Daniel Pipes opinion piece on Obama's deal with Iran at the expense of Israel, the US, and many other nations.
Barack Obama's March 2013 trip to Israel had a too-good-to-be-true feel about it. While barely pressuring on Israel, he instructed Palestinians not to set preconditions for negotiations and admonished them to "recognize that Israel will be a Jewish state." It felt out of character, suggesting a price to be paid later.
Well, that price has now, eight months later, been revealed and it has two components. If I might paraphrase the U.S. position: "First, sit by quietly as we reach an accord with Tehran that freezes but does not dismantle its nuclear buildup. Second, stop the illegitimate residential construction on the West Bank or the Palestinian Authority will, with American acquiescence, start a third intifada."
Israeli responses to the two demands have been stark, blunt unlike anything in memory. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu blasted the prospective Iran deal as a "monumental mistake" and after meeting with Secretary of State John Kerry warned:
I reminded him that he said that no deal is better than a bad deal. And the deal that is being discussed in Geneva right now is a bad deal. It's a very bad deal. Iran is not required to take apart even one centrifuge. But the international community is relieving sanctions on Iran for the first time after many years. Iran gets everything that it wanted at this stage and pays nothing. And this is when Iran is under severe pressure. I urge Secretary Kerry not to rush to sign, to wait, to reconsider, to get a good deal. But this is a bad deal, a very, very, bad deal. It's the deal of a century for Iran; it's a very dangerous and bad deal for peace and the international community.
Economy and Commerce Minister Naftali Bennett was even more direct, even raising the prospect of an Iranian nuclear bomb destroying New York City:
These critical days in November will be remembered for years to come. The Free World stands before a fork in the road with a clear choice: Either stand strong and insist Iran dismantles its nuclear-weapons program, or surrender, cave in and allow Iran to retain its 18,500 centrifuges. Years from now, when an Islamic terrorist blows up a suitcase in New York, or when Iran launches a nuclear missile at Rome or Tel Aviv, it will have happened only because a Bad Deal was made during these defining moments.
Like in a boxing match, Iran's regime is currently on the floor. The count is just seconds away from 10. Now is the time to step up the pressure and force Iran to dismantle its nuclear program. Not to let it up. It would be dangerous to lift the sanctions and accept a deal which allows Iran to retain its entire uranium-production line. It would be dangerous because Iran would, a year, two or three from now, just turn everything back on and obtain a nuclear weapon before the world can do anything to stop it. It is not enough to shut off the centrifuges. They need to be completely dismantled. We call upon the West to avoid signing a Bad Deal.
Israel's responsibility is to ensure the security of its citizens and that is exactly what we will do. We will never outsource our security.
On the Palestinian issue, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon took the lead:
There is no need to fear threats of whether there will or won't be a third intifada. We have been in an open and ongoing conflict [with the Palestinians], which as far as the Palestinians are concerned does not end in 1967 lines. There is Sheikh Munis, [their name for] Tel Aviv, Majdal, [their name for] Ashkelon. We got out of the Gaza Strip and they continue to attack us. They raise their youth to believe that Haifa and Acre are Palestinian ports and more. There is no sign of compromise here. We will have to be smart, and not fear threats of whether there will or won't be a third intifada.
I wrote before the last presidential election that "Israel's troubles will really begin" should Obama win second term. At Obama's second inauguration, I predicted that he, "freed from re-election constraints, can finally express his early anti-Zionist views after a decade of political positioning. Watch for a markedly worse tone from the second Obama administration toward the third Netanyahu government."
That moment is now upon us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/08/2013
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Unexpectedly!
A method of storing supposedly harmful greenhouse gases by injecting them below ground has likely triggered a series of earthquakes in Texas, some larger than magnitude 3, a U.S. study said Monday, the first time that carbon storage has been linked to temblors ranging from 3.0 to 4.4 in severity.
Water injection could not have explained these quakes, which came after a period of 24 years in which no earthquakes were detected, the researchers said. The study was funded by the U.S. Geological Survey and the National Natural Science Foundation of China. I wonder how this got past Champ's Censor Czar?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Fist, I'm not sure I believe this report. Second, why don't we find a way to inject carbon into the trees. They love the stuff. FInd a way to add it to your lawn and sell lawn products that save the Earth (just don't cut the grass I guess).
No need to find a way. CO2 at high PPM (parts per million) naturally cause trees/plants to metabolize and transpire much more efficiently resulting in faster and increased growth.
#5
--- Fracking as part of oil & NG production is also being blamed for earthquakes.
--- Isn't it likely that deliberately triggering small earthquakes may actually be SAFER than letting Mother Nature take her own way & having an occasional massive quake?
#1
Usually an apology is followed with some sort of action to rectify the situation. But instead we get an apology and a 'no worries you all will love this big government program once we work out the kinks'
#2
Obviously we didnt do a good enough job in terms of how we crafted the law," Obama said in the interview Thursday. "And, you know, thats something I regret. Thats something were gonna do everything we can to get fixed ... Were looking at a range of options.
#3
I listened to that "Apolpgy" on radio, he apologized that people were having trouble, not that HE CAUSED THE TROUBLE, what a cop out, not really an apology at all, just another wussing OUT.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/08/2013 18:05
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#4
he never acknowledged his repeated bald-faced lie. Not an apology. F*ck him
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/08/2013 21:04
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#5
Back the original Trunk amendment to grandfather those who had pre-Obamacare coverage or delay for a year. However, you won't do either, so the apology has an effective range of 0 meters.
[Rooters] This really fails the smell test. I never had a systems administration person ask me for my password. I suspect hacking. Even if true, why would the employee then not immediately change his PW to protect himself. Yup. I think this is a little Russian 'wolf meat'...
An initial deal to curb Iran's nuclear program in exchange for sanctions relief seemed likely to be signed as early as Friday, after US Secretary of State John Kerry, French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius, British Foreign Secretary William Hague and German Foreign Minister Guido Westerwelle were asked to arrive in Geneva at the invitation of EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton.
Before leaving for Geneva, Kerry met with Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Friday morning for the third time in barely 48 hours, to discuss the impending deal.
Netanyahu said that Iran was getting "the deal of the century" and warned that signing a "first step" deal would bury "the possibility of having a peaceful resolution." Sold out, again
[Business Insider] Based on yes, another Rolling Stones article and unproven allegations, we now have a scapegoat for both a lack of victory and the failure to achieve Status of Forces Agreement (SOFA) for the upcoming withdrawal from AFG. The systematic destruction of our elite fighting forces provides another convenient benefit to the administration.
#1
Excellent propaganda piece from Rolling Stone again. What is "Progress" in one of the most "regressed" nations on earth? Just what the USA has gained from its intervention in Afghanistan is somehow never discussed.
[Al Ahram] Greek riot police burst into the headquarters of former public broadcaster ERT early Thursday and forcibly removed employees who had been occupying the site since its shock shutdown five months ago.
ERT's closure in June sparked an international outcry and nearly brought down the coalition government in debt-laden Greece, which has been implementing painful public-sector restructuring in return for international bailout loans.
Riot police jumped over fences and bust open locks as they stormed the building in the northern Athens suburb of Aghia Paraskevi in the early hours, going room-to-room to clear the premises, witnesses said.
"From what I saw from the cameras they broke the lock of the main entrance at 4:20 am (0220 GMT)," ERT security guard Nikos Kounoupis told AFP.
"They started jumping in from the metal gates from the sides. They also broke the door of the side entrance. They started running inside."
A representative of the ERT employees' union Pospert, Nikos Tsimbidas, told AFP as he was bundled into a police car that he had been enjugged Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! . Thursday's police raid is likely to cause more outrage in the country, which in January assumes the helm of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... 's rotating six-month presidency.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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At a Coachella Valley High School football game, you may be surprised to see belly dancers performing at halftime shows. Spectators also will find a snarling mascot wearing a headscarf firing up fans to root for the team.
This mascot has existed for nearly a century, but has now drawn the anger of an anti-discrimination group that calls the caricature offensive and stereotypical.
The American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee recently sent a letter to school district officials asking them to get rid of the mascot. It said, By allowing continued use of the term and imagery, you are commending and enforcing the negative stereotypes of an entire ethnic group, millions of whom are citizens of this nation."
Superintendent Darryl Adams said the topic will be discussed at the next school board meeting. He said he was surprised by the Arab name when he first was hired. He said, Being an African-American from the Deep South, Im sensitive to stereotyping. But in this context, when this was created it was not meant in that way. It was totally an admiration of the connection with the Middle East.
The Arab mascot has been around since the 1920's and was a recognition of the areas reliance on date farming, traditionally a Middle Eastern crop. The nearby community of Mecca also pays tribute to the Middle East.
#2
Ship - in a somewhat related note - the local Catholic HS's mascot is the "Crusaders" and a small, but vocal, group of parents petitioned the Bishop to change the mascot to a more PC form.
The Bishop responded by saying something to the effect of; "The Church has no interest in embracing the latest fashions."
#3
In the 90's the UN regularly put out studies highlighting the appalling backwardness of the Muslim world. More books translated into Greek each year than in the entire Arab world. More patents to Israelis each year than to all the Arab world for all time combined. That sort of thing.
Now of course we can't say a derogatory thing about Islam in public and our school children are forced to pray to 'allah' as part of their 'multicultural studies.
By any measure the 9/11 attack was a strategic success almost without equal in human history.
#4
As a member of the League of Americans of Mixed European Ancestry but Mainly Northern and Western European or LAMEAMNWE, I am appalled by the Notre Dame mascot of a fighting Irishman. It is a horrible caraciture that depicts the Irish as drunken brawlers upholding the negative stereotype of the Irish as drunken brawlers.
P. S.
is it still ok to say Irishman? I know one can't say Chinaman anymore. It's so hard keeping up with the PC fads these days.
[Al Ahram] The State Commissioners Authority has adjourned a case brought by relatives of protesters killed during the December 2011 Cabinet festivities until 5 December 2013.
The lawsuit was filed to repeal a decree by ex-president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... granting immunity to former military council leader Field Marshal Tantawi, his former deputy General Sami Anan, and former military police commander General Hamdi Badeen over the incident.
The Authority adjourned the case after appointing the State Lawsuits Authority to review a report on the festivities by the Second Revolution Fact-Finding Committee.
The committee was formed by Mohammed Morsi shortly after he became president.
Its final report has not been released despite being finished several months ago.
The Cabinet festivities between protesters and security forces resulted in the killing of at least 17 people and hundreds of injured.
Several lawsuits have been filed against Tantawi and Anan accusing them of being responsible for the killing of protesters at Maspero, Mahmoud Mahmoud Street and the Cabinet building.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] Moroccan politicians have drafted a bill threatening jail terms for sexual harassment that will soon be submitted to parliament, media reported on Thursday.
The proposed law would affect the author of "any unwelcome act against a third party in public spaces, whether an act, remark or gesture of a sexual nature, or intended to obtain a sexual act," said Arabic-language daily Al-Massae.
Prison terms ranging from two months to two years and fine of between 1,000 and 3,000 dirhams (90-270 euros/$122-365) are envisaged.
The jail sentence could be extended to five years if the victim is "a work colleague" or "under the supervision of the person responsible for the incriminating act," the paper reported.
At its weekly meeting on Thursday, the government indicated that a commission chaired by Islamist premier Abdelilah Benkirane would "revise this bill before re-submitting it to the cabinet."
It would not become law until approved by both chambers of parliament.
