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Seven killed, 11 injured in attacks across southern Thailand
Today's Headlines
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Arabia
Saudi Arabia beheading nearly two people per week this year
Most legal proceedings in Saudi Arabia take place behind close doors. Defendants are rarely allowed formal representation by a lawyer, and may be convicted solely on the basis of confessions obtained under torture or other ill-treatment, duress or deception. In many cases they are not informed of the progress of legal proceedings against them.

Saudi Arabia has a high rate of executions. In 2011 at least 82 executions took place; more than triple the figure of at least 27 executions in 2010. In 2012, a similar number of people were executed.

Out of the 10 executed in the first five and half weeks of 2013, four were executed for drug related offences, and four were foreign nationals, including Rizana Nafeek, a Sri Lankan domestic worker, who was only 17 at the time of her alleged crime. As a state party to the Convention on the Rights of the Child, Saudi Arabia is prohibited from imposing the death penalty on persons who were under 18 years old at the time of the alleged offence for which they were convicted.

Saudi Arabia applies the death penalty for a wide range of crimes, including drug offences, apostasy, sorcery and witchcraft. Such offences do not fall into the category of “most serious crimes” embodied in international standards, which require that the scope of crimes punishable by death must be limited to those involving intentional killing.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 18:48 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  "and on today's DoubleHeader, we have ..."
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 20:43 Comments || Top||

#2  Cheaper than a drone strike...
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 22:07 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Teachers at Islamic College of South Aust W C campus ordered to wear hijab or face sack
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 18:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Economy
Not enough bourbon to go round!
Maker's Mark waters down its alcohol content by 3% so it can make more

The bourbon will cut its alcohol content by three per cent, an email said
Company said it came to the decision after 'looking at all possible solutions'
Chief executives said the taste of the bourbon will remain the same
Distillers of a world famous bourbon has cut its alcohol content so it can meet increasing demand for the drink.

The owners of Maker's Mark, which is distilled Loretto, Kentucky, said they are unable to produce the bourbon fast enough.

The plans became public after an email from Maker's Mark executives Rob Samuels and Bill Samuels Jr, son of the company's founder, emerged.

It announced that the bourbon - which used the slogan 'It tastes expensive... and is' - will drop its alcohol content by there per cent.

It will now be reduced to 42 per cent ABV from 45 per cent.

Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 17:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Teenager pre-refilled select.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, let's see...there's Woodford, Bulleit, Jim Beam Black...you see, Jim Beam Black is pretty darn good and reasonably priced as well...but it's a lie about the boobs.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/11/2013 18:20 Comments || Top||

#3  ".... Its a lie about the Boobs" > D *** NG, I KNEW IT!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 18:28 Comments || Top||

#4  Jim Beam Devil's Cut is to die for.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/11/2013 18:29 Comments || Top||

#5  "Hi! We make a product known for its quality. We've decide to dilute it on the grounds that people like it.
P.S. This also makes it cheaper to manufacture"

This sounds an awful lot like shenanigans to me.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2013 19:18 Comments || Top||

#6  I actually think it will taste better at the lower alcohol content.

Perhaps this is because most of the whiskey I drink is at 80 proof.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/11/2013 19:24 Comments || Top||

#7  So is the price going down 3%?
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 21:02 Comments || Top||

#8  "So is the price going down 3%?"

Silly tu. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara || 02/11/2013 21:59 Comments || Top||

#9  I drink Willet Cask Strength... one of the best things America produces
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/11/2013 23:43 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Colombia ELN rebels want proof seized Germans are not spies
Members of Colombia's second largest rebel group, the ELN, say they want proof that two elderly German brothers they are holding are not spies. The rebels demanded to see documents showing the men worked for private companies and letters from their relatives backing up their identities.

Uwe and Gunther Breuer, who are 69 and 72 years old, were seized in November. They had been touring South America in a jeep when they were taken in a remote area near the border with Venezuela.

In a statement published on their website, ELN (National Liberation Army) rebels asked the families of Gunther and Uwe Breuer to "send us truthful evidence that clarifies their ties with the captured men".
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 17:21 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Death toll rises to 13 in car bombing near Turkish-Syrian border
Turkish Interior Minister Muammer Guler said Monday that death toll rose to 13 in the car bombing near Turkey's southern border gate Cilvegozu in Hatay province.

Guler told reporters that three of the victims were Turkish citizens and 10 were Syrians, adding that 28 others were wounded, and nine of them were Turks.

Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan said "this incident shows the accuracy of our approach and our commitment to both the issue of terrorism and the situation in Syria," adding that "I want to make it clear that we will not make the slightest compromise in our determination in both cases."

Meanwhile, Deputy Prime Minister Bulent Arinc said the explosion occurred in a car that came from Syria but had not yet entered Turkey, in the buffer zone where humanitarian aid for Syrians is processed.

Justice Minister Sadullah Ergin, Customs and Trade Minister Hayati Yazici and Guler have left for Hatay to survey the blast scene.

Levent Gumrukcu, spokesperson of Turkish Foreign Ministry, said "the explosion took place in a buffer zone," adding that the powerful explosion did not seem like that of a mortar shell.

A total of 15 vehicles, which were waiting in the zone for admission, were damaged by the explosion, NTV reported, adding that dozens of ambulances had been dispatched to the scene.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 16:38 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Commando breaks silence on bin Laden's final moments
The Navy SEAL who killed Osama bin Laden has broken his silence, recounting in an interview the three bullets he pumped into the al-Qaeda leader and the financial anxiety he now faces as an unemployed civilian.

The commando kept his identity secret in the Esquire magazine profile but revealed his role in the daring May 2011 raid for the first time, as well as the worries he has for his family's security.

"He looked confused. And way taller than I was expecting," the SEAL says of bin Laden

When the commandos came upon bin Laden on the third floor of his Pakistani hideout, the al-Qaeda mastermind had his hands on his youngest wife's shoulders, "pushing her ahead" and there was an AK-47 nearby.
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"I don't know if she's got a vest and she's being pushed to martyr them both. He's got a gun within reach. He's a threat. I need to get a head shot so he won't have a chance to clack himself off (blow himself up)," the commando says.

"In that second, I shot him, two times in the forehead. Bap! Bap! The second time as he's going down.

"He crumpled onto the floor in front of his bed and I hit him again, Bap! same place.

"He was dead. Not moving. His tongue was out."

Another Navy SEAL who took part in the raid, Matt Bissonnette, offered the first eyewitness account last year in a book titled, No Easy Day, which drew the ire of Pentagon officials, who accused him of breaking a pledge not to disclose classified information.

Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 16:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Sad, very sad. We're missing something somewhere in the recruitment, training, and operations regime. This type of disclosure, book writing, story telling is not good for the community or future operations. I wish it would stop!
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 16:49 Comments || Top||

#2  FWIW, thisainthell is skeptical about the story at the moment.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2013 17:24 Comments || Top||

#3  The Man Who Killed Osama bin Laden... Is Screwed

Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 17:57 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
The Silence of the Drones
In times of war, the law is not silent. War is not a moral wilderness: At the Second Lateran Council in 1139, the use of the crossbow was banned among European knights. Throughout history, there have been codes that even the hell of war could not override.

I own up to being conflicted about the use of drone strikes. Those 19 young Arabs who struck the U.S. on Sept. 11, 2001, shredded the old notions and rules of war, erased the line between combatants and noncombatants, brought soot and ruin onto American soil. Our country had to be made ready for this new kind of war.

We waged big military campaigns in Afghanistan and Iraq, but the terrorists waged a twilight war of their own, bereft of scruples and limits. There would be no treaty of surrender we could enforce, no capital city to be subdued. Chased from Afghanistan, they turned up in Yemen and Somalia. They were soldiers of the catacombs, and they thrived in ungoverned spaces.

Targeted killing was the response of a great military power to the frustrations of this “asymmetrical” war. We didn’t know that larger world of Islam from which this war arose. We were sandbagged by regimes and rulers that feigned friendship with us as they winked at the terror that came our way.

What was one to make of the New Mexico-born radical imam Anwar al-Awlaki inciting his devotees to a holy war -- all in good Americanese? He wore no uniform, slipped into the badlands of his ancestral Yemen and mastered the new means of communication.

AwlakiÂ’s Fate

In the strict legalism of things he was an American citizen, but he bore this country a deadly animus. No tears need be shed for him. The strike that killed him, in Yemen in September 2011, was a deed of just retribution. Presidential spokesman Jay CarneyÂ’s defense of the drone strikes as legal, ethical and wise can stand in the case of Awlaki. The executive had been granted broad powers under the Authorization for Use of Military Force in the aftermath of Sept. 11, and two presidents were given the leeway to prosecute this war on terrorism.

In truth, the public didnÂ’t want to look too closely into the doings of our government. We left it to our intelligence agencies and our military to keep us safe. But there came a time -- after the doings of the night shift at Abu Ghraib became public -- when the writ granted our officials was withdrawn. Liberals declared an all-out ideological war against the administration of George W. Bush.

The horror, the horror: The renditions and the enhanced interrogation techniques and, yes, the 50 or so drone strikes used during the Bush years became, to the liberals, a matter of national shame. A rising politician in the Democratic Party, a former teacher of constitutional law at the University of Chicago at that, rode this sense of outrage to the pinnacle of political power. He posed as a moralist.

Barack Obama was certain that rendition and waterboarding and the prison at Guantanamo Bay were recruiting tools of the jihadis. We had sullied AmericaÂ’s reputation in lands beyond, and he would heal the damage. Our practices had run afoul of time-tested traditions and institutions, and in his stewardship, he promised, our values would again be a compass for our deeds abroad.

In hindsight, the great reckoning for Obama came at the end of the first year of his presidency. Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, a young Nigerian, a disciple of Awlaki, came close to bringing down an airliner over Detroit on Christmas Day 2009. It was farewell to Kumbaya foreign policy: The world was a menacing place.

Against the background of the stirring Obama oratory, and the euphoric claim that the presidentÂ’s personal biography was a bridge to the world of Islam, the young Nigerian could have snuffed out the promise of the Obama presidency. From that close call, the president emerged a determined leader in the war on terrorism.

Stealth War

He had his trusted aide, John Brennan, in a windowless office in the White House, and Brennan knew the world of intelligence and terrorism. He knew the Arabian Peninsula, as he had served as an intelligence officer in Saudi Arabia -- a country where secrets and things unacknowledged are the coin of the realm.

Together the president and the spook oversaw a stealth war, and the president became his own targeting officer. (Obama going over kill lists recalls President Lyndon JohnsonÂ’s poring over the map of Khe Sanh in search of bombing targets in Vietnam; the marked difference is the anguish of LBJ, and by the telling, the serene confidence of Obama that this is a war of necessity and a just campaign.)

The drone strikes were the choice of a president who had given up on winning “hearts and minds” in the North-West Frontier of Pakistan. Secure in the knowledge that he can’t be outflanked from the right by the Republicans, Obama served up a policy that was economical -- and remote. Congress didn’t intrude, and save for the purists at the American Civil Liberties Union, there was no powerful intellectual lobby calling for accountability.

The passion had drained out of the progressives who had hounded Bush, Dick Cheney and Scooter Libby. Brennan had to step aside once when he was put up to head the Central Intelligence Agency, as a man tainted with the Bush legacy. His confirmation is certain this time around.

There remains the discrepancy between an extensive campaign of drones and a passive foreign policy that maintains -- the presidentÂ’s very words -- that an era of war is ending. Forgive those Syrians left at the mercy of their dictatorÂ’s cruel war: It is hard to explain to them why those drones donÂ’t somehow find their way to Bashar al-AssadÂ’s bunker. We do anti- terrorism. Wars of rescue are not an American specialty nowadays.
Posted by: Beavis || 02/11/2013 08:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Together the president and the spook oversaw a stealth war, and the president became his own targeting officer. (Obama going over kill lists recalls President Lyndon Johnson's poring over the map of Khe Sanh in search of bombing targets in Vietnam;

Similar outcomes can be predicted as well.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#2  I suppose what bothers me is not so much the drone program itself -- although there's a debate to be had there -- as putting the drone program in the hands of a man who already thinks he's God Almighty and has a personal enemies list.
Posted by: Matt || 02/11/2013 9:54 Comments || Top||

#3  How good is the intelligence that enables the targeting of a particular individual. How good is the ability to identify a person from a drone? I don't know--just asking?

I don't have a particular problem of using drones overseas to target enemies who are stateless, don't wear uniforms, and are uninhibited in their attacks on us abroad. Champ has been hypocritical on this program but came around to embrace it enthusiastically. Should he have checks and balances on him?

What would anyone think if such a program were used domestically? I can see some perp who has robbed a convenience store and murdered the clerk or owner heading down an L.A. freeway. There are the numerous police cars chasing the perp. The helicopters are overhead. An armed drone is overhead. I can hear the radio dialogue now. Car on the ground to targeter: "You got a clear shot at the perp?" Targeter: "Yeah, I got him lined up." Helicopter to targeter: "Confirm, you got a clear shot at the perp?" Targeter: "Check, I got him sighted up." The go-ahead is given for the targeter to take him {the perp] out. To Targeter: "Take him out when ready." The drone releases its missile, and the perp is incinerated on the freeway. Is this an appropriate scenario? The Targeter and the police are given the go-ahead to act as judge, jury, and executioneer to resolve the problem. Is this different than a police sniper acting to stop a situation? What if collateral damage occurs or a case of mistaken identity occurs?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 14:51 Comments || Top||

#4  a case of Mistaken Identity, will make either the victim, or their Heirs wealthy.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 15:38 Comments || Top||

#5  JohnQC, if we started routinely drone-zapping drivers fleeing police I suspect people would stop fleeing police - or certainly stop doing it twice.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 15:41 Comments || Top||

#6  #3 How good is the intelligence that enables the targeting of a particular individual. How good is the ability to identify a person from a drone? I don't know--just asking?

Persistent Surveillance imagery [Single Source Intelligence derived from a UAV] must generally be combined with other intelligence disciplines to make positive identifications of the kind you are inquiring.

Example: If Muktar rides a red Honda motorcycle and is known to visit his uncle's house [at a known location] on a certain day of the week, at a certain time, a so-called "pattern of life" can be developed.

If Human Intelligence Sources [HUMINT] reports that Muktar's uncle is expecting him to visit today, and he actually does, then your Pattern of Life on Muktar has enjoyed a 'one time' validation. If over time you record multiple visits by Muktar to his uncle, validated by multiple HUMINT reports, and a similar number of sightings from a drone..... your pattern of life becomes both accurate and predictable.

If, in addition of HUMINT reporting and UAV or Drone Imagery, other Special Intelligence reporting can be linked to Muktar's visits, then you have Positive Identification via Multiple Sources. Your reporting can now be classified as Actionable Intelligence.

Generally speaking, Positive Identification requires multiple intelligence or All Source reporting. An exception might be Muktar leaving his uncle's house and riding to a cave where he meets two other armed personnel engaged in a nefarious activity such as the construction or emplacement of roadside bombs. In Afghanistan and Iraq, this type of activity could easily make Muktar and his colleagues targetable.

Note: The term "Actionable Intelligence" should not automatically be equated to targeting alone. Among other activities, Actionable Intelligence can lead to contact, monitoring, solicitation for recruitment, and detention.


Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 16:23 Comments || Top||


Europe
Pope Benedict to resign at month's end
Pope Benedict XVI said on Monday he will resign on Feb. 28 because he no longer has the strength to fulfill the duties of his office, becoming the first pontiff since the Middle Ages to take such a step.

The 85-year-old pope said he had noticed that his strength had deteriorated over recent months "to the extent that I have had to recognize my incapacity to adequately fulfill the ministry entrusted to me".

"For this reason, and well aware of the seriousness of this act, with full freedom I declare that I renounce the ministry of Bishop of Rome, Successor of Saint Peter," he said according to a statement from the Vatican.

