#5
Often progressives consider the act of saying or doing something the accomplishment. In the case of universal healthcare it does not matter much if more or less people have healthcare. What matters is that control has been increased and GIvernment has expanded.
The US has been exporting its inflation since 2008, mainly to the Middle East, now they are going to export some of back
THE Suez Canal Authority has announced that tolls for the waterway will be increased from May 1.
For general cargo, ro/ro and passenger vessels the increase will be three per cent. Containerships and vehicle carriers will have the least increase at two per cent.
According to a detailed new tariff structure the tolls will increase by five per cent for crude oil tankers, petroleum product tankers, chemical carriers and other liquid bulk carriers, LPG, LNG and dry bulk carriers, said a port news report from GAC.
French anti-terror police have arrested four suspects in the Paris region in a crackdown on Islamist militant networks operating in west Africa.
Three of those detained are Franco-Congolese and the fourth is from Mali, a police source told France's AFP news agency.
Interior Minister Manuel Valls warned of jihadist networks planning attacks in France or seeking recruits there.
The French military is engaged against Islamist militants in Mali.
Few details of the arrests were given but Mr Valls said they were connected to the arrest of "an individual a few months ago on the border between Mali and Niger".
A police source quoted by reporters identified the suspect as a Franco-Congolese man who was arrested in Niamey, the capital of Niger, while attempting to purchase a four-wheel drive vehicle with a false driver's licence.
A video posted to YouTube by North Korea shows a man dreaming of space exploration and the nuclear destruction of a U.S. city that resembles New York. The video opens with a boy sleeping next to a camera, as an instrumental version of We Are the World segues into dreams of space exploration, a unified Korea peninsula and the bombing of a U.S. city.
"Somewhere in the United States, black clouds of smoke are billowing," captions say in the video, according to The Telegraph. "It seems that the nest of wickedness is ablaze with the fire started by itself."
However, Forbes reports the footage of the bombing is lifted from the video game Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.
North Korea's official website Uriminzokkiri posted the video Saturday, and it has more than 60,000 views.
The country's leaders said they soon will begin nuclear testing. North Korea successfully launched a long-rage rocket in December 2012, which resulted in more sanctions by the United Nations.
#4
Because the drones are basically useless for real opposition like the North Koreans; we basically use them in Pakistan to help enable the fiction that we're not doing what little we do there without the cooperation of the Pakistani government. Also to further the fiction that we're actually fighting the WoT there in a significant fashion.
Another dhimmi
As a college student in the 1970s, John Brennan, President Obama's nominee for CIA director, traveled in Indonesia where -- he recalled in a speech in New York in 2010 -- "despite my long hair, my earring and my obvious American appearance, I was welcomed throughout that country, in a way that is a reflection of the tremendous warmth of Islamic cultures and societies." Actually, its a reflection on the warmth of Southeast Asian cultures. Had he gone to Bali, which is the remaining Hindu part of Indonesia, he'd have been received just as warmly. Thai hospitality is well-known, and the Laos might even be more hospitable than the Thais, if that's possible. I believe Sri Lanka is in the same league, though I've never been there.
Brennan's Feb. 13, 2010 address to a meeting at the Islamic Center at New York University, facilitated by the Islamic Society of North America (ISNA), A Moslem umbrella group established by the Saudi Moslem Students Association.
provided an insight into his views on Islam, a faith which he said during the speech had "helped to shape my own world view."
Travels around the world over more than three decades had taught him about "the goodness and beauty of Islam," said Brennan, whose 25-year career at the CIA until 2005 included a stint as station chief in Riyadh. If that's the case then I'm sure he's just handing out soft soap to what he hopes are rubes.
"I was literally sick to my stomach," said Ramla Bile of Minneapolis. "My identity is not a costume, and it's not OK for cultures to be turned into caricatures."
Police Chief Thomas Smith immediately opened an investigation. Police spokesman Howie Padilla confirmed that an officer is depicted in the picture, but could not release his identity Monday.
"The St. Paul Police Department has worked hard to establish a strong and respectful relationship with our Muslim communities, and I will not allow these types of images to erode that relationship," Smith said in a written statement. "Diversity is one of the greatest strengths of the city of St. Paul, and we expect each one of our officers to respect and take pride in serving each of our diverse communities."
"The city and the mayor's office take this very seriously, and the mayor will personally monitor it very closely," said Mayor Chris Coleman's spokesman Joe Campbell.
Somali and Muslim community activists called for swift disciplinary actions and cultural sensitivity training. The Minnesota chapter of the Council on Islamic-American Relations (CAIR-MN) offered training.
The former chief of deportations in the Bush administration will testify to Congress on Tuesday that President Obamas new nondeportation policies would have let the Sept. 11 hijackers remain in the country even if they had been picked up in the months before their deadly attacks.
A bus bombing that killed five Israelis and a driver in Bulgaria was most likely the work of Lebanon's Hezbollah militant group, officials say.
The attack, in the Black Sea resort of Burgas in July 2012, was carried out by a bomber who died at the scene. But police and Bulgarian officials said he was part of a Hezbollah cell that included two operatives using passports from Australia and Canada.
Israel also links Iran to the attack, which injured some 30 people. Iran has always denied and involvement, while Hezbollah has made no comment.
Unveiling the results of the six-month inquiry in Sofia on Tuesday, Interior Minister Tsvetan Tsvetanov said the Australian and Canadian passport-holders were directly linked to Hezbollah.
"We have established that the two were members of the militant wing of Hezbollah," he said. "There is data showing the financing and connection between Hezbollah and the two suspects."
The pair had lived in Lebanon since 2006 and 2010 respectively, the AFP news agency quoted Mr Tsvetanov as saying.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said the Bulgarian findings made it clear that Hezbollah was "directly responsible for the heinous act in Burgas".
A GUNMAN has tried to shoot a Danish writer and prominent critic of Islam, but the writer managed to fend him off and was not injured in the attack.
Police said Lars Hedegaard, who heads two groups that claim press freedom is under threat from Islam, was the target of the shooting.
In a brief statement, they said a roughly 25-year-old gunman rang the doorbell at the writer's Copenhagen home and when he opened the door, the gunman fired a shot aimed at his head, but missed.
"After a scuffle the attacker fled. At this writing we do not know whether the police have apprehended him," the Danish Free Press Society said.
Hedegaard, 70, heads both the Free Press Society and the International Free Press Society. He was fined 5000 kroner ($875) in 2011 for making a series of insulting and degrading statements about Muslims.
Denmark's Prime Minister Helle Thorning-Schmidt condemned the attack. "It is even worse if the attack is rooted in an attempt to prevent Lars Hedegaard to use his freedom of expression," she told Danish news agency Ritzau.
#2
Update According to Ritzau, the assailant fled when his gun jammed after firing the first shot at around 11:20.
After first sealing off Hedegaards street, police have now also cordoned off Copenhagen Zoo after two men wearing ski masks were seen jumping over the wall to the zoo into the hippopotamus enclosure
#8
Sure they have gun control, Glenmore -- the guy who was nearly murdered wasn't armed, was he?
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
02/05/2013 17:23
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#9
Are Hippos halal?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
02/05/2013 18:27
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#10
"After a scuffle the attacker fled.
So he missed from 2 feet (which is definitely NOT gun control!) and then lost a tussle with a 70 year old guy. O Brave Lions of Islam, Thou art fierce as Thou art holy!
#11
He was fined 5000 kroner ($875) in 2011 for making a series of insulting and degrading statements about Muslims.
Not a word about him beating the rap. Probably didn't fit the narrative.
A Communist Chinese warship last week directed "fire-control" radar and lit up a Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Force destroyer in the East China Sea, where Japan and China are involved in a dispute over the ownership of a group of uninhabited islands, Defense Minister Itsunori Onodera said Tuesday.
As the radar activated was for targeting and the move could have set off an inadvertent but inevitable military clash, Japan lodged a protest with China in Tokyo and Beijing on Tuesday afternoon, just hours after Japan condemned China over the intrusion of two Chinese vessels into its territorial waters around the islands the previous day.
The radar beaming, which a Japanese government source said had occurred in waters off the Japanese-administered, Chinese-claimed Senkaku Islands, called Diaoyu in China, is all but certain to further heighten tensions between the two countries.
#1
ratcheting up another notch.
but to be honest ... if the Japanese don't stop China from taking over all the ocean territory in SE Asia - who will???
IMO unless the Bammer = USA is truly prepared + willing to militarily intervene on the side of Japan, + despite risk of HIGH us CASUALTIES + worst-case Limited or Full-scale NucWar agz Nuke-armed mainland China, THE BAMMER = USA MAY WANT TO MULL TURNING A BLIND EYE TO ANY COVERT JAPANESE MANUFACTURE OF NUCWEAPONS FOR ITS OWN ANTI-CHINA DEFENSE.
Rising China has the Manpower + the Nukes for high-intensity Conventional, Conventional-Nuke, + Nuclear Warfare, + any Nippon-destabilizing MOOTW - JAPAN [+ ROK] HAVE NO OVERT NUCBOMBS + NO DEDICATED LRBMS + NO STRATEGIC AIRPOWER TO DELIVER ANY.
Perhaps more importantly, JAPAN's post-WW2 Constitution denies the JSDF any right to MILITARY PREEMPTION ANDOR UNILATERAL "FIRST-STRIKE". THE JSDF CAN FIGHT ONLY IFF ATTACKED - IT CANNOT LEGALLY ATTACK FIRST OR IN SURPRISE.
NUKE-ARMED CHINA, HOWEVER, SUFFERS NO SUCH RESTRICTION SAVE BY INTERNAL GOVT. CHOICE WHICH CAN EASILY CHANGE VIA NORMAL LEADERSHIP CYCLES.
OTOH USFJ + USFK + ASEAN do have a POTUS Bammer Admin which unfortunately many Amers proclaim NOT to trust to truly promote let alone defend or protect American or pro-US Allied interests???
* Also from DAILY TIMES.PK > SOUTH KOREA LEADER [Myung Lee-Bak] SAYS NORTH MAY STAGE MULTIPLE NUCLEAR TESTS, espec to "maximize" its acqusition of vital Nuclear-Scientific knowledge despite International condemnation.
VERSUS
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > [Kyodo News] OKINAWA SECESSION [+ Okin-specific Armed Militancy-Terrorism] OVER US MILITARY PRESENCE, EX-MINISTER WARNS, to includ potens anti-Govt,US TerrOps launched agz Tokyo.
Ex-Minister of Financial + Postal Services SHOZABURO JIMI.
Return of the "JAPANESE RED ARMY" + JAPANESE COMMIE PARTY???
ADVANTAGE - CHINA + PLA.
Again, China supports both Okinawa-specific sovereign independence from Tokyo, or in the alternate substantial Okinawa political, econ autonomy from Tokyo where China is allowed a significant Trade, PLA presence on Okinawa.
FYI Mama Russia is repor anticipating being on the receiving end vee Tokyo of alleged malicious "JAPANESE PROPAGANDA" regarding Kuriles + Sino-Nippon dispute.
[LATIMES] Protesters clashed with police in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Tuesday after a tribunal sentenced an Islamic party leader to life in prison for his role in the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan. "Never forget, never forgive, never 'understand.'" Although once he's in prison for the rest of his life, we can decide not to care about him anymore...
The International Crimes Tribunal handed down the verdict against Abdul Quader Mollah, 64, a senior figure in the Jamaat-e-Islami party, in a crowded, heavily guarded courtroom at the high court complex in Dhaka. Jamaat was allied with the Pak military during the war for independence. They provided the local muscle as auxilliaries, familiar with who was who and who was where. I think that was the most vicious "civil war" since at least the end of the Second World War, with somewhere between 1.5 and 3 million dead. (Biafra is probably second, with a million civilian and 200k military casualties.)
Jamaat called a general strike Tuesday that shuttered shops and schools and slowed traffic to a crawl in parts of the capital. They've been hartaling continuously almost since the start of the war crimes trials. Virtually all the Jamaat's top leadership is on trial or fled.
On Monday, in the wake of a large Jamaat protest demanding that the tribunal be scrapped, several people were injured, local media reported. They threatened civil war before the verdict came out. Since this is the cleanup from their first "civil war" (with Pakistain) forty years ago they might want to think twice about that.
"We're in the midst of chaos," said Ataur Rahman, a professor at the University of Dhaka. "It's part of Bangladesh politics." When Hasina's in BNP is screaming and hollering in the streets. When BNP is in, Awami League is screaming and hollering in the streets. I don't think BNP has been present in the legislature since Hasina got in.
Mollah was found guilty on five of six charges, including mass murder and rape. Prosecutors accused him of participating in the deaths of several hundred unarmed civilians as a then-top leader in the Jamaat's student wing while studying physics at Dhaka University, a charge he denied. "Nope. Nope. Wudn't me."
Several other Jamaat leaders are accused of crimes against humanity during the war against Pakistan over four decades ago. Somebody committed them. A significant percentage of the populace didn't tie their hands behind themselves and blow their brains out.
On Jan. 21, a major TV preacher and former party member was sentenced to death in absentia. That would be Abul Kalam Azad alias Bachchu Razakar. Wherever he is, he's not going to be extradited.
Atty. Gen. Mahbube Alam told media representatives Tuesday that the verdict "upset us as we expected ... capital punishment for the crimes he committed." When he's in jug he's still alive, eligible for prisoner swaps for hostages or for jail breaks, given prison guards who can be bribed. I think Bangla is something like #143 on the "least" corrupt list.
Human rights groups have questioned proceedings at the tribunal, which was created in 2010 and has no international oversight. Daily Star has carried accounts of the trials virtually every day. Many of the "issues" are manufactured by the defense -- they didn't show up for the sentencing, for instance.
Concerns include a decision not to probe the November disappearance of a defense witness outside the courthouse gates. "An allegation as serious as the abduction of a witness deserves prompt action and a thorough and impartial investigation," Brad Adams, Asia director at Human Rights Watch, said in a statement at the time. The story is that Shukho Ranjan Bali was abducted by RAB while arriving to give testimony. That was on November 5th. He hasnt been seen since. That was also in Delwar Hussein Sayedee's case, not this one.
