Egyptian security forces thwarted an attempt by Iran to blow up an Israeli ship in the Suez Canal, the Egyptian daily Al-Ahram reported on Saturday.
The attack was being planned by two Egyptians who were recently arrested and interrogated, the prosecution in Egypt's state security court reportedly claimed.
AMADO, Ariz (KGUN9-TV) - At least once a year Arizona's Game and Fish Department takes spring cleaning to a whole new level. Crews are dispatched to remote areas along the border to pick up garbage left by illegal immigrants. Crews collected bag after bag of garbage, trash left behind in the desert by illegal immigrants.
"This is where the traffic is," Arizona Game and Fish spokesperson Mark Hart said. "The people who left all this trash were probably picked up in this area and taken to Tucson or Phoenix." Arizona Game and Fish officials tell 9OYS they collected close to 10 tons in one day's work.
#2
bman, I hear ya, but I have this visceral hatred for those little things that go bang in the dark. Would prefer a bounty system, myself (of course I AM from New Orleans....)
#3
How about little things that go bang in the dark and cover any people in the area with a permanent flourescent dye (that can't be washed off for a least a week)?
Naaahhhh - the ICE would just hide them for a week. :-(
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/25/2012 20:30
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Charge it all to the fucked up Federal government.
Above the fold, Page 1 article in today's Washington Post. Four pages at the link, herewith a taste:
For every cloud of smoke that follows a CIA drone strike in Pakistan, dozens of smaller plumes can be traced to a gaunt figure standing in a courtyard near the center of the agency's Langley campus in Virginia.
The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington. WaPo has just made him plenty visible.
They couldn't resist the frisson. But the CIA did make his available to the Post reporters, which suggests they have a reason for doing so. It probably is something more than revealing the drone killings are an internal Muslim affair...
"Irascible is the nicest way I would describe him," said a former high-ranking CIA official who supervised the counterterrorism chief. "But his range of experience and relationships have made him about as close to indispensable as you could think." The Post agreed to withhold some details, including Roger's real name, his full cover identity and his age, at the request of agency officials, who cited concerns for his safety. Although CIA officials often have their cover identities removed when they join the agency's senior ranks, Roger has maintained his.
#1
WaPo gave a key detail: He admitted helping his brother steal the motor scooter he used in all seven killings, although he denied knowing of his deadly intent.
I don't know how many of you have been following the massive Japanese tsunami debris field heading for California. But I ran across this interesting speculation on a connection between the debris field and the warmer than normal weather in North America.
Meteorologist and AccuWeather.com news director Henry Margusity offered the theory that the drifting Japanese tsunami debris field seems to be sending warm air aloft above the Pacific Ocean, which could be contributing to warmer temperatures in North America.
"If you match up where that debris field is right now with where the warmer-than-normal water temperatures are, they match up perfectly".
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
03/25/2012
12:59 ||
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#1
Well, if you look at the jet stream, it is pretty obvious why North America has been warmer this winter. The jet has been dropping deeply South over the Pacific (meaning pretty COLD are over most of the eastern Pacific) and then looping way North, all the way up to British Columbia and Alaska. This is why Anchorage has a snowfall record. The storms that usually come in to California, Oregon, and Washington have been pushed Northward by this jet and are landing in Alaska and Northern BC. Because the jet is so far North, most of CONUS has been under milder air. This is not an uncommon jet flow for La Nina years. When the La Nina weakens, we will get a more "zonal" flow across CONUS in winter which will bring the storms in across the Great Basin, Rockies, and Northern plains again.
#2
For example, look at this graphic (flash) of atmospheric water vapor. Look at California. Notice the clouds going South to North rather than West to East. There's a storm in the Gulf of Alaska and rather than moving in to California or Oregon, it is probably going to move into BC or possibly be pushed by that jet into Alaska around Anchorage. Even the Southern jet from Mexico is going way North to nearly Montana. Everything to the right of that jet is going to have warmer than normal temperatures which explains why Omaha is forecasting 80 degrees today. That air isn't coming from the Pacific, it is coming from the Gulf of Mexico.
#4
"If you match up where that debris field is right now with where the warmer-than-normal water temperatures are, they match up perfectly".
Correllation is not causation, Mr. Margusity - any scientist should know that.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/25/2012 17:35
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Correllation is not causation
No, but is generally a good place to start looking for causation. I would be surprised if a debris field was able to generate such a strong global effect, but I cannot say offhand it is impossible - for instance, it only takes a tap on the beaker to precipitate a supersaturated solution.
#6
Yeah, right now the jet streams are "loopy" going way North then back way South rather than being more "zonal" West to East flows that we have been used to seeing. This is more likely due to the switch of the Pacific Decadal Oscillation from its positive phase (roughly 1976-2006) to negative phase (since 2006). The PDO has a roughly 60 year cycle with a 30 year "positive" or warm phase and a 30 year negative or "cold" phase. The trend in global sea surface temperatures is basically negative since 2006. For the Eastern Pacific, the trend is cooler surface temperatures since 1980 and are currently below the long term average. There is no warming of the ocean in the Eastern Pacific.
#7
The ocean is surprisingly reflective (has a high albedo). Dark colored junk on the surface will decrease the albedo, warm the ocean surface layer and then warm the air above it.
But I'm sceptical there's enough floating junk to produce a measurable effect. Could be wrong though.
#8
So far there is no evidence that the ocean surface IS warming and the warmth in Chicago is coming from warm Gulf of Mexico air that is being pulled North by a very "loopy" jet. The flip side of that was central Europe where an equally "loopy" jet was pulling arctic air far South over the continent causing record low temperatures. This was one of the coldest winters on record in many parts of Europe.
We had an equally "loop" pulling cold air down but it was over the ocean. If there had been an island 300 miles off the coast of California, it would have had a record cold winter this year. The jet came down at about the longitude of Hawaii, but cut East before reaching Hawaii, then cut North again near the California coast. The result was that storms did not come across the continental US but were pushed up into Alaska and Canada. They hit the coastal Mountains and when the air looped back down again over the Great Basin, it was quite dry.
Look at this representation of an Arctic Oscillation Negative jet pattern. That is what we have now. We have grown used to a Arctic Oscillation Positive jet where the flow is more West/East.
#10
Related: A common observation at NASCAR events is that if precipitation is in the area, often times it is delayed or never falls on the track during an event; the theory is that that heat generated by the cars creates a vortex that locally alters the wx patterns.
#11
Yes, JM. There are some COLD October-April periods coming our way beginning this year. FYI: A reliable meteorological source, who, in my humble opinion almost always "gets it right", is Joe Bastardi; formally of the politicized "Weather Channel".
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bastardi
For every cloud of smoke that follows a CIA drone strike in Pakistain, dozens of smaller plumes can be traced to a gaunt figure standing in a courtyard near the center of the agency's Langley campus in Virginia.
The man with the nicotine habit is in his late 50s, with stubble on his face and the dark-suited wardrobe of an undertaker. As chief of the CIA's Counterterrorism Center for the past six years, he has functioned in a funereal capacity for al-Qaeda.
Roger, which is the first name of his cover identity, may be the most consequential but least visible national security official in Washington -- the principal architect of the CIA's drone campaign and the leader of the hunt for the late Osama bin Laden ... who had a brief but splitting headache... . In many ways, he has also been the driving force of the B.O. regime's embrace of assassination as a centerpiece of its counterterrorism efforts.
Google translation:
The initiative is as astounding as unfortunate. Thirty young people, mostly girls, gathered Saturday in the district of Toulouse Izards, which grew Mohamed Merah, to honor the memory of the killer of seven people shot dead by police Thursday, comparing the pain of those families victims. One hundred members of security forces have surrounded this event static during which a woman wearing a full veil has harrangué group.
"We are what we ask today is that we stop demonizing Mohamed, that's it, he died," she said. "We share the pain and suffering of the families because it is the same pain for us here," said the girl, who declined to give his name. "I think what influenced him is what he has seen in his many travels. He could not manage all that. It was still a teenager in his head, despite his 23 years." They're openly celebrating their victory. And why shouldn't they? After islamofascistic attacks we're habitually rewarding islamofascists as long as they don't personally employ the method we call 'terrorism.'
#3
They either want to be French or they don't. If the latter, deport them back to their country of origin, or their parents' country of origin.
I'm getting really tired of this: if you don't wish to conform to the laws and culture of the democratic state in which you live, and your differences are both fundamental and irreconcilable, then leave.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012 15:55
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#4
Dr. Steve, what? And give up all those welfare benefits?
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
03/25/2012 16:26
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#1
Remember, this is the same thin skinned prez who fired the chief architect of our success in Iraq and who was crafting the plan for Afghanistan because an aide criticized him. Why do you think he would overlook a sergeant?
B.O. doesn't need to hire people to compile an enemies list, just open a web site and people will volunteer to put their names on it.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
03/25/2012 13:29
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#2
As far as I can tell, he did not criticise the POTUS personally, but attacked specific positions and policies, none of which were related to the President's role as Commander in Chief. Unless there is more, I think he's within his rights.
The year-long effort to overthrow President Bashar al-Assad and his government has failed. Two or three months ago, it seemed to come close to succeeding, as insurgents took over enclaves in cities such as Homs and Deir el-Zour. There was talk of no-fly zones and foreign military intervention.
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
03/25/2012
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I was pondering this, especially with the no-fly talks so publically talked than removed with the explanation that it would be too dangerous.
That is, would such a statement actually increase arms purchases by goofballs knowing that all it would take would be a single shoot-down to defeat any UN called no-fly; and then effectively (I know, effective UN) ending any authority of the UN to make such resolutions.
And also with the use of no-fly to actively and specifically target one side or the other, is that particular statement no anything less than an act of war kinetic action?
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew back to Cuba on Saturday to begin radiation treatment for cancer, but said he was in good shape and would be back home in several days.
Because the second surgery cured him, you know...
The socialist leader's latest trip to Havana will heighten anxiety among supporters worried about his health, fan rumors of a power struggle among his top aides, and leave Chavez absent just as his election rival is stepping up a campaign tour.
And lead to hope for freedom loving people...
Since making a triumphant return to Caracas from Cuba a week ago after a third operation in less than a year to remove a malignant tumor from his pelvis, the 57-year-old had been saying he would start radiation therapy soon. But until Saturday he had not revealed whether he would go to Cuba or stay in Venezuela for the treatment, which is expected to leave him weaker during his campaign to win a new six-year term at an October 7. vote. Chavez has no clear successor.
