Panasonic says families of overseas workers in Africa and other regions are being ordered home to Japan in anticipation of a severe flu outbreak.
Workers will remain in their posts while their families return home by September from Africa, Eastern Europe, the Middle East, Russia, South America and Asia, excluding Singapore, said Panasonic spokesman Akira Kadota.
Panasonic fears an outbreak of influenza, including H5N1 bird flu, Kadota said, noting the H5N1 virus has been confirmed in more than 60 countries in Africa, Asia and Europe since 2003.
The virus has killed more than 250 people since 2003 with the peak outbreak occurring in 2006 with 115 confirmed cases and 79 deaths, CNN reported.
#3
China is already in a quiet panic about H5N1. It is slowly and methodically increasing its endemic territory, and sporadically coming out and attacking just a person or two.
By comparison, if it was in the US, on one day, a person in rural Utah, two days later, someone in Boston. Two days after that, one on the bayou in Louisiana. Then one in downtown Seattle. The US Department of Health would be freaking out.
The zinger is that the H2H mutation might be almost mathematically derived, with each source like alarm clocks, and all set to go off at the same time.
#4
well December 2012 is coming so maybe they are on to something...it would go right along with all the other cheery news that is out there. I feel a whole lot better after I go to church.
#6
Livni might win the vote but she may not be able to put together a majority. Netanyahu has an easier path to do that even if he comes in second. Watch and wait.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2009 16:58
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#7
Do the same folks do exit polls over there as over here?
#9
Michael Medved sez that Israeli exit polls-- by law-- do not include active duty military. He has family in Israel, so maybe he knows what he's talking about.
#10
with 76% counted
projections were
Kadima 29 mandates,
Likud 28
Israel Beiteinu 16
Labor 12
Shas 11
Meretz 4,
United Torah Judaism 4,
National Union 4,
Hadash 4,
Bayit Hayihudi 3,
United Arab List 3, and
Balad 2 seats.
Israel Beiteinu would prefer Likud to Kadima
Shas will not be in a coalition with IsBeit
Labor won't be in a coalition with Likud, etc.
It is a bit like figuring out seating at a Hatfield-McCoy wedding.
Many people don't understand what's happening now in Israeli politics, so here's a brief, and non-partisan, appreciation. Compared to the past, there's far less difference between the three main parties. This is largely due to the objective situation, which is rather inflexible.
It is easy to characterize some as rabid right-wingers who throw away chances for peace and others as rabid left-wingers who are ready to make too many concessions. Neither argument is correct except for the fringes. I am tempted to add that abroad, the Left thinks we're evil, while the Right thinks we're stupid. All of this has little to do with reality.
The dominant theme in international media coverage is to say Israelis are moving toward the Right. Yet this is both misleading and misinterpreted. The real move has been toward the center, which is represented not only by Kadima and Likud but also by Labor. A greater majority is about to vote for parties close to centrist positions than at any time in history.
THE LEFT-WING MANTRA is peace, though how we can reach peace with Iran, Syria, Hamas and Hizbullah is rather hard to see. With the PA the situation is more complex but, briefly, it doesn't control Gaza, is still full of radical elements and has weak leadership. The PA is nowhere near being able to make peace on a realistic basis. Everyone in the PA and in Israel's leadership knows this; few in the Western media and academia seem close to comprehending it. A lot of governments understand the situation privately but talk quite differently in public.
The right-wing mantra is victory, though how Israel is going to replace the Iranian and Syrian governments, or destroy Hamas and Hizbullah is equally hard to see. The country has minimal to no international support for these goals.
WHAT HAVE PEOPLE learned over the past decade that shapes their thinking?
We discovered that Palestinians and Syrians are unwilling and unable to make peace.
We saw that Fatah is still full of extremism and its leadership is too weak and too hard-line itself to make a comprehensive peace agreement.
We viewed the rise of Hamas as a group dedicated to permanent war and its seizure of Gaza using land from which we withdrew as a base for attacks.
We experienced the continuing hatred of the Arab and Muslim world, largely undiminished by Israeli concessions.
We observed Iran's rise as a power, potentially nuclear armed, explicitly seeking our extinction.
We noted the world didn't reward us for making concessions and taking risks. Indeed, the more we gave, the higher the degree of slander and hostility rose in many sectors.
AS A RESULT of this, there has arisen a national consensus around the following points:
Israel wants peace and will make real concessions for true lasting, stable peace and a two-state solution
Few think the "moderate" Palestinian leadership - PA, Fatah - is willing or able to make such an agreement for decades. The same applies to Syria.
As a result, any real change on Jerusalem, the Golan or West Bank settlements is far off.
No deal can be made with Hamas. But Hamas isn't going to disappear either. Same for Hizbullah.
The key point is to defend Israel and its citizens so they pursue their normal lives.
Iran is a real danger, and when it appears about to get nuclear weapons, a big decision will have to be made on attacking these facilities.
THIS NATIONAL CONSENSUS - accepted by Labor, Likud and Kadima, along with many others - enables the next government to be a national unity government. Whoever becomes prime minister would do well to bring in one or both of the other two main parties. What is consensus policy for the next government?
To stress that we want peace, are ready for a Palestinian state, and are not responsible for the conflict and violence continuing.
To maintain deterrence and defend ourselves.
To preserve the best possible relations with the United States, Europe and other countries as long as it does not involve risks to national interests and citizens.
Security cooperation with the PA to prevent terrorist attacks in exchange for helping it economically and to ensure that Hamas doesn't take over the West Bank. Without illusions regarding Fatah and the PA, this effort seems to be working.
To decide when to strike back at Hamas - and potentially Hizbullah - based on any attacks on us. Precise response depends on timing, opportunity, and their behavior.
To work for the isolation of Iran, Hizbullah and Hamas.
Where are the differences among the leading parties? They are more atmospherics than real: offering small concessions; making small demands. If much of the election revolves around personalities, that is because strategy and policy are not hugely different among them. Binyamin Netanyahu isn't going to embark on a settlement-building campaign; Tzipi Livni isn't going to give away east Jerusalem. And that's a good thing, for whatever faults they have, this trio is basically making appropriate responses to the situation.
#1
Thank you, g(r)omgoru. That's what I needed to read to sleep better at night. Now if only we could get a consensus here in the U.S. about such critical issues!
#1
The One warned in his speech to the nation that the economy would lose about a trillion dollars worth of demand this year and a trillion dollars of demand next year given the contraction in the economy?
Given the current GDP, wouldnt that be close to back-to-back 10% economic declines?
Isnt that the most common definition of a textbook depression?
#2
He's fanning the flames to create panic which is the quickest way to take total control. He's already bucking the Constitution to take control of the Census. Welcome to the time of the Non-Person.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/10/2009 20:28
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#3
Can't be a non citizen when you're armed, whatever is said, weapons make men(Women)free.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/10/2009 20:39
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#5
Gee, I can think of something the gov can do that will keep several hundred billion $ in the country. Let the money circulate a few times in a year and there is your trillion $ worth of demand.
Posted by: ed ||
02/10/2009 22:24
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INTERPOL has issued a global security alert for 83 Saudi nationals and two Yemenis described as highly dangerous and suspected of plotting terror attacks against Saudi Arabia.
Today's alert was the first time that the world police organization had issued a so-called "Orange notice" for such a large group of suspects, said Interpol secretary general Ronald Noble.
The men are wanted in Saudi Arabia on terrorism-related charges, including links to al-Qaeda in the kingdom, Iraq and Afghanistan, Interpol said at its headquarters in Lyon, central France.
They are described as "highly dangerous" and "could be armed, violent and suicidal," according to the security alert.
"By asking for Interpol's assistance, Saudi Arabia wishes to ensure that all Interpol member-countries are made aware that these men are dangerous and that their activities represent a security concern not only for Saudi Arabia and the entire region but also for the world as a whole," said Mr Noble.
"We know that we are approaching the 16th anniversary of the first World Trade Centre bombing on February 26, 2009 and therefore must be especially vigilant of fugitive al-Qaeda terrorists," he said.
The 85 men, most of whom are aged between 20 and 35, are suspected of having left Saudi Arabia, probably for Iraq or Afghanistan.
Photos and details of the wanted men have been released on Interpol's website www.interpol.int.
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM [paraph]> LOCAL BANGLADESHI JOURNALISTS TAKEN ABACK AT INDIAN JOURNALIST'S CLAIM OF PAKISTAN USING BANGLADESH AS A PROXY AND "BUFFER STATE" TO LAUNCH WAR AGZ INDIA.
THE US Senate has passed a $US838 billion economic stimulus plan, touching off difficult compromise negotiations with the House aimed at sending President Barack Obama a final bill this week.
Senators voted 61-37 to approve the package overnight, setting the stage for talks aimed at reconciling differences between their legislation and the House of Representatives' rival $US819 billion plan.
Leaders of the Democratic majorities in both chambers have said they will work as long as it takes to get a final package to Mr Obama, who has urged lawmakers to meet a self-imposed February 16 deadline for doing so.
#4
Any guesses who will be named the the conference committee?
Hint: It won't be anyone who voted against the bill....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2009 15:18
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#5
The thing that pisses me off the most is that everybody (including democrats) knows this is nothing but a big pile of pork that will barely budge the economy at all. They know this!
I told my wife to pay close attention to 0bama's words last night because it was the first time in history a US president has spoken to the people and EVERY SINGLE WORD HE SPOKE WAS A LIE.
#6
Asked on the Dick Cavett Show about her former Stalinist comrade Lillian Hellman, Mary McCarthy replied, Every word she says is a lie, including and and the.
#8
I'll probably be re-registering as a Republican here in the Commonwealth expressly for the purpose of voting against Specter in the primaries in 2010.
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/10/2009 17:53
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#9
Compare wid FREEREPUBLIC > US UNVEILS NEW TRILYUHN DOLLAR SPENDING PLAN.
FREEP POSTERS > collectively argue or claim that the US GOVT. = Congresscritters had thus far appropriated or spent US$3.5TRILYUHN widout even touching or denting the Recession = WIDOUT SAVING ANY JOBS??? PORCULUS JUST KEEPS GETTING BIGGER AND BIGGER DESPITE THE US CBO CLAIMING THE US CAN GET OUT OF THIS RECESSION LATER IN 2009 WIDOUT IT.
Video, Rep Kanjorski, Capital Markets Subcommittee Chairman explains (at about 2:20), how there was a $550B electronic run on America's money market accounts, that unless congress acted immediately, by 2pm that day, it was estimated tthat $5.5T would be taken out of the US economy, causing a complete US and international economic collapse. If an individual or nation was responsible, that was the closest thing to an act of war imaginable.
#1
Why does George Soros' name keep running through my mind regarding this?
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2009 17:42
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#2
From a comment in the linked Boingboing thread:
I think Rep. Kanjorski let something out on C-SPAN that the State would have rather kept secret. I'd wager that after the interview persons in the Treasury Secretary's office called his office in 2188 RHOB and gave his CoS an earful, trying to repair the leak in the dike.
Thanks to Kanjorski--who as Capital Markets subcmte chair would learn about this kind of information--we intelligent, pitchfork-wielding peons now have another piece of the puzzle.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
02/10/2009 23:37
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US Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner has unveiled a three-part program to stabilise the financial system including an initial fund of $US500 billion to absorb toxic assets.
The US will also committ $US50 billion to prevent home mortgage foreclosures, the epicentre of global financial turmoil, under a financial stability plan unveiled overnight.
Mr Geithner said the plan would "bring the full force of the US government to bear to strengthen our financial system so that we get the economy back on track".
A key element will be a public-private investment fund started with $US500 billion "with the potential to expand up to $US1 trillion" to help cleanse the banking system of toxic real-estate assets.
This will serve the role of an aggregator bank, or "bad bank" to help financial institutions value their mortgage securities and clean up their balance sheets.
A second element will include additional capital injections into banks.
"While banks will be encouraged to access private markets to raise any additional capital needed to establish this buffer, a financial institution that has undergone a comprehensive 'stress test' will have access to a Treasury-provided 'capital buffer' to help absorb losses and serve as a bridge to receiving increased private capital," the Treasury said.
Thirdly, the Treasury and Federal Reserve will expand a program to boost lending for mortgages and other consumer and business loans to up to $US1 trillion.
The US central bank, in coordination with a Treasury Department effort to steady the financial system, said it was preparing "a substantial expansion" of a program announced last year to get more credit flowing.
The Fed would pump up the amount to $US1 trillion from the previously announced $US800 billion for its Term Asset-Backed Securities Loan Facility, which would accept mortgage-backed securities and securities backed by car loans, credit card loans, student loans, and some small business loans.
The expansion "would be supported by the provision by the Treasury of additional funds from the Troubled Asset Relief Program", the Fed said.
#2
A bit of irony here: The One visited Elkhart Indiana a blue-collar town of 53,000 that builds RVs ($55k to $600k range) for the wealthy and has seen its unemployment rate triple from 4.7 percent to more than 15 percent. If we can only get this diabolical wealthy people buying expensive RV's again, we'll be fine! For some reason, the rich bastards just won't SPEND!!!
#4
Geithner announced his plan and the market tanked. Way to go, Tim ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2009 17:01
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#5
Stocks logged their worst performance since a 5.3% loss on Jan. 20 as investors dumped stocks after Treasury Secretary Geithner failed to deliver the specifics
FIVE Somali pirates, intercepted in the Gulf of Aden as they attacked a Dutch cargo ship, have been extradited to the Netherlands, a Dutch prosecution spokesman says.
"They arrived this afternoon in Eindhoven and will be brought before a magistrate in Rotterdam tomorrow," spokesman Wim de Bruin said.
The five men were flown to The Netherlands earlier from the Gulf state of Bahrain, he said.
They had been intercepted on January 2 by a Danish frigate, the Absalon, as they allegedly attempted to board a Dutch Antilles cargo vessel. The Absalon is patrolling the Gulf as part of an international anti-piracy task force.
Dutch prosecutors issued arrest warrants for the men on January 21 while they were being held aboard the Absalon.
