Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2008 22:26
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#3
ION MMGW, RUSSIA TODAY > THE END OF EARTH BROUGHT FORWARD [Earth = Life doomed come Year 2038 or after]. CO2 levels = damage in the earth's atmosphere is such that even iff reduced, catastrophic effects will still occur ["irreversable"]. NO MORE NEW CO2 EMISSIONS FROM NOW ON, ONLY MANDATORY GLOBAL REDUX TO LEVELS WHICH EXISTED BEFORE THE INDUSTRIAL REVOLUTION.
* Increase in DESERTS/ENVIRO DESERTIFICATIONS, POOR CROP YIELDS [starvation], HURRICANES/STORMS STRENTHS, + GLACIAL MELT [Sea-level risins' + no fresh water].
ALso, WORLD MIL FORUM > US DEPT. OF AGRICULTURE: OVER 30.0-PLUS MILYUHN [36.2M] AMERICANS, MORE US FAMILIES FACE INCREASED HUNGER RISK, including 1 out of every 6 US Children.
Posted by: 3dc ||
11/19/2008
16:00 ||
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#1
Prior to Jimmy Carter, for years the DOW operated in a range between 800-1000. A reliable economist is now suggesting that the current downturn will stabilize at between 1200-1500.
#4
Five years hell, anyone retiring in the next 15 is in trouble. If the DJI falls to 6,000, let's say, that's a 50% drop in 18 months from where it was before. How long to get 50% back? If the economy grows 3% a year after the recession is over, it could take quite a while.
And there's no reason to think the recession will be either short or shallow. If China can't/won't lend us accumulated dollars, we won't be able to run high deficits like we have. That means that Bambi will bankrupt us either by pushing his social programs or by taxing us to death.
Enjoy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 17:21
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#5
That means that Bambi will bankrupt us either by pushing his social programs or by taxing us to death. I am beginning to suspect the US is already bankrupt. (Is there any way the national debt could ever be paid off?)
The incomprehensible part about our situation is, the rest of the world is even worse off.
#6
The debt is always paid by someone, Anguper Hupomosing9418. In this case, long term our children and grandchildren will have a lower standard of living and little possibility of early retirement.
#7
(Is there any way the national debt could ever be paid off?)
Yes, but it would take some balls.
Someone on another thread had this great idea. The one thing we have and everyone needs is food. When all these countries come calling for some wheat or rye, tell them that from now on, all food exports must be paid for in cash at the going rates. If cash is not available, forgiven debt at 5-10 times the market rate will suffice.
If not, starve.
The debt will go away pretty quickly.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
11/19/2008 17:48
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#8
The last time the debt was paid off it sent the country into a far worse tail spin than it is in now. The debt is a wonderful tool and should not be abused. Neither should it be extinguished.
#9
Again, 9-11/WOT > WAR FOR GLOBALISM = WAR FOR PRO-US/ANTI-US OWG-NWO, including for SOCIALIST ORDER.
Despite Dubya's numerous successes, THE OUTCOME OF THE WOTAS WAS FOR OWG-NWO IS STILL INA HIGH STTAE OF FLUX. US = US-ALLIED DOMINATION OF SAME IS NOT CERTAIN, WHILST WEAKENED RADICAL ISLAM IS STILL CAPABLE OF ATTACK AND VICTORY.
"BY ANY MEANS NECESSARY" PRECEPT-DOGMA > In the absence of a clear or decisive winner, one way to impose NATIONAl/LOCAL-GLOBAL SOCIALIST ORDER IS VIA PROTRACTIVE OR ENDURATIVE ECON DSIRUPTIONS AND CHAOS. Those Global Warming Enviros whom are demanding immediate [global] prioritization and resolution of the GW agendums are likely NOT gonna get it, thanx to good ole SOCIALIST REGRESSIVE- AND INFLATIONARY PUBLIC POLICIES. OOOOOOOPPPPPPPSIES.
LEFTISTS-SOCIALISTS, ETC. ARE ON THE THRESHOLD OF [PCORRECT/DENIABLE] SOCIALIST WORLD VICTORY, BUT ARE STILL "UNHAPPY"???
#10
Dammit Joe...I understood that one, and didn't like what you had to say. Sadly, I also have to agree.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
11/19/2008 21:10
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#11
The government of the United States has some 270,000 SQUARE MILES of land controlled by the Forestry Service in the Western United States. At 640 acres/square mile, and $2500/acre (average price - a lot would be worth more), that's $432 billion. The BLM has about the same. That doesn't include anything east of the Mississippi, none of our national parks or monuments, scenic rivers, etc. There's still an estimated 32 MILLION ounces of gold in Colorado - just gold. Most of it's not currently economically feasible to mine, but things can change. There's still plenty of other minerals, including oil and natural gas, that could be sold to pay the national debt. The United States is not bankrupt - it just doesn't have much left in the way of fluid capital that isn't promised or tied up. We raise enough food to feed our entire population on 2% of our land area, and have tons and tons to export. At one time, 27% of all land was used for farming. Our problem isn't a lack of assets, but a lack of will piled atop a mountain of criminal behavior.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/19/2008 21:44
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The other day I got an email from a source of mine who claimed some of his buddies working in the private security industry in Pakistan and Afghanistan told him Pakistani intelligence officers have been found in "non life-supporting postures" after skirmishes or air strikes on insurgents in Afghanistan.
In other words, elements within Pakistan's ISI are directly aiding anti-coalition forces in Afghanistan -- sometimes engaging in combat operations with them.
I asked Edelman what the deal was...here's a brief transcript of how that conversation went:
Defense Tech: In Afghanistan, have you seen any evidence of Pakistani agencies' involvement in assisting the Taliban and other parties within Afghanistan against US troops and also within the [federally administered tribal areas]?
Edelman: I think that, you know, there's a long history here. The Pakistan government for a very long time has regarded Afghanistan as its 'strategic depth' and clearly there have been relationships that go back to the Mujahaddin era that have persisted. We've had some concerns about it, we've expressed those concerns. We had a meeting with the head of ISI, general Pasha ... my view is we ought to give him a chance to see how he can handle his new responsibilities and go from there.
Defense Tech: So is that a 'yes?'
Edelman: You'll have to make a judgment on whether that was a yes or not.
Defense Tech: So you have seen involvement...?
Edelman: As I said there have been persistent ties that have withstood over a long period of time and we've expressed concerns over those ties.
#6
Well, 3dc, if the Taliban drive us out of Afghanistan, Pakistan would regain control of the opium fields, and then they could easily repay the IMF loans as well as fill all those hungry Swiss bank accounts. Swiss bank accounts are always hungry for more, right?
Interesting (and very long) take on the current economic situation. I'm not expert to comment on the piece but Mr. Judis raises some interesting points about how America has financed its debt. Some of this at least will find favor with our regular readers.
by John B. Judis
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
13:15 ||
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#1
Key point seems to be
"The United States has acquiesced in large trade deficits--and their effect on the U.S. workforce--in exchange for foreign funding of our budget deficits. And Asia has accepted a lower standard of living in exchange for export-led growth and a lower risk of currency crises."
As long as Asia sees financing the US budget deficit as a safer place to park their money than elsewhere, the situation will continue.
The other situation still unwinding is the collapse of financial derivatives which have financed the shadow banking system. This has the effect of shrinking the supply of money (=deflation).
#2
If economics were a zero-sum game, as it generally should be, this would be the case. But it isn't. A true zero sum economic picture hasn't existed since the end of mercantilism, in which whoever had the most specie (gold and silver) was the wealthiest and most powerful.
Instead, economic systems have surpassed "tokenism", the use of paper to represent specie. Paper money first represented specie or other product, still being based on some physical asset. But then it evolved, so that the value of currency was based on process--that is, a currency that is used is more valuable than one that is not. More use means stronger economy.
This works with one currency, but if there are two currencies available, the opposite becomes true. The less desirable currency is used, and the more desirable currency is saved. The "Iron Rule" of currency.
This paradox is the very basis of the international currency system that was first regulated at Bretton Woods. The idea was currencies should be "normalized" with each other, so they could follow two sets of rules. At home in Germany, for example, a Deutsche Mark had about the same purchasing power as the US dollar did in America. Domestic policy determined its national value in its own country.
However, in international trade, the dollar and Deutsche Mark floated against each other, to accurately reflect each nations relative prosperity, and allow economic adjustments to be made to strengthen weak currencies and weaken strong currencies, to maintain a balance.
But then, as it will, leverage entered the picture, at about the same time. This allowed everybody's bad economic habits to run wild without restraint. And the author pretty well explained that part.
But he missed the conclusion to the play. That is, that the US debt supported by Japan and China has reached a point where it cannot continue. The commercial markets, who deal in leverage a factor greater than even the US government, are sucking all the liquidity out of the market.
Japan, wisely, is no longer buying US Treasury bills, and in fact is starting to cash them in. Because of this, China has surpassed Japan as the largest debt holder, just in the last few days.
But China could and can only buy so much US debt. It cannot also buy the US debt the Japanese are selling as well.
And even the debt the Chinese were buying was paid for by selling goods to the US. If the US cannot buy Chinese products, China can't buy any US debt.
But with the downturn this causes in China, they can't even continue to keep US debt, much less buy more. They *have* to sell it to keep their own economy from collapse.
See the spiral? Not only won't the US be able to sell more debt, but more and more of its tax revenues will have to be used to pay off cashed T-bills. And because the US economy is in decline, tax revenues are going to be down hard.
In 2008, 9% of the US budget was in paying the interest on the debt. In 2009, it will be about 10% PLUS paying the much, much greater principal that Japan, and likely China, will get by cashing in their bills. So how much of the budget could that be? 25%? 35%?
And based on tax revenues that are from 10-20% lower next year.
Obama my try to spend his way out of it, because that is what was done in the past. But this time it won't work, because it can't work. There is nobody left to subsidize the US government spending spree.
Next he will try the equivalent of "printing money", which is called "monetizing the debt". But that is what was done in Weimar Germany, and in Zimbabwe today. Such money instantly inflates.
Jimmy Carter tried to do that, to inflate the US government out of its debt. But Paul Volcker, the chairman of the Fed, was then forced to raise the prime lending rate in a quid pro quo with Carter's money machine. This in effect neutralized Carter's scheme, and thought the economy was severely damaged, it prevented Carter from destroying it.
So as much as Obama wants to spend money like there is no tomorrow, there is not going to be any money for him to spend. So he and congress are going to be savaged, when they have to do things like slash Social Security, Medicare and Medicaid.
Old news: we had the original piece about Ghilarducci a couple weeks back. Still unnerving.
RALEIGH Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers' personal retirement accounts including 401(k)s and IRAs and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
Triggered by the financial crisis the past two months, the hearings reportedly were meant to stem losses incurred by many workers and retirees whose 401(k) and IRA balances have been shrinking rapidly.
The testimony of Teresa Ghilarducci, professor of economic policy analysis at the New School for Social Research in New York, in hearings Oct. 7 drew the most attention and criticism. Testifying for the House Committee on Education and Labor, Ghilarducci proposed that the government eliminate tax breaks for 401(k) and similar retirement accounts, such as IRAs, and confiscate workers' retirement plan accounts and convert them to universal Guaranteed Retirement Accounts (GRAs) managed by the Social Security Administration.
#1
The young folks that don't ever expect to see a SS check should REALLY feel spooked about this idea.
Democratic financial theory: Since we've screwed up SS let's take over private retirement moneys to make SS healthy (?) and say we are going to "protect" the new money.
#2
Always a pipe dream about the great government and all it does for us.
So, now that you bankrupted the government, you want to take our personal savings too? So when government checks start to bounce, no one will have anything.
#3
hey where's the good news i saw this morning about the dems couldn't even get together on the auto bailout. They already bitchin and moanin at each other
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 15:20
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#4
So instead of being able to retire and draw out my money at 52, I presume it would be locked up until I was 67. Wouldn't that be nice, its time to start loading up your muskets if they try to make a grab for your retirement account. Take the 40% hit and cash out if they are going to do this. What would be the point of actually saving for retirement if you were going to be on the dole anyway.
#6
I don't think they have thought this through. As someone pointed out, if they try this, people will have warning. Some short time before the seizure date, EVERYONE will pull all their money out of their 401Ks. Since much of the money in these funds is in the stock market, this will require massive sales of stock all at once. The recent "meltdown" of the stock market will look like a small hiccup. The market will crash and may stay down for a LONG time.
Storing cash in your mattress may turn out to be the best thing to do.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/19/2008 16:33
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#7
The congresscritters on that committee must have gotten an earful from the public. George Miller (the committee chair) issued a press release stating that they aren't going to mess with retirement savings.
It's not time to take that huge 40% (or more) hit yet, guys, simply because some lone nut testifies in Washington....
#9
The recent "meltdown" of the stock market will look like a small hiccup. The market will crash and may stay down for a LONG time
--- That problem is inherent in the existing 401(K) system.
--- Many stocks once paid substantial dividends to stockholders who were thus able to benefit from stockownership while continuing to hold the stocks. For years, stock dividends have been inconsequential.
--- Lacking dividend income, retirees are obliged to sell their stock in order to get money to live on, and the sheer volume of baby boomers liquidating their stocks has long been expected to push the market down.
#10
They pull this crap, they'd better bring home the ENTIRE U.S. Army and Marine Corps from wherever the Hell they are and second the lot of them to the Secret Service. It won't be people gunning just for Bama, there won't be a Senator or Representative without snipers looking for him. They have NO IDEA how angry this is going to make people.
#11
a government strong enough to take away a 401k is strong enough to suspend trading of such investments.
There are some inherent limits to government power. "suspend trading of such investments" is equivalent to "close the stock markets." Shares which cannot be traded are worth $0.
#12
Democrats in the U.S. House have been conducting hearings on proposals to confiscate workers' personal retirement accounts -- including 401(k)s and IRAs -- and convert them to accounts managed by the Social Security Administration.
Let's start with the Congressional retirement program and move all those on and those working towards it into SSA just like the rest of the Americans they've stuck it with.
#13
Still old news and nothing has happened in the mean time. Save your blood pressure for something closer to reality. Let's see what Bambi can do when he gets hold of the reins of power instead of people's imaginations.
#14
It would be especially stupid for Congress to do this, which is why the Democrats might try to do this. I haven't seen much in the way of wisdom from that party in a while.
If they try it, part of the law would be to set a date at which the money is considered transferred to the new GRAs -- that would be the date on which the bill is introduced to the House (for example). Thus, you have no warning, and if you move your money out of your IRA/401k/403b, the Feds will just take it.
Assuming you can move your money, since the brokerage houses, to avoid potential Federal misery, would likely freeze all IRA/401k/403b accounts as of that date.
So you'd be well and truly stuck.
And it would indeed induce the Mother of All Market Meltdowns.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 18:27
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#15
Executive Order 6102 is an Executive Order signed on April 5, 1933 by U.S. President Franklin D. Roosevelt "forbidding the Hoarding of Gold Coin, Gold Bullion, and Gold Certificates." It required all persons to deliver on or before May 1, 1933 all gold coin, gold bullion, and gold certificates owned by them to the Federal Reserve. Under the Trading With the Enemy Act of October 6, 1917, as amended on March 9, 1933, violation of Executive Order 6102 was punishable by fine up to $10,000 ($166,640 if adjusted for inflation as of 2008) or up to ten years in prison, or both. Because of this forced immediate sale of gold to the Federal Reserve at the government set price of $20.67 per ounce, this Executive Order is often referred to as the Gold Confiscation of 1933. Shortly after this forced sale, the price of gold from the treasury for international transactions was raised to $35 an ounce; the U.S. government thereby devalued the U.S. dollar by 41%.
But, but, but The One would never do anything like that.... would he?
#16
So if I take all the money out of my 401K will they take the debt and spread it around? We can all become bailout participants.
The suggestion of confiscating peoples 401K's is the most vile thing I've heard in a long time. And the most vile from an American politician every that I can think of.
#17
Bambi and Puff Daschle want to get the Teddy Kennedy Memorial Socialized Medicine Plan passed a whole lot more than this. After all, Hillary couldn't. This takes a real back seat to that. I'd be a lot more concerned about the probability of that.