Former family and social development minister Nouzha Skalli hailed "the arrival of this long-awaited bill," when contacted by Agence La Belle France Presse.
"I regret that women's rights groups have not been involved in drafting the bill," said the MP, adding that marital rape was not covered by the text.
As in numerous other Arab countries, notably Egypt, sexual harassment of women is commonplace in Morocco, despite the adoption of a new constitution in 2011 which enshrines gender equality and urges the state to promote it.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[An Nahar] Tunisian lawyers on Thursday said the weapon used to kill a prominent opposition MP came from the interior ministry, which they said was concealing a probe into the liquidation.
The interior ministry rejected the accusation and condemned what it called "a systematic smear campaign" targeting the security apparatus.
Secular opposition leader Chokri Belaid was bumped off outside his Tunis home in early February, in a brazen daytime killing that triggered a major political crisis in the birthplace of the Arab Spring.
The group of lawyers claiming to seek the truth about Belaid's murder said that on May 29 the ministry received the results of an inquiry carried out by a Dutch forensic organization at the request of the Tunisian judiciary.
"The ministry concealed the report and didn't hand it to the judiciary," Mokhtar Trifi, former president of the Tunisian League for the Defense of Human Rights, told news hounds.
The group of lawyers identified seven ministry employees whom it said were implicated in the cover up, including Interpol representatives in Tunisia.
In a report distributed to the press, the group said that Belaid was shot with a 9mm Beretta pistol, a weapon it claimed was only used in Tunisia by interior ministry personnel.
The interior ministry denied the accusations on its Facebook page.
"The interior ministry insists that police and National Guard units do not possess the type of weapon mentioned in the Dutch report as was claimed," it said.
The interior ministry has blamed Islamist hard boyz for the killing of Belaid and another leftist opposition MP, Mohammed Brahmi, on July 25, saying the same weapon was used in each attack.
Both liquidations prompted thousands of protesters to take to the streets demanding the fall of Tunisia's Islamist-led government, which has been sharply criticized for failing to curb a surge in jihadist violence.
Belaid's murder eventually forced the resignation of Islamist prime minister Hamadi Jebali, and Tunisian political life remains paralyzed by the crisis that followed Brahmi's killing.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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[Pak Daily Times] State Minister for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education Engineer Balighur Rehman has said that his government is focusing on reinventing education for life so that education could be transformed into a meaningful activity.
The minister, who recently attended an international summit on education in Doha, appreciated a fund launched at the meeting to provide financial assistance as well as expertise and training to institutions working for the promotion of education.
"Pakistain will benefit from 'The Future of Fund' to improve education, especially for girls, involving innovative ideas," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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[MYFOXNY] The family of a 3-year-old killed in a northern Missouri house fire says it is outraged after police used a stun gun on the boy's stepfather as he tried to run back in and save the child.
Riley Miller died early Oct. 31 in the Mississippi River town of Louisiana. A city police officer fired his stun gun at Ryan Miller as he tried to re-enter his burning home, which was destroyed.
Grandmother Lori Miller says she witnessed two officers use the stun gun three times, twice after Ryan Miller had been handcuffed.
Miller suffered chest burns and was later released from the city jail without being charged.
The family says it is considering legal action against the city.
City Administrator Bob Jenne called the police response a "judgment call."
I get this in a way -- police didn't want to see dad die in the fire, and they're trained to keep people from running into burning buildings. Apparently no details on whether the boy could have been saved at that point.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Luckily, the father did not suffer cardiac arrest and die from the combined trauma of his son's fate and the stun gun.
#2
If this was a legit fire, and enough time had elapsed that people got out, police showed up and had time to organize enough to prevent re-entry, I'd agree that the house was already gone due to smoke and fumes at the least. Its where the details of how involved at that point.
#3
A father has a right to risk his life to save his son, period. You shouldn't need a state risk assessment or the approval of a bureaucratic gatekeeper before reacting. My son, my life - please get the hell out the way.
But again it was said, details in the article are lackluster.
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... delivered on Thursday a grim warning to Israel that failure to make peace with the Paleostinians could trigger a new uprising.
"The alternative to getting back to the talks is the potential of chaos," Kerry said in a joint interview with Israel's Channel 2 and the Paleostinian Broadcasting Corporation.
"I mean, does Israel want a third intifada?" the top U.S. diplomat asked, using the Arabic word for uprising.
The first Paleostinian uprising against the Israeli occupation ran from 1987 to 1993, and was followed by a second one from late 2000 to 2005 in which rights groups estimated 3,000 Paleostinian and 1,000 Israeli civilians and troops died.
Kerry was speaking on his seventh trip to Israel and the West Bank as he seeks to put the troubled Israeli-Paleostinian peace negotiations back on track.
Angered by continued Israeli settlement building, the Paleostinians earlier this week threatened to pull out of the talks which only resumed three months ago after a three-year hiatus.
Kerry has slammed the settlements as illegitimate and said new construction should be limited.
He repeated grim predictions he made earlier this year that if Israel fails to make peace it will only find itself increasingly isolated by the international community.
"If we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel, there will be an increasing campaign of de-legitimization of Israel that's been taking place in an international basis," he said in a clip of the interview, shown ahead of the full broadcast.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
If we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel, there will be an increasing campaign of de-legitimization of Israel that's been taking place in an international basis,
Hey Jawn, in 4000 years we've been threatened by experts.
#5
If we do not find a way to find peace, there will be an increasing isolation of Israel
Cuba being (for obvious reasons) the exception, isolation generally facilitates the incubation of innovation and discovery. No 'dancing in the End Zone' g(r)om ;-)
#14
Saudi Arabia, Iran's chief rival for regional influence, has made clear to Washington that it does not like the signs of a possible U.S.-Iran rapprochement.
With Champ voting "Present" will the Saudis look elsewhere for support? Like Russia? But Putin is Iran's friend, right? What if Pootie has to choose?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/08/2013 17:16
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#15
Putin will chose Iran of course. From Russia's perspective Saudi Arabia is a player, while Iran is a playmate.
[An Nahar] A Paleostinian man was rubbed out Thursday by Israeli forces after attacking Israelis with fireworks at a junction south of the West Bank city of Nablus, Israeli police said.
The man "opened fire with large fireworks in the direction of the junction where (Israeli) people stood," front man Micky Rosenfeld told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Security personnel at the scene fired a number of shots at the suspect. He was pronounced dead at the scene," he said.
A statement from the Israeli army said that "a Paleostinian shot up a civilian bus stop at Tapuah Junction near Ariel, using an improvised weapon."
"In order to prevent casualties, IDF (Israel Defense Forces) soldiers in the area opened fire towards the terrorist. A hit was identified," read the statement.
A police statement said sappers were checking the body to see if there were explosives on it.
Paleostinian security officials said Israel had notified them of the incident, but had no details on the man's identity.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Fireworks are illegal here too, but all the cops usually do is confiscate them and take them home for their kids to shoot off; it's not a capital offense.
[Al Ahram] Britain's enemies are rubbing their hands with glee about former U.S. intelligence contractor Edward Snowden's leaks to the media, one of Britain's spy chiefs said on Thursday. "The leaks from Snowden have been very damaging, they've put our operations at risk. It's clear that our adversaries are rubbing their hands with glee, al Qaeda is lapping it up," John Sawers, the head of MI6, Britain's foreign intelligence service, told parliament.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"put our operations at risk" is gov-speak, just as the FDA says "unapproved drugs present current risks...We don't know what's in them. We don't know if they're going to work properly. We don't know how they're made and that's a real concern."
--- Where can the juicy details of actual harmful results of the Snowden leaks be found? Did he name under cover operatives, for example?
[An Nahar] Dozens of government troops have been killed during a rebel ambush in Sudan's Darfur, a regional analyst said on Thursday, confirming an unusually high toll for the troubled region.
There were "huge" casualties on the government side, numbering in the "dozens", although exact figures were unclear, the analyst told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
Rebels were also killed, though in lesser numbers, he added.
The Minni Minnawi faction of the Sudan Liberation Army, and the Sudanese military, both said a clash occurred last Sunday about 50 kilometers (30 miles) southwest of El Fasher, the capital of North Darfur state.
"We killed 200 regime troops," said Abdullah Moursal, front man for the Minnawi faction.
He also said rebels seized about two dozen vehicles from government forces in the battle a few kilometers outside Tabit town.
"Yes, they tried to ambush a SAF convoy but we defeated them, and the convoy continued on its journey," said Sawarmi Khaled Saad, the Sudan Armed Forces front man.
He said he had no details on casualties.
Death tolls in the dozens, or even higher, are more common during Darfur's inter-ethnic militia fighting rather than government-rebel festivities.
The inter-ethnic tribal fighting, mostly involving Arab groups, has been the main cause of an upsurge of violence in Sudan's far-west Darfur region this year.
The Sudan Liberation Army and other non-Arab rebels have been battling the government for 10 years in Darfur.
The conflict was sparked by what they considered domination of Sudan's power and wealth by Arab elites.
In the latest tribal fighting, more than 20 people died on October 27 when the Misseriya and Salamat tribes clashed near Mukjar town in Central Darfur, the U.N.'s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Thursday in its latest weekly bulletin.
The Salamat and Misseriya have been fighting on-and-off for months, with more than 170 people killed, according to reports received by the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
Two peace agreements during that time have failed to halt the tit-for-tat violence.
"Fighting between the Salamat and Misseriya tribes continues to be a major security concern in the localities of Umm Dukhun, Mukjar and Bindisi in Central Darfur," OCHA said in its bulletin.
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[BBC.CO.UK] Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has apologised for a video of him making threats to commit "first-degree murder" against an unknown person.
The leader of Canada's biggest city told reporters he had been "extremely inebriated" in the clip, which shows him apparently blowing off steam.
It is the latest video controversy to engulf the mayor, who admitted this week having smoked crack cocaine.
Councillors are stepping up their calls for Mr Ford, 44, to resign.
The latest footage looks as though it was secretly filmed on a mobile phone.
An agitated Mr Ford paces a room gesticulating during a foul-mouthed rant.
'Extremely embarrassing'
The context of the clip is not clear, nor is the target of Mr Ford's wrath.
He vows to rip out the person's throat, poke out his eyes and ensure his victim is dead.
He vows to rip out the person's throat, poke out his eyes and ensure his victim is dead.
The mayor appears upset at someone who has called him and his brothers "liars, thieves".
"No hold barred, brother," Mr Ford says in a raised voice. "He dies or I die."
An off-camera voice eggs on Mr Ford, saying: "Mike Tyson!"
After viewing the clip outside his office on Thursday, Mr Ford told reporters: "It's extremely embarrassing and I don't know what to say."
"I hope none of you have ever or will ever be in that state," the mayor told members of the media.
"The whole world is going to see it," he said of the clip.
Drink problem
Allegations of drug use by Mr Ford surfaced in May when journalists reported seeing footage of him smoking crack cocaine.
After months of ducking the question, Mr Ford acknowledged on Tuesday for the first time that he had taken the drug "probably a year ago" while in a "drunken stupor".
He said he was "embarrassed" by his behaviour, but vowed to run for re-election.
The mayor has not been charged, but city police chief Bill Blair has said authorities are in possession of a video that apparently shows Mr Ford smoking crack.
On Sunday, Mr Ford admitted on his radio show that he had a drinking problem.
He acknowledged having been "hammered" at a street festival in August and "out of control" drunk at city hall during St Patrick's Day celebrations last year.
Mr Ford's allies on the city council say they have lost confidence in him.
