[Al Arabiya Latest] Dubai police have arrested a man impersonating a U.S. celebrity cosmetic surgeon and operating on women attracted by his rock-bottom fees, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.
The 69-year-old general practitioner performed plastic surgery on women in his private villa, leaving his patients with serious complications, the Gulf News daily reported.
" The operating conditions were so primitive that he discarded the removed fat into a cooking pot "
Dr. Jeehan Qadir, American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery
He operated in the United Arab Emirates under the name of Dr. Steven Hopping, a renowned American surgeon who has been featured in newspapers and magazines in the United States and who formerly headed the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery in the United States. The imposter conducted fat-removal liposuction procedures under primitive conditions, according to Dr. Jeehan Qadir, head of the Dubai branch of the American Academy of Cosmetic Surgery Hospital. "The operating conditions were so primitive that he discarded the removed fat into a cooking pot," the newspaper quoted Qadir as saying. "Dr. Steve, this soup tastes really funny..."
"Sorry. Wrong pot. Try this."
"Oh, much better!"
The operation "requires a special disposal machine which he did not have," she said.
The Arabic-language Emarat al-Youm identified the fake surgeon as Steven Moose.
Qadir said that the imposter was exposed after one of Hopping's patients sent the celebrity surgeon a copy of the fraudster's business card and asked, "Is this really you?"
Hopping told Emarat al-Youm from Washington that the fraudster is wanted for trading in uncertified medical supplies and sedatives, and that he has committed several violations in more than one country.
"This person went to Dubai to continue his illegal medical activities," the newspaper quoted the Harvard-educated surgeon as saying.
Police sources told the press that the fake surgeon has been on Interpol's Red Notice alert since 2008 and was once arrested and released by UAE authorities because the United States did not follow up on his case.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
D *** NG IT, clealry His Name is pronounced [wimpy]FRANKENSTEEN, NOT [manly/mighty]FRANKENSTEIN!!!
#2
Had one of these in a nearby city here in China. He got exposed after making lewd passes at local girls on a forum, making the members mad enough to investigate him.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's north Sumatra early on Wednesday morning. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometers (29 miles), just off northern Sumatra, at 5:15 am (2215 GMT Tuesday), AFP reported. A tsunami alert was issued for the region shortly after the massive earthquake.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt's market for the illegal drug hashish is going through a shortage that is stoking a wide variety of theories, many of them colored by a sense of widespread distrust towards the government. Like, whoa. Bummer, dude!
The authorities have very little tolerance for hashish, and are happy to take the credit for curbing the trade in a series of busts since the beginning of the year that have netted at least six tones of the drug.
A report on Saturday in the official Al-Ahram newspaper, headlined "The Interior Ministry imposes its control over the drug market," announced the end of the hashish trade.
"A report by General Security confirmed... the complete destruction of the hashish trade in Egypt," the state-owned daily reported.
When contacted by AFP, the ministry presented a more modest account of its efforts.
"There is no such thing as a crime being finished," Deputy Interior Minister Hamdi Abdel Karim said. "We hope to keep restricting it," he said, adding this year's busts were "among the largest in years."
Hashish has, by all accounts, become more scarce and costly in Egypt where an estimated eight percent of the population consumes drugs, mostly marijuana, according to a 2007 official survey.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Smoke, Enjoy it now while you can, Ramesses.
To wit,
TOPIX > MUSLIM BROTHERHOOD: ISLAMIST SHARIA RULE AFTER MUBARAK ERA [Death or end of Mubarak Period = Enforced Sharia + End of israel, Zionism, + Egyptian Secularism].
#5
I recall a story from way back, when Israel and Egypt were going at it, (I think they were dug in on either side of the Suez canal for a long time) and supposedly Israeli intelligence people were escorting convoys of hashish smugglers from Lebanon to the Egyptian troops. With a deplorable effect on the renowned Egyptian military readiness, over time.
