Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/07/2010
21:04 ||
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#1
I suppose Anon1 will argue this is why we have Wikileaks, but I - for one - am not surprised by the headline. Maybe Mumamar will be embarrased?
Posted by: Bobby ||
12/07/2010 21:07
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#2
Weakness emboldens thugs. Didn't we bomb the shit out of them over Lockerbie? Sept 2009, just last year Kaddafi was with Hugo Chavez and said "The worlds powers want to continue to hold on to their power. Now we have to fight to build our own power."
The United States on Tuesday abandoned its effort to persuade Israel to freeze construction of Jewish settlements, officials said, dealing a blow to efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
President Barack Obama brokered the direct talks that were relaunched in September but broke down over the issue of settlements built on captured land that Palestinians seek for a state.
"We reached the conclusion this is not the time to renew direct negotiation by renewing the moratorium," a senior U.S. diplomat told reporters in Israel, ending weeks of intense U.S. diplomacy aimed at forging a settlement deal. First he caves on taxes, now this. Nice job, Bambie. Nice job.
...It appears to me that Obama is a man of tremendous internal contradictions. He fancies himself as a post-partisan, post-ideological figure who alone can elevate public discourse. He obviously took great pride in presenting himself as Americas Socrates during the presidential campaign.
At the same time, Mr. Obama is a man of unusual arrogance who, if things dont go his way, becomes prickly. He lashes out. And he begins to feel sorry for himself. Notoriously thin-skinned and accustomed to worshipful treatment by those around him (including the press), Obama is now clearly disquieted.
On some deep level, Obama must understand that, at this moment at least, his presidency is coming apart. Its not at all clear to me that hes particularly well equipped to deal with the shifting fortunes, the hardships, and the battering that a president must endure. Difficult circumstances seem to be bringing out his worst qualities rather than his best. And that may be what was on display this afternoon.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/07/2010
17:42 ||
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#3
agree - he is unable to handle adversity due to his narcissism and ultra-high (and undeserved) self esteem. His pouty announcement last night is the mark of an emotional child, not the leader of a nation
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 20:07
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#4
agree - he is unable to handle adversity due to his narcissism and ultra-high (and undeserved) self esteem. His pouty announcement last night is the mark of an emotional child, not the leader of a nation
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 20:39
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#5
Bes, please check your sources. Linking to an interview with a writer for "Executive Intelligence Review," a Lyndon LaRouche publication, is a way to get this site laughed at.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/07/2010 21:06
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#6
hmmmm have to have that stutter looked at?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 21:10
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STD fears set off rape caseBy Mark Hosenball
WASHINGTON | Tue Dec 7, 2010 4:27pm EST
WASHINGTON (Reuters) The two Swedish women who accuse WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange of sexual misconduct were at first not seeking to bring charges against him. They just wanted to track him down and persuade him to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases, according to several people in contact with his entourage at the time. not only was it not rape, the women didn't even want him charged with that until the prosecuters got involved and let me guess why they were so keen to make the most out of anything they could....
The women went to the police together after they failed to persuade Assange to go to a doctor after separate sexual encounters with him in August, according to these people, who include former close associates of Assange who have since fallen out with him.
One of the women, identified in the British court hearing on Sweden's extradition request as Miss A, was listed on publicity for Assange's Swedish visit as a spokesperson for a group hosting the WikiLeaks leader.
People who were in contact with both Assange and other members of his entourage at the time say that the woman at some point invited him to stay at her residence.
According to the accounts of Assange's associates, his overnight stays at his erstwhile spokeswoman's residence soon evolved into a sexual relationship between the two. During one of their encounters, the woman later said, a condom Assange was wearing broke or split.
eople who saw Assange and the woman in the days after this incident is said to have occurred said the two displayed little if any obvious sign of tension or hostility; to some who saw them at the time, it was not clear their relationship was anything other than amicable and chaste.
A few days later, however, people who were in contact with Assange then told Reuters, a second, younger woman went to a seminar addressed by Assange.
FIFTEEN DOLLAR TRAIN TICKET
this one would be the spy
After hearing him speak at the seminar, the newspaper said, the woman, identified in court as Miss W, loitered outside the meeting hall, and eventually was invited to lunch with Assange and his entourage at a local bistro.
A day after their initial meeting -- which the Mail account said included a visit to a natural history museum -- Miss W agreed with Assange that he should spend the night at her apartment about 45 minutes outside Stockholm.
That night, according to the accounts of both the newspaper and people who were in contact with Assange and his inner circle, he and Miss W had sex using a condom.
The next morning, however, under circumstances which remain deeply murky, the sources said, Assange allegedly had sex with the woman again, this time without a condom. Then, after a meal during which the Mail says that the woman joked that she could be pregnant, they parted on friendly terms, with Miss W buying Assange his train ticket back to Stockholm.
Two people who were in contact with Assange's entourage before, during and after these events said that while some details are still unclear, it appears that after parting from Assange, Miss W became increasingly concerned that he might have given her a sexually-transmitted disease.
According to the sources, Miss W anxiously tried to phone Assange to plead with him to go to a doctor and be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. However, the sources said that Assange had turned his phone off, leaving Miss W no way to get in touch with him.
Becoming increasingly anxious about possible dire consequences of having had sex without a condom, Miss W then began trying to contact Assange through various people she believed were in touch with him.
This eventually led her to Miss A -- who according to people who followed the case closely was not previously acquainted with Miss W. Attrocious. This is caled stalking. If she was worried about an STD then she should get herself on antibiotics/anti-retrovirals. Get tested in 3 months. Not stalk, harass and go to the police. This woman is the spy
The two women proceeded to compare notes on their encounters with Assange and decided that they would insist that he should go to a hospital or doctor and submit to testing for sexually-transmitted diseases. Eventually they managed to get in touch with Assange, according to a person who closely followed the case at the time.
But by the time the women had wrung this concession from Assange, the source said, it was a Friday evening and hospitals and medical clinics were closed.
At this point, Miss W, apparently exasperated at Assange's evasive behavior, decided to take her story to police, though initially she didn't want Assange to be prosecuted.
she did want him prosecuted, that was her only goal, but she pretends that isn't the case to give herself legitimacy.
According to a version of the story published by London's Guardian newspaper, which has been in close and continuing contact with Assange for months, Miss A decided to go to the police with Miss W to offer moral support, but did not want charges brought against Assange either.
After taking statements from the women, according to both published accounts and to accounts confirmed by Swedish officials at the time, police officers passed the reports on to prosecutors. Based on the reports a prosecutor serving after-hours duty on a Friday night then decided to issue a warrant for Assange's arrest on suspicion of rape -- a charge which the Guardian said at the time was related to Assange's alleged encounter with Miss W.
The next morning, however, the file was sent for review to a more senior prosecutor, who concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the rape accusation and canceled the arrest warrant. But the second prosecutor decided that the investigation should continue as a lesser accusation of "molestation" against Assange, Swedish officials said at the time.
Over the following several days, prosecutors spoke about wanting to question Assange, though also dropped heavy hints that they wanted to wrap up their investigation rapidly -- with the most likely outcome being a closing of the file.
However, new life was injected into the investigation after Miss A and Miss W hired Claes Borgstrom, a prominent Swedish lawyer. Borgstrom confirmed to reporters at the time that his clients' allegations against Assange related to efforts he made to have sex with them without wearing condoms, and his subsequent reluctance to be tested for sexually transmitted diseases. i wonder why they suddenly wanted to hire a lawyer? where did they get the money for that? God it's so obvious what is really going on here. it's disgusting when Politics is allowed to interfere with the judicial process. Just disgusting. This is a threat to the freedom of all of us because they don't use these tactics only against enemies now we are all targets. Every Western journalist who writes anything critical of Government (UK, US, Australia) can expect similar attacks to lesser degrees unless we tell them that media is to be left alone, and the court system is to be left alone.
Borgstrom said at the time that he would appeal the authorities' initial decision to close the rape investigation to a higher authority.
Subsequently, Marianne Ny, one of three senior Swedish prosecutors who hold the title of Director of Public Prosecutions, issued a statement about the case, which, in an official translation published on the English language page of the Swedish Prosecution Authority's website, declared that: "There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Considering information available at present, my judgment is that the classification of the crime is rape." and how does she get to that conclusion after consensual sex, backed up by witness accounts of happy relations after the fact, backed by text messages, backed by the original police statement....
Translation: The CIA and other intelligence agencies leant on the Swedes to use any and every possible means to attack Assange. They have interfered with the judicial system in Sweden, compromising its independence and the fundamental principal of equality before the law. This willingness to trash the norms and principles of Western Democracy is a far greater threat to our freedom than anything Wikileaks published.
In their official statement, prosecutors added that the original "molestation" investigation of Assange -- which was never officially closed -- also would continue and "will be extended to include all allegations in the original police report... There is reason to believe that a crime has been committed. Based on the information available, the crimes in question come under the heading of sexual coercion and sexual molestation, respectively."
n a flurry of statements and Twitter messages after the case first erupted, Assange and WikiLeaks charged that the whole Swedish case was the product of some kind of "dirty tricks campaign" related to the group's work. In one Tweet, WikiLeaks said that "The charges are without basis and their issue at the moment is deeply disturbing." Another Tweet said: "We were warned to expect 'dirty tricks'. Now we have the first one."
I have to say I agree. Even those that despise Assange and think of him as an enemy would have to admit that the process involved in slapping these charges on Assange looks highly suspicious
Tuesday, a lawyer representing the Swedish government laid out for a British judge four specific charges of sexual misconduct, three related to Miss A and one related to Miss W. The word "rape" was not part of the charges but "unlawful coercion" and Assange's alleged reluctance to use condoms was.
There you have it folks. You must draw your own conclusions. I respect everyone on this site as being patriots and people who care about their country. I also am a patriot and care about my country and its allies. I don't believe our Governments and their spy agencies should destroy our village in order to save it. Judicial independence and media freedom are not luxuries to be suspended and only given back once all our enemies are defeated "for our own safety". BS. We will have freeedom now and not surrender it - no matter what enemies we face.
#1
another lengthy loggorhea attack by anon1 over Assange.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 19:50
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#2
anon1, you're missing the point. The charges were only an excuse to arrest Mr. Assange, as a famous Chicago gangster was once convicted for evading taxes on his ill-gotten gains, rather than for mass and individual murder, rum-running, houses of ill-repute, and all the other illegal activities his gang were engaged in.
#5
He's a terrorist and terror supporter and should be treated like one.
He's vermin and I hope that the families of those whose death he's caused catch him and spend a few years torturing him and broadcasting it to the world.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton ||
12/07/2010 21:39
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#6
he's not a journalist. Jeebus. He publishes secret documents, you twit. That's espionage. Do you see him gloating over publishing documents damaging other countries? When has he published internal Russian or Chinese documents and gloated? He's an anti-western terrorist and you are too damn stoopid to explain otherwise. I'm done. It's like explaining algebra to a cat. You'll never get it
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 21:40
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#7
I read somewhere that Sweden has the highest incidence of rape in Europe. If the behaviour described constitutes rape, no wonder. It wouldn't be rape in any other European country. In a Muslim country the women would be stoned to death, or at least 500 lashes.
I doubt that when their ancestors set off for a weekend of murder, rape and pillage across Ireland and England in the dark ages that rape then constituted "have you been tested for STD".
#8
Yes, Tipper, exactly right. Not rape by any standard in Australia. Regardless of whether anyone likes or hates Assange for his politics, this at least is a fact we agree on.
to #5
A terrorist is an individual who uses violence against civilians to spark fear in order to acheive a political goal.
Julian Assange is NOT a terrorist. He is not our enemy. He is an Australian citizen.
As editor of a news site, Wikileaks, he is a journalist.
Wikileaks writes stories and gives the link to the source document so people can double check the accuracy and context for themselves.
#9
Maybe he's not your enemy but he is mine and the enemy of my nation for his attempts to cause political change by using terror tactics that result in people dying.
I hope that everyone that's supported him gets the same treatment as well.
Posted by: Silentbrick - Lost Drill Bit Division - Halliburton ||
12/07/2010 22:18
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#10
Okay. I can read. And therefore, I know the definition of rape differs in Scandinavia.
Im relatively new here. But I think Anon1 really should give the Julian Assange lectures a rest. We are all adults here. Therefore, being forcibly shoved into Anon1's world of opinions for days and days is what I object to. ANON1, PEOPLE CAN FORM THEIR OWN OPINIONS. WE CAN READ. WE CAN WRITE. WE CAN DECIDE WHAT WE THINK ABOUT ASSANGE. PLEASE STOP BEING ONE OF THE MOST OVERBEARING PEOPLE I HAVE HAD THE MISFORTUNE OF RUNNING ACCROSS. THANK YOU.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 22:19
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#11
#9 : releasing information is not a terror tactic.
Blowing up buildings is
Persecuting journalists is
If the US extradites Assange from Sweden, if this pretext is just so he can become a "rendition" then ANZUS is dead.
#13
"Terrorism is the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion- No universally agreed, legally binding, criminal law definition of terrorism currently exists."
And it gets better. This is wikipedias blurb as of today. So terrorism is much more than blowing up building, Anon1, dear.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 22:41
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#14
Anon1, it is you that wants a yes club. That is why you have been BLUDGEONING readers with your thoughts about Assange, coming at it from every angle, in hope to induce submission or just get everyone so tired of hearing you they just give up.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 22:44
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#15
#9 : releasing information is not a terror tactic.
perhaps then we should see your school grades. Your personal diaries. Any emails you sent to anybody (who KNOWS what could be in those). Your medical history. Your sexual partners. Your family and friends: all of the above. After all. It's freedom to know, eh?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 22:44
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#16
The Prophet Mohammed ordered his people to terrorize unbelievers for the purpose of causing them to surrender, either converting to the master religion or accepting dhimmi status, with all that entails. Mr. Assange's actions were, per his own admission, for the purpose of making the American government unable to function. Should he succeed in his aim, we will de facto surrender to the Caliphatists of Al Qaeda and all the other jihadi groups who have be working together to conquer us for their god.
It does not matter that the release of this and previous information is not a current terror tactic like suicide bombs, IEDs, and hijacked airplanes, or classical terror techniques like total war and murder. The purpose is to force surrender. Will he, nill he, Mr. Assange is either a part of the jihadi war or a supporter of it. Burn him. After a fair trial on charges valid in the culture in which they were made.
As for the rape rate in Sweden, nowadays a great many of them are real rapes by real jihadi gangs for the purpose of demoralizing the natives, only a portion of which are reported by the terrorized native girls. Or so I've read.
#17
anon1, any comment on this story, which directly contradicts his op-ed posted in opinion? When I try to question him about the morality of what he's done, if he worries about unleashing something that he can't control, that no one can control, he tells me the story of the Kenyan 2007 elections when a WikiLeak document "swung the election".
The leak exposed massive corruption by Daniel Arap Moi, and the Kenyan people sat up and took notice. In the ensuing elections, in which corruption became a major issue, violence swept the country. "1,300 people were eventually killed, and 350,000 were displaced. That was a result of our leak," says Assange. It's a chilling statistic, but then he states: "On the other hand, the Kenyan people had a right to that information and 40,000 children a year die of malaria in Kenya. And many more die of money being pulled out of Kenya, and as a result of the Kenyan shilling being debased."
It's the kind of moral conundrum that would unnerve most people, that made some wonder last week what the potential ramifications of the latest leak might be, but it is a subject on which Assange himself is absolutely clear: "You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good conclusion."
#18
Assange = Predatory Blackmail artist, not to be confused with Journalist.
The textbook definition of blackmail is when wthe threat consists of the dissemination of damaging information. AHEM.
Next up, psychological coercion, Assange's next tactic. First, the predator regards the vic's relationships and attempts to narrow the victim's available choices and allegiances in order to set up the victim to become instrumental to the predator's interests. The vic could be a person, a country, or a set of countries. The goals of coercion could be totally selfish, or couched as "altruistic" as is the case with Mr. Assange. In actuality, I suspect Mr. Assange is mostly out to gain power under the pretext of saving freedom of saving information. This type of coercion 'like saving souls' has religious underpinnings but there is nothing altruistic about it. Hence, the reason why people buck under the whip of an impure imposter posing as a soul saver.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 23:16
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Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 23:45
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#21
Hello TW, I hate the jihadis too.
But Julian Assange is not trying to support the Jihadis.
Frank G: your point about whether my personal details being released is terrorism or not is not relevant in this case. Wikileaks does not publish the personal details of individuals.
"US Secretary of Defence Robert Gates admitted in a letter to the US congress that no sensitive intelligence sources or methods had been compromised by the Afghan war logs disclosure. The Pentagon stated there was no evidence the WikiLeaks reports had led to anyone being harmed in Afghanistan. NATO in Kabul told CNN it couldn't find a single person who needed protecting." Assange in The Australian.
#22
@Anon1: Publishing stolen state secrets is not "journalism".
Especially since publishing said stolen state secrets has severe repercussions to America and it's allies.
Not to mention the number of people killed because of his foolish behavior.
Asshat is not a journalist. Period.
Anon1, I'm afraid your moral compass is broken.
Asshat needs to be hung by his nuts and beaten with a whiffle bat, until he understands & feels the pain he has caused the US and our allies.
