White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama is prepared to delay his holiday trip to ensure Senate ratification of a US-Russia nuclear treaty.
Gibbs told reporters Friday that he believes Obama, who's set to vacation in Hawaii for the holidays, will stay in Washington until the New START pact is done.
Some key Republican senators continue to express skepticism about whether there's enough time this year for adequate consideration of the deal. But Maine Republican Senators Olympia Snowe and Susan Collins both expressed support Friday.
Said Gibbs: "Congress won't leave before START is done. START will get done. And START will get done with a strong, bipartisan vote."
It doesn't seem to be a very good treaty, for the U.S. at least. Is it meant to be a payoff to Russia to stop building nuclear power stuff for Iran?
That's what the cancellation of the missile defense system in Poland was supposed to buy, remember ...
#3
I remember the back-biting against one of my HS teachers, who - rumor had it - had been in the WACs. And she was a gym teacher and kinda butch-looking, which only doubled the nasty assumptions. I'm sorry Ms Arthur felt that she had to disappear her service that way. But considering the context that military service for women was regarded in the 50's and 60's - and it must have been even worse for someone in the acting profession - I don't altogether blame her.
Now if she had said the heck with it and been open about her service, she would have had quite a fan base among Marines past and present. My daughter - who did two tours as a Marine - says this is the reason that the Marines adore Drew Carey. She could have had a chunk of that fan-base!
#5
OK why is this just now news? I included the fact she was a Marine in the Obit article I wrote up when she passed. I thought everyone knew this about her
#6
I included the fact she was a Marine in the Obit article I wrote up when she passed. I thought everyone knew this about her
So much to remember, Knottie, so little brain space -- in my case, at least. If you wait six months, I'll probably be astounded again. I can never remember jokes, either, which hopefully isn't why I think Mr. Wife a marvelously witty man...
Republicans effectively ended the Democrats' last chance to overturn the military's ban on gay troops Thursday in a procedural vote that likely puts the issue beyond Congress' reach for the foreseeable future.
The 57-40 tally left Democrats three votes shy of the 60 needed to overcome a filibuster and begin debate on the defense policy bill. Instead, the Senate won't pass a defense bill for the first time in decades -- which Democrats said jeopardizes troops' pay raises, as well as leaving the "don't ask, don't tell" policy in place.
Democrats were racing to act before the end of the year, when the GOP -- which is generally opposed to overturning the policy -- takes control of the House and ends the chances for action.
The vote was along party lines except for two switchers moderate Sen. Susan Collins, Maine Republican, who supported the measure, and Sen. Joe Manchin III, West Virginia Democrat, who voted no.
President Obama said he was "extremely disappointed" with the Senate's action and urged senators to revisit the issue before its late year "lame duck" session ends
"As commander in chief, I have pledged to repeal this discriminatory law, " the president said. "A great majority of the American people agree. This law weakens our national security, diminishes our military readiness and violates fundamental American principles of fairness, integrity and equality.
#1
What is nice about votes like this is that it exposes the true RINOs : Collins needs to be primaried and defeated the next time that seat comes up for election.
#2
Of course, if they just repeal DADT,we would go back to the way it was before - gays could not serve in the military, sodomy is an offense under the UCMJ, and you can ask a person if he's gay and then throw him out if he says yes.
I'm sure that Obama and the rest understand this. /sarc
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/10/2010 17:47
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#2
"One year ago, I was humbled to receive the Nobel Peace Prize -- an award that speaks to our highest aspirations, and that has been claimed by giants of history and courageous advocates who have sacrificed for freedom and justice."
#3
So basically it was:
"I am pleased the Committee has recognized Mr. Liu Xiaobo by bestowing on him an award which I won last year. He should feel honored"
what a tool
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 13:44
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#4
Liu Xiaobo is pulling his fourth prison term for advocating democracy. BHO wouldn't chip a fingernail to advocate democracy.
Posted by: Matt ||
12/10/2010 16:49
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#5
It would be nice if all newspapers would stop publishing these ridiculous photos with presidents and other assorted public figures in halos from the presidential seals, lights, etc. in the background.
It says more about the photographer and the media then it says about the person photographed. They used to do it to Bush also.
Posted by: Black Charlie Chinemble5313 ||
12/10/2010 23:19
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A theoretical dream for decades, the railgun is unlike any other weapon used in warfare. And it's quite real too, as the U.S. Navy will prove in a record-setting test today in Dahlgren, VA.
Rather than relying on a explosion to fire a projectile, the technology uses an electomagnetic current to accelerate a non-explosive bullet at several times the speed of sound. The conductive projectile zips along a set of electrically charged parallel rails and out of the barrel at speeds up to Mach 7.
The result: a weapon that can hit a target 100 miles or more away within minutes.
"It's an over-used term, but it really changes several games," Rear Admiral Nevin P. Carr, Jr., the chief of Naval Research, told FoxNews.com prior to the test.
For a generation raised on shoot-'em-up video games, the word "railgun" invokes sci-fi images of an impossibly destructive weapon annihilating monsters and aliens. But the railgun is nonetheless very real.
An electromagnetic railgun offers a velocity previously unattainable in a conventional weapon, speeds that are incredibly powerful on their own. In fact, since the projectile doesn't have any explosives itself, it relies upon that kinetic energy to do damage. And with today's test, the Navy hopes to produce a 32-plus megajoule firing -- more than three times the previous record set by the Navy in 2008.
"It bursts radially, but it's hard to quantify," said Roger Ellis, electromagnetic railgun program manager with the Office of Naval Research. To convey a sense of just how much damage, Ellis told FoxNews.com that the big guns on the deck of a warship are measured by their muzzle energy in megajoules. A single megajoule is roughly equivalent to a 1-ton car traveling at 100 mph. Multiple that by 32 and you get a picture of what would happen when such a weapon hits a target. Brings a whole new meaning of "Reaching out and touching someone". Eat Ferrio-nickle slug North Korea!
#1
"See that incoming anti-ship missile? Watch what happens to it when it hits the wall of water caused by shooting a one-pound projectile at Mach 7 into the sea right in front of it."
"Wow! What what are you using for the projectile?"
The term is somewhat overused - a railgun was a featured weapon in the Quake game and appeared in the Arnold move 'Eraser' where the projectile would pass through walls, buildings, bad guys, etc...
#3
CF, Well, looking at the energy involved here, it could very well be the railgun of fiction - that projective would certainly blow through damned near anything in a non-ballistic direct fire mode at short range. A hardened high density 100lb projectile in a ferro-sabot could do some pretty nasty thing in terms of penetrating armor, concrete, etc, at speeds approaching or exceeding of 2000 meters/second.
#4
To put it in visual terms, take a 100lb slug at 2000m/s, put it into a small office/house structure and all that would be left is a crater. And the crater wouldn't even be smoking afterwords. It would be the equivalent of a meteor hitting.
#5
Do we want to aim a few at the North Korean emplacements? And lend another to Israel for going after Iran's in-mountain uranium refineries... or should they wait until the Stuxnet virus is cleared from Iran's computers?
The FAA lacks key information on the ownership of as many as 1/3 of the 357,000 private & commercial aircraft registered in the US due to defects in its database. Drug traffickers have used phony registration numbers to evade law enforcement & police have raided the wrong aircraft due to erroneous registration information. Up until now US aircraft registration with the FAA has been mandatory only on an initial sale with no requirement to update information as it changes. In 2007 the FAA warned that there was a large pool of registration numbers that could be used illegally due to defective records. Starting next year the FAA will cancel existing registrations & force aircraft owners to re-register.
#2
Because she saw both herself and him as elites.
Anyone can make a mistake. Or two ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2010 17:37
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#3
Reminds me of the zealotry of 'former' smokers as opposed to those of us who've never smoked. They wrap their contrition into their enthusiasm to enlighten the rest of us of its evils.
#1
Not to worry -- Ben Bernanke has a secret plan to palm off hundreds of billions of worthless mortgage backed securities owned by the Federal Reserve to pay off the UN's demands. It's all good.
#2
FYI, yes I know Colonel Bay wrote the editorial, but Jim's imprimateur is on anything that is put up there like that.
The conclusion Col Bay reaches is the same I have heard in certain circles, and is an asessment I agree with:
"Assange and ideologues like him promote an ignorant and destructive solipsism that has nothing to do with peace and justice but a lot to do with sociopathic narcissism."
Dead on. The costs, in terms of trust, caused by the release of these documents and the destruction of diplomatic capability in the US, and ironically, China, is severe regarding the Korean situation.
Assange, with his arrogant eurosocialist hatred of US capitalism, is so monomaniacally obsessed with damaging the US and capitalism (all in the name of socialism) that he has placed the world economy at risk of a world-wide depression with another Korean war, and worse yet, he has put millions of lives at risk in Korea by destroying much of the US and Chinese diplomats' capability to work together to prevent a nuclear war on the Korean peninsula. Yes that's right: he has INCREASED the likelihood of overt war, covert actions and nuclear war, by damaging the very mechanisms western society and the Chinese government have that can prevent such things.
Assange, and those supporting him like Anon1, you have done the unconscionable: You have increased the probability of a war, a nuclear war. If such a war comes, you should be hanged as part of justice for the many Koreans that will die due to your ego-maniacal stupidity.
Like I said before: people like you are the reason people like me (military) end up bleeding (or dead).
Stop thinking you know so much -- you definitively do NOT. Your arrogance and stupidity will get others killed.
A respected author tagging Assange as a sociopath--high time the truth about Assange is leaked, while we're all showing our cards under duress compliments of the little turd.
The China face culture part is bad, because China may have to make concessions to the Nork spoiled children on account of the spoiled child remark. The potential for disaster is enormous.
Also, the inter-dependance of all countries and getting along with one another is not something I like to see a 39 year old malcontent with hacking skill toying with, legal or illegal, it just is not wholesome or right.
Assange the mover and shaker, the liberal face of wikileaks, the poster boy for leftist wingnuts and horny women.
Posted by: Fire and Ice ||
12/10/2010 10:16
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#4
Interesting article; it's pretty preachy but it's shed some light on the more extreme viewpoints for me.
People have been throwing around that Assange is an anti-american socialist quite a bit, but I haven't seen any articles that really back up those claims; does anyone have a link?
Here's a link to an analysis of one of his statements which analyzes it better than I can; https://zunguzungu.wordpress.com/2010/11/29/julian-assange-and-the-computer-conspiracy-%E2%80%9Cto-destroy-this-invisible-government%E2%80%9D/#
I wish he would stop posting US classified intel, but as long as there's an internet there will be leaks of this nature; if they weren't on WikiLeaks, they would be circulating on torrent sites all over. Focusing on WikiLeaks is ignoring the real problem of how the heck they even got such a trove of classified intel in the first place. The fact that there's no media uproar over the people leaking the info in the first place is what makes me angry; it cant have all been Bradley Manning. It's especially bad because I saw stuff from the DoD even before he posted the helicopter vid that was talking about what would happen if WikiLeaks did post classified intel.