#2
How many automobiles were purchased through home equity lines of credit? I would say that number is currently someplace close to zero. Without the home equity loan, manufacturers of higher end vehicles, boats, and RVs are going to be hurting.
And just wait, it gets worse! In about 4 years from now the boomers born in 1946 begin to turn 65 and their homes will be going on the market as they cash in what equity they have as retirement savings.
But that was always expected, crosspatch, just as the stock market was going to fall when they started cashing in their retirement investments. And of course, that's why there was such intense speculation on real estate in desirable retirement areas such as southern Florida. It's just that the speculators got so far ahead of demand that it all crashed.
#7
Huge inventories are a very, very bad sign right now. Before the Great Depression, the massive surplus was in agricultural commodities. Even though the Dust Bowl, from 1930-1936, wiped out a huge amount of agricultural land, there was still, simultaneously, a huge glut of food, and widespread lack of food.
FDR created the Federal Surplus Relief Corporation, who immediately slaughtered over 6 million pigs, to stabilize pork prices. Then it alternated by reducing agricultural production on one hand, and spreading around the surplus food where it was needed, on the other.
Had the Dust Bowl not forced the migration of hundreds of thousands of farm families, the government would have had to. The remaining farms were highly regulated in land use, production, and prices. Farming was essentially nationalized.
Already happening, America is in for a big run of store closings and abandoned businesses. Already where I live the car dealership district is half empty, and retail stores are closing right, left and sideways.
#9
The death spiral started when Congress enacted legislation lowering requirements for home loans. The bailout sped up the process. Big O will throw the whole thing into a spin and we will auger in.
Otherwise, everything is peachy.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 20:20
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#10
How about public auctions of this surplus to find the natural price that the cars should really be sold for.
#11
I stand correct AK Paul. While we're on the subject of congresscritters, hows bout you lock em all up for a few years in a .... containment vessel on Fort Greely?
#13
Besoeker---We can put em on the Rat Islands out in the Aleutians. They can't go anywhere, and there are friends out there for 'em.
From Wiki:
The Rat Islands (Qax̂um tanangis[1] in Aleut) are a group of islands in the Aleutian Islands in southwest Alaska, between Buldir Island and the Near Islands group to its west, and Amchitka Pass and the Andreanof Islands group to its east, at about [show location on an interactive map] 51°46′N 178°34′E / 51.767, 178.567.
The largest islands in the group are, from west to east, Kiska, Little Kiska, Segula, Rat or Kryssei, Khvostof, Davidof, Little Sitkin, Amchitka, and Semisopochnoi. The total land area of the Rat Islands is 934.594 km² (360.849 sq mi). None of the islands are inhabited.
The name Rat Islands is the English translation of the name given to the islands by Captain Fyodor Petrovich Litke in 1827 when he visited the Aleutian Islands on a voyage around the world.
The Rat Islands are very earthquake-prone as they are located on the boundary of the Pacific and North American tectonic plates. In 1965, there was a major earthquake with the magnitude 8.7 in the Rat Islands.
Put them on Amchitka and they can find their way around from the glowing plutonium left over from the Cannikan u/g tests..
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 23:14
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Ayman al-Zawahiri accused US President-elect Barack Obama of betraying his Muslim roots.
He likened him to a "house slave" - who had chosen to align himself with the "enemies" of Islam.
The audio was accompanied by footage of a speech by Malcolm X in which he distinguished between "field negroes" who hated their white masters and "house negroes" who, he said, were loyal to them.
#1
No matter how much Y'all's President surrenders to people like AQ or how many victories he hands them, Bay of Pigs style, in inept attempts to fight them, they're still going to look down on him.
#8
Not surprising. Arabs have always looked down on Blacks. In fact the Arab word for slave and Black are the same.
When Condoleezza Rice became SOS, the Arab language media abounded with jokes about "the slave woman" coming to visit. Expect lots of similar jokes about Barak Obama when he becomes president.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/19/2008 14:39
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#9
The Pakistanis who are providing refuge for the Z man should understand that beneath all the talk about Muslim brotherhood he has the same racist contempt for them as he does for the negroes. They should know that if he ever gets control of their country they will be slaves to the Arab masters.
For this article, I think Seedy Politicians is a better category than WOT.
CAIRO, Egypt (AP) - Al-Qaida's No. 2 leader used a racial epithet to insult Barack Obama in a message posted Wednesday, describing the president-elect in demeaning terms that imply he does the bidding of whites.
The message appeared chiefly aimed at persuading Muslims and Arabs that Obama does not represent a change in U.S. policies. Ayman al-Zawahri said in the message, which appeared on militant Web sites, that Obama is "the direct opposite of honorable black Americans" like Malcolm X, the 1960s African-American rights leader.
In al-Qaida's first response to Obama's victory, al-Zawahri also called the president-elect--along with secretaries of state Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice--"house negroes." Speaking in Arabic, al-Zawahri uses the term "abeed al-beit," which literally translates as "house slaves." But al-Qaida supplied English subtitles of his speech that included the translation as "house negroes."
The message also includes old footage of speeches by Malcolm X in which he explains the term, saying black slaves who worked in their white masters' house were more servile than those who worked in the fields. Malcolm X used the term to criticize black leaders he accused of not standing up to whites.
The 11-minute 23-second video features the audio message by al-Zawahri, who appears only in a still image, along with other images, including one of Obama wearing a Jewish skullcap as he meets with Jewish leaders. In his speech, al-Zawahri refers to a Nov. 5 U.S. airstrike attack in Afghanistan, meaning the video was made after that date.
Al-Zawahri said Obama's election has not changed American policies he said are aimed at oppressing Muslims and others. "America has put on a new face, but its heart full of hate, mind drowning in greed, and spirit which spreads evil, murder, repression and despotism continue to be the same as always," the deputy of al-Qaida chief Osama bin Laden said.
He said Obama's plan to shift troops to Afghanistan is doomed to failure, because Afghans will resist. "Be aware that the dogs of Afghanistan have found the flesh of your soldiers to be delicious, so send thousands after thousands to them," he said.
Al-Zawahri did not threaten specific attacks, but warned Obama that he was "facing a Jihadi (holy war) awakening and renaissance which is shaking the pillars of the entire Islamic world; and this is the fact which you and your government and country refuse to recognize and pretend not to see."
He said Obama's victory showed Americans acknowledged that President George W. Bush's policies were a failure and that the result was an "admission of defeat in Iraq."
But Obama's professions of support for Israel during the election campaign "confirmed to the Ummah (Islamic world) that you have chosen a stance of hostility to Islam and Muslims," al-Zawahri said.
* "Jihadi [holy war] awakening and renaissance which is shaking the pillars of the entire Muslim world" > IT REMAINS MY BELIEF THAT THE DECISIVE BENCHMARK FOR RADICAL ISLAM'S JIHAD WILL BE IRAN SUCCESSFULLY CONDUCTING ONE OR MORE INDIGENOUS NUCBOMB TESTS [+ Missle], NLT 2020 [2012 absolute maxima]; + of course the US = US-ALLIES CONTAINING THEMSELVES, IFF NOW REDUX, TO ONLY IRAQ-AFGHANISTAN [Pakis].
"SAVING THE JIHAD" + "WAR OUTSIDE OF IRAQ" > IRAN'S/PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION + Islamist ground campaign in EURASIA, AFRICA, etc. espec in Asia proper, must proceed no matter the policies of the new OBAMA ADMIN 2009-2012/2016. THE ISLAMIST EFFORT TO MILPOL DESTABILZE AND BREAK-UP RUSSIA, CHINA, + INDIA, etc. Asian states WILL GO ON TO ITS END.
A YEAR ago it would have been unthinkable. After all, it was a city where driving to work became a life-or-death decision and where residents were cooped in enclaves amid murder and mayhem.
But the Mayor of Baghdad has surprised everyone by announcing plans for an underground rail network that would literally carve a swathe through the city's sectarian lines. If investors sign up, the world's most violent capital will soon have a $US3 billion ($A4.6 billion) metro. Mayor Sabir al-Issawi said money had been set aside in next year's budget for a feasibility study.
And if if goes ahead, the Iraqi Government has earmarked money that it says could build most of the two mooted rail lines without private help. Even the country's optimists were last night calling the plan ambitious, but lauding its audacity.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
10:46 ||
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#1
Proof that Iraq is on the way to stability - they'er planning their very own "big dig..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/19/2008 11:29
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#3
It wasn't my taste, but Mrs. Obama was clearly happy about her stylishness. Hopefully she deals better with retiring from her highly paid, prestigious career to become the First Housewife than her immediate Democratic predecessor did.
#5
"Greer was a powerful voice of feminism in the 1970s, and her books were international best sellers, but over the past decade she has become better known for her contrary and controversial remarks."
That is, a bitter, shriveled up old prune with Trotskyite pretensions.
"When nature lover Steve Irwin was killed, she famously remarked that the animals would be relieved. She also described Princess Di as 'slow'."
She fits right in with the rest of the bigoted sluts who make up Al Guardian's notoriously vicious contingent of alleged women.
Shell-shocked veterans of the sexual revolution, they need therapy and meds, lots of meds, rather than a public forum for the display of their sadistic aberration.
#6
No, I didn't vote for Michelle's husband, but she is going to be first lady of the United States; and the stupid, sniveling insults directed at her by a washed up hag in a notoriously depraved British propaganda sheet could not be more offensive or irrelevant.
What really bugs these failed dominatrices of the left: Michelle's successful marriage to a powerful and handsome husband.
#7
THere are various pragmatic symbolisms that can apply to the dress - perhaps the greatest one is Michelle herself, i.e. PROUD BLACK/AFRICAN-AMER "BLACK" ON THE OUTSIDE, PASSIONATE LEFTIST-RADICALIST = "RED" ON THE INSIDE.
Four score and seven years ago our fathers brought forth on this continent a new nation, conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.
Now we are engaged in a great civil war, testing whether that nation or any other nation so conceived and so dedicated can long endure. We are met on a great battlefield of that war. We have come to dedicate a portion of that field as a final resting place for those who here died that that nation might live. It is altogether fitting and proper that we do this.
But in a larger sense, we cannot dedicate, we cannot consecrate, we can not hallow this ground. The brave men, living and dead, who struggled here have consecrated it far above our poor power to add or detract. The world will little note nor long remember what we say here, but it can never forget what they did here. It is for us the living rather to be dedicated here to the unfinished work which they who fought here have thus far so nobly advanced. It is rather for us to be here dedicated to the great task remaining before us - that from these honored dead we take increased devotion to that cause for which they gave the last full measure of devotion - that we here highly resolve that these dead shall have not died in vain, that this nation under God shall have a new birth of freedom, and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth.
- Abraham Lincoln, 19 November 1863.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/19/2008
09:01 ||
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#1
government of the people, by the people, for the people
The best definition of American democracy ever.
Compare to the UN/EU/O-cult definition: government of the elite, by the elite, for the elite
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 10:23
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#3
After all, European Conservative, tomorrow it won't be the anniversary... although I s'pose one could read it again tomorrow to commemorate the day after the anniversary ;-)
#4
Speaking of elites, the London Times had this commentary on Linclon's Address:
The ceremony was rendered ludicrous by some of the sallies of that poor President Lincoln. Anything more dull and commonplace it would not be easy to produce.
#5
I put the "Today in History" items under "SAST" because they don't necessarily fit anywhere else.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/19/2008 14:20
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#6
Do you Americans realize how important this moment was?
At this point in time, all the large democracies in the world had failed. The Kings and Counts had returned to rule in Europe, and exerted their control in the colonial areas.
The European aristocracy then, as now, looked down on the USA as commoners and barbarians. They expected such low class people to be incapable of governing themselves without the guidance of their betters.
The aristocracy were expecting the USA to demolish itself, as had the French Revolution and other attempts at democracy. They were waiting for the ruling class to emerge and impose itself, dispose of the rights of the individual, and assert the rights of Kings.
At Gettysburg, it can be said that history was on a knife's edge balance.
Had the US torn itself permanently asunder, then a truly republican democracy, where rights are vested in the individual and the state is restrained, would have faded from the world in the aftermath.
Truly, the heroes of Gettysburg won this battle for all the world, and all the freed peoples, by insuring "that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth."
President Lincoln was wise beyond his time and place when he wrote those words.
#7
Short Attention Span Theater?
Seeing as that the world little noted nor long remembered what was said there, and all...
Posted by: Grenter, Protector of the Geats ||
11/19/2008 16:03
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#8
However...Emancipation Proclamation annexes allowed residual slavery - including some in Gettysburg - until the death of current slaves.
The North didn't confront the South to advance "freedom": the purpose was to "Preserve the Union." Hell is full of politicians who attached "freedom" to private agendas.
"Government by the people"? Hitler was popular until the demise of his regime. Put OUR security concerns over freedom claims of savages. Yah, the Iraqi and Afghan wastes of flesh can go to hell.
#9
Hitler most certainly was popular, but his rule could hardly be characterized as democratic... and his ascension to power was a perversion of the Weimar system as well, as I recall.
As for the Proclamation annexes, Mr. Lincoln was a child of the American frontier; hence he was very aware of the real-world limits to idealism, despite his personal hatred of slavery.
#10
The North didn't confront the South to advance "freedom": the purpose was to "Preserve the Union."
Strange how rationalizing people ignore the passage of the 13th, 14th and 15th Amendments. It wasn't a coincidence as to when and why they were passed.
1. Neither slavery nor involuntary servitude, except as a punishment for crime whereof the party shall have been duly convicted, shall exist within the United States, or any place subject to their jurisdiction.
2. Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
1. All persons born or naturalized in the United States, and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws.
2. Representatives shall be apportioned among the several States according to their respective numbers, counting the whole number of persons in each State, excluding Indians not taxed. But when the right to vote at any election for the choice of electors for President and Vice-President of the United States, Representatives in Congress, the Executive and Judicial officers of a State, or the members of the Legislature thereof, is denied to any of the male inhabitants of such State, being twenty-one years of age, and citizens of the United States, or in any way abridged, except for participation in rebellion, or other crime, the basis of representation therein shall be reduced in the proportion which the number of such male citizens shall bear to the whole number of male citizens twenty-one years of age in such State.
3. No person shall be a Senator or Representative in Congress, or elector of President and Vice-President, or hold any office, civil or military, under the United States, or under any State, who, having previously taken an oath, as a member of Congress, or as an officer of the United States, or as a member of any State legislature, or as an executive or judicial officer of any State, to support the Constitution of the United States, shall have engaged in insurrection or rebellion against the same, or given aid or comfort to the enemies thereof. But Congress may by a vote of two-thirds of each House, remove such disability.
4. The validity of the public debt of the United States, authorized by law, including debts incurred for payment of pensions and bounties for services in suppressing insurrection or rebellion, shall not be questioned. But neither the United States nor any State shall assume or pay any debt or obligation incurred in aid of insurrection or rebellion against the United States, or any claim for the loss or emancipation of any slave; but all such debts, obligations and claims shall be held illegal and void.
5. The Congress shall have power to enforce, by appropriate legislation, the provisions of this article.
Amendment 15 - Race No Bar to Vote. Ratified 2/3/1870.
1. The right of citizens of the United States to vote shall not be denied or abridged by the United States or by any State on account of race, color, or previous condition of servitude.
2. The Congress shall have power to enforce this article by appropriate legislation.
A former Elmhurst College student who claimed she had been attacked on campus because she is a Muslim pleaded not guilty Monday to falsifying a police report.
Safia Jilani, 19, was charged with felony disorderly conduct for allegedly telling police she had been attacked by a masked gunman on Oct. 9 after speaking at a diversity rally at the private, west suburban college. Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
Her attorney said Jilani is "in treatment'' but wouldn't disclose any details, though he said that could have some bearing on the case against her. "I just hope the public withholds judgment on her actions until all the facts are known and all her treatment is done," defense attorney Terry Ekl said.
Police said Jilani told investigators she was attacked in a school restroom by a gunman after she found anti-Muslim graffiti scrawled on a mirror there.