#1
RIP. I didn't agree with her politics, and I certainly didn't agree with her tacit decision to deny knowledge of her philandering husband's cheating. That knowledge would have left an American President exposed to blackmail and extortion opportunities had John been able to get elected. Living with such a despicable POS must have been like selling your soul, but getting him elected to POTUS would have been selling out our country
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 20:43
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#2
One tough woman. Her son died in a car crash and she kept going. Then she got cancer and she kept going. Her husband cheated on her and she kept going. RIP.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/07/2010 22:10
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#3
I feel sorry for her children.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/07/2010 22:28
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#4
Let us hope her last months were happier for her than recent years.
#2
I remember Suvarov's account of working for a Soviet intelligence group. They showed all new personnel a video of one of their own who had betrayed their agency.
He was strapped to a gurney, and shoved head first into a furnace, live and screaming.
I mention this because the NSA has an immense furnace at its HQ. They burn so much paper daily that there is a conveyor belt to take it to the furnace.
Jim Morgan was sleeping a little late on the morning of Dec. 7, 1941. His mother, Beryl, had tried to wake him up at about 7:30, but the 9-year-old, whose family lived at the Navy base at Pearl Harbor, didn't stir until she came back about 25 minutes later.
He got up just in time to witness history out his bedroom window.
"I said, 'Look, Ma! There's a fire at the submarine base.' "
At that same moment, Russell Meyne was sitting down to a plate of pancakes, bacon and eggs in the mess hall at Pearl Harbor's Hickam Air Base, 2 miles away. He was hoping to revitalize himself after a night of drinking beer with his buddies, celebrating their selection to a group that would be heading to the mainland for flight training.
Suddenly, everything changed.
"The table almost bounced up and down, and all the pots and pans in the kitchen started falling on the floor," said Meyne, an Army private at the time, now 91 and treasurer of the South Carolina branch of the Pearl Harbor Survivors Association.
A report of some rare good news out of the outhouse of Africa.
An al Qaeda commander from Yemen who led a group of foreign fighters battling the Somali government Somalia has a government? Who knew?
and African Union forces has been reported killed in Mogadishu.
The commander, Rajah Abu Khalid, was reported to have been critically wounded during heavy fighting in the Somali capital on Saturday. Khalid was moved to a Shabaab-run hospital in the town of Jowhar, north of Mogadishu, where he died, What a surprise, given the superb care available. Wasn't a level I trauma center then, was it ...
a commander of the al Qaeda-linked Shabaab terror group told Sunatimes.
A Somali commander confirmed Khalid's death, and said he was among 13 foreign fighters Quite a large number and proportion of foreign fighters; there's more to this story than meets the eye. ANU might/must be getting some expert 'advice.'
killed during heavy fighting in the capital. Over the weekend, 25 people have been killed in Mogadishu in clashes between Shabaab and African Union and Somali forces. Both the Somali government and Shabaab claimed victory in the weekend's fighting.
Khalid is said to have replaced Abu Musab, another foreign Shabaab and al Qaeda leader who was killed during fighting in Mogadishu several months ago. Wonder who will grab the banner and leap forward into the breach. There's a theme here if the local #3 is discerning enough to figure it out ...
The theme being that Somalia is the only place in the world where it's safer to be a #3 instead of #1? This is going to play merry hob with training schedules around the world, as the volunteer #3s flood in.
The lame duck Congress wants to tie the hands of the new Congress, limiting the ability to change government as the voters insisted in November. And just like other legislation such as Obamacare, this plan is being drafted in secret, not in the open.
Circulating on Capitol Hill is a draft measure--written by the Senate Democratic majority in backrooms--to fund all the federal government not only through fiscal year (FY) 2011 but also partially into FY 2012. This 183-page plan would:
* Handcuff the ability of newly elected Representatives and Senators to de-fund Obamacare,
* Restrict the new Congress's leverage to rescind unused "stimulus" and TARP spending,
* Have the outgoing Congress dictate spending for more than the usual one year, and
* Bypass the normal appropriations process of public committee votes, floor debates, and the ability to offer amendments on the floor of the House and Senate.
This is the same outgoing Congress that failed to do its work on time; it should have passed spending bills before fiscal year 2010 ended on September 30. But they didn't want the voters to witness just how much they wanted to spend, despite our trillion-dollar-plus annual deficits, so no appropriations bills were passed by Congress, and all but a couple of spending bills never even made it out of committee.
Simply can't be done in the amount of time the lame ducks have left. That's assuming that the Dems could find 51 in the Senate to do this (I'm assuming it would be rammed through by 'reconciliation'). There are too many Dem senators coming due in 2012 who understand that a vote for such a bill would be used against them.
This is exactly the sort of political chicanery that would motivate the Tea Party for the next two years. Even the dumbest Dem (well, maybe not Maxine Waters) is going to jab the Tea Party with a stick right now.
More than 500 suspected Taliban fighters detained by U.S. forces have been released from custody at the urging of Afghan government officials, angering both American troops and some Afghans who oppose the policy on the grounds that many of those released return to the battlefield to kill NATO soldiers and Afghan civilians.
If it has to be this way, then if some taliban-looking folks killed a few government officials I think this practice may come to a screeching halt. Until the Americans leave, that is.
Personally, I think we take way too many prisoners.
#1
Not surprising. It costs money to feed and house prisoners. We give them the money to do so, but it's a lot more profitable to keep the money and release the prisoners. Of course, if we start cutting annual aid by $1m for every prisoner released, they might change their minds. But this kind of calculation is probably too detail-oriented for a man of Obama's transparent (and high-level) brilliance.
#2
This is a USG sanctioned "insurgent re-integration" program. War for them can be somewhat seasonal. They chu-hoi as soon as snow flies, sign a document or two, get paid and sit out the winter months in comfort. Sometimes BIOMETRIC data is collected....sometimes not so much. Next spring it's back to Talibaning, dope running, bribery, and extortion as usual. Welcome to the Stans.
#4
We need implants. Knee replacement surgery should do nicely (may have to damage the knee first - can we send them to some Hussein-era Iraqi interrogators?) With incorporated microphones, GPS sensors, and transmitters.
YouTube, the video- sharing site owned by Google, is employing additional people to help review content before and after it goes live, following a spate of al-Qaeda videos which it was forced to take down.
THE rift between Israel and Turkey may be on the way to resolution.
This is according to a report yesterday on the US-sponsored Arabic-language television network al-Hura.
The report said an Israeli negotiator, meeting this week with a senior Turkish diplomat in Geneva, had agreed to Istanbul's demands that Israel apologise for the killing of nine Turkish activists last May when a flotilla of civilian vessels attempted to break the Israeli naval blockade of Gaza. Israel had also agreed, the report said, to Turkey's demand that it pay compensation to the families of the dead. Both sides have confirmed a meeting of their representatives in Geneva.
The Tel Aviv daily Ha'aretz quotes Turkish diplomatic sources as saying the discussions have been "very positive".
#1
Bad move on Israel's part. After all, in addition to sponsoring a shipload of terrorists, Turkey has been aiding Iran's quest for nuclear weapons. Not at all the kind of people who should get the blackmail money they demanded... unless the Mossad is using the meetings as an opportunity to get into Turkey's phone and computer systems...
#2
I don't know if it's a bad move. The two countries have been getting along until just recently. Israel doesn't need any more enemies, and having Turkey as a friend, or at least as a semi-friendly non-enemy, has certain advantages.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2010 14:53
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#3
I don't like the idea of paying blood money to violent terrorist sympathizers.
#1
I know I am not in the majority but I agree with Mr. Assange. Any number of publications or websites would have published this files, in fact the NYT published a bunch as well. Anybody who wants can find an outlet for classified material. We need to plug the leak at the source. First off we need to (after a speedy courts martial) execute one PFC Manning. This will have a dramatic and immediate affect on any wannabe/copycat leaker. Second we need to follow the OPSEC/COMMSEC rules for dealing with classified material. No more jump drives or CD burners. These two measures will greatly reduce the chance of this happening in the near future.
Yes, Cyber Sarge is correct about fixing leaks at the source. Private Manning needs to spend the rest of his life in a SuperMax, and the rules need to be tightened (again).
But what Mr. Assange has done qualifies as espionage against the United States. He's an unfriendly foreign national who received American state secrets and distributed them in an effort to harm our country. It may not be 'illegal', but it is espionage.
Once upon a time, oh back in the Cold War for example, we knew how to handle people who committed espionage against us. The Soviets Russians knew as well. The Chinese are still pretty good at it.
Mr. Assange needs to pay for what he did.
Back in the Cold War our own newspapers would not have printed classified information. The NYT got away with it with the Pentagon Papers because it was an attack on Nixon and that was always okay. That opened the floodgates; those floodgates need to be closed. We might promulgate a new set of rules as to what will happen to news outlets that print classified information in the future.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2010 14:58
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#7
Don't shoot him for a being a messenger. Shoot him for being a child molester who is responsible for the deaths of 200+ people whose cover he destroyed.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/07/2010 15:50
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#8
The reason Wikileaks is the only one attacked and not the Old Media is because Governments (UK, Australia, US) are now SO GOOD at manipulating and controlling the feed of information to old media that they pose no threat.
Wikileaks however is now an uncontrollable source of information - and it feeds to Old Media.
So if you kill WIkileaks, Old Media will go back to being the chained up dog. it still can bark (giving appearance of independence) but it's on a tight chain. It can't report what it does not know.
I totally support Julian Assange. I think it is disgraceful how our Governments are conducting themselves.
Perveting the judicial process
Interfering with the media
these things are a greater threat to your society than some Islamofascist living in a cave in Afghanistan.
Dismantling our norms and freedoms which took centuries to build is NOT on.
#10
Besoeker, if the "accused rapist" (and go read the facts in the Reuters article about that trumped up charge) tells you the truth and your other source is uninformed - that leaves you precisely where?
#15
Assange needs to die like King Ludwig of Bavaria - drown in 18 inches of water (with a bullet-hole behind his left ear that 'did nothing to hasten his death'). His remains should be used for chum the next time the Swedes go fishing.
Manning needs to be welded into a 6'x6'x6' steel box that has two 2" x 12" slits cut in the side, and a 3" circular hole in the floor. The box can be moved back and forth from Fort Erwin to Fort Riley to Fort Lewis to Fort Huachuka as needed as an example of what happens when you're stupid. Feed him nothing but peanut butter sandwiches and stale beer - REALLY stale beer. Make sure he never gets to spend a night inside a building ever again - just his little steel box.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/07/2010 19:25
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#16
OP... you down in the cellar pulling maintenance on that collection of medieval weapons and interrogation devices again?
#17
Claim: It is neither. WikiLeaks has a four-year publishing history. During that time we have changed whole governments, but not a single person, as far as anyone is aware, has been harmed. But the US, with Australian government connivance, has killed thousands in the past few months alone. Reality: When I try to question him about the morality of what he's done, if he worries about unleashing something that he can't control, that no one can control, he tells me the story of the Kenyan 2007 elections when a WikiLeak document "swung the election".
The leak exposed massive corruption by Daniel Arap Moi, and the Kenyan people sat up and took notice. In the ensuing elections, in which corruption became a major issue, violence swept the country. "1,300 people were eventually killed, and 350,000 were displaced. That was a result of our leak," says Assange. It's a chilling statistic, but then he states: "On the other hand, the Kenyan people had a right to that information and 40,000 children a year die of malaria in Kenya. And many more die of money being pulled out of Kenya, and as a result of the Kenyan shilling being debased."
It's the kind of moral conundrum that would unnerve most people, that made some wonder last week what the potential ramifications of the latest leak might be, but it is a subject on which Assange himself is absolutely clear: "You have to start with the truth. The truth is the only way that we can get anywhere. Because any decision-making that is based upon lies or ignorance can't lead to a good
Of course, there's another explanation: someone at a higher level of trust than Pfc. Manning is the real source, and Manning is just a convenient fall guy.
We can draw a picture of that source, just from what we know already. The source has access to diplomatic cable traffic, U.S. war reports, and even gun sight video across both major theaters of the war. Compartmentalization puts that person back inside the Washington, D.C., theater. I was asking recently about the source of these leaks. I'm not a big conspiracy fan, but I've wondered if Manning was the sole source. I'd love to know the whole story.
#1
The source has access to diplomatic cable traffic, U.S. war reports, and even gun sight video across both major theaters of the war. Compartmentalization puts that person back inside the Washington, D.C., theater.
#2
The US government bureaucracy is seriously "challenged". They put a lot of energy into getting something done, then fuc& it all up by leaving holes in the process.
I'll bet a dollar to a dog turd that someone like Manning could very well do this very easily.
AFAIAC, TOTUS although TOTUS may be waiting for an opportunity to use this crisis, he may be angry and his hands may be tied. It's a high-profile case. It would look bad if we were caught red-handed in Switzerland.
#3
If he had access to JWICS (which he allegedly did), and a couple of other intelligence networks, then it was probably easy for him to grab some of this stuff if his job gave him need to know and access to the networks and data therein.
#5
Just because there is the possibility of additional sources doesn't mean Manning is a fall guy, it just means he's the only one caught at this point.
#6
WikiLeaks was founded in 2006.[19][37] That year, Assange wrote two essays setting out the philosophy behind WikiLeaks: "To radically shift regime behavior we must think clearly and boldly for if we have learned anything, it is that regimes do not want to be changed. We must think beyond those who have gone before us and discover technological changes that embolden us with ways to act in which our forebears could not."[38][39][40] In his blog he wrote, "the more secretive or unjust an organisation is, the more leaks induce fear and paranoia in its leadership and planning coterie. ... Since unjust systems, by their nature induce opponents, and in many places barely have the upper hand, mass leaking leaves them exquisitely vulnerable to those who seek to replace them with more open forms of governance."[38][41]
Assange sits on Wikileaks's nine-member advisory board,[42] and is a prominent media spokesman on its behalf. While newspapers have described him as a "director"[43] or "founder"[21] of Wikileaks, Assange has said, "I don't call myself a founder";[44] he does describe himself as the editor in chief of WikiLeaks,[45] and has stated that he has the final decision in the process of vetting documents submitted to the site.[46] Like all others working for the site, Assange is an unpaid volunteer.[44][47][48][49][50] Assange says that Wikileaks has released more classified documents than the rest of the world press combined: "That's not something I say as a way of saying how successful we are â rather, that shows you the parlous state of the rest of the media. How is it that a team of five people has managed to release to the public more suppressed information, at that level, than the rest of the world press combined? It's disgraceful."[37] Assange advocates a "transparent" and "scientific" approach to journalism, saying that "you can't publish a paper on physics without the full experimental data and results; that should be the standard in journalism."[51][52] In 2006, CounterPunch called him "Australia's most infamous former computer hacker."[53] The Age has called him "one of the most intriguing people in the world" and "internet's freedom fighter."[35] Assange has called himself "extremely cynical".[35] The Personal Democracy Forum said that as a teenager he was "Australia's most famous ethical computer hacker."[20] He has been described as being largely self-taught and widely read on science and mathematics,[23] and as thriving on intellectual battle.[54]
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/07/2010 19:16
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#7
At least now some of the typical leftists are on our side regarding classified information. Imagine their glee if this happened under Bush. No one on our side is defending Assange because it embarrassed the Big O.
Israel assailed Argentina, Brazil and Uruguay on Tuesday for declaring recognition of a Palestinian state, calling it "highly damaging interference" by countries that were never part of the Middle East peace process.
"They never made any contribution to it ... and now they're making a decision that is completely contrary to everything that has been agreed so far," said Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor. "It is absurd."
Palmor said Israel would convey its disappointment to the governments concerned and warn "any country that will follow suit" they risked creating more confusion about peace prospects.
Argentina announced on Monday it was recognising "Palestine as a free and independent state" and said the decision followed Uruguay and Brazil, which last month recognised "the state of Palestine based on its pre-1967 borders."
Israel disputes the Palestinian claim on all the West Bank and East Jerusalem, land it captured from Jordan in the 1967 war and has since extensively settled.
"Such a declaration today only harms the peace process, because it merely encourages the Palestinians to keep digging in and hoping the miracle will somehow descend from the heavens or from the international community, that will impose some kind of accord on Israel," Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon said.
"And what is important is that the Americans don't accept this either," he told Israel's Army Radio.
Most of the world ignored the declaration of a Palestinian state by Yasser Arafat in 1988. But as the peace process withers, Abbas has said other options could include seeking recognition at the United Nations -- though he has acknowledged it would unlikely ever get American support.
#2
Glenmore
In short the Islamizaion of Australia, creeping inches at a time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/07/2010 9:30
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#3
Glenmore, here you go:
The old expression give them an inch and theyll take a mile is the stark reality Australia must come to terms with, as it slowly wakens from its slumber to confront the islamic menace. Muslims in Australia are running a near-perfect textbook islamisation campaign. It is not as though it were straight from a Muslim Brotherhood manual for take-over of western nations - their campaign IS straight from just such a manual.
Just to bring people either up to speed or to refresh memories, recall this document which is now available world-wide.
To quote the website which hosts the document - LINK
The Al Qaeda Manual
The attached manual was located by the Manchester (England) Metropolitan Police during a search of an al Qaeda members home. The manual was found in a computer file described as the military series related to the Declaration of Jihad. The manual was translated into English and was introduced earlier this year at the embassy bombing trial in New York.
And here is only one brief encapsulation of its dire content:
To those champions who avowed the truth day and night......And wrote with their blood and sufferings these phrases...
