The politburo meeting has ended with the statement that Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe will definitely contest a presidential election run-off, should he have failed to defeat Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round. Press reports from Harare said the ruling party's secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, told reporters after the meeting, chaired by Mugabe, that 'it's definite there will be a re-run.'
'We are down but not out. Absolutely the candidate will be Robert Gabriel Mugabe, who else would it be other than our dear old man,' Mutasa said. He also said that parliamentary votes would be recounted in disputed areas. There are areas where Zanu-PF lost by small margins and this statement from Mutasa raises fears that Zanu PF are now trying to rig the parliamentary result, which officially gave control of parliament to the opposition.
Additionally the statement that there will be a presidential run-off leaves the situation as unclear as it has been all week. The Zimbabwe Electoral Commission has still not officially announced the results of Saturday's presidential poll, but the MDC claimed earlier this week that Morgan Tsvangirai won a clear victory.
Although the MDC says its own calculations show Tsvangirai won just over the 50 percent threshold, it said it is still prepared to compete in a second round if necessary. The country's law dictates there must be a second round run-off within 21 days. But Tsvangirai's spokesman George Sibotshiwe said they would not be commenting on Mutasa's statement yet; 'We need to study what they have said and look at the situation on the ground before we can make a statement.'
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/05/2008 00:00 ||
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Though stripped of its majority in Zimbabwe's lower house of parliament, the closely intertwined government of President Robert Mugabe and his ruling ZANU-PF party gave indications of lashing back at the ascendant opposition and other targets.
The Zimbabwe Peace Project, a non-governmental organization, Friday said there has been a surge in violence against opposition members since the March 29 election.
A statement issued by the Peace Project said it had documented cases of opposition members being harassed and intimidated by police for publicly celebrating the house victory by the opposition Movement for Democratic Change. It said ZANU-PF officials and liberation war veterans have unleashed terror on opposition activists.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2008 00:00 ||
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DHAKA, Bangladesh - Eight members of the Oregon National Guard are deployed to the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training in Dhaka, Bangladesh, to participate in a three-week long Exercise Shanti Doot, which commenced Apr. 2.
The team, comprising both Army and Air National Guard members, will join over 600 soldiers from 12 countries. The exercise is designed to enhance regional capacity for peacekeeping operations, improve bilateral operations between Pacific-rim countries, promote professional relationships and good will, all while demonstrating U.S. resolve in support of the security interests of regional allies.
The Oregon Guard team will provide command and control in Exercise Shanti Doot. The exercise involves a wide range of operational skills and tasks, including checkpoint operations, patrolling, security of distribution sites, convoy operations, cordon and search and disarmament following United Nations (UN) protocol.
"We are practicing the core competencies needed to execute UN peacekeeping operations," said Lt. Col. Edward Tanguy, Commander, 249th Regional Training Institute and field training exercise commander for Shanti Doot. "Our goal is to enhance the readiness and interoperability of the Bangladesh Armed Forces, the U.S. Army, and other multinational participant forces."
The National Guard is considered to be the ideal choice for conducting UN peacekeeping training because of its dual federal and state mission and civilian professional experience. "We bring a unique skill-set as Guardsmen," said Tanguy. "From natural disaster response to peacekeeping to combat operations on the battlefield, there is no other organization that can muster such diverse capabilities to today's military environment."
The Oregon Guard is especially suited for this exercise due to its successful prior UN training experience. In 2006, the Oregon National Guard provided command and control for Exercise Khan Quest in Mongolia.
"Exercises and military-to-military contacts are the building blocks of partnership and friendship," said Tanguy.
From a soldier's perspective, the exercise is also a great opportunity for members of the Oregon National Guard to acquire a global perspective, expand cultural awareness and understand the nuances of cross-cultural communications. The countries participating in this exercise are Bangladesh, Brunei, Cambodia, India, Indonesia, South Korea, Mongolia, Malaysia, Nepal, Sri Lanka, USA and Tonga.
"It is my hope that when we leave here all 12 nations will be successfully trained in UN peacekeeping standards and our Oregon contingent will also return with an appreciation for cultural insight and friendship between the participating nations," Tanguy concluded.
Bangladesh is a predominately Sunni-Muslim nation located in south Asia, bordering both India and Myanmar. Despite being one of the poorest and most densely populated nations in the world, it is a significant contributor to international peace operations worldwide. Exercise Shanti Doot, which means Ambassador of Peace in Bengali, is held at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training. Additional information can be found at the Bangladesh Institute of Peace Support Operation Training's website at www.bipsot.net/index.html.
