December 30, 2008: Despite major combat operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, the U.S. Army is going through a major reorganization. The end result will increase the number of combat brigades from 33 to 43.
#1
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > US JOINT FORCES COMMAND: US TO FIGHT INSURGENCY ACROSS MUSLIM WORLD FOR 25 YEARS; + VOA RADIO > US SECDEF GATES: US IS PREPARED TO FIGHT IRREGULAR WARFARE FOR YEARS TO COME [ limited conventional war + Urban Warfare + Nation-Govt Building-Asst.]!?
IOW, THIS US-WORLD "RECESSION/DEPRESSION" MAY LAST 25 YEARS???
#2
Joe, the current fiscal problems have little or nothing to do with the military budget and everything to do with Congressional budgets and policy's w/r housing and loans to unqualified borrowers. The rest of the problems (including the greed) rests on that foundation.
There has been more than 5 years of Iraq funding spent on "Bailout" in the last 3 months. Anyone trying to connect the fiscal breakdown on Iraq is blowing smoke (a lot of smoke).
#3
This transformation to a more modular brigade approach where brigades could be mixed/matched according to mission requirements is one thing Rumsfeld got right.
The upshot is that the prime minister, who just two months ago declared that "we will not fortify ourselves to death," was compelled to approve recommendations to fortify 8,000 homes in Sderot and the communities of the "Gaza envelope," to the tune of NIS 300 million. Such protection is necessary because these homes lie within 4.5 kilometers of the Gaza Strip.
But a mere day later, it turned out that the plan was too ambitious and that budget shortfalls meant that only 3,600 homes in Sderot and the Gaza envelope can be fortified within the next two years. The solemn declarations to fortify the homes, revoked only hours later, are just the latest chapter in a gloomy saga replete with deception, lies, concealment of the truth from policymakers, groundless promises to Sderot residents, the unexplained rejection of the arguments for examining additional defense systems other than Iron Dome, and bizarre decisions made in the Defense Ministry.
Through the first three days, the strategic effect is all too predictable. Oil prices up, the US dollar is down. Is oil actually threatened by actions taking place out of Israel? Uhm, no. Is the dollar in danger because Hamas and Israel are in another conflict? Again, no. What has everyone concerned is that the conflict will escalate, and right now with the options on the table, this is the most likely scenario. How far will the conflict escalate? Right now, that is difficult to predict, but following the patterns of history, if indeed Iran is involved, I believe the expectation should be high that Israel is about to find themselves fighting on more than one front as soon as they commit ground troops into Gaza.
The next few days will tell the whole story, but predicting the results is not difficult. When Israel commits ground forces into Gaza to go after Hamas, the expectation should be that Hezbollah will begin a major military attack in northern Israel, likely using unguided rockets striking at civilians. The strategic ramifications will result in even higher gas prices and a further hit to the US dollar, with global outrage from the worlds most vocal actors to quickly condemn Israel. Unlike the Arab countries, Israel will protect their citizens and the death toll of Israeli civilians will not be great, but the retaliation against Hamas and Hezbollah will be, resulting in another mess similar to 2006. The question at that point, particularly if the US economy takes a huge hit from these actions, is what will we do and how will the world react?
I could be wrong, but absent any information that shows a strategic objective for Hamas in starting this conflict, it appears to me this conflict is specific to the strategic objective of weakening the US economy, and thus weakening the economies of nations like Israel. In other words, this may look like a simple Israeli conflict with Hamas, and perhaps Hezbollah in the near future, but the intent is to ultimately harm Americans economically. As that objective becomes more apparent to Americans over time, it will be interesting to see how both the outgoing and incoming administrations manage this emerging problem, and if we do nothing in response as per our historical track record, who we blame for the problem.
A British World War II hero who fought valiantly in North Africa despite severe wounds has died 68 years after he was "posthumously" awarded the nation's highest combat honor by officials who thought he had been killed. Eric Wilson, who had been the oldest living holder of the Victoria Cross, died at age 96, according to obituaries published Tuesday in The Times and The Daily Telegraph. Jenny Hunt, a warden of St. Mary Magdelene church in Stowell, where Wilson lived, said he died Dec. 23.
Wilson had been reported killed in North Africa in 1940, but was later found alive and trying to tunnel his way out of a prison camp. He went on to further service in Africa and Burma. His family was notified in August 1940 that he was killed while staying with his machine gun, though wounded and ill, in a futile effort to repel a larger Italian force. The Victoria Cross was awarded two months later.
Wilson was commanding a company of the Somaliland Camel Corps when Italian forces attacked their position in what was then British Somaliland. Italy had declared war only the day before.
"The enemy attacked Observation Hill on 11th August 1940," the citation read. "Capt. Wilson and Somali gunners under his command beat off the attack and opened fire on the enemy troops attacking Mill Hill, another post within his range."
"He inflicted such heavy casualties that the enemy, determined to put his guns out of action, brought up a pack battery (artillery) to within 700 yards, and scored two direct hits through the loopholes of his defenses which, bursting within the post, wounded Capt. Wilson severely in the right shoulder and in the left eye, several of his team also being wounded. His guns were blown off their stands but he repaired and replaced them and, regardless of his wounds, carried on, while his Somali sergeant was killed beside him.
"On 12th and 14th August, the enemy again concentrated field artillery fire on Capt. Wilson's guns, but he continued, with his wounds untended, to man them. On 15th August two of his machine-gun posts were blown to pieces, yet Capt. Wilson, now suffering from malaria in addition to his wounds, still kept his own post in action. The enemy finally overran the post at 5 p.m. on the 15th August when Capt. Wilson, fighting to the last, was killed."
In April 1941, however, he was found alive in a prisoner of war camp in Eritrea. Wilson and his fellow prisoners had nearly finished digging an escape tunnel when the Italian soldiers fled the camp ahead of the arrival of British troops.
Wilson later served in North Africa as adjutant of the Long Range Desert Group, a motorized force that harassed Italian positions; he later served in Burma as second-in-command of the 11th King's African Rifles.
Two years ago, Wilson commented: "'What is bravery? I don't know. You just did what you had to do."
Retiring from the army in 1949 with the rank of lieutenant colonel, Wilson became a colonial officer in Tanganyika (now part of Tanzania), which became independent in 1961. On returning to London, he was deputy warden and then warden of London House, a residence for foreign students. He was honorary secretary of the Anglo-Somali Society from 1972 to 1977 and helped organize relief for Somalia when it was hit by famine in 1975.
He is survived by his wife and three sons. "I told you I was hardcore."
A Russian woman in St Petersburg killed her drunk husband with a folding couch, Russian media reported on Wednesday.
St Petersburg's Channel Five said the man's wife, upset with her husband for being drunk and refusing to get up, kicked a handle after an argument, activating a mechanism that folds the couch up against a wall. The couch, which doubles as a bed, folds up automatically in order to save space. The man fell between the mattress and the back of the couch, Channel Five quoted emergency workers as saying.
The woman then walked out of the room and returned three hours later to check on what she thought was an unusually quiet sleeping husband. . . .
Posted by: Mike ||
12/30/2008
16:41 ||
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Looks like phucking with Murphy's (bed) Law can be a real biatch.....
In defiance of U.S. senators who said they would not seat his pick, Gov. Rod Blagojevich today selected former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate.
Blagojevich praised Burris for his "unquestioned integrity" and "extensive experience," calling him a senior statesman. "Please don't allow the allegations against me to taint this good and honest man," Blagojevich said.
Burris, who accepted the appointment, said he would next deal with the U.S. Senate's statement that it would not seat him. "Faced with these challenges and challenged with these crises, it is incomprehensible that the people of the great state of Illinois will enter the 111th Congress short handed," Burris said. "We need leadership in Washington."
Burris said he spoke with Blagojevich Sunday night. "I was asked if he would appoint me would I accept and the answer is yes," said Burris, who offered no comment on the governor's legal situation.
Blagojevich said he moved to appoint Burris after the General Assembly declined to approve legislation for a special election to find a new U.S. senator. "To not fill the vacancy would be to deprive the people of Illinois of their appropriate voice" in the U.S. Senate, Blagojevich said.
Burris said he accepted the appointment because the nation is at a crossroads. "Faced with these challenges and challenged with these crises, it is incomprehensible that the people of the great state of Illinois will enter the 111th Congress short handed. "We need leadership in Washington."
"I have faith in the record that I have forged over the last four decades. I accept this appointment," Burris said.
Blagojevich's news conference came less than an hour after U.S. Senate Democratic leadership issued a statement saying the Senate will not seat anyone the governor chooses to fill Illinois' vacant Senate post. The statement also is signed by U.S. Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois, who has repeatedly urged Blagojevich not to name a replacement for the seat vacated by President-elect Barack Obama.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
15:44 ||
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I mean, jeebus, he really does look like NewsRadio or what?
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
The action comes despite warnings by Democratic Senate leaders that they would not seat anyone appointed by the disgraced governor who faces criminal charges of trying to sell the post, sources familiar with the decision said.
Yeah, sure, let's see what Harry Reid does now ...
Shortly after Obama's Nov. 4 victory, Burris made known his interest in an appointment to the Senate but was never seriously considered, according to Blagojevich insiders. But in the days following Blagojevich's arrest, and despite questions over the taint of a Senate appointment, Burris stepped up his efforts to win the governor's support.
Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama's replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he's never lost to a Republican.
Wait ...
Blagojevich, who has sole authority to name a replacement senator, scheduled a 2 p.m. news conference at his downtown Chicago office.
Blagojevich's criminal defense attorney Ed Genson had said Blagojevich would not name a Senate successor to Obama. The governor had indicated he agreed with other Illinois politicians that the best option might be a special election to fill Obama's seat. But state lawmakers have not taken up the necessary legislation.
Because they were afraid a Republican might win ...
U.S. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid of Nevada previously warned Blagojevich, following the governor's Dec. 9 arrest, that Senate Democrats would not seat any appointment the two-term Democratic governor made. Reid's warning was contained in a letter signed by all 50 sitting Democratic senators, including the No. 2 Democrat in Senate leadership, Sen. Dick Durbin of Illinois.
Burris became the first African-American to win statewide office in 1978, when he won the first of his three terms as comptroller. But Burris repeatedly stalled in his quest for bigger political office. He failed in three consecutive runs for governor--1994, 1998 and 2002, when he ran against Blagojevich--in the Democratic primaries.
Posted by: Steve White ||
12/30/2008
13:56 ||
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#2
He don't win much, but he wins once in awhile...
Though he is 71, Burris has said that Obama's replacement should be able to win re-election and he has noted that despite a string of primary losses in races ranging from Chicago mayor to governor and U.S. senator, he's never lost to a Republican.
And don't use up too much spine, Harry. You ain't got a lot to waste...
SRINAGAR: The former Chief Minister and National Conference patron, Farooq Abdullah, on Monday paved the way for his son and party president Omar Abdullah to become the Chief Minister of Jammu and Kashmir.
On Sunday, Dr. Abdullah hinted at the choice of Mr. Omar Abdullah as the chief ministerial candidate, but changed the statement late in the night. He told a news channel, You are talking to the next Chief Minister of the State.
However, he told reporters at his residence on Monday that he had made up his mind to leave the slot for his son. I will recommend to the party that Omar Abdullah be our chief ministerial candidate. I will pursue my career at the national and international levels. Jammu and Kashmir is a small canvas for me.
Dr. Abdullah said young and old leaders would put in joint efforts to make the party strong and fulfil the needs of people. I will be the party chief. Omar will lead the State and he is being liked by the people more than me.
The NC had emerged the single largest party with 28 seats in the 87-member House. The PDP finished second with 21 seats and the Congress got 17 seats.
Mr. Omar Abdullah confirmed that he is the chief ministerial candidate. Yes, I will be the chief ministerial candidate for the party. The decision in this regard was taken by the partys legislative committee, he told reporters at his residence.
He said they were hopeful that a Congress-NC alliance would materialise. It will take a couple of days to finalise things there. You will see an NC-Congress coalition very soon.
I had not dreamed that I will be given an opportunity to lead the State. Now it is final. I will try my best to come up to the expectations of people, he said.
He thanked both the people who voted and those who stayed away. When I say people, I mean both those who voted in our favour and those who boycotted. I am thankful to both. I hope those who stayed away will vote for us next time, he said.
He reiterated that his party would continue to strive for greater autonomy for the State. There is no change in our stand vis-a-vis political problem. We will continue to strive for the implementation of autonomy, which we believe is the viable solution to the Kashmir issue.
PTI reports from New Delhi: Mr. Omar Abdullah told reporters on his arrival in New Delhi that his party had got positive signals from the Congress on government formation.
The NC has got very positive signals from the Congress. Otherwise, I would not have come to Delhi, Mr. Abdullah said. He is scheduled to meet Congress president Sonia Gandhi.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008
13:45 ||
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Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008 13:47
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BAGHDAD (AP) - A court Tuesday postponed the trial of a journalist who hurled his shoes at President George W. Bush in anger over the U.S. invasion and occupation of Iraq, an act of protest that made him an international celebrity. The court's decision to review the charges against Muntadhar al-Zeidi comes as Iraq prepares after nearly six years to end America's costly grip over the country and give U.S. troops three years to pack up and leave. Which has absolutely nothing to do with this story, but AP boy will throw it in since he probably won't get too many more chances...
Thursday will also see the official handover of the most potent symbol of U.S. occupation, when Iraq takes formal control of the Green Zonea heavily fortified enclave surrounded by cement walls that extends over 4 square miles of downtown Baghdad and encompasses the U.S. Embassy and the seat of the Iraqi government. And now we know why the Grizzled War Correspondents are really leaving...
But in the most telling sign of the changes that are sweeping over Iraq, Tuesday's second anniversary of Saddam Hussein's hanging went by almost unnoticeda near-forgotten footnote in a war that has claimed the lives of more than 4,200 Americans and tens of thousands of Iraqis. The anniversary was not even marked in Saddam's hometown of Tikrit, where the insurgency quickly took hold after the 2003 U.S.-led invasion. Oh, yeah. I remember him. Big Moustache. Liked Doritos, right?
The trial of al-Zeidi was to begin Wednesday on charges of assaulting a foreign leader, which his defense team said carried a maximum sentence of 15 years. But a spokesman for Iraq's Higher Judicial Council, Abdul-Sattar Bayrkdar, told The Associated Press it was postponed pending an appellate court ruling on whether the charges should be reduced to simply insulting Bush. ...and maybe he can heal up a little bit.
The Iraqi journalist threw his shoes at Bush during a Dec. 14 joint news conference with Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki. Thousands demonstrated for al-Zeidi's release and hailed his gesture. I wonder how many of them remember his name?
Two of al-Zeidi's lawyers said they hoped the reduced charges, which carry a maximum sentence of three years, would allow al-Zeidi to be released on bail. No date was set for the appellate court ruling. "There is a difference between assault and insult; al-Zeidi wanted to express his objection to the occupation. So the case is within the context of an insult and not an intention to kill," his lawyer Diaa al-Saadi told the AP. I think Bush should've grabbed the shoes and beat him with them and let it end there.
The case transformed al-Zeidi from a little-known TV journalist into an international celebrity for defying Bush, but it also embarrassed al-Maliki who was standing next to the president when the shoes were thrown. Last week, al-Maliki sought to undermine the journalist's popularity by saying he had confessed that the mastermind of the attack was a militant known for slitting his victims' throats. Yeah, it was that...throat slitting guy.
Al-Maliki said that in a letter of apology to him, al-Zeidi wrote that a known militant had induced him to throw the shoes. The alleged instigator has never been identified and neither al-Maliki nor any of his officials have provided a further explanation. The letter was not made public. I was framed, I tells ya! Framed!
The journalist's family denied the claim and alleged that al-Zeidi was tortured into writing the letter. Did they pee on his Koran too?
Some are terrifying. Some are silent. But they're all very effective.
The five deadliest conventional weapons in the world are all part of the U.S. Armed Forces' arsenal, though many are used by other countries as well. Some date back to World War II in concept, but they are still lethal and continue to be used in battle in Iraq and Afghanistan.
The AC-130 aerial gunship: This comes in two forms, the AC-130H "Spectre" and the more heavily armed AC-130U "Spooky," both flown by the U.S. Air Force. Versions of the AC-130 were first deployed during the Vietnam War. It's designed to hit targets on the ground or at sea, firing Gatling guns and howitzers fore, aft and to the side. The AC-130's weakness is that it flies "low and slow," making it vulnerable to surface-to-air or air-to-air missiles.
"It can do a lot of damage," explains the Pentagon's Lt. Col. Mark Wright. "It's got a 75-millimeter cannon that can blow through buildings, vehicles. It's designed for taking out protective cover. ... The combination is very lethal -- it's a very feared weapons system."
The 'bunker buster' bomb: The British military first conceived of steel-nosed bombs that dropped heavily and quickly enough to penetrate underground targets.
During the first Persian Gulf War, the U.S. military quickly rigged together similar weapons to attack Iraqi facilities, and then spent the next decade perfecting the concept.
Today's bunker busters are usually laser-guided missiles, either rocket powered or artillery fired. "Instead of hitting the top [of the target] and exploding like a regular bomb, it will literally punch a hole through and then explode inside," explains Wright. "It's a very lethal weapon."
Laser-guided bombs: First used in Vietnam, these bombs (and some missiles) home in on a laser-illuminated target marked either by the shooter or a third party on the ground. Unpowered bombs use fins to steer themselves to the target; powered missiles use rocket or jet engines. Laser-guided missiles and bombs were used to great effect during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, offering unparalleled precision at hitting targets; for example, a tank in an alleyway could be destroyed from miles away without hitting the adjacent buildings.
But they do have some drawbacks -- they don't work well, or at all, in heavy dust, fog or smoke. "The biggest advantage is [not hitting] innocent civilians," says Wright. "You don't want collateral damage.
"Let's say the enemy sets up a position right next to a village," he explains. "Instead of having to plaster the area with explosives and inadvertently destroy the village or religious site, you can use this to pinpoint and take it out with surgical precision."
The .50-caliber sniper rifle: Confederate soldiers first mounted scopes on high-powered rifles during the Civil War, but the first specially designed sniper rifles for both police and military use came about in the 1970s. The barrels are precisely machined and specially mounted to minimize recoil.
Many Western sniper rifles use NATO standard 7.62-mm cartridges, but models using massive .50-caliber bullets are so powerful they can take out enemy ordnance by sheer force of impact. One .50-caliber model, the McMillan TAC-50, set the record for longest kill in 2002 when a Canadian corporal shot a Taliban insurgent from a mile and a half away in Afghanistan.
"The advantage is range," says Wright. "You can fire 2,000 meters plus, more than a mile, and hit a target accurately. ... If it hits it's probably going to kill."
Anti-personnel mines: These little hidden bombs cause such havoc in civil wars around the world that they've been banned by most nations. The U.S. still insists on retaining the right to use them, though it doesn't actively deploy them. Best known is the Claymore mine developed by the U.S. in the 1950s and widely copied worldwide, but possibly most notorious is the Soviet "Butterfly" model that during the 1980s killed and maimed Afghan children who thought it was a toy.
"We make extremely rare use of mines anymore," says Wright. "In the old days you had to go clean the mines up ... now you've got to remember to send people to clean that area, [because] civilians or your own troops may run into them."
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/30/2008 16:44
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#5
Although laser guided bombs had to wait for the laser to be invented before they could become reality, TV guided bombs were first used in World War II, by the Germans.
1) The Stealth aircraft
2) Drones of all sizes
3) The modern nuclear aircraft carrier
4) A Marine expeditionary unit, either aboard their special ships, or deployed.
5) Hellfire missiles that can be guided from several miles away into the back of a pick-up truck (as most of us have seen).
6) The still-reliable BUFF, capable of carrying more bombs than a WWII bomber wing.
7) Tomahawk sub-launched cruise missiles that can hit someone's bedroom window from 1200 miles away.
The list could go on for days, maybe even weeks.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 18:50
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#10
The A-10.
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
12/30/2008 19:24
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#12
A sternly-worded letter from the UN didn't make the list?
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 21:28
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#13
ION WAFF > COLD WAR TURNED HOT:BRITAIN FEARED SOVIET ANNIHILATION IN NATO-PACT WAR. Artic claims the Brits' Armed Forces only had enuff ammo to conventionally fight for TWO DAYS before considering surrender like France, or going NUKULAR [unilaterally]???
In the past few years, people seem to have forgone the conventional phone conversation in favor of punching in short text messages on tiny keypads, all while mobile phone carriers have cashed in lucratively. In 2008, 2.5 trillion messages were sent from cell phones worldwide, up 32 percent from the year before, according to the Gartner Group and reported by The New York Times.
But what also went up in the last three years was the price -- doubling from 10 to 20 cents per message while the industry consolidated from six major carriers to four.
Sensing a potential rip-off, Sen. Herb Kohl, D-Wis., chairman of the Senate Judiciary Subcommittee on Antitrust, Competition Policy and Consumer Rights, began to take a closer look at the doubling of prices American carriers were charging customers.
Kohl soon discovered that text messages are essentially very small files, costing carriers close to nothing to transmit. "Text messaging files are very small," the Democratic senator said, "as the size of text messages are generally limited to 160 characters per message, and therefore cost carriers very little to transmit."
Srinivasan Keshav, a professor of computer science at the University of Waterloo in Ontario, told the Times, "Messages are small. Even though a trillion seems like a lot to carry, it isn't."
Text messages aren't just tiny, they're also free riders tucked into control channels, or space reserved for operation of the wireless network. The channel uses space whether or not a text message is inserted. This explains why a message has limited character space. It must not exceed the length of the message used for internal communication between tower and handset to set up a call.
AT&T, Sprint and T-Mobile explained their pricing plans in a request made by Kohl, but failed to relay information about the cost of text messages. T-Mobile and AT&T said their message costs are unimportant, since they are part of a package deal.
With a $10 or $15 monthly plan, users can bring the price per message to a penny, if they use the monthly allotment.
In addition to Kohl's investigation, 20 class-action lawsuits have been filed around the country against AT&T and the other carriers, alleging price-fixing for text messaging services. Timothy McKone, AT&T's executive vice president for federal relations, told the senator that the suits had been filed "since your letter was made public" and said that he was "eager to clear up any misunderstanding."
#3
So I guess we don't need to worry about costs for R&D, tower maintenance, equipment upgrades, redundancy, etc.
Sure text messaging takes up a small amount of bandwidth, yet the 'roaming', streaming video, photos and internet access demanded by the mobile phone user is usually included in the plan at either 'break even' or even a loss in some cases.
Text Messaging pays the bills. Kind of like going to a restaurant for a big steak dinner (break even or loss) and staying around for a few drinks (lots o' markup).
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
12/30/2008 14:19
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#4
I think she's giving me a chest message.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/30/2008 14:29
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#5
What a coincidence, text also begins and ends with a "T".
#7
Text messaging was about the only way to communicate after Katrina and Rita. Landlines were out, and cell systems were so overloaded that you could not get or keep a connection long enough to complete a call. But text packets would 'get in line' and wait for an opening, and were small enough to get through before the system choked again. Or something like that - they worked and nothing else did.
#8
Nobody, especially the telcos, anticipated texting would be anything other than a fringe geek hobby. It costs the Telcos almost nothing and is a massive revenue stream. Probably THE most profitable activity for any business, anywhere.
#9
Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one, which is seldom since my correspondents don't know how to read the texts they get. I have My Yahoo sending me texts about all kinds of deadlines, comes in very handy, especially when traveling. Once I was hiking deep in a canyon of the Rio Grande, my cell phone said "No Service" and yet I received a text message in that very remote place. I looked up & could see a mountain top 50 miles away over the edge of the canyon. Very cool.
