Obama's assault on "an unelected group of people" stopped me cold. Because, as the former constitutional law professor certainly understands, it is the essence of our governmental system to vest in the court the ultimate power to decide the meaning of the constitution. Even if, as the president said, it means overturning "a duly constituted and passed law."
But the president went too far in asserting that it "would be an unprecedented, extraordinary step" for the court to overturn "a law that was passed by a strong majority of a democratically elected Congress." That's what courts have done since Marbury v. Madison. The size of the congressional majority is of no constitutional significance. We give the ultimate authority to decide constitutional questions to "a group of unelected people" precisely to insulate them from public opinion. And just in case you think this might be an Obamanaut --
I would lament a ruling striking down the individual mandate, but I would not denounce it as conservative justices run amok. In fact, he's stolen a page from the despicable conservative play book --
Worse, the president's critique, and in particular the reference to "unelected" judges, buys into an unfortunate and largely unwarranted conservative critique of judicial power. We want our judges unelected. We want them to have the final constitutional say. The president should be arguing for a second term to prevent the court from tipping in an even more conservative direction, not channeling tired critiques from the right about activist judges legislating from the bench. Right. Only Progressives get to legislate from the bench.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/03/2012
19:23 ||
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#1
The speculation around the web has been that Champ got some leak from the USSC and is trying to pressure them back before a decision is formally announced.
I think it's more basic: he sees that he's going to lose, and he doesn't like losing. Champ is going to do what all progressive thugs do; when confronted with a losing political situation they're going to look for a way to delegitimize the politics, the players, and the situation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2012 20:11
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#2
The questions posed on the SG showed the lack of faith in an overarching Commerce Clause constitutional right to do anything Congress wants. That said - a leak from Kagan's or Sotomayor's staff is not an unlikely event. I particularly like the prevalent spin from lbtard "experts" that a partisan 5-4 split shows the Republican-leaning justices are radical partisans, while the loser side of Donk-justices voting lockstep is judicial excellence
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/03/2012 20:14
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#3
There are few real secrets in Washington. Obama could have made the statement weeks ago. He did not. I would put my money on a staffer leak. The timing of his statement is quite revealing. He is a desperate man. Perhaps he will issue an Executive Order and have the SC decision "sealed" similar to personal and professional records until some unspecified future date.
#4
Obama had a choice between framing the question dishonestly and in an intimidating manner or framing it honestly, e.g., "the SCourt has acquiesced in greater and greater federal power at the expense of the vanishing 10th amendment and it would be unprecedented in the past few decades for the 10th amendment to win one."
Of course presenting it that honestly would give the game away somewhat.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/03/2012 21:19
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#5
Losing is different from the perception of being a loser.
Losing this case will help Bammo. What can hurt him is the perception of being a losing. So he will frame this as an attack by a radical, right-win court, then run against that court. Now he's not a loser--he's a fighter for justice! Meanwhile, the SCT will helpfully remove the Obamacare straightjacket from the economy so the markets can recover in time for November. It's win-win.
Oh yeah, and since this was Romney's baby in the first place, that helps Bammo too.
#9
Agree w/ Besoeker's logic. The consesus among the adults at work today was that if Bambi wanted to insult the SCOTUS he could have done it anytime after last Wednesday, but he waited until Monday. That's a trail of bread crumbs so obvious even Wile E. Coyote couldn't phuque it up.
DUBAI - A senior Iranian political figure has spoken out against Turkey hosting Iran's next talks with world powers on its disputed nuclear program, in the latest anti-Turkish broadside from politicians in Tehran, Fars news agency reported late on Monday.
Boy howdy, these Mad Mullahs really know how to keep friends sweet...
Last month Turkey offered Istanbul as the venue for talks expected to take place on April 13, a proposal which appeared to gather momentum last week when Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi said Istanbul would be "the best option".
Turkey has repeatedly backed Iran's right to develop peaceful nuclear technology.
Tehran, which says its nuclear activities are purely peaceful, has agreed to renewed talks with the five permanent members of the Security Council - the United States, Russia, China, France and Britain - and Germany this month.
The French interior ministry expelled an Algerian Islamist and a Malia holy man on Monday and is in the process of deporting three other suspected Islamist beturbanned goons as part of a government crackdown following last month's shootings in Toulouse.
AFP - La Belle France has expelled two Islamic beturbanned goons and is planning to deport three more as part of a crackdown announced after a gunman killed seven people, officials said Monday.
An Algerian radical and a Malia holy man were sent back to their home countries on Monday, while a Saudi imam, a Turkish imam and a Tunisian radical were also subject to expulsion orders, the interior ministry said in a statement.
The statement said that the imams had made anti-Semitic statements in their sermons, called for Mohammedans to reject Western values, and said women should wear the full-face veil.
It said the Saudi imam was currently out of La Belle France but would be refused entry should he try to return.
President Nicolas Sarkozy ...23rd and current President of the French Republic and ex officio Co-Prince of Andorra. Sarkozy is married to singer-songwriter Carla Bruni, who has a really nice birthday suit... made the battle against extremism a keynote of his re-election campaign.
La Belle France last week banned four Mohammedan preachers from entering the country for a conference of the Union of Islamic Organisations in La Belle France (UOIF), citing their "calls for hatred and violence".
#1
if I remember correctly, it is a violation to cause disrespect to the Prez, the Congress, the SecDef, your commanding officer or the armed forces; however, if you simply said that, in your opinion, the country was incorrect in following a particular policy, that might still be OK, even if you said you were basing your opinion on a set of facts which were incorrect
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/03/2012 11:57
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The hijack success rate for Somali pirates has dropped sharply in recent months, a NATO official said on Monday, due in part to more merchant ships turning to armed security guards, razor wire and water pumps to protect themselves.
So a good point defense seems to work.
Improved international cooperation on combating piracy on land and at sea - covering an area four times the size of the Arabian peninsula - has been the cornerstone of efforts to tackle a problem costing the world economy up to $12 billion a year, a spokesman for NATO's counter-piracy force in the Indian Ocean said.
"Only six vessels have been pirated for ransom in the last eight months, compared to 36 in the preceding eight," Lieutenant Commander Mehmet Elyurek told reporters on board the TCG Giresun, the Turkish flagship of the force that operates off the Horn of Africa.
The rate of successful hijack attempts had "almost returned to pre-crisis (2007) levels."
John Steed, a former head of the United Nations counter-piracy unit, has said a major reason for the drop in the number of vessels hijacked is that the pirates got so rich last year.
But increased use of armed private security guards, and other defences like pirate-pummelling water pumps and razor wire are also helping reduce the number of successful attacks on merchant ships.
"Armed security guards on board the merchant vessels is very effective means of protecting them," Rear Admiral Sinan Azmi Tosun, the commander of the SNMG2 said. "We welcome all these protection measures."
Nine pirated merchant ships are still anchored off the Somali coast waiting for ransom payments from their owners, and an Iranian sugar ship hijacked last week near the Maldives is on its way to Somalia, he said.
It can't be intercepted before arrival because...
Pirates held 1,026 hostages last year but after some $146 million in ransom was paid to free 30 vessels, the number of hostages has fallen to 236, according to NATO figures.
#5
Ironic, indeed. I don't know whether the fuss was over men with guns (oh noes!) or that the pirates (indigenous brown-skinned people engaging in their charming tribal customs) might get shot without due process.
Rather than iron-clad protection, security often means simply making it difficult enough that the baddies to go somewhere else for their boodle. Compared to the expense of losing and ransoming a ship and crew, men with guns sounds very cost effective.
#6
Seems like we won't need the Q ships after all.
Pity...
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2012 17:17
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#7
On a slightly more serious note, I get the concerns some had about arming merchant ships. There were issues about ports, arms training and handling, storage, licensing and so on. I get that it's a thorny problem, but it wasn't an insolvable problem.
Lo and behold when the insurers got tired of paying, and the owners got tired of paying, and the sailors got tired of sitting in stir in Puntland, the problem got solved.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2012 17:18
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#8
Piracy costs "costing the world economy up to $12 billion a year."
Better impose an individual mandate for piracy insurance...
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/03/2012 17:47
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#10
Would have been easier to NOT PAY RANSOMS in the first place + shoot first. Sigh. It is almost easy to sympathize with the pirates, considering the incentives that have been offered in the past.
Official figures showed that 112 people were killed by violence in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly corpse count for Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The figures compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries were released late Sunday and also showed that 357 were maimed last month.
The total corpse count included 78 civilians, 22 coppers and 12 soldiers.
The previous monthly low was in November 2009 when 122 died.
The bloodiest incidents were a series of coordinated attacks in eight Iraqi cities on March 20 as bully boyz sought to derail an 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... meeting in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... . In one day, 46 people were killed and more than 200 maimed.
Despite that, tight security measures that were imposed in advance of the Friday summit appear to have prevented further attacks.
Iraqi officials said that new plans will be put in place in order to ease security measures and to decrease the number of checkpoints in the capital and other cities.
Violence has dropped significantly in Iraq over the past three years, but bully boyz often carry out attacks in order to shake confidence on the Shiite-led government.
(AFP) -- Al-Qaeda cut-throats killed seven coppers Sunday in an attack on a checkpoint in Yemen's southeast, a security official said, a day after festivities between the army and cut-throats left 40 dead.
"A group of Al-Qaeda forces of Evil in two vehicles opened machinegun fire on a checkpoint, killing seven coppers" in Shibam, a town in the province of Hadramawt, the official told AFP.
Another security official told AFP that suspected Al-Qaeda gunnies riding a cycle of violence shot and maimed Colonel Abboud Fadhl, an intelligence officer, in the leg late Saturday in the southern province of Lahij.
