ISIS's success in Mosul could have something to do with the Iraqi government putting a general accused of carrying out systematic torture in charge of the city's security. The top Iraqi officer in Mosul, whose forces fled with hardly a fight as ISIS militants and their allies took over Iraq's second-largest city, is an accused torturer who was once targeted by the U.S. military and the Iraqi criminal justice system.
American and Iraqi lawyers and investigators, built a strong case against Mahdi. The unit compiled dozens of witness statements about his participation in the systematic torture of detainees along sectarian lines at the height of the violence between Sunni and Shia factions in Iraq in 2005 and 2006. This investigation augmented a previous Iraqi warrant from 2006. Twenty brave witnesses delivered statements that he ordered the systematic torture of detainees and often supervised it himself.
From 2006 to 2008, U.S. military lawyers and commanders pressed Maliki to support sending Al Gharawi to trial, to prove he was serious about weeding out sectarianism in the ranks of his security forces. Those efforts failed. A 2006 diplomatic cable released by wikileaks shows then-U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilizad explaining Maliki's intransigence. "Mahdi is alleged to have committed gross human rights violations and extra-judicial killings during his service as the National Police's Second Division Commander at the detention facility known as Site 4. Mahdi has proven valuable enough to Maliki, however, that he rebuffed our request that he execute an Iraqi warrant for Mahdi's arrest."
By all indications, the general was operating [in Nineveh and Mosul] exactly as he had in South Baghdad in 2005 and 2006, abusing, torturing and alienating the population.
#5
Neither the Donks or the Pubs would have allowed such pig slop excuses to go on during the Nixon administration. Both sides would have been calling for impeachment. Unfortunately for us, the current criminal siloviks seem to be of one party. One side stonewalls and the other side doesn't do anything about it.
#7
Gvernment mail server in the facility of the email sender is backed up.
Government mail server at the facility of the email recipient is backed up.
Government client computer in the facility of the email sender is backed up.
Government client computer in the facility of the email recipient is backed up.
If serveral people are cc'ed who are located at various facilities, numerous servers and client pc's have copies.
If all of the servers and pcs in all of the facilities have been wiped clean, you have a major criminal syndicate throughout the Executive branch starting with the Oval office. These criminals need to be prosecuted, starting at the Oval office. Then see how the pigs squeal and canaries sing.
#8
As an IT guy that used to be in charge of government computer operations, I would start the other way on the chain.
Arrest the lower level IT backup guys, since if they didn't report the erasure or helped they broke the law, offer them immunity for testimony and continue up the chain. Go through management all the way to the top. I guarantee the lower and mid-level guys will squeal quick to keep out of jail.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/19/2014 13:29
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One side stonewalls and the other side doesn't do anything about it.
One side stonewalls and the other side doesn't do anything about it because the NSA has all sorts of dirt on them that they turned over to the first side.
#13
What DV says sounds like standard police procedure and it makes perfect sense. The only problem is there is no one in DC with the authority to follow the procedure who is actually gonna do it. The House could vote for impeachment but the Senate wouldn't convict. There will be no pressure from the MSM and no general outcry. So we're stuck with a government that has lost its credibility and legitimacy and you still have to pay your taxes. Have another drink.
#14
All the bureaucrats know that e-mails could be the death of them. That is why they are destroyed, by policy, as soon as the mandatory retention period expires.
NSA may be our only hope of these emails seeing the light of day. Strange how an Obama anti-liberty move like IRS targeting of conservatives could be countered by another Obama anti-liberty move, domestic spying.
I've heard several mention the NSA's capability to sort out the Lois Lerner e-mail debacle. What if the roots of this thing go much deeper than a handful of Dem [or Pub] politicians? I'm not certain if it's still in operation, but the IRS used to have something called the IRS Financial Center or FINCIN. IRS FINCIN had a global financial intelligence and crime prevention mission which enjoyed a broad liaison capability within each of the national agencies. Lerner was obviously placed high enough to leverage the capabilities of FINCIN if necessary.
#16
Ebbang agreed atm, but this could change with a new Congress. A Senate subpoena has a certain panache the House can't quiet match. Immunize, grill 'em and thrill 'em.
[Washington Times] The architect of the counter insurgency strategy that helped stabilize Iraq before President Obama took office has a message for the president and his advisers: Do not let the U.S. become the de facto air force for Shia militias. No, the message is not for POTUS or the shadow gov't.
"This cannot be the United States being the air force for Shia militias, or a Shia on Sunni Arab fight," said David Petraeus on Wednesday while at the Margaret Thatcher Conference on Liberty in London, the Daily Beast reported.
The former commander of coalition forces in Iraq and former CIA director continued: "It has to be a fight of all of Iraq against extremists, who happen to be Sunni Arabs, but extremists that are wreaking havoc on a country."
Mr. Petraeus went on to say that if the U.S. acts, it should be done when Iraq's Shia-led government in Baghdad makes it clear that it desires to become more representative of its people. Urgent note to Israel. Your attention is directed to the preceding para.
"The surge in Iraq, the surge that mattered most was not the surge in forces it was the surge of ideas that changed our strategy," Mr. Petraeus said, the Daily Beast reported. "You cannot have 18 to 20 percent of the population feeling disenfranchised -- feeling that it has no stake in the success of the country. In fact it has a stake in the failure of Iraq. Of course we reached out to the Sunni Arabs."
The former general went on to say that when U.S. troops left in Iraq in 2011, the country was uniquely poised to heal 1400 years of sectarian divides, but that in many ways the government of Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki squandered gains made by American troops. Blaming Maliki is the party narrative. It's always a 'blame game' with these people, never a solutions or winning game.
But Islamic sectarianism is older and deeper than Malaki. Furthermore, there are the problems of Islam itself - the triumphalism, the doctrines of oppression, the misogyny, the hostility to freedom of any kind, the celebration of violence,...
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/19/2014 8:21
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#3
Yes, I agree, he's probably a SOB. But he's THEIR SOB. The Champ regime appears to be doing the RIGHT thing for the wrong reasons. Hopefully they won't change their minds.
#4
Is the good general angling for a spot on the democrat 2016 presidential ticket? Hillary/Petraeus in 2016?
Posted by: Herb Bumble4862 ||
06/19/2014 9:38
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The "good general" is "All In" for the Champ, and for good reason. That DoJ investigation into his activities with his biographer is still hanging out there somewhere.
#7
Obviously the empty suit's thugs squeezed Petraeus's nuts to get him to say that. Very interesting how he was publically flogged by the Dems over the surge and now is defending NOT doing anything.
Of course, I am coming around. I spent a lot of time in Iraq and thought in 2004 that it had a chance and I thought the elections and the growth of the Iraqi Army would stabilize things. AND I knew the Iranians were behind most of the violence in Iraq.
I also knew Bush's team in Iraq with the CPA screwed the pooch. We made the US Forces into an occupation force instead of a force for freedom with our crazy crap non-fraternization rules and how Brenner kept the US forces in the Green Zone (sort of a mental analogy to the Saddam regime with an occupation force using the tyrant's lair).
We had the war won, when Obama came in and started making his statements about pulling out, the bad guys knew all they had to do was bide their time and then they could act...fanatics have lots of patience.
Another foreign policy masterpiece by the Dems to go with Rwanda and Viet Nam.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 11:56
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I forgot to add that "coming around" means I think that while we have a dog in the fight, i.e., regional security being in our best interests, putting two groups of fanatics that hate each other in the same room with lots of bullets does have its points.
All that I ask of our "policy makers" is that they figure out a way to get whoever is left standing and in power to be our guy.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 11:59
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#9
Ideally, if things collapse, certain persons would have the wherewithal to make sure that the people we do NOT want in charge conveniently end up moved out of the way (or at room temperature). Its easiest to prevent a Maliki or Ayatollah than it is to deal with them.
#11
Dunno. I guess if we HAVE to pick a side, the Shia is the way to go. That being said, no matter who wins, we (by this, I mean the Republic of the United States of America) lose.
#14
Jahn Karry: "You know, education, if you make the most of it, if you study hard and you do your homework, and you make an effort to be smart, uh, you, you can do well. If you dont, you get stuck in Iraq."
guess which idiot Oblahblah is sending to Iraq?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2014 14:30
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#22
I say, if jiahadists are ignored, the cancer will only metastasize. Eventually we will be forced to deal with it.
Zarqawi's 2005 Manifesta:
The Americans will exit soon from Iraq and things may develop faster than we imagine.
[Iraq is] The place for the greatest battle of Islam in this era.
The conflicts in Chechnya, Afghanistan, Kashmir, and Bosnia, which he refers to as the "far-flung regions of the Islamic world" are secondary in al Qaeda's plans for the formation of the Islamist Caliphate. The real lever of power is in Iraq, Egypt and the Levant (Syria and Lebanon).
The first stage: Expel the Americans from Iraq.
The second stage: Establish an Islamic authority or amirate, then develop it and support it until it achieves the level of a caliphate
The third stage: Extend the jihad wave to the secular countries neighboring Iraq.
The fourth stage: The clash with Israel
It would be naive to think the Jiahad stops with Israel. Equally unwise would be allowing jiahadis to consolidate their holdings into a nation-state, that would further destabilize the whole region.
I want to touch on a point that I haven't heard much made of, the name recognition Abu Bakr has throughout the muslim world.
Islam had another Abu Bakr. A warrior too, very successful as well. He was a close companion of muhammad, was the first muslim convert, the first Caliph residing over the first Caliphate, and it was after his reign that islam splintered into the two factions of Sunni vs Shia. The man is well known in islamic lore.
Just as - Abu Bakr of ISIS is a growing legend. The more success he has, the more he will be lionized. Allowing him a nation state would elevate his status and would serve to swell his ranks. He would have mandate. You don't want young men synergizing the past with the present, getting swept up in sweet nostalgia of better times and the potential for her return.
Let me close my point. The difference between AQ and ISIS - Al Arabiya.com:
The Islamic State of Iraq and Syria (ISIS) is moving according to strategies and perspectives of a state lying amid violent hotbeds and safe havens. It creeps into structures of unsuccessful regimes while flourishing during their periods of turmoil.
This is why ISIS believes it is capable of leading global jihad, unlike Al-Qaeda which focuses on the distant enemy rather than the enemy that is near.
First the takfirs and apostates, then us. I would take them at their word.
We have been the Saudi's arm and shield for decades, and if they are not a Shia militia
then who is?
The key here is to provide sufficient support to avoid catastrophic collapse on the part of the Iraqi government. After that, just like the Syrians, they are on their own.
#27
Interesting how uranium and chemical weapons shipped to Syria is converted to "Bush Lied People Died" Hmmm wasn't the big reason the left says Bush is a war criminal is because Iraq didn't have any WMD?
Geez, how far will the media go to bury important information to preserve a narrative?
Never mind, come to think of it, the answer to that question is hiding under his desk in the oval office.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 22:07
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#28
Seems to me this latest excursion is just one more iteration of the war between the Sunnis and Shias that has been going on since about the 7th century.
(hint for non-mooslims: it's as if the Presbyterians and the Episcopalians decided to fight to the death over doctrinal differences)
#29
Now, now, iff the US-Soviets can work together to rescue "Ice Station Zebra" + Kosovo, why can't the USoAmerika work wid future OWG Globalist Co-Superpower Iran [etal?], the NAU wid the Eurasian Customs Union [etal?], on ISIS-threatened Iraq???
To paraph Krauthammer = "SAY IT WID ME, AMERIKA -D *** NG IT, YES WE CAN"!
* DRUDGEREPORT > PETRAEUS: US MUST STRIKE IRAQ [ISIL/ISIL] TO SAVE THE WEST. | [Telegraph.UK] " US SHOULD LAUNCH TARGETED MILITARY STRIKES ON "TERRORIST ARMY" ISIS, WARNS GEN. DAVID PETRAEUS.
Iff it means the security of the West is endangered or is threatened.
Which could be soon enuff given ...
* DEFENCE.PK/FOURMS > ISIL [aka ISIS]: "WE WILL [also] CONQUER INSTANBUL", i.e. Turkey.
Alleged info garnered or derived from analysis of alleged captured ISIS/ISIL documents in Turkey yesterday.
* BHARAT RAKSHAK > [Guardian.UK] IRAQI AMBASSADOR [Iraq US Amb. Lukman Faily] FEARS "ETHNIC CLEANSING" IN IRAQ UNLESS OBAMA ACTS.
* SAME > [HuffPo] ISIS MAY SKIP BAGHDAD + INSTEAD BUILD A NEW STATE - "SYRIAQ".
h/t Gates of Vienna
The battle in Iraq consists of "Turkish-backed Sunni jihadis rebelling against an Iranian-backed Shi'ite-oriented central government," I wrote in a recent article.
