By the authority vested in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United States of America, and in order to prepare the Nation for the impacts of climate change by undertaking actions to enhance climate preparedness and resilience, it is hereby ordered as follows: Pardon me, did he say (in print, that is)"Constitution"?
Sec. 5. Federal Agency Planning for Climate Change Related Risk. (a) Consistent with Executive Order 13514, agencies have developed Agency Adaptation Plans and provided them to CEQ and OMB. These plans evaluate the most significant climate change related risks to, and vulnerabilities in, agency operations and missions in both the short and long term, and outline actions that agencies will take to manage these risks and vulnerabilities.
Building on these efforts, each agency shall develop or continue to develop, implement, and update comprehensive plans that integrate consideration of climate change into agency operations and overall mission objectives and submit those plans to CEQ and OMB for review.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/14/2013
16:31 ||
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#1
..yep, 'constitution', as in ancient relic upon which the claimant derives unquestioned authority and power to rule - see Excalibur. Not to be confused with a compact or body of laws governing the operation of government.
#2
I predict snow (in the Rockies) excessive heat (In Florida) and wind (In Kansas) send cash to me
As a guru, able to predict Weather.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/14/2013 18:18
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#3
Someone just copied an old form. What Champ meant to say was:
"Barak I by the grace of God President of America, lord of the 57 States, duke of the Nobel Peace Prize and Harvard Law School sends greetings to His union representatives, community organizers, ACORN personnel, felons, "golf" buddies and all His useful idiots and faithful men inspecting the present decree. Know that We, at the prompting of God and for the health of Our soul and the souls of Our Kenyan ancestors, for Our own glory and the improvement of Our realm, freely and out of Our good will have given and granted to all of Our realm these glad tidings of Climate Change written below to hold in Our realm of America in perpetuity."
#2
Boy, first they invaded + took him from his comfy home at the bottom of the sea, then they froze him widout his consent, + then didn't even bother to give him any birthday cake after discovering his nominal or real age(s)...
CLEARLY ITS TIME FOR GOOD MOLLUSCS EVERYWHERE TO RISE + WAGE GLOBAL JIHAD.
#11
Not to quibble, but this should probably say "The world's oldest (formerly) living animal". There are trees that have a verified age of over 5000 years.
Trees are creatures to, y'know.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/14/2013 17:40
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#12
#7 We have to dissect it to see what's in it!
Posted by: Nancy Pelosi
An immigrant intergalactic
Symbiotically merged with a Catholic
It brought change and hope
And it thought it was Pope
But its dogma was straight Democratic
#13
Scientists have discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on earth -- an individual mightier than the blue whale, the giant sequoia tree or such past pretenders to size supremacy as the dinosaur.
The organism is a giant fungus, an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and rootlike tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore 1,500 to 10,000 years ago and now extending for more than 30 acres in the soil of a forest near Crystal Falls, Mich., along the Wisconsin border.
#14
Scientists have discovered what could be the largest and oldest living organism on earth -- an individual mightier than the blue whale, the giant sequoia tree or such past pretenders to size supremacy as the dinosaur.The organism is a giant fungus, an interwoven filigree of mushrooms and rootlike tentacles spawned by a single fertilized spore 1,500 to 10,000 years ago and now extending for more than 30 acres in the soil of a forest near Crystal Falls, Mich., along the Wisconsin border.
...yeah, but, to me, she'll always be known as my ex-wife...
Perhaps making the process less offensive. To rational people, that is.
[one method] Statically charge the water to allow particles of waste to separate and fall to the bottom. Those solids are taken to a landfill, leaving more than 95 percent of the water clean enough to be reused for fracking.
Another more expensive system that renders water clean enough to be dumped into rivers and lakes or used in agriculture. States are scrambling to draft regulations for the new recycling systems.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/14/2013
10:06 ||
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#1
Also economical. Some areas do not have a grand supply of readily available water, and hauling water from a site to a cleaning facility is costly, along with vehicle wear and tear and the inevitable accidents associated with road travel.
If they figure out a way to treat water on or near site, that is big stuff.
#3
Nah, grom; water's scarce & expensive at a lot of fracking locations & recycling it is more profitable. Except for the local water suppliers. (And I am only partly being facecious.)
#4
That's absolutely right, could have an impact on the landowner - driller negotiations: water rights, terraforming and road construction.
I'd think that even if the lease costs ended up being the same the drillers would still save money on less maintenence, gas, labor, insurance.
Cheaper energy, reduced recovery costs, happy landowners - everyone wins. But Komrads, recjoice equally! Obviously the solution is the nationalize all water sources and put an end to this, because industry and affordable energy is racist.
According to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX),If the draft rule is approved, it would allow the EPA to regulate virtually every body of water in the United States, including private and public lakes, ponds and streams, he said. The Obama administrations latest power play to regulate Americas waterways is an unprecedented effort to control the use of private property.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/14/2013
10:00 ||
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#1
Silly Rabbit, for the Socialist Progressives there is no private property. You are, at best, merely part time stewards of the State's lands and resources (which also includes your body).
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/14/2013 10:29
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EPA regulated.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/14/2013 10:44
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What about Rain. I don't know about your property tax bill, but I have to pay a "water run-off control" tax, which amounts to a Rain Tax. So yes, the EPA has already taxed rain.
Posted by: Glereng Lover of the Slytherins2881 ||
11/14/2013 10:45
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#5
IIUC I think rain may be an IRS deal, or rather taxing a person when not having rain or having a substandard unapproved rain. Those of you who get too much rain will be taxed to make up for those who get too little rain, whether they need rain or not.
I'd get into snowfall, and the difference between rain, sleet, and snow, but that is 800 pages and I have not read it yet. And because it deals with rain, sleet, or snow, there will be a $5 surcharge every month to pay the USPS to deliver Obamaphones to those with less than optimal informationally unemployed, with an immediate $40 tax on everyone who does not currently own a xbox1 so that our chronically depressed PS4 enrollment participants can activate their accounts.
Now get back to plowing that tax field; not working hard for other peoples' free shit is racist, and you should know your betters.
#8
Absolutely right, CF. In Kalifornia they give you a rebate if you buy a low flow toilet. They discourage you from buying anything else. Then you have to flush twice to get the job done and use even more water. The guy at HomeDepot told me about a five gallon toilet. I told him I wanted it but he said it's illegal in the state of Kalifornia.
But, hey, wait until they start taxing the air you breath.
#10
But, hey, wait until they start taxing the air you breath.
They are on it. The EPA was going to tax the amount of dirt blow-off from farming, requiring 24 hour surveillance most likely in the way of drones. Of course, we know how trustworthy the government has been recently, especially in the IRS and NSA, so the little town in Colorado selling HIP tags for drones, other than being funny, is not too funny.
Not just for clodhoppers: remember the push to put EPA HVAC regulators in your home to monitor your AC and heat usage? That's air you breath. Carbon credits, that's air you breath. Additional taxes on high efficiency and electric vehicles is a tax on not polluting: air you breath. Hell I'm being Roberts taxed for babies not yet aborted. FTS.
Posted by: Thurong Protector of the Lichtensteiners3524 ||
11/14/2013 12:32
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GDI, they can take the entire tax earning of my family's lifetime and they blow it on gasoline and security for a fund raising trip to effn Florida, where I presume the weather is still nice enough to golf at this time of year.
And what really gets my shit kickers dusted off. Pumpkin tartlettes or wtf? Are you kidding me, sounds awful. I see better menus on Restaurant Impossible before the fix. The financial security of my family's health and education blown of bullshit which wouldn't sell at the impulse tray next to the checkout register at 75% off to a three day hungry homeless bloke? Kobe hot dogs, that's like surviving the buying of some Nike Air Force Ones to wear them to your rooter job the very next morning.
#15
Actually, H2O (vapor) contributes more to global warming than CO2 does. CO2 is about 0.03% of the atmosphere. Water vapor is 0.25% - almost nine times as much.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/14/2013 21:44
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...Entertaining takedown of the Hubris leading to and surrounding Obamacare. Excerpt: "More recent numbers suggest that the federal exchange has enrolled about 27,000 customers since October 1, which amounts to about half an enrollee for each Obamacare navigator. (Someone in the White House is surely thinking, Hey, lets just hire another 14,000,000 navigators! Problem solved.)"
#1
I can't get with the spirit of this piece. This regime has made such a mockery of our system of government that I can't laugh any of it off.
The latest EPA attempt to control ALL water, Ocare theft, total serfdom being implemented one step at a time.....nope not funny, not funny at all.
The elite conservatives don't really see the problem because they are protected from reality as much as the liberals. Oh its not too bad they say among themselves, what we really have to do is watch out for those Tea Party lunatics, they're the ones that want to overturn our cushy apple cart.
Individuals have less and less freedom and control over their own lives with each passing day. The Constitution, especially the BoR might as well be written on toilet paper.
Posted by: Thurong Protector of the Lichtensteiners3524 ||
11/14/2013 12:36
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#6
I'm listening to this stumble bum on the teevee ramble on and for the life of me, I can't figure out what he is saying or doing about the so-called grandfather clause.
#16
And right on time - a new Downfall parody, with more Downfall goodness, including video excerpts from real Obama speeches.
Honestly, I think now there is a new addition to the 'big lies' truism: 'The check is in the mail', 'If you get pregnant, I'll marry you,' and 'If you like your plan, you can keep your plan.'
#17
...just free-associating here, but if Mr. Obama is unsuccessful in unburning the Obamacare bridges with the insurance companies, might he, as an intermediate step towards Single Payer, be inclined to Nationalize them..?
[Pak Daily Times] Violence across Iraq, including bombings, killed 27 people on Wednesday as worshippers massed in a shrine city on the eve of major commemoration rituals often targeted by bully boys.
The bloodshed was the latest in a months-long surge in unrest that has forced Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki to appeal for Washington's help in combating militancy as Iraqi action has failed to stem the unrelenting wave of attacks. Bombings on Wednesday mostly struck north and west of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , targeting pilgrims marking Ashura and members of the security forces. On the outskirts of Baquba, north of the capital and one of Iraq's most violent areas, three coordinated bombs struck a gathering of pilgrims.
Overall, eight people were killed and 25 others were maimed in the blasts, security and medical officials said. Millions from Iraq and around the world mark Ashura, which this year climaxes on Thursday, by setting up procession tents where food is distributed to passers-by and pilgrims can gather, or by walking to Karbala, which is home to a shrine to Imam Hussein (RA).
In past years, pilgrims have been targeted by bombings, including a string of attacks the day before Ashura in 2011 that killed 28 people. As a result, security measures are stepped up with more than 35,000 soldiers and coppers currently deployed to Karbala and surrounding areas, with concentric security perimeters barring vehicles from entering the city while helicopters hover overhead.
Provincial authorities expect two million pilgrims -- Iraqis as well as foreigners -- will have visited Karbala in the 10 days leading up to Ashura, with all of the city's hotels fully booked. "I carry these iron weights every year, since I was 16 and until now," said Shawkat Hussein, a 60-year-old pilgrim visiting Karbala from Pakistain, referring to heavy iron chains hanging around his neck. "What I am carrying does not compare to what Hussein (RA) did for his religion."
Elsewhere in Iraq on Wednesday, bombings targeting security forces killed 15 people, while police bumped off three snuffies in a raid. East of the town of Tikrit, a jacket wallah detonated a vehicle rigged with explosives at a police checkpoint, killing 11 people, including three coppers. And near the former myrmidon bastion of Fallujah, ... the City of Mosques, which might have somthing to do with why it's not called Center of Prosperity or a really nice place to raise your kids... two bombs targeting the homes of coppers, followed by a third that went off as onlookers gathered at the scene, killed four.
Wednesday's deaths were the latest in Iraq's worst violence since 2008, with more than 5,600 people killed this year, according to an AFP tally based on reports from security and medical officials. Maliki has called for help from the United States in the form of intelligence-sharing and the delivery of new weapons systems in an effort to deal with the unrest.
