Hi there, !
Today Sun 12/23/2012 Sat 12/22/2012 Fri 12/21/2012 Thu 12/20/2012 Wed 12/19/2012 Tue 12/18/2012 Mon 12/17/2012 Archives
Rantburg
531183 articles and 1854386 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 57 articles and 127 comments as of 22:26.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Non-WoT    Opinion        Main Page
Yemeni President Restructures Army, Removes Saleh Cronies
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
19:20 0 [336067]
14:08 0 [336073]
11:34 8 18:41 Airandee [336099] 
08:26 6 17:24 swksvolFF [336092]
07:51 0 [336066]
07:20 1 09:15 JohnQC [336080]
04:28 0 [336066]
02:01 4 12:26 Rob Crawford [336065]
01:50 9 20:38 Barbara [336094] 
00:17 5 12:15 M. Murcek [336085]
00:00 1 09:39 JohnQC [336070] 
00:00 2 11:53 Nimble Spemble [336072]
00:00 1 20:54 JosephMendiola [336097]
00:00 7 12:14 Besoeker [336072]
00:00 11 16:19 Besoeker [336094] 
00:00 9 19:51 Dopey Sinatra9196 [336075]
00:00 0 [336065] 
00:00 0 [336066]
00:00 6 23:49 rammer [336108] 
00:00 3 10:34 OldSpook [336074]
00:00 1 07:57 Glenmore [336065]
00:00 0 [336063]
00:00 0 [336066]
00:00 6 15:57 JohnQC [336067]
00:00 9 16:22 CrazyFool [336099]
00:00 0 [336065]
00:00 2 09:11 trailing wife [336064]
00:00 1 19:39 Raider [336083]
00:00 0 [336085]
00:00 0 [336065]
00:00 0 [336068]
00:00 0 [336078]
00:00 2 11:37 Pappy [336070]
00:00 0 [336065]
00:00 0 [336064]
00:00 0 [336064]
00:00 0 [336111]
00:00 0 [336079]
00:00 0 [336063]
00:00 0 [336065]
00:00 0 [336064]
00:00 0 [336068]
00:00 1 09:45 Spot [336063]
00:00 0 [336066]
00:00 0 [336066]
00:00 1 14:13 Raider [336067]
00:00 4 20:38 JosephMendiola [336092]
00:00 0 [336067]
00:00 3 18:00 Pappy [336097]
00:00 0 [336080]
00:00 0 [336067]
00:00 1 02:44 crosspatch [336065]
00:00 0 [336065]
00:00 2 14:06 Raider [336066]
00:00 0 [336067]
00:00 16 20:34 JosephMendiola [336073]
00:00 5 09:55 JohnQC [336066] 
-Lurid Crime Tales-
One very good justification for assault rifle ownership by private citizens
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 19:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Palestinians aim to isolate Israel with new steps
Weeks ahead of Israeli elections, Palestinian officials are already plotting a series of tough steps against Israel to be taken if, as polls predict, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is re-elected and peace efforts remain stalled.

Emboldened by their newly upgraded status at the United Nations, the Palestinians are talking of filing war crimes charges against Israel,
...so that Israeli leaders could die in five-star hotels in The Hague while awaiting trial...
staging mass demonstrations in the West Bank,
...because nothing says power to the people like a mass demonstration...
encouraging the international community to impose sanctions,
...because the Paleos see the horrible effect of sanctions on the Mad Mullahs™ of Iran, and the modulating effect of sanctions on North Korea...
and ending the security cooperation that has helped preserve quiet in recent years.
...because we all know how impotent the Joooz feel when Paleos get all manly with their gun sex...
These plans, combined with growing international impatience with Israeli settlement construction, could spell trouble and international isolation for the Israeli leader.
The Europeans, at least, may talk loudly to appease their various antisemitic constituencies, but they salivate at least as loudly over manufacturing partnerships with Israeli technical companies and contracts for Israeli natural gas.
In a series of interviews with The Associated Press, a number of Palestinian officials all voiced a similar theme: Following the UN General Assembly's recognition of "Palestine" as a nonmember observer state in November, the status quo cannot continue.
That's true but not in the way they hope...
"2013 will see a new Palestinian political track. There will be new rules in our relationship with Israel and the world," said Hussam Zumlot, an aide to President Mahmoud Abbas.
Technically possible, yes. But just how probable, that is the question. Thus far the Palestinians haven't shown competency in calculating probabilities.
Although the UN vote did not change the situation on the ground, it had deep implications. Opposed by just nine countries, it amounted to a strong international endorsement of the Palestinian position on future borders. It also cleared the way for them to join international agencies to press their grievances against Israel.

Netanyahu has accused the Palestinians of bypassing direct negotiations.
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 14:08 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
The One Single Reason Why We're Going Over the Fiscal Cliff
Politicians are in charge of this issue.
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 11:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336099 views] Top|| File under:

#1  It's a lie. They're pretending it's 'politicians' when IMHO the singular form of the noun is more appropriate.

It's not as if we have a real budgetary process we could use if he wanted to.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/20/2012 12:39 Comments || Top||

#2  We will go over the fiscal cliff if, and only if, it benefits Champ.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/20/2012 13:32 Comments || Top||

#3  It is seldom that liberty of any kind is lost all at once. - David Hume

F.A. Hayek, The Road to Serfdom, pg. 35.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 13:40 Comments || Top||

#4  Update
‘Plan B’ Vote Set for Thursday Evening
The U.S. House of Representatives is scheduled to begin voting at between 7:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. EST Thursday on a backup plan developed by House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio) to avoid looming tax increases and spending cuts next year.
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 14:27 Comments || Top||

#5  Harry Reid said today that he will not allow the Plan B to come up for a vote in the Senate, blaming Republicans' refusal to compromise. Buttwipe.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/20/2012 16:28 Comments || Top||

#6  Is that the same Harry Reid who has been refusing a vote on any sort of a budget for 4 years running now?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/20/2012 16:38 Comments || Top||

#7  Every cloud has a silver lining
Budget Talk Delays Could Stall 100 Million Returns: Taxes
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 17:30 Comments || Top||

#8  I disagree with the notion that GOP cannot force dems to cut spending: all they have to do is not pass an increase to the debt ceiling. The GIvernment will be force to only spend what comes in. The dems won't last one missed GIvernment check cycle. Of course that requires the GOP to stick together and play hardball. So off the cliff we go.
Posted by: Airandee || 12/20/2012 18:41 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Sam Donaldson Popped for DUI
Newsman Sam Donaldson is making headlines of his own.

The former ABC News anchor was arrested on suspicion of DUI earlier this month in Lewes, Del., E! News has confirmed.

Per local authorities, on Dec. 1 police stopped the 78-year-old shortly before 8 p.m. following a traffic violation, and an officer determined that the veteran newsman was intoxicated. Donaldson, a resident of McLean, Va., subsequently failed a field sobriety test and was arrested for driving under the influence before later being released.

No word yet on when he's due back in court.

Although Donaldson has officially retired from ABC News, he still occasionally contributes reports and commentary to the network's news programs.
Posted by: Beavis || 12/20/2012 08:26 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336092 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The former ABC News anchor was arrested on suspicion of DUI earlier this month in Lewes, Del., E! News has confirmed.

Should have stayed on the ferry and fed the gulls until he sobered up.

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 10:49 Comments || Top||

#2  Bush's fault...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/20/2012 12:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Irresponsible in reporting; irresponsible in drinking and driving.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 16:00 Comments || Top||

#4  "Sir, is that a squirrel on your head?"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/20/2012 16:49 Comments || Top||

#5  The local news radio calls him about once a week for his take on things. Still a kool aid drinking loon. Or, going by this, maybe it's something stronger...
I wonder if he's still getting his federal subsidy for his "farm"?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/20/2012 17:24 Comments || Top||

#6  "But I'm not slurring!"

"Yes, sir, that's how we know we know."
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/20/2012 17:24 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
Is Santa tracker fracas Blitzen the deliveries?
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 07:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Britain
Sex gangs report will play down threat of PAK men targeting white girls
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 07:20 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under:

#1  PAK men targeting young white girls? That might be called a hate crime in the U.S. but then it might not since various Muslim groups would get their panties in a knot over such dastardly accusations.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:15 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Thai policeman slain by sniper
A police sergeant was killed by a sniper at a security checkpoint in Yala province on Thursday morning. It is believed to be the first attack of its kind by terrorists insurgents in the deep South.

Pol Sgt Wachira Sangsri was shot in the neck while straddling his motorcycle near a security checkpoint in Krong Pinang district. He died on the way to hospital.

He was probably killed by a sniper with a rifle fitted with a telescopic sight, according to an official from a joint civilian-police-military force. The gunman was likely concealed in one of the nearby buildings and had deliberately targeted a member of the security forces. Pol Maj Gen Peera Boonliang, commander of the Yala provincial police, said it was difficult for the security officials to return fire during such an attack because the shooter was surrounded by the community.

The attack is being blamed on the group headed by Ustaso or Ismaae Rayalong, an terrorist insurgent leader wanted on multiple warrants. He is known to be active in the area and orchestrated the youth uprising against Thai authorities in 2004 at the start of the insurgency.

Terrorists hunt Buddhists in Narathiwat

Seven suspected Islamic terrorists militants burned down Bacho Subdistrict Administrative Organization (SAO) in Bacho district on Thursday after they reportedly failed to find a Buddhist Thai to murder. The attack occurred shortly before noon at the office of Bacho SAO in tambon Bacho, but on one was wounded.

Abdulwaha Dulayapinij, the office's chief administrator, said seven armed men stormed the building when he and 12 others were leaving for lunch. He said, "One of them fired a gun into the air and ordered everyone to stay put in Yawi [a dialect spoken by Muslims in the South] and then asked if there was any Buddhist Thai working here. I told him there was none and the outlaw was upset and said I had lied to him."

Mr Abdulwaha then explained there was a female Buddhist Thai civil servant working at the SAO as a community development officer, but she was on leave today. Not liking the answer, two of the seven gunmen who each were carrying a five-liter gallon of gasoline set fire to the archive room and equipment storage room and then fled the scene.

Staff, local citizens and a disaster relief team tried to extinguish the fire, but the flames spread quickly and destroyed the whole building.

Mr Abdulwaha said it appeared the attackers wanted to kill Suchada sae Li , the only Buddhist official, and had brought gasoline to burn her body. He admitted that the incident made him and all staff fear for their own safety and they may hesitate to return to work once the office was rebuilt.
Posted by: ryuge || 12/20/2012 04:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:


Down Under
Australian DJ apologizes for anti-Lebanese remarks
Sorry headline should read: Australian DJ apologizes for telling the truth.
Controversial Australian DJ Alan Jones apologized Wednesday for comments he made in 2005 in which he called Lebanese men "vermin" and "mongrels" who "simply rape, pillage and plunder a nation that's taken them in," Australian media reported.

Jones, from Sydney radio station 2GB, was ordered to make the apology by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal, after Lebanese community leader Keysar Trad filed a complaint against Jones and 2GB.

"I apologize for making those comments and I recognize they were unlawful and I also apologize on behalf of Radio 2GB,'' he said, according to the national news agency, AAP.

However, after the apology aired Trad told AAP that "no 40-second segment can balance years of criticism of the Muslim community." He also said that Jones comments may have contributed to the Cronulla riots of 2005, in which people of Middle Eastern appearance were attacked.


Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 02:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:

#1  He also said that Jones comments may have contributed to the Cronulla riots of 2005, in which people of Middle Eastern appearance were attacked.

