Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I have no idea why, but some programs keep dropping my cookies... Just a refresh.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
07/13/2011 0:10 Comments ||
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#2
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 07/12
Anna Friel aka Lisa in "Rogue Trader" aka Prue in "The Land Girls" aka Tammy Franklin in "Sunset Strip" aka Hermia in "A Midsummer Night's Dream (1999 film)" aka Lady Claire in "Timeline" (age 35)
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot 07/13
Ashley Scott aka Gigolo Jane in "AI: Artificial Intelligence" aka Deni in "Walking Tall (2004 film)" aka Operator Judy in "Lost" aka Amanda in "Into the Blue" aka Molly in "12 Rounds" aka Helena Kyle/The Huntress in "Birds of Prey (TV series)" aka Emily Sullivan in "Jericho (TV series)" (age 34)
[Al Jazeera] Thousands of Egyptians marched on the cabinet headquarters in central Cairo on Tuesday to demand the removal of the ruling military council.
The march, reminiscent of protests that forced President Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... to step down on February 11, followed a warning by the military council that it would use all legitimate means to end a five-day-old protest in the city's Tahrir Square.
"Down, down with military rule," demonstrators chanted as they went from Tahrir square towards the prime minister's office, where they demonstrated before returning to the square.
"The people want the removal of the Field Marshal," they shouted, referring to Mohammed Hussein Tantawi, the military council leader who served as Mubarak's defence minister for two decades.
The protest that began on Friday has increasingly targeted the generals running the country and is one of the longest since it took over from Mubarak following mass protests against rising prices, poverty, unemployment and years of authoritarian rule.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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"Line up the tumbrels in the courtyard, Alphonse!"
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Uganda opened its first war crimes trial Monday, charging a commander of the Lord's Resistance Army ... The Lord's Resistance Army is a religious and military group formed in 1987. It is led by Joseph Kony, who proclaims himself the spokesperson of God and a spirit medium, and who is periodically possessed by demons, Beelzebub and Legion prominent among them. Kony advises his soldiers to draw crosses on their chests as a protection against bullets. This does't work, but nobody outside the LRA minds. The group is based on a hodge podge of apocalyptic Christianity, mysticism, and traditional Acholi religion, and claims to be establishing a theocratic state based on an odd interpretation of the Ten Commandments. The LRA is famous for systematic criminal conduct, including murder, abduction, mutilation, sexual enslavement of women and kiddies, forcing children to participate in hostilities, and occasional cannibalism. The LRA operates mainly in northern Uganda and also in parts of Sudan, Central African Republic and DR Congo... rebellion blamed for brutal civilian murders during a 20-year war in the north of the country.
Thomas Kwoyelo was charged before the International Crimes Division court in the northern town of Gulu with 53 counts of wilful killing, hostage taking, destruction of property and causing injury.
The 39-year-old Kwoyelo denied the charges arising from his role as a "colonel" under the command of the LRA supremo Joseph Kony, himself wanted by the International Criminal Court ... where Milosevich died of old age before being convicted ... for atrocities against civilians.
Kwoyelo was tossed in the slammer in March 2009 in Garamba forest in the Democratic Republic of Congo during a sweep by regional forces against the LRA rebels who had decamped from northern Uganda two years earlier.
"All attacks were either committed by him or were carried out with his full knowledge," according to the charge sheet.
His hair neatly combed and wearing a green shirt, Kwoyelo shook his head as the charges were read out in the packed courtroom.
Kwoyelo, who joined the rebel group in 1987, is accused of leading several village raids, killing and abducting civilians in northern Uganda between 1992 and 2005.
In one of the attacks in 1996, the rebels kidnapped a group of villagers at a ceremony and forced them to carry their loot.
"Those who failed were summarily executed," said the charge sheet. "The rebels brutally tortured the women. The accused then ordered his forces to kill all the elderly captives."
"The rebels embarked on a fatal assault of the captives using guns, clubs and axes," it added.
At the opening of the trial, Uganda's principal judge Yorokamu Bamwiine said: "Ugandans and the international community have a feeling that justice must be done and it is there to be done."
"This is regardless of who wins or who loses," he added.
The trial drew huge attention and the courtroom was packed with people wanting to witness the first rebel from Uganda's most violent cut-thoat group face justice.
"I never thought any of the rebel leaders could be brought to face charges," said Annet Anywar, a resident of Gulu.
"But instead of apologising, he (Kwoyelo) denies, which annoys me," Anywar added.
Kwoyelo is not among the top LRA commanders, including Kony wanted by the International Criminal Court for rape, mutilation, murdering and forcefully recruiting child soldiers.
"Domestic war crimes prosecutions are essential to ensuring perpetrators of serious crimes committed during the conflict in northern Uganda do not escape justice," said Elise Keppler, Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... justice counsel.
"But trials must be fair and credible and witnesses need adequate protection. This first trial before the International Crimes Division will test whether these standards are being met," she said in a statement.
The insurgency and the fighting between the rebels and Ugandan forces claimed the lives of tens of thousands of people and saw nearly two million displaced.
