Hi there, !
Today Sat 04/02/2011 Fri 04/01/2011 Thu 03/31/2011 Wed 03/30/2011 Tue 03/29/2011 Mon 03/28/2011 Sun 03/27/2011 Archives
Rantburg
533586 articles and 1861633 comments are archived on Rantburg.

Today: 78 articles and 179 comments as of 11:22.
Post a news link    Post your own article   
Area: WoT Operations    WoT Background    Opinion        Politix   
Libyan Foreign Minister quits, arrives in UK
Today's Headlines
Headline Comments [Views]
Page 3: Non-WoT
4 00:00 USN,Ret [4] 
7 00:00 Bright Pebbles [4] 
6 00:00 Besoeker [2] 
11 00:00 Bobby [1] 
2 00:00 phil_b [] 
1 00:00 twobyfour [1] 
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [] 
0 [] 
0 [1] 
6 00:00 gorb [3] 
0 [] 
4 00:00 Rob Crawford [] 
0 [3] 
0 [5] 
2 00:00 ryuge [7] 
6 00:00 bman [] 
Page 1: WoT Operations
1 00:00 Barbara Skolaut [8]
0 [3]
0 [4]
17 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
1 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [3]
0 []
0 [1]
4 00:00 Beavis [4]
1 00:00 Anonymoose [6]
0 [6]
0 [8]
0 [5]
3 00:00 trailing wife [4]
0 [6]
0 [12]
1 00:00 JohnQC [2]
0 [5]
0 []
0 []
0 [1]
0 []
0 [2]
1 00:00 American Delight [2]
0 [1]
2 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 [2]
13 00:00 JohnQC [1]
1 00:00 Frank G [5]
0 [7]
0 [6]
12 00:00 Thing From Snowy Mountain [2]
0 [8]
Page 2: WoT Background
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [7]
2 00:00 JosephMendiola [10]
11 00:00 JohnQC [3]
4 00:00 Procopius2k [4]
1 00:00 Frozen Al [7]
7 00:00 JosephMendiola [4]
2 00:00 JohnQC [1]
8 00:00 Bright Pebbles [5]
0 [7]
0 []
0 [1]
2 00:00 Albert Fleting6496 []
0 [1]
0 []
1 00:00 JosephMendiola [8]
0 [1]
1 00:00 Mike Kozlowski [1]
7 00:00 Charles [5]
0 [1]
0 [4]
Page 4: Opinion
2 00:00 phil_b [2]
0 [1]
1 00:00 gorb [1]
1 00:00 newc []
1 00:00 Anguper Hupomosing9418 []
5 00:00 Bobby [1]
0 [2]
0 [7]
Page 6: Politix
6 00:00 AzCat [4]
8 00:00 Pearl Whusoque4619 [2]
-Lurid Crime Tales-
Man found 'shot dead' in MPA's room
[Dawn] On Monday, the hostel employees found the room locked from inside. As there was no response from Tarrar despite knocking at the door repeatedly, they called the police and informed them of the matter.
Did Agatha Christie write this story?
DSP Khwaja Zahid Abbas and SHO Mian Ameen, who reached the site along with other police officials, broke the door and found Mr Tarrar lying in a pool of blood with a bullet wound near his chin. A gun was lying near the body, the police said.
"Ahah!" said Poirot. "Zat makes my little gray cells go snicker-snack!"
On being informed of the incident by police, the dear departed`s family and the MPA also reached the hostel.
"I must ask you not to disturb the body, madam!"
Tarrar`s family told the police that he might have done away with himself over some unknown issue as he was looking dejected when he left his Hafizabad residence a week ago. The family also refused to lodge any complaint with the police.
"Did he have any enemies you know of, madam?"
Maybe one of them whacked him?
Islampura police officials, however, termed the incident mysterious and refused to hand over the body to the family without an autopsy.
"Muldoon! Get this body to Dr. Quincy! And make it snappy!"
Quoting some employees of the MPA Hostel, the SHO said none of them heard the gunfire which had `complicated` the incident.

The body had been shifted to the city morgue and further investigations were under way, he said, adding the autopsy report might help resolve the mystery.
Yeah. I think that's why they do 'em...
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Imam beaten up over genie treatment
[Emirates 24/7] An Iraqi Imam (preacher) in Sharjah was hospitalised after he was beaten up by an Arab man for refusing to treat him for allegedly being possessed by a genie, saying he was not an exorcist.

The unnamed Arab man waited for the Imam to finish night prayers on Saturday and attacked him inside the mosque in Buheira area, causing injuries to the preacher, who was rushed to Kuwait hospital in the city, Emarat Al Youm Arabic language daily reported on Tuesday.

It quoted the victim's son, Abdul Wahab, as saying the Arab man had threatened his father two days before because he refused to treat him by reciting the Koran.

