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US drone strikes kill dozens in Somalia
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-Obits-
Humberto Leal Jr. executed as scheduled
Adios, muchacho...
HUNTSVILLE -- Strapped to the gurney in Huntsville's death chamber Thursday evening, Humberto Leal Jr. used his last words to apologize to both his family and the family of his victim, a San Antonio teen.

"I have hurt a lot of people," he said. "Let this be final and be done. I take the full blame for this. I am sorry and forgive me, I am truly sorry."

The family of his 16-year-old victim, Adria Sauceda, was not present. Robert McClure, the man who prosecuted Leal in 1995, attended with another Sauceda family friend.

Leal, 38, turned his head and spotted McClure. He nodded in his direction and said "Mr. McClure."

The prosecutor responded, "You remember me."

Leal then began his last statement at 6:10 p.m. and the lethal dose of drugs was administered a minute later.

"I am sorry for the victim's family and what I had did," he continued. "May they forgive me. I don't know if you believe me."

Leal ended by saying, "One more thing, Viva Mexico, Viva Mexico."

"Ready warden, let's get this show on the road."

He was pronounced dead at 6:21 p.m.

The execution came 17 years after the gruesome sexual assault and bludgeoning death of Adria, who was last seen alive with Leal after a neighborhood party in the early hours May 21, 1994. The teen's nude body was found on a dirt road that ended in a wooded, secluded area not far from the South Side party. A 35- to 40-pound rock was used to bludgeon her in the face and head. A stick was left protruding from her body.

The execution followed a lengthy legal battle over consular rights that at the end of June included a petition for a stay of execution from the Obama administration to the U.S. Supreme Court. It came an hour after the high court voted 5-4 to deny all petitions to delay it, saying it was the court's job to decide on law already in place, not what the law may be in the future.

Both the administration and Babcock, Leal's Chicago-based attorney, in separate petitions, cited a bill pending before Congress, the Consular Notification Compliance Act, which would allow federal courts to review cases of foreign nationals on death row. The International Court of Justice, in a 2004 ruling, had suggested the reviews as a remedy to its finding that the United States had violated the Vienna Convention by not letting 51 Mexican nationals, including Leal, know they could request help from their consulate when they were arrested.

Lawyers for the Texas attorney general's office contend the application to the Supreme Court was meritless and only the latest in a barrage of appeals -- all unsuccessful -- by Leal since he was sentenced by a jury in Bexar County in 1995.

The Texas Board of Pardons and Paroles on Tuesday had denied a similar request to stay Leal's execution.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  yeah, Viva Mexico, you POS
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2011 8:22 Comments || Top||

#2  Keep in mind that Leal was an Illegal Alien who's been sitting on Death Row for 16 years.

Which is 16 years too long.

From an article in Human Events:

If the people of Texas disagree with the Governor’s administration of justice, they can always vote him out of office. Where would they go to vote against the International Court of Justice?

Indeed.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/08/2011 8:34 Comments || Top||

#3  Bummer wanted to cut him some slack because he was an illegal alien from Mexico. If he'd been a citizen nobody would have noticed.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 11:43 Comments || Top||

#4  That whole house bill seems to be to give foreign nationals (and illegal aliens) special rights which citizens don't have.
Posted by: CrazyFool || 07/08/2011 12:56 Comments || Top||

#5  Vaya a infierno, pendejo.
Posted by: mojo || 07/08/2011 16:09 Comments || Top||

#6  "Leal ended by saying, 'One more thing, Viva Mexico, Viva Mexico.'"

If it's so viva, why didn't you STAY there, you worthless POS?

What mojo said.
Posted by: Barbara || 07/08/2011 18:08 Comments || Top||

#7  Why do we honor dual citizenship?
Posted by: Nimble Spemble || 07/08/2011 19:34 Comments || Top||

#8  I came here to say, fuck off and die.

But it appears he went out with some realization of his impact in this life.

So I'll change that: good luck, muchacho, and I hope you'll be better served next time around.
Posted by: KBK || 07/08/2011 21:50 Comments || Top||


Over 30 dead in India as train hits wedding party bus
[Dawn] More than 30 people were killed Thursday after a train rammed into an over-laden bus carrying people returning from a wedding in northern India in the early hours of the morning, reports said.

