The U.S. Navy enters the 22nd century on Saturday. In Newport News, Virginia, the Navy will christen its newest aircraft carrier, the USS Gerald Ford.
This nuclear-powered ship is the first of a new class of at least 10 carriers that the Navy expects will be steaming the seas, protecting the United States well into the next century.The Ford itself is projected to stay in service until 2057.
The Ford will use electromagnetic force, similar to how modern roller coasters are propelled, to catapult planes off the deck instead of the pressurized steam used in today's fleet. The arresting gear that grabs planes when they land will be software-controlled, with the goal being less wear and tear on the planes.
The island is skinnier, taller and set farther aft on the ship, allowing for more flight-deck operations and plane maintenance. It's also part of the reason the Ford will be able to carry more warplanes and launch 25% more air missions per day than the current carriers in the fleet, according to the Navy.
Below the waterline its four 30-ton propellers will be driven by two newly-designed nuclear reactors.
The planes that will eventually be jumping off its deck in the decades ahead haven't even been designed yet. It remains to be seen if those planes have pilots or will be controlled by operators with computers who will "fly" the aircraft from the safety of a remote location.
This new class of carriers is designed with built-in flexibility to accommodate future Navy decisions about aircraft and missions.And it's designed to do all this on the cheap. Most of the lights in the ship will use high-efficiency bulbs that will last twice as long between changes. And the ship is designed to require 30% less maintenance over its lifespan.
Finally and most importantly, because of designed efficiencies, it'll put to sea with 1,000 fewer sailors and Marines than a Nimitz-class carrier. Over the life of the Ford, the efficiency of the ship, the Navy said, will save $4 billion
One of the most powerful typhoons in history is believed to have killed 1,200 people in the Philippines, the Red Cross Saturday, as rescue workers raced to reach towns devastated by tsunami-like waves. A day after Super Typhoon Haiyan whipped across the central Philippines with maximum sustained winds of around 315 kilometres (195 miles) an hour, a picture emerged of entire communities having been flattened.
The military, government relief workers and non-government organisations battled to reach communities and deliver desperately needed supplies. Fifteen thousand soldiers were in the disaster zones and helping in the rescue effort, military spokesman Lieutenant-Colonel Ramon Zagala told AFP.Zagala said helicopters were flying rescuers into priority areas, while infantry units deployed across the affected areas were also proceeding on foot or in military trucks.
Haiyan's wind strength, which remained close to 300 kilometres an hour throughout Friday, made it the strongest typhoon in the world this year and one of the most intense ever recorded.It exited into the South China Sea on Saturday and tracked towards Vietnam, where more than 200,000 people crammed into storm shelters.
The Obama administration began softening sanctions on Iran after the election of Iran's new president in June, months before the current round of nuclear talks in Geneva or the historic phone call between the two leaders in September.
If you'll recall we at the Burg have been running the occasional story about Iran trade and exports these last few months. Oil, NG, steel, cars, etc. We've had other stories about Iranian imports. Now understand all this was on a backdrop of what was supposed to be "tough" sanctions on Iran for its refusal to submit its nuclear weapons program to international inspection. At the time a reasonable person would have assumed that this was all about those crafty Persians finding ways to get around the sanctions.
But of course we should have considered the other possibility: that Champ simply waved his hands and cancelled the sanctions, the way he has done to so many other American laws. From this story in the Daily Beast (and all credit to them for pursuing it) it seems that he's been non-enforcing the sanctions for some months as a come-on to the Iranians so that they'll sign a deal that gives them the nuclear weapons they want and the fig leaf that Champ wants. Boy howdy what a tough deal for the Iranians, huh?
While those negotiations now appear on the verge of a breakthrough the key condition for Iran--relief from crippling sanctions--began quietly and modestly five months ago.
A review of Treasury Department notices reveals that the U.S. government has all but stopped the financial blacklisting of entities and people that help Iran evade international sanctions since the election of its president, Hassan Rouhani, in June.
The threat to blacklist an American bank compels said bank to stop doing business not just with the entities that are on the sanction list, but to stop doing business with the banks who are doing business with the banks who hold the money of the entities on the sanctions list. So having the Treasury Department say "no worries, we won't blacklist you" means full speed ahead in doing business.
On Wednesday Obama said in an interview with NBC News the negotiations in Geneva "are not about easing sanctions." "The negotiations taking place are about how Iran begins to meet its international obligations and provide assurances not just to us but to the entire world," the president said.
But it has also long been Obama's strategy to squeeze Iran's economy until Iran would be willing to trade relief from sanctions for abandoning key elements of its nuclear program.
No, that was George Bush's strategy. Champ has been looking for a couple years how to get a "deal" with Iran, and apparently he's found a way.
One way Obama has pressured Iran is through isolating the country's banks from the global financial sector, the networks that make modern international commerce possible. This in turn has led Iran to seek out front companies and cutouts to conduct routine international business, such as selling its crude oil.
In this cat and mouse game, the Treasury Department in recent years has routinely designated new entities as violators of sanctions, forcing Iran to adjust in turn. In the six weeks prior to the Iranian elections in June, the Treasury Department issued seven notices of designations of sanctions violators that included more than 100 new people, companies, aircraft, and sea vessels.
Since June 14, however, when Rouhani was elected, the Treasury Department has only issued two designation notices that have identified six people and four companies as violating the Iran sanctions.
Rouhani is seen by Champ and his people as a "moderate": this is nonsense of course. The Mad Mullahs do not believe in moderation and will not have such a person leading the country. Rouhani has blood on his hands. This is a case of Iranian public relations being swallowed by a gullible U.S. administration that desperately wants to believe what it hears so that it can cut a deal.
When an entity is designated as a sanctions violator it can be catastrophic. Banks and other investors almost never take the risk of doing business with the people and companies on a Treasury blacklist because of the potential reputational harm and the prospect they could lose access to U.S. financial markets.
A Treasury spokesman contacted by The Daily Beast said the effectiveness of sanctions should be measured by their results and not the number of entities designated. The Treasury spokesman also said that the significant financial pressure on Iran in recent years changed the calculus of the country's leaders and led to the election of Rouhani, who is a former nuclear negotiator and is considered more moderate than his predecessor.
Anyone who considers that is considering wrongly...
"In the months since the Iranian election we have continued to pursue our unwavering goal of preventing Iran from obtaining a nuclear weapon," the spokesman said. "We have not let up on vigorous sanctions enforcement one iota. This includes new designations of sanctions evaders as well as other steps to address potential sanctions evasion."
This is eyewash.
But the enforcement of sanctions, experts said, is very different than the process of designating new violators. To start, sanctions enforcement means the levying of fines or other legal measures against those people and entities already designated by the Treasury Department as a violator.
The designation process is more proactive. "The designations are important because they identify illicit actors that are abusing the international financial sector in addition to signaling the U.S. intention to isolate Iran's economy," said Avi Jorisch, a former U.S. Treasury official who has worked closely on Iran sanctions and has advocated for toughening these sanctions since leaving government.
Whereas now we see that it's going in the opposite direction.
Advocates of sanctions relief also acknowledge that the administration has pursued a policy of quietly lessening financial pressure on Iran. They argue that was a logical policy when married to the process of renewing diplomatic negotiations with Iran, which according to the Wall Street Journal this week, has been going on for several months.
The alternative, of course, is to maintain sanctions and tell the Iranians that the sanctions will only be loosened IF and ONLY IF a satisfactory deal is made on the nuclear issue. That would allow us to have considerable leverage. Champ has thrown that away. Of course.
"Before the election there were a lot of these designations," said Trita Parsi, the executive director of the National Iranian American Council, a group that has advocated for ending sanctions on Iran since. "Their impact was probably not decisive, but it was a way for the White House to signal to the Iranians and Congress they were going forward with the sanctions train." Parsi continued: "After the election [the Obama administration] wanted to give the opposite signal, a pause. The last thing you would want to do is let the sanctions train go forward and potentially scuttle an opportunity that could have been there."
Why? If the Iranians want a deal after their election, let THEM come to US. Let them open with a suggestion for a deal rather than have us loosen sanctions. They're the ones who are supposedly hurting.
Following the Iranian elections, there were also a lot of changes inside the Iranian government, making the task of designating officials and entities a bit more tricky, Parsi said. But a significant part of the administration's decision, in Parsi's opinion, was the belief that continuing a high pace of designations would "undermine the signal that they were trying to send, that there was an opening."
Mark Dubowitz, the executive director of the Foundation for the Defense of Democracies, an organization that has worked closely with Congress and the administration on devising the current Iranian sanctions, said the slow pace of designations was only one kind of sanctions relief Obama has been offering Iran.
"For five months, since Rouhani's election, the United States has offered Iran two major forms of sanctions relief," Dubowitz said. "First there's been a significant slowdown in the pace of designations while the Iranians are proliferating the number of front companies and cutouts to bust sanctions."
The second kind of relief Dubowitz said the White House had offered Iran was through its opposition to new Iran sanctions legislation supported by both parties in Congress.
By Dubowitz's estimates, Iran is now selling between 150,000 and 200,000 barrels of oil per day on the black market, meaning that Iran has profited from the illicit sale of over 35 million barrels of oil since Rouhani took office, with little additional measures taken by the United States to counter it.
Not just oil. Look at the cushy relationship it now has with al-Maliki in Iraq: Iran could easily ship through Iraq, or "sell" Iraq electricity, etc.
"Sounds like Obama decided to enter the Persian nuclear bazaar to haggle with the masters of negotiation and has had his head handed to him," Dubowitz said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
11:13 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[15 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"Sounds like Obama decided to enter the Persian nuclear bazaar to haggle with the masters of negotiation and has had his head handed to him,"...yeah, we all could have predicted that.
The ONE is such a light weight. He thinks he is so much smarter than anyone else and he has this big ego about how persuasive he is.
Trouble is he's a Chihuahua in a pit bull kennel with the Iranians.
I guess he never heard the old saying about rug dealers.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
11/08/2013 12:14
Comments ||
Top||
#2
If you see one cockroach, you have an infestation.
#3
It would be awfully nice if, in the next week or so, Israel does what must be done in the direction of Iran. It would be even nicer if every single Republican legislator at all levels from the merest unincorporated village to the united Senators in Washington reared up on their hind legs to condemn this betrayal of israel in the strongest terms. Let the Democrats scramble to keep up on this issue, too, and leave the president seeing himself standing alone in spotlight.
#4
(Valerie) Jarrett was born in Shiraz, Iran, to multiple-racial parents James E. Bowman and Barbara Taylor Bowman. Her father, a pathologist and geneticist, ran a hospital for children in Shiraz in 1950, as part of a program where American physicians and agricultural experts sought to help jump-start developing countries' health and farming efforts. When she was five, the family moved to London for one year, later moving to Chicago in 1963
Symp
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/08/2013 15:11
Comments ||
Top||
#5
So Obama was willing to negotiate, compromise and give in first to Iranians. But not republicans. Maybe ted Cruz should hire the Ayatollah to negotiate the next debt ceiling crisis.
#6
Well, Airandee, you remember the Dims didn't want to negotiate with the "terrorist" Pubs, only the new, friendlier, Iranians... [gag]
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/08/2013 17:20
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Egyptions kicked his Muslim Bros out of office in a flash, Syria's Pencil Neck is still king of Damascus and now he supports Iran. Yep. Not a good omen for the Mullahs. Israel will now smack these rag heads.
#9
March 15, 2013 WASHINGTON - In a display of unity between allies who often disagree, President Barack Obama assured Israel's visiting leader Monday that the United States "will always have Israel's back," and said the U.S. and Israel agree that diplomacy is the best way to resolve the crisis over potential Iranian nuclear weapons.
...and if you like your heath care plan, you can keep it.
#11
Amazing! The Obama cabal has managed to alienate Egypt, Saudi Arabia and Israel. It presided over the destruction of Libya, assisted in the division of Iraq, failed to assist the Syria rebels when help was most needed. It supports Turkey's Erdogen, a Muslim Brother, and is making plans to bug out in Afghanistan muy pronto.
The destruction of a traditional American foreign policy in the Mahgrib and Middle East in just five years is breathtaking.
Posted by: Count Galeazzo Dark Lord of the Antelope2280 ||
11/09/2013 8:57
Comments ||
Top||
#12
The destruction of a traditional American foreign policy in the Mahgrib and Middle East in just five years is breathtaking.
Is it more, or less, breathtaking than the destruction of our economy and the Republic?
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/09/2013 11:48
Comments ||
Top||
#13
if all of this ends as badly as I think it could, I want to see journos dangling from lampposts for paving this traitor's road to the presidency.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/09/2013 16:14
Comments ||
Top||
#14
I want to see journos dangling from lampposts for paving this traitor's road to the presidency.
Would you be satisfied to see many of them lose their jobs as their employers continue the downsizing that's been going on most of the past decade, Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo)?
#16
For Israel, this is no time to be timid nor reckless. But it is a time to be decisive and aggressive. Israel has an existential problem with Iran. She also has a second order existential problem with Obama and some European powers. She is a thorn in their side. Obama would not mind Israel ceasing to exist. He just wants someone else to do it.
So, how can Bibi make this disaster into an opportunity? It seems to me that he and the Saudi king have something in common. Iran is a threat to both of them. Two against Iran is better than one. The Saudis want to nuke up, fine. Go for it. Saudis can provide bases for strikes and other under the table support for Israel, maybe even for subs. Never know. Put a little fear into the Mad Mullahs®.
On the US home front, Bibi needs to sic the US Congress on Obama and his little mutt Kerry. Sowing a little discord could be helpful to his cause, and us Just Plain Joes here in the US. Bring down Obama a notch. Isolate him from his base.
All fronts are fair when your very existence is at stake. Just a few ideas.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/09/2013 23:22
Comments ||
Top||
[WAPO National Security] Two U.S. admirals including the director of naval intelligence are under investigation as part of a major bribery scandal involving a foreign defense contractor, Navy officials announced Friday night.
Vice Adm. Ted Twig Branch, the services top intelligence officer, and Rear Adm. Bruce F. Loveless, the Navys director of intelligence operations, were placed on leave Friday, and their access to classified material was suspended, the Navy said in a statement. Have you ever been denied a security clearance or has your access every been suspended? Er Huh.... Sorry, next please.
#1
Article says neither was charged; could this be a 'cover of opportunity' for Champ to continue his purge of those not licking his boots?
And the picture caption says the good Admiral was speaking to the press in Rio de Janiro, but that bridge in the background sure looks like the Coronado Bay Bridge, in San Diego.
#2
#1 And the picture caption says the good Admiral was speaking to the press in Rio de Janiro, but that bridge in the background sure looks like the Coronado Bay Bridge, in San Diego.
Indeed it does, but the piers looked a little off to me, and whaddaya know, there's a bridge in Rio that's a good fit, too. FWIW, bingle coughed up some pix of Stennis taken from the bridge in '10.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 17:09
Comments ||
Top||
#8
I think these admirals are in deep do-do. There's 5 people charged so far. Chances are someone flipped and implicated these two as being on the receiving end of some ..goodies. Could also be CI-related in connection to the scandal. One or both of them were at PACOM in the recent past.
IMO - ANY public official caught taking bribes should be executed. That includes military folks and heroes such as Duke Cunningham.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy ||
11/09/2013 18:12
Comments ||
Top||
[The Wash Times] The Central Intelligence Agency has been paying communications giant $10 million annually for access to the companys massive database of telephone records, which contains international and domestic calls, government sources said. Other Agency communications clients to step forward ?
The business deal is voluntary, The New York Times reported. Neither subpoena nor court order compels the company to participate, the unnamed government officials said in the report. Quite correct, a simple business decision based on the merits. Nothing to do with the IRS at all. Nothing at all. By the way, how was the $10 million per year treated for tax purposes ?
#1
I remember when Joe Nacchio (QWEST) was defending his $500M platinum parachute against the SEC. He claimed some NATSEC executive privilege because he rejected a NSA surveillance request from 2001.
Libyan's army moved into Benghazi in eastern Libya on Friday, a show of force aimed at restoring order in the country's second largest city, rocked by almost daily bombings and assassinations, Reuters reported.
Security in the port city, an important part of Libya's oil infrastructure, has deteriorated in the past few months with armed militants and radical Islamists roaming unchallenged, highlighting the anarchy in the OPEC producer two years after the fall of Muammar Gaddafi.
Hundreds of armored troop carriers and army trucks mounted with guns drove through the old city near the Corniche after Friday prayers, cheered by residents tired of violence, witnesses said.
"We stand by the people," Wanis Bukhmada, commander of special forces in Benghazi, told a crowd. "We won't allow anyone to mess around with security anymore."
Some 500 people took to the streets, welcoming the army, which has been accused by critics of keeping largely to barracks in recent months.
"We are with the army. There is no security without the army," political activist Hania al-Gumati told Reuters during the demonstration.
But hours later unknown gunmen killed a security officer in Benghazi, a security source said.
So somebody wasn't with the army...
Authorities reinforced the city with special forces in June after some 40 people were killed in clashes between rival militias, which helped bring down Gaddafi but kept their guns after the NATO-backed revolt.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
[THEHILL] The B.O. regime will issue long awaited regulations Friday that require insurers to treat mental illness and addiction the same as physical illnesses, current and former politicians said. The added costs will, of course, have no effect on health insurance rates.
In testimony Thursday before a Senate Judiciary subcommittee, mental health advocate and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.) said Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius would announce the action during a speech in Atlanta. Members of the panel familiar with the rule-making also said the regulations would be issued Friday. I'll bet the Kennedy's get a group rate...
