The vice president of Sudan's UMMA party says the opposition group will not recognize President-Elect Omar Hassan al-Bashir as Sudan's legitimate leader because the election was fraught with widespread irregularities. Fadallah Burma Nasir said President Bashir and his dominant National Congress Party (NCP) were elected against the wishes and interest of Sudanese.
We in UMMA party did not recognize the results of this election because it was unfair, because we think that President Bashir didn't gain the Sudanese trust,' he said.
The UMMA party joined the Sudan People's Liberation Movement (SPLM) and several other factions to boycot the poll after accusing the NCP of rigging the vote -- a charge the NCP denies.
The National Electoral Commission declared Mr. Bashir winner of the election with more than 62 percent of the total vote cast in Sudan's first election in 24 years.
Opposition leader Nasir said that the UMMA party will not cooperate with a government that failed to win the mandate of the people through a credible vote.
We don't think that this government came through the right channel, through the wishes and interests of the Sudanese people. So we cannot cooperate with this sort of government,' Nasir said.
Poll observers said Sudan's five-day election failed to meet international standards. But the African Union on Monday praised what it described as peace elections, saying it hoped Sudan would face key decision-making with wisdom.
The UMMA party's Nasir questioned the credibility of the vote. We wanted the election as a moment to change, to transfer to democracy. We wanted the elections so as we, the Sudanese people, will come together to solve our problems. But this election now, it was an election within one party. It was not an election for the Sudanese people to give their views. It was an election within the National Congress Party It is very clear that this election was not fair,' Nasir said.
Washington said Sudan's elections were neither free nor fair but it will deal with the winners to try to settle internal disputes before a referendum that will determine whether southern Sudanese will want to become independent or remain part of the north.
Nasir said the opposition will only consider working with President Bashir if there is an all-inclusive government.
If he (President Bashir) is going to form a national government representing all the Sudanese people, a government with a real program, a program to solve Sudanese problems, yes now we can go with them,' Nasir said.
He also said that several opposition parties including the UMMA party are holding unity talks to decide their next line of action.
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04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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UNITED NATIONS -- The UN Security Council on Tuesday put forward the possibility of establishing international tribunals to try pirates, as its members called for tougher legislation aimed at prosecuting and jailing suspects caught off the coast of Somalia.
In a resolution unanimously adopted, the 15-member body appealed to all States "to criminalize piracy under their domestic law and favorably consider the prosecution of suspected, and imprisonment of convicted, pirates apprehended off the coast of Somalia, consistent with applicable international human rights law. " Not just a resolution, mind you, but a unanimously adopted resolution ...
The Security Council also requested that UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon present a report within three months on possible options for prosecuting and imprisoning suspects in connection with piracy and armed robbery at sea in the Horn of Africa.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Unanimous because the Russians and Chinese have not figured out a way to make useful proxies out of the pirates. Not that the possibility is going undiscussed, I'm sure...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
04/28/2010 11:48 Comments ||
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Long piece at ABC about one of the more idiotic things we're doing in Somalia: training 'soldiers' for the 'government' in Mog, and then not paying them so they desert, usually to the insurgents, so that they can feed their families.
Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with U.S. tax dollars have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage, and some have even joined the al-Qaida-linked militants they are supposed to be fighting, The Associated Press has learned.
The desertions raise fears that a new U.S.-backed effort beginning next month to build up Somalia's army may only increase the ranks of the insurgency.
Somalia's besieged U.N.-backed government holds only a few blocks of the Somali capital, Mogadishu, while Islamic insurgents control the rest of the city and most of the country. That turmoil -- and the lawless East African nation's proximity to Yemen, where al-Qaida in the Arabian Peninsula is based -- has fed fears that Somalia could be used to launch attacks on the West.
In an effort to rebuild the tattered Somali military, the United States helped fund a training program for nearly 1,000 soldiers in neighboring Djibouti last year, Western diplomats told the AP. The French-trained troops were supposed to earn $100 a month, but about half of them deserted because they were not paid, Somali army Col. Ahmed Aden Dhayow said.