The accident took place in Kanshiram Nagar district of Uttar Pradesh state where the bus appeared to have driven into the path of the train at an unmanned railway crossing while returning from a marriage party, news channels said.

The NDTV network broadcast footage from the scene, about 170 kilometres southeast of New Delhi, showing debris strewn across the tracks and coppers carrying bodies covered with sheets on stretchers.

The Press Trust of India news agency, quoting unnamed railway sources, said 33 people had been killed and 17 injured, while UNI news agency quoted a local magistrate as saying 31 bodies had been recovered.

Search operations were under way, the magistrate told UNI, and more victims could be pulled from the wreckage.

India's state-run railway system -- still the main form of long-distance travel despite fierce competition from new private airlines -- carries 18.5 million people daily.

There are hundreds of incidents on the railways every year, but this is the most deadly accident in 2011.

In May last year, nearly 150 people were killed when a Mumbai-bound high-speed passenger express from Kolkata veered off the tracks into the path of an oncoming freight train after the track had apparently been sabotaged.

In July 2010, more than 60 people were killed and 165 injured when a speeding express rammed into the back of a stationary passenger train in the eastern state of West Bengal.

The worst accident in India was in 1981 when a train plunged into a river in the eastern state of Bihar, killing an estimated 800 people.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:


-Short Attention Span Theater-
California lawmakers move to sign new bill...defining what makes a hot dog
A tiny paragraph in the bill reads: 'A 'hot dog' means a whole, cured, cooked sausage that is skinless or stuffed in a casing, may be served on a bun or roll.'

The law goes on to clear up any confusion surrounding the naming of the popular snack, adding that hot dogs are also know as bologna, frank, frankfurter, garlic bologna, knockwurst, red hot, Vienna or wiener.

It is thought that the definition is needed to distinguish between pre cooked 'hot dogs' and un-cooked meat sausages.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  hot dogs are also know as bologna, frank, frankfurter, garlic bologna, knockwurst, red hot, Vienna or wiener.

Indeed.

What in the hell happened to the No damn Ketchup clause?
Posted by: S || 07/08/2011 2:13 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm glad to see they solved all the other problems in California before tackling this burning issue.
Posted by: DarthVader || 07/08/2011 8:52 Comments || Top||

#3  California voted for Obama. yes, it did.

And now employment growth in the entire United States has ground to a halt in June, with employers hiring the fewest number of workers since this time last year.

Nonfarm payrolls rose only 18,000, the weakest reading since September, well below economists' expectations for a 90,000 rise. Sr' bout dat.

The unemployment rate climbed to 9.2 percent, the highest since December, from 9.1 percent in May.

The government revised April and May payrolls to show 44,000 fewer jobs created than previously reported. The report shattered expectations everywhere Obama policies made promises.

The good News was government employment shrinking 39,000 because of fiscal problems at local and state governments. At least the bureaucrats are losing their jobs too.

There are now 14.1 MILLION unemployed. 8 Million of those jobs have been lost during the Obama administration began to "help" the economy. The Stimulus Package blew multiple multiple billions out the wazoo with no visible sign it did an ounce of good for anybody. And you will never see that money again.

The economy needs to create between 125,000 and 150,000 new jobs PER month just to absorb new labor force entrants.

Construction employment fell 9,000 last month after declining 4,000 in May. That's accelerating. Government employment declined for an eighth straight month as municipalities and state governments continued to wield the axe to balance their budgets.

The report also showed the average workweek fell to 34.3 hours from 34.4 hours. Employers have been reluctant to extend hours because of the uncertainty surrounding the recovery.
Pretty soon we will have an economy as vibrant as that of the EUroweenies. We can sit in our chairs and sip French wine while we wait for our unemployment checks, cut our Social Security benefits, downsize the Pentagon, bring all the troop home and enjoy peace throughout the earth. And look to Turkmenistan for examples of how things "ought to be."

Do you own a gun?