"I have decided, on the recommendation of my medical team and my political team, to begin the radiation treatment tomorrow," Chavez said during a televised cabinet meeting on Saturday before leaving for Maiquetia international airport.
As he addressed white-clad troops gathered on the runway there, government ministers looked on, grim faced. He said he might have more radiation treatment in Venezuela in the future.
Little is known about what kind of cancer the president has, nor how serious it is. So big questions remain about his future.
Nah, the big question has been answered...
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
11:42 ||
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#1
If pelvic cancer has spread beyond the Kidneys the five-year survival rate is 5 to 15 percent.
Bye-bye Hugo.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
03/25/2012 13:37
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Awww...I was expecting the vulture. Accordion Lady, shoo! I can't hear the weeping and gnashing of teeth properly.
I suppose Hugo's getting close to death's door, and realizes that if he doesn't get treatment he won't be elected, period.
A local bookstore has sold out of a controversial marriage guide that advises Muslim men on how to beat their wives.
The 160-page book, published by Idara Impex in New Delhi, India, is written by Hazrat Maulana Ashraf Ali Thanvi, whos described in the books foreword as a prolific writer on almost every topic of Islamic learning.
The stores manager, who didnt give his name, said the book had been sold out for some time, and the stores owner, whom the manager identified as Shamim Ahmad, refused to comment for the story.
It wasnt clear whether the shop has ordered more copies of the book, but its available at online Islamic bookstores and even through eBay.
In the books opening pages, it is written that it might be necessary to restrain her with strength or even to threaten her.
Later, its author advises that the husband should treat the wife with kindness and love, even if she tends to be stupid and slow sometimes.
Page 45 contains the rights of the husband, which include his wifes inability to leave his house without his permission, and that his wife must fulfil his desires and not allow herself to be untidy ... but should beautify herself for him ...
In terms of physical punishment, the book advises that a husband may scold her, beat by hand or stick, withhold money from her or pull (her) by the ears, but should refrain from beating her excessively.
Moderate Muslim voice Tarek Fatah says the shopkeeper should be charged for selling such a book.
I wouldnt say its hate, but it is inciting men to hit women, said Fatah, who identified the books author as a prominent Islamic scholar. This is new to you, but the Muslim community knows that this is widespread, that a woman can be beaten. Muslim leaders will deny this, but...
Male dominance over women has been making headlines for some time, with the recent lengthy trial and conviction of the Shafia family.
Mohammad Shafia, 59, his second wife, Tooba Yahya, 42, and their son, Hamed, 21, were each convicted in January on four counts of first-degree murder in what was characterized as an honour killing of four female family members as punishment for disobedience. They were handed life sentences with no chance of parole for 25 years.
Shafias three daughters and his first wife were found drowned in a car at the bottom of the Rideau Canal in Kingston, Ont., in June 2009.
Eric Brazau says he was flipping through the marriage guide while in the bookstore around a month ago.
Brazau bought it out of curiosity but was taken aback when he found dozens of chapters and passages giving Muslim husbands advice on controlling, restraining, scolding and beating their wives.
At first, I thought that it is incredible that this kind of thing can be found in Canada, said Brazau. And then I thought, radical Islam is not coming to Canada, it is already here.
I've been working under the hood since our comments freeze in the middle of the week. I've killed an entire swarm of bugs that have been existing in the hidden corners of our digital cupboard, even though they weren't the cause of the freeze. (I did fix the other problem, at least for another few years...)
I'm embarking on an extensive rewrite of much of the Burg, starting with the main page. If interested, you can follow the progress at cindex.php. You'll be able to watch as I create a duplicate in appearance of the front page, with significantly different code and (I'm hoping) database behind it.
I've been getting a slew of requests for access to archived material in the past few days, implying that one of the bugs I fixed tightened up the access to the way it was supposed to be. On the other hand, I got a request from one long-time member, which says there's another bug to be killed there. I just have to find it.
Except for things like that, I'm trying not to make any significant changes to the existing Burg, for fear of breaking something else. If I do, let me know. If there's an improvement you'd like to see, also let me know and we can all argue about it.
It's a rainy day today and it's a gym day. When I come back from making myself gasp and wheeze like a beached whale I'm going to try and put the comments into the new version.
#1
Thank you, Fred. You go above and beyond for us.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/25/2012 11:15
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Great job, seems to be working well. I love that photo. I remember when I thought the guy hanging the tape was fat and the girl at the console just right. Actually I think she's still just right, but I give the tape jockey a bit more respect.
It's not spreadsheets, Besoeker. That's a print-out, and they're probably discussing debugging the bloody punchcards neatly stacked on her desk...again.
#8
Looks like a CDC 70 or 74. Although, from what I remember, the operator would have been freezing in a short outfit like that if the terminal was in the same room as the main processor(s). They kept those rooms pretty chilly and dry.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
03/25/2012 12:45
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Definitely a Control Data machine of 1970s vintage, probably a 6000 or 170 series. The 'double eye' console design is very distinctive. It was an operator's console, meant for monitoring the flow of 'jobs' (time-shared card decks, whee!). Normally not used as an interactive terminal in the current sense - that would imply user privileges beyond those available to most mortals back then.
#14
Prof tried to protect the class account from infinite 'do' loops by requiring outside data input (from paper tape) every x ms. Neglected to account for malicious students taping the ends of a punched paper tape together....
#15
Ow! I was going to comment that IE 10 beta in Windows 8 CTP does not seem to work too well at Rantburg. Had to jump on my Win 7 desktop to send this comment...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
03/25/2012 18:01
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#16
In my databases I tend to use a element that stores the display order and then cluster(ed index) the table on this element.
Fast to display and you can come up with your own sorting rules.
#17
I was trying to avoid adding a field to the table. I hate doing that, do it too often, and I end up with dead columns when I come up with a better idea. I always hate to drop them because of the certainty I've used them somewhere and forgotten about it...
But that's the only solution I can see at the moment.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012 18:07
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I do the same thing, but I use float8 to finely tune the order.
It works and Pg's order routines leaves much to be desired.
#21
My old Dell laptop running xp finally secumbed to a glass of coke. So it and Skunky Glins*** were replace by a netbook running W7. Seems like every few days Firefox updates and I lose display formats for several of my regular websites until the next update. And yet my old desktop running xp has no problem with the same sites, same fox updates.
'Burg always looks ok except with the tiny screen on the notebook and my failing eyes I use the magnify feature a lot which messes up everything.
[An Nahar] Egyptian liberal MPs withdrew on Saturday from a crucial parliament vote for a panel to draft a new constitution amid a rift with Islamists over the constituent assembly's make up, liberals said. Best way to ensure your voice isn't heard is to have a temper tantrum and refuse to participate.
The liberals accused the majority Islamists of trying to monopolize the 100-member panel, whose constitution will replace the one annulled by the ruling military after an uprising toppled President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... last year.
"All our MPs withdrew," said Naguib Sawiris, founder of the Free Egyptians Party, the largest liberal party in the Islamist-dominated parliament.
"It's ridiculous," he said. "A constitution being written by one force and one force alone. We tried our best and there was no use."
Sawiris said two parties, including his and a coalition of secular and left-leaning parties, withdrew from the vote for the 100-member panel, half of which will be senators and parliamentarians.
At least two other parties had boycotted the voting from the start, including the leftwing Tagammu party.
"The constitution should not reflect the majority, it should reflect all forces in society," said Rifaat al-Said, the head of Tagammu.
"There is an attempt to possess everything," he said of his party's Islamist opponents. "Possessing the constitution is the most dangerous thing."
Mustafa al-Naggar, head of the Adl (Justice) Party, said parliamentarians should not even be on the panel, which will also include 50 public figures.
"Parliamentarians have a special interest," he said.
The constitution will lay out the powers of the legislature, which Islamists dominated in elections after Mubarak's fall.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] A lawyer and member of a leading Malian opposition party was set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock Saturday after criticising a coup by mutinous soldiers who have claimed control of the country, his family said.
"Armed soldiers came to the house and set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock my uncle in front of me. They had guns and threatened us. My uncle went with them," said a relative of Kassoum Tapo, a member of the Democratic Alliance of Mali which has 54 of the 147 seats in parliament.
Tapo had spoken on behalf of his party against the coup on French international radio RFI on Friday.
"The soldiers also took several of my uncle's cars. They demanded the keys to the cars and left with them," the relative said.
Three other Malian politicians, requesting anonymity, said they had gone underground, fearing they were being sought by gunnies.
"I am in hiding. They are looking for me. We are not going to let the soldiers arrest everyone and make off with our country," one of them told AFP.
Several political parties planned to create a "refusal front" against the coup leaders.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Does a "refusal front" include training cadres, and arming for civil war?
[Dawn] Television screens throughout the landlocked country of Mali went black on Friday, as residents near the building housing the state broadcaster said they saw troops erecting barricades fearing a possible countercoup.
Two days ago, mutinous soldiers seized control of the state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and radio stations, and announced a coup. The country's democratically elected president has not been heard from since.
Shots were heard ringing out on Friday from outside the broadcaster, and large numbers of soldiers were seen amassing outside. The signal flickered back on for some time, then again went off.
President Amadou Toumani Toure, who was tossed in this week's military takeover, is himself a seasoned soldier, who headed the country's parachute commando unit. There has been speculation that loyalist troops, especially those at the 33rd Parachute Infantry Regiment which Toure once belonged to, will attempt to take back power.
Contacted by telephone, resident Mohamed Traore said after the signal went dead, he went outside and saw the troops rushing to put up large defenses. He lives 300 yards from the broadcaster and says that when he went to speak to them, the soldiers told him that the red beret-wearing loyalists were planning an attack.
Freelance news hound Katarina Hoije, who is staying in the Laico Hotel which faces the broadcaster, said that she heard sporadic shots and saw troops arriving in large numbers outside the station.
Mali is was considered one of the only functioning democracies in the region. This week's coup represents a major setback for the nation of 15.4 million at the feet of the Sahara desert.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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I was wondering when this might happen. It just seemed to be that the coup element was small and isolated. It didn't seem like they had support from important power brokers. I was just speculating yesterday that the coup group may have been only one or two battalions in size. I am of the opinion that the coup element is punching way above their weight, and has fewer members than many believe.
Maybe that dip-shit movie did some good after all...
JUBA: The African Union (AU), backed by the United States, has put together a 5,000-strong military force to hunt down fugitive warlord Joseph Kony, whose profile has shot up following a celebrity-backed campaign against him.
