A disabled man is taken to vote (against his family's permission) and then the aid ignored his express preference to vote for McCain and filled in his vote for Obama.
Video report after short commercial:
Embedded video link removed. It automatically plays when you load the main page. Nearly made me homicidal. Go to the main link if you want to watch it. AoS.
ROTTERDAM, 17/10/08 - Rotterdam is getting a Muslim as mayor. Social Affairs State Secretary Ahmed Aboutaleb will succeed Ivo Opstelten in the Netherlands' second-largest city.
#3
Aboutaleb is not a hardline muslim. Can't get elected to major office that way. But he is a conformist muslim who tries to advance the muslim agenda withing the Netherlands. Make no mistake which side of civilization he is on.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 21:52
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The NEFA Foundation has obtained and translated a new selected article from the official magazine of Al-Qaidas network in Yemen, Sada al-Malahimin this case, featuring an interview with most wanted Saudi Al-Qaida operative Nayif bin Mohammed al-Qahtani (a.k.a. Abu Hummam al-Qahtani).
During the interview, al-Qahtani acknowledged that he had recently sought sanctuary in neighboring Yemen, explaining, there is one [united] land of the Muslims, and it does not acknowledge the narrow borders drawn by the colonialists with the cooperation of our treacherous rulers
However, the true secret of my arrival in Yemen is the search for good military preparation. When asked why he had chosen the jihad in the Arabian Peninsula over Afghanistan or Iraq, al-Qahtani outlined his military rationale:
if the enemy's interests in the Arabian Peninsula were devastated, his access to our petroleum interrupted, and the oil refineries put out of order, this would cause the enemy to collapseand they wont merely be forced to withdraw from Iraq and Afghanistan, but moreover would face a total collapse. If [our enemy] were to be struck hard in various places, then he would scatter, turn around, and flee forlornly from the land of the Muslims, with his tail between his legs.
A translation of the interview can be accessed on the NEFA Foundation website.
#2
Might be the only way the Jihadi can win and get control of their nations but the nations won't be worth controlling with no revenue at all. Perhaps they should ask the Somali what it's like.
Lord West, who advises the Prime Minister on security matters, told the House of Lords: "There is another great plot building up again and we are monitoring this."
His comments came the day after the House of Lords forced the Government to abandon plans to extend detention without trial for terror suspects to 42 days.
Jacqui Smith, the Home Secretary, dropped the measure from the bill after it was defeated in the upper house but warned critics they were exposing the country to a greater risk.
During a debate on the Counter-terrorism Bill, Lord West repeated the government's intention to keep the proposals in a separate piece of legislation to be introduced if needed in the face of an emergency. He told peers: "Some of the measures that we have put into place in the past 15 months have made us safer, but that does not mean that we are safe.
"The threat is huge. It dipped slightly and is now rising again within the context of 'severe'. There are large complex plots. We unravelled one, which caused damage to al-Qaeda and the plots faded slightly.
"However, another great plot is building up again, which we are monitoring. We have done a great deal to protect ourselves and to look after our water supplies, our resilience, underground trains, our preparedness and communications.
"We have done all the things that we need to do, but the threat is building - the complex plots are building."
The Daily Telegraph reported two weeks ago that security sources believed terrorist activity was nearing "critical". The threat level is at the "severe end of severe" according to sources who say the level of "ambient activity" among terrorist cells has increased in recent months and they are now operating at full stretch.
The source said: "We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity."
The assessment, which has five levels, has only been "critical," meaning an attack is "imminent," during last year's attack on Glasgow airport and the July 2005 London bombings.
#1
I'd say the next 2 weeks would be critical with the US election on Nov 4, the start of the sacred month Dhu al-Qi'dah* on Oct 31 and the anniversary of the Armistice of Mudros on Oct 30 (which was the beginning of the end of the Ottoman Empire).
*I know, I know - you've told me before that they still fight during the "sacred months".
I also found this caveat in "Milestones" by Sayyid Qutb "They ask you about fighting in the sacred months. Say: Fighting in them is a great sin, but to prevent people from the way of God, and to reject God, and to stop people from visiting the Sacred Mosque, and to expel people from their homes are a much greater sin, and oppression is worse than killing" (Chapter Baqara 2:217)
So I guess that means they are permitted attack whenever the opportunity presents regardless of the date. With a lot of people running around like headless chooks at the moment now is probably a great time to add to the chaos.
#4
The islamic sacred months are a favored time for muslims to start wars. Extra virgin points and all. But don't you dare, infidel, attack the muslims at those times.
The battle of Badr occurred on the holy month of Rajab (a big no no) when Mohamed attacked a trade caravan.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 22:36
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Murtha said he has cautioned Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, if elected, to avoid the same mistakes in Afghanistan that the Soviets made more than 20 years ago. "I told Obama's people, 'Don't get your feet too far in Afghanistan,'" Murtha said. Obama has said he wants to send more troops to Afghanistan.
Murtha remembers visiting Afghanistan when small bands of Mujahideen were routing the better-equipped Soviet Army. They're professional soldiers, different from those fighting U.S. forces in Iraq, Murtha said. More troops won't be enough to stabilize the country, he said.
Murtha, who is respected by members of both parties for his defense expertise, energized opponents of the Iraq war three years ago when he called for a U.S. withdrawal from the battlefield.
He said then that it could have been done in six months. Now it will take longer, but it's still the right thing to do, he said. "We can't solve it for them," Murtha said, noting that Iraqi leaders are calling for the United States to set a withdrawal timetable, and that they haven't asked the United Nations to renew its mandate authorizing the troops' presence. "It's their problem."
Which only highlights the lack of real capable leadership and skill and imagination of the Soviet mind [something Murtha and the One should see daily in the mirror and be equally oblivious to].
A week ago he was a little-known plumber quietly practicing his trade in northwestern Ohio. Now Joe Wurzelbacher is a talking point in the race for the White House.
Wurzelbacher, now dubbed "Joe the Plumber," heard his name invoked in whole or in part more than two dozen times during Wednesday's presidential debate in Hempstead, New York, first by Sen. John McCain and then by Sen. Barack Obama. "I was just really surprised that my name was mentioned," he told reporters after the debate. "I think it helped them get their points across, so I was happy about that."
Wurzelbacher, 34, unintentionally stepped onto the political scene over the weekend when Obama, the Democratic presidential nominee, was campaigning in Holland, Ohio, just west of Toledo. Wurzelbacher was playing football with his son when Obama was campaigning door-to-door in his neighborhood. Wurzelbacher works for Newell Plumbing & Heating Co., a small firm in the Toledo area, The Toledo Blade reported.
The newspaper also reported that a Samuel Joseph Worzelbacher was registered at the same address as Wurzelbacher and that he voted for the first time in Pennsylvania's Republican primary on March 4. A local election official told the Blade that Wurzelbacher's name may be misspelled in the voter registration database. Wurzelbacher told ABC News Thursday that he was registered to vote.
Wurzelbacher is keeping who he plans to vote for to himself but says he leans conservative.
In his exchange with Obama, Wurzelbacher asked if the presidential candidate believed in the American Dream. Wurzelbacher said he was about to buy the plumbing company that he works for and was concerned that Obama would tax him more because of it. Families making more than $250,000 could see taxes go up under Obama's middle-class tax cut plan, while those making less than $250,000 would not see any increase.
Obama explained his tax plan in depth to Wurzelbacher, saying it's better to lower taxes for Americans who make less money so they can afford to patronize his business.
At the debate, McCain said Obama's plan would give the government the power to redistribute wealth by raising taxes. "We're going to take Joe's money, give it to Sen. Obama, and let him spread the wealth around. I want Joe the plumber to spread the wealth around," McCain said. He added, "Why would you want to increase anybody's taxes right now? Why would you want to do that to anyone, anyone in America, when we have such a tough time?"
Obama countered that both he and McCain want to cut taxes, but that his plan would cut taxes for "95 percent of American families," more than McCain's plan.
Thursday morning, Obama's running mate, Sen. Joe Biden, said plumbers would not be affected by the Democrat's tax policies. "You notice John [McCain] continues to cling to the notion of this guy Joe the Plumber," Biden said on NBC's "Today" show. "I don't have any Joe the plumbers in my neighborhood that make $250,000 a year that are worried."
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, the mean annual wage for plumbers, pipefitters and steamfitters in the United States in 2007 was $47,350.
Wurzelbacher is the second "Joe" invoked by the McCain campaign, which is attempting to appeal to so-called average Americans. Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin referred to "Joe Six-Pack American" in a radio interview this month in which she touted the folksiness that's been central to her political success in Alaska.
"I think they're just not used to someone coming in from the outside saying, 'You know what? It's time that normal Joe Six-Pack American is finally represented in the position of vice presidency,' and I think that that's kind of taken some people off-guard," she told conservative radio host Hugh Hewitt.
HOLLAND, Ohio - Joe the Plumber said Thursday he doesn't have a license and doesn't need one. Joe Wurzelbacher, better known as Joe the Plumber, the nickname Republican John McCain bestowed on him during Wednesday's presidential debate, said he works for a small plumbing company that does residential work. Because he works for someone else, he doesn't need a license, he said.
But the county Wurzelbacher and his employer live in, Lucas County, requires plumbers to have licenses. Neither Wurzelbacher nor his employer are licensed there, said Cheryl Schimming of Lucas County Building Regulations, which handles plumber licenses in parts of the county outside Toledo.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2008 15:52
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#3
I just caught a bit of Fox News and Obama took a swipe at Joe the Plumbmer, too. "How many plumbers do you know that make a quarter of a million dollars a year?" I think he entirely missed the point. Joe didn't say he would make 250,000 a year but that his company would. Some Congressman on Fox said, "His name isn't Joe and he's not even a plumber". DO NOT question The One.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
10/16/2008 16:10
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#4
Oh goody, keep that line going to the election date demonizing the common man, the one that works and actually pays taxes. The Proletariat is suppose to be dependent upon the Party and the State [and the One]. All counter-revolutionaries will be dealt with accordingly! The Mask(tm) is off. No one will be entitled afterward to whine "I didn't know".
#5
I just come in the back door of our building, and there is a plumbers van parked there with big orange " Joe the Plumber for President" signs on both sides.
#6
A "Sole Owner" of a 'small' plumbing contracting firm tells me that it's pretty easy to have over $250K of INCOME in an average year if you employ a couple of field workers. From that you pay your material expenses, taxes, wages, insurance, permits, etc. He's seriously looking at a LLC or some other corporate structure, but those present problems, too.
By the way, the Small Business Administration lists a "Small Business" as one having less than SEVEN MILLION Dollars in a year and a "Small Farmer" as one who has less than $750K yearly income (both before expenses).
How does the 'Small Farm' income fit into the One's plan?
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/16/2008 16:59
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#7
So if The One tries to throw J.T.P. under the bus, will we get an eyeful of plumbers' crack???
Good morning Mister Blue, we've got our eyes on you.
The evidence is clear, that you've been scheming.
You like to steal away and while away the day.
You like to spend an hour dreaming.
What will it take, to whip you into line?
A broken heart?
A broken head?
It can be arranged.
It can be arranged.
Step softly Mister Blue, we know what's best for you.
We know where your precious dreams will take you.
You've got a slot to fill, and fill that slot you will.
You'll learn to love it, or we'll break you.
Oh, what will it take, to whip you into line?
A broken heart?
A broken head?
It can be arranged.
It can be arranged.
Be careful Mister Blue this phase you're going through,
Can lead you nowhere else, but to disaster.
Excuse us while we grin, you've worn our patience thin.
It's time to show you who's your master.
What will it take, to whip you into line?
A broken heart?
A broken head?
It can be arranged.
It can be arranged.
Don't worry Mister Blue, we'll take good care of you.
Just think of it as sense and not surrender.
But never think again, that you can think again,
Or you'll get something you'll remember.
What will it take to whip you into line?
A broken heart?
A broken head?
It can be arranged.
It can be arrange
Posted by: bruce ||
10/16/2008 17:04
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#9
Another point, in the construction market today, the average small 'mechanical contractor' (Plumbing, Heating, Electrical) nets about 1 - 1-1/2 percent after expenses on the national average. That little bit of cash helps secure their loans and buys the trucks and tools for the next year. Cut a part of that out and they become less competitive against a larger contractor with more cash flow.
This just stinks...........
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/16/2008 17:11
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#10
MR: A "Sole Owner" of a 'small' plumbing contracting firm tells me that it's pretty easy to have over $250K of INCOME in an average year if you employ a couple of field workers.
I think that's revenues rather than income. Income is the bottom line, after you've paid all expenses.
#11
The 'gross income' you make in your day-to-day 9-5 job is before expenses, also. Revenues in a 'Sole Ownership' (Sole Proprietorship or Partnership - not a corporation) are treated as 'personal income' by the IRS. Yes, you can deduct your expenses, as you can with a normal 9-5 job, and the 'bottom line' is your 'net taxable income'. This will affect over half of the small businesses and farms out there.
What's left over after taxes is the 'little bit of cash' that I spoke of. If more of that gets taken away, the 'non-competitiveness kicks in.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
10/16/2008 17:33
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#12
Heard on the radipo this morning that Joe isn't even registered to vote.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/16/2008 18:20
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#13
Mike, I heard they got him for littering, and _everyone moved away from him on the bench there_...
#16
Just got back from town, the truck stop in Haines City, Fl big sign is Flashing the message, "JOE THE PLUMBER GETS IT, DO YOU?"
If Obama gets elected I imagine Joe will get a perpetual tax audit.
Posted by: bruce ||
10/16/2008 20:30
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#17
"How many plumbers do you know that make half-a-million a year?"
Not a smart question..... 'cause each time Joe the Plumber is interviewed, he brings up that S word. Yea, that S word that really would have made the difference in this election, if only raised early.
Joe said Socialism..... he said, "I have a set of parents, I don't need another one."
America finally heard, Socialism.... and that is what The One has kept hidden..... fly-over country folks understand that word Socialism.
The One just doesn't understand the essence of small business, the essence of working to get what I get, and I don't want it given to me.
That's what I heard today -- via radio, Internet, etc.....
My thought is that the anger that is being seen from folks, was the point Joe made.... lots of lots of folks were keeping iside of them, that S word, knowing that is what is coming, not wanting it, not knowing how to voice it, and Joe just spoke for the nation!
And the voters of this election have now gotten vocal.
Oh.... and I know one plumber that is fuming over The One's, "Anyone here know a plumber that makes a quarter a million a year?"
From the San Antonio area call in shows today.... whoa, The One (and the media who have shown them as dumb and stupid) insulted every worker man and woman, who is out there working.
Could be a game changer -- and yes, I did hear folks saying today.... yea, I'm changing my vote...
Let's hope enough feel that way.... my money's on Joe.
#19
He's also under a tax lien for $1000+/- - woe be unto him whose fealty to the state is incomplete!
I hope some sharp 527 is working on the script - Joe W. has real media presence, and for kicks he should appear at his next sit-down clinging to his gun and bible.
Oh-oh, Timmy. Looks like it ain't just gonna "go away"...
WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- A senior federal law enforcement official says the FBI is investigating whether federal money was misused when Democratic Congressman Tim Mahoney hired a mistress to work in his office. Oooh. Bad omen. "Democratic" in the first paragraph. You may be toast, Timmy.
The official says federal agents also are examining whether a second affair Mahoney was having with a high-level official in his Florida district was behind his push for federal funds for her county. Takin one for the team, eh, honey?
The FBI is investigating whether Mahoney put his first mistress on the federal payroll so she wouldn't reveal their affair. The official says the other issue is whether Mahoney benefited sexually in return for spending or securing federal money. Ummmmmmmm...could be.
In a DU discussion thread, we have this gem of reality-based persuasion:
Palin is wearing white again, inciting the racist crowds. She should just drop all pretense and put on her white hood and light up a cross. She is a despicable human being. h/t Michelle Malkin
Posted by: Mike ||
10/16/2008
14:29 ||
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[9 views]
Top|| File under:
(CNN) -- Pennsylvania Rep. John Murtha, a supporter of Barack Obama's presidential bid, apologized Thursday for calling western Pennsylvania "a racist area."
"While we cannot deny that race is a factor in this election, I believe we've been able to look beyond race these past few months, and that voters today are concerned with the policy differences of our two candidates and their vision for the future of our great country," he said in a statement issued by his office. That's an apology?
"Senator Obama has shown sound judgment and has presented us with a change from the failed policies of George Bush and John McCain. I believe he will win both Pennsylvania and the White House."
Murtha represents Pennsylvania's 12th District in the southwest corner of the state. Murtha's apology came after the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette posted a story on its Web site Wednesday that quotes the veteran Democratic congressman as saying, "no question that western Pennsylvania is a racist area," and predicting that those attitudes could cost the Illinois senator on Election Day.
In a statement later that day, a Murtha spokesman defended the remarks, telling The Associated Press that "It's naive to think that race or gender doesn't play a role in a voter's perception of a candidate."
Obama has struggled to connect with rural Pennsylvanians for much of the campaign. His infamous "bitter" comments -- about residents of some of the state's small towns -- became a rallying cry for primary rival Sen. Hillary Clinton, who took that contest by a nearly double-digit margin.
#2
I find it somewhat ironic/coincidental that Bill Ayers/ Dohrn's next book, which can be pre-ordered at Amazon for 2009 release is titled, "Race Course Against White Supremacy".
Playbook ??
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
10/16/2008 16:50
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#3
"Black theology will accept only the love of God which participates in the destruction of the white enemy. What we need is the divine love as expressed in Black Power, which is the power of black people to destroy their oppressors here and now by any means at their disposal. Unless God is participating in this holy activity, we must reject his love."
That's a quote from James Cone, the intellectual godfather of Wright's church, of which Obama had been a member for 20 years.
BHO and his campaign are in no position to accuse anyone of racism. If they want to find racists they just have to look in a mirror.
Posted by: Harry Spump1471 ||
10/16/2008 16:54
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#4
Still not sorry about the Marines he slandered, though.
Anybody out there from Nebraska who knows this kook?
An unlisted address is proving to be Gods best legal weapon against a mortal but tenacious Nebraska state senator. Heh. God plans ahead against frivolous lawsuits.
A Douglas County District Court judge on Tuesday threw out state Sen. Ernie Chambers lawsuit against God because the Almighty wasnt served a legal notice. And the judge doesnt seem to think its possible to find the Almightys front door. Given that this court finds that there can never be service effectuated on the named defendant this action will be dismissed with prejudice, Judge Marlon Polk wrote in his four-page order. Bet this made that two years of law school seem all worth it, didn't it, judgey wudgey?
Just over a year ago Chambers, the longest serving and maybe the most powerful state senator in Nebraska history, sought a permanent injunction against God. He said the Almighty has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha, inspired fear and caused widespread death, destruction and terrorization of millions upon millions of the Earths inhabitants. I can only imagine what his constituents are like...
Chambers has said he filed the lawsuit to make the point that everyone should have access to the courts regardless of whether they are poor or have the means of billionaire Warren Buffett of Omaha. Even a loon like...myself.
