No wonder others are keeping silent about Assange's antics, Palin emailed. This is what happens when you exercise the First Amendment and speak against his sick, un-American espionage efforts.
Palin has criticized Wikileaks founder Assange, writing on Facebook that his past posting of classified documents revealed the identity of more than 100 Afghan sources to the Taliban. Why was he not pursued with the same urgency we pursue al-Qaeda and Taliban leaders?...Assange is not a 'journalist' any more than the 'editor' of al-Qaeda's new English-language magazine Inspire is a 'journalist. He is an anti-American operative with blood on his hands."
Amen. She is probably unelectable today, but events may make her less so. An iron maiden, or platinum?
WikiLeaks Staff, 1 December 2010, 19.00 GMT great story, one of many
Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa and his family are responsible for alleged war crimes against the Tamil, according to a cable sent by US ambassador to Sri Lanka Patricia Butenis.
Butenis said complicity in alleged war crimes by the president and leader of the opposition was stalling progress in launching investigations into the country's civil war.
Anon1, I don't think you understand a civil war. We in America do, having suffered one ourselves, and so we understand that it's a dirty, nasty business. The losers are branded 'war criminials' and the victors are elected to high public office. If you're looking for 'justice', you won't find it after a civil war. Anywhere.
The long running conflict between the government of Sri Lanka and the LTTE, also known as the Tamil Tigers, was ended in May 2009 after the Sri Lankan army defeated LTTE leaders in an area known as the "no fire zone".
That was so that the LTTE could survive to continue the civil war by sending more fem-boomers.
The cable, dated 15 January 2010, updated the Secretary of State on war crimes accountability following the end of the country's long and bloody conflict.
Ambassador Butenis noted there had been some limited progress in investigating potential war crimes, but noted:
"There are no examples we know of a regime undertaking wholesale investigations of its own troops or senior officials for war crimes while that regime or government remained in power.
And don't look for any, either, as the winning side rarely prosecutes its own.
"In Sri Lanka this is further complicated by the fact that responsibility for many of the alleged crimes rests with the country's senior civilian and military leadership, including President Rajapaksa and his brothers and opposition candidate General Fonseka."
With regard to alleged LTTE war crimes, Butenis noted:
"Most of the LTTE leadership was killed at the end of the war, leaving few to be held responsible for those crimes. The Government of Sri Lanka (GSL) is holding thousands of mid- and lower-level ex-LTTE combatants for future rehabilitation and/or criminal prosecution. It is unclear whether any such prosecutions will meet international standards."
Nor is there a compelling need for them to meet the standards of fashionable Euro judges who hang out at The Hague on very large expense accounts.
The revelations coincide with a visit by President Rajapaksa to the United Kingdom. Rajapaksa, who has been in the UK since Monday, is due to meet with UK Defence Secretary Liam Fox.
Rajapaksa was also scheduled to speak at the Oxford Union on Thursday until the university issued a statement cancelling the event on Wednesday afternoon. The statement cited "security concerns" due to the large number of protestors expected to picket the event.
Rajapaksa doesn't need to speak at the Union to make his point. He's alive and Mario-the-Terrorist, the leader of the Tamils, is dead.
#2
And lawyers wonder why we feel like we would rather kill them all than deal with the messes they create then profit from...
I am getting to be of the opinion that simply being a lawyer should be grounds for a beating on the basis of the amount of waste and stupidity they create.
#4
So who's next? NY Slimes? Does one blackmail payment grant blanket, lifetime immunity to the virus or does it just encourage additional blackmailers and added payments? 'Legal' blackmail is the same as criminal blackmail, in my book, and eventually greedy blackmailers push somebody too far and end up at room temperature.
#5
I have no problem with people who hunt. It is typical though of Sarah to not realize she will not be obtaining votes by cutting off Rudolph's legs with a knife in front of an audience. Go get 'um Sarah. LOL.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/08/2010 16:43
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#6
He said it was a moose...west wing creator...movie about facebook...yeah no wonder nobody knows who he is, he is an idiot. Check to his babysitter must have bounced.
Anybody tell him that there is a 24/7 basic channel which shows people hunting? Those survival shows? Why mad now?
And by the way - eating is the final step (other than pooping) in the edible aspect of the hunt (the other being product such as tee pee, bladders, or fancy leather shoes). I find it unfortunate that when people are at the grocery store or ordering at a resteraunt they forget they are the tail end of a very long process, starting with the animal being born and in that process, the kill.
There are laws for hunting. Break them and get in big time trouble. And you know, there is even a tv show about that.
He, and many of the common tators at the link, must have a grand time bee-bopping about life with, uhumm, those kind of people doing all the dirty work so that elitists can sip coffee with clean fingernails and smug colored comments.
Likely mad there are more people who didn't watch Palin's show but knew about it, then people watching his show at peak interest. I had to look it up to see who was in it.
#9
It is typical though of Sarah to not realize she will not be obtaining votes by cutting off Rudolph's legs with a knife in front of an audience. Go get 'um Sarah. LOL.
Black Charlie Chinemble5313, the people who would get upset about Sarah field-dressing a large, dead animal already disliked her shoes, her voice, her working her way through college, the number of children she bore, etc. and so forth ad infinitum. The rest of the universe either doesn't care or admires her for it.
#10
TW: See, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about the other day.
This guy isn't going to go to a working class guy up in upstate NY or Pennsylvania who goes hunting a couple times a year and tell him all about how he's Being Cruel To Animals, but he will berate "That Dumbass _____ Sarah Palin" for essentially doing what they're doing. He doesn't have to deal with the fact that he's attacking the majority in this country that eats meat (horrors!) if he personalizes his argument sufficiently.
I have a gyro plate from a local quick stop over on the table in my office; I'm nibbling on it now because I didn't get a chance to stop and eat until 3:30 or so.
Only real difference between Sarah Palin and me? I outsourced the killing and butchering of the animal.
I'm reminded of Medieval Japan's peculiar interpretation of vegetarianism, where butchers were considered to be unclean scum and Samurai who ate steak, "Well, gee, Samurai-San, that sword looks sharp, so I'm going to say you're mighty virtuous today, and that's really my opinion and not based on any hope that you're not going to decapitate me."
What Mr. Sorkin has is a religious preference, IMHO. It's the equivalent of me thinking everyone else on the planet is wicked for not eating fish on Fridays. It's a stupid argument, but he doesn't have to make it if he personalizes it sufficiently.
#12
Catholic nit-pickWell, its not that you must eat fish on Friday, its that you are supposed to abstain from meat (beef, chicken, pork) on Friday as a measure of sacrifice.
And BCC is getting as bad as that retard Andrew Sullivan with his obsession wiht Sarah Palin and his slagging her every time someone says anything about her. BCC is not only an ass, he is a boring ass. Conservatives don't need anyone like him around, he is likely part of the problem as far that goes - another high society twit or else an establishment ass kisser.
#14
Just a point of order:Caribou Medallions in Saskatoon Berry Sauce beats Manna from Heaven any day of the year.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 22:37
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TW: See, this is exactly the sort of thing I was talking about the other day.
Snowy Thing, do you mean Mr. Sorkin or Black Charlie Chinemble5313? And yes, you did -- very helpfully both times.
Old Spook, it isn't only Conservatives, or even conservatives, who like Sarah Palin. Plenty of registered Democrats hunt, and some Conservatives don't like her. Black Charlie Chinemble5313 claims to be a Los Angeles Republican.
MIAMI BEACH, Fla. (AP) -- Who would want to harm the plastic, pink snails of Miami Beach?
Police are investigating the vandalism of several of the 45 giant art pieces displayed around South Beach as part of an international art fair. So far, at least eight have been targeted, including one that was thrown into Biscayne Bay. Several others were tagged with graffiti.... "All right, Snailie--come out with your eyestalks up, and no sudden moves!"
Posted by: Mike ||
12/08/2010
15:47 ||
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#1
Who would want to harm the plastic, pink snails of Miami Beach?
I reached agreement with Righthaven the beginning of October. I've been waiting for the paperwork since then. Squire Cingold called me to see how it was going and I told him, and he called them for me to see what was up. In the course of the resulting poopstorm they said they sent me the papers by email the day I talked to them, plus a followup. Never saw any of them -- presumably eaten by Gmail's spam filters, even though I got their latest holler.
Anyway, I'm not supposed to disclose the amount of the settlement by the terms of the agreement, but it's more than is currently in the Rantburg bank (or in my checkbook after paying for a new HVAC system in October...) So if you've got spare change, please kick in. By this point it's easier to spend four digits to make it go away than to spend five digits defending it, which is what they count on.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
I know you realize that by paying them, you are encouraging them. Four figures?!? They don't deserve three. I'm sorry you don't plan to fight this to the end. It doesn't have to cost anything. There is always doing it Pro Se. Or finding a lawyer to do it Pro Bono. What about the EFF? I hate the thought of you caving in to those bullies.
#2
I've had the miz'ries ever since this fiasco started. But I don't have the resources to travel to Nevada and fight it. I've had assistance and encouragement from two of the Burg's lawyers, but neither's licensed to practice in Nevada.
The settlement's "reasonable" in a case like this, assuming there's any "reason" to being shaken down.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 15:58
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#3
Legal blackmail. These guys are scum. If they ever make it to Colorado, I hope I don't know them, otherwise they will see the back of my fist impacting the bridge of their nose. Abusive people like that deserve no mercy. They get mercy from me in that its not the back of a shovel I'd be using.
#5
Fred, I know that some will say you shouldn't have reached an agreement. But your own mental health and time are worth saving. It sucks, but throwing a scrap to the vultures making your life difficult may be the best decision in the long run.
#7
Surrender is MOST convenient for some. Been doing Pro Se for sometime on my own behalf. Never lost a case. Now that the AP entering into the one sided frey, liberty for bloggers is dead. Thanx a million, people.
#8
wr, they are deliberately picking people that cannot afford to fight in the vast majority of cases, and most of the others the settlement costs them far less than the legal fess for the fight for the big guys. RH is full of abusive scumbag lawyers who deserve to be beaten like a pinata, but that doesn't change that the law does allow them to get away with it. We need to demand that the law be fixed.
This is what happens when you let trial lawyers and the publishers make the laws (Hello Democrats and your biggest contributors, the Trial Lawyers and Media companies).
Fox has learned that Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) are crafting a letter to share with the House Democratic Caucus that would try to prevent the Speaker from bringing the tax bill to the floor.
They hope to get 60 signatures on their letter (which is still being drafted) and then force a vote in the caucus. DeFazio says he thinks that if a majority of House Democrats are against this compromise, they shouldn't bring it to the floor.
In other words, they are seeking a majority of the majority to move this and a senior House democratic source indicates they don't know if they have a majority of democrats, saying they haven't whipped this yet.
In an interview with Fox, DeFazio criticizes the president and says a majority of the House Democratic Caucus does not support the tax rate compromise. "There does not seem to be a majority of the Democrats who support the deal negotiated by Vice President Biden," DeFazio said. "So we want to have a record vote in the caucus on a resolution that says this resolution should not go to the floor without a majority of Democratic votes." I smell desperation. Also, if the dhimocrats got hammered on this just a month ago, doubling down on FAIL really doesn't seem all that bright.
#1
Why not just quit fiddling around and scorch earth the economy as a Christmas present for everyone? One last great act of defiance to America from the Donks redistributionists.
#2
Had the pleasure to hear weiner's tirade - good job Noo Yawk - could not think of a better poster child for liberalism. No, please don't give hime a timeslot, especially not two of 'em.
Elizabeth Edwards, the high-profile wife of former Democratic vice presidential candidate John Edwards, died of cancer at 61 in her home in North Carolina on Tuesday, US media reported.
On Monday, Ms Edwards said she had stopped cancer treatment after doctors informed her that any further therapy would be useless.
Edwards, who separated from her husband after news that the former senator fathered a child with another woman, has been battling cancer since 2004, when he was John Kerry's running mate on the defeated Democratic ticket.
Media in her home state of North Carolina said that Edwards's family had gathered around her in her final hours, including her husband, who moved back to help care for her and their two young children.
"The days of our lives, for all of us, are numbered," Mr Edwards said on her Facebook page Monday.
"We know that. And, yes, there are certainly times when we aren't able to muster as much strength and patience as we would like. It's called being human."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
Rather odd. Perhaps he is setting up to infiltrate, given that he shaved off the jihadi beard.
Go look at the pictures in the article. I bet the only reason they let him in the Taliban Club is that he brought his own motocross bike to the Cycle of Violence (and I haven't seen that pic here in awhile).
#1
Rather odd. I doubt he's "held" all that closely if he truly converted. Stockholm syndrome. Perhaps he is setting up to infiltrate, given that he shaved off the jihadi beard.
Go look at the pictures in the article. I bet the only reason they let him in the Taliban Club is that he brought his own motocross bike to the Cycle of Violence (and I haven't seen that pic here in awhile).
Hackers today claimed to have crashed the MasterCard website in revenge for the firm suspending services to whistle-blowing website WikiLeaks.
Anonymous, understood to be a loose-knit group of internet activists, tweeted: "We are glad to tell you that mastercard.com is down and it's confirmed."
Another message read: "There are some things WikiLeaks can't do. For everything else, there's Operation Payback."
Mastercard was not immediately available to comment but repeated attempts to load the site met without success.
#1
Okay.. this is a crime... They committed it in support of WikiLeaks ... so shut WikiLeaks down.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:40
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#2
Part of sovereignty is responsibility. Self appointed groups, regardless of their intent, at some point can start to believe themselves beyond accountability. 'We meant well' goes along with 'I was only obeying orders' when either believes they will not be held liable in the end for their acts.
#5
Assange also obviously believes he is unaccountable but he needs to be charged with a specific crime. While some have claimed he has done nothing illegal, only immoral, I'd bet some of his considerable sources of income would prefer to remain anonymous. In the same name of transparency and openness Assange and Soros claim to promote, perhaps he should also release the names of those purchasing info or any donors to the cause? Yeah, what I thought. "Operation Payback" is also another "applies to you, not me" deal.
#7
Water Modem: the hacking group acted independently of Wikileaks.
Wikileaks had no communications and nothing to do with them. So it's not Wikileaks that did the crime.
However, I think that shows you just how Outraged the general public is to see that an individual and organisation can be hounded by Government in such a way.
That the US Government can lean on Visa, Mastercard and Paypal to try to shut off supply lines to wikileaks is enraging to ordinary citizens, including me.
In our countries we are supposed to be free of political harassment. This is the preserve of foreign dictatorships.
Around the world people are voicing their support for freedom from Government harassment - by donating more than 800,000 euros to the Wau Holland foundation directly in defiance of paypal visa and mastercard etc.
People are protesting everywhere. It is disgraceful to see this level of persecution. It is underhanded and we the citizens don't like it.
Everyone of my countrymen I have spoken to in the last two days is just outraged at what is going on. If the australian government doesn't support assange we will be out in the streets protesting and they will be gone at the next election.
#8
Darth and ArmyGuy: the only thing you are killing is the concept of the rule of law. You know, the cornerstone of our societies? That thing that makes us different from the third world...
They do that a lot in Africa, look where it got them.
#9
the hacking group acted independently of Wikileaks.
That is going to be a hard sell. One of the beauties of these non-state actors is their loose organization providing deniability. Unfortunately we are at war and he's come too close to consorting with the enemy twice now. Sorry, in war, it's two strikes and you're out.
#10
Anon1 trumpets wikileaks as a vanguard in the concept of the rule of law.