But officials in North America's fourth largest city cannot legally remove the mayor unless he is convicted of a crime.
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#1
Sad state of affairs when being "extremely drunk" is the excuse rather than the accusation.
#3
See David Warren on the subject. "Quite frankly, we tried mayors who were not crackheads. They didnt work out. Also, the last one didnt drink enough. "
Posted by: James ||
11/08/2013 21:29
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#4
I was extremely drunk when I started smoking crack and threatened to murder somebody.
#2
We'll 'do it for the children' first, then released convicts, then Teaparty insurrectionists, then the general population. Hopefully the NSA Utah Data Center can handle the volume.
#4
The photo of Schumer (D) evokes the image of the Joker in Batman. Are you certain New York didn't elect the Joker as their U.S. Senator?
Schumer wants the DOJ to fund these devices? Why is that the government's job? How about freezing new legislation for a several years? How about rolling back existing legislation and regulations for several years? The current debt/citizen is $54,037. Isn't that fiscal enslavement of the children, grandchildren and great grandchildren? Isn't that cruelty and child abuse by the government foisted on the children? Maybe our Congresscritters should have to wear GPS devices so we know where these serial child abusers are at any give time.
#5
How about GPS devices for all current and former congresscritters so we can track them down at any time with a little app for your smartphone or tablet?
[An Nahar] The parliamentary telecommunications committee will hold an emergency meeting on Monday to tackle the recent spying stations installed by Israel along its border with Leb as caretaker Telecom Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui considered the matter "violation of the country's illusory sovereignty."
The head of the Committee, MP Hassan Fadlallah, said in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Thursday that the meeting will be held in presence of Sehnaoui and a specialized team in addition to the Foreign Ministry representative.
"No respectable country would accept these spying stations along its border, which is a clear, blatant violation and requires action on all levels to confront it," Fadlallah told the newspaper.
Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... revealed on Wednesday that Israel had set up a number of spying stations along its border with Leb, starting from al-Naqoura passing by Khiyam all the way to Shebaa."
The biggest espionage station is allegedly installed in al-Abbad and Jal al-Alam areas, which are located near the U.N. demarcated Blue line.
Sehnaoui told As Safir newspaper that the spying stations allows Israelis to detect everything from vibrations and waves and could breach the phone cables.
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#1
If Israel is doing it from within it's borders and any rf radiation is under brain/body danger limits... tough titties. Anybody can look out of their own space. If it bothers you then figure out how to build a privacy fence.
[BREITBART] Heart-clogging trans fats were once a staple of the American diet, plentiful in baked goods, microwave popcorn and fried foods. Now, mindful of the health risks, the Food and Drug Administration is getting rid of what's left of them for good.
Like the health risks of salt. Oh wait -- after a generation of screaming about salt ingestion, they finally admitted the excess washes out like all water soluble substances. Or that food pyramid we all studied in health class, the one that had a small amount of meat at the top and a large layer of grains... only that has led to the current obesity and metabolic syndrome health crisis. The FDA really needs to concentrate on certifying that prescription meds work -- our prescription costs would fall significantly if they just did the job they're supposed to do.
Condemning artificial trans fats as a threat to public health, the FDA announced Thursday it will require the food industry to phase them out.
Manufacturers already have eliminated many trans fats, responding to criticism from the medical community and to local laws, Even so, the FDA said getting rid of the rest _ the average American still eats around a gram of trans fat a day _ could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.
It won't happen right away. The agency will collect comments for two months before determining a phase-out timetable. Different foods may have different schedules, depending how easy it is to find substitutes.
"We want to do it in a way that doesn't unduly disrupt markets," said Michael Taylor, FDA's deputy commissioner for foods. Still, he says, the food "industry has demonstrated that it is, by and large, feasible to do."
Indeed, so much already has changed that most people won't notice much difference, if any, in food they get at groceries or restaurants.
Scientists say there are no health benefits to trans fats. And they can raise levels of "bad" cholesterol, increasing the risk of heart disease, the leading cause of death in the United States. Trans fats are widely considered the worst kind for your heart, even worse than saturated fats, which also can contribute to heart disease.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
could prevent 20,000 heart attacks and 7,000 deaths each year.
I bet not forcing the cancellation of millions of health insurance policies would have had the same salutary effects. Or better.
Odd, isn't it, this idea that if the government did LESS, things might be better.
#4
The FDA really needs to concentrate on certifying that prescription meds work -- our prescription costs would fall significantly if they just did the job they're supposed to do.
Uh, no, it doesn't always work out that way. Colchicine has been used since 1500 BC. FDA recently required it be "certified" that it works. The end result of this was not "safety" for consumers but "profit" for the sole rentier-company which the FDA granted the exclusive right to sell the drug at a HUGE price increase.
Colchicine has been used to treat gout and other inflammatory conditions for thousands of years. How could one company gain a monopoly?
There are about 1,000 medications on the market that predate the existence of the Food and Drug Administration and therefore were never approved. FDA official Deborah Autor spoke to CBS News as head of the office of unapproved drugs. "Well, for me, unapproved drugs present current risks," Autor said. "We don't know what's in them. We don't know if they're going to work properly. We don't know how they're made and that's a real concern."
Hundreds of thousands of people take Colchicine each year. The FDA said over the past 40 years, 169 deaths have been linked to the medication. A company called URL Pharma decided it would take the ancient drug, sold for 10 cents a pill, and test it as part of an FDA program to either approve these drugs or get them off the market.
#6
FDA is called the "Food" and "Drug" Administration for a reason. I think banning artificial trans fats in foods is something entirely within the purview of its authority. Natural trans fats are an entirely different "beast", and I anxiously await documentation of the harms the natural forms produce in the population at large. Meanwhile bakeries can face the oh-the-horror of producing pastries & cakes without artificial trans fats.
#7
OTOH, I don't believe the EPA has any legitimate authority to control CO2 emissions, and that this was not within the intent of the legislation authorizing the EPA.
The current Congressional dysfunction however means that gay rights legislation is considered of ultimate importance to that gang of fools, while writing a national budget or reining in executive branch over-reach is off the table, and cannot even be discussed in polite / politically correct company.
#10
Hundreds of thousands of people take Colchicine each year.
I was one of those, for a little while - a gout flare-up. The doc warned me about this change, and surenuff, my insurance company paid about $4.50 for each tiny little purple pill. I feel so much safer knowing the Feds think it's OK.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/08/2013 14:05
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I find this policy to be in direct conflict with the legalization of marijuana.
A village leader in Narathiwat's Muang district was gunned down while riding his motorcycle yesterday morning by a man in a pickup truck. Abdulloh Da-oh was fatally shot three times in the torso. Police blame the shooting on the insurgency in the far South.
Separately, a motorcycle bomb exploded in Narathiwat's Rangae district on Wednesday, killing one soldier instantly. The death toll rose to two yesterday when another soldier died from his injuries. Six victims remain hospitalized and one of them had to have his left leg amputated.
An ongoing investigation showed that the motorcycle used in the blast had been stolen from a policeman who was gunned down two years ago. The main suspect behind this blast has been identified as Manu Mama, who is on the lam. Manu is believed to be behind several violent incidents, including a bomb attack on October 19, in which several security officials and reporters were wounded.
In Yala province, police found burning tires and bomb-like items at several locations yesterday. Police said the items - namely electrical wires bound with adhesive tape - were possibly used to spread fear.
The chairman of the nationalist Liberal Democratic Party of Russia (LDPR) and Russian State Duma deputy speaker Vladimir Zhirinovsky has sparked outrage from North Caucasus officials by making pejorative remarks about the region. On a TV talk show late last month, Zhirinovsky advocated putting up a barbed wire fence to separate the North Caucasus from the rest of the Russian Federation and taking measures to reduce the birth rate there, which included imposing a financial penalty for the birth of a third child
The first regional official to condemn Zhirinovsky was Chechen leader Ramzan Kadyrov. In an Instagram post on October 26, two days after the remark, Kadyrov dismissed Zhirinovsky as "immoral and irresponsible" and "a pitiful nonentity" motivated by hatred, not just for the peoples of the Caucasus, but Russians, too.
Meanwhile, the Chechen parliament met in an emergency session and unanimously approved a proposal to lodge a formal protest with the State Duma. Chechen lawmakers also resolved to draft individual appeals to other Russian officials, stressing that criminal charges of inciting inter-ethnic hatred and calling for the destruction of Russian statehood should be brought against Zhirinovsky.
It was only October 31 that the parliaments of Dagestan and Kabardino-Balkaria adopted statements denouncing Zhirinovsky and demanding disciplinary action against him. The reasons for that delay are unclear. It is conceivable that the Russian leadership has finally lost patience with Zhirinovsky and intends to discipline him, but did not want to do so solely in response to demands from Grozny so as not to substantiate the supposition that Kadyrov has already become the tail that wags the Kremlin dog.
[Al Ahram] Reports of sexual assaults in the US military increased by an unprecedented 46 percent during the last fiscal year, the Defense Department said Thursday. It wasn't possible to know whether the jump represented an increase in assaults, an increase in the percentage of people reporting them, or both. Defense Department officials portrayed the increase as a sign that people are more confident about coming forward now that improvements are being made to the military's system for handling assaults.
There were 3,553 sexual assault complaints from October 2012 through June, compared to 2,434 reports during the same period the previous year, according to statistics presented at the start of a two-day public meeting of an independent panel looking into the issue
An increase in reports was registered across all service branches -- Army, Navy, Air Force and Marines. While statistics for the full fiscal year are not yet available, there were more reports of sexual assault in the first three quarters of fiscal year 2013 than the 3,374 reported during the entire 2012 budget year.
Despite official data reported annually on sexual assaults, the Pentagon acknowledges that the actual number of assaults could be several times higher and that many assaults go uncounted because of reluctance in the military, as in the civilian sector, to report such crimes.
The department in recent years has started a number of programs aimed at boosting the confidence of victims, including holding awareness training across the forces and adding legal help and more social services for those reporting assaults.
The new data and Thursday's public meeting comes just weeks before the Senate is expected to take up a proposal to change how the military justice system deals with sexual assaults. The proposed legislation would remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial, and it would give that authority to seasoned trial lawyers who have prosecutorial experience and hold the rank of colonel or higher.
Military leaders have argued that removing the decision from their purview would undercut the ability of officers to maintain good order and discipline in their units.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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The department in recent years has started a number of programs aimed at boosting the confidence of victims...
How about reducing the number of victims by acknowledging the crime and punishing the perps?
#2
Perhaps gender specific tasks could be assigned to reduce the frequency male-female interactions and contacts. Consider the establishment of professional female corps, designed specifically for meeting the service needs.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/08/2013 5:54
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Valid point Sam. Perhaps a few LGBT regiments should be organized as well. Keeping the Duck Dynasty types to themselves would no doubt reduce the incidents of assault even further.
#6
CF, and being gay/LGBT friendly is much more important than being ready to fight.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/08/2013 10:09
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I'm still trying to figure how the rates are going up when they're nattering continuously on preventing sexual assault?
Have the soldiers changed? Or has the definition of sexual assault changed?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013 10:29
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Sexual assult in the modern military is defined as any unwanted touching of "private parts". Very broad interpretation there.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/08/2013 10:33
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The problem of sexual assaults in the military has been around a very long time and I find it very hard to believe it has gotten worse all of a sudden.
This kind of behavior is not subject to large year on year fluctuations. The change is more likely due to sudden increase in reporting or changes in definition.