The civil war effectively ended in 2006 when a grinding of the peace processor was launched but Kony and his top commanders have remained elusive and continued to commit atrocities in remote areas of neighbouring countries.
Troops from Congo, Uganda and South Sudan began a joint offensive in late 2008 against the LRA after Kony repeatedly failed to show up to sign a peace deal with Kampala.
However, death is not the end. There remains the litigation over the estate... the operation failed to capture Kony.
The LRA supremo, a semi-literate former altar boy, took charge in 1988 of a regional rebellion among northern Uganda's ethnic Acholi minority.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[AFP]-Maiduguri - Thousands of residents have fled the Nigerian city of Maiduguri over the past two days fearing more Islamist attacks and after soldiers were accused of shooting civilians, residents said on Tuesday.
Residents piled into the backs of trucks and packed up their cars to leave the northeastern city, which has seen the brunt of the violence blamed on the Islamist sect known as Boko Haram.
The government has deployed hundreds of troops to Maiduguri in a bid to stop the sect, and last weekend a shoot out between soldiers and suspected sect members left at least 11 dead.
Military officials say those killed were sect members, but residents say soldiers shot civilians and burnt their houses, accusing them of complicity in the Islamist attacks.
The military says explosives set off by the Islamists led to the burning of the buildings.
One resident, Mainasara Mukhtar, said he was leaving for fear of similar violence in his neighbourhood.
"Fliers were anonymously distributed in the neighbourhood of impending attacks and residents moved out to avoid being killed by soldiers as happened in Kalari (neighbourhood)," he said.
"Most of us are leaving town because we have nowhere else to move in the city."
Violence blamed on the sect has intensified in recent weeks, including frequent bomb blasts.
Campus closed
The commander of the military task force in the area defended his troops, saying they would not target innocent people.
"My men are not responsible for the exodus because even before the deployment of soldiers people have been leaving the city," said Jack Okechukwu Nwaogbo.
"Soldiers are not animals who will be killing people indiscriminately. Anybody shot or killed by soldiers must have attacked them or is armed, which means he is part of the group we are out to tackle."
Maiduguri university on Monday also ordered the indefinite closure of the campus due to security concerns. The bulk of the university's 35 000 students are drawn from other areas of the country.
[Yemen Post] At least 30 people have been killed in fresh festivities between tribes loyal to the opposition and Houthi groups in Yemen's province of Jawf, newsyemen.net reported on Monday.
The figure was the result of three days of fighting that resumed on Friday, the website quoted sheikh Hassan Abu Hadra as saying.
The revolutionaries who are seeking the ouster of the regime took control of the province triggering festivities with the Houthi followers who tried to take over it themselves four months ago.
An opposition-led mediation to contain the conflict between the Houthi followers and opposition fans in the province failed to put an end to the situation there, as the Houthi followers try to take over military posts.
Separately, the battles between the army and tribes in Arhab district on the outskirts of the capital Sana'a resumed earlier Monday with the elite republican guard shelling some villages heavily. On Sunday, some people were killed and injured and homes destroyed in the continuous battles.
The elite republican guard posts have heavily shelled villages and the tribes fought back targeting some camps, according to locals.
Furthermore, the elite republican guard is shelling Taiz province killing and displacing people as well as destroying homes.
The Joint Meeting Parties, the opposition coalition, held the governor and the local government responsible for the army attacks in Taiz.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Vice President Abd Rabu Mansour Hadi said on Monday there was a move towards a serious dialogue among the Yemeni factions as the crisis deepens amid acute shortages and insecurity triggering fears about the future of the country.
The government has exerted major efforts and achieved many things amid the current crisis including holding meetings with the opposition and the youths, he said. "There is almost an understanding to start a serious dialogue to tackle all crises and void any destruction in Yemen," Hadi was quoted as saying by Saba.
The remarks were given when Hadi received John Brennan, chief counterterrorism advisor to U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama, a day after the U.S. official met with President-for-Life Saleh, ... exemplifying the Arab's propensity to combine brutality with incompetence... who is being treated in Soddy Arabia.
The meeting in Sana'a discussed the overall situation in Yemen, with Hadi warning that the situation here has now become with dangerous dimensions at various levels.
Reviewing the developments since the current crisis started six months ago, Hadi touched upon measures taken to deal with the situation topped by the ceasefire between the army and the rustics loyal to Hashid leader sheikh Sadeq Al-Ahmer, reopening roads and providing basic supplies.
As the fuel crisis continues in most cities, Hadi, however, said that the measures to provide fuel is still controversial and need serious cooperation from all concerned parties to prevent collective punishment of the people.
On Sunday, Saba reported that Brennan had handed Saleh a letter from his U.S. counterpart urging him to sign a power transfer deal and congratulated his recovery.
Brennan today also met wit chief of staff and commander of the elite republican guard. The meeting focused on the bilateral relationship between the Yemeni and U.S. armies as well as ways to boost cooperation in the fight against terrorism.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] U.S. Deputy National Security Advisor John Brennan pushed for an immediate transition in Yemen during two days of talks with high level government officials in Sanaa, the U.S. embassy there said Wednesday.
