fairness Doctrine" to counter what's going on.
#8
And don't forget John, Microsoft and Cisco have worked closely with the Chinese government in making the internet 'Regime Friendly(c)' too. Spyware with the government stamp of approval, soon to the CPU near you. As long as the industrialists corporations get their cut, why would they care.
#9
I wonder where this video was made. Some school or church near you?
Posted by: Jan ||
10/01/2008 11:32
Comments ||
Top||
#10
Jan, the video opens with a neighbor's house... venice, california Note the friendly and unthreatening no-caps font.
"Tomorrow belongs to me" I hate that film, because it's that easy for something beautiful and life-affirming to be twisted into hate and destruction. But Obama's songwriter doesn't even respect his/her audience enough to present poetry or little potatoes with empty heads, just the hammerblows of trigger words. I'm awfully glad this thing was cached; it's important to keep it from the memory hole.
#14
This is the video I intended to post instead of the video in post #13. Again, I apologize for the mix-up. The video in #13 is totally inappropriate.
#19
This is political indoctrination of young children, plain and simple, and I find it terribly disturbing. I don't care what your political beliefs are as any parent that engages in this kind of practice is doing their impressionable and innocent young children a gross disservice.
Despite the "good" intentions of the parents orchestrating this display, if I were Obama and I saw this, I would be very, very troubled by it. Children should not be recruited (or forced, as the case may be) into politics and exploited like this. I can only hope that he would say, "thanks for your efforts here but I think it best that we leave politics to the adults, don't you agree?"
Can you imagine a choreographed group of young children singing praise and homage to McCain? Me neither but I know the MSM would be nuclear over the thing in a nanosecond. And they would be justified in doing so because this kind of political demagogeury is not only wrong and shamelessly anti-American, it's dangerous.
Posted by: Kelly ||
10/01/2008 15:32
Comments ||
Top||
#21
eltoroverd - the fact that Obama doesn't disapprove of it and doesn't seem to be troubled by it at all is even more terrifying. He actually believes he _deserves_ all this pure adoration and (yes!) worship. He doesn't seem to be ashamed of it at all.
This type of thing is appropriate to North Korea, China, Pol-Pot, and yes even nazi germany where 'Dear Leader' approves the adoration and worship of the children and adults - and the media.
#22
I watched the video again twice: the first time GolfBravoUSMC's post #14, with the stirring music, and then the original, and I noticed a few things. The banner with the Obama logo says "Sing for Change". There is a Change poster on the far wall of the living room. Finally, there must be several cameras going at once to get the various shots, but I see no electrical cables or equipment in the final audience shots, which suggests to me in my ignorance that pretty good, ie expensive, miniature video cameras were used. Then I followed Procopius2k's link, and found the following in the comment thread:
peterike:
Yup, just a bunch o regular folk sittin round the house thinkin theyll sing a bunch o songs about Fearless Leader.
Crew
Andy Blumenthal, Editor
Ann Partrich, Assistant
Barry Rosenbaum, Producer
Christian Wilson, Technical Director
Darin Moran, Camera Operator
Eriko Matsumoto, Art Direction
Eugin Hong, Banner Artist
Gary Rhoades, Producer
Hana Rosenbaum, Banner Artist
Harry Zucker, Production Assistant
Holly Schiffer, Post Producer
Jean Martin, Assistant Camera
Jeff Zucker, Director
Kathy Sawada, Executive Producer
Nick Phoenix, Sound
Peter Rosenfeld, Steadicam Operator
Sandy Silver, Assistant to Executive Producer
Scott C. Smith, Wrangler
Wilma Wong, Producer
Yvette Carter, Production Assistant
Sep 30, 2008 - 2:41 pm
Just in case any of you have friends who hang out in Venice, CA. Finally, trailing daughter #2 watched it with me, and was scornful; it seems neither singing nor song were very good -- but then, several of the those she sang with are now at CCM, Juilliard, etc, so perhaps her standards are a bit impossible for a neighborhood chorus that's as much a vehicle for the soloist's career in commercials as it is a political statement.
Posted by: Heir Red Dog ||
10/01/2008 16:52
Comments ||
Top||
#25
Speaking of forced policiticalization of children; last week there was the story of the kid that got expelled from school for wearing a shirt w/ a ploitical statement on it and his dad was quoted as supportive; anybody have any update on that? it seemed to fall off the news table...