The same rule of martial law that PFC manning didn't follow when he divulged classified documents? Ya know, there is a law against that. be broken by when its convenient for your Mesiah? And hacking is illegal. So Anon1, explain how laws like the first Amendment need to be followed, but obeying other laws do not apply, and how that is okay, Anon1? I'd really like to hear about corruption from the corrupt and sick.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/08/2010 21:19
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#11
Anon1: If you post one more classified cable you will be banned permanently from this forum.
Authorities say an individual has been arrested in the Baltimore area for plotting to blow up a military recruitment center.
Marcia Murphy, a spokeswoman for the U.S. attorney's office in Baltimore, confirms to The Associated Press that an arrest has been made and says the individual will appear in court Wednesday afternoon. Murphy did not provide any further details. An FBI spokesman also confirmed the arrest.
An official who was briefed on the arrest told AP on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to release the information that the person was given a phony bomb and was arrested after trying to detonate it.
The official says the suspect's goal was to blow up a military recruitment center. The official says the individual is a United States citizen and that the plot was carried out in Baltimore County. No name. I'm betting Mo or Mu is in the spelling
#1
Antonio Martinez, a Muslim convert who called himself Muhammed Hussain, was arrested and will appear in federal court on Wednesday, Fox News confirms.
A senior Marine general in Afghanistan on Tuesday declared the battle in the southern Taliban stronghold of Marjah "essentially over."
The declaration comes 10 months after thousands of U.S.-led NATO troops stormed the cluster of farming hamlets to oust the faceless myrmidons and cut off their income from the drug trade.
The campaign took longer than NATO officials had hoped, and underscored the complexity of trying to wrest control of an area where Taliban influence remained strong.
Maj. Gen. Richard Mills told news hounds at the Pentagon on Tuesday the enemy has been pushed to the outskirts of the area, where faceless myrmidons come in from the desert to take "the odd shot at us." In the more populated areas, Mills said Afghan police are mostly providing the security on their own.
Mills said tough fighting continues in other parts of Helmand province, including the Sangin district where Marines have taken over a bloody battle from British forces.
He vowed an "aggressive winter campaign" to blunt the potential of a revival by the Taliban next spring.
"We will move into areas we thought were unreachable by coalition forces. We will give them no rest," Mills told Pentagon news hounds via video link from Afghanistan.
Marjah has become an example of the difficulty facing the military campaign. More than 7,000 ground troops launched a massive nighttime invasion last February that NATO officials said would pave the way for the Afghan government to rush in aid and restore public services.
But the civilian component to rebuilding Marjah was painfully slow, and U.S. troops struggled against roadside kabooms and sniper attacks from an enemy that could blend in with the local population.
Mills declined to say how soon it might be before U.S. troops could be withdrawn in significant numbers from Helmand province, noting that heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... continues in some areas outside Marjah.
#1
What percentage of the deaders are ISI/Pakiwakiland sourced?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:35
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A high percentage - the ISI has never accepted the idea that Afghanistan is its own country and not their private playground. The Taliban were created by the ISI to give them a new front against India in the ISI's terrorist assaults on the Indians. Lots of the drug gunnies are coming from Pakistan, since the heroin cartels cannot afford to lose the growing areas again.
The Senate has voted unanimously to convict U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana on the first of four impeachment charges, removing him from the federal bench.
The decision makes Porteous just the eighth federal judge in U.S. history to be impeached and convicted by Congress.
The Senate is still voting on three additional articles of impeachment approved by the House earlier this year.
House prosecutors say the 63-year-old judge had a gambling problem and began accepting cash and other favors from people with business before his court. He also was accused of lying to Congress and filing for bankruptcy under a false name.
Porteous' attorneys argued that his behavior, while troubling, didn't merit impeachment. Didn't merit impeachment!?!? Hell, it merits at least that, if not a long stay in prison!
#1
House prosecutors say the 63-year-old judge had a gambling problem and began accepting cash and other favors from people with business before his court. He also was accused of lying to Congress and filing for bankruptcy under a false name.
Actually, that qualifies him to run for Congress in two years. Just ask former Judge Alcee Hastings, now Congressman Hastings.
#1
Baywatch as nuclear weapon. Seriously, these shows are mental can openers to people in third world countries, and what has been seen cannot be unseen.
Barbarism requires ignorance as well as poverty to function, and if people get a glimpse of not only a better life, but a better way of life, barbarism tends to go right out the window.
Oddly enough, the leader in this, around the world, are emotionally charged, low budget Mexican soap operas. They translate perfectly, and they are utterly hypnotic to people who are emotionally stunted and culturally inhibited. They see that, and they want to be that.
#3
Baywatch as nuclear weapon
It is a proven concept--get the houswives discontent and there will be no more nookie until life changes. And this very effective concept has been noticed and shut down:
Fox News: "Iran has shut down an office of television channel Farsi1, owned by News Corp. and Moby Group, and arrested at least four employees for 'anti-revolutionary' activity, the Tehran prosecutor was quoted as saying Tuesday. 'With the intention of helping the anti-revolutionary movement, this bureau was tasked with dubbing movies for Farsi1 channel in an office in the center of Tehran,' Abbas Jafari Dolatabadi was quoted as saying by Mehr news agency. State television's website quoted him as saying 'four or five people' had been arrested. Hong Kong-based broadcaster Star, equally owned by News Corp. and Afghanistan's Moby, launched the Farsi1 satellite channel in summer 2009, airing soaps and sitcoms dubbed into Farsi and targeting a potential 100 million-strong audience in Iran, Afghanistan and Tajikistan. News Corp. also owns NewsCore. Farsi1 was an instant hit in Iran, where private TV and radio stations are also forbidden, but it infuriated hardliners who accused its broadcaster of promoting 'corruption' in the country's conservative Islamic society." http://fxn.ws/gXmbLh
#5
considering how much TV and Sat-TV shows suck.... this is kind of sad in a way...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:38
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considering how much TV and Sat-TV shows suck.... this is kind of sad in a way...
on the other hand, the Saudis are getting Fox News, with Glenn Beck's expose' of the Puppetmaster, Soros, to feed the Muzzie conspiracies, and all those glamour girls with cleavage...
#7
Even though oil prices are up, the Saudis have rising expenses due to all the jihadi groups that need funding... and Muslim congregations around the world that need to be kept in fancy new mosques and teaching materials. Fox is partially owned by one of the Saudi princelings; by increasing viewership in this way, he'll have more money to pour into the above investments in the future.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/08/2010
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Oh, what's the bitch? They pay good money for that release.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 9:50
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#2
The second time you catch the same guy, kill him right then and there. No use sending him up the chain so you'll have to catch him a third time. I'm sure most of the Marines will quietly implement such a program, approved or not.
Karzai needs to hang in central Kabul, as a fit reminder that we're not doing this for our health, and we'll fight ALL our enemies, including those that profess to be our "allies".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/08/2010 13:55
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#3
..while that may be personally satisfying, the ghost of Ngo Dinh Diem, should give one pause before acting.
The Sisters are not too impressed with Naomi When a Feminist Trivializes Rape
Dear Interpol:
As a longtime feminist activist, I have been overjoyed to discover your new commitment to engaging in global manhunts to arrest and prosecute men who behave like narcissistic jerks to women they are dating.
I see that Julian Assange is accused of having consensual sex with two women, in one case using a condom that broke. I understand, from the alleged victims' complaints to the media, that Assange is also accused of texting and tweeting in the taxi on the way to one of the women's apartments while on a date, and, disgustingly enough, 'reading stories about himself online' in the cab.
Both alleged victims are also upset that he began dating a second woman while still being in a relationship with the first. (Of course, as a feminist, I am also pleased that the alleged victims are using feminist-inspired rhetoric and law to assuage what appears to be personal injured feelings. That's what our brave suffragette foremothers intended!).
Thank you again, Interpol. I know you will now prioritize the global manhunt for 1.3 million guys I have heard similar complaints about personally in the US alone -- there is an entire fraternity at the University of Texas you need to arrest immediately. I also have firsthand information that John Smith in Providence, Rhode Island, went to a stag party -- with strippers! -- that his girlfriend wanted him to skip, and that Mark Levinson in Corvallis, Oregon, did not notice that his girlfriend got a really cute new haircut -- even though it was THREE INCHES SHORTER.
#1
anon1 stopping by for yet another 3000 word missive on how her fellow Australian is getting screwed by the Swedes, loyal puppets of the CIA, and how anyone who can't see that is a freedom hatin' moron, Kenyan body counts be damned, in 5.....4.....3....2....
#3
Funny how the shoe would be precisely on the other foot had Assange been an enemy of the left. His rape would have been him living out his imperialist tendencies, and the governments of the world were right to bring him in on whatever charges would stick, blah blah blah. Like Al Capone went to prison for tax evasion.
#4
When China creates its own peace prize they should also create an award for "Lifetime Achievement in Sucking Up to the PRC". It could also be called the Tom Friedman prize.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
12/08/2010 10:19
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#5
In the case of the Peace Prize specifically, China is being too generous.
An unnamed Muslim country is apparently funding a 1,050 man private Army in Puntland in the name of anti-piracy.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010
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I remember reading something about this several months ago but I can't for the life of me remember where. Basically it was someone traveling who met one of these mercs headed down there.
I suppose it has been 3 or 4 months ago but I can't seem to put my finger on who it was or where it was published.
#2
that is very interesting. Puntland's state leader Dr Farole's budget was only $15 million in 2008.
He needs money and manpower to control the piracy issue and he has tried. The international community (UN) only funds the national Transitional Federal Government - which does nothing but hoover it up at Java House, Nairobi.
So given that nature abhors a vacuum... in come the muslims.
While we waste money and time in Af=pak, Somalia is brewing to take over as jihadi central. Puntland used to be a bulwark against the al Shabaab... but who knows now? this is a bad development
#4
AP had this to say: http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20101205/ap_on_re_af/af_somalia_military_force
The article mentions that a few years ago, Hart Security unsuccessfully trained a Puntland coast guard. It is believed that some of those trained later became pirates.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/08/2010 5:26
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#5
thanks Besoeker, I will. You might be right. As long as it isn't the Saudis ...
#6
apologies besoeker, you are right. Yes i read it and it is great news! I am guilty of seeing the summary and flashing off comment before properly looking at it.
#7
Puntland's Coasties have also captured a few pirates.
Rather than funding the TNG it'd make more sense to split up "Somalia" and give the pieces to recognized Puntland and Somaliland, assuming they want them, and the rest of it to Kenya or Ethiopia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010 9:53
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#8
Fred yes that is brilliant.
I totally agree.
That is the best possible solution. But if you give any to Ethiopia they will probably fight over it. The Somalis hate the Ethiopians. Kenya they seem to like, Lord knows there are enough Somalis living in Eastleigh, Nairobi..
#9
Recognize Puntland and Somaliland, give them aid and funding, and to hell with the rest of Somalia. Make it a free-fire zone, that would just be recognizing reality anyway.
#10
It seems that Saracen International is threatening to sue the media for saying that it has taken the contract. Its CEO says that it is Saracen Lebanon that has taken the contract, not his Uganda-based South African Special Forces-manned company as is being reported.
John Toomey, known for 20 years at the Union Square Macy's in San Francisco as "Santa John," was told Saturday he'll have to take his "ho, ho, hos" elsewhere because an adult couple complained about a joke he cracked.
The joke has been in his Santa bag for decades. But after thousands of tellings, the 68-year-old retired caretaker for the elderly finally hit the wrong recipients - apparently an older woman and her husband, who considered it inappropriate. Good job, Macy's! Once again reducing all of us to the lowest common denominator.
Hint: Next time, just "sympathize" with them and send them on their way.
From the NSTAAFL (no such thing as a free lunch) department
A provision that would allow companies to bill customers for how much they surf the Web is drawing special scrutiny. Analysts say pay-as-you-go Internet access could put the brakes on the burgeoning online video industry, handing a victory to cable and satellite TV providers. This is like arguing that making car drivers buy their gas by the gallon unfairly benefits...someone!
Public interest groups say that trend will lead to a widening gap in Internet use in which the wealthiest would have the greatest access as opposed to supplying everyone with unlimited resources for a small flat rate. And it could place limits on how much consumers use Web video, which eats up an enormous amount of bandwidth , which is rising exponentially.
#3
Networks are not bound by the rules of scarcity like highways. Your provider's network won't even notice if you sit around all day watching youtube videos.
On the other hand, exponential growth cannot continue indefinitely. Maybe after it breaks, we'll fix it.
Nice that you cited all that evidence... oh, wait, you didn't. No evidence at all. Weird. It's like you're talking out your ass or something.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/08/2010 9:49
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#8
I've seen a lot of video ads lately. Perhaps we would need to go back to text only browsers?
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 12:00
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#9
A lot of people are switching from Cable and Satellite to broadband services like Netflix, and Hulu. *That* is where this idea is coming from.
Ironically my 7 YO son's favorite show now is, of all things, 'Lost in Space' from the 60's. He knows it's old, fake, and just plain silly - but its more entertaining than most of the crap on cable today - and he doesn't get preached at.
#12
I'm not sure where the free lunch is. Who is preventing the phone company from charging by the byte now? Why should the FCC be able to force them to start? Let the cable and phone companies fight it out in a free market, not a game rigged by the one who gets control of the regulator.
#13
#12 -- providing bandwidth costs $, it is not free. Any ISP must have a saturation point, where the data demanded by its customers overwhelms the capacity of the ISP. At that point service slows or stops unless & until the ISP upgrades its capacity, which nearly always costs them $.
Up to recently, run-of-the-mill ISP customers haven't demanded that much, however online video demands promise to swamp the ISPs as more and more users download more and more material.
The FCC has actually been 'discouraging' ISPs from billing by the byte in an obvious fashion. My ISP (AT&T) provides several levels of service stratified by download speeds, IMHO this is billing by the byte under a different label. Only FCC and competitive pressures have prevented ISPs from doing that in a straightforward manner.
I am aware that there is no 'free market' in the provision of internet service in the US. Many other countries provide much faster service for a lower charge, providers there are most likely not as profitable as US providers are. But those other countries also have tiered services, which cost more as more bandwidth is provided.
'Networks are not bound by the rules of scarcity' is an example of free-lunch thinking.
#15
I see no reason that I should pay for the kids down the block who continuously download video. Bandwidth above a minimum should be charged by usage.
#16
Bandwidth above a minimum should be charged by usage.
Respectfully this is bull. Bandwidth should be charged in anyway the provider wants to.
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
12/08/2010 20:15
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AH, where do you live?
I am aware that there is no 'free market' in the provision of internet service in the US.
Oh? I can buy from the phone company or cable company. And the phone company is starting to deliver fiber to the wall. I've got alternatives, and no doubt there will be wi-fi hookup alternatives soon.
Many other countries provide much faster service for a lower charge, providers there are most likely not as profitable as US providers are.
And probably have more government subsidies as well as more concentrated customer markets.
But those other countries also have tiered services, which cost more as more bandwidth is provided.
I can already buy service by speed tier. I suppose demand for speed is probably highly correlated with bandwidth.
Let the market sort it out and keep the government out of it. The USPS or Fed Ex?
#19
Fine... Microsoft and its updates use up bandwidth...
OpenSource is the answer.
Browers ads including video ones use up bandwidth...
A text based cookieless browser is the answer.
Site doesn't work with a browser like that... The hell with doing biz with them... go somewhere else...
Posted by: Water Modem ||
12/08/2010 22:45
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In an unintended consequence of the new health care law, drug companies have begun notifying childrens hospitals around the country that they no longer qualify for large discounts on drugs used to treat rare medical conditions.
#1
Who knows, maybe someday we can get this level of security at the polls. Hey, I can dream!
