For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey city, click here Updated with new information from Milenio news daily
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
Eight unidentified individuals were shot to death in two separate events in Guadalupe, Nuevo Leon Tuesday, according to Mexican news accounts.
Five of the victims were taxi drivers killed in a a single shooting near the intersection of Avenida Eloy Cavazos and Calle Pajaros Azules in Cuenca Verde colony with one unidentified individual wounded.
The shooters subsequently went to another area and killed three more, wounding two others. At least one of the victims was a child of nine. That shooting took place near the intersection of avendias Eloy Cavazos and San Roque in Lomas de San Roque colony.
The area of the first attack is near Cerro de la Silla, which is a hillock used by drug gang lookouts to report movement of security forces in Monterrey city. It is unclear in concurrent reports or in previous reports which drug gang made use of the area.
News reports say the shootings were against a rival gang's lookouts.
Three other individuals were killed in several incidents in and around Monterrey city Monday and Tuesday.
An unidentified man was detained in Escobedo, Nuevo Leon following a pursuit by Apodaca municipal police agents. The man was aboard a Ford sedan on the road leading to Santa Rosa, when he was signalled by police to stop. Instead the detainee initiated a pursuit which ended in Escobedo. One hand gun was seized at the conclusion of the chase.
An unidentified man in his 20s was found decapitated in Linares, Nuevo Leon Tuesday. The victim was wrapped in a blanket, which had an undisclosed message, and left near the intersection of calles Morones Prieto and Diaz Miron in San Francisco colony.
Two unidentified Agencia Estatal de Investigaciones (AEI) agents exchanged gunfire with two car thieves as the officers were taking lunch at a fast food restaurant in Leones colony in Monterrey Tuesday. One suspect was wounded in the gunfight which began as the thieves attempted to steal a truck. It is unclear if either of the two car thieves were detained following the gunfight.
An unidentified man was found shot to death late Tuesday morning in Juarez, Nuevo Leon. The victim was found near the intersection of calles Capitolio and Monte Palatin in Campestre Monte Bello colony. The victim was apparently shot elsewhere then dumped.
A taxi cab driver was found shot to death in San Pedro Garza Garcia Monday evening. Rodolfo Davila de la Rosa, 39, was found near the intersection of calles Enrique Herrera and Tamaulipas in Canteras colony, shot numerous times with an AR-15 assault rifle. The victim had been kidnapped Sunday night in Altamira colony in south Monterrey. Eight spent .223 caliber shell casings were found at the scene.
Two unidentified armed suspects were detained following a pursuit and shootout in south Monterrey. A patrol of Fuerza Civil attempted to make a traffic stop on Avenida Lazaro Cardenas of two individuals travelling aboard a Honda Civic sedan, which had been reported as stolen. Instead the driver attempted to escape the stop. The driver crashed the vehicle into two other parked vehicles on calle Cerro de la Silla where the chase ended. One unidentified police agents was hit by gunfire incident. One of the detainees was an escaped inmate from the Apodaca Centro de Readaptacion Social (CERESO) prison.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs Johnnie Carson said Monday that religion is not driving extremist violence in Nigeria--just one day after a Christian church conducting an Easter service was targeted by a car bombing that left 39 dead.
Similarly, on Christmas Day, the Nigerian Islamist terrorist group, Boko Haram, attacked a Catholic church in that country, killing more than 40 people.
I want to take this opportunity to stress one key point and that is that religion is not driving extremist violence either in Jos or northern Nigeria, Assistant Secretary of State Carson said Monday at a forum on U.S. policy toward Nigeria held at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C.
Crouching behind a wooden barrier, 27-year-old Sergeant Sara Delawar fires her M-4 rifle at a target showing the silhouette of a man, part of a training exercise for Afghan special forces.
Anxious to defuse tensions stoked by foreign male soldiers raiding Afghans' homes at night in what is a conservative Muslim country, Afghanistan has begun training elite female troops to join Afghan male soldiers on operations.
"Before we joined this unit, our operations were done by foreign troops and they did not know our culture. People were critical so we joined to help out," Delawar, a former policewoman in Jowzjan province, said.
"I have already fought the Taliban. My comrades were martyred in fights with the Taliban and we have killed them too, but during the night raids I haven't fought insurgents yet."
Fluent in four local languages, Delawar is one of only 12 female soldiers who has been trained to fight and conduct searches in what is an attempt to pay greater respect to cultural sensitivities.
Surprise night raids in pursuit of militants have long stoked anti-Western sentiment in Afghanistan, with many locals seeing them as assaults on their privacy and on women's privacy in particular.
In a surprise move, Jordan has decided to revoke the Jordanian citizenship of Palestinian Authority and PLO officials, sources in Amman disclosed Wednesday.
The sources said that the decision would also affect the leaders of the PA, who would be granted temporary Jordanian passports to facilitate their travel.
The move coincides with a new electoral law in Jordan that seeks to limit Palestinian representation in parliament.
The latest steps are seen in the context of Jordan's 1988 decision to sever all legal and administrative ties with the West Bank, except for Jordanian sponsorship of the Muslim holy sites in Jerusalem.
The late King Hussein then justified the move by arguing that it was intended to help the Palestinians establish their own independent state.
The Jordanians have defended the decision to strip Palestinians of their Jordanian citizenship by explaining that it is aimed at "preserving the Palestinians' national identity and paving the way for their return to Palestine."
It's not known at this stage if PA President Mahmoud Abbas would be stripped of his Jordanian citizenship, the sources told the Saudi newspaper Al-Madina.
#3
Many moons ago, I was watching some news footage boo-hooing the appalling conditions in some Paleo refugee camp. Being a traditionalist, the phrase "refugee camp" calls up images of tents, porta-johns, food lines and fly-bitten orphans. What the news clip showed where multi-story cinder block buildings. Not exactly the hardship and deprivation story they were trying to sell. Nice to see property values have gone up.
#1
What a bunch of moroons! As usual they do not think through the unintended consequences. That seems to apply to their entire life cycle. Boggles the mind.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/11/2012 18:06
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#2
A P, sounds a lot like the Liberal Left here.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
04/11/2012 19:15
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#3
"It's not nice to snicker..."
Can we snigger, tw, or is that racist? ;-p
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/11/2012 20:51
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Oneok Partners is building a 270-mile (435-km) pipeline system that will deliver natural gas produced in the Bakken shale to market by the end of 2013, as it hopes to cash in on the huge volumes of the fuel being flared in North Dakota. The oil is being hauled out by train, until one of the two pipelines proposed gets built. In the meantime, some of the gas is being burned up at the site.
The gas-gathering network in Divide County will cost from $140 million to $160 million and link wells in the Bakken to Oneok's planned processing facility in Williams County, which is expected online in the first half of next year.
Oil production in North Dakota has increased rapidly in recent years, but the gas produced alongside it has generally been flared due to a lack of investment in pipeline infrastructure, attracting the ire of environmentalists. Not just wasting it, but heating the environment by burning it, AND adding CO2!
North Dakota produced 17.7 billion cubic feet of gas in January, only 62.5 per cent of which was brought to market, state figures show.
But companies aiming to profit from the state's abundance of natural gas are beginning to build up a network of pipes, compressor stations and treatment plants in the region.
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/11/2012
10:24 ||
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#1
Not just wasting it, but heating the environment by burning it, AND adding CO2!
It is the only thing standing between us and the next Ice Age.
North Korean leader Suet Face Kim Jong-un was given his first official title as leader of the country on Wednesday, while his late father was named "eternal general secretary".
The state-run Korean Central News Agency announced that Fat Boy Kim Jung-un, the third and youngest son of long-time leader Kim Jong-il, was named "first secretary" of the Workers' Party, a new top position in the party.
Kim Jong-il's new title of "General Secretary for Eternity" follows on from his father, Kim Il-sung being made president for eternity when he died. Great. Carve it on the stone.
The conference "decided to hold Kim Jong-il, the great leader of the WPK and the Korean people, in high esteem as eternal general secretary", the news agency said. Accordingly, the decision was based on "the unanimous will and desire of all the party members and other people".
The rare political conference in Pyongyang took place during a week of celebrations commemorating the 100th anniversary of the birth of the nation's founder on Sunday.
#2
IIRC the numbers, non-Chinese trade already comprises roughly 90% of DPRK external/foreign trade - the DPRK is effec a Chinese-dominated or controlled economy.
#2
Heard on the radio this morning there was an 8.2 aftershock.
We're still dealing with aftershocks from the Virginia earthquake last year - in the 2 range. I don't want to even think of an "aftershock" in the 8 range.
Posted by: Barbara ||
04/11/2012 11:47
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#3
I did feel a very minor shaker or tremblor here in Agana, but thus far no reports of anything local in the Guam PDN + Marianas Variety, or local Net News.
As per SPACEWEATHER.COM, Earth was hit by a Solar Wind on April 9th, as caused by a CME which seemingly missed the planet.
What does concern me wid these Quakes is that, once again, INCOMING GRAVITY = EM WAVES have DISTORTED OR WARPED THE BACKGROUND REALITY OUT OF ITS PROPER/NORMAL DIMENSION, prolly as per the abovementioned Solar Wind which repor tore a hole(s) in the Earth's Magnetosphere.
ITS WEIRD, BOTH SHOCKING AS WELL AS NTERESTING, TO SEE PEOPLE + BUILDINGS, ETC. AROUND YOU BECOME GRAVITATIONALLY DISTORTED OR WARPED,espec wid the latter Personages seemingly not being aware of what is happening.
Ditto in many ways as per GROUND TECTONICS, i.e. to see People normally walk around to-n-fro their regular activities unaware that the hard ground below their feet is actually "alive".
[ACTOR GENE WILDER = HIS NAME IS PRONOUNCED DR. FRANKENSTEIN [sch-tine], NOT FRANKENSTEEN here].
I have heard that Kuwait has opened visas for Pakistanis but there is a condition and these visas are only for those who lie in category of executives. If this is true, please confirm because I have been suffering for the last 3 years to get my family to Kuwait.
Name withheld
Answer:
No, it is not true. These are only rumors and visas are not being issued for any category of Pakistanis.
The Philippine Navy has apparently caught Chinese fisherman in its claimed waters. China has positioned a vessel between the fishermen and the Philippine vessels. As a result football and basketball games have broken out between Viet Nam and the Philippines (don't ask).
#1
A diplomatic row has started between China + Philippines, wid Manila repor summoning China's Envoy - more Ships repor also are inbound.
More ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > CHINA ORDERS PHILIPPINE NAVY TO LEAVE DISPUTED WATERS. Settlement by Chinese Embassy in Manila.
ARTIC > CHINA = warns that the Philippines should not underestimate China's willingness to forcefully unilaterally safeguard + defend its interests.
* SAME > INDIA WLL NOT BE BOGGED DOWN BY BEIJING'S WARNING, in the SCS | INDIA CAPABLE OF SAFEGUARDING ITS INTERESTS.
ARTIC > Union Minister Ashwani Kumar = whom also reiterates Krisha's earlier description of the SCS as the "Property of the World".
IMO THE MAHA-RUSHIAN QUESTIONNE' OF THE MOMENT IS WHETHER RUSSIA HAS INDJUH'S BACK VEE CHINA???
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > CHINA STAKES CLAIMS TO ISLANDS [Paracels = Xishas] WID "PRINCESS COCONUT" VOYAGE [Cruise Ship].
Historical "Gunboat/Battleship/Carrier Diplomacy" has apparently surrendered like France to "Cruise/Tour/Love Boat" Diplomacy???
D *** NG IT, COUPLES CAN EAT, DANCE, ROMANCE, GET MARRIED, GAMBLE, SHOP DUTY-FREE, WEAR COOL SUNGLASSES + HATS, .... + CLAIM ANOTHER COUNTRY'S TERRITORY(S)!
versus
* SAME > [Russian Military Review] CHINA EYES MAJOR NAVAL EXPANSION.
Russ Analysts say China plans to build 200 more naval vessels + 2 Conventional [oil-fired], 1 Nuclear CV's by 2020, TO HELP BREAK-OUT FINALLY FROM THE RESTRICTIVE GEOPOL + GEOGRAPHIC BARRIERS OF THE "FIRST ISLAND CHAIN".
IMO also read, CHINA WANTS THE SSSSSSHHHHHH ISSUE OF TAIWANESE SOVEREIGNTY + ESPEC REUNIFICATION "GUARANTEED" RESOLVED IN ITS FAVOR BY 2020???
* NEWS KERALA > CHINA IS WORLD'S SECOND LARGEST ECONOMY, NOT THE WORLD'S SECOND STRONGEST ECONoMY: FOREIGN MINISTRY [Official].
Well, dats why its desires JAPAN + SOUTH KOREA TO BE UNDER ITS ORBIT, + its support for larger "ASIAN UNION(S)".
On a separate note, I say again that, iff the US + UNO = future OWG won't do it, China's Govt. + Intellectuals need to do their own reliable = apolitical Expert Analyses as per GWCC, SOlar Activity(s), + National, Global "Peak Oil/Resources", etc. just for its own Interests.
* SAME > CHINA PLANS TO KEEP ITS POPULATION WIDIN 1.39BILYUHN LIMIT BY 2015. Its population was already allegedly 1.34Bilyuhn by EOY 2011 + stands to formally expand by another 200.0Milyuhn by 2015.