Always wondered if it was a true story.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian protesters demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule scuffled with security forces on Tuesday and dozens were detained, witnesses and security sources said. "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak," a group of more than 200 chanted as they tried to gather in central Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police hauled away a group of about a dozen protesters, shouting "freedom, freedom" near parliament, minutes later. Hosni looks like he's gonna live well into his later 120s. Shucks, he's eighty-something and his hair's not even gray yet. Egypt, home of world class mummification.
Hundreds of riot police were also stationed across the capital, encircling small groups of protesters as they gathered to converge on the centre.
Police beat some with sticks and dragged dozens away, witnesses said. They also chased off reporters and seized cameras being used by media trying to cover the protest.
Such demonstrations are rare in Egypt, an important U.S. ally in the region, and are usually swiftly quashed by security forces.
"We are seeking to do away with injustice and other bad things," screamed Meena Samir, a student at Cairo University.
The pro-reform group behind the protest, the Sixth of April Youth, is seeking constitutional amendments and an end to an emergency law that sanctions indefinite detentions. Egypt holds a parliament election this year and a presidential vote in 2011.
Mubarak's National Democratic Party is expected to win an overwhelming majority in parliament. But human rights groups, which have long complained of manipulation of Egyptian voting, are calling for international oversight of the elections.
Mubarak, 81, has not said whether he will run for a sixth presidential term but, if he does not, many Egyptians believe he will try to hand power to his politician son, Gamal, 46.
Rules outlined in the constitution make it almost impossible for any candidate to mount a realistic challenge for the presidency without the backing of Mubarak's ruling party.
"What we are calling for is political freedom for Egyptians through peaceful means. Our aim is to instigate political movement among the people to demand their rights," Omar Ali, a April 6 movement organizer, told Reuters before the protest.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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Ditto 5000 protestors in MONGOLIA demanding for a "NEW GOVT", claiming that all curr camps had lied to the Mongolian Nation.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Britain will vote in a general election on May 6, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday, firing the gun on what is set to be the closest poll race in nearly 20 years.
Brown made the announcement in Downing Street flanked by his entire Cabinet after visiting Buckingham Palace to ask Queen Elizabeth II to issue a royal proclamation dissolving the current parliament. "It will come as no surprise to all of you, and it's probably the least well kept secret of recent years but the queen has kindly agreed to the dissolution of parliament and a general election will take place on May 6," he said. Gordon's hoping he's gonna pull it off. The opposition's trying to help him, but the voters still have a little bit to say about it.
I just want to know how large a share the anti-immigrant party will get, because if it's substantial the national conversation will have to change.
Brown's announcement triggers a month-long general election campaign in which his centre-left Labor party will battle to overturn the opinion poll lead held by David Cameron's center-right Conservatives, who are bidding to take power for the first time in 13 years.
In a well-trailed contest likely to be dominated by the economy, Brown, 59, is contrasting his role in steering Britain to economic recovery after the global financial crisis with what he says is 43-year-old Cameron's inexperience.
"Fresh start"
Cameron, who has extensively modernized the once pro-market party of Margaret Thatcher since taking over as leader in 2005, called it "the most important general election for a generation." Speaking shortly before Brown, he said Britain needed a "fresh start" and told supporters: "If we win this election, there will be real change." "Change you can believe in!"
Cameron's Conservatives had established a long-term double-digit lead over Brown's Labor before January's announcement that Britain had emerged from its worst recession since World War II. That then dropped away to single figures but has begun to widen out again in recent days.
A survey for the Daily Express newspaper Monday gave the Tories a commanding 10-point lead, which could give them a majority in the Commons.
But in a sign of the variations in opinion polls, a survey for the Guardian newspaper the same day showed Labor closing the gap, just four points behind Cameron's party.
Whoever wins faces having to tackle a crippling budget deficit of at least 167 billion pounds ($254 billion, 188 billion euros) and a fragile economy which some experts say could still dip back into recession.
Brown is fighting his first general election as prime minister, having taken over unopposed from Tony Blair in June 2007.
