A former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq is facing child-sex charges. Scott Ritter of Delmar, N.Y., is charged in Pennsylvania with unlawful sexual contact with a minor for alleged online exchanges with police posing as a 15-year-old girl. The Pocono Record first reported the case Thursday.
Monroe County authorities say they traced the exchange through a cell phone number he provided. Police say Ritter gave them a video of him masturbating during an Internet chat.
The 48-year-old Ritter has been free on bail since waiving a Dec. 17 preliminary hearing. He has acknowledged facing similar 2001 charges in New York that were dismissed. His lawyer did not return a phone message.
Ritter resigned in 1998 after seven years as a UN weapons inspector and was a harsh critic of the war in Iraq.
#4
This has been a long-standing issue for Mr. Ritter, as I recall. Saddam Hussein blackmailed him for it to get positive reports, I believe. What a disgusting little man.
#5
Many honorable men and women worked at UNSCOM back in the 1990's. Among them Charlie Dolfer, the late Dr. Dave Kelly, Dr. Dick Sperzel, the late Dr. Annick Henriou, and many others. Scotty was never to number among them. He should have gone to jail years ago for the publication of the book "End Game" which may well have cost the lives of some intelligence community professionals.
Posted by: no mo uro ||
01/14/2010 17:07 Comments ||
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#8
How interesting that he met a Russian national while working as a counterintelligence officer in the old Soviet Union. How interesting that through his marriage to her, he is a stepfather to twin 16 year old girls.
Yeah, I know....none of that is important....silly me. Have fun in the pokey, Short Eyes.
There are 12 installments of the fictonal series at the link. The installments appear in reverse order, so you have to go to the bottom of the page and read "up."
Five years ago I would have laughed this stuff off as paranoid crap. Not so much anymore....
#10
I finally broke down and listened to it. And, yes, he's a friggin loon. Get on down there, Danny. It's not like you got much else to do these days...
#11
he's dealt with scripted fiction long enough that he feels equipped to issue his own. An intellectual giant. Like him in Lethal Weapon I-IX
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/14/2010 21:29 Comments ||
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#12
IIRC HAITI was a former colony of both SPAIN + later FRANCE, so to what degree are these Euros helping their former charges wid recovery assistance or aid???
Rev. Pat intentionally poops himself to distract attention from something he just said.
The earthquake in Haiti is a tragedy of such gargantuan proportion that it's natural to wonder how -- or why -- any God, if there is a God, could allow it.
The Rev. Pat Robertson says Haitians invoked earthquake in deal with the devil.
Enter the Rev. Pat Robertson, who always seems to have a ready answer for the unanswerable.
"You know ... something happened a long time ago in Haiti. ... They got together and swore a pact to the Devil," Robertson said on the Christian Broadcasting Network's "700 Club" Wednesday.
"They said, 'We will serve you if you get us free from the French.' True story." That's right: Robertson seems to suggest the Haitians brought the earthquake on themselves, in a deal with Satan.
"And so, the Devil said, 'OK, it's a deal.' And they kicked the French out," he went on. "You know, the Haitians revolted and got themselves free. But ever since, they have been cursed by one thing after another."
Robertson's words instantly triggered a firestorm on the airwaves and online, including a rebuke from senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett on "Good Morning America" today.
"I'm kind of speechless about that kind of remark," Jarrett said. "Our heart goes out to the people of Haiti. ... That's not the attitude that expresses the spirit of the president or the American people, so I thought it was a pretty stunning comment to make."
In a statement on its Web site, the Christian Broadcasting Network said Robertson was speaking objectively about Haiti's history that has led "countless scholars and religious figures over the centuries to believe the country is cursed.
"Dr. Robertson never stated that the earthquake was God's wrath," the statement reads. "If you watch the entire video segment, Dr. Robertson's compassion for the people of Haiti is clear."
Robertson is actively involved in helping launch and finance relief efforts to help the Haitian people and called on viewers to donate money to the cause on Wednesday's show, according to the network.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 12:49 ||
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#1
Unless you're playing "Chicago Rules Speechlessness" TM, I don't believe you can claim speechlessness and then elaborate on your speechlessness....
OTOH, Pat stepped in it here and deserves all the consideration that, say, Harry Reid gets when he says something stooooopid....
#2
I've long noted the most successful con men Pray mightily, Loudly, and as publicly as possible.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2010 16:04 Comments ||
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#3
I personally believe he should have remained silent about his cause and effect theory. However, I do fully agree with him. The French should have never left. These people are incapable of self-governance. They have no concept of the 'rule of law.'