"The Arab man claimed he was haunted by genies and wanted the Imam to treat him and read verses ....but the Imam refused, saying this is not his job," the paper said. "His son said the Arab man had also threatened to kill his father unless he accepts his request."

It also quoted Abdul Wahab as saying he man attacked his father from the back, causing him to hit a steel door.

"My father fell unconscious and was bleeding....the man was still beating him then he tore my father's clothes...he again threatened to kill my father."

The paper quoted police as saying they were investigating the incident but did not make clear if the assailant had been placed in durance vile.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  I found it interesting that the young lad called the attacker "Arab". Meaning he considered himself "not-Arab".

That meme was established shortly after Saddam's fall and it seems it took a hold.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/30/2011 4:41 Comments || Top||

#2  Kurds are not Arab, nor semitic of any variety. And they're often a bit more educated and sophisticated theologically than many tribal Arabs, although that varies from place/culture to place/culture.
Posted by: lotp || 03/30/2011 9:27 Comments || Top||

#3  Actually, I blame the Imam in this case, because he should have given a referral, instead of just denying treatment.

And if the guy looked dangerously kooky, send him on an extensive wild goose chase, to do things, perform rituals, that he must do *before* he can be exorcised.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/30/2011 10:46 Comments || Top||

#4  "To rid yourself of djinn, you must do the following: place a loaded pistol in your mouth and repeatedly pull the trigger. Do not worry! Allah will protect you, and the noise will frighten away the djinn! You MUST place it in your mouth, though, or the noise will not be loud enough to frighten them away!"
Posted by: Rob Crawford || 03/30/2011 11:39 Comments || Top||


-Short Attention Span Theater-
Introducing the artificial leaf
"A practical artificial leaf has been one of the Holy Grails of science for decades," said Daniel Nocera, Ph.D., who led the research team. "We believe we have done it. The artificial leaf shows particular promise as an inexpensive source of electricity for homes of the poor in developing countries and maybe coming soon to a country near you. Our goal is to make each home its own power station," he said. "One can envision villages in India and Africa not long from now purchasing an affordable basic power system based on this technology."
Wow! Finally! In the not-too-distant future, perhaps I could save a lot of money by using the electricity from about a five square meter grid of artificial leaves to power my electric clothes dryer!
The device bears no resemblance to natural leaves, which scientists have used as the model for their efforts to develop this new genre of solar cells. About the shape of a poker card but thinner, the device is fashioned from silicon, electronics and catalysts, substances that accelerate chemical reactions that otherwise would not occur, or would run slowly. Placed in a single gallon of water in a bright sunlight, the device could produce enough electricity to supply a house in a developing country with electricity for a day, Nocera said. It does so by splitting water into its two components, hydrogen and oxygen.
And, eventually, Taxium.
The hydrogen and oxygen gases would be stored in a fuel cell, which uses those two materials to produce electricity, located either on top of the house or beside it.
What could possibly go wrong?
Posted by: gorb || 03/30/2011 12:21 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fuel cells are definitely a good way to provide cheap power. Traditionally, they have been extremely expensive and fragile, but the technology is improving and the cost is coming down. Combine newer and cheaper fuel cells with fusion power technology and we will have renewable and clean energy and can tell the Middle East terrorists they can eat their oil.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/30/2011 13:09 Comments || Top||

#2  Ho hum. Been reading about these promising new technologies for 30+ years. For now let's drill for oil and build fission plants, thank you very much. If things change in the next 30 years that's fine too.
Posted by: Jock the Salmon || 03/30/2011 13:30 Comments || Top||

#3  Taxium
heh...
Posted by: Water Modem || 03/30/2011 14:25 Comments || Top||

#4  Nope. Using freshwater is against the rules; freshwater disappearing from the surface of the earth and all that. Too bad.

I'm sure someone here can explain sorting the H2 from the O2 with an inexpensive backwoods-hardy device so I ask, as the H20 is seperated into its respective elements, what happens to everything else in the water? That is, how clean must this water be so that the leaf is not coated by the other stuff and rendered useless?
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/30/2011 16:36 Comments || Top||

#5  Why not just build a Solar powered http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stirling_engine

??
With a dynamo on it?
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/30/2011 18:20 Comments || Top||

#6  BP - Always wondered why they didn't build a CPU cooler using a stirling engine.
Posted by: Iblis || 03/30/2011 20:55 Comments || Top||

#7  Some of us use Water to cool our chips...

Koolance
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/30/2011 22:43 Comments || Top||


Crows in Msia stealing lingerie to make nests
[Straits Times] AFTER a report earlier this month that someone was getting cheap thrills from stealing panties and bras left to dry outside several homes here, residents in nearby Ulu Tiram have complained that they are also finding their undergarments missing.

