I, for one, would greatly appreciate Rantburg U's input into these hearings. This is the first time I've heard the word "hearing" coming from this Congress. Not that I expect anything to come from them or to happen.... the word is good to hear, finally.
The House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform is planning to hold a total of five hearings this month on different aspects of the financial crisis, including looks at hedge funds, credit rating agencies and federal regulation.
The invited witnesses for the hedge fund hearing, which will be on Oct. 16, are John Alfred Paulson, President, Paulson & Co., Inc.; George Soros, Chairman, Soros Fund Management LLC; Philip A. Falcone; Senior Managing Director, Harbinger Capital Partners; James Simons, Director, Renaissance Technologies LLC; and Kenneth C. Griffin, Chief Executive Officer and Managing Director, Citadel Investment Group. They were invited, according to the Committee's Web site, because they each earned over $1 billion last year.
A spokesman for Harbinger Capital Partners said that Falcone is reviewing the request, but declined to comment further.Falcone came to Harbinger from Barclays Capital, where he had been head of high-yield trading.
The witnesses invited for the hearing on ratings agencies, which will take place Oct. 22, are Deven Sharma, President, Standard & Poors; Raymond W. McDaniel, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer, Moodys Corporation; and Stephen Joynt, President and Chief Executive Officer, Fitch Ratings.
Those invited for the federal-regulator hearing on Oct. 23 are former Federal Reserve Chairman Alan Greenspan, former Treasury Secretary John Snow and current Securities and Exchange Commission Chairman Christopher Cox.
Those three hearings are in addition to previously announced hearings on the Lehman Brothers bankruptcy on Oct. 6 and the $85 billion bailout of American International Group (AIG: 3.86, -0.14, -3.50%) on Oct. 7.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008
14:32 ||
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#1
Yep, it appears he's still with us...
The tape appeared to be recently recorded, as Gadahn pointedly spoke about America's financial crisis, referring to "the escalating chaos and looming meltdown threatening the crusaders' economic system."
Probably pissed they're was nothing in the bailout for him.
Read on for the familiar names...
CROWN POINT- Lake County Republican Chairman John Curley wants a federal investigation into hundreds of voter registrations bearing fictitious signatures or the names of dead and underage people. "Fraudulent applications are the workings of ACORN groups operating from Milwaukee and Chicago who are getting out the vote for Obama. I'm Republican, but I want everyone who should vote to vote. But I want a clean election," Curley said at a Wednesday news conference. C'mon, ya mean spirited bastid! They just want...Change! And...Hope!
Lake County elections officials acknowledged they have found problems and had to reject a large portion of the 5,000 registration forms turned in recently by the Association of Community Organizations for Reform Now, or ACORN, an activist group that conducted registration drives across the county this summer.
An ACORN spokesperson couldn't be reached Wednesday for comment. Telephones to ACORN offices in Gary, Indianapolis, Chicago and Milwaukee were reported to be disconnected. Our work is done here, Tonto...
Curley acknowledges the work of the county elections board to weed out obviously invalid applications, but said more may have slipped into the voter rolls so he wants U.S. Attorney David Capp to conduct a criminal investigation.
Elections Board Director Sally LaSota and Ruthann Hoagland, a county elections board technologist overseeing voter registration, said Wednesday it appears some ACORN vote canvassers pulled names and addresses from telephone books and forged their signatures.
Curley said one registration form was filled out in the name and address of Jimmy John's, a Crown Point fast-food outlet. Another registration, dated in August, is in the name of a Gary man who died Nov. 16, 2007, according to his death certificate. Hoagland said large numbers of voter registration forms bore signatures all in the same apparent handwriting style.
LaSota and Hoagland said they instructed ACORN on how to legally register voters, but apparently the organization's canvassers broke rules to meet ACORN-set voter registration quotas to get paid. They said ACORN organizers promised to fire workers who were cheating. You have our word on it...
LaSota said hundreds of legitimate potential voters may be unable to cast a ballot in the Nov. 4 general election because ACORN delivered incomplete registrations just recently to the county. LaSota said her staff won't have enough time to research, complete and enter legitimate voter registrations before the mid-month deadline. ...and that's what they're counting on.
#2
...but said more may have slipped into the voter rolls so he wants U.S. Attorney David Capp to conduct a criminal investigation.
That's why George sack the lot of AGs a while back because they didn't act on this crime. It also explains the Donks screaming and whining about the firing of people who the President hired in the first place.
#3
It's happening across Ohio, too. If I recall the numbers correctly, several hundred thousand registered voters have until Monday to prove they exist, after the post office returned polling place information as undeliverable... either name or address non-existent. The Alinsky plan to swarm the system doesn't work nearly as well with modern computer programs that cross-check entries, and the post-9/11 practice of consultation between government agencies at all levels. Mr. Barack H. Obama, esq. may have to resume practicing law after the election to keep his ACORN friends from really long jail sentences.
#4
Remind me why ACORN hasn't been convicted of various RICO statutes. Oh yeah, the Federal DAs didn't see it as a high priority, and Bush and Ashcroft and Gonzales caught heat when they tried to push the issue.
#5
Just because they don't exist, is that any reason to deny people of color and other poor oppressed minorities the right to vote? Damn this Bushitler regime!
#7
Apparantly I was listed as Anonymous in Your Name and my comments have been pooplisted. THat sucks. It was brilliant inoffensive, humorous stuff. And unlike the sinktrap I can't seem to find out where the pooplist pile is.
#8
rjschwarz, at least your posts had to be read before being pooplisted. My most brilliant posts seem to disappear into the ether without intermediary. :-(
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 18:47
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#10
It was pooplisted instantly, nobody had time to read it. Anyway to repeat (with less awesomeness no doubt).
The video looks like a bunch of pledges for a black fraternity all right. Same stomping, chanting, and crypto military fashion I remember from the 80s.
Sputnik 1 (Russian: "Ñïóòíèê-1", "Satellite-1", or literally "Co-traveler-1" byname ÏÑ-1 (PS-1, i.e. "Ïðîñòåéøèé Ñïóòíèê-1", or Elementary Satellite-1)) was the first artificial satellite to be put into geocentric orbit. Launched by the Soviet Union on October 4, 1957, it was the first satellite of the Sputnik program. . . .
Sputnik-1 was set in motion during the International Geophysical Year from the 5th Tyuratam range in Kazakh SSR (now Baikonur Cosmodrome). The satellite travelled at 29,000 kilometers (18,000 mi) per hour and emitted radio signals at around 20.005 and 40.002 MHz which were monitored by Amateur radio operators throughout the world. The signals continued for 22 days until the transmitter batteries ran out on October 26, 1957. Sputnik 1 burned as it fell from orbit upon reentering Earth's atmosphere, after traveling about 60 million km (37 million miles) in orbit. . . .
Yes! It would be an honor to attend to Dear Leader's drool bucket, general!
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) - North Korean leader Kim Jong Il has made his first public appearance in more than a month, a state-run news agency said from Pyongyang on Saturday amid speculation about his health.
Kim watched a university soccer game held to mark the 62nd anniversary of the founding of the university named after his late father, North Korea founder Kim Il Sung, the Korean Central News Agency reported.
The 66-year-old leader had not been seen in public since mid-August, missing two key occasions--the 60th anniversary of the founding of North Korea and Korean Thanksgiving. Korean Thanksgiving? Oh, the imagery...
U.S. and South Korean officials said Kim suffered a stroke, but North Korean officials steadfastly denied he was ill. Nope. Just taking some time off to work on the golf game...
Kim's absence from the public eye is believed to be his longest since assuming leadership of communist North Korea after his father's death in 1994. KCNA's last mention of Kim making a public appearance was in mid-August. Probably visited Pig Farm No. 2617, or the 79th NKPA Goat Milking Battalion. Heard they need on the spot field guidance.
While the reports from Pyongyang had Kim sending greetings to Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and to Chinese leaders, there had been no mention of him appearing in public until Saturday. Greetings fellow commies. Didn't you know I was sick? Not even a floral basket, you lousy bastids...
The reports said Kim congratulated the two soccer teams from Kim Il Sung University and the Pyongyang University of Railways afterward. The Kicking Commies vs. The Rambling Wrecks...
Kim praised the student athletes, saying: "The revolutionary and militant students in our country are good at art and sporting activities while devoting all their wisdom and enthusiasm to the study of science for the country and the people," KCNA said. ...and then somebody pulled the wire on his arm and he waved.
The university's 62nd anniversary took place on Oct. 1, but the report did not say when the game was held.
Abraham Lincoln said, "You can fool all the people some of the time and some of the people all the time, but you can't fool all the people all the time." Unfortunately, the future of this country, as well as the fate of the Western world, depends on how many people can be fooled on election day, just a few weeks from now. Right now, the polls indicate that a whole lot of the people are being fooled a whole lot of the time.
The current financial bailout crisis has propelled Barack Obama back into a substantial lead over John McCain-- which is astonishing in view of which man and which party has had the most to do with bringing on this crisis. It raises the question: Do facts matter? Or is Obama's rhetoric and the media's spin enough to make facts irrelevant?
Fact Number One: It was liberal Democrats, led by Senator Christopher Dodd and Congressman Barney Frank, who for years-- including the present year-- denied that Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac were taking big risks that could lead to a financial crisis. It was Senator Dodd, Congressman Frank and other liberal Democrats who for years refused requests from the Bush administration to set up an agency to regulate Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. It was liberal Democrats, again led by Dodd and Frank, who for years pushed for Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac to go even further in promoting subprime mortgage loans, which are at the heart of today's financial crisis.
Alan Greenspan warned them four years ago. So did the Chairman of the Council of Economic Advisers to the President. So did Bush's Secretary of the Treasury, five years ago. Yet, today, what are we hearing? That it was the Bush administration "right-wing ideology" of "de-regulation" that set the stage for the financial crisis. Do facts matter?