A Vatican spokesman said the pontiff would step down on Feb. 28, leaving the office vacant until a successor is chosen.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 06:57 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Cardinal Dolan. Cardinal Timothy M. Dolan to the white courtesy phone please. Cardinal Dolan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 7:59 Comments || Top||

#2  Humility and self-knowledge that the mind and body fails. Godspeed
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 10:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Pope Benedict to resign at month's end

They going to bury him with the other Popes?
NO?
Then he Can't "Resign".
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 10:19 Comments || Top||

#4  A springtime return to Bavaria. Smart man I'd say.
Posted by: besoeker || 02/11/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#5  Actually, he can, Redneck Jim. It's not clear what, if any, rank he's left with in the church, but the law apparently allows for resignation.

Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/11/2013 11:15 Comments || Top||

#6  He's Pope. He's the boss. Infallible, even (if he says so.) If he says he can resign, then he can.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 11:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Will Obama be the next Pope? Another like Urban II?
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 12:16 Comments || Top||

#8  They going to bury him with the other Popes?
NO?


He could be, since he held the office. But I'll defer to your expertise.

It's not clear what, if any, rank he's left with in the church, but the law apparently allows for resignation

Official title of the Pope is "Bishop of Rome"; since he was a cardinal, that's likely what he'll be referred as.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 12:29 Comments || Top||

#9  Relinquishing total power with humility and dignity... I know a few people who could learn from that.
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/11/2013 14:41 Comments || Top||

#10  He hasn't looked healthy in the latest videos I've seen so I was wondering if he would step aside. I think it's a good decision. God doesn't ask us to bear more than we can bear.

I thank him for his service and stewardship and I admire him for his steadfastness and the quality of his writing.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2013 15:49 Comments || Top||

#11  Tanned, rested, ready...Bernie Law.
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 16:43 Comments || Top||

#12  Will he be able to get out of Committee?
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:48 Comments || Top||

#13  Benedict is older (85) than Blessed John Paul was when he died (84). One of the saddest things in my lifetime was watching JP II deteriorate.

Personally, I would love to see Cardinal Dolan of NYC as pope. I know it ain't gonna happen, but it would be cool.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia || 02/11/2013 16:57 Comments || Top||

#14  He never had a chance
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 16:59 Comments || Top||

#15  I'm voting for Dolan as well! :-)
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 16:59 Comments || Top||

#16  As a Catholic, this is unsettling for me as this is the first time to see a Pope resign.

In my lifetime, POPES PAUL VI, JOHN PAUL 1, + JOHN PAUL II all passed on in See - while I respect Benedict's reasons, I would think his message per having an effective Petrine Ministry for the worldwide Catholic community + Clergy would be better served or illustrated iff he stayed on in See until the end.

AFAIK the 12 Apostles never took a day/time off no matter the reason.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 18:26 Comments || Top||

#17  "I know a few people who could learn from that."

And not a damned one of them will, EC. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/11/2013 19:12 Comments || Top||

#18  FREEREPUBLIC > A MESSAGE FROM GOD? LIGHTNING STRIKES VATICAN DOME AFTER POPE BENEDICT RESIGNS.

No days off, Benedict???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 21:55 Comments || Top||

#19  Benedict is very frail and I'm very sure he did not take this decision lightly. It commands the highest respect that he does not want the Catholic church being paralyzed by a long agony.

And yes Canonic Law absolutely allows this.
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/11/2013 23:47 Comments || Top||

#20  And unlike all those liberal opinions I fully support his Regensburg speech which dared to say the truth about Islam.
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/11/2013 23:51 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Putin Turns Black Gold Into Bullion as Russia Out-Buys World
When Vladimir Putin says the U.S. is endangering the global economy by abusing its dollar monopoly, heÂ’s not just talking. HeÂ’s betting on it.

Not only has Putin made Russia the worldÂ’s largest oil producer, heÂ’s also made it the biggest gold buyer. His central bank has added 570 metric tons of the metal in the past decade, a quarter more than runner-up China, according to IMF data compiled by Bloomberg. The added gold is also almost triple the weight of the Statue of Liberty.

“The more gold a country has, the more sovereignty it will have if there’s a cataclysm with the dollar, the euro, the pound or any other reserve currency,” Evgeny Fedorov, a lawmaker for Putin’s United Russia party in the lower house of parliament, said in a telephone interview in Moscow.

Gold, coveted by Russian rulers including Tsar Nicholas II and the Bolshevik leader whose forces assassinated him, Vladimir Lenin, has soared almost 400 percent in the period of PutinÂ’s purchases. Central banks around the world have printed money to escape the global financial crisis, sapping investor appetite for dollars and euros and setting off a scramble for safety
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 02:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Jesus, he's graduated to the 1932 Republican platform.

Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:46 Comments || Top||

#2  If I were Putin, this is EXACTLY what I would be doing.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 16:54 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Geller: Defending the West
Pamela Geller unmasks CAIR director as operative advancing Shariah

The Hamas-tied Council on American-Islamic Relations, or CAIR, took off its mask last week and joined the modern-day caliphate, the 57-government Organization of Islamic Cooperation in Cairo to discuss the No. 1 issue to the Muslim world: “Islamophobia to be major issue discussed at meeting of heads of state.”

Islamophobia: in other words, the imposition of the Shariah. You might think that the leaders from every Muslim country would convene to discuss the brutality of Shariah: the persecution, oppression and slaughter of non-Muslims in Muslim countries and the subjugation of women. You would think that they might look inward – but you’d be wrong. They want more of all that.

Hamas-CAIR Director Nihad Awad’s Facebook page carried this announcement: “CAIR Director to Tweet from OIC Summit in Cairo: Nihad Awad, the national executive director of the Council on American-Islamic Relations (CAIR), the nation’s largest Muslim civil rights and advocacy organization, will tweet updates (@NihadAwad) from the two-day summit of the 57-member Organization of Islamic Cooperation (OIC) in Cairo that begins on Wednesday.”
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 02:12 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  CAIR, the vanguard of the newest American proletariat, a victim class perpetually in need of an all-encompassing national government to ease the agony of hate and Islamophobia through privilege, entitlement, and social justice.

One day soon we may see senior political leaders with Islamic names, and high-level agency nominees extolling the virtues of Islam. Praise be to Allan.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 6:25 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Allahabad stampede toll rises to 36
At least 36 people were killed in a stampede at Allahabad railway station on Sunday evening, the railways said today.

Most of the victims, who include 26 women and a 8-year-old girl, were from Uttar Pradesh and Bihar. All the bodies are at the Medical College Mortuary in Allahabad, where post-mortem is being conducted.
"Here's another one for you Dr. Quincy!"
"Great Sam, stack him in the back with the others."
The incident occured at 7 p.m. near platform no 6, where a footbridge reportedly collapsed due to the heavy rush of pilgrims who had converged on the Sangam for the Mauni Amavasya Snan.

According to eyewitnesses, there was a lathi charge which led to confusion among the pilgrims who were rushing toward the platform after an announcement for a train arrival. The railway station and the bus station, barely a kilometre apart were teeming with hundreds of people at the time.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 02:01 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mauni Amavasya Snan = sacred bathing (snan) for the holy month (a hindu custom)
Posted by: lord garth || 02/11/2013 9:40 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Al-Qa'ida had terrorist academy in Timbuktu despite crackdown
Al-Qa'ida in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM) used a two-storey building on the edge of the ancient city as a sophisticated training centre which continued operating until it was destroyed by a French air strike three weeks ago.

America and its allies have tried to make it impossible for al-Qa'ida to run permanent, dedicated training camps. After years of effort, they had come close to eradicating any centres of this kind. But in Timbuktu, AQIM managed to run this training centre uninterrupted for about nine months.

Moreover, it consciously followed the example of Osama bin Laden's camps in Afghanistan in the 1990s. Just as he gathered volunteers from across the Muslim world, so AQIM amassed a multinational array of recruits at its camp in Timbuktu.

Along with Malians, there were Pakistanis, Algerians and Mauritanians. But the biggest contingent of foreign trainees were Nigerians, all of them members of Boko Haram, a particularly violent group. Their presence vindicates a claim by Nigeria's government that AQIM has forged a strategic alliance with Boko Haram.

When AQIM captured Timbuktu last March, the movement took over the facilities abandoned by Mali's security forces. The local headquarters of the Gendarmerie Nationale, a paramilitary unit, was soon turned into a training camp.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 01:46 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  a sophisticated training centre

Did the curriculum include Women's Studies? How about Politics of Global Warming? Calculus?
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 9:36 Comments || Top||

#2  Whut "AQ Terror Academy"? Oh, you mean the one right across the street from City Hall - dat "Terror Academy"???

Who knew???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 21:59 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
Essay: The other answer to global terrorism
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 01:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Bush Administration was afraid that pressure on the Saudis might lead the royal family to fail and be replaced by more dangerous extremists.

That is doubtful. The Saudis are duplicitous. Even the NYTs reported financial support of the royal family to the 911 hijackers.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 15:07 Comments || Top||

#2  Wait, again it's not the Vlad the Impaler option. Can't any of these guys think outside the box?
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 02/11/2013 19:27 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Court to decide on Battle of the Camel retrial in May
[Egypt Independent] The Court of Cassation said it set a date in May to investigate the prosecution's appeal against a criminal court's ruling to acquit defendants accused of sending men onhorses and camels to attack protesters in Tahrir Square during the 2011 uprising, known as the "Battle of the Camel."

State news agency MENA quoted Abdel Jawad Morsy, a senior judge who heads the regulatory office at the Court of Cassation, as saying that the session would be held on 8 May.

The court received a memorandum Wednesday from the Central Cairo Prosecution to challenge the ruling, MENA said. The memo lists the reasons behind the appeal.

The Cairo Criminal Court, located in the Fifth Settlement and headed by Judge Mostafa Hassan Abdallah, acquitted on 10 October all 24 defendants accused of killing protesters during the Battle of the Camel on 2 and 3 February 2011.

The court said it acquitted all the defendants, who were involved in a trial that lasted for almost a year, because witness testimonies were based on hearsay and grudges against defendants over parliamentary elections.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Horn
Gunmen kill 2 pastors
[Nigerian Tribune] Two pastors in Kenya were shot by unknown gunmen who killed one of the men and wounded the other, according to a report from Open Doors, a Christian persecution watchdog.

Open Doors, who has ministry workers in the east Africa country, received information that Pastor Ibrahim Makunyi of the East Africa Pentecostal Church and Pastor Abdi Welli were attacked by the gunmen in the city of Garissa, Kenya. Welli was pronounced dead on arrival at a hospital while Pastor Makunyi was immediately rushed to a hospital. Makunyi's condition was described as stable and out of danger.

Welli, who was evangelized, discipled and mentored by Makunyi, is survived by his wife Hellen and three young sons.

Garissa is a violence-stricken city in northeastern Kenya.

Al-Shabaab, an Islamist terrorist group, has been targeting Christians and Christian churches in the area, Open Doors stated. Last July, terrorists killed 16 people during bombings at two churches in Garissa.

"The attack today is the latest in increasing violence, especially in the Garissa area. It was reported by Open Doors that 22 Christians were killed in incidents last year and over 100 seriously injured or maimed," said Open Doors USA spokesman Jerry Dykstra.

Political instability in Kenya, triggered by influences from the Muslim minority group al-Shabaab, is causing great concern over the future religious atmosphere in the east Africa country, Open Doors recently stated. Even prior to the latest incident, the organization has been asking for prayer with less than one month to go before the country's general election.

Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Home Front: Politix
Nancy Pelosi To Fox News Sunday: It's A 'False Argument To Say We Have A Spending Problem'
[MEDIAITE] On Fox News Sunday, House Minority Leader Nancy San Fran Nan Pelosi
Congresswoman-for-Life from the the Socialist paradise of San Francisco Bay Area, born into a family of politicians. Formerly Speaker of the House, but it's not her fault they lost. Really. Noted for her heavily botoxed grimace...
(D-CA) told Fox News Channel anchor Chris Wallace that the ongoing debate about a balanced approach to deficit reduction should not place undue emphasis on spending cuts. She said that it is "almost a false argument" to say that Washington has a "spending problem." Pelosi noted that there have been "plenty of spending cuts," and budgetary priorities like education and food safety must be protected.

"Sequestration is a bad idea all around," Pelosi began.

"The fact is we've had plenty of spending cuts, $1.6 trillion in the Budget Control Act. What we need is growth," Pelosi said. "Slashing spending indiscriminately, she said, would hurt growth prospects for the U.S. economy."

"What we do need is more revenue and more cuts," she added. "What I would like to see that is a big, balanced, bold [budget] proposal. Short of that, we must do something to avoid the sequester."

Wallace asked Pelosi for her thoughts on House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner's
... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans...
(R-OH) insistence this week that Washington must "deal with its spending problem."
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Yokay - uh, uh, the US has too many committments + outstanding liabilities, etc. which it doesn't want to change or reduce???

See - twasn't a "spending" problem after all.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Doublethink
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2013 1:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Scandalous, her speaking to those tabloid people down in the village.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 5:38 Comments || Top||

#4  A friend of mine was pulled before his bosses due to his fondness for "long lunches"
The first question they asked him was if he had a drinking problem?
No,he said; "only when I'm broke"
So no, it's not a false argument to say that Washington has a "spending problem." especially when it's broke
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 6:39 Comments || Top||

#5  Wife to Husband "I do NOT have a shoe buying problem. You don't work long, enough."
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/11/2013 6:51 Comments || Top||

#6  The sad|scary part is that people _believe_ her.....
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/11/2013 7:55 Comments || Top||

#7  As any alcoholic or druggie will tell you, it's a supply problem, not a behavioral problem.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2013 8:49 Comments || Top||

#8  Didn't she vote for the sequester?
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/11/2013 10:17 Comments || Top||

#9  I got a nose bleed reading this article.

For all of those who point at Bush's last four as the real reason for the recession, just remember WHO was SOH and WHAT party controlled both the HOR and the Senate...geez, the abbreviation for House of Representatives is so appropriate for them these days
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/11/2013 10:20 Comments || Top||

#10  It's A 'False Argument To Say We Have A Spending Problem'

It's a LIE to say (As you do) That we DON'T.

Gotcha, or do lies NOT count, well if you're in power, I guess they don't (Until election time)
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 12:35 Comments || Top||

#11  #6 The sad|scary part is that people _believe_ her.....

It's sad to think of who put her in office--particularly if they think she makes any sense. One would think she has been hittin the California mind bender medical marijuana or Thai Stick before the interview.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 14:03 Comments || Top||

#12  Don't forget LSD. Her eyes look a bit dilated in the video, especially considering all they lights they must have been using for a televised interview.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/11/2013 15:36 Comments || Top||

#13  Two words: Botox Overdose.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/11/2013 16:18 Comments || Top||

#14  Sooner or later the global banking system is gonna crash. With this kind of denial in positions of leadership, and outrageous trading practices by banks and hedge funds, the outcome is pretty much guaranteed. Everybody still thinks they've got their own place at the betting table ... but no-one wants to admit that their checkbook is empty.

A crash may not happen this year ... but it's gonna happen. I hope that people like Bernanke and Pelosi get pelted with eggs when it does go down.
Posted by: Raider || 02/11/2013 16:28 Comments || Top||

#15  I agree Raider, & this woman is a pathological liar; as are many in her profession. She can be comforted by the fact that 20% of the electorate will be so stupid as to believe it. Another 20% will be too apathetic to care, and the last 20% will be the die-hard statists that don't care because they're good w/having future generations be tax serfs. The sad fact is this - neither side really wants to cut, and it might be too late anyhow. Bring on the cliff, the sooner, the better. Or just shut down congress to essential DOD functions to protect the country from outside attack. Although I think our internal stupidity has already runined us.
Posted by: Broadhead6 || 02/11/2013 17:04 Comments || Top||

#16  Ditto BH6. I would only add "feckless pathological liar".
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 17:07 Comments || Top||

#17  I can see the future and in the future, when it collapses and the riots begin, Nancy of Morons will say, "Let them eat red tape"
Posted by: Silentbrick || 02/11/2013 18:34 Comments || Top||

#18  ..the riots will be in the dark blue disarmed urban areas. Those beyond the outer belt won't have much of a problem other than keeping the refugees confined to the interstate on their way to the next deep blue urban area. Just tell them the 'free' stuff is over there ->
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2013 21:10 Comments || Top||

#19  Well, after listening to her for X amount of years, I think the woman's problem is that she's just a fuckin idiot.
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 21:19 Comments || Top||


John Kerry refuses to speak French at news conference
[BBC.CO.UK] John Kerry has prompted a Gallic shrug by refusing to speak French at his maiden news conference as US Secretary of State.