#27
Here's the modified 2nd verse of the Cultural Revolution song "The East is Red". Substitute
"Mao" for "Obama" and "China" for "America" and
you have the original:
#28
An additional comment:
The youth organization of the East German communists was informally known as the "Blauhemden" (blueshirts). Their symbol was a rising sun.
#30
Trailing wife,
I presume you were referring to the film 'Cabaret'? I thought it was an excellent and powerful work, and not at all irrelevant to this discussion. Though I do not want to risk invoking Godwin's Law, this scene is creepily similar:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EdM8PDu6VMg
Entire cadres of the militant United Liberation Front of Barak Valley (ULFBV) numbering 305, most of them belonging to the Reang tribe of southern Assam's Hailakandi and Karimganj districts, returned to the mainstream on Tuesday, ending their eight-year-old armed insurrection.
The ULFBV was formed in 2001 and it raised an armed rebellion demanding the creation of a Zilla Parishad for the tribal communities in the Barak Valley, restoration of land to the tribal people and development of tribal-inhabited areas of the two districts.
The Assam police said the aim of the outfit was to protect the Reang community from alleged "atrocities of the Mizos and Muslims." It received logistical support and training from the National Socialist Council of Nagalim (Isak-Muivah), Dima Halam Daogah, National Liberation Front of Tripura (NLFT). Some of the cadres received training in Nagaland, Bangladesh and Myanmar. The outfit had declared a unilateral ceasefire on June 7 last.
Led by their president Panchram Apeto, the ULFBV cadres, in battle fatigues, laid down arms and ammunition before Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi, Excise and Border Areas Development Minister Gautom Roy, Principal Secretary (Home) Subhas Das, Director-General of Police R.N. Mathur and General Officer Commanding of 21 Mountain Division of the Army, Major General Chander Prakash.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The DGP said the ULFBV was involved in 28 incidents of various acts of crime and violence and had kidnapped 42 people, all of whom had either been rescued by police and security forces or released by the outfit.
The family of kidnapped Afghan envoy and Frontier police Chief Tuesday denied the release of Abdul Khaliq Farahi by his captors. "No. No. That's not him. Abdul Farahi's much taller."
The brother of kidnapped Afghan diplomat Abdul Khaliq Farahi rejected news reports suggesting that the ambassador-designate has been recovered and termed such reports as based on speculation and hearsay. Haji Naeem Farahi told the Peshawar-based Afghan Islamic Press that he would have known, had his brother been recovered. "Ambassador Farahi's family is unaware but the media is claiming that he has been found and is back home. The media coverage has upset all the members of our family," he stressed.
According to Naeem Farahi, ambassador's wife had reached Kabul from the US where she had been living along with her children and was now staying at his home. He said everyone in their family was waiting and praying for the safe recovery of ambassador Farahi. Farahi was named Afghanistan's ambassador to Pakistan in August. He was waiting to present his credentials to President Asif Ali Zardari.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
(AKI) - A helicopter contracted by the United Nations has crashed in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, killing all four crew members, a spokesperson for the world body said. "Preliminary reports indicate there are four crew members dead and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed," Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. "There were no passengers on board."
According to the UN-African Union Hybrid Mission in Darfur (UNAMID), the helicopter crashed on Monday near the Kalma camp for internally displaced persons after takeoff from Nyala, the capital of South Darfur. "There'll be further information following an investigation," Okabe said.
Earlier this month a UN helicopter in Darfur landed safely after being shot at in the third incident of its kind in Darfur, where a conflict pitting rebels against government forces and allied Janjaweed militiamen has raged since 2003.
The Kalma camp is host to some 80,000 displaced people and the site of clashes last month with Sudanese security forces that resulted in the death of dozens of residents.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Sudan
Police have detained about 15 people for questioning in connection with the bomb blast on Monday night in which two persons were killed and about 15 others injured in Suka Bazar area in this town in north Gujarat.
The Sabarkantha district superintendent of police, K. K. Mysorewala, who rushed to the town last night, said he suspected it to be the handiwork of some people from outside Modasa with the support of local people. He did not rule out the possibility of the SIMI hand in the blast, as it was involved in the July 26 Ahmedabad serial bomb blasts and various other cities and towns in the country.