It is also likely due to political appointees actively looking for these complaints.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/08/2013 12:13
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The proposed legislation would remove commanders from the process of deciding whether serious crimes, including sexual misconduct cases, go to trial, and it would give that authority to seasoned trial lawyers who have prosecutorial experience and hold the rank of colonel or higher.
#11
Only speculation. But maybe it's just they are starting to get so PC they're punishing petty shit like pissing in public and nudey centerfolds - terming it sexual assault.
#13
Truth is, it does happen. And they do tend to cover it up if its a higher up. I met a Navy Cheif in mental care for PTSD. It was from a rape that was not prosecuted because she was threatened with the end of her career if she reported it. It was played off as "it was consensual" despite the black eye and bruising. Civilian world medical persons are required to do the rape kit and report it. Not so in the Navy apparently. Not if there's enough command influence.
Sources say Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will. While the kingdom's quest has often been seen in the context of circumventing Iran's atomic program, it now seems possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic.
Earlier this year, a senior NATO decision maker saod that he had seen intelligence reports that nuclear weapons made in Pakistan on behalf of Saudi Arabia now stand ready for delivery.
Last month a former head of Israeli military intelligence, Amos Yadlin, told a conference that if Iran got the bomb, "the Saudis will not wait one month. They already paid for the bomb, they will go to Pakistan and bring what they need to bring."
Gary Samore, until March 2013 President Obama's WMD tsar, said, "I do think that the Saudis believe that they have some understanding with Pakistan that, in extremis, they would have claim to acquire nuclear weapons from Pakistan."
Posted by: ryuge ||
11/08/2013
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#1
So we don't have to nuke Iran and we don't have to nuke the Soddies. All we have to do is sit back and watch them nuke each other.
H/T Drudge, Netanyahu says deal that Kerry is about to negotiate with Iran is a very, very bad deal. But then, what can we expect from Baraq Hussein?
#2
From a Saudi point of view, getting their own nukes makes sense, and they can most likely afford to pay for them.
From a traditional US point of view, nuke proliferation will lead to disaster, one way or the other. Do not discuss this!
#3
I realize the point of having nuke weapons is to not use them, but I can't help wondering: if push came to shove, would you bet the farm on technology stamped Made in Pakistain?
[Al Ahram] Twenty Egyptian human rights organisations published a joint statement on Thursday arguing that a draft counter-terrorism bill currently under consideration would reinstate the "police state" in Egypt if implemented. The statement claims that the counter-terrorism law, drafted by the interior ministry in September, would "serve as the legal basis for the re-establishment of the police state" which arguably controlled the country before the January 2011 popular uprising that ousted longtime autocrat Hosni Mubarak.
Among the signatories of Thursday's statement were the Egyptian Initiative for Personal Rights (EIPR), The Hisham Mubarak Law Centre, the Cairo Institute for Human Rights Studies, and the Arabic Network for Human Rights information.
"Continuing the same practices of the Mubarak regime, such as setting aside the principle of rule of law and resorting instead to repressive security measures and exceptional laws which undermine human rights and the foundations of the rule of law, will only serve to increase the occurrence of acts of armed violence and terrorism," the statement read.
According to the statement, the current bill broadens the definition of "terrorist acts" to those activities that are not essentially related to terrorism, including "disrupting the authorities from carrying out some of their activities," "[carrying out] acts which seek to hinder the implementation of the constitution or the law" and "preventing educational institutions from carrying out their work." An "act of terrorism," as defined by the proposed bill, also extends to "any behavior which damages the communications or information systems, the financial systems, or the national economy," the statement adds.
Such broad provisions could open the way to harassment of "peaceful political opposition members, human rights activists, and a broad range of groups working to defend democracy and human rights," the human rights organisations stated.
Egypt has witnessed a volatile security situation since former president Mohamed Morsi was ousted in July amidst mass protests against his rule. Since Morsi's ouster, attacks against police stations, security forces and state installations have increased.
Militants in Egypt's restive Sinai Peninsula have stepped up attacks against security forces in the north, prompting the army to launch a major counterinsurgency operation in the region. Churches have also come under attack nationwide, as extremist Islamists often hold Christians responsible for Morsi's overthrow.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Eqypt has varied between dictatorship, police state and a war of all against all. Hillary would say, "What difference does it make?"
[Pak Daily Times] A driver of a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions... supply vehicle got injured when unknown hard boyz opened fire on it at bypass road of tehsil Jamrud, sub-division of Khyber Agency, official sources informed on Thursday. The sources said an Afghanistan-bound trailer bearing registration no. GLT-4086 loaded with NATO supply assignments was on its way to its destination in Afghanistan, as it was intercepted by unknown armed persons who opened indiscriminate fire on it. Resultantly, the driver of the truck identified as Wali Mohammad, resident of Landi kotal got injured, sources said. The hard boyz successfully managed to escape from the scene, sources said. Soon after the incident, the administration officials rushed to the spot and cordoned off the whole area and shifted the maimed to the nearest hospital. Subsequently six suspects were tossed in the calaboose Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! and sent to Jamrud lock up for investigation, sources said.
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[Pak Daily Times] Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon won a crushing victory in presidential elections to secure a fourth term at the helm of the poorest state in the former Soviet Union, the election commission said on Thursday.
Rakhmon won 83.6 percent in Wednesday's elections against five also-ran candidates, full results showed, an improvement even on his showing in the 2006 polls when he won 79.3 percent.
"The respected Emomali Rakhmon is re-elected president of the Republic of Tajikistan," election commission chief Shermukhammad Shokhiyon told news hounds in Dushanbe. With the presidential mandate now seven years, he is due to stay in power until 2020.
Rakhmon's nearest rival, Communist Party candidate Ismoil Talbakov, won just five percent of the vote. Turnout was an equally overwhelming 86.6 percent of voters, the election commission said.
The president -- who first came to power amid the chaos of the start of Tajikistan's civil war in 1992 -- now faces the task of coming good on election promises to lift the country bordering Afghanistan out of poverty and end its dire energy shortages.
In a tale all too familiar throughout Moslem but vehemently secular ex-Soviet Central Asia, the five candidates standing against Rakhmon were virtual unknowns even inside the country, each with next to no chance of victory.
Rakhmon's most significant potential rival, female rights lawyer Oinikhol Bobonazarova of the moderate opposition Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan, was unable to stand after narrowly failing to muster the signatures required to register her candidacy.
Bobonazarova gathered only 202,000 of the 210,000 signatures required that equates to five percent of the electorate.
Another main opposition party, the Social Democratic Party, said it boycotted the elections because of "a lack of democracy and transparency".
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[Pak Daily Times] With reinforcements expected, Somali and African forces fighting Shabaab forces of Evil speak confidently of victory, but analysts warn of tough battles ahead and say that military campaigns alone will not bring peace.
The al Qaeda linked Shabaab have fled a string of towns in the past two years ahead of the advancing African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... force in Somalia (AMISOM) -- fighting alongside Somalia's rag-tag army, various aligned militia forces and Æthiopian troops -- and commanders brag that the Islamists are on the back foot. "Al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... is standing on one leg, and we are doing our best to hack off that leg and liberate the small areas they still control," Somalia's Minister of Defence Abdihakim Haji Mohamud Fiqi told AFP.
"Their military strength is weakened, they are now launching just desperate attacks."
United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... Deputy Secretary-General Jan Eliasson said last month that AMISOM advances had "ground to a halt" because it lacked a sufficient number of troops. Diplomats say the UN Security Council is expected to soon authorise 4,000 more troops for the African Union force in Somalia, boosting the five-nation fighting force by a quarter to some 22,000 strong.
But even as the forces of Evil have lost ground, Shabaab commanders have increasingly developed the force's capability to carry out guerrilla attacks, regular events inside Somalia including storming a UN compound in June.
But they have also showed their ability to stage attacks in neighbouring Kenya, with the September massacre of shoppers and staff in Nairobi's upmarket Westgate mall in which at least 67 people were killed.
Repeatedly retreating ahead of advancing AU forces, choosing later to stage hit-and-run attacks, the Shabaab face a shrinking space to operate in openly, with key towns left in southern Somalia including the port of Barawe in Lower Shabelle, and the bastion of Badhere, in Gedo region. Commanders are hunted by US drones, with a missile strike last month killing a top suicide bomb-maker.
But according to a recent UN monitoring report, Shabaab have built up a powerful "Amniyat" secret service, under strict command of the hard boy's chief Ahmed Abdi Godane, a secretive and ruthless leader who Washington have offered a $7 million bounty for. "Even if international efforts to dismantle the group's fighting forces succeed, the chances that the cells under the leadership of Godane will continue operating is high," said Andrews Atta-Asamoah, of the South Africa-based Institute for Security Studies (ISS). "The ongoing military operation against the group might face a long fight."
In many frontline zones, territory patrolled during the day by AMISOM is controlled at night by Shabaab.
"AMISOM reinforcements -- especially if air capability is increased such as helicopter gunships -- will allow the force to take further towns," said a security expert working on Somalia. "But the more territory they take, the more supply lines will be stretched... the Shabaab continue to control rural areas in between."
In coming months, renewed AMISOM-led offensives against Shabaab's positions in southern Somalia will likely intensify, with the force optimistic extra troops can help it advance again. AMISOM, announced a fresh push last month in southern Somalia to "deny Al-Shabaab freedom of movement" and "reduce their ability" to carry out attacks. "Given additional troops... and given 'force multipliers' like helicopters and armoured vehicles, we shall be in position to defeat the Shabaab," said AMISOM front man Captain Deo Akiiki.
Long-term targets include seizing Barawe -- a reputed suicide commando training centre for the forces of Evil -- some 180 kilometres (110 miles) south of the capital Mogadishu. Taking Barawe would help cut coastal resupply routes and link up AU forces physically split between Mogadishu and the far south of Somalia. "Making the Shabaab lose access to sea is crucial, because at the moment they use Barawe as a supply route," Akiiki added, adding that capturing Barawe would "cut their veins".
At the same time, Somalia's central government is trying to improve collaboration with breakaway regions, notably the southern Jubaland zone, controlled by a warlord previously opposed to the rule of central government but who is also battling the Shabaab. "Taking territory from the Shabaab and targeting commanders is key, but that won't stop the hard core of the Shabaab continuing terrorist attacks," the security expert added. Others warn that alongside military assaults must be an attempt to talk to less radical elements.
"Radical elements within the leadership can be contained through the ongoing military solution," Atta-Asamoah added, but arguing that what is "really missing in the search for a solution is the question of opening dialogue" with those Shabaab who might switch sides.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Military solutions are a good way to get experienced troops and train up a cadre. The Sheboobs haven't got as much money and equipment. They tend to live in isolated areas where they can be contained and chewed up at a convenient rate.
In the long run what is their plan? Just staying alive and desperate boogah boogah. Even if the conflict drags on for a while who is getting killed? Just more Moslems. Sell the monkeys some ammunition. You are worried about the carnage? Fugedaboutit. PBUH is their middle name.
Swiss scientists have told a news conference that the late Palestinian leader Yasser Arafat did have radioactive polonium in his body. But although they acknowledge that he could have been poisoned, the experts have not confirmed that this was what killed the 75-year-old in 2004. And they have not attributed blame, either. In Gaza, one man interviewed on the street pointed to differences between Arafat and other Palestinian political leaders."Some say Mohamed Dahlan was behind the poisoning, others say Mahmoud Abbas. It is still unclear," he said. Why use polonium, which is expensive and hard to procure with a distinctive signature, and not rat poison, which is cheap and easily explained?