Because the poor Muslims just can't control an insult to their honor, it's not their fault, of course!
Posted by: Hupush Phurong3053 || 12/20/2012 7:17 Comments || Top||

#2  ..was ordered to make the apology by the Administrative Decisions Tribunal

..coming to a neighborhood close to you soon [as quickly as the progressives can make it happen].
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/20/2012 7:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Alan Jones is not a DJ, he is a conservative political commentator, an Antipodean Rush if you like.
And he is accurate in describing (some) Lebanese men as animals. Look up, for example, a charmer named Bilal Skaf if you doubt it.
Posted by: Grunter || 12/20/2012 10:48 Comments || Top||

#4  ISTR the Cronulla Riots featured Muzzies attacking, not being attacked. And that some of them were in public with firearms that are illegal in Australia, yet none were arrested.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 12/20/2012 12:26 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Obama named TIME magazine's Person of the Year
Along with such illustrious predecessors as Adolf Hitler in 1938, and Joseph Stalin in 1939 and again in 1942, and the Ayatollah Khomeini in 1979
President Barack Obama was named TIME's Person of the Year for 2012, citing his historic re-election last month as symbolic of the nation's changing demographics amid the backdrop of high unemployment and other challenges.

TIME editor Rick Stengel announced the choice on NBC's "Today" program on Wednesday.

"He's basically the beneficiary and the author of a kind new America - a new demographic, a new cultural America that he is now the symbol of," he said.

"He won re-election despite a higher unemployment rate than anybody's had to face in basically in 70 years. He's the first Democrat to actually win two consecutive terms with over 50 percent of the vote. That's something we haven't seen since Franklin Delano Roosevelt," Stengel said, citing the president who served during the Great Depression and World War Two.
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 01:50 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  No worries Tipper! Future electronic voting as well as exit polling will be simplified by the use of serialized EBT cards.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 9:37 Comments || Top||

#2  "Person of the year?" A genderless designation. That is so PC.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:02 Comments || Top||

#3  I heard Time's renaming it the Barack Obama Award.
Tell ya the truth, considering the source, I thought this was his fifth in a row...
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/20/2012 11:42 Comments || Top||

#4  About as bad as LIFE magazine and its worship of the Kennedys.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 12/20/2012 13:03 Comments || Top||

#5  "Person of the year"?

Sure that's not "Poison of the year"?
Posted by: Barbara || 12/20/2012 13:44 Comments || Top||

#6  "He's basically the beneficiary and the author of a kind new America - a new demographic, a new cultural America that he is now the symbol of, of a Media which is so far in the tank for him that it has a standing order for kneepads and doesn't even bother to wipe it's mouth off afterwards anymore."

FIFY

And like FDR he's making the economic situation even worse.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/20/2012 16:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Ah, so THATS an assault magazine.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 12/20/2012 16:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Time decided ths year to randomly select the reason the year from their subscriber list. Obama had a 50/50 shot.
Posted by: Airandee || 12/20/2012 20:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Airandee wins the thread! :-D
Posted by: Barbara || 12/20/2012 20:38 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Independent Review Faults Benghazi Mission for Relying on Muslim Brotherhood Guards
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 00:17 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Kindly note the next-to-last para, ref "State Department Rules of Engagement (ROE) for Libya" and Blue Mountain Security.

Klik
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 2:53 Comments || Top||

#2  More from Breitbart on the ROE.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 7:11 Comments || Top||

#3  It would be interesting to have a talk with Blue Mountain officials; especially on how they managed to land a six-figure contract over other, more experienced, established security firms.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/20/2012 11:35 Comments || Top||

#4  Indeed it would Pappy. Even more interesting would be a discussion with the sole Blue Mtn. manager... (hereafter referred to as the smartest chap in Benghazi) who un-assed the AO and headed back to Ole Albion just prior to the incident. Always interesting to observe who is not talking or even being discussed.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 11:40 Comments || Top||

#5  how they managed to land a six-figure contract

One side of that story would be a lie. The other side will not even be told. Flip a coin to guess which side is which...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/20/2012 12:15 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Central Africa Rebels Seize Another Town as France Condemns Violence
[An Nahar] Central African rebels seized a town near the border with Chad on Wednesday, a day after Chadian troops entered the country at Bangui's request to help the army contain the rebel offensive.

The escalating violence drew calls from former colonial power La Belle France for a broad national dialogue.

According to sources on both sides, rebels from the Seleka rebel coalition captured the town of Kabo, near the Central African Republic's northern border with Chad, and were pressing on southwards.

"The attackers have cut all communications with Kabo... which they now control," an official in the regular army told AFP on condition of anonymity.

Seleka commander Djouma Narkoyo also said his men controlled Kabo and were advancing on Batangafo, further south.

The rebels, who threatened to overthrow President Francois Bozize, are still a long away from the capital Bangui, which lies more than 200 miles (320 kilometers) further south, on the southern border with the Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
But they have made extensive gains further east, defeating regular forces to seize a town called Ndele and then covering 150 miles to take control of Bria, a key diamond mining hub in the center of the country.

Bozize, who seized power in a 2003 coup and has been toying with the idea of amending the constitution to seek a third mandate in 2016, invited Chadian troops across the border to help him stop the rebels.

Heavily armed Chadian soldiers arrived Tuesday in Kaga Bandoro, southeast of Batangafo, and linked up with Central African forces.

"We are not afraid of the Chadians and we are determined to fight until the bitter end," he told AFP by phone.

The Seleka coalition accuses Bozize of failing to abide by the terms of several peace deals reached with rebel factions between 2007 and 2011.

Members of ex-rebel group that had been integrated into the army as part of the agreements argue that the government failed to make good on its promise to lift them out of poverty.

French foreign ministry front man Philippe Lalliot said "resorting to violence was unacceptable, especially on the part of groups that are party to" peace agreements with the government.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemeni President Restructures Army, Removes Saleh Cronies
[An Nahar] Yemeni President Abdrabuh Mansour Hadi announced on Wednesday the restructuring of the army and defense ministry, purging them of relatives and cronies of former head of state President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
, state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
said.

Hadi took a series of decisions, including one scrapping the elite Republican Guard which was under the command of Saleh's oldest son Ahmed, the state broadcaster said.

Hadi took over the reins of power in Yemen less than a year ago, after veteran strongman Saleh stepped down as part of a power transition agreement, following a year-long uprising against his rule.

Under the new restructuring, eliminating the powerful Republican Guard, the army now consists of three main branches: ground forces, navy and the air force, the state broadcaster said.

Three new structures were also created and placed under the presidency's direct control: a presidential guard, special operations forces and a unit in charge of ballistic weapons.

The last two had been previously controlled by Saleh's son Ahmed.

Other changes ordered by Hadi include the sacking of deputy central security forces chief General Yahia Mohammed Saleh, a nephew of the former president, who was replaced by General Ahmed Ali al-Maqdasi.

Earlier this month tens of thousands of demonstrators took part in a protest march in Sanaa against Saleh, his family and close aides, accusing them of holding out for a comeback.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336111 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Iraq
Lebanese Pilgrims Return to Beirut after Bus Bombing in Iraq
[An Nahar] Around twenty-eight Lebanese pilgrims whose bus was targeted by a kaboom in Iraq returned to Beirut on Wednesday aboard an Iraqi plane, the National News Agency reported.

NNA said flight number 139 from Najaf landed at Rafik Hariri International Airport at noon carrying 145 passengers on board, including two pilgrims who were maimed in Monday's bombing in Samarra, 125 kilometers north of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
A Lebanese man, Hussein Nahle, was killed in the bombing. NNA said he was buried in Iraq.

TV footage showed hundreds of family members and friends welcoming the pilgrims at the airport. They began pushing through the crowds when they saw their loved ones, prompting security forces to restore calm and order.

The health minister's adviser, Hassan Jaafar, told LBCI's news hound at the airport that three people were maimed in the blast. But only two returned on Wednesday and the third will be flown to Beirut later.

He said the health ministry will cover the expenses of their treatment.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Barber shop conversation about Connecticut shootings ends with shots fired
[StLToday] A barber shop patron who fired three times at another customer discussing the Connecticut school shooting has been charged with three felonies.

Lester Davis, 57, of the 400 block of Highland Meadows Place is facing charges of first-degree assault, armed criminal action and unlawful possession of a weapon.

According to police, Davis was at the All Cuts Barber Shop, 102 West Pearce Boulevard, about 11:30 a.m. Tuesday with five other people.

One of the patrons was discussing last week's shooting at Sandy Hook Elementary School in Newtown, and commented that the incident "makes me want to murder the suspect," police said.

For unknown reasons, Davis took the comment as a threat and asked, "You want to murder me?" Davis then walked out to his Volkswagen sedan, retrieved a loaded Smith & Wesson 9 mm pistol and fired three times in the customer's direction, police said.

Davis said "I'll let you slide," walked out of the barber shop and drove off in his car, police said.

He later turned himself in to police.

According to court records, Davis is a felon, convicted of second-degree homicide and unlawful possession of a weapon in Middlesex County, N.J., in 1975. Records further state he has been involved in numerous verbal altercations with neighbors, resulting in an order of protection being issued against him.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336074 views] Top|| File under:

#1  There ought to be a law to keep violent felons like Davis from having guns. Oh, wait....
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/20/2012 7:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Maybe Davis didn't like his haircut? He asked for a light trim on his Afro and got a buzz cut.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:06 Comments || Top||

#3  That Brady law works really well to keep firearms out of the hands of law abiding felons.
Posted by: OldSpook || 12/20/2012 10:34 Comments || Top||


Science & Technology
COFEE and DECAF: Start your day with some Cyberwarfare
Strategy Page: Cyber War Tools For The Infantry
Posted by: Frozen Al || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336072 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I love the hum and smell of computers in the morning. Just doesn't quite have the verbal impact as "napalm in the morning."
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:04 Comments || Top||

#2  I wonder if the guy who developed the General Electric System Tape Actuated Processing Observer was involved in those projects. Or maybe one of his children.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/20/2012 11:53 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
Mind the Gap Between Rhetoric and Reality
by Roger Cavazos
From June. A detailed review of how the DPRK might attack the ROK, and how it would fail. Long but worth the read, particularly if you have a mil background.
Posted by: Steve White || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336097 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The larger picture is "post-US", World #1 wannabe China's desire for overseas "sole" PLA Milbases, + unilateral + unchallenged Superpower-style strategic access into WESTPAC + SOPAC vee the "First Island Chain".

Once a shooting war starts, China is likely to attempt to resolve several sovereignty + access issues in East-South Asia [Taiwan, ECS Islands, SCS islands, Tibetan/Himalayan plateau = India] at roughly the same time, + wid its 200-milyuhn man Army of the Apocalypse per Bible interpretists.

WILL JAPAN GIVE RISING CHINA BASE RIGHTS,ETC. ON OKINAWA + SENKAKUS, OTHER? - IFF JAPAN'S ANSWER IN 2013 REMAINS "NO", THEN BE PREPARED FOR TROUBLE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/20/2012 20:54 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Sword wielding woman arrested at Orlando mosque
ORLANDO, Fla. - A sword-wielding woman was arrested Wednesday morning after she entered a mosque located on the campus of a private Orlando school. Dominique Vianneyte Eloi, 47, was arrested on charges of possession of a weapon on school grounds, disrupting a school function and aggravated assault with a weapon.

According to the Orange County Sheriff's Office, Eloi drove onto the campus of Leaders Preparatory School on North Goldenrod Road near East Colonial Drive and North Chickasaw Trail and got out of her car carrying a 2-foot-long sword.