Asked to answer a question with a "bit of French please", he said: "Not today. I got to refresh myself on that."

The response surprised some in the francophone world as Mr Kerry attended a Swiss boarding school and is known to speak the language well.

He was speaking after meeting his Canadian counterpart in Washington.

Mr Kerry's knowledge of French prompted scorn from the right-wing US press during his unsuccessful bid for the presidency in 2004, due to the souring of US-French ties over the war in Iraq.

Since then, he has played down his language proficiency, bolstered during childhood summers spent at his mother's family estate in Brittany.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Awwwww, not even one French expression wid a John Wayne-ish "Pilgrim" at the end???

D *** NG IT - YA SEE, VIRGINA, THIS IS WHY UNCLE HUGO WEARS A RED BERET, NOT A BLUE ONE!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:36 Comments || Top||

#2  "bit of French please"

L'évasion fiscale?
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 12:40 Comments || Top||

#3  "J'ai l'air d'un gars intelligent, mais je suis vraiment un idiot du village perdu."

Finally, an honest comment by John Kerry.
Posted by: Winky Thaitch5539 || 02/11/2013 13:06 Comments || Top||

#4  Asked to answer a question with a "bit of French please", he said: "Not today. I got to refresh myself on that." There's always Rosetta Stone for a refresher. In the meantime, a suggestion:

Je me contrefous de ce que tu penses! Tu es con a bouffer de la bite!
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 13:50 Comments || Top||

#5  Aidez-nous John Kerry, nous somee restes coinces dans Irak!

Ou est les VC?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/11/2013 14:08 Comments || Top||

#6  Boy, those French: they have a different word for everything!


/Steve Martin
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 14:56 Comments || Top||

#7  How droll. The American Phillipe Petain.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2013 16:43 Comments || Top||

#8  LOL Snowman, that was mean.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:57 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Youths submit do-list for JS
[Bangla Daily Star] Shahbagh protesters yesterday submitted a six-point charter to the Speaker, demanding death penalty for all war criminals, including Jamaat leader Abdul Quader Mollah, and revocation of the state's power to grant them amnesty.

A five-member delegation of Bloggers and Online Activist Network that initiated the protest met Speaker Abdul Hamid at his office in the Jatiya Sangsad Bhaban and placed their demands.

The other demands include an amendment to the International Crimes Tribunal Act, allowing appeals against inadequate punishment and disposal of appeals from both the defence and the prosecution within three months of their filing.

The collaborators, who had been either convicted or under trial but set free from jail after political changeover following the coup on August 15, 1975, must be brought to book, the protesters said.

Abdul Hamid said he would send copies of the charter to Leader of the House Sheikh Hasina
...Bangla dynastic politician and current Prime Minister of Bangladesh. She has been the President of the Bangla Awami League since 1981. She is the eldest of five children of Sheikh Mujibur Rahman, the founding father of Bangladesh. Her party defeated the BNP-led Four-Party Alliance in the 2008 parliamentary elections. She has once before held the office, from 1996 to 2001, when she was defeated in a landslide...
, Leader of Opposition in Parliament Khaleda Zia
Three-term PM of Bangla, widow of deceased dictator Ziaur Rahman, head of the Bangla Nationalist Party, an apparent magnet for corruption ...
and other ministers concerned for taking necessary actions.

This is the first formal move by the bloggers and online activists since they occupied the capital's Shahbagh intersection on February 5 in protest at an international crimes tribunal awarding Quader Mollah life term instead of capital punishment.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [3 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Science
Warning over social networking 'snooping' technology
New stalking software capable of tracking peopleÂ’s movements and predicting future behaviour using data from social networking websites has been developed, it emerged today.

The sophisticated technology relies on websites such as Facebook and Twitter to build a detailed picture of peopleÂ’s lives in a move that could raise concerns over breach of privacy and civil liberties.

The system has been created by Raytheon, the US giant defence contractor.

It was claimed that the technology could be transformed into a "Google for spies" and used by governments as a means of monitoring and controlling people online.

The company insisted that the software – dubbed “Riot” or Rapid Information Overlay Technology – had not been sold to any clients but was shared with the US government in 2010.

The move follows controversy over the Communications Bill in Britain which would authorise the monitoring of phone calls, emails and internet usage.

Ministers insist the reforms are vital for countering paedophiles, extremists and fraudsters but civil liberties have attacked the Bill’s scope and branded it a “snoopers’ charter”.

A video obtained by the Guardian newspaper reveals how the software system can gather personal information about people – including their friends, interests and the places they visit – from social networking websites including Foursquare, a mobile phone app that alerts friends of their whereabouts.

In the video, the software analyses the behaviour of a Raytheon employee – Nick – to show the places he has used his smartphone, the day or time of most internet activity and the location of photos posted online.

"We know where Nick's going, we know what Nick looks like, now we want to try to predict where he may be in the future,” says the video.

Ginger McCall, from the US-based Electronic Privacy Information Centre, said the Raytheon, said the technology raised concerns about how personal data could be covertly collected without peopleÂ’s authorisation.

"Social networking sites are often not transparent about what information is shared and how it is shared," she said.

"Users may be posting information that they believe will be viewed only by their friends, but instead, it is being viewed by government officials or pulled in by data collection services like the Riot search."

The company's spokesman had earlier confirmed that the video was a “proof of concept" product that has not been sold to any clients.

Posted by: lotp || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  From a lecture given by Commodore (eventually Admiral) Grace Hooper - privacy and automation are mutually exclusive.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2013 9:03 Comments || Top||

#2  None of this would be an issue if idiots didn't post everything about their lives online. You can be tagged in photos, investigated, etc. even if you don't have an account.
Posted by: gromky || 02/11/2013 10:13 Comments || Top||

#3  It would tickle me if ALL "Tweeters" were Guilty and had to be erased.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||

#4  Hear, hear.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 12:36 Comments || Top||

#5  I only follow #JOESEERTHINKERPENNSTATE
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:51 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
First phase of Nato withdrawal from Afghanistan begins
[Dawn] The first phase of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. A collection of multinational and multilingual and multicultural armed forces, all of differing capabilities, working toward a common goal by pulling in different directions...
withdrawal from Afghanistan began on Sunday with the journey of 25 containers entering Pakistain from Bagram airbase in Afghanistan.

Security sources talking to Dawn.com confirmed that the NATO withdrawal had initiated adding that a convoy of 25 containers with military hardware, was provided with routine security for its journey from Torkham to 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...
via the motorway.

Custom officials had also confirmed that several containers of the NATO consignment were examined and cleared after they had crossed into Pakistain from Afghanistan.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Chicago Boy With Replica Gun, 12, Robs 11-Year-Old On School Grounds
[CHICAGO.CBSLOCAL] A 12-year-old reliably Democrat Chicago, aka The Windy City or Mobtown
... home of Al Capone, a succession of Daleys, Barak Obama, and Rahm Emmanuel,...
boy allegedly held up an 11-year-old using a weapon that turned out to be a replica gun, police said.

The robbery occurred at the end of the school day on the campus of Palmer Elementary School in the North Mayfair neighborhood, police sources told CBS 2′s Chris Martinez.

Police were alerted to the incident after the 11-year-old victim and some of his friends later scuffled with the suspect to get the stolen money back. During that second confrontation, what looked like bullets fell from the suspect's backpack. The ammunition was turned over to the school resource officer.

Chicago Police Department SWAT team members and K-9 units secured the school grounds late Friday afternoon and conducted a search. Police tell CBS 2′s Pamela Jones they found a realistic-looking replica gun.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  They start young in Chi!
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2013 1:28 Comments || Top||

#2  If Obama had a son...
Posted by: Omavimble Elmineting1059 || 02/11/2013 9:40 Comments || Top||

#3  some of his friends later scuffled with the suspect to get the stolen money back.

That's how we used to handle this.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:29 Comments || Top||

#4  Just a replica?
This kid's unmotivated...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 16:44 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Abu Sayyaf - MNLF clash offers Philippine opportunity, dilemma
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Abu Sayyaf

#1  A coming "Libya" or "Syria" Crisis in the PHIL, save for before the Mindanao andor Manila Govts are overthrown???

Nethinks we know where the Taliban, etc. from AFPAK will travel to next, or one of them, on their tourist waiver???

FYI China's alleged [anti-Japan]PLA Troop, Vehicle mobilizations in Fujian + Zhejian Provinces, besides putting the PLA close to TAIWAN, also puts the PLA close to the NORTHERN PHIL, AKA WHERE THE USDOD + PHIL ARMED FORCES ARE NOT, far away from Subic or Clark or SCS.

The PLA has a good chance of accidentally bumping into nothing more than token PHIL Police, + also PHIL Fishermen, Land Hunters.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:31 Comments || Top||

#2  And what will our despot wannabe have to say? If Phil does start to have real trouble and China and/or Taliquida get involved, then what?
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 7:10 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Muslim Brotherhood nominates senior leader for grand mufti post
[Egypt Independent] The Muslim Brotherhood has nominated one of its senior leaders for the influential position of grand mufti, the nation's top cleric, defying critics who accuse the Islamist group of seeking to dominate all institutions.

Islamic scholars chaired by the head of the ancient seat of learning, Al-Azhar, are due to pick a new mufti Monday from a shortlist of three candidates and send their choice to President Mohamed Morsy to approve.

The mufti is empowered to issue opinions, or fatwas, on any matter, influencing legislation on social and cultural issues, public behavior and court rulings.

The selection falls on the second anniversary of the resignation of veteran President Hosni Mubarak, ousted by a pro-democracy uprising. Several organizations have called anti-Morsy protests on the same day.

The leading candidate is Abdel Rahman al-Barr, 50, a member of the Brotherhood's decision-making Supreme Guidance Council who was jailed under Mubarak and helped draft a new constitution adopted in December that expanded Islamic oversight.

His appointment would tighten the conservative Brotherhood's grip on power, replacing liberal-minded preacher Ali Gomaa, 61, who had publicly condemned radical fatwas, including some issued by Brotherhood supporters.

The mufti serves until he reaches retirement age at 60. Gomaa was granted a one-year extension by the military council that ruled Egypt until Morsy was elected last year.

"Barr is the most likely choice as it reflects the change the scholars' panel has undergone since Mursi came to power as about 70 percent of its members are either Brotherhood or [hardline] Salafis," political scientist Mostafa al-Sayed said.

"However,
the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...
such a selection will fuel more public anger and show the Brotherhood lacks the vision to see the impact of such a decision on the stability of the country," he told Reuters. "It also shows more growing influence of Islamists in Egypt."

In an interview with Reuters last June, Barr said Muslims should be barred from both buying and selling alcohol, but that Muslim women should not be compelled by law to wear headscarves.

Asked to confirm that he had been nominated, Barr told Reuters: "I neither sought nor asked for this job and I only knew about it from the newspapers."

However,
a good lie finds more believers than a bad truth...
he added that he would set out his religious views in a one-hour interview with state TV Monday.

A top official in the mufti's office, Dar al-Ifta, said Barr was the most likely pick and the Brotherhood had been grooming him since last year.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Muslim Brotherhood

#1  the way to a man's heart remains through his stomach...

NO, it's a bit further down than that.
Roughly 8 inches.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 13:25 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Report: Iraq PM 'Invites' Iran to Seize US Embassy in Baghdad
Hat tip to the Gateway Pundit.
Iraq allegedly
...the key word being 'allegedly'...
has agreed to allow 50,000 Iranian Basij militia troops into the country to help suppress riots against the government and seize Arab and other foreign embassies, including that of the United States. The two leaders allegedly agreed to allow the Basij forces to attack and occupy the foreign embassies considered hostile to Iran in Baghdad, and to detain their staffs.

Iraq's Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki and Iranian military commander Qassaem Soleimani, head of Iran's Al Qods Force, allegedly shook hands on the plan over the weekend at a meeting in Baghdad. Pledging 50,000 Basij military troops to help al-Maliki put down the nationwide riots against his government, Soleimani was quoted as saying "the Iraqi Front is the last front to defend the security of Iran."

The report, which appeared Saturday on the Voice of Iraq website and that of the Nashwan News, apparently offered enough evidence to create concern among analysts in the United States. "Even if there is a slim chance that the report is true, it should be published immediately," commented U.S.-based Middle East strategy expert Mark Langfan.
Wonder if we've told our embassy personnel...
U.S. embassies have become an increasingly popular target for disgruntled Islamists who wish to whip up popular support, attempt to terrorize Western leaderships or terrorize a local population into submission.

The current alleged Iranian-Iraqi plot has been hatched against the backdrop of a greater strategy to put down Sunni-led popular protests against the Shi'ite-led government run by al-Maliki, who heads the Shi'ite Islamic Dawa Party. A source quoted by Nashwan News reported, "after control of the embassies and the detention of its staff, go some Iranian forces (Basij) to the north and west of Iraq for the purpose of suppression of the demonstrators by force."

At least six people were killed and 100 others wounded, including women, in a dawn attack on the Camp Liberty transit camp west of Baghdad that once was a U.S. Army base near Baghdad International Airport. At least 40 Iranian Mujahedeen-e-Khalq (MEK) members were among the wounded, along with a number of Iraqi police officers.

Attackers fired 35 mortar shells and Katyusha rockets at the camp, said a statement issued by the People's Mujahedeen Organization of Iran (PMOI), known also as the MEK. Supporters in London demonstrated outside the U.S. Embassy on Saturday following news of the dead and wounded in the attack on the Iranian dissident camp in the Iraqi capital, police sources said.

The camp is home to some 3,000 Iranian dissidents, mostly members of the MEK led by Maryam Rajavi. The group calls for the overthrow of Iran's Islamic leadership. It was founded as the MKO in 1965 to overthrow the Shah of Iran, and fought alongside Iraqi forces in the Iran-Iraq war in the 1980s.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon condemned the attack, calling on Iraqi authorities to investigate and bring the perpetrators to justice. The Office of the High Commissioner of the United Nations is currently in the process of determining whether the camp's residents meet criteria for refugee status.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  Lather, rinse, repeat as necessary.

If true, we should switch from nation building to nation destroying this time.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 7:19 Comments || Top||

#2  Same old dog. Same old tricks.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 7:32 Comments || Top||

#3  And cue the Civil War.
Posted by: Charles || 02/11/2013 23:38 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Suha Arafat: I Wish I'd Never Married Him
Palestinian leader's wife denies she has millions in the bank, claims to have turned down dozens of suiters.
Well, sure. Lots of people want to bed a celebrity's... love interest. It's almost like bedding the celebrity. Only in this case with a considerably lower probability of getting some deadly disease or permanent injury.
[Times of Israel] Nine years after the death of Paleostinian leader Yasser Arafat, his widow said she regrets the marriage and given the choice again, would not have wed him.
One would feel for her, had she not of her own free will and against advice married one of the most vicious men in the world at the time. When you lie down with a Komodo dragon, it is rather unreasonable thereafter to complain that when you get up various limbs are rotting and falling off.
"The marriage to Arafat was a big mistake and I regret it," said Suha Arafat in an interview published last week in the Turkish-language Sabah newspaper. "We were married for 22 years and it felt like 50."
It was so awful that you had a child by him...
Arafat added that she had repeatedly tried to leave her husband but was denied her freedom.
That's generally the way it is in a Muslim marriage, isn't it -- you aren't free to leave but he's free to leave you by saying the magic words. Didn't you know that?
"I tried to divorce Arafat more than 100 times and he didn't let me," she said. "Everyone knows about this story, especially those who were in his inner circle."

According to the report, the two first met in 1986 when she was a student in Gay Paree and engaged to a local lawyer. At the time, Suha recalled, the Paleostinian leader, 33 years her senior, was a much sought after man.