Some readers question that the Republic of Turkey has supported the "Islamic State in Iraq and Syria," the main Sunni group fighting in Iraq. They point to ISIS attacks on Turkish interests, within Turkey, along its border with Syria, and in Mosul and a successful recent meeting of the Turkish and Iranian presidents. Good points, but they can be explained.
First, ISIS is willing to accept Turkish support even while seeing the Islamist prime minister and his countrymen as kafirs (infidels) who need to be shown true Islam.
Second, the presidential visit took place on one level while the fighting in Syria and Iraq took place on quite another; the two can occur simultaneously. Turkish-Iranian rivalry is on the rise and, as the distinguished Turkish journalist Burak Bekdil notes in the current issue of the Middle East Quarterly:
Recent years have often seen official language from the two countries about prospering bilateral trade and common anti-Israeli ideological solidarity. But mostly out of sight have been indications of rivalry, distrust, and mutual sectarian suspicion between the two Muslim countries.
Ankara may deny helping ISIS, but the evidence for this is overwhelming. "As we have the longest border with Syria," writes Orhan Kemal Cengiz, a Turkish newspaper columnist, "Turkey's support was vital for the jihadists in getting in and out of the country." Indeed, the ISIS strongholds not coincidentally cluster close to Turkey's frontiers.
Posted by: Skidmark ||
06/19/2014
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#1
With ISIS working hard to hide its secrets and push propaganda as fact, leakers may turn out to be an increasingly important source of information about it and other extremist groups.
So they have their own Bradley Chelsea Mannings and Eddie Snowdens? Wotta tragedy!
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2014 7:39
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#2
So the old redhead is alive??? So the intel that Al-Douri had died of cancer was a sham?
So Al-Douri has been camped out in the Mosul/Tikrit area for ten years and our magnificent intelligence apparatus and NSA monitoring could not find him?
Amazing.
Of course, when Al-Douri went dark he had $300 million of Saddam's oil for food money and I am sure he didn't spend it all on the insurgency. $300 million will buy you a lot of anonymity.
Wow talk about an intelligence bust...Al-Douri is alive and well in Nineveh? And we bought the cancer story? That is possibly the most embarrassing intelligence failure of the last ten years in Iraq.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 12:22
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In William Gibson's pioneering cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer," outlaw hacktivists use stealth suits of "mimetic polycarbon" to evade the ubiquitous surveillance technology of the future. It's one of the coolest ideas in a book jammed with oddly prophetic details.
That future is now, evidently. The CHBL Jammer Coat is the latest in a string of stealth clothing, wearables and devices designed to fight back against tracking and snooping.
The Jammer Coat may look like a Hogwarts robe, but it's actually more like a wearable Faraday cage that blocks electromagnetic waves. The idea is to keep your smartphone, tablet or other mobile devices safe from electronic spying when you're on the move. Developed by Austrian design firm Coop Himmelb(l)au, the coat has built-in pockets for multiple handheld devices. I am sure that this will be a big hit during the Dubai Fashion Week.
#2
This only demonstrates how fantastically resilient the American economy actually is. Even under the oppression levied upon investment, business, and commerce by the current regime in Washington, capitalism endures and thrives. Just imagine what might be possible if we were able to someday shake off this yoke of communism.
#3
It all seems to fit: we're about to export 20% of the worlds oil, and we're turning into Venezuela at the same time (money crashing, repressive government, food prices rising, etc).
Which makes you wonder about cause and effect.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/19/2014 7:30
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#4
More to #2 than #3 - its pretty amazing to remember that just a few years ago, nobody was expecting this miraculous turnaround and that its happened largely outside of the Obama administrations purview.
Although I gagged when Champ tired to take credit for the increased output in the 2012 debates.
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2014 13:37
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#5
Good job - exporting the petro the locals cannot afford to consume they way they once did. "Titanic", for sure.
[DNAINFO] A man was enjugged Drop the rosco, Muggsy, or you're one with the ages! for selling balloons filled with laughing gas outside of a Disco Biscuits concert at Irving Plaza, the NYPD said.
Police spotted 22-year-old Carlos Holguin filling balloons from a nitrous oxide tank and selling them to concert patrons on Irving Place between East 15th and 16th streets at 2:15 a.m. June 13, police said.
Holguin held up a balloon filled with the gas and offered it to the officer, saying, "four for $20?" before the officer arrested him, according to the Manhattan District Attorney's criminal complaint.
Holguin was charged with unlawful use of nitrous oxide for intoxication and unlicensed general vending, both misdemeanors, according to the criminal complaint. He did not have a license from the Department of Consumer Affairs to sell the balloons, the DA's office said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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#1
He did not have a license from the Department of Consumer Affairs to sell the balloons, the DA's office said.
#5
Ah, Champ the picture brings a happy smile to my face. A small piece of practical joke history, the Whoppee Cushion was originally a French invention called le Sac du Gasse amazingly it was invented by the chemist/natural philosopher Lavoisier whose labs also supplied. high quality gunpowder to the Continental Army.
[BREITBART] The doo-doo has gotten too deep for the mayor of a wealthy Los Angeles suburb who flung dog poop onto a political opponent's property.
The Pasadena Star-News (http://bit.ly/1kLDwcZ ) reports San Marino Mayor Dennis Kneier resigned Tuesday after outcry from residents who say he smeared their image. ...on somebody's lawn...
Kneier remains on the City Council. Councilman Eugene Sun will serve as mayor. "Your turn in the barrel, Eugene!"
Kneier found the bag of dog waste June 7 and tossed it onto the walkway of political opponent Philip Lao. Lao recognized the mayor on surveillance video and called police. Video of the incident went viral. "Heh. Take that, Lao!"
"That that, camera!"
In his resignation letter, Kneier says his actions were inconsiderate and disrespectful and he's stepping down because the event continues to be embarrassing to him and to the city. Today's the day for stories that stink.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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#1
It doesn't say Dem, but it's California.
And it's the kind of thing the Dems do.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2014 8:24
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[PITTSBURGH.CBSLOCAL] A Pennsylvania couple has been ordered to stand trial on charges they tattooed a smiley face and a derogatory word on a 12-year-old girl who spent the night at their home.
The Titusville Herald reports 33-year-old Randall Charlton III and 30-year-old Melissa Becker, both of Centerville, on Tuesday waived their rights to preliminary hearings on child endangerment and related charges over the May 14 tattooing.
Crawford County prosecutors say Charlton and Becker didn't contact the girl's mother for permission to be tattooed. That's against the law in Pennsylvania. "Hello? Is this Mrs. Jones? This is the tattoo artist. Is it okay if we mark your child for life with the word 'bitch?'"
The girl was visiting children who were being supervised by Charlton and Becker at the time. "Mom? Can I spend the night at a tattoo artist's house?"
"Well, glory be, child! You're twelve years old! Of course you can!"
An affidavit obtained by the paper it states that Charlton used his tattoo kit and tattoo gun to tattoo a "smiley face," with the word "bitch" above it, on the girl's left forearm.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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[Ynet] Israel Prison Service will soon start to toughen the imprisonment conditions of Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason, security prisoners serving time in Israeli prisons.
Among the limitations expected to be imposed are limited visitations, limited access to electrical appliances such as television and limited food purchases at the prison cantina.
[Ynet] Civil Administration forces raided overnight Monday several Hamas, always the voice of sweet reason,-affiliated institutions in the area of Hebron. The aim of the raid was to collect documents and additional materials that could incriminate and link the institutions to terror activities in the area of the West Bank.
Security officials estimate that these institutions engage in the laundering of money that the movement uses to finance terror activities against Israeli targets in the guise of civic activity. They further noted that Hamas uses these institutions to consolidate its position by taking advantage of weak populations.
ISLAMABAD: A top Afghan envoy is said to have assured Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif "full cooperation" from the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in ensuring effective border surveillance in the backdrop of the Pakistan Army's ongoing military operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in North Waziristan Agency.
In a rare visit to the General Headquarters (GHQ), Afghan Ambassador to Pakistan Janan Mosazai met COAS General Raheel Sharif on Wednesday to discuss the relevant Pak-Afghan border issues involving Zarb-e-Azb operation. "The ongoing operation in North Waziristan Agency and matters of mutual interest, including measures to improve security along Pakistan - Afghanistan border, were discussed," a brief statement from Inter-Services Public Relations (ISPR) said. Is ISPR a wholly owned subsidiary of the ISI?
Reportedly, the Afghan diplomat was informed that while there were adequate assurances from the NATO-led ISAF to assist Pakistan Army by means of taking on the TTP sanctuaries on the other side of the border, such kind of support and cooperation on part of the Afghan authorities, the officials believed, was lacking. Mosazai, the sources claimed, was also told that Pakistan Army had formally requested the Afghan authorities to cooperate for foolproof surveillance at Pak-Afghan border to block the way of runaway militants and to take on TTP sanctuaries in Khost, Nuristan and Kunar provinces.
In response, the Afghan envoy is said to have assured on part of the Afghan government that Kabul would extend "every possible assistance" to Pakistan to defeat the TTP militants in the ongoing offensive. Afghan Embassy spokesman Shams Zardasht, when called, was not available to comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, back at the ranch, Afghan President Hamid "maybe I am the Taliban" Karzai in an interview with the BBC said that the Al Qaeda had no presence in Afghanistan. He said that he was in regular dialogue with the Taliban. "They are in contact with me every day," he said. "There is even an exchange of letters, meetings, and desire for peace," he said. Your neighbors might disagree.
Two men in Texas were arrested and charged with providing support to terrorists, including those in Syria, the U.S. Attorney's Office said on Wednesday.
Rahatul Ashikim Khan and Michael Todd Wolfe were arrested near Austin on Tuesday by authorities with the Central Texas Joint Terrorism Task Force. Khan was arrested at his house, while Wolfe was about to board a flight to Europe.
In a federal criminal complaint unsealed Wednesday, Khan was charged with providing material support to terrorists. From early 2011 through Jan. 2012, "he conspired with others to recruit persons to travel overseas to support terrorist activities including committing violent jihad," according to the Justice Department
Wolfe was charged with the same crime after planning to travel to the Middle East "to provide his services to radical groups engaged in armed conflict in Syria."
Both remain in federal custody, and have been scheduled to attend a detention hearing on Friday in Austin.
PHOENIX Immigrant-rights advocates filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging business raids by an Arizona sheriff's office that have led to the arrests of hundreds of immigrant workers on charges of using fake or stolen IDs to get jobs.
The lawsuit against Maricopa County Sheriff Joe Arpaio alleges immigrants living in the U.S. illegally have been singled out in such cases, while only a small number of employers have had court cases brought against them on allegations of illegal hiring.
The advocates aren't seeking money and instead are asking a federal judge to conclude that a state law banning employers from hiring immigrants living in the U.S. illegally is discriminatory and conflicts with federal law. They are seeking a court order prohibiting Arpaio from enforcing that law.
[Iran Press TV] Another US drone attack has struck Afghanistan's southeastern Ghazni Province, killing at least 12 people.
The deadly drone strike was carried out in Qara-Bagh district of the troubled province on Wednesday, according to local authorities.
Provincial officials further stated that the attack targeted Talibs, including a number of commanders.
Earlier on Wednesday, two separate US drone strikes were carried out in neighboring Pakistain, killing at least five people in the country's northwest tribal region of Wazoo.
According to Pak authorities, six missiles struck three compounds in Dargah Mandi Village, nearly 10 kilometers (six miles) west of Miranshah ... headquarters of al-Qaeda in Pakistain and likely location of Ayman al-Zawahiri. The Haqqani network has established a ministate in centered on the town with courts, tax offices and lots of madrassas... , where Pak forces conducted aerial strikes earlier in the week as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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#1
Three cheers for our doughty* drone operators!
* I'm not exactly sure what doughty means, but if it's good enough for the Brits, it's good enough for me.
Posted by: trailing wife on the greyhound bus ||
06/19/2014 8:11
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#2
Doughty = "Brave and Persistent"
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/19/2014 8:46
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#3
:-)
Posted by: trailing wife on the greyhound bus ||
06/19/2014 10:55
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#8
My version of running away, Snowy Thing. ;-) No, my mother is moving into a retirement community near us, and wants to bring her car from Buffalo. So I took the bus up today, and we'll drive back tomorrow. My very independent, 88 year old mother thought nothing of driving the 500 miles on her own, "By easy stages," she said, "taking plenty of breaks." Nonetheless, in addition to her age, she has a tradition of mini-strokes, and the thought of that happening on the road is terrifying. Officially I'm just keeping her company, but unofficially we'll take turns doing the driving, and I'll definitely do the tricky bits around Cleveland and heading into Cincinnati. Besides, I'm accustomed to the GPS, while she's a technophobe and afraid of her cell phone.