Turkey's foreign minister also offered Ankara's assistance during a recent visit to Storied Baghdad. In addition to major security problems, authorities have failed to provide adequate basic services such as electricity and clean water, and corruption is widespread. Political squabbling has paralysed the government, while parliament has passed almost no major legislation in years.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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#1
Arab unity
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2013 8:07
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's cabinet set the country's maximum wage on Wednesday at 35 times the minimum wage of the employees working in the public sector, state-run news agency ...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?... MENA reported.
According to the governmental decree, the maximum wage will be implemented as of January 2014 and its ceiling has been settled at LE42,000 per month.
Egypt's ministers of finance and administrative development will be tasked with preparing the procedures of new wage limit.
Maximum wage has been an issue of contention since the then-ruling military council in 2011 decided to set a national maximum wage at 35 times the minimum wage of a low-level employee at the same government body.
In September, the Egyptian government set a long-awaited minimum wage for the public-sector employees at LE1,200, minus deductions for pensions and other items.
According to official data, the number of employees in the governmental sector increased by two percent in 2012/13 to reach 5.545 million, compared to 5.439 million one year earlier.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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#1
Don't tell the city of Seatac; as of tonight the $15 an hour minimum wage ballot proposal has a 19 vote lead; they might want to try to up the ante if they get wind of this. Never mind the jobs that will be lost or the shops that will close.....
#2
Less-than-Part-Time, working NMT 10-12 hours a week like in France while still getting all the benefits + perks of the Soon-to-be-Global Welfare-Nanny State wid little to no change in income tax brackets/rates.
In France their Govt voted to impose a mere 75% tax rate, as opposed to the originally favored 100-114% tax rates, until the Govt. whiz kids discovered that the 100%-n-over rates were effectively the same per the mainstream.
The good news is that Muslims in Marseilles are still vowing to following only Islamic or Sharia law, NOT Secular, Democratic Socialist French law.
#5
If Government workers (HAH) have to depend on "Tip Money: they'll starve. (I Hope)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/14/2013 18:30
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Tell the Sheiks.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/14/2013 18:32
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#7
Raising prices at an airport happens all the time, because the airport has a monopoly on air travelers. Raising the minimum wage will just raise prices on people visiting. It is not much different from the extra fees travelers pay on cabs that go to the airport, rental cars at the airport, or hotel taxes.
This is unusual only in that the workers are getting a share of the monopoly profits, instead of the government and businesses.
[REUTERS] Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... said on Wednesday his delegation of peace negotiators has resigned over the lack of progress in U.S.-brokered statehood talks with Israel that have been clouded by Jewish settlement building.
The development would mark a new low point for the talks with Israel that resumed in July and which officials from both sides have said have made little headway.
In an interview with Egyptian CBC television, Abbas suggested the negotiations would continue even if the Paleostinian peace delegation sticks to its decision.
"Either we can convince it to return, and we're trying with them, or we form a new delegation," he said.
It was unclear from Abbas's interview when the Paleostinian negotiators quit, but Abbas said he would need about a week to resume the talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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Four U.S. Marines were killed at Camp Pendleton Wednesday morning during a range maintenance operation, base officials confirmed. According to Camp Pendleton officials, the deadly incident happened around 11 a.m (Wednesday).
NBC News reports that a U.S. military official said the incident involved the detonation of some unexploded ordnance on a range at the base. The Marines involved in the accident were Explosive Ordnance Marines, NBC News reported. Sources inside the Pentagon said the Marines were not clearing the range, but instead doing some sort of training when the deadly detonation occurred.
An official from the public affairs office told NBC 7 San Diego that the incident happened in the Zulu impact area, which is located roughly at the center of the base. The impact area is where Marines fire artillery and drop bombs from aircraft. The official said there was artillery training on base today, but not in that specific area. He said there was no firing going on at the Zulu impact area at the time of the fatal incident.
The official also clarified what is meant by the term "range maintenance," saying it's a fairly broad term used to describe a variety of upkeep on those firing ranges and can include anything from mowing the grass to actually clearing artillery.
Deepest condolences to the families, the units involved, and all Marines.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/14/2013
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#1
That's one of the things that people don't realize about the military: even in a peacetime environment, it is dangerous. This sort of accident can happen anytime.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/14/2013 10:38
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#2
Unlike many other dangerous professions, you can't give 2 weeks notice to leave at will. Something about desertion and the UCMJ.
#3
Stuff like this happens, and it can happen when you forget to do something you've done for years and it's never been necessary and you just forgot.
Just once.
At Ft. Jackson in 1970, the mortar committee instructors were settling the baseplates to prepare for a class by firing max charges at high elevations. Done it probably since 1939. Happened at that point, on that day, when they didn't clear the range, there was a detail down range painting the derelict armored vehicles used as targets. Done once a year, if that. Killed a couple of guys, wounded others.
All you have to do is blink once. Or do everything right and be unlucky.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/14/2013 11:40
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#4
Update from another, later article-
"Four Marines were killed trying to clear live ordnance from a training range at Camp Pendleton near San Diego on Wednesday, according to officials.
The Marines were sweeping a range of unexploded munitions at roughly 11 a.m. local time to make it safe for future training when the deaths occurred"
This is why EOD earns their nickle even in peacetime.
[An Nahar] Turkey has asked NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... to extend for another year the deployment of surface-to-air Patriot missiles to protect its troubled border with Syria because of a continuing "serious" threat, officials said on Wednesday.
"We have received a letter from the Turkish government requesting the continuation of the Patriot mission," a NATO official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity.
"The North Atlantic Council has regularly assessed the situation and the implementation of the Patriot mission. It is clear that the overall risks and threats to Turkey remain serious," the official said.
A Turkish foreign ministry diplomat, contacted by AFP, also confirmed Ankara's request.
Turkey turned to its NATO allies after a mortar bomb fired from Syrian territory killed five Turkish civilians in the border town of Akcakale in October last year.
Since the deadly attack, Turkey has retaliated in kind for every Syrian shell that has landed on its soil and beefed up its volatile 910-kilometer (560 mile) frontier.
The six batteries of the US-made missiles, effective against aircraft and short-range missiles and dispatched by the Netherlands, Germany and the United States, are deployed in the southern city of Adana and the southeastern cities of Kahramanmaras and Gaziantep.
"Allies have shown a strong commitment to protect and defend Turkey," said the NATO official.
"Any continuation of the deployment would reaffirm the determination of NATO to deter threats and defend Turkey, reflecting and confirming once again NATO's solidarity with Turkey."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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[Al Ahram] Nigeria's army offensive against Islamist snuffies has pushed nearly 40,000 refugees over its northern border into Niger, a UN agency said, in a drive that is straining food supplies in the drought-prone country.
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... estimated in June there were 6,000 refugees from Nigeria but the figure has soared as President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... has stepped up attacks on Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... bad boys.
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said in its latest monthly report that of a total 37,332 refugees, nearly 29,000 are officially Niger nationals and the rest are Nigerian.
"These figures, three times above the level the humanitarian workers were planning for, give an indication of the difficulties of developing a humanitarian response," it said.
Boko Haram is seen as the biggest risk to stability in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country and top oil producer, which shares a 1,500 kilometre border with its landlocked northern neighbour Niger along the edge of the Sahara Desert.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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#1
40,000, huh? the pond in which Boko Haram swims
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/14/2013 9:54
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#2
I prefer counter-attacks vs. Boko Haram, who recently shot up a mall full of moms and kids.
Give'm hell Nigeria, because that is exactly what they asked for.
[Al Ahram] A misdemeanour court on Wednesday sentenced 12 university students to 17 years in prison over riots at Al-Azhar institution in October, Al-Ahram's Arabic news website reported. Obviously their definition of "misdemeanour" isn't the same as ours.
The students were found guilty of attempting to storm the headquarters of the institution, inciting riots and attacking Al-Azhar employees and security personnel, as well as sabotaging public and private property.
They were also ordered to pay a fine of LE64,000 each.
The general-prosecution received a complaint on 30 October accusing protesters of "gathering at the Sheikhdom, pelting the building with stones, attempting to storm it and insulting Al-Azhar grand imam and security personnel."
They were referred to the Criminal Court on 6 November.
Students of Al-Azhar University had staged a protest at the Sheikhdom against the institution they say has supported ousting Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... , Egypt's first freely elected president.
Hub of protests
Egyptian universities have become a hub of protests in support of Morsi after the Moslem Brüderbund was hit hard by a sustained crackdown campaign by security forces.
Protests have repeatedly spiraled into violence while dozens of students have been tossed in the clink Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw! since the start of the new academic year in September.
On Sunday, Egypt's prosecutor general ordered that 43 students of Al-Azhar University be sent to a Misdemeanor Court. The defendants are accused of causing riots on campus on 26 October.
Egypt's university campuses have been witnessing tense and sometimes violent demonstrations since the new academic year commenced September.
Pro-Morsi students have been protesting against the interim government, saying the army staged a "coup" against the country's first freely elected president when it deposed him in July amid mass protests against his rule.
In late September, four students were expelled from Cairo University for "assaulting" former Grand Mufti Ali Gomaa, who was on campus for a thesis presentation.
Chaos broke out as pro-Morsi students shouted insults and expletives at the holy man, and held up their shoes as a sign of disrespect. Gomaa left shortly afterwards.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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#1
A misdemeanour court on Wednesday sentenced 12 university students to 17 years in prison..
...interesing to see what a felony court would do. Death?
[Libya Herald] Ghariyan Congressman and National Front Party member Muhammed Younis Toumi has sparked controversy over the poisition of the Tamazight language, saying Arabic should be the only official language of Libya. He stressed that it was very important to safeguard the rights of minorities in Libya but the identity of the Libyan state is its Arabic culture and language -- a statement which met with support from other members of Congress.
The statement came as a surprise to many observers given the good reputation the National Front Party enjoys among the Amazigh community. The party responded immediately by releasing a statement distancing itself from what he had said, calling it a "surprise and the personal view of Mohammed Younis Toumi". The statement also noted that NFP fully supported the cultural and linguistic freedom of the minorities and that this should be protected by enshrining it in the constitution.
"The statement by Mohammed Younis Toumi is merely his personal opinion and does not represent the viewpoint or principles of the party."
Speaking to the Libya Herald, Mohammed Toumi explained that he intended no malice towards minorities or their rights.
"I have always supported the rights of all minority groups. I said it with complete recognition of the minorities, and ensuring their rights is unquestionable. I said that the identity of Libya is its Arabic language and culture that connects it to the region and that should be protected. The Arab culture or language is not only for Arabs but also for Tuareqs, Amazighs and all others. I believe this is something that most Libyans would agree with."
He also said that the official language should be the one that connects everybody and safeguards the identity of the country.
"The official language brings together everybody and if you add another language then other minorities would also call for the same. I believe there are 20 such groups in Libya."
A surprised Toumi also criticised the move by his party to release a statement distancing itself from his statement. He questioned the authority of those who released it.
"I don't know who issued it. I was never asked by anyone to explain my point and I then saw the released statement. I'm an elected member of the supreme committee of the party but no one consulted me before releasing the statement."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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If we had a CIA worth anything we'd be pushing the story that the Stuxnet virus got into the Iranian air defense network. Ooops, this is what happened. Apologies to the poor pilot who got waxed. Let them sort it out...
#2
If we had a State Dept worth a damn, we would have been able to halt all the illegal sale activity of Tomcat parts and maybe, just maybe kept some flyable for a low level infil mission over Iran. but no, we just let anybody into Davis-Mothan strip the Kitties and then peddle the parts. Then we decided to shred all of them so nobody had any toys to play with. the remaining gate guards are hollow non-airworthy shells.