We also hear that it is the free market that is to blame. But the facts show that it was the government that pressured financial institutions in general to lend to subprime borrowers, with such things as the Community Reinvestment Act and, later, threats of legal action by then Attorney General Janet Reno if the feds did not like the statistics on who was getting loans and who wasn't. Is that the free market? Or do facts not matter?
Then there is the question of being against the "greed" of CEOs and for "the people." Franklin Raines made $90 million while he was head of Fannie Mae and mismanaging that institution into crisis. Who in Congress defended Franklin Raines? Liberal Democrats, including Maxine Waters and the Congressional Black Caucus, at least one of whom referred to the "lynching" of Raines, as if it was racist to hold him to the same standard as white CEOs.
Even after he was deposed as head of Fannie Mae, Franklin Raines was consulted this year by the Obama campaign for his advice on housing! The Washington Post criticized the McCain campaign for calling Raines an adviser to Obama, even though that fact was reported in the Washington Post itself on July 16th. The technicality and the spin here is that Raines is not officially listed as an adviser. But someone who advises is an adviser, whether or not his name appears on a letterhead. The tie between Barack Obama and Franklin Raines is not all one-way. Obama has been the second-largest recipient of Fannie Mae's financial contributions, right after Senator Christopher Dodd. But ties between Obama and Raines? Not if you read the mainstream media.
Facts don't matter much politically if they are not reported. The media alone are not alone in keeping the facts from the public. Republicans, for reasons unknown, don't seem to know what it is to counter-attack. They deserve to lose. But the country does not deserve to be put in the hands of a glib and cocky know-it-all, who has accomplished absolutely nothing beyond the advancement of his own career with rhetoric, and who has for years allied himself with a succession of people who have openly expressed their hatred of America.
#1
Not as outrageous as it sounds. Sensory interpretation is the vast majority of perception. It has long been established that even our common senses uptake vastly greater amounts of information than our brains use. Of this fraction of information, we then carefully skim a very limited number of bits of data.
For example, when you look at a photograph of a human face, you ignore your peripheral vision to focus on the photograph. But even in the photograph, your focus darts around from point to point to point. The most common point of focus is the eyes, which are visited repeatedly
At any given moment, you therefore have less than 1% focus on your "overall" view, all on the photograph, and less than 1% of that in focus on a particular point on the photograph. Everything else *can* be paid attention to, but isn't. It exists in temporary memory as an afterimage.
Add to that synethesia, which is a variation from the norm of how sensory input is interpreted, like "hearing" colors, "smelling" music, "feeling" perspective, etc., and you are left with potential capabilities far beyond what most people normally can experience.
In the case of skin cells, if they can react in different ways to different bandwidths or intensities of light, then they are basically seeing, if they send variable signals to the brain. Most of the work is in how the brain learns to interpret that information.
So all that needs to be done is to train the brain to correctly interpret a different type of the surfeit of data. We also know that the brain can do this, and it can be dramatic.
A classic experiment was of a man who put on special glasses that made him see the world as upside down. Within just a few weeks, his brain relearned to see, adjusting the image so that it was right side up again. When he removed the special glasses, he was naturally seeing the world upside down.
In some traditions, seers were believed to see through their skin, but importantly, not in the same way we see with our eyes. They were able to see a person and know it was a person, but it didn't look anything like a person. Importantly, their eyes were closed at the time, to limit visual data and prevent data overload.
BAGHDAD (AP) - Two United Arab Emirates-based energy companies announced Saturday that they have begun producing natural gas in Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish area.
Crescent Petroleum and its partner Dana Gas DANA.AD said initial gas production stood at 75 million cubic feet per day after completing the first phase of the $650-million project. Within the first half of 2009, production will rise to 300 million cubic feet per day, the companies said in an e-mailed statement to The Associated Press.
''We are very proud of this historical milestone, as the first companies from the Middle East to invest in Iraq's oil and gas sector,'' Dana Gas upstream executive director, Ahmed al-Arbeed, said in the statement.
''This is the first project of its kind in Iraq, and it will provide important economic and social benefits for the Kurdistan region and all of Iraq,'' added Majid Jafar, executive director of Crescent Petroleum.
In April 2007, Iraq's Kurds and the two companies signed the service deal to develop the Khor More gas field and to appraise the Chemchemal field. The gas will be used to supply new power plants in Irbil and Sulaimaniyah provinces, two of three provinces that make up the regional government. The two plants are to provide a total of 1,250 megawatts of electricity.
According to Iraqi Oil Ministry figures, the Khor More field was discovered in the 1950s and has estimated gas reserves of 1.4 trillion cubic feet. But it has never been fully developed and was shut down after the first Gulf War in 1991. The Chemchemal gas field, which has never been appraised or developed, has estimated reserves of 2.2 trillion cubic feet.
The companies praised the project, saying it would help supply electricity to 4 million Iraqis in the region and save some $2.5 billion the Kurds pay each year to import diesel for power plants. It would also provide more than 2,000 jobs for local people, it said.
The project also includes the construction of a 112-mile pipeline to transport the gas to the two power plants. The pipeline will have spare capacity to accommodate additional production from nearby fields. Both companies are also working with the Kurdish regional government on plans to set up Kurdistan Gas City, which will include petrochemical, steel and other heavy industry plants.
The Iraqi government has criticized the more than 20 oil and gas contracts the Kurds have signed, saying they are illegal since the parliament has not yet passed a national hydrocarbon law. The law has been held up over disagreements between Kurdish and Arab leaders about who has the final say in managing oil and gas fields. The Iraqi government has threatened to blacklist companies that sign deals with the Kurds to prevent them from participating in opportunities in other parts of Iraq.
#1
Those are a couple of SERIOUS gas fields! Wish I had a piece of that action. It will take a LONG time to drain them at 75 mmcg/day - even at 300 mmcfg/d.
Google has launched an enhanced blog tracking service that helps people mine a growing mountain of online commentary for gems worth reading. The Google Blog Search tool rolled out this week competes with Techmeme, Polymeme, Wikio and other "memetrackers" that sort and organize blog posts into categories.
"Did you know that millions of bloggers around the world write new posts each week?" Google product manager Michael Cohen wrote in an Internet posting of his own.
No, reeeeaallly?
"We're pleased to launch a new homepage for Google Blog Search so that you too can browse and discover the most interesting stories in the blogosphere."
The Northern California company applied technology from its Google News website to separate blog postings into clusters based on topics, stories or events. A lead category Friday morning at Google Blog Search was the debate that occurred the previous evening between US vice presidential contenders Joe Biden and Sarah Palin.
An icon with a picture of the political rivals indicated that 1,620 blogs were compiled in the category during the previous 19 hours. The lead item was a Huffington Post piece saying ex-officials from the administration of US President George W. Bush believe Biden won the verbal duel with Palin.
"Grouping them in clusters lets you see the best posts on a story or get a variety of perspectives," Cohen said in his online message. "When you look within a cluster, you'll find a collection of the most interesting and recent posts on the topic, along with a timeline graph that shows you how the story is gaining momentum in the blogosphere."
Students already attending classes at Arizona State University, with approved student loans, have had their accounts frozen. Either the creditors have gone bust, or are refusing to release the funds.
The only school that has calculated the number of students affected is the law school, with about 50% of its students running on vapor.
The university is continuing classes for now, but will be busted pretty quick without that money being released.
#7
#5 Nice "Don't panic" speech, genius.
Posted by mojo
see: "Bacon, Kevin, "animal house" at IMDB.com :-)
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 18:45
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#8
Anonymoose, what's worse is that many colleges and universities hold their operating funds in a vehicle housed with Wachovia bank. Last week Wachovia allowed only limited withdrawls to colleges and universities while they are negotiating their buyout with Wells Fargo. A lot of school janitors, cooks and faculty going without paychecks if it doesn't get resolved quickly.
The bailout/buyout stinks. But the credit crunch is real.
German Foreign Minister Steinmeier said in an interview he wants to scrap the Afghanistan mandate for German commandos, thus ending Germany's contribution to the US-led force fighting terrorism in the region. In an interview with news magazine Der Spiegel, German Foreign Minister Frank-Walter Steinmeier said the hundred elite German soldiers stationed in Afghanistan since 2001 have not been deployed "a single time." Interesting.
That's disappointing but not surprising. The Germans simply haven't been willing to carry their weight.
The troops are part of the US-led "Operation Enduring Freedom" charged with fighting terrorism. The force is deeply controversial because of mounting civilian casualties in its fight against the Taliban. Considering that increased enemy activity is causing the "mounting" civilian casualties, this "argument" is a ridiculous bit of sophistry.
The minister said he was in favour of removing the elite forces when the parliament debates in November whether to extend the mandate of Germany's participation in "Operation Enduring Freedom."
Instead, Steinmeier said, the "clear focus" for Berlin was to extend the number of German soldiers in Afghanistan under the NATO-led multinational International Security and Assistance Force (ISAF). On Tuesday, the German parliament, in a special session, is to debate raising German troop levels by 1,000 to 4,500 soldiers. We can't "constantly raise our contribution without critically assessing existing commitments," Steinmeier told the magazine.
Makes sense in a way: if you won't let the commandos fight then why have them there? If the job of the German solider is to be security guard and social worker, put the commandos somewhere else. How 'bout Somalia? Or Darfur?
Steinmeier joins a growing chorus of German politician calling for a rethink of Germany's involvement in Afghanistan.
WHAT involvement? Their ROEs are so restrictive they're barely useful other than as a symbol, IIUC. Or have those ROEs changed recently? And are they trained and equipped to contribute to real combat? Or is this another case of Germany wanting credit when things are going well and disavowing participation when there's real work to be done?