Kennedy, during his 16-year tenure in Congress, championed legislation designed to bring insurance parity to people suffering from addiction and mental illness. The Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act was enacted in 2008, but key regulations are not yet in place.
"Naively, it turns out, we believed we had done the heavy lifting and thought the regulatory process would simply operationalize the solution we had achieved," Kennedy said. "In truth, the Mental Health Parity and Addiction Equality Act instead entered a kind of twilight zone in which everyone with an interest in it was left to imagine what it meant."
The result, politicians and witnesses at the hearing said, has been a lengthy period of uncertainty for insurers and gaps in coverage form mental illness sufferers that were meant to be closed with enactment of the 2008 law.
"Five years after the act was passed, this promise remains unfulfilled," said Sen. Richard Blumenthal (D-Conn.), chairman of the Judiciary subcommittee on Oversight, Federal Rights and Agency Action.
"The costs have been tremendous," Blumenthal said. "In mental health, uncertainty kills."
Kennedy, who has himself struggled with addiction and mental illness, said the new rules are urgently needed to ensure that soldiers returning from overseas with traumatic brain injuries and post-traumatic stress issues have access to treatment.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
There is a reason this development will be announced in Atlanta, but you knew that already.
#3
Yes, throngs of crazed, cheering, clapping 'do'in nothing else today' attendees, and a totally compliant local PD comprised of 'my people'. What's not to like. Please, just keep it all in Fulton County.
#5
So when pot is legalized/decriminalized are potheads considered addicts or just a shamanistic/holistic medical population?
Inquiring Minds Want to Know.
#6
mental health advocate poster boy and former Rep. Patrick Kennedy (D-R.I.)
"this is your brain on drugs"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 11:22
Comments ||
Top||
#7
Just wondering - about two years ago it seemed that every other day the Administration was floating up one nanny state / leftwing policy proposal after another, a stretch that went on for a few weeks, then kind of tapered off. Some of these policies were shot down like the shit they were but others became law / policy.
Looks like the same pattern's emerging again (trans fat ban, 'sweeping' HHS rules).
#8
Not to worry, most major insurance companies like the one I work for already have mental health coverage. Clinical information submitted by the providers must meet medical criteria or it gets denied. And all the major insurers have been getting more and more tight with the inpatient hospitalizations as well as outpatient coverage. I am a psychiatric RN.
#9
Psych RN? More money and biz for you, I'd think. Got a grandniece talking about psych as her area when she grads with her ADN down in Texas (already has acceptance lined up from TWU or Texas Tech for the BSN continuation). How's the job market for new grads? She has all but one class as an A, which I understand is quite an achievement for RN school.
#11
OK, so is HHS making thinking like a conservative, a libertarian, or questioning authority into a mental illness? All the better to start off the gulags ...
[Al Ahram] One child was killed and dozens injured during limited festivities on Friday afternoon between supporters and opponents of deposed 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 Cairo, Alexandria and Suez following protests called by the pro-Morsi National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy. ...the current false nose and mustache worn by Egypt's Muslim Brotherhood... The working class district of Omraniya in Giza witnessed violent festivities between pro-Morsi protesters and their opponents. According to Al-Ahram's Arabic news website, the protesters blocked the streets in the area using torched tires. Security forces dispersed the festivities with a whiff of grapeshot teargas.
The head of Egypt's Ambulance Authority Ahmed Al-Ansary announced in a statement that a 12-year-old child, whose identity remains unknown, has been killed in the Giza festivities in addition to six injured.
Meanwhile, ...back at the fist fight, Jake ducked another roundhouse, then parried with his left, then with his right, finally with his chin... in the port city of Suez, festivities also erupted between Morsi supporters and their opponents and between them and security forces near the Suez security directorate.
The security forces also used teargas to disperse the pro-Morsi protesters. According to health ministry officials in the city, no less than four citizens were maimed in the festivities, including one firearm headshot currently at death's door.
Security forces accused the pro-Morsi supporters of throwing fireworks at the Central Security Forces (CSF) conscripts.
Earlier in Alexandria's Sidi Bishr district, a pro-Morsi rally engaged in festivities with opponents from the area. Security forces also used teargas to disperse the crowd, arresting a number of Morsi supporters.
Thousands of Morsi supporters organised protests on Friday in several provinces across Egypt under the name "Egypt's women are a red line" to object the recent arrests of women protesting in solidarity with ousted president Mohammed Morsi.
Head of Egypt's Ambulance Authority Ahmed Al-Ansary had also announced that three more were maimed in the Sharqiya governorate in front of El-Fatah Mosque, where protests were being held, and were transferred to the hospital. One injury was also reported in the Beheira governorate.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
Michael Savage opinion piece by David E. Sarfatti. The punchline is
"An atomic bomb must be dropped outside of Tehran on a moonless night, and an ultimatum delivered to Iran. 'Deliver up Khamenei and the mullah leadership for trial within 3 days.' This is the only way out for the world from the nuclear dilemma posed by Iran. Any alternate history will be infinitely more tragic."
This ignores the existence of international politix, power blocs, alliances, and probably the intricacies of making cheese. It assumes a nation can do anything it pleases, without consequences. Had this sort of thing actually happened in the past, say in 1961, the nation and much of the rest of the world would probably still be digging out of the radioactive rubble.
#1
The irony is that Iran wouldn't exist in it's present form if the USA hadn't forced the Soviets to leave the northern third of Iran using the threat of nuclear attack, in the days prior to the Soviets getting the A-bomb.
#2
Iran is hardly alone. Not surprisingly, western 19th and 20th Century border and nation making interventions as well as current-day diplomacies, generally have lucrative financial reward hidden somewhere in their motivations. I'm very surprised Israel has exercise the level of restraint that it has. One of the added benefits of the BO regime's on-going row with Israel will be the convenient disassociation and handy condemnation when the IDF finally unleashes it's nuclear hell. The ultimate diversion and call for measure of extreme defense of the motherland.
#3
Nukes are so 20th Century. Now, designer (custom DNA) plagues, that's 21st Century. The wannabees are so focused on physics and engineering, they forget the biggest killers in history were and are disease based.
#7
Realistically, what could the Russians and/or Chinese do about it? What would they be willing to do in defense of the ayatollah? It's not an existential problem for them so would they really be willing to get into it? I'd go even further. I'd tell the Chinese that any kind of attack by their little cat's paw in North Korea will be treated as if it came from China.
But you're right about the Champ. He's gotten us into a state of financial ruin and moral decay that makes any effective action extremely difficult if not impossible. But he didn't do it without a lot of help from weak kneed RINOs.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/09/2013 13:00
Comments ||
Top||
#8
Not to forget a lot of help from the weak kneed 47%.
[PHILLY] hiladelphia police and prosecutors are investigating an anonymous Instagram account with thousands of followers that for months has been identifying witnesses in violent crimes across the city - aiming, in its creator's words, to "expose rats."
The account, called rats215, has outed more than 30 witnesses since February, posting photos, police statements, and testimony on the photo-sharing website.
Because many of the statements posted aren't public records, authorities are investigating the page as a potential act of mass witness intimidation - in a city where police and prosecutors struggle daily to find witnesses willing to testify.
Rats215 had nearly 7,900 followers. To find who's behind it, authorities this week obtained several search warrants on the account.
In one instance, rats215 posted photos and evidence from a shooting victim whose case was handled in a secret grand jury.
In another, the account posted a photo that appeared to have been taken while a witness was testifying in court.
The account has been updated almost daily, and each new post draws dozens of comments and "likes" from readers, with some of the commmenters advocating violence against those who help police. The page has more than 150 photos.
"Post some new rats," one commenter wrote in September. "I needa put a hit out on them."
Said another, earlier this week, "This page is [. . .] perfect."
In one post, the account-holder praises Kaboni Savage - the North Philadelphia drug kingpin sentenced to death in June for 12 murders, including a fireboming that killed four children and two women. The bombing was retaliation for a witness' cooperation with the FBI.
In the same post, rats215 warns witnesses "we will get at you in time."
Tasha Jamerson, a spokeswoman for the District Attorney's Office, said she could not comment on any investigation, but stressed witness intimidation was a "very serious, ongoing problem" that plagues prosecutors every day.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
In one instance, rats215 posted photos and evidence from a shooting victim whose case was handled in a secret grand jury
inside source, hmmmm?
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 10:53
Comments ||
Top||
#2
How much different than unions busing their thugs to people's homes, Donk hackers without NSA help opening peoples phone and email accounts, or opening sealed divorce proceedings? Gee, where did they learn that stuff, right Joe?
[Libya Herald] Clashes involving heavy weaponry continue in central 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... tonight. The Mahari Radisson Blu Hotel has been hit in the fighting and guests relocated to the basement. Yo, Mahmoud...we'll be getting a discount, right? This wasn't in the brochure...
According to British businessman Richard Galustian, who had dined there, the hotel was hit a number of times, as were other buildings in the vicinity. A member of staff at the hotel confirmed that the building had been damaged, but not hugely. He said there was a lot of broken glass in the lobby.
"There is still very heavy fighting in the area but it now seems to be moving away from the hotel in both easterly and westerly directions," Galustian said. "Leaving the hotel, the fighting was very much in evidence in and around the Zawiyat Dahmani district of Tripoli, just minutes away from the hotel." So enjoy your stay. Try the spa...
A mix of weapons were being used, he said, including many heavy weapons. There were reports that members of the Libyan Armed Forces had been ambushed on the coastal road near the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, he added. This remains, as yet, unconfirmed.
At midnight, fighting had been ongoing for nearly three hours.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#2
Churlish. I have a maze in my pocket if you want to navigate it. Else-wise, convene on a non-chair for a corrupt organization over an imaginary people for the sake of the destruction of Israel.
[Al Ahram] The pro-independence Polisario Front has expressed hopes that US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry's 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... upcoming visit to Morocco will lead to progress in talks on the Western Sahara.
Morocco annexed the territory in 1975, in a move not recognised by the international community, sparking a deadly conflict with the Algeria-backed Polisario, which remains unresolved 22 years after a UN-brokered ceasefire went into effect.
"We hope Mr. Kerry can convince Moroccan regime officials to free dozens of Sahrawi prisoners and reach a breakthrough in the process of negotiations between Morocco and the Polisario Front to resolve the Western Sahara issue," Algerian news agency APS quoted Polisario leader Mohammed Abdelaziz as saying late Thursday.
"The Sahrawi government recently sent a letter to Mr. Kerry and has provided information on developments in the Western Sahara issue and the injustices done to the people of the occupied territories."
Abdelaziz, who is also president of the Polisario-declared Sahrawi Arab Democratic Republic, said the letter accused Morocco of refusing to comply with international law for the settlement of the issue, and of failing to respect human rights ...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
Kerry is expected to travel to Morocco and Algeria in the coming days as part of a tour of Europe, the Middle East and North Africa, although the dates of the visits have not yet been announced.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Kerry does god to brush his teeth and get out of bed, in the afternoon.
NOT a mistake.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/09/2013 15:29
Comments ||
Top||
[WASHINGTONTIMES] President B.O.'s disagreements with the tea party are well known, but a new book reveals there is no love lost between him and "professional blacks."
In "Double Down: Game Change 2012" by Mark Halperin and John Heilemann, the president is said to have no "patience" with members of the Congressional Black Caucus whom he sees less as black professionals and more like "professional blacks," Breitbart reports.
"Obama had little patience for the 'professional left,' and vanishingly close to zero for what one of his senior African American aides, Michael Strautmanis, referred to as 'professional blacks' (as opposed to black professionals)," Mr. Halperin and Mr. Heilemann write. "Apart from Georgia congressman John Lewis and Jim Clyburn ...Democratic Representative-for-Life from South Carolina. He has been warming his safe seat since 1993... of South Carolina, Obama had nearly as much contempt for the CBC as he did for the Tea Party Caucus."
The authors say the Rev. Jesse Jackson was "effectively banned" from the White House and note that Rep. Charles B. Rangel is regarded as "a hack."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#2
Not quite certain how the author has made the leap from "professional blacks" to the CBC, but Champ's disaffection is understandable. With leftist pals and agents like Lewis and Clyburn, who else do you actually need ?
The graphic is one of my personal fav's by the way.... Champ shunning the light of day.
#3
It used to be that no Black Man would ever vote democrat as that was the root of party of slavery. Now it is about not being Marxist enough or just not agreeing.
Race is no longer about skin color but deep political ideology, party management, and POWER.
#4
Anything to do with the CBC obstruction to amnesty (and millions of more Donk registered voters for the Permanent Party Machine)? The party made them. I guess the party can unmake them as well if they obstruct the needs of the party.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] Senate Democrats, hoping to move beyond the disastrous rollout of the new health care law, plan to pivot to legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage by nearly $3, to over $10 an hour.
Democratic politicians met privately Thursday to discuss proposals, including one by Sen. Tom Harkin, D-Iowa, which would raise the federal minimum wage to $10.10 per hour, a nearly 40 percent increase. It would also would tie wage levels to inflation.
Democratic senators weighed the plan after being deluged with letters and calls from constituents complaining that Obamacare has cost them their chosen health care plans and required hefty premium and deductible increases, in some cases doubling, tripling or quadrupling health insurance costs.
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin ...Senator-for-Life from Illinois and Democratic Party Whip. In April 2006, Time magazine identified Durbin as one of America's 10 Best Senators, so what's that tell you? He was the first United States Senator to support the presidential candidacy of Barack Obama, then the junior senator from Illinois.... , D-Ill., called the proposed minimum wage increase "long overdue, an important economic issue and a message to working families struggling paycheck to paycheck that we can help."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The loss in employee compensation resulting from the reduction in working hours (full-time to part-time) must be made up somehow. Just think of the increased revenues from federal and state tax withholding and the corresponding reduction of Obamacare subsidies.
#2
You could have a similar effect by moving 10 million low skilled illegals back to their point of origin. Fewer workers, higher pay. Too simple for those who lust for power.
#4
Inflationary. Will reduce the value of saved cash & cash equivalents, and the price of debt. And who has the most debt? The government, of course, making this a way of taxing the wealthy conservatives without calling it a tax.
#5
You could have a similar effect by moving 10 million low skilled illegals back to their point of origin. Fewer workers, higher pay. Too simple for those who lust for power.
IMO, you get another 10 million illegals from this raise, P2k.
#11
Cost of goods, services and food goes up 40%. Might as well make it $1 million an hour. Same effect. Cost of everything goes up by at least that much.
#12
How many more jobs will go overseas when this goes into effect?
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/09/2013 15:52
Comments ||
Top||
#13
Senate Majority Whip Dick Durbin, D-Ill., called the proposed minimum wage increase "long overdue, an important economic issue and a message to working families struggling paycheck to paycheck that we can help."
More like a payoff to the unions.
I wonder if anyone's explained to Dick what happens to prices (actual and relative) when the cost of labor is raised?
#16
Make the minimum wage the same as Congressional pay. Give everybody the same medical and retirement benefits as Congress, then everyone's happy. What's the problem?
[An Nahar] Two air strikes by the Yemeni air force killed five suspected Al-Qaeda members in southern Yemen on Friday, the interior ministry said.
The strikes targeted suspected bully boyz in the town of Al-Mahfad, in the southern province of Abyan ...a governorate of Yemen. The region was a base to the Aden-Abyan Islamic Army terrorist group until it dropped the name and joined al-Qaeda. Its capital is Zinjibar. In March 2011, al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula declared the governate an Islamic Emirate after seizing control of the region. The New York Times fastidiously reported that those in control, while Islamic hard boyz, are not in fact al-Qaeda, but something else that looks, tastes, smells, and acts the same. Yemeni government forces launched an effort to re-establish control of the region when President-for-Life Saleh was tossed and the carnage continues... , the ministry said on its website.
Yemeni jets have conducted several raids in the valleys near Al-Mahfad during the past three days, witnesses told AFP.
In the past, drone strikes have also targeted Qaeda-linked groups in the south of the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
[New York Post] How long until we discover that a portion of these IRS directed dollars found their way into presidential or other key democratic campaign coffers ?
[Al Ahram] Israeli border police rubbed out a Paleostinian at a checkpoint near Jerusalem, Israeli police and family members said Friday, in the second fatal shooting by Israeli forces in 12 hours.
Police front man Micky Rosenfeld said the incident occurred around midnight (2200 GMT), when a man ran at a border police officer with a knife, prompting him to open fire.
"A Paleostinian who arrived at the area ran out of a vehicle toward border police who were there on patrol," Rosenfeld said.
"The Paleostinian had a knife in his hand and a border police officer responded by firing shots at the suspect who was injured seriously and pronounced dead a short while after."
Family members named him as Anas al-Atrash, 23, from the southern West Bank city of Hebron and said the shooting happened at the Wadi Nara checkpoint between Abu Dis and Bethlehem.
"They stopped my two sons at the checkpoint and they were waiting to be checked. Then the soldiers came to the car and opened the door and my son tried to get out and they shot him," his father, Fuad al-Atrash told AFP, referring to the border police.
The brother was placed in durance vile Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! , he added.
On Thursday night, Israeli forces rubbed out another Paleostinian near the northern West Bank city of Nablus, saying he had fired a flare gun at Israelis at Tapuah Junction.
The body of the man, identified as Bashar Habaneen, 29, was handed over to Paleostinians by the Israeli army on Friday morning, Paleostinian security sources said.
Habaneen, from the village of Mirka near the northern West Bank city of Jenin, was a lecturer at Tulkarem university who was not known to have belonged to any political or krazed killer faction.
Later on Friday morning, two Israelis were lightly maimed by a molotov cocktail thrown at their car near the Tekoa settlement, the Israeli army said.