Al-Qaeda-linked cut-throats from the group Partisans of Sharia (Islamic law) have launched a wave of attacks in the region since former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... handed power to his deputy, Abdrabuh Mansur Hadi, in February.
On Saturday, heavy fighting ... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting... between the army and Islamist fighters who tried to take over several military posts killed 40 people -- 28 soldiers and 12 cut-throats -- in Lahij province, officials said.
Al-Qaeda members also sabotaged a 320-kilometre (200-mile) gas pipeline linking Marib province to Balhaf terminal on the Gulf of Aden, all in the country's restive south, on Friday.
That came shortly after two US drone attacks in eastern Yemen targeted Al-Qaeda suspects, killing seven people, six of them krazed killers, according to an official in Shabwa province.
The Partisans of Sharia have exploited a central government weakened by a year of anti-regime protests to strengthen their position, launching deadly attacks against the army especially in the lawless south and southeast.
Last month, 185 soldiers were killed in a massive assault by Al-Qaeda cut-throats on an army camp near Zinjibar.
The United States says the Yemen-based Al-Qaeda in the Arabian Peninsula, or AQAP, is the most active branch of the global terror network.
(AFP) -- Iran on Sunday backtracked on reports that five Iranian "engineers" kidnapped in Syria had been freed -- the second time in months it retracted news of their liberation.
Kazem Sajjadi, a foreign ministry official in charge of Iranians abroad, told state television ... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
that five Iranian pilgrims who had been kidnapped separately had been released, but that the five engineers remained captives.
"We hope that negotiations (through Iranian embassies in Turkey, Qatar and Syria) can pave the way for the release of engineers," Sajjadi said after he welcomed the five pilgrims upon their arrival in Tehran's Imam Khomeini airport.
He corrected reports last Thursday by state media that 12 Iranian nationals -- the five engineers and seven pilgrims -- had been freed in Syria after a months-long ordeal.
The five nationals described by Iranian officials as engineers were said to have been working on an electricity plant near the city of Homs for Iran's Power Plant Projects Management Company when they were taken in late December.
Early reports said a total of seven Iranian engineers had been kidnapped near Homs -- five initially, then two others who had gone to search for them.
Iran previously said in February the seven had been freed before correcting the information and reporting that they remained captives.
An unknown group calling itself the "Movement Against the Expansion of Shiism in Syria" grabbed credit for the Iranians' abduction in a statement received by AFP in Nicosia at the beginning of January.
The rebel Free Syrian Army later said it was holding five Iranian Revolutionary Guards kidnapped in Homs, but it was not clear if it was referring to the "engineers" or to a different group of Iranians.
In addition, 22 Iranian pilgrims travelling to holy Shiite sites in Syria were reported to have been kidnapped since late December. More than half of them have been released since early February.
Syria, Iran's principal ally in the Middle East, is roiled by a year-long uprising that has seen more than 9,000 people killed, according to UN estimates.
Rebels accuse Iran of helping Syrian authorities in their deadly crackdown.
Official figures showed that 112 people were killed by violence in Iraq in March, the lowest monthly corpse count for Iraqis since the U.S.-led invasion in 2003.
The figures compiled by the defense, interior and health ministries were released late Sunday and also showed that 357 were maimed last month.
The total corpse count included 78 civilians, 22 coppers and 12 soldiers.
The previous monthly low was in November 2009 when 122 died.
The bloodiest incidents were a series of coordinated attacks in eight Iraqi cities on March 20 as bully boyz sought to derail an 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... meeting in Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... . In one day, 46 people were killed and more than 200 maimed.
Despite that, tight security measures that were imposed in advance of the Friday summit appear to have prevented further attacks.
Iraqi officials said that new plans will be put in place in order to ease security measures and to decrease the number of checkpoints in the capital and other cities.
Violence has dropped significantly in Iraq over the past three years, but bully boyz often carry out attacks in order to shake confidence on the Shiite-led government.
The U.S. has sent its most advanced mobile radar system from the Pearl Harbor naval base to the Pacific ahead of North Korea's expected rocket launch in mid-April, CNN reported last Friday. The Sea Based X-Band Radar-1, which sits atop a floating platform, has the ability to search or track targets up to 2,000 km away and is capable of monitoring the North's missile launch without having to come near the Korean Peninsula.
The system also can communicate with potential U.S. interceptor missiles at Air Force bases in Alaska and California which could shoot down a target missile, CNN reported. But it is unlikely that the U.S. will have to launch an interceptor missile since the North said it would launch the rocket in a southward direction.
The U.S. military declined to confirm that the radar is being deployed for the North Korean launch, but one senior Pentagon official, on condition of anonymity, called the SBX-1 deployment "precautionary," CNN added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/03/2012
00:00 ||
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#1
So where is this thing going to end up? Seems like a generally handy doodad to have in the neighborhood if push comes to shove at some point in the future.
#6
Iff the USN can give Australia a Nuke Sub it can give 'em BMD-CAPABLE AEGIS CRUISER(S) as well - we know where the Ozzies/Aussies [Kiwis = New Zealand?] can get SEVEN of them. Ditto for the "WE WILL BUILD THE COSTLY QUEEN LIZ CVF IN ORDER TO MOTHBALL/SCRAP IT" Brit RN + NATO-EU.
Onward ...
* ION CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > [China Defense Mashup] US AMBASSADOR INDICATES SELLING NUCLEAR SUBMARINE TO AUSTRALIA FOR CONFRONTING CHINA.
* SAME > TAIWAN MAY FALL INTO DANGER BY CUTTING THE US NAVY.
CHINA + PLA, PLAN = enjoy Local/Area/Theater Superiority vee the USNavy-DOD which likely will still be charged wid protecting US, Allied security + interests on wide geographic fronts across the World despite risque' US budget cuts.
* SAME > US SEEKING TO CONTAIN CHINA IN PACIFIC BECOM AUSTRALIA'S DILEMMA.
ARTIC > PERT = opined that the US is changing its pervasive Cold War strategic posture to one of Pullback where it will focus or concentrate its MilFors per the security of vital but specific/selective Maritime Lanes.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > PHILIPPINE GOVT. NOW BUILDING [mini] NAVAL BASE IN [PHIL-controlled] SPRATLYS FOR US TROOPS.
* RENSE > BUILDING NUCLEAR DRONES - COULD STAY ALOFT FOR MONTHS, at a time | [Guardian.UK] US DRAWS UP PLANS FOR NUCLEAR DRONES.
#1
No market save the Fed, + even iff it did no proof that Green Tech is par, let alone superior or dominant, to current Fossil Fuel Techs.
Prolly safe to say DITTO even as per ANY FUTURE FOSSIL FUELS TECHS.
Its gonna be a lun long Long LONG L-O-N-G ... TWENTY OR MORE YEARS OF BACKRUPTCY AFTER BANKRUPTCY AFTER BANKRUPTCY AFTER ... FOR SOLAR, GREEN TECHS IFF THE US IS GOING TO UNILATERALLY DEPEND ON FOREIGN NATIONS TO GO BACK TO THE MOON + BEYOND.
D ***NG IT, HOW MANY COST-PROHIBITIVE "QE"S CAN THE FED GIVE OUT IN TWENTY OR MORE YEARS???
Just in time for COMET APOPHIS + our future OWG-NWO = GLOBAL FED UNION to outlaw FRACKING!
Congress should investigate to see if everyone of these were fronts for money laundering to political supporters. If so, throw their assses in the clink, impeach the empty suit, and then put the first fraud for President of the United States on his own island, Alcatraz.
#4
The Blythe project was guaranteed $2.1 bn in Department of Energy loans. The project was to create 1000 shovel ready construction jobs. The solar plant was to create 1000 megawatts of power. (This output would be comparable to a one coal-fired or nuclear plant if it ever got built).
There is a pattern of failure in these solar power plants. Where does the money go? What happens to these government guaranteed loans? Is there criminal activity here? Is there money laundering activity tied into Obama's re-election campaign? Will the shovel-ready jobs still be counted as jobs created by this government? Ultimately, what was the true cost of this project with no returns.
#5
If you file bankruptcy on a loan from Uncle Sam Obama and you are a supporter, you pay nothing back to the American people. It is the Chicago way, now the American way. That is the Fraud of it all.
Posted by: George Ebbeamp4828 ||
04/03/2012 12:29
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#6
Mitsubishi just announced that they are closing doen their wind turbine manufacturing operations. With so many successes I am sure the Algae Energy initiative will be wildly suCcessdul, too.
Posted by: George Ebbeamp4828 ||
04/03/2012 17:47
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#7
Companies go belly up all the time -- it doesn't mean there was political corruption or money laudering or whatever. One reason successful entrepreneurs deserve the huge profits they make is that the risks are high. Why are times so hard for solar companies right now? Three main reasons:
1. Venture capitalists and other financial players identified solar as a potentially huge market and shoveled too much money into it. Too many players and not all could be winners. Something similar previously happened in telecommunications and before that in dotcoms.
2. Solar purchases were being subsidized as a matter of government policy by places like Germany and Spain. When the world economic slowdown was prolonged, these countries reduced their subsidies considerably, hurting demand.
3. Technological advances (especially the Chinese with silicon) have cut the price of solar modules by 80% in 3 years making it hard for many to compete with them.
Despite the "Arab street" worldview, not EVERYTHING that happens is the result of a conspiracy or nefarious forces.
The joint UN-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... special envoy to Syria, 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... , says Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... has agreed to withdraw its troops from population centers as the United States and its regional allies continue to funnel fund and equipment to armed gangs.
Annan announced on Monday that Damascus has accepted a deadline to start implementing his proposed plan to settle the Syrian unrest.
