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Five killed in attack at government office in Peshawar
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
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Afghanistan
Commander Says ISAF Will Comply With Karzai's Air Support Ban
[CNSNEWS] The commander of the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force said Sunday coalition forces will comply with President Hamid Karzai's directive banning national forces from calling in coalition airstrikes, an order that has left some Afghans troubled.
"Yeah, sure. No problem. No skin off my fore."
U.S. Marine Gen. Joseph Dunford, just days into his new post, told reporters Karzai was exercising "sovereignty" and that there were ways for the coalition to support the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) other than the use of air ordnance.
"It's their country. If they wanta screw it up, then they can screw it up. They gotta live there. Write us at Camp Lejeune if you find work."
"We are prepared to provide support in line with the president's intent," he said, adding that he would discuss "technical" details with the Afghan defense minister and army chief.
"The president's intent is for us to get the hell out. See ya, Hamid."
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 14:36 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  he needs to reap what he's sown. No exile for him. He gets the Full Najibullah™
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 16:10 Comments || Top||

#2  Unless they pin an award on the SOB. He is, after all, giving them the country.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/18/2013 16:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Just as well. It's good practice for when they're having to fight the Taliban on their own without USAF or USN aircraft on call. Najibullah held it together as long as the Russians funded his expenses. Assuming we do the same for Karzai, he should be able to hold the Taliban at bay, especially given the non-Pashtun population's memory of the horrors of Taliban rule.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/18/2013 16:40 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
College: Fire professor who forced students to vote for Obama
[DAILYCALLER] A tenured professor who forced her students to sign pledges that they would vote for President Obama last November should be fired, the college's president recommended.
Oh, but tut tut! Surely she was just caught up in the euphoria of the election! She meant no harm. Besides, it's all in the past and we're all so much older now!
Sharon Sweet, an associate professor of mathematics at Brevard Community College in Florida, is guilty of electioneering, harassment, and incompetence, according to a three-month investigation into her classroom behavior leading up to the November election. The Board of Trustees will hold a hearing on the matter, and then vote on whether to adopt President James Richey's recommendation that Sweet be fired.
Likely it'll lose by a vote. I think that's what usually happens. Or if she's fired they'll hire Ward Churchill to replace her and then she can take somebody else's spot who screws up egregiously place next year.
According to a report on the investigation:
"Professor Sweet strongly encouraged or mandated that students from several classes sign a pledge card that stated, 'I pledge to vote for President Obama and Democrats up and down the ticket.'
That does sounds a little bit like electioneering...
She also misrepresented her intentions to multiple students, indicating at various times that she was conducting voter registration for the college, that the pledge cards were non-partisan voter registration forms, and that the pledge was a 'statistical analysis.'"
Statistical analysis of what? How many people were gullible enough to sign them?
In the eyes of the college, Sweet clearly created a hostile environment for students, since many feared their grades would be affected if they did not sign the pledge.
On the other hand, the cards wouldn't have been a legally binding contract. Nothing to say her students couldn't sign them, mentally call her a dumbass, and then vote the way they pleased. Of course, that's not the way things happen in college, is it?
She remains on paid leave until the board votes to fire her.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 13:54 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Wow... some sanity and fairness by a college. Who wouda thunk?
Posted by: DarthVader || 02/18/2013 14:28 Comments || Top||

#2  Are community college teachers really professors?

She remains on paid leave until the board votes to fire her.

Guess so.
Posted by: regular joe || 02/18/2013 15:01 Comments || Top||

#3  The more public servants who lose their jobs for abusing them like this, the less this kind of thing will happen.
Posted by: Iblis || 02/18/2013 15:18 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm guessing she also wasn't very good at maths if she wanted people to vote dem.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/18/2013 15:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Iblis I'm afraid that the tiny number of cases that will be "prosecuted" will cause nary a ripple in the infinite ocean of the corruption.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/18/2013 17:46 Comments || Top||


Senator Johanns Will Not Run For Re-Election
[WOWT] Nebraska Senator Mike Johanns has announced he will not run for re-election.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 13:40 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Repub dammit.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 17:11 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
India wins crucial hearing on Kishenganga Hydro-electric Project at international court
The International Court of Arbitration at the Hague has upheld India's right to divert water from the Rs. 3600-crore Kishenganga Hydro-electric Project (KHEP) in north Kashmir today.

The arbitration court took the decision after Pakistan sought a stay on the project claiming that India was diverting the flow of the river and violating Indus Water Treaty between the two countries.

Reacting to the court's decision, the Ministry of External Affairs said, "The award of the Court of Arbitration at the Hague today reaffirms the validity of India's position regarding the Kishenganga Hydro-electric project (KHEP) by allowing diversion of water from the KHEP as envisaged by India. It highlights once again that India is adhering to all the provisions of the Indus Waters Treaty."

In September last year, the arbitration court had asked India to stop permanent works on the 330 megawatt Kishenganga project on River Neelum in response to Pakistan's appeal.
Posted by: john frum || 02/18/2013 13:35 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seething in 5...4...3...
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 17:00 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
ICST focuses latest research on improvised explosive devices
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 12:52 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I suspect that the NATO/US intel folks could have told them this info long ago. I think that there are intel NCO's that have the equivalent of a Doctorate in the field.
Posted by: tipover || 02/18/2013 17:16 Comments || Top||


Home Front: WoT
Geller: Al Jazeera tries to whitewash bloody record
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 12:33 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Al Jazeera clearly believes that politicians are utterly corrupt and can be bought off

Sounds like Al J has it just about right to me. Depressing as hell, but, all too real.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/18/2013 17:42 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
New Islamic extremist group Ansaru claims kidnapping of 7 foreign workers in north Nigeria
A little-known Islamic extremist group claimed responsibility Monday for the kidnapping of seven foreign workers from northern Nigeria, threatening their safety if anyone tried to intervene and free them.

The group that calls itself Ansaru issued a short statement to journalists, later obtained by The Associated Press, in which it said its fighters kidnapped the foreigners Saturday night from a construction company's camp at Jama'are, a town about 200 kilometres (125 miles) north of Bauchi, the capital of Bauchi state.

Authorities have said those kidnapped include one British citizen, one Greek, one Italian, three Lebanese and one Filipino, all employees of a Lebanese construction company called Setraco.

The statement said Ansaru committed the abduction "based on the transgression and atrocities shown to the religion of Allah by the European countries in many places such as Afghanistan and Mali."

"It is stressed that any attempt or act contrary to our conditions by the European nations or by the Nigerian government will" endanger the hostages, the statement read. The statement offered no conditions, suggesting the group would later contact authorities to make a ransom demand.
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 11:45 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
Top Ten Most Controversial U.S. Presidents
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 11:34 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1. Thomas Jefferson (3rd President) — Jefferson was an opponent of slavery. The problem was, the majority of the country favored slavery.

Really? Source of the 'majority' reference please.

Slavery, a tradition inherited from our British roots, was a compromise to get 11 states for ratification. Part of the compromise was -

Section. 9.

The Migration or Importation of such Persons as any of the States now existing shall think proper to admit, shall not be prohibited by the Congress prior to the Year one thousand eight hundred and eight, but a Tax or duty may be imposed on such Importation, not exceeding ten dollars for each Person.


which was executed in 1807 with The Act Prohibiting Importation of Slaves of 1807 (2 Stat. 426, enacted March 2, 1807), a United States federal law that stated that no new slaves were permitted to be imported into the United States. It took effect in 1808, the earliest date permitted by the United States Constitution.

So, if the majority 'approved', why is that part of section 9 in the original document? /rhet question
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/18/2013 12:05 Comments || Top||

#2  Obama's not on this list? Gee, I wonder why...
Posted by: Raj || 02/18/2013 12:53 Comments || Top||

#3  Nothing about FDR, or Woodrow Wilson?
Posted by: Pappy || 02/18/2013 18:21 Comments || Top||

#4  or Jimmuh Carter? I sense a trend
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 18:53 Comments || Top||

#5  Nothing controversial about Jimmuh. We all agree he was Worst President Ever. Until recently, I mean.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 19:07 Comments || Top||

#6  "Many Americans also question the war in Iraq, and undoubtedly, it will always be known as one of the most controversial wars in history."

How many non-controversial wars in history can you name?
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/18/2013 19:20 Comments || Top||

#7  Jefferson: Additionally, he had a relationship with a slave named Sally Hemmings.

It wasn't all that controversial at the time. It wasn't common knowledge except for a political hubbub in 1802. Since she was his property and what took place within his household was his business the whole thing died pretty quickly. Since his wife had died in 1782 she didn't object. The relationship was lengthy, and presumably affectionate, so there are more people bitching about it today than there were then.

If they need to dig up controversy about Jefferson, start with the Louisianna Purchase. The original idea was just to buy New Orleans. Buying the entire Louisianna territory went beyond his constitutional powers.

Then skip over a few things and light on the treason of "his" vice president (Aaron Burr, the man who plugged Alexander Hamilton in a duel). There were the ill-advised Embargo Laws, and of course the prohibition on the import of slaves in 1808. So was the Indian Removal Act one of Jefferson's ideas.

Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 20:55 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
US legislators in Mali on fact-finding mission
A delegation of U.S. lawmakers met with military officials in Mali's capital on Monday, and urged caution as the French-led military intervention to wrest back control of the country's north from the al-Qaida fighters entered its fifth week.

French President Francois Hollande unilaterally launched the intervention last month after the extremist groups began a push south. They later reached out to allies for logistical help. The United States is providing C-17 transport planes and in-air refueling, as well as help with intelligence gathering, but has ruled out sending troops.

The four lawmakers are led by Sen. Chris Coons, a Delaware Democrat who chairs the Senate Foreign Relations subcommittee that oversees Africa issues. After meeting with French military officials as well as their Malian counterparts, Coons told The Associated Press by telephone: "My initial impression is that the French are very confident that their military intervention has been swift, decisive and effective in driving the jihadists completely out of towns in the north."

But he added: "My concern ... is that there are longstanding internal tensions in Mali that reflect development challenges, and political fractures and ethnic tension that may be dramatically worsened by how the French and their allies ... and the Malians conduct themselves in the field in the next few weeks."
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 11:28 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


India-Pakistan
Five killed in attack at government office in Peshawar
At least five people were killed and several more wounded in an apparent attack on the office of the Pakistani government's political agent in Peshawar.

Explosions and gunfire were heard during Monday's attack on the compound of Muttahirzeb Khan, who is the government's representative in the region's tribal areas. The victims are mostly security officials.

Officials said that two suicide bombers entered the compound, where a meeting of government and tribal officials was being held. After shooting was heard, two large blasts shook the compound.

Niaz Ahmad Khan, a tribal politician, said, "We were holding a meeting and some others were joining us when firing started inside the political compound, and then there was a heavy blast, and again heavy firing began. We were told by the officials to take shelter inside the office as the terrorists had attacked the political compound."

He said he saw two bodies and some wounded people lying on the ground inside the compound. Khalid Mumtaz Kundi, one of Khan's deputies who was visiting from Khyber agency, was wounded in the attack.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/18/2013 04:51 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Home Front: Politix
But Don't Rule Out Malice
There is an adage that reads "never attribute to malice that which can be adequately explained by stupidity... but don't rule out malice." This is known as Heinlein's or Hanlon's Razor (there is only a slight difference between the two). Unfortunately many people only go by the first part of Heinlein's Razor, leaving out the "but don't rule out malice" part. People using this heuristic decision-making shortcut often think that even though some things that people do seem very suspect, and even though mental red flags are going up and instinctive alarms are sounding, that there must be some explanation, other than malice, to explain the actions of people. This is especially true when the suspicious people are connected to them is some way like family, friends, or even the politicians that they support. Many people using Heinlein's Razor shrug off these suspicious actions as if they were just a mistake, or maybe the actions that people did were the result of "bad luck", or possibly that ignorance can explain why they made those decisions. But I would like to focus on the second part of Heinlein's Razor which of course is: but don't rule out malice.

Sometimes, some people actually act out of malice. Malicious people do exist in the world and always have, as far back as the beginning of recorded human history. It is easily possible that you know, or know of, some malicious people. They could be your acquaintances or friends; they could even be in your family, and yes, they might be one or more of your political leaders. In support of the second part of Heinlein's Razor there's another adage called Occam's razor that says among competing hypotheses, the one that makes the fewest assumptions should be selected -- the simpler the explanation, the more likely it is to be true, everything else being equal. If you have to mentally jump through a lot of hoops to explain how someone's motive cannot be malice then Occam's Razor says that the more assumptions you need to make the less likely that your hypothesis is true.