While we prepare to shunt perhaps 30,000 more troops to Afghanistan (which still will not be enough), Russia continues to play the Asian chessboard. The Russians are picking off pawn after pawn, and steadily eroding our foreign policy influence with them and other Central Asian countries. The Russians know that we need a land route through their country to Afghanistan, especially as we begin the slow process of increasing our combat presence. The Pakistan land route is one Achilles' heel to our Afghanistan effort, and Russia is working hard to make sure that Russia is the other Achilles' heel, which will strengthen the Russian position on matters such as missile defense. Russia, at the present rate, will eventually exercise considerable control over the spigot to Afghanistan. The Russians are successfully wrestling us into a policy arm-lock. While Russia takes American money and gains influence over our Afghan efforts, we will continue to spend lives and tens of billions of dollars per year on Afghanistan in an attempt to civilize what amounts to Jurassic Park.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain ||
02/10/2009
12:46 ||
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#2
The man has spent a lot of time there and he apparently does not think it worth our blood and treasure. As I posted a couple of days ago, it is a hell hole and always will be a hell hole. Geography has dealt them this lousy hand, but nothing we are going to do will change that. Get out now.
Republican Senators are questioning whether President Barack Obama's stimulus bill contains the right mix of tax breaks and cash infusions to jump-start the economy.
Tragically, no one from either party is objecting to the health provisions slipped in without discussion. These provisions reflect the handiwork of Tom Daschle, until recently the nominee to head the Health and Human Services Department.
Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version).
The bill's health rules will affect "every individual in the United States" (445, 454, 479). Your medical treatments will be tracked electronically by a federal system. Having electronic medical records at your fingertips, easily transferred to a hospital, is beneficial. It will help avoid duplicate tests and errors.
But the bill goes further. One new bureaucracy, the National Coordinator of Health Information Technology, will monitor treatments to make sure your doctor is doing what the federal government deems appropriate and cost effective. The goal is to reduce costs and "guide" your doctor's decisions (442, 446). These provisions in the stimulus bill are virtually identical to what Daschle prescribed in his 2008 book, "Critical: What We Can Do About the Health-Care Crisis." According to Daschle, doctors have to give up autonomy and "learn to operate less like solo practitioners."
Keeping doctors informed of the newest medical findings is important, but enforcing uniformity goes too far.
New Penalties
Hospitals and doctors that are not "meaningful users" of the new system will face penalties. "Meaningful user" isn't defined in the bill. That will be left to the HHS secretary, who will be empowered to impose "more stringent measures of meaningful use over time" (511, 518, 540-541)
What penalties will deter your doctor from going beyond the electronically delivered protocols when your condition is atypical or you need an experimental treatment? The vagueness is intentional. In his book, Daschle proposed an appointed body with vast powers to make the "tough" decisions elected politicians won't make.
The stimulus bill does that, and calls it the Federal Coordinating Council for Comparative Effectiveness Research (190-192). The goal, Daschle's book explained, is to slow the development and use of new medications and technologies because they are driving up costs. He praises Europeans for being more willing to accept "hopeless diagnoses" and "forgo experimental treatments," and he chastises Americans for expecting too much from the health-care system.
Elderly Hardest Hit
Daschle says health-care reform "will not be pain free." Seniors should be more accepting of the conditions that come with age instead of treating them. That means the elderly will bear the brunt.
Medicare now pays for treatments deemed safe and effective. The stimulus bill would change that and apply a cost- effectiveness standard set by the Federal Council (464).
The Federal Council is modeled after a U.K. board discussed in Daschle's book. This board approves or rejects treatments using a formula that divides the cost of the treatment by the number of years the patient is likely to benefit. Treatments for younger patients are more often approved than treatments for diseases that affect the elderly, such as osteoporosis.
In 2006, a U.K. health board decreed that elderly patients with macular degeneration had to wait until they went blind in one eye before they could get a costly new drug to save the other eye. It took almost three years of public protests before the board reversed its decision.
Hidden Provisions
If the Obama administration's economic stimulus bill passes the Senate in its current form, seniors in the U.S. will face similar rationing. Defenders of the system say that individuals benefit in younger years and sacrifice later.
The stimulus bill will affect every part of health care, from medical and nursing education, to how patients are treated and how much hospitals get paid. The bill allocates more funding for this bureaucracy than for the Army, Navy, Marines, and Air Force combined (90-92, 174-177, 181).
Hiding health legislation in a stimulus bill is intentional. Daschle supported the Clinton administration's health-care overhaul in 1994, and attributed its failure to debate and delay. A year ago, Daschle wrote that the next president should act quickly before critics mount an opposition. "If that means attaching a health-care plan to the federal budget, so be it," he said. "The issue is too important to be stalled by Senate protocol."
More Scrutiny Needed
On Friday, President Obama called it "inexcusable and irresponsible" for senators to delay passing the stimulus bill. In truth, this bill needs more scrutiny.
The health-care industry is the largest employer in the U.S. It produces almost 17 percent of the nation's gross domestic product. Yet the bill treats health care the way European governments do: as a cost problem instead of a growth industry. Imagine limiting growth and innovation in the electronics or auto industry during this downturn. This stimulus is dangerous to your health and the economy.
#1
Look out seniors??? We ALL better look out. Because we're going to have to get approval from the federal bureaucracy before tests and treatments. That means more delays and red tape. That means we will get even worse before treatment can begin.
If the House approves this, national health care has arrived!
#2
Don't need the unborn/nearly born. They're costly, unplanned and inconvenient. Let them die or kill them outright. Don't need the elderly/nearly dead. They're costly and inconvenient. Let them die as well. Paging Dr. Kervorkian, Dr. Jack Kervorkian.
China's monthly vehicle sales surpassed those in the United States for the first time in January, moving this country closer to becoming the world's biggest auto market, data released Tuesday showed.
With its growing middle class and vast potential as a consumer market, China is vital for General Motors, Volkswagen and Toyota as they count on demand here to offset weakness in the U.S. and elsewhere.
But China's ascent in the global auto market has been hastened by the plunge in U.S. auto sales, which tumbled 37 percent in January to a 26-year low of 656,976 units.
Chinese vehicle sales also have cooled, but hardly as dramatically. In January, 735,000 vehicles were sold, down 14.4 percent from a monthly record 860,000 last January, the China Association of Automobile Manufacturers said.
General Motors says it sold a record 1.09 million vehicles in China, up 6 percent from 2008.
#1
Can someone insert the women's poster on the front page? It really deserves prominent display.
"The Consortium of Pub-going, Loose and Forward Women which had 7,422 members as of this afternoon is also urging Indian women to defy the radicals by going to their nearest pub and enjoying a drink on Saturday."
"Join Us on February 14, Valentine's Day. Walk to the nearest pub and buy a drink. Raise a toast to the Sri Ram Sena."
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/10/2009 16:47
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#2
I hope that these women keep up the pressure and marginalize the up-tight moralists. Such people cannot tolerate being laughed at and scorned.
Irans former president was set upon by an angry stick-wielding mob today amid celebrations of the 30th anniversary of the Islamic Revolution on the streets of Tehran.
The attack on Mohammed Khatami came just two days after the reformist cleric announced he would be running against the hardline incumbent Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in June's presidential elections.
Mr Khatami, then a little known cleric, came to global attention when he was elected to the presidency in 1997, capturing almost 70 per cent of the vote. Succeeded in 2005 by Mr Ahmadinejad, he blamed hardline elements in the clerical establishment for obstructing his reformist agenda.
During the revolutionary celebrations, attackers waving sticks approached the cleric, shouting Death to Khatami. We do not want American government.
According to Mr Khatamis Baran Foundation, the attackers were repelled by his own supporters, who chanted, Khatami, Khatami, we support you.
Mr Khatami was escorted from the street by his bodyguards who took him to shelter in a nearby building.
The attack emerged as Mr Ahmadinejad led Iran in its celebrations by hinting at a softening of relations towards the US.
The President internationally isolated because of his country's nuclear ambitions, sponsorship of Hezbollah and Hamas and threats towards Israel said that he was ready for talks, but only if US policy changes dramatically.
"It is clear that the change [by Obama] must be fundamental and not tactical," the Iranian leader said, in a speech in Tehran. "The Iranian nation will welcome true changes and is ready for dialogue in a climate of equality and mutual respect."
However, cloaking his new rhetoric with threats to respond if the Obama Administration follows the policies of his predecessor, he added: "The world does not want the dark era of (former President Bush) to be repeated. If some people seek to repeat that experience... they should know they will face a much worse fate than that of Bush."
Iran's political system is a combination of theocracy and democratic republic, with the country holding elections for the presidency and Parliament. However, its clerics and ultimately its Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, decide on the candidates and disqualify those considered contrary to Islamic values.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/10/2009 14:36
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#2
Whoa there, smarty pants. This is how a real democracy works.
Posted by: B. J. Clinton ||
02/10/2009 14:59
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#3
TOPIX > VARIOUS - COMMANDER: IRANIAN ARMED VOLUNTEERS TO PROTECT GOVT. FROM "SOFT POWER" TAKEOVER [as controlled/manipulated by "foreign powers/hands" = read, US-Allies]; + HIZBOLLAH VOWS TO PROTECT PALESTINIANS AND DEFEAT ISRAEL WITH [people's power/war]RESISTANCE.
Citing harsh weather, high sales taxes, and public corruption, Forbes Magazine named Chicago the third most miserable city in the country in its 2009 survey. Forbes list ranked Chicago more miserable than Buffalo, Detroit, and even Flint, Mich., the former auto manufacturing town whose gloom was immortalized in Michael Moore's "Roger and Me."
The city boasts being the hometown of President Barack Obama, a leading contender for the 2016 Summer Olympics and an impressive record for the Cubs last year, Forbes points out.
Nonetheless, Forbes complains: "Lousy weather, long commutes, rising unemployment and the highest sales tax rate in the country are to blame for the Windy City being near the top of our list. High rates of corruption by public officials didn't help either."
Forbes cites "a little corruption problem" as the major cause for their poor ranking of Chicago. The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Northern District of Illinois has convicted 385 public officials of crimes in the past 10 years, and five of the past nine Illinois governors have been charged with crimes, Forbes points out.
Meanwhile, unemployment is expected to rise to 9.2 percent in Chicago, the Tribune Company has filed for bankruptcy, and major layoffs have hit local powerhouse employers including Midway Games, Motorola and the University of Chicago Medical Center, Forbes said.
"Residents have been showing their dissatisfaction with Chicago with their feet, perhaps fed up by the average low temperature of 17 degrees in January," Forbes' Kurt Badenhausen wrote. "There has been a net migration of people out of Chicago for seven straight years, a trend that is expected to continue."
On top of that, Forbes highlighted the fact that last year marked 100 years since the Cubs had won a World Series.
Forbes' most miserable city of all for 2009 Stockton, Calif., which was hit hard by the housing bust. Following Stockton is Memphis, Tenn., which suffers from a high crime rate and sales tax. Chicago comes third, followed by Cleveland; Modesto, Calif.; Flint, Mich.; Detroit; Buffalo, N.Y.; Miami; and St. Louis.
Posted by: Helmuth, Speaking for Thromong2805 ||
02/10/2009
11:51 ||
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#1
Sorta missed a body count higher than our combat troops suffer in a war zone like Iraq. At least even the locals there are able to own guns to protect themselves.
Immigration, both legal and illegal, was the silent issue in the presidential campaign--despite the rapidly deteriorating economic conditions. I suspect that the worsening labor market will force President Obama to wrestle with the immigration issue sooner rather than later. It'll be hard to justify a system that lets in nearly 1.5 million new immigrants each year at a time when millions of Americans are losing their jobs.
The editors at the New York Post asked me if I had any constructive advice to give our new president about how one could approach the problem. Here is an excerpt:
,,,Our economic woes also create an opportunity - for they will encourage many illegals to return home, potentially removing a red flag that has made rational policymaking politically impossible.
The failure of the Bush "comprehensive immigration reform" shows us that many Americans are unwilling to provide amnesty (under any name) to 12 million illegals, especially when the border remains porous and we would simply have to consider yet another amnesty a few years down the road. A real solution is one that resolves the issue for the long term - several decades, at the least.
How does the downturn make it easier to address this issue? Simply put, illegal immigration is highly responsive to economic conditions - when times are bad, fewer come (and more return home).
President Obama can take a very simple step to complement this "natural" reduction: speed up the widespread adoption of the E-Verify program. This program lets employers compare the records of their new hires with more than 500 million records held by the Department of Homeland Security and the Social Security Administration.
A simple scan - no more complex than scanning your bank card at the grocery store - would quickly tell employers if their new hire is authorized to work.
Many employers will object - especially those who prefer to hide behind claims that they don't know if any given worker is illegal. Nor does expanding E-Verify provide the "showy" symbol that some politicians prefer - like building a taller and stronger fence on the Mexican border. But any fence, no matter how tall and strong, is bound to be ineffective. Around 40 percent of illegal immigrants don't enter through that border.
Instead, E-Verify detects illegal immigrants at the place where such detection is costliest to them - as they try to get a job. It also makes employers more accountable for their actions. It should greatly slow down the number of illegals entering the country.
With those tensions reduced, Americans would be much more willing to revisit the issue of what to do with the illegals already here. And a little patience and benign neglect can have a large payoff in this matter.
A widespread amnesty may not be needed in just a few years. The deep recession and stricter enforcement will encourage many illegal immigrants to return.
Meanwhile, millions of those who remain will sprout deep roots by marrying and having children (who will be US citizens by birth). These family ties will make many illegal immigrants eligible for legal status within existing law.
And in a world with greatly reduced illegal immigration, it would be easier to enact minor changes in current law to speed up the granting of permanent visas to relatives of citizens.
The economy also presents a unique opportunity for reforming legal immigration. Most of the legal immigrants enter the country without regard to how their skills match our labor-market needs. The lack of any skill filters - combined with the high volume of low-skill illegal immigration - aggravates the economic hardships faced by disadvantaged Americans.