The police have found a lot of similarity between the Modasa and the recent blast in Mehrauli in Delhi and believe it could be the work of the same group, though executed by different persons. Both bombs were of low intensity but lethal enough to kill those nearby and spread panic among people. In both cases, two terrorists came on a motorbike and dropped a bag. A 15-year-old shopper, Jainuddin, was killed on the spot and his brother, Ayub Ghori, died in hospital. Hospital sources said three others stated to be critical last night were out of danger and their conditions were improving.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: SIMI
Russia is suffering its own bitter version of financial turmoil, partly because of the summer of antagonism led by Vladimir Putin, the Prime Minister. Yesterday Russia suspended its stock market for the fourth day in a fortnight, to try to stem falling share prices. The move headed off a rout, although investors have been fleeing for four months and the market is down by more than half since May.
Those on the receiving end of Mr Putin's belligerence might hope that the plunge will undermine him. His power has rested on his claim to have steered Russia out of chaos and into prosperity in eight years. But, as with every optimistic statement about Russia, that depends on the middle class suddenly revealing itself to be large, outspoken and prepared to challenge the country's leaders if their actions threaten the standard of living. This hasn't happened yet.
More worryingly, the turmoil could strengthen those who argue that capitalism is too risky. In that case, the advantage will go to those, such as Mr Putin, who favour more control of key industries and the stock markets, although that may prove to be at the expense of economic growth.
Since 2000 Mr Putin has tried to have it both ways. He has extracted political capital from the new prosperity, in which average incomes nearly doubled in six years, but he has acted as though there was no contradiction with his growing control of regional government, the media and the energy industry.
His claims for his first years as President are solid. He did steer Russia out of the 1998 crisis; a tangle of debt default and a run on the rouble. Four years of high oil prices have left the country with no debt and with more than $500 billion in foreign currency reserves. But, as foreign investors have been saying for years, Russia has failed to reinvest oil profits back into the industry, and production is now dropping, while Mr Putin has failed to diversify the economy away from energy.
Even though poverty has halved to below 14 per cent of the population, wealth is spread very thinly. The population of 141 million is shrinking by nearly half a million a year, leaving eastern villages deserted (something that China, with tens of millions living along the border, watches keenly).
This summer, Mr Putin's contribution has made the inevitable financial turmoil worse. True, he cannot be blamed for the one-third fall in the oil price since its July peak. But it removes his room for manoeuvre; if it falls below $70 a barrel, the Government will start posting deficits.
Meanwhile, Mr Putin's accusation in July that the coal and steel company Mechel had engaged in price-fixing sent its shares plunging by nearly 40 per cent in a day; it was one of the triggers for the flight of foreign capital. So was the continuing fight between BP and its Russian joint venture partners, with the apparent support of some ministers, which was uncomfortably resolved last month. And then there was the war with Georgia.
In the end, all this weakens his position. The question in the short term is how many Russians buy his line that there is no alternative to his prescription of greater control and that the turmoil in Western capitalist economies only proves it.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
TOPIX > DER SPIEGEL - US BANKING/FINANCIAL CRISIS LEAVES EUROPE HOLDING THE BILL WORTH BILLIONS; + TEN NATIONS LOSE USD $36BILYUHN IN FOREX.
ALso from DEFENSETECH > RUSSIA SEES POTENTIAL LAUNCH BASE IN CUBA [ROSCOSMOS = Space Missions] + STARSHIP TROOPERS MEETS GI JOE.
#2
More worryingly, the turmoil could strengthen those who argue that capitalism is too risky. In that case, the advantage will go to those, such as Mr Putin, who favour more control of key industries and the stock markets, although that may prove to be at the expense of economic growth.
Since 2000 Mr Putin has tried to have it both ways. He has extracted political capital from the new prosperity, in which average incomes nearly doubled in six years, but he has acted as though there was no contradiction with his growing control of regional government, the media and the energy industry.
Putin, Pelosi... Amazing how much our own "representative" government and the Russian one have in common.
#3
Well, Betty, when one party engages in stuffing the ballot box with as much vigor as their counterpart in another country, why be surprised at the outcome.
The All-India Democratic Women's Association (AIDWA) has strongly condemned the "failure" of the Orissa police to arrest Sangh Parivar cadres accused of brutally gang raping a young nun on August 25 at K. Nuagaon in Kandhamal district of Orissa.
Shockingly, the assault was carried out in full public view, right in front of a police outpost with 12 policemen from the Orissa State Armed Police present and watching the atrocity. The attackers also grievously injured a priest and doused him with kerosene when he courageously tried to resist them. It is outrageous that despite the fact that both victims filed First Information Reports on the same day, not a single arrest has been made in the case although it is now over a month since the incident took place, a statement issued by AIDWA said here on Tuesday. Equally shocking is the inaction on the part of the Orissa Chief Minister who has been apprised of the facts.