Focusing on politics, and by association politicians, what if the harmful actions that your politicians make can be more logically explained by malice than by stupidity? For example, most politicians are quite intelligent. Most have succeeded in academics at the highest levels in the world. Most have also been very successful in business or professionally besides success in politics. Only the smallest percentage of politicians could actually be described as stupid prior to their being elected. So how is it possible that some of the most successful and intelligent people in the United States cansuddenly become stupid the moment they walk in the door of Congress? Or alternatively, how is it possible that these intelligent and successful people suddenly become unlucky? Is there any logical explanation? Isn't it much more likely that the people in congress are just as lucky and intelligent as they were the day before they were elected? And if that is true, how can you explain the "stupid" things that these intelligent and successful politicians do?

Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:30 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  What kind of person would want to do harm to America? Well, besides Islamists there are people that believe that "The main obstacle to a stable and just world order is the United States." That quote is from George Soros, who is using his billions to create a global "open society" (more correctly called a global Marxist police state). But Soros is just one of many who hold the same negative beliefs about America. Soros and many other of his fellow travelers, in all their widely varied flavors (Communists, Stalinists, Fascists, Maoists, and progressives among others) living outside and inside America have been seeking America's destruction so that a utopian society can be formed from its ashes for over 100 years.

The memo is not getting out through the main stream media. The current administration is not sounding the alarm either but then both have received huge amounts of money from Soros and others of like mind.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 8:08 Comments || Top||

#2  soros' money is no longer needed. The US treasury is at the disposal of the progressives and they are wearing out the printing wheels.

If you caught the last SOTU address there was no mention of cuts to government only more programs including preschool. A mind trained early will pay dividends in the future.
Posted by: airandee || 02/18/2013 9:20 Comments || Top||

#3  The memo is not getting out through the main stream media.

And don't be holding your breath waiting for that to change. The media has enlisted on the other side. Examples? Pick any public issue - political, social or scientific - over the last decade or so.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 9:47 Comments || Top||


Terror Networks
How Europe Bankrolls Terror
WHEN northern Mali fell to terrorists and foreign militants last April, a debate began over the causes of the countryÂ’s chaotic collapse. Many argued that it was a direct byproduct of NATOÂ’s 2011 intervention in Libya, which sent thousands of well-armed men across the Sahara to Mali. Others pointed to MaliÂ’s internal corruption and ethnic divisions. But little was said about the most important factor: Europeans have knowingly bankrolled Islamist radicals with ransom payments since at least 2003.

Sixteen years before the 9/11 attacks, the United States sold Iran weapons indirectly in the hopes of freeing American hostages held by IranÂ’s proxy, Hezbollah. The Iran-contra debacle taught America, among other things, that paying ransom money only emboldens terrorist groups and their backers. Yet when confronted with the same challenge, European leaders have failed to heed that lesson, and have filled the coffers of terrorist groups for at least a decade.

The so-called global war on terror has been hobbled by these payoffs. The same nations that until very recently had troops in Afghanistan fighting terrorism have been turning over cash to terrorists in Africa.

Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups, mostly through mediators, to free European hostages.
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:14 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Various USAID programs accomplish much the same thing as ransom payments, the pipeline is just a bit longer and less transparent. $130 million is a paltry drop in the bucket compared to our foreign aid budget.
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/18/2013 1:35 Comments || Top||

#2  Over the past decade, Britain, Germany, Italy, Spain, France, Austria, Sweden and the Netherlands have paid more than $130 million to terrorist groups

And they + USA gave billions to "Palestinian Autority".
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/18/2013 1:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Who wrote this bullshit?

They are resurrecting the rotted corse of Iran Contra? Oh please sweet lord wasn't that discredited a long time ago?

Or I guess if you hate Reagan enough and hate Bush enough you'll dig up any and every dead conspiracy theory.

To me the main thread is the EU has been funding terrorism with their ninnie limp weiney attitudes toward Islam (but the French got the memo during the Moslem Ghetto riots and have changed course). But to make it not so bad, they have to say "Well the US did the same thing....in....uh....uh....THE IRAN CONTRA scandal!!!"

Well Iran contra was two things, it was an attempt to have another Watergate. AND it was the US Congress making foreign policy ala Viet Nam when they forbid the President from sending aid to a PRO AMERICAN ANTI COMMUNIST insurgency fighting against a Cuban proxy COMMUNIST. Geez, if that isn't enough to make you wonder who is running the country and why that didn't come out in the press coverage.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 10:37 Comments || Top||

#4  it IS the NY Times. The paper of leftist record. The one in a financial death spiral
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 11:55 Comments || Top||

#5  Carlos 'Obamaphone' Slim still has petty cash. The NYT is a loss leader.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 02/18/2013 13:24 Comments || Top||

#6  its in the NYTimes but its an opinion piece

the author is a pro-tolerance moslem whose organization was founded after 9-11 to try to move Islam away from terrorism

it isn't working so well but, in this case, the author's points about Al Q financing itself via kidnapping, is pretty much conventional wisdom
Posted by: lord garth || 02/18/2013 14:40 Comments || Top||


Down Under
Wilders: Islamification of Western societies threatens everyone's freedoms
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 00:06 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ole Geert does have a gift for stating the obvious. The obvious that is to any sane rational person not drinking the liberal Kool Aide
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 0:13 Comments || Top||

#2  Also see Powell's 1968 'Rivers of Blood's speech.

As I look ahead, I am filled with foreboding. Like the Roman, I seem to see 'the River Tiber foaming with much blood'.

- Enoch Powell, 1968 Speech in Wolverhampton
Posted by: Besoeker || 02/18/2013 1:58 Comments || Top||

#3  Churchill had something to say about that too, in 'The River Wars', over 100 years ago.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/18/2013 7:55 Comments || Top||

#4  It is difficult to think otherwise when Islamic "uber alles supremacy" ideology underlies the religion.
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 8:02 Comments || Top||

#5  See also DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > 2013: WEST, ISLAM AND WAR ON TERROR.

Artic should be re-titled "WHY ISLAM + JIHAD WILL [de facto] CONQUER THE WORLD, OR HOW I LEARNED TO STOP WORRYING AND LOVE SELF-SUICIDE"!albeit it may not seem or appear so in the present.

JudeoChristianity as a Religion is dead-or-dying in the West thanks to Liberal Secularism, while Islam remains both vibrant + aggressive.

Again, EYES WIDE OPEN, NOT EYES WIDE SHUT.

[1990'S "DR.FEELGOOD: OR HOW I LEARNED TO WORRY BY N-O-T USING THE BOMB" here].

* BHARAT RAKSHAK > SYRIAN REBEL LEADER: JIHAD HAS SUCCESSFULLY SPREAD FROM ATLANTIC COAST OF AFRICA TO THE LEVANT.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > ISLAM GROWS IN US BUT IMAMS IN SHORT SUPPLY.

Wehell Gee Whizzies, whaddaya dey think is gonna happen - convert elite US Soldiers whom will then bring Mahdis/Hidden Imams = AntiChrist into the World???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 22:53 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Story From The Solomons
Posted by: Grunter || 02/18/2013 00:02 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great story.
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 02/18/2013 12:42 Comments || Top||

#2  Great story.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 02/18/2013 16:06 Comments || Top||

#3  Beyond Great Story.
Posted by: Charles || 02/18/2013 17:32 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Security man found dead in Kurram
[Dawn] The body of a security man was found in Shaho village in Kurram tribal region on Saturday, sources said.

They said that Naek Nabi Hussain Turi, an official of Frontier Corps, was axed to death by unidentified persons, who threw his body along the road between Ghund post and Shasho village in lower Kurram.

Sources said that the FC man was coming home on leave when the assailants attacked him, they added.

The political administration launched a search operation to arrest the killers with the help of sniffer dogs, they said.

In Khyber Agency, unidentified gunnies demolished a house of a local primitive in Bara on Saturday.

Sources said that a group of gunnies riding pick-up trucks and tractor trolleys demolished the house of Shultan Mohammad in Yousuf Talab area of Sipah. They said that the armed persons took all the windows, doors, girders and other household items with them before razing the house.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Jets pound suspected militant hideouts in Orakzai tribal region
[Dawn] Bombardment by Pakistain's military jets destroyed three suspected myrmidon hideouts and killed six bully boyz in Orakzai Agency's
... crawling with holy men, home to Darra Adam Khel, the world's largest illegal arms bazaar. 14 distinct tribes of beturbanned primitives inhabit Orakzai agency's 1500 or so square kilometers...
Mamozai area, DawnNews reported.

The military has conducted several Arclight airstrikes since the beginning of this year, killing around 50 suspected myrmidons, according to a DawnNews report.

Security officials have claimed in the past that up to 92 per cent of Orakzai has been cleared of bully boyz in the ongoing military offensive in the restive tribal region.

Orakzai is one of Pakistain's seven semi-autonomous tribal regions in the northwest, where Pak Taliban and Al Qaeda-linked bully boyz are said to have carved out strongholds.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Caribbean-Latin America
'Ecuador's Chavez' headed for re-election landslide
[FRANCE24] Boosted by his country's low unemployment rate and strong oil exports, left-wing Ecuadorian President Rafael Correa appears poised for re-election, with a majority of polls showing he could pull off a first-round victory on Sunday.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Egypt uncovers more Mubarak-era assets in UK
[Al Ahram] Egypt has discovered a number of properties belonging to former Mubarak regime figures that the UK government failed to freeze under EU regulations, Ahram Online has found.

Ahram Online has seen documents showing that the properties are located in very expensive residential and business areas in London.

"These properties are worth tens of millions of British pounds. We have reasonable evidence suggesting that they belong to some of 19 persons on the list whose assets the UK has confirmed freezing," an Egyptian source told Ahram Online.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Economy
Silicon Valley talent dream tied to immigrant hopes
[FRANCE24] Silicon Valley's long crusade to break open doors to America for foreigners with key technology skills hinges on a political battle in Washington over broader immigration reform.

For more than a decade, the tech sector has been struggling to get more visas and green cards for immigrants with engineering, math or science skills.

While Silicon Valley has been largely backing reform-minded Democratic candidates including President Barack Obama, Republicans have begun paying attention to broader immigration reform, an issue dear to US Latinos.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  IIRC MSM-Net > Silicon Valley has been supplanted by a whole bunch of International hubs whom are just as Tech + Innovation proficient, iff not better [+ cheaper].

Governor Brown is gonna need more than that to effec revitalize the valley + make it competitive again.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Selling the birthright of Americans.

Originally 1HB visas were counted in thousands back in the early 80s. They've exceeded hundreds of thousands today. Literally for decades they've been awarded and in doing so destroyed the incentive to grow our own. Why put in 4 to 6 years for that piece of paper when the companies can hire lobbyists to keep the flow of foreign help going. The companies have the foreign employee by the green card to keep him indentured versus a free man to sell his skills to the competition. What's there not to like, if you're the employer.

It's one big game. The company runs want ads with page long requirements that no one can meet. It then uses that as a basis for justifying hiring a foreign worker. There is no check back to see if said hire comes closer than any American applicant in filling the job.

This has been going on for decades. It's long time for American businesses to grow their own. They have had literally generations to do this. Instead, keep the lobbyist paid to stay in the ear of the reelection fund Congresscritter.

The friggin bean counters treat employees as liabilities and balk at putting someone on contract for years invested in training which you would do if you paid for the training to get a return on investment. Yet, this is exactly what the Department of Defense does daily. Earn a skill with contractual obligations incurred.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 02/18/2013 9:01 Comments || Top||

#3  I would also add that because the H1B visa is tied to the job, not the person, you will be guaranteed a VERY compliant employee.

Y'all don't be gettin' uppity in here now!
Posted by: bigjim-CA || 02/18/2013 10:51 Comments || Top||

#4  There are, at most, a handful of people who are ESSENTIAL to a project. Someone like Linus Torvalds is definitely a "win" to have come to the US.

But yer average H1B visa-holder is just an indentured servant. The idea that their technical skills are better than an American's is laughable -- the problem is that the US citizen will cost more and be able to change jobs.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/18/2013 11:09 Comments || Top||

#5  Procopius2k is right on the money!
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/18/2013 21:51 Comments || Top||

#6  More to the point I am an engineer and I did not encourage my two sons to go into a field where citizens are treated so badly by the government and corporations. That's part of why you don't see as many citizens graduating into that rigged game.


Posted by: Water Modem || 02/18/2013 21:53 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Verdict rejected by people claims BNP
[Bangla Daily Star] BNP yesterday said the government should quit power immediately for what it said was "people's rejection" of the verdict of the international crimes tribunal.

