"In extreme cases, these neighborhoods might as well be foreign countries, with their own laws and value systems. Thus, good students are treated as pariahs, while outlaws get respect. Matters have reached the point where some young "Gauloises" have testified that, in a kind of inverse assimilation process, they converted to Islam to escape harassment by Muslim thugs." Page 2 linked, you've seen the stuff on page 1 before.
#2
Article: Matters have reached the point where some young "Gauloises" have testified that, in a kind of inverse assimilation process, they converted to Islam to escape harassment by Muslim thugs."
Before the modern era, Muslims in many Muslim countries used to be able to kill infidels for any reason without penalty. What better reason for an infidel to convert to the true faith?
Tip of the iceberg?
The federal agency charged with finding cases of money laundering and "terrorist financing activities" said Friday it has identified $2 billion in suspicious transactions in the past year â triple the previous year's total. The information was contained in the annual report of FINTRAC (the Financial Transactions and Reports Analysis Centre of Canada). The agency was set up in 2000 to look into money laundering and was expanded after the Sept. 11 attacks to include the "detection and deterrence of terrorist financing activity." The report said it had forwarded information on 142 cases to law enforcement and national security agencies in the past year. In 110 cases, the disclosures related to money laundering. The agency said 24 disclosures related to "suspected terrorist activity financing and/or threats to the security of Canada." Eight cases were related to both. Glad someone is noticing these things. Finally.
Posted by: Rafael ||
11/05/2005 00:44 ||
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watchdog finds $2 billion in suspicious transactions
wtf?
Posted by: Red Dog ||
11/05/2005 1:06 Comments ||
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Tell them they are missing out on taxes and they get right on it.
When a recruiter stopped by to talk to his son, Roderick Evans was the one sold on the military. The Detroit home health care specialist had a passion for helping others and a desire to make a difference.
A military medical career sounded like a perfect fit.
The recruiter, on the other hand, saw a different picture. He took one look at Evans and said, "You're just too big."
At 5 feet, 7 inches and 418 pounds, Evans could hardly disagree.
But instead of easing the rejection with his usual overdose of comfort foods, he went on a weight-loss crusade. Fueled by sheer willpower and a determination to join the military, the 36-year-old finally conquered a lifelong battle with his weight. Three years and 230 pounds lighter, Evans again saw a recruiter. This time, he was met with a much different reception.
"He had me come down to his office for a (fitness) test," said Evans, now 39 years old and a svelte 165 pounds. "I passed with flying colors and signed up for the Reserves on the spot."
More at link
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 14:15 ||
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Comfort food... my bane... damn, I'm fat...
Kudos for Mr. Evans, sheer willpower and a very selfless move too!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/05/2005 17:56 Comments ||
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Waitaminute! I read only poor, southern, ignorant, uneducated, unemployable guys joined the military because the Bushitler economy is so bad, they are afraid they can't get low-paying, unrewarding jobs?
What dwas the WaPo subtitle the other day? Fear of Unemployment overcomes Fear of Military? Something like that.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 18:45 Comments ||
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#4
Ya, 25 years ago I was a poor white trash boy that had too many drugs and no hope of a job. Until they close the self service gas stations, the only real job I ever had was pumping gas, I guess I'll have to wait out another administration. Damn, get the reenlistment papers ready!
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/05/2005 18:53 Comments ||
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#5
Since 9/11 I've often felt like Shakespeare's "men who think themselves accursed and hold their manhoods cheap", feeling despite the 49 years, the bad back and the achy knees that I belong back in uniform. My wife, on the other hand, probably breathed a sigh of relief after I was diagnosed with osteoporosis in my lumbar spine...my doc made it OFFICIAL that I'd be more trouble to the service than I'd possibly be worth.
The gent profiled in this article sounds like a hell of a man, and a great example both for his own kids and his younger fellow soldiers. Good on yer, PVT Evans!
