According to military sources, around 1m litres (1.8m pints) of beer were shipped to German troops stationed in Afghanistan last year, as well as almost 70,000 litres of wine and sekt, a German sparkling wine.
The admission has shocked a country that has never had much time for the Afghan mission. Newspaper reports under headlines such as Drink for the Fatherland and Bundeswehr Boozers have suggested that alcohol is the only way of keeping soldiers onside at a time when it is becoming ever harder to recruit them.
The figures suggest that the 3,600 German soldiers based in Afghanistan as part of Nato's ISAF reconstruction mission, are each consuming around 278 litres of beer a year each, about 490 pints, as well as 128 standard measures of wine. The figures are set to rise by around 10% this year as troop numbers also increase.
US troops face an alcohol ban when on mission while British and other armies are allowed to drink moderately when not on duty. This discrepancy led to the claim made at a Nato conference on Afghanistan that "some drink beer while others risk their lives." Out of respect for TGA, wherever he is, and the two dozen or so German soldiers who have died in Afghanistan, I'm going to bite my tongue here. But somebody remind me again why we're in NATO.
Posted by: Matt ||
11/14/2008
21:22 ||
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On the positive side, all that alcohol must make the jihadis' seething heads explode. Does the Bundeswehr also get a girly mag ration?
Posted by: ed ||
11/14/2008 23:24
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As NASA prepares to double the number of astronauts living aboard the International Space Station, nothing may do more for crew bonding than a machine being launched aboard the space shuttle Endeavour on Friday.
The water recycling device will process the crew's urine for communal consumption.
"We did blind taste tests of the water," said NASA's Bob Bagdigian, the system's lead engineer.
"Nobody had any strong objections. Other than a faint taste of iodine, it is just as refreshing as any other kind of water."
"I've got some in my fridge," he added. "It tastes fine to me."
Delivery of the $250 million recycling gear is among the primary goals of NASA's 124th shuttle mission, which launched today from the Kennedy Space Centre in Florida.
#1
Wel-l-l, WOT > WAR FOR PRO-US/ANTI-US OWG-NWO = "GLOBALISM", including NATIONAL-GLOBAL SOCIALIST ORDER, among other.
IOW, ANTI-US AGENDISTS > Jan 2009 - 2012 [2016] POTUS PERIOD = REDUX, ROLLBACK, OR DESTRUCTION, ETC. OF AMERICAN NATIONAL + GEOPOL POWER + INTERNATIONAL INFLUENCES???
* Lest we fergit, World-conquering USSA = Weak Anti-Sovereign United Socialist Republiks of Amerika [USR = OWG Global SSR]??? FASCIST = MERE ERROR-PRONE ARROGANT MALE CRIMINAL BRUTE "LIMITED COMMUNIST-SOCIALIST-GOVTIST-LEFTIST",...@ETC. WHOM-WEIRDLY-AND-MYSTERIOUSLY-BUT-ONLY-COINCIDENTALLY-AND-PDENIABLY-IS-NOT-A-REAL-COMMUNIST-OR-SOCIALIST???
For POTUS-elect OBAMA = "BAMELOT", ANTI-US AGENDISTS > may mean to harm to kill BO in order to show that America = Amer Way is defective and corrupt.
D *** NG IT, WE'RE ATTACKATREATING IN IRAQ AND DON'T YOUSE ALL FORGET WHAT WE NEVER TOLD YOU = CANNOT CONFIRM OR DENY EVER TELLING YOU.
[Barry "Superman" Bostwick taking off his Eyeglasses angrily here]!
#1
Why kill any brain cells over this? it is obvious that the majority of those voting didn't care if BO is even a natural born citizen, much less whether he legally registered for the draft.
put the effort instead into working toward 2012 and returning this community activist back to Chicago.
God help us that we can survive these next four years.
BANGALORE, India (AFP) -- An Indian probe landed on the moon on Friday, the Indian Space Research Organisation announced, in a milestone for the country's 45-year-old space programme. The probe touched down on the moon at 8:34pm (1504 GMT), 25 minutes after it was ejected from an unmanned spacecraft orbiting the moon, spokesman S. Satish said.
"During its descent from Chandrayaan-1 an onboard video camera transmitted lunar pictures to the ISRO command centre," Satish said in the southern Indian city of Bangalore where the national space agency is headquartered.
Scientists monitoring the probe cheered as ISRO chairman Madhavan Nair announced the success of the country's first lunar mission, which began on October 22 when a rocket transported Chandrayaan-1 into space. The probe, carrying three instruments and with the Indian flag painted on its outer panes, settled in a crater in the moon's south pole.
Nair said the landing was perfect. "We have now successfully put our national flag on the lunar surface," he told a news conference. "The moon has been very favourable to us and this is a very productive and fruitful mission," he said, and added: "We have also emerged as a low-cost travel agency to space," referring to the mission's 80-million dollar tag.
Chandrayaan-1 is on a two-year orbital mission to provide a detailed map of the mineral, chemical and topographical characteristics of the moon's surface.
Buoyed by its success, ISRO plans to send a second unmanned spacecraft to the moon in 2012 and separately launch satellites to study Mars and Venus.
India started its space programme in 1963, developing its own satellites and launch vehicles to reduce dependence on overseas agencies. It first staked its case for a share of the commercial launch market by sending an Italian satellite into orbit in April last year. In January, it launched an Israeli spy satellite.
India is also hoping the mission will boost its space programme into the same league as regional powerhouses Japan and China. As well as looking to grab a larger slice of the global commercial satellite launch market, India, Japan and China also see their space programmes as an important symbol of their international stature and economic development.
But India still has a long way to go to catch up with China which, together with the United States, Russia and the European Space Agency, is already well established in the commercial launch sector. China's immediate goal is the establishment of a space lab, with Beijing's long-term ambition to develop a rival to the International Space Station, a project involving the US, Russia, Japan, Canada and some European countries.
Japan has also been boosting its space programme and has set a goal of sending an astronaut to the moon by 2020. Japan's first lunar probe, Kaguya, was successfully launched in September last year, releasing two baby satellites to study lunar gravity and other projects.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008
15:39 ||
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Dude, there sure will be some major teeth-gnashing in pakistan tonight...
The lunar impactor from the Chandrayaan-1 mission today successfully made it to the surface of the moon, impacting inside the Shackleton crater on the moon's south pole. Above is an image transmitted back by the 34 kg box-shaped MIP (Moon Impact Probe) before it slammed into the moon.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008 17:29
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#7
Nice work, India.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008 19:04
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Dell tech support could be a new long distance call
#1
I think the answer is going to be, they can be as securely guarded on U.S. soil as anywhere else," Tribe said.
Well now, Mr. Hahvahd Law Perfesser, I'm a little confused about that. Where is this facility going to be? I hope the answer is, right across the street from Harvard Law School, 'cause I sure don't want these boys anywhere near my family, just in case the presumption of innocence turns out to be unwarranted for any one of them. And who is going to be doing the guarding? Posse Comitatus means, I think, that you can't let the Marines do it at least without further legislation, and is it fair to ask any civilian employee of the gummint -- federal marshalls, federal protective service, whatever-- to assume a front-line role in the War on Terror?
And if you do all this for the poor lost lambs at Gitmo, isn't the next shoe going to be doing the same thing for the detainees at Bagram?
Posted by: Matt ||
11/14/2008 16:43
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Phares has the same lack of understanding as do all RBers.
He keeps expecting there to be logic in the policies of Obama. Why would he expect that? Obama is a typical lefty who does everything on feelings (his feelings) and so long as his internal reality is aussaged phuque the real world.
Obama is partly relying on a foreign policy team made up of academics, think-tankers and Carter/Clinton retreads, partly on his politcal advisors, and partly on his ego ("make the facts fit my solution").
#5
Excellent critical but balanced article by Walid Phares. It is really an early assessment of the Obama team suggestions. Phares is mostly right on one thing. The American public has evolved. We're not in the 1990s anymore. They can't tell us "stories" that doesn't add up.
CAPE CANAVERAL, Fla. -- Fueling of NASA's space shuttle Endeavour for its planned launch toward the International Space Station tonight at 7:55 p.m. EST (0055 Nov. 15 GMT) is complete.
Engineers finished pumping more than 520,000 gallons of liquid hydrogen and liquid oxygen propellant into Endeavour's 15-story external tank at 1:31 p.m. EST (1831 GMT) to feed the shuttle's main engines during the ascent to orbit. Astronaut support personnel are due to be testing their communications systems in order to help strap Endeavour's crew into the shuttle later today.
Commanded by veteran space flyer Chris Ferguson, Endeavour's seven-astronaut crew is slated to fly a 15-day mission to deliver vital new life support equipment - including a water recycling system that turns urine into drinkable water - to the station, to prepare the outpost for larger, six-person crews.
The astronauts are due to head out to the launch pad at 4:05 p.m. EST (2105 GMT) today. NASA will begin live TV coverage and webcast of launch day activities at about 2:30 p.m. EST (1930 GMT).
In a new afterword to his 2001 book, Bill Ayers, former leader of the 1960s radical group Weather Underground, describes President-elect Barack Obama as a family friend and denies he wished his group had set off more bombs in the 1960s.
Ayers, a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago, adds few new details about his relationship with Obama in the afterword to Fugitive Days: Memoirs of an Anti-War Activist. The book is being reissued this month.
We had served together on the board of a foundation, knew one another as neighbors and family friends, held an initial fund-raiser at my house, where Id made a small donation to his earliest political campaign, he writes.
But right-wing commentators tried to use those connections to smear Obama, he says.
Obamas political rivals and enemies apparently saw an opportunity to deepen a dishonest narrative about him, that he is somehow un-American, alien, linked to radical ideas, a closet terrorist, a sympathizer with extremism, Ayers wrote.
Ayers was the purported terrorist Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was referring to when she claimed that Obama was palling around with terrorists.
At a presidential debate, Obama described Ayers as engaging in despicable acts with a radical domestic group, adding that he roundly condemned those acts."
He has also said that Ayers is not somebody who I exchange ideas with on a regular basis.
The Weather Underground claimed responsibility for about a dozen bombings in the late 1960s, with targets including the Pentagon and Capitol. The group¹s casualties included three of its own members killed while making a bomb in New York City in 1970. In 1981, two police officers and a security guard were killed when other members of the group committed an armed robbery.
Ayers defends his role in the group.
I killed no one, and I harmed no one, and I didnt regret for a minute resisting the murderous assault on [Vietnam] with every ounce of my being, Ayers writes.
He denies a quote attributed to him in 2001: I dont regret setting bombs. I wish wed set more bombs. I dont think we did enough. The quote was widely republished during the presidential campaign.
Ayers writes, I never actually said that I set bombs, nor that I wished there were more bombs.
With the 1960s over, his more radical days are behind him, he writes. Nowadays, I go about my business, hang out with my wife and our kids and grandchildren, take care of the elders, go to work, teach, and write, the afterword states. I also organize and participate in the never-ending effort to build a powerful movement for peace and social justice.
Ayers wrote the new afterword on July 8, 2008, a day when he writes he saw a 1960s-style bumper sticker all tie-dyed and psychedelic, and heard Give Peace a Chance on the radio. He begins the afterword with a quote from Bob Marleys Redemption Song: Emancipate yourselves from mental slavery; none but ourselves can free our minds.
Its [d]eja vu all over again, Ayers writes.
Ayers is scheduled to appear for a live interview Friday on ABC's Good Morning America.
A senior aide to Sen. Barbara Boxer (D-Calif.) (Hey! Whaddayaknow? We don't have to play "Guess his Party Affiliation"!)
was fired from his post last week after he was charged with distributing and receiving child pornography.
Jeffrey P. Rosato, an aide to Boxer and a senior policy adviser on the Senate Environment and Public Works Committee, was arrested last Friday, the same day he was fired from Boxer's office, and charged with one count each of receipt and distribution of child pornography. He appeared in U.S. District Court in Alexandria on Wednesday and was released on his own recognizance, but he is forbidden to have access to children or computers.
According to an FBI affidavit, an unnamed person "distributed more than 600 files containing graphic images and movies of child pornography to an undercover detective that [the person] believed was a 13-year-old boy" over the course of more than 15 online chats during a three-week period in January. In that person's computer, the FBI found information suggesting the person had exchanged pornography with Rosato.
Investigators also found pornographic photos and movies of children on Rosato's laptop computer during a Nov. 4 search of his Alexandria home, according to the affidavit. "Many of the images and videos depict prepubescent boys engaged in sexual acts," it said. . . .
Natalie Ravitz, a spokeswoman for Boxer's personal office, said: "On Friday, the Justice Department informed our office of criminal charges made against a Senate employee. Senator Boxer has zero tolerance for crimes against children, and the employee was immediately terminated." Good for her.
Rosato had worked for Boxer since 2005, according to Senate payroll records on the LegiStorm Web site, and had drawn a paycheck from the environment panel since 2007. Boxer is chairwoman of the Environment Committee and the Senate Select Committee on Ethics. Before joining Boxer's staff, Rosato worked as an aide to then-Sen. Robert G. Torricelli (D-N.J.). . . . Another stalwart, upstanding citizen of unimpeachable character.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008
13:10 ||
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I'm surprised that she didn't claim that it was a rightwing conspiracy.
Michael Yon just phoned from Baghdad, and reports that things are much better than he had expected, and he had expected things to be good. "There's nothing going on. I'm with the 10th Mountain Division, and about half of the guys I'm with haven't fired their weapons on this tour and they've been here eight months. And the place we're at, South Baghdad, used to be one of the worst places in Iraq. And now there's nothing going on. I've been walking my feet off and haven't seen anything. I've been asking Iraqis, 'do you think the violence will kick up again,' but even the Iraqi journalists are sounding optimistic now and they're usually dour." There's a little bit of violence here and there, but nothing that's a threat to the general situation. Plus, not only the Iraqi Army, but even the National Police are well thought of by the populace. Training from U.S. toops has paid off, he says, in building a rapport.