Jilani, who has no prior criminal history, is free on bail. She left the brief hearing without commenting. She faces a maximum 3-year prison sentence if convicted, though she also is eligible for probation.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008
08:21 ||
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"treatment" as in "quit lying you attention whore"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/19/2008 8:45
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#2
Her attorney said Jilani is "in treatment'' but wouldn't disclose any details
#3
Her actions should be tried as a hate crime. Her lies made other Muslims nervous about their safety when no nervousness was warranted. Her actions made whites and others feel guilty when such guilt was unwarranted. The effects of her lie are as bad as if it had been an actual hate crime so she should be tried. That would help put an end to the stream of fake hate crimes and when the number of anti-Muslim hate crimes drops to near zero the lie that the US is anti-Muslim will die as well.
#4
Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
Y'all missed this completely
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/19/2008 12:29
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#5
Yup. College did the right thing. We don't have the details as to how they figured it out, but it's generally a good bet that whenever a student or academic person claims to have been attacked, for found a noose, or found hate symbols on their door, etc., etc., etc., it's a fabrication.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008 13:23
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#6
As has been repeated by the race industry charging someone for a crime is not enough. Racism is equal to terrorism in that the effects are designed to effect farther than the immediate target. She will probably be charged with filing a false report, in addition to that she should have every hate crime law that applies, otherwise the hate crime laws shoudl be stricken as racist themselves (being designed only to work against whites).
#7
Authorities ultimately concluded Jilani concocted that story and filed the criminal charge against the sophomore, who has since been expelled from the college.
The sophomore was expelled??? Has he since been reinstated? Or is this gonna be like Duke University where the young men are guilty until proven innocent? If I was a reporter I wouldn't want to leave such a big, obvious question unanswered.
Vice President Dick Cheney and former Attorney General Alberto Gonzales have been indicted on state charges involving federal prisons in a South Texas county that has been a source of bizarre legal and political battles under the outgoing prosecutor. The indictment returned Monday has not yet been signed by the presiding judge, and no action can be taken until that happens.
The seven indictments made public in Willacy County on Tuesday included one naming state Sen. Eddie Lucio Jr. and some targeting public officials connected to District Attorney Juan Angel Guerra's own legal battles.
Regarding the indictments targeting the public officials, Guerra said, "the grand jury is the one that made those decisions, not me." Guerra himself was under indictment for more than a year and half until a judge dismissed the indictments last month. Guerra's tenure ends this year after nearly two decades in office. He lost convincingly in a Democratic primary in March.
Guerra said the prison-related charges against Cheney and Gonzales are a national issue and experts from across the country testified to the grand jury.
Cheney is charged with engaging in an organized criminal activity related to the vice president's investment in the Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers. It accuses Cheney of a conflict of interest and "at least misdemeanor assaults" on detainees because of his link to the prison companies.
Megan Mitchell, a spokeswoman for Cheney, declined to comment on Tuesday, saying that the vice president had not yet received a copy of the indictment.
The indictment accuses Gonzales of using his position while in office to stop an investigation in 2006 into abuses at one of the privately-run prisons. Gonzales' attorney, George Terwilliger III, said in a written statement, "This is obviously a bogus charge on its face, as any good prosecutor can recognize." He said he hoped Texas authorities would take steps to stop "this abuse of the criminal justice system."
Another indictment released Tuesday accuses Lucio of profiting from his public office by accepting honoraria from prison management companies. Guerra announced his intention to investigate Lucio's prison consulting early last year.
Lucio's attorney, Michael Cowen, released a scathing statement accusing Guerra of settling political scores in his final weeks in office. "Senator Lucio is completely innocent and has done nothing wrong," Cowen said, adding that he would file a motion to quash the indictment this week.
Willacy County has become a prison hub with county, state and federal lockups. Guerra has gone after the prison-politician nexus before, extracting guilty pleas from three former Willacy and Webb county commissioners after investigating bribery related to federal prison contacts.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008
07:54 ||
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ask the judge on a hunting trip
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:18
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Vanguard Group, which holds financial interests in the private prison companies running the federal detention centers.
Thanks for the tip! Appears it's time to sell Vanguard. The One and the first lady will be opening prison doors soon and turning them into CCC camp dorms or people's farms.
#9
I think it is time to say something plainly: Once Obama is in office, the implied threat of violence will be the only thing keeping criminal Democrat office-holders everywhere from engaging in this kind of flagrant abuse of the legal process.
They just can't help themselves, 50 years of media indoctrination have institutionalized the double-standard throughout the spectrum of political discourse.
We would also be likely to see federally-mandated "advisory boards" of community activists (ie, lefty agitators and other thieves) censoring the media and looting businesses from coast to coast.
Never, ever, give up your guns. I hope it doesn't come to that, but they are our ace in hole. Any effort to suppress or seize them is a nakedly obvious attempt to empower totalitarian activists and corrupt office-holders.
A suspected U.S. missile strike hit a village deep inside Pakistani territory Wednesday, officials said, killing six alleged militants and indicating American willingness to pursue insurgents beyond the lawless tribal regions.
...
The attack was the first to hit an area outside the semiautonomous tribal belt that directly borders Afghanistan, something which could trigger extra anger among Pakistanis.
Hours after the strike, a large Islamist political party warned it would block two major supply routes for U.S and NATO forces in Afghanistan that run through Pakistan unless the attacks ended. "If these missiles attacks continue, then we will ask the people to create hurdles in the way of supplies for NATO," Qazi Hussain Ahmed, chief of Jamaat-e-Islami, told reporters.
The party has shown it can easily mobilize thousands of supporters at short notice. The supply lines have never been blocked by protests but militants and criminals often attack trucks traveling with them.
Javed Marwat, a local government official, told The Associated Press that two missiles destroyed a house in Indi Khel village in Bannu district. Two Pakistani intelligence officials said their agents reported that militants from Central Asia were among the six killed.
...
Until Wednesday, all the attacks since August were in North and South Waziristan, two tribal regions where the government has ceded much of its limited control to militants. U.S. officials say they want to help Pakistan regain sovereignty over such areas. The Bannu district, which falls under the control of the regional government, begins roughly 18 miles away from the border with Afghanistan.
Two other intelligence officials, both based in Bannu, said militants had begun moving farther away from the border, including to their district and other settled areas, in an apparent bid to avoid the missile strikes.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008
07:49 ||
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Xinhua: A major al-Qaeda operative of Arab origin was among the five militants killed in a suspected United States missile strike in northwest Pakistan on Wednesday, private TV channel Geo reported. The Geo quoted security sources as saying that the al-Qaeda militant was identified as Abdullah Azam Al-Saudi, a senior member of al-Qaeda.
Ululululu!
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 8:11
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The attack was the first to hit an area outside the semiautonomous tribal belt that directly borders Afghanistan, something which could trigger extra anger among Pakistanis.
*Yawn* Farting in the general direction of a koran could trigger extra anger among Pakis.
#3
AFP: According to US intelligence shared with Pakistan, al-Saudi was the main link between Al-Qaeda's senior command and Taliban networks in the Pakistani border region, an Islamabad-based senior security official said. "He was the man coordinating between Al-Qaeda and Taliban commanders on this side of the border, and also involved in recruiting and training fighters," the official told AFP.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 8:30
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#4
go ahead and block the convoy paths sounds like more missile strikes too me
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 10:08
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#5
Gotta say that I've become rather impressed with the intel that allows us to make these sorts of strikes. Too bad the political will didn't exist to do similar things in Syria and Iran going back to 2005. Mighta changed a lot of things.
NEW DELHI: Even as the world's largest supertanker the Saudi Sirius Star continues to be in the grip of pirates of the coast of Somalia, the Indian navy appears to have taken the lead in the fight against pirates.
An Indian warship deployed in the Gulf of Aden fought Somali pirates and destroyed their vessel after a brief battle, the navy said on Wednesday.
Two accompanying speed boats sped away after the main vessel was blown up late on Tuesday.
"INS Tabar retaliated in self defence and opened fire on the mother vessel," the navy said in a statement.
"As a result of the firing by INS Tabar, fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel."
Naval officers on board the warship said they spotted pirates moving on the deck with rocket propelled grenade launchers.
"On repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the naval warship," the navy said.
India deployed INS Tabar, a naval warship, to escort Indian ships after the country's shipping firms said they were losing $450,000 a month on cost overruns and delays in meeting deadlines.
Crew members are reluctant to sail in the Gulf of Aden, one of the world's most important sea trade routes, fearing attacks by pirates.
Meanwhile, Saudi supertanker Sirius Star was hijacked over the weekend and has anchored off the coast of Somalia in Eyl, even as pirates took over another Iranian-operated cargo vessel with a Hong Kong flag 'Delight. US navy commander Jane Campbell of the Bahrain-based 5th Fleet said the status of the crew and cargo was not known. There are some Indians among the 25-member crew.
In the first-ever action after being deployed in the Gulf of Aden, the Indian navy on November 11 thwarted an attempt by pirates to capture an Indian merchant vessel in the region. The ship, M V Jag Arnav, had recently crossed the Suez Canal and was eastward bound when it was surrounded by pirates, who tried to board and hijack the ship, navy sources in New Delhi said.
When the 38,265-tonne bulk carrier, owned by Mumbai-based Great Eastern Shipping Company, raised an alarm, it caught the attention of the Indian naval warship, INS Tabar, which was patrolling in the Gulf of Aden waters.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008
05:57 ||
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PIB Press Release
Ministry of Defence
INS Tabar, which is currently in the Gulf of Aden for Anti-Piracy Surveillance and Patrol Operations, encountered a pirate vessel, 285 NM South West of Salalah (Oman) on the evening of 18 Nov 08, with two speed boats in tow. This vessel was similar in description to the 'Mother Vessel' mentioned in various Piracy bulletins.
INS Tabar closed the vessel and asked her to stop for investigation. On repeated calls, the vessel's threatening response was that she would blow up the Naval Warship if it closed her. Pirates were seen roaming on the upper deck of this vessel with guns and Rocket Propelled Grenade launchers. The vessel continued its threatening calls and subsequently fired upon INS Tabar.
On being fired upon, INS Tabar retaliated in self defence and opened fire on the mother vessel. As a result of the firing by INS Tabar, fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel. Almost simultaneously, two speed boats were observed breaking off to escape. The ship chased the first boat which was later found abandoned. The other boat made good its escape into darkness.
INS Tabar is on Anti-Piracy Mission in the Gulf of Aden since 02 Nov 08. The operation is being controlled by Western Naval Command since mid Oct 08. During this period, she has successfully escorted approximately 35 ships, including a number of foreign flagged vessels, safely during their transit through pirate infested waters of the Gulf of Aden and also prevented two hijacking attempts on 11 Nov 08. The Indian Navy has been patrolling the piracy infested water in keeping with the Government guidelines to protect our sea borne trade, instill confidence in our sea faring community as well as function as a deterrent for pirates.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 6:03
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#2
the Indian navy appears to have taken the lead in the fight against pirates.
Good for them. I have a feeling that India will be the future of the free world. Too bad taking the lead only means having taken a few pot shots at a couple of dhows.
#5
A Krivak-III armed to the teeth with Sizzler anti-ship missiles is perhaps not the vessel one targets with RPGs
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 7:18
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#6
even if taking the lead by shooting ata couple of dhows, at LEAST they have the balls too do so
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:44
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#7
and noy worry about the human rights groups saying that they where hugely overmatched and should have boarded them and taken prisoners which would have cost Indian sailors some lives. Does anyone else think that maybe Saudis are funding the pirates too do this since the Shabaab has aken over most of somalia aga(only GOD knows why)? too may be get that oil price up again
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:46
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#8
Tabar: Prepare to be boarded! "mothership": Silly Indian warship! We will blow you up! Tabar: Wrong answer.
*BOOM*
#11
The probably used their 4" gun unless the skipper wanted to try out a sizzler. If he was angry, he would use one of the two CIWS 30mm gatlings that would cut the other ship in half.
In any event, not a whole hell of a lot of a contest.
Bet the Saudis send the Captain a nice gift basket and all expense paid week long shore leave for the crew at one of Dubai's finer five star hotels.
#14
One reason why pirates in the Caribbean were successful was not that they had more powerful ships than the Spanish warships.
They had faster ones.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 10:18
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#15
They used their AK-630 guns
From wikipedia The AK-630 is a Russian fully automatic naval six-barreled 30 mm Gatling gun. It is mounted in an enclosed automatic turret and directed by radar and television detection and tracking. The system's primary purpose is defense against anti-ship missiles, and other precision guided weapons. However it can also be employed against fixed/rotary wing aircraft, ships and other small craft, coastal targets, and floating mines.
It can be described as the Russian counterpart to the United States Phalanx CIWS.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 10:45
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#16
This is exactly the required prescription. Sink their asses and let the sharks feast. Just a couple more of these incidents will get to their hearts and minds more efficiently than a century of talking. The bravado on deck of popping off their AK's and brandishing their RPG's quickly turned to liquid shit dribbling down their legs when the first bursts from those gatling guns started hitting the deck and chopping them into dogfood. Congrats to the Indian Navy.
#21
I would not be surprised to see a court action in the Hague alleging war crimes
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 11:44
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#22
Interesting.
The Indian warship responded with the _weakest_ weapon on its deck and the target was destroyed by the secondary explosions.
As I mentioned earlier over on the bar, small patrol boats could do most of what's needed to supress the problem.
* The ship in question is about two-fifths the size of a Burke. It's a little larger than a LCS, but apparently a bit better armed for this actual sort of littoral warfare.
#25
Hopefully they'll clean out the nest and then go after the Indonesian pirates (at least until the Chinese protectors start grumbling and make themselves known).
#26
Wonder if the speed boat that got away had enough fuel to make it to a port or if ran out. I rather like the idea of them drifting without fuel, running low on water somewhere out there on the Gulf of Aden.
#27
Or another pirate ship on the team picked them up.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 12:52
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#28
This is exactly the required prescription.
It's a good start. An improved prescription would include no attempt to take the pirates alive whatsoever, followed by a coastal bombardment of Eyl and the use of helicopter gunships to reduce what remains of the pirate haven to twitches and rubble.
And a complete cessastion of the delivery of 'aid' (ie the wages of permanent anarchy) to Somalia.
#29
Meanwhile NATO and the Euros are still formulating RoEs from Brussels. Wusses.
Yes, sadly. And as EU-rope (and maybe soon the USA too) is taking a leave from History, exiting not with a bang, but with a whimper, the ascending of India is evident. Just see which country will soon have cruise missiles, which fleet is growing, heck, even which country has just sent an engine on the moon,... it's not the UK, it's not France, not Spain, etc, etc...
Sad, but like g(r)om sez, even civilizations goes senile, though for that one, it's real hard to determine if it's suicide or assisted suicide (thanks, cultural marxism, thanks, socialism).
Most of Australia's navy is to be given two months off over Christmas as part of a new strategy to cope with crew shortages, the defence minister says. Joel Fitzgibbon said the extended break was a way of encouraging sailors to stay in the service.
The number of sailors who stay aboard docked ships will be reduced, to make sailors' duties more family-friendly.
Mr Fitzgibbon rejected claims by the opposition that the move would affect national security. The opposition said the venture was an admission that the government had failed to recruit enough sailors.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 13:16
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#32
Pirate is just Somali for Al Qaeda. Sink 'em all.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 13:58
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#34
"Indian Navy destroys Somali pirate mothership"
"As a result of the firing by INS Tabar, fire broke out on the vessel and explosions were heard, possibly due to exploding ammunition that was stored on the vessel."
Works for me. :-D
Welcome, India, for the continuing fight for freedom
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/19/2008 14:11
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#35
Here is a view of the coastal buildings at Eyl in Somalia. Nice targeting set up. Elongated line of buildings, if you know what I mean.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 14:21
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#36
It seems to me that, due to the world banking crisis causing problems with easy money transfers, clamping down on terrorist financiers, and other shadow actions, that terrorist organizations are getting into piracy as another type of fundraising. It could also be criminal syndicates. Regardless, the Somalis have the base, a lawless non-state, like Afghanistan was, to set up shop.
This time, we don't need nation building. We or someone else with a sense of duty, like India, just need to have the will to do the dirty job and destroy this plague.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 14:33
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#37
Tne "nest" as you put it is being supported by Iran and has been since late 1992. Ironically, the problem could be resolved by a half-dozen WWII submarines with deck guns. We have so modernized our navy that the most primitive of pirates can make monkeys out of the brass hats.