"Some gave up the army and returned to their ordinary life and others joined the rebels," he said.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Hundreds of Somali soldiers trained with U.S. tax dollars have deserted because they are not being paid their $100 monthly wage is stolen by Somalis higher up.
Wonderful people. How did Minnesota ever do without them?
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2010 0:42 Comments ||
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The Ethiopians have done well in the US, mainly in places like Columbus and Milwaukee. Could it be related to the fact that they're not of the same Religion of Peace as the Somalis?
REYNOSA Mexico Authorities continue to tell the public to avoid a bridge near Reynosa's baseball stadium after at least one unexploded grenade was discovered beneath it Tuesday night. The bridge remains open and officials say municipal police are monitoring the area, but motorists should avoid the area, officials said.
So much for getting anything of consequence done. What's next, a referral to the International Criminal Court and Carla del Ponte?
NEW YORK, April 27 (Yonhap) -- The United Nations will consult closely with South Korea to address the sinking of a South Korean warship in the disputed sea border with North Korea, the U.N. chief said Tuesday.
Speaking to South Korean reporters at the South Korean consulate-general here, Secretary General Ban Ki-moon stressed the need to bring light to the exact cause of the sinking of the 1,200-ton Cheonan that killed 40 sailors and left six others missing. Earlier he paid tribute to the dead seamen at a makeshift altar in the consulate.
"The most important thing is to obtain a scientific and objective outcome of the investigation," said Ban, former South Korean foreign minister. "Thereafter, the South Korean government will likely take necessary actions in cooperation with its allies, parties to six-party talks and a broader international community."
Meaning that they'll do nothing ...
As the chief of the global body, Ban said he expects to join the discussions on that issue. "However, I am not in a position to elaborate at this stage," he said.
South Korean Foreign Minister Yu Myung-hwan has said his government will bring the case to the U.N. Security Council for further sanctions if North Korea's involvement is confirmed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Yeah, but North Korea better WATCH OUT if they do that againtwo three more times!
North Korea seized South Korean government properties in the Mt. Kumgang resort area on Tuesday, as announced on March 23. About 20 North Korean officials, including the director of the General Scenic Spots Development and Guidance Bureau Kim Kwang-yoon, made the rounds of five properties owned by the South Korean government and the Korea Tourism Organization, including a meeting hall for separated families and a hot spring spa. They seized the properties by replacing labels "frozen," which had been pasted on the gates on April 13, with new labels reading "seized," the Unification Ministry said. Slow motion seizure, they've been doing this for a while ...
The North also froze assets owned by 25 South Korean businesses such as shops and the spa in the Mt. Kumgang Hotel. The North vowed to seize other properties by April 30.
It is expected to freeze the assets of tour operator Hyundai Asan, the biggest investor in Mt. Kumgang, on April 29, including the Mt. Kumgang Hotel and Oekumgang (outer Kumgang) Hotel. Hyundai Asan had invested a total of W226.3 billion (US$1=W1,110) in the facilities.
Package tours to Mt. Kumgang have been suspended since a South Korean tourist was shot dead on July 11, 2008. Right after the incident, the South Korean government demanded that the North clarify the truth, guarantee safety for South Korean tourists, and promise to prevent a recurrence of similar incidents. But the North has refused.
After Pyongyang in January proposed inter-Korean talks to discuss resumption of tours, the two Koreas met in February for the first time in a year and seven months after tours were suspended but failed to narrow their differences.
After the talks broke down, the North started piling on the threats, vowing to cancel all contracts with South Korea (March 4); to take "a decisive measure" (March 17); and to seize South Korean property in Mt. Kumgang (March 18). On March 25-31, it summoned South Korean business investors to the Mt. Kumgang area to attend what it billed as a real estate "survey."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Strikes me as two countries contemplating war and hoping like heck someone will stop them.
Posted by: Kelly ||
04/28/2010 19:58 Comments ||
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Hunger has been known to be a strong motivator. All the food is down south. All the starving people are up north.
The military will convene an emergency meeting of top commanding officers next week to discuss a response to the sinking of the Navy corvette Cheonan near the maritime border with North Korea in the West Sea.