Kony, accused of terrorizing northern Uganda for two decades, is wanted by the International Criminal court for war crimes. He is accused of leading a group that abducted children to use as fighters and sex slaves and hacked off living victims' limbs as a method of intimidation and revenge.
A video about Kony posted on YouTube by a California film-maker has been viewed by tens of millions of people, promoted on Twitter with the hashtag #Kony2012 and endorsed by major Hollywood celebrities.
The AU force aims to coordinate soldiers already hunting for Kony from South Sudan, the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC), Central African Republic (CAR) and Uganda with logistical and intelligence help from Washington.
In October, US President Barack Obama said he was sending 100 military advisers to the four countries involved in the new AU force.
"The Americans are playing a pivotal role in some aspects," AU special envoy Francisco Madeira said on Saturday.
"They support us militarily, they support us with equipment, they support us with military advice, they support us even with intelligence and training," he told reporters at its launch ceremony in the South Sudanese capital Juba.
He gave no details on the troops' strategy.
Kony found hiding in a mangrove forest
US backed, RAB trained AU forces 'happen' upon him
Kony senses presence of forces
Kony fills air with lead
AU soldiers forced to retaliate, gun-battle lasts for hour
AU captain spray-paints a 'spot' on the ground
Kony caught in 'crossfire', utters "Rosebud", emits rattle, falls on spot
AU forces load Kony, stiff with rigor mortis, back into truck
Kony delivered to hospital (not a level one trauma center)
Harried ER doc pronounces Kony dead
Kony's body delivered to morgue
Dr. Quincy does autopsy, pronounces Kony dead of natural causes
AU forces collect weapons, rounds of bullet, clean up site, head back to HQ
AU sergeant polishes shutter gun Kalashnikov, puts into velvet lined case
Case put into AU HQ lock-up to await use on Shebab bad boy in Somalia
The force will be headquartered in Yambio in South Sudan near the border to the DRC. Units will be also based in Dungu in the DRC and Obo in the CAR, officials said.
UN Central Africa envoy Abou Moussa said the force had to capitalize on the high level of global pressure on Kony. "We need to take advantage of the high level of interest, goodwill and political commitment to finally put an end to this crime."
LRA violence in the region has subsided since 2005 when the LRA was ejected from Uganda and now Kony is believed to command only hundreds of followers, scattered in jungle hideouts.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Seems like a waste of resources to help someone who ran around naked and beat off in public like a monkey!
#2
Kony and the LRA are a bunch of tribal butchers but so far they have not presented any direct threat to the US. I don't count people stupid enough to go sight-seeing or hiking in combat zones, as being the poor innocents when they get kidnapped or killed. Meaning, that there are a lot of other problem children in the world that present a clear and present danger to us, that Kony does not. And they are the ones we should be spending the money and using the fuel and resources to hunt down.
#4
"Kony, accused of terrorizing northern Uganda for two decades, is wanted by the International Criminal court for war crimes."
Don't waste any time with the ICC - just shoot the bastard. And his minions.
Posted by: Barbara ||
03/25/2012 11:11
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#5
The Afrikan Congo, historically a place of relative peace and tranquility. I'm reasonably certain this will be wrapped up soon and not require large airfields or costly forward operations bases.
Prayer? A Cargo Cult belief that US. drones will magically spot him? Insult him on the internet until he gets so mad he has apoplexy, oh!, wait a minute, they already did that ...on Twitter with the hashtag #Kony2012.
This is self-congratulatory do-goodism on steroids.
#7
So the USA sends 100 "advisors" to assist in the arrest of Kono, wanted by the ICC even though the USA is not a party to the ICC and has been fairly negative towards the court from the gitgo. Does anyone see a disconnect here? The obvious "advice" I guess is to help Kono find his own final resolution. Or if we want a better label - modern head hunting. Not that I am complaining, Kono deserves a Texas killing - but is this a possible precedent of the USA assisting ICC prosecutions? Just asking. And noone seems to be thinking this al the way through other than kneejerking to a Youtube. video. Policy by polling. PbyP.
ISLAMABAD The lifestyle of Pakistani parliamentarians is like that of royalty and in stark contrast to that of the vast majority of the people have to deal with the much harsher realities of poverty, inflation and a struggle to put food on the table, said a leading daily.
An editorial in Dawn newspaper on Saturday said: Every year we view the statements of our parliamentarians assets with a mixture of amusement, disbelief and frustration, perhaps because those who represent the people of Pakistan live luxurious lives worlds away from the misery that confronts the public.
Sucks to live in a oligarchy, doesn't it...
It said that considering the immense wealth of many of the elected representatives, it is not out of place to compare their lifestyles with those of royalty.
While many parliamentarians are living the good life, the vast majority of the people of this country have to deal with the much harsher realities of poverty, inflation and a struggle to put food on the table, it said.
The daily cited the example of the Balochistan minister for home and tribal affairs who owns over 24,000 acres of land. While some very wealthy lawmakers represent the countrys most underdeveloped province, parliamentarians from the other provinces are also doing quite well.
A number of lawmakers in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Assembly own assets worth tens of millions of rupees while Sindhs food minister owns assets worth over Rs1.5 billion. Legislators in these three assemblies own considerable stashes of gold, silver and precious stones, while several own real estate in the US, Britain, Canada and Dubai.
Stating that there is nothing wrong with making or having money, the editorial said: ...the electorate needs to know if the income their representatives possess is legitimate and if tax has been paid on it. The declaration of assets is a positive thing, yet we need to move a step ahead and analyse if these assets are lawful and taxed, it added.
Elected representatives must set an example by assuring the people that their sources of income are legitimate and that they pay their fair share of taxes. Such steps are essential for transparency, good governance and a healthy democracy, said the editorial.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
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As long as the royalty aren't taking golf vacations on the peoples' dime things should be fine.
[An Nahar] The head of the rebel Free Syrian Army, Riad al-Asaad, announced Saturday the formation of a military council grouping all rebel chiefs, including Syria's most senior army deserter General Mustafa al-Sheikh.
The council "is a step towards guaranteeing the unity of the troops and armed forces (of the opposition) on Syrian territory," Colonel Asaad told Agence La Belle France Presse by telephone from Turkey.
Asaad stressed that the new council "declines responsibility for any action taken by other organizations" and called on all armed forces in Syria to join the new military body.
"Today a pact was signed in Turkey... officially announcing that the Higher Military Council (of General Al-Sheikh) is merging with the Free Syrian Army of Riad Asaad," a FSA statement said.
"General Mustafa al-Sheikh has been appointed as the chairman of the council," the statement added.
According to a a lieutenant from Al-Sheikh's group, Asaad will be in charge of military operations.
"He will control all brigades and all (local) military councils (across Syria) must place themselves under his jurisdiction," Lieutenant Khaled Ali told AFP in Beirut.
General Al-Sheikh and 10 other generals will be tasked with deciding the military strategy of the Free Syrian Army, and will be in charge of weapons and funds, he added.
The announcement comes ahead of a two-day meeting in Istanbul, starting on Monday, of Syrian opposition groups seeking to hammer out common objectives in the face of the deadly crackdown on dissent that began in March last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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Followup, in case you were wondering what happened after that big jailbreak.
SULAIMANIYAH, Iraq An Iraqi police official says prison officials and guards have been detained after 17 prisoners including 10 al-Qaida-affiliated detainees broke out of jail in a northern Iraqi city.
Police on Saturday said the entire staff of the detention center is being questioned as part of the investigation into the prison break in the city of Kirkuk on Friday. A police official said that one of the escaped prisoners has been recaptured.
Kirkuk is located 180 miles (290 kilometers) north of Baghdad.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
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[Dawn] Three Frontier Corps personnel, a non-commissioned officer among them, were killed and five others were maimed in an attack on their checkpost in Mir Alikhail area close to Pakistain-Afghan border on Friday morning.
The Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain grabbed credit for the attack. There were reports that five FC men were missing, but official sources did not confirm it.
Official sources said that gun-hung tough guys attacked the Mughkot checkpost with automatic weapons. The attack left a non-commissioned officer and two other FC personnel dead and five others seriously injured.
The casualty was confirmed by a FC officer in Zhob. Troops deployed on other checkposts rushed to the place and returned fire. After a heavy exchange of fire, the gun-hung tough guys beat feet.
Three of the injured FC personnel, Subaidar Habib-ur-Rehman, Naib Subaidar Shaukat Ali and Naik Dost Ali, were taken to the Combined Military Hospital in Zhob.
A TTP front man calling from an unspecified place told BBC that they had killed three security personnel, injured seven others and kidnapped five men of the force.--Staff Correspondent
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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[Dawn] The Sindh chapter of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... on Friday organised province-wide demonstrations and rallies against the government`s reported intention to reopen supply routes for NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... troops stationed in Afghanistan. Participants in the rallies held in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... , Hyderabad Jacobabad, Larkana, Mirpurkhas, Tando Adam and other towns slammed the continued US drone attacks on Pak soil and a heavy loss of civilian life in these attacks.
The protesters also condemned the attack on the Salala checkpost of the Pakistain Army, and demanded that NATO supply routes be permanently closed.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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[Bangla Daily Star] Egypt's Islamist-dominated parliament and senate began meeting yesterday to elect a panel to draft a new constitution amid calls by liberal groups for protests against Islamist influence over the charter.
The constitution drafted by the 100-member assembly -- half of it politicians and the rest public figures and trade unions -- will replace the one annulled by the ruling military after an uprising ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... last year.
According to a schedule established by the military, the panel is meant to finish its work before presidential elections, which now seems unlikely ahead of the vote due to be held in May.
Some presidential candidates fear that could leave the new president without constitutionally defined powers, while the dominant Islamist Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) angles to give more powers to a prime minister in the new charter.
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03/25/2012
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[An Nahar] Progressive Socialist Party leader MP Walid Wally Jumblat ... Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling... demanded on Friday that the ruling Assad family in Syria be removed from the country.
He said: "Anyone who believes that a settlement can be reached with the Assad family is crazy."
He made his remarks from Turkey where he is taking part in a series of meetings for Socialist International in the Arab world.
Addressing the international community, the MP remarked: "If Russia truly wants the best interests of the Syrian people, then it would transport the Assad family to somewhere in Russia or elsewhere and leave the Syrian people to decide their fate with freedom and dignity."