Jamaat rejected Tuesday's verdict and called for another strike Wednesday in a bid to ramp up pressure on the ruling Awami League. They also "rejected" the arrests of their top leadership. Their "rejection" means more months of rioting in the streets.
"The verdict is a reflection of political vengeance," Rafiqul Islam Khan, Jamaat's acting assistant secretary-general, told reporters. "The verdict is dictated by the government." Hasina's govt seems determined to break the power of the Jamaat. Jamaat is part of BNP's four-party alliance -- even though religion-based parties are illegal under the Bangla constitution -- as one reason. They also kind of blatantly involved with the extremist groups like JMB and HuJI. Most important, though, I think, is that they turn their brown turbans out flinging bricks and whacking things and setting fire to cars at the least opportunity.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina's government, which initiated the tribunal, has denied any bias in the proceedings. Bangladesh's political system can be highly polarized, and all of those on trial for war crimes are opposition politicians. There's a political element to it, but I'm sure it galls Hasina and her associates to see the Jamaat leadership fat and happy and allied with Khaleda Zia -- the widow of Ziaur Rehman.
Analysts said the government may have underestimated how contentious the tribunal would become. Many of the accused are well-entrenched in Bangladeshi politics four decades on, even as a younger generation finds appeal in Jamaat's Islamic message. I already said they were fat and happy.
"If the government pushes too hard to get these guys, it could create more divisions in society," Rahman said. "We still carry a lot of emotion from the 1971 war." Doing nothing is always the easiest thing, isn't it? Doing something to contain or eliminate a growing threat is much harder.
Jamaat, which opposed Bangladesh's independence from Pakistan in 1971, is suspected of helping organize groups that assisted Pakistani troops in killings, rapes and arson. According to official figures, Pakistani troops and local collaborators killed 3 million people and raped 200,000 women. It's not "suspected." It's documented. The guys on trial are among those documented.
Police last week said they shot and killed two Jamaat activists in clashes across Bangladesh. The party has put the number of its members in the hands of police at four. Twelve people, including five policemen, were injured over the weekend after Jamaat supporters clashed with police in a Dhaka suburb.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
10:19 ||
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A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be senior operational leaders of al-Qaida or an associated force -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
The 16-page memo, a copy of which was obtained by NBC News, provides new details about the legal reasoning behind one of the Obama administrations most secretive and controversial polices: its dramatically increased use of drone strikes against al-Qaida suspects, including those aimed at American citizens, such as the September 2011 strike in Yemen that killed alleged al-Qaida operatives Anwar al-Awlaki and Samir Khan. Both were U.S. citizens who had never been indicted by the U.S. government nor charged with any crimes.
The secrecy surrounding such strikes is fast emerging as a central issue in this weeks hearing of White House counterterrorism adviser John Brennan, a key architect of the drone campaign, to be CIA director. Brennan was the first administration official to publicly acknowledge drone strikes in a speech last year, calling them consistent with the inherent right of self-defense.
In a separate talk at the Northwestern University Law School in March, Attorney General Eric Holder specifically endorsed the constitutionality of targeted killings of Americans, saying they could be justified if government officials determine the target poses an imminent threat of violent attack.
But the confidential Justice Department white paper introduces a more expansive definition of self-defense or imminent attack than described by Brennan or Holder in their public speeches. It refers, for example, to what it calls a broader concept of imminence than actual intelligence about any ongoing plot against the U.S. homeland.
The condition that an operational leader present an imminent threat of violent attack against the United States does not require the United States to have clear evidence that a specific attack on U.S. persons and interests will take place in the immediate future, the memo states.
Instead, it says, an informed, high-level official of the U.S. government may determine that the targeted American has been recently involved in activities posing a threat of a violent attack and there is no evidence suggesting that he has renounced or abandoned such activities. The memo does not define recently or activities.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013
07:52 ||
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#1
The memo does not define "recently" or "activities."
But murdering a bus driver and holding a little boy hostage probably fits the current definition. Before that it would have been Waco, but that was many Super Bowls ago. Case Law and "White Papers", totally unnecessary but conveniently re-established.
#2
Given that the Constitution gives the President executive power (art II sec 1) and CIC (art II sec 2)and given that the oath requires 'preserve and protect' (art II sec 1), there is at least a reasonable basis for this.
However, if there was some 'outside the WH' review of this by some judicial panel or some legislative/judicial panel, I would feel much better about it. Otherwise, what is the 'due process'?
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/05/2013 10:30
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#3
Personally I would feelmore comfortable with this kind of legal determination if Georgie had his finger on the trigger instead of this pocket dictator and his cult of personality.
Kinda makes you wonder what kind of information they've been loading into the GPS systems at GM doesn't it?
Don't look for me to get an onboard navigation system in an american car as long as this Oligarch in in power.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/05/2013 10:38
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#4
I don't have a problem with this if the American is:
A) Outside the territory controlled by the US
B) Actively helping a declared enemy of the US to attack US interests and personnel/civilians
C) Declared his allegiance with the enemy
In those cases I say the American chose his fate and bombs away!
#5
Well if you're planning on going crackers and the feds pass a phone into your bunker to conduct negotiations, don't set it on the shelf. Place it in an empty ammo can when not in use.
#6
I have a problem with this. 14th Amendment protects Americans' rights to due process.
If an American decides to join the other side and pick up a gun, then I have no problem if he happens to be in the wrong place at the wrong time on a battlefield. Or else, if we get our mitts on him we can charge him with treason, try him and execute him.
But to drone-zap an American, specifically, not as part of a battle encounter, and without charging him? That's a slippery slope, and people like Obama and Holder are willing to slide a fair ways down.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013 11:17
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#7
I'd like to see a bipartisan finding required
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2013 11:20
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#8
Steve says,
That's a slippery slope, and people like Obama and Holder are willing to slide a fair ways down.
Zero and company are willing to slide ALL the way down that slope because the like what's at the bottom...absolute power.
Only so long as the American people are happy to have the Saudis calling the shots. It doesn't have to be like that. Once upon a time our president would have bowed to no one, and certainly not a mass murdering tyrant.
#12
Just imagine the (feigned) outrage if this had been produced by the Bush administration.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
02/05/2013 16:50
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#13
You can drone zap Americans? That is a slippery slope. There is no due process other than what the President decides. Can Mahmoud Ahmadinejad be drone-zapped? How about Assad? Do they have more rights than Americans? Morsi?
#18
well I certainly hope my AmEx travel insurance covers this sort of thing when I'm overseas. Wouldn't want to become a smoking greasy spot - and not get a handsome settlement :-)
Muhammad Omar Abdel Rahman, Son of the Blind Sheik Imprisoned in the U.S.: Peaceful Methods Do Not Work with America
Following are excerpts from an interview with Muhammad Omar Abdel Rahman, son of Omar Abdel Rahman, the blind sheik imprisoned in the U.S. The interview was posted on the Internet on January 22, 2013.
Muhammad Omar Abdel Rahman: We have taken all legal means [to free Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman], including demonstrations, conferences, and the issuing of demands. These are all peaceful means. After the fall of the Mubarak regime, we held several demonstrations, followed by a protest [opposite the U.S. embassy in Cairo] for a year and 4 months.
We issued many warnings that a lack of response to our peaceful demands might encourage some Jihadi groups, who view the imprisonment of an Islamic icon like Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman in the U.S. as a direct affront to Islam. As we saw, some youths in Algeria took several people hostage, and tried to exchange them for Dr. Omar Abdel Rahman and for the Pakistani doctor Aafia Siddiqui.
We say: America should be held accountable for the actions of these groups. America got itself into this mess by kidnapping and imprisoning Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman, followed by the kidnapping of Sheik Talat Fuad Qasim, of Abu Omar in Italy, and of Ahmad Salama in Azerbaijan. They were all kidnapped after President Bill Clinton made a decision, in 1993, to allow the CIA to kidnap these men, to interrogate them, and then extradite them to their countries.
Indeed, Sheik Talat Fuad Qasim was extradited to Egypt, where he was executed. The same is true of Ahmad Al-Naggar, who was kidnapped in Albania, and executed in Egypt. America should be held accountable for all these cases. It is America that proves, both directly and indirectly, that peaceful methods do not work with it. These guys undoubtedly wanted justice to be done, and that is why they carried out their actions.
We, Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya, the Building and Development Party, and all those associated with it, employ peaceful means. We call upon America and hope that it will respond to our demands, and will release Sheik Omar Abdel Rahman.
Interviewer: Is there any coordination between Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya and the kidnappers [in Algeria]?
Muhammad Omar Abdel Rahman: We, in the family and in Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiyya, operate in certain ways. Naturally, there is no coordination. Those guys are full of enthusiasm, but we have no connection or communication with them.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013
07:51 ||
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h/t Instapundit
Today, True the Vote filed a federal lawsuit against the St. Lucie County Supervisor of Elections regarding the contest for the 18th Congressional District in Florida the Allen West race. The case is brought under the 1993 Motor Voter law. (Full, yet totally unnecessary disclosure: I am one of the lawyers who brought the case, along with Michael Barnett). IMO, if Romney had 1/10 of Allen West's guts O & Co would be out on their ass.
#1
Romney showed up to a gun fight without a weapon. Whether you like it or not, negative campaigning works. You got to be just as nasty and ugly as your opponent when they've reduced it all to the full time pursuit and retention of power for power sake.
#3
Demographics do matter, but not so much when voters won't turn out for you. Romney inspired Karl Rove, some Rockefeller types and Mormons -- and no one else.
The good news is that we could have a very big 2014, especially without a RINO headliner dragging down the whole ticket. Rove knows this, which is why he is working today to keep Tea Party types from even fielding candidates.
It's not a new problem. At the time of the revolution, about 1/3 of the population wanted independence, 1/3 wanted the crown and 1/3 didn't care. The job of the two opposing sides is to convince the middle.
Today we are calling the middle "low information" voters, but it is just as accurate to call them "highly emotional" voters. They get scared easily. They also get excited easily. But they will never, ever get excited about a candidate who doesn't excite his own base. How often does a candidate win based on not being as terrible as the other guy? It's a losing strategy.
#6
Perhaps. But every damned person who stayed home because Romney didn't excite them, while knowing full well what was at stake, owns the outcome of this past election.
TIMBUKTU, MALI -- In a new phase in the Mali conflict, French airstrikes targeted the fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in northern Mali overnight Monday, as a military spokeswoman said that French forces plan to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army this week.
After taking control of the key cities of northern Mali, forcing the Islamic rebels to retreat into the desert, the French military intervention is turning away from the cities and targeting the fighters' remote outposts to prevent them bases from being used as Saharan launch pads for international terrorism.
I am very impressed with the French. They must really know the area well, and (with some allied help) have what they need to do the job. I had rather expected that it would take the French weeks to get moving. But this has been downright snappy and well-executed.
The French plan to leave the city of Timbuktu on Thursday, Feb. 7, a spokeswoman for the armed forces in the city said Monday. French soldiers took the city last week after Islamic extremists withdrew. Now the French military said it intends to move out of Timbuktu in order to push farther northeast to the strategic city of Gao.
"The 600 soldiers currently based in Timbuktu will be heading toward Gao in order to pursue their mission," said Capt. Nadia, the spokeswoman, who only provided her first name in keeping with French military protocol. She said that the force in Timbuktu will be replaced by a small contingent of French soldiers, though she declined to say when they would arrive.
On Monday, French troops in armored personnel carriers were still patrolling Timbuktu. In the city's military camps, newly arrived Malian troops were cleaning their weapons Monday and holding meetings to prepare to take over the security of the city once the French leave.
There are signs that the Islamic rebels are beginning a guerrilla-type of conflict from their desert retreats as land mine explosions have killed four Malian soldiers and two civilians throughout the northern region in recent days. The two civilians died in an explosion from a land mine, or an improvised explosive device, on the road in northeastern Mali that links Kidal, Anefis and North Darane, the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a statement Monday.
Four soldiers were killed last week by a land mine explosion in the northeast area near Gossi. The French reported that two other land mines have been found in that vicinity, and early Monday they detonated one of the mines.
French airstrikes targeted the Islamic extremists' desert bases and fuel depots in northern Mali overnight.
French Foreign Minister Laurent Fabius said on France-Inter radio Monday that the strikes hit the Kidal region, near the border with Algeria, for the second night in a row. The extremists "cannot stay there a long time unless they have ways to get new supplies," he said.
You can hide in the desert but you still have to eat, and you still need gasoline...
Water, however, can be replaced with urine, at least for a while.
French Mirage and Rafale planes also pounded extremist training camps as well as arms and fuel depots from Saturday night into the early hours of Sunday, north of the town of Kidal and in the Tessalit region.
After pushing extremists out of key northern cities, France is now pushing to hand over control of those sites to African forces from a United Nations-authorized force made up of thousands of troops from nearby countries.
"In the cities that we are holding we want to be quickly replaced by the African forces," Fabius said Monday.
Asked whether the French could pull out of the fabled city of Timbuktu and hand it to African forces as soon as Tuesday, Fabius responded, "Yes, it could happen very fast. We are working on it because our vocation is not to stay in the long term."
But it is far from clear that the African forces -- much less the weak Malian army --are ready for the withdrawal of thousands of French troops, fighter planes and helicopters which would give the Africans full responsibility against the Islamic extremists, who may strike the cities from their desert hideouts.
Unless, of course, the extremists are busy running for their lives and scrounging for food and fuel...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013
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#1
Unfortunately, the jihadists are pretty clever of there. They have established a lot of buried cahes for food and arms ... and can dig them up when they choose to. Air strikes can hit some key points, but by no means will they eliminate of the Islamists' supplies. This is going to be a long war.
[Al Ahram] Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and its political arm, the Building and Development Party, announced that it will hold mass demonstrations on Friday 15 February at Cairo University.