But the judge ruled that under state law a plaintiff must have access to the defendant for a lawsuit to move forward. Is there a Mister...God present? Mister God, please step forward.
Chambers, who graduated from law school but never took the bar exam, thinks hes found a hole in the judges ruling. I got your loophole! State law don't apply to me, dammit!
The court itself acknowledges the existence of God, Chambers, who is not returning to the Legislature next year because of term limits, said on Wednesday. A consequence of that acknowledgment is a recognition of Gods omniscience. Therefore, God would have actual notice of that lawsuit. It says below he's been there 38 years! What are the term limits? 40 years?
Since God knows everything, God has notice of this lawsuit. God also probably knows you're nuts and didn't wanna waste his time.
Chambers has 30 days to decide whether to appeal the decision and said he hasnt decided yet whether to file one. Be a hoot if he gets struck by lightning or...sumthin.
During a court appearance in August, while sitting a few feet away from an empty table reserved for God and Gods attorney, Chambers argued that courts and the U.S. government already routinely take notice of God. Should've had an impersonator show up and watch Ernie have a heart attack...
Chambers regularly skipped morning prayers during his 38 years in the legislature and often criticizes Christians. Picture of him at the link. He looks like the guy fishing empties out of my recycling...
#3
It's a bit pointless, a bit like Pascal's equation, if God doesn't exist, you're wasting time, yours (not too bad, probably, keeps you occupied) and other's (who have actual jobs, you know)... and if He exists, you're achieving nothing, except just sticking out of the crowd and putting yourself in a bad light... which may have serious consequence, just check the Old Testament.
#4
Veddy veddy bad juju. Whether you believe or do not, don't mess with God. Bad Karma, heh.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2008 15:50
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#5
He said the Almighty has made terroristic threats against the senator and his constituents in Omaha...
If, and we say if, he did such things, I'd for one would pay attention. You know Noah and all that. If the Real Big One(c) is sending you those kinds of messages I'd really have to examine what I did to provoke them. Cause being the RBO means that warnings are not necessary, just a final [no appeals] judgment. [Then again, bearing false witness is probably on the tab now too. Good luck on all that.]
You could have won a lot of money this year betting that the winning presidential candidate would carry more than 300 electoral votes. Most everyone expected a narrow contest this year because that is what we have become accustomed to. George W. Bush won his elections by sliding in just over the 270 electoral vote mark required for a win: 286 to 251 in 2004 and 271 to 266 in 2000.
The political orthodoxy has held that we live in evenly divided nation in which a handful of swing voters in a few states hold sway over the nation. We bemoaned the tyranny of the undecided Ohio voter.
This was supposed to be the next episode in the saga of our deeply divided nation. There were many predicting that an electoral deadlock was possible, with Nancy Pelosi establishing the new administration with the swing of her gavel.
But most pundits, myself included, agreed that we would see something very much like 2004, or at least 1976 when Jimmy Carter edged Gerald Ford 297 to 240.
Now, a clear-eyed examination of the electoral map shows us that Barack Obama is headed for a 313 to 221 victory over John McCain, and maybe much more. More frustrating for political scribes is that unlike other prospective big wins, this one does not feel at all concrete.
If Obama could snatch the lead back from McCain a month ago and run up a lead of six or seven points in that time, it's not unimaginable that we could see the race whipsaw yet again. A historically large number of uncertain, unsatisfied voters who are not strongly committed to either candidate could certainly still make another leap.
The tyranny of the fickle has replaced the tyranny of the undecided.
It's understandable that we'd crave predictability in politics. The version of the world presented on cable news and the Internet casts each political showdown -- whether it's a real battle over how to cool the financial meltdown that politicians themselves cooked up or a run-of-the-mill transportation bill -- as a looming Apocalypse.
With so much at stake, it was comforting, if a little dispiriting, to think that the order of things was unchangeable in this 51 percent nation.
But the breathless, screechy tone of our discourse has made it hard to recognize real change moments when they present themselves.
This election features the oldest first-time nominee to ever run and the first minority nominee.
It is also taking place while U.S. forces are at war in two counties and malefactors in Moscow, Tehran, Beijing, Caracas, and the caves of the Hindu Kush are looking for chances to exploit our stretched status.
Meanwhile, the economy is undergoing a major reordering as the biggest, most selfish generation in American history is starting to retire. The Baby Boomers may have been upset about Laos and Cambodia 40 years ago, but we hadn't seen anything until they had to watch their IRAs get fricasseed three weeks before an election.
By selling an opaque vision of change and relentlessly tying John McCain to the status quo, Obama was perfectly situated to take advantage of the terrain.
It had been favorable ground for any Democrat before, but Obama was slowed by his exotic background and scant experience. At the same time, McCain's bipartisan record, biography, and unpredictable style had kept him well ahead of the typical Republican.
As the members of President Bush's ownership society grew worried that they had bought swamp land instead of a share of steady markets, though, all of the reagents that limited Obama's success were taken out of the formula.
Also removed was the notion of national deadlock that has so fascinated us since Al Gore got nipped in 2000.
In this new environment, large, lasting changes are looming. Could Barack Obama do for liberals what Ronald Reagan did for conservatives and reorder the electoral map for the next generation?
Can Republicans find courage and leadership at this darkest moment of their political fortunes since the 1960s and turn back Obama?
With our national deadlock now broken, anything is possible.
forwarded to me by a relative, just begging to be fisked. here for your snarky entertainment...
Subject: N.O.W.
To:
FYI, The National Organization for Women has endorsed the Obamba-Biden ticket for just the reasons listed below. They usually do not endorse, but in this case believed it was absolutely necessary to take a stand. Why, after that reckless L.A chapter brass sounded so darned sympathetic when she introduced Gov. Palin, why, they simply couldn't bear the thought of being even remotely associated with the idea that NOW might have actually lent its official stamp of approval! Sort of like the Democrats WRT Bush for the past 8 years...
If you agree, please pass this on. And if you don't agree, pass this version on.
Subject: Women and Sarah Palin
Friends,
We are writing to you because of the fury Because Hell hath no fury like a voting bloc scorned
and dread Doom! DOOM!!!
we have felt since the announcement of Sarah Palin as the Vice-Presidential candidate for the Republican Party. We believe that this terrible decision has surpassed mere partisanship, and that it is a dangerous farce on the part of a pandering and rudderless Presidential candidate that has a real possibility of becoming fact.
Perhaps like us, as American women, you share the fear of what Ms. Palin and her professed beliefs and proven record could lead to for ourselves and for our present or future daughters. Hmm... this'll be news to your opponents, ladies -- a lot of them they don't believe you intend for yourselves or anyone else on this planet to ever bear children again. Maybe you should spend more energy making that more widely known, instead of working yourselves into a bout of the vapors over Her Guvnership.
To date, she is against sex education, birth control, the pro-choice platform, environmental protection, And what was John McCain's interview with the Nature Conservancy? Or was that the NWF? Excuse me while I fact-check my own arse -- but still, what was that -- chopped liver?
alternative energy development, oil shale, tar sands... that's not alternative energy development? Somebody's invoking the Humpty Dumpty Rule again...
freedom of speech, I must have missed that one -- when exactly did she come out against freedom of speech?
gun control, No, she's very much FOR gun control. Being able to hit your target, that is.
the separation of church and state, and polar bears.
Oh dear Gaia, stop the presses! How could anyone with a HEART even POSSIBLY be against those cute cuddly POLAR BEARS!!
Oh effing please.
To say nothing of her complete lack of real preparation to become the second-(and possibly first)-most-powerful person on the planet. Repeat that again: if being a mayor and sitting governor isn't qualifying for Veep, how the Eff does You Know Who's thin resume qualify HIM for CIC?
We want to clarify that we are not against Sarah Palin as a woman, No, she's just a gyno-American who doesn't agree with our stance, ergo, she's not a "woman" in the political sense of the term. Thank you, H. Dumpty.
a mother, or, for that matter, a parent of a pregnant teenager, but solely as a rash, incompetent, and altogether devastating choice for Vice President. As opposed to, say, Condoleeza Rice? You got a better suggestion in mind?
Ms. Palin's political views are in every way a slap in the face to the accomplishments that our mothers and grandmothers and great-grandmothers so fiercely fought for, and from which we've so demonstrably benefited. What -- because "18 Million cracks in the glass ceiling" wasn't a big enough hat tip?
First and foremost, Ms. Palin does not represent us. She does not demonstrate or uphold our interests as American women. It is presumed that the inclusion of a woman on the Republican ticket could win over women voters. Never mind that there is a whole Flyover Country of women whom she DOES represent -- but we won't mention them. Gosh, it's like they don't even count.
We want to disagree, publicly. If you agree that Palin is an irresponsible, even dangerous, choice for VP, please consider participating in this drive. Gentlemen, send this to the women you know and care for. I know it's tough to understand the way this choice is impacting women, but I have never seen so many women so outraged, angry and distraught in my entire life. We'd like our voices heard. Trust me, ma'am, they are... It's those other gyno-Americans, whose votes ALSO count, if you hadn't noticed? Y'think maybe they might like to be heard too? I thought diversity was a good thing
If you agree, PLEASE FORWARD WIDELY! If you send this to 20 women in the next hour, you could be blessed with a country that takes your concerns seriously. Assuming that this is your only concern.
Stranger things have happened. Yeah, this could have been a Rudy / Hillary matchup. And where would you be then?
#1
*giggle* Well done, Querent! Perhaps this is the final push by the idiot branch of the Democratic Party, and next time round they will give us a worthy candidate. To think liberalhawk was right when he said there'd come a time when we'd look back fondly on Hillary Clinton's candidacy.
Unlike the male-dominated societies of their chimpanzee relatives, bonobo society-in which females enjoy a higher social status than males-has a "make-love-not-war" kind of image. While chimpanzee males frequently band together to hunt and kill monkeys, the more peaceful bonobos were believed to restrict what meat they do eat to forest antelopes, squirrels, and rodents.
Not so, according to a study, reported in Current Biology, a Cell Press publication, that offers the first direct evidence of wild bonobos hunting and eating the young of other primate species.
These hunts tend to be fairly simple, with a single bonobo cornering a duiker then quickly feasting on the still-living animal as more apes hurried to the scene. Hohmann says he has witnessed a duiker "still vocally blurting as the bonobos opened the stomach and intestines."
Posted by: James ||
10/16/2008 17:20
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Three years after Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, people still speculate over causes of the destruction of the city's floodwall system. A new article in the fall issue of American Entomologist suggests that Formosan subterranean termites played a large role.
Author Gregg Henderson, a professor at the Louisiana State University AgCenter, discovered Formosan subterranean termites (Coptotermes formosanus Shiraki) in the floodwall seams in August, 2000 - five years before Katrina struck - and noticed that the seams were made of waste residue from processed sugarcane. Known as bagasse, this waste residue is attractive to Formosan termites.
After the dikes were breached in 2005, Henderson and his colleague Alan Morgan inspected 100 seams for evidence of termites, including three areas where major breaks in the walls had occurred. 70% of the seams in the London Avenue Canal, which experienced two major breaks during Katrina, showed evidence of insect attack, as did 27% of seams inspected in the walls of the 17th Street Canal.
The Formosan subterranean termite originates from China, where it has been known to damage levees since the 1950s. Besides eating at bagasse seams, the termites may have contributed to the destruction of the levees of New Orleans by digging networks of tunnels, which can cause "piping," sending water through the tunnels and undermining the levee system.
"I believe that the termites pose a continuing danger that requires immediate attention," Henderson writes. "The fact that termites cause piping in levees must be accepted."
The author further suggests that New Orleans' 350 miles of levees and floodwalls should be surveyed for termite damage, and that treatment of the floodwalls and nearby trees may be necessary to avoid future disasters.
ST. CLOUD, Minn. (WCCO) ¯ A man in St. Cloud, Minn. was fined for dumping dog feces in another man's pickup truck for apparent political reasons. According to the incident report, David Vandelinden, 45, admitted to putting small bags of dog poop in the back of the truck.
Police said the truck owner's mother saw Vandelinden place feces in the truck and contacted authorities.
Vandelinden told police he did it because "he hates McCain." Two weeks ago, the truck owner put stickers supporting John McCain and Sarah Palin on his truck. Vandelinden was issued a $183 fine for littering.
#3
to putting small bags of dog poop in the back of the truck.
thus highlighting the weakness of the liberals. A good republican would not have used bags.
#5
You know, one of these bastards is going to be surprised as Hell when he gets beaten with a baseball bat for pulling crap like this. The Left thinks they have a monopoly on violence. When the Right finally snaps, it's going to be very, very bloody for the lefties.
One thing I liked about the Bush/Gore debates is that it was obvious both men loathed each other and they didn't care who knew it. That liberated them, for good and ill.
By contrast, for all the characteristically ponderous huffing from Bob Schieffer about "negative campaigns", McCain was never able to cast aside the Senatorial collegiality and really stick it to Obama. Why couldn't he have used the s-word - "socialism"? Why couldn't he have said that his opponent is a perfectly pleasant fellow but he has an all but blank resume so all we have to go on is his votes and his associations and both suggest a doctrinaire liberal well to the left of, say, Bill Clinton? Why couldn't he have pointed out that Barack Obama would be the most left-wing president ever elected in the United States?
McCain lacked the killer instinct. A man who cheerfully crashes planes and survives years of torture appeared nervous that clobbering his opponent might dent his image as Mister Bipartisan. You look at the way he sneered at Romney in the primary debates and compare it with his tentativeness toward Obama. His reluctance to whack the Democrat wound up, by default, elevating Obama. When a veteran Republican who's been on the national scene for a quarter-century and a Democrat whom nobody had heard of 20 minutes ago appear to be equal in stature, then by definition the Democrat wins.
And that, Kathryn, explains those insta-polls. McCain has no one to blame but himself.
#1
yeah, Mccain has sucked in the debates, I saw obama leave himself open for straight rights, uppercuts and a ton of jabs, mccain the former boxer never really connected. (minus telling bho he should've run against bush)
#2
Good think I'm not running for President. I woulda told Schieffer the following: "You can call it negative if you want but the people have a right to know about William Ayers, Jeremiah Wright, Tony Rezko, ACORN, the lack of a birth certificate, etc, etc. And if guys like you won't tell them I sure as hell will."
SEATTLE -- An exclusive KIRO Team 7 Investigation discovers the state will send ballots to thousands of convicted felons in the next week, even though many can't legally vote.
The Secretary of State's Office fired up a new multimillion-dollar computer in 2006. Its job was to catch, and then cancel, illegal voters.
Well, not all illegal voters.
KIRO-TV recently ran its own data to double check the state's work. Investigative Reporter Chris Halsne found out the system was set up to ignore the existence of approximately 24,000 convicted felons.
The State of Washington never stopped sending Tracy Wilkinson ballots in the mail, even though it appears she's not eligible to vote. In 2002, she pleaded guilty to a felony prescription drug charge, then, according to court files, failed to pay all her fines. A Snohomish County judge ruled "the defendant is not entitled to restoration of civil rights or discharge" - legal speak for "you can't vote!"
Wilkinson admitted to Halsne that she is a felon, but thought she could still legally vote.
An extensive computer analysis, independently conducted by KIRO Team 7 Investigators, found that Wilkinson is just one of 23,927 criminals on the active voter database. 6,812 of them are considered "very likely voters" because they already cast a ballot in other elections this year.
Unless something changes soon, every one of the felons will get a ballot for the November election, even though the state admits it has no idea if they are eligible.
Sources familiar with the election program, who asked we not identify them, tell us the new computer system was intentionally programmed to ignore a certain subset of felony data. The reasoning behind it was this: Because most of the felons on our list committed their crimes prior to the computer going online in 2006, it was going to be too difficult to research which ones can legally vote. Hey - you know I find it really, really hard to pay my property taxes - I mean I have to write out the check and get writers cramps and everything. I think I'll just forgo this this time.
Jonathan Bechtle is an attorney at a conservative think tank, the Evergreen Freedom Foundation. He thinks we have found a significant flaw and one that could affect a close election. "So we're not going to follow the law because it seems too hard to do? Sorry. That just doesn't cut it. The law says 'felons, you can't vote.' The Secretary has been given the authority, given the funds to put this database together. They should be able to do this," said Bechtle.
Using admittedly simplistic math, if our data shows 6,812 felons voted in primary elections this year, that means 65 percent of them or about 4,400 will illegally cast ballots in November. If all active voters who also appear to be convicted felons are counted, that's more than 15,000 questionable votes.
Secretary of State Sam Reed is proud his office purged 40,000 dead, duplicate, underage, and non-citizen voters off the rolls since 2006. However, he admits that the felon issue remains a problem. "They have so many people out there that have not completed their sentences. It's almost impossible for us to track that, but we are working with the courts to do it, but that is one of our challenges," said Reed.
For Tracy Wilkinson, her answer is simple. It also happens to be the same thought process being used by the Secretary of State's Office: Let all criminals vote if they aren't actually sitting in prison, jail, or under active supervision of the Department of Corrections. "As long as they're paying taxes, being part of the community and doing what they're supposed to be doing, they should have the right to vote," said Wilkinson. But that is not what the law states? Are we a nation of laws or not?
Because of those discrepancies, elections officials don't think it's "practical" to eliminate any of the 24,000 or so felons in question. Instead, all will be handed ballots for the upcoming primary election. And besides - they are likely to vote Democrat so its all to the good of the elected officals.
#1
The odd thing is that in most States, and for most crimes, smarter ex-cons routinely get their rights restored by a judge. The most common restored right is gun ownership, followed by voting. Some of the wealthy even get their records expunged, but only some records--federal records aren't deleted.
#5
Remember this is the state where Dino Rossi won as governor in 2004. Till the Democrats demanded multiple recounts and kept "finding" boxes of "uncounted" votes till he lost.
Rossi is running again. Will history repeat itself?
#6
Just got my Voter's Pamphlet from Sam Reed today, along with my ballot; he is just full of himself for straightening out the registration mess and ignoring the KIRO report. held my nose and voted for him as he is the lesser of the two evils.
surprised KIRO actually published that report, since they are typically libbies.
And we will see agout Rossi / Queen Chris; last time 133 votes did Dino in, i think he has it this time.
Consider yourselves warned...
Its January 2009. President Barack Obama has just been sworn in, beneath the beaming smiles of House Speaker Nancy Pelosi and Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid.
Welcome to the United States of Massachusetts.
Some of my friends here at the Herald used to grouse when Gov. Mitt Romney, out on the stump, would crack wise at the expense of Massachusetts. But Romney understood that for most of America, the Bay State - and Boston in particular - is viewed as alien territory. Were the weirdo, hippie brother of Americas 50-state family. And yet, if the Democrats sweep in November as projected, thats exactly the kind of government were going to get: Beacon Hill meets Capitol Hill.
I dont mean geographically. Obama only spent a few years in Cambridge, studying law and skipping out on parking tickets. But ideologically speaking, an Obama /Pelosi/Reid government reflects American political beliefs the same way the Rev. Jeremiah Wright represents the typical American churchgoer.