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
11/05/2005 19:45 Comments ||
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Hey! Mebbe one a yous could find out how to applaud Pvt Evans - find some sorta contact info?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 22:22 Comments ||
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Hey! Mebbe one a yous could find out how to applaud Pvt Evans - find some sorta contact info?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 22:25 Comments ||
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Its not clear the UN actually did an audit and if it did I fail to see what this has to do with the US government unless the US government acted as some kind of agent with full liability. And even then if there was overcharging (a common occurence with T&M type contracts) then they have the same redress as everyone else, try to negotiate a solution and if that fails sue in the courts. Any opinion the UN has would be appear to be irrelevant.
A UN auditing board has recommended the United States pay as much as US$208 million to Iraq for overbilling or shoddy work performed by a subsidiary of the US oil services firm Halliburton, The New York Times reports.
The work, carried out by Kellogg, Brown and Root, was paid for with Iraqi oil revenues but was delivered at inflated prices or done poorly, the board said, quoted by the US newspaper.
While audits had called into question US$208 million worth of contracting work, it was too early to say how much of the funds should be paid back because analysis of financial statements and documents was still under way, the newspaper wrote.
Once the analysis was finished, the UN monitoring board "recommends that amounts disbursed to contractors that cannot be supported as fair be reimbursed expeditiously," the board said in a statement, quoted by the daily.
The board, which relied mainly on Pentagon audits for its findings, could only make recommendations and the ultimate decision on repayment would be up to the United States government. The Pentagon has yet to release its audits of the contracting work.
A spokeswoman for Halliburton told the newspaper questions raised by earlier US military audits had focused on documentation and not the quality of the work performed by Kellogg, Brown and Root.
"Therefore, it would be completely wrong to say or imply that any of these costs that were incurred at the client's direction for its benefit are 'overcharges,'" spokeswoman Cathy Mann was quoted as saying in an e-mail to the paper.
Halliburton, once managed by now Vice President Dick Cheney, has been accused previously of overbilling and opposition Democrats have alleged it enjoyed preferential treatment for government contracts. Cheney has rejected the allegations.
A former Iraqi academic, Louay Bahry, told the newspaper that the board's findings would confirm suspicions among ordinary Iraqis that Washington's underlying motive in going to war against Saddam Hussein's regime in 2003 was to control the country's oil wealth.
"Something like this will be caught in the Iraqi press and be discussed by the Iraqi general public and will leave a very bad taste in the mouth of the Iraqis," Bahry, who works at the Middle East Institute in Washington, told the newspaper.
Charged with overseeing Iraq's oil revenues and money seized from Saddam Hussein's regime, the monitoring board includes representatives from the United Nations, the International Monetary Fund, the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, the International Bank for Reconstruction and Development and the Iraqi government. Why does this board even exist? I'll suggest they are struggling to justify their existence.
The results of the audit should allow the Iraqi government "the right to go back to K.B.R. (Kellogg, Brown and Root) and say, 'Look, you've overbilled me on this, this is what you could repay me,'" a board member was quoted as saying by the paper.
#1
looks to me as if KBR did not pay the usual oil bribe money to the UN and now they are angry.
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/05/2005 8:45 Comments ||
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There have been a couple of audit reviews, done routinely, which identifies expenditures which the US government finds were not in line with the open contract that Haliburton has. Its normal operating procedure. That gets big play in the MSM, but the point that its done regularly to verify expenditures is not. We have our own auditors. We check. If there is a problem on the company's part, it has to payback.
Now the 'inflated prices or shoddy work' complaint is most amusing coming from the Oil-for-Bribes people. Instead of folding tents and keeping a low profile for a couple of years, they've got to get attention. Their problem is that they're not going to like the attention they're about to get.
#3
The UN is now in the financial auditing business...whahahahhhaa. What an opportunity for somebody to tell them to go get ***ked! They absolutely have NO SHAME.