On Saturday, The Christian Social (CSU), the Bavarian sister party of Chancellor Angela Merkel's conservative Christian Democratic Party, went further, urging the chancellor to come up with an exit strategy for the German army in Afghanistan. Perhaps John McCain ought to bring this up at a debate?
The chairman of the CSU's parliamentary group, Peter Ramsauer said that was the only way the extension of Germany's Afghanistan mandate for another year could be justified and would get "some support" from citizens.
Ramsauer added he hoped experts weren't right in predicting that the mission in Afghanistan would last for 10 to 15 years. "It will become all the more shorter if we begin to understand that the problems in Afghanistan can never be solved militarily alone," he said.
#1
Philosophically, Germans are pessimistic, but also realistic. While they might make a bold strike, it tends to be so hesitant that the momentum is lost. Their only really come into their own when in the defense, where they can be truly ferocious.
This is worsened by intrusive politicians directing the military leadership. They fancy themselves elites who inherently know more about military operations than soldiers.
#2
Hey Steinmeier, we can deploy their dead asses if you allow us to. No need to be barracks queens. Or do you just need them at home in case your coddled Muzz decide to attack you pitifully soft pussies ?
#5
I would argue that philosophically the Germans are Romantic pessimists, who think of themselves as deep, pure, hidden mountain lakes that must be protected from those who would come to pollute the water and ravage the landscape. Which is, of course, bloody nonsense. This is a country which, I was told, has legal rulings on which vehicle is entitled to the parking space when they approach simultaneously from opposite directions (it's the one that would turn right to get into the spot, if I recall correctly). It is not realistic to sue someone over such a thing, even on a Saturday morning at the grocery store when spaces are impossible to find.
#6
I suspect they're not going to leave until they set up a couple "Bay of Pigs" scenarios where their troops get sent off to be slaughtered by incompetent officers to "prove" they were defeated on the battlefield and Can't Win And Must Withdraw.
#8
Hey Germany,
Why don't you redeploy to Wiesbaden, and OUR armored division there can redeploy to Fort Hood, Fort Riley, Fort Carson, Fort Lewis, or any of the other facilities we have in THIS country for our troops? Maybe we can cut US troop levels so there's only one airbase (Ramstein) and one Army unit (not really sure what's left...), and you can begin building up for your OWN defense. And hey, it's been nice knowing you, really. BTW, watch out for that bear - he's got a MEAN bite. Or maybe you already know that.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 17:24
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What has for past several years appeared an innocuous even if an illegal side business, namely cattle trade, could be a hidden source of terror funding, say top UP government officials. A substantial part of the Rs 15,000 crore illegal trade is being funelled to fund terror, according to officials.
The connection between cattle smuggling and big crime first came to light when one Mizanur Rehman turned out to be the key accused in the kidnapping of Kolkata-based proprietor of Khadim Shoes, Partho Burman. Mizanurs younger brother, Azizur Rehman Sardar, 22, was found to be a Harkat-ul-Jihad-e-Islami (HuJI) activist serving time in Lucknow jail. Mizanur was also known to be the trusted aide of HuJI area commander Jalaluddin, alias Babu Bhai, who too is in Lucknow jail. A part of the Rs 4 crore ransom in the Burman abduction case was suspected to have been diverted to Omar Sheikh, one of the alleged killers of US journalist Daniel Pearl in Pakistan.
#4
My prediction is that this kid was an Indigenous Australian.
Could be, but the kid in the pic yesterday seemed white, though it was very grainy and the face was hidden. Probably just a random sociopath/psychopath in the making, coming from a "problem" desocialized/destructured white family kinda like Darlymple writes about in the UK.
Alternatively, from what I've read, the aboriginal culture seems very dysfunctional, and i don't mean just from woes induced by being colonized, but with rampant and tolerated child sexual abuse and great cruelty toward animals, so it might be the case?
Anyway, this kid is going to be a real charmer when he will be a few years older, I wonder if he will graduate to humans?
Potential jurors in the Fort Dix terrorism case have been asked who they think was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and whether they believe that "Islam endorses violence," according to a 41-page jury questionnaire made public yesterday by Judge Robert Kugler, who will preside over the forthcoming trial. They also were asked if heightened security in the courthouse during the proceedings would unduly influence them, and whether what they had heard or read about the case would affect their ability to render a fair verdict based only on evidence.
The questionnaire, submitted to more than 600 possible jury members this week, was designed to determine whether any pre-existing knowledge, bias or prejudice should preclude them from sitting on the panel. One section dealt entirely with Islam and included references to Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda and jihad.
Since Monday, each potential jury member has responded to 115 questions in the first phase of the selection process. They will face individual interviews next week by prosecutors and defense attorneys. The queries will be based in large part on answers provided in the questionnaires. Twelve jurors and six alternates will be chosen for the trial in U.S. District Court in Camden. Kugler said yesterday he hoped opening arguments could begin on Oct. 20. The trial is expected to last about eight weeks. Court will not be in session on Fridays, Kugler said.
Kugler previously ruled that the jurors, all South Jersey residents, would be chosen anonymously for security reasons. At yesterday's hearing, he reiterated his position with veiled references to two security problems that had already arisen. One, he said, dates back to the arraignment of the five defendants last year. Information about that incident, he said, "remains under seal." The judge said there was another matter "that caused grave concern" but has not been made public.
Among the queries on the questionnaire:
"In private matters, what words do you use to describe someone who practices the Islamic faith?"
"Is there anything about a case where a defendant or witness is Muslim . . . that would make it difficult for you to serve as a fair and impartial juror?"
"Do you believe that Islam endorses violence?"
"Is there anything about Islamic teachings or doctrines that is offensive to you?"
"If you were to hear that one or more of the defendants has expressed negative views of Jewish people, would you hold it against the defendant?"
"If you hear an allegation that any one of the defendants supported or sympathized with Osama bin Laden, al-Qaeda or the Taliban, would you be biased for or against that particular defendant?"
"Who do you think is responsible for the attack of the United States on Sept. 11, 2001?"
The potential jurors also were asked how much they knew about "al-Qaeda," "jihad," "mujahideen" and "fatwa"; if they had ever attended a service at a mosque; and if they ever contributed "money or gifts to an organization that takes a position on Islam or Muslims."
Can Muslims still pray five times a day in the military? Can women wear the hijab while serving? Will I have to fight against people in my home country? These and other questions may be part of an upcoming "town hall meeting" in Burnaby's mosque Oct. 8.
The Canadian Forces are hosting a recruiting session in the Al-Salaam mosque on Canada Way, and the event is eliciting discussion in the Muslim community.
What about Canada's participation in the war in Afghanistan, where troops are fighting the Taliban and their version of Islamic jihad? "You'd be surprised, a lot of Muslim people want to go over," said Imaad Ali, youth director at the mosque. "There are a lot of misconceptions of what people do over there." Canada has 2,500 personnel in Afghanistan, mostly working in Kandahar province in the more dangerous southern region.
Vancouverite Toshio Rahman said he was a bit shocked to hear the military would be recruiting inside the mosque he attends. "I honestly don't see too many Muslims signing up for the army," he said. "If Muslims want to go to the army, that's their issue, but I don't think the mosque is the proper locale for it."
We've had this before but I'm reposting it one more time to remind us all about the way in which the UN is being used by Islamicists.
Religious groups and free-speech advocates are banding together to fight a United Nations resolution they say is being used to spread Sharia law to the Western world and to intimidate anyone who criticizes Islam.
The non-binding resolution on "Combating the Defamation of Religion" is intended to curtail speech that offends religion -- particularly Islam. Pakistan and the Organization of the Islamic Conference introduced the measure to the U.N. Human Rights Council in 1999. It was amended to include religions other than Islam, and it has passed every year since. In 2005, Yemen successfully brought a similar resolution before the General Assembly. Now the 192-nation Assembly is set to vote on it again.
The non-binding Resolution 62/145, which was adopted in 2007, says it "notes with deep concern the intensification of the campaign of defamation of religions and the ethnic and religious profiling of Muslim minorities in the aftermath of 11 September 2001." It "stresses the need to effectively combat defamation of all religions and incitement to religious hatred, against Islam and Muslims in particular."
Continued on Page 49
#4
Budda-bomp-bomp-bomp
Another one bites the dust! Bomp-bomp-bomp
Another one bites the dust!
Posted by: Mike ||
10/04/2008 13:53
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#5
I thought this guy was part of Ansar al-Islam which was formed in December 1991 in the Kurdish area and was funded and logistically supported by UBL?--contrary to what Barack Hussein Obama said in the debate about terrorists not being in iraq until we got there.
A report about a Leiden historian who claims that William of Orange was a practicing Muslim has spread like wildfire on the (Dutch speaking) internet. "It seems to have struck a sensitive chord," says Jochem van den Berg, who's behind the report.
According to the report historian 'Tjalling Wenselaar' claims that William of Orange should appear in the history books as Yusuf Ibrahim of Orange Nassau. William's conversion to Islam, occurring in the spring of 1582, was 'strategic'. "In return for his conversion to Islam and Islamisizing the Dutch provinces, the Moorish khalif Abdul Abu Uzrim promised William military aid in in fight against the Spanish," according to Wenselaar. Since William was killed shortly afterward and his son loved wine and pork too much, it did not bring about the Islamization of the Netherlands. The Oranges tried to erase all traces of the conversion of their ancestor. University of Leiden researchers say the claim is obviously untrue and that they don't know of any Tjalling Wenselaar.
The report first appeared on the De Speld website, which at first glance looks like an internet news site. Jochem van den Berg confirms that it was indeed written by the site. The historian and the research don't exist. "We wanted to start off a discussion about Dutch identity. By way of satirical reflection we wrote the article from a Judeo-Christian and Islamic background."
