#1
I had a friend who was born and raised on Little Diomede Island in the Bering Straits. She told me stories about nutcases who would go by various means across to Chukotka. If you want to do that you better be ready for visa applications and time consuming and daunting paperwork from the Russian authorities.
M'Lady and I were going to fly our plane to Provedania and other towns but the Russian paperwork and fees were not worth it.
The Russians run their country not these reality show nuts. A gift plus whatever can grease the skids worked quite well. Worked well for my friend getting his Herc loads through the officials like you know what through a tin horn.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
07/10/2012 1:17 Comments ||
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#2
When survivors of a torpedoed Sea Shepherd are plucked from the water by a Russian boomer.... ring me up.
#3
Meh. When the crew of the Russian boomer machine gun the pirates who survived the torpedoing of the Sea Shepherd, call me. I'll buy those Russkis drinks.
Posted by: Rob Crawford ||
07/10/2012 9:28 Comments ||
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#5
Might be an interesting engineering project to build a bridge across the Bering Strait. Think about it: You could get in your car and drive all the way to Moscow, Berlin, Paris, London, wherever. But then, we'd have all those people driving their cars all over America. Maybe not such a great idea after all.
#6
The interesting part would be how to keep the ice from forming up on the roads and if not sinking or crumbling the bridge from the weight, to just keep it drivable.
What was the plan again, just gonna jet ski to Russia then down the ole DPRK and off to China, to find the friendly waters of VN unannounced?
A Libyan political alliance trying to hold off Islamist rivals used just one face on their campaign posters: the image of a former rebel prime minister who once taught strategic planning at the University of Pittsburgh.
"Founded by Mahmoud Jibril" read the fliers and posters for the secular-leaning coalition that appeared to have the early edge over the Moslem BrĂ¼derbund and its Islamist backers in the vote counting from Saturday's parliamentary election. If the liberals hang on, the outcome will likely speak more about Jibril's skills at populism than a wellspring of support for his relatively unknown political allies.
Jibril -- a globe-trotting envoy for the rebel cause after abandoning his adviser post within Muammar Qadaffy's ... who had more funny outfits than Louis XIV... regime -- is now in position to become one of Libya's political point men by serving as a kind of catch-all figure to unite an array of liberals, secularists and moderates in the nation's first open elections in nearly five decades.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Al Ahram] Parliamentary Speaker Saad El-Katatni has called on the People's Assembly, the lower house of Egypt's parliament, to convene at noon on Tuesday.
The call by El-Katatni, who until recently served as secretary-general of the Moslem Brüderbund's Freedom and Justice Party (FJP), came only hours after President Mohamed Morsi -- former FJP chairman -- issued a decree reinstating the assembly, which was dissolved following a 14 June ruling by Egypt's High Constitutional Court (HCC).
People's Assembly secretary-general Sami Mahran told parliamentary correspondents on Monday that the assembly's secretariat had "sent invitations to 508 MPs, asking them to return on 10 July and resume attending sessions and performing their parliamentary duties."
Mahran continued: "MPs were allowed to enter the parliament building today after they had been barred by security forces on 14 June following the HCC verdict that led to the dissolution of parliament's lower house."
According to Mahran, Morsi's surprise decree on Sunday effectively overturned a 14 June order by Field Marshal Hussein Tantawi, head of Egypt's Supreme Council of the Armed Forces (SCAF), commanding security forces to bar MPs from entering the parliament building.
"Tantawi's order is no longer valid," said Mahran. "It expired today by virtue of Morsi's decree in the latter's capacity as president of the republic."
Mahran went on to say that the assembly's secretariat had not received any formal resignations from MPs as a result of the move. "Some MPs had declared on satellite television channels that they planned to resign from the assembly to object to Morsi's order, but I have not received any written resignations," he said.
Mahran declined to provide a timeframe for the assembly's upcoming activities.
"The assembly can remain in session until a new constitution is written or new parliamentary elections are held; or it could continue uninterrupted throughout the year," he said. In the early 1990s, Mahran recalled, "the assembly's first session continued uninterrupted for twelve consecutive months," even though the official lifetime for parliamentary sessions had been set at eight months.
Mahran went on to say that he was not sure what issues would be on the agenda at the assembly's scheduled Tuesday meeting. "There might be a discussion of the HCC's 14 June ruling that invalidated the elections law, or the assembly might plunge right into business by discussing everyday issues that affect the lives of ordinary Egyptians," he said.