We can both improve the status of our low-skill workforce and substantially increase the economic benefits to the nation from immigration by adopting a system that encourages the entry of high-skill immigrants. Surely, in time of economic duress, it's wise to fashion immigration policy in a way that is most beneficial to the country.
One little-noticed provision in the failed Bush proposal was the introduction of what is called a "point system" - which awards points to applicants with particular skills, and grants visas only to those who exceed a threshold level of points...Used wisely, immigration policy can be a tool that can help Americans even during difficult times. The new president has a historic opportunity to set the system right.
#1
Them that has, gits, rheotric not withstanding.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/10/2009 11:21
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#2
If we had a law that set the salary for every public sector employee at the average salary of those working in the private sector, with no chance of it ever being raised above that, think of how different our government would be.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/10/2009 14:08
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President Obama and Congressional Democrats are inching the U.S. toward government-run health insurance. Last week's expansion of Schip -- the State Children's Health Insurance Program -- is a first step. Before proceeding further, here's a suggestion: Look at Canada's experience.
Health-care resources are not unlimited in any country, even rich ones like Canada and the U.S., and must be rationed either by price or time. When individuals bear no direct responsibility for paying for their care, as in Canada, that care is rationed by waiting.
Canadians often wait months or even years for necessary care. For some, the status quo has become so dire that they have turned to the courts for recourse. Several cases currently before provincial courts provide studies in what Americans could expect from government-run health insurance.
In Ontario, Lindsay McCreith was suffering from headaches and seizures yet faced a four and a half month wait for an MRI scan in January of 2006. Deciding that the wait was untenable, Mr. McCreith did what a lot of Canadians do: He went south, and paid for an MRI scan across the border in Buffalo. The MRI revealed a malignant brain tumor.
Ontario's government system still refused to provide timely treatment, offering instead a months-long wait for surgery. In the end, Mr. McCreith returned to Buffalo and paid for surgery that may have saved his life. He's challenging Ontario's government-run monopoly health-insurance system, claiming it violates the right to life and security of the person guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms.
Shona Holmes, another Ontario court challenger, endured a similarly harrowing struggle. In March of 2005, Ms. Holmes began losing her vision and experienced headaches, anxiety attacks, extreme fatigue and weight gain. Despite an MRI scan showing a brain tumor, Ms. Holmes was told she would have to wait months to see a specialist. In June, her vision deteriorating rapidly, Ms. Holmes went to the Mayo Clinic in Arizona, where she found that immediate surgery was required to prevent permanent vision loss and potentially death. Again, the government system in Ontario required more appointments and more tests along with more wait times. Ms. Holmes returned to the Mayo Clinic and paid for her surgery.
On the other side of the country in Alberta, Bill Murray waited in pain for more than a year to see a specialist for his arthritic hip. The specialist recommended a "Birmingham" hip resurfacing surgery (a state-of-the-art procedure that gives better results than basic hip replacement) as the best medical option. But government bureaucrats determined that Mr. Murray, who was 57, was "too old" to enjoy the benefits of this procedure and said no. In the end, he was also denied the opportunity to pay for the procedure himself in Alberta. He's heading to court claiming a violation of Charter rights as well.
These constitutional challenges, along with one launched in British Columbia last month, share a common goal: to win Canadians the freedom to spend their own money to protect themselves from the inadequacies of the government health-insurance system.
The cases find their footing in a landmark ruling on Quebec health insurance in 2005. The Supreme Court of Canada found that Canadians suffer physically and psychologically while waiting for treatment in the public health-care system, and that the government monopoly on essential health services imposes a risk of death and irreparable harm. The Supreme Court ruled that Quebec's prohibition on private health insurance violates citizen rights as guaranteed by that province's Charter of Human Rights and Freedoms.
The experiences of these Canadians -- along with the untold stories of the 750,794 citizens waiting a median of 17.3 weeks from mandatory general-practitioner referrals to treatment in 2008 -- show how miserable things can get when government is put in charge of managing health insurance.
In the wake of the 2005 ruling, Canada's federal and provincial governments have tried unsuccessfully to fix the long wait times by introducing selective benchmarks and guarantees along with large increases in funding. The benchmarks and the guarantees aren't ambitious: four to eight weeks for radiation therapy; 16 to 26 weeks for cataract surgery; 26 weeks for hip and knee replacements and lower-urgency cardiac bypass surgery.
Canada's system comes at the cost of pain and suffering for patients who find themselves stuck on waiting lists with nowhere to go. Americans can only hope that Barack Obama heeds the lessons that can be learned from Canadian hardships.
#1
"He's challenging Ontario's government-run monopoly health-insurance system, claiming it violates the right to life and security of the person guaranteed by the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms."
The solution is right before their eyes - repeal the Charter.
What, you think the Lefties haven't thought of that yet?
"Americans can only hope that Barack Obama heeds the lessons that can be learned from Canadian hardships."
GFL on that one, since it will never apply to him (or Congress). >:-(
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
02/10/2009 17:48
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#2
We here in Blair and Brownistan know that "the Righteous" get a different NHS to the rest of us.
#3
THis kind of helthcare rationing is ALREADY HERE in the US. Read the Stimulus bill. It containst a "review board" and mdeical coding as part of the stnadards, and will require doctors to adhere to the coding, and "allowable" treatments in order to comply wiht the law and avoide being penalized.
Als - here is the biggie - its changes Medicare from "accepted and effective" treatments being paid for, to: approved by the federal oversight as being "cost effective" - meanign if you are too old or the procedure or medicine too "new", YOU WILL NOT BE GETTING TREATMENT DUE TO GOVERNMENT PREVENTING YOU FROM DOIND SO!
You have been warned - the US healthcare system is going to be demolished by the "Daschle" rationing-socialism provisions slipped into it by Pelosi.
From the Dept. of Who Knew?
Vélib' -a cross between "velo" (bike) and "liberté" (freedom) - has transformed travel in the French capital since it was launched in July 2007. Its sturdy grey bikes have been used 42 million times since then.
But success has come at a high price: some 7,800 of the original 15,000 bikes (20,000 in summer) have "disappeared" presumed stolen and 11,600 have been vandalised. It is not uncommon to find them hanging from trees in Paris, while several were spotted in Romania last year.
JCDecaux, which looks after fleet and the 1,250 ranks around Paris, said that it can no longer afford the repair and maintenance bill, and has pleaded with the mayor, Bertrand Delanoë, to provide financial support.
In exchange for running the scheme, the town hall gave the company a ten-year licence to run 1,600 of the capital's billboards. But Rémi Pheulpin, JCDecaux's director general, said that he was losing out on the deal as "the extent of the vandalism could not have been foreseen". *Ahem.*
"It is so high that a private business cannot handle it alone, especially as it's a problem of public order. If we want the Vélib' set-up to keep going, we'll have to change the business model," he told Le Parisien.
Every day, his staff repair or replace 1,500 bikes, and he warned that the problem would only get worse when the scheme was opened up to the suburbs, including those where the 2005 riots kicked off. The suburban extension, which began a week ago, will be complete by June.
JCDecaux is considering removing bike ranks in trouble spots, which include the Forum des Halles and Pigalle, near Montmartre.
Staff recover up to 20 abandoned bikes a day.
The town hall, which makes 20 million euros (£17.5 million) per year from the Vélib', has refused to bail out JCDecaux. But it is considering launching an "anti-vandalism" public awareness operation following a recent bike safety poster campaign.
2/6/2009 - WASHINGTON -- The Air Force has decided to beddown 59 F-35 aircraft and to allow associated construction to begin implementing a Base Realignment and Closure 2005 decision. The decision also imposes temporary operational limitations on JSF flight training activities to both avoid and minimize noise impacts.
This decision requires a supplemental Environmental Analysis be conducted to study operational alternatives and noise mitigations for the 59 aircraft authorized to be delivered under this decision. The analysis is scheduled for completion in September 2010.
"The Air Force has heard the communities concerns and are taking them seriously. We are undertaking the supplemental analysis to evaluate alternatives to operating the F-35 as well as ways to mitigate the noise. As we move forward, the Air Force is committed to an open, transparent process to address and resolve beddown issues for the Joint Strike Fighter. We will ensure affected communities are involved through public scoping meetings, know what to expect, and understand timelines for development," said Kathleen Ferguson, Deputy Assistant Secretary for Installations. "A decision on whether to beddown additional aircraft will be deferred until completion of the subsequent environmental analysis."
This decision allows for construction of facilities for the Joint Strike Fighter Integrated Joint Training Site, which includes instructor pilots, operations and maintenance support personnel, front-line and instructor qualified maintenance technicians and logistics support personnel. The 59 aircraft provide an initial capability of one squadron each for the Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps. The first aircraft is scheduled to arrive in March 2010 and the aircraft would continue arriving through 2014.
It is anticipated that with the arrival of the 7th Special Forces Group and additional F-35 related activities there will be an increase of approximately 4,000 personnel and more than 6,000 dependents. Military construction is expected to bring another $700 million to the area.
#1
Hmmm...they just moved the Special Ops group (27th) to Cannon AFB, Clovis NM from that area because Cannon had an environment close to what the AF has had to operate in the WOT, it is not subject to displacements because of hurricanes, and is already cleared of "training activities to both avoid and minimize noise impacts" because it has received the appropriate paperwork to do supersonic training [can we say big booms?]. So, why are they doing this? /rhetorical question understanding that 'political' considerations no matter how crippling to operational use have priority.
London: The British Government will air ads on Pakistani television urging terrorists to not attack Britain. Prominent British Muslims will star in the British Foreign Office-funded £400,000 (approximately Rs 2.9 crore)-campaign that is set to break on Pakistani television next Monday, 'The Guardian' reported on Tuesday.
The three-month public relations offensive, called 'I Am the West', will also include high-profile events in regions such as Peshawar and Mirpur, 'The Guardian' said. Seven in ten British Pakistanis are Mirpuris.
According to 'The Guardian', the first three ads in the project will feature British Communities Minister Sadiq Khan, UK manager of Islamic Relief Jehangir Malik, former England Under-19 captain and promising Worcestershire allrounder Moeen Ali, and the Lord Mayor of Birmingham, Chaudry Abdul Rashid, a Mirpuri.
The campaign, the paper said, will be targeted at '15-25-year-old males who are less than well-educated and worldly wise, but potentially susceptible to extremist doctrines'. Nine 30-second commercials, supported by ads on radio, will be aired on PTV, Geo TV and Khyber among other channels. If the Pakistani campaign is successful, it will be extended in Egypt, Yemen and Indonesia.
The central theme of the campaign, 'The Guardian' said, "is to assert that there is no contradiction in being a Muslim and being British." It has four key aims, the daily reported: 'to ensure Pakistanis realise the west is not anti-Islamic, that British society is not anti-Islam, to demonstrate the extent to which Muslims are integrated into British society and to stimulate and facilitate constructive debate on the compatibility of liberal and Muslim values'.
#1
and to stimulate and facilitate constructive debate on the compatibility of liberal and Muslim values'.
An excellent idea. Let's talk about equality under the law, religious freedom, women's rights, and the importance of education. I'm sure there is *lots* of common ground between classical liberal values and Islam.
#3
Please don't send terrorists to attack us. Just send your best halal recipes for naan bread, murgh handi, chicken jalferzi, and biryani. We'll take care of all details preparing the people for your eventual conquest. Oh...and have we apologized today for trying to bring civilization to your country during colonization? No? Well then consider this our apology for the day. Hey...you want some reparations? Just ask....
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/10/2009 11:34
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"If the Pakistani campaign is successful, it will be extended in Egypt, Yemen and Indonesia."
How would anyone know?!
Better that the UK Government deals with anti-British Pakistanis in the UK first, before wasting money on embarrassing BBCesque PR campaigns in Pakistan.
#9
The best and brightest from the past 400 years have left Britain and its inbred "leadership" (Lords and Ladies, Princes and Kings) for the US, Canada, Australia, New Zealand, South Africa, India and other parts of the British Commonwealth, where they could make their fortunes without someone else overseeing their every move. Very few went to Muslim countries, however.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2009 13:38
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#10
I can almost stomach loosing some european countries to the Islamists, don't like it but I can almost stomach it, but it truely causes me unexplainable grief to loose the UK. What ever happened to the British of old?
#11
It seems they're just emulating the US government. They're buying ads instead of giving an interview on an Arab channel. But they're not sending a message that's different from B. Hussein Obama's.
It is the entire "Free World" that has turned into a finlandized joke.
#13
So sad to see the UK slowly sinking beneath the waves. We're actually quite fond of them despite that business with the tea awhile back. Oh well, the least we can do is provide them with some assistance from our fabled Madison Ave advertising machine. Howzabout this:
- Winston Churchill peeking out from under the bed with a caption "Please Don't Hurt Us"
- The scene from the original "The Time Machine" where the Eloi sit around watching one of their own drown. Caption: "We're Harmless!"
Today, new Attorney General Eric Holder's Justice Department embraced Bush administration claims of "state secrets" in the ACLU lawsuit against Boeing subsidiary Jeppesen DataPlan for its role in Bush's extraordinary rendition program. Jeppesen's involvement in the "torture flights" of an undetermined number of terror suspect abductees, making a tidy profit for themselves in the meantime. . . .
IIRC, Jeppsen is a publisher of aviation charts and flight planning software. Fascist tools!
Barack Obama has gotten quite a free ride from the "change" and "hope" crowd. When he quickly issued executive orders closing the CIA "black site" prisons and shutting down the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" torture, including waterboarding, much of the liberal and human rights world shouted, "Torture is over." Guantanamo would be closed (within a year), and the whole world could rest easy that the humane and totally vetted Army Field Manual would guide interrogators and protect vulnerable prisoners from the brig at the Naval Base at Charleston, South Carolina to the U.S. run prison at Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan.
Moreover, the Obama administration was proclaiming a new era of governmental transparency. The Freedom of Information Act was to be returned to its days of glory, and the new Attorney General assured his Senate questioners that old abusive use of "state secrets" privilege by the Executive Branch was a thing of the past, with such invocation only to be be used "in legally appropriate situations."