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/08/2010 5:07
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#2
Racist!
/sarc stays on
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
12/08/2010 9:06
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#3
Sometimes less is more. Just yesterday there was a huge bust at the Mesa, AZ DMV. The same people who issue driver's licenses, and *would* have issued the REAL ID if AZ hadn't refused it, were doing so to illegal aliens, drug gangs, etc.
Importantly, if AZ had been a REAL ID State, these criminals would have had a national "all access pass", under the illusion of "better security". But just having State driver's licenses limited them to AZ.
Speaking from personal experience, the proliferation of photo IDs make things less safe, as most of the time, all security people care about is that you have *a* photo ID, not whether it is genuine or not, or even has your picture on it.
A "funny"-type anarchist friend used to crank out bogus IDs for imaginary corporations, which he would use to gain access to 'secure' corporate offices. Out of the entire metro area, he said that only a few dozen military-industrial high security facilities truly cared enough to scrutinize his stuff. The rest just waved him through.
I still have the fake ID he made for me, and it's a hoot. Zyklon Chemical Corporation, as an Asst. Neuroproctocology Engineer. Along with the photo is a fake fingerprint, and the back has a fake magnetic strip. On the front is the ball and stick chemical model for TNT, and on the back one for LSD.
The slogan on the front is "We don't just make chemicals, We make solutions!" The back has a list of Dilbert-esque corporate babble about "proactive synergies in the paradigm matrix", etc., with #6 saying simply, "safety first".
I only used it for free parking when there were sports events, so they were charging a fee for an otherwise free parking lot. I never even needed to roll down my window.
#4
Many moons ago I developed my expertise in MS Publisher by 'fabricating' executive parking passes for our manufacturing plant. One day I waved one at the security gate as I was driving in and the Security Chief came running out and grabbed it. "Oh s&&t, I'm busted!" I thought.
He took it back in the guardhouse and waved it in front of a group of new hires, "See, this is what they look like."
He handed it back to me and said "Thank You for waiting , Sir!"
[Iran Press TV] A rights group based in the US state of Arizona has accused the White House of severe human rights violations against immigrants and minorities.
Border Action Network on Monday called on the US government to adhere to human rights laws recognized by the international community.
The group's executive director, Jennifer Allen, told Iran's official news agency IRNA in an interview that Washington rarely prevents violations against immigrants and minorities in the United States.
She also accused local and federal US law enforcement agents of violating the rights of legal immigrants and even American citizens.
Border Action Network is an organization that works with immigrant and border communities to ensure their rights are respected.
The comments come as Arizona officials grapple with a controversial immigration law introduced by the state's governor, Jan Brewer.
According to the Arizona law, which took effect on July 29, immigrants in the state will be treated as criminals if they fail to provide proper immigration documents.
The law also allows law enforcement agents who are not necessarily federal agents to stop suspected people and check their status.
Supporters argue that the law is intended to be race neutral, but critics believe it will inevitably open the way for racial profiling against Latinos in a state on the Mexican border.
The law has raised the ire of Latin American countries and has sparked protests in Arizona, especially among the Hispanics and labor activists.
The United States is home to an estimated 11 million illegal residents, with Hispanics comprising the majority of them.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iran Press TV] China says promoting the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation is the only way forward to help deal with tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The responsibility for maintaining peace should be "shouldered by all parties in the region," Chinese foreign ministry spokeswoman Jiang Yu said during a regular news conference in Beijing on Tuesday.
The South Korean military has staged a second day of major live-fire military exercises despite warnings by the North.
The exercises come a day after the US and Japanese fighter jets staged dogfight drills over the Sea of Japan. The drills also come two weeks after an artillery exchange on a border island left four South Koreans dead.
The US military has held several joint martial drills with Korean and Japanese forces over the past months in the troubled region.
The US, South Korea and Japan have wrapped up a meeting in Washington on the Korean Peninsula crisis, in which they warned Pyongyang over its aggressive behavior.
Seoul has also said it will hit back in any future attack.
US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... said talks with North Korea could resume if Pyongyang improves its ties with Seoul.
Top US military chief Admiral Mike Mullen is visiting Seoul to analyze Pyongyang's intentions and discuss measures to deter further provocations.
North Korea, on the other hand, has warned that the war games could bring the Koreas closer to the brink of war.
Pyongyang accuses US President Barack B.O. Obama of plotting with regional allies to topple the country's government, insisting that its nuclear program is a deterrent against US forces in the region.
China has warned that tensions on the Korean Peninsula could run out of control if not properly handled, stressing that all sides need to exercise restraint.
"Especially with the present situation, if not dealt with properly, tensions could well rise on the Korean peninsula or spin out of control, which would not be in anyone's interest," state-run Xinhua quoted Chinese President Hu Jintao as saying during a Sunday telephone conversation with Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
The chairman of the JCS contributed this to the dialogue [WaPo]: "The Chinese have enormous influence over the North, influence that no other nation on Earth enjoys," Mullen said. "And yet, despite a shared interest in reducing tensions, they appear unwilling to use it. Even tacit approval of Pyongyang's brazenness leaves all their neighbors asking, 'What will be next?' "
[Iran Press TV] American states have taken drastic measures, bracing for more cuts, layoffs, and tax increases as they collectively owe trillions of dollars in debt. Some have. Caliphornia, on the other hand, has reelected the same old crooks. So did Maryland and Noo Yawk.
Some of the measures include releasing the prisoners early or laying off coppers. Some analysts, though, believe the root of the problem is that government employees have traditionally been overpaid. Not "traditionally." In the heady daze of my youth we had underpaid civil servants, which was how they came to get tidy pay raises that have grown continuously due to cost of living raises.
States now do not have enough money to pay for pensions and will be forced to renegotiate retirement benefits of government workers.
"Unless they can renegotiate these liabilities, because they can't pay them, they're far too big, you have to look at bankruptcy by state governments as an alternative," economist Rollin Amore told Press TV.
The problem has been kept mostly hidden from the public eye. The finances of some states and local governments are comparable to the run-up to the subprime mortgage meltdown or that of the debt crisis hitting nations in Europe, analysts say.
Although the federal government is battling to reduce its deficit of nearly USD 1.5 trillion, President Barack B.O. Obama has stressed that he is hopeful about a recovery.
"We've seen some encouraging signs that a recovery is beginning to take hold. An economy that had been shrinking for nearly a year is now growing. The challenge now is to do whatever it takes to accelerate job creation," Obama said.
No state has gone bankrupt since the Great Depression but currently a handful of cities have declared or are considering bankruptcy. At least 15 million Americans are currently jobless.
This article starring:
Rollin Amore
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
We've seen some encouraging signs that a recovery is beginning to take hold. Whoever believes that is either a fool or a liar.
The problem has been kept mostly hidden from the public eye. No, it has been out in the open for anyone who cared to look. Very few have cared to look. Math is Soooo boring.
#3
Well, for a store that is open 24/7, what's one day from another? I'm old enough to remember real Puritan 'Blue Laws' in the states with the only thing open on Sundays were pharmacies for 'medical' purposes, which is why they evolved from simple drug and pill dispensing to mini pre-Walmarts.
#5
The only 20th Century example of a State defaulting on its bonds was Arkansas. However, in the Panic of 1837 took out Illinois, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, Pennsylvania, Arkansas, Louisiana, Mississippi, and the Territory of Florida.
In that case, in the State of Mississippi, things were only finally resolved in 1996. Thats when the state Supreme Court dismissed a case brought by the heirs of British bondholders who sought $13.8 million for the $1.5 million of debt they held, plus 152 years of simple interest.
#6
The states and local communities have started reducing staffing in response to their dire financial situation. This is going to be a drag on unemployment numbers for quite some time. It would be interesting to see employment reports broken down into private and public numbers and trends. (It's probably in a table somewhere, but I haven't noticed anyone talking about it.)
#7
I understand from a dad who has a son in Afghanistan that the quality of new recruits has fallen. Reason given was sign up bonus has stopped.
I don't know myself for certain.
#9
Property tax appeals swamp US local governments (Bloomberg) This is the link between the collapse of the housing bubble and falling tax receipts for local governments, which are calculated from real estate valuations. From Los Angeles to Atlantic City, the New Jersey gambling resort whose credit rating Moodys Investors Service cut by three levels last month, property owners are demanding lower taxes after real-estate values plunged. The disputes over billions in dollars come as municipalities are already slashing services such as police and fire protection and may depress revenue further as communities try to recover from the longest recession since the 1930s.
#11
I feel for the military, but most non-gov't workers took significant pay CUTS a couple of years ago. Except for our friends the bankers, of course.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/08/2010 17:01
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#12
AH I'm glad you said bubble.
These debts were really run up during the disastrous credit bubble. If that had been reigned in, then the economy would seem to "shrink" because of the damage the current taxation system does to money velocity.
Coulda've fooled me. I still remember being in Gerard Ford's Whip Inflation Now'a army when they were giving us about 2% when the inflation rate was running towards the teens. It wasn't much better in Jimmy's army either as inflation started over that mark.
[Al Jazeera] The International Criminal Court (ICC) is looking into whether North Korea's recent shelling of a South Korean island and the sinking of a warship could constitute war crimes. Right. Something's sure to happen, probably right after they arrest Shoulder Boards Man in Sudan.
The court's prosecutor announced the investigation in The Hague on Monday, as South Korea began nationwide live-fire naval exercises, despite warnings from Pyongyang that the drills are "provocative".
Tensions on the Korean peninsula have been mounting since the two countries exchanged artillery fire on November 23. Artillery shells from the North hit Yeonpyeong Island, close to a disputed maritime border in the Yellow Sea killing at least four people.
"Luis Moreno-Ocampo confirmed that [his office] has opened a preliminary examination to evaluate if some incidents constitute war crimes under the jurisdiction of the court," a statement from the prosecutor's office said.
On March 26, a torpedo allegedly fired from a North Korean submarine sunk the Cheonan, a South Korean warship, killing 46 sailors.
'Hell-bent on war'
North Korea, which has denied sinking the Cheonan, has said that the latest military exercises, expected to last for a week, showed that the South was "hell-bent" on setting off a war.
The exercises are scheduled to take place at 29 sites in seas near the disputed Northern Limit Line (NLL).
Al Jizz's Marga Ortigas, reporting from Seoul, said the timing of the naval drills seemed "rather inappropriate considering the way things have been here over the last two weeks".
She said it is part of the South Korean government's efforts to "take more forceful steps when it comes to dealing with North Korean provocation".
"The previous defence minister was let go for failing to protect the country," she said.
"But now South Korea has a new defence minister who is determined to show he is a man of his word. There are many expectations resting on his shoulders."
North Korea disputes the NLL, a sea border established by the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society, without Pyongyang's agreement, at the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.
The locations of the drills include the Daecheong Island, one of five major islands near the Yellow Sea border, where the Cheonan, a 1,200-tonne South Korean naval vessel, was hit by a suspected North Korean torpedo in March. An international investigation blamed North Korea for the sinking.
But military officials have previously said the drills would not take place near Yeonpyeong.
The live-fire exercise came as Japan and the US stage one of their biggest-ever joint military exercises, which began on Friday, just days after the United States and South Korea conducted smaller exercises aimed at deterring an aggressive North Korea.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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[Al Jazeera] Iran will refuse to talk about stopping its enrichment of uranium at the next meeting in January on its nuclear programme with six major powers, the country's chief nuclear negotiator says.
"I am announcing openly and clearly that Iran will not discuss a uranium enrichment halt in the next meeting in Istanbul with major powers," Saeed Jalili said on Tuesday, after two days of talks with the six powers in Geneva.
Any discussions between world powers and Iran on Tehran's disputed nuclear programme must be based on co-operation, he said, and not pressure.
"A dual strategy is not helpful - it will not help talks to reach fruition," the Iranian official added.
Diplomats from delegations at the table with Iran confirmed that Tehran didn't agree to freeze its uranium enrichment programme, as demanded by the UN Security Council.
"We didn't get anywhere on substance,'' said one of the officials. ``It was an exchange of views.''
A senior U.S. administration official, in a similarly sober assessment, said: ``Our expectations for these talks were low, and they were never exceeded.''
The negotiations over its controversial nuclear programme in the Swiss city took place 14 months after a previous round of negotiations were broken off.
But the two sides agreed to reconvene early next year, indicating that Tehran may be willing to address concerns about its nuclear program. But Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad warned that unless they lift U.N. sanctions the six face failure in the next round.
High tension
The talks were spearheaded by Catherine Ashton, the European Union's top diplomat, who is representing the five UN Security Council members - Britain, La Belle France, the US, Russia and China - plus Germany.
Officials from each of the countries were present for the talks, including William Burns, the US undersecretary of state.
Tensions rose ahead of the talks when Tehran announced on Sunday that it had mined and enriched its first domestic uranium yellowcake, the raw material needed to produce highly-enriched uranium.
The talks have also been overshadowed by the death last week in Tehran of a senior Iranian nuclear scientist, who was killed in a bomb attack on his car. The attack left another scientist maimed and Iranian officials have blamed the blast on the West.
Cooperation with N Korea
Concern that North Korea could be actively engaged with Iran in exporting weapons systems and possible nuclear expertise also rose on Tuesday, after a former Iranian diplomat who defected to the West this year says he saw North Korean technicians "repeatedly" travel to Iran.
Mohammad Reza Heydari, who resigned in January from his post as Iranian consul in Norway, said he's "certain" the cooperation is continuing between his home country and North Korea.
Heydari spoke Tuesday at a conference in Gay Paree, where he was promoting his efforts to unite international opposition against Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iran Press TV] Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has departed the Ivory Coast with no success in his mediating effort to defuse the country's latest election row.
Mbeki traveled to the Ivory Coast along with other international mediators in an attempt to resolve an apparent power struggle between presidential claimant Alassane Ouattara and the incumbent President Laurent Gbagbo.
Before his Monday departure, the South African mediator appealed to both parties for a peaceful resolution of the conflict over results of the latest election.
The country faces renewed unrest as Gbagbo was sworn in as the country's president on Saturday even though the electoral commission on Thursday declared Ouattara (Wah-tahr-ah), a former prime minister and top IMF official, the winner with 54 percent of the vote over Gbagbo's 46 percent.
A few hours later, Ouattara also conducted a swearing-in ceremony, putting the two rivals on a collision course.
Officials in Gbagbo's camp have alleged that massive vote fraud had invalidated the original results in most of the opposition's strongholds in north of the country.
Ivory Coast's Constitutional Council, reportedly allied with the Gbagbo, annulled vote results in seven provinces in the north, giving the incumbent president just enough margins to win the presidential poll.
As tensions between rival camps are mounting, the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society has ordered 460 of its non-essential staff in the country to leave.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... West African leaders, under pressure to defuse Ivory Coast's tensions, are scheduled to meet on Tuesday in Nigeria to renew efforts in resolving the country's political standoff.
Last Sunday, Ivory Coast held a second-round presidential election in the African country under tight security and an imposed curfew.
There have been violent festivities since October's first round of voting, which set up a competition between President Gbagbo and Ouattara. No candidate won a majority in the first-round voting.
The presidential election has been postponed six times over the past five years due to a political dispute in the country.
The latest poll was viewed as a turning point for Ivory Coast, which was torn in two by a 2002-2003 civil war that led to a political turmoil and harshly affected the country's once vibrant economy.
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[Iran Press TV] Three people have been killed and six others injured in the Iraqi capital and the eastern province of Diyala as police keep rounding up more suspected orcs.