For one thing, America isnt big on one-party politics. In Massachusetts, Democrats running government is like gravity, or being stuck on I-93 - an inescapable part of life. But at the national level, weve only had six years of single-party control since Reagan was elected in 1980. Even then, the majorities were relatively small and ideologically divided. Southern Blue Dog Democrats kept their party from moving too far left, and New England Republicans slowed their partys move right.
An Obamafied Washington will look like the Bobs Country Bunker brand of Massachusetts politics: Weve got both kind of Democrats: left, and far left!
Obamas attitudes about big labor are also far more Massachusetts than Main Street, USA. Its easy for us to forget how little popularity unions enjoy across the country. Right now, only 8 percent of the private sector is unionized, and 22 states have right-to-work laws. But ObamaPelosi would get Washington and Big Labor back in bed together and gettin busy too. One of the priorities for next year, for example, is big labors assault on the sanctity of the secret ballot, aka card check. Pro-union or not, everyone agrees that unionization raises business costs and slows the creation of jobs - dumb policy during a recession. But as Fred Barnes at the Weekly Standard writes: With Washington controlled by Democrats, it would sail through Congress and President Obama would sign it.
Then theres the issue of taxes. Here in Taxachusetts, proposals for across-the-board tax cuts are viewed in the same way as proposals to teach creationism in school. We cant even get income tax rollbacks after voting them into law. Which is why we roll our eyes when we hear Obama promise tax cuts for 95 percent of Americans. Oh, you mean like Gov. Deval Patricks vow to cut property taxes? He pushed through a $500 million state tax increase.
On economics, Obama, Reid and Pelosi almost make Beacon Hill look moderate. Then again, they do the same for Fidel Castro.
Obama defenders say that his far-left past is no predictor of his presidential future. Massachusetts defenders point out were not nearly as liberal as marketed, evidenced by Hillary Clintons defeat of Obama in the Bay State primary.
Regardless, a President Obama is going to govern America a lot more like were used to here in Massachusetts than they are in Montana or Mississippi. And like a Massachusetts liberal, hes going to do it whether we taxpayers like it or not.
#2
The same thing will happen to America that has happened to Mass: all the productive who can will flee, while the state becomes a sump of leftist losers dependent on government for everything.
DUBAI, United Arab Emirates - A British couple was sentenced to three months in jail Thursday in a case that has caused controversy in this Gulf boom town because the two were charged with having sex on the beach.
The judge did not provide any details about his verdict as is customary in Dubai, so it is unclear whether Michelle Palmer and Vince Acors were found guilty of engaging in intercourse, or some lesser offense.
The two Britons, who are both in their 30s and met at an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch before the alleged incident occurred, were arrested in July and later charged with sex outside of marriage, public indecency and drunkenness.
In addition to the three month jail sentence, Judge Hamdi Mustafa Abu el-Khair levied the equivalent of about a $270 fine against each of the defendants and ordered them to be deported from Dubai after serving their prison time. "I will appeal (the verdict) and ask a judge to look at the medical report that says they did not have sex," their lawyer, Hassan Matter, told the Associated Press after Thursday's ruling.
Both previously admitted they were drunk but denied having sex. The two were not in the courtroom Thursday to hear the judge's verdict, and it was unclear if they would remain out of prison while their lawyer appealed the case.
Matter said he will submit his appeal after the judge issues a formal explanation of his verdict, which the lawyer expects in a week to 10 days. The defense has to file an appeal within 15 days. "I think the judge gave a small punishment for a kiss, not sex on the beach," said Matter. The couple could have received two years in prison if convicted of all charges.
Public displays of affection are illegal in Dubai a city that has worked hard to cultivate an image as a haven for Western tourists and businesses in the Middle East but has a conservative legal code based on Islamic laws and tribal rules.
A British couple was sentenced to three months in jail Thursday for BUTT-UGLY-SEX!
EYE BONE is connected to the GAG BONE!
/GAG!
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
10/16/2008 19:10
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#5
Now, now. Let's not all get worked up here....Remember they met at an all-you-can-drink champagne brunch, so the judgment centers may have been under low vis conditions.
After they get out and leave this fabled haven of jet setters and expats, they will have to see how the freedom sex is. If it is poor quality, then they can blame it on the bad champagne and go separate ways, sadder, poorer, but wiser.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2008 22:10
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Nablus Maan Settlers attempting to impede Palestinian olive harvests initiated a bizarre new tactic on Thursday, apparently leaving flocks of sheep at olive groves to feed on the small trees. Release the sheep!
Are you sure, sir?
We have...no choice, dammit!
Residents told Maan that Israeli settlers dumped dozens of sheep on Palestinian farmland neighboring the illegal settlement of Itamar, where the animals damaged and devoured dozens of olive and fig trees.
57-year-old Jamil Daraqshah claimed that he saw an Israeli shepherd at his farm in the village of Awarta, which is south of Nablus, just days before. Also evidence, he said, is that Palestinians are not permitted to enter the area without first coordinating with the Palestinian-Israeli liaison office in Nablus. Nablus. Where men are men. And sheep are nervous.
#3
Can someone calculate a probability that this is actually true, in whole or in part? The only photo connected to the article does not show the results of grazing sheep. I'd bet on the Palestinian imagination, myself.
#4
Actually sheep are harmless for everything but very young trees (under two feet . It is goats who, have the habit to stand on their hindlegs and eat bark and leaves who can do a lot of damage.
But I am sceptical for damage on on olive olive trees even by goats. Olive trees have hard, thick bark and their leaves are very bitter. And mature olive trees were nearly unvulnerable to animal or human action before invention of powder. There is a reason some of them are 2,500 years old.
Fifteen Israeli professionals were taken hostage this week by Chinese laborers on the Turks and Caicos Islands in the Caribbean Sea. The Foreign Ministry said Thursday it were working to ensure that the professionals, who have been in captivity for three days, would be released soon.
The captives are all managers and engineers employed by the real estate company, Ashtroom. They were taken hostage by Chinese laborers who had been working for them on the island.
The kidnappers are demanding payment promised to them by their employers. They claim that they have not yet been paid for their work because the bank funding their project collapsed. The Foreign Ministry said it was receiving constant updates and hoped the crisis would be over within hours.
The small island on which the professionals were taken hostage is relatively isolated and can be reached only by boat. The hostages said their captors have blocked off the marina, in effect neutralizing the only entry point on the island. more...
An Israeli working in the area told Ynet that the Israelis were taken hostage after the project was canceled, due to bank collapse. The Chinese workers, who were informed they would be deported, are holding the Israelis for ransom.
#1
According to the Foreign Ministry, the Chinese group was working under the Israeli supervisors building a vacation resort for a construction company called Ashtrom, which discontinued its project on the island as a result of the financial meltdown.
Apparently, the workers were dismissed after the collapse of Lehman Bros. Investors Bank in the United States.
When the workers were told to go home they each demanded a sum of $15,000, which they had paid contractors in China in order to take part in the project.
#6
Maybe the Chinese could open up for bids. How much would Hamas or Hezbollah pay for 15 Israelis? You have to admit that it would be a very fast way to get the Israelis to cough up the money, unless they decided to kill the Chinese first.
#7
Nine of 15 Israeli project supervisors, trapped on an isolated Caribbean island by disgruntled Chinese construction workers who are owed wages, were released Thursday night, bringing a highly unusual labor dispute close to conclusion.
The Foreign Ministry said negotiations for the release of the remaining six Israelis were still under way between local police and the Chinese workers.
I think it was Dean Barnett who noted that Obama likes to think of himself as a bridge-builder. . . . We've seen that phrase and metaphor come up repeatedly in Obama's press clippings.
To be a bridge-builder, you have to stand in between two opposing groups. You can't pass judgment, or denounce, or conclude that one side has crossed the line. You have to ignore the provocations of a side, urge people to forget past wrongdoing, and convince wary and hurt combatants take leaps of faith in trusting the other.
If you can really build a bridge between two groups that hate each other, God bless you. It's one of the world's toughest tasks.
But sometimes, both sides aren't equally at fault. Some folks deserve to be judged and denounced. Sometimes, provocations can't be ignored, past wrongdoings shouldn't be forgotten, and leaps of faith are exercises in naivete. Sometimes, you just can't build a bridge with someone.
In Ayers, as well as Wright, Rezko, and the ACORN shenanigans, we see that Obama repeatedly tolerates the intolerable. He's the opposite of quick to judge; he refuses to judge until long after it would do any good. Long after everybody else has figured out the character of his associates, Obama is left lamenting, "This is not the Jeremiah Wright I knew" or "This is not the Tony Rezko I knew" or "This is not the Jim Johnson I knew." And on and on. Obama is always giving people with well-established track records the benefit of the doubt, often to his own detriment; as President, he'll bring that same judgment to decisions that affect the country.
If you want to build a bridge with Iran, you can't denounce Ahmadinejad. If you want to improve relations with Venezuela, you can't put the spotlight on human rights abuses. If you want a successful summit with Syria, you have to pretend they weren't building a nuclear reactor on that site Israel bombed.
William Ayers is one mislaid wire away from being Timothy McVeigh, and remembered as one of America's most bloodthirsty terrorists and unforgivable traitors. There's no indication that Ayers' history of building bombs that claimed lives caused Obama a moment's hesitation.
That's what their relationship teaches us.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/16/2008
10:54 ||
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#1
Gee, I didn't hear any about this from obama last night when he set the record straight. What is that ol lesson, when asked about something important telling only half the truth is still deceitful.
Sounds like a great idea. I'd love to wash my hands of them...
Millions of children around the world are marking the United Nations' first Global Handwashing Day.
The UN says it wants to get over the message that this simple routine is one of the most effective ways of preventing killer diseases. Nearly half the world's population do not have access to adequate sanitation.
More than 120 million children in 70 countries across five continents are expected to participate in the campaign. From Kabul to Karachi and from Delhi to Dhaka, millions of children will take part in the campaign and pledge to embrace more hygienic practices by the simple act of washing their hands. India has recruited one of the country's biggest sporting icons, cricket star Sachin Tendulkar, to be the face of the campaign. Washing hands will be the topic of Afghan television and radio talk shows and Pakistani newscasts. Nepal's new Maoist government is sending out mobile text messages. In Bhutan, special animated videos have been made with Bhutanese characters.
"The message we are really trying to get out is the importance of correctly washing your hands with soap and water at the critical times," Unicef's senior Sanitation and Hygiene programme adviser, Therese Dooley, said. I wonder how much Therese makes?
"And those critical times are before you cook or prepare food, before you eat and after using the toilet and after cleaning a baby."
The UN says washing hands with water alone is not enough "because you fail to wash off the germs. We are recommending hand-washing with soap," Ms Dooley said. My work is done here...
Unicef says using soap to wash hands, particularly after contact with excreta, can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40% and respiratory infections by 30%. Diarrhoea and respiratory infections are the main cause for child deaths in India. Nearly half the population of South Asia has no access to toilets, whilst in sub-Saharan Africa this figure is as low as 28%.
With such poor sanitation standards, it is little surprise that children in the region are susceptible to diarrhoea, hepatitis and pneumonia - often leading to their deaths, the UN says.
The UN is celebrating 2008 as the International Year of Sanitation. My, how appropriate.
SCRANTON -- The agent in charge of the Secret Service field office in Scranton said allegations that someone yelled "kill him" when presidential hopeful Barack Obama's name was mentioned during Tuesday's Sarah Palin rally are unfounded.
The Scranton Times-Tribune first reported the alleged incident on its Web site Tuesday and then again in its print edition Wednesday. The first story, written by reporter David Singleton, appeared with allegations that while congressional candidate Chris Hackett was addressing the crowd and mentioned Oabama's name a man in the audience shouted "kill him."
News organizations including ABC, The Associated Press, The Washington Monthly and MSNBC's Countdown with Keith Olbermann reported the claim, with most attributing the allegations to the Times-Tribune story.
Washington Monthly is NOT a news source. It's an opinion magazine and website. I used to hang out there when Kevin Drum was running the website, trying my best to educate the rubes, until I made a New Year's resolution so as to save my blood pressure. It's all opinion and very left-liberal. And Olbermann, of course, is not a journalist in any way, shape or form.
Agent Bill Slavoski said he was in the audience, along with an undisclosed number of additional secret service agents and other law enforcement officers and not one heard the comment. "I was baffled," he said after reading the report in Wednesday's Times-Tribune. He said the agency conducted an investigation Wednesday, after seeing the story, and could not find one person to corroborate the allegation other than Singleton.
Slavoski said more than 20 non-security agents were interviewed Wednesday, from news media to ordinary citizens in attendance at the rally for the Republican vice presidential candidate held at the Riverfront Sports Complex. He said Singleton was the only one to say he heard someone yell "kill him."
"We have yet to find someone to back up the story," Slavoski said. "We had people all over and we have yet to find anyone who said they heard it." Hackett said he did not hear the remark.
Slavoski said Singleton was interviewed Wednesday and stood by his story but couldn't give a description of the man because he didn't see him he only heard him. When contacted Wednesday afternoon, Singleton referred questions to Times-Tribune Metro Editor Jeff Sonderman. Sonderman said, "We stand by the story. The facts reported are true and that's really all there is." Okay, folks. Who ya gonna believe? The Secret Service or the Scranton Times Tribune?
That's an amazing statement: 'the facts reported are true'. The Secret Service just told you that they can't corroborate the story. That means the facts are in doubt. If you have some evidence that the story is true, you provide those facts. But you can't, as a good journalist, assert that the 'facts are true' when reasonable, good people can't corroborate your facts.
There's a saying in the newspaper biz: "If your mother says she loves you, check it out." I strongly suspect Mr. Sonderman failed to follow that advice on this story, and it's now bitten him. It won't bite Mr. Obama, however, because by the time the story is demonstrated to be untrue/uncorroborated, he'll have moved on to something else. Maybe the White House.
Slavoski said the agents take such threats or comments seriously and immediately opened an investigation but after due diligence "as far as we're concerned it's closed unless someone comes forward." He urged anyone with knowledge of the alleged incident to call him at 346-5781. "We'll run at all leads," he said.
#1
Fact is the meme is already out there and it is too late. That is the point of a meme and media cycles. To get people to believe things without logically thinking about them.
Julius Streicher (February 12, 1885 -- October 16, 1946) was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine. His publishing firm also released three anti-Semitic books for children, including the 1938 Der Giftpilz (The Poison Mushroom), one of the most widespread pieces of propaganda, which purported to warn about insidious dangers Jews posed by using the metaphor of an attractive yet deadly mushroom. After the war, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed. . . .
Streicher was hanged in the early hours of October 16, 1946, along with the nine other condemned defendants from the first Nuremberg trial (Goering, Streicher's nemesis, committed suicide only hours earlier). Streicher's was the most melodramatic of the hangings carried out that night. At the bottom of the scaffold he cried out "Heil Hitler!" When he mounted the platform, he delivered his last sneering reference to Jewish scripture, snapping "Purim-Fest 1946!" The Jewish holiday Purim celebrates the escape by the Jews from extermination at the hands of Haman, an ancient Persian government official. At the end of the Purim story, Haman is hanged. Streicher's final declaration before the hood went over his head was, "The Bolsheviks will hang you one day!" For those of you cynics who think "there ain't no justice," consider the following:
The consensus among eyewitnesses was that the hanging of Julius Streicher did not proceed as planned, and that he did not receive the quick death from spinal severing typical of the other executions at Nuremberg. Cue world's smallest violin.
Kingsbury Smith, who covered the executions for the International News Service, reported that Streicher "went down kicking" which may have dislodged the hangman's knot from its ideal position. Smith stated that Streicher could be heard groaning under the scaffold after he dropped through the trap-door, and that the executioner intervened under the gallows, which was screened by wood panels and a black curtain, to finish the job. . . . Serves 'im right.
Posted by: Mike ||
10/16/2008
10:03 ||
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On a vaguely related note, the Nazi 'Signal' magazine, the German equivalent of the US 'Life' magazine, makes for some interesting reading. Mostly in how normal it tried to make Germany look.
Some years ago, a book was published that was "The Best of Signal". It included pictures of Hitler doing ordinary politician stuff, including one of him presenting a happy middle-aged housewife with a blue ribbon for her award winning meatloaf and another of him at the grand opening of some business building, looking like a small town mayor.
In other words, it was "soft" propaganda, and it points out one of the startling differences in the war.
In England and America, the philosophy of "total war" was in effect, in which "everything effects the war effort, one way or another."
But Hitler never adopted that idea for Germany, going to great lengths to keep consumer goods in the market and to keep up the appearance of normality. Women could still buy lipstick, perfume and silk stockings until late in the war. War rationing was pretty much limited to imported goods.
From Pajamas Media. If you ever wanted to know what the Justice Department is doing with all that free time from not enforcing our immigration laws.....
When I reported on September 19 that partisan career lawyers in the Civil Rights Division at the Department of Justice were planning on criminally targeting Republican political activists and candidates, this was treated with disbelief by some.
Well, those claims have proven all too real to former Republican congressional candidate Tan Nguyen, who ran for office in the 47th Congressional District of California in 2006 against incumbent Loretta Sanchez. On October 1, the Civil Rights Division announced the indictment of Nguyen for obstruction of justice for supposedly making misleading statements to investigators regarding a letter that was sent to Latino voters during the election.
The letter (in Spanish) that is the basis of the indictment was apparently sent out to Latino voters by the California Coalition for Immigration Reform (CCIR). It told voters that if they were a citizen of the United States, they should participate in the democratic process of voting. However, the letter warned voters that if they were residing in this country illegally, voting in a federal election is a crime that could result in jail time and for which they could be deported. The letter made clear that voting in any election if you are not a citizen of the United States would be useless and dangerous.
It is important to realize that everything said in this letter is absolutely true. But informing voters that they have to be citizens to vote is highly offensive to the political left, especially organizations like La Raza or MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and their allies in the career ranks of the Civil Rights Division.
As described in the September 19 article, lawyers in the Civil Rights Division said at an internal DOJ training session this summer that they considered sending mailers informing individuals of the citizenship requirement for voting an example of voter suppression.
It is important to realize what has happened here. Not only was CCIR engaging in political speech fully protected by the First Amendment, but it was telling voters the absolute truth about federal statutes that prohibit noncitizens from registering and voting in federal elections and the possible consequences, including deportation. Yet the Civil Rights Division initiated an investigation of perfectly legal behavior, in fact First Amendment-protected political speech that could not even remotely be considered a violation of any federal voting rights law the Division is charged with enforcing.
Nguyen made a mistake in talking to investigators he may have been embarrassed about his involvement or got scared when the FBI showed up at his door. But what is outrageous is that the FBI even showed up at his door to ask him questions about this letter. There was no perceptible violation of federal law. The only problem with it is that the political left would probably characterize it as anti-immigrant. This is a classic example of the government going after someone because they do not agree with what he did and prosecuting him for supposedly lying about fully protected political speech.
And who is the lead career lawyer on the case? Why, James Walsh, an Obama donor who was the lawyer referred to in the September 19 article who was directing the training of DOJ lawyers and FBI agents on how to go after political activists.