The former UN chief, who briefed the 15-member Security Council by videoconference from Geneva behind closed doors, was quoted as saying that Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... has agreed on the April 10 deadline to put the plan to work.
"The Syrians have told us they have put a plan in place for withdrawing their army units from populated zones and surrounding areas. This plan ... will be completed by April 10," Annan's front man Ahmad Fawzi said in Geneva.
"If we are able to verify this has happened on the 10th, then the clock starts ticking on the cessation of hostilities, by the opposition as well. We expect both sides to cease hostilities within 48 hours," he added.
Annan met Assad in Damascus on March 10 and presented him with a six-point plan calling for the military pullout.
On Sunday, several Persian Gulf Arab states and the United States pledged 100 million dollars to provide salaries and communications equipment for Syrian rebels fighting against the government.
The countries, led by Soddy Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates, made the offer at an Istanbul conference of the "Friends of Syria", a grouping of some 70 Western and Arab countries, which Damascus calls the "enemies of Syria".
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including security forces, have bit the dust in the violence.
The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, stating that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
(Xinhua) -- Israel, Greece and the United States are currently conducting a joint military exercise in the Mediterranean Sea, code named "Noble Dina."
The maneuvers are a continuation of the drills that Israel and the U.S. previously conducted every year with Turkey, called " Reliant Mermaid."
However, nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits... following rising tension between Israel and Turkey since 2009, Turkish army ended its participation.
Some analysts view the decision to include Greece instead of Turkey as an attempt by Israel to crown Athens as its main regional strategic partner.
"All together, it seems to me that any strategic and military cooperation between Israel and other countries - especially in the eastern Mediterranean - is welcome. And surely with the U.S., it seems to me that this serves Israeli strategic interests very well, " Prof. Yair Evron, of Tel Aviv University, told Xinhua on Monday.
He cautioned, however, that "As far as whether Greece could replace Turkey, here I'm more reserved."
In May 2010, Israeli naval commandos attempting to take over the lead craft in a Gazoo-bound six-ship flotilla killed eight Turkish nationals. The Mavi Marmara and other vessels were aiming to break Israel's maritime blockade on Gazoo, enforced to stop weapons smuggling to the coastal enclave.
Immediately afterward, Turkey recalled its ambassador to Israel, and, after Israel refused to apologize and take responsibility for events on the ship, Ankara in September 2011 expelled Israel's ambassador, and cut the level of its representation in Israel.
The decision put an end to not only joint Israeli-Turkish military drills, but also to Israeli military exports to Turkey.
"The good relationship and level of strategic cooperation that Israel once had with Turkey - I'm doubtful whether one can re- establish it," Evron said.
While Greece offers some of the same advantages as Turkey in terms of similar terrain, its need for military hardware isn't on the same level as Turkey, which has an ongoing confrontation with Kurdish rebels in eastern Turkey.
CHANGING TIMES
Greece is currently going through a severe economic crisis, and, despite multiple aid packages from the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , may still be first country to leave the Euro zone due to a massive public debt.
The dire economic situation, together with increased Turkish influence in both the Middle East and the Balkans, is one factor behind the improvement of relations with Israel, said Dr. Angel Chorapachyev, of the University of Haifa.
"Greece is trying to get back into the scene and it has a common rival with Israel in Turkey, so for the last year we have seen an improvement in the connections between Israel and Greece, in economic and military fields," Chorapachyev said.
He pointed out that the cooperation is "something that would have been very strange to see a decade or two ago, because Greece was traditionally very pro-Arab-oriented - especially after the socialist party came to power in the 1980s."
The energy ministers of Israel, Greece and Cyprus recently meet to discuss the possibility of exporting undersea natural gas found off Israel's coast via Cyprus and Greece, and co-produce electricity which would be sent onwards to Europe.
Protecting Israeli gas infrastructure is one of the scenarios being drilled during the current exercise.
Several Israeli companies are also considering buying some Greek state assets that are being sold off as part of the efforts to reduce the country's massive debt.
Chorapachyev said that Greece is also trying to take advantage of changing relations between Turkey and the U.S..
He argued that Turkey is trying to take a more independent role from the U.S., and that Ankara is now striving to become a regional power broker by developing stronger ties with Iran.
This has led Greece to try and improve its own position vis-a- vis the U.S. by presenting itself as a stable and reliable ally on the end of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A cautionary tale of cost-benefit analysis.... ), of which Turkey is also a member.
WILL IT LAST?
Chorapachyev said that it's very hard to tell whether or not this new, close relationship between Israel and Greece could continue in the future.
He pointed out that up until the last two or three years, Israel's best partner in the region was Turkey. But after Turkish politics' sharp turn towards Islamism, Israel has had to look for new partners and allies in the region, finding in Greece a willing partner.
"If this situation will continue in the future - you never know, because in politics you don't have eternal friends - you have eternal interests," Chorapachyev said.
"So in a few years, we will see a change in direction of Turkish politics, and Israel and Turkey will be best friends again, " he added, optimistically.
Russia has once again warned against the 'grave' consequences of a military strike on Iran over Tehran's nuclear energy program.
"It is hard to predict consequences [of military action,] but they would obviously be very serious and negative," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said in response to a question at Yerevan State University during his visit to Armenia on Monday.
He also dismissed the West's anti-Iran sanctions and pointed out, "Attempts to impose new unilateral sanctions upon Iran by the United States, Japan, some European and other countries are unacceptable."
Lavrov noted that the ineffective International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) inspectors "currently work at all nuclear objects of Iran and have uncovered no illicit activities so far."
The US, Israel and some of their allies accuse Tehran of pursuing military objectives in its nuclear energy program. Washington and Tel Aviv have at times threatened to attack Iran's nuclear installations to stop the country's atomic activities.
Iran refutes the Western allegations regarding its nuclear energy program and argues that as a signatory to the nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) and a member of the IAEA, it has the right to develop and acquire nuclear technology for peaceful purposes.
The IAEA has conducted numerous inspections of Iran's nuclear facilities, but has never found any evidence indicating that Tehran's civilian nuclear program has been diverted to nuclear weapons production.
Al-Qaeda's main Web forums have been offline for the past 11 days in what experts say is the longest sustained outage of the sites since they began operating eight years ago.
Were they hacked, or is life about to get interesting?
(Xinhua) -- An oil pipeline transporting crude from Yemen's central Marib province to an export terminal in the southeastern province of Shabwa was blown up on Monday night, cutting flows of Yemen's main pipeline, a security official told Xinhua.
"The crude oil pipeline in Mafrak al-Saeed district in Shabwa province was blown up at 10:30 p.m. (1930 GMT) by suspected al- Qaeda Death Eaters," the local official told Xinhua by phone on condition of anonymity.
"A huge blaze could be seen until now since the kaboom took place one hour ago," the official added.
It was the second kaboom targeting Yemen's pipelines in less than four days, after the Yemen-based al-Qaeda wing grabbed credit for bombing a gas pipeline in Shabwa on March 30.
#6
Looks like someone wants to control the Oil Flows into East Africa + West Asia, vee the proposed Oil-Logistics Bridge connecting the Arabian Peninsula to Pak Baluchistan.
The altern was to connect from NE SA to Kuwait + CENTASIA, an option which was originally rejected due to being too close to the wily dastardly Zionist Imperialist Israeli Naval base at Elat/Elath.
BET THEY'RE MISSING = LOVIN' THE ISRAELI NAVY [+ IDF] NOW???
#7
Reminds me again of ROBIN WILLIAMS' "72 Virginians" TV Skit after 9-11, e.g. THE FRENCH HATE THE AMERICANS UNTIL SUCH TIMES THE GERMAN ARMY CROSSES THEIR BORDERS.
(Xinhua) -- The Kyrgyz Interior Ministry is checking allegations that jacket wallahs may have entered the country to commit terrorist attacks, a bigwig said on Monday.
"The Kyrgyz law enforcement authorities have received intelligence about a possible infiltration of suicide bombers connected with the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) and the United Tajik Opposition, who are planning to stage terrorist attacks in Kyrgyzstan," First Deputy Interior Minister Bakyt Alymbekov told a meeting of the parliamentary defense and security committee.
"These allegations are being thoroughly investigated," he said.
"The Interior Ministry has sent relevant requests to Tajikistan and now measures are being taken to suppress the activity of this group," Alymbekov added.
The official also noted that such publications appear on the Internet a lot, but they are not reliable.
(Xinhua) -- Colombia's Revolutionary Armed Forces (FARC)rebels Monday handed over 10 hostages to a humanitarian delegation organized by the International Committee of the Red Thingy (ICRC).
"In the last hours, in a rural zone of the border between the southern regions of Meta and Guaviare, the FARC released four military officers and six coppers," said a ICRC statement.
The freed hostages were taken to Villavicencio, capital of Meta region to meet their families. The group was the only remaining security forces members held by the guerrilla group to swap for nabbed FARC members.
ICRC Spokeswoman Cristina Rivera told news hounds that the released officers "are taken to Villavicencio in a helicopter provided by Brazil's government, which has been properly identified with the ICRC sign."
Villavicencio serves as the spot for the humanitarian operation which began Monday morning when the helicopter took off with the humanitarian delegation led by Senator and mediator Piedad Cordoba, ICRC delegates and the Brazilian crew to meet the rebel group in the Colombian jungle.
Rivera said a brief medical examination indicated the released officers are in good health conditions, though further examinations would be performed when they arrive in Bogota.
The Colombian government has deployed two airplanes from Colombian Air Force to take the released officers from Villavicencio to Bogota.
The released officers were kidnapped by the FARC during 1998-1999 in attacks against army and cop shoppes, patrols and highway checkpoints.