But ultimately, he blamed Israel. Naturally.
"We blame the occupation authorities who imposed a siege on him. And the occupation had agents everywhere and it is sure that they sent the poison that was placed in his food, via a collaborator."
Arafat's widow believes her husband was assassinated but the experts are cautious. At the news conference, they said the high levels of polonium found did indicate third party involvement. But they could not show categorically that polonium poisoning was the cause of death.
The Israeli government has denied any role in Arafat's death, officially caused by a massive stroke. A foreign ministry spokesman said: "This is more soap opera than science".
#7
I always thought Litvenenko's poisoning was a message--maybe that he became a black market billionaire with old stockpiles in the Soviet Union but Arafat's exposure would then show who he was dealing with...A lot of Russians parked their money on Cyprus, where Arafat was based a lot of years, until it imploded. They now have moved to the Sunny Carribee...where a lot of private telecommunications/banking info was dumped into the mailroom of the ICIJ...and a SK journalist roughed up while there to get a story on secret slush funds of Chun Doo-hwan. Just bet there is more to the story ...Suha might regret demanding a closer look...
[WORLD.TIME] Russian President Vladimir Putin is going to the Vatican to meet with Pope Francis on Nov. 25, the Vatican press office said Thursday. "Hey, Pope1 Howya doon?"
"Hiya, Waldemar! How you?"
The visit marks a warming of relations between the Vatican and Russia, which has in the past accused the Catholic Church of trying to poach converts in the wake of the fall of Soviet communism. Pope John Paul II never visited the country in his nearly three-decade tenure amid opposition from the Russian Orthodox Church.
Details of the meeting are forthcoming, but the Vatican press office said the Pope has been closely following developments in Syria, where Russia holds significant influence, and is likely to push for an end to the violence there.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The Pak Taliban appointed hardline holy manMullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... as their new chief Thursday and dismissed proposed peace talks with the government as a "waste of time".
Mullah Fazlullah, notorious for leading the bully boys' brutal two-year rule in Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... valley, was elected to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike last Friday.
The choice of Fazlullah by the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) ruling council appears to have sunk government plans for peace talks to try to end the bully boys' bloody six-year insurgency.
TTP front man Shahidullah Shahid said the new leader, nicknamed "Mullah Radio" for his fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... speeches over the airwaves, was "against peace talks".
"Holding of peace talks is not even an issue to discuss -- this government has no authority, it is not a sovereign government, it is a slave, a slave of America. Holding peace talks is a waste of time," Shahid told AFP. During Fazlullah's rule in his home area Swat, which began in 2007, the Taliban imposed a rigorous version of sharia, publicly beheading and flogging wrongdoers and burning schools. Fazlullah fled Swat when the army retook the valley in 2009 and is believed to have been in hiding in the mountains of eastern Afghanistan. Pakistain says he has directed attacks on its soil from across the border.
His men were blamed for beheading 17 Pak soldiers in a checkpost attack in June 2012, and he appeared in a video posted online in September claiming a kaboom that killed a major general. In another video he vowed to do whatever it took to enforce sharia across Pakistain. "We will eliminate anything that will get in the way of achieving this goal: father or brother, soldier or police, khan or malik (tribal elders) or mullah," he said in the undated footage. The TTP's caretaker leader Asmatullah Shaheen announced the appointment at a presser in a secret location in North Wazoo.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
Hope it doesn't take our drones as long to find Fazlullah as it did his predecessor, whom I think had to be killed several times.
[Al Ahram] The Kenyan army warned residents in Somalia's southern regions to stay clear of rebel bully boy camps and road blocks, hinting that new attacks against Islamist Death Eaters were imminent.
Last week, Kenya launched air strikes and a drone attack against al-Shabaab ... Somalia's version of the Taliban, functioning as an arm of al-Qaeda... rebels after the group grabbed credit for a raid by gunnies on a Nairobi shopping mall in September that killed at least 67 people.
"We ask good people of Somalia in areas of Gedo, Mid Juba and Lower Juba to stay far from al-Shabaab bases/camps/roadblocks," army front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said on social media.
A "round of visitations" was imminent, he said.
Chirchir declined further comment when contacted by Rooters.
A second front man, Colonel Cyrus Oguna, asked if this meant there were plans for new strikes, told Rooters: "We always have plans to attack a couple of places."
Kenya, which is fighting in Somalia under the banner of African Union ...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful... peacekeepers, said its war planes destroyed al-Shabaab training camp on Oct. 31, an attack the Death Eaters denied. A Kenyan drone killed two senior al-Shabaab commanders in a missile attack on their vehicle.
But commanders of the near 18,000-strong AU peacekeeping force say it lacks troop numbers and firepower to extend territorial gains against al-Shabaab, which still controls swathes of rural areas in southern and central Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
"We ask good people of Somalia in areas of Gedo, Mid Juba and Lower Juba to stay far from al-Shabaab bases/camps/roadblocks," army front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said on social media.
My men will be arriving via Unimogs beginning Tuesday around noon, and staying through sundowners on Friday.
#4
"And he said: 'Oh, let not the LORD be angry, and I will speak yet but this once. Peradventure ten shall be found there.' And He said: 'I will not destroy it for the ten's sake.'"
Of course ten could not be found, and we know what happened next. Fire and brimstone from the sky.
[Pak Daily Times] At least four people were killed and three others maimed in separate incidents of violence in various parts of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... on Thursday.
According to sources, gunnies opened indiscriminate fire on a hotel in Pasni bazaar. Resultantly, two persons, identified as Muhammad Akbar and Mustafa, sustained multiple bullets wounds and died before reaching the hospital. The assailants who were riding a cycle of violence managed to flee from the scene following the attack.
However, today is that tomorrow you were thinking about yesterday... motive behind the murder was yet to be ascertained. In another incident, person or persons unknown sprayed bullets on Nazeer Ahmed in Turbat bazaar and managed to flee from the scene. As a result, Nazeer Ahmed departed this vale of tears instantly. Police said that the dear departed was resident of Larkana.
In Panjgur, Muhammad Qasim was on his way along with his brother in Chitkan area when gunnies riding a motorbike opened fire on them. Consequently, Qasim received bullets and died. However, some people are alive only because it's illegal to kill them... his brother remained unhurt in the attack.
Moreover, three people, including a woman, were maimed in a firing incident in Dalbandin town of Chagai district. They were identified as Zahir Shah, Haider and Fatima Bibi.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
At least half the victims were named Mohammed - who could have guessed? They could cut the death rate in half by choosing safer names.
[An Nahar] Syrian troops backed by Leb's Hizbullah fighters and other pro-regime gunnies retook a major rebel enclave south of Damascus on Thursday, severing a key opposition supply line.
The recapture, reported by a monitoring group and state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
, was part of a broader army campaign that has seen a string of towns in the area fall into regime hands.
In La Belle France, meanwhile, Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said there was "fairly recent" proof that four French journalists kidnapped in Syria are alive.
And in The Hague, the Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons (OPCW) said inspectors had verified all but one of Syria's 23 declared chemical weapons sites.
The regime's recapture of Sbeineh, a key rebel stronghold south of Damascus, comes nine days into campaign aimed at cutting off one of the main rebel supply lines into southern Damascus, according to the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Closer to the capital, government troops have besieged a number of rebel-held suburbs for months, and U.N. officials have expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... over reports of trapped civilians and severe malnutrition.
"Sbeineh was one of the most important rebel positions on Damascus's outskirts," the Britannia-based group's director Rami Abdel Rahman told AFP.
"Rebels in southern Damascus have now had practically all their supply routes cut off," he said.
State television also reported the takeover.
"Our brave army has taken control of... the Sbeineh (area)... and (the nearby village) of Ghazalah in Damascus province after crushing the last terrorist positions there," said the broadcaster, using the regime's term for the rebels.
The takeover of Sbeineh, a rear base for rebels in southern Damascus, comes a year into a suffocating army siege of the town.
"The army was backed by fighters from Hezbollah, the pro-regime paramilitary National Defense Force as well as Syrian and non-Syrian Shiite fighters from the Abul Fadl al-Abbas brigade," Abdel Rahman said.
"There are fears for the lives of civilians in Sbeineh. Experience tells us that the army may well execute civilians and put the blame on rebels," he said.
The recapture comes weeks after regime forces captured nearby Husseiniyeh, Ziabiyeh and Bweida.
Abdel Rahman said the army has been able to advance in part because of "divisions among the rebels."
He said both sides suffered heavy losses in the fighting, and that "the fight south of Damascus is more sectarian than elsewhere."
The burial site of Sayyida Zeinab, granddaughter of the Moslem Prophet Mohammed, is an important Shiite shrine located in southeastern Damascus, near several areas held by the mainly Sunni rebels.
Seasoned Hizbullah fighters from Leb and troops from Iraq, who have long been helping to defend the shrine, are now actively fighting on behalf of the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... , who hails from Syria's Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.
In La Belle France, Fabius said there was "fairly recent" proof that four journalists kidnapped in two separate incidents in Syria are alive.
On June 6, unknown men tossed in the calaboose ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... Didier Francois, a seasoned war news hound for Europe 1 radio, and Edouard Elias, a photographer, at a checkpoint as the pair travelled to the country's second city of Aleppo.
On June 22, news hound Nicolas Henin, 37, and photographer Pierre Torres, 29, were seized while working in the northern city of Raqa.
The OPCW said its inspectors had verified all but one of the country's declared chemical sites.
The group said Syrian personnel had visited one of two remaining sites that they could not visit for security reasons and filmed it with "sealed cameras."
OPCW and U.N. inspectors have until mid-2014 to destroy Syria's entire chemical arsenal and production facilities under the terms of a U.S.-Russian deal to head off military strikes on Assad's regime.
"The verification was conducted with the support of sealed cameras used by Syrian personnel as per the inspection team's guidance," the Hague-based OPCW said in a statement.
"The exact geographical location and the time of capture of the footage/images were fully authenticated," it said, adding that the site was near the northwestern city of Aleppo.
"As per the declaration by Syria, the site was confirmed as dismantled and long abandoned, with the building showing extensive battle damage," the OPCW said.
Syria has declared approximately 1,290 tonnes of chemical weapons and agents as well as 1,230 unfilled chemical munitions, meaning shells, rockets or mortars.
It has already destroyed 99 warheads and is expected to destroy 55 more, with Damascus facing a November 15 deadline to finalize the plan for the destruction of the chemical arsenal.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Time to give the rebels a little more under-the-table help; long-term goal is continuing conflict between gov't Hezbullies and rebel AQ. And when it's down to the last guy we can go arrest him and declare peace. In the year 2525 maybe.
#6
--- Too much information that I don't want to know.
--- In the next day's show, DIY prostate exams for those who have had their health insurance canceled.
[Dawn] Suspected rebels ambushed Indian soldiers patrolling a highway in Kashmire Thursday and killed two of them, said officials.
Paramilitary inspector general Nalin Prabhat said the hard boyz sprayed the soldiers with automatic fire before the soldiers could respond.
No bully boy group has yet grabbed credit for the attack in the town of Awantipora, about 35 kilometers (22 miles) south of Srinagar, the main city in Indian-controlled Kashmire.
Police and paramilitary soldiers have cordoned off the area while they investigate.
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[An Nahar] Egyptian police on Thursday tossed in the clink Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! the Cairo bureau chief of an Iranian news station and a former Islamist politician, security officials said.
Ahmed Fahim Abdel Azim al-Suifi, the Egyptian head of the Cairo office of Iran's Arab-language station Al-Alam, was arrested in an apartment with ex-senate member Essam Ismail Farrag, the officials said.