THE Rudd government publicly played down reports of a hostile Chinese reaction to the defence white paper released last year, while secretly briefing the US that Beijing had threatened Australia would ''suffer the consequences'' if references to China were not watered down.
The revelations of China's true reaction to the paper released in May, which called for a substantial boost in Australia's air and naval power in response to China's increasing military presence in the region, are revealed in secret US government cables written in the same month.
The paper declared China would be Asia's strongest military power ''by a considerable margin'' and warned that the pace and scope of its growth could give its neighbours cause for concern if not properly explained.
Former deputy secretary of the Defence Department and co-ordinator of the white paper, Mike Pezzullo told US diplomats of being ''dressed down'' by the deputy director of foreign affairs in China's defence ministry, Major-General Jia Xiaoning.
According to the cable, Major-General Jia ''demanded Australia make changes to the paper or suffer the consequences''. Mr Pezzullo's initial meetings with other Chinese officials were also ''frosty''.
Another cable, written on May 19, reported Mr Pezzullo describing Major-General Jia as a ''bruiser'' who had a ''look of cold fury'' on his face at China's repeated mentions in the white paper.
He and other officials were particularly annoyed by reference in the paper to China's military build-up being beyond the scope required for any conflict over Taiwan.
''During each of the briefings, the Chinese asked Pezzullo to revise the description of the regional security environment,'' the cable said.
''Pezzullo said he responded firmly that the white paper would not be changed, and that he had not come to negotiate it.''
The lobbying over language continued even as Mr Pezzullo was about to board his outbound flight, with a Chinese colonel appealing to his ''intellect and sophistication''.
Following the briefing by Mr Pezzullo, China denied an Australian request to host People's Liberation Army officers on Australian vessels near Hong Kong.
#3
Bow before China. Bow like Obama. They may accept you as second- or third-class citizens in their brave new world, if you show appropriate humility.
#7
Australians have made a deliberate effort to develop interests in Asia. China would consider this a threat. I believe Australian has done very well when most European Countries have suffered.
Fred's goal meter says we're 75% there -- that's good, but not good enough. Do remember, that his costs include not only this extortion law suit, but the monthly fees of keeping Rantburg open. Some of us have pledged for the 15th and that is good. So, that 75% ($1,000 needed for the law suit) -- consider it only 50% so Rantburg continues to exist.
As we continue in this season that we count our blessings, we must also remember, freedom isn't free. If you appreciate Fred providing you a speaking box at the corner of 1st and Main in Rantburg to express your freedom of speech, then, ante up.... you're be a better person for doing so.
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.
#4
I paypalled yesterday - don't know if it's shown up yet - it appears to take a couple days
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 12:21
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#5
The court reamed them recently. They now say they won't pursue anyone who posts less than 75%, for whatever that's worth. My question: what about those already in process?
There is a real possibility of war on the Korean Peninsula. The cause is not a second North Korean invasion of the South like in June 1950, which was successfully deterred by U.S. and South Korean forces. The danger stems from two combustible trends: A North Korea which mistakenly believes it is invulnerable to retaliation due to its nascent nuclear capabilities, and a South Korea that feels increasingly compelled to react with military force to the string of ever more brash provocations like the artillery barrage on Yeonpyeong Island.
The shelling of Yeongpyeong had for South Korea much broader effects than the partial evacuation of its 1,600 residents. It forced a temporary closure of Incheon International Airport, the sprawling ultramodern hub of air traffic throughout Asia that stands only 122 km from the shelled island. The artillery flew only days after world leaders converged on Seoul for the G20 summit, undoubtedly causing world leaders to think twice about the next trip given the unpredictability of the North. These periodic crises undercut South Korea's future bids to host global mega events like the World Cup or the Winter Olympics. The Norks are greatly enjoying making the South lose face like this. Obviously this is a huge thing in any Asian culture. Norks feel aggrieved that their earlier provocations were defeated, and that these attacks are just revenge. The fact that they instigated the incidents is lost on any shame culture.
President Lee Myung-bak is forced to respond with calm and measured actions every time the North provokes. The pat responses to the island shelling and the sinking of the Cheonan -- of enhanced military readiness, exercises with the U.S., and diplomatic sanctions -- do not work. The reality is that Pyongyang's provocations are getting more deadly, and that Seoul's strengths are its vulnerabilities: The more affluent, educated, and cosmopolitan South is far more wedded to the peaceful status quo than its northern neighbor, and therefore is forced to tolerate provocations even if they kill soldiers or civilians. North Korean leader Kim Jong-il sees this vulnerability and will continue to exploit it to extort concessions from the U.S. and South Korea. This is a losing strategic spiral for the South. It will soon feel compelled to break it.
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#2
Since the Nork threat to attack Seoul with artillery is their primary menace, it should also be what the South plans to defeat. This would be with devastating counterbattery fire.
Since the northern tubes are emplaced in rock, a typical artillery response will likely take too long. So what the South could do is the unexpected.
I would suggest putting up some fake buildings that contain 16" naval guns. These munitions are so powerful that they could take out more than one of these rock emplaced Nork guns with a single round, as well as neutralize one or two more.
Because they would know their target's locations, their rate of fire would be as soon as they loaded and adjusted.
At a couple million dollars a pop, plus the fake building and maintenance, it would very cost effective bang for the buck.
#3
The South should build several million DVD players with an non-removable DVD, long life rechargable battery and screen. They should be drone dropped over all the artillery positions. The DVD should contain videos on a day in the life of a ROK NCO and his family, a day in the life of a mid-level officer and his family, how to navigate the Seoul mall and a pitch from the President of South Korea offering them a comparable position in the ROK Army if they refuse to shell the South.
And a package of really good food.
Then cut their lines of communications with Pyongyang and re-establish the DMZ about 40+ miles north of its present position.
#6
#5 Moose, is there anyone left who can manufacture a 16 inch gun or would you take them off of the Iowa, Wisconsin and New Jersey?
Posted by: rwv
Actually, any really decent industrial machine shop can turn out a 16" cannon, and SKor has a number of companies that could manufacture them. While we haven't built one for 30 years, the capability is still there. There are also several dozen stored here and there, dating back to the 1950's and 1960's. The problem is ammunition - the facilities to manufacture ammunition no longer exist, and would have to be built from scratch. Again, both the US and SKor could do so in a pinch. It would be easier to design a warhead for the MLRS the Koreans already have that could take out the NKor artillery. Again, the capability exists, only the will to do so is lacking. A few more attacks from the North, and the will will be there. Also, I think Japan must be getting really edgy about what's happening in the North, and may pass a few amendments to their pacifist constitution in the very near future. Little Kim may come to hate his father for the trouble he's brought upon the North.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/10/2010 17:14
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#7
the facilities to manufacture ammunition no longer exist, and would have to be built from scratch.
During the second world war, Procter & Gamble turned some of their factory lines from filling Tide detergent boxes to filling artillery shells... or whatever it is that gunpowder is poured into. It's apparently not a difficult change-over, although I'm sure the guys on the line did a serious clean-out at the beginning and end. ;-)
AKA "SHOOT FIRST, ASK/EXPLAIN LATER" = new ROK Defense Big Boss says US-ROK ROES does not prevent the ROK from specifically finding + specifically destroying Any + All Sources of DPRK MilStrikes into the South.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Times of India] COMMUNIST CHINA ON A MOSQUES-BUILDING SPREE. China's 20.0Milyuhn Muslim minority increasingly are moving to coastal areas for jobs + livelihood, hence are DEMANDING MORE MUSLIM-CENTRIC REQUIREMENTS E.G. DEDIC PLACES OF WORSHIP = MOSQUES, GREATER AVAILABILITY OF SPECIAL ISLAMIC FOODS, + DEDIC ISLAMIC GRAVEYARDS, ETC. FROM LOCAL COMMIE CPC AUTHORITIES.
[Emirates 24/7] Somali pirates have released a Saudi oil tanker along with its 14-member crew which they seized nine months ago after a ransom was paid, a maritime watchdog said on Thursday.
The MT Al Nisr Al Saudi, a 5,136-tonne tanker, was seized in early March with its Greek captain and 13 Sri Lankan crew members while on its way from Japan to Jeddah in Soddy Arabia.
"It was freed Tuesday after a ransom was paid," said Ecoterra International, an environmental NGO monitoring maritime activity in the region.
"It is now safe and under escort and all crew members are safe," an Ecoterra official added.
After it was seized the tanker was first moored off Garad, a pirate lair in central Somalia, then transferred to Kulub port.
Ecoterra said the Al Nisr Al Saudi was used in October by pirates who launched a failed attack against another commercial vessel, the Maltese-flagged Go Trader.
Somali pirates are holding 35 foreign vessels and at least 649 hostages, the group said.
One act of piracy out of every two worldwide is carried out off the coasts of Somalia or in the Gulf of Aden, according to the International maritime Bureau.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2010
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[Dawn] British police on Thursday jugged the suspected killer of Imran Farooq, the self-exiled Pak politician whose stabbing death in London sparked riots in Bloody Karachi.
Scotland Yard said officers nabbed a 34-year-old man at his home in the north London neighborhood of Camden for questioning. The man, who was not identified, was also being questioned on suspicion of robbery, police said.
The 50-year-old Farooq was on his way home from work when he was beaten and stabbed to death in broad daylight on Sept. 16.
Farooq had been living in self-imposed exile in London since fleeing Pakistain in 1992. He was a member of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, or MQM, one of Pakistain's major parties and the largest in the coalition governing his hometown of Bloody Karachi. The city erupted into violence at the news of his death.
An MQM leader had said the party believed Farooq was killed in response to controversial statements made by the leader of party, Altaf Hussain, who himself lives in London.
The party represents mainly descendants of Urdu-speaking migrants from India who settled in Pakistain when it was created in 1947.
Police are still looking for two other men for questioning.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2010
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[Emirates 24/7] Paleostinian president the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas Thursday stood firm on his demand for a halt to settlement building before talks with Israel can resume, as US officials scrambled to rescue the collapsing grinding of the peace processor.
"We will not accept negotiations as long as settlements continue," Abbas told news hounds in Cairo after more than an hour of talks with Egyptian geriatric President Hosni Mubarak.
"We have made this clear to the Americans: without a halt to settlements, no negotiations."
The Paleostinian leader said he also wanted to hear explanations from Washington as to why it failed to persuade Israel to freeze settlements in the West Bank and annexed Occupied Jerusalem.
"We want to know what happened exactly between America and Israel," he said, adding he would be meeting Washington's Middle East envoy George Mitchell when he returns to the region next week.