Beijing still has a prob in that many Populat Perts in the US-West don't believe the Govt's figures, + that China's real population figures between 2.4-2.8Bilyuhn [+ growing]. Some alos question Beijing's ability to control its Population Growths, espec outside of the major Cities-Towns.
* PACIFICNEWSCENTER [aka Guam K-57] > YOMIURI: TOKYO OFFERS TO PAY FOR US BASE ON TINIAN, in the CNMI.
* MARIANAS VARIETY [CNMI News] > TINIAN MAYOR: NO NEED TO RE-NEGOTIATE [Tinian] LAND LEASE AGREEMENT.
Lest we fergit, controversial TOKYO GOVERNOR SHINTARO ISHIHARA = JAPAN ONLY NEEDS A YEAR TO PRODUCE NUCLEAR WEAPONS, + should dev such as a key "bargaining/dipomatic chip" worthy of Nippon returning as MAJOR OR "GREAT POWER" ONCE AGAIN IN THE WORLD.
#3
I grew up in Japan and the Philippines.
I know enough to know, that they will "Stand their ground..." against the sharp-elbowed Neo-Maoists. NORK Space sabre-rattling is laughable, IMHO---
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/11/2012 7:37
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#3
Just two teenagers at first love.
Posted by: jack salami ||
04/11/2012 10:13
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#4
It's not the slobbering loony,liberal love affair that it was presented as originally? The egos of these two egomaniacs were sure to class. Now if Obama, Pelosi, and Reid had also been in the mix that would be something to behold.
#7
Olbermann was the bilge plug keeping the Current garbage scow afloat. My prediction: Rosie O'Donnell. I think Whoopie Goldberg and Joy Behar are entirely too relevant for Current TV.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
04/11/2012 22:29
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#1
Global Warming: Some ideas are so absurd, only an intellectual would believe it.
Posted by: jack salami ||
04/11/2012 10:18
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#2
Anyone who managed to stay awake through high-school science would be skeptical of the Global Warming propaganda campaign. But for those who spent the time smoking in the lavatory, here is a hint, good for many of life's situations:
Any time someone says "I can't show you the numbers, you'll just try to find something wrong with them", they are trying to sell you something you probably shouldn't ought to buy.
#8
Actually, most pistols are front-end lite. This looks like a combination of utility and balance.
I presume you can take the thing off, or switch it to your '03?
Not a bad idea.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
04/11/2012 9:36
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Sean OReilly was 16 when his mother gave him the talk that most black parents give their teenage sons, Denisa R. Superville of the Hackensack (NJ) Record tells us. Meanwhile, down in Atlanta: Her sons were 12 and 8 when Marlyn Tillman realized it was time for her to have the talk, Gracie Bonds Staples writes in the Fort Worth Star-Telegram.
Leonard Greene talks about the talk in the New York Post. Someone bylined as KJ DellAntonia talks about the talk in The New York Times. Darryl Owens talks about the talk in the Orlando Sentinel.
Yes, talk about the talk is all over.
There is a talk that nonblack Americans have with their kids, too. My own kids, now 19 and 16, have had it in bits and pieces as subtopics have arisen. If I were to assemble it into a single talk, it would look something like the following.
h/t Instapundit
Sweden has a longstanding reputation as an egalitarian country with a narrow gender gap. But a national debate about gender equality particularly as it plays out in schools has revealed substantial dissatisfaction, with some Swedes feeling it has gone too far.
Rousing controversy now is the issue of gender pedagogy, a concept that emerged in the early 2000s and typically involves challenging gender stereotypes in learning material and in avoiding treating male and female pupils in a stereotypical manner. Proponents believe such a perspective should infuse day-to-day work at schools rather than be taught as a separate subject. But what has sharpened the debate in Sweden has been the argument that schools should also be gender neutral, giving children the opportunity to define themselves as neither male nor female if they wish.
h/t Instapundit
The Republican side of the Senate Budget Committee will release this chart later today, clearly showing that America's debt is greater than the combined debt of the entire Eurozone and the U.K
#1
Is the purpose an emotional appeal to Dems' desire to make the US more like Europe? To persuade them to take their foot off the gas? Because with ZIRP, QEn+1, and the unique position of the US dollar as the global reserve currency, Dems might argue: so what? The likelihood that it will all be paid back decreases a bit every day, and everyone knows it. So why stop the gravy train now? Why unnecessarily inflict pain (and lose voters), when they can dither until those nasty conservatives are forced to be the bad guys (and lose voters) at some later date. Where's the downside?
#4
Nothing new BP. The whole 'no inflation' position at the Treasury and Fed is because they're only looking at all the Bubble priced housing on the banks listings as the baseline to protect their brotherhood from the consequences of their actions. Till the housing prices inflate back to that baseline, they'll do nothing. The rest of us are expendable to the ravages of day to day inflation at the food markets and gas stations.
#1
This sounds to me like the warring among the Christian denominations in the 16th - 18th centuries. Catholics, Lutherans, Methodists, Presbyterian, etc. just couldn't get along. Throw in the non-religious power struggles and .......
For a map, click here. For a map of Tamaulipas click here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A Mexican Policia Federal (PF) road patrol unit stopped a truck convoy carrying what appeared to be several Sand Cat armored vehicles near Ciudad Victoria Tamaulipas, according to Mexican news accounts.
It is unclear in current accounts how many trucks were carrying how many vehicles, but photos taken at the scene show at least four vehicles.
The convoy was apparently moving south along the Matamoros to Ciudad Victoria highway when the PF unit stopped them. The security protocol initiated at the scene also drew a number of other security forces units including Mexican Army units.
Spanish language reports do not say if anyone was detained, but do indicate the convoy was prevented from moving further.
Since late March the Mexican federal government, including Policia Federal have imposed a total news blackout in observance of the federal presidential election. The Mexican Secretaria de Seguridad Publica (SSP), the controlling agency for the Policia Federal does not release information, and only responds to press enquiries about specific incidents.
The Sand Cat is in use by both the Mexican Army and PF units, especially in Tamaulipas state where a number of army and PF units were moved starting last January. The vehicle was originally designed by an Israeli defense firm, but is now marketed by Oshkosh Defense Corporation in several variants. The vehicle itself is based on the Ford F550 truck chassis. Variants include a vehicle being marketed as a replacement for the MRAP armored vehicles, developed during the Iraqi and Afghanistan wars.
The Sand Cats aboard the tractor trailer rigs were painted blue, not green or navy blue used by most Mexican security forces road patrol units.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[Tripoli Post] Libya's official news agency LANA reported on Monday that the country's interim authorities have stopped paying bonuses to former rebels due to widespread fraud costing millions of Libyan dinars.
Mohammed Harizi, front man for the ruling National Transitional Council, was quoted saying that
"Payment of rewards to rebels have been stopped due to violations and abuses," and that "millions of (Libyan) dinars allocated to revolutionaries were lost in (illegitimate) payments to non-beneficiaries."
Mr Harizi went on to say that the Libyan authorities have referred the violations to the offices of the attorney general and audit bureau for investigation. As such, no further payments would be made until distribution mechanisms are revised and the lists of beneficiaries approved by local military councils across the country.
The NTC front man stressed that the main purpose of bonuses was to encourage former rebels to join the official institutions of the state and to hand in their weapons.
Meanwhile there have been reports of forces of Evil expressing their anger over non-payment by protesting in front of the government headquarters in Libya's capital,Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of thich is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... and blocking traffic in some neighbourhoods of the capital.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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[Yemen Post] Yemen's ex-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... has set conditions to leave his country including that the United Arab Emirates give a written acceptance to host him for two years along with tens of his family members, Akhbar al-Youm newspaper reported, quoting a statement by a Gulf diplomat,
The daily also quoted the diplomat as saying the condition of Saleh came after the US and Soddy Arabia had convinced the UAE to host him during the two-year transitional period.
"The UAE has initially agreed to do within the efforts to ease the implementation of a power transfer deal in Yemen, which was brokered by the GCC countries and backed by the West topped by the US in November after months of turmoil," the diplomat said.
On Monday, a Saudi paper quoted a Gulf diplomat as saying the countries, sponsoring a the power transfer that saw Saleh relinquish power after 33 years in office, had threatened to sanction him and his loyalists, including military and security commanders if they hinder the implementation of the deal and the UN resolution 2014.
Saleh has been seen as trying to come back to politics and local observers said his stay in the country is affecting the political reconciliation, especially because some senior army and security commanders are still his relatives or those who are very loyal to him.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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[An Nahar] Iran has cut oil exports to Spain, Iranian media outlets Al-Alam and Press TV said on Tuesday, quoting unidentified sources.
"Oil exports to Spain have been cut," the Arab-language Al-Alam network said on its website.
If confirmed, the halt of crude to Spain would expand Iran's pre-emptive stoppage of crude sales to the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... , which is implementing an oil embargo on Iran due to come fully into effect on July 1.
In February, Tehran announced it was stopping all oil exports to Britannia and La Belle France in a largely symbolic gesture because those countries imported little Iranian crude anyway.
Spain, though, relied on Iran for some 12 percent of its crude imports last year, or around 160,000 barrels per day, according to the International Energy Agency.
Al-Alam reported that Iran was also mulling stopping crude exports to Germany and Italia.
The reports of the cut in oil exports to Spain came ahead of talks Iran is to hold on Saturday in Istanbul with world powers over its disputed nuclear program.
The European Union and the United States have been upping sanctions on Iran this year to punish it for activities they fear masks a drive towards nuclear weapons capability -- something Tehran denies it is seeking.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#1
Ok, so Iran stops selling the oil to Spain and sells it to whom? And from where was that party buying oil before they bought it from Iran? So now old seller to Iran's new buyer has extra oil to sell, which they sell to ... SPAIN!
#2
Iran has been focussing on sales to India and China, crosspatch. Both have increased needs due to increased prosperity, and no moral objection to Iran becoming regional hegemon on the back of its nuclear program.
#3
India and China need to hedge their Iranian oil sources, as Iran could dry up in a war of its own making. Like slitting your own throat.
The moral of this story in the short term is to not depend on Iran for crude oil supply, if you are smart.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/11/2012 14:57
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#4
Iran could dry up
I understand Iran has only about eight years left if they pump at current rates, Alaska Paul. They haven't been able to invest in maintenance and improvement because of sanctions. How they are going to live on pistachios and Persian rugs after that is beyond me.
An American hacker, who calls himself "The Raptor" and claims to be a grandfather waging his own war on terror, is taking credit for a series of takedowns of online forums used by Al Qaeda sympathizers, FoxNews.com has learned.
#1
Love it. He knows our young people are dieing on a daily basis fighting these bastards in places like Afghanistan. Retired patriot with a lot of time on your hands and an iternet connection. Hell Yeah!... to whats left of the Greatest Generation!
#4
Oh, and one more thing lotp. Don't expect intelligence gathering against people of Obama's faith to happen, especially when the state department just ordered customs not to inspect what the members of the Muslim Brotherhood are bringing in to this country during their visit to the White House.
#5
I dunno, Zeb. They got Binny, didn't they? I don't believe Obama is a muslim because religion of any sort is incompatible with international socialism. Besides, for all we know, our folks might have had a trojan horse on those machines and those orcs would never know. If you wanna hack sombody, go for the PLA.
#6
Farting around with these cockroaches for years. Last month they killed a US soldier a day. Gramps was smart enough to realize the so called web site didn't 1) lead anyone to Osama, 2) provides inspiration for the daily killings of our troops, and rightfully concluded that if you see a cock roach kill it.
You don't have a problem with the fact that they probably killed another of our young men today, but you got a problem with us killing them or taling anything AQ down. For that you can rot in Hell, too (speaking oin behalf of another US kia today, very seriously, and don't you forget that either.)
Posted by: George Ebbeamp4828 ||
04/11/2012 17:45
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#7
There's a difference between taking down a cockroach, and taking down senior cockroaches. Comprende?
#8
11 years and still loosing 1 a day to the little cock roaches, loser.
Posted by: George Ebbeamp4828 ||
04/11/2012 18:41
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#9
That mod you just called 'loser' was badly wounded in combat and continues to work closely with our fighting troops, wr/george.
I have no such history, being a mere military wife who has nonetheless supported this fight since just after 9/11 with my own professional skills. I've stood at graveside when young men and women with whom I was close returned in flag-draped caskets. Today I support this fight in other ways and I have some awareness of things like information collection and use.
Differences of opinion are fine. But take your namecalling elsewhere if you cannot show basic respect for people who are just as active, if not more so, than you in this fight. One (single) warning, since you have an old but remembered track record here.
Iran said on Tuesday it had identified a "major terrorist group" it said was affiliated to Israel and had placed in long-term storage some of its members, the official IRNA news agency reported, citing a report by the country's Intelligence Ministry.
"Iran's Intelligence Ministry announced it has identified a major terrorist group from the Zionist regime (of Israel) and has placed in long-term storage some of its protected operational members inside the country," IRNA reported without giving further details.
Iran says 'Israel terror group' found with bombs, machine guns
Iran said the "major terrorist group" it found and which they claim was affiliated to Israel was incarcerated "while preparing to carry out terrorist acts", adding that a considerable number of bombs, machine guns, military and communication equipments were seized.
[Dawn] A female education officer in remote Chitral district has accused a provincial minister and member of the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... Assembly of harassing her after she refused to fulfil their illegal orders.