They were arrested at the orders of prosecutors, the officials said without elaborating on the charges.
They were transferred for interrogation by the secretive National Security apparatus, which handles serious crimes against the state, one official said.
Thousands of Islamists have been arrested in a broad crackdown after the military overthrew President Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... in July, sparking a backlash from his supporters.
Media organizations seen as sympathetic to the Islamists have also been targeted, including the Qatar-based Al-Jazeera ... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means the Peninsula, as in the Arabian Peninsula. In recent years it has settled in to become slightly less biased than MSNBC, in about the same category as BBC or CBS... broadcaster's Egypt affiliate.
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[REUTERS] Uganda is holding the military commander of Congo's defeated M23 rebel movement after he surrendered, a Ugandan officer said on Thursday, as relief at the end of his rebellion was tempered by concerns about other gangs.
Sultani Makenga's whereabouts had been unclear since Tuesday's declaration by the M23 that it was ending its 20-month insurgency in eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo ...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo aka Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material... , worrying some that he could be hiding with plans to regroup.
His surrender will be seen as a major achievement for the Congolese army, with the backing of a U.N. force, as it strives to restore calm in a region racked by war for two decades.
But analysts have warned against too much optimism for a sustained peace in the mineral-rich east of the vast nation, where a plethora of other groups still operate.
"I can confirm to you he (Makenga) is with us," the senior Ugandan officer, who asked not to be named, told Rooters.
"He surrendered to us yesterday (Wednesday) and we're holding him somewhere and some other commanders of his," he said, adding the group of rebels would be held at some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location until a peace agreement was signed.
The Congolese government had no immediate comment.
The M23 group declared an end to its military campaign and said it would seek political talks after Congolese troops routed them from their hide-outs with U.N. support.
Captain Ronald Kakurungu, a front man for Uganda's army, said 1,500 M23 rebels had surrendered and disarmed.
That figure is higher than most previous estimates of the strength of the M23, which experts had generally believed to have dwindled in recent months to a few hundred.
Bertrand Bisimwa, M23's political leader, did not confirm any numbers but said in a statement fighters had crossed into Uganda as they felt unsafe joining a disarmament process run by the same U.N. and government forces they had fought against.
While recognizing the successes of the joint U.N.-Congo force, analysts said the defeat of the M23 did not mean that a return of order in Congo's east was assured.
"Just because you think you've beaten back the M23 rabble rousers in the east, do you really think it can become a stable country? I don't think so," said Martyn Davies, chief executive of the Johannesburg-based Frontier Advisory.
"This time next year, you'll be looking at an 'M24'," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
Other food Nazis would mark him an unfit parent for allowing the child to go to McDONALD'S.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/08/2013 10:14
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#3
Goes to show how far into our private lives government has forced itself. Now it has to deal with the no-right-answer quotidian issues that individuals were once faced with.
[VARIETY] Colleen Bradley Bell, producer for soap opera production company Bell-Phillip Television Prods., has been nominated as ambassador to Hungary, becoming the latest of President Obama's campaign supporters to be tapped for foreign posts.
Bell's nomination must be approved by the Senate. She raised more than $500,000 for the Obama campaign, according to its disclosure of campaign bundlers. According to the New York Times, the actual figure was more than $2.1 million by the fall of 2012.
She and her husband, Bradley Bell, executive producer and head writer for "The Bold and the Beautiful," hosted Obama at a fund-raising event at their Holmby Hills home in February 2012.
Colleen Bell has served as a general trustee for the board of trustees at the Kennedy Center and was chair of an advisory committee on the arts for the org. She currently serves as the vice chair of the Children's Institute and a trustee on the boards of directors of the Los Angeles County Museum of Art and the Los Angeles Music Center.
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[Pak Daily Times] The head of India's space agency, basking in plaudits after the launch of the country's first voyage to Mars, was brought down to earth Thursday by criticism of his decision to seek divine blessing for the mission.
K Radhakrishnan, chairman of the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO), visited the famous Lord Venkateswara temple in southern India on Tuesday where he reportedly placed a replica of the Mars spacecraft at the feet of an idol.
Later in the day Radhakrishnan oversaw the successful launch of the Mars Orbiter Mission, known as "Mangalyaan" in India, which is on an 11-month journey to study the Martian atmosphere.
India's rationalist organizations, which campaign against religion and superstition in the diverse but officially secular country, slammed the widely publicised temple visit.
"There would have been nothing wrong had he gone there in his personal capacity. But to go there as chairman of ISRO and ask for heavenly favour is nonsense," Narendra Nayak, president of the Federation of Indian Rationalist Associations, told AFP.
"It sends a wrong message to the common man who will think God can sort out all his troubles," said Nayak.
Sanal Edamaruku, president of the Indian Rationalist Association, also flayed the ISRO chief who was congratulated by the prime minister and president on Tuesday.
"What sort of message are we sending out to the world? It's a shame for our country that prides itself on its secular credentials," he told AFP. India is attempting its first inter-planetary journey with a spacecraft built in just 15 months on a budget of $73 million, a fraction of previous attempts.
More than half of all missions to Mars have ended in failure, including China's in 2011 and Japan's in 2003. Only the United States, Russia and the European space agency have succeeded. A front man for ISRO could not immediately be reached for comment.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
God CAN sort out all your problems. The question is why would He bother? He made Gravity. He made the Laws of Celestial Mechanics. He made Mathematics.
But.... It's up to you to flush your own toilet.
Krauthammer's Law: Everyone is Jewish until proven otherwise.....First, it turns out that John Kerry - Windsurfing, French speaking, Beacon Hill aristocrat had two Jewish grandparents. Then Hillary Clinton - methodical Methodist -unearths a Jewish stepgrandfather in time to run for New York senator. A less jaunty case was that of Madeleine Albright, three of whose Czech grandparents had perished in the Holocaust and who most improbably contended she had no idea they were Jewish. To which we can add the leading French presidential contender (Nicolas Sarkozy), a former supreme allied commander of NATO (Wesley Clark) and Russia's leading anti-Semite (Vladimer Zhirinovsky). One must have a sense of humor about these things. Even Fidel Castro claims he is from a family of Marranos.-em>
#4
Of course there are always peanuts. IIRC the mars polar lander mission that failed somebody forgot the peanuts.
Lucky legumes
Per the flight director's checklist, about an hour before the scheduled landing (based on the time that the signal from the rover will reach Earth, about 14 minutes delayed), the mission manager will begin one of the few, but important actions, he and his team can take as Curiosity faces its "seven minutes of terror" from entry to touchdown. [Mars Rover's Nail-Biting Landing in Pictures]
He will pop open and start passing around the peanuts.
"The tradition of the peanuts at JPL goes way back to the 1960s and goes all the way back to the very first missions we sent to the moon," MSL flight director David Oh told collectSPACE.com from his mission control room console on Saturday. "We had seven [robotic] attempts to go the moon before we succeeded, and on that seventh one they had passed out peanuts in the control room."
Ranger 7, which in July 1964 became the first U.S. space probe to successfully transmit close images of the moon's surface back to Earth, made the peanuts into a tradition.
"So ever since then, it has been a long standing tradition to hand out peanuts whenever we launch, whenever we do anything important like land on Mars," Oh said. "We can use all the luck we can get."
"We have plenty of peanuts. The mission manager usually assures that we don't run out," said Arthur Amador, MSL's mission manager.
[An Nahar] First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida issued on Thursday a subpoena against Ali Eid days after he was charged with helping a suspect in the Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... mosque bombings escape justice.
Abu Ghida ordered the questioning of Arab Democratic Party Chief and former MP Eid on Tuesday over his link to the the bombings against al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques in Tripoli on August 23.
Saqr charged on Tuesday Eid and his driver Ahmed Mohammed Ali with helping Ahmed Merhi and smuggling him to Syria.
Ali is being held by the Intelligence Bureau.
Abou Ghida also issued two arrest warrants against Ahmed Mohammed Ali and Chehade Shdoud.
Shdoud, who was tossed in the clink Please don't kill me! on Tuesday at the Abboudieh border-crossing, is charged with smuggling Sukeina Ismail to Syria.
Ismail is charged with terrorism over her links to the Tripoli blasts. She is charged with transporting the two cars that were used in the bombings from Syria to Leb, it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013
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#1
....from Benghazi to Grace Bros. Goldman Sachs.
"Are you being served?"
Are You Being Served? is a British Sitcom that ran from 1972-1985. The show revolved around "Grace Brothers Department Store" and in particular the goings on within the "Gentlemen's Ready-To-Wear" and "Ladies' Separates and Underwear" Departments. A store reorganization forced these two departments to share floor space, and the conflicts that this created set the tone for most episodes. Are You Being Served? showcases a bygone period of time in which the class structure was still very much alive. There was a strict heirarchy within Grace Brothers. Everyone knew their "places" and remained in them, unless, of course, there was a chance for advancement and then it was every man and woman for themselves. A spin-off series of Are You Being Served? was released, called Grace and Favour. Although in the U.S, it was named Are You Being Served? Again!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/08/2013 7:38
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#3
Tergiversations? n. The act of abandoning something or someone, of changing sides; desertion; betrayal.
n. The act of evading any clear course of action or speech, of being deliberately ambiguous. Seems like a good word to describe Hillary and many other Donks. Hillary's Odyssey? Emphasis on "odd."
#6
#1 ....from Benghazi to Grace Bros. Goldman Sachs.
"Are you being served?"
My mom turned me on to that show (along with the Bucket woman). Just the other day I stumbled across this comp of Mrs. Slocombe "moggy" clips. Probably NSFW in this constipated age.
The principal of a French school in Qatar hurriedly left his job and the country in a deal struck by diplomats after he was accused of having an anti-Muslim attitude and told he faced imprisonment.
Hafid Adnani, born in Algeria but not a practising Muslim, left Doha without his wife and daughters just before the new school year in early September. They followed a month later. As head of the Lycée Bonaparte, he had banned female pupils from wearing Muslim headwear and resisted pressure on foreign schools from authorities to introduce Islamic studies.
In each instance, he cited the law as it would apply in France. Adnani appears to believe he was acting in accordance with his statutory duties, though French foreign ministry officials say such a school overseas commands no diplomatic status and is subject to local law.
Reports say Adnani was advised by Frances ambassador to Doha to leave the country as soon as possible because his security could not be guaranteed.
But the story of Mr Adnanis sudden exit is blurred. Government officials in Paris say it had nothing to do with Frances official policies but arose from a dispute with a colleague. The principal himself has referred to the situation as Kafka-esque and sad in a rare public comment, having been advised by French authorities not to say anything.
Kinda like McCain was "a foot soldier in the Reagan Revolution."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/08/2013 10:49
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#3
Yes, several very interesting primary challengers. And yes, the very second he is reelected he will once again rival McCain for the title of Obama's favorite Republican.
#7
Graham is getting a solid Tea Party challenge. They are using the Ted Cruz model - keep the incumbent below 50% to force a runoff, and be sure to finish 2nd. Head to head against a real conservative in SC, Little Lord Fauntleroy will lose.
[India Express] Ousted Egyptian president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... is expected to meet a number of lawyers and political figures to discuss the progress in reconciliation between the Moslem Brüderbund and the military-backed interim government.
A delegation made up of former prime minister Hisham Kandeel, former presidential candidate Mohammed Selim al-Awa and Morsi's former vice-president Mahmoud Mekki, will meet Morsi in prison.