Over the coming years, the Oregon Air National Guard will further develop military to military relations with Bangladesh under the National Guard Bureau's State Partnership Program.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2008 09:28 ||
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#3
They bring American standards, and teach the others to avoid any opportunity to fight them... and take care of things so the Marines and Green Berets can do their thing in peace.
A group of Bangladeshi war veterans and intellectuals has published a list of alleged war criminals from the countrys 1971 independence struggle with Pakistan, an official said on Friday. The publication of the list of nearly 1,600 names comes amid growing calls for prosecutions, or at the least the setting up of a South African-style truth commission.
Pak Army: Out of the 1,597 people on the list, 369 were Pakistani army personnel; the rest were Bangladeshi collaborators, said MA Hasan of the War Crimes Fact Finding Committee, which has spent nearly two decades documenting wartime incidents, including rape, arson, and mass murder.
Hasan said that around half of those listed were still alive. We have been investigating for 17 years to compile the information; the list is on the basis of field level investigation, mass graves, and eyewitness statements, he added. Earlier this year, Amnesty International asked Bangladeshs military-backed government to establish a truth commission to investigate war crimes.
The bloody nine-month conflict ended with Bangladesh, formerly known as East Pakistan, emerging as an independent nation in 1971. A court in the capital Dhaka has also ordered police to submit a report on allegations against Matiur Rahman Nizami, the leader of the Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) and industries minister in Bangladeshs then coalition government until October 2006.
In a case filed by a former Bangladesh freedom fighter, Niazami along with 12 others is accused of helping the Pakistan Army plan a mass killing in which thousands of villagers died. The JI has dismissed the charge as an attempt to defame the party. Since the countrys emergency government came to power in January 2007, war veterans have led calls for prosecutions.
We will give this list to the government and the Election Commission, said Hasan. Our demand to the government is that those perpetrators should be punished and disqualified from the next election, he added. The government has pledged to reinstate democracy by late 2008 after completing a clean-up of Bangladeshs notoriously corrupt politics. Some Bangladeshis supported Islamabad during the war in order to prevent the break-up of Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/05/2008 00:00 ||
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The mass killings in Bangladesh (then East Pakistan) in 1971 vie with the annihilation of the Soviet POWs, the holocaust against the Jews, and the genocide in Rwanda as the most concentrated act of genocide in the twentieth century. In an attempt to crush forces seeking independence for East Pakistan, the West Pakistani military regime unleashed a systematic campaign of mass murder which aimed at killing millions of Bengalis, and likely succeeded in doing so.
Posted by: john frum ||
04/05/2008 7:50 Comments ||
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In a textbook example of "progressives" undermining their own agenda, Air America has suspended its star host Randi Rhodes for telling jokes that generated absolutely no controversy until the network -- two weeks after the now suddenly objectionable comments were made in a stand-up comedy performance -- decided to remove her, at least temporarily, from its airwaves.
At an appearance in San Francisco sponsored by Air America's local affiliate, Rhodes referred to Hillary Clinton and Geraldine Ferraro as "fucking whores." It's widely understood that this epithet, delivered in the context of a well-received comedic rant, is what prompted the suspension. But Air America's terse statement on the matter offers no explanation beyond declaring it "does not condone such abusive, ad hominem language by our Hosts." ". . . unless it's directed at the Jew-loving drunken fratboy neo-Nazi mouth-breathing extra-chromosome Christer scum in the White House. Then it's cool."
It's not detectable at this point if Air America honchos believe Rhodes was somehow supposed to have known what she said is punishable. It's like Michael told Fredo after the meeting with Moe Greene: "don't ever take sides with anyone against the Family again. Ever."
Also unknown is the duration of her suspension. According to New York Daily News reporter David Hinckley, the network is remaining silent for now "to gauge public reaction." How principled.
Ferraro has wasted no time calling for Rhodes to be fired. The former VP candidate told Fox News earlier today, "What did they do with Don Imus when he went after the young black team who was playing basketball with kind of the same language? Treat them both the same...She's coming at me and Hillary in a ... sexist way... To incite people with language like this young woman just did on radio is very, very dangerous because ... some people take this stuff so seriously that it can affect your security."
Understandably, Rhodes is stunned and angry. About her employers she told me: "They are in breach of my contract and have damaged my hard won excellent reputation in the broadcast industry..."
She really believes that, doesn't she ...
Rhodes added she received thank you letters from representatives of Air America, the San Francisco affiliate and sponsors praising her for the performance that now has her in hot water.
At a critical moment in its evolution, the network has put itself in an untenable position. Ultimately, does Air America, or does it not, stand for free speech? At this moment, it clearly does not. "Suprise meter reading off-scale low, Cap'n."
"Thank you, Mister Data."
That's not very progressive.