"The government-formed International Crimes Tribunal [tribunal-2] has delivered its verdict, which the people have rejected. So, the government does not have any moral right to stick to power anymore," acting secretary general of the main opposition party Mirza Fakhrul Islam Almagir said at a rally in front of the party central office at Naya Paltan in the capital.

Fakhrul said if BNP comes to power again, it will try the war criminals.

The city unit of the party organised the rally to press home the BNP-led 18-party alliance's demand for restoring caretaker government system for holding general elections.

The rally was originally scheduled to be held on February 9 at the same venue under the banner of the 18-party alliance, of which 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...
is a major component.

On Feb 14, BNP decided to hold the rally alone on February 17 as a number of party leaders expressed the view that if Jamaat leaders addressed the rally in the present situation, it might create a bad impression about BNP.

Fakhrul, also spokesperson of his party, mentioned that the prime minister had vowed to try the war criminals at any cost, and her government formed two tribunals as well as a prosecution team for the trial. "The team has conducted probe into the war crimes allegations. But now people of the country have rejected the tribunal's judgment," he said.

Addressing the rally, BNP standing committee member Moudud Ahmed said, initially the nature of the Projonmo Chattar (Shahbagh) movement against Jamaat-Shibir could not be understood, it is now clear that the movement has turned into "Awami League Chattar" movement.

He went on, "And that's why we are worried. That's why we tell the new generation that this [demand for capital punishment of all war criminals] should not be the only demand. The young generation should also raise its voice for ensuring law and order, holding the next general elections under a caretaker government and protecting democracy."

Several other leaders of the BNP and its front organizations also spoke at the rally.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Africa Horn
Security Operation In Lower Shabelle
[Shabelle] The Marka District commissioner contacted Shabelle radio and said that an operation to remove Alshabab from Lower Shabelle that was taken over by Alshabab was successful, with Alshabab caught and currently in government hands.

The district commissioner of Lower Shabelle, who spoke with Shabelle Radio said that government troops and AMISOM conducted the sensitive operation. Through that operation it is said that many people were caught and also uncountable explosive items were found in the operation.

This was the most recent villages that AMISON and government army of Somalia conquered.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
650 Syrian soldiers defect
[Ynet] The Al-Jazeer network reported Sunday that 650 servicemen with the Syrian Army, including at least 50 officers, have defected.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  In what period of time?
Posted by: Mitch H. || 02/18/2013 16:46 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't know, Mitch. That is the entirety of the article, I'm afraid.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/18/2013 19:01 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Ennahda supporters rally in Tunis
[MAGHAREBIA] Roughly 15,000 people rallied on Saturday (February 16th) in Tunis to support the Ennahda-led government and against Prime Minister Hamadi Jebali's plans to form a government of technocrats aimed at resolving Tunisia's political crisis, AFP reported.

"Ennahda... will never give up power, as long as it benefits from the confidence of the people and the legitimacy of the ballot," party leader Rachid Ghannouchi told the crowd at the end of the rally.

On Friday evening, Jebali said his consultations with political parties on the new Tunisian government showed "encouraging results" and that progress was made "on all the items discussed". A new meeting was scheduled for Monday to "carry on discussions", he added.

"Time is not important. What is more important is the interest of Tunisia and the search for a way out and a solution for the people and the revolution," he told news hounds.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  WHAT, No booms?
No dead bodies?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:12 Comments || Top||


Southeast Asia
Philippine sultan says followers won't leave Malaysian territory
Followers of a Philippine sultan who went to the Malaysian state of Sabah this month will not leave and are reclaiming the area as their ancestral territory, the sultan said Sunday during a tense standoff.

Sultan Jamalul Kiram said his followers -- some 400 people including 20 gunmen -- were resolute in staying despite being cornered by security forces, with Kuala Lumpur insisting the group return to the Philippines.

The sultan told reporters in Manila, "Why should we leave our own home? In fact they (the Malaysians) are paying rent (to us). Our followers will stay in (the Sabah town of) Lahad Datu. Nobody will be sent to the Philippines. Sabah is our home."

He did not directly threaten violence but said "there will be no turning back for us."

Malaysian officials believe many in the group have weapons, but Kiram insisted his followers made the trip unarmed. He said, "If they have arms, they were already in Sabah."

The southern Philippine-based Islamic sultanate once controlled parts of Borneo, including the location of the stand-off, and its heirs have been receiving a nominal annual compensation package from Malaysia under a long-standing agreement for possession of Sabah.

Kiram said he was motivated to send the group to Sabah after the sultanate was left out of a framework agreement in October between Manila and Filipino Muslim insurgents, which paves the way for an autonomous zone in the southern Philippines that is home to the Muslims.

The sultanate's spokesman, Abraham Idjirani, said there were about 400 followers in the area, including about 20 who were armed. On Thursday, Malaysian Home Minister Hishammuddin Hussein put the number at between 80 to 100 gunmen.

Idjirani said the group would not initiate violence but would resist if provoked. He said, "We recognize the capability of Malaysia. We don't have the arms and capacity but we have the historical truth."

He added that the group's "fate is to see the recognition they are entitled to... or they die defending their ancestral rights."

Idjirani said President Benigno Aquino's top aides had been in contact with the sultan and were willing to deliver a letter to Malaysia's government on his behalf for negotiations.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Malaysia's in the mood to deport 'em back to the PHIL.

Prob is the attraction of foreign MilTerr groups to Malaysia, includ but not limited to AQ-affiliate Abu Sayyaff which is already engaged in armed shennanigans agz fellow Muslims in PHIL Mindanao.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:37 Comments || Top||


Africa Horn
One killed in Northeast Kenya Bomb Blast
[An Nahar] One person was killed in a kaboom at a school in the northeastern Kenyan town of Garissa late Saturday, officials said, adding they believed the man may have been the bomber himself.

"Badly damaged body parts of a man were discovered at Garissa primary school after a loud kaboom," said a police brass hat in the restive region which borders war-torn Somalia.

"We strongly suspect he is the one who had the bomb, and was most likely assembling it when it went off," he said Sunday, adding that investigations were continuing.

Two pistols were also found at the blast site, he added.

The kaboom is the latest in a string of attacks in Garissa -- which lies some 120 kilometers (75 miles) from Somalia, where Kenyan troops are fighting Islamist Islamic fascisti -- as well as elsewhere in Kenya.

Garissa county commissioner Maalim Mohammed confirmed there had been "an incident where a person was killed," adding that investigations were ongoing.

Attacks have increased in Kenya since Nairobi sent soldiers into Somalia to fight al-Qaeda-linked Shabaab Islamic fascisti in October 2011, prompting warnings of Dire Revenge™ from the beturbanned goons.

The violence has been blamed on the Islamic fascisti or their Kenyan supporters, although no attacks have been claimed by the Shabaab.

The Shabaab are on the back foot in southern Somalia after losing a series of key towns to African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
troops -- including the Kenyan army -- as well as allied Somali forces and Æthiopian soldiers.

However,
a poor excuse is better than no excuse at all...
the Shabaab continue to stage guerrilla attacks, raising security concerns in Kenya ahead of the March 4.

Guns are common in the impoverished northeastern region, which hosts some 500,000 Somali refugees.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Shabaab


Britain
Muslim preacher urges followers to claim 'Jihad Seeker's Allowance'
A Muslim preacher is secretly filmed urging followers to take benefits from the state to fund a holy war.

Anjem Choudary was secretly filmed mocking non-Muslims for working in 9-5 jobs their whole lives, and told followers that some revered Islamic figures had only ever worked one or two days a year.

"The rest of the year they were busy with jihad [holy war] and things like that," he said. "People will say, 'Ah, but you are not working'.

"But the normal situation is for you to take money from the kuffar [non-believers].

"So we take Jihad Seeker's Allowance. You need to get support."

He went on to tell a 30-strong crowd: "We are going to take England -- the Muslims are coming."


This article starring:
Anjem Choudary
Posted by: lotp || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  HANG HIM, QUICKLY AND PERMANENTLY.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:27 Comments || Top||

#2  Probably better to hang those who allowed, if not encouraged, this to happen.

Look for something like this soon in the U.S - It's probably already here in places like California.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 02/18/2013 8:57 Comments || Top||

#3  He spoke it, he hangs.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 12:49 Comments || Top||

#4  I'm not picky, RJ. Choudary AND the clowns who forced this on Britain can all hang. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/18/2013 13:42 Comments || Top||

#5  Barbara, did you mean the pols that let this s*** happen?

If so, than the Tower Green is calling. Hung.....drawn and quatered. Send a piece, wrapped in pig sking, to Mecca, Medina, Qom and Karachi as required.
Posted by: Alanc || 02/18/2013 17:39 Comments || Top||

#6  "did you mean the pols that let this s*** happen?"

Yes, Alan. Except I'm pretty sure they helped it happen. >:-(

Your solution is acceptable.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/18/2013 18:29 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Bangladesh parliament amends war crime law
[GUARDIAN.CO.UK] Bangladesh's parliament has amended a law allowing the state to appeal against the life sentence given to an opposition leader for his role in mass killings and rape during the 1971 war for independence.

Tens of thousands of demonstrators in central Shahbag Square cheered as the assembly approved the changes on Sunday.

Protesters have gathered in central Dhaka for the past 13 days demanding the death penalty for Abdul Quader Mollah, an assistant secretary general of the Jamaat-e-Islami
...The Islamic Society, founded in 1941 in Lahore by Maulana Sayyid Abul Ala Maududi, aka The Great Apostosizer. The Jamaat opposed the independence of Bangladesh but has operated an independent branch there since 1975. It maintains close ties with international Mohammedan groups such as the Moslem Brotherhood. the Taliban, and al-Qaeda. The Jamaat's objectives are the establishment of a pure Islamic state, governed by Sharia law. It is distinguished by its xenophobia, and its opposition to Westernization, capitalism, socialism, secularism, and liberalist social mores...
party, for war crimes. The prominent Islamist was given a life sentence by a tribunal last month, stunning many Bangladeshis.

The amendment will "empower the tribunals to try to punish any organizations, including Jamaat-e-Islami, for committing crimes during the country's liberation war in 1971", the law minister, Shafique Ahmed, said

The government is facing growing pressure to ban Jamaat-e-Islami and groups linked to it. Ahmed told news hounds the government was considering such a ban.

Lawyers said Sunday's amendment sets a timetable for the government to appeal against Mollah's sentence and secure a retrial. The previous law did not allow state prosecutors to call for a retrial except in the case of acquittals.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami

#1  You just LOVE "Mouthy Man" don't you.

He's HERE Once a day.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:34 Comments || Top||

#2  I love watching the Jamaat go down. I'd like to see its last bubbles. But even if it does, it'll put on a false nose and mustache and come back.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 10:07 Comments || Top||

#3  See also BHARAT RAKSHAK > BANGLADESH MOVES TO BAN BAN NEW ISLAMIST PARTY JAMAAT-E-ISLAMI FOR WAR CRIMES.

versus

* DEFENCE.PK/FORUMS > ITS "CIVIL WAR" AGAIN IN BANGLADESH.

Inter-Muslim, that is, between pro-Secular Moderate Muslims + pro-Islamist/Radicalist Hardliners. BANGLA AT RISK OF BREAK-UP AND PARTITION???

Has gotten India, Myanmar, + Thailand nervously twiddling their thumbs.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 23:18 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Rebels: 1,000 Hezbollah fighters invaded Syria
[Ynet] Fourteen Hezbollah men killed in past two days in battles over control of villages near Leb border

Hezbollah's involvement in the Syrian civil war continues to grow. Syria's main opposition group claimed Sunday that no less than 1,000 Hezbollah men have entered Syria in the past 24 hours.

"It's a coordinated ground invasion," the Free Syrian Army front man said. "Hezbollah has started a war against us."

At least two Hezbollah operatives and five rebels were killed in battles southwest of Homs. Earlier on Sunday, rebels claimed they killed 12 members of the Lebanese terrorist group on Saturday.

Hezbollah fighters, who control eight villages around Homs, attacked three Syrian villages in the Qusayr region near the Lebanese border. Free Syrian Army front man Louay Almokdad warned civilians residing in villages near the border to leave the area.

He added that Hezbollah has declared "an open war against Syrian civilians in full coordination with the Assad regime that does not bomb areas where Hezbollah is present."

Battles between Hezbollah and the Syrian rebels escalated after the death of Revolutionary Guard official Hassan Shateri.