"We had no idea that this article would spread like wildfire on the internet," beams Van den Berg. The phones of his colleagues and him have been ringing off the hook. "Turkish and Moroccan sites copied the article and we were also approached by the Muslim broadcaster and other Muslim organizations. they all reacted moderately." He says he got comments from the ethnic Dutch as well - people related to the PVV, Pim Fortuyn and Hirsi Ali. According to Van den Berg this shows that satire and Islam go rather well together.
#4
Y'all realize, I'm sure, why this claim is being made - i.e., it 'justifies' the islamic (re)colonization of the Netherlands that is in advanced stages and against which a few brave Dutch are speaking out.
#5
This claim is bull on so many levels. They were dangerous religious times between Catholoics and Protestants and he'd have been burned in seconds if he chose a third option and lost the support of his family, friends, people, country and neighbors.
The historian is a liar or a fool. I suggest the former as he's managed to get a ton of publicity despite the damage it might do to the Netherlands viza ve Islamic claims.
The report first appeared on the De Speld website, which at first glance looks like an internet news site. Jochem van den Berg confirms that it was indeed written by the site. The historian and the research don't exist. "We wanted to start off a discussion about Dutch identity. By way of satirical reflection we wrote the article from a Judeo-Christian and Islamic background."
#8
King Billy was a gentleman
He wore a watch and chain
The Pope he was a beggarman
And came from Castlemagne
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 13:44
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#9
OOps. Hit wrong key. Try again.
King Billy was a gentleman
He wore a watch and chain
The Pope he was a beggar man
And came from Castlemaine
King Billy had an Orange cat
That sat upon the fender
And every time it caught a mouse
He shouted, "no surrender!"
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 13:46
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#10
A few things come to mind...
- it will be accepted as fact by muslim scholars & holy men, who will add that to the long list of supposed converts with which they woe the rubs (remember, it's legits, it's from scholars and wa spublished online), just see how muslim media reacted to this, they bask in that.
- I can't imagine muslim scholars, even secular ones, writing one of the califes as a Christian convert - proving once again that multiculturalism & Diveristy is a one-way street (or a single-edged sword to fall upon, if you wish). The whole exercise is unhealthy and fits well into the "cultural pessismism" of the Enlightened Elites.
- And, apart from muslims (see first item), I have no doubt that many of th epeople who got caught in that "internet wildfire" were ethnic dutch... and the simple idea that someone of dutch heritage can even think this is remotely possible is not a sign of gullibility, it's a sign that the dutch collective mind is under siege from islam, and that for many, they already interiorized the fact that they have lost. Would any pre-60's dutchman, even with the internet, would have thought such an enormity was remotely possible? No. But 2008 dutchmen could, because they already have lost the battle of memes, just like so many french, german, and americans.
Thailand's southern jihad insurgency registered two more victims early Saturday as two Thai Army soldiers on motorcycle patrol were ambushed by suspected terrorists insurgents, dying in a hail of automatic weapons fire in the southernmost province of Pattani, police said.
An unknown number gunmen from an unidentified group of presumed terrorists insurgents opened fire from the back of a pickup truck with assault rifles, killing the two privates who were members of a six-man patrol mounted on three motorcycles, patrolling the Panarae-Ban Palas road. The victims were on one motorcycle. The other members of the patrol escaped the attack but exchanged fire with the assailants. The suspected terrorists insurgents seized the victims' M-16 rifles and M-203 grenade launcher before fleeing. Responding authorities surrounded the area and were using sniffer dogs to hunt the presumed terrorists insurgents who were expected to hide among the local villagers.
Richard F. Grimmett
Specialist in International Security, Foreign Affairs, Defense, and Trade Division
This report briefly reviews the issue of U.S. arms sales to Pakistan. It provides background details regarding recent major weapons transactions between the United States and Pakistan, as well as the rationale given for such sales. It also reviews the current statutory framework that governs U.S. weapons sales to Pakistan, including existing authorities that could be used to curtail or terminate existing or prospective sales to that country. This report will only be updated should events warrant. PDF at the link
#2
Turns out, Glurong, that it really isn't any of your business, because, you know, you're a Canadian, eh?
But if it were, fearless leader, the Big 'O', wants to invade Pakistan. The first thing the Paks would do in response is cut off the supply line to Afghanistan. The one that provides our troops, and NATO troops (including your Canadian citizens) with 90% of their supplies.
Smart. Or as you would say, Duh!
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008 16:34
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Tiger Woods says football players who have the kind of knee surgery that ended his season usually are not at their best for two years.
``Luckily, I don't play football,'' Woods said Monday.
Woods said his knee will probably be no more than 85 percent strong when he returns, but he sees no reason why he can't get back to the level of play that brought him nine victories in 12 official events this year, no finish worse than a tie for fifth.
Continued on Page 49
#2
Tiger is playing mind games on the tour. They need him like Wall Street needs capital. He is the CBS and NBC golf coverage bail out plan. Plus Tiger at 85% is like all the other guys combined at their max plus some.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/04/2008 8:02
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#3
That's true. But that knee been cut on now.. what 3 times. Rest up. enjoy life for another year and be able to run with your grand-kids.
#4
He's one of those special atheletes. Ungodly talent, incredible work ethic, knife in the teeth competitive. If he waits until he's ready, and doesn't let the competitiveness make him jump the gun, I'll bet he picks up right where he left off.
#6
I'm a Phil Mickelson fan (local boy, does good works through charity, Like LaDainian), but I also appreciate Tiger's presence and talent. He's so good, that he pushes everyone else, like Phil, to concentrate and elevate their game. Get well, Tiger, take your time, the tour needs you
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 17:00
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#7
Tiger Woods says he won't be fully healed until 2010
Unless Obama performs the laying on of hands before then. HEAL!
Posted by: James Watt ||
10/04/2008 22:09
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ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Sarah and Todd Palin underpaid their estimated taxes with an April extension and could owe interest, according to an Associated Press analysis of the couple's 2007 federal tax returns released Friday by the McCain campaign.
On an extension form filed with a $2,000 check dated April 11, the Palins claimed an estimated tax liability of $22,721 and total withholding payments of $20,721. The attached check meant the couple believed they had paid all of their taxes for 2007, as required.
However, when they filed their taxes last month, dated Sept. 3, their tax liability turned out to be $24,738 meaning they owed an additional $2,017.
When asked if the Palins had paid any interest or penalties, and if so, how much, Maria Comella, McCain-Palin spokeswoman said the couple had paid "at least $2,017," and that the campaign was researching if an additional payment had been made.
Overall, the 2007 return shows that last year the couple had a gross adjusted income of $166,080 and paid $24,738 in taxes about a 15 percent rate after deductions.
Palin and her husband listed assets worth from $960,000 to $2.3 million. Because the values of assets are reported in broad ranges, it's not possible to calculate an exact value for their holdings.
#1
Better investigate this carefully. Pull any remaining journalists and fact checkers off the Rezko story, stat.
Sheesh. Anyone who has a business with highly variable income and expenses, like fishing, knows how hard it is to estimate owed taxes accurately. Talk to their CPA about why he missed this one, if he did.
Good thing there's no FBI investigation of Obama's close friends going on right now. [/sarcasm]
#2
Okay, there isn't a middle-class American that isn't going to sympathise with the Palin's over this. Someone screwed up, taxes are so damn complicated. We need to simplify taxes, not raise them.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- The jury has reached a verdict in O.J. Simpson's armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas, Nevada, a defense lawyer and a court official said Friday. The jury reached the verdict 13 years to the day O.J. Simpson was acquitted of two murders.
Simpson arrived at the Clark County Justice Center at around 10:50 p.m. (1:50 a.m. Saturday ET). The verdicts were expected to be read once all of the lawyers and defendants arrived in the courtroom.
The jury of nine men and three women, none of them African-American, began deliberations Friday after hearing from 22 witnesses over 12 days of testimony. Chief among the witnesses were seven of the nine people inside Room 1203 of the Palace Station Hotel and Casino for the September 13, 2007 confrontation.
Continued on Page 49
#14
CF's right: I'm convinced the real killer is incarcerated in the Nevada Corrections system and not out on the golf courses of America. Thank God that with OJ's clever plan to get on the inside, he will now be free to hunt for him. He's getting closer. The tension is palpable
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 10:11
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#15
The difference this time: Smarter jury, cheaper lawyers.
Racial issues that sprung OJ in L.A. were absent in Vegas trial.
#16
Also had a no nonsense judge who was allowing no lawdog shit. She just told the fools to sit down and shut up. Trial complete in seven days. F**king Ito screwed the pooch big time because he loved the publicity. Ruined his career and his public image. Relegated to traffic court and other lowly civic issues forver more.
#17
This could work for him. He could get his second career back. Longest Yard III. Him, Mike Vick, Rae Carruth, Lawrence Phillips, Maurice Claret, Art Schlichter...
#19
Oct 3rd....10th month, 3rd day- in numerology add together- and you get 13 convicted 13 years to the day after Nicole & Ron's murders the jury took 13 hours to deliberate & return the guilty verdict convicted of 12 crimes (and will pay in many minds for a 13th as well)
convicted on friday.
#24
"Amazing how interested our Canadian visitor is in a fairly routine US court case"
That and your fairly routine election is killing my time. But hey, I like it.
Btw, Do you always look up posters' IPs in comments you disagree with? How do you do that? I'd like to learn that trick.
#26
Everybody loves O.J. Simpson court cases. German and English television followed the first trial very closely.
L1011, I think it's a moderator thing; I didn't know where you were from. Of course, I'm pretty hopeless at that kind of thing. The site statistics are interesting though -- people come here from all over the world. The link is in the right column of the main page. For some reason there have been a number of really obnoxiously anti-American Canadians posting here recently, which makes the moderators a bit touchy. What's been going on up north that triggered it, do you think?
#29
"What's been going on up north that triggered it, do you think?"