"It is essential for all parties to participate in a peaceful political process in order to address the urgent needs of the Yemeni people for improved social, economic and security conditions," he said.
Brennan met with Vice President Abd Rabbuh Mansour Hadi and Foreign Minister Abu Bakr al-Qirbi, as well as military officials, opposition party leaders and members of civil society, among others.
In his meetings, Brennan reiterated U.S. support for the immediate implementation of a "transition that serves the aspirations of the Yemeni people," an embassy statement said.
The senior aide to U.S. President Barack B.O. Obama called Sunday on Yemen's injured President President-for-Life Ali Abdullah Saleh ... Saleh initially took power as a strongman of North Yemen in 1977, when disco was in flower... to sign a deal transferring power, during a face-to-face meeting in Soddy Arabia.
The United States, which had viewed Saleh as a key ally in its "war on terror," has warned of the threat posed by Islamist militancy in Yemen and repeatedly voiced concern over the country's potential to become a new staging ground for al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Wel-l-l, IRAN = IRGC may have something to say about US demands ...
To wit,
* PEOPLE'S DAILY FORUMS > IRGC CAUTIONS [warns] TRANS-REGIONAL POWERS TO STAY AWAY FROM REGION.
US Navy Aircraft Carriers are no longer a threat to Iran.
More popularly stated or described as "STAY THE HELL OUT, ... OR ELSE"!
* WAFF > [Panetta]US THREATENS TO ACT UNILATERALLY AGZ IRAN.
* CHINA DAILY FORUMS > IRAN HAILS TRANSFORMING S-200, into an Iran-produced, Iran-modified, allegedly better or improved ADS than what they originally received from Russia.
versus
* WAFF > US OFFICIAL:NO TANGIBLE [or strong]EVIDENCE AT HAND TO PROVE IRAN AID TO IRAQI MILITANTS.
Uh, uh, OOOOOOOOOOOPPPPPPS!
* SAME > IRAQ-BASED SHIITE MILITIA GROUP [Katiab Hezbollah = pro-Iran] CLAIMS RESPONSIBILITY FOR DEADLY ATTACK WHICH KILLED FIVE US SOLDIERS.
POSTER = KATAIB HEZBOLLAH Militia Group = not only is one of the most competent + deadliest Militia Groups but is a "Proxy Arm" of the IRGC in Iran, THE GOOD NEWS FOR THE US IS THAT THE GROUP IS NOT INTO SUICIDE ATTACKS/OPERS.
[An Nahar] Serious rioting erupted in Belfast injuring 22 officers, police said, as tension mounted before Tuesday's culmination of Northern Ireland's main Protestant marching season.
Police used water cannon and fired 51 plastic bullets to try to disperse around 200 Catholic rioters in the Broadway area of mainly Catholic west Belfast late Monday.
Rioters responded with a hail of bricks and more than 40 petrol bombs.
A bus was hijacked and driven at a police cordon separating Catholic Nationalists from Protestant Loyalists around 200 meters away, but crashed before reaching the cordon.
Four of the 22 maimed officers were taken to hospital. Their injuries were not life-threatening, the Police Service of Northern Ireland (PSNI) said Tuesday.
PSNI assistant chief constable Alistair Finlay said: "No one wants to see disorder return to any part of Northern Ireland. Such violence damages local infrastructure, it sets back relationships and leaves wounds which take time to heal.
"We know it is a difficult time for some communities and we encourage everyone with influence to keep talking, making their peaceful voices heard and working towards meaningful solutions and a peaceful summer."
The marching season comes to a climax later Tuesday and marks the Battle of the Boyne in 1690 when king William III, a Protestant, defeated the Catholic king James II, whom William had unseated two years earlier.
Trouble first flared late Monday when Protestants began lighting bonfires, the signal for the start of the Twelfth, a day of celebrations during which tens of thousands of "Orange Order" men are expected to march.
"There is no other single event that can produce crowds like the Twelfth. It is such a special day of religion, culture, music and pageantry," said Orange Order grand master Edward Stevenson.
Northern Ireland saw some of its worst sectarian violence in years two weeks ago, focused on a Catholic enclave in east Belfast.
The 1998 "Good Friday" peace accords largely ended the cycle of sectarian bombings and shootings in the province, part of the United Kingdom, and paved the way for a devolved, power-sharing Northern Irish Assembly.
Around 3,500 people were killed in decades of unrest pitting Protestant Loyalists who want the province to remain part of the United Kingdom against Catholic Republicans who favor joining the Irish Republic.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#4
This crap happens because the Protestants demand to march thru Catholic Nieghborhoods, and haress them. The IRA quit fighting 10 years ago give it a rest, ya jackwades. An Yeah I'm Irish Catholic, but never sent a dime to the IRA - the're thugs. Eventually the Catholics will out breed them have a referendum and join the Free State
Posted by: retired LEO ||
07/13/2011 23:07 Comments ||
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There are reports of three explosions in Mumbai - two in South Mumbai at Opera House and in Zaveri Bazar and one at Dadar, in central Mumbai.