The Conservatives need a huge swing of 6.9 percent to secure victory -- equivalent to the landslide which swept Labor led by Blair to power in 1997.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#3
Russia still has a death penalty on the books, but has not carried out an execution since 1999. And in that Russia produces some world class homicidal monsters, who tend to cannibalism, for some reason, it is unlikely that this dynamic duo will meet their fate officially. I doubt that other prisoners will look kindly on them, however.
List of Russian serial killers, with some real nasties:
#7
The death penalty was de-facto abolished in Russia in 1996. The country imposed the moratorium after it joined the Council of Europe that year and signed the European Convention on Human Rights.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2010 12:28 Comments ||
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#10
I gather that human meat has a lot in common with bacon, in all its varieties, from apple smoked, to peppered, to maple. So the question becomes "what is a good wine with bacon?"
If specifically eating the liver, which is pre-soaked in milk to remove some of the bitterness, then very slowly simmered in bacon grease with onions, it would probably be best to go with a white wine or vodka sauce.
I would probably go with a brandy sidecar to drink, to add a lot of color contrast to the main course. To heck with the fava beans. Pita bread would be better.
[Iran Press TV Latest] Protesters have stormed a provincial government office in Talas city, Kyrgyzstan, demanding the resignation of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev. "Out! Out! Go away!"
Can they do that? Be a mob with all that entails?
We want vowels! We want vowels!! We want vowels!!!
Talas Governor Beishen Bolotbekov had been taken hostage when demonstrators seized a local government office, Reuters quoted local opposition leaders and witnesses as saying. However, Prime Minister Daniyar Usenov told reporters in the capital Bishkek that the governor had not been captured and vowed to use force to prevent any further unrest.
Discontent in the former Soviet republic has been on the rise due to what the opposition says is growing public frustration with corruption, nepotism, and high prices. The unrest is of particular concern to the US, which operates an important air base in Kyrgyzstan supporting operations against the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan.
The leader of the Ata-Meken opposition party stated that military bases have become more active. "Helicopters and planes are taking off and landing all the time," Omurbek Tekebayev said. "We do not rule out that the government may use military force against civilians," he added.
Tekebayev said that Ata-Meken vice chairman Bolot Sherniyazov was arrested on Tuesday morning, creating a wave of protests. The protesters demanded that Sherniyazov be released and soon the authorities were forced to acquiesce to their demands.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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The donks would do well to take notice of happenings like this.
#3
Odd situation, to say the least. From the CIA Factbook:
A Central Asian country of incredible natural beauty and proud nomadic traditions, most of Kyrgyzstan was formally annexed to Russia in 1876. The Kyrgyz staged a major revolt against the Tsarist Empire in 1916 in which almost one-sixth of the Kyrgyz population was killed.
Kyrgyzstan became a Soviet republic in 1936 and achieved independence in 1991 when the USSR dissolved.
Nationwide demonstrations in the spring of 2005 resulted in the ouster of President Askar AKAEV, who had run the country since 1990.
Subsequent presidential elections in July 2005 were won overwhelmingly by former prime minister Kurmanbek BAKIEV.
The political opposition organized demonstrations in Bishkek in April, May, and November 2006 resulting in the adoption of a new constitution that transferred some of the president's powers to parliament and the government.
In December 2006, the Kyrgyzstani parliament voted to adopt new amendments, restoring some of the presidential powers lost in the November 2006 constitutional change.
By late-September 2007, both previous versions of the constitution were declared illegal, and the country reverted to the AKAEV-era 2003 constitution, which was subsequently modified in a flawed referendum initiated by BAKIEV.
The president then dissolved parliament, called for early elections, and gained control of the new parliament through his newly-created political party, Ak Jol, in December 2007 elections.
In July 2009, after months of harassment against his opponents and media critics, BAKIEV won re-election in a presidential campaign that the international community deemed flawed.
Just a few months later in October, BAKIEV engineered changes in the government structure that further consolidated his already considerable hold on power.
Current concerns include: privatization of state-owned enterprises, negative trends in democracy and political freedoms, endemic corruption, improving interethnic relations, electricity generation, and combating terrorism.