"The Sangh Parivar's attacks on the Christian and Muslim minorities are acts of terrorism that target the secular fabric of our nation. We express our deep concern about the vicious communal campaign of the Bajrang Dal-Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh-Vishwa Hindu Parishad-Bharatiya Janata Party combine all over the country. There has been a huge escalation in the violence against minorities, and the targeting of women. The support extended by the State apparatus in Orissa and in Karnataka in the spread of this venom is an extremely disturbing development," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
India, the "not quite ready for prime time" democracy.
#4
Women have to take the initiative to protect themselves. Now granted this was a nun, but most aren't, and there is no reason they shouldn't regularly carry a sharp weapon with them in public.
Emphasis on cutting men on the head, since head wounds bleed freely. Had she even nicked the scalp of one of her attackers, the police would have probably at least arrested her--still with a better result than what happened.
Israel has cut purchases of U.S.-made cluster bombs, defense officials said on Tuesday, stocking up on supplies from a state-owned Israeli company rather than heeding calls for an outright ban.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
They have plenty of non-college grunts who are highly literate and can follow directions very closely. It's a surprise they aren't manufacturing everything they can.
#2
The Israelis used to manufacture a lot more of their weapons and equipment but it became so expensive on so many items that they switched back to foreign purchases. Now they seem to concentrate on manufacturing those items that are too sensitive or likely to be restricted by the seller.
The US-led forces have arrested a senior police commander and two aides over "terrorist activities" in Jalwala, Diyala province.
Hassan Koravi, the commander of the Jalwala Police's emergency unit and two of his aides were arrested on Tuesday afternoon, over the charge of carrying out terrorist activities, police sources told the Voices of Iraq. The detainees' houses have been demolished by explosives after their families were evacuated, according to the sources.
The Iraqi government has recently launched a security crackdown in the restive province, a former hotbed of insurgency in the war torn country.
This article starring:
Hassan Koravi
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Iraqi Insurgency
#1
I am not sure "US-led" is correct anymore. US-assisted might be more accurate.
Law-enforcement agencies arrested five suspected terrorists from a hotel in Gujranwala on Tuesday, Dawn News reported. The channel said the suspects were believed to be from the banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangwi. One of the arrested suspects Qari Ilyas alias Abu Bakar, carrying a head money of Rs 2 million, was convicted in the 1995 assassination attempt on former premier Nawaz Sharif. The Lahore High Court later released him on an appeal, the channel said. They were taken to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi
Indian troops have killed one of the 'most wanted' militant commanders in Kashmir during a shootout in which nine security personnel were also injured, police said on Tuesday. Abu Sarjeel, alias Khubaib, was killed in the southern district of Pulwama late on Monday, police officer Bashir Khan said. "Khubaib was one of the most wanted militant commanders in Kashmir who was active since 2000," Khan said, adding the militant commander was involved in the killing of more than 30 police and army personnel. Police said Khubaib, a Pakistani national, was a member of militant organisation Jaish-e-Muhammad.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[13 views]
Top|| File under: Jaish-e-Mohammad
#1
Takes care of one problem--maybe more. A few more problems to "solve" in Pakiland to make the larger problem manageable. Catch them as they flee into Afghanistan and solve some more problems.
#2
The bankers and Wall Streeters are setting themselves up for harder times in the near future. This will kill the Trunks ability to argue against Capital Gains Tax because it will be view as nothing more than royalties paid just like miners and loggers pay on working public land, in this case on the public's money. People are going to expect something in return for being treated as nothing more than multi-generational tax serfs for the financially well placed. They're trading the freedom of their future for a further constrained market. It's welfare for the capitalism. We've seen how well welfare evolves and works.
#3
Over the past 24 hours or so, allegedly following conversations with McCain, Newt Gingrich did a 180 degree turn and now supports the bailout. It would appear that the muted responses and mixed messages from McCain and Obama may reflect their knowledge of the pending senate action. I do not think the truths and secret signals of this situation have been shared with the citizens and taxpayers. The smell of acidosis, melana and uremia are strong in the room of Lady Liberty. Thrasymachus was correct when he wrote; "I proclaim that justice is nothing else that the interest of the stronger."
#4
So do I understand this correctly, the noisy, bothersome voters out here are incidental to the process and just an annoyance and nuisance to be tolerated and to take things from and dole things out to?
Police and intelligence services know Shah Rukh is tall, fair, speaks good Hindi and isn't a movie star. But bar these next-to-useless facts, almost nothing is known about the man, who is thought to have run a secret Karnataka bomb factory, which supplied the disassembled improvised explosive device kits used by Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror cells nationwide.