"There were many women who wanted to marry him but he only wanted me, despite the objections of my family," she said.

Suha said that although her relatives, a well-established Ramallah family, were opposed to the union, the pair married in secret on her birthday four years later. Her mother was furious at the development and flew to Tunis where she angrily berated Arafat for entering into a marriage with her daughter, which she deemed inappropriate.
And she lived? That doesn't smell right...
"Fate chose me and it wasn't easy right from the start," she said.

As soon as she became Mrs. Arafat she was locked away behind walls for security reasons, Suha said.

"I had to be careful in my phone conversations because of bugging, and we were always moving from one location to another."
Boy howdy, that's what happens when you marry a poisonous Komodo dragon terrorist. For some reason people are always out to get him. And you, just because...
Suha recalled that after her husband initiated the first intifada in 1987 -- it actually began as a spontaneous uprising -- the world's media attention was focused on him, "and it is no secret that it [the media] is controlled by Jews" she noted.

As the wife of man who spent so much time in the international media spotlight, Suha said she felt like the weakest link in the chain.
For good reason, apparently...
"My identity was completely destroyed," she said.

Since Arafat's death in a Gay Paree hospital in 2004 -- she has claimed that he was poisoned -- Suha said she has had dozens of marriage proposals, but rejected all hopeful suitors with the same answer: "Arafat was my hero."

Suha lives on a stipend she gets from the Paleostinian Authority, which she said is barely sufficient to support her and her daughter, and is a far distance from reports on millions of dollars that went to her through secret bank accounts.

"All the stories about Arafat putting millions in my bank account are nonsense and lies," she said. The money is with those who were close to Arafat and anyone who is determined can find it."
My bet is that she has plenty of Krugerrands stashed away but of course can't admit it publicly...
She also denied a rumor that the apartment she now shares with her teenager daughter Zawa in Malta was purchased as a gift by the former Libyan leader Muammar Qadaffy
... one of those little rainstorms from the Arab Spring...
. The apartment, she said, is rented.

"Even if I have regrets I accept the reality. Arafat was a great leader and I was very lonely in my marriage. I was always on the defensive because of the rumors that they spread about me. But life without him is even harder."

"If I could turn back time I wouldn't marry Arafat," she added.

Arafat was a strong supporter of the decision to exhume her husband in November 2012 amid claims he was poisoned.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Never did find all the money, eh?
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2013 1:23 Comments || Top||

#2  Thank Allan five times a day for not having a son, Suha.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2013 1:27 Comments || Top||

#3  "If I could turn back time I wouldn't marry Arafat," she added.

I can hear her warbling it like a bloated Cher
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 10:32 Comments || Top||

#4  Hmmmmmm, no mention of...well, you know...
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 17:58 Comments || Top||

#5  Gee Whiz, N-O-W she tells us.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 18:40 Comments || Top||

#6  I can hear her warbling it like a bloated Cher

Thanks for the imagery, Frank.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 22:09 Comments || Top||

#7  I aim to please, Pappy
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 22:36 Comments || Top||

#8  Has anyone ever seen her and Cher at the same place at the same time?
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/11/2013 23:57 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Eight people injured after rocket attacks in Quetta
[Dawn] Eight people were maimed in three rocket attacks in Quetta, the bustling provincial capital of Balochistan
...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it...
on Sunday night, police said.

Deputy Inspector General Police Operations, Wazir Khan Nasar said three rockets fired by cut-throats from some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location landed in different areas of Quetta.

Coordinated rocket attacks caused panic in the city. Loud kabooms were heard far and wide in Quetta, plagued by violence in recent days.

He said eight people were maimed in the first rocket that hit a house on Pir Abul Khair Road of Quetta.

"Three children and two women are also injured", Nasar said.

He said the condition of one of the injured is serious. Nasar said emergency services were quick at the scene and the injured were rushed to hospital for medical treatment.

Emergency was imposed in civil hospital Quetta and doctors were immediately called to treat the patients.

Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie was cracking himself up, but nobody else seemed to be getting the non-stop jokes...
in Kalat, three coppers were maimed after firing by unknown gunnies.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa North
Islamist Group MUJAO Claims North Mali Attacks
[An Nahar] Islamist rebel group the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa (MUJAO) claimed responsibility for an attack by gunmen Sunday on the city of Gao in northern Mali and a suicide bombing the day before.

"Today God's faithful successfully attacked the Malian army, which let the enemies of Islam come to Gao. MUJAO also claims the suicide bombing yesterday that made the Malian soldiers flee," said Abou Walid Sahraoui, spokesman for the group, which had already claimed another suicide blast Friday, the country's first.

"The combat will continue until victory, thanks to God's protection. The mujahedeen are in the city of Gao and will remain there," Sahraoui said in a message sent to Agence France Presse.

Rebel gunmen attacked Gao, the largest city in northern Mali, in the first large-scale urban guerrilla attack of the conflict.

A witness said the gunmen hid in the city's empty central police station, then attacked Malian soldiers when they arrived. When reinforcements came, snipers hidden in surrounding buildings opened fire on them.

Fighting also erupted around the governor's offices.

Rocket-propelled grenade explosions and fire from heavy machine guns and light weapons could still be heard in the city late in the afternoon.

A French Tiger attack helicopter was circulating over the neighborhood and French and Malian forces were conducting joint patrols, warning residents that snipers could be hidden in the city.

A death toll could not immediately be established. A Malian officer said "many" rebels had been killed, and a witness reported seeing a body that appeared to be a civilian hit by a stray bullet.

The two suicide bombers were the only fatalities in the earlier attacks.

A Malian soldier was lightly injured in Friday's explosion.

Troops at the checkpoint where both suicide attacks occurred said no one else was wounded in Saturday's blast.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


India-Pakistan
Fazl in Doha for talks with Afghan Taliban: JUI-F
[Dawn] Jamaat Ulema-e-Islam
...Assembly of Islamic Clergy, or JUI, is a Pak Deobandi (Hanafi) political party. There are two main branches, one led by Maulana Fazlur Rahman, and one led by Maulana Samiul Haq. Fazl is active in Pak politix and Sami spends more time running his madrassah. Both branches sponsor branches of the Taliban, though with plausible deniability...
(F) chief 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 ...
has gone to Qatar to hold talks with the Taliban, revealed Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a leader of the party and general secretary of the Milli Yakjehti Council, on Saturday.

Speaking at a condolence reference for 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...
leader Qazi Hussain Ahmad
... third president (1987—2009) of the PakJamaat-e-Islami. Qazi was also head of the Muttahidah Majlis-e-Amal until his ego became bigger than the organization. Qazi is what is known as a fiery preacher, which means he has lots of volume, a good delivery, and not a lot of reverence for coherence. He was the patron of Gulbuddin Hekmatyar, Rasool Sayyaf and Osama bin Laden during the war against the Soviets. He used to recommend drinking camel's urine to maintain good health before his kidneys started to go...
here, he urged the government and the army to take the Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain's talks offer seriously and initiate a dialogue to ensure a peaceful atmosphere during the general election.

But contrary to the statement by Hafiz Hussain Ahmed, a front man for JUI-F, Abdul Jalil Jan, told Dawn 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.
that Maulana Fazl had gone abroad on a private visit.

According to the western media, the US is in contact with the Taliban in Qatar to persuade the turban group to initiate negotiations with the Afghan government as Washington prepares for the withdrawal of its troops from Afghanistan in 2014.

Hafiz Hussain did not disclose on whose behalf Mr Rehman had gone to Doha.

However,
nothing needs reforming like other people's bad habits...
he said the JUI-F was playing a pivotal role in the grinding of the peace processor and the maulana was in Qatar to advance the process.

He said the use of force was no solution to the conflict between the Taliban and the military and urged them to sit on the negotiating table to restore peace in the region.

The Jamaat's deputy Amir, Sirajul Haq, said the government was looking towards the US for a signal after the negotiation offer by the Taliban. "The government is not sincere in peace negotiations and is waiting for dictation from Americans."

He said if the US could hold talks with the Taliban why Pakistain could not do so.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami


Africa North
Algeria Captures Four Militants Near Mali, Libya Borders
[Jpost] The Algerian army captured four heavily armed snuffies near the borders with Mali and Libya, a security source said on Friday, underlining international concerns that al-Qaeda-linked fighters are moving across porous Saharan frontiers.

Western security experts say the lawless desert expanses of southern Algeria, Libya and northern Mali form a corridor for smugglers and Islamist snuffies traveling across the region.

The French and Malian army believe many al-Qaeda-linked fighters in Mali have sought to cross the Algerian border after four weeks of a French offensive have driven them from Mali's northern cities.

A Malian and an Algerian man were tossed in the clink
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
near Tinzaouatine, near the border with Mali, the Algerian security source, who asked not to be named, told Rooters.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Guide to EMP
Posted by: BrerRabbit || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  See also INDEPENDENT.UK > SOLAR SUPER-STORM IS COMING + WILL ONLY GET 30-MINUTES [maxima?] WARNING.

[MADONNA'S "BURN ME UP" Song, Video here].

Why, yes, yes Madonna, I would be very pleased.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:49 Comments || Top||

#2  A 2007 government report on "Terrorism and the Electric Power Delivery System" was partly declassified only last fall. The Foreword of the document used weasel words to slight the fact that some of the information remains classified:
except that several pages of information deemed classified are available to readers who have the necessary security clearance.
We regret to long delay in approving this report for public release. We understand the need to safeguard security information that may need to remain classified. But openness is also required to accelerate the progress with current technology and implementation of research and development of new technology to better protect the nation from terrorism and other threats.

Systemic vulnerability is far more extensive than just to EMP attacks. It has been stated a few men with .50 rifles could destroy sufficient key high voltage transformers that a large part of the US electrical grid would be down for months at a time.
High-voltage transformers are of particular concern because they are vulnerable both from within and from outside the substations where they are located. These transformers are very large, difficult to move, often custom-built, and difficult to replace. Most are no longer made in the United States, and the delivery time for new ones could run from months to years.
Online version of report is available here.
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/11/2013 5:12 Comments || Top||

#3  I would like to take a contrarian view. EMPs were studied as weapons a long time ago. The ONLY efficient generator of EMPs is an atomic bomb. And it was found that for an EMP to have any effect, it had to be well within the range that the nuke would have a FAR more devastating effect that whatever negligible results the EMP delivers. And if you have a 1978 Chevy with a carburator the effects of the EMP are nil, provided you survive the nuke blast. I think all this hysterical EMP talk is simply alarmist blather. The information at the blog linked here can be easily debunked by anyone willing to do research and who understands science. IMNSHO.

That said, hardening infrastructure to protect against solar flares makes sense. But EMP panic? Much less so.
Posted by: Scooter McGruder || 02/11/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#4  Scooter,
I get your points is simply alarmist blather. but, there's an alternative that such alamism can lead to huge sums of taxes being doled out to favored sons (see global warming)and grow the power of the despot class.

Never let a crisis, real or fiction, go to waste.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 10:03 Comments || Top||

#5  Current effects of EMP are hotly debated, including among experts advising the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and Congress on such issues. The most recent publicly released report, from 2008, on the topic can be found here

The 2008 commission found that:

The electromagnetic pulse generated by a high altitude nuclear explosion is one of a small number of threats that can hold our society at risk of catastrophic consequences. The increasingly pervasive use of electronics of all forms represents the greatest source of vulnerability to attack by EMP. Electronics are used to control, communicate, compute, store, manage, and implement nearly every aspect of United States (U.S.) civilian systems. When a nuclear explosion occurs at high altitude, the EMP signal it produces will cover the wide geographic region within the line of sight of the detonation. This broad band, high amplitude EMP, when coupled into sensitive electronics, has the capability to produce widespread and long lasting disruption and damage to the critical infrastructures that underpin the fabric of U.S. society.

Our infrastructure systems have become much more complex, more interdependent and more vulnerable than was the case when EMP was first studied in earlier decades. Not only are we dependent on much more complex systems today, the components of those systems have changed significantly. For instance, just looking at the components of single devices such as PCs or auto transmissions, the integrated circuitry chips in them are now designed with far greater density of transistors etc. and with much tighter expectations about clean power signals into the chips.

Now consider how much more *connected* we and our devices have become for banking, integrated supply chains in industry, etc.

Since late 2008 DTRA has funded basic research into network science with a focus on new mathematics needed to model cascading failures across networks of all kinds, including the resilience vs. vulnerability of interdependent networked systems such as power grid coupled with communications networks.
Posted by: lotp || 02/11/2013 15:10 Comments || Top||

#6  Does this mean I should learn how to get to my mailbox without depending on my GPS?
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2013 15:45 Comments || Top||

#7  It means there won't be a point if your mailman relies on the power grid still existing in order to pump gas into his truck to deliver mail or if your grocer relies on power delivered from upper Ontario in order to keep the shredded potatoes refrigerated.... und so weiter, for 300 million people....
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/11/2013 16:23 Comments || Top||

#8  They EMPed us, we nuked them.

It's all relative as it were. Our dead iPhones against your multiple craters.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:45 Comments || Top||

#9  Shipman, the problem is knowing WHO to nuke. Some organization without a country EMPs us, who do we hit back? Besides Mecca, on general principles.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 18:49 Comments || Top||

#10  Shipman, more than iPhones would be dead in the civilian sector over a relatively short period of time after an effective EMP attack.

Re: 'nuked them' - it's quite possible that there would be serious issues with regard to verifying who's in command and authorized to order such a strike.
Posted by: lotp || 02/11/2013 19:05 Comments || Top||

#11  "who do we hit back? Besides Mecca, on general principles."

Mecca work for me, Glenmore.

Add Pakistain, NorK, Somolia, Chechnya, perhaps Sudan ....
Posted by: Barbara || 02/11/2013 19:23 Comments || Top||

#12  Mutual Assured Destruction (MAD) has kept the US and the fUSSR out of trouble. The problem with non-state actors and nukes is who do you blame.

We could declare that if a bomb goes off in the US that NKor and Iran get whacked, but threats have to be believable to work. I doubt anyone on the planet thinks the current admin has the stones to carry it out. "Don't call my bluff!"
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2013 19:32 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
The contagion spreads
[Dawn] IN a globalised world, it seems that religious Death Eaters are also exchanging notes on tactics and strategy. On Friday, gunnies in the northern Nigerian city of Kano killed at least 10 polio
...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set...
vaccinators, nine of them women. The grisly incident drew instant comparisons to similar attacks in Pakistain at the end of last year. Suspicion for the attacks has fallen on Boko Haram
... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality...
, dubbed by some as the 'Nigerian Taliban'. The group is one of Africa's deadliest Islamist beturbanned goon outfits; it has reportedly killed hundreds in Nigeria, including members of the security forces, Christians and those among Mohammedan holy mans opposed to Boko Haram's obscurant worldview. As in Pakistain, some holy mans in Nigeria have cast doubt over polio vaccines, claiming they are a Western 'plot' to eliminate Mohammedans. Such resistance to anti-polio campaigns has existed in Nigeria for around a decade. Apparently taking another cue from Pak beturbanned goons, Boko Haram has set a number of schools on fire in Nigeria, although Death Eaters in this country have been far more destructive, reducing hundreds of schools in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
and Fata to rubble.

Nigeria, Pakistain and Afghanistan are the only polio-endemic countries left in the world, with the West African state reporting the highest number of polio cases last year.
Considering this, the silence of Mohammedan religious authorities -- in these countries and elsewhere -- is unforgivable. Militants are dooming the future of children in Mohammedan countries, or those with large numbers of Mohammedans, making them vulnerable to disease and forcing them to stay illiterate. Unfortunately, the religious authorities have not yet mustered the courage to confront their bully boy worldview. Institutions with influence in the Islamic world -- such as Egypt's Al Azhar and the Saudi religious establishment -- need to play a far greater role in countering beturbanned goon propaganda against polio vaccinations. The OIC should also take up the issue with the seriousness it deserves. Meanwhile,
...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened...
the help of those Mohammedan countries that have successfully elimin-ated the virus, Iran and Bangladesh among them, must be sought to counter the situation where polio persists. Militants cannot be allowed to jeopardise the future of countless children in the remaining polio-endemic countries.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda

#1  The Hard Boyz seem to think the kiddies won't notice iff its Dad, not Mom, that taking them to get their shots.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:52 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Report: Mamlouk Sent Hizbullah New List of Assassination Targets
[An Nahar] A top Syrian security official has recently sent Hizbullah a list of Lebanese political and military personalities targeted for assassination, the Kuwaiti al-Seyassah newspaper reported on Sunday.

