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Syrian Rebels Claim Capture of Helicopter Base Near Damascus
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Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
2 12:34 Steve White [11136]
7 23:32 trailing wife [11140]
Europe
New details on the Al Hilli murders
Curiouser and curiouser.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: phil_b || 11/26/2012 08:39 || Comments || Link || [11136 views] Top|| File under:

#1  If they didn't solve it a few months ago ... their chances are slim now. Professionals are involved, and they left a cold trail.
Posted by: Raider || 11/26/2012 11:30 Comments || Top||

#2  You do have to wonder how it is that Sylvain Mollier just happened to be there at the time of the murder of Al-Hilli and the two women. It's clear to me (though I am of course cynical) that Al-Hilli was up to something; the man was too well connected, had too much money, and too many concealed stashes to be be anything else. Whether he was connected to Saddam, or the Saudis, or al-Qaeda, or the Muslim Brotherhood (or someone else) -- who knows? Maybe CIA or Mossad, but if they knew you'd think they'd slip a quiet word to the investigators.

I think the key is Mollier, and I'd be running every minute detail of his life down.
Posted by: Steve White || 11/26/2012 12:34 Comments || Top||


Separatists winning in Catalonia, Spain
[CA.News.Yahoo] Four separatist parties in Spain's Catalonia looked set to win a majority in regional elections on Sunday, partial results showed, but the main one was on course to lose some seats, possibly undermining its bid to call an independence referendum.

With half of votes counted, the ruling Convergence and Union alliance, or CiU, was winning 48 seats in the 135-seat local parliament, well down from its current 62 seats.

The separatist Republican Left, or ERC, was winning 20 seats, with two other smaller separatist parties taking a total of 16 seats, giving the four parties 60 percent between them.

Regional President Artur Mas, of CiU, had campaigned on a pledge to hold a referendum on independence, in response to a resurgent separatist movement among Catalans who are frustrated with Spain in a deep economic crisis.
Continued on Page 47
Posted by: Fred || 11/26/2012 00:00 || Comments || Link || [11140 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Whether it's Quebec, or the Basques, or the Catalans or the Scots, I don't quite understand the desire to break off to become a small non-entity. I understand regional pride, historical grievances, cultural differences, etc. etc. I can see why the idea is strong in the Balkans and the Caucus where ethnic cleansing and war are within living memory and could easily reignite. But what did the Canucks ever do to the French Canucks, eh? And what's the attraction of moving from being a G8 member to becoming a tiny back-water? Mark Steyn always makes the point that it would also make more sense if the Independence parties offered real independence and a break from the monopoly of the social democratic statist model. But the Independents are almost always offering more of the same, except maybe a little more socialism. So while Barecelona is a lovely city, an independent Catalunya would somewhere between Monaco and Slovakia in terms of global importance, and they would still have the same economic woes that Spain has. They'll still be in the Euro. Only they'll get no gold medals in the Olympics, their soccer/futbol team will be woeful, and still no one will speak their language or locate them on a map. Tourists wont care if their not officially in Spain when they stroll the Ramblas and oggle Gaudi buildings and Picasso paintings. So, what's the point?
Posted by: DJ Curtis C || 11/26/2012 8:43 Comments || Top||

#2  I don't quite understand the desire to break off to become a small non-entity

It's call tribalism. Don't just count the Basques, or the Catalans or the Scots, remember Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania were part of another 'whole' known as the USSR. The same with the Ukraine. Throw in the division in Belgium. Then you have Switzerland. Would it be better for the parts that speak German, French, and Italian to join their respective linguistic neighbors to simply become part of something bigger or does the identity of being Swiss have a greater influence?

Considering the Catalans, are they any different than Texans, once an independent entity now part of greater union? Like many of the those identified, how hard would it be to draw up a catalog of abuses of the central governing power to their 'way of life and culture'? Wait till the big bailout of the bankrupt blue states gets rolling and states like Texas are economically exploited to fund the political pandering.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 11/26/2012 9:28 Comments || Top||

#3  When I lived in Texas during the Carter years the most popular bumper sticker was: "Let the Yankees freeze in the dark". I hear it is making a comeback.
Posted by: bman || 11/26/2012 11:01 Comments || Top||

#4  I've been to Catalonia, and have a simple answer to your question DJ: they're not Spanish. It's as simple as that, really.
Posted by: Secret Master || 11/26/2012 13:32 Comments || Top||

#5  I don't believe the Globies truly anticipated OWG + "Global Federal Union" + Ethnic Nationalism to result in a rise of Economics-led separatism among the ranks of major Powers or Nation-States, espec in EUROPE = EUROZONE/EU.