A Paleostinian diplomat said the two would meet on Monday.
Other Paleostinian officials have indicated that indirect talks, along with Mitchell, are likely to be the immediate way forward in Washington's stuttering attempts to secure a peace deal by the end of 2011.
Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman said he still favours direct peace talks, despite the dwindling prospects of them resuming any time soon.
"It is very important that the dialogue between us and the Paleostinians continues," Lieberman said in Sofia after talks with his Bulgarian counterpart, Nikolay Mladenov.
"Nothing can replace direct negotiations. We believe in direct negotiations."
Abbas, apparently still leaving the door open, said a final decision on talks with Israel would be taken in consultation with Arab and Paleostinian officials.
"There must be clear references for peace... and we will discuss all that with the follow-up committee, the Paleostinian leadership and after that there will be a decision."
An Arab League official said in Cairo that foreign ministers on the follow-up committee would meet next Thursday, along with Abbas, after he had had a chance to consult with Arab leaders and with Mitchell.
In the past, Abbas has sought the endorsement of the Arab follow-up committee on the question of resuming the US-brokered direct peace talks.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2010
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#1
"well that's it then. No peace talks. Happy? Now I've gotta break to sign some permits for mega-residence projects in East Jerusalem. Nice seeing you"
/Bibi
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 10:53
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: The new Iraqi government will be formed within the defined constitutional period. There are no obstacles that stand in the way of its formation, the Legislature for the Iraqi National Alliance, Ali al-Allaq said on Thursday.
The forthcoming couple of days may witness the settlement of the remaining differences among the political blocs, Allaq told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, reiterating that the government would be formed with the limited constitutional period, which he did not define.
What enables one to feel satisfied is that there are no longer any obstacles standing in the way of forming the new government, Allaq noted.
There are dialogues and viewpoints among the political blocs that necessitate reaching an understanding that may take few more days, he continued.
The problem has not yet been settled completely, due to the demands of some blocs and their competition to gain some of the cabinet posts, Allaq said, reaffirming that the distribution of the cabinet posts would take place within one deal for all ministries, and not each ministry on its part.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2010
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[An Nahar] Minister Butros Harb said liquidations carried out following ex-Premier Rafik Hariri's murder were interlinked but expressed regret that the Lebanese judiciary and international Sherlocks hadn't reached any results in MP Gebran Tueni's liquidation case.
Five years after Tueni's murder, the only answer that Harb got was that efforts are still underway to identify the culprits or the type and source of explosives used in the kaboom, he told An Nahar daily in an interview published Thursday.
Harb is the Tueni family's lawyer.
"Lebanese judges weren't able to move forward with the investigation" because of lack of information, he said, adding he believed that the Lebanese probe won't lead to any result.
However, The infamous However... Harb expressed optimism that the link between all liquidations would help Special Tribunal for Leb Prosecutor Daniel Bellemare take the Tueni case to the court after he issues his indictments in Hariri's case.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2010
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#1
BHARAT RAKSHAK > WIKILEAKS: SAUDIS PROPOSED ALL-ARAB MILITARY INVASION FORCE INVADE LEBANON, agz Hezbollah-dominated Leb Govt. + Iranian influence. Arab Ground Troops backed up by US NAVAL, AIR POWER ONLY.
HMMMM, HMMMMM, yokay, I'll bite, IFF POTUS BAMMER = 2008's "NEW JFK", will the ABOVE = "BAY OF PIGS II" IN THE MIDDLE EAST???
* SAME > ROBERT FISK:QATAR'S THE STAR. Major ME Muslim Govts + elements in Washington DC becoming increasing un-nerved by BASE-TOO-FAR-QATAR'S GROWING INFLUENCE AS PER REGIONAL BROKERING + ECON CLOUT; SAUDI-STYLE-RADICAL-WAHABISM-VS-MODERN-COMMERCE-N-DEVELOPMENT for control of QATAR'S ISLAMIC SOUL.
[Yemen Post] Security services captured on Tuesday a highly explosive TNT device in a car in Sana'a old city, official media has reported. Explosive devices and drug pills were found hidden inside a handbag of a 40-year-old lady, who was accompanied by another four women aging between 20 to 60 years old, according to the same sources. Security services were doing a routine search in the old city of Sana'a where they caught the car which was carrying the five women, the source said without giving the date or labeling the women to any terrorist group.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/10/2010
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#1
at first I thought that was Santa's old city. Like he had moved because of global warming.
(KUNA) -- The Council of Europe, the premier European body that monitors democracy and human rights, ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... said Thursday that it is organizing December 16-17 a conference on ways to prevent terrorism.
Turkey is certainly a right place for that. One way they could curb terrorism would be to end Turkey's unnatural friendship with Iran.
The conference is to be held in Istanbul and it will deal with "the tools for prevention" of terrorism and "the juridical instruments and their implementation" in this regard.
A statement from the Council, which is based in Strasbourg, Eastern La Belle France and has 47 members, indicated that Turkey was chosen as host country for the forthcoming event because it currently presides the Council of Ministers of the European Body.
The statement said that national and international experts will be invited "to propose ideas to participants to improve the prevention of terrorism," particularly by examining the changing nature of the phenomenon.
An examination will also be carried out of "incitements and recruitment" in the area of terrorism. Ways to tackle the financing of terrorism will also be discussed, the statement added.
About 150 experts from member States, as well as official observers from the Council of Europe and other international organizations, are expected to attend the Istanbul gathering, which will be opened by Council Secretary-General Thorbjorn Jagland and Turkish Interior Minister Besir Atalay.
They have to make up for the loss of Israeli tourist spending somehow.
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(KUNA) -- North Korean hereditary supremo Kim Jong-il and Chinese State Councilor Dai Bingguo ... "and Bingguo was his name-o!" ... on Thursday reached consensus on bilateral relations and the situation on the Korean Peninsula after candid and in-depth talks, China's official Xinhua News Agency reported.
Dai arrived in Pyongyang on Wednesday, Xinhua said, without elaborating on details of the consensus.
Not delivering a message, just confirming strategy and tactics ...
Dai's meeting marked the first time that Kim has met a senior foreign official since the North's artillery attack on a South Korean island, on November 23, that killed four people.
The North's state-run Korean Central News Agency said that the two sides discussed issues of mutual concern and efforts to boost friendly and cooperative relations between the two countries.
Dai also conveyed greetings from Chinese President Hu Jintao to Kim, and the North's leader expressed thanks and asked him to convey his regards to Hu before having a talk with Dai "in a warm and friendly atmosphere," it said.
China, North Korea's closest ally, has been under increasing pressure to do more to curb the North's military aggression in the wake of the artillery attack on the South Korean island.
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[Bangla Daily Star] A Jubo League ... the youth wing of the Bangla Awami League... activist was bumped off by unknown assailants here yesterday.
The dear departed was identified as Zafar Sheikh, 38.
Witnesses and police sources said criminals in a cycle of violence shot at Zafar Sheikh while he was returning home on foot near the airport of the town around 8:00pm. Too early for the RAB ...
The killers decamped the scene just after the shooting.
Locals rushed him to a nearby hospital where doctors declared him dead. He's dead, Jim!
Moazzem Hossain Officer-in-Charge of Kotwali Police Station said an investigation is going on to know the motive behind the killing.
However, The infamous However... Zafar might have been killed over some internal dispute, he added.
Zafar was also accused in a case of attempt to murder of local Jubo League leader Dhole, said police sources.
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Three weeks before the two-year anniversary of Operation Cast Lead, and amid escalating rocket fire from the Gaza Strip, defense officials warned on Thursday that Israel is preparing for a possible clash with Hamas in the near future.
On Thursday morning, the Israel Air Force bombed three targets in the Gaza Strip that the IDF said were used by terrorists, in response to a mortar barrage the night before that wounded one Israeli.
Four to five shells were fired from Gaza into the Eshkol region late on Wednesday night, injuring a community security officer who was airlifted to Soroka University Hospital in Beersheba.
Defense officials noted that since the beginning of the month, there have been over a dozen mortar and Kassam rocket attacks, more than double in the parallel period last month. In addition, anadvanced anti-tank missile was fired several days ago at an IDF armored vehicle along the Gaza border, causing extensive damage.
None of the vehicles occupants was injured.
Officials said that Hamas was not directly behind the attacks but that it was turning a blind eye to other terrorist groups, some of which worked on behalf of Hamas.
The IDF must be ready to operate in Gaza in a more extensive way than in the past, Chief of General Staff Lt.-Gen. Gabi Ashkenazi warned this week.
Hamas is thought to be divided regarding whether it should renew its terrorist attacks against Israel from the Gaza Strip. While the organization is believed to still be deterred as a result of Cast Lead, it is assessed to have mostly completed the rehabilitation of its military and has recently obtained long-range missiles, capable of reaching Tel Aviv, as well as advanced antiaircraft missiles.
The political leadership in Gaza, headed by Ismail Haniyeh, is believed to be a restraining factor at the moment, while the Izzadin Kassam military wing, led by Ahmed Jaabri, is said to be calling for a renewal of attacks.
[Dawn] Balochistan Chief Minister Nawab Aslam Raisani has denied the presence of US troops and the Taliban leadership in Quetta and termed foreign media reports to that effect false and baseless.
"There is no soldier of the American army in Quetta," he said while talking to newsmen after attending the inaugural ceremony of the 5th batch of the Balochistan Institute of Technical Education here on Wednesday.
He also denied the presence of Talibs in the city and said: "There is no justification and need for dronezaps on Quetta."
However, The infamous However... he said, there were students studying in religious institutions who had nothing to do with militancy.
The chief minister reiterated his offer of talks with 'angry Baloch brothers'. "They should come for talks on all issues."
Answering a question about the suicide kaboom on his convoy on Tuesday, the chief minister said those involved in the attack would not be spared.
Earlier addressing the ceremony, Nawab Raisani and Southern Command's chief Lt-Gen Javed Zia said the government and the army would fight extremism jointly to restore peace in Balochistan.
The chief minister thanked the army and its chief Gen Ashfaq Parvez Kayani for providing educational and technical training facilities to a large number of youths in Balochistan.
He announced a Rs100 million grant for the BITE and said the army should also launch such projects in other districts of the province.
Lt-Gen Zia said a sense of deprivation existed among the Baloch people, but foreign elements would not be allowed to exploit it.
He said over 4,000 Baloch youths had joined the army and 10,000 more would be given an opportunity next year to join the army, Frontier Corps and Coast Guards.
Zia said the BITE programme would be expanded to Gwadar, Khuzdar, Sibi, Kohlu, Loralai and Zhob. The doors of the army's workshops would remain open for the youths of Balochistan, he added.