[MAGHAREBIA] Saadi Qadaffy will appear in a Libyan court for the first time since his extradition from Niger, Tunisie Numerique reported on Tuesday (June 17th).
The son of ousted Libyan dictator Moamer Qadaffy will face a Tripoli ...a confusing city, one end of which is located in Lebanon and the other end of which is the capital of Libya. Its chief distinction is being mentioned in the Marine Hymn... court on June 22nd to answer charges of killing Libyan football player Bechir Riyali.
The former playboy is also accused of involvement in the 2005 murder of a former coach of al-Ittihad and causing the deaths of 20 fans during a 1996 match in Tripoli.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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[CLARIONLEDGER] A Democratic wardheeler says he is working with Mississippi Conservatives PAC to drum up votes for U.S. Sen. Thad Cochran.
James "Scooby Doo" Warren said he has put together a get-out-the-vote (GOTV) plan and is "putting it in place across the whole state." Warren said he is not working with the Cochran campaign itself but for the PAC and Bishop Ronnie Crudup Sr.
Crudup is the pastor at New Horizon Church, which shares an address and chief financial officer with a newly formed super PAC that ran print advertising in the primary supporting Cochran.
When asked if he was getting any blow back for working in a Republican primary, Warren said he "got all that taken care of on the front end."
"I called D.C. and told them what was going on with the tea party," Warren said. "But I can't do anything after the 24th because I'm a Democrat ... Whoever wins will have to deal with me in November."
He would not say who he called in D.C.
But Mississippi Democratic Party Chairman Rickey Cole said he doesn't like the idea of Democrats "crossing over to vote for the weaker candidate" in a Republican primary.
"I think Democrats ought to vote for a Democratic nominee, Republicans ought to vote for a Republican nominee, and independents ought to wait until November," Cole said Tuesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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#1
With allies like these, the GOP doesn't need enemies. Cochran is a disgrace as is his campaign, desperately clinging to power, and scare to death to have an independent voice that might rock the boat. Rot in hell you GOP establishment fuckers - I hope you LOSE big time so that you are out of work, and so that the primary opponent can get to DC and cut your type off at the knees.
[The News (Pak)] Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) Chief Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... says his party and workers will not participate in any Judicial Inquiry.
Addressing a presser via video-link from Canada the PAT Chief termed Tuesday's incident at the Minhaj-ul-Koran International (MQI) secretariat and his residence Al-Qadria as 'state-terrorism'.
Qadri added, that through media channels everyone witnessed where bullets were being fired from, further adding that MQI security guards did not fire a single bullet.
Tahir-ul-Qadri said, bullets were fired upon his residence in Lahore and the electricity connections to his house had been severed, which have not been restored.
The PAT Chief rejected the Judicial Commission adding that no one from PAT would cooperate with the commission and would not record their statement, terming the Judicial Commission to be an eye-wash to provide cover to 'state-terrorism'.
Tahir-ul-Qadri in his presser alleged that the Prime Minister, Chief Minister Punjab, IG Punjab Police, and certain ministers were behind what he termed 'premeditated murder'.
He further alleged that those officers who were involved in the incident were the same ones who prepared the FIR adding that while they were the victims, they have not lodged any FIR.
He appealed to the Judges of the Lahore High Court to distance themselves from the inquiry commission.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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[The News (Pak)] Iraq has asked the United States to conduct air strikes against bully boyz who have seized key cities and large swathes of the country, Foreign Minister Hoshyar Zebari said Wednesday.
"Iraq has officially asked Washington to help under the security agreement (between the two countries), and to conduct air strikes against terrorist groups," Zebari told news hounds in Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... .
Militants, spearheaded by ISIL and joined by supporters of executed dictator Saddam Hussein, have in the past week overrun a large chunk of northern and north-central Iraq, although their advance has since been slowed.
"A military approach will not be enough. We acknowledge the need for drastic political solutions," Zebari said.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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#1
See RT@SKYNEWS BREAK > US SAYS IT HAS STARTED FLYING MANNED [F-18's?] + UNMANNED SURVEILLANCE AIRCRAFT IN IRAQ @AKHBAR.
#2
JM,
The big boys have to have clear targets first.
Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) is a system for image acquisition, data storage, and data link used by the United States Marine Corps on its F/A-18D Hornet aircraft. It consists of the Advanced Tactical Airborne Reconnaissance System (ATARS) with infrared and visible light sensors, two digital tape recorders, and a Reconnaissance Management System (RMS); an interface with the APG-73 Radar Upgrade (Phase II) which records synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery;
That is, at night, through a sandstorm, you get the picture.
and a digital data link mounted in a centerline pod. ATARS fits in the nose in place of the nose gun, with a small datalink pod mounted on the centerline station. The digital data link will transmit imagery and auxiliary data to any Common Imaging Ground/Surface Station (CIG/SS) compatible system including the Joint Services Imagery Processing System (JSIPS) or Marine Tactical Exploitation Group (TEG) based ashore and Navy JSIPS (JSIPS-N) aboard ship.
Back at the ranch, near real time. Pass the popcorn.
"MRCTV talks to protesters calling for the release of U.S. Marine Andrew Tahmooressi outside the Mexican Embassy - where a spokesperson for the Mexican Embassy tells them illegal border crossing is "not committing a crime."
It's not illegal under Mexican law to wander, all unofficial, into the U.S.? That makes sense.
"When a Mexican, or any other citizen, crosses a border, let's say illegally, they are not committing a crime. They are doing it illegally, but they are not committing a crime. No, they are not. Check your law," Public Affairs Minister Ariel Moutsatos-Morales says." Maybe some Mexican diplomats should be taken into, er, "protective custody" until our Marine comes home?
Oh wait -- he means our laws aren't actually laws like other countries have -- Mexico, f'r instance.
"The Federal Executive shall have the exclusive power to compel any foreigner whose remaining he may deem inexpedient to abandon the national territory immediately and without the necessity of previous legal action."
"Foreigners may not in any way participate in the political affairs of the country."
[MAGHAREBIA] The alleged criminal mastermind of the attack on the US consulate in Benghazi was caught in a raid in Libya, US officials announced Tuesday (June 17th).
Ahmed Boukhtala was apprehended on Sunday in Benghazi. There were no civilian casualties in the operation.
Fresh tension has erupted in Mpeketoni after ten more bodies were recovered Tuesday morning at Poromokoni village in Lamu county. Al shabaab has claimed responsibility for the fresh killings putting the death toll at 20, hours after government sent in troops to secure the area.
"We carried out another attack last night. We killed 20 people, mainly police and Kenyan wildlife wardens. The commandos have been going to several places looking for military personnel," Shabaab's military spokesman, Abdulaziz Abu Musab, told AFP by telephone.
There are also reports that several houses were burnt down in Mapenya village not very far from Mpeketoni town by the gang.
It is still not clear whether the bodies are fresh or are the ones which were not recovered after the deadly attack by gunmen in Mpeketoni on Sunday in which 56 people lost their lives.
Reports from the ground indicate that a team of security personnel have been dispatched to the village to assess the situation. Kenya Red Thingy Cross officials said they have also dispatched a team to establish whether there has been more violence. Hassan Musa Kenya Red Thingy Cross Society coordinator said he had received a call from Mapenya about burnt houses in the village but was yet to get the exact numbers.
The area affected is said to be near the site where the suspected gunmen burnt down the Nissan matatus they had travelled in before the bloody executions.
The terror group, al Shabaab yesterday said the attack in Mpeketoni was revenge for Kenya's "brutal oppression of Muslims in Kenya through coercion, intimidation and extrajudicial killings of Muslim scholars".
Police have arrested two suspects in connection with Sunday's attack and a subsequent raid on Monday in Mpeketoni, Lamu County, that left more than 60 people dead.
One suspect, Ahmed Abdallah, is alleged to be the owner of a vehicle said to have been used by the gunmen to perpetrate the attacks. Mr Abdallah is also claimed to be linked to Plot 270 land in Mpeketoni where some of the squatters living on it were killed and was Wednesday morning recording a statement with police.
The second suspect, Salim Dyana, claimed to have been hired as a driver in one of the vehicles used in the attacks for Sh20,000, police said.
The arrests came as Inspector General David Kimaiyo appointed a new District Administration Police commander Mr John Njenga Miiri, who has already taken charge of the situation.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) - As President Obama considers his golf swingweighs options for potential U.S. intervention in Iraq, due to a deteriorating security situation, the Pentagon retains a broad range of ground, air and sea troops and assets in the region. They include:
-Six warships in the Persian Gulf, including the aircraft carrier USS George H.W. Bush I wonder if B.O. gets annoyed every time he is briefed on available forces?
, a cruiser, three destroyers and the amphibious transport ship the USS Mesa Verde, which is carrying about 550 Marines and five V-22 Osprey hybrid aircraft.
-About 5,000 U.S. soldiers across the border in Kuwait, as part of a routine rotational presence. They include the 2nd Brigade, 4th Infantry Division, a combat aviation brigade and other support troops.
-Air Force aircraft capable of a full range of missions positioned within range of Iraq. According to Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James they include F-15E, F-16 and F-22 fighters; B-1 bombers, C-130 cargo planes and A-10 attack jets.
[SACRAMENTO.CBSLOCAL] LINDA (CBS13) -- Residents at a Yuba County mobile home park were told they would finally get answers from the state health department on Tuesday, but the inspector sent to check their water never showed.
Water from the hose at the Castlewood Mobile Home Park doesn't look much different from one from any old tap, but after a closer look, you'll think twice before taking a sip.
Rhonda Little demonstrated the methane levels in her water by pouring a glass and setting it on fire. Their water is methanated?
"Just want a safe living environment, that all I want," she said. "Safe drinking water, and they aren't providing it to us." "Instead, it's full of farts."
The filtration system that takes the methane out of the water at the mobile home park broke in April. Since then, neighbors have been too scared to turn on the shower.
"When you have that spitting in your face, you are in that little closed area and you have that methane coming through and sometimes you get a little dizzy," Little said.
CBS13 was at the park three weeks ago when the manager told us the water was safe to drink. "Sure. Just let it burn off and it's fine."
Since that time the Yuba County Environmental Health Department backed that claim in a letter to neighbors, writing the water is free of harmful bacteria, but in that same letter it says the water could be dangerous. "Just keep a fire extinguisher handy."
The letter instructs homeowners to keep doors and windows open, don't smoke inside and report any dizziness and fatigue. Failure to do so could be deadly.
A state health department inspector was supposed to meet with neighbors at the mobile home park at 2 p.m., but he never showed.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
It could power your car! What are you complaining about!?!?
#2
The filtration system that takes the methane out of the water at the mobile home park broke
Really? The water is sourced from landfill?
Oh, California.
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] In line with President Obama's official proclamation of June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month," the banner headlining the website of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Wednesday proclaims the agency's celebration of the same, noting, "It's also about what the IC is about: integration." I see yer problem...
The graphic contains a quote from a March speech given by director James Clapper at the Intelligence Community (IC) Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender Allies (LGBTA) Summit which was held this year at the National Security Agency in Fort Meade, Maryland:
[T]his isn't just about what's altruistically right. It's also about what the IC is about: integration. It means having and using a widely diverse workforce, and taking advantage of all those great intellects we have, while removing as many frustrations and distractions as possible. So -- it's not just about what's right. It's about good business in our profession.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Yeah, never mind having actionable, timely and correct intelligence, as well as properly supported and argued analysis, cogently presented to decision makers. Those things are what used to be professionalism - now its all about having the right orientation in the right numbers and suppressing any and all who might not want to play Political Correctness games.
Folks, we arfe well and truly fucked with this clown show in DC and the head Clown Obama running the circus.
#2
In October 37 AD, Caligula fell seriously ill, or perhaps was poisoned. He recovered from his illness soon thereafter, but many believed that the young emperor had changed into a diabolical mind as he started to kill off or exile those who were close to him or whom he saw as a serious threat.
"Hope springs eternal."
~ Alexander Pope, An Essay on Man - Epistle I (1733) , 1733
#3
Folks, we arfe well and truly fucked with this clown show in DC and the head Clown Obama running the circus.
Yeah, we here have all known that for some time.
I think it is starting to dawn on a lot of other Americans that don't pay attention much. Kind of hard to ignore the beginning of the collapse now. Just wait until the full collapse comes.
[BLOOMBERG] A Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, city still burdened by debt payments from its 2001 bankruptcy is struggling to avoid defaulting on those bonds or going insolvent for a second time in 13 years.
