[Pak Daily Times] A renegade warlord in Ivory Coast said Saturday he was ready to lay down his arms as ordered by the new president, but said it would take time to organise.
In an interview Saturday, Gen. Ibrahim "IB" Coulibaly said that one could not just dispose of arms in the streets. He spoke from his heavily armed stronghold within Abobo, a poor neighbourhood in Ivory Coast's largest city Abidjan. He arrived at the interview in a three-car convoy, guarded by a missile launcher set up on the back of a pickup truck.
President Alassane Ouattara on Friday ordered Coulibaly, who led two coups in Ivory Coast and commands the Invisible Commando force, to lay down arms or be forcibly disarmed. Ouattara also ordered all combat units back to their barracks -- the former rebel forces who installed him in power to their stronghold in the central city of Bouake and troops who fought for former President Laurent Gbagbo ... Former President-for-Life of Ivory Coast from 2000 to 2011. Laurent lost to Alassane Ouattara in 2010 but his representtive tore up the results on the teevee and he refused to vacate the presidential palace. French troops assisted the Oattara forces in extricating him from his Fuhrerbunker... to their old military camps.
Ouattara said that regular and paramilitary police will be redeployed to take over security. "He said lay down your arms. We will lay down our arms. It is not a problem," said Coulibaly of Ouattara's order. When asked why then he has so many arms around his stronghold, Coulibaly said: "You don't dispose of arms in the street. There has to be a strategy."
Coulibaly, who began the battle against Gbagbo's troops and militia in Abidjan, said he wants his forces to join the new army but is waiting to be invited. He told that he has 5,000 men under his command. But the number appears under 1,000 from AP assessments at his Abobo headquarters and a college there where his commanders are training recruits.
Ouattara tried to distance himself at first from the former rebels fighting in his name when they began a lightening assault that brought them from Bouake and the west to the gates of Abidjan within days. They had been accused of atrocities during the offensive. But when his pleas for an international intervention to force Gbagbo from power went unheeded, he adopted them as his forces and now calls them the Republican Forces of Ivory Coast, or FRCI by the French initials.
Ouattara's orders to disarm and return to barracks came two days after the former rebels attacked Coulibaly's Invisible Commando force in his stronghold in Abobo, but were repulsed. Meanwhile on Saturday, thousands of people from the mainly Mohammedan quarters of Abobo cheered when a commander told them the war was over at a gathering called by forces backing Ouattara. Cmdr. Sofi Dosso, leader of the traditional hunters who live in tropical rainforests, said his forces were "ready to help disarm those who disobey the president's commands."
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
NOT-EBONY-N-IVORY IVORY COAST
versus
* FREEREPUBLIC > NIGERIAN CONSTITUTION MUST BE SET ASIDE FOR SHARIA, SAYS BOKO-HARAM [Group].
The government now borrows about 42 cents of every dollar it spends. Imagine that one day soon, the borrowing slams up against the current debt limit ceiling of $14.3 trillion and Congress fails to raise it. The damage would ripple across the entire economy, eventually affecting nearly every American, and rocking global markets in the process.
h/t Instapundit
The U.S. dollar's downward slide is accelerating as low interest rates, inflation concerns and the massive federal budget deficit undermine the currency.
With no relief in sight for the dollar on any of those fronts, the downward pressure on the dollar is widely expected to continue.
The dollar fell nearly 1% against a broad basket of currencies this week, following a drop of similar size last week. The ICE U.S. Dollar Index closed at its lowest level since August 2008, before the financial crisis intensified.
#1
As the dollar drops, watch the other trading countries come up with new and interesting 'regulations' and 'standards' to act as trade barriers to cheaper American produced goods and materials. Suckers.
#2
The young seem to believe the rhetoric out of Washington. I heard my son say that we should have the rich pay more taxes. This was unusual for him to say. I said several things to point him in the proper direction but how effective I was remains to be seen. The thought that others should pay is growing in this country unfortunately. During the riots here if you were perceived to have anything more than another you would have to give it up, one way or another.