He says the big problem everybody is talking about now is corruption. But hey, we have that here, too. He'll be heading to Afghanistan next week. "Afghanistan is a bad situation, but on Iraq I can't believe things have turned out so well."
He thinks that Obama will be able to pull troops out, and send some to Afghanistan, without creating problems in Iraq. Michael will be reporting from Afghanistan soon, and sending back video, so stay tuned. Things aren't going swimmingly there.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008
11:38 ||
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It seems like the donks are a package deal. One wins and they all win.
#5
Subjectively speaking, in Iraq the US = US-Allies won a BATTLE, NOTSOMUCH A "WAR" OR "GWOT" AS RADICAL ISLAMISM ISN'T ABSOL DEFEATED OR DESTROYED YET.
Iff the 10th Mountain, etc. US MILDIVS like not having to use their weapons in combat = righteous indignation/amgst, the US GOVT-NPE + USDOD has better make sure IRAN + ISLAMISTS DON'T GO NUKULAR VEE PAN-ISLAMIST NUCLEARIZATION + STRATEGIC WEAPONIZATION, THAT IRAN EVOLS INTO A DE FACTO WESTERN ALLY IN THE GWOT, NOT A PRO-TERROR NUCLEAR ENEMY, OR AN ANTI-US BELLIGERENT "MODERATE".
* CLINTON ADMIN = DUBYA ADMIN = NEW OBAMA/BAMELOT ADMIN > Iff PAN-GOVT US-WESTERN PERTS BELIEVE THAT IRAN IS A PROB, THEN EITHER MIL INVADE AND OCCUPY IRAN, ETC. TO PRECLUDE A MORE DANGEROUS FUTURE NUCLEAR-TERROR THREAT TO THE US-WORLD, OR IN THE ALTERN GET IRAN TO REFORM + ON OUR SIDE.
* GENERAL DOUGLAS MACARTHUR SAYING > "NO ONE HATES WAR MORE THAN THE [combat]SOLDIER", becuz a Soldier(s) ultimately will be placed in the forefront of REPAIRING OR REPLACING WHAT HE HIMSELF HELPED TO KILL ANDOR DESTROY, TO PROTECT HIS OWN!
An interesting piece from TNR, of all places, that tries to educate the Left (without success, I'll wager) on what we at the Burg already know. Why does Syria harbor terrorists? Because it's in their interests as they see it. Assad is not irrational, he's a thug, and this is what modern thugs do. Read on:
Why does Syria insist on harboring terrorists?
by Lee Smith
The Bush administration has quietly authorized U.S. forces to attack Al-Qaeda bases around the Middle East—an escalation in the war on terror that Eli Lake first revealed two weeks ago in The New Republic and that The New York Times reported on this week. One of the administration's most recent targets was Syria, where it struck Al-Qaeda leader Badran Turki Hishan al Mazidih last month.
Though Syrian officials feigned ignorance at Al-Qaeda's encampment within its borders, the reality is that the country not only tolerates the presence of terrorists, but encourages them to use the country as a safe-haven, headquarters, and transit point. Why does Syria continue to harbor terrorists, knowing that it places the country squarely in the crosshairs of the Bush administration? Particularly in light of Syria's historical problems with its own Islamist groups, why would it welcome radicals from across the region? Finding the answer to these questions is crucial in trying to defeat one of the Middle East's most prolific boosters of terrorism.
To better understand Syria's motivations, I visited Abdel Halim Khaddam, Syria's former vice president, in Brussels, where he was leading a meeting of the National Salvation Front (NSF), a Syrian opposition group. Having served under both Hafez al-Assad and his son Bashar, Khaddam is well-acquainted with the strategic and political exigencies driving the regime's support for terror. "Fighting the Americans in Iraq is very dangerous," he tells me. "But it also makes Bashar popular. Under the banner of resistance, anything is popular."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008
11:33 ||
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Lee Smith has apparently moved on from Slate. But it sounds like he's talking to that fascist retread of an ex-Syrian-vice-president as if the guy is anything other than an out-of-favor Baathist pining for his lost industrial paper-shredder.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
11/14/2008 15:34
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#3
This article ignores the high likelyhood that the Syrians fingered the Al Qaeda operatives for the US and just went through the motions of protesting the raid.
It is entirely possible the Syrians wouldn't have even mentioned it if not for the film clip that made it on the internet.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/14/2008 16:27
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VARIOUS MSM-NET OPEDS > the next IRAQ-STYLE INSURGENCY "QUAGMIRE" FOR THE US-ALLIES MAY BE INDIA [e.g. ASSAM/Hindu-Christian anti-Foreigner Violence]???
WASHINGTON -- The prospects of a government rescue for the foundering American automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic Congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition during a lame-duck session next week.
At the same time, hope among many Democrats on Capitol Hill for an aggressive economic stimulus measure all but evaporated. Democratic leaders have been calling for a package that would include help for the auto companies as well as new spending on public works projects, an extension of jobless benefits, increased food stamps and aid to states for rising Medicaid expenses.
But while Democrats said the stimulus measure would wait until President-elect Barack Obama takes office in January, some industry experts fear that one of the Big Three automakers will collapse before then, with potentially devastating consequences.
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#1
There is no reason that taxpayers should fund the compensation schemes, management or labor, the auto companies crafted for themselves. If they cut their comp then they could get private capital.
#2
If Bush had put his foot down on defending a real free-market capitalism, instead of going along to get along with Dems. and Rinos, 8 years ago we wouldn't be in this mess now. Or it would at least be the fault of the people that caused it.
#3
If we bail out GM, it'll end up as British Leyland without the cute-but-unreliable two-seaters.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008 13:16
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Interesting to think that Obama might push through an open Union ballot scheme just in time to see the biggest unions sink with the auto industry they helped undercut.
#5
It appears the taxpayers will wind up funding the pension schemes of the Big 3, one way or the other.
One or more of them could go down abruptly. Their suppliers are getting nervous & insisting on earlier payment for their deliveries. When enough auto parts suppliers insist on COD, that automaker will stop operations then & there. This could happen at any moment.
That sounds like oversupply to me. Let Chrysler, especially, die a slow, painful, agonizing death with maggots crawling over their remains and vultures plucking out what little carrion is left over. Fucking contemptible cocksucker assholes. Mind if I piss on your grave for good measure?
#9
Raj, correct me if I'm wrong, but I'm getting the feeling you're not exactly a Mopar fan, are you?
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008 19:06
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#10
CNBC or CNN > STEPHEN MOORE > opined that one of the BAD THINGS ABOUT THE NEW US$700BILYUHN BAILOUT IS THAT WE DON'T KNOW WHERE EXACTLY THE FIRST/PRIOR US$300BILYUHN BUSH BAILOUT MONIES WENT TO.
IOW > Thusly speaking, the way for the USGovt to properly account for a seemingly "lost" US$300.0Bilyuhn sums-certain original bailout IS TO WILFULLY AND DELIBERATELY LOSE ANUTHER US$700.00BILYUHN AFTER THAT???
**BREAKING NEWS** SCREW THE LOST US1.0TRILYUHN, SUBWAY WANTS TO END HAM-N-TURKEY SANDWICHES ON ITS MENU - EVERBODY PANIC, D *** YOU, EVERYBODY PANIC!
#11
Let them go bankrupt. Someone will buy them out of BK and run them. Soros, you meddling officious asshole, here is your chance to step up to the plate. Or you Warren Buffet, wiht your support for taxing the snot out of people so as to pull the latter up after you.
Not so long ago, corporate giants with names like PanAm, ITT and Montgomery Ward roamed the earth. They faded and were replaced by new companies with names like Microsoft, Southwest Airlines and Target. The U.S. became famous for this pattern of decay and new growth. Over time, American government built a bigger safety net so workers could survive the vicissitudes of this creative destruction -- with unemployment insurance and soon, one hopes, health care security. But the government has generally not interfered in the dynamic process itself, which is the source of the country's prosperity.
But this, apparently, is about to change. Democrats from Barack Obama to Nancy Pelosi want to grant immortality to General Motors, Chrysler and Ford. They have decided to follow an earlier $25 billion loan with a $50 billion bailout, which would inevitably be followed by more billions later, because if these companies are not permitted to go bankrupt now, they never will be.
This is a different sort of endeavor than the $750 billion bailout of Wall Street. That money was used to save the financial system itself. It was used to save the capital markets on which the process of creative destruction depends.
Continued on Page 49
#1
The Big 3's problem is the same it has always been, an unholy alliance between the UAW and feckless management. No amount of federal money is going to fix the problem as long as the UAW is involved.
Hillary's being floated now for Secretary of State. And as entertaining as the idea of sticking that in career backbench ditherer John Kerry's face is, here's another idea. Make her Oberreichskriegssturmfuhrer. Or -- to put it somewhat more Kumbayahishly -- War Czar.
This is the position that was created and defacto occupied by the widely despised and feared Dick Cheney under the hated Chimpy McHitlerburton regime. Here's the deal.
We all know Clintons in positions of executive power historically view war as something that should be fought with a missile here, a missile there, or in limited, extreme circumstances by the United States Air Force, and that in the event of blood actually being shed, all operations should be immediately terminated and forces extricated in the most humiliating way possible. However, that was the 1990s, and we also know that in the post-9/11 era, Clinton briefly grew a set and strongly favored invading the heck out of belligerents who had made her husband look like an ineffective skirt-chaser. It was only the prospect of being president herself that made Hillary turn into a peacenik, but we know from the Democratic primary that Hillary does not give up. She will gouge the eyeballs out of anyone who stands in her way.
News reports indicate we are being increasingly quagmirized by a bunch of 19th-century dishcloth-wearing savages in the rocky passes of the Hindu Kush, with al-Qaeda thumbing its aquiline nose from across the border in Waziristan, and the mullahs of Iran insisting on becoming a world-class nuisance, not to mention the Putinistas getting all Cold War, buzzing our remote Pacific islands, forcing our NATO allies to scramble their jets, and stomping jackbooted over two-bit ex-SSRs, while the ChiCom are building up their fleet -- and here we are stuck here with an administration that wants all those snarling Klingons to like us better.
Is there any reason to think President Obama, strongly jut-jawed though he is and given to steady gazes, is really up to facing off any of these adversaries, when he started whining "no fair" the minute anyone questioned his policies or his statements or his decades of hanging around with America-bashing wackjobs?
I don't think so. It's not a pretty picture, but we've got four long years of this ahead, and we need to make the best of it. Because Hillary hates Obama for depriving her of that which was rightfully hers, she can be relied on to subvert all of his limp-handshake peace overtures. And because preliminary indications are the Obama administration may be waking up to the reality that its World Peace Now agenda doesn't stand a chance, having Hillary snarling at the end of a long leash would allow Obama to continue speaking softly, and just shrug sheepishly, "Hey, that's Hillary, what can I say?" whenever she rips anything to shreds.
This is why I am imploring the Obama administration to unbolt Hillary from whatever Democratic dungeon she's been strapped down in for the last three months, and inform that hard, pipe-hitting politician that her job is to get medieval on the asses of America's enemies. And give her the leather girdle, the zipper mask, the whip, the pliers and the blowtorch to do it with.
Posted by: Mike ||
11/14/2008
10:24 ||
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If Hillary is the Sec of State, how much money can Bill make in bribes in 4 years?
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday renewed threats to resume attacks on U.S. forces, and the country's top Shiite cleric was quoted as saying he would intervene if a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact infringed on Iraqi sovereignty.
The statements deepened unease over the deal, which would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years after their U.N. mandate expires Dec. 31. Iraqi officials say they will seek a renewal of the mandate if the pact is not signed by then.
Al-Sadr's threat came in a statement by the Iran-based cleric that was read to supporters gathered for Friday prayers in Baghdad's Shiite Sadr City enclave and the city of Kufa, south of Baghdad.
"I repeat my call on the occupier to get out from the land of our beloved Iraq, without retaining bases or signing agreements," al-Sadr said. "If they do stay, I urge the honorable resistance fighters ... to direct their weapons exclusively against the occupier."
The statement did not say exactly when and under what conditions such attacks might resume.
In the holy city of Najaf, an official close to Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani said the Iranian-born cleric has vowed to "directly intervene" if the final version of the agreement breached the country's sovereignty. The official spoke to The Associated Press on condition of anonymity because he is not authorized to speak to the media.
Al-Sistani wields vast influence among Iraq's majority Shiites, and the agreement will virtually have no chance of being passed by parliament if he publicly states his opposition to it.
He has in the past forced the United States to scrap or revise political blueprints for Iraq, sending hundreds of thousands of supporters to the streets in 2004 to back his demand for a general election. The vote was held in January 2005.
His reported threat Friday to intervene over the security pact follows an Oct. 29 statement from his office that said the cleric wanted Iraqi sovereignty to be protected in the agreement. The escalation is likely to rattle Shiite Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki, who picked the negotiators who worked on the agreement with the Americans.
Al-Maliki's government has sought amendments to the draft agreement to satisfy critics who claim the text does not give strong enough guarantees to safeguard the country's sovereignty and force the Americans to leave by Dec. 31, 2011.
Al-Sadr's Mahdi Army militia launched two uprisings against U.S. forces in 2004 and another one this past spring. In July, al-Sadr said he was disbanding most of the militia, but would keep a small combat unit of seasoned and loyal fighters in case they are called upon to fight the Americans again.
In Friday's statement, al-Sadr for the first time gave that unit a name: The Promised Day Brigade.
He also called on breakaway groups from his militia to join the brigade. He was apparently referring to so-called "special groups," which the U.S. military says are trained and armed by Iran to attack Americans.
Al-Sadr's statement also called on supporters to gather next week for prayers in a central Baghdad square in a show of opposition to the U.S.-Iraqi pact. Tens of thousands of al-Sadr supporters assembled in Baghdad last month to show they oppose the agreement.
#2
Sounds like that dude online who even though kicking that butt continues to just talk trash; game ends in a blowout and says, "how bout a rematch I'll get you this time". Nobody wants to replay because not only is he an obnoxious liability he has more kills against his own team than opponents.