#39
rjschwarz: You are spot on. The UNSC is composed of nations that do three things. They must be economically powerful, they must be militarily powerful, and they must be willing to project that military force.
This means, the current lineup from most powerful to least powerful, should be:
1) The USA
2) The EU, as a bloc.
3) Russia
4) China
5) India
And possibly Japan, but only if learns to project military force. Importantly, this forum *will* exist, even if it not in the UN, or even officially, because it is based in power, not jawboning.
As the EU is not capable of doing anything as a "bloc", I'd separate them into the countries. So, I'd move #'s 3 to 5 one spot up, and perhaps put the UK at #5
#42
Do you really think that a single Burke class or a simple drive by, by a carrier couldn't end this mess IF WE HAD THE WILL TO DO IT?
A Burke can only be in one place at one time, and costs over a billion dollars.
How much did India spend on the Tabar?
We need to be able to build something like the Tabar, and not a 600 million dollar ship with one gun and one short-range CIWS missile system. (Which, btw, we just did).
#43
The pirate's mistake was not have held their fire until the boarding party arrived. If they had, they would have inflicted casualties on the Indians, probably got themselves some hostages and got away under the protection of the hostages.
This scenario would probably mean no more boardings of suspected pirate vessels and the whole piracy interdiction model falls down.
#44
INS Tabars operation came nine years after the Indian Navy flexed its muscles in international waters by seizing a Japanese-owned freighter, the Alondra Rainbow, from Indonesian pirates.
For nearly five years now, caution and discretion at the external affairs ministry tacitly encouraged by the Prime Ministers Office (PMO) have constrained naval headquarters from exercising what it sees as the Indian Navys rightful role on the high seas as an emerging power and the largest neighbourhood force with legitimate interests in the Gulf and Southeast Asia.
At the US department of defence here, officials who are aware of tensions between naval headquarters in New Delhi and the external affairs ministry, were smiling in the knowledge that the trigger which set off yesterdays action has the potential to change the course of defence relations between and among nations.
The Pentagon has been lobbying in New Delhi for five years for India to join the US-led Proliferation Security Initiative (PSI) aimed at stopping shipments of weapons of mass destruction globally.The Indian Navys leadership has tilted towards joining the PSI in internal discussions in South Block, but political correctness has cast a veto over a decision in favour of the initiative.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 17:18
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#45
The pirate's mistake was not have held their fire until the boarding party arrived.
The Tabar's boarding party are not regular sailors. There is a detachment of MARCOS (Marine Commandos) aboard. The MARCOS unit was setup with the help of the US Navy. They were originally trained by the SEALs.
Legacy BTW of the Reagan administration
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 17:21
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#46
How much did India spend on the Tabar?
325 million.
More expensive than a typical Krivak because of the non Russian equipment on board (French and Indian sonars, ECM etc)
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 17:32
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#47
I would like to see who owned that mother ship and where it's engines came from. That would be the start of a good trail to who is funding this. My only guess is in the relationship Sudan has with Somalia and with the Indonesian Pirates in Asia. Another commom thread of muzzies working together. But I'm just guessing.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/19/2008 17:53
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#48
Apparently a number of these ships are captured trawlers?
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 18:18
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#49
The German Bundesmarine has asked the German parliament for a robust mandate so it can fight pirates in that area. The vote is expected to come in December.
It will be approved.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 18:23
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#50
John, these anti-piracy operations are going to expose the need for small heavily armoured craft suitable for contested boardings. It doesn't matter how good the troops are, they will be sitting ducks in an inflatable or similar. It's probably been at least a 100 years since the last contested boarding of a ship by a western navy.
#51
Wow 50 comments - pretty close to the target of 142 which was set when Madonna was begging for a male partner in a 3 way with Anglie Jolie.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
11/19/2008 19:27
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#52
The loss of one Mothership and a few bodies will be figured in in the cost of doing business. The cost of doing business needs to be made prohibitive.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/19/2008 19:49
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#53
From the BBC piracy discussion thread: The British government could help finance the pirates and then get a return on the spoils ...........or is this illegal now
#54
same BBC thread also had this: We need to show care and understanding to the pirates, helping them to feel that they have a stake in the well-being of the whole world rather than feeling excluded and turning against everyone. Perhaps a task force from a conflict study course at one of our fine metropolitan universities should be dispatched to help resolve the situation.
#55
Actually the pirates are going after the wrong sort of targets. It's really easy to get rid of hot autos in Africa. They should be after Japanese car carriers going to Saudi and EU.
#2
Surprise connection: Ayers' Weather Underground group in NYC - led by his then girlfriend, Diana Oughton - had planned to blow up a dance hall at Fort Dix. Ayers tries to detach himself from the plans, even though wiretap (OK: illegal wiretap) evidence reveals hearsay complicity, that could have been developed if the investigation had been allowed to play out. Current media refuses to publicize the fact that forensic experts put Oughton as closest to the 5 pipe bombs that she accidently detonated at a Greenwich Village townhouse. Note: the dance that the WU targeted for mass murder was to be attended by about 200 civilians. Then there is the townhouse matter; it was located in a residential area. Ayers and Dohrn are worse scumbags than the paintball creeps. I can't stomach seeing him portrayed as a mere war protesters and social activists, and somehow "vindicated" by subsequent events.
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:16
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#4
What I'd like to see is an apology from MoveOff and the other twits who paid for the "Betrayus" ad. Of course, I won't expect it 'til pigs fly. Can you imagine the howls if rightwingers did a similar ad about the O-cult?
Indian troops have killed four suspected militants close to the Line of Control (LoC) in Indian-held Kashmir (IHK). A police spokesman said on Tuesday that the four were killed overnight in the mountainous Uri district near the LoC. The gun battle erupted hours after the region voted under tight security for a new state government, with a boycott call by Muslim separatists triggering clashes but failing to shut down the ballot.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. forces arrested ten wanted and suspected gunmen during a security operation in the north of Baghdad, the U.S. army said on Tuesday in a statement.
"U.S. forces arrested three wanted men and seven suspected gunmen during a security operation in al-Tarimiya region in the Iraqi capital Baghdad," said the statement received by Aswat al-Iraq. "One of the wanted men is believed to provide armed groups with refuge, while the other is involved with training al-Qaeda elements on how to use bombs, the third booby-traps cars," the statement added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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US light sweet crude, plagued with the weight of the global economy, dropped by 56 cents to close at USD 54.39 per barrel on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
good hit the miccle east in the pocket as much as possible, of course obama will send them AID
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 1:13
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#2
Of course he will send them aid. Because they are starving and illiterate ... but very, very rich. Interesting how cash can't buy wisdom. That takes actual work.
#3
i'm from GA so i have seen my share of what you would think are inbreeds. You can't tech wisdom too inbreds, just how too sell pills and do prison time
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:04
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#5
sorry i reread that myself i think that was after about the 12th dose of Nyquil
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 13:13
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#6
Some of this has to be due to the rise in value of the US $ compared to other world currencies, excluding the yen. Would very much like to read an article describing that relationship.
(SomaliNet) Following a series of defeats by Tutsi rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese president Joseph Kabila has replaced his military chief of staff.
On Monday the rebels captured the town of Rwindi, 100 kilometres north of the city of Goma.
After talks with UN special envoy and former president of Nigeria Olusegun Obasanjo on Sunday, rebel leader Laurent Nkunda said he was prepared to hold a ceasefire and talks with the government.
Aid workers fear that a continuation of fighting will make things even worse for the region's 250,000 refugees.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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BEIJING - A Hong Kong ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, maritime officials said, the latest raid in the Horn of Africa's perilous waters. The Delight, with 25 crew members on board, was captured off the Yemen coast at around 0600 GMT and is currently sailing towards Somalia, an official at Hong Kong's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre told Reuters by telephone.
"We know the ship is going to somewhere in Somalia," said the official. "We are in contact with the company security officer who is in contact with the ship," he added, but said he did not know of any ransom or other demands.
Using larger "mother ships" to increase their reach, the heavily armed pirates usually pull up on either side of a target in speedboats and board, firing guns or even rocket-propelled grenades just over the bridge if the captain tries to escape.
Ship owners are negotiating ransoms in most cases, with crew released unharmed. But the heightened risk means insurance premiums are rocketing.
And the bad guys use the loot to buy better guns, boats and tracking equipment, so that they can hijack more ships.
And some carriers are now taking the long route around the southern tip of Africa, rather than the Suez Canal, pushing up the cost of commodities at a time of global uncertainty.
The Delight was the third ship sailing under a Hong Kong flag alone to be seized in the area this autumn. "We have now a total of two Hong Kong vessels held by Somali pirates, and one has been released," the official at the Maritime Rescue Centre said. The crew members on the Delight are from Iran, Pakistan, Indian, the Philippines and Guyana, the official said. They were carrying 36,000 tonnes of wheat to Iran's Bandar Abbas port.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Someone on the internet suggested that Obama taking out the pirates might be a nice, easy, low entanglement way for him to show he's a tough guy. Whatever it takes, these piss-ants piss me off.
PErsonally I think it would be nice if one of our allies (perhaps two) stepped up. Say the Japanese and the Germans who both have navy's more than adequate and could use a little experience and the target has so few political liabilities it seems a great place to start.
#3
Obama won't tackle this problem head on by targetting the pirate mother ships, bases, etc, because that would require throwing pretty much all 'international law' out the window.
In part, this is a failure of the transnational order. Specifically, its inability to deal with parties outside nation states or within non-functioning states.
On the plus side this may be the death of flags of convenience. Liberian registered ships are going to wait an awfullly long time for the Liberia Navy to come to the rescue.
#5
I would say, let these countries with their merchant fleets deal with these pirates. It would not take very long for the US to stop this stuff in its tracks. Give the pirates at Eyl 24 hours to let the hostages go or the town and everything is leveled. Then we will start on the next pirate haven town. I think that one town should be enough.
What is going to happen is that everyone will be playing footsie with the pirates and making continuous calls to Brussels for nuanced instructions. Arrrrr, my a$$.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 0:48
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#6
DODO, the above article has claimed that another navy has stepped up to the challenge with the Im=nfian ship destoying a pirate mothership. Not France England or germany,and you would think the big badass Iranians after all their shit talking would do something about it since theirs seem too get hijacked a good bitif they are up too the job then let them do it
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:55
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#7
I have no probelms with the Indian navy or any other navy attacking pirates.
I feel strongly that countries that criticize the United States and refuse to provide support to the United States not derive any benefits from the American military.
In terms of India (whose merchant ships are getting attacked as well), I believe they were ready to send combat troops to Afghanistan, but we did not want them to, because that would not go down well with the Pakis. (John Frum would know more)
#9
"A Hong Kong ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden " so the Iran wheat crop wasn't so good this year. Importing both gasoline and wheat with oil at $60 is not good for the Iranian economy.
#10
Sludge: Honestly couldn't tell you if India was prepared to send troops, although given their history, and muslim population, I'm skeptical.
A somewhat dated list of countries contributing in Iraq follows. I would specifically oppose using U.S. forces to rescue any ships from any Arab or other European country. I support all of their rights to pick and choose where they send forces, but I don't think they should be allowed to count on U.S. if they choose not to support us.
ALBANIA: 120 non-combat troops, mainly patrolling airport in Mosul; no plans to withdraw.
ARMENIA: 46 soldiers serving under Polish command through end of 2006; no plans to withdraw.
AUSTRALIA: Roughly 470 troops and support personnel in Iraq, plus several hundred in the Persian Gulf region; no dates set for any pullout.
AZERBAIJAN: 150 troops, mostly serving as sentries, on patrols and protecting a dam near the city of Hadid Ha; no plans to withdraw.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: 36 experts identifying and destroying unexploded ordnance; experts being rotated every six months; no plans to withdraw.
BRITAIN: About 8,000 troops in southern Iraq, roughly 2,000 others in the Persian Gulf region.
BULGARIA: Deployed 120 non-combat troops to guard refugee camp north of Baghdad after pulling out 380 infantry troops in December.
CZECH REPUBLIC: 100 military police training Iraqi officers; mission extended to end of 2006.
DENMARK: 530 troops patrolling southern city of Basra; parliament on Tuesday cut force by 80 and extended mission to June 30, 2007.
EL SALVADOR: 380 soldiers doing peacekeeping and humanitarian work in Hillah; no immediate plans to withdraw.
ESTONIA: 40 troops, mostly infantry, serving under U.S. command in Baghdad, manning checkpoints, patrolling neighborhoods, searching houses for weapons, escorting convoys; extension beyond end of 2006 expected.
GEORGIA: About 900 combat forces, medics and support personnel serving under U.S. command in Baqouba; no plans to withdraw or reduce contingent.
ITALY: About 2,600 troops, most in southern city of Nasiriyah, involved in training, security and reconstruction; force to be reduced to 1,600 by mid-June and remaining troops expected to be withdrawn by year's end.
KAZAKHSTAN: 27 military engineers; defense minister has suggested a pullout by July.
LATVIA: 135 soldiers, mostly infantry, manning checkpoints, patrolling and escorting materials; mission expires at end of 2006.
LITHUANIA: 60 soldiers, mostly infantry, serving with Danish contingent near Basra in southern Iraq; mission to last at least through end of 2006.
MACEDONIA: 32 troops providing security in Taji, north of Baghdad; no plans to withdraw.
MOLDOVA: 11 bomb defusal experts; mission expires in July; extension expected.
MONGOLIA: 160 troops; no plans to withdraw.
NETHERLANDS: 15 soldiers as part of NATO mission training police, army officers; mandate expires in August.
POLAND: 900 non-combat troops; commands multinational force south of Baghdad; mission expires at end of year; government weighing whether to extend.
ROMANIA: 860 troops, including 400 infantry, 150 mine experts, 100 military police, 50 military intelligence plus medics and U.N. guards; no plans to withdraw.
SLOVAKIA: 104 troops stationed in Hillah in Polish sector, mostly engaged in de-mining; no plans to withdraw.
SOUTH KOREA: In process of reducing its 3,200-member contingent in northern Iraq by 1,000 troops by end of year.
ALBANIA: 120 non-combat troops, mainly patrolling airport in Mosul; no plans to withdraw.
ARMENIA: 46 soldiers serving under Polish command through end of 2006; no plans to withdraw.
AUSTRALIA: Roughly 470 troops and support personnel in Iraq, plus several hundred in the Persian Gulf region; no dates set for any pullout.
AZERBAIJAN: 150 troops, mostly serving as sentries, on patrols and protecting a dam near the city of Hadid Ha; no plans to withdraw.
BOSNIA-HERZEGOVINA: 36 experts identifying and destroying unexploded ordnance; experts being rotated every six months; no plans to withdraw.
BRITAIN: About 8,000 troops in southern Iraq, roughly 2,000 others in the Persian Gulf region.
BULGARIA: Deployed 120 non-combat troops to guard refugee camp north of Baghdad after pulling out 380 infantry troops in December.
CZECH REPUBLIC: 100 military police training Iraqi officers; mission extended to end of 2006.
DENMARK: 530 troops patrolling southern city of Basra; parliament on Tuesday cut force by 80 and extended mission to June 30, 2007.
EL SALVADOR: 380 soldiers doing peacekeeping and humanitarian work in Hillah; no immediate plans to withdraw.
ESTONIA: 40 troops, mostly infantry, serving under U.S. command in Baghdad, manning checkpoints, patrolling neighborhoods, searching houses for weapons, escorting convoys; extension beyond end of 2006 expected.
GEORGIA: About 900 combat forces, medics and support personnel serving under U.S. command in Baqouba; no plans to withdraw or reduce contingent.
ITALY: About 2,600 troops, most in southern city of Nasiriyah, involved in training, security and reconstruction; force to be reduced to 1,600 by mid-June and remaining troops expected to be withdrawn by year's end.
KAZAKHSTAN: 27 military engineers; defense minister has suggested a pullout by July.
LATVIA: 135 soldiers, mostly infantry, manning checkpoints, patrolling and escorting materials; mission expires at end of 2006.
LITHUANIA: 60 soldiers, mostly infantry, serving with Danish contingent near Basra in southern Iraq; mission to last at least through end of 2006.
MACEDONIA: 32 troops providing security in Taji, north of Baghdad; no plans to withdraw.