The uptick in violence came as US-brokered peace talks, which resumed in late July, were faltering, and US 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... was in the region in an attempt to put them back on track.
In an interview with Israeli and Paleostinian television on Thursday, Kerry warned that a failure to make peace could trigger new Paleostinian violence. "The alternative to getting back to the talks is the potential of chaos," he said. "I mean, does Israel want a third intifada?" the top US diplomat asked, using the Arabic word for uprising. And then coincidentally they get a little taste of it...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: PLO
#1
Family members named him as Anas al-Atrash
well, they musta really hated him to name him that
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 10:42
Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] The death of Hakeemullah Mehsud in a drone strike has resulted in a state of confusion across the country. By and large, the political class is unhappy about the incident, terming it the 'death of the grinding of the peace processor'. A majority of people are of the view that the killing of the Taliban leader has dealt a severe blow to the peace efforts initiated by the federal government over the past two months. On the other hand, some liberal sections of society have taken such kind of reaction very hard. They are accusing the conservative sections of society, and some political parties, of 'mourning a villain'. The divergence of opinion on this issue has given rise to a state of confusion across Pakistain.
The federal government also seems beset by uncertainty and confusion. But the attitude of uncertainty and inability to present a coherent message on the part of the PML-N government can be best explained by its efforts to appease its main political rival, Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... 's PTI, and also refraining from taking any step that may add to strains between Pakistain and the US. In the opinion of this writer, this state of confusion and wide divergence of opinion on the situation emerging after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) leader's death will only result in further weakening the position of Pakistain at a critical juncture when convincing the Taliban to sit at the negotiating table is very important to adopting any kind of future plan of action. Changing horses in the middle of a stream and abandoning the grinding of the peace processor at the current point will only strengthen the viewpoint of the bad boy elements.
There is no gainsaying the fact that the TTP, under the leadership of Hakeemullah Mehsud, waged war against the Pak state, and was responsible for the slaughtering of thousands of innocent people. To state the obvious, Mehsud was also declared public enemy number one by the government of Pakistain. But why must the option of talks with the Taliban be pursued? Why must the government exploit every opportunity for a peaceful solution before a military operation? We must not turn a blind eye to a few hard facts in order to adopt a more pragmatic view towards this issue. It is in the interest of the Pakistain government to establish peace in the country, not that of the Taliban. The power of the gunnies is gradually increasing, and the lukewarm response of successive governments has only resulted in ceding further ground to the bad boys.
Another reality not to forget is that our armed forces are already present in all seven Agencies of FATA for the past many years, but the gunnies are still planning all activities from their bases in the tribal agencies. What if a military operation against the Taliban fails to achieve the desired results?
Last week, this writer got an opportunity to visit some areas of South Wazoo with a few friends. According to the local people in FATA, the Taliban have more than 70 factions of varying strengths, which are operating in all the Agencies of FATA. Out of these 70 bully boy groups, almost 20 to 25 groups are very powerful, with manpower of many hundreds. Almost all these groups pledged allegiance to Hakeemullah Mehsud and respected him as their main leader. After the All Parties Conference (APC) in September endorsed the government's initiative to hold peace talks, the federal government was trying its best to convince Mehsud to come to the negotiating table. Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan did extensive work to make it possible. All hopes were pinned on these efforts because the success of any peace deal with Mehsud would have meant a peace deal with almost 80 percent of the Taliban factions. This would have brought a great respite for Pakistain.
But the death of Mehsud in a drone strike has not only scuttled all those peace efforts but also provided a justification to the Taliban to continue the bloody war against Pakistain. Some hardcore elements within the Taliban will seize the moment to spread their propaganda that the government is not serious about holding peace talks. The killing of Mehsud at a time when he was reportedly toying with starting peace negotiations with the government would only further strengthen the impression in Pakistain that the US does not want to facilitate the establishment of peace in Pakistain, and that every Taliban leader who has showed the willingness to talk with Pak government since 2004 was killed in a drone strike. This has provided a much sought after opportunity to some political parties to pressurise the Sharif government to review relations with the US and even think about stopping the NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A single organization with differing goals, equipment, language, doctrine, and organization.... supplies. The statement of Munawar Hasan, the Ameer of 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... , terming Hakeemullah Mehsud a 'martyr', shows how some political parties are readily available to cash in on anti-US feelings in order to gain the sympathies of bully boys.
The Taliban leadership is also divided after the killing of Mehsud on the issue of peace talks. There is no common leadership. So even if they agree to start talks with the federal government, which in itself is a distant possibility, the government will have to approach all the bully boy groups separately. This will make the success of any peace effort highly unlikely. All these problems are further compounded by the fact that in a familiar pattern, the government is showing it is clueless and not laying out any concrete approach to tackle such eventualities. Angry rhetoric and boring platitudes characterise the statements of some federal ministers. This approach may earn them some political favour at the moment, but it should be understood that the problem of militancy cannot be solved until concrete steps are taken to make the Taliban agree to the peace talks again.
The incoherent reaction of the political parties in the aftermath of Hakeemullah Mehsud's killing has made one thing clear that they are highly incapable of fulfilling their responsibilities. Pakistain, at the moment, is like a headless ship with no one to show the required strength to resolve all the problems faced by the nation. We are hypocritical about what our responsibilities are and we always try to indulge in the practice of buck-passing in difficult times.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
What's wrong with Hakeemullah's killing? That not nearly enough of his close associates went with him.
[Pak Daily Times] Sri Lanka, which faces international censure over alleged war crimes, has revoked the visas of human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. experts for a meeting coinciding with a Commonwealth summit, the International Bar Association said on Friday.
The London-based IBA's team of experts had their visas withdrawn ahead of their planned attendance at a seminar next week in Colombo, when the 53-member Commonwealth bloc also holds its biennial summit in Colombo.
The Bar Association of Sri Lanka said the government's decision to block their foreign guest speakers amounted to a "clear assault" on freedom of speech and association.
The International Bar Association's Human Rights Institute (IBAHRI) was due to attend a seminar titled: "Making Commonwealth Values a Reality: the Rule of Law and the Independence of the Legal Profession."
IBAHRI said Sri Lankan authorities revoked the visas on Wednesday, saying they were unable to "facilitate any visits" during an "embargoed period from October 20 to November 20". The visas had been issued in August. "By denying entry to the IBAHRI delegation, the government of Sri Lanka is demonstrating to the world its determination to block freedom of speech and independent discussion in the country," IBAHRI co-chair Sternford Moyo said in a statement. He said Sri Lanka was trying to leave Commonwealth heads "cocooned and isolated".
"The argument from the government is that we did not get permission from the foreign ministry to hold the seminar," Upul Jayasuriya, chief of the Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) which was organising the seminar, told AFP.
"We don't need their permission, there is no legal requirement for that. This is a clear assault on the freedom of expression and association."
Jayasuriya said BASL had similar parallel legal gatherings during previous summits held in Sri Lanka and noted that authorities placed no obstacles in their way. Sri Lanka's hosting of the Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM) four years after the end of the decades-long Tamil separatist war is already mired in controversy. Canadian Prime Minister Stephen Harper is boycotting CHOGM to protest against Sri Lanka's failure to probe its troops over allegations they killed up to 40,000 civilians while defeating Tamil rebels in 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"By denying entry to the IBAHRI delegation, the government of Sri Lanka is demonstrating to the world its determination to block freedom of speech and independent discussion in the country,"
or upholding its national sovereignty which the groups like the one whining and bitching never seem to recognize, except when it works for them.
#3
If they were concerned with 'human' rights they'd uphold the Geneva Convention that holds those who use civilians as shields to be the guilty and punished party rather than the other combatant. However, 'human rights' types seem to skip over that little technicality rather easily. After five years of bloody fighting no one seemed that upset of about 125,000 civilian deaths in the Battle for Berlin (or those who suffered under allied bombing). Write it off to 'pay back' that seems to be a pattern in several thousand years of human history. I don't see these types on the ground in Syria today putting themselves between the combatants pointing fingers. They always seem to show up afterward and rather selective in their demands as both Israeli and Americans have experienced.
[USATODAY] Supporters of Egypt's toppled president clashed with opponents Friday as security forces fired tear gas to break up their demonstrations over placed in durance vile Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! female protesters, part of an effort to draw wider support for their dwindling rallies.
Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had been cornered by the banditti... the panel rewriting Egypt's constitution approved an amendment abolishing the upper house of the country's parliament, a decision that ultimately will rest with the country's voters.
Egypt has seen near-daily protests across the country since a July 3 popularly backed military coup ousted 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... and his Moslem Brüderbund-backed government from power. Friday, protesters again erupted into the streets after prayers to voice their dissent.
Clashes followed in some areas. In Cairo, near the Giza pyramids, one person died in fighting between Morsi supporters and local residents, a security official said. The fighting saw attackers firing birdshot, hurling stones and using gasoline bombs, the official said. Police used tear gas to end the clash, he said.
In the city of Suez, the official said one person was maimed after being shot in the head during similar festivities. Police fired tear gas to disperse the crowds, the official said.
The official spoke on condition of anonymity as he wasn't authorized to brief journalists.
In the Mediterranean city of Alexandria, an News Agency that Dare Not be Named journalist also saw security forces fire tear gas to end festivities there.
Organizers called Friday's protests "Egypt's women are a red line," referring to the arrest of 21 female demonstrators in Alexandria in October. Authorities accuse the demonstrators, including seven girls, of inciting violence and blocking roads during festivities there.
Mahmoud Gaber, the lawyer representing the 21 detained protesters, said their detention was "politically motivated."
"A criminal has his legal rights respected," Gaber said. "But for those who are against the military coup, they can't even have their human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... respected."
By making the protests not just about Morsi and the coup, organizers tried to draw new support to the rallies. While they continue, the number of participants has dropped drastically as a sharp security crackdown has seen thousands of Morsi supporters and Brotherhood members incarcerated Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please! .
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[BREITBART] Three people in Virginia, including a DMV employee, pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to get state IDs or driver's licenses for at least 300 undocumented Democrats.
Noemi Barboza pleaded guilty on Thursday to "a bribery conspiracy charge, admitting that she often drove undocumented Democrats to the Fairfax DMV location where an employee would approve their applications for driver's licenses, learner's permits, and identification cards knowing they could not prove legal presence in the United States." Four people engaged in the scheme from 2007 to 2011. The fourth person has not yet been charged.
The undocumented Democrats paid Barboza's husband or another person, who then reportedly "split the money with" Maria Cavallaro, a 45-year-old DMV employee. Cavallaro and Barboza's husband, 42-year-old Jose Calderon, "pleaded guilty to their roles Wednesday, admitting they helped obtain documents for as many as 300 people and netted tens of thousands of dollars for themselves." In Virginia, proof of legal presence in the United States is needed to get a driver's license or a state ID.
On Thursday, Barboza said she got involved "just to help" her husband, but she "acknowledged she benefited from the cash he received." Cavallaro's attorney said she accepted the bribes because "she felt sorry for people."
According to the Washington Post, Cavallaro "was fired from the DMV. Barboza faces up to five years in prison at her Feb. 14 sentencing."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Three people in Virginia, including a DMV employee, pleaded guilty this week to conspiring to get state IDs or driver's licenses for at least 300 undocumented Democrats.
Sort of drops the margin for the governors race down a bit wouldn't it?
[Pak Daily Times] Making fun of Mian 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... and his minions almost seems cruel. The Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is having such a tough time that even its detractors must be hoping that it can pull itself and the country out of the quagmire they are both in at this time. Frankly, it is much more fun to make fun of preening self-important popinjays full of braggadocio than it is of the 'sad sacks' that are running Pakistain these days. I particularly feel sorry for our 'Minint' of the 'never changing hair'. If he gets any angrier he just might suffer the fate of Rumpelstiltskin. And our poor minister of scheduled power outages who is disappearing so rapidly that like the Cheshire cat, we might just be left with his 'perpetual' frown to look at.
But a word about Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who isn't your heaviest-duty thinker, maybe not even among the top five... is definitely in order. He is starting to look more than a bit stressed out. Any recent picture of his shows flaring nostrils, hands waving wildly, artificially darkened hair aflutter as if he were in the middle of his run up to the wicket to throw a fast ball. It seems that Khan still thinks he is playing cricket and if he could only throw a few swingers, zingers, yorkers and bangers, he could win another 'world cup'. Sadly, as the old country western song says, "his honking days are done".
Much of our media, as well our politicians, are droning on and on about drones, especially since the head of the Pak Taliban, a self-proclaimed killer of many Paks, was transported to meet his Maker by a wandering drone. Of course, one must not confuse a wandering drone with a wandering dervish.
But as far the late Hakeemullah Mehsud is concerned, if the head of the 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... and the head of Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam ...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability... -Fazl both be believed, and of course, as well-known devout Moslems they must be believed, then the late killer with a price on his head is now a 'shaheed' (martyr). As such one must assume that having been transformed from killer to martyr, Mehsud is now frolicking in 'jannat' (Moslem heaven). As every Pak child knows, the very purpose of existence for all 'good' Moslems is to reach jannat. So if Mehsud is already there, did not the 'drones' do him a favour?
Unfortunately, so many of our devout Moslems in Pakistain do not realise that as a matter of fact, the drones are doing God's work by helping our 'brave' Taliban fighters to arrive in jannat most expeditiously. Here I need to make an important point. By transporting our brave Taliban to jannat earlier than even the 'beneficiaries' expected, the drones are doing them a great favour. For instance, if Mehsud had lived longer and made peace with Pakistain, and shudder, shudder, even with the perfidious Americans, he might have lost his place in jannat. So it is obvious that the drone masters did not want to deny Mehsud the possibility of fulfilling his 'destiny' as a holy warrior.
Interestingly, there is another point worth considering. For centuries, virtually all interpretations of the Moslem Sharia law forbade Moslems from killing non-combatants, especially women and kiddies. But this longstanding tradition was turned upside down with the start of the present epidemic of terrorism targeting civilians. Evidently some 'worthy' from the 'Home of the Holy Places' issued a 'fatwa' that if during an act of terrorism any 'good' Moslems and children were killed, they automatically became shaheeds and as such immediately found a place in jannat. Therefore, the jacket wallahs and forces of Evil were doing them all a favour. So I suppose now the 'drone warriors' are returning the favour.
Stop the drones, and shoot down the drones say the ones running the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province and the Centre. But I don't quite understand why they are all so upset with the drones since the drones are indeed doing God's work. In my most humble opinion, our brave Taliban warriors should, as a matter of fact, stand out in front of the drones inviting martyrdom. But instead they seem to hide from such a glorious fate like the 'Old Man of the Mountain of Alamut' and his hashish-driven assassins. This clearly makes me wonder whether these Taliban are true fighters for Islam or just a bunch of assassins, and their leaders a bunch of cowering cowards. There evidently seems to be some disconnect between the beliefs of those that label these Taliban as 'ghazis and shaheeds' and the actual Taliban and their behaviour.
Now it seems that the famous 'Mullah Radio', who once terrorised Swat, has been 'elected' as the new head of the Pak Taliban. He is the one that allegedly ordered the attack on Malala Yousafzai. Malala may not have got the Nobel Prize, but at least her fame forced the Taliban to elect as their leader the man who tried to get her killed. If true, a strange symmetry, I must admit.
More importantly, our brave men in khaki, who were so unable to kill Mullah Radio when he was defiling Swat, are not going to take kindly to have to sit across a negotiating table and talk to him or his representatives. Perhaps they might even hope and pray that another drone strike dispatches him to jannat most expeditiously. And that, of course, makes we wonder that the man who ordered the liquidation of a serving major general of the army did not also meet that fate due to the hopes and prayers of our men in khaki. One always does wonder when different 'devout' Moslems are praying for opposite things, whom the Almighty listens to.
And yes, I am indeed feeling sorry for Mian Sahib these days. I am sure he would prefer to be elsewhere and not in Pakistain. But then somebody pointed out recently that out of his first five months in office he has spent a month outside Pakistain. I wonder why?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
SEOULSouth Korea denied a claim by North Korea that it had arrested a spy sent by Seoul, while Christian groups said the person could be a missionary working inside the country.
North Korean state media said late Thursday a South Korean intelligence agent was arrested in Pyongyang for espionage work aimed at rallying "dishonest elements" within North Korea and "undermining the stability of the social system."
The man "confessed he is a South Korean who intruded into Pyongyang after illegally entering the DPRK from a third country," the Korean Central News Agency reported.
A spokeswoman for the South Korean National Intelligence Service, Seoul's spy agency, said the report was foolish "totally groundless," but declined to comment further.
The North Korean report said the man had disguised himself as a "religionist," suggesting he could be a Christian missionary. Christian missionaries work near the Sino-North Korean border, often helping refugees escape North Korea's poverty and move to South Korea.
A clergyman in Seoul familiar with missionaries working in the border area said that the Christian community was working to verify the identity of the man. Human rights workers say some South Korean missionaries operate inside North Korea.
Pyongyang argues that nongovernmental groups including Christian missionaries are engaged in psychological warfare, disseminating information about the outside world and fomenting internal uprising.
Though North Korean state media have reported the arrest of a handful of foreign citizens in recent years, the announcement of an alleged intelligence agent's capture is unprecedented, according to Seoul's Ministry of Unification, which handles inter-Korean affairs.
Seo Jae-pyong, a North Korean defector and secretary general of an activist group based in Seoul, said there were instances of human rights workers or missionaries being caught at border towns but the reported presence of such a person in the North Korean capital was highly unusual.
"If it's true, it would be a shock to the regime," said Mr. Seo.