HEBRON, West Bank: The Israeli military on Monday ordered dozens of Jewish settlers to evacuate a three-story building they occupied last week in the heart of the West Banks most volatile city, saying they had entered it without receiving approval from defense authorities.
The settlers entry into the house before dawn on Thursday has threatened to create another flashpoint in the tense city of Hebron. The West Bank city of 170,000 Palestinians, dotted by small enclaves housing about 700 of the most extreme Jewish settlers, has been a focal point of Israeli-Arab violence for decades.
Hebron settler leaders said about 10 settler families entered the house before dawn on Thursday after legally purchasing it from a Palestinian landowner.
A spokesman for the settlers inside the house, Shlomo Levinger, said they moved in the dead of night because they had received information that the Palestinian Authority had learned of the purchase and planned to take over the building.
Military spokesman Guy Inbar said the settlers were ordered to leave the building by Tuesday afternoon, because the house was occupied without the militarys authorization, or be forcibly removed. He said the military was still determining whether the purchase was legitimate.
Hebron settler leader David Wilder said the decision was political and insisted the purchase was legitimate.
There are people who dont want to see Jews living in Hebron, Wilder said. We are going to do everything we can to see this order is annulled.
He would not say what steps settlers planned to take, but put the blame for the expulsion order on Defense Minister Ehud Barak.
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Nearly two years have passed since the long time journalist Helen Thomas was forced to resign after making anti-Semitic comments on camera. Since then, Thomas has been the subject of fierce criticism from both ends of the American political spectrum and from her fellow journalists. But on Sunday, april fools day btw
she received an award - an honor from none other than Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas. actually authorized by Abbas, he wasn't at the ceremony
Posted by: Lord Garth ||
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#1
Medal Commerating the Ugliest human in existence?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/03/2012 3:32
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In 2012 as in 2008. It's fraud but don't expect any Federal Election Commission investigation.
Is there anything this guy won't do to win a second term?
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
He got away with it in the first term.
This time, there have been contributions from foreigners and dead people, including Hitler (a known right-wing Rethuglican!) and bin Laden. It all spends the same.
How hard would it have been for Soros to set up a million $3 donations in a million fake names?
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/03/2012 6:09
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#2
His campaign spend rate is apparently unprecedented at this point, especially given that he's running unopposed in the primary. He needs every penny he can scrape up, whether by fair means or foul.
#3
The Federal Election Commission seems rather toothless so far as enforcement goes. Voting rights violations go through the DOJ Civil Rights Division. Seems like an open playground for voting corruption.
#4
One thing is certain. Romney won't outspend this guy, and that's the only thing winning primaries for him. Better hope we do well enough in the House and Senate to keep Bammo at bay during his second term.
#5
So today Obama dissed the SC complaining they are not elected and was questioning their presence in the American system. He is pulling this democracy apart. More ammo please, the clouds of CW are getting dark.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/03/2012 14:52
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#6
I hope he loses and someone investigates both of his presidential campaigns.
#8
Query - what would happen if they got slammed with a few million bogus submissions?
I don't know - I am not into retail or know a thing about how CC transactions are processed.
I would think that the CC verification is there for a reason and by intentionally disabling it and allowing bogus submissions they are opening themselves up for some sort of fine or disabling from their CC processor.
BAGHDAD - Iraq on Monday said Qatars welcoming of Baghdads fugitive Sunni Vice President Tareq Al Hashemi was unacceptable and called on Doha to hand him over.
The state of Qatar receiving a wanted person is an unacceptable act and Qatar should back off from this stance, and return him to Iraq, Deputy Prime Minister Hussein Al Shahristani told a news conference in Baghdad.
Shahristani added that the autonomous Kurdistan region, where Hashemi had been holed up since charges were issued against him in December, had committed a clear challenge to law and justice by allowing him to leave the country.
Hashemi arrived on Sunday in Doha, where he was welcomed by Qatari Minister of State Shaikh Hamad bin Nasser bin Jassem Al Thani, according to Qatari state news agency QNA. He left the Kurdistan region of Iraq this morning, Sunday, going to Doha, accepting an invitation he had previously received, a statement from Hashemis office emailed to AFP said.
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JERUSALEM: Israel has placed a high-profile Palestinian prisoner in solitary confinement for a week after he called from his cell for a new wave of civil resistance, the Prisons Authority said yesterday.
Right to do but they're going to create more of a martyr...
Marwan Barghouti, sentenced to life imprisonment in 2004 after being convicted of multiple lethal attacks against Israelis, is seen by many Palestinians as a possible future leader and was a driving force in the uprising they launched in 2000.
Last week, he said in a statement that the launch of large-scale popular resistance at this stage serves the cause of our people. He also said the prospect of ending Israeli occupation and achieving a state through negotiations was an illusion. Prisons Authority spokeswoman Sivan Weizman said that as punishment for issuing the statement, Barghouti has been placed in isolation for a week and denied visits and access to the inmates canteen for a month.
From prison, Barghoutis views continue to resonate with the Palestinian public. The 52-year-old leading member of Fatah enjoys support beyond his movement and across the spectrum of Palestinian factions.
Observers have speculated that Israel might at some point release Barghouti to strengthen the hold of the more secular Fatah movement on the Palestinian political scene and stem the popularity of Hamas, which rules the Gaza Strip.
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#1
Barghouti appears to be weeping. Is there any way we can help to comfort him? Perhaps by offering a "Kleenex tissue"?
Those 'cuffs don't seem to be "cramping his style" this evening...How unfortunate.
Arabic culture is so liberating; don't you think?
#2
ION WAFF > NO MORE NUKES | ROYAL NAVY MUST CONSIDER NUCLEAR DISARMAMENT IFF UK SPLITS, i.e. iff Escosse' = Scotland chooses formal independence from the UK.
[FNS CV CHARLES DE GAULLE + WILY PROPELLERS here].
(Ma'an) -- Egypt's Coptic Orthodox Church has announced it is withdrawing from talks on a new constitution, saying Islamist domination of the drafting body made its participation "pointless", Egypt's state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? The decision late on Sunday followed calls by Egyptian liberals to boycott the constitution drafting committee, which is seen as failing to adequately represent the nation's diversity.
The current constitution was suspended by the country's army rulers in February of last year shortly after they took power from Egypt's long-serving autocratic president, Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... .The 100-member constitutional assembly selected by the parliament is dominated by Islamists, reflecting their resounding victory in parliamentary elections.
"The Coptic Orthodox Church General Council agreed with the approval of all of the council's 20 members to withdraw from the constitutional assembly... as it found it was pointless for the church to be represented following the comments made by the national forces about the way the assembly was formed," the state news agency said. ... and if you can't believe the state news agency who can you believe? quoting a church statement.
#1
That is 8,000,000 people rendered powerless by BHO's indulgence of anti-democratic animals, in the name of democracy. Said animals allied with Nazi Germany in WW2. So why are they worthy of US aid? I would promote civil war in Egypt.
BANNU: An bomb went off in a guest room at the residence of Awami National Party (ANP) leader Rasta Baaz Khan. The blast caused partial damage to the room and no causalities were reported.
"Uwk! My knotty-pine paneling!"
Police sources said that unidentified people planted the kaboom. The ANP leader's house is situated in the Mamashkhel area of Bannu district. After the incident, heavy contingents of police and security forces rushed to the scene. Local sources said that security forces cordoned off the area and started search operation against the perpetrators.
Thailand's Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra on Monday visited the scene of the weekends devastating car bombing at the Lee Gardens Plaza Hotel in Songkhla's Hat Yai commercial district. The premier pledged her government would step up security measures.
Hat Yai business owners and residents told the prime minister of the impact of the bombing. They urged the government to tighten security and adopt measures to restore confidence among tourists, the business sector and local residents. The prime minister also visited bombing victims at hospital.
Fourteen people were killed and more than 500 were wounded in a string of mid-day car bombings in Yala and Songkhla over the weekend.
On Monday, Thailands army chief Gen Prayuth Chan-ocha said security personnel in the area will be deployed under the supervision of the provincial governor and police. while the military, normally stationed outside the city, will consider deploying more troops.
The army chief said that the attack was carried out by an offshoot of Barisan Revolusi Nasional (BRN), with about 300 active members and some 6,000 sympathisers. General Prayuth reasserted that the attack was not the work of an international terrorist group. He was adamant that the government would never enter into talks with this group of insurgents.
IIUC ARTIC, MUSLIM SOUTHERN THAILAND = [almost] OKINAWA/RYUKYU KINGDOM, before both were forcibly? annexed by larger next-door Polities, i.e. SIAM + Mainland JAPAN???
TEHRAN: Iran declared on Monday it will not be swayed from its nuclear "path" by sanctions, a week before talks with world powers that are increasingly seen as a last chance for diplomacy in its showdown with the West.
"The sanctions may have caused us small problems but we will continue our path," Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi vowed in an interview with the official Islamic Theocratic Republic News Agency (IRNA).
"We do not underestimate any enemy, no matter how tiny and lowly they are. The regime's officials -- the supreme leader, the president, the army, the (Revolutionary) Guards and Basij (militia) -- are completely vigilant. And the nation is prepared to defend the achievements of Islamic Iran," he said.
The defiant words came after US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as The Heroine of Tuzla and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Charles Evans Hughes ... said on Saturday that the talks between Iran and the world powers would take place April 13 and 14 in Istanbul.
She and US President Barack Obama Because I won... have both publicly said that the window for diplomacy in the standoff over Iran's nuclear programme is closing. "Our policy is one of prevention, not containment," Clinton said in Soddy Arabia after talks with her Gulf Arab counterparts. "It is incumbent upon Iran to demonstrate by its actions that it is a willing partner and to participate in these negotiations with an effort to obtain concrete results," Clinton said.