MOLDOVA: 11 bomb defusal experts; mission expires in July; extension expected.
MONGOLIA: 160 troops; no plans to withdraw.
NETHERLANDS: 15 soldiers as part of NATO mission training police, army officers; mandate expires in August.
POLAND: 900 non-combat troops; commands multinational force south of Baghdad; mission expires at end of year; government weighing whether to extend.
ROMANIA: 860 troops, including 400 infantry, 150 mine experts, 100 military police, 50 military intelligence plus medics and U.N. guards; no plans to withdraw.
SLOVAKIA: 104 troops stationed in Hillah in Polish sector, mostly engaged in de-mining; no plans to withdraw.
SOUTH KOREA: In process of reducing its 3,200-member contingent in northern Iraq by 1,000 troops by end of year.
In the specific case of Afghanistan, the Indians were interested because they have a long history with Afghanistan. In fact, I believe after the US, India has provided the most aid to Afghanistan post-Taleban (mostly in the form of infrastructure, schools, etc). The Afghan Parliament even has has the phrase "A gift from the Indian people" written on it. The Taleban were historically aligned with the Pakis, so the Indians have definite strategic interests in Afghanistan. To this end, they have even created a huge Embassy in Afghanistan on the border with Pakistan-nothing's as effective as squeezing them from both sides!
I do belive the Indians were against the Iraq war though, which brings up a point: Do we base our relationships with other countries, including emerging global powers like India, on one single issue (Iraq) or do we use a broader perspective in creating alliances for the next few decades (at the very least). Should we be only allies with nations that agree with us on EVERY issue--no room for disagreements? If that's the case, we'll continue to have less powerful "allies" that agree with us all the time solely because they need our protection (like most countries on your list).
Side point... India does have a muslim population but it is only 13% of the population. That's still a sizeable number, but it is still a minority. Their international policies aren't generally similar to that of your average muslim nation. take their close defense partnership with israel, for instance.
#12
I would find it interesting if the US responded to the pirates depending upon the ships taken. If a Panamanian flagged ship, or Liberian for that matter is grabbed, than so be it. Let Liberia and Panama secure the release.
If a US flagged ship is grabbed hell and all the fury of the US Marines and Navy fall up on Somalia leaving dust and rubble. Let that be known and you might see the rolls of Panamanian and Liberian flagged ships drop and the number flagged by the US rise.
#13
It has been mentioned before, but what if the pirates are targeting specific ships as a means of smuggling without raising undue attention? They are Islamists, affiliated with AQ. Mo bin Laden was a dockworker in Yemen before building his construction empire in Saudi. Osama hung around the port of Latakia in his youth.Weapons smuggling into Afghanistan and other areas is done via containers. The chemical tankers, crude, Russian weapons, fertilizer, cement, and even radioactive scrap metal have been intercepted; they could be stockpiling components for a huge event. Iranian ships have been captured twice, once with mysterious but deadly cargo. Hong Kong and the Philippines could be carriers of weapons or missiles from China or North Korea. The foreign crews could be complicit, giving forewarning of cargo contents. There have even been quite a few Russian and Bosnian hostages, well-treated and released without incident. And piracy is not limited to the Gulf of Aden, as there are other African incidents,such as off Nigeria, plus Indonesia and South America all have reported attacks. Wired.com has reported Hezbollah subs in South America. Israel has intercepted barges of cement, concealing missiles and other weapons. I think this is way more than an insurance scam and needs to be shut down as of yesteryear.
#14
Do we base our relationships with other countries, including emerging global powers like India, on one single issue (Iraq) or do we use a broader perspective in creating alliances for the next few decades (at the very least).
There are issues and there are issues. For example, I have never raised the issue of Iraq in the context of our nuclear cooperation with India. Separate issues.
Also, I specifically said that I supported their right to pick and choose where they send forces. Refusal to support the U.S. in Iraq or Afghanistan doesn't require retaliation or need to spill into other areas.
However, I feel strongly that the use of the U.S. military should be limited to those who are prepared to use their military in support of the U.S. The "broader alliances" you refer to tend to be one way; we provide the muscle and get little in return, e.g. NATO.
One of Britain's most authoritative judicial figures has declared that the US and the UK have acted like 'world vigilantes' in their war against Iraq.
"It was not plain that Iraq had failed to comply in a manner justifying resort to force and there were no strong factual grounds or hard evidence to show that it had," said Lord Bingham.
Other than the seventeen failed UN resolutions, you mean ...
The retired senior law lord stated that the military attack on Iraq in 2003 was a serious violation of international law and urged British ministers to respect the international legal system. "The current ministerial code, binding on British ministers, requires them as an overarching duty to comply with the law, including international law and treaty obligations," The Guardian quoted Bingham as saying.
His remarks come as the Conservatives and Liberal Democrats are calling for an independent inquiry into the circumstances surounding the invasion. The British government has opposed the idea, saying such an inquiry would be harmful while 4,000 British troops are deployed in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Other than your failure in Iraq, ENGLAND, "lord", and the many thousands of years of blood on your hands, I would seriously advise Brits against judging their contemporary Brother.
#3
The retired senior law lord stated that the military attack on Iraq in 2003 was a serious violation of international law and urged British ministers to respect the international legal system.
Ignoring that the US went to the UN for authorization. International Law = we make this up as we go along. So, how's that vaunted 'international legal system' handling Darfur?
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:56
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#9
Elizabeth would have him nailed by his privates to the Tower door. Maybe one day soon England will actually be a country again, instead of a whipped dog.
#10
I don't really think he has thought through his use of the word 'vigilante'. In the original sense, they were chiefly residents of frontier towns where the local law-abiding citizenry were sick and tired of being robbed, murdered, cheated, extorted and otherwise preyed upon by the criminal element. Either the law was nonexistent, ineffectual,or run by the criminal element themselves...
Damn, I've just described the UN.
But anyway, the original vigilantes were fairly tightly organized, and a response to an unbearable situation by law-respecting citizens who were pushed beyond endurance. The good judge keeps using that word "vigilante", but I don't think he has a clue as to what it really means.
#13
Vigilantes get a bad rep because in most cases in the modern world there is a clear overriding authority and the vigelante goes around that. But what if that authority refuses to act or doesn't have the ability to act, or is actively protecting the bad person?
I'd be curious to see what Sir Bingham was saying about the sanctions and no-fly zone prior to the war. I bet he felt they were inhumane and must be ended. Most liberals did that logical flip in 2003ish.
#14
There's a little bit of true vigilantism closer to home in a way.
"The Battle of Athens (sometimes called the McMinn County War) was a rebellion led by citizens in Athens and Etowah, Tennessee, United States, against the local government in August 1946. The citizens, including some World War II veterans, accused the local officials of political corruption and voter intimidation. The event is sometimes cited by firearms ownership advocates as an example of the value of the Second Amendment to bring fair elections."
#17
M'Lord, perhaps it has slipped past un-noticed, but you do NOT rule over the Colonials, they rebelled a few centuries ago, and are no longer a part if Britian.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/19/2008 16:12
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The Qatari oil minister says the oil market will experience tough situations next year as oil demand will be reduced because of the global crisis.
Crude oil prices have fallen by two-thirds since July's record high of $147 a barrel on fears of a prolonged global recession that could decrease world energy demand.
"I expect 2009 to be a difficult year. All the indicators affirm a large decline in demand during the last quarter of the current year and the first quarter of 2009," the Qatar state news agency QNA quoted Oil Minister Abdullah al-Attiyah as saying on Monday.
Al-Attiyah stated that a reduction in investment in oil projects due to the decline in the price of oil could lead to a decrease in oil supply in the long-term when demand increases.
The Qatari oil minister made the remarks after Qatar Petroleum and the German firm Wintershall Holding AG signed an oil and gas exploration and production sharing agreement for a Qatar offshore block in Doha.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Three tribal elders on Tuesday escaped from Taliban captivity in Bajaur Agency, claiming presence of a large number of foreigners in the Taliban ranks. Malak Bakht Munir and two other tribal elders told reporters that the foreigners included Chechens and Uzbek, Tajik, Sudanese and Afghan nationals. The Taliban kidnapped seven elders of a Mamoond tribal lashkar on Monday. Munir said their hands and legs were tied with chains and they were led blindfolded to a house. "The Taliban were warning us that we will be beheaded in a day or two," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
does this surprise anyone?
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 1:12
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#2
Illegal immigrants seem to be a problem everywhere. Probably there for the economic opportunities.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/19/2008 9:27
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#3
Great! It's a three-fer. Kill all three for the price of one.
Only kinda, sorta. Victory in Iraq, but not defeat for our enemies. They just moved to a more favorable battlefield. The whole point of going into Iraq in the first place was to get them to fight us on a battlefield more favorable to us (than A'stan) - which they did, and they lost heavily. But they learned their lesson and returned to Somalia and Afghanistan, where conditions are more favorable for them. Sneer though we do at their religion, it does give them a much stronger 'will' to fight than we as a people have anymore - since for too many of us our diety is ourselves.
#2
Now that Obambi is on his way, all thinking citizens are flooding gun retailers to obtain a weapon before the Dummos start their subversive tricks. Do yourself one other favor...join the NRA now. This is our best bet at collective resistance. With strength we can stop the nonsense before it gets ready to take off. Pay attention now, while there is still time.
#3
Excellent video warning.
And Woozle has a solid recommendation. The NRA has been an effective voice defending freedom, and the bigger their membership, the more they scare the politicians.
And, if it comes to it, don't do what the British did - don't turn in your guns. Hide the ones there is no record of. Report stolen the others. Or swap them with someone else in a private, unregistered transaction (if you are allowed - move to Louisiana if not.) And get your ammo now. After all, today is National Ammo Day!
BAGHDAD, Nov. 18 -- Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki addressed the nation Tuesday to defend a security pact that would let U.S. troops stay in Iraq three more years, and expressed concern that some lawmakers were trying to block it for political reasons.
The agreement was approved over the weekend by the cabinet and submitted to the parliament, where the government is seeking as strong a vote as possible in order shield itself from political fallout.
In his televised speech, Maliki lashed out at politicians who were taking "double positions" on the accord -- speaking one way in public and another in private meetings. "The deliberations on the conclusion of the security agreement should not be seen as a chance for advancing narrow interests at the expense of the higher national interest, or for distorting what the government is trying to achieve," he said.
Maliki said the agreement was "a first step to regain Iraq's sovereignty completely within three years." The document sets a withdrawal deadline of Dec. 31, 2011, for American forces. It also says U.S. soldiers must leave cities and villages by July 2009 for more distant bases.
It is not clear that all 150,000 American troops will be gone in three years. "There is a provision for an extension by agreement of both sides," a senior U.S. official said this week. The Iraqis could decide they see a continuing role for U.S. troops, he said. "They have every right to ask us for such a presence."
But don't expect Bambi to approve it ...
The role of U.S. troops in Iraqi cities after July 2009 may also be greater than the agreement implies. The details of the troops' activities would be worked out in negotiations between the Iraqi and American military, the senior official said. U.S. commanders have said they believe their soldiers will still be able to work in Iraqi cities as long as they are involved in joint operations with Iraqi security forces.
While the agreement would allow U.S. forces to remain after the U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31, it reduces their power. American soldiers would have to get Iraqi warrants to make arrests, and hand over detainees to Iraqi authorities. The accord strips U.S. contractors of immunity from Iraqi law.
The security agreement was the subject of intense debate in parliament Tuesday. The leaders of the main parties in Maliki's coalition were expected to press their lawmakers to support it. But approval was not guaranteed. "Maybe the leaders are seeing the big picture and knowing their responsibility, but what I'm seeing in each political group and alliance are those accepting and those against," said Safia al-Souhail, an independent lawmaker.
A vote on the accord is expected before parliament adjourns Nov. 25. U.S. officials say they would have to shut down operations if they have no new legal authority for their presence after the U.N. mandate expires.
Opposition to the accord has been led by the bloc of toothless anti-American cleric Moqtada al-Sadr currently cowering in Iran, which has 30 members in the 275-seat parliament. Sadr's movement has called for a demonstration against the accord in Baghdad on Friday.
The secular Iraqi National List party of Ayad Allawi, which has 20 seats, has also been cool toward the accord, with its lawmakers saying they prefer an extension of the U.N. mandate. The main Sunni coalition is uneasy about a provision authorizing U.S. assistance in fighting former members of Saddam Hussein's government, said Omar Abdul Sattar, a lawmaker from the group, which has 40 seats. It is seeking guarantees that the language would only apply to extremists, he said.
The office of Iraq's most revered Shiite cleric, Grand Ayatollah Ali Sistani, issued a statement Tuesday saying that that any agreement on ending the U.S. presence that "does not enjoy national consensus would be unacceptable."
The statement sought to clarify news media reports that Sistani had approved of the security pact. His aides said Saturday that the cleric had received a delegation of Shiite political leaders, including two Maliki aides, and that he had determined that the agreement did not violate Iraqi sovereignty. But the statement said Sistani believed each lawmaker should "express his opinion on this subject clearly and in accordance with what his faith and conscience dictate."
Sistani has been careful to refrain from any appearance he is meddling in politics. His influence is so great that his disapproval could torpedo the accord.
Separately, the Iraqi government set Jan. 31, 2009, as the date for provincial elections that U.S. authorities see as key to greater reconciliation. Sunni Arabs, who make up about 20 percent of the population, largely boycotted the last provincial elections in 2005 after the toppling of Hussein's Sunni-led government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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HAVANA (AP) China's president was signing dozens of trade and investment deals with communist ally Cuba on Tuesday, part of a Latin America trip on which Chinese businessmen have been snapping up all manner of raw materials.
Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis, China is investing heavily in commodity-producing countries, and Cuba is no exception. The deals agreed to by President Hu Jintao included purchases of Cuban nickel and sugar, along with pledges to send food and building materials to help the Caribbean nation recover from three major hurricanes. Other deals promise stronger ties in the future, such as a Chinese commitment to help renovate Cuba's aging ports, which are vital since Cuba receives virtually all its imports by sea.
Hu also thanked Cuba for sending doctors to China after last year's devastating earthquake, and for educational programs on the island attended by about 2,000 Chinese citizens, including medical and tourism students.
Cuba depended heavily on Soviet largesse and turned a cold shoulder to China during the Cold War's Sino-Soviet split. But ties warmed after the breakup of the Soviet Union in 1991, and Cuba now has no problem dealing with both Beijing and Moscow. With bilateral trade topping $2.6 billion a year, China is Cuba's No. 2 trading partner after Venezuela, where socialist President Hugo Chavez provides nearly 100,000 barrels of oil a day to the island at favorable prices.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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Courtesy of the American consumer, business and political classes.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 6:33
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Taking the long view at a time of financial crisis,
Their only view is the "long view." Here's an early prediction. Obama drops the US trade embargo against Cuba and China Whalmart immediately begins construction of factories and massive distribution centers within an hour's drive of Havana. DHL, FedEx, and UPS offices open the following day. You don't like products MADE IN CHINE? Well you may soon have a choice.
#3
i said this yesterday about China not hleping out with the financial crisi, they are our enemy and just found new buyers for all their cheap crap
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:17
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Uh, what? If Cubans have any money for cheap Chinese crap, it's only oil subsidies from the Venezuelans. The only reason Cuba hasn't starved like North Korea is because they're in the Caribbean, not on the frozen ass-end of the Sea of Japan.
But really, the Chinese *like* deranged little communistic hermit kingdoms like Zimbabwe, North Korea, and Cuba. And the Gulf-of-Mexico oil claims is just the sort of detail to make Chinese resource-strip-miners just go absolutely stiff with anticipation.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:50
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i'm sure they could prob talk havana into making a gambling hayday comeback with a little beijing money maybe not cheap crap but still an enemy getting alot closer
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 10:20
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You better watch Cuba... their offshore oil reserves match those of the U.S.
Once they manage to tap them they will just laugh at the embargo
Chinese are not dumb
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/19/2008 10:22
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Raul Castro sang a song (in Chinese) praising Mao Zedong.
He still hasn't mastered the kow tow. That will come soon.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/19/2008 12:53
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It's easy to match the US's offshore reserves when the only place they'll look offshore of is Louisiana.