The group was intending to hold the protest on 8 February, but delayed it after several Islamist parties, including the Salafist parties Nour and Watan, declined to join.
At a press conference in Cairo, the hardline Islamist group asked all political forces and youth groups to commit to 11 demands: achieve the January 25 revolution's goals through peaceful means; respect the choice of the Egyptian people and commitment to change through the electoral process; apply the law in regard to human rights; issue revolutionary presidential decrees to support the poor, to achieve social justice; not interfere in the work of the judiciary.
The group also called on political forces and youth groups to: commit to the establishment of a department in the ministry of interior against thuggery; give an opportunity for revolutionary youth to build the future of the country; give an opportunity to all Egyptians to build the future of the country without any exclusion; take part in an unconditional national reconciliation on all national issues; the return of the popular committees to protect public and private property; form a permanent committee of all the political powers to unify policies in order to complete the goals of the revolution.
The group also proposed a roadmap for the country's political future, which focused on national dialogue and free elections.
Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya leader Aboud El-Zomor stated that the opposition should adopt peaceful methods to come to power, stressing that the real popularity gauge is now the ballot box.
"Those who think they can climb the walls of the presidential palace and threaten the country and its president are wrong. Whoever enters the palace will appear hours later at the prosecutor-general's office with his hands and feet bound," he said.
"I advise the [opposition group] National Salvation Front not to waste any more of its time and lose more of its popularity. If it wants to be elected and rule it should do so through legitimate channels, elections, which it should work towards in the streets. Attacking the palace is an action we reject and will not allow," he said.
Safwat Abdel Ghany, a leading member of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya, said that the protest was being held "for the sake of the nation" and not to provoke clashes with opponents.
"The National Salvation Front has been exposed; it wants to bring down the president's legitimacy, and is not serious in denouncing the violence," Abdel Ghany said.
Later on Monday, the group issued a statement mourning the death of activist Mohamed El-Gendy, who died allegedly as a result of police torture, and demanding an investigation into his death and immediate trial for any found responsible.
"The members of Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya suffered a great deal during the Mubarak era, and [some of them] were subjected to torture until death," said the group in its statement.
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[Bangla Daily Star] Today, the International Crimes Tribunal-2 is going to deliver the verdict in the case filed against Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Assistant Secretary General Abdul Quader Mollah in connection with crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War.
This would be the second verdict of the tribunal and the first against an incumbent leader of Jamaat.
The party contributed significantly to the creation of auxiliary forces during the Liberation War for combating unarmed Bangalee civilians in the name of protecting Pakistain, an earlier verdict of the tribunal said.
Jamaat-e-Islami has called a dawn-to-dusk nationwide hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... today demanding the release of its top leaders being tried at the tribunal, scrapping of the tribunal altogether and to "protest the delivery of the verdict".
Yesterday, tribunal Registrar AKM Nasiruddin Mahmud told news hounds at a press briefing that the Tribunal-2, the second of two courts, would deliver the verdict against Mollah, 65.
"The tribunal has directed [the authority concerned] to register [Quader Mollah's] the case into tomorrow's [Tuesday's] cause list to deliver its verdict. So, it could be said the verdict of [Quader Mollah's] the case will be delivered tomorrow," said the registrar.
Registrar Nasiruddin told The Daily Star, "Pronouncement of the verdict wouldn't be hampered by the hartal."
Mollah is facing six charges of crimes against humanity allegedly committed during the nine-month-long war in 1971. According to the charges, Mollah "actively participated" in the killing of at least 381 unarmed people in Dhaka's Mirpur and Keraniganj areas in six different incidents.
Tajul Islam, a senior member of Mollah's defence team, told The Daily Star, "It may not be possible for defence counsels to participate in tomorrow's [Tuesday's] court proceedings during the hartal. I personally will not go. One or two junior members [of defence team] may go to the court."
Asked what would happen if defence counsels did not appear before the court today, the registrar said, "As per law, their [lawyers] absence would not create any problem."
An initiative has been taken to produce the accused before the tribunal today, he said, adding that extra measures have also been taken to ensure security.
On January 17, the three-member Tribunal-2, led by Justice Obaidul Hassan with members Justice Md Mozibur Rahman Miah and Judge M Shahinur Islam kept Mollah's case waiting for verdict after conclusion of the closing arguments.
On January 21, the same tribunal made history by sentencing expelled Jamaat member Abul Kalam Azad to death, in its maiden judgment, for genocide and crimes against humanity during the war.
The case against another Jamaat leader Delwar Hossain Sayeedi ...Islamic orator and politician. He was a former Member of Parliament in the National Assembly of Bangladesh from 1996 to 2008, and is one of the most prominent leaders of the Bangladesh Jamaat-e-Islami... is kept waiting for verdict at Tribunal-1.
While wrapping up its arguments in the case against Mollah, the prosecution sought capital punishment claiming that it had proved the charges brought against him.
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#1
Mutual of Bangla is gonna be paying out big
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2013 11:07
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Gunmen ambushed the vehicle of Mayo district's chief in Pattani province yesterday in the first attack on a high-ranking official in the far South this year.
The shooting happened at about 5 p.m. while the vehicle was traveling from the district office to his residence in Muang Pattani district. When they arrived at Ban Jabae, gunmen in a pickup truck sprayed bullets at the district chief's bullet-proof vehicle. The bullets struck the windshield and the driver's side window.
A student was slightly wounded by a stray bullet in the attack. Daranee Ba-eh, a student at Kriamwitthaya School, was a pillion rider on a motorcycle following the attacker's pickup truck.
Police suspect that at least four gunmen were on the truck, and shot at the car with M16 and AK rifles.
Meanwhile, farmers in Pattani province resumed working in their rice field yesterday under tight security. Soldiers, police, and defence volunteers stood guard over a paddy field where the Southern Border Provinces Administrative Centre (SBPAC) is conducting rice-growing training so villagers can revive rice fields abandoned due to the insurgency.
The training was suspended over the weekend after two of the trainers were killed and 10 others wounded in a gun attack in Yaring district on Friday. Seven wounded farmers were still in hospital yesterday.
[Dawn] AN audacious strike on a military installation and a cruel attack on worshippers at Friday prayers -- what ought to be the unacceptable exception appears to have become the norm in Pakistain's insurgency-hit areas. Lakki Marwat and Hangu have been hit by terrorism before, were hit by terrorism over the weekend -- and the unhappy truth is, those towns, and many other places, are almost sure to be hit by terrorism and militancy again. By now it has also become clear that defensive tactics have gone as far as they can. Body searches and security perimeters outside mosques during Friday prayers are common across Pakistain. But mosques are by definition venues that have to allow the public in -- and so can only be secured up to a point from suicide or other attacks. The same goes for military installations -- the more high-profile and sensitive sites can have layers and layers of security, but when located in remote areas and on the frontline in the fight against militancy, there will be vulnerabilities that cannot be fully protected. The problem, then, is really of how to build a more proactive and aggressive strategy to fight militancy.
Both attacks have been owned by the Pak Taliban -- and it's clear where the centre of gravity of the Taliban now lies: North Wazoo Agency. And yet, North Waziristan appears to have slipped off the to-do list in the fight against militancy, a victim of the security establishment's sympathetic approach towards the Haqqanis and reluctance to be seen succumbing to American diktat. Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa ... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central... , Fata, Pata and parts of Punjab will fundamentally remain vulnerable while the Agency stands lost -- but where is the conversation, let alone action, on what needs to be done to recover North Waziristan?
With Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa hit hard, yet again, by violence in recent months, the ANP is trying to mobilise political support and public opinion to create a new consensus on the need to fight militancy. But the response to the ANP's efforts has been less than encouraging. Politicians are wary of courting controversy ahead of a general election and the army has failed to clear apprehensions about its true intentions. Little support, no plan -- the upshot is, sadly, that Pakistain must brace itself for more violence.
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[Dawn] Investigations into various cases of assassinations in the city have revealed that three particular types of 9mm pistols have been used in more than 100 killings during 2012.
Sources privy to findings of Sindh police's forensic division told Dawn on Sunday that the division had recently compiled its 2012 report which revealed that in most cases people were targeted with three types of 9mm pistols. The victims belonged to all sects and political parties besides a fair number of officials of law-enforcement agencies.
"In 2012, Sherlocks of the forensic division examined 107 scene of the crimes and collected pieces of evidence which mainly included casings of spent bullets," said an official.
The findings came as a reminder of Sindh IG Fayyaz Ahmed Leghari's statement he gave in December 2012 that he suspected the involvement of a 'third force' in Bloody Karachi ...formerly the capital of Pakistain, now merely its most important port and financial center. It is among the largest cities in the world, with a population of 18 million, most of whom hate each other and many of whom are armed and dangerous... bloodshed on the basis of forensic examination in a number of killings which were earlier suspected to be motivated by sectarianism.
The official said the forensic division examined 5,203 empties (spent bullet casings) used in different crimes during 2012 which were sent to it by different units of Bloody Karachi police, including the crime investigation department (CID), special investigation unit (SIU), anti-violent crime cell (AVCC) and investigation arms of all three zones -- east, west and south.
"A latest state-of-the-art digital laboratory, which has been recently set up, is greatly helpful to the Sherlocks in determining key facts about different arms being used in the city," he added.
Violence revisited the city during the second quarter of 2012 with a series of killings and targeted attacks which appeared to be sectarian-motivated after a gap of a few months when Bloody Karachi appeared to be returning to normality in the wake of the Supreme Court's suo motu ...a legal term, from the Latin. Roughly translated it means I saw what you did, you bastard... notice of assassinations in August 2011.
Many people belonging to the Shia sect, with a significant number of them belonging to the same families, were killed in attacks. Similarly, a fairly large number of men espousing the Sunni sect, including seminary students and teachers, were killed in incidents of firing in different parts of the city.
With little serious efforts by the government to track down attackers and expose their motives, the forensic division has made significant progress in collection and identification of forensic evidence.
"The report further says the division has collected fingerprints of 44,878 suspects of different crimes across the province through its fingerprints identification system during the previous year," said the official.
"Some 35,629 among them were from Bloody Karachi followed by Hyderabad, where fingerprints of 1,836 suspects were collected. The division also helps out the Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... police in different cases when it receives a request," he said.
In total, he said, during 2012 the division conducted investigations into 701 criminal cases, involving murders, robberies, burglaries and carjacking.
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[THEHILL] Trips to the gasoline pump in 2012 and 2008 took their biggest share of U.S. household income in several decades, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA). Keep telling us the U.S. has a 1.7 percent inflation rate. We like consuming BS. We believe everything the govt tells us.
The Energy Department's statistical arm reported Monday that the average household spent $2,912 for gasoline in 2012, which makes up almost 4 percent of pre-tax income, tying 2008 for the highest percentage in roughly 30 years.
Pump prices took center stage in White House races in 2008 and 2012, but gasoline expenditures as a share of household income remain lower they did than the early 1980s, when they were above 5 percent.
Prices last year were elevated enough to push the share of household spending to the highest level in decades even though overall gasoline consumption has been declining for years.
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#1
Approval of the Keystone XL pipeline languishes in Washington while visa doors open permitting tens of thousands of KSA students to be admitted to US universities.
[BREITBART] Flight records obtained by Breitbart News show Democratic Party donor Dr. Salomon Melgen's private jet was in New Jersey near Sen. Bob Menendez's home on April 8, 2012--Easter Sunday last year. From there, it flew straight to the Dominican Republic.
Menendez and his staff have not answered when asked repeatedly whether the Senator was on that flight. They also have not provided any accounting as to where Menendez was on Easter Sunday, either.
The flight records show Melgen's plane was in the Dominican Republic on a frequent basis. The jet was there in late March until April 2, at which point Melgen's plane flew from La Romana International airport in the Dominican Republic to West Palm Beach, Florida. The flight path records, compiled by FlightAware, show Melgen's plane stayed in West Palm Beach for a few days after that.
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#1
It is unclear why the plane flew to the Dominican Republic and back that night.
Perhaps a dope sniffing dog could be permitted to examine the aircraft for potential answers ?
#3
Florida Doctor way behind on taxes and allegedly broke donates over $700,000 to Demo super PAC; flies private plane to DR over 100 times....sometimes diverting stopping off in beltway; also has interest security and maritime shipping containers and whores.
#5
CBP Private Flier regs. Department of Homeland Security and Director Janet Napolitano, can you tell us anything about the good Doctor's many trips and frequent travels? Oh, sorry to hear about your sudden illness and resignation.
He's a New Jersey Donk pol. Nothing to see here. Move on. Heck the last time we had this scenario, the NJ Supreme Court overruled their own laws to get Lautenberg on the ballot to make sure the seat remained a 'D'.
[Dawn] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Monday announced the beginning of the second phase of his 'people's revolution' with a rally in Gujranwala on Feb 15, DawnNews reported.
Speaking to media representatives at a presser in Lahore, Qadri said that the 'revolution' had been started in order to install a real democracy in Pakistain. He said that the anti-poor system of the country must be changed, adding that the Articles 3 and 38 of the Constitution were being violated.
Moreover, the Awami Tehrik chief said that the first rally of the 'revolution' would be held in Gujranwala on Feb 15, a second one on Feb 17 in Faisalabad ...formerly known as Lyallpur, the third largest metropolis in Pakistain, the second largest in Punjab after Lahore. It is named after some Arab because the Paks didn't have anybody notable of their own to name it after... , a third one in Multan on Feb 22 and a fourth in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. on Feb 24.
Qadri said that his party did not wish to postpone the upcoming general polls. He said that the Army was also in favour of maintaining the continuity of a democratic system in the country.
Furthermore, Qadri said that it was impossible to hijack the people's revolution.
He extended invitations to all political parties, including the Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) to participate in the rallies.
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[Dawn] THE Pak establishment has been as much a victim of its successes as it has of its failures over the years. The Afghan policy during the 1990s that manufactured the Afghan Taliban's rise to power and shut India out of Afghanistan was celebrated as a victory.