#4
The results of the audit should allow the Iraqi government "the right to go back to K.B.R. (Kellogg, Brown and Root) and say, 'Look, you've overbilled me on this, this is what you could repay me,'" a board member was quoted as saying by the paper.
Can the Iraqi government do the same with the UN in re OFF?
Posted by: Robert Crawford ||
11/05/2005 11:00 Comments ||
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Under the previous Iraqi regime, the school system forced Kurdish people to attend institutes of learning where Arabic was the only language used in class. Many Kurdish children never learned to read and write in their language and typically, they were not successful students because Arabic schools did not offer Arabic as a second language. Consequently, the illiteracy rate among the Kurdish army population runs high.
A recently introduced program addresses the problem of illiteracy.
As of early September, the Multinational Security Transition Command-Iraq is funding a literacy program for the Peshmerga Transition Office. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, Gulf Region North provides contract administration for the program; Anna Khanakan, of the Peshmerga Transition Office, oversees it.
The main purpose of the literacy program is to increase literacy among the soldiers of the Iraqi Army, making it a more educated and effective force.
Classes are underway in the Sulaymaniyah, Iraq, area located in Fermandaye and Sarchia. Instructors also offer five classes in Bazyan and eight in Ranya. In all, there are more than 780 students enrolled in 21 classes.
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 14:21 ||
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The secure environment in which Iraqis voted on a constitutional referendum Oct. 15 increased Iraqis' confidence in their security forces, a top official said.
"I think the real success for the referendum security was the increased confidence it gave to the Iraqi security forces themselves and, through them, to the Iraqi people," British Royal Marine Maj. Gen. Jim Dutton, commander of Multinational Division Southeast, said in a news conference from Basra, Iraq, today. "That will be significant in the way in which the (security forces) are seen by the Iraqi people in the future."
Dutton is in charge of coalition operations in the region. He said this increased confidence is important as plans progress to completely transition security operations to Iraqi forces. While tailored to each individual region, the plans will enable Iraqi forces to provide their own security with decreasing dependence on coalition forces.
Relative calm in Iraq's southeast gives security forces there a head start on this process. "We are in a situation here now, and have been for some time, (where) Iraqi forces take the lead for security," Dutton said. "We are not, after all, fighting an insurgency down here."
more at link
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 14:19 ||
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Many Iraqis who couldnât get jobs under Saddam Hussein because of their ethnicity, sectarian identity, or refusal to join the Baath party, are now working. The private sector economy is booming because Iraqis are investing in it, with some of the money coming from family members abroad. Thriving banks, restaurants, and furniture stores now occupy what were abandoned stores last year.
In August, new business startups in Iraq exceeded 30,000. Individual Iraqis are better off financially than they have been for 20 years. According to the World Bank and International Monetary Fund, per capita income has doubled since the United States toppled the Saddam regime. There are more than 3.5 million cellular phone subscribers in Iraq, up from zero when Saddam ruled. Internet cafes are thriving in even small towns.
#2
I wonder how many start-up were reported in France in August?
Posted by: 49 pan ||
11/05/2005 18:09 Comments ||
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now, look for MSM warnings of climbing inflation due to lack of savings in Iraq...Quagmire!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2005 18:34 Comments ||
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So this'll be in the Sunday papers, right? Post, Times, Globe?
Posted by: Bobby ||
11/05/2005 18:46 Comments ||
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Many Iraqis Americans who couldnât get jobs under Saddam Hussein Bush because of their ethnicity, sectarian identity, or refusal to join the Baath Republican party, are now will be working under my administration. The private sector economy is will boom because Iraqis Americans can will be investing in it, with some of the money coming from family members abroad. Thriving banks, restaurants, and furniture stores now will occupy what were abandoned stores last year.
Bill darling, how does this look for my convention acceptance speach. Outstanding Hillary, great lead in!
#6
The only way it will be in the papers is if the MSM- DNC figures out a way to spin it negative for Bush. example: "Bush is busy building up Iraq's economy but neglecting the US economy...."