The court has agreed to allow visits, but has not yet determined an exact timing for it, said Mohammed el-Damati, spokesperson of the defence team of Morsi and other Moslem Brüderbund members.
Mahmoud el-Khudairy, former chairman of Legal Committee in the dissolved Parliament, said that releasing Morsi and other Brotherhood leaders would be a big step towards achieving reconciliation and political stability.
The Anti-coup Alliance, which has been demanding for the release of 62-year-old Morsi, said that it will not take any decisions on reconciliation without first holding talks with him, media reports said.
The former president will meet a number of political figures to discuss the results of the steps towards reconciliation between the Moslem Brüderbund and the current government, the reports said.
"There are still chances for reconciliation between the Brotherhood members and the government," former Minister of Justice Ahmed Mekki said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the barn, a little lightbulb figuratively appeared over Bossy's head... lawyers who met Morsi inside the Police Academy during his first trial session tried to convince him that it is important to assign a lawyer for his defence. Morsi earlier said he will not appoint a lawyer to defend him during his trial for inciting the murder of anti-regime protesters. The next hearing in the case has been set for January 8.
Meanwhile, ...back at the mall, Clarissa spent the day shopping for new underwear. Tonight was going to be a special occasion... Morsi's wife and two sons visited him for the first time in prison on Wednesday. During the hour-long meeting, Morsi received a bag that contained some clothes and foods, fruits, mineral water and soft drinks.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#3
Obviously people with too much time on their hands. Idle hands are the Devil's workshop, my grandma used to say. Put these people to work, in bright orange jumpsuits picking up trash.
#5
Washington, like most blue states are, by area, mostly red. Unfortunately the big cities and counties like Seattle and King and Pierce counties are overwhelmingly democrat. They also have rather loose voting requirements. Its where Felons, Illegals, the dead (recent or not) and imaginary friends are welcome to vote (democrat of course).
Washington also generally has mandatory vote-by-mail.
And lets not forget that Washington is not a Right-to-work state. Union membership (and payment of dues to the democratic party) is mandatory for a lot of professions.
#8
I see the cops were there making arrests but I fear the perps won't spend much time in jail, unfortunately. Watch them get released on their own recognizance with little more than a slap on the wrist. I think at least a month's worth of incarceration would be appropriate...up to a year or even more if they have any priors. Not gonna happen though. That's what makes people think about shotguns.
#9
It is well beyond time to start killing these fuckers and their enablers. if they use violence against their foes.
That's better.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/08/2013 13:46
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#10
FSA has their little brownshirts at work. Next time a bit of force needs to be used to fight thugs who would use violence to silence others' political speech.
[Pak Daily Times] Two people were bumped off in Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... on Thursday, while three rubbed out bodies were also found from the same locality.
In the first incident, two friends were killed on Mirza Adam Khan Road, Lyari within the jurisdiction of Chakiwara cop shoppe.
Police said that deceased were identified as Kamran, 17, Amjad Ali and Mushtaq, 16, son of Noor Hussain, who lived in Bihar Colony, Lyari.
Police said victims were on their way when unidentified gunniesshot up them. The victims were rushed to the Civil Hospital Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... (CHK), where doctors pronounced the death of one, and admitted three others with critical wounds.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... later, another injured expired during treatment.
Separately, a rubbed out torture-marked body of a man was found near the KESC office, Lyari.
Chakiwara police said that the victim has been identified as 22-year-old Abid alias Shahrukh, son of Ali Asghar.
Police said after receiving information rushed to the spot and shifted the body to CHK.
As per initial investigations, the victim was kidnapped and tortured. Similarly, a teenager was found dead from Bihar Colony, whose body was also shifted to CHK by police.
At the hospital, the victim was identified as Nadir Afghani, 14, son of Abdul Qadir. Police said that the body bears torture mark and was shot at least eight times.
SHO Chakiwara Sajjad Mangi said that Nadir belonged to notorious gangster Uzair Baloch's group. The SHO suspects the rival gang was behind the liquidation; further investigations are underway. Moreover, another body of a man was found from Old Haji Camp within the jurisdiction of Nappier cop shoppe.
Police said that unidentified culprits kidnapped the victim from somewhere and later threw his body at the said place after shooting him multiple times. The body was shifted to hospital for an appointment with Dr. Quincy and later moved to the morgue for identification.
The law enforcers, during the initial course of investigations are considering it a gang war related incident.
However, it was a brave man who first ate an oyster... further investigations are underway.
LEAs round up 110 suspects: Law enforcers on Thursday rounded up 110 suspects during targeted raids and operations conducted in various parts of the metropolis.
As per details, Pakistain Rangers Sindh conducted targeted raids in Landhi No 5, Tariq bin Ziyad Society - Malir, Khuda Ki Basti, Landhi 51/C, Islam Chowk - Orangi, Old Sabzi Mandi, Bangali Para, Zia Colony, Lines Area and Chanesar Goth last night. While snap checking was also carried out in Latti Office - Quaidabad, Sabeel Goth - Manghopir, Ahsanabad, Abul Hassan Ispahani Road and Show Market. During the above-mentioned actions 28 criminals including hit mans and extortionists affiliated with a political party were placed in durance vile Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! . Weapons were also recovered from the possession of the suspects.
On the other hand, a high-level security conference of Operational Committee was held at HQ Pakistain Rangers Sindh, presided by DG Rangers Major General Rizwan Akhtar. Progress regarding the ongoing drive against criminal elements was monitored and evaluated. Security during Muharram and current rise in murder of individuals of different sects in connection to the prevailing dynamics was also discussed at length.
Earlier, DG Rangers Major General Akhtar also held a meeting with the heads of intelligence outfits; during the meeting intelligence about the hidden hand behind recent killings was discussed to synergies the efforts in nabbing the conspirators.
Separately, police apprehended at least four alleged suspects including two absconders from Mehmoodabad locality. The officials also recovered four pistols, snatched cycle of violence and drugs from their possession.
Another accused was arrested from Clifton Block-7. According to police officials the accused was involved in robberies and street crimes.
Meanwhile, ...back at the secret hideout, Scarface Al sneeringly put his proposition to little Nell... Karachi police nabbed around 77 suspects including 23 absconders and two hit mans' during 77 raids and seven encounters in various parts of the metropolis. The official also recovered kaboom, hand grenades and weapons of 59 different calibres.
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[An Nahar] Twin suicide car bombings at an Iraqi army base just north of Baghdad killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more, security and medical officials said. The late-night blasts struck the base in Tarmiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 45 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[CSMONITOR] The man who will be the Pak Taliban's next leader is not one to shy away from recklessly bold statements -- from riding defiantly by his enemies on a white horse to plotting last year's liquidation attempt on Pak schoolgirl Malala Yousafzai.
On Thursday, the Pak Taliban announced that they have chosen Maualana Fazlullah to replace Hakimullah Mehsud, who was killed in a US drone strike last week.
Mr. Fazlullah -- a hard-line holy man whose power has been growing since 2007 -- has been thought to be in hiding in Afghanistan after the Pak military ran his Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... Valley-based Taliban faction out of the region.
By some accounts, Fazlullah is a surprise choice, since the previous leaders of the Pak Taliban were both from the Mehsud family. But his influence within the Pak Taliban -- a loose organization of Death Eater groups that is affiliated with but distinct from the Afghanistan Taliban -- has been evident for years. He now has strong ties to Afghan Death Eaters, too.
In 2007, Christian Science Monitor correspondent David Montero traveled to the Swat Valley to profile "the rise of a powerful holy man" who "exposes economic and political failures in a government-administered area." That person? Maualana Fazlullah.
Mr. Montero documented Fazlullah's first dramatic show of his power, two years before his forces took over the Swat Valley:
In this valley of orchards near Afghanistan, 90 police hid along the banks of a riverbed in March, preparing to arrest the powerful Pak holy man Maualana Fazlullah. Informants said the target, charged with terrorism, would soon appear with a modest contingent of followers. Instead, Mr. Fazlullah rode into sight on a white horse, surrounded by hundreds of people.
When the officers advanced, brandishing tear gas and batons, word flew through the town. Thousands more supporters turned out to further protect Fazlullah. The officers backed off in an incident that shocked the country, exposing as it did the state's powerlessness to apprehend a wanted terrorist.
The rise of Fazlullah "signals a dangerous tipping point," Montero wrote at the time.
Allow him to persist, many observers say, and others will be emboldened to roll back the state's policies of moderation -- small but symbolically important gains in women's empowerment, girls' education, and religious tolerance.
"My opinion is, if you take him out today, there will be a reaction," says Asfandiar Amir Zeb, a former mayor of the district of Swat. "Leave it for a month, there will be a bigger reaction. If you leave it for six months, you won't be able to catch him."
Fazlullah's influence did indeed grow. His Taliban forces overtook the Swat Valley in 2007, but were defeated two years later by Pak Army forces. In 2012, Fazlullah helped orchestrate from afar the shooting of activist Malala Yousafzai, a resident of the Swat Valley, on her way to school -- and his front man said she would be shot again if she returned.
Back in 2007, as Montero's reporting shows, Fazlullah was sowing the seeds of his message against girls' education:
Since he began preaching two years ago, Fazlullah has drawn more than 15,000 weekly to his Friday prayers. His vision of Death Eater Islam reaches thousands more in the valley by way of his illegal radio station, which he used until recently to warn parents not to send their girls to school.
"Tell me, what wrong have I done? I am preaching religion, and religion is not terrorism," Fazlullah says in a brick room on the site of his new madrassah, surrounded by bearded aides.
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#1
I bet he fingered Hakimullah Mehsud - isn't that how one advances in the system?
[Dawn] Pakistain's Foreign Office on Thursday strongly denied No, no! Certainly not! reports that Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... funded the country's nuclear weapons program calling the news item as "baseless, fake and provocative."
Citing different sources, BBC Newsnight had reported that Saudi Arabia can obtain atomic bombs from Pakistain 'at will.'
Speaking to BBC Urdu, Foreign Office Spokesman Aizaz Chaudhry said that Pakistain is a responsible nuclear power.
The country has a robust control system for its nuclear weapons and also had taken extensive protection measures for ensuring their security, the front man said.
He also said the country's nuclear program is at par with the international standards and in compliance with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).
Pakistain has been disposing off the west's reservations regarding safety of the country's nuclear assets, stressing that these were in safe hands.
Referring to his conversation with an unnamed NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... official earlier this year, diplomatic and defence editor of Newsnight Mark Urban said the official had seen such covert reports which point to a deal between Saudis and Pakistain.
According to those reports, he said, Pakistain's nuclear weapons are ready to be delivered to Saudi Arabia.
A presser by former Israeli military intelligence chief Amos Yadlin was also highlighted in the report. Yadlin had told the media that Saudis will not even wait for a month in acquiring the atomic bomb in case Iran succeeds in making one. He said Pakistain had already been paid by the Saudis in that regard.
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[An Nahar] Turkish riot police fired tear gas and water cannon at thousands of demonstrators who were protesting Thursday over the building of a controversial wall on the border with Syria, witnesses said.
Police took action to disperse a large crowd of people who threw Molotov cocktails and plastic bottles at officers in the border town of Nusaybin in the Kurdish-majority southeast, they said.
Construction of what has been dubbed a "wall of shame" between Nusaybin and the northern Syrian town of Qamishli has inflamed local tensions.
The demonstration was staged the same day as the town's Kurdish mayor ended a nine-day hunger strike in a show of protest against the development.