A decade after Desert Hot Springs emerged from court protection, it's again on the brink of fiscal collapse. Officials last night discussed dissolving the 27-employee police department and handing the service over to the surrounding county, the Desert Sun reported. The community of 28,000 in an arid valley east of Los Angeles is at risk of becoming the sixth U.S. city in the past 25 years to go bankrupt twice.
City council declared a fiscal emergency in November, a step toward bankruptcy under Caliphornia, an impregnable bastion of the Democratic Party, law, after staff warned the municipality would run out of cash by March because of "severe economic downturns, state takeaways and a decline in development activity." Desert Hot Springs also faces about $740,000 in annual debt payments on securities issued in 2004 to cover the cost of a legal settlement that pushed it into bankruptcy in 2001.
"There is a plan to get our city on a steady, even keel," Mayor Pro Tem Russell Betts said of the proposal for the police department. "The real question is, is our city council and our community willing to do that?"
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Police represent 2/3 of the city payroll. They are all that is left.
Writer Sue Mi Terry, a former C.I.A. analyst, is a senior research scholar at Columbia University's Weatherhead East Asia Institute. This op-ed is adapted from an essay in the July/August 2014 issue of Foreign Affairs.
Interesting piece: let North Korea collapse runs counter to all the "conventional wisdom" which is that we have to prop up the Norks so as not to have a horrible death rattle from the regime followed by a terrible refugee problem. Ms. Terry wants to rip off the bandage all at once. Intriguing idea that we at the Burg have discussed, with some approval, in the past.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
They fear that its demise would be too destabilizing and that the peninsulas reunification would mean crippling economic and social costs for South Korea. But this is a blinkered view, because the long-term benefits of North Koreas collapse, both strategic and economic, far outweigh the short-term costs.
Only one of several nations for which we appear to suffer a "blinkered view." Not difficult at all to see why Ms. Terry is a... 'former' CIA analyst.
#2
Let's see... China saved them by intervening during the war; China supports them for 50 years by maintaining their outside access channel; China seems to be the one holding the leash, or at least, they're the ones who yank it when things get out of hand. China will also be the ones dealing with whatever refugee crisis.
I'd say it's China's problem, let them spend their money deal with the ramifications.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/19/2014 7:36
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The US, RoK and Japan also give the rabid dog hundreds of tons of rice annually, Ed.
#4
China will also be the ones dealing with whatever refugee crisis.
The ballyhooed refugee crisis is a crock of shit. China has a labor shortage. In part, this is how Chinese wages have crept from being just about dead last back in 1979, when it turned towards capitalism, to the top half of the pack today. China could easily absorb all 25m North Koreans in a heartbeat. If they are prepared to work, they'll eat. If they're not, China's crematoria and/or landfills are prepared to process all the famine dead. Famine deaths won't be a problem once refugees cross the border. North Korea's problem has nothing to do with a lack of work ethic. The Kim regime has diverted all of NK's economic surplus via cockamamie economic schemes and outright confiscation for both royalty and the Communist aristocrats who serve them.
In the long term, China probably sees North Korea as a vassal state to be absorbed like many of its other vassal states. That can't happen as long as the US is in South Korea. China can defeat North Korea and it can defeat South Korea. What it can't do is defeat the US. That is why, from a Chinese standpoint, North Korea needs to remain standing, until the US leaves the Korean peninsula. Because its collapse today would give South Korea an additional 25m citizens and hundreds of miles of additional strategic depth.
[BREITBART] The New York Times ...which still proudly displays Walter Duranty's Pulitzer prize... has an interesting piece this morning on the runoff election between Sen. Thad Cochran and his Republican primary challenger, Chris McDaniel.
The piece reflects a general amazement at the way that citizens of Mississippi are voting for McDaniel in spite of all the federal spending that Cochran has brought to the district.
One liberal professor in particular is perplexed by the concept.
"It's the strangest thing I've ever seen," Professor Marty Wiseman tells the Times. "It defies logic or reason for somebody to not only run on cutting off the supply of federal money to Mississippi, but to actually be winning the race."
Mississippi residents quoted in the story share a common theme: Washington, D.C. stinks and Cochran is part of the problem.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"It's the strangest thing I've ever seen," Professor Marty Wiseman tells the Times. "It defies logic or reason for somebody to not only run on cutting off the supply of federal money to Mississippi, but to actually be winning the race."
#3
And as the kiss of death, Bloomberg just dropped a wad of money on him.
Business as usual ain't making it this year.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/19/2014 7:39
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And as the kiss of death.
"The North was viewed by many southerners as money-grubbing and corrupt, a place of rampant industrialization, big banks, mass immigration of and foreigners, and disregard for the traditions of America, and in favor of blind "progress."
[DAWN] IT is not for nothing that they call him Tiger. Those who didn't know him until Tuesday have now seen that when he is in action, even the law enforcers can do little other than watch in apparent admiration. His workmanlike demolition of many vehicles during the ugly confrontation in Lahore is on record. Television footage shows a middle-aged man smashing cars as police look on in silence that has been interpreted as a sign of approval. There is more footage that actually shows some coppers in conversation with the angry man, who, news reports say is a PML-N worker. Rana Sanaullah, the Punjab law minister, disagrees with the identification, but even he, with his persuasive powers, has been unable to stem the bad coverage his party is getting in the media. A lot of people may be inclined to believe what the media is saying. People are all too aware of how the authority of a ruling party manifests itself in its workers' influence over the local thana and its close relationship with local coppers. This is how the system works beneath this ceaseless chorus of declarations about making the police people-friendly. The police are friendly with the people. At least, they are always friendly and cooperative with the 'right' people.
There has been plenty of talk about reforming the police culture. There has been some change. Despite that, overall, the old image of police officials playing the obliging minions to whosoever is in power persists. It is a serious issue whether the suspect in this case belongs to the ruling party or not, but even if the seemingly difficult task of disconnecting him from the PML-N is somehow achieved, the question of the police extending him patronage will linger. At the very least, the incident betrays a loose control over the forces of those with the avowed motto of good governance -- whereas good governance at the level of ordinary people cannot come without a thana that is truly independent.
Posted by: Fred ||
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BAGHDAD (Reuters) - Iraq Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki said in a statement on Wednesday that 59 officers will be brought before court for fleeing their posts last week as Sunni insurgents seized Mosul, northern Iraq's biggest city.
Maliki's military spokesman, Lieutenant General Qassim Atta, read the names of the officers on state television. The announcement came a day after Maliki dismissed four top generals and said they were being charged in military court for abandoning Mosul last Tuesday as the city fell.
[BREITBART] White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that President B.O. is fully engaged in the situation in Iraq -- even though he spent last weekend golfing.
Carney was asked about former Vice President Dick Cheney's op-ed in The Wall Street Journal criticizing the President for golfing instead of paying attention to world affairs.
"I think it's pretty clear that this President has been paying close attention to this and has been engaging regularly with his national security team," Carney said, praising Obama for deliberating carefully about the use of force in Iraq.
Karl cited the op-ed which asserted that "rarely has a U.S. president been so wrong about so much at the expense of so many" on foreign policy.
"Which president was he talking about?" snarked Carney in response, as news hounds chuckled.
Carney said that Cheney had the right to voice his opinion but that the B.O. regime had different views about Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Now this graphic needs some Mr. Methane commentary!
#4
He means, We'll find an excuese, however im-plausable, The MSM will swallow znd spit it back for you peepul to swallow.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
06/19/2014 8:21
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#5
No surprise here, look who is talking... the name says it all...Bye, Jay Carney, go join Baghdad Bob in the dustbin of historical trivia.
World English Dictionary
carny or carney 1 (ˈkɑːnɪ)
vb , -nies , -nying , -nied , -neys , -neying , -neyed
informal ( Brit ) to coax or cajole or act in a wheedling manner
wheeˇdle [hweed-l, weed-l] Show IPA
verb (used with object), wheeˇdled, wheeˇdling.
1. to endeavor to influence (a person) by smooth, flattering, or beguiling words or acts: We wheedled him incessantly, but he would not consent.
2. to persuade (a person) by such words or acts: She wheedled him into going with her.
3. to obtain (something) by artful persuasions: I wheedled a new car out of my father.
verb (used without object), wheeˇdled, wheeˇdling.
4. to use beguiling or artful persuasions: I always wheedle if I really need something.
[Ynet] Border patrol officers of the Shomron regional council fired at Paleostinians who threw stones at buses on Highway 5 near the area of Gitai Avisar between the settlements of Ariel and Barkan.
A Paleostinian from the village of Haras that was injured by the gunfire was evacuated to the Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva for treatment and was later tossed in the slammer You have the right to remain silent....
Hopefully he'll be thoroughly questioned and examined before being allowed to return to the village.
[WASHINGTONEXAMINER] The decade-long devastation of the print news business, crushed by the sagging economy, the evaporation of classified and display advertising, and a reader shift to digital media, has cost at least 54,200 newsroom jobs in newspapers and magazines alone, according to Pew Research.
That figure, buried in a new Harvard University ...home of the Best and the Brightest, contributed $878,164 to the 2008 Obama campaign. Is there a reason universities are among the top financiers of political campaigns? study about the troubles non-traditional news hounds have getting congressional, White House and other official press passes to cover news events, is the highest calculation of job losses in American journalism yet.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Did the Harvard study include the fact that most people have had it with the liberal wienies and all their bloviating in support of the One?
Also, most of us don't trust the MSM as far as they can spit into a high wind. So where are these clowns going to work? In the White House?
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 0:21
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...probably the newly funded (I have a phone and I have a pen) Ministry of Truth(copyright 1984).
#3
One can blame a whole mess of factors. Consolidation of the media industry, the industry's near-total reliance on the news-source monopoly known as the Associated Press, etc.
There's software out that will allow a bot to both gather information and place it into a selected template, writing the article. Not much different than the current 'journalist' and certainly a lot less expensive to maintain.
[Iran Press TV] Militants from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) have kidnapped approximately 100 foreign nationals in northern Iraq.
According to the Indian Foreign Ministry on Wednesday, 40 Indian citizens working for a Turkish construction company have been kidnapped near the Iraqi town of djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn...
The ISIL gunnies have also kidnapped some 60 foreigners including nationals from Turkey, Pakistain, Nepal and Turkmenistan in the northern region of Iraq.
Earlier this month, ISIL Death Eaters kidnapped nearly 50 staff members of the Turkish consulate in Mosul, including the head of the mission. Reports said the gunnies had also kidnapped 31 Turkish truck drivers in the Iraqi city a day earlier.
The abductions took place after the Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... gunnies gained control of parts of Iraq's northern areas, including Nineveh Province and its lovely provincial capital, Mosul, on June 10.
Iraqi armed forces have been engaged in heavy festivities with the bad boys, who have threatened to take their acts of violence to other Iraqi cities, including the capital, Storied Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[EURONEWS] King Juan Carlos I of Spain in what is known as the Ceremony of Promulgation of the Basic Law signed into law his abdication.
The Royal party were joined in the Hall of Columns in the Royal Palace of Madrid by government ministers.
The Prime Minister Mariano Rajoy who worked closely with the 86- year-old after he decided to make way for his son Felipe endorsed the law with his signature.
The 46-year-old former Olympic yachtsman will not officially take the helm of Spain's monarchy until the law is published in the Official Gazette at midnight on Wednesday.
As King Felipe VI he will then be proclaimed on Thursday after being sworn in by both houses of parliament where he will give a speech before appearing before the crowds on the front balcony of the Royal Palace.
Wednesday's ceremony was the constitutional nuts and bolts of the abdication the real work for the new king will begin on Thursday.
This was also a family affair and in tender moment Juan Carlos's two granddaughters, Sofia and Leonor bid their former King farewell. Leonor at eight years old is now the youngest direct heir to the throne in Europe.
Ahead of the ceremony the Royal Palace had announced that Juan Carlos and his wife Sofia will retain the title of king and queen after their son officially assumes the throne.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[The News (Pak)] The United States on Tuesday carried out its first execution since a botched lethal injection in Oklahoma in April, after last minute appeals were denied.
Marcus Wellons, 58, convicted of the 1989 kidnapping, rape and murder of a 15-year-old girl, was put to death shortly before midnight in the southern state of Georgia, a front man for the prison system said.
In a second case, the Supreme Court also rejected appeals and cleared the way for the execution on Wednesday in the state of Missouri of John Winfield, convicted of killing two women.
A third execution is also scheduled for 6:00 pm (2200 GMT) Wednesday in the southern state of Florida.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
He dead. So how was it "botched"?
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2014 8:03
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"Botched" is taking 25 years to accomplish justice.
#3
Botched is when you relase a murderer and he killa again or, like in Europe, you relase him a second time and he kills agsin. These enlightened Europeans don't have death peanlty for můrderes: the death penalty is for the woman or child who will have the misforturne to meet the serial killer they release.