No one should have any illusions either about why this indictment has occurred just prior to the November election. Partisans like Walsh and his immediate boss, Mark Kappelhoff, a former ACLU lawyer and $2,000 contributor to Obama, know that illegal voting by noncitizens, particularly illegal aliens, will be very important in many of the Southwestern states like Texas, New Mexico, and California to ensuring an Obama victory.
Even more infuriating is that the political leadership of the Civil Rights Division has approved this prosecutorial abuse and chilling of First Amendment rights.
Just wait until Obama gets in there. You ain't seen nothing yet. We are SO screwed!
#1
But informing voters that they have to be citizens to vote is highly offensive to the political left, especially organizations like La Raza or MALDEF, the Mexican American Legal Defense and Education Fund, and their allies in the career ranks of the Civil Rights Division.
But ACORN's actions in swing states is of little concern to the Justice Dept.
#4
Here's a little snippet from Wikipedia about Loretta Sanchez which is pretty much the way I remember things having gone done WRT B1 Bob Dornan. This is what has pissed me off so badly about Bush and McCain. Maybe some of you are tired of hearing it from me but California was once a red state or, at the very least, not necessarily a blue state like it is now. So if McCain loses the election this year remember that it didn't have to be that way if him and his fellow RINOs had only enforced the law.
In 1994 Sanchez ran unsuccessfully as a moderate Republican for the Anaheim City Council under her then married name, Loretta Brixey. In 1996, she changed parties and recast herself as a moderate Democrat to run in the 46th District against controversial six-term Republican incumbent Bob Dornan.
The bitterly fought race saw Sanchez charge that Dornan was out of touch with his constituency, especially after a distracting run for the 1996 Republican Presidential nomination. The 46th had always had a Democratic tilt, but became even more Democratic after the 1990 census when it received a considerably larger number of Hispanics than had previously been in the district. Sanchez won by 984 votes, and Dornan contested the election, alleging that many votes were cast by people who were not American citizens.
#5
yes, i do blame bush... another failure in leadership.
outside of the operational part of the WOT has he gotten anything right?
seriously, just once after 9-12 did he ever do anything to stop the 5th columnists form diverting the debate? has he even once corrected the record after the blatant falsehoods of the left? Has he ever vetoed any of the abominations that came out of congress? cleaned out the cesspool of the civil service ranks that are in his purview as chief executive? tossed out the weasels at state that undermined policy openly?
and as a result, we will have the o-man
excuse me i need to go vomit
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/16/2008 15:21
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MELBOURNE: Men have invaded ladies' fashion domain a little further, for after 'man-bras' and 'manscara' the latest must have for men is "mantyhose."
"Mantyhose"or pantyhose for men have become a popular sheer garment from truck drivers to cowboys.
A self confessed male hosiery-wearer, Harisnya is so passionate about the issue he set up e-MANcipate, a website which he says aims to "accelerate the acceptance of male pantyhose as a regular clothing item".
The website offers men a step-by-step guide on how to wear pantyhose without damaging it. Harisnya declares that the website, based in the United Kingdom, is "as serious as fashion can be". He is adamant that both males and females should be allowed to wear the sexy sheer garment.
#12
Do not forget there was a strong homoerotic subtext to the first two mad max movies.
You're a professional, rjschwarz, so I'll believe you, but I never noticed. On the other hand, I wouldn't be the target audience for such things, would I?
A suggestion to all those mantyhose-wearing gentlemen: please shave your legs regularly or get them waxed. Leg hair sticking through the nylon is icky.
I'm so used to ignoring all ads on all websites I didn't even notice it until you mentioned it.
I think it has something to do with Google (or whomever) ad placements where their computer thinks the website has something that would attract people intested in a particular product. Little do they know.... :-D
Hopefully Fred gets a few pennies.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2008 19:44
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The US Chief of Army Staff, General George W Casey, who is on a three-day visit to India, received a ceremonial welcome here today. Casey was received by Chief of Army Staff, General Deepak Kapoor and is scheduled to visit the Siachen Glacier base camp near Leh.
The defence establishment will hold a lengthy discussion with General Casey on the emerging security scenario in South Asia, particularly in the wake of heightened tension along the Pak-Afghan border. General Casey is expected to hold talks with the top brass of the Indian defence forces on ways to further enhance bilateral military relations between New Delhi and Washington.
Besides meeting and discussing issues of mutual interest with Defence Minister A K Antony, General Casey would also hold talks with General Kapoor and would be given a presentation on the security scenario in South Asia.
Siachen has been a bone of contention between India and Pakistan since the mid 1980s when India sent its troops to the 72-km-long Glacier to pre-empt a Pakistani move to send Japanese trekkers to the snowy heights ranging from 18,000 feet to 22,000 feet.
General Casey will also deliver a lecture on land power in 21st Century at the National Defence College here. He will visit some military bases outside Delhi before concluding his stay in India on October 18.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008
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YouTube has been one of the greatest successes of the internet age. Millions of people use the video-sharing website every day and it has spawned hundreds of imitators. One of the most recent is AqsaTube - a site with a particular focus on Palestinian militant videos.
Many appear to have been produced by Hamas - the militant group which seized control of the Gaza Strip in June 2007 - as well as groups like the al-Quds brigades, the military wing of the Islamic Jihad faction. They feature masked men firing rockets to the sounds of martial Arabic music. Also on the menu are videos recorded by suicide bombers before they carried out their attacks, including Mervat Massoud, who injured an Israeli soldier and killed herself during an attack in Beit Hanoun in November 2006.
The website came to public attention in Israel after a recent report by the Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre which has close ties to the country's intelligence community.
French web hosting firm OVH has taken the site offline. It says AqsaTube was launched by Hamas, a claim denied by the Palestinian movement. Hamas runs a television station a similar name, al-Aqsa TV, which AqsaTube links to. "I have seen the AqsaTube site once," said Samir Abu Mahsen head of production of al-Aqsa TV, "but it does not belong to al-Aqsa TV". The website does include material from groups ideologically opposed to Hamas, including videos by al-Sahab, which produces propaganda on behalf of al-Qaeda. So if Hamas are not behind the site, who is?
A search on whois.net, an internet service which identifies owners of domain names, leads on to godaddy.com, which says AqsaTube is registered with Domains by Proxy, Inc., an American company which protects domain owners' names. Godaddy.com also lists business information for AqsaTube, including a PO Box number in Dubai and a mobile phone number, which was answered by a man who said he was an Indian builder in Dubai. He appeared to know little about the internet and nothing about Palestinian militant movements.
The Intelligence and Terrorism Information Centre claims the site is listed under the name of Abu Nasser Skander from Dubai and its internet service provider is French firm OVH. OVH initially denied hosting AqsaTube, but later confirmed that the website had been hosted by them and had now been taken offline.
Although much of the content was sympathetic to Palestinian militant groups, the website ran advertising for some Israeli companies. In the UK, the advertisements included some decidedly un-Islamic themes, including internet gambling and breast enhancement surgery. Interestingly, militant videos were not the most popular content on Aqsa Tube. According to the site, the most viewed clips were episodes of Bab al-Hara, an enormously popular Arabic soap opera, which is broadcast every Ramadan.
I once heard Roger Ailes explain Fox as, "It's not about the news we chose to report, it's about what we chose to not exclude from our reports."
Barack Obama riffs on his media image in an interview for the New York Times Magazine, which quotes him as suggesting FOX News has cost him a few points in the polls.
The interview with reporter Matt Bai, to be published Sunday, features the Democratic presidential candidate feeling lamenting a "media narrative" that has pigeon-holed him as a liberal stereotype.
"I am convinced that if there were no Fox News, I might be two or three points higher in the polls," Obama says in the article. "If I were watching Fox News, I wouldn't vote for me, right? Because the way I'm portrayed 24/7 is as a freak!"
He continues that he is being typecast as "the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effet, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?"
Obama's reference to his poll numbers comes at a time when he has opened up a commanding lead over his rival, John McCain, in national polls, as well as in several battleground states. A recent New York Times poll that way over-samples Dhimmicrats puts Obama ahead by 14 percentage points.
In the New York Times Magazine article, Obama tries to explain a comment he made during his primary race against Hillary Clinton, during which he was quoted as saying to an audience in San Francisco that some working class voters "cling to guns or religion" in response to economic woes. Obama calls that comment "my biggest boneheaded move," adding that his point was to say that "these voters have a right to be frustrated" and their concerns shouldn't be ignored.
#1
He continues that he is being typecast as "the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effet, politically correct, arrogant liberal.
You left out "Socialist who came up thru the corrupt Chicago political machine and has a sordid collection of left-wing, America-hating associates".
#6
He continues that he is being typecast as "the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effet, politically correct, arrogant liberal. Who wants somebody like that?
#8
He continues that he is being correctly described typecast as "the latte-sipping, wealth re-distro, New York Times-reading, Muzzie loving, Fox TV hating, Volvo-driving, race bating, no-gun-owning, jiving effet, liberation theology, politically correct, arrogant, upity socialistliberal. Who wants somebody like that?"
#9
Socialist, liar -- either one of those is true enough to lose my vote.
"...Obama tries to explain a comment he made..."
Give him credit: he's persistent. Most people would give up after unsuccessfully spinning it three or four times.
#10
"...Obama tries to explain a comment he made..."
Give him credit: he's persistent. Most people would give up after unsuccessfully spinning it three or four times.
Posted by Darrell
Just following his master's lesson.
A lie told often enough becomes the truth. V.I. Lenin
#11
He continues that he is being typecast as "the latte-sipping, New York Times-reading, Volvo-driving, no-gun-owning, effete, politically correct, arrogant liberal."
#17
Yeah, supposedly, according to the polls Obama is up by double digits. Sounds like he doesn't believe them either. Just prior to election day is the only time polls get tested by reality. It behooves pollsters to pass that test. Expect the polls to "show" tightening in the next two weeks even if the electorate doesn't move.
Measuring traditional likely voters, Obama is actually up by 3% +/- simple sampling error. And not counting any Bradley effect type bias. This thing isn't over, and Obama knows it.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/16/2008 11:21
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#18
From Red State
Conversations with an internal pollster for Obama...
I have an interesting story to relay that took place earlier this week between my boss (a senior VP in the company I work for) and one of the Obama campaigns' internal pollsters. Just to note, my boss is a republican and was meeting the Obama rep over lunch for other reasons. Politics obviously came up due to his line of work.
He asked my boss what her political leanings were and they did some chit chat around the issues and the impressions each had on the state of the race. What happened next was more than fascinating and should be a reminder to all of us to buck up and remain strong. All is not lost. In fact, we may be in a much better spot than we think - despite the national polls and what the daily media drumbeat to give up.
He asked my boss what she thought about Sarah Palin. While my boss is a republican she hasn't been nearly as enamored with her as most of our base. She noted concern about Sarah's experience, but said that she is still voting for McCain. As she was explaining her perspective it dawned on her to ask why he (the Obama internal pollster) was interested in her view of Palin. He replied that Obama's campaign is extremely nervous about the energized republican base and what he called the "unkown factor" regarding Palin's draw as a candidate.
In the polls they're conducting around the country, and my boss wasn't able to relay specific numbers, the Obama campaign is very, very worried about how Palin appears to be energizing whole groups of people who don't typically get energized about politics, precisely because she appeals so strongly to the middle class, as well as women and dissatisfied republicans that stayed home in 2006. More than that, they don't know how to gauge and predict the support of people typically turned off by politics, but that are enamored with her "up from the bootstraps" appeal.
I say all of this because this pollster conveyed strong concern about their standing going into the homestretch. They are very concerned about winning the vote of the middle class and whole swaths of the electorate they consider the "unkowns." In fact, and based on her conversation with this internal pollster for Obama, he's not ahead in the polls as we're being told. He's at best tied.
Look, take it for what it is. But what I know is that we're being sold a bill of goods by the media. Why? Not to be conspiratorial, but they likely just want to dispirit us, precisely because Obama has yet to seal the deal. He should be way ahead this season, but he's not.
I'll close by saying that we have several weeks left. The Obama camp internally knows they haven't wrapped this thing up.
#19
"Even Fox news says.."
I also noticed his quote of a poll by an anonymous media source. People should know these polls are BS - polling Independents or Republicans and you are more likely to get a straight answer rather than the obamanauts giving the most extreme polling answers to skew the responses. The O camp should be concerned especially after his trouncing showing last night. He should be laughed off the stage for his 30 minute infomercial - maybe get Miss Cleo, Dr. Ho or Matthew Lesko to provide the narrative?
Would explain the, "Hah we already won so don't bother to vote" narrative out to dispair not just the Republicans but especially the Independents.
#20
TU -- thanks for this great lead-in. i've just posted my first Fisking to Rantburg -- someone forwarded me NOW's fulmination on the Guvnah and it was just begging for snark...
now i'll go back to baking the cupcakes... TW, this batch is for you!
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar has said that Pakistani Taliban are ready to lay down their arms and hold talks with the government if the latter ceases fire. "We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country. If the government relinquishes use of power, we are also ready to stop our actions and hold talks with the government," Umar told BBC Urdu from an undisclosed location on Wednesday. He said that local Taliban were also ready to cooperate with the government in its efforts to drive out foreigners from the tribal areas and stop militants' infiltration into Afghanistan. When asked whether the TTP would guarantee that Pakistani Taliban would not cross into Afghanistan and take part in militancy, he replied in affirmative, saying they did not need to go to Afghanistan as Afghan Taliban were powerful. However, if Afghan Taliban seek assistance from Pakistani Taliban, the decision will be made in consultation with the people, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
this sounds familiar
Posted by: chris ||
10/16/2008 11:29
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#2
We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country.
International warplanes have bombed a gathering of Taliban on the southern border with Pakistan and killed up to 70, an Afghan government official said on Wednesday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the strike but said it was late Sunday, not as reported on Monday, and killed a "small group of Taliban commanders".
Intelligence reports had indicated that militants, including Arabs and Pakistanis, had gathered in Barham Chah in southern Helmand, provincial government spokesman Daud Ahmadi told AFP. The men were being watched by international troops who then sent in aircraft, he said. "The foreign forces bombed the Taliban gathering in Barham Chah and killed up to 70 Taliban," Ahmadi said. "After positively identifying these insurgents, the ISAF attacked them with precision air strikes, killing the insurgents and destroying two of their vehicles," the force said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
That's a lot of fertilizer for next year's poppy crop.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 0:17
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Charlie Wilson's friend turns into elusive enemy against U.S. We're talking about Pashtuns in Afghanistan. Next year we could be friends again, but unless we were close relatives I wouldn't let him hold my wallet.
When Jalaluddin Haqqani fought Soviet troops in Afghanistan in the 1980s, the U.S. showered him with praise, guns and money. The congressman celebrated in "Charlie Wilson's War," the movie and book about that conflict, called him "goodness personified." I can't recall anybody ever referring to him that way within my hearing. He wasn't as greasy as Hekmatyar, but he was no Masood, either.
Now the U.S. is trying to kill Mr. Haqqani, who commands a Taliban guerrilla force fighting Americans in five Afghan provinces from his base in western Pakistan.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008
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#2
I have seen the movie in the original version with subtitles and and I dodn't remember Haquani being mentionned. The only Afghan mentionned was Ahmad Shah Massood.
#3
No more money would do wonders for that part of the world. We should have cut the Paks off years ago, and Afghanistan is turning out to be a real pill.
#4
Haqqani was one of those assholes who fought the war mostly from the Pakistani side of the border, IIRC. Massoud was with the guys who stuck to the Reds like burrs and took the majority of the grief and losses.
Haqqani's an asshole, he always has been. IIRC, he was the asshole who leveled large parts of Kabul during the post-Soviet civil war, and back in the day, he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
10/16/2008 7:57
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#5
he was the ISI's pet asshole to play off against actual ass-kickers like Dostum and Massoud.
That was Hykmatiar. He was/is bought and paid by the Pakis and his mean repeatedly attacked Massod's men both during and after the war against teh Soviets.
Massood, who despite being a Tajik advocated for the return of the NWFP to Afghanistan once the Durand treaty expired , despite that thiswould have reduced Tajik's influence) while the "Pashtoons" Hykmatiar and, after him, Mullah Omar were happy with the Pakistani occupation of Afghan lands.
#6
If there's no "Pakistan", there won't be a hostile intelligence service posing as a friend to protect this POS. The solution to ending the war in Afghanistan is simple - eliminate Pakistan. That will also calm things down in India, Bangladesh, and even Britain. I know it's a drastic move, but sometimes you've got to take drastic action to succeed. It's time Pakistan ceased to be.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2008 10:54
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#7
Afghan ally is now a foe
Send him his old friend Mr. Wilson's compliments on the usual missile. I'm sure the memory of that long-ago friendship will warm his heart in his last moments.
#8
This area is a cess pool and, per Michael Yon, is at least 100 years behind to civilized world. I am less and less inclined to spend blood and treasure to try and bring them into the fold. Because really, what good do they do? What needed resource do they provide? What cultural wonder do they bring to the world? I read zipp on all fronts.
If our leaving temporarily empowers the bad guys, so what? I would prefer that we leave, but with the very clear warning that should an attack on our assets emenate from that part of the world (Afghanistan, the tribal belt, Pakistan) that there will be an overwhelming and sustained response from the air. We will essentially bomb them back into the stone age (or at least farther than they are now). I think our efforts to stabilize this region is a fool's errand and one we cannot afford at this time.
You won't find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor.
Conservatives yesterday ripped Obama after he was caught on video telling an Ohio plumber that he intends to take the profits of small-business owners and "spread the wealth around" to those with lesser incomes.
The fracas over Obama's tax plan broke out Sunday outside Toledo when Joe Wurzelbacher approached the candidate. Wurzelbacher said he planned to become the owner of a small plumbing business that will take in more than the $250,000 amount at which Obama plans to begin raising tax rates. "Your new tax plan is going to tax me more, isn't it?" the blue-collar worker asked.
After Obama responded that it would, Wurzelbacher continued: "I've worked hard . . . I work 10 to 12 hours a day and I'm buying this company and I'm going to continue working that way. I'm getting taxed more and more while fulfilling the American Dream."
"It's not that I want to punish your success," Obama told him. "I want to make sure that everybody who is behind you, that they've got a chance for success, too."
Then, Obama explained his trickle-up theory of economics. "My attitude is that if the economy's good for folks from the bottom up, it's gonna be good for everybody. I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody."
Critics said Obama let the cat out of the bag. "It's clear that his main goal is redistribution of wealth, not growth," said Andy Roth with the anti-tax group Club for Growth. "He's perfectly happy to destroy wealth as long as he can redistribute it."
Obama has been meticulous, Roth said, to conceal the "socialistic" nature of his tax plans. "But every once in a while, he lets it slip," he said.