#9
ION CHINA, WORLD MIL FORUM > CHINA WARNS INDIA NOT TO MILITARILY INTERFERE IN BRAHMAPATRA RIVER DAM PROJECT + CHINA FEARS RUSSIA'S NEW ULTRA-NATIONALISM AND MILITARY ASSERTIVENESS, US-NATO EASTWARD EXPANSION, JAPAN REARMAMENT.
ALso from WMF > CHINA TO DEPLOY "RED FLAG 9" LONG-RANGE AIR DEFENSE MISSLE SYSTEMS TO PROTECT NUCLEAR FACILITIES AGZ US-NATO AIR ATTACKS FROM AFGHANISTAN + CHINA TO BOOST PLA FORCES ALONG PAKISTAN BORDER.
The Zimbabwean premier-designate has warned the president to keep his promise to form a coalition with the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. MDC leader Morgan Tsvangirai said President Robert Mugabe should not form a government without him. "If he wants to proceed with a government without us, I know he knows that is unrealistic and that government will not be functional," Tsvangirai said on Tuesday.
He also pledged to use his majority in parliament to render such a government unworkable. "He needs us, we control parliament, and he needs a deal for his own sake, to salvage his own legacy," AFP quoted him as saying.
In mid-September, Mugabe and Tsvangirai signed an agreement to share power after a post-election dispute, but implementation of the deal has stalled amid a row over the division of key ministries.
In his trip to France, Tsvangirai urged European countries to put more pressure on Mugabe to break the political impasse in the country.
Yeah, get the Euros on your side. That'll help ...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Pistols loaded with heavy shot and twenty paces for the both of them. Uncivilized, whinning tribalist buggers. Both of them are as twisted as a Kudu's horn.
(SomaliNet) Israel has allowed aid goods to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time in two weeks.
Thirty-three lorries carrying food and medicines were allowed to cross the border, apparently as a result of international pressure to resume aid supplies, without which hundreds of thousands of Palestinians could not survive.
Israel completely sealed off the Gaza Strip on 5 November in reaction to a flare up of rocket attacks on its territory.
Interim Prime Minister Ehud Olmert and Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas met on Monday to discuss the slow progress of the peace process.
Mr Olmert has agreed to release 250 Palestinian prisoners as a goodwill gesture and to reinforce the Palestinian leader's position. A total of 11,000 Palestinians are being held by Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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(SomaliNet) A French MP of the ruling UMP party has shot dead his mistress in the northeastern town of Thionville before taking his own life.
Jean-Marie Demange recently lost his position as mayor of Thionville in local elections, and apparently took his defeat as a serious personal failure.
The former mayor, who was thought be suffering from a severe depression, was also in the middle of a divorce. So far, the UMP has refused to comment on the tragedy.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
I think I saw this opera...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008 7:52
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NATO troops in eastern Afghanistan fired 20 artillery rounds at Taliban inside Pakistan after co-ordinating with Islamabad, officials said Tuesday. The ISAF said in a statement it fired the rounds Sunday after Taliban attacked its troops in Afghanistan's Paktika province with rockets from across the border. "The artillery fire caused a secondary explosion at the rocket launch site, which indicates additional munitions in the location," it said. The Pakistan Army said in a statement only that NATO troops "engaged the fleeing militants on (the) Afghan side of the border and informed (a) Pakistani post on the Pak-Afghan border".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
So, NATO can fire iside Pakiland as long as it is not US forces doing since they seem too have very good aim
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:49
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and of course cosult with Islamabad so they can tell their guys too get the hell out of there
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:50
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi security forces killed one gunman, arrested 14 others, and defused 232 bombs in separate areas of Baghdad in the past 24 hours, the official spokesman for the Baghdad operations command said.
"Iraqi forces found also amounts of weapons and ammunitions in the Iraqi capital Baghdad," General Qassem Atta told Aswat al-Iraq. "A total of 15 displaced families have returned to their houses," he added. "Four Iraqi security elements were wounded during the operations," Atta noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Damascus on Tuesday launched a defensive media campaign to deflect charges of nuclear activity, the day before the International Atomic Energy Agency is expected to release a report in which it will confirm that enriched uranium was found in a suspected nuclear site in Syria.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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MOGADISHU - The oil-laden Saudi super tanker hijacked this weekend by Somali pirates is anchored off the Somali port of Haradhere, an official from the nearby northern breakaway state of Puntland told AFP Tuesday. We have been receiving some information and we now know that the ship is anchored near Harardhere, a small village and known piracy hub some 300 kilometres (180 miles) north of Mogadishu, said Puntland presidential adviser Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade.
The Sirius Star and its crew of 25 were captured far out to sea, off the coast of Kenya or Tanzania.
I looked on Google maps and Harardhere really is at the ass end of the earth ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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Hmm... How about the Saudi's pay the $10M and then spend $20M on bombing the entire region - including its entire port. How many dumb bombs can 20M buy?
I think the rest of the free world could even chip in on gas.
A top UN official in the Democratic Republic of Congo says that sending additional UN peacekeepers to the country would not resolve all the issues, although it would be helpful.
"Reinforcements are not going to resolve all the problems," said Alan Doss, head of the UN peacekeeping mission in Congo. He said on Tuesday that reinforcements would help to stabilize the situation a bit and allow the political and diplomatic process to go forward.
His remarks came after France drafted a Security Council resolution granting UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon's request for 3,000 additional troops and police for the peacekeeping mission in Congo.
On Wednesday, the Security Council could vote on the resolution, which would temporarily raise the limit for the UN's biggest peacekeeping mission to over 20,000, and diplomats said it was likely to be approved.
Earlier, Congolese rebels loyal to renegade Gen. Laurent Nkunda announced a military pullback to end the fighting between the rebels and Congolese government troops.
Doss also expressed hope that the announcement would be the first step toward talks between the rebels and the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Have UN troops ever solved anyones problems? no seriously
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:14
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Well... South Koreas', maybe. But that was a while ago.
Hamas' military wing announced Tuesday it was "prepared for a confrontation with Israel" and for the end of the cease-fire with Israel. But political sources said the cease-fire was expected to go on.
Hamas' Iz al-Din al-Qassam Brigades threatened to "turn the cease-fire tables on the heads of the Zionists," they said in a statement. Abu Obeida, the alias of a spokesman for the military wing, threatened that Hamas would "retaliate fiercely" should Israel resume its targeted-killings policy, as some defense officials have said were advisable after the cease-fire.
By contrast, Mahmoud Al-Zahar, a Hamas leader in Gaza, said that since the cease-fire was not a unilateral move, both sides should honor their part.
Meanwhile, in what could be seen as an indication of relative calm in the area, the Gaza regional division of the Israel Defense Forces received a new commander Tuesday in a military ceremony near the border with the Strip.
The ceremony in which Brig.-Gen. Eyal Eisenberg replaced Moshe Tamir was supposed to take place last week, but was postponed because of Palestinian rocket fire. Tamir was replaced as commander of the regional division deployed around Gaza after having served for two years and three months.
Militants fired rockets from the Strip into Israel Tuesday as well, but in a lower frequency than last week, when hostilities threatened to quash the cease-fire, which is due to expire next month. The Popular Resistance Committees and the Popular Front assumed responsibility for the rocket fire.
Three Qassam rockets exploded Tuesday in an open field in the northern Negev. Militants later fired mortar rounds at an IDF force operating near the fence on the Palestinian side of the border. No casualties or damage to property were reported in either incident.
The IDF Spokesman said the soldiers were searching for explosive devices which militants had placed to detonate near IDF patrols.
Military sources said they believed that Hamas was not directly behind the rocket fire and hostilities, but rather one or some of the smaller Palestinian militant movements. The officers think Hamas is pressuring smaller Palestinian factions in an attempt to preserve the cease-fire.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
i say lets get it on and no holds bars this time. kick the ever living shit out of them no matter what anyone says israel you only got about2 months before our bitch takes office
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:00
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<"I>Militants fired rockets from the Strip into Israel Tuesday as well, but in a lower frequency than last week"
so with lower frequency is considered a cease fire?
Posted by: Jan ||
11/19/2008 8:28
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A Pakistani scientist, accused of having links to the al-Qaeda network and charged with attempted murder, is unfit to stand trial, lawyers and one doctor say.
Defense lawyers and prosecutors both dismissed the charges as ridiculous and argued the frail-looking Aafia Siddiqui is mentally unfit to stand trial and should undergo a psychiatric evaluation.
Even an evaluation performed by a federal prison doctor in Carswell, Texas said that Ms. Siddiqui is "not currently competent" to proceed as a result of her mental disease, which renders her unable to understand the nature and consequences of the proceedings against her or to assist properly in her defense.
US officials allege Aafia Siddiqui, 36, a U.S.-trained neuroscientist, was seized on July 17, 2008 by Afghan security forces in Ghazni province and claim that documents, including formulas for explosives and chemical weapons, were found in her handbag.
They say that while she was being interrogated, she grabbed an officer's M-4 rifle and fired two shots but missed and that the officer then fired back, hitting her in the torso.
She was brought to the United States to face charges on attempted murder and assault. Siddiqui faces 20 years in prison if convicted.
Meanwhile, human rights organizations have cast doubt on the accuracy of the US account of the event.
They say Siddiqui vanished in Karachi, Pakistan with her three children on March 30, 2003. The next day it was reported in local newspapers that she had been taken into custody on terrorism charges.
Some political activists believe she was Prisoner 650 of the US detention facility in Bagram, Afghanistan, where they say she was tortured for five years until one day US authorities announced that they had found her in Afghanistan.
According to her lawyers, Siddiqi is a devout Muslim who actively took part in fundraising for Islamic charities while in the US. US officials allege this was a cover for al-Qaeda funding.
Manhattan Federal Judge Richard Berman still plans to hold a hearing Wednesday to find out whether Siddiqui could participate in court proceedings on medication.
Her case has given rise to a fresh wave of anti-American sentiment in Pakistan, prompting street rallies protesting against her detention.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Gee, I wonder if a neuroscientist could in any way have the knowledge to fake mental illness? Not that "I'm having trouble sleeping." would not be enough evidence for a defense attorney.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 7:45
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Send her to England. Thay can toss her ass into a nuthouse on a dismal moor somewhere, to be freed "at Her Majesty's pleasure"...
(SomaliNet) Police in the Sudanese capital, Khartoum, have arrested 63 journalists who were protesting outside the parliament building against the country's strict censorship regime. Police moved to detain the journalists after they refused to disperse.
Although the country's transitional constitution provides for freedom of the press and expression, the specific laws that would guarantee this have not yet been passed by parliament.
Publications that criticise the government are still being banned.
The constitution was adopted as part of the 2005 peace agreement that brought an end to Sudan's north-south civil war.
Working out well, isn't it ...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Hear NO Evil, See NO Evil, Speak NO Evil !!
Posted by: Tom- Pa ||
11/19/2008 7:17
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There are sixty-three independent reporters in the Sudan?
I don't know, this sounds like a wildcat strike at the Ministry of Truth to me.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:38
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Oh, yeah. That should work well.
British Foreign Secretary David Miliband, during a visit to Damascus, urged Syria and Israel on Tuesday to forge ahead with peace talks and said the Syrian-backed Palestinian group Hamas was hurting efforts to end Middle East conflict.
Miliband, whose talks in Damascus are the first by a British foreign secretary since 2000, said he supported Damascus's efforts to strike a peace deal with Israel, which could see Lebanon and other Arab states that have not signed follow.
Syria and Israel have held four rounds of indirect talks, meditated by Turkey, but they were suspended about two months ago after Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert resigned over a corruption scandal.
"We welcome the four rounds of talks that have taken place ...and we hope that they will be taken forward with new force," Miliband said after meeting Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.
Miliband said he had discussed with Assad efforts to forge peace in the Middle East and expressed to him Britain's satisfaction over Syria's establishment of ties with Lebanon and Iraq.
Syria and Lebanon formally established diplomatic ties in October for the first time since they both became independent 60 years ago. The move turned a page in relations between Lebanon and Syria, which dominated its tiny neighbor for nearly three decades until it pulled its troops from Lebanon in April 2005.
For his part Syria's Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said that Syria wanted "to take advantage of the good ties that the West has with Israel in order to achieve a global peace" in the Middle East.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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The Iranian parliament on Tuesday approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee as interior minister by a thin margin, two weeks after it sacked his predecessor for lying about his credentials.
Sadeq Mahsouli, a former Revolutionary Guards comrade of the president, takes charge of the ministry responsible for overseeing elections seven months before a presidential poll. Ahmadinejad is expected to run but has yet to declare.
In 2005, Ahmadinejad nominated Mahsouli for the post of oil minister but withdrew ahead of a parliamentary vote of confidence because he had no experience in the crucial oil sector.
Like Ahmadinejad, the 49-year-old Mahsouli is a veteran of the Revolutionary Guards, the elite ideological army which has been steadily encroaching on national politics in the Islamic republic. He has served in provincial government posts and also as a deputy defense minister in charge of planning.
On November 11, the majlis (parliament) voted to sack Ali Kordan as interior minister for lying about his educational credentials and presenting a fake degree from Britain's Oxford University.
Ahmadinejad had praised his nominee to the lawmakers, telling them that he had known Mahsouli for 30 years "during university time and during the hard times and he has always followed the path of the (Islamic) revolution."
This article starring:
Sadeq Mahsouli
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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At least 10 people were killed in clashes between the Taliban and pro-government tribal leaders in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Tuesday.
The Taliban on Monday intercepted a convoy carrying 12 pro-government elders of the Mamoond tribe, local government official Israr Khan told AFP. The tribesmen opened fire and killed three Taliban, including their commander, he said. The elders then took refuge in a guesthouse belonging to a local tribal chief, but more Taliban arrived, who besieged the house and demanded the local chief hand over the elders. "They opened fire and lobbed hand grenades inside, killing four elders and three servants of the tribal chief," Khan said.
Swat: At least 17 Taliban were killed and several injured in clashes with security forces in Swat on Tuesday, a military statement said. "Security forces fired artillery on Taliban hideouts in Kabal tehsil of Swat, which triggered a crossfire, killing seven Taliban," the statement said. Troops also killed eight Taliban following an abortive attempt by them to ambush a convoy of security forces in Khawazakhela area, the statement added.
Separately, one soldier was killed when a security patrol came under attack by the Taliban in Kanjoo area. "Twenty-seven suspected Taliban were arrested during a search operation in Kanjoo area," the statement added. It said that two more Taliban were killed and five others wounded in clashes with security forces in Mian Keley village.
Shabqadar: Security forces and Taliban clashed in Mian Kalay and Noranai areas of Shabqadar tehsil in Charsadda district, killing two Taliban and two civilians, including a woman, and wounding several others.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Why do you see so many NEW toyota truckes in this area of the world? just wondering
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:51
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The NWFP government on Tuesday set laying down of weapons as the foremost condition for peace talks with the Swat-based Taliban, official sources told Daily Times.
The condition was presented before members of a Kanjoo Peace Jirga, who met members of the NWFP Assembly from Swat district at the Frontier House to discuss a possible truce in the valley.
The peace jirga, led by Inamur Rehman, informed the MPAs that the Taliban were ready for 'unconditional' talks with the government and that their chief [Fazlullah] would abide by the decisions of the jirga, the sources said.
The meeting between the jirga and the members of the provincial assembly, which was also attended by Awami National Party's (ANP) provincial President Afrasiab Khattak, was the third in the last few weeks. Environment Minister Wajid Ali Khan, Science and Technology Minister Ayub Ashari, MPAs Sher Shah, Jafar Shah, Dr Haider Ali, Waqar Ahmad Khan and Shamsher Khan were present.
The sources said the NWFP government asked jirga members to ensure that the Taliban do not violate the peace agreement, if it were ever reached in the future. "We are apprehensive, because the May 21 agreement signed with the Taliban was broken by those in Waziristan," said a senior government official.
A 15-point agreement reached in May between the Taliban in Swat and the NWFP government was set aside following threats by the so-called Waziristan-based chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud.
"Talks will not be initiated unless the jirga assures the government that the Taliban will lay down arms and abide by any decision taken by the jirga consisting of MPAs from Swat and members of the Swat-based Kanjoo Peace Jirga," said the official. The Kanjoo jirga held talks with Taliban leader Fazlullah at an undisclosed location in Swat three days ago and obtained his consent to abide by the jirga's decisions, said another source.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
"Why should we lay down our arms?"