Ever since the September 19 encounter in New Delhi's Jamia Nagar area, which claimed the life of IM operatives Atif Amin and Mohammad Sajid, Shah Rukh has turned off his cellphone, and broken contact with other jihadists. Police believe he is a key player in efforts by IM operatives -- who have escaped a recent nationwide counter-terrorism sweep, including top organiser Mohammad Subhan Qureshi, mafioso-turned jihadist Riaz Batkal and Students Islamic Movement of India leader Qayamuddin Kapadia -- to stage a fresh series of bombings.
Southern jihadist Shah Rukh, the Karnataka Police suspect, is a critical figure in a still-unidentified south India cell of the IM which, more likely than not, carried out the July 25 serial bombings in Bangalore. In a manifesto issued after the serial bombing of Jaipur this summer, the IM had said its north India operations were being carried out by the Mahmood Ghaznavi Brigade, named after the 11th century warlord who ruled over parts of present-day Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran and India.
Based on the interrogation of IM suspects, investigators now say the Mahmood Ghaznavi Brigade was in fact the Delhi-based cell commanded by Amina group of Uttar Pradesh men entrusted with the operational execution of the terrorist network's bombings. However, the Jaipur manifesto also referred to the existence of a unit to attack southern India, the Shahabuddin Ghauri Brigade. It appears to have been named in memory of Muizzuddin Muhammad bin Sam -- the 10th century general of the Ghauri empire, who defeated Privthviraj Chauhan at Tarain in 1192 and laid the foundations for the establishment of the Delhi Sultanate.
Last week, the Bangalore police held Mohammed Samee Bangewadi, a Bijapur-based engineering student, who is alleged to have been part of a jihadist cell which was planning to bomb western tourists Goa last winter. Bangewadi, Karnataka Police sources told The Hindu, had been under discreet surveillance ever since the arrest, last year, of the jihad cell's leader, Pakistan-trained Lashkar-e-Taiba operative Raziuddin Nasir. While media accounts have suggested Bangewadi participated in the Bangalore bombings, there is, in fact, little evidence so far to bear out the proposition. However, investigators suspect that the attacks involved some of the dozens of Karnataka and Kerala men thought to have trained at SIMI-organised jihad camps in 2007-08.
Karnataka investigators have also been able to establish that IM strategist Qureshi visited and met with still-unidentified jihadists at Bijapur on July 12. Later, Qureshi is believed spoken to Bangewadi to discuss means to route funds meant for the legal defence of members of the Karnataka jihadi cell. Finding out who Qureshi met on his visit to Bijapur could help locate the missing southern module of the Indian Mujahideen.
Much of what is known about the IM's bomb-factory -- which supplied the components for the near-identical improvised explosive devices used in Lucknow, Varanasi, Jaipur, Bangalore, Ahmedabad, Surat and Delhi -- has come from the interrogation of Mohammad Saif, one of several Azamgarh men arrested from New Delhi after the Jamia Nagar encounter.
Delhi Police investigators say that Saif, along with still-missing IM operative Shadab Malik, brought the disassembled components that were put together to make the 10 IEDs for use in Delhi -- curved metal plates, which were used to direct the explosive; detonators; timers; and ammonium nitrate power.
Investigators found Saif had travelled on the New Delhi-Mangalore Mangala Express on August 26 to Mangalore, where he checked in at the New Broadway Hotel under the pseudonym Rahul Sharma. Soon after, they made three phone calls to Shah Rukh from public telephones, and finally arranged to meet at the Manipal University campus. Shah Rukh handed Saif and Shadab a bag with the IED components, which were then assembled under Amin's supervision in New Delhi. Identical tactics were used in Rajasthan and Gujarat, investigators say.
Behind the door of the Dani Limba safehouse used by Amin in the weeks before the bombings, police found a detailed circuit diagram, which demonstrated just how the disassembled components were to be wired together.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[12 views]
Top|| File under: Indian Mujahideen
#1
TOPIX > INDIA > INDIA DEPLOYS 1000 CPRFT troops TO CITIES IN KANDAMAL DISTRICT IN WAKE OF NEW ANTI-CHRISTIAN VIOLENCE; + BANGLADESHI ISLAMIST MILITANT GROUP [HuJI's] LINKED TO NEW SERIAL TERROR IN TRIPURA CITY.