Pyongyang is well organized in terms of a repressive city: think of Moscow, 1938. Block wardens, watchers everywhere, and so on. I'm a little surprised that anyone could get an agent in there for any length of time. If this story is really true perhaps Fat Boy's grip on power is looser than we've imagined.
U.S. tour guide and Christian missionary Kenneth Bae was arrested in November last year close to the Chinese border and sentenced by North Korea to 15 years of hard labor for unspecified "hostile acts" against the state.
Mr. Bae remains in detention and is thought to be the longest-held American captive inside North Korea since the 1950-1953 Korean War.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Bangla Daily Star] No casualty had taken place on early May 6, when law enforcers flushed out Hefajat men from the capital's Shapla Chattar, said a whitepaper by the Gono Commission of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee yesterday.
Previously, Hefajat, Jamaat and BNP claimed that several thousand Hefajat men had been killed during the flush-out, giving rise to widespread controversy.
The Gono Commission, however, said a total of 39 people had been killed in festivities in and outside the capital over the Hefajat rally on May 5-6. Six more law enforcers were also killed during the time, says the report.
The whitepaper styled "400 Days of Fundamentalist and Communal Violence of Hefajat-e-Islam ...a madrassa-based false nose and mustache of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami, formed in 2010 to protest against secular education. In 2011 demonstrated violentyly against women's rights and in 2013 held large rallies demanding capital punishment of Shahbag Square protesters and banning women working outside the home... and 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... " binned the lists of 79 and 61 deaths prepared by Hefajat and rights body Odhikar respectively. It termed the reports incomplete, exaggerated and full of repetitions.
On the home ministry list, which claimed that a total of 28 people had died that day, the whitepaper said families of some victims had not reported to the police about the deaths and buried the bodies secretly. This kept the government report incomplete.
The Nirmul Committee on June 1 formed the 15-member Gono Commission led by Justice Syed Amirul Islam to find out the actual number of casualty on May 5-6.
Yesterday, Justice Amirul Islam unveiled the whitepaper at a function in the capital's WVA auditorium. Justice Golam Rabbani, president of Ekatturer Ghatak Dalal Nirmul Committee, chaired the ceremony.
Shahriar Kabir, executive president of the Nirmul Committee who moderated the function, said, "The commission engaged some activists of Hefajat and Jamaat, and ex-operatives of banned outfit Harkat-ul-Jihad (HuJI Founded in 1984 by Fazlur Rehman Khalil and Qari Saifullah Aktar. The Bangla branch was established in 1992 with assistance from Osama bin Laden. Recruits come mostly from Deobandi madrassahs. HuJI and Fazlur Rehman Khalil are signators of bin Laden's declaration of war on the west. ) to carry out the investigation."
The commission also took accounts of Kawmi madrasa students and teachers across the country, and of members of bereaved families to get the correct death figure, said Shahriar.
The whitepaper observed that BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... 's 48-hour ultimatum on May 4 to oust the government had provoked Hefajat men to unleash violence.
Khaleda Zia and leaders of Hefajat and Jamaat must take the responsibility of the killings and lawsuits should be instituted against them as criminal masterminds, said Shahriar, adding that if someone lodged a case against the criminal masterminds, the government should provide him/her with legal assistance.
He also asked the government not to let Hefajat hold a rally on November 15.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
[Bangla Daily Star] Three alleged robbers, including the ringleader of a gang, were killed in a 'shootout' with police in Subarnachar upazila Which is nowhere you'll ever find on a map...
of Noakhali early in the morning. Ah, someone with a classic sense of crossfire timing...
Five police personnel were also injured in the incident, reports our Noakhali correspondent quoting Anisur Rahman, superintendent of police in the district. "You better have that looked at, Sergeant Shafiq! A lost nail can get infected!" The dear departed are: Kalu, the ringleader of notorious robbers' gang 'Kalu Bahini', and his two cohorts Ripon and Rubel. They had the death sentence on twelve systems!
Acting on a tip-off, [RING!]
"Cop shoppe! How may I help you?"
"Lissen, dis is Mahmoud da Weasel..."
law enforcers conducted a drive near Al Amin fish firm in the upazila around 12:15am to arrest the gang members, the police official said. My old Mother used to say that nothing wholesome happens after midnight... Spider senses tingling at the proximity of police, the criminals opened fire on law enforcers forcing them to fire back, "You may [KERBLAMMO!] fire when [KERBLAMMO!] ready, men!"
triggering a shootout that left three robbers lifeless and wancolder than mackereltitzup dead on the spot.
During the shootout, five coppers and two other members of Kalu Bahini were also injured. "Aaaiiieee! I am undone!"
"Shuddup! It's just a scratch, Mahmoud!"
At one stage, the gang members expeditiously departed at a goodly pace including the injured. "Take me wit'choo, Islamul!"
Later, police recovered the bodies. "There's one!"
"E-e-e-e-ewww!"
Kalu was wanted in several cases, including murder, kidnap and extortion, said police sources. ... mopery, dopery, loitering with intent, posturing, third degree debauchery, destitution in a public place...
Police also recovered a light gun, five rounds of bullet, one rocket launcher and several sharp weapons from the scene. Whoa! Bringing a rocket launcher to a gunfight! What's the charge on that one? More important, where does Sergeant Choudhary store it in the lock-up?
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[Libya Herald] Misrata city officials have distanced themselves from the group of Misrata forces in 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... that brought the worst fighting to the city since the revolution.
There were negotiations between the elders from Misrata, Suq Al-Juma and Tajoura to put an end to the fighting and Misrata Military Council closed the Dafniya checkpoint west of the city to prevent any armed force trying to head towards Tripoli.
Meanwhile the family of the Misrata brigade commander Nuri Friwan, whose death yesterday sparked attacks by his forces and supporters in Tripoli on local brigades in Suq Al-Juma, Tajoura and elsewhere in the capital, issued a statement saying it disassociated itself from any retaliation and called for an end to the fighting
It is reported that the overnight festivities left two people dead and 22 injured in Tripoli but this has not yet been confirmed. The dead have been named as Abdu Biali and Sharifaddine Daruil.
There was also damage to buildings in the west and centre of the capital as a result of indiscriminate shelling. The Radisson Blu Mahari hotel was one of the buildings that was slightly damaged.
The fighting, which started around 9.45pm last night when the Misrata brigade attacked forces from Suq Al-Juma at a checkpoint near the seafront Shara Al-Shatt, died down in the early hours of the morning.
During the festivities, which spread elsewhere in the capital, local brigades moved into the former women's military academy on the Suq Al-Thalath roundabout on the western edge of central Tripoli to dislodge Misratan forces based there.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Pak Daily Times] The Sunni Ittehad Council (SIC) on Friday denounced the title of martyr for the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain's slain chief Hakimullah Mehsud, saying he had killed thousands of innocent Mohammedans and cannot be called a martyr, media reports said.
The SIC said such a title for the slain krazed killer commander was against the teachings of Islam. The Council, which is a political coalition of numerous religious groups hailing from the Sunni tradition of Islam, issued two fatwas based on the opinion of around 30 muftis on Friday. SIC Chairman Hamid Raza Rizvi announced that the collective opinion from all the muftis said calling a man responsible for the loss of so many lives a "martyr" went against the teachings of the holy Koran and Sunnah.
Earlier this week, 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... Chairman Munawwar Hasan and the JUI-F chief Fazlur Rehman had remarked that TTP chief Hakimullah Mehsud was a "martyr", considering the circumstances of his death. Rehman had gone to the extent of saying anyone killed by the US would be a martyr, in his opinion. The SIC disapproved of this comment, and in a second fatwa, also rejected the idea of justifying killings in the name of Dire Revenge™ for drone attacks. The Council maintained that the inhuman drone attacks represented the worst violation of laws, morals and basic tenets of humanity, but killing innocent people as a way of "avenging" them was unacceptable. Chairman Hamid Raza also asked Rehman to take his words back. Speaking at a party meeting, Hamid Raza claimed that the United States started a crusade against the Mohammedans. He further said that the drone attacks cannot justify terrorism. The SIC chief claimed that TTP has proved its enmity with Pakistain by appointing Mullah 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 less 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 the TTP chief as he is always busy making terrorist plots against Pakistain under the shelter of US, sitting back in Afghanistan. Hamid Raza urged a ban on groups having armed wings.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
JOWHAR, Somalia -- Heavy fighting between two fraternal clans in Geeda-Barkan vicinity, about 8 km east of Middle Shabelle regional capital of Jowhar left at least 18 people dead and 20 others wounded according to witnesses, Garowe Online reports.
Local reports say that an argument over the ownership of farmland Wednesday degenerated into deadly battle, forcing hundreds of pastoralists to flee.
On Thursday, the clashes restarted with residents reporting that armed militiamen set agricultural land and houses on fire. Independent sources in Jowhar confirmed to Garowe Online that no Somali government forces were deployed in the area as the opposing sides continue to receive reinforcements including ammunitions and machine guns.
That's some tribal militia...
The argument between the warring clans has been dragging on for three years, sources said.
Land, cows or wimmins?
Federal Government of Somalia President, Hassan Sheikh Mohamud yesterday visited the agriculture-rich town of Jowhar where devastating floods hit when Shabelle river began to overflow last month.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
devastating floods hit when Shabelle river began to overflow last month
"our part is the...umm.. dry part"
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 9:50
Comments ||
Top||
[Bangla Daily Star] BNP standing committee members Moudud Ahmed, MK Anwar and Rafiqul Islam Miah were incarcerated Please don't kill me! yesterday, hours after the party-led opposition alliance announced a 72-hour countrywide hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... from tomorrow.
Detectives made the arrests as the trio came out of Hotel Sonargaon around 8:00pm attending the anniversary celebration of Bangla daily Prothom Alo.
Law enforcers also nabbed Please don't kill me! BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ... 's Adviser Abdul Awal Mintoo and Special Assistant Shimul Biswas outside her Gulshan-2 home around 1:10am and Jatiyatabadi Chhatra Dal ...student wing of the Bangladesh Nationalist Party (BNP)... Vice-President Anwar Hossain Tipu in front of Jatiya Press Club around 12:15am today.
The detained were taken to the DB headquarters.
"They were arrested on specific allegations," State Minister for Home Shamsul Haque Tuku told The Daily Star. He, however, did not say what the allegations were.
Information Minister Hasanul Huq Inu said the opposition leaders were arrested for instigating attacks on people and their properties.
Ruhul Kabir Rizvi holding a presser said the 72-hour hartal starting form tomorrow would be extended if the detained leaders were not released immediately.
He claimed that the arrests were made as part of the government plot to hold a one-party election.
Police last night also raided the homes of BNP leaders Jamiruddin Sircar, Mirza Abbas, Abdul Mannan and Goyeshwar Chandra Roy, Moazzem Hossain Alal, and Nasiruddin Ashim.
After the arrests, BNP-Jamaat activists vandalised and torched vehicles in the capital, Chittagong and in Noakhali.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Libya Herald] The Supreme Security Committee in 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... , the Libya Shield No. 1 in Benghazi, various Zintani brigades, Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... , and so many more -- and now, with the Army of the Islamic State of Libya, another name on the long list of militias.
It is too soon to have a clear picture of how strong or how ideologically determined is this group but it appears that Yusef bin Tahir made a proper business plan when launching his group in the very competitive Libyan brigades market. He declared the birth of the brigade on Al Nabaa TV, a channel launched and financed by Qatar, on 31 October. We could see Toyota pick-ups topped with machine guns in a single file in the middle of Derna's streets, then images of men wearing military uniforms.
A (3,000-man?) army "based on Islam"
"It took me six months to announce publicly the creation of the Army of the Islamic State of Libya," Youssef bin Tahir told the Libya Herald. "The men had been trained in Derna during that period by former true revolutionaries like myself. I didn't sleep a lot back then. The members are students, businessmen, teachers, and the like. All of them are from Derna.
"Our goal is simple: implementing security in public buildings, on the streets and for private companies. First in Derna, then in other cities like Benghazi and Sirte, and finally in all Libya --because Islam says it is our duty as Mohammedans to protect people."
It is a step-by-step programme which explains the name of the group. Bin Tahir does not want to lead any another type of brigade. He wants to run an new army "based on Islam".
After the release of Al Nabaa report on social networks, a rumour started claiming that Bin Tahir wanted to "free" Al-Andalus (Spain). "Totally untrue", he smiled, making him, with his medium-length curly hair and his blue eyes, even younger than his age.
Bin Tahir is highly confident that he can restore security in Derna in just one month. "Actually, right now, I'm able to secure the whole area from Derna to Benghazi".
Then he mentions a "special group" based in the desert and on boats which have orders to catch African illegal migrants. He claims that his boats locked away Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up! illegal migrants on a boat late in October in Lathroon. It could be be the migrant boat referred by this paper.
"They are under our control. We are making investigations about them," he declares, adding "most of them have diseases like HIV".
The Libya Herald has been unable to verify any of these assertions.
Bin Tahir refuses to give any figures about the number of men he has or to show his headquarters (the interview took place in a hotel, the Pearl of Derna). This makes it impossible to gain an accurate picture of the brigade's strength, although an official of Derna claimed that the group had 3,000 men.
"We do different work than Abu Sleem or Ansar Al-Sharia brigade"
Bin Tahir is also very vague about the financial side of his army. "We have received donations from our members. Above all, I spend all my money on it. My family is from Derna but we moved to Benghazi where we own different business, such as car sales."
Sources in Benghazi confirm that Bin Tahir is a wealthy family and known to be well-educated. "I don't know how rich they are but the Bin Tahirs from Derna is a big family", Benghazi Congressman Suleiman Zubi said.
"However how rich he is, nobody can run a brigade with his own money", a security expert stated. "If the group is really a strong one, they have to get money from government, GNC or outside."
Bin Tahir is adamant that the Army of the Islamic State of Libya will not be integrated into any Libyan institutions or gangs. "We have no connection with the government. We are not registered -- although I will stand with the authorities against federalism if necessary."
He explains what he sees his force doing. "We do different work than Abu Sleem or Ansar Al-Sharia [the two main brigades in Derna].
Killing, he says, in not an Islamic way. "The Koran says 'Allah alone decides the final judgement.'" Bin Tahir, who sports a beard but no moustache, often quotes the Koran to explain his actions. "I will fight any Libyan who doesn't believe as a Mohammedan."
More than an army; an Islamic way of life
He likes to tell how the decision to create the Army of the Islamic State of Libya came to him. He makes it sound like a religious parable.
"One day, I saw an old man trying to fix the car just outside Derna. He was with his family. I asked him why he didn't seek help in the town. He replied the town was too dangerous. From that day, I decided to leave Benghazi and settle in Derna to bring peace."
There is more. Bin Tahir describes his methods which cover the whole spectrum of social life. In regard to justice, he concedes that his group is not strong enough to judge criminals but it is when it comes to offenders. "If we catch a car thief, we ask the owner if he wants to be paid back and forgive the thief or if he wants us to file a form waiting for proper trial. The first solution is the best because Islam is all about forgiveness."
To fix the drug problem -- major one in Libya, even before the revolution -- he has also his own radical solution. "We pay the drug pusher for all his goods and then we destroy them instead of bombing people like any other brigade is doing."
The Army of the Islamic State of Libya has another curious rule. To prevent anyone betraying the cause of Islam, some 40 anonymous members, called "observers", are in deployed to check the behaviour of everyone, included the leader, and to punish them if necessary.
"I'm a successful man", Bin Tahir proclaims. "I catch the criminals. I will succeed because I use my brain, not only my muscles."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Pak Daily Times] A roadside kaboomdestroyed a car in restive southern Afghanistan on Friday, killing eight civilians, most of them women and kiddies, officials said.
Five women, two children and an elderly man were killed when their vehicle hit a roadside kaboom, a major weapon for the Taliban in their deadly campaign against Afghan and foreign troops. The bombing near Qalat, the capital of the troubled southern Zabul province, was the latest in a series of kabooms to take the lives of civilians instead of their intended military targets.
Three other civilians were maimed in the bombing, Ghulam Sakhi Roghliwani, the Zabul provincial police chief told AFP. He blamed the Taliban for planting the improvised device.
Mohammad Jan Rasoulyar, the deputy provincial governor, said the victims were members of the same family and that they were travelling to the picturesque provincial capital of Qalat when the bomb hit. He also blamed the bombing on Taliban, the main bully boy group that is waging a 12-year fight against the government US-led NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... forces. Roadside bombings and suicide kabooms are the two main tactics that the Taliban have used in their campaign in recent years. Roadside bombings account for most of the military deaths in Afghanistan and are also the main killer of civilians.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under: Taliban
[Pak Daily Times] As he watched the returns in Boston's most competitive mayoral race in two decades on Tuesday night, Marty Walsh's cell phone rang.
"A 202 number popped up and I picked it up. It was Vice President (Joe) Biden. He went right into it, 'Congratulations, Marty, you son of a gun. You did it!'" Walsh recalled on Thursday. "I said, 'Mr Vice President, you have the wrong Marty Walsh'."
Biden had intended to call labor activist and state Senator Marty Walsh, who had just been elected mayor of Boston. Instead he was on the line with the Marty Walsh, president of Gateway Public Solutions, a public affairs consulting firm in Boston.
"He laughed and he was great about it," said non-mayor-elect Walsh, who worked in the administration of Massachusetts Governor Deval (Whoa! Nice) drapes! Patrick and before that for Senator Edward M Kennedy. "Lucky for Joe, I'm already in the tank, or this coulda been really embarrassing...AGAIN!"
He has been getting calls for the other Marty Walsh for more than a decade, he said and considers him a friend.