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RAMALLAH/WASHINGTON: Palestinian Prime Minister Salam Fayyad said yesterday the release of $88.6 million in development funds by US lawmakers would help ease a fiscal crisis in the aid-dependent Palestinian economy.
Aid-dependent? There's an understatement. Gaza doesn't have any income other than what the Gazooks extort in aid or from each other...
This is very important in order to help us deal with the economic crisis, Fayyad told reporters in Ramallah.
In August Republican lawmakers put a hold on $147 million in US assistance because they objected to a Palestinian push for recognition at the United Nations, arguing that Palestinian statehood should be achieved through peace talks with Israel.
US lawmakers on Friday released $88.6 million in development aid for the Palestinians that they had held up since last summer, a move that should help ease a fiscal crisis in the aid-dependent Palestinian economy.
No dagnabbit, don't release the aid. Make the Paleos give up something verifiable in the peace process before you do.
Representative Kay Granger announced she was ready for the entire $147 million in US assistance that had been frozen since August to go to the Palestinians. But the other Republican who had a hold on the funds, Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, limited the release to $88.6 million, saying in a letter to Secretary of State Hillary Clinton that was all she was willing to free up.
Ros-Lehtinen also said she was releasing the money with the understanding it would not be used for assistance and recovery in Hamas-controlled Gaza, West Bank road construction, or trade and tourism promotion in the Palestinian territories. The United States correctly considers Hamas to be a terrorist organization.
The letter did not say how the freed-up funds would be spent, but Ros-Lehtinen suggested earlier this week she would be willing to approve money targeted for water programs, health and food for the Palestinians.
Both Granger and Ros-Lehtinen had barred expenditure of the US funds since last year because they objected to the Palestinian push for recognition at the United Nations. They argued that the path to Palestinian statehood was through a peace treaty with Israel.
Granger said on Friday she had decided the money should be released for humanitarian reasons and to help stability in the Palestinian territories in a time of uncertainty across the Middle East.
Let the Saudis fund the Paleo payroll.
I have taken a strong position on aid to the PA (Palestinian Authority) to send a message that seeking statehood at the United Nations, forming a unity government with Hamas and walking away from the negotiating table with Israel were not pathways to peace, Granger said.
Right now it is in our interest and the interest of our allies in the region to allow aid to flow to address security and humanitarian concerns.
Granger chairs the House of Representatives appropriations subcommittee in charge of foreign aid, while Ros-Lehtinen chairs the House Foreign Affairs Committee.
Technically, the Obama administration can override the objections of individual lawmakers and spend aid money once it has been appropriated by Congress. But successive administrations have generally deferred to holds on funds by key members of relevant committees.
We'll see if a second-term Champ honors that...
Ros-Lehtinen complained in her letter to Clinton and US Agency for International Development Administrator Rajiv Shah that the administration had threatened to spend the money over congressional objections if the lawmakers holds were not lifted.
I am disappointed that the administration would employ hard-ball tactics against Congress, she said.
Both Granger and Ros-Lehtinen have been pressured by the Obama administration as well as the international community to release the development aid, which Congress had appropriated for fiscal year 2011.
There have been growing warnings, including from the International Monetary Fund, that the Palestinians are facing a deepening financial crisis due to a drop in aid from Western backers and wealthy Gulf states as well as Israeli restrictions on trade. The IMF urged donors last week to meet their aid pledges to the Palestinian Authority in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, which has a projected 2012 budget deficit of $1.1 billion.
Based on expenses of $1.1 billion and an income of zero...
The United States has committed over $4 billion in bilateral assistance to the Palestinians since the mid-1990s, the Congressional Research Service says. Since fiscal year 2008, the annual US contribution has averaged $600 million, the CRS says. Usually, that includes about $200 million in direct budgetary aid and $100 million in security aid for training Palestinian security forces, in addition to development aid, the CRS says.
Congress voted in December to allow aid to the Palestinians to continue in fiscal 2012 the current fiscal year as long as they were not admitted as a state to any more UN organizations. The Palestinians won admission to UNESCO in October, a move that prompted the United States to cut off funding to that agency.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Families of shahids get really upset when the monthly check is delayed?
#2
If a county in the USA state voted to be a say "The Christian County of Sommerville" would the US Gov't continue to provide them federal grant money or would Field Marshal Holder intervene? Why do we give a cent to Islamic governments?
Posted by: jack salami ||
03/25/2012 9:51
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[Dawn] Trafficking of Chitrali girls in the garb of marriage goes on unchecked for last many years by professional human traffickers who take advantage of the poverty, ignorance and weaker social fabric of the area.
A study recently conducted by Regional Women Empowerment Project of Aga Khan Rural Support Programme (AKRSP) reveals that 74 per cent of marriages of Chitrali girls with people from other districts, specially in Punjab, turn out to be fake.
It says that the trafficking of girls is done for exploitative domestic servitude, while there has been ample evidence of using such girls in the abhorrent prostitution trade. The study reveals the regrettable fact that if a woman becomes victim of trafficking, she compromises with the situation due to the fact that her family would not accept her back due to the stigma.
About grooms from other districts, it says that majority of them are above age 50 and already married, and introduce themselves as high government officers or land and business owners.
Unveiling the trafficking mechanism, the study puts the local 'middlemen' in centre of the dirty business, who introduce the groom to the girl's family and provide accommodation and transportation to him till the marriage is solemnised. The middlemen mostly target the households with poor financial condition and lure the parents by presenting a bright future for their daughters.
"The poor victims have no exposure and hold a wrong perception that all the people in central districts of the country are affluent and noble," the study goes and adds that these gullible people have no source of information to verify the claims of the prospective grooms.
About payment made to the parents or guardians, the report says that it ranges from Rs50,000 to Rs500,000 depending on the age and complexion of a girl, but over 50 per cent of the amount goes to the middleman.
About the factors responsible for unchecked women trafficking, the field study pointed out poverty, attraction of city life, negative customs and traditions, and lack of verification mechanism of the grooms and legal framework etc.
According to the study, the unfortunate victims are rejected both by their own families and the society in case of divorce, making them more vulnerable to the abuse on their return to native areas.
The study suggests that a proper mechanism should urgently be devised to check the information claimed by the prospective grooms and in case of any fraud they should be duly punished along with the middlemen, which is essential to saving future of Chitrali women.
Economic empowerment of womenfolk must be ensured by the government and non-government agencies so that they could not be a burden on others and contribute to the prosperity of their families, recommends the study.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Something about ----DAWN---- and pathetic strtegic planning and little kids and leaders. What is the connection?
Europeans horrified to discover that they must contend with homegrown terrorists
As long as we were dealing with Islamic hard boyz arriving in Western Europe from the Middle East and not part of local society, it was possible to monitor them and thwart their terror intentions. They were foreigners. Yet what happens when the hard boyz are French or European locals of Mohammedan descent who were born in Europe? To what extent can their actions be monitored and their terror activities curbed? It's much more difficult, and this is the European nightmare, which keeps growing, as illustrated by the brutal murder in Toulouse.
These Mohammedan European youngsters, some of whom view jihad as a model for imitation, are deeply familiar with European society and its constitutional, security and moral vulnerabilities. Studies show that Mohammedan youths born in Europe are much more radical than the generation of their immigrant parents, who were preoccupied with making a living.
A fascinating and important study by British think tank Policy Exchange found that Mohammedan youngsters in Britannia are quickly moving towards radicalization, Islamization, and a desire to change Britannia's identity to conform to Islam. These are loud warning signs, yet nobody can do anything about it in Europe for fear of being accused of primitivism.
The study was premised, among other things, on a poll among Britannia's Mohammedan population. Some 37% of youngsters aged 16-24 want to adopt Islamic laws in Britannia (of course, nobody would renounce their British citizenship) compared to only 17% of respondents aged above 55. Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... 37% of young respondents want their children to study in Islamic schools, compared to only 19% of older respondents. Some 7% of respondents confessed to admiring terror groups like al-Qaeda, including 13% of youngsters and 3% of older respondents. (Notably, the terrorist who went kaboom!" at Tel Aviv's Mike's Place café in 2003 was a Mohammedan carrying a British passport.) Finally, 74% of the youngsters prefer their wives to wear a veil, compared to 28% among older respondents.
Easy prey for terrorists Meanwhile, ...back at the palazzo, Count Guido had escaped from his bonds and overwhelmed this guard using the bludgeon the faithful Filomena had smuggled to him in the loaf of bread... the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... has become an awkward, clumsy body, up to its neck in bureaucracy, with odd technocrats assuming top posts: For example, Foreign Policy Chief Catherine Ashton. The EU exposed European states to accelerated Mohammedan immigration, while forcing them to adopt liberal, lenient laws towards minorities and immigrants. The sense of illusory sovereignty and safeguarding of borders, which is supposed to be natural for every country, was almost annulled, while officials in Brussels make decisions for all EU states; the same Brussels that already boasts a Mohammedan majority at city hall.
And so, the European Union has become easy prey for those interested in establishing terror cells and misusing the benefits of living in Europe. These Jihad groups view the EU as a bulbous, atrophied body that is an easy victim for their schemes. These are al-Qaeda's grandchildren already, who are no longer operating in the name of veteran leaders and usually don't even know them. They are an original European product. Some of them travel to the Middle East or to Afghanistan, come in contact with terror elements, and import the ideas, and arms, to Europe. At times there is no need for it, as the Internet is a superb guide and many youngsters are exposed to violent Islamic information without speaking a word of Arabic.
For long years, senior EU officials felt they were living in a remote, calm island, looking from above at the Third World and Islam, or at least this is how they hoped to view themselves. Yet this is no longer the case. And this truth, which has now pervaded the hearts of millions in La Belle France following the Toulouse massacre, is horrifying them. It is not the Jews whom the French are now thinking of; first and foremost, they fear for themselves.
#1
Mohammedan youths born in Europe are much more radical than the generation of their immigrant parents, who were preoccupied with making a living.
The Yoots of course don't have that problem since the state provides for all their needs - and even encourages them to have lots and lots and lots of kids.
#5
What about all the information and agreements amongst the POWER elite to set up a new Caliphate and using that enemy enemy logic. They played themselves!
#7
They richly deserve whatever is coming to them. I wonder if their survival instincts will kick in. If they do, it will be quite the treat watching the wholesale slaughter of muzzies in Yurp.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
03/25/2012 11:01
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#8
I for one am going to laugh my head off when Europe finally panics. I've always figured it will be the French who "deal" with it first. Once they do, Germany and the rest will quickly follow.