We are now living through the blowback it created.
At Kargil ... three months of unprovoked Pak aggression, over 4000 dead Paks, another victory for India ... , the plan was to launch a limited tactical operation but the ease with which the infiltrators managed to capture unattended peaks led the advance to go well beyond its remit. The result was that Pakistain lost tremendous international standing and its stance on Kashmire has since never been entertained seriously.
Afghanistan is likely to put the establishment to the test again.
Virtually all of Pakistain's actions in the 'endgame' phase in Afghanistan can be explained by one overriding objective: pushing for a reconciliation process in Afghanistan which includes the Afghan Taliban, gives their demands adequate weight, and consequently allows them space in a power-sharing structure post-2014. Pakistain's ideal is to get the Taliban in but not on top.
Any military solution in Afghanistan would go against this outlook. Neither a US military victory that would degrade and split the Taliban nor a Taliban triumph that would inevitably be preceded by a bloody civil war -- with the attendant negative spillover into Pakistain -- and be seen as a success of the Islamist ideology could be attractive.
Pakistain's propensity to allow the Taliban sanctuaries to continue perpetrating violence in Afghanistan coupled with the multiple policy failures of the international coalition and Afghan government have brought the on-ground reality closer to the establishment's desired outcome. The quest for military victory for the US-led campaign is all but over.
Moreover, recent developments clearly suggest that all capitals, including Islamabad, are scrambling to get a reconciliation process going. The tough talk vis-à-vis the Taliban is giving way to non-opposition to provocative plans that seek to give the Taliban a way back into the power structure while allowing Pakistain a role to facilitate the process. The "road map to peace plan" floated by the High Peace Council is a pertinent example. Indeed, it is becoming increasingly clear that the realistic options at this point seem closer to Pakistain's position than to the somewhat more hopeful end-results touted by Western capitals and Kabul.
If the present trend continues, the Pak decision-makers may well get an outcome they could consider their latest tactical victory. Herein lies the establishment's dilemma.
First, while it may have moderated its position from the pre-9/11 days, the change does not constitute the much-touted strategic shift. The strategy still relies on the Afghan Taliban and even though the biggest driver of policy today is the concern about domestic instability, Pakistain's actions (or in some cases the lack thereof) have still been Machiavellian and are partly responsible for allowing the Taliban insurgency to fester.
The official line is that once the Afghan Taliban vacate the sanctuaries, Pakistain will be able to go after the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain in a decisive manner. Till then, however, we will spare the Pak Taliban's centre of gravity in North Wazoo; de facto, the state has accepted a certain level of violence and the TTP's ability to continue spreading its ideology as a fait accompli in the interim.
Worse yet, how can we say that the Afghan Taliban, relieved of Pak hospitality post-2014, will not back the TTP? They may have shown restraint in this regard thus far but they have never denied ideological linkages. In fact, their links are well-known; the establishment even uses the Haqqani network to rein in the TTP from time to time.
As for the Quetta Shura, it is important to recall that even during the 1990s, when push came to shove, Mullah Omar ... a minor Pashtun commander in the war against the Soviets who made good as leader of the Taliban. As ruler of Afghanistan, he took the title Leader of the Faithful. The imposition of Pashtunkhwa on the nation institutionalized ignorance and brutality in a country already notable for its own fair share of ignorance and brutality... 's regime didn't budge -- not on the Durand Line issue, not on the Bamiyan Buddhas, and not even when Pakistain asked for sectarian cut-throats to be handed over. With the Quetta Shura's resentment towards the ISI only having grown over the past decade, why could the same, or even worse, not happen this time round?
But let us assume that the Taliban, given their own constraints and dependence on Pakistain, do not hit back in this manner. What about the other extreme? Would some in the establishment get carried away and see the Afghan situation as a window of opportunity to spread Pakistain's influence westward again?
Will this lead a segment of the establishment to either redeploy a 'forward policy' or to force the Haqqani network and Quetta Shura to do their proxy bidding? Will some be tempted to do unto India what the establishment feels India has done to it in the past 10 years, i.e. fish in troubled waters?
The good news is that the establishment's appetite for such shenanigans is much less than before. There isn't any sense of triumph or much longing for 'victory' in Afghanistan; there is more worry, concern and panic about the situation.
This may not be enough, however, to keep the most adventurist from being tempted when the opportunity arises.
What Pakistain desperately needs is a change in mindset on the Taliban. A complete divorce from any group espousing Islamist ideology must be a primary long-term objective.
Between now and 2014, Pakistain must, at the very least, pressure the Afghan Taliban to enter negotiations and agree on a power-sharing arrangement with other Afghan political factions. It must signal its unwillingness to allow the Taliban to continue waging war from its territory once serious negotiations are under way.
Moreover, Islamabad must work to moderate the Taliban. For this, it ought to view northern political factions in Afghanistan (that will also be part of post-2014 Kabul according to the establishment's vision) as partners, not opponents. An unchecked Taliban presence on Pak borders will invite an ideological spillover into a Pakistain that is far more susceptible to such thinking than it was in the 1980s and 1990s.
Is there another tactical victory in the making for the establishment? If so, will it again turn into a strategic blunder? Or has the establishment learnt from the past? We will know soon.
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#1
What Pakistan needs is thousands of massive "natural disasters" that turn everything the c___suckers look at to dross.
Posted by: Water Modem ||
02/05/2013 3:40
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[Tolo News] At least seven local police have been detained in north-eastern Kunduz province for various crimes including murder, security officials said Monday.
Afghan Local Police (ALP) chief Ali Shah Ahmadzai said that the detained men were known to have committed different crimes such as murder, robbery and misuse of uniform.
The ALP has been heavily criticized in the past for its officers violation of human rights, extortion, causing unrest among the people and misuse of weapons.
Ahmadzai said that group includes two national police who misused the local police uniform.
"The group is accused of taking money from the people, misusing weapons and bothering people in the province," he told TOLOnews.
Previously, a group of five ALP were arrested after being accused of murder, extortion, and injuring two women in northern Baghlan province.
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The military tribunal case stemming from the 2000 bombing of the USS Cole bogged down on Monday when prosecutors requested a mental health evaluation of the defendant, citing defense lawyers repeated assertions that he is suffering from post-traumatic stress because of torture by the CIA.
The judge, Col. James L. Pohl, granted the request to have a medical board examine the defendant, a Saudi national named Abd al-Rahim al-Nashiri, to determine whether he is mentally incompetent to assist in his own defense. The decision means that most of the pretrial motions that had been scheduled for argument this week will be delayed for at least a month.
We will not proceed until said examination is completed, Colonel Pohl said, and later added, It appears we are not going to make too much progress this week.
The request was unusual because normally defense lawyers raise questions about whether a client is mentally competent to stand trial. But prosecutors asked for the review because they want an official pronouncement that Nashiri is mentally capable of participating in his own case in order to decrease the risk of a successful appeal.
Defense lawyers, who aim to establish that Nashiri was tortured in order to argue that he should be spared execution if convicted, did not oppose the request, but argued about its details. They urged Colonel Pohl to hear from Vincent Iacopino, a torture victims specialist with Physicians for Human Rights, to ensure that the review did not re-traumatize their client, and the judge agreed to hear his testimony later this week.
Colonel Pohl also ordered the government to allow a medical consultant for the defense, Sondra Crosby, to conduct a physical examination of Nashiri, unshackled and alone, but filmed by a surveillance camera without audio and with guards outside the door. The military had demanded that Nashiri either be shackled or that three guards be in the room when his body was examined for physical signs of torture.
The hearing on Monday was Nashiri's first public appearance since October. He wore white clothing and listened quietly to a translation of the proceedings through earphones, sometimes stroking his chin and swiveling his chair back and forth. A feed from the high-security courtroom at Gitmo, was transmitted to several locations inside the United States, including Fort Meade.
#3
A feed from the high-security courtroom at Gitmo, was transmitted to several locations inside the United States, including Fort Meade, White House situation room, CIA Watch Center, and the US State Dept.
Brand new technology, didn't even exist before 9/12/2012.
[Al Ahram] Foreign tourism to Egypt, especially from Europe and North America, has dipped further due to political unrest and street protests since the anniversary of the January 25 Revolution.
Foreign governments have been advising their nationals to exercise increasing caution when travelling to Egypt, and to avoid large crowds and demonstrations.
But most of the warnings actually pertain to the deteriorating security situation over the past two years, not the political unrest.
Lack of road security, a decaying railway system, rising crime, sexual harassment, and lawlessness in Sinai and the regions bordering Libya and Sudan, carry the sternest warnings.
The latest guidelines by US and European governments say travel to Greater Cairo, Alexandria, and the main tourist hubs of Luxor and Aswan in Upper Egypt, is relatively safe as long as people avoid protests.
However, France, Germany and the UK advise against all travel to North Sinai, and non-essential travel to South Sinai, including to St Catherine's Monastery. The warning excludes the coastal resorts of Sharm El-Sheikh, Dahab, Nuweiba, and Taba, though it does advise against overnight travel between the resorts.
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and lawlessness in Sinai and the regions bordering Libya and Sudan, carry the sternest warnings.
Depending on how wide you draw those border areas that pretty much includes the entire cesspool.
[Al Ahram] Cabinet spokesman confirms culture minister Saber Arab has resigned from his position Sunday night; source says minister was upset after a video that showed police attack on unarmed protester on Friday
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What do you want the thugs to do, attack the armed protesters?
[Dawn] Teenage peace-activist Malala Yousufzai made her first video statement since she was nearly killed, saying on Monday that she is recovering.
Speaking clearly but with a slight stiffness in her upper lip, 15-year-old Malala said that she was "getting better, day by day".
"Today you can see that I am alive. I can speak, I can see you, I can see everyone," she said in the video, made available by a public relations firm. "It's just because of the prayers of people. Because all people -- men, women, children -- all of them have prayed for me. And because of all these prayers God has given me this new life. A second life. And I want to serve. I want to serve the people. I want every girl, every child, to be educated. For that reason, we have organized the Malala Fund."
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What a kid. She's going to need armed protection for decades, presuming she lives that long.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
02/05/2013 7:25
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[FRANCE24] Iran's foreign minister on Sunday announced a fresh round of talks with world powers on its nuclear programme, and said his country was open to bilateral negotiations with the US as long as the other party came to the table "with honest intentions." Are we gonna send them another cake?
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#1
Israel Pert claims Iran could build a Nucbomb this year, in circa 4-6 months = early-late Summer 2013???
* See also TOPIX > [Times of Israel] IRAN NUCLEAR STANDOFF REACHES TIPPING POINT.
Ala its hallowed "JAPAN" Model, Iran desires to be a a major Nuclear Power or Nuclear Military POwer in all things save for putting the NucBomb parts together in working order.
* SAME, 1ST HEADLINES > [CSM.com] WHY IRAN'S NUCLEAR ENRICHMENT UPGRADE COULD BE A GAME-CHANGER?
* RELATED SAME > IRAN TELLS IAEA IT PLANS TO ADD NEW MACHINERY TO ENRICH URANIUM, i.e. to sigificantly improve EU processes + methodologies.
* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > NETANYAHU TELLS AMERICA ITS NOW OR NEVER, to stop Iran's Nucprog.
US must either attack Iran ASAP in 2013, or else accept an inevitably Nuke-Armed Iran + by extens Radical Islamist Militant-Terror Groups. US WILL NOT HAVE THE WILL TO ATTACK IRAN, OR ELSE NOT BE ABLE TO ATTACK IRAN WIDOUT HIGH RISK OF SUFFERING MAJOR CASUALTIES VEE ANTI-US NUCLEAR COMBAT/INSURGENCY.
* SAME > IRAN MAY BE CLOSE TO PLUTONIUM BOMB, GERMAN DEFENSE EXPERTS WARN.
We may find out soon enuff as per NOKOR's upcoming, possibly multiple NucTest(s)???
* SAME > URANIUM [+ possibly Plutonium, other]NUCLEAR MATERIALS FROM BOMBED SYRIAN REACTOR [2007] ARRIVES IN IRAN THROUGH IRAQ.
Title paraph'ed for clarity.
My question is what NucMats andor Technical Knowledge, etc. did IRAQ covertly acquire by this move, iff any - HOW CLOSE IS IRAQ TO A NUCBOMB???
versus
* WAFF > LE MONDE:THIRD WORLD WAR MAY START IN TURKEY.
IIUC, may start indirectly vee increasingly violent competition for national power between rigidly Ultra-Conservative or Traditionalist Turkic Muslims whom seek Western approval by espousing or adopting seemingly "Western" values, versus "Liberal" or pro-Modernist/Reform Secular Muslims whom seek newfound domestic political-n-influence power by espousing or adopting Ultra-Conservative or Traditionalist, ANTI-WESTERN ANTI-MODERNIST VALUES.
OH THE HOOKAH-MANITY - TALK ABOUT "WAVY-GRAVY", TOPSY-TURVY, "YANG-YIN", INVERSE OF THE CONVERSE OF THE PRO-VERSE ... @ETC. FICKLE/FINNICKY RELATIONSHIPS.
BAD GUYS ARE THE GOOD GUYS WHILE THE GOOD GUYS ARE THE BAD GUYS????
[Tolo News] Afghan customs officials have stopped more than 600 Pakistani trucks seeking to enter Afghanistan at the Torkham border in what some have labeled a retaliatory move for Pakistan's treatment of Afghan traders in Karachi.
The Ministry of Commerce and Industries said that the trucks are without insurance and bank guarantees which, according to the Afghanistan Pakistan Transit Agreement (APTA), are required for trucks travelling across Afghanistan to Central Asian countries.
Pakistan has not allowed Afghan traders to transit business goods for these reasons, so the Afghan officials said they have decided to impose these rule to Pakistan's trucks.
"We took the decision in reaction to the recent actions of Pakistan," Ministry of Commerce spokesman Wahidullah Ghazikhil told TOLOnews.
Meanwhile, the Afghan traders whose goods have been halted in Pakistan's Karachi port welcomed the government decision.