Israel and the United States have threatened military strikes against Iran's nuclear facilities if diplomacy and sanctions fail to curb the Islamic republic's nuclear ambitions. The UN Security Council has imposed four sets of sanctions of Iran because of suspicions over its nuclear programme, which the West and Israel believe includes a drive to develop atomic weapons capability.
Iran denies any military dimension to its nuclear activities. Its supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, has called nuclear weapons a "sin". But he has also refused to bow to sanctions, and warned Iran would retaliate in kind if attacked.
Foreign ministry front man Ramin Mehmanparast said in an interview with the Fars news agency that Iran considered the talk of war to be a "psychological" gambit "to affect the Iranian nation, to lower the support of the people for the system."
But, he said, "our readiness (to ward off any threat) is at its peak. We take any threat, even those with a low probability of happening, seriously. "If any practical action, either surgical or long-lasting, is taken, we will respond decisively."
The talks between Iran and the P5+1 group -- the five permanent UN Security Council members plus Germany -- are seen as an opportunity to defuse the tense situation. EU officials in Brussels said that, despite Clinton's affirmation, Istanbul had not yet been fully confirmed as the venue. "The talks are scheduled to start late on the 13th and will be held primarily on the 14th," one EU diplomat told AFP on condition of anonymity.
They will "very likely" take place in Istanbul, but all parties had not yet reached complete agreement, the diplomat said. A spokeswoman for EU foreign policy chief Catherine Ashton, who represents the P5+1, said only: "We will announce it (the venue) formally once we have full agreement."
The last round of talks between Iran and the P5+1 group was held in Istanbul in January 2011 and ended in failure. Geneva hosted the round before that in late 2010.
The United States is poised to bolster unilateral sanctions that are already making it harder for Iran to sell its vital oil exports. Countries that do not reduce Iranian oil imports risk being targeted by US sanctions. But Salehi stressed to IRNA: "The West thinks that Iran is like many other countries who will yield under America's pressure. But they are mistaken." He said Iran had resisted Western pressure ever since it became an Islamic republic following its 1979 revolution. And he said the United States would be forced to retreat from its positions if Iranian "national unity" was strengthened. afp
#2
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN, CHINA TO INCREASE TRADE TIES TO [minima]US$50.0BILYUHN IN 2012: IRAN VP.
* SAME > THANKS TO XI JINPING [aka Deng Xiaoping] CHINA ABANDONS [historical]"KEEP A LOW PROFILE" POLICY | CHINA SEES US AS A [competitive, b-u-t also ...] DECLINING POWER, INSIDER SAYS. The poor USA just doesn't know its time is up.
China will now "be out there", in the forefront, + will also engage in non-traditional, INTERNATIONAL ALLIANCE(S)-MAKING to counter the US.
ARTIC = 'Tis a question of HOW MANY YEARS, NOT DECADES, before China takes over from the US as World #1.
Wehell, I've always said Rising China isn't going to wait until Year 2080 or 2100 or 2200, etc. to achieve its perceived "Manifest Destiny" - LIKE ANY OTHER "YOUNG TURK" AGRESSIVE NATION-STATE WANNABE IN HISTOIRE', THEY WANT THEIR POWER + INFLUENCE ASAP AMAP ATAP ALAP.
* TOPIX > CHINA REJECTS US MILITARY OPTIONS ON IRAN.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/03/2012 3:19
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#4
DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > NO ATOMIC RACE AFTER IRANIAN BOMB | [Foreign Policy = Steven Cook] DO NOT FEAR A NUCLEAR ARMS RACE IN THE MIDDLE EAST. THE CONVENTIONAL WISODM HAS IT WRONG:IRAN'S DEVELOPMENT OF A NUCLEAR WEAPON WON'T SPUR ITS NEIGHBORS TO GET THE BOMB. DO NOT FEAR IRAN'S NUCLEAR ARSENAL.
IIUC ARTIC, not unlike Mama Russia vee Pakistan's NucProgs, despite any rhetoric to the contrary Iran's two most likely Muslim nuclear opponents in the ME, Turkey + Saudi Arabia, possess much of either the Political or National W, nor Scientific-Econ-Technological, etc. infrastructure to dev a Nuke Arsenal capable of challenging, let alone defeating, the NPT's "Big Five" Nuke Club.
TRUE ENOUGH IN THE PRESENT, BUT THE REAL THREAT STEMS NOT FROM ORGANIZED GOVTS/NATION-STATES BUT FROM ASYMMETRIC "NUCLEAR MILITANCY-TERRORISM", VEE "DIRTY BOMBS", BIOWAR + CHEMWAR WMDS, + NUCTECH "SUFFICIENCY"
(Xinhua) -- Two people were maimed in an kaboom in a car in the Turkish capital of Ankara on Monday, private Dogan news agency reported.
Faulty propane tank or premature reaction of explosive chemical mixture? We report, you decide.
The blast occurred in Balgat district of Ankara on Monday evening, leaving two women maimed, said the report, adding that they were sent to a hospital for medical treatment.
The police has rushed to the scene and are inspecting the incident, it said.
A kaboom in a working-class neighborhood of Istanbul injured two people on Monday, the private Dogan news agency said, hours after another device was disarmed in another district next to a five-star hotel in Turkey's biggest city.
It was not clear if the two incidents were related, but Kurdish separatists, Islamists, far-left groups and the extreme right have all carried out kabooms in Turkey in the past.
Ambulances went to the scene of the blast in Gaziosmanpasa, a run-down outlying area of Istanbul where far-left groups and Kurdish Islamic fascistihave been active.
Initial reports indicated two people were maimed, the agency said.
Earlier, police defused a device close to a five-star hotel and a former Ottoman palace in the Besiktas area of the city.
(Xinhua) -- The twin grenade attacks in Mombasa, Kenya on Saturday evening indicate that faceless myrmidons linked to Somali's Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... cut-throats are changing tack as they seek to inflict pain on the East African nation and its people.
The faceless myrmidons are moving away from the capital, Nairobi after Kenya police intensified security.
At least one person was confirmed dead and over 33 others injured in the kabooms, which disrupted activities in the coastal town.
In the first incident that happened at 7:30 p.m., the faceless myrmidons hurled explosives at a Christian prayer meeting taking place at a bus terminus in Mombasa.
The second grenade attack happened at about 7:45 p.m. It targeted revellers at a popular restaurant. The two attacks come barely three weeks after Al-Shabaab sympathizers attacked travellers at a busy bus terminus in the capital Nairobi.
Six people died and over 60 others were maimed in the evening blast. Kenya's government blamed the attack on Al-Shabaab and its operatives.
The Mombasa attack is the fourth since Kenya's Defense Forces (KDF) crossed into Somalia in October last year to flush out Al- Shabaab Death Eaters, who it blamed for abducting tourists and threatening her economy.
The launching of the attack in the coastal town signals that Al- Shabaab may target other towns in Kenya, and not necessarily Nairobi.
This is the first attack to occur outside the capital and it is certain the snuffies have shifted their targets to Kenya's other cities, which may not have tight police patrol.
Soon after KDF entered Somali last October, Al-Shabaab, which recently joined Al-Qaeda, announced it will launch a series of attack in the East African country.
Spokesperson Sheikh Ali Mohamud warned the terror group will launch retaliatory attacks in several cities if authorities do not withdraw troops from Somalia.
"Kenya's cities have tall buildings and business is booming, while Somalia is in chaos. If your government ignores our pleas to stop its aggression on Somali soil, we will strike at the heart of your interests. We shall inflict on you the same damage you have inflicted on us," Mohamud warned in an address to Kenya's authorities.
Kenyans living in other cities in the East African nation, specifically Nakuru, Kisumu and Eldoret, now fear faceless myrmidons may strike in the towns.
"The attack in Mombasa tells us that Al-Shabaab sympathizers are targeting people all over the country. Their aim is to kill and maim innocent Kenyans as long as they feel they have Dire Revenge™d against Kenya," Caleb Otieno, a secondary school teacher in Kisumu, said on Sunday.
Otieno noted that faceless myrmidons have realized Nairobi has been secured therefore they are targeting other smaller cities.
"Those of us who stay in these cities are more vulnerable to attacks than those people who are in the capital and it seems faceless myrmidons have realized that. This is because security is not as tight as in Nairobi, where also all elite police units are stationed," he said.
In the city, according to Otieno, most places visited by the public are not secure.
"They are not manned by CCTVs cameras and despite threats of terror attacks hanging over Kenya for several months, security guards at some supermarkets are not frisking buyers," he observed.
It is more risky for residents since the series of attacks in Kenya show the faceless myrmidons aim to kill and maim ordinary Kenyans.
"If they attack people at prayer meetings and bars that means their target is the common man. They want to kill and cause pain to ordinary people in retaliation," said the teacher.
David Ngugi, a resident of Eldoret, noted that if Al-Shabaab spreads its attacks to other cities, many Kenyans will die and get maimed.
"Police in these urban centers are not well-equipped and they may not have the capacity to handle terror attacks or curb them. Ambulances may also be missing or not properly functioning. That means residents are not assured of safety," said the businessman.
And as Kenyans ready to celebrate Easter holiday, Ngugi noted that reality must dawn on residents that they are vulnerable to attacks.
"During festivities, most people throw caution to the wind as they celebrate. Various prayer meetings are also organized. Terrorists may take advantage of this and strike," he said.
The list of places where Kenya police warned faceless myrmidons may strike includes bus termini, shopping malls, entertain spots, market places, churches and passenger services vehicles.