#7
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan Opposition leaders in Kyrgyzstan say they have formed a new acting government in the Central Asian nation. The announcement was made Wednesday on a state television channel that opposition members stormed and seized in the capital of Bishkek.
Temir Sariyev, an opposition party leader, told The Associated Press that a coalition of politicians had agreed on a new prime minister as well as a new interior minister and new security chief.
BISHKEK, Kyrgyzstan Kyrgyzstan's Health Ministry says 40 people have died and more than 400 have been wounded in clashes with police trying to quell an anti-government uprising.
The main opposition leader in the former Soviet Central Asian nation said earlier Wednesday on national television that 100 protesters have been killed.
The unrest swept across several cities in this mountainous former Soviet nation, which houses a U.S. military base that is a key supply center in the fight against the Taliban in nearby Afghanistan.
#8
Not trying to divert traffic but militaryphotos.net following this closely - have about 8 pages of comments so far there with hotlinks to twitter, facebook, blog play by plays. Curfew sked for 2200-0600; president fled country; interior minister beaten to death; SF position over-run and pictures posted of "protesters" with Krinks w/EOM sights linked
If that's where the information is, Flailet White6069, we want to know. Ladies and Gentlemen of Rantburg, there are photos, videos, links and discussion about current events in Kyrgyzstan at Flailet White6069's link. Fred may want to add it to his sidebar.
The United States has a "transit center" located at Manas International Airport in Kyrgyzstan, about 19 miles northwest of the capital of Bishkek. It is a major hub for the transit of personnel and equipment into Afghanistan. There are about 1,100 U.S., French and Spanish personnel located at the facility, with the overwhelming majority of them being American.
I wonder how this will impact operations. Will the US/NATO lose the base and damage its ability to sustain forces in Afghanistan?
#13
US Base is temporarily closed and is impacting flow into Afghanistan. I posted an article here that links to the Stars & Stripes article what says it is closed. It is not up yet.
On the catwalk
On the catwalk...
AFP - The trademark suit sported by North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il is now in fashion worldwide thanks to his greatness, Pyongyang's official website said Wednesday. How do I look?
Like a million bucks, Dear Leader. Those Russian hookers will be falling all over you.
Uriminzokkiri, quoting an article in communist party newspaper Rodong Sinmun, said the modest-looking suits have gripped people's imagination and become a global vogue. I can't stand it! I'VE GOT TO HAVE ONE!!
"The reason is that the august image of the Great General, who is always wearing the modest suit while working, leaves a deep impression on people's mind in the world," it said. "To sum it up, that is because his image as a great man is so outstanding." Emanuel! Find out where he get's his suits! Right now!!
As you wish, sire Mr. President.
The article quoted an unidentified French fashion expert as saying world fashion follows Kim Jong-Il's style."Kim Jong-Il mode which is now spreading expeditiously worldwide is something unprecedented in the world's history," the stylist was quoted as saying. It's bigger then Che t-shirts! You said I'd get cash, right?
The suits consist of an overall-style zipped-up tunic and matching trousers, usually in khaki or blueish-grey. The 68-year-old leader wears them even when receiving foreign dignitaries. What'll it be today, Dear Leader?
What did we go with yesterday?
Blueish-grey.
How about the khaki then?
Fine choice, Dear Leader.
During his outside "field guidance" trips in winter, he also dons a shapeless anorak and fur hat. You! Pick that up! And I want a hydroelectric dam put in right here!
We're done! Where's my friggin car!
Kim and his deceased father Kim Il-Sung are at the heart of a personality cult that borders on religion, with near-magical powers ascribed to the younger Kim. Rainbows supposedly appeared over sacred Mount Paekdu where Kim Jong-Il was allegedly born, and he is said once to have scored 11 holes-in-one in a single round of golf. I knew about the golf, but I thought the rainbows came out of his ass...
#4
Well, that's inspired me. Now I have to go out to my tailor and get one made. One great thing about China is the low cost of labor means you can actually get things done without spending a fortune.