#3
Soros' Bretton Woods Conference Accelerates Push for New Global Economy ItÂ’s been two weeks since George Soros bought himself a major economic conference designed to remake the entire global economy. Just because the event received little major news attention, it still had an impact Americans might be reeling from for years.
When the anti-American Soros spent $50 million creating the New York City-based Institute for New Economic Thinking(INET), he began a major move against the dollar. The billionaire who once crushed the British pound through currency trading openly declared his plans to “reform the currency system.” In the Machiavellian mind of Soros, the dollar needed to take a back seat and end its stint as the world reserve currency. “The dollar no longer enjoys the trust and confidence that it once did, yet no other currency can take its place,” he wrote in late 2009.
In 2011, he is already pushing aside the dollar. “The big question is whether the U.S. dollar should be the reserve currency; and, in fact, it no longer is,” Soros told Bloomberg. He’s not the only one. Nobel Prize winning economist and Soros buddy Joseph Stiglitz said he is arguing for “a global reserve currency.” Stiglitz, who also chairs the U.N. General Assembly on Reforms of the International Monetary and Financial System, called for a new “global system,” saying the current one is “fundamentally unfair because it means that poor countries are lending to the U.S. at close to zero interest rates.”
In the short time following the Soros-funded Bretton Woods event, the move against the dollar has gained momentum rapidly. Soros wrote in 2009 that “the rising powers must be present at the creation of this new system to ensure that they will be active supporters.” Here come those rising powers right now, singing the Soros tune.
Open borders and an open economy are open invitations for predators, some in pinstripes.
#4
AH! at last the infamous #1(Prisoner TV series).
Mr P of 2K, Imports will decline?. I hope but the tentacles run deep into the fabric of this economy.
Consumer nation perhaps no more. That will throw a wrench into the domestic and world economies. Temporally however. Brazil. Chile, and Norway are booming and will get stronger while we flounder.
#5
I believe the US is undergoing default by devaluation. The too-big-to-fail financial institutions are being supported by devaluation, the rest of us are paying for it. This is how the Mother of All Bailouts is playing out. Soros is just a convenient demon, but he is only taking advantage of this opportunity the US has provided him. Click here for a nice graph of the value of the dollar compared to the cost of crude.
The alternative to devaluation would have been forcing the Pig Men to eat their bad loans whether or not it killed them. Can't have that, you know. On top of that the banking executives and the banks themselves have not been indicted for any of their many felonies. The rule of law is also being devalued.
#6
Things are never straightforward. "Black George" Soros (real name Schwartz György) hopes to become the great world tyrant, yet while he can make money, and endless schemes, he does not truly understand power, nor does he know that he is mortal. With his demise, the world will once again have a breath of fresh air.
As far as the economic situation in the world, the problem is less the damage that outright trillion dollar gambling has done, but that the gaming is allowed to continue without hindrance. Yet the solution to both is surprisingly easy.
By hook or by crook, the US will default on its debts. And while that prospect is horrifying to many, the truth is that it might be the most painless conclusion to much of this nonsense.
This is because US debt is not based on the core capital of its creditors, but the profits those creditors have earned by selling the US vast amounts of goods. So if the US defaults, while they will be out their profits, it will not be as devastating to them as if it took away their core money.
To show how nonsensical this is, much of the US trade deficit with China is in the millions of empty shipping containers, built in China to carry goods to the US, and too expensive to ship back empty, now rusting peacefully in the US. Each of those containers cost the US about $100,000, that we "owe" China.
Just outside the port of Los Angeles, over a million of these containers now rust. That can add up to some real bucks. But nobody cares.
So, with the stroke of a pen, the US tells China that they will not be paid for these containers. China spent a fortune to mine the ore, refine it into steel, and use that steel to build shipping containers. But in the process, it profited from mining, and it profited from making steel plants, that still remain even if the US defaults.