Posted by: de Medici || 07/08/2011 9:32 Comments || Top||

#4  I believe this is superseded by the very detailed FDA regulation on the subject, which I became aware of in the early 1970s. My mother made a pie chart of permitted ingredients for one of her grad. school health education classes, which included maximum levels of rat dung and insect parts. I've never eaten non-kosher hot dogs since, as the kashrut standards are more stringent.
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2011 10:59 Comments || Top||

#5  "Mmmmm! Hebrew National chili dawgs!"
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 11:09 Comments || Top||

#6  I swear on a stack of Bibles that the California state legislature should be abolished. Day in and day out I have to live with the stupid things these crooked morons do. It sucks. I can't think of anything they've ever done right but I can think of a whole helluva lotta things they've done wrong. I can't think of any laws that the people of this state couldn't enact or refuse to enact for themselves with ballot propositions. Really, in all seriousness, we don't need these people.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 11:53 Comments || Top||

#7  I love California, it's just all the damn Californians I can't stand. My only hope is that eventually we'll drive everybody out of the state, and then I'll have it all to myself.
Posted by: AuburnTom || 07/08/2011 12:32 Comments || Top||

#8  Ah yes, Auburn. No smog. No traffic jams. Nobody out at my favorite surf spots. Walk right in and sit right down at my favorite restaurants. Small class sizes in schools. Lots of farms and roadside stands where they sell fruits, vegetables and organic honey. Plenty of open space for quiet walks and for children to play. All the damn bulldozers stopped dead in their tracks.

Unfortunately, the people who leave will be the productive taxpayers. They'll be the nice people that you like to meet. The people who stay will be the lowlifes, leeches, illegal aliens and criminals.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 13:44 Comments || Top||

#9  You mean "the people that are leaving are the productive taxpayers".
Posted by: Pappy || 07/08/2011 14:27 Comments || Top||

#10  after 30+ years in North and South stae, and working for state government for the last 12 before retirement from my second career, I can honestly say that the only reason more of us haven't left yet is the housing crash. My home went from 740k to 430k in three years, and selling it in this enviroment would be a bloodbath. I love the state, and find that the good productive people have been overwhelmed by the freeloaders, illegals and morons who get a government check, subsidized housing, medicaid, food stamps, and SSDI. Its a disaster, to the tune of even the Mayor of L.A. building a six foot wall around his house to protect his family, on top of his LAPD detail. Tragic how we took paradise and truly screwed it with liberal policies that are based in fairy tailes, not reality.
Posted by: NoMoreBS || 07/08/2011 15:51 Comments || Top||

#11  You mean "the people that are leaving are the productive taxpayers".

Past, present and future.

But there are those of us who, for any number of reasons that do not include welfare, are stuck here regardless of how the state defines hot dog. We'll pay the taxes and pick up the trash every damn time. We're the chumps.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 16:45 Comments || Top||

#12  I dunno.

Pollyanna and I were born and raised in the Golden State and our kids were born and raised here. They're fourth generation Californian on my side and were born in a nice college town recently named the Happiest City in the Galaxy or some damn thing or another.

We have visited many states and lived for a while in one of them (Montana). Living in another state again has always been an option (the Four Corners and the South are nice). But for some damn reason or another it has always been a relief and a pleasure to return to this beautiful train wreck.

"It's a mystery!"

Posted by: Pollyandrew || 07/08/2011 18:09 Comments || Top||

#13  born and raised here (from Nevada parents). I choose to stay and fight
Posted by: Frank G || 07/08/2011 21:58 Comments || Top||

#14  Its a disaster, to the tune of even the Mayor of L.A. building a six foot wall around his house to protect his family, on top of his LAPD detail.

OOh, wow, I guess someone believes in walls and borders.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/08/2011 22:26 Comments || Top||


Bangladesh
Stop fatwa violence, HRW asks govt
The Human Rights Watch
... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world...
(HRW) on Thursday asked the government to take steps urgently to ensure that religious fatwas and traditional dispute resolution methods do not cause extrajudicial punishments.

Despite repeated orders from the High Court, beginning in July 2010, to stop illegal punishments like whipping, lashing or public humiliations, the government is yet to comply with those, the HRW quoted the petitioners who challenged the practice.