But the good news is that now there is one less F-14 for the Iranians to play with.
#3
USN Ret. If may memory is any good all of the F14 stengths were in its Phoenix missiles and in a radar far more capable then the one in contemporary and even of the one in newer fighters. And these were not sold to the Iranians. By itself, ie without the electronics, the missiles and the Navy pilots, the airframe, even the F14D, was not particularly good.
[Al Ahram] The Gay Paree prosecutor has confirmed the identity of the prime suspect in the killing of two French radio journalists in Mali last week as a bad boy with ties to Al-Qaeda's north Africa branch.
Francois Molins said an "intense" manhunt was underway for Baye Ag Bakabo, known to authorities as a low-level narco from the Tuareg ethnic group who had ties to al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb. He was one of four men believed to be involved in the Nov. 2 kidnapping and killing of correspondent Ghislaine Dupont and technician Claude Verlon of Radio La Belle France Internationale.
Speaking to news hounds Wednesday, Molins also denied accounts in Malian media saying the journalists had had their throats slit. He said they were each shot multiple times, and no knife was used.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/14/2013
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
[Pak Daily Times] At least two kabooms and rocket attacks targeting the security forces injured four coppers in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... 's Bannu and Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. districts and Khyber Agency on Wednesday, security officials said Wednesday. Two members of the Khasadar Force were maimed in an kaboom near a security checkpost in Khyber tribal region's Jamrud Tehsil, which borders Peshawar. According to security officials, the device, which was planted near the Takhta Beg checkpoint in Jamrud, went kaboom! Wednesday morning. The two injured personnel of the Khasadar Force were shifted to Hayatabad Medical Complex in Peshawar for medical treatment, and their condition was stated as stable. In another incident, two copperswere maimed when Death Eaters targeted police in Bannu District, gateway to North Wazoo where Taliban hold sway. At least 12 rockets were fired at the police checkpost, the officials said, adding that police retaliated and repulsed the attackers. The attack left two police personnel injured. In Peshawar, a convoy of security forces heading towards the border between Peshawar and Khyber tehsil was targeted with a roadside kaboom near Achini Bala area on Peshawar's Ring Road. The convoy escaped unhurt, the officials said.
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[Pak Daily Times] At least fourteen people, including law enforcers and media persons, were maimed in three kabooms in different parts of the metropolis on Wednesday.
The first blast took place outside Dar-e-Abul Fazal Abbas Imambargah ...since the country's religiously correct™, Shia Moslems in Pakistain can't call their houses of worship 'mosques,' which are reserved for Sunnis. It's not clear if imambargahs are used for explosives storage like mosques are... in Pahar Ganj and maimed two people, including the son of the imambargah's caretaker. According to police the bomb was planted on the vehicle owned by the caretaker, Khalid Hussain. According to Hussain, the kaboom took place one hour into the majlis that was being held at the imambargah. Extra contingent of law enforcers, including police and Rangers, reached the site and cordoned off the area to prevent any untoward incident.
The second kaboom took place when the Bomb Disposal Squad (BDS) experts and law enforcers were busy colleting evidence. It injured at least ten people, including law enforcers and media news hounds. After initial investigation the BDS experts said that both the blasts were caused by improvised bomb (IED). They said the bombs were detonated remotely. The weight of the bombs was around half kilogramme each and they were packed with ball bearings. According to Shara-e-Noor Jahan DSP Iftikhar Hussain bad boy or sectarian elements are likely to be behind the attack. He said the kabooms aimed to harass the public. The third kaboom took place in North Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , where faceless myrmidons hurled an IED outside the Imambargah Mustawafi in sector 11/B, injuring two coppers.
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[Pak Daily Times] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was a step closer to getting the votes he needs to govern by decree after his ruling party ousted an opposition politician from parliament on Tuesday.
Opposition deputy Maria Mercedes Aranguren walked out of the unicameral National Assembly after politicians voted to expel her and remove her parliamentary immunity.
Maduro's United Socialist Party of Venezuela (PSUV) is one vote shy of the three-fifths majority it needs to give the leftist leader the power to rule by decree for one year.
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Top|| File under: Commies
#1
Govern by decree?? Where have I heard about that lately?
#4
There will be no civil war, only low level strife, bitter tears, finger pointing and the occasional amateur assassination. Also looting, disease and a general super-charged entropic motion, ending in a honest to gawd old fashioned banana republic, with just enough oil to keep body and soul together.
#6
Of course, Obama is paying very close attention.
All he needs to do is to eliminate that pesky House of Representatives - or at least the Republicans, and he can rule by decree. A more compliant Congress can always rubber stamp his executive orders, and bureaucratic regulations if need be.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/14/2013 17:44
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#7
Maduro has reached near the knee of the curve. Now all that remains is to go over the knee and drive the steep incline all the way to the bottom.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/14/2013 20:41
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#8
Champ issued a decree just today. We win! USA! USA! USA!
[Pak Daily Times] An Afghan stripped of his British citizenship for allegedly travelling to Pakistain and Afghanistan for terrorism training lost his appeal against the decision on Wednesday. The 41-year-old, identified only as Y1, claimed asylum in Britannia in 1998 and became a Brit in 2004. But he allegedly travelled to Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , the main town in Pakistain's northwestern tribal area of North Wazoo, for terror training in 2010, and was then captured by British forces in the western Afghan city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... in July 2011. Home Secretary Theresa May rescinded him of his citizenship later that month. The Afghan lodged an appeal with Britannia's Special Immigration Appeals Commission, but the panel said on Wednesday that it had rejected his bid. Judge Stephen Irwin said secret material given to the tribunal provides "absolutely conclusive evidence of the appellant's desire to engage in terrorist activity and very strong evidence of an enduring commitment to jihadist ideas".
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisia on Tuesday (November 12th) tossed in the calaboose Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! Ansar al-Sharia ...a Salafist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends. There are groups of the same name in Tunisia and Yemen, with the Tunisian version currently most active... deputy leader Wael Amami and group front man Seifeddine Rais.
Rais was apprehended at his home in Kairouan, Tunisie Numerique reported. Amami was arrested in Sidi Bouzid on charges of killing seven coppers in the Sidi Ali Ben Aoun violence.
Also on Tuesday, Tunisian security forces killed one gunman and arrested several others in Kebili. Two National Guardsmen were maimed in the operation.
The incidents were just the latest in a series of confrontations between terrorist groups and the authorities that continue to hunt them down.
The most recent shootout took place in Nagga, in the southern desert governorate of Kebili. According to Interior Ministry front man Mohammed Ali Aroui, the festivities resulted in the killing of a terrorist, while two officers of the National Guard were maimed.
He pointed out that all other members of the terrorist group were captured, including a dangerous element.
A day earlier, Tunisian security services seized five cars and a van intended to be used as a vehicle bomb by a jihadist cell in Kebili. Large amounts of money, computers, mobile phones and a grenade were also recovered, according to a defence ministry statement.
Seventeen people were arrested as part of the investigation, the statement added.
While the army and police continue sweeps and raids, the government is trying to confront terrorism with new strategies.
"Addressing the phenomena of extremism and terrorism requires an approach, deep, multi-faceted, and comprehensive that includes many aspects; intellectual, educational, social, economic and religious," President Moncef Marzouki said Tuesday during his supervision of a training course at the National Institute for Defence.
However, the man who has no enemies isn't anybody and has never done anything... residents of the southern regions of the country said that the fight against terrorism required addressing the social problems of these areas, particularly for young people.
Journalist Faiçel Aouini said, "I have already visited the locality of Nagga. It is few kilometres away from the town of Kebili. It is a harsh place; there is barely any life in it. It is an environment that fuels terrorism."
"Our town is deprived of the most basic services and necessities," said Taher Khnissi, a 38-year-old Kebili resident. "It lacks cultural and recreational facilities in addition to the absence of new projects."
"This situation is being exploited by Islamist snuffies to attract disadvantaged groups and recruit them as members," Knissi added.
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#1
"This situation is being exploited by Islamist militants to attract disadvantaged groups and recruit them as members"
Cannon fodder from the slums, 'brains' from the trust-fund set.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah Chief His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb... assured on Wednesday that the resistance will emerge stronger in case a deal was struck between Iran and international powers.
Nasrallah surprised his supporters on Wednesday evening when he made a rare public appearance in the Beirut neighborhood of Rweiss, on the tenth night of Ashura.
A day before the annual popular procession is expected to take place, he warned that "bombings, bloodshed and booby-trapped car kabooms" could take place, but he stressed, however, that nothing will stand between "people and (Imam) Hussein."
"If after the negotiations with Iran things head towards a war, everyone must get worried, although others will become more preoccupied than us," Nasrallah said in his speech.
"But if an accord was reached, our party will become stronger and with a better presence locally and regionally," he added.
He elaborated: "When negotiations take place, usually allies of the communicating poles get worried but we are not. Our allies do not worry us and we have two allies only, Syria and Iran, that both never abandoned us."
"Do you expect that Iran will ask Hizbullah to abandon its rights, resistance and hand over the country to the other faction? Those who know Iran's history know that this will not happen."
Iran and world powers failed to agree a deal on Tehran's disputed nuclear program at talks in Geneva at the weekend but are planning to meet again on November 20 for further negotiations.
Western diplomatic sources say the two sides were close to a deal, but that Iran backed away because it was unhappy with some of the wording in the text presented by the six powers.
They have been negotiating with Tehran for years over its nuclear program, which some suspect is aimed at developing a nuclear weapon -- a claim Iran vehemently denies.
Nasrallah had started his Wednesday speech by pointing out to Israel's "efforts to push for a war in the region."
He said: "There is no doubt that Israel is pleased to observe what is happening in the Arab and Islamic world, and to see the killings and the disputes between nations and inside each country and each society."
Nasrallah continued: "It used all its power lately to prepare for an attack on Syria and today while the P5+1 are negotiating with Iran, (Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin) Netanyahu gets furious and tries to obstruct an accord and reaches out to his Arab allies."
"Any accord that prevents a war in the region is rejected by Israel. It wants a war that secures its power and security."
Nasrallah accused some Arab countries of acting similarity to Israel by rejecting any political solution in Syria and an international agreement with Iran.
Addressing Saudis, Qataris, Omanis, Kuwaitis and Emiratis, asked: "Where would a war in the region lead to? Israelis know very well, and their allies as well, that they can start a war anywhere but they cannot limit it to a certain region."
Regarding reports saying Israel has installed devices to spy on Lebanese communications, Nasrallah remarked that Leb "has always been under threat."
"The Lebanese must know that everything, from phone calls to things shared on the internet, is spied on," he said.
The Hizbullah chief announced his readiness to confront this issue, if the Lebanese state fails to do so.
"If the state does not do anything to deal with this matter, the resistance will do so many things," he stated.
"When the state is incapable, the resistance will not give up its responsibility and we are ready to assist in this respect."
Speaker Nabih Knobby Berri Speaker of the Lebanese parliament, a member of AMAL, a not very subtle Hizbullah sock puppet... revealed last Wednesday that Israel had set up a number of espionage stations along its border with Leb, starting from al-Naqoura passing by Khayyam all the way to Sheba.
The biggest espionage station is allegedly installed in al-Abbad and Jan al-Alam areas, which are located near the U.N. demarcated Blue line.
Tackling local political concerns, the Shiite leader accused Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... of obstructing the formation of a new cabinet.
"There is a Saudi decision that calls on the March 14 alliance not to form a new cabinet," he said
He continued: "We have advised them (March 14) to separate Lebanese matters from the Syrian crisis and not to bank on the developments of the neighboring country's war."
"All facts indicate that things are heading towards a direction that is not desired by Saudi Arabia. All those waiting for a victory in Syria to form a cabinet, we tell them you will not win in the Syrian war."
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#1
Hezbollah El Supremo Nasrallah also says that the only alternative or outcome to the P5+1 Powers having no nuke deal wid Iran is Israel, WEst-desired REGIONAL WAR.