In the meantime, the SCAF withdrew most security forces from the parliament building on Sunday only hours after Morsi's decree. The interior ministry's Central Security Forces are mandated with guarding the building. The abrupt withdrawal of security forces has led some observers to speculate that Morsi's decree had been issued in consultation with the SCAF.
According to some well-informed sources, the assembly is expected to discuss a report prepared by its legislative and constitutional affairs committee on the HCC's seminal 14 June ruling. The report, prepared by committee chairman Mahmoud El-Khodeiri, argues that the HCC ruling "only invalidated one third of the seats in the assembly."
El-Khodeiri's report goes on to state that the HCC verdict had "asserted that party-affiliated candidates were allowed to contest seats specifically allocated for independent candidates." The report goes on to recommend that "party-affiliated candidates who won seats as independents before rejoining the ranks of their respective parties should be disqualified and their seats subject to re-election."
As for those who ran as independents and remained politically independent after winning elections, the report contends, "they should retain their seats and should not face re-election."
The committee's report runs counter to the HCC ruling, which states: "The assembly as a whole must be dissolved because the election law by which it was elected discriminated against independent candidates and was biased in favour of party-affiliated candidates -- especially Islamist ones."
There have been indications that representatives of several secular parties have decided to boycott Tuesday's scheduled assembly meeting. MPs for the Wafd Party (38), the Egyptian Democratic Party (17), the Free Egyptians (7), the Revolution Continues (7) and the Tagammu Party (3) all said they had received orders from their respective party leaderships not to attend assembly meetings.
Representatives of offshoot parties from ousted president Hosni Mubarak ...The former President-for-Life of Egypt, dumped by popular demand in early 2011... 's now-defunct National Democratic Party (NDP) -- such as the Egyptian Citizen Party and the Horreya Party -- similarly announced plans to boycott. The number of these NDP diehards is estimated at 15 members of the People's Assembly.
Some independent deputies, such as journalist Mostafa Bakri and political activist Mohamed Abu-Hamed, also said they had decided to resign and would not attend assembly meetings.
Other liberal and leftist deputies, by contrast, said they planned to attend Tuesday's session. These included Anwar El-Sadat, chairman of the liberal-leaning Reform and Development Party (which is allied with the FJP); Mohamed El-Sawy, Civilisation Party MP and chairman of parliament's culture committee; and Al-Ahram political analyst Wahid Abdel-Meguid.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Saudi authorities tossed in the calaboose I ain't sayin' nuttin' widdout me mout'piece! four members of the notorious inquisitors religious police who allegedly caused the death of a man and the injury of his wife and two children in a car chase, local media reported on Monday.
"Security services placed in long-term storage Book 'im, Mahmoud! four members of the Arabian Inquisition after they were interrogated (on Sunday) over the chase that killed a man and injured his wife and two children in al-Baha" in the southwest, Okaz daily reported.
The men will be charged with "abusing power, chasing a man with his family while ignoring instructions given to members of the committee completely banning chases," the daily quoted a inquisitors religious police official as saying.
The feared inquisitors religious police sometimes use unmarked cars to chase those they suspect of violating Islamic sharia law, such as unmarried couples.
The English-language Saudi Gazette reported that the family was approached by a member of the committee "who complained their car stereo was on loudly."
The victim, identified by local media as 34-year-old Abdulrahman al-Ghamidi, then left with his family following an argument with the policeman who chased them, it said.
"The man's wife, who was five months pregnant, sustained severe contusions and abrasions and doctors say her right hand may be amputated," said the daily.
"The couple's son was at death's door in the Intensive Care Unit while their four-year-old daughter was in stable, pH balanced condition."
The ruler of Al-Baha, Prince Mashari bin Saud bin Abdul Aziz said he was "appalled at the manner" in which the inquisitors religious police acted and that an committee had been instructed to investigate the incident, state news agency SPA reported.
"All those linked to the accident have been tossed in the calaboose Youse'll never take me alive coppers!... [BANG!]... Ow!... I quit! and are being interrogated... those responsible will be punished," and such incidents will not happen again, he said, according to the SPA.
Relatively moderate Sheikh Abdullatiff Abdel Aziz al-Sheikh, appointed in January as the new chief of the inquisitors religious police, has raised hopes that a more lenient force will ease draconian social constraints in the Islamic country.
Two weeks into his post, Sheikh banned volunteers from serving in the commission which enforces the kingdom's strict Islamic rules.
And in April he went further, prohibiting the inquisitors religious police from "harassing people" and threatening "decisive measures against violators."