"They are victimising me since I refused to obey their unlawful orders," complained Zohra Jalal, district officer (females) Chitral while talking to Dawn on phone from Chitral. She
complained that on the directives of the minister concerned and MPA she was posted in the far-flung valley of Chital as a punishment.
The officer has recently sent applications to the chief justice of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court and speaker Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Assembly requesting them to provide protection to her against the minister and the politician.
However Minister for Population Welfare Saleem Khan, who also hails from Chitral, rejected allegations of the female officer against him and MPA Ghulam Mohammad. The politician was not available for comments.
"She blackmails teachers," said the minister and alleged that she was involved in illegal activities and facilitated her blue-eyed teachers to draw salaries without performing duties.
Zohra Jalal said that departmental inquiry was conducted against her on the directives of the chief secretary, but all allegations proved false against her.
She said that MPA Ghulam Mohammad, who is from Pakistain Moslem League-Q, launched a malicious campaign against her when she refused to allow his relatives to get salaries without performing duties in government-run schools.
She also said that the politician also forced her to carry out postings and transfers of teachers and other employees in the education department at his (MPA's) sweet will. "When I refused, the politician produced a fake resolution carrying bogus signature of the elders of the area demanding her transfer from the post of drawing and disbursement officer (DDO)
Mastuj area.
She had moved the court and filed a damages suit of Rs700,000 against Ghulam Mohammad for presenting the "resolution" and the court issued non-bailable warrants against the politician on February 29 and on March 23, 2012. But he has yet to comply with the court order, she said in her application.
The officer said that she had also moved the services tribunal against her transfer and the tribunal gave decision in her favour.
However, you can observe a lot just by watching... the politician and the minister were pressurising the district education officer and dislocated her from the post of DO (Female) Chitral on February 23, 2012. She said that her professional carrier was at stake because of the illegal tactics of the MPA and the minister.
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04/11/2012
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(Sh.M.Network)- The governor of Banadir region forSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Mohamud Ahmed Nur (Tarsan), has sent a verbal threats to the independently owned Media outlets based inMogadishufor their reporting of the reality on the ground.
The governor says: "The local Media stations inMogadishuhave exaggerated critics by so called Somali politicians who oppose politically and strategically the administration of Banadir region for TFG."
He threatened to take strict measures against the self-governing privately owned Media stations based in Mogadishu soon after accusing of taking part the insecurity in the capital. The Politicians denied these accusations.
On the other hand, Somalis in Kenya and Britannia countries confirmed to Shabelle Media that Mr. Tarsan, the current governor of Banadir region for Somali government has burned the national flag of Ethiopia during a demonstration held in front of Ethiopian embassy in UK after Addis Ababa sent troops in Somalia to help TFG led by the dear departed Abdullahi Yusuf Ahmed.
Politicians say the governor has also burnt Somalis national flag at Gudha village inLower Jubbaregion while he was with Hassan Turki, a former Union of Islamic courts leader and now Al-shabab member.
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[An Nahar] Al-Qaeda on Tuesday threatened to attack Britannia if it decides to extradite to Jordan the radical Islamist Abu Qatada, once believed to be an aide to the late Osama bin Laden. ... who is now beyond all cares and woe... In a statement signed by al-Qaeda's general command and published on jihadist forums, the terror network said Abu Qatada's extradition would "open the gates of evil" onto "Britannia and its citizens everywhere."
"We warn the British government against extraditing Sheikh Abu Qatada to Jordan," where he faces terror charges, said the statement which called on London to "act with reason and wisdom... or it will regret it."
The 51-year-old Jordanian, labeled the right-hand man of bin Laden by a Spanish judge, was convicted in Jordan in absentia for involvement in terror attacks in 1998, and faces a retrial on his return.
For six years, Britannia has been trying to extradite the radical holy man, arguing he is a threat to national security, but its efforts have been thwarted on human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. grounds.
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[An Nahar] Syrian forces on Tuesday pounded protest hubs in apparent breach of a ceasefire deal brokered by U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy 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... , who appealed for his plan to be implemented without preconditions.
Syria said it was abiding by the plan, but Annan accused Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... of pulling troops from some areas and moving them to others, and the rebel Free Syrian Army warned it would resume attacks if the government offensive does not stop.
Washington said it hoped the U.N. Security Council would consider action if Annan concludes that Damascus broke its commitments.
The violence drew sharp condemnation from La Belle France and Britannia, with even Russia urging its ally to act more decisively to implement the truce.
Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Muallem said Damascus begun carrying out the Annan deal by pulling some troops out of certain provinces.
But Annan, visiting Syrian refugees in Turkey, mocked Damascus's commitment to the plan.
"The Syrian military is withdrawing from some areas but moving to others not previously targeted," he said.
"I again appeal to the Syrian government and the Syrian parties to cease violence in accordance (with) the plan," he told news hounds. "I believe there should be no preconditions for stopping violence."
Later on Tuesday, Annan arrived in Iran for talks centering on the Islamic republic's key regional ally, the official IRNA news agency reported.
Annan flew in from Turkey after visiting Syrian refugees there. He is scheduled to meet with Iranian Foreign Minister Ali Akbar Salehi early on Wednesday.
Iran has repeated that it fully backs the Assad regime, and has lent it political and material support.
Supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei said late last month that "Iran will defend Syria because of its backing of the anti-Zionist resistance."
Annan also told the UN Security Council in a letter on Tuesday that Assad had failed to send the required "signal of peace." He said a "fundamental change of course" was needed by Assad to achieve a ceasefire in the next 48 hours.
The Syrian army continued "rolling military operations" against civilian targets in the days ahead of a Tuesday deadline to get guns and troops out of Syrian cities, Annan said in a letter to the council obtained by Agence La Belle France Presse.
"The days before April 10 could have been an opportunity for the government of Syria to send a powerful political signal of peace," Annan said. "In the last five days it has become clear that such a signal has yet to be issued."
The Annan plan has been under a cloud since Sunday, when Damascus said it would keep its side of the bargain only if rebels gave guarantees they would also stop fighting, a condition rejected out of hand.
At least 17 people died across Syria on Tuesday, including six soldiers in the northeastern province of Hassakeh, the Britannia-based Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.
Forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Trampler of Homs... also shot four people in the village of Kfar Zeita in the central Hama province, but it was unclear if they were rebels or civilians.
Clashes also rocked the district of Mzeyreeb in the southern province of Daraa, where the dissent movement launched a year ago.
The Local Coordination Committees, one of the main opposition groups inside Syria, said "large military reinforcements" had arrived overnight on the eastern outskirts of Rastan in central Homs province.
The report could not be verified because of curbs on media activity.
Under the Annan deal, Syria was supposed to withdraw its forces from population centers on Tuesday ahead of a complete ceasefire on Thursday.
Activists say Syria has intensified its crackdown since the weekend when around 180 people were killed. On Monday, 105 died in one of the bloodiest days since mid-March last year.
Free Syrian Army front man Colonel Kassem Saadeddine warned that rebel forces would resume attacks on regular forces if they do not withdraw.
"If (the regime) does not stop shelling and not withdraw tanks, we will intensify our military operations and launch attacks," he told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The head of the opposition Syrian National Council, Burhan Ghalioun, warned that his group, "as the legitimate representative of the people, will not allow the regime to use the (U.N.) plan as a license to kill."
But Muallem insisted Damascus had begun implementing the Annan plan.
"We have already withdrawn military units from different Syrian provinces," he told a Moscow news conference after talks with Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov.
Lavrov said Syria should be more decisive in fulfilling the Annan plan, which most notably calls on Syria to pull troops and weaponry out of cities hit by protests.
"We believe their actions could have been more active, more decisive when it comes to the implementation of the plan," he said.
Lavrov later spoke with Annan by phone, telling him to put more pressure on the rebels to cooperate with his initiative.
He told Annan "the Syrian opposition and states that support it must take urgent measures to ensure a sustainable ceasefire," and urged him "to step up his work with them along these lines," the foreign ministry said.
White House front man Jay Carney said Washington had so far only seen evidence of further "brutality and aggression" from Assad's forces.
"We would certainly hope the U.N. Security Council would evaluate the situation in Syria if in fact Mr. Annan finds that the Assad regime has not abided by its own commitments to begin withdrawal by today," Carney said.
Germany's U.N. ambassador, Peter Wittig, said Syria has not complied with the plan and that international measures must be studied.
Assad "has not complied with the Annan plan; instead he has scaled up violence and human rights One man's rights are another man's existential threat. violations," Wittig said.
There was equally tough language from London and Gay Paree.
"There is no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes," Britannia's Foreign Secretary William Hague said.
Syrian forces "have ruthlessly subjected whole communities to an inhumane campaign of shelling, forced expulsions and executions.
"All those with influence over the Syrian leadership, including Russia, have a duty to back efforts to stop the violence and to isolate a regime which is as doomed as it is dangerous to the Syrian people," he added.
French foreign ministry front man Bernard Valero called Muallem's assertion that Syria pulled troops out of some areas "a new expression of a flagrant and unacceptable lie."
Damascus was also rebuked for violence that spilled over into its neighbors on Monday, killing a Lebanese TV cameraman inside Leb and wounding four people in a Turkish camp for Syrian refugees.
Turkish Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan accused Syria of a "clear violation" of common frontiers, while Leb demanded an investigation.
The United Nations ...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas... says more than 9,000 people have been killed since anti-regime protests broke out in March 2011. Monitors put the number at more than 10,000.
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#1
Kofi is a suave, soft-spoken, overly-educated, Ghanaian Ex-UN Secy Gen subtle race-baiting agitator who's being paid by NWO advocates...
He sucks almost as much as his daddy,Our Pharaoh, sucks. They, and Holder; "suck out loud!".-cz-
[An Nahar] The Paleostinian National Security forces took on Monday control of a checkpoint in the refugee camp of Ain al-Hilweh that was manned by a faction led by Munir Maqdah as part of a process of assuming all headquarters and checkpoints.
The Paleostinian Armed Struggle headed by Mahmoud Issa, who goes by the nom de guerre of al-Lino, and Maqdah's faction named the "headquarters" were integrated into the National Security forces at the order of Paleostinian President the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas. ... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial... The forces, led by Maj. Gen. Sobhi Abu Arab, assumed command of the checkpoint in the camp's northwest a few days after taking control of the offices of the "headquarters."
In the details of Monday's event, the head of al-Aqsa battalion, Col. Ibrahim al-Maqdah, known as al-Taous, handed over the leadership of the checkpoint to Col. Mohammed al-Armoushi, who leads the Abu Hassan Salameh battalion.
Al-Lino had previously handed over the control of three checkpoints to contingents led by National Security forces.
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Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced on Tuesday that a group of spies who work for Israel have been detained, Mehr News agency reported.
"Months after assassination of Iranian nuclear scientist Mostafa Ahmadi Roshan, Iranian intelligence forces could unveil a spying net whose main headquarters place in a regional country and was work for Israel, was detained" the ministry said.
Ahmadi-Roshan, an academic who also worked at the Natanz uranium enrichment facility, and his driver were killed during a bomb installed on his car in January 2012.
Iranian Intelligence Ministry didn't give further information about the detained spies.
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It will take only 10 minutes to determine whether North Korea's rocket has succeeded in its mission to put a satellite into orbit, experts said Tuesday.
"The rocket this time probably has a more advanced propulsion system than the one launched in 2009, and at this point it is difficult to predict the trajectory," said one rocket expert. But he added success or failure will be determined in 10 minutes.
Considering the level of technology involved in the missile North Korea launched in 2009, the separation of the first stage of the new rocket is expected to take place just 110 seconds after launch. It will fall to earth some 3 to 3.5 minutes after launch as the second and third stages rise 100 km above Baeknyeong Island in the West Sea heading toward space.
Experts believe the second stage will separate four to six minutes after launch. The crucial factor is whether the third-stage booster can ascend at a speed of more than 7.9 km per second, which would raise the chances of placing the satellite into orbit. A speed slower than that would cause it to burn up as it reenters the atmosphere.
The North is expected to launch the rocket on Saturday, the day before a massive military parade to celebrate the centenary of nation founder Kim Il-sung, said a government source here. But depending on the weather it could be Thursday or Friday. The injection of liquid fuel, the final stage of launch preparations, takes place underground and cannot be verified.
Meanwhile, a former NASA satellite expert raised suspicions about the North Korean satellite. "The satellite did not meet the expectations I had," James Oberg said on NBC. "The problem is the North Koreans didn't just let us in [to the same room as the satellite], they let us get much too close. I could've walked three steps and poked it with my finger, but I didn't want to put grease and smudges on the outside because it could lead the device to overheat in space, or it could change a lot of things about the electro-static environment. So you need to protect the satellite from contamination -- from touching, from people breathing on it, sneezing on it. They didn't protect the satellite from any of that."
It's almost as if the Norks don't care about the 'satellite'...
He added the satellite was different from conventional designs and its booster was too big.
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04/11/2012
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#1
China has warned Russia to stay out of the SCS, + we all know how Russia gets historically when told = ordered what to do, MOST ESPEC VEE CHINA.
China has also warned Vietnam + the Philippines from initiating joint patrols in same.
DE LATEST ...
* TOPIX > PHILIPPINES' LARGEST WARSHIP, CHINESE VESSELS [10 = 8 ea. Fish Boats + 2 ea. armed Maritime Surveillance] IN STANDOFF OVER FISHERMEN AT DISPUTED SHOAL.