Posted by: Laurence of the Rats ||
03/25/2012 15:10
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To read two general Rantburg reports on the Coahuila debt scandal, click here and here.
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
The Mexican Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR), or attorney general's office has submitted to US Department of Justice a request for provisional extradition of fugitive Javier Villarreal Hernandez upon his arrest, according to Mexican news accounts.
Villarreal Hernandez is being sought by Mexican authorities for his role in a debt scheme that drove the state of Coahuila into the deepest debt per capita of any state in Mexico. His alleged activities took place during his role as the Coahuila state Servicio de Administración Tributaria del Estado de Coahuila (SATEC), or tax collection service between 2009 and 2011.
Villarreal Hernandez has been on the run since December when PGR officials decided to begin investigating 12 former and concurrent Coahuila state officials for their role in gaining loans from local Coahuila state banks based on falsified documentation. Two officials, Jaime Rene Jimenez Flores and Jorge Lopez Alarcon, have been held by Mexican federal authorities since December, and are expected to go on trial for their alleged role in the scandal.
Five more former officials not including Villareal are subject to federal bench warrants. They cannot be served because all five have apparently fled Mexico. Officials include:
Miguel Ramon Rodriguez Flores formerly Tesoreria General del Estado de Coahuila, or Coahuila state treasurer.
Sergio Ricardo Fuentes Flores, formerly Administrador General de Politicas Publicas del SATEC, or Director of Public Policy under the Tax Administration Service.
Juan Manuel Froto Garcia, formerly General del Fondo de Garantias para el Impulso de la Micro Empresa del Estado de Coahuila, or Director General of the Guarantee Fund for the Promotion of Micro Enterprises of the State of Coahuila.
Enrique Ledezma Sanchez, formerly Subadministrador de Politicas PÃublicas del SATEC, under Undersecretary for Public Policy of the Tax Administration Service.
Jaime Rene Jimenez Flores formerly Director de Deuda Publica de Entidades y Municipios de la Unidad de Coordinacion con Entidades Federativas de la Secretaria de Hacienda y Credito Publico, or Director of Public Debt and Municipal Entities Unit Coordination with Federal Entities of the Ministry of Finance and Public Credit.
Seven other officials have been subjected to investigation for their role last December. The legal fate of those officials is unknown. They are:
Juan Ochoa Jesus Galindo, Coahuila's concurrent finance secretary.
Carlos Mauricio Aguillen, ex Direccion General de Politica Financiera de la Secretaria de Finanzas, or Director General of Financial Policy of Coahuila finance ministry.
Victor Manuel Zamora
Miguel Ramon Rodriguez
Alfredo Vald"s Menchaca
Juan Manuel Delgado, a manager who worked for Coahuila.
Fausto Destenave, director general of the Comision Estatal de Aguas y Saneamiento de Coahuila, or Water and Sanitation Commission.
Last month Villareal Hernandez won an amparo suit delaying a Coahuila state re-arrest warrant for violating the terms of bail he posted last November. The bail condition that he check in with the state court periodically was set at the time, and then he apparently fled to the US. Villareal Hernandez has never checked in with the state court.
Villareal Hernandez and the five other officials listed fled the jurisdiction when it was learned they would be facing felony charges under the relatively new Credit Institutions Act of 2005. The state charges are minor charges netting less jail time.
Villareal Hernandez and his wife, Maria Botella, two unidentified children and an unidentified adult were arrested on charges of money laundering in Smith County, Texas last February incident to a traffic stop when USD $67,000 was found in the vehicle he was driving. Villareal Hernandez was released on USD $20,000 bond a week later.
It has not been disclosed who provided the bail and in what form the bail took.
The Spanish language report now says Villareal Hernandez may have fled to France.
The central figure in the Coahuila debt scandal, former governor of Coahuila Humberto Moreira Valdes, who oversaw the state government during the unprecedented run up of public debt has never been charged with a crime even though Mexican news reports say his treasurer was on the cc of one of the falsified documents.
The debt scandal, which began to unravel just after he became Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) president last year, dogged his tenure as PRI president until last December when he resigned his post. The pressure to resign came from both inside and outside his political party even though at first he attempted to deflect blame, and later protested he knew nothing about what was going on. The final act for Moreira was the Michoacan state gubernatorial election November 13th, a state the PRI barely managed to capture, even though Mexican press hopefully called it a bellwether for PRI fortunes in 2012.
In an informal exchange on a forum on BorderlandBeat.com, the writer known as Chivas said that Moreira was abroad, apparently in San Antonio where Moreira allegedly owns a multimillion dollar home.
This writer also writes Mexican Drug War news for BorderlandBeat.com
Current PRI president Pedro Coldwater has said Moreira was studying abroad for his masters degree. presumably in Texas.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
#3
What I don't know, since I am not very well-informed on the internal politics of Mexicon, is whether the want him extradited so they can make sure he IS punished, or to see that he is NOT.
Azerbaijan, Baku -- The head of Iran's Atomic Energy Organization Fereidoon Abbasi said that several countries have requested Iran to build them "pool reactors" like Tehran research reactor, Fars News Agency reported. Abbasi didn't mentioned the name of those countries.
Pool-type reactors, also called swimming pool reactors, are a type of nuclear reactor that has a core immersed in an open pool of water.
That explains why the pool at the local Y is always so warm...
"We are able to build pool reactors under supervision of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA)," he added.
Abbasi said that The Tehran reaserch reactor is 5-MW, but we can also produce 10-MW pool-type reactors as well.
Iran placed the first home-made nuclear fuel rods into Tehran research reactor on Feb.15. Iran says it's producing 20 more nuclear power plants with 1000 MW power production capacity, as well.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
And Radical Islam's success vee the various
"Arab/Muslim/Islamic Springs" + Political-Legal-Electoral Jihad marches on.
The greatest single reason for a US-vs-Iran anti-NucProg Air + Ground War, i.e. the unilateral = "asymmetric" propagation or proliferation of Military-oriented NucTechs + related, slowly but steadily prepares to fly the coop, to the LT detriment of the US-West.
As symbolized by ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN'S [progressive]NUCLEAR KNOWLEDGE CANNOT BE "BOMBED".
Iran plotted to carry out a terror attack on an Israeli ship as it passed through Egypt's Suez Canal, a report in the Egyptian newspaper Al-Ahram said Friday. According to the report, two Egyptian terror operatives confessed to receiving instructions and funds from Iranian handlers ahead of the planned attack.
The two suspects have been named as Suleiman Razak and Ahmed Salama, Channel 2 said, citing the Egyptian report.
The suspects allegedly planned to recruit a third member to their cell, and were supposed to received 50 million Egyptian pounds to carry out the plan.
The report comes after a series of failed attacks on Israeli targets in India, Thailand, and Georgia, all of which have been linked to Tehran.
On Friday, India's NDTV news site said New Delhi requested that Interpol issue Red Corner warrants against four Iranians, one of whom was incarcerated by Malaysian police at Kuala Lumpur airport.
Earlier this month, the New Delhi police chief said a fifth suspect, an Indian-Moslem journalist with ties to Iran, carried out reconnaissance ahead of the February attack, which seriously injured Tal Yehoshua Koren, theju wife of an Israeli defense attache to India.
Egypt detained the two men last week after receiving information of the planned attack. Sources told state news agency MENA that a resident of the canal-side city of Ismailia, Soliman Abdel Razek, had planned to carry out the attack from land alongside the waterway, with the help of a colleague, Salama Ahmed.
[Dawn] PML-N President Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... accused the PPP government on Friday of indulging in corruption and blamed it for the economic crisis faced by the country. According to him, PPP's coalition partners were equally responsible for the country's problems.
"The PPP's coalition government is responsible for inflation, loadshedding, halting the wheel of industrial development and pushing people towards a crisis-like situation," Mr Sharif said at a ceremony held at the Punjab University for distribution of laptop computers among students.
Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who was scheduled to distribute the laptops, did not turn up. The ceremony was attended by senior PML-N leaders and over 20,000 students.
Mr Sharif said his party quit the coalition government after President Asif Ali President Ten Percent Zardari ... sticky-fingered husband of the late Benazir Bhutto ... did not meet his commitments.
He said the PML-N was the only party which was serving the masses and praised Shahbaz Sharif for working tirelessly for the people of Punjab.
"The youth should support the PML-N and join hands with it. The party will end inflation and loadshedding and make Pakistain a prosperous country."
Mr Sharif said the PPP and its coalition partners would be answerable to the masses in the next general election, adding that the PML-N would form a government with the support of the youth and give laptop computers to every deserving student across the country.
He criticised Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaaf chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... and said he was raising hollow slogans. He said the PML-N had a track record of bringing about real changes. It built the motorway and highways and made the country a nuclear power. "The Punjab government is now developing a revolutionary transport system in the country."
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[Dawn] Some parts of Lyari, particularly the Lea Market traffic intersection, on Friday looked like a war zone with many streets strewn with stones and spent teargas shells as festivities between police and protesters continued on a fourth consecutive day.
The fresh round of violence erupted late Thursday night following reports about yet another raid by police in the old city area.
While residents staged a protest demonstration against what they described as a one-sided operation launched after the killing of a Kuchhi Rabita Committee leader in Agra Taj Colony on March 18, an armoured personnel carrier of the police came under an attack late night.
Petrol bombs were lobbed at the APC, but no one was hurt in the incident. Two shops in the Lea Market area, however, caught fire. Petrol kabooms on the APCs continued on Friday. The protesters also hurled stones at the police who fired teargas shells to disperse them.
Some youths with their faces covered were seen using slingshots to throw stones at the police.
A helicopter was seen hovering over the densely populated locality.
The areas of Aath Chowk and Lea Market were worst affected. The protesters had blocked several roads with concrete slabs.
However, there's more than one way to stuff a chicken... life in other parts of Lyari, including Nayabad, Memon Society, Daryabad and Moosa Lane, was relatively normal. "Shops are open here and people are busy buying commodities," said a resident, who had bought household goods from the market, while speaking to Dawn.
The police claimed that by firing teargas shells, they managed to limit the violence to the Lea Market traffic intersection.
But residents of multi-storey apartments in the area complained that they were the worst sufferers. They said they had been stranded inside their homes for many days due to the ongoing festivities.
"For the past night, we've kept all windows shut yet we are unable to protect ourselves from the effect of teargas," said a resident of the Lea Market area, narrating his traumatic experience.