#4
The last couple of days I have been struck by how the tranzi welfare industry has been positively salivating over the prospect of a new 'deserving' victim.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/14/2010 17:29 Comments ||
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#6
The C-SPAN televised Health Care issue has been completely eclipsed. Nothing like a good crisis for the tranzis. There really is no way to calculate the number of WH briefings and teevee appearances Barry will harvest from this disaster. Anyone notice his reference to "Haitian Americans?" We'll be lucky if he and his ACORN cadres don't start bringing these potential democrats to the states by the tens of thousands.
#11
Fish Hoek - Climate Change : Massive Shark : kills man : Beaches : Reopened : in South Africa ! Have to watch these sharks don't go to : South Pole Waters ! Killing Off : Penguins or : Seals ! Try : Shark Hunting : Near : South Pole Waters : Harpoon : Those Sharks Going Near South Pols : Rather : Than : Whales ! Hello , Norway , Finland and : Japan !
#12
Fish Hoek - Climate Change : Massive Shark : kills man : Beaches : Reopened : in South Africa ! Have to watch these sharks don't go to : South Pole Waters ! Killing Off : Penguins or : Seals ! Try : Shark Hunting : Near : South Pole Waters : Harpoon : Those Sharks Going Near South Poles : Rather : Than : Whales ! Hello , Norway , Finland and : Japan !
[Al Arabiya Latest] The death toll in the Haiti quake could top 100,000, Prime Minister Jean-Max Bellerive said Wednesday after a after the 7.0-magnitude earthquake struck the Island, toppling shantytowns and even the presidential palace.
The final death toll could be "well over 100,000," the prime minister told American television channel CNN after his Caribbean nation was struck by a 7.0 quake and several powerful aftershocks that rattled the poorest country in the Americas.
Injured residents of the crowded Caribbean capital poured into streets screaming in panic with each new tremor. Bodies were just left in the streets or crushed under rubble. Collapsing buildings left Port-au-Prince choked with cement dust for hours after the earthquake.
The quake toppled the cupola on the gleaming white presidential palace, a major hotel where 200 tourists were missing and the headquarters of the U.N. mission in Haiti where up to 250 personnel were unaccounted for.
"The building of the U.N. peace mission... collapsed and it would appear that all those who were in the building, including my friend (peacekeepers chief) Hedi Annabi... and that all those who were with him and around him are dead," French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner told RTL radio.
Annabi is the head of the 9,000-strong United Nations Stabilization Mission in Haiti (MINUSTAH). Brazil is the biggest contributor to the mission with 1,200 personnel.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
My niece just got deployed there on the USS Bataan.
#2
I'd guess about now that real thirst is starting to kick in, and food issues especially for those who have been digging. Clothing not so much depending on how picky a person is but shelter will be an issue especially for the wounded, young, elderly. Then the bugs arrive...
God bless your niece xbalanke, and all others responding at a moment's notice - keep ya dust masks on. Hope y'all are spiritually prepared and if not, get so..it'll be a mess.
The bugs arrived not long after the shaking stopped. I imagine the various fly larvae are just
about to hit maggot stage. There will be feasting soon.
The best thing to do is evacuate every non Haitian and then put a strict Sea, Air & Land blockade on the place and let nature run its course. The Haitians have demonstrated time and again that they are incapable of governing themselves.
#5
Oh really.
Now that's a reason to let them all die?
Posted by: European Conservative ||
01/14/2010 16:07 Comments ||
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#6
Now that's a reason to let them all die?
Yes. The place is a cesspit, it will always be a cesspit. The only time it wasn't a cesspit was when it was governed by non Haitians. Once it was turned over to them, it went right back to being a cesspit.
The place is a giant resource devouring bottomless pit. Seal the place off and let nature run its course. Every habitat has its carrying capacity, let this place find that natural carrying capacity without outside intervention, aide, money...etc.
I know it sounds cold, it is cold. That coldness is something that is sorely missing in the world. We, the U.S., need to STOP intervening all over the damn world, it isn't appreciated. Let. Nature. Run. Its. Course!
#7
can't say I disagree w/Solomon. Haiti sucks ass. We sent a bunch of Marines there about 4 yrs ago to un-screw some other form of disaster, it never ends. A lot of Africa is the same.
BTW - I was a rider on the Bataan some yrs back, a good ship.