An employee asked the woman what she was doing, but she did not respond, authorities said. Authorities say she didn't speak English and had several identifications on her, including one from Arizona.
Definitely sounds like a nutter...
The school was placed on lockdown, and the school worker called authorities. Deputies spotted Eloi walking out of the mosque, and she was arrested.

"I have no idea who she is or why she chose to come here," said Iman Mohammed Musri, of the Islamic Society of Central Florida. "I tried to speak to her, but she didn't respond to anything, she started speaking German."

No one was injured in the incident.

An investigation is ongoing, and deputies said it's unclear why Eloi went to the campus. It's also not known if she has any ties to anyone at the school or mosque. Jail officials said Eloi, who's being held on no bond, has been uncooperative.
Did they ask her in German?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336075 views] Top|| File under:

#1  said it's unclear why Eloi went to the campus.

Looking for Morlocks is my guess.
Posted by: SteveS || 12/20/2012 0:33 Comments || Top||

#2  she started speaking German."
Not your usual response from a black woman.
Posted by: tipper || 12/20/2012 0:52 Comments || Top||

#3  Then she came to the right place, SteveS.
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/20/2012 1:09 Comments || Top||

#4  While she does sound like a crazy person, it might be worth asking whether there's a relation between her craziness and the RoP. Was she a muslim convert who was 'punished' for insufficient submission to Allan or to the males of the cult, for instance?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/20/2012 7:47 Comments || Top||

#5  Funny, I haven't heard any of the politicos calling for sword control.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:44 Comments || Top||

#6  2-foot-long sword

Gladius?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 12/20/2012 12:18 Comments || Top||

#7  Was she wearing white shirt with baggy sleeves and a fez? Did she fall out of a formation of red go-carts ?

Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 12:23 Comments || Top||

#8  possibly the last barbarian trying to sack Rome. just running a little late ... that's all :-)
Posted by: Raider || 12/20/2012 16:40 Comments || Top||

#9  Mebbe it's a timeline change like in the new Star Trek, SteveS.
Posted by: Dopey Sinatra9196 || 12/20/2012 19:51 Comments || Top||


Africa North
U.N. Envoy Calls for Both Talks and Military Prep in Mali
[An Nahar] Crisis talks with the Islamist snuffies occupying northern Mali need to go hand in hand with credible preparations for an African-led military intervention, the United Nations
...an organization which on balance has done more bad than good, with the good not done well and the bad done thoroughly...
' special envoy for West Africa said Wednesday.

"No pacifist solution will be possible without credible military preparation," U.N. envoy for the Sahel region
... North Africa's answer to the Pak tribal areas...
Romano Prodi said after talks with Niger's President Mahamadou Issoufou.

"Once the military action is credible, it will be necessary to move ahead with parallel negotiations."

West African regional bloc ECOWAS has 3,300 troops on standby for a military mission to reclaim Mali's vast desert north, but the U.N. has expressed reservations and warned a deployment could take almost another year.

On Monday, African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
leaders called for the urgent deployment of the force to retake the La Belle France-sized territory, where residents are being subjected to strict Islamic law.

But Prodi stressed that it was vital to approach the matter seriously and lay down heavy-duty groundwork before moving forward.

We need "to prepare well for the action, as it'll be necessary to synchronize and coordinate with troops from different countries", he said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under: Ansar Dine


India-Pakistan
Two shot dead at Landi Kotal checkpost
[Dawn] Two persons were killed when a levies trooper opened fire on a car at a check point here on Tuesday.

Official sources said that a man posted at Charwazgai check point signalled a car to stop but the driver tried to speed away. The trooper opened fire killing Samiullah, a local businessman sitting in the car, and a pedestrian, Mohammad Sher, on the spot.

Authorities have taken the levies man, Ihsanullah, into custody and started investigation.In Bara, bullet riddled bodies of two local residents were recovered from a deserted place. The two were later identified as Mula Jan and Jamroz Khan belonging to Malikdin Khel tribe.

Local sources said that both the men went missing a month ago and their disfigured bodies revealed that they were killed some time back. No one has so far grabbed credit.

Meanwhile,
...back at the scene of the crime, Lieutenant Queeg had an idea: there was a simple way to tell whether Manetti had been the triggerman -- just look at his shoes!...
the corpse count in Monday’s Jamrud blast rose to 21 after two critically injured men shuffled off the mortal coil at a Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
hospital on Monday night.

Among the total number of dead, 11 belonged to Kukikhel
...a tribe of primitives inhabiting Khyber Agency. They are a branch of the Afridi tribe. Traditionally they have been migratory, tromping between Jamrud and the Rajgal valley with the seasons. The tribe has had mustache-cursing relationships with several other tribes, including the Zakkakhel and Kambarkhel, and with the Mullagori. They make welcome most anyone with a turban and automatic weapons, but every once in awhile they get together a tribal lashkar to mollify the government...
and Zakhakhel tribes and were laid to rest at their ancestral graveyards on Monday while bodies of three Afghan children and two women were sent to Kabul.

Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
senior minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour paid a visit to the site of blast on Tuesday morning and offered fateha. He also announced compensation of Rs25,000 each for the blast victims.

Earlier, the political administration announced Rs100,000 compensation each for the dead and Rs50,000 for the injured.

Authorities said that the affected families would also get compensation from the federal government.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336073 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Jenny Agutter [English][Filmography](age 60)



The TSA has discovered contraband in your luggage.


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/20/2012 1:06 Comments || Top||

#2  World Ends Tomorrow!

What time?
Posted by: tu3031 || 12/20/2012 1:42 Comments || Top||

#3  Tu3031, what time in what time zone?
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/20/2012 5:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Hopefully they can wait until I finish lunch.
Posted by: Bangkok Billy || 12/20/2012 6:59 Comments || Top||

#5  World Ends Tomorrow!

Well I guess that's one way to avoid the Fiscal Cliff.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/20/2012 8:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Jenny was the hawt nurse/girlfriend in American Werewolf in London
Posted by: Frank G || 12/20/2012 8:29 Comments || Top||

#7  If the world ends, the NYT headline will be "World ends. Women, children and minorities hardest hit"
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 12/20/2012 8:52 Comments || Top||

#8  World to end, women, children and minorities to be hit hardest.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 12/20/2012 9:34 Comments || Top||

#9  Well I guess that's one way to avoid the Fiscal Cliff. Or testifying about Benghazi. I guess TGIF is out tomorrow.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:11 Comments || Top||

#10  It ends tomorrow! Crap. I thought it was Saturday. Now I'll never get everything done in time.
Posted by: Total War || 12/20/2012 13:09 Comments || Top||

#11  "World Ends Tomorrow!"

Dang - I already made the meatballs for our office Christmas lunch tomorrow.

Do you think it could wait until after 1 pm or so to end? Hate to see good meatballs go to waste.
Posted by: Barbara || 12/20/2012 13:53 Comments || Top||

#12  ..clocks, time zones all post date the Mayan calendar [as well as leap year to make up for that darn imperfection in the length of the planet's revolution around the sun].
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/20/2012 15:23 Comments || Top||

#13  The world ends every nano-second, I understood that once, but I lost the acid answer back in the Great March 13 Storm.
Posted by: Shipman || 12/20/2012 15:54 Comments || Top||

#14  World Ends Tomorrow!
Film at eleven!
Posted by: AlmostAnonymous5839 || 12/20/2012 16:39 Comments || Top||

#15  World Ends Tomorrow!
"Wymyns and childruns hardes hit"
Posted by: Frank G || 12/20/2012 16:48 Comments || Top||

#16  Oh yeah, "His hair was perfect ..."

As for Mayan Doomsday, the US-World isn't safe until Sunday, 12/23/12 Guam time.

Until then - WE'RE DOOMED, I TELL YA, DOOMED!

lol.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/20/2012 20:34 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Ailing Iraq President to be Treated in Germany
[An Nahar] Iraq's ailing President Jalal Talabani is to be airlifted to Germany for specialist treatment after suffering a reported stroke, his office said on Wednesday.

Talabani was hospitalized late on Monday with what state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported was a stroke, but doctors said on Wednesday his condition was improving.

"The president's condition is improving, and he will be transferred to a hospital in Germany tomorrow," Thursday, Najm al-Din Karim, one of Talabani's doctors, told AFP.

And Barzan Sheikh Othman, the top media official in Talabani's office, said teams of doctors from Iraq, Germany and Britannia decided that the president should be transferred to Germany for further treatment.

No immediate comment was available from the German foreign ministry in Berlin.

Talabani was hospitalized on Monday night after what Iraqiya state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
reported was a stroke, but doctors and officials have not commented specifically about his health problem.

Earlier on Wednesday, Dr Hani Mussa Badr, the director general of Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
's Medical City hospital where Talabani was being treated, said that "tests showed the stability and improvement of his excellency's health condition."
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Strict rules laid down for buses
[Times of India.India Times] Announcing strict guidelines for buses and commercial vehicles running on Delhi roads, Union home minister Sushilkumar Shinde on Wednesday told Parliament that vehicles with tinted window panes and curtains will be impounded with immediate effect.

In a drive aimed at ensuring safety of women commuters -- launched after a review taken by Shinde with senior Delhi Police officers and state transport commissioner -- the authorities have made it mandatory for buses and vehicles to keep their lights switched on while plying in the city at night.

Making a fresh statement on the south Delhi gang rape in both Houses, Shinde said a special team under DCP has been set up to monitor the investigation. Besides, a police team with one lady officer will visit Safdarjung Hospital at regular intervals to take stock of the victim's condition.

Following the review taken by Shinde as per a commitment made by him to Parliament on Tuesday, it has been decided that all off-duty buses must be parked with owners.

The Delhi Police shall undertake verification of all drivers and staff of all public transport vehicles. All buses and auto-rickshaws driven by unverified staff will be impounded.

All public vehicles shall compulsorily display driver's licence with all relevant details and photograph, apart from a helpline number for lodging complaints.

Besides, all buses and commercial vehicles found violating the contract carriage conditions or any other permit norms, shall be impounded and their permits cancelled.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Mahmoud Abbas offers to take Palestinian refugees fleeing Syria war
[Dawn] The Paleostinian president said he was ready to take in Paleostinian refugees fleeing Syria's civil war.

the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
said he had asked UN chief the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
to help in bringing the refugees to the Paleostinian territories.

This could include the West Bank, where Abbas governs, or the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled Gazoo Strip.

The request was reported Wednesday by the official Wafa news agency. It follows an attack by Syrian warplanes against a Paleostinian refugee camp in Damascus
...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
The statement said there are 450,000 Paleostinian refugees living in 10 camps in Syria.

Abbas said the biggest camp, Yarmouk, "has been through a difficult situation due to the escalating conflict in Syria".

Any movement of refugees into the West Bank would need the consent of Israel. Israel's Foreign Ministry had no comment.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Palestinian Authority

#1  As Syria does not have any borders with the West Bank, those people could only make it to the West Bank if Jordan or Israel agrees.

Only once they arrive would it need the consent of Israel although I doubt Israel could do much if they arrived.




Posted by: BernardZ || 12/20/2012 6:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Such new arrivals in numbers ought to impact the culture of the Palestinians. These are people accustomed to fairly apolitical accommodation to the powers-that-be, and of course they'd have no tribal or other connections to those currently running things.
Posted by: trailing wife || 12/20/2012 9:11 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Five Indian sailors kidnapped off coast of Nigeria
[Dawn] A shipping company said five Indian sailors were kidnapped off the coast of Nigeria’s oil-rich southern delta.

A statement Wednesday from Medallion Marine said the men had been taken when their tanker was attacked Monday.

The company said officials were working with Nigerian authorities to free the men.