BTW: Did you ever hear of anti detah penalty activists protesting against executions in say, Iran?
[The News (Pak)] The Tribunal, formed to investigate into killing of Tehrik-e-Minhajul Koran (TMQ) workers in Model Town Lahore, has begun its work, Geo News reported.
The one-member Tribunal of Lahore High Court (LHC), comprises Justice Ali Baqar Najfi, has made Staff Officer of CJ as Registrar of the Tribunal.
The Secretariat of the Tribunal has been established in the premises of LHC.
Chief Justice LHC had constituted an inquiry commission in connection with Model Town incident in which 8 people were killed and scores others injured.
Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... had requested the CJ LHC to form a commission to investigate into the matter.
Shahbaz Sharif said he would resign if held responsible following the probe into the incident.
Posted by: Fred ||
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INDIA CONFIRMED on Wednesday that 40 of its nationals, who were working for a construction company and were stranded in the violence-torn city of Mosul in Iraq, had been abducted.
âThese 40 workers were working for Tariq Noor Al Huda Construction Company,â Ministry of External Affairs spokesperson Syed Akbaruddin told newspersons.
âOur understanding is that, based on information gleaned from various sources, including the International Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent Society, is that these 40 Indian workers....I can confirm that they have been kidnapped,â he said. The workers are mainly from Punjab and other parts of north India.
He said the Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent had, however, been unable to find out where the Indians were being held or by whom. âThese are difficult situations. We are working with the company and, also, we are trying to work with the Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent,â he said.
âWe have not received any calls of any nature from anyone,â he said when asked if any group had claimed responsibility for the kidnapping or made any ransom demand. âWe have not received any information whatsoever.â
As many as 46 Indian nurses, mostly from Kerala, are known to be stranded in Tikrit and the Indian mission had requested the Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent to establish contact with them, which was done on Tuesday, Akbaruddin said. He said that most of them had indicated that they would like to stay on in Iraq but the government would make arrangements for the return of anyone who wished to come back home.
Akbaruddin said about 200 Indians employed by a Turkish company had been stranded in Najaf and the Indian Embassy had established contact with it. The company had promised to provide assistance to any of the Indian workers who wish to return to India, he said.
He said the government would not spare any effort to help the Indians in Iraq and that it was in touch with its partners in that country and in the region as well as with the United Nations and agencies such as the Red Moon Shaped Thingy Crescent. âThese are difficult times for us and we trying out best on all fronts,â he added.
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06/19/2014
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A civilian was killed and seven defense volunteers wounded in four bomb attacks by suspected terrorists insurgents in Narathiwat's Joh I Rong and Chanae districts yesterday.
The first bombing occurred in Joh I Rong district at 7:40 a.m. A teacher protection team of six defense volunteers on three motorcycles was near the explosion but received only mild injuries.
The second roadside bomb was at 9:55 a.m. in Chanae district while a paramilitary ranger team was on foot patrol. Paramilitary ranger volunteer Natthanan Kaewsawang was hit in the ear by a bomb fragment.
As a bomb squad and forensic police team went to inspect the bomb in Chanae district, its two cars were damaged by road spikes. A third bomb was detonated at 10:53 a.m., tearing a police car's front tire.
A fourth bomb went off at about 11 a.m. when a male villager on a motorcycle passed the spot and was killed instantly.
[The News (Pak)] Muttahida Qaumi Movement (MQM) leader Rasheed Godil Wednesday, quoting doctors, said the condition of his party's member of National Assembly Tahira Asif is now out of danger.
Earlier, MNA Tahira Asif was shot and injured by unidentified armed men near Gujranwala upon resisting a robbery. She received two bullets in her abdomen and was rushed to Sheikh Zayed hospital Lahore.
Rasheed Godil said she had gone through a successful surgery and that she would be transferred to the Intensive Care Unit (ICU) in the next half an hour. "According to doctors, she is now out of danger," he added.
Taking notice of the attack on the MQM MNA, Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif sought a report from IG Police.
Later, lawmakers belonging to MQM and other opposition parties staged a walkout from the National Assembly to register their protest against the attack on Tahira Asif.
MQM MNA Asif Husnain said the armed attack on Tahira Asif's car is being purposely misrepresented as a robbery.
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06/19/2014
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[Business Insider] Qassem Suleimani, the head of the Qods Force, the foreign arm of Iran's Revolutionary Guards Corps, is leading the Iraqi reaction to a radical Islamist group's takeover of much of the country, according to a senior Iraqi official quoted by The Guardian.
"Who do you think is running the war? Those three senior generals who ran away?" the unnamed official asked The Guardian's Martin Chulov. "Qassem Suleimani is in charge. And reporting directly to him are the militias, led by Asa'ib ahl al-Haq." Well, if you're in charge, TAKE charge !
[The News (Pak)] Pakistain Tehrik-e-Insaf ...a political party in Pakistan. PTI was founded by former Pakistani cricket captain and philanthropist Imran Khan. The party's slogan is Justice, Humanity and Self Esteem, each of which is open to widely divergent interpretations.... (PTI) chief Imran Khan ... aka Taliban Khan, who ain't the sharpest bulb on the national tree... has demanded resignation from Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif ...Pak dynastic politician, brother of PM Nawaz Sharif, chief minister of Punjab... and Provincial Law Minister Rana Sanaullah over Model Town mayhem, Geo News reported.
Talking to media after inquiring about the health of injured of the incident here Wednesday, Imran Khan said: "Rana Sanaullah should be put behind the bars over the incident."
PTI chairman police violated the decision of Lahore High Court (LHC).
"Was it a castle of turbans where police arrived at 1:30AM at night?", he questioned.
He said 11 people were killed and more than 80 injured in the Model town tragedy, adding such kind of incidents could not occur even during the dictatorship tenure.
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06/19/2014
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Russia's gas giant Gazprom may increase its delivery of liquefied natural gas (LNG) to India's GAIL corporation to 3.5 million tons annually with an option to extend the contract to up to 25 years, Gazprom Vice Chairman Alexander Medvedev said Wednesday, according to RIA Novosti.
"The contract has come into force with the capability of increasing the delivery of LNG to 3.5 million tons," he said, adding that the contract will be for a period of 25 years.
At the beginning of October 2012, Gazprom's subsidiary, Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore, signed a 20-year LNG supply contract with India's GAIL.
Under the contract, the price for LNG will be based on a formula tied to the price of oil in terminals in India.
In 2011, Gazprom Marketing & Trading Singapore signed four memorandums on supplying LNG to India, including with Indian Oil Corporation Limited, Gujarat State Petroleum Company (GSPC) and Petronet LNG Limited (Petronet).
Gazprom was expected to supply up to 2.5 million tons of LNG annually to each of the Indian companies within 25 years.
Sheikh Abdiaziz Abu Mus'ab, spokesperson for the Al-Shabaab search operations has declared that the Al-Qaeda linked terrorist group has opened bases and battlegrounds in Kenya.
Abu Mus'ab said that after Kenyan Defence Forces did not withdraw their presence in Somalia, they implemented bases in which the terrorist insurgents will control internal attacks.
"In our latest attacks you have seen the fatalities we caused to our enemies and others can expect to be hurt too." He said
Various terrorism attacks have been staged in Kenya very recently which has resulted in severe fatalities. Kenyan government officials have accused Al-Shabaab for being responsible for those attacks.
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[The News (Pak)] A Turkish court on Wednesday handed life sentences to two generals behind a 1980 military takeover, the bloodiest in Turkey´s coup-ridden history.
Ailing retired generals Kenan Evren, 96, and Tahsin Sahinkaya, 89, were convicted of ousting the civilian government by force, an AFP news hound said.
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[BLOG.SFGATE] It's happened again. Another news hound has been victimized by criminals in Oakland, only this one takes the cake.
KTVU news hound/anchor Heather Holmes had her purse stolen from a TV truck on Monday night -- while she and a camera operator were parked near Oakland police headquarters. The subject of her live report? A violent daylight robbery of a woman in North Oakland.
Holmes and a photographer were standing near the corner of 7th Street and Broadway in the city's downtown for their report. Their van wasn't locked, because the crew had only recently arrived at the corner, and the vehicle was only steps away. Someone used Holmes' bank card at a nearby Chevron gas station on Castro Street within 20 minutes of the theft.
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[Iraq Sun] Mohammedan leaders in Kenya have urged political parties to shun their tribal politics and forge unity across the country, a media report said Tuesday.
Abdullahi Abdi, chairman of the National Mohammedan Leaders Forum, said the leaders from the ruling Jubilee Alliance, and from the former prime minister Raila Odinga-led CORD coalition in the opposition should stop shifting blame on each other as it was fuelling communal tension, and instead form peaceful dialogues among themselves, Capital FM reported.
"We fully support dialogue to seek ways to address the challenges facing the country but calls for mass action from the leaders is a recipe for sectarian and ethnic violence which might be a repeat to the tragic events of 2007," the report quoted Abdi as saying.
Somali krazed killer group Al-Shabaab ... the Islamic version of the old Somali warlord... grabbed credit for attacks Sunday and Monday that have left at least 60 dead and many others injured in the coastal Kenyan town of Mpeketoni and nearby villages in coastal Lamu county.
Mohammedan leaders have also accused the Kenyan government of abdicating its responsibility of protecting its citizens after the attacks.
Echoing a similar sentiment, Council of Imams and Preachers of Kenya official Sheikh Muhammad Khalifa said it was high time the government took the country's security seriously, by employing strategies that can restore peace.
Khalifa urged Kenyans to be patient enough until the matter is resolved and not to resort to actions of mass destruction as a result of ethnic discord, the report said.
"In these trying times, the country needs to be united and at the same time, we need to be mindful of the fact that some of these attacks are aimed at planting seeds of conflict and animosity among Kenyans," Khalifa said.
Sunday's attack killed 48 people in Mpeketoni, when gunnies arrived in the coastal town in minivans and went on a firing rampage.
The attackers also destroyed property and vehicles, burning a cop shoppe, petrol station and a building housing banks and hotels.
More than 20 cars, including those belonging to the police, were burnt.
A second attack Monday night left at least 15 dead. Several houses were torched in nearby Poromoko village.
Analysts said the latest attacks, the deadliest since the Westgate shopping mall attack in the capital Nairobi that killed 68 people, were a blow to Kenya's already troubled tourism which relies heavily on foreign visitors who often combine safaris with beach holidays.
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[Iran Press TV] Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... says snuffies belonging to the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) will turn against their Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... n and Qatari supporters who call them "revolutionaries."
Maliki said on Wednesday that the situation in Iraq is due to a conspiracy by certain political factions.
"You hear the Saudi and Qatar and some other Arab media calling them revolutionaries and that the Iraqi army is a sectarian force, but they've forgotten that they are living in countries brimming with sectarianism and marginalization of minorities," al-Maliki said, adding, We tell them and all our friends and Arab brothers to be sure that terrorism will never be limited to the Iraqi borders."
Meanwhile, ...back at the alley, Slats grabbed for his rosco... he expressed optimism that Iraq would soon weather the ongoing crisis.
Maliki also said army forces will continue their operations against the ISIL Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... group until victory is achieved. He expressed gratitude to Iraq's most senior Shia holy man Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistan, for encouraging volunteers to join the army and help the government.
More than two million Iraqis have already volunteered to join the fight against the Takfiri bully boys.
The ISIL Takfiri group threatens to take its acts of violence to several Iraqi cities, including the capital, Storied Baghdad.
Posted by: Fred ||
06/19/2014
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[Tolo News] The Ministry of Interior (MoI) on Wednesday in a statement said that in different operations around the country, the Afghan cops killed 55 turbans and maimed 36 more.
According to the Ministry, the operations took place in Kandahar, Helmand ...an Afghan province populated mostly by Pashtuns, adjacent to Injun country in Pak Balochistan... , Pashtun-infested Logar, Ghazni, Wardak, Nangarhar The unfortunate Afghan province located adjacent to Mohmand, Kurram, and Khyber Agencies. The capital is Jalalabad. The province was the fief of Younus Khalis after the Soviets departed and one of his sons is the current provincial Taliban commander. Nangarhar is Haqqani country.. , Ghor and Urozgan provinces.
In addition to the inflicted casualties, large quantities of explosives were discovered and seized from the hard boys.
Meanwhile, ...back at the pond, Gloria slowly backed away from the eight-foot bull frog. If the creature croaked she would surely be deafened... the National Directorate of Security (NDS) on Tuesday said over the past two months the Afghan intelligence forces have thwarted over 470 terrorist attack plots across the country.
According to NDS spokesperson Abdul Hasseb Sediqi, the attacks were planned in large measure in an attempt to derail the presidential election process, and involved Pak terrorist organizations.