Scarborough Shoal = Philippines "PANATAG ISLAND" = Chinese "HUANGYAN ISLAND".
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
María Elena Swett (Chilean) aka Carol Valdivieso in "Mirageman (2007)" aka Elisa in "Baño de mujeres (Women's Bathroom)(2005)" aka Pamela in "XS - la peor talla (XS - The Worst Class)(2003)" aka Margarita Bobadilla in "Los Angeles de Estela (Estela's Angels)(TV series 2009)" (age 33)
North Korea on Sunday gave foreign journalists a rare glimpse of what it claims is a space rocket sitting on its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province. Experts here said the latest rocket appears to be the same as a long-range missile that was launched in April of 2009, which had a range of at least 6,700 km, but a more advanced version.
In 2009, the North also claimed the missile was a space rocket designed to put a science satellite into orbit. It consisted of three stages: a primary booster made of four Rodong missile boosters, a second stage using a remodeled Rodong missile, and a third stage solid-fuel booster.
An official at the South's Korea Aerospace Research Institute said, "Although it appears to be the same length or slightly shorter than the one launched in 2009 and the diameter is wider, it is definitely the same type of long-range missile." North Korea did not reveal data about the rocket in 2009, but South Korean authorities estimated that it was 32 m long and between 2.0 and 2.2 m in diameter. North Korea said the rocket it plans to launch this time is 30 m long and 2.5 m in diameter. This means the booster may have been slightly improved.
One expert at a government-run research institute here said, "We need to focus on North Korea's announcement that the rocket weighs 92 tons." The 2009 rocket is estimated to have weighed 79 tons. "In 2009, North Korea succeeded in separating the second and third stage boosters of the rocket, but failed to put a satellite into orbit," the expert added. "This may have been due to a lack of thrust, so they probably mounted a more powerful engine this time and put in more liquid fuel."
Pyongyang announced that the new rocket will fall around 2,500 km from the launch pad, around 1,300 km short of where the previous rocket landed. A government source here said, "Rather than increasing the maximum range, North Korea seems to have focused on improving the performance of the rocket to put a satellite into orbit, so that it has some justification for launching a long-range missile."
The launch pad also shows improvements. Standing 50 m high, the launch tower is 1.5 times higher than the one at the missile facility in Musudan-ri, North Hamgyong Province, and there are several large vertical supports that make it easier to assemble and service rockets in a vertical position. The mobile platform holding the rocket is also a new piece of equipment. Jang Myong-Jin, the head of the North Korean space center in Tongchang-ri said, "In the future, we will be able to put up to a 400 ton payload into space. We built a large launch pad for that purpose."
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[Yemen Post] Yemen's Prime Minister Mohammad Salim Basindowa has called on the oil-rich GCC states and the global community to stand by Yemen and support it, appreciating those countries that helped Yemen through the power transfer deal.
In remarks to the London-based Al-Hiah Newspaper, he affirmed that the republican decrees that dismissed a number of commanders loyal to the former president President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... will be implemented soon.
Basindiwa who started a visit to Qatar Monday along with a high-level delegation comprising a number of Yemeni ministers affirmed that the provoking of crises will not impede these decrees.
He told the newspaper that Yemen faces a critical stage, stressing that the interim government seeks to overcome all challenges as fast as possible. He tried to avoid speaking about the closure of Sana'a International Airport by gunnies afflicting to the commander of Mohmmad Saleh Al-Ahmar.
According to the Yemen News Agency (Saba), Basindowa discussed with Qatari officials Yemeni update, development and steps needed to implement the requirement of the transition stage.
The talks touched on the required development and economic aid to Yemen to tackle the last year crisis's aftermaths, Saba said.
In his meeting with Basindowah, Crown Prince of Qatar Tamim Bin Hamad Al Thani affirmed that Qater is intending to implement a number of development and investment projects in Yemen, pointing out that Yemeni labors in Qatar enjoys all facilities and that Qatar will absorb further Yemeni laborers.
Basindowa conducted last January a trip to Soddy Arabia, Kuwait, Bahrain and the Untied Arab Emirates, citing , at that time, that he excluded of Qatar and Oman during that visit as their leaders are not existed at this time.
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[An Nahar] Ninety people including 66 non-combatants were killed across Syria on Tuesday, the day the government was expected to pull its forces from protest hubs under a U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... peace plan, monitors said.
The Local Coordination Committees, the main activist group spurring protests on the ground, said security forces killed 30 people in Homs, nine in Idlib, 22 in Hama, five in Daraa, two in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , one in the Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... suburb of Harasta and one in Deir al-Zour.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said among the dead were 19 members of the regime's security forces and five rebels killed in fighting in several provinces.
Six non-combatants were killed in bombardment of the Khaldiyeh district of Homs city in the center of the country, and a seventh was rubbed out in the Bab Tadmur neighborhood, said the Observatory.
In Hama province, also in central Syria, seven non-combatants were killed in Kfar Zeita, the scene of fierce festivities with rebels and aerial bombardment on Monday, the Britannia-based monitoring group said.
Another four civilians were reported killed in Daraa province in the south, and a child was killed at Harasta near the capital, the Observatory said.
In Deir al-Zour, a civilian was killed by gunfire, while eight others were killed in the region of Aleppo, it said. Five rebels were also reported killed in Daraa, Homs, Hama and Aleppo.
In addition, 11 soldiers were killed in the northeast region of Hassakeh, five in Aleppo province and three near the Turkish border, according to the Observatory.
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[An Nahar] Iran's intelligence ministry said it has broken an Israeli-linked "terror and sabotage" network which had its headquarters in an unspecified nearby country, media reports said on Tuesday.
"One of the Zionist regime's biggest terror and sabotage networks and some of its agents have been identified. A group of criminal snuffies and mercenaries cooperating with them has been tossed in the clink," the ministry said in a statement picked up by the Iranian outlets.
"A number of the operatives were tossed in the clink as they were preparing to carry out a terrorist operation," it said.
"Heavy bombs," machineguns, pistols, silencers, military communications gear and "other terrorist equipment" were seized in operations "in border and central provinces" inside Iran, the ministry said without being specific.
The operations led to "identifying the Zionists' regional headquarters in one of the regional countries," it said, without naming the country concerned.
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#1
So how much is it going to cost the US to keep these nasties? Their crimes charged are odious, but shouldn't the UK be keeping them. We won't be able to execute them, so we are stuck with them AND the bill for life.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
04/11/2012 18:11
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Oh look: everyone is dissing Turkey. Could it be Istanbul isn't the center of the universe after all?
The next round of nuclear talks aimed at resolving a standoff between the West and Iran over its nuclear programme will be held in Baghdad following this week's negotiations in İstanbul, Iraq said on Tuesday, Today's Zaman reported.
Iraq said last Wednesday it had offered to host the nuclear negotiations following a request from neighbouring Iran. A statement on Iraq's Foreign Ministry website said all parties had agreed to hold the next meeting in Baghdad.
"The group of 5+1, the European Union and the Islamic Republic of Iran recently reached a settlement which includes holding the next meeting on international nuclear negotiations with Iran in Istanbul on April 14, provided that the following meeting will be in Baghdad, with all sides in agreement," the statement said.
Iraq's Shi'ite-led government shares close ties with Iran, which is jostling for more influence in the region against Sunni Arab Gulf powers.
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This despite the fact, according to Steve Emerson at the Investigative Project on Terrorism, that one of the members of the Muslim Brotherhood delegation that visited the White House last week, was being investigated for child pornography when he lived in the US a few years ago.
The State Department broke with normal procedures last week when it ordered the U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) not to conduct a secondary inspection on members of the Egyptian Muslim Brotherhood's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP) on their way to visit government officials and think tanks in the United States.
This happened despite the fact that one member of the delegation had been implicated - though not charged - in a U.S. child pornography investigation, the Investigative Project on Terrorism (IPT) has learned.
According to senior enforcement sources and documents reviewed by the IPT, investigators had information tying Abdul Mawgoud Dardery to the pornography investigation that was based in Pennsylvania. He was the senior member in the four-person FJP delegation which held court with academic groups and met with senior officials at the White House and State Department last week. (For more on what they said, click here.)
Before returning to Egypt, Dardery lived in the United States long enough to attain legal permanent residency, known as a green card. That status lapsed after he left the country for more than six months. The child pornography investigation took place during Dardery's time here and was noted in his immigration file. It surfaced when CBP officials learned of his pending visit.
A U.S. official familiar with immigration procedures told the IPT that extra inspection is standard operating procedure when a foreign visitor has been tied to criminal or terrorist activities. "Secondary inspections" involve going through the visitor's baggage and viewing the contents of computers and other electronic devices to search for evidence of illicit activity. Agents would typically search other members of the party to ensure Dardery did not hand off his computer equipment to an associate to avoid detection.
The delegation's ties to Hamas alone should have kicked off the extra inspection. Instead, the State Department bent over backwards to accommodate our visitors, making them feel right at home.
[Dawn] An investigation team appointed by India's Supreme Court has found no evidence against Gujarat's ...where rioting seems to be a traditional passtime... chief minister over deadly anti-Mohammedan riots in the state a decade ago, a court said Tuesday.
Narendra Modi has been accused by rights groups of having turned a blind eye to the violence that swept the state in 2002 and claimed as many as 2,000 lives, and of failing to bring to justice the perpetrators of the killings.
"According to the Special Investigation Team, no offence has been established against" Modi or any of the 57 others listed in the complaint, the magisterial court said, reported by the Press Trust of India.
The announcement was a boost for Modi, a prominent member of the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and seen as a potential candidate to be India's prime minister in the 2014 general elections.
The complaint had been filed by Zakia Jafri, widow of a former Congress Mohammedanpolitician, Eshan Jafri, who was burnt to death along with 68 other people by a mob in a housing colony in Gujarat.
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(Sh. M. Network)- Somali government soldiers have exchanged gunfire at Taleh village inMogadishu's Hodon district on Tuesday, killing two people according to witnesses.
Reports say that the fighting came as two government soldiers disagreed illegal money took from transportations and lastly changed confrontation between the military and police forces of the transitional government troops ofSomalia.
The incident caused the death of police officer during the clash and the movement of the traffic and business in the areas was halted for a moment as the clash continued there.
Later, a civilian was killed and other maimed another festivities at Km4 junction, a busy road leads from the airport to the presidential palace, VillaSomalia.
The latest reports in the areas say that the situation returned normal after more government troops had interfered to the warring sides.
It is not the first time that government soldiers disagreed and exchange gunfire inMogadishu.
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04/11/2012
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#1
Next time give Auntie her taste, for crissake.
Reports say that the fighting came as two government soldiers disagreed illegal money took from transportations and lastly changed confrontation between the military and police forces of the transitional government troops ofSomalia.
Again, what good is English when this is what you do with it?
[An Nahar] The U.N. Security Council on Tuesday called on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... to keep a Thursday deadline for a complete ceasefire in the Syria conflict.
In a statement read by U.S. ambassador Susan Rice, the council backed a demand by U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy 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... for the Syrian government to make a "fundamental change of course" to end hostilities by 6:00 am Damascus ...Home to a staggering array of terrorist organizations... time on Thursday.
After Annan appealed for new U.N. backing, Security Council members expressed "deep concern" at the Syrian government's failure to withdraw troops and guns from cities and "stressed the importance that the parties meet the deadline of April 12."
Council members also "underscored" Annan's statement that "the Syrian leadership should now seize the opportunity to make a fundamental change of course," Rice said.
"It is essential that the next 48 hours bring visible signs of immediate and indisputable change in the military posture of the government forces throughout the country" as set out in Annan's six-point plan.
Syria had originally agreed to pull troops and guns out of population zones by Tuesday. Annan said that despite the failure to keep the commitment it was still possible to reach a target of a complete ceasefire by Thursday.
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[An Nahar] Libya, which wants Muammar Qadaffy's ...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them... son Seif al-Islam tried at home, on Tuesday appealed a ruling by the Hague-based International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... (ICC) that he be handed over to the world court.
The ICC, which wants to try Seif on charges of crimes against humanity for his role in battling last year's uprising which toppled his father, issued a ruling on April 4 calling for his immediate transfer from prison in Libya to prison in The Hague.
"The Government of Libya submits that the chamber committed a serious error of law" and wants it to "overturn" its earlier decision, Libya's legal representatives said in the document released by the court Tuesday.
The Libyan government will detail why it considers the ICC incompetent to judge the case in a submission to be made on April 30, its representatives added.
The ICC issued an arrest warrant for Seif in February 2011 when Qadaffy-loyal forces were involved in an attempt to crush the so-called "Arab Spring" rebellion.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#1
A compromise could be for the ICC to do the trial in Libya. The after that trial the Libyans could trial him.
Fantasy, stretching the truth very deeply embedded in mindset of Mohammedan and Arab culture
A few years ago, while visiting the Temple Mount in Jerusalem, I had a very disturbing conversation with a member of the Islamic Waqf who was escorting me to make sure that I didn't pray on the holy mountain.
I asked him if he could tell me when the al-Aqsa mosque was built. He looked at me with a straight face and responded that it was always there. I hadn't expected that, and of course was surprised and asked again. I thought that maybe he didn't understand my question and meant that the mountain was always there. So I asked again, and made it clear that I meant the mosque located on the southern extension of the Temple Mount that was built by Herod. (Historically, the entire platform that the al-Aqsa mosque is built on didn't even exist during the time of the first Temple.)