He was so used to the drill that he gave Biden the correct phone number and the vice president signed off by saying, "Congratulations on not being the mayor," according to Walsh.
This year the longest-serving mayor in the city's history, Thomas "Mumbles" Menino, decided not to seek re-election after 20 years in office. Incumbent mayors in Boston are rarely defeated.
Boston's political scene is crowded with Democrats of Irish descent, illustrated by the fact that the losing candidate in Tuesday's race, City Councilor John Connolly, also fit that description.
The consultant Marty Walsh said he was not sure that having a name doppelganger in City Hall would make his life any easier.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Could have been the plugs. A bit too deep possibly. Biden as president, a concept nearly as foreign as the merits of self-assisted suicide.
#3
Its no Joe's fault on this one. But it dies show how amateurish his staff is. Did they not check or have the correct number on file? If the Dems cant even get a phone number right...
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
11/09/2013 5:54
Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... accused the United States on Friday of deliberately destroying any chance of meaningful peace talks with the Pak Taliban by killing the insurgency's leader in a drone strike a week ago.
The Taliban have since rejected talks with the government and threatened a wave of Dire Revenge™ attacks for the death of their chief, Hakimullah Mehsud, on November 1. Imran told Rooters in an interview that the United States had scuppered negotiations at a time when the bully boyz seemed to have become more open to them. "If there was a chance of peace talks, we should have grabbed it," he said at his sprawling estate outside Islamabad.
"The Americans basically could have taken out Hakimullah whenever they wanted. I think the timing was to sabotage the grinding of the peace processor. "The Americans think that if there is fighting going on here ...in our tribal belt, there is less chance of forces of Evil going over to the other side (Afghanistan) to fight the Americans at a time when they are withdrawing." Washington has long put pressure on Pakistain to do more to tackle the insurgency but the new government of 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... , elected in May, wants to find a negotiated solution to years of violence.
Attacks against the army and civilians, however, have been on the rise since Nawaz came to power, causing concern in a region already nervous about the planned withdrawal of US-led troops from Afghanistan in 2014. Earlier this week US 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... suggested the drone attack was justifiable, while at the time saying Washington was sensitive to Pak concerns. Mehsud had been tentatively open to ceasefire talks with the government, but new Taliban leader Mullah 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 less 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... strongly opposes negotiations.
Imran said missiles fired by unmanned US aircraft in North Wazoo have only fuelled anti-American sentiment. He agrees with Nawaz on the need for peace talks with the Pakistain Taliban, an al Qaeda-linked group fighting to topple the government. Imran, whose political party is now in charge of the volatile Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , has threatened to cut NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... supply lines through his region from November 20 if US drone strikes do not end. Blocking NATO trucks at Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa border checkpoints could disrupt the operations of US-led forces in Afghanistan but any decision to close supply routes through Pakistain would have to come from the central government in Islamabad.
"They (the Taliban) think ... we are the slaves of America, that the Pakistain government is taking money from the US and fighting its (America's) war and killing its own people," Imran said. "Therefore they have declared jihad (holy war) against the Pakistain Army and Pak security forces. The dialogue should (take place) to take that narrative away." Despite Nawaz's emphasis on talks, no meaningful negotiations have taken place since his election and Fazlullah's rise could signal the start of a new period of uncertainty and violence in the unstable region.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[11 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] Leb will file a complaint to the United Nations ...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society... Security Council over the recent spying stations installed by Israel along its border with Leb.
According to al-Joumhouria newspaper published on Friday, the complaint will be filed in light of the report issued by the parliamentary telecommunications committee, which will meet on Monday.
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.
The head of the parliamentary committee, MP Hassan Fadlallah, said in comments published in As Safir newspaper on Thursday that the meeting will be held in presence of Telecom Minister Nicolas Sehnaoui and a specialized team in addition to the Foreign Ministry representatives.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: Hezbollah
#1
yeah, now that Leb has all its' other problems solved they can worry about the Juice again.
Squirrel!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 10:50
Comments ||
Top||
#2
Israel's intel stations are within the Israeli border. End of discussion.
[An Nahar] Twenty percent of the population in the restive Central African Republic -- 1.1 million people -- are under threat from hunger because of poor harvests and violence, the U.N.'s World Food Program warned Friday. So...when's the concert?
They "are unable to meet their daily food needs on a regular basis or require food assistance in order to get by," the agency said in a statement.
The impoverished landlocked nation has been mired in chaos since the Seleka coalition of rebels ousted longtime president Francois Bozize in March.
Although officially disbanded, Seleka elements continue to operate as a proto-militia, with reports of them looting villages and clashing with vigilante groups.
Because of the conflict and ongoing violence, "many farmers fled their farms, leaving crops untended. The majority of households said that their livestock had been stolen. Some families sold livestock and seeds to survive, while others sold herds for fear of displacement or looting," the WFP said, based on a recent security survey.
The agency was worried food from the last harvest could run out at the beginning of 2014, four months earlier than usual.
"The survey found that there may not be enough food in the country to cover people's needs through January/February 2014," it said.
The Central African Republic's interim prime minister, Nicolas Tiangaye, said Thursday his government needed $900 million (670 million euros) in foreign financing over the next 18 months to stabilize the country.
An international contact group on the Central African Republic, co-chaired by Congo and the 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... , met in Bangui on Friday to examine ways to restore peace and security to the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I remember the song
"Lots of blood in Asia now,
They've slaughtered off the sacred cow,
They've got enough to eat,"
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/09/2013 15:34
Comments ||
Top||
#2
People in Africa were starving with I was a child.
I'm 67 years old.
In spite of the billions of dollars in food aid we've sent over the last 60+ years, people in Africa are still starving.
Does anybody else see what's wrong with this picture? >:-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
11/09/2013 18:12
Comments ||
Top||
#3
Does anybody else see what's wrong with this picture?
Sure do Barbara, its all part of Picasso's African Period.
Reports have emerged this week indicating the presence of North Korean military personnel in Syria. They note that 15 North Korean helicopter pilots are operating there on behalf of President Bashar Assads regime. The reports have been validated by the pro-rebel but usually reliable Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
Earlier this year, the Saudi-based regional newspaper Asharq al-Awsat carried eyewitness reports revealing the presence of North Korean officers among the Syrian regimes ground forces in the city of Aleppo. On this occasion, the Syrian Observatory was itself the source of the report.
Asharq Al-Awsat detailed the presence of between 11 and 15 North Korean officers in the city. Rami Abdul Rahman of the organization said the men were artillery officers.
They were not, he said, taking part directly in the fighting. Rather, the men were engaged in providing logistical support in addition to the development plans of military operations.
These sightings are the latest confirmation of the long, close and cooperative relationship maintained between Pyongyang and the regime of the Assads.
Birds of a feather...
The connection precedes the current Syrian war. It forms part of North Koreas broader network of relationships in the Middle East.
Most famously, of course, the plutonium reactor under construction at the al-Kibar facility near Deir ez-Zor, destroyed by Israel in September 2007, was built under North Korean supervision. North Korean participation in the reactors construction was confirmed by a high-level Iranian defector, Ali Reza Asghari. According to Der Spiegel, North Korean scientists were present at the site at the time of the bombing.
Let's hope they got flattened along with the reactor building...
But Assads fledgling nuclear program was not the only project in which Damascus was aided by Pyongyang. Cooperation also took place both in the field of conventional weapons and in that of nonnuclear weapons of mass destruction.
In an October 3 interview with Radio Free Asia, former Defense Intelligence Agency analyst Bruce Bechtol noted that North Korea has been supplying weaponry, including chemical weapons, to Syria since the early 1990s. According to Bechtol, North Korea provides the Syrians with the ability to marry up chemical weapons with missile systems. He noted that the North Koreans constructed two chemical weapons facilities for the Syrians, which remain in operation today.
In terms of conventional weapons, North Korea has played a vital part in Syrias missile program.
The North Koreans are acknowledged experts in weapons smuggling process. They have continued to transport spare parts for Assads missiles into the country throughout the war, by air and by sea, coolly dismissive of the supposed international arms embargo.
Just who isn't dismissive of UN embargoes and sanctions these days?
According to a 2012 report prepared for the UN Security Council, South Korea intercepted one shipment in May 2012, which was carrying graphite cylinders en route to Syria for Assads missiles.
The Iraqi authorities also claim to have diverted a plane carrying North Korean material to Syria, last September.
Bechtol, the former DIA man, noted that in the past few months, theres been an uptick in the number of North Korean advisers and logistics personnel on the ground that are helping Syrians resupply themselves, and in the maintenance of weapons systems earlier supplied by Pyongyang. Such maintenance and resupply, of course, is vital for a country engaged in a long war, in which systems are in daily use.
Why are the North Koreans doing this? The answer does not lie in the realm of ideology. Rather, the North Koreans are isolated and subject to sanctions. They need money, and will sell to whoever pays them.
So who is paying them? In the case of Syria, the answer is almost certainly the Iranians.
As with Russia, Syria does not get free arms handouts from its sponsors outside of the region. It instead gets free cash handouts from its regional patron, Iran, for which the survival of the Assad regime is most vital. This money is then used to pay for Pyongyangs and Moscows hardware and expertise.
Of course, Iran is North Koreas main customer in the Middle East.
So Pyongyangs evident involvement in the Syrian war is also a matter of longstanding alliances, as well as monetary gain.
Most intriguing in the latest development is the involvement of North Korean pilots. It is not clear if these men are actually engaged in combat on behalf of Assad, or in other tasks. But their presence appears to suggest that the dictators problems with manpower also extend to his air force. The lack of trustworthy fighters has been the main problem facing the regime since the outbreak of the war.
Iran has sought to solve it through the insertion of large numbers of Hezbollah fighters, Iraqi Shiite volunteers and Iranian Revolutionary Guards into the fighting lines. If Pyongyang is now supplying pilots to the regime, then appears it can no longer rely even on its own airmen.
This is quite plausible.
On the one hand, the Assad regime is, among other things, an air force regime. Hafez Assad was himself a pilot and a commander of the Syrian Air Force. But as with other parts of the armed forces, the most loyal men in the air force are to be found in the most politically sensitive positions, not the most dangerous ones.
So while the very powerful Syrian Air Force Intelligence (Idarat al- Mukhabarat al-Quwwa al-Jawiya) is largely officered by Syrian Alawites, the majority of the pilots are Sunnis. As such, it is perfectly possible that the same problems of trust apply to Assads aircrews as those which afflict his ground forces.
The evidence suggesting the presence of North Korean soldiers and aviators in Syria ultimately furthers testimony to the determined, effective and continuing effort by Assads allies, from the very start of the war, to keep him in place.
It may also be assumed that the North Koreans have noted and enjoyed the rudderless, wavering US policy toward the same issue over the same period.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
When North Korean leader Fat Boy Kim Jong-un studied at a boarding school in Switzerland, his maternal aunt, Ko Yong-suk, was charged with looking after him in the foreign locale for several years.
Then, 15 years ago, Ko vanished.
The JoongAng Ilbo has learned that Ko, 55, sought political asylum in the United States in 1998. She is receiving protection from U.S. authorities, according to a source who was a high-level official in the National Intelligence Service at the time, which was during the Kim Dae-jung administration.
When Pudgy Kim Jong-un attended the prestigious International School of Berne from 1996-01, his aunt looked after him for two of those years.
Ko is the younger sister of Ko Yong-hui, Suet Face's Kim Jong-un's mother, who was born in Japan and was a member of Pyongyang's Mansudae Art Troupe. Kim's mother died in 2004 from breast cancer at the age of 51.
Combining memories of the intelligence source and that of a high-level diplomat who worked at the Embassy of Korea in Switzerland in 1998, the JoongAng Ilbo has learned that Ko Yong-suk and her husband sought asylum from the United States in early May 1998 from the U.S. Embassy in Geneva, which granted it after confirming their identities.
Following instructions by her brother-in-law, North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, Ko had spent two years in Switzerland looking after The Stupid One Jong-un and hiding her identity from North Korean diplomats.
"U.S. authorities spirited away Ko and her husband without even informing us," the NIS source told the JoongAng Ilbo, "sending them to the U.S. through a base in Frankfurt."
Then we kept it a secret for 15 years? I'm truly impressed. Nice job CIA...
Once settling in the U.S., Ko and her husband faced in-depth questioning by U.S. authorities, which extracted a large amount of information about North Korea's ruling dynasty.
The source said that the couple defected because they knew so many secrets of the internal goings-on in Pyongyang and were scared. The intelligence source said U.S. authorities gave the couple new identities and "through plastic surgery made them into completely different people."
You now know them as...Brangelina.
They are living in the U.S. with special safeguarding by the Central Intelligence Agency's witness protection program, he said.
The diplomatic source also confirmed to the JoongAng Ilbo that the U.S. Embassy in Switzerland did not tell Korean officials right away about Ko seeking asylum in the U.S., and that it was only toward the end of May 1998 that they were informed.
When Pudgy's Kim Jong-un's mother found out that her younger sister had fled to the U.S., she was angry, the intelligence source said. She threatened to track her down and make her pay, saying, "How can she abandon the family and escape just for herself?"
Um, maybe they found out that you and hubby were planning to torture them? I'm just guessing here...
Others asylum seekers from the Kim family include Kim Jong-il's nephew-in-law Yi Han-yong in 1982. His mother was younger sister of Song Hye-rim, Kim Jong-il's mistress and mother of Kim Jong-nam. Song also reportedly defected to Moscow in 1996.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"How can she abandon the family and escape just for herself?"
Um, cuz her family sucked? It's a common enough situation.
[Pak Daily Times] Activists from right-wing religious parties led protests in the country Friday to denounce a US drone strike that killed the leader of the Pak Taliban, after the movement named a notorious hardliner as his successor.
Pakistain last week reacted angrily to the drone attack that killed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) chief Hakimullah Mehsud in the North Wazoo Agency. The government said it destroyed efforts to begin talks to end the TTP's bloody six-year insurgency that has left thousands of soldiers, police and civilians dead. The interior minister accused Washington of sabotaging peace efforts, and the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the brightest knife in the national drawer... called for a blockade of 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... convoys to Afghanistan.
Around 1,200 supporters of the 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) staged a protest sit-in on Friday, blocking a NATO supply route in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. , police and an AFP news hound said. Mohammad Ismail, a police brass hat in Peshawar said the road would reopen soon. "It is temporary due to the protest rally, supplies will re-open on Saturday," Ismail told AFP. Pakistain is a key transit route for the US-led mission in landlocked Afghanistan, particularly as NATO forces withdraw by the end of next year. Many of the trucks now are actually removing NATO equipment after 12 years of war.
"Block NATO supply, stop drone attack," read one banner at the rally. Protesters carrying placards and party flags were shouting anti-US slogans, an AFP news hound said. In Lahore, more than 200 activists of Jamaat-ud-Dawa ...the front organization of Lashkar-e-Taiba... (JuD) gathered outside the press club and rolled their eyes, jumped up and down, and hollered poorly rhymed slogans real loud against the US. JuD also held a small rally in 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... . "America does not want a peaceful Pakistain, it is against peace talks, government should shoot down US drones," Shabeer Ahmad Khan, a JI leader told the gathering in Peshawar.
Imran has set a November 20 deadline for the halting of drone strikes and threatened to block NATO convoys in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , where PTI leads the coalition government. But it is not clear how he would carry out such a blockade as authority over highways lies with the federal government. Islamabad condemns drone strikes as a violation of illusory sovereignty, and 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... urged President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... to end them during White House talks last week.
But analysts say Nawaz's ability to issue demands to Washington are constrained by the fact the US last month agreed to release around $1.6 billion in aid. In addition, Pakistain has just embarked on a new $6.7 billion International Monetary Fund (IMF) loan package with support from Washington. Mehsud's death last Friday was the third major blow struck against the TTP by the US this year, following the killing of number two Waliur Rehman in a drone strike in May and the capture of another senior lieutenant in Afghanistan last month. On Thursday, the TTP named its new leader as 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 less 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... , known for leading the Taliban's bloody 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.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Taiba
American and British media stars weighed in on the LAX shooting last week like a fence waiting for goods robbed from the dead. So many wanted more gun control and said so on Twitter that it was hard to keep up. Among those calling to rob you first of your guns were Eric Idle, Sally Jesse Rafael, Ian Nelson and Diane Neal. I know. I thought the same thing: Who?
A man who had no criminal record, who harmed no one, who lost his temper at his girlfriend who was leaving him was shot to death by cops in a SWAT team action last month in Springfield, Virginia. His girlfriend helpfully told the cops he had a gun, which was not in his hand when the cops shot him. Cops eventually tore down the front door with an armored car at his home only after posting a police sniper at POINT BLANK RANGE. There is no way cops can spin this other than as a murder.
Dick Metcalf wistfully wondered in the pages of Guns and Ammo magazine whether gun owners should accept even more gun control. This heartfelt editorial was so passionate and well written that it cost MetCalf and his editor their jobs. A really good job is prolly awaiting for him in the Brady Campaign. I can see it now: Thursday Night at the Library: Dick Metcalf discusses the darkest secrets of the RKBA movement and their racist members. Refreshments will be provided. $90,000 a year sinecure. Helluva deal! Won't have much of a defense at a necktie party, but, hell, party on, dude!
B'Man, I'll get this in quick. Every night I go to sleep I play the Gary Owen. It's the 7th Cavalry regimental march.
I pray to God to give me the strength and show me the time to commence butchering my enemies.
Just using the term butchering is abound to attract the attention of the overseers, good.
To them I say, come, I've prepared for you.