Election season in both countries, brings out the best in people, coupled with the potential for hard economic times.
We had our debate at the same time (literally) you had the VP debate. Guess which one my household watched? (Well, technically I had my own tv and kept flipping back and forth, then watched it in its entirety at midnight on CNN). We have our own woman candidate for PM, but Elizabeth May is simply not as good looking as Sarah Palin.
#33
Hey, looks aren't everything. Ms. May may not have the halo effect of Sarah Palin but she did very well in the debate, placing 3rd (out of 5) in an opinion poll. Harper originally refused to participate in the debate if May was allowed in, but caved after a heavy public outcry.
She "sort of" endorsed the Liberal candidate, agreeing that her party will not run against him in some areas, so Harper's argument was that there would really be two Liberal candidates at the debate.
It'll be status quo, meaning another minority government for Harper.
Here's a nice map of the official results from the last election: www.elections.ca/pas/39ge/39official.pdf (it's a hefty pdf file)
Keep in mind the colours are reversed up here: blue = Conservative, red = Liberal. I suspect the map won't change at all after this election. Perhaps you'll see more orange (NDP) where red used to be, but that's about it. Also notice that the big bad south-eastern Ontario also has a large swath of blue, Toronto being the Liberal stronghold of course.
#34
Hey, looks aren't everything. Ms. May may not have the halo effect of Sarah Palin but she did very well in the debate, placing 3rd (out of 5) in an opinion poll. Harper originally refused to participate in the debate if May was allowed in, but caved after a heavy public outcry.
She "sort of" endorsed the Liberal candidate, agreeing that her party will not run against him in some areas, so Harper's argument was that there would really be two Liberal candidates at the debate.
It'll be status quo, meaning another minority government for Harper.
Here's a nice map of the official results from the last election: www.elections.ca/pas/39ge/39official.pdf (it's a hefty pdf file)
Keep in mind the colours are reversed up here: blue = Conservative, red = Liberal. I suspect the map won't change at all after this election. Perhaps you'll see more orange (NDP) where red used to be, but that's about it. Also notice that the big bad south-eastern Ontario also has a large swath of blue, Toronto being the Liberal stronghold of course.
#36
One can always hope, at least until the count is declared final, L1011. What form did your debate take? A moderator asking questions, town hall -- where the audience gets to pose the questions, or a proper debate where the participants can challenge one another directly?
I hope nobody minds my hijacking the thread, but poor Mr. Simpson will wait for us,
#37
The debate format was horrible and I doubt they'll do it again. It was the 5 of them plus the moderator sitting around a table. They had pre-recorded questions from the public.
It turned into a 4-against-Harper pay per view event (since we pay the taxes to see this), with no direct debating between the candidates. Occasionally they would attack someone else but mostly it was a bash Harper fest. Ridiculous format. Harper won simply by being able to withstand the attacks and not losing his cool.
The main Liberal candidate turned out to be irrelevant in this debate (even though he came out on top in the french language version held earlier...mostly because he's a francophone). It was all about Harper, Jack Layton, and Elizabeth May.
The Liberals are proposing the so-called Green Shift, revenue neutral plan, which shifts taxes from income to things that pollute. Meaning it will cost more to heat your home, but you'll get an income tax reduction to compensate, and other promised goodies. But they sort of dropped the idea now in the latter stages of the campaign, given the current economic conditions. Most people see this as a tax increase anyway and the Liberals will probably pay for it at the polls. That's not to say Harper will gain, but the NDP is becoming more unhinged as we go, so who knows. The Green party (Ms. May) might actually get someone elected to parliament (and yes, they want to legalize marijuana).
#38
L1011, could you give us a quick, simple rundown on Canadian political parties, from left (liberal) to right (conservative)?
I believe Harper is considered conservative. Is there anyone to the right of him? Thnx.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 22:13
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#39
From Left to Right:
NDP (New Democratic Party, Jack Layton),
Liberals (Stephane Dion, French dude from Quebec but a strong federalist, not a separatist),
and the Conservatives (Stephen Harper).
The Conservatives derive from the joining of the Reform Party (Alberta) and the Progressive Conservatives (estern Canada). They dropped the "Progressive", and as a result are as close to your Republicans as you're gonna get in Canada. Think of Stephen Harper (and Alberta for that matter) as Republican-lite, or Howard in Australia. As a member of The Reform Party, Harper wanted Canada to join the US & Australia in Iraq, something the Liberals recently reminded us of.
The Liberals are...well, liberals, but without the spending. They ran a surplus for a long time, but weren't keen on cutting taxes either. Interestingly, Harper destroyed the surplus (though it's still a surplus) and has been spending like a drunken liberal, but he also cut taxes...so make of it what you will.
The NDP probably wants to abolish NAFTA but they won't say it out loud. They say they're centre-left, but I'd call them communist-lite.
The Green Party is new, and I think they're of the same lineage as the Greens in Germany. They're left, but not sure how far left. They extol fiscal responsibility, balanced budgets etc. But they also want to legalize marijuana.
Add up the NDP & Liberal & Green votes and you get more than the Conservatives. But because the left is fractured like this, it meant the Conservatives became the government.
Interestingly there has been a move recently to change the election system in Canada, to prevent the so-called false majority, where a party can have a majority of seats in parliament with less than 50% of the popular vote. But this was defeated in a referendum. The proposed alternative seemed too convoluted, too gimmicky, imo.
This is the way I see it, at least. Mileage may vary.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 23:13
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#41
"I believe Harper is considered conservative. Is there anyone to the right of him?"
But to answer more directly, no. At least I can't think of anyone in the mainstream. He's from Alberta, the 51st state :) so that tells you pretty much everything.
His belief is that government should be at the optimal size of around 30% of GDP, and has been working toward that goal and has pretty much achieved it. Most reasonable Canadians agree that that is where things should be (we still want free health care and such).
The Liberals are on the decline partly due to their leadership. Stephane Dion just isn't connecting. It's for Harper to screw things up. If he does, Canada will swing towards the Liberals again. But until then...even the immigrants are moving towards Harper.
Thanks Frank...but I'm still Canadian! I'm for the bailout for Pete's sake :)
#42
Actually, I shouldn't have implied what I implied. Most people up here are against the bailout, it seems. It fits in neatly with their BDS. Too much to resist.
I guess it's whatever one is used to. We think parlimentary systems are crazy, and everyone else thinks our system is nuts. (Probably we're both right.)
As Frank said, welcome. Good luck with your elections (and wish us good luck with ours, please!).
No thread "hijack" problem, tw - OJ's got plenty of time on his hands right about now; he can wait. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 23:47
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ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin on Saturday accused Democrat Barack Obama of "palling around with terrorists" because of an old association with a former '60s radical, stepping up an effort to portray Obama as unacceptable to American voters.
Palin's reference was to Bill Ayers, one of the founders of the group the Weather Underground. Its members took credit for bombings, including nonfatal explosions at the Pentagon and U.S. Capitol, during the Vietnam War era. Obama, who was a child when the group was active, served on a charity board with Ayers several years ago and has denounced his radical views and activities. Ah -- the first statement in this "reporting" that sticks up for The One.
Second paragraph, first background paragraph. Not bad ...
The Republican campaign, falling behind slightly Obama in polls overweighted with Democrats, plans to make attacks on Obama's character a centerpiece of candidate John McCain's message in the final weeks of the presidential race.
Palin told a group of donors at a private airport, "Our opponent ... is someone who sees America, it seems, as being so imperfect, imperfect enough, that he's palling around with terrorists who would target their own country." She also said, "This is not a man who sees America as you see America and as I see America." Go, Sarah, Go
The Obama campaign called Palin's remarks offensive but not surprising in light of news stories detailing the campaign's come-from-behind offensive. "What's clear is that John McCain and Sarah Palin would rather spend their time tearing down Barack Obama than laying out a plan to build up our economy," Obama campaign spokesman Hari Sevugan said in a statement.
You guys did real well sticking up for the economy with the bailout ...
Palin's remark about Obama "palling around with terrorists" comes as e-mails circulate on the Internet with suggestions that the Democratic candidate is secretly a radical, foreign-born Muslim with designs against the U.S. - even though Obama is a native of Hawaii, a Christian and has no connections to Muslim extremists. The second "stand up for The One"
Palin, Alaska's governor, said that donors on a greeting line had encouraged her and McCain to get tougher on Obama. She said an aide then advised her, "Sarah, the gloves are off, the heels are on, go get to them."
The escalated effort to attack Obama's character dovetails with TV ads by outside groups questioning Obama's ties to Ayers, convicted former Obama fundraiser Antoin "Tony" Rezko and Obama's former pastor, the Rev. Jeremiah Wright.
Ayers is a professor at the University of Illinois at Chicago. He and Obama live in Chicago's Hyde Park neighborhood and served together on the board of the Woods Fund, a Chicago-based charity that develops community groups to help the poor. Obama left the board in December 2002.
Obama was the first chairman of the Chicago Annenberg Challenge, a school-reform group of which Ayers was a founder. Ayers also held a meet-the-candidate event at his home for Obama when Obama first ran for office in the mid-1990s.
In an interview with CBS News earlier in the week, Palin didn't name any newspapers or magazines that shaped her view of the world. On Saturday, she cited a New York Times story that detailed Obama's relationship with Ayers. Watch out World!! Sarah is now reading the Times!
Summing up its findings, the Times wrote: "A review of records of the schools project and interviews with a dozen people who know both men, suggest that Mr. Obama, 47, has played down his contacts with Mr. Ayers, 63. But the two men do not appear to have been close.
That's simply not true. Obama and Ayers met in the 80s, and during the Annenberg years the two were near joined at the hip.