Republican candidate John McCain yesterday charged that Obama's comment was telling. "This explains how Senator Obama can promise an income-tax cut for millions who aren't even paying income taxes right now," he said in Pennsylvania. "My plan isn't intended to force small businesses to cut jobs to pay higher taxes so we can 'spread the wealth around.' My plan is intended to create jobs and increase the wealth of all Americans."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
"But every once in a while, he lets it slip,"
That's it. Talk about Obama throwing McCain a hanging curveball...
#5
I just got my letter from Acorn "inviting" me to attend their re education camp in Missouri. Seems they want to make rice out of rocks or something like that.
(SomaliNet) Suspected Shining Path rebels fired a convoy carrying Peruvian soldiers killing at least two of them.
Five soldiers were also injured in the fire fight, The Peruvian military authorities say. The attack took place in southeastern Peru, where the remnants of the Shining Path guerrilla movement are still active.
It is the second attack that has been blamed on the left-wing rebels in the space of a week. Last Thursday, 15 people were killed in an ambush on a military convoy. The Shining Path rebel movement is estimated to be about 300 strong.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Posted by: Abu do you love ||
10/16/2008 14:16
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#3
I was in Peru this summer and needless to say it's an interesting topic when talking with locals, tour guides, hotel/restaurant staff, etc..
It's a beautiful country, severe geography, awful politics, but plenty of potential and a native capacity to muddle through pretty well.
Cusco is fascinating, but Lima is a whopping metropolis.
They're so close to wiping this out, but if the dems ave their way with Colombia, the Peruvians have real cause to worry. Unlces Hugo and Evo would love to make neighborly trouble.
Illinois Congressman Bobby Rush's son will spend 180 days in jail after pleading guilty to sexual encounters with female inmates while working for the Illinois Department of Corrections.
Kane County Circuit Court Judge Timothy Q. Sheldon also ordered 42-year-old Jeffrey M. Rush of Lake Zurich to serve three years probation. Rush pleaded guilty Wednesday to three counts of official misconduct.
Two charges stem from sexual relationships with two female inmates in 2007 while Rush was chief of security at the Fox Valley Adult Transition Center in Aurora.
The third charge stems from two incidents in which Rush, acting in his official capacity, gave an inmate a ride home in his state vehicle. He was fired in September 2007.
You know it's bad when the child of an Illinois pol gets fired from a state job.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Funny how the political affiliation of Bobby Rush isn't mentioned until the very last sentence. Anyone care to guess?
#3
giving an inmate a ride home? i hope they had been released
Posted by: chris ||
10/16/2008 11:48
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#4
Bobby Rush, the Black Panther terrorist and racist Maoist communist makes the upper echelons of political power. Then his child fall flat on his face. Only in America.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 13:10
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A self-described Montreal pastor who says a so-called marriage to a 10-year-old girl gave him the right to have sex with her has been found guilty of sexual assault. Daniel Cormier, 56, was convicted by Quebec court Judge Sylvie Durand on Wednesday after a five-year trial rife with legal wrangling.
Cormier, who headed the now-defunct Church of Downtown Montreal and who once ran for mayor of Montreal, showed no emotion as Durand read her ruling in court, staying two other charges of sexual touching and invitation to touching.
The girl, who is now 19 but still cannot be identified, was seated at the back of the courtroom and listened to a translation of the verdict with her mother.
She testified during the trial that she was too young to grasp Cormier's plan for a married life together and denied ever entering any sort of union with him. But Durand noted she did recall much of the sexual abuse in stark, vivid detail.
"They were criminal acts that caused a lot of consequences to the victim, some measurable and others that's not possible for us to put into evidence," Crown prosecutor Anne-Andree Charette said outside the courtroom. "He stole her childhood from her and it is something I'll try to sum up for the court at the sentencing."
Durand told Cormier earlier this year his defence he was married to the girl wouldn't be accepted and she would not hear any testimony to that effect.
Cormier has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing or being a pedophile, saying he is simply lovestruck for the youngster he called his wife. Cormier still faces a pair of sex-related charges against a different 16-year-old girl in a trial scheduled to begin in January. He completely denies the allegations regarding the 16-year-old and says he did nothing illegal with the 10-year-old he claims to have married at a ceremony at his obscure evangelical church in 1999.
Cormier took the family under his wing starting in 1993, while he headed the church that catered to the marginalized. That's where he met the girl's mother, at the time a recovering junkie and prostitute, taking her and her two young daughters under his wing. The family described Cormier as a father figure who increasingly became a parental fixture in the girls' lives. The sisters frequently stayed with Cormier or vacationed with him and other church members.
It was during these moments that other church members began to grow suspicious of Cormier's relationship with the victim. Cormier was arrested in 2003 after a social worker alerted police about the situation involving the girl.
The case has snaked its way through the system in part because of legal wrangling and numerous motions filed by the Crown and Cormier, who represented himself.
The victim refused to testify in the same courtroom as Cormier, instead doing so via video link from an adjacent room. Cormier was barred from cross-examining the girl or her mother and turned down an offer to submit a predetermined list of questions.
Cormier rested without further witnesses or testifying himself. "He had no defence concerning the acts and the offences that he committed," said Charette.
A sentencing hearing is scheduled for late November and Charette has indicated she will seek prison time for Cormier.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
The proceedings were conducted in French and he was still convicted? Amazing!
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:14
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#2
He's gonna be REAL popular in any Canadian federal prison.
If you've got spare change, please don't forget to hit the tip jar.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Okay, Fred, you should hear PayPal bounce around in the jar any minute now. For all you do to fight off the attackers and trolls and keep the bytes flowing, the least we can do is shower you in gifts.
#20
Geez, Fred - I'm sorry. Thanks for the reminder. I had made a mental note to send you a check the next time I paid bills (which was last night), and we all know I'm more mentally deranged and less note. :-(
(Guess I should make a "Fred" page in my bill book to remind me.)
Check will go in the mail tomorrow.
BTW, I bought a toaster oven & some books from Amazon, but clicked into them through Rantburg, so hopefully you'll be getting something from that too.
And I'll say it again: NEVER apologize or be worried for asking us to contribute to help keep Rantburg going. It's worth its weight in gold. Don't thank us - Thank you from us.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/16/2008 18:46
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Police claimed to have arrested former hockey coach and Olympian Naveed Alam and two 'wanted criminals' from Gohar Centre at Wahdat Road after a shootout in which one passer-by was killed on Wednesday. Five passers-by were also injured in the 20-minute encounter. The police raided the centre after receiving information that Tariq, a proclaimed offender, was present there. Tariq and his two accomplices opened fire at the police team. In the resultant exchange of fire, Tariq was injured but managed to escape. However, the police arrested his accomplices and Naveed, and seized weapons from their possession. Police Deputy Superintendent Rai Zameer confirmed Naveed's arrest, and claimed he "sheltered criminals and weapons provided by him were used in the shootout". He said Tariq was wanted in 16 cases of robberies, including at banks, and was a court absconder in 30 cases. He alleged that Tariq was also involved in a robbery at The Mall in which two people were killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#2
Obviously not a real 'Crossfire," Note the following:
Accomplices captured,
the wanted miscreant manages to escape, despite being wounded,
no time of day given for the event,
bystanders not only present, but also wounded/killed,
and no round of bullet recovered.
NATO warships were steaming through the Suez Canal Wednesday en-route to Somalia to help combat piracy off the largely lawless African country's coast, an alliance spokesman said. "Seven ships from six NATO navies ... are transiting the Suez Canal today on their way to conduct both anti-piracy duties.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Intelligence agencies re-arrested an American detained in the country's volatile border region and were questioning the man, police said on Wednesday. Juddi Kenan, 20, was carrying a laptop computer when arrested on Monday at a checkpoint in Mohmand district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said Juddi was released from custody on Tuesday but was picked up hours later at his home in Peshawar. "Intelligence agencies are required to quiz him again for further satisfaction," he said. In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US officials had visited and spoken with the man and were doing everything they could for him. He declined to provide more specific details including confirming the name because of privacy concerns.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
after the "vigorous" questioning, please remove and destroy that U.S. passport. He's already said it wasn't him. I'd believe him. Let him rot in Pakland
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/16/2008 8:20
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I snipped all the hand-wringing; this is what was left.
NEW YORK (Reuters) - Oil tumbled on Wednesday, sliding to a 13-month low on expectations that a deepening economic slowdown will cut into already weakening demand.
U.S. crude fell $4.09 a barrel to settle at $74.54, falling to $74.22 in post-settlement Globex electronic trading, the lowest since September 2007 and down nearly 50 percent since hitting a record over $147 in July. London Brent crude fell $3.73, or 5 percent, to settle at $70.80 a barrel.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Under 70$ now. Just five days after going under 80$.
#3
Latest Nov 2008 NYMEX Light crude quote: 69.75 -4.79
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 13:01
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#4
4 reasons
1.Stronger dollar
2.Decreased economic activity
3.Behavior modification as people cut inefficient fuel use.
4.Last but not least, the speculative bubble has poppped.
I am actually surprised at #1, given the insane levels of liquidity injected into the .
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/16/2008 16:06
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#5
markets.
PIMF
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/16/2008 16:06
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#6
Minister, the speculative bubble popped because the hedge funds can't get the money they need. Banks aren't lending, investment banks are either bankrupt or morphed into commercial banks, and investors are buying treasuries at insanely low yields. No money = no speculation = price comes down.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2008 18:33
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#7
So, Dr. White, where did the speculators stow all this oil they were hoarding?
Saudi Arabia's religious police arrested a Jordanian woman residing in Jeddah for arranging pleasure marriages and facilitating meetings between the opposite sex, local press reported Wednesday.
The Commission for the Propagation of Virtue and the Prevention of Vice stormed the woman's house after receiving reports about her alleged activities. Informants said she facilitated meetings between men and women under the pretext of arranging pleasure marriages, reported the Saudi newspaper Shams.
Such unions do not meet the requirements of a legitimate marriage contract in Saudi Arabia, which include having a marriage registrar and witnesses.
Three other women and a man were also arrested and confessed under interrogation, but refused to describe the activities as illegitimate.
According to statements by the accused, they were justly involved in the facilitation of a type of marriage, which is legitimate in other sects.
The offenders were referred to the prosecution, which in turn transferred the case to the penal court where a trial date will be set. In his statement, the prosecutor general called for applying a "deterrent" penalty.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Pleasure marriages? Wasn't aware there was such a thing.
#2
Putting "pleasure" and "marriage" togrther to describe prostitution? Those Arabs! They are so funny.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:01
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#3
I don't know between Sunni but in Shia Iran it goes like this: man and prostitute go to a mullah and subscribe a temporary marriage, for, say, an hour (I know, I know, but they make provision for the time in reaching a house). After that they are automatically divorced.
#6
Temporary marriages in Iran can last from an hour to indefinite. They're also often used by live-together couples, especially where the girl's family would oppose a normal marriage.
A High Court (HC) bench yesterday refused to accept the bail petition filed by Jamaat-e-Islami Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid in the Barapukuria coal mine corruption case. Justices Mohammad Anwaurl Haque and Farah Mahmud said their bench was already overstretched with other cases.
The bail petition was later moved to the bench of justices AKM Fazlur Rahman and ATM Fazle Kabir after the Jamaat leader's counsels appealed to the chief justice to constitute a new bench to hear their case. The new bench asked Mojahid's lawyers to place the petition for hearing on October 19.
Meantime, eminent citizens and lawyers yesterday sharply reacted to Mojahid's presence at his party's dialogue with the government Tuesday even when police reported to the trial court that he is a fugitive.
Transparency International Bangladesh (TIB) Chairman Prof Muzaffer Ahmad said the rule of law was violated allowing Mojahid into the talks. "Law should be equal to all; it violates the rule of law when a wanted accused sits with government advisers instead of being arrested," he told reporters after attending a seminar in the city.
"The government will have to account for if he roams free in line with the administration's consent," he said. On whether the government was softening its position for the sake of success of its negotiations with political parties and the upcoming election, he said, "This flexibility cannot be evaluated from one or two instances; we've got to wait for the final results."
Supreme Court Bar Association President barrister Shafique Ahmed said allowing Mojahid into the meeting was an act of 'harbouring a criminal'. On the Jamaat platitude that Mojahid's joining the talks was OK as he had already applied for bail, he said, "Appealing for bail does not mean getting bail."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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A Kansas City lawyer and supporter of Barack Obama for president has filed suit in federal court, alleging that the Republican ticket has incited violence against the Democratic nominee. The official "Truth Squad" was too busy to take her complaint, apparently.
In her suit against Sen. John McCain, Gov. Sarah Palin and campaign manager Rick Davis, Mary Kay Green said she has been injured by their campaign tactics and suffers "terror of the heart, anxiety and grave fear" for Obama's life. I understand Päxil works wonders for things like this, Ms Green.
Green, an occasional contributor of letters to the editor for The Kansas City Star on legal and political issues, said the GOP campaign has used false hate speech to work their supporters into a frenzy, leading to death threats against Obama. In an interview, Green said she worked as a young woman in the presidential campaigns of both John and Robert Kennedy in Nebraska. "High point of my life, dontcha know!"
Though she has asked for $6 million in damages, Green said the money is not important. The suit is a moral plea to the Republicans to temper their language, she said. "I will not tolerate another assassination," Scary Mary Green said. "I have an obligation as an attorney to speak out and use my voice to say to John McCain and Sarah Palin that you must stop this behavior. You are participating in these death threats and have lost all protection from the First Amendment. The suit Green filed Tuesday, has been assigned to a federal court mediation program for resolution. "What's that you have there, Bob?"
"Another frivolous lawsuit."
"Cheeze. They never stop, do they?"
#1
Good luck with that you fecking idiot. Tell ya what, if you win, we will file countersuyit and recover the money from your side's continued systematic, libelous assault and verbal threats of violence on Sarah Palin.
#3
Meanwhile the Secret Service can find nobody to collaborate the story that someone in the McCain crowd shouted 'Kill Him' when Bambi's name was mention. The reporer seems to have made the whole thing up from cloth.
#4
Meanwhile the Secret Service can find nobody to collaborate the story that someone in the McCain crowd shouted 'Kill Him' when Bambi's name was mention. The reporer seems to have made the whole thing up from cloth.
#5
Meanwhile the Secret Service can find nobody to collaborate the story that someone in the McCain crowd shouted 'Kill Him' when Bambi's name was mention. The reporer seems to have made the whole thing up from cloth.
#6
Meanwhile the Secret Service can find nobody to collaborate the story that someone in the McCain crowd shouted 'Kill Him' when Bambi's name was mention. The reporer seems to have made the whole thing up from cloth.
This is the part of the start of pure suppression of free speech and intimidating the right. If the dhimocrats get in power, expect more and more of this until the right is cowed, or revolts.
#10
"I have an obligation as an attorney to speak out and use my voice to say to John McCain and Sarah Palin that you must stop this behavior.
I'm no legal expert, but I don't think a lawyer's ethical standards, such as they are, express such an 'obligation'. An 'obligation' to draw attention / ridicule to yourself, maybe...
#13
Mr Hussein will be appointing the federal Judges who decide these things. If he wins, expect more of these. Remember that on paper, the old Soviet Union had a constitution "guaranteeing" freedoms. On paper. In reality, not so much...Judges matter.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/16/2008 11:01
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#14
Not embarassing enough with the Royals and Chiefs, eh ms. green?
#15
And just last night I was wondering about whatever happened to Cindy Shitforbrains Sheehan? Sounds like she has turned up in KC.
(Must have been that skunk beer I had)
Barratry, in criminal and civil law, is the act or practice of bringing repeated legal actions solely to harass. Usually, the actions brought lack merit. This action has been declared a crime in some jurisdictions. For example, in the U.S. states of California, Pennsylvania, and Virginia, barratry is a misdemeanor, [1] while in Texas, it is a felony.[2] In England and Wales the offence was abolished in 1967.
Barratry also refers to the act of soliciting legal business from potential clients based on a particular event not just solely to harass. For example, an attorney who stops at the scene of a car accident or follows an ambulance to an emergency room in hopes of finding and soliciting business from an injured and aggrieved person might be accused of barratry. The lawyer who practices this sort of barratry is called, pejoratively, an ambulance chaser.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2008 22:40
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The annual budget of the local Taliban is more than Rs 4 billion, Dawn News quoted unidentified NWFP officials as saying on Wednesday. According to the channel,
A Khasadar force soldier is paid a monthly salary of Rs 3,000, while a Taliban mercenary gets Rs 6,000 a month. Local Taliban commanders receive as much as Rs 20,000 a month.
the officials said that a Khasadar force soldier is paid a monthly salary of Rs 3,000, while a Taliban mercenary gets Rs 6,000 a month. Local Taliban commanders receive as much as Rs 20,000 a month, the channel said. Taliban fighters had almost taken over Bajaur Agency before the government launched a security operation there, the channel quoted the officials. It reported the officials as saying that the Taliban had killed more than 600 pro-government tribal leaders until now. The official stressed the need for short-term and long-term steps to counter tribal insurgencies and to carry out development projects in the region, Dawn News said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
For the culturally insensitive like myself, how much is that in real money?
Israel Defense Forces soldiers shot and critically wounded a Palestinian who threw a fire bomb at them near the West Bank city of Ramallah. The incident took place close to the Palestinian village of Jilabun. The fire-bomber was taken to a Palestinian hospital for treatment.
Troops from the same unit, part of the Kfir infantry brigade's Lavi battalion, on Tuesday shot dead a 17-year-old Palestinian who tried to throw a fire bomb near the West Bank settlement of Beit El. Soldiers found next to the teen's body a cache of ten other fire bombs, which he apparently planned on hurling at the settlement. According to the IDF, two other Palestinians fled the scene.
An IDF spokeswoman said that in light of a number of recent attacks in and around on the settlement an army squad had set up an ambush after dark on Tuesday, which subsequently caught the Palestinian.
Palestinian officials identified the dead teen as Abdel Kader Zeit from Jalazoun.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#2
Yeah, but on the other hand, some gas has been wasted, so this offsets a bit the good news about the paleos being snuffed. You know, that gas could have fueled a moped or a lawnmover, I dunno, think of the possiblities.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Syed Munawar Hasan has asked the government to disown the United States (US) war as soon as possible to solve all the problems facing the country, including the suicide attacks and deteriorating law and order.
Talking to various delegations at the Mansoorah on Wednesday, in connection with the forthcoming JI congregation in Lahore, the JI secretary general said that the US was itself crushed under a serious financial crisis, adding that it was high time to 'divorce' the US war.
Munawar Hasan said that the country needs to devise an independent policy on foreign and internal issues since the country had recently witnessed the worst crises of its history because of General (r) Musharraf's policy of joining the US war on terror.
He expressed his sorrow that a handful of senior officials had been fighting a US war against innocent Pakistanis for a few dollars, saying that by deceiving the nation, they have made it the country's war. He demanded the immediate withdrawal of logistics' support to the US forces in Afghanistan and the withdrawal of the army from the Tribal Areas and settled areas of the North Western Frontier Province to solve the issue through jirgas.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn a series of allegations made in federal court that tie Binyam Mohammed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, to a plot to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States, blow up apartment buildings here and release cyanide gas in nightclubs.