He also said the institute had admitted 3,000 students this year and would offer 5,000 admissions next year.
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[Iran Press TV] At least 3 officers and nine soldiers have been killed in festivities between government troops and local fighters in the Somali capital, Mogadishu.
The incident took place when government troops supported by African Union peacekeeping forces were attacked by local fighters. Several civilians were also injured in the crossfire.
The African Union peacekeeping forces in Somalia are struggling to hold back fighters and to keep Somalia's fragile government in power.
The presence of the African Union troops, who act in support of Somalia's transitional government, has always been looked upon with disgust and wrath by local fighters. So the fighters have urged the complete withdrawal of the peacekeeping forces from Somalia and declared the fighting would resume unless their demand is met.
For months, Mogadishu has been the scene of daily battles between government forces and local fighters, both of whom are trying to take control of the capital.
The latest report by the International Committee of the Red Thingy says thousands of civilians have been injured in recent months in festivities throughout the country.
Boilerplate follows...
Somalia has not been able to form a powerful central government since 1991, when the former dictator Mohamed Siad Barre was toppled by warlords.
During the past two decades, up to one million people have bit the dust amid worsening security conditions in the country.
There are more than 1.4 million Internally Displaced People in Somalia. More than 300,000 IDPs are sheltered in Mogadishu alone.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(KUNA) -- At least four security personnel were maimed on Thursday in a bomb kaboom in a Northern Pak town, said officials. A remote control bomb kaboom hit security personnels vehicle while they were on routine patrol in Saro Khel area of Hangu district, more than 150 kilometers from Islamabad, security officials told KUNA.
They said the kaboom badly damaged the vehicle and maimed four security personnel. They added that at least one of the maimed was at death's door. The kaboom occurred as security is on red alert in Hangu and adjoining areas, known as hotbed of sectarian violence, during the Muharram month. Also, the District Coordinating Officer (DCO) Hangu has put complete ban on the entrance of Afghan refugees in the territorial limits of the district.
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[Washington Examiner] Police in northeastern Nigeria say they have jugged members of a radical Mohammedan sect who ambushed security officers at a checkpoint. Ambushing the cops seems like a pretty logical way to get yourself incarcerated...
Borno state police chief Mohammed Abubakar said Thursday that police jugged four men while four others had decamped, after a 30-minute shootout on Wednesday night. "Cheaply made sneakers don't fail me now!"
He said the gunnies ambushed coppers and soldiers at a checkpoint in Maiduguri. The only injury was a suspect who was shot in the leg. That says little for the marksmanship skills of either side...
Police believe the suspects are members of Boko Haram. ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter... The group is accused of killing more than 30 people in recent months including security officers, political and spiritual leaders. ... and possibly to be confused with the Purple Gang...
Boko Haram means "Western education is sacrilege" in the Hausa language.
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[Dawn] Two dozen rustics are staging a silent protest in Pakistain's capital against US missile strikes along the Afghan border.
The protesters in Islamabad identified themselves as relatives of civilians killed or maimed in the drone-fired strikes. They have threatened to sue the United States unless it agrees to hundreds of millions in compensation for victims.
The men hail from the North Wazoo tribal region near Afghanistan. They displayed banners criticizing the CIA-sponsored attacks while sitting silently near the parliament building on Thursday.
Pakistain publicly condemns the strikes but is believed to secretly aid them. Civilians are sometimes said to be among the dead, but some residents say the strikes are very accurate in targeting beturbanned goons.
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#1
you're not a civilian if you are aiding them! go too hell with your lawsuit
Posted by: chris ||
12/10/2010 8:11
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"They have threatened to sue the United States unless it agrees to hundreds of millions in compensation for victims."
THIS
Seems like some of our western ways have finally reached the outer villages.
I would make them prove they weren't providing aid and comfort to the enemy.
(KUNA) -- White House economic adviser Larry Summers warned Wednesday that failure to pass a hotly debated new tax cut through Congress "would significantly increase the risk" of a double-dip recession in the U.S.
At an off-camera press briefing this afternoon, National Economic Council director Summers and other White House officials made case for the controversial deal President Barack B.O. Obama struck with Republicans, which has proven among Democrats in particular.
"If this process were to break down and a bill were not passed," Summers said, not only would economic projections recently revised upwards not happen, "downward revisions would commence." Summers says he thinks Congress will pass the two-year extension of tax cuts for the rich as well as the middle class. He added that he does not think that Congress would take a step that "materially increases the risk that this economy will stall out." That's what he says could happen if Congress fails to act.
Summers says positive reviews coming in from economists show the deal is the right thing to do
Posted by: Fred ||
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#6
A double-dip recession refers to a recession followed by a short-lived recovery, followed by another recession. However, there has been NO recovery, just flim-flam, stimulus spending to give the impression of a recovery. We have been in the Great Recession since 2007 or so.
#10
drudgereport.com and has an article about how Obummer just turned a White House press briefing over to Bubba Clinton. Bubba expounded on the need for the tax cuts while the bummer walked out, saying he had to go to a party. Walked out and left Bubba at the podium!
What was it that Truman said..."If you can't take the heat, call Bubba?"
#15
To those who say 'Is Palin the best you can come up with..', it appears the Clintons are the best they can come up with. So, how's that 'anyone but Clinton' crowd in Donkland feeling now? /heh
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Dorothy Lamour aka Mima in "Road to Singapore" aka Donna LaTour in "Road to Zanzibar" aka Princess Shalmar in "Road to Morocco" aka Sal Van Hoyden in "Road to Utopia" aka Lucia Maria de Andrade in "Road to Rio" aka Princess Lalah McTavish in "Road to Bali" aka Herself in Road to Retirement "The Road to Hong Kong" (Died in 1996 at age 81)
[Washington Examiner] A 21-year-old man charged with trying to blow up a military recruiting center briefly hesitated when he heard about a federal sting operation that nabbed an alleged terrorist in Oregon last month but decided to keep going with his plan, authorities said. "Hark! My spider sense is tingling!"
Antonio Martinez, a naturalized U.S. citizen who goes by the name Muhammad Hussain after recently converting to Islam, faces charges of attempted murder of federal officers and attempted use of a weapon of mass destruction. "Don't worry about it. It's just your craving for ice cream. Have a cone!"
The thought occurs that, had the FBI been so proactive in the late 1960s, a certain dear acquaintance and ghost writer of our current president might have spent his "underground years" behind bars instead of having a dead girlfriend and a distinguished career as a professor (not emeritus) of education.
He told an informant working with the FBI he thought about nothing but jihad
Continued on Page 49
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[Tolo News] Director of Human Rights for UNAMA said on Thursday in Kabul that Afghan government has failed to protect women's rights Picked right up on that, didn't she?
Georgette Gagnon, Director of Human Rights for United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) highlighted the necessity of women's role in Afghan government talks with anti-government groups.
She said she will discuss with the Afghan government over the implementation of the Law on Elimination of Violence Against Women.
A report carried out by the UN mission based on 150 individual and group interviews in 29 provinces in Afghanistan found violence against women in varying degrees across the country and among all ethnic groups.
The report said a lack of tendency of enforcement officials in applying the elimination of violence against women and unawareness of some local officials of the law have lead to an increase in the violence against women and girls.
The report points out to some customs that have been twisted with Islamic laws and it also said about the need for their avoidance.
More than half of girls who get married in Afghanistan are under 15 and most of marriages take place as a practice to settle disputes, it said.
"We were quoted a popular saying in many communities which is, if you hit a girl with your hat and she doesn't fall over, it's time to marry her," Georgette Gagnon said while addressing news hounds at a conference.
An increase in violence against women and girls has forced them to flee their husband's homes and face honour killings, the report said.
The UNAMA adds that many cases of violence against women are not addressed by the Afghan judiciary organisations as it is considered interference in people's private affairs.
Georgette Gagnon said: "We have to be clear, this law is for the government to implement it. It has nothing to do with the international troops or the international community. International donors can support women's groups and the government in implementing the law but it is the government's job to apply this law."
Withdrawal of foreign forces from Afghanistan that will begin by next year has led to widespread concerns especially about women's rights in Afghanistan.
Afghanistan Independent Human Rights Commission views the issue from a different dimension.
Deputy for Afghanistan's Human Rights Commission, Fahim Hakim said: "to protect women's rights, systems should be reinforced, new laws should be ratified and we hope the Afghan government will work in a serious and committed manner."
The collapse of Taliban regime, during which women and girls held no rights, was believed to be the end of challenges facing Afghan women, but Afghan women even today are faced with a lot of challenges.
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Google Translate. A hat tip to Nota Roja for additional details
Roads leading into Morelia, Michoacan were blocked by disabled heavy vehicles as fighting between Mexican security forces and members of LaFamilia drug cartel enters its third day, according to Mexican news account.
Fighting began around 2100 hrs Wednesday night near the town of Apatzingan where drivers reported that the road connecting Apatzingan to Uruapan was blocked by a heavy vehicles.
Later reports say a raid by as many as 300 Mexican Federal agents in the town of El Mayor near the Ahuate market sparked a firefight with armed suspects, and roadblocks. Several vehicles were abandoned on the highway. The Apatzingan-Cuatro Caminos road was also blocked, as was a section of a turnpike 40 kilometers from Taretan.
An eight month old female infant was shot to death in the crossfire in Apatzingan.
Emma Yaritza Jaimes, the 17 year old daughter of mayor Guadalupe Jaimes Valladares, was killed in early fighting. Jaimes Valladares was wounded in the same shooting . Four Mexican Federal agents were wounded as well. The wounded agents were airlifted to hospitals in Morelia.
Reports say the a convoy of Mexican Federal agents was ambushed near the tollbooth in Tartan, with an unknown number of federal agents were wounded, but with no official reports on the actual toll. Armed suspects ambushed the convoy while hiding behind a mound of dirt near the highway.
About 50 vehicles including armored trucks and six helicopters were involved in fighting around El Mayor, where several roadblocks had been set up by armed groups.
These Mexican Federal forces were involved in heavy fighting including the use of hand grenades and assault rifles by armed suspects, which apparently drew in a number of other security forces from Michoacan state forces as well.
An hour later the Apatzingan-Cuatro Caminos road was blocked near the Agrimix plant. Armed supects disabled two cement mixers and a three ton truck carrying papayas blocking the center lanes. Several other private vehicles were disabled and set afire to prevent or delay security forces from reaching the disabled heavy vehicles.
El Razon reports a total of five individuals have been killed in the fighting and 28 vehicles damaged.
Reports also say several roads leading into Morelia, the capital were blocked as well and fighting between Mexican security forces and armed suspect belonging to La Familia continues into Thursday night and Friday morning.
Other reports say the blocks have been removed and movement continues as normal.