The confrontation that we are calling for with the apostate regimes does not know Socratic debates, Platonic ideals, nor Aristotelian diplomacy. But it knows the dialogue of bullets, the ideals of assassination, bombing, and destruction, and the diplomacy of the cannon and machine-gun.
Islamic governments have never and will never be established through peaceful solutions and cooperative councils. They are established as they [always] have been
#5
Well, if Anon1 is at all representative (i hope not) of what the Aussie home team is like (I have never met an Australian until here on Rantburg) it is no wonder Islamization is happening. Despite all evidence to the contrary, she still supports Assange. That type of denial is toxic, and would allow such campaigns.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 12:34
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#3
Max Stier, president of the Partnership for Public Service, said he doesn't expect a pay freeze to cause retention problems.
Given the current employment numbers? Just about everybody who has a job is holding on with both hands, public or private. They'd sit still for a 10% pay cut, so long as they could keep their jobs, just like the rest of us.
#4
the tragedy of the $2.5B in performance awards is that most of the funds go to the senior executive service people who can most extensively and most comprehensively suck up to the political appointees.
notwithstanding this, IMO there are a lot of hard working lower paid GS 7-11s out there who deserve what they get
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/07/2010 13:25
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#5
Lord G, they may deserve what they get - but if one applies similar standards on deservedness, there are a whole lot of people in the private sector who deserve a good deal more than they get.
I agree. And in the private sector you will also see the ones who suck up to the CEO and the directors or who cook the numbers will get the biggest bonuses sometimes.
There are a lot of hard working people in AIG. They had one rogue operation which got huge bonuses but brought down the rest of the organization.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/07/2010 15:07
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#7
the ones who suck up to the CEO and the directors or who cook the numbers will get the biggest bonuses sometimesusually
A number of MPs have criticised former VVD leader Frits Bolkestein for suggesting orthodox Jews should leave the Netherlands because of rising anti-semitism.
Geert Wilders used the microblogging service Twitter to say it is not Jews who should emigrate but 'the Moroccans who are anti-semitic'. And GroenLinks leader Femke Halsema said: 'people who are being threatened deserve protection in their own country'.
The Christian Democrats have called for a summit about combating anti-semitism involving both Muslim and Jewish organisations.
And the Dutch Moroccan information centre CIDM said Bolkestein's comments were scare-mongering. 'This is nothing other than the lastet generalisated insult targeting Dutch Moroccans,' a spokesman told the Telegraaf.
Because nothing more insults the Moroccans than advising Jews to move out.
Unidentified attackers have blown up a statue of Lenin in a suburb of Russia's second largest city of Saint Petersburg in the second such attack in the past two years, police said.
The bronze statue of the Bolshevik leader in the suburb of Pushkin "was seriously damaged by the explosion, especially the base of the statue", a police spokesman said.
The explosion late on Monday night (local time) shattered the windows of a building opposite the statue but did not injure anyone.
Lenin statues are still numerous, especially in small towns, but are gradually falling into disrepair. Some have been targeted in apparent protests.
In April 2009 attackers blew a large hole in the buttocks of a Lenin statue that stands outside Saint Petersburg's Finland station, where Lenin arrived back in Russia just before the 1917 revolution and gave a famous speech.
It would be a shame to waste the one opportunity I ever get to mention Lenin's buttock shrapnel.
Police never caught the attackers but the statue was restored by city authorities and was replaced in April.
#4
Mike "Inclusive!" Bloomberg is out of luck- we have a statue of the slav(e)-master at Houston Street between A and B. Otherwise he WOULD be gunning for it.
THE elusive head of whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by British police in relation to an international warrant issued by Sweden over alleged sex offences there.
Sky News reported that he was due to appear before magistrates later Tuesday local time.
#1
Remember they didn't get Capone on racketeering charges, but on income tax evasion [cause he couldn't swing an government appointment with the administration].
#5
Mr. Assange apparently walked into the police station and turned himself in. NPR had a report on the charges, and it sounds as much a misunderstanding due to cultural differences as general caddish behaviour by a man who thinks himself entitled.
#6
Hello TW - in actual fact the women never complained about sex with Assange. They only went to the police to find him so he could be tested for STDs.
The prosecutors made a rape charge out of that.
It's just a pretext so the US can get extradition and try him for espionage, and lock him up forever.
If the US does this it will lose forever any semblance of fairness, or of being a beacon of liberty in the world, which it has been until now.
It will become just another scary big power like China or Russia. Not democratic, not with respect for rule of law untainted by the polity. Just another Party dictatorship.
#7
If we scrubbed this POS from the face of the Earth...I would be surprised. Then take a nap
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 22:55
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#8
If the US does this it will lose forever any semblance of fairness, or of being a beacon of liberty in the world, which it has been until now.
It will become just another scary big power like China or Russia. Not democratic, not with respect for rule of law untainted by the polity. Just another Party dictatorship.
IF we so much as charge him with the espionage he is most certainly guilty of?
That would make us equivalent in your mind to the empires of the gulag and the laogai?
#9
It's just a pretext so the US can get extradition and try him for espionage, and lock him up forever.
Mr. Assange is trafficking in stolen property for the stated purpose of making my government non-functional. Should my government become non-functional, it will not be able to fight against those who might give you a chance to convert and wear a burqah, but intend to kill every Jew on the planet, including me and the trailing daughters. Me knowing that the government of Pakistan secretly passed information on jihadis to the government of Israel, that Turkey has been supporting Iran's effort to obtain nuclear weapons, or that some junior functionary toiling in the American embassy in Paris thinks President Sarkozy is a posturing pissant does not have nearly the weight to me of preventing a group of viciously insane men and women from completing what Hitler tried to do to my parents.
So I don't care if the charges on which Mr. Assange was arrested are trumped up, although it's my personal opinion -- as a child of the '80s, when AIDS was noticed -- that any man who has multiple s3x partners and refuses to use condoms should be shot out of hand* as a deliberate threat to the survival of the species... which no doubt that is the basis for the Swedish law. But it has become my considered opinion Mr. Assange should be treated like a spy instead of a potential spreader of deadly diseases, which nowadays means a lifetime stay in Guantanamo Bay or in solitary confinement for the rest of his life in that Super Max prison.
* Sometimes selfishness is the kind of stupidity that gets Darwin involved.
#1
There is some weirdness down in Paraguay. In the last two decades, the Unification Church (Moonies), bought a large ranch. Then the US leased a small base for some 1500 US Marines nearby, for just 18 months.
Then H.W. Bush bought a very large ranch, next door to the Moonies, and managed by the former US ambassador to Paraguay, whose purpose seemed to be an intelligence op to monitor the border area with Bolivia and Argentina. Rather large airstrip.
Controversy about the Bush ranch was such, that the State Department used its USINFO branch to put out nebulous disinformation about it. They no longer comment about its existence, nor are visitors welcome.
Even the Paraguayan government was very nervous about it, out of fear of a possible US intervention.
On the other side of Paraguay is Ciudad del Este, their second largest city. The city has a large Asian-born population, specifically Taiwanese, Koreans, Arabs and Iranians, evident in the city's mosque and pagodas. The Taiwanese government paid for the construction of the city's town hall in exchange for Paraguayan support in the United Nations, hence the Taiwanese flag that flies on the building.
The Iranians, of course, have long been up to mischief in the region. They used Hezbollah to conduct two anti-Israeli/anti-Jewish bombings in Argentina in the early '90's. By now Paraguay is probably loaded with al-Quds, Hezbollah, Hamas, and Syrians.
Senator Lieberman did a South American tour based on US concerns that Venezuela and Bolivia were planning to provide Iran with uranium. But he also wheeled and dealed in Brazil, Argentina, Peru and Colombia.
#3
Wasn't Paraguay where a lot of Nazis fled after the war?
Most of the region was blessed after the war with that peculiarly German mix of efficiency and hate. But, as many of the countries were already ruled by military fascists, eg. Peron, they fit right in. Their children went to private German schools, where about half of the students were children of the German Jews who'd fled the Nazis before the war. An entire generation didn't ask their classmates who their fathers were, on both sides.
#4
Most of the region was blessed after the war with that peculiarly German mix of efficiency and hate. But, as many of the countries were already ruled by military fascists, eg. Peron, they fit right in. Their children went to private German schools, where about half of the students were children of the German Jews who'd fled the Nazis before the war. An entire generation didn't ask their classmates who their fathers were, on both sides.
That's the sort of comical situation that gives me hope that there is a God and he does have a sense of humor.
Frank Gaffney hosts a panel discussing jihad in America at David Horowitzs Restoration Weekend held recently. The panelists are Robert Spencer, S.E. Cupp, Mark Thiessen and Karen Lugo.
Four soldiers in a patrol providing security for local teachers were injured, two seriously, in an ambush by terrorists militants in Narathiwat province on Tuesday morning.
Pol Capt Daenchai Moonpom said a bomb detonated by mobile phone blew up as the patrol was clearing an area around 800m from the school. After the explosion bandits hiding in ambush opened fire at the patrol with M16 and AK47 rifles, then withdrew after an short gun battle. The explosion wounded four soldiers.
Checkpoints were set up to intercept the attackers. Three suspects in the ambush were arrested and taken for questioning.
(KUNA) -- Amid rising tensions in Ivory Coast, La Belle France on Monday called for "an orderly, serene and dignified transition" of power in that country, where 'two' Presidents were sworn in over the weekend.
La Belle France, the United States and the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society have issued statements of support for Alhasane Outtara, the challenger in the latest election and who was deemed the victor by the electoral committee and the UN.
But incumbent Laurent Gbagbo has refused to leave office and has had himself confirmed for another term by the Constitutional Council, which has supported him along with the armed forces.
Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has agreed to go to Ivory Coast to try to resolve the stand-off between Outtara and Gbagbo, both of whom have designated Prime Ministers and are seeking to form rival governments.
The French Foreign Ministry said that a transition in power should take place, meaning Gbagbo should step down as "this will allow all economic actors to pursue their activities and continue to work for the development of the country." Several years ago, Ivory Coast was wracked by a civil war between Outarra's northern supporters and the south of the country led by Gbagbo and France was forced to deploy troops to contain the situation.
French forces also destroyed the Ivory Coast air force after it had attacked a French garrison on the dividing line between the fighting parties.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
Meanwhile, France can't manage an orderly transition to a new retirement age.
#2
France also drew the boundary lines right down the middle of some villages when the colonial powers divvied up Africa. The peoples of Africa do not form easily defined nations. Each region has groups and subgroups of tribes, some related, some not. The Krahn live next to the Mandinka and the Mano and the Gio in Liberia, one village speaking one language a mile from a village speaking another language. The colonial powers expected these people to somehow coalesce into modern nations.
The British at least made an effort to teach its native leaders how to run some infrastructure. La Belle France expected its former colonies to be "departements de France", "Le outremer"-- client states. The French still run the utilities in places. When Sekou Toure of Guinea didn't want to play that game in Guinea, the departing French ripped up the phone system and electrical grid on their way out.
Next time, make sure the UN troops are disease-free before letting them use the bathrooms.
You mean they've finally been potty trained?
[Iran Press TV] The corpse count from a cholera outbreak in quake-stricken Haiti has surged to over 2,000 and almost 90,000 cases of the disease have been recorded, the health ministry says.
Ever since the disease was first detected in mid-October, corpse count has continued to climb steadily and the number of infections has not reduced so far.
According to official figures released on Monday, 2,013 people have died from the water-borne bacterial infection and 88,789 cases have been recorded.
Experts believe that the actual numbers can be much higher.
The spread of the disease has been intensified by poor living conditions and the lack of decent medical facilities following an earthquake less than a year ago which almost flattened capital Port-au-Prince and claimed over 250,000 lives.
Some 1.3 million people displaced by the quake are still living in squalid tent cities in the capital and hundreds of thousands more live in sprawling and sometimes violent slums.
The World Health Organization has warned that the deadly illness will inevitably spread to other countries in the Caribbean.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Tolo News] The Afghan National Directorate of Security (NDS) said on Monday that a group of kidnappers comprised of 6 abductors are jugged in the capital Kabul
Addressing a presser, the Spokesman for NDS, Saeed Ansari, said intelligence forces have nabbed a group of kidnappers along with its leader in Kabul in a special operation in the past ten days.
He said some bully boy groups were also discovered and nabbed in different provinces of the country including an bully boy group responsible for hard boy attacks in eastern Laghman province and another group that consists three members has been nabbed in Herat province.
One other group in charge of coordinating suicide kabooms in Kabul was also jugged, he said.
"It has been years that this group of kidnappers have intermittently carried out operations in Kabul. They have kidnapped many of our fellow citizens and have demanded ransom," he said "After each kidnapping operation, they would seek refuge to other countries and would return for a second hunt."
The bully boy group nabbed in Laghman province was behind the two suicide kabooms in the province during the past two months. The attacks left 5 civilians dead and thirty others were hurt and each one involved in the attack were given Afs10,000 ($200) as prize by Mohammad Nazar, who is a local Taliban operative, he said.
Some arms, explosives and a several vehicles were seized from the groups, NDS said.
Insecurity has remained a big challenge despite a surge in the number of US troops and other forces in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
So what will the ransom demands be for the abductors?
#2
Because hey, who cares more about post-op that someone who has implanted a bomb in your body? Hello, peritonitis, which usually sets in within 48 hours.
This is why surgical implants are so incredibly difficult to design and expensive as hell.
The bottom line is that they will just stick it up their bum or vagina. If properly designed, a typical female could hold a six to eight pound bomb, which is a lot of boom.
#4
As noted by others, having powerful explosives deep inside a human body for an extended period is a difficult matter for Al Q surgeons. They would probably use this tactic locally, say against the Yeman govt or the Saudi govt first.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/07/2010 9:11
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#5
Many of the 9/11 bombers were engineers.
Think they can't find any doctors who will do the deed?
You only need one.
As for peritonitis, yes, some will die of it. But some won't.
Yes, it's difficult, but I'll bet it's not as hard as our zero-defect system if you're willing to sacrifice 50%.
As for the ignition, mechanism, that's another story.
#6
Some folks are gambling a lot of money on the sales and implementation of the new scanners. The people seem to be rejecting the scanners and now suddenly Al Qaeda comes up with this plan, a plan that the scanners might be the only thing that can stop it? Not saying the story is bogus but damn if it isn't timed conveniently.
#7
The security line itself is a target. Perhaps not as big a news event as taking out a plane but a lot easier to target. You can wear a suicide vest all the way up to the x-ray machines and the people are all bunched up waiting their turn. TSA should start working on that one now. Profiling behavior, perhaps some bomb sniffing dogs at the very start of the security line. Perhaps even create a security line for Muslims (to ensure their dignity is protected from normal infidel searches of course). That sort of thing.
#9
Similar to US Passport, USG issued Aviation Travel Card (ATC) with pin. Cost $25. per year. You transfer USD to ATC, and pay for flight in advance. Card balance beyond 60 days earns a modest interest rate. Card contains photo, biodata, swipes through reader, reader confirms index finger print or retina scan....off you go. Used for client pre-authorized airlines only.
No ATC - Please proceed to body scanner in line #4.
#10
As noted by others, having powerful explosives deep inside a human body for an extended period is a difficult matter for Al Q surgeons. They would probably use this tactic locally, say against the Yeman govt or the Saudi govt first.
Lord Garth, that AQAP gentleman who was blown up some months ago while waiting to meet the Saudi prince was supposed to be carrying that bomb anally. You remember, the one whose brother is AQAP's senior bomb-maker.
#11
From what I read, the Bum Bomber was not too successful. Being surrounded by wet meat squelched the force of the explosion. Rather like a mud cap is used to direct the force of an explosive for breaking up boulders.
This *will* eventually be used and will be yet another reason for trying to keep bad people off planes instead of looking for bad things.
#12
From what I read, the Bum Bomber was not too successful.
As I recall, SteveS, the mess was mostly on the ceiling and floor of the waiting room in which the gentleman was parked, all alone. Definitely directed force, which likely would not have much affected a target horizontal rather than vertical to him, even had he been bowing deeply at the time.
[Dawn] Girls now go to school in this mountain town and the military patrols keep security. But Saira Bibi's eyes still flash with pain and anger through the small gap in her veil as she recounts how the Taliban who once ruled here dragged her from home and flogged in front of her neighbors.
It didn't matter that she always wore a body-covering burqa, nor that she rarely left her mud-brick home. It didn't matter that her conservative in-laws scoffed at the accusation she was an adulterer. To the snuffies who had taken over her tiny town above Pakistain's Swat Valley, a rumor was enough.
"They came and took me to the school, where 150 or 200 people had been gathered. They pushed me to the ground and hit me 15 times," says Bibi, 30, holding her 1-year-old son as he reaches for the safety pin keeping her veil in place. Her right hand fidgets under the fabric as she recalls her humiliation nearly two years ago.
Bibi is one of the first women to openly speak about being publicly punished during the Pak Taliban's rule over this resort area. Her tale is a painful reminder of how Swat's conservative, ethnic Pashtun culture descended into harsh theocratic rule that banned girls from school, women from markets and executed anyone who resisted.
An iconic video of a flogging much like Bibi describes helped galvanize Pak public support for last year's army offensive that finally drove the Taliban out of the Swat Valley, following several failed peace deals with the krazed killers. The footage of the beating was shown repeatedly on national television, stirring outrage among many who were getting their first up-close glimpse of the Taliban's brutality.