#7
Seriously, if any of you are in an investing mood, Iraq is the place to be. J. Paul Bremer set them up financially in such a way that all else being equal, their economy will explode four or five times faster than did MacArthur's Japan.
In 10-15 years, I expect that the Iraqis will be "farting through silk", economically. The Dinar may be on a par with the Swiss Franc, and their stock market will be one of the top 10 in the world. Right now, major Iraqi startup corporations that cost a few pennies a share will be worth a bleedin' fortune.
#8
Another factor is their banking / currency system. An acquaintance of mine was a senior consultant to them as they redid the banking laws and currency ... they're positioned to blend well with international banking regimes as the economy grows.
#9
They (the Iraqis) are a damn sight more business oriented and motivated that most in Kuwait, Bahrain, or the rest of the Gulf. I don't recall them using third country nationals (TCN's) and don't mind getting thier hands dirty. In 1994 the exchange rate was 250 Dinar to the USD. It got worse after that. I would say a comeback is entirely possible. Babylon, Nineveh and some of the other ancient sites will bring tourism.
U.N. Secretary-General Kofi Annan has canceled a trip to Iran in response to increasing tension over the Iranian president's call for Israel to be "wiped off the map." Annan decided it is "not an appropriate time" for him to go to Iran, citing the "ongoing controversy" over Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks last week, according to a statement from the secretary-general's spokesman, Stephane Dujarric.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2005 00:52 ||
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Hey Stephane, how does it feel to work for a totally worthless tit. This would have been the BEST time for him to visit with Ahmadinejad and let him know how stuck-on-stupid he really is! To bad he's both clueless and nuetered.
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday postponed a planned trip this month to Iran, which has called for the destruction of Israel. âThe secretary general and the Iranian government have mutually agreed that this is not an appropriate time for him to travel to Iran,â said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
The caterer has been having such a problem.
âIn light of the ongoing controversy, it would have been difficult to advance the agenda that he had wanted to discuss with the Iranian leadership.â
Annan leaves this weekend for a tour that would have taken him to Iran from November 11 to November 13. He will now go to Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Tunisia and Pakistan. Annan is traveling through Paris, where he is scheduled to meet with President Jacques Chirac about Monday, the spokesman said in a statement.
Annanâs trip will focus on the Middle East, including regional stability, the Middle East peace process, Iraq, and the follow-up to Septemberâs UN World Summit.
Not that anything will be accomplished, of course.
US lawmakers issued a statement saying a visit by Annan would have sent the wrong message after the Iranian presidentâs remarks. Republican Mark Kirk from Illinois, a member of the House of Representatives, said: âAn official visit to Iran by the UN secretary general would only reward a man who just threatened genocide against the Jewish people.
âWe formed the United Nations out of the ashes of the Nazi Holocaust and we cannot allow an international leader to threaten another one.â
That's well said.
New Jersey Democratic member Rob Andrews said that any official visit by the secretary general had to be ruled out at a time when Iranâs hostile attitude towards Israel and disputed nuclear program are under international scrutiny. âAt a crucial moment in diplomatic efforts to bring Iran into compliance, an official visit by the secretary general would legitimize the regimeâs current position and undermine the international community,â Andrews said in a statement.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2005 00:28 ||
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The Brisbane Courier-Mail reports owners of the world's largest cruise ship â the recently launched $1.3 billion Queen Mary 2 â confirmed terror threats hang over its maiden voyage slated for early next year. The paper reports U.S. intelligence officials also found evidence Osama bin Laden's terror network planned to attack the British aircraft carrier Ark Royal as it passed through the Gibraltar Straits en route to the Iraq theater of war earlier this year.
WorldNetDaily exclusively reported Sept. 29, based on intelligence obtained by Joseph Farah's G2 Bulletin, that al-Qaida has purchased at least 15 ships in the last two years, creating a veritable terror armada. G2 Bulletin's sources said potential targets of the al-Qaida armada include civilian ports, oil rigs and cruise liners.