A bombing attack targeted on Monday the house of a Sahwa (Awakening) tribal security fighter in the al-Sawamra neighborhood of the center of Diyala's capital, Baqouba, a local police source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Three children were killed and four others, all members of the same family, were maimed in the kaboom that destroyed the building, causing damage to adjacent houses.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... two civilians were maimed in a kaboom which targeted a store in central Storied Baghdad.
An bomb attached to the car of a housing ministry employee detonated while the vehicle was parked in front of his house in the al-Siha neighborhood in Storied Baghdad's southern area of al-Dora.
Elsewhere, a roadside kaboom targeted a US convoy in the al-Shuaabiya region of the southern city of Basra's western sector, but did not leave any casualties or damage.
Basra police also nabbed five suspected snuffies during 11 security raids across the city and seized a number of light weapons.
On Monday, Iraqi army soldiers jugged seven bandidos in two separate raids in djinn-infested Mosul, the capital of the troubled province of Nineveh in the north.
Police managed to defuse an improvised bomb hidden in the middle of a garbage dump in an outdoor market of the Christian majority town of Qarat Qosh, east of Mosul.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] Police nabbed 11 activists of Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami ... a Pakistani catspaw remaining active in Bangla politix, loosely affiliated with the Pak religious party of the same name and closely affiliated with most of the terror organizations in Bangla. A member of the BNP's four party governing coalition.... while they were getting prepared to bring out a procession near deputy commissioner's (DC) office in Chittagong on Tuesday.
The Jamaat activists led by its metropolitan leader Shamsul Islam gathered in front of the DC office to submit a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU), pressing various demands at about 11:30am after a meeting at its Dewanbazar party office, said Abul Kalam Azad, officer-in-charge of Kotwali Police Station in the port city.
The demands include halting repression on opposition leaders across the country, releasing jugged top Jamaat leaders and checking price spiral of essential commodities, reports our staff correspondent in Chittagong.
A scuffle took place between police and the activists while they were trying to bring out the procession.
Later, police picked up 11 activists from the spot while its leader and other activists decamped the scene.
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(KUNA) -- Despite past indications that La Belle France could do so if Middle East talks stalled, French officials said Tuesday that they "did not want to anticipate discussions between the parties" and they would not recognize an independent Paleostinian state within the 1967 borders at this time.
Foreign Ministry front man Bernard Valero noted that the principle of a Paleostinian state had been agreed by the European Union in Berlin in 1999.
"Within this perspective, we want a resumption of peace talks, which must address all questions; the final status, the setting out of the parameters of a Paleostinian state and allow for its creation. We want a viable Paleostinian state, which means with 1967 borders, with exchanges of territory." Valero was reacting to a KUNA question on La Belle France's position on Paleostinian statehood after three Latin American countries said they were going ahead and recognizing Paleostine as a state.
Israel has strongly protested the move Monday by Brazil, Argentina and Uruguay, which said they will recognize the Paleostinian state within its 1967 borders, an area under Paleostinian control before Israel occupied large tracts of Arab land and also Jerusalem over 40 years ago.
"We support the construction of this future state and the setting up of its institutions," Valero said of plans to establish a Paleostinian nation once the stalled and ailing peace talks are concluded.
The French official noted that to bolster its support for the emerging Paleostinian state, La Belle France has upgraded the diplomatic ranking of the Paleostinian representative in La Belle France and the "delegation" had been upgraded to a "mission" with a full ambassador who handed in his credentials to President Nicolas Sarkozy last week.
This, however, is far from what was hinted at several times by former Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner before he left office last month, when he had said La Belle France would seriously consider unilateral recognition of Paleostine if the grinding of the peace processor did not make progress and obliquely, it was hinted, if Israel did not halt illegal settlement-building.
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[Yahoo/AP] A judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at preventing the United States from targeting anti-American holy man Anwar al-Awlaki for death, but questioned whether a president or his aides can unilaterally order a U.S. citizen assassinated for terrorist activity. Why not if he's engaged in warfare against the U.S.? What's the diffo between al-Awlaki and Yamamoto?
U.S. District Judge John Bates said in an 83-page opinion that he does not have the authority to review the president's military decisions and al-Awlaki's father does not have the legal right to sue to stop the United States from killing his son. "Case dismissed..." But instead he said:
But Bates also said the "unique and extraordinary case" raised vital considerations of national security and for military and foreign affairs. Only if you go counterintuitively looking for them...
Among the "stark and perplexing questions" Bates said the case raises "Yes, they're stark! Unrelieved white against deepest black! That's why I'm so perplexed! I can't quite make out the nuances, even though I'm sure they're there...
is why courts have authority to approve surveillance of Americans overseas but not their killing. The courts have until recently kept their distance from the military chain of command...
And he questioned whether the president or his advisers can order the liquidation of a U.S. citizen without "any form of judicial process whatsoever, based on the mere assertion that he is a dangerous member of a terrorist organization." Probably from the time the intended victim assumes operational control of an enemy unit he should find himself on the wax list, whether he has a lawyer or not.
"The serious issues regarding the merits of the alleged authorization of the assassination of a U.S. citizen overseas must await another day or another nonjudicial forum," wrote Bates, an appointee of President George W. Bush and an Army veteran. Because there are some things the courts aren't in charge of.
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#1
questioned whether a president or his aides can unilaterally order a U.S. citizen assassinated for terrorist activity.
Did W rescind that old executive order against our assassinating foreign 'leaders' (definition vague)? If not, wouldn't assassinating Al-Awlaki be illegal regardless of his citizenship or the state of war? Haven't certain legal types been trying to prosecute our snipers for murder for targetting individuals - rather than the generic killing of 'enemy'?
#2
APeee article. In other sources additional content includes the cite, "there are no judicially manageable standards by which courts can endeavor to assess the President's interpretation of military intelligence and his resulting decision - based on that intelligence - whether to use military force against a terrorist target overseas."
(KUNA) -- Around 20 people, including four foreigners, were maimed on Tuesday in a blast in the holy town of Varanasi in India's northern state of Uttar Pradesh, New Delhi Television (NDTV) reported.
The blast took place when evening prayers were being performed along the banks of holy river Ganga, the TV said while flashing pictures showing broken structures and articles scattered all around in an area of 150-metre radius.
The injured were admitted to a nearby hospital, even as the number of casualties, if any, could not be ascertained yet, added the TV report.
There were thousands of Hindu devotees present at the blast site "Sheetla Ghat" to perform the regular evening prayers, but fortunately most of them had dispersed minutes before the blast took place, noted the report.
It further said that the "kaboom" was kept in a container on the stairs leading to the river Ganga.
Following the blast, all the communally-sensitive areas across Uttar Pradesh state have been put on high alert and police deployment has been increase to keep a strict vigil.
Confirming the blast, the state's ADG (Law and Order) Brij Lal reportedly said that the area has been cordoned off and an investigation has been launched to find out nature of the blast. Further reports are awaited.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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[Iran Press TV] A Yemen-born foreign fighter has been killed in the latest heavy festivities between al-Shaboobs and Somali government troops backed by African Union forces in war-weary Mogadishu.
The jihad going on at home wasn't exciting enough for him. He wanted to die for his god somewhere foreign and exotic.
The krazed killer, identified as Rabah Abu-Qalid, lost his life when al-Shaboobs launched attacks against Somali soldiers in Mogadishu's northern districts of Shibis and Bondhere on Sunday, a Somali official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, told Radio Garowe on Monday.
He added that 22 other people, mostly fighters, were killed in festivities between al-Shabaab hard boyz and government-backed troops in the central Somali region of Hiran.
The International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) has reported that hundreds of civilians were maimed in fighting in Somalia in recent months.
The Geneva-based humanitarian institution said that a total of 5,000 patients with war injuries, including 1,900 women and kiddies, were admitted to Mogadishu's Keysaney and Medina hospitals from January through September.
Compared to last year, it is an increase of 25 percent in the total number of war casualties and 72 percent in the number of war-maimedwomen and kiddies admitted to the hospitals.
Boilerplate follows...
Somalia has not had a functioning government since 1991, when warlords overthrew former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre.
Over the past two decades, up to one million people have bit the dust in fighting between rival factions and due to famine and disease.
There are more than 1.4 million internally displaced people (IDPs) in Somalia. Over 300,000 of the IDPs are sheltered in Mogadishu.
The United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society High Commissioner for Refugees reported that most of the displaced live in poor and degrading conditions on makeshift sites in southern and central Somalia.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
From yesterday's news:
"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."
(KUNA) -- The Chief Minister of Pakistains Southwestern Baluchistan province Tuesday morning narrowly survived a life attempt on his life and police shortly later confirmed that it was "a suicide blast." Deputy Inspector General (DIG) Security talking to media confirmed that it was "a suicide kaboom." He said at least ten people including five coppers and the Chief Security officer of the CM were maimed in the attack.
The rearmost vehicle of the convoy was also badly damaged in the blast, he added.
Shortly earlier, police said at least one person was killed and nearly ten others were seriously maimed in an kaboom.
Only seconds after the convoy of Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani had passed, a huge kaboom took place on Saryab Road in Quetta, the bustling provincial capital, police sources told KUNA. Rear car of the ten-vehicle convoy took the brunt of the blast, they said. The Chief Minister survived "by an inch," they said adding, he had reached the provincial assembly safely after the futile bid on his life.
The scene of the blast was littered with the head of the suicide kaboomer, along with pieces of human flesh and charred organs.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/08/2010
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#1
so true.
Posted by: Martini ||
12/08/2010 4:41
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The comment about the need to seal the border is true. But that is not enough. The USA can't tolerate this level of violence so close. We will have to provide decisive help sooner or later.
Living under the drug cartels is a nightmare for the common people. Think about the boys and girls forced into prostitution at gun point. The illegal drug users in the US and Canada are directly responsible for this mayhem.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/08/2010 6:10
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#3
Linda Ellerbee doesn't seem to think it's that big a deal.
Let's try to turn back the tide of our own slide into 3rd-world status before we worry about theirs. Start by not letting anymore of their people in to carry the 3rd-world mindset with them.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
12/08/2010 9:47
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#6
Procopius,
You'll notice Chicago gets 1-3 murders a day. Juarez gets 10-30 bodies every day.
Mexico is turning into Iraq (pre-surge) X 5.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/08/2010 11:42
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[Dawn] French President Nicolas Sarkozy condemned Pakistain on Tuesday for allowing hard boyz "safe havens" in its tribal border areas, as he paid tribute to the victims of the 2008 Mumbai attacks.
Sarkozy, in Mumbai on the last day of a four-day visit to India, said it was "unacceptable" that terror networks could find refuge in Pakistain and use it as a springboard to attack India, French troops in Afghanistan or other countries.
"It is unacceptable that India's security can be threatened by groups of gun-hung tough guys acting from neighbouring countries," he said at the Oberoi hotel, one of the luxury hotels besieged by gun-hung tough guys in November 2008.
"It is unacceptable for Afghanistan and for our troops that the Taliban and al Qaeda find safe haven in the border regions of Pakistain. We know the price that the Pak people are paying for terrorism.
"But it is unacceptable for the world that terrorist acts should be criminal masterminded and carried out by terrorist groups in Pakistain."
"I call on all Pak authorities to step up their efforts and show that they are resolute in combating these criminals," he added, vowing that "there will be no limit to operational co-operation" in counter-terrorism with India.
Sarkozy, accompanied by his wife Carla Bruni, earlier placed a wreath at a memorial in the south of the city for 18 coppers who bit the dust in the carnage.
Sarkozy's comments on India's troubled neighbour mirror similar pronouncements made by US President Barack B.O. Obama and British Prime Minister David Cameron, who have both visited New Delhi in recent months.
While visiting India's tech hub Bangalore, Cameron caused a diplomatic spat with Pakistain when he said Islamabad could not "look both ways" in promoting the export of terror while publicly working for stability in the region.
Pakistain's government says the country is a victim of terror as well and that it is doing all it can to combat extremism, including in the mountainous tribal border areas where its army has struggled to exert control.
Sarkozy's visit to Mumbai -- which later includes an address to business leaders at an Indo-French industry forum -- wraps up a trade-focused visit heavily weighted on nuclear and defence deals.
Sarkozy and India's Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday unveiled plans for a 9.3-billion-dollar deal for La Belle France's Areva nuclear group to provide two reactors for a new plant in Maharashtra state, of which Mumbai is the capital.
The deal is short of a final sale contract but makes Areva a front-runner in the highly competitive race to sell nuclear technology to India, which wants atomic energy to supply a quarter of its electricity demands by 2050.
The United States and Japan are looking to increase civil nuclear cooperation, while Russia is already building two nuclear power plants in the southern state of Tamil Nadu.
Sarkzoy's office has said that deals totalling 15 billion euros (20 billion dollars) have been or are about to be signed with Indian companies.
They include a leasing agreement for 14 Airbus planes and the modernisation of 51 French-made Mirage fighter jets.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
"It is unacceptable for Afghanistan and for our troops that the Taliban and al Qaeda find safe haven in the border regions of Pakistain."
While I agree with Sarkozy on this, the safe havens have not proven to be all that safe from our explosives from the sky.
(KUNA) -- Police jugged early on Tuesday morning six Talibs and a commander in Pak Southern Bloody Karachi port city and confiscated suicide jackets, ammunition and other arms in their possession.
Acting on a tip-off, the joint teams of police and law-enforcement agencies raided an office, being covertly run by outlawed Tehrik-i-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), in Kanwari area of the city, police sources told KUNA.
They said forces jugged four TTP-linked bad turbans, who were running the office, along with two more TTP gunnies and a senior commander, who had arrived from Wazoo tribal region only two days ago. Sources said that the law personnel seized suicide jackets, ammunition and other arms from their possession. They added that the personnel were yet conducting the operation in the nearby areas and that more arrests were expected. The identities of the jugged TTP gunnies were not yet established but police said that they all were locals and belonged to Mehsud tribe of Wazoo tribal agency.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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(KUNA) -- French officials said here Tuesday that their government supported "all initiatives" that would help end the political stand-off in Ivory Coast, where two opposing president's are vying to take power.
"La Belle France supports the people of the Ivory Coast, who have expressed their wishes... in favour of Alasanne Ouattara," the French Foreign Ministry said.
Ouattara is deemed to have defeated incumbent president Laurent Gbagbo in the November presidential election and both the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society and regional African organizations, like the African Union, have backed Ouattara's election.
Foreign Ministry front man Bernard Valero pointed out that Ouattara has received the support of the powerful West African organization "ECOWAS," which is meeting at summit level early this week.
"The UN, ECOWAS and the African Union... have approved Ouattara," Valero said, noting that La Belle France "did not support any particular candidate in the elections." The French official also said that to the best of his information, Ivory Coast borders were now reopened, having been closed last week because of the crisis. Valero also said he understood that foreign media broadcasts had again resumed in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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(KUNA) -- WikiLeaks said it will continue releasing the leaked US embassy cables in spite of the arrest this morning of its founder, Julian Assange, over allegations in Sweden of sexual offences, the Guardian newspaper said Tuesday.
The whistleblowers' website has made arrangements to continue publishing the classified documents, the airing of which has embarrassed the US government.
As it was designed to do from the start.
The leaked cables have provided a daily flow of revelations about the superpower's involvement in the most sensitive issues around the world, including those affecting Iran, Afghanistan and China.
The decision to press on will help allay fears among Assange's supporters that his arrest would hobble the organisation's work, the paper commented.
Assange has also pre-recorded a video message, which WikiLeaks is due to release today.
But the Guardian understands the organisation has no plans to release the insurance file of the remaining cables, which number more than 200,000. It has sent copies of the encrypted file to supporters around the world.
Assange and his lawyers, Mark Stephens and Jennifer Robinson, attended a London cop shoppe at 9.30am today, by appointment.