One explosion, in a car in Dadar, has been confirmed. Details are not known yet about the reported explosion at Zaveri Bazaar or the one at Opera House. Eyewitnesses said at least 6 people were feared killed and about 15 to 20 people have taken to hospital in Zaveri Bazar.
Reports said a police control room had received a call claiming that there were serial blasts in Mumbai.
In 1993, more than 50 people were killed in the blast that rocked Zaveri Bazaar.
#3
Courtesy of the Thing from Snowy Mountain, a detailed timeline from Yahoo! India. Indian Mujahideen suspected, the three bombs went off at fifteen minute intervals, currently believed eight dead, around seventy
If it's Indian Mujahideen, there' probably a Pakistan connection, whether Lashkar-i-Taiba like the last Mumbai attack in 2008 or the ISI directly.
[Pak Daily Times] The Crime Investigation Department (CID) on Tuesday claimed to have tossed in the slammer seven alleged accused involved in different incidents of violence, including a hard boy of Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistain (TTP), Swat ...a valley and an administrative district in the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Province of Pakistain, located 99 mi from Islamabad. It is inhabited mostly by Pashto speakers. The place has gone steadily downhill since the days when Babe Ruth was the Sultan of Swat... faction.
SP Aslam Khan apprised about the arrests in a presser held here at the CID office Garden. He informed that two accused namely Sohail Abro and Sirajuddin alias Lakha were tossed in the slammer in a raid conducted at Khadda Market.
SP Khan said that the tossed in the slammer culprits were affiliated with the Arshad Pappu group of Lyari. Police also claimed to have recovered four Kalashnikov, two shotguns, one 7mm rifle, and eight kilogrammes hashish from their possessions. He said that the accused were planning a massive terror activity in the metropolis and they had around seven cases registered at different cop shoppes of Lyari Town. In another raid conducted near Mauripur truck stand, CID police tossed in the slammer four accused, including Muhammad Nabi, Muhammad Nadeem, Chand and Asif. Police claimed to have recovered Rs 0.2 million from their possession. The accused were involved in a number of criminal cases, including robberies and kidnapping.
Police said that the accused were involved in a robbery at the house of prominent singer Attaullah Khan Niazi's manager where they looted around Rs 1.9 million and 816.46 grammes gold.
SP Khan also claimed to have tossed in the slammer a hard boy of TTP Swat Ali Imran alias Imran Shah. The accused confessed to have attacked an army check post, various schools and other installations in Swat. Swat police were in search of the accused for different high profile cases. Further investigations are under way.
Besides, Special Investigation Unit (SIU) of Sindh police claimed to have tossed in the slammer five members of a gang in separate raids recovering huge quantity of merchandise, including NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. Originally it was a mutual defense pact directed against an expansionist Soviet Union. In later years it evolved into a mechanism for picking the American pocket while criticizing the style of the American pants... goods.
According to SIU official, a team of SIU on a tip-off conducted a raid at FB industrial area and tossed in the slammer three accused Muhammad Saabir, Munir and Shahid Ali. On their information, police recovered a stolen export-container of rice from the godown of one Hamza situated within the jurisdiction of Mochko cop shoppe. Following the said raid, a case (202/11) was registered by the Mochko police.
He said the culprits during the initial course of investigation revealed that they had also dumped a huge quantity of NATO mobile oil in a godown of one Adnan located in Manghopir area. Reacting on the information, a team raided the said warehouse and recovered 180 cartons of mobile oil besides arresting two accomplices namely Muhammad Ahmad and Sona Khan. The stolen oil was supposed to be supplied to NATO in Afghanistan. Manghopir police have lodged another FIR (263/11) against this crime.
Moreover, he said that the culprits had further pointed out that they had also concealed hundreds of cartons of cycle of violence spare-parts at a place located in Gaddap town. A consignment of 163 cartons of the same was recovered from the said location and another case (266/11) was registered against them. He said this gang, which was being operated by 13 members, used to sell looted goods to one Azhar in Punjab and added that they had also looted several consignments of sugar in the Punjab province.
Officer further said that raids were being conducted for the arrest of their accomplices, namely Ali Hassan Barohi, Mota Sindhi, Sikander Chandio, Salam alias Salamo, Deedar Mirani, Rahim Jamali, Sikander Mullah and Azhar Uddin. Further investigation is under way.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] At least seven people were killed and 26 others injured when a jacket wallahwent kaboom!" when he was stopped by police from entering the venue of a public meeting of the Pakistain Mohammedan League-Q in Battagram on Monday. Three women and two constables were among the dead.
According to district police chief Ghulam Hussain, the two constables sacrificed their lives and saved hundreds of people who had gathered at the place where PML-Q`s provincial chief Amir Muqam was to address the meeting.
Talking to news hounds at the District Headquarters Hospital, he said Mr Muqam appeared to be a target of the attack but he could not reach the place because he had been held up on the Karakoram Highway near Shinkiary.
He said the head and legs of the bomber and a grenade and a pistol had been found.