President-elect Barack Obama is considering the New York senator and former first lady for secretary of state - an appointment that would go a long way toward healing the wounds left by their bruising Democratic primary.
Two Democratic officials confirmed that Clinton - long rumored to be a contender for the job - is under serious consideration.
Adding to the intrigue, Obama and Clinton met yesterday in Chicago, according to a Democratic official. Clinton's motorcade was seen leaving Obama's office complex shortly before he left for the day.
Check yer watch and yer wallet, Bambi ...
"Any speculation about Cabinet or other administration appointments is really for President-elect Obama's transition team to address," said Clinton adviser Philippe Reines. The Obama campaign declined to discuss any of the administration positions that haven't been announced.
Other Democrats believed to be in the running for secretary of state are New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson and Sen. John Kerry, the party's 2004 nominee for president. Another widely discussed contender is former Senate Democratic Leader Tom Daschle, who is close to Obama and has many ties to his staff.
But Hillary has a "better than average Rolodex," noted political strategist Michael McKenna. And she has "the ability to leverage Bill and the residual good will toward him."
The notion of Hillary Clinton as secretary of state was floated earlier in the year, when Democrats were trying to think of ways to lure her out of the bruising race against Obama.
Since the election, the buzz over Hillary has been building. "The pick of the former presidential contender and Senate Armed Services Committee member would go a long way toward healing any remaining divisions within the Democratic Party after the divisive primaries," DC gossip writer Al Kamen blogged for The Washington Post.
Just what we need, a gossip columnist advising us on matters of state ...
The speculation gained momentum after Clinton accepted an award at the Glamour Women of the Year ceremony Monday. "Whether it's standing up for women who have been denied their rights or being the secretary of state and carrying the burden of that office, there are so many ways each of us can make a difference," she said. Clinton was referring to Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice, who got a Glamour Award, but it was enough to stir up Beltway gossip mongers.
It's unclear whether Clinton would even want the position. And some wondered if the Obama camp - which is very disciplined about unwanted leaks - is simply trying to compliment her by suggesting she's in the running.
#1
"according to a Democratic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information"
I see that Obama is meeting usual Democratic administration standards for information control.
#2
"according to a Democratic official who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information"
I see that Obama is meeting usual Democratic administration standards for information control.
#11
My guess is Obama doesn't think she'll take the job and is just throwing it out there so it seems as if he's trying to work with HIllary. Same with the Gore balloon that was suggested yesterday as well as the Collin Powell for whatever position he wants that appeared on the Obama org chart.
Look I tried to be bipartisan and a good solid Democrat but only the far left radical friends of mine would take the jobs.
#16
Hill won't take it. Why give up all the power she has in the Senate to be the toady of O'Bambi?
Exactly right. Hillary's holding a huge 'I told you so' card in case (ok, when) Obambi turns into Carter, freeing her to run again in 2012. Why would she fold her hand and accept Sec. of State? I don't see the logic in that move.
#17
The frightening part of this whole deal is that if she accepts they'll keep showing her on the TV news almost every night and we'll have to keep looking at her. Shudder.
With separatist leaders in jail, Indian Kashmir votes on Monday in a multi-phase election that will test the legitimacy of New Delhi's rule of a region beset by independence protests earlier this year. Thousands of troops will guard the vote in one of the world's most militarised regions, which witnessed some of the biggest pro-independence demonstrations this year since a separatist revolt against Indian rule in the Himalayan region broke out in 1989.
But all eyes will be on the Kashmir valley, where police killed at least 42 people this year when hundreds of thousands of Kashmiri's took to the streets shouting "Azadi" (freedom) against 60 years of Indian rule. Muslim separatist leaders, many sent to jail without trial in the run-up to the vote, have called for a boycott. They say New Delhi will use draconian anti-terror laws and its thousands of troops to try to legitimise their rule.
Thousands of Indian troops patrolled the snow-covered streets of Kashmir on Friday to prevent a planned protest rally by separatists. A strike saw shops, businesses in the summer capital of Srinagar closed in protest against the elections.
New Delhi believes the separatists are a small and often violent group. The government hopes the vote will see a high turnout for the parties -- all of which broadly accept New Delhi's rule -- competing in the vote. "The gulf between New Delhi and Kashmir seems much wider today. The two never seemed so far apart," said senior Kashmiri politician and former lawmaker, Mohammad Shafi. "A strong voter turnout amid anti-India anger would boost the legitimacy of New Delhi's rule. But if they don't get it right this time it could be a disaster, it can boomerang."
The People's Democratic Party took power at the head of a coalition following the last state election in 2002, ending a two-decade rule by the National Conference. But now the state is under direct rule after the violent protests.
It will be the third vote in the state since an insurgency began in 1989. In the past, separatist guerrillas have attacked and killed scores of candidates and political workers, vandalised polling stations and attacked rallies to thwart elections. But early this year, the United Jihad Council (UJC), a Pakistan-based militant alliance fighting Indian troops in Kashmir, rejected the use of violence to force a boycott of the staggered, month-and-half-long elections this time. Instead, it urged people to hold protests against the vote.
The All Parties Hurriyat (Freedom) Conference, the region's main separatist alliance, says hundreds of its supporters and activists had been arrested ahead of the polls. "Elections are ultimately projected as a sort of referendum by India," said Mirwaiz Umar Farooq, chairman of Hurriyat. "That is why we have called for a complete boycott of such a process."
Even pro-India political parties say elections will not resolve the dispute in Kashmir, where officials say about 43,000 people have died in violence involving Muslim militants and Indian troops. "Elections will help to elect a government addressing the day-to-day problems of people, not the Kashmir dispute," said Omar Abdullah, chief of the regional National Conference, which recognises New Delhi's rule over the Himalayan region.
"After a bitter summer of turmoil, Kashmir will put the credibility of the world's largest democracy to (the) test this winter in possibly the country's toughest state elections ever," the Hindustan Times newspaper said.
A former Qantas employee who became the second person convicted under Australia's tough anti-terror laws has been found guilty in absentia of terrorism charges in Lebanon.
At a sentencing hearing in the NSW Supreme Court yesterday, lawyers for Belal Saadallah Khazaal, who has been found guilty of producing a book knowing it could assist in a terrorist act, argued that his convictions in Lebanon should not be taken into account because he was never able to put his side of the case.
Khazaal, 38, of Lakemba in Sydney's southwest, was convicted in absentia in Lebanon for his alleged involvement in funding the 2003 bombing of a McDonald's restaurant in Beirut. He was sentenced in absentia to 15 years for falsifying a passport for another Australian man who had fled to Lebanon from Australia.
This information was not revealed to the jury in his NSW Supreme Court trial, at which he was convicted in September of producing a book described as a "do-it-yourself terrorism guide" containing an assassination hit-list that included US President George W. Bush.
In the first conviction of its kind in Australia, Khazaal was found guilty of the offence of compiling a book knowing it could assist in a terrorist act. However, the NSW Supreme Court jury failed to reach a verdict on a second charge against Khazaal of attempting to incite a terrorist act. On that basis, Khazaal's barrister, George Thomas, argued that any sentence handed down to his client must be at the lower end of the scale.
Khazaal was arrested and charged in June 2004 over the publication on the internet of a 110-page book titled Provision on the Rules of Jihad - short judicial rulings and organisational instructions for fighters and mujahideen against infidels. He was among the first people charged after the federal Government introduced tough new terrorism laws in late 2003.
The book listed various means of assassination, including letter-bombs, booby-trapping cars, kidnappings, poisonings and shooting down planes. The book also contained a hit-list of officials and countries to be targeted, including Australia and the US.
In the Supreme Court yesterday, Khazaal's close friend and doctor Tamir Khalil said Khazaal was suffering from medical ailments including a possible neurological condition that might have affected his behaviour at the time of the offence. Dr Khalil said he had known Khazaal for many years and had never known him to display any violent tendencies, or even to talk about violence. But the doctor said Khazaal's medical history indicated a possibility he might have a tumour on his brain and this should be investigated.
Khazaal's wife, Mervat, gave evidence, telling the court her husband spent a lot of time working with angry Muslim youths, trying to protect them from their own emotions. "He tried to cool them down," Ms Khazaal told the court. She described her husband as a lovely man who was honest and generous and respected her.
During the trial, US terrorism expert Evan Kohlmann described the book as a do-it-yourself guide to terrorism aimed at people who did not have Osama bin Laden's telephone number.
Khazaal will be sentenced at a date to be fixed next year.
#1
I considered putting this under the Syria-Lebanon-Iran (or possibly even the International) heading, but since most of the information was about Aussie court proceedings, I filed it as Down Under. If it gets moved, I will take note for future reference.
#2
But the doctor said Khazaal's medical history indicated a possibility he might have a tumour on his brain and this should be investigated.
Big deal. My own doctor told me cadaver studies have revealed that approximately 20% of adults have an unsuspected micro-adenoma (which I believe is defined as a benign tumor under 1 cm diameter) in their brains. The reason that the micro-adenomas are unsuspected is that almost always they cause no problems whatsoever. They can generally be discovered easily by MRI scan. By making that statement Mr. Khazaal's lawyer was playing good odds while saying nothing whatsoever pertinent to the case... in my amateur opinion.
Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who converted to Islam in 2002 and adopted the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was on a freelance assignment for the Al Jazeera network when she was abducted in northern Pakistan this week. Ms. Giesbrecht, a former magazine publisher in British Columbia who runs a website that is critical of the U.S.-led war on terror and the mainstream media's coverage of it, had ventured into the highly dangerous North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, when she was taken at gunpoint out of a taxi, along with her translator.
A few weeks before she was seized on Tuesday, Ms. Giesbrecht, whom friends described as "tough and fearless," appealed through her website, Jihad Unspun, for financial help to get out of the country. "As you know, the JUS team is in Pakistan making a documentary film and shoring up direct contacts for our news report which have become very weak in recent years due to third-hand reporting and a variety of other challenges," she said in an open letter. "Pakistan is now erupting into a full-scale war zone. We have been in some very sensitive areas and even Islamabad is now locked down. As foreigners we must leave the country however we do not have the funds to get out," she wrote.
"Allah knows that I really dislike having to ask but please know how hard we work for Allah. We have managed to get very good material out of the country to our production group but our physical safety is now paramount. I make this personal and urgent appeal to you to send whatever [c]ontribution you can to assist us to return to Canada and Britain (I am Canadian, our other member with me is from Britain and we also have some local Pakistanis who cannot leave the country I am afraid). As a woman, I have already had a few close calls in the tribal areas as kidnappers and thieves are running loose even in Peshawar."
Ms. Giesbrecht, 52, left Vancouver on April 7 and flew to London, going on to Lahore, Pakistan, on Aug. 4.
Mamoona Malik, a spokesperson for the High Commission for the Islamic Republic of Pakistan in Ottawa, said Ms. Giesbrecht's visa application was supported by two letters from Al Jazeera, verifying she was doing freelance work. One of those letters was signed by Phil Rees, a former British Broadcasting Corp. foreign correspondent who runs his own documentary film company and who identified himself as news director, London, for Al Jazeera. The second letter was signed by Scott Ferguson, programming director for Al Jazeera. Al Jazeera officials did not respond to calls yesterday.
"The letters say that she'll be working with Mr. Phil Rees and she will be reporting on the new government and the wider political situation, including the war on terrorism ... in connection with a documentary ... Democracy in Pakistan: The High Price of Freedom," Ms. Malik said.
The first report of the abduction appeared Tuesday in The News International, an English-language Pakistani newspaper. That story was quickly picked up by other news agencies and began circulating on the Internet. Ms. Malik said that as of yesterday morning, the Pakistan High Commission in Ottawa had not heard from the Department of Foreign Affairs about the case. Lisa Monette, spokeswoman for Foreign Affairs, has confirmed a Canadian has been abducted and said officials are in discussions with Pakistani authorities, but has refused further comment.
On her website, Ms. Giesbrecht explained that she converted to Islam in 2002 after beginning to research the reasons behind the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. "I became obsessed with finding out what was really going on," she said. She said she launched the website to provide an alternative to mainstream news coverage of events. "We do not promote 'terrorism,' we publish both sides of the news from primarily third-party sources and we operate within the law," she stated.
Glen Cooper, a friend for 20 years, said Ms. Giesbrecht has been attacked for the pro-Islamic slant on her website, but she is not a propagandist. "Bev is a reporter," he said.
Peter Ladner, who is running for mayor in Vancouver, said he met Ms. Giesbrecht in 1988, when she worked for him as sales manager for the monthly magazine Vancouver Business Report, a publication she later bought. "I'm extremely shocked," he said of her abduction. He described her as a "very tough woman," but added he is deeply worried about her safety. "It doesn't look good," he said.
#4
Converted at age 46? Some sort of new midlife crisis crap?
In the seventies, she would have been a leftist radical, maoist or similar brand of marxist revolution, but islam is the new "Strong Horse"... so she converted, and there probably was a lot of "lost" westerners like her, in Europe as well as in the USA, people who found an outlet in islam, militant or not, to "escape" (what passes for) modernity and that they hate in some way or an another.
Again, a classical article (about th emore political aspect of that): The Reds, The Browns and the Greens or The Convergence of Totalitarianisms
#5
Hmm. Wandering around in an area that servicemen and women wouldn't go to without air cover and superior firepower, and probably without an approved male relative as an escort, to boot.
I'm sure Al Jazeera will be busting @ss to get her out of there. Not.
#6
Wandering around in an area that servicemen and women wouldn't go to without air cover and superior firepower, and probably without an approved male relative as an escort, to boot. Must have a death wish. Or maybe this is yet another ransom demand scam to raise $ for the Jihad.
Could be a white woman traveling around, and that without proper escort, with pen paper knows how to read write, might have ipod or other music device. "But I'm Canadian I mean you no harm";
"Canadians try to kill us! You are curfew violation! You read and dance! I keeelll you!"
"wait Achmed, she is white we could try to sell her..."