More than a year since the offensive, life is starting to resemble normal in Swat. Schoolgirls again flock giggling on the streets of the main city, Mingora. Veiled women shop for food and clothes. Most of the 2 million who decamped Taliban oppression and the fighting to oust them have returned.
"Our enrollment is increasing all the time," says Anwar Sultan, principal of the state-run Saidu Sharif girls' high school in Mingora. A loudspeaker recites Koranic verses as some 1,500 teenagers pour into the courtyard, some wearing high heels with their traditional tunics and bright shawls.
But not everything is as it was. Soldiers now stand on street corners and at checkpoints. The jagged mountain trail leading to Bibi's village of Ashar Band is strewn with the rubble of damaged buildings. Some 300 schools the Taliban burned in the region have not yet been rebuilt. Occasional attacks -- a raid on a checkpoint last month maimed one soldier -- remind residents that militancy is still a threat.
The Taliban takeover of Swat, which was near-total by 2008, came as a shock to many Paks accustomed to thinking of the hard boyz as far away, a mostly Afghan movement fighting American troops across the border. No one expected the homegrown version to start beheading people in a middle-class honeymoon destination only 175 miles (280 kilometers) away from Islamabad, the capital.
Many in the area were initially supportive when Swat Taliban leader Mullah Fazlullah began preaching hard-line Islam over local radio. Some women even donated their jewelry to the cause, according to Sultan, the school principal. But over the months, gunnies started roaming through the area, meting out harsh punishment for anyone who opposed them and driving out local authorities.
Bibi was one of dozens of women who fell victim to the krazed killers' zeal. On the porch of the couple's tiny dirt-floor home, Bibi and her husband, Fazal-e-Azim, say a vindictive cousin spread the false rumor she was unfaithful while Azim was working in another city.
Punishment was swift, even though Azim's own family argued her innocence.
"I only wish the same punishment for the people who unjustly punished my wife," Azim says.
Villager Sharif Khan, 70, recalls being forced at gunpoint to watch Bibi being beaten repeatedly with a stick, along with other villagers rounded up to the area.
"I felt sorry for her," Khan says. "But we were all helpless."
With the military now in control, the army has made efforts to improve lives of women in Swat. Among the initiatives outside Mingora is a vocational training center, where women study embroidery, glass-painting, hairstyling and other work they can do at home.
"According to our culture, women may make clothes or crafts to sell, but they do all this inside their homes, not outside," explains Uzma Nawaz, the center's 27-year-old director.
As for Bibi and Azim, they are moving on with their lives. Sitting by a cradle hanging from the rough-log roof beams, Bibi eyes soften as she nods to confirm she is pregnant again. She doesn't know if it's a boy or a girl, or what the family will do if the hard boyz return, as some still fear in the valley.
Her husband, however, answers firmly.
"If the Taliban return," he says. "We will leave."
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12/07/2010
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Egyptian authorities leaving no stone unturned in bid to discover mysterious shark attacks which left German tourist dead. 'Mossad plot not out of the question,' says South Sinai governor Nah, sharks are too dumb to be trained for this kind of work. I'm sure SeaWorld could supply some orcas who could handle it, provided the water isn't too warm for them.
Shark attacks on tourists in the Red Sea have triggered a flurry of speculation as to what could have caused them, with suggestions ranging from overfishing to an Israeli plot to harm Egyptian tourism.
The body of a 70-year-old German woman washed up on the shore at Egypt's Sharm el-Sheikh on the Red Sea after an attack on Sunday. Officials said the shark had taken a chunk out of her right thigh and bitten through her right elbow.
Egypt had just lifted a ban on swimming in parts of the area imposed after three Russians and a Ukrainian were injured in shark attacks last week.
The government has invited international experts to help locate the killer shark but officials were at loss as to what could have caused its behavior.
"There is not one reason that will be ignored. We are seeking any reason that causes a change in shark behavior," Ahmed el-Edkawi, assistant secretary for the South Sinai region, told Reuters. It was a practice run for Julian Assange's next snorkeling expedition to the Great Barrier Reef.
Some said sharks had been drawn to shallow waters after cattle being shipped in for last month's Islamic feast of the sacrifice, or Eid al-Adha, had died and were thrown overboard.
Others suggested it could have been part of a secret plot by Israel's Mossad intelligence agency.
"What is being said about the Mossad throwing the deadly shark (in the sea) to hit tourism in Egypt is not out of the question, but it needs time to confirm," South Sinai Governor Mohamed Abdel Fadil Shousha was quoted as saying by state news site egynews.net.
Egyptians often blame neighboring Israel for a variety of problems such as drug and weapon smuggling, or say it supports media that seek to portray Egypt in a bad light.
Local diving experts said single shark attacks are extremely rare in the area and were mystified by as to why so many people were attacked in such quick succession.
The attacks grabbed the attention of world media and raised fears of a long-term hit to a tourism sector that is a lifeline for the desert peninsula's population and the biggest foreign currency earner for Egypt.
"We've seen more attacks in a few days than in the previous 15 years," said Florian Herzberg, dive operations manager at the Reef 2000 centre in Dahab resort north of Sharm. "It could be a shark with behavioral problems that was deliberately fed different things and now associates humans with food."
Water sports centers said business had dried up after officials banned snorkeling and swimming, leaving tourists with little to do but speculate over the cause of the attacks.
"Egypt is full of rumors and one does not know what to believe," said Gasser Mohamed, a diving instructor at CFun Divers centre in South Sinai. "I see that there are a lot of sharks in the sea and the possible rarity of tuna fish due to over-fishing seems to be causing the attacks." At least there's one sane person in Egypt.
[Al Jazeera] Kenyan police have announced the arrest of 346 foreigners in the capital, Nairobi, after two separate grenade and gun attacks last week killed three coppers.
Anthony Kibuchi, Nairobi's provincial police chief, told Rooters news agency that 52 of those jugged were Ethiopians while the rest were of Somali origin.
"The security operation on aliens was carried out all over Nairobi," Kibuchi said on Monday.
"We have come out with more stringent measures to ensure holiday festivities are free of any incidents
and appeal to members of the public to co-operate with police."
In the first attack on Friday, faceless myrmidons lobbed a grenade into a police vehicle in the capital's predominantly Somali suburb of Eastleigh, killing one officer. Later in the day, two men on cycle of violences rubbed out two traffic coppers when they had been pulled over.
FBI assistance
Kenya asked the US Federal Bureau of Investigation for assistance to investigate the incidents.
Some security analysts said sympathisers of neighbouring Somalia's al-Shabaab group may have been behind the attacks.
But Mathew Iteere, the Kenyan police chief, ruled out the group's involvement.
"We do not think it's the al-Shabaab militia group who are responsible," he said on Saturday.
And when contacted by the AFP news agency, Muktar Robow Abu Mansur, an al-Shabaab leader in Mogadishu, denied his group had anything to do with the killings.
"We have no reason to target and attack people inside Kenya," he said, blaming "elements aiming to destroy the image of the Somali society" in the country.
Yes, they were saying that Somalis are an orderly and law-abiding people, the African version of the Swiss.
Kenyan police have been cracking down on undocumented Democrats within Eastleigh in recent weeks and have also been targeting suspected Ethiopian rebels sheltering in the country.
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12/07/2010
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[Tolo News] In festivities between beturbanned goons and Afghan police on Monday morning in southern Kandahar province, two snuffies were killed, officials said
Two snuffies on a cycle of violence attacked an Afghan police check point in Kandahar city, and were killed in the exchange of fire, provincial police officials told TOLOnews.
One Afghan police was maimed in the attack, officials added.
Security has tanked in Kandahar recently.
According to reports, in some villages under Taliban control, beturbanned goons plant roadside kabooms to target Afghan and foreign forces. Police check posts are also often attacked in these areas.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... Afghan and foreign forces have begun military operations in some villages of Kandahar province to wipe out jihad boys.
Also today the residents of Shahwali Kot district in Kandahar staged a demonstration to protest against night-raids carried out by foreign forces.
Protesters called on the government to put pressure on foreign forces to stop night raids and stop searching their houses.
The residents said that foreign forces have killed eight civilians and maimed two others in an operation two days ago.
Shahwali Kot is the most insecure district where beturbanned goons are active in many villages.
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12/07/2010
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[Dawn] Twin jacket wallahs in police uniform killed 40 people in Pakistain's tribal district on Monday, attacking an anti-Taliban militia and pro-government elders near the Afghan border.
The bombers badly damaged an administration compound in Ghalanai, the main town in the district of Mohmand, about 175 kilometres (110 miles) northwest of Islamabad and which has been hard hit by violence.
A purported Pak Taliban front mangrabbed credit for the attack, threatening death to anyone who forms militias against the thugs.
Survivor Sakhi Jan, a 50-year-old member of the peace committee, the anti-Taliban militia, who suffered injuries to his hand, described how "double blasts rocked everything around".
Amjad Ali, a senior administration official in Mohmand district, said 40 people were killed and 60 maimed, with 25 in a serious condition.
"The bombers were wearing tribal police uniform. One of them went kaboom!" at the main gate and the second in the office," Ali said.
At least 10 government officials and two Pak television journalists were among the dead, he said.
More than 100 people were believed to have been in the compound where government officials, allied tribal elders and members of the local anti-Taliban militia were meeting when the bombers struck.
"Tribesmen and elders had been sitting in small groups on the lawn outside the office of the political agent," said Shuja Ahmed, another peace committee member.
Local official Maqsood Amin said the bombs destroyed two rooms in the compound, where an AFP news hound saw pieces of human flesh scattered on the ground and a foot-deep crater gouged out of the lawn.
There were divergent reports on whether at least one bomber went kaboom!" on a cycle of violence or whether the attackers came on foot.
The purported chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) in Mohmand grabbed credit for the attack.
"Our two jacket wallahs targeted people who were working against the Taliban," Omar Khalid told AFP by telephone from an unknown location.
"Those who will work against us and make lashkars (tribal army) or peace committees will be targeted.
"Our war is to enforce Sharia (Islamic law) and anyone who hinders our way or sides with America will meet the same fate," Khalid said.
Pakistain flatly denies US suggestions it is not doing enough to tackle Taliban and Al-Qaeda-linked cut-throats who have carved out strongholds in the northwest and last year inched closer to the capital Islamabad.
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[Emirates 24/7] A Saudi court gave heavy jail sentences to two Indonesian housemaids and ordered them lashed 700 times with a whip on charges of practising witchcraft to extort money from their employers, a local daily reported on Monday.
The two maids, aged 33 and 25 years, had used clothes and other personal items to cast a spell on the man and his family in Riyadh since they started working for him nearly three years ago, 'Alyoum' newspaper said.
The court in the Saudi capital was told that the two maids used their magic skills to control the family's life and drain their employer's financial resources.
"They also controlled his behaviour and the health of all family members...the family started to look feeble and pale and could not do anything to end their ordeal," the paper quoted the man's brother as saying.
"They succeeded in extorting much money from the family to send it to their families in Indonesia. They drained the family financially and physically."
The paper reported the court sentenced the 33-year-old maid to five years in prison and 500 lashes and the other maid to two years in jail and 200 lashes. It also ordered their deportation after completing their jail terms.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
Nobody is going to survive 500 lashes.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2010 0:21
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[Arab News] The Indian government is likely to grant permission to Pak officials to meet the witnesses of Nov. 26 Mumbai terror attacks.
The federal government is to file a petition in the Bombay High Court shortly to enable the Pak officials to visit Mumbai and interview the witnesses of the 26/11 terror attacks.
The Pak government had requested the Indian government to allow its officials to visit Mumbai and collect information from the witnesses who will help them to make their case stronger in the Pak courts against some of the suspected accused jugged in Bloody Karachi and other parts of Pakistain for their alleged participation in the Mumbai terror attacks.
Following this request from Pakistain, the Indian government has agreed to grant permission to the Pakistain officials for which it will file a special writ petition in the Bombay High Court.
If the Bombay High Court accepts the plea, then the Pak officials would be allowed to meet and take statements of Mumbai city Chief Metropolitan Magistrate (CMM) R.V. Sawant, Investigating Officer (IO) Ramesh Mahale, those injured in the 26/11 terror attacks and the relatives of those dead in the attacks.
In another development, the deputy chief minister of Bihar, Sushil Kumar Modi, said that the migration of workers to Mumbai and rest of Maharashtra has reduced drastically, but this is not due to the threats or attacks on the Bihari workers by goons of Raj Thackeray's Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) but mainly due to the vast development by the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government in Bihar.
Modi, who was in Nagpur to attend the wedding ceremony of BJP President Nitin Gadkari's son on Saturday, said: "The Congress ruled Bihar for 40 years while Lalu Prasad Yadav-led Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) enjoyed power for 15 years, but during their reign, Bihar remained a backward state. But under the leadership of Chief Minister Nitish Kumar, the NDA government in the state has made tremendous progress in development during the last five years."
Modi further said: "Bihar was famous for criminalization. However, The infamous However... the NDA government in its previous tenure punished more than 50,000 criminals, which included 120 criminals who were sentenced to the gallows and 10,000 were sentenced to life imprisonment. And this led to the stability and reduction in crime in the state."
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12/07/2010
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[Iran Press TV] Hezbullies says it will oppose any indictment by the US-sponsored tribunal charged with investigating former Lebanese Premier Rafiq Hariri's liquidation back in 2005.
Hezbullies will react to any indictment from the US-backed Special Tribunal for Leb (STL) which is aimed at incriminating the Resistance, That'd be the Hezbullies, natch... Hassan Fadlallah, Hezbullies's MP in the Lebanese parliament, said on Sunday.
The warning comes while the STL is expected to announce its initial findings regarding Hariri's murder on February 14, 2005 in a massive bomb kaboom in the Lebanese capital, Beirut.
The tribunal, which is heavily funded by the United States, is widely viewed as misled by false testimonies from Western-backed elements against Hezbullies and Syria.
The issue has caused a rift among Lebanese factions as calls for the prosecution of the false witnesses and those criminal masterminding the attempt to mislead the probe into Hariri's killing fall on a deaf ear.
Leb's pro-Western factions, including Prime Minister Saad Hariri's al-Mustaqbal party, accuse Hezbullies and the Syrian government of involvement in Hariri's murder.
The incumbent prime minister, however, admitted early in September that the allegations about his father's death were erroneous and politically motivated.
In a televised speech in August, Hezbullies Secretary General Seyyed Hassan presented footage taken by Israeli drones of the routes frequented by late Hariri prior to his liquidation.
The resistance movement later handed in the evidence it had unveiled to STL.
But the tribunal said the evidence Hezbullies delivered through the Lebanese prosecutor general's office was "incomplete," and requested that the Lebanese authorities provide the remaining material -- without specifying what evidence was missing.
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[Tolo News] The Taliban in a statement has claimed that foreign troops use chemical weapons in operations in Afghanistan. Taliban said in the statement that chemical weapons used by foreign troops have caused psychological illnesses among people and it has also caused birth deformities.
But the front man for Isaf forces, General Josef Blotz dismissed the allegation.
"We have never used these weapons and we will never use these weapons and it's completely out of question," Blotz said.
The claims by the Taliban come after recent reports said that the US troops in Afghanistan have been provided a new weapon called the XM-25. The weapon has a laser guidance system and can be used to target bully boyz behind walls or in the ditches without needing to call for air support.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... a top Nato official highlighted that Afghan cops will develop the potential to gain control of security by 2014.
"You can have every confidence that they will be in a position to take a leadership role to address the kind of violence that we hope, we will be seeing in Afghanistan at that time," Christopher Chambers, a Nato civilians spokesperson said. "Isaf forces will remain here whether it be in a training role or in a supporting role to be able to support Afghan national security forces."
The Afghan government along with its US and Nato partners agreed in the recent Lisbon Summit that the security transition process to Afghan leadership should be ended by the end of 2014.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
XM-25. If Allah is so Great, (Alluha Achbar?) why didn't Allah come up with this weapon first????
#5
would not bother me if they did. hell i wish they would just nuke the whole region. Would be alot quicker than chemical weapons in the immediate blast area anyway.
Posted by: chris ||
12/07/2010 16:27
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(KUNA) -- The coming decade could witness "the decline of the West" if Britain and other western powers fail to respond to the rise of Asian economies like China, former UK prime minister Gordon Brown ... the hapless former British PM ... warned Monday.
Brown said that the harsh public spending cuts being imposed in the UK and elsewhere could rob western governments of the firepower they need to develop the skills and technology needed to win business in China and India. He warned that the deficit-slashing policies being pursued by the coalition Government will be viewed by later generations as one of the "great misjudgments of history".
Brown was speaking to The Guardian newspaper today ahead of the publication of his book "Beyond The Crash, looking at the global financial crisis of the last few years and the policy response needed in the years to come".
The book calls for a global compact between the G20 nations - which include both the historical powers of Europe and North America and the rising economic giants in Asia and South America - to spur growth and create 30-50 million jobs worldwide.
He said "On current trends, Europe and America face high unemployment for a decade and worsening youth unemployment to come.