Injured coppers and witnesses said the young man, who looked suspicious, tried to enter the venue and when Constables Mohammad Taib and Hazrat Ali Shah asked him to stop he ignored them and tried to rush towards the dais. When the constables stopped him he went kaboom!". Both the copperswas struck down in his prime.
An injured constable told news hounds that the bomber detonated the explosives strapped to his body before police could fire at him.
DHQ Hospital Medical Superintendent Mehbobur Rehman said an eight-month-old girl was among the injured.
He said six of the injured people had been sent to hospitals in Mansehra and Abbottabad.
AFP adds: Talking to a TV channel, Mr Muqam, a minister without portfolio, said: "We had informed the local administration some time ago and there should have been proper security arrangements.
"I`m not satisfied with the arrangements made for the public meeting."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Two mortar shells fired from across the border in Afghanistan slammed into a Pak house on Tuesday, killing at least two women and wounding 12 other people, officials said.
It was the latest in a series of deadly cross-border incidents that have raised tensions between the neighbouring countries, but it was not immediately clear who fired the shells.
The mortar rounds went kaboom! in Gabri village, 60 kilometers (40 miles) northwest of Khar, the main town of restive Bajaur tribal district.
"Two women were killed and 12 other people were maimed when mortar shells fired from across the border fell into a house," local administration official Syed Nasim Shah told AFP.
Administration officials in Khar confirmed the casualties.
Hundreds of Afghans erupted into the streets in the eastern town of Jalalabad on Monday chanting "death to Pak invaders" to protest against cross-border attacks that they claim have killed dozens of people.
In recent weeks tensions have sharply risen on the border between Pakistain and Afghanistan's Kunar and Nangarhar ...on the main road from Lovely Peshawar. The capital is Jalalabad. The population of 1,334,000 consists mostly of Pashtuns with a few Arabs and Pashais... provinces, which villagers say have been bombarded with hundreds of rocket attacks.
Pakistain says its security forces may have fired a few accidental rounds into Afghanistan while pursuing bad boys. It also says that Islamic fascistifrom Afghanistan have crossed the border to attack security checkpoints.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
And they are all, for some reason, Moslems. There is so much love in the religion of peace, have you noticed?
Perhaps the answer to the WOT is right there if we can just perceive it. Keep 'em busy.
Like in Libya....just keep 'em busy.
Posted by: de Medici ||
07/13/2011 4:23 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] At least 48 suspected faceless myrmidons were killed by missiles launched by US drone aircraft in Pakistain's northwest, local intelligence officials said on Tuesday, one of the largest corpse counts to date in the controversial air bombing campaign. Coming a day after Washington announced an $800 million delay in military assistance amid worsening US-Pakistain ties, the attacks could exacerbate tension between the two uneasy allies in the war against bad turbans. The attacks started on Monday night, when remotely piloted drones fired nine missiles into a bad turban compound and at a vehicle in North Wazoo, killing 25 suspected thugs, local intelligence officials said.
Another strike hours later in South Waziristan killed five suspected bad turbans. Then on Tuesday morning, a drone fired two missiles at another compound in North Waziristan. "The missiles were fired as faceless myrmidons sitting in a vehicle were entering into a house used by them as a hideout," an intelligence official said, adding that 15 faceless myrmidons were killed in the strike. "The house is on fire." Three faceless myrmidons were killed in another strike in the same region. There was no independent confirmation of the corpse counts, and faceless myrmidons often dispute official death figures.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The real implications of headlines such as this require a bit of imagination and , shall we say it, empathy for the screwees by the screw-ers.
Imagine being a Moslem Pashtunwala with a gun, proud, uneducated, and ya Allah down to your greasey beard. Imagine looking up at the sky more often than necessary. Imagine wondering who is "next". Imagine knowing there isnt a damn thing this side of Paradise you can do about it. Imagine realizing that cousin Achmed and Uncle Zeke were just like you and they are no longer with us. Now recall, for the umpteenth time that there is absolutely nada you can do to stop the sky from looking back at you every time you look at the sky.
wat's dat sound, look all around. Strange stuff be goin' down...and of course, the obligatory PBUH.
Be sure to wear clean underwear, just in case.
Posted by: de Medici ||
07/13/2011 4:34 Comments ||
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[Bangla Daily Star] One of India's oldest rebel groups announced a unilateral ceasefire yesterday to push forward formal peace talks aimed at ending three decades of insurgency in the northeast state of Assam.
The United Liberation Front of Asom (Ulfa), the largest separatist outfit in the region, has been fighting for an independent homeland for ethnic Assamese since 1979.
The insurgency has claimed an estimated 10,000 lives.
"The Ulfa, with a view to exploring a lasting peaceful resolution of the ongoing conflict, resolves to cease all forms of armed campaign for an indefinite period," Ulfa chairman Arabinda Rajkhowa said in an e-mailed statement received by AFP.
Rajkhowa and several other top Ulfa leaders had been released from prison on bail in December 2010, after which they held several rounds of informal peace talks with New Delhi's chief negotiator PC Haldar.
They also held a courtesy meeting with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Home Minister PC Chidambaram earlier this year.
The only hold-out to the peace talks is the Ulfa's commander-in-chief Paresh Baruah, who is believed to be hiding with around 100 armed cadres somewhere along the Myanmar-China border.