So while China will be upset with the US, and its economy will be upended for a while, in the long term it will recover, and still be strong.
And the US, on renouncing its foreign debt, while it will no longer get vast amounts of cheap goods from overseas, except in trade swaps, will have to rebuild its industries, which will do much to revitalize our economy.
#7
Wow so much economic stupidity on one page it's untrue.
I expect a little more sense.
If you think about a falling dollar as a pay cut, and then start thinking "wow that makes me more employable" maybe you should lower your pay some more?
#11
Agreed, OS. But AH9418 is also correct. So long as there are opportunities, there will be opportunists.
Curious to see the Fed's first official press conference on the 27th. Turbo Timmy recently insisted there was "zero risk" of a ratings downgrade, while the S&P itself places that risk at 1/3. Something cooking? A surprise halt to the legalized counterfeiting known as QE2? I'll believe it when I see it.
#13
Things are never straightforward. "Black George" Soros (real name Schwartz György) hopes to become the great world tyrant, yet while he can make money, and endless schemes, he does not truly understand power, nor does he know that he is mortal. With his demise, the world will once again have a breath of fresh air.
I don't think so. Once the socialist-lite folks pave the way, the heavies move in. The socialist path must be rolled up and incinerated, along with whatever channels of power allow it to happen, whatever form those "channels" happen to take.
As for the dollar's final value, it will depend on how long it takes those dollars to filter down through the pyramid and find their level of stability in the world stage. I know nothing about economy, but it seems to me that it should take on the order of two to four years after each infusion at the top for this money to make it out into the open. It seems to me that unless Obean et. al. manage to admit that all of their economic theory is based on crap, and can somehow artificially slow this process until after he is elected, many of his stimulii will be hitting the market about the time the next presidential election hits.
Of course, this is all assuming that they speak what is in their hearts, and is not based on some ulterior motivations.
Either way, this is all wrong and must be reversed. Any "halt" before a reverse is just a delaying action to increase the likelihood that we go into an irreversible decline. Deficits must not be halted, they must be turned into a surplus as soon as possible. The debt trend needs to be reversed now and paid off within the next eight years, and a short, simple constitutional amendment for the common citizen to understand for a balanced budged based on simple, honest accounting principles must be passed. War might be an exception, but not be allowed to be used for an excuse.
#14
Schwartz Gyorgy should be put down and on his way down, he should be made to confess publicly about his crimes against humanity that he has never atoned for. He is not a lightweight anything, he is an evil SOB.
Posted by: Fi ||
04/24/2011 17:04 Comments ||
Top||
#15
gorb: As for the dollar's final value
Zero. Well, the paper + ink.
it will depend on how long it takes those dollars to filter down
Nay, unless you mean the time to zero is uncertain.
on the order of two to four years after each infusion at the top
Average is two years. Weimar Ben is fully aware of this.
somehow artificially slow this process
That's the point of the current extend-and-pretend. There are different ways to rearrange the deck chairs on the Titanic, and so far they're choosing default-by-inflation.
many of his stimulii will be hitting the market about the time the next presidential election hits.
That's the only "good" news, especially if there is a QE3: unemployment won't budge and gas and food costs will be through the roof.
You said it, Canuck: go long pitchforks and torches! And maybe Hewlett Packard, heh.
#18
Essentially, 'reserve currencies' underpin world trade.
Getting rid of the USD as the world's currency would crash the world's trading system, because there isn't a viable alternative.
We would go back to the 19th century when the British paid for everything in gold. And there isn't nearly enough gold to support the current levels of world trade.
#19
phil_b, Essentially, 'reserve currencies' underpin world trade
Only since the Bretton Woods System, which seem to be unravelling by the day. Getting rid of the USD as the world's currency would crash the world's trading system, because there isn't a viable alternative
There's always gold.
We would go back to the 19th century when the British paid for everything in gold. And there isn't nearly enough gold to support the current levels of world trade.
It's a pity more people are not aware of Richard Cantillion The Irishman who founded Political economics.