It turned out that this "learned" member of the Islamic clergy, whose job is to work on the Temple Mount, actually believed that the structure of the al-Aqsa mosque was just there - from the beginning of time.
This conversation was a great help to me in understanding the Mohammedan Arab mindset and culture. Facts are not really so important to them. They can be made up or even changed as needed.
New replacement theology
You don't need to take my word for it. Go to YouTube and search for this: "Moses was a Mohammedan who led Paleostinians out of Egypt." You will see that Islamic clergy are teaching this concept without blinking an eye. They are totally convinced that all of the Israelite heroes of the Bible were actually Mohammedans.
This is the new replacement theology. The idea is not only Holocaust denial like what is heard from the leaders of the Islamic regime in Iran. They now deny (or co-opt) all the foundational points of Jewish history.
Their strategy is to question or outright deny the most basic historical facts -- like claiming that the Jews are not the direct descendants and surviving remnant of the children of Israel who were led out of Egypt by Moses and led into the land under Joshua. If you see the video, you will learn that King David too was a Mohammedan who defeated the mighty Goliath.
For all whose goal is to bring stability to this region, it is important to understand the rhetoric of those who oppose Israel as part of their religion. Understand that we are dealing with people who celebrate being detached from reality as part of their worship of Allah.
Accept our neighbors
There might be those who fear that this realization would force us to give up all hope of bringing about a deal for lasting peace between Israel and its Arab neighbors. I suggest the opposite. We must realize and accept our neighbors for who they are and recognize their culture as a given.
It is unrealistic, in my opinion, to believe that we can turn the Arabs into a society that truly embraces western concepts and values - like facts and sticking to truth. It makes much more sense to understand that fantasy and stretching the truth are very deeply embedded in the mindset of the Mohammedan and Arab culture. I do not mean to say this as an insult, but to suggest that we accept it as a fact, take it as it is and move on.
I believe that there is hope for peace in the Middle East - not because the Arabs will love us or are about to become Zionist enthusiasts. There is hope for peace because the Jews are a peace loving people and G-d gave us the brains and physical means to protect our borders and our nation. The Arabs can believe whatever they like - as long as they know that they can't overrun us. If they could they would.
[Dawn] The warring groups in Gilgit-Balitstan came close to clash at D-Chowk here on Monday mainly because of police failure to foresee the outcome of allowing them to stand eyeball to eyeball.
The activists and supporters of Majlis Wahdat-e-Mohammedaneen (MWM) and other parties representing the Shia community have established a protest camp at the Parade Avenue against the killing of innocent civilians in Chilas and other parts of Gilgit-Baltistan.
On the other hand, a protest rally was organised by Ahle Sunnat Wal Jamaat (ASJ) against the killing of their party workers in the Gilgit city.
The rally starting from Rehmania mosque in Blue Area was originally scheduled to terminate at China Chowk but on the insistence of the participants police allowed them to move up to the traffic signal at D-Chowk, just metres shorts of the MWM camp.
Soon after the rally reached the traffic signal, fiery ...a single two-syllable word carrying connotations of both incoherence and viciousness. A fiery delivery implies an audience of rubes and yokels, preferably forming up into a mob... speeches started from both sides with speakers blaming the other party for committing atrocities against people of their side. But the ground conditions started to go wrong when the speakers from the two sides started using loudspeakers to highlight their cause.
The ASJ rally speakers demanded the authorities to clear the MWM camp from D-Chowk and threatened to hold a massive rally at Jinnah Avenue and also block the Karakoram Highway. They also demanded that Gilgit-Baltistan be made part of Azad Kashmire.
On the other side of the road, the speakers continued to present various accounts of the killings and atrocities against the local population without naming any group or party while police contingent maintained a dividing wall between the two groups.
However, man does not live by words alone, despite the fact that sometimes he has to eat them... the situation turned ugly when youth from both the sides started chanting slogans against each other.
But before the supporters could come closer to each other, Allama Amin Shaheedi of MWM and Mufti Tanvir Alam of ASJ directed their sides to turn back.
Later, the MWM leadership rejected the request of the city administration and police to wind up their protest camp and not to go ahead with the already announced Friday prayers at the D-Chowk on April 13. Another meeting between the two is scheduled on Tuesday (today).
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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[Yemen Post] At least 40 Al-Qaeda-linked beturbanned goons killed in Lawdar district of Abyan governorate on Tuesday after soldiers of the Brigade 111 in collaborations with residents strongly repelled the beturbanned goons who tried to storm the city, the Interior Ministry said in its website.
According to 26 September website, the beturbanned goons beat feet to mountain surrounding the city, and that the Yemeni army along with newly public committees pursued them after they received painful blows.
Local sources said violent confrontations broke out on Tuesday, pointing out that the military destroyed a tank that was captured by Ansar Al-Shariah.
They confirmed that eight soldiers were killed when beturbanned goons could infiltrate to a building and sniped the soldiers.
Asnar Al-Shariah (Supporters of the Islamic law) had said in a statement that they captured on Monday four tanks, ammunitions and other weapons after festivities with the Yemeni soldiers in Lawdar. Ansar Al-Shairah have been controlling parts of the southern governorate of Abyan.
The United States and Soddy Arabia backed the power transfer in Yemen in an attempt to avoid the collapse of the country and plunge it into turmoil.
The Yemenis news Agency (Saba) stated that the Defense Minister Mohammad Nasser Ahmed praised on Tuesday the Brigade 111 and the public committees, and stressed that al Yemenis refuse fundamental ideologies and terrorism.
Yemen's president Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi faced external pressures to fight Al-Qaeda. He had vowed in his inauguration before Parliament late February that he will defeat Al-Qaeda.
Gunmen opened fire Tuesday on a checkpoint in Maarib province, about 300km east of the capital Sana'a, killing eight soldiers.
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[Tripoli Post] Iran's diminutive PresidentMahmoud Short Round Ahmadinejad said Tuesday that Iran is not concerned about sanctions on its oil sales by the West. It has ample reserves of foreign currencies and even if it could not sell its oil for several years it would be able to withstand the sanctions.
Ahmadinejad made the remarks in the Iranian southern port city of Bandar Abbas live on state- run IRINN TV.
His comments came just a few days ahead of the nuclear talks between Iran and the UN Security Council's five permanent members plus Germany (P5+1) slated for April 14 in Turkey's Istanbul. At the same time, Iran's foreign minister Ali-Akbar Salehi said that his country will not accept any precondition to the upcoming nuclear talks.
Salehi's remarks came as Iran's Supreme National Security Council (SNSC) confirmed Monday that the fresh nuclear talks between Iran and the G5+1 will be held in the Turkish city of Istanbul on Saturday, April 14.
In the meantime, local media reported that as the nuclear talks are about to restart, an Iranian high-ranking official said that bilateral negotiations with the United States is not on Iran's agenda.
Major General Hassan Firouzabadi, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff of Iran's Armed Forces has been reported saying by official IRNA news agency that "negotiations with the United States has never been on the agenda of the Islamic republic of Iran."
SNSC also announced that both Iran and G5+1 agreed that the next round of talks will be held in Iraq's Storied Baghdad ...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate... and the time for the meeting will be announced in Istanbul, the state IRIB TV reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > [Fars News Agency = FNA] AHMADINEJAD: WE CAN MANAGE IRAN EVEN IFF WE DON'T SELL OIL FOR THREE YEARS [2-3 Years].
ARTIC > "Formula of 1000" where Iran can keep 1000 centrifuges + 1000-kgs. of 3.5-enriched uranium in stockpile.
FYI VARIOUS IRAN BLOGGERS = aren't too happy as they believe that 3.5-enriched uranium is too weak or insufficient for purposes of Civilian NucEnergy, i.e. IRAN MIGHT AS WELL NOT HAVE ANY NUCENERGY PROG at all???
OTHER = IFF TRUE, PROPOSAL IS JUST ANOTHER US-WESTERN INSULT TO IRAN + ISLAM. THE LATTER IS BETTER OFF GOING TO WAR VEE THE US ANDOR DEV NUCWEAPS.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Mitt Romney ...whose real first name is actually, no kidding, Willard, was governor of Massachussetts and is currently the front-runner for president on the Publican ticket. He is the son of the former governor of Michigan, George Romney, who himself ran for president after saving American Motors from failure, though not permanently. Romney's foot is in an ideological bucket because of Romneycare, a state-level experiment that should have been a warning against Obamacare if anyone had been paying attention. Romney's charisma is best defined as soporific, which is probably why he is leading the Publican field... on Tuesday effectively won the Republican Party crown to challenge President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... in November elections, as chief rival Rick Santorum ...candidate for president and former U.S. Senator from Pennsylvania. He was a lawyer before becoming the Representative for suburban Pittsburgh in 1991. He lost his Senate seat in 2006 to Bob Casey, a Democrat machine politician and political dynast. Santorum is a social conservative whose primary attraction is seemingly that he is neither Mitt Romney or Newt Gingrich... dropped his long-shot White House bid.
"This presidential race is over for me," Santorum told news hounds in Gettysburg, in his home state of Pennsylvania.
Despite an upset victory in the first Republican nominating contest in Iowa in January that led to a surprising showing with victories in 10 more states, Santorum failed to build sufficient momentum to derail frontrunner Romney.
He trailed a distant second in the battle to be the party's contender aiming to thwart Obama's hopes of a second term, outspent by Romney's deep war chest and out-organized by an extensive grassroots network.
Over the Easter weekend, the former Pennsylvania senator halted campaigning for four days after his youngest daughter, Bella, who suffers from a rare genetic disorder, was hospitalized again.
Santorum acknowledged it had been a "difficult weekend," and said while Bella was getting better, "it did cause us to think."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#1
Ah, Michelle's Boyz.
Looks like NEWT has already begun wooing Santorum's backers + delegates, as based on common Conservative principles.
2012 could still end up being a SPLIT/BROKERED CONVENTION come July.
At last check, POTUS Bammer is still ahead of GOP #1 Romney in both campaign $$$ + ratings - IMO he can still win in November as long as the US Econ makes at least slight but "sufficient" improvement, + espec no US-Iran war.
"NO US-IRAN WAR" = also read, NO ISRAELI ATTACK ON IRAN, as such would invite Iranian activation of its Terror Proxies to initiate Terrstrikes agz CONUS, to includ agz the Bammer + Fed in WASHDC.
#8
I have voted in 13 Presidential elections and had to hold my nose in all but three of them. This year I hadn't planned on voting for any of the losers, Republican or Democrat. The last Dem I voted for was JFK. What a mistake that was, should have held my nose and voted for Nixon.
Being from California my vote doesn't count anyway, Obama will win this state going away. Today, Ronald Reagan couldn't get elected dog catcher in Orange County if he ran as a Republican. Hell in 2010 a dead Democrat beat a live Republican in Long Beach. This State has gone over to the Dark Side of incurable liberalism.
I'll vote against Governor Moonbeam's tax hikes and call it a day.
WASHINGTON -- Shin Dong-hyuk, born and raised in a North Korean concentration camp, on Tuesday appealed for the world to care more about the ongoing tragedy of political prisoners in the communist nation. He warned that a Holocaust-style slaughter could occur there any time if people outside continue to turn a deaf ear to the testimony of defectors.
"There is a place I always visit whenever I come to Washington D.C. It's the Holocaust Memorial Museum. Watching video footage, I imagine the future of political prisoner camps in North Korea," Shin said at a forum here.
The 31-year-old said he had been forced to witness the public execution of prisoners twice a year, living in Camp No. 14, about 55 miles north of Pyongyang.
"Those who carry out such public executions, I think, have a sufficient capability to kill prisoners en masse if something happens to North Korea," he added.
Shin was born in the camp and remained there for 24 years before jumping over electrified fences and escaping to China. He settled in South Korea in 2006. He has stepped into the U.S. media spotlight since the publication last month of Escape from Camp 14, a book on his experience by American journalist Blaine Harden.
Shin confessed his mother and brother were executed in Camp No. 14 because he tipped the authorities to their wrongdoings. "At that time, they were just other inmates for me as I had no concept of family," he said.
Shin's story has not been independently verified, with the North tightly controlling the flow of information and access by foreigners. But he emphasized that the international community should not waste more time waiting for "proof" of what is happening in the North.
"I am appealing to you; Do not just look at people who are helpless and passing away," he said. "I have hope that the North Korean regime will move even a little bit if the international community speaks up and puts pressure on it."
Harden, who used to work at the Washington Post, also said the U.S. people need to pay closer attention to the issue. The bad news is most Americans do not know about the situation in the North's prison camps. The good news is they become keenly interested when they are informed of it, he pointed out.
Meanwhile, a new report on the matter was released at the one-day conference, organized by the U.S. Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the Jacob Blaustein Institute for the Advancement of Human Rights. An estimated 150,000 to 200,000 North Koreans are incarcerated in a hidden, Soviet-style gulag, according to the 229-page report by David Hawk, a human rights specialist with the committee.
The report, based on the testimony of 60 former North Korean prisoners and former guards, provides details of human rights abuses in those camps, with satellite images of relevant facilities attached. Inmates, imprisoned without judicial process, are held behind barbed wire and electrified fences and are subject to forced labor in mining, logging or agriculture, it says. The death rate is very high due to executions, torture and malnutrition, it added.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/11/2012
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#1
Very likely. But it would take a small war to overthrow the ruling clique, and no one seems willing to do that.