The New York-based rights organization asked the government to instigate a massive awareness campaign against extrajudicial punishments in the name of fatwas. The government should educate everyone in schools, colleges, and madrasas that punishments under the garb of fatwas are illegal and regularly publicise the messages through print and electronic media, it said.

Among other HRW recommendations are setting up round-the-clock toll-free help-lines and making those easily accessible to poor rural women, improving access to women's shelters and safe homes in every district for women facing such dangers, and providing psycho-social support and legal assistance to those who have been punished by traditional salishes, encouraging them to take action against those responsible.
Maybe throw in some Midnight Basketball too...
The HRW also urged the government to monitor investigations and prosecutions into punishments imposed in the name of carrying out fatwas and ensure that the accused are punished under the law, and that effective reparations are available to victims and survivors.

In 2009 Ain-o-Salish Kendra (ASK), Bangladesh Legal Aid and Services Trust (Blast), Brac Human Rights and Legal Aid Services, Bangladesh Mahila Gay Pareehad (BMP), and Nijera Kori, brought a public interest case. They challenged the authorities' failure to address extrajudicial punishments imposed by salishes in the name of fatwas.

ASK has assembled news reports of at least 330 such incidents in the last 10 years, despite many of them going unreported.

"These private punishments significantly harm women's and girls' lives and health," said Aruna Kashyap, Asia women's rights researcher at the HRW.

"Instead of intervening and taking active measures to prevent these abuses, the Bangladesh authorities have been mute bystanders," she complained.

The issue became especially urgent when a salish in Shariatpur ordered 100 lashes in January 2011 for 15-year-old Hena Akhter for an alleged affair, though by most accounts she had reported being sexually abused instead. She collapsed during the lashing and ultimately died, the HRW said.

Since Akhter's death, the local media has reported at least three suicides of girls following similar punishments, the rights organization said.

In November 2010, Bangladesh was elected to the board of the international agency, UN Women, assuming a new role in the international arena on women's rights. With this new role, Bangladesh should ramp up its efforts to protect women's rights nationally, the HRW noted.

To end this kind of brutal violence against women and girls, the HRW and the five petitioners said, the Bangladesh government should immediately enforce the court orders.

In its July 8, 2010 verdict, the HC criticised the government for not protecting its citizens, especially women, from cruel, inhuman, and degrading treatment or punishment.

Saying that the punishments contravened constitutional guarantees of the rights to life and liberty, the court directed the government to investigate and prosecute those responsible and to take preventive steps with awareness campaigns in schools, colleges, and madrasas, said the HRW.

It instructed the local government ministry to inform all law enforcement and local government officials that extrajudicial punishments are criminal offenses.

Later on February 2 this year, the HC issued an additional order directing the government to publicise as an urgent matter, through electronic and print media, that extrajudicial punishments are unconstitutional and punishable offenses.

On May 12, the Supreme Court reiterated that "[n]o punishment, including physical violence and/or mental torture in any form can be imposed or inflicted on anybody in pursuance of fatwa."

The court further held that fatwas can be issued only by "properly educated persons" and clarified that even where issued, they are not binding and cannot be enforced.

Commenting on the Supreme Court verdict, Barrister Sara Hossain said that women's rights groups were relieved to see the highest court strongly condemning extrajudicial punishments in the name of fatwas. But women's rights activists in Bangladesh remain deeply concerned that the highest court had left the door open for the issuance of fatwas and the potential threats to women's rights to equality, the HRW quoted Sara as saying.

"Akhter's public flogging and death is a stark reminder of the Bangladesh government's failure to prevent this type of violence," said Khushi Kabir, coordinator for Nijera Kori.

"The High Court has been very clear that the government must stop inhumane and illegal punishments, and the government's failure to do so costs lives."

Talking to the HRW, Faustina Pereira, director of Brac Human Rights and Legal Aid Services, said: "The government has pledged to uphold our laws and constitution, and part of that promise is to prevent, prosecute, and punish these criminal extrajudicial punishments."