Here is how he described payment for foreign trade in 1720: (page 193) There is an expense associated with transporting
money based on the distance, risks, and other transaction costs. Bills of Exchange are a type of contract that can reduce this cost by avoiding shipments that are offsetting between two locations. When money must be sent, bankers
charge a fee for arranging the shipment and providing their customers with a bill of exchange, or check, that can be drawn or cashed at a correspondent bank where the money is sent. When the exchange rate is above par, it indicates a balance of payments deficit, and when the
exchange rate is below par, it indicates a balance of payments surplus.
so although bills were denominated in gold, very little gold was used. With allowances made for the massive increases in communications, there is no reason why a similar system cannot now be used.
It would certainly sort out some of the crazy things going on in currency markets.
#20
AFAIC QE2 = QE3 = QE??? = the USSR imploded so that post-Cold War, post-9-11 America = Amerika can adopt Soviet accounting-budget methods, espec BLACK WRITEOFFS = GOOD-FOR-THE-OWG-AMERIKAN-POLITBURO "BLACK BOOKS"???
* CHINESE MILITARY FORUM > THE US BEGINS TO THINK ABOUT DEFAULTING ON ITS DEBT | [AP] US DEFAULT COULD BE A DISASTROUS CHOICE FOR ECONOMY.
CMF POSTER = de facto US DEFAULT = even lead to US SOCIETAL BREAKDOWN = IMPOSITION OF MARTIAL LAW!?
"Martial Law = IMO not necessarily in only the OWG Mighty USSA = OWG Weak USRoA that once again SSSSSHHHHH..CCCCCCCorrectness NO AMERICAN FORMALLY VOTED FOR.
* Also from SAME > CHINA BRAVELY CHALLENGES US PREDOMINANCE.
Again, CHINA is prob quietly thanking the GOD OF EARTHQUAKES for 03/11 + JAPAN'S FUKUSHIMA CRISIS.
However imperfect, Radical Islam sees real opportunity to achieve de facto OWG ISLAMIST CALIPHATE [Nuclear?] thanks to Political-Legal Jihad + the "Jasmine"-led ME Uprisings, while Rising China stands to ANNEX OR DOMINATE ECON, RADIATION-TROUBLED JAPAN, + KOREAS + RECOVER TAIWAN, OKINAWA [ancient RYUKYUS vassal state].
JAPAN = EGYPT?, while SOUTH KOREA = JASMINE-SURROUNDED US ALLY "ISRAEL" = CUSTER AT THE PLA'S "LITTLE BIG HORN"???
#21
tipper, bills of exchange and other trade finance documents are, as noted, transferrable cheques (I can't recall if checks are transferrable in the USA).
19th century British bills of exchange could be redeemed for gold at various locations as could British currency.
Interestingly, foreign holders of US currency could redeem them for gold up until 1971.
As the Chinese are now discovering, selling goods abroad for dollars that are not immediately spent overseas, results in these unspent dollars being progressively stolen by the US government through its huge deficit (and the money printed to support it).
The Chinese talk of not using USD in its reserves are just so much posturing, because export led growth is the foundation of the Chinese economy. And having a few 10 of billions stolen from them each year is a small price to pay.
#22
phil_b. 19th century British bills of exchange could be redeemed for gold at various locations as could British currency.
Basically they were using the "spot price" which could be months out of date. This spot price could also differ from the mint price. Newton spent his considerable talents trying to come up with a solution and failed. He received a well deserved serve from Cantillion for his ham-fistnedness. With the spot price for gold now being available 24/7 all these problems are now obsolete. Just as a Chines company which sells to the US denominates its contract in dollars but received Yuan when it presents its check to the bank in China, there is no reason why the contract should not be denominated in gold. However if they wished for gold they would have to go further and buy gold on the spot market. The fear has always been the volatility of the gold price, however with the price of gold going through the roof, that should not be a problem for the seller at present .