Nigeria’s oil-rich delta is a kidnapping hotspot, as Death Eater and criminal gangs target foreign oil workers, as well as middle- and upper-class Nigerians.

On Monday, kidnappers kidnapped four South Koreans and a Nigerian working for Hyundai Heavy Industries Co.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336083 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Nigerian crime is getting particularly serious. They are violent, ruthless, and capable of using high-power weapons. Nigeria is probably now the #1 source of high-power criminals in Africa, and police forces down there are afraid of these guys.
Posted by: Raider || 12/20/2012 19:39 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Army to seek death penalty on Afghan massacre case.
Still no word on MAJ Nidal Hasan's beard.
That the Army is being some chicken-shit about that is no reason to do the wrong thing in other matters of military justice...
The U.S. Army said Wednesday it will seek the death penalty against the soldier accused of massacring 16 Afghan villagers during pre-dawn raids in March. The announcement followed a pretrial hearing last month for Staff Sgt. Robert Bales, 39, who faces premeditated murder and other charges in the attack on two villages in southern Afghanistan.

Prosecutors said Bales left his remote base in southern Afghanistan early on March 11, attacked one village, returned to the base, and then slipped away again to attack another nearby compound. Of the 16 people killed, nine were children.

No date has been set for Bales' court martial, which will be held at Joint Base Lewis-McChord south of Seattle.

His civilian lawyer, John Henry Browne, did not immediately return an email seeking comment Wednesday. But on Tuesday, he told The Associated Press that he met with Army officials last week to argue that Bales should not face the possibility of the death penalty, given that Bales was serving his fourth deployment in a war zone.

Bales' defense team has said the government's case is incomplete and outside experts have said a key issue going forward will be to determine whether Bales, who served tours of duty in Iraq and Afghanistan, suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.

An Army criminal investigations command special agent testified at the pretrial hearing that Bales tested positive for steroids three days after the killings, and other soldiers testified that Bales had been drinking the evening of the massacre.

Prosecutors, in asking for a court-martial trial, have pointed to statements Bales made after he was apprehended, saying that they demonstrated "a clear memory of what he had done, and consciousness of wrong-doing."

Several soldiers testified at the hearing that Bales returned to the base alone just before dawn, covered in blood, and that he made incriminating statements such as, "I thought I was doing the right thing."
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336072 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The MAJ Hasan comment is my own.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 3:03 Comments || Top||

#2  The few people I am close to who have had diagnosed (but mild) PTSD did not exhibit anything remotely like a tendency to go on a long mission to kill a bunch of kids. Depresssed, unable to sleep/nightmares, jumpy, withdrawn, irritable (!), but not violent. I could see suicidal or maybe an outburst/response of violence, but someone with more experience than I have will need to explain how PTSD evolves into a case like this. Most certainly some kind of mental illness, but what?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/20/2012 8:03 Comments || Top||

#3  His entire chain of command should be held accountable as well then too. Until that happens I stand with besoeker. What about that beard?
Posted by: Lowspark || 12/20/2012 11:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Hasan is claiming some sort of religious privilege with regard to his beard. The issue has now gone on for months. He has been ordered to shave it off, but has not. No one has taken any action on it. If my memory serves me correctly, any uniformed person, whether confined to the Disciplinary Barracks (DB) at Fort Leavenworth or not, was required to follow lawful orders. Refusal to follow orders is in itself, justification for action under the UCMJ and forfeiture of pay. The entire Fort Hood shooting affair is maddening, no sickening.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 11:35 Comments || Top||

#5  re: The Beard
The new judge overseeing Hasan’s case told him during a hearing Tuesday that the beard, now thicker than when he first appeared in court with it in June, violates Army regulations. The judge, Col. Tara Osborn, said she won’t hold it against him but that military jurors might.

Osborn was appointed to the case two weeks ago, after the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Armed Forces removed the former judge and tossed his order regarding Hasan’s beard. The ruling said Col. Gregory Gross did not appear impartial while presiding over Hasan’s case and that the command — not a judge — is responsible for enforcing military grooming standards.
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 12/20/2012 11:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I'm thinking laser hair removal. I'm thinking one of those shipboard lasers being tested now...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/20/2012 12:10 Comments || Top||

#7  ....case and that the command -- not a judge -- is responsible for enforcing military grooming standards

And that sir, is a crock of BULLSHIT ! The military judge shall designate the proper uniform, grooming standards, and civilian attire to be worn by all persons required to be present at trial. As far as I know, this applies to all services.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 12:14 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Vietnam Veterans for Kerry
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336070 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Can we vote for the guy in the pic on the right? Who is his sole supporter? Jane Fonda? Is she claiming to be a vet of the North Vietnam military now? Kerry is such a blowhard phony. Certainly we can do better than that.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:39 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Tunisian salafists rally for embassy attack suspects
[Magharebia] Bizerte salafists protested Tuesday (December 18th) against the continued detention of their peers over the attack on the US embassy in Tunis.

"We gather today to demand the release of our brothers tossed in the calaboose
Please don't kill me!
without trial after the events of the American embassy," the front man for the Menzel Bourguiba demonstration, Nabil Nasri, told Mosaique FM.

The group also demanded a clarification of the legal process against Abou Iyadh (real name Saif Allah ben Hassine).

The leader of the radical Tunisian salafist Ansar al-Sharia
...a Yemeni Islamist militia which claims it is not part of al-Qaeda, even though it works about the same and for the same ends...
movement, Abou Iyadh was sought in connection with the September 14th embassy attack but never charged.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Pakistan Polio campaign suspended
[BBC.CO.UK] The UN children's agency UNICEF has suspended the polio campaign in Pakistan over fears for its health workers. Eight polio workers have been killed in two days. Taliban insurgents believe polio vaccination is a cover for spying.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  I'm guessing most Taliban don't have immunity to the virus..would be a shame if one of them got sick.
Posted by: Hupush Phurong3053 || 12/20/2012 7:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Quarantine should start coming back. If you've been to or are from certain hell holes I don't want you here for any reason.......start with the UN.
Posted by: AlanC || 12/20/2012 8:22 Comments || Top||

#3  #1 I'm guessing most Taliban don't have immunity to the virus..would be a shame if one all of them got sick.

the will of Allan
Posted by: Frank G || 12/20/2012 8:33 Comments || Top||

#4  Someone said it best, "Can't cure stupid"
Posted by: Large Darling of the Antelope3345 || 12/20/2012 13:41 Comments || Top||

#5  Beat me to it, Frank.
Posted by: Barbara || 12/20/2012 13:54 Comments || Top||

#6  Next, it would useful if we could suspend Pakistain.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 15:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Champ considering AMEX CEO for Treasury Secretary
Chicago style political payoff. Don't Leave Home without it.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336094 views] Top|| File under:

#1  OOH, they're really showing those 1% guys.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 12/20/2012 8:29 Comments || Top||

#2  It's the 95% folks (Holder's "our people") whom the Champ and FLOTUS are most concerned about. The one percent crowd are little more than a meaningless, Stalin era slogan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 9:29 Comments || Top||

#3  Time to turn in my AMEX card.

Pelosi got cut in on one of the most coveted IPO in history when she secured the chance to buy into the Visa credit card IPO. She bought 5,000 shares of Visa at $44 a share just as legislation threatening credit card companies was moving its way through the House. Two days later Pelosi’s Visa stock was worth $64. The then-Speaker made sure the bill never made it to the House floor.

Illegal except in Congress. It's worse than insider trading because key Congresscritters legislate to their advantage and then make a killing on their legislation. Outside of Congress she should be serving hard time for her criminal activity. Thought Duke Cunningham served time for such activity. No wonder Pelosi and others are so despised by voters.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:52 Comments || Top||

#4  FOR THE RECORD !
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 10:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Obama inherited a mess from the past four years. Oh, wait a minute, he was Prez during the last 4 years.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:51 Comments || Top||

#6  Besoeker:

I conducted my own little experiment this election year. Wrote in a name for one of positions on the ballot. Checked with the SoS and verified they had me listed as having voted. Then, checked the certified results. My write in name was not there.

So, I know my ballot was received. I also know it wasn't counted.
Posted by: Iblis || 12/20/2012 11:10 Comments || Top||

#7  I'm gobsmacked lblis. Just returned from the barbershop. No worries though, it's all over tomorrow, Mayanageddon and all of that. Undertaker haircuts are never quite satisfactory.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 11:49 Comments || Top||

#8  If you're gonna borrow a gazillion dollars, might as well have an expert at the helm.
Posted by: Perfesser || 12/20/2012 13:04 Comments || Top||

#9  B:

Glad to hear you'll be leaving a beautiful corpse. Mine will be saturated in alcohol...
Posted by: Iblis || 12/20/2012 14:22 Comments || Top||

#10  If the world should end tomorrow, you could go to a blind barber and it wouldn't make much difference. If the world, doesn't end, you might end up with the world's worst haircut.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 16:05 Comments || Top||

#11  Good point John. I must confess however, my barber and his partner are rabid, anti-Obamanist. My real motivation for stopping in was to join them in one last vile rant. Unfortunately the shop was full and they were not in the mood for our usual discourse, so all I came away with was a $13. trim. They did indicate yesterday was quite slow. Just my luck, day late - dollar short. :-(
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 16:19 Comments || Top||


Economy
Treasury announces GM exit strategy
[Detroit News] The Obama administration said Wednesday it will sell 200 million shares -- or 40 percent of its remaining stake in General Motors Co. -- back to the automaker and announced plans to completely exit the Detroit automaker by March 2014.

The Detroit automaker said it will purchase 200 million shares of GM stock held by Treasury for $5.5 billion -- or $27.50 per share -- nearly $2 above the stock's closing price on Tuesday. GM shares jumped sharply on the news and were up 7.5 percent to $27.36, or $1.90, early afternoon in very heavy trading.

The U.S. Treasury, after more than a year of refusing to say when it might start selling its remaining stake in GM, said it will announce a written plan in January to shed its remaining 300 million shares over the next 12 to 15 months, likely in a series of small stock sales.

The Treasury's move is intended to minimize the impact of the stock sale on the share price -- and the government's state will shrink from 26.5 percent to less than 19 percent -- but the exit could be completed far more quickly.

The exit plan may prove to be a boost to GM's lagging stock price and to some car buyers, who have avoided GM because of the "Government Motors" label.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336108 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The not so hidden costs of the Ohio and Michigan Obama re-election campaign:

TARP was approved by Congress as a $700 billion program, though Treasury eventually disbursed $418 billion. On Wednesday it said it had recovered $381 billion to date, or about 90 percent.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 3:52 Comments || Top||

#2  "The exit plan may prove to be a boost to GM's lagging stock price and to some car buyers, "

Or not. Maybe the gummint is bailing out because the company is a money black hole. They already got their cut, anyway.
Posted by: twobyfour || 12/20/2012 5:15 Comments || Top||

#3  Election is over chumps. Time to move on. Other soul sellers need to be serviced.
Posted by: P2Kontheroad || 12/20/2012 7:54 Comments || Top||

#4  taxpayers will almost certainly lose billions of dollars in the $49.5 billion GM bailout - and the government would need to sell its remaining shares for about $70 each to break even.

Another hosing of the taxpayers. The bondholders got nailed the first go around. The unions made out O.K. as Obama paid them back for their votes. An additional hosing of the taxpayers who didn't like or vote for Obama.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:33 Comments || Top||

#5  $5.5 billion was it? ......How much are those Sandy victims asking for again ?
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 9:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Fred, don't be dogging on Ford. They have worked outside of the Obama bailout machine. I am disappointed that your graphic includes Ford in it.
Posted by: rammer || 12/20/2012 23:49 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Sahel insecurity poses global threat, study finds
[Magharebia] Terrorists in northern Mali could expand operations to Libya, Mauritania and Niger, according to a recently published study.