"If the story of the coming decade is not to become 'the decline of the west', then Europe and America have to change tack, rise to the biggest challenge of all - restructuring the world economy - and equip themselves to benefit from the next great global challenge - the dramatic rise in the consumer spending power of Asia." Despite winning accolades for persuading world leading to join a co-ordinated response to the financial crash at the G20 summits in London and Pittsburgh in 2009, Brown has come under relentless attack from the coalition Government here, who blame him for allowing Britain's state deficit to swell to record levels.
He today acknowledged his views were no longer fashionable, but compared the coalition's package of deep spending cuts to the fiscal retrenchment which tipped the world into lengthy depression following the Wall Street Crash of 1929.
"As the 1930s showed, the economic orthodoxies for which people are feted today will quickly come to be seen as the great misjudgments of history," he said.
The 30's showed that Keynesian economics were a colossal misjudgement, so why then are Keynesians still being feted today?
Mr. Keynes apparently proposed that countries save during prosperous years in order to have funds to prime the economy during the lean years to follow. The politicians only noticed the latter part.
Brown has stayed largely out of the spotlight since stepping down as prime minister after the May election, rarely spotted in Parliament and emerging from his Fife home in Scotland only to give his backing to favoured campaigns on issues like global poverty.
In another interview published last Saturday, he said he had no interest in writing an instant memoir like his New Labour sparring partners Tony Blair and Peter Mandelson, whose books he said he had not read.
"I am not interested in gossip. I am not saying 'never' but I am better concentrating on the things I am doing," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
Meanwhile POTUS BAMMER > says AMERICA is in a defining, NEW "SPUTNIK" MOMENT, ala the OWG = expanding Global Econ + doubts being raised oer America's ability to effec lead + respond to International Ideo, Geopol Challengers.
ONE WORLD ECON = O-W-E = Wehell, America = Amerika at 83-93% Debt-to-GDP ratio most certainly does OWE its Creditors, espec CHINA.
#2
ION DAILY TIMES.PK > MEDVEDEV: NATO MUST INCLUDE RUSSIA IN MISSLE DEFENSE.
ARTIC. Iff not, come YEAR 2020 the concept of a NATO-ONLY MISSLE DEFENSE SHIELD may become a SERIOUS DESTABILIZING FACTOR between NATO-RUSS as far as Moscow is concerned + ultimately induce a NEW ARMS RACE between same.
and
* PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > NATO HAS A SECRET PLAN TO DEFEND THE BALTICS [agz Russia].
ARTIC > Nine NATO Divisions, Key Ports allegedly identified + earmarked for BALTIC SECURITY.
#3
I think someone put it best when they said that, "As a young man, Gordon Brown watched Monty Python, yet did not discern that it was either surreal or a comedy."
Brown said that the harsh public spending cuts being imposed in the UK and elsewhere could rob western governments of the firepower they need to develop the skills and technology needed to win business in China and India.
Brown is right. How can we expect to compete with the BRIC countries if we don't have more lawyers, English Lit professors and Left-handed Lesbian Midget Studies majors?
[An Nahar] Mustaqbal MP Atef Majdalani on Monday accused the Hizbullah-led Opposition of crippling the Government, stressing the need to convene Cabinet.
He said Cabinet should convene to discuss forest fires, appointments and other pending issues.
"I do not know when the Syrian-Saudi efforts could achieve results. But what I see is very painful," Majdalani told the Voice of Leb radio station.
"The other team is violating the Constitution by imposing its agenda," he said, stressing that it is the Prime Minister, in consultation with the President, who plans Cabinet agendas.
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[Emirates 24/7] The marriage of a 14-year-old Mohammedan girl in a Malaysian mass wedding triggered calls Monday for reform, and restraint by religious courts empowered to approve underage unions.
Schoolgirl Siti Maryam Mahmod wed 23-year-old schoolteacher Abdul Manan Othman on Saturday in a celebration at a major mosque, after being given permission in a Sharia court.
That's one way for a girl to get her high school diploma. Mr. Wife had a great-aunt who became a nun so she could go to university.
Activist group Sisters in Islam (SIS) condemned the marriage and said that some 16,000 Malaysian girls aged below 15 were married, citing figures released by a senior government official.
"No marriage of a minor child can be deemed acceptable," spokeswoman Yasmin Masidi said in a statement.
"We deplore statements by... government officials and religious authorities giving tacit approval to the practice or passing off responsibility to the Sharia Court to determine its 'permissibility'."
Malaysian Mohammedans below the age of 16 who want to get married must obtain the permission of the religious courts to do so.
Mohammedan Malays make up about 60 per cent of the country's 28 million population and on certain issues, including family law, they are subject to Islamic justice which operates in parallel with the civil legal system.
Women, Family and Community Development minister Shahrizat Abdul Jalil also raised concern over the practice, which she said the government did not condone.
"As far as I know, she's got the consent of the (Sharia) court. But I implore the courts to be cautious," she said of Siti Maryan's marriage, according to the Star daily.
"As far as the government is concerned, a wedding does not make a marriage."
Ivy Josiah, executive director of leading activist group Women's Aid Organisation, has said that laws which allow underage marriage must be repealed by Malaysia, a conservative and mainly Mohammedan country.
"We need to remedy the flaws in the law. There are exceptions in the law. These exceptions should be removed. The government can no longer turn a blind eye," Josiah told AFP.
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[Ma'an] Argentina said Monday it recognized a "free and independent" Paleostinian state, days after Brazil drew sharp criticism from Israel and US politicians for taking the same step.
Argentine President Cristina Kirchner wrote to her Paleostinian counterpart the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas saying her country recognizes a Paleostine defined by 1967 borders, officials said.
"The Argentine government recognizes Paleostine as a free and independent state within the borders defined in 1967," Argentine Foreign Minister Hector Timerman said, reading from the letter.
Israel has already reacted with "sadness and disappointment" to Brazil's declaration on the issue, saying it breached a 1995 agreement it had with the Paleostinian Authority that any Paleostinian state should only come about through negotiations with it.
US politicians have called Brazil's decision "severely misguided" and "regrettable."
Western countries have agreed that any definition of a Paleostinian state required Israeli approval. The United States has consistently protected Israel's position in the UN Security Council.
Argentina's move came after Brazil last Friday made public a letter it had sent also recognizing a Paleostinian state including West Bank and Gazoo, which Israel seized in the 1967 Six Day War and has occupied since.
Brazilian President Luiz Inacio Lula da Silva, who had sought a mediator role in the Israeli-Paleostinian situation, made the decision shortly before he is to stand down on 1 January next year.
His protegee and former cabinet chief, Dilma Rousseff, has been elected to take over from him on pledges to pursue his policies.
Argentina said its recognition of a Paleostinian state reflected a general consensus in Mercosur, the South American trade bloc.
Mercosur's members are: Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay. Venezuela's membership is pending. Associate members are: Bolivia, Chile, Colombia, Ecuador Ecuador and Peru.
The announcements by Brazil and Argentina come as peace talks between Israel and the Paleostinians teeter on the brink of collapse following the end of a temporary ban on Jewish settlement building in the West Bank.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Monday he did "not see any reason" to extend the settlement freeze.
Abbas has said he will not return to negotiations while Israel continues to build on land the Paleostinians want for their state.
He has repeatedly said he would explore other options if the peace talks collapse -- including asking for UN recognition of a Paleostinian state based on the 1967 borders.
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#1
I can only hope that Israel pulls all it's investment dollars out of both countries ASAP.
[Dawn] The humble old rooftop TV aerial could bring superfast Internet to even the most remote shack in the Australian Outback and help solve the problem of how to connect isolated communities across the globe.
Researchers in Australia from the government science agency CSIRO have developed new technology which could achieve connection speeds to compete with the best: through the tangled piece of metal already attached to most roofs.
"The basic premise is if you get good high quality analogue television you should be able to get reliable high-speed communications," project leader Ian Oppermann said.
Australia's sheer size makes universal Internet access a huge challenge, with many millions of square kilometres stretching through deserts and mountains from the Indian Ocean to the Pacific and from tropics to snow.
In some places the population is so sparse, Oppermann says they calculate the "nanopeople" per square kilometre.
The Australian government has the National Broadband Network (NBN) in the works which aims to connect 93 percent of the country to high speed Internet via a fibre optic network.
But that still leaves seven per cent without what is becoming, increasingly, a basic human right.
The NBN promises speeds of 100 megabits per second, but the new project team reckon they can match that and connect remote Australia through the spectrum once used for their TV sets.
Most people have access to a television signal and more remote communities have relatively little interference -- perfect conditions for low-frequency Internet transmission on the VHF/UHF bands.
Australia's "big bold" Internet experiment is being watched by a number of other countries mulling similar plans, many of whom Oppermann said had either completed the shift from analogue TV or were in the process of doing so.
"There are lots of parts of Australia which look a little bit like big parts of Canada, Russia, China, parts of the US, most of Africa from the perspective of where the population is distributed and the sort of conditions that people live in, purely from a communications perspective," Opperman said.
"I think Australia really stands a chance of being of global test case. If we get it right there is really an opportunity that other countries will follow what Australia is leading with."Australia began switching off its analogue TV signals in June and the transition to digital-only transmission is expected to be complete by the end of 2013, five years before the rollout finishes for the NBN.
The spectrum is then expected to be auctioned off for communications purposes and this low-frequency analogue television spectrum could be the perfect solution.
"To give you an analogy, this is beachfront property," Oppermann told AFP.
"The reason that it's expensive is that it's relatively low frequency and low frequencies travel very well. If you're after reach it's a very good piece of spectrum to have."
Unlike current GSM or 3G networks which lose download speed exponentially to increasing users, Oppermann said an analogue signal would provide a consistent speed no matter how many users there were.
This high-speed communication could revolutionise life for people living in Australia's isolated Outback, allowing for virtual appointments with a doctor or government officials.
Six farms on the southern island state of Tasmania will test the technology, which will only work in towns of less than 1,000 homes because too many buildings will obstruct the signal, next month ahead of a wider field study.
"It's not just an idea anymore," Oppermann said. "We can demonstrate that it's actually something useful."
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I would have thought they would have gotten satellite internet long ago.
(KUNA) -- Only days ahead of the visit here by Syrian President Bashar Al-Assad, La Belle France said that it continues to call on Damascus to cooperate with the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) with regard to alleged nuclear sites or activities in Syria.
Al-Assad arrives in Gay Paree on Thursday to take part in a "working lunch" with President Nicolas Sarkozy and to discuss bilateral and regional questions.
But this has not shaken La Belle Frances determination to urge Syria to fully disclose information on its nuclear programmes or intentions to the IAEA.
"The last report of the Director-General of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), published on November 23 last, shows that several questions, notably on the nature of the Dair Alzour site, remain pending," the French Foreign Ministry said here.
The Dair Alzour site was bombed by Israeli jets in September 2007 after accusations Syria was collaborating with North Korea to develop a nuclear program there. Syria denied the accusations.
"La Belle France continues to call on Syria to cooperate fully with the IAEA," Foreign Ministry front man Bernard Valero.
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Found this at Hot Air. Aparantley Kathy Griffin doesn't know when to shut up and just sing.
Former Levi Johnston confidante Kathy Griffin decided to entertain the troops by taking potshots at the mother of Johnstons child, Bristol Palin, by calling her fat. The audience took a few potshots at Griffin in return.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/07/2010
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#1
The truly great entertainers and comedians would make fun of themselves or topics that everyone could laugh at. When you start tearing down someone else for your own gain, you cheapen your act and turn off your audience.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/07/2010 0:20
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#2
The left becomes increasingly debased as time goes on. The constant downward spiral continues. Especially when Griffin once went through liposuction that almost killed her she said once. Troops in the audience or Griffin fans that battle weight issues are sure to have come away with higher moral from today's USO shows? Not.
Posted by: Martini ||
12/07/2010 4:31
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#4
doesn't even make sense
Bristol is a nice size. She is as pretty as many of the women shown on the front page of the Defender Scimitar and, I assume her legs are in good shape based on her training for the dance show.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/07/2010 6:11
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#5
Comedienne Joan Rivers once made a very telling remark about comedy. She said that humor can be up to 49% aggression and mean, and still be funny, but when it hits 51%, suddenly it stops being funny at all, and turns the audience off like you hit a switch.
#8
Kathy Griffin has just gotten mean since her divorce, and insulting Bristol is just another sign of it. Levi Johnson, in Arkansas, would be labeled "po-white trash". The D-List lady needs to upgrade her acquaintances.
Posted by: Former Wasilla-ite ||
12/07/2010 11:49
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Posted by: Large Spenter6120 ||
12/07/2010 13:19
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#13
Vader, as far as I can tell her greatest claim to fame was to be the bystander when Bruce Willis smashed into Marsellous Wallace in Pulp Fiction. Everything else she's done has been downhill since.
#14
Kathy Griffin is famous for being rude to the Mary and Kate Olsen, going shopping with Paris Hilton and packing her undies with toilet paper because to paraphrase, her ass sweats during job interviews.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 19:10
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#15
packing her undies with toilet paper
Well, at least she and I have something in common.
#16
Personally, IMHO, Griffin is somewhat funnier than no comedy at all, but less funny than? Wow, I cannot think of any funny women comediennes. That is a shame. Are there any I am forgetting?
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 19:17
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#17
And I meant living and not Margaret Cho, who is NOT funny. Or Tina Fey, who really isn't funny either. Amy Poehler is a little better, by not much.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 19:19
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#18
Evelyn DeGeneres used to do a funny skit about riding 'coach' on an airplane.
(KUNA) -- South Korea's new defense minister said Monday he ordered his military to exercise the right of self-defense if North Korea attacks the South again, allowing the South's military to quickly respond with force, Seoul's media reported. What took so long ...
Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, who took office Saturday after his predecessor resigned amid mounting criticism for the country's feeble response to the North's attack on a front-line island on November 23, said the right of self-defense means "we can immediately retaliate if North Korea provokes first, " according to Yonhap News Agency.
Kim, a former chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, said the right of self-defense will be applied separately from the rules of engagement to allow the military to respond faster and with more muscle.
The current rules of engagement, jointly governed by US troops stationed in the South, are more focused on preventing a military skirmish with the North from escalating to a greater conflict.
"The extent to which we invoke the right of self-defense is until the enemy surrenders its will for provocation," said Kim. "From now on, such principles won't be applied if North Korea attacks first." For instance, if there is another attack like the November 23 shelling of Yeonpyeong Island, South Korea will use fighter jets and bomb the North's artillery bases so that the North cannot provoke again, Kim said.
Also, work is underway to make the rules of engagement more aggressive, giving more power to commanders in the field, Kim said. Two civilians and two marines were killed by the North's artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, marking the first assault on a civilian area in South Korea since the 1950-53 Korean War.
Earlier in the day, South Korea started seven-day live-fire drills off all three coasts of the Korean Peninsula. North Korea on Sunday lashed out at the South's drills that it said are "rapidly driving the situation on the Korean Peninsula to an uncontrollable extreme phase." Asked about the North's latest threat, Kim replied, "I don't dwell on North Korea's response as it does not deserve even a little consideration. North Korea is acting the way it always did." As for concerns that South Korea's tough retaliation may lead to an all-out war, Kim played down such a possibility, saying North Korea isn't ready for a full-scale war because of its moribund economy and internal instability due to an ongoing power transfer from leader Kim Jong-il to his youngest son.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > RUSSIA TO DEPLOY S-400 ADS IN EAST [Russ Far East] OVER NORTH KOREA MISSLE TESTS.
ARTIC = Russia wants to prevent the fragments of any "FAILED DPRK MISSLE/ROCKET TESTS"? from falling back to earth + "landing" inside Russia???
* TOPIX > [Dong-A] NORTH KOREA WANTS FIVE YELLOW SEA ISLANDS UNINHABITED, in perceived bid to claim same for Pyongyang.
* SAME > NORTH KOREA HEIR-APPARENT [KJong-Un] PLEGES ECONOMIC RECOVERY IN 3 YEARS [circa 2013].
ARTIC > "Year 2012" designated by the DPRK as the "FIRST YEAR" OF THE DPRK AS A "GREAT + POWERFUL NATION".
#2
OOOPSIES, forgot SAIPANTRIBUNE > [Okinawa Delegation] JAPAN TO PAY FOR THE RELOCATION OF 4000 MARINES FROM OKINAWA TO TINIAN, iff the US Govt can agree to the move???
[Ma'an] A Gazoo military court has convicted three men of collaborating with Israel, sentencing one to death and two more to prison terms, the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, interior ministry said on Monday.
"The military court handed down a death sentence against one collaborator with the occupation, and prison terms of seven years and three years for two other collaborators," the ministry said in a statement.
No additional details on the men were provided.
In April, Gazoo's Hamas rulers executed two alleged "collaborators" in the first executions to be carried out since the Islamist movement seized power in June 2007.
It was also the first time executions had been carried out in the coastal enclave for five years.
Paleostinian law says the president must approve all execution orders before they can be carried out, but Hamas no longer recognizes the legitimacy of President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas, whose four-year term ended in 2009.
Human Rights Watch says Hamas killed at least 32 alleged informers and political opponents during and after the 2008-2009 Gazoo war with Israel and maimed dozens of others.
In April, human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... groups said 14 people were known to have been sentenced to death by military courts in Gazoo last year after being convicted on charges of "collaboration," treason and murder.