#11
"Strange that my dirt-cheap one-payment-per-year Tracfone allows me to receive as many text messages as I want at no extra charge at all. I spend about 8 cents to send one"
Do tell, Anguper Hupomosing9418. Feel free to e-mail me some more info about that phone, if you would, please. :-D
Wonder if you can transfer your own number to their phone? (On the other hand, I give my cell number out so seldom - and don't know it myself unless I look it up - that it probably wouldn't make any difference.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/30/2008 19:46
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The seven astronauts killed during the 2003 loss of NASA's space shuttle Columbia survived less than a minute after their spacecraft began breaking apart, according to a new report released Tuesday that suggests changes to astronaut training and spacecraft cabin design.
The 400-page "Columbia Crew Survivability Report" released today states that Columbia's ill-fated crew had a period of just 40 seconds between the loss of control of their spacecraft and its lethal depressurization in which to act on Feb. 1, 2003.
The crew's response was hampered by delays in donning their re-entry pressure suits, which ultimately would not have saved them during the searing plunge into the atmosphere anyway. "The Columbia depressurization event occurred so rapidly that the crew members were incapacitated within seconds, before they could configure the suit for full protection from loss of cabin pressure," the report states. "Although circulatory systems functioned for a brief time, the effects of the depressurization were severe enough that the crew could not have regained consciousness. This event was lethal to the crew."
One of Columbia's STS-107 crew members was not wearing a pressure suit helmet and three astronauts had not put on their spacesuit gloves, according to the report. At no point did crew error contribute to the loss of Columbia, which was not a survivable event, the report states. The design of Columbia's seats, too, decreased the crew's chances of survival as their restraints did not lock in place, subjecting the astronauts to extreme trauma from rotational forces. Their helmets were not head-conforming, resulting in injuries and lethal trauma, the report states.
The new report calls for enhanced astronaut training to help spacecraft crews transition from emergency response to survival mode. It also recommends that NASA design the seats and pressure suits for future spacecraft with loss of vehicle control in mind. Current astronaut pressure suits, for example, require astronauts to manually deploy their parachute during an emergency escape. Modifying the system to deploy automatically would increase an unconscious astronaut's chances if they survived a spacecraft's catastrophic descent.
Columbia broke apart during reentry while returning to Earth after a 16-day science mission. Investigators later found that a piece of shuttle fuel tank foam insulation punched a hole in the heat shielding that lined Columbia's left wing edge during its Jan. 16 launch. The damage allowed superheated atmospheric gases to penetrate the spacecraft's wing during re-entry, destroying the shuttle and killing the crew 16 minutes before their planned landing.
Once the spacecraft's cabin began breaking apart, Columbia's crew had no protection against the searing heat of re-entry outside, the report states, adding that the bright orange pressure suits could not withstand such conditions.
"The ascent and entry suit had no performance requirements for occupant protection from thermal events," the report states. "The only known complete protection from this event would be to prevent its occurrence."
#4
Won't make a damn where you plan to buy it. By the time we dig our way out of this Bailout debt we won't have enuf for METRO fare from L'Enfant Plaza to the Pentagon.
#1
Long overdue. Maybe now we will be free of needing to keep on the good side of the Pakistan government. It will force them to either work harder to keep our support or face the consequences of goping it alone. Couldn't have happened to a more deserving lot.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 16:59
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#3
Zbignew - Jimmy Carter's brains. I rest my case.
Posted by: ed ||
12/30/2008 15:09
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#4
Zbig and his pal Jimmah need to be disposed of in same manner as Jimmy Hoffa. Clean, thorough, final. They've caused trouble well beyond their intellectual capacity.
It's a strange world, but there you have it. I've [a writer for the Atlantic] been talking to friends of mine, former Palestinian Authority intelligence officials (ejected from power by the Hamas coup), and they tell me that not only are they rooting for the Israelis to decimate Hamas, but that Fatah has actually been assisting the Israelis with targeting information.
#4
They would have had a piss poor shockingly deficient HUMINT exploitation program if no one were conducting such operations. I suspect a parallel effort has been ongoing in Dinnerjacketland (the real target) for quite some time. I'm sure the IDF is hoping Iran will take the bait and do something entirely stupid.
#5
Abbas is an impotent, directionless leader, but he was taking the PA in a better direction than Arafat.
The enemy of your enemy is your friend I guess.
GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip -- Israel is considering suspending its Gaza offensive to give Hamas militants an opening to halt their rocket fire, but the threat of a ground offensive remains if the truce does not hold, an Israeli defense official said Tuesday. That sentence in and of itself demonstrates why Israel should dump Kadima, Labor, and all their associated and allied pols.
Israel's defense minister is to raise the proposal during a meeting of Israel's security Cabinet on Wednesday, the official said, speaking on condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to speak publicly. Israel TV's Channel 10 also reported such a proposal. At the same time, the security Cabinet will also be asked to consider various plans for a ground invasion, the defense official said.
The public rhetoric from Israeli officials has indicated they expect the operation to continue, and a Hamas spokesman said any truce was conditional on the opening of Gaza's borders.
Earlier Tuesday, Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert said the current, aerial phase of the operation was just "the first of several" that have been approved, an Olmert spokesman said. But after four days of airstrikes against the symbols of Hamas power, there are few targets left beyond buildings evacuated days ago. On Tuesday, the biggest bomb load yet struck an empty Hamas government complex, as well as security installations and the home of a top militant commander. So keep bouncing the rubble until you find out where the big turbans are hiding.
#1
Reinforcing the "lesson learned" in the last 8 years that air power can "condition" the battle area but unless the enemy surrenders ground forces ARE required.
Olmert has just bumped up against his worst nightmare. A truce will probably cost him the election as this would be the same result as 2006.
#4
The UN's De Soto was just on the BBC. He actually attempted to justify the rocket attacks as a signal from Hamas that they be included in negotiations.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008 15:09
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#5
Change will only occur when Israel annexes a significant portion of Gaza (preferably all) and kicks out the Palis.
Posted by: ed ||
12/30/2008 15:13
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#6
I hope that Israel rejects ANY and ALL truces with Hamas. By their actions, Hamas have shown that they are a terrorist organization with the purpose of the destruction of Israel. There should be NO negotiations, but just discussions as to where everyone and everything is that Hamas owns or controls.
If Israel backs down from a path of total victory and the destruction of Hamas, she will just be repeating the debacle of the Lebanon fiasco. Suicide on the installment plan.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/30/2008 15:26
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#7
Backdown? No, I smell a Dinnerjacket trip wire.
#10
Olmert has just bumped up against his worst nightmare. A truce will probably cost him the election as this would be the same result as 2006.
As I recall, Prime Minister Olmert will not be running in February, which agreement kept him from receiving a formal no-confidence vote in September or so, with all that entails. Tzipi Livni will head the Kadimah ticket vs. Ehud Barack for Labour and Benjamin Netenyahu for Likud.
#11
I assume for the sake of discussion Hama Rules do not apply and will never apply in Gaza. Mores the pity.
What are Hama Rules? Tis' a phrase coined by the sometime Jewish writer for the NYT, Tom Friedeman.
In 1980 Daddy Assad's regime was having troubles with "islamic fundies". He id'ed the location of the troubles: the city of Hama in Syria.
Daddy Assad surrounded the city of Hama with all the ground forces at his disposal. For seven days his ground forces pounded Hama. Few were permitted to leave. Low end estimation of the death toll: 10K. High end 25K.
The city was leveled. Thereafter the earth salted.
Oddly enough, Daddy Assad was never troubled with islamo-fundies during the remaining years of his regime.
Hence the term: Hama Rules.
Israel, take note. Daddy Assad didn't give a fig about world opinion. Why should you?
KOCHI: The security around the Cochin Shipyard has been beefed up to the highest levels after US intelligence alerted Indian agencies about fidayeen threat on the country's lone aircraft carrier INS Viraat currently undergoing major repairs here.
Top sources told The New Indian Express that a plot to attack Viraat using a helicopter was unearthed after internet transaction between Lashkar top brass was intercepted by technological intelligence unit of the US Government. Constant monitoring of emails and internet usage of LeT's technology chief Zarar Shah showed that he was studying the Viraat in detail.
"Same type of study was done about the Taj and other South Mumbai targets before the attack was launched. So this information is being viewed very seriously,'' the sources said.
Zarar Shah also did extensive study of the helicopter charter services in India, especially those in South India. "The inference points at the possibility of using a helicopter to launch a suicide attack to cripple Viraat. Lashkar has done extensive study on both the aspects. The US intercepts clearly confirm that Lashkar's interest in Viraat is more than a casual curiosity,'' the sources pointed out.
The information was passed onto Indian agencies along with other sensitive data transferred post-Mumbai terror strikes. And by the time the input was handed over to the Navy, Viraat had already left for Kochi for its repairs. The Navy, however, had spread an elaborate security blanket around the CSL by the time Viraat berthed in the first week of December.
"There is a security protocol assigned to a sensitive target like Viraat. We've initiated the procedures. The level was a notch higher this time given the existing tension,'' top sources said. The Navy has deployed its marine personnel also to guard against any intrusion from the water front.
The CISF has also intensified its patrolling along the Kochi backwaters. The high level of security will remain till Viraat completes her repairs and leaves Kochi. Sources said it may take up to five months for the extensive repair works to be complete.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008
11:57 ||
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#4
Thanks, John! Pics are when she was still in the Royal Navy. Wonder what the Indians want to change or "repair". Would LOVE to see a shot with the Viraat and the Nimitz together, just for comparison. I think the Iwo Jima is actually bigger.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 13:39
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Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008 13:54
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#7
The tale of the tape...
Viraat:
Displacement: 23,900 tons (standard)
28,700 tons (full loaded)
Length: 226.5 m (745 ft)
Beam: 48.78 m (90 ft)
Draught: 8.8 m
Propulsion: 2 x Parsons geared steam turbines with 76,000 shp
4 x boilers with 400 psi
Speed: 28 knots (52 km/h)
Range: 6,500 miles at 14 knots (26 km/h)
Nimitz:
Displacement: Approximately 97,000 short tons (88,000 t) full load
Length: Overall: 1,092 feet (332.8 m)
Waterline: 1,040 feet (317.0 m)
Beam: Overall: 252 ft (76.8 m)
Waterline: 134 ft (40.8 m)
Draft: Maximum navigational: 37 ft (11.3 m)
Limit: 41 ft (12.5 m)
Propulsion: 2 × Westinghouse A4W nuclear reactors
4 × steam turbines
4 × shafts
260,000 shp (194 MW)
Speed: 30+ knots (56+ km/h)
Range: Essentially unlimited
Iwo Jima:
Displacement: 40,530 long tons (41,180 t) full load
Length: 844 ft (257 m)
Beam: 110 ft (34 m)
Draft: 30 ft (9.1 m)
Propulsion: Geared Steam Turbines
Speed: 22 knots (25 mph, 41 km/h)
#9
Viraat is the former HMS Hermes, flagship of the Falklands force in 1982.
The ship has a convoluted history, started during World War 2, suspended incomplete, then resumed in the mid-50s with the latest carrier features such as angled flight deck and steam catapults. She was finished in 1959 and converted to V/STOL only in the 70s. In her C/TOL days, she operated aircraft as large as the Buccaneer strike aircraft (max gross 62000 lbs), which must have been quite a handful on a ship this size.
Mumbai- The state governments plan to set up a national maritime museum in INS Vikrant the vessel which is currently docked on the shores of Mumbai has been put on hold for the time being, as the Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC), which had earlier agreed to construct roads leading to the vessel in the middle of the sea, has backed out of the project. The civic body, instead of constructing the road as part of its responsibility, will now pay Rs 10 crore to the Navy.
INS Vikrant, which was Indias only carrier for over twenty years, was later put out of service because of poor condition. It was formally decommissioned in 1997 and is now preserved as a museum.
INS Vikrant is the only World War II-era British-built aircraft carrier to be preserved. Tourists, however, cannot go to the vessel, as there are no approach roads and the vessel is anchored in sea. The state government had sponsored a project for setting up a museum in the war ship and throwing it open for civilians. The project involved participation by various government organisations, including Port Trust, MMRDA and BMC.
In 2004, the civic administration decided to provide the basic civic amenities for the museum instead of just giving out money. Accordingly, it took the responsibility of constructing roads to reach the vessel.
There are two ways to reach the INS Vikrant: from Shahid Bhagat Singh Road to Dumaniya Road through BEST depot and another from Dr Moos Road, which can be reached to BMCs Colaba pumping station but the stretch till the vessel has to be reclaimed.
The civic officials, however, recently started claiming that only 300 metres of land belongs to BMC while the remaining 1.3 km is in the Navy and state governments possession, and hence, construction of roads was not possible for them.
We havent received the permission from the ministry of environment for reclaiming the sea portion and filling it to make way for road. Also, another stretch near Flower Garden, from which a road has to be paved from Shahid Bhagat Singh Marg, is not in BMCs acquisition, said a senior official of the Roads department of the BMC.
It was therefore decided not to construct the roads instead give the money, he added. The BMC will soon sign a Memorandum of Understanding with the Director General (Naval Project) on the issue. The proposal placed with the standing committee for handing over the money amounting to Rs 10 crore is expected to be discussed on Wednesday.
#13
The IMS (Indian Museum Ship) Vikrant is anchored off the Gateway of India and daily trips to see it are arranged from the Gateway of India by motor launches and the prices are Rs100 for the launch ride as well as the visit!!! But if you want to take pictures then there is an extra charge of Rs35 for still cameras and Rs100 for video cameras!!! Timings are from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm. The latest addition is a new gallery depicting the role of the aircraft carrier INS Vikrant during the 1971 war. Museum is not open to public during the monsoon season due to the choppy seas!!!
Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008 19:59
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Bummer! there goes my New Years resolution.
GIVING up alcohol can have serious side effects and people should find out if they are dependent on drink before going cold turkey in the New Year, rehabilitation experts warn.
Figures from the Australian Institute of Health and Welfare show that one in 10 Australians consume alcohol at levels harmful to health in the long term, while one in five consume alcohol once a month or more at levels considered to be harmful in the short term.
Odyssey House NSW chief executive officer James Pitts said people with an alcohol dependency could suffer serious withdrawal symptoms such as seizures, convulsions, cramps, vomiting, delusions and hallucinations.
Even in less severe cases, alcohol withdrawal could lead to tremors, sweating, nausea, confusion, irritability or anxiety, he said.
"While giving up alcohol is an admirable New Year's resolution, withdrawing from any drug you're dependent on, including alcohol, can have serious health consequences if it's not managed properly,'' he said.
"The real danger is that many people don't realise they are dependent on alcohol and may not seek advice from a healthcare professional before stopping drinking.
"We urge anyone who is concerned or even just curious about their alcohol use to visit the Odyssey House website to take an anonymous five-minute test that will show whether they are drinking at risky levels and might need help to stop drinking safely.''
Mr Pitts said the test was used by healthcare practitioners worldwide and allowed people to find out instantly if they had a problem by answering 13 multiple choice questions.
He said it was free, but people were asked to make a donation to help fund Odyssey House's work helping more than 800 people each year with drug and alcohol problems.
"Alcohol misuse is taking hold of Australian society like never before and Odyssey House now treats more people for alcohol than for illicit drugs,'' he said.
"While we don't know the exact causes, people may be turning to alcohol to drown their sorrows or using it as a legal drug to self-medicate their problems.''
#1
If it's like most tests of its kind there is no way to answer that clears you of alcohol dependency.
Its like getting a DUI and going to the 'evaluation' session, there is no way you are going to not get labeled an alcoholic if you have more than 3 drinks a week.
Tell them you drink 5 or 6 drinks a night sometimes and watch them begin to salivate.
#4
bigjim, see, the problem is you admit to drinking at night.
See, I only admit to drinking during daylight hours. It's much safer, since I am less likely to trip over the bottles and cans on my way to the bathroom than I am after 8 pm.
#7
I think that's dawdling service but please don't break my nose for saying so. Gotta love Robert Duvall. If he says to have a drink I'm having a drink.
in 1985 i was refereed by court for evaluation for drug and alcohol dependency. testing to be done at a local treatment facility. we sat down and they asked about 15-20 questions. at the end, the lady told me she was going to advise the court that it was her professional opinion that i receive treatment at her facility. i answered " well Duh... like there was any way you would have possibly not suggested i come and be forced to pay you the big bucks for your 'treatment'"
she and i argued for a few minutes, and eventually just to prove me wrong, she advised the court that no treatment was required.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/30/2008 23:55
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December 30, 2008: The navy blockade continues unbroken, despite desperate LTTE attempts to ship weapons and munitions in. There are only a few bits of coastline where the LTTE can land stuff, so it's easier for the navy to catch the smuggling attempts.
The fighting around the LTTE capital of Kilinochchi is apparently attracting the best fighters the LTTE has left. That's because some army units have been hit with well prepared and led counterattacks. These were attempts to push the army back, but these offensive operations failed. Sometimes there were heavy army casualties, but the soldiers stood their ground and stopped the LTTE attackers. That didn't happen 5-10 years ago, and is one reason why the LTTE are on their last legs. The rebels no longer have a qualitative edge on the battlefield.
Advancing troops have captured an LTTE airstrip, hidden under nets and foliage. The army is advancing up the east coast, past the town of Mullaitivu, and down the east coast along the Jaffna peninsula. The LTTE defenses consist of recently recruited fighters holding out in recently built bunkers. The morale of the LTTE fighters is rapidly declining, as is their battlefield effectiveness.
The government is also getting more information on the day-to-day whereabouts of LTTE leader Velupillai Prabakaran. The air force is bombing these locations, hoping to kill or wound Prabakaran (whose death would be a major blow to the LTTE). In any event, the army believes they will have Prabakaran, dead or alive, with six weeks. While there's always a chance that Prabakaran will flee the island and attempt to keep up a terror campaign from exile, that is considered unlikely. Sri Lankan diplomatic efforts have gotten the LTTE declared an international terrorist organization, and it's unlikely any nation would allow Prabakaran to operate within their borders.
WASHINGTON Buoyed by more recruiters, bigger bonuses and an elite reputation, the Marine Corps has grown by nearly 27,000 members in a little more than two years half the time that military officials believed it would take. While the rapid expansion has stretched the Marine budget and put some recruits in temporary or quickly refurbished barracks, it is also easing the strain on Marine forces tapped for duty in Iraq and Afghanistan.
In early 2007, the Marine Corps launched a program to expand its ranks planning to add about 5,000 Marines a year for five years, and reaching a total of 202,000 by 2012. But this month the Marines already hit 200,000, and Gen. James Conway, commandant of the Marine Corps, said they will meet their 202,000 goal in early 2009. According to Brig. Gen. Robert Milstead Jr., commander of Marine Corps Recruiting Command, the Marines brought on more than 500 additional recruiters and increased the budget for recruiting bonuses from $66 million in fiscal year 2007 to $89 million in 2008.
At the same time, as more recruits were coming in the doors, military leaders also launched a campaign to get more current Marines to stay on and re-enlist for another tour. In the fiscal year that ended Sept. 30, the budget for retention bonuses was $464 million, and that amount was boosted to $469.5 million for the current fiscal year. The bonuses made their mark. In fiscal 2008, 35 percent of active duty Marines re-enlisted, compared with 24 percent two years ago.
As the size of the Marine Corps grew, officials increased the number of battalions from 24 to 27, and bolstered the ranks of critically needed specialties, including linguists, cryptologists and intelligence officers. By 2007, Pentagon leaders approved plans to grow the Marines and the Army, the two services that have borne the brunt of combat duties for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, serving long and multiple tours in both countries.
Plans are to increase the numbers of active-duty Army, Army Guard and Army Reserve troops by 74,000 overall, with the active-duty force growing by 65,000 to a total of 547,000. A year ago, top Army leaders projected that they could accomplish their goal by 2010 also earlier than initially thought.
Lt. Col. Mike Moose, an Army spokesman, said the Army had grown to nearly 541,900 soldiers by the end of October. The active-duty troop increase will boost the number of Army combat brigades from the 2006 level of 42 to 48.
The Marine increase is already paying off. "We're already starting to see the injection of those units into the rotation schemes," said Conway, adding that putting just one more infantry battalion into the mix helps to extend the time other units get to spend at home between deployments. It used to be that Marines would spend seven months at war and seven months at home before turning around and deploying again. Now, said Conway, they are getting nine or 10 months at home. He said the top priority was to get more people into high stress units, including intelligence, reconnaissance and surveillance jobs. "We went early and often to those people and they were being ridden hard," said Conway. He said it's taken longer to fill out gaps in aviation units, because of the extra time it takes to get the aircraft and other equipment to them.
Marine leaders said retention rates may be benefiting a bit from the economic meltdown. Marines and their families may be deciding that now is a good time to stay on and wait out the plunging job market, said Milstead.
But while bonuses may lure recruits, a more lucrative enticement for first-time recruits may be the Marines' legacy and identity, Corps officials said. "Kids join the Marines because they want to join the Marines, not because they're tired of flipping burgers," Milstead said.
With the expansion all but over, Milstead said he has already told Conway he can reduce the pool of roughly 4,000 recruiters by more than 130 over the next two years shifting those Marines back into other jobs. And the retention pressure will also ease. "We opened the aperture on the retention side," Milstead said. But now that the Corps is about to meet its 202,000 goal, he added, "we're going to have to close it. We're going to have to reduce the number we allow to hang around the Marine Corps." That will be accomplished, Milstead said, by cutting reenlistment opportunities.
#2
The authorized increase in the Army and Marine Corps was a 'temporary' and not a permanent act by Congress [which sets the size and force structure authorization by Article I of the Constitution]. Let's all watch while the Donk Congress who played the understrength card during the last six years or so as a political gambit now either directly cuts the overall strength authorization or undermines it by failing to fund the support [facilities, training, maintenance, etc] needed to sustain it [rather than earmarks to Rep. Murtha's district et al].
#3
The best recruiting officer is the one serving after an attack on the USA. See Pearl Harbor, 9-11, remember the Maine, Lusitania. Gulf of Tonken not so much.
#5
the San Diego UT noted that Lt Gen. Victor Krulak died at age 95 today, RIP. I'd link but the UT site is buggy this evening
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 20:59
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#6
Gen. Krulak was Commanding General FMFPAC when I served in Vietnam. He advocated a strategy similar to the one used by the Marines in Anbar, but was overruled by Westmorland.
His son would become Commandant of the Marine Corps.
The Mighty Pak Army on the march...
PESHAWAR, Pakistan Pakistan closed the main route used to ferry supplies to U.S. and allied troops in Afghanistan on Tuesday after launching a fresh offensive against militants in the area.
The road through the Khyber Pass in the northwest of Pakistan has come under increasing attacks by militants seeking to squeeze Western forces fighting a resurgent Taliban in Afghanistan in recent months. U.S. and NATO soldiers in landlocked Afghanistan rely on the winding, mountainous route for delivery of up to 75 percent of their fuel, food and other logistical goods, which arrive in Pakistan via the port city of Karachi.
American commanders insist the attacks are not disrupting their mission in Afghanistan, but they also say they are exploring new routes. They also say they have enough supplies to last many weeks in the case the routes are blocked. The road has been temporarily closed to traffic at least twice this year for security reasons, each time for no longer than several days.
Fazal Mehmood, a civilian administrator in Khyber, said the army launched an offensive against insurgents there Tuesday morning after they ignored a deadline to surrender. "Because of these operations, supplies have been suspended to Afghanistan and vice versa," he told The Associated Press, giving no details on the offensive or how long the suspension was expected to last.
Gunmen have staged a series of raids on truck depots near the Pakistani city of Peshawar in recent weeks, killing several guards and burning hundreds of vehicles, including dozens of U.S.-bought Humvees destined for the Afghan army. During the summer, militants attacked and torched dozens of U.S. supply trucks on Afghanistan's main highway. A smaller number of supplies arrive in Pakistan by a second land crossing at Chaman in the southwest. That road was open Tuesday, a witness said.