Meanwhile,
...back at the comedy club, Boogie sadly admitted that he was a better peeping Tom than he was a comedian...
the rebels are trying to distance themselves from Israel. The Military Revolutionary Council in Golan Quneitra said that none of its men had been injured in festivities on Saturday and therefore could not have been treated in Israel.

Conversely, Iranian media outlets affiliated with the Syrian regime reported extensively on the aid Israel provided to the seven maimed Syrians.

Earlier on Sunday, it was reported that the seven rebels underwent surgery overnight. One of them is still at death's door in the hospital's Intensive Care Unit after sustaining injuries to his abdomen.

The condition of the remaining rebels, who mainly sustained injuries to their extremities, is stable.

Ziv Medical Center Director Dr. Oscar Ambon told Ynet that the injuries were caused mainly by shrapnel and bullets, adding that the medical team will not question the injured parties regarding the cause of their wounds.
This turns out not to have been a good idea, though kind, as the UN firmly forbids Israel to return the Syrians to the current dangers of their native land.
More:
Hezbollah fighter, 5 Syrian rebels killed in border fighting

[Ynet] At least one Hezbollah guerrilla and five Syrian rebels have been killed in fighting in Syrian territory on the border with Leb, nearby Lebanese residents and Syrian opposition sources said on Sunday.

Hadi al-Abdallah of the Syrian Revolution General Commission said fighting broke out on Saturday after Lebanese Hezbollah fighters, who are in control of eight Syrian border villages, tried to expand their sphere by moving into three adjacent villages that were in the hands of the rebel Syrian Free Army.
And also:
Syria: Rebels kill 12 Hezbollah operatives in Homs

[Ynet] Syrian rebels killed 12 Hezbollah operatives in festivities in Homs on Saturday. Clashes erupted between the sides when Hezbollah operatives tried removing the dead bodies from the scene.

At the beginning of the month, the Hezbollah announced that it buried an operative in Leb, who was killed while "fulfilling his duty as a martyr." According to reports, he was killed in Syria.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah

#1  By Golly looks like we have a full fledged war on our hands in Syria.

Nope not one of those little pop gun revolutions like Libya, I mean a full fledged doozy of a war with multinational involvement, foreign invasions, and dueling dictators.

This may be the Middle Eastern version of the Spanish Civil War. Does anyone have any ideas whether the Hexbullies are going to call themselves the "International Brigade?"
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 0:16 Comments || Top||

#2  IIRC this is news from early January - odds are its a helluva lot more than 1000 since then.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:31 Comments || Top||

#3  Woo-hoo, let's send bullets.
Posted by: rammer || 02/18/2013 0:34 Comments || Top||

#4  Since Iran had an out break of Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) last year... with all the players showing up in a nasty warzone... What's the chance of a bad epidemic of something or other ,besides hot-lead poisoning, in Syria?
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/18/2013 2:30 Comments || Top||

#5  Rammer, by chance, do you work for an internet Cable Company?

If so Hi there.Redneck Jim.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 6:38 Comments || Top||

#6  The scorecard so far is that Iran is backing Pencilneck with some Russian aid. Hezbollah is a proxie of Iran and is supporting Assad. The Syrians claim the rebels are supported by Israel, U.S., Saudi Arabia, and Qatar via Turkey. The rebels are claiming that Israel is not supporting them. However, it is in interests of Israel to have Hezbollah direct their attention away from Israel. Enough to give you a headache...
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 7:16 Comments || Top||

#7  Isreal isn't doing anything except guarding the border and making sure Chemical Weapons don't come into play near their borders.

This has to be a dream come true. Whatever comes out of Syria will be hostile anyway, why not let them thin the numbers?
Posted by: Charles || 02/18/2013 9:08 Comments || Top||

#8  Does anyone have any ideas whether the Hexbullies are going to call themselves the "International Brigade?"

No, but perhaps in response, American leftists should form another Lincoln Brigade of sorts to support secular elements of the Free Syrian Army...

Nah. Today's lefties are quite unlike their predecessors. Still, it would have been... interesting.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/18/2013 10:14 Comments || Top||

#9  Well you have a lot of fun with a proxy US class warfare shoot em up.

I mean the Dems could send a Lincoln Brigade, the Trunks could send a Washington Brigade, the IRS could go over there the strip the dead, HHS could go to bayonet the wounded, AND you could send the AMA over to wreck their health care system.

Oh yes, the Russians and Chechnyans could go over there and settle their differences on a neutral site.

Could we throw in that this could be a great opportunity for the Shiia and Sunnis in Iraq to export their car bombing industry

Does Pakistain have a dog in this fight YET?

Send more bullets and pass the popcorn. Maybe this will deflect enough of the nutjobs off our necks.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 10:28 Comments || Top||

#10  Send more bullets and pass the popcorn Maybe this will deflect enough of the nutjobs off our necks..
But...but... but wot about nation building?
Slinks off LMAO
Posted by: tipper || 02/18/2013 11:10 Comments || Top||

#11  the civil war in Syria is being gradually changed to a proxy war between Iran/Hezbollah and various Sunni groups, including Al Q

one might even say it is a continuation of the IRaq vs Iran war of the 1980s in a different venue
Posted by: lord garth || 02/18/2013 13:37 Comments || Top||

#12  Yo ho ho
show a page of koran
Posted by: swksvolFF || 02/18/2013 14:16 Comments || Top||

#13  This war can be expressed as combinations of N taken K at a time.

Oh the slaughter of factorials! I yam getting a migraine.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 02/18/2013 14:28 Comments || Top||

#14  I mean the Dems could send a Lincoln Brigade, the Trunks could send a Washington Brigade,

People actually cared about Spain, the origin of a lot of Western high culture. Syria hasn't been a center of anything significant to the West for over 1000 years.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/18/2013 15:47 Comments || Top||

#15  People actually cared about Spain, the origin of a lot of Western high culture.

Leftism has pretty much been Western in its inclination.

Syria hasn't been a center of anything significant to the West for over 1000 years.

It's significant to somebody, apparently.
Posted by: Pappy || 02/18/2013 17:48 Comments || Top||

#16  Towel on towel! What more could you ask for?
Posted by: Jinerong Juter9421 || 02/18/2013 17:53 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
Foreign workers kidnapped in northern Nigeria
[FRANCE24] Gunmen stormed a construction site in northern Nigeria, kidnapping seven foreign workers and killing a security guard, police said Sunday, in one of the worst attacks on expatriates in the restive region.

Two Lebanese, an Italian and a Greek have been confirmed by their governments to be among those seized in the attack late Saturday on the Setraco construction site in the town of Jama'are in Bauchi State.

Bauchi, among the states in northern Nigeria where Islamist myrmidon group 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...
has carried out repeated attacks, saw two separate gun raids earlier Saturday, but it was not clear if the Islamists were behind the violence.

"From the report we have received, the hostages are seven in all. They include four Lebanese, an Italian, a Briton and a Greek," Bauchi state police front man Hassan Auyo said.

There has been no confirmation that a Briton was among those kidnapped nor that the number of Lebanese was four.

"We are aware of reports and are making enquiries with the local authorities," Britannia's Foreign Office said.

The Lebanese foreign ministry said two of its citizens were among those seized.

Greek Foreign Minister Dimitris Avramopoulos said in a statement that he had contacted his Italian counterpart regarding a response, adding that a plane was on standby should it be necessary to send a party from Athens to Nigeria.

Local government chairman Adamu Aliyu told AFP that residents believed a Lebanese mother and daughter were in the group taken by the gunnies, but those details could not be verified by police.

A security guard at the Setraco site was rubbed out in the raid in Jama'are, about 200 kilometres (125 miles) from the state capital, Bauchi's police chief Mohammed Ladan told AFP.

Setraco Nigeria, a construction and civil engineering company with a road project in the region, is a subsidiary of Lebanese-owned Setraco International Holding group.

The attack on the site came after the same gunnies were repelled while trying to storm a cop shoppe and a prison in the town, the police chief said.

"The gunnies came in five all-terrain vehicles," said resident Musa Balla, estimating they arrived between 8:00 pm (1900 GMT) and 10:00 pm.

Gunmen also launched a similar attack on a cop shoppe in the town of Kafin Madaki, 40 kilometres (25 miles) from the state capital, triggering a shootout but causing no casualties, Ladan said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Boko Haram


India-Pakistan
Time for Shias to leave Pakistan
[Dawn] It is a massacre alright. Sunni Death Eaters, aligned with Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, are killing Shias by the dozens in Pakistain.

I was yet to compile the list of the 106 (mostly Shias) killed in the twin kabooms in Quetta last month, that the news of another kaboom killing yet another 84 (mostly Shias) in Quetta came over the wire. As the Shia massacres in Pakistain gain momentum, the State, including the Superior Courts, appear completely impotent.

In such troubling times some Shias may have a choice. They may sit and wait for a messiah or relocate to a Shia-exclusive enclave elsewhere, or to escape from Pakistain altogether. It may sound harsh, but it is an inescapable truth that Pakistain has been run over by the faceless myrmidons and life is going to be even tougher for the minorities and moderate Sunnis in the near future.

In the two consecutive months this year, kabooms have killed hundreds of Shia Hazaras in Quetta, a Garrison town where each and every street is manned by intelligence operatives. Still, the Islamic fascisti operate with impunity. Saturday's kaboom, which has killed over 80 and injured hundreds, occurred almost within a month of the last kaboom that delivered even a higher corpse count.

Space is fast running out in Shia graveyards in Quetta. It may be the time for Shias to relocate to protect their next generation.
At a certain point fighting for one's rights is hopeless, and it's time to work on making sure one's children survive...elsewhere. Unless something turns Pakistan off its current path, it's going to worsen until the very purest one is the only one left in the smoking rubble.
Many naively believe that peace will prevail in Pakistain and Afghanistan after the scheduled withdrawal of NATO
...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the cut of the American pants...
troops from Afghanistan in 2014. While I vehemently oppose prolonging the stay of the NATO forces in the region, still I believe this would spell even a bigger disaster for the minorities in Pakistain. The battle-hardened veterans of the Afghan war will return to Pakistain to target Shias, Ahmadis, and other religious minorities. Even Barelvis may not escape the wrath of the mostly Deobandi-led militancy.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Lashkar e-Jhangvi

#1  Iff Islamabad can't control or eliminate the violence, either the poor Shias move or else Iran invades.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||

#2  And go where?
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 4:59 Comments || Top||

#3  Iran doesn't care about Pakistani Hazaras - not all Shia are created equal. Besides, until their nukes are ready, they dare not attack Pakistan anyway. Without nukes, I'd happily sell programs and popcorn, but.....
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/18/2013 7:59 Comments || Top||

#4  Iran is more likely to attack Iraq first than Pakistan. No nukes, large Shia population, tensions already high, and invading the kurd area's would help stop the resistance in their NW border.
Posted by: Charles || 02/18/2013 9:13 Comments || Top||

#5 
And go where?


Just head south. Keep going south. Until they can't go south anymore.

I figure that's probably a few hundred feet into the Indian Ocean, for most of them.
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 02/18/2013 14:46 Comments || Top||

#6  Iran like other countries is interested in either reclaiming lost territories, or in alternate dev very close diplomatic + trade ties wid same.

IIRC Pakistan's Shias comprise roughly 1/4 of the country's population, + have been there for generations since before the separation/
partition of Muslim Pakistan from Hindu India. IMO its highly unlikely that the bulk of Pakistan's Shia comunity will just up-n-move widout a fight.

That leaves Iran-led external pressure + ultimately possible mil intervention, ostensibly to enforce the unliteral or bilateral protection of Pakistan's Shias from local Sunnis, but perhaps more realistically to ensure Iranian control or domination of Pakistan's LR Nuclear Arsenal.

DETERRING OR DEFEATING A US GROUND WAR AGZ IRAN = IRAN NEEDING TO KEEP USN NUCLEAR CARRIERS + AMPHIBS OUT OF THE PERSIAN GULF AMAP AFAP ALAP = IRAN NEEDS PAK SHIAS TO STAY, NOT LEAVE.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 22:26 Comments || Top||

#7  The Hazaras are once again demanding Pak Govt-Army protection + arrest of Sunni perpetrators while also refusing to bury the bodies of their dead until Islamabad agrees, + Perps caught, punished.

* DEFENCE FORUM INDIA > GENOCIDE OF PAKISTAN'S HAZARA COMMUNITY.

China is Pakistan's BFF, which IMO means that IRan will likely demand that China pressure Pakistan to stop the anti-Shia violence. Iran is also likely to attempt to bring Russia on board - IFF PAKISTAN CANNOT OR WILL NOT STOP THE ANTI-SHIA VIOLENCE, THEN IRAN IS LIKELY TO USE RUSSIA AS A HEDGE/OFFSET AGZ CHINA IN CASE IRAN HAS TO SEND IN ITS ARMY + IRGC INTO PAKISTAN TO QUELL THINGS.