"We are very happy with this decision," trader Mokammad Hassan Hasam told TOLOnews. "If Pakistan takes money from us for different excuses, our government should also take money from Pakistani traders -- it will increase our incomes."
Some Afghan traders say that their foodstuffs have rotted in containers in Karachi port and asked the government to seek compensation from the Pakistan government, or for Pakistan to at least not fine the traders.
"The goods have all rotten in the port and we lost all our capital. At least the government should find a way that they don't fine us or charge us tax," Trader Ahmad Shah said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan
#1
I wonder what happened to the NAFTA free ride for Mexican carriers coming north?
[Dawn] Activists of Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... Azad Jammu and Kashmire (JIAJK) on Sunday expressed solidarity with the struggling Kashmiris across the Line of Control (LoC) and condemned Indian atrocities.
The JIAJK activists lined up on both sides of a bazaar, in Chakothi, 60 kilometres north of here, and held each other's hands to form symbolic chains. Some also raised their hands while chanting pro-freedom and anti-India slogans.
"Our course of action: Holy War," was their oft-repeated slogan on the occasion.
Interestingly, Chakothi bazaar is overlooked by the Indian army posts situated on lofty mountains across the LoC. Prior to the 2003 ceasefire, it was regularly pounded by the Indian troops with artillery shells.
Speaking to participants, Sheikh Aqeelur Rehman, commander Shamshir Khan and others took strong exception to what they called passiveness of the international community towards flagrant human rights ...which are often intentionally defined so widely as to be meaningless... abuses in Indian held Kashmire.
If the international community was genuinely concerned about peace in South Asia, it will have to facilitate early settlement of the issue of Kashmire in accordance with the wishes and aspirations of the Kashmiri people, they said.
Otherwise, they warned, peace would remain a distant dream.
The speakers vowed to continue struggle until the eviction of Indian soldiers from Kashmire.
They also paid tributes to Qazi Hussain Ahmed ...the absolutely humorless, xenophobic former head of the Pak Jamaat-e-Islami. He was also head of the MMA, a coalition of religious parties formed after 2001 that eventually collapsed under the weight of the holy egos involved. Qazi was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar during the Afghan mujaheddin's war against the Soviets. His sermons are described as fiery, which means they rely heavily on gospel and not at all on logic. Qazi once recommended drinking camel pee for good health, but that was before his kidneys went... , former amir of JI Pakistain, for his strong commitment to the cause of Kashmiris and prayed for the deliverance of his soul.
Earlier, the JIAJK activists reached Chakothi in a cycle of violence rally, which started from press club Muzaffarabad, with its participants hoisting JI flags. The rally was greeted with welcoming slogans in many towns, on its way to Chakothi.--
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami
#1
They never say anything about cutting loose Pak Kashmir.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013 8:20
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#2
I wonder if the local Hindu groups have anything to say about MOSLEM atrocities?
Not that any western newspaper would print anything about them if they did.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
02/05/2013 10:33
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[Dawn] In a statement made on Monday, Interior Minister Rehman Malik Pak politician, Interior Minister under the Gilani government. Malik is a former Federal Investigation Agency (FIA) intelligence officer who rose to head the FIA during Benazir Bhutto's second tenure. Malik was tossed from his FIA job in 1998 after documenting the breath-taking corruption of the Sharif family. By unhappy coincidence Nawaz Sharif became PM at just that moment and Malik moved to London one step ahead of the button men. He had to give up the interior ministry job because he held dual Brit citizenship. cautiously signaled that the government may be ready to engage the banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) in peace talks.
Malik said that the government would respond to the Pak Taliban's offer of peace talks within two to three days.
The interior minister's statement comes a day after TTP front man Ehsnaullah Ehsan, appearing in a video interview, had announced the banned cut-thoat outfit's conditions for peace talks with the government.
The Pak Taliban called for three top politicians of the country -- Pakistain Mohammedan League -- Nawaz ( PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif ... served two non-consecutive terms as prime minister, heads the Pakistain Moslem League (Nawaz). Noted for his spectacular corruption, the 1998 Pak nuclear test, border war with India, and for being tossed by General Musharraf... , Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... (JI) leader Syed Munawar Hasan, and the chief of the Jamaat-e-Ulema Islam-Fazl (JUI-F) Maulana Fazlur Rehman Deobandi holy man, known as Mullah Diesel during the war against the Soviets, his sympathies for the Taliban have never been tempered by honesty ... -- to act as guarantors for negotiations for stopping the armed conflict in the country's tribal areas.
Speaking to news hounds on Monday after examining security arrangements for an opposition march in Islamabad, the interior minister said he had earlier stated that the government was ready for talks, to which the Taliban had responded by putting forward the conditions of having Nawaz Sharif, Maulana Fazlur Rehman and Syed Munawar Hasan as guarantors.
Malik said it would be better if they announced a team of negotiators, adding that peace talks were a positive sign, and that bullets were "not the answer." The interior minister said that the Pak Taliban should specify who they want to negotiate with.
"You tell us what team you would like to talk to, and let's set an agenda," he said.
Speaking to news hounds earlier on Monday, Maulana Fazlur Rehman had welcomed the TTP's "positive" demands of making Sharif, Hasan and himself guarantor for holding peace talks with the government. The JUI-F chief had recommended using the platform of FATA's grand jirga for peace negotiations with the outlaws.
Malik said that the PML-N chief had refused to act a guarantor. However, the difference between stupidity and genius is that genius has its limits... Malik said that he was so far unable to speak to Maulana Fazlur Rehman, and that he would contact him soon on the matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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#2
All the books about how rival bureaucracies or powerful lobbies determine policy are off the mark; the simpler and truer conclusion is that at any given moment our foreign policy reflects the views of the president.
#3
......our foreign policy reflects the views of the president.
Yes it does, for good or for ill. With respect to Assad's enabling of the ratlines of jihadis to Iraq: He needed to be covertly hurt for his actions. But he was not, so our being nice cost us American troops' lives. You fight a war to win or you don't fight.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
02/05/2013 23:50
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South Korean and US troops began naval drills Monday in a show of force partly directed at North Korea amid signs that Pyongyang will soon follow through on a threat to conduct its third atomic test.
On Monday, the South Korean and U.S. militaries kicked off three days of exercises off the Korean Peninsula's east coast that involve live-fire exercises, naval maneuvers and submarine detection drills.
South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said the maneuvers are part of regular joint military training that the allies had scheduled before the latest nuclear tensions began. But the training, which involves a nuclear-powered American submarine, could still send a warning against possible North Korean provocation, a South Korean military official said.
Later Monday, Pyongyang's state media said the drills showed that the U.S. and South Korea have been plotting to attack North Korea and increased the danger of a war on the divided peninsula.
"The dark cloud of war is approaching to the Korean Peninsula," North Korea's official Uriminzokkiri website said in a commentary. "Our patience has the limit."
So does your pantry...
Diplomats are meeting to find ways to persuade North Korea to scrap its nuclear test plans. New U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry and his South Korean counterpart Kim Sung-hwan held a telephone conversation Sunday night and agreed to sternly deal with any possible nuclear provocation by North Korea, Seoul's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Oh yes, Jahwn is going to be most stern...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013
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#1
"Jawhn is going to be the most stern" >
D *** NG, I KNEW IT, DOES MARSHA KNOW???
[Al Ahram] The UN Security Council will take "very firm and strong" action against any nuclear bomb test by North Korea, the council president said Tuesday. Kim Sook, South Korea's UN envoy, said the test appeared "imminent" and that the 15 nation council is "unified" in its determination to take action over what would be "a dangerous attempt to undermine the authority and credibility of the Security Council."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
See also TOPIX > NORTH KOREA ADMITS "MISSLE CONNECTION" TO SPACE ROCKET LAUNCH. "Ballistic Missle" Military-oriented application as derived from the Civie Space/Satellite Rocket.
DPRK = Pyongyang Boyz suffer a sudden recall of memory.
#5
TOPIX > [Pravda.RU] US + SOUTH KOREA EXPECTING NUCLEAR WAR?
and
* SAME > [Korea Herald] NORTH KOREA NOT "SUICIDAL" ENOUGH TO ATTACK US: PERRY, i.e. former US SecDef William Perry.
ARTIC > PERRY = also ascribed that IHO the DPRK may be attempting to to conduct parallel or
simultan PLUTONIUM + ENRICHED-URANIUM BASED NUCTESTS???
Sniff, sniff, is there no love for the interim Hydrogen Bomb???
* SAME > NORTH KOREA THREATENS "STRONGER MEASURES" THAN NUCLEAR TEST, i.e. beyond upcoming anticipated 3rd Test.
* RELATED WORLD MILITARY FORUM > SOUTH KOREA YONHAP NEWS: STANFORD UNIVERSITY US EXPERTS BELIEVE LOOMING NORTH KOREA TEST OF URANIUM + POSSIBLY PLUTONIUM BASED NUCBOMBS MAY BE JONG-UN ORDERED ATTEMPT TO "JUMPSTART" DPRK'S NUCPROG TO RISKY POST-URANUM ADVANCED LEVELS OF NUCLEAR PROFICIENCY.
IIUC, the DPRK = Jong-un is putting the country at high risk of Chernobyl-style incident(s) for the sake of Regime + International credibility. ANY URANIUM-OR-HIGHER MUSHROOM CLOUDS THAT GOES OFF OVER NOKOR IS ITS OWN, I.E. A "WORK ACCIDENT"???
VERSUS
* SAME > [Korea Herald = ROK] DEFENCE CHIEF CALLS FOR EARLY DEPLOYMENT OF 800-KM MISSLES.
IMO Artic read, CHINA???
SSSSSSHHHHHH ... CCCCCCCC intehwesting Trilateral + Regional politics at play???
[FRANCE24] A Lebanese judge issued arrest warrants on Monday for a top Syrian intelligence official and his aide for their alleged involvement in a bombing plot in Lebanon, judicial officials said.
The officials, who spoke on condition of anonymity in line with regulations, said Brig. Gen. Ali Mamlouk is accused of being involved with Lebanon's former information minister who allegedly plotted a wave of attacks in Lebanon at the behest of Syria.
Lebanon, a country plagued by decades of strife, has been on edge since the deadly uprising against Syrian President Bashar Assad began in March 2011. Lebanon and Syria share a complex web of political and sectarian ties and rivalries and there are fears in Lebanon that Syria's civil war could spill across the border.
The officials said the warrants were issued by Investigative Judge Riad Abu Ghaida.
They said one of Mamlouk's aides, a colonel who was identified with only his first name, Adnan, was named in the other warrant.
The August arrest of the former information minister, Michel Samaha, was an embarrassing blow to Syria, which has long acted with impunity in Lebanon.
Mamlouk, head of Syria's national security council, was indicted in absentia along with Samaha in the summer.
In October, Brig. Gen. Wissam al-Hassan, a top Lebanese anti-Syrian intelligence official, was killed in a car bomb that exploded next to his car in a Beirut neighborhood. The blast sheared balconies off apartment towers, killing al-Hassan, his bodyguard and a civilian and wounding many others.
Earlier in 2012, al-Hassan's intelligence work led to the arrest of Samaha. Prime Minister Najib Mikati said al-Hassan's killing could have been linked to his role in uncovering Samaha's alleged bombing plot.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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Top|| File under: Govt of Syria
COLOMBO Sri Lankas president has ruled out allowing minority Tamils greater political autonomy as a solution to a decades-long ethnic conflict that has killed tens of thousands of people.
They just finished a three-decade old civil war to answer that question...
In his independence day speech on Monday, President Mahinda Rajapaksa promised equal rights to all communities as a practical way to bring about ethnic harmony.
He said the the United Nations charter does not allow nations to use threat or force against the territorial integrity or political independence of any state, said Rajapaksa in Trincomalee. Addressing a gathering of more than 4,000 people in the former Tamil Tiger stronghold, Rajapaksa read out sections of the UN charter which says the United Nations does not have jurisdiction over internal matters of member states.
Sri Lanka has been facing alleged war crimes and human rights charges since the end of its war in 2009 against the Tamil Tiger rebels. A year after the war ended, an unofficial UN report accusing the army and Tamil Tigers of war crimes resulted in several nations calling for an international investigations into the countrys war.
However, the government has repeatedly asked that nations should be left alone to deal with their own internal matters.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/05/2013
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A controversial British lawyer gave a speech in Ottawa despite protests from groups who oppose his opinion, which is that mosques should not be built in non-Muslim areas.
Gavin Boby spoke in front of 40 people at the central branch of the Ottawa Public Library Monday evening as protesters stood outside the building.
Boby is known for using zoning regulations to try to stop mosques from being opened in areas he considers "non-Muslim."
Before the speech, he said he does not want Islamic views to dictate certain neighbourhoods. He said, "Increasingly what we are seeing now is self-declared Muslim areas where you get Muslim patrols saying you can't walk a dog, wear a skirt."
A group that claimed it wants to "stop Muslims from taking over neighborhoods" organized Bobys speech. The Ottawa police hate crimes unit also monitored the talk.
Ihsaan Gardee, executive director with the Canadian Council on American-Islamic relation, said the library should have cancelled the visit. However the library said it only rented the auditorium out to the group and it made the group organizing Boby's speech sign an agreement not to violate criminal or human rights laws.
Some groups were not happy with the decision to let Boby speak. Gardee said, "By affording someone like this who has this kind of message, a publicly-funded taxpayer venue, it adds and gives a credibility to their message, which I don't think is something that should be considered lightly."
Library board chairwoman Jan Harder said she received hundreds of emails demanding the event be shut down, but she echoed the library's sentiment it can only be stopped if a law is broken. She said it is important to preserve freedom of speech.
[Dawn] The acquittal of Khateeb Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz in all except one case has led to conjecture and speculation that a deal has been struck.
In 2009, Maulana Aziz was facing 27 cases in different courts including Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) of Rawalpindi.