But what is the situation we have today? The conditions at Guantanamo worsen day by day, with 20 percent of the prison population on hunger strike. Binyam Mohamed himself lies near death. Obama has ordered a review of interrogation procedures which has some worried he will okay certain exceptions for the CIA. Meanwhile, the myth of a model humane Army Field Manual has been broken via exposure of abusive techniques inside its Appendix M, and elsewhere in its text. . . .
It really doesn't matter who is president of the United States when it comes to torture policy. That has been in the hands of the CIA and certain folk in the Pentagon and Executive Branch for a long time now. Obama and Holder have demonstrated they have zero intention in challenging that institutional status quo, even if that means throwing entire civil suits brought by torture victims out of court, even when the information about the suit is almost totally part of the public record.
This is not about keeping secrets safe. It's about controlling what the public can hear and not hear, so the repressive apparatus of the state can be allowed to function without public scrutiny or public control.
What will the followers of Obama do now? Will they sell out the most wretched and cruelly tortured for the feel-good vibes of the moment? Or will they hold their candidate to account?
In the komments, the Kos Kiddies are rather scathingly critical of their clay-footed object of worship.
I'm angry and getting angrier. This is a betrayal of the highest order, and a turn backwards from what many people hoped was a nightmare of the past. Here's the news: the nightmare isn't over. And when Obama finally got a chance to really chime in with his own national security vs. human rights and civil liberties policy, he failed utterly.
I am thoroughly disgusted with Obama's new neo-conciousness. Bi-partisanship, my ass. He just wants to be one of the guys now that he's been elevated to the Presidency and already spotlighted in history. If only he would have the wisdom and the fight to bring this rocking ship of state a'right with bank nationalization and no mercy for BushCo war criminals.
He needs courage. He is, thus far, no hero. I wonder if he will see to his responsibilities at all, or is this okay to criminality just the tip of the iceberg? The introductory nominations of Daschle, Geithner & Gensler (at CFTC) portend "more of the very same policies that got us into this mess," as he says so often.
Now, I happen to think Obama is actually doing the right thing by not embracing the moonbat "End torture NOW! Prosecute the Bushitler war criminals!" BS. On the other hand, if the Looney Left wants to turn on him over it, and the resulting fratricide undermines Obama's liberal program, well . . . I don't mind a bit.
Confusion to our enemies!
Posted by: Mike ||
02/10/2009
08:25 ||
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#1
I'm angry and getting angrier. This is a betrayal of the highest order, and a turn backwards from what many people hoped was a nightmare of the past.
Am I the only one who is disturbed by this language?
Posted by: no mo uro ||
02/10/2009 14:01
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#7
The left resembles Islam these days. The 'moderate' leftists are afraid to oppose the radical leftists on ideological grounds. They only oppose on the basis that 'now is not the time..."
Don't read this glowing press release after eating, or while drinking a tasty beverage at your 'puter. The "reporter" did a magnificent job of glossing over anything that might put Islamic finance in a bad light. He/She/It should submit it as part of the portfolio to Al-Jazeera if the Chron gets serious about laying people off.
The study says that the UK has by far the largest number of banks for Muslims whose products prohibit interest payments and investment in alcohol or gambling firms of any western country. There are now five "fully Sharia-compliant" banks in the UK while another 17 leading institutions including Barclays, RBS and Lloyds Banking Group have set up special branches or subsidiary firms for Muslim clients.
The $18billion (£12bn) in assets of Britain's Islamic banks dwarf those of some states where Islam is the main religion, including Pakistan, Bangladesh, Turkey and Egypt. In addition, there are 55 colleges and professional institutions offering education in Islamic finance in Britain more than anywhere else in the world.
The growth of the UK as a centre for Islamic finance has been helped in recent years by the government, according to the new report by International Financial Services London, which has extended tax relief on Sharia-compliant mortgages to companies and made the trade in "Sukuk" bonds easier.
Duncan McKenzie, IFSL's Director of Economics, said "The UK has benefited considerably from supportive Government policies intended to put Islamic services on the same footing as conventional services. Evidence of London's growing role in Islamic finance is shown in the UK being the only western country to feature prominently, 8th with assets of $18bn, in a global ranking of Sharia-compliant assets by country."
The figures in the new study cover 2007, but it is claimed that Islamic financial institutions will be able to withstand the credit crisis and recession better than other banks because they were forbidden from investing in "toxic assets" such as sub-prime mortgages. Sir Andrew Cahn, the Chief Executive Officer of UK Trade & Investment, said: "Despite its origins overseas, Islamic finance has found a natural home in the UK. Though no sector is immune to the global financial crisis, Islamic finance has shown great resilience."
Young girls and women of Jammu and Kashmir, who are surviving forced marriages to militants, allege that the ultras and their associates married young girls at gun point.
Sixteen-year-old Fatima Bi of Kishtwar district narrates how the militants abducted her from her house four years ago. Fatima today has a child to take care of. She says that Sher Khan, the then divisional commander of Harkat-ul-Jihad-al-Islami (HuJI), a Pakistan militant group and his associates tortured her for eight days until she gave into their demands and agreed to marry Hashim, a HuJI worker. The teenager however was able to escape from the hideout of the militants and sought help of police after Sher Khan had been arrested.
"There was this one Bilal, then another one named Ansari, there was a third man also, I don't remember his name. They used to keep me in a room and beat me with iron rods. They used to tell me that if I don't get married according to their will and wish, I would have to face dire consequences. I used to tell them I want to get married to a man I chose for myself. Sher Khan used to head these people," said Fatima Bi.
Fatima says that there are many such incidents taking place and need to be checked by the authorities. "Sher Khan used to abduct girls from our region on a regular basis. He got another girl from my area married to a militant," added Bi.
Fatima's in not an isolated case. Shehnaz of Doda district, other victims of forced marriage has a similar tale to tell. "These militants they are dreadful people. They come to our village, sit and eat here, utter bad words for women, abuse them. But now the police is with us. I am sure we can also hit back at them," said Shehnaz. She also said that the future of girls like her is in dark. Many have children to take care of. The militant husbands are arrested and the society sees them as outcast.
The police in the region say that they are trying to tackle the issue. They say that many a times, like in the case of Fatima Bi, cases of wives running away are registered and it is only later that they get a version of a forced marriage from the girls. "The girl has given a very different story. She has given a nerve shaking story in terms that she was forcibly married to a person against her will when she was a minor girl. It was done by a Sher khan and his associates who were running a HuJI organisation in this area," said Haseeb Mughal, superintendent of police, Kishtawar district.
Police officials say that the militants get married in order to mingle with the locals.
Terrorists Suspected separatist insurgents have shot dead three people including a soldier in Thailand's Muslim-majority far south, police said.
A 24-year-old private in the Thai army was shot dead as he returned home from his base in Pattani province today morning, police said. In the same province at about midday, a 32-year-old man was killed and his 22-year-old friend injured in a drive-by shooting by militants, while yesterday night a 26-year-old woman was shot dead in nearby Narathiwat province.
Read the whole thing.
Managers at the World Bank provided false information to the agency's board of directors about a $39 million, politically-connected European "coastal cleanup" project that led to the destruction and destitution of a powerless village in Albania in 2007 -- and then spent nearly two years trying to cover it up.
The essence of the Albania scandal involves Jale, a pinprick of a hamlet occupied largely by poor and elderly inhabitants on a beautiful stretch of Adriatic beach known as Albania's Riviera.
The scandal, laid out in documents also leaked to FOX News, paints a sharply-detailed picture of how the bank has responded to its own discovery of misconduct and potential corruption. It also shows how projects ostensibly intended to improve the environment and living conditions in far-flung parts of the world can be abused and distorted in the name of the bank.
It remains unclear just why the World Bank board (and the investigation panel) was misled -- and who in Albania or perhaps even Washington may have benefited from misleading it. Senior agency officials and each of the bank's two dozen board members have repeatedly declined to speak with FOX.
But what is crystal clear are the attempts by bank officials to hide something. The panel's report is filled with allegations of the bank obstructing investigators in their year-long probe -- in language highly unusual for a bureaucratic document.
On April 3, 2007, the villagers were notified that their houses would be demolished. They were given five days to appeal to a local court, which they did, but the construction police did not wait for the hearing. They surrounded the village and -- over a four-day period starting on April 17 -- demolished the community, amid heart-wrenching scenes of screaming and resistance.
According to the investigators, many of the dispossessed were told they should be happy, as the World Bank would soon be giving them better homes and lifestyles.
Since the World Bank board had been wrongly assured that there would be no demolitions without a formal agreement, there were, of course, no World Bank-financed homes on the horizon. (Moreover, the panel report notes, the bank has done nothing since the demolitions to assist the victims in any way.)
#3
Sounds like some people need their arm and legs broken, then be left to the villagers and some dull knives.
You know, that is what it is going to come to. Anyone that has any expectation of turning things around using a thoroughly gamed and corrupted system is naive. The Left is going to have to be removed by force, whether it's overt, or just a series of tragic accidents.
Oh, sure. It's not like I believed that I shot somebody, but I absolutely know what it feels like to pull the trigger and take someone's life.
You understand how it feels to shoot someone as much as a person who has actually committed a murder?
I understand it more. It's an actor's job. A guy who's lived through the horror of Vietnam has not spent his life preparing his mind for it. He's some punk. Most guys were borderline criminal or poor, and that's why they got sent to Vietnam. It was all the poor, wretched kids who got beat up by their dads, guys who didn't get on the football team, couldn't finagle a scholarship. They didn't have the emotional equipment to handle that experience. But this is what an actor trains to do. I can more effectively represent that kid in Vietnam than a guy who was there.
#5
I was an "extra" for a concert scene in that Doors movie he did, and I have to say he's a talented actor. It felt like I had gone back in time and was actually watching Jim Morrison sing....
At least nine people were killed, including five militants, in different violent acts in restive Swat valley on Monday. The militants blew up yet another girlsÂ' school and basic healthcare center situated in Matta tehsil. According to sources, security forces backed by helicopter gunships and artillery shelled suspected hideouts of militants in Oogro, Takht Band and Angro Dherai areas, on the outskirts of Mingora, killing five militants and a civilian. Meanwhile, militants blew up a bridge with remote-controlled bomb in Takht Band area. According to reports, security forces pounded militants' positions in Shakar Darra and Koza Bandai areas in Matta and Kabbal tehsils. However, no loss of life was reported. On the other hands, a mortar shell fired by militants hit a house of tribesman, Fazalullah, killing his two children and wife and severely injuring his another child. While five more persons were injured in different acts of violence.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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A British-born Pakistani man who said he had links to Al Qaeda and had sent young men for terrorism training in Pakistan has told a court that he was lying about his past.
Hassan Butt, 28, told Manchester Crown Court he had fed stories to the media and that his portrayal of himself as a terrorist planner who later renounced violence in order to fight extremism was a fabrication. He made the confession in December during the trial of a former friend, Habib Ahmed, who was subsequently convicted of belonging to Al Qaeda. Restrictions on the reporting of the case have only now been lifted following the conclusion of another trial involving Butt's wife. "At no point have I ever been training, have I ever been a jihadi," Butt told the court, according to a transcript of the proceedings.
Feeding media: Questioning Butt about his past, prosecutor Andrew Edis asked, "So, you were a professional liar then?" Butt replied: "I would make money, yes." He had, he said, told stories that "the media wanted to hear". The confession will come as a surprise to many as Butt was for years regarded as a leading extremist who had subsequently turned himself into a proponent for 'de-radicalising' young men in order to combat extremism.
He has been widely profiled in newspapers, magazines and in television documentaries, and even met members of the government to discuss his plans for combating radicalism. In a Reuters interview in April last year, Butt said he had spent a decade inside extremist factions, during which he said he had sent recruits to Pakistan. He said he began questioning his beliefs after the July 2005 attacks by suicide bombers on London in which 52 people were killed. "I financed terrorism, I recruited people to go to terrorist training camps, I myself have been to terrorist training camps," he said in the interview. "I was involved in the whole world of radical Islam from the age of 16 onwards." Reuters does not pay for interviews.
Butt has been arrested five times by counter-terrorism officers, but was released each time without charge. A spokeswoman for Greater Manchester Police said on Monday there were no charges against Butt and he was a free man. He did not respond to phone calls seeking comment. It is not clear why Butt would have fabricated so much of his past, and even gone to the lengths of stabbing himself in the arm to make it look like he had been attacked by extremists for speaking out against extremism. Shiv Malik, a journalist who has profiled Butt and who wrote a book called "Leaving Al Qaeda: Inside The Life And Mind of A British Jihadist" based on interviews with him, said he planned to carry on his research. Malik is now writing a book about Butt's life and trying to piece together what was true and what was false.
"All this had to come from somewhere, so there's definitely a story there," he told Reuters. "I particularly want to look at Butt's involvement with Britain's security services." Asked if he would be interviewing Butt, he replied: "I think I've had all the interviews with him that I want to have."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#1
He had, he said, told stories that "the media wanted to hear".
Well, at least this is a plausible claim, but I wonder if he has considered how Islamic terrorists will take this 'admission', if it is true.
#4
I believe his previous lies, not his current ones, hang the bastard, wannabe or not.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/10/2009 11:32
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#5
Perhaps not hang him, but a severe punishment for either 1) being what he claimed he was, or 2) fraud and wasting police resources that could have been better used to catch real terrorists. There has to be punishment for trying to fool , just as Saddam Hussein suffered his country being conquered by the Coalition because he fooled the world into thinking he had WMDs... even if what he had was only all the bits necessary to assemble them as soon as the embargo was completely broken.
The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision.
The Church of England said Monday that it withdrew £2.2 million ($3.3 million) from Caterpillar Inc. in late December 2008 because of economic considerations. Israel used bulldozers bought from the U.S.-based manufacturer of construction and mining equipment to demolish Palestinian homes.