The meeting will be held on or after May 3 following a funeral on Thursday for the 46 sailors who died in the shipwreck, a military source said Monday. Not exactly an 'emergency' meeting, then ...
The military notes that North Korea seems to have bolstered guerrilla-warfare exercises, apparently in order to launch provocations around the five South Korean islands off its west coast since last year, using weapons such as mini-subs, submarines and ground-to-ship missiles.
"The meeting will discuss major problems in dealing with the sinking and ways to reinforce military readiness and discipline, plus other complementary measures," said Defense Ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae. After collecting commanders' views at the meeting, the military is expected to carry out a punitive personnel reshuffle, possibly in mid-May when an investigation of the shipwreck by the Board of Audit and Inspection is halfway through.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Not exactly an 'emergency' meeting, then ...
Exactly. An emergency meeting is one that was happening at the time the writer began his article. This is more in the line of "ominous posturing".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
04/28/2010 9:39 Comments ||
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Serbian drug lord Sreten Josic, told a Belgrade Court that between 1994 and 1995 the Serbian government assigned him to penetrate the mujahideen bases in Bulgaria. The infamous drug boss stands trial on charges of instigating and committing murder back in 1995.
During his Wednesday hearing at the Belgrade District Court, Sreten Josic, aka Joka Amsterdam, denied the murder charges and confessed that between 1993 and 1994 he had been working for the Serbian Government and was assigned to edge his way into the Bulgarian bases of the Muslim jihad warriors.
According to Josic, during that time, a large group of mujahideens were trained in Bulgaria and later sent to Bosnia and Herzegovina. The Serbian authorities wanted me to find out when and how they crossed the Bulgarian-Serbian border so that they could arrest them upon entering Serbia,' Josic told the court on Wednesday.
The defendant explained that in 1994 he asked for political refuge in Bulgaria as his life was threatened by the then Serbian Deputy Interior Minister Radovan Stojicic who had asked the Bulgarian authorities to deliver Josic to him in return for a big favor.' During that period I was under the protection of the Bulgarian State Security Agency,' said Josic in court.
At the beginning of April 2009, Sreten Josic made headlines in Bulgaria, telling a Belgrade court he enjoyed the protection of high-ranking officials here, citing among others the name of the then Interior Chief Secretary Borisov. At that time, Borisov, by then Mayor of Sofia, vehemently denied the allegations, accusing the former ruling three-party coalition of crafting a long-term strategy to discredit him.
When asked if he was aware of the rumors that Josic had ordered his assassination, Borisov said he had just done his job when Josic was arrested and extradited to the Netherlands at the request of the Dutch police.
U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates said on Tuesday he was very satisfied with Pentagon planning to counter the threat posed by Iran's nuclear program. Thanks for the info.
And thanks for not giving anything away to the bad guys except for the idea that an a$$-whupping is right around the corner.
BTW: Why did it take two reporters to put this together?
And it kinda makes me wonder what the editor's role in all this was.
The Simpsons has offered tongue-in-cheek support to rival show South Park after the creators upset a radical Muslim group. South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a death threat from a radical Muslim group after they depicted the Prophet Mohammed inside a bear suit.
The Simpsons referred to the row with a message written by Bart on his school's blackboard during the title sequence. In an episode just aired in America, the mischievous lad is seen writing in chalk: "South Park - we'd stand beside you if we weren't so scared."
WASHINGTON An unmanned aerial drone will soon fly over Texas skies as drug-cartel violence continues to escalate on the U.S.-Mexico border, Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano told a Senate hearing Tuesday.
Texas is the last border state to receive a Predator drone, and Sen. John Cornyn, R-Texas, said that has hurt intelligence capabilities to federal, state and local law enforcement on the ground.
I'm concerned that some of the assets that could be deployed to help not only quell the violence but also keep our borders secure, are not being deployed because of unnecessary foot-dragging,' Cornyn said.
Napolitano said Texas was the last Southwest border state to receive a drone because Texas airspace is more crowded.'
She said the timeline for placing a drone in Texas, which tentatively would be stored in Corpus Christi, remains a decision for the Federal Aviation Administration. The FAA now has to go in and carve out, as I understand it, space for the Predator,' she said.