#8
Based on the very little I've read on the subject, methinks Haiti didn't function very well when the French ran the slave plantations, either. I don't know about the Spanish period, but I have my suspicions. Bottom line, Haiti never has had a functioning society, and they don't seem able to allow anyone to impose functionality upon them.
#9
DRUDGEREPORT > ANARCHY: WHOSE RUNNING HAITI?; + CHIN MIL FORUM > HAITI CEASES TO EXISTS: NO GOVT. + UTTERLY POOR STATE.
* DER SPIEGEL > DS Interview of German Expert-Humanitar Activist UTE BRAUN of GERMAN RELIEF GROUP "WELTHUNGERHILFE" > [HAITI]NO ONE KNOWS HOW MANY MAY BE LYING UNDER THE RUBBLE!
ARTIC > UTE BRAUN remarks that HAITI is
* highly unstable for years, BOTH POLITICALLY + IN TERMS OF PUBLIC INFRASTRUCTURE.
* 3.0MILYUHN Persons live in a Capital city of PORT-AU-PRINCE orginally designed for far fewer.
* Haiti must import approxi 50% of its food depite being an agricultural = agricult produc country.
* NO TREES, as most local vegetation = Tree flora has been cut down by Haitians oer the past years, decades, and generations, for FUEL + HOMES, ETC.
BUILDING CODES > Maybe its just me but on CNN + FOX NEWS this AM I don't believe I saw even one Quake-damaged/destroyed REINFORCING TYING IRON/ROD(S) AMONGST THE RUBBLE. VEERILY REMINDED ME OF THOSE SIMPLE MASS-PRODUC "MUD BRICKS" USED IN ANCIENT MIDEAST OR NEAR EAST HOME, TEMPLE-CITY CONSTRUX???
** VARIOUS NET POSTERS > most likely it will be the USA = OBAMA ADMIN whom will be the de facto power broker in Quake-ravaged Haiti.
[Straits Times] A STRONG 6.2-magnitude earthquake struck Indonesia's Papua province early on Thursday but there were no reports of casualties and no tsunami warning was issued, seismologists said.
The quake struck at 12.18am Jakarta time (1718 GMT on Wednesday, 12.18am Singapore time), 78km north-west of the West Papua provincial capital of Manokwari at a depth of 26km, the geophysics and meteorological agency said.
An AFP reporter in Manokwari said the tremors lasted less than 30 seconds and there was no panic or damage from the quake.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific 'Ring of Fire,' where the meeting of continental plates causes high volcanic and seismic activity.
A 7.6-magnitude quake that struck Sumatra island on September 30 last year killed more than 1,000 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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UNITED NATIONS, Jan. 13 (Xinhua) -- At least 16 UN personnel were killed in an earthquake that struck Haiti's capital of Port au Prince on Tuesday, UN Secretary-general Ban Ki-moon said on Wednesday after an informal meeting of the General Assembly.
The 16 include 11 Brazilian peacekeepers, one Argentinean, three Jordanian police officers, and one Chadian police officer, said Ban. As this is only a preliminary figure, more casualties are expected, he added.
The UN has said that about 150 of its employees working there are still trapped in collapsed buildings and remain unaccounted for, including the mission chief Hedi Annabi and his deputy special representative Luiz Carlos da Costa. According to reports from Haitian President Rene Preval, Hedi Annabi is dead. Ban said he has been trying to contact Preval since early Wednesday morning.
"I have only been able to speak with the ambassador here," Leo Merores, who has been trying to arrange for a telephone call. However, no one at UN headquarters appears to have been able to reach Preval because communication lines are either down or overloaded.
In the meantime, Ban said he would be dispatching Edmond Mullet, a UN undersecretary general, to assume full command of the UN mission.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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01/14/2010 06:57 ||
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#1
Skinner was said to have been about 328 feet from the shore
Wat die fok? Fish Hoek coastline, summer months, sharks, ....who knew? Sorry Lloyd, next time mind the locals and the signage. There really is no mending stupid.
Cape Towns shark spotters scan the beaches from their elevated mountainside posts above Muizenberg and Fish Hoek from 8am to 6pm, seven days a week.
Equipped with radios, they are able to communicate with each other and when a shark is spotted, the alarm is raised to warn bathers and call them back to the shore pronto. The siren is set off by remote control by the spotters.
The spotters use four different coloured flags for signalling different messages to bathers.
This is how the four-flag system works:
Green flag shark spotters on duty, that visibility is good and no sharks have been spotted.
Black flag shark spotters on duty but visibility is bad and its difficult to determine if there are sharks in the area.
Red flag a shark has been spotted in the last two hours but it is no longer visible to the spotter.