Assam Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi welcomed the ceasefire declaration, and appealed to Baruah to join the grinding of the peace processor.
"But we cannot wait indefinitely for him to come in, and if his faction tries to create some problems then action will be taken against them," Gogoi said.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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The IDF responded to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip with strikes on weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza early Wednesday morning.
IAF aircraft targeted two sites in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, according to a statement released by the IDF Spokesperson's Unit. Direct hits were confirmed.
As rocket fire continues to plague Negev, leaders fear escalation in violence during summer vacation
Two Qassam rockets were fired from Gaza late Tuesday evening, exploding in Sdot Negev Regional Council. One of the rockets lightly damaged a home, exploding just a few meters away from it, while the other landed in open spaces. No injuries were reported in the aftermath of the fire. The rocket alert was sounded at 10:15 pm, and residents also received text messages asking them to enter fortified spaces.
Sdot Negev Regional Council head Meir Yifrach said he hopes the IDF will dole out a "harsh response" to the continuing fire on civilians.
"I guess we're seeing the results of the upcoming September declaration," he said, referring to the Palestinian Authority intention to appeal to the UN for a unilateral statehood declaration. "The assessment is that there will be an escalation in violence ahead of September but I hope this will be proved false and this period goes by in peace, especially since the kids are on vacation."
The head of Shaar Hanegev Regional Council, Alon Schuster, said the rocket fire had increased over the past few weeks and also expressed fear of escalating violence. "It appears the regime in Gaza is setting itself free of the restraints it took upon itself after the anti-tank missile fired at the school bus in April," he said, adding that the council had not received any special instructions to observe during summer vacation.
(AFP) -- Israel on Tuesday expelled 22 foreign pro-Palestinian activists detained after flying into Israel for protests at the weekend, and more were due to leave in the evening, an official said. Immigration service spokeswoman Sabine Hadad said that those who left during the day were put on flights to Italy, France and Austria. "Another 11 are on their way to an Alitalia flight," she said. "There could be more during the night. At the moment we have 23 (still in custody)."
The detainees were part of the "Welcome to Palestine" campaign in which up to 800 people from Europe and the United States planned to fly to Israel and head to the Palestinian territories to visit Palestinian families.
Israeli authorities marshalled diplomatic and security resources to try to head off the incoming activists. Of those who managed to arrive, 120 were denied entry to Israel and taken into custody, although a handful were later admitted after signing pledges not to take part in public disorder.
#3
The Israelis handled this with dignity and efficiency.
One commenter here did suggest that the "visitors" be fed , but only fizzy pop drinks and lots of Twinkies ( and only that, but as much as they could quaff or knosh ). No bathes, no beds. But one and only one toilet. ( as often as you like..but one at a time....take your time in there and the line will understand.and blame you...not us.)
Posted by: de Medici ||
07/13/2011 4:17 Comments ||
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#4
Former Greens MP to stay in Israel
Ms Hale, a former member of the NSW upper house, and activist Vivienne Porzsolt flew to Tel Aviv on Tuesday to participate in the Welcome to Palestine initiative before being arrested, NSW Greens MP David Shoebridge said.
They were detained in the early hours of today (AEST) after they tried to enter Bethlehem, a Palestinian city in the West Bank.
"Her local lawyer has obtained a stay on the deportation order and the matter will come before the district court in Tel Aviv at midday (7.10pm AEST), Israeli time," Mr Shoebridge told AAP earlier today.
But late tonight, Mr Shoebridge tweeted: "Sylvia Hale and Vivienne Porszholt win appeal against Israeli Interior Minister and overturn deportation orders! New precedent is set".
Those wondrously brave Lions of Islam, repaying generosity with murderous intent. It's no wonder the world loves and supports them.
Attacks include stonings, firebombings by east Jerusalem Arabs; center has suffered 43 attacks since beginning of the year.
Hadassah University Medical Center on Jerusalems Mount Scopus has suffered from 43 attacks on the campus by east Jerusalem Arabs since the beginning of this year even though they constitute more than a third of patients, the Knesset Labor, Social Welfare and Health Committee heard on Tuesday. Hospital Director Prof. Zvi Stern said that patients have choked on tear gas used to protect the hospital, a doctor has fainted and a nurse was wounded when hit by a rock.
The committees acting chairman MK Aryeh Eldad (National Union) a former burns specialist and plastic surgeon at Hadassah University Medical Center before he entered politics initiated the discussion. Eldad noted that during the last Nakba Day events, 11 firebombs were thrown into the Mount Scopus campus. There is no doubt that the hospital has to be protected, he insisted.
Stern said that in 2010, there were 83 incidents in which residents of the nearby Arab neighborhood of Issawiya threw rocks and firebombs at Hadassah- Mount Scopus, or lit fires there. From the roofs of the homes, rocks are thrown at the hospital. The security personnel wear bullet-proof vests and helmets, he said, and staffers fear driving at night to the hospital.
Some 38 percent of patients at the hospital are Arabs, Stern added.