However,
The ever-popular However...
their initial suspicion that a sexual predator was at work turned out to be wrong when they discovered that the actual culprits were crows which have been stealing the lingerie to build their nests.

Not only that. The birds also steal scraps of food and leave their droppings all over the neighbourhood in several housing and business areas in the town.

Resident Simon Lee, 38, claimed that more than 20 people in his neighbourhood had lost their undergarments in the last two months.

He said that initially the problem was not that serious. 'But now, thousands of crows have made their homes in the trees that line the roads here,' he said.

Another resident, Goh Sui Moi, 46, said she had to wash her car daily because of the droppings from the thousands of crows that also make a lot of noise when they converge.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Dem Crows know a good thing when they see it.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/30/2011 1:38 Comments || Top||

#2  I initially read that as,

Crowds in Msia stealing lingerie

Which having lived there didn't surprise me in the least.
Posted by: phil_b || 03/30/2011 4:48 Comments || Top||


Worker crushed to death by steamroller
[Straits Times] AN 18-YEAR-OLD worker died under a steamroller after allegedly jumping off the moving machine in a steep, swampy area at Kampung Ladang in Gemas, Negri Sembilan, Kosmo! reported.
Ow. All I can say is Ow.
Friends found the body of T.A. Suman with his crushed head partially buried in the ground in the 2.50pm incident on Sunday.

A police front man said the victim was carrying out some road works when he lost control of the machine, resulting in the mishap.

'We believe the victim tried to jump off the vehicle in a bid to save himself. 'Unfortunately, he landed behind the back wheel of the steamroller.

'His head was rolled over by the machine, which weighs about four tonnes,' he said. The victim, from Taman Regent in Gemencheh, died of severe injuries to the head.

The daily said initial investigations showed that the steep location may have caused Suman to lose control of the machine.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  A way to become a cartoon character!
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/30/2011 4:27 Comments || Top||


-Signs, Portents, and the Weather-
GMT is history, Arabic Standard Time (AST) begins Thursday.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2011 07:29 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Arabic Standard Time (GMT -1200 years)

Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski || 03/30/2011 11:01 Comments || Top||

#2  whew August, 2010. I thought they were celebrating Ramadamadingdong early
Posted by: Beavis || 03/30/2011 11:12 Comments || Top||

#3  Mike definitely has the lead for 'snark of the day'.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/30/2011 12:50 Comments || Top||

#4  Thats gonna be a shitload of re-winding and button pushing. They gonna have to start wearing moon dials on their wrists?...guys only of course.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/30/2011 13:00 Comments || Top||

#5  GMT -10519200
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/30/2011 13:44 Comments || Top||

#6  "This claim that the holy city is a "zero magnetism zone" has won support from some Arab scientists like Abdel-Baset al-Sayyed of the Egyptian National Research Centre who says that there is no magnetic force in Mecca."

Must be true. I'm feeling no great pull to visit there....
Posted by: Ackoopmed || 03/30/2011 15:02 Comments || Top||

#7  ...there is no magnetic force in Mecca.

There is no intellectual force in Mecca either.
Posted by: DarthVader || 03/30/2011 16:05 Comments || Top||

#8  Inshallah is kinda like the Spanish mañana, but without the urgency.
Posted by: mojo || 03/30/2011 16:17 Comments || Top||

#9  No magnetic field in Mecca, ya say? That explains a lot, with all the unimpeded solar particles hammering their brains non stop.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/30/2011 17:02 Comments || Top||

#10  By far the most common Solar Particle i.e. photons are "rotating" Electric and Magnetic fields.

I always thought Mecca was left in the dark ages, now we know why.
Posted by: Bright Pebbles || 03/30/2011 19:12 Comments || Top||

#11  According to Yusuf al-Qaradawi, an Egyptian cleric known around the Muslim world for his popular television show "Sharia and Life", Mecca has a greater claim to being the prime meridian because it is "in perfect alignment with the magnetic north."

This claim that the holy city is a "zero magnetism zone" has won support from some Arab scientists like Abdel-Baset al-Sayyed of the Egyptian National Research Centre who says that there is no magnetic force in Mecca.

"That's why if someone travels to Mecca or lives there, he lives longer, is healthier and is less affected by the earth's gravity," he said. "You get charged with energy."


Where do I get my ticket? Do I need a job, or will thay care for me forever? Can I bring my wife, or will one be provided?
Posted by: Bobby || 03/30/2011 19:19 Comments || Top||


Africa North
Tunisian academics launch political debate
[Maghrebia] Politics and labour are the honour of the Tunisian town of El Hamma. Located 480km south of the capital, it was the birthplace of such illustrious activists and thinkers as Mohamed Daghbaji, Tahar Haddad and Mohamed Ali El Hammi.