"At least 64 operations were carried out across the country during the past 12 days and prevented the efforts of six terrorist organizations, including the Taliban, Lashkar-e-Taiba ...the Army of the Pure, an Ahl-e-Hadith terror organization founded by Hafiz Saeed. LeT masquerades behind the Jamaat-ud-Dawa facade within Pakistain and periodically blows things up and kills people in India. Despite the fact that it is banned, always an interesting concept in Pakistain, the organization remains an blatant tool and perhaps an arm of the ISI... and the Haqqani Network," Sediqi said.
The announcement comes after Rahmatullah Nabil, the NDS' top official, said in a presser in Kabul on Saturday night that 473 terrorist attack plots had been planned but failed to materialize on Election Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[The News (Pak)] At least 17 Chinese soldiers have died in an kaboom at a weapon storage facility, state media said Wednesday.
The blast Tuesday afternoon occurred in Hengyang city in central China's Hunan province as "soldiers were piling up ammunition", the official Xinhua news agency reported.
No cause for the kaboom was given and authorities were investigating, it said.
In a separate incident involving the military earlier this month, a Chinese navy plane crashed on a training mission over the eastern coastal province of Zhejiang, Xinhua reported at the time. It was not clear if there were any casualties.
China has the world's largest standing army, with 2.3 million troops.
The country has boosted military spending at double-digit percentage rates for more than a decade as it seeks to modernise its armed forces.
It will be decades before China rivals the United States as a military superpower, but its spending has caused Asian neighbours to boost their own military budgets as well.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
The blast Tuesday afternoon occurred in Hengyang city in central China's Hunan province as "soldiers were piling up ammunition", the official Xinhua news agency reported
"Just toss it over there. We'll sort it out later"
Posted by: Frank G ||
06/19/2014 8:01
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[MAGHAREBIA] The leader of a Bamako prison break was involved in kidnappings claimed by al-Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb (AQIM), AFP quoted Malian sources as saying on Tuesday (June 17th).
A guard and a prisoner were killed when a dozen prisoners escaped on Monday. The inmates included Mohamed Ali Ag Wassouden, who participated in the abduction of two French nationals from a hotel in 2011.
Philippe Verdon was executed by AQIM last year. Serge Lazarevic is the sole French hostage still being held by terrorists.
Posted by: Fred ||
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[Iraq Sun] The slaughter of Sunnis in Iraq has reportedly escalated even as the Iraqi ambassador warned the United States of a 'thousand the late Osama bin Laden ... who is now among the dear departed, though not among the dearest... '. The reports also claim that Shiite snuffies killed about four dozen Sunni detainees who tried to flee with the help of bully boys, News.com.au reported. A local morgue official alleged that prisoners had wounds on head and chest while Iraqi military claimed that the Sunni inmates were killed by mortar shells and no barbarism was practiced.
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Libya's second national election since the 2011 ouster of strongman Muammar Gaddafi will go ahead next week despite growing political chaos, organizational troubles and the prospect of a low turnout, Reuters reported.
Because nothing fixes chaos faster than an election...
Dismissing doubts among foreign diplomats that Tripoli could arrange the vote in only a month, election commission head Emad Al-Sayeh told Reuters that preparations for polling on June 25 were coming along well and staff were being trained.
The challenges are daunting. Libya's government and parliament are deadlocked, militias and tribal groups hold sway over parts of the country and a renegade general has launched his own campaign against Islamic militants in the east.
But instead of taking months of preparation as diplomats thought it needed, the election commission opted for a quick vote. Sayeh sounded confident its initiative would pay off.
"The commission has finished the last preparations of the elections," he said, adding that 1,601 polling stations around the country had been readied.
He said there were "positive indications" that the vote would go ahead even in Benghazi, the eastern city where fighting takes place almost daily between forces of renegade Geenral Khalifa Haftar and Islamist militants.
A Western diplomat said the government was adamant the vote should go ahead and noted that voting for a constitutional committee in February went ahead in most areas.
"There will be challenges to open polling stations in some places in the east and south," he said. "The bigger question would be what will happen after the election, whether tensions will ease."
Hmmm, let's consult the oracle ... hmm ... right ... m'k ... the oracle says, 'NO!'
The General National Congress (GNC) assembly decided in February to step down after its initial mandate had ended, bowing to pressure from voters who blame political infighting for Libya's bumpy transition to democracy.
Libya's neighbors and Western partners hope the election will provide a push for state building and help the oil producer overcome some of its deep divisions between Islamists and more moderate forces as well as competing tribes and regions.
Turnout looks like it could be low. Over 1.5 million voters have registered, roughly half of the 2.8 million registered in July 2012 in Libya's first free election in more than 40 years.
The commission has tightened registration rules by requiring voters to show a national identification number.
Racists...
Many Libyans in the south and the east do not have one because insecurity there there has hampered the development of such basic state services. Some people have also avoided getting a state identity card because it would make it harder to exploit the country's chaos and claim several state salaries. Clamping down on such fraud was one of the state's reasons for introducing the number.
Hard boyz in particular behind it hard to spread chaos when ev'ryone has a state ID...
Western diplomats hope the vote will ease tensions in the OPEC oil producer but some fear it could produce yet another interim assembly. Legal experts have still not finished working out a new constitution for the post-Gaddafi political system.
The new parliament will made up again of 200 seats but be called House of Representatives, replacing the current name GNC linked by many Libyans with the country's stalemate. Thirty-two seats are allocated for women, said Sayeh. Only 10,087 voters have been registered abroad, reflecting the lack of time to organize voting in embassies.
Sayeh said a total of 1,628 candidates will compete, around thousand less than at the last vote. Some candidates have started putting up posters but, given the short time available, there has been no real election campaign like in 2012.
The vote will also be marred by a boycott of the Amazigh, or Berber, minority that demands a stronger say in the body drafting the constitution. The Amazigh have seized oil installations in the past to press for their demands.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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[ZEENEWS.INDIA] Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... turbans were on Wednesday suspected of carrying out a deadly kaboom against football fans watching the World Cup in northern Nigeria, in the latest violence targeting the game.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility for the blast in the Nayi-Nama area of Damaturu on Tuesday night but the Islamists have previously carried out attacks on informal, big screen venues.
Boko Haram, which in April kidnapped more than 200 schoolgirls in northeast Nigeria ... a particularly crimson stretch of Islam's bloody border... to international condemnation, has been waging a brutal, five-year insurgency that has claimed thousands of lives.
Residents in Nayi-Nama said the bomb appeared to have been hidden in a motorised rickshaw outside the Crossfire venue, where crowds had gathered to watch tournament hosts Brazil play Mexico.
The blast happened at about 8:15 pm (1915 GMT), 15 minutes after the match kicked off in Fortaleza, tearing corrugated roofs from nearby buildings and throwing masonry across a wide area, television pictures showed.
"We received 21 dead bodies and 27 injured victims from the blast," a source at the Sani Abacha Specialist Hospital in Damaturu, told AFP. Soldiers and police brought in the dead and injured from the scene of the blast, which was quickly cordoned off, the source said.
"The victims are young men and children. They have burns, ruptured tissue and bone fractures," he added.
Yobe state police commissioner Sanusi Rufa'i said at least 14 people were killed and 26 injured.
Conflicting corpse counts are common in Nigeria and the authorities often round down the number of victims.
"Our forensic experts are conducting on-the-scene assessment to establish what really happened. We will make public our findings when investigations are concluded," he added.
At the hospital, television pictures showed packed wards of men lying on blood-stained mattresses with bandages on their hands and legs.
One told Nigeria's Channels station that he was passing by the centre when the bomb went off: "I couldn't tell what happened because everybody was struggling to survive," he said. The head of football's world governing body FIFA, Sepp Blatter, wrote on Twitter: "Terrible to read of fatalities & injuries in Nigeria, where fans were watching the #WorldCup. Football should unite people, not divide them."
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#1
Happiness, contentment and basic enjoyment of life are not Islamic.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
I have to admit I laughed...then I cried.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
06/19/2014 0:13
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#2
Line-hauling aging Iraqi Hummers back to Syria; a supreme stroke of tactical and logistical genius. Russian Operations planners and targeteers must be ecstatic.
#3
She's eminently mockable, so, why shouldn't she be an international laughing stock? Around the world, they've started to pick up on the fact that her husband runs a clown show, so it's all of a pattern.
The entire episode calls into question the leftist belief that people are interchangeable, anybody can replace anybody, and we're all just cogs in a social machine.
Her husband is a cog that doesn't bother to engage any other gears; he just sits and spins.
Posted by: ed in texas ||
06/19/2014 7:25
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The entire Obama clan is highly mock-able.
When the MSM starts dog piling on them I'll know it is finally over and the Hope and Change ship has completely sunk and the rats have abandoned it.
[Ynet] After the IDF incarcerated Please don't kill me! Wednesday 51 of the Paleostinian prisoners released as part of the Shalit prisoner exchange deal, their families sent a letter to the Egyptian mission to the Paleostinian Authority imploring Egypt's new President Abdel Fattah al-Sissi to intervene and force Israel to respect the deal's terms, which Egypt mediated at the time.
But President al Sisi doesn't like Hamas, the Palestinian branch of the Muslim Brotherhood. In fact,
[Iran Press TV] American society has "glorified and "enshrined violence" committed by whites against African Americans and other minorities throughout its history, a researcher and historian in Washington says.
"The real opposition to gun ownership in this country tends to be with guns in the hands of people of color, particularly African Americans," said Randy Short.
"We have a double standard in this country," Short told Press TV in a phone interview on Wednesday.
Both violent and white-collar crimes tend to be committed by whites, who usually go unpunished by the US justice system, he noted. "We have a society that enshrines violence."
Short criticized Hillary Clinton ... sometimes described as For a good time at 3 a.m. call Hillary and at other times as Mrs. Bill, never as Another Edward Everett ... 's recent "hypocritical" comments about the need to ban semi-automatic rifles, or so-called assault rifles as well as high-capacity magazines which would help reduce gun violence in the United States.
"She's was one of the most hawkish politicians in the country. It's completely hypocritical for her to come out and have this attitude that she's somehow anti-gun. She's pro-gun. It just depends on who's being shot."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
"It just depends on who's being shot."
Tell me about it.
Posted by: The Ghost of Vince Foster ||
06/19/2014 14:11
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LMAO - I see what you did there Ghost of Vince Foster. Funny.
[DAWN] Who ordered the firing on the supporters of Dr Tahirul Qadri ...Pak politician, founder and head of Tehreek-e-Minhajul Quran. He usually resides in Canada, but returns to Pakistain periodically to foam at the mouth and lead demonstrations. Depending on which way the wind's blowing, Qadri claims to be the author of Pak's blasphemy law. Other times he says it wasn't him... in Model Town? As the question was repeatedly asked on Tuesday, there was no straight answer from the police.
No immediate action against coppers leading the operation suggests that the 'top man' of the province might have given the 'go-ahead'.
Senior coppers associated with the anti-encroachment operation in and around Pakistain Awami Tehrik (PAT) chairman Tahirl Qadri's residence and near-by Minahjul Koran Secretariat adopted a defensive strategy. They put the entire blame on the PAT activists for resisting the drive and attacking coppers.
Capital City Police Officer (CCPO) Chaudhry Shafique Ahmad told news hounds at the Central Police Office that police remained defensive for several hours against PAT activists.
The incident came at a time when its chairman had already announced his June 23 Pakistain visit for a series of demonstrations countrywide. This made it easy for PAT workers to project the raid as politically-motivated. However, denial ain't just a river in Egypt... the coppers leading the operation denied any pre-planned move against the PAT. They claimed they were assisting City District Government of Lahore (CDGL) officials in removing barriers from roads leading to the PAT premises.
The anti-encroachment action in this case came at an odd moment, at midnight contrary to the routine morning raids.
The CDGL staff was accompanied by the police in large numbers which was also unusual.
Interestingly, in this instance not even a single police official was immediately held responsible for mishandling and criminal negligence. This is contrary to the past practices when the chief minister had ordered summery suspension of officers accused of negligence or excess.
According to a neighbour, he had been seeing barriers and bunkers outside two PAT places for the last three years or so. He said coppers were also routinely seen guarding barriers.
A police source, who was present at the scene of the crime, told this news hound that PAT activists first pelted CDGL and police officials with stones to resist the removal of barriers and then some gunshots fired in air by PAT activists present in bunkers forced the coppers to run away.
He claimed later on the directive of a police brass hat, police began straight fire on PAT workers.
The source added some seven or eight divisional SPs were also seen commanding the force with divided strategy as some put focus on straight fire and others insisted dispersing activists through other means.