Nor has Mr. Obama ever expressed sympathy for the radical views and actions of Mr. Ayers, whom he has called 'somebody who engaged in detestable acts 40 years ago, when I was 8.'" That's the Times summation -- other folks have some different summing up of their findings. Hummm - since Sarah states The One is palling around with terrorists, I'm only guessing here, but I think she might be disagreeing with the Times. Is that safe?
Not just safe but correct ...
Earlier Saturday, Palin spent 35 minutes at a diner in Greenwood Village where she met with Blue Star Moms, a support group of families whose sons or daughters are serving in the armed forces. Reporters were allowed in the diner for less than five minutes before being ushered out by the campaign. Probably by request of the Blue Star Moms
Palin, whose 19-year-old son, Track, deployed last month as a private with an Army combat team, was overheard at one point commiserating with one of the mothers: "Any time I ask my son how he's doing, he says, 'Mom, I'm in the Army now.'"
Taking one question Do they ever report when The One will take no questions?
Hey, he just wants to eat his waffle ...
from reporters about competing in battleground states, Palin repeated her wish that the campaign had not pulled out of Michigan, a prominent state in presidential elections where Obama leads by double-digit percentage points in recent polls.
"As I said the other day, I would sure love to get to run to Michigan and make sure that Michigan knows that we haven't given up there," she said. "We care much about Michigan and every other state. I wish there were more hours in the day so that we could travel all over this great country and start speaking to more Americans. So, not worried about it but just desiring more time and, you know, to put more effort into each one of these states."
#1
this is a pre-emptive effort by the NYT to protect the O, as well as the opening gun of the Palin Pitbull campaign. We will see a lot more of Wm Ayers and his terrorist wife in the coming days. Expect to see recitation of historical facts referred to as Swift-Boating, just like last time. It's Donk playbook 101, used even more when skewed polls don't support them. Keep the faith
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 18:44
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#2
It's the Seattle PI reporting, for heaven's sake - Baghdad Jim McDermott's hometown rag!
#3
Obama is a native of Hawaii, a Christian and has no connections to Muslim extremists.
When I was young forms used to say Christian name and surname. So If Uhbama is a Cristian where is his Christian name?
When people convert to Islam they take a Muslim name, Why didn't Uhbama take a Christian name when he converted in Wright's church?
UPDATED: Thursday's highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden was the most-watched vp debate of all time.
Last night's event was seen by nearly 70 million viewers, according to Nielsen Media Research.
That's the most-viewed debate -- presidential or vp -- since at least the second round between Bill Clinton, Ross Perot and George Bush in 1992.
Thursday's debate was...
-- 33% higher than Friday's top-of-the-ticket debate between John McCain and Barack Obama (52.4 million).
-- 61% higher than the 2004 vp debate between Dick Cheney and John Edwards (43.6 million).
-- 23% higher than the 1984 match up between George Bush and Geraldine Ferrarro (56.7 million), the former title-holder for the most-watched vp debate.
The Biden-Palin summit was expected to overthrow Friday's presidential debate in viewers due to questions about Palin's readiness and because the vp match was held on a Thursday -- television's most-watched night of the week. But this ratings blowout exceeds industry expectations. The audience response puts the election back onto the historic and record-breaking ratings territory that characterized the convention coverage.
The Nielsen measurement includes viewers watching the debate live on 11 networks -- NBC, ABC, CBS, FOX, PBS, CNN, Fox News, CSPAN, MSNBC, CNBC, Telemundo, and Telefutura.
ABC drew the largest debate audience with 13.1 million viewers. Among broadcast networks, ABC was followed by NBC (12.8 million), CBS (11.1 million) and Fox (4.5 million).
On cable, Fox News led with 11.1 million -- the most-watched telecast in the network's 12-year history. CNN drew 10.7 million, the channel's third most-watched telecast ever. MSNBC had 4.4 million. In addition, PBS projects 3.5 million viewers watched its coverage.
Friday night may have been the most-watched debate since Reagan vs. Carter (80.6 million). The total from last night is 69,989,000 viewers. Normally that's rounded to 70 million, but since a 1992 debate is listed as 69.9 million and Nielsen said the exact total is not readily available, the measurement company is using the more conservative 69.9 number in its official vp debate announcement.
#1
That's about three times the total viewership of the evening news programs. With declining viewership in that market, the upper echelons of the corporations that own the networks must be composed of the same CEOs and boards that made up the investment houses who can't identify fundamentals of a market. It's a market they're intentionally ignoring.
India banned smoking in public places on Thursday, a move the government hopes will help curb the habit in a country that has one of the world's largest populations of smokers.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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The local administration has ordered Afghan refugees in Bajaur Agency to leave the area within three days. There are an estimated 70,000 Afghan refugees in the agency. Authorities believe that elements among refugee population are supporting the Taliban.
Taliban killed: Also, troops backed by artillery killed 25 Taliban in the latest clashes in the agency, officials told AFP on Thursday. Gun battles erupted overnight and continued until late on Thursday after militants attacked security checkposts in four villages in the restive region, a security official said.
Support for forces: Bajaur Agency's Mamoond tribe formed a tribal lashker on Friday to support security forces against the Taliban. Hundreds of tribesmen attended a jirga in the Khar Civil Colony, organised by tribal elders and announced their support of the security forces in their bid to expel the Taliban from the area.
Meanwhile, a Peroz Khel tribal lashker arrested at least 18 Taliban, including four suspected would-be suicide bombers, and seized two explosive-laden vehicles and four suicide jackets in Orakzai Agency on Thursday, APP reported.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
The local administration has ordered Afghan refugees in Bajaur Agency to leave the area within three days. There are an estimated 70,000 Afghan refugees in the agency
I'll expect all progressive humanity to rise in outrage.
#1
But in Chicago, Mr. Ayers has largely been rehabilitated.
By lefty standards, a terrorist bomber is 'rehabilitated' if he says that he thinks violence against his country is not always the answer.
Another Obama press release (thinly) disguised as a news story.
Posted by: Graique Oppressor of the Brontosaurs7877 ||
10/04/2008 9:14
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#2
violence against his country is not always the answer
I actually agree with that statement; I suspect we would disagree a lot on just when it might be the answer. It is the main reason the Second Amendment was written.
The Defense Department announced today that charges against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani have been referred to trial by military commission. Ghailani is alleged to have been involved in the planning and preparation of the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug 7, 1998.
In accordance with the Military Commissions Act of 2006, the convening authority has the sole discretion to determine what charges will be referred to trial. In exercising her independent judgment, the convening authority, Susan Crawford, referred nine charges against Ghailani. The case was referred as non-capital, meaning the maximum possible punishment is life in prison.
Ghailani is charged with the following substantive offenses: murder in violation of the Law of War, murder of protected persons, attacking civilians, attacking civilian objects, intentionally causing serious bodily injury, destruction of property in violation of the Law of War and Terrorism. In addition, he is charged with conspiracy to commit all of the above offenses. Ghailani is further charged with providing material support to terrorism.
The charges are only allegations that the accused has committed offenses under the Military Commissions Act, and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Geez, he looks like Obama's half brother that lives in the shack on $12 a year.
Posted by: Jack is Back! ||
10/04/2008 7:53
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#3
Geez - I saw this, and wondered where the article came from: The charges are only allegations that the accused has committed offenses under the Military Commissions Act, and the accused is presumed innocent unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
Defenselink is pretty straight, and it's a legitimate inclusion. Too bad AP, Rooters, the NYT, LAT, et cetera, ad nauseum, didn't include similar wording when they were reporting about Haditha.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 13:09
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U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon has offered to retain a Rwandan general as the global agency's second-highest-ranking commander in Darfur, Sudan, despite allegations that he oversaw troops responsible for war crimes in Rwanda during the 1990s,
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
despite allegations that he oversaw troops responsible for war crimes in Rwanda during the 1990s
Imagine Nazi Germany had been conquered by Jews. Taht is what happened in Rwanda. Someone wonders that there was acts of revenge?
BTW, France who had protected the (future) genocidal Rwandan government before the genocide, covered its retreat during it and rearmed its followers after it was at the head of those tellin of war crimes.
Afghanistan was officially elected to the board of the U.N. atomic watchdog on Friday, after the rival candidate for the seat, Syria, agreed to drop its bid for the race after it ran into strong opposition due to an investigation into its atomic activity, diplomats said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Syria said on Friday it was cooperating fully with a U.N. inquiry into its nuclear activity but would not go as far as opening up military sites because this would undermine its national security.
"We would like to underline that my government is cooperating with the agency in full transparency and will follow suit all along the way," Ibrahim Othman, Syria's Atomic Energy Commission director, told the IAEA's assembly on Friday. "However, this cooperation will not in any way come at the expense of exposing our military sites or causing a threat to our national security," said Othman.
Diplomats close to the IAEA have said Syria has ignored agency requests to check three military installations believed linked to the alleged reactor site.
"We regret statements by some countries calling on us to show more transparency. I would like you here to recall what (IAEA Director General Mohamed ElBaradei) said, namely that Syria has cooperated and complied with implementation of the measures agreed to by the agency."
The U.N. atomic watchdog is probing allegations that Damascus had been building a clandestine nuclear facility at Al-Kibar, a remote desert area, until it was bombed by Israeli planes in September 2007.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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As many as 13 militants have been killed in the ongoing operation launched by security forces in a high-altitude region over the Harmukh range in north-east Kashmir, a senior Army officer said on Friday.
Thirteen militants have been killed in the operation launched on September 24 following information that militants are moving from Bandipora to Kangan valley of Ganderbal district through high altitude region, General Officer Commanding of Army's Kilo Force Major General V S S Goder told reporters at Sharifabad on the outskirts of the city on Friday.
He said troops of 10 Para and three units of Rashtriya Rifles were mobilised by air and on foot with a view to intercept the militants in the area of Chhamarsar Lake.