NATO says it is investigating other possible supply routes to Afghanistan such as through central Asian states to its north. The alliance and U.S. officials say the escalating attacks on the Khyber and temporary suspensions are not affecting operations in the country. Guns and ammunition are not shipped through Pakistan.
On a normal day, some 300 trucks carrying military supplies travel up the pass. Media reports have said that truck companies are becoming increasingly unwilling to transport the goods because of the danger.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 12:53
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#2
A U.S. military spokesman in Afghanistan welcomed the operation against the extremists, despite the suspension of the supply route.
"We are glad that they're helping clean out what they call miscreants in that area that have been attacking the supply line," said Col. Greg Julian. "Temporary closure (of the supply line) is not a problem. It's best that they conduct this operation and clear out these trouble spots."
Tariq Hayat Khan, top administration official in the Khyber area, said security forces were battling the militants using helicopter gunships and heavy artillery.
"This operation will continue until the goal is achieved, which is nothing less then the elimination of troublemakers," Khan told The Associated Press. He did not say how long the road would be closed for.
A leading member of the Pakistan civil society has exposed the war-mongering ideology of the Jamaat ud Daawa, or JuD, the umbrella organization of the Lashkar-i-Toiba or Army of Purethe terror outfit responsible for the Mumbai mayhem in November that left 200 people dead and over 300 injured.
Dr. Rubina Saigol of Action Aid Pakistan has expressed her disgust at the teachings of the jihadist outfit that had tried to show a softer face to the world immediately after the Mumbai attacks by inviting journalists to its headquarters in Muridke, Punjab.
The United Nations Security Council on December 11 imposed sanctions on the Pakistan-based terror outfit and declared four of its top leaders Dawaa chief Hafiz Muhammad Saeed, suspected Mumbai terror mastermind Zaki-ur-Rehman Lakhvi, Haji Muhammad Ashraf and Zaki-ur-Bahaziq as global terrorists.
Saigol posted her views on a progressive Pakistani public yahoogroups emailing list called SPN, with nearly 5,000 members. She was responding to the views of another liberal Pakistani editor, Omar R. Quraishi, editorial page editor of largest circulation English newspaper The News International.
In his article, Quraishi wrote: "Regrettably, this tendency to act superior than the rest of the world, ignore one's own warts and what not and to blame the rest of the world for all that ills the Islamic world is something that is found in many ordinary Pakistanis as well. Whether they have been influenced by organisations such as the JuD or whether the organisations have been influenced by the society that they have grown up in is not the issue but rather that the value system and worldview of the JuD and the LeT is in fact something that a lot of Pakistanis share -- particularly the view that a Hindu/Zionist/ American conspiracy of sorts has been put in motion to annihilate the Muslim world."
India still has plans to bomb the Muridke headquarters of the terror outfit and many people in the renegade province of Baluchistan believe New Delhi would be fully justified in doing so.
Even Indian Muslims were calling for tit-for-tat against Pakistan's rogue spy service Inter Services Intelligence and elements within the country's omnipotent army--the fourth largest in the world and armed with nuclear weapons. "The attacks were India's 911. The terror infrastructure has to be brought down. If the Congress Party will not act, it will lose the elections," the scion of a leading Muslim family from Mumbai said on a request of anonymity.
Saigol concurring with Quraishi's view on Jamaat ud Daawa gave some glaring examples from textbooks "that they distribute to their students and which are not available openly in the market." She added the books are published by Jamaat ud Daawa press and are given to students free of charge.
"The Mullahs [Islamic cleric] say that the books are meant to 'inspire' and to inculcate a truly Islamic spirit among students and to enable them to view Islam as a complete way of life, rather than as a set of rituals," Saigol said. "Through these textbooks children are given inspirational ideas and introduced to the objectives of Islam as seen by the Mullah. They are thus introduced the glorious Muslim past to inspire them to violence to re-create the past."
She said Jamaat ud Daawa argues that Muslims alone have right to rule the world and are allowed to kill infidels that stand in the way of Islam and this is being taught in textbooks used by the Jamaat ud Daawa.
Saigol said Daawa glorifies violence and hate and teaches the new version of alphabets in which children learn Bandook for Bai, Talwar for Tai, Tank for Ttai, jehaz for jeem and khanjar for khai, rocket for rai and tayyara for To-ay. [In English, all this will translate into G for gun, S for sword, T for tank, J for jet, K for knife, R for rocket and A for airplane.]
"In the Urdu textbook, children are told that infidels are cowards by nature and when a holy warrior attacks them, they scream with terror and fear," she said. "Mujahideen are glorified as being on a mission from Allah and they are superheroes that kill Hindus and make infidels cower in fear," she said, referring from the pages of the textbook.
She deplored games are organized around violence and killing and the children play with guns and learn to shoot at balloons, adding they play guerilla games of ambushing infidels, and in one story, a ten year old boy kills hundreds of Russians in Afghanistan .
She said poems and stories are taught about young boys that wage jihad and children read fictitious letters from jihadis killed in battle. If I am killed in battle, celebrate, reads one letter to a mother and sister in the seventh grade textbook, and then admonishes, Make sure you conceal your body and never wear perfume. Obscurantists among Muslims call this decadent and sexist practice hijab.
"India is presented as an enemy and Saudi Arabia as a best friend. Kashmir appears as Pakistani territory forcibly snatched by Hindus and Pakistan as a country created only for Muslims."
Saigol said children are instructed to mercilessly beat up non-Muslims and are told in the second grade textbook that every student should become a holy warrior and that they should be willing to lay down their lives for the great nuclear power that is Pakistan.
Quraishi notes: "Another (JuD) post is devoted to Mother's Day, or rather to equating it more or less with paganism. In fact, another post is on how Muslims should beware of doing actions that make them equal to kaafirs [infidels] -- such as celebrating their holy days and festivals. Also, it is clearly mentioned that non-Muslims are kaafirs and should not be even befriended."
Even after passage of one month, Pakistan is still in self-denial about the identity of the Mumbai terrorists. Though Pakistan President Asif Ali Zardari initially admitted his country's non-state actors were involved in the Mumbai attacks, under the rogue army's instructions he has made a U-turn since then and said recently there were no solid proofs the lone surviving terrorist Ajmal Amir Kasab is a Pakistani national.
Pakistan's leading English newspaper DAWN--owned by a cousin of Hussain Haroon, Pakistan's permanent representative to the United Nations-- recently carried an interview of Kasab's father from the Punjab town of Faridkot, confirming his son's identity. Baring one, all the 10 Mumbai terrorists were from Punjab, stronghold of the Pakistan army.
Posted by: john frum ||
12/30/2008
08:29 ||
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It's that brutal time of year again, when the ruthless meritocracy that is the National Football League does its annual reckoning with its head coaches. Three of the league's 32 coaches got the sack yesterday, following three who were fired during this season, and there are undoubtedly more to follow.
Two of yesterday's dismissals weren't surprising: Rod Marinelli of the 0-16 Detroit Lions (that city can't catch a break) and Romeo Crennel of the 4-12 and perennially hapless Cleveland Browns. On the other hand, the New York Jets gave the boot to third-year coach Eric Mangini, whose team finished 9-7 and who only two years ago was called "Mangenious" because he took the team to the playoffs in his rookie year as coach. . . . However, the Jets lost four of their last five games despite a big offseason investment in players, and the local tabloid writers were calling for Mr. Mangini's head. Off it went. . . .
NFL coaches are highly paid celebrities who know the perils of their trade, so it is hard to feel sorry for them. But in this age of government failure and corporate bailouts, there is something refreshing about a line of work that is so unforgiving about performance. In the phrase of Bill Parcells, the head of football operations for the (11-5) Miami Dolphins and former Super Bowl coach, "You are what your record says you are."
Members of Congress can thank their lucky gerrymandered districts that they aren't judged by the same standard.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/30/2008
06:38 ||
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#1
Based on record, Ratgini did not deserve this; however Tannenbaum was not about to take the fall for hiring Brett Fartve.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/30/2008 10:15
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#2
Mangini is responsible for the calls but st.brett is responsible for executing the calls - 3 picks isn't executing the calls. Favre - a fun guy to watch but also the most over rated qb in history.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 21:45
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#4
Here in Berkeley-on-the-Lake, the pro Favre/anti Favre debate has been raging since spring. It has generated almost as much heat in the press as Obamania.
Today's sports page pundit (Tom Oates): "OK, NOW Brett Favre should retire and begin taking those first awkward steps on the road toward reconciling with Packer Fans....he has now succeeded in disappointing fans in both the smallest and largest NFL markets in a span of 6 months...."
I hate football, so I guess I can be a little more objective than my Packer fan neighbors in this matter. Do as the baseball umpires say: "Penalize the team that caused the problem." Favre's dithering about retirement caused the problem, therefore he is the one to blame here.
President-elect Barack Obama vowed on the campaign trail to shut down the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay. But he never said what he would do with the prisoners there. What to do with the 250 alleged foreign terrorists at the Cuba prison is the real question facing Obama, experts say. "The words sounds simple, but it's wrapped in some very complex issues," Air Force Col. Mo Davis, former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, said of shutting down the prison. "Saying it is a lot easier than doing it."
Terrorism experts and two recent analyses of unclassified information on the prison population indicate the men who remain there are either committed, highly skilled al-Qaeda operatives too dangerous to ever free, or Islamists whose native countries would do little to prevent them from rejoining the jihad.
Guantanamo opened in 2002 and once held hundreds of foreigners caught on battlefields overseas or nabbed based on intelligence against them. About 500 detainees since have been returned home. Some were low-level al-Qaeda sympathizers. Other, more dangerous men were released because their home countries vowed to keep tabs on them, according to the Pentagon. Still, the Pentagon has said several of those freed did return to jihad. One man released to his native country of Kuwait blew himself up in Iraq in May, killing six people.
Of the detainees who remain in Guantanamo, about 80 will be tried and either kept there or sent home to serve their sentences. Another 60 have been cleared for release, though the Pentagon has not found countries to accept them. Then there are about 110 men of whom little is known but who, the Pentagon says, may be too dangerous to America and its allies to ever be let out.
Thomas Joscelyn, a terrorism analyst and senior editor of The Long War Journal, has studied public information released by the Pentagon about the remaining Guantanamo detainees. He established four red flags to gauge how dangerous each detainee was: if they participated in an al-Qaeda or Taliban training camp, stayed at special Islamist guesthouses where terrorists are shuttled to the front or to training, participated in recruiting networks across the Middle East or engaged in hostilities in Afghanistan or elsewhere.
Joscelyn found that at least 46% engaged in hostilities, 48% participated in the recruiting network, 60% stayed in a guest house, and 72% attended training camps. These men have knowledge and skills that would be critical to al-Qaeda again, he said. "You have some guys who are a first-order threat," Joscelyn said.
A review by the Brookings Institution found that some of the "Gitmo 110" are eligible for release but have not been freed because their countries of origin are sympathetic to their cause. Hundreds of detainees have been released to countries such as Saudi Arabia, Afghanistan and Pakistan because the United States has good relationships with those countries and can trust that they will monitor the released detainees responsibly, said Benjamin Wittes, co-author of Brookings' report.
That has left Guantanamo with a disproportionately high number of lower-risk detainees from Yemen, which has not policed its population and serves as an easy gateway for terrorists into Iraq, Wittes said. Wittes cautioned that these men are far from harmless, describing them as "quite committed."
While the Obama transition team did not return e-mails seeking comment, the Pentagon says shutting down Guantanamo means only that another facility must be found. Pentagon spokesman Navy Cmdr. Jeffrey Gordon points to Mohammed Atta, one of the Sept. 11 hijackers. Atta had come up on the radar of national security officials well before 9/11 but had not committed a violent act. "What would you have done with them?" Gordon said. "These are enemy combatants who wish to do harm to the United States. Our government has an obligation to protect the public."
Others do not believe the Pentagon or the Bush administration when they call these men a threat. "We simply cannot take any of the administration's claims as true," said Air Force Maj. David Frakt, a defense lawyer who represents Guantanamo detainees. Frakt said many people who attend training camps or join jihadist movements do so sometimes to show solidarity with oppressed Muslims.
Each detainee is given an initial review by a military tribunal to determine whether they're an enemy combatant to be held until cessation of hostilities in the current war on terror. The combatant then receives an annual review to determine whether he is no longer considered a danger and is eligible for release.
Retired Army major general John Altenburg, who once oversaw the Guantanamo cases for the Pentagon, said those reviews are "unprecedented" in war. "In any other country, in any other place, they wouldn't be bothering to make that determination," Altenburg said. "They would just say, 'We've detained them legally and we can hold them.' "
Davis has disagreed, calling the review panels are unfair. He said most of the evidence presented in the review boards is classified and detainees were rarely able to confront the evidence used against them. Davis said the U.S. would be enraged if one of its soldiers were held under such conditions. But the Bush administration has said that U.S. soldiers are entitled to special treatment as prisoners of war because they follow the rules of war. They wear uniforms and answer to a command structure and a nation. Those in Guantanamo are not soldiers but terrorists who violate the rules of war by pretending to be civilians and targeting civilians, it says.
Altenburg said no matter the debate, the global war on terror will not end with the Bush administration and Obama will need to figure out what to do with captives in this war. "We can detain people that we apprehend in that war as long as the war is still going on," he said. "That may be 10 or 20 years."
#1
We took a bad rap back in the day, but hows about reopening Andersonville? We can do it cheaper in Georgia, it's a Right To Work state. Hot down here...just like back home, and the liberal press seldom visits.
#3
Perhaps Obama can start a foster program for wayward Gitmo residents. What better way to reintroduce them to society? Obama could kick the campaign off by taking in a few at his new residence in Washington. Picture a scene with a few Gitmo guys romping around the White House halls. Obama can do that! Yes, he can.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 11:35
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#4
Others do not believe the Pentagon or the Bush administration when they call these men a threat. "We simply cannot take any of the administration's claims as true," said Air Force Maj. David Frakt, a defense lawyer who represents Guantanamo detainees.
So how about it Major Dave? You got room for Khalid Sheikh Mohammed to bunk at your place?
And that pretty much sums up why the Dems have been so successful as the minority party. As disappointed as I am to see them in charge of everything now, I do look forward to seeing them actually grapple with the world's problems instead of simply demanding that someone else fix them.
In any case, Cynbat the Sailor and her fellow pirates have been sent fleeing back to Cyprus with their tails between their legs.
An Israel Navy ship clashed on Tuesday with a small boat carrying international activists with aid destined for Gaza, an Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman said. There were no reported casualties from the incident involving the small cabin cruiser "Dignity" that sailed from Cyprus late on Monday.
Israel has declared the coastal territory a closed military zone and said the Free Gaza Movement boat would not be permitted to dock. Yigal Palmor, a spokesman for Israel's Foreign Ministry, said the boat failed to respond to Israeli naval radio contact, and that an Israeli vessel "clashed with the ship." "Put a round over her bows, Mr. Jewish! Not too close, though. We don't want to fish them all out of the drink!"
Free Gaza Movement told Reuters their boat, carrying 3.5 tons of medical aid with 16 people aboard, was rammed and shot at while in international waters about 70-80 miles off Gaza by Israeli naval vessel.
Palmor denied there had been any shooting although the two ships made "physical contact." He said no one had been hurt and that the Israeli ship escorted the aid boat back to Cypriot territorial waters.
Israel has declared areas around the Gaza Strip a "closed military zone" after it launched an aerial offensive in the coastal territory on Hamas targets on Saturday. Free Gaza Movement said their boat was safe, but had sustained damage.
#1
...I suspect there was a great need for new underwear on that tub - suddenly running into well-trained men with guns who are allowed to kill you has a tendency to get your attention.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
12/30/2008 6:09
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#2
Why is McKinney's scow still afloat? C'mon, IDF, you guys are falling down on the job.
Posted by: Mike ||
12/30/2008 6:43
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#3
We can add another name to the long list of sold-out terror tool "journalists," NBC's Tracie Potts.
During her report this morning, Potts characterized Cynbat the Sailor McKinney's terror-tub as being "loaded with American relief workers and medical supplies,' though the tools themselves claim that the 15 passengers represent 11 different countries.
Potts also presented a McKinney sound-bite declaring that "every piece of rubble in Gaza was put there by American weapons," then of course failed to challenge this falsehood. Potts's naturally placed great emphasis on civilian casualties and dead children- when the numbers didn't suffice to raise ire, she let her tone of horror and amazement do the lying job for her: "374 people have been killed, AT LEAST 62 OF THEM CIVILIANS!" There was also a series of bites on Arab aid to Hamas, with Potts declaring breathlessly that "other Arab countries have come to Palestine's defense."
#10
She's just rushing into the latest headline story, not unlike Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have done a thousand times before her. Next week she'll be suing Israel for her incontinence.
#23
Civilians aboard the Dignity being threatened by the Israeli military:
(UK) Denis Healey, Captain
Captain of the Dignity
(Greece) Nikolas Bolos, First Mate
Nikolas is a chemical engineer and human rights activist.
(Jordan) Othman Abu Falah
Othman is a senior producer with Al-Jazeera Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.
(Australia) Renee Bowyer
Renee is a schoolteacher and human rights activist. She will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.
(Ireland) Caoimhe Butterly
Caoimhe is a reknowned human rights activist and Gaza Coordinator for the Free Gaza Movement.
(Cyprus) Ekaterini Christodulou
Ekaterini is a well-known and respected freelance journalist in Cyprus. She is traveling to Gaza to report on the conflict.
(Sudan) Sami El-Haj
Sami is a former detainee at Guantanamo Bay, and head of the human rights section at Al-Jazeera Television. He will remain in Gaza to report on the ongoing military onslaught.
(UK) Dr. David Halpin
Dr. Halpin is an experienced orthopaedic surgeon, medical professor, and ship's captain. He has organized humanitarian relief efforts in Gaza on several occasions with the Dove and Dolphin. He is traveling to Gaza to volunteer in hospitals and clinics.
(Germany) Dr. Mohamed Issa
Dr. Issa is a pediatric surgeon from Germany.
(UK/Tunisia) Fathi Jaouadi
Fathi is a television producer and human rights activist. He will remain in Gaza to do human rights monitoring and reporting.
(USA) Cynthia McKinney
Cynthia is a former U.S. Congresswoman from Georgia, and the 2008 Green Party presidential candidate. She is traveling to Gaza to assess the ongoing conflict.
(Cyprus) Martha Paisi
Martha is a senior research fellow and experienced human rights activist.
(UK) Karl Penhaul
Karl Penhaul is a video correspondent for CNN, based out of Bogotá, Colombia.
(Iraq) Thaer Shaker
Thaer is a cameraman with Al-Jazeera television.
(Cyprus) Dr. Elena Theoharous, MP
Dr. Theoharous is a surgeon and a Member of the Cypriot Parliament.
Suspected separatist terrorists insurgents have shot dead three people including a soldier in Thailand's Muslim-majority far south, police said on Tuesday.
A 41-year-old man and a 26-year-old woman - both employees of the state-owned telephone operator - were killed in a drive-by shooting as they travelled together in a car in Pattani province on Monday evening. Later that night in the same province, a 43-year-old soldier was shot dead and six troops were injured after they were ambushed by a group of terrorists rebels who are fighting for all the usual reasons a separate state in the three far-southern Thai provinces.
#1
The Thai jihad continues, with virtually no coverage by the mainstream media, and no concern from the UN, Red Thingy, or any of the other usual suspects.
#4
Unfortunately the weather was mostly cloudy over Gaza on 12-27 and 12-28. A lot of missiles were fired that would have been destroyed if the IAF had better weather.
#8
I hope they identified the building those missiles were coming out of, and have targeted it with some deep-penetration missiles. I don't give a da$$ if it's a hospital - anything used to store military weapons is a legitimate military target.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 14:16
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#9
Here is a link to the Israeli Defense Force YouTube channel, with all the links to available videos. Israel seems to be ahead in the Propaganda War this time!
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 19:14
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The "Graphic" warning isn't a joke - this is real horrorshow! You've been warned.
To the paleos (and world press), I have only this to say: Remember that this is the result of Hamas leadership. This all could have easily been avoided if you'd only stopped poking the bear. That is all.
#3
It's the website where suspicious posters are redirected to by the blog's intricate inner workings, though your post actually made it, since you are a regular, but you got a taste of the owner's peculiar taste in tourism & humor anyway.
#5
Usually I hate liveleak videos because they're blocked by the Great Firewall of China, but I'm home for the holidays so I can actually see this one.
I suppose it never enters people's minds that certain sites are blocked outside of America.
#6
Apparently "basic first aid" doesn't appear in the Hamas police academy syllabus.
Yeah, but they do say "allah" quyite a bit, and even seem to have gunsex on the side, so, that's pretty close; plus, they jump great through firy loops. Anyway, heartwarming vid (but I'm a bigot), only thing missing is the IAF taking a leaf out of the paleo playbook, and targeting the rescuers with a strafing run or something. Oh, well. Can't have EVERYTHING, I guess.
#7
I suppose it never enters people's minds that certain sites are blocked outside of America.
Yup, but LL is usually the first vid website to have content like that, it shows eventually on youtube, but later. So, often some websites are used because it's where the goodies are. Enjoy your vacation, by the way!
#9
From the kind of treatment seen on the video, the best way to increase lethality might be to let the terrorist "medics" in. Some of those jihadis are still alive but not for long if they continue to be thrown about and hauled around like so many sacks of potatoes.
#16
OK - you're a doctor. Happy? Now quit bleeding on me
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 9:05
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#17
Note there are NO women or children here, all men in uniform. I think the dude with all those broken teeth might survive, but the convulsing "grunter" is surely a goner....
#20
Well speaking from experience, there isn't a first aid procedure in the books that will offer any survivability after being cut in half by flying schrapnel or being decapitated.
Just the shock wave from a 1000 pounder on a building will break every bone in your body and turn your insides into mush if you are too close.
Sorry guys but that's life in the fast lane.
Mess with a military power that has 21st century hardware when you only have a few zillion AK's and some Rpg's and you are going to find yourself gathering your dead.
I have no sympathy for these people because they would be setting off suicide bombers and dropping rockets in Time Square if they could get to us.
Posted by: James Carville ||
12/30/2008 10:57
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#21
Last night I ran an errand on my wife's behalf. My job was to drop off a roaster to her brother in advance of his New Year's Day party.
My brother-n-law is the product of a liberal education and, therefore, pro-terrorist and anti-semite.
I gave him the roaster then handed him some candy. He asked why the candy? I told him I was just doing a poor imitation of the paleos that handed out candy throughout the neighborhood on 9-11.
He knew exactly what I was referring to, but wasn't amused.
#25
Yup, just normal combat zones scenes. This ought to be shown on Al-Jizz in a 24 hr loop so the Brave Lions could see what happens when you go out and play with rockets and mortar tubes. It's called payback.
#27
Well speaking from experience, there isn't a first aid procedure in the books that will offer any survivability after being cut in half by flying schrapnel or being decapitated.
Golly, James, I think you're the first Rantburger who admits to posting from the Great Beyond. Mr. Pruitt, I think your website has set another record!
Actually, it appeared to me that the first and second bodies, at least, are actually the same person: picked up, dropped, then given the chance to moan for the camera. Perhaps some of Rantburg's expert visual analysts can confirm/deny whether the Palestinians are up to their usual tricks, camera-wise.
#28
"Shell, range 800 yards. Advance the round. Loader, load the round. Rammer, ram the round. Fuse the piece. Ready! FIRE!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/30/2008 16:13
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#29
"The "Graphic" warning isn't a joke - this is real horrorshow"
*yawn*
I've seen worse. And done something better about it.
I'll see if I can find my nanoviolin....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
12/30/2008 16:31
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#30
Maybe I'm desensitized, but it occurs to me that this stuff is gory only if you've never prepared meat for consumption. Or - for the TV generation - watched CSI, or shows like Nip/Tuck.