Michoacan officials are mulling imposing a state of emergency in the state to deal with the roadblocks and violence.
[Yemen Post] Over the last year of observation, I am convinced that a Sunni-Zaidi war is what some (outsiders) are hoping to happen in Yemen, not now, but in the long run.
Some gain automatically when Arab states busy themselves in anything except developing a nation. The more conflicts, the more years are lost without Arabs building. Arabs, with the help of the west, will in the same time busy themselves killing one another, like what is happening in Iraq.
The Houthis blamed the U.S. ambassador in Yemen for standing behind the killing of 25 Houthis by a jacket wallah, while the ambassador denied the accusations. What the Houthis meant was that the newly established Al-Qaeda branch in the Arabian Peninsula (AQAP) is a tool in the hands of western intelligence, and its duty is to cause more conflicts and deaths within Arab nations. In the same time, to make people picture AQAP as a threat to the west, by bringing up many failed attempts against western interests in the media. One example could be the failed attack on a British convoy that did not cause even scratches, but was used to market AQAP as an enemy of the west. The parcel bombs are another example. Not one person has been blamed for the parcel bombs, while it is impossible to send a package from Yemen through UPS or Fed Ex without photo copying the personal ID of the exact sender. So, who benefits from the parcel bombs, AQAP or western intelligence, or are they the same one way or the other?
Houthis have by time proved to us that they are accurate in their wording, but were they accurate when they blamed the U.S. ambassador for the attacks?
Should we believe U.S. ambassador or the Houthi? After the Wikileaks reports, I would think twice before answering that question.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"Should we believe U.S. ambassador or the Houthi?"
Howzabout neither?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/10/2010 0:53
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#3
A nice variation on the Saudi theory of traffic accidents: Were the foreigner not in the country, he would not have been on the road to be hit by the speeding Saudi. Therefore it is the foreigner's fault, and he can damned well go to jail for it, after paying repair and medical costs.
[Emirates 24/7] A masjid imam was sentenced one year in jail for sending pornographic pictures over BlackBerry to seduce girls to have sex with him.
The Dubai Criminal Court also orded the convict's deporation after serving of jail term.
According to the prosecution sheet, SM, 35, Egyptian sent pictures to a number of women to have sex with him. He communicated with them via BlackBerry Messenger and forwarded indecent photos to them attempting to seduce and persuade them to have sex with him.
SM was also accused of possessing indecent photos with the intention to show them to others.
A police officer testified before the prosecution that the accused was jugged following a tip.
A policeman was assigned to pretend to be a girl and coordinate with SM in order to have him jugged red handed. Indeed SM sent the policeman an indecent photo of himself, so necessary procedures were taken to arrest him.Police confiscated a sex toy in his possession.
The coppers, who pretended to be a girl called 'Mariam', testified before the prosecution that he chatted with SM on his BBM. "SM started seducing Mariam by talking about sex matters over BBM. Then he made a direct offer for sexual intercourse by asking her to meet at a hotel where he made a reservation to have sex. A sex toy was confiscated in his possession when he arrived at the hotel," said the policeman.
SM attempted to erase the BBM messages from him BlackBerry at the time of his arrest.
SM has testified before the police that he has admitted to the accusation. However, The infamous However... he denied the accusation in court but the court found him guilty and awarded him the jail term.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"I learned from Bret Favre."
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 8:32
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If only India gave Pakistan everything they wanted without protest, relations would be so much better!
[Dawn] India will have to take further steps to cooperate with Pakistain in order to reach the final outcome of the Mumbai attacks, said Foreign Office Spokesman Abdul Basit on Thursday.
Speaking at the weekly Foreign Office briefing, Abdul Basit said that India needed to do more on its part by responding to Pakistain's requests on the Mumbai trial instead of doubting Islamabad's intentions.
He said that the Indian Home Secretary's remarks on the Mumbai attack trial in Pakistain were misleading and that Pakistain was seriously pursuing the trial.
He stated that Pakistain was looking forward to resuming the dialogue process with India so that issues such as the plight of fishermen were addressed efficiently. However, The infamous However... Abdul Basit stated that despite making serious efforts to resume the dialogue between the two nations, Pakistain was not willing to compromise on its national security at any cost.
The front man rejected the claim made by the Indian Foreign Secretary that Kashmire was an integral part of India and said that the issue was awaiting settlement in accordance with the relevant UN Security Council resolutions.
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Uganda pushed for tougher UN sanctions against Eritrea and its leader, President Isaias Afewerki, for supplying weapons to Somalia in 2007.
In the leaked US diplomatic cables, Uganda's President Yoweri Museveni also criticised former Transitional Federal Government President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed for non-inclusivity and slow pace of building a national army.
Eritrea's actions combined with the behaviour of President Yusuf were seen as contributing to the insecurity in war-torn Somalia.
In the leaked cable dated September 2007, President Museveni was quoted in a dispatch from the US embassy in Kampala pushing for tough action against Eritrea and pressure on TFG leader Yusuf to be more inclusive and announce a timeline for the transition to democracy.
"Museveni said President Isaias was preoccupied with trying to unseat (Ethiopian Prime Minister) Meles (Zenawi).
"That was all Isaias talked about, yet Museveni observed that Meles did not appear to be in any less control of Ethiopia despite Isaias, actions," Ambassador Steven Browning wrote.
The cable arose out of a meeting between the president and former US Assistant Secretary for African Affairs Jendayi Frazer on September 5 in Kampala.
Somalia has been at war with itself since dictator Siad Barre was overthrown in early 1990s.
Uganda takes keen interest in Somalia and currently, together with Burundi, it contributes troops to the African Union Mission in Somalia (Amisom) as peacekeepers.
Restore security
President Museveni believed that Eritrea's actions in Somalia undermined regional and international efforts to restore security.
President Museveni thus proposed to Ms Frazer that President Afewerki "needed to be talked to by the members of the UN Security Council who carry a big stick."
Posted by: Fred ||
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MISSAN / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqs Ahrar (Liberal) Sadrist Group, led by Shiite Cleric Ammar al-Hakim, intends to get 7 cabinet posts and the third deputy prime ministers post in the new government, according to the Sadrist Legislature, Mushriq Naji, on Thursday.
Our Ahrar (Liberal) Sadrist bloc is striving to get 7 cabinet posts in the new government, in addition to the post of the Third Deputy Prime Minister, Naji told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Naji noted that the Ministries his bloc would like to get are the ministries of transportation, education, justice, health, housing, electricity, and a ministry of state.
He said that the official announcement of the new cabinet would take place next week, as the formation of the government shall take place before its assigned date, following the settlement of the cabinet posts for the leading ministries, to be occupied by the large blocs, thing that had delayed the formation of the new government.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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(KUNA) -- Israeli F-16 jet fighters attacked three Paleostinian targets in Gazoo Strip early on Thursday inflicting damage, Paleostinian security sources said.
The strikes targeted a training field for Izz-Eddine Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Islamic bad boy group, Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,, located in the center of the enclave, leaving damage. However, The infamous However... there were no casualties.
The fighter jets hit a deserted house in the village of Al-Meghraqa, south of Gazoo city, hitting it directly and turning it into a heap of smouldering ruins. An identical attack targeted another training site of the same faction in eastern Gazoo, also causing damage, but no human losses.
A front man of the Israeli Army said the strikes were in retaliation for a mortar attack that targeted a farming settlement near the demarcation line, wounding a security man. The maimed, suffering from medium cuts, was transported to hospital.
Israeli officials have warned that prevailing tension in and around the strip may eventually develop into major armed hostilities.
Gazoo is under control of Hamas that has taken control of the enclave in fighting with Fatah, another mainstream Paleostinian group.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
fresh supplies for the rubble and pebble industry
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 8:30
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A total of 22 individuals were murdered in drug and gang related violence in northern Mexican states including three Juarez municipal police officers ambushed Wednesday and six unidentified men shot to death on a remote highway near Chihuahua, Chihuahua. For a map, click here.
Three unidentified men were shot to death in Juarez Monday afternoon, say Mexican news accounts. The victims were attacked at an auto repair shop near the intersection of calles Izcoatl and Popocatl where armed suspects entered the business and started shooting. The three were auto mechanics by trade.
Two unidentified men were shot to death in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Tuesday night, according to Mexican news accounts. The victims were shot near the corner of calles Martin H. Barrio and Alejandro Manzoni by armed suspects who then fled the scene in a van. One victim was in a Ford Contour when he was killed while the second victim was lying in the street.
A Juarez municipal police commander was shot to death late Tuesday night, say Mexican news reports. Luis Garcia was shot aboard his Jeep patriot near the intersection of Calle Elias and Camino Viejo San Jose. Garcia was commander of Juarez police auto theft division, and had just arrested two shooters in the murder of Chihuahua state police officer Erika Silva, who was just interred the same say Garcia was killed. Reports suggested that Garcia's murder was a response to that arrest.
An unidentified man and woman were found shot to death in Juarez late Wednesday, say Mexican press accounts. The victims were found tortured, bound hand and foot near the intersection of calles Florida and Calzada del Rio. Evidence at the scene suggested the two were dumped at the site.
An unidentified woman was shot to death and her companion was wounded in an attack in Chihuahua, Chihuahua Wednesday, according to Mexican news accounts. The shooting took place near the junction of Avenida Juan Escutia and Calle Miguel Barragan where armed suspects pursued the victims aboard a vehicle before shooting them.
An unidentified man was shot to death and an unidentified companion was wounded in a shooting in Juarez Wednesday, say Mexican news accounts. Sergio Rivera, 34, was shot aboard his Isuzu Pup pickup truck near the intersection of calles Leñeros and Grama in the Mexico 68 colony. Reports say the victim crashed his car while trying to escape the assault
Three unidentified Juarez police officers were shot to death and a fourth was wounded Wednesday according to Mexican press accounts. The attack took place at about 1300 hrs near the corner of calles Cadmio and Marcelo Caraveo in the San Felipe del Real colony where armed suspects fired in a police patrol vehicle, causing the driver to crash the vehicle. Reports say AK-47 assault rifles were used in the attack, and officers did not have time to return fire. The Mexican daily La Polaka says 25 Juarez police officers have died since October 9th. An Oldsmobile Bravada SUV used in the attack was found later in the day abandoned.
Six unidentified men were openly shot to death on a remote road near Chihuahua, Chihuahua, say Mexican news accounts. The attack took place at about 0500 hrs on Kilometer 10 of the Chihuahua-Cuauhtemoc road where several armed suspects lined up the victims against a wall in front of commuters and methodically shot them.
An unidentified man was found shot to death in Tijuana, Baja California, according to Mexican news accounts. The victim was found aboard a Nissan Pathfinder on Calle 34th Sur in the Sanchez Taboada with several spent shell casings inside.