" The Church of England withdrew shares it held in the company for purely investment reasons "
Steve Jenkins, Church of England spokesperson
News of the church's divestment came late Saturday just in time to prevent the planned publication of a letter in the Guardian signed by 23 theologians accusing the Church of England of not acting on its policy to promote morally and ethically responsible investments.
"We believe that given the events in Gaza as well as the continued illegal occupation of whole swathes of Palestinian land and the illegal land grabs by settlers, supported by the Israeli Government, that the Church of England must make good on its policy of disinvestment and withdraw its investments from those who profit form the misery of millions of Palestinians immediately," the unpublished letter stated.
But the church denied it had withdrawn investment for political or ethical reasons and said the timing of the announcement was coincidental.
"The holding status was made public when (the Church was) asked," church spokesperson Steve Jenkins told AlArabiya.net. "The Church of England withdrew shares it held in Caterpillar for purely investment reasons."
He added that the Church sold its shares in Caterpillar late December "on investment grounds," explaining that the church's investment bodies is charged with making investment decisions and takes into account the recommendations of the ethical advisory group.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#2
I do hope the Church also has no investments in other companies that do business in Israel, such as Intel. It would, after all, be a travesty of justice to make an profits from the cleverness of juices.
#4
TW, Intel doesn't just do business in Israel, many integrated ciruits used in PCs are invented and designed in Intel's Israeli branch. It is a main design center.
#5
So, multi-cult dhimmis threaten to hit them with the proverbial strongly worded letter and the CoE shamans decide they don't need this investment after all. Lame denials notwithstanding, many prayers to St. Rachel de Jemima have been answered with this decision.
In fact the Core 2 architecture who allowed Intel to
put AMD against the ropes after years of losing the performance battle against AMD products was designed in Haifa. Ditto for its successor the Nehalem.
Now, I suggest the COE to invest in a processor design laboratory in Gaza.
#9
"The Church of England ... denied there were any political or ethical consideration ..."
Why do these 'holy' men resort to ridiculous lies? Are they ashamed of their actions? Are they next going to deny that their banning members of a perfectly legal political party from being priests is political?
The CoE has become a sick parody of its former self, eaten from within by leftist charlatans. I'll be glad when it dies, I'm just sorry for the great churches and cathedrals - and betrayed congregations - who will remain.
It is the 85th birthday of President Mugabe this month and the zealots of his Zanu (PF) party are determined that it should be an occasion that their great leader will never forget.
In recent days they have been out soliciting "donations" from corporate Zimbabwe and have drawn up a wish list that is scarcely credible in a land where seven million citizens survive on international food aid, 94 per cent are jobless and cholera rampages through a population debilitated by hunger.
The list includes 2,000 bottles of champagne (Moët & Chandon or '61 Bollinger preferred); 8,000 lobsters; 100kg of prawns; 4,000 portions of caviar; 8,000 boxes of Ferrero Rocher chocolates; 3,000 ducks; and much else besides.
A postscript adds: "No mealie meal" -- the ground corn staple on which the vast majority of Zimbabweans survived until the country's collapse rendered even that a luxury.
Those who prefer to give in cash, not kind, are invited to send "donations" of between $45,000 and $55,000 to a US dollar bank account in the name of the 21st February Movement, a youth organisation controlled by Zanu (PF) and named after the date of the President's birthday.
Western diplomats and aid workers were stunned when shown the list. "It's just appalling. It's like they are either completely oblivious to what's happening in their country, or completely impervious and just don't care," said one. "It's shocking and obscene," said another, who noted that lobsters were unobtainable in Zimbabwe and would have to be flown in.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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Give me a f*ckin break. How could anyone be shocked by this? No wonder "Western diplomats and aid workers" have done nothing to give Bob the boot. They still think he's an anti-colonialist hero. He got rid of those evil whites after all.
#2
Anything like getting a no points home loan at the lowest market interest rates while those who make the country actually run are tagged with lots of points and something higher than the Friends of Angelo are offered? Shocked, shocked I say!
#3
The 21st February Movement was established in 1986 as a welfare organization for youths and as a medium to inspire youths to be well behaved through emulating the exemplary character of their patron, President Mugabe. As we all know, the only youths recognized by the government today are the Green Bombers whom the government trained to terrorize innocent people. With elections coming, the funds raised during the planned events in the Midlands are no doubt going to be used to mobilize these notorious youths.
Zimbob has his 21st Feb hoodlums, The One has ACORN. Same same.
The Defence Coordination Committee of Cabinet on Monday observed that without substantial evidence from India it will be exceedingly difficult to complete the investigation and proceed with the case. The meeting which lasted for over four hours, was attended by three services chiefs, Chairman Joint Chief of Staff Committee, Federal Ministers for Defence, Information, and Foreign Affairs; Advisers to Finance, Foreign Affairs and Interior and concerned secretaries. In the meeting held at PM House, the committee was briefed on the progress on the inquiry based on information provided by Indian authorities concerning the Mumbai attacks. Committee decided that on the basis of inquiry conducted by FIA, the case should be registered and further investigation be carried out so that the perpetrators of the heinous crime, wherever they may be, are brought to justice in accordance with the law of the land. The meeting acknowledged that inquiry had been conducted professionally and endorsed the recommendations of the Interior Ministry to proceed with the registration of the case. The meeting however, observed that without substantial evidence from India it will be exceedingly difficult to complete the investigation and proceed with the case. In order to complete the investigation the questions which are arising from the inquiry carried out by the FIA need to be answered by the Indian authorities. These will be communicated to the Indian authorities shortly.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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By Barry Rubin Link fixed. -Scooter
Message to New York Times: Read your own op-ed page.
The Times and other American media and educational institutions are giving increasing amounts of space to people from the Moslem-majority and Arabic-speaking states in the apparent hope of understanding better their world view. Sometimes, however, they have a hard time hearing what is being said. Here is what the newspaper's editorial for February 8 claims and urges:
"We don't know if there is any mixture of incentives or sanctions that can wean Iran of its nuclear ambitions. But we are certain that the Bush administration never tried to find it. This means not only direct talks, but also far more persuasive diplomatic incentives, including a credible offer of improved relations and security guarantees."
And this, of course, is what the Obama administration is going to do with Iran and Syria. Others urge the same techniques are applies to Hamas, Hizballah, and even--though this is rarer--the Taliban and al-Qaida.
But to understand why this belief is so misguided one merely need read... the Times of February 8, within inches of the above-quoted editorial. I'm referring here to the truly shocking op-ed by Alaa al Aswany entitled, "Why the Muslim World Can't Hear Obama." . A better title would be, "Why the Muslim World Won't Hear Obama."
The piece is overlong, convoluted, and not particularly well written. It should be noted that the author, a novelist among other things, is considered a moderate. Alas, for moderation in the Arab world.
There are two themes: the one against Israel and the one against Arab governments. Because these have not been resolved, the author says, all of President Obama's apologies and efforts are a big yawn. So what would the author--and presumably all the Arabs and Muslims--want Obama and America to do? Well, to put it briefly, help overthrow all the Arab governments and help wipe Israel off the map.
I wrote the above sentence in a particularly blunt way but it really does not exaggerate the message here. First of all, Egypt and other Arab states are dictatorships: "Here in Egypt, we don't have previous or future presidents, only the present head of state who seized power through sham elections and keeps it by force, and who will probably remain in power until the end of his days."
Wait a minute, though! Remember the last president of the United States, the one who pushed for democracy and criticized the governmental systems? The Arab world didn't seem too thrilled about him. Egyptian intellectuals screamed this was imperialist interference in internal affairs and so on. So after all those years of bashing Bush for--rightly or wrongly--proposing dictatorships be replaced with democracy are we to believe that they will now bash Obama for proposing to work with the existing regimes?
This, of course, is an unsolvable problem. Whatever the United States does here is going to be wrong. There is no way America can please Iran. Well, I take that back. If America helps it overthrow all those bad Arab dictatorships and replace them with Islamist regimes then Iran will probably be happy. And Alaa al Aswany will be able to read the Times more easily, as a political refugee living in New York.
Then there's point two:
"We expected him to address the reports that the Israeli military illegally used white phosphorus against the people of Gaza. We also wanted Mr. Obama, who studied law and political science at the greatest American universities, to recognize what we see as a simple, essential truth: the right of people in an occupied territory to resist military occupation."
Regarding "essential truth," isn't the Times supposed to publish things that are factually correct? Israel has already been cleared of the phony white phosphorus charge. So why is this article allowed to repeat it? Here is indeed a lesson: people in the Arab world often lie about you. No matter what you do, how much aid you give, how many concessions you offer or implement, it will be said: you didn't do anything. Give more. Pay more. Apologize more. Change more.
But perhaps the most important and chilling sentence of the op-ed is this, and if people were paying attention to such things nowadays they would be thoroughly shocked:
"We also wanted Mr. Obama, who studied law and political science at the greatest American universities, to recognize what we see as a simple, essential truth: the right of people in an occupied territory to resist military occupation."
What are the implications of this sentence: that the United States should endorse terrorism and violence in at least three conflicts. According to the terrorist forces, Afghanistan and Iraq are under foreign occupation. If Obama was to do as suggested, he would be backing attacks not only on civilians and governments there but also the killing of American soldiers.
As for the Israel-Palestinian conflict, Israel withdrew from the Gaza Strip, south Lebanon, and much of the West Bank and still faces attacks. In 2000, Israel proposed to make peace based on a two-state solution with a Palestinian state having its capital in Jerusalem. The Palestinian side turned it down. Since Hamas and other radical forces assert that Israel is an occupying power, attacking it--which includes firing rockets at civilian targets--is legitimate. Moreover, if there is any occupation left, it is due to the political strategy of the Palestinian Authority in rejecting a political solution.
Yet that is far from the entire problem here. For much or most of the Muslim and Arab world views all of Israel as "occupied territory." The only way for occupation to end is for Israel to end. The author here does not make clear what land is being discussed, though the op-ed easily could have limited the territory in question to the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and east Jerusalem. Have no doubt how most Muslims and Arabs read the phrase about occupied territory: Obama must abandon Israel altogether.
So how can Obama appease or please the Muslim-majority world? We are told by this moderate: by backing the right of Hamas and Hizballah to attack Israel.
This, then, is the supposed moderate position, the minimum way by which Obama can make friends in the region. Clearly, the author here doesn't speak for everyone. Certainly the relatively moderate Arab regimes and their supporters want more U.S. support for themselves.
Yet there is much truth in this article's stance. The only way for America to "win over" this public opinion and the radical groups is to surrender to them or join them. President Obama and editors of the Times, please hear what you are being told here, and despair of ever satisfying such enormous and dangerous demands by some combination of charm and concessions.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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to recognize what we see as a simple, essential truth: the right of people in an occupied territory to resist military occupation."
Lets begin by recognzing the right to Berbers, Copts, Lebanese Maronites and Black Sudanese of blowing Arabs.
Posted by: Large Snerong7311 ||
02/10/2009 1:30
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umm.. You mean blowing UP Arabs... I am pretty sure the Arabs have been saying 'blow me' to the Berbers, Copts, Lebanese Maronites and Black Sudanese for years...
Blaming Bush for failing to stop Irans nuclear lust was an effective ploy during the campaign debates but I think even Obama recognizes Persian Hegemony as the cause not the result. The irony is that his greatest asset (even if his plan is containment) is the US military presence in Iraq.
A Palestinian fighter was killed by Israeli shelling on Monday after Israeli warplanes struck the Gaza Strip following fresh rocket fire from the besieged territory, medics and security sources said.
Khaled al-Kafarneh, 22, was killed when an artillery shell hit his house in Beit Hanun in the north of the Hamas-run territory, medics said. Islamic Jihad said the Palestinian was a member of its armed wing and that he was killed by Israeli fire near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun while trying to attack Israeli troops along the frontier.
The Israeli army said it was checking into the reports.
Israeli warplanes also carried out air strikes in the south of the territory, causing damage but no injuries, after militants fired two rockets into Israel on Sunday.
The violence comes as Egypt continued efforts to broker a lasting truce in the strip to replace shaky mutual ceasefires called by Israel and Hamas on January 18, ending Israel's massive 22-day war on the impoverished territory.
An Israeli helicopter also carried out a raid in an unpopulated area of Beit Lahiya in northern Gaza, but caused no casualties.
Palestinian fighters fired two rockets on Sunday into southern Israel that caused no injuries, an Israeli military spokesman said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Rockets, retaliatory airstrikes. Seems like we've slipped right back into the good, old, comfortable status quo.
#2
My devious mind has just produced a thought that troubles me. Hamass, on behalf of Iran, may be keeping the violence at just the appropriate level to drain Israeli defense funds, preventing Israel from having the financial ability to respond to a major coordinated attack on its territory by Syria, Hezbollah, and others. The constant drain of resources HAS to be costing Israel a bundle, not to mention the high cost of maintaining an army in the field, even in its own territory. If Obama cuts off funds to Israel, they may have a hard time defending themselves.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
02/10/2009 12:49
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Similar to China's policy against India: Death by a thousand cuts.
The arrests and weeklong detention of two Coptic Christians at the Cairo International Book Fair on February 1 has reignited the seemingly endless tension that continues to grow between Christians and Muslims in Egypt.
State security officials arrested Mina 'Adil Shawki and 'Issam Kadees Nassif after they were seen handing out Bibles at the book fair. An Egyptian human rights center said police filed a report against the two men for "defaming Islam."
The men, from the Upper Egyptian governorate Assiut, were released from detention on February 5, but their case has many activists in an uproar over the perceived double standards police employ against Christians as compared to their Muslim counterparts.
Nagib Gubreil, a Coptic lawyer and head of the Egyptian Union for Human Rights, told The Media Line that Shawki and Nassif were held on charges of preaching, but that this particular offense is not explicitly stated in the Egyptian Constitution.
"So they filed a report against them, accusing them of defaming Islam," says Gubreil, who has been criticized by activists, both Coptic and Muslim, for allegedly exaggerating a number of religious-based controversies.