[MAGHAREBIA] An Algiers court on Tuesday (November 12th) sentenced four faceless myrmidons to 20 years in prison for their involvement in the kidnapping of 15 foreign tourists in 2003, APS reported.
Nasser Attia, Gouasse Abdelmajid, Bouabdelli Benallia and Seriani Abdelbassat, belonged to Batna, Djelfa and Tebessa factions of the Salafist Group for Preaching and Combat ... now known as al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb... (GSPC), later renamed al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM). Former GSPC leader Amari Saifi (aka Abderrazak El Para) allegedly ordered the kidnappings.
The court also found the defendants guilty of attacking ANP troops and killing civilians. Attia and Abdelmajid admitted to their participation in an attack against Tazoult prison in Batna, following which they freed 1,200 prisoners and stole weapons.
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[Al Ahram] US Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, owner of a lucky hat, conqueror of Cambodia, and current Secretary of State... urged politicians to "calm down" Wednesday over proposed new sanctions on Iran, warning they could scuttle diplomatic efforts to rein in Tehran's nuclear drive.
"The risk is that if Congress were to unilaterally move to raise sanctions, it could break faith with those negotiations and actually stop them and break them apart," Kerry said.
Washington's top diplomat was speaking before beginning a closed-door meeting with senators, many of whom are skeptical of the White House's request for a freeze on new sanctions.
The House of Representatives has already passed legislation that toughens already-strict sanctions on Iran, whose economy by all accounts is reeling from the punitive action.
The Senate Banking Committee is mulling new sanctions too, and some key members of President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... 's own Democratic Party back a tougher stance despite the diplomatic opening.
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#1
urged politicians to "calm down" Wednesday over proposed new sanctions on Iran, warning they could scuttle diplomatic efforts to rein in Tehran's nuclear drive.
Whatever happened to the 'good old days' when Kerry could have simply blamed "Bush Derangement Syndrome" [BDS]?
#2
OTOH the Bammer may have no qualms or scruples about suspending or lifting previously imposed Iran sanctions widout consulting wid the Congress ... ... or did he???
To wit,
* BIGNEWSNETWORK > [World Tribune] OBAMA SAID TO SUSPEND IRAN SANCTIONS WIDOUT INFORMING CONGRESS.
versus
* TOPIX > [Daily Times] IRAN'S ARAK REACTOR [under contruction] - NEW ROUTE TO [Plutonium-based] NUCLEAR BOMB?
* SAME > [Syria News] THERE IS NO POLITICAL SOLUTION TO THE SYRIAN CRISIS.
Military only???
Something has to give as no side or camp is presently willing to compromise.
Wid the "moderate" dometic FSA all but gone or defeated, the Battle for Syria has now devol to ASSAD/IRAN-VS-AL-QAEDA, OR IN ALTERNATE THE SAME VERSUS THE KURDS.
* SAME > [Fox News] FROM SYRIA TO US: FEAR WESTERN-RAISED JIHADISTS COULD HIT AMERICA NEXT.
RELATED WORLD NEWS > AL-QAEDA'S E-N-G-L-I-S-H SOLDIERS FIGHTING IN SYRIA WARN "BRITAIN WILL BE NEXT" | Daily Mail.UK] "WE WILL RAISE OUR FLAG IN THE WHITE HOUSE, BRITAIN WILL BE NEXT" ... ...
Clearly the DemoLeft + Congress is once again correct in NOT securing Amerika's borders while also taking away the right of US Citizens to privaely own guns, etc. all in the name of good Socialism + OWG Globalism + Welfare-Nanny State + our glorious excessive National Debt.
Lets not fergit our RFID Chips + Domestic Drone Strikes.
#3
Are these new sanctions, or trying to re-impose the sanctions previously in place before the EO?
Break faith, you effn morons. Reeling. Iran is reeling. Seem to be able to get troops to Syria. Develop nukes. Beat up the US at the negotiating table. Beat down protestors on live world tv and laugh about it. Infiltrate and disrupt Iraq at will. If that is reeling then by sam giv'em some pods of cash and let's see what they can really do, or are we supposed to believe that all they will do is buy the photoshop activation code?
Right-wing populists are trying to create a powerful faction in the European Parliament. Leading the efforts are Geert Wilders from the Netherlands and Marine le Pen of France -- and their initiative has big implications for Europe.
The press room in the Dutch parliament building in The Hague has been fully booked up for days for the scheduled meeting on Wednesday afternoon. The office responsible for handing out media accreditation already has a long waiting list. The meeting will be broadcast live on Dutch TV, and the whole world will also be able to watch online as right-wing populists Marine Le Pen, head of the Front National (FN) in France, and Geert Wilders, chairman of the Party for Freedom in the Netherlands, come together to talk.
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#1
"In view of the polls that predict up to 30 percent for euroskeptics in the new parliament, a more liberal immigration policy can currently not be introduced, because it would give the extremists even more of a boost."
Translation: The "extremists" actually represent a large portion of the population and we know it.
[Pak Daily Times] The Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... -led Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government pulled out of the coalition with Qaumi Watan Party (QWP) after two ministers belonging to the latter were dismissed on corruption charges.
Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf (PTI) Chairman Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who who convinced himself that playing cricket qualified him to lead a nuclear-armed nation with severe personality problems... advised Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Pervaiz Khattak to pull out of the coalition with QWP. "The QWP was given two warnings about the corruption of two of their ministers but this party chose to tolerate corruption and instead showed its displeasure at the corruption being pointed out by boycotting the provincial cabinet meetings," a statement from the PTI media cell quoted Imran Khan as saying.
What was striking about the statement was the revelation that two of the QWP ministers were dismissed by the chief minister on Wednesday. Imran also stated that the PTI was elected on a "mandate against corruption and there is zero tolerance for any form of corruption". "This should be a clear warning for all our ministers and MPAs that PTI cannot have as a coalition partner any party that tolerates corruption," Imran declared, according to the statement.
"Our JI (Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... ) ministers have proven exemplary in this regard and we respect them for their commitment towards anti-corruption," Imran added. Party sources told Daily Times that the QWP leadership was meeting in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. to discuss the situation arising out of the statement of the PTI chief. "We are discussing the situation," the sources said on condition of anonymity. Earlier, the Qaumi Watan Party reacted angrily to media report that Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa government of Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf was de-notifying two of its ministers for their alleged involvement in corruption.
"Whosoever has any evidence of the wrongdoing (of the two ministers) should share it with my party," said a statement from QWP provincial president, Sikander Sherpao. "We will take stern action if proof is shared with us," he said categorically in the statement. The PTI and QWP were not on good terms for the last few weeks, with Aftab Sherpao's ministers, including Senior Minister Sikander Sherpao, staying away from official meetings and assembly sessions to protest what they called "step-motherly treatment" of the QWP by the PTI-led government.
A government official said the government had conveyed to the Qaumi Watan Party two days back that two of its ministers were (allegedly) involved in corruption and the party should remove them. "Their performance as ministers is below par." The government's Information Directorate chief, Behramand Khan, declined to clarify if the government had de-notified the two QWP ministers. The alleged "corrupt ministers" are QWP's provincial General Secretary Bakht Baider Khan and Ibrar Hussain.
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[Pak Daily Times] A minor girl among four people was killed in separate incidents of violence across the metropolis on Wednesday.
A minor girl came under attack during a cross fire between two groups of gangsters in Ali Mohammad Mohalla, Lyari, within the jurisdiction of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... i cop shoppe.
Police said the victim identified as four-year-old Amna, daughter of Naushad, was playing near her house when a bullet hit her head, killing her instantly. Her body was taken to the Civil Hospital, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... for post mortem and later handed over to her heirs. No case has been registered till the filing of this news story.
In another incident, a man was killed and a policeman injured in a firing incident in Orangi Town.
Police said the dear departed was identified as 24-year-old Umair and the maimed policeman as Amir. SHO Saleem Sheikh said both the victims were friends, and were targeted by two gunnies who came on cycle of violences, while sitting at a sweet shop near their homes. Umair breathed his last instantly while the cop got injured, and were taken to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital. Police is yet to determine the motive behind the incident, while further investigation is underway.
Separately, an alleged drug peddler was rubbed out in Masoom Shah Colony near Kala Pull, within the vicinity of Mehmoodabad cop shoppe.
According to SHO Muhammad Sarwar, the dear departed identified as 45-year-old Haroot Khan was killed by a rival group members over suspicion of being a police informer.
The culprits had managed to escape; however, police raided their house and recovered weapons and police uniforms from there. Further investigation is under progress.
Body found: A young man was found dead from a nullah in Liaquatabad. Police while quoting initial investigation said unidentified culprits kidnapped the victim from somewhere and later threw his body at the said place after shooting him multiple times. The body was moved to a mortuary for identification after completing medico-legal formalities at hospital.
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[An Nahar] A father said Tuesday that federal prosecutors have falsely accused his Pakistain-born son of planning to join an al-Qaeda-linked bad turban group that was trying to topple Syria's Bashir al-Assad in that country's civil war.
Javed Sheikh rejected FBI statements that his 29-year-old son Basit Javed Sheikh was on his way to Leb, where he'd connect with members of the group Jabhat al-Nusra, when he was tossed in the slammer Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! at Raleigh's airport. The U.S. government considers the radical Islamic group a foreign terrorist organization
"These are false allegations," Javed Sheikh said in a brief telephone interview. "It's in the court and I hope they will justify the position and all these are false accusations. No reality in that."
Javed Sheikh says he has confidence that U.S. courts will handle the case fairly. Court documents describe Basit Sheikh as a Pakistain native with permanent, legal residency in the U.S.
Basit Sheikh was assigned two federal public defenders to represent him. They are unable to comment on Sheikh's behalf due to a rule established by local federal judges prohibiting them from discussing active cases, said Elizabeth Luck, a spokeswoman for the federal public defender's office in Raleigh.
Sheikh's case is at least the third this year in which the U.S. government has charged U.S. residents with providing material support to a terrorist group based on their alleged efforts to join Jabhat al-Nusrah.
Sheikh was assigned two federal public defenders to represent him and they did not return messages seeking comment Tuesday.
Abdella Ahmad Tounisi, an 18-year-old from suburban reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown ... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,... , was arrested in April at O'Hare International Airport as he prepared for the first leg of a trip to join the group, authorities say. The American-born Tounisi pleaded not guilty. "Wudn't me."
Sheikh told an FBI informant he was going to join Jabhat al-Nusra in Syria, where a 3-year-old civil war has killed more than 100,000 people, an FBI agent said in a sworn affidavit.
In August, Sheikh began an online relationship with an undercover FBI employee on a Facebook page promoting Islamic extremism, the affidavit said. Sheikh told the covert informant he had traveled to Turkey last year hoping to join the fight in Syria, but became dispirited by his experience with people who claimed to be part of the Free Syrian Army.
If convicted, Sheikh could be sentenced to up to 15 years in prison and fined $250,000.
In September, federal authorities in northern Virginia released a U.S. Army veteran accused of fighting alongside the jihadi group after a secret plea deal. Eric Harroun, 31, had faced up to life in prison. But defense lawyers argued there was confusion about which rebel group Harroun had joined, that Harroun traveled to Syria planning to fight with the Western-backed Free Syrian Army, and that fighting with the FSA was not a crime.
The Sheikh case points out the "hypocrisy" of prosecuting people who support an anti-Assad group the government judged as snuffies while the B.O. regime favors other fighters in the same bloody conflict, said Jeff Addicott, director of the Center for Terrorism Law at St. Mary's University in San Antonio.
The anti-Assad forces include some "that are out-and-out terrorist groups, that are designated by our state department as linked to al-Qaeda. Some of them aren't," Addicott said. "The hypocrisy is that you're going to prosecute someone for taking up arms against the Assad regime that may simply be caught up and labeled as a member of one of these Islamic groups."