"Because you can't talk too good when you're dead."
A senior commander of international peacekeepers in Darfur said Tuesday the mission is encouraging rebel groups to accept a government cease-fire offer--a task made difficult by recent violence.
Maj. Gen. Emmanuelle Karenzi, deputy commander of the joint U.N.-African Union peacekeeping mission, said an investigation is under way into conflicting claims by the government and rebels over who is to blame for recent violence in northern Darfur, but he said the violence should not derail a cease-fire.
"It is unfortunate," Karenzi said in his office at UNAMID headquarters in El Fasher. "But ... if the people have been fighting and one of the parties just declares a cease-fire, it is not like you are switching on and off your lights in the house. You will have incidents like this."
Rebels took up arms in Sudan's western Darfur region in 2003, citing neglect and marginalization by the central government. So far 300,000 people have died and 2.7 million have been displaced.
Sudanese President Omar al-Bashir announced last week that his government is seeking a cease-fire as part of a peace initiative. But new accusations of violence highlighted the volatility of the situation in Darfur where many cease-fires have come and gone.
Over the weekend, rebel groups said government planes bombed an area along a major northern road and a base along the border with Chad. Government officials said they were responding to a rebel attack on a relief convoy. It was not possible to independently verify the disparate claims.
Karenzi said his mission is keeping an eye on the situation on the ground and doesn't believe the fighting means a cease-fire is now out of the question.
Meanwhile, both the Sudanese government and rebel groups in Darfur came under criticism in a report Tuesday by a panel of four independent experts tasked by a U.N. committee monitoring sanctions to assess the situation. The committee said it will study the 93-page report and deliver its review to the Security Council.
The report painted a grim picture of combatants stepping up the violence in Darfur while expanding their attacks elsewhere in Sudan and across the border into Chad.
Offensive military overflights, which are supposed to be banned, are also continuing with impunity, it said. The panel said both sides have also flagrantly violated a U.N. arms embargo.
The panel said the new U.N.-African Union peacekeeping force "has proven so far to be incapable of defending itself or the civilian population of Darfur or fulfilling its obligations to monitor the arms embargo."
The panel recommended the Security Council consider widening the arms embargo to include the entire territory of Sudan, not just Darfur, and to expand the embargo to Chad and northern parts of the Central African Republic, which borders Darfur.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
because cease fires with ppl who can't read and know nothing but fighting always works. I thought the Congo had already had a cease fire brokered one time
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 7:57
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U.S. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson voiced opposition Tuesday to using part of the government's $700 billion financial rescue program to bail out the ailing auto industry.
But General Motors Corp. Chairman Rick Wagoner warned that the U.S. economy will suffer a "catastrophic collapse" if domestic automakers fail, and appealed anew for federal assistance.
Oh, it'll hurt, but not as bad as GM will. Honestly, the market cap for GM is about $2 billion this week. The price per share has fallen to $3 from $30 a year ago. They lose $1500 on every car they sell. They're saddled with one of the most ridiculous labor contracts out there. And we're supposed to loan these sooper-geniuses money? How exactly will they repay a loan? They'll spend the $25 billion like a hip hop artist goes through blow and then they'll come back for more.
"I believe that the auto companies fall outside of that purpose," Paulson said during a hearing at the House Financial Services Committee, referring to the financial rescue plan enacted in October.
Automaker executives, supported by congressional Democrats, say they need another $25 billion in emergency loans, in addition to the $25 billion already approved to specifically help the industry make more fuel-efficient cars.
Wagoner, testifying before the Senate Banking Committee, said in the event of an industry failure, 3 million jobs will be lost within the first year and government tax receipts will be $156 billion less over three years. "Such a level of economic devastation would far exceed the government support that our industry needs," he said. "This is about much more than just Detroit. It's about saving the U.S. economy from a catastrophic collapse."
Paulson said "there are other ways" to help the auto industry. Specifically, he urged Congress to modify the first $25 billion package to provide short-term financial relief to the industry. But he also said, "I think it would be not a good thing -- it would be something to be avoided having one of the auto companies fail, particularly during this period of time."
Paulson defended the government's decision to back away from its original plan to buy up troubled bank assets with the $700 billion rescue plan, formally called the Troubled Assets Relief Program or TARP. "There is no playbook for responding to turmoil we have never faced," he said. "We adjusted our strategy to reflect the facts of a severe market crisis."
"The purpose of the financial rescue legislation was to stabilize our financial system and to strengthen it. It is not a panacea for all our economic difficulties," Paulson added.
Federal Reserve Chairman Ben Bernanke told the same House panel that the Treasury Department's capital infusion into banks will be important to restore confidence and bring credit markets back to normalcy. The central bank chief also said the government's efforts to stabilize the financial industry with TARP are beginning to produce favorable results. "These actions...appeared to stabilize the situation and to improve investor confidence in financial firms," he said. "There are some signs that credit markets, while still quite strained, are improving."
"Overall, credit conditions are still far from normal, with risk spreads remaining very elevated and banks reporting that they continued to tighten lending standards through October," Bernanke said. "It is imperative that all banking organizations and their regulators work together to ensure that the needs of creditworthy borrowers are met in a manner consistent with safety and soundness," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
So if GM goes belly up, whatever will happen to all the money good folks put down on the 2010 Volt? are they SOL or just get in line for whatever pennies on the dollar they can eke out of the carcass??
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 0:53
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If they are going to decide to give the auto industry 50 billion, I say let one of them sink (prolly Chrysler) and give their employees (if they have any in the US anymore) a nice unemployment package that includes some schooling.
After that. Let's give the others a handful of billion to restructure (after they close up shop and send the union packing) and buy some good engineers from the competition.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/19/2008 2:15
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#4
I say don't give 'em a cent. Let them succeed or fail on their own, as the market dictates. It's called "capitalism", and it's one of the things that makes America great.
#5
Not that they deserve any, but the auto industry will see little sympathy from Hank Paulson. He made his dough through investment dealing with China set up by the other Henry and KAI.
In my opinion, even without an auto bailout, by adding another $1 or $2 trillion dollars to the National Debt, Paulson is just ensuring that interest rates will go up, real estate will crash, unemployment will soar, and foreign central banks will abandon the dollar.
The Web:
American International Group, Inc. (AIG), The Blackstone Group L. P. and Kissinger Associates Inc. announced the establishment of a new venture to provide financial advisory services to corporations seeking high-level independent strategic advice. [ ] The venture will operate globally and will take advantage of the existing relationships between the partners:
- AIG has an ownership interest in Blackstone and is an investor in several of Blackstone's private equity funds;
- AIG and Blackstone have a joint venture, specializing in restructuring and M&A advisory services in selected Asian countries;
- Henry Kissinger chairs both AIG's International Advisory Board and the advisory boards of several AIG-sponsored Infrastructure Funds.
#6
i agree with scooter. if you bail out every private buisness that is failing wouldn't that be kinda of nationalizing them as in socialism. And once they get it this year you just wait they will up production and they will get it every year.
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:12
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#7
Let them go into bankruptcy.
If our silly legislative branch INSISTS on getting involved - BUY them, it's cheaper. Then pass a law dissolving the UAW contracts. Hire competant management and then take them public in a couple of years for a profit.
#8
The US taxpayer has already holding the bag for $25B the Feds committed to the Big 3 for retooling. The new fight is for another $25B loan for operations.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 8:36
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#9
Why don't they just pay the UAW to NOT make cars. It'll cost about the same. The DemocRATS will appease their constituency and we'll have fewer crappy cars.
#13
Maybe we could use this occasion to wring some concessions out the union. Tell 'em they have to give up a certain percentage of their pension but they get to keep their jobs. The percentage would be determined by whatever it takes to bring the cost of a car down to where it's actually competitive. Make 'em agree to something like that or else take a hike.
But no matter what you think of American cars or the unions, their current predicament has been exacerbated by the mortgage meltdown which was NOT the fault of the auto makers or the union. The reason they suddenly can't sell cars is that nobody can get a car loan and the reason for that is a little creep named Bawney Fwanks and some of his cohorts in Congress. Foreign cars aren't selling well either right now. Everybody's hurting. Make Bawney go to a UAW convention and explain to them how all of this came to be. I'd love to see the news coverage of that event. Then have Henry Paulson explain to them why, after he's given half a trillion dollars to his banker buddies, nobody can get a loan yet.
#14
The UAW won't even negotiate. Let them die and let someone else buy up the assets if that's what it takes. My tax money should not go towards making American cars less competetive and to create a safety hammock for union Workers playing hardball.
#15
It doesn't matter how much money is pumped into the Big 3 until compensation becomes more in line with their competitors. Unless workers and management take a 1/3 pay and benefits cut, they will continue to bleed to death. I think that even after life support is terminated and they are floating into the big white light, many of them will resist any cuts.
#17
You serious Pappy? And after the UAW prez says no concessions to save the Big 3. Let's see how cocky he is after Chapter 11 and the firing of 1/2 the workforce.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 14:48
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#18
Well, if they saw AIG keep throwing money at luxury retreats for their top execs who got them into the mess they are in, no wonder the UAW is acting like pigs at the trough and the chairmen traveled by private jets to beg for cash. (After all, they aren't asking for that much compared to them...)
#20
Screw the UAW and screw the current management that wouldn't force them to alter their contracts. This thing has to get flushed in order to start over (Chrysler should just stay dead). GM and Ford need to return as much smaller companies, with fewer brands so they can focus on building excellent cars at a competitive cost. Oh, and screw the UAW. Did I already say that?
#25
ed: Study Examines Short-Term Economic Impact of Worst-Case Scenarios for Contraction of Detroit Three
Predicts nearly 3 million jobs lost if the Big 3 go completely under.
Detroit won't go under in a bankruptcy proceeding any more than Delta Airlines or Continental Airlines went under. What will go under is management, UAW contracts, and 20-years-and-out lifetime pension and zero-cost health insurance plans. Detroit has competitive products. Their problem doesn't have anything to do with products - it's got to do with cost. Their costs are just too high, mainly because of the union contracts.
#26
Well, if they saw AIG keep throwing money at luxury retreats for their top execs who got them into the mess they are in, no wonder the UAW is acting like pigs at the trough and the chairmen traveled by private jets to beg for cash. (After all, they aren't asking for that much compared to them...)
Detroit executives have the same kind of thing. This is really an apples and oranges comparison? AIG rank-and-file are paid the market rate, whereas Detroit rank-and-file are paid the union rate. AIG is losing money because it made some bad bets. Detroit is losing money because union wages are too high.
BRUSSELS, Belgium - NATO has no plans to intercept the Saudi supertanker hijacked by Somali pirates since its warships in the area have no mandate to board captured merchant vessels by force, a spokesman said Tuesday.
Ohfergawdsakes ...
NATO officials have said the hijacking of the 318,000-ton UAE-owned MV Sirius Star on Saturday took place in a part of the Indian Ocean far removed from the area where an alliance flotilla has been operating since last month.
The four-ship contingent was dispatched to the region under a U.N. mandate to escort vessels chartered by the WFP to Somali ports, and to conduct patrols designed to deter pirates from attacking merchant ships transiting through the Gulf of Aden. Two warships - the Greek frigate HS Themistokles and the Italian destroyer ITS Durand - are escorting cargo ships chartered by the World Food Program to carry food aid from Mombasa to Mogadishu. A Turkish frigate, the TOG Gokova, and the British frigate HMS Cumberland are conducting deterrence patrols in the Gulf of Aden, where they engaged in a firefight last week with pirates attempting to hijack a Danish ship.
The area where the Sirius Star was attacked, located about 520 miles (833 kilometers) southeast of Kenya - closer to Tanzania than Yemen - is far outside the range in which Somali pirates are normally considered a threat. "This attack took place a thousand miles away from where one would normally expect this type of attack to take place," Alliance spokesman James Appathurai told The Associated Press. "The NATO ships could have intervened to prevent the seizure had they been there ... but what they don't have the mandate to do is to board ships that have already been hijacked to free the crew."
So, just what would it take to change the mandate?
"NATO's mandate is not related to interception of hijacked ships outside the patrol area," Appathurai said. "I'm not aware that there's any intention by NATO to try and intercept this ship."
Attacks on the 20,000 commercial vessels sailing around the Horn of Africa are up 70 percent this year. The pirates are reported to use some of the $100 million they received in ransom payments to acquire better and faster boats, global positioning systems and satellite phones that help them in locating the merchant ships.
Reinvesting in the business, as it were ...
A number of shipping companies are said to be considering rerouting their vessels from transiting through the Gulf of Aden and the Suez Canal, and instead sending them around the Cape of Good Hope. Experts say this is a much longer journey that would add 12-15 days to the trip at a cost of btw $20,000-$30,000 a day to the cost of the journey.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Hmm, seems to me the UN should provide a perpetual mandate for any warship at sea to render assistance in the case of piracy. It should be a crime NOT to intercept a vessel in such a case.
#3
No mandate to do what you need to do. NATO is teats on a boar hog useless.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 0:50
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#4
"Any pirate threatening U.S. shipping should be the walking dead."
Well, there is the option of putting all shipping in the area under the US flag. We have done that before in the Persian Gulf during the Iran/Iraq war when Iran was threatening oil shipping to Kuwait.
Roger Middleton, a Horn of Africa specialist at the Chatham House think-tank, said that the capture was a crucial escalation. Now that they have shown they are able to seize an enormous ship like this, it is beyond a military solution. You wont fix this without a political solution.
#8
you hit the nail on the head with sorry arss, they're still celebrating Mandelas release
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:02
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#9
don't worry we have the Indian navy out there not afraid to shoot
Posted by: chris ||
11/19/2008 8:05
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#10
I believe the SA Navy is critically short of technically qualified people and getting worse. So much so that all their subs have been tied to the pier.
Posted by: ed ||
11/19/2008 8:14
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#11
The US has its own shipping? Not since every shipping company went Panamanian or Liberian. Re-flagging the flag-of-convenience clowns sounds like it might be in the wind.
But don't be surprised if the flag is Indian.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/19/2008 8:44
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#12
The proposed solution of a perpetual mandate is as frightening as the pirates:
The U.N.'s Big Power Grab
By Frank J. Gaffney Jr.
The Washington Times | 10/3/2007
If Americans have learned anything about the United Nations over the last 50 years, it is that this "world body" is, at best, riddled with corruption and incompetence. At worst, its bureaucracy, agencies and members are overwhelmingly hostile to the United States and other freedom-loving nations, most especially Israel.
So why on earth would the United States Senate possibly consider putting the U.N. on steroids by assenting to its control of seven-tenths of the world's surface?....Nonetheless, the predictable effect of U.S. accession to the U.N. Convention on the Law of the Sea better known as the Law of the Sea Treaty (or LOST) would be to transform the U.N. from a nuisance and laughingstock into a world government: The United States would confer upon a U.N. agency called the International Seabed Authority (IA) the right to dictate what is done on, in and under the world's oceans. Doing so, America would become party to surrender of immense resources of the seas and what lies beneath them to the dictates of unaccountable, nontransparent multinational organizations, tribunals and bureaucrats.
LOST's most determined proponents have always been the one-worlders members of the World Federalists Association (now dubbed Citizens for Global Solutions) and like-minded advocates of supranational government. They have made no secret of their ambition to use the Law of the Sea Treaty as a kind of "constitution of the oceans" and prototype for what they want to do on land, as well.
Specifically, the transnationalists (or Transies) understand LOST would set a precedent for diminishing, and ultimately eliminating, sovereign nations. It would establish the superiority of international mechanisms for managing not just "the common heritage of mankind," but everything that could affect it.
In the case of LOST, such a supranational arrangement is particularly enabled by the treaty's sweeping environmental obligations. State parties promise to "protect and preserve the marine environment." Since ashore activities from air pollution to runoff that makes its way into a given nation's internal waters can ultimately affect the oceans, however, the U.N.'s big power grab would also allow it to exercise authority over land-based actions of heretofore sovereign nations....Scarcely more appetizing is LOST's empowering of a U.N. agency to impose what amount to international taxes. To provide such an entity with a self-financing mechanism and the authority to distribute the ocean's wealth in ways that suit the majority of its members and its international bureaucracy is a formula for unaccountability and corruption on an unprecedented scale.