"Such places in this town, as in Nairobi, are frequented by hundreds of people, which puts many residents at risk," said Ngugi.
Analysts fear the terror attacks in Mombasa, the heart of Kenya' s tourism, may upset tourism activities since the town is frequented by thousands of holiday makers from various parts of the world.
Data from the Ministry of Tourism show that regardless of threats of terror on Kenya, tourist arrivals by air and sea in 2011 grew by 15 percent from 1.09 million to 1.26 million. This was despite the fact many Western countries had issued travel advisories against Kenya.
UNITED NATIONS: Syria told international envoy Kofi Annan that its military will withdraw troops and heavy weapons from populated areas by April 10, in what could be a first step toward ending the bloody yearlong conflict, UN diplomats said Monday.
Or that they've run out of rebels and civilians to massacre...
The announcement came as Syrian troops hunted down activists and destroyed their homes in the countrys rebellious areas, and the United States remained skeptical of Damascus latest statements, pointing to previous broken promises. Britain, France, Germany and a number of other countries also questioned whether Syrian President Bashar Assad would keep his word, the diplomats said.
We have seen commitments to end the violence followed by massive intensifications of violence, US Ambassador Susan Rice said. So the United States, for one, would look at these commitments and say, yet again, the proof is the actions, not in the words.
But the real proof is in what the West does if Pencilneck goes back on his word...
Rice said Annan told the UN Security Council he received a letter from Syrias foreign minister on Sunday with the April 10 date and indicated he would have preferred the pullback to begin earlier.
But it takes time to mop up civilians, Ms. Rice...
Annan urged the Syrian government to start the withdrawal immediately and move no further into populated areas, and that commitment was provided, Rice added.
Past experience would lead us to be skeptical and to worry that over the next several days rather than a diminution of the violence, we might, yet again, see an escalation of the violence, said Rice, the current council president. We certainly hope that is not so. We hope the Syrian authorities will implement the commitments they made without condition or codicils.
Syrias UN Ambassador Bashar Jaafari said the April 10 deadline was set by common accord between Annan and the Syrian government, and he again pledged his governments complete support for Annans six-point plan to end the yearlong Syrian crisis.
Just as soon as Pencilneck is confident that he's won...
Annan told the council if Syria meets the April 10 deadline, and this can be verified, then the opposition would have 48 hours to wind down its military activities so there would be a complete cessation of hostilities, the diplomats said, speaking on condition of anonymity because his briefing was closed.
Notice how the opposition gets the shorter leash. Of course by then they'll mostly be dead so it won't matter.
Rice stressed that the Syrian agreement was just on the pullout of troops and equipment from cities and towns. She said Annan, who briefed a closed council meeting by videoconference from Geneva, is expecting details from the Syrian government very shortly on the other aspects of the plan.
Annan is sending a UN peacekeeping team and some staff to Damascus this week to continue preparations for a potential UN cease-fire monitoring mission. The joint UN-Arab League envoy also was considering borrowing troops from UN operations in the Mideast, Rice said.
"We need some more White Land Cruisers!"
Rice said Annan asked the Security Council to support the April 10 deadline and start urgently considering a potential UN monitoring mission, which would need council authorization. Rice said the Council expressed its full support.
One of the key issues is trying to unite the many different opposition factions under a single umbrella. Rice said Annans deputy, Nasser Al-Kidwa, has had constructive exchanges with the opposition to urge them to cease their operations within 48 hours of a complete cessation of government hostilities. Al-Kidwa attended a meeting of Syrian opposition groups in Istanbul last week.
Assad accepted Annans plan a week ago, but late Friday the Syrian government rejected Annans call for the regime to halt violence first. Foreign Ministry spokesman Jihad Makdessi said Friday the government will not pull tanks and troops from towns and cities engulfed by unrest before life returns to normal there.
That position may have changed, but Syrias Jaafari said his government expects Annan to get similar commitments from the opposition.
So far, the Syrian government says that it is committed and we are expecting Mr. Kofi Annan ... to get in touch with the other parties those who are involved with initiating, sponsoring and arming the armed groups also in order to make the stopping of the violence relevant to all parties, he said.
Key opposition figures joined representatives from more than 70 countries, including US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, at Sundays Friends of the Syrian People conference in Istanbul. The Friends pledged to send millions of dollars and communications equipment to Syrias opposition groups, pushed for tighter sanctions and diplomatic pressure to further isolate Assad, and urged the opposition to offer a democratic alternative to his regime.
Syrias Jaafari lashed out at the meeting and its supporters.
The so-called Conference of the Enemy of Syria in Istanbul is itself a violation and contradiction of Mr. Kofi Annans mission, he said. This is a parallel track set up by the enemies of Syria to compete with Mr. Kofi Annans mission, not only maybe to compete, maybe to undermine his mission as a whole.
Jaafari said those who want to send money to armed opposition groups or pay their salaries are committing a violation and declaration of war against the sovereignty of Syria.
Earlier Monday, Russia raised pressure on an old ally, with Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov saying Syrias government must take the first step toward settling the countrys conflict by pulling troops from city streets. Lavrovs statement at a briefing in Yerevan following talks with his Armenian counterpart appeared to reflect Moscows increasing impatience with Assad.
Or just more of the game Russia, China and Iran is playing to keep the West off balance and unable to go forward with any plan.
Russia, along with China, has twice shielded President Assad from United Nations sanctions over his crackdown on an uprising in which more than 9,000 people have been killed, according to the United Nations. But Moscow also has strongly supported Annans six-point plan.
Lavrov also warned the West against giving ultimatums to Damascus, saying that the priority now should be to separate the warring parties and open the way for the delivery of humanitarian aid.
Ultimatums and artificial deadlines rarely help, he said. We all want a quick end to bloodshed, but that demand should be addressed to all warring parties in Syria.
Lavrov said Russia didnt attend Sundays meeting of the Friends of the Syrian People because its organizers had failed to invite Syrian government representatives.
Of course not. The Syrian government is not a friend of the Syrian people...
I think such an approach is dangerous and contradicts Kofi Annans efforts, he said. We are trying to be friends of all the Syrians, and not just some part of the Syrian people.
He said that Moscow will soon host two separate opposition delegations for talks.
Continued on Page 49
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(Ma'an) -- Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, on Monday accused the Fatah-led Paleostinian Authority of detaining 79 members in the West Bank during March.
Some 32 former prisoners of Israel were among those jugged by PA forces, as well as 14 university students, Hamas said in a statement. Another 50 Hamas affiliates were summoned by PA intelligence services last month, the party added.
The Ramallah-based PA also fired a teacher and a doctor over their affiliation to Hamas, the statement said.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos... the PA extended the detention of nine Hamas members despite court orders mandating their release, Hamas said.
Fatah and Hamas signed a reconciliation deal in Cairo in May 2011 and agreed to end political detentions.
Leb's state commissioner to the military court Judge Saqr Saqr has charged six Syrian nationals and three Lebanese with smuggling weapons from Leb into neighboring Syria.
The nine people were indicted on Monday by a Lebanese court for trafficking arms into Syria through the northern Lebanese area of Masharee al-Qaa.
Only four of the Syrians and two Lebanese of those indicted are, however, jugged whereas the three others remain on the lam.
According to Lebanese media, the Lebanese army had jugged the smugglers as they were driving two trucks loaded with ammunition ready to be smuggled into Syria and confiscated their truckloads of weapons
Syrian media had earlier reported that Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... has blocked an attempt by an armed terrorist group to break into into the country from neighboring Leb.
The smuggling of arms into Syria comes as the country has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011.
The West and the Syrian opposition blame Damascus for the year-long turmoil, but the government says "terrorists" are responsible for the unrest, which it says is being orchestrated from abroad.
Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... said on February 20 that "some foreign countries" are fueling the turmoil in Syria by supporting and funding "armed terrorist groups fighting against the government."
BAGHDAD: Iraqs autonomous northern Kurdish region will not resume oil exports until an agreement has been reached with Baghdad on payments for oil companies working in the area, Kurdish Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami said on Monday.
The Kurdistan Regional Government stopped oil exports on Sunday, accusing the central government of failing to pay producers in the north, the latest clash in a long-running feud over control of oil in the north.
Oil exports will not start again unless there is an agreement on the payment policy, Hawrami told Reuters in an interview.
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NO MONEY NO OIL, sounds familiar doesn't it.
ANY gas station says rthe same, Why should the Saudis Nor pay.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/03/2012 0:11
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The Syrian army has killed at least eight gunnies in fresh festivities in northwestern city of Idlib, while freeing 66 people kidnapped by armed terrorist gangs in Homs.
Eight bad boyz were potted as fresh festivities broken out between the Syrian army and gangs in the northwestern city of Idlib on Monday. There are no reports on possible casualties from the Syrian army.
Meanwhile, ...back at the laboratory the fumes had dispersed, to reveal an ominous sight... the Syrian Army has managed to free 66 people kidnapped by gangs in the western city of Homs.
Syria has been experiencing unrest since mid-March 2011 and many people, including security forces, have bit the dust in the violence.
The West and the Syrian opposition accuse the government of killing the protesters. But Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... blames ''outlaws, saboteurs and armed terrorist groups'' for the unrest, stating that it is being orchestrated from abroad.
Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... said on February 20 that "some foreign countries" are fueling the turmoil in Syria by supporting and funding "armed terrorist groups fighting against the government."
Polling data published by Milenio news daily reports that Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) presidential candidate Enrique Pena Nieto leads his next closest rival by 20 percentage points.