Towards the end of January 2013, Maulana Aziz got off scot-free from the second last one in which he was accused of kidnapping police officials; he now only has one hurdle left.
He now only faces one case of harassing the shopkeepers of Aabpara and Jinnah Super -- threatening them for selling Indian and English movies.
The case was registered against him a couple of months before the Lal Masjid operation was launched.
However, a person who gets all wrapped up in himself makes a mighty small package... in this case too the chances are that he will be let go as the prosecution's case is a weak one.
But what has led to the conjecture and gossip is the fact that though the holy man has been acquitted in more than two dozen cases, the government has not appealed against a single acquittal.
The state's special prosecutor, Raja Faisal, who has appeared in the Lal Masjid cases argues that the main reason for the acquittal of Maulana Aziz in a number of cases were prosecution witnesses who either changed their testimony or never bothered to appear in the court.
He also blamed the poor investigation conducted by the Islamabad police.
In the Rangers murder case the government officials who earlier recorded their statements against the holy mans including Maulana Aziz backtracked when they appeared in front of the ATC.
Before the investigation team they accused Maulana Aziz as well as others of giving the orders for firing and damaging government property.
However, if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning... once these people appeared before the ATC judge, they stated that when the mob was attacking government property they beat feet from the scene. In the statement they recorded in the ATC, officials instead of directly blaming Maulana Aziz or any his associate for attacking government buildings, stated that at the time when a mob came out from the Lal Masjid and started setting the government building on fire, they beat feet from the spot in order to save their lives.
Similarly, he said that the shopkeepers of Bhara Kahu who had lodged the complaint with the police that the inmates of Lal Masjid had burnt CDs of Hollywood and Bollywood films, also changed their statements.
In the court, these shopkeepers said that they offered to burn the CDs themselves.
According to Faisal, the police registered a number of cases against Aziz in a hurry but they did not have sufficient evidence.
Interestingly, in the case regarding kidnapping of four police officials, the civil judge cum judicial magistrate of Islamabad did not follow centuries old criminal procedure code (CrPC) -- under this law, the witnesses' statements are recorded after the indictment of an accused.
In the kidnapping case, neither the court nor the prosecution remembered the mandatory provision. The judge recorded the statements of eight witnesses before the indictment. Once this was even pointed out by the defence counsel in order to avert the legal complications. The matter of kidnapping of police officials was pending in the said court since 2007. The proceedings in the said case, however, were started in 2011. The court had completed recording of statements of the witnesses and concluded the arguments on December 22, 2012 when the defence counsel pointed out the lacuna in the court proceedings.
The judge, later, again asked the police to produce any witness to support the allegations they leveled in the FIR and in the challan ... list of charges ... against Maulana Aziz, and other accused persons including the holy man's spouse Umme Hassan and other two holy mans but the police did not produce any witness.
According to the legal expert, the judgment on the said kidnapping case could easily be challenged but the police seem in no mood to file an appeal against the verdict.
On the other hand, the chief commissioner Islamabad, Tariq Mehmood Pirzada, said that the government never went into any settlement with the Lal Masjid management and the acquittal of Maulana Aziz was purely a legal matter.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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[MAGHAREBIA] The gas field attack in Algeria and the war against terrorism in northern Mali are leading the countries to take a new look at economic policies.
The January siege by a former al-Qaeda emir on the In Anemas gas complex was aimed directly at the financial heart of Algeria.
For some in the business community, the attack should be seen as wake-up call.
There will be "a pre-In Amenas and a post-In Amenas", the head of Algeria juice giant NCA Rouiba told El Watan.
"Algerians now have to diversify their economy, whose vulnerability has been highlighted by In Amenas," Slim Athmani said.
The oil and gas sector account for 97% of Algeria's exports and two-thirds of its revenue. With an output of 78 billion cubic metres in 2011, Algeria is also the world's ninth-biggest producer of natural gas.
"A certain wariness has set in and it will take time for confidence to return," former Sonatrach executive, Hocine Malti said. From abroad, however, large companies have issued messages of reassurance.
"There is no question of French companies leaving Algeria", MEDEF (French employers' federation) chief Laurence Parisot told France 2.
The In Amenas attack will likely affect Algerian desert tourism, warned Hamdaoui Ahmed, president of the Association of Travel Agencies of Tamanrasset.
"Local agencies will pay a high price for this," he told Magharebia.
Neighbouring Mauritania is also facing the economic fallout of terrorism.
In the wake of the Algerian hostage crisis, Mauritanian authorities stepped up security at its mining sites. The military action to oust Islamist group Ansar al-Din and their al-Qaeda allies from northern Mali is also taking a toll on Mauritanian coffers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa
Let the snark begin
Plans to build a £19m amusement park in the town where Osama bin Laden was killed by US special forces have been revealed.
Pakistan is living on loans and charity. Where is the money to come from?
Goodness, you really have to ask? Uncle Sugar will provide!
Officials in the northwestern Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province hope the project will boost tourism but denied it was intended to improve the town's image after the bin Laden raid. The al Qaeda terrorist was killed by US Navy Seals at his compound in the town on May 2, 2011. "Mom! Mom! Can we go to Obamaland? Can we? Huh? Can we?"
"The amusement city will be built on 50 acres in the first phase but later will be extended to 500 acres," Syed Aqil Shah, the provincial minister for tourism and sports, said. "It will have a heritage park, wildlife zoo, food street, adventure and paragliding clubs, waterfalls and jogging tracks."
How about a shooting range?
All of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa is a shooting range, so no need to set up a special area. No doubt our beloved president can tell stories of shooting pheasant off the back veranda when he visited his roommate's family on his Indonesian passport, back in '81.
Work is due to begin in late February or early March and will take eight years to complete.
Eight years on a 50 acre park? We'd do that in a summer here.
Funds worth three billion rupees (£19m) have been allocated, he said. "I wanna ride the Turban of Death! Can I? Huh, Mom?"
Abbottabad, a quiet, leafy town in the foothills of the Himalayas around 50km (30 miles) north of the capital Islamabad, has long been a popular spot for wealthier families to spend weekends away.
The town also houses Pakistan's elite military academy and the discovery of the world's most-wanted man on its doorstep prompted allegations of incompetence or complicity between the armed forces and the 9/11 mastermind.
But Mr Shah insisted the new development was simply about promoting tourism, not polishing the town's tarnished image. "No, no! Certainly not!"
"This project has nothing to do with Osama bin Laden. We are working to promote tourism and amusement facilities in the whole province and this project is one of those facilities," he said.
The authorities demolished the compound where bin Laden hid with his wives and children last February, fearing it could become a shrine to al Qaeda followers.
#3
Clowns and Fantasyland? Khyber Adventureland? Sounds appropriate. Tomorrowland will include a very pious and pure nuclear wasteland
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/05/2013 11:19
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Top||
#4
Glowing Green Glass Land?
Forget Pakistain. They only thing they have going is lots of parking. Build it in Florida. There's a lot of folks would pay good money and stand in line for a change to shoot a robotronic bin Ladin in the face.
#5
Saddam had similar "theme park" plans for Babylon. A Disney style monorail would speed tourists past the river, through the walled city, and off to the site of the tower. The tour would culminate at the museum and bookstore. Rightly or wrongly, Saddam was confident he was the reincarnate of King Nebuchadnezzar. The Babylon project and theme park appears to have been shelved.
Mexican anti-tax protesters calling themselves No Mas Impuestos have blocked traffic in Hermosillo, Sonora Monday.
The protesters are attempting to draw attention to their cause by blocking roads to a baseball stadium using their vehicles.
According to a news article posted on the website of El Imparcial news daily, protesters also claim the local and state government have committed acts of repression and violence against protesters, although the article does not give details.
The Spanish phrase No Mas Impuestos translates as "no more taxes."
#1
Send in the FBI Hostage Rescue Team (HRT) to break it up. Could be F&F weapons turning up any minute.
Within hours, the HRT had flown down to lower Alabama and set up a military style perimeter around "anti-government lunatic" Jimmy Lee Dykes' compound. Anyone notice how well State and Local law enforcement [those are the ones wearing proper police uniforms vs military attire] handled the highway traffic and kept the media away? Anyone notice the unmarked Ryder truck and green and purple helo's. Our Feds appear to have terminated the crazy, murdering, "anti-government" bastid too!
Should we be pleased, concerned, or both? Guess I'll just take notes and say a few prayers for the brave bus driver.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Timbuktu may have attained mythical status as a fabled desert city, and its sister city Djenné may be renowned worldwide for its mosque -- the largest mud building in the world -- but there is a lesser-known town in Mali that has also cemented itself into local folklore.
For many, Tessalit -- a remote oasis set in one of the harshest stretches of Saharan landscape -- is rich in history, intrigue and rumour. But now it lies at the heart of the country's conflict.
As one Malian told me, the entire war in Mali can be explained by the battle between the Malian state, Tuareg separatists, and Algeria to wrest control of what some believe is one of the most geostrategically important locations on earth.
"There are only three points on earth with this geostrategic importance," said Hamadoun Dicko, a tour guide in northern Mali. "Tessalit is one of them. Whoever controls Tessalit controls the Sahara."
The desert around Tessalit, which sits on the southern end of the desolate Tanezrouft plain and west of the rocky Adrar des Ifoghas mountains, has become the last stronghold for Islamist rebels in northern Mali, pushed out of the major towns they have controlled since last March into obscure desert hideouts.
The French and their partners -- including the US, which has a long history of conducting aerial surveillance in the vast expanse of the Sahara -- believe that the rebels could benefit from arms caches in the region to restock and regroup.
"The mountains around Tessalit are a natural place for the rebels to hide," said Andrew Lebovich, a Dakar-based researcher on the Sahel and north Africa. "This is an area where they have been hiding out for decades; there are caves and caches up there. It is totally impossible to know exactly what is going on there."
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[LATIMES] Rebels and the Myanmar government met Monday and agreed to continue talks in an effort to quell the violence that has roiled Kachin state.
The two sides met in the Chinese town of Ruili on the border with Myanmar, also known as Burma. They issued a statement pledging to open up channels of communication, defuse military tensions and create a monitoring system to enforce a cease-fire, according to the Reuters and Associated Press news agencies. Political talks, widely seen as key to any enduring peace, were also promised.
The ethnic Kachin rebels have met with government officials before, only to end up clashing with the army again. The new round of talks follows a recent escalation in fighting, which troubled the U.S. and the United Nations, as the government launched air attacks on the rebels. The army recently seized several key areas around the rebel headquarters in Laiza, strengthening its hand.
Clashes and government offensives have been reported even though President Thein Sein announced a unilateral halt to hostilities last month. Despite the talk of enforcing a cease-fire, it was unclear if a formal deal to do so was signed Monday, Reuters reported.
Rights activists were skeptical about the new discussions. "This is exactly what they did with the Kachin last time," promising "step-by-step talks leading to a political solution," said Myra Dahgaypaw, campaign coordinator for the U.S. Campaign for Burma.
That political solution never happened, Dahgaypaw said. "So much depends on how much the regime is willing to compromise," she said.
A rebel sergeant told the Irrawaddy magazine that the insurgents did not expect a swift resolution. "We hope there will be a truce so peace will come, but nobody thinks this is going to end soon," Kachin Independence Army Sgt. Brang Shawng told the publication Monday.
The Kachin rebels want greater autonomy. A long-standing truce with the government was shattered more than a year and a half ago, plunging the area into new bloodshed. Since then, the U.N. refugee agency estimates more than 88,000 people have been displaced by the conflict.
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02/05/2013
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[Bangla Daily Star] The Jamaat-e-Islami ...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores... has called a countrywide dawn-to-dusk hartal ... a peculiarly Bangla combination of a general strike and a riot, used by both major political groups in lieu of actual governance ... for today, protesting the verdict to be delivered in a war crimes case against its leader Abdul Quader Mollah.
Yesterday, it also threatened to enforce non-stop hartals from tomorrow "if the government's blue print of punishing Jamaat leaders reflects in the verdict" due today at the International Crimes Tribunal-2.
"Don't push the country into a civil war by delivering one-sided verdicts against our leaders. If anything happens against Quader Mollah, every house will be on fire," Jamaat acting secretary general Rafiqul Islam Khan said at a blurb declaring the hartal.
The government would be responsible for the consequences, he added.
Jamaat's ally BNP, however, did not lend support to today's shutdown. The main opposition party backed most of the Jamaat programmes in the past, including the latest hartal on January 31.
ICT-2 registrar AKM Nasiruddin Mahmud around 1:00pm yesterday made an announcement that the tribunal would deliver its verdict in the case against Jamaat Assistant Secretary General Quader Mollah today.
Hours after that Jamaat declared the hartal, demanding scrapping of the ICTs and release of its seven leaders who are being tried on charges of crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.
Meanwhile, ...back at the sea battle, the fleet limped into Bremerhaven, the wreck of the Blutwurstkoenig in tow... a man was burnt to death when some unruly people set fire to a bus around 10:00pm in the capital's Uttara.
"We found a burnt body of an unknown passenger inside the vehicle after we doused the fire," said Zakir Hossain, senior station officer of Tongi Fire Station.
The body was burnt beyond recognition. But one man named Rashed claimed the dead to be his brother, Russel Mahmud.
Around 6:00pm, Jamaat-Shibir activists brought out a procession at Kazi Nazrul Islam Avenue and blasted three cocktails when police intercepted them, witnesses said.
The law enforcers fired 30 rubber bullets when they tried to set fire to a bus, Apurbo Hasan, officer-in-charge of Tejgaon Police Station told The Daily Star.
Two more cocktails were went kaboom! near the High Court area around 7:00pm, witnesses said.
Earlier in the day, over thirty to forty thousand activists of Jamaat and its student wing Islami Chhatra Shibir ... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh... held rallies and marched in procession in the capital's Kakrail and Motijheel Shapla Chattar, blocking traffic movement. They warned the government not to "deliver controversial verdicts" against its placed in durance vile I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! leaders.