Posted by: Mike ||
04/05/2008 07:54 ||
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#1
Its a running dog sock puppet fantazine of the granola munching pseudo Marxists parasitic Momma's basement Nannyists. It's never been about free speech unless you're talking mooching off of handicapped minority childrens' charities so you don't have to pay for the operating costs. These parasites give blood sucking fleas a bad name.
#4
my hard won excellent reputation in the broadcast industry..."
like when she missed work because she was facially assaulted by a concrete sidewalk after spending the afternoon with Mr. Grey Goose?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2008 11:31 Comments ||
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#5
Wasnt her "performance" part of a fundraiser of sorts aired on Senator Obamas website? Giving an aide the hook over calling Hillary a monster seems kind of silly right about now dontcha think?
These people are so corrupt that it wouldn't surprise me if Randi was working with the station to screw their insurance company before they declare bankruptcy and squeeze dry any remaining capital out of their sinking ship.
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures.
The Clintons reported $20.4 million in income for 2007 as they gave the public the most detailed look at their finances in eight years. Almost half the former first couple's money came from Bill Clinton's speeches.
"I have absolutely nothing against rich people," Hillary Clinton told North Dakota Democrats at their party convention Friday night in Grand Forks. "As a matter of fact, my husband much to my surprise and his has made a lot of money since he left the White House doing what he loves doing most, talking to people."
The tax returns are a portrait in post-presidential success. The Clintons, who had lived in taxpayer-paid housing in the governor's mansion in Arkansas or the White House for years, left the presidency struggling with a legal defense fund stemming from a spate of investigations. They now are wealthy enough that she could lend her presidential campaign $5 million earlier this year.
In the tax returns, the former president describes his occupation as "Speaking & Writing." Better known as "selling bullsh*t"
Beside speeches and books, his biggest single business income is from his partnership with Yucaipa Global Opportunities Fund, a Los Angeles-based investment firm founded by longtime Clinton fundraiser Ron Burkle. Between 2003 and 2006, the returns show total Yucaipa partnership income of $12.5 million. The 2007 summary provided by the campaign lists $2.75 million in partnership income.
President Clinton also has been an adviser to InfoUSA, a data company whose chief executive, Vinod Gupta, has been a major donor to Democrats and gave at least $1 million to Bill Clinton's presidential library in Arkansas. Clinton received $400,000 in payments from the company in 2006 and 2007, according to the documents.
According to a summary of the seven years provided by the campaign, the former president's speech income since he left the White House totals $51.85 million and his income from his two books "My Life " and "Giving" totals $29.6 million, including a $15 million advance for "My Life." Bill Clinton has traveled the world, giving paid speeches to multinational corporations, investment banks and motivational groups.
Details of the former president's speaking fees were included in Sen. Clinton's financial disclosure report last year. In 2006 and 2007, he earned fees from $100,000 to $450,000 speaking to such corporations as IBM, General Motors, and Cisco Systems, finance giants such as Goldman Sachs and Lehman Brothers, and trade groups such as the National Association of Realtors and the Mortgage Bankers Association. He also has been paid to speak to nonprofit or charity groups, including the TJ Martell Foundation, which finances leukemia research, Nelson Mandela's Children's Fund and, last March, to the Boys and Girls Club of Los Angeles.
#2
HotAir notes: As far as the charity goes, the Clintons seem to have mostly relied on the proverb that it begins at home. Our friend at Power Line note that of the $109 million that the Clintons made since leaving the White House, roughly 10% went to charity almost all of it to the William J. Clinton Foundation. The New York Times notes that the foundation only gave away about half of that money and almost all of it after Hillary Clinton announced her candidacy for the presidency.
saving for a rainy day?
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/05/2008 11:16 Comments ||
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speaking to such corporations as the Mortgage Bankers Association.
Is that the same Mortgage Bankers Association that the Democrats have been carping about lately? You know theyre the greedy ghouls that caused the Housing credit crisis through their cold-hearted deceptions on the American people.
#5
In an honest world both those murderous thieves would be either dead or finishing their lives out in the Supermax at Florence. Instead they get $109 mil. To think there are people who wonder why so many Americans are cynical...
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.
The politburo meeting has ended with the statement that Zanu-PF leader Robert Mugabe will definitely contest a presidential election run-off, should he have failed to defeat Morgan Tsvangirai in the first round. Press reports from Harare said the ruling party's secretary for administration Didymus Mutasa, told reporters after the meeting, chaired by Mugabe, that 'it's definite there will be a re-run.'
Sen. Hillary Rodham Clinton and former President Clinton made nearly $109 million since they left the White House, capitalizing on the world's interest in the former first couple and lucrative business ventures.