Defense lawyers said the decision should force the Pentagon to drop charges of conspiracy and material support for terrorism against Mohammed, which were filed by military prosecutors in May. The charges, the lawyers said, are spurious and based on false confessions obtained through torture. They said the Justice Department dropped key allegations to avoid having to turn over evidence of abuse. The agency did not respond to a request for comment.
The dirty-bomb allegation was also never pursued in the case of Mohammed's alleged co-conspirator, Jose Padilla, a U.S. citizen initially declared an enemy combatant but convicted in federal court in August 2007 on a lesser charge of providing material support for terrorism. He was sentenced to 17 years in prison. "There are no serious, hard charges against Mohammed," said Air Force Lt. Col. Yvonne R. Bradley, his military attorney. "The whole thing the government was hanging its hat on, pursuing Mr. Mohammed, was the dirty bomb."
The Pentagon's convening authority for military commissions examines each case assembled by prosecutors before deciding whether it should be referred to a military court for trial at Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Mohammed's case is "under review," said Joseph DellaVedova, a spokesman for the Office of Military Commissions.
The Justice Department's decision came after a Washington federal judge, in a habeas corpus proceeding, ordered the government to turn over all available exculpatory evidence to Mohammed's attorneys, according to documents filed by government attorneys. The material includes 42 classified British intelligence documents, among them communications with the United States about Mohammed's fate after his arrest in Pakistan in April 2002.
Mohammed's attorneys said they think the documents could shed light on the period between his disappearance in July 2002 and his transfer to the military prison at Guantanamo Bay in September 2004. Mohammed, a 30-year-old Ethiopian native, and his attorneys charge that he was secretly transferred by the CIA to Morocco, where he admitted to various plots only because he was tortured.
The High Court in London ordered the release of the documents to Mohammed's attorneys, but the British government argued that they were covered by "public interest immunity" because their release would damage intelligence cooperation and relations with the United States. The British government, however, said U.S. authorities had copies of the documents, effectively transferring any decision-making about their release to Washington.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction has rejected a request by Hamas rivals to meet separately ahead of multi-factional reconciliation talks next month in Cairo, Fatah officials said on Tuesday.
"Hamas has tried to change the Egyptian plan by requesting a bilateral meeting with Fatah which excludes the other 11 Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) factions," a senior Fatah official told Reuters by telephone from Amman. "We adhere to the Egyptian plan which calls for a meeting of all the factions," the official said. "We don't object to holding a bilateral meeting with Hamas after the comprehensive meeting taking place." Hamas spokesman Sami Abu Zuhri said Fatah's decision not to hold bilateral talks with the group was a blow to Egypt's efforts to broker a unity deal between the rival groups. "Fatah bears responsibility for any faltering of Arab efforts to reconcile the Palestinian factions," Abu Zuhri said.
Egypt's intelligence chief Omar Suleiman has held a series of separate talks with all Palestinian factions to heal the rift between Hamas and the PLO. Abbas has not sanctioned any meeting between his Fatah group and Hamas and has insisted that such meetings would only take place after Hamas cedes control of Gaza, officials said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Oh, no! This can't be good for Palestinian Unity.
Democratic leaders on Capitol Hill are drawing up plans to toughen oversight of the financial industry and considering introducing another economic-stimulus package in the wake of the government's decision to buy stakes in major U.S. banks.
Because as we all know, you can always spend your way into more prosperity ...
Nancy Pelosi House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is mulling recommendations from several economists that Congress act on an economic-recovery package that would cost taxpayers $300 billion, according to congressional aides, equivalent to about 2% of the country's gross domestic product.
The California Democrat envisions a bill that would include new spending on highways and bridges, extended benefits to unemployed workers, aid to cash-strapped states and a tax cut, congressional aides said. She has asked several House committees to examine details of a possible plan. And as part of the effort, Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke is expected to testify next week before the House Budget Committee on the state of the economy. Ms. Pelosi is expected to call lawmakers back to Washington in late November to take up the issue.
With the Nov. 4 election less than three weeks away, lawmakers are eager to respond to voter concerns about the economy. The chances of a new stimulus package being enacted are likely to depend on what happens in the election and what happens to the economy. The White House and its Republican allies in Congress so far have resisted a spending-focused stimulus package.
John Boehner
House Minority Leader John Boehner (R., Ohio) described the latest Democratic package as a "big government boondoggle."
Democratic lawmakers are also seeking to rewrite the rules on how housing purchases are financed, and to redefine the roles of mortgage giants Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac.
The lawmakers are also looking to tighten regulation of financial services, with hedge funds, private-equity funds and exotic financial instruments such as credit-default swaps likely to come under greater federal scrutiny. "There is no question in my mind that we must adopt a stronger system of regulation and oversight for these swaps and derivatives and everything else that's out there," Senate Agriculture Chairman Tom Harkin said on Tuesday. "We've got to have regulations to protect our economy from these excesses."
The Iowa Democrat's committee oversees commodity trading.
House Financial Services Chairman Barney Frank said the Bush administration's decision to invest directly in banks is a turning point in the debate over regulation. "It has definitely changed Washington, very dramatically," the Massachusetts Democrat said. "Two years ago, the prevailing opinion was [that] we needed to deregulate further. Now, the argument is [over] what kind of new regulation we need."
Rep. Frank plans to convene a hearing next week to explore how to strengthen oversight of financial markets. Committee aides are expected to focus on developing legislative recommendations the rest of the year; that would set the stage for action on a sweeping bill early in 2009, when the new Congress is seated.
"This is equivalent to what FDR had to do...to save capitalism from its own excesses," Rep. Frank said, referring to measures taken by President Franklin D. Roosevelt to calm markets and protect investors during the Great Depression.
Rep. Frank predicted that any legislation aimed at toughening oversight would face little opposition in Congress, especially after lawmakers have effectively exposed taxpayers to hundreds of billions of dollars in potential new liabilities. "We're beyond the point where anybody will stand up and try to block this," he said.
Lawmakers have reacted cautiously to the Bush administration's plan to buy stakes in nine major banks. Sen. Judd Gregg (R., N.H.) said the actions by the Treasury Department, the Federal Reserve and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corp. "will help us avoid what could potentially be a catastrophic economic meltdown."
Speaker Pelosi portrayed the coordinated efforts as "steps in the right direction that could help to restore confidence in our financial markets."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Jeez, just last week , the figure was $150B, is inflation that bad already??
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
10/16/2008 6:52
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#2
they are just raiding the treasury like the bandits they are. If we don't stop them, it will go bankrupt.
#4
"This is equivalent to what FDR had to do...to save capitalism from its own excesses,"
Which has been proven that he extended the depression because of his anti-capitalistic methods. The dhimocrats will make the same mistake the government did in 1932-33 and will make a recession into a depression.
#5
As if I needed any more convincing, Pelosi is without question the most incompetent and dangerous SOTH in the history of the USA. With the "polls" showing Obama way ahead, she is drunk on power and licking her chops at the prospect of more.
#7
I wanted to check Zhang Fei's take on this. I think he knows where I am. For me, this is strictly a return to Carter-era economics. Remember stagflation?
The brainiacs in Congress are unable to think in more than a single dimension. Nancy is a brainiac. And, she's doing "good". What a winning combination.
.
#9
The dems are going to overreach should THE ONE be elected. The voters are rather tuned in right now to government excess. But the dems are tone deaf to that reality and they will think that they can just print money to buy voter compliance. I don't think it is going to happen. I can only hope that the Repubs in Congress do everything in their power to highlight the screw-ball strategies the dems are going to try and implement.
#10
I can only hope that the Repubs in Congress do everything in their power to highlight the screw-ball strategies the dems are going to try and implement.
I'm with you but considering the degree they highlighted the Democrats deep-deep involvement in Fannie and Freddie boondoggle I don't expect much.
Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.
Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner estimated that an initial review found that about 200,000 newly registered voters reported information that did not match motor-vehicle or Social Security records, Brunner spokesman Kevin Kidder said. Some discrepancies could be as simple as a misspelling, while others could be more significant.
But Jennifer didn't want to review them at all, so you can plan on most of these being left alone ...
The 6th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Cincinnati sided with the Ohio Republican Party on Tuesday and ordered Brunner to set up a system that provides those names to county elections boards. The GOP contends the information will help prevent fraud.
"Things already are in motion to comply," Kidder said. "We're working to establish these processes on how we can make this work. The computer work actually began last week."
About 666,000 Ohioans have registered to vote since January.
Brunner previously cross-checked new-voter registrations with databases run by the Ohio Bureau of Motor Vehicle and the Social Security Administration and made the results available online, but the 6th Circuit said the information was not accessible in a way that would help county election boards ferret out mismatches.
Brunner, a Democrat, told The (Cleveland) Plain Dealer on Wednesday that she is concerned the court decision is a veiled attempt at disenfranchising voters. Brunner said she'll urge counties not to force these people to use provisional ballots.
That's not her place. Vote integrity is just as important as enfranchising each and every legal voter.
The court gave Brunner until Friday to get election boards the information but it was unclear whether that deadline would be met. The court set no penalty for missing the deadline.
County election officials were trying to determine Wednesday how they will respond once they get the information. "I'm very concerned with these new requirements as we get closer to Election Day," said Steve Harsman, director of the Montgomery County Board of Elections in Dayton. He said his staff already is working 16 hours a day, seven days a week.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
After saying she "would comply with the 6th US Circuit's ruling," Brunner has now submitted an emergency appeal to the United States Supreme Court. Appears she may have received a phone call from someone.
#2
Most of these suspect records were likely clearly bogus and never intended to be voted; they were just entered by ACORN or whoever so they could make their quota and collect their commission. They have the unfortunate (and possibly intentional) effect of overwhelming the validation system and preventing investigation of the fraction of fraudulent registrations which ARE intended to be voted.
Probably a good number of the discrepancies are of potentially legitimate concern - listing of an address as Main St. vs. Main Street or such on different documents. In the end these would only be enforced against Republicans.
#3
More, in the Cincinnati Enquirer, also an AP article:
Ohio's top elections chief has asked the U.S. Supreme Court to intervene in a dispute over whether the state is required to do more to help counties verify voter eligibility, a spokesman for her office said Thursday. Secretary of State Jennifer Brunner, a Democrat, filed an appeal the high court late Wednesday, said spokesman Jeff Ortega. Brunner's office said Wednesday that she would comply with the lower court's ruling. Ortega said the office would release a statement later Thursday on why she chose to file an appeal.
At least 200,000 newly registered voters have mismatched data, according to an initial review by Brunner's office. About 666,000 Ohioans have registered to vote since January, with many doing so before the contested Democratic presidential primary election between Sens. Barack Obama and Hillary Rodham Clinton in March.
#4
About 18 months ago I re-registered from Libertarian to Republican. During this re-registration, my name spelling was mangled. Living in the Great State of California - I conclude this was intentional because I wrote out the registration form very clearly. I wonder if you did a name spelling errors verses party affiliation study - What would you find?
(I haven't bothered to fix the spelling problem yet - but I worry that they will turn me away every time I vote. But - no worries here in California - they don't check your ID when you vote anyway! I could be anybody. Guess Democrats want it that way.)
#6
Ohio's beloved Secretary of State explained all to the Huffington Post today. link Key bit of information is that the Supreme Court is awaiting a response brief from Ohio Republicans. She is also very annoyed with ACORN for getting caught, thus causing her problems.
#7
interesting comments in the linked article; its all the R's fault for bringing this on 'so late.' Thinking that maybe if ACORN tried for a late 3rd quarter play there wouldn't be enough time for the R's to get their hands on the ball and run out the clock.
And from the picture, she looks like a about 10 miles of bad road.
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has paid more than $2 million in campaign cash to his family members, their businesses and employers over the years, a practice that watchdogs criticize as rife with potential conflicts of interest.
The money largely flowed from the coffers of Mr. Biden's failed presidential campaign during the past two years to a company that employs his sister and longtime campaign manager, Valerie Biden Owens, according to campaign disclosure filings.
The senator from Delaware also directed campaign legal work to a Washington lobbying and law firm founded by his son R. Hunter Biden, the disclosures show.
Putting family members and their companies on the political payroll is legal if the work is legitimate and charged at market rates, according to the Federal Election Commission. Still, public watchdog groups have long criticized such arrangements. "Even though legal within restraints, it's not something I view as completely ethical," said Craig Holman, legislative director for Public Citizen, a campaign finance watchdog organization. "Any candidate ought to shy away from that."
Aides to Mr. Biden said all of the payments he has made to family members or their employers were aboveboard.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
If Obama is knocked out of the race by a federal judge, Biden will be the presumed nominee, unless Hillary can finagle some way to get the nomination.
#4
Hillary's time to act is between election day and when the EC meets in December. It's the media's job to point fingers in another direction and this part seems to have already started.
Posted by: Minister of funny walks ||
10/16/2008 10:56
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#5
Is this what Obama means by "spreading the wealth?"
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
10/16/2008 11:19
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The top U.N. representative for Afghanistan warned Tuesday that Taliban insurgents in the country are likely to step up attacks in coming weeks, before the onset of winter, but he also praised the government's progress in curtailing opium cultivation and said the country is not doomed to failure.
Kai Eide, a Norwegian diplomat, told the U.N. Security Council that the Taliban has made significant strides in recent months, expanding its operations from southern and eastern Afghanistan to positions around the capital, Kabul. Insurgent attacks in July and August were up 40 percent over last year, making it the most violent two-month period since the United States toppled the Taliban regime in 2001.
"We must expect that this number of incidents will continue over the next weeks," Eide said, noting that the insurgents' target list had grown to include humanitarian aid workers. He said he anticipated that the insurgents would conduct operations throughout Afghanistan's winter months -- a period in which Taliban fighters have reduced their activities in the past.
Eide voiced frustration at the Security Council for assigning the United Nations ambitious new responsibilities in Afghanistan but failing to provide adequate financial resources. He said it can take as long as a year to secure finances to employ additional staff members at the U.N. mission in Kabul.
Despite the setbacks, Eide said he would "caution against the kind of gloom-and-doom statements we've seen recently" about Afghanistan. He said that many of the critics who say international efforts to support democracy in Afghanistan have failed are "people who scarcely put their feet on the ground" in the country.
Eide cited three areas of progress in Afghanistan that he said had been overlooked: an improvement in relations between Afghanistan and Pakistan after the election of Asif Ali Zardari as Pakistan's president; the decision by Afghan President Hamid Karzai to reshuffle his cabinet after international criticism of government corruption; and a sharp reduction in the number of Afghan provinces cultivating opium poppies.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
ION RUSSIA TODAY > seems an AQ-affiliated group = personages may had targeted the 2014 Winter Olympic city of SOCHI. Moscow also claims to had stopped approxi 68 terror attacks or incidents, and imprisoned 129 people in consequence.
#2
TOPIX > RUSSIA SETTING UP A MILITARY BASE IN AZERBAIJAN!? Also reportedly making energy-milbase tradeoff deals wid other former Soviet SSRS in Central Asia.
Read, RUSSIA trusts its ANTI-US ALLY FUTURE NUCLEAR IRAN enuff NOT to trust 'em???
The Taliban could cut their ties with Al Qaeda they once harboured as part of a peace agreement in Afghanistan, a former Taliban foreign minister said on Wednesday. But severing links with Al Qaeda should not be a pre-condition for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said. "Al Qaeda were in Afghanistan before as guests of the Taliban. Now they are allies in the fight," Muttawakil said.
"Al Qaeda will not be allowed to create an obstacle ... it is the right of Afghans to negotiate for peace."
"Al Qaeda will not be allowed to create an obstacle ... it is the right of Afghans to negotiate for peace."
Muttawakil was part of a group of Afghans that met in Saudi Arabia last month for discussions on how to end the worsening conflict between the Taliban and the Western-backed Afghan government.
All sides agree there were no direct Taliban representatives present or that real peace talks took place in Mekkah. But the start of efforts to find a negotiated solution has been seen as a glimmer of hope amid the rising death toll in Afghanistan. Muttawakil does not speak directly for the Taliban but is known to retain ties to the movement that ruled most of Afghanistan from 1996 to 2001.
He surrendered in southern Afghanistan in 2002 and spent nearly two years in a local United States-managed prison. Talks would not start unless pre-conditions, such as the rejection of Al Qaeda or the Taliban demand that all foreign forces leave, are set aside, he said. "Negotiation is a tool for agreement and agreement is the objective. Neither side should impose pre-conditions on starting peace talks as pre-conditions would hamper the start of negotiations." Muttawakil said confidence-building measures were needed. The release of prisoners held by US forces, the end of bounty hunting for Taliban leaders and taking key figures off black lists would be a start, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
If the Taliban had severed its links with Al Quaeda in 2001 they'd still be in power and we would (presumably) never have invaded that place.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Good for them. But this is a private group. Where is the justice department?!!! All I hear is that there are indictments and investigations. Where are the arrests of key players BEFORE this election occurs?
I want to hear about what is being done NOW to prevent this election from being hijacked by Acorn. Talk of future events are meaningless right now.
The military on Wednesday claimed that at least 47 LTTE cadre and six soldiers were killed in heavy fighting "in counter terrorist offensive" in the north.
Pro-LTTE TamilNet claimed 120 refugees who suffered snakebite during the past seven days were admitted to the Kilinochchi district's hospital at Tharmapuram.
It quoted a doctor as saying three lorries with urgently needed medicines to treat them and also diarrhoea have not been able to enter Wanni despite three attempts to cross the entry/exit point at Oamanthai in Vavuniyaa.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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(AKI) - An aircraft en-route to Pakistan's capital Islamabad was forced to land after a bomb threat on Wednesday.
The Etihad Airways flight with 190 passengers departed from the UAE's capital Abu Dhabi and had to be diverted to the southern Pakistani city of Karachi after a note cotaining a bomb threat was found in one of the aircraft's toilets.
When it landed in Karachi, the plane was placed in an isolated bay and everyone on board was searched.
No explosive device was reported to have been found.
Earlier on Wednesday, panic broke out aboard a Turkish Airlines flight from Antalya to St Petersburg, Russia after a inebriated passenger reportedly sent a note to the pilot saying he had a bomb.
Crew and passengers managed to restrain the passenger , who was detained for questioning by police when the flight landed in St Petersburg.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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All the thrills of jihad, with none of the deadly side-effects.
Hardline separatist leader and chairman of Hurriyat Conference Syed Ali Shah Geelani, spearheading the recent unrest in Kashmir, was operated upon successfully for replacement of heart pace-maker in New Delhi's Escorts Hospital on Tuesday.
This was Geelani's fifth successful surgery in the last 12 years. Seventy-nine-year-old Geelani's kidney as well as gall bladder has been removed in two separate surgeries. He underwent a surgery during his incarceration in Ranchi jail in 2002.
In 2007, half of his lone kidney was removed after it developed malignancy. Though he was granted permission by the Central government to visit the US for specialised treatment, the US Embassy refused him visa "for supporting militancy" in Kashmir.
In the recent weeks, the hardline separatist leader developed complicacy as his pace-maker, implanted on 1997, was nearing expiry. He is also suffering from bronchitis.