THE US PER SE IS NOT IMMUNE - as per the US + proposed NAU [2015], IMO the next two years will measure the gauge of de facto secession among US State-Local Govts from Washington DC, NOT JUST NUMBERS OF INDIVIDUAL CITIZENS IN DIFFERENT US STTAES FILING PETITIONS OF SECESSION TO THE BAMMER WHITE HOUSE.

The proposed future NAU-n-higher will have the power and authority of Fed-style public governance, NOT WASHINGTON DC ANDOR THE US + US GOVT. PER SE. THE "BIRTH PANGS" OF NAU IS NOT GOING TO BE EASY OR WIDOUT CHALLENGE.

OWG + NAU, ETC. = TANTAMOUNT TO SERIOUS DE FACTO AMENDMENT OR ALTERATION [destruction?]OF THE US CONSTITUTION WIDOUT EITHER A NATIONAL VOTE(S) ANDOR A STATE VOTE(S).

Covert usurpation of the right of the People and Contitutionally-mandated Polities, by and for "Globalism" + OWG-NWO - IFF UNILATERAL AMENDMENT, USURPATION, ANDOR DESTRUCTION OF THE US CONSTITUTION IS NOT A CAUSE FOR SECESSION + CIVIL WAR, WHAT IS!?
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/26/2012 19:21 Comments || Top||

#6  The theory is more effective or effcient use of scarce resources in protractive bad or uncertain economic times.

* ION CHINA DAILY FORUM > [Russia Today] COMMUNISTS [KPRF = Russia] PROPOSE RUSSIA-LED EURASIAN-UNITY VS. [US-led] IMPERIALIST GLOBALIZATION.

KPRF Leader Gennady Zyuganov at ICAPP Conference in Baku, Azerbaijan.

ICAPP = stands for International Conference of Asian Political Parties.

and

* SAME > GLOBALIZATION HAS PEAKED?, in favor of "Localization"???

ARTIC > 2/3rds of Americans think REDUCED GLOBALIZATION is good for the US.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 11/26/2012 23:02 Comments || Top||

#7  It is my understanding that Catalonia has a much stronger economy than the rest of Spain, and they deeply resent supporting the rest of the ocuntry. This is not true for Quebec, which still rsents being conquered by the British Empire, nor Scotland ditto. I have no idea about the Basques, except that they were portrayed as unmannered country ignoramouses in The Three Musketeers.
Posted by: trailing wife || 11/26/2012 23:32 Comments || Top||



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Two weeks of WOT
Mon 2012-11-26
  Syrian Rebels Claim Capture of Helicopter Base Near Damascus
Sun 2012-11-25
  Thousands of anti-Morsi protesters spend the night in Egypt's Tahrir square
Sat 2012-11-24
  7 People Killed in Pakistan Shiite Procession
Fri 2012-11-23
  IDF, Shin Bet Arrest 55 Terror Operatives In West Bank
Thu 2012-11-22
  Mashaal: I accept a Palestinian state on '67 borders
Wed 2012-11-21
  'Bomb blast' on bus in Tel Aviv
Tue 2012-11-20
  Female Suicide Boomer Targets Qazi
Mon 2012-11-19
  Israeli Strikes Kill 21 Palestinians, Gaza Rockets Wound 10 Israelis
Sun 2012-11-18
  Israeli air strikes pound Gaza as death toll hits 38
Sat 2012-11-17
   Israel air strikes hit Hamas HQ
Fri 2012-11-16
  Israel Warns of Escalation After Tel Aviv Missile Firing
Thu 2012-11-15
  Gaza missiles fired at Tel Aviv
Wed 2012-11-14
  France recognizes rebel coalition as legitimate rulers of Syria
Tue 2012-11-13
  Jamaat, Shibir go berserk in Bangla
Mon 2012-11-12
  Govt. Soldiers shoot it out in Mogadishu


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