Rantburg's summary for arms and ammunition:
Rifle and pistol ammunition prices were mixed.
Prices for rifles were mostly higher, while prices for pistols were mostly lower.
Pistol Ammo
.45 caliber, 230 grain, From Last Week: -.02 Each
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ventura Munition, Wolf Polyformance, .32 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Widener's, Wolf Polyformance, reloaded, .37 per round (+.02 each from last week, +.03 previous two weeks)
.40 Caliber Smith & Wesson, 180 grain, From Last Week: Unchanged
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Selway Armory, Ultramax, reloaded, .28 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munitions, store brand, reloaded, .28 per round (Unchanged, -.04 each over previous two weeks)
9mm Parabellum, 115 grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each (-.03 Each over previous two weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Bangit Ammo, Precision One, Reloaded, .28 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Freedom Munitions, Reloaded, .25 per round (+.01 each from last week)
.357 Magnum, 158 grain, From Last Week: +.04 Each ( +.10 each over previous five weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Ammunition Depot, Federal CCI Blazer, .46 per round
Cheapest 500 rounds: Bulk Ammo, PMC, .59 per round
Rifle Ammunition
.223 Caliber/5.56mm 55 grain, From Last Week: +.01 each
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Firearms for Sale, Tulammo, steel cased, .31 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Sportsman Guide, Wolf, steel cased, .34 per round (+.12 each, Previous Week: -.09 each )
.308 NATO 145 grain, From Last Week: -.01 Each (+.11 last week) (After -.21 over six weeks)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Goose Island Sales, No Label, steel cased, .60 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Widener's, Prvi Partizan, .56 per round (-.04 each)(+.04 from two weeks ago)
7.62x39 AK 123 Grain, From Last Week: Unchanged (Unchanged previous six weeks, but one, +.01)
Cheapest, 20 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .26 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 1000 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Wolf Polyformance, steel core and case, .25 per round (Unchanged from Last Week)
.22 LR 40 Grain, From Last Week: -.02 each (Unchanged previous five Weeks)
Cheapest, 50 rounds: Cabela's, CCI Speer, .08 per round
Cheapest Bulk, 500 rounds: Ammo Supply Warehouse, Aguila, .12 per round (Unchanged, +.04 from previous week, after -.06 each over previous two weeks)
Guns for Private Sale
Rifles
.223/5.56mm (AR Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $918 Last Week Avg: $823
California: Bushmaster XM-15: $980
Texas: Armalite 15A4 SPR: $800
New York: Daniel Defense DDM4: $1,240
Virgina: Mixed Build w/stainless barrel: $800
Florida: Bushmaster $800
.308 NATO (AR-10 Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $1,372 Last Week Avg: $1,228
California: Sig Sauer M716 Patrol: $1,240 (Same Gun)
Texas: Smith & Wesson M&P 10 $1,250
New York: None available
Virginia: Smith & Wesson MP-10: $1,500
Florida: DPMS, Stainless barrel: $1,495
7.62x39mm (AK Pattern Semiautomatic) Average Price: $755 Last Week Avg: $750
California: IO: $950
Texas: Zastava M70: $725
New York: Saiga: $750 (Same Gun)
Virginia: Romanian AK: $650
Florida: WASR: $700
.45 caliber ACP (M1911 Pattern Semiautomatic Pistol) Average Price: $440 Last Week Avg: $514
California: Rock Island Armory: $475 (Same Gun)
Texas: High Standard Compact: $550
New York: Regent R200SS (Stainless): $400 (Same Gun)
Virginia: LLama Max-1: $325
Florida: Norinco 1911: $450 (Possibly Same Gun)
9mm Beretta 92FS or other Semiautomatic Average Price: $447 Last Week Avg: $463
California: Kahr CW9 (w/ night sights): $440 (Prolly Same Gun, new price)
Texas: Canik Shark: $415
New York: Glock 19: $405 (Same Gun)
Virginia: Glock 19: $500
Florida: Smith & Wesson Model 39-2: $475
.40 caliber S&W (Glock and other semiautomatic) Average Price: $415 Last Week Avg: $455
California: Sig Sauer P226: $450
Texas: Smith & Wesson SD40VE: $340
New York: Walther PPS: $425
Virginia: Glock 23: $480
Florida: Glock 23: $400
Used Gun of the Week: (From Ohio)
Uberti Carbine chambered in .45 Long Colt
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com and BorderlandBeat.com. He can be reached at grurkka@gmail.com
#2
A man who had no criminal record, who harmed no one, who lost his temper at his girlfriend who was leaving him was shot to death by cops in a SWAT team action last month in Springfield, Virginia.
Only one of the downsides of living in Springfield.
#3
his daughters will get rich and his girlfriend should get NOTHING. The cops who made those incredibly stupid decisions need to go back to bagging groceries
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/09/2013 11:13
Comments ||
Top||
#4
I heard a rumor Remington was moving to Tennessee.
[CHARLOTTE.CBSLOCAL] North Carolina's largest insurer is having its share of problems with the Obamacare website.
Internal emails obtained by WNCN-TV show that Blue Cross Blue Shield show that only 1,000 people had filled out applications as of October 15th.
In fact, only one person was able to successfully use Healthcare.gov to enroll in the new exchange.
But even that single person has not paid, which means the enrollment is not complete.
The emails suggest the "payment re-direct option" on government servers isn't working.
Blue Cross Blue Shield found the entire system is so filled with glitches that the company decided not to upload data because it was afraid false information might enter its computer system.
And the emails reveal a scammer was using the insurer's name to try to obtain personal information.
A person was making phone calls claiming to be with the "National Health Care Registry," and falsely claim it was taking over healthcare reform contracts from the Blue Cross.
BCBS front man Lew Borman told WNCN-TV the company is working with the government to solve these problems.
"We're hopeful that the issues can be resolved quickly so the Exchange will work seamlessly for our customers," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
[Pak Daily Times] 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... Friday reiterated his government's desire to hold talks with the Taliban for making Pakistain a peaceful country.
Speaking during his visit to 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... , Prime Minister Nawaz appealed to the estranged segments among the Baloch population to join the mainstream, give up arms and abandon their current course in order to be part of the caravan serving the country. He was addressing a gathering of area notables at the Central Relief Camp set up at the Circuit House by the Balochistan government for the earthquake victims. Wooing the estranged Baloch, the prime minister used a local phrase that says if a person returns home late after straying, he is embraced back into the fold.
He said the estranged Baloch "are our brothers" and stressed that hostility serves no purpose. "They should abandon hostility and work for the betterment of Pakistain's economy. ...They are our brothers. We harbour no sentiment of Dire Revenge™," Prime Minister Nawaz declared. About the earthquake victims, the prime minister said he was deeply saddened by the calamity which had hit them. He said that at the time of the quake, he was out of the country, however, he had directed Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif and Interior Minister Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan to visit the quake-affected area.
He said the federal government, Balochistan government and the army had jointly launched relief work for the quake victims and accomplished the initial responsibilities commendably. Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif said he was extremely grieved over the loss of lives and the injuries caused to other people by the earthquake. He said the government desired to rehabilitate those people whose houses were destroyed so as to mitigate the loss suffered by them.
The prime minister said the worst-hit Awaran District will be turned into a modern district. "The people of Balochistan and the people of Pakistain should feel that the government realises its obligations," he said. Nawaz said it will be the endeavour of the government to construct the destroyed houses soon. He said opinion of the local people will be sought so ascertain their wishes, and whether the government should build houses for them or provide them money to build them themselves. "New technology will be utilised in the construction of the houses so that this village-like place may look like a beautiful city," remarked Nawaz.
About the issue of terrorism, Prime Minister Nawaz recalled that the government had finalised the plan to initiate dialogue with the Taliban and a delegation was scheduled to leave when the process was impeded. He, however, reiterated the government's desire to have talks with Taliban for making Pakistain a peaceful country. "We want dialogue with Taliban and do not want more bloodshed of our brothers and sisters," the prime minister remarked.
Referring to the ongoing targeted operation in 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... , the prime minister said it is only against the criminals. "The criminals, even if they belong to our own party, will not be spared." The operation will continue until the last culprit is nabbed and brought to justice, the prime minister added. An MQM delegation called on Prime Minister Nawaz at the Governor's House in Karachi on Friday and discussed law and order with him.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] Turkey's deputy prime minister on Friday announced plans to withdraw from active politics after disagreement with leader Recep Tayyip Erdogan over mixed-sex student dorms.
"I want to withdraw from active political life. If Mr Prime Minister allows me and respects my decision, I will not be a candidate for any (government) post," Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc told TRT-Turk television.
The announcement comes after contradictory comments made by Erdogan and his deputy over letting boys and girls share student houses.
The debate erupted after Erdogan first floated an idea to do away with mixed-sex dorms in state-owned student houses at a closed-door meeting with politicians from his Islamic-rooted Justice and Development Party (AKP) at the weekend.
"Female and male students cannot live in the same house," he was quoted as saying by the local media. "That is contrary to our structure, which is conservative-democratic."
Arinc then said on Monday that the government had no intention of "carrying out checks" on students' living arrangements.
Erdogan however stood behind his remarks, sparking fresh criticism that he is seeking to Islamize Turkey's mainly Mohammedan but deeply secular society with increasingly conservative policies.
Pointing at an "apparent contradiction" between the two leaders, Arinc said on Friday: "I'm not responsible for this contradiction. He (Erdogan) is expected to give an explanation over this contradiction."
"I'm not only a minister who holds a seat. I am a person who represents the party's views, its past and today," Arinc said.
Critics say that Erdogan's 11-year-long rule has left Turkish society more polarized than ever, with opponents of the AKP government openly voicing concerns that Turkey is sliding toward conservative Islam.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
Comes as a surprise, huh? Floored me, too.
[NY Times] The Paleostinian official in charge of investigating the death of Yasser Arafat in 2004 renewed his accusation Friday that Israel had killed the Paleostinian leader, even as he and a colleague acknowledged that recent inquiries had not found sufficient evidence to prove that Mr. Arafat was poisoned with radioactive polonium-210. "But we know they dunnit!"
Abdullah Bashir, the medical expert on the Paleostinian committee investigating the death, told news hounds that Russian Sherlocks "agreed that Mr. Arafat's death wasn't natural," but had not concluded that it was caused by polonium. The report on that investigation, which has not been made public, "pointed out new information that requires more research," Dr. Bashir said. "We will research until we find proof!"
Tawfik Tirawi, the head of the committee, said at a news conference here that Israel was the "first, fundamental, and only suspect" in what he described as an assassination, though he did not provide any evidence to back that up. "Who needs evidence?"
Mr. Tirawi, who was the Paleostinian intelligence chief at the time of Mr. Arafat's death at age 75, acknowledged, however, that three separate investigations by Russian, Swiss and French teams had yet to confirm how the Paleostinian Authority president expired. "The big question is still unanswered," he said.
The Paleostinian statements came two days after Al Jazeera, the Qatar-based television network that has advanced the theory that Mr. Arafat was poisoned, published a new report by the Swiss team, stating that its findings "moderately support the proposition" that Mr. Arafat died as a consequence of polonium poisoning. Some experts have since raised questions about whether traces of polonium would survive this long on clothing and other items. A separate French investigation has not yet been published.
Israel repeated its longstanding insistence that it had nothing to do with Mr. Arafat's demise. "Let me state this as simply as I can: Israel did not kill Arafat," Yigal Palmor, a front man for the foreign ministry, told The News Agency that Dare Not be Named. "The Paleostinians should stop this nonsense and stop raising these baseless accusations without any shadow of proof."
Dr. Bashir noted at the news conference that Mr. Arafat, a former guerrilla fighter and longtime chairman of the Paleostine Liberation Organization, did not smoke or drink alcohol, and did not have diabetes, heart disease or high blood pressure. He said the committee was politically, criminally and "scientifically mandated to find out the reasons for Arafat's death."
Mr. Tirawi told news hounds that the Paleostinian investigation, which began three years ago, "will continue until the whole truth is fully revealed."
"Based on the Russian and Swiss findings, we can say that Abu Ammar did not die because he was an old man; he didn't die because he was ill; his death was not natural," Mr. Tirawi said, using Mr. Arafat's nickname. "These two reports are not the end. We will see you again, to reveal to you the whole truth."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Maybe one of his boy toys rubbed the polonium on his...oh, nevermind.
[Pak Daily Times] A child was became victim to crossfire between two armed gangs, whereas an alleged gangster was also killed during an encounter with law enforcers 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 Friday.
A child was killed during crossfire between two groups of gangsters in Koila Godown area of Lyari, within the limits of Chakiwara cop shoppe.
Police said the 7-year-old victim Mohammad Yasin, son of Altaf, resident of the same area, was on his way when stray bullets hit and killed him when two groups were busy firing on each other. He died instantly and his body was taken 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... for post mortem and later handed over to his heirs.
Separately, an alleged gangster was killed during an encounter with law enforcers in Koila Godown, Lyari.
Law enforcers conducted a raid at gangsters' hideout in Koila Godown, where one alleged gangster got killed and another injured during the fighting. While three culprits were enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! , others managed to escape from the scene. The dear departed gangster was identified as Mohammad Hussain, 32, son of Mohammad Ismail.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
BOSSASO, Somalia -- Sources in Puntlands port city of Bossaso in northern Somalia say that an overnight attack on Bossaso Prison resulted in casualties, but confirmed that no inmates escaped during the bold attack, Garowe Online reports.
Now THAT's how you stop a prison break...
An armed group attacked Bossaso Prison around 11.30pm Friday night local time, using machineguns and hand grenades, according to Puntland security officials in Bossaso who spoke to Garowe Online news agency.
The officials confirmed that at least that three Puntland prison officers were wounded during the overnight attack.
We repelled the attack, inflicted casualties on the attackers who fled away, and Puntland security forces rushed to help us, said the officer during a telephone interview.
He confirmed that at least one of the dead attackers body was left behind and would be properly identified in the morning
...before it starts to stink too badly...
and confirmed that no inmates escaped, an indication that the attackers wanted to free some inmates but failed.
Bossaso residents who spoke with Garowe Online reported witnessing more security forces on the streets as government forces searched for the attackers.
No group has claimed responsibility for the nighttime attack on Bossaso Prison, whereby dangerous criminals, including convicted terrorists, killers and pirates are serving long prison sentences. Al Shabaab militants have previously attack Bossasos southern checkpoint, but this is the first bold attack on the citys main prison facility, which is well-guarded by Puntland security forces.
This is a developing story, as the attack occurred only two hours ago from the time of publishing this report and it is still nighttime. A public statement is expected from Puntland officials Saturday morning.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
From Wikipedia: "Unlike the secessionist region of Somaliland to its west, Puntland is not trying to obtain international recognition as a separate nation."
Puntland is an interesting place. It seems like they've decided that it's not worth the hassle to declare yourself an independent country when you can simply *be* one de-facto, and put all of the structures in place. Smart.
#4
Based on this article perhaps one is better off just Dealing! with oh, I don't know, say terrorists and pirates launching a prison break than "dealing" with international law.
[Pak Daily Times] A series of attacks in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and central Iraq killed seven people on Friday, the latest in a months-long surge in bloodshed that comes in the lead-up to major Shia commemorations. In the deadliest incident, two roadside kabooms went off as worshippers were exiting midday prayers at the Imam Ali mosque, a Sunni place of worship, in the west Storied Baghdad neighbourhood of Amriyah. At least four people were killed and 11 maimed, security and medical officials said. Violence north of Storied Baghdad in Diyala and Salaheddin provinces, both majority Sunni Arab provinces that are among Iraq's most violent, killed three.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Islamic State of Iraq & the Levant
[An Nahar] Spain has released a member of the far-left group Grapo who was jugged ... anything you say can and will be used against you, whether you say it or not... last year in connection with the kidnapping and death of a Spanish businessman in 1995, officials announced Friday.
The Spanish high court ruled the detention of Antonio Ramon Teijelo depended on just one uncorroborated source and there was no flight risk given his "precarious health". Let me guess: end-stage prostate cancer?
Teijelo and two other suspects were arrested in July 2012 in Cadiz and Seville in southwestern Spain on suspicion of taking part in the kidnapping of Publio Cordon. The two other suspects have since been released.
Cordon was kidnapped as he left his home in Zaragoza in northeastern Spain to go jogging on June 27, 1995 and was taken to a house in the southeastern French city of Lyon.
His family paid the kidnappers a ransom of more than 300 million pesetas (more than 1.8 million euros) in Gay Paree but he was never seen again.
Spanish officials say he died about two weeks after being kidnapped when he jumped out of a window while trying to escape. His body has not been recovered.
Three other members of Grapo -- Jose Ortin, Enrique Cuadra Echeandia and Concepcion Gonzalez -- were arrested in 1995 and sentenced three years later for their role in Cordon's kidnapping.
Former Grapo leader Fernando Silva Sande, arrested in November 2000 in Gay Paree, was also sentenced in 2007 to 28 years in prison for Cordon's kidnapping.
Grapo, which stands for First of October Anti-Fascist Resistance Group, has been relatively inactive since it was broken up in La Belle France and Spain in 2000 and 2002.
It was founded in 1975 a few months before the death of Spanish dictator Francisco Franco and has been blamed for the murders of more than 80 Spanish police and soldiers.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Planning to follow him until the rest of the gang shows upon, either in person or on his his telephone?
I would, even attend his funeral, with cameras.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/09/2013 15:28
Comments ||
Top||
[Al Ahram] Official Nour Party spokesperson Sherif Taha slammed the Moslem Brüderbund for defaming the Salafist group and "the icons" of the party's mother movement -- Salafist Calling.