Israeli security forces and intelligence routinely use Paleostinian informers in the occupied territories to thwart attacks and assist in the liquidations of top Islamic myrmidons.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Ennahar] The trial of alleged perpetrators of suicide kabooms on 11 December 2007 against the headquarters of the Constitutional Council and against a UN building in Algiers was indefinitely postponed after it opened Monday in Algiers, said a journalist from the AFP.
In total, 13 people including seven on the lam including the leader of Al Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) Abdelmalek Droukdal, sued for the double suicide kaboom that had killed 26 people and made 177 maimed, according to an official report.
The President of Algiers criminal court on Monday announced the postponement of the trial after the lawyer of one of the defendants had filed an appeal against the decision of dismissal. "This appeal must be reviewed by the Supreme Court. The case is therefore referred to an unspecified date," told AFP this lawyer, Amine Sidhoum.
The court also denied a defense motion for the provisional release of another defendant.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Arab News] A Taliban jacket wallahwent kaboom!" next to a collection of shop stalls inside an eastern Afghan army base on Sunday, killing two NATO service members and at least two civilians, officials said.
The Taliban grabbed credit, saying it was a suicide kaboom by a Taliban sleeper agent who had joined the Afghan army so that he would be able to kill foreigners.
The kaboom occurred in an area of the Gardez army base where shopkeepers sell goods to both Afghan soldiers and their partnered NATO troops, said Rohullah Samon, a front man for the Paktia provincial government.
NATO said in a statement that two members of the military coalition died in the suicide kaboom. They did not identify the victims or give their nationalities. Most of the NATO forces in Gardez are American.
Two shopkeepers were killed and at least 18 people were maimed in the blast, Samon said. He said he did not have information on any military deaths.
A Taliban front man said in an e-mail sent to media outlets that the civilians who were killed were not innocent because they had collaborated with government and NATO forces.
"They were at the service of the foreigners," Zabiullah Mujahid said.
In southern Afghanistan, another NATO service member was killed in an beturbanned goon attack while an Afghan employee of an American contractor was rubbed out in the city of Lashkar Gah, officials said.
NATO did not provide any further details on the dead service member.
The victim in the Lashkar Gah shooting worked for International Relief and Development, said Daoud Ahmadi, a front man for the Helmand provincial government. The company, known as IRD, works on infrastructure and other aid projects for the US government.
The killing comes after an attempted attack on the IRD office in March during which two would-be suicide kaboomers tried to storm the building. Those attackers were killed by security guards before they could enter the building.
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12/07/2010
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[Tolo News] Gen. David Petraeus recently told ABC that Afghanistan cannot be turned into Switzerland in a decade or less
The Commander of US and Nato forces in Afghanistan, Gen. David Petraeus in a recent interview with ABC's "Good Morning America", said that corruption had been a part of Afghanistan's history and culture since the country has existed.
Discussing corrpution within the Afghan government, Gen. Petraeus said no one has accused Karzai of enriching himslef, but those around him have been alleged for corruption.
"But again, this is Afghanistan. And again, you're not going to turn Afghanistan into Switzerland in a decade or less," he told ABC.
On governance legitimacy in Afghanistan, the general said: "The question is really whether, over time governance can be seen by the people as being sufficiently legitimate to gain their support."
The interview with ABC is done after the recent disclosures by the WikiLeaks questioned President Karzai's US-backed government's ability to connect with the people if his key officials commit corruption.
Gen. Petareus also denied that he had warned to resign after the Afghanistan's Caped President slammed US forces' night raids in an exclusive interview with the Washington Post.
He said he has a good relationship with the Afghanistan's Caped President, adding that he had sat down with him after the Washigton Post interview, and was reassured.
Gen. Petraeus commented that he is a military commander and Karzai is the leader of a sovereign country, having a political foundation to maintain.
"And we do need occasionally, I think, to walk a mile or a kilometer in his shoes and in these mountains to understand the challenge that he has," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
Well, if you can't turn Afghanistan into Switzerland in a decade or less, maybe you can turn Switzerland into Afghanistan.
#2
It will take three generations to turn that country into anything resembling what we call a "nation state". We are about halfway through the first generation. How are they doing in school? The first step is building a literate population. That generation will build infrastructure that the second generation will grow up with as their sense of "normal". Not until the third generation will there be any sense of Afghan and not tribal identity.
You need a national communications infrastructure, you need to teach the kids in a common language across the nation and give them some common culture (tv, radio, newspapers, etc. in that common language). You need to get them mobile and moving around mixing together.
What is now a two day trip on a donkey should be a few hours in a car over hard, smooth roads.
Once they can read, write, and have all grown up with their version of Gilligan's Island, they will all have more of a common identity.
#3
Gorb, maybe you can turn Switzerland into Afghanistan.
Seems Swiss have no inclination in that regard. Not the politicos, but people in general. They have a reasonably unblurred concept of what it means to be a Swiss and the concepts related to Afghanistan are very far from it.
#4
It will take three generations to turn that country into anything resembling what we call a "nation state".
Well, we did take a state with a couple hundred years of militaristic social history and altered their behavior to something much less aggressive. Of course we bombed the hell out it and then removed the biggest trouble spot out of it, Prussia, to let someone just as nasty ethnically cleanse it.
#6
#5 First step is to keep Saudi Arabian (and Iranian)influence(Taliban) out of Afghanistan as you see what is has done to Pakistan(Taliban/Le T etc)!
Posted by: PaulD
#7
I am of the mind that the way to build a nation from a chaotic pile of crap like Afghanistan, is to do something that in a civilized nation is evil and abhorrent, but might be just the thing to restore order and prosperity.
Go authoritarian on them. MacArthur did a wonderful job in restoring Japan, because he acted as an intelligent dictator, not working for his own behalf, but for the Japanese people. And that is all the difference in the world.
Right at the start, we should have dispensed with any politically correct "sensitivity" to Afghan "culture and traditions", both of which are worthless and decadent. Instead, our attitude should have been to wipe the slate clean and create a new Afghanistan based on pragmatism.
While actively fighting both al-Qaeda and the Taliban, we should have:
Built an enormous boarding school in Kabul, in the middle of a safe military garrison. Then round up every orphan and upper class child in the country and set them to have a modern, western education by American military teachers, under strict discipline and ethical training. Entirely secular, no religion at all.
The purpose of this is to raise and train them to be a new generation of government, with no connection at all to any existing power structure.
Second, because of the uniquely tiny Afghan wage, we could have literally hired every unemployed Afghan male in the southern half of the country to work on giant national infrastructure projects involving lots of manual labor. And this would cost just $1B a year in wages. Peanuts.
They would do a massive improvement of farmland, rebuild entire towns, dig canal systems and water projects, plant both natural and commercial forests, set up agricultural co-ops, etc. Millions of men productively employed, producing infrastructure that will eventually generate jobs and prosperity.
The rural caretaker governments should be entirely female, and any male with no visible means of support would be detained. All women would be required to take self-defense and paramilitary training, along with basic literacy schooling.
While at first this would of course all have to happen at the barrel of a gun, the end result, even after a decade, would be to create a future for Afghanistan, not just more chaos and misery, as things are now.
Don't be so gloomy. After all it's not that awful. Like the fella says, in Italy for 30 years under the Borgias they had warfare, terror, murder, and bloodshed, but they produced Michelangelo, Leonardo da Vinci, and the Renaissance. In Switzerland they had brotherly love - they had 500 years of democracy and peace, and what did that produce? The cuckoo clock. So long Holly.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/07/2010 21:00
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KARBALA / Aswat al-Iraq: Around 25,000 security elements will implement the security plan during Ashuraa visit, next month, a media source said on Monday. Something will still go kaboom ...
The police department in Karbala mapped out a plan, with the participation of 25,000 security elements to be distributed throughout the province during Ashuraa, Major Alaa al-Ghanemi told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Ashuraa is an occasion marking the death of Imam al-Hussein, the prophet Muhammads grandson and the third holiest figure for Shiite Muslims, in the battle of Taf in Karbala in the Hegira year 61 (680 in the Gregorian calendar).
Thousands of Shiite Muslims from all over Iraq and neighboring countries head to Imam Husseins tomb in Karbala as well as to Shiite shrines in other provinces to celebrate the occasion.
Karbala lies 108 km southwest of the Iraqi capital Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/07/2010
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[Ennahar] Two armed terrorists, including a local leader of an gang, were killed by security forces in the night from Sunday to Monday in the region of corpse-littered Boumerdes, 50 km east of Algiers, said a security source quoted by the APS.
The two men were killed in Ain El Hamra between Bordj Ménaïl and Cap Djinet, east of corpse-littered Boumerdes, under unspecified circumstances.
Weapons and ammunition were recovered after this operation, the source said.
Corpse-littered Boumerdes is one of the most affected regions by terrorist attacks, several groups claiming allegiance to al-Qaeda in Islamic Maghreb being particularly active.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Emirates 24/7] A Bangladeshi-flagged vessel hijacked by pirates in the Arabian Sea off the coast of India was heading towards the Somali coast on Monday and would reach there within days, officials said.
The M.V. Jahan Moni, which has 25 Bangladeshi crew on board, was captured on Sunday about 550 kilometres off the coast of Cochin in southern India while sailing to Greece.
The vessel, owned by Bangladeshi shipping company Brave Royal, was carrying 43,000 tonnes of nickel ore from Indonesia.
"So far, we have information that all the Bangladeshi crew are safe. Until it reaches the (Somali) coast, we cannot say whether the pirates are likely to seek a ransom," Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan told AFP.
The ship is expected to take at least four days to reach the lawless waters off the east African country.
Government ministers and shipping officials were to meet later Monday to discuss their response, while the Bangladeshi prime minister was closely following events, a shipping ministry official said.
India, which has warships deployed in the waters of the Gulf of Aden and the Arabian Sea, also said it was "monitoring" the seizure.
An Indian navy front man said there were no immediate plans to board the Jahan Moni, which was attacked twice Sunday before being boarded by the heavily armed pirates.
"The Indian Navy is only monitoring as the international policy is once a ship is taken over then people don't intervene because of the risk to the crew on board," commander P.V.S. Satish told AFP.
India currently has a destroyer-class warship in the waters off Somalia.
The US and other navies have deployed dozens of warships to patrol off east Africa but have failed to stem piracy, one of the few thriving businesses in Somalia, a country devastated by war and poverty.
Officials said Bangladesh's shipping department had also contacted a British anti-piracy office in Dubai and a regional anti-piracy office in Singapore for help.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Bangla Daily Star] The fates of 26 persons including 25 crew of the hijacked Bangladesh-flagged ship MV Jahan Moni remain unknown, as they could not be communicated till Monday afternoon.
The ship was in the Arabian sea at 1100 nautical miles off the Somalian coast at 10 nautical miles per hour speed heading towards Somalia coast at 4:00pm, said the Mercantile Marine Department which was monitoring the boat through a satellite.
Brave Royal Ship Management, the operating company of the ship, said it got a message around 3:30pm Sunday from the ship's security cell that pirates attacked it.
"We got same messages for the second time at about 4:30pm and kept communicating with the crew till 5:30pm but we lost all communication since then," said Meherul Karim, General Manager of the company.
Meherul suspects that the pirates mighty demand a ransom once the ship reaches the Somalia coast.
The wife of the chief engineer at the ship is also aboard along with 25 crewmembers. It was going to Greece from Indonesia through Suez Canal carrying 43,150 tonnes of nickel. The ship anchored at the Singapore port to take fuel before heading towards Greece, official sources said.
The operating company of the ship said it has kept calling the ship but none answering any calls.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the government has been contacting with different international agencies working to prevent sea piracy.
"We want to rescue the crewmembers and the ship by negotiating with them. But it might take few days as it would reach African coast after four days," Shipping Minister Shahjahan Khan said on Monday.
However, The infamous However... the pirates did not contact anybody to claim a ransom till filing this report. Including the MV Jahan Moni, the pirates are currently holding 23 vessels, with 547 hostages, says European Union Naval Force site.
Somali pirates are making tens of millions of dollars in ransoms from seizing ships in the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden, though Sunday's hijack happened around 3,000km (1,864 miles) east of Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(KUNA) -- Israeli and Turkish officials met in Geneva to draft an agreement to mend strained relations between the two countries due to the Israeli raid on the "Gazoo Freedom Flotilla" last May, the Haaretz newspaper said on Monday.
The Haaretz added that the Israeli and Turkish diplomats speculated that this agreement would demand an Israeli apology to Turkey for the killing of nine Turkish citizens on the Mavi Marmara ship of the Freedom Flotilla, in addition to compensations in relation to this incident.
In exchange, Turkey would return its ambassador to Tel-Aviv and agree to appoint a new Israeli envoy in Ankara, the newspaper added.
This meeting came upon the initiative of the Israeli Prime Minister, following the Turkish aid and assistance dispatched to help put out the Mount Carmel fires.
It is expected that other meetings will follow to finalize the draft, the paper noted.
It further said that the purpose of this meeting is to discuss a comprehensive agreement that would put an end to the strained relations between the two countries.
The newspaper quoted Israeli Foreign Ministry sources saying Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman was briefed on the diplomatic communications which were handled by national security adviser, Uzi Arad.
The sources said, they believe Lieberman has reservations over these diplomatic efforts, as he had said that Israel would not apologize or pay compensation to the Turks.
Yesterday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu seized the opportunity of the Turkish support to the Israeli fire-fighting effort to initiate attempts to mend relations. He sent Israel's representative on the UN committee investigating the Gazoo flotilla incident, Yosef Ciechanover, to Geneva to meet with the Turkish Undersecretary at the Foreign Ministry.
Israeli-Turkish relations deteriorated following Erdogan's criticism of Israel's military attack on Gazoo Strip in 2008 which lasted for 22 days.
The diplomatic ties were strained even further after Israeli soldiers killed nine Turks onboard the "Gazoo Freedom Flotilla" leading vessel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
How about Israel apologize for killing the Turks, and Turkey apologize for sending terrorists to Israel.
(KUNA) -- Two US missile strikes Monday evening killed at least four suspected bully boyz and maimed two others in Pak bordering tribal belt, said officials.
The latest dronezap took place near Mir Ali district of North Wazoo tribal agency. Security officials told KUNA that in Kysor village predator drones fired two missiles at a shop and two at a nearby standing vehicle.
The strikes killed four suspected bully boyz and maimed two others, added officials.
The series of US unilateral missile strikes is continuing in the region amid reports of a possible Pakistain army operation against local and foreign bully boyz in the agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"POSSIBLE" Pakistan army operation is right.Anything is possible.Im not holding my breath nor will I DRONE on about about the possibilities
[Emirates 24/7] UAE Ambassador to Iraq Abdullah Ibrahim Al Shihi received yesterday the three Emirati citizens who had been kidnapped several days before in Iraq.
Juma Al Junaibi, Director-General of UAE Foreign Ministry, said the three released citizens - Sultan Rashid Nasser Al Mansouri, Saeed Salim Humaid Al Mansouri and Ahmed Shaban Saleh Al Mansouri - along with seven others who accompanied them were on their way home by air.
"The plane carrying them has already left Iraq en route to the UAE," he confirmed.
The foreign ministry official paid tribute to Iraqi government, Interior Minister Jawad Al Bulani, chiefs of tribes and other entities and people for their cooperation and keenness to ensure release of the UAE citizens safely.
Al Shihi said the UAE diplomatic mission in Storied Baghdad had made strenuous efforts over the past few days that culminated in the release of the UAE citizens.
Posted by: Fred ||
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CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubaraks party won 419 of 508 seats in parliamentary polls, the electoral commission said Monday after the opposition cried foul and monitors charged the vote was marred by fraud.
Hmmmph. Da Mayor would have done better ...
Trailing far behind Mubaraks National Democratic Party (NDP) was the opposition with 15 seats, after most of the opposition boycotted the polls, while independents garnered 70, according to figures released to the media.
Monitors had previously charged that the polling, which ended with a second round on Sunday, was marked by widespread fraud, while the European Union voiced concern on Monday about reports of irregularities and violence.
Egypts main opposition groups, the Muslim Brotherhood and liberal Wafd party, had refused to take part in Sundays runoff after the NDP swept 209 out of 211 seats in the first round of voting on November 28.
Prime Minister Ahmed Nazif insisted on Monday that there had been no interference by the police or authorities in the polling. His government has dismissed the fraud charges, acknowledging only minor irregularities without any impact on the results, and the NDP accuses the opposition of engineering its own ouster through its decision to boycott.
But the Independent Coalition for Elections Observation said widespread violations, including violence and fraud, had marred both rounds, raising serious questions over the legitimacy of the new parliament.
Both rounds of elections witnessed violence in the presence of security which directly resulted in the death of a number of citizens, the exclusion of candidates and their representatives, and attacks on independent monitors.
Polling stations and ballot counting premises have become breeding grounds for forging ballot cards and manipulation of the will of voters... This was especially apparent during the second round, the Egyptian group added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[Ma'an] The armed wing of the Popular Front for the Liberation of Paleostine grabbed credit for firing a projectile into southern Israel on Monday.
In a statement, the Abu Ali Mustapha Brigades said the projectile marked the anniversary of the PFLP's establishment, and that the cut-thoat wing would continue to oppose Israel's occupation.
An Israeli military spokeswoman said a projectile launched from Gazoo landed in the Ashkelon Regional Council, and that no injuries were reported.