A man in his 20s was found shot to death in Tijuana, Baja California, say Mexican news accounts. Oscar Armando Rodriguez Gonzalez was found on Avenida De las Rosas in the Leandro Valle colony shot dead with five .40 caliber spent shell casings at the scene.
A man just out of prison after serving a three month term for robbery was shot to death Tuesday in Torreon, Coahuila, say Mexican news reports. Hector Renteria Retana, 24, was shot by armed suspects who were abvoard a vehicle near the intersection of calles Gladiolas and Eglantinas on the El Ãguila farm. Several 9mm spent shell casings were found at the scene.
#1
Startin to get that manifest destiny feeling. These folks can't quite get the hang of self government, and I'm seeing Chihuahua as our 51st state. They'd be called the Yappin Doh State.
MOSCOW - Russian planes flew in the region of joint U.S.-Japanese naval training drills in the Pacific Ocean but did not violate airspace rules, Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.
Roman Martov, a spokesman for Russia's Pacific Ocean Fleet, was quoted by the agency as saying: "They carried out their planned flights in the region of regular activity of (Russia's) fleet.
"There were no violations of international rules of the use of airspace or flight rules on the Russian side."
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/10/2010
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#1
PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > RUSSIAN SPY PLANES AT US-JAPAN DRILL - SHOW SUPPORT FOR CHINA?
IOW, VLADVEDEV = KIMMIE = WANNA BUILD DEM PROPOSED NEW RUSS MILBASES IN THE FORMER JAPANESE KURILES, EFFEC HELPING THE US + JAPAN + ROK KEEP CHINA OUT OF THE RUSSIAN FAR EAST + NORPAC + ARTIC ROUTES WHILE SSSSSSHHHHHHH.......
CCCCCCCCCC-orrectness BLAMING THE BAMMER = USA???
[Dawn] British Prime Minister David Cameron's attempts to mend 'fragile' relations with Pakistain have been dashed after he was snubbed by Pakistain's prime minister, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
Mr Cameron wanted to visit Pakistain to try and patch up ties with it after he said during a visit to India the UK could not tolerate the idea that Pakistain was allowed to look 'both ways' and was able to promote the export of terror, whether to India or to Afghanistan or anywhere else in the world.
He had asked to go to Islamabad on his way to Afghanistan. But his attempt to invite himself ended in a firm refusal, as Prime Minister Gilani said he did not want to be tagged onto a visit to Afghanistan, the report said.
Mr Cameron often tries to squeeze several countries into a single foreign visit, as he has to try and deal with the recession and cuts agenda at home. His last trip to the region ended with causing great offence -- first to Pakistain for casting doubt on its commitment to fighting terror and second to Israel for criticising its treatment of Paleostinians.
Cameron calls Zardari
UK Premier Cameron telephoned President Asif Zardari on Wednesday night. The two leaders discussed bilateral matters and the situation in the region.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Emirates 24/7] Soddy Arabia's top religious authority has caught a Bangladeshi for alleged involvement in witchcraft with the aim of blackmailing money by destroying marriages, the Arabic language daily Okaz reported on Thursday.
The feared Commission for the Promotion of Virtue and Prevention of Vice said its men seized the Bangladeshi expatriate in the southwestern province Khamis Mushayt after they had watched him for nearly two months, it said.
"They caught the man, in his 50s, red handed and seized some books and papers that have to do with sorcery and black art," the paper said.
"The Commission said these books and other magic items were used in destroying safe homes and separating couples."
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[Iran Press TV] A Swedish court has sentenced two members of the Somali al-Shabaab group to four years in prison over involvement in terrorist attacks in the war-weary Horn of Africa nation.
A district court in the southwestern city of Gothenburg on Wednesday found two Swedish citizens of Somali origin guilty of collaboration with the hard boy al-Shabaab group to carry out bombing attacks in Somalia.
The men were jugged in May and June.
The anti-government al-Shabaab group is now in control of several towns in southern Somalia following weeks of bloody festivities with rival Ahlu Sunna Waljama'a fighters and Somali government forces.
In a recent report, the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC) stated that hundreds of civilians have been killed or injured 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.
Some 4,000 patients with war injuries, among them 1,100 women and kiddies, were taken to Mogadishu's two referral hospitals in 2009.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
why are they still citizens? Remove their citizenship upon the end of their 4 yr term and ship them back to Africa.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/10/2010 8:18
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(KUNA) -- French Foreign Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said Thursday that Alasanne Ouattara was the legitimate president of the Ivory Coast "in the eyes of all the international community." Speaking on "La Belle France Inter" radio, the minister pointed out that Ouattara was not just supported by La Belle France but he was also the president "in the eyes of the United Nations, aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society since yesterday, and before that in the eyes of ECOWAS (the Economic Community of West African States), the African Union and Europe." The UN Security Council on Wednesday backed Ouattaras election despite a decision by the Ivory Coast Constitutional Council which backed his opponent, Laurent Gbagbo.
She remarked that incumbent Ivory Coast president Gbagbo, who is refusing to accept defeat at the hands of Ouattara, had no legitimacy anymore.
"Indeed, things are clear. It has been said by everyone," Alliot-Marie remarked about the election result.
Both Ouattara and Gbagbo have appointed Prime Ministers to form new governments, leading to gridlock and a dangerous stand-off in Ivory Coast that has already experienced a bloody civil war and has a tense balance between ethnic groups in the north and south of the country.
Alliot-Marie recalled that Ivory Coast has a long democratic tradition and was even a model for Africa along with Senegal.
"What we need today is that the results of the will of the people of Ivory Coast, expressed in a vote that was controlled by the United Nations, be respected," the French foreign minister affirmed.
She said that the transition "must take place gently and there must be no violence." She also warned that "there are a certain number of procedures that could be put in place at the international level if the transition is not carried out" by Gbagbo.
The minister also remarked that this was not a problem just for La Belle France, but it was also being followed closely at European and international level.
La Belle France has close economic ties with Ivory Coast and is the major foreign investor in that country. There are also 15,000 Frenchies living and working in Ivory Coast.
"We do not ignore the presence of our compatriots in Ivory Coast. Their safety is a major concern. Today, their security is not threatened," she indicated, although she noted that special recommendations had been given to French residents in Ivory Coast during the electoral period there.
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WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq: A U.S. soldier died on Wednesday of wounds sustained by a sniper in north of Kut, according to a well-informed source.
The soldier, who was seriously wounded this afternoon by a sniper in al-Nuaamaniya district, north of Kut, died, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency, noting that the medical team in al-Nuaamaniya military hospital failed to save his life as his wounds were deadly, the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
A police source had said earlier that an unknown sniper shot a soldier of U.S. Provincial Reconstruction Team while on duty in al-Nuaamaniya district, north of Kut.
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[Tolo News] At least 2 Taliban beturbanned goons were killed, and 3 others were maimed in a joint military operation in western Badghis province on Wednesday, officials said
The incident happened in a village of Balamorghab district of Badghis province while Afghan and Isaf forces started a military operation against a group of beturbanned goons conducted by Seya Khan a local Taliban capo, Sharafuddin Majidi a front man for governor of Badghis told TOLOnews.
The operation began by Isaf choppers to target the beturbanned goons and there were no civilian, Afghan and Isaf forces causalities, he added.
Insecurity has recently worried people in Badghis where beturbanned goons target the Afghan forces in some villages.
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[Emirates 24/7] India's sari-clad ambassador was pulled from an airport security line and patted down by a TSA agent in Mississippi after attending a conference, an act one state agency official called 'unfortunate.' Those people are crazy. How much money could we save by disbanding them?
Meera Shankar, India's ambassador to the United States, was subjected to the search on Saturday after speaking to an international studies program at Mississippi State University.
Witnesses said Shankar was told she was pulled from a security line because of her dress - she was wearing a sari that drapes across the body Ñ and patted down by a female security agent.
A Transportation Security Administration front man said diplomats are not exempt from pat-down searches and that bulky clothing is one reason for additional screening.
Officials at the Indian embassy in Washington declined to discuss what happened.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I read another article about this--maybe it was AP--which painted the story as a bunch of backwards Mississippi bumpkins subjecting an elegant diplomat to a pat-down. The ambassador supposedly told her university hosts, "I'm never coming back." Good. If you can't deign to subject yourself to the same indignities that Americans face while travelling, then don't be the ambassador to America you uppity b*.
Posted by: American Delight ||
12/10/2010 7:53
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#2
and that bulky clothing is one reason for additional screening.
#4
Okay, now we have a legal reason to disband the TSSA - they attempted to start a war with a friendly foreign power. Patting down an accredited diploma is classified as a major violation of the diplomatic immunity and is technically an act of war. If the TSSA is insisting on its right to violate all forms of law, it is an outlaw organization like the SS and needs to be disbanded.
[Tolo News] A poll by the International Transparency published on Thursday found Afghanistan among the most corrupt countries in the world
Some 56 percent of people interviewed in the opinion poll said their country had become more corrupt.
The poll found political parties as the most corrupt institutions in the world. Around 50 percent of people believed their government was unable to resolve the problem. The other 50 percent are in on the take ...
One in four of those who participated in the poll said they had paid a bribe in the past year. Describing police as the most common bribe recipient, the report said 29 percent of bribes went to the police.
The poll was conducted based on interviews with 91,000 people in 86 countries of the world.
But the Afghan High Office of Oversight and Anti-Corruption (HOOAC) called the poll inaccurate. Head of the HOOAC, Mohammad Yasin Osmani said a commission comprised of Afghans and foreigners has been formed in all government institutions to investigate corruption.
Mr Osmani said: "Corruption in Afghanistan is often related to contracts that are handled by internaional community."
The Transparency poll is published as Afghanistan Integrity Watch yesterday told TOLOnews that there has been a 21 percent increase in the Afghan government's budget transparency, raising hope that corruption would reduce.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
More corrupt than Venezuela or Zimbabwe where you just don't take bribes, you steal other people's property and then 'redistribute' it to your cronies and family?
[Al Jazeera] China's foreign ministry has said that military threats could not resolve continuing tensions on the Korean peninsula.
The statement by Jiang Yu, the foreign ministry spokeswoman, comes after Admiral Mike Mullen, the chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, criticised China on Thursday for enabling its ally North Korea's "reckless behaviour".
Jiang Yu told news conference that she questioned what Mullen had done for "peace and stability in the region," calling his remarks on China's support for North Korea an "accusation".
Essentially telling Bambi to put up or shut up, and we know what the response will be ...
'Enormous influence'
On Wednesday, the top US military officer, Admiral Mike Mullen, accused China of ducking its responsibility to keep Pyongyang in line, as he announced more joint military exercises with South Korea.
"The Chinese have enormous influence over the North, influence that no other nation on earth enjoys. And yet, despite a shared interest in reducing tensions, they appear unwilling to use it," Mullen said.