The secretary said that over the past 15 months, federal law enforcement initiatives have made the border more secure than in any other time in history. Then her lips fell off ...
She said the number of Border Patrol agents has doubled from 10,000 to 20,000 in just five years, and 653.3 miles of border fence have been built. What border fence?
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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What border fence?
You know, that line thingy they would prefer "immigrants" to respectfully avoid crossing.
#6
the actual, real, fence constructed in theSan Diego sector has worked well - pushing illegals east to themountains/deserts. The latest is Panga boats loaded with 14-20 illegals motoring up the coast at night....
Posted by: Frank G ||
04/28/2010 15:00 Comments ||
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Instapundit links to a HotAir post, in which AllahPundit writes that Arizona actually got four drones in 2006. Texas is the last state along the border to get drones, which are unarmed, for observation only.
Posted by: trailing wife at the Toyota shop ||
04/28/2010 15:18 Comments ||
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Napolitano said Texas was the last Southwest border state to receive a drone because "Texas airspace is more crowded......."
.....and Arizona is now EVIL!
And besides George Bush (the former Republican president who BO inherited everything bad from) is from Texas and Governor Rick Perry is a Republican. Besides Perry didn't need a drone. He shoots his own coyotes; 4-legged anyway; not 2-legged.
#11
Just program the damn thing to own the skies and go where wills, go rogue, with a name like Predator, that's what it should be doing; it's not armed, let the politicians play catch-up.
That's not sedit!on, it's encouraging Private Enterprise.
WASHINGTON (Reuters) - The Pentagon said on Tuesday it agreed to provide some, but not all, information sought in a congressional probe of last year's shooting rampage at Fort Hood, Texas, that left 13 soldiers dead and an Army psychiatrist charged with murder.
The Senate Homeland Security Committee, which subpoenaed the information, called the Department of Defense's response insufficient and said it was considering its options.
In what he cast as a compromise, Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said the Defense Department would provide lawmakers with the personnel file of Major Nidal Malik Hasan, who has been charged in the shooting, but would not give them access to potential witnesses and internal investigative reports.
"We have made movement on some of the areas that we had originally objected to but we have held the line on those that we feel could potentially jeopardize the prosecution of Major Hasan," Morrell told reporters.
Senate Homeland Security Committee Chairman Joe Lieberman, an independent, and Susan Collins, the panel's top Republican, issued their subpoenas last week after the departments of Justice and Defense failed to provide the materials.
Committee spokeswoman Leslie Phillips called the Pentagon's response "an affront to Congress's constitutional obligation to conduct independent oversight of the Executive Branch."
But she stopped short of saying whether the panel would pursue a contempt of Congress citation and a court fight with the administration. "Senators Lieberman and Collins are weighing their options for future action," Phillips said.
The two senators have been trying for months to obtain documents and gain access to witnesses they say are critical to their investigation of November's shooting spree at the Fort Hood Army base in which 13 soldiers were killed and dozens wounded.
In addition to Hasan's personnel file, Morrell said the committee would be given access to sensitive information contained in an internal Pentagon investigation of the shooting that had previously been withheld from the committee. "Given access to sensitive informaton contained" I can't help but wonder how many DoJ and FBI screw ups that file might contain.
#1
reliable (sic) Taliban sources tell NEWSWEEK that at least six of those captured leaders were quietly released, Zakir among them. Abdul Qayum Zakir, a former Guantánamo inmate, was Baradar's top military commander and one of Mullah Mohammad Omar's most effective and feared commanders.
Somebody explain to me how Pakistan is on our side.
LAHORE: Five senior police officers on Tuesday recorded their statements before the fact-finding commission constituted by Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gilani to probe into the hosing down of the crime scene at Liaqat Bagh in Rawalpindi, where former prime minister Benazir Bhutto was assassinated on December 27, 2007, according to a private TV channel.
Former Rawalpindi city police officer (CPO) Saud Aziz, Saddar Division Additional Superintendent of Police (ASP) Syed Ashfaq Anwar, Gujranwala Senior Superintendent of Police (Investigations) Khurram Shahzad Haider, City Police Station in charge Inspector Kashif Riaz and Rawalpindi SSP (Operations) Yasin Farooq Sheikh appeared before the commission and recorded their statements. Wonder if they all matched ...