White flag with a black shark logo a shark is in the vicinity of the bathers, and a siren is sounded from the beach. Swimmers should stay out of the water until the flag is lowered and the siren has stopped sounding.
Unless, of course, they were converting from fathoms, in which case it is about 53 fathoms. Or 11,761 barleycorn, or 222 Egyptian cubits, or 4284 Vietnamese dong, .49 furlongs, .02 leagues, or 27.3 mark twain.
#11
Ja, lekker one, Mojo! What a pity Bob Mugabe is a non-swimmer, shark got thd wrong Zimbo.
I remember body-surfing in Durban until I learnt that the shark nets weren't all joined together, and didn't go from top to bottom. All swimming done in the pool after that.
Then again, most of the surfers were toked up on 'Durban Poison', increasing the stupid factor.
Me, I was cured.
#12
There are an average of 3 dozen shark attacks in Florida each year, but these are rarely fatal. Why? Florida is infested with Bull Sharks, which prefer to bite and flee. California and Florida very few shark attacks, but most are fatal. Why? Great White Sharks don't believe in cut-and-run; they aren't into snacking.
Floridans should stop culling swamp Pythons, and move against Bull Sharks.
What on earth is happening in Dar al Islam? Is real change afoot?
[Maghrebia] Mauritanian Islamic leaders, the association of ulema and government officials gathered in Nouakchott on Monday for a forum aimed at issuing a fatwa against the widespread practice of female circumcision, ANI reported on Tuesday (January 12th). The practice often leads to death, according to Cheikh Ould Zein Ould Limam of the Forum of Islamic Thought. "Female circumcision is a practice harmful to the health of women in our country," Social Affairs Ministry Secretary-General Mohamed Ould Ely Telmoudi said, adding that "sustainable development and poverty reduction are dependent on the equal participation of women in public life and development efforts".
The percentage of recorded cases in Mauritania has reportedly reached 72%. A proposed national action plan to eradicate female circumcision would initially focus on those wilayas most affected by the practice: Brakna, Gorgol and Assaba Hodh El Charghi.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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#1
...wonder how long it would take to get a fatwa out against bobbittization.
In a ruling effectively sidelining Nigeria's absent President, a high court judge decided yesterday that his deputy can take executive decisions, making Goodluck Jonathan the de facto leader of Africa's most populous country.
The court verdict has now empowered the Vice President to start assuming the powers of an acting president,' the Attorney-General, Michael Aondoakaa, told reporters after the ruling at a federal court in Abujam, the capital.
President Yar'Adua left Nigeria more than seven weeks ago for Saudi Arabia where he is being treated for acute pericarditis, a heart condition. He has not been seen since. On Tuesday the President broke his silence with a radio interview that did little to reassure Nigerians. At the moment I'm undergoing treatment, and I'm getting better,' Mr Yar'Adua said in a frail and faltering voice. He assured Nigerians that he would return as soon as his doctors gave him the all clear.
Christopher Onwuekwe, a lawyer, asked the Federal High Court on Monday to rule on Mr Jonathan's legal position. By virtue of section 5 of the 1999 Constitution, the Vice President can perform the executive functions of the President pending the time he returns,' Judge Dan Abutu ruled.
The high court ruling does not mean that Mr Jonathan is now Nigeria's President but other lawsuits due to be heard today might yet force Mr Yar'Adua to stand down.
Mr Yar'Adua's absence since November 23 has threatened to plunge one of Africa's biggest oil producers into constitutional crisis because he left without formally handing over power to his deputy.
In the meantime Mr Jonathan has been chairing Cabinet meetings but has been unable to take executive decisions. Last month a key budget document had to be signed by Mr Yar'Adua in his Jedda hospital bed.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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So, How long you figure it will take for the Veep to get rich enough to flee to switzerland or aruba?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/14/2010 16:15 Comments ||
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He had a day job as a BBC journalist, reporting for both TV and radio. But in his spare time Steve Jones had a rather more exciting role - as leather-clad spokesman for the Hell's Angels. He was even interviewed in BBC reports using his Hell's Angel nickname 'Echo', criticising police for being heavy-handed at an annual bikers' festival.
That was too much for the BBC bosses. Shoulda stuck to bitching about the Juice and them damn Yankees....then he could have gotten a promotion. Silly sod!
They sacked him for breaching their code of conduct, which says journalists must disclose their interests and get permission before representing outside organisations.