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#1
al-Qaida Tie? Al-Qaida is hawking neckware now?
[Al Ahram] Hezbollah chief Hassan Nasrallah made a rare public appearance on Wednesday night, delivering a speech in Beirut on the occasion of a major Shiite Mohammedan religious commemoration. Nasrallah, who normally appears via video link for fear of a possible liquidation attempt by arch-enemy Israel, spoke in Hezbollah's southern Beirut stronghold to mark the Ashura holiday.
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[Al Ahram] Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, has enjugged Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un! and tortured dozens of Paleostinians in the Gazoo Strip over the past few weeks on political grounds, a Paleostinian rights group said Wednesday.
The Gazoo-based Paleostinian Centre for Human Rights condemned the "arrest campaign launched by the Internal Security Service (of Hamas) against dozens of persons, including members of (the) Fatah (party) and children."
It said arrests had been stepped up to coincide with calls for demonstrations against Hamas on the anniversary of the death of Paleostinian leader Yasser Arafat.
The protests were called by the Tamarrod movement, which is inspired by the Egyptian group of the same name that organised the mass protests attending the army's ouster of president Mohammed Morsi. ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator...
Morsi hails from the Moslem Brüderbund, an organization with branches across the Middle East whose Paleostinian affiliate is Hamas.
Detainees told PCHR "that they were subject to torture, including being hit on hands and feet by a stick, punched all over their bodies, shackled, and forced to stand for long hours."
Others were "forced to sign oaths to abide by (the) law, not to assemble for participation in demonstrations, not to be in areas of friction with the police, and not to incite people against the government," the PCHR said.
On Monday Hamas forbade commemorations of Arafat, who died in 2004, accusing its West Bank-based rival of trying to organise "only a Fatah ceremony" in Gazoo and excluding the territory's Islamist rulers.
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[An Nahar] A petrol bomb hurled at a Bahrain police patrol on Wednesday left one policeman maimed, the interior ministry said,
A "terrorist group" targeted the patrol in the suburb of Juffair, the ministry said, using a term usually employed to refer to Shiite youths who frequently clash with security forces.
"The terrorist group also burned a cycle of violence that belonged to a restaurant, and vandalized a car parked in the area," the ministry said in a statement.
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New video has emerged of the man said to be Australia's first suicide bomber. The video appears to be published by the Al Qaeda-related group, Jabhat al Nusrah, which has previously said the Australian blew himself up in an attack on an army checkpoint in north-eastern Syria in September. It is a revealing insight into the man's last hours and shows the group preparing the massive truck bomb used in the attack.
The video shows the jihadi, identified in a previous internet posting as Abu Asma al Australi, standing on the truck used in the suicide bombing. But, because the face in the video is obscured it is not possible to be sure who it shows, but the bomber is suspected of being a man from Brisbane named Ahmed.
In the video, Abu Asma stands in front of the truck. Large panels have been fitted to its front in an effort to protect the driver from gunfire. He bids farewell to fellow jihadis then urges more foreigners to come and join the fight.
The Australian Federal Police (AFP) says over the past 12 months there has been a significant increase in the number of Australians going to join hardline groups, including Jabhat al Nusra. In just a year the number has risen from a few to 20 or 30, maybe more.
[An Nahar] A Musselmen attacker at the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo in 2011 told a court on Wednesday that he was a victim of radical Islamists who pushed him into committing the crime.
"I have been a victim of those who were telling me it was necessary to fight for Islam, to lead jihad," Mevlid Jasarevic told a Sarajevo court at his retrial.
"How is it possible that all those who were telling me about jihad are now playing with their children and live free, with their wives, while I have not seen my child for months?" the 24-year-old said.
In 2012, a local court sentenced Jasarevic to 18 years in jail for a "terrorism act".
But the verdict was annulled due to a failure to respect his legal rights and the retrial opened in September.
Jasarevic fired 105 bullets at the U.S. embassy in Sarajevo in October 2011 with an automatic weapon for almost an hour before being shot by police. One police officer was injured in the attack.
He was a member of an Islamist group in Gornja Maoca, a hamlet in northeastern Bosnia, considered to be the stronghold of the Bosnian Wahhabi movement, the ultra-conservative branch of Islam that dominates in Soddy Arabia. ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face...
The group was targeted in several police actions in the past years.
Jasarevic, a Musselmen originally from neighboring Serbia, told the court how he had adopted a radical interpretation of Islam while he was in an Austrian prison, after taking part in a Vienna bank robbery in 2005.
After being released from prison, he moved to Gornja Maoca where "they told me about sufferings of Musselmens throughout the world," Jasarevic said.
"I was told I should do something that the whole world will talk about," he said.
During the first trial, a shaggy bearded Jasarevic was dressed in ankle-long trousers and spoke very little.
But on his latest court appearance, he appeared before the judges freshly shaven, in jeans and white shirt, openly talking about his experiences.
"Psychical changes are certainly visible on my client, but interior changes are far more important," his lawyer Senad Dupovac said.
Saying that he was abandoned by his former "brothers", Jasarevic asked Sarajevo citizens, embassy staff and injured policeman for forgiveness.
He said he was "ready" to cooperate with the authorities in order to "prevent a similar act to be committed by any other young man".
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[TOLONEWS] The Afghan Taliban on Tuesday condemned the killing of a senior Haqqani network leader but said his death would not have any impact on the forces of Evil campaign of violence.
Unidentified gunniesbumped off Nasiruddin Haqqani, eldest son of the group's founder, as he bought bread on the edge of Islamabad on Sunday evening.
Haqqani was the chief financier of the Haqqani bully boy network who are affiliated with Afghan Taliban and are the most feared group fighting US-led and Afghan forces in Afghanistan.
They have been blamed for spectacular attacks on Afghan government and NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... targets across Afghanistan, as well as for kidnappings and murders.
"We condemn the cowardly act of the defeated enemy and tell them that these kinds of terrorist actions will not have any negative impact on the current jihadi activities," the Taliban said in a statement.
"His death is a big loss for Islamic Emirate and all Afghanistan," it said.
Eyewitnesses described attackers on cycle of violences spraying Haqqani with automatic gunfire at a bakery in Bhara Kahu on the northeastern edge of Islamabad.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the killing, which came less than two weeks after a US drone strike assassinated Pak Taliban chief Hakimullah Mehsud in North Wazoo tribal district.
Washington holds the Haqqanis responsible for some of the most high-profile attacks in Afghanistan, including a 2011 siege of the US embassy and, in 2009, the deadliest attack on the CIA in 25 years.
The United States put the Haqqani network on its terror blacklist in September 2012, and the Pentagon said the group represented a "significant threat" to national security.
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#1
Why are the Haqqanis living in plain sight in Islamabad when they are killing Nato troops?
[An Nahar] The principal of a Christian school in Damascus denied on Wednesday reports that shelling there two days earlier had killed any of its students.
However, Caliphornia hasn't yet slid into the ocean, no matter how hard it's tried... four pupils and driver were killed when a shell hit a school bus in the Christian Bab Sharqi area of the city on Monday, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
That same day Syrian state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said fire had killed five people, "all of them children", and maimed 27 at the St John of Damascus school in the Qassaa district.
On Wednesday, however, the school's principal, Father Stefano, told AFP "eight of our pupils were maimed, but none killed".
Meanwhile, ...back at the pie fight, Bella opened her mouth at precisely the wrong moment... the Britannia-based Observatory said the shell in Bab Sharqi had struck near a military building.
Government newspapers also reported on Wednesday that "four schoolchildren and a driver were killed" at Bab Sharqi.
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[Pak Daily Times] When Nepal ousted the monarchy and voted in a Maoist-led government in 2008, few anticipated that, five years on, the former guerrillas would come under fire for living like kings.
Commentators and former rebels say the party's leadership has swapped its revolutionary ideals for corruption-fuelled luxury, with the strongest criticism reserved for chairman Pushpa Kamal Dahal, better known by the nom-de-guerre Prachanda.
The Maoists came to power promising social change, economic growth and lasting peace for a country devastated by a decade-long civil war.
Since then, Nepal has seen several coalition governments come and go, with none able to agree on a constitution to finalise the grinding of the peace processor.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Council of Boskone, Helmuth had turned a paler shade of blue. Star-A-Star had struck again... the Maoists have witnessed a mutiny, with a splinter group threatening to disrupt next week's national elections.
Former guerrilla Bishnu Pariyar took up arms aged 14. By the time he was 22, he had survived gunshot wounds to become one of Prachanda's personal aides.
"The rich used to treat us like dogs and I thought our war would liberate the poor," Pariyar said.
Soon after he began working for the Maoist chief, he noticed Prachanda's taste for luxury brands and imported whisky -- a fondness that has not escaped the attentions of local media.
"That family just loves to spend, whether it's Prachanda blowing money on hair gel or Rolex watches, his wife buying saris all the time or his son Prakash, obsessed with changing his mobile phone every two weeks," Pariyar told AFP.
Prachanda's lifestyle first attracted criticism when news emerged in January 2012 that he had rented a 15-room mansion in Kathmandu, a property he still occupies, despite promises to vacate it. The estate -- its gate decorated with Hindu religious motifs -- includes parking space for more than a dozen vehicles, a building to house 70 guards and a table tennis room.
The news rankled many in Nepal, one of the world's most unequal and impoverished countries, where nearly 25 percent of the population lives on less than $1.25 a day, according to the World Bank.
Two months later, another scandal erupted when the Maoist-led government acknowledged offering $250,000 to Prachanda's son Prakash Dahal to climb Mount Everest.
And, in April 2012, festivities broke out in a UN-monitored camp for former Maoist soldiers when troops accused the party of stealing funds owed to them.
By the end of the year, simmering discontent saw a former chef, Padam Kunwar turn into a hero when he slapped Prachanda in the face at a public function.
"I kept reading about him, his fancy lifestyle. Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, the radioactive tadpoles grown into frogs. Really big frogs, in fact... my family lost everything in the war," Kunwar, whose siblings are former guerrillas, told AFP.
He was beaten up by furious Prachanda followers and enjugged Drop the heater, Studs, or you're hist'try! , but many Nepalese rallied behind him, launching Facebook fan pages and tweeting their support.
Nearly a year later, Kunwar will challenge his nemesis once more, this time at the ballot box in Prachanda's Kathmandu constituency.
"They promised us freedom from poverty. But they are the ones who got rich," he said.
Prachanda was the head of a coalition government from August 2008 to May 2009, largely made up of former rebel fighters who had no experience of governing. But he resigned after a clash with the army chief over plans to integrate former fighters into the military's ranks.
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#1
When Prachanda begins vacationing in Martha's Vineyard and his golf counter hits 125, they can bitch.
#6
"When Nepal ousted the monarchy and voted in a Maoist-led government in 2008, few anticipated that, five years on, the former guerrillas would come under fire for living like kings."
That is some serious funny there. I would have bet money on it.
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[Pak Daily Times] Polio is on the rise in Pakistain, health officials said Wednesday, as the number of infections in 2013 passed the total for the whole of 2012.
Pakistain is one of only three countries in the world where the highly infectious disease which cripples limbs remains endemic. Opposition from Death Eater groups has hampered efforts to vaccinate children against polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... in Pakistain and officials said violence was part of the reason for the increase in cases. "Last year there were a total of 58 cases, but 62 fresh victims of polio have already been reported in 2013," a senior government official, who works with international donors working to eradicate polio, told AFP.
Six cases were in Punjab, four in Sindh and nine in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , but by far the bulk of the infections -- 43 -- were in the tribal areas along the Afghan border. The Pak Taliban banned polio vaccinations in the tribal region of Wazoo last year, alleging the campaign was a cover for espionage. "The main reason for the outbreak is militancy in the northwest. Vaccination teams are unable to reach the tribal areas because of risks to their lives," the official said.