Former Military Intelligence director general Nadeem Ejaz will also appear before the commission today (Wednesday) to record his version on the washing of the crime scene.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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LAHORE: The US administration has issued red warrants for five American nationals arrested in Sargodha under terrorism charges, a private TV channel reported on Tuesday.
An official of the US embassy submitted the warrants to the Anti-Terrorist Court set up in Sargodha district jail during the case's hearing on Tuesday. The warrants demanded the handover of the arrested men to the US after completion of legal proceedings in Pakistan.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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The Sunni-backed Iraqiya political party, which won the most seats in recent parliamentary elections, said Wednesday that it might call for the establishment of a caretaker government to oversee a new election -- escalating a political crisis.
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2010 09:12 ||
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BAGHDAD - A potentially divisive ruling by an Iraqi review panel on whether to wipe out the votes of nine winning candidates from last month's election has been delayed, possibly until next week, officials said on Tuesday.
On Monday, the panel threw the Iraqi political process into turmoil after invalidating votes cast for 52 other candidates in the March 7 ballot, which produced no outright winner and left the country adrift in a political vacuum.
One winning candidate for Iraqiya was affected by Monday's ruling. But members of the alliance, led by ex-premier Iyad Allawi, expect no change in its final tally of parliamentary seats because the candidate would be replaced by the next Iraqiya nominee in line in the same constituency.
A separate decision that had been expected on Tuesday over the fate of nine winning candidates was seen as more significant and more likely to affect the result. It has been postponed till Monday,' said Faraj al-Haidari, head of the Independent High Electoral Commission.
Other politicians said they thought the review panel might return to the case on Wednesday.
What we heard is that it has been delayed until tomorrow, but as they say, no one knows how far away tomorrow is,' said Mustafa al-Hiti, a senior member of Iraqiya. The decision, when it comes, is not subject to appeal.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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BAGHDAD / Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi will call for an urgent Presidential Council meeting to discuss the latest political developments, spokesman for the media office of al-Hashemi said.
"Al-Hashemi will call for the meeting to discuss the latest political developments and the current situation," Abdulelah Kadhem said in a statement received by Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
The Judiciary Appeals Commission on Monday decided to cancel votes that were won by Iraqi politicians during the parliamentary elections due to their affiliation with the dissolved Baath Party. The decision embraces 52 politicians.
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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Hamas has accused Israeli intelligence agents of using the telephone and Internet to blackmail Gaza Arabs into cooperating with Israeli efforts to infiltrate the Hamas terrorist network.
The de facto Gaza government has warned its populace against cooperating with Israel and said it has arrested several suspects. Earlier this month, Hamas executed two Arabs who were accused for spying for Israel, and it threatened further executions.
"We will continue to implement the death penalty for all those who are so sentenced," Hamas Interior Minister Fathi Hamad said. "Anyone who finds himself in this treacherous condition is an agent and a spy. If there is a death sentence we will implement it immediately in order to preserve our people and its project of Jihad and liberation."
Hamad rejected condemnation by human rights groups and instead said it was carrying out "justice."
The latest accusation by Hamas charges that Israeli agents blackmailed a Gaza rapist into revealing information that led to the elimination of several Hamas members.
Hamas would prefer to protect a rapist from annoyance.
Hamas Internal Security Service official Abu Abdullah said, "The occupation has begun to turn to Internet and phone lines, a common trick," according to the Bethlehem-based Ma'an news agency.
He said that one Gazan Arab reported that a caller asked him about the availability of food and merchandise and about power cuts.
A Palestinian Authority cleric informed his television congregants in Hamas terrorist-controlled Gaza that the active volcano in Iceland was divinely ignited to punish infidels and polytheists with fear and terror.'
The volcano, which spewed thick clouds of ash into the atmosphere, halting airline flights throughout Europe and elsewhere for nearly a week, was activated by Allah, according to the Hamas cleric.