Nuha, a Christian postgraduate student at Cairo University, calls the arrests outrageous, claiming a "double standard" that exists in the treatment of Christians as compared to Muslims.
"Almost every day I see tons of Islamic stuff handed out on the streets and the government does nothing, police do nothing. So now, all of a sudden, some Copts pass out some Bibles and they get arrested. It doesn't seem fair to me," she says.
The general prosecutor said that a decision to charge the men had "yet to be determined," corroborating Gubreil's details of what occurred. He said that police "had to accuse them of something" in order to hold them.
According to reports on a number of Coptic news sites, police claimed the two men had been also distributing CDs from excommunicated priest Zachariah Boutros - known for his outspoken criticisms of Islam - who was removed from the priesthood after constantly attacking Islam from the pulpit of his television program. The show upset many Muslims and Christians.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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seemingly endless tension that continues to grow between Christians and Muslims in Egypt.
You just gotta love the heavy-handed equivalency here. But, thinking about it, it's no worse than writing about "religious clashes", when muslim majorities go after Christian minorities in nigeria, indonesia or egpt.
#2
It's the famous Cycle of Tension, anonymous5089, which somehow leads to the Cycle of Violence. I don't quite understand how, as cycles are clearly self-contained and never ending, much like pocket universes. Perhaps one of Rantburg's physicists could explain the mechanism in a simplified way that I might grasp.
#3
as cycles are clearly self-contained and never ending, much like pocket universes
It's a feature, not a bug, innit?
No aggressors, no perpretators, no victims, no responsability nor blame nor judgement (except for the semi-mythical "Root Causes"), not even causality... just a never-ending process you cannot solve, UNLESS by adding more process to it.
Naib Amir Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Prof. Ghafoor Ahmed said Monday that Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and other political parties would protest against increase in power tariff before the main office of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) on Wednesday. He was speaking at the All Parties Conference (APC) held here at Idara Noor-ul-Haq. Ahmed said that increase in power prices by Rs1.85 per unit has added the miseries of woes of people of metropolis. Pakistan People Party (PPP), which considers herself to be the voice of people has no contact with the people, he noted. He further said that the ruling party has turned its eyes from the grave problem of electricity loadshedding. JI Naib Amir called for government to immediately withdraw its decision about raise in power tariff. On this occasion, APC presented a unanimous resolution seeking immediate end to the ongoing power crisis before the start of summer season.
Posted by: Fred ||
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We knew that. We knew all along that Pak's reaction would be a continuous stream of obfucation, denial, and lies. The combination of fault-finding and fudge amounts to nothing new, and it represents a tactic designed to let the world's short attention span syndrome kick in. Eventually it will, and that will be about the time they start putting together the cadres for the next outrage.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
TOPIX > INDIA: SONIA INVOKES INDIRA ["INDIRAJI" = 1971 Indo-Pak War] TO WARN PAKISTAN, + UNDERWORLD THREAT TO AJMIL KASAB'S LIFE + COMMUNIST PARTY OF INDIA [MARXIST]: CREATION OF "THIRD ALTERNATIVE" NEEDED TO SAVE INDIA FROM HINDUVATA TALIBANIZATION, RECESSION, INCREASING JOBLESSNESS, POOR NATIONAL ECONOMY.
Also on TOPIX > OBAMA: US WILL NOT ALLOW MILITANT SAFE HAVENS IN AFGANISTAN AND PAKISTAN, PAKISTAN WARNED TO GET CONTROL OF ITS SITUATION.; + OBAMA: US WILL ERADICATE AL QAEDA, TALIBAN SAFE HAVENS IN AFGHANISTAN, PAKISTAN.
* SAME > PAKISTAN FM QURESHI: NEW US TROOP SURGE, AFGHAN CIVILIAN SURGE MUST GO TOGETHER [ take place simultaneously for Obama = USA to defeat Militants].
Security forces on Monday continued pounding Taliban hideouts as six more Taliban were killed before forces regained control of Inayat Qilay area in Bajaur Agency, official sources said.
Security forces are now advancing into Mamond tehsil, military sources told Daily Times. They said the troops, backed by helicopter gunships and artillery, had killed six Taliban. The security forces also blew up several militants' hideouts at Inayat Qilay, Badsamor and Umrai areas during the operation, they added.
Curfew: The Taliban, meanwhile, fired rockets and mortars at Civil Colony. The armament landed in open fields and no loss of life has been reported. However, a shop was destroyed in Khar when the Taliban fired rockets in the area. Following the rocket attack, the political administration imposed curfew in Khar for an indefinite period.
Khar Assistant Political Agent (APA) Iqbal Khattak said the administration had imposed a curfew because the tribesmen have failed to protect the area and militants have initiated rocket attacks in the agency headquarters. The administration has further tightened security in the agency and established special checkposts at business centres.
Ready for talks: Also on Monday, Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umer announced the TTP was ready to negotiate with the government, adding that it wants to engage in dialogue to find a solution to all problems.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: Two border guards were killed and eight others were wounded when an improvised explosive device went off in the south of Khaneqeen, the spokesman for the border guards said on Monday.
"An explosive charge was detonated targeting a vehicle patrol of the 8th battalion of the Iraqi army, killing two border guards and injuring eight," Sarjal Abdul Karim told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The explosion occurred between Kani Massi and Ali al-Saghier villages in Naftkhana region in the south of Khaneqeen," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Al Arabiya's correspondent in Gaza was shocked to find Hamas gunmen knocking at his hotel door on Saturday to kick him out of the strip for no reason other than the fact that he was no longer "wanted." Wael Essam, one of the most famous war correspondents in the Arab world, told AlArabiya.net he was outraged that he was being deported from his homeland and said the gunmen told him Hamas chief Khaled Meshaal did not want him in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Will the tone of Mr. Essam's reportage change as a result of this outrageous insult?
There is no basis to media claims that Russian Navy sailors suffered from scurvy while on a mission to patrol waters off Somalia, a Navy spokesman said on Monday. "Aaar! No basis, ye swabs!"
Posted by: Fred ||
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An Algerian court sentenced two terrorists in absentia on Sunday (February 8th) to life imprisonment for kidnapping the son of a shopkeeper in Maatkaas, Tizi Ouzou province last February, Tout sur l'Algerie reported. Benari Abderhmane and Keddour Hamid held the victim for 12 days before they received a ransom of 5 million dinars and released him unharmed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
MUMBAI: The probe into the November 26 Mumbai terror attack took an unusual twist with one of the accused, Faheem Ansari, levelling sexual harassment allegations against a woman officer of America's Federal Bureau of Investigation. An FBI team is conducting an independent probe into the attacks. "She wouldn't lemme alone! Time after time! All through the night!"
Faheem has moved the court with his lawyer Ejaz Naqvi filing an application before an Additional Chief Metropolitan Magistrate alleging that a woman FBI officer, who had interrogated the accused, had "sexually harrassed him all through the night." "And the hickeys! I'm so ashamed!"
The court issued a notice on Monday to the city police's crime branch and directed it to file their reply to the application by February 26. "What should we say, chief?... Chief?... Should I get you a glass of water?"
The application also made a plea for Faheem to be sent for medical check-up as he has developed "itches and wounds in his private parts and all over his body". "This is gonna hurt, but it usually clears that sort of thing up right away. But no sexual harrassment for two weeks!"
"Faheem had been interrogated by three FBI officers out of which one of them, a woman officer, had sexually abused him," Naqvi told the court. "She had... hips! And... And... She had... thighs!... And her... And her bosom! Mama mia!"
Faheem had earlier filed an application seeking action against the city police for allegedly allowing the FBI to interrogate him. "Interrogations! Interrogations! Getcher interrogations right here! Only a nickel!"
The Crime Branch will have to file their reply on whether any foreign investigating agencies like the US Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) had been allowed to interrogate the accused in the November 26 terror attacks case. "According to Indian law, no foreign agency can be allowed to interrogate an Indian suspect and we have sought relief from the court," Naqvi said.
Faheem and his associate Sabauddin Ahmed, are in the custody of the Crime Branch till February 17. The Crime Branch is investigating whether the duo was responsible for providing data regarding locations targeted by terrorists during the November 26 attacks. Ansari and Sabauddin were arrested last year in connection with the 2007 New Year eve attack on a CRPF camp in Rampur in Uttar Pradesh. The lone terrorist, Mohammed Ajmal Amir Kasab, arrested in the November 26 terror strikes is also presently in police custody till February 13.
This article starring:
FAHIM ANSARI
Lashkar-e-Taiba
MOHAMED AJMAL AMIR KASAB
Lashkar-e-Taiba
SABAUDIN AHMED
Lashkar-e-Taiba
Posted by: john frum ||
02/10/2009
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#1
I'm beginning to suspect a large number of Muslims are simply not ready for the 3rd grade, much less life in the 21st century.
#3
No one, I say again NO ONE could have predicted this, this, outrage! Muslim cultural trip wires, they're verywhere, who knew? Bureau simply had to get a female Counterterrorism Special Agent in the interrogation mix. Thank you multi-cult, equal opportunity FBI. You seldom miss an opportunity to...... miss an opportunity.
#5
Can't be anything in our sense of the word (sexual harassment), but in the realm of a fellow from Pakistan who probably live 75% with his head on the prayer rug and the remaining time at a madrassa, then the mere same-room presence of a female explains (doesn't justify) his anguish.
#6
AMong that culture, women are to procreate more terrorists, sexuality and sensuality in a relationship is reserved for goats, sheep and little boys.
I think this is an excellent way to interrogate one of these extremists. Have a woman interrogate them NAKED...shame them, disorient them and then question them for hours on end.....
I think this is very insightful on the mindset of the people we are dealing with.
Posted by: James Carville ||
02/10/2009 10:34
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Aswat al-Iraq: Four suspected gunmen were freed on Monday in Talafar after they were proved not guilty of involvement in violent acts, a police source said.
"The investigation judge in Talafar, 60 km west of Mosul, ordered to free four suspected gunmen after they were proved not guilty of involvement in terrorist acts," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "They spent 11 months behind bars," he added, without giving further details.
Posted by: Fred ||
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In the coming weeks, judges from the International Criminal Court will decide whether to issue a warrant for the arrest of Sudanese President Omar Hassan Al Bashir on charges of genocide and other war crimes in a military campaign that has led to the deaths of hundreds of thousands of civilians in Darfur since 2003. But Al Bashir's government is hardly being treated like an international pariah. African Union leaders last week backed Sudan's appeal to have the warrant suspended, with some portraying the court as unfairly targeting African states. UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon met with Al Bashir in Ethiopia last week and sought his assurances that international peacekeepers and aid workers would not be attacked if charges are filed.
"Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious."
Even the Obama administration, which has vowed to increase pressure on Khartoum to stem the bloodshed in Darfur, has reached out to Sudan. Susan Rice, the US ambassador to the United Nations, invited Sudan's UN ambassador, Abdul Mahmoud Abdul Haleem Mohammad, on Wednesday to a reception for senior African diplomats at her official residence at the Waldorf Astoria. She also has scheduled a meeting with the Sudanese envoy this week. Indeed, Sudan's diplomatic standing has hardly been diminished by the allegations. Last month, an influential bloc of developing nations, known as the Group of 77 and China, selected Sudan as its chairman for 2009. That post will make Khartoum the developing world's champion in negotiations with the West on a variety of issues, from climate change to the UN budget and the global financial crisis. Sudan's UN envoy said that both the United States and the United Nations realise that they cannot afford to shun Khartoum, which hosts two major UN peacekeeping operations, possesses massive oil reserves and now has a new role as a UN power broker. "They can never do without us," Mohammad said. "Our diplomatic standing is always on the rise. Whenever others unjustly try to corner us, we emerge victorious."
Posted by: Fred ||
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Local Taliban from tribal agencies bordering Hangu district on Monday offered conditional support to a peace jirga -- established by the district administration -- in checking the rising number of kidnappings and Taliban activities in the district.
Talks between the 25-member jirga and Taliban leaders from Orakzai, Kurram and Khyber agencies -- led by Hakimullah Mehsud -- were held at an undisclosed location.
The head of the jirga, Qazi Rehman, told journalists later that the talks with the local Taliban were held in a 'very pleasant atmosphere'. He said the group had conditioned support to a few demands that would be sent to the district administration.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Suspected Taliban torched a boys' school and a Basic Health Unit (BHU) in Matta tehsil of Swat on Monday, while a bridge was blown up in Kaladand area near Mingora city. Following the torching of this school, the total number of destroyed schools in Swat has reached 190, of which 122 are boys' schools and 68 are girls'. Similarly, APP reported the number of destroyed BHUs has reached 107. Separately, Takta Band bypass bridge near Mingora city was also blown up by suspected Taliban early Monday morning. Also on Monday, five people were killed while four other were injured during the ongoing security operation in Swat, locals said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Getting brave - they've graduated from girls' to boys' schools
Naib Ameer to central chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud has survived attempt on his life and one commander killed when their vehicle was detonated with remote control bomb in Makeen area in South Waziristan Agency late last night. According to sources, some unknown accused targeted the vehicle of Naib Ameer TTP Maulana Noor Sayyed with remote control device while he was on his way back home after attending a meeting in Makeen. The vehicle smashed into pieces after the blast.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Aswat al-Iraq: A body of a Yazidi girl was found in northern Mosul city, a police source said on Monday. "Police forces found on Monday (Feb. 9) a body of a 17-year-old Yazidi girl in al-Ghabat region in northern Mosul," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency. "The body bore signs of several stab wounds," he noted. "The police opened investigation into the incident," he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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Eric Holder, the new attorney general, has ordered a review of all claims of state secrets, which were used under President Bush to shield controversial anti-terrorism programs from lawsuits.
The so-called state secrets privilege was invoked by the previous administration to stymie a lawsuit challenging the government's warrantless wiretapping program.
"The attorney general has directed that senior Justice Department officials review all assertions of the state secrets privilege to ensure that is being invoked only in legally appropriate situations," Justice Department spokesman Matt Miller said Monday.