#31
Zhang Fei: Maybe I'm desensitized, but it occurs to me that this stuff is gory only if you've never prepared meat for consumption. Or - for the TV generation - watched CSI, or shows like Nip/Tuck.
Me--->9/11.
.
Thanks ZF! and thanks AC! We will Never Forgit!
.
Posted by: Red Dawg ||
12/30/2008 18:18
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#32
>The "Graphic" warning isn't a joke
Call me prudish if you will, but I didn't think it was suitable for kids or the squeamish, and was worthy of a stern warning.
#34
Call me prudish if you will, but I didn't think it was suitable for kids or the squeamish, and was worthy of a stern warning.
Don't get me wrong - the warning might be a good idea. The interesting thing, though, is that the Palestinians aren't exactly puking their guts out at the sight of the wounded and dead. I have to wonder whether the Hollywood depictions of human reactions to this kind of stuff - gunplay, violent death - is just so much overacting.
CHEYENNE, Wyo. -- Yellowstone National Park was jostled by a host of small earthquakes for a third straight day Monday, and scientists watched closely to see whether the more than 250 tremors were a sign of something bigger to come.
"They're certainly not normal," Smith said. "We haven't had earthquakes in this energy or extent in many years."
"This is an active volcanic and tectonic area, and these are the kinds of things we have to pay attention to," Smith said. "We might be seeing something precursory.
"Could it develop into a bigger fault or something related to hydrothermal activity? We don't know. That's what we're there to do, to monitor it for public safety."
Smith said it's difficult to say what might be causing the tremors. He pointed out that Yellowstone is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago. He said Yellowstone remains very geologically active -- and its famous geysers and hot springs are a reminder that a pool of magma still exists five to 10 miles underground.
#2
You have one big pi$$ed off caldera under there. We need a buzillion geothermal plants. If this thing blows, it will put some serious hurt on the US and the rest of the world will starve, too.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/30/2008 2:25
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#3
It isn't a matter of "if", it is when it blows. And it will, someday.
#6
This is, possibly - intermediate case, where everything east of the caldera gets treated to a conformal coating of hot ash as far out to the mid-Atlantic, ranging in depth from god knows how deep to a few feet. Best case is a few inches. Oh, and it will take years to clear the atmosphere. Ice age follows.
Damn that Al Gore! Must have visited YNP over the holidays.
Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/30/2008 8:24
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#7
If it goes, it's Toba Part II. Call Mr. Darwin to the white courtesy phone. Adapt or perish. Everything east will become digs for future archeologists, sort of a later day Minoan excavation.
#10
Linky no worky, lotp. The History Channel did a good story on this last Summer.It seems one end of the caldera is rising. There is a small lake there and the water is flooding areas that have been dry since it was found.We live on a dynamic planet.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
12/30/2008 9:41
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#11
It's just Halliburton doing some routine testing. Nothing to see here.
#12
There hath he lain for ages and will lie, Battening on huge seaworms in his sleep; Until the latter fire shall heat the deep; Then once by man and angels to be seen, In roaring he shall rise and on the surface die.
Volcanic hazards
The last full-scale eruption of the Yellowstone Supervolcano, the Lava Creek eruption, ejected approximately 240 cubic miles (1000 cubic kilometres) of rock and dust into the sky.
Geologists are closely monitoring the rise and fall of the Yellowstone Plateau, which averages +/- 0.6 inches (about 1.5 cm) yearly, as an indication of changes in magma chamber pressure.
The upward movement of the Yellowstone caldera floor almost 3 inches (7 centimeters) per year for the past three years is more than three times greater than ever observed since such measurements began in 1923.[8] From mid-Summer 2004 through mid-Summer 2008, the land surface within the caldera has moved upwards, as much as 8 inches at the White Lake GPS station.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/30/2008 9:53
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#14
Let us all Hope that Change does not come to Yellowstone.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
12/30/2008 10:09
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#15
It's what's known as a super volcano. Geologists in the past knew one was there by the rocks but couldn't find the caldera. What they never suspected was that the YNP valley WAS the caldera...it's that big.
Mt. St. Helens was a "1" this would be a "5". You can't imagine the devastation.... Denver -gone, Chicago - under tens of feet of ash. global temps plummet and crops die for several years. mass starvation. Geologically speaking, we're overdo at 700k years. Studied this in grad school - I have a Masters in Geology. Not a pretty picture but the likelihood of eruption in still small in our lifetimes. I saw the special on TV as well. The north end of the lake is rising indicating that the magma dome is uplifting deforming the crust. A 3X increase in measurement since 1923 (a geologic split second) warrants a look see.
#18
What this article fails to mention is that not only is Yellowstone is the caldera of a volcano that last erupted 70,000 years ago, but it was a Megavolcano. Imagine an eruption 2,500 times as powerful as Pompeii.
#29
There has been near daily earthquakes for some time, with dormant geysers erupting again and others drying up. The incline of the Yellowstone River had changed so much last time we were there, the spawning fish had difficulty jumping uphill to get back to the lake. Many exhausted themselves and died before egglaying, worrying the Park and this was probably 15 years ago. I had no idea the damage a volcano could do, but we had ash on our cars on the Great Plains following Mt. St. Helens, showing how far the jetstream can carry it.
#32
There are volcano calderas, cinder-cones, and magma chimneys all over the western US, from Colorado to California. Most of them were caused by techtonic plate activity from both the west and the east. There are still "hot spots" all across the West, mostly identified by hot springs. The scenario in Wyoming could result in anything from a Vesuvius-type eruption to a mega-explosion that would kill 1/3 of the people in the United States. The problem is, it's impossible to judge which scenario will hold sway until it happens. If it's the big one, expect every fault in the US, Canada, and Mexico to let go, and for dozens of secondary volcanos to sprout up. Not sure about an Ice Age, but the next 50 years following such an event will be "very interesting".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 19:55
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#33
WORLD MIL FORUM > RUSSIAN MILITARY EXPERTS: POSSIBLE BREAKUP OF USA [Igor Panarin-claimed] CLOSER TO 2020 [10 years = 2019], THAN 2010!
As per IGOR:
* CHINA + RUSSIA + JAPAN to share control of former CONUS, +
* San Francisco, Washinton, + Seattle > Chinese sphere of influence, +
* CALIFORNIA = either independent REPUBLIC OF CA or under CHIN-JAPANESE DOMINATION [lessor = Mexico], +
* TEXAS = DITTO AS PER CA, OR ELSE UNDER MEXICO?
* NEW YORK CITY = join EU?
* VARIOUS NORTHERN, MIDWEST STATES = REPUBLIC OF CHIMERICA [RoChina in America = NOT TAIWAN], OR ELSE REPUBLIC OF NORTH AMERICA [includ CANADA = Mackenzie Bros]???
OTOH, FREEREPUBLIC POSTER(S) > SCREW IGOR - USNA = "UNITED STATES OF NORTH AMERICA" [CONUS + Canada + Mexico, etal.] SCENARIO IS MORE FEASIBLE/REALISTIC???
#36
Iff the Caldera does blow big-time, I'm sure HAWAII + HAWAIIAN ASIAN-BASED TOURISM + DEV will like their NEWFOUND NEW EAST PACIFIC ISLANDS [formerly known as the US CONUS West Coast]. Iff there's one thing JAPAN TOURISM likes, ITS ISLANDS - CHINA ON ITS PART WILL PROB HAVE TO FIRST RESEARCH AND VERIFY THAT AN ANCIENT CHIN SEA EXPLORER FORMALLY DISCOVERED THE PRE-CALDERA US WEST COAST, OR IN ALTERN HAD STEPPED "FIRST FOOT" ON THE POST-CALDERA NEW ISLANDS???
That outrage you hear is the ESKIMO-INDIAN LIBERATION FRONT.
Edited for length, go read the whole thing...it's basically what we've been saying for ages, but since it's coming out of leftwing mouths, all the sudden it's acceptable. We just have to hope that the Dutch aren't too far gone, though I fear they may have crossed the line of no return already.
Two weeks ago, the country's biggest left-wing political grouping, the Labor Party, which has responsibility for integration as a member of the coalition government led by the Christian Democrats, issued a position paper calling for the end of the failed model of Dutch "tolerance."
It came at the same time Nicolas Sarkozy was making a case in France for greater opportunities for minorities that also contained an admission that the French notion of equality "doesn't work anymore."
But there was a difference. If judged on the standard scale of caution in dealing with cultural clashes and Muslims' obligations to their new homes in Europe, the language of the Dutch position paper and Lilianne Ploumen, Labor's chairperson, was exceptional.
The paper said: "The mistake we can never repeat is stifling criticism of cultures and religions for reasons of tolerance." WHOA WHOA WHOA what is this?
Government and politicians had too long failed to acknowledge the feelings of "loss and estrangement" felt by Dutch society facing parallel communities that disregard its language, laws and customs. Native Dutch don't get these privileges - they're racists...how can this be?
Newcomers, according to Ploumen, must avoid "self-designated victimization."
She asserted, "the grip of the homeland has to disappear" for these immigrants who, news reports indicate, also retain their original nationality at a rate of about 80 percent once becoming Dutch citizens.
Instead of reflexively offering tolerance with the expectation that things would work out in the long run, she said, the government strategy should be "bringing our values into confrontation with people who think otherwise." This is nothing less than earthshaking.
There was more: punishment for trouble-making young people has to become so effective such that when they emerge from jail they are not automatically big shots, Ploumen said. Getting tough on law and order? I'm getting the vapors.
For Ploumen, talking to the local media, "The street is mine, too. I don't want to walk away if they're standing in my path. Sounds like a Texas sheriff. Again, utterly shocking to hear this.
"Without a strategy to deal with these issues, all discussion about creating opportunities and acceptance of diversity will be blocked by suspicion and negative experience."
And that comes from the heart of the traditional, democratic European left, where placing the onus of compatibility on immigrants never found such comfort before.
It's a point of view that makes reference to work and education as essential, but without the emphasis that they are the single path to integration.
Rather, Labor's line seems to stand on its head the old equation of jobs-plus-education equals integration. Conforming to Dutch society's social standards now comes first. Strikingly, it turns its back on cultural relativism and uses the word emancipation in discussing the process of outsiders' becoming Dutch. !!!!!!!! This is nothing less than a repudiation of multiculturalism!!!!
For the Netherlands' Arab and Turkish population (about 6 percent of a total of 16 million) it refers to jobs and educational opportunities as "machines of emancipation." Yet it also suggests that employment and advancement will not come in full measure until there is a consciousness engagement in Dutch life by immigrants that goes far beyond the present level.
Indeed, Ploumen says, "Integration calls on the greatest effort from the new Dutch. Let go of where you come from; choose the Netherlands unconditionally." Immigrants must "take responsibility for this country" and cherish and protect its Dutch essence.
Not clear enough? Ploumen insists, "The success of the integration process is hindered by the disproportionate number of non-natives involved in criminality and trouble-making, by men who refuse to shake hands with women, by burqas and separate courses for women on citizenship.
"We have to stop the existence of parallel societies within our society." This is what multiculturalism is. They built their society, and now they have it, and this is where we've always said it would lead. And now they decide they don't want it? A bit late, fellows.
And the obligations of the native Dutch? Ploumen's answer is, "People who have their roots here have to offer space to traditions, religions and cultures which are new to Dutch society" - but without fear of expressing criticism. "Hurting feelings is allowed, and criticism of religion, too." Had to bold that, too. People go to JAIL for criticizing Islam in Holland. We'll see if this gets off the ground, and what the real leftists say about it. I long for the day that we can go back to having real debates with real liberals, the JFK type, instead of just being called racists because we have differing opinions.
#1
Dutch are pretty hard to anger. But you really don't want to be around when they lose their patience.
Though they had been picked on for many years by the Vikings, when the Frankish Dutch lost patience, in the Battle of Leuven in 891, it was said that Viking bodies were so numerous they blocked the river.
#6
(She)Liliane Ploumen: "The success of the integration process is hindered by the disproportionate number of non-natives involved in criminality and trouble-making, by men who refuse to shake hands with women, by burqas and separate courses for women on citizenship."
Beware of pi**ed-off feminists, insulted and dissed by Islamo-boys. Especially amoral and proud of it Dutch ones. Sharia will put an end to hand-shaking, destroying business civilization as we know it.
#7
You use what you've got as an issue. Attacks on gays weren't enough (sorry, Pim) but dissing women takes it to another level. It's about damned time.
#8
Ok, so we've got some interesting words coming from unexpected sources. Wake me when there's any real action, ok? Because until that happens, none of this really means a tinker's damn.
Not a description of a single event, but a wrap-up of what we've been following...
Taliban militants are beheading and burning their way through Pakistan's picturesque Swat Valley, and residents say the insurgents now control most of the mountainous region far from the lawless tribal areas where jihadists thrive. The deteriorating situation in the former tourist haven comes despite an army offensive that began in 2007 and an attempted peace deal.
It is especially worrisome to Pakistani officials because the valley lies outside the areas where al-Qaida and Taliban militants have traditionally operated and where the military is staging a separate offensive. "You can't imagine how bad it is," said Muzaffar ul-Mulk, a federal lawmaker whose home in Swat was attacked by bomb-toting assailants in mid-December, weeks after he left. "It's worse day by day." It's probably an American plot...
The Taliban activity in northwest Pakistan also comes as the country shifts forces east to the Indian border because of tensions over last month's terrorist attacks in Mumbai, potentially giving insurgents more space to maneuver along the Afghan frontier. Militants began preying on Swat's lush mountain ranges about two years ago, and it is now too dangerous for foreign and Pakistani journalists to visit. Interviews with residents, lawmakers and officials who have fled the region paint a dire picture.
Security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in various areas of Mamoond tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Monday, injuring four people. According to local residents, armed men fired eight rockets at the agency headquarters, Khar. No casualty was reported. A house was also damaged in the shelling. Separately, armed men burned the houses of eight pro-government tribal elders in the tehsil. On Thursday, a grand jirga of the Salarzai tribes had resolved that they would not allow outsiders on their land. The gathering had discussed the recent attacks on tribal lashkars and a new strategy to meet the challenges. The elders had asked the government to establish more security posts to ensure the government's writ.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
I studied that photo during my training to be a photo interpreter for the Air Force. We also got the "before" and "after" shots. IIRC, that's the Krupp Hamburg steel works that are being pounded. Destroyed a lot of houses, killed a bunch of civilians, but didn't do much to shut down Krupp. One of the reasons it took so many aircraft and so many bombs was that only about 10% actually hit the target. Modern aircraft put 95% of their weapons on target.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 13:54
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Maulvi Nazir, the Taliban chief in Ahmedzai Wazir areas of South Waziristan Agency, on Monday asked the government to apologise for killing of civilians and mujahideen by drones attacks carried out by the United States-led coalition. Hey, Maulvi. Did you hear that?
Hear what?
That...noise. Way off. In the distance.
Maulvi Nazir's spokesman said the Taliban would support the Pakistan government to defend the country against an invasion by India if it 'publicly apologises and pulls out' from the US-led coalition fighting the war on terror. "If Pakistan tenders an apology over the killing of mujahideen and pulls out from the US-led coalition, we will defend the country against any Indian aggression," the spokesman read out Nazir's statement on telephone. Nazir's statement is the first since he survived an October 31 US missile attack near Wana, the headquarters of South Waziristan.
He said, "Should we defend a force which killed hundreds of innocent mujahideen, or helped send them to Cuba, or earned dollars in return for our blood, or which is still an ally of the US?"
"The US has not inflicted damage on us as much as Pakistan has," he said, holding Pakistan responsible for 'helping' the US target the Taliban through unmanned spy planes. He said if Pakistan 'does not render an apology' over its anti-Taliban policy, "we will regard Pakistan as an enemy alongside India and the US".
Nazir, who accepted the army's help for the popular drive against Uzbek Al Qaeda fighters in March 2007, called the Israeli airstrikes on Gaza as 'attack on Waziristan' adding that with "the US defeat, Israel will also vanish from the world map".
He also called all statements by other Taliban leaders pledging support against 'Indian adventurism' irresponsible.
This article starring:
Maulvi Nazir
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
Does Nazir think that Taliban has anything to apolegize for? No? I thought as much.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 11:16
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Radical fighters on Monday regained control of two towns in central Somalia after two days of clashes with a rival group that left at least 20 dead, witnesses said.
The Al Shabab fighters battled the Ahle Sunna Wal-jama'ah - a moderate religious group - for control of Guriel and Dhusamareb. "The Shabab fighters completely control Guriel town after pushing out the Ahle Sunna Wal-jama'ah and other fighters," Guriel resident Abdullahi Mahamud Yusuf said. At least five people were killed and eight wounded in Guriel on Monday in new fighting between the two sides. The Shabab also recaptured Dhusamareb, some 400 kilometres northeast of Mogadishu.
The unrest came as President Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed resigned after four years in office marred by bitter power struggles that plunged the country into further turmoil. On Sunday, Ahle Sunna Wal-jama'ah called for a jihad against the Shabab, blaming them for increased bloodshed in the country. A Shabab official blamed Ethiopian troops of supporting some religious groups against them. "Ethiopia is arming some groups with religious names who are attacking the Shabab fighters. They won't succeed in their goal which is aimed to stop the jihad against the enemy of Allah," Sheikh Husein Sheik Ali Fido said.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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Hmmmmmmmmmm...maybe he doesn't give a shit. Maybe he's hoping it'll all be over by the 20th ... I actually find it encouraging, but that's just me.
President--elect Barack Obama blew the first opportunity that had come his way to show that unlike his predecessors, he was going to adopt a more even-handed approach to the Palestine question by choosing to keep quiet after savage Israeli airstrikes across Gaza.
Obama who was expected by people in Arab and Muslim countries to turn his back on earlier American administrations that have supported Israel, right or wrong, could only have caused widespread disappointment among those who were hopeful that he would be different. If his first reaction to the Israeli outrage is any indication, it is clear that he is going to be as enthusiastic in his support of Israel as his predecessors.
While, as could have been predicted, the Bush White House held Hamas responsible for having forced Israel's hand, Obama, who spoke for eight minutes on Saturday to Condoleezza Rice, secretary of state, could not bring himself to say even one word about the savage Israeli attacks which continued on the second day, resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians. All an Obama spokesman was prepared to say was, "He (Obama) will continue to closely monitor these and other global events." Bracketing the Israeli assaults with "other global events" is intended to suggest that the Israeli airstrikes were yet another of "global events' that called for no more notice than the president-elect had already taken of them.
The White House said it holds Hamas responsible for the renewal of deadly violence in Gaza after the Islamist group broke its ceasefire with Israel. Rice said on Saturday, "The United States strongly condemns the repeated rocket and mortar attacks against Israel and holds Hamas responsible for breaking the ceasefire and for the renewal of violence in Gaza." Meanwhile, Howard L Berman, chairman of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, said in a statement, "Israel has a right, indeed a duty, to defend itself in response to the hundreds of rockets and mortars fired from Gaza over the past week. No government in the world would sit by and allow its citizens to be subjected to this kind of indiscriminate bombardment. The loss of innocent life is a terrible tragedy, and the blame for that tragedy lies with Hamas."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The one need not speak. Everyone who owns a hybrid and enough carbon offsets will sublimate into a Gorean paradise (not the good kind) on January 21 leaving the rest of us to fester in a four wheel hell we have made for ourselves. Sadly, most Democrats being loud mouth hypocrites, most will not ascend and we will not have the peace and quiet we deserve.
#4
The crises comes when The Big O tries to solve the crisis - any crisis. Too many people think that nose that he waves around alot while talking down to us "ordinaries" is a magic wand that will fix everything. We will see how things turn out.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 10:32
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"We must go to see the Wizard! He can tell us what this all means!"
I guess the Wiz ain't making public appearances anymore when there's trouble.
#7
reporter: Mr. President-Elect, what are your thoughts on yesterdays events?
BHO: Uh, I'm glad you asked, uh, I think it's a tragedy, uh, I mean, let me be clear, I find it very disconcerting that Northwestern gave up that lead, uh, to Missouri and lost the game in OT. This not the same Northwestern, uh, I used to know.
#13
During the campaign, PEBO *did* say something to the effect of "If they were raining rockets down on my kid's heads, I'd kick their sorry, murderous asses too!" (can you tell I'm paraphrasing?) We will see if that position ends up under the already crowded bus when he graduates from PEBO to POTUS.
#14
President Obama will be more responsible than most of my fellow Rantburgians expect. The moonbats in the blogsphere have already been whining for quite some time about how Kucenich would have handled everything much better (sic).
#15
I very, very much hope you are right, Odysseus. For the sake of our country and the world, nothing would make me happier than to have President Barack Obama be revealed by history as a staunch and active defender of the civilized nations against the ravening hordes of jihadi barbarians.
#18
Actually, Hellfish, he kinda is being consistent with that remark. The political winds are generally in the Palis' favor right now. Therefore, no need to get on their side.
(Ok, I'm reaching a bit, but it makes some sense, don't it?)
#2
[On this spot at 05:22, WabSotlalotly had a vowel movement. Rantburg software has cleaned and disinfected the site of the accident. Have a nice day.]
#9
[On this spot at 11:36, gitwodcattina had a vowel movement. Rantburg software has cleaned and disinfected the site of the accident. Have a nice day.]
#11
[On this spot at 15:12, GarGrougunult had a vowel movement. Rantburg software has cleaned and disinfected the site of the accident. Have a nice day.]
#12
hello it is test. WinRAR provides the full RAR and ZIP file support, can decompress CAB, GZIP, ACE and other archive formats.
mvcmyhowxmvkoidhaizkbvkhxpggauegkdqhello
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen in al-Muqdadiya on Monday arrested three wanted men on charges of involvement in forced displacement of families in a neighborhood in the district, police said. "The three men were arrested in al-Hissawi neighborhood, al-Muqdadiya district, (45 km) northeast of Baaquba," a police source in Muqdadiya police told Aswat al-Iraq. "The three detained men are under investigative custody," he added, not giving further details.
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#1
WORLD MIL FORUM > IIUC THE US BAILOUTS WILL NOT RESTORE THE THE PREVIOUS POTENCY OF CONSUMER AND CORPORATE CREDIT. US international indebtedness is several times its Net GDP = Net Worth, gross debt levels whcih the Bailouts will only PARTIALLY AND MINORILY REMEDY. The US will remain in massive, protractive indebtness for a very long time.
Taliban killed two supporters of Pir Samiullah in Matta tehsil of Swat, a private TV channel reported on Monday. According to the channel, the Taliban had killed Samiullah a few days ago. The two men killed in Gwalirai area on Monday were among 18 supporters of Samiullah abducted earlier. Meanwhile, a possible military operation in Manglor area of Charbagh tehsil was temporarily suspended after successful talks between the Peace Committee and the Taliban.
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Hamas's armed wing, Izaddin Kassam, on Monday announced that it was recruiting an additional 1,000 militiamen ahead of a possible IDF ground operation in the Gaza Strip. The group said that thousands of volunteers from the Gaza Strip had also asked to be recruited to the movement in the past 48 hours so that they could fight against IDF soldiers.
The announcement came as sources close to Hamas said that the movement's armed wing had hardly been affected by the IDF operation that began on Saturday. The sources told The Jerusalem Post that many of the casualties in the first two days of the operation were "ordinary" policemen who had been recently recruited to various branches of the security forces. "These policemen were being enlisted to direct the traffic and fight crime," the sources said. "These are not the militiamen who are responsible for the rocket attacks on Israel."
This explains why Hamas did not rush to evacuate the headquarters of the "civilian" police force in Gaza City before the IDF offensive. On the contrary, the police chiefs decided to go ahead with plans to hold a graduation ceremony for the cadets on Saturday because they did not believe that they would be targeted by Israel.
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Pakistan People's Party Secretary General Jahangir Badar has said that a United Nations commission will start a probe into former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder in January next year, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. They'll get around to it eventually, I guess. Neither the govt nor the UN seems particularly concerned. It's just a dead politician, after all.