The inquisitors religious police prevent women from driving, require them to be covered from head to foot in black, ban public entertainment and force all businesses, from supermarkets to petrol stations, to close for prayers five times a day.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] A Bahraini court on Monday ordered the disbanding of a Iranian catspaw, the Islamic Action Association, judicial officials told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The group was found guilty of "several violations" including following a "religious ideology that calls for violence" and "not holding the association's convention for more than four years," according to the sources.
Prosecutors also accused the group of having committed "violations related to its financial situation by not providing the ministry with reports on its annual budget."
Bahrain's justice ministry in June filed a lawsuit to dissolve the association which joined Shiite-led protests last year.
The group's head Mohammed Ali Mahfouz and several of its leading members were sentenced to long prison sentences along other opposition figures for "plotting to overthrow the regime" and "inciting violence."
The Shiite opposition, including the main Al-Wefaq formation, slammed Monday's court decision as a "violation of the constitution and law."
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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Pudgy Kim Jong-un is having an affair with a previously married singer who has been pictured with the North Korea leader at several recent events, according to reports.
What good is it being the Great Enormity if you can't get some action when you want it?
South Korean intelligence sources named the attractive, short-haired woman as Hyon Song-wol, who used to front the Bochonbo Electronic Music Band and was hugely popular among the North Korean masses.
She'll continue to be popular, by Pudgy's order...
Responsible for a string of hits that included Footsteps of Soldiers, I Love Pyongyang, She is a Discharged Soldier and We are Troops of the Party, her popularity reportedly peaked in 2005 with the song Excellent Horse-Like Lady.
Must .. not .. go .. there ...
Hyon subsequently disappeared from public view at the time that Mr Kim emerged as the heir-apparent to his father, Kim Jong-il.
There are reports that 28-year-old Fat Boy Kim Jong-un was ordered to break off his relationship with Hyon by his father and that she later married an officer in the North Korean army with whom she has a baby.
[Dawn] The National Assembly on Monday adopted the contempt of court bill amid protest and walkout from the main opposition party PML-N, which also boycotted the session over resumption of NATO ...the North Atlantic Treaty Organization. It's headquartered in Belgium. That sez it all.... supplies, DawnNews reported.
The bill will provide a shelter to top government officials against contempt of court proceedings.
The Pakistain Moslem League-Nawaz (PML-N) staged protest against the bill and walked out from the session. Earlier, the party also protested the resumption of NATO supplies before the start of the session.
Moreover, the bill to provide former PM Gilani's actions a cover and the 21st amendment bill on judges' pension were also tabled in the house.
The major opposition parties castigated the government's decision to reopen the NATO supply routes while the PML-N members staged a token walkout from the national assembly session in protest against the government's decision terming it violation of the decisions taken by the parliament and its committee on national security.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Seven gunnies, three of them in police uniform, took away Pastor Victor Samuel Maseeh from Toba Tek Singh to some undisclosed location late on Saturday, his brother Sikandar Samuel told police.
He says Victor was pastor at the church of Christian school of thought called 'God's Grace Bible churches' in Christian Colony. Late on Saturday, seven gunnies arrived at the reached by a car. He said the visitors showed search warrants issued by a Lahore judicial magistrate, Mian Shahid Amin Joya.
The intruders grilled Victor bout his ex-American wife and also inspected various files in Victor's laptop. Then they asked him to go with them to the district police office.
Sikandar says he also got on the car with them but instead of going to the police office, they dropped him near Gojra bypass and took Victor with them to some undisclosed location.
A Toba city police official said they were unaware of any police visitors from Lahore. Police started the paperwork but haven't done much else of kidnapping of Victor on the complaint of Sikandar against unidentified people.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Four armed bike riders got an alleged car lifter released from police custody after killing a constable and a taxi driver and injuring two other police officials here on Sunday.
A team from the Rawalpindi city police, comprising SI Jameel Ahmed, constables Najmul Hassan and Ishfaq Ahmed, was shifting the accused, Amjad Khan, from Rawalpindi to Attock district jail in a yellow cab (RIW-993).
When they reached near a marriage hall on the Attock-Kamra Road at about 3.30pm, the gunnies opened fire on the vehicle.
As a result, constable Najmul Hassan and taxi driver Mudassir Riaz was struck down in his prime while SI Jameel and constable Ishfaq sustained injuries.
The assailants beat feet from the scene taking along the accused car lifter, a resident of Beautiful Downtown Peshawar.
The police shifted the injured and the bodies to the district headquarters (DHQ) hospital Attock from where the injured were referred to
Rawalpindi in a critical condition.