"It's vital that we protect information that if released could jeopardize national security, but the Justice Department will ensure the privilege is not invoked to hide from the American people information about their government's actions that they have a right to know," said Miller.
Even as officials promised a thorough review, government lawyers continued to invoke the state secrets law Monday in a federal appeals court in San Francisco. That case involves a lawsuit over the CIA's extraordinary rendition program.
Under that program, U.S. operatives seized foreign suspects and handed them over to other countries for questioning.
Some former prisoners subjected to the process contend they were tortured. Proving that in court has been difficult, as evidence they have sought to corroborate their claims has been protected by the president's state secrets privilege.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#1
All detainees will soon be released due to technicalities. Please spare us the legal drama and expense, just go ahead and do it. You're gonna do it anyway.
The United Nations said on Monday that Hamas has returned all of the aid supplies that it seized from the agency in the Gaza Strip last week.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA) said the return of the supplies cleared the way for it to resume all of its operations in the Hamas-ruled enclave. UNRWA had suspended imports of goods on Friday after accusing Hamas of twice seizing aid supplies.
"The Hamas authorities in Gaza have returned to the UNRWA warehouses in Gaza City and Rafah all of the aid supplies," said UNRWA spokesman Christopher Gunness. "UNRWA will now lift the suspension on the import of its humanitarian supplies into Gaza, which went into effect on Feb. 5."
UNRWA said earlier that Hamas last week seized 200 tons of rice and flour brought into Gaza by UNWRA, and in a separate incident grabbed 3,500 blankets and more than 400 food parcels at gunpoint from a distribution store at a Gaza City refugee camp.
Hamas said over the weekend the supplies had been seized "by mistake."
UNRWA plays a key role in distributing aid in Gaza and says it currently hands out food assistance to some 900,000 people out of a population of 1.5 million. Humanitarian workers say the aid is crucial as the population struggles with the aftermath of Israel's crushing military assault on the impoverished Palestinian enclave which left more than 1,330 dead and razed over 14,000 homes.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#1
By mistake? So if another agency tries to ship in relief supplies it would be OK to seize that instead? Or did they think they were seizing bomb-making materials, which would make things more palatable to the rest of the world?
Fourteen civilians, including 11 schoolchildren, and a soldier were killed in a mortar attack by the Taliban in Darra Adam Khel, an official statement said on Monday.
The incident marks the largest number of civilian casualties in a single attack by the Taliban. According to an official statement, the Taliban were targeting security forces' checkposts in nearby areas when the mortars hit the school.
"The schoolchildren killed were less than 15 years old. They died when two mortars hit a Girls Primary School near Qasimkhel village on main Indus Highway. Fifteen people were also wounded in the attack," local resident Faridullah Amin told Daily Times from Darra, 45 kilometres south of Peshawar.
Timed attack: Local residents said the Taliban had been firing mortars at the forces' positions since midday. They said at 2pm, one mortar landed in the school, mere minutes after the children had finished their classes. "As the first mortar landed in the school, many students rushed outside to see what had happened. At that time, a second mortar landed in the school, killing most of them," Faridullah added.
"The school ground was red with the children's blood and parents found it hard to find the remains of their kids," said an eyewitness. "Loud screams echoed the area when the news of children killed in the mortar fire spread," he added.
Protest: Following the attack, an angry mob of around 200 people protested the killings by blocking a highway linking the town with Peshawar. Nobody has claimed responsibility for the shelling so far. Security forces have also denied any involvement. "No military operation is currently underway in the area," a security official told AFP on condition of anonymity.
However, the official military statement stated: "At least 13 civilians were killed when Taliban fired mortar shell from Mirwali direction." It added that a soldier had also been killed in the attack.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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US special envoy to South Asia, Richard Holbrooke arrived in Pakistan on Monday on a four-day visit. During his first visit to Pakistan he will hold in-depth talks with Pakistani officials, with a view to further strengthening of bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States. Holbrooke will also call on the President and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of Pakistan besides getting overall know how of the Â"very important countryÂ". He said the U.S. intends to strengthen relations with the Pakistan people. According to the spokesman of US Embassy, Richard Holbrooke will be holding meetings with Pakistani government officials besides representatives of private sector and civil society.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Save the carbon off-set and just go to Langley or the New York Times to get the inside scoop.
#2
On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of find excuses to rain cash on Pakistan .....
#4
Since his days as Asst SEcy of State for SE Asia Holbrooke has been an appeaser practically from the start of his career. He wanted to recognize Viet Nam and then was slapped when the Viets wanted $2 billion as part of the deal. He then got credit for the Bosnia-Dayton deal which should rightly have gone to the deceased Bob Frazure. The man is a belly-crawling phoney.
#5
OK Richard, it goes like this. Muslims believe that life is a zero sum game and that work is demeaning. That makes them natural enemies of the rest of us.
#3
Cuba has been hurt big time by the financial crises since remissions have declined from Cubans living in the US to their impoverished kin in the socialist paradise of Cuba.
H/T The Donovan via Blackfive
As I mentioned in yesterday's post, I went to a militaria show at Fort Leavenworth this weekend and had a great time, and accomplished some bloggish stuff, too.
Living here in Leavenworth, we have access to some truly significant militaria. Real living history militaria. We have LTC(R) Chuck Hagemeister and COL(R) Roger Donlon. Colonel Donlon recieved the first Medal of Honor for action in Vietnam. He was at the show this weekend, selling his book, but mostly just being there and talking to people and letting the public meet a real public treasure.
I took the opportunity to chat with Colonel Donlon about the fact that there have been no Medals awarded to a living recipient since Vietnam. 7 Medals have been awarded for post-Vietnam actions. Just to recap those names, because if you read this space, you should probably know them - Master Sergeant Gary Gordon, Sergeant First Class Randall Shugart, Sergeant First Class Paul Smith, Corporal Jason Dunham, Lieutenant Michael Murphy, Master At Arms 2nd Class Michael Monsoor, and Private First Class Ross McGinnis.
After caveating that he has no more access to or influence upon the awards process than you or I do - he basically echoed my sentiment. He, too, reads every Distinguished Service Cross/ Navy Cross/ Air Force Cross citation, and he often asks himself, "Why wasn't this a Medal of Honor?"
And, he said, many of the other Holders he communicates with on a regular basis ask the same question - or worse, "What am I doing with a Medal of Honor when this kid got a DSC?"
So, again I pose the question to the DoD Leadership... "WTF, over?" If the MoH recipient grapevine's starting to talk about this, I'm guessing it's a safe bet that the Medal of Honor Society will get involved in an official way. It's all well and good for the DoD and the services to want to avoid "cheapening" the MoH, but it's unconscionable to make it a posthumous-only award.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
02/10/2009
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#1
Due to the current catastrophe we can no longer afford the monetary stipend associated with such medals which have historically excluded mediocre and unextraordinary service, the disadvantaged, disenfranchized, and the undeserving. Besides, all honor belongs to The One.
#2
I ran across a very good discussion on this the other day, and the bottom line was that no politician wants a living MOH recipient to show up and speak out against his/her policy. People may not like the military or those who serve, but they by God KNOW what that medal means, and they listen to those who wear it.
Can't have that now, can we?
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/10/2009 6:07
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That doesn't sound like former President George W. Bush or former President Reagan, Mike, especially given that he did not respond to the various military-against-the-war types during his time as Commander in Chief. On the other hand, it does sound like former presidents Carter and Clinton. But more importantly, who puts up the names for Medal of Honor recipients: politicians or the military brass?
#4
Actions which would have generated Medals of Honor in WWII or Korea now only are found worthy of Silver Stars, or even Bronze Stars. Making it even less consistent, awards like JFKerry's Bronze Star devalue those awards from the bottom so there is NO clear and unique way to honor living heros.
#5
If society has no value, then there is no reason to give anyone a Medal of Honor. I think that's part of the problem. Americans are becoming ashamed of their country. Every day Zero says our country is going off the cliff. It's getting hard to have hope.
#6
It may not sound like Reagan or Bush, but it does sound like a CYA careerist DOD that doesn't want the congressional leadership to have to deal with high profile critics. Remember, for many, for what reason I don't know, it is the Congressional Medal of Honor. I'm pretty sure I have a book of some dramatized exploits using that term in the title from my childhood. Also prevents Michael Phelps moments. Read Pappy Boyington's bio some time. Can you imagine DOD dealing with that today?
#7
Same goes for the Army/Marine Corps award criteria. Actions that would get a soldier a Bronze Star, might get a Marine, performing the same actions, a Navy Achievement Medal. Army has given out 30,000 + Bronze Stars for OIF. (More than the entire Korean War).
Posted by: Boss Cravilet8390 ||
02/10/2009 12:19
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When I took over as awards officer with the 44th TFS in Okinawa, I replaced the long standing officer that had served while the unit was still stationed in the 'Nam. His work had thickened everyones jackets but he was especially proud of having gotten two Air Medals awarded to Lt. Boris "T" Vamp. "Boris" was the squadron mascot, a fruit bat, purchased at a night market in Saigon. The awards were proudly displayed over his (or her) cage until I left Okinawa in 1977. Sadly, the watering down of the awards process has been going on for a long time. So even more honor is required of those special few awarded the MOH.
Posted by: Total War ||
02/10/2009 14:46
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Miss TW -
You are absolutely correct in that President Bush would never have tolerated something like that if he was aware of it - but the officers who vet and ultimately approve CMOH nominations came up under Clinton and his ilk. The LT Cols and Colonels of the Clinton administration are the generals who are out there today.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
02/10/2009 18:53
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#10
Ahem. I pointed this posthumous MOH policy back at least two years ago, as a serious problem.
I had been personally sensitized to the issue when MOH recipient, WWII USMC Fighter Ace Joe Foss was detained at Sky Harbor airport, enroute to speak at West Point, because his MOH had pointy metal edges and the Homeland Security personnel had never seen a MOH.
Today, there is only 1 living MOH recipient for every 3,000,000 Americans, with fewer every year. And for the rest of their lives, they are the caretakers of that medal. It is more important than anything else they can ever do.
While there is no military requirement that even general officers salute the MOH, none would dare to not do so. Military personnel would gladly travel hundreds of miles just to meet a recipient of the MOH, and to see the decoration displayed.
The MOH honors not only the recipient, but their family, their community, their State and their nation itself. For the American people to be denied the chance to meet not just a hero, but a symbol of greatness that transcends him as a person, is intolerable.
At least 18 security forces personnel were injured when a suicide bomber rammed his explosives-laden car into a security checkpost in Baran Pul area of Bannu city on Monday, police said. A police official told Daily Times one policeman and 17 Frontier Constabulary (FC) troops were injured. Following the attack, FC and police cordoned off the area and started investigations. NWFP Governor Owais Ahmed Ghani and Chief Minister Ameer Haider Hoti have condemned the attack and assured justice, APP reported. Separately, Online reported, suspected Taliban blew up a girls' school near Marian police station. Police also arrested a man and recovered 10kg of explosives in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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Feds Narrowing In On Companies With Ties To Congressman
The FBI raided the offices of a defense lobbying firm with close ties to Democratic Rep. John Murtha (Penn.), sources tell ABC News. The FBI searched the Virginia headquarters of the PMA Group in November, according to the sources, who spoke on the condition of anonymity. PMA was founded by former Murtha aide Paul Magliochetti and specializes in winning earmarked taxpayer funds for its clients.
Good government groups have long criticized Murtha's cozy relationship with a handful of lobbyists and defense firms, ties that see millions of dollars in government spending go out from Murtha's office, and hundreds of thousands in campaign donations come in. Murtha has said his earmarking has helped revive his economically depressed district.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
my problem here is that i am 100% positive
1)this sack of shite is as guilty of corruption as the day is long
2)he will skate after a little behind the scenes pressure by the whitehouse on the DOJ
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/10/2009 1:24
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ION TOPIX > VARIOUS > CALIFORNIA TO RELEASE LARGE NUMBERS OF STATE PRISONERS DUE TO RECESSION [Judges-ordered massive CA State prisoner/felon release over 3 year period].
India has no doubt that the Mumbai terror attacks were 'planned and originated' from Pakistan, claimed Union Home Minister P Chidambaram on Monday, and said New Delhi is waiting for Islamabad's response to a dossier of information. "There is no doubt that the attacks were planned and executed from Pakistan. Nobody has expressed any doubt [over the dossier]," Chidambaram told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#1
So Pakistani claims that the plot was hatched in Pennsylvania Dutch country are false?
In an earlier blog post I noted that Republican Judd Gregg, if he is confirmed as secretary of commerce, will have jurisdiction over the Census Bureau. Some Democrats noticed, including, I suspect, White House Chief of Staff Rahm Emanuel.
So now it's been announced that the White House will oversee the Census. Of course, the president has ultimate authority over cabinet officers (that's the unitary presidency theory that Democrats hated up to but not beyond January 20), and I am not prepared to charge that Emanuel or anyone else in the White House is determined to diabolically cook the Census books in search of gains for the Democratic Party or the Black or Hispanic caucuses. And we have the integrity of Census statisticians to rely on; they favor sampling on grounds that commend themselves to academic statisticians, but also have shown, in the 2000 Census, that they will adhere to those standards in the face of political pressures to the contrary. Nonetheless, as someone who got great joy when my parents in 1951 (when I was 7) bought a set of encyclopedias with the 1950 Census figures (I had only had access to the much outdated 1940 Census figures), I'm going to keep an eye on this one.
Here's an argument that it's unconstitutional for the president to take over the Census from the secretary of commerce. It goes like this: Article I, Section 2 of the Constitution provides for an "actual enumeration" and a statute passed by Congress provides that the duties under this clause are to be performed by the secretary of commerce. Article I (as Joseph Biden didn't know in debate) is about the legislative, not the executive branch. Hence, it is argued, the president can't substitute a sampling for the enumeration required to be done by the secretary.