According to the channel, Badar said the PPP would provide all evidence to the UN commission to help with the probe. Meanwhile, presidential spokesman Farhatullah Babar said the government wanted the UN to probe Benazir's assassination, APP reported. Babar said, "We requested the UN to constitute an investigation commission so that the people who were behind the tragedy could be exposed," adding the announcement regarding the commission's formation was a good omen.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
A UN probe, huh? They'll complete right after the Hariri probe.
Aswat al-Iraq: Two civilians were killed on Monday in two separate incidents in Mosul, a security source said. "A civilian was killed when gunmen opened fore at him near his house in al-Rashidiya region in northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq. "Another civilian was killed in a random shootout in al-Mosul al-Jadida region in western Mosul," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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A tribal elder of the Mullagori tribe was killed during a jirga in Mullagori area of Jamrud tehsil on Monday. Local sources said Malik Saleh Muhammad Khan's murder was a result of long-standing enmity. Meanwhile, an Afghan national, Haleem Khan, was abducted from Sakhipul area of Jamrud. He was reportedly a solider of the Afghan National Army. Separately, private militia Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) claimed to have recovered a child who was abducted for ransom three months ago from Bara. LI chief Mangal Bagh said that the child was kidnapped and shifted first to Afghanistan and later to Tirah area of Khyber Agency. The LI also claimed to have apprehended the kidnappers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Seafarers will be free to boycott voyages to South Korea amid growing concern over the jailing of senior officers from the oil tanker involved in the country's worst oil spill, leading shipping organisations have said.
Jasprit Chawla, master of the Hebei Spirit, was jailed on December 10 for 18 months and Syam Chetan, the chief officer, for eight months. Their vessel, which had been sitting at anchor, spilt 10,800 tonnes of crude oil into the Yellow Sea off Daesan on December 7 2007 after being hit by an out-of-control barge.
Any widespread boycott could pose serious problems for South Korea, which relies on ships to supply oil, gas and coal to meet nearly all its energy needs.
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#2
And the Captain of a ship that discharges or spills oil into San Fran Bay is simply going to be able to haul anchor and leave, even if there is an accident? Not likely, until the bureaucrats are done.
#3
P2k, the difference is in the accommodations offered the suspect. Mini Castro Street isn't as bad as the eye watering pong of festering kimchi farts.
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 21:33
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#5
Blaming the tanker officers for the behavior of a loose barge? That's creative faultfinding. You can't just turn a tanker on a dime, especillay in a choppy sea. Somebody needs to explain the laws of Physics to the Korean court system.
Sounds like the lower court got it right the first time, but the upper court decided to scapegoat the foreigners.
It'll be interesting to see whether the boycott works.
Ma'an - Israeli warships bombarded the headquarters of the Palestinian presidency on Monday morning in Gaza City. The compound is known as Al-Muntada. No casualties were immediately reported in that attack. According to Muawiya Hassanein, the director of Ambulance and Emergency Services in the Palestinian Health Ministry, the death toll in the Gaza Strip has risen to 310.
Posted by: Fred ||
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The state's highest court Monday blocked a newly-elected Manhattan judge from taking office because of charges she violated campaign finance laws. The Court of Appeals, in a one paragraph decision, indefinitely suspended Surrogate Court Judge-elect Nora Anderson with pay, effective Jan. 1. She's suspended until these criminal charges are resolved," said Gary Spencer, a court spokesman.
Manhattan District Attorney Robert Morgenthau has accused Anderson of financing her campaign for Surrogate Court with illegal contributions from Brooklyn trusts and estates lawyer Seth Rubenstein. Anderson, 56, has pleaded not guilty.
Gus Newman, Anderson's lawyer, did not immediately respond to a telephone call seeking comment. Newman has argued that Anderson is qualified to be a surrogate's judge, where she would preside over estates of the dead.
The Court of Appeals' ruled unanimously with one abstention to suspend Anderson. Chief Justice Judith Kaye, who is retiring, did not participate in the decision.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
This is the first time I ever saw a consequence to violating campaign finance laws.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/30/2008 10:17
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Seriously, maybe we can get these guys on the obama case?
The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) annual summit in Oman will go ahead and focus on the global economic crisis, though Israel's attacks on Gaza will also be discussed, the host country said on Sunday. "The most appropriate reply to the events under way in the Palestinian situation would be for the Palestinian brothers to close ranks by reaching understanding and national unity," Omani Information Minister Hamad al-Rashidi said.
He added: "It is up to the UN Security Council to apply pressure for Israel to stop the attacks" over the past two days which have left at least 280 Palestinians dead.
The GCC summit seemed under threat when Israel launched its air onslaught on Gaza, which has been controlled by Hamas since splitting with the secular Fatah organization of Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas.
However, Omani Foreign Minister Yussef bin Alawi said foreign ministers of the six GCC countries are likely to meet on Sunday, with finance ministers also invited, to "put finishing touches to the agenda, including economic questions."
The official sessions of the summit are scheduled for Monday and Tuesday.
Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal said in Riyadh that Gulf foreign ministers meeting in Muscat on Sunday would focus on "Israeli aggression" in the Gaza Strip, according to the official Saudi Press agency. Riyadh is contacting neighbors and allies over "the blind use of force by Israel against the people under siege and occupation for more than 40 years," Prince Saud said.
The GCC groups Bahrain, Kuwait, Oman, Qatar, Saudi Arabia and the United Arab Emirates, which together sit on 25 percent of the world's natural gas reserves and 45 percent of global oil reserves.
Posted by: Fred ||
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An energy delegation from Ukraine arrived in Moscow on Monday for last-ditch talks aimed at resolving a dispute with Russia that could disrupt gas supplies to Europe. Gazprom, Russia's state-controlled gas group, has demanded that Ukraine settle $2bn (1.42bn, £1.37bn) of arrears for gas supplies this year or face a cut-off in deliveries from January 1. On Monday the group warned that it might more than double the price Ukraine pays for gas next year to $415 per 1,000 cubic metres, although Ukrainian officials said they expected the country would have to pay much less.
The former Soviet countries are gearing up for a fourth energy stand-off in as many years but have assured consumers in western Europe that supplies will not be disrupted, as happened during a 2006 dispute.
Yuriy Prodan, Ukraine's energy minister, said there was still "hope" an agreement would be reached before New Year's eve.
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#1
Gazprom (i.e. the Russian government) wants Ukraine back in its pocket as an obedient servant. Only then will they get the gas without getting charged prices they can't afford.
Ma'an -- Hamas, Islamic Jihad and the An-Nasser Brigades refused to participate in the all-factions meeting called by President Mahmoud Abbas on Monday, while Fatah officials called for wide participation
Hamas leader Muhammad Nazzal made the announcement for his party during an interview with Al-Arabiya television Monday evening. Hamas will not try to make any political gains on the backs of the Gaza massacre, he said.
Islamic Jihad sent a statement to Ma'an saying "what is required now is resistance," and further stated that it was the party's duty to defend "our land and our people and respond to the massacres committed against Palestinians in the Gaza Strip."
They called for unity in resistance activities, but spurned Abbas' call for national unity.
Abu Abeer with the An-Nasser Brigades, the armed wing of the Popular Resistance Committees, said that all factions should refuse Abbas' invitation and rally all Gazans, encouraging patience in such harsh times.
Senior Fatah leader Ibrahim Abu An-Naja, however, insisted that all factions must gather and assess the bloody events in Gaza.
Abu An-Naga sent a statement to Ma'an calling the leaders of all security services to stop political arrests immediately and release all political detainees. He said that now is the time when parties can prepare the political climate for a national reconciliation and save the people of the Gaza Strip.
He further called for an end to all media campaigns that further divide the Palestinian people, and asserted the importance of unity in crisis.
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#1
Don't take it personal, Mahmoud. They're probably kinda busy right now running for their lives.
Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani denied on Monday that the government has a secret agreement with the Taliban that states the Taliban will not create unrest in the Tribal Areas if troops are withdrawn amid rising tensions on the eastern border.
The prime minister told reporters in Islamabad that the government would not support the 'establishment of a parallel authority' in the Tribal Areas. Gilani said nobody would be allowed to challenge the writ of the government or to encourage militancy, "so that NATO forces do not get an opportunity to sneak into Pakistan's territory".
He said he had already assured his Indian counterpart of Pakistan's co-operation in investigating the Mumbai terror attacks.
He also denied that the United Nations banned the Jamaatud Dawa because India approached the world body, and said the matter had been pending with the Security Council before the Mumbai attacks.
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Red-shirted demonstrators prevented Abhisit Vejjajiva, Thailands new prime minister, from presenting his agenda to parliament on Monday, dealing a further blow to hopes for an end to the countrys political deadlock
The protests were a mirror image of the prolonged demonstrations that paralysed the last administration and the countrys trade and tourism links to the world.
Mr Abhisit, who plans to try to give his policy address on Tuesday, was handed power in a parliamentary vote earlier this month after his Democrat party persuaded some members of the former ruling coalition to change sides. Many of the MPs who switched said they did so because the protesters had left the government unable to function.
With the economy nearing contraction and the countrys tourist trade struggling to recover from the effects of a week-long shutdown of Bangkoks two airports and the global financial crisis, Mr Abhisit planned in his address to outline Bt300bn ($8.4bn, 6.6bn, £5.8bn) in stimulus spending.
His opponents, who are generally loyal to former prime minister Thaksin Shinawatra, have called the vote a silent coup and believe the new government lacks legitimacy.
The best thing would be for the Democrats to form a government just long enough to call for new elections, said Jakrapob Penkair, who was leading the protests outside parliament on Monday.
Mr Abhisit has the support of the army, but their reluctance to act against the yellow-shirted demonstrators of the Peoples Alliance for Democracy which targeted the last government has set a difficult precedent.
Some 3,000 police were at the scene of Mondays protests, but officers kept their distance. Mr Abhisit said he would do anything he could to avoid having to use force.
Mr Jakrapob warned that the protests would be stepped up if the current government remained in office. The problems will be enhanced a lot, not just in Bangkok, but throughout the country, he said.
Mr Abhisit will be reminded everywhere he goes that his government is not legitimate.
The group that led protests against the last government, displaced by a court ruling over electoral misconduct, claimed they were challenging the corruption and politicisation of the countrys institutions.
Mr Thaksins supporters, including those outside parliament on Monday, say they are defending democracy. They say that the countrys elites in the barracks, boardrooms and palaces of Bangkok are trying to roll back the new-found power of the countrys rural poor, who voted Mr Thaksin or his heirs into office in the past three parliamentary elections.
The anti-liberation forces have been defeated once again, this time through peoples' verdict. While it is a sweet revenge for Bangladeshis against the war criminals, the verdict will make stronger the demand for their trial.
In the historic ninth parliamentary elections held yesterday, Jamaat-e-Islami, collaborators of the Pakistani occupation forces in 1971, faced the worst election debacle winning only two seats out of 38 it contested for. Jamaat's big shots including Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami, Secretary General Ali Ahsan Mohammad Mojahid and central leader Delwar Hossain Saydee -- lawmakers in the last parliament -- have been rejected by voters.
Nizami, who contested the elections from Pabna-1 constituency, lost to M Shamsul Haque Tuku, while Mojahid managed to grab third position in Faridpur-3. Jamaat candidates Shamsul Islam won in Chittagong-14 and Hamidur Rahman Azad in Cox's Bazar-2. Interestingly, Azad defeated not only the grand alliance candidate but also the four-party one as he was not the official ticket holder of the BNP-Jamaat-led alliance.
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Israel's ambassador to the United Nations says the goal of the current offensive in the Gaza Strip is much broader than ending Palestinian rocket attacks. She says Israel wants to destroy Hamas.
In an interview Tuesday, Ambassador Gabriela Shalev said Israel's main goal is to "destroy completely" what she called a "terrorist gang." She would not explicitly say that Israel wants to topple the Hamas government. But she said a return to the terms of a recent six-month truce would not be enough. Shalev says Israel wants stronger assurances that the rocket fire will stop.
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#3
Actually what the Israelis have planned is much more Machiavellian : topple Hamas, and then look the other way as Fatah takes its revenge. Fatah has been feeding the IDF targeting information on Hamas hidden sites, which is why so many Hamas safehouses have gone boom the past couple of days.
(AKI) - Five sisters, aged from four to 17, were among the civilian victims of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said on Monday. The UN agency's Christopher Gunness told Adnkronos International (AKI) that at least 57 civilians had been killed in three days of Israeli attacks and the number was expected to rise.
"It is a tragic illustration of what happens when you use massive means against a densely populated part of the world," Gunness told AKI.
Gunness said the five girls had been killed in an attack on a refugee camp overnight. He called for a full investigation of the civilian casualties to determine whether there had been a violation of international humanitarian law. "We need to be absolutely clear of what happened," he told AKI. "It is very tragic indeed."
Palestinian sources estimate more than 300 people were killed in the Israeli offensive and another 1,400 have been injured in attacks since Saturday.
"The hospitals are completely overwhelmed," Gunness said. "For months there has been a strangulation of supplies."
Israel has declared areas around Gaza a "closed military zone" claiming there was a risk from Palestinian rocket fire.
There is speculation that Israel may stage a ground assault against Hamas, the Islamist militant group that controls Gaza.
Meanwhile, Gunness said the UN had 10,000 workers on the ground in Gaza and they were struggling to do their job. He said up to 750,000 people desperately needed food aid and there was no food to distribute to them.
Mark Regev, a spokesman for Israeli Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, said the military action would continue until the people in southern Israel "no longer live in terror and in fear of constant rocket barrages."
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#1
"The hospitals are completely overwhelmed," Gunness said. "For months there has been a strangulation of supplies."
You mean the tunnels weren't being used to smuggle in medical supplies?
#2
"It is a tragic illustration of what happens when you use massive means against a densely populated part of the world,"
The videos I've watched all looked like highly precise strikes.
#3
"It is a tragic illustration of what happens when you use massive means against a densely populated part of the world,"...intentionally used as human shields in violation of international conventions.
#5
I saw some footage of the casualties being rolled around on gurneys, and they were suspiciously dark green for having just been killed. I also recall that the Paleos think nothing of keeping the bodies of women and children in cold storage so they can be paraded in front of the media on just such an occasion as this. My point is even the casualty figures for women and children that may be substantiated by actual bodies are likely fictional or at least exaggerated.
#6
This POS, and all UN "human rights" employees, needs to say hello to an axehandle to the bridge of his nose. These people are part of the problem, not part of the solution. The UNHCR doesn't want to end the "palestinian" problem, because they'd all be out of their cushy, high-paid, no-risk jobs. Hamass is responsible for everything that has happened to Gaza. Quit blaming Israel for doing everything possible to keep their people alive and healthy against constant attacks from the "palestinians".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 14:32
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#7
Actually, the TV of the Palestinian authority is blaming Hamas (look at
http://barcepundit.blogspot.com/2008/12/que-por-qu-la-situacin-en-gaza-es-ms.html) and allegedly the people of the PA are handling information tp the Israelis.
It is the people of western MSM who shed tears on the Hamas.
#8
But Israel called everyone in Gaza on their cell phones to warn them to stay away from Hamas properties. Those that chose to ignore that personal warning have only themselves to blame.
#9
Hello, Hello, Hello.... residents of Gaza. Those Hamas grids you gave us, vehicles, foot-traffic, high-value targets.... yes, tomorrow is the day. We'll be in touch!
Another scoop for PressTV Iran... US Congressman Dennis Kucinich says the continuing Israeli attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip are an example of 'collective punishment'. But we already knew which side Dennis is on...
"The perpetrators of attacks against Israel must also be brought to justice, but Israel cannot create a war against an entire people in order to attempt to bring to justice the few who are responsible. The Israeli leaders know better," Kucinich said in a news release on Monday. Well maybe if you offered them some of that secret UFO technology your friends possess, this situation wouldn't be nearly as bad as you say, ya bastid...
Medics told Press TV that at least 345 Palestinians have been killed and about 1,550 have been wounded as Israel on Saturday kicked off the assaults. Israel has called the attack an 'all-out' war on the Hamas movement.
The Democratic lawmaker also urged an independent investigation to be led by the United Nations into Israel's acts of violence. Kucinich said that he wrote to UN General Secretary Ban ki-Moon, urging an 'independent inquiry of Israel's war against Gaza'. And who could be more independent than the UN?
"It is time for the UN to not just call for a cease-fire, but for an inquiry as to Israel's actions," said Kucinich. Yeah, an...inquiry! That's the ticket!
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
I clicked on this item just to see what news source would run an article on the Kucinich POV for world affairs. Wonder if Iran thinks it's getting its money's worth out of its useful idiots.
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/30/2008 10:12
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#3
Who better to lead an official inquery, but Dennis? Now, if Dennis would just go to Gaza and stand right about there.. He would begin to understand. Whoop! here it comes. Stay there, Dennis, just a little longer. Aah... They have the wrong GPS coordinates.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 10:52
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#4
If Israel really wanted to get rid of the Gazans, they could probably do it. They won't do it - they are targeting Hamas. Some civilians are being killed - because Hamas sets up its sites next to civilian locations.
On the other hand, Hamas TARGETS civilians, especially schools.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/30/2008 18:37
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As we celebrate the majesty of public will and try to understand the stunning results of the national election 2008, the real question that needs to be asked is not why Awami League won so comprehensively, but why BNP got the thrashing that it did. Given our anti-incumbency history and the pattern so far followed since 1991, it can be considered somewhat natural that Awami League should get a turn to run the country in 2008, after BNP did so in 2001.
What however is not explainable by the anti-incumbency factor nor simply by people's desire for a change is the massiveness of the rejection of the BNP. The near rout of this once mighty party, who just the last time got two-third's majority, is the clearest sign that people are sending the strongest possible message of their disgust for what happened from 2001 to 2006 and are punishing BNP and its allies for the way they run the country.
Yesterday votes was a total, complete and comprehensive rejection of the BNP and its allies for corruption, political violence, nepotism, Hawa Bhaban, the role of Tarique, Arafat, Falu, Harris, Babar, etc. for obliterating the distinction between the State, government and the party, politicising every branch of administration, for instituting a culture of impunity where party henchmen considered themselves above the law. Finally for turning a blind eye as terrorism and fundamentalism spread its ugly tentacles throughout the country.
Continued on Page 49
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Ma'an -- Seven died when Israeli shells hit the home of Al-Qassam Brigades leader Maher Zaquot in Beit Lahiya north of Gaza City just before five o'clock Monday evening.
Witnesses reported that the house had been evacuated shortly before the shelling began, and those killed were passersby on their way home or to local grocery stores to buy food. The shelling also demolished the nearby houses.
Shortly after the home of an Al-Aqsa Brigades leader was targeted in Jabaliya and the home of Hamas leader Ayman Balksam in the same neighborhood. Several resistance activists were killed in the two attacks.
The overall death toll of the strikes, which began at 11:30am Saturday morning is 345, while about 1,000 Palestinians are estimated to be injured and more than 200 critically so.
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#1
Several resistance activists were killed in the two attacks.
Ma'an - Most of the Israeli airstrikes hit Gazans at work, not activists launching rockets as Israel has reported, said Spokesman for the de facto Interior Ministry Ihab Al-Ghusein in a Monday statement.
Those killed in government buildings were ministry employees doing their best to help the people of the besieged Gaza Strip, said Al-Ghusein in a Gaza City press conference Monday afternoon. Al-Ghusein confirmed that Gaza will accept any and all aid from Arab states, and urged Egypt to open the Rafah crossing to aid could come into the Strip. The aid is desperately needed, he added, because Israel has bombed mosques, houses, schools and university campuses.
He called on Palestinians to unite, and promised that no political prisoners from Fatah or any other faction were in de facto government custody. Those in prison for legitimate criminal reasons have been assured safety, since they are in the central prison.
Spokesman of the police in the de facto government Islam Shahwan also spoke at the press conference and estimated that at least 95% of the security services buildings have been demolished. He said that nine police officers were killed in Rafah and 29 in Khan Younis, 70 in the central Gaza City districts and 30 in the north.
This article starring:
IHAB AL GHUSEIN
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
Send Terje Rød-Larsen to smell the thousands of corpses.
#1
E.g. FREEREPUBLIC/TOPIX > There's also been two big asteroid or meteor fireball sightings over the USA dur this Holiday season.
Iff this were ancient or medieval times, or even the turn of the 20th century, these SOLAR FLARES {ee Late Cycle "24"], FIREBALLS, etc would be interpreted by Astrologers and other "Wise Men" as "DIVINE/HEAVENLY SIGNS" OF A COMING EVENT ANDOR GREAT LEADER.
As said or argued times before, IFF THERE IS ANY ISLAMIST MESSIAH = HIDDEN-IMAM/MAHDI, HE CAN'T ASK FOR BETTER LOCAL-WORLD CONDITIONS TO MAKE AN APPEARANCE THAN THE 2008-2012/2016 POST-DUBYA PERIOD, + DESTROY THE INFIDELS IN THE NAME OF GOD AND ISLAM.
HISTORY CHANNEL Prog > GLOBAL WARNING!? = As per GW, the Earth will be getting HOTTER + HOTTER + ..... in the years and decades to come. Iff one believes that God is "in tune" wid ANY AND ALL NATURAL FORCES INCLUD SPACE, THEN BY LOGIC THE ABSENCE OR DESTRUCTION OF GOD = MESSIAH [God into Man] WILL UPSET THE NATURAL-DIVINE ORDER???
OTOH > END-TIMES = TO KILL THE MESSIAH IS TO KILL THE SUN [among other].
What more iff POTUS Obama indeed proves to be a CARTER II, i.e. CARTER-ERA SOVIET EXPANSION IN ASIA + AMERICAS, AS COUPLED WID ROLLBACK OF US GEOPOL INFLUENCE AND CREDIBILITY???
* NO ISLAMIST "MESSIAH" = WORSENING OF GLOBAL WARMING/SOLAR HEATING ON EARTH, and thats NOT even counting the RUSSIAN SPACE ROCKS 2013-2022/24.
More likely scenario, if things get that bad, is that we will eat the Mexicans and Canadians, feed the Russians and Chinese to our livestock and burn the Iranians for fuel.
#4
Texas will be the heart of "The Texas Republic," a cluster of states that will go to Mexico or fall under Mexican influence.
That's the bit that most clearly identifies him as a loon. It's more probable that the city of Lubbock will annex Mexico.
That said with total government (state, federal, & locsl) spending running over 40% of GDP, governments at all levels essentially insolvent, regulatory compliance (and non-compliance) costs running another 10-20% of GDP and the whole host of other economic issues in the US it's tough to see a way out that doesn't involve very near-term and very dramatic reductions in the size & cost of government ... precisely the opposite of where we're heading. As much as I hate to admit it he may be on to something with the idea of an '10 financial meltdown that will drastically alter the USA.
#7
Hell, if you just count the Army and Air National Guards of Texas, New Mexico, Arizona, and Oklahoma as one unitary military - you have the strongest military in all of Latin America. At least on land and in the air. If Texas were to split off, what would most likely happen is that Texas would control Mexico and not the reverse. Also, Alaska and Western Canada would form a Confederation LONG before Alaska would be part of Russia again.
#8
Besides which, Nevada, Utah, and Arizona would probably go with Texas; as would North and South Carolina, Kentucky, West Virginia, and most of Virginia excluding that which is within 50 miles of Washington DC.
Also, there would be a good chance that the Pacific Northwest (Oregon, Washington, and Idaho) would go to a Confederation with Canada, rather than be shackled to a Californian republic.
The man is just looking at existing borders and not the social and economic factors involved.
#9
Throw in Colorado with TX - the Guard here interoperates with TX, full squadron of F-16s and the whole of the 3/19 Special Forces, a special forces capable helicopter unit.
Add to that Northcom in Colorado Springs and Ft Carson (4th ID and 10th SF Group).