The 39-year old Australian was jugged under a European arrest warrant.
He is wanted by Swedish authorities to face one charge of unlawful coercion, two charges of sexual molestation and one charge of rape, all alleged to have been committed in August 2010. Assange and his legal team kept changing the location of the planned arrest up until last night in a successful bid to avoid a media scrum.
He is expected to appear at City of Westminster magistrates court later today.
On 18 November, Stockholm's district court approved a request to issue an international and European arrest warrant, which itself was disputed by Assange's legal team.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
So, since it's never going to stop
and since the general public loves Wikileaks and Julian Assange
and since the Government's heavy handed tactics to get him have backfired so spectacularly
perhaps it might be better to find a positive way to respond to the situation?
Perhaps working with Wikileaks instead of against it - eg: to ensure nobody gets their cover blown?
you know like Wikileaks asked to do before the file dump began and the US refused?
Wikileaks or similar is here forever. So might as well learn how to deal with it positively.
[Al Jazeera] The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), the Khartoum-based government's army, and its former enemy, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of south Sudan, have signed an agreement to secure the flow of crude oil from Sudanese oil fields, irrespective of the outcome of the upcoming referendum on south Sudan self-determination. Right. That'll work. And I'm gonna lose fifty pounds before Christmas. Al Jizz's Mohamed al-Baggali, reporting from Sudan on Tuesday, said the agreement coincided with growing fears among oil companies over the post-referendum violence in Sudan.
The January 9 independence referendum in southern Sudan is a key element of the 2005 peace deal which ended a two-decade-long civil war between the north and south that killed around two million people.
Under the deal, known as the Comprehensive Peace Agreement, the south formed its own government, which has limited autonomy and in which the north has a small representation. South Sudan is nominally represented in the government of national unity, which is led by the Khartoum-based National Congress Party.
The oil treaty calls for joint military units between the SAF and the SPLA to safeguard the oil fields in the south up to July 2011. This will be based on a political arrangement to be reached after announcing the referendum results.
Mass resignations
The uncertainty that shrouds the future of the southern district has triggered mass resignations by oil workers as a precaution against possible violence related to the vote.
"We reaffirm to those working in those companies, as cited by the content of this agreement, the full commitment of the Sudanese federal government and the government of south Sudan to provide security and safety to them and to their activities", Ali Osman Taha, the Sudanese vice-president, said.
Sudan produces around 500,000 barrels of crude oil a day, by which the south Sudan government is sustained, while north Sudan gets more than half of its annual revenue.
Garang Deng, the south Sudan oil minister, said: "We hope that crude oil will keep flowing in case of unity or secession. This is because by benefiting from oil, we have improved the living conditions of the Sudanese people up to a certain level, both in north and south Sudan."
"In case the oil flow was interrupted, the living conditions of the people will begin to deteriorate," Garang added.
Uganda 'destabilising'
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... the government of Sudan has accused neighbouring Uganda of supporting rebel groups in the Darfur region.
On Monday, Abdul Raheem Mohamed Hussein, the Sudanese defence minister, told Al Jizz that Uganda's role in Sudan is "destabilising" and will have negatives consequences throughout east Africa.
"There is Ugandan intentional intervention against the security and stability of Sudan. This will have a large effect on the security and stability of the whole region," the defence minister said.
The accusations were triggered by leaks to the local Sudanese media and have created diplomatic tension between the two countries.
In November, Betty Akech Okullu, Uganda's ambassador to Sudan, was twice summoned by the Sudanese foreign minister over allegations that Yoweri Museveni, the Ugandan president, promised support to a Darfur rebel group, the Justice and Equality Movement (JEM).
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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An outlawed Islamic myrmidon group grabbed credit for the suicide kaboom on Baluchistan Provinces Chief Minister in scenic provincial capital Quetta.
Outlawed Islamic myrmidon group, Lashkar-i-Jhangvi (LJ), in a message to local media in Quetta grabbed credit for the suicide kaboom on Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani.
Meanwhile, ...back at the ranch... in a landmine kaboom in Kohlu district of the province three persons were killed and five others were maimed. Police sources said that a small passenger van hit a landmine, planted by suspected nationalists.
The killed and maimed included women and kiddies, added the sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe's central bank will lay off 1,600 workers at the end of this month as it battles with huge debts from projects it was forced to embark on to prop up President Bob Muggsy Mugabe's previous government.
Reserve Bank of Zimbabwe (RBZ) governor Dr Gideon said yesterday the retrenchments that will leave 74 per cent of the bank's workers without jobs were "painful but neccesary."
The bank owes undisclosed amounts of money to the Malawi Central Bank, Reserve Bank of South Africa and Equatorial Gunea as well as local corporates and governmental organisations.
The money was used to finance quasi fiscal activities, That'd be the Swiss bank accounts, of course...
which Mr Mugabe's government says were meant to bust sanctions imposed on the country by the West.
"We are looking at retrenching 74 per cent of the central bank's staff and I would like to say it is not one of the easiest tasks as it is going to be one of the largest retrenchments in the history of the country by a single institution," Dr Gono told a parliamentary committee.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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[An Nahar] An Israeli military intelligence official on Tuesday expressed concerns that Hizbullah "might seize control of Lebanese government institutions" when the Special Tribunal for Leb issues an indictment in the Hariri case, Israeli news website Ynet reported. That'd be a putsch or perhaps a coup d'etat that everyone but the Hated Zionists would carefully avoid referring to as a putsch or a coup.
"In a Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee debate, senior Military Intelligence official Colonel Yossi Adler estimated that there is a small chance that the tensions will affect Israel," Ynet said.
"He noted that Hizbullah continues to arm itself with weapons that threaten Central Israel," the website added.
Adler presented a possible scenario of Leb the day after the indictment was published: "Dozens will be killed when Hizbullah uses force and takes over government institutions. In this case, there is a chance that the tensions would trickle in Israel's direction.
"Even though it has been four years since the end of the last war, the organization has a score to settle with Israel following the murder of Hizbullah (military) commander Imad Mughniyeh."
As an alternative to that "harsh" scenario, Adler presented another less extreme assessment.
According to the alternative scenario, "Hizbullah will pressure Prime Minister Saad Hariri and the more moderate of the Arab nations to try and reach a compromise."
Hizbullah, Adler warned, "continues to build up its strength through cooperation with Syria and Iran and has advanced arms that can reach central Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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(KUNA) -- Wikileaks founder Julian Assange was remanded in jug Tuesday after appearing in court here on an extradition warrant. The 39-year-old Australian is wanted by prosecutors in Sweden over claims of sexually assaulting two women.
District Judge Howard Riddle refused bail on the grounds there was a risk Assange would fail to surrender. Assange was ordered to appear again before City of Westminster Magistrates' Court on December 14.
Jemima Khan, the sister of Conservative MP Zac Goldsmith, film director Ken Loach and veteran journalist John Pilger all offered to stand as surety for Assange.
Gemma Lindfield, lawyer for the Swedish authorities, told the court that Assange was wanted in connection with four allegations. She said the first complainant, Miss A, said she was victim of "unlawful coercion" on the night of August 14 in Stockholm.
The court heard Assange is accused of using his body weight to hold her down in a sexual manner.
The second charge alleged Assange "sexually molested" Miss A by having intercourse with her. The third charge claimed Assange "deliberately molested" Miss A on August 18 "in a way designed to violate her sexual integrity".
The fourth charge accused Assange of having sex with a second woman, Miss W, on August 17 while she was asleep at her Stockholm home.
Assange, who appeared pale but calm in the dock, confirmed his name and date of birth at the request of the court clerk.
There was confusion over his address as he asked whether it was "for correspondence or for some other reason". Assange, who was accompanied by officials from the Australian High Commission, eventually gave an address in his native country.
The one-hour court hearing came just hours after Assange was jugged by appointment when he attended a central London cop shoppe.
A European Arrest Warrant issued by the Swedish authorities was received by officers at the Metropolitan Police extradition unit last night. An earlier warrant, issued last month, was not valid as officials had failed to fill in the form properly.
The court heard that the "household names" were prepared to stake their reputation by offering sureties with a total value of 180,000 pounds.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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#1
ready for the anon1 tongue-bath of Assange in ....4..3..2...1..
ready for the Anon1 release of all her personal communications, grades, diaries, confidential comments in.........oooh... never?
Information craves release without judgment, right. Hypocrite!
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/08/2010 0:08
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#2
This guy is SO fortunate to be in the hands of the legal system of the Western Democracies that he seems to hate. His march to the gallows will be slow and deliberate. I only hope that we can rewrite the espionage law prior to his reveal on the 'insurance' password.
#3
Frank G: as i responded to you in an earlier thread, the argument that you are making is not applicable to Wikileaks.
Wikileaks does not publish bank account or personal details of individuals.
It publishes stories of significance, then provides the document sources so people can see and make up their own minds.
"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 today's Australian newspaper.
I think that says it all. You can independently verify each of those facts.
Rammer: Julian Assange does not appear to hate Western Democracies at all. He is defending freedom of information and the right to scrutinise and criticise our Governments - not just the US government but all governments around the world.
That's called freedom, brother.
Why don't you read what he is about he put it very well in his own words here.
#5
I'm conflicted on ol' Gollum. On the one hand I'm a fan of the "sunlight is the greatest disinfectant" policy and I like the fact that diplomats who try to talk out of both sides of their mouth have been exposed. I'm tired of these hypocrites who think it's okay to say what they don't believe.
On the other hand, it is not realistic to say that no sources have been harmed. He indicts himself with his own threats of a nuclear option and encryption of his own sources and material. Is it open, or isn't it, you goofy freak? You can't have it both ways and still claim the moral high ground.
Regardless, calling him Gollum may be physically descriptive, but it's far too great of a compliment as he really isn't that high on the food chain. Dance with the Devil and expect to get screwed. He's just a spoiled mamma's boy who thinks the whole world is nice like the Western World. He thinks if he plays anarchist, everyone will smile and say, "What a cute little rebel."
Reality is a doggie's mamma.
Posted by: Martini ||
12/08/2010 4:28
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#6
What do you figure Frank? Ethel and Julius Rosenberg spinning in their graves at about 9000 RPM?
#9
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.
Important sources were quietly relocated and the opsec methods were immediately changed after the extent of the disclosure became known.
The Pentagon stated there was no evidence the WikiLeaks reports had led to anyone being harmed in Afghanistan.
CYA. In order to keep the rest of the assets from panicking, Taliban's hits were tucked under regular Taliban operations.
NATO in Kabul told CNN it couldn't find a single person who needed protecting
Also "true". The assets were already relocated or in a state where any form of protection would be pointless.
#10
Judge says there is no record of him legally entering Britain, he may have used a false passport.
Tim Blair has a good summary of the state of play.
#11
"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 today's Australian newspaper.
I think that says it all. You can independently verify each of those facts.
Because the Secretary of Defence is going to openly tell the world that our informants were now walking around with their heads in shopping bags instead of on top of their necks. What he told the committee behind closed doors was no doubt something else altogether.
Wikileaks does not publish bank account or personal details of individuals.
But Mr. Assange is known to sell information privately. So you do not know what he's done -- it's his secret. This is, after all, the man who admitted he doesn't care that over 100,000 Kenyans died in riots resulting from information he chose to publish. He's like a fourteen-year old standing his rights as an almost-adult, no matter who it hurts.
#12
Robert Gates admitted in a letter to the US congress that no sensitive intelligence sources
So, if we really believe Asshat DID compromise our men and allies, then we are saying Gates lied to Congress. While I still believe the memos were damaging, lying to Congress is a pretty bid deal.....
#13
Oh, he is a hater. His own words introducing himself to the world were how he enjoys crushing the bastards. That's the voice of the politics of hate.
Well, well. Politics ain't bean bag as they say. The bastards will return the favor, with interest, and crush this foolish man.
He thinks his hate on the powerful people inhabiting American government institutions is justified. That works for him, but of course I don't agree, because those bastards he has called out are my bastards. They are the people elected and hired by Americans to represent my interests as an American citizen; so, he can't hate on them, without hating on me.
Worse he is breaking the Westphalian rules that have evolved over centuries to keep nations at peace and advance their interests. This makes the bastards that represent my interests less able to do a good job. This costs me more money, time and effort.
There is a cell in Leavenworth where he and his hate can live. If he is fortunate, he will get there. If he is not fortunate, he will die.
#14
Glenmore, bear in mind that the wording is from Assange. What is in the letter may have somewhat a different meaning. Trying to find it, but with the Assange meme job infesting the net, it is not easy.
#15
Assange's allies have launched a DOS attack on MasterCard that was successful. They've gone beyond "journalism", if you buy that argument. This guy and his friends are waging war against the US.
UPDATE: Linked at Dyspepsia Generation, and an e-mail from a reader:
I Googled the Sex by Surprise charges against Mr. Assange. He may be in jail now but these charges do not really warrant jail time in Sweden or really, anywhere else. Aparently Sex by Surprise is when you dont wear a condom during sex when your partner asks you to. It carries a 5000 Kornor fine or roughly $715. Just to put this in perspective, Julian Assange went into hiding and sparked an international manhunt in order to avoid paying the equivalent of a really bad traffic fine. Either this is a really bad publicity stunt or just facepalm stupid. The best we can hope for is that the Justice Dept. asks Sweden to extradite Mr. Assange to face extradition charges here. Im not betting on that happening.
I'd say the arrest is the purpose, given that Wikileaks seems to be falling apart, now that Mr. Assange is out of circulation.
#21
Wishful thinking.
But even if it happens, other organizations will spring up.
I'm rather amazed that the role of the press - some of the world's leading papers no less - is almost not put into question.
Most people would not bother with WL, if the press didn't serve up daily appetizers.
Posted by: European Conservative ||
12/08/2010 17:57
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#22
TwobyFour: that is very interesting. That sounds like the truth, that any sources thought to be compromised would be quietly moved. And good, that is competent and smart.
I have noticed in the new wikileaks documents there are XXXXs where the names have been redacted. In the case of North Korean refugees in Russian forests, all names were out.
But perhaps they are being more careful this time round than last time, as Wikileaks evolves.
NEWC: Prove your allegations. Show me the link where Wikileaks has directly killed someone in war.
TW: I do not believe Assange has been selling information. There is a massive smear campaign underway right now. I believe that about as much as I believe the ridiculous "rape" allegations.
But as for the Secretary of Defence publicly stating the assets are safe but saying something different behind closed doors: this is the problem.
Wikileaks would have been a minor embarrassment if our Governments - not just yours but mine also - had a greater respect for openness and transparency.
Instead they are lying to the public every day.
Maybe he should just begin to tell the truth. Radical concept that allows we the people to know what is going on and ensures the Government acts to reflect OUR wishes.
which is what democracy is supposed to deliver. Instead of a sham - vote for red or blue every four years to give the illusion of choice while the bureaucracy does whatever the hell it wants.
IF the Defence Secretary was lying - maybe he should have honestly declared that assets were dying. Perhaps the assets would panic and that is right for them - they would flee and save their own lives. And we would help them resettle in our countries as a matter of duty.
And perhaps that would make it harder to fight the war in Afghanistan or Iraq.
But hey it's not like it's going particularly well anyway - how long have we been there? What have we achieved? Saddam is gone but that's about the only bright thing. Other than that it looks a cess pit to me - and that was before Wikileaks released anything, so it's not Wikileaks to blame for that.
Maybe it's time to cut our losses and try a different strategy. Instead of fighting foreign wars to protect ourselves from Jihadism maybe it's time for internment camps for domestic Muslims instead.