[An Nahar] At least 15 people were killed and 33 maimed in two suicide kabooms targeting police and government offices in Afghanistan just hours apart on Tuesday, officials said.
Eleven people died and 28 were maimed when two suicide attackers rammed a car boom into a government compound near the western city of Herat ...a venerable old Persian-speaking city in western Afghanistan, populated mostly by Tadjiks, which is why it's not as blood-soaked as areas controlled by Pashtuns... , the interior ministry said.
Provincial police chief Sayed Agha Saqeb told news hounds that the bombers were being pursued by police when they detonated the vehicle at the entrance to the Guzara district compound along the road from the airport to the city.
"The car was under our surveillance. It was ordered twice to stop but they didn't stop," said the police chief.
"There were two individuals in the car, one was wearing a burqa. One of the bombers is totally shattered and the other person's body is still there with his (suicide) vest still unwent kaboom!."
The dead included two coppers, an intelligence officer and six civilians, the police chief said.
Just hours later, four coppers died when three jacket wallahs stormed their compound in the southern province of Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , a local government front man said.
Two of the bombers set off explosives strapped to their bodies and a third was rubbed out by police guarding the Musa Qala police offices in the troubled province, Daud Ahmedi, the front man for the provincial administration told Agence La Belle France Presse.
"Three suicide attackers entered the police compound in Musa Qala district of Helmand. Two of them detonated their explosives, one was killed by police," Ahmedi told AFP.
Police chief Abdul Wali and four others were maimed in the attack, he said.
In the Herat bombing, most of the victims were civilians visiting the local administration offices on business, an official said.
An AFP news hound, among the first to arrive at the scene, said he saw bodies strewn among rubble and pieces of metal from the bombers' car.
Another witness told AFP that women and kiddies were present when the bombing happened.
"Shortly before it happened, I saw some women and kiddies there. After the bombing I saw up to 10 people lying in blood," the witness told AFP.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for either attack, but suicide kabooms are a hallmark of Taliban Islamic fascistifighting to topple the Western-backed government of President Hamid karzai.
Herat, a business hub on the Iranian border, is normally relatively peaceful as most Taliban attacks are concentrated in their strongholds in the south of the country, including Helmand.
But the start of the new "fighting season" this spring has also seen a major attack in the northern province of Faryab last week, in which three U.S. soldiers and seven Afghans were killed. That attack was claimed by the Taliban.
Also last week, a Taliban suicide kaboom killed a local councillor and key ally of Karzai's in the eastern province of Kunar.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Seems like the new Tali-tactic is to send unlimited waves of suicide bombers against soft, domestic targets, ignoring the stronger NATO forces, with the goal to create chaos among the population and the belief that the government forces can't protect them. "Resistance is futile, come to the shelter of the mullahs." It'll probably work. And like here, they'll get the government they deserve, at least statistically.
#2
..could be. On the other hand the place is far more tribal than national. Could be building a big fat vendetta deficit for when they formally proclaim themselves in charge again cause then they're the ones in the open for targeting. However, the cause->effect concept is alien to their way of thinking.
[An Nahar] La Belle France said on Tuesday that Syria was not implementing a U.N. and 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... -backed peace plan after Damascus ...Capital of the last remaining Baathist regime in the world... said it had started pulling troops out of certain provinces.
The Syrian claim was "a new expression of a flagrant and unacceptable lie" that "shows a degree of impunity against which the international community absolutely must act," foreign ministry front man Bernard Valero said.
Valero said the issue would be discussed at the U.N. Security Council in New York and by foreign ministers of the Group of Eight (G8) major economies when they meet this week in Washington.
Under the peace plan it agreed with U.N.-Arab League envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , the Syrian government is supposed to draw back its troops and armor from population centers on Tuesday ahead of a ceasefire on Thursday.
But activists have said that instead of withdrawing, Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Sonny, disguised as Fredo, trying to be Mike... 's regime was sending even more reinforcements into at least one other rebel stronghold, the besieged city of Rastan in central Homs province.
"We have not seen the beginning of a Syrian undertaking to implement the Annan plan," Valero said.
"The Syrian crisis will be raised (during the G8 meeting) while the regime refuses to stick to its undertakings, makes new unacceptable demands, continues to massacre its own population and violates its neighbor's illusory sovereignty."
La Belle France also condemned what it said was deliberate firing by Syrian forces on a refugee camp in Turkey that maimed four Syrians and two Turkish staff and killed a television cameraman over the border with Leb.
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[Dawn] The alleged criminal mastermind of the September 11, 2001 attacks and his four accused co-plotters will be formally arraigned by a military tribunal on May 5 at Guantanamo Bay, US officials said Tuesday. After enough political convolutions to incite a national gag reflex...
Military judge James Pohl has fixed the date for the hearing on Saturday, May 5, and it will start at 9:00 am local time, the Pentagon said in a statement. Lawyers for the five could still ask for the hearing to be delayed. And probably will, because that's what they're paid to do...
US officials last week cleared the way for a long-awaited trial of self-confessed 9/11 criminal mastermindKhalid Sheikh Mohammed and his alleged co-conspirators unveiling charges that carry a possible death sentence. It's going on eleven years and the bastard's not dead yet. Don't mention the word "justice."
The five are accused of planning and executing the attacks against New York and Washington as well as the downing of a hijacked airplane in a field in Shanksville, Pennsylvania. The attacks led to the deaths of 2,976 people. But, really, it was we who violated KSM's human rights by extracting information from him. The 2,976 people are dead and some in their graves, but he's still alive so he's more important...
Mohammed and his accused conspirators have been held for years at the US-run prison in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba, while a legal and political battle has played out over how and where to prosecute them. More like a circus than a battle, unless clowns swatting each other with slapsticks can be called a battle...
The 46-year-old Mohammed, along with Walid bin Attash of Soddy Arabia, Yemen's Ramzi Binalshibh, Pakistain's Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali -- also known as Ammar al-Balochi -- and Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi of Soddy Arabia will appear in court for arraignment proceedings. There was some guy that tried to assassinate President Roosevelt in Chicago, I think it was. It took about a month to try him and fry him. But that was 80 years ago and we're all so much more civilized now.
Our guys have gotten fat eating what's given to them as they sit in their chain link cages, cut off from the war that was to have got them houris in Paradise, and pretending that flinging poo at their captors makes them noble lions of Islam. I imagine they would have preferred the old way, too.
Their joint trial, which could be months away, will also be held at the American naval base in Guantanamo Bay, where the US government has set up special military commissions to try terror suspects.
This article starring:
Ali Abd al-Aziz Ali
al-Qaeda
Ammar al-Balochi
al-Qaeda
Khalid Sheikh Mohammed
al-Qaeda
Mustapha Ahmed al-Hawsawi
al-Qaeda
Ramzi Binalshibh
al-Qaeda
Walid bin Attash
al-Qaeda
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Tripoli Post] The Syrian foreign minister Walid al-Moualem says the Assad regime has withdrawn troops from several provinces. The President has until the end of Tuesday to pull out all forces ahead of a planned ceasefire between the conflicting sides.
"We have already withdrawn some military forces from several Syrian provinces," Mr. al-Moualem, is reported saying by RT following a meeting with Russian counterpart Sergey Lavrov in Moscow.
He also demanded a guarantee from 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... envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... that opposition forces would stand down and that a deployment of international monitors would coincide with the ceasefire.
President Assad has until midnight Syrian time (23:00 CET) to implement a full troop withdrawal. This will pave the way for Thursday's planned ceasefire, and Lavrov said he was convinced of the Syrian leadership's commitment to the UN-brokered peace plan.
Activist reports contradict the Syrian government's claims, alleging escalating violence across the country. Opposition groups say festivities between regime forces and anti-government activists killed over 125 people on Monday and a total of 1,000 in the last eight days, say opposition groups.
At the same time, Al-Arabiya reports that the Syrian opposition leadership has voiced their commitment to the ceasefire. But if the government's forces fail to withdraw by Thursday, the rebels will resume fighting, the activists said on Tuesday.
The international community has voiced doubt over Syria's compliance with the peace plan, with the Turkish deputy foreign minister Naci Koru referring to the deadline as "void."
On its part, the White House said that there were no signs that the regime was abiding by its withdrawal pledge, and La Belle France branded the reassurances coming from Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... "a new expression of a flagrant and unacceptable lie" that "shows a degree of impunity against which the international community absolutely must act."
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For a map, click here To see previous Rantburg.com reports on the seizure of the MP $25 million click here, here and here
By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com
A Veracruz state official demanded Monday that the government of Mexican president Felipe Calderon Hinojosa return the MP $25 million (USD $1.9 million) in cash seized February at a Toluca, Mexico state airport, according to Mexican news reports.
Subprocurador de Justicia del Estado, or deputy attorney general of Veracruz state Antonio Lezama Moo said at a press conference that he forwarded a notification to the Procuraduria General de la Republica (PGR) or national attorney general that the office, which impounded the money, return it to Veracruz.
PGR officials impounded the cash stuffed into a suitcase and a backpack after Policia Federal operatives arrested two individuals said to be Veracruz state employees. The arrests took place on a Friday night.
Since that time Veracruz officials have protested that the money was intended to pay for a series of contracts by Mexico state company 3 Industries for promotion services for three upcoming festivals.
Within a week of the arrests, an attorney for the company, Ricardo Sanchez Reyes Retana, announced to the press that he was scheduled to meet with a representative of the PGR in Toluca to present a copy of the contact, which called for payment by either electronic means or in cash.
PGR officials have vowed to retain the money until Veracruz officials can prove the money's origins.
Gustavo Madero Munoz
Several politicians have jumped into the fray, including Partido Accion Nacional president Gustavo Madero Munoz, who filed a complaint with the PGR just after the arrests demanding an investigation.
Mexico state, where the arrests were made and the cash impounded, is the home state of Partido Revolucionario Institucional (PRI) candidate Enrique Pena Nieto, who is also Mexico state's former governor.
Pena Nieto, who is a telegenic and popular politician leads by double digits over his nearest rival in current national polls.
Pena Nieto has also in the past run afoul of election enforcement officials involving cash, including a Guerrero state complaint filed in January, 2011, which alleged Pena Nieto used public funds to help a political ally in the Guerrero state gubernatorial race. Angel Aguirre Rivero won the Guerrero governor's seat by 13 points.
Partido Revolucion Democratica (PRD) presidential candidate Andres Manuel Lopez Obrador came out with a charge that specifically named Mexico, Veracruz and Zacatecas as states for which the MP $25 million were to be used to buy votes the upcoming election.
Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
[An Nahar] The rebel Free Syrian Army will resume attacks on forces loyal to Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Leveler of Latakia... if the regime does not stop shelling and pull troops out of protest hubs as promised, its front man warned Tuesday.
"If (the regime) does not stop shelling and not withdraw tanks, we will intensify our military operations and launch attacks," Colonel Qassem Saadeddine told Agence La Belle France Presse.
He said FSA is "committed to the timetable set by Mr. 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... ," the U.N.-Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... envoy who drafted a peace plan under which Syria committed to withdrawing its forces from protest centers early on Tuesday, with a complete end to fighting 48 hours later.
"The regime was supposed to withdraw tanks by today, but we did not notice any movement in that direction. On the contrary, shelling continues, and forces have been reinforced in areas like the province of Hama," he said.
He said the rebels will "wait the 48 hours without attacking the army, and will remain in a defensive position."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
[Dawn] Ten forces of Evil and a security official were killed in fresh clash in Kurram Agency ...home of an intricately interconnected web of poverty, ignorance, and religious fanaticism, where the laws of cause and effect are assumed to be suspended, conveniently located adjacent to Tora Bora... on Monday.
Sources said a group of forces of Evil attacked two checkposts in Thall area of Hapyanga in Lower Kurram killing a security official.
They said the forces hit back at attackers and killed 10 bad turbans. Sources said two security officials also went missing.
Kidnapped, killed, or complicit?
Meanwhile, ...back at the pound, Zebulon finally found just the friend he'd been looking for... a government school was blown up by forces of Evil in Khudraze area of Pabbi on Monday. However, women are made to be loved, not understood... no damage to human life was reported.
Official said that three rooms of the Government Primary School No 1 of Khudraze was destroyed as bomb planted by forces of Evil on the premises went off. Bomb disposal squad said explosives weighing five to six kilogrammes were used in the blast. A schoolteacher said watchman was not present at the time of kaboom.
Again, kidnapped, killed, or complicit?
Nowshera police registered case and began an operation to search the culpable people.
Meanwhile, ...back at the shouting match, a new, even louder, voice was to be heard... Nowshera police tossed in the clink three Afghan nationals for robbery in cantonment area. Weapons and cash were also recovered from Asif alias Naqeeb, Asif Khan and Samiullah, who later confessed to robbery.
Police said the three were held on their way to Pir Sabaq for a robbery.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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Top|| File under: TTP
#1
The Afghan nationals were probably robbing for jihad, not for private greed..
Posted by: American Delight ||
04/11/2012 11:59
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#2
It's possible, but given that Pakistan doesn't 'take care' of its own people and Afghan refugees are even lower on the scale....
[Yemen Post] At least eight soldiers were killed and four others injured when al-Qaeda snuffies attacked a military post in Yemen's Marib province early on Tuesday, security officials said.