"There is no excuse for not acting," she insisted.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  Fatwas bad. RAB good.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 11:57 Comments || Top||


China-Japan-Koreas
China warns U.S. officials not to meet Dalai Lama
China's Foreign Ministry warned U.S. officials on Thursday not to meet with visiting exiled spiritual leader the Dalai Lama, saying it hoped Washington "appropriately dealt" with Tibet-related issues.
And they'd like Bambi to bow to them again...
China reviles the Nobel Peace Prize-winning Dalai Lama, saying he supports the use of violence to establish an independent Tibet. He strongly denies either accusation, insisting he seeks only true autonomy for the remote region.

The Dalai Lama is currently visiting the United States and is due to give a public talk in Washington Saturday. The U.S. State Department said he met on Wednesday with Under Secretary of State for Democracy and Global Affairs Maria Otero, but that it remained to be decided whether he would have any meetings at higher levels.

On Thursday, House of Representatives Speaker John Boehner, Democratic leader Nancy Pelosi and other senior U.S. lawmakers also met the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader.

Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei said Beijing's position on the Dalai Lama's foreign visits was clear.

"We oppose the underhand visits of the Dalai Lama which he uses to engage in activities to split the motherland," Hong told a regular news briefing.

"At the same time, we also oppose any foreign government or politicians supporting or abetting in such activities by the Dalai Lama," he added. "We hope that the United States strictly abide by its promises on the Tibet issue and ... cautiously and appropriately deal with relevant issues."

The Dalai Lama met U.S. President Barack Obama last year, drawing strong denunciation from Beijing.

Representative Ileana Ros-Lehtinen, chair of the House Foreign Affairs Committee, issued a statement saying Obama should also meet the Dalai Lama to make it "clear that the U.S. sides with the victims in Tibet, not the perpetrators in Beijing."

"President Obama has an opportunity to make a strong statement about what we stand for by meeting with the Dalai Lama during his current visit, and I urge him to take it," said Ros-Lehtinen, a staunch critic of Communist governments.

State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland said China had complained about the Dalai Lama's meeting with Otero, who is the State Department's coordinator for Tibet issues. "The Chinese always make their views known when the Dalai Lama is in Washington," she said.
Posted by: Steve White || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The Dalai Lama met U.S. President Barack Obama last year, drawing strong denunciation from Beijing.

Coming and going through a WH rear entrance as I recall.
Posted by: Besoeker || 07/08/2011 3:18 Comments || Top||

#2  I'm sure Bambi will bow even lower and follow their command, but here's an answer from normal Americans: FOAD.
Posted by: Barbara || 07/08/2011 18:14 Comments || Top||

#3  My Dad said that's the kind of thing they made black American soldiers do when his outfit was visiting a cafe or such in WWII.

Ironic.
Posted by: Pollyandrew || 07/08/2011 18:20 Comments || Top||


Europe
EU Parliament approves new code of conduct for its members
(KUNA) -- Leaders of the political groups in the European Parliament (EP) together with the EP President Jerzy Buzek Thursday approved a new Code of Conduct for Members of the European Parliament (MEPs).

The Code sets out rules and principles which MEPs will need to follow in their contacts with outside interests and to avoid conflicts of interest, noted an EP statement.

The move comes after reports on a series of financial scandals involving a number of MEPs.

MEPs will now have to provide clear declarations of their paid activities outside Parliament and their remuneration, as well as of other functions which might constitute a conflict of interest.

The code also contains an explicit ban on receiving payments or other rewards in exchange for influencing parliamentary decisions.

There are clear rules on the acceptance of gifts and on the position of former MEPs working as lobbyists.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [4 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The code also contains an explicit ban on receiving payments or other rewards in exchange for influencing parliamentary decisions.

Meaning they didn't have one until now?
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2011 6:19 Comments || Top||

#2  How do you say that in French?

Its always more impressively "resonant" spoken through a rather large gallic nose. And then get Brussels to fill out the paperwork, and you're there. Get a German to do the wording and have some Brit initial it and send it on its way. Oh, and make sure Romania gets a copy. Address it to Druzhkolec Garbolishlick.... that whole family will want to know.
Posted by: de Medici || 07/08/2011 8:53 Comments || Top||

#3  The code also contains an explicit ban on receiving payments or other rewards in exchange for influencing parliamentary decisions.