I don't see Rising Iran accepting any option where Pak Shias will be asked or made by Islamabad to up-n-leave Pakistan.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 23:07 Comments || Top||


Terror suspects remanded to Taxila police
[Dawn] A civil court of Rawalpindi on Saturday handed over six suspected cut-throats of banned Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP) to Taxila police on two days physical remand.

They were tossed in the calaboose
Drop the rod and step away witcher hands up!
by the police on Friday and were brought to the Anti Terrorism Court (ATC) on Saturday.

But due to unavailability of ATC judge they were produced before Civil judge cum Judicial Magistrate Mohammad Yousaf. According to Taxila police SHO, Mohammad Khan, the suspected TTP cut-throats were booked under section 7ATA related to terrorism and possessing illegal weapons.

The police officer said they had recovered 6kg explosives material, 150 detonators, three pistols, one grenade, and a huge quantity of detonator wires from the suspects.

According to the police, the suspects had confessed to killing some members of peace committees of tribal areas and they were also involved in the cases related to kidnapping for ransom.

The Taxila SHO had requested the court for four days physical remand.

The court after permitting two days physical remand directed the police to produce the suspected cut-throats before the ATC on February 18.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: TTP


Africa North
Libya Leader Says Country Won't Become 'Base for Terrorism'
[An Nahar] Libya on Sunday celebrated two years since the start of the revolt that toppled Muammar Qadaffy
...whose instability was an inspiration to dictators everywhere, but whose end couldn't possibly happen to them...
, with security forces on high alert amid fears of a fresh violence that have plagued the north African nation.

The anniversary of the uprising that ended with Qadaffy's killing in October 2011 comes as Libya's new rulers battle critics calling for a "new revolution" and accusing them of failing to usher in much-needed reforms.

Speaking to hundreds of people in the eastern city of Benghazi, where the uprising began, de facto head of state Mohammed Megaryef paid homage to the "deaders of the revolution" and the "true revolutionaries" who helped bring down Qadaffy.

He insisted that Libya would not be allowed to become a "base for terrorism" and vowed to end the marginalization of the east.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Iraq
Car bombs target Shiite neighbourhoods in Baghdad
[FRANCE24] Car bombs tore through shopping areas within minutes of each other in mainly Shiite neighborhoods of the Iraqi capital on Sunday, killing at least 37 people and wounding more than 100.

The attacks come amid rising sectarian discord in Iraq and appear aimed at shaking Iraqis' confidence in the Shiite-led government. The kabooms struck at the start of the local work week and primarily targeted outdoor markets.

Violence in Iraq has fallen since the height of sectarian fighting in 2006 and 2007, but forces of Evil still frequently launch lethal attacks against security forces and civilians. It was the third time this month that attacks have claimed more than 20 lives in a single day.

The attacks began with the detonation of a parked car loaded with explosives in the sprawling Shiite district of Sadr City Sunday morning. Two more parked cars later went kaboom! elsewhere in the neighborhood.

Nima Khadum, a government employee, said the blasts shattered the windows of his Sadr City house. He said the air was heavy with smoke, while burning cars littered the street and the bodies of the dead and maimed lay nearby.

"The scene was a bloody one that brought to my mind the painful memories of the violent past," he said. "I don't see the benefit of security checkpoints that only cause traffic jams and don't do anything to secure Storied Baghdad
...located along the Tigris River, founded in the 8th century, home of the Abbasid Caliphate...
. The government, with its failing security forces, bears full responsibility for the bloodshed today."

Simultaneous kabooms also hit the southeastern Storied Baghdad neighborhood of al-Amin, where the force of the blasts left behind little except the mangled chassis of two cars.

An open-air market in Husseiniya, just northeast of the capital, and the Kamaliya area in Storied Baghdad's eastern suburbs were also hit.

Another boom-mobile went kaboom! near street vendors and a police car in the central commercial district of Karradah.

Police and hospital officials provided the corpse count, and said more than 130 people were maimed. They spoke on condition of anonymity because they weren't authorized to brief news hounds.

Casualties could have been even higher. Authorities carried out controlled kabooms of two other boom-mobiles they discovered in Husseiniya and Habibiya, near Sadr City, according to police.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Iraq

#1  I hate to say it but it looks like Iraq is committing national suicide.

Is Iraq the next Pakistain?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 0:18 Comments || Top||


Caucasus/Russia/Central Asia
Three terrorists killed in Dagestan
Russian law enforcement officers have killed three suspected terrorists militants in the Russian North Caucasus republic of Dagestan.

The terrorists militants were spotted early on Sunday during a security operation in the woods near the village of Pokrovskoye in the Khasavyurt district in northern Dagestan.

The terrorists militants opened fire on the security officers “and were killed by retaliation fire. There are no casualties among the police."

In a separate episode, an unknown attacker opened fire on police officers in the Khasavyurt district on Saturday evening and was killed by return fire. One policeman was injured in the clash.

A spokesman for the Interior Ministry said, “When police officers tried to stop a VAZ-2114 car for document check, a man inside the car fired at them. He was killed by return fire. One police officer has been hospitalized with wounds."
Posted by: ryuge || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Africa North
Man tortured in public by Egyptian police now missing
[Al Ahram] Hossam Abou El-Regal, who was allegedly dead after being brutally beaten Saturday at the hands of coppers who accused him of killing a colleague in Upper Egypt's city of Beni Suef, has disappeared from Beni Suef Hospital where he was transferred after the attack.

According to an official at the hospital, around a hundred armed "outlaws" broke into the hospital Saturday night and took Abou El-Regal after they were told that he was in a coma and had not yet died.

Meanwhile,
...back at the alley, Slats grabbed his rosco...
family of Abou El-Regal are accusing police of being behind the kidnapping of their son for whom they have no confirmation whether he is alive or dead.

Abou El-Regal was jugged
You have the right to remain silent...
Saturday by several coppers and others in an apartment in Beni Suef. They then took him to the funeral of slain officer Captain Hisham Abou Tama where he was tied down in a mini-truck and beat to death as tens of mourners watched.

The assault on Abou El-Regal allegedly took place in the presence of senior security and political officials in Beni Suef who were leading the procession, including General Ahmed Shaarawi, the governorate's security director, and Maher Beybers, Beni Suef governor.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Africa Horn
Policeman, terrorist killed in Chlef
[MAGHAREBIA] Algerian security services killed a terrorist on Friday (February 15th) night in Sidi Akkacha, 43km north of Chlef, El Moudjahid reported. The terrorist was in a stolen vehicle earlier in the day when he killed a police officer who stopped him for an identity check.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in North Africa


India-Pakistan
Karachi violence leaves seven people dead
[Dawn] Firing and other violent incidents on Sunday have left at least seven people dead, DawnNews reported.

Unknown gunnies opened fire near Kharadar killing two people and leaving another injured.

Firing at Empress Market left one person dead. Two other people were also injured in the incident including one woman.

One person was rubbed out in Korangi.

Three bodies were found in other parts of 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...
'>Bloody Karachi, whose identities are yet to be ascertained.

Meanwhile unknown persons near Guru Mandir set a water tank and a bus on fire. A truck was also set on fire near Malir, reports said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Yemen court jails 3 Albanians over arms smuggling
[Al Ahram] A Yemeni court on Sunday sentenced three Albanians tossed in the clink
Into the paddy wagon wit' yez!
in the eastern Hadramawt province to six years in prison for smuggling arms and explosives into the country, a judicial source said.

The three were arrested in December as they smuggled 179.5 tonnes of ammunition in a ship and were found guilty of trafficking military equipment into Yemen, the source said.

The judge "read the verdict in which the defendants were sentenced to six years and the ship and explosives confiscated," the source added, saying their case was heard by a court specialised in terrorism cases.

The defendants, whose trial began in January, said they will appeal the verdict, and insisted that they had stopped in the port city of Mukalla to refuel the ship, the source said.

The ship, with flags of Kenya and Moldova on it, had arrived from Monte Negro.

The charge sheet says the boat remained in international waters before entering Yemen's territorial waters where its crew claimed they wanted to refuel.

In a separate case Yemeni authorities last month seized what they say is a ship loaded with Iran-linked arms. The eight-member Yemeni crew of the shiap are being questioned.

Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: al-Qaeda in Arabia


India-Pakistan
Pakistan to continue unwavering support to Palestinian brothers: Zardari
[Dawn] President Asif Ali Ten Percent Zardari
... husband of the late Benazir Bhutto, who has been singularly lacking in curiosity about who done her in ...
reiterated on Sunday, February 17, that Pakistain would continue to render its unwavering support to the Paleostinian people till the establishment of an independent Paleostinian State with Al-Quds Al-Sharif as its capital. The President addressed a banquet hosted in honour of President of the State of Paleostine, Mr. the ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas
... a graduate of the prestigious unaccredited Patrice Lumumba University in Moscow with a doctorate in Holocaust Denial...
, at Aiwan-e-Sadr.

Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf and Chairman PPP Bilawal Zardari Bhutto were also present on the occasion. The banquet was attended by Chairman Senate, President AJK, Governor and Chief Minister of Gilgit Baltistan, Federal Ministers, MNAs, parliamentarians, politicians, diplomats, high ranking officials, members of the civil society and media persons.

President Zardari said that Pakistain would continue to voice its support for the Paleostinian cause at every forum as Pakistain did at the 67th UNGA session, and conveyed Pakistain's full support to the admission of Paleostine as a full member of the United Nations
...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships...
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Africa Subsaharan
U.N. Says DR Congo Peace Accord to be Inked Feb 24
[An Nahar] U.N. Secretary General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon
... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan...
will sign a regional agreement in Addis Ababa February 24 aimed at pacifying the eastern Democratic Republic of the Congo
...formerly the Congo Free State, Belgian Congo, Zaire, and who knows what else, not to be confused with the Brazzaville Congo or Republic of Congo, which is much smaller and much more (for Africa) stable. DRC gave the world Patrice Lumumba and Joseph Mobutu, followed by years of tedious civil war. Its principle industry seems to be the production of corpses. With a population of about 74 million it has lots of raw material...
, his front man said Sunday.

Ban's front man, Martin Nesirky, told Agence La Belle France Presse that invitations to the signing ceremony went out on Friday.

"He intends to be at the event on 24 February in Addis Ababa. All the invited presidents have committed to either be there or delegate power to sign," he said.

The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Angola, Congo, South Africa and Tanzania are expected to sign the framework agreement.

The peace plan was presented at the end of January at an African Union
...a union consisting of 53 African states, most run by dictators of one flavor or another. The only all-African state not in the AU is Morocco. Established in 2002, the AU is the successor to the Organisation of African Unity (OAU), which was even less successful...
summit in Addis Ababa, but the leaders of the eight African states have so far refused to sign it.

The DRC's mineral-rich east has long been caught up in strife among local and foreign gangs.

Since May, the army has been fighting the "March 23 Movement", an insurgency that the United Nations
...what started out as a a diplomatic initiative, now trying to edge its way into legislative, judicial, and executive areas...
says is backed by Rwanda and Uganda, which they deny.

Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Ban Ki Moon is a waste of air.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:16 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Hizbullah Says 3 Dead, 14 Hurt in 'Self-Defense' in Syria as Opposition Slams 'Intervention' in Homs
[An Nahar] Three Lebanese Shiites have been killed in fighting in Syria, a Hizbullah official said Sunday, as the Syrian opposition accused the Lebanese group of intervening on the side of the regime.

"Two Lebanese Shiites living in Syria were killed and at least 14 others maimed in festivities with rebels," the official told Agence La Belle France Presse on condition of anonymity, later adding that one of the maimed had also died.

He said they were acting in "self-defense", without specifying if they were Hizbullah members.

The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said the three slain Lebanese were members of pro-regime militias who had been trained by Hizbullah.

Earlier on Sunday, the main bloc of the Syrian opposition accused Hizbullah of "military intervention" in Syria, calling it a danger to regional peace and security.

The Syrian National Council (SNC) said members of the group on Saturday attacked "three Syrian villages in the Qusayr region near the Lebanese border."

The operation in Homs province led not only to "civilian casualties and the exodus of hundreds of people," but also "stoked sectarian tensions" in the area, the SNC said in a statement.

The SNC said Hizbullah was employing "heavy weapons openly and under the auspices of the Syrian regime army."