Last week, the historic city hosted a three-day seminar on the future of transition and ways to build a robust democracy in Tunisia. Activists and thinkers representing the full spectrum of political ideas gathered at the event, which ended on Monday (March 21st).

Though the years of political repression are gone, civil society actors and academics haven't yet voiced their ideas about the country's future model. The absence of an appropriate conceptual framework accounts for the difficulty of successful transition, according to experts.

In this regard, Syrian researcher Abdallah Tourkmani, who lives in Tunisia, considered that intellectuals and political elites need to form a national consensus or what is known as "historical community" in order to complete the democratic reform.

There are two scenarios that could emerge in the wake of the revolution, according to Tourkmani. The first is based on national reconciliation, pluralism and dialogue, which would pave the way for a secure democratic transformation. The second is a descent into chaos. What will enable the revolution to achieve its objective is the formation of an inclusive "historical community", he said.

Habib Marsit, academic and president of the Tunisian branch of Amnesty International, said that human rights principles should be at the heart of Tunisia's political reforms in order to build a new state. It includes either bringing to justice human rights violators from the old guard or vindicating the rights of those subjected to the violations.

The revolution is a "birth of new society from the womb of an old society" and "the construction of the new power of people", according to lawyer Abdennaceur Aouini. He stressed the need for a system that reflects and translated the legitimacy of the revolution and eliminates the bureaucratic authority.

"Freedom is the ultimate purpose of the revolution," said academic researcher Jamel Draouil. Tunisia. Activists and thinkers representing the full spectrum of political ideas gathered at the event, which ended on Monday (March 21st).

Though the years of political repression are gone, civil society actors and academics haven't yet voiced their ideas about the country's future model. The absence of an appropriate conceptual framework accounts for the difficulty of successful transition, according to experts.

In this regard, Syrian researcher Abdallah Tourkmani, who lives in Tunisia, considered that intellectuals and political elites need to form a national consensus or what is known as "historical community" in order to complete the democratic reform.

There are two scenarios that could emerge in the wake of the revolution, according to Tourkmani. The first is based on national reconciliation, pluralism and dialogue, which would pave the way for a secure democratic transformation. The second is a descent into chaos. What will enable the revolution to achieve its objective is the formation of an inclusive "historical community", he said.

Habib Marsit, academic and president of the Tunisian branch of Amnesia Amnesty International, said that human rights
...which often include carefully measured allowances of freedom at the convenience of the state...
principles should be at the heart of Tunisia's political reforms in order to build a new state. It includes either bringing to justice human rights violators from the old guard or vindicating the rights of those subjected to the violations.

The revolution is a "birth of new society from the womb of an old society" and "the construction of the new power of people", according to lawyer Abdennaceur Aouini. He stressed the need for a system that reflects and translated the legitimacy of the revolution and eliminates the bureaucratic authority.

"Freedom is the ultimate purpose of the revolution," said academic researcher Jamel Draouil.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  ION WAFF > MORE [Tunisian] MUSLIMS BEGGING ITALY FOR [immediate]ASYLUM AS USUAL.

ARTIC > 5000 Locals + 6000-N-Counting illegal Muslim emigres straining resources on LAMPEDUSA.

IIUC, LAMPEDUSA = NEW "EBEYE"??? Ebeye was a small, overcrowded, discrepit + allegedly irradiated Island in Marshalls used by the US as an alternate "safe" home for Marshallese Islanders displaced by the post-WW2 Bikini Atoll atomic bomb tests - the US Govt was heavily critiicized back in the 1970's by the UNO, Internat Observers for the poor conditions on the Ebeye.
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/30/2011 1:53 Comments || Top||


Africa Subsaharan
UN: Gbagbo forces behind Abidjan 'atrocity'
The UN peacekeeping mission in Cote d'Ivoire (UNOCI) has released a statement saying forces loyal to Laurent Gbagbo,
... President of Ivory Coast since 2000. Gbagbo lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and Laurent has refused to leave despite the international community's hemming, hawing, and broad hints...
the country's incumbent leader, opened fire on civilians in Abidjan on Monday, killing about a dozen people.

The organisation said that in another incident, a group of pro-Gbagbo youths put a tyre around a young man and burnt him alive in the Riviera area of the city, and that another group "savagely attacked" two UN staff.

"With the increase in human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
violations and barbaric practices, there are grounds for wondering whether President Gbagbo is still in charge of his forces and supporters," Tuesday's statement said.

"UNOCI believes it is imperative to end this spiral of violence by finding a definitive solution to the political impasse which stemmed from the post-electoral crisis."

Gbagbo's camp was not immediately available to comment on the UN statement.