#5
wonder how many are still around?
the market for pedigreed race cars may be soft right now, along with everything else, but this is to my mind an investment. finding the correct engine and tranny will be the hard part. if memory serves, it is probably a 421 iron block with aluminum heads and either tri-power or dual quads. and a muncie close ratio 4 speed.
finding a 65 ford w/ a 427 sohc dual quad nascar street version would rank right up there also.
#2
I look forward to ads they will run during Eid saying the only "real" Mohammed is that guy down the block. I'm sure they are working on it even as we speak. They'll debut in London next year, yah, you betcha.
#4
But for Americans who do not subscribe to a particular faith or who do not believe in God at all this can be a lonely time of year. That is, until now.
#5
"But for Americans who do not subscribe to a particular faith or who do not believe in God at all this can be a lonely time of year."
Why? Have they no imaginations? You don't have to be religious, or Christian, to enjoy Christmas. Just skip the religious aspects of it and go for the Santa/jolly/joy-of-giving part.
I'm not Christian, nor particularly religious, but I love the hell out of Christmas.
People who feel "lonely" during the Christmas season need to get a life. Quit moping around and being so self-centered and try helping the less fortunate - just because it feels good.
Whiney-assed, self-centered, me-me-me people give me a case of the a**. :-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/14/2008 15:31
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Some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are now in possession of a US spy plane which crashed in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao early this month, a rebel official said Friday.
In a phone interview, Mohagher Iqbal, who chairs the MILF negotiating panel, said the drone crashed on Nov. 1 and subsequently recovered by MILF troops the following day. It was not shot down (by the MILF) but it crashed The body is intact," the official said, adding that MILF rebels are currently playing with it because its small."
Iqbal was uncertain when asked if they are going to return the drone. Whats important is we found it. If it's a diamond, the ones who found it, keep it To us, it has no value, but to the high-tech owners, it may be important. To us, its just like a kite,"he said. On whether this indicates that the US is helping the military in the ongoing offensive against rogue rebels, Iqbal said: I cannot say that."
Sought for a comment, Eastern Mindanao Command spokesman Maj. Randolph Cabangbang said it was impossible that a US spy drone would crash in the area, adding the Americans are not using such aircraft in the area.
Last month, a survey plane of the US crashed in Pikit, North Cotabato. The survey plane was supposedly gathering information for Americans involved in "civic action programs" in the province. On the possibility that a survey plane of the US crashed in Maguindanao, Cabangbangbang said: We have no information on that."
#3
One thing Dr. Doom doesn't predict is runaway inflation, a key element of which is increasing wages/salaries, which ain't gonna happen. Prices can go as high as they like, e.g., gasoline, but too few buyers means the prices will fall or the sellers will go out of business.
It's a good time to stock up on guns, ammo and Soylent Green.
#5
E.g. CHINESE MIL FORUM > CHINA PLA DEPLOYING 150,000 TROOPS ALONG UNSTABLE NORTH KOREAN BORDERS/NORTH KOREA MAY END LAND ACCESS TO CHINA AFTER DECEMBER 10th [SOKOR already being closed off]. POSTERS - one argues that Kimmie's renowned playboy older son will rule, NOT his youngest son, + Kimmies health must be dangerously critical in the light of China's + NK's actions???
Also from CMF > TIBET MOVEMENT CONFRONT CALLS FOR CHANGE - INDEPENDENCE IS NEXT!? 500-plus Tibetan Exiles to meet in India as per Dalai Lama-suppor "ALL-ASPECTS" REVIEW OF CURRENT POLICIES REGARDING CHINA [includ but not limited to posible review + suppor for formal Tibet independence from China]; + [WORLD TRIBUNE] US NEEDS BASES THROUGHOUT THE MIDDLE EAST, CENTRAL ASIA TO PROTECT THE GULF FROM IRAN [effec mil reaction time].
JUST A FEW FOR PREZ OBAMA.
Methinks CHINA, RUSSIA + INDIA are well aware that the HISTORICAL AND GEOPOL MAP OF ASIA = PAN-ASIAN ORDER MAY BE DIFFERENT 2015-2020, VEE ISLAMIST-INDUCED MULTI-STATE DESTABILIZATION + BREAKUP???
#6
OOPSIES, forgot PRAVDA > EARTH TO CARRY THE BURDEN OF 9.0BILYUHN PEOPLE BY 2050 [estimated 9,191,300,000 Persons]. China's popul may increase by under-100Milyuhn in 42 years to approxi 1.048Bilyuhn [1.3B today in 2008]; India's to grow to 1.658Bilyuhn from 1.186Bilyuhn in 2008; Russia's to decline to 107.8Milyuhn, whilst the USA's may rise to 402Milyuhn in 2050 from 308Milyuhn today in 2008. OTHER COUNTRIES.
Three civilians, including a 5-year-old boy, were killed and nine were taken hostage by Muslim separatist rebels in two attacks in the southern Philippines, police said Friday. The civilians were slain when Moro Islamic Liberation Front (MILF) rebels attacked a military outpost Thursday in Midsayap town in North Cotabato province, 930 kilometres south of Manila, said the town's police chief, Inspector Renante Cabico.
Cabico said the victims were among 150 people caught in the crossfire between the MILF guerrillas and army troops. 'They were visiting relatives when the clashes between the army and the MILF occurred,' he said. 'They were hit by stray bullets as they fled with about 30 families.'
In Basilan province, 900 kilometres south of Manila, MILF rebels stormed two villages in Maluso town and took nine people hostage, said Senior Superintendent Salik Macapantar, provincial police director. Macapantar said the guerrillas raided the villages Friday and took the hostages as they fled. He said government security forces have been dispatched to hunt down the rebels and rescue the captives.
The attacks occurred as the military launched fresh airstrikes against MILF rebel positions in nearby Maguindanao and Lanao del Norte provinces. The military offensives have triggered new evacuations of refugees in the affected areas, according to the International Committee for the Red Cross.
A Japanese journalist and an Afghan colleague were shot and wounded in Peshawar, in the latest of a series of attacks on foreigners in the northwest Pakistani city, police said. The shooting comes a day after an Iranian diplomat was kidnapped and his police bodyguard shot dead in the city, while an American aid worker was gunned down on Wednesday.
"A car chased these journalists and fired at them in Hayatabad," Superintendent Abdul Qadir said, referring to the same neighbourhood where the American was killed. The journalists had been seeking an interview with a militant commander in the wake of the spike in violence in Peshawar, according to another police officer, Banaras Khan.
The Afghan reporter, who sometimes works with Western media, was hit in the chest and hand, according to a journalist who saw him in hospital. The same journalist had no information on the extent of the Japanese reporter's injuries.
A DOG that leapt between a three-year-old boy and a highly venomous brown snake has been honoured by the RSPCA. Diesel, a cattle dog-dingo cross, was today hailed as a hero and received a big bone for saving a Sunshine Coast couple's grandson from being bitten by the snake.
Drew Gralike was playing on a swing last month at his grandfather's Eumundi property when the snake appeared. Diesel leapt between the boy and the snake, receiving a near-fatal bite.
Drew's grandfather, Stan Gralike, told ABC Radio that the snake was about to strike when Diesel intervened. "When the snake came up and was about to strike, everything was just like it was slow motion, because I couldn't get to Drew quick enough and the snake was up ready to strike and Diesel was like a cat," Mr Gralike said. "He twisted in mid-air, took off on one leg and got between Drew and the snake and grappled with the snake."
The family rushed Diesel to the nearest veterinary clinic where he pulled through after a second dose of anti-venom.
For his courageous act, he received a plaque declaring him the winner of the RSPCA's animal achievement award.
" Blue and Red Heelers around here and they are magnificent dogs; fearless, smart, loyal, run forever."
As a former Blue owner let me also add ...run forever AND bite!
They earned the name Heeler because that's how they herd cattle...nipping at their heels. They are not suitable for urban or suburban households as they will bite children in the course of herding them. Not to mention that their loyalty includes attacking anything or anyone that they judge to be a threat to their herd.
#4
For y'all out there maybe dog shopping AlanC is absolutely correct. These dogs out here are working dogs; cowboy friend has a Red Heeler he won't go work cattle without; takes on bulls and distracts them or motivates stubborn cows with those nips. As a game he would say, "Get'em" to people and that dog would without hesistation start nipping the heels of that person (except for me, she'd just look back at cowboy friend and look, 'but he's my buddy'. Other people, didn't enjoy the game so much).
#6
I've never had a dog I didn't like. They are neat critters. Presently we have a Mountain Cur (hunting dog) and a Shelty-combination (herding dog). Someone once said that if you owned 7 Mountain Curs you could get yourself a bear. All of the dogs we've had just showed up one day. We tried to find who they belonged to without luck and eventually figured they just belonged to us. We had a Shepherd, a Rottweiler, terrier mix, and a bunch of others of the Heinz breed.
THE economy of the 15 nations sharing the euro has slumped into recession for the first time ever, EU data released today revealed, with GDP falling 0.2 per cent in the second and third quarters.
The 27-nation EU as a whole avoided the same fate only by recording zero, rather than negative, growth in the second quarter
On a 12-month comparison, the eurozone economy grew 0.7 per cent in the third quarter, down sharply from 1.7 per cent in the previous quarter, the official Eurostat agency said.
#2
Obamanomics
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Obamanomics refers to a broad set of economic theories of social organization advocating state or collective ownership and administration of the means of production and distribution of goods, and the creation of an egalitarian society.[1][2] Modern Obamanomics originated in the late nineteenth-century working class political movement. Karl Marx posited that Obamanomics would be achieved via class struggle and a proletarian revolution which represents the transitional stage between capitalism and communism.
#5
As Bill Gates said last week, every other country would rather have our problems [instead of theirs].
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/14/2008 11:29
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#6
Gee, tax the hell out of the citizens and VAT makes it cheaper to buy USA with what little money is left WTF else would happen?; no wonder Ireland gave y'all the finger.
#8
Don't worry! The french authorities have announced that France will avoid recession, with a planned growth of 0.1! Which is remarkable, as Germany said it WILL go in recession, and, well, they kinda beat us in terms of growth, lesser public spending, lesser debt and all... But, Thanks Keynes, recession will carefully avoid crossing the french borders, exactly as the Chernobyl cloud caaarrrefuly followed the french Gvt's orders not to enter the country... at least, that's the line the gvt kept for about 12-14 years???, all evidences to the contrary, with experts coming to the television on prime-time to assure bold-faced the french people that there was no radioactive cloud over France, the interior minister saying there was no cloud, etc, etc... so, yeah, I've got a good feeling about that recession thingie!
#9
Has the Euro exchange rate dropped yet? It seems like when the currency markets went wild, that was about the time oil spiked and the world economy started to tank. A cheaper Euro and stronger Dollar might help everyone....
#10
A cheaper Euro and stronger Dollar might help everyone.
Ima thinking the opposite, Scooter. A weaker Euro helps the Euros but weakens the US. Europe needs to have a blow torch applied to their belly, to convince them of the need to reform their unsustainable cradle to the grave welfare policies.These were easy to implement when they could outsource their defense obligations to the US for free. They need to grow up and stop acting like trust fund kids and start to find their own way in the world.
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinians sent rocket barrages flying into Israel, officials said, as newly resumed violence threatened to bury a five-month-old truce. The renewed rocket fire from Gaza prompted Israel to seal its crossings with the territory, halting shipments of food aid and fuel.
Israel's military said the airstrike targeted rocket launchers and Dr. Moaiya Hassanain of Gaza's Health Ministry said two gunmen were moderately wounded.
Hamas militants in the northern Gaza Strip unleashed a barrage of rockets at the nearby Israeli town of Sderot, where Israeli rescue services said they were treating one person wounded by shrapnel. Several rockets hit agricultural communities near the Israel-Gaza border, and more rockets hit the coastal city of Ashkelon. No casualties were reported in those strikes. Hamas claimed responsibility for firing the rockets in a text message sent to reporters.
Israeli police and rescue services announced they were raising their alert level in preparation for more attacks.
Suspected U.S. drones fired missiles into a Pakistani tribal region on Friday, killing 12 people, including five foreigners, in an area known as a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud.
Pakistani officials said the attack targeted a house in a remote village on the border between North and South Waziristan, where Mehsud, an al Qaeda ally, has been bottled up by Pakistani forces since early this year. "We have reports that 12 people were killed, including five foreigners," a paramilitary official told Reuters by telephone from the area. It was unclear if the dead foreigners included Arabs, who usually signify an al Qaeda presence.
A relative and aides to Mehsud, and Pakistani government and paramilitary officials said the attack happened at around 1:45 a.m. (2045 GMT), and up to four missiles were fired. "There were two drones flying in our area and they fired four missiles," a paramilitary official in the area said. "They were American."
Mehsud, who was accused of being behind the assassination of former prime minister Benazir Bhutto last December, married a second wife in a ceremony held earlier this week in the Makeen area of South Waziristan. "Around 50 guests attended the marriage. They were all his close friends. It was a simple ceremony," close aide Mufti Wali-ur-Rehman told Reuters. His new wife is a madrasa-schooled daughter of a cleric from his own Mehsud tribe. Mehsud has no children by his first wife. Under Islamic custom a man can take up to four wives.
There are hopes in Pakistan the incoming administration of Barack Obama will be less aggressive than the outgoing George W. Bush administration in its approach to counter-terrorism operations inside Pakistan. "It's undermining my sovereignty and it's not helping win the ... hearts and minds of people," President Asif Ali Zardari told CBS News in an interview aired overnight. Zardari, whose 8-month-old civilian government is desperate for financial support to avert an economic meltdown, denied media speculation Pakistan had silently agreed a deal with the United States to allow missile strikes, and said more cooperation was needed.
Army chief General Ashfaq Kayani is visiting Brussels next week where he will raise the issue of the strikes and their repercussions during talks with NATO officials, according to Pakistani military sources.
The latest attack coincided with a visit by the commander of NATO-led forces in Afghanistan to Islamabad. General David McKiernan met with Pakistani parliamentarians at the U.S. embassy on Thursday to brief them on the security situation and efforts to combat the militancy threat, according to a lawmaker in attendance, who asked not to be named.