Nitzav-Mishne Haim Blumenfeld, acting commander of the Israel Police Zion District, said that since last September, there have been many disruptions in the area. As Hadassah is the only symbol of the government in the area, I believe that the attacks from Issawiya are aimed at the hospital, said Blumenfeld. We think it is nationalistic action against the state. We have arrested dozens of residents aged nine to 43. Recently, we started not only to react to violence but also to initiate.... community action to strengthen the positive elements in the neighborhood. As a result, the amount of violations is declining, he added.
Hadash MK Dr. Afou Agbaria said that the real reason for their actions is that they are protesting against their situation. They dont receive help for their daily problems, so they try to harm the hospital. Instead of investing in [walls] and punishment, one must think about improving the quality of their lives in infrastructure and roads, and not by repression.
But the doctor insisted that there was no legitimacy for violence by residents, and added that it was possible that the violence was carried out by settlers or soldiers in Palestinian guise to create a provocation.
MK Orly Levy-Abecassis (Israel Beitenu) suggested that the doctor serve as a mediator between the hospital and residents of Issawiya and asked him to look into channels of discussions for improving relations between the hospital and its Arab neighbors.
Hadash: The party supports evacuation of all Israeli settlements, a complete withdrawal by Israel from all territories occupied as a result of the Six-Day War, and the establishment of a Palestinian state in those territories. It also supports the right of return or compensation for Palestinian refugees.[5] In addition to issues of peace and security, Hadash is also known for being active on social and environmental issues.[6]
Hadash defines itself as a non-Zionist party, originally in keeping with Marxist opposition to nationalism. It calls for recognition of Palestinian Arabs as a national minority within Israel.[7]
Hadash shifted to a more Arab nationalist appeal after running on a joint list with Ta'al in 2003.[8] Avirama Golan of the leftist Haaretz wrote in 2007 that Hadash has "succumbed to the separatist-nationalist and populist stream ... and chosen to turn its back on a social and civil agenda in favor of questions related to Palestinian nationalism..."[9]
an unbiased dude, of course.
Posted by: Frank G ||
07/13/2011 9:42 Comments ||
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More than a dozen armed men abducted a naturalized American, her teenage son and Filipino nephew before dawn Tuesday from a southern Philippine island near a stronghold of al-Qaida-linked militants, officials said.
Suspicion fell on the notorious Abu Sayyaf, which has been blamed for ransom kidnappings, beheadings and bombings in the last two decades, or a Muslim rebel commander whose group has been linked to previous abductions.
[Al Jazeera] Syria has denounced a statement by US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as the Smartest Woman in the World and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Dean Rusk ... in which she said Syrian President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad One of the last of the old-fashioned hereditary iron-fisted fascist dictators. Before going into the family business Pencilneck was an eye doctor... had lost legitimacy and was "not indispensable".
"Syria strongly condemns the statements of the American foreign minister ... these remarks are provocative and aim at continuing the internal tension," Syria's state news agency, SANA, said on Tuesday.
"These statements are another proof of US's flagrant intervention in Syria's internal affairs. The legitimacy of Syria's leadership is not based on the United States or others, it stems from the will of the Syrian people."
Clinton spoke on Monday after after protesters in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... attacked the US and French embassies. The demonstrations came after Robert Ford, the US ambassador, and his French counterpart visited the restive city of Hama, where Assad is facing growing demonstrations against his rule and has allegedly killed or tossed in the calaboose scores of residents.
The Syrian government called the visits to Hama interference in the country's internal affairs and accused the ambassadors of undermining Syria's stability.
Ford, the US ambassador to Syria, has of late harshly criticised the Syrian government's crackdown on the popular uprising. He attacked the Syrian government on Sunday for allowing rallies by supporters while beating up anti-government demonstrators.
Witnesses describing Monday's assault on the embassies said the attackers smashed windows and raised a Syrian flag at the US diplomatic compound. They said that the protesters wrote anti-American graffiti referring to the US ambassador as a "dog" on the walls.
A US official said the mob breached the wall of the embassy compound before being dispersed by Marine Corps guards. No buildings were entered and there were no injuries to embassy personnel, but one of the office buildings was damaged and Syrian security forces were slow to respond, the official said.
The official further said the B.O. regime would formally protest and may seek compensation for damage caused by the attack.
Following the embassy assault, the residence of US ambassador Ford was attacked by a mob.
Later, Clinton, the US secretary of state, said the Syrian leader had lost legitimacy.
"If anyone, including President [Bashar] al-Assad, thinks that the United States is secretly hoping that the regime will emerge from this turmoil to continue its brutality and repression, they are wrong," she said. "President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him remaining in power."
The state department had earlier said it would summon a senior Syrian diplomat to condemn the assault and demand that Syria uphold international treaty obligations to protect foreign diplomatic missions. Al Jizz's Rosiland Jordan, reporting from Washington DC, said that US authorities had accused Syria of using the embassy attacks "as a diversion from protests against Assad ... and simply will not work".
At around the same time the US embassy was targeted, security guards at the French embassy in Damacus had to fire into the air and use tear gas to drive back Assad supporters. One witness said three protesters were maimed when embassy guards beat them with clubs.