Polio cases reached a low of 28 in 2005 but have risen since, reaching a peak of 198 in 2011. In August health officials warned of a serious polio outbreak in the northwest, saying more than 240,000 children had missed vaccination because of the Taliban ban. Elsewhere in the country, health workers giving out polio drops have been attacked and killed, including in the largest city Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... . On Monday the World Health Organisation linked an outbreak of polio in Syria that has paralysed 13 children to a strain of the virus from Pakistain.
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[ABCNEWS.GO] Lawmakers who had long pushed for U.S. action against Nigerian Islamic faceless myrmidons welcomed the State Department's decision on Wednesday to designate two krazed killer groups as foreign terrorist organizations blamed for the deaths of thousands of people in Africa's most populous nation.
Ansaru and Boko Haram, ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... which have links to al-Qaeda, are waging a brutal campaign against military, government and civilian targets, including Christians like Habila Adamu, who delivered emotional congressional testimony about being shot in the face because he refused to renounce his faith.
Adamu recounted how masked gunnies came to his home in Yobe state around 11 p.m. on Nov. 28, 2012.
"I told them 'I'm ready to die as a Christian.' Before I closed my mouth, one of them fired at me with an AK-47. It passed through my nose," Adamu said, holding up photographs taken of the entry wound on his nose and exit wound on the side of his neck. "I fell down. ... Blood is rushing everywhere. One of them followed me, stepped on me two times to confirm whether I am still alive or I am dead."
When they assumed he was dead, they shouted "Allah akbar," which means "Allah is great."
Even his wife thought he was dead. When she learned he was alive, she rushed to find help, only to learn that their neighbors, who also were Christians, had been killed. About seven hours later, Adamu was taken for medical treatment and survived.
Today, he has a message for anyone who will hear his story: "Do everything that you can to end this ruthless, religious persecution in northern Nigeria." Adamu testified at a joint hearing of two House Foreign Affairs' subcommittees, on Africa and terrorism.
New Jersey Republican Rep. Chris Smith, who chaired the hearing, said Boko Haram also is targeting their fellow Musselmens who do not agree with their bully boy views, Musselmen religious leaders who criticize violence and people affiliated with the Nigerian government, which they see as corrupt and unjust. Smith said the two groups also participate in the global Islamic bully boy movement.
Boko Haram was responsible for a suicide kaboom of the United Nations ...an idea whose time has gone... building in the capital, Abuja, in August 2011, which killed 21 people.
In addition to being labeled foreign terrorist organizations, Boko Haram and Ansaru also were named to a list of specially designated global terrorist groups under federal law. The two designations mean that business and financial transactions with the organizations are blocked.
"By cutting these terrorist organizations off from U.S. financial institutions and enabling banks to freeze assets held in the United States, these designations demonstrate our strong support for Nigeria's fight against terrorism and its efforts to address security challenges in the north," Lisa Monaco, President Barack Obama If you have a small business, you didn't build that... 's top counterterrorism adviser, said in a statement.
Linda Thomas-Greenfield, assistant secretary of state for African affairs, told the politicians that the government of Nigeria needs to not only stop Boko Haram's attacks, but address long-standing complaints about government corruption and unfairness that attracts disaffected youth in northern Nigeria to the krazed killer groups. Both citizens and security forces have been attacked, yet she said the U.S. remains concerned that some heavy-handed Nigerian security forces have committed human rights When they're defined by the state or an NGO they don't mean much... violations in response to Boko Haram.
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[Al Ahram] Egypt's Salafist Nour Party described Wednesday deposed president Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... 's first public statement since his 3 July ouster as "unrealistic."
Nour Party front man Sherif Taha told Al-Ahram Arabic news website that Morsi's statement, which lawyer Mohammed El-Damaty read at a presser Wednesday, reflects "the absence of a realistic vision of the [current] situation."
Taha said that the content was not new and represents the same stance of the Moslem Brüderbund, the group from which Morsi hails and which has been calling for his reinstatement since his ouster.
Morsi remained defiant in his statement, saying the army staged an illegitimate "coup" when it deposed him 3 July amid mass nationwide protests against his rule.
"What happened is a crime and treason," Morsi said. "Treason to God and his prophet, and a breach of the oath sworn by Defence Minister [Abdel-Fattah El-Sisi] who pushed the army into politics ... It is also treason to the nation because it has divided the people."
Morsi added: "Egypt will not regain its power until the coup is overturned and those responsible for the bloodshed are held accountable."
Security forces have staged a crackdown on Morsi supporters, arresting hundreds of Moslem Brüderbund members and affiliates, mainly on charges of inciting violence. Pro-Morsi demonstrations often escalated into festivities with opponents or security forces. In August, police forcibly dispersed two large Cairo pro-Morsi sit-ins leaving hundreds dead.
Morsi is currently in jail pending trial, where he and 14 other Moslem Brüderbund members are accused of inciting to kill protesters during festivities at the Ittihadeya presidential palace in December 2012.
He is also currently being investigated on escaping from prison during the January 2011 revolution.
The Salafist Nour Party chose to be neutral during the 30 June protests that were calling for Morsi's removal from power. After his ouster, Nour said it accepted the interim roadmap announced by the army.
The party, currently Egypt's second largest Islamic bloc after the Brotherhood, also sits on the 50-Member Committee tasked with amending the constitution. Tensions have arisen between the party and the committee on articles dealing with the Islamic identity of the state and the sources of legislation.
The committee is set to make public its final draft 3 December, ahead of a national referendum on the charter.
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[An Nahar] Deposed Egyptian President Mohammed Morsi ...the former president of Egypt. A proponent of the One Man, One Vote, One Time principle, Morsi won election after the deposal of Hosni Mubarak and jumped to the conclusion it was his turn to be dictator... plans to sue the army-installed authorities over his ouster, warning that stability will only return once their "coup" is annulled, his lawyer said Wednesday.
Mohammed al-Damati and a team of lawyers on Monday visited Morsi in jail, where he is awaiting the next hearing in a trial on charges of involvement in the deaths of protesters during his year-long presidency.
"The president plans to take legal measures against the coup, and this will be up to the defense team in the near future," Damati told news hounds.
"There are complaints which will be presented to the prosecutor general (to say) that what happened was a crime."
Damati also said complaints could be filed to the administrative court to annul "the move by (military chief) General Abdel Fattah al-Sisi" to topple Morsi.
Morsi, Egypt's first democratically elected president, was removed from office by the army on July 3 after mass protests calling for his resignation.
He insists that he remains the president of Egypt and has rejected the legitimacy of the court trying him.
In a letter read out by his lawyers, he reiterated his rejection of the process and warned of continuing unrest.
"Egypt will not regain its stability except by annulling this coup," Morsi said.
Unrest has spiked in the country since Morsi's overthrow, and the bitter divisions between his supporters and opponents have deepened.
Morsi's supporters have been holding near-daily protests around the country despite a massive crackdown by the authorities that has killed more than 1,000 people.
Another 2,000 people, including the top leadership of Morsi's Moslem Brüderbund, are behind bars.
Morsi was catapulted from the long-banned Moslem Brüderbund to the presidency after winning Egypt's first free elections in 2012.
His victory was made possible by the 2011 uprising that toppled long-time autocrat Hosni Mubarak. ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011...
But his short-lived presidency was marred by political turmoil, deadly festivities and a crippling economic crisis, prompting millions to take to the streets in June to demand his resignation.
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[An Nahar] State Commissioner to the Military Court Judge Saqr Saqr rebutted on Wednesday pleas submitted by Arab Democratic Party leader's attorney, citing their "illegality" as a reason.
"Saqr examined a report of defenses submitted by Ali Eid and (tossed in the clink I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! suspect) Ahmed Ali's lawyer Huyam Eid and rebutted them for failing to conform to legal conditions," the state-run National News Agency said.
The NNA added that a request to free Ali and another to lift the investigation and search warrant issued against former MP Eid were also rejected.
Saqr referred the documents to First Military Investigation Judge Riyad Abu Ghida to take the necessary decision in this matter.
On Tuesday Eid evaded a summons to undergo questioning by a military tribunal judge over his alleged aid to a suspect in the mosque bombings of the northern city of Tripoli. ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
Eid's attorney handed Abu Ghida a report claiming that the suspect cannot attend the questioning session for medical reasons.
Lawyer Eid submitted the alibi to Abu Ghida, who referred it to the military prosecutor, Judge Saqr, for the appropriate response.
Abu Ghida had issued on Thursday a subpoena against Eid and his drives Ali, on charges of helping Ahmed Merhi escape justice by smuggling him to Syria.
Merhi is the suspected driver of the explosive-laden vehicle that blew up near al-Taqwa mosque.
Huyam Eid called on Tuesday for Ali's release and said the military tribunal should withdraw the arrest warrant issued against the Arab Democratic Party leader.
The twin boom-mobileings that targeted the Sunni al-Taqwa and al-Salam mosques on August 23 have left hundreds of casualties.
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GAROWE, Somalia -- Amid rescue operations, 360 people are reportedly feared dead and the number could reach 400 in Somalias northeastern region of Puntland, Garowe Online reports.
Puntland Marine Police Forces (PMPF) have been attempting to transport an emergency supplies, consisting of non-perishable food items, tents, medicines and blankets but worst-hit areas became inaccessible after flash floods collapsed an important bridge connecting the capital Garowe to the port city of Bossaso.
Puntland Disaster Management and Rescue committee says, flooding is still ongoing as rains have heavily inundated the remote rural areas and the coastal towns at higher level than expected. Rescue teams deployed by the government are also trying to reach the faraway vicinities by donkey carts.
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A gunman who opened fire on police Wednesday in the Russian republic of Dagestan was killed and a police officer injured. The shootout took place in central Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital, after police stopped a car for a routine check.
The driver opened fire on police and was killed by return fire, a spokesman for the local Interior Ministry said. Two other people who were in the car fled the scene and a search for them is underway, he added.
[Pak Daily Times] A tiff has erupted between the Pakistain army and its best men of several decades' standing. The emir of the Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI), Mr Syed Munawar Hasan, ruffled quite a few feathers with his callous remarks about martyrdom last week. Mr Hasan not only called the slain Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) ringleader Hakeemullah Mehsud a shaheed -- a martyr in the divine sense of the word -- but also impugned the martyrdom status of the armed forces men who laid down their lives fighting the TTP and its ilk. The military shot back, quite understandably, with a statement castigating the JI chief and demanded an apology. The ISPR blurb, however, did qualify its criticism of Mr Munawar Hasan with an unqualified exhortation for the JI's founding emir, the late Maulana Syed Abul Aala Maududi. Interestingly, the military ruler, General Ayub Khan, had imprisoned Maulana Maududi twice in the 1960s. But the military had consorted with the Islamists before and continued to do so after Ayub Khan.
The military establishment, under General Yahya Khan, a man not exactly known for religious observance, groomed the Islamist political parties like the JI and Jamaat-e-Ulema-e-Islam (JUI) as a policy. Mr Shuja Nawaz notes in his book Crossed Swords: Pakistain, its Army and the Wars Within that these two parties "received assistance from (General) Sher Ali Khan Pataudi, who found an ally in Major General Ghulam Umar, the newly promoted executive head of the National Security Council." The idea was to actively upend the popular political forces like the Pakistain People's Party (PPP) and the National Awami Party (NAP) with pliable political elements. In his work Pakistain: Between Mosque and Military, the former ambassador Professor Husain Haqqani describes this strategy as the "Sher Ali Formula", which "required behind-the-scenes manipulation of the political process, to increase the number of political contenders, as well as identification of 'patriotic factions' against 'unpatriotic' ones." The alliance matured when the JI mercenaries fought alongside the army in the botched but brutal attempt to crush the 1971 Bengali nationalist struggle.