Colorado provides the capstone ans strategic depth with central geopolitical positioning (rail and air) to the "Republic of Texas".
#11
A long, long time ago I read a book "The Nine Nations of North America" (or some such) which theorized the breakup of the United States. It was fairly well done. The author drew upon a lot of cultural/regional history to make his projections. This Russian guy, however... looks like he just took his crayons and colored a map.
#12
There's a game called "Crimson Skies" that is set in 1930s America, and the premise is that the USA has broken up due to the stress of the Great Depression. It's pretty well-written for a game, and the story leading up to the breakup is interesting, if you have a spare 10 minutes or so. It appears the authors actually studied history, unlike most producers of popular content these days.
#13
this professor is guilty of extrapolation. He's witnessed russias identity crisis and concluded that all states will necessarily face the same end. In his extrapolation he fails to attribute the single constitution of the 50 states, versus the cobbled together expropriation of the russian cabal. russia has an identity crisis, which wont go away anytime soon. Its thugery, is its ultimate betrayer. Having experienced living under russia prime, no one cares for a repeat of the experience. No amount of wishfull thinking or extrapolation by way of identity projection can change what is flawed due to its inherently corrupt underpinnings.
#14
Canada would split too:
West: NWT, Yukon, BC, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba
Central: Ontario and Cree Quebec, Nunavut
Quebec: A tiny French speaking sliver in southern Quebec
Atlantic provinces: NS, NB, NF, PEI--They would cluster with other "New", New Yawk, New Hampshire New Jersey...
Alaska to Russkis--no way. Fuggetaboutit. Forming a confed with Western Canada. In any case, Siberia would be Chinese, Russkis would be nowhere near Alaska.
Oregon, WA, Idaho joins Western Canada
California splits into Shasta Republic (North + coastal strip SF, LA, including Berzerkly) Orange Free State, and South joins Texas -- (AZ, NV, UT, NM, CO, OK, TX, KS maybe too) which consequently colonizes northern Mexico states. I said "colonizes".
Southern Mexico, Belize, Honduras, Guatemala form Maya Republic and reestablish a capital in Chichen Itza. Corrupt officials will be thrown into the famous well, stripped of any gold or precious metals. Chac Mool feeds on humans, not gold!
MI, IL, parts of OH, PA join the North Atlantic cluster.
Southeast: from LA to SC would try on their own, but likely join with Texas at some point.
Centralia: the rest.
Russia splits into Volga Republic (south) and Moskva Republic (north). Volga joins Ukraina later. As said, Siberia (anything east of Ural) goes to China.
#17
Colorado might split in two. The areas of Denver, Boulder and Fort Collins are heavily liberal and would not be thrilled to go with the heavily conservative south. Colorado is in effect, two separate cultural areas.
Maybe we could take the military forces from the south, conquer the north and drive the liberals out once and for all.
#19
In fact, thinking of it, why not make a collection, purchase Baffin Island, move all the libs over there? They can hug polar bears all year long and make snow angels too! We'd promise that they'd have an uninteruptible supply of kool aid. That is a small price to pay, I think. Trees, that is a bit iffy, they are none there, but perhaps we can make enough fake plastic ones to give them something to hug beside polar bears.
Ben & Jerry can move there--ideal condition for ice cream production!
#20
Mr. Panarin's apocalyptic vision "reflects a very pronounced degree of anti-Americanism in Russia today," says Vladimir Pozner, a prominent TV journalist in Russia. "It's much stronger than it was in the Soviet Union."
And french wingnuts will eat that up too, given that "nationalist" russia is now overhelmingly their champion against the Empire, and Strong Leader putin their beloved Man on A Horse.
#22
Spike, Trees, that is a bit iffy, they are none there
No trees NOW, but once the glbal warming takes full effect Baffin will be a tropical rain forest.
#23
Vladdy Posner? Wasn't he Nightline's in house real, live commie many moons ago?
I'll bet Putin makes him sport wood. Just like the good old days...
#29
Penn State will not kick USC's ass until hell freezes over.
Figure it will not happen until after 2020 or after Paterno retires (which ever comes first).
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
12/30/2008 18:31
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#30
We're not going back to Russia. No way. Been there, done that. Dead end. Russia will eventually lose Siberia and Chukotka to the Chicoms by neglect and squatting. Our Yukon Territory friends are good. BC needs to throw out their socialists. Joe from Guam can join us.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
12/30/2008 21:01
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#31
Kansas comes with Colorado. Except KC. That can go to Missouri.
#32
We are in MO, but my better half is from TX, sooo we would be Texas bound. Maybe STL would become a free city, it is already independent from STL county.
Ooooooh, I love it when they "demand"... Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon demanded an immediate cease-fire in Gaza on Monday and urged Mideast and world leaders to do more to help end the Israeli-Hamas conflict and promote political dialogue. "I think regional and international partners have not done enough," the UN chief said on the third day of an Israeli bombardment of Gaza that has killed at least 360 people - including 62 civilians - and wounded some 1,400 others.
Ban urged Arab foreign ministers, who are holding an emergency meeting in Cairo on Wednesday, "to act swiftly and decisively to bring an early end to this impasse."
"At the same time, other world leaders must also step up efforts to support a longer term resolution of the issue," he told reporters at UN headquarters in New York. Harrrrumph harrrrumph harrrrumph...
This article starring:
Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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Posted by: Whiskey Mike ||
12/30/2008 8:16
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#5
"urged Mideast and world leaders to do more"
"Ban urged Arab foreign ministers"
"other world leaders must also"
Sounds like a lot of delegating. What has he done lately?
(AKI) - A key militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, Ziad Abu Tir, was killed on Monday on the third-day of Israeli airstrikes in the Gaza Strip, as the United Nations called for an end to the violence.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon called for an end to hostilities in the Palestinian territories, as thousands of people took to the streets around the world to protest against the violence in Gaza. At least 320 people have been killed and another 1,400 have been injured in the Israeli raids.
Another airstrike destroyed the home of Palestinian militant Maher Zaqout, senior member of the Islamist movement Hamas' Izzedine al-Qassam Brigades. Zaqout was not at home at the time of the strike. However, seven people including several member of his immediate family were reportedly killed.
Palestinian militants fired at least 50 home-made Qassam rockets at southern Israel on Monday, killing one Israeli.
In the Lebanese capital Beirut, tens of thousands of people protested against the ongoing Israeli raids. The protest was organised by the militant Hezbollah movement and called by the group's leader, Hassan Nasrallah. "It is a mistake to think that this war is against Hamas, it is against the Palestinian resistance," Nasrallah said.
At least 5,000 people gathered in the Jordanian capital Amman and burned American and Israeli flags. They marched towards the office of Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi, urging Jordan to scrap its peace agreement with Israel reached in 1994.
Protests were also held in countries including Venezuela, Chile, Pakistan, Indonesia, Syria, Egypt, Iran and Iraq and throughout Europe. At least 1,500 people gathered for violent protests near the Israeli embassy in London. Other protests were held in Spain, Denmark, Italy, France and the United States.
Meanwhile, the International Committee of the Red Cross said on Monday that hospitals in Gaza were "overburdened" as they struggled to cope with the influx of casualties. "We are completely overwhelmed by the number of people coming in with very serious injuries. I have never seen anything like this," said the head of the surgical ward of Shifa Hospital, in Gaza City.
This article starring:
Hassan Nasrallah
Hezbollah
International Committee of the Red Cross
Jordanian Prime Minister Nader Dahabi
Maher Zaqout
Hamas
Ziad Abu Tir
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred ||
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#2
I thought the Red Cross was banned in Gaza, since the cross is a Crusader symbol.
Of course, the ICRC refuses to recognize Mogen David Aman (Spelling) - the Israeli equivalent of the Red Crescent.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/30/2008 18:23
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WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Researchers have found out what made the 1918 flu pandemic so deadly -- a group of three genes that lets the virus invade the lungs and cause pneumonia.
They mixed samples of the 1918 influenza strain with modern seasonal flu viruses to find the three genes and said their study might help in the development of new flu drugs. The discovery, published in Tuesday's issue of the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences, could also point to mutations that might turn ordinary flu into a dangerous pandemic strain.
Yoshihiro Kawaoka of the University of Wisconsin and colleagues at the Universities of Kobe and Tokyo in Japan used ferrets, which develop flu in ways very similar to humans. Let me get this straight: We've sent samples of the 1918 virus to THREE DIFFERENT UNIVERSITIES, a virus that, by all rights, should remain under government control in labs of Biosafety Level 4 protection???
Yes. Each of the three groups is appropriately qualified to do the work, and each operate under pretty darned strict oversight. This is how science today gets done. If you leave it to the government labs you won't learn what you need to learn.
I trust Japan. The leftists in Wisconsin concern me only a little... Usually flu causes an upper respiratory infection affecting the nose and throat, as well as so-called systemic illness causing fever, muscle aches and weakness. But some people become seriously ill and develop pneumonia. Sometimes bacteria cause the pneumonia and sometimes flu does it directly.
During pandemics, such as in 1918, a new and more dangerous flu strain emerges. "The 1918 influenza pandemic was the most devastating outbreak of infectious disease in human history, accounting for about 50 million deaths worldwide," Kawaoka's team wrote.
It killed 2.5 percent of victims, compared to fewer than 1 percent during most annual flu epidemics. Autopsies showed many of the victims, often otherwise healthy young adults, died of severe pneumonia.
"We wanted to know why the 1918 flu caused severe pneumonia," Kawaoka said in a statement. They painstakingly substituted single genes from the 1918 virus into modern flu viruses and, one after another, they acted like garden-variety flu, infecting only the upper respiratory tract.
But a complex of three genes helped to make the virus live and reproduce deep in the lungs. The three genes -- called PA, PB1, and PB2 -- along with a 1918 version of the nucleoprotein or NP gene, made modern seasonal flu kill ferrets in much the same way as the original 1918 flu, Kawaoka's team found. So, is this like a recipe for a gene-nerd with apocalyptic tendencies, or more like spelling out TNT?
Most flu experts agree that a pandemic of influenza will almost certainly strike again. No one knows when or what strain it will be but one big suspect now is the H5N1 avian influenza virus. H5N1 is circulating among poultry in Asia, Europe and parts of Africa. It rarely affects humans but has killed 247 of the 391 people infected since 2003. A few mutations would make it into a pandemic strain that could kill millions globally within a few months.
Four licensed drugs can fight flu but the viruses regularly mutate into resistant forms -- just as bacteria evolve into forms that evade antibiotics. Well, strike me as perplexed. I'm a science nut myself and strive to understand how things work, but some things should be figured out behind locked doors.
#1
In the spirit of Equal Opportunity, shouldn't we give some of this stuff to the Islamic University in Gaza and let play with it for a while and see what their experts come up with?
#3
Sorry, Steve...you and I will have to disagree on this one.
I didn't specify, but my problem here is 'genetic manipulation'.
Personally, I relate the genetic manipulation of pandemic-level bio-pathogens at universities to open-source, graduate-level development of a nuclear bomb.
Dumping money into University-level genetic manipulation of known pathogens is inherently dangerous.
http://www.gsnmagazine.com/cms/market-segments/bio-terrorism/17.html
The genie is out of the bottle. Technically, this was a WOT link. Researching pathogens is one thing...genetic manipulation in less than BSL-4 labs is another.
http://www.newsmax.com/newsfront/gene_splicing_garage/2008/12/25/165347.html?utm_medium=RSS
Think about it...
#4
Back in 2001 following 9/11 there was the anthrax attack as well which people seem to forget. Then in the follow up it was discovered that so call safeguards on the handling of anthrax for 'scientific research' were more paper and less reality with some of the stuff disappearing from labs that lacked both accountability and physical security of the facilities and storage. So, yes we have a right to be concern about the handling of material shown to be dangerous. It doesn't mean we shut it down, but we certainly had better make the handling of the stuff as tight as any other WMD.
Muslim nations angrily condemned Israel on Monday over air attacks on the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 300 Palestinians while UN Secretary General Ban Ki--moon deplored the violence. Never saw that one coming, did you?
Anti--Israel demonstrations were held in many countries and there was an immediate fallout with the suspension of efforts to hold talks between Syria and Israel. International powers renewed calls for a ceasefire, but US President George W Bush and president--elect Barack Obama maintained their silence on the fighting. Thousands of Iranians, who were joined by high ranking Iranian officials and military commanders, shouted "Down With USA" and "Down With Israel" in Tehran on Monday. Many carried banners reading "Israel must be wiped off the face of the earth" and "We should all rise and destroy Israel."
Demonstrators have been held around the world since the Israeli offensive started Saturday. Arrests were made during demonstrations in European capitals on Sunday, including 10 in London. About 8,000 people staged a rally in the southern Egyptian city of Assiut on Sunday, while several thousand attended rallies in the capital Cairo and the port city of Alexandria, a security official said.
In Turkey, thousands of people joined demonstrations in about a dozen cities. Egyptian Foreign Minister Ahmed Abul Gheit arrived in Ankara on Monday for talks with Turkish leaders on the Israeli offensive, a foreign ministry official said. Turkish Foreign Minister Ali Babacan said Turkish--mediated indirect peace talks between Israel and Syria have become "impossible" after the Israeli offensive.
"To make war on the Israeli--Palestinian track and at the same time make peace on the Israeli--Syrian track -- these two cannot go together," he said. In Syria, protesters burned Israeli and American flags as thousands demonstrated in Damascus on Sunday. There were similar scenes in the Jordanian capital Amman where hundreds gathered to demand the closure of the Israeli embassy. Saudi Arabia sent two hospital aircraft with medical personnel to Gaza to help with the injured and to fly any severely injured to hospitals in Saudi Arabia, the government said. Indonesia, the world's most populous Muslim nation, also offered medical aid and joined Pakistan, Afghanistan, Malaysia and other Muslim nations in condemning Israel. There were new calls for a halt to the fighting which erupted after the breakdown of a truce between Israel and Hamas.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki--moon "deplores that violence is continuing today, and he strongly urges once again an immediate stop to all acts of violence," his spokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement issued late Sunday. China expressed major concern. "The Chinese side is shocked and seriously concerned over the current military operations in Gaza that have caused a large number of deaths and injuries," Vice Premier Li Keqiang said in a statement.
Miliband: European nations called for a ceasefire. Many foreign ministers have spoken to Israel's Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni. British Foreign Secretary David Miliband warned the Middle East was facing a "dangerous and dark moment" as he renewed a call for an end to the fighting. Miliband told BBC radio: "I think that any loss of innocent people's life is unacceptable and in this case there have been massive casualties, some of them civilians and some of them children. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov who also spoke to Livni made a call to "urgently halt" the military action.
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#1
The foreign ministers condemn on TV, the defence ministers phone to inquire about prices on UAVs, Typhoon, etc..
After three days of bombardment by the IAF, Hamas proved on Monday that it was still capable of firing barrages of Kassams and rockets on the South. Over 80 rockets and mortars fell throughout the Western Negev, killing three people.
On Monday evening, Hamas intensified their efforts, firing on Ashdod, Ofakim, Yavne and the rest of the region. Rockets killed an Ashdod woman at a bus stop and a person near Nahal Oz. She was later identified as Irit Sheetrit, 39.
Five other people were also wounded, two seriously when the Kassam rocket struck near Nahal Oz. Four people were wounded - one seriously and three lightly - by the rocket that hit the Ashdod bus stop. One person was moderately wounded in the attack on Ofakim.
Earlier in the day, an Israeli construction worker identified as Hani al-Mahdi, 27, of the Beduin town of Aro'er in the Negev, was killed and over a dozen others were wounded when a Grad-model Katyusha hit a construction site in Ashkelon.
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Israel's envoy to the United Nations says that there will be no negotiations about peace, as Tel Aviv attacks Gazan civilians for a third day. And there you have it. They're certainly not attacking combatants. Only civilians. Well, this is from Iran, so the the truth-to-lie ratio is about 1% to 99% Israel started an 'all-out' war on the Gaza Strip as of Saturday. At least 345 Palestinians have been killed and about 1,550 have been wounded, Palestinian Medics told Press TV on Monday.
When asked about possible peace in the future, Israel's envoy, Gabriela Shalev, told CNN on Monday, "Don't even speak about peace at this moment."
"The hope is that Hamas will understand finally that Israel has the right to defend itself and the duty to protect its citizens," Shalev said without mentioning the hundreds of civilian Palestinians that were killed in Israel's 'blind raids' on civilian infrastructures in the impoverished strip.
Meanwhile, Palestinian peace negotiator Hanan Ashrawi said that she does not accept Israel's argument that it is acting in self-defense.
"Israel is an occupying power," Ashwari said in another interview with CNN on Monday. "In Gaza, they've been under siege for months now, deprived of the most basic needs. ... And now Israel has decided that if the victims do not lie down and die quietly, it's going to shell them relentlessly from the air," she added.
While the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said Monday that the goal of the massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip is to topple Hamas.
The outgoing Bush administration has also thrown its full support behind Tel Aviv's bloody assault, blaming Hamas for provoking the offensive by firing rockets into Israel from Gaza. "In order for the violence to stop, Hamas must stop firing rockets into Israel and agree to respect a sustainable and durable ceasefire," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said earlier.
Palestinian resistance fighters in the Gaza Strip say they fire rockets into Israel in retaliation for the daily Israeli attacks against them. Unlike the state-of-the-art Israeli weapons and ammunition such as F-16 fighter jets that have killed hundreds, the homemade Qassam rockets rarely cause casualties.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
How come Jimmy "The Peanut Guy" Carter hasn't spoken up yet??????
#2
Napalm the sh$$ out of every "city" in Gaza, plow the fields and sow them with salt, blow up everything standing, all while wearing earplugs to stop the incessant whine of the "victims of Israeli agression".
The way to lasting peace is through kicking every Arab's butt up over his shoulders, forcing him to walk on his elbows. Hard to fire guns and missiles in that position.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 18:36
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North Korea threatened to stop taking apart its nuclear plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium unless Japan provides it with energy aid as part of an international disarmament deal, Kyodo news agency said on Monday.
The threat is the latest snag in the sputtering deal the North struck with five regional powers and comes about two weeks after the United States called for a halt in all energy aid to punish Pyongyang for failing to agree this month to a system to check claims it made about its atomic programmes.
Suspension: Kyodo quoted a Beijing-based diplomat who participates in the six-way nuclear talks as saying: "Unless Japan implements the heavy fuel assistance, the (disablement) activities will be suspended." Kyodo later said Yoshihiro Kawakami, a Japanese lawmaker from the opposition Democratic Party, had quoted the diplomat as making the remarks in a meeting in the Chinese capital.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
NORTH KOREA > MUMBAI attacks in India reveals the US IMPERIALIST THREAT TO ASIA, NK + KOREAN PEOPLES, which NOKOR vows to eternally resist.
#3
WORLD MIL FORUM > KOREAN MEDIAS: THE WAR/FIGHT FOR THE POST-KIM JONG-IL ERA IN NORTH KOREA HAS BEGUN.
Also from WMF > JAPAN: CHINESE ELECTRONIC SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT DETECTED OVER JAPAN ON DEC. 25th, 26th. JAPAN TO CONTINUE TO INCREASE JSDF REALIGNMENTS TO MONITOR CHINESE NAVAL, AIR MOVEMENTS [recent PLAN Naval SurfWar-Sub incursions].
An IAF aircraft on Monday night struck the home of Maher Zakut, the commander of Hamas's rocket-firing forces, the army said. In was unclear whether Zakut was in the house at the time. Palestinian sources said that seven people were killed in the strike. According to reports, several more targets were struck in the Strip.
Several secondary explosions were caused by the strike because of a large weapons warehouse alongside the senior operative's house.
Five people were reportedly killed when an IAF aircraft targeted a car. Palestinian sources reported that 14 people were killed in air-strikes Monday evening.
The air force also struck a truck carrying Grad-type missiles, setting off a series of secondary explosions, the IDF said. The army believes that Hamas was transferring the missiles to a hideout out of fear that their location had been compromised. The trasfer was also supposedly intended to bring them closer to areas from which they could be launched at Israel.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#11
My apologies to any IDF'ers reading this.....can't order a blessed thing on any site to send to you. No pizza, no burgers, no cute bathtub duckies.
THE biggest migration in human history has gone into reverse. China's ocean of blue-collar workers is streaming back to the country's farming hinterland, bringing thwarted aspirations and rising discontent in tow as their city jobs, their paths out of poverty, fall victim to the global economic crisis.
More than 10 million migrant labourers have already returned to the countryside
Train K192 is a daily conduit of the reversing flow. Every afternoon it pulls into Chengdu, capital of populous Sichuan province, after a 31-hour trip from Guangzhou, centre of China's once-thriving export heartland.
Hundreds of weary passengers, some of whom stand through the entire journey because seats are sold out, straggle into the grey light of the Chengdu winter and an uncertain future.
'Lots of factories have closed. Mine shut about three months ago. There was nothing to do, so I came home,' said Mr Wu Hao, 21, sporting a stylish striped sweater and a sleek metal suitcase. After a year spent making circuit boards in Guangzhou, he was heading back to his family's patch of farmland, a full month before the Chinese new year when he would usually visit home.
Officials estimate that more than 10 million migrant labourers have already returned to the countryside as thousands of companies have been dragged under by weak global demand for everything from clothes to cars.
The government, always concerned about social instability, is now on high alert, fearful of the consequences of a huge mass of jobless, disappointed, rootless young men. Beijing has urged firms to avoid cutting jobs despite falling profits, and many bosses have obliged by retaining workers but giving them unpaid leave.
"So I'm not fired."
"Nope. You're just unpaid. Scram."
Over the past three decades, about 130 million people have left China's countryside for the smokestacks, assembly lines and construction sites of cities. That migration, described as the world's biggest ever by the United Nations, has underpinned the country's heady growth and also given its poorest citizens a share of the spoils, as urban residents' incomes are much higher than farmers'.
Known as China's 'floating population', labourers rarely settle permanently where they work - effectively prohibited from doing so by residency rules - and return in droves to their hometowns for the Chinese lunar new year.
State media have put the best possible gloss on the in-bound tide of migrants under way: they are simply returning home early, one month ahead of the Year of the Ox which begins on Jan 26.
But China is heading into uncharted territory and the picture could deteriorate quickly. Many economists forecast growth next year of less than 7.5 per cent, the country's lowest since 1990 and a level that would swell the ranks of the jobless.
'The redistribution of wealth through theft and robbery could dramatically increase and menaces to social stability will grow,' Mr Zhou Tianyong, a leading Communist Party scholar, wrote this month in a newspaper issued by a state think-tank.
Workers and officials alike hope the migration reversal is only temporary, but the numbers are too vast to ignore. The social security ministry says 10 per cent of all migrants have already gone back to the countryside.
China, in the short term at least, is pinning its hopes on a smooth absorption of the returnees. 'We expect that there will be a big change early next year, probably in March or April,' said Mr Wang Min, a director at the Yuhui Labour Market in Chengdu. 'A lot of people will stay here in Sichuan to look for work and not go to other provinces.' If so, they could be redrawing China's economic map.
Coastal provinces have long been the wealthiest in China and the main destination for migrants. But they have borne the brunt of falling exports, while the country's poorer hinterland is more closely tied to domestic fortunes that could rise on the back of a hefty government stimulus spending.
Unveiling its rural policy priorities for next year, the government said on Sunday that it will encourage unemployed people who return home to start their own businesses. Officials in Chongqing and Henan, two big sources of migrants, have already pledged to lend seed money. Reconstruction after the devastating earthquake centred on Sichuan this year has also created a huge need for labour that will sop up some of the floating population.
#1
OTOH CHINESE MIL FORUM > CHINA'S NEW EXPORT: FARMERS [Africa].
Besides of course farmin', includ $$$ remittances back to Chin, many of China's 30Milyuhn Bachelor whom choose to go to Africa for said farm work can also have the picks of any willing local African Babes for marriage + that baby carriage.