To date, the full malevolent potential of the Law of the Sea Treaty has been more in prospect than in evidence. If the United States accedes to LOST, however, it is predictable that the treaty's agencies will: wield their powers in ways that will prove very harmful to American interests; intensify the web of sovereignty-sapping obligations and regulations promulgated by this and other U.N. entities; and advance inexorably the emergence of supranational world government. Frank J. Gaffney, Jr. is the founder, president, and CEO of The Center for Security Policy. During the Reagan administration, Gaffney was the Assistant Secretary of Defense for International Security, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear Forces and Arms Control Policy, and a Professional Staff Member on the Senate Armed Services Committee, chaired by Senator John Tower (R-Texas). He is a columnist for The Washington Times, Jewish World Review, and Townhall.com and has also contributed to The Wall Street Journal, USA Today, The New Republic, The Washington Post, The New York Times, The Christian Science Monitor, The Los Angeles Times, and Newsday.
#14
No expert here, but there's no need for a special UN mandate or anything of the sort for a naval vessel to take action against piracy directed against any ship on the high seas, is there? I'ma thinking this is probably the oldest, most settled, and among the most practical examples of what people breezily refer to as "international law".
Again, I don't know, but I can't imagine any UN or NATO authorization is required to take action against pirates in international waters. Seems to me a broad and very heavy offensive against these dipshits is in order. Hit them hard, on land and sea, kill as many as possible. Funny, that always seems to work, yet must "re-discovered" every time good guys confront bad guys.
An Iranian official says the country's oil tankers will not avoid routes where Somali pirates are carrying out attacks on vessels.
On Tuesday, US and Chinese officials announced that Somali pirates have hijacked a Hong Kong-flagged cargo ship operated by Iran in the Gulf of Aden. The pirates attacked the cargo ship named Delight, which was carrying wheat, off the coast of Somalia.
On Saturday, Somali pirates seized a Saudi supertanker with a full load of 2 million barrels of oil and 25 crewmen.
Around a quarter of Iran's 2.4 million barrels per day of crude exports goes to Europe through waters threatened by Somali pirates.
And that has yet to get the Euros' attention ...
The official from the National Iranian Tanker Company (NITC), who was not identified, told Reuters, "We haven't made any decision to avoid the region where these pirates have been attacking."
"We have been very careful when traveling in this region, but now we have to be even more careful," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Who is funding these pirates Saudi or Iran?
Gtees the price of oil going up!
I have read that certain countries seek conflict worldwide so they keep gas,oil prices high-Saudi,Iran and russia come to mind!!!
ISLAMABAD - Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani left Tuesday for Brussels on Tuesday for talks with senior Nato officials on the war on terror.
During the three-day visit, Gen. Kayani would attend a meeting of the chiefs of defence and discuss a comprehensive approach towards complexities of security, including implications of the US drone strikes. Gen Kayani would visit Brussels on a special invitation from Nato Military Committee Chairman Admiral Giampaolo di Paola.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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A Canadian mosque that came under fire last week for publishing slurs and advocating a conservative lifestyle for Muslims is fighting back against what it said was distortion and discrimination.
Mohamed Abou-Bakr, an official at the administration of the Khalid Bin al-Walid Mosque in Toronto told AlArabiya.net that the mosque had sent a complaint to the Canadian newspaper the Toronto Star after an article alleging it publicized slurs against Jews and western societies on its website and warned members against integration.
The complaint accused the paper of "distorting" the content of the mosque's website in an attempt to "turn society against the mosque by charging it and the entire Muslim community in Canada of terrorism."
"The administration will seek legal advice if we don't get a response to the complaint," said Bakr in an interview.
The official accused the paper of "discrimination, extremism, and terrorism."
The paper reported Thursday that the website's Questions and Answer section featured racist, anti-Jewish and anti-Western responses that were supposedly reviewed by the mosque's imam. "Is it permissible for women to wear high heeled-shoes?" one reader asked, to which the reply was no. "It involves resembling the Disbelieving Women or the wicked women. It has its origin among the Jewish women," read the explanation
The site reportedly went on to say that once (a Muslim woman) becomes introduced to the wickedness of Western ideology and concepts ... (she) becomes fixated on trying to appear and act like her "role models" of corruption.
A disclaimer on the website noted that questions and answers did not necessarily reflect the mosque's views, said the Star. But the About Us page declares that the mosque's imam, Bashir Yusuf Shiil, "prepared, approved, and supervised" all questions and answers on the site.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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ANCHORAGE, Alaska -- Alaska Sen. Ted Stevens has lost his bid for a seventh term. The longest-serving Republican in the history of the Senate trailed Anchorage Mayor Mark Begich by 3,724 votes after Tuesday's count. That's an insurmountable lead with only about 2,500 overseas ballots left to be counted.
Stevens, who turned 85 Tuesday, also revealed that he will not ask President George W. Bush to give him a pardon for his seven felony convictions.
That leaves Coleman, assuming he hangs on in Minnesota, and Chambliss, assuming he wins the run-off in Georgia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Good = got rid of a turd.
Bad = another seat closer to veto-proof margin for the Dems (and that's not counting squishes like McCain)
Thanks Ted you selfish asshole. I hope they give you real PMITA Prison time.
#7
You think that Stevens has issues? The apparent winner Mark Begich does, too. He is our mayor. Our taxes have gone up dramatically under his watch. Procurement has been circumvented. It has become a world of sleaze. We are having a meeting Friday night with an assemblyman on the situation and what we can do about it.
The maggots have infested congress and we are powerless to act. No disrespect to hard working maggots in nature.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/19/2008 19:52
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Toba Tek Singh police arrested two Christian boys from a village in Gojra tehsil on charges of blasphemy on Tuesday, a private TV channel reported.
According to the channel, Rasheed Masih and Babu Masih had been charged in March 2007 with desecrating posters carrying the name of Prophet Muhammad (PBUH). The police had registered a case under Section 295-c of the Pakistan Penal Code against them after riots broke out in the town and the houses of some Christians were also attacked. However, the two boys had not been arrested until now.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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A Cairo court on Tuesday overruled the Egyptian government's decision to allow exports of natural gas to Israel and said the constitution gave parliament the right to decide on sales of natural resources. But Israel expressed confidence that the Egyptian government would not allow any interruption to gas deliveries under the deal despite the court order.
Israel rejects ruling
A senior Egyptian official said the verdict did not require immediate implementation and the government would appeal against it. Cabinet spokesman Magdy Rady said the government respected the judiciary but could not comment until it receives the ruling.
Judicial sources said the government could ignore the ruling, as it has done in many past cases, or postpone action by filing a countersuit challenging the decision.
Israel's Ministry of National Infrastructure said it was confident the political agreement covering the gas between the Egyptian and Israeli governments would remain in effect. "The ... ministry has no doubt that deals between the Egyptian gas company and its customers in Israel remain valid. The ministry is convinced that the supply of gas from Egypt to Israel will continue as usual," it added.
Former diplomat Ibrahim Yussri, along with some members of the opposition, brought the case against the government several months ago.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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(SomaliNet) In a move that has prompted a mass exodus of locals in fear of military presence, more army personnel have been deployed on the Kenya-Somalia border.
Kenya's military Spokesman Bogita Ongeri said the Kenyan Government opted to deploy additional officers to tighten security along the borders. He said Kenyan security agencies were on alert following increasing insurgency in Somalia that has seen militia groups take control of most areas.
Witnesses say military personnel were spotted in lorries being deployed to Elwak and Liboi from Isiolo.
The deployment follows a US security alert that insurgents had planned to attack on the day of the sixth anniversary of Kikambala bombings.
Kenya Red Cross officials said they were working closely with local leaders to address needs of people fleeing their homes in Elwak town and its environs. "The displaced people are fleeing in fear of increased military presence in Elwak after the recent abduction of Catholic nuns by suspected Somalia bandits," said a KRC spokesman Titus Mungou.
Meanwhile, security agents are on high alert ahead of next week's sixth anniversary of the Paradise Hotel bombing in Kikambala. Sources said there were fears terror suspects could attack to mark the anniversary. "We are generally on alert because you never know what these people are planning and given what is happening in Somalia," said a senior officer.
At the weekend, the US heightened its travel advisory for Kenya, citing security concerns in North Eastern Province. An alert from the US State Department said there was continuing threat from terrorism. It warned of possible terrorist attacks in Kenya, saying those responsible for past attacks in Nairobi and Kikambala were still active.
"The US continues to receive indications of potential terrorist threats aimed at American, Western, and Kenyan interests in Kenya," read the statement in part.
It added that terrorist acts could include suicide operations, bombings, kidnappings, attacks on civil aviation, and attacks on maritime vessels in or near Kenyan ports. "This replaces the Travel Warning of August 22, 2008, to note increased security concerns in northeast Kenya near the Somali border."
The statement cited the recent kidnapping of two Italian nuns from El Wak by armed Somali militia.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Former French prime minister Dominique de Villepin who is a man has been ordered to appear in court in connection with an alleged smear campaign that targeted President Nicolas Sarkozy, sources close to the case said Tuesday.
"Nothing can justify this decision..." Villepin said, reacting to the order, in a statement received by AFP. "Throughout the investigation, the truth of the facts and the law have been diverted for the benefit of one civil party who is at the same time today President of the Republic (Sarkozy)," said Villepin.
The order drawn up by judges Jean-Marie d'Huy and Henri Pons was signed on Tuesday evening requiring Villepin to appear before the court over alleged "complicity" in slander, the sources said.
Villepin is suspected of helping to orchestrate a leak in 2004 of what turned out to be a faked list of account-holders at the Clearstream bank in Luxembourg which included Sarkozy's name. The named individuals were supposed to have benefited from illegal commissions from arms sales.
At the time, Villepin and Sarkozy were rivals to succeed then president Jacques Chirac.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
I want to know where he stands on having Lance Armstrong ride the TdF in 2009...
The general inspector of the Electricity Ministry on Tuesday survived an attempt on his life in western Baghdad, the media spokesman for the ministry said. "Saadi al-Sudani, the general inspector of the Electricity Ministry, survived an assassination attempt when an explosive charge went off in front of his house in al-Qadisiya neighborhood in western Baghdad," Aziz Sultan al-Shimri told Aswat al-Iraq. "The explosion injured the eldest son of al-Sudani," he added, noting that the inspector was not hurt.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
Waiting for the Electricity Minister (Or Someone like him) ?
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday he felt confident about the prospects for a Middle East peace deal next year following the election of Barack Obama as leader of the United States. On the first full day of a three-day visit to Britain, Peres said there was a "fair chance" Israel would reach an agreement with the Palestinians in the next 12 months.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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#1
For a given value of "fair chance" that approaches zero, I quite agree.
(SomaliNet) A group of armed criminals have attacked and killed a six-year-old albino girl in Burundi. The attack took place at the girl's home in Bugongo, more than 200 kilometres east of the capital Bujumbura. The girl was decapitated and her arms and legs were cut off.
Last month, two other albino people were killed elsewhere in Burundi. Police say the body parts and organs of albinos are sold to 'medicine men' in neighbouring Tanzania, who use them to make amulets. More than 27 albinos, most of them women and children, were killed in Tanzania last year.-
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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Aswat al-Iraq: The casualties from the car bomb explosion that ripped through Sinjar district in west of Mosul on Tuesday rose to one dead and 16 wounded, a security source said. "A car bomb went off in a village in Sinjar district, 120 km west of Mosul, killing one and wounding 16," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. A security source had said earlier that one civilian man was killed and four others wounded when a car bomb went off in a village in the district of Sinjar on Tuesday
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday distributed pamphlets in Attock Khurd, warning three hotels and a guesthouse of dire consequences if they did not halt their 'illegal activities' within a week. Situated at the border of Punjab and NWFP, Attock Khurd is a scenic and historic place, often a popular choice for visitors. The TTP pamphlets warned that the hotels would be destroyed if their administrations did not halt 'prostitution in the garb of providing service to the visitors'. The Taliban's 'first and the last' warning said violators would be punished, even if it entailed laying down the Taliban's lives.Following the warning, police have increased security in and around the area. The TTP warning would hamper tourism not only in Attock Khurd but in adjoining areas of the NWFP as well, locals said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/19/2008
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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.
NEW DELHI: Even as the world's largest supertanker the Saudi Sirius Star continues to be in the grip of pirates of the coast of Somalia, the Indian navy appears to have taken the lead in the fight against pirates. 
Aswat al-Iraq: U.S. forces arrested ten wanted and suspected gunmen during a security operation in the north of Baghdad, the U.S. army said on Tuesday in a statement.
(SomaliNet) Following a series of defeats by Tutsi rebels in the east of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Congolese president Joseph Kabila has replaced his military chief of staff. 
BEIJING - A Hong Kong ship loaded with wheat bound for Iran was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, maritime officials said, the latest raid in the Horn of Africa's perilous waters. The Delight, with 25 crew members on board, was captured off the Yemen coast at around 0600 GMT and is currently sailing towards Somalia, an official at Hong Kong's Maritime Rescue Coordination Centre told Reuters by telephone.
One of Britain's most authoritative judicial figures has declared that the US and the UK have acted like 'world vigilantes' in their war against Iraq. 
(SomaliNet) Israel has allowed aid goods to enter the Gaza Strip for the first time in two weeks. 
(SomaliNet) A French MP of the ruling UMP party has shot dead his mistress in the northeastern town of Thionville before taking his own life. 
Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi security forces killed one gunman, arrested 14 others, and defused 232 bombs in separate areas of Baghdad in the past 24 hours, the official spokesman for the Baghdad operations command said.
Hamas' military wing announced Tuesday it was "prepared for a confrontation with Israel" and for the end of the cease-fire with Israel. But political sources said the cease-fire was expected to go on. 
A Pakistani scientist, accused of having links to the al-Qaeda network and charged with attempted murder, is unfit to stand trial, lawyers and one doctor say. 
The Iranian parliament on Tuesday approved President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's nominee as interior minister by a thin margin, two weeks after it sacked his predecessor for lying about his credentials. 
At least 10 people were killed in clashes between the Taliban and pro-government tribal leaders in Bajaur Agency, officials said on Tuesday.
The general inspector of the Electricity Ministry on Tuesday survived an attempt on his life in western Baghdad, the media spokesman for the ministry said. "Saadi al-Sudani, the general inspector of the Electricity Ministry, survived an assassination attempt when an explosive charge went off in front of his house in al-Qadisiya neighborhood in western Baghdad," Aziz Sultan al-Shimri told Aswat al-Iraq. "The explosion injured the eldest son of al-Sudani," he added, noting that the inspector was not hurt.
Israeli President Shimon Peres said Tuesday he felt confident about the prospects for a Middle East peace deal next year following the election of Barack Obama as leader of the United States. On the first full day of a three-day visit to Britain, Peres said there was a "fair chance" Israel would reach an agreement with the Palestinians in the next 12 months.
Aswat al-Iraq: The casualties from the car bomb explosion that ripped through Sinjar district in west of Mosul on Tuesday rose to one dead and 16 wounded, a security source said. "A car bomb went off in a village in Sinjar district, 120 km west of Mosul, killing one and wounding 16," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. A security source had said earlier that one civilian man was killed and four others wounded when a car bomb went off in a village in the district of Sinjar on Tuesday
Monday's earthquake has displaced at least 10,000 people in Indonesia's Sulawesi island after killing six people, according to officials.
The Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) on Tuesday distributed pamphlets in Attock Khurd, warning three hotels and a guesthouse of dire consequences if they did not halt their 'illegal activities' within a week. Situated at the border of Punjab and NWFP, Attock Khurd is a scenic and historic place, often a popular choice for visitors. The TTP pamphlets warned that the hotels would be destroyed if their administrations did not halt 'prostitution in the garb of providing service to the visitors'. The Taliban's 'first and the last' warning said violators would be punished, even if it entailed laying down the Taliban's lives.Following the warning, police have increased security in and around the area. The TTP warning would hamper tourism not only in Attock Khurd but in adjoining areas of the NWFP as well, locals said.