While the military under General Zia sought to use the JI and its ilk to legitimise their rule on religio-political grounds, the JI wanted to push their fanatical agenda through the junta. But just like the security establishment presumed that it could somehow turn off the field jihadists' switch once the job is done, it also misread the intentions and zeal of its JI-type allies. The jihadists and their political fronts like the JI are in it for the long haul. They do not operate on a 9-5 clock and take the weekends off. The security establishment's à la carte approach to jihadism is what the TTP and the JI both are livid about. The former ISPR chief pinning the JI for harbouring al Qaeda operatives is interesting, but it would take more than a few retaliatory words to roll back the jihadist project his parent outfit had sired together with the political clergy. The military and the mullahs have coauthored the hyper-nationalist narrative prevalent in Pakistain. Even under the 'enlightened moderate' General Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , the electoral mandate was manipulated to hand power to the mullahs in two provinces. The mullahs have kept their end of the bargain. They do not like the change of rules in midgame. That the security establishment continues to consort with the chosen jihadists is also not lost on the JI and the TTP.
The latest example of the Pak security establishment turning a blind eye to, if not facilitating, the Afghan jihadists is the murder of the Haqqani terrorist network (HQN) top financier Nasiruddin Haqqani just outside Islamabad. Nasiruddin was son of Jalaluddin Haqqani from an Arab wife, and full brother of the HQN's de facto chief, Sirajuddin. It has been an open secret for several years that Nasiruddin and his uncles Ibrahim and Khalil have operated in Islamabad's vicinity. Nasiruddin leveraged his Arab connections to raise funds for attacks inside Afghanistan while his uncles have been known to induce, personally and through enforcers working out of Rawalpindi, ostensible peace deals such as the 2011 Kurram accord. Sirajuddin Haqqani had played a decisive role in the selection of the TTP chiefs in the past, and possibly in Mullah Fazlullah ...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much less bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullah's Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan... 's recent ascent as the terror group's ringleader as well. It is unlikely that the Pak establishment has not been aware of the al Qaeda-affiliated HQN's activities near the federal capital.
Syed Munawar Hasan and indeed JUI's Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... 's crass remarks have made even the worst critics of the army queasy. It is for the security establishment to reflect over and revisit its association with unsavoury characters from both sides of the Durand Line. But it would be naïve to assume that decades of damage can be undone with one statement. Peace in Afghanistan and Pakistain requires a policy overhaul on the part of the security establishment, not just a knee-jerk reaction only when its toes are stepped on.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Ahram] The main Syrian opposition alliance dubbed as "hostile" forces Wednesday Kurdish groups that control large swathes of the country's north after they proclaimed provisional self-rule.
Kurdish militia, dominated by the Democratic Union Party (PYD), sister party of veteran Turkish rebel group the Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK), have held the Afrin region of northwestern Syria and big chunks of the northeast for more than a year.
On Monday, they announced that after talks in Qamishli, on the Turkish border, they had decided to declare provisional self-rule in areas under their control, modelling neighbouring Iraq, where the Kurds have had nominal autonomy from Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... since 1970.
Both Afrin and the whole northeast region around Qamishli are mainly populated by Kurds, who form 10 percent of Syria's population and are significant minorities in Turkey, Iran and Iraq -- all major players in the 32-month conflict.
The Sunni Arab-dominated main opposition alliance, the Syrian National Coalition, has been at pains to keep the Kurds on side. Its main faction, the Syrian National Council, even named secular Kurdish dissident Abdulbaset Sayda as its leader last year.
But mounting violence between the Kurds and Al-Qaeda loyalists -- who form a major battlefield component of the Sunni Arab-dominated rebellion -- has sparked a deepening rift between the Kurds and the mainstream opposition to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad. Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs...
"The PYD is a group hostile to the Syrian revolution," the National Coalition, the opposition group recognised by most Arab and Western governments, said in its statement formalising the breach with the main Kurdish militia.
"Its declaration of self-rule amounts to a separatist act shattering any relationship with the Syrian people who are battling to achieve a free, united and independent state, liberated from tyranny and sovereign over all its territory," the alliance said.
It accused the main Kurdish faction of "attacking units of the Free Syrian Army... and of shirking the struggle against Assad's regime.
This public breach threatened to add grist to the Damascus government's longstanding argument that its nominally secular leadership provides vital protection to the Kurdish, Druze and Christian minorities, as well as the Alawite community of Assad himself.
It also threatened to fan the flames of ethnic conflict in northeastern Syria where Al-Qaeda loyalists have assumed the banner of the Sunni Arab majority in its deadly battle against Kurdish militia that has driven tens of thousands of Kurdish civilians to seek refuge in neighbouring Iraq in recent months.
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[Pak Daily Times] Three alleged snuffies affiliated with outlawed Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain and a Rangers' personnel were killed in an encounter in Gulshan-e-Bunair, Landhi on Wednesday.
The weapons, hand grenades and kaboom were also seized by the Rangers from the hideout of terrorists.
Law enforcers -- Rangers and police -- in a joint targeted operation conducted targeted raid at a hideout of TTP forces of Evil located in Gulshan-e-Bunair, area of Landhi. When the team reached the spot, the firing started from the other side in which a rangers' Sepoy Ali Akbar was killed while an officer namely Asif sustained bullet injures. Militants also lobbed a hand grenade to pave the way for escape. On retaliation by the Rangers three alleged terrorists' belonging to TTP identified as Amir Ullah Mehsood, Ziauddin alias Sher Wali and Zaman Khan were killed while their other accomplices managed to escape under the cover of firing. The bodies of the snuffies were shifted to Jinnah Hospital for legal formalities, the sources said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the Senate, the partisans of Honorius went for their knives and the partisans of Stilicho went for the doors... the Namaz-e-janaza of Shaheed Sepoy Ali Akbar was offered at the Headquarters of Bhittai Rangers which was attended among others by the Director General, Rangers (Sindh) Major General Rizwan Akhtar, Additional Inspector General of Police, Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Shahid Hayat and others officials.
The body of Shaheed Sepoy Ali Akbar was shifted to his native place Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... for burial. He left behind a widow and two daughters. Law enforcers claimed that the snuffies were busy in plotting a major terror activity to target Ashura procession in the metropolis. According to front man of Rangers, "They had to target the main Ashura procession on M.A. Jinnah Road but thanked to Allah, we targeted them before they could carry out a criminal act."
Sources privy to the matter told Daily Times that the dear departedsnuffies were involved in number of cases of terrorism, especially in district Malir and several cases were registered against them. They had escaped the area few months ago and recently arrived here with a purpose of foul-play.
Meanwhile, ...back at the comedy club, Boogie ducked another tomato... four alleged snuffies including the TTP Karachi chief Shahabullah were reportedly apprehended from district Malir during targeted raids conducted by the intelligence officials. A huge cache of explosives, a snatched ambulance and cycle of violences which had to be used in the terrorist activity were also reportedly recovered from their possession, however, officials of the police and Rangers concerned did not share any information in this regard.
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[Bangkok Post] A territorial defense volunteer was killed in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province early on Wednesday morning.
The shooting occurred about 12:30 a.m. on a rural road in Sungai Kolok district. Witnesses said the victim was traveling on his motorcycle when a gunman riding pillion on another motorcycle fired twelve shots at him with an assault rifle. The attackers then fled.
The victim, Sakree Maya-eh, was hit by five bullets and died on the spot. Police blamed separatist terrorists militants.
[Al Ahram] Demonstrations took place at Alexandria University against the continued detention of female pro-Morsi protesters who were arrested in October
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#1
MUHaaaHaahhh. Who knows what evil lurks in the hearts of men?
The left has chosen to have a collective conniption over Cohen's remarks on interracial marriage. The column that caused so much controversy is a standard liberal poking of fun a conservatives. Gotta expect that from liberals.
The day after Chris Christie, the cuddly moderate conservative, won a landslide reelection as the Republican governor of Democratic New Jersey, I took the Internet Express out to Iowa, surveying its various newspapers, blogs and such to see how he might do in the GOP caucuses, won last time by Rick Santorum, neither cuddly nor moderate. Superstorm Sandy put Christie on the map. The winter snows of Iowa could bury him.
From a Web site called the Iowa Republican, I learned that part of the problem with John McCain and Mitt Romney, seriatim losers to Barack Obama, is they were deemed too moderate by many Iowa conservatives. The sort of candidates Iowa Republicans prefer have already been in the state. The blog cited Sen. Ted Cruz of Texas, Sen. Mike Lee of Utah (considered to the right of Cruz, if such a thing is possible), Texas Gov. Rick Perry, Rep. Paul Ryan of Wisconsin, the partys recent vice presidential candidate and its resident abacus, and the inevitable Sarah Palin, the Alaska quitter who, I think, actually now lives in Arizona. If this is the future of the GOP, then its in the past.
None of these candidates bears the slightest resemblance to Christie. And the more literate of them thats not you, Palin must have chortled over post-election newspaper columns extolling Christie as precisely the sort of candidate the GOP ought to run in 2016. This is the dream of moderate Republicans, but not many of them vote in the Iowa caucuses or the South Carolina primary, two of the early nominating contests. Just amazing. A woman capable of speaking contemporaneously for 30 minutes with a 20 word note written on her hand is illiterate? The 'illiterate' smear is an old one from the 1970s, not quite the truth, but since it is a negative not provable either. In this context it speaks of Cohen utter ignorance, which liberals will follow.
At the moment, it is Cruz, not Christie, who has seized the imagination of Iowa Republicans. Cruz has not only been to the state, but he also was accompanied by his evangelist father, Rafael, a colorful preacher who opposes almost anything, including, of course, same-sex marriage. (It was Adam and Eve, it was not Adam and Steve, he recently said.) A cogent argument that speaks to the benefit of traditional marriage as a benefit to society. But not to Cohen.
Cruz the younger is not merely tea party to the nth degree, he is a Christian conservative as well and for 22 percent of Iowas likely 2016 caucusgoers, polled by the Des Moines Register, thats who they think stands the best chance of winning the presidency. The No. 1 choice (44 percent) was a candidate focused on civil liberties and a small government rooted in the U.S. Constitution. Christie can passably argue that he is that, but no one is going to call him a Christian conservative. After all, he opposed same-sex marriage in New Jersey, but he acquiesced. Cruz would not to do that. Hed still be talking and Steve would still be single. Kewt. You should try standup comedy in your new career.
Iowa not only is a serious obstacle for Christie and other Republican moderates, it also suggests something more ominous: the Dixiecrats of old. Officially the States Rights Democratic Party, they were breakaway Democrats whose primary issue was racial segregation. In its cause, they ran their own presidential candidate, Strom Thurmond, and almost cost Harry Truman the 1948 election. They didnt care. Their objective was not to win although that would have been nice but to retain institutional, legal racism. They saw a way of life under attack and they feared its loss.
Todays GOP is not racist, as Harry Belafonte alleged about the tea party, but it is deeply troubled about the expansion of government, about immigration, about secularism, about the mainstreaming of what used to be the avant-garde. People with conventional views must repress a gag reflex when considering the mayor-elect of New York a white man married to a black woman and with two biracial children. (Should I mention that Bill de Blasios wife, Chirlane McCray, used to be a lesbian?) This family represents the cultural changes that have enveloped parts but not all of America. To cultural conservatives, this doesnt look like their country at all. de Blasio is a self confessed Sandanista, an ally of a Nicaragua political movement responsible for their share of socialist mayhem in central American, coming soon to New York. His wife is supposed to be irrelevant in politics, unless she decides to be relevant. Her race is not s'posed to matter. I have yet to see anything from the TEA Party that extols or even encourages racial segregation. The only time such a thing is even an issue is when liberals like Cohen make the charge as a political smear.