Lloyds of London reportedly helped Britain's MI6 and the U.S. CIA trace the sales of the "terror ships" made through a Greek shipping agent suspected of having direct contacts with bin Laden. The ships fly the flags of Yemen and Somalia â where they are registered â and are capable of carrying cargoes of lethal chemicals, a "dirty bomb" or even a nuclear weapon, according to G2B sources. The freighters left their home ports in the Horn of Africa in early September, some were believed destined for ports in Asia.
WorldNetDaily reported Oct. 13 on growing warnings around the world that the next dramatic terror attack is more likely to come at sea than in the air. Earlier this year, a chemical tanker, the Dewi Madrim, was hijacked by machinegun-bearing pirates in speedboats off the coast of Sumatra. But these weren't ordinary pirates looking for booty. These were terrorists learning how to drive a ship. They also kidnapped officers in an effort to acquire expertise on conducting a maritime attack.
There is also evidence terrorists are learning about diving, with a view to attacking ships from below. The Abu Sayyaf group in the Philippines kidnapped a maintenance engineer in a Sabah holiday resort in 2000. On his release in June this year, the engineer said his kidnappers knew he was a diving instructor â they wanted instruction. The owner of a diving school near Kuala Lumpur has recently reported a number of ethnic Malays wanting to learn about diving, but being strangely uninterested in learning about decompression. This resembles reports that Sept. 11 hijackers who attended U.S. flight schools were only interested in learning how to fly planes, not land.
The Courier-Mail reports U.S. intelligence services believe scores of acoustic sea-mines, found to have disappeared from a naval base in North Korea by a U2 spy plane, could be aboard bin Laden's "terror ships," the number of which it puts at 28.
According to the paper, the capture of al-Qaida's chief of naval operations, Ahmad Belai al-Neshari, helped reveal the blueprint of the group's maritime plots. Al-Neshari was found carrying a 180-page dossier that listed large cruise liners sailing from Western ports as "targets of opportunity."
NEW DELHI - Only one crossing point on the Kashmir border will be opened on Monday to help in relief work for victims of the South Asian earthquake, Indiaâs foreign ministry said on Saturday.
It said the first crossing point will be opened at Chakan da Bagh on Monday, followed by another at Kaman on Wednesday and a third in Tithwal on Thursday. âThe crossing point at Chakan da Bagh (Poonch) will be operationalised on November 7,â the ministry statement said.
Indiaâs army said Friday that the historic reopening of the border between the Indian and Pakistani zones of divided Kashmir had been scaled back from five crossing points to three. Indian army spokesman Vijay Batra told AFP that three points would open on Monday. Batra said two other points would open only if there was demand from both sides. âRelief material for earthquake victims will be sent through these crossing points. People can start using these points to cross the Line of Control as soon as their names are approved by both sides,â the foreign ministry statement said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2005 13:02 ||
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Meanwhile the jihadi "lions of islam" do their stuff
Gangraped by foreign ultras, schoolgirl commits suicide
PTI
JAMMU: Foreign mercenaries gangraped a girl who, shattered by the traumatic experience, committed suicide in a village in Rajouri district of Jammu and Kashmir recently, a defence spokesman said here on Saturday.
A group of ultras, speaking foreign dialect, barged into a house in Muradpur village on the night of October two and demanded food. Later, they mercilessly beat up two men, tied a woman occupant of the house to a cot and criminally assaulted a schoolgirl, the spokesman said.
Unable to bear the humiliation, the girl ended her life by consuming a bottle of pesticide, he said.
Police were investigating the rape incident, official sources said.
Posted by: john ||
11/05/2005 13:12 Comments ||
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Meanwhile, the Indian Air Force goes recruting among the quake victims...
IAF's Eid gift for Urusa youth -- a recruitment rally
URUSA (NEAR LOC), NOV 4 (PTI)
Indian Air Force has an Eid gift for the youth of Urusa, one of the completely destroyed village in Baramullah district of Jammu and Kashmir.