Contact was established with the militants on September 25 at the Harmukh ridge towards the Kangan valley in the higher reaches, Goder said, adding the operation is being conducted in inhospitable, harsh and treacherous terrain at altitudes ranging upto 15,000 feet where some of the ravines receive snowfall on a daily basis.
Taking advantage of rocks, folds in the ground and caves, militants took shelter while engaging the troops and in the ensuing firefight 13 militants have been killed, he said.
Gen Goder said the assault has been terminated on October one even though clearing operations for recovery of the bodies of the killed militants and those trapped in the caves was still on.
He said the identity of the slain militants can be ascertained only after the operation is completed. "The area has been cordoned off and clearing operations are continuing."
Gen Goder said 11 AK assault rifles, 27 magazines, 387 rounds and two satellite phones have been recovered so far.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
two satellite phones have been recovered
Could have been some useful intel from those, if anybody was interested. A lot less useful now that the recovery has been made public.
#2
Innocent peasants, one and all. Was singing "Nearer my God to Thee" while marching through the mountains.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/04/2008 10:02
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Richard,
That part of the world is so hostile to human habitation that the only Person that will actually CLAIM it is God. Saw some images of the area once, while we were still flying US reconnaissance flights out of Peshawar. It's the only place I've ever heard of where 70-degree slopes were considered for "beginners".
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 13:20
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Israel plans to install two massive radar antennae near the Dimona nuclear plant to bolster its defense measures against Iran, the Maariv newspaper reported on Friday. The 400-meter-high antennae will be erected in the Negev Desert near a top-secret military site where Israel is widely believed to have developed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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(SomaliNet) In the last week of September, at least 80 civilians were killed and more than 100 others injured in violence in the Somalian capital Mogadishu, the United Nations said on Friday.
UN-OCHA had appealed for 646 million dollars to help 3.2 million people or 43 percent of Somalia's population, which is in "dire need of humanitarian assistance". But Byrs said that the fund is still short of 231 million dollars.
Meanwhile, about 15,000 people have also been displaced following the fighting, some fleeing to safer districts in the city, while others fled to the Afgooye corridor where already 300,000 internally displaced people have sought refuge.
UN-OCHA had appealed for 646 million dollars to help 3.2 million people or 43 percent of Somalia's population, which is in "dire need of humanitarian assistance". But Byrs said that the fund is still short of 231 million dollars.
The UN refugee agency had earlier described the fighting in Mogadishu as the "most violent since February 2007", shortly after the toppling of hardline Islamists. It estimates that 700,000 people fled the capital last year, and another 160,000 have left since the start of the year.
This article starring:
Elisabeth Byrs
Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Somalia's population, which is in "dire need of humanitarian assistance"
Just about exactly 15 years ago we learned how Somalia deals with humanitarian assistance missions. I don't feel very humanitarian towards Somalia anymore.
#2
I really do believe we should deliver some "humanitarian assistance" to Somalia - via Eritrea - from the bellies of a dozen heavily-loaded B-52s.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 13:03
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#3
Sorry, Mogians, we are just tapped out. Ask yer pirate buddies for a handout. Or maybe you can deficit spend yourselves out of your problem. Contact yer buddy Bob Mugabe for the details. Maybe you can incorporate in Nevada and get corporate lines of credit. Just some suggestions.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 13:16
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#4
Let's leave this opportunity for glory to the Germans. They know how to do these things so much better than we.
Most Rantburg rants are much more professional than the so-called "professional" journalists'."
;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 17:06
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Barbara: The information to noise ratio is indeed much higher on the burg than elsewhere, despite the occasional visits from the Glurong Johnsons of the world.
This author sounds like Maureen Dowd on a bad hair day.
#9
Ouch, mom. :-) The poor man is a typical big-city provincial who completely lacks understanding of the world beyond his particular city's walls, coupled with a naive faith that politicians always speak the truth. He probably thinks Americans really are like the characters in "Dallas" and "Beverly Hills 90210". It was well-written, though.
#10
"This author sounds like Maureen Dowd on a bad hair day."
I was thinking Maureen Dowd on a no-hair day, mom, but yours works too. ;-p
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 18:16
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#11
The poor man is a typical big-city provincial...
"Pardon him, Theodotus; he is a barbarian, and thinks that the customs of his tribe and island are the laws of nature"
--George Bernard Shaw, "Caesar and Cleopatra"
#12
Indeed, it would be a surprise if Biden had any tongue left at all after last nights debate, given how much time it must have spent being bitten by that flawless set of gameshow teeth.
Gameshow teeth, car salesman's hair, condescending attitude. Had my grandmother, and exceptional judge of character, been alive to watch the debate, she would have wanted to "slap that shit-eating grin off his smug face". It was all I could think of whenever he flashed his brite whites.
DOVER, Del., Oct 3 (Reuters) - U.S. Democratic vice presidential nominee Joe Biden bid a safe farewell on Friday to 112 "citizen soldiers" headed to Iraq, including his son, and told them "thank you for answering the call of your country."
"God bless you and may He protect you," Biden said a day after his debate with his Republican rival Sarah Palin, who as Alaska's governor saluted her 20-year-old son off to war last month. "We take comfort in the knowledge ... that you are the best prepared group of citizen soldiers our country and this state has ever sent into harm's way," Biden said.
His son Joseph "Beau" Biden III, 39, is a captain in the Delaware Army National Guard's 261st Signal Brigade. Married with two children, he also is Delaware's attorney general, the state's elected chief public prosecutor. Members of his unit are to report by Sunday to Fort Bliss, Texas, before being deployed to Iraq for about a year.
Biden's son is assigned to the Army's Judge Advocate General Corps. The Guard did not disclose the duties of departing soldiers but those in positions similar to Biden's son have served as Army prosecutors, helping enforce military law.
Biden drew smiles and laughter at an otherwise largely somber ceremony when he said he had received advice from his son about his remarks. "'Dad, keep it short. We're in formation,'" the often long-winded Biden quoted his son as telling him.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008
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#1
...My son heads out for USAF basic training on Jan 27th, then comes back to the SCANG. When it comes to our kids, I'll stand next to Joe Biden anytime.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/04/2008 7:34
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JAKARTA- Three Indonesian Islamists on death row over the 2002 Bali bombings which killed more than 200 people will be executed by the end of the year, a report said on Friday.
No final date has been set for the execution but prosecutors have received key paperwork allowing it to go ahead, attorney general's office spokesman Jasman Panjaitan was quoted as saying by news website Detikcom.
Jemaah Islamiyah militants Amrozi, Mukhlas and Imam Samudra face a firing squad over the nightclub attacks on the resort island of Bali which killed 202 people, mainly foreign holidaymakers. "It's not in writing yet when they will be executed, but what is certain is that it will be this year," Panjaitan said.
Anytime now, yewbetcha ...
Prosecutors had earlier put plans to execute the bombers before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan -- which ended this week -- on hold, citing bureaucratic delays.
The bombers on Wednesday promised "retribution" if they are executed. "The people who will execute us, if they do this execution they will be cursed by God," bomber Mukhlas told reporters at the island prison off southern Java where they are being held. "If the execution is carried out, that will constitute the biggest criminal act because they will be killing holy warriors."
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008
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Bureaucratic delays, Ramadan, the dog ate the execution orders...
The U.S. Congress gave final approval on Friday to a $700 billion bailout of the U.S. financial industry, sending the measure to President George W. Bush to sign into law. The biggest financial crisis since the Great Depression nearly 80 years ago hit the world in 2008.
Here are some key dates:
January 11 - Bank of America pays $4 billion for Countrywide Financial after the mortgage lender goes bust when risky loans to shaky borrowers fail.
Continued on Page 49
#1
Cavuto was just (dunno why..) interviewing Jesse Jackson about the meltdown and mortgage crisis. He kept asking if "personal responsibility" could be part of the blame game, and Jesse acted like he didn't understand what those words meant - LOLZ
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 10:17
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#2
The Dems were responsible for the Community Reinvestment Act back in Jimmy Carter's day, in 1995, Janet Reno ruled it would be discriminating if loans weren't given to illegal immigrants. Republican free traders like importing cheap immigrant labor and outsourcing to cut costs, leading to open border policies and deregulation and elimination of any ethical oversight. Money launderers/speculators have driven up the cost of housing with lots of excess money from the drug trade and all of us were very comfortable with the "prosperity" this revenue brought to Main St. When the US got serious about immigration and law enforcement, plus the successful tracking of FARC/terror financing, the fancy bookkeeping became apparent. Refinancing legitimate mortgages for primary residences would help the taxpayers, but bailouts for speculators is ridiculous. We can't legislate morality, but the greedy swindlers should suffer the consequences of their own doing. Unfortunately, we all have to collectively suffer and can only delay is a little by this bail-out. Pelosi looked so pleased with herself signing the bill and presenting it as though she had saved us all from ruin. Taking credit without taking the blame pegs the failing & contradictory policies of the last few decades and it will be a long time undoing this mess. Finding necessary funds for Defense and Homeland Security will take a miracle and the bad guys know it. I am thinking of investing in the Lakota Industries Palin bow to hunt turkeys....
#3
The key event for me was the first week of August 2007, when 2 Bear Stearns hedge funds declared bankruptcy, costing investors $1.6 billion. The two funds were highly leveraged in mortgage-backed securities, and were two of the most prominent funds affected by the sub-prime mortgage meltdown.
Over the next week stock markets continued their decline in reaction to these further developments:
* The Bear Stearns CFO said this was the worst credit market he had seen in 22 years.
* Standard & Poor's cut Bear Stearns credit rating to negative, stating that its mismanagement of hedge funds left it liable to investor lawsuits.
* The Co-President, Warren Stearns, resigned.
The news articles about this event informed me about the gross excesses of the housing bubble and the extreme vulnerability of the economy to overleveraged institutions like Bear Stearns. That was when I decided to sell out everything I had in stocks & go into CD's, Treasury paper & banks.