Towns captured
The UN statement came as forces loyal to Ouattara, the internationally-recognised winner of the country's presidential elections in November, seized the towns of Daloa, Bondoukou and Belleville.

On Monday, pro-Outtara forces took control of the town of Duekoue.

A source in the pro-Gbagbo military said Daloa and Duekoue had fallen, but fighting continued in parts of Duekoue.

"The combat was very violent in Daloa the whole night, but we couldn't keep our positions ... It has fallen into rebel hands," the source said.

The capture of Daloa and Duekoue, potentially open up a route to the major exporting port of San Pedro and the area the supporters of Outaeea now control produces about 600,000 tonnes of cocoa a year, half of Cote d'Ivoire's output.

San Pedro ships out about that amount each year.

Cocoa futures were lower on Tuesday, down 3.3 per cent in London in afternoon trading, as the market closely watched conflict which has pushed them to 30-year highs in past months.

The pro-Outtara forces, which Ouattara has recognised as his military and renamed the Cote d'Ivoire Republican Forces (FRCI), have controlled northern Ivory Coast since the civil war of 2002-3.

The disputed presidential election, which Gbagbo refuses to concede, has rekindled the civil war it was meant to finally end.

Heavy fighting in Abidjan
Heavy fighting
... as opposed to the more usual light or sporadic fighting...
has rocked Abidjan and across much of a north-south ceasefire line.

Up to one million Ivorians have now decamped fighting in the main city of Abidjan alone, according to the UN refugee agency.

Others have been uprooted across the country and at least 112,000 have crossed into Liberia to the west.

Helicopter shot at
The UN peacekeeping mission also said on Tuesday that FRCI fighters in Duekoue had fired on one of its reconnaissance helicopters.

The aircraft have previously been targeted by Gbabgo's forces, but this was the first report of an attack by pro-Ouattara forces.

Ouattara remains holed up in a lagoon-side Abidjan hotel.

Tuesday's UN report of more civilians killed adds to a tally of 462 confirmed deaths since the crisis begin.

Human rights groups say crimes against humanity may have already been committed.

The world body is also investigating allegations that 200 African nationals, from Mali, Burkina Faso, Senegal,
... a nation of about 14 million on the west coast of Africa bordering Mauretania to the north, Mali to the east, and a pair of Guineas to the south, one of them Bissau. It is 90 percent Mohammedan and has more than 80 political parties. Its primary purpose seems to be absorbing refugees...
Guinea and Togo, were killed near Guiglo, southwest of Duekoue.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [1 views] Top|| File under:


Arabia
Couple divorced for 'unqualified tribal relationship'
[Emirates 24/7] A Saudi court divorced a local man from his wife for what it described as his unqualified tribal relationship to her although they have two children, a newspaper in the Gulf Kingdom reported on Tuesday.
They weren't closely enough related, huh? That's bad. Exogamy's un-Islamic.
Relatives of the wife raided the couple's house and beat the husband up before forcing the woman to go with them despite approval of the marriage by her father and other family members, Sharq Arabic language daily said.

The relatives, including half brothers, took the woman to their house and filed a divorce case against the husband, the paper said.

"The case had been in court for while before it decided to divorce the husband from his wife for his unqualified tribal relationship to his wife," it said.

"He sought help from several officials and other parties but they could not do anything....the husband has now complained to the human rights
...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty...
groups in Soddy Arabia to reverse the court sentence....he said his wife wants to return to him so they will look after their sons aged three and five years."
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


38 imams, muezzins sacked for slackness
[Arab News] The Madinah branch of the Ministry of Islamic Affairs, Endowments, Dawa and Guidance has suspended 38 imams and muezzins for sub-standard performance. They were accused of slackness and failure to do their duties properly.

Ministry sources told Arab News that investigations and reports from supervisors revealed the imams and muezzins did not do their jobs properly and others were appointed to do the work in their place. The sources said their salaries were also suspended.

According to the sources, there are 1,930 mosques in Madinah region, of which 505 hold Friday prayers.

The ministry's Madinah branch also supervises 949 private mosques, of which 19 hold Friday prayers. It employs 1,417 imams, 1,354 muezzins and 625 workers who serve the mosques and clean them up.

The branch also supervises historic mosques in Madinah, including the Quba, Dhul Hulaifa, Al-Qiblatain, Al-Jumaa, Al-Anbariya, Al-Ghamamah, Al-Rayah, Abu Bakr, Omar bin Al-Khattab, Ali bin Abi Talib, Abu Dhar, Al-Ijabah, Al-Suqyyah, Bani Haram and Bani Quraizah mosques.

It also has a welfare society that collects donations for the construction and maintenance of mosques in various parts of the region.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under:


Election chief: We're not ready for womens suffrage
[Arab News] Soddy Arabia announced Monday that it was not yet ready for women participating in next month's municipal elections as voters or candidates. "We are not ready for the participation of women in these municipal elections," Election Commissioner Abdul Rahman Al-Dahmash said.