A suspected US missile strike before dawn on Friday killed at least nine people in a village near the Afghan border, Pakistani intelligence officials said.
Two officials said the strike hit a house in the North Waziristan tribal region. There was no immediate word on the identity of the victims.
Posted by: Vladimir I ||
11/14/2008
02:16 ||
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Roughly 1,000 pupils and left-wing activists who unlawfully occupied Humboldt University (HU) and some of whom destroyed an anti-Nazi exhibition on Wednesday were reacting to the university's close ties to Israel, the university president has said.
Christoph Markschies told The Jerusalem Post that one of the protesters in the lobby of the university said "Damn Israel" when asked by another student to "stop" vandalizing the exhibit "Betrayed and Sold," about the plundering of Jewish businesses under the Nazis. Tell me again about the difference between national socialism and transnational positivism.
I don't have a micrometer fine enough to measure the difference ...
#1
Tuesday was the 70th anniversary of Kristallnacht. I think vandalizing the anti-Nazi exhibit is exactly how such people ought to properly recall that day.
The political administration warned the Mohmand tribes on Thursday of imminent military operation if they did not sever ties with local and foreign Taliban.
It also asked Taliban to lay down weapons and surrender, officials told Daily Times.
"We warn the Mohmand tribes to sever ties with Tehreek-e-Taliban's Abdul Wali group as the government is planning action against the group," the Mohmand Agency administration warned the population in pamphlets. "Get all elements of Abdul Wali group out of your homes, otherwise they will be targeted by helicopters and jet bombers." The warning comes as 50 percent of the population in Machni area left their homes following a troop build-up in the area close to Mohmand Agency.
"We inform the people of Mohmand Agency that the (outlawed) Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan has attacked Islam and Pakistan by killing innocent Muslims. The TTP has [hurt the cause of] Islam more than ever before," the Urdu language pamphlet read.
Taliban hideouts: Security forces continued pounding suspected Taliban hideouts in the Shnow Ghundo, Spray, Juma Khan Koroona, Kas Koroona and Mullah Ghani Baba areas in Machni, officials said. Details of Taliban casualties were not available.
Responsibility: Also on Thursday, Taliban in Machni claimed responsibility for Wednesday's suicide attack on a security forces camp in Charsadda district. "We have carried out the attack to avenge killing of innocent people by the military," Abid Khair Khwahee, purported spokesman for the Taliban in Machni area, told reporters by telephone. The Shabqadar Bazaar in Charsadda district was closed on Thursday and the Peshawar-Ghalanai highway remained closed for traffic.
Arrested: Security forces arrested six suspected Taliban in Kashmir Koor in a raid on a house in Haleemzai tehsil and nine suspects from Machni.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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The activity of the only power plant in the Gaza Strip will be suspended on Thursday evening due to insufficient fuel supplies, Hamas officials told Army Radio.
Hamas also criticized Israel for not allowing French diplomats to enter the Gaza Strip in order to report on the humanitarian situation there. "Israel is trying to prevent the world from seeing the real situation in Gaza," they reportedly said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
But on the plus side, lots more pipes to make missiles out of!
#3
Try running the generators with Hama's concentrated spittle.
Posted by: ed ||
11/14/2008 1:48
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#4
I'm surprised that nobody has revealed to them that a little valve-grinding compound in the diesel fuel would do wonders for the fuel economy on those things . . . . :-|
#6
The world is well familiar with the "real situation" in Gaza. It resembles nothing so much as an over-crowded rat cage, where the denizens chew on each other and anything else that comes in reach.
#7
Pour a couple of quarts of alcohol into a barrel of oil and watch what happens when it burns. That's drinking alcohol, not the denatured stuff they regularly add to gasoline that's had the water removed as much as possible. If you really, REALLY hate someone, pour a couple of beers into his gas tank. Just hope his wife or other family members don't drive the same car.
It's not quite as bad as valve-grinding compound or brake fluid (transmission fluid works, too), but it's quite destructive.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/14/2008 21:10
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A video by Al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb, posted November 12, 2008 on Islamist websites, shows mujahideen setting up a road block in Algeria, in broad daylight, for the dual purpose of handing out propaganda material and apprehending government employees.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#2
Ya know, we should try to set up something like this in the US - no propaganda but the apprehending of government employees, especially the legislative branch might be something to look into. Just sayin'
Israel blocked humanitarian supplies from entering the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and the United Nations said it would be forced to suspend food distribution on Thursday.
In addition to preventing aid agencies from delivering food to 1.5 million Gaza residents, Israel held up shipments of European Union-funded fuel to the territory's sole power plant. Palestinian officials said the plant would be shut down later in the day. "They have told us the crossings are closed today. At the end of today we will suspend our food distribution," said UN Relief and Works Agency spokesman Chris Gunness. "Our warehouses are effectively empty," he told AFP. "
The International Committee for the Red Cross (ICRC) said a truck it sent to the Kerem Shalom crossing was turned back. Israel usually allows some humanitarian supplies into Gaza, but even this has stopped over the past week, leading to harsh criticism from aid agencies and human rights organizations. "Pushing people to the brink of desperation every few months and forcing UNRWA into yet another cycle of crisis management is not in the interest of anyone who believes in peace, moderation and stability," said Gunness. Rocketry is, of course...
"The imposition of the blockade on Gaza by Israel with the cooperation of Egypt is a clear violation of international law and constitutes collective punishment," Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Right Watch's Middle East division, told AlArabiya.net.
"The Israelis have been careful calibrating what they let in so there is no death by starvation," though he added that Gazans do not have a healthy diet or get enough to eat.
ICRC mission chief Katharina Ritz said that "every day the situation is getting more and more precarious for Gazans," adding that there was a desperate need for medical supplies.
Israel held up shipments of fuel to the only power plant in Gaza Israel had initially said it would allow the delivery of fuel and some 30 truckloads of food and other humanitarian supplies into the enclave, where a flare-up in cross-border fighting threatens a 5-month-old truce.
Several rockets were fired at southern Israel earlier on Thursday, causing no casualties, the Israeli army said, a day after soldiers killed four Hamas forces during a raid into the Gaza Strip.
UNRWA usually distributes emergency food rations to about 750,000 people in the impoverished, overcrowded sliver of land whose economy has been crippled by a tight blockade Israel says is aimed at forcing militants to stop firing rockets and mortar rounds at the Jewish state.
The Israeli military confirmed the closure of Gaza continued on Thursday. "The crossings will remain closed today for security reasons," defense ministry spokesman Peter Lerner said. Reopening the crossings "has been delayed because of the mortar shelling that impedes the proper functioning of the crossing points," he said.
Gunness said Israeli officials were non-committal about allowing in supplies on Friday. The crossings are generally closed mid-day Friday through Sunday.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
"The imposition of the blockade on Gaza by Israel with the cooperation of Egypt is a clear violation of international law and constitutes collective punishment," Joe Stork, deputy director of Human Right Watch's Middle East division, told AlArabiya.net.
#2
If the situation is so impossible, perhaps those Gazans not involved in amateur rocketry and similar pursuits ought to consider joining their cousins who long since moved to somewhere more congenial.
In the economic sphere, most of this . . . was the result of access to the . . . Israeli economy: the number of Palestinians working in Israel rose from zero in 1967 to 66,000 in 1975 and 109,000 by 1986, accounting for 35 percent of the employed population of the West Bank and 45 percent in Gaza. Close to 2,000 industrial plants, employing almost half of the work force, were established in the territories under Israeli rule.
During the 1970's, the West Bank and Gaza constituted the fourth fastest-growing economy in the worldahead of such "wonders"as Singapore, Hong Kong, and Korea, and substantially ahead of Israel itself. . . . GNP per capita grew somewhat more slowly, [but] expand[ed] tenfold between 1968 and 1991 from $165 to $1,715. . . . By 1999, Palestinian per-capita income was nearly double Syria's, more than four times Yemen's, and 10 percent higher than Jordan's. . . . Only the oil-rich Gulf states and Lebanon were more affluent.
Anyway, does anybody else here find very, very tiring that the paleos should feel entitled to live on welfare, mostly from the West's good will, whereas they not only are anti-israeli, but also plainly anti-westerners, claiming to be involved ina greater Jihad, including the return of al andalous, the conquest of Europe, the conquest of the white house (ok, that one is partly done already),...?
Bizarro world, of course, just as when the soviets pushed armed revolutions all over the world in the name of "peace", and all the useless idiots would fall for it, and have demonstrations to support "peace".
Kidnappers have demanded one million pounds for the release of prominent filmmaker and distributor Satesh Anand, who was kidnapped from Karachi on October 20. Law enforcement agencies have so far been unable to ascertain Anand's whereabouts, and sources privy to the investigation told Daily Times Taliban might be involved. Anand's family received two phone calls demanding ransom -- one traced to Quetta and the other to Bannu -- asking them to submit the money in an Egyptian bank account. Anti-Violent Crime Unit SSP Farooq Awan denied the calls had been made and said it was unclear if the case is of abduction for ransom.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I nearly danced with joy, thinking it was Koffi Anan. Bummer.
#6
Condor Guy, those are just ducted fan vehicles.
I suspect that all "UFO photos" that show discs and aren't ducted fan vehicles are basically hoaxes. I'll explain later, I gotta mangle some more luggage.
Basically... in the early 70s I was messing with a souped up he-ne laser and... mmm well...
when I met the ex-police chopper pilot 8 yrs later at a wedding and discovered he had a life changing experience the same night I was playing with my laser... and said experience on the same night, within meters of me, in his bubble police chopper, caused him to drop everything and become a true believing UFO researcher... well... besides the cost to my KARMA... I quickly understood that UFO stuff was total and complete BS!
I need some compensating KARMA?
Shipman ... will your ceiling cat grant me some?
"Are they all good little Democrats?" the candidate asks.
"Well," the farmer says, "five of 'em are. But my oldest boy, he got to readin' . . . "
licking our wounds, now just hoping that zero doesn't pour salt in them.
just another thought, Newt was talking tonight about how can we as a country be competitive in the world when we give to those who don't do anything. I can't stand this mindset.
Posted by: Jan ||
11/14/2008 2:55
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#5
An after-action report is good, time to start thinking the next election; only 30% or so voted so there are plenty of people out there to reach.
PolySci friend of mine and I were talking the other night and we agreed McCain's message was weak - the good points he made were not emphasised. What he talked about in the debate for the most part only really made sense to those who were able to check the internet often and the openings he had McCain did not take advantage of. Populist messages though correct but was his opponents game; the campaign was like watching the Raiders and Chiefs play.
Time to start thinking about the next elections - House in 2 and then the Presidency. Gotta have a distinctive message not a retooling of this last one.
#6
Jan, read the excerpt below and rethink that mindset issue you have, 'kay?
The problem with lefty liberals is that they think, probably because they don't DO anything themselves, that all the goodies in life grow on trees.
Men have been taught that the highest virtue is not to achieve, but to give. Yet one cannot give that which has not been created. Creation comes before distribution- or there will be nothing to distribute. The need of the creator comes before the need of any possible beneficiary. Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement.
Americas abundance was created not by public sacrifices to the common good, but by the productive genius of free men who pursued their own personal interests and the making of their own private fortunes. They did not starve the people to pay for Americas industrialization. They gave the people better jobs, higher wages, and cheaper goods with every new machine they invented, with every scientific discovery or technological advance- and thus the whole country was moving forward and profiting, not suffering, every step of the way.
#7
Is there a moral dimension to foreign policy in our political philosophy? Or do we just exist to help the world's rich people make and keep their money?
Interesting question. After the financial glut that has taken place over the last 15 years, how can we be broke after 2 bad quarters? Where did the money go?
#8
just to clarify, (whoa "'kay?" really?) but hey, it's okay because I was misunderstood.
I agree with Newt, I don't like the mindset of the zero, sorry if I was unclear in my earlier comment.
I'm working damn hard and don't like the idea of giving to those that sit on their butts expecting something for nothing. To help those in need is one thing, but to promote the masses of folks that want something for nothing is the wrong thing to do. Seeing these expectations by these lazyass folks, and that the laws promote it is what drives me nuts. Hell we have commercials telling folks how to work the system, there was one on just last night about how to get an electric scooter, all free for example. This explains how we often see many " fluffy" folks on them when in reality they would be better off walking having the exercise. I know there are folks that really need them, but have them get it through their health care provider, not by an advertisement telling them how to get it for free when it's questionable if they even really need it.
I work in a place that gives free stuff out to people whether they need it or not, most or all in the form of emergency medicaid. Housing, food, resources, to mostly illegal aliens that did the anchor baby deal. We can't afford this America needs to open it's eyes, and wake up from this dreamworld.
Also during this election year most my co-workers were for the zero, also very frustrating, mostly because of the pro-life issue. I've always been pro-birth control.
It's painful watching our country be taken over by this kind of Robin Hood "mindset".
We need to get pride back into people's hearts, promote a job well done, and to do the right thing. Not expect government to provide everything. I think it funny back when comparisons were being made of the zero to President Kennedy; remembering the "Ask not what your country can do for you, ask what you can do for your country". Man what a concept huh imagine that.
Regarding Yet we are taught to admire the second-hander who dispenses gifts he has not produced above the man who made the gifts possible. We praise an act of charity. We shrug at an act of achievement.
People forget that gift's aren't just material, to give your time, and not somebody else's hard earned money. People can work in a soup kitchen feeding the homeless, and helping those really in need is one thing. Teaching them to provide for themselves, what's that saying, teach a man to fish and you feed him for a lifetime... Many of these lefty liberals wouldn't consider giving their time, they are too busy going after the big money and have someone else give. That they are making it happen is their gift.
Instead it seems we've taught not just the homeless, but even the middle class how to work the system and get free stuff and that it's expected.
We need to get our integrity, honor and duty back in the minds of Americans. I only hope it's not too late.