European researchers with the Monitoring Centre for Organised Crime (OPCO) released a report in November stating Sahel states could lose control of their territory and possibly face regime collapse from the growing jihadist threat.

The centre also warned the Sahel could face more chaos in the years to come, according to a December 11th El Khabar report on the study. The researchers also indicated a growing number of Europeans were joining al-Qaeda terror training camps in the region known as Azawad.

These camps have become more of a threat to European security than al-Qaeda camps in Afghanistan, according to the centre. The study also claimed that between 8,000 and 14,000 people were members of al-Qaeda and affiliated groups in the Sahel and North Africa.

The number is expected to double in a year or two if no action is taken in northern Mali, OPCO warned.

Mauritanian journalist Mohamed Ould Sid al-Mokhtar said the study offered a thorough analysis but was too pessimistic.

"The fact is, this opinion is not widely shared by the countries of the region and the Sahel," Ould Sid al-Mokhtar said. "Most observers expect instead the collapse of terrorist groups. The evidence includes splits within forces of Evil themselves."

He also pointed to developments in sanctioning and blacklisting terror groups in the region, saying the terror groups' financial resources are drying up as well as "the reluctance of Maghreb youth to join these groups".

"In addition, there is the intention of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) to wage a war to liberate the territory of Azawad controlled at this point by the Islamists. Islamist groups indeed represent a real risk, but not to the degree shown in the study," he added.

Al-Qaeda leaders refer to Mali, Chad, Mauritania, Libya and Niger as "The Great Islamic Desert". The Arab Spring provided an opportunity for the growth of influence of Islamist bully boyz in the Sahel.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Top Syrian Islamic Official Urges Talks
[An Nahar] Syria's top Islamic authority appealed to the opposition to seek "regime change through dialogue, not by force," the SANA state news agency said on Wednesday.

"Members of the foreign-based opposition will ultimately be forced to sit at the negotiating table," Grand Mufti Sheikh Ahmed Hassun Badreddin was quoted as saying.

The Sunni Mohammedan holy man called on the opposition to "take the initiative," and urged armed gunnies "to throw down their weapons. Regime change does not come by force, but through dialogue," SANA quoted him as saying.

Hassun is close to the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
, who belongs to the Alawite community, an offshoot of Shiite Islam.

His comments were published two days after a pro-Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
Lebanese newspaper ran an interview with Vice President Faruq al-Sharaa saying that he favors a negotiated solution to Syria's 21-month conflict.

"No opposition can end the battle militarily, just as the security forces and army cannot achieve a decisive conclusion," said Sharaa, calling for a "historic settlement" between the warring parties and backed by key regional countries and U.N. Security Council member states.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


India-Pakistan
SC summons PM's son-in-law over nomination for WB post
[Dawn] The Supreme Court of Pakistain has summoned all records of the nomination of Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf’s son-in-law, Raja Azeem-ul-Haque, as an executive director of the World Bank.

Moreover, the apex court also issued notices to Raja Azeem-ul-Haque, Secretary Establishment and Secretary Finance, summoning them to appear before the court.

The SC had taken suo motu
...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard...
notice of the issue and a three-member bench, headed by Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali, was hearing the case here on Wednesday.

Issuing notices to the three parties, the court subsequently adjourned the case for hearing until the second week of January.

Prime Minister Ashraf had appointed his son-in-law to the post by using his discretionary powers, even though some government officials had been critical of the nomination because of Haque’s ‘quick promotions’ within a few years from grade 18 to 21.

According to a report published in Dawn, the finance ministry had also opposed the nomination even though the summary for his appointment was moved by the Economic Affairs Division. Ultimately, the finance ministry had to give in to the wishes of the Prime Minister Secretariat, said the report.

Haque, an officer of the Income Tax Group, was working in grade 18 when the PPP government came into power more than four years ago. He left this job and was hired by the Employees Old-age Benefit Institution in grade 20 about two years ago.

Soon after Raja Pervez Ashraf assumed the PM’s office, he was elevated to grade 21 and has been serving in the Prime Minister Secretariat to date.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336085 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Bangladesh
BSF to use chilli bombs at border
[Bangla Daily Star] To tackle illegal activities along the border with Bangladesh, Indian Border Security Force (BSF) will now use a new type of bomb containing world's hottest chilli powder, instead of explosives, reported BBC yesterday.
"Atsa some spicy mitta-bol!"
The initiative has been taken to minimise the incident of border killing, and check illegal entry of smugglers and unauthorised persons, BSF officials claimed.

The BSF authorities call it “Chilli Bomb.”

There will be a thumb-size pocket containing “Bhut Jolokia” or “ghost chilli” powder inside each bomb with a tear-shell like shape. It will explode like a hand grenade and immobilise the suspect.

“Bhut Jolokia” is cultivated in Assam and Nagaland in India's north-east.

BSF officials have already started using the bomb on a trial basis.

It was first made by India's Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO). Later, the BSF started manufacturing the bomb in their factories using DRDO's formula.

BSF officials claimed that they had long been working to reduce the use of deadly weapons in tackling border deaths. But in their efforts to minimise the casualty, they found that infiltrators were dying even from shots of a light weapon.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336092 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I grow Bhut Jolojias. Anyone want some?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/20/2012 7:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Triniday Scorpion is the new record holder. Along with jolokias it makes a nice mix...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 12/20/2012 12:21 Comments || Top||

#3  Just made a batch of pineapple-ghost chili salsa last night. Keeps ya warm twice!
Posted by: Rex Mundi || 12/20/2012 13:55 Comments || Top||

#4  [BLAZING SADDLES' CAMPFIRE-N-COWBOY-FLATULENCE SCENE here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 12/20/2012 20:38 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
Somalia ready to try pirates on its soil, says chief of justice
[Shabelle] the chief of Somali Supreme Court Aydiid Abdullahi Ilka Hanaf has declared that Somali pirates seized by international would be tried inside the country.

In an exclusive interview with Shabelle media, Ilka hanaf said that the justice system in Somalia can handle now the trails of Somali pirates and that it is not needed to take pirates to foreign countries to face justice there.

It was a common case that Somali pirates seized or tossed in the clink
Please don't kill me!
by the international naval forces patrolling the Somali waters to be tried in foreign countries sometimes countries as far as in Europe, Asia and America.

Pirates armed with heavy weaponry have been rampant in Somali waters threatening one of the world´s commercial shipping lines by hijacking any sort of ship their eyes could set on.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Pirates


Arabia
Benomar threatens challengers of Yemen's settlement
[Yemen Post] UN Envoy to Yemen Jamal Benomar has threatened with imposing sanctions against challengers of Yemen's settlements.

In November, Benomar held meetings with the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh
... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it...
and high-ranking officials of the General People Congress in attempts to persuade Saleh to resign from the General People Congress (GPC.)

Saleh is repeatedly charged by Yemeni political parties and politicians with impeding the political settlement.

During his meeting with President Abdurabu Mansour Hadi
...the second and possibly the last president of Yemen, successor to former President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh...
on Tuesday hours after his arrival to Sana'a, Benoma discussed with Hadi Yemen's updates and preparations for the National Dialogue Conference.

Benomar affirmed that the UN Security Council closely follows up Yemen's developments and how to implement the GCC-crafted power transfer deal and the UN resolutions on Yemen.

Media sources said Benomar attended a meeting held in Riyadh by southern leaders to discuss their attitudes towards the National dialogue conference and the southern case.

International and regional efforts are exerted to persuade all Yemeni groups and functions to take part in the dialogue, but some groups of the southern movement still refuse the participation.

International states affirm that the dialogue is the only way to solve the grievances of southerners, urging the southern leaders to take part in dialogue without preconditions.

The former vice president of Yemen Ali Salem Al-Beidh calls for secession, but other southern leaders warn that the separation of South Yemen will inflame sectarian wars in the north and regional wars in the south.

Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336080 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian minister Mohammad Shaar 'in Beirut hospital'
[BBC.CO.UK] Syria's interior minister has been admitted to hospital in the Lebanese capital Beirut after being maimed in a bombing in Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
, reports say.

Mohammad Shaar was apparently caught up in an attack on the interior ministry last week in which several people died.

The exact nature of his injuries isn't clear but they are not believed to be critical.

At the time of the triple kaboom, official Syrian media said he had not been injured.

The BBC's Jim Muir in Beirut says it is unclear why Mr Shaar should have been brought to Leb for treatment.

There are still functioning hospitals in Damascus, he says, although they are heavily overloaded with about 100 casualties arriving daily at the main facility.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa Horn
Somali judge murdered in Biadoa.
[Shabelle] A government court judge has been assassinated in Biadoa after gunnies shot him dead, according to reports from there.

The judge, who was murdered, is named Zakariye and his death has also been confirmed to Shabelle by the head of Somali police in Baidoa.

After the murder, security forces were seen cordoning off the area and the commander of the local police force said that they conducted searches in the area where the judge was rubbed out.

It is not the first time that government officials targeted and assassinated in Baidoa which was once one of the biggest bastions of Alshabab before it was booted out of there by Somali forces backed by with their Æthiopian allies.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  Let me guess, he was preparing for a pirate trial?
Posted by: crosspatch || 12/20/2012 2:44 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Yemen Says Artillery Rockets Behind Explosion at Gas Pipeline
[Yemen Post] Yemen said on Monday the kaboom which hit the natural gas pipeline in southeastern Shabwa province was caused by an act of sabotage, not due to a previously reported pressure inside the pipeline.

The state news agency Saba quoted an investigate team as saying the pipeline was bombed by two artillery rockets and then natural gas leaked over 80 meters.

"The two rockets were placed at the pipeline leading to pressure inside it and then to the gas leak," the Sherlocks were quoted as adding.

Yemen LNG confirmed on Sunday the sabotage of the 320-km pipeline, which links Block 18 in Marib to the Balhaf Liquefaction Plant in Shabwa. But its statement did not include details.

The pipeline has been repeatedly attacked this coinciding with repeated attacks on the country's oil pipelines since last year.

Two of the country's oil pipelines including the Marib-Ras Isa pipeline are still down after successive bombings early last month.

The authorities have been negotiating the tribes and signed an agreement with the elders to allow the teams in to fix the damages and to prevent more attacks on them.

Earlier, the teams fixed the Marib pipeline at some kaboom sites but tribal saboteurs and suspected Al-Qaeda beturbanned goons continued to blow up it forcing the army to launch an offensive against them.

The finance ministry has recently said the repeated attacks on the oil pipelines have been blamed for $500 million in lost revenues during the past nine months so far.

Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


Africa North
Egypt: Top Elections Official Resigns
[ABC News.Go] One of the brass hats in charge of overseeing Egypt's vote on a contentious Islamist-backed draft constitution resigned Wednesday, citing health problems, a judicial official said, in what critics saw as another blow to the legitimacy of the process.

The resignation comes amid allegations of vote irregularities and follows boycotts of the referendum judges and others leaving the voting process with a severe shortage of monitors to oversee it.

Secretary General of the Election Committee Zaghloul el-Balshi attributed his resignation to "a sudden health crisis," according to a copy of a letter he sent to the committee that was published by several Egyptian dailies including the privately owned el-Watan.

The official confirmed the authenticity of the letter. Relatives told local Egyptian media that el-Balshi has undergone eye surgery.

"The effort I put in over the past period has caused a sudden health crisis," the letter of resignation read. "As you know, it is impossible to carry out my mission with this health condition," it added.