You don't need a code if you don't have the parliament. Corruption magnet.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2011 9:03 Comments || Top||

#4  Anything in there about not taking sexual advantage of staff or pretty, young journalists?
Posted by: trailing wife || 07/08/2011 11:06 Comments || Top||

#5  If it is not in the ethics code, it is being done, TW.

If it is already in the ethics code, it is being done, also.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/08/2011 19:27 Comments || Top||


Home Front: Politix
Operation Gunrunner was funded by the 2009 Stimulus Package
In that thread I scanned the text of H.R.1 American Recovery and Reinvestment Act of 2009 for gun, firearm, etc and came up with a hit.

I posted in the thread: "Only time “gun” or “firearm” appears is in the part that give $10,000,000 to the ATF for Project Gunrunner. That was H.R. 495, asking for 15,000,000 for Gunrunner".

H.R. 495 that I mentioned never made it out of committee, but it looks as it was to specifically fund Gunrunner.

Instead portions of it were rolled into the stimulus package a month later. That text found in H.R.1 is:

For an additional amount for ‘State and Local Law Enforcement Assistance’, $40,000,000, for competitive grants to provide assistance and equipment to local law enforcement along the Southern border and in High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas to combat criminal narcotics activity stemming from the Southern border, of which $10,000,000 shall be transferred to ‘Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Salaries and Expenses’ for the ATF Project Gunrunner.
Posted by: Eohippus Phater7165 || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [3 views] Top|| File under:

#1  coming that soon kind of seems like it was cooked up and ready to roll before B.O. even took office. part of setting up the narative that was needed to repeal the 2nd amendment me thinks. if that is the case, then we can go higher up than holder. probably all the way to the guy loading the words onto TOTUS.
Posted by: abu do you love || 07/08/2011 3:58 Comments || Top||

#2  Hahahah,,,HAHAhahaha!

Just half of the American people elected this guy. AND stole the money from you and your kids. AND gave the guns to the Drug Cartels.

Hope and Change...suckers. Half the American people are drooling suckers. Greek Columns and rainbows and the Messiah has come.
You bought it, now wear it to the party.
And while you are at it, see if McDonalds is hiring.
Posted by: de Medici || 07/08/2011 8:43 Comments || Top||

#3  "The only two certainties in life are death and taxes."
"At least the death rate doesn't go up every time Congress meets."

Well, apparently not any more.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2011 9:00 Comments || Top||

#4  Look at the guy who signed this law and his AG / DOJ.
Posted by: newc || 07/08/2011 14:08 Comments || Top||

#5 
#4 Look at the guy who signed this law and his AG / DOJ


I have a feeling this is not going to go away any time soon.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2011 18:28 Comments || Top||


India-Pakistan
Leaders fail to end rift in Swabi ANP
[Dawn] The visit of a delegation of Awami National Party leaders to the district on Wednesday failed to bear fruits as it couldn`t end differences between two groups of the party.

The delegation, led by Lateef Afridi, held separate meetings with the leaders of both the groups but couldn`t resolve differences between them. Other members of the delegation were Baz Mohammad Khan, Imran Afridi and Hussain Shah.

The delegation members directed leaders of both the groups to visit party`s head office, Bacha Khan Markaz, in Beautiful Downtown Peshawar on Thursday.

Differences between the two groups in the local chapter of ANP intensified two months ago when they began holding separate corner meetings and levelling allegations against each other.

One of the groups is led by former MNA Rehmanullah and the other by former district general secretary Jehanzeb Khan. The leaders of both the groups had already met ANP provincial president Afrasiab Khattak and central leader Azam Hoti to apprise them of their point of views.

Both the groups have also supporters among the parliamentarians from the district. "Some of the leaders are neutral. But they are just waiting to join hands with the stronger group," said an insider.

The delegation met with Rehmanullah and Provincial Minister for Zakat and Usher Zar Shaid Khan at the party`s district office. It also held separate meeting with Jehan Zeb Khan, Salim Khan, Farman Khan and Younas Khan. A large number of workers also visited the party office to see the outcome of the talks.