The CCPO, now made OSD, claimed that they held two negotiations round with the chief security officer of Minahjul Koran Institute in the morning, asking him to remove hurdles on their own. PAT activists deployed at roofs and bunkers again started firing at police and CDGL officials. He claimed activists also used patrol bombs against police, but police kept showing patience.
He said police resorted to baton charge and used shelling which helped CDGL officials to remove hurdles.
Mr Ahmad, who initially claimed that killings might be the result of firing by PAT activists, later said he could not determine at this point who killed who, adding the judicial inquiry and police investigation would fix the responsibility. Inspector General Mushtaq Sukhera said a three-member departmental committee had been constituted to determine criminality of any police official.
Faisal Town police lodged a case against seven nominated people, including general-secretary Khurram Nawaz Gandapur and Sheikh Fayyaz and CSO Altaf Shah, eight unidentified gunnies and hundreds of unidentified workers.
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[DAWN] HANDERY Masih, the Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... provincial assembly member who was rubbed out last Saturday, and his assassin, Ghulam Mohiuddin, of the Balochistan Levies, roughly represent the forces that are locked in a deadly combat, and the outcome will define tomorrow's Pakistain.
[Iraq Sun] Scores of Iraqis were killed on Tuesday during a battle for the picturesque provincial capital of Baquba, Rooters reported. Fighting shut the main oil refinery, starving parts of the country of fuel and power as an uprising by Sunni Death Eaters threatens Iraq's survival as a state.
Government forces said they repelled an attempt by Death Eaters to seize Baquba, the capital of Diyala province north of Storied Baghdad, in heavy overnight fighting.
Some residents and officials said the dead included scores of prisoners from the local jail, although there were conflicting accounts of how they had died.
Earlier Tuesday, U.N. Secretary-General the ephemeral Ban Ki-moon ... of whom it can be said to his credit that he is not Kofi Annan... urged Iraqi Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki ... Prime Minister of Iraq and the secretary-general of the Islamic Dawa Party. Maliki imposed order on Basra wen the Shiites were going nuts, but has proven incapable of dealing with al-Qaeda's Sunni insurgency. Reelected to his third term in 2014... to hold dialogue and have a more inclusive approach to his government, amid a surge in violence by Sunni Islamist snuffies who have taken control of several Iraqi cities.
Ban spoke to news hounds Tuesday in Geneva as snuffies from the al-Qaeda-linked Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... threaten to attack the Iraqi capital, Storied Baghdad.
President Barack Obama I think when you spread the wealth around, it's good for everybody... is sending 275 U.S. military personnel to Iraq to help provide security to the embassy in Storied Baghdad and U.S. personnel. The administration on Monday sought to reassure Americans that the deployment is not another open-ended commitment of troops to Iraq.
FILE - U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, June 13, 2014.4. x FILE - U.S. President Barack Obama speaks about the situation in Iraq from the South Lawn of the White House in Washington, June 13, 2014.4. "This force is deploying for the purpose of protecting U.S. citizens and property, if necessary, and is equipped for combat," Obama said in a letter to politicians. "This force will remain in Iraq until the security situation becomes such that it is no longer needed."
Obama's notification to Congress Monday also said the move has the consent of the Iraqi government.
U.S. officials say 170 troops already are in Iraq, and about 100 more could be deployed as needed. Officials say the soldiers will help relocate some staff from the U.S. Embassy in Storied Baghdad.
The embassy itself remains open.
While the president has ruled out sending ground forces back into Iraq, he met with his national security team Monday to consider other options.
They include possible air strikes against the Sunni snuffies who already control large parts of northern Iraq and have vowed to seize Storied Baghdad from the Shiite-led government.
The U.S. also is considering working with Iran. But the Pentagon says it has no plans to enter into military cooperation with the Iranians in any action in Iraq.
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Philippine security forces believe they have cut a critical link between overseas financiers and the Abu Sayyaf Group. But last week’s capture of most-wanted terror suspect Khair Mundos in Manila left officials acknowledging they still face a long fight to wipe out the network in its strongholds in the country’s remote south.
Police arrested Mundos in a slum area close to Manila airport on June 11. He was on the U.S. State Department’s "most wanted" list, with a $500,000 offer for information leading to his capture.
Mundos had been a fugitive since 2007, when he escaped prison after admitting that he transferred funds between al Qaeda and the leader of Abu Sayyaf. Philippine military spokesman Lt. Col. Ramon Zagala said, "He’s very important in the sense that he’d get financing for the Abu Sayyaf Group. He would do their [weapons] procurement, and look for foreign donors."
Zagala also alleged that Mundos had personally planned attacks. He said, "We’ve taken away their ability to plan terrorist attacks. But now new challenges have erupted from their criminality."
Mundos was one of the group’s last leaders inspired by the idea of jihad, rather than the profits from ransoming hostages, according to Rommel Banlaoi, executive director of a Manila-based think-tank. Banlaoi said, "In terms of ideological propagation, [Mundos’ recapture] deals a big blow to the Abu Sayyaf Group."
The shift from being ideological militants to organized criminals has, if anything, only increased the group’s resilience, Banlaoi contends. He said, "Kidnapping for ransom is now more of a communal enterprise," with the lines between Abu Sayyaf members and their associates or relatives increasingly blurred.
Posted by: ryuge ||
06/19/2014
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[Ynet] Spanish police are holding 10 people including a former Guantanamo Bay detainee for allegedly recruiting jihadi Death Eaters to fight abroad, mainly in Iraq and Syria.
The National Court said Tuesday they would appear before a judge soon.
[The News (Pak)] Ukraine's new President Petro Poroshenko said on Wednesday that he would soon order a unilateral ceasefire in the separatist east as part of a broader plan to end the 10-week insurgency.
"The peace plan begins with my order for a unilateral ceasefire," the Interfax-Ukraine news agency quoted the Western-backed leader as saying.
"Immediately after that, we must receive support for the presidential peace plan from all sides involved (in the conflict). This should happen very shortly."
Poroshenko's announcement came after a phone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... on Tuesday in which the two leaders discussed a long-term solution to the pro-Kremlin uprising gripping Ukraine's eastern rustbelt since early April.
The Ukrainian leader's office said the two presidents "discussed a series of priority measures that must be undertaken to implement a ceasefire, as well as the most efficient ways to monitor it."
The Kremlin confirmed that "the issue of a possible ceasefire in the area of the military operation in Ukraine's southeast had been touched upon."
Poroshenko's peace initiative calls for an end to hostilities and for Putin to formally recognise the new leadership in Ukraine that rose to power following the pro-Russian administration's ouster in February.
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[Iran Press TV] Pro-Russian activists in eastern Ukraine have rejected an offer by President Petro Poroshenko for a unilateral ceasefire in the country's troubled east.
Denis Pushilin, the leader of the self-declared Donetsk People's Republic, made the announcement on Wednesday, saying the offer could hardly be called constructive.
"They stop firing, we disarm and they take us unarmed. That is Kiev's logic," said Pushilin.
The rejection came after Poroshenko stated earlier in the day that he would soon order a unilateral ceasefire in the east, as part of a broader plan to end the bloodshed in the region.
The Ukrainian president added that during the truce, all pro-Russia activists should be disarmed and those civilians who want to escape the conflict zone could leave the region.
Poroshenko's ceasefire offer came a day after he held a telephone conversation with Russian President Vladimir Putin ...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead... . According to the Ukrainian president's office, the two leaders "discussed a series of priority measures that must be undertaken to implement a ceasefire, as well as the most efficient ways to monitor it."
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An Egyptian judge convicted 12 Islamists on Wednesday of murdering one of the most senior police officers to be killed in the country in recent months, sentencing them to death.
The ruling session was aired live on Egyptian television. As soon as judge Moataz Khafagi read out the sentence, the defendants broke out in chants of "God is great" in defiance while pacing around the cage. Only nine defendants were present, with the others were sentenced in absentia.
Gen. Nabil Farrag was shot dead in September during a raid on an Islamist stronghold in Kerdasa, just outside of Cairo. The raid followed an attack by militants on a police station, killing 15 policemen and mutilating their bodies, in one of the grisliest assaults on security forces.
The militants had taken control of the town, near the Pyramids, and attacked the police station to apparently avenge a violent crackdown on a sit-in of supporters of ousted President Mohammed Mursi. The break-up of the sit-in killed hundreds.
Judge Khafagi referred the ruling to the Grand Mufti, the highest Islamist authority in Egypt, to review it before the final decision is pronounced on August 6. Defendants then can appeal.
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06/19/2014
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Hours after a suicide bomber detonated explosives packed into a tricycle taxi at an outdoor World Cup viewing site in northeast Nigeria, police said the death toll was 14 with 26 people wounded.
A tricycle of violence?
Witnesses said the tricycle taxi was driven into the outdoor area in Damaturu, capital of Yobe state, soon after the Brazil-Mexico match started on Tuesday night.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility but Boko Haram, an armed group that wants to turn Nigeria into an Islamic state, was suspected.
Correctly so...
Police Assistant Superintendent Nathan Cheghan said on Wednesday that 14 people were killed and 26 were wounded in the attack. He said rescue workers had been careful about rushing to the scene for fear of secondary explosions. Boko Haram group frequently detonates secondary explosions to kill those who help victims from the first bomb.
Security experts have warned that militants might attack crowds watching the World Cup in public places in Nigeria, Kenya and Uganda, as they did in 2010 in Uganda. Nigeria's military has promised increased security but appears incapable of halting a stream of attacks by extremists holding more than 250 schoolgirls hostage.
The kidnapping of the girls two months ago and failure of Nigeria's military and government to rescue them has roused international concern. The United States is searching for the girls with drones and has sent experts along with Britain and France to help in counter-terrorism tactics and hostage negotiation.
Boko Haram's leader Abubakar Shekau has threatened to sell the girls into slavery unless the government agrees to exchange them for detained extremists, but President Goodluck Jonathan has said he will not exchange prisoners. Nigeria's military has said it knows where the girls are but that any military campaign could get them killed.
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06/19/2014
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[Ynet] Israel responded to rocket fire on Israel Wednesday, with IAF jets attacking a number of terror targets late Wednesday night.
According to a Paleostinian report, one person was maimed in the attack.
Earlier in the evening, two rockets were fired into Israel, with one exploding inside a southern Israeli community, causing light damage to a structure.
Keep your head down, habibi. We'll get to you in good time.
[DAWN] SINCE the World Health Organisation advised in early May that restrictions be placed on people travelling from countries that export the polio ...Poliomyelitis is a disease caused by infection with the poliovirus. Between 1840 and the 1950s, polio was a worldwide epidemic. Since the development of polio vaccines the disease has been largely wiped out in the civilized world. However, since the vaccine is known to make Moslem pee-pees shrink and renders females sterile, bookish, and unsubmissive it is not widely used by the turban and automatic weapons set... virus, notable amongst them Pakistain, most of the world has shown grace in allowing us time to clean up our act. There has been some activity on this count, with the government having imposed from June 1 a travel ban on people not able to produce a government-issued vaccination certificate and the setting up of vaccination booths at international airports, etc and -- on paper, at least -- a renewed resolve to overcome the myriad challenges that lie in the path of improving matters. Most recently, on Sunday, Islamabad hosted an international conference on polio eradication that was attended by about 50 holy mans from Pakistain, Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in the Soddy national face... , Egypt and Nigeria. Also present were representatives of the International Islamic Fiqh Academy, Al Azhar University and King Abdulaziz University, Jeddah. According to the blurb, Minister of State for National Health Services, Saira Afzal Tarar, had sought the guidance and aid of holy mans in eradicating polio.
Given the situation, there is no doubt that the step must be appreciated. Other than plain misinformation or the lack of awareness, much of the resistance in parts of Pakistain to having the vaccine administered to children has been the result of the manner in which the anti-polio campaign has been made contestable on religious grounds by krazed killer elements. Nevertheless, there is great irony in Ms Tarar regretting that Pakistain remains one of the world's only three polio-endemic countries (the others being Afghanistan and Nigeria). The fact is that even at this critical juncture, and notwithstanding efforts such as vaccination booths and conferences, nowhere in evidence is the urgency and tight coordination among governmental and administrative circles that the situation warrants. Polio cases are still being reported with distressing frequency; in fact, it was reported yesterday that a five-month-old from Datta Khel in the tribal areas is the latest to succumb, bringing the number of cases detected to 83 this year alone. Worryingly, the challenges are set to mount -- and fast. With the military operation now under way in North Wazoo, estimates say that there will be 300,000 unvaccinated children among the flood of non-combatants that are set to flee the region. Has the government a real plan, one that goes beyond good intentions and promises? We have yet to see any.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Hasn't the CIA used polio or other health workers as spies in the past?