Speaking to news hounds in Riyadh, Al-Dahmash, however, promised that women would be allowed to participate in the next elections.
...or maybe the one after that.
He cited a number of procedural reasons for the ban on women voting. "Participation of women in elections took place in most advance countries gradually," he pointed out.

He said the municipal elections would take place on April 23 all over the Kingdom at the same time. A person is allowed to vote only once in favor of a candidate in his constituency, he said.

Al-Dahmash urged Saudis to elect qualified people to the councils in order to strengthen local bodies. "Municipal councils allow a large number of citizens to participate in the management of municipal services," he said. The number of municipal councils in the country has been increased from 179 to 285 and polling stations from 631 to 855, he pointed out. The commission is now in the process of preparing a list of voters.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [7 views] Top|| File under:

#1  SAUDI ARABIAN SHARIA

versus

* WAFF > MUSLIMS AGAIN DEMAND SHARIA IN BRITAIN.

* NEWS KERALA > MUSLIM GROUP ["Muslims agz Crusades" Group] THREATENS TO DISRUPT PRINCE WILLIAM'S WEDDING.

D *** NG IT, THEY MAY EVEN INTENS START A RIOT!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 03/30/2011 1:58 Comments || Top||

#2  "First, we must have the Islamic Reformation, then the Islamic Thirty Years War With Nukes, and finally, the Islamic Enlightenment. After that, we'll be all ready."
Posted by: ryuge || 03/30/2011 14:38 Comments || Top||


Caribbean-Latin America
Obama sez US to be major customer of Brazilian crude - Includes free frig photo
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2011 07:41 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Thats all about making that ass-maggot from HELL george soros rich.
Posted by: newc || 03/30/2011 10:41 Comments || Top||

#2  One of the taglines from the Hate USA crowd is we have our own oil and resources but we purchase it from others. I wonder how those people feel about Obama's glowing we will be your biggest customer speech.

Brazil oil: great for their development!
Continental oil: too damaging to the environment.

Gulf oil: too dangerous!
Libya oil: safe as kittens.
Posted by: swksvolFF || 03/30/2011 12:49 Comments || Top||

#3  I'm still waiting for an MSM reporter to ask Bambi why drilling off the coast of Brazil is good, and drilling off the coast of Virginia is bad.
Posted by: Steve White || 03/30/2011 12:49 Comments || Top||

#4  So let's get a list of individuals associated with O in the Graft-for-Oil Program. This whole thing stinks to high heaven, and the MSM is quiet as the dead on it.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 03/30/2011 17:13 Comments || Top||

#5  Would that be Brazil's oil or George Soros's oil?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/30/2011 17:36 Comments || Top||

#6  Added irony, the US Gov't gets the lease money from our OWN offshore production. Go figure.
Posted by: Besoeker || 03/30/2011 22:31 Comments || Top||


Jimmy Carter makes second Cuba visit
Jimmy Carter,
... the worst president ever. Maybe the second worst. The votes aren't all in yet...
the former US president, has begun a three-day trip to Cuba to discuss the famously strained relations between Havana and Washington.

Carter received a low-key welcome from Bruno Rodriguez, Cuba's foreign minister, on his arrival in Havana on Monday.

The trip has raised hopes that a tossed in the clink US government contractor may be freed, but the Carter Center in Atlanta said the trip was a "private, nongovernmental mission".

The center said the mealy-mouthed Carter hopes to learn about Cuba's new economic policies and discuss ways to improve US-Cuba ties. Nonetheless, Carter is expected to discuss the possible release of Alan Gross, who earlier this month was tossed in the clink for 15 years for providing illegal internet access to Cuban dissidents under a US pro-democracy programme.

Gross was convicted of "acts against the independence or territorial integrity" of Cuba, but the US government contends he only provided internet access to Jewish groups and committed no crime. Many think Cuba may be open to freeing Gross soon because of humanitarian concerns in that Gross' 26-year-old daughter and 88-year-old mother are both suffering from cancer.

Carter last visited Cuba in 2002, in a groundbreaking trip that made him the only US president, former or sitting, to visit Cuba since a 1959 revolution brought Fidel Castro to power. In that visit, Carter urged Washington to end its long trade embargo against Cuba.