However,
if you can't be a good example, then you'll just have to be a horrible warning...
the delegation said that six members of each group should visit Bacha Khan Markaz for resolution of the issue. "The Peshawar meeting will be a turning point for party leaders," an insider said. The rift in the local chapter of ANP proved a blessing in disguise for disgruntled workers like Aman Khan, former district general secretary, to return to the party fold with dignity and honour.
Posted by: Fred || 07/08/2011 00:00 || Comments || Link || [5 views] Top|| File under: Govt of Pakistan


Israel-Palestine-Jordan
Univ. of Johannesburg resumes research agreement with BGU
Ben-Gurion University (BGU) on Friday announced that a research agreement with the University of Johannesburg was reinstated after the institution previously decided to sever its ties with BGU over what it called the university’s support of the Israeli military.
Indispensable Jews
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2011 06:21 || Comments || Link || [2 views] Top|| File under:


Science & Technology
Jerry Pournelle : No More Spacefaring Nation
The Final Shuttle Launch for Friday has been cancelled, but it’s still the end of an era. Actually it’s the end of several eras, particularly the America as a space-faring nation era inaugurated by John Kennedy. The twist is that Shuttle killed space-faring.
Posted by: g(r)omgoru || 07/08/2011 05:11 || Comments || Link || [6 views] Top|| File under:

#1  The question is do you define a spacefaring nation by how many spaceships the nation has, or the nation's government has?
Posted by: rjschwarz || 07/08/2011 8:54 Comments || Top||

#2  SpaceX and Dragon
Dragon getting ready for crew
Posted by: 3dc || 07/08/2011 10:36 Comments || Top||

#3  Although the pretense was that NASA was a civilian operation, and most of it was, Saturn/Apollo was done with military managers and in the military way. The “soldiers” were civilian development scientists and technicians, of course; but the people doing the managing were military, and they did it the military way, which is to divide the enormous task into a series of comprehensible tasks and assign someone capable of getting that done to each task.

This meant concern for getting the job done – mission oriented — and little to none for the concerns of the people assigned. “You, man. You are in charge of getting me an operating space suit design. It has to do the job, and it has to be ready on time. Go do it.” “Uh, General, I’m a control systems engineer –” “I know that. I also see your record. I know you can do this job, and this is the job I have to get done. Go for it. Dismissed.”
Posted by: KBK || 07/08/2011 10:43 Comments || Top||

#4  The other day I was watching 2001: A Space Odyssey on TV. They were showing those scenes of a space plane approaching a giant space station in orbit around the moon and all of the lunar exploration while the very civilized waltz music of Johan Strauss was playing. It made me wanna cry. We should have been there by now. But we stalled out. We dared to dream about it for a while. We were almost there. But now we're too decadent, too corrupt and our civilization is in decline. It's a damn shame and there's no telling when we'll ever get anywhere near that kind of capability again.
Posted by: Ebbang Uluque6305 || 07/08/2011 12:14 Comments || Top||

#5  Thanks for posting that, 3DC. I am convinced that SpaceX and operations like it are the real reason Obama decided to cancel the bloated, business-as-usual Constellation program. NASA and its profiteering legacy contractors are simply being left in the dust. Their plans for a Moon landing project would have been superseded by events long before they expended enough billions to get off the ground.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 07/08/2011 12:21 Comments || Top||

#6  But we stalled out.

Not so much as were dragged down in the name of the Poor(tm). All the waste of the Great Society programs and resources to arrive today to still see poverty now compounded by a corrupt education system that insures that fundamental skills are not even achieved. The Space Program was used as a guilt stick to extract monies for cronies in the race baiting business, ...if you can afford this, you can afford...