Look at the Swiss they are going down a different path and good on them. They see a threat to their country. They ban minarets and want to deport foreign-born residents who commit a crime. Perfect.
This is the crux of the matter I feel: this issue of whether Defence Secretary Gates was lying to the public.
This is why Wikileaks is important in the first place. If our politicians tell us nothing but lies, we have no way to know what is going on or to really choose our governments.
In which case we no longer live in democracies.
I like wikileaks because it is tearing aside the veil and making it more difficult for our rulers to lie to us.
Some may say that compromises assets and results in people being killed.
I would say that people are being killed as a result of unaccountable Governments making bad decisions.
How many US and Allied soldiers lives would be saved, how many cripples still be whole, if we pulled the troops out and followed the Swiss strategy for fighting Islamofascism on our own turf?
Or at least had an honest cost-benefit analysis of what we are doing over there.
I really like Wikileaks. I think it is clear to all Assange is being attacked because he has embarrassed people in high places.
But that is the job of a fiercely free and independent media.
I support him, yet I am a patriot and I hate Islamofascists as much as anybody.
#23
rammer: assange is not a hater and he is not a pacifist either. He supports the concept of a just war. He just hates Governments lying to citizens about that war.
Assange notably said this: "Capable, generous men do not create victims, they nurture them."
#24
@ anon 1
Dude, your buttocks are affecting your eyesight.
You see nothing wrong with the theft of state secrets, and publishing them.
You do not seem to realize that governments must have secrets in order to survive and deal in the real world.
Me thinks a few years in a Russian gulag or a Chinese re-education camp might just serve to reorient you to reality and the consequences of divulging state secrets.
anon1 could care less that her crush has admitted that people got killed because of information that he leaked (Kenya). She could also care less that Assange's former business partner said he sold stuff for money.
Don't confuse her with the fact that perfect honesty occurs nowhere, not in a government, not in dealings with your neighbors, not even in a marriage. She wants to know what color the potholders in Hillary Clinton's kitchen are, dammit, and you better let her know because it's her right.
Don't point out that causing chaos just for kicks costs real people their lives, mainly because, hey....it's no one SHE knows, or ever will, so, like, who gives a rat's ass? Her right to know secrets is the most important right of all.
As long as you remember that to her, Assange is an angel and can never ever do anything wrong, you can skip her 5000 word missives and not miss a thing.
#26
trailing wife,
Thanks for the link. It's been a while since I read McCain. Got to say that I agree 100% with his prognosis. This "trial" has the smell of a Canadian "Yooman Rites" Commission Star Chamber hearing about it. That part that puzzles me is that both "victims" are crazy socialists, who one would assume would sacrifice themselves for the "cause". Guess they don't manufacture socialists these days like they used to.
Wikileaks outed corruption in Kenya. The people reacted with violence then threw that Government out.
Wikileaks was responsible for informing the people but not for the violence. People make their own choice on what to do. They could have just voted but their tribal anger bubbled up.
That is their own thing to deal with.
For Kenya, Wikileaks was an amazing force for good. That country just passed a new constitution to try to ensure such terrible corruption doesn't happen again.
This will raise their standards of living, move them forward and save the lives of many more people.
So I think that you are wrong.
And no I never said everything should be out there. I agree some things should be kept secret.
But I dispute that Wikileaks has caused any serious damage to anybody but the ruling class bureaucrats. It has made them instantly more accountable to their citizens as now we know what is going on
We can demand they do what we want instead of feeding us lies and bs.
#30
Ok, anon1, leaving aside the fact that your statement "I like freedom" has the same intellectual depth as my boy's statement, "I like ice cream", and that you think 1300 dead Kenyans don't matter because they must have all been bureaucrats....I got an idea.
You've seen my country's leaked info. Let's take a look at your country's cables. After all, you are into getting past all the BS, demanding the truth from bureaucrats, etc. Surely your bureaucrats could dish it out as well, or maybe even better, than ours.
I can't wait to read your diplomats' assessments not only of Sarkozy and Berlusconi to see if they match ours, but also of your close neighbors (New Zealand, Tonga, Indonesia, to name a few). I'm sure that your diplomats have always kept it classy and never referred to them as morons, lazy twits, bloody wogs, etc.
"Caught up with the cultural affairs minister after a party at the embassy. She had more than her share of the free Aussie fighting wine on tap (Chateau Wooloomooloo, '03, a delightful rose that is the Yarra Valley's finest, IMNSHO), after an argument with her secret lover, who is employed by the British Embassy as a gardener. After a bit of small talk, Subject told me that the current president has been known since his university days as a flamboyant cross dresser in private. He is partial to French designers, with a particular weakness for Louboutin shoes. XXXXXXX has diverted some of the foreign/charitable aid we have sent to this 'preference', as she put it. Alert Canberra to have a patent leather strappy model to present to the First Lady as a 'gift' during Gillard's next state visit. Preferably in size 11."
It will help your country, honest! Why, imagine finding out later that ol' Julia could have gotten the same pair for $50 less if she had only held off on her visit for a week. This is valuable information that you, as an Aussie taxpayer, should know! (And me, too, even though I've never been there....just 'cause I'm a nosy git. But that's for another day.)
Well, yeah, it might interfere with your country's ability to get confidential information from others, and they'd be wary of working with you to solve common problems in your area of influence. They might think that you guys can't keep a secret, either, and it might complicate some business deals, give people the impression that you are all a bunch of drunken louts, etc.
But hey....I like freedom, too!
So, how about it? Let's see who has the biggest bunch of idiots in their diplomatic corps, as a percentage of the respective bureaucracies? (We can't compete on sheer numbers, sorry....we'd win that, simply because we've got like 20 times the population. That wouldn't be a fair dinkum competition now, would it?)
#33
Goodness, four years old? I remember when you were pregnant -- how time flies. It's so much fun when siblings like each other. :-) The quarter is in exam week for the trailing daughters, so we shall see. Today was the last day of Chanukkah (transliteration spelling options are so much fun!) so we're only a few hours into belatedness. Happy belated to you, too. ;-)
[Iran Press TV] An unidentified armed man has murdered a tax police official in the Republic of Dagestan as violence continues unabated in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region.
The gunman walked into a café in Khasavyurt city, situated 1531 kilometers (951 miles) southeast of Moscow, late on Sunday and opened fire on the police official, the RIA Novosti news agency reported on Monday.
The unnamed tax police official later pegged out as he was being transported to a local hospital for treatment.
The attacker beat feet the scene in a vehicle and his whereabouts are unknown. Police have launched an investigation to establish the motive behind the incident.
Sporadic attacks and bad turbanfestivities are common in Russia's North Caucasus republics, especially Chechnya, Dagestan, and Ingushetia.
Russia has been fighting beturbanned goons in the North Caucasus since the mid 1990s.
Boilerplate follows...
Violence first broke out in Chechnya in 1994, when 250,000 people were forced to flee to neighboring territories because of a war between Chechen separatists and the Russian army.
After a short-lived and unstable peace from 1996 to 1999, war resumed following actions blamed on Chechen bad turban groups. An estimated 100,000 people have been killed in the conflict and many more displaced.
Widespread unemployment, especially among young adults, is a major problem that has given a boost to the separatist bad turbans' recruitment efforts.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(KUNA) -- US ambassador in Belgium, Howard Gutman, has confirmed Tuesday the presence of US nuclear arms at NATO's air base in Kleine Brogel, northern Belgium.
Belgian media reported today that this been revealed in a confidential document that has now been published on the WikiLeaks website.
Gutman is believed to have been briefing the US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... on Belgium's stand on disarmament. Clinton visited Belgium end of 2009.
In the document, Gutman wrote "Belgium has a particular interest in nuclear disarmament because it participates in NATO's nuclear force at Kleine Brogel." The document also suggests that the Belgian Prime Minister Yves Leterme was eager to agree with a German request for the nuclear bombs in Belgium to be removed.
Reportedly, officials from the US Defence and State Departments tried to intervene to change the Belgian Premier's mind.
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#4
It's not as if the Belgian government has access to or control of the things, nor likely that the Flems and the Walloons will go to war to get them.
Indeed, g(r)omgoru. I think they're still on the caretaker government from three elections back, but I could be off by an election or two. Sadly, France apparently has refused to acquire Wallonia and the German corner only wants not to be added to Germany, which means the Flems are stuck with a country that can't be broken up.
(KUNA) -- U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder on Monday authorized "significant" action in the investigation against WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange, for putting the country's national security "at risk" by publishing the controversial U.S. diplomatic cables online.
"National security of the United States has been put at risk," Holder said at a news conference at the Justice Department. "The lives of people who work for the American people have been put at risk. The American people themselves have been put at risk by these actions that I believe are arrogant, misguided and ultimately not helpful in any way. We are doing everything that we can".
The WikiLeaks site has been hit with denial-of-service attacks, which seek to make a website unavailable. It also has been kicked off servers in the United States and La Belle France.
Holder declined to answer questions Monday about the possibility that the U.S. government could shut down WikiLeaks, saying he does not want to talk about capabilities and techniques at the government's disposal.
Holder said he recently authorized a number of steps related to the WikiLeaks investigation, but would not detail those steps when pressed by news hounds.
"I authorized just last week a number of things to be done so that we can, hopefully, get to the bottom of this and hold people accountable as they should be," he said.
"With regard to all the tactics that we can do or can use to ameliorate the consequences of these actions, I do not want to get into those as well," he added. "But we will do everything that we can both to hold people accountable and to minimize the harm that will befall the American people".
Posted by: Fred ||
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Holder, there is nothing you can do to ameliorate them. You can't even mitigate them. You might have prevented their increase had you acted effectively in a timely manner. But you have let several herds out before even thinking about closing the barn door. And you don't even know the English language, just obsfucational bureaucratese.
#9
All Holder has to do is stall, something well within his skill-set. Assange "believes he is promoting democracy" and is very well-funded--I'm still marveling over the Swedish James Bond bunker he uses for storage. I smell Soros money behind Wikileaks and since he has also dictated Obama's policies, this could be the biggest terrorist attack we have never even dared to imagine. We haven't begun to realize the fall-out but hopefully their sinister plan to collapse the US will all backfire.
[Emirates 24/7] South Sudan's main party accused the north of fresh bombing attacks on its territory on Monday and Tuesday, saying Khartoum was trying to take the country back to war and wreck an independence referendum.
"The government of Sudan and the (north's dominant) National Congress Party has continued bombing south Sudan especially in Western Bahr al-Ghazal from yesterday up to today and also they continue to bomb Northern Bahr al-Ghazal," the secretary general of the south's dominant Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) Pagan Amum told news hounds.
"It is clear that the National Congress Party is implementing a plan to take Sudan back to war so to avoid ... the conduct of the referendum on self-determination."
The people of Sudan's oil-producing south are just over a month away from the scheduled start of a Jan. 9 referendum on whether to declare independence or stay part of Sudan, a vote promised in a 2005 peace deal that ended decades of north-south civil war.
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Classified By: Anne W. Patterson for reasons 1.4 (b) (d) Feb 26, 2010
A court decision preventing (Taliban leader Mullah) Barader`s extradition to Afghanistan comes amid renewed anti-American hostility in the media. The Americans speculate that the Pakistanis might swap Barader for a Baloch nationalist leader hiding in Kabul, but feel he `knows too much`.
The Beradar arrest was raised at a Feb 24 tripartite meeting in Islamabad of FBI Director Robert Mueller, (Interior) Minister Rehman Malik and (Afghan interior) Minister Atmar Hanif. There was no agreement from either side about the transfer of "wanted persons".
In the meeting, Malik provided a list of Pakistans Most Wanted to Atmar, and requested the same from Atmar. Malik named one of the Most Wanted, known Baloch separatist Bramdagh Bugti, and asked Atmar to assist in locating the individual and returning him to Pakistan.
Malik also stated that both countries had expressed interest in passing prisoner lists naming the nationals of one country being detained by the other country. Atmar said his government did not know where the Baloch separatists were located and would need more information from the GOP (Government of Pakistan) to find them.
Atmar highlighted that three Afghan Taliban leaders, including Mullah Beradar, had been recently detained in Pakistan and advised that Afghanistan would be interested in developing a dialogue to have these three deported.
Malik noted that these detainees currently were not pending in the courts, but the he would seek additional information on the matter.
Atmar further advised that pursuant to discussions between ISI and Afghan NDS, 38 Afghans were to be deported/repatriated in the near future, but these Afghans had not been sent back to Afghanistan.
Director Mueller strongly suggested that, as the two countries moved forward, the "prisoner" and "Most Wanted" lists should not be made public.
He urged both Minister Atmar and Minister Malik to restrain from comments to the press (advice which was apparently ignored). The names on the lists could be key to sensitive investigations and making the names public might jeopardize investigations, the FBI Director explained.
The tripartite meeting was a follow up to the earlier May 2009 meeting in Washington. It made progress on a number of fronts, which will be reported septel. But the issue of "wanted persons" dominated the press play after the meeting. Rehman Malik was at pains to convince us that no deal had been made with the Afghans.
As most of our readers know, the presence of Baloch separatists Bramdagh Bugti in Afghanistan has long been a neuralgic one with the GOP, particularly with the GOP military.
Accordingly, post believes that we should watch out for consideration of some type of exchange of Barader with Bugti. But we do not believe that the Pakistani government, especially those who control Barader`s fate -- Kayani and Pasha -- would willingly lose control of such a huge potential propaganda pawn in Bradar.
While Bugti may be a core issue at some political level, the "truths" Barader could tell about ISI, not to mention a host of other Pakistani notables, likely outweigh any potential wins in bringing Bugti to Pakistani justice.
Comment: To state the obvious, the consistent press leaks in the media about American intelligence operations in the US have lots of unexpected consequences. Most obviously, press leaks enabled the highly unpredictable and anti-American Lahore High Court to issue a judgment decrying the presence of US intelligence agents in the Barader case.
PATTERSON
Posted by: Fred ||
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Zero Bravo asserts that the Paks jugged Abdul Ghani Baradar, the Talibans operational commander and number two leader because he was conducting peace talks with the Afghan government that excluded Pakistan.
We protect the Taliban. They are dependent on us. We are not going to allow them to make a deal with Karzai and the Indians.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/08/2010 5:49
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#2
While Bugti may be a core issue at some political level, the "truths" Barader could tell about ISI, not to mention a host of other Pakistani notables, likely outweigh any potential wins in bringing Bugti to Pakistani justice.
Says it all who we are really fighting in Afghanistan ie Pak Army/ISI
(KUNA) -- Tens of thousands of students from outside the EU will be barred from coming to Britain under new immigration rules to be set out Tuesday, it was announced here.
Two-thirds of the non-EU migrants who enter the UK come on student visas and the Government will aim to bring these numbers down as it tries to fulfil its pledge to cut net migration from 200,000 to under 100,000 by 2015, officials said. Bogus students and colleges that exploit the system will be targeted as student visas for courses below degree level - including A-levels, vocational courses and GCSEs - are axed.
But in a key speech on immigration, Home Secretary Theresa May said last month: "Let me make clear: I will do nothing to prevent those coming here to study degree-level courses and I will protect our world-class academic institutions above and below degree level."
"Even if they are terrorists! So there!"
Mrs May said the Government will cut the numbers of students coming to the UK to study courses below degree level - almost half of those who currently arrive on student visas.
"While we need to preserve our world-class universities, we need to stop abuses," she said.
Students coming to the UK to study a course below degree level - around 120,000 last year - will be targeted, as will those abusing the study route by using it as a means to stay on in the UK. Around 38,000 migrants who came as students in 2009 then looked for skilled work under an "astonishingly generous" system, Mrs May said.