The judicial official spoke on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to talk to the press.

However,
by candlelight every wench is handsome...
critics believe the resignation was prompted by widespread irregularities.

"The violations were blatant, and he couldn't bear more, so he resigned. Don't believe what is said about his health condition," said Hossam Eissa, professor of law in Ain Shams University and a leading opposition member. "Half of the people will not recognize this constitution."

In an interview with daily al-Masry al-Youm, a senior member of the committee, Mahmoud Abu-Shousha, warned the opposition "not to exploit the sickness of the man and describe his resignation as caused by what they consider violations in the first round."

Rights groups and opposition say they filed complaints of violations including replacing judges with employees. Egypt's Justice Ministry ordered investigation into allegations.

Many of the country's judges boycotted overseeing the referendum, though the law requires that each polling station must be supervised by a judge. The boycott is a protest against Islamist President Mohammed Morsi's actions which judges.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Top election official resigns because job is no longer needed. Elections are no longer needed.
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/20/2012 7:57 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syrian Man Shoots Dead Russian Pro-Assad Wife
Why shoot her if she was dead?
[An Nahar] A Syrian merchant in his 40s rubbed out his Russian wife in the embattled northern city of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
because she supported Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators...
's regime, the killer's cousin told AFP on Wednesday.

Clothes shop owner Mohammed on Tuesday evening used a pistol to shoot his wife dead after an argument in their home in the rebel-held district of Maysar in southwestern Aleppo, said Ahmed, a 30-year-old government employee.

"The argument broke out when he criticized Assad, while she defended him," said Ahmed. "The fight escalated and he shot her."

Mohammed then went outside and told onlookers that his wife, whom he had met in Russia during a business trip and married four years ago, "would not stop her provocation by expressing support for Bashar, and that he could not take her attitude any longer," said Ahmed.

There is no police presence in Maysar. The rebels did not arrest the man.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336063 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Divorce, Syrian style.
Posted by: Spot || 12/20/2012 9:45 Comments || Top||


U.N.: 100,000 Palestinians May Have Fled Damascus Camp
[An Nahar] As many as 100,000 Paleostinians may have fled a Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
refugee camp after deadly festivities there, the U.N. agency for Paleostinian refugees said Wednesday.

"People are still leaving in droves," UNRWA deputy chief of staff Lisa Gilliam told AFP, adding that the organization estimated that around two thirds of the some 150,000 residents of Yarmuk camp appeared to have left.

She stressed that the 100,000 figure was only an estimate, adding that the violence in the camp in the south of the Syrian capital was "a humanitarian crisis that is still playing itself out".

On Sunday, warplanes waged their first air strike on Yarmuk since the start of Syria's conflict in March 2011, killing at least eight civilians.

Both rebels and pro-government fighters have since entered and fierce fighting has rocked the tiny camp.

The fleeing Paleostinians were going to other parts of Damascus or further afield in Syria, taking shelter in schools and UNRWA offices, and were also increasingly fleeing across the border to Leb, Gilliam said.

"UNRWA and its partners are working around the clock to make sure they are housed and fed, but for the most part, we don't know where they are," she told news hounds in Geneva.

Until this week, around 10,000 Paleostinians had fled from Syria to Leb, but since the latest violence another 3,000 had crossed the border or were in the process of crossing, she said, adding that another 2,000 were likely to join them in coming days.

She called on all sides to respect the neutrality of the Paleostinians in the Syrian civil war and called on neighboring countries to allow fleeing Paleostinians to enter.

The Paleostinians, she said, "are historically a population that is targeted and scapegoated... They are an easy target",

"There cannot be enough grave warning as to what the consequences can be to their safety if all measures are not taken to protect them," she added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336079 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Defected Cleric Says Syrian Regime Involved in Assassination Bid against Shaar
[An Nahar] The Mufti of Tripoli
...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn...
and the north Sheikh Malek al-Shaar revealed on Wednesday details surrounding the alleged death threats he had received and which made him decide to prolong his stay in Europe.

In an interview on Future TV, al-Shaar said: “I have received several phone calls and I even met with army officers that advised me to be cautious as my movements are being watched”.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats went for his rosco...
Abdul Jalil Saeed, a holy man defected from the Dar al-Fatwa in Syria revealed in a taped interview that Ibrahim Hamad, a captain in the Syrian intelligence, has been collecting information about the northern Mufti.

"Hamad came to Beirut many times and met with several figures at the office of (Loyalty to Resistance) MP Nawwaf Moussawi,” Saeed said.

"I have been informed by people in the Syrian Dar al-Fatwa that he (Hamad) was going to personally supervise the liquidation operation from the Bekaa region,” he added, explaining that al-Shaar was supposed to be targeted near the residence of the Bekaa Mufti Mohammed Khalil al-Mayss.

Saeed also said that two members of the Lebanese Dar al-Fatwa are involved in this liquidation attempt.

"The operation was going to look like an accident involving alcohol or something similar to Sheikh Ahmed Abdul Wahed's liquidation,” he explained.

On May 20, Abdul Wahed's vehicle was stopped at an army checkpoint in the northern region of Kweikhat where he was killed.

"What I have just heard makes me believe even more that these death threats are true,” al-Shaar commented, adding that “all liquidations in Leb started with rumors and fabricated stories, and the proof is al-Akhbar's (newspaper) latest stories about me”.

After al-Shaar announced that he had received death threats, al-Akhbar newspaper reported that the mufti was threatened because his son had sold non-existent properties in the Tripoli area of Ras al-Sakhr to members of Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
The Scourge of Hama...
's regime.

The Mufti denied the newspaper's reports during Wednesday's interview.

Sheikh al-Shaar announced in early December that he will not be returning to Leb from a trip to Europe after he has allegedly received death threats.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336064 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Africa North
State Dept. security chief, 2 others resign over Benghazi
[USA Today] An administration official says the chief of the State Department's security service, one of his deputies and an official from the agency's Middle East bureau have resigned after a damning report that found systematic management failures responsible for a lack of security at the U.S. diplomatic mission in Benghazi, Libya.

The official said Eric Boswell, the assistant secretary of state for diplomatic security, and Charlene Lamb, the deputy assistant secretary responsible for embassy security, stepped down under pressure after the release of the report. The third official worked for the Bureau of Near East Affairs, but wasn't immediately identified, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity
... for fear of being murdered...
because he wasn't authorized to discuss personnel matters publicly.
CNN's take is here. Yes, these officials failed and should resign -- or be fired -- but the rot goes higher, I think. I will await Hillary's testimony, assuming she doesn't come down with an acute hangnail or something that regretfully keeps her from appearing.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336099 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  Quietly accepted newly created State Department positions in the 'Bureau of Events Planning and Senior Executive Dining' did they? Hopefully there will be no reduction in compensation.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 3:22 Comments || Top||

#2  now that they've resigned, perhaps they can testify freely? Or is their pension being held over their heads?
Posted by: Frank G || 12/20/2012 8:32 Comments || Top||

#3  A pension payment would have been the least of worries for selected Arkansas State Policemen.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 8:35 Comments || Top||

#4  The whistle blowers got fired or resigned for telling the truth? Hillary has a headache and is trying to buy time so she can see the fall-out from the report. She's shaping her testimony. The State Department is only but one part of many parts in Benghazi. I recall a few years ago when Hillary told General Petraeus during hearings over the progress of the Iraqi war that his report "required suspension of belief." Washington speak for "He is lying."
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:09 Comments || Top||

#5  The State Department is only but one part of many parts in Benghazi. JohnQC

Yes indeed John. Follows has no connection to Benghazi, but simply a reminder of the lengths some agencies will go to protect not only their assets, but their intentions. (very lengthy video, enjoy)

Klik
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 9:22 Comments || Top||

#6  Thanks B. Will take a look at the entire vid at some point. The CIA seldom gets credit for successes but they often get scapegoated when things go wrong. There are many unsung heroes in the CIA.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 10:34 Comments || Top||

#7  Quietly accepted newly created State Department positions in the 'Bureau of Events Planning and Senior Executive Dining' did they?

More likely accepted equivalent positions at a large financial institution. Citi, I recall, is the re-employer of choice at Justice and its subordinates.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/20/2012 11:27 Comments || Top||

#8  They will get consultant jobs or possibly retire completely, not a new position at the Department.
Posted by: lord garth || 12/20/2012 12:30 Comments || Top||

#9  Like the brainiac who came up with 'Visa Express' (which most 9/11 hijackers used) he'll probably get a big fat bonus and huge promotion.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/20/2012 16:22 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Sheriff Joe Gun Control Deputy in 2008
Newly appointed gun control taskforce deputy and current Vice President Joe Biden said at a campaign stop in Castlewood, Virginia in 2008, “If he (Obama) tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem.”

Beltway Confidential had the quote:

“I guarantee you Barack Obama ain’t taking my shotguns, so don’t buy that malarkey,” Biden said. “Don’t buy that malarkey. They’re going to start peddling that to you.” [...]

“If he tries to fool with my Beretta, he’s got a problem,” Biden added, referring to Obama.

The Vice President also informed prospective voters at the time he was the proud owner of two guns.

Posted by: Broadhead6 || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Biden was talking about his firearms, not the peasant's firearms.
Posted by: Elmerert Hupens2660 || 12/20/2012 2:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Note yesterday's Smith & Wesson stock bump during Champ's televised speech.
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 3:11 Comments || Top||

#3  After the deadly Aurora, Colorado shooting Feinstein criticized those who said responsible conceal carry permit holders could have stopped gunman James Holmes, saying "...and maybe you could have had a firefight and killed many more people. These are people in a theater."

Opponents of the Assault Weapons Ban point to Feinstein’s hypocrisy on the issue, as the Senator herself said she obtained a concealed carry permit in California when she felt her life was threatened. In 1995, Feinstein described this experience:

Posted by: Deacon Blues || 12/20/2012 8:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Rules are for thee.... not for me!
Posted by: CrazyFool || 12/20/2012 8:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Not to be confused with Sheriff Joe Arpaio.
Posted by: JohnQC || 12/20/2012 9:55 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rebels seize towns in central Syria
[Reuters] Syrian rebels have captured at least six towns in the central province of Hama, activists say, in an operation aimed at putting pressure on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Leveler of Latakia...
from the north as cut-throats close in on the capital from its southern suburbs.

The rebel gains came as the United Nations
...where theory meets practice and practice loses...
on Wednesday launched what it said was its "largest short-term humanitarian appeal ever", for $1.5 billion to help millions of Syrians suffering a "dramatically deteriorating" humanitarian situation.

"The violence in Syria is raging across the country and there are nearly no more safe areas where people can flee and find safety," Radhouane Nouicer, U.N. regional humanitarian coordinator for Syria, told a news briefing in Geneva.

The Syrian opposition has scored significant military and diplomatic gains in recent weeks, capturing several army installations across Syria and securing formal recognition from Western and Arab states for its new coalition.

The capture of large parts of Hama province could now give the rebels effective control of a stretch of territory from the northern Turkish border 180 km (110 miles) to the north.

Qassem Saadeddine, a member of the rebel military command, said most of the rural western part of Hama province, which stretches to the foothills of the mountains which are home to Assad's minority Alawite community, was under the control of the mainly Sunni Mohammedan rebels.

Saadeddine announced the rebel offensive in Hama on Sunday. Assad's opponents already hold much of the northern provinces of Aleppo
...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins...
and Idlib, and are fighting to advance from the southern Damascus
...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world...
suburbs towards the heart of the capital.