"Even tacit approval of Pyongyang's brazenness leaves all their neighbours asking what will be next," he added before heading for Japan for talks on defence cooperation.
James Steinberg, the US deputy secretary of state will lead a high-level delegation to Beijing next week to consult on developments on the Korean peninsula. Steinberg this week attempted to downplay differences with China, speaking of the "critical role" Beijing can play in the situation and saying it was in the interests of both the US and China to work together.
So that they'll keep buying our bonds ...
The day before, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill... and her counterparts from South Korea and Japan had held talks in Washington which ended with a call for China to do more.
The US is expected to "speak to China to tell North Korea in more clear language not to make provocations", Kim Sung-Hwan, the South Korean foreign minister told news hounds, upon his return from the United States.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#4
ADM. MULLEN = has repor also stated that the US WILL GET OR STAND IN THE WAY OF ANY ROK MIL RESPONSE = COUNTER-ATTACK TO ANY NEW DPRK INCIDENTS.
* OTOH, compare Chin wid RUSSIA, PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > RUSSIA SAYS US AIR FORCE UNIT IN POLAND HARMS OTHER'S [Regional] SECURITY. Russian response in light of Wiki revelations as per covert NATO Plan to mil defend the Baltic States + Poland from post-Soviet/Cold War Russia.
** SAME SOUTH KOREANS GUESS AT THE NORTH'S NEXT TARGET, i.e. will the DPRK next attack the ROK in the
* YELLOW SEA
* INTER-KOREAN DMZ
* TERRSTRIKE, espec vee DPRK SPECOP COMMANDOS.
* NEW DPRK NUCBOMB, MISSLE TEST(S).
-----------------
ALso from PEOPLES DAILY FORUM > JAPAN'S NEW GUIDELINES CALL FOR STRONGER ISLAND DEFENSE.
SW JAPAN + OKINAWA PERFECTURE includ Senkakus + Nanshas. Budget Cuts in JGSDF Tanks to be counterbalanced in Tokyo by increases in SDF NAVAL, AIR POWER ASSETS + LR SECURITY MISSIONS OER KEY ISLANDS.
IOW, be it CHIN'S SCO-CSTO STRATEGIC PARTNER + BFF RUSSIA OR US-N-REGIONAL-ALIIES, CHINA'S BARRIERS IN THE "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN" KEEP GETTING BIGGER + DEEPER, ETC. AGZ CHINA.
versies
* MARIANAS VARIETY/TOPIX > OKINAWA DELEGATION WANTS ALL 12K MARINES OUT, from Futenma MCAS + Okinawa proper starting in 2012.
Okis don't care iff all 12,000 go to Guam; or else 8000-plus from same go to Guam + 4000 go to Tinian - the Oki Delegation repor will urge TOKYYU/TOKIO TO PAY THE FULL COSTS OF SAME IFF THE US GOVT. CAN AGREE???
The USDOD can certainly put a lot of things on Tinian, the CNMI Govt will have a new source of revenue + jobs + LT "justification" to build a connecting bridge between Saipan + Tinian, which in turn SSSSSSSHHHHHHHH......CCCCCCCCCCC has other LT implications for 1990's PROPOSED GUAM-ROTA MONORAIL.
Shall I bring up [again] IWO JIMA = BONIN/VOLCANO ISLANDS + JAPAN-OKINAWA-IWO-MARIANAS MONORAIL + "CHUNNEL" PROJECTS, ETC.
But I digress ...
* WAFF > WIKILEAKS: NEXT CHINA LEADERS WILL BE FOR PEACE. Next CPC Plenum = Year 2012.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries on Wednesday agreed to overhaul a response plan for localized provocations by North Korea so as to stress U.S. military support for operations led by Seoul. The previous plan had focused only on the South Korean role.
Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Adm. Mike Mullen said, "South Korea is a sovereign nation that has every right to protect its people in order to effectively carry out that responsibility." It also has the "right to choose the method with which they respond," he added.
And it's about time they chose one ...
He and his South Korean counterpart Gen. Han Min-koo assessed the situation in the North together at an emergency bilateral meeting at JCS headquarters in South Korea, the JCS said.
The two militaries will reportedly divide roles between them, with the South Korean military in charge of striking back at the sources of attack in the North and the U.S. military offering support like intelligence gathering.
Mullen told reporters any country has the right to self-defense, and if any more provocation should occur, the response will be prompt and immediate. To a question about air strikes, he said, "To answer [the] question as to whether or not I asked South Korea to take air options off the table, I did not."
Mullen suggested the U.S. will seek joint military exercises among South Korea, the U.S. and Japan to deal with North Korean provocations.
He dismissed repeated Chinese calls for the resumption of six-party nuclear talks. "We first need an appropriate basis for the resumption of [six-party] talks. There is none so long as North Korea persists in its illegal and ill-advised and dangerous behavior," he said.
Mullen called on China to take on greater responsibility, because "the Chinese have enormous influence over the North, influence that no other nation on earth enjoys."
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Again, KIMMIE recognizes that iff CHINA doesn't take over the DPRK in WAR or NATIONAL COLLAPSE, it will do so economically in LT via the SINO-DPRK FTA SETTING UP MOSTLY CHIN-DOMINATED FREEPORTS IN NORTH KOREA.
IMO, in Kimmie's mind, "DA TIME IS NOW", NOT LATER, to save North Korea for North Koreans = Koreans.
[Yemen Post] At least 13 people were maimed in an kaboom that rocked a qat market in Yemen's capital Sana'a, informed sources said on Wednesday.
Three of them were seriously maimed, they said.
An bombexploded at the gate of an inn at the market entrance in Hadda district, but those behind were unknown, they said.
No more details were available, and the authorities did not comment on the incident that comes amid the struggle and major efforts to hunt down AQAP Islamic fascistiand saboteurs.
In recent months, Yemen has taken several measures to maintain security in all governorates as worries about the situation in it started to hamper the influx of foreign investments.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] German police have jugged two men suspected of being Sikh faceless myrmidons belonging to a group that is fighting to create a Sikh homeland, prosecutors said on Thursday.
They say the men, jugged in the western states of Hesse and North Rhine-Westphalia, were part of the turban Khalistan Zindabad Force (KZF) that wants to create a Sikh homeland out of parts of India and Pakistain.
"They are accused of having joined the KZF by 2009 at the latest and been in contact with its leadership abroad to help procure weapons," Germany's Public Prosecutor General at the Federal Court of Justice in Karlsruhe said in a statement.
The two, described as 35-year old Sukhpreet S. and 41-year old Jagtar S. M., are Indian nationals and have been charged with violations of firearms laws and "membership in a foreign terrorist organisation".
Prosecutors say they had acquired two semi-automatic firearms and forged identity documents, and had sought to obtain more arms to help the KZF in its attacks on Indian targets and authorities.
The group aims to deliver weapons and counterfeit money to the Indian state of Punjab via networks of members in Europe, police say. The European Union considers it a terrorist organisation.
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[Pak Daily Times] Anti-Taliban lashkars on Thursday threatened to withdraw their support to the government and police if their demands were not met within 10 days.
Adezai anti-Taliban lashkar chief Dilawar Khan told Daily Times on Thursday that chiefs of all the three anti-Taliban lashkars have decided in a joint meeting that they will withdraw support to the police and government if the latter did not fulfil promises made to them within 10 days. Leaders of the anti-Taliban lashkars, which included Dilawar Khan from Adezai, Fahimur Rehman from Bazid Khel and Fazal Amin from Taila Band, are ready to announce end of cooperation with the Awami National Party-led provincial government and security forces in the war on terror, Dilawar said. Following the decision, he said, senior coppers'>coppers met the lashkar chiefs and assured full support.
The officials told the chiefs that they are going to arrange their meetings with the provincial chief minister, governor and other top police officials so they could present their demands to them. The lashkar chiefs were asked to cooperate with security forces until 10th of Muharram. Some members of the Adezai lashkar, on condition of anonymity, said that after withdrawal of support to the government, the lashkar will approach the Taliban for a pact. He said the Taliban would be offered safe passage through Adezai in return for assurance that they would not attack Adezai people and villagers.
Dilawar said that the lashkars had courageously confronted the Taliban for the past two years despite great human and material losses. Asked about the reason for withdrawal of support, he said the government and military had extended almost no moral and material support to the lashkars since they were formed in 2008. He said that the government had promised arms, ammunition and food for the militias, which didn't materialise. Neither did the promised compensation package for heirs of the lashkars' members killed in fighting with the Taliban.
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[Dawn] Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) jugged the joint secretary of religious affairs ministry while broadening its probe.
Raja Aftab, the joint secretary had been jugged by FIA officials and transferred to unknown place for further investigations.
Key sources of the FIA told DawnNews that the agency also jugged the former Director General Hajj, Rao Shakeel in the first phase of investigations amid corruption scandal in this year Hajj events.
The probe revealed that Raja Aftabul Islam hired the residential buildings rather than booking hotel rooms for the Hajj pilgrims, the hired buildings were very remote from the Haram (Kaaba) subsequently the Pak pilgrims had to suffer by the irresponsible act.
In Mina, the tents provided to the pilgrims, lacked basic utilities as well.
FIA sources also informed DawnNews that the agency will arrest all individuals involved in the Hajj corruption scandal and will submit the final report to the Government and the court.
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U.S. intelligence agencies are working to track down an alarming report from inside North Korea revealing that the communist regime is secretly developing underwater nuclear torpedoes and mines.
According to a newsletter run by dissident North Koreans, the report states that North Korea's government has a special group of researchers at the National Defense Technology Institute that is "developing underwater weapons using nuclear warheads." The report was published Dec. 3 by the Korean-language newsletter NK Chisigan Yondae, or NK Intellectual Solidarity.
The U.S. Navy once had nuclear torpedoes and mines, as did the Soviet navy, and China's military also has discussed the use of nuclear torpedoes in its military writings as recently as 2006.
The nuclear torpedo and mine program aimed at compensating for Pyongyang's high-technology gap with U.S. and South Korean firepower by using its nuclear arsenal, and North Korean sources told the newsletter that researchers in the country are concerned about the arms program.
The report quotes a government official in North Pyongan province, on the northeast border with China: "In March 2009, Institute 108 under Guidance Bureau 131 (General Bureau of Atomic Energy) launched a nuclear torpedo and mine research."
The official noted that "nuclear mines are technologically at a stage of completion, and the plan [is] to finish [developing] nuclear torpedoes by 2012."
The weapons research is being conducted by specialists from Institute 108, the facility involved in nuclear technology development. Others in the program belong to the Kusong Electronic Warfare Institute, along with other experts in torpedo and mine warfare.