(Reuters) - The United States should consider raising taxes to help bring deficits under control and may need to consider a European-style value-added tax, White House adviser Paul Volcker said on Tuesday. Giving a speech tonight, Paul? Here. Float these trial balloons for me, willya? Stress that they're kinda European. The rubes love that shit.
As you wish, sire Mr. President.
Volcker, answering a question from the audience at a New York Historical Society event, said the value-added tax "was not as toxic an idea" as it has been in the past and also said a carbon or other energy-related tax may become necessary. "Not as toxic"? To who?
Though he acknowledged that both were still unpopular ideas, he said getting entitlement costs and the U.S. budget deficit under control may require such moves. "If at the end of the day we need to raise taxes, we should raise taxes," he said. How 'bout cutting spending, Paul? How 'bout rolling back a few 'entitlements'?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#2
More trail baloons from the bafoons. Bend over, here it comes again (BOHICA)!
"Value Added" WHERE? Yes indeed, the Germans love their 20% VAT! Try adding another $5k to $7.5k on to the price of a moderately priced new or used automobile and see where car sales end up. We'll then have state and local sales tax, and a Federal VAT as well (followed by State and City VATs later of course). What's not to like about that?
#4
VAT is a tax on incomes. It's probably also the worst possible tax if you're "progressive" as it tends to tax the poor a lot more than the rich as a %age of salary.
#5
Anticipating hyperinflation? When you have too much money floating around, one way to reduce it is by higher taxing to move it out of circulation. Now why would we be facing hyperinflation Paul? /rhet question
#6
VAT is a tax on consumption, not income. That is why it is not progressive.
We don't have a tax problem, we have a spending problem.
If we got our spending under control, I wouldn't mind a VAT, even a progressive VAT, i.e. 1% on Items under $10, 3% on Items $100-$100, 5% on Items $100-$1,000 etc.
Paul Ryan's Roadmap for American includes a VAT disguised as a Business Sales Tax. If enacting a VAT would allow the elimination of the Income tax, including repeal of the 16th amendment, I would be all for it.
#7
Would it be accurate to say that the FairTax is essentially a VAT with a "prebate" check payment system in place to attempt to eliminate any regression?
#9
unfortunately no other taxes will be reduced and no corresponding spending cuts will ever happen.
Liberals will more likely do VAT tax like this:
FOXnews +15%, CNN -5%
Toyota +15%, GM -5%
Cigarettes +25%, Marijuana 0%
Republican Voter registration +15%, Tea Party +25%, Democrat -20%
American +15%, Illegal Alien -5%
#10
VAT? No. If they are going to impose a consumption tax then just impose a sales tax so EVERYONE can see what they are paying, right then and there, to the government.
Same goes for income tax - no more withholding, just a bill every month for estimated income tax, like a credit card bill, and you have to pay it off either monthly or in a lump sum at the end of the year when you file.
Let people realize explicitly how much the Government takes from them.
#11
I agree with beldar on the sales tax but the monthly billing? What if you don't pay? Debtors prison? Or hard labor camps?
Posted by: chris ||
04/07/2010 14:24 Comments ||
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#12
VAT is a much better consumption tax than the USA's current sale taxes. Although, beware that it will be federally administered and hence they get to chose which states get the revenues. Left of center governments will screw states enacting right of center policies. We have exactly this problem in Australia at the moment, where the federal Labor government has made a huge cut in GST (VAT) revenues going to Western Australia, the only Liberal (right of center) governed state.
Think of a federally adminstered VAT as welfare for badly run states.
Sorry NS, but a progressive VAT isn't possible. It would result in a washing machine being sold in 500 pieces to attract the lowest level of tax.
#13
phil - the VAT will not replace sales tax. It will be in addition, for sure
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/07/2010 22:08 Comments ||
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#14
phil - the VAT will not replace sales tax. It will be in addition, for sure
Canada tried that for a while and is now in the process of converting provincial sales taxes into provincial GST (VAT).
The problem with provincial (US state) VAT is it opens up widescale fraud, already a big problem in Europe where EU countries levy different VAT rates.
Which removes one of the big advantages of a VAT - fraud is difficult (with a uniform rate).