Josefina Vazquez Mota (PAN)
According to the graphical polling data provided, Milenio reported that Pena Nieto leads with 50 percent, with Partido Accion Nacional (PAN) candidate Josefina Vazquez Mota trailing at 30 percent, mainstream leftist candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador at 18 percent and Partido Nueva Alliance (PANAL) candidate, Gabriel Quatri de las Torres, at less than one percent.
Mexican federal elections will take place July 1st. The active campaign phase of the presidential race started this past Saturday as all four candidates travelled throughout Mexico.
Pena Nieto and Quatri de las Torres both were campaigning in Chihuahua state over the weekend, while Vazquez Mota started in Mexico City and then went to Hidalgo state.
Enrique Pena Nieto (PRI)
Lopez Obrador leads a coalition of Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD), Partido Trabajo (PT) and others comprising the largest leftist political parties in Mexico. PRI had forged a coalition with Partido Verde Ecologista de Mexicano (PVEM) and PANAL last fall, but objections from several politicians and a near internal revolt caused the alliance to fall apart, as PRI dropped PANAL.
According to the graphic, Vazquez Mota is trending downward, but not by much, after being up by two points the week before.
Another question posed by Milenio included undecided voters. Pena Nieto led all candidates with 36 percent, while Vazquez Mota comes in a distant second at 21 percent and Lopez Obrador is third at 12.8 percent. Undecided participants were the second largest group at 29.2 percent. All candidates appear to be rising in relation with undecided.
However, the most troublesome for PAN is party preferences.
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD)
Of the four alliances, PRI appears to have gained the most in the last week, trending upward to 36 percent with PAN dropping to 21 percent, and the leftist alliance rising at 12.5 percent.
The reason why the trends are so troublesome is that the last five weeks has seen a clamp on all political news of any kind by Mexico's independent Institutio Federal Elecciones, the administrative body which oversees all federal elections. The IFE is arguably a fourth branch of government during Mexican federal elections, which controls virtually every aspect of the federal election, presidential, deputies and senators.
That means that party preference is very strong in Mexico for the PRI, once the most powerful political entity in Mexico, and has increased in preference despite the clamp on news.
The race for president will continue, of course, and three months is an eternity in Mexican politics, so those numbers are likely to change.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
MOSCOW A Russian navy destroyer will dock at the Syrian port of Tartus in the coming days after setting out on a planned mission to the region, agencies quoted military officials as saying Monday.
The Smetlivy guided-missile destroyer sailed for the Mediterranean from its Black Sea base of Sevastopol over the weekend and will shortly arrive at the Russian-leased port in Syria, state news agency and other reports said. The ship will take on new supplies of food and water before conducting planned exercises near Syrias coast, navy officials said.
One of which will be to provide early warning for any Israeli air strikes on Iran...
This will be a purely technical port call that is conducted by almost all Russian navy ships conducting exercises in the Mediterranean, a senior source in the Russian navy told Interfax.
The source said the destroyers crew would not be leaving the ship while it was docked.
Are they worried once again about defectors?
A Russian ship reportedly delivered a supply of arms to Damascus through the same port in January.
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Iff the Maha-Rushian Histoire' of the past few years is any measure, my $$$ on the Tug.
#2
If we allied with Russia, instead of Turkish vermin, maybe we could shake their relations with Iran? Vlad is bad but without the ability to bash the US, maybe he would be turfed out of the way. We never get anything from allying with muslims. We should have long seized that oilpatch and sent the locals back to their date palms.
KARACHI: As many as six people bit the dust and another 28 were maimed on Monday during a daylong clash between protesters and police in Lyari.
People erupted into the streets after person or persons unknownrubbed out PPP leader Hasan Soomro.
Nabeel Gabool, member of National Assembly from Lyari, said Soomro was standing at Aath Chowk when the faceless myrmidons opened fire on him.
A People's Aman Committee (PAC) leader said over 20 people were maimed in the festivities. He also said the injured were shifted to the Lyari ...one of the eighteen constituent towns of the city of Karachi. It is the smallest town by area in the city but also the most densely populated. Lyari has few schools, substandard hospitals, a poor water system, limited infrastructure, and broken roads. It is a stronghold of ruling Pakistan Peoples Party. Ubiquitous gang activity and a thriving narcotics industry make Lyari one of the most disturbed places in Karachi, which is really saying a lot.... General Hospital, adding that five of them gave up the ghost.
The protesters demanded that the high-ups take action against police officials who took part in the "so-called operation".
The police claimed to have recovered a kalashnikov rifle and a pistol from the possession of alleged gangster Saqib alias Sakhi. Saqib was killed in a police 'encounter' in Chakiwara area on Sunday.
However, ars longa, vita brevis... taking advantage of narrow streets, Saqib's accomplices, Umer Katchi, Baba Ladla, Abdul Jabbar alias Jeengo, Taj Muhammad alias Taju and others had decamped from the scene. An inquiry has been ordered into the killing of Saqib and the 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... South deputy commissioner has been made the inquiry officer.
The dear departed were identified as, Ali, Qasim, Sharif, Zakir, Haq Nawaz and Hasan. The injured include Yasmin, Gul Bano, Yasir, Ghulam Nabi, Sajid, Barkat, Saqib, Sher Muhammad, Yasir, Chaman, Arif, Rehman, Muhammad, Javed, Shahab, Khalid, Shazad, Rashid, Saleem, Umer, Faheem, Shahid, Mumtaz, Saleh, Aftab, Imran, Shahzad and Aslam.
Several faceless myrmidons forced shopkeepers to close down their shops and also exchanged fire with the police the whole day.
On Monday evening, the Sindh government sent fresh reinforcements and deployed police commandos in the area.
Panic gripped the surrounding areas, including Kharadar, where gunshots were also reported. Unidentified assailants resorted to firing and also forced shopkeepers to close down their shops in Landhi, Lasbela Chowk and Nishtar Road areas. Meanwhile, ...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings... similar incidents were reported in areas stretching from Teen Hatti to Ranchore Line.
The North Korean military is developing unmanned "suicide" attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwesternmost islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday.
'Suicide' pretty much sums up the Nork military strategy...
The source claimed the North is developing unmanned attack aircraft "using high-speed U.S. target drones imported from a Middle Eastern country." This is presumed to be Syria.
How did Syria procure them?
A high-speed target drone is used as a target for testing surface-to-air missiles. The target drones the North imported are believed to be MQM-107D Streakers. The jet-powered Streakers can fly at up to 925 km/h with a fuselage 5.5 m long and a wingspan of 3 m. They are used by Egypt, Iran and Jordan, as well as Sweden, Turkey, Australia, and Taiwan. South Korea has also used them to test anti-aircraft missiles and conduct missile target training.
The drones the North is trying to develop would be equipped with a small bomb that can carry out a suicide attack on a target up to 250 km away. Intelligence agencies speculated the development is not complete.
They "are less sophisticated than up-to-date unmanned attack aircraft that the U.S. used in the Afghan and Iraq War," a military expert said. "But our military could suffer damage if development succeeds and the North launches kamikaze-style attacks."
The North is also suspected of remodeling the Pchela-1T, a propeller-powered drone it imported from Russia, into an unmanned attack aircraft and having deployed reconnaissance drones built based on the Chinese D-4 aircraft.
The kamikaze drones are likely to be deployed at the 4th Army Corps in Hwanghae Province, which shelled Yeonpyeong Island in 2010.
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"Kamikaze Drone" sounds sexy, but isn't this just a short range cruise missile?
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Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Jennie Garth aka Kelly Taylor in "Beverly Hills, 90210 (19902000)" aka Valerie Tyler in "What I Like About You (20022006)" aka Jacqueline 'Jake' Cooper in "The Last Cowboy (TV Movie 2003)" aka Sarah Bennett in "Girl, Positive (TV Movie 2007)" aka Mary Fagan Bailey in "My Brother's War (1997)" (age 40)
Despite all the recent excitements, life, so to speak, goes on.
(Ma'an) -- A 19-year-old man died in southern Gazoo on Monday after he fell in a tunnel under the border with Egypt, a medical official said.
Motaz Abu Jazar, from Rafah, worked in the Gazoo tunnel network which provides a lifeline of goods into the blockaded coastal strip.
He fell near the Salah al-Din gate on the southern border, emergency services front man Adham Abu Salmiya said.
Officials estimate at least 150 Paleostinians have died in tunnel-related accidents.
In early March, a one-year-old baby died after falling into the opening of a tunnel in southern Gazoo.
Since Israel tightened its blockade of the Gazoo Strip in 2007, residents have relied on goods and fuel smuggled from Egypt through a network of underground tunnels.
DOHA: Iraq's runaway Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi on Monday rejected Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... 's demand for Qatar to hand him over, saying he enjoys constitutional immunity and has not been convicted.
"There has not been a judicial decision against me from any court, and the demand does not respect Article 93 of the constitution, which provides me with immunity," he told AFP in the Qatari capital.
Earlier, Storied Baghdad had demanded Doha hand over Hashemi, who is accused of running a death squad, and who arrived in the Gulf state on Sunday from Iraq's autonomous Kurdistan, where he decamped in December. "Why do they demand that Qatar extradite me?. Officials in Kurdistan have responded to a similar request by telling them that I have immunity according to Article 93," Hashemi said.
Hashemi told AFP he would return to Kurdistan after a "tour around some capitals" which he did not name. Iraq's Deputy Prime Minister Hussein al-Shahristani condemned Qatar's welcoming of Hashemi as "unacceptable" and demanded his extradition. "The state of Qatar receiving a wanted person is an unacceptable act and Qatar should back off from this stance, and return him to Iraq," he told a news conference in Storied Baghdad. afp
(Xinhua) -- U.S. federal agents set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock 74 undocumented Democrats in the Houston area as part of a six-day nationwide sweep that netted more than 3,100 arrests, authorities said Monday.