In a statement published on the official Nour Party website on Friday, Taha condemned how the Moslem Brüderbund was defaming the Salafist Calling and its political arm, Nour Party. He accused the Brotherhood of spreading lies as a part of a campaign "that goes back even before June 30," according to the party's spokesperson.
"It is better if the Moslem Brüderbund starts to look for the reason that led to their miserable failures and learn from their mistakes, instead of blaming others for their own failures and living the role of the victim," said Taha in his statement.
The official spokesperson of the Salafist party said that the Brotherhood-led "defamation campaign" against his party was lacking honesty as well as "clean political competitiveness."
Earlier this week a group of Moslem Brüderbund supporters protested against Sheikh Yasser El-Borhami, one of the co-founders and prominent figures of the Salafist Calling, during a religious lecture in Alexandria.
The Nour Party has come under strong attack from some Islamists for supporting the 3 July road map which included the ouster of 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... , amending the 2012 constitution and holding new elections.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
[Pak Daily Times] Malawi police said on Friday they have nabbed Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! axed justice minister Ralph Kasambara for the failed liquidation attempt of a corruption-busting treasury official in September.
"I can confirm about the arrest of Kasambara last (Thursday) night because he is a suspect and we want to establish his involvement in the shooting incident," national police front man Kelvin Maigwa told AFP.
Paul Mphwiyo, the budget director in the finance ministry, was shot and maimed outside his house just as he was about to expose a government corruption ring.
The former justice minister is the fourth suspect arrested for the liquidation attempt.
Several public servants have been nabbed over the past two months on suspicion of swindling the state of more than $20 million in what has been dubbed the Capital Hill 'cash-gate' scandal, named after the seat of government.
Amid donor threats President Joyce Banda last month sacked her entire cabinet, including Kasambara, amid reports some were lining their pockets from state coffers in the deeply impoverished southern African state.
On Thursday international funders warned future disbursements depended on a government clean-up of its fiscus.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[BBC.CO.UK] Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, under pressure to quit after admitting he smoked crack cocaine and had a drink problem, could enter rehab, his lawyer says.
Dennis Morris told the Globe and Mail that the mayor of Canada's largest city was "considering options".
"And we'll stay tuned to see what he says in the next few days," Mr Morris told the newspaper.
His comments come a day after Mr Ford apologised for a video of him threatening to kill an unknown person.
The 44-year-old married father of two said he was "extremely, extremely inebriated" at the time it was filmed and he was "embarrassed" by it.
Toronto police said last week they have a separate video apparently showing Mr Ford smoking crack cocaine, which has not been made public.
Foul-mouthed rant
His older brother, Doug Ford, told a radio broadcaster on Friday that his brother could benefit from "a little bit of counselling".
"If Rob goes away on a vacation, for a week or two weeks, Rob loses 50, 60 pounds, stays on the straight narrows," he said, "it'll be tough to beat Rob Ford."
Thursday's release of a video showing an agitated Mr Ford during a foul-mouthed rant was a defining moment for the mayor, Mr Morris has told news hounds.
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.
On Thursday, Mr Morris said he had been in talks with Toronto police to view the crack-smoking clip.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[1 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
"If Rob goes away on a vacation, for a week or two weeks, Rob loses 50, 60 pounds, stays on the straight narrows," he said, "it'll be tough to beat Rob Ford."
Seems to be working well for a waddling and truculent Gov. Chris Christy.
[Al Ahram] A coalition led by Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund has called for mass protests on Friday under the rallying slogan "Egypt's women are a red line," decrying recent arrests of women protesting in support of ousted 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 a statement, the National Coalition in Support of Legitimacy accused security forces of beating, torturing and detaining women in the latest security crackdown against Morsi's supporters.
Last week, 21 Moslem Brüderbund women were locked away You have the right to remain silent... during a demonstration in Egypt's second city Alexandria.
Video footage circulating on social media networks showed security forces manhandling some of the women arrested.
"Such practices didn't stop at killing men, women and kiddies in massacres as had happened in Rabaa El-Adawiya and Al-Nahda Square; instead there is an unprecedented targeted attack on women," the statement read.
The sit-ins at Rabaa El-Adawiya and Al-Nahda Square in Cairo were violently dispersed by police in August, leaving hundreds of protesters dead.
The coalition said that "increasing violence" by security forces is a sign of the "failure of the coup."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Ikhwan in defense of women. Now I've seen everything.
[ORLANDOSENTINEL] The Mormon church stands to own nearly 2 percent of Florida by completing a deal to buy most of the real estate of the St. Joe Co. for more than a half-billion dollars.
The megapurchase was announced jointly Thursday by a corporate representative of church, which owns the nearly 295,000-acre Deseret Ranches in Central Florida, and by the real-estate and timber business, which has built several communities along the Panhandle coast.
According to the announcement, a church entity, AgReserves Inc., will buy 382,834 acres -- the majority of St. Joe's timberlands -- in Bay, Calhoun, Franklin, Gadsden, Gulf, Jefferson, Leon, Liberty and Wakulla counties for $565 million.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
I can haz garment?
I for one welcome our new lactose crazed overlords.
Srsly, since Ed Ball shuffled off lo these many years ago St. Joe has given up on natural resources (trees) and become just another Florida RE developer. Good ridance.
While Pudgy dreams of nukes his military is rusting away...
Two North Korean warships sank during a drill in the East Sea last month, killing scores of sailors. The vessels sank in waters near Wonsan a few days apart in mid-October, a South Korean military source said Sunday.
It is not known why the ships sank and how many were killed. South Korean military authorities spotted attempts by the North Korean navy to salvage their hulls.
The two ships will have been a Hainan-class 375-ton submarine chaser and a 100 to 200-ton patrol boat, according to the source.
"The Hainan-class submarine chaser probably sank because it's old. It was built in China in the 1960s and the North bought it in the mid-70s," the source added.
Or...they take that "submarine chasing" thing pretty seriously.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Or...they take that "submarine chasing" thing pretty seriously.
[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda chief Ayman al-Zawahiri ... Formerly second in command of al-Qaeda, now the head cheese, occasionally described as the real brains of the outfit. Formerly the Mister Big of Egyptian Islamic Jihad. Bumped off Abdullah Azzam with a car boom in the course of one of their little disputes. Is thought to have composed bin Laden's fatwa entitled World Islamic Front Against Jews and Crusaders. Currently residing in the North Wazoo area. That is not a horn growing from the middle of his forehead, but a prayer bump, attesting to how devout he is... has ordered the disbanding of the main jihadist faction in Syria, the Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant, in an audio message aired on 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... Friday.
The tape confirmed a letter put out by Al-Jazeera in June, claimed to have been written by Zawahiri and addressed to the leaders of Al-Qaeda factions in both countries.
The head of Al-Qaeda also stressed that the Al-Nusra Front was the branch of the global jihadist group in Syria.
"The Islamic State in Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) is to be abolished, while the Islamic State of Iraq (ISI) remains functioning," he said.
Zawahiri said the leader of Al-Qaeda in Iraq, Abu Bakr al-Baghdadi, "has made a mistake by establishing the Islamic state of Iraq and the Levant without asking for our permission, or even informing us."
It was not immediately clear when he made the remarks.
Meanwhile, ...back at the wine tasting, Vince was about to start tasting his third quart... Zawahiri added that the leader of the Al-Nusra Front in Syria, Abu Mohammad al-Jawlani, "has made a mistake by announcing his rejection of the ISIL, without taking our permission, or even informing us."
He said the rule of ISI will be confined to Iraq, while the Al-Nusra Front in Syria will be "an independent branch of Al-Qaeda that reports to the general command."
Zawahiri also ordered the two branches to support each other whenever needed and possible.
An Al-Jazeera front man said the "recording has just emerged, and it confirms the authenticity of the letter" broadcast by Al-Jazeera previously.
Opposition activists have blamed the ISIL for an escalating abuse against Syrian rebels and civilians, including kidnappings and public executions in areas under the control of the Death Eater group.
Zawahiri chided Islamists from both sides for unauthorized attacks on Mohammedans.
"Both sides, and all the mujahedeen (Islamist fighters) should observe the sanctity of Mohammedans, in respecting their blood, families and property, and should not attack a Mohammedan without a court order," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[18 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
The chief nuclear negotiators of South Korea, Japan and the U.S. on Wednesday reiterated that North Korea must make good on earlier promises to dismantle its atomic program if six-party nuclear talks are to resume. This suggests that they rejected a compromise suggested by China's top nuclear envoy Wu Dawei, who was in Washington recently, whereby the talks would restart first while North Korea acts on its pledges.
In a meeting at the U.S. State Department, chief South Korean nuclear negotiator Cho Tae-yong and his counterparts Glyn Davies and Junichi Ihara discussed conditions for resumption of the talks, as well as the general situation on the Korean Peninsula.
The North wants for unconditional resumption of the six-party talks and China, which nominally chairs them, has been active on all sides to get the talks underway.
But the three envoys reportedly concluded that there would be no point sitting down with North Korea unless there is some guarantee that anything would be achieved.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[4 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] The Pak Taliban's appointment of a new hardline leader opposed to peace talks and with a long history of attacks against the military could push the army into launching a fresh offensive, analysts said Friday.
The election of Mullah 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 less 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... , notorious for leading the bully boys' brutal two-year rule in Pakistain's northwestern 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, is like a "red rag to a bull", one analyst said.
It could also raise tensions with Kabul at a critical juncture as US-led forces withdraw from Afghanistan after 12 years of war.
While Kabul has long accused Islamabad of supporting the Afghan Taliban, Fazlullah has orchestrated cross-border attacks from his hideout in eastern Afghanistan, and Pakistain suspects its neighbour's intelligence services of supporting him.
Fazlullah, 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... sermons over the airwaves denouncing polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... vaccination campaigns and female education, is renowned as a lunatic an uncompromising commander.
Pak intelligence believes he is linked to the failed attempt Curses! Foiled again! to kill schoolgirl education activist Malala Yousafzai, who was shot in Swat in October 2012. He was appointed chief of the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) on Thursday, nearly a week after a US drone strike killed his predecessor Hakimullah Mehsud.
Islamabad reacted angrily to the killing of Mehsud, with the interior minister saying Washington had "sabotaged" peace talks.
It is not clear what progress, if any, had been made towards meaningful dialogue -- but the process lies in tatters after Fazlullah's election.
On Thursday, the snuffies dismissed the idea of peace talks with the government as a "waste of time", and said they would never negotiate until sharia law was imposed across the country.
Defence analyst Talat Masood, a retired general, said the TTP's choice of Fazlullah, whose men have carried out bloody and humiliating attacks against the army, was like a "red rag to a bull".
"This leaves no margin for negotiation and they will have to resort to a military operation and will have to be fully prepared to prevent terrorist actions in the country," Masood told AFP.
"He is enemy number one of the military."
In September, political parties backed the government's proposal for talks to try to end the TTP's six-year insurgency, which has killed thousands.
Fazlullah's men responded by killing two senior army officers, including a major general, in a roadside kaboom -- a galling blow to the pride of the military, which remains the most powerful institution in Pakistain.
Fazlullah rubbed salt in the wounds by issuing a video message to claim the attack and to reveal the intended target was General Ashfaq Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... , the army's supreme commander.
In 2009 a major military operation ended Fazlullah's rule in Swat. Later that year another offensive cleared bully boy hideouts in South Wazoo, one of the seven tribal areas along the Afghan border seen as a haven for Taliban and Al-Qaeda bully boys.
Washington has pushed for a similar offensive in North Waziristan, which has borne the brunt of the US drone campaign targeting suspected bully boys, but none has yet taken place.
A senior security source told AFP a military operation would "become inevitable" if, as seems likely, dialogue does not proceed, and warned of worsening relations with Kabul.
"The government and the military top brass in almost all previous rounds of meetings with their Afghan interlocutors have been pointing out Fazlullah's presence on Afghan soil and his activities against the Pak state," the source said.
Kayani is to retire on November 29 and his replacement as army chief has yet to be announced. The security official said Fazlullah's appointment would have a bearing on the decision.
"The priority will now be to have a person on this post, who has expertise in counter insurgency and related matters," the official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[7 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
#1
but the process lies in tatters after Fazlullah's election.
It was lies before his election too - not sure what the 'in tatters' was needed for - filler?
[The Hindu] ... From placed in durance vile Don't shoot, coppers! I'm comin' out! Mumbai resident Sadiq Israr Sheikh's testimony to police, we know some on SIMI's radical fringes were craving for direct action. Born in 1978 to working class parents from the north Indian town of Azamgarh, Sheikh had grown up in Mumbai's Cheetah Camp housing project. In 1996, he began attending SIMI gatherings -- polite tea-and-biscuits affairs that he would eventually storm out of, frustrated by endless discussion.
Late in 2001, he ran into a distant relative, Salim Islahi, the son of a 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... -linked holy man who was himself expelled from the organization for his extremism. Islahi, later controversially killed by police, allegedly arranged for Sheikh to travel to Pakistain for training in September 2001.
His story wasn't uncommon: other SIMI friends like computer engineer Abdul Subhan Qureshi made the journey to the Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... 's camps at about the same time.
From 2002, when this core leadership returned to India, it found fertile ground: Gujarat ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... persuaded younger recruits that India's claims to secularism and democracy were a sham. SIMI's wellsprings gave birth to small jihadist cells across India. Peedical Abdul Shibly and Yahya Kamakutty, highly successful computer professionals, are alleged to have prepared to carry out attacks in Bangalore. Feroze Ghaswala, another alleged Indian Mujahideen A locally recruited auxilliary of Pakistain's Lashkar-e-Taiba, designed to give a domestic patina to Pakistain's terror war against its bigger neighbor... recruit, told police he volunteered for joining jihad training after witnessing the mass burial of 40 Gujarat riot victims. Kerala men trained in the mountains of Jammu and Kashmire with the Lashkar-e-Taiba. Zabiuddin Ansari, from Maharashtra's Aurangabad, famously ended up in the 26/11 control room.
From the investigations of the Patna and Bodh Gaya bombings, we know the recruitment continues, often carried out by old SIMI cadre, drawing on an anger which every new communal confrontation fuels. "You have provoked the Mujahideen to massacre you and your five-and-a-half crore multitude of pathetic infidels," read the bitter Indian Mujahideen manifesto released after the 2008 serial bombings in New Delhi, "who tortured us in the post-Godhra riots asking 'where is your Allah'?"
"Here He Is"
'Purely Indian'
It is interesting that the Indian Mujahideen never dropped its national identification from the name. In the 2007 manifesto, it said this: "We are not any foreign mujahideen nor we have any attachment with neighbouring countries. We are purely Indian." In a later manifesto, the group called itself "the home-grown jihadi militia of Islam." Recently tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! Indian Mujahideen operative Ahmed Siddibapa, also known as Yasin Bhatkal, is reported to have told the National Investigations Agency that he refused to train in Pakistain for these reasons.
The India of an Indian jihad shouldn't surprise us. From the work of chronicler Zain al-Din Maabari, we know self-described jihadis waged war against Portugese colonial forces more than 200 years ago.
The eminent historian, Ayesha Jalal, has shown the notion of jihad was an important ideological theme through the 18th and 19th centuries.
Following the 2008 bombings in Delhi, the Indian Mujahideen actually invoked this heritage: "We have carried out this attack in the memory of two most eminent Mujahids of India: Sayyed Ahmed Shaheed and Shah Ismail Shaheed, who had raised the glorious banner of Jihad against the disbelievers in this very city of Delhi."
Like all other modern ideologies, Islamism offers believers a road map for action. It has been a fringe tendency, drawing far fewer supporters among Indian Musselmens than the Congress, the Left and perhaps even the BJP -- but its durability points to deep tears in our social fabric.
Investigations of the Patna and Bodh Gaya blasts have shown the obvious: even as police and intelligence services have registered important successes in the battle against jihadist terrorism, the fractures in our society have enabled recruits to be drawn from a new generation. Pakistain's intelligence services and their jihadist proxies will exploit the dysfunctions in our polity, until India's political life addresses them.
For years now, it has suited a wide spectrum of Indian political opinion to simply deny this problem exists. The forces behind the silence are remarkably wide -- among them, Hindu nationalists, unwilling to acknowledge their role in giving birth to jihadist terror; opportunists trying to cash in on Musselmen fears; ideologues sympathetic to Islamists.
Mr. Gandhi's intervention, inchoate and fumbling, won't solve the problem. It does, though, open the door to the truth-telling that is a precondition for healing. For that, India ought to be grateful.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under: Indian Mujaheddin
[An Nahar] Insurgents launched an attack on the Malian army in the rebel-hit country's northeast on Friday, military sources said, in renewed fighting ahead of planned peace talks with the government.
The National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA), ambushed soldiers as they were on patrol at a market near the border with Niger, several military sources based across the country told Agence La Belle France Presse.
One source in the north said three gunnies were killed and one soldier maimed in the brief exchange of fire, although this could not be independently verified.
"At the fair in Amazragane, 150 kilometers (93 miles) east of Menaka, a Malian army patrol was engaged by the MNLA," he told AFP by telephone.
"The MNLA corpse count was three, and six were taken prisoner and a vehicle was seized. On the Malian army side, one soldier was maimed. Right now everything is back to normal."
A Malian army officer based in Gao, Mali's largest northern city, confirmed the clash took place but would not give further details, while another source in Bamako put the MNLA corpse count at two.
The clash followed three attacks by the MNLA on soldiers in the rebel stronghold of Kidal in September, after the gunnies pulled out of peace talks with the government, dealing a blow to hopes of a durable peace in the troubled west African nation.