This is a "serious threat to Syrian-Lebanese relations and regional peace and security," it said, adding that the government of Prime Minister Najib Miqati has a responsibility to end this "aggression."

Later on Sunday, Louay al-Meqdad, front man for the Supreme Council of the Free Syrian Army, accused Hizbullah of shelling Syrian territory with artillery and rocket launchers from bases inside Leb.

"Hizbullah has deployed in five towns inside Syrian territory and it is combing the areas it has seized," Meqdad told Future TV.

"Hizbullah has declared an open war against the Syrian people and we call on the Lebanese president (Michel Suleiman
...before assuming office as President, he held the position of commander of the Leb Armed Forces. That was after the previous commander, the loathesome Emile Lahoud, took office as president in November of 1998. Likely the next president of Leb will be whoever's commander of the armed forces, too...
) to intervene," he added.

Hizbullah and its allies in the ruling March 8 coalition back Syrian Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Light of the Alawites...
's regime, but the March 14 opposition alliance supports the rebellion.

The Shiite party occasionally announces the death of one of its fighters killed "carrying out his jihadist duty," but without clarification.

In October 2012, Hizbullah leader His Eminence Sayyed Hassan Nasrallah
The satrap of the Medes and the Persians in Leb...
acknowledged that party members had fought Syrian rebels, but said they were acting as individuals and not under the party's direction.

Nasrallah clarified that the Hizbullah fighters were killed while defending Lebanese-inhabited border towns inside Syria. He explained that there are 23 Syrian border towns and 12 farms that are inhabited by Lebanese residents of various religious beliefs, adding that around 30,000 Lebanese residents live in these towns.

"The residents of these towns took the decision to stay and defend themselves against the gangs and did not engage in the battle between the regime and the opposition," Hizbullah's leader added.

On Saturday, the Local Coordination Committees -- a grassroots network of activists on the ground in Syria -- reported fighting between rebels and members of Hizbullah around Qusayr.

It said they were trying to break into the rebel-held city, which has been under daily army bombardment for the past year.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Hezbollah


Africa North
Protesters in Egypt's Port Said threaten 'escalation' if demands go unmet
[Al Ahram] After hitting the streets of Egypt's Port Said on Sunday, thousands of anti-government demonstrators plan to escalate their protests in the coming three days if seven demands go unmet by authorities, according to Ibrahim El-Masry, a former Masry Club football player and protest leader.

Demands include the dismissal of Interior Minister Mohamed Ibrahim and the abrogation of a night-time curfew imposed on Egypt's canal cities last month.

Speaking to Ahram Online, El-Masry did not specify the kind of "escalations" protesters might resort to, but insinuated that they might not be peaceful. "Protesters are mainly concentrated in Martyrs' Square [located in central Port Said], where they plan to stage a three-day sit-in," he said.

"If we're ignored again, we will escalate further," said El-Masry. "We haven't decided exactly what we will do, but from now on, we will hold the politicianship responsible for the political and criminal consequences that take place."

Schools in Port Said, he went on to note, "were closed today because of the protests."

Protesters from all walks of life staged marches across the restive canal city on Sunday in an effort to mobilise popular support for a planned civil disobedience campaign to protest the authorities' failure to meet their stated demands.

With Egypt subject to mounting political and economic instability in the two years since the January 25 Revolution, Port Said has had to deal with unique challenges since its infamous football stadium disaster last year.

That incident saw the city's home fans assault their Cairo counterparts -- fans of the rival Ahly football club -- in the wake of an ill-tempered league match. At least 72 of the latter were killed in the ensuing bloodshed.

Egypt's 'football massacre' left Port Said reeling under an unofficial boycott -- economic and social -- and a profound sense of isolation.

The most dangerous consequence of the disaster, however, came this year, when 21 Port Said residents were slapped with death sentences on 26 January for their involvement in the tragedy -- which plunged the city into further chaos.

The court rulings led to days of bloody festivities between angry protesters and police in Port Said, resulting in the death of more than 40 people, mostly civilians. Shortly afterward, a curfew was imposed on the city.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Brahimi calls for bilateral talks on Syria crisis
[FRANCE24] International mediator Lakhdar Brahimi called on Sunday for talks between the Syrian opposition and an "acceptable delegation" from the Damascus
...The place where Pencilneck hangs his brass hat...
government on a political solution to the country's 23-month-old civil war.

After a meeting at Arab League
...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing...
headquarters in Cairo, Brahimi said negotiations could begin on United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
premises. He gave no specific location.

Opposition Syrian National Coalition leader Moaz Alkhatib offered last week to hold talks with Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Horror of Homs...
's ceremonial deputy, Farouq al-Shara, on a political transition in which Assad would be given safe passage to go into exile.

Alkhatib's initiative, widened by the SNC leadership to an offer to talk to any Syrian representative not directly involved in repression, "has opened the door and challenged the Syrian government to live up to what it has been continuously saying, that it is ready for dialogue and a peaceful solution", Brahimi said.

"We believe that if a dialogue begins at the offices of the United Nations, at least at the start, between the opposition and an acceptable delegation from the Syrian government, we think this will be a start to get out of the dark tunnel."


It was unclear whether he had received any indication of Syria's willingness to enter into talks with Alkhatib and the SNC. An estimated 70,000 people have been killed since an uprising against Assad began in March 2011 after the overthrow of veteran authoritarian rulers in Tunisia and Egypt.

Arab League chief Nabil Elaraby said he will travel to Russia, one of Assad's main foreign allies, on Tuesday for talks with representatives of four Arab states. Syrian Foreign Minister Walid Moualem is also due to visit Moscow later this month.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria


Good morning
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Birthday Gam Shot

Priscila Fantin [Brazilian][Filmography](age 30)



Nádegas Bonitas

Gorb, it's been a long dry spell for bicycle shots. Climate Change?

Vanna White's Wheels of Fortune have held up for 56 years.


Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/18/2013 0:24 Comments || Top||

#2  Birthday Gam Shot 02/17 Holdover

Kelly Carlson[Filmography](age 37)



NSFW Women Who Bathe, Water Displacement Experiment "Eureka!" Archimedes was such a scamp.
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 02/18/2013 0:37 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt: Explosives smuggling attempt thwarted
[Ynet] Egyptian security forces in Suez have thwarted for the second time within 48 hours an explosives smuggling attempt.

As in the previous case, the forces found the explosives in a truck headed to the Sinai Peninsula.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Seems that smuggling has increased since Egypt booted Mubarek. The Sinai, outlaw territory, has been called "the new Somali." Bedouins and militants smuggling arms and explosives through tunnels and via trucks to the Palestinian territories and Lebanon?
Posted by: JohnQC || 02/18/2013 7:55 Comments || Top||

#2  A new Somalia? But we've hardly worn the shine off the old one!

I suspect the Egyptians are cracking down here because they fear being on the wrong side of the blast wave, not out of any sense of concern for their neighbors.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 21:43 Comments || Top||


Sri Lanka
Sri Lanka Buddhist Monks Demand Halal Boycott
[An Nahar] Sri Lanka's nationalist Buddhist monks and their supporters launched a campaign Sunday to boycott Islamic halal-slaughtered meat amid mounting religious tensions in the ethnically divided nation.

Thousands of men and women led by hundreds of monks of the Bodu Bala Sena, or Buddhist Force, staged a rally outside Colombo to announce the boycott, demanding that shops clear their stocks of halal food by April.

"More than 90 percent of the population are Buddhists, Hindus and Christian and therefore there is no justification to force them to eat halal products," Buddhist monk Kirama Wimala Jothi said in a statement.

He urged Sri Lanka's non-Mohammedan majority to boycott any product with the halal label and asked the government to outlaw Islamic holy mans issuing such certification.

The halal method of killing an animal requires it to have its throat slit.

The issue has raised new tensions in a country emerging from nearly four decades of ethnic strife which has claimed at least 100,000 lives, according to U.N. estimates.

The rally came less than three weeks after President Mahinda Rajapakse urged monks not to incite religious hatred and violence amid reports of a wave of attacks targeting Mohammedans.

The Buddhist Force has disassociated itself with violence saying that there were "duplicate groups" pretending to be them and stirring up trouble.

Less than 10 percent of Sri Lanka's population of 20 million are Mohammedans.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A good start, Damn good. Outlaw the Koran too.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:11 Comments || Top||


Afghanistan
Karzai Orders Cameras to Combat Torture in Afghanistan
[An Nahar] Afghanistan's Caped 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...
has ordered that all interrogation facilities should be equipped with video cameras in a bid to prevent torture, after a recent U.N. report said detainees were abused.

The decree follows a government investigation into the U.N. report about prisoner abuse, which found detainees were tortured at the time of arrest and during interrogations.

"Relevant authorities are required to equip the intelligence and investigating agencies... with modern equipment (and) devices... and videotape the interrogation process," Karzai said in a decree released by his office late on Saturday.

He said the move will also help "eliminate any chance or place for complaints from other parties" about prisoner abuse.

The United Nations
...aka the Oyster Bay Chowder and Marching Society...
, which has run an assistance operation in Afghanistan since the 2001 fall of the Taliban, said in January that prisoners were frequently abused and tortured in the Afghan jail system.

The U.N. report revealed that 326 of 635 prisoners interviewed across the country said they had been abused, including 80 minors.

Fourteen types of torture were described in the U.N. report, including beatings with cables and pipes, attacks on the genitals, threats of execution or rape, electric shocks and forced stress positions.

In the decree, Karzai also ordered the attorney general to "prosecute the perpetrators of torture, so to avoid any suspect, convict or prisoner tortured in the future."
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  You'd need dummies, lots of dummies, that way the people won't know whether or not they're being filmed.

Say 100 fakes and 5 working, and nobody knows which is which. And a program of switching the cameras off and on, maybe randomly, by computer.

Once a day should do it.

Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:23 Comments || Top||

#2  I bet he ordered the purchase without requisitioning the funds. Next thing we know, he'll be ordering the sun to set in the east.
Posted by: Zhang Fei || 02/18/2013 16:46 Comments || Top||

#3  "Next thing we know, he'll be ordering the sun to set in the east."

Nonsense, Zhang.

That's Bambi's job.
Posted by: Barbara || 02/18/2013 18:27 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
CJ for protecting witnesses, judges
[Dawn] Chief Justice Iftikhar Mohammad Chaudhry has expressed concern
...meaning the brow was mildly wrinkled, the eyebrows drawn slightly together, and a thoughtful expression assumed, not that anything was actually done or indeed that any thought was actually expended...
over an alarmingly high rate of acquittal in terrorism cases and called upon the government to take measures for effective prosecution of such cases in all provinces.

He was presiding over a meeting on implementation of the Anti-Terrorism Act, 1997, on Saturday. The meeting urged the government to enforce Section 21 of the Act, which provides for the protection of judges, counsel, public prosecutors, witnesses and people concerned with court proceedings.

It drew attention to a case in Sindh in which six witnesses were murdered one after the other and expressed concern that if such negligence continued no one would come forward to record evidence.

Senior judges of the Supreme Court Justice Tassaduq Hussain Jillani, Justice Nasirul Mulk and Justice Anwar Zaheer Jamali and monitoring judges of provincial high courts Justice Manzoor Ahmad Malik (Punjab), Justice Sajjad Ali Shah (Sindh), Justice Mian Fasih-ul-Mulk (Beautiful Downtown Peshawar
...capital of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (formerly known as the North-West Frontier Province), administrative and economic hub for the Federally Administered Tribal Areas of Pakistan. Peshawar is situated near the eastern end of the Khyber Pass, convenient to the Pak-Afghan border. Peshawar has evolved into one of Pakistan's most ethnically and linguistically diverse cities, which means lots of gunfire.
) and Justice Jamal Khan Mandokhail (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...
), SC registrar, home secretaries, IGPs, additional IGPs, secretaries prosecution and prosecutors general of all provinces and IG Islamabad attended the meeting.

The meeting noted that according to a report compiled by the prosecution department of Punjab government, the large rate of acquittal was on account of various factors, in particular, defective and dishonest investigation and weaknesses in prosecution.

It observed that the respective provincial government must address such defects and deficiencies immediately and impart necessary training to Sherlocks and prosecutors and provide requisite equipment, including forensic lab.

The meeting noted that investigation should be carefully carried out so that innocent persons did not have to suffer the ordeal of investigation or trial and necessary material and all requisite witnesses were produced so that the guilty could be convicted and punished.

The IGPs made presentations regarding the causes of delay which are mostly due to defects in registration of cases, non-availability of eyewitnesses, no description of accused, role of accused not specified, material evidence not mentioned, delay in FIR registration, defects in investigation, defects in identification parade and doubtful recovery, etc.