The officials quoted commander of the post as saying the snuffies were on four pickups when they attacked the soldiers in the al-Shabkar area.
"Tens of snuffies armed with various weapons were onboard the pickups and after the attack they headed to Jawf province," he was quoted as saying.
The commander also said five al-Qaeda snuffies were killed when the forces tried to repel the attack, it added.
"The snuffies took the bodies of their victims and buried them immediately," he continued, according to the source.
The attack comes as the army is intensifying the war on al-Qaeda in Abyan province, where dozens were killed on Monday.
At least 40 snuffies were reported dead when the forces and citizens repelled a fierce attack to occupy the Lawder city.
Meantime, a local official in Abyan denied the locals in Lawder have decamped their homes, saying in a statement the battles with the snuffies took place outside the city and the people are safe in it.
In June, al-Qaeda seized some towns in Abyan and declared them as Islamic emirates, and since then the snuffies have been fighting the army.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia
Nissren Kader wins first place on popular television show hosted by Israeli singer Eyal Golan. Unlikely star manages to mesmerize Jews, Arabs through 'Mizrahi' songs
Ay Pee notices Israel isn't actually a apartheid society.
#2
Not actually. The sympathy is usually the death of Israel, but it is native. Arabs are also beautiful people as are all. Israel is a mixed Family so to speak. Israel is the most humane at that.
Also, Israeli press is quite behind the times. Who uses pop ups and floating balloons if you are not even going to get to hear the music?
Always behind the curve, their media. Like ours in the US. They suck too.
It's like amalek bough all of the airtime in the world.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Police have questioned and released more than 100 people in connection with the twin blasts in Mtwapa and Mombasa that killed two people and injured 30 others a fortnight ago.
Coast provincial police boss Aggrey Adoli said more suspects are being sought in different parts of the country.
"We have extended our operation beyond these two towns. We have interrogated many people and we are looking for more as we receive more information," Mr Adoli said in an interview yesterday. However, the hip bone's connected to the leg bone... Sherlocks do not have enough evidence to charge any of the suspects.
The police chief said investigations will continue until those responsible for the attacks are found and charged in court.
He, however, declined to reveal the nationalities of the foreigners who are among those questioned.
Mr Adoli's comments came in the wake of expectations that some of the suspects would be taken to court.
Journalists kept vigil at the law courts for the better part of the day on Tuesday before leaving after police said no appearances in court were planned.
A police report issued hours after the two kabooms indicated that a home-made bomb was used in the View Stadium Bar and Restaurant attack, while a grenade exploded at the Christian prayer rally in the Mtwapa incident.
There had been reports that a Kenyan had allegedly been identified as the planner of the two kabooms that rocked Mtwapa Town and View Stadium Bar and Restaurant in Mombasa's Tononoka Estate.
But Mr Adoli dismissed the reports as untrue, saying, police are yet to identify the attackers.
The police position differs from Internal Security Minister George Saitoti's statements last week that several people have been incarcerated in connection with the kabooms.
"Investigations are ongoing. Unfortunately there are foreigners and some (suspects) are Kenyans who have been working with them.
"As Kenyans we should remain on the lookout for such people," Prof Saitoti told journalists in Nairobi a week ago.
He said more details would be released once investigations were complete.
"We shall give information once we arrest the others we are looking for," the minister said.
A police report issued hours after the two kabooms indicated that a home-made bomb was used in the View Stadium Bar and Restaurant attack, while a grenade exploded at the Christian prayer rally in the Mtwapa incident.
But unlike in the past when police moved in fast and charged the suspects in court after similar attacks, this has been different. Officers remained tight-lipped about the progress of investigations and have mostly denied making any arrests.
Prof Saitoti was the first to reveal that a number of people had been incarcerated in connection with the kabooms.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#3
Wrong response by someone frustrated at the abandonment of the state to fulfill its duties. If the government did their job of securing the border, these people would still be alive. They'll expend far more resources tracking down the miscreant who did this than they did enforcing the borders, not because it is in itself a hideous act, but because the act strikes at the very heart of the legitimacy of a government that has consciously forfeited its duty.
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/11/2012 9:32
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#6
Department of Just Us false-flag op? A few years back, I'd have said such a thought was out there in Alex Jones nut sandwich territory. After Fast and Furious, I realize these scumbags are capable of anything.
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/11/2012 9:41
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#7
I notice the driver and the lookout got shot, not the passengers.
MK Ben-Eliezer says ex-spy chief is Israel's best hope;
Analyst: Egypt will remain unstable no matter who takes helm.
Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's former intelligence chief said Egypt's military rulers do not support his bid for the presidency and accused Islamists of sending him death threats, an Egyptian newspaper reported on Monday.
Omar Suleiman ... Now former Vice president of Egypt. From 1993 until his appointment to that office in 2011 he was Minister without Portfolio and Director of the Egyptian General Intelligence Directorate (EGID)... , 74, announced his candidacy on Friday and showed he still wields political clout by collecting around 72,000 signatures of eligible voters in one day, more than twice the 30,000 required. The deadline for submitting signatures was Sunday.
Suleiman's military background suggested to many that he had the backing of the ruling army council that took over from Mubarak in February last year.
MK Binyamin Ben-Eliezer (Labor) said Monday that from Israel's perspective, Suleiman would be the best candidate to take the reins in Cairo.
Speaking to Israel Radio, the former defense minister said Suleiman is a patriot who "loves Egypt" and views relations with Israel as a "cornerstone" of Cairo's strategic policy.
For years Ben-Eliezer, a native Arabic speaker born in Iraq, enjoyed a close relationship with Mubarak, and said he had been in touch with the deposed leader "every day for 20 to 30 minutes" during the revolution that ended his three-decade rule over a year ago.
Eric Trager, an Egypt expert at the Washington Institute for Near East Policy, said Israel has to accept that none of the current presidential candidates offer much hope for a stable Egypt.
"Israelis need to be prepared for an Egypt that's going to be a highly unstable place in the years to come -- that's obviously the case if an Islamist takes power but also if it's someone like Suleiman," he told The Jerusalem Post.
"I think the challenge for Washington and Jerusalem is to figure out what their respective interests are in Egypt, and how to protect those few things in what will probably be years of transition," he said.
"If a new Mubarak comes to power, there will be many in Egypt who will view the government as illegitimate and continue to act against it.
That's not an outcome that serves either the US or Israeli interests."
In his interview Monday, Suleiman said the Supreme Council of the Armed Forces has no connection to his decision to join the presidential race.
"As soon as my nomination for the presidency was announced, I received on my personal mobile and through some people close to me death threats and messages saying, 'we will take Dire Revenge' from members of the Moslem Brüderbund and other Islamist groups," he told the state-run al- Akhbar newspaper.
Suleiman, made vice president by Mubarak in the last days of his three-decade rule, symbolizes that era's tough security regime and poses a threat to Islamists, who were routinely harassed and locked away during Mubarak's era, and to liberals, who spearheaded Mubarak's ouster. But his candidacy might appeal to some Egyptians hoping for an end to political instability.
His 11th-hour decision to run for president came shortly after the Moslem Brüderbund, the Islamist movement long suppressed by Mubarak and now a majority in parliament, broke a pledge not to field a candidate and nominated its deputy leader, Khairat al-Shater, for head of state.
In an interview with Rooters on Sunday, Shater denounced Suleiman's bid for his former boss's job.
"I consider his entry an insult to the revolution and the Egyptian people," said Shater, who said he spent 12 years in jail during the Mubarak era. "Omar Suleiman has made a big mistake. He will only win through forgery and, if this happens, the revolution will kick off again."
Members of the Brotherhood were not available to comment on Suleiman's accusation that he received death threats from them.
Suleiman said he was encouraged to run for the state's top post because he felt the Brotherhood's popularity has fallen due to "their determination to monopolize all posts."
The army suspended the constitution that gave absolute powers to the president shortly after the toppling of Mubarak.
Suleiman said he could not accept the presidency if the constitutional committee decides to give more power to the parliament than the president.
"I would never agree to be just an image. The head of state has to have real power, and I think that the country is in need of a strong president who would bring stability and security."
During the Egyptian uprising Suleiman had said in an interview with ABC that Egyptians were not ready for democracy. His comments turned against him the millions of Egyptians who had campaigned for weeks for an end to Mubarak's rule.
"Egypt will always be and continue to be a national democratic state where its children enjoy full rights," Suleiman said in Monday's interview.
Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he was "gravely concerned at the course of events" after Syrian President Bashar al-Assad failed to withdraw troops from cities and towns by Tuesday's self-imposed deadline.
In a letter, Annan said the Syrian government should have used the days ahead of the deadline to send a "powerful political signal of peace."
"In the last five days it has become clear that such a signal has yet to be issued," Annan said. "The cessation of violence in all its forms is a first, but essential, step. It must not be delayed by new conditions. Violence must stop now."
#1
Kofi Annan, the United Nations-Arab League envoy to Syria, told the U.N. Security Council that he was "gravely concerned at the course of events that the baksheesh has not yet been wired to my account in the Caymans as stipulated in my contract. Oh, and where the hell is my convoy of white Toyota Land Cruisers? Leather upholstery this time, dammit...that standard cloth just looks sooo declasse."
Fixed!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/11/2012 0:42
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Sudan vowed late Tuesday to react with "all means" against a three-pronged attack it said South Sudanese forces launched against South Kordofan state.
"The government of Sudan announces after this attack that it will react by all means," a statement on the official SUNA news agency said, warning of "destruction" in the South.
The statement came after Sudan carried out new Arclight airstrikes inside South Sudan and rival armies exchanged artillery fire in their latest round of fighting in contested border regions.
An AFP correspondent in the South Sudanese frontline village of Tashwin heard heavy artillery shelling and multiple Arclight airstrikes lasting for around an hour, with one bomb dropped by aircraft landing less than a kilometre (mile) away.
The statement on SUNA claimed that South Sudanese forces backed by rebel groups launched their main attack in Sudan's key oil-producing region of Heglig.
It did not specify which rebels but the Sudan People's Liberation Movement-North (SPLM-N) has been battling government troops in South Kordofan since June.
Sudan has also previously alleged that Darfuri rebels were operating in the Heglig area.
South Sudan has denied backing opposition groups in the north.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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Instead of curbing government spending, President Barack Obama's healthcare law could add up to $530 billion to the federal debt over ten years, a Republican expert on U.S. government benefit programs said on Tuesday.
A study by Charles Blahous, a George Mason University research fellow and the Republican trustee for the Medicare and Social Security entitlement programs for the elderly, challenged the administration's contention that the 2010 law would reduce healthcare costs.
Blahous, who also served as the deputy director of the National Economic Council under Bush, said in his research that the law is expected to boost net federal spending by more than $1.15 trillion and add between $340 billion and $530 billion to deficits between 2012-21.
"Relative to previous law, the (healthcare law) both exacerbates projected federal deficits and increases an already unsustainable federal commitment to health care spending," he concluded.
The analysis, first reported by the Washington Post late on Monday, also comes a month after the Congressional Budget Office cut the estimated net cost of the healthcare law by $48 billion to $1.08 trillion through 2021.
#2
Given the history of other entitlements, these estimates are probably low by a factor of 10. The Supremes must kill this monster, or soon every dime you and I make will be earmarked for the "public good." Third world, here we come!
#5
What PBMcL said. This bill law needs to be killed and buried. The government is spending a fortune of taxpayer's money to cover a few millions of people, some of whom chose not to have insurance. The law robs Medicare to fund ObamaCare. The law is filled with stuff that we are just beginning to find out about--much not even related to healthcare. Obama cut deals with special interest groups and lawmakers to pass the law--such as the abortion issue. He promised legislators he would protect the unborn in turn for their votes. How's that working out?
By this time I sincerely hope that SCOTUS has found that this law is unconstitutional, and the most over-reaching, corrupt, heavy-handed law ever passed by a few votes.
[An Nahar] A top Iranian military commander on Tuesday denied a U.S. news report that the CIA has been successfully sending spy drones over Iran over the past three years.
"No unmanned or manned (surveillance) aircraft have entered Iran's air space" apart from one U.S. stealth drone that was captured last December, Brigadier General Farzad Esmaili of the Revolutionary Guards' air defense command told the official IRNA news agency.
He was reacting to a story in The Washington Post newspaper last weekend that said the Central Intelligence Agency sent its first surveillance drone over Iran three years ago with "never even a ripple" detected in Iran's air defenses.
The report said CIA drones subsequently scoured dozens of sites in Iran, making hundreds of passes over suspicious facilities before the stealth drone -- an RQ-170 model -- crashed inside Iran's borders in December.
The expanded intelligence collection reinforced the view within the White House that it will have early warning of any move by Iran to assemble a nuclear bomb within its disputed nuclear activities, the report said.
But Esmaili was quoted as saying: "No surveillance unmanned aircraft has passed over Iran, and published photos were been (taken) by satellite systems."
He said "you witnessed what happened" when the captured RQ-170 tried to make its flight in December.
But while the Iranian commander insisted that U.S. drones had been unable to fly over Iran, he asserted that "drones operated by the Guards and the (Iranian) military have flown over American ships (in the Gulf) and have taken photos of them."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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#1
I'm surprised the Iranians haven't overflown the White House with the super-sophisticated drones.
All they'd have to do would be to edit out the Google logo...