[WUSA9] A report released Monday shows Denver Police officers searched a drug suspect repeatedly before he opened fire at them after his arrest. "Anything, McClosky?"
"Nothin', chief!"
"Search him again!"
Denver Police say the suspect, 32-year-old Isaac Vigil, was being transported to the police station in handcuffs when he pulled a gun from the crack of his ass and fired at officers. The report released by the Denver District Attorney says Vigil fired at officers twice before his gun jammed. Well that stinks.
According to court documents, Denver Police Narcotics detectives arrested Vigil on May 14 in a McDonald's parking lot after seeing him smoke meth. "Like, wow, man! Listen to the colors!"
Vigil was busted for possession of drug paraphernalia and a warrant for assault, felony menacing and possession of a weapon from Adams County.
Police had called for a uniformed officer in a patrol car to assist them during the arrest because Vigil was "violent and aggressive behavior." "You'll never take me alive, coppers!"
"Ummm... We've already got you."
The officers needed a car that had a cage in the back to transport Vigil. "Watch him, Clancy! He bites!"
After his arrest, police say Vigil threatened several times to shoot the officers "I'll murderlize the lot o' yez!"
and that he wanted to die.
"An' me, too!"
He also allegedly told police he had been smoking meth for three days and did not want to go back to prison. "Youse'll never take me alive!"
"We already got you!"
"Oh, yeah."
He was searched before being put in the back of the police car, but officers noted it was difficult to search him because he was "highly agitated." "Stop wigglin', perp!"
"That tickles!"
According to the DA's report, Denver Police officers searched Vigil three times before putting him in the back of the patrol car. "Did you check his heinie?"
"I think so. One of those times!"
Officers say when they arrived at the police district, Vigil refused to get out of the car and fired two shots from behind his back. [BANG!] "Take that, coppers!" [BANG!]
That's when police shot at him, injuring him in the stomach. "Ow!"
The Denver District Attorney investigated the shooting. In a letter released Monday, the DA's office said, "I conclude that under applicable Colorado law no criminal charges are fillable against Corporal Sisneros. "He needs to learn how to search, though!"
"I thought he had a load in his drawers!"
"My decision, based on criminal-law standards, does not limit administrative action by the Denver Police Department, where non-criminal issues can be reviewed, or civil actions where less-stringent laws, rules and legal levels of proof apply."
Vigil is now facing attempted murder charges for firing at officers. He's at the Denver Jail after spending some time at a hospital, recovering from his injuries. The criminal case against Vigil is ongoing.
Vigil has an extensive criminal history across the Denver metro area. Comes as a surprise, dunnit?
As a convicted felon, he wasn't supposed to own a gun and has been charged with illegal possession in April of this year. "There's laws against that sort of thing, y'know."
Denver Police say their internal investigation into what happened during the shooting is still ongoing. "How you could miss the butt of a gun sticking out his butt?"
"I thought it was... ummm... somethin' else."
The recovered Raven P25 Auto .25 handgun allegedly fired by Vigil at police had the serial number filed off. It stank, too.
According to the report, Vigil had two baggies of meth hidden in his "rectal area." "Anything else in there? I'm still looking for my car keys!"
Denver Police say pat downs are effective because when they pat a person down, they're looking for more than just metal objects. Officers look for drugs and weapons that might not be metal.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Hat tip to the Puppy Blender. I'm not sure I buy the apocalyptic scenario either, but clearly Iraqi oil, particularly from the south near Basra, is important to world oil price stability. May be time to go nuclear (and thorium) in a big, big way in the developed world.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#3
May be time to go nuclear (and thorium) in a big, big way in the developed world.
It has "been time" for that (and far more) for several decades now. Meanwhile my town is financing the replacement of an abandoned strip mall with - a new, improved strip mall, which will also be abandoned in a few more years.
[The News (Pak)] Afghan presidential election candidate Abdullah Abdullah ... the former foreign minister of the Northern Alliance government, advisor to Masood, and candidate for president against Karzai. Dr. Abdullah was born in Kabul and is half Tadjik and half Pashtun... on Wednesday demanded a halt to vote-counting over fraud allegations, raising the prospect of a political crisis as the country undergoes its first democratic transition of power.
"We suspend engagement with the (election) commission and we have asked our monitors to leave their offices," he said. "We are asking for the counting process to be stopped immediately.
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[Ynet] Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah told young Shiites that the terrorist organization was "willing to sacrifice for Iraq five times as much as we sacrificed in Syria for the significantly more important holy places," Lebanese media outlets reported.
Nasrallah added that "as long as we have the spiritual leader of Iran, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, nothing will happen to our holy places across the world. We will be where we are needed."
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
06/19/2014 7:52
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Top||
#3
Hezbollah has already lost 500 or so in Syria. Among these were some of its most experienced and battle hardened.
If they actually were to lose 2500 in Iraq, it would be a major problem for them because they would then not have enough left to protect their territory in Lebanon from sunni avengers.
so basically, Nasrallah - go for it!
Posted by: lord garth ||
06/19/2014 10:32
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[Ynet] Israel gave approval Wednesday for the construction of 172 new homes for Jewish settlers in annexed east Jerusalem, a city councilor said, nearly two weeks after it announced thousands.
"The municipality approved this morning the construction of 172 apartments in Har Homa," Jerusalem city councilor Yosef Pepe Alalu of the leftwing Meretz party, who opposes settlements, told AFP.
#1
Home construction, jobs, families, children, schools, businesses and commerce. Yes, I remember all of that. We did it here in the 1950's. I believe it was referred to as progress, economic prosperity.... or something like that.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
More recent:
[WSJ] Updated June 19, 2014 2:42 p.m. ET
Workers at Iraq's largest oil refinery said Thursday that rebels had taken over most of the embattled facility, in what has become a decisive test of Baghdad's ability to protect a pillar of the country's economy from a Sunni Muslim insurgency.
News reports from Marka town in the Lower Shabelle region indicate that a man was arrested after being suspected he was responsible for an explosion in the town recently.
This explosion that occurred was caused by an IED bomb in Marka targeted at police officers of the Somali Police Force.
Witnesses told Shabelle that the bomb was thrown in the Awbaae neighborhood of Marka town.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#3
O we are to conclude Benghazi is unimportant, Mr. WaPo? Or that your average reader is geographically challenged? Did you consider Hilly and Champ might have voted hundreds of times just to sway the results?
Posted by: Bobby ||
06/19/2014 7:30
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#4
I can. I can also prove its historical ties to Egypt and the Muslim Brotherhood. I can prove that its location and those ties are a primary reason the Islamists both gathered there and use it as a conduit.
Do I get a prize (and please don't tell me it's a WaPo subscription?)
Syrian army helicopters bombed a refugee camp along the Jordanian border on Wednesday, killing at least 20 people, mostly children and women, residents and opposition activists said.
They said the army dropped several barrel bombs - highly destructive improvised explosives, use of which has been condemned by Western powers as a war crime - on the camp in the village of Shajra, 2km from the Jordanian border.
Hundreds of families fleeing intensified fighting between rebels and the army in southern Syria in recent months had taken shelter in the town near the border, which Jordan closed last year after taking in hundreds of thousands of Syrian refugees. Authorities now allow only a trickle of refugees into Jordan from a UN-funded border crossing in a desolate area close to the frontier with Iraq, where relief agencies say they have to endure days of hardship before arriving.
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[The News (Pak)] Iran will not hesitate to defend shia Mohammedan holy sites in neighbouring Iraq against "killers and terrorists", Iranian President Hassan Rouhani said on Wednesday, following rapid advances by Sunni snuffies there over the past week.
Speaking on live television, Rouhani said many people had signed up to go to Iraq to defend the sites and "put the faceless myrmidons in their place". He added that veteran fighters from Iraq´s Sunni, Shia and Kurdish communities were also "ready for sacrifice" against these murderous Moslem forces.
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[Iran Press TV] US politicians that oppose the idea to work with Iran to restrain the recent crisis in Iraq are "controlled by Zionists" that place the interest of Israel ahead of their country, the 2012 US presidential candidate says.
US House Speaker John It is not pronounced 'Boner!' Boehner ... the occasionally weepy leader of House Republicans... said on Wednesday that he does not think the United States should reach out to Iran for help in defeating Takfiri ...an adherent of takfir wal hijra, an offshoot of Salafism that regards everybody who doesn't agree with them as apostates who most be killed... hard boyz that have started fighting the Iraqi government since last week.
Asked whether he agreed with some other politicians that the United States should hold talks with Iran over the crisis in Iraq, Boehner said: "No, absolutely not."
"People like Boehner and others who are advocating that we not work with Iran for peace, I think they're coming from a perspective of being controlled by Zionist influencers," said Merlin Lloyd Miller, an independent film director, writer, and producer.
These people are "Israeli firsters that don't want a relationship with the United States and Iran to improve," Miller told Press TV on Wednesday.
However, a lie repeated often enough remains a lie... it's "in everybody's best interest" that America and Middle Eastern nations, including Iran, work together to resolve Iraq's crisis, he added.
On Tuesday, a number of high-ranking Democratic officials urged US President Barack Obama I've now been in 57 states -- I think one left to go... to consider military strikes against the positions of the so-called Islamic State of Iraq and the Levant ... the current version of al-Qaeda in Iraq, just as blood-thirsty and well-beloved as the original... (ISIL) which has taken control of some key Iraqi cities since last week.
The hard boyz have vowed to continue their offensive towards the capital Storied Baghdad and beyond.
The United Nations ...an organization originally established to war on dictatorships which was promptly infiltrated by dictatorships and is now held in thrall to dictatorships... Security Council has recently condemned the attacks on Iraqi cities by the hard boyz who have forced over 500,000 people in and around djinn-infested Mosul ... the home of a particularly ferocious and hairy djinn... to flee, according to Geneva-based International Organization for Migration.
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[POLITICO] Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal issued executive orders Wednesday to withdraw the state from the Common Core standards and federally subsidized standardized tests, defying his state legislature, his superintendent of education and the business community -- but endearing himself to tea party activists across the country who could be influential in early primary states if he chooses to run for the Republican presidential nomination in 2016.
"We want out of Common Core," Jindal said at a presser. "We're very alarmed about choice and local control of curriculum being taken away from our parents and educators. It is never too late to make the right decision."
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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.
ISIS's success in Mosul could have something to do with the Iraqi government putting a general accused of carrying out systematic torture in charge of the city's security. The top Iraqi officer in Mosul, whose forces fled with hardly a fight as ISIS militants and their allies took over Iraq's second-largest city, is an accused torturer who was once targeted by the U.S. military and the Iraqi criminal justice system.
Cease FIRE! Cease FIRE! Pedro sez the missing computers are now insurance. He will lead us to them. 
In William Gibson's pioneering cyberpunk novel "Neuromancer," outlaw hacktivists use stealth suits of "mimetic polycarbon" to evade the ubiquitous surveillance technology of the future. It's one of the coolest ideas in a book jammed with oddly prophetic details.
ISLAMABAD: A top Afghan envoy is said to have assured Chief of Army Staff Gen Raheel Sharif "full cooperation" from the Afghan National Security Forces (ANSF) in ensuring effective border surveillance in the backdrop of the Pakistan Army's ongoing military operation against the Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) in North Waziristan Agency.
PHOENIX Immigrant-rights advocates filed a lawsuit Wednesday challenging business raids by an Arizona sheriff's office that have led to the arrests of hundreds of immigrant workers on charges of using fake or stolen IDs to get jobs.
Wazoo
[SACRAMENTO.CBSLOCAL] LINDA (CBS13) -- Residents at a Yuba County mobile home park were told they would finally get answers from the state health department on Tuesday, but the inspector sent to check their water never showed.
[WEEKLYSTANDARD] In line with President Obama's official proclamation of June as "Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender Pride Month," the banner headlining the website of the Office of the Director of National Intelligence (ODNI) Wednesday proclaims the agency's celebration of the same, noting, "It's also about what the IC is about: integration."
[BREITBART] White House Press Secretary Jay Carney explained that 
[EURONEWS] King Juan Carlos I of Spain in what is known as the Ceremony of Promulgation of the Basic Law signed into law his abdication.
Nouri al-Maliki
Hillary Clinton
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
...Second and fourth President and sixth of the Russian Federation and the first to remain sober. Putin is credited with bringing political stability and re-establishing something like the rule of law, which occasionally results in somebody dropping dead from polonium poisoning. Under Putin, a new group of business magnates controlling significant swathes of Russia's economy has emerged, all of whom have close personal ties to Putin. The old bunch, without close personal ties to Putin, are in jail or in exile or dead...
[WUSA9] A report released Monday shows Denver Police officers searched a drug suspect repeatedly before he opened fire at them after his arrest.