Also from SAME > INDIAN HINDU MILITANTS WARN OF ALLIANCE WITH ISLAMISTS AGZ CHRISTIANS AND NON-HINDUS.
HMMMMM, methinks many of India's HINDUS and other indigenous are realizing that the US is now waging a NEW WAR FOR CONTROL OF ASIA = ASIAN MAINLAND, ETC. AGZ THE ISLAMISTS, AND DON'T WANT THE US-ALLIES/WEST TO WIN!?
Looks like INDIA's HINDUS have a touch of RUSSO-GEORGIAN FEVER and are now all but demanding to convert to ISLAM JUST TO STOP OR SPITE THE US-ALLIES AND JUDEO-CHRISTIANS???
Reminds me of a FREEREPUBLIC Poster > Iff the SOMALI PIRATES want mercy and to live, or live longer, they'd better surrender to the US NAVY, NOT THE RUSS NAVY!?
Iran's Interior Minister Ali Kordan has admitted to holding a fake Oxford University degree which he thought was valid, coming clean after weeks of controversy, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. Hey! I've got a fake degree from Cambridge! I think mine's valid, too.
"In a letter to the president on Saturday, Ali Kordan said he had pressed charges against the person who claimed to represent Oxford University in Tehran as soon as he realized his degree was fake," the government daily Iran said. "All those hours, days, weeks, years, I spent at what I thought was Oxford, doing what I thought was studying -- wasted!"
Pressure has been mounting on Kordan following his appointment in August since Britain's prestigious university denied awarding him any qualification through a representative. "Who? Oxford educated, y'say? Must be another Oxford."
"Over the past eight years, I never doubted the validity of the degree and that's why I presented it in the course of the confidence vote," Kordan wrote in his letter to President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad.
The minister said he approached Oxford University after MPs cast doubt on his degree, but "to my utter disbelief, the university did not confirm (the degree) when my representative went there."
The degree had been issued for his "managerial and executive experience and for submitting a thesis to Oxford University via a person who had opened an affiliate office in Tehran in English-language affairs," the minister said. Oh, yeah. We got one of those here in Baltimore, too. Lotsa people get degrees from prestigious non-accredited universities.
Kordan said his search for the intermediary had proven fruitless and that he had filed a complaint against the unnamed person on September 14. "I feel so betrayed. He was a close personal friend. I think his name was 'Bob.'"
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[21 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"My parents went to London and all I got was this lousy fake diploma!!!1!!"
In a tit-for-tat retaliatory attack, Shiite hackers infiltrated Sunni religious websites Monday in response to attack on prominent Shiite websites earlier this month.
The Shiite hackers posted a face painted with the Iranian flag with a logo resembling that of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) and a picture of the Israeli flag split in two by the Arabian Gulf embossed with words "The Persian Gulf."
The hackers also posted a verse from the Quran reads "Assault those who assaulted you" in reference to the hacking by Sunnis of the Ahlulbayt Global Information Center, the largest Shiite website in the world, which is supervised by Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani.
In the cyber-attack earlier this month Sunni hackers posted a religious chant and a video by American comedian Bill Maher in which he made fun of Sistani's "sexual fatwas."
Among the websites devoted to Sunni teachings hit was Islam Net, a site supervised by Saudi preacher Dr. Aaidh al-Qarni, the London-based Asharq al-Awsat reported on Monday. "The entire website is damaged and all its content is lost," Qarmi told the paper, describing the hacking as "ugly and aggressive" as well as contradictory to Iran's calls for bridge-building between Sunnis and Shiites.
Islamist scholar Sheikh Abdul-Aziz Qassem said that this exchange of hacking is a projection of the conflict in the Muslim world between Sunni and Shiite faiths, especially as far as missionary activities are concerned.
"These hackings were done by extremist Shiite youth," Qassem told the Saudi newspaper Al-Watan on Monday. "They were infuriated by the statements of Sunni Sheikh Yusuf al-Qaradawi in which he warned of the Shiite missionary infiltration of the Sunni world."
Qarni suggested that hackers targeted his website in opposition to his support of Qaradawi.
Sheikh Faleh al-Sagheer, whose website Al-Burhan was hacked, described the attacks as "uncalled for" and said that preliminary estimates indicated that the number of hacked Sunni websites could reach 900.
The UAE-based Sunni hacker group Ghoroub X.P. had targeted about 300 Shiite websites for hacking, including Sistani's Ahl al-Bayt, according to Iranian news agency Fares.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under:
At least 168 people were trampled to death and more than 425 were injured in a massive stampede at a Hindu temple in Jodhpur city, officials said, the third such tragedy in India in three months.