You can go to the moon (or the stars) because its an engineering issue. You can not solve poverty because when you get down to the basics, its a 'free will' issue.
Posted by: Procopius2k || 07/08/2011 12:32 Comments || Top||

#7  Suck it up, Lockheed-Martin, Boeing, etc. A 50 year run of profiteering and waste before you were called out is quite enough. SpaceX is an embarrassment to these hucksters, and they have responded with a fierce campaign of propaganda and false fear mongering from their shills, including Pournelle.
Posted by: Atomic Conspiracy || 07/08/2011 12:33 Comments || Top||

#8  A great people accomplish great works. Everyone else gets soup kitchens and midnight basketball.
Posted by: Iblis || 07/08/2011 13:44 Comments || Top||

#9  I am unaware of JEP saying anything untowards about SpaceX. As far as I can remember he has been extremely critical of among others Lockheed and Boeing.
Posted by: Thing From Snowy Mountain || 07/08/2011 14:05 Comments || Top||

#10  Giving up on space colonization and resorting to pagan worship of "Gaia" vis a vis "environmentalism" = the feminization/emasculation of this great country. Man was created to spread his seeds throughout the universe...
Posted by: borgboy || 07/08/2011 15:31 Comments || Top||

#11  Allthe waste of the Great Society programs

Ah, the Great Society... Another wasteful program put forth by the left. We have even more poverty now despite all the promises of the Great Society.
Posted by: JohnQC || 07/08/2011 18:23 Comments || Top||

#12  In the beginning, the US poured a lot of money and resources into the space program. We did great research and we got great people on board. ANNNNNND

We had goals and objectives set so we knew where we were going.

We do not really have goals and objectives, and the plan and resources to do it. We do not have leaders, but managers. Look at the o-ring fiasco in the shuttle. Better yet, look at the shuttle. The concept was flawed from the beginning.

We need the type of vision and engineering going on right now with Space-X.

We have been adrift now for decades in a field that we kicked a$$ at. This is due to a lack of leadership and vision. NASA is just another agency of managers. The only thing they are doing now is the space probes. The rest are make work projects going nowhere.

We better get back in space or we will become like Spain and Portugal after they fell off the top of the hill.
Posted by: Alaska Paul || 07/08/2011 19:08 Comments || Top||

#13  IIRC, the USoA in the geopol, inflationary turmoil of the early-mid 1970's could not $$$ afford both the proposed [post-Appollo]"Space Plane" or the simil "Space Station', so a compromise was reached where the former became the Space Shuttle program we know to day, while the latter became SKYLAB.

NASA wants to turn over the bulk of the functions of Space Exploration to the US-ALLIED Private Sector = Free Markets - although I agree wid the turnover in principle, + ASAP the better, its going to take a long while before the same are able to replicate what NASA has been able to accomplish. Its also going a take a long while for other World Powers = Space wannabes to par wid the US, or even catch up to Cold War Soviet standards.

My worry is that the USA will be effec destroying its own pool of educated, trained Managers + Astronauts, etal. for years to come, + thus lose the skills it took a lot of time of time + $$$ to develop.

The real test of US Space Free Market companies will be their ability to safely + routinely travel to + from the the Moon + AsteroidS/NEOS in privately-operat Passenger-Cargo Spacecrafts; + the deployment, operation, + safe routine replacement of key Satellites + Space Telescopes, etc.

IMO THE US + NASA SHOULD RETURN TO THE MOON BEFORE TURNOVER TO THE PRIVATE SECTOR, IFF ONLY TO SHOW THE WORLD THAT THE US CAN STILL DO IT + CAN DO IT ANY TIME IT PLEASES, SAFELY + ROUTINRLY + EASILY.

Sometimes to inspire Pride + Proficienices, etc. in the next or new Generations one has to go back + do the easy or frilly stuff it did times before long ago, just because we can.

JUST TO SHOW THE NEW KIDZ "THIS IS WHAT YOUR PARENTS + GRANDPARENTS, ETAL. PREDECESSORS ACHIEVED IN THEIR TIME - SHOW US YOU CAN DO THE SAME OR BETTER"!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/08/2011 21:18 Comments || Top||

#14  Lest we fergit, "STAR WARS" MASTER YODA to doubting Jedi-in-Training LUKE > "DO, OR DO NOT -THERE IS NO TRY ... ... ... AND THAT IS WHY YOU FAIL" [Luke trying to argue that things = Jedi levitation methods are impossible for him or anyone to do]!
Posted by: JosephMendiola || 07/08/2011 21:24 Comments || Top||



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