(end rant, until the next article lol. It's going to be a long winter sigh)
Posted by: Jan ||
11/14/2008 12:51
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#9
Jan,
Your original "I can't stand this mindset." seems to refer to the previous sentence where you paraphrase Newt. If you meant that you can't stand the mindset of those demanding something for nothing then we just have a "failure to communicate".
The only problem with your second post is
"People forget that gift's aren't just material, to give your time, ...".
Time may not be material but it also ain't free.
If you have to work two jobs to make ends meet it is very tough to find time with which to be charitable. It is even worse when someone else demands that you spend your most precious commodity to suit their purposes.
Note, I'm not saying the being charitable with money or time is bad. However, for the enunciated reasons it is second on the value list to actually producing stuff.
#10
AlanC,
Thanks, and I agree that time isn't free. I'm currently working alot more than 40 hr's/wk, doing so will get me in a better place financially, but that's my choice to do so. My free time is very valuable to me, I definitely agree with you here.
For those that want to give using others money, they are the ones I was thinking could give of their time instead, but probably wouldn't consider it. It is even worse when someone else demands that you spend your most precious commodity to suit their purposes.
I think the bottom line here is pointing out the difference from giving because you want to and to your choice of charity, VS being told to give to who and how.
I do like seeing community service projects, say by the Boy Scouts as an example. Teaching our youth to give back to the community is a good thing. It's the "expected" part that has me so angry.
Posted by: Jan ||
11/14/2008 13:45
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#11
Jan,
Expected? Hell these folks want to do it at the point of a gun.
Individual rights, responsibilities, rewards and consequences are what this country was founded on; and what made this country great. The fascism / groupism of the socialist left is the antithesis of individual liberty and the presence of tyrrany.
Afghanistan's Taliban, notorious for summary public executions, urged the United Nations on Thursday to press the Afghan government to stop executing prisoners on death row, citing concern about fair trials.
"Say, how's that shoe feel?"
"It's, um .. kinda tight."
Afghanistan resumed executions this week after a break of more than a year, with three Taliban sentenced for deadly attacks among nine people put to death in the past few days. Those executions followed a public outcry over rising crime. About 120 other people have been sentenced to death and their fate rests with President Hamid Karzai, who has to approve any execution order.
The United Nations and the spineless European Union have called on Karzai to halt the executions, citing concern about the standards of judicial fairness. The United Nations says Afghanistan's law enforcement and judicial systems fall far short of internationally accepted standards.
Careful Karzai or they'll send Carla del Ponte to advise you on your judicial systems ...
The Taliban leadership council said it too was worried about fair trials. "We strongly request the U.N., the EU, the Red Cross and human rights groups to earnestly prevent this barbaric act," the Taliban said in a statement on their website, accusing Karzai's government of corruption.
The Taliban, fighting to overthrow Karzai's pro-Western government, have executed dozens of captured soldiers and civilians since U.S.-led forces ousted the militant Islamist movement in 2001. During their 1996-2001 rule in Afghanistan, the Taliban executed dozens of people, occasionally staging killings in public at Kabul's main sports stadium.
In their statement, the Taliban warned the government against more executions, saying the officials responsible for them would be punished.
Right. They'll be... ummm... executed.
The Taliban have stepped up their insurgency over the past two years and crime has increased as security has deteriorated. Fed up with crime, many ordinary Afghans have called on the government to carry out death sentences.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
the U.N., the EU, the Red Cross and human rights groups ... haven't the Taliban chopped off the heads of members of these groups at different times?
BAGHDAD - A U.S. civilian cargo aircraft with between four and six people on board crashed shortly after take-off in western Iraq on Thursday, the U.S. military said, adding that there were no immediate details on casualties.
It was a malfunction. It lost radio contact, then it crashed ... We have no information on the fate of the crew, a U.S. military spokeswoman said. The plane had taken off from an air base near the western city of Falluja.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
My money's on pilot error, fuel routing mismanagement or pilot error, took on the wrong grade of fuel (and switched tanks just after takeoff as per the checklist).
President Asif Ali Zardari told the conference on interfaith and cultural harmony at the United Nations on Thursday that Pakistan rejects those who are sowing hatred in the world and dividing religion against religion and nation against nation, something that negates the legacy of the patriarch Abraham. Right. Interfaith harmony. Understanding. In Pakistain.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Thousands of refugees at a camp in eastern Democratic Republic of Congo must be moved before they are caught up in fighting, aid officials have warned. More than 60,000 displaced people are at the Kibati camp, close to the front line separating government troops and rebels loyal to General Laurent Nkunda. They are among 250,000 who have fled the violence which flared in August.
Fighting has stopped aid from reaching Kibati and forced many there to flee south to the provincial capital, Goma. "We noticed these people might be in serious danger and the humanitarian community decided we should move them from there... as soon as possible," Ibrahima Coly, the head of the UN refugee agency in the North Kivu region, told the Reuters news agency.
Aid agencies would transport those who agreed to a safer camp west of Goma, hopefully starting in a week's time, he said.
On Wednesday, the head of the UN mission in DR Congo, Monuc, appealed for 3,000 extra troops, saying he did not have enough to protect civilians.
What? Not enough mighty Uruguayans?
Gen Nkunda's rebels - who are demanding protection from Rwandan Hutu rebels who fled to DR Congo after Rwanda's 1994 genocide - have told the AFP news agency they have advanced to the outskirts of Kanyabayonga, a strategic town 100 km (60 miles) north of Goma.
Government forces were accused of looting and raping civilians there earlier in the week. The UN has accused both sides of war crimes during the latest upsurge in violence.
Meanwhile, there is increasing evidence that foreign forces are being drawn into the conflict. Eyewitnesses have told the BBC that Angolan and Zimbabwean troops are on the ground, and journalists are reporting that some of the rebel fighters are in the pay of the Rwandan army. This has renewed fears that the fighting will see a re-run of the five-year Congolese war, the largest on the continent in recent times.
During the war, which erupted in August 1998, Congolese government forces supported by troops from Angola, Zimbabwe and Namibia were fighting rebels backed by Uganda, Rwanda and Burundi. Forces from Chad and the Central African Republic were also involved.
A Goma resident told the BBC that Angolan soldiers had been supporting Congolese government forces. "We are seeing soldiers wearing Congolese army uniform here in town but they are not speaking the same language like us," he said. "They are patrolling but unable to communicate with the population. These are speaking Portuguese," he added.
Experts say this evidence is not conclusive, since some Congolese troops fought in Angola during their civil war and frequently converse in Portuguese. Angola denies sending troops into DR Congo.
Earlier, a recent Zimbabwean army deserter told the BBC he had been part of a force that remained in DR Congo after the end of the last war in 2003. "There are about 250 soldiers who were left behind without knowledge of other countries," he said. He said he had been on duty in Goma and the mining centre Lubumbashi, and soldiers were rotated about every six months.
Meanwhile, Britain's Financial Times newspaper said soldiers from the Rwandan army had been fighting alongside Gen Nkunda. Their reporter in eastern DR Congo interviewed former rebels and observers who said some soldiers were continuing to receive their Rwandan salaries while fighting with the general.
Earlier this week a Rwandan presidential aide said it was possible demobilised Rwandan troops were involved. However, Kigali has repeatedly denied sending forces into DR Congo. BBC Africa analyst Martin Plaut says similar statements were made during the early stages of the last war - and no-one doubts that foreign troops played a key role in that conflict.
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At least three labourers were injured when three rockets fell in the Swat Scouts Camp near Warsak Dam on Thursday, local sources told Daily Times. Two other rockets landed in the Sher Bridge area of Malagoori tehsil in Khyber Agency and damaged a house and a factory, but no casualties were reported. Meanwhile, the political administration asked the local tribesmen to expel Taliban from their areas or face action. Political tehsildar Bakhtiar Mohmand said the administration issued notices to tribal elders of Jamrud and put up posters. A local said an unidentified resident of the area expelled a Taliban from his house after the warning.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
When I went to Boy Scout camp our Estes rockets always landed in the camp after the fuel burned out. Gravity works.
George Bush, the US president, has warned of a "global meltdown" in the world economy unless action is taken, while defending the unregulated, free-market capitalism that many critics and world leaders have blamed for the crisis.
Bush insisted that the current turmoil was "not a failure of the free market" and said an upcoming meeting of the G20 nations should aim to implement "specific actions".
"Capitalism is not perfect, it can be subject to excesses and abuse, but it's the most efficient way of structuring the economy," he said in a speech to the Manhattan Institute in New York on Thursday.
"History has shown that the greater threat to prosperity is not too little government involvement, it's too much government involvement in the market."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
No need to sugar coat it when your 70 days short.
Posted by: Scott R ||
11/14/2008 0:44
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> George Bush, the US president, has warned of a "global meltdown" in the world economy unless action is taken, while defending the unregulated, free-market capitalism that many critics and world leaders have blamed for the crisis.
Falsely blamed. Government basically created all this credit and the market allocated it as best it could.
This recession is government created, and it will turn into a depression if you bail out bad investments and keep them going.
#6
"while defending the unregulated, free-market capitalism "
Freddie Mac was a government creation absolved of the common sense concept of regulation whose original objective was compromised to achieve social(ist) ends. Hardly, free market capitalism.
#9
Despite populuar belief, subprime loans are not the greater problem. They are but a symptom. The greater problem is we no longer produce anything here anymore. We both import and borrow money from China. It's all very much like the old coal mining "Company Store." As they became slaves to the Company, little wonder the miners voted for unions and socialism eh?
#10
Just a hundred years ago, most Americans lived in small towns, villages, and on the farm. The bulk of the population was involved in food production. A lot of it subsistence. I guess we should all go back to the 'good old days' of just producing what we need. Shoulda gone back to that just right after WWII and gotten rid of all that industrial economy that took all those goof agricultural jobs too.
The problem is that economies evolve. When you're on the leading edge of the next form of economy it both hard to see where you're going and experience the transition with all the adaptation as old systems are replaced by new ones.
#12
Fair and equitable trade, manufacturing, etc, can generally be enforced within the family. It can also be enforced with neighbors, in the village, state and nation. The breakdown in enforcement begins at the water's edge. Go to any Baumarkt in Germany. You won't find the shelves totally stocked and running over with hardware manufactured in China, India, etc. They look after their manufacturing sector a bit more closely than we do.
#13
Adidas, now made in China. Richle, made in China. Made in Europe apparel is now a Gibbons Good.
I look at the membership list and am not impressed; many economies have been tanking for some years now. Tell'em to eff off and let's get our economy weeded and re-planted and since the rest of the world works off of the US then it will work out.
This is as much about companies not self-regulating as government overstretch. Share and stock holders need to take a more active role in making sure the right management is in place instead of cashing dividends and being wined/dined by good salesmen (bad managers and directors who spend a month setting up the sale).
Anyone watch Kitchen Nightmares last night, Fiesta Sunrise? What a microcosm:
Bad management - check
Indifferent shareholders - check
Poor loans - check
Lack of direction/creativity - check
Selling crap at premium price - check
Appropriately foul language to describe the situation - check
#14
Go to any Baumarkt in Germany. You won't find the shelves totally stocked and running over with hardware manufactured in China, India, etc
And how many new jobs were created in Germany in the last 15 years? Check the unemployment [and add in the government make work jobs] for males 18-36? Its all manageable when you have a static economy and central planning. Worked well in the European east didn't it? Yes, the government protects its workers who then are made serfs to higher priced domestically produced goods with high tariffs to keep out the competition. Lets try Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act Part II, cause it worked so well the first time.
both want America to fail so markets can be taken over by power elites like themselves, which will provide more power and control for themselves, permanently
= a deadly socialist/Dem-led "October surprise" in the making for more than a decade, helped by Dem operatives (mostly covert gay) high up in the Republican party to throw the election Obama's direction,
AND YOU HAVE THE END OF AMERICA.
China and Russia are meeting with Cuba and Venezuela. Obama's buddied in the Middle East are holding off until he cries "allah akbar" and all of the political vermin in Washington will be panting for crumbs from Obama's table.
The baddies put this whole financial crisis together, and they don't mean maybe. Look for a "war" situation just in time for Obama to get re-elected.
Essentially, what you have is an Ayers presidency.
#16
And how many new jobs were created in Germany in the last 15 years? Check the unemployment [and add in the government make work jobs] for males 18-36? Its all manageable when you have a static economy and central planning. Worked well in the European east didn't it? Yes, the government protects its workers who then are made serfs to higher priced domestically produced goods with high tariffs to keep out the competition. Lets try Smoot-Hawley Tariff Act Part II, cause it worked so well the first time.
Posted by Procopius2k 2008-11-14 11:52|| Front Page|| ||Comments Top
The Germans are not doing bad actually, considering the fact they absorbed the former East Germany and have given refuge to a diluge of Russians and Turks. My point was simply they (Germany & Austria)...yes, small in comparison to the US, try to look after their own. The Swiss are even better at it.
#17
In Germany, banks are the primary owners of industrial corporations (in the US they are prohibited from owning non-financial corporations)
If the German banks go belly up it will be interesting to see what happens to these corporations.
At least two Taliban including a commander were killed and several others were injured when security forces retaliated to a Taliban rockets attack on Saidu Sharif airport early on Thursday. Military spokesman Colonel Nadeem identified the dead commander as Ibrahim. APP said the local Taliban commander was a resident of Shamozai. Thursday was the seventh day of curfew in Kabal tehsil, where troops continued the operation against Taliban. Several clashes were reported in the tehsil's Kabal Khas and Akhund Kalay areas. There were no casualties. Meanwhile, a military statement said the Mingora-Kalam road had been reopened for traffic and the two damaged bridges on the road had been repaired.
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#1
That's 144 virgins, that is! (Incidentally, knowing these people proclivities, are the virgins in question female?)
The CIA says Osama Bin Laden is isolated from the day-to-day operations of al-Qaeda, but that the organisation is still the greatest threat to the US.
CIA director Michael Hayden said the Saudi militant was probably hiding in the tribal area of north-west Pakistan. Mr Hayden said Bin Laden was "putting a lot of energy into his own survival" and that his capture remained the US government's top priority. In a speech to the Atlantic Council on Thursday, Mr Hayden said: "[Bin Laden] is putting a lot of energy into his own survival, a lot of energy into his own security."