The collapse of the talks led to an upsurge in violence which saw two French journalists rubbed out last week during a kidnapping in Kidal claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM).
The chief suspect in the kidnapping is a Tuareg thought to have associated with both AQIM and the mainly secular MNLA.
The Tuareg, traditionally a federation of nomad tribes who rebelled in Mali and Niger in the 1960s and the 1990s, are seeking some kind of self-determination for the north.
The Bamako government strongly opposes Tuareg autonomy but is scheduled to hold talks with the desert people in November, according to an agreement signed in June in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and will leave office feet first, one way or the other... , on a date yet to be agreed.
The MNLA took control of the region in February after a French-led military operation ousted al-Qaeda-linked fighters who had piggybacked on the latest Tuareg rebellion to seize most of northern Mali.
The Malian authorities reclaimed Kidal after signing a ceasefire deal with the MNLA but the situation has remained tense.
The MNLA announced on Monday that it was merging with the Arab Movement of Azawad and the High Council for the Unity of Azawad to form a united front in any peace talks with the authorities in Bamako.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[An Nahar] The EU justice mission on Friday charged 15 former Kosovo rebel fighters for alleged war crimes including murder and torture committed during the 1998-1999 war with Serbian forces.
The identities of the defendants were not revealed, but local media reported that they include former KLA commander Sylejman Selimi, who is now Kosovo's ambassador to Albania, and Sami Lushtaku, mayor of northern town Srbica and a top official in Prime Minister Hashim Thaci's ruling party.
"The defendants are charged with... war crimes against civilian population, including torture, mistreatment of prisoners, and murder" allegedly carried out in a detention center run by guerrilla Kosovo Liberation Army (KLA) in 1998, said a statement by the mission called EULEX.
The detention center was located in the northwestern Drenica region, the wartime stronghold of the ethnic Albanian guerrillas fighting the armed forces of then Serbian strongman Slobodan Milosevic.
War veterans' associations condemned the indictment, calling it "politically motivated".
Some 13,000 people were killed in the war which ended when a NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants... -led air campaign halted Milosevic's crackdown on the pro-independence Kosovo Albanians and ousted his forces from the territory in June 1999.
The 3,000-member EULEX mission was launched in December 2008 to enforce the rule of law in Kosovo.
It has the power to step in and take on cases that the local judiciary and police are unable to handle because of their sensitive nature.
Friday's indictment is the third high-profile war crimes case launched by EULEX.
In June, three former KLA commanders were convicted for abusing civilian detainees in a guerrilla-run prison.
And in September, Fatmir Limaj -- a former top KLA commander who is now deputy of Thaci's Democratic party of Kosovo, and nine other people who were indicted for abusing Serb and Albanian civilians at a detention center, were acquitted.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
EUropean Justice: a decade late and a euro short
MOGADISHU -- At least 6 persons were killed Friday night in a hotel bombing in Mogadishu, as Somali Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon condemned the terrorist attack, Garowe Online reports.
Local sources report that two bombs exploded at Mogadishus Maka Al Mukaramma Hotel, which is located along a well-guarded road with the same name that leads to the Villa Somalia presidential palace. At least 6 persons were killed and over a dozen wounded, but local sources warned that the death toll could rise.
Somali Interior Minister Abdikarim Hussein Guled told local media that 4 persons were killed, 15 others wounded in the bombings, including a Member of Parliament.
A security officer who spoke on condition of anonymity told Garowe Online: The three men who attacked the hotel had stayed at the hotel for a few days, but thank Allah their plan failed and an investigation is underway.
Some reports said one of the attackers died in a suicide blast, another attacker was captured, but there was no report about "a third attacker".
Prime Minister Shirdon said: This cowardly terrorist attack will us scare us and will not stop the positive development in Mogadishu and all of Somalia.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
[Al Ahram] Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned 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... Friday he was offering Iran the "deal of the century" as the US top diplomat headed to landmark talks in Geneva seeking a nuclear agreement.
Netanyahu vowed that Israel would not be bound by any international agreement on Iran's nuclear programme and reserved the right to do whatever is necessary to defend itself -- a clear allusion to a pre-emptive military strike.
Meeting with the US Secretary of State on the tarmac of Ben Gurion airport near Tel Aviv, the Israeli leader, a fierce opponent of any let-up in sanctions, lashed out at the world powers' cautious rapprochement with Iran and denounced the proposed agreement being hammered out in Switzerland ...home of the Helvetians, famous for cheese, watches, yodeling, and William Tell...
Kerry flew in from Amman for a brief stopover in Tel Aviv and his third meeting with Netanyahu in as many days, in a bid to soothe Israeli anger ahead of his arrival in Geneva.
There he will hold a three-way meeting with Iranian Foreign Minister Mohammed Javad Zarif and EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who is chairing the talks.
"Iran got the deal of the century and the international community got a bad deal, this is a very bad deal. Israel utterly rejects it," Netanyahu told news hounds.
"Israel is not obliged by this agreement and Israel will do everything it needs to defend itself and the security of its people."
Israel, which has the Middle East's sole if undeclared nuclear arsenal, staunchly opposes any easing of sanctions on a country whose leaders in the past have denied the Holocaust and said the Jewish state should cease to exist.
It views a nuclear-armed Iran as an existential threat and has consistently refused to rule out a pre-emptive military strike to prevent that from happening.
"I understand that the Iranians are walking around very satisfied in Geneva, as well they should be, because they got everything and paid nothing.
"They wanted relief of sanctions after years of a gruelling sanctions regime -- they got that -- they are paying nothing because they are not reducing in any way their nuclear enrichment capability," he said of the deal which has not yet been hammered out.
Washington has made clear that Kerry's arrival in Geneva does not signal that there is a done deal with Iran.
"In an effort to help narrow the differences in negotiations, Secretary Kerry will travel to Geneva, Switzerland today at the invitation of EU High Representative Ashton to hold a trilateral meeting with High Representative Ashton and Foreign Minister Zarif on the margins of the P5+1 negotiations," State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[8 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
[BBC.CO.UK] People traffickers tortured and raped African migrants whose boat later sank off Lampedusa with the loss of more than 360 lives, Italian police say.
The police have tossed in the calaboose I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! a Somali man on Lampedusa accused of committing crimes with the armed gang.
Most of the victims on 3 October were Eritreans ...is run by the People's Front for Democracy and Justice (PFDJ), with about the amounts of democracy and justice you'd expect from a party with that name. National elections have been periodically scheduled and cancelled; none have ever been held in the country. The president, Isaias Afewerki, has been in office since independence in 1993 and will probably die there of old age... and Somalis. Their fishing boat capsized near Lampedusa, a tiny Italian island off North Africa.
The migrants each paid thousands of dollars to the gang, police said.
The gang moves people across the Sahara to Libya, where they are tossed in the clink Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! in a camp until they pay at least $3,000 (£1,866), police said.
The migrants have told the police that torture and rape goes on at the camp, the BBC's Alan Johnston reports from Rome.
Once the migrants make their payment, they are handed on to another organization which - in return for more money - arranges a boat journey to Europe.
Motives unclear
The alleged captain of the Lampedusa boat, a Tunisian man named Khaled Bensalam, is being held in Sicily.
The 24-year-old Somali suspect was arrested after arriving on Lampedusa on 25 October with a group of migrants.
As he entered a migrant reception centre, he was attacked by some survivors of the disaster, police said. There were 155 survivors of the tragedy.
The migrants said they recognised him as one of the leaders of the group that had arranged their long and disastrous journey. He is now facing charges relating to kidnapping, sexual violence and people smuggling.
It is not yet clear why the suspect made the journey to Italia and put himself at risk of being identified by migrants that he allegedly mistreated. But the police say he might have been fleeing tensions within his people-smuggling network.
Another theory is that he may have sought to consolidate links with criminal partners in Italia. Or he might have simply decided that he too wanted to make a new life in Europe, our correspondent says.
Italian media say the Somali man's arrest followed investigations by Sicilian police and anti-Mafia police based in Rome. He is now being questioned in Sicily.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[9 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Less the one percent of Americans enter the military. Far less than that ever make it to retirement, but the Champ knows how most of us vote....(when we are permitted to do so.)
Although we had to know it was coming, nice of the Champ to impose such premiums on medical coverage that was billed as... "a free benefit for life" when we all went on active duty.
TRICARE becomes your Medicare supplement or back-up at age 65. No doubt many will drop it altogether....which is undoubtedly the plan.
#2
Actually, they tried tripling it in the early 00's, just shortly after 9/11. The blowback made it, as expected, politically untenable. The idiots wanted to do a huge doubling/tripling immediately. If they only had made it an increase of extra $50 a year over a number of years, it probably would be at the level they're seeking now.
However, just like the pension holes in city and state governments, the federal government has consistently failed to budget to pay for retiree medical care. It's eaten out of the DoD operating budget and is now, if not already, eating over half of that allocated for medical care.
It's just not medical care. Literally for generations the GAO has advocated rolling all military pay - base, rations, housing - into one sum. However, even dumb congresscritters have long figured out the effect of future outlays that small amount will have in retiree pay. So they keep the creative bookkeeping in calculating base pay. As the war effort has decreased and personnel cuts loom, all those 'bonuses' suddenly disappear. Getting back to base pay will move a number of married with children enlisted back to food stamp qualifications.
As a retiree, yes, I remember they said that we'd get 'free' medical care back in the 60s, 70s, and early 80s. Most likely they could provide it free if the access would be limited to the procedures, protocols, and pharmaceuticals available back then. However, most want 2013 level care. So, I should be open to paying more for that level of care. BTW, having received the 'alert' back in the '00s to increase these costs, I've always budgeted accordingly. That they haven't taken effect meant a little extra at the end of the year.
I went into a public-'ouse to get a pint o' beer,
The publican 'e up an' sez, "We serve no red-coats here."
The girls be'ind the bar they laughed an' giggled fit to die,
I outs into the street again an' to myself sez I:
O it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, go away";
But it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play,
The band begins to play, my boys, the band begins to play,
O it's "Thank you, Mister Atkins", when the band begins to play.
I went into a theatre as sober as could be,
They gave a drunk civilian room, but 'adn't none for me;
They sent me to the gallery or round the music-'alls,
But when it comes to fightin', Lord! they'll shove me in the stalls!
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, wait outside";
But it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide,
The troopship's on the tide, my boys, the troopship's on the tide,
O it's "Special train for Atkins" when the trooper's on the tide.
Yes, makin' mock o' uniforms that guard you while you sleep
Is cheaper than them uniforms, an' they're starvation cheap;
An' hustlin' drunken soldiers when they're goin' large a bit
Is five times better business than paradin' in full kit.
Then it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, 'ow's yer soul?"
But it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll,
The drums begin to roll, my boys, the drums begin to roll,
O it's "Thin red line of 'eroes" when the drums begin to roll.
We aren't no thin red 'eroes, nor we aren't no blackguards too,
But single men in barricks, most remarkable like you;
An' if sometimes our conduck isn't all your fancy paints,
Why, single men in barricks don't grow into plaster saints;
While it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Tommy, fall be'ind",
But it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind,
There's trouble in the wind, my boys, there's trouble in the wind,
O it's "Please to walk in front, sir", when there's trouble in the wind.
You talk o' better food for us, an' schools, an' fires, an' all:
We'll wait for extry rations if you treat us rational.
Don't mess about the cook-room slops, but prove it to our face
The Widow's Uniform is not the soldier-man's disgrace.
For it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' "Chuck him out, the brute!"
But it's "Saviour of 'is country" when the guns begin to shoot;
An' it's Tommy this, an' Tommy that, an' anything you please;
An' Tommy ain't a bloomin' fool -- you bet that Tommy sees!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/09/2013 16:56
Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] The Pak Taliban announced on Friday they would orchestrate a wave of Dire Revenge™ attacks against the government after naming hardline commander Mullah 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 less 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 leader. "We will target security forces, government installations, politicians and police," Asmatullah Shaheen, head of the Taliban shura, told Rooters by telephone from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location. He said the Taliban's main target included army and government installations in Punjab. "We have a plan. But I want to make one thing clear. We will not target civilians, bazaars or public places. People do not need to be afraid," Shaheen added. "Pakistain has full information about drone attacks," said Shaheen. "Pakistain is a slave of America. It is an American colony." The Pak Taliban are fighting to topple the government and impose their rule in the nuclear-armed nation. Attacks have been on the rise since 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... came to power in May.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: TTP
[Al Ahram] Syrian troops have recaptured parts of a military base seized by rebels early this year in fierce fighting near the international airport of second city Aleppo, a monitoring group said Friday. Too bad about that, ain't it? The rebels laid down with dogs, got up with Islamic fleas.
Heavy fighting erupted at 4:00 am (0200 GMT) around Base 80 outside the northern city, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said. Syria can now keep the kind of govt it deserves for another generation.
The troops were backed by pro-regime militia and fighters from Lebanon's Shiite militant group Hezbollah in their assault on rebel groups including the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant.
"Regime troops have advanced inside the base and now control large parts of it, and rebel groups and the Islamic State are bringing in reinforcements," said the Observatory.
It said at least 15 rebels were killed in the fighting and added that towns near the base had come under heavy bombardment, along with neighbourhoods of Aleppo city.
Rebel forces seized control of Base 80 in heavy fighting in February. The base's garrison was responsible for securing Aleppo international airport and the adjacent Nayrab military airfield, which both remain under regime control.
Elsewhere, the Observatory reported ongoing fighting around a key weapons depot near the town of Mahin in central Homs province. Rebel groups, including Al-Qaeda-affiliated battalions, seized control of part of the depot earlier this week, and the Observatory said the army and opposition were bringing in reinforcements.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[10 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
#1
Syria is one great big Punch and Judy show, except its with Moslem Midgets fighting Moslem Puppets and it goes on and on and on. Who keeps score? Thousands dead. NONE of them were your friends. None of them were my friends. They were Moslems who hated other Moslems. And whichever side ever wins they are going to be standing there in a gutted burned out hole and I will , and you will probably too...have a very fine Thanksgiving Dinner with all your family (none of whom are Moslems.)
Moslems don't do Thanksgiving.. they do Boogah boogah and it has a goat in it.
WANTAGH - A toy gun was found after rumors of a weapon in the building prompted a lockout situation at Wantagh High School today. Toys and rumors of toys.
The incident began shortly after 9 a.m. when police say a faculty member overheard a student make a comment involving a gun. "Got any gum?"
"OH MY GOD! CALL THE COPS!!!"
The school was put on alert and students were confined to their classrooms while police conducted a search of the building and opened students' lockers.
Police say they found a bright-colored plastic toy gun inside one of the lockers. Overtone alert!
Investigators say they determined that there was no criminality involved, and the lockout was lifted. I shall compose a mass of thanksgiving first thing tomorrow morning.
[BLOG.AL] A man was shot during a "stop the violence" basketball tournament over the weekend in Childersburg, according to The Daily Home.
Donterius Riggins, 19, of Sylacauga, was shot in the neck around 6:35 p.m. Saturday at the Phyllis Wheatley Community Center during the basketball tournament, police told The Daily Home. Ah, there's the problem. Too early. Ya gotta play at midnight...
Riggins was taken to Coosa Valley Medical Center in Sylacauga and then to UAB Hospital in Birmingham, where he was in stable, pH balanced condition, police said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/09/2013
00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
E-Mail||
[3 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
The victim, Donterius Riggins is slowly recovering and says he's considering giving up round ball for chess or Crown Green Bowls.
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.
[THEHILL] The 
[Al Ahram] The pro-independence Polisario Front has expressed hopes that US Secretary of State 
[WASHINGTONTIMES] 
[An Nahar] Two air strikes by the Yemeni air force killed five suspected Al-Qaeda members in southern Yemen on Friday, the interior ministry said.
The uptick in violence came as US-brokered peace talks, which resumed in late July, were faltering, and US Secretary of State 
Wazoo
[USATODAY] Supporters of Egypt's toppled president clashed with opponents Friday as security forces fired tear gas to break up their demonstrations over 
Nawaz Sharif
SEOULSouth Korea denied a claim by North Korea that it had arrested a spy sent by Seoul, while Christian groups said the person could be a missionary working inside the country.
Khaleda Zia
[Bangla Daily Star] Three alleged robbers, including the ringleader of a gang, were killed in a '
[Pak Daily Times] As he watched the returns in Boston's most competitive mayoral race in two decades on Tuesday night, Marty Walsh's cell phone rang.
When North Korean leader 
[CHARLOTTE.CBSLOCAL] North Carolina's largest insurer is having its share of problems with the Obamacare website.
[Pak Daily Times] A child was became victim to crossfire between two armed gangs, whereas an alleged gangster was also killed during an encounter with law enforcers in 
[BBC.CO.UK] Toronto Mayor Rob Ford, under pressure to quit after admitting he smoked crack cocaine and had a drink problem, could enter rehab, his lawyer says.
Two North Korean warships sank during a drill in the East Sea last month, killing scores of sailors. The vessels sank in waters near Wonsan a few days apart in mid-October, a South Korean military source said Sunday. 
Zawahiri
... an Arab news network headquartered in Qatar, notorious for carrying al-Qaeda press releases. The name means 
[Al Ahram] Syrian troops have recaptured parts of a military base seized by rebels early this year in fierce fighting near the international airport of second city Aleppo, a monitoring group said Friday.
WANTAGH - A toy gun was found after rumors of a weapon in the building prompted a lockout situation at Wantagh High School today.
[BLOG.AL] A man was shot during a "stop the violence" basketball tournament over the weekend in Childersburg, according to The Daily Home.