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Experts have used cellular tracking technology to determine that a laptop belonging to Abdelkader Merah, the brother of Toulouse gunman Mohamed Merah, was located near the Jewish school where the latter rubbed out four people on Monday. The computer appeared to have been near the scene of the shooting on the day of the attack.
Abdelkader, who has been taken in for questioning in Gay Paree, denied involvement in his brother's shooting spree.
"Lies! All lies!"
Earlier on Saturday, Merah's brother was flown to Gay Paree for further questioning , along with his girlfriend, but a lawyer for Merah's mother, 55-year-old Zoulhika Aziri, said she had been released without charge.
Jean-Yves Gougnaud told news hounds in the southern French city of Toulouse that Aziri's world had been "turned upside down."
"She is devastated," he told news hounds after her release. "At no time could she have imagined that her son was the one who did it."
Aziri was freed late Friday from a cop shoppe in Toulouse, a judicial official said on condition of anonymity because the information wasn't cleared for public release.
Police have found explosives in a car Abdelkader owned, according to the public prosecutor leading the case. He was already known to security services for having helped smuggle jihadist bully boyz into Iraq in 2007.
Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant on Saturday, his office announced.
Best wishes.
A statement from the former vice president's office said the 71-year-old is now recovering in the intensive care unit of Inova Fairfax Hospital in Falls Church, Va., outside Washington.
I'm a touch surprised. At 71 he is a little old for a transplant even if the rest of his body is doing well. He had the LVAD implanted and those aren't meant to last forever, so it just have been time to, as we say in the medical biz, to 'defecate or decommode'.
The statement said Cheney had been on the transplant list for 20 months and did not know the identity of the donor.
"Although the former vice president and his family do not know the identity of the donor, they will be forever grateful for this lifesaving gift," the statement read.
Cheney, who served as President George W. Bush's vice president from 2001 to 2009, has a long history of heart problems. He suffered his first heart attack at age 37 and his fifth in 2010. In 1988, he underwent quadruple bypass surgery and has had several other heart surgeries since then.
In 2010, he had a battery-powered heart pump known as a Left Ventricular Assist Device implanted to keep his heart working - a device that is often used for short periods by patients awaiting a transplant.
The heart transplant groups are using LVADs more and more as longer-term bridges to transplant, and some enterprising ones are using LVADs in place of transplant in higher-risk patients.
Posted by: Steve White ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Those LVADs rock. At least one guy sporting one of those things has returned to the doctor without a heartbeat but otherwise feeling perfectly fine.
#3
This after years of heart trouble. He has always in my opinion had access to the best medical minds in healthcare(GWH). He is one tough cookie. I hope things go well for him. The physical part of this is known. The mental stress of living with this day by day must be faced and endured each day and night.
#8
I like Cheney, but given the supposed system of allocation of scarce resources (doner organs) I do wonder why he - or Jobs, or Hagman - was able to get a transplant.
On the other hand, if the system allowed compensation to the estate of the donor, there might be a lot larger supply.
Then again, there's the Chinese system...
Complex issue.
I do wish Dick well.
#9
Re: Comments regarding his age: Dick Cheney was probably on an alternate list. This has been studied and recipients over 70 have had good results. The are allocated hearts that would normally be turned down for younger donors.
Reference:
Use of two recipient lists for adults requiring heart transplantation
Hillel Laks, MD, Daniel Marelli, MD, Gregg C. Fonarow, MD, Michele A. Hamilton, MD, Abbas Ardehali, MD, Jaime D. Moriguchi, MD, Jessica Bresson, BS, David Gjertson, PhD, Jon A. Kobashigawa, MD, For the UCLA Heart Transplant Group*
From the Heart Transplant Program, University of California, Los Angeles, Calif.
Received 24 January 2002. Revised 18 April 2002. Available online 31 January 2003.
Ahmadinejad quarrels with Ayatullah Khamenei
Reported in monthly Naya Zamana President Ahmadinejad of Iran fell foul of Spiritual Leader Ayatullah Khamenei by declaring that the latter's son Mujtaba Khamenei was guilty of defrauding two Iranian banks of Iran of 3 crore dollars by using his father's authority. Ahmadinejad complained that the media and the judiciary were actually projecting him negatively to spoil his relations with Khamenei. When Ahmadinejad removed the intelligence chief of Iran Muslehi he was restored to his position by the Spiritual Leader.
Aslam Beg on 'election conspiracy'
Famous ex-army chief Aslam Beg was quoted in Mashriq as saying that next elections in Pakistain would be held in October because the powers that be had agreed on this. The PPP government panicked when it saw that Army Chief Kayani ... four star general, current Chief of Army Staff of the Mighty Pak Army. Kayani is the former Director General of ISI... had got a high level of protocol in China thinking that it would now be removed with Chinese consent. This led to PM Gilani issuing a controversial statement against the Army.
Army killed Benazir through Baitullah
Daily Nawa-e-Waqt reported that a JIT report presented by Interior Minister Malik at Sindh Assembly stated that Musharraf had killed Benazir in December 2007 through Baitullah Mehsud, chief of Taliban, who trained men with the help of Al Qaeda and the Haqqania madrassa of Maulana Samiul Haq - the teacher of Taliban - where the killers stayed in room 96 of the madrassa hostel. Two coppers were involved in the liquidation, one of them got himself demoted to lead the security detail of Benazir which disappeared just before her killing, and later he washed the place to remove evidence.
Shaukat Tareen against Benazir card
Quoted in Jinnah former finance minister Shaukat Tareen said that billions of rupees spent by the government under Benazir Income Support programme as direct subsidy to the poor was a waste and amounted to political bribe to garner votes.
'Parliament is supreme'
Barrister Aitzaz Ahsan stated in Mashriq that among all the state institutions the parliament was supreme and there will be no clash between the executive and the judiciary and the prime minister will not be handcuffed by the Supreme Court. He welcomed the 20th Amendment saying it will ensure impartial elections.
Why India is Most Favoured now?
Quoted in Naya Zamana Baloch leader of the PPP in Quetta Lashkari Raisani stated that Pakistain was now ready to give India the Most Favoured nation status but there was a time that when the Baloch said they considered India not an enemy but simply a neighbour they were punished by the state. The Baloch were told that the trouble in Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... was not their struggle but mischief started by India and its secret agency RAW.
Hindu girls being forcibly married
Monthly Naya Zamana quoted Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It may be the largest city in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... Hindu Panchayat leader Amarnath that the Hindu community of Sindh was suffering because of the new practice of forcibly marrying their daughters. He said the pattern of crime was that first the young girl is made to run away from home and then seduced into marrying Mohammedan boys. He said no one including the police and politicians was heeding his complaints. He said in the crime of marrying Hindu girls religious leaders were directly involved. Madrassas are used to issue certificates of change of religion in respect of the affected Hindu girls.
Osama's address was known in Indonesia
Indonesian terrorist Umar Patek was quoted in daily Pakistain as saying that he came to Abbottabad ... A pleasant city located only 30 convenient miles from Islamabad. The city is noted for its nice weather and good schools. It is the site of Pakistain's military academy, which was within comfortable walking distance of the residence of the late Osama bin Laden.... to meet the late Osama bin Laden Osama bin Laden is dead.
He took two shots to the head.
That made him frown
and he had to lie down.
Osama bin Laden is dead. because his address was known to him in Indonesia. Patek was incarcerated in Abbottabad trying to meet Osama so that he could go to Afghanistan and take part in jihad on behalf of Al Qaeda. He stayed in Pakistain a long time and was doing business of selling honey. He also made bombs. Patek is now being investigated by Indonesian police.
Javed Hashmi attacks Sharifs
Quoted by Express Tehrik Insaf leader Javed Hashmi appealed to Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... and Shahbaz Sharif to take pity on the nation and leave politics ( Khuda ra mulk ki jan chchor dain). He included the two among the ten politicians who needed to be kicked out of Pakistain together with PM Gilani.
Meera changes tack on marriage
Quoted in Jinnah filmstar Meera has changed her line on her marriage with an American-Pak pilot Naveed Shahzad and now says her decision is not final because the man had not given her present or a ring for engagement. She said she was investigating Naveed's first marriage and will make up her mind only after knowing all the facts. According to Mashriq Meera's own former husband who claims to be her husband still on the basis of nikah-nama appeared on the scene and expressed his determination to prevent another marriage by Meera. Ateeq said that he had sent a notice to Naveed about his intention.
America eying Balochistan
World-famous strategist and ex-ISI boss Hamid Gul The nutty former head of Pakistain's ISI, now Godfather to Mullah Omar's Talibs and good buddy and consultant to al-Qaeda's high command... told Nawa-e-Waqt that Nawaz Sharif should go and make a camp (deray dal day) in Balochistan and try to allay the Baloch leaders to make the province safe because America and Europe had been eying Balochistan to annex it because of its strategic importance in the region. He added the crucial information that after oil was finished in the Middle East, oil from the Caspian Sea will be the next source of energy, for which Balochistan will be the most important territory to annex.
Why India is Most Favoured now?
Quoted in Naya Zamana Baloch leader of the PPP in Quetta Lashkari Raisani stated that Pakistain was now ready to give India the Most Favoured nation status but there was a time when the Baloch said they considered India not an enemy but simply a neighbour they were punished by the state. The Baloch were told that the trouble in Balochistan was not their struggle but mischief started by India and its secret agency RAW.
Ch Nisar got rid of IG Punjab
Reported in Mashriq Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan of PMLN had approached IG Punjab Javed Iqbal with sifarish which he had ignored as a result of which Ch Nisar had got rid of him through Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif. But Javed Iqbal was a bold officer who had defied earlier governments when they tried to interfere in his work. He had recently changed 556 coppers in the province and stated publicly that if the province wanted to end crime it had to put an end to political appointments. After that statement Ch Nisar tried to order him, which he ignored. Most of the senior officers were unhappy with him too.
How Asad Mengal was killed by Army
Writing in Jang Hamid Mir stated that in 1976 the Army under General Zia kidnapped Asad Mengal the son of the Baloch leader Ataullah Mengal from Bloody Karachi and killed him. After killing him his body was buried somewhere ion Thatta. Prime Minister Bhutto later wrote in his memoir that when he asked General Zia about the kidnapping of Asad Mengal he was advised to say that Asad Mengal had gone into exile in Afghanistan. Bhutto took the advice but he was wrong in doing so.