I love the irony: a man who would take Kashmir straight back to the seventh century, with all the wonderous medical care that century was known for, has had cancer surgery, gall bladder surgery, a pacemaker, and cardiac surgery in the land of his mortal enemy, the Hindoos. I'm just betting that it was a Hindu surgeon and surgical team each time, and if it was a Muslim surgeon, said surgeon has made his peace to live in a multi-cultural society.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008
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All medical bills taken care of by the Indian government.
He has a security team, paid for by the Indian government.
Most of these 'kashmiri seperatists' have children living in other parts of India (no riots, strikes etc to disrupt their lives), all university educated, with the Indian taxpayer picking up the bill.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008 6:59
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They would have given up trying on any of us. But for a murderous scourge.....
Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.
Massed Taliban attacks on major towns are rare, but an attempted assault on a provincial capital only four days after some 65 militants tried to do the same thing is an indication the Islamist movement has no shortage of recruits. "Dozens of Taliban fighters attacked Lashkar Gah in Helmand. Eighteen insurgents were killed during a four-hour gun battle," said Helmand police chief Asadullah Sherzad. "We believe this was the same group of insurgents and militants," said a spokesman for the British army in Helmand. "Their aims were similar to that of Saturday night," he said.
Afghan security forces took the primary role in both operations and the latest attack was also thwarted outside the city, the British military spokesman said. "They were much fewer in numbers and not as well coordinated as on Saturday," he said.
Elsewhere in Helmand, the provincial governor's spokesman said some 70 Taliban fighters were killed in an overnight air strike by foreign forces, but NATO said only a small group of Taliban commanders were targeted and killed in the strike.
It was not possible to independently verify any of the casualty figures due to poor security and lack of access to areas where fighting took place.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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I suspect that they either got the memo late, or were late finding the battlefield. That will happen, every now and then.
A protest has been staged outside Strathclyde Police headquarters over alleged "harassment" of Muslim travellers at Glasgow Airport.
About 60 demonstrators claimed that Pakistani and Afghan passengers had been "interrogated" for up to three hours by officers from Special Branch. They accused police of operating "discriminatory policies".
Strathclyde Police said it welcomed dialogue over the implementation of terrorism legislation.
President of the Scottish Afghan Society, Mohammad Asif, said Strathclyde Police had a duty to treat Muslim passengers like "human beings". "Muslim community members have been singled out for questioning for no apparent reason other than being Afghan or Pakistani," he said. "This treatment is unacceptable in a democracy and we are fed up with the discriminatory policies of Strathclyde Police Special Branch.
"We cannot bear the psychological torture anymore. The authorities treat us like terrorists, as well as putting pressure on Afghans to become informers and spies, but we are not going to be intimidated and pressurised."
Strathclyde Police issued a statement saying that a study was under way into the application of terrorism legislation at ports in Scotland. The statement said: "This is to ensure that these powers are used effectively and are enforced with due regard to community impact and, at the same time, promote understanding and support.
"This study is being carried out under the direction of the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland. In that regard we would welcome dialogue from anyone in the community who may have concerns regarding how the legislation is implemented."
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Human beings don't blow up airliners for some perverted whorehouse afterlife. Muslims do.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 0:38
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Iran's president has hinted that the White House is to blame for the billions of dollars that have gone missing in Iraqi oil revenues. "Several months ago, we heard that an enormous amount of over 100-million barrels of Iraqi crude have gone unaccounted for since the US-led invasion of the country," President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Wednesday.
The New York Times quoted a draft government report as saying in 2007 that "between 100,000 and 300,000 barrels a day of Iraq's declared oil production over the past four years is unaccounted for and could have been siphoned off through corruption or smuggling." Considering the four-year period, a total of 100-million barrels of unaccounted crude oil is a conservative estimate.
President Ahmadinejad also questioned the real motives behind the Bush administration's decision to invade Iraq in 2003. According to the Iranian president, Washington has adopted a policy of exploiting the resources of other nations to extricate Americans from the various problems caused by US politicians.
Following the US-led invasion of Iraq, Washington secured UN approval to take financial control of Iraqi government affairs; US President George W. Bush vowed to spend Iraq's money wisely. However, a series of reports have revealed that the United States has mishandled billions of dollars in Iraqi oil funds. "There was a pervasive leakage in assets of Iraq, and to some extent, those assets were squandered," said Frank Willis, a former senior US official in Iraq, in February 2005.
Former US Federal Reserve chairman Alan Greenspan expounded on the issue in September 2007 to confirm that oil was the prime motive behind the Iraq invasion. "I am saddened that it is politically inconvenient to acknowledge what everyone knows; the Iraq war is largely about oil," Greenspan said.
While White House echelons claim that Iraq's oil wealth has had no place in their 'War on Terror' campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted in a May statement that 'American reliance on foreign oil was the prime motive for invading Iraq'. "I will have an energy policy that we will be talking about, which will eliminate our dependence on oil from the Middle East that will - that will then prevent us - that will prevent us from having ever to send our young men and women into conflict again in the Middle East," said the 72-year-old Arizona senator.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
McCain too huh? Putting him in the White House will be no victory for Republicans. Only a lesser evil.
#4
Oh yeah, 300,000 barrels a day -- we must have stolen that to satisfy our 20 million barrel a day habit. That's 1.5%. Heck, the Democrats aren't even willing to drill at home for that much.
300,000 bbl/day x $100/bbl x 365 days/yr = $11 billion/year
I think we just found the source of that Iraqi "surplus".
"While White House echelons claim that Iraq's oil wealth has had no place in their 'War on Terror' campaign, Republican presidential candidate John McCain admitted in a May statement that 'American reliance on foreign oil was the prime motive for invading Iraq'."
What is it about Democrats that they can't understand the difference between plundering Iraqi oil and protecting a steady "bought and paid for" flow of oil through the Persian Gulf? Did we fight the Gulf War to take Kuwait's oil? No. Are we buying most of the accounted-for Iraqi oil? No. They are so irrational that we can't risk having a Democrat in the White House. That's just one reason why Sarah Palin is more qualified to be President than any Democrat.
By clamping curfew in Khar, headquarters of Bajaur Agency, security forces have started preparations for decisive action against Taliban, Online reported on Wednesday.
AFP quoted a security official as saying a curfew was imposed in Khar as part of the ongoing military operation. All shops and offices were closed, the roads were empty, and all residents were ordered to remain indoors.
AP quoted government official Jamil Khan as saying fresh troops were flowing into Khar along with tanks and artillery. Khan said artillery attacks overnight killed four Taliban in the Charmang area.
Security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in Bajaur Agency on Wednesday, killing at least 16 Taliban, officials said. "Troops fired artillery and mortars onto hideouts of Taliban in Loyesam, Rashakai, Chinar and Babra areas, killing 10 and wounding eight others," a security official told AFP. Six other Taliban were killed by helicopter gunships in the same area, he added.
APP said several Taliban hideouts were destroyed.
Security forces and political administration of Bajaur Agency destroyed the houses of two important Taliban commanders in Khar and Yousaf Abad on Tuesday. They used dynamite to blow up the house of Commander Iqbal at Khar and the house of Commander Liaqat Yousaf at Yousaf Abad.
Meanwhile, police said suspected Taliban killed four people, including a female politician of the Awami National Party (ANP), in Swat. Masked gunmen barged into the house of the ANP local councillor and shot her and her husband dead while they slept, police official Abdul Malik told AFP. APP reported that security forces detained several Taliban during a search operation in Darra Adam Khel.
A tribal lashkar in Charmang in Bajaur Agency refused to co-operate with security forces in operating against Taliban. Online quoted a private TV channel as saying the lashkar took the stance that the government did not co-operate with them. The lashkar had torched eight Taliban hideouts over the last five days.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Charmang in Bajaur Agency
I read it as 'charming' and could not figure out how anyone could apply such a word in Bajaur. Now 'Hangu' - Hang You - fits a lot better when I misread it.
(SomaliNet) A local Ugandan official said on Wednesday that a community in eastern Uganda that has practiced female genital mutilation "since time immemorial" has banned the ritual.
Chairperson of Kapchorwa district Nelson Chelimo said: "The community decided that it was not useful, that women were not getting anything out of it, so the district council decided to establish an ordinance banning it"
Chelimo said that historically people in Kapchorwa believed that a woman who married without first being circumcised would be stricken for life with various illnesses, but that "those beliefs are really outmoded."
The district official said the campaign to end the practice has been alive in his community for several years, and that in the recent past, educated young women in Kapchorwa have shunned it.
The district council's ordinance will now be submitted to parliament so that it can become law, and subject to enforcement by the national police force.
The United Nations in 2007 passed a resolution that called female genital mutilation a violation of the rights of women and said it constituted "irreparable, irreversible abuse."
The resolution also said the practice increases the risk of HIV transmission, as well as maternal and infant mortality. The UN estimates that between 100-million to 140-million worldwide have undergone the practice.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
It's good to see progress being made.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:06
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The word is getting out, slowly, among those that practice female circumcision, that it is primitive and barbaric, and for Muslims, that there are some influential fatwas against it.
To their credit, though it has been difficult, some of the better Muslim scholars have been coming around to ideas like this and polio vaccinations. If they have any doubts, then they just dig up some other scholars they respect, to persuade them.
(SomaliNet) The UN said on Tuesday that intense fighting between the Congolese army and Ugandan rebels have forced about 50 000 people to flee their homes in the north-eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo's Ituri region.
"The fighting broke out in September and has since caused heavy loss of life," said Ron Redmond, the UN refugee agency's spokesperson.
Local authorities have claimed that the bodies of 100 civilians were dumped in a river, while 80 children have been reported missing with parents fearing that they had been recruited by the Ugandan rebel Lord's Resistance Army, added Redmond.
Meanwhile, fresh fighting that broke out at the end of August in the neighbouring province of Nord-Kivu has displaced another 100 000 people.
Aid agencies now estimate that the total number of people forced to flee from the district is around one million. "Our teams report that thousands of displaced are trapped in the towns further inland, not daring to move for fear of the fighting," said Redmond.
The French EU presidency warned on Monday that "huge massacres" could once again take place in DRC. "We must raise the alarm. The situation is becoming murderous and untenable again. Once more everything is in chaos," said French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, whose country holds the EU's rotating presidency.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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(APP): Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence Nisar Memon Wednesday expressed great concern over deployment of 10,000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan. "Their deployment is questionable as there are reports that these soldiers are being deployed near the border area," he said addressing a press conference.
He observed that foreign hands are involved in act of terrorism in Pakistan who are also igniting sectarianism to destabilize the country. Those providing logistic support to Pakistan are also attacking innocent people inside the country while violating the international laws as well as country's sovereignty. He urged the government to take measures and utilize all available resources against terrorism and respond in befitting manner to cross border violators.
He said Pakistan is facing socio-economic challenges like power crisis, inflation, price-hike, increase in electricity and petroleum products. It needs to take more effective measures to overcome these challenges, he added.
The senator criticised the in-camera session of the parliament, saying it would create distance among the people and the elected representatives.
To a question Memon said President Asif Ali Zardari's visit to China will strengthen Sino-Pak relationship. Regarding Kashmir issue, he said "We support Pak-India dialogue but both sides should avoid controversial statements." He urged the government to ensure supremacy of parliament, freedom of judiciary and media for socio-economic development of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
You don't understand. Pak can play both sides of the street with NATO, but the Indians don't believe a word of it.
"For five years, I was a wanted man, but we had enough," says Sufian Qandil of the Tigers, an organization associated with Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades. It's noon, and Qandil woke up only a few minutes ago in the prison cell where according to an agreement with Israel he must now spend his nights. "We keep our agreements, even those signed with the Jews," he says, placing his hand on his pillow with a Mickey Mouse pillowcase.
The Al-Aqsa brigades were dissolved. Some members joined the security forces of the Palestinian Authority after receiving amnesty from Israel, while others are being held in PA prisons. A rare look inside Junaid Prison reveals a new era in relations between Israel and Fatah activists. They were involved in dozens of terror attacks, but now they say the era of war is over. They want normal lives. There is another expression of the winds of change blowing through Israel-PA relations: The PA arrests men wanted by Israel on request.
Take Mahdi Abu Ghazale, 35, once considered the commander of the Night Riders, a rival to the Tigers. Like Qandil, Abu Ghazale received partial amnesty from Israel, with the same conditions. About a year ago, he met with a group from Haaretz in a safe house in the casbah of Nablus. He described his daily routine, and mentioned that he was still single. A few days ago he became engaged to a local woman. His fiancee's family made full amnesty from Israel a precondition for the marriage. Abu Ghazale, who fought against Israel for years, now finds himself having to prove his renunciation of terror in order to get married. "I'm being tested not only vis-a-vis Israel but also vis-a-vis my future wife," he explains.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Yeah. The "great escape". Wink-wink...
And Farfour would be pissed about your pillow case. If he was still alive...
US troops will withdraw from Iraq by December 31 2011 and American and British soldiers deployed there in the interim period could face prosecution in Iraq's courts for serious, premeditated "off-duty" crimes under the terms of a draft status of forces agreement outlined yesterday by officials in Baghdad and Washington.
The draft agreement, which is intended to replace the UN security council mandate that legitimised the US-led invasion in March 2003, and subsequent occupation, follows months of fraught negotiations. It must be ratified by the Iraqi parliament before the end of the year.
Passage is far from guaranteed. Iraq's most influential Shia cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, said last week that any pact must have the support of Iraq's people and political parties before it could be endorsed. Some of the deal's terms may also prove controversial in the US.
But the agreement, if implemented, would mark a milestone in the slow, often painful evolution of independent, Iraqi self-government since the overthrow of Saddam Hussein five years ago. It also represents a climbdown by the Bush administration, which had previously refused to set a deadline or timetable for a troop withdrawal.
Ali al-Dabbagh, the Iraqi government spokesman, said US forces would pull out of Iraqi towns and villages by the middle of next year and withdraw from the country as a whole by the end of 2011. But he left open the possibility that some US and other forces might be asked to stay beyond that date if needed.
"The withdrawal is to be achieved in three years," Dabbagh said. "In 2011 the government at that time will determine whether it needs a new pact or not. What type of pact will depend on the challenges it faces." Dabbagh indicated US troops and Pentagon contractors would be subject to US law while on base or while conducting off-base "military missions" - a potentially catch-all definition since US forces rarely venture off base.
But he added that "Iraqi judicial law will be implemented in case these forces commit a serious and deliberate felony outside their military bases and when off-duty". In such instances, American offenders would be held in US custody but could be surrendered to the Iraqi authorities for questioning and possible trial.
A series of incidents allegedly involving US forces and Pentagon employees which led to the death of Iraqi civilians and, in one case, the alleged rape of a 14-year-old girl, has outraged public opinion and added to pressure for tougher rules.
Officials in Washington confirmed yesterday that a compromise on prosecutions and a withdrawal date had been reached but urged caution. "There is a text that people are looking at," a state department spokesman said. "Nothing is done until everything is done. Everything isn't done."
The draft agreement, if implemented, would also prevent the US military from continuing to hold Iraqi suspects without charging them with crimes under Iraqi law. At present the majority of the 18,000 people held by coalition forces have not been charged with any offence.
British soldiers serving in Iraq are likely to be subject to the new rules from next year. Asked this week about the future status of British forces, the Ministry of Defence said: "Our requirements are very similar to those of the US. We intend to use the Iraqi/US text as the basis of our agreement."
The mooted deal comes against a backdrop of growing pressure from Iraqi public opinion and from Iraq's powerful majority Shia neighbour, Iran, for the departure of US and other foreign forces. Iraq's nationalist prime minister, Nouri al-Maliki, has moved successfully in recent months to assert army and police control over areas such as Basra, although levels of violence have been rising again in recent weeks.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/16/2008
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#1
So where's the withdraw agreement for Europe, Korea, and Japan?
(AKI) The Taliban will agree to peace talks if they are recognised as a political force, if a date is set for the withdrawal of international forces, and if Taliban prisoners are released, according to Pakistan's former spy chief, Retired Lt. General Hamid Gul.
Gul a former head of Pakistan's powerful Inter-Services Intelligence (ISI), said he believes negotations need to be taken forward with Taliban leader Mullah Omar. "Pakistan has to be brought on board too," he told Adnkronos International (AKI) and a small group of Western news organisations at a briefing in the Pakistani capital, Islamabad. "I know the Taliban, I have worked with them for a long time, and can say they would never talk to Afghan President Hamid Karzai, they consider him a mere traitor and puppet," Gul said.
Taliban would be prepared to parley with the Americans but only on certain conditions, he said. First, that such talks are held publicly; that the US recognise the Taliban are not terrorists but fighters who are defending their country; that the US and NATO give a date for the withdrawal of their troops from Afghanistan; and that all Taliban prisoners are freed.
"Barack Obama is wanting to outdo his rival, and that is not a good sign," Gul said, referring respectively to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate his Republican Party rival John McCain.
The US presidential election campaign is among various obstacles to any peace talks with the Taliban, according to Gul. "Barrack Obama is wanting to outdo his rival, and that is not a good sign," Gul said, referring respectively to the Democratic Party's presidential candidate his Republican Party rival John McCain. "That means they want to continue following the same line of action that they have during the last seven years. And I am afraid this is going to bring disaster," Gul continued.
Pakistan, wracked by terrorism and a deep economic crisis, an environment in which anti-Americanism is thriving, is facing collapse, Gul warned.
The implications of this situation for the fight against terrorism and the security of the country's nuclear arsenal, are dire, he said. "The risk is real, there could be a civil war, even a revolution along the lines of the Iranian one. Personally, I hope for a revoultion but a soft one, like that the one born in America during the Vietnam war or like pacifist movements in Europe against the war in Iraq, " Gul stated.
Something along these lines has occurred in Pakistan recently, with the lawyers movement and the judges who marched for a return to democracy, he said.
Musharraf committed the inexcusable error of aligning himself with the US's 'war on terror', Gul said. But he also had criticism for the fledgling government of Musharraf's successor, Asif Ali Zardari, the widow of slain former premier Benazir Bhutto.
Gul described Zardari as a "civilian dictator" who he claimed has adopted the same policies and autocratic leadership style as Musharraf. "It is very necessary that Parliament should call the shots, as a collective body, as a sovereign body under the democratic system," Gul stated. "His role as President of Pakistan is as the constitutional head. Everything else should be given to the parliament and the Prime Minister and the Cabinet," Gul stressed.
Discussing anti-Taliban operations in northwest Pakistan, Gul said it was hard to say exactly how many Taliban were in area along the border with Afghanistan, but the figure could be between 15,000 and 20,000. The more the Americans step up their cross-border operations, the more the Afghans will identify with the Taliban, Gul warned.
Many villagers in northwest Pakistan, especially in North and South Wazaristan tribal areas have a lot of sympathy for the Taliban's cause and believe it is their duty to help them - on the Pakistani and Afghan sides of the border, Gul noted. "The nation does not look upon this as Pakistan's war," he said.