The daily quoted a Gulf diplomat in Abu Dhabi as saying that the list, which includes 13 names, was sent by Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk, who has been charged by a Lebanese military court of involvement along with ex-Information Minister Michel Samaha in a terror plot to destabilize Lebanon.

Arrest warrants in absentia were issued on Monday against Mamlouk and his aide known only by his first name as Adnan.

A Gulf intelligence agency informed Lebanese security apparatuses several days ago about the list that was provided by a suspect arrested in the UAE, the diplomat said.

The Lebanese suspect struck a deal with UAE authorities to provide the names in return for his release and deportation to a country of his choice, he said.

The list reportedly includes the names of al-Mustaqbal lawmakers Ahmed Fatfat, Nuhad al-Mashnouq, Khaled al-Daher, Moeen al-Merehbi and former general prosecutor Saeed Mirza.

Other names on the list are MP Marwan Hamadeh, who was the target of an assassination attempt in 2004, Internal Security Forces chief Maj. Gen. Ashraf Rifi, Lebanese Forces chief Samir Geagea and opposition lawmaker Butros Harb.

Geagea escaped gunfire at his residence in Maarab last year while Harb was also the target of an assassination plot that was thwarted when the residents of a building where he has an office in Badaro saw suspects placing a bomb in the elevator.

Other well known March 14 opposition officials on the list are al-Mustaqbal movement chief ex-PM Saad Hariri, who is in Paris for over a year, and Phalange MP Sami Gemayel, who was reportedly warned by security forces on several occasions that he could be the target of an assassination attempt.

Two other army generals are on the list, al-Seyassah said, adding that they are tipped to succeed army chief Gen. Jean Qahwaji.

Late last year, reports said that Interior Minister Marwan Charbel received a list of 15 names targeted for assassination.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Is was sent by Maj. Gen. Ali Mamlouk arabic for Barak Obama?
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 7:14 Comments || Top||


Villagers Confront Jihadist Rebels in Northern Syria
[An Nahar] Several tense confrontations have broken out in the past week between residents of largely rebel-held northwestern Syria and hardline Islamist insurgents, witnesses said on Sunday.

Locals then kidnapped an al-Nusra leader, put a grenade in his mouth and cut off his beard, before releasing him a few days later, the witnesses said.
A number of such altercations took place around Atme in Idlib province, where the residents generally support the hardline al-Nusra Front group, who are spearheading attacks against forces of President Bashar Assad.

Al-Nusra, which is believed to be closely linked to al-Qaida in Iraq and which has a number of foreign fighters, has been blacklisted by Washington as a terrorist organization.

There was almost an armed clash between al-Nusra and local rebel fighters near Atme when the group attempted to try a man in an Islamic court for swearing, witnesses told Agence France Presse.

Locals then kidnapped an al-Nusra leader, put a grenade in his mouth and cut off his beard, before releasing him a few days later, the witnesses said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Nusra

#1  Apparently the locals don't think support equals servitude.
Posted by: tipover || 02/11/2013 0:26 Comments || Top||

#2  put a grenade in his mouth and cut off his beard,

I love it.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 13:39 Comments || Top||

#3  "You won't get away with it! The Al-Nutria Front will defend my honor!"
Posted by: Frank G || 02/11/2013 14:53 Comments || Top||

#4  "put a grenade in his mouth and cut off his beard"

Call me when they pull the pin.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/11/2013 15:08 Comments || Top||

#5  But they didn't pull the pin, Barbara.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 15:43 Comments || Top||

#6  Good lord, Al-Nutria has spread from the bayous to Syria, Pencil neck is prayer less.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:22 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Attack on police mobile van injures five in Peshawar
[Dawn] Militants attacked a police mobile van 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 Sunday evening, leaving five coppers including the additional SHO injured, officials said.

The injured Additional SHO Imranuddin told the media that assailants riding a cycle of violence attacked the mobile van with a petrol bomb.

The injured have been shifted to the Lady Reading Hospital Peshawar where the condition of the driver is said to be critical.

The forces of Evil had also tried to target Additional SHO Imranuddin on January 1 after his mobile van was attacked with a bomb near Jinnah Park. No policeman was injured in that incident as the mobile van was empty.

However,
those who apply themselves too closely to little things often become incapable of great things...
ten passersby and vendors had been injured in the attack.

Meanwhile,
...back at the the conspirators' cleverly concealed hideout the long-awaited message arrived. They quickly got to work with their decoder rings...
in another incident, the police seized two hand grenades from a bag near Phandu Chowk, which was defused by the bomb disposal squad.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Home Front: Politix
Federal employees' union head: Obama pay raise proposal 'simply not enough'
[THEHILL] The president of the American Federation of Government Employees says a one-percent increase is "absolutely unconscionable."
He saw what the Chicago Teachers Union got...
The head of the largest federal employee union said Saturday that President B.O.'s proposal to increase pay for federal employees by 1 percent was "absolutely unconscionable" and "simply not enough."

"It is not enough to allow federal employees to make up lost ground from two-plus years of frozen pay. It is not enough to allow workers, most of whom earn very modest salaries ranging from $24,000 to $70,000, to maintain living standards. And it is not enough to send a message with any kind of clarity that the administration values the federal workforce and doesn't believe it should continue to bear an enormously disproportionate share of deficit reduction," David Cox Sr., the president of the American Federation of Government Employees (AFGE), said in a statement.

The White House told labor leaders of the proposed increase in the 2014 fiscal year budget in a phone call late Friday night. That raise would come on top of the half-point pay hike, scheduled to take effect in late March, which has been delayed as part of the "fiscal cliff" deal struck last month. Federal salaries have been frozen since 2011.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I don't see a problem---just cut military salaries/benefits and use the money.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2013 1:16 Comments || Top||

#2  "Unconscionable" indeed. Only a federal employee's union representative would label a wage increase a reduction, then bitch about it. Perhaps they should all simply walk out? A work slowdown would certainly go unnoticed. Hopefully the IRS will lead the way.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 5:51 Comments || Top||

#3  If you sack some employees then you'll have more money for the remaining.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/11/2013 6:52 Comments || Top||

#4  With 14 percent real unemployment, maybe its time to suspend the Civil Service Act*, and open jobs to competition. *Why should everyone else but government have uncontrolled open borders [re: regulations] that can provide employers with an unlimited labor pool? What's good for everyone else should be good for the government as well.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2013 8:54 Comments || Top||

#5  A dissolution of the Civil Service Act would unhinge 60+ years of civil rights, advances in social justice and women's rights. Paternoster lakes will appear in hell prior to the end of the Civil Service.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 9:10 Comments || Top||

#6  You are right, sir.

You are all fired.
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/11/2013 10:21 Comments || Top||

#7  Go ahead. Go on strike.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/11/2013 12:06 Comments || Top||

#8  The greediest of the greediest are the US government. I'm of mind to fire everyone in that damn thing. I do not want, need, or desire 32 million idiots sucking on the tit.
Posted by: newc || 02/11/2013 14:00 Comments || Top||

#9  This is one reason why (among a litany) that I'm not a member of the AFGE.

Mr. Cox, you tone-deaf bastard.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 14:39 Comments || Top||

#10  One of the big problems is that we always talk about pay raised for EVERY federal employee, regardless of series, grade or performance.
Why would all feds get a raise? I'm all for breaking it down to high performing, valuable employees getting a raise and the ticks going without. I'm pretty confident I'd do fine and many others wouldn't.
But putting a blanket pay freeze on the federal service for 3 years is driving hard to retain professionals out. I have a job interview at 0900 in the morning with a regional utility company and, if the job and compensation look right, I'm gonna take it.
Who will do my job that I currently do at my agency?
I don't really care...I've been kicked around alot the last few years. You can't treat experienced engineers like janitors for very long before they start jumping ship.
But I digress, pay raises for strong performers and valuable people, but not for everybody would be my recommendation. That way you keep the people you want and need the most.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 02/11/2013 14:57 Comments || Top||

#11  That's not how democracies work, bigjim-CA. The categories with the biggest numbers (mediocre-poor performers) get the best deals & the minorities (strong performers) get screwed. That's why we were set up as a republic.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 15:39 Comments || Top||

#12  So quit. See ya.
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/11/2013 16:56 Comments || Top||

#13  Please keep in mind, General Service "Step Increases" and "Annual Bonuses".... can by some, be viewed as pay raises as well. Matter of fact, I'm one of em!
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 16:58 Comments || Top||

#14  So tell 'em to quit. The private sector's doing just fine so they should have no problem picking something up at the same or even more money and bennies.
Barry Obama told me.
Posted by: tu3031 || 02/11/2013 21:08 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Moussa: National Salvation Front respects Morsy's legitimacy
[Egypt Independent] Amr Moussa, former Arab League chief, said Sunday that the National Salvation Front -- the largest opposition coalition -- respects the legitimacy of President Mohamed Morsy and does not seek to overthrow him.

But Moussa added that Popular Current movement founder Hamdeen Sabbahi is calling for earlier presidential elections.

"We do not talk about Morsy's legitimacy, but rather about his credibility in dealing with the problems of the ordinary Egyptian citizen," Moussa said. "We are against his policies, and just as he is legitimate, the opposition is too," he said.

Sabbahi, meanwhile, denied that he called for early elections.

NSF spokesperson Ahmed al-Borai said the front is only against a single political faction monopolizing power.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Afghanistan
US General Dunford takes charge of Nato in Afghanistan
[Dawn] US General Joseph Dunford assumed command of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all....
forces in Afghanistan on Sunday, taking over from General John Allen as the coalition prepares to withdraw the bulk of its combat troops by next year.

Marine General Dunford will likely be the last commander of the United States' longest war, tasked with bringing forces home after more than 11 years and overseeing the transfer of Afghan security duties to local forces.

Despite the persistence of the Taliban's bloody insurgency against President Hamid Maybe I'll join the Taliban Karzai
... A former Baltimore restaurateur, now 12th and current President of Afghanistan, displacing the legitimate president Rabbani in December 2004. He was installed as the dominant political figure after the removal of the Taliban regime in late 2001 in a vain attempt to put a Pashtun face on the successor state to the Taliban. After the 2004 presidential election, he was declared president regardless of what the actual vote count was. He won a second, even more dubious, five-year-term after the 2009 presidential election. His grip on reality has been slipping steadily since around 2007, probably from heavy drug use...
's government and NATO forces, Allen, who leaves to become the alliance's supreme commander in Europe, said: "We will be victorious." Dunford, a Marine general like Allen who earned the nickname "Fighting Joe" for his leadership in Iraq, took command of the International Security Assistance Force (Isaf) in a ceremony at the group's headquarters in Kabul amid tight security.

Allen said victory over the insurgency led by the Taliban would "never be marked by a date, a point in time in the calendar" but insisted the effort would prevail.

"The insurgency will be defeated over time by legitimate and well-trained Afghan forces," he said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Good luck and mind the e-mails.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 7:46 Comments || Top||

#2  Short straw?
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/11/2013 9:05 Comments || Top||

#3  Does he have access to the quick eject button so we can get our men and women out of that hellhole asap?
Posted by: remoteman || 02/11/2013 17:19 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Asteroid to Narrowly Miss Earth
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Call me in December.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:20 Comments || Top||

#2  ...but only hits the Earth once every 1,200 years.

Statistically-speaking, that means we're probably safe for quite a while, since a similar asteroid hit just over 100 years ago.


Statistically speaking, huh? That's so ignorantly wrong it makes my head hurt to think about it. I just hope they used better math to calculate the orbital elements.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2013 1:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Yep, somehow an Asteroid hitting the earth can somehow affect other asteroids on a interception course to delay their collision...

You cannot hope
to bribe or twist,
thank God! the
British journalist.
But, seeing what
the man will do
unbribed, there's
no occasion to.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/11/2013 7:23 Comments || Top||

#4  The Xi people are quite sensitive about things falling from the sky, and we should be as well. I hope it misses entirely. Small bits of it could become items of worship and we know where that leads.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 7:29 Comments || Top||

#5  Remember folks -- ALWAYS CHECK THE MARGIN OF ERROR.

(And, Hot Fudge Sundae falls on a Fridae this year.)
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/11/2013 11:40 Comments || Top||

#6  Don't tease us, SMOD!
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/11/2013 16:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Earthlings:
Consider this your final warning. Release immediately our brother held hostage in the place you refer to as Mecca. Failure to comply will turn your stargazing into a sea of fire.
Posted by: SMOD || 02/11/2013 17:19 Comments || Top||


-Lurid Crime Tales-
Detroit: Utility worker and home owner defend selves against punks
A gun is much like a parachute. If you need one and don't have one, chances are you'll never need one again.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa Subsaharan
Obscure DR Congo rebel leader arrested in S Africa
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] South African police have incarcerated
Drop the gat, Rocky, or you're a dead 'un!
the leader of an obscure DR Congo rebel group who claims to be the half-brother of President Joseph Kabila, officials said Sunday.
Oooh! I seen dis movie! He's the legitimate heir and the guy that's in there is a sneaky usurper, see? And he's got this beautiful sister and she falls in love with the good guy and talks him into helping to put the legit guy on the throne...
...and they have this sidekick who's a pickpocket and petty thief but he has a heart of gold...
"The Hawks (special police) arrested him on Friday in Cape Town," front man Paul Ramaloko told AFP without naming him.

A police source earlier confirmed the suspect is Etienne Kabila, head of the Union of Nationalists for the Renewal of the DR Congo (UNR) accused of plotting to topple the government.

He claims to be the eldest son of assassinated DRC president Laurent Kabila and half-brother of current President Joseph Kabila.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Not sure what he was doing on Long street Chief Inspector, but we've checked the upcoming Afrikaner Weerstandsbeweging rally, and he isn't scheduled to speak there. I reckon we'll simply have to release him.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 6:04 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Mumbai attacks case: Pakistani panel's visit to India delayed
[Dawn] Legal complications have delayed a Pak team's visit to India, scheduled for the second half of the current month, for recording statements of four Indian witnesses to the 2008 Mumbai attacks after the defence counsel sought written assurances for cross-examination of the witnesses.

On Feb 2, the FIA had filed an application in the Anti-Terrorism Court, seeking permission to join the proceedings of the commission constituted by the Mumbai High Court under Indian judge Amer Ahmed Khan to record statements of the witnesses against seven Pak suspects.

The Indian authorities had asked Pakistain to send a panel of lawyers in February for recording the statements of R.V. Sawant Waghule, who had recorded the confessional statement of Ajmal Kasab; Ramesh Mahale, chief investigation officer of the case; and doctors Ganesh Dhunraj and Chintaman Mohite, who had conducted post-mortem of the forces of Evil killed during the attacks.

Khawaja Harris, defence counsel for the alleged criminal mastermind Zakiur Rehman Lakhvi, informed the ATC on Saturday that Indian government's letter about recording the statements lacked clarity. It did not mention whether the witnesses would be cross-examined or not, he pointed out.

He said the proceedings of last year's Mumbai commission had been declared illegal by the ATC because the defence team had not been allowed to cross-examine the witnesses.

Riaz Cheema, another defence counsel, told Dawn that governments of Pakistain and India had agreed on Nov 5, 2010 to exempt the witnesses from cross-examination.

He said when the defence counsel sought to cross-examine the witnesses during the proceedings of the Mumbai commission presided over by S. S. Shinde, the Indian prosecutor produced a letter containing details of the Nov 5, 2010 agreement. "Consequently, the commission did not allow us to cross-examine the witnesses," he said.