The Chinese talk of not using USD in its reserves are just so much posturing, because export led growth is the foundation of the Chinese economy. And having a few 10 of billions stolen from them each year is a small price to pay
Their export trade with the US is now only 18% and rapidly declining. That fear might have existed a few years ago, but I doubt it does now.
#1
I think most people were already aware of this. The NYT is somewhat behind the curve, as usual... wil their next story be about the election of Harry Truman as president?
Posted by: Tom ||
04/24/2011 7:54 Comments ||
Top||
We knew before it started that it wouldn't work, except as a sop to Bambi's minions friends.
Not disappointed, disgusted.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2011 12:40 Comments ||
Top||
#7
There is nothing but stupid in that rag of a paper. I have blocked it from all of my machines because of RHTHVN crap as well as I do not want to give sewage my patronage. This stupid rag of a paper wanted obama so bad, and now they are turning on him. They have not had a truthful article in more than ten years. Screw you schulturder.
#10
The "stimulus" was never intended to repair the economy. Watch Robert Reich and Charlie Rangel discuss turning it from an infrastructure plan into a slush fund for the Democrats' victim groups:
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
04/24/2011 22:37 Comments ||
Top||
Germany and Europe should open their doors to refugees fleeing North African unrest and instability rather than barricading the borders, according to the Evangelical Bishop of Central Germany, Ilse Junkermann
Junkermann said in an interview that those fleeing violence in places such as Libya should be granted safety and help.
“That we should help civil war refugees should not be put under question,” she said. “That is Christian duty, citizens’ duty in a global society.”
Europe must help – not only in Libya itself but also here in accepting refugees.
Referring to the current arguments over what to do with the illegal immigrants who have already landed in Italy, she said, “I find it disturbing how politics is being conducted on the backs of those people concerned.”
It is not possible to simply refuse entry, she said. “That is too little in a globalised world where one demands the ability to act as free as possible worldwide in ones own interests.”
Junkermann said the European Union should develop a migration and integration policy for refugees. “There is a clear policy which grants freedom of movement within the European region, and that the borders are open. But the price is high – the borders are as good as closed to the outside.”
This was unfair, she said, and said that a “certain permeability of European borders,” should be the aim.
#1
Then put them in your church and your house, Bishop. House them, feed them, pay them to work - all with your own money, of course, and take responsibility personally if any of them commit crimes.
Every. Damn. One. Of. Them.
Not willing to do that? Then STFU.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2011 20:39 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Actually, I'll bet he'll take quite a few and put them up in Evangelical parishes throughout his diocese.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/24/2011 22:04 Comments ||
Top||
#3
In other words, foist them off on other people, Steve.
How very compassionate.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/24/2011 22:22 Comments ||
Top||
[Al Jazeera] Turkey's main parties have kicked off their electoral campaigns ahead of parliamentary elections in June which could hand prime minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan a third term in office, local media reported.
Erdogan launched his re-election campaign on Friday in the northern province of Bayburt by explaining the government's economic vision and slamming the opposition, according to the English-language Hurriyet Daily News and Economic Review.
Erdogan's Islamist-influenced Justice and Development Party, or AKP, won landslide victories in 2002 and 2007 despite opposition from Turkey's secularist establishment.
Last year, Erdogan won public support to implement a raft of sweeping constitutional reforms, including reshaping the judiciary and curbs on the powers of the military, in a referendum seen as litmus test of his enduring popularity.
Launching his party's manifesto, opposition leader Kemal Kilicdaroglu, who heads the traditionally secular Republic People's Party, or CHP, promised a new constitution accompanied by social and political reforms to establish greater freedoms for all citizens, including Turkey's Kurdish and Alevi minorities.
Erdogan's stewardship of Turkey's successful economy is seen as crucial to his party's chances and on Friday he said his ambition was to make Turkey one of the world's top economies by 2023 and push gross domestic product to $2tn and per capita income to $25,000.