He also called for democracy and better human rights
...which are usually open to widely divergent definitions...
in Cuba and praised the Varela Project, a pro-democracy petition calling for greater freedom of expression and amnesty for political prisoners.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under: Commies

#1  Will they keep him already?
Posted by: European Conservative || 03/30/2011 1:00 Comments || Top||

#2  Jimmy Carter makes second Cuba visit

What? Forgot his kneepads?
Posted by: gorb || 03/30/2011 1:24 Comments || Top||

#3  Jimmy is worried that Obama will suppass him as the worst Pres ever so he need some new street cred.
Posted by: retired LEO || 03/30/2011 1:54 Comments || Top||

#4  "By the way, a friend of mine -- a North African guy -- is looking for a nice, warm place to retire. Do you think you can you help him out?"
Posted by: Perfesser || 03/30/2011 14:22 Comments || Top||

#5  We smiled when Reagan got Alzheimers disease... but what do you do when an ex-prez get dementia?
Posted by: Water Modem || 03/30/2011 14:29 Comments || Top||

#6  but what do you do when an ex-prez get dementia

Both WPEs were born with it.
Posted by: gorb || 03/30/2011 22:49 Comments || Top||


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Hajj pilgrims in Gaza receive 900 delayed bags
[Ma'an] After eight months of waiting, half of the luggage of Paleostinian pilgrims to Soddy Arabia was delivered to the Rafah crossing on Tuesday, officials reported.

An estimated 900 bags and packages arrived at the Gazoo-Egypt crossing, the Ministry of Waqf and Religious Affairs in Gazoo reported, a portion of the thousands of tons of bags held up for unknown reasons by Saudi and Egyptian officials.

The bags and belongings were confiscated in July and August, as Paleostinians who performed the Hajj pilgrimage to Soddy Arabia's city of Mecca returned home to Gazoo.

Since the summer, the bags have been kept in a warehouse near the Cairo airport, and several appeals to secure their release failed, officials said.
Posted by: Fred || 03/30/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Quick thinking passenger ditches stalling T-28 in water just short seawall
Posted by: GolfBravoUSMC || 03/30/2011 14:22 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Great video...not exactly Sully-in-the-Hudson quality but a smart move ...
Posted by: Warthog || 03/30/2011 15:25 Comments || Top||

#2  Any landing you can walk swim away from...
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 03/30/2011 15:48 Comments || Top||

#3  Quick thinking passenger? Where was the pilot?
Posted by: AuburnTom || 03/30/2011 18:50 Comments || Top||

#4  I spent 3 years twisting wrenches on the Trojans; great little simple airplane. no boosted flight controls and landing gear could be pumped down if/when hydraulics went south. and the sound of the radial turning up on a crisp fall morning......
Posted by: USN,Ret || 03/30/2011 23:24 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Culture Wars
Liberal impostor poses as Rice University student to debate conservatives
A 20-year-old posing as a Rice student was discovered last Tuesday after signing up to participate in an upcoming debate as part of the Baker Institute Student Forum.

Kendrick Alridge planned to represent the Rice Young Democrats against the Rice Conservatives Forum in a debate on March 22 over President Barack Obama's policies and the job market.
Because anything is acceptable as long as it bashes those with whom we disagree.
The Young Dems added Alridge to their debate team after he expressed a strong interest in participating and joining the club, Hanszen College junior Andrew Pegues said.

"He was really interesting and outspoken and an active discussion member," Pegues said.
Outspoken? Really. You mean a huge jerk.
However, after his name was seen on the Facebook event page, a history regarding Alridge began to unfold. Jones College junior Devin Glick, who knew Alridge from high school, contacted the debate team and told them he was unsure if Alridge was a Rice student or not.
Good man.
According to the Registrar's records, Kendrick Alridge is not a Rice student and never has been.
Hurrah! Our beloved school's reputation has been saved!!
This was not immediately apparent to many students who knew Alridge and believed he was a student.

"There was nothing about him that made me question him," Pegues said. "He is definitely within the very broad standard deviation of a Rice Student."

Alridge told the Young Democrats that he was a Harvard student studying at Rice for a semester and was in Will Rice College but living off campus. However, Alridge was found not to be a Harvard student, Young Democrat and Hanszen College junior Myles Bugbee realized.

The team called RUPD, and Alridge was removed from the event under suspicion, Pegues said. RUPD will also be present at the event.

RUPD declined to give any details due to a pending investigation but at the time of writing had not yet determined any criminal acts and said they had not made contact with Alridge.
Charge him with trespassing, at least.
Identity theft, but nowadays they'd never make it stick.
Alridge's history at Rice started in 2007, when Professor of Violin Kenneth Goldsmith realized Alridge may have stolen a violin from the Shepherd School.
Stay classy, liberals.
"I saw him at Rice in the early evening and noticed later that a violin was missing from one of the practice rooms and suggested he might have taken it," Goldsmith said.

Goldsmith knew Alridge because he taught violin at Houston's High School for the Visual and Performing Arts, which Alridge attended. During high school, Alridge was suspected of stealing things from practices rooms on several occasions, Goldsmith said.