"We will not join the proceedings of the commission unless the Indian and Pak authorities cancel the letter and assure us in writing that we will be allowed to cross-examine the witnesses," he said.

Earlier in March 2012, another Pak panel -- including special prosecutor Chaudhry Zulfiqar Ali and counsel for the suspects -- had recorded statements of the witnesses but had not cross-examined them.

According to the prosecution agency FIA, the suspects -- Lakhvi, Abdul Wajid, Mazhar Iqbal, Hammad Amin Sadiq, Shahid Jameel Riaz, Jamil Ahmed and Younas Anjum -- could not be convicted unless the witnesses were cross-examined.

Chaudhry Zulfiqar told Dawn that the Indian government had agreed in principle to allow the cross-examination but the defence counsel wanted the assurance in writing.

"The counsel do not want timely disposal of the case and their recent request is part of their strategy to make the case linger on," he said.

He said the case should be decided without further delay because it had strained relations between Pakistain and India and countries like the UK, the US and Canada, whose nationals had been killed in the attacks, were also keenly awaiting the outcome of the over four-year-old case.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa North
Egypt Inflation Climbs Most in Two Years
Egyptian consumer prices last month posted the biggest increase in more than two years after the pound weakened to a record and foreign reserves slid. Prices rose 1.7 percent compared with 0.2 percent in the previous month, according to the state-run Central Agency for Public Mobilization and Statistics. The annual rate climbed to 6.3 percent from 4.7 percent, the data show. High prices were one of the reasons that triggered the 2011 uprising that ousted President Hosni Mubarak.
But it's cool now that the Muslim Bruderbünd is in charge...
The pound has weakened 7.8 percent against the dollar since Dec. 30, according to data compiled by Bloomberg, as the central bank started capping the amount of dollars each lender can buy at currency auctions. The regulator said the policy seeks to conserve reserves, which have plunged more than 60 percent since the revolt to $13.6 billion last month.
Reserves have plunged because tourists aren't coming to Egypt: among other reasons, female Western tourists don't like being sexually assaulted on the streets of Cairo.
“The trend is expected because of the devaluation but the magnitude is above expectations,” said Mona Mansour, chief economist at Cairo-based investment bank CI Capital, who has forecast an annual inflation rate of about 5.8 percent. “We see more inflationary pressures because we are expecting further devaluation for the currency.”

The currency crisis may prompt the central bank to raise interest rates by as much as 200 basis points, or 2 percentage points, this year to stabilize the pound and tame inflation, Mohamed Abu Basha, an economist at Cairo-based investment bank EFG-Hermes Holding SAE, wrote in a report on Feb. 6.

Food prices rose 2.5 percent on the month, while the costs of tobacco and alcoholic beverages climbed 7.7 percent, according to CAPMAS data.
I thought alcoholic beverages were forbidden in a Muslim state...
Core inflation, which excludes some food items and regulated products, accelerated to an annual rate of 5.23 percent in January from 4.44 percent a month earlier, according to central bank data released today.
Posted by: Steve White || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Suspects detained over Alexandria, presidential palace clashes
[Egypt Independent] Prosecutors on Sunday ordered the detention of 11 suspects for four days pending investigations, on charges of clashing with police at the presidential palace. Meanwhile, authorities in Alexandria detained 31 protesters on charges of torching a police station during a demonstration.

For the presidential palace case, prosecutors requested videos recorded by surveillance cameras installed on the palace entrance gate.

The Alexandria public prosecutor ordered the detention of 31 protesters pending investigations Sunday, on charges of setting on fire the Sidi Gaber Police Station during Friday's demonstration, violently clashing with security forces, disrupting public transport, inciting riots, and disturbing public order.

The clashes resulted in the injury of a police officer and six Central Security Forces recruits, and three police cars were destroyed.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Arabia
Yemen Foreign Minister challenges Iran
[Yemen Post] As Yemen-Iran arm smuggling crisis is gaining momentum with the involvement of the UN Security Council, Yemen Foreign Minister Abu Baqr al-Qirbi challenged Tehran further on Sunday by demanding an explanation.

"The Yemeni government will not allow interference in its internal affairs from any party, or for its territories to become a site for proxy wars," he told Iran's ambassador to Sana'a, Mahmud Hassan Zada, stressing he will need Iran to explain just its weapons ended up on a ship bound for Yemen.

So far the government is adopting the theory that Iran is arming the Houthis - Shia rebel group based in the northern province of Sa'ada - in a bid to counterweight Saudi Arabia's involvement in Yemen and assert its own influence over the region.

It is important to note that the belief of an Iranian/Shia plot in the Arabian Peninsula has been driven for the most part by Saudi Arabia's belief, or shall we say al-Saud's belief Shiite Iran is seeking to overtake Sunni Islam.

And since the Houthis sit directly south of Saudi Arabia's borders with Yemen, the fact the tribe shares Iran's religious and political stance one can understand how troublesome a military alliance between the two would be for the kingdom.

Yemen's National Security Chief, Ali Hassan al-Ahmadi warned against Saturday of Iran's ill intents in Yemen telling reporters in Sana'a, the capital "Such a shipment cannot be made by traders or smugglers... Only an official power stands behind it," and "We have repeatedly urged our brothers in Iran to reassess their stances towards Yemen. They had always denied any interference, but this shipment sadly affirms that they insist on damaging Yemen."

Politicians close to the Houthis have argued that al-Ahmadi was less than objective on the matter since his agency was directly under the control of the United States of America, which for tactical and economic reasons was supporting Saudi Arabia''s claims against Iran.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Carey Lowell[Filmography](age 52)



Intelligent Design [2 versions]


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/11/2013 0:19 Comments || Top||

#2  If you saw Miss Lowell in the James Bond hash up in Vegas, you KNOW her best assets were not her beautiful cleavage but her stunning and stupifying legs and hips...mind boggling.

I always thought she was the most attractive of the bond girls and I never understood why her career did not have more traction with that face and those legs.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/11/2013 10:23 Comments || Top||

#3  BC

Carey Lowell Personal life

Lowell has been married three times. Her first husband was fashion photographer John Stember, to whom she was married from 1984-1988.

She was married to actor Griffin Dunne from 1989–1995 and has a daughter, Hannah Dunne, born April 1990, from that marriage.

Lowell married actor Richard Tiffany Gere on November 9, 2002, following the birth of their child, Homer James Jigme Gere, who was born in February 2000. Lowell, like her husband, is a devoted supporter of preserving the culture of Tibet and practices Tibetan Buddhism.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/11/2013 11:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Bill, the competition is fierce but I agree that Casey is one of the top contenders.

Barbara and Ursula and Casey probably round out my top three but there are really way too many to count.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 11:45 Comments || Top||

#5  Jane Seymour.

No, not the one that married Henry VIII....
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/11/2013 13:06 Comments || Top||

#6  Seymour, why yes I would like to Seymour!
Posted by: Winky Thaitch5539 || 02/11/2013 13:13 Comments || Top||

#7  Jane See More
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/11/2013 15:00 Comments || Top||

#8  Mare of Flanders
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:08 Comments || Top||

#9  Ugh Link.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:08 Comments || Top||

#10  If all the assistant D.A.s in Law and order she was by far the easiest on the eyes.

Just my humble opinion.
Posted by: badanov || 02/11/2013 17:34 Comments || Top||

#11  Jane Seymour
Posted by: Muggsy Mussolini1226 || 02/11/2013 17:55 Comments || Top||


Great White North
Canadian Officer Who Spied For Russia Jailed For 20 Years
[Jpost] Canadian naval officer who handed over secrets to Russia for more than four years, damaging Canada's relations with the United States and other key allies, was tossed in the clink
Keep yer hands where we can see 'em, if yez please!
for 20 years on Friday.

Sub-Lt. Jeffrey Delisle had pleaded guilty to breach of trust and handing information to a foreign entity that could harm national interests. He was also fined $111,817 ($111,817), the sum he received from his Russian spymasters.
That's all he got? For 4 years? Hell, jail him for being too stupid to negotiate a better deal with the Ruskies.
Delisle, 41, worked at a security unit in Halifax that tracked vessels entering and exiting Canadian waters.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Court issues non-bailable warrants for Lal Masjid cleric
[Dawn] A local court on Saturday issued non-bailable warrants for Maulana Abdul Aziz, Khateeb Lal Masjid, and four witnesses, including a police officer.

The orders were passed after the court found the above mentioned individuals absent during the proceedings of a case involving harassment of owners of CD shops.

Important to note that after acquittal from 26 cases, the only case pending against Maulana Aziz is the said case, which is also in its final stage.

Shehzad Khan civil judge cum judicial magistrate resumed hearing of the case registered against Maulana Aziz and his other associates in April 2007 for threatening the owners of CD shops and forcibly closing their businesses in F-7 Markaz and Aabpara Market.

The order was passed, when during the hearings, it transpired that neither Maulana Aziz nor any of the witnesses, including a deputy superintendent of police Mohammad Ashraf Shah were present in the court.

The judge expressed annoyance over the absence of the accused and the witnesses of the case and issued the warrants.

However,
some men learn by reading. A few learn by observation. The rest have to pee on the electric fence for themselves...
Maulana Wajihullah, counsel of Maulana Aziz, appeared before the judge and informed that the holy man because of other engagements was not in Islamabad and, therefore, could not appear in the court.

The counsel assured the court that Maulana Aziz would appear in the court on the next date of hearing.

The judge, however, issued the non-bailable arrest warrants for Maulana Aziz as well as for the witnesses and adjourned the matter till February 14.

It may be mentioned that Maulana Aziz has been acquitted in over two dozen cases in the last couple of years.

These cases were registered against the holy man in 2007, when relations between Lal Masjid and the government deteriorated and led to the July 3 operation.

Among them the famous cases registered against the holy man were of abducting Aunti Shamim and her daughter, abduction of police officials and seizing of official vehicles, launching FM Radio without obtaining prior permission of the government, CD burning case, killing of a Rangers official and sabotaging and damaging government property.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Teflon Aziz
Posted by: Omose Angeaque7353 || 02/11/2013 1:34 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Seven killed, 11 injured in attacks across southern Thailand
Prime Minister Yingluck Shinawatra has voiced support for a curfew in the deep South after a string of attacks killed five soldiers and two other people in the region yesterday. Another 11 people, both military and civilian, were also wounded, including three children.

In the deadliest attack, five soldiers were killed in a combined bomb and gun attack in Yala province. Six soldiers were traveling in a truck in Raman district yesterday morning when they were attacked, first by a car bomb and then by gunmen. Five of the soldiers were killed in the attack, and the sixth injured. Two rubber-tappers working nearby were also wounded.

The attack on the soldiers occurred at 7:05 a.m. yesterday. As they drove to pick up the farm workers, the soldiers found their route blocked by a pickup truck. The truck was loaded with a homemade bomb which was detonated by terrorists militants hiding nearby.

The blast overturned the soldiers' truck, and then another pickup carrying six armed men arrived at the scene. The terrorists militants gunned down five of the soldiers, stole their weapons and fled.

Investigators found an ID card belonging to a teenager from Narathiwat's Rueso district at the scene. He was brought in for questioning.

Police said the truck armed with the bomb may have belonged to Somsak Kwanma, a teacher from Pattani's Mayo district, who was gunned down on Dec 11. Somsak's killers stole his vehicle after the attack.

About 2 p.m. yesterday a group of eight rangers was attacked by terrorists militants in Narathiwat's Rangae district. The rangers' pickup truck was flipped over by a blast from a bomb planted on a local road. Four of the rangers were wounded and taken to the the hospital.

In Pattani province, two people were gunned down and four others, including three children, were wounded in separate shooting attacks.

The first incident took place during the early hours yesterday in Yaring district. Lateh Awae was shot twice in the head and died in front of his house.

About 1 p.m., police were alerted to the fatal shooting of a man on a local road in Sai Buri district. The victim was identified as Kriangsak Sermsarngsuk, a merchant from Bangkok. He was found dead in the driver's seat of a car with several gunshot wounds. Witnesses said two men on a motorcycle followed the victim's car and the pillion rider opened fire at him.

In Nong Chik district, four people, including three children, were injured after suspected terrorists insurgents sprayed bullets at several houses about 6 p.m.

In response to the news, Ms Yingluck expressed her support for Deputy Prime Minister Chalerm Yubamrung's call for a curfew to be imposed. Mr Chalerm advised the curfew, covering limited areas of the far South, on Wednesday after the murders of two farmers in Pattani and four fruit traders in Yala last week.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [2 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Nom for Director CIA converted to Islam in KSA sez FBI agent
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Mr. Brennan needs to have that question posed to him during the hearings. Expect a tacqiya answer or a fatwa issued on the apostate.
Posted by: Mugsy Glink || 02/11/2013 9:17 Comments || Top||

#2  He does seem overly fond of Islam.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 14:17 Comments || Top||

#3  Almost 100% of the people who've been drone-zapped by his orders have been moslem. So, whatever his religious status, he is undoubtedly considered revenge material by a significant number of moslems.
Posted by: lord garth || 02/11/2013 19:27 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Dawa Blocked: Iran Says English-Language TV Channel Dropped In N. America
[Jpost] Iran's English-language Press TV channel has been dropped from the satellite platform that allowed it to broadcast in the United States and Canada, the channel said.

The state-owned, 24-hour network broadcasts world news and pro-government views beyond Iran's borders.

Press TV had broadcast in North America on the Galaxy 19 satellite platform. The channel did not say when it was dropped.

New sanctions announced by the U.S. Treasury Department this week blacklisted the Islamic Theocratic Republic of Iran Broadcasting (IRIB) and its director, Ezatollah Zarghami, which oversees Iran's broadcast channels.

Press TV said in a statement on Friday evening that its being dropped from Galaxy 19 was a "flagrant violation of freedom of speech."

In October, the Gay Paree-based Eutelsat, one of Europe's leading satellite providers, cut Iranian state television
... and if you can't believe state television who can you believe?
and radio broadcasts to comply with tougher European Union
...the successor to the Holy Roman Empire, only without the Hapsburgs and the nifty uniforms and the dancing...
sanctions on the Islamic Theocratic Republic.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Maybe they can sweet-talk al-Jazeera into providing them a three-hour block of time.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/11/2013 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Finally, some backbone.
Posted by: Skidmark || 02/11/2013 14:41 Comments || Top||


Africa North
President's party to quit coalition government in Tunisia
[EDITION.CNN] Members of the president's party in Tunisia will quit the coalition government, the state-run news agency
...and if you can't believe the state-run news agency who can you believe?...
TAP reported Sunday.

The move threatens to worsen a political crisis, set off after an opposition leader was assassinated there last week.

The Congress for the Republic Party, which counts Tunisian President Moncef Marzouki among its ranks, has three ministers and two secretaries of state in the government, TAP reported.

The five officials will "continue to shoulder their responsibilities within their respective departments to avoid any administrative vacuum," TAP said, citing Chokri Yacoub, a party leader.

The news comes one day after Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali said he would step down if a caretaker government he is forming fails to win approval from Tunisia's National Constituent Assembly.

In response to the shooting death of Chokri Belaid, Jebali sacked his government and said he would appoint a new one to serve until the next election.

However,
it was a brave man who first ate an oyster...
a top official of Jebali's own Ennahda party labeled Jebali's moves "non-binding," raising questions about his leadership.

Belaid, a prominent secular politician who decried violence, was rubbed out as he left his home Wednesday morning for work. No one has grabbed credit for the attack, but Belaid's widow and others blamed the climate fostered by Jebali's Ennahda party.

Jebali denied that Ennahda had anything do with Belaid's killing and said he hoped to get approval for his new government from his party and others.

"The government, I feel, is backed by a lot of people, mainly among ordinary people. I hope that political parties will translate the view of our people," Jebali said Friday.

As he spoke, thousands of Tunisians demonstrated in the streets of the capital in outrage over the liquidation, calling on Jebali to resign.

The killing of Belaid was the country's first high-profile political liquidation since Tunisia's "Jasmine Revolution" that toppled President Zine el Abidine Ben Ali two years ago and spawned the Arab Spring.

Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Bangladesh
Change law to try Jamaat
[Bangla Daily Star] The government tables today a proposal for amending the International Crimes (Tribunals) Act-1973 to provide for appeal against inadequate sentence in war crimes cases.

Finalised yesterday, the proposal also envisages hearing and disposal of an appeal within 60 days from the date of its filing with the Appellate Division of the Supreme Court.

There is no mention of time limit in the law for disposing of the appeal in the cases involving the crimes against humanity committed during the Liberation War in 1971.

Interpreting the proposed amendment, Law Minister Shafique Ahmed told The Daily Star yesterday that the Appellate Division will dispose of an appeal within 45 days from the date of its filing. If the apex court still cannot complete the disposal, it will get another 15 days.

He said any appeal against an ICT verdict has to be filed with the Supreme Court within 30 days from the date of delivery of the verdict as per the existing provision.

Earlier in the day, Shafique Ahmed told news hounds at his office in Bangladesh Secretariat that a bill will be placed before parliament within a week if the cabinet approves the proposed amendment.

He hoped the House will pass the bill in its current session.

The government, any aggrieved person or victim can file appeal against inadequate sentence or acquittal order given by the tribunal to any accused, as per the proposed amendment.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Govt behind Shahbagh Claims Jamaat
[Bangla Daily Star] 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...
yesterday termed the countrywide demonstrations, including the Shahbagh one, a government plot to create anarchy in the country and force the tribunals to deliver verdicts as per its dictate.

The government was conspiring to create hatred against the Jamaat-e-Islami and Islami Chhatra Shibir
... the student wing of the Jamaat-e-Islami Bangladesh...
from the gatherings of their party activists, Jamaat acting secretary general Moulana Rafiqul Islam Khan said in a statement.

The party also announced to stage demonstrations across the country tomorrow for what it said to protest against the countrywide anarchy patronised by the government to implement its political agenda.

The demonstration is meant for pressing home their various demands, including dismantling of the war crimes tribunals, releasing the party's top leaders facing war crimes charges and restoration of the caretaker government system.

In the statement, Rafiqul said, "I strongly condemn and protest the government's ill move to create anarchy in the country through its patronage to make its petty political gains."

The countrywide movement began after a war crimes tribunal on Tuesday sentenced Jamaat leader Quader Mollah to life term in prison for committing crimes against humanity during the Liberation War.

Hours after the verdict, a mass uproar started at Shahbagh intersection in the capital when an online activists' group gave a call through online social networks to wage protests against the verdict.

It continued for the sixth day yesterday amid spontaneous participation of several thousands pro-liberation activists.

In the statement, Rafiqul alleged that since formation of the tribunals, the ruling party MPs, ministers and leaders had been commenting on execution of top Jamaat leaders to run the tribunal proceedings as per the government's own plan.

"We want to clearly state that the people of the country won't let the government implement its plot chalked out to take its political Dire Revenge™," he said.

The Jamaat leader also sought cooperation from the countrymen, party leaders and activists to make their tomorrow's programme a success.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Study: Asteroid Strike Did in the Dinosaurs
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wel-l-l, I dunno about the "wiping out the dinos" part -Nostradamus's "hideous beast seen near Orgon" looks awfully Reptilian or T-Rexy =
"-Zilla" to me???

Wid Jedi = Sith powers to boot.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:19 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Footage of clerics' killing: Police to seek foreign help
[Dawn] Police authorities have decided to send CCTV (closed-circuit television) camera footage, showing two attackers firing at a van that resulted in the death of two holy mans and a student of the Jamia Banori Uloom Islamia, to a foreign probe body after local Sherlocks failed to determine the identity of the assassins who rode away after executing the job off Sharea Faisal, it emerged on Saturday.

Sources privy to the development said the authorities reached the decision after multiple examinations of the footage by the police Sherlocks employing different sources and services of different institutions failed to achieve a breakthrough.

"An investigation team headed by the DIG east has finally decided to hire services of a foreign institution and in this regard also received a nod from the higher authorities," said a source while explaining progress in the investigation of the case.

"The institution whose services can be hired is not yet finalised but there are some very credible investigation bodies such as the Federal Bureau of Investigation [FBI] and the British Scotland Yard. The main objective of the entire exercise is to determine the identity of the attackers through their faces, as our Sherlocks remained unable to do so."

The police officer tasked with the investigation was expected to finalize the name of the foreign probe body within a day or two, he said.

The source said the footage was likely to be sent to the foreign Sherlocks within a week after which progress could be made on these lines.

On Jan 31, two teachers and a student of the Jamia Banori Uloom Islamia were bumped off in the attack on their van on Sharea Faisal. The victims included 50-year-old Sheikh-ul-Hadees Mufti Abdul Majeed Deenpori, the senior most faculty member of the seminary, his 40-year-old deputy Mufti Saleh Mohammad and 33-year-old student Ahsan Ali Shah.

The attack took place on a stretch of the thoroughfare between the Nursery bus stop and the Finance and Trade Centre (FTC) along the block-B of Sindhi Moslem Cooperative Housing Society. The chilling images of the shooting were caught on a CCTV camera installed at a private facility in front of which the brutal attack was carried out. The footage showed three assailants escaping on a cycle of violence after attacking the van which was on the left track of the road.

Amid ongoing sectarian killings, the incident came in the limelight after religious groups gave a strike call to protest against the attack and press the authorities to immediately arrest the killers.

The sources said it was the first case of such killings in the city that convinced the authorities to take foreign Sherlocks on board.

"There are two major reasons behind that initiative," said the source.

"Firstly, there was no such piece of evidence (CCTV footage) available in any case of assassination in the past. Secondly, the incident itself became high-profile as it included the killing of one of the top holy mans.

"It may set a precedent or encourage the authorities to acquire technology that could help Sherlocks make use of such footage."
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan

#1  Two Holy men Died?
Good shooting, and good riddance.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 13:30 Comments || Top||


Iraq
Iraq Satellite TV Bombed after Airing Criticism of Kurd Leader
[An Nahar] A bomb exploded on the roof of an Iraqi satellite channel's offices a day after the broadcaster aired a caller's criticism of a revered Kurdish leader, an official said on Sunday.

The explosion in the Kurdish city of Sulaimaniyah came as Human Rights Watch (HRW) criticized the autonomous Iraqi region for infringing on free speech by wrongly detaining journalists, activists and opposition figures for insulting public figures.

On Friday evening, the Nalia television station briefly aired a caller's criticism of Mullah Mustafa Barzani, a Kurdish nationalist leader and the father of Kurdistan's current president, during its "Free Microphone" program before cutting off the caller.

On Saturday, 300 supporters of Barzani's Kurdistan Democratic Party (KDP) tried to storm the broadcaster's offices but were turned away by riot police, an Agence France Presse journalist said.

Later that day, a bomb went off on the roof of Nalia's offices, a security official said. It was unclear who was behind the attack.

Abdulwahab Ali, the KDP's chief in Sulaimaniyah, said the party had not orchestrated the demonstration.

Nalia's offices were again attacked in February 2011 by masked gunmen who wounded a security guard and fired their weapons at the broadcaster's equipment.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iraq

#1  So I take it that this is the "extremist" equivalent of "If I could give it less than one star review I would"?
Posted by: gorb || 02/11/2013 15:28 Comments || Top||

#2  See also WAFF > TURKEY'S 3.0 MILYUHN SHIITES ARE MAD AS HELL AND THEY'RE NOT GOING TO TAKE IT ANYMORE SHIITES | [Al-Monitor Pulse] TURKEY'S SHIITES FOR SECTARIAN ALIGNMENT.

Suddenly I'm in the mood for some "Twisted Sister".

* Also from WAFF > [Today's Zaman]IRAN'S ENVOY TO AZERBAIJAN ACCUSES TURKEY OF SPREADING PAN-TURKISM.

Dats just NOT good pan-IRAN/PERSIANISM, now is it???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 22:08 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Obama Urges Balanced Approach to Deficit Reduction
The Obama definition of balance: he increases spending while Congress raises taxes to partially cover it.
[An Nahar] U.S. President Barack Obama
I inhaled. That was the point...
urged Congress Saturday to find a balanced approach to deficit reduction, warning that steep budget cuts known as "the sequester" would hurt the economy and threaten thousands of American jobs.

"If the sequester is allowed to go forward, thousands of Americans who work in fields like national security, education or clean energy are likely to be laid off," Obama said in his weekly radio and Internet address.

"All our economic progress could be put at risk," he added.

The cuts, which are due to take effect on March 1, would also affect U.S. military readiness, said the president.

"As our military leaders have made clear, changes like this affect our ability to respond to threats in an unstable part of the world," Obama pointed out.

The sequester was agreed by the president and Congress in 2011 to be so punishing that it would force Washington's warring political factions to forge an agreement on a way to cut the U.S. budget deficit.

But amid partisan gridlock, no agreement on cutting the deficit has been reached and cuts due in March will slash defense spending by $55 billion and non-defense discretionary spending by $27 billion this year.

On Friday, the White House issued a doom-laden survey of the impact of sequestration.

It said 10,000 teacher jobs were at risk, food inspections could stop, 373,000 mental health patients would lose treatment and prosecutors could be furloughed.

The FBI would have 1,000 fewer officers, small business loans would be cut by $540 million, and around 600,000 women and kiddies could lose government-funded emergency nutrition, according to the White House.

"The good news is, there's another option," Obama said.

He reminded his audience that two months ago, the White House and Congress faced a similar prospect of deep cuts and tax hikes, known as the "fiscal cliff".

On that occasion, said the president, Democrats and Republicans managed to come together and make "responsible cuts and manageable changes to our tax code" to pull back from the brink.

"This time, Congress should pass a similar set of balanced cuts and close more tax loopholes until they can find a way to replace the sequester with a smarter, longer-term solution," Obama said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fear notteth, America = Amerikka, MEXICO + GREENLAND + CANADA will rescue us once we surrender to OWG + NAU 2015!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 0:40 Comments || Top||

#2  It said 10,000 teacher jobs were at risk, food inspections could stop, 373,000 mental health patients would lose treatment and prosecutors could be furloughed.

What about bunny inspectors?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/11/2013 1:33 Comments || Top||

#3  What about Alphabet Agency SWAT teams?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/11/2013 5:20 Comments || Top||

#4  What about the EPA wasting money fighting lawsuits against its truly absurd regulations?
Posted by: Anguper Hupomosing9418 || 02/11/2013 5:36 Comments || Top||

#5  "Balanced", do it MY way.
Or else.
But DON'T stop Over spending.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 9:56 Comments || Top||

#6  "All our economic progress could be put at risk," he added.

If this is 'economic progress', let the sequester happen.
Posted by: Raj || 02/11/2013 10:08 Comments || Top||

#7  The sequester was his idea. The Republicans called his bluff on it and now he's trying to put the stink of it back on the Republicans.
Posted by: Deacon Blues || 02/11/2013 10:15 Comments || Top||

#8  "All our economic progress could be put at risk," he added.

Classic Obamesian economics (failure = progress).
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 10:16 Comments || Top||

#9 
Posted by: junkiron || 02/11/2013 12:04 Comments || Top||

#10  J'ai l'air d'un gars intelligent, mais je suis vraiment un idiot du village perdu.

O and John Kerry, two members of adjoining villages.
Posted by: Winky Thaitch5539 || 02/11/2013 13:11 Comments || Top||

#11  A balanced approach means you do it my way.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 14:54 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rebels Launch Fierce Assaults on Syria Troops
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels launched fierce assaults on regime troops in several parts of the country Sunday, including near Deir Ezzor where they used tanks to shell an army brigade, a watchdog and activists said.

The rebels used tanks to shell Brigade 113 just north of the eastern city of Deir Ezzor, which they have surrounded for weeks, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Brigade 113 and the besieged military airport of Deir Ezzor are some of the last regime holdouts in the city, whose province is largely held by the rebel fighters.

One rebel died in the attack on the garrison, as clashes raged in the city, the Britain-based watchdog said.

The opposition Deir Ezzor press network, a grassroots group of activists said that the humanitarian conditions in the province were dire.

"The western countryside is out of water and electricity supplies for the eleventh day in a row due to the indiscriminate shelling by the regime forces," it said.

Two weeks ago, the rebels captured the vital Siyasiyeh suspension bridge that straddles the Euphrates river in Deir Ezzor, cutting off the main regime supply route to the adjoining province of Hasakeh.

Regime troops have already been forced from the vast territory stretching from Deir Ezzor city to the Iraqi border, including the border town of Albu Kamal and its small military airbase.

In the northeast province of Raqa on Sunday, fighters from the jihadist al-Nusra Front and other rebel battalions took over an army company in Tabqa along the Euphrates river, securing a major cache of artillery and ammunition and taking control of a key checkpoint in the town, the Observatory said.

Rebels also continued their assault on Wadi Deif military base, a major regime holdout in the largely rebel-held northwest province of Idlib, while the army retaliated shelling the nearby town of Maaret al-Numan.

In the northern province of Aleppo four soldiers were killed and more than 20 wounded in a bombing by al-Nusra Front targeting a military building, the Observatory said without offering other details.

Clashes also erupted south of Aleppo city, when rebels attacked an army convoy headed to Safireh, where a cluster of defense factories are the last regime bastion in a city held by al-Nusra Front and other rebel battalions.

In the central province of Hama, five civilian guards of a cement plant were killed in an insurgent attack, only four days after 60 civilians, including 11 women, died in a bombing of a bus transporting employees from a military factory elsewhere in the province, the Observatory said.

The Observatory, which collects reports from a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals on the ground, said that 125 people - 52 civilians, 29 troops and 44 rebels -- were killed on Saturday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Into the Fray: Egypt: A doomed nation?
It's not only Spengler who sees it, and it may soon be that those foolish enough to grasp the hook and flail of the pharaohs of Egypt will have much more urgent things than those Allah is said to hate.
Tens of millions of Egyptians might consider the epithet "Gift of the Nile" singularly misplaced.

Looking out across the vastness of Lake Tana, the source of the Blue Nile, it is difficult to see why Æthiopia is known as a land plagued by horrific droughts.
-- BBC, "Nile restrictions anger Æthiopia," February 3, 2005

Any action that would endanger the waters of the Blue Nile will be faced with a firm reaction on the part of Egypt, even if that action should lead to war.
-- Egyptian president Anwar Sadat -- cited in "The Waters Of Life," Time, April 23, 2006.

While Egypt is taking the Nile water to transform the Sahara into something green, we in Æthiopia -- which is the source of 85 percent of that water -- are denied the possibility of using it to feed ourselves... and forced to beg for food every year. -- Æthiopia's late prime minister Meles Zenawi, February 3, 2005.

The Greek historian Herodotus (c.484- 425 BCE) is credited with designating Egypt "The Gift of the Nile." Today, tens of millions of Egyptians might consider the epithet "gift" singularly misplaced.

Writing on the wall?

The recent unrest that has raged across Egypt has once again thrust the country into the center of international attention. Indeed, there is a growing realization that the gap between the challenges facing the country and its ability to meet them -- in even a minimally adequate fashion -- is widening, perhaps irretrievably, making a humanitarian catastrophe of staggering proportions evermore likely.

Continued on Page 49
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The only solution for Egypt is to occupy Libya's oil producing regions.
Posted by: phil_b || 02/11/2013 2:28 Comments || Top||

#2  I seem to recall a big dam somewhere on that river. What happens if that falls down?
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 8:23 Comments || Top||

#3  Or springs a leak. A BIG leak.
Posted by: lotp || 02/11/2013 8:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Water is nice if you want to farm, but without effort, it is not sufficient.
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2013 8:59 Comments || Top||

#5  http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=lCRIsjJFRNo
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/11/2013 9:23 Comments || Top||

#6  Water is nice if you want to farm, but without effort, it is not sufficient.