In a separate incident, hard boyz fired a Rocket-Propelled Grenade towards an army force stationed near the Gazoo border on Monday, an army spokeswoman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Ennahar] A hero of the anti-colonial struggle in Algeria sentenced to death for shooting a repentant Islamist leader who threatened him, was pardoned and should be able to regain his freedom, said Monday one of his son to the press .
Algerian President Abdelaziz Bouteflika has made a gesture toward my father, "Mohamed Gharbi, former Mujahid and retired officer of the Algerian army, said his son Mourad Gharbi to the daily "L'Expression". "This is a presidential pardon, we were somewhat appeased," he added.
The sentence against Mr. Gharbi, 75, was commuted to 20 years imprisonment, his son said. "We expected the release. My father is an old man, tired and sick," he regretted, however, adding that a file will be submitted to apply for parole.
His lawyer, Abderrahmane Boutamine told the daily El-Watan that the convict had already spent "half his sentence, ten years in prison, and is therefore entitled to apply for parole."
But he must pay the legal fees and "civil damages", valued at over one million Dinars (over 10,000 euros, more than 13,000 dollars), he added.
The veteran has been imprisoned since February 2001 for having shot with his Kalashnikov Ali Merad, a member of the Islamic Army of Salvation (AIS) who was taunting and threatening him in his home town of Souk Ahras, some 600 kmAlgiers, near the Tunisian border. southeast
Gharbi had created in his area in the 90s a group of self-defense to counter the violence of the terrorists.
No complaints against Merad, who had laid down the arms in exchange for amnesty under the policy of national reconciliation by president Bouteflika, had succeeded.
A vigorous campaign was launched in the country to secure the release of the convicted and the Coordination for the release of Mohamed Gharbi (CLMG) welcomed the pardon. But one member, Mohammed Baghdadi, has dampened the enthusiasm: "It's hard to claim victory because you never know how the Islamists will react."
Posted by: Fred ||
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ISLAMABAD - The Lahore High Court (LHC) has barred the government from amending the blasphemy law, till the final decision of the court in a case involving death sentence awarded to a Christian woman Asia Bibi under blasphemy law. Let the seething commence ...
The unprecedented move by the court that abridges the authority of the legislature to enact laws follows an earlier direction by the LHC to pre-empt and stall presidential pardon for the accused.
The court gave the orders during the hearing of a petition filed to stop the government from tabling an amendment bill in the blasphemy law 295-C. Former Information Minister Sherry Rehman who has moved a draft for the amending the law promulgated in 1986 by Military ruler Gen. Ziaul Haq, has also been made a party to the petition.
Notices have been issued to her and the federal government for submitting response by December 23 when the regulaqr hearing of the petition will resume.
Meanwhile, the court extended the stay order in the Asia Bibis case till December 23. It declared that the government cannot proceed further on Asia Bibis mercy application till the set date.
Religious lobbies have unleashed a fierce campaign against plans for any amendment in the law or pardon to Asia Bibi. Critics of the law say it is flawed and provides a lax procedure in registration of the caqse that is liable to be widely abused as has been the case in the past.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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(KUNA) -- British police have received a European arrest warrant for the Wikileaks founder Julian Assange, the BBC revealed Monday.
Scotland Yard has received the paperwork required to arrest WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, sources told the BBC tonight.
A fresh European Arrest Warrant has been issued by the authorities in Sweden where he is wanted for questioning over claims of sexual assault.
Mark Stephens, who represents the 39-year-old Australian former computer hacker, said he would fight any move to extradite his client.
But the move means there is no longer any legal impediment to holding Assange and making him appear before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court, experts said.
Assange is believed to be in hiding in south-east England as the latest publications on his whistle-blowing website fuel global uproar.
Prosecutors in Sweden issued a warrant for his arrest last month but it could not be enforced because of a technical blunder.
The Australian's details were also added to Interpol's most wanted website after a red notice was issued, alerting police worldwide to his outlaw status.
Detectives in Sweden want to question Assange after two women claimed they were sexually attacked when he visited the country in August.
The country's Supreme Court upheld a court order to detain Assange for questioning after he appealed against two lower court rulings.
Stephens has denounced the move in Sweden as a "political stunt" and said he would fight extradition on the grounds that Assange could then be handed to the US.
He said police know where his client is and should arrange for an interview by consent instead of a "show trial".
The lawyer added: "I am rather worried by the political motivations that appear to be behind this.
"It doesn't escape me that Sweden was one of those lick-spittle states which used its resources and facilities for rendition flights".
The sex case is Assange's most pressing legal issue, but may not be his last as several countries chew over the impact of his diplomatic cable disclosures.
He has come under growing pressure after his WikiLeaks site started publishing excerpts from a cache of 250,000 secret messages.
Former vice-presidential candidate Sarah Mama Grizzly Palin ... the babe libs love to hate ... has described him as "an anti-American operative with blood on his hands".
Senior Republican Mike Huckabee said that "anything less than execution is too kind a penalty".
Meanwhile WikiLeaks has been forced to move to a Swiss host after being dumped by US internet companies as it comes under siege from a series of cyber attacks.
Later, it was revealed that all Government departments have been asked to review their computer security by national security adviser Sir Peter Ricketts.
Home Secretary Theresa May told the House of Commons he has asked for "assurances" from all departments that their IT security is up to date.
Earlier, the Government condemned the publication of a secret list of facilities that the United States considers vital to national security.
The website revealed a detailed list of installations worldwide including a number of sites in the UK such as satellite sites, BAE Systems plants and cable locations. It also included hundreds of pipelines, undersea cables and factories, including a cobalt mine in Congo, an anti-snake venom factory in Australia and an insulin plant in Denmark.
A Downing Street front man said: "We unequivocally condemn the unauthorised release of classified information. The leaks and their publication are damaging to national security in the United States, Britain and elsewhere.
"It is vital that governments are able to operate on the basis of confidentiality of information".
The leaks list three UK sites owned by BAE systems. A spokeswoman for BAE said: "BAE Systems recognises its role as a custodian of key industrial and military assets. "We would be concerned at any activity which compromises this".
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[An Nahar] Leb warned "Iran telecom" was taking over the country after uncovering a secret communications network used by Hizbullah two years ago, a U.S. diplomatic cable released by WikiLeaks showed on Monday.
The Beirut government was shocked at the discovery in April 2008 of the extensive communications system used by the powerful Shiite party, which receives military and financial support from Iran, according to the cable.
Leb passed on information about the fibre optics network -- allegedly financed by Tehran -- to the U.S. and Soddy Arabia, and French President Nicolas Sarkozy was "stunned" by the discovery, according to the correspondence revealed in Britain's Guardian newspaper.
Marwan Hamadeh, the Lebanese minister of communications, warned the U.S. charge d'affaires of the risks after Hizbullah indicated it would see any action against the telecoms network as "equal to an Israeli act of aggression," said the cable.
According to the correspondence, the minister highlighted "the system as a strategic victory for Iran, since it creates an important Iranian outpost in Leb, bypassing Syria.
"He sees the value for the Iranians as strategic, rather than technical or economic."
But for Hizbullah it was "the final step in creating a nation state," according to the cable.
"Hizbullah now has an army and weapons; a television station; an education system; hospitals; social services; a financial system; and a telecommunications system."
Hamadeh described the U.S. cable quoting him as "a story full of slanders and fabrications" and declined to comment further, according to the Guardian, citing Lebanese media.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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#1
If the US was serious about things, it could easily create propaganda to advance the notion, which at least might be partially true, that Hezbollah plans to take over Lebanon, and *then* systematically exterminate everyone else.
That is, genocide, and no bones about it.
This would be to make clear to everybody else in Lebanon that hiding from, ignoring, cooperating with, or doing anything but fighting Hezbollah will end up with all of them: men, women and children, dead and buried.
That there is no other choice: crush Hezbollah or die.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The head of the former rebel movement that split Cote d'Ivoire, now supporting one of two "presidents" disputing rule of the country, said today that Laurent Gbagbo must go.
Mr Guillaume Soro, who backs fellow former prime minister Alassane Ouattara's claim to have won last month's election, said he had asked African Union envoy Thabo Mbeki to persuade Mr Gbagbo to step aside.
"There must be a transition of power," Mr Soro told La Belle France's Europe 1 radio. "There's no question of dividing Ivory Coast.''
Asked whether he would be ready to reactivate his forces to "unseat" Mr Gbagbo, Mr Soro said: "If he pushes us to it, we'll have no other choice," but insisted he was seeking a peaceful outcome.
Both Mr Gbagbo -- the incumbent since 2000 -- and Mr Ouattara claim to have won the November 28 poll, and both have declared themselves Cote d'Ivoire's new leader, plunging the West African state into a new crisis.
Mr Mbeki has flown to Abidjan on behalf of the African Union to mediate a solution, and the bulk of the international community, including the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and former colonial power La Belle France, backs Mr Ouattara.
For his part, Gbagbo has retained the loyalty of the head of the army. Mr Soro was leader of a 2002 rebellion by northern forces opposed to Gbagbo's rule.
There has since been a peace accord between the parties, and he has served as prime minister in a power-sharing government since 2007.
He has now resigned from Gbagbo's administration, but would continue as prime minister under Ouattara if the latter succeeds in forming a government.
"This regime is finished. It has been condemned. Its fate has been sealed by the sovereign people of Ivory Coast," Mr Soro said, while adding that Ouattara would guarantee Gbagbo "the privileges of a former head of state."
Mr Soro also promised to do whatever he could to protect the 15,000 French citizens in Ivory Coast, mostly in the restive commercial capital Abidjan, while adding that "for the moment they are not in danger."
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the World Bank and the African Development Bank said today the volatile situation in Cote d'Ivoire raised doubts about the "usefulness and effectiveness" of their aid programmes to the troubled nation.
"We wish to continue working with the people of Cote d'Ivoire in the fight against poverty but it is difficult to do so effectively in an environment of prolonged uncertainty and tension," the two banks said in a joint statement.
Meanwhile, ...way back at the ranch... the European Union threatened today to slap targeted sanctions against individuals in Cote d'Ivoire if the country fails to quickly resolve a political crisis that has fuelled fears of civil war.
EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton stressed that United Nations resolutions provide for sanctions "against those who obstruct the peaceful transition and the election," said a European Commission spokeswoman.
"Catherine Ashton is ready to follow procedures which would envisage sanctions if there is no quick resolution to this crisis," spokeswoman Angela Filote told a news briefing.
In Gay Paree, the French foreign ministry called on the world's leading cocoa producer to find "an orderly, calm and dignified transition." Last week Ashton recognised Mr Ouattara as the victor of the election.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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(KUNA) -- His Highness the Amir of Kuwait Sheikh Sabah Al-Ahmad Al-Jaber Al-Sabah, at the opening of the 31st summit of the GCC, condemned the terrorist acts in Soddy Arabia and voiced solidarity with Riyadh in the fight against all types of terrorism.
Sheikh Sabah, the former President of the GCC's previous session, said the GCC countries rejected all forms of terrorism and were thus condemning all terrorist actions plotted and carried out in Soddy Arabia.
He expressed GCC's full solidarity with Soddy Arabia in the fight against terrorism.
Sheikh Sabah regretted the stalled grinding of the peace processor between the Paleostinians and Israelis due to the Jewish state's stubbornness and continuing with the building of settlements on occupied Paleostinian territories.
He called on the parties concerned, specially the US as a major sponsor of the grinding of the peace processor, the Middle East Quartet and the international community to force Israel halt the settlement activities, and implement the UN resolutions to achieve just and lasting peace.
This peace, added the Kuwaiti leader, would be only achieved via the establishment of the independent and viable Paleostinian state.
Sheikh Sabah said the developments in Leb required collaboration of efforts to confront domestic challenges.
He called on Iran to take serious steps to ending the occupation of the three United Arab Emirates (UAE) islands -- Greater and Lesser Tonbs and Abu Moussa -- either by direct negotiations to seeking the International Court of Justice (ICJ).
Sheikh Sabah called for addressing the Iranian nuclear file via peaceful and diplomatic means.
The Kuwaiti Amir, meanwhile, congratulated Soddy Arabia for the successful operation of King Abdullah bin Abdulaziz, praising Allah to bestow him with lasting health to serving his country and supporting the development of the GCC.
He congratulated the UAE and Bahrain for their 39th National Days.
He congratulated Sultan Qaboos bin Saeed on the occasion of Oman's National Day.
Sheikh Sabah also congratulated Qatari Amir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al-Thani for winning the bid to hosting the World Cup 2022, "which is a sport achievement not only for Qatar but the entire Gulf countries and Arab countries." Sheikh Sabah, who hoped the new Iraqi government will meet ambitions of the Iraqi people, said the 31st summit was an "added pillar" for the GCC march, which has been backed by the GCC leaders during the past three decades thus enabling the GCC to occupy a leading role at the regional and international levels.
The Kuwaiti Amir appreciated GCC Secretary General Abdulrahman Al-Attiyah for his services. Al-Attiyah will be succeeded in Abdullatif Rashed Al-Zayyani of Bahrain next April.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Emirates 24/7] Blondes might have more fun, but unattractive women make it in the boardroom, according to a new study.
"Plain" women are far more likely to get a job interview than "attractive" ones, Prof. Bradley Ruffle of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found.
Ruffle ran his experiment in Israel by sending out a slew of resumes, some with photos of attractive or plain people, and some with no photos at all, Live Science reported.
"Among female candidates, no-picture females have the highest response rate, 22 percent higher than plain females and 30 percent higher than attractive females," Ruffle concluded.
"Our findings on penalization of attractive women contradict current psychology and organizational behavior literature on beauty that associate attractiveness, male and female alike, with almost every conceivable positive trait and disposition."
Curiously, for men the experiment turned out different. Attractive men were 50 percent more likely to get called back for an interview than plain men - and both were more likely to get a response than a resume with no photo.
Ruffle had a controversial explanation for his findings.
"The evidence points to female jealousy of attractive women in the workplace as a primary reason for their penalization in recruitment," he said.
In Israel, it is common for job applicants to send headshots along with their resumes for job openings.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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Top|| File under:
#1
"Plain" women are far more likely to get a job interview than "attractive" ones, Prof. Bradley Ruffle of Israel's Ben-Gurion University of the Negev found.
Well, this is easy. Da plain dames work for da boss, but guess who is spendin all da boss's dough back at the house? Da trophy wife!
#2
Angolutch, I think you have it a bit too stereotypical.
I've been in consulting since early 90's, e.g. on my own. But in mid-80's, I run a small biz that had a few employees. My primary criterion in hiring was: "Can he/she do the work?"
I admit a bias against "bimbos", unless she was to be in reception as a company front, which I did not need, being into lean and mean paradigm. Also, being married--though my wife was well endowed and quite a specimen, I married her long before having a small biz, so I don't think the "trophy wife" was applicable--and knowing what kind of effects the pheromones and curves have on my makeup as a carbon based unit of male type, I simply were trying not to set myself into a temptation trap. Anyway, my opinion was that it is better to pay occasionally $100 to sexual industry professional if a need arises than to hire a bimbot for $1600/month, with uncertain results.
So, plain Janes were preferable. Less chances that they would gossip their work day away and would do what they are paid to do, e.g. to work.
I had no bias as males were concerned, I did not have any concept of male attractiveness, so that was really simple. Ultimately, whoever seemed to have the necessary qualifications and was best of the interviewed, in my opinion, got the job. Male of female.
A perspective of a female boss may differ in some aspects, I suppose some form of rivalry based on a perceived SMV (sexual market value) is always present, though not always consciously.
#4
More importantly, what would the counterpart female carbon-based of female type be thinking if you stayed to work late. Or went in early. Or inhabited the same office space as the carbon-based bimbo unit at any time between the hours of early and late.
#5
Gorb, It is not so straightforward. In fact, if what my carbon-based counterpart of female type (a.k.a spousal unit) was thinking was the primary criterion, I would hire the bimbot away. That would invite certain type of dynamics, no doubt, but would have positive effects on my marital relationship that went into a limbo in early 90's.
Seems counter-intuitive, but trust me on this.
Alas, it was not my criterion. I were not forward thinking, the daily affairs of running biz consumed enough energy to have a left-over for "what if" scenarios in marital sphere.
Were I transported in time back then with what I know today, I would do a lot of things differently.
#8
Trying to extract any useful comparison to relationships between the sexes in Israel and just about anywhere else will be pretty meaningless. Israel has an enormous spectrum of such relationships almost unique to them.
There is zero conformity. A group of women could be as downtrodden and servile as in a more liberal Muslim nation, whereas right next door another group of women are college educated, wear bikinis and carry machine guns. Next door to them is a group of highly respected scientists and academics, and next to them are the most grotesque and degraded street prostitutes imaginable.
#9
HR departments are mainly staffed by women, and they do initial screening of most employment applications; they would tend to downgrade attractive women as 'competition.'
#11
Let me tell you, work-wise being an attractive woman is much much harder than being plain. You have to be extra nice to the other women at all times, and still they talk behind the back.
I am the youngest on a team of 80% women, 20% male. The other women who are all 25 to 35 years my senior have been hazing me since the day I started to a small degree, because every time they look at me, they remember what it was like to be young and sassy. I sympathize, really. The other problem is some obesee women I work around but not with are much younger than ME. And they look sideways because they know they are younger and have already pretty much ruined their figures. You just cannot win.