"Syrians demonstrated peacefully in front of the French embassy but they were faced with bullets," Hiam al-Hassan, a witness, said.
"[Syrian] security forces are supposed to protect or ensure the safety of our personal officers and of our buildings," a spokesperson for the French foreign ministry said.
Al Jizz's Rula Amin, reporting from Beirut, capital of neighbouring Leb, said that security in Syria was so tight that the protesters would not have been able to get so close to the embassies without approval from the government.
The pro-Assad demonstrations in Syria are known as "mnhebak", or "we love you".
"I have not seen the police assault a 'mnhebak' demonstration yet," Ford recently wrote on the embassy's Facebook page. "On July 9, a 'mnhebak' group threw rocks at our embassy, causing some damage. They resorted to violence, unlike the people in Hama, who have stayed peaceful."
"And how ironic that the Syrian Government lets an anti-US demonstration proceed freely while their security thugs beat down olive branch-carrying peaceful protesters elsewhere," he said. "I saw no signs of armed gangs anywhere at any of the civilian street barricades we passed.
"Hama and the Syrian crisis is not about the US at all. This is a crisis the Syrian people are in the process of solving. It is a crisis about dignity, human rights ...which are usually entirely different from personal liberty... , and the rule of law."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[6 views]
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#1
You have to "almost" feel sorry for Hillary. She was a Presidential Candidate against The Messiah and her own Party ditched her. And her consolation prize was this thankless and isolated State Dept. funny hat. Cleaning toilets for The One. ( and you know she will never get a second chance even after Obumble is gone).
And Hillary aint so stupid she doesnt realize all this right down to her corset and hose.
And Pencil-neck is complaining because the whole world knows what he doesnt seem to comprehend...that his regime is NEVER going to get the crud and worms back into the can now that it has spilled all over his pants. Its only going to go on and on and on and get worse. And eventually the poor sod is going to take his urine soaked toupee and some real value commodity and buy a villa in the south of France...and live next door to the former Head of the Congolese cannibals who speak impeccable French.
Look at his face. Take a good look at it. Clueless in Hell.
Now look at Hillary's face...she knows.... and she can smell it too.
Posted by: de Medici ||
07/13/2011 4:48 Comments ||
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[Pak Daily Times] The United States said Syrian President Basharal Assad has "lost legitimacy" four months into a deadly revolt against his rule, after the French and US embassies were targeted in angry pro-regime demonstrations.
Mobs besieged the US and French embassies on Monday after the ambassadors of the two Western countries last week travelled to the flashpoint protest city of Hama, north of the capital.
"President Assad is not indispensable and we have absolutely nothing invested in him ... remaining in power," Clinton said in the toughest US stand since the mid-March outbreak of a revolt against his rule.
"From our perspective, he has lost legitimacy. Our goal is to see that the will of the Syrian people for a democratic transformation occurs," she said.
Gay Paree, on Tuesday, renewed its demand that the United Nations ...a formerly good idea gone bad... Security Council take a stance on the crisis in Syria.
"La Belle France and other European countries have submitted a proposed resolution to the UN Security Council, which has been blocked by Russia and China," Prime Minister Francois Fillon said in a radio interview.
"This is no longer acceptable," he said, branding the attack on his government's Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti... embassy, in which three French personnel were maimed, "extremely violent" and warning that Assad's regime was losing its grip.
French Foreign Minister Alain Juppe said: "Once again, we call on Syrian authorities to do their duty. All governments should ensure the security of embassies and diplomatic missions."
The foreign ministry said three French staff were maimed in the attack, which forced guards to fire three warning shots, while Washington said no staff were hurt in a similar clash at its Damascus compound.
As Syrian security forces looked on, Assad supporters smashed their way into the French embassy compound with a battering ram, broke windows and destroyed the ambassador's car, according to a foreign ministry front man in Gay Paree.
Last week, the French and US ambassadors to Syria made high-profile visits to the restive city of Hama in a gesture of support to the civilian victims of the violence.
The regime reacted with fury, accusing the Western powers of fomenting unrest.
Syria's state news agency SANA said hundreds of people on Monday also held a sit-in in front of the French consulate in Aleppo ...For centuries, Aleppo was Greater Syria's largest city and the Ottoman Empire's third, after Constantinople and Cairo. Although relatively close to Damascus in distance, Aleppans regard Damascenes as country cousins... , accusing Gay Paree of "mobilising the international community" against Damascus.
At the US embassy, several demonstrators scaled the complex's high outer wall and others draped a large Syrian flag over the main entrance.
The chancery was not breached but some of the crowd of about 300 climbed up on the roof and reached ambassador Robert Ford's residence before being chased away by US marines.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/13/2011 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
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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.
International Criminal Court
,
cycle of violence
At least 48 suspected 
The IDF responded to rocket fire from the Gaza Strip with strikes on weapons manufacturing sites in Gaza early Wednesday morning.
As rocket fire continues to plague Negev, leaders fear escalation in violence during summer vacation
Hillary Clinton
President-for-Life Bashir 