In the future, only students "who can bring an economic benefit to Britain's institutions and can support Britain's economic growth" should be allowed in. The standard of courses, entry criteria and English language requirements will all be looked at, she said, along with the right to work for students and their dependants.
The Government will adopt "a more selective approach, which attracts the highly skilled, the talented and the genuinely needed, but reduces numbers overall by weeding out those who do not deserve to be allowed in".
Home Office data showed migrants granted visas to study in privately-funded colleges "were much more likely not to have left the country than their counterparts in universities" after the end of their course. "I want a more selective approach which prioritises our universities, attracts the brightest and best workers and minimises abuse in the study and family routes," Mrs May said.
From next April, the number of migrant workers coming to Britain from outside the EU will be cut by a fifth and capped at 21,700. And a new minimum salary of 40,000 pounds for firms using intra-company transfers (ICTs) to bring their own people into the UK for more than a year to do specific jobs will also be imposed. The Government is also considering ways to reduce the number of migrants joining family members in the UK, the officials added.
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#1
The Government is also considering ways to reduce the number of migrants joining family members in the UK, the officials added.
[Chosun Ilbo] As part of an ongoing propaganda drive to establish North Korean hereditary supremo Kim Jong-il's son Jong-un as his father's successor, the podgy youth has apparently adopted the old slogan "feed the people with rice and meat soup," according to the Yomiuri Shimbun on Monday.
Quoting a source in China, the daily said Kim Sonny Jong-un rehearsed the slogan at a meeting in Pyongyang early last month. "We should restore the people's economy to the level of the 1960-1970s within three years to reach living standards whereby people can enjoy rice and meat soup and live in tile-roofed houses and wear silk clothes," the source quoted him as saying.
The meeting was chaired by Jang Song-taek, Kim's powerful uncle and presumptive guardian, and attended by enterprise managers and economic experts.
"Feeding people with rice and meat soup" was a favorite slogan of regime founder Kim Il-sung. Kim Sonny Jong-un repeated it in a bid to deliver a message that he will play a leadership role in economic reconstruction, the daily speculated.
Since he was established as the heir in September, Kim junior has stressed improvement of people's lives, the daily added. "In the past, it was fine if we didn't have food as long as we had bullets. But now we must have food, but not necessarily bullets," he has been quoted as saying.
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#2
I wonder if this means that Juche propaganda will make its way back into the NorK publicity machine?
I miss the enthusiastic Juche-man and his wildly optimistic propaganda - maybe Pelosi, Reid and Obama will let Kim have him back from his position as a Dem budget forecaster.
#5
Well, TW... I think we all miss the Juche Man propaganda. Its pretty amusing and easy to riff off of, It's got a good beat and you can dance to it - I give it a 92!
#6
Has any other nation ever set the goal to reach their level of affluence of 40-50 years in the past? Is France longing for Vichy?
Posted by: Alan Cramer ||
12/08/2010 19:43
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#7
That "Chicken soup" comment triggered an old memory, An old Western, the captured indians are complaining about "Soup that Chicken ran through".
Commandant sent troops out Buffalo hunting for food.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
12/08/2010 20:10
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(KUNA) -- US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... designated on Tuesday al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula operative "Fahad Mohammad Ahmad Al-Quso" as a global terrorist.
The State Department said in a statement that Al-Quso was designated under Executive Order 13224 "which targets bully boyz and those providing support to bully boyz or acts of terrorism." Al-Quso was also added to the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society (UN) 1267 Sanctions Committee's Consolidated List of individuals associated with al-Qaeda and the Taliban.
"These actions will help stem the flow of finances to, and inhibit the travel of, this dangerous operative", noted the statement.
While State Department Counterterrorism Daniel Benjamin said that the designation of Fahad Al-Quso "highlights US action against the threat posed to the United States by al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula".
"Today's joint designation by the United States and the United Nations alerts the public that Fahd al-Quso is actively engaged in terrorism. These actions expose and isolate individuals like Al-Quso and results in denial of access to the global financial system", he added.
The State Department noted that prior to the formation of Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, Al-Quso "was associated with al-Qaeda elements in Yemen and involved in the 2000 USS Cole bombing in the Port of Aden, which killed 17 U.S. citizens" and mentioned he was added on November 2009 to the list of the FBI's most wanted terrorists.
The designation under Executive Order 13224 blocks all al-Quso's property interests subject to U.S. jurisdiction and prohibits U.S. persons from engaging in transactions for the benefit of Al-Quso.
"The actions taken against this AQAP operative demonstrate international resolve in eliminating AQAP's ability to execute violent attacks and to disrupt, dismantle, and defeat their networks. This designation represents just one phase of the US Government's response to the threat posed by AQAP", concluded the State Department.
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#1
This should have come as a joint statement from State AND Treasury. It is Treasury/OFAC that will enforce the sanctions element. Guess Barry preferred giving Hillary the limelight over Tiny Tim so she could reinforce her "tough" persona...
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/08/2010 2:04
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What's the # of executive order to send money to PLO Palestinian Authority?
Google Translate
A confrontation between an armed group and a detachment of the Mexican Army in Tamaulipas has left a toll of six armed suspects dead and a number of weapons, munitions and contraband seized, say Mexican press reports.
The encounter took place at 1410 hrs Monday near the border town of Gustavo Diaz Ordaz in rancho Santa Lucia where a combined air and ground patrol led the unit of the Mexican 8th Military Zone to fire on an armed group riding aboard several vehicles.
In addition to the six dead criminal suspects soldiers seized 24 rifles, one pistol, five grenades, two grenade launchers, 12 40mm grenades, two rocket launchers, and five vehicles, three of which three were armored.
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian holy man and politician says the six world powers known as the P5+1 must be held accountable over spying operations which focus on the country's nuclear facilities.
Ayatollah Qorbanqoli Dorri Najafabadi said on Tuesday that the P5+1 member states - Britain, China, La Belle France, Russia and the US plus Germany -- should be answerable over allegations that certain countries were "spying on Iran's nuclear sites under the guise of IAEA inspectors, and offering information to foreigners and terrorists."
Ayatollah Dorri Najafabadi is a member of the Assembly of Experts and a provincial representative of Leader of the Islamic theocracy Ayatollah Seyyed Ali Khamenei in the central Markazi province.
"The West and the 5+1 should recognize the rights of the great Iranian nation," Fars News Agency quoted the holy man as saying.
"The Iranian nation will not step back an iota when it comes to nuclear energy and its inalienable rights, and sanctions, threats and acts of terror will only make the nation more resolute in [continuing] the path it has chosen," the Leader's representative said.
"The liquidation of scholars and nuclear scientists is the most obvious sign of the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency and the UN Security Council's weakness," he said.
Ayatollah Dorri Najafabadi slammed international organizations for not having condemned the terrorist attacks on two Iranian scientists in Tehran several days ago, which killed one and slightly injured the other.
He also called on the P5+1 to decry terrorist acts carried out against Iranian scientists and scholars.
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(KUNA) -- South Korean President Lee Myung-bak said Tuesday he wants to turn Yeonpyeong Island, recently hit by a North Korean artillery attack, and four other western border islands into "military fortresses," Yonhap News Agency reported. That Kim Young 'Un's a military genius...
In a Cabinet meeting in Seoul, Lee instructed related ministries to "gradually push for the military fortification" of the five islands vulnerable to the North's unremitting provocation, Lee's spokeswoman Kim Hee-jung told news hounds, according to the report.
"Various ministries should also cooperate in creating jobs and other conditions for residents to continue to stay there," the president was quoted as saying.
Lee's comments came as worries grow that the five small islands near the Yellow Sea border may become "ghost lands." A growing number of residents there, mostly fishermen and their families and small restaurant owners, have been calling for government measures to help them move to other areas where there are no direct threats of North Korean military attacks.
On Nov. 23, the North launched an artillery attack on Yeonpyeong Island, which has about 1,400 residents and also hosts a Marine Corps base, killing two soldiers and two construction workers. Many of the local residents decamped from the island right after the North's shelling.
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[Iran Press TV] European Union finance ministers have formally adopted the Republic of Ireland's bailout plan hours before the Irish MPs' vote on an austerity budget for 2011.
Dublin is expected to announce the details of its toughest austerity measures in return for a bailout from the EU and the International Monetary Fund (IMF).
The country will cut EUR 15 billion (USD 20 billion) in spending over the next four years as part of the bailout deal to recover its economy.
The EU-IMF deal is worth EUR 85 billion in mostly external loans and guarantees, which includes EUR 17.5 billion taken mostly from Ireland's public pension fund.
In exchange for the bailout, Ireland now must overhaul its banking system and reduce its deficit to below 3 percent by 2015.
The country's National Recovery Plan unveiled two weeks ago will see child benefit, social welfare and state pensions slashed. The budget cuts for the first year, with cuts in welfare spending and jobs worth EUR 6 billion, will be the toughest.
The cuts will also see an increase in taxes and will affect health, social welfare and education sectors, angering many citizens. Thousands of protesters are expected to gather outside parliament upon the announcement of the new budget plan.
Prime Minister Brian Cowen's government insists that the bailout is needed to help the country's faltering banking system, a bursting property bubble and a prolonged recession.
But economists have warned that the spending cuts risk a downturn in the economy which would make Ireland's debt targets even harder to achieve.
"With such a figure [EUR 6 billion] being taken out of the economy, it is hard to see domestic demand picking up anytime soon," said Alan McQuaid, chief economist at Bloxham.
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[El Universal] The government decided the liquidation of Sindicato Avila, a commercial corporation formerly owned by Grupo Financiero Federal. Sindicato Avila is one of the business corporations comprising Corpomedios GV Inversiones, the parent company of news TV channel Globovisión, reported on Monday night state-run news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN).
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] Rawalpindi courts accepted the bail of former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former SP Khurram Shahzad before their arrest in regards to the Benazir Bhutto liquidation case.
Former CPO Rawalpindi Saud Aziz and former SP Khurram Shahzad appeared before Nasir Ahmed Khan, the judge at the Anti Terrorist Court No. 3, where their bail was accepted.
In the previous hearing, the court had issued warrant of arrests and had ordered authorities to arrest the accused and present them in court.
The two were jugged on allegations that they failed to provide adequate security for former Prime Minister Benazir Bhutto before her 2007 liquidation.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iran Press TV] The European Union has warned that current Israeli policies would not let the occupied East al-Quds (Jerusalem) to be the future capital of a Paleostinian state.
"If current trends are not stopped as a matter of urgency, the prospect of east Jerusalem as the future capital of a Paleostinian state becomes increasingly unlikely and unworkable," said an annual EU report seen by AFP on Tuesday.
"This in turn seriously endangers the chances of sustainable peace on the basis of two states, with Jerusalem as their future capital," the report added.
Beside settlement projects, Israel's restrictive planning policies and the continuing demolitions and evictions have "serious humanitarian consequences," the EU said.
Such policies cause East al-Quds to be increasingly isolated from the rest of the occupied West Bank, the report warned.
Refusing to extend partial settlement freeze, Israel has approved the construction of more settler units in the occupied Paleostinian territories, including East al-Quds.
The settlement issue stalled direct talks between Israeli Premier Benjamin Netanyahu and acting Paleostinian Authority Chief the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas, which began early September.
Abbas has clarified that he would not return to the US-sponsored negotiations unless Tel Aviv extends its 10-month freeze, which expired late September.
On Monday, Israel's Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman insisted that Tel Aviv has no plan to extend the partial moratorium on the settlement activities.
Israel occupied and annexed East al-Quds in 1967 and later annexed it in a move never recognized by the international community and the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society.
"Jerusalem is not a settlement -- Jerusalem is the capital of... Israel," said Netanyahu's office, adding that Israel had never stopped settlement construction in the occupied city since the 1967 war.
Paleostinians argue that the settlement projects, which contravene UN Security Council Resolutions 446, 452, and 465, are aimed at preventing the establishment of an independent Paleostinian state with East al-Quds as its capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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Don't you people have some problems that require your, urgent, atttention at home?
A total of 25 individuals were murdered in ongoing drug and gang related crimes in northern Mexican states including a female Juarez police officer shot Sunday. For a map, click here
Three unidentified men were shot to death in Juarez in two different crimes Sunday, according to the Mexican daily La Polaka. On calle 22 de Enero in the Manuel Cloutier colony two men were shot, and despite being taken to receive medical attention, died. In the Felipe Angels colony near the intersection of calles Autlan and Begonias a man was dumped who has been shot to death.
An unidentified man was found beaten to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Sunday, say Mexican news accounts. The victim was a guest at the Hotel Cortez on the corner of Calle Gomez Farias and Avenida Independencia.
Two unidentified young men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Sunday, according to Mexican news accounts. The victims were parked aboard a Nissan sedan outside a residence near the intersection of calles Belisario Dominguez and Tomochi when armed suspects riding in a Jeep Cherokee drove by and shot the pair using assault rifles.
Five men were shot to death and eight others wounded in two separate attacks on drug rehabilitation centers in the Aldama colony in Juarez Sunday evening. Armed suspects aboard several vehicles stopped at the Alcance Victoria Rehabilitation Center near the intersection of calles Berkelio and Mauricio Corredor. Ignacio Valdez Hernandez, 18, and Jose Luis Hernandez, 35, died at the scene. The suspects then boarded their vehicles and proceed to the Centro de Liberación de Adicciones (CDLA) near the corner of calles Aranda and Bario and shot several others, killing Thomas Rodriguez, 45, Miguel Martinez, 35 and Juan Antonio, 18. Reports say in both attacks AK-47 assault rifles, hand grenades and .50 caliber weapons were used, although the reports are unclear if the large bore weapon was a pistol or a rifle.
An unidentified man was found stoned to death in Juarez Monday morning, say Mexican news accounts. The find was made in the irrigation canal near the intersection of Avenida Ejercito Nacional and Camino Rubio where investigators found several bloody stones.
An unidentified man was shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua, late Sunday night according to Mexican news reports. The victim was at a residence near the corner of calles Sosa Vera and Portales in the Villas del Real colony when armed suspects aboard several vehicles arrived and killed the victim. Reports say the victim sold pirated material, although reports were not specific.
An unidentified man was found shot to death Monday morning, according to Mexican news sources. The victim was found in a vacant lot at a bus stop near the intersection of Eje Vial Juan Gabriel and Oasis Revolucion in the Oasis Revolucion colony naked to the waist, gagged, hands and feet bound with gunshot wounds to the head an back.
An unidentified man was found shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday afternoon, say Mexican news reports. The victim was found on calle Mitre in the Diaz Ordaz colony and was probably a gang member.
A female Juarez police officer was shot to death and another was wounded in an attack in Juarez, according to Mexican news accounts. The victims were aboard a blue Dodge Ram at a traffic light near the intersection of Eje Vial Juan Gabriel and Avenida Sanders when they were attacked. One officer died at the scene while the other was transported for medical attention.
An employee of a liquor store was shot to death during an armed robbery near Chihuahua, Chihuahua, Monday, according to Mexican news accounts. The assault took place at Modeloramas Wines and Spirits on Kilometer 7.5 of the Cuauhtemoc-Chihuahua road. Reports say a single suspect arrived aboard a Dodge Ram pickup truck, entered the store and argued with the manager before shooting him and then fleeing towards Fresno, Chihuahua.
A hair salon was firebombed Monday night by presumed extortionists in Juarez Monday night, say Mexican press reports. The Bella hair Salon was burned when armed suspects carrying Molotov Cocktails attacked the business inside the Glorieta de Los Aztecas shopping center. The owner was inside the business at the time of the attack but was unharmed. Reports say a number of small businesses were being extorted, and the attack was a response to the refusal of the owner to pay protection money.