He advised NATO forces in Afghanistan, including Italian troops, to withdraw, and urged them to start planning this immediately, ahead of a fresh Taliban campaign next Spring when fighting resumes after the winter lull. "The reconstruction of the country is impossible without peace. Peace has to come first," Gul concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
How come this man has never been targeted as he is the brains behind Taliban/AlQ and is a major enemy of the West!!!!
Posted by: Paul ||
10/16/2008 5:08
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#2
Preconditions! Surrender or die. Sounds like good preconditions to me.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:32
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#3
"I know the Taliban, I have worked with them for a long time"
That's a targeting!
The International Criminal Police Organization (Interpol) has detected a deposit of over Tk 14.15 crore by absconding former foreign minister M Morshed Khan and his son Faisal Morshed Khan with a Hong Kong bank. According to my arithmetic, that works out to something like $2,159,000 at today's exchange rate.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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(APP): NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Wednesday lauded the positive role of tribal lashkars and said they were part of a long-standing tribal tradition for establishing peace and protecting life and property of the people. In an informal talk with senior journalists at a local hotel, he rejected the contention that tribal lashkars could lead to any civil conflict.
Dealing the miscreants and criminals through local lashkars has always been a part parcel of the tribal traditions, he said.
The Governor said the situation in FATA was complex but quite manageable and expressed the optimism that with better understanding and handling of the real issues on the basis of broad national consensus the desired results would be achieved.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, they said Wednesday as a Philippines-managed bulk carrier fell victim to hijacking off the nation's lawless coast. The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have dropped to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina, one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast, by early Tuesday.
"We have withdrawn it," spokesman Sugule Ali told the Associated Press on Wednesday by satellite phone from the ship, which pirates seized with its cargo of tanks and heavy weapons off the coast of Somalia on September 25.
Relatives of Ukrainian crew members on the Faina have insisted Kiev pay the ransom.
Ali, the pirate spokesman, said negotiations were going very well, but he declined to say who was negotiating. In the past they have said they were talking with the ship's owner. The Tomex Corp. of Odessa, Ukraine, which operates the ship, has not commented on negotiations.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
I've been kidnapped by K-Mart! (Bette Midler as Barbara Stone - Ruthless People - 1987).
After plugging loopholes in the selection process of judges to the higher judiciary to block entry of 'black sheep', Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has dropped a bombshell by rolling out a mechanism to weed out corrupt, lazy and ineffective lower court judges.
The underlying message in the CJI's October 14 letter to all Chief Justices of HCs is loud and clear -- say goodbye to "indolent, infirm and those with doubtful reputation and utility" by compulsorily retiring them even if they have put in more than 30 years of service.
The number of years one has put in was not a consideration to take a lenient view against those showing deviant behaviour, the CJI said and asked HC chief justices to evaluate the performance of judges in the lower courts once they reached 50 years.
The scanner will continue to remain focussed on them till they retire at the age of 60.
At any point of time after attaining 50, a judicial officer found unsuitable should be eased out by prematurely retiring him, the CJI said and assured the HCs that the ousted judges would receive no sympathetic treatment from the courts as premature retirement cast no stigma on the affected person.
"If implemented in right earnest, such provision will keep deviant behaviour in check, besides getting rid of those who are found to be indolent, ineffective or with doubtful integrity," CJI Balakrishnan said.
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008
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#1
Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan
the first Dalit (untouchable) to occupy this post
Posted by: john frum ||
10/16/2008 6:54
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Palestinian police discovered a tunnel running under a shop in the Occupied West Bank city of Hebron on Tuesday that was subsequently dynamited by Israeli sappers, sources from both sides said. No one was hurt when the tunnel, said by an AFP correspondent at the scene to be dozens of meters deep, was destroyed. A Palestinian security source said several people had been detained and were being questioned about the tunnel, in which no weapons or explosives were found.
An Israeli Army spokeswoman said an investigation had been opened to determine what the tunnel was being used for.
Hebron, located in the southern Occupied West Bank, is a predominantly Palestinian city, but there is a small colony of radical Jewish settlers in the center of the city and tensions often run high between the two communities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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(SomaliNet) Bringing to 11 the number of vessels being held by pirates, armed pirates have hijacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia today.
The bulk carrier with 21 crew members had been sailing from the Middle East to Asia when it was seized, the International Maritime Bureau said. The ship flies a Panamanian flag but is operated in the Philippines. No further details of the attack were immediately available.
Meanwhile, the bureau has issued an urgent warning to ships to take extra measures to deter pirates. A total of 29 ships have been hijacked in African waters this year, with more than 200 crew members on the 11 that remain in pirate hands. The attack comes despite increased international cooperation to crack down on pirates in the Gulf of Aden.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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#1
warning to ships to take extra measures to deter pirates
What with things quieting down in Iraq this past year, there ought to be a number of Blackwater guys available for hire. Properly armed with appropriate ROE, 1-2 per ship should be a good deterrant. Could run them like we run river pilots on the Mississippi - pilot boat drops him off on the ship when it gets near the river and another one picks him back up when the ship gets to port (or the end of that pilot's jurisdiction) - then repeat in reverse for the trip out. Substitute armed defender for pilot and Horn of Africa for Mississippi River.
#2
It's my understanding that several ransoms have been paid. Any surprise that the piracies are increasing? Just a business matter here.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/16/2008 10:44
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#3
Just one ARCLIGHT strike down through the center of one of the villages where the pirates hang out would put an end to the whole thing. These vermin are worse than cockroaches, and just need a good squashing. OR, the Navy could hold "field days" along the Somali Coast, taking on anything in the water. I'd still go with the ARCLIGHT strike.
Terror is an effective weapon if used correctly. Two atomic bombs convinced the Japanese they could no longer fight and still remain a nation. A couple of ARCLIGHT strikes would convince the "pirates" and people-movers that their behavior will bring them a LOT of grief - probably more than any 'ransom' would be worth.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/16/2008 10:51
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#4
OP---I agree wholeheartedly that this problem could be solved quickly with an appropriate response. I would see an attack on the local fleet and dockside facilities at a village like Eyl. Like hitting G'Daffy out in the desert. Give him the message. Don't mess with us. If they ignore the message, make it clearer with your bombing mission.
But in another sense, it is a bigger issue. We, the US can step up to the plate, but others need to, also. They hate us so much, then THEY can take responsibility and deal with these pirates. We are not talking nation building, we are talking eliminating a plague.
There are other places plagued by piracy: like Chittagong, Philippines, off Indonesia. They can be dealt with if everyone has the will. So far, everyone is scurrying around in the UN, EU, etc working out the legal framework for dealing with non-states and international criminals who recognize no laws and play by no rules. It is a mad hatters tea party. Like I said, dump the problem in their laps and let them stew about it. If US ships are facing piracy, then I agree, ARCLITE (o/e) the pirate havens into fulgarites.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/16/2008 11:46
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A gunfight broke out Wednesday between Thai and Cambodian troops at a disputed border zone near a landmark 11th-century temple, killing two Cambodian soldiers and escalating a conflict that has raised fears of war.
The two neighboring countries almost immediately scrambled to reassure each other and the world that they wanted a peaceful resolution.
The deaths were the first in four months of tension _ the latest flare-up in a decades-long dispute over a contested stretch of jungle near the Preah Vihear temple. The World Court awarded the temple to Cambodia in 1962, but sovereignty over some surrounding land has never been clearly resolved.
Cambodian army commander Brig. Gen. Yim Pim said fighting had "paused" in the afternoon. Cambodia announced that its regional military commander, Lt. Gen. Chea Mon, will meet Thursday with his Thai counterpart in talks to ease the tense situation.
Thai Prime Minister Somchai Wongsawat said the two countries' foreign ministers were already talking.
"Cambodia is a good neighbor. We will use peaceful means. If there is violence, we have to negotiate," he said.
The clash came a day after Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen issued an ultimatum to Thailand to pull back its soldiers from the disputed territory.
State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters Wednesday that the U.S had noticed an increase in tensions along the border and "would urge restraint on both sides to refrain from any use of violence." He said they should peacefully resolve their differences.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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The United States-Pakistan Freedom Forum, a New-York group of Pakistani political workers, has criticised the visit of a Pakistani parliamentary delegation to the US to meet Aafia Siddiqui and visit the Guantanamo prison as 'wasteful and unnecessary'. In a statement, the group's spokesman Shahid Comrade said the Pakistani lawmakers appeared to be more interested in sightseeing, shopping and meeting friends and family. He said some of the members had supported past dictatorships and were very much part of the government that bore direct responsibility for sending Pakistanis to American prisons and detention camps. One lawmaker had spent most of his time with his children who were getting an expensive education in America, the spokesman said, adding the lawmaker did not even find the time to join the press conference at which some of the others were present. Comrade said one member was here with his wife. "At a time when Pakistan finds itself in dire economic straits, such visits are irresponsible and a mockery of those back home who cannot even afford to feed themselves and their families," the statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
Shahid Comrade? It's amazing who INS will give a greencard.
Posted by: ed ||
10/16/2008 0:44
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#2
...said the Pakistani lawmakers appeared to be more interested in sightseeing, shopping and meeting friends and family.
The Islamic Arab Council in Lebanon launched an anti-Hezbollah satellite channel aimed at underscoring that Lebanon's Shiites are Arabs and delinking the connection often made with Iran.
The station, called Orouba --or Arabism -- is part of a group of developmental projects announced at the commemoration of the council's second anniversary and will likely counter the official Hezbollah station al-Manar.
The council seeks to at unify the Muslim nation and rejects any external influences as part of a comprehensive political project that encourages more involvement in Lebanese politics.
Arab rather than Iran
The goals of the council, established by Sayyed Mohamed Ali al-Husseini, differs from those of Hezbollah, which favors strong links between the Shiites of Lebanon and Iran rather than the Arab world.
"The Lebanese reject any kind of guardianship from outside. The Lebanese are part of this nation and they pledge allegiance to Lebanon, and not any other outsider," Husseini said.
The launch of the new station came as part of a three-day celebration that ended Friday and included politicians and diplomats from different sects.
"The council transcended sectarianism to nationalism," said council spokesperson Talal Awada. "We believe that the Arab nation is the core of religion and all other nations owe it a lot."
Sheikh Ali Barakat, a memberof the Council's cultural division, said he rejected any "perverted" influences on the youth and announced the release of books written by Sayyed Husseini about the common ground between Sunnis and Shiites.
The speech given by Fada al-Hajj on behalf of the political division stressed that the council adheres to moderation and discards any sectarian tendencies.
Orouba is the latest in a string of satellite television stations that have started in the past two years as each sect and political party strives to influence public opinion.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/16/2008
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
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.
Murtha said he has cautioned Democratic presidential nominee Barack Obama, if elected, to avoid the same mistakes in Afghanistan that the Soviets made more than 20 years ago. "I told Obama's people, 'Don't get your feet too far in Afghanistan,'" Murtha said. Obama has said he wants to send more troops to Afghanistan.
A week ago he was a little-known plumber quietly practicing his trade in northwestern Ohio. Now Joe Wurzelbacher is a talking point in the race for the White House.
Julius Streicher (February 12, 1885 -- October 16, 1946) was a prominent Nazi prior to World War II. He was the founder and publisher of Der Stürmer newspaper, which became a central element of the Nazi propaganda machine. His publishing firm also released three anti-Semitic books for children, including the 1938 Der Giftpilz (The Poison Mushroom), one of the most widespread pieces of propaganda, which purported to warn about insidious dangers Jews posed by using the metaphor of an attractive yet deadly mushroom. After the war, he was convicted of crimes against humanity and executed. . . .
YouTube has been one of the greatest successes of the internet age. Millions of people use the video-sharing website every day and it has spawned hundreds of imitators. One of the most recent is AqsaTube - a site with a particular focus on Palestinian militant videos. 
Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umar has said that Pakistani Taliban are ready to lay down their arms and hold talks with the government if the latter ceases fire. "We are sensible people and understand the survival and integrity of our country. If the government relinquishes use of power, we are also ready to stop our actions and hold talks with the government," Umar told BBC Urdu from an undisclosed location on Wednesday. He said that local Taliban were also ready to cooperate with the government in its efforts to drive out foreigners from the tribal areas and stop militants' infiltration into Afghanistan. When asked whether the TTP would guarantee that Pakistani Taliban would not cross into Afghanistan and take part in militancy, he replied in affirmative, saying they did not need to go to Afghanistan as Afghan Taliban were powerful. However, if Afghan Taliban seek assistance from Pakistani Taliban, the decision will be made in consultation with the people, he added.
International warplanes have bombed a gathering of Taliban on the southern border with Pakistan and killed up to 70, an Afghan government official said on Wednesday. The North Atlantic Treaty Organisation (NATO) International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) confirmed the strike but said it was late Sunday, not as reported on Monday, and killed a "small group of Taliban commanders".
Charlie Wilson's friend turns into elusive enemy against U.S.
You won't find it in his campaign ads, but Barack Obama let slip his plans to become a modern-day Robin Hood in the White House, confiscating money from the rich to give to the poor. 
(SomaliNet) Suspected Shining Path rebels fired a convoy carrying Peruvian soldiers killing at least two of them. 
A self-described Montreal pastor who says a so-called marriage to a 10-year-old girl gave him the right to have sex with her has been found guilty of sexual assault. Daniel Cormier, 56, was convicted by Quebec court Judge Sylvie Durand on Wednesday after a five-year trial rife with legal wrangling. 
Police claimed to have arrested former hockey coach and Olympian Naveed Alam and two 'wanted criminals' from Gohar Centre at Wahdat Road after a shootout in which one passer-by was killed on Wednesday. Five passers-by were also injured in the 20-minute encounter. The police raided the centre after receiving information that Tariq, a proclaimed offender, was present there. Tariq and his two accomplices opened fire at the police team. In the resultant exchange of fire, Tariq was injured but managed to escape. However, the police arrested his accomplices and Naveed, and seized weapons from their possession. Police Deputy Superintendent Rai Zameer confirmed Naveed's arrest, and claimed he "sheltered criminals and weapons provided by him were used in the shootout". He said Tariq was wanted in 16 cases of robberies, including at banks, and was a court absconder in 30 cases. He alleged that Tariq was also involved in a robbery at The Mall in which two people were killed.
Intelligence agencies re-arrested an American detained in the country's volatile border region and were questioning the man, police said on Wednesday. Juddi Kenan, 20, was carrying a laptop computer when arrested on Monday at a checkpoint in Mohmand district. District Police Officer Waqif Khan said Juddi was released from custody on Tuesday but was picked up hours later at his home in Peshawar. "Intelligence agencies are required to quiz him again for further satisfaction," he said. In Washington, US State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said US officials had visited and spoken with the man and were doing everything they could for him. He declined to provide more specific details including confirming the name because of privacy concerns.
Saudi Arabia's religious police arrested a Jordanian woman residing in Jeddah for arranging pleasure marriages and facilitating meetings between the opposite sex, local press reported Wednesday.
Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Secretary General Syed Munawar Hasan has asked the government to disown the United States (US) war as soon as possible to solve all the problems facing the country, including the suicide attacks and deteriorating law and order.
The U.S. Justice Department has withdrawn a series of allegations made in federal court that tie Binyam Mohammed, a British resident held at Guantanamo Bay, to a plot to explode a radioactive "dirty bomb" in the United States, blow up apartment buildings here and release cyanide gas in nightclubs. 
Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah faction has rejected a request by Hamas rivals to meet separately ahead of multi-factional reconciliation talks next month in Cairo, Fatah officials said on Tuesday. 
House Speaker Nancy Pelosi is mulling recommendations from several economists that Congress act on an economic-recovery package that would cost taxpayers $300 billion, according to congressional aides, equivalent to about 2% of the country's gross domestic product.
Close to one in every three newly registered Ohio voters will end up on court-ordered lists being sent to county election boards because they have some discrepancy in their records, an elections spokesman said Wednesday.
Democratic vice-presidential candidate Sen. Joseph R. Biden Jr. has paid more than $2 million in campaign cash to his family members, their businesses and employers over the years, a practice that watchdogs criticize as rife with potential conflicts of interest. 
The Taliban could cut their ties with Al Qaeda they once harboured as part of a peace agreement in Afghanistan, a former Taliban foreign minister said on Wednesday. But severing links with Al Qaeda should not be a pre-condition for talks between the Taliban and the Afghan government, Wakil Ahmed Muttawakil said. "Al Qaeda were in Afghanistan before as guests of the Taliban. Now they are allies in the fight," Muttawakil said. 
The military on Wednesday claimed that at least 47 LTTE cadre and six soldiers were killed in heavy fighting "in counter terrorist offensive" in the north.
(AKI) - An aircraft en-route to Pakistan's capital Islamabad was forced to land after a bomb threat on Wednesday.
Afghan and NATO-led forces killed 18 insurgents overnight as dozens of Taliban prepared to attack the capital of the southern province of Helmand for the second time in three days, police said on Wednesday.
A protest has been staged outside Strathclyde Police headquarters over alleged "harassment" of Muslim travellers at Glasgow Airport.
(SomaliNet) A local Ugandan official said on Wednesday that a community in eastern Uganda that has practiced female genital mutilation "since time immemorial" has banned the ritual. 
(APP): Chairman Senate Standing Committee on Defence Nisar Memon Wednesday expressed great concern over deployment of 10,000 Indian soldiers in Afghanistan. "Their deployment is questionable as there are reports that these soldiers are being deployed near the border area," he said addressing a press conference. 
(AKI) The Taliban will agree to peace talks if they are recognised as a political force, if a date is set for the withdrawal of international forces, and if Taliban prisoners are released, according to Pakistan's former spy chief, Retired Lt. General Hamid Gul.
(APP): NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani on Wednesday lauded the positive role of tribal lashkars and said they were part of a long-standing tribal tradition for establishing peace and protecting life and property of the people. In an informal talk with senior journalists at a local hotel, he rejected the contention that tribal lashkars could lead to any civil conflict. 
Somali pirates holding an arms-laden Ukrainian ship have withdrawn their threat to blow up the vessel if a ransom is not paid, they said Wednesday as a Philippines-managed bulk carrier fell victim to hijacking off the nation's lawless coast. The pirates, whose original $20 million ransom demand appears to have dropped to $8 million, had threatened to destroy the MV Faina, one of 29 ships hijacked this year off the African coast, by early Tuesday.
After plugging loopholes in the selection process of judges to the higher judiciary to block entry of 'black sheep', Chief Justice of India K G Balakrishnan has dropped a bombshell by rolling out a mechanism to weed out corrupt, lazy and ineffective lower court judges.
(SomaliNet) Bringing to 11 the number of vessels being held by pirates, armed pirates have hijacked another ship in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia today. 
A gunfight broke out Wednesday between Thai and Cambodian troops at a disputed border zone near a landmark 11th-century temple, killing two Cambodian soldiers and escalating a conflict that has raised fears of war.
The Islamic Arab Council in Lebanon launched an anti-Hezbollah satellite channel aimed at underscoring that Lebanon's Shiites are Arabs and delinking the connection often made with Iran.