[Iran Press TV Latest] A senior Turkish diplomat says the United States has stored tactical nuclear weapons in Istanbul. Yeah. I was there once. I wuz smoking my pipe right there in the middle of the nuke stash and they about had a fit, accused me of trying to blow up the Bosporus.
It's that special Turkish tobacco. Much stronger than what's smoked in America.
Former Turkish defense ministry adviser and retired ambassador to Washington, Taner Baytok asserted that nearly 100 tactical nuclear weapons were stored, "not at the US Incirlik Base in Adana", but in Istanbul, the most populated city of the country, Hurriyet Daily News reported. "And you know how often them nucular weapons pop without warning! 'Specially the tactical ones!"
I find it hard to believe we would store nuclear bombs in Turkey, let alone in the middle of the nation's capitol.
He said some of these weapons are in other cities near the Black Sea. "Twelve million people are living on nuclear warheads in Istanbul... Those weapons must be taken out of Turkey," he added.
According to Baytok, tactical weapons, which are fired with a double-key system, were placed during the Cold War. The weapons would be fired to the satellites of the former Soviet Union as they are attached to faster missiles with shorter ranges, said Baytok. "One of the keys is in the US and the other in the host country, in this case Turkey," the former ambassador added.
Based on a former report published by The Times nearly 50% of US nuclear weapons in NATO member countries can be located in Turkey.
Is The Times quite, quite certain about their source for this information?
Based on the report, US President Barack Obama will remove all nuclear arsenals out of the NATO member states, including Turkey.
That, actually, is a good idea on general principles, even if Turkey weren't turning into a despicable little weasel of a Islamist country. Besides, our missiles are much better than they were during the Cold War.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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asserted that nearly 100 tactical nuclear weapons were stored, "not at the US Incirlik Base in Adana", but in Istanbul
It saves a fortune in delivery costs. Now where did I misplace that double-key.
Posted by: ed ||
04/07/2010 0:54 Comments ||
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#2
ION TROJAN WAR 2010 = AEGEAN, WAFF > [Go on]TAKE YOUR MONEY AND RUN! |GREEK BANKS LET LARGE WEALTHY CITIZENS MOVE THEIR MONEY OFFSHORE; + GREECE WILL DEFAULT, NOT NOW BUT IN THE NEXT YEAR + GREECE WILL COLLAPSE.
#3
I heard a snippet of this on the radio yesterday morning, but couldn't find an article.
So this is why we're interested in what Iran's MSM has to say! (That's Mullah State Media)
Posted by: Bobby ||
04/07/2010 6:05 Comments ||
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#4
I find it hard to believe we would store nuclear bombs in Turkey..
Check this list. Scroll down to TUSLOG Det 67 with the description (US Army) Headquarters Company for artillery companies and one ordnance company stationed mostly in and around western Turkey. Renamed as 528 USA Arty Gp, Cakmakli. Now what kind of artillery do you have which has neither tubes nor launchers of their own? They manage something but don't have delivery systems of their own. Now google over to Cakmakli and zoom out to see how far from a major Turkish city it is located. This is now history as systems have been retired, but the policy was and is that the Secretary neither confirms nor denies the existence of such material in foreign countries.
Then again, the US Army maintained Nike Hercules Anti-Aircraft batteries around major US cities to include a battery on Lake Shore drive in Chicago. The weapons system had the capability of both conventional and 'non-conventional' warheads. What was on the tip of those missiles only the personnel on site would know.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Obama administration unveiled a new policy on Tuesday restricting U.S. use of nuclear weapons but sent a stern message to nuclear-defiant Iran and North Korea that they remain potential targets. Right. Stern. They're quakin' and shakin' down in Olde Pyongyang and Terrorhan. You betcha.
Kicking off a hectic week for President Barack Obama's nuclear agenda, his aides rolled out a strategy review that renounced U.S. development of new atomic weapons and could herald further cuts in America's stockpile. "The world will be a safer place when we're unarmed."