With no crowd control, more than 12,000 people had gathered at dawn to celebrate Navratra, a nine-day Hindu festival to honor the Mother Goddess, Jodhpur Police Superintendent Malini Agarwal told reporters. Witnesses said the early morning stampede began as false rumors of a bomb spread among the crowd.
"Everyone was yelling, 'there's a bomb, there's a bomb,' then I heard horrible screaming."
"Everyone was yelling, 'there's a bomb, there's a bomb,' then I heard horrible screaming. It was the sound of total panic," said Vikki Koshi, who manages Yogi's Guest House very close to the temple.
The temple's floor had become slippery when devotees in a male-only line broke hundreds of coconuts for offerings, officials said. "Someone slipped," Home Minister G.C. Kataria told reporters. "Then people just kept falling over one another." Most of the dead were males.
Also contributing to the pandemonium was a power outage and the collapse of a wall on the narrow path leading to the temple, officials said. Television images of the scene afterward showed chaotic crowds hoisting limp bodies through the air. Hysterical women slapped the faces of husbands, trying to revive them, and wept over their bodies as paramedics tried to push through the crowds.
The tragedy occurred in the Chamunda Devi temple. It is nestled in the narrow passageways of the historic 15th-century Mehrangarh fort, a sprawling hilltop monument that overlooks the town. Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje called for an inquiry into what could be done to prevent similar events in the future. Local business leaders and emergency rescue experts said India has a growing need for better planning at major religious festivals and stricter crowd control.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Dude!
What's the deal with Hindus and stampedes?!?
They really need to work on that before they have an Ikea open up.
#2
They're just jealous of the Muslim stampedes during the Hijaz.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/01/2008 11:44
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Lack of proper policing. Too few firemen. Lack of basic infrastructure.
India has far few policemen per 1000 of its population than most countries. And many of those counted as police are actually tied up in counter-insurgency.
It doesn't help that the Indian government takes the contributions towards Hindu temples and gives back only a small fraction. It doesn't do the same with Churches or Mosques, allowing those to invest in far better facilities.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/01/2008 15:24
Comments ||
Top||
Supreme Commander of the defunct Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Baitullah Mehsud is dead, Geo News reported early on Wednesday. The TTP leader had been indisposed for quite some time. A few weeks ago he had survived a severe diabetic attack but again fell seriously ill three days back.
Bad batch of insulin? Tough luck, that.
As Orrin Judd points out, "If we had a CIA the rumor would be that he died from alcoholism, venereal disease or AIDS."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/01/2008
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[16 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#5
WASHINGTON (AFP) - US defense officials said Wednesday they had no independent confirmation of reports that a top Taliban commander in Pakistan, Baitullah Mehsud, has died. General David McKiernan, the commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan told reporters here he could not confirm the report, but called Mehsud "a very bad man."
Pakistani television reported that Mehsud, who is alleged to have been behind the December 2007 assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto, had died overnight. Pakistani security officials and militant sources, however, said he was alive but seriously ill, possibly in a diabetic coma.
Spokesman Bryan Whitman said the Pentagon was aware of reports that Mehsud's health "was not that good, has not been that good for some time. Sometimes those reports, though, about guys like that and their health are exagerated. We've seen the same reports you have and have no independent confirmation of it," he said.
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.
CNN was not been able to independently verify the information, but snapshots of the Web pages appeared to back up the claim. Other bloggers joined the search and reported similar results.
A one-time admirer of Osama bin Laden who plotted a hand-grenade attack at a mall jammed with Christmas shoppers and tried to trade two stereo speakers for the weapons was sentenced to 35 years in prison Tuesday.
The global banking system was gripped by a worsening crisis of confidence yesterday as the leaders of the US Congress struggled to salvage the administration's $700bn bail-out plan.
Three Special Forces soldiers were severely wounded in a fierce gunfight by suspected 
Detective work by an Australian online poker player has uncovered a $US10 million cheating scandal at two major poker websites and triggered a $US75 million legal claim.
A senior Iranian parliamentarian has warned that his country may revise its cooperation with the International Atomic Energy Agency. 
(PTI) After inking the first civilian nuclear agreement with France, India today assured its European partners that it plans to enter into similar pacts with them in future. "Today we signed a bilateral agreement in this area with France and we expect to finalise agreements with other European partners too," Prime Minister Manmohan Singh assured CEOs of major European companies while addressing the India-EU Business Summit here.