The sermon was transcribed and translated by the PA media watchdog Palestinian Media Watch, which picked up the broadcast on Al-Aqsa (Hamas) TV on April 23. Citing chapters from Islam's holy book, the Quran, the Imam (cleric) said, Praise Allah who says in His book: 'Their houses were empty and in ruins, because they did wrong' [Sura 17:52]...We [Allah] never destroyed a city unless its people were unust.' [Sura 28:59]
Oh Jihad fighters, people of Ribat (religious war) We heard and we saw what happened at the beginning of this week in Europe... Some of Allah's brigades struck Europe with His force...this caused great loss of property and of life, only Allah knows their extent. A devastating volcanic eruption sent by Allah, paralyzed all movement, and a state of emergency was declared, and passenger flights were cancelled, and it struck the Infidels and polytheists with fear and terror...
The imam added, He who made the volcanic eruption in Europe is He who brought the flood in the times of Noah.'
The Hamas cleric also mocked the United States: As Allah lives, dear brothers, America with its numbers and its equipment, with its might and its scepter, with its planes and its missiles, with its war ships and with its destroyers it has no more power against Allah than do spider webs against His power.'
#1
While allah uses Jews to punish ass backwards "Palestinians". It's what allah wants, so accept it.
Posted by: ed ||
04/28/2010 8:53 Comments ||
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Something for Al Gore to ponder.
Are you sitting down?
Okay, here's the bombshell. The current volcanic eruption going on in Iceland, since its first spewing of volcanic ash this past week, has, to this point, NEGATED EVERY SINGLE EFFORT you have made in the past five years to control CO2 emissions on our planet.
I know, I know.... (group hug)...it's very disheartening to realize that all of the carbon emission savings you have accomplished while suffering the inconvenience and expense of: driving Prius hybrids, buying fabric grocery bags, sitting up til midnight to finish your kid's "The Green Revolution" science project, throwing out all of your non-green cleaning supplies, using only two squares of toilet paper, putting a brick in your toilet tank reservoir, selling your SUV and speedboat, going on vacation to a city park instead of Yosemite, nearly getting hit every day on your bicycle, replacing all of your $1 light bulbs with $10 light bulbs ...well, all of those things you have done have all gone down the tubes in just the past four days.
The volcanic ash emitted into the Earth's atmosphere in the past four days has totally erased every single effort you have made to reduce the evil beast, carbon.
I'm so sorry. And I do wish I had a silver lining to this volanic ash cloud but the fact of the matter is that the brush fire season across the western U.S.A. will start in about two months and those fires will negate your efforts to reduce carbon in our world for the next two years.
But hey, grab a Coke, give the world a hug and have a nice day!
It is certainly true that the volcano produced CO2. However, it also greatly reduced air travel which may have partly offset or even fully offset the eruption.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/28/2010 13:20 Comments ||
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I'm not so sure, Lord Garth. Volcanoes put out a LOT of CO2. Of course, they also put out a lot of dirt and grit, that help cool the planet by blocking or reflecting sunlight.
The problem is that the models we have don't really address the effects of volcanoes, because we DON'T know!
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/28/2010 17:38 Comments ||
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Back to the article: I wonder what the cleric says when a quake hits a Muslim city, like in Iran, or the tsunami in Indonesia. Those events certainly killed a lot more people than the Icelandic volcanoes.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
04/28/2010 17:40 Comments ||
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#8
That's easy, Rambler - he says allen is punishing the moslems in those places for not being insane moslem enough.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
04/28/2010 18:16 Comments ||
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#9
The problem is that the models we have don't really address the effects of volcanoes, because we DON'T know!
Security forces of the Islamist group Hamas detained Palestinian political activists overnight for distributing leaflets urging them to ease up on the people of Gaza or face a possibly explosive revolt. Arabs like Tea
The PFLP leaflets were the strongest public criticism yet of Hamas, which seized control of the Gaza Strip in 2007 and has been clamping down on any behavior it sees as un-Islamic, while recently levying new taxes on the 1.5 million inhabitants.
"People are under huge pressure but they are also afraid to express themselves and we took the responsibility to voice their concerns," PFLP official Jamil Mezher told Reuters.