Taliban lie about girls' schools
Monthly Naya Zamana reported that Taliban front man Ehsanullah Ehsan stated that the Taliban were not against the education of girls but were protesting against secular education because it ignored religious instruction. He was commenting on the world peace award won by a girl from Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... on the basis of writing. But in 2009 the Taliban ruled Swat and forbade the girls from going to school and destroyed 400 schools dedicated to the education of girls.
[Dawn] Activists of Defa-e-Pakistain Council (DPC) and Shabaab Milli held a protest demonstration at Sher Shah Suri Road on Friday against the government for what they said planning to reopen NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... supply routes to Afghanistan.
The protesters were led by Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... provincial secretary information Israrullah advocate and Shabaab Milli Beautiful Downtown Peshawar president Mr Shahzad. The participants also shouted anti-government and anti-NATO slogans.
They said that US forces were involved in killing of innocent people both in Afghanistan and Pakistain and the government should announce complete ban on supply of goods for NATO forces.
The killing of innocent people as result of the drone attacks in the tribal regions, they said could not be ignored as majority of the victims were innocent and had nothing to do with terrorism.
Criticising the Awami National Party, they said the leaders of the party claimed to be the champions of Pakhtuns' rights, but they also failed to serve the Pakhtuns during their tenure in the government.
Meanwhile, ...back at the cheese factory, all the pieces finally fell together in Fluffy's mind... another procession was taken out at Chowk Yadgar which was led by Maulana Syed Yousuf Shah.
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#1
* NEWS KERALA, DAILY TIMES.PK > PAKISTAN TALIBAN WARN MPS/LAWMAKERS OF NATO SUPPLY [routes]RESTORATION.
The Pak Taliban be coming after those Pak Govtcritters, etc. in Islamabad whom dare to reopen the routes to the US-NATO.
and
* WAFF > PAKISTAN MPS SAY DRONE STRIKES MUST END BEFORE RELATIONS [wid US] IMPROVE.
[Dawn] The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) on Friday staged a rally at Tibet Centre on M.A. Jinnah Road for the 'independence of Sindh' -- a call made by another nationalist party, the Jeay Sindh Tehrik, at a similar rally held at the same place last Sunday.
"The two-nation theory had become false and irrelevant when Punjabis did not transfer powers to Bengalis after the latter won the 1970 elections; the Bengalis eventually chose to secede," said JSQM chief Bashir Khan Qureshi while speaking at the rally.
He said that Sindhi nationalist leader G.M. Syed, who had been kept behind bars for 32 years, in his book 'Sindh speaks' quoted from Pakistain Movement leader Sir Feroze Khan Noon's autobiography the 'Eyewitness' as saying: "Punjabis were rewarded with Pakistain for the services they had rendered in the first and second world wars."
Claiming that Pakistain had now become a symbol of religious extremism and terrorism and, as such, a threat to global peace and humanity, he urged the international community to help the Sindhi nation gain independence from Punjabi-dominated country.
He further claimed that soon after Pakistain came into being, religious riots were triggered in Sindh under a conspiracy to convert Sindhis into a minority and this forced over 1.3 million Sindhi Hindus to migrate to India leaving behind their lands measuring over 2.5 million acres and other properties. The assets were then distributed among 'settlers'. After the construction of barrages, more land in Sindh measuring around 3.5 million acres was allotted to the settlers brought from Punjab in large numbers, he added.
"A new conspiracy is being hatched to bring in more settlers by creating cities like Zulfikarabad," alleged the JSQM chief. He declared that Sindhis would not let the conspiracy succeed.
He also supported the Hindu families whose female members had reportedly converted to Islam, and said that Hindu girls were being kidnapped and forcibly converted to compel Hindus to quit the country. He advised Sindhi Hindus not to get panicked and keep living in Sindh as Sindhis were there to protect their life and honour.
Mr Qureshi said that Sindh had welcomed refugees from India in 1947. Therefore, he said, they should remain faithful to Sindh. "The future of the Urdu-speaking people of Sindh is with Sindh and not with Pakistain," he said.
Condemning Punjab for "usurping Sindh's resources", Mr Qureshi said the same was the case of Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... , and called on the international community to help Sindh and Balochistan secede from the Punjabi-dominated Pakistain.
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#1
See also PAKISTAN DEFENCE FORUM > PAKISTAN ON BRINK OF DISINTEGRATION AMID CHAOS | DEMONSTRATORS DENOUNCE PAKISTAN RESOLUTION OF 1940 AND CHANT SLOGANS IN FAVOR OF "SINDH DESH".
Another wannabe REGIONAL INDO, PAK breakway province to add to Khalistan + Baluchistan.
[An Nahar] Syria's army resumed heavy shelling of the rebel hubs of Homs and Hama on Saturday, monitors reported, as international envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... arrived in Russia in a new push for peace.
As the violence continued unabated across Syria the opposition announced new steps to pile the pressure on the regime of Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... , with army deserters closing ranks and creating a unified military council.
Homs and Qusayr Mortared Mortar rounds rained down on the flashpoint central city of Homs and nearby town of Qusayr from early morning, killing at least 10 people, said the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights.
At least 24 civilians were reported killed nationwide, the Britannia-based monitoring group said, adding that 15 soldiers and two rebels also died in the fighting.
Troops and Tanks Target Saraqeb, Idlib Province
The fiercest regime assault targeted Saraqeb in the northwestern province of Idlib which was stormed by troops backed by 26 tanks that "took up position to split the town in two," activist Nureddin al-Abdo told Agence La Belle France Presse.
Residents cowered indoors as kabooms rattled Saraqeb and troops swooped to make arrests, he said from the town where there is a considerable rebel Free Syrian Army (FSA) presence.
The army also used mortars to pound the town of Qalaat al-Madiq in the central province of Hama, which troops have been trying to seize for the past two weeks, the Observatory said.
Fighting in Damascus Activists reported fierce overnight festivities between troops and mutineers in and around the capital, after a day of protests under the rallying cry "Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... , here we come."
YouTube videos showed a huge night-time demonstration in the Kfar Sousa district and others in several parts of Syria's second city Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... in the north.
The deadly uprising that has gripped Syria for more than a year has largely spared Damascus, but in recent weeks violence has also rocked the capital.
The festivities in Damascus province were "very violent" with kabooms heard across the region and in the city itself, opposition activist Mohammed al-Shami told AFP.
Activists on Trial Despite regime pledges of democratic reform, two activists appeared in court on Saturday accused of forming a secret organization.
"The security forces brought Bahraa Abdel Nabi Hijazi and Anas Abdel Salam before the judges for forming a secret organization and participating in protests hostile to the regime," human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... lawyer Michel Shammas told AFP.
Kofi in Moscow U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy Annan arrived in Moscow to shore up vital backing from President Dmitry Medvedev and Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov amid signs of waning Moscow support for its Arab ally.
Annan will meet Russian officials on Sunday before visiting China on Tuesday and Wednesday. Both countries have twice vetoed U.N. Security Council resolutions aimed at condemning Assad.
Annan is carrying with him Assad's answer to a peace plan under which Syria could begin a "political transition" to a representative government, with no specifically defined role for the Syrian leader.
His visit comes days after Moscow backed a non-binding Security Council statement in support of the initiative after making sure it contained no implicit threat of further action should Assad fail to comply.
There are growing signs that Moscow is beginning to lose patience with Assad, despite his commitment to massive new Russian arms purchases and the granting of key naval access to the Mediterranean.
A top Kremlin-linked politician said Assad should treat the U.N. statement as "an insistent recommendation" whose implementation would determine the future course of relations between the two countries.
"Assad has to take the first step: he must pull the Syrian army out of large cities," the lower house of parliament's foreign affairs chief Mikhail Margelov said on Thursday.
Russia sells billions of dollars in arms to Syria and analysts warn that Russian interests in Syria are too important for it to allow Western and regional powers to independently dictate the battle-scarred nation's fate.
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The latest White House documents delivered to House Republicans on Friday again highlight the extent to which senior administration officials braced for the fallout as Solyndra a company President Obama had personally visited was about to go under. A White House memo that noted the danger of imminent bankruptcy at the end of August 2011 says, OMB, DPC and NEC have been working with press and OLA to be prepared for this news to break.
Acronym translation: OMB is the Office of Management and Budget, DPC is the Domestic Policy Council, NEC is the National Economic Council and OLA is the Office of Legal Affairs.
The document, an update on Solyndras $535 million Energy Department (DOE) loan guarantee, notes that $527 million had been disbursed and that DOE believed no more funds should be allotted. The White House document notes that the Treasury Department, OMB and other White House offices agreed that no more money should be provided because there was a near-zero chance" that the company could survive.
[An Nahar] Foreign Minister Adnan Mansour announced that Lebanon must help Syria end its crisis because it is a "sister state" with which "we share special and historic ties that cannot be abandoned," reported As Safir newspaper on Saturday.
He told the newspaper: "Lebanon will not recognize the Syrian National Council."
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[Dawn] At least seven soldiers and 22 bully boyz died in festivities between Pak troops and bully boyz in the restive northwestern tribal belt over the past 24 hours, officials said Saturday.
Security forces carried out a search operation in South Wazoo region and killed 12 bully boys, a military official said.
He said the operation was launched early on Saturday in Shin Warsak area near the region's main town of Wana following a tip off from intelligence sources that some bully boyz were hiding in the area.
"During an exchange of fire 12 bully boyz were killed and four soldiers embraced martyrdom," he said.
Another official in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, the main city in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... province confirmed the clash, saying "the sting operation is now over." The Pak military in 2009 carried out a sweeping offensive into parts of South Waziristan in order to disable the headquarters of the country's main Taliban faction.
Many of the Taliban capos and their foot soldiers are believed to have decamped into the neighbouring district of North Waziristan, where Pakistain has so far resisted American pressure for a similar offensive.
The search operation in South Waziristan follows an increase in bully boykabooms in the northwest.
Earlier three soldiers and more than 10 bully boyz were killed after dozens of Talibs stormed a check post in a tribal region near the Afghan border overnight.
The attack took place at a check post in Khadizai area on the outskirts of Kalaya, the main town in the lawless Orakzai district, a senior military officer said.
Independent confirmation of the corpse count was not immediately possible as the lawless tribal region is barred for journalists.
Khadizai is located in Upper Orakzai most of which is in Taliban hands and is the scene of frequent festivities between security forces and bully boyz while government troops are in control of its lower reaches.
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[Dawn] Afghan authorities say a remote-controlled bomb has killed a former Afghan senator and three other people in the south of the country.