The source was quoted as saying North Korea believes nuclear torpedos and mines will be capable of neutralizing South Korean and Japanese naval bases and U.S. aircraft carriers. The weapons also will provide a deterrent against U.S. military intervention in a second Korean conflict.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
The NOKORS reportedly have UW SPECOPS Midget Subs thats as fast + can maneuver like a FIGHTER PLANE???
* ION PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > IRAN HAS 15,000 SUICIDE BOATS.
[El Universal] The family of Venezuela's President Hugo Chavez has USD 137 million in several US bank accounts, according to an investigation made by Mexican newspaper La Razón.
La Razón reported that "under the umbrella of power, the Venezuelan president's family has a life style that includes jewelry, cars, travels and even weapons, in contrast to Chavez's anti-capitalist discourse."
According to La Razón, reports issued by the US Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) in 2008 show that DEA found five bank accounts in US banks amounting to nearly USD 140 million and belonging to the brothers and mother of the Venezuelan president.
The report claims that Adelis Chavez Frías, a brother of the Venezuela president, tops the lists with USD 90 million, followed by Adan Chavez, with USD 18 million. Elena Frías de Chavez, Hugo Chavez's mother, allegedly has a USD 16 million account.
If we had a CIA worth anything at all those accounts would be emptied, Mexican drug lords would be blamed, and the money would be used to fund the opposition in Venezuela ...
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"If we had a CIA worth anything ..."
Information such as this and more would be printed out daily (or at least weekly) on simple printer paper and distributed by "wind" throughout Chavez's more supportive districts. He is most popular with the poor, who would also be most sensitive to him enriching his family through his position.
#2
"They're supposed to deplore it, so they are fascinated by it. This is why communists are hypnotized by money, the same way that Jesuits are hypnotized by sex."
#3
Goes to show that the biblical saying "For the love of money is the root of all evil." . That is why the Dems are such huge tax and spend aholics. They have gotten drunk on the wealth of America and now want more if not all of it.
[Pak Daily Times] Two of the country's top spy agencies have confessed before the apex court that 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail were in their custody and were being tried under the Army Act.
A three-member bench of the apex court, headed by Chief Justice of Pakistain Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry and comprising Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday heard the case of 11 missing prisoners of Adiala Jail.
During the course of proceedings, Raja Muhammad Irshad, counsel for the federation, the Pakistain Army, Inter-Services Intelligence, Intelligence Bureau, Military Intelligence, told a three-member bench consisting of Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry, Justice Ghulam Rabbani and Justice Khalilur Rehman Ramday that the missing prisoners had been in their custody and were jugged during a massive operation launched after the court's direction where more than 20 bully boyz were jugged in the operational areas.
He said they were in safe and secure hands and would be charged under the Army Act, adding that their trial would be held in the General Field Court Martial in accordance with law.
Recording his statement on behalf of the respondents, Irshad dispelled the impression that the Pakistain Army and its other institutions were above law and the court. He said such negative impression had been given by certain elements who had been playing in the hands of the people who were out to secure their vested interests.
He said, "I want to record a statement to dispel the impression that the Pakistain Army or any of its organs, is above law and defy the court's orders. They submit themselves before the constitution and hold the apex court in the highest regard."
"They appreciate what the court is doing for the constitutional governance of the country," he added. He said these institutions had been bound to follow the order and judgement of this court.
Giving details of the incident, he said these prisoners, soon after their release from the jail, voluntarily submitted themselves in the custody of people who had disguised themselves as secret agencies' personnel. From there, they were taken to operational areas, as they had close links with a well-knit terrorist organisation and were prepared to cause further damage by launching attacks on the army and sensitive installations, he added.
Masterminds: Irshad said that these people were criminal masterminds of terrorist attacks on Hamza Camp, the GHQ, Kamra, Friday prayers attack and even involved in an attack on a three-star general in Rawalpindi.
To the counsel's objection, the CJP told him that he could contact the authorities concerned as the counsel had assured the court that they would be treated according to law.
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(KUNA) -- After five days of haggling, the Security Council finally recognized late Wednesday opposition leader Alassane Ouattara as the winner of the presidential elections in C`te d'Ivoire.
The council took the stance despite outgoing president Laurent Gbagbo's claim to victory, his call for calm and warning of "targeted measures" against anybody threatening the grinding of the peace processor in the West African country.
Russia held up action in the 15-member body, claiming the Council has no business certifying domestic elections in any country.
Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon, the African Union and the Economic Community of West African States, known as ECOWAS have already recognized Ouattara's victory.
In the meantime, Gbagbo is clinging to power and even formed his new Cabinet last week.
"In view of ECOWAS' recognition of Mr. Alassane Dramane Ouattara as President-elect of C`te d'Ivoire and representative of the freely expressed voice of the Ivorian people as proclaimed by the Independent Electoral Commission, the members of the Security Council call on all stakeholders to respect the outcome of the election," US Deputy Permanent Representative Brooke Anderson, whose country holds the Council's rotating presidency, told news hounds in a statement following Council closed-door consultations. "The members of the Security Council condemn in the strongest possible terms any effort to subvert the popular will of the people or undermine either the integrity of the electoral process or the free and fair elections in C`te d'Ivoire," she added. The UN's Special envoy in the country Young jin Choi told a presser yesterday in the country's commercial capital Abidjan that "The Ivorian people have chosen Mr. Alassane Ouattara with an irrefutable margin as the winner over Mr. Laurent Gbagbo." The UN has been exerting efforts to reunite the country - the world's largest cocoa exporter - after it was split by civil war in 2002 into a Government-controlled south and a rebel-held north. The Council reiterated in its press statement its readiness "to impose targeted measures against persons who attempt to threaten the grinding of the peace processor, obstruct the work of the UNOCI (the UN Mission in C`te d'Ivoire) and other international actors, or commit serious violations of human rights ... which are not the same thing as individual rights, mind you... and international humanitarian law." It deplored the suspension of non-governmental media, recalled "the importance that all citizens of C`te d'Ivoire have full access to pluralistic and diverse information," and urged the authorities to immediately restore equitable access to State media.
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(KUNA) -- French President Nicolas Sarkozy met with Syrian leader Bashar Al-Assad Thursday to discuss the tensions in Leb and the moribund Israeli-Paleostinian grinding of the peace processor, which is failing because of Israel's settlement policies and its refusal to heed international calls to stop colonisation of Arab territories.
Sarkozy and Assad met over a working lunch at the Elysee Palace and the Syrian President expressed his strong position on who was responsible for the failure of direct talks between Israel and the Paleostinian Authority.
Leaving the meeting with the French leader, the Syrian President said the situation of impasse was due to Israel and that if the talks don't work it is the fault of Israel and "not the fault of the Americans" who tried to move talks forward.
"We cannot blame the sponsor of the grinding of the peace processor. We must blame the (responsible) parties. Israel is not present in the process," Assad remarked.
He also said that the whole issue should not be focusing on the settlements as it is about "territory and rights" and he said "the territory will be recovered, with settlements or without." Assad said he had also appreciated and he wanted to praise the opposition of Sarkozy concerning Israel's stated intention of holding a referendum on withdrawal from the occupied Arab lands.
"Israel is like a thief who has stolen something and then takes it to the thieves' market to sell it," Assad said, citing an Arabic saying.
He virulently criticized Israel's position in the grinding of the peace processor and refusal to withdraw to 1967 borders. The Israeli stance is "not acceptable, morally or legally," he said.
He urged La Belle France and the European Union to more forcefully take part in the peace negotiations but he said he was pessimistic because Israel is blocking the negotiations, and as long as the Israeli partner does not want peace, there will be no peace in the Middle East.
Assad said that he had discussed the Lebanese situation with his French counterpart and he said many parties were working to avoid any increase in tensions or violence after the soon-expected announcement of the findings of the Special Tribunal on the liquidation five years ago of former Prime Minister Rafiq Hariri.
"No party has any interest in having upheaval in Leb," he said.
There are fears that if indictments are issued by the UN tribunal, there could be a backlash among certain Lebanese parties like the Hezbullies resistance who are rumored to be among those cited in the findings.
Assad told journalists that discussions were ongoing between Syria and Soddy Arabia on how to avoid any outbreak of violence and that these talks also included La Belle France, which supported them.
He indicated there was "Franco-Saudi coordination" and "Franco-Syrian coordination" and also "coordination" between the Syria and Soddy Arabia, but he pointed out the Lebanese must solve their own problems.
"The solution, in the end, is Lebanese," he indicated, adding that Syria would help "facilitate" that solution.
Sarkozy has met in the past couple of months here with the bulk of the Lebanese leadership and most recently last week with Prime Minister Saad Hariri, the son of the assassinated former Premier.
The French leader was said to be pressing Assad to do his utmost to avoid any upsurge among Hezbullies factions in Leb. Assad is widely believed to have strong influence on the Lebanese group.
The Syrian leader also said that he wanted to see Iraq find stability through the formation of "a national unity government," although he stressed Syria was not pushing for any party.
He "expressed support for the formation of a government" and he said "Syria was in contact with all parties" in Iraq.
Assad indicated also that the question of Iran and its controversial nuclear programme was not discussed in the talks with Sarkozy.
Upon leaving the Elysee residence of the French President, Assad headed for a meeting with Bernard Accoyer, the Speaker of the French National Assembly, and he is expected to stay in Gay Paree on Friday for a private visit.
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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.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs says President Barack Obama is prepared to delay his holiday trip to ensure Senate ratification of a US-Russia nuclear treaty.
A theoretical dream for decades, the railgun is unlike any other weapon used in warfare. And it's quite real too, as the U.S. Navy will prove in a record-setting test today in Dahlgren, VA.
Somali pirates
(KUNA) -- The Council of Europe, the premier European body that monitors democracy and 
[Washington Examiner] Police in northeastern Nigeria say they have 
[Washington Examiner] A 21-year-old man charged with trying to blow up a military recruiting center briefly hesitated when he heard about a federal sting operation that nabbed an alleged terrorist in Oregon last month but decided to keep going with his plan, authorities said.
[Emirates 24/7] A masjid imam was sentenced one year in jail for sending pornographic pictures over BlackBerry to seduce girls to have sex with him.
(KUNA) -- Israeli F-16 jet fighters attacked three 
MOSCOW - Russian planes flew in the region of joint U.S.-Japanese naval training drills in the Pacific Ocean but did not violate airspace rules, Russia's Interfax news agency reported on Wednesday.
[Dawn] British Prime Minister David Cameron's attempts to mend 'fragile' relations with Pakistain have been dashed after he was snubbed by Pakistain's prime minister, Daily Mail reported on Wednesday.
WASSIT / Aswat al-Iraq: A U.S. soldier died on Wednesday of wounds sustained by a sniper in north of Kut, according to a well-informed source.