The chief justice said the major reason for non achieving desired results was non-implementation of certain provisions of the Anti Terrorism Act. Not only that adequate protection had not been made available to presiding officers of the trial courts and Sherlocks, but no protection whatsoever was available to the witnesses.

The witnesses usually avoid coming forward to depose against the culprits, especially in the cases of terrorism and sectarian killing. Thus, the matter of safety and protection of witnesses is very important and needs to be tackled on a priority basis. If there is no sufficient evidence, it is not possible for the court to inflict punishment without determining the guilt of the person. Nobody can be deprived of his life and liberty without due course of law.

He said backlog of cases in anti-terrorism courts in some places was partly because of delay in appointment of judges. Therefore, the issue of shortage of Judges must remain under constant focus.

He said the apex court had issued certain guidelines to be observed by the ATCs and related agencies like prosecution and investigation departments. The guidelines provided for a monitoring mechanism of functioning of these courts. Four judges of the Supreme Court and one for each province monitor the ATCs' performance. The chief justices of high courts have also designated one judge each for the functioning of these courts.

The meeting agreed that initially two anti-terrorism courts, along with necessary infrastructure, staff and prosecutors, may be established in Islamabad because being a capital territory it has good number of anti-terrorism cases.At presently, the anti-terrorism cases of Islamabad are being heard at Rawalpindi ATCs.

It proposed that meetings of stakeholders in each province under the chairmanship of monitoring judges of the respective high courts be convened as soon as possible to formulate strategies and to resolve issues.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [1 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Bangladesh
Bid for bloodbath must fail says PM
[Bangla Daily Star] Prime Minister 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...
yesterday said no conspiracy to stage another bloodbath in the country would work as people have woken up against the anti-liberation forces.

"The anti-liberation forces have threatened to wage another war and push the country towards another bloodbath like in 1971.

"But that's not possible as people, particularly the new generation, have woken up," she said while talking to members of the newly-elected managing committee of Chittagong Press Club at her office in the capital.

The premier alleged that the entire generation could not know the real history of the country due to conspiracy of post-1975 rulers after the liquidation of Bangabandhu.

Turning to the Shahbagh movement, especially on participation of youth, she said, "The ongoing movement has infused the sense of patriotism into the minds of a cross-section of people, including children."

The movement has helped inspire people in every nook and corner of the country with the spirit of Liberation War, Hasina said, adding that this spirit among the future generation could lead the nation towards peace and prosperity.

The premier said her government has been trying to turn the country into a developed one alongside putting efforts into establishing the spirit of the war to safeguard the nation's future prosperity.

In this context, she mentioned her government's initiatives for strengthening the Election Commission and making the country's electoral system fully free, fair and neutral.

"Free, fair and neutral elections are being held in the country as the Awami League is in power," she told the managing committee members of Chittagong Press Club.

Hasina said Awami League considers the voting rights of people as one of their constitutional rights. "This right of the masses won't be allowed to distort in any way."

She highlighted the projects taken by her government for development of the port city, saying more flyovers and roads would be constructed there.

Besides, steps have already been taken to resolve water-logging problem and improve supply of pure drinking water, gas and power in the city, she added.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Jamaat-e-Islami


Southeast Asia
Three killed in more than 50 attacks in southern Thailand
Terrorists Insurgents kept security authorities running in Pattani province Sunday with a series of up to 50 coordinated bombing and arson attacks. They included a bomb explosion outside a restaurant in Pattani town about noon which killed three defense volunteers. The explosion also wounded dozens of people.

The blast was part of a string of coordinated attacks by separatist terrorists militants in Pattani's Muang and Yaring districts which started at 6 p.m. on Saturday.

The fatal blast took place just around midday outside a three-story restaurant. Two defense volunteers were killed on the spot. The third victim was pronounced dead at hospital. The blast also damaged a car and 10 motorcycles. Officials said two bombs were set to go off. One was detonated but was not fully operational.

About an hour later, a bomb was discovered near a fire-gutted supermarket and successfully defused before it was set off. The grocery store was damaged 12 hours earlier in a blaze which was triggered by a firebomb explosion. No one was wounded.

Two firebombs were found and defused at two different shops before the supermarket was set on fire. As the firefighters battled with the blaze, a fire broke out at a four-story electrical appliance store, where an elderly couple was rescued.

Simultaneously, a firebomb exploded at a cooking ware store, but the shop owner was able to put out the fire.

Another explosive device was discovered at 6:40 p.m. on Saturday outside a shop. It was set to go off before midnight. Another device went off about 7 p.m. near a karaoke bar, wounding one person. A third device, a motorcycle loaded with a bomb, was successfully defused.

A defense volunteer shelter, a mobile telephone signal tower and closed-circuit television cameras were set ablaze in three arson attacks in Yarang district Sunday morning, as the string of attacks continued.

Pitak Korkiatpitak, mayor of Pattani's Muang district, said he was hesitant to link the weekend attacks with the deaths of 16 terrorists militants in Narathiwat last week. He said, "The insurgents strike whenever they see a chance. We have to step up security and surveillance."

About 50 heavily armed gunmen assaulted a military base in Narathiwat on Wednesday but were repelled in a counter-attack which killed 16 of the attackers.

The atmosphere in Muang district was grim. Most businesses were closed and people stayed indoors. Bomb disposal squads, fire trucks and ambulances were on standby and checkpoints were put up every 300 meters across the town.

Narathiwat, Yala and five districts of Songkhla were placed on the highest security alert following the violence in Pattani.
Posted by: ryuge || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Thai Insurgency


Britain
Row over renaming of Sandhurst hall after Bahrain donation
A Sandhurst tribute to the fallen of a First World War battle has been abandoned so a donation from the King of Bahrain can be honoured.
Dhimmis.
Mons Hall, named after the 1914 battle that saw thousands killed, will be renamed the King Hamad Hall after he gave £3 million towards its refurbishment.

Defence chiefs were yesterday accused of betraying the memory of soldiers who gave their lives for their country.

MPs also questioned the ethics of honouring regimes that have dubious human rights records.

It emerged an accommodation block at the Army officer training academy has also been named after the first president of the United Arab Emirates (UAE) following a £15 million donation from the country.

Andy Slaughter, Labour's chairman of the Democracy In Bahrain all-party parliamentary group, said: "To change the name of something which commemorates a very tragic episode in British military history and an example of courage and heroism of British soldiers simply because they're getting a sum of money from a rather dubious source is appalling."
Indeed.
Posted by: lotp || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If you are going to sell out, sell out big. Three million pounds sounds like chump change for this sort of thing.
Posted by: SteveS || 02/18/2013 21:50 Comments || Top||

#2  Shame on you clowns.

You don't deserve to call yourselves British. Go live in Bahrain where your ass-licking will be more convenient for you. >:-(
Posted by: Barbara || 02/18/2013 22:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Sounds like Georgetown and Harvard but for less money.
Posted by: Water Modem || 02/18/2013 22:38 Comments || Top||


Europe
The Pope's Jews: Rethinking Pius XII
Posted by: Frozen Al || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A Pope did some things for some Jews, and it is News.

Whatever.

I would be much more moved by a Pope speaking out about the suffering of Coptic Christians, Chinese Catholics, wayward Anglicans, or Korean Pentecostals. Some of these people are actually forfeiting their lives in the sake of Christ.

Someone in Rome needs to put on his embroidered virgin wool Popy-pants and get busy supporting actual Christians before anyone cares about the occupant of the so called "Holy See", except possibly the modernized apostates who inhabit the new media complex, who will support anything that doesn't actually support the Christian Faith.

Is that the Pope we want? I think not.

(Conclave, I hope you are listening -- says a Lutheran to the Cardinals. You could fix Protestantism if you chose to. Yet you don't. For 500 years you don't. Amazing. Where is Christ in your life?)
Posted by: rammer || 02/18/2013 0:56 Comments || Top||

#2  Why is Catholicism the only religion where those who aren't Catholic get to rant and rail about what Catholics should do? If you don't attend mass on a weekly basis and give your time and effort to the church, I could careless what you think about my church. I certainly don't go around preaching to Lutherans about the dangers of homosexual unions and openly gay preachers. I could care less what Lutherans, or any other demonization for that fact, do in their house.

I say if you don't like the Catholic Church, go be something else. Don't try to change my church to fit your personal opinions.

Thanks!

Posted by: Vortigern Whavique7596 || 02/18/2013 7:26 Comments || Top||

#3  Do you really think that Catholicism is the only religion where those who aren't Catholic get to rant and rail about what Catholics should do? Check out some comments here about Islam.
Posted by: BernardZ || 02/18/2013 7:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Well, we are at war with fanatical Muslims, and Americans are dying to fight Islam, so there religion, since it is the reason for the war, is open for comment.

You really don't see a double standard when it comes to the Catholic church? Which other large Christian denomination gets slammed in the press everyday? If I believed my paper, I'd think the Republican and Catholics are the roots of all of our problems.
Posted by: Vortigern Whavique7596 || 02/18/2013 7:58 Comments || Top||

#5  You obviously aren't Jewish, Vortigern Whavique7596 dear.

You are certainly entitled to complain, but honestly, y'all have been at the receiving end of that nonsense for only the last five hundred years or so. Dishing it out, on the other hand... St. Augustine of Hippo does rather come to mind, you understand, and why he was such a vast improvement over his predecessors, from a Jewish perspective.
Posted by: trailing wife || 02/18/2013 8:59 Comments || Top||

#6  Of course, if you want to get theological, our good old boy the Jew, Philo of Alexandria, crafted many of the theological foundations of early Christianity and Judaism after the Sack of Jerusalem by Rome.

Pick an issue, resurrection, heaven, the hereafter, damnation, the sanctity of marriage, and of course, if you dig deep enough, the Holy Trinity.

Some religious scholars don't do their homework.

Pius XII was a strange duck with stranger ideas.

When the Catholics, whom I greatly admire and study very closely, got the message that Jesus HAD to die on the cross in order to save the world and fullfill the prophecies of Isaiah and David, they stopped the "Christ killer" crap and became more interested in reconciliation with the Jews.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 10:50 Comments || Top||

#7  I was raised in that reconciliation Catholic message, BC. After all, Jesus was a Jew.
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 11:58 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
14 die in Monterrey and Nuevo Leon
UPDATED

For a map, click here. For a map of Nuevo Leon state, click here. For a map of Monterrey, click here

By Chris Covert
Rantburg.com

A total of seven individuals were shot to death in two separate incidents in Monterrey, Nuevo Leon Saturday afternoon, according to Mexican news reports.

A news item which appeared on the website of Milenio news daily reported that six men in their 20s were gunned down by armed suspects travelling aboard two vehicles in Nieto Garza colony. The shooting took place at around 1800 hrs Saturday evening near the intersection of calles 20 de Noviembre and Juan B. Ceballos. Four of the victims died at the scene of the shooting, while a fifth victim was wounded but died before reaching medical care.

The victims were identified as Martin Bautista Flores, AKA El Campita, Ignacio Bautista Flores, David Bautista Castillo, Carlos Alberto Martínez Ruiz and Miguel Bautista. Martin Bautista Flores was identified as a former police agent. Martin Contreras Guerrero was another victim.

A second incident took place at around 1850 hrs Saturday evening near the intersection of calles Lima and Ignacio Comonfort, where two unidentified men were shot to death and two others were wounded in a garage at a residence.

Seven other individuals were killed or were found dead in or near Monterrey.
  • A man was shot to death while standing at a queue at a taco stand in Pueblo Nuevo colony in Apodaca municipality colony Saturday night. Miguel Angel Ochoa Guzman, 35, died at the scene near the intersection of calles Rio Aconcagua and Rio Acaponeta. According to the translation, two unidentified armed suspects exited from a vehicle and shot Ochoa Guzman in the head before fleeing from the scene on foot. The suspects were said to have taken a taxi a few block away.

  • An unidentified man was executed following a rollover car crash in Monterrey Saturday night. The victim was involved in a pursuit in Independencia colony at around 2100 hrs, when the driver of the car he was travelling in crashed near the intersection of calle Oaxaca and Lago de Patzcuar.

  • An unidentified man in his 20s was shot to death in Monterrey Friday afternoon. The incident took place at around 1645 hrs near the intersection of calles Carlos Salazar and Constantino de Tarnava in Zona Centro, where the victim was dismounted from a vehicle and shot twice in the head.

  • An unidentified man in his 20s was shot and seriously wounded in Monterrey Friday night. The incident took place near the intersection of calles Martin Carrera and Napoleon Bonaparte in Estrella colony at around 2130 hrs. The victim was walking to the home of his girlfriend when unidentified armed suspects, also on foot, shot him.