Posted by: lord garth ||
04/28/2010 08:26 ||
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I scan the headlines and thought this one was about homeboy Obambi.
No, this isn't the Paleo government headed by ineffectual Mahmoud Abbas, nor is it the government of Hamastan. This is the government of the Paleo parliament, and I can't figure out what these guys do other than spend money and try to stay alive.
West Bank - Leading members of the dominant Palestinian movement Fatah are demanding more power in the Palestinian Authority cabinet of U.S.-backed Prime Minister Salam Fayyad, Fatah officials said on Tuesday.
We are calling for a reshuffle of the key ministries,' said Amin Maqboul, secretary general of Fatah's Revolutionary Council. He was speaking to Reuters after four days of closed-door meetings in the West Bank city of Ramallah.
The Council wants to turn the interior affairs, finance and foreign affairs portfolios currently held by Fayyad loyalists over to Fatah members, officials said. Fatah has 11 seats in the 21-member caretaker cabinet led by Fayyad, a technocratic independent who has incurred the envy of many Fatah activists.
Fayyad was appointed by President Mahmoud Abbas at a time when the West was pressing for reform in what was widely seen as a corruption-riddled administration. He promoted a policy of transparency welcomed by Western aid donors.
Senior Fatah official Mahmoud al-Aloul said Abbas, who leads Fatah also wants a reshuffle and he has no objection' to the Council's demands. But there was no immediate confirmation from the presidency.
Minister of Labour Ahmad Majdalani said Fayyad had already asked Abbas for cabinet changes to replace non-performing ministers. He is pressing ahead with an ambitious programme to build the institutions of the Palestinian state which he expects to complete in 2011.
There is a previous agreement between the president and the prime minister on the reshuffle,' Majdalani told Reuters. He cannot continue with his work with the current staff.'
A close confidant of Fayyad said the premier would not mind Fatah taking any post except finance, which he holds and which is off-limits.
They know that they cannot get the ministry of finance and Fayyad may quit if they insist on taking it. I don't think things will go that far,' this source said.
Fayyad, a former World Bank economist, has a very small political power base. He has gained prominence for a pragmatic policies to improve the economy and the infrastructure of the occupied West Bank, and popularity for his grassroots approach.
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04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt next Monday to discuss a resumption of Middle East peace talks, a top Israeli official told AFP. The two leaders agreed during a telephone conversation last night (Monday) to meet next Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh,' the Red Sea resort where Mubarak is convalescing after surgery last month.
The two will discuss all sorts of matters, especially the resumption of peace talks with the Palestinians,' the official said on condition of anonymity.
According to the website of Israel's Haaretz daily, Netanyahu told a meeting of activists from his Likud party on Tuesday that he had been told Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas intended to resume the peace talks.
I was told the president of the Palestinian Authority intends to resume these talks, and I would be delighted if that could be firmed up next week,' the site quoted the premier as saying.
After meeting US Middle East envoy George Mitchell on Sunday, Netanyahu reiterated his desire for direct talks immediately, and said he expects to learn in the next few days' whether negotiations will resume.
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04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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It's a rebuke to the Palestinians, because President Mubarek is meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu face to face, and during the meetings they will resolve the issues under discussion. And they talk directly on the phone without staff intervention -- prob'ly have one another on speed dial. Finally, Egypt is seriously enforcing the Gaza embargo, including building their stainless steel wall, daily confiscations of goods, and pumping poison gas into those tunnels that aren't being directly destroyed.
On the other hand, Egyptian television is still full of antisemitic shows. Change doesn't move consistently across a culture.
Two days after Foggy Bottom says that Hezbollah didn't get any Scuds ...
And last Thursday Hizb'allah said they got the Scuds but they were so old and decrepit as to be useless, so why is Israel fussing?
28 April 2010 WASHINGTON - US Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Tuesday accused Iran and Syria of arming Hezbollah with increasingly sophisticated rockets and missiles, saying the militia's arsenal undermined stability in the region.
"Syria and Iran are providing Hezbollah with rockets and missiles of ever-increasing capability," Gates said at a joint news conference with his Israeli counterpart, Ehud Barak.