"Now some will ask whether you have $25,000 in your pocket or not. Look, we are talking about expanding the economy. No one puts such money into anybody's pocket in any part of the world," said Erdogan, whose party came to power in 2002.
The prime minister took a swipe at the opposition saying when it was in power Turks waited in queues for cooking oil and gas.
"They [CHP] used to meet in the cabinet with overcoats on their backs because the heaters were out of use," said Erdogan.
The pro-Kurdish Peace and Democracy Party, or BDP, also came in for criticism from the prime minister who alluded to the riots in the streets of eastern and southeastern Turkey in previous days and claimed the BDP and other parties were "rubbing their hands together [malevolently]" when the youth stoned the police.
Turkey is home to a large Kurdish minority - numbering about one-fifth of the country's population of 75 million - but they complain about marginalisation and abuse of their rights. Since 1984 the Kurdistan Workers' Party (PKK) has waged a guerrilla campaign for an ethnic homeland in the southeast.
The CHP's election manifesto anticipates a number of reforms with regard to the constitution, press freedom, electoral reform, agriculture and the economy.
"The CHP is a party that realized significant transformations. We will now bring democracy and freedom to the country," Kilicdaroglu told supporters. "We will touch every field of life; we have projects related to every sphere of life ... Politics exists for the human being."
If elected, the party will make a new constitution its priority, which will be prepared with contribution from all segments of society, the CHP chief said.
The new charter would anticipate control over the military by civilian authority, a strengthened parliamentary system and separation of powers, while seeking equality.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
[Pak Daily Times] Mukhtaran Mai, a gang rape victim, will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its April 21 verdict of acquitting five of the six accused in the case.
The apex court had, upheld the Lahore High Court's (LHC) verdict in the Mai gang rape case and acquitted all the accused except one Abdul Khaliq.
In a blurb issued on Saturday, Mai's counsel, Chaudhry Aitzaz Ahsan, said they would go for a review of the case. He said after his consultation with Mai, they had decided to file a review petition in the apex court against its judgement of April 21.
The counsel said he was disappointed over the court's ruling. He was of the view that the decision needed to be reviewed. He claimed that in drawing their conclusions, the majority judges had disregarded cogent evidence and failed to notice actual material on record and the facts proved thereby.
Aitzaz added that the majority judgement was manifestly flawed and was not even based on the evidence available on record. He said the judges had also failed to take notice of the social backdrop, which was established on record itself, and in the context of which the horrendous crime of gang rape was committed, reported and investigated.
The counsel further said the judges had misread evidence which they had adverted to. "We are grateful to the people, media, civil society and particularly women of Pakistain for their committed support in this critical hour," he added.
About the review petition, Aitzaz said it would contain a full critique of the judgement and there was no need for him to make any other comments in media on the subject.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
Presbyterian church has been on the wrong side of the fence for decades. Heck, maybe somebody will attend one of their services today after all, today. But it won't be a muslim.
Posted by: Jack Flulet8369 ||
04/24/2011 1:23 Comments ||
Top||
#2
Oh, how perfectly precious. Now, if someone actually sits down and reads the Koran, and understands fully what is contained therein ... will that do all that much for the cause of toleration and understanding?
#5
I'm confused. What does spreading the Christian faith have to do with giving out Korans? Or do I have an out of date idea about Christianity and religion?
Posted by: john frum ||
04/24/2011 16:09 Comments ||
Top||
[Pak Daily Times] Fierce festivities on the Thai-Cambodia border have left 10 dead and forced thousands to flee the worst bloodshed since a UN ceasefire appeal in February, officials said Saturday.
The two countries exchanged heavy weapons fire for a second straight day on their disputed jungle frontier, the scene of a series of deadly gunbattles in recent years. Three Cambodian troops and one Thai soldier were killed Saturday, according to officials in the two countries, a day after three soldiers died on each side.