At a rally at Motijheel Shapla Chattar, they also threatened that Jamaat-Shibir leaders would not remain idle at home if the government took the matter lightly.
"The butcher Quader [of 1971] and our leader Abdul Quader Mollah are not the same man. We will not remain idle at our homes if the tribunal [International Crimes Tribunal-2] shift butcher Quader's blame to our Quader," said Selim Uddin, assistant secretary general of the Jamaat city unit.
Asked about the latest strategy that the party adopted regarding the issue, a top Jamaat leader of Chittagong (north) unit told The Daily Star that a section of the party leaders were trying to reach an "understanding" with the ruling Awami League.
The Jamaat leader, who requested not to be named, refused to elaborate any further.
Since November last year, Jamaat-Shibir activists have been launching a series of hit-and-run attacks on police in different parts of the country, demanding scrapping of ICTs and release of its top leaders.
At least 20 coppers sustained injuries in three such attacks in Narayanganj, Bogra and Joypurhat on Saturday.
In the last hartal on Thursday, a policeman, a CNG-run auto-rickshaw driver and three Jamaat-Shibir activists were killed in violence.
"We want to say clearly that the country's people will resist the government's 'vindictive conspiracy' in the name of trial [of war criminals]," Jamaat leader Rafiqul said while announcing today's hartal.
People would even spill blood to resist "vindictive verdicts" by ICTs, he added.
Islami Chhatra Shibir last night held an emergency meeting in the capital, in which its top leaders warned that thousands of party activists are ready to sacrifice their lives to get the top leaders of Jamaat freed from jail.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Actually why should we CARE what happens in BanglaDesh?
#2
This may NOT end well, as both India + Pakistan have warned each other to stay out of Bangladeshi affairs or else.
The last thing India wants is a Bangla Civil War that may put an anti-India, pro-Nuclear? Islamist-Sharia Regime in Bangladesh right next to its troubled NE + Center, East Coast regions.
Radical Islam will be happy because they'll be that much closer to their fellow Hard/Burqua Boyz in SE Asia. INDIA = POST "ARAB/MUSLIM SPRING" ISRAEL = SLOWLY BUT CERTAINLY BEING SURROUNDED + ISOLATED LIKE CUSTER AT THE LBH.
INDIAN MIL INTERVENTION IN BANGLA WILL BE ALL BUT GUARANTEED, WID PAKISTAN MIL INTERVENTION OCCURRING TO KEEP INDIA OUT OF MUSLIM BANGLADESH.
Another crisis in 2013 for the Bammer???
GOOD FOR ANTI-US LEFTIES-GLOBIES AS PER OWG NAU 2015 - ORDINARY/MAINSTREAM AMERICANS NOT SO MUCH.
Ay-Peeee.
Venezuela's opposition is demanding that the government explain how a former Iranian official ended up with a check in Venezuelan currency worth about $70 million. whoops!
Venezuela's opposition coalition said in a statement on Monday that the government should clear up why the Iranian had a check for 300 million Venezuelan bolivars that was found by German customs authorities.
The German newspaper Bild am Sonntag reported in its Sunday edition that the man who was trying to enter Germany with the check was Tahmasb Mazaheri, Iran's former central bank chief. "it was a .....gift"
The weekly reported that customs officials at Duesseldorf airport found the check in his luggage on Jan. 21 upon his arrival from Turkey, and that Mazaheri told authorities the money was to be used for the construction of 10,000 apartments funded by the Venezuelan government. "In... Berlin...that's the ticket! Perhaps it's just rats deserting a sinking ship while Hoogo is on life-support"
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#1
...In his euphoria, another target tempted Aaron. He was pissed off with the financial sector. The guys who had crashed the economy while making millions not only were not in jail, they were still getting rich...
#2
Young people with those types of skill generally do not find their way into the military. If you are familiar enough with computers, computer programing and security to conduct "Computer Network Attack" or CNA, you've likely attained a pretty high level of computing expertise and sophistication over many years. Mid to senior level civilian computer scientists are what is needed.
#4
This new Cyber Command addition is intended to protect us from the evil doers, through the painstaking laborious monitoring of our banking and deposit transactions?
Who picks up the additional cost? Oh, a small bit is tacked onto each transaction. Ok, I get it.
#6
They're already cutting Army and Marine personnel back 40K to 50k to pre-2001 levels. 4,000 is a couple of brigades worth of troops. Someone is empire building at the expense of the whole.
1 - the active duty strength of the military is set by Congress and in specifics of ranks. It's a zero sum game.
2 - is there any reason that a counter cyber organization has to be composed of uniform military? Where are they going to operate and under what conditions?
3 - remember how much of the uniform military have been moved out of occupations and work that is now done by contractors, particularly in the support sector.
#7
Spot on P2K. Unless something has changed dramatically, the majority of Computer Network Operations (CNO) are conducted via contracted civilians. This may be an effort, or a part of an effort by the Cyber Warrior community to insulate itself from pending sequestration cuts.
#8
Find out what your people want. A new house, a new car. A step up?
A friend of mine who managed IS at California DMV kept his best people by letting them develop advanced systems that they wouldn't be able to do in the private sector.
Private sector projects need a payoff right away. By taking a longer view, he kept his best people happy and got some interesting systems besides.
Al
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/05/2013 12:40
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[MAGHAREBIA] Tunisian salafists desecrated two Sufi shrines in Monastir and Mahdia, Tunisie Numerique reported on Sunday (February 3rd). Late Saturday night, the mausoleums of Sidi Abdeljabbar in Jammal and Sidi Amor Bouzid in Awlad Chamakh were set ablaze. "There is a systematic plan by some religious extremist groups to completely destroy these historical symbols; something that indicates an intention to target our national memory," Culture Minister Mehdi Mabrouk said earlier in January. Picked right up on that one, didn't he?
Posted by: Fred ||
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BUENOS AIRES, Argentina -- Argentina announced a two-month price freeze on supermarket products Monday in an effort to break spiraling inflation.
The price freeze applies to every product in all of the nation's largest supermarkets a group including Walmart, Carrefour, Coto, Jumbo, Disco and other large chains. The companies' trade group, representing 70 percent of the Argentine market, reached the accord with Commerce Secretary Guillermo Moreno, the government's news agency Telam reported.
The smarter foreign retailers will now bail out...
The commerce ministry wants consumers to keep receipts and complain to a hotline about any price hikes they see before April 1.
Because a nation always does better by turning its citizens into snitches...
Polls show Argentines worry most about inflation, which private economists estimate could reach 30 percent this year.
Though it's illegal to say that in Argentina...
The government says it's trying to hold the next union wage hikes to 20 percent, a figure that suggests how little anyone believes the official index that pegs annual inflation at just 10 percent.
The government announced the price freeze on the first business day after the International Monetary Fund formally censured Argentina for putting out inaccurate economic data. The IMF has given Argentina until September to bring its statistics up to international standards, or face expulsion from the world body in November.
President Cristina Fernandez and her economy minister, Hernan Lorenzino, responded over the weekend with a flurry of attacks on the IMF, saying
...all the things incompetent governments say when they're finally confronted with reality...
the agency's data-gathering efforts had lost credibility in the lead-up to Argentina's historic 2001 debt default. They said IMF advice is leading Europeans astray by favoring big banks over measures that can grow economies out of crisis.
But what would the IMF know compared to a bunch of Argentinian bankers and politicians?
However, Lorenzino also said that the government will begin using a new inflation index starting in fourth-quarter 2013 just in time for the IMF's decision.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#6
as Via Meadia notes, Argentina is blessed with natural resources, good weather. It takes populist pols (Peronistas) and crackpot economics and blustery and inept military/gov't to keep it down. They've done a great job so far
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02/05/2013 7:50
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Yes BP. Next, banning photographs of queue lines at the markets.
[MAGHAREBIA] Libyan gunmen on Sunday (February 3rd) kidnapped the head of the national identity card programme, Libya Herald reported. Naji Bazena was taken from his office in Ras Hassan district of Tripoli. In other news, some 40 armed men on Saturday attacked the illegal immigrant detention centre in Benghazi, freeing an unknown number of inmates.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Al Ahram] Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has called on Egyptians to channel their energies into "building the country" and not to take part in protests or clashes.
"In order for the revolution to realise its demands, we must finish with slogans and chants and start focusing on actual work," he said at a televised press conference at cabinet headquarters on Monday afternoon.
Qandil called on Egyptians to "stop protesting and start building the homeland" as economic issues need to be addressed "urgently." He went on to urge Egyptians to "ignore the media" and "switch off your TV sets and get to work instead."
Qandil also asserted that all sectors of the economy were rigged with structural problems that need to be addressed immediately, and that Egypt's economic situation needed to be dealt with before it reached catastrophic levels.
"We need to work side by side to safeguard the economy and this requires honest effort on the part of all sectors of society," said Qandil.
The prime minister went on to say that Egypt was well poised to attract foreign investment, as its strategic geographical position could allow it to become a regional "trade hub" catering to almost 2 billion consumers.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Good luck with that. Ain't been much building in Egypt since the pyramids.
[Al Ahram] Protesters at a funeral march held for slain activist Mohamed El-Gendy, who was allegedly tortured to death by police following recent anti-government demonstrations, attempted to storm the Tanta Police Station and the Gharbiya Security Directorate on Monday evening.
According to El-Gendy's friends and relatives, the activist died after being subject to torture while in police custody following his arrest at a 27 January protest in Cairo's Tahrir Square.
El-Gendy, a 28-year-old member of the Egyptian Popular Current, died at the Helal Hospital on Monday morning, where he had been transferred to the intensive care unit. According to health ministry spokesman Ahmed Omar, the activist had been suffering from low blood pressure, a suspected brain haemorrhage and a brain effusion when he was admitted to hospital.
During Monday's funeral march in Tanta, a handful of protesters also reportedly attacked the local governor's office with rocks. Other marchers, however, managed to deter them from further escalating the situation.
After the march, protesters regrouped outside the Tanta Police Station at which they threw Molotov cocktails. Police responded by firing teargas to disperse the crowds.
Hundreds participated in a funeral march for El-Gendy on Monday afternoon in Tahrir Square, where protesters' chants included calls for "retribution." The family then transported El-Gendy's body to his hometown Tanta, in the central Delta, for final burial.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Four people were shot dead overnight in Kirkuk, hours after a coordinated assault on a police headquarters in the north Iraq city left 30 people dead, officials said on Monday.
The security and medical officials said that at around midnight a gunman opened fire on four men sitting in a caravan adjacent to a neighbourhood electricity generator, killing all of them.
Districts nationwide are serviced by private generators which fill the large power gap, as most Iraqis get fewer than 10 hours of electricity per day. Typically, the generator operator and some of his friends stay in a caravan next to the generator to ensure it operates constantly.
The shooting came after a day in which 32 people were killed across Iraq, including 30 in a suicide car bombing followed by an assault by grenade-throwing gunmen on a police headquarters in Kirkuk.
No one has claimed responsibility for the attacks but local security officials blame Al Qaeda's front group in Iraq, which often targets security forces and officials in a bid to destabilise the country and push it back towards the sectarian bloodshed of 2005 to 2008.
Kirkuk, an ethnically mixed city 240 kilometres (150 miles) north of Baghdad, lies at the heart of a swathe of disputed territory claimed by both the central government and Iraq's autonomous northern Kurdish region. The unresolved row is persistently cited by diplomats and officials as the biggest threat to Iraq's long-term stability.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[FRANCE24] A French tanker has been hijacked off Ivory Coast, Ivorian and French officials confirmed on Monday. The Gascogne tanker ship, which was sailing under a Luxembourg flag, was reportedly carrying 15 African and two Asian sailors.
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#1
wonder if this has anything to do with springing the Blind Sheik ?
[Dawn] Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Pakistain will stand by Kashmiris till the realization of their demands for peaceful resolution of the Kashmire dispute.
"On behalf of the government and the people of Pakistain, I reaffirm Pakistain's firm commitment to a just and peaceful resolution of the Kashmire dispute in accordance with the aspirations of the people of Jammu and Kashmire and the protection of their fundamental rights," the prime minister said in his message on the Kashmire Solidarity Day being observed on February 5.
The prime minister said the Kashmire dispute had been on the agenda of the United Nations ...a lucrative dumping ground for the relatives of dictators and party hacks... for more than six decades as an unfulfilled obligation.
He said the government of Pakistain would continue to extend its unwavering political, moral and diplomatic support to the just cause of the Kashmiri people to safeguard their right of self- determination through a free and impartial plebiscite in line with the UN Charter and UNSC resolutions and for the protection of their fundamental rights.
He said Pakistain had always supported dialogue with the government of India.
"We have initiated CBMs in good faith and hope that the CBMs would mitigate the suffering of the Kashmiri people. We also hope that the CBMs would lead to the resolution of the Kashmire dispute in accordance with the wishes of the Kashmiri people," he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Reports on Monday that Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) captured two senior Islamist forces of Evil fleeing towards the Algerian border -- not far from Tessalit -- to escape French air strikes, seemed to chime with fears that Islamists are hiding in the region.
Members of the MNLA said they had seized Mohamed Moussa Ag Mohamed, an Islamist leader who imposed harsh sharia law in the desert town of Timbuktu, and Oumeini Ould Baba Akhmed, believed to be responsible for the kidnapping of a French hostage by the Movement for Unity and Jihad in West Africa (Mujao) an al-Qaeda splinter group.
"We chased an Islamist convoy close to the frontier and incarcerated Please don't kill me! the two men the day before yesterday," Ibrahim Ag Assaleh, a front man for the MNLA, told Rooters from Ouagadougou in Burkina Faso ...The country in west Africa that they put where Upper Volta used to be. Its capital is Oogadooga, or something like that. Its president is currently Blaise Compaoré, who took office in 1987 and may be in the process of being chased out now... . "They have been questioned and sent to Kidal."
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] More than 300 Kamarkhel families were forced to leave their houses as outlawed bad turban group Lashkar-e-Islam strengthened its control over the northern part of Takhtaki area in Tirah valley of Khyber Agency.