  • An unidentified man was found found dismembered and placed in two garbage bags in Moderna colony of Monterrey. The find was made around 1100 hrs Sunday near the intersection of Privada Cedro and Calle Mirto. The report suggested the victim was dumped at the location.

  • An unidentified individual was found dead in Independencia colony in Monterrey Sunday. A patrol with the Nuevo Leon state Fuerzas Civiles located skeletal remains in a remote area on Calle San Agustin. The report said the victim may have been killed as many as eight months ago.

  • Two unidentified men were found shot to death aboard an abandoned car on a highway in Nuevo Leon Sunday evening. The victims were found in the trunk of a sedan near Cienega de Flores municipality on Kilometer 42 of the highway to Nuevo Laredo, Tamaulipas.

  • A facility belonging to the Procuraduria General de la Republica or national attorney general was hit with small arms fire on Sunday just after the discovery of the two dead individuals near Cienega de Flores municipality. About eight shots were fired into a fence which surrounds the facility, which is in Escobedo municipality, north of Monterrey. No one was reported hurt in the attack.

Chris Covert writes Mexican Drug War and national political news for Rantburg.com
Posted by: badanov || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
After Barbie dolls, Buddha statues join banned items list in Iran shops
[Al Ahram] Buddha statues have joined Barbie dolls and characters from "The Simpsons" TV cartoon as banned items in the conservative Moslem nation.

Authorities are confiscating Buddha statues from shops in the Iranian capital, Tehran, to stop the promotion of Buddhism in the country, according to a report Sunday in the independent Arman daily.

Iran has long fought against items, such as Barbie toys, to defuse Western influence, but this appears to be the first time that Iranian authorities are showing an opposition to symbols from the East.

The newspaper quoted Saeed Jaberi Ansari, an official for the protection of Iran's cultural heritage, as calling the Buddha statues symbols of "cultural invasion."

He said authorities will not permit a specific belief to be promoted through such items. Ansari did not say how many Buddhas had been seized, but that the "cleansing" would continue.

Some Iranians buy Buddha's statues to decorate their homes and cars. Most are made in China and come from Iranian free-trade zones in the Persian Gulf.

"As I understand, none of customers cared about Buddhism, they only bought it for decoration," said Reza Sanaei, a shopkeeper who sells the statues.

A customer, Marjan Arbabi, said she personally did not like the statues. "But my parents have set of five Buddah's statues at their home simply because they think the statues are beautiful," she said.

Under the constitution, Christian and Jewish beliefs as well as Zoroastrianism are recognized beside Islam, the official religion of the country. The law, however, says that, in general, the rights of all non-Moslems should be observed.

Some Islamists do not support production of any statue, since they view it as a way to promote idols.

In 2010, several statues depicted prominent Iranians, disappeared from Tehran city's streets and squares. Their disappearance was blamed on an unnamed group with a strict interpretation of Islam that bans the depiction of the human form in art.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Iran

#1  Like that will promote Islam. Suuurre.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:15 Comments || Top||

#2  Well we're just helping Iran be "clean" by having sanctions. they should thank us.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/18/2013 8:54 Comments || Top||


Britain
Immigrants must live in Britain for a year before claiming benefits, says welfare minister
Plans, not yet in place.
Talking about it gives everyone fair warning, including the power mad idiots in Brussels. And they never even considered such things before, so this is progress of a sort.
Migrants from the European Union will be forced to live in Britain for up to a year before they can claim benefits, under plans outlined by Iain Duncan Smith, the welfare minister.

The Work and Pensions Secretary said hard-working migrants who paid their taxes and contributed to the economy would be welcome.

But he said he wanted to ensure "our door is shut" to benefit tourists and was engaged in a "big battle" with Brussels to reform the rules on welfare payments to residents from elsewhere in the EU.

Last week the Prime Minister promised to overhaul the system for immigrants to ensure that Britain is not "a soft touch". Ministers have been in talks over tightening the rules allowing migrants access to social housing, the NHS, benefits and elements of the justice system.

Some Conservative Cabinet members fear that the removal of restrictions for EU migrants from Romania and Bulgaria from 2014 will see many more arrive than expected, putting pressure on housing and public services.

Mr Duncan Smith predicted that ministers would be able to introduce "much tougher" regulations to stop immigrants taking advantage of the welfare system.

However, he faces a fight with the EU, which is attempting to prevent Britain applying the residency test to migrants from elsewhere in Europe.

"They're trying to say we don't have the right to have any kind of test, so that's a big battle that I'm having with the Europeans," Mr Duncan Smith said. Britain is being supported in arguing for new rules by the Dutch and Scandinavians, he added.

The minister said he also wanted to stop immigrants sending UK child benefit payments, which are more generous than the European average, to their families in their home countries.

From next year, 29 million Romanian and Bulgarian citizens will gain the right to move to the UK to work and live under rules allowing EU citizens freedom of movement.

Posted by: lotp || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Intehwesting - THE RUSSO-SLAVIZATION OF BRITAIN VERSUS THE ISLAMIZATION OF BRITAIN???

Sniff, sniff, is there no love for the Chinese???
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 02/18/2013 0:29 Comments || Top||

#2  Why a year, and not longer, the whole idea is "Don't come here and sponge" isn't it?

Or is a year considered "Fair", Bullshit, there'll all ways be people who consider welfare a "Right".

Do it this way, when you come to Britian, if you plan to go on welfare, you get sent home. (Wherever "Home" is) and NO RETURN EVER.
Any children born in Britian , are considered "Stateless", they can't become Brits.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:08 Comments || Top||

#3  Just auction the right to hold British Citizenship.

Even a bureaucrat could work out the profit maximising number.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 02/18/2013 8:46 Comments || Top||

#4  Maybe the US could put a sign on the Southern Border that reads "why wait 8 years in America when Britain only takes 1"

Might need to be Spanish.
Posted by: airandee || 02/18/2013 9:25 Comments || Top||

#5  Immigrants must work live in Britain before...

Yes I know, racist anti-islamic thoughts. Sorry.
Posted by: European Conservative || 02/18/2013 18:49 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Syria Rebels Seize Checkpoints in Aleppo, Deir Ezzor, Hama
[An Nahar] Syrian rebels on Sunday captured army checkpoints near Nayrab military airport in the northern city of Aleppo, in the eastern province of Deir Ezzor and in central Hama province, a watchdog said.

In Aleppo, fierce festivities took place between Syrian troops and several rebel battalions, which resulted in the Death Eaters taking over the checkpoint near Nayrab airport, the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said.

Nayrab is adjacent to Aleppo international airport, a key target for the rebels, who have also been battling troops guarding Kweyris military airbase east of the city and Menegh airbase to the north.

The Observatory, which collects its reports from a network of activists and medics in civilian and military hospitals on the ground, said at least six soldiers and a number of rebels were killed in Sunday's fighting.

Fighter planes carried out raids on rebel groups encircling the military defense factories in the town of Safireh east of Aleppo.

In the eastern province of Deir Ezzor, rebels lost five men before capturing the Kibar checkpoint, seizing stores of weapons and ammunition and killing at least four soldiers, the watchdog said.

The districts of Sheikh Yassin and Hamidiyeh in the embattled city of Deir Ezzor came under army bombardment as warplanes circled overhead.

In the central province of Hama, the rebels lost one of their commanders when they took control of a military checkpoint near the town of Qalaa al-Maziq, where heavy regime shelling killed three people, including a child.

The Observatory also reported that five soldiers were killed defending Tel Osman checkpoint before it fell to the jihad boys.

East of Qalaa al-Maziq, regime forces stormed the town of Mork, which has seen several rounds of fighting, with advancing troops being pushed back by the rebels, and then entering again, the watchdog said.

Mork is located on the highway connecting Hama to the strategic northwestern city of Maaret al-Numan, whose capture by the Death Eaters last October has hampered army supply lines to Aleppo further north.

Regime forces are pushing to take back the strategic stretch of road.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  Okay, who has the program?

Are these OUR rebels or are they the OTHER rebels.

Let's be clear on this, we have rebels fighting to get rid of Assad and we also have rebels fighting to entrench the Moslem Brotherhood, and we have rebels fighting jihad, and of course we have the rebel out there who just want to kill something.

So whose are they?
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 10:40 Comments || Top||

#2  we also have Hezb'Allah and Iran's Quds fighters coming in on Assad's side. What we need here is more Islam ....and ammo
Posted by: Frank G || 02/18/2013 11:57 Comments || Top||

#3  Allan seems to want them to sort it out; who are we to interfere? In fact we should help out, and give more ammo to whoever needs it most.
Posted by: Glenmore || 02/18/2013 12:46 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Egypt's president sacks Salafist advisor
[Al Ahram] President Morsi dismisses environmental affairs advisor Khaled Alam El-Din, a prominent El-Nour Party member; El-Din claims no official notification of decision has been given
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring


Egypt orders Islamist detained for insulting Christianity
[Al Ahram] Egypt's state prosecutor ordered on Sunday an bad boy Islamic preacher tossed in the calaboose
Maw! They're comin' to get me, Maw!
for questioning on suspicion of insulting religion after a complaint from a Christian activist, a judicial source said.

The preacher Ahmed Abdullah, known as Abu Islam, is already on trial for tearing up a bible during a protest outside the American embassy in Cairo in September over a short film made in the United States that insulted the Prophet Mohammed.

The latest probe came after a complaint filed by Coptic Christian activist Nagib Gibrail who accused Abu Islam of insulting Christians on a television show.

Egyptian law forbids insults against religion, allowing police in the past to arrest Shiite Moslems and Christians for alleged slights against Islam.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Arab Spring

#1  About damn time.
Posted by: Redneck Jim || 02/18/2013 5:32 Comments || Top||

#2  Is aid for Egypt being discussed in Congress?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 02/18/2013 13:54 Comments || Top||


Syria-Lebanon-Iran
Kerry, Lavrov Discuss Transition Process in Syria
[An Nahar] U.S. Secretary of State John F. I was in Vietnam, you know Kerry
Former Senator-for-Life from Massachussetts, self-defined war hero, speaker of French, current Secretary of State...
finally talked Sunday with Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov, who had been unavailable for days after the North Korean nuclear test, the State Department said.

The two spent about a half an hour on the phone talking about the situation in Syria and the North Korean test, State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said.

"They also agreed to compare calendars to try to set a first bilateral meeting in the coming weeks," she said.

The conversation ended a week-long diplomatic dance in which the new secretary's overtures met with silence from his hard-to-get Russian counterpart.

On Syria, Nuland said they discussed the importance of using their respective influence "in support of a viable transition process."

The two countries have been at sharp odds over Syria, with Moscow defending longtime ally Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad
Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor. If he'd stuck with it he'd have had a good practice by now...
and Washington pressing for his ouster and providing political support to the Syrian opposition.

"The secretary underscored the urgency of ending the bloodshed, preventing further deterioration of the institutions of the state, and protecting the rights of all Syrians and helping them to resist extremism and further sectarian strife," she said.
Posted by: Fred || 02/18/2013 00:00 || Comments || Link || E-Mail|| [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Syria

#1  While these two talk, Iran is yanking the rug on the whole shebang and eliminating options for a transition process.

Talk about fiddling while Damascus burns.
Posted by: Bill Clinton || 02/18/2013 0:21 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
29[untagged]
7Arab Spring
4Govt of Syria
3Govt of Pakistan
3Jamaat-e-Islami
2TTP
2al-Shabaab
2Hezbollah
1Boko Haram
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Arabia
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1Lashkar e-Jhangvi
1Thai Insurgency
1Govt of Iran

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

Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.

Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has dominated Mexico for six years.
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Meet the Mods
In no particular order...
Steve White
Seafarious
tu3031
badanov
sherry
ryuge
GolfBravoUSMC
Bright Pebbles
trailing wife
Gloria
Fred
Besoeker
Glenmore
Frank G
3dc
Skidmark

Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2013-02-18
  Five killed in attack at government office in Peshawar
Sun 2013-02-17
  Egyptian police publicly beat to death man suspected of killing officer
Sat 2013-02-16
  Bomb kills at least 20 in Pakistani city
Fri 2013-02-15
  Meteorite Hits Urals, Up to 500 Injured
Thu 2013-02-14
  Pakistan asks Taliban to announce 30-day cease-fire for talks
Wed 2013-02-13
  Syrian rebels say they captured military air base near Aleppo
Tue 2013-02-12
  KCNA confirms: Pudgy sets off a nuke
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

Better than the average link...



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