Posted by: Fred ||
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seriously, the Zero is much more important than any 'living document' compared to his 'mandate, what are mere words on paper
/pffft
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
02/10/2009 1:27
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#3
I am not prepared to charge that Emanuel or anyone else in the White House is determined to diabolically cook the Census books in search of gains for the Democratic Party or the Black or Hispanic caucuses.
The "charge" needs no preparation. It is self evident.
#4
Watched "SuperZero's speech last night, Ummm, Errr, Ummm, Errr, etc to madness I also noticed he called for questions by calling on people BY NAME suggests he knew what they'd say.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/10/2009 11:57
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#5
....and he used their softball questions to launch into his prepared 8-10 minute sermons. I've got Fox on in the family room listening to the cheering throngs of believers. It really is amazing.
Its almost as if the entire thing was staged. Didn't someone mention that the Questions were submitted first? So he could pick and choose and had plenty of time to prepare his speeches.
BTW: Who was the unfortunate sole who was to sit next to Helen Thomas? I noticed that the seat was empty.
Officials of the US Federal Bureau of Investigation will be among witnesses in the trial of Ajmal Kasab -- the lone surviving gunman arrested after the Mumbai attacks -- said Mumbai police, which are likely to file a charge-sheet in the next three weeks. "We will include FBI officials as witnesses," Mumbai police were quoted as saying by the Indian Express newspaper.
Posted by: Fred ||
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(RIA Novosti) - Eight snakes, most of them poisonous, and their dead owner have been found in a hostel in the southwest Siberian city of Kemerovo, a local emergencies service spokeswoman said on Monday. "Legume, I have a theory about this!"
She said residents of the hostel had called the emergencies services to complain about the smell of a decaying body. Rescuers smashed the door open to find a corpse and five poisonous and three non-venomous snakes. [SMASH!]
"Ow!"
"Don't worry, Yuri! That's one of the non-poinsonous... No. Wait..."
[THUD.]
"Yuri?"
The reptiles were kept in huge glass cages with climate control. Rescuers also found a container with live bugs and a calendar showing when to distribute the food. The snakes were reported to be in a good physical condition. "Well fed, too, particularly the python..."
Long-term residents of the hostel said that although the man had rented a room for about ten years, most of them had no inkling of their neighbor's hobby. The cause of death is being established.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
CSI: Miami Kemerovo
"It appears the vic was bitten by one of his own snakes."
Horatio took out his sunglasses. "So, then," he said, putting his shades on, "I think we're dealing with . . . a cold-blooded killer."
Yeeeeeaaaaaaahhhhhh!
Posted by: Mike ||
02/10/2009 9:03
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#2
Boy, what kind of snake bites the hand that feeds it ... bugs?
Outgoing prime minister Ehud Olmert has ordered to allocate NIS 2.4 billion to the defense establishment following the Israel Defense Forces offensive in the Gaza Strip, Israel Radio reported Monday.
The Finance Ministry had initially agreed to allocate NIS 1.4 billion to the defense budget but Olmert on Monday raised the sum by NIS 1 billion, according to the report.
The defense establishment would allot NIS 800 million of its own budget to rehabilitating the IDF in wake of the Gaza operation.
Officials from the bureau of Defense Minister Ehud Barak told Israel Radio that the increase in defense budget would go towards re-equipping the army. This would entail funneling more money to the Israel defense industry.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The IDF will need the additional funds to offset the money Prime Minister Olmert sent over to Gaza with no strings attached.
Oil prices hovered near $40 a barrel Monday in Asia as investors weighed a massive stimulus package and a bank rescue plan from the U.S. this week against soaring unemployment and falling demand for crude.
Light, sweet crude for March delivery rose 9 cents to $40.26 a barrel by midday in Singapore on the New York Mercantile Exchange.
The contract fell $1.00 on Friday to $40.17 a barrel after the Labor Department said the U.S. lost 598,000 jobs in January and the unemployment rate rose to 7.6 percent, the highest since 1992.
For all of 2008, the economy lost a net total of 2.9 million jobs, according to revised figures, marking the biggest annual loss on record.
"Considering the staggering magnitude of the jobs data, oil held up quite well," said Victor Shum, an energy analyst at consultancy Purvin & Gertz in Singapore. "The downward momentum in oil pricing appears to have been broken as the $40 level has proven to be a very strong support level."
Investors will be watching as a huge stimulus bill makes its way through the U.S. legislature this week. A $827 billion stimulus package will likely pass the Senate by Tuesday, though it will have to be reconciled with a version the House of Representatives approved earlier that's about $7 billion apart in cost and overlaps in numerous ways.
The Treasury Department delayed the unveiling of a new bailout framework for financial institutions from Monday to Tuesday to let the administration focus on the Senate legislation.
The department is considering steps to broaden the use of a new lending facility at the Federal Reserve, provide government guarantees to help banks deal with their troubled assets, and continue direct infusions of capital into banks in exchange for securities and tougher accountability rules.
"The U.S. stimulus plan and the bank rescue plan are supporting oil," Shum said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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After waging a long battle against the ultra-Orthodox parties, Yisrael Beiteinu Chairman Avigdor Lieberman visited the Western Wall in Jerusalem on Monday, where he placed a note between the stones.
Lieberman was followed by a swarm of reporters, who pressed him for comment near the holy site. "I have just one message: Without loyalty there is no citizenship," he said, repeating the slogan of his party's campaign.
The Shas Party was enraged at the visit. "We suggest that the note Lieberman places between the stones of the Wall include a plea for mercy, for his desire to open pork stores and institutionalize civil marriage. This was a visit to a relic of our temple, not a tennis court. This visit was pathetic," the ultra-Orthodox party stated.
The three premiership candidates also held field days Monday. Labor Chairman Ehud Barak planted a tree in his home kibbutz, Mishmar Hasharon, and said many citizens had told him they would like to see him remain in his current office. "I tell you, if the Labor Party doesn't receive 20 mandates or close, I won't be able to be defense minister," he said.
Likud Chairman Benjamin Netanyahu met with the son of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin, Yuval Rabin, who told him he would be voting for Labor. "I met with him a few times over the past few months, and I told him what I tell the public: I intend to win tomorrow and establish a unity government that will be as wide as possible," Netanyahu said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"Laydeez and Gentiles! The PORK STORE is now open! Get yer pork here! Pork and Pork by-products! Pork stationery! Piggy banks! Pork scented perfume! Everything for your Pork related needs!"
#3
It works for me. The ultra-Orthodox need just avoid them and continue on as they've been doing. I'll join them in staying out of the pork shops, but I'm afraid I already was married in a civil ceremony - the judge was a friend of Mr. Wife's family, which was made it a special experience.
Spurred on by President Barack Obama, an $838 billion economic recovery plan advanced toward passage in the Senate on Tuesday, after clearing a last procedural hurdle with the help of three Republicans on Monday evening.
Collins, Snowe, Specter. Remember them next election.
Sen. Edward M. Kennedy (D-Mass.), ill with cancer, returned for the 61-36 roll call in a dramatic show of Democratic unity behind Obama and a landmark shift in fiscal policy in the face of the economic crisis facing the nation.
Republican support was confined to three moderates: Maine Sens. Susan Collins and Olympia Snowe and Sen. Arlen Specter of Pennsylvania. All had a major hand in negotiating provisions in the bill, including a Collins-Specter deal last Friday to scale back the package by $108 billion. But the lack of more bipartisan support remains a disappointment for the White House and leaves the president battling criticism from his defeated rival, Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.).
This is neither bipartisan nor a compromise, McCain said in a biting speech on the floor. It is generational theft.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/10/2009
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Collins, Snowe, Specter. Remember them next election
#2
Grom: My offer still stands. I'll give you the Messiah for Bebe and I'll personally throw in three loaves of homemade challah. But wait, there's more. I'll even throw in a guarantee that neither Lieberman or Rice ever visits you again!
#4
Collins, Snowe, Specter. Remember them next election.
Like the Trunk party in their states has come up with any viable alternative. Wonder why they're so old and yet still in the seat? Same goes to the article down below about Val Kilmar running for NM governor. The state level Trunks are just as infested with the good old boys running failed tickets after failed tickets, so they just shrug their shoulders and live with the RINOs.
#6
PA could not sustain Santorum and passed on Toomey when he last challenged Specter. Toomey may well take out Specter in 2010, but it will probably be a pyrrhic victory as PA has turned true blue with the conversion of Delaware, Montgomery and Chester Counties from reliable red. PA is rapidly following in the footsteps of Caliphornia into one party rule with occasional guest appearances by RINOs and futile efforts by the ideologically unacceptable.
Madagascar's defense minister says she has resigned because civilians were killed when security forces fired on anti-government protesters over the weekend.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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A video received by the BBC from an Al Qaeda leader believed killed last year warned India that it would have to pay a 'heavy price' if it tried to attack Pakistan.
Sheikh Mustafa Abu Yazeed, who had been operating in Afghanistan and Pakistan, was reported killed in a US drone strike in August 2008.
In the 20-minute video in Arabic, Yazeed said: "We will bring mujahideen and suicide attackers from all over the Muslim world to confront you [India]. They will target your economic centres and raze them to the ground," Yazeed said in the video sent to BBC. He said Al Qaeda leader Aiman Al-Zawahiri had made the decision to kill former Pakistani prime minister and PPP chairwoman Benazir Bhutto.
The Al Qaeda leader also criticised the Pakistani government and army. He also denounced the ban on militant organisations in Pakistan following the Mumbai attacks.
This article starring:
SHEIKH MUSTAFA ABU YAZID
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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#1
TOPIX > INDIA'S MILITARY SAYS ITS IS READY TO FACE ANY TERROR ATTACK AFTER NEW AL QAEDA THREAT.
On a separate note, seemingly premature MSM-NET Reports on YAZEED's death, among other noted Radical Islamist Milit-Terr personages, again shows why I request for death pics to be openly published.
An Islamic Jihad militant died in a clash with Israel Defense Forces troops and Israel Air Force jets struck two targets in Gaza early Monday as mediators tried to firm up a long-term Gaza cease-fire a day before Israelis go to the polls in a national election.
Islamic Jihad said in a statement faxed to reporters that one of its fighters was killed overnight in an Israeli airstrike. The IDF said troops spotted an armed militant trying to cross the Gaza-Israel border late Sunday and opened fire, after which a bomb belt he was wearing detonated.
Islamic Jihad had earlier said the man killed was on a mission to attack an Israeli patrol along the border with the Hamas-ruled Gaza Strip, the Islamic Jihad group said. The IDF denied that tank fire or strikes of any kind were carried out around the time of the man's death, and the circumstances of the incident remained unclear.
Islamic Jihad said the Palestinian killed near the northern Gaza town of Beit Hanoun belonged to its armed wing and that he was part of a squad that had planned to attack Israeli troops along the frontier.
Earlier on Monday, the Israel Air Force hit two Hamas positions in Gaza in response to rocket attacks on Israel launched by militants in the coastal strip on the preceding day, the army said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/10/2009
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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.
Senators should read these provisions and vote against them because they are dangerous to your health. (Page numbers refer to H.R. 1 EH, pdf version). 
London: The British Government will air ads on Pakistani television urging terrorists to not attack Britain. Prominent British Muslims will star in the British Foreign Office-funded £400,000 (approximately Rs 2.9 crore)-campaign that is set to break on Pakistani television next Monday, 'The Guardian' reported on Tuesday.
Barack Obama has gotten quite a free ride from the "change" and "hope" crowd. When he quickly issued executive orders closing the CIA "black site" prisons and shutting down the CIA's "enhanced interrogation" torture, including waterboarding, much of the liberal and human rights world shouted, "Torture is over." Guantanamo would be closed (within a year), and the whole world could rest easy that the humane and totally vetted Army Field Manual would guide interrogators and protect vulnerable prisoners from the brig at the Naval Base at Charleston, South Carolina to the U.S. run prison at Baghram Air Base in Afghanistan.
This is not about keeping secrets safe. It's about controlling what the public can hear and not hear, so the repressive apparatus of the state can be allowed to function without public scrutiny or public control.
SANTA FE (AP) - Actor Val Kilmer says some serious people want him to run for governor of New Mexico.
A British-born Pakistani man who said he had links to Al Qaeda and had sent young men for terrorism training in Pakistan has told a court that he was lying about his past.
The Church of England announced Monday it had withdrawn its investments in a controversial company over the weekend following a threat by a group of vicars to publish a letter denouncing the Church's investment, but denied there were any political or ethical consideration in what it called an economically informed decision.
MUMBAI: The probe into the November 26 Mumbai terror attack took an unusual twist with one of the accused, 
Naib Ameer to central chief of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) Baitullah Mehsud has survived attempt on his life and one commander killed when their vehicle was detonated with remote control bomb in Makeen area in South Waziristan Agency late last night. According to sources, some unknown accused targeted the vehicle of Naib Ameer TTP Maulana Noor Sayyed with remote control device while he was on his way back home after attending a meeting in Makeen. The vehicle smashed into pieces after the blast.
The United Nations said on Monday that Hamas has returned all of the aid supplies that it seized from the agency in the Gaza Strip last week. 
US special envoy to South Asia, Richard Holbrooke arrived in Pakistan on Monday on a four-day visit. During his first visit to Pakistan he will hold in-depth talks with Pakistani officials, with a view to further strengthening of bilateral ties between Pakistan and the United States. Holbrooke will also call on the President and the Prime Minister and the Foreign Minister. On his arrival, Holbrooke said the purpose of his visit is to know the ground realities and understand the problems of Pakistan besides getting overall know how of the Â"very important countryÂ". He said the U.S. intends to strengthen relations with the Pakistan people. According to the spokesman of US Embassy, Richard Holbrooke will be holding meetings with Pakistani government officials besides representatives of private sector and civil society.
Feds Narrowing In On Companies With Ties To Congressman
Madagascar's defense minister says she has resigned because civilians were killed when security forces fired on anti-government protesters over the weekend.
A video received by the BBC from an Al Qaeda leader believed killed last year warned India that it would have to pay a 'heavy price' if it tried to attack Pakistan. 