Oh, so Secretary Gates didn't just spontaneously speak out on the subject, he got a show'n'tell from his Israeli counterpart.
"And we're at a point now, where Hezbollah has far more rockets and missiles than most governments in the world,
A point, that.
and this is obviously destabilizing for the whole region and we're watching it very carefully."
Posted by: Steve White ||
04/28/2010 00:00 ||
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WAFF > EXPERT:IRAN, NOT ISRAEL, WILL START THE WAR. Argues that
* ISLAMIST IRAN is the de facto SOLE BIG BOSS = EL-HEFE OF THE "MIDEAST AXIS OF EVIL".
* IRAN is covertly providing its proxy HEZBOLLAH + OTHER LEBANON-BASED MILITANT GROUPS WID ADVANC LR ROCKETS NOW SCUDS? [700-mile range] becuz it desires Hezb to be able to strike MAJOR ISRAELI TARGETS FROM LEBANON ESPEC THE MAIN ISRAELI NUCPLANT AT DIMONA/DEMONA.
* IRAN will likely use HEZBOLLAH, etc. Lebanon Militants to mil strike at Israel first before it employs its own Armed Forces includ IRGC for war agz Israel.
* SAME > IRAN HIGH LEADER ISSUES STRAIT OF HORMUZ WARNING TO US. Warns that iff Iran is attacked, the People-Armed Forces of Iran will "CHOKE THE THROAT OF THE US/WEST" via the Mil-led cut off of any and all US-WEST OIL SUPPLIES TRANSITING SAME.
* TOPIX > ITS NOW SYRIA'S TURN? + HEZBOLLAH TO CONTINUE ACCEPTING ARMS + HEZBOLLAH: WE NEED ARMS FOR RESISTANCE [agz Zionism, Israel, defense of Islam-Muslim, + agz the US].
* WMF > CHINA'S OKINAWA/MIYAKO FLEET ACTION ONCE SHOWS THAT CHINA IS NO LONGER ON THE DEFENSIVE IN RELATION TO TAIWAN AND DISPUTED CHINA SEAS ISLANDS. PLA MILITARY CONFRONTATIONS AGZ REGIONAL POWERS AND US TO INCREASINGLY OCCUR.
** PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM [2005 Artic] > US INTELLIGENCE: PAKISTAN WILL BECOME A "FAILED STATE" BY 2015, as due to
* COMPLETE "TALIBANIZATION"
* CIVIL WAR
* ETHNIC, INTER-PROVINCIAL RIVALRY = VIOLENT SECTARIANISM.
* PERENNIAL GOVT. WIDE CORRUPTION, NEPOTISMS.
* FACTIONAL, INTERNAT STRUGGLE FOR CONTROL OF PAK NUC WEAPONS.
** TOPIX > VARIOUS > SOUTH ASIA NOW THE HUB/CENTRE OF INTERNATIONAL TERRORISM.
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.
Serbian drug lord Sreten Josic, told a Belgrade Court that between 1994 and 1995 the Serbian government assigned him to penetrate the mujahideen bases in Bulgaria. The infamous drug boss stands trial on charges of instigating and committing murder back in 1995.
WASHINGTON, April 27
The Simpsons has offered tongue-in-cheek support to rival show South Park after the creators upset a radical Muslim group. South Park's Trey Parker and Matt Stone received a death threat from a radical Muslim group after they depicted the Prophet Mohammed inside a bear suit. 
Hamas has accused Israeli intelligence agents of using the telephone and Internet to blackmail Gaza Arabs into cooperating with Israeli efforts to infiltrate the Hamas terrorist network.
A Palestinian Authority cleric informed his television congregants in Hamas terrorist-controlled Gaza that the active volcano in Iceland was divinely ignited to punish infidels and polytheists with fear and terror.' 
JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will meet Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak in Egypt next Monday to discuss a resumption of Middle East peace talks, a top Israeli official told AFP. The two leaders agreed during a telephone conversation last night (Monday) to meet next Monday in Sharm el-Sheikh,' the Red Sea resort where Mubarak is convalescing after surgery last month.