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/11/2012 11:51
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#2
"These are not the drones that are looking for us"
/waves hand in an Islamic sort of way
* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > IRAN DRONES [shared by Army + IRGC] CAPTURE IMAGES OF US AIRCRAFT CARRIERS: COMMANDER ISMAILI.
versus
* SAME > [AEOI Chief Feredoun Abbasi] IRAN TRIPLES SEPARATION CAPACITY OF CENTRIFUGE MACHINES | IRAN HAS COMPLETE KNOWLEDGE OF NUCLEAR PRODUCTION PROCESSES [NucCycle].
* SAME > P5+1 WILL LOSE [in Near-term + Long-Term] WID ITS CONFRONTATIONAL ATTITUDE: IRANIAN LAWMAKER.
ARTIC > IRAN = UN IAEA sorely underestimated Iran's nuclear proficiencies or capabilities.
UN IAEA also read, US-WEST.
* WAFF > AN ISRAELI AIR ATTACK FROM AZERBAYCAN AIR BASE COULD END IN [endless] IRAN-TURKEY WAR.
Azerbaycan = aka Azerbaijan.
BLOGGERS = In such a case, Turkey will have no choice but to side + support its Azeri kin, BUT IRAN CLAIMS AZERBAIJAN IS HISTORICALLY
"PERSIAN" LAND, NOT TURKIC.
[Dawn] The federal government has asked the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... government to immediately implement the orders of the Beautiful Downtown Peshawar High Court chief justice to establish vaccination points for the internally displaced children from Bara tehsil of Khyber Agency to put brakes on polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... transmission.
In a letter sent on Monday, Special Assistant to the Prime Minister on Polio Eradication Shahnaz Wazir Ali told Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ameer Haider Khan Hoti that the federal government appreciated PHC CJ Dost Mohammad Khan for taking a suo moto notice of the risk of polio transmission to children in the province from Bara's displaced children and wanted the provincial government to take immediate steps to comply with the court's directives for containing polio spread.
The letter a copy of which is also dispatched to the PHC registrar also said the CJ directives had come in the wake of a polio alert sent to the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa by the World Health Organisation that called for urgent measures to stop the spread of poliovirus from displaced children to those sheltered in Nowshera and Peshawar.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
[An Nahar] Iraqi forces have locked away 11 alleged al-Qaeda members said to be responsible for attacks in the southern province of Basra that killed dozens of people, a top police officer said on Tuesday.
"Eleven criminals from al-Qaeda have been locked away, including a Pak man who was born in Kuwait, who are responsible for recent kabooms in Basra," Major General Faisal al-Ebadi, police chief of Basra, told a news conference.
A video played during the news conference showed alleged confessions of the detainees, in which they said they were responsible for attacks, including one on January 14 against Shiite pilgrims that left 53 people dead.
Ebadi said that the arrests were carried out in coordination with intelligence agents and others security forces.
One of the detainees is a policeman named Issam Abdelal Yassin who gave "information about the locations of coppers to facilitate assassinating them," Ebadi said.
A Pak born in Kuwait named Mahmoud Mohammed Abdullah was also among the detainees.
In the tape, he admitted to involvement in an attack on a Shiite place of worship and two attacks in markets in Basra, and to placing explosives targeting Shiite pilgrims.
He said he came to Iraq in 2003, and was held at the U.S. Camp Bucca military installation from 2004 to 2005, but was later released.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq
[Yemen Post] The former President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower, but he didn't invite Donna Summer to the inauguration and Blondie couldn't make it... ordered Commander of the Air Forces Mohammad Saleh Al-Ahmar and Chairman of the Yemeni Economic Corporation Hafez Meyad to refuse decrees of President Abdu Rabo Mansour Hadi, Well-informed sources told Al-Ahali Newspaper.
The sources said that Saleh ordered Meyad and Al-Ahamar to rebel in attempt to hamper any potential decree to dismiss his son Ahemed who leads the Republican Guard.
Meyad had refused his dismissal and appointment of a new chairman of YEC, and bring in gunnies who occupied YEC several times and prevented the newly-appointed chairman from entering the corporation.
The sources affirmed that Al-Ahmar's health badly deteriorates, he was not planning to rebel against Hadi, and that Saleh put pressures against him to rebel.
Rejection of Hadi's decrees had led to the closure of Sana'a International Airport after gunnies affiliated to Al-Ahmar impose a siege against the airport and threatened to drop any civil plane.
Meanwhile, ...back at the buffalo wallow, Tex and his new-found Indian friend were preparing a little surprise for the bandidos... the newspaper said that the US Ambassador to Yemen Gerald Feierstein met on Monday with Saleh and his nephew, Tariq Mohammad Abdullah Saleh, to put pressure on them to accept the decrees issued by Saleh last Friday.
The sources told Al-Ahali that Saleh and his nephew affirmed their acceptances of the dismissal decrees. Tareq was dismissed as the commander of the Special forces and appointed as the commander of the Bridge 37th.
Ambassadors of the five Permanent Members of the Security Council, the Gulf Cooperation Council, and Ambassador of the European Union ...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing... expressed on Saturday their support to the decrees taken by Yemen President Abdu-Rabou Mansour Hadi of dismissing military commanders and the appointment of new ambassadors.
Posted by: Fred ||
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How long do politicians have to keep on promising heaven and delivering hell before people catch on and stop getting swept away by rhetoric?
Why should being in a professional sport exempt anyone from prosecution for advocating deliberate violence? Recent revelations of such advocacy of violence by an NFL coach should lead to his banishment for life by the NFL, and criminal prosecution by the authorities. If you are serious about reducing violence, you have to be serious about punishing those who advocate it.
Have you noticed that what modest economic improvements we have seen occurred during the much-lamented gridlock in Washington? Nor is this unusual. If you check back through history, doing nothing has a far better track record than politicians intervening in the economy.
With all the talk about people paying their fair share of income taxes, why do nearly half the people in this country pay no income taxes at all? Is that their fair share? Or is creating more recipients of government handouts, at no cost to themselves, simply a strategy to gain more votes?
Some people are puzzled by the fact that so much that is said and done by politicians seems remote from reality. But reality is not what gets politicians elected. Appearances, rhetoric, and emotions are what get them elected. Reality is what the voters and taxpayers are left to deal with as a result of electing them.
Instead of following the tired old formula of having politicians and bureaucrats give college commencement speeches, in which they say how superior a career as a politician or bureaucrat public service is to other careers, why not invite someone like John Stossel to tell the graduates how much better it is to go into the private sector, where they can supply what people want, instead of imposing the governments will on them?
In politics, few talents are as richly rewarded as the ability to convince parasites that they are victims. Welfare states on both sides of the Atlantic have discovered that largesse to losers does not reduce their hostility to society, but only increases it. Far from producing gratitude, generosity is seen as an admission of guilt, and the reparations as inadequate compensations for injustices leading to worsening behavior by the recipients.
Some people say that taxes are the price we pay for civilization. But the runaway taxes of our time are the price we pay for being gullible.
Whatever the ideology or rhetoric of the political Left, their agenda around the world has been preempting other peoples decisions and regimenting other peoples lives.
People who believe in evolution in biology often believe in creationism in government. In other words, they believe that the universe and all the creatures in it could have evolved spontaneously, but that the economy is too complicated to operate without being directed by politicians.
The United States now has the dubious distinction of having the highest corporate-tax rate in the world. And people wonder why American corporations are expanding overseas, providing jobs to foreigners. The Left may get its jollies attacking the rich, but its real victims are other people, the ones who need the jobs that are sent overseas to escape a hostile business climate at home.
Different people prefer different exercises. The Republicans favorite exercise is running for the hills. The Democrats favorite exercise is kicking the can down the road.
When politicians say, spread the wealth, translate that as concentrate the power, because that is the only way they can spread the wealth. And once they get the power concentrated, they can do anything else they want to, as people have discovered often to their horror in countries around the world.
In an old Western movie, John Wayne encounters a black man. Wayne tells him, I dont have a prejudiced bone in my body. I would shoot you as quick as I would shoot any white man. That is what equality is supposed to mean.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] World powers denounced Syria on Tuesday for not adhering to an agreed peace plan, as the army pounded protest hubs and killed civilians on the day the regime was to have withdrawn its troops.
Backing a call by envoy Kofi Annan ...Ghanaian diplomat who served as the seventh and so far the worst Secretary-General of the UN. Annan and the UN were the co-recipients of the 2001 Nobel Peace Prize for something or other that probably sounded good at the time. In December 2004, reports surfaced that Kofi's son Kojo received payments from the Swiss company Cotecna, which had won a lucrative contract under the UN Oil-for-Food Program. Kofi Annan called for an investigation to look into the allegations, which stirred up the expected cesspool but couldn't seem to come up with enough evidence to indict Kofi himself, or even Kojo... , the UN Security Council called on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Lord of the Baath... to make a "fundamental change of course" so that a complete ceasefire can take effect by 6:00 am on Thursday.
Annan had earlier called on the council to register "deep concern" at Syria's failure to withdraw troops and guns from cities, saying Assad had failed to send the required "signal of peace."
As even staunch ally Russia admitted Damascus ...Capital of the last overtly fascist regime in the world... could do more to carry out a 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... deal, the opposition warned it would not allow the regime to use the peace deal as a "license to kill."
Under Annan's plan, President Bashir al-Assad's military was to withdraw forces from urban areas on Tuesday, with a complete ceasefire to take effect on April 12.
But on Tuesday the army kept up the shelling, with some 17 people, at least seven of them civilians, dying across the country.
Annan, on a visit to Syrian refugees in border camps in Turkey, said the Syrian government told him it had withdrawn some troops, but he had also received reports that it had deployed into "areas which have not been previously targetted."
In London, British Foreign Secretary William Hague said there was "no evidence so far that the Assad regime has any intention of adhering to any agreement it makes."
The Syrians had used the withdrawal deadline "as a cover for intensified military efforts to crush Syria's opposition.... They have ruthlessly subjected whole communities to an inhumane campaign of shelling, forced expulsions and executions," he said in a statement.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Sudan on Tuesday carried out new Arclight airstrikes inside South Sudan, as rival armies exchanged artillery fire in the latest round of fierce fighting in contested border regions.
An AFP correspondent in the South Sudanese frontline village of Tashwin heard heavy artillery shelling and multiple Arclight airstrikes lasting for around an hour, with one bomb dropped by aircraft landing less than a kilometre (mile) away.
Khartoum vowed late Tuesday to react with "all means" against a three-pronged attack it said South Sudanese forces had launched against South Kordofan state, including its key oil-producing region of Heglig.
A statement on the official SUNA news agency warned of "destruction" in South Sudan.
The bombing follows border fighting that erupted two weeks ago between the two neighbours, the most serious unrest since Juba's independence last July, and prompted international fears of a return to full-blown conflict.
Southern Information Minister Barnaba Marial Benjamin said that Sudanese airplanes "bombarded Abiemnom, well within the sovereign territory of South Sudan."
"Initial reports confirmed that four civilians have been maimed, including a small child," Benjamin told news hounds in the Southern capital Juba.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/11/2012
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
Oneok Partners is building a 270-mile (435-km) pipeline system that will deliver natural gas produced in the Bakken shale to market by the end of 2013, as it hopes to cash in on the huge volumes of the fuel being flared in North Dakota.
[Yemen Post] Yemen's ex-president 
An American hacker, who calls himself "The Raptor" and claims to be a grandfather waging his own war on terror, is taking credit for a series of takedowns of online forums used by Al Qaeda sympathizers, FoxNews.com has learned.
Iran said on Tuesday it had identified a "major terrorist group" it said was affiliated to Israel and had 
(Sh.M.Network)- The governor of Banadir region forSomalia's Transitional Federal Government (TFG), Mohamud Ahmed Nur (Tarsan), has sent a verbal threats to the independently owned Media outlets based inMogadishufor their reporting of the reality on the ground.
...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...
Iranian Intelligence Ministry announced on Tuesday that a group of spies who work for Israel have been detained, Mehr News agency reported.
It will take only 10 minutes to determine whether North Korea's rocket has succeeded in its mission to put a satellite into orbit, experts said Tuesday. 
North Korea on Sunday gave foreign journalists a rare glimpse of what it claims is a space rocket sitting on its launch pad in Tongchang-ri, North Pyongan Province. Experts here said the latest rocket appears to be the same as a long-range missile that was launched in April of 2009, which had a range of at least 6,700 km, but a more advanced version. 
In remarks to the London-based Al-Hiah Newspaper, he affirmed that the republican decrees that dismissed a number of commanders loyal to the former president 
(Sh. M. Network)- Somali government soldiers have exchanged gunfire at Taleh village inMogadishu's Hodon district on Tuesday, killing two people according to witnesses.
International Criminal Court
Fantasy, stretching the truth very deeply embedded in mindset of 
[Yemen Post] At least 40 Al-Qaeda-linked 
Mahmoud 
[Dawn] The alleged 
Gustavo Madero Munoz
Kurram Agency
[Yemen Post] At least eight soldiers were killed and four others injured when al-Qaeda 
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Police have questioned and released more than 100 people in connection with the twin blasts in Mtwapa and Mombasa that killed two people and injured 30 others a fortnight ago.
MK Ben-Eliezer says ex-spy chief is Israel's best hope; 
Instead of curbing government spending, President Barack Obama's healthcare law could add up to $530 billion to the federal debt over ten years, a Republican expert on U.S. government benefit programs said on Tuesday.