It has been really hard to put up with, but eventually I will earn their trust and some day, their wrinkles. I just hope they don't deepen my frown lines in the process. LOL!
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 10:39
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#12
The other women who are all 25 to 35 years my senior have been hazing me since the day I started to a small degree, because every time they look at me, they remember what it was like to be young and sassy............
....'back in the day' (before they shi*canned the old man and decided to go it alone on good looks), were married with children or grandchildren to care for and dinner to prepare, ie, the good ole days.
#13
Heck I'd love to be a housewife and I can actually cook, clean and sew. I would have been a catch if I was born about forty years earlier. but so many men these days are either
a) Gay
b) Interested in men and women. Read: Gay.
c) Unemployed
d) Want to do whatever the hell they want, and judge a prospective wife on her wallet and looks, meanwhile not being all that themselves. It should be noted that while I am attractive, (7-8) I am not a 9 or 10, so most men I meet are holding out for perfection, or a mailorder bride it seems. It has gotten to where I just say, forget marriage.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 11:08
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#14
It has gotten to where I just say, forget marriage. Posted by: Fire and Ice
#15
Oh, so that is six months to get "trophy wife" mugs and a t-shirts printed up. He he. That is what I am wearing to my wedding with jeans. 19.99. Done.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 11:21
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#16
Among female candidates, no-picture females have the highest response rate, 22 percent higher than plain females and 30 percent higher than attractive females
I guess an employer sees an unsolicited pic, assumes---here's one that thinks she can ride on her looks.
#17
And Fire and Ice had the nerve to accuse me of being shallow.
The women in every office have seen your "sassy" type come and go. The sassy type wear their trashy shoes/clothes to get men's attention and hope to be promoted to positions they don't deserve and aren't qualified for based on their looks and their male bosses sexual attraction. And it often works because of male sexual blindness, but don't think others aren't noticing it (including the H/R departments).
It is Sarah Palin writ large. An attractive woman who quit four colleges before finally getting a vaunted degree in journalism at the fifth. Unfortunately, an aging geezer running for office is overcome by her looks and imagines how fun it will be to work with her and keep him from the dullness and boredom of the campaign trail and work. And whether or not anyone in your world thinks Sarah Palin is qualified and has earned her stripes, most people realize her for what she is, unqualified and a quitter. That's where the hostility comes from. It's like having the t.v. weatherbabe suddenly decide she's going to become leader of the free world.
Shame on McCain for being an old geezer fool and thrusting her upon us.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/07/2010 12:58
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#18
BCC
You crack me up, its like you've been lying in wait for days to come back with a nasty insult.
I work hard at my job, and not only that, it is not in any bimbo-esque field. And btw, my torso, arms, and legs are covered in fabric while doing it.
Let go of the red shoes.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 13:06
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#19
Black Charlie Chinemble5313, I apologize for blowing up at you the other day. I went overboard, forgetting that the best thing to do with such posts is to erase them rather than hitting "submit".
You may want to register as a Republican so you can vote against Sarah Palin in the presidential primary, rather than trusting the Republicans in your district to get it right for you. Because heaven forbid you be forced to choose between Sarah Palin and Barack Obama in November -- you would have to choose between hoping you were wrong about her, or accept another four years of him. *sigh* So often elections in this country are between the lesser of two evils.
#21
Lying in wait for you...hah. Your comments were just so ridiculous and immature I had to respond.
I've been reading this site since 9/11, it's an interesting site and not because of you.
Trailing wife...in case you hadn't noticed by my posts...I am a Republican. Certainly a very different one than you, but I appreciate the apology. I really don't think my comments deserved the reaction that I received.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/07/2010 13:14
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#22
Black Charlie Chinemble5313, in the thread you said you were an Independent, and that the election would depend on people like you, who don't like Sarah Palin. So I assumed you were not a registered Republican. I do not assume party affiliation based on participation here, as we have quite a few war-mongering registered Democrats who would like nothing better than Scoop Jackson resurrected, not to mention war-mongering libertarians who find the Republican candidates entirely too fond of the government as it is.
As it happens, I am in principle Independent. I am currently registered as a Republican so I can vote in the primary, as that's the rule in Ohio the last time I looked. But I'm also a war-monger, and the Democrats like to position themselves as the "peace" party.
Surely you've noticed the impassioned political debates here every election? Every election we've lost some regulars, who found the disagreement unacceptable, for a variety of reasons.
#23
What...only Independents and Democrats think that Sarah Palin is unqualified? Hardly. And no, I didn't say I was an Independent. Yes, I vote in the primaries but I won't hesitate to cross over if I feel the need to. I'm hoping the Republicans will come to their senses and choose someone electable to run so we don't have four more years of Obama.
I held my nose and voted for the McCain/Palin ticket even though I thought Palin was a terrible choice, but with Palin on the top of the ticket...I will cross over.
I wouldn't call what goes on in this forum empassioned political debates. I see that anytime anyone dares to venture out of the hagiography of Sarah Palin they are jumped on, shouted down and thrown out the door.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/07/2010 13:43
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#24
The interplay between Fire and Ice and Besoeker seems much more attuned to the level of seriousness this topic should get, at least here in the 'burg, at least in my opinion. And that's all I have to say about that.
#25
Yes, yes...everyone's for free speech until it doesn't suit them anymore.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/07/2010 13:50
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#26
I did not realize this thread was about Sarah Palin, BCC or whatever you just called me a few posts ago. It was about attractive women held back in the hiring process. If you've something to add besides attacks, have it it. And really, who you vote for is your business, no one else's. BTW, I think the level of derision heaped on Palin is not equal to other pols. That is to say, you don't have to vote for her, but please keep your problems with Sarah Palin limited to a THREAD ABOUT SARAH PALIN. Thank you. And no, I will not apologize to you, your comments are anything but constructive.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 13:58
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#27
that was meant as "have at it"
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 13:59
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#29
If a woman is attractive and actually qualified, and not just playing for favors based on her looks and not creating a ruckus in the office due to her looks and dress, she will be hired and promoted for her capabilities and actually will have an advantage due to her looks....at least in the US.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/07/2010 14:07
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#30
Time for some levity:
The Wish
I met a fairy today who said she would grant me one wish.
"I want to live forever," I said.
"Sorry" said the fairy, "I'm not allowed to grant wishes like that.
"Fine," I said, "I want to die after the Democrats get their heads
out of their asses!"
#31
And Fire and Ice had the nerve to accuse me of being shallow
Yep, right after I admitted I am shallow. Which you have yet to cop to, yet you think a pair of shoes makes a candidate unpresidential. Heck, its not like she wore flip flops in a biohazard lab with shorts for crying out loud.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 14:13
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#32
Besoeker, nice.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 14:15
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#33
BBC is an ass, that's why he threadjacked. He's as bad as the birthers.
BTW, when you say 7/8, I translate to 6.5. It has come to my attention that American women have a bit overinflated reckon of their SMV number. A bit is an understatement, it is not unusual that they overiflate by 2 points. I think you may be somewhat closer in your judgment to the actual figure, because you seem fairly discerning, so I grant you one point. :-)
#39
BBC. whaddaya mean by unqualified? She ran for a VP!
So, here is the skinny:
Was she less qualified than:
1. Quayle
2. Gore
3. Biden
4. BHO (I know this is a president, but IMHO, he would be less qualified to run as VP than Palin).
Yes, I'd love to see Bolton as a candidate, but if not available, Palin may do, rather than RINOs like Romney.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 15:08
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#41
FaI, darn, I swore recently that my target would be about 25 (I am 56, but you know that's nothing for us vampires from Transylvania, hehe). I have to admit, your data look yummy though.
I suppose you probably have a kid or two. That maybe a harder sell, depending on their attitude (kids are spoilt rotten these days). It may be actually a bit more disconcerting if you don't have any.
But the most important things is... who initiated the divorce? What was the stated reason?
If you feel I am prying to close for comfort, feel free to decline answers.
#42
And thus, the article had it right. Attractive women are put to much more scrutiny than a plain Jane. Anything beyond my vital description is need to know.
Posted by: Fire and ice ||
12/07/2010 15:38
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#43
Bah, nope, FaI.
Let me put it rather gently. Plain Janes do not encounter any scrutiny in this particular aspect of my interest. They are simply off my radar. I know how it sounds, but it does not mean I am plain-jane-phobic! :-)
If I were hiring, I think I would ask the female applicants to come to the interview with a brown bag over their heads, to be faire and square.
#44
As an HR Consultant a previous client had my group 'clean out' their HR Dept after they had to pay a BIG settlement for blatant sexual and age discrimination. Seems the 'HR Professionals' were looking for either a date or spouse two or three, not the most qualified candidates. When they hired us to fix the mess the only solution we could honestly recommend was exciting new careers in fast food for their HR Professionals.
Posted by: Bill Griling5080 ||
12/07/2010 16:01
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#45
BG, that is why I did my hiring myself. Even hiring an employment agency was not, IMHO, a reliable way to get some good people. They had different sets of criteria and their own biases. I know, for a biz with more than a handful of employees, it is practically a necessity to have a HR dept., though if I had up to 50, I'd still do it myself.
#46
I'm 58, 6 feet, own my home, and have most of my original teeth. I also have horses.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/07/2010 20:19
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#47
You forgot to mention your glorious beard, dear Deacon Blues, truly a thing of wonder, although .com's was supposedly even more so. But I never saw his, so that must remain conjecture.
Okay, to Rammer, my new monied land baron friend, I see your job car house and cable tv and raise you a joke for all my ladies in the house:
A job, car, house, roof, and cable tv ...Those are all that are needed for a woman to be a dude magnet.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 21:56
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#51
Wait a minute.
A job, car, house, roof, and cable tv
Female parts is pretty much all that is needed.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 22:07
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#52
an on going story....
A bit over a decade ago a "hot" number in her early-to-mid 30's came in as a corporate level division prez a the multi-national I was enslaved at.
When she was publicly introduced to the division at an off-site event.... I said to myself ... she dresses too sexy... and acts to sexy... this woman is trouble.... I'm putting my nose to the grind-stone and ignoring office politics...
After a flurry of moves and counter moves she was out after 1 year....
So... she jumped to a smaller firm as the CTO....
Within a year or two ... she accused her fellow board members of sexual harassment and won $26,000,000! Whoo! Ho!
She bought a golf course in the southern burbs... divorced her husband and married the handsome golf pro.... (It's good to be queen too!)
Then she weaseled her way into another start-up as CTO and..... It no longer shows a profit....
So... yes... sometimes warning lights go on!
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/07/2010 22:14
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#53
Although, I bet somewhere right now there is a man borrowing a page from this woman's play book, trying to hook a rich widow snowbird down in Florida in a housing development on a golf cart...
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/07/2010 22:27
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#54
Likely handsome enough to be a golf pro..... whoops...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/07/2010 22:42
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#55
They deserve each other....
My point is that sometimes flags go off..
I remember a few guys that wore Armani and had a bit too much colon and too big a smile... Alarms go off with them too. Usually justified alarms....
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/07/2010 22:45
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#56
I was always alarmed by guys with too much colon. It usually prevented me looking at their smile....but I'm like that
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/07/2010 22:53
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#57
I was always alarmed by guys with too much colon.
The odor is distinctive, and they needn't have bombs internally installed to be dangerous.
/I do apologize, but that's the first thing I thought of.
(KUNA) -- More than fifty people, including pro-government tribal elders, were killed while over 120 others were maimed in two suicide kabooms afternoon in Pak bordering tribal agency of Mohamand, said officials Monday Both of the kabooms took place inside the office of the agencys Political Agent in Ghalnai district.
Security sources told KUNA that a delegation of pro-government tribal elders and members of tribal peace committee was inside the office for a meeting with the political administration when the kabooms took place.
Two jacket wallahs, camouflaged in government uniforms, arrived at the office on a cycle of violence.
A local senior government official Amjad Ali Khan talking to newsmen, telecasted live on local news channels, said that the first bomber was stopped at the main entrance gate by the guards. When people gathered around them, he said, the bomber went kaboom!". Only few seconds later, he said further. another jacket wallahwent kaboom! himself up.
Amjad Khan said that the second kaboom inflicted more casualties. The Information Minister of northern Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province, Mian Iftikhar Hussain, said that the kabooms killed more than fifty people and maimed over 120 others.
Security sources said that the killed included at least four tribal elders and peace committee members. They said it was a huge kaboom that has badly damaged the Ghalnai headquarters, where the political agents office is located. Sources feared further rise in the corpse count as several of the maimed were at death's door.
The kabooms have come as the military is preparing to launch a fresh offensive in North Wazoo tribal agency next month and the displaced people have started returning to South Wazoo, Bajaur and Orakzai tribal agencies.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Arab News] Pakistain's right-wing Islamic Party, the Jamat-e-Islami, Sunday staged a sit-in rally against the presence of US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan. Of course they're against a U.S. presence in Afghanistan. THEY'RE ON THE OTHER SIDE!
Jamat chief Syed Munnawar Hasan told a fairly large public meeting, attended by over 10,000 people, "We oppose the 'New World Order.' This order is meant to divide and harm Mohammedan countries." Actually they prefer the Olde Worlde Order, ca. 622 A.D.
He also said that the party opposes the ongoing military operations in Pakistain and Afghanistan. These operations do not eliminate terrorism, but instead have increased incidents of terrorism.
Hasan said the military operations in Iraq and Afghanistan have not ended the scourge of terror, but is the root cause of militancy and terrorism in Mohammedan countries.
He said the Jamat-e-Islami would launch a countrywide movement against these military operations because these operations have entailed dronezaps inside Pakistain, harmed Pakistain's illusory sovereignty and as a result Pakistain are imposed with corrupt and incompetent rulers.
He said after these military operations were launched the rule of law too was violated. "Many innocent citizens have gone missing," he said.
Hasan said his party was also opposed to the Reformed General Sales Tax. "If Mian Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Müslim League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... wants to oppose the RGST then his party-led government in Punjab can easily reject it in the Punjab Assembly."
Qazi Hussain Ahmad, former head of the Jamat-e-Islami, in his speech said terrorism was a direct byproduct of US aggressions against Iraq and Afghanistan.
He said, "We will oppose further military operations inside Pakistain. There is no question of a military operation in North Wazoo."
He said peaceful negotiations was the only way out to resolve issues relating to Afghanistan.
The meeting was also addressed by Dr. Afia's sister Dr. Fauzia and provincial heads of the Jamat-e-Islami.
A four-page declaration was issued at the end of the daylong sit-in Sunday demanding end of assassination in Bloody Karachi and Baluchistan, freedom for Dr. Afia Siddiqui, end of military operations in Pakistain's tribal agencies, solidarity with the people of Kashmire and Paleostine, and stemming attempts to erode the base of Pakistain - that is Islam, end of unprecedented corruption by coalition governments at federal and provincial levels, urgent provision of relief assistance to flood-affected people, establishment of rule of law in Pakistain, urgent recovery of 'missing persons', introduction of pro-people economic policies, removal of corrupt rulers and restitution of Pakistain's independence, illusory sovereignty and an immediate end to dronezaps in Pakistain.
The secretary-general of the Jamat, Liaquat Baloch, initially led a caravan of thousands of dedicated activists to the front of the Parliament building chanting slogans.
Astroturf!
Posted by: Fred ||
12/07/2010
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[Emirates 24/7] A member of the Qatari royal family was killed in a car accident during a hunting trip in Iraq's western Anbar province on Sunday, a provincial official said.
The victim was identified as Khalifa bin Abdulla bin Hassan bin Ali Al Thani, said Sadoun Al Shalan, a member of the Anbar provincial council.
Thani's car rolled over in the desert south of the village of Nukhaib, about 200 km southwest of Anbar's capital, Ramadi.
"He was driving a GMC, hunting for prey when he hit some sort of a bump and the car started to roll over," Shalan said.
Thani was taken to hospital in Ramadi but had internal bleeding and was dead on arrival, Shalan said.
His relationship to Qatari Emir Sheikh Hamad bin Khalifa Al Thani was not immediately known.
"We have a photocopy of his passport which says he is a member of the royal family in his 20s," Shalan said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hunting from your GMC? Can we go on safari to Anbar?
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/07/2010 2:48
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#2
Everyone knows the Massad has a GMC connection. What was he thinking?
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.
The United States on Tuesday abandoned its effort to persuade Israel to freeze construction of Jewish settlements, officials said, dealing a blow to efforts to revive Israeli-Palestinian peace talks.
Unidentified attackers have blown up a statue of Lenin in a suburb of Russia's second largest city of Saint Petersburg in the second such attack in the past two years, police said.
THE elusive head of whistle-blower website WikiLeaks, Julian Assange, has been arrested by British police in relation to an international warrant issued by Sweden over alleged sex offences there.
The 
Egyptian authorities leaving no stone unturned in bid to discover mysterious shark attacks which left German tourist dead. 'Mossad plot not out of the question,' says South Sinai governor
The marriage of a 14-year-old 
[Ma'an] A 
(KUNA) -- Two US missile strikes Monday evening killed at least four suspected 
CAIRO - Egyptian President Hosni Mubaraks party won 419 of 508 seats in parliamentary polls, the electoral commission said Monday after the opposition cried foul and monitors charged the vote was marred by fraud.
[Arab News] Pakistain's right-wing Islamic Party, the Jamat-e-Islami, Sunday staged a sit-in rally against the presence of US-led NATO forces in Afghanistan.