Situated at a high altitude, the picturesque Takhtaki, inhabited mostly by Khoedadkhel sub-tribe of Kamarkhel, witnessed some bloody festivities between Kamarkhel Amn Sareshtha, a local peace committee, and Lashkar-e-Islam (LI) during the last one week.
The festivities left more than 20 persons dead and several others injured from both sides.
Ali Mat Khan, a resident of Takhtaki, told Dawn that his family along with some 300 others left the area. The residents of the area shifted to Bagh-Maidan, Orakzai, Hangu, Beautiful Downtown Peshawar ...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire. and Cherat during the last three days, he added.
He said that LI members were in control of Lar Kallay, Bar Kallay and Shengarhi localities, situated in the northern part of Takhtaki.
He said that except for a few young Kamarkhel rustics, who surrendered to LI and joined the group, the rest of the population moved out of the area.
Mr Khan said that the evicted Kamarkhel families were in dire need of shelter and assistance as they left all their belongings at their homes back in Takhtaki.
He said that a number of women and kiddies fell ill due to chilly weather as they travelled through some hostile terrains before reaching Orakzai, Hangu, Peshawar and Cherat.
Mr Khan said that not a single family had gone to Jalozai camp as officials of Khyber Agency political administration had made no arrangements for accommodating the newly displaced people from Tirah.
Khiyal Mat Shah, another resident of the area said, that volunteers of the local peace committee backed by Ansaarul Islam activists were occupying bunkers in Tor Lagad and Lakai Sar area in the southern part of Takhtaki.
He said that LI was in control of a major portion of Takhtaki and the remaining areas would also fall into its hands within a few days as the Kamarkhel committee was short of arms and volunteers as most people had moved out of the area.
The Kamarkhel tribe maintained its neutrality during the last seven years of hostility between LI and Ansaarul Islam and did not allow any of the bad turban groups to either occupy their area or establish hideouts in any part of Takhtaki.
Capturing of strategically important Takhtaki will also expose the defence lines of Ansaarul Islam to its all time foe, Lashkar-e-Islam. Both the groups fought some fierce battles in the past to gain control of the entire Tirah valley.
Now with Taliban knocking at the doors of Bagh-Maidan, the AI headquarters, and the near-fall of Takhtaki to LI, Ansaar will find it difficult to hold its feet in the areas under its control.
According to sources, some of the AI leaders, who are affiliated with Jamaat Ulama-e-Islam-Fazl, are trying to persuade the central leadership of their party to broker a ceasefire between Lashakr-e-Islam and Taliban.
It was also learnt that Ezzatullah Hamkhayal, the AI deputy chief, had secretly travelled to Islamabad to hold talks with JUI-F central leadership to halt the Taliban advance on their headquarters.
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Defense secretary nominee Chuck Hagels reputation fared nearly as badly on the Sunday shows as it did in his confirmation hearing. Obama administration representatives gave a perfunctory thumbs up to his nomination but refused to declare his hearing a success... A truly responsible nominee would understand how badly he let down the president and would relieve him of the obligation to go forward with an unqualified nominee. I suspect, however, that Hagel whose massive ego would not permit him to admit error on the Iraq surge, his past opposition to unilateral sanctions or anything else will have to be pushed off the stage or defeated. He isnt going gracefully.
Despite being humiliated by Hagel (Schumer looks downright silly for having accepted private assurances from the inept nominee), Schumer and other liberal Democrats will line up behind Hagel.
Posted by: lord garth ||
02/05/2013
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#1
I still hold that this may be the only opportunity for a long time for a US POTUS Admin or US Govt. to have African-Americans or other Minorities in top-tier positions, espec as per the Executive Branch.
Iff Hagel doesn't make it, the Bammer can still pick from qualified African-Americans or other non-White Minority - "MIXED" MINORITY ADMIN???
Lest we fergit, US CENSUS = WHITE AMERICANS ARE NOT BE THE MAJORITY ANY LONGER IN AMERICA BY CIRCA 2043.
Condi or Tess Rice, Colin Powell, ....FNG???
And there's 2017.
'Tis 30 yarns from 2013, 26 yarns-n-less iff he acts now.
#3
He's still a Donk, which means he'll get confirmed by the Senate. For them, it's about power, the rest is just show and dressing for the game. Oh, and something to bludgeon their enemies opponents with - one set of rules for me, another set of rules for thee.
[TELEGRAPH.CO.UK] Moaz al-Khatib, head of the Syrian National Coalition, the exiled opposition body recognised by the West and its Gulf allies as the legitimate alternative to the Assad regime, has already infuriated his own supporters by calling for direct talks with the regime.
Yesterday, he asked the Iranian government, hated by the opposition for its support of Mr Assad almost as much as the regime itself, to arrange talks with Vice-President Farouq al-Sharaa, seen as the most moderate of Syria's big shotship.
"Dr Bashar, this country is in grave danger, come out of your bubble, if only for a moment," he said in an interview with Al-Arabiya television channel. Mr Assad is an ophthalmologist, and often referred to as "Dr Bashar" by his supporters.
"Look into the eyes of your children and you will recover some of your humanity. We can help each other."
Mr Khatib's offer of talks last week was denounced by other members of the Coalition, particularly those belonging to the Moslem Brüderbund-dominated Syrian National Council faction. The opposition's formal policy is to oppose any talks with the regime until Mr Assad steps aside.
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Of course, Abbas has a different definition of 'peace' than you and me. Then again, perhaps Kerry does as well...
Newly sworn-in US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday and said they should meet on peace efforts, a presidential spokesman said.
Abbas spokesman Nabil Abu Rudeina told the official Palestinian news agency Wafa that the two discussed "the necessity to hold meetings in the near future to talk about a number of issues which help maintain the peace process."
According to Wafa, Kerry assured Abbas that "US President Barack Obama cares about the peace process and supports efforts related to it," and that the US administration was aware of the Palestinians' current financial crisis.
It was the first high-level contact between Obama's new administration and the Palestinian government. Last week, in his confirmation hearings, Kerry hinted of new proposals to restart direct peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians, stalled for more than two years.
"We need to try to find a way forward, and I happen to believe that there is a way forward," he said. "But I also believe that if we can't be successful that the door, or window, or whatever you want to call it, to the possibility of a two-state solution could shut on everybody and that would be disastrous in my judgment."
Posted by: Steve White ||
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As George Glaigum7976 posted yesterday, Kornbluth's "The Marching Morons" fits the situation. I vote we give the man what he wants.
[Al Ahram] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he is ready "to be the first man in space" under Iran's ambitious programme which aims to send a human being into orbit by 2020.
"Our youth are determined to send a man into space within the next four, five years, and I'm sure that will happen," he said during a ceremony in Tehran where two new Iranian-made satellites were unveiled, according to ISNA news agency.
"I'm ready to be the first Iranian to be sacrificed by the scientists of my country and go into space, even though I know there are a lot of candidates," Ahmadinejad quipped.
He added to the buoyant atmosphere, saying he was willing to "auction (himself) and donate" the money to the Iran's space programme, which has shrunk because of international economic sanctions over Tehran's controversial nuclear drive, ISNA reported.
The presidency website showed pictures of Ahmadinejad at the ceremony with what was purportedly Pishgam (pioneer), the monkey sent into orbit by Tehran last week.
The monkey's launch was presented by the Islamic republic as a first step towards sending a human into orbit by 2020.
Ahmadinejad unveiled on Monday two small satellites, named "Nahid" and "Zohreh" (Venus in Farsi and Arabic, respectively).
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Dawn] Low immunisation coverage coupled with lack of public awareness and ineffectiveness of measles vaccine have resulted in death of about 100 children during the last two months of the previous year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, say paediatricians.
While talking to Dawn, they said that many of the affected children got infection as they were not vaccinated against measles. While many of the immunised children also developed measles because the vaccines they received were not effective, they added.
The health experts said that cold chain couldn't be maintained properly to store the vaccines in specified temperature that rendered the same ineffective and the recipients didn't get protection against measles.
According to paediatricians, measles has become a nationwide epidemic owing to government's focus on polio vaccination that left children vulnerable to other vaccine-preventable childhood diseases.
They said that measles killed children while polio handicapped them therefore priority must be accorded to control the former.
"Low vaccination coupled with lack of awareness on the part of parents results in death of children. Children up to the age of five years in the areas from where cases are being reported should be immunised immediately to put brakes on the epidemic," a senior pediatrician told Dawn.
The province has less than 40 per cent measles vaccination coverage that is lower than the 90 per cent, claimed by the health department.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/05/2013
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#1
No doubt, the campaign will have polio-like success. I put the over/under at 8 medics whacked in the first year.
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.
[LATIMES] Protesters clashed with police in the Bangladeshi capital of Dhaka on Tuesday after a tribunal sentenced an Islamic party leader to life in prison for his role in the 1971 war of independence against Pakistan.
A confidential Justice Department memo concludes that the U.S. government can order the killing of American citizens if they are believed to be senior operational leaders of al-Qaida or an associated force -- even if there is no intelligence indicating they are engaged in an active plot to attack the U.S.
TIMBUKTU, MALI -- In a new phase in the Mali conflict, French airstrikes targeted the fuel depots and desert hideouts of Islamic extremists in northern Mali overnight Monday, as a military spokeswoman said that French forces plan to hand control of Timbuktu to the Malian army this week.
[Al Ahram] Islamist group Al-Gamaa Al-Islamiya and its political arm, the Building and Development Party, announced that it will hold mass demonstrations on Friday 15 February at Cairo University.
[Dawn] AN audacious strike on a military installation and a cruel attack on worshippers at Friday prayers -- what ought to be the unacceptable exception appears to have become the norm in Pakistain's insurgency-hit areas. Lakki Marwat and Hangu have been hit by terrorism before, were hit by terrorism over the weekend -- and the unhappy truth is, those towns, and many other places, are almost sure to be hit by terrorism and militancy again. By now it has also become clear that defensive tactics have gone as far as they can. Body searches and security perimeters outside mosques during Friday prayers are common across Pakistain. But mosques are by definition venues that have to allow the public in -- and so can only be secured up to a point from suicide or other attacks. The same goes for military installations -- the more high-profile and sensitive sites can have layers and layers of security, but when located in remote areas and on the frontline in the fight against militancy, there will be vulnerabilities that cannot be fully protected. The problem, then, is really of how to build a more proactive and aggressive strategy to fight militancy.
Wazoo
[Dawn] Investigations into various cases of 
[THEHILL] Trips to the gasoline pump in 2012 and 2008 took their biggest share of U.S. household income in several decades, according to the federal Energy Information Administration (EIA).
[Dawn] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chief Dr Tahirul Qadri on Monday announced the beginning of the second phase of his 'people's revolution' with a rally in Gujranwala on Feb 15, DawnNews reported.
[Dawn] THE Pak establishment has been as much a victim of its successes as it has of its failures over the years. The Afghan policy during the 1990s that manufactured the Afghan Taliban's rise to power and shut India out of Afghanistan was celebrated as a victory.
Pakistain's propensity to allow the Taliban sanctuaries to continue perpetrating violence in Afghanistan coupled with the multiple policy failures of the international coalition and Afghan government have brought the on-ground reality closer to the establishment's desired outcome. The quest for military victory for the US-led campaign is all but over.
[Al Ahram] Foreign tourism to Egypt, especially from Europe and North America, has dipped further due to political unrest and street protests since the anniversary of the January 25 Revolution.
[Dawn] Teenage peace-activist Malala Yousufzai made her first video statement since she was nearly killed, saying on Monday that she is recovering. 
[Tolo News] Afghan customs officials have stopped more than 600 Pakistani trucks seeking to enter Afghanistan at the Torkham border in what some have labeled a retaliatory move for Pakistan's treatment of Afghan traders in Karachi.
Nawaz Sharif
Maulana Fazlur Rehman
South Korean and US troops began naval drills Monday in a show of force partly directed at North Korea amid signs that Pyongyang will soon follow through on a threat to conduct its third atomic test.
[Al Ahram] The UN Security Council will take "very firm and strong" action against any nuclear bomb test by 
[Dawn] The acquittal of Khateeb Lal Masjid Maulana Aziz in all except one case has led to conjecture and speculation that a deal has been struck.
Mexican anti-tax protesters calling themselves No Mas Impuestos have blocked traffic in Hermosillo, Sonora Monday.
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Timbuktu may have attained mythical status as a fabled desert city, and its sister city Djenné may be renowned worldwide for its mosque -- the largest mud building in the world -- but there is a lesser-known town in Mali that has also cemented itself into local folklore.
[Al Ahram] Egyptian Prime Minister Hisham Qandil has called on Egyptians to channel their energies into "building the country" and not to take part in protests or clashes.
[Al Ahram] Protesters at a funeral march held for slain activist Mohamed El-Gendy, who was allegedly tortured to death by police following recent anti-government demonstrations, attempted to storm the Tanta Police Station and the Gharbiya Security Directorate on Monday evening.
[FRANCE24] A French tanker has been hijacked off Ivory Coast, Ivorian and French officials confirmed on Monday. The Gascogne tanker ship, which was sailing under a Luxembourg flag, was reportedly carrying 15 African and two Asian sailors.
[Dawn] Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf has said that Pakistain will stand by Kashmiris till the realization of their demands for peaceful resolution of the 
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Reports on Monday that Tuareg rebels of the National Movement for the Liberation of Azawad (MNLA) captured two senior Islamist 
Newly sworn-in US Secretary of State John Kerry telephoned Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas on Sunday and said they should meet on peace efforts, a presidential spokesman said.
[Al Ahram] President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad said on Monday he is ready "to be the first man in space" under Iran's ambitious programme which aims to send a human being into orbit by 2020.
[Dawn] Low immunisation coverage coupled with lack of public awareness and ineffectiveness of measles vaccine have resulted in death of about 100 children during the last two months of the previous year in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Federally Administered Tribal Areas, say paediatricians.