Cambodia accused Thailand of using 75mm and 105mm "heavy guns loaded with poisonous gas" and said in a defence ministry statement that Thai military aircraft flew "deep into Cambodia's airspace".Thailand denied the claims, which could not be independently verified. A Cambodian field commander, Suos Sothea, said the gas caused some soldiers who inhaled it to feel weak but did not cause serious injury. He also accused Thailand of using cluster bombs.
Thailand recently admitted using controversial Dual Purpose Improved Conventional Munitions during the February fighting but insisted it did not classify them as cluster munitions.
Posted by: Fred ||
04/24/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[5 views]
Top|| File under:
#1
CNN + FOX NEWS this AM = it appears the border combat is still going on for Day #3.
#3
Control of militarily strategic border areas that also happen to contain ancient Temple plexes.
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > THAI PM VOWS TO BACK ARMY IN DEFENSE OF TERRITORIES.
* NEWS KERALA > THAILAND DENIES CHEMICAL WEAPONS [75-105mm Arty Shells]USED AGZ CAMBODIA, as per new border clashes.
----------
ION REGIONAL
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUM > [Lowery Institute poll = under 1/2 of Aussies surveyed] AUSSIES FEAR
THREAT OF WAR WID CHINA, circa Year 2030+? ala desire by China for AUS Land + Resources.
OVERWHELMING MAJORITY = believe any outbreak of US-China War in Asia-Pacific will inevitably involve Australia on the US side; FAVOR SUPPOR SOUTH KOREA [+ US] IFF ANY WAR BREAKS OUT ON THE KOREAN PENINSULA.
* DAILY TIMES.PK > NORTH KOREA DIPLOMACY AT A CROSSROADS: TALK OR TROUBLE?
Gonna be a "near/tricky thing" as Churchill once said.
Again, SOKOR has a vested interest in ensuring that China does NOT take over NOKOR for any reason, ee War or Econ Collapse = Attrition. KIMMIE WANTS THE SAME THING BUT IDEALLY NOT AT THE EXPENSE OF DYNASTIC RULE + POWER, OR MAJOR CHANGES TO NOKOR-STYLE SOCIALISM.
IMO the JAPAN "FUKUSHIMA" CRISIS is diverting China's attention away from the Kimmie agenda - iff Japan is ultimately abandoned by Japanese due to excessive radiation-led environ destruction, or otherwise becom milpol dominated + suborned under mainland China, NOKOR WILL NO LONGER RECV PRIORITY IN CHINA'S EYES WHICH WILL NOT DO FOR KIMMIE + DYNASTY-REGIME.
Remember, the KIM CLAN + NOKOR COMMIES had promised, among other, that the DPRK = COMMIE UNIFIED KOREA will be a "GREAT POWER/NATION" again one day under their Leadership.
Kimmie is NOT like Uncle Muammar in Libyuh as per National Progressivism, but IMO he is like Muammar in that, in the absence of international concessions/kowtowing, Kimmie will choose to fight to the death to preserve His + Dynasty's political power.
IMO KIMMIE WILL HAVE NO QUALMS ABOUT STARTING A MAJOR US-CHINA WAR [incl. use of Nuke Weapons] TO PRESERVE PERSONAL, DYNASTIC POWER, OR IN THE ALTERN ENSURE THAT NO ONE HAS POWER [mutual destruction].
IOW, KIMMIE = GADDAFI = ITS FOR SOKOR + UNO + US, OTHER ALLIES TO CONCEDE, NOT HIM.
A 9-11 terrorist attack memorial was installed at Wesley Bolin Plaza across the street from the Arizona State Capitol after the attack, with several anti-American and offensive phrases included in it.
This happened because the committee that designed the memorial was half appointed by the outgoing Republican governor, and the other half by incoming Democrat governor Janet Napolitano, who appointed leftist radicals that tried to blame America for the attacks.
It included phrases such as: "Erroneous U.S. air strike kills 46 Uruzgan civilians," "Terrorist organization leader addresses American people", "09 15 01 Balbir Singh Sodhi, a Sikh, murdered in Mesa," "Foreign-born Americans afraid," "You don't win battles of terrorism with more battles," and "Fear of foreigners."