Ayse Gokkan "stopped the hunger strike today (Thursday). We think the protest has reached its goal," an official from her Peace and Democracy Party (BDP) told AFP on condition of anonymity.
Gokkan's office did not immediately reply to AFP's request for confirmation her action had ended.
The mayor, who had been staging her hunger strike in a border minefield since October 30, has described the barrier as a "wall of shame" that would divide Kurdish people.
Turkey's government, which is wary of ethnic Kurds on its territory joining up with Kurds in northern Syria and Iraq in a bid to create a de facto state, has denied it was building a "fully-fledged wall".
Local officials told AFP this week that an iron structure had already gone up and was now being filled with concrete.
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A leader of a notorious terrorist group believed to be responsible for several bomb attacks in Central Mindanao since 2006 that killed 31 people and injured more than a hundred others, has been arrested in Sultan Kudarat.
Police Senior Superintendent Reuben Theodore Sindac said the suspect Jabide Abdul, alias Zabide/Beds, was arrested on Tuesday. Abdul, supposedly a senior leader of the Al-Khobar Group, was subject of several warrants of arrest on numerous charges.
Chief Superintendent Abelardo Villacorta said Al Khobar is a group of extortionists believed to be responsible for a series of bombings in the central Mindanao region since 2006. He said, The group was allegedly created in support of Jemaah Islamiya (JI) and Foreign Militant Jihadists (FMJ) groups. It was intended to serve as a special unit concentrating on explosive component use and extortion schemes across Cotabato areas, adding that the group first turned into a kidnap-for-ransom group before it became an extortion group.
Al Khobar is known to target businesses and local governments in central Mindanao, Villacorta said, noting that it has been blamed for the series of bomb attacks on bus companies and commercial establishments in the region from 2007 to 2009. He said, A member of the group usually calls the target before the attack and demands protection money to prevent such planned attack on their business. If the money is not paid, an attack is carried out."
Details have become known of how a terror suspect escaped from surveillance after changing into a burka at a mosque.
Somali-born Mohammed Ahmed Mohamed used a sharp instrument to cut off his electronic tag on Friday. Police were alerted when the tag was removed but Mohamed fled. A search is now under way. Mohamed is currently seeking damages from the government in a human rights challenge over allegations of torture.
Mohamed arrived at the An-Noor Masjid and Community Centre, in west London, on Friday morning, and was seen inside at 3:15 p.m. When he removed the tag, it issued a "tamper-alert" to its makers, a private security firm. They called the suspect and contacted the Home Office after he failed to answer. Police were alerted but he had disappeared by the time they arrived.
Mohamed is believed to have close links to al-Shabab, but officials said there was not enough evidence to bring a criminal case against him in court.
Mohamed is now the subject of a police-led manhunt and could face up to five years in prison if caught. He is the second terror suspect under a TPim order to go missing. TPims restrict the movements of people thought to be a risk to the public, but who cannot be tried for reasons of national security and who cannot be deported.
As of September, nine men - eight of them British - were under TPim surveillance.
[The Hindu] Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... has ruled out reviewing all aspects of Pakistain's relations with U.S. after Interior minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan's outburst last week blaming the U.S. for sabotaging peace talks by targeting Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) leader Hakimullah Mehsud.
Reacting to Mehsud's death Mr. Khan last Saturday said that the entire perspective of Pakistain-U.S. relations are going to be reviewed and also the level of cooperation in a meeting of the Cabinet committee on national security. Every aspect of U.S.-Pakistain cooperation will be discussed and reviewed, he said. The meeting of this committee has not taken place either.
However, the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach... official sources on Thursday said the issue was not discussed with the Prime Minister and the rhetoric of one Minister cannot become a policy statement. The sources said it would be business as usual with the U.S. and a review of ties was not going to take place.
The government had also served a demarche on the U.S. Ambassador protesting the drone strike. Mr. Khan said the drone strike was an attack on the grinding of the peace processor and a deliberate attempt by the U.S. to foil it.
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[An Nahar] The website of Brazil's biggest news outlet published photos Wednesday it says show pop star Justin Bieber spray painting graffiti on a wall. And it adds that police want to question him about it.
The O Globo newspaper reported that photographers snapped photos of Bieber as he painted graffiti on a wall of the former Hotel Nacional in Rio de Janeiro Tuesday morning.
Defacing buildings is a crime in Brazil punishable by up to one year in jail and a fine.
O Globo said police went to the mansion Bieber rented in Rio to question him, but he was not there.
Phone calls and emails to the police department for more details went unanswered. Calls and emails to Bieber representatives Melissa Victor, Nick Styne and Aaron Rosenberg were not returned.
According to the Globo TV network Bieber flew out of Brazil Wednesday afternoon on a private jet and went to Paraguay, where he was scheduled to perform.
In the Colombian capital of Bogota, where he performed last week, Bieber upset authorities when he spray-painted graffiti on a wall along one of the capital city's main avenues while being escorted by officers in a police car.
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#1
GP in the Arctic slammer, Bieber in tropic pesthole jug.
[Pak Daily Times] Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) chief Syed Munawar Hasan has opposed another All Parties Conference (APC) on talks with the Taliban, and urged the PML-N government to implement decisions taken at the previous APCs. He warned that calling another APC would be "a plot to harm the collective will of the nation and to serve US interests". According to a blurb, Munawar said that another APC on "US wishes would be a farce, sheer waste of time and a conspiracy to harm the country's solidarity".
The JI chief said that the Taliban and their supporters were struggling for peace in the country and fighting against US terrorism
The JI chief said that the Taliban and their supporters were struggling for peace in the country and fighting against US terrorism, adding that they were one entity as the end of US brutalities and the protection of Pakistain's independence and illusory sovereignty were their common goal. He said the Taliban might have committed various blunders but it would be unjust to ignore their sacrifices against the US and to hold them accountable for their lapses. "If the government can have dialogue with Baloch nationalists and Sindhi nationalists, why not with the Taliban"," he said.
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David Hicks, the former Australian Muslim convert held for years in America's notorious Guantanamo Bay prison, will try to clear his name through an appeal against his conviction for providing material support for terrorism. The crime did not exist at the time of his arrest and did not come into force until five years later. The legal team representing Hicks also alleges he was tortured.
Hicks was captured in Afghanistan in 2001 by Northern Alliance troops and sold to United States forces for $1000. He was held for more than six years at Gitmo before being returned to Australia, where was treated as a pariah by former Prime Minister John Howard's Liberal government and called a "traitor" in the media.
Unlike Britain and the governments of other nationals held in the prison, Australia made no efforts to free Hicks or demand an early trial, accepting the US position without question. Howard said, "He knowingly joined the Taliban and al-Qaeda. I don't have any sympathy for any Australian who's done that."
Hicks, who renounced Islam at Gitmo, is now challenging his conviction in the US Court of Military Commission after a Court of Appeals ruling last year that the charge could not be applied retrospectively. His lawyers also said in court documents that Hicks' guilty plea had been forced by his extended detention, torture and abuse.
The documents said, "Over the course of more than five years, Mr Hicks was repeatedly beaten, sexually assaulted, threatened with deadly violence, injected with unknown substances and subjected to an entire arsenal of psychological gambits ... that had as their aim the destruction of his personality. He was stripped naked, deprived of sleep for extended periods, cast into solitary confinement, contorted into shapes that no human body should be forced to assume, and told that he would never again set foot on his native soil."
Hicks admitted he had trained with al-Qaeda, fought with the Taliban and that a friend of his believed he had approved of the September 11, 2001, attacks on the United States. The judge revealed that the plea bargain included a provision that he would get no credit for the five years he has already served in Guantanamo Bay and that had agreed not to sue the US for any illegal treatment he had received. The plea bargain included a ban on him speaking to the media for one year, and agreement that if he made any money from selling his story the money would go to the Australian Government. He also agreed that he had "never been illegally treated by any persons in the control or custody of the United States".
[Washington Examiner] The top Republican on the Senate Intelligence Committee is urging the Obama administration to abandon any effort to help close Guantanamo Bay by sending detainees back to their home country of Yemen.
The administration is in talks with the Yemeni government and is working with the United Nations to establish a rehabilitation center outside the capital of Sana'a to help transition detainees from that country back to freedom, the White House told the Washington Examiner on Wednesday night. From Bush overseas prisons and detention centers to GITMO, then back to Obama overseas prisons and detention centers. Ok, I get it.
More than half of the 164 prisoners who remain at Guantanamo Bay are from Yemen. Those plans do not sit well with Sen. Saxby Chambliss, R-Ga., the ranking member of the committee charged with overseeing the administration's intelligence and counter-terrorism policies. Those plans should not "sit well" with anyone.
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.
[Pak Daily Times] State Minister for Education, Training and Standards in Higher Education Engineer Balighur Rehman has said that his government is focusing on reinventing education for life so that education could be transformed into a meaningful activity.
[MYFOXNY] The family of a 3-year-old killed in a northern Missouri house fire says it is outraged after police used a stun gun on the boy's stepfather as he tried to run back in and save the child.
[An Nahar] A Paleostinian man was 
[BBC.CO.UK] Embattled Toronto Mayor Rob Ford has apologised for a video of him making threats to commit "first-degree murder" against an unknown person.
[BREITBART]
[BREITBART] Heart-clogging trans fats were once a staple of the American diet, plentiful in baked goods, microwave popcorn and fried foods. Now, mindful of the health risks, the Food and Drug Administration is getting rid of what's left of them for good.
Sources say Saudi Arabia has invested in Pakistani nuclear weapons projects, and believes it could obtain atomic bombs at will. While the kingdom's quest has often been seen in the context of circumventing Iran's atomic program, it now seems possible that the Saudis might be able to deploy such devices more quickly than the Islamic republic.
[Pak Daily Times] Tajikistan President Emomali Rakhmon won a crushing victory in presidential elections to secure a fourth term at the helm of the poorest state in the former Soviet Union, the election commission said on Thursday.
[An Nahar] Syrian troops backed by 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[An Nahar] Egyptian police on Thursday 
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
[REUTERS] Uganda is holding the military commander of Congo's defeated M23 rebel movement after he surrendered, a Ugandan officer said on Thursday, as relief at the end of his rebellion was tempered by concerns about other 
[VARIETY] Colleen Bradley Bell, producer for soap opera production company Bell-Phillip Television Prods., has been nominated as ambassador to Hungary, becoming the latest of President Obama's campaign supporters to be tapped for foreign posts.
[Pak Daily Times] The head of India's space agency, basking in plaudits after the launch of the country's first voyage to Mars, was brought down to earth Thursday by criticism of his decision to seek divine blessing for the mission.
The principal of a French school in Qatar hurriedly left his job and the country in a deal struck by diplomats after he was accused of having an anti-Muslim attitude and told he faced imprisonment. 
[India Express] Ousted Egyptian president 
[Pak Daily Times] Two people were 
[An Nahar] Twin suicide car bombings at an Iraqi army base just north of Baghdad killed at least 16 people and wounded dozens more, security and medical officials said. The late-night blasts struck the base in Tarmiyah, a predominantly Sunni Arab town about 45 kilometers (30 miles) from the capital.
A leader of a notorious terrorist group believed to be responsible for several bomb attacks in Central Mindanao since 2006 that killed 31 people and injured more than a hundred others, has been arrested in Sultan Kudarat. 
Nawaz Sharif
[An Nahar] The website of Brazil's biggest news outlet published photos Wednesday it says show pop star Justin Bieber spray painting graffiti on a wall. And it adds that police want to question him about it.