The Pakistan Army is backing tribal militias that are rising to battle pro-Taliban groups in the hope that this will turn the tide in the restive northwest of the country, The Wall Street Journal reported on Tuesday.
The House is limiting e-mails from the public to prevent its websites from crashing due to the enormous amount of mail being submitted on the financial bailout bill. As a result, some constituents may get a 'try back at a later time' response if they use the House website to e-mail their lawmakers about the bill defeated in the House on Monday in a 205-228 vote.
Disagreements between Somali pirates holding a ship laden with tanks and heavy weapons escalated into a shootout and three pirates are believed dead, a U.S. defense official said Tuesday. The pirates denied the report. 
At least five people have been killed after a US drone strike at a house in northwest Pakistan, according to Pakistani officials. The attack happened at about midnight on Tuesday near the town of Mir Ali in North Waziristan, two intelligence agency officials told Reuters. "We have reports of five dead including foreign militants," one of the officers, speaking on condition of anonymity, said on Wednesday. In the past month, US forces have carried out seven missile strikes by pilotless drones and a commando raid on the Pakistani side of the border. 
A court on Tuesday ordered the Interior Ministry to issue red warrants for five absconders involved in a case of attempted murder of President Asif Ali Zardari during his detention in May 1999.
The ten Hizb ut-Tahrir leaders, including four university teachers, who were arrested in Rajshahi two weeks back on suspicion of inciting anti-government activities and involvement in militancy were released on bail yesterday.
A Sri Lanka navy patrol destroyed two Tamil Tiger boats, killing eight rebels on board, in a clash off the island's northern coast, the defence ministry said Tuesday.
Afghanistan President Hamid Karzai said on Tuesday he has asked the Saudi Arabia's king to help facilitate peace talks with the Taliban in order to bring an end to the Afghan conflict. 
Dexia, a Franco-Belgian bank that specializes in lending to local governments, got a $9.2 billion injection of capital to stave off imminent collapse after a loss of public confidence led to a 30 percent decline in its stock price Monday, according to announcements from the French and Belgian governments. 
After a long and bitter legal battle, a group of retired Gurkha soldiers, who served in the British Army, have won the right to settle in Britain.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has made a call for peace to Taliban leader Mullah Omar as the Taliban Supremo offered international forces a safe retreat from Afghanistan if they agree to withdraw from the war-torn country. "A few days ago I called upon their leader, Mullah Omar, and said 'My brother, my dear, come back to your homeland, come and work for the peace and good of your people and stop killing your brothers'," Karzai told reporters on Tuesday. 
(AKI) - A helicopter contracted by the United Nations has crashed in the strife-torn Darfur region of Sudan, killing all four crew members, a spokesperson for the world body said. "Preliminary reports indicate there are four crew members dead and that the aircraft had been completely destroyed," Marie Okabe told reporters in New York. "There were no passengers on board." 
Police have detained about 15 people for questioning in connection with the bomb blast on Monday night in which two persons were killed and about 15 others injured in Suka Bazar area in this town in north Gujarat. 
Law-enforcement agencies arrested five suspected terrorists from a hotel in Gujranwala on Tuesday, Dawn News reported. The channel said the suspects were believed to be from the banned terrorist organisation Lashkar-e-Jhangwi. One of the arrested suspects Qari Ilyas alias Abu Bakar, carrying a head money of Rs 2 million, was convicted in the 1995 assassination attempt on former premier Nawaz Sharif. The Lahore High Court later released him on an appeal, the channel said. They were taken to an undisclosed location for interrogation.
Police and intelligence services know Shah Rukh is tall, fair, speaks good Hindi and isn't a movie star. But bar these next-to-useless facts, almost nothing is known about the man, who is thought to have run a secret Karnataka bomb factory, which supplied the disassembled improvised explosive device kits used by Indian Mujahideen (IM) terror cells nationwide.
Iran's Interior Minister Ali Kordan has admitted to holding a fake Oxford University degree which he thought was valid, coming clean after weeks of controversy, a newspaper reported on Tuesday. 
At least 168 people were trampled to death and more than 425 were injured in a massive stampede at a Hindu temple in Jodhpur city, officials said, the third such tragedy in India in three months. 
Supreme Commander of the defunct Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan Baitullah Mehsud is dead, Geo News reported early on Wednesday. The TTP leader had been indisposed for quite some time. A few weeks ago he had survived a severe diabetic attack but again fell seriously ill three days back.