(SomaliNet) As a massive influx of Somali refugees fleeing a brutal insurgency across the border stretches the facilities to breaking point, tension is rising at the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp complex in north-west Kenya, say United Nations officials. Sources say the complex, made up of three separate camps stretching over 50 square kilometres, now hosts 215 000 refugees - the vast majority of them Somalis. It was set up 16 years ago to hold only 90 000.
Meanwhile, local residents in Kenya, who have long been unhappy with the impact of the camp on the community, are losing patience with the seemingly endless stream of refugees. They have been staging demonstrations and have handed over an official letter of protest to the United Nations refugee agency (UNHCR). "We have been working with the community, but they have a feeling that much more needs to be done," Emmanuel Nyabera, the UNHCR's information officer in Kenya, said on Thursday. "We are looking at the document and are hoping we can have a meeting with the government before the weekend."
Nyabera said that an area had been identified for a fourth camp and that discussions on final approval were under way. However, locals are unlikely to be appeased by an increase in the capacity of the camp. The desert region - in recent years hit by both drought and floods - is far from being an economic powerhouse. Residents in the region want to see more jobs being created for locals and are concerned about the environmental impact of the camp.
An aid worker based in Dadaab said locals were demonstrating daily and demanding that the refugees leave. There had also been reports of stoning of UN vehicles. Almost a million Somalis have fled the brutal insurgency, which seems to be getting worse. Most of those fleeing the violence in the Somali capital Mogadishu remain displaced within Somalia, but the flow to Kenya remains constant despite the border being officially closed.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Give 'em guns and ammo and send 'em back across the border.
2 problems solved.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 0:32
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#2
The British have concerns over the growing number of Somalis there may be linked to AQ, and, unfortunately, the UNHCR's usual solution is to send the refugees to the West. Considering the global economic crisis, cutting the UN off the teat should be the first spending cut made for the US taxpayers, as refugees get US welfare assistence or live on the dole, with allotments for each wife the Muslims bring. BS' recommendation the Somalis take some personal responsibility seems like the only logical approach right now.
#4
unfortunately, the UNHCR's usual solution is to send the refugees to the West.
Which is why you get swedish girls being gangraped by somalis... in Sweden. How many sweden would have thought that possible even half a century ago?
And I remember reading here about the somali streetgangs in Chicago? Or those assertive somali cab drivers and assorted workers DEMANDING amenagements for their islamic faith... Seems those refugees are not the grateful type.
United States air strikes on three villages in North Waziristan killed at least 20 people on Wednesday and Friday. All of them puppies, kittens, baby ducks, of course...
Intelligence officials said a pilotless drone aircraft launched an attack on the village of Mohammad Khel, 30 kilometres west of Miranshah, North Waziristan's main urban centre, at around 9:30pm on Friday. One intelligence official said at least 12 people had been killed in the attack, including some foreigners, although Taliban sources in the area later told Reuters eight were killed and seven were wounded.
Pakistani intelligence officials reported another US airstrike earlier on Friday, this time on the North Waziristan village of Datta Khel, situated closer to the border with Afghanistan, in which at least three were killed.
There was no immediate confirmation from either the Pakistani military or from the US-led coalition fighting in Afghanistan. Pakistan Army spokesman Major General Athar Abbas said officers were investigating the reported strikes, but could not confirm them.
The attacks come on the back of an earlier strike that occurred on Wednesday, eight kilometers south of the town of Mir Ali, in which at least five people were reported to have died. It has been reported that a US pilotless drone fired two missiles at a house in the area.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
I thought we said we weren't going to go attacking inside of Pakistan anymore, to this must have been Klingons or maybe yeti that bombed this village.
#7
Damn! It's come this? Third class idiots as trolls? We used to have high-class trolls, not 16-yr-old morons drooling on Mom's keyboard in the basement. How we've fallen.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 16:41
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#8
Give the kid a break. He had to post 3 inane comments here - he's working on his Junior Troll Badge for the O Scouts. He gets a shiny sticker for his mousepad when he finishes ....
U.S. President George W. Bush on Friday signed a mammoth economic rescue package aimed at saving troubled U.S. banks and easing a credit crunch that he warned could spell disaster for the U.S. public.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
(Insert crude comment about Dem treason and Rep cowardice here.)
To say I'm angry about this is to be guilty of gross understatement. Every last American has been hurt by this debasement of our currency and our elected representatives don't care. Bastards.
#3
After the major dramatic drop in the stock market by the panicked, the speculators dumped their money in causing the rise by seeking safer havens for the immediate time. With the bailout, they can now pull that out to seek another market to destroy speculate. Watch for the next bubble. It will happen till the currancy collapses or the speculators resources are dried up [by permitting their resources to die in failure rather than by recovered by bailouts].
The bailout kills any serious approach to reforming Social Security because the 'system' can't work without confidence that markets be permitted to operate. The central government will in the end 'guarantee' the outcome of such proportions and everyone else will once again pickup the bill for any loses.
It also undermines objections to capital gains taxes as it will constitute the 'royalty' fee paid by American business players for using the treasury of the population for their own gains, but never their losses.
#4
This was triage. First you secure the airway and stop the bleeding, then you figure out what went wrong and go to work on that.
If we have a President McCain, we might actually figure out what went wrong. Fixing it is another matter.
If we have a President Obama, we'll never get a handle on what went wrong.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008 12:26
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#5
US stocks end lower after bailout passes
It's nice to see that the Israeli press is just as market ignorant as the American press is.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/04/2008 12:50
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#6
I was talking to a girlfriend last night, a market research manager at a Fortune 500 company. She has long assumed that her retirement income will result entirely on her savings and investments, that whatever pittance she might get from Social Security, Medicaid, etc will be taken back in taxes. We grew up on the stories of old people living on dog food, and the lesson we drew was that we would have to make our own arrangements... and that we might have to support our parents in their old age as well. I grant that a sample size of one is not statistically valid, but I've also read that 30% of those aged 65-69 are still/again working, and 10% of those 70-75. Most of them seem to be cashiers and baggers at my grocery store, and they love to chat while they ring up my bananas and rye bread.
The entitlements are definitely a lump-in-the-snake problem, but I don't think there will be riots in the streets if the younger generations get considerably less back than their Silent Generation and Baby Boom elders. Even if it is discontinued completely except as a safety net for the very poorest retirees.
#7
The $100 billion in goodies was a bribe to whores Congressmen to go along with the raid on the financial future of the country bailout.
The thing that made me absolutely furious was a 400+ page document that was NOT allowed any time in the light of day before it was passed. We may just have to pass some kind of appropriation, but we need a bit of public review. This bailout legislation was the same modus operandi as the so-called immigration reform bill.
By their actions, Congress has made a permanent enemy out of me, and millions of just plain Joes like me.
This bailout is just the tip of the sh*tberg. There will be more and more, done with money we don't have, further devaluing the Dollar. Every Senator and every Representative that voted for this legislation is a criminal, in my book. They have subverted the fundamental principles of this Republic.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 13:34
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#8
So the Dow went up after the initial House vote against the bailout bill. The Senate got it and added much pork (O.K. sweeteners), passed it 2/3/ to 1/3 and the stock market went down after being up. The House then got the bill and passed it and then the market went down again. Maybe the moral is that government shouldn't mess with the markets.
#11
"Every Senator and every Representative that voted for this legislation is a criminal, in my book. They have subverted the fundamental principles of this Republic."
Easy, killer. If you don't like government now, wait until unemployment hits 20-30%, then you'll get government coming out your wazoo. You won't be able to take a crap in the forest without a government permit first. Do you really want to risk that? No? Then let the bailout pass, fix the problem, and move on.
Or....you can always start a rebellion. But you go first, okay?
A car exploded outside Russia's military headquarters in South Ossetia on Friday, killing seven soldiers in what leaders of the Moscow-backed separatist region immediately described as a terrorist attack launched from Georgia.
The blast came amid continuing tensions in the area as a ceasefire deadline approached for Russian troops to withdraw from territory around the breakaway republic, which has declared its independence from Georgia.
Preliminary reports indicated Russian forces had seized the car in a Georgian village outside South Ossetia and taken it to Tskhinvali, the capital, where it exploded, a South Ossetian spokeswoman said on Russian state television, which showed ambulances rushing from the scene as thick black smoke filled the air.
Seven Russian servicemen were killed in the blast, and seven others were wounded, the commander of the Russian forces, Maj. Gen. Marat Kulakhmetov, told the Interfax news agency. The wounded were airlifted to military hospitals in Russia, he said.
The death of Russian soldiers could jeopardize the fragile ceasefire brokered by European leaders last month. Russia invaded Georgia and routed its forces in a five-day war in August after a Georgian attack on South Ossetia killed several Russian peacekeepers stationed there.
The Russian Foreign Ministry condemned the explosion as a "crime" intended by "certain forces" to destabilize the region and undermine the ceasefire, the official RIA-Novosti news agency said.
The South Ossetian leader, Eduard Kokoity, was more direct. "The latest terrorist attacks in South Ossetia prove that Georgia has not renounced its policy of state terrorism," he said on Russian television. "We have no doubt that these terrorist acts are the work of Georgia special forces."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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If a random Georgian city won't be obliterated, I'll be very disappointed.
#2
Grom, do you mean 'surprised' rather than 'disappointed'?
If not then you should leave Israel and go back to Russia. I'm sure there's a place for a Jew in the rising cult of personality around Putin, as there always has been for Jews when Russia goes nationalistic and expansionist and xenophobic. [/sarcasm]
My father's family is Russian/Ukrainian. I grew up in a dual language household as a small child, celebrated the religious (Orthodox Christian) rites and the cultural holidays. And for my part you could not pay me enough money or political power to entice me to move back there. But perhaps your tastes are