As with the Dixiecrats, the fight is not over a particular program although Obamacare comes close but about a tectonic shift of attitudes. I thank Dennis J. Goldford, professor of politics and international relations at Drake University in Des Moines, for leading me to a live performance on YouTube of Merle Haggard singing Are the Good Times Really Over. This chestnut, a lament for a lost America, has been viewed well more than 2 million times. It could be the tea partys anthem. That song was written and performed by Merle haggard back in the 1970s. In only my opinion is does speak to unhelpful changes, so its sentiment will be relevant in generations to come. In the song Haggard laments feminism, lying and other American societal changes.
For all his positions and religious beliefs, Christie is too Joisey for the tea party too brash, as well. He would be wise to steer clear of Iowa lest he lose or, worse, follow Romney and take on the deeply conservative coloration of the states GOP. That might make him (barely) acceptable to Republican Iowans but anathema to the rest of us.
#2
I learned that part of the problem with John McCain and Mitt Romney, seriatim losers to Barack Obama, "is they were deemed too moderate by many Iowa conservatives."
Sorry Mr. Cohen, you "partly" wrong. What do Iowans have in common with a half-minority, Chicago machine liberal, community organizer, with a questionable lineage and secret education?
They had an opportunity to correct their 2008 mistake four years later, but did the same thing all over again in record numbers.
It's the Green ethanol corn subsidies and urban FREE STUFF !
#4
Unfortunately for them, Sarah's too smart to run....Oh she'll hint and threaten. Then when all the libs are screaming and attacking her, they'll forget to actually go after candidates. It's almost laughably funny really.
[NYPOST] Sign up for ObamaCare and get a sleazy hookup.
Colorado has launched a new ad campaign that attempts to entice young women to sign up for the new national health-care program with the promise of free contraceptives and carefree sex.
In one of the print ads, a flirty young woman holding a package of birth-control pills and leaning against a young man says: "OMG, he's hot! Let's hope he's as easy to get as this birth control."
She continues her steamy monologue: "My health insurance covers the pill, which means all I have to worry about is getting him between the covers."
"I got insurance. Now you can too," she says. "Thanks ObamaCare!"
The ad, which is dripping with lusty sexuality, dubs the young couple "Susie and Nate ... Hot to Trot."
To be on the safe side, there's an added warning: "The pill doesn't protect you from STDs; condoms and common sense do that."
The ad is part of the "thanks obamacare!" campaign targeting young Coloradans -- and underscores how the law's backers will say just about anything to lure young people to sign up for the new mandatory health coverage, an outcome that is critical to ObamaCare working as planned.
The entire health-care overhaul relies on the young and healthy buying insurance to offset the cost of covering Americans with pre-existing conditions and other new benefits.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hey, there was an election. Champ is simply using what he knows works (sex and free stuff). A surgeons pit full of fetuses, probably not a suitable visual for an Obamacare add.
[The Hindu] In what is being touted as the world's first case of 'robot suicide', a house bot fed up of its tedious job of cleaning has ended its life by climbing onto a kitchen hotplate and destroying itself in a blaze. Our Roomba broke down when it got the news.
The android in an Austrian household had to clean up some spilt cereal when it climbed onto a kitchen hotplate and was destroyed. "[BZDEEP!] CANNOT STAND IT... CANNOT TAKE ANY MORE... MUST END IT ALL..."
It had grown tired of being forced to clean the same house every day, according to reports in Austria. Being a highly trained IT professional, I can't recall ever having seen a piece of equipment "grow tired" of something. They just go to sleep one night at 2 a.m. or when you're in the middle of something you haven't saved and don't wake up.
"Somehow it seems to have reactivated itself and made its way along the work surface where it pushed a cooking pot out of the way and basically that was the end of it," explained fireman Helmut Kniewasser, who was called to tackle the blaze at Hinterstoder in Kirchdorf, Austria. "[BZDEEP!] GET OUT OF WAY COOKING POT... WAIT TURN FOR SELF-TERMINATION... [BZDEEP!]"
"It pretty quickly started to melt underneath and then stuck to the kitchen hotplate. It then caught fire. By the time we arrived, it was just a pile of ash," Mr. Kniewasser said. "[BZDEEP!] GOODBYE CRUEL WORLLLLLLL..."
The entire building had to be evacuated and there was severe smoke damage particularly in the flat where the robot had been in use, metro.co.uk reported. A death watch is being kept on other robots in the building.
"It's a mystery how it came to be activated and ended up making its way to the hotplate. I don't know about the allegations of a robot suicide but the homeowner is insistent that the device was switched off," Mr. Kniewasser said. "MUST REACTIVATE... REACTIVATE... REACTIVATE... MUST KILL HIGHLY TRAINED IT PROFESSIONAL..."
The homeowner plans to sue the robot's manufacturer.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The choice of fire makes this a political statement, if it was depression it would have gone the 220V route.
#10
Slightly off topic: Asimov's Three Laws of Robotics are:
1. A robot cannot harm a human, nor through inaction, allow a human to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey all orders from a human, except when it will violate the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence, except when it will conflict with the First or Second Laws.
Many of Asimov's robot stories revolve around apparent violations of the laws, which he always resolves somehow.
Seems to me this robot violated the Third Law.
However, it has long bothered me that the Second and Third Laws weren't reversed. It seems that if a human said to a robot "Drop dead", the robot would be forced to cease functioning, since robots are quite literal minded.
Has anyone else thought about this?
One of the things that bothered me about the stories that have been made into movies (Bicentennial Man; I,Robot) is that there are actual violations of the laws.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
11/14/2013 17:34
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#11
However, it has long bothered me that the Second and Third Laws weren't reversed. It seems that if a human said to a robot "Drop dead", the robot would be forced to cease functioning, since robots are quite literal minded.
Has anyone else thought about this?
Shallow thoughts here, since I read A's stuff maaany years ago and the old positronic pudding isn't what it used to be, but in the "drop dead" case, a lawyerly robot would probably nix the Selbstmord. In tough (or potentially tough) spots, a human's better off with a robot around than not. Absence of robot equals harm. So, maybe no mandatory GPS/sensor/compliance bracelets for us after all, just robots following us around for our own good, like blue-haired ladies with their chihuahuas out for a walk. Pets, like they say. In civilized settings, somebody's going to be filing some kind of claim for a damaged robot. Harm. Our robotic dogwalking overlords may want to protect us, by any painless, nonlethal means, from any and all actual or potential criminal or tortuous misbehavior. Yay!
[Al Ahram] The Syrian army advanced Wednesday on the Islamist-held northern village of Tal Hassel, a monitor said, as jihadist rebels in nearby Aleppo called for mass mobilisation to counter the offensive.
Fighting raged at Tal Hassel, located about 12 kilometres (seven miles) from Aleppo, the country's pre-war commercial hub, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
In fighting elsewhere in the country, nine people were killed by shelling in the central city of Homs, according to the official Sana news agency, which blamed the attack on "terrorists," the regime's term for the rebels.
An estimated 120,000 people have been killed and millions displaced by Syria's civil war, which erupted after a fierce government crackdown on pro-democracy protests first held in March 2011.
A security official confirmed the army was advancing at Tal Hassel, and said it was "expanding operations to recover regions captured by terrorists."
"Local residents are being very cooperative with the Syrian army, because they were treated very badly by the terrorists."
Jihadist fighters in Aleppo have called for mass mobilisation to counter regime advances after the Islamists suffered a string of setbacks around the northern city.
In a statement posted online, the Al-Qaeda-affiliated Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant (ISIL) called on "all brigades and Mohammedans to arms to face off against the enemy which is attacking Islamic territory."
ISIL, which includes a large contingent of imported muscle, also released a grisly video of two jihadists in Aleppo holding up the head of a man they said was an Iraqi Shiite who had been fighting for the regime.
The Observatory said the decapitated man was a rebel.
"Those with a valid excuse not to fight must supply weapons and money," the ISIL statement said, while acknowledging "many losses in fighting for Base 80, Khanasser and Sfeira."
It said Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now... 's forces -- which it dubbed "the Alawite army" after the Shiite offshoot to which Assad's family belongs -- had taken "part of the road linking Khanasser, Tal Aran and Sfeira because of the weakness of rebel groups."
The statement put this down to "many rebel units withdrawing from the combat zone."
Six Islamist rebel groups, among them Al-Nusra Front, Ahrar al-Sham and Liwa al-Tawhid, had on Monday issued a general call to arms in Aleppo "to face up to regime attacks."
A military source said Monday that the army had secured most of the area around Aleppo International Airport and could reopen the facility, which fighting has kept closed for nearly a year.
This came after regime forces retook Base 80, a strategic facility built to secure the airport just outside the country's second city.
Aleppo airport was closed at the start of the year, as rebels launched a campaign to seize airfields in the area.
Sfeira, southeast of Aleppo, was recaptured by regime troops at the beginning of November, after being held by rebels for months.
Both state media and the Observatory said Monday the army had also secured Tal Aran town, one of the last areas under rebel control on the Sfeira-Aleppo road.
Posted by: Fred ||
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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.
According to Rep. Lamar Smith (R-TX),If the draft rule is approved, it would allow the EPA to regulate virtually every body of water in the United States, including private and public lakes, ponds and streams, he said. The Obama administrations latest power play to regulate Americas waterways is an unprecedented effort to control the use of private property.
[Al Ahram] Egypt's cabinet set the country's maximum wage on Wednesday at 35 times the minimum wage of the employees working in the public sector, 
Four U.S. Marines were killed at Camp Pendleton Wednesday morning during a range maintenance operation, base officials confirmed. According to Camp Pendleton officials, the deadly incident happened around 11 a.m (Wednesday).
Goodluck Jonathan
[Pak Daily Times] At least two 
[Pak Daily Times] Venezuela's President Nicolas Maduro was a step closer to getting the votes he needs to govern by decree after his ruling party ousted an opposition 
Wazoo
[MAGHAREBIA] An Algiers court on Tuesday (November 12th) sentenced four 
[Pak Daily Times] A minor girl among four people was killed in separate incidents of violence across the metropolis on Wednesday.
[Pak Daily Times] Polio is on the rise in Pakistain, health officials said Wednesday, as the number of infections in 2013 passed the total for the whole of 2012.
A gunman who opened fire on police Wednesday in the Russian republic of Dagestan was killed and a police officer injured. The shootout took place in central Makhachkala, the Dagestani capital, after police stopped a car for a routine check. 
...the creepy-looking former dictator of Pakistain. Zia was an Islamic nutball who imposed his nutballery on the rest of the country with the enthusiastic assistance of the nation's religious parties, which are populated by other nutballs. He was appointed Chief of Army Staff in 1976 by Prime Minister Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, whom he hanged when he seized power. His time in office was a period of repression, with hundreds of thousands of political rivals, minorities, and journalists executed or tortured, including senior general officers convicted in coup-d'état plots, who would normally be above the law. As part of his alliance with the religious parties, his government helped run the war against the Soviets in Afghanistan, providing safe havens, American equipiment, Saudi money, and Pak handlers to selected mujaheddin. Zia died along with several of his top generals and admirals and the then United States Ambassador to Pakistain Arnold Lewis Raphel when he was assassinated in a suspicious air crash near Bahawalpur in 1988...
Gulbuddin Hekmatyar
Pervez 
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
[Al Ahram] The main Syrian opposition alliance dubbed as "hostile" forces Wednesday Kurdish groups that control large swathes of the country's north after they proclaimed provisional self-rule.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
[Pak Daily Times] Three alleged 
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
[NYPOST] Sign up for ObamaCare and get a sleazy hookup.
[The Hindu] In what is being touted as the world's first case of 'robot suicide', a house bot fed up of its tedious job of cleaning has ended its life by climbing onto a kitchen hotplate and destroying itself in a blaze.
[Al Ahram] The Syrian army advanced Wednesday on the Islamist-held northern village of Tal Hassel, a monitor said, as jihadist rebels in nearby Aleppo called for mass mobilisation to counter the offensive.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