#2
1. Resettling them back home won't work, local government officials will simply steal any money allocated for development.
2. The workers can come back any time, and indeed will when business picks up again.
3. China passed a new labor law this year that prevents factories from firing workers en masse. This was supposed to prevent this sort of thing happening. However, the law is only enforced against foreign companies, Chinese companies are largely exempt.
#3
Responding to an unusually lucid JM comment, there is no way that a Chinese man would take an African bride - uh-huh. They regard Africans as little better than beasts.
#4
And the Chinese male/female population imbalance could just as easily be solved by marrying literally boat loads of Filipinos - but it goes back to that cultural 'inferiority' thingy. In the US, the government erects laws to inhibit such marriages when the culture is open to it.
#6
How do you keep the folks down on the farm? Three little words says it al - depression, depression, depression.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
12/30/2008 10:34
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#7
Responding to an unusually lucid JM comment, there is no way that a Chinese man would take an African bride - uh-huh. They regard Africans as little better than beasts.
More to the point, there is no shortage of women in urban areas. The shortages are in farm country - nobody wants to marry a farmer with a postage sized plot (1.66 acres, on average). Men with the savvy to survive in Africa would have no problem getting Chinese wives. It's the farmers who are having to kidnap women from Vietnam and/or other provinces to get hitched.
(AKI) - Countries throughout the Middle East have reacted quickly to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip by pledging to send aid to the war-torn territory. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan on Monday sent food and medical supplies after the Israeli attacks that killed 310 people and injured over 1,400.
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud has pledged air ambulances to transfer injured Palestinians in Gaza to Saudi hospitals via Medical Evacuation planes or Medevac. The planes left the Riyadh Air Base bound for the Egyptian airport in el-Arish, near Gaza.
Jordan sent food and medical supplies while the United Arab Emirates' President Sheikh Khalifa bin Zayed al-Nahyan ordered the delivery of urgent aid to Gaza.
Turkey's Kizilay or Red Crescent organisation sent ten truckloads of food to the region as well as 15 ambulances.
Iran sent planes of food and medicine to the Egyptian capital on Sunday, while protests against the raids were held in the capital Tehran on Monday.
Thousands of people gathered at Palestine Square in central Tehran and shouted anti-Israeli slogans.
Meanwhile in Indonesia - the world's largest Muslim country - police on Monday arrested 12 protesters at a demonstration against Israel's action in the capital Jakarta. "We're deeply concerned. Israel has launched an inhumane act at a time when others are supposed to be celebrating the new year," said Sjaeful Akbar, the rally coordinator, quoted by Indonesian daily The Jakarta Post.
Palestinian residents in the emirate of Dubai also held protests, while in Egypt over 50,000 protesters took to the streets in a dozen cities. Protests were also held in Morocco, Yemen, Iraq, Syria, Lebanon, London, Spain and France.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
Saudi Arabia's King Abdullah bin Abdul-Aziz al-Saud has pledged air ambulances to transfer injured Palestinians in Gaza to Saudi hospitals via Medical Evacuation planes or Medevac. The planes left the Riyadh Air Base bound for the Egyptian airport in el-Arish, near Gaza.
The entire population will soon be suffering Post Traumatic Stress. Take them all to the Kingdom immediately!
#2
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > INDONESIA CRIES OUT IN SUPPORT OF PALESTINIANS. Indones Islamist Group ISLAMIC DEFENDERS FRONT vows to send 1000 armed fighters to fight agz Israel in Gaza, as done before for Afghanistan-Pakistan, etc. in suppor of Islamist Militants.; + IRAN'S SUPREME CLERIC KHATEMI DECLARES [worldwide Muslim]JIHAD AGZ ISRAEL.
Two Israelis were killed Monday evening as Gaza militants pelted southern Israel with rockets and mortar shells, as Israel concluded its third day of aerial assaults on the Gaza Strip.
One Israel Defense Forces soldier was killed in a mortar strike in a western Negev base, and another was seriously wounded. Four others were lightly hurt in the attack.
The other fatality occurred when a woman got out of her vehicle when she heard the early warning siren in the city of Ashdod, and sought shelter in a bus stop on the side of the road. She sustained critical shrapnel wounds, and later died. Another passerby who also ducked into the bus stop for shelter suffered serious injuries in the attack.
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Three people were lightly hurt in Ashdod, which is situated some 35 kilometers from the Gaza border.
Hamas missiles first hit near Ashdod on Sunday. Monday's attack marked the first time the city suffered casualties from missiles, as Israel concluded a third day of aerial assaults on Hamas targets in the Gaza Strip.
Simultaneously, in what appeared to be a timed maneuver, a barrage of mortar shells was fired at the Sha'ar Hanegev Regional council in the western Negev.
Shortly after the attacks, three rockets struck Yavneh, the furthest north any rocket has even been fired from the Gaza Strip. No one was hurt in the attack.
Three rockets also hit the city of Ofakim, and one person was seriously hurt in the attack.
The combined rocket-mortar shell attack came hours after 27-year-old Israeli construction worker Hani al Mahdi, from the Bedouin village of Aroer, was killed in a rocket attack in Ashkelon.
Fourteen people were wounded in the attack on Ashkelon, as the rocket exploded near a construction site in the coastal town.
Most of the victims were construction workers from the Galilee village of Manda and the Bedouin town of Rahat. Five were considered in serious condition, four sustained moderate wounds, and five suffered light injuries.
Curious onlookers gathered at the scene despite the Home Front Command's directive to avoid loitering in groups outdoors.
At least 60 rockets have been fired into Israel since Monday morning. Several of the rockets hit Ashkelon, while others struck Sderot and other rocket weary communities in the western Negev. One home in Sderot sustained a direct hit. Channel 2 reported that the residents of the home have been treated for shock.
"I'm standing next to the body," Ashkelon Mayor Benny Vaknin told Israel Radio by telephone on Monday. "To my great regret, we have a fatality. He was killed."
Sirens wailed intermittently on Monday morning in Ashkelon as television crews captured footage of panicked residents seeking cover from the incoming projectiles.
On Sunday, Gaza-based Palestinians launched a barrage of at least 40 rockets at the western Negev on Sunday, as the Israel Air Force continued to bomb targets in the Strip.
Two Katyusha rockets, with a diameter of 122 mm, exploded near Ashdod on Sunday. More than 30 kilometers from Gaza, this was the deepest into Israel a Palestinian rocket has yet to strike.
The Katyushas, which are the most improved versions of the Palestinian rockets, have a range of up to 40 kilometers. The particular rockets that struck on Sunday traveled 37 and 35 kilometers.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
Nobody going to investigate this for violation of international law.
In 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's totally insanepure evil colourful president, called the US dollar a "torn piece of paper" and in November last year his government changed the country's base foreign currency to the euro in an effort to try and avoid US sanctions imposed as a result of the country's nuclear programme. Colorful?!? You mean like Hitler, or Stalin, or Pol Pot?
At the time, Mr Ahmadi-Nejad and his colleague Hugo Chavez, president of Venezuela, even tried to persuade the other members of Opec to shift their reference prices for oil to the European currency, arguing that the greenback was fatally weakened.
A year on, however, and the Iranian government has had to live with a revival in the dollar's fortunes and it is the rial that is in the doldrums. The rial has lost about 10 per cent against the dollar during the past month, even rising above the important 10,000 to the dollar mark for the first time in its history. It has since strengthened slightly back to 9,820.
This has landed Mr Ahmadi-Nejad's government on the wrong side of public opinion, which views the rial's value against the dollar as a central indicator of its economic strength.
Although the rial has changed little if measured against a basket of currencies, including the euro and the pound, "people are only concerned about the dollar rate", says one economist.
In the aftermath of the Islamic revolution the rial collapsed, and the regime adopted a series of exchange rate policies in 1980s and 1990s by fixing at about half a dozen different rates against the dollar. But in 2001, a reformist government led by Mohammad Khatami officially adopted a policy of a managed float.
Yet successive Iranian governments, even before Mr Ahmadi-Nejad took office in August 2005, have followed an unstated policy of ensuring that the dollar traded at less than 10,000 rials.
Whenever the rate has looked close to crossing that mark, the central bank has injected dollars to bring it down again. But this time the authorities are choosing not to pump in dollars because the country's oil revenues, the main source of income, are plummeting.
Iran tries to receive its oil income in euros to avoid oversight by the US authorities, which could block the Islamic regime's money over the controversial nuclear programme and alleged funding of terrorism.
Experts estimate that about two-thirds of the country's $80bn foreign currency reserves are now held in euros, and government opponents have complained of a loss of about $5bn due to the European currency's recent decline against the dollar.
Mr Ahmadi-Nejad argues that the benefits of increasing euro share in the reserves still exceed recent losses.
"We have had both economic and political gains by shifting from the dollar to the euro because the dollar was hugely weakened but this [the current strength of the dollar] will last for a short period of time," Mr Ahmadi-Nejad said earlier this month, while vowing to run the country for a further three years even if oil prices fall to zero.
However, the drastic fall in oil prices will still put the government budget under great pressure next year, and may leave it no choice but to devalue the rial. Analysts say that they do not expect this to happen before the presidential election in June.
In downtown Tehran, the main centre of currency trading, traders say that the stronger dollar is a natural reaction to world markets.
They are, however, worried about the possibility of heavy-handed government interference such as closure of their shops, which happened about 13 years ago should the dollar strengthen further. "The government might accuse some traders of dollar smuggling, close their shops and urge people to buy hard currencies only from banks," one trader says.
Posted by: Fred and lotp ||
12/30/2008
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#1
i would like to hear a more educated opinion than my own on the wisdom (or lack thereof) of having a mix of foreign currency as opposed to say all dollars or all euros.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/30/2008 23:32
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The British authorities are investigating how a United Kingdom (UK) citizen flew to Pakistan using his sister's passport before he was discovered by Pakistani officials and sent back. How'd you bag him, Mahmoud?
It was easy. Their mustaches weren't even close.
According to a report in The Times, 26-year-old Kasim Raja from Moseley, Birmingham, travelled to Pakistan unknowingly on his younger sister's passport. Following the incident, security at Britain's Birmingham airport was criticised as 'a total failure'.
Raja passed three security checks unchallenged before boarding a flight to Islamabad. It was only on arrival that passport control staff noticed the error and he was sent back to the UK. The paper said Swissport, which handles check-in procedures for the airline at Birmingham, has promised to investigate.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
If they checked him closely, it would be profiling, and we can't have that.
#3
How this happened? Very simple. British policemen had instructions not to ask veiled women to lift their burkhas. Pakistani policemen hadn't and had no qualms on it.
#4
Uh, yeah, JFM is probably right. The guy was probably using his sister's burqa as well as her passport. You'd think the Brits would learn but I guess not.
#5
In fact I was wrong. After more careful reading it looks like the guy picked his sister's passport by mistake and the police officers at airport didn't even check he looked like in the photo.
Aswat al-Iraq: Security leaders in Falluja agreed on Monday to form a joint force within preparations to secure the situation for the next elections in the city and the regions around it. "The security committee of the Falluja support council held its first conference with emergency forces in al-Karma region in east of Falluja to prepare the atmosphere for rendering the upcoming provincial councils elections a success," Colonel Saad Abbas told Aswat al-Iraq. "The joint force will wage inspecting patrols in al-Karama regions and its villages to supervise the polls stations," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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So I take it the Ed Asner lookalike won the wet t-shirt contest? The Awami League-led grand alliance has swept back to power after seven years out of office with a stunning landslide victory in an environment of free and fair elections that clearly showed the people's verdict for a change and has consigned the BNP-led four-party alliance to the political wilderness. As of 3:30 in the morning, the grand alliance had clinched 175 seats compared to 23, down from 217 in 2001, won by its archrival BNP-led four-party alliance, more than enough to form the next government.
Jamaat-e-Islami, the BNP's key ally in the four-party alliance, has seen its once-proud seat tally plummet from 17 in 2001 to a humiliating two, in what appears to be a wholesale rejection of the party by the voters. A 'rebel' candidate from Jamaat-e-Islami also won from Cox's Bazar-2.
As of 3:30 in the morning, the grand alliance had clinched 175 seats compared to 23 won by its archrival BNP-led four-party alliance, more than enough to form the next government.
The shocking results clearly indicate that the voters, especially the young and first-time voters, were hungry for change that the BNP-led four-party alliance was simply incapable of delivering. ...and "hope" too, I'll bet.
The four-party alliance offered few new ideas to the voters and appeared to have learned nothing from its two years on the sidelines during which many of its senior leaders were incarcerated on corruption charges. How about "don't get caught"? Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
A "smooth trouble-free election" in Pakistan ought to be setting off alarms.
Aswat l-Iraq: Unidentified gunmen shot and killed an official from the social office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK) in Jalawlaa district in Diala, the chief of local police said.
"Unknown gunmen opened fire on Ali Sirwan Kobkha Mahmoud, the official of the social office of the Patriotic Union of Kurdistan (PUK), in Jalawlaa, southwest of Khaneqeen, killing him on the spot," Ahmed Khaliefa al-Qassab told Aswat al-Iraq. "They killed Mahmoud in al-Shuhadaa neighborhood in central Jalawlaa before fleeing to unknown place," he added.
The PUK is one of the two main parties in Kurdistan region and headed by President Jalal Talabani.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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At least eight workers of Jamaat-e-Islami including a former personal secretary of its Ameer Motiur Rahman Nizami were arrested in Pabna while 15 workers of BNP and Jatiya Party were held in three other districts for distributing money among voters yesterday.
Locals caught Nizami's former personal secretary Shafiqul Islam Ratan and other party men red-handed distributing money among voters in Haria village of Santhia upazila early yesterday.
Nizami has contested the ninth parliamentary election held yesterday from Pabna-1 constituency. His rival in the seat Awami League's advocate Shamsul Haque Tuku alleged that Jamaat men were trying to purchase votes of the villagers using black money. Officer-in-Charge of Santhia Police Station Moniruzzaman, however, said the arrestees are from both the AL and Jamaat and that the police were investigating the allegations.
Continued on Page 49
This article starring:
ANWAR HUSEIN
Jamaat-e-Islami
ELAZUDIN
Jamaat-e-Islami
HAIDER ALI
Jamaat-e-Islami
HANNAN SARDAR
Jamaat-e-Islami
MAHAFUZUR RAHMAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
MAHFUZUR RAHMAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
MEHEDI HASAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
MIZANUR RAHMAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
MOTIUR RAHMAN NIZAMI
Jamaat-e-Islami
SAKHAWAT HUSEIN
Jamaat-e-Islami
SHAFIQUL ISLAM RATAN
Jamaat-e-Islami
Shamsul Haque Tuku
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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Men arrested this month on suspicion of plotting terrorist attacks in Bahrain learned bomb-making in Syria last summer from two Bahrainis based in Britain, the interior minister said on Saturday. "The suspects went to Syria with a group of [Shiite] pilgrims during the summer, pretending to want to visit holy sites," Sheikh Rashed bin Abdullah al-Khalifa told a news conference.
Shiite majority Bahrain is ruled by a Sunni monarchy. "On their arrival they met a Bahraini living in London who prepared an intensive training program on bomb-making, how to use the bombs and how to booby-trap cars," Sheikh Rashed said.
The people who had come from Bahrain trained in Syria in July and August, he said. The instructors who had come from Britain "were planning to bring large quantities of weapons into Bahrain to use in acts of violence and terror," Sheikh Rashed said.
He said he has raised the matter with the Syrian authorities and the two countries will try to prevent Bahrainis who go to Syria being "mixed up in illegal activities." The minister added that he has alerted British authorities to "the activities of Bahrainis living in Britain who are threatening security in Bahrain."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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Many Pakistanis accuse the US of escalating tensions between India and Pakistan in the wake of last month's Mumbai siege, a report says. I confess. It wuz me. Do we have an tension escalation meter?
"No one in Pakistan trusts the Americans and their moves... they put their weight behind Delhi only to test our nerves," a senior official told The News daily. "It couldn't possibly be our fault."
The daily added that many people also question the role of the outgoing Bush administration as its officials 'used their influence in favor of the Indians'.
The report comes after US, British and Indian officials blamed Pakistan-based militant group Lashkar-e-Taiba (Let) for the Mumbai siege, which have provoked a sharp rise in hostile rhetoric between the nuclear-armed neighbors. US and UK intelligence officials have said that the LeT commander, Zaki al- Rahman Lakhvi, was the mastermind behind the Mumbai terror attacks.
The US backs India, accusing Pakistan of providing a safe haven for Taliban, al-Qaeda and other terror groups - an excuse US forces in Afghanistan use to pound Pakistani border towns.
We're the Great Satan, we don't need an excuse ...
However, the newspaper hoped that direct high level contacts can ease the tensions between the two neighboring countries following the November Mumbai terror attacks that killed at least 179 people.
"The Pakistani establishment now believes that the 'time of war' with India is over and the recent telephone contacts at the highest military level have led to the reduction in tensions generated in the wake of troop build-up (between both sides) following the Mumbai terror attacks," the daily concluded.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
They never accept the fault for anything.
Try not murdering the Indians, that would also prevent tensions from rising.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
12/30/2008 16:21
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#3
Well, ya know, you just might be right. But then, maybe we've just come to the conclusion that all you are is sh$$ in a bag, and lying and deceitful at that. Maybe we're tired of the backstabbing, the lying, the cheating, the saying one thing and doing just the opposite, and we've discovered all those bad things the Indians were saying about you were fundamentally true. Maybe, just MAYBE, we've discovered we like them and their attitudes more than we do the constant islamic spew from phakestan. You know all those F-16s we sold you? They come with a self-destruct switch. All that ammo? Same deal. Maybe we'll just pull back into Afghanistan and let you die in your own filth and stupidity.
And maybe we'll decide that we won't stop India this time when they kick your butt all the way to Tehran.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 18:17
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(AKI) - Israel on Monday questioned media reports that suggested kidnapped Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit had been injured in an airstrike on the Gaza Strip. Egyptian television reported on Sunday night that Shalit was injured in one of the Israeli Air Force strikes in Gaza.
The Israeli Defense Force released a statement on Monday saying that "Gilad Shalit is a valuable asset for Hamas. We believe it will do everything to keep him alive." "The IDF holds Hamas responsible for everything that happens to Gilad Shalit," the statement said.
Since Operation Cast Lead began on Saturday, senior IDF officials have been in contact with the Shalit family, and warned them that Hamas might try to use their son in the psychological warfare, Israeli media reported. "We had expected that Hamas would try to use Gilad as part of their political manipulations," Deputy Defense Minister Matan Vilnai reportedly told Army Radio. "We take Gilad into account in every action we take in Gaza, his situation is a consideration," Vilani said. "I believe the less we talk about this matter, the better."
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
Gilad's release should be a condition for cessation of hostilities. Pray for him.
#2
He's dead, Jim. Sad, but, that's my take. His return live or dead should be a precondition for any truce. Let the Paleos admit he died a year or more ago, in their tender care. PR 101
Posted by: Frank G ||
12/30/2008 21:07
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Incoming Obama chief of staff Rahm Emanuel has made contact with disgraced Illinois Gov. Rod Blagojevich -- to inform him that he will be stepping down from his House seat this week. Emanuel will be resigning from the House on Friday, January 2. Emanuel also sent out robo-calls to his constituents informing them of his pending resignation.
Emanuel's previous contacts with Blagojevich's office have been closely scrutinized, in light of the governor's indictment for attempting to sell Obama's Senate seat.
Emanuel was first elected to the House in 2002 after serving as a senior political adviser in the Clinton White House. He chaired the Democratic Congressional Campaign Committee in 2006 where he helped engineer the Democrats' takeover of the House after over a decade in the minority.
Blagojevich must schedule a special election within 115 days, according to Illinois state law. A special election primary will occur even earlier. In this heavily-Democratic Chicago district, a primary victory is tantamount to winning the election. His resignation will spark a competitive race to replace him. Cook County Commissioner Mike Quigley and state Rep. Sara Feigenholtz are two of the leading contenders in a Democratic primary.
This article starring:
Rahm Emanuel
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#1
So can Blago sell his seat now? Help the defense fund, y'know?
#2
That guy looks to me like he's wound up pretty damn tight, not just in this picture but in every picture of him that I've seen since O named him Chief of Staff. He just looks like he's got a helluva lot to worry about and isn't too sure what to do about it.
Ma'an -- Islamic Jihad's leadership said on Sunday night that the movement will not stand down to a hypothetical Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.
Islamic Jihad Secretary-General Ramadan Shallah said that his movement will "fight Israeli tanks, which intend to change the situation in the Gaza Strip by force, through destruction and killing." Shallah told Qatar-based Al-Jazeera TV that "Israeli aggression against the Gaza Strip was okayed by international, Arab and regional sides aiming to change the current situation in Gaza." He insisted that Israel's "aggression" must stop, the siege on Gaza must come to an end and the crossings must be opened before any positive talks about a ceasefire will be entertained.
This article starring:
RAMADAN SHALLAH
Islamic Jihad
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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The African Union on Monday suspended Guinea after a military coup in the west African nation. Maybe they should try the Teamsters. Guinea! You're suspended! Clean out your locker and get out!You're through! Worse than that, they've been traded to the Lions ...
"The African Union decides to suspend the participation of Guinea in the activities of the African Union until the return of constitutional order in that country," the pan—African body said in a statement. The west African country's suspension from the continental body had been expected since a military coup took place on December 23. Guinea's temporary exclusion from the AU was decided during a meeting of the body's Peace and Security Council in Addis Ababa, where the organisation is headquartered. "The only option is for Guinea to be suspended. The organisation should take tough measures against those that contradict its principles," an AU official had told AFP on condition of anonymity before the meeting.
"Coups will only exacerbate the continent's existing problems and there is no time to tolerate such actions." Funny, I would think half of the AU leaders got to where they are because of coups. I'd check, but I really don't care...
Guinea's strongman Conte died on December 22 at age 74, after ruling the west African nation for 24 years, soon after which coup leaders from the military immediately announced the dissolution of the government.
Continued on Page 49
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The government cannot give space to the extremists to compel others to follow their views, President Asif Ali Zardari conveyed in a message on Monday. "We have to fight terrorism, sectarianism and other social evils, both individually and collectively, in accordance with the golden principles of Islam so that the anti-state elements cannot deter us from pursuing the path towards success, prosperity and development," he said.
Zardari urged the people to pledge to lead their lives by following the true teachings of Islam and to fight extremism and terrorism in the new Islamic year.
The president conveyed his felicitations on the start of the new Islamic year, 1430 Hijra. He said, "Let us pledge in this new Hijra year that we will lead our lives by following the true and great teachings of Islam."
Zardari said Islam did not allow any person or group to force their beliefs and ideologies on other people. "It's in the Koran someplace. You could look it up."
In a separate message, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani congratulated the people on the arrival of the new Islamic year, stating that all Muslims were brothers and each had religious, social and individual obligations towards the other. He urged the Muslim ummah to live in peace, harmony and unity in the new year.
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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A senior Iranian commander has floated the idea that the time has come for Muslims to militarily stop Israel's offensive on Gaza.
Israel kicked off the onslaught on Gaza on Saturday to take out targets linked to the Hamas movement.
On Monday, the Israeli army declared areas around the enclave a "closed military zone," as Israeli tanks and troops massed along the Gaza border while warplanes pounded the strip for a third consecutive day.
At least 345 Palestinians have been killed and nearly 1,550 have been wounded, medics told Press TV.
The international community has condemned the Israeli actions and called for an immediate end to the strikes, which have caused a furious reaction by the Muslim world.
Brigadier General Mir-Faisal Baqerzadeh, Head of the Foundation for the Remembrance of the Holy Defense, said Monday that Islamic countries should move to put the military option against Tel Aviv on the table.
"Only the military option can save Gaza," the Iranian commander claimed.