Mr Jones, 51, joined the BBC more than 20 years ago. As mid-Wales correspondent he was a regular on BBC Wales TV and Radio Wales and was said to earn more than £40,000 a year.
His downfall came after he was interviewed by unsuspecting colleagues on Radio 4 and Radio 5 Live as a Hell's Angel speaking up for the 'brotherhood' and criticising the police. His distinctive voice was recognised by colleagues which led to an inquiry into his extra-curricular activities. Should have learned to speak with a midwestern twang ...
Mr Jones was also interviewed on a television news bulletin wearing a Hell's Angel's badge as one of the organisers of last summer's annual 'Bulldog Bash' in the Midlands.
Mr Jones had previously annoyed BBC bosses by wearing a short-sleeved shirt on TV - showing off his tattooed arms.
The father of two was on leave when he took on the role of unofficial press spokesman for the biking event.
A BBC spokesman confirmed he had been dismissed after a disciplinary hearing. A BBC source added: 'Steve's a lovely bloke and an excellent broadcaster but he's a bit of a maverick. Being a BBC correspondent in the week and a Hell's Angel at the weekend doesn't sit well.'
Mr Jones, who is understood to be appealing against the decision, declined to comment. A friend said: 'He believes he's done nothing wrong apart from carrying out the hobby he has had for years.'
#1
I don't know the players well enough to draw conclusions but common reasons for a big reshuffle are
- to give everyone some experience
- to build a personal military empire
- to keep someone else from building their own little military empire
Thoughts?
#1
Good grief! When I read this headline and saw Detroit and Fraud I immediately laughed to myself that "yeah and they're all probably Mohammed, Abdul etc." NEVER believing that I would turn to the article and find.....
Muhammad
Christopher
Hassan
Curtis
Mohammed
Jessica
Tariq
Faisal Chaudry....
#2
one day, if I've the time and Fred the bandwidth I could go in depth as to the amount of insurance fraud schemes the arab business community attempts in metro detroit.
The chief of the International Monetary Fund believes the US dollar will maintain its dominance in the currency world despite speculations that it will be soon substituted by the euro or Chinese yuan.
"The US currency is going to remain the main currency in my opinion for a long period of time, even if it's challenged by some others," Dominique Strauss-Kahn told the Hong Kong Trade Development Council on Wednesday, AFP reported.
Strauss-Kahn called on China to raise the value of its currency, to ease criticisms alleging that Beijing keeps its unit artificially low.
Meanwhile, the IMF managing director noted that the international economy would not face a so-called "double-dip" recession, though he described the pace of recovery as sluggish.
"Our view is not one of a double-dip," Strauss-Kahn said.
"It doesn't mean the probability is zero or that it cannot happen, but it's not our preferred scenario and I don't believe that will be the case."
Strauss-Kahn is due to make a keynote address at the Asian Financial Forum next week.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/14/2010 00:00 ||
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Strauss-Kahn called on China to raise the value of its currency, to ease criticisms alleging that Beijing keeps its unit artificially low.
Which contributes to the monetary problem. Had the Chinese currency floated, it would have, by natural process meant that the increase value/cost of manufacturing in China, forced a decrease in sales or shifting of production elsewhere. That would have thwarted the ability of the Chinese to park their wealth in so many US bonds [and by extension, inhibited the government from borrowing so much], but it would also have meant that China's economic miracle wouldn't have been as big, flashy, and successful as it has been. The Chinese self interest means that they will continue to undervalue their currency to maintain employment at home [even though they've lost millions of jobs already in the global recession] and export unemployment overseas. Unfortunately, its a game of monetary musical chairs when the unemployment overseas ends the ability to buy 'made in China' anyway. That's when it will all start to implode. The central Chinese government hasn't had the 'opportunity' to experience an economic depression during a period of raising expectations by their masses. The people have tasted the 'good' life. May they enjoy the interesting times.
#1
Democratshope and pray say the tension between the Tea Party and mainstream Republicans is a "civil war" that will undermine Republicans' hopes for significant gains in the mid-term elections in November.
Posted by: Bobby ||
01/14/2010 6:24 Comments ||
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missing background: Greer ran a smear site against Rubio as well as sourced several smear emails. He also tried to defame Rubio's campaign by attempting to pin a Youtube Hitler video on them. Turns out he left metadata on Youtube in the video and in the smear domain's registration that instead pointed back to Greer.
Teaparty and online people outed Greer and his hamhanded dirty tricks on the part of the Crist campaign, which force Greer and other Crist cronies out.
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.
A former U.N. weapons inspector in Iraq is facing child-sex charges. 