"After I saw him, I called him, and he answered but pretended to be his answering machine," Goldsmith said. "I told him he should return the violin, and half an hour later it was delivered."
If a non-liberal had stolen the violin, the cops would have been called.
Don't be silly. It's the High School for the Visual and Performing Arts -- all the students are liberals by courtesy, as all military officers are gentlemen, including the women.
During high school, Alridge also applied and was accepted to a prestigious music camp called Madeline Island. However, his acceptance was quickly rescinded after his audition tape was found to be falsified, Goldsmith said.

Alridge's violin talent was questioned again in the summer of 2009 at a camp called Tanglewood, where half way through the program he was found to have faked his audition tape, Will Rice College freshman Angela Guo, who attended the same summer program, said.

"He told us he was going back to Houston to have open heart surgery and then told us he was going to attend Princeton in the fall," Guo said.

Alridge began claiming he was a Rice student in 2009, Wiess College sophomore Emily Nichol, who attended high school with Alridge, said.

Guo had not heard from Alridge until this year's Beer Bike, when he started a Facebook chat conversation with her. During the conversation, Guo accused Alridge of not being a Rice or Harvard student, and he got very defensive, she said.

"He told me, 'You better not do anything, or both of us could get hurt,'" Guo said.

Alridge was also seen at Jones College several times and began to make friends with a few freshman girls there, Guo said.

Guo contacted the Will Rice College masters with her suspicion that Alridge was not actually a student, and they contacted RUPD Monday night.
Posted by: gromky || 03/30/2011 00:01 || Comments || Link || [0 views] Top|| File under:

#1  1. Nationalizing items. Check.
2. Forming narratives and frames. Check.

A typical liberal.

3. Sealing his records. Fail.

He's no Obama.
Posted by: twobyfour || 03/30/2011 4:50 Comments || Top||

#2  During the 60s and 70s student disruptions, these people could be seen filling the crowds. Hanger-on's, street people, wannabees, collegiate groupies who weren't part of the college or university population but who stuck around like flies to dung. They added to the problems of those just trying to attend and get a decent education.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 03/30/2011 9:18 Comments || Top||

#3  Kendrick Alridge still wins, because his face hasn't been plastered about as a fake. Dollars to donuts, he has done a lot of other frauds under different names.
Posted by: Anonymoose || 03/30/2011 10:52 Comments || Top||

#4  Where can one get a "decent education" anymore?
Posted by: newc || 03/30/2011 11:07 Comments || Top||

#5  So...did he also slip on a banana peel, gromky?
Posted by: tu3031 || 03/30/2011 12:46 Comments || Top||

#6  I wonder if those 60's and 70's disrupters know that today is Welcome Home, Vietnam Veterans Day?
Posted by: bman || 03/30/2011 14:39 Comments || Top||



Who's in the News
53[untagged]
4Govt of Pakistan
4Taliban
3Chechen Republic of Ichkeria
2Hezbollah
2Palestinian Authority
2TTP
2Govt of Syria
1al-Qaeda in North Africa
1al-Qaeda in Iraq
1al-Qaeda in Pakistan
1Commies
1al-Qaeda
1Jamaat-ul-Mujahideen Bangladesh

Bookmark
E-Mail Me

The Classics
The O Club
Rantburg Store
The Bloids
The Never-ending Story
Thugburg
Gulf War I
The Way We Were
Bio

Merry-Go-Blog











On Sale now!


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.
Click here for more information

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
Wed 2011-03-30
  Libyan Foreign Minister quits, arrives in UK
Tue 2011-03-29
  Yemeni regime loses grip on four provinces
Mon 2011-03-28
  Rebels push towards Sirte
Sun 2011-03-27
  Libyan rebels say forces reach oil town of Brega
Sat 2011-03-26
  Libyan Rebels Reclaim Ajdabiya
Fri 2011-03-25
  Libya: French aircraft destroyed a dozen armored vehicles in 3 days
Thu 2011-03-24
  15 dead in new clashes in Deraa
Wed 2011-03-23
  Qaddafi attacks rebel towns
Tue 2011-03-22
  Western War Planes Hit Qadaffy Command Post
Mon 2011-03-21
  Gaddafi compound attacked again amid reports son killed
Sun 2011-03-20
  Crisis in Libya: U.S. bombs Qaddafi's airfields
Sat 2011-03-19
  Fighting reported near Benghazi - Tanks enter city
Fri 2011-03-18
  Libya declares ceasefire after UN resolution
Thu 2011-03-17
  Bahrain forces launch crackdown on protesters
Wed 2011-03-16
  UNSC Introduces No-Fly Zone Draft Resolution


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.
18.116.36.192
Help keep the Burg running! Paypal:
WoT Operations (31)    WoT Background (21)    Opinion (8)    (0)    Politix (2)