The six-day ``Cross Check'' operation, which ended Thursday, was the largest of its kind, involving more than 1,900 Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) officers and agents, along with officials from federal, state and local law enforcement organizations, according to ICE.
Roughly 90 percent of those set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock were with criminal records for offenses including murder, kidnapping and drug trafficking, authorities said.
In addition to the 74 set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock in the Houston area, authorities also set to sit in solemn silence in a dull, dark dock, in a pestilential prison with a life-long lock 11 in Beaumont and nine in College Station, according to the daily Houston Chronicle.
Arrests were made in all 50 states during the anti-undocumented Democrat sweep, according to media reports.
#3
ION DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Arabic Websites threaten ...] AL-QAEDA "COMING AGAIN SOON" TO NYC, GRAPHIC WARNS.
and
* TOPIX > JIHADIST INFILTRATION, by various major pro-Islamist, pro-Jihad Groups in the lower Americas as perhaps best symbolized by Iran in Venezuela.
[ARACHNOPHOBIA = "GRAND-DADDY OF THEM ALL" Spider Movie here].
#9
Nothing said about deportations. The President's special office that defends illegals will make a big show of defending them, seen only through the Spanish speaking media outlets of the state controlled media.
#10
Janet Napolitano of Department of Homeland inSecurity Department has just announced they are sending out "Unlawful Presence Waivers" to 20 Million Mexican nationals.
Posted by: Jack Hupenter2721 ||
04/03/2012 13:08
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Those 74 represent about 1 minute's worth of illegal border crossers.
The new 1 WTC, left, and 4 WTC, right foreground, April, 2012.
NEW YORK -The new World Trade Center has reached a milestone. The skyscraper being built to replace the terror-wrecked twin towers is now 100 stories high. That's just four feet (1.2 meters) short of becoming the tallest building in New York City and surpassing the Empire State Building.
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I wish they had not built it as it is a challenge for a terorist to try to destroy it.
GAZA CITY (Ma'an) -- Israeli planes dropped pamphlets in the southern Gazoo Strip on Monday morning, warning Paleostinians not to enter a no-go zone on its southern border.
The leaflets, signed by Israeli forces general command, include a map of the zone, a Ma'an correspondent said.
An Israeli army spokeswoman said the leaflets were dropped in several locations, and "reiterated to the citizens of the Gazoo Strip to keep a 300-meter distance," from the border area.
Israeli soldiers "will operate in accordance with the rules of engagement, and will use live fire if they need when the security fence is approached," the leaflet warned, according to the spokeswoman.
It also warned against "cooperation with terror organizations, involvement in violent riots, and approaching the security fence," she said.
The Israeli army said soldiers rubbed out a Paleostinian they suspected of trying to plant explosives beneath a fence at the border with Gazoo late on Saturday.
"It should be noted that during the past week, (Israeli) soldiers uncovered three bombs adjacent to the security fence in the Gazoo Strip. All three devices were diffused in a controlled manner," an army statement said Sunday.
None of the gangs in the Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-ruled Gazoo Strip grabbed credit for the alleged incident.
North Korea is building a missile that is even bigger than the long-range missile it is preparing to launch this month, sources claimed Monday. South Korean and U.S. officials believe the North will unveil the missile at a military parade on April 15, nation founder Kim Il-sung's centenary, or on April 25, which marks the founding day of the North's Army.
A government source here said U.S. reconnaissance satellites recently spotted a 40-m missile at a research and development facility in Pyongyang that is larger than the existing Taepodong-2 missile. "It remains uncertain whether this missile is functional or is just a life-sized mock-up," the official added.
The rocket North Korea is preparing to launch soon is apparently 32 m long, the same as the Taepodong-2 that was launched in April 2009 with a maximum range of 6,700 km. The new missile is believed to be larger and equipped with a bigger booster that gives it a maximum range of more than 10,000 km, making it capable of reaching the continental U.S.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Pudgy got a smallish Penis?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
04/03/2012 3:29
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Whatever happened to suspending their nuclear program?
France acting seriously in War on Terror stuff. They clearly are unhappy about the Toulouse murderer... and sharing their unhappiness widely. Good for them.
(Ma'an) -- La Belle France urged pro-Paleostinian activists, who plan to visit Bethlehem this month in solidarity with residents of the occupied West Bank, to avoid joining the operation given there was a high risk of being jugged or turned back by Israeli authorities.
About 1,200 Paleostinian supporters throughout Europe have bought plane tickets for the visit on April 15 to help open an international school and a museum at the request of a local organization called "Welcome to Paleostine".
A similar, though smaller, operation last year led to a few hundred activists being blocked at European airports.
Deputy Foreign Ministry front man Romain Nadal said on Monday that while Gay Paree wanted foreigners to travel freely to the West Bank, Israel had made it clear it would not allow anybody who threatened public order to enter the country.
"La Belle France is concerned by the risk of incidents ... as part of 'Welcome to Paleostine' operation" he said. "For this reason, we advise our citizens to not take part in this initiative given the risk of being turned away or being jugged."
Israel has occupied the West Bank, home to 2.5 million Paleostinians, since 1967. Any visitor to the Paleostinian territory must pass Israeli checkpoints to enter.
"Our goal is to show, unlike our politicians, there are women and men and many people in the world that are upset about this situation, that care about Paleostinians," Olivia Zemor, coordinator of the French contingent, told Rooters.
"We are coming to show the world we are not prepared to give up human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. and international law," added Zemor.
A computer graphic warning that al-Qaeda will return soon to New York City has been posted on an internet site linked to the terror organization, and the NYPD and FBI say they are investigating.
The graphic was posted on a radical overseas website and shows the city skyline and reads: "Al Qaeda Coming Soon Again in New York."
#3
The Western response to an attack on the scale of Pearl Harbor has been a counterinsurgency strategy trying to win hearts and minds.
The West left the moderate Taliban in power even though the Taliban were an undisputed state sponsor of the 9/11 attacks. Now we're begging the radical Taliban to come to the negotiating table, to haggle over danegeld.
Why should any rational hostile state actor fear the consequences of sponsoring an attack on the West?
#4
If I were Al Queda I'd make a few graphics like this and force massive wasting of resources trying to stop it. Couple of hints and threats could cost millions. Then release something suggesting CIA fabricated the terror threats to build on fears.
After a few years nobody would be paying attention because of the amount of false positives. Then you do whatever.
I believe they tried that with airlines for awhile. Whether or not they figured the system or are afraid of scanners who knows.
#5
I'd have done similar as Saddam. Watch the expensive buildup, then concede issues for peace and the buildup ether costs a fortune or is pulled back.
Try it again and again and waste Uncle Sams time and money.
Of course I'm not a member of an honor/shame society. I'd rather win a war. Convincing the other guy it costs too much is one way of winning.
And if I blew it and the Yanks invaded, well then I'm in the same situation as Saddam ended up.
PESHAWAR: The Frontier Corps (FC) said on Monday that around 100 Afghan Taliban attacked a border post near Sahala in Mohmand ... Named for the Mohmand clan of the Sarban Pahstuns, a truculent, quarrelsome lot. In Pakistain, the Mohmands infest their eponymous Agency, metastasizing as far as the plains of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar, Charsadda, and Mardan. Mohmands are also scattered throughout Pakistan in urban areas including Karachi, Lahore, and Quetta. In Afghanistan they are mainly found in Nangarhar and Kunar... Agency and killed four soldiers.
The attack occurred in Olai, part of the Mohmand Agency, the FC said, adding that the soldiers retaliated the fire, killing 15 terrorists. The area is cut off to journalists and aid workers and it was not possible to confirm the corpse count independently.
A local official said, "Terrorists attacked an FC checkpost in Baizai on Sunday night, which triggered a firefight, killing four troops and 15 terrorists." Five troops were also injured and faceless myrmidons had infiltrated Pakistain from Afghanistan's northeastern Kunar province ... which is right down the road from Chitral. Kunar is Haqqani country..... , he said.
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.
Obama's assault on "an unelected group of people" stopped me cold. Because, as the former constitutional law professor certainly understands, it is the essence of our governmental system to vest in the court the ultimate power to decide the meaning of the constitution. Even if, as the president said, it means overturning "a duly constituted and passed law." 
cycle of violence
The U.S. has sent its most advanced mobile radar system from the Pearl Harbor naval base to the Pacific ahead of North Korea's expected rocket launch in mid-April, CNN reported last Friday. The Sea Based X-Band Radar-1, which sits atop a floating platform, has the ability to search or track targets up to 2,000 km away and is capable of monitoring the North's missile launch without having to come near the Korean Peninsula.
...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...
JERUSALEM: Israel has placed a high-profile Palestinian prisoner in solitary confinement for a week after he called from his cell for a new wave of civil resistance, the Prisons Authority said yesterday.
Hillary Clinton
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
BAGHDAD: Iraqs autonomous northern Kurdish region will not resume oil exports until an agreement has been reached with Baghdad on payments for oil companies working in the area, Kurdish Energy Minister Ashti Hawrami said on Monday.
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Josefina Vazquez Mota (PAN)
Enrique Pena Nieto (PRI)
Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador (PRD)
The North Korean military is developing unmanned "suicide" attack aircraft to target South Korean troops on the northwesternmost islands, a South Korean Army source claimed Sunday. 
North Korea is building a missile that is even bigger than the long-range missile it is preparing to launch this month, sources claimed Monday. South Korean and U.S. officials believe the North will unveil the missile at a military parade on April 15, nation founder Kim Il-sung's centenary, or on April 25, which marks the founding day of the North's Army.
Mohmand