"The battle is ongoing. We have freed many areas (of Hama) and we are studying plans to liberate more," Saadeddine told Rooters by Skype from inside Syria. "Three-quarters of western rural Hama is under our control."

He said the towns taken by rebels included Latamneh, Helfaya, Kfar Naboudah, Hasraya, Tibat al-Imn and Kfar Zita, and that fighting had also broken out in the city of Hama itself.

The latest battlefield accounts could not be independently verified due to tight restrictions on media access to Syria.

Rebels had intended to concentrate their offensive on rural areas before an assault on the city of Hama where some 10,000 people were killed in a 1982 crackdown by ordered by Assad's father against an armed Islamist uprising. But festivities broke out in the city after authorities launched a wave of arrests, possibly in response to the rebel offensive.

The Syrian Observatory for Human rights, an opposition-linked group which monitors violence across the country, said several of the Hama towns overrun by rebels came under bombardment on Wednesday.

It said at least 100 people had been killed across the country, adding to a corpse count in the 21-month-old uprising against Assad of more than 40,000 people.

At least 21 people, including 15 rebels, were killed when a boom-mobile went kaboom! in Aziziyah on the southern approach to Aleppo city, the Observatory said. It was not clear what the bomb was targeting and it may have detonated accidentally. State media had no immediate report on the kaboom.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Bangladesh
Bangla: Stay alert to conspiracies
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
yesterday asked the armed forces and civil administration officials, and people to remain alert about the anti-liberation forces' conspiracy against the illusory sovereignty of the nation.

"The anti-liberation forces are trying hard to raise their heads again. They are on a destructive path ignoring the democratic one…their conspiracies will continue.

“I urge the patriotic armed forces, civil administration and the people of the country to remain alert," she said.

The premier made the remarks while addressing the graduation ceremony of National Defence Course and Armed Forces War Course 2012 at Mirpur Cantonment in the capital.

Hasina recalled that Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman had dreamt of building a strong armed force in 1966.

“He [Bangabandhu] also demanded to establish a military academy, provincial naval headquarters and ordnance factory on this land [at that time],” she added.

The premier said her government had always focused on well-trained and professional armed forces, and kept on increasing the defence budget for the last four years.

She also said her government, during its previous tenure, had established the National Defence College (NDC) as there was no institution for higher training of armed forces officials before 1996.

“This institution has turned into an internationally reputed training organization. It's indeed a matter of pride for the nation,” she added.

Hasina mentioned that new battleships had been procured while the runways were being expanded with the high-tech modern equipment.

Besides, the government was lobbying in international forums aiming to increase the participation of Bangladesh army personnel in peacekeeping forces.

She also said the present government had introduced new medical facilities, and upgraded educational institutions and ration scale for the welfare of armed forces officials and their families apart from strengthening the force.

Food security, energy security, social security, international relationship, control of cyber world, environmental security -- all these are the challenges of the 21st century.

"If any of these securities becomes vulnerable, the national security will be in danger," she added.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:

#1  stay alert to conspiracies ... yeah but WHICH ONE? It's like the gourmet table out there :-) By the way Bangladesh, tomorrow (Friday) is the end of the Mayan calendar. Even if the whole world doesn't go off the edge - are you totally sure about your piece of turf? Just sayin'! HAHAHA!
Posted by: Raider || 12/20/2012 14:13 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Darth Bolton sez Hildebeast faking illness to avoid testimony
Posted by: Besoeker || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
High security at Chaklala Airbase
[Dawn] After the terrorist attack in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
, law enforcement agencies here reviewed security around Chaklala Airbase and the Benazir Bhutto
... 11th Prime Minister of Pakistain in two non-consecutive terms from 1988 until 1990 and 1993 until 1996. She was the daughter of Zulfikar Ali Bhutto, founder of the Pakistain People's Party, who was murdered at the instigation of General Ayub Khan. She was murdered in her turn by person or persons unknown while campaigning in late 2007. Suspects include, to note just a few, Baitullah Mehsud, General Pervez Musharraf, the ISI, al-Qaeda in Pakistain, and her husband, Asif Ali Zardari, who shows remarkably little curiosity about who done her in...
International Airport (BBIA) and decided to further tighten the security measures there.

Sources said in response to the attack on the PAF base in Peshawar, police and intelligence officials along with other security
agencies carried out a survey of the surrounding areas of the Chaklala Airbase.

When contacted, Israr Ahmed Abbasi, the senior superintendent of police (operation), told Dawn that security had been tightened around the airbase and the BBIA.

He said as part of the reviewed security, round-the-clock patrolling by elite force commandos along the runway had been started. Besides, more police personnel have been deployed at the pickets.

The SSP said manpower at the police pickets close to the takeoff and landing sites of the airport had also been increased.

“Police have been trying to ensure foolproof security along the surrounding areas while the Airport Security Force (ASF) is fully prepared to protect the airport from inside,” the SSP said.

The sources said police had already informed the authorities concerned at the PAF base and the airport that there were some spots (boundary wall of low height) which could be vulnerable to terrorist attacks. The authorities were requested to take all
possible measures to make those areas secure.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Mumbai attacks case: India 'disappointed' at US immunity for ISI
[Dawn] India on Wednesday called a declaration that Pakistain’s intelligence service and former chiefs enjoy immunity in a case related to the 2008 Mumbai attacks a “serious disappointment”.

The Indian government has long alleged that the Inter-Services Intelligence agency was behind the Islamist attacks which left 166 people dead – an accusation denied by Islamabad.

The Indian statement was in response to an affidavit filed in a US court earlier in the week in which the US government said Pakistain’s ISI and its former chiefs, Ahmed Shuja Pasha and Nadeem Taj, “enjoy immunity” in the Mumbai attacks.

The US affidavit is “a matter of deep and abiding concern”, the Indian government statement said, noting Washington has publicly said it is committed to bringing “those responsible for the Mumbai terror attacks to justice”.

“The decision of the US authorities in this case is a cause of serious disappointment,” said the Indian statement.

The New York federal court is hearing a case filed by US survivors of the Mumbai attacks and family members of the victims against Pasha, Taj and other ISI officials.

Leaders of the Lashkar-e-Taiba
...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI...
(LeT) orc group, including its founder Mohammed Hafiz Muhammad Saeed
...who would be wearing a canvas jacket with very long sleeves anyplace but Pakistain...
, are also named in the suit. India has accused Pakistain’s ISI of collaborating with the LeT to mount the attacks.

The US government insisted in its affidavit that Pakistain must take steps to dismantle the LeT and support India’s efforts to counter orc threats, according to the Press Trust of India (PTI).

But at the same time the affidavit said, “the ISI is entitled to immunity because it is part of a foreign state”, the PTI report stated.

India last month hanged Pak national Mohammed Ajmal Kasab, the lone surviving gunman of 10 attackers who raided targets including top hotels and a Mumbai railway station while holding elite Indian Special Forces at bay.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336065 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Horn
Somali militant group dismisses American jihadist as ´´a liar and a hunter of fame´´.
[Shabelle] Somali turban group of Al shabab has distanced its self and its foreign members from the American born jihadist Abu Mansur Al Amriki , calling a man who is out of touch in the reality of the group´s fight in Somalia and a man obsessed with becoming a famous man in the world.

Al Amriki was undoubtedly a prominent figure within Alshabab before this cycle of rift.

In statement released by the group yesterday and published by websites affiliated with it the group said ´´ In the last few months the story of Abu Mansur Al-Amriki has been playing out in the media circles, not only feeding the narrative of the Western media that deep ideological differences were beginning to devour the Mujahideen in Somalia, but also leaving the Moslem Ummah extraordinarily confounded with a string of video releases that have stimulated a wide range of diverse reactions´´

The statement continued as a quote ´´In the light of these events and for the sake of clarification of the intricacies surrounding the Abu Mansur saga, Harakat Al-Shabaab
... the personification of Somali state failure...
Al-Mujahideen hereby declares that Abu Mansur Al-Amriki does not, in any way, shape or form, represent the views of the Muhajireen in Somalia. The opinions expressed by Abu Mansur, the alleged frictions and the video releases are merely the results of personal grievances that stem purely from a narcissistic pursuit of fame and are far removed from the reality on the ground´´

Abu Mansur Al amriki has issued videos explaining that there is a rift between the foreign jihadists and those of the local within Al shabab.

In his first video, he told that he feared his life from a harm by internal conspiracy from Al shabab.

In a later video, he told that there are suspicions among the imported muscle with Al shabab that their some of their Somali allies were behind attacks that killed prominent figures within the foreign jihadists in Somalia.

The rift he was talking about now seems to be spilling over.

This article starring:
Abu Mansur Al Amriki
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336066 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab

#1  I'm sure there's a future in Philadelphia politics for Mr. Al Amriki.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/20/2012 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2  He sure doesn't have much future in Somali politics. Hahahaha! There were reports earlier this year that a faction of al-Shebaab had already killed him ... apparently this was premature. Sounds like he better be packing his bags :-)
Posted by: Raider || 12/20/2012 14:06 Comments || Top||


Arabia
Harak Leader Exposes Iranian Plots in South Yemen
[Yemen Post] A Yemeni leader in the southern movement, Harak, revealed that most of the southern leaders have visited Iran to ask for help and claimed the Islamic republic is seeking to turn the south into a battlefield for sectarian conflict, Alahale reported on Tuesday.

Muhammad Ali Ahmed, head of the preparatory committee of the national conference for the south people, was quoted as saying the Iranian meddling in Yemen is not restricted only to the support given to the Shiite Houthi
...a Zaidi Shia insurgent group operating in Yemen. They have also been referred to as the Believing Youth. Hussein Badreddin al-Houthi is said to be the spiritual leader of the group and most of the military leaders are his relatives. The Yemeni government has accused the Houthis of having ties to the Iranian government, which wouldn't suprise most of us. The group has managed to gain control over all of Saada Governorate and parts of Amran, Al Jawf and Hajjah Governorates. Its slogan is "God is Great, Death to America™â„¢, Death to Israel, a curse on the Jews" ...
Group in the far north, but goes beyond that to plans to support southern leaders and recruit southern youths.

"Iran has sought to train and teach 6500 youths from the south as part of its plot to spread chaos to affect the West-backed political transition in Yemen," he said at the closing session of the two-day conference.

Yemen has recently accused Iran of sponsoring the Houthi Group and urged it to stop meddling in its own affairs, mainly through attempts to obstruct the power-transfer deal which was brokered by the GCC and backed by the West following the 2011 unrest.

President Abdrabu Mansour Hadi, on his maiden overseas trip that included stops in the US and some European countries including the UK and La Belle France, urged Iran to stay away from Yemen.

He said Iran is providing support to the Houthi Group and southern factions to destabilize the country, an accusation that Iran has denied.

Hadi also revealed the arrest of several Iranian spy cells and boycotted meetings with Iranian leader and other officials including an envoy to Yemen in protest against Iranian attitude.

The national conference for the south people was held to unify the southern factions to press for key demands topped by restoring the south republic which united with the north in 1990.

It comes amid increasing calls for the separation of the south and calls to boycott the dialogue conference, which is expected in early next year.

The conference was attended by Yemeni officials, foreign diplomats and a UN representative as the country is gearing up for a comprehensive national dialogue conference under the deal.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


India-Pakistan
Another policeman gunned down in Karachi
[Dawn] A policeman was rubbed out in Orangi Town on Tuesday, pushing the corpse count of coppers killed this year to 114.

Earlier on Saturday, the bodies of two coppers posted in the Criminal Investigation Department were found in different parts of the city. They had been kidnapped and later killed by unidentified persons.