The announcement, calling for reduced U.S. reliance on its nuclear deterrent, could build momentum before Obama signs a landmark arms control treaty with Russia in Prague on Thursday and hosts a nuclear security summit in Washington next week. Momentum to what?
But Obama's revamped strategy is likely to draw criticism from conservatives who say his approach could compromise U.S. national security and disappoint liberals who wanted the president to go further on arms control.
Under the revamped policy, the United States for the first time is forswearing use of atomic weapons against non-nuclear countries, a break with a Bush-era threat of nuclear retaliation in the event of a biological or chemical attack.
But the new strategy comes with a major condition that the countries will be spared a U.S. nuclear response only if they are in compliance with the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty. That loophole means Iran and North Korea would not be protected.
"If there is a message for Iran and North Korea here, it is that if you're going to play by the rules, if you're going to join the international community, then we will undertake certain obligations to you," U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said.
"But if you're not going to play by the rules, if you're going to be a proliferator, then all options are on the table in terms of how we deal with you," he told reporters.
"Extreme circumstances"
The Nuclear Posture Review, as the policy document is known, stated: "The threat of global nuclear war has become remote, but the risk of nuclear attack has increased."
The NPR is required by Congress from every U.S. administration but Obama set expectations high after he vowed to end "Cold War thinking" and won the Nobel Peace Prize partially for his vision of a nuclear-free world.
Seeking to set an example, the Obama administration said the United States would consider use of nuclear weapons only in "extreme circumstances" and committed to not developing any new nuclear warheads.
But it said that while reducing the role of nuclear weapons in national security, the United States would strengthen its conventional arsenal.
"We have other means of deterrence that we can increase our reliance on, such as missile defenses, such as non-nuclear strike capabilities," a senior U.S. defense official said.
The administration also pledged to pursue further arms control with Russia beyond the new START pact Obama and Russian President Dmitry Medvedev will sign this week promising to slash nuclear arsenals by a third.
"The United States will pursue high-level, bilateral dialogues on strategic stability with both Russia and China which are aimed at fostering more stable, resilient, and transparent strategic relationships," it said.
But the Obama administration said the lack of transparency surrounding China's nuclear programs raises questions about the country's future strategic intentions.
"China's nuclear arsenal remains much smaller than the arsenals of Russia and the United States," the document said.
"But the lack of transparency surrounding its nuclear programs -- their pace and scope, as well as the strategy and doctrine that guides them -- raises questions about China's future strategic intentions."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
Uh, uh, OWG-US MISSLE DEFENSE NEEDS TARP + OBAMACARE???
#5
#4 I would have used the word niggardly instead of stingy, but I don't think the trolls could take it, especially when talking about the chosen one.
Posted by: Cheresh Black7582 2010-04-07 01:56
And is this what rantburg stands for?????
If not condone this type of talk really plain and simple.
#9
"Devastating Conventional Retaliation" is no credible deterrent. There was no such retaliation after 9/11. It won't happen now or in the future even in case a chemical attack kills a couple of thousand Americans or Europeans, the feelings of enemy civilians could be hurt after all.
NATO 1949-2010 RIP
There's another aspect to this:
Obama will now pressure Israel to forswear nuclear retaliation in case of an attack with biological or chemical weapons by Syria/Hezbollah/Iran.
#11
So would BO tell his Secret Service to go home or recommend they be reassigned since they are not needed anymore? I'm sure would-be assassins would say: "O.K. I'm going to change my ways; I've seen the light. Obama has inspired me."
#12
Meanwhile in related domestic disarmament news:
The United Nations and Secretary of State Hillary Clinton are moving forward with their plan to confiscate your guns.
The United States joined 152 other countries in support of the Arms Trade Treaty Resolution, which establishes the dates for the 2012 UN conference intended to attack American sovereignty by stripping Americans of the right to keep and bear arms.
Former United Nations ambassador John Bolton has cautioned gun owners about the Arms Trade Treaty and says the UN is trying to act as though this is really just a treaty about international arms trade between nation states, but theres no doubt that the real agenda here is domestic firearms control.