"In fact, he appears to be largely isolated from the day-to-day operations of the organisation he nominally heads."
However, Gen Hayden added: "If there is a major strike on this country, it will bear the fingerprints of al-Qaeda."
The CIA believes progress has been made in curbing al-Qaeda's activities in the Philippines, Indonesia, Saudi Arabia and Iraq.
However, Mr Hayden said other areas were showing an increase in activity, including:
East Africa: "Al-Qaeda is engaging Somali extremists to revitalise operations... al-Qaeda could claim to be re-establishing its operations base in East Africa"
The Maghreb: Attacks have worsened since the merger in 2006 of al-Qaeda and the Algerian militant group, the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat (GSPC). The GSPC has renamed itself al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb
Yemen: Saw an "unprecedented number of attacks" in 2008, and could become a launch-pad for attacks in Saudi Arabia
Pakistan: Safe haven has allowed al-Qaeda to train a "bench of skilled operatives"
Nevertheless, the CIA chief said the hunt for Bin Laden remained the top priority of the US security forces.
"His death or capture clearly would have a significant impact on the confidence of his followers - both core al-Qaeda and unaffiliated extremists throughout the world," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
Sammy was last seen working for ACORN in the Detroit metro area.
TRIPOLI, LEBANON - Ten kilos of explosives were found during a raid on a home in a Palestinian refugee camp in northern Lebanon on Thursday, a Palestinian official said. "Ten kilos of explosives, six modern timer systems, 10 remote controls... and a large number of grenades were found in an apartment in Beddawi," the official said on the condition of anonymity.
Ten kilos of explosives? Since when is that newsworthy for a Paleo camp?
Beddawi is one of 12 Palestinian camps in Lebanon and home to an estimated 16,000 refugees.
The official said security forces stormed the apartment on information from a Palestinian arrested last week in a raid that turned deadly when a passerby was killed in a shootout between security forces and the wanted men. The Lebanese army does not enter the camps, leaving responsibility for security to Palestinian factions, but extremists believed to have links with Al-Qaeda have settled in some of the shantytowns.
Beddawi's population is thought to have swelled after an influx of refugees from the nearby Nahr al-Bared camp which was almost completely destroyed after a 15-week battle last year between the Lebanese army and an Al-Qaeda inspired militant group.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008
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In the past few days, a new category of displaced people has begun arriving at this muddy, sprawling camp in the green hills of eastern Congo: young men who say they are running from rebels who bang down their doors at night and force them to join their cause... Today's dose of Subsaharan Africa atrocities. Please don't eat the pygmies.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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Frozen crystals packed with concentrated natural gas and buried 2,000 feet below the permafrost on Alaska's North Slope could become the next major domestic energy source, according to an assessment released Wednesday by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study finds that in the North Slope, frozen methane-and-water crystals known as hydrates contain as much as 85.4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. That's enough to heat 100 million homes for as long as 10 years, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said.
Democrats to make extracting hydrates out of bounds in 5 .. 4 .. 3 ..
New research into how to extract those resources has moved the possibility of recovering the usable energy from the realm of "science and speculation" to that of the "actual and useful," Kempthorne said Wednesday. Globally, "hydrates have more potential for energy than all other fossil fuels combined," he said. "This can be a paradigm shift."
Government research is beginning to show that it may be possible to extract hydrates using depressurization, a technique used to get at more conventional fuel sources. Simply boring into the ground may be enough to change the pressure to extract it, said Steve Rinehart, a spokesman for British Petroleum in Alaska. Or the pressure could be changed by pumping.
Gas hydrates exist all over the world, including offshore, but a combination of cold and pressure makes them especially prevalent in the Arctic, where there's also an existing oil and gas infrastructure to study them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008
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#1
That's enough to heat 100 million homes for as long as 10 years
But those are peasant houses---isn't the planet more important?
Posted by: Al Gore ||
11/14/2008 1:41
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No, only the politicians, their petty desires, and their MONEY.
"Strangle the peasants" They only voted for change.
Oh boy, I can see the wacko environmentalists having a field day with that one. "Killer fart gas" wipes out polar bears and disgusts penguins, film at 11. (Trust me, the general population is plenty ignorant about science. They'll believe it.)
#4
Actually, it is a very good idea to deplete methane ice fields, both here, in Siberia, and especially below the oceans.
This is because they are very unstable, and if temperatures rise, either above or below ground, just a little, entire fields of ice could spontaneously convert to methane gas in a chain reaction, blowing vast amounts into the atmosphere.
Pakistan has offered to sell its indigenously built Al-Khalid battle tanks to Kuwait to bolster the sovereign Arab emirate's defence, Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi said on Wednesday. Would you buy tanks from a country whose army has never won a war?
Addressing a press briefing following meetings between President Asif Ali Zardari and world leaders on the sidelines of a United Nations meeting on interfaith dialogue, the foreign minister said President Zardari had invited Kuwait to attend the International Defence Exhibition and Seminar, IDEAS-2008, in November, at a meeting with its ruler -- Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah. Zardari said the two countries had a range political, economic and defence ties, but stressed that relations needed to be strengthened further.
Qureshi said the president had also invited the Kuwaiti ruler to visit Pakistan -- and the offer was accepted.
The minister said Pakistan offered the Al-Khalid tanks to Kuwait describing them as an "attractive purchase because of their price and quality". The tank weighs of 46 tonnes and carries three troops. Fitted with a 1,200-horsepower, water-cooled diesel engine and a maximum speed of 70 kilometres per hour, it has a 125-millimetre, smooth bore main gun, a 7.62-millimetre, co-axial machinegun and a 12.7-millimetre, remote-firing anti-aircraft gun. The power-to-weight ratio is 26 horsepower per tonne.
The president also sought Kuwaiti investment in developing Pakistan's energy sector, particularly for the Bhasha Dam project, Qureshi said, adding that he would soon visit Kuwait to brief the Kuwaiti authorities on the project.
The minister also told the media about Zardari's meeting with Philippines President Gloria Arroyo, where both leaders vowed to assist each other at multilateral forums. The president sought Philippines' support in getting Pakistan the status of a dialogue partner at ASEAN, while Philippines asked for Pakistan's support in getting an observer's status at the Organisation of the Islamic Conference.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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Somalia's Shebab fighters imposed Sharia law on the port of Merka Thursday, as the Islamist group continued to tighten its grip on the Horn of Arica country.
The insurgents also briefly occupied three small towns on the outskirts of Somalia's capital Mogadishu on Thursday, but melted away as Ethiopian forces headed south from the city to confront them.
The capture of Merka on Wednesday gave the Islamists a new base for their near-daily attacks on the Western-backed interim government and its Ethiopian military allies. Hours after taking over Merka town, some 100 kilometers (60 miles) south of Mogadishu early Wednesday, Shebab commander Mohamed Sheikh Abdi Muse ordered traders to close businesses during prayer time. "Our aim is to implement Islamic Sharia in the region and everybody should know that we are equal," Muse told a crowd of residents.
The Shebab is the resurgent military and youth wing of the Islamic Courts Union which briefly ruled most of the country before being ousted in 2006. Many locals have welcomed the Shebab's takeover of the town, accusing the ousted local gunmen of extortion and blaming them for rising insecurity.
The Shebab said they would not disrupt operations at Merka port, a key entry point for the international food aid urgently needed by more than a third of Somalia's population.
Islamists have made significant military gains in recent months, leaving the embattled western-backed transitional federal government in control of only some parts of the capital Mogadishu and Baidoa, where parliament is seated.
Rights issues
Two men were flogged in public in Mogadishu earlier this month and a teenage rape victim deemed to have committed adultery by an Islamic court was stoned to death in the southern port of Kismayo late last month.
When in power in 2006, the Islamists carried out executions, shut cinemas and photo shops, banned live music, flogged drug offenders and harassed civilians, mainly women, for failing to wear appropriate dress in public. In addition, they banned most everything foreign music, romances between unmarried teens, all commerce and public transport during prayer times and decreed that Muslims who did not pray daily could be punished by death.
A branch of the ICU is now engaged in the U.N.-sponsored Djibouti peace process and has committed itself to joint security efforts with the transitional government. But the Shebab and allied hardliners have insisted that they will only enter negotiations once all Ethiopian troops have withdrawn from the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
Stoning to death of 13 year old rape victims to commence shortly.
Posted by: ed ||
11/14/2008 0:24
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Fuck it, let em implement sharia law, across all of Somalia as far as i'm concerned - *way more than anything else*, sharia has the ability to turn folks off of wahhabi/takfiri ideology
Spook86 at In from the Cold walks us through the new Iranian missile test and what it means for our security. Must-read.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008
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#1
Today's event also underscores the importance of the recent deployment of a U.S. X-band radar to Israel. Capable of detecting missile launches at long range, the radar will give Israeli officials an additional 60-70 seconds of warning time, critical in any "surprise attack scenario.
The strategic assumption here is the incoming missiles will be identified as coming from Iran and assumed to be nuclear, which essentially means the IDF has 70 seconds to launch their own. Should indeed be quite a "Storm."
#4
"The strategic assumption here is the incoming missiles will be identified as coming from Iran and assumed to be nuclear, which essentially means the IDF has 70 seconds to launch their own. Should indeed be quite a "Storm."
Not quite. Israel's second strike capacity relies on submarines so I doubt they would launch their own nuclear missiles before the first Iranian one hit ground.
The "Samson Option" would still work.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
11/14/2008 20:16
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WaPo puff piece on B.O.
A black child, raised in a modest apartment by a single mother and a nurturing grandmother, becomes a wealthy lawyer who launches a landmark political campaign... You can prob'ly guess the rest.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Perhaps the Europeans might want to wait and see how our version of this grand experiment turns out....
#10
It is claimed Europeans foresee many wonderful things. And it must be admitted that the probability of this one is slightly north of zero, although I'm sure the Rantburg statisticians could better calculate how many zeros there are to the right of the decimal in that number.
#11
Having Zero eelcted was like opening the floodgates of multiculturalfantasies from the Enlightened Elites... hence the "european obama" thingie; on a more sinister and less silly side, this also has notched up the demands of the "minorities", who now can use the US example to ask for mo'.
#13
I am actually quite surprised at the Europeans. They keep telling us how cutting-edge and avant-garde they are, but this is just so .. 1930'ish. They've been there, done that. Worked out so well, too...
Maybe they should consider how many long years it took them to clear the rubble from their last vote for CHANGE?
#21
Yeah there you go, he's even ready to go no waiting!
Get this story, as a youngster his mom had to go work in a factory when his dad was forced into the military. Born in a city destroyed in WWII and no longer exists, he is the only survivor of three sons and with a little luck he made it into and graduated international law school. Likes to fish.
(SomaliNet) A report said on Thursday that South Korea plans to send a destroyer to the lawless waters off Somalia, where several of its merchant ships have been hijacked by pirates. Yonhap news agency quoted an unnamed senior official as saying the government would seek parliamentary approval for the deployment during its current session, which ends on December 8.
"The South Korean warship, if dispatched, will co-operate with the US 5th Fleet in Oman and the French navy in Djibouti," the official was quoted as saying. The official said the ship would be loaded with missiles and other weaponry and accompanied by Navy special forces in case of an emergency situation.
However, the defence ministry declined to confirm the report saying consultations were still under way with other government agencies.
A governmental team reviewed the situation off Somalia after pirates seized a South Korean cargo ship and 22 sailors on September 10. The sailors were released in October after the ship's owner paid a ransom.
A South Korean tuna ship with 25 crew on board was hijacked by Somali pirates in April 2006. The ship and its crew were released after four months following the payment of a ransom. In 2007 Somali pirates seized two South Korean vessels and 24 crew including four South Koreans. The crew were released in November after six months in captivity. Local media reports said the pirates had demanded a ransom of five million dollars before reducing the sum to an undisclosed figure.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2008
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(AKI) - The death toll continued to climb from a series of bomb attacks that shook the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday. At least 21 people were killed and another 80 injured in the multiple attacks that struck the city, according to police and Iraq's Interior Ministry. The surge is over. Time for the cockroaches to crawl back out from under the Iraqi baseboards and reconstitute.
In the most serious bomb attack on Wednesday, at least 12 people died and 60 others injured when a booby-trapped car and roadside bomb exploded almost simultaneously in eastern Baghdad, a ministry spokesman said.
Earlier a car bomb killed four people and injured 14 during the morning rush hour in a central shopping area.
Police also said five people were killed and 12 wounded in an explosion on the north side of the capital.
It is the third consecutive day of bombings in Baghdad. More than 30 were killed earlier this week in blasts with struck during the morning rush-hour.
The latest attacks came as the Iraqi military announced new measures in a bid to stop the increasing number of terrorist attacks. Major General Qassim al-Moussawi, an Iraqi military spokesman, said greater efforts would be placed on intelligence gathering and pre-emptive strikes against suspected opposition fighters.
Also on Wednesday, an Iraqi soldier shot dead at least two Americans in the northern city of Mosul, the US military said. "Two soldiers were killed and six wounded in a small-arms fire attack in an Iraqi Army compound in Mosul today. Initial reports indicate the attacker was an Iraqi soldier," a US military statement said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
That's what comes from not addressing root causes (a culture of zero-sum players).
A 200-year-old church building has disappeared from a village in central Russia, officials from the Russian Orthodox Church say.
The building had stood near the village of Komarovo since 1809. It was intact in July but some time in early October thieves made off with it brick by brick, they said.
Local prosecutors had been informed and an investigation was under way, a spokesman for the local Russian Orthodox Church said.
The disappearance of the Church of the Resurrection, some 300 km (186 miles) north-east of Moscow, was not immediately noticed. It was in an out-of-the-way area and was not being used, although Church officials were considering resuming services there. Now all that remained of the two-storey building - a school before it was turned over to the Church - were its foundations and some sections of wall, the Church said.