The IAF, which has adopted the village soon after the October 8 quake, is planning a special recruitment rally for the "fit 30 to 40 youth" of this remote place.
This was disclosed by Western Command Chief A K Singh while participating in an Eid celebration in this inaccessible village, 1.5 km from LoC.
"This is an Eid gift for the youth of the village. I will speak to Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi in this regard. We had done similar recruitment drives in Bangalore and Coimbatore and other places," Singh told reporters here.
But the offer comes with a rider.
"I am not assuring them jobs. We are ready to take Urusa youth in IAF's combat force but IAF cannot compromise on quality," Singh said adding they have to adhere to the stipulated qualities.
Posted by: john ||
11/05/2005 13:14 Comments ||
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The Indian Army's Desert Strike exercise will be held on November 18 for which preparations are being made on a war footing.
According to sources, Defence Minister Pranab Mukherjee, Army chief Gen J J Singh, Air Chief Marshal S P Tyagi and 79 defence representatives of friendly countries will also attend the function to be held at Pokharan field firing range in the district.
The exercise being held under fire power demonstration will test recently acquired weapons and other equipment for its strike capabilities, the source said.
Senior defence officials and security experts from friendly countries have also been invited to the function, source added.
Posted by: john ||
11/05/2005 12:45 ||
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Confidence Building Measure...
Posted by: john ||
11/05/2005 14:38 Comments ||
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Klingons, wake up klingons... don't miss this one damn it!
Pakistan would postpone the purchase of F-16 fighter jets from the US to focus on quake relief and rehabilitation work, President Pervez Musharraf today said. Pakistan was planning to buy 75 F-16 fighter jets from the US at a cost of three billion US dollars. Musharraf stressed that delaying the purchase of the jets would have no bearing on the country's defence. "We should never do anything that jeopardises our security," he told reporters in quake-ravaged capital of PoK, Muzaffarabad.
Pakistan's President Pervez Musharraf has made the right decision in postponing the purchase of F-16 fighter planes from the US and diverting the funds to the Kashmir earthquake relief effort... Snip all pious concern for Kashmiri civilians
...Not only necessary to release desperately needed funds as well as brighten up the militaryâs image, it is a welcome decision for another reason. It also shows that Pakistan is confident in the improving relationship with India. It would not have happened, no matter how great the financial needs, had Islamabad felt threatened from India. It is all the more impressive given the efforts Pakistan put into surmounting US opposition to the sale; US military sanctions were only lifted last March after 15 years in place. It is as much a confidence-building measure as opening crossings on the LOC; indeed more so. India should respond in kind.
#1
The ClueBat was late, but it did finally show up aside PervMan's noggin. The transparency of most foreign leaders, especially those of Muslim asylums, is quite remarkable... and often convenient.
'cept that India has bigger threats to deter (Chinese are buying Flankers by the bushel) and unlike Pakistan, does not rely on aid to purchase weapons. It pays cash.
The last increase in the Indian defence budget was greater than the entire Pakistani defence budget.
This is with an Indian defence budget at less than 2.5 percent of GDP. This is a clamor for it to go to 3 percent of GDP especially now with 8 percent growth rates.
If Pakistan wants to maintain this fiction of muslim superiority, of parity with India then it will have to literally eat grass and blackmail the US to provide arms.
It will continue to allocate the bulk of its budget to the military and then wonder why the economy is in the dumps.
Posted by: john ||
11/05/2005 8:12 Comments ||
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#3
At least he made the mental connection, ie., hungry people, hmmm maybe the nice-to-have stuff can wait. North Korea has never been able to make that leap.
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.
UNITED NATIONS - UN Secretary General Kofi Annan on Friday postponed a planned trip this month to Iran, which has called for the destruction of Israel. âThe secretary general and the Iranian government have mutually agreed that this is not an appropriate time for him to travel to Iran,â said UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric.