In retaliation to the attacks on Gaza, Hamas has vowed to launch rocket strikes. On Saturday, an Israeli man was killed by a Hamas rocket and four others were wounded. Another Israeli was killed on Monday by a rocket attack.
Despite international criticism of the Israeli military campaign on Gaza, Washington blames Hamas for provoking Tel Aviv.
The Hamas movement should stop its rocket attacks on Israel "if the violence is to stop," said US National Security Council spokesman Gordon Johndroe in a Saturday statement.
On Sunday, the US blocked a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt to the ongoing assaults on Gaza. The council, meanwhile, called for an end to all military activities in the region.
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has also called for an immediate end to hostilities in the Gaza Strip, urging Israel to allow humanitarian aid into the impoverished Palestinian territory.
Ban "deplores that violence is continuing today, and he strongly urges once again an immediate stop to all acts of violence," his spokeswoman Michele Montas said in a statement Sunday.
While the death toll in Gaza continues to rise, Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Haim Ramon said Monday that the goal of the massive bombardment of the Gaza Strip is to topple Hamas.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"On Sunday, the US blocked a UN Security Council resolution calling for an immediate halt to the ongoing assaults on Gaza. The council, meanwhile, called for an end to all military activities in the region.
Whatever you do, make it good. Israel will never see this kind of backing after January.
#5
Egypt, Jordan and Saudi are all anxiously hoping that Israel and the US smite Iran and Syria. For their part, Iran proxy Hezbollah is now trying to stir up trouble in Egypt.
Egypt, for its part, should make a deal with the Muslim Brotherhood, to back off of persecuting it, if it goes after Hezbollah, Hamas and other Shiite back groups. The MB has great potential to be a major pain in the ass, but it needs to be pointed in the right direction.
#6
A little late there general with the muzzie on muzzie butchery [in which your country actively participated] in Iraq and Afghanistan [and through proxies in Lebanon] generating a larger body count than the Israelis will attain. Of course I'd be nervous too if the most combat effective muzzie Army was the one on my border after I had antagonized them by directing a terrorist campaign within their border.
(AKI) - A suicide car bomber on Monday struck a governor's compound north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing two civilians and wounding two US soldiers. More than a dozen people were reported to have been injured in the attack that targeted a meeting between US troops and the governor of Parwan province in the local capital of Charikar.
A US vehicle was hit by the blast but American forces inside the complex were not injured.
An Interior Ministry spokesman Zemarai Bashary told reporters that no provincial officials were killed in the attack.
The attack occurred only a day after 14 Afghan school children were killed when an explosives-laden truck blew up near an Afghan and US military outpost.
Meanwhile, two bombings in the southern province of Kandahar on Monday reportedly killed three civilians and wounded 20 others.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"How will the government run these institutions when it is unable to run its own?"
Punjab government has appointed special supervisors to schools and dispensaries run by the banned Jamaatud Dawa, a private TV channel reported. According to the channel, the provincial government has decided not to close the welfare organisations run by the charity banned by the United Nations earlier this month. It has also appointed doctors in the dispensaries and decided to retain the old teaching staff in the schools. According to the channel, a Jamaatud Dawa spokesman criticised the move. "How will the government run these institutions when it is unable to run its own?"
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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No clear winner emerged in elections in India's troubled Jammu and Kashmir region, according to results released Sunday, but a new coalition led by the regional National Conference party was likely to assume power in the assembly.
No single party gained enough seats to form a government on its own, but the National Conference is expected to ally with the Congress party. The former, which was in the opposition for the past six years, won in 28 out of 87 constituencies. The Congress party won in 17.
The leader of the National Conference, Omar Abdullah, told reporters his party was ready to form a government with the "like-minded Congress party." The two parties have traditionally been allies.
"People have voted for a coalition government. We are the only two in a position to provide a stable government," Abdullah told television reporters in Srinagar, the region's summer capital. The two parties were engaged in back-channel talks late Sunday.
The staggered, seven-phased polls, held amid heavy security, witnessed an unexpectedly high voter turnout of 61.5 percent despite a boycott call by separatists who oppose Indian rule in Kashmir. In the last election, in 2002, voter turnout was about 43 percent.
"I think the large turnout in Kashmir is a vote for democracy and national integration. We are all happy at the turnout, and who wins or loses is a secondary issue," said Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, who heads India's Congress-ruled government.
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Caroline Kennedy's campaign to claim Hillary Clinton's Senate seat has taken another downturn after an interview in which she said "you know" 142 times. At least I hope she didn't pop her gum. That's sooo annoying...
When she first made it known that she wanted to be appointed to take over Mrs Clinton's seat, Miss Kennedy, 51, the daughter of the assassinated President John F. Kennedy, seemed a near certainty for the job. But in the course of a few weeks she has alienated Governor David Paterson of New York, who has the sole power to make the appointment, and the American press, including the elite New York Times, which is a powerful influence on Democratic officials. You dare alienate the Great and Powerful Oz Patterson!
During an interview with the paper she stumbled badly, fuelling comparisons to Governor Sarah Palin of Alaska, whose bid for the vice-presidency was blighted by a series of disastrous interview with Katie Couric of CBS News. Perhaps most damaging of all was her repeated use of the phrase "you know", which she uttered 142 times and was left in the transcript when it appeared in print.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
D *** NG IT, in Caroline's defense even "I kicked/killed Daddy's Coconuts just to watch them die" PAULA "DELILAH/BATHSHEBA" ABDUL sang "You know" in her vid "OPPOSITES ATTRACT"!
#2
JANUARY, 2009....Camelot returns to the White House!!
Princess Caroline: Like, wow, I am, you know, so happy to see you in, like, my dad's old office, you know?
The One: Yeah, uh, it's, uh, pretty nice. How's that, uh, Senate seat working out for you?
Princess Caroline: Well, you know, I don't actually even know where it is! I had an emergency honorary chairmanship meeting to attend, and that took up a lot of time. But I am doing like so much better than Hillary, you know? But could you, you know, help me with something?
The One: Uh, sure. What is it?
Princess Caroline: You know (rolls her eyes, shrugs her shoulders)....where's that "present" button I heard so much about? I really can't be bothered to, you know, vote on things.
#11
My wife used to admire how, unlike most Kennedys, she always used to stay out of the limelight. Now that she knows she's a friggin ditz, she understands why.
#12
If I'm not mistaken, Obama also uses the phrase habitually. Not that the New York Slimes could quit masturbating over his photo long enough to notice.
#13
How can someone blow an interview by a Fawning Press?
C'mon, CF, RB is a SFW site. you want that kind of stuff, you need to go elsewhere. Penthouse Forums, I believe can answer that for you.....
#14
People, none of this matters. Once she gets to the Senate all she has to do is vote like Harry Reid tells her to vote. As dumb as she may be, do you really believe many of those old farts in the Senate are any smarter? Guys like her uncle Ted? John Frickin' Kerry? Barbara Boxer? Robert Byrd? Ted Stevens? Joe Biden? Hell, she'll fit right in.
#2
Well, some Noni juicers have been jailed for claiming the vile crap cures cancer, but death seems a bit harsh.
I tasted a sample of noni juice once. It lukes like prune juice, has the consistency of diesel fuel, and tastes a little like both.
#6
Lookit the guy: did he immigrate from the Planet of the Apes? Most disturbing is that this protest is taking place outside the New Zealand Embassy and Nail Salon (ala Flight of the Conchords).
Posted by: regular joe ||
12/30/2008 9:58
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#7
Those Pasteurization extremists have always looked a bit primitive.
Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen in Basra arrested 51 wanted men and suspects in a large-scale security operation in different areas of the province on Monday, according to the Basra police's media office.
"Policemen in Basra conducted search raids in different areas in the province, arresting 21 wanted men and 30 suspects on criminal scores," the office told Aswat al-Iraq. "Several hand-grenades and 13 vehicles and two bikes that are not licensed were seized in the raids," it added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Ma'an - The Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine (DFLP) fired four projectiles at Israeli targets on Monday, according to a statement. It was not immediatly clear if the DFLP itself had fired the projectiles or if the attacks came from its militant wing.
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Police early yesterday arrested four suspected Islamist militants at a house only 20 feet away from the house of actor Asaduzzaman Noor, grand alliance candidate of Nilphamari-2 constituency.
Acting on a tip-off a contingent of police led by Assistant Superintendent of Police Sazzadur Rahman raided the rented house in Food Office Para and arrested them, police sources said.
The arrestees are Helal Uddin, 31, Ramiz Uddin, 37, Ramzan Ali, 30, and Iqbal, 29. Two of them had their families living with them.
Locals said the arrestees rented the house two months ago identifying themselves as employees of a ceramic factory and suppliers of tube-well spare parts.
Neighbours say that their activities were suspicious and none was allowed inside the house. They also said the landlord had asked them to vacate the house even though they became tenants only a couple of months ago.
Officer-in-charge of Nilphamari Police Station Nural Islam said during primary interrogation the suspects said they were members of "Kalema Jamaat" who invite people to follow Islamic ideals. They told police that they were stationery goods suppliers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Those who think that Pakistan is all about historical sites, great cuisine, exciting cities and bustling bazaars I gotta admit, ya got me...
may be not be aware that Pakistan is also an excellent destination to enjoy adventure sports. Honest to Gawd, I did not make this up...
There are a number of adventure sport destinations in Pakistan, which one can travel to. And the range of the adventure sports in the country is immense. From beheadings to bombings to Islamic fanaticism, Pakistan's got it all... But no more skiing since Swat's closed for the holidays ...
From jeep safari to mountaineering, from fishing to river rafting, from skiing to trekking, Pakistan is endowed with such geographical features that make it excellent tourist destination for adventure sports. Tell 'em about the friendly, helpful natives...
Pakistan is home to some tailor made destinations for adventure sports be it jeep safari, river rafting, mountaineering or trekking. The country is home to five of fourteen peaks above 8,000 metres - K-2, Nangaparbat, G-I & II and Broadpeak. Besides, 70 percent of mountain peaks above 7,000 metres are also located in Pakistan.
Actually all these peaks are in Jammu and Kashmir, not Pakistan proper and the Indians also claim them
The northern areas offer wonderful opportunities for various adventure sports. Its rivers tumbling down from the snow capped mountains and glaciers are great for water sports like river rafting, canoeing, sailing and kayaking. There are mountains that offer wonderful trekking trails that lead to some beautiful spots. Watch out for those IEDs though. Our fun loving locals just love those practical jokes...
Rivers Chitral, Indus, Gilgit, Swat, Hunza, Kunar and the Neelum offer exciting opportunities for water sports. ...and we don't mean fishing.
Pakistan also offers beautiful spots for skiing. Malam Jabba is one of the best skiing resort. If jeep safari is what gives one thrill, perhaps there is hardly any destination as exciting as the Northern Areas. Exciting?! You said it, Mahmoud!
There are various destinations in northern Pakistan that provide wonderful opportunities for jeep safaris. Some of the destinations that can be visited for jeep safari include Gilgit, Hunza, Shandur, Sust and Skardu. Horse and camel safaris are other two exciting activities that one can enjoy on adventure tours to Pakistan. Tour to Pakistan brings complete information on various tourist destinations in Pakistan. It promises to offer all the help to make the trip an exciting and memorable affair. You betcha! So c'mon down...INFIDEL!
Posted by: Fred ||
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A senior exiled Hamas official rejected Monday any talk of a new truce with Israel unless all attacks on Gaza cease and the border crossings are reopened, and promised to confront any ground invasion. Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of Hamas' politburo, also told The Associated Press in an interview in Damascus that Palestinians had a right to strike everywhere in Israel in response to its assault on Gaza. Abu Marzouk pledged his group will not surrender and promised to face any Israeli ground invasion. "We are going to defend ourselves, defend our people and defend our land," he said. Well, you probably won't, seeing how you're in Damascus probably playing "hide the salami" with Khaled Mashaal...
Abu Marzouk said there can be no talk of a new truce with Israel under the present conditions. "Stop all kinds of aggression, open all (crossings), stop all the violence against the people in the West Bank," he said in English, listing Hamas' conditions for any future truce. The Hamas deputy chief said any party interested in brokering a truce agreement should be "take some responsibility" to see that it gets implemented by Israel - a reference to the Egyptian role in mediating.
Abu Marzouk said the Israeli attacks were "against any international law" and stressed Hamas has the right to attack everywhere inside Israel in response.
Abu Marzouk said the Israeli attacks were "against any international law" and stressed Hamas has the right to attack everywhere inside Israel in response. "This is their right to do so," he said. He also renewed accusations against Hamas' rival, Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, saying he was collaborating with Israel against Hamas and had provided "cover" to the Israeli operations in Gaza. He slammed Abbas for his Sunday comments blaming Hamas for the attacks on Gaza, saying Hamas had the right to "resist." "We need our liberty, we need our freedom and we need to be independent. If we don't accomplish this objective, then we have to resist. This is our right," he said.
Abu Marzouk also called on Arab countries who have peace treaties with Israel - Egypt and Jordan - to sever those ties. He added he hoped Arab leaders meeting for an emergency summit meeting later this week to deal with the Gaza situation would send a very clear message to Israel to stop its assault.
This article starring:
MUSA ABU MARZUK
Hamas
Posted by: Fred ||
12/30/2008
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#5
Line up the 155s and begin barrage fire, first from north to south, then south to north, and finally east to west. Whatever crawls out of the rubble is the responsibility of the rest of the Israeli army.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
12/30/2008 18:39
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(AKI) - The Sunni militant group, Jundallah, has claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that targeted the elite Revolutionary Guards in Iran on Sunday.
In a message released on the Arab satellite network al-Arabiya, Jundallah said a suicide bomber from the group had struck an office of the Revolutionary Guards in the southeastern province of Sistan.
The suicide bomber, Abdel Gharuf al Raidi, reportedly blew himself up during a meeting of senior leaders in the area of Sirwan.
Jundallah, or Soldiers of God, is also known as the Iranian People's Resistance Movement.
It is an insurgent Sunni Islamic organisation based in Balochistan fighting for what it claims are the rights of Sunni Muslims in Iran.
The group has been blamed for various offences and kidnappings in southeastern Iran on the border of Pakistan.
Last week, The Tehran Times newspaper cited the city's deputy police chief Ahmad Reza Radan who claimed police had delivered a "deadly blow" against the militant group led by Abdolmalek Rigi.
He said during three operations police had killed Abdolmalek's brother and his deputy as well as 19 others.
Jundullah is reported to have killed 16 police officers they kidnapped in Iran in June.
Posted by: Fred ||
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HAMAS last night threatened to assassinate Israeli leaders as the bombing of the Gaza Strip entered a third day and armoured forces were deployed along the borders of the Palestinian territory.
As Israel mobilised 6700 reservists in preparation for the next stage of combat, senior Hamas official Fatah Hamad warned that the militant group would assassinate Defence Minister Ehud Barak, Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni and other leaders if the attacks continued.
Mr Barak countered that Israeli was in "all-out war against Hamas", as the army declared the border area a closed military zone - a move that in the past has often been followed by ground operations in Gaza.
At least 51 civilians were among the victims so far, the UN agency for Palestinian refugees said last night.
Palestinian medics said several children had been killed in the latest air raids, with the death toll in Gaza rising to 312.
An Israeli Arab was killed and eight others were wounded yesterday when a missile fired from Gaza landed near a construction site in the southern Israeli city of Ashkelon. Earlier, Hamas unleashed the longest-range rockets yet fired into Israel, striking near the port city of Ashdod, 40km inside the Jewish state.
Mr Hamad also threatened senior officials of the Palestinian Authority in the West Bank and "those in the Arab world who have conspired against us", an apparent reference to Egyptian leaders. Hamas has called for suicide bombers to attack inside Israel.
Planes used bunker buster bombs to destroy 40 tunnels through which supplies were smuggled into the Gaza Strip from Egypt, Israeli officials said.
Most of the targets hit were in Gaza City, including homes of Hamas leaders and the office of Prime Minister Ismail Haniya. A house next to Mr Haniya's home was destroyed but the Prime Minister had gone into hiding, as had other Hamas leaders.
Planes hit a security compound that included a Hamas prison, allowing dozens of prisoners to flee through the shattered walls. Also hit were two laboratory buildings at the Islamic University said by Israel to have been used to prepare explosives and fuel for rockets. Gaza's nine hospitals were reported to be overwhelmed as the number of wounded approached 1000.
Israel announced that it would permit the entry into Gaza of 100 trucks carrying medicines, food and other supplies contributed by Turkey, Jordan and international organisations. Hundreds of Gaza residents breached the border fence with Egypt to escape from the Strip.
Yuval Diskin, the head of domestic spy agency Shin Bet, told the Israeli cabinet early yesterday that Hamas was still in shock from the scale of the onslaught but was preparing attacks it hoped would change the picture.
The cabinet approval for the mobilisation of 6700 reservists suggested any initial ground thrusts would be limited in scope. Ms Livni said Israel had no intention of reoccupying the Gaza Strip, from which it pulled out three years ago. Officials said the Foreign Ministry was already working on an exit strategy that would not involve stationing an international force in Gaza similar to that deployed in southern Lebanon after the war against Hezbollah.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
was still in shock from the scale of the onslaught but was preparing attacks it hoped would change the picture
#2
FREE Streaming TV Shows, Movies, Music (over 6 million digital tracks), Unlimited Games, Money, Books, and College Educations (Stanford, Oxford, Notre Dame and more) http://www.InternetSurfShack.com
#4
Israel threatens to kill Hamas leaders.
So now their even, except that the Israelis have the means to do it. Whether they have the will or not is yet to be seen.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
12/30/2008 18:34
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
In defiance of U.S. senators who said they would not seat his pick, Gov. Rod Blagojevich today selected former Illinois Attorney General Roland Burris to succeed President-elect Barack Obama in the Senate.
Gov. Rod Blagojevich is expected today to name former Illinois Atty. Gen. Roland Burris to replace President-elect Barack Obama in the U.S. Senate.
Some are terrifying. Some are silent. But they're all very effective.
During the first Persian Gulf War, the U.S. military quickly rigged together similar weapons to attack Iraqi facilities, and then spent the next decade perfecting the concept.
In the past few years, people seem to have forgone the conventional phone conversation in favor of punching in short text messages on tiny keypads, all while mobile phone carriers have cashed in lucratively. In 2008, 2.5 trillion messages were sent from cell phones worldwide, up 32 percent from the year before, according to the Gartner Group and reported by The New York Times.
President-elect Barack Obama vowed on the campaign trail to shut down the terrorist detention center at Guantanamo Bay. But he never said what he would do with the prisoners there. What to do with the 250 alleged foreign terrorists at the Cuba prison is the real question facing Obama, experts say. "The words sounds simple, but it's wrapped in some very complex issues," Air Force Col. Mo Davis, former chief prosecutor at Guantanamo, said of shutting down the prison. "Saying it is a lot easier than doing it."
Security forces pounded Taliban hideouts in various areas of Mamoond tehsil of Bajaur Agency on Monday, injuring four people. According to local residents, armed men fired eight rockets at the agency headquarters, Khar. No casualty was reported. A house was also damaged in the shelling. Separately, armed men burned the houses of eight pro-government tribal elders in the tehsil. On Thursday, a grand jirga of the Salarzai tribes had resolved that they would not allow outsiders on their land. The gathering had discussed the recent attacks on tribal lashkars and a new strategy to meet the challenges. The elders had asked the government to establish more security posts to ensure the government's writ.
Hamas's armed wing, 
Pakistan People's Party Secretary General Jahangir Badar has said that a United Nations commission will start a probe into former prime minister Benazir Bhutto's murder in January next year, a private TV channel reported on Sunday. 
A tribal elder of the Mullagori tribe was killed during a jirga in Mullagori area of Jamrud tehsil on Monday. Local sources said Malik Saleh Muhammad Khan's murder was a result of long-standing enmity. Meanwhile, an Afghan national, Haleem Khan, was abducted from Sakhipul area of Jamrud. He was reportedly a solider of the Afghan National Army. Separately, private militia Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) claimed to have recovered a child who was abducted for ransom three months ago from Bara. LI chief Mangal Bagh said that the child was kidnapped and shifted first to Afghanistan and later to Tirah area of Khyber Agency. The LI also claimed to have apprehended the kidnappers.
The Gulf Cooperation Council's (GCC) annual summit in Oman will go ahead and focus on the global economic crisis, though Israel's attacks on Gaza will also be discussed, the host country said on Sunday. "The most appropriate reply to the events under way in the Palestinian situation would be for the Palestinian brothers to close ranks by reaching understanding and national unity," Omani Information Minister Hamad al-Rashidi said.
(AKI) - Five sisters, aged from four to 17, were among the civilian victims of Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip, the United Nations Relief and Works Agency said on Monday. The UN agency's Christopher Gunness told Adnkronos International (AKI) that at least 57 civilians had been killed in three days of Israeli attacks and the number was expected to rise.
US Congressman Dennis Kucinich says the continuing Israeli attacks on civilians in the Gaza Strip are an example of 'collective punishment'. 
As we celebrate the majesty of public will and try to understand the stunning results of the national election 2008, the real question that needs to be asked is not why Awami League won so comprehensively, but why BNP got the thrashing that it did. Given our anti-incumbency history and the pattern so far followed since 1991, it can be considered somewhat natural that Awami League should get a turn to run the country in 2008, after BNP did so in 2001. 
Ma'an - Most of the Israeli airstrikes hit Gazans at work, not activists launching rockets as Israel has reported, said Spokesman for the de facto Interior Ministry 
(AKI) - A key militant from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad, 
North Korea threatened to stop taking apart its nuclear plant that makes bomb-grade plutonium unless Japan provides it with energy aid as part of an international disarmament deal, Kyodo news agency said on Monday. 
(AKI) - Countries throughout the Middle East have reacted quickly to Israel's offensive in the Gaza Strip by pledging to send aid to the war-torn territory. Saudi Arabia, Iran, the United Arab Emirates and Jordan on Monday sent food and medical supplies after the Israeli attacks that killed 310 people and injured over 1,400.
In 2007, Mahmoud Ahmadi-Nejad, Iran's 
The British authorities are investigating how a United Kingdom (UK) citizen flew to Pakistan using his sister's passport before he was discovered by Pakistani officials and sent back. 
The Awami League-led grand alliance has swept back to power after seven years out of office with a stunning landslide victory in an environment of free and fair elections that clearly showed the people's verdict for a change and has consigned the BNP-led four-party alliance to the political wilderness. As of 3:30 in the morning, the grand alliance had clinched 175 seats compared to 23, down from 217 in 2001, won by its archrival BNP-led four-party alliance, more than enough to form the next government. 
Incoming Obama chief of staff 
Ma'an -- Islamic Jihad's leadership said on Sunday night that the movement will not stand down to a hypothetical Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip. 
The government cannot give space to the extremists to compel others to follow their views, President Asif Ali Zardari conveyed in a message on Monday. "We have to fight terrorism, sectarianism and other social evils, both individually and collectively, in accordance with the golden principles of Islam so that the anti-state elements cannot deter us from pursuing the path towards success, prosperity and development," he said. 
(AKI) - A suicide car bomber on Monday struck a governor's compound north of the Afghan capital, Kabul, killing two civilians and wounding two US soldiers. More than a dozen people were reported to have been injured in the attack that targeted a meeting between US troops and the governor of Parwan province in the local capital of Charikar.
Caroline Kennedy's campaign to claim Hillary Clinton's Senate seat has taken another downturn after an interview in which she said "you know" 142 times. 
Those who think that Pakistan is all about historical sites, great cuisine, exciting cities and bustling bazaars 
A senior exiled Hamas official rejected Monday any talk of a new truce with Israel unless all attacks on Gaza cease and the border crossings are reopened, and promised to confront any ground invasion. 
HAMAS last night threatened to assassinate Israeli leaders as the bombing of the Gaza Strip entered a third day and armoured forces were deployed along the borders of the Palestinian territory.
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