What??? You mean Farmin'B Hard??
Posted by: Alanc || 02/11/2013 10:12 Comments || Top||

#7  They should just confiscate all the white-owned farms. Oh, wait...wrong country.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/11/2013 13:18 Comments || Top||

#8  Whatever happened to Farmin B. Hard? This site is so unwelcoming of noobs and folks with a different viewpoint.
Posted by: Shipman || 02/11/2013 16:54 Comments || Top||

#9  The answer to your question about doom is simple.

If you answer yes to any of these questions, you are in fact, doomed.

Is your country muslim?
Is your country socialist?
Is your country full of socialists who claim they aren't socialists?
Does Al Gore and Nancy Pelosi live in your country?
Posted by: Silentbrick - Schlumberger Squishy Mud Division || 02/11/2013 19:33 Comments || Top||

#10  Give them a big loan and F-16s. It's the only way out of this mess and into a bigger one.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/11/2013 22:21 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Six killed in two incidents
[Dawn] Six people were bumped off in two different incidents in the provincial metropolis on Saturday.

In the first incident, the bodies of four local youths were found at a graveyard in Bado Samar Bagh area. They were identified as Shah Nawaz, Mansoor, Misri Khan and Ashfaq.

An official of Paharipura cop shoppe said that Fazl Maula, a brother of the dear departed Mansoor, nominated several people in the case. He said that the accused were Afghan nationals, who fled the area after dumping the bodies at the graveyard.

He said that Mamoor, Aamirullah, Usman, Miskin, Ghulam Rasool, Said Ahmed Khan, Nasir and Shamandroz were nominated in the FIR. He said that the accused were residing in rented buildings in Mohmand Qila, Samar Bagh and Pakha Ghulam areas where all their houses were found locked.

The official, quoting local sources, said that the dear departed were invited by Mamoor to dinner at his residence where they were rubbed out.

They had an old enmity because the dear departed were facing charges of assaulting the younger brother of the acused. "They had resolved the issue but even then they were targeted," the official said.

Faqirabad DSP Sahibzada Sajjad told Dawn that both the parties had friendly relations in the past but then developed differences which resulted in the killing of the four youth. "They were basically involved in theft cases and there seem many reasons for differences among them," he said and added that they had been trapped and killed.

In another incident, Inam Baig and his brother Saifullah Baig, residents of Bala Mani area, were coming to the district courts in their motorcar for appearing in a case when they came under attack near Shahi Mehman Khana on Sher Shah Suri Road.

An official of East Cantonment cop shoppe said that they had an old enmity and two men armed with pistols chased them on cycle of violence and opened firing on them.
They were shifted to Lady Reading Hospital. Inam Baig was killed on the spot while his brother departed this vale of tears in the hospital.

Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else against Jamshed and Anwar Hussain but they could not be nabbed
Please don't kill me!

Meanwhile,
...back at the Esquimeau village our hero was receiving a quick lesson in aeronautics......
police arrested a fake police official and recovered three vehicles, cash and cellular phone sets from his possession.

DSP Fazl Wahid told journalists that Qasim Shah was arrested at a checkpoint near motorway after receiving reports about his illegal activities. He said that Raj Wali had also started the paperwork but haven't done much else against him for snatching his taxicab at gunpoint.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Brennan brings US passport expertise to office of Director, CIA - Atlas Shrugs
Dated yes, but a memory jogger for our readers, nothing more.
Memory joggers are always useful, especially for those, like me, whose memories are more porous than we like.
Posted by: Aude Sapere6322 || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  But the big question everyone wants to know; is he a Muslim?
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 4:08 Comments || Top||

#2  Well, we can't know for certain, but he's been seen wearing a sequined tutu and marching in their annual parade.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 5:26 Comments || Top||

#3  but he's been seen wearing a sequined tutu and marching in their annual parade.
Besoeker, as Maxwell Smart would say Ah! the old tutu trick.
But if his name is "Rodger" and he is married to a Muslim and a convert (mandatory if you want to marry a Muslim woman in a Muslim ceremony) and uses a prayer beads, then he should have a lot of cognitive dissonance when he puts on his tutu.
Posted by: tipper || 02/11/2013 6:19 Comments || Top||

#4  Certainly no shortage of "cognitive dissonance" within this administration. More sordid intrigues and backstabbing buggery than Downton Abbey with a flashing NO VACANCY sign. The faster we drive away from Albion, the closer we get!
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/11/2013 7:00 Comments || Top||

#5  Everyone is waiting for the car that runs on water. A pill that prevents people from "going native" would transform the world more quickly...
Posted by: M. Murcek || 02/11/2013 8:55 Comments || Top||

#6  If he walks like a mooselimb, and he quacks like a mooselimb...
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/11/2013 13:36 Comments || Top||

#7  If he walks like a mooselimb, and he quacks like a mooselimb...

He gets to be CIA director.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/11/2013 15:25 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Meet Hafiza Rukkayatu, 3-yr-old Islamic scholar
[Nigerian Tribune] Rukkayatu's journey towards achieving her feat, according to her mother, began when she was a toddler and was being taken to one of the Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi Foundation's Qura'nic schools at Barkin Ruwa Askulaye in Kaduna, where her mother currently teaches Qur'an recitation and memorisation.

"We were using a big parlour, which was divided into classes for the learning of the Qur'an. At that time, I always carried her on my back while teaching. From there, she started reciting along with the students and before long, she had memorised some verses. That was how she started attending memorisation class. Right now, she has completed memorising the whole Qur'an," Sayyada Maimunatu, who is a daughter of renowned Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dahiru Usman Bauchi, told Sunday Tribune.

Sayyada Maimunatu said her daughter had little or no time to play with her peers as she had been conditioned to learning the Qur'an, which she said, was much more important than playing with her peers, adding that Hafiza Rukkayatu was always in the Qur'anic school between 7a.m. and 6p.m. daily.

She added that, "it is not as if she does not play with her mates. She does, especially with those who are memorising the Qur'an like her. This makes it easier for them, as their focus and attention are directed towards achieving the same goal, which is memorising the Qur'an."

Asked if her daughter would be allowed to have Western education now that she has completed the memorisation exercise, the 29-year-old proud mother of four, declared that her daughter would go to a proper school soon, submitting that the normal practice in their family was for every child to first and foremost learn the Holy Qur'an and start attending school when he/she reached the age of 10. According to her, all female children in the family only have the opportunity of studying up to the secondary school level.

"My husband has, however, said that the world is changing now, and that there is civilization all over the place and as such, our daughter will have the opportunity of going to a proper school whenever she reaches the age of six," she said, adding that despite the fact that there was civilization, they would not compromise giving their children Islamic education.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Catch them young, BEFORE they realize your "Religion" is a cover for Women's slavery, when they grow older, just kill them.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 13:00 Comments || Top||


Nigeria: Two Members of Boko Haram Sect Arraigned in Makurdi
[ALLAFRICA] Two suspected members of Boko Haram sect, Habu Umaru and Mohammed Isah were yesterday arraigned before a Makurdi Chief Magistrate Court for criminal conspiracy.

Police Prosecutor, told the court that the first accused, Habu Umaru was nabbed last Thursday by operatives of the Department of Security Services, DSS, Benue State Command on a tip off while he was carrying out surveillance of Holy Ghost Catholic Church in Makurdi, with the intent to bomb the church.

According to him, during the interrogation, the accused allegedly admitted being a member of the Boko Haram sect and also disclosed that he hailed from Kalu local government area of Nasarawa State.

He was alleged to have also disclosed that he was paid N30,000 as transportation allowance by leaders of the sect to enable him carry out surveillances in three states including Benue, Taraba and Adamawa after which the sum of N200,000 would be paid to him for the assignment.

He however ran out of luck when he was arrested by security man at the church premises who suspected his intention and alerted the police.

The second accused, Mohammed Isah, according to the prosecutor, was arrested in Makurdi for theft but upon interrogation he confessed to being a member of the sect. Both accused persons pleaded guilty to the charge; but in his ruling the Chief Magistrate Dan Ogoh acknowledged the plead of the accused but noted that his court lacked the jurisdiction to entertain the matter and ordered that they be remanded in prison custody pending their arraignment in a court of competence jurisdiction. Ogoh adjourned both cases to the 4th and 28th of next month respectively.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram

#1  While I am an advocate of the rule of law, these vermin deserve no such protection. The rule of law is reserved for civilized populations that respect the social contract and a natural law respect for life.

Since the minions of Boko Haram are such beastly uncivilized and irrational destroyers of both civilized behavior and the rule of law, I am disappointed the judge didn't remand them to the nearest tree...rope...tree...Boko Haram....some assembly required.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/11/2013 10:16 Comments || Top||

#2  depends on what is determining who is civilized, and who is not.
Posted by: bman || 02/11/2013 10:45 Comments || Top||

#3  Civilized or not, A rope is needed here.
And a tree, light pole, or construction crane, whatever is used make it permanent.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/11/2013 13:37 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Taliban not serious about talks
[Bangla Daily Star] The Taliban are neither serious nor sincere about peace talks with the government, Pak 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.
said.

The minister's remarks came after Taliban front man Ehsanullah Ehsan offered "conditional" talks and called for the release of two former spokesmen Maulvi Said Umer and Mohammedan Khan, Xinhua reported.

The front man said the two will lead the Taliban negotiation team.

Malik said the Taliban's offer for dialogue was "suspicious" and that Ehsan has no credibility.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: TTP

#1  Why should they - the DemoLefties + Globalists are getting anything + everything they want in the US. Ditto for Radical Islam or the Radicalist agenda vee the various "Arab/Islamic/
Muslim Springs".

THE TIDE/WAVE IS CURREN IN THEIR FAVOR, WID THEIR DEDICATED OPPONENTS AS A CLASS EITHER IMPOTENT, COWERED, OR COLLUSORY TO THEIR INTEREST.

The Maha-Rushian questionne' is what do their Opponents get for doing or being so.

[1990's "ULTERIOR" = NOT? "ALTERIOR" MOTIVES here].
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/11/2013 18:38 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Second suicide bomber strikes in Gao
[FRANCE24] A jacket wallah wearing military fatigues went kaboom! near a checkpoint at the entrance to northern Mali's largest city, wounding one soldier in the second attack to hit the same location since Friday, residents and officials said Sunday.

A column of French tanks stood guard along the sandy road leading to the scene, as French and Malian soldiers patrolled the surrounding residential neighborhood of mud-walled homes.

The attack took place late Saturday at about 11 p.m., according to Malian Capt. Daouda Diarra. On Sunday morning, the bomber's torso lay in the scorching sun in the middle of the road, while his head sat in a pile of sand in a nearby wheelbarrow.

"When he leaped over the wall, we fired at him," Diarra said of the suicide bomber. "He then detonated his boom belt."

Cpl. Mamadou Abdoulaye Maiga said other weapons were left behind at the scene, and French forces detonated three grenades Sunday morning.

It was the exact location where an earlier suicide bomber riding a cycle of violence had blown himself up Friday morning, an attack that raised fears the bully boyz ousted from Gao by French and Malian forces could now be launching a new wave of violence.

The Malian military gave no details about the bomber in Saturday's attack, stating only that the young man was Arab and a suspected member of MUJAO - the Movement for Oneness and Jihad in West Africa.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


India-Pakistan
Suspected militants with ANA, Pak Army uniforms and explosives arrested in KP
[Dawn] Security forces conducted different raids in Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa
... formerly NWFP, still Terrorism Central...
province on Sunday arresting four suspects, including two key commanders, besides seizing uniforms of Pak and Afghan National Army along with a huge quantity of arms and explosives.

Security sources told Dawn.Com that the law enforcement agencies conducted a raid in Samar Bagh area of Lower Dir district and seized uniforms of Pakistain Army and the Afghan National Army (ANA) and locked away
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
two suspects, who were shifted for further investigations.

The sources further claimed that seven hand grenades, six detonators, three kilograms of explosives, nine mines, 7 mm gun, one Kalashnikov and several Chinese made guns were recovered from the suspects.

The officials added that five uniforms of Pakistain Army and Afghan National Army each and the suspects were planning to conduct an attack disguised as ANA or Mighty Pak Army personnel.

In another raid in Nowshera district's Jaroba area in Pabbi tehsil, law enforcement agencies arrested two suspected key commanders affiliated to a bully boy group. The arrested men were suspected to be the bully boy's main source of weapons supply in Tirah Valley.

The official sources added that the suspected gun-hung tough guys were shifted to some holy man's guesthouse an undisclosed location for interrogation.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Pakistan


Arabia
Woman is shot dead in Aden
[Yemen Post] Officials in the southern seaport city of Aden confirmed on Saturday the death of a pregnant woman who fell victim of stray bullets while partaking in a protest calling for the release of all political prisoners.

The woman was eight months pregnant.

Tensions between southern secessionist militants have escalated in recent weeks, often turning peaceful demonstrations into violent riots, with dangerous stand offs between protesters and the security forces.

The news od the mother to be death send shock waves through the neighborhood, with residents blaming the state for using live ammunition against its citizens.

Mohammed Hamed, a school teacher and Haraki militant - Southern Secessionist Movement - warned that the accident could turn into a catalyst for Aden and the southern region for more radical party members.

"Although it was an accident, many in Aden will translate her death as an act of terror against South Yemen and its people's calls for independence."

Separatists have often use Sana'a repressive stance in Aden as a rallying call for resistance, seeking to unite southerners in their rejection of the north rather than their political vision.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


India-Pakistan
Man killed in 'sectarian' attack
[Dawn] A man was rubbed out in a Golimar locality apparently on sectarian grounds on Saturday, police said.

They said that gunnies targeted 32-year-old Syed Qamar Raza Naqvi when he was standing outside a general store in Golimar No 1 and rode away.

He sustained a single bullet wound in the head and was struck down in his prime.

"The victim was a resident of the same area," said DSP Rustam Khattak.

"The body was later moved to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital for medico-legal formalities. His father is one of the trustees of the Rizvia Imambargah and initial findings suggest that he was targeted for sectarian reasons."

Killing in old city area
A man was bumped off in the old city area on Saturday.

Police said that 43-year-old Abid Hussain was going to his shop in Pakistain Chowk on his cycle of violence when two assailants, also riding a motorbike, fired at him near Ramswami.

"The attack took place near the area called School Wali Gali," said Nabi Bux SHO Inspector Abid Hussain. "He owned an atta chakki near Pakistain Chowk and lived in Garden West. A motive for the killing is not immediately clear."

He said that the victim's family said that he was not affiliated with any political or religious party.
Posted by: Fred || 02/11/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi



Who's in the News
35[untagged]
6Arab Spring
4TTP
3Govt of Pakistan
3al-Qaeda in North Africa
3Jamaat-e-Islami
2Govt of Iraq
1Boko Haram
1Govt of Iran
1Govt of Syria
1Jamaat-e-Ulema Islami
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Muslim Brotherhood
1Thai Insurgency
1al-Qaeda
1Abu Sayyaf
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1al-Shabaab
1al-Nusra

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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.

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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.
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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-02-11
  Seven killed, 11 injured in attacks across southern Thailand
Sun 2013-02-10
  Syrian troops, rebels clash over Damascus highway
Sat 2013-02-09
  India Executes Man Convicted in 2001 Attack on Parliament
Fri 2013-02-08
  Suicide bomber hits north Mali, troops clash in capital
Thu 2013-02-07
  Syrian Army Launches 'All-Out Attack' on Capital Region
Wed 2013-02-06
  Fat Lady Sings for Abd el Kader Mahmoud Mohamed el Sayed
Tue 2013-02-05
  Second big turban nabbed in northern Mali
Mon 2013-02-04
  Ansar Dine #3 arrested in northern Mali
Sun 2013-02-03
  Yemen Troops Kill 12 'Qaida Militants' in Restive South
Sat 2013-02-02
  Syria Suicide Attack on Regime Kills 53
Fri 2013-02-01
  Binori Mosque cleric among 10 killed in Karachi
Thu 2013-01-31
  Boko Haram 'commander' declares ceasefire
Wed 2013-01-30
  Mali and Niger forces retake Ansongo
Tue 2013-01-29
  Sahel jihadist groups splinter
Mon 2013-01-28
  Timbuktu mayor: Mali rebels torched library of historic manuscripts

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