Fareed Ayal, who is the front man for the provincial police chief, says former senator Khairo Jan, a tribal elder named Sharafuddin and two bodyguards were killed as they were driving in Uruzgan province.
Jan is an elder of the Popalzai tribe, the same tribe that Afghanistan's Caped PresidentHamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai ... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use... is from.
Ayal says the blast occurred about 1:30 pm local time Saturday about six kilometers south of the picturesque provincial capital of Tirin Kot.
They were riding in a vehicle that was en route to Jan's village in an area known as Dayak.
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[An Nahar] Libya's former Prime Minister Mahmoud Jibril on Saturday expressed concern ...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended... that the West had abandoned his country after the collapse of Muammar Qadaffy ... who is now napping peacefully in the dirt... 's regime.
"It is a fatal mistake to abandon Libya", Jibril said at a forum organized by public policy institute the German Marshall Fund of the United States. "When the regime collapsed, the state collapsed as well. And when the regime collapsed, everyone disappeared." As you may recall, at the time you didn't want Westerners, particularly Americans, setting foot in your country. We remember even if you don't...
Jibril stepped down last October after serving as interim premier under the rebels' National Transitional Council.
Libya, with only embryonic state institutions, is going through a delicate post-conflict period, and the unilateral proclamation of independence by figures in eastern Libya has revived fears of a partition of the country.
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#1
Yes, what goes on in Libya is the west's responsibility. Perhaps what is necessary is for one of the countries in the west to take special interest in the Libyans. To guide them and train them in the ways of civilization. To feed them and clothe them, like the rambunctious juveniles they are. Italy, perhaps?
#2
"When the regime collapsed, the state collapsed as well. And when the regime collapsed, everyone disappeared."
Revisionist history so SOON? The regime didn't "callapse".... the country was overthrown and 'sprockets' was brutally murdered. The only reason the US State Department standard program of Nation Building has not kick-in is where fresh outta cash and the Chinese see no reason to back the loan.
[An Nahar] Egypt's Moslem Brüderbund warned the ruling military Saturday over its backing of the current government, which it accuses of stalling the revolution that ousted Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... and saw Islamists dominate parliament.
The Moslem Brüderbund's political arm, the Freedom and Justice Party, has been pressuring the military to sack the cabinet and appoint an FJP-led government after it won a crushing victory in parliamentary elections.
But the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces, which took power after the popular uprising that toppled Mubarak, has stood by the cabinet and its head Kamal Ganzuri.
In an unusually strongly worded statement, the Brotherhood said the government's performance had been the "biggest failure", listing unrest, judicial interference, stalling reforms, fuel shortages and dwindling foreign reserves.
"When we called for the resignation of the government, its head refused, and this was unfortunately supported by the military council," the group said.
"Keeping this government as we approach presidential elections... which raises suspicions over the fairness of these elections, as well as the general decline of affairs, are things we cannot remain silent or patient over," it added.
"If anyone intends to recreate the former corrupt regime with new faces, the people are willing to move in order to revive their revolution and protect their ship from sinking at the hands of people with no sense of responsibility," it said.
Last month, a lawsuit was brought before the Supreme Constitutional Court arguing that the parliamentary election was unconstitutional due to its complex voting system.
The Islamists said they fear the military council could push through this lawsuit should they insist on Ganzuri's removal.
"This would be a disaster. What governs the relationship between the different organs of the state is it the constitution and the law or is it threats?" the group asked.
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[An Nahar] Iraq jugged 22 coppers on Saturday after 19 inmates, including two men on death row, beat feet from a prison in the northern city of Kirkuk a day earlier, the local police chief said.
"We are investigating 22 coppers who have been jugged, to find out about the escape of the terrorists," Kirkuk provincial police chief Jamal Taher Bakr told AFP, adding that local police were hunting for those on the run.
Deputy Interior Minister Adnan al-Assadi told AFP on a visit to Kirkuk that authorities had opened an investigation into the prison break, and that security forces replaced in durance vile one of the 19 men in the Kurdish regional capital of Arbil.
"Clearly there is some collaboration and negligence," Assadi said. "This escape could not have happened unless there were people who helped them."
Assadi said the beat feet prisoners included 11 charged with terror-related offences, and that some of them had been held in jug since 2006.
The group of 19 decamped al-Tasfirat prison in central Kirkuk, ... a thick stew of Arabs, Turkmen, Kurds, and probably Antarcticans, all of them mutually hostile most of the time... 240 kilometers (150 miles) north of Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... , early on Friday morning.
They apparently drugged guards and fellow inmates using narcotic-laced dates that put them to sleep before breaking out of the jail.
The prisoners were alleged Al-Qaeda Islamic fascistiand fighters belonging to Ansar al-Sunna, a Salafist group that has claimed several attacks against US and Iraqi security forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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[An Nahar] Hizbullah members prevented overnight the army and security forces from inspecting an arms shipment in the western Bekaa, ...thereby demonstrating who's actually in charge in Leb...
reported MTV on Saturday.
It explained that the army and security forces in the region of Khirbet Qanafar sought to approach a truck loaded with weapons for the party, but the Hizbullah members prohibited them.
The party consequently cordoned off the area.
In similar incidents in the past year, Hizbullah had prevented the army and security forces from inspecting arms depots suspected of belonging to the party.
In November, an kaboom went off in an alleged arms depot in the Hizbullah stronghold of Siddiqin in the South and party members prevented the security forces from reaching the area.
Media reports said the cause of the blast could not be determined after Hizbullah drew a tight security dragnet around the scene of the kaboom.
In 2010, several blasts caused a large fire at a building in the southern town of Shehabiyeh. At the time reports said the kabooms went off at a Hizbullah weapons depot.
An arms cache belonging to Hizbullah has also went kaboom! in an abandoned house in the southern village of Khirbet Selm.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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[An Nahar] The head of the takfir ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... i network that has been recently discovered in Leb is currently residing in the Ein el-Hellhole Paleostinian refugee camp in southern Leb, reported Voice of Leb radio on Saturday.
Jamaa al-Islamiyya official Bassam Hammoud told the radio that Abu Mohammed Toufic Taha is controlling three al-Qaeda cells in Leb and he works for Majed al-Majed, a Saudi member of the terrorist group.
The first cell under Taha's control is currently located in the Iqlim al-Kharroub region and it has been planning on poisoning water wells and setting off explosives in al-Mukhtara and al-Jahlieh in order to create inter-Druze strife.
The second cell, found in al-Sarafand in the South, is behind the repeated firing of rockets from southern Leb towards Israel, added VDL.
The third cell, found in Lala in the Bekaa valley, was planning on kidnapping foreigners in order to swap them with bad turban inmates in Roumieh prison.
It was also planning on blowing up the Jeb Jennine power plant, said the radio.
Hammoud revealed that Taha has even sent some members of his cells in Leb to support fundamentalists in Syria.
In December, a rocket was fired from the town of Majdal Selem into the nearby town of Houla in the South, prompting Israel to accuse Hizbullah of being behind the attack.
The party had denied the accusation.
On November 29, a series of rockets were fired from the border area into Israel, forcing a retaliatory strike by the Jewish state.
A Lebanese website initially said an obscure al-Qaeda-linked group calling itself the Brigades of Abdullah Azzam grabbed credit for the November attack in an email message.
But the Brigades later denied the claim, laying the blame instead on a group linked to Hizbullah and Syria.
The Lebanese army had recently uncovered a takfiri network within its ranks, which was planning on carrying out attacks against army barracks and centers.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/25/2012
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#1
Isn't there another "Brigades of Abdullah Azzam" somewhere in the region? Any insight?
Laura Wilson, 17, was repeatedly knifed in the head by her Asian boyfriend Ashtiaq Ashgar on a secluded tow path after their relationship turned sour.
Her mother, who has never spoken publicly before, believes her daughter was murdered because she challenged the code of ethics which some ethnic communities still follow.
And which 'ethnic communities' would those be?
It is thought that Miss Wilson could be the first white victim of an honour killing in Britain.
#2
Certainly no guarantee that they might not turn on you at some future date, but a method used quite successfully here appears to be reparenting at an early age along with the expungement of records which would indicate a Muslim birth.
Must be those danged Eye-talians. Or the Swedes. Gotta be the Swedes.
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
03/25/2012 13:16
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#6
Gotta watch out for those Zoroastrian Eskimos, too...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
03/25/2012 16:02
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#7
Lets see. Boy kills girl when relationship turns sour - and this is reported as a first in England? Thats been going on since man walked on two feet. But for historical purposes -lets just go with Henry the VIII. What IS the point of this label "honour killing" unless its mere hype for journalists. I feel for the family, but it is what it is - murder - why glorify it or in somewhat give it some twisted flash and bang.
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.
CARACAS (Reuters) - Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez flew back to Cuba on Saturday to begin radiation treatment for cancer, but said he was in good shape and would be back home in several days.
I've been working under the hood since our comments freeze in the middle of the week. I've killed an entire swarm of bugs that have been existing in the hidden corners of our digital cupboard, even though they weren't the cause of the freeze. (I did fix the other problem, at least for another few years...)
ISLAMABAD The lifestyle of Pakistani parliamentarians is like that of royalty and in stark contrast to that of the vast majority of the people have to deal with the much harsher realities of poverty, inflation and a struggle to put food on the table, said a leading daily.
Druze politician, head of the Progressive Socialist Party, who's been on every side in Leb at least four times. He'll sell you his friends for a dollar, but family comes higher because of shipping and handling...
Nawaz Sharif
Asif Ali 
Some parts of Lyari, particularly the Lea Market traffic intersection, on Friday looked like a war zone with many streets strewn with stones and spent teargas shells as 
Former Vice President Dick Cheney received a heart transplant on Saturday, his office announced. 
Ahmadinejad quarrels with Ayatullah Khamenei
Hamid Gul
...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat...
[Dawn] Activists of Defa-e-Pakistain Council (DPC) and Shabaab Milli held a protest demonstration at Sher Shah Suri Road on Friday against the government for what they said planning to reopen 
[Dawn] The Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz (JSQM) on Friday staged a rally at Tibet Centre on M.A. Jinnah Road for the 'independence of Sindh' -- a call made by another nationalist party, the Jeay Sindh Tehrik, at a similar rally held at the same place last Sunday.
...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo...
Wazoo
[Dawn] Afghan authorities say a remote-controlled bomb has killed a former Afghan senator and three other people in the south of the country.
[An Nahar] Hizbullah members prevented overnight the army and security forces from inspecting an arms shipment in the western Bekaa, 