Police said the incident took place in Frontier Colony within the remit of the Pirabad cop shoppe, where police constable Aurangzeb Khan posted in the reader branch of the Orangi Town cop shoppe was shot at when he was going home from work.

The victim was rushed to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital, where he was pronounced dead.
He's dead, Jim!
on arrival.

He was a resident of the same area where the incident took place. The victim was in plain clothes when targeted, the police said.

‘Bandit’ killed

A suspected bandit was rubbed out and a shopkeeper was maimed in a robbery attempt at a grocery store in Quaidabad on Tuesday.

Police said the incident took place in Rehri Goth within the remit of the Quaidabad cop shoppe, where two suspects tried to rob a grocery and milk shop. On facing resistance, the suspects opened fire on shop owner Asif Rehman. Meanwhile,
...back at the argument, Livia grabbed for Jane's hair to make her point. Jane elbowed her in the face in rebuttal...
the maimed shopkeeper returned fire, fatally hitting one of the suspects. The maimed shopkeeper was taken to hospital for treatment.

Facing resistance, the other suspect escaped. The maimed suspect died while being shifted to the JPMC, the police said. The identity of the dead could not be ascertained. The police found a pistol on him.

Young man found dead

The unidentified body of a young man was found in a Korangi locality on Tuesday morning.

Police said the body stuffed in a gunny bag was found in Korangi 100 Quarters, Sector 50-D, within the remit of the Zaman Town cop shoppe. They said the victim had been shot in the head.

The body was shifted to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre for medico-legal formalities.

Constable maimed

A police constable was seriously maimed by bandidos when he put up resistance outside a private bank, foiling a potential bank heist, in Gulistan-e-Jauhar on Tuesday.

Police said the incident took place at a JS Bank branch at Jauhar Complex on the main University Road, where gunnies tried to force their way into the bank.

When police constable Mohammad Mithal tried to resist them, they shot him. However,
there is a theory which states that if ever anybody discovers exactly what the Universe is for and why it is here, it will instantly disappear and be replaced by something even more bizarre and inexplicable. There is another theory which states that this has already happened...
after the shooting, the suspects took away the AK-47 rifle of the policeman.

The maimed constable was taken to a private hospital, where he was admitted in a critical condition, the police said.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336068 views] Top|| File under:


Assault on PAF base: Six of 10 attackers were foreigners, PA told
[Dawn] The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
Assembly was told on Tuesday that six of the 10 gun-hung tough guys who took part in assault on PAF base in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
and the subsequent gun-battle with police were foreigners.

Speaking on floor of the house, Provincial Information Minister Mian Iftikhar Hussain said that nationality of the jacket wallahs who had blown themselves up in a van outside the base and those killed subsequently by police had been ascertained.

“The killed gun-hung tough guys belonged to Kyrgyzstan, Daghistan, Uzbekistan and Chechnya,” he said and added that blood samples of the killed bully boyz had been sent for DNA test.

Giving details, the minister said that the gun-hung tough guys killed in Saturday night attack included two Chechens and three Paks.

He said that five more gun-hung tough guys killed in Pawaka village adjacent to the airport the following day included one each from Pakistain, Kyrgyzstan, Daghistan, Uzbekistan and Chechnya.

Mr Hussain said that Taliban were short of local bully boyz and now they had engaged foreigners to fulfill their designs. “Now they (Taliban) use their well-trained hard boys,” he said.

About tattoos on bodies of the hard boys, he said that many religious scholars had termed such paintings on human body strictly prohibited.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336070 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan

#1  Chicago gang members?
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 12/20/2012 10:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Muslim Mafia.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/20/2012 11:37 Comments || Top||


Challenges remain in Kurram after ouster of militants
[Dawn] The military said on Tuesday that central Kurram had been purged of turbans, but troops would stay till the civil administration become capable to perform its duties.

"The security forces have done their job and the area has been cleared off the Islamic fascisti except few small pockets," Operation Commander Brigadier Tariq Aman told a group of journalists at a makeshift Brigade Headquarters in Sadda town, lower Kurram Agency
...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora...
He said that objectives of the operation "Mamozai" had been achieved to secure the entire areas in central Kurram adjacent to the troubled Orakzai and Khyber agencies. He said that troops had reached Saama Bazaar and Joggi areas, demarcation points separating Kurram and Orakzai.

A substantial number of troops are still in the area to assist the Frontier Corps and Levies Force, and displaced families have been sent back to their homes. "It was a coordinated operation conducted by the army, Frontier Corps and Pakistain Air Force," said Brig Aman. Political agent Yousaf Rahim and Commandant Kurram Militia Col Sher Jeel also briefed media about return process of internally displaced persons and rehabilitation activities in the conflict-stricken valley.

The first phase of operation was launched in July 2011 and second in October 2011 that lasted till May 2012. The officials said that forces had suffered 75 casualties, while 220 soldiers were maimed and 90 personnel suffered because of frostbite.

They said that about 500 turbans, including foreigners, had been killed in the operation.

But like Mullah Fazlullah
...son-in-law of holy man Sufi Mohammad. Known as Mullah FM, Fazlullah had the habit of grabbing his FM mike when the mood struck him and bellowing forth sermons. Sufi suckered the Pak govt into imposing Shariah on the Swat Valley and then stepped aside whilst Fazlullah and his Talibs imposed a reign of terror on the populace like they hadn't seen before, at least not for a thousand years or so. For some reason the Pak intel services were never able to locate his transmitter, much bomb it. After ruling the place like a conquered province for a year or so, Fazlullahs Talibs began gobbling up more territory as they pushed toward Islamabad, at which point as a matter of self-preservation the Mighty Pak Army threw them out and chased them into Afghanistan...
of Swat
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
the most wanted man in the area, Mullah Toofan, who was leading local and foreign turbans, has escaped. A security official said that a hardened turban from Azerbaijan named Zahoor Aslanov had been killed in action.

"Mullah Toofan might be in Orakzai or Khyber, but he has been routed from central Kurram," said Brig Aman. He said that one of the objectives of the operation to put brakes on frequent movement of Islamic fascisti from one tribal area to another had been materialised.

"Central Kurram was described as 'don't go area' because of its tough terrain and militancy. Now people can move freely because state's writ has been restored," he maintained.

He said that security forces had now been deployed almost at all unfrequented routes to block such movements. He said that Thall-Parachinar Road which remained closed for four years had been reopened after the turbans' defeat.

MAIN CHALLENGES: Though the military authorities claimed victory over Taliban in central Kurram, revival of the tribal system, rehabilitation of displaced families and reconstruction of infrastructure are main challenges faced by the government.

Conflict in this mountainous part of Kurram Valley has left trail of destruction, and according to officials and rustics, Islamic fascisti had set on fire hamlet of houses in Masozai, Alisherzai and other areas. Over 30,000 families were displaced when troops launched campaign and many of them sought shelter in New Durrani Camp in lower Kurram.

Political agent Yousaf Rahim told media that according to preliminary survey around 2,400 houses had been destroyed in the area.

The administration and Fata Disaster Management Authority had started return process of the IDPs and 1,200 families had been rehabilitated in Mosazai, he said and added that relief agencies had provided temporary shelter, food and non-food items to returnees.

He said reconstruction of government infrastructure, including schools and hospitals, required about Rs717 million.

Mr Rahim said that with the assistance of donor agencies the FDMA and local administration would carry out damage need assessment survey of the area and the federal government would be asked to compensate affected people.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336078 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa Horn
Somaliland ready to resume talks with Somalia
[Shabelle] The self-declared republic of Somaliland in north Somalia has repeated its readiness to have talks with the Somali federal government.

Speaking to the BBC Somali service from Djibouti where both the leader of Somaliland and the president of Somalia are present, the foreign minister of Somaliland Mohamed Abdullahi Omar has repeated that Somaliland is ready to restart the talks with Somalia which began under the transitional government led by Sheikh Sharif.

The minister has said the time and the venue for the resumption of the talks has not been agreed yet.

Somaliland, which is a region in north Somalia, has declared its as a separate republic from the rest of Somalia soon after the collapse of central government in Mogadishu 1991 but no nation in the world has recognized it yet.
Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336067 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemen Seizes Largest Stash of Cocaine Shipped from Brazil, Report
[Yemen Post] Yemen seized on Tuesday a large stash of drugs which was shipped from Brazil amid thriving trade of drugs and arms in the country, the state news agency Saba reported.

"The authorities at the Hodeida seaport seized the 115 kg of cocaine coming from Brazil, which were concealed inside one of 120 containers of sugar," the agency quoted a security source as saying.

"The drugs quantities appeared suspicious, and while the authorities were checking the sugar cargo, they found the cocaine inside four sports bags inside the container," the source said.

"The largest ever stash in decades was seized after the provincial anti-drugs office discovered the products--made like soaps-- were cocaine".

In recent weeks, the Yemeni authorities have seized several arms cargoes, mainly pistols, in the western port city of Hodeida and the southern port city of Aden and large quantities of domestic and foreign drugs in other cities including the capital Sanaa.

The thriving trade of drugs and arms has been blamed on security disorder coinciding with persistent unrest even as the country is continuing to implement a West-backed power-transfer deal.

Posted by: Fred || 12/20/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [336097 views] Top|| File under: Narcos

#1  Qat is the gateway drug to coke?
Posted by: Glenmore || 12/20/2012 7:48 Comments || Top||

#2  this is a little bizarre ... i thought the pathway was the reverse. Drugs flowing out of Yemen. I guess there must be a growing population of addicts in Saudi Arabia, and the coke is getting smuggled thru Yemen.
Posted by: Raider || 12/20/2012 14:10 Comments || Top||

#3  Yemen is a transit point. It could go anywhere. My guess would be across NE Africa and thence to Europe.
Posted by: Pappy || 12/20/2012 18:00 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
30[untagged]
5Arab Spring
5Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
2al-Shabaab
2al-Qaeda in Pakistan
2TTP
1Narcos
1Palestinian Authority
1Pirates
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Ansar Dine
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1Govt of Iran

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
Comments Spam
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
RSS Links
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio
Sink Trap

Alzheimer's Association
Day by Day
Counterterrorism
Hair Through the Ages







On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Thu 2012-12-20
  Yemeni President Restructures Army, Removes Saleh Cronies
Wed 2012-12-19
  Three more polio workers shot in Pakistan; eight dead in 48 hours
Tue 2012-12-18
  Syrian rebels take control of Damascus Palestinian camp
Mon 2012-12-17
  Rebel Offensive In Hama
Sun 2012-12-16
  Rockets Fired on Peshawar Airport, Five Dead, Dozens Injured
Sat 2012-12-15
  Tunisian Salafists attack bar, call drinkers 'infidels'
Fri 2012-12-14
  Coca-Cola resumes its production in Somalia
Thu 2012-12-13
  'Friends of Syria' Recognize Syrian Opposition
Wed 2012-12-12
  Syria Fires Scud Missiles at Insurgents, U.S. Says
Tue 2012-12-11
  North Korea 'launches long-range rocket'
Mon 2012-12-10
  Rebels Seize Chunk of Aleppo Base as Fighting Rages across Syria
Sun 2012-12-09
  Mohammad Ahmed Almansoor Drone-zapped in North Wazoo
Sat 2012-12-08
  Abu-Zaid al Kuwaiti Drone-zapped During Breakfast
Fri 2012-12-07
  6 dead, 450 injured in clashes at Egypt's presidential palace
Thu 2012-12-06
  Two Dead as Egypt Islamists Overrun Opposition Tents

Better than the average link...



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.
34.230.66.177
Paypal:
WoT Operations (16)    WoT Background (22)    Non-WoT (11)    Opinion (1)    (0)