Causing considerable public outrage at the time, Democrats in the State legislature were able to block and sidetrack efforts to have the offensive phrases replaced with more appropriate statements. Likewise, Janet Napolitano refused to call a special session of the legislature to deal with the problem.
Six years later, the Democrats finally agreed to a change of two of the least offensive of the phrases, while retaining most of the others.
But a Republican legislator from the Fountain Hills retirement community, Rep. John Kavanagh, hadn't forgotten. He has been waiting for a Legislature and a governor willing to remove nearly a dozen phrases he calls "political, controversial, offensive and disrespectful to the memories of those who died on 9/11."
Now with a strongly Republican State House and Senate and governor, Kavanagh this year has sponsored a measure to remove 11 phrases from the steel memorial.
"I believe that speculation about the causes, conspiracies, reactions might be fine in a 9/11 museum or 9/11 study center, but that memorial is a memorial, like a gravestone, and should be a place where people come to reflect and mourn, not argue.
"It's part of a myth that, following 9/11, Americans went into a xenophobic rage against foreigners," said Kavanagh. "That's not true. America's reaction towards foreigners was commendable."
Phoenix Democrat State Senator Steve Gallardo, opposes the bill.
"This was a product of free speech," he sniveled. "And you are not seeing an outcry by the public in terms of this memorial. The only ones you see making a big fuss is a handful of legislators." And a lot of patriots...
Senate President Russell Pearce, then a state representative, asked governor Napolitano for a special legislative session to "fix" what he called "insensitive, absolutely left-wing, drive-by statements."
The authors of each phrase must be identified. One or more political parties has to accept sponsorship for each phrase on the memorial. The authors and sponsoring parties for each phrase must be inscribed next to each phrase, and then it can remain on the memorial. For those phrases that for whatever reason magically end up as orphans shall be removed from the memorial and replaced with something that someone is willing to claim for all posterity.
Pastor Terry Jones told The Detroit News that he will file a lawsuit against the Wayne County Prosecutor's office and others in connection with his arrest on Friday and the case filed against him over his planned protest outside the Islamic Center of America.
"We were arrested for something we had not done," said Jones at Detroit Metro Airport. "I was totally shocked. I could not believe it. Even the police who put the handcuffs on us were shocked." Jones said of his arrest.
Jones is working with the Thomas More Law Center to file the lawsuit for violating his free speech rights. The Thomas More Law Center filed a suit against the City of Dearborn last year. That case involved the rights of Christian missionaries jailed by police at the city's International Arab Festival. The missionaries wanted to pass out literature but police said they could only do so in a certain area.
Constitution expert Robert Sedler is happy to see Jones challenging the "bizarre" ruling by Dearborn District Court Judge Mark Somers. "The Supreme Court says you cannot deny a permit because of the message. The U.S. Constitution supersedes everything, which is why this is so bizarre," said Sedler, a Wayne State University Law School professor.
Jones will return to Dearborn on Friday. He plans to hold the demonstration at 5 p.m. Friday outside Dearborn City Hall. He says he does not want to violate the law. The topic has now shifted from "radical Islam" to a fight to protect the First Amendment. Jones called the proceedings "a definite violation of our Constitutional rights."
Some observers claimed the judge's actions were unusual but Somers had followed the letter of the law. Richard Fournier, who attended the first day of the trial, says he doesn't think their constitutional rights were violated because their protest could have created an uproar and possibly a riot.
#3
Richard Fournier, who attended the first day of the trial, says he doesn't think their constitutional rights were violated because their protest could have created an uproar and possibly a riot.
The point is they jailed him for no reason. He hadn't broken any laws. It's kind of like jailing Judge Mark Somers for rape - alter all he (presumably) has all the equipment.
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.
Mukhtaran Mai, a gang rape victim, will file a review petition in the Supreme Court against its April 21 verdict of acquitting five of the six accused in the case.