Thieves often target churches in rural Russia. Religious icons can be sold and church structures sold off for building materials.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/14/2008
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BAGHDAD - Iraqi army bulldozers roared into a squatters' camp in Baghdad on Thursday, witnesses said, ignoring protests by people who have lived in the abandoned arms depot for the past five years. Dozens of soldiers backed by Iraqi police began dismantling the camp in the city's mostly Shiite Hurriyah neighbourhood where some 675 families -- around 4,000 people -- have lived since they fled from Sunni insurgents in late 2003.
The army would not allow reporters to enter the area, saying it was "government-owned property," but from the entrance to the camp an AFP correspondent saw troops demolish several houses.
Residents of the camp fled there in late 2003 and 2004 at the start of the sectarian violence that has engulfed the country in recent years, and ever since they have been living in crude brick and concrete shacks.
"I packed up everything, and I'm going to go and live on a street corner in Kadhimiyah," said Abu Mustafa, one of the squatters, referring to an adjacant district. A policeman living in the camp was defiant. "I will not leave, I have no choice. The soldiers must stop carrying out the expulsion order," said Haitham Joma. "I only got the eviction notice three days ago."
After demolishing several shacks, the soldiers withdrew to the camp's perimeter to await further orders.
The government has offered a lump sum of 2,500 dollars to each family in the Hurriyah camp that leaves voluntarily, but there are few takers because of the cost of housing elsewhere in the capital.
Tens of thousands of squatters currently live in dozens of abandoned military sites throughout Baghdad. According to the UN High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR) five percent of Iraq's 1.3 million internally displaced people live in public buildings.
Several months ago, Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki decided to reclaim all public buildings, initially ordering political parties to evacuate the sites and then taking aim at the squatter communities, including those in Hurriyah. The housing ministry estimates Iraq needs some two million new housing units to replace those lost in years of fighting and to keep pace with the country's growing population.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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World leaders, senior diplomats and religious figures condemned extremism and terrorism Wednesday at a U.N. conference on interfaith dialogue that brought Israel and Arab countries together to promote tolerance. Your mileage will vary according to your definition of "intolerance" and "extremism."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
U.N. Faith Forum Denounces Intolerance, Extremism, Israel
Despite being sentenced to death six years ago by an Anti Terrorism Court for the gruesome murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed is lucky enough to have dodged the gallows.
The Sindh High Court is yet to decide his appeal against the sentence even though the case hearing has been adjourned for over 100 times since 2002.The 38-year-old American journalist travelled to Pakistan in the aftermath of the 9/11 terror attacks to work on an investigative story about the alleged intelligence links of some Pakistani militant leaders. He was abducted from Karachi on January 23, 2002, before being beheaded by militants.
The killers of Pearl, including Sheikh Omar Saeed, a London School of Economics graduate-turned-Jihadi, and three of his accomplices -- Fahad Naseem, Salman Saqib and Sheikh Adeel -- were put on trial on April 22, 2002. Almost three months later, the Karachi court handed down capital punishment to Omar Saeed Sheikh while his three accomplices were sentenced to life in prison.
The accused had instantly approached the Sindh High Court by lodging appeals against the Anti Terrorism Court verdict. But their appeals have not yet been decided for inexplicable reasons despite a lapse of 75 months and over 100 adjournments.
Currently languishing in a Hyderabad jail, the accused had instantly approached the Sindh High Court by lodging appeals against the Anti Terrorism Court verdict. But their appeals have not yet been decided for inexplicable reasons despite a lapse of 75 months and over 100 adjournments.
However, Omar Sheikh's defence lawyer sees nothing unusual, saying that appeals in murder cases usually last for years. Rai Bashir maintains that the Pearl case had already taken a new twist. He plans to use the confession by the mastermind of the 9/11 attacks, Khaled Sheikh Mohammad, that he was the one who had beheaded Pearl.
Khaled Sheikh Mohammad had made this confession in the FBI custody, the transcript of which has already been made public by the authorities. Rai Bashir says he would use Khaled's testimony as evidence that his client did not kill Pearl. "What we had been saying for so many years in the appeal is that Omar was innocent and he had not committed that murder. We are happy that this version has been verified by none other than the Americans after the arrest of Khaled Sheikh Mohammed," maintained Rai.
He also plans to use Musharraf's published memoirs in defence of Omar Sheikh. "President Pervez Musharraf's book 'In the Line of Fire' will be mustered for an appeal against my client's conviction because it indicated that alleged September 11 mastermind Khaled Sheikh Mohammed and another man had killed Pearl," the lawyer further maintained.
However, contrary to his lawyer's contention, the hard fact remains that at his initial court appearance in April 2002, Sheikh Omar had almost confessed to his crime by stating before the court: "I don't want to defend myself. I did this. Rightly or wrongly, I had my reasons. I think our country shouldn't be catering to American needs."
Sheikh Omar is a British citizen of Pakistani descent who had first served five years in prison in New Delhi in the 1990s in connection with the 1994 kidnapping of three British travellers. However, he was released from captivity in 1999 along with the defunct Jaish-e-Mohammad chief Maulana Masood Azhar, and eventually provided a safe passage to Pakistan by the Taliban regime, after the Indian government was forced to accept the demands of the hijackers of the Indian Airliner IC-814.
Two years later, on February 12, 2002, he was arrested in Lahore on the charge of Pearl's kidnapping.
He was not arrested but had actually surrendered to Brig (retd) Ejaz Shah, a former chief of the Punjab chapter of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
He, however, told the court that he was not arrested but had actually surrendered to Brig (retd) Ejaz Shah, a former chief of the Punjab chapter of the Inter Services Intelligence (ISI).
Subsequent Western media reports blamed Sheikh Omar for working for Pakistani agencies under the name of Mustafa Mohamed Ahmad, who had wired $100,000 to the official ringleader of the 9/11 terror attack, Mohammad Atta, from a Saudi Arabian account of the Standard Chartered Bank.
On October 6, 2001, a senior US government official told the CNN that American investigators had discovered that Omar, while using the alias Mustafa Muhammad Ahmad had sent about $100,000 from the United Arab Emirates to Mohammed Atta. Hardly a month after the money transfer was discovered, the then director general of the ISI, General Mahmood Ahmad, was sacked. It was later reported by the American media that the FBI was further investigating General Mahmood Ahmad's role.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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#1
Dan Darling had some interesting comments on this guy back in the day...
Iran's U.N. envoy on Thursday accused Israel of abusing a Saudi-sponsored U.N. interfaith conference for political purposes and suggested the Jewish state had no right to take part.
Speaking on the second day of the meeting, which earlier heard U.S. President George W. Bush call for worldwide religious freedom, Iranian Ambassador Mohammad Khazaee did not name Israel, but left no doubt what country he had in mind. "The representative of a regime (whose) short history is marked with ... aggression, occupation, assassination, state terrorism and torture against the Palestinian people, under the pretext of a false interpretation of a divine religion, has tried to abuse this meeting for its narrow political purposes," he said.
Khazaee was referring to Israeli President Shimon Peres, who took the rare opportunity of being in the same room as Saudi King Abdullah on Wednesday to praise a Saudi peace initiative that he said brought hope to the Middle East.
"The participation of such a regime not only has no benefit to our common purpose, but, as proved in this very meeting, will give them a chance to try to disrupt the current process to divert our attention from our mandate" to improve dialogue between different religions, Khazaee said.
Iran believes the Jewish state has no right to exist and opposes peace talks. Israel considers Iran a threat to its existence and, along with the United States and other countries, accuses it of developing nuclear weapons. Tehran denies the charge.
Khazaee's speech stood out at the two-day meeting of the U.N. General Assembly, convened at the request of the Saudi monarch, not only because of its accusatory language, but because it failed to praise Abdullah.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal reacted coolly to Peres' remarks. "The disappointing side of President Peres' comment is that he chose parts of the Arab peace plan and left other parts untouched," he told reporters.
Earlier Bush, in what was almost certainly his last U.N. address, proclaimed religious freedom as the foundation of a healthy society and defended the U.S. record in protecting Muslims caught up in foreign conflicts.
RELIGIOUS FREEDOM
The U.N. meeting, attended by leaders and diplomats from some 75 countries, was opened by King Abdullah, who on Wednesday denounced terrorism as the enemy of all religions.
In a closing statement, participants "affirmed their rejection of the use of religion to justify the killing of innocent people and actions of terrorism, violence and coercion." U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon told a news conference that was "a strong message to the world."
Bush, a Methodist who said faith sustained him through his presidency, which ends in January, praised Abdullah for initiating the meeting but also implicitly criticized countries that restrict religious practice. Saudi Arabia forbids public non-Muslim worship.
Noting that the United States had been founded by people fleeing religious persecution, Bush said that "Freedom is God's gift to every man, woman, and child -- and that freedom includes the right of all people to worship as they see fit."
He was speaking a short way from the site of New York's former World Trade Centre, destroyed in 2001 by planes piloted by Islamist al Qaeda militants. Some Muslim critics have called his subsequent "war on terror" a crusade against Islam.
"Our nation has helped defend the religious liberty of others, from liberating the (World War Two) concentration camps of Europe to protecting Muslims in places like Kosovo, Afghanistan and Iraq," Bush said.
"Religious freedom is the foundation of a healthy and hopeful society. We're not afraid to stand with religious dissidents and believers who practice their faith even where it is unwelcome."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2008
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
WASHINGTON -- The prospects of a government rescue for the foundering American automakers dwindled Thursday as Democratic Congressional leaders conceded that they would face potentially insurmountable Republican opposition during a lame-duck session next week. 
Not so long ago, corporate giants with names like PanAm, ITT and Montgomery Ward roamed the earth. They faded and were replaced by new companies with names like Microsoft, Southwest Airlines and Target. The U.S. became famous for this pattern of decay and new growth. Over time, American government built a bigger safety net so workers could survive the vicissitudes of this creative destruction -- with unemployment insurance and soon, one hopes, health care security. But the government has generally not interfered in the dynamic process itself, which is the source of the country's prosperity.
Jules Crittenden
I don't think so. It's not a pretty picture, but we've got four long years of this ahead, and we need to make the best of it. Because Hillary hates Obama for depriving her of that which was rightfully hers, she can be relied on to subvert all of his limp-handshake peace overtures. And because preliminary indications are the Obama administration may be waking up to the reality that its World Peace Now agenda doesn't stand a chance, having Hillary snarling at the end of a long leash would allow Obama to continue speaking softly, and just shrug sheepishly, "Hey, that's Hillary, what can I say?" whenever she rips anything to shreds.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Shiite leader Muqtada al-Sadr on Friday renewed threats to resume attacks on U.S. forces, and the country's top Shiite cleric was quoted as saying he would intervene if a proposed U.S.-Iraqi security pact infringed on Iraqi sovereignty.
With separatist leaders in jail, Indian Kashmir votes on Monday in a multi-phase election that will test the legitimacy of New Delhi's rule of a region beset by independence protests earlier this year. Thousands of troops will guard the vote in one of the world's most militarised regions, which witnessed some of the biggest pro-independence demonstrations this year since a separatist revolt against Indian rule in the Himalayan region broke out in 1989.
Beverly Giesbrecht, a West Vancouver woman who converted to Islam in 2002 and adopted the name Khadija Abdul Qahaar, was on a freelance assignment for the Al Jazeera network when she was abducted in northern Pakistan this week. Ms. Giesbrecht, a former magazine publisher in British Columbia who runs a website that is critical of the U.S.-led war on terror and the mainstream media's coverage of it, had ventured into the highly dangerous North West Frontier Province of Pakistan, when she was taken at gunpoint out of a taxi, along with her translator.
Some members of the Moro Islamic Liberation Front are now in possession of a US spy plane which crashed in Guindulungan town in Maguindanao early this month, a rebel official said Friday.
A Japanese journalist and an Afghan colleague were shot and wounded in Peshawar, in the latest of a series of attacks on foreigners in the northwest Pakistani city, police said. The shooting comes a day after an Iranian diplomat was kidnapped and his police bodyguard shot dead in the city, while an American aid worker was gunned down on Wednesday. 
Israeli aircraft fired missiles at militants in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday and Palestinians sent rocket barrages flying into Israel, officials said, as newly resumed violence threatened to bury a five-month-old truce. The renewed rocket fire from Gaza prompted Israel to seal its crossings with the territory, halting shipments of food aid and fuel. 
Suspected U.S. drones fired missiles into a Pakistani tribal region on Friday, killing 12 people, including five foreigners, in an area known as a stronghold of Pakistani Taliban commander Baitullah Mehsud. 
The political administration warned the Mohmand tribes on Thursday of imminent military operation if they did not sever ties with local and foreign Taliban.
Frozen crystals packed with concentrated natural gas and buried 2,000 feet below the permafrost on Alaska's North Slope could become the next major domestic energy source, according to an assessment released Wednesday by the U.S. Geological Survey. The study finds that in the North Slope, frozen methane-and-water crystals known as hydrates contain as much as 85.4 trillion cubic feet of recoverable natural gas. That's enough to heat 100 million homes for as long as 10 years, Interior Secretary Dirk Kempthorne said.
Pakistan has offered to sell its indigenously built 
Somalia's Shebab fighters imposed Sharia law on the port of Merka Thursday, as the Islamist group continued to tighten its grip on the Horn of Arica country. 
(AKI) - The death toll continued to climb from a series of bomb attacks that shook the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Wednesday. At least 21 people were killed and another 80 injured in the multiple attacks that struck the city, according to police and Iraq's Interior Ministry.
BAGHDAD - Iraqi army bulldozers roared into a squatters' camp in Baghdad on Thursday, witnesses said, ignoring protests by people who have lived in the abandoned arms depot for the past five years. Dozens of soldiers backed by Iraqi police began dismantling the camp in the city's mostly Shiite Hurriyah neighbourhood where some 675 families -- around 4,000 people -- have lived since they fled from Sunni insurgents in late 2003.
Despite being sentenced to death six years ago by an Anti Terrorism Court for the gruesome murder of American journalist Daniel Pearl, Sheikh Ahmed Omar Saeed is lucky enough to have dodged the gallows.