#14
Policy on this means nothing. This is propaganda and not worth the ink it takes to print it. Two second before pulling thetriggeron a nuke, the pres can have a policy change. Afterall, policy is not law, and the pres giving policy to control only his actions in crisis is dumb.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
04/07/2010 13:42 Comments ||
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#15
Posted by: Grising McGurque4957
Our old friend Play4Keeps. The man is not only a troll, he apparently has the vocabulary of a not very bright kindergartner.
A great many people could learn manners from President Washington. Our first president put very high stock in good manners, even writing himself an etiquette guide.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/07/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
We know who you are. We know where you live. We know where you work. And we be many, but you be few.
OMG,Ima gonna have nightmares tonight, Greenpeas are a cummin after me.
A national treasure
The Crawford Peace House, once a launch pad for antiwar protests as President George W. Bush sought refuge at his nearby ranch, could soon be on the auction block. Heh. Maybe W oughta buy it... ... and then knock it down ...
Dallas-area resident Johnny Wolf, who bought the century-old frame house seven years ago, said Friday he's five months behind on the mortgage and faces foreclosure. "It's hard, when the wars are still going on, to have to do this," said Wolf, a stage designer from Forney who said the recession has nearly driven him to bankruptcy. "It seems like the peace movement has been waning." Lack of money from daddy because he was laid off will do that
This week, California peace activist Cindy Sheehan sent an e-mail urging donations so the house can be preserved as a peace museum and visitor center. "My friends need help," wrote Sheehan, the mother of a fallen soldier who led a 26-day protest against the Iraq war near Bush's ranch in 2005. Good luck! Off to Venezuela! Thanks, Casey!
Wolf said that unless her appeal generates funds, the white clapboard house may be auctioned soon from the steps of the McLennan County Courthouse. A foreclosure sale was scheduled for Tuesday, but Wolf said late Friday that he and a possible buyer negotiated a one-month delay. "I'd love for the house to continue," he said. "My ideal would be somebody who's a retired peace activist who wanted to live there and give tours and keep it alive." You know, like a rest home for retired hippies...
He said the home has historical significance. In 2004, after a Waco newspaper columnist complained that Michael Moore's film Fahrenheit 9/11 had been showing for a month nationwide but nowhere in McLennan County, activists at the Peace House arranged for an outdoor screening. The following year, Sheehan used the house as her headquarters as she staged protests from a makeshift campsite along the road leading to Bush's ranch. Damn, it's like Gettysburg almost...
Wolf, who bought the house for $54,000 in 2003, said he's been offered $38,000 for it. But he said he owes $48,000 in principal, interest and penalties. Bought at the peak of the bubble, did he ...
Wolf said he's ready to move on, even though it's painful. "A handful of people have been supporting it, and they just don't want to let go," he said.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Dubai police have arrested a man impersonating a U.S. celebrity cosmetic surgeon and operating on women attracted by his rock-bottom fees, local newspapers reported on Tuesday.
A 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's north Sumatra early on Wednesday morning. According to the US Geological Survey, the quake struck at a depth of 46 kilometers (29 miles), just off northern Sumatra, at 5:15 am (2215 GMT Tuesday), AFP reported. A tsunami alert was issued for the region shortly after the massive earthquake.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egypt's market for the illegal drug hashish is going through a shortage that is stoking a wide variety of theories, many of them colored by a sense of widespread distrust towards the government.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Egyptian protesters demanding an end to President Hosni Mubarak's 30-year rule scuffled with security forces on Tuesday and dozens were detained, witnesses and security sources said. "Down, down, Hosni Mubarak," a group of more than 200 chanted as they tried to gather in central Cairo's Tahrir Square. Police hauled away a group of about a dozen protesters, shouting "freedom, freedom" near parliament, minutes later.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Britain will vote in a general election on May 6, Prime Minister Gordon Brown announced on Tuesday, firing the gun on what is set to be the closest poll race in nearly 20 years.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The Obama administration unveiled a new policy on Tuesday restricting U.S. use of nuclear weapons but sent a stern message to nuclear-defiant Iran and North Korea that they remain potential targets.