Police sources said Amjad was incarcerated Yez got nuttin' on me, coppers! Nuttin'! by the Attock Khurd police about one month back for his alleged involvement in car lifting, arms and narcotics cases.
Some four days back, the Rawalpindi police obtained his physical remand from a court of law and took him to Rawalpindi from the Attock jail as he was also wanted by them in a car lifting case.
However, a clean conscience makes a soft pillow... instead of a prison van, the police officials hired a private taxi for bringing the accused back to the Attock jail.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] ISLAMABAD police are worried that murders in the city are on the rise. Sixty-six people have been murdered so far this year, 55 of them in the rural areas of the capital territory where property and family disputes lead to violent crimes.
What worries the police more is a new trend -- tribals involved in similar disputes running away from the northwest to Islamabad for safety and being hunted down by their enemies and killed.
It is difficult to track down such killers as they return to their lawless lands after committing the crime. "In the tribal culture, the instinct of Dire Revenge™ works, not law," said a police brass hat.
Scores are settled personally, not through police. Families want to avenge their hurt themselves. They would not even approach police, much less help in investigating a crime. That often leads to a vicious cycle of Dire Revenge™ killings, according to the officer.
Tribal communities do hold jirgas to settle disputes and punish members found guilty of violating the tribal code and customs.
One can be fined or banished from the community for minor violations. But murderers usually flee rather than face a jirga.
They try to vanish in the urban populations. But the possibility of their pursuers hunting them down is never far away.
In recent years, some tribal runaways have sought to hide in Islamabad, particularly in its rural areas of Koral, Sihala and Shahzad Town in the southeast and Tarnol and Golra in the southwest.
Police frequently comb these areas for bully boyz and criminals and hauls up those who possess no, or doubtful identification.
But it is not much help to catch any runaway. Majority of them happen to be poor migrant workers who arrive in Islamabad in search of earning a living.
Meanwhile, ...back at the bake sale, Umberto's Mom's cannoli were a big hit... Dire Revenge™ murders go on in the localities with the police at a loss how to bring the killers to book.
Mohammad Bashir, a cook from Kohat, became the latest victim on July 1 when his body was found in a nullah in Sector G-11/2.
Police investigations revealed that he was residing in Merabadi in Golra with his cousin Ahsan Ullah, a holy man in a local mosque.
Both had run away, with their loves, from their native town and married them. A jirga banished them. They had been living in Golra for two years. On the fateful day, Bashir went out of the house in answer to a call from his in-laws only to be found rubbed out in the afternoon.
Earlier, on June 20, Raza Khan, a native of Swabi, was murdered when he came to visit his in-laws in Gulshanabad in Tarnol. It turned out that the killer was the son-in-law of his elder brother who had followed him from Swabi to settle a family feud. Police knew nothing more than that the killer had escaped on a cycle of violence.
On May 23, four unidentified persons rubbed out Mumtaz Alam, a native of Kohistan ...a backwoods district of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa distinguished by being even more rustic than is the norm among the local Pashtuns.... , outside his house in Sihala. The four called him out and killed him. Police believe Alam, who had been living in Sihala for 16 years, fell victim to old enmity.
Misal Khan, a cobbler from Bajaur Agency, aka Turban Central ...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth... , was stabbed to death by two persons outside his house in Mohammedan Colony, adjacent to Bari Imam shrine, on April 12. Police suspected he was a hunted man.
Before that, on February 8, Rayaz Ahmed, a migrant from Mansehra ...a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south... and administrator of a seminary in Bhara Kahu suburbs, was killed, allegedly by his in-laws.
Police were told Ahmed was asked to come out of his house by relatives living in the same locality and was rubbed out as he tried to flee them.
There was a time when criminals of urban areas used to flee to tribal areas for refuge. Now, the roles seem to have reversed.
Posted by: Fred ||
07/10/2012 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The National Assembly on Monday adopted the contempt of court bill amid protest and walkout from the main opposition party PML-N, which also boycotted the session over resumption of 
[Dawn] Seven 
Four armed bike riders got an alleged car lifter released from police custody after killing a constable and a taxi driver and injuring two other police officials here on Sunday.
...Smallest of the agencies in FATA. The Agency administration is located in Khar. Bajaur is inhabited almost exclusively by Tarkani Pashtuns, which are divided into multiple bickering subtribes. Its 52 km border border with Afghanistan's Kunar Province makes it of strategic importance to Pakistain's strategic depth...
a city and an eponymous district in eastern Khyber-Pakthunwa, nestled snug up against Pak Kashmir, with Kohistan and Diamir to the north and Abbottabad to the south...