A prisoner being escorted to prison was shot during an attempted escape, according to Mexican press accounts. The attack took place Monday when armed suspects attacked a two vehicle police convoy transferring Ernesto Alfredo Piñón de la Cruz, alias El Neto, after attending a trial, to a state Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) in a remote section of the Pan American Highway highway using assault rifles and hand grenades. Piñón de la Cruz was shot in the head in the attempt, and the rescue failed and no one else was reported hurt in the attack. Piñón de la Cruz was serving 182 years for kidnapping and murder and was imprisoned in 2009. According to reports Piñón de la Cruz was released but found moments later shot in the head. Two other prisoners were in the convoy when it was attacked. One prisoner was wounded and the other is still at large.
An unidentified suspect was shot to death and immolated in Juarez Monday night, according to Mexican news sources. The victim was found in the Lomas de Morelos colony where he was been shot three times and burned. A message was left on the victim stating he was an extortion victim.
Two men were wounded in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Monday following an abduction attempt, say Mexican news accounts. The attack took place at the Sorianna shopping mall near the corner of calles Homero and Tecnologico where armed suspects shot the two men attempting to kidnap them. Luis Carlos and Fernando Holguin Aragonez were said to be employees of a mining company in Cuauhtemoc.
A home was firebombed in Juarez Tuesday morning, according to Mexican news accounts. A residence on the corner of calle Rincon del Valle and Canario was totally involved when armed suspects aboard two trucks threw Molotov cocktails inside.
An unidentified man was shot to death aboard his SUV in Juarez Tuesday, say Mexican news accounts. The attack took place when armed suspects riding aboard a Honda sedan fired on the victim near the intersection of calles Bernardo Balbuena and Nely Campobello in the Che Guevara colony. Several .40 caliber spent shell casings were found at the scene.
Three men were shot to death Monday afternoon in Navojoa, Sonora, according to Mexican news accounts. The victims were inside a residence near the corner of Calle Oaxaca and Avenida Primero in the Deportiva colony. Four .38 Super spent shell casings were found at the scene. The dead are Sergio Espinoza Valenzuela, 55, Fernando Coronado Padilla, 38 and Gonzalo Gil Borbon, 26.
A drive by shooting in Caborca, Sonora has left one civilian wounded, say Mexican press accounts. The shooting took place between the occupants of a Nissan Altima and a Chrysler 300 near the intersection of Calle Heroico Colegio Militar and Carretera Internacional in the Ortiz colony. Jesus Manuel Fierros Quijada, 55, who was standing more than 200 meters away, was hit by a stay shot.
Three individuals were murdered in Tijuana, Baja California in three separate crimes, according to the Mexican daily Frontera. Daniel Ramos Legorreta, 44, was shot at a residence on privada Mani in the Villa del Campo colony in the Presa Rural delegation. Reports say the shooters fled the area aboard a Volkswagen Jetta shortly after the shooting. Reports also say several rounds from AK-47 assault rifles were found at the scene. In the El Mirador colony early Monday morning an unidentified man was shot to death in an apparent home invasion. Two other victims were wounded in the attack. Armed suspects used AK-47 assault rifles and 9mmm weapons in the crime. Finally, near the corner of calles Virgo and Yonkeros in the Reacomodo Sanchez Taboada, Tercera Seccion colony, Roman Angel Magallon, 39, was shot 13 times using a 9mm weapon.
pressTV
General Director of Tehran's Environment Protection Organization said earlier on Tuesday ..."Five airplanes have sprayed the city in twenty flights since Tuesday morning and twenty to thirty flights have also been scheduled for the afternoon," Rasoul Ashrafipour told IRNA. water plus SO2 gives you something pretty nasty, I wonder if this guy got his job via Mullah connections rather than competence
"The project will continue tomorrow with five more airplanes which will spray about 2,000 liters of water at each take-off," he added.
Head of Iran's Environment Protection Organization (IEPO) had earlier said that Tehran's air pollution was still at an alarming level due to the accumulation of pollutants and the pattern of air inversion. also, Iran makes its own motor fuel with only minimal desulfurization and minimal removal of heavy metals
According to Mohammad Javad Mohammadizadeh, the organization's researchers were trying to find ways to shake up the atmosphere to produce rain or create artificial wind corridors to blow the thick haze away.
Tehran Governor General Morteza Tamaddon also said that the IEPO was designing ventilation and air conditioner systems to be installed in about a hundred polluted spots of the capital.
Posted by: lord garth ||
12/08/2010
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Let US shake up Tehran's atmosphere & create some big winds.
#3
I remember bicycling to work in the early '80s thru Huntington Beach, CA. The morning mist off the coast would blend with the cool, settled smog and make a nice sulphuric acid blend in the warming sun. It would just peel the skin off my face and arms.
[Dawn] The Monday hearing of a suo motu case about the mishandling of Haj affairs was widely expected to be a stormy one, but no one had possibly foreseen Religious Affairs Minister Hamid Saeed Kazmi coming up with quite an 'honest' statement and a novel defence, claiming that corruption in Haj arrangements this year was far less than in previous years.
"Even if there is corruption, it is far less this year than what had been committed previously," Mr Kazmi said before a special bench headed by Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Javed Iqbal, Justice Tassadduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Raja Fayyaz Ahmed, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilurur Rehman Ramday.
The court had taken notice of media reports, an appeal filed by Dr Khalid Mehmood Soomro, a parliamentary committee member who recently visited Soddy Arabia and accused officials of the Haj Directorate of being involved in corrupt practices, complaints sent by three members of the National Assembly and two of the Senate, a letter sent to the chief justice by Saudi Prince Bandar Bin Khalid Bin Abdul Aziz Al-Saud alleging embezzlement and a number of applications received by Justice Ramday in person during the performance of Haj from pilgrims narrating their ordeal and complaining about corruption and mismanagement.
The bench expressed disappointment over the explanation given by Religious Affairs Secretary Agha Sarwar Qazilbash who on a number of occasions had admitted instances of corruption in the hiring of accommodation for pilgrims and stated that he had invited trouble for himself.
The chief justice even raised questions about the justification for his continuing to hold the job.
The court grilled the secretary for the pathetic treatment meted out to pilgrims by the ministry.
The bench was informed by Establishment Secretary Khushnood Lashari that the appointment of Director General of Haj Rao Shakeel Ahmed, who is under detention, had been approved by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani knowing well that he was facing two corruption references in accountability courts and his name had been removed from the exit control list on a mere SMS (short message service) from Interior Minister Rehman Malik.
The term 'Rehmani Haj' because of which the PIA had to pay a penalty of Rs9 million to the Saudi authorities and the role of Bahria Town chairman Malik Riaz also came up when the religious affairs secretary claimed that those who had performed Haj as guests of the interior minister were financed by the Bahria Town.
The secretary, however, denied that PIA had to bear the brunt of the Rehmani Haj as compensation.
"If Riaz Malik is so rich then why is he not paying taxes?" asked the chief justice. He recalled that the apex court was seized with a number of cases against him.
MNAs Bilal Yasin and Pirzada Syed Ahmed Imran and Senators Dr Khalid Soomro and Saleh Shah, members of the parliament's standing committee on religious affairs who had visited Soddy Arabia much before the Haj and compiled a report highlighting instances of corruption, also appeared before the bench.
They said in their report that Ahmad Faiz Muhammad Shafi, a Pak national who was involved in controversies and allegedly facing criminal charges, had been employed by the ministry's building department to hire accommodation for pilgrims on the recommendations of religious affairs minister who had even proposed to issue an official passport to him.
They requested the court to give exemplary punishment to people involved in the scandal. However, The infamous However... Bilal Yasin said he had no evidence to prove the allegations levelled by some people against the prime minister.
The bench was also not happy with the performance of the Federal Investigation Agency whose Director General Waseem Ahmed did not bother to appear before it and sent a subordinate.
The court asked why had Rao Shakil been made a scapegoat and why was only he facing the inquiry when a committee was responsible for poor accommodation acquired for pilgrims. The court ordered the religious affairs secretary not to leave the country without first seeking permission from the prime minister and asked him to consider returning 700 Saudi riyals each to some 22,000 pilgrims who faced hardship in Mina and were forced to stay in places without the facilities of running water, toilet and electricity and without arrangements for food and transport.
The secretary will also ensure effecting notices issued by the court to some 600 private tour operators for Dec 9. He was also asked to produce the list of buildings acquired for the pilgrims and the Saudi policy on Haj.
Interior Secretary Qamar Zaman was ordered to again place the name of Rao Shakil on the ECL.
Minister Kazmi replied in the affirmative when asked if Pakistain's Ambassador to Soddy Arabia Umar Ali Sherdil had any animosity towards him.
The ambassador has blamed the minister and others for the pathetic Haj managements. The court asked Attorney General Maulvi Anwarul Haq to check whether the ambassador could attend the next hearing.
The minister also criticised the media for levelling allegations against him without any substance or evidence. He said he would submit a proper reply to the court.
NAB's additional prosecutor general submitted reports on details of corruption charges against Rao Shakil.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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[Chosun Ilbo] North Korea has heightened the level of provocations against South Korea because it has found the weak spot that prevents South Korea, the U.S. and China from acting, experts speculated Wednesday.
"The regime must have judged that there would be no counterattack that could threaten it" no matter how many artillery shells it rained on Yeonpyeong Island, because South Korea and the war-weary U.S. do not want the Korean Peninsula engulfed in a conflict, and China does not want the North to collapse, a South Korean security official speculated.
◆ South Korean Indecisiveness
In January, the North fired about 100 coastal artillery shells at Baeknyeong and Daecheong islands but not beyond the Northern Limit Line, the de-facto maritime border. At the time, South Korean officials threatened firm retaliation.
But in August, when some of about 130 North Korean coastal artillery shells landed in waters off Baeknyeong and Yeonpyeong islands well past the NLL, Seoul again only vowed to counterattack, "if their shells land on our territory." The South had remained on the defensive, so the North apparently felt it could attack Yeonpyeong Island with impunity, experts say.
The first reaction from Cheong Wa Dae to the attack on the island was that it does not want an escalation.
Prof. Lee Jo-won of Chungang University said, "The North launched such a bold provocation because it knew how afraid the South is of a war" and noticed that South Korea's rules of engagement softened during the previous administrations that pursued the Sunshine Policy of rapprochement.
◆ U.S. Paralysis
In the fist North Korean nuclear crisis in the early 1990s, the North was afraid of an attack from the U.S., which did at one time consider a "surgical strike" on the Yongbyon nuclear facility.
Prof. Kim Sung-han of Korea University said, "The North now has about 10 nuclear bombs but the U.S. doesn't know where they are, so it would be difficult to launch the kind of a surgical strike that was considered in the 1990s."
The North recently showed a uranium enrichment facility with hundreds of centrifuges to a U.S. expert and may have more elsewhere. The North also gambled that the U.S. is overstretched in its wars in Iraq and Afghanistan and will not get involved in another.
Prof. Yoon Duk-min of the Institute of Foreign Affairs and National Security pointed out that the area around the NLL is under the South Korean military's control, so the North believes there will be no counterattack from the U.S. if no damage is done to American soldiers or citizens.
◆ Chinese Preference for the Status Quo
North Korean hereditary supremo Kim Jong-il huddled closer to China with two visits to his country's most powerful ally last year alone. After the North torpedoed the South Korean Navy corvette Cheonan in March, Beijing stuck up for Pyongyang.
"China wouldn't abandon the North even if it was embarrassed by the regime's recent shenanigans," said Prof. Kim Hung-kyu of Sungshin Women's University.
The last thing China wants to see would be the collapse of the regime and consequent instability in Northeast Asia. "China should shut down the pipeline to the North to force it to calm down, but it would never do such a thing. Kim Jong-il knows all too well that China would never forsake him," the security official said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/08/2010
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China has tried to get rid of the Kim's before. They would be happy to do it again.
Sleep tight Kim Jong-un.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
12/08/2010 6:16
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Surrender is MOST convenient for some. Been doing Pro Se for sometime on my own behalf. Never lost a case. Now that the AP entering into the one sided frey, liberty for bloggers is dead. Thanx a million, people. 
Fox has learned that Reps. Peter DeFazio (D-OR), Jim McDermott (D-WA) and Jay Inslee (D-WA) are crafting a letter to share with the House Democratic Caucus that would try to prevent the Speaker from bringing the tax bill to the floor.
The Senate has voted unanimously to convict U.S. District Judge G. Thomas Porteous of Louisiana on the first of four impeachment charges, removing him from the federal bench.
John Toomey, known for 20 years at the Union Square Macy's in San Francisco as "Santa John," was told Saturday he'll have to take his "ho, ho, hos" elsewhere because an adult couple complained about a joke he cracked. 
[Iran Press TV] China says promoting the atmosphere of dialogue and cooperation is the only way forward to help deal with tensions on the Korean peninsula.
[Iran Press TV] American states have taken drastic measures, bracing for more cuts, layoffs, and tax increases as they collectively owe trillions of dollars in debt.
[Al Jazeera] The International Criminal Court (ICC) is looking into whether North Korea's recent shelling of a South Korean island and the sinking of a warship could constitute war crimes.
[Al Jazeera] Iran will refuse to talk about stopping its enrichment of uranium at the next meeting in January on its nuclear programme with six major powers, the country's chief nuclear negotiator says.
[Iran Press TV] Former South African President Thabo Mbeki has departed the Ivory Coast with no success in his mediating effort to defuse the country's latest election row.
[Iran Press TV] Three people have been killed and six others injured in the Iraqi capital and the eastern province of Diyala as police keep rounding up more suspected
Police 
[Yahoo/AP] A judge on Tuesday threw out a lawsuit aimed at preventing the United States from targeting anti-American 
[Iran Press TV] A Yemen-born foreign fighter has been killed in the latest heavy 
The Sudan Armed Forces (SAF), the Khartoum-based government's army, and its former enemy, the Sudan People's Liberation Army (SPLA) of south Sudan, have signed an agreement to secure the flow of crude oil from Sudanese oil fields, irrespective of the outcome of the upcoming referendum on south Sudan self-determination.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Zimbabwe's central bank will lay off 1,600 workers at the end of this month as it battles with huge debts from projects it was forced to embark on to prop up President 
[An Nahar] An Israeli military intelligence official on Tuesday expressed concerns that Hizbullah "might seize control of Lebanese government institutions" when the Special Tribunal for 
[Iran Press TV] An unidentified armed man has murdered a tax police official in the Republic of Dagestan as violence continues unabated in Russia's volatile North Caucasus region.
[Emirates 24/7] South Sudan's main party accused the north of fresh bombing attacks on its territory on Monday and Tuesday, saying Khartoum was trying to take the country back to war and wreck an independence referendum.
[Chosun Ilbo] As part of an ongoing propaganda drive to establish 
[Iran Press TV] A senior Iranian 
[Iran Press TV] European Union finance ministers have formally adopted the Republic of Ireland's bailout plan hours before the Irish MPs' vote on an austerity budget for 2011.
[El Universal] The government decided the liquidation of Sindicato Avila, a commercial corporation formerly owned by Grupo Financiero Federal. Sindicato Avila is one of the business corporations comprising Corpomedios GV Inversiones, the parent company of news TV channel Globovisión, reported on Monday night state-run news agency Agencia Venezolana de Noticias (AVN).
[Chosun Ilbo] North Korea has heightened the level of provocations against South Korea because it has found the weak spot that prevents South Korea, the U.S. and China from acting, experts speculated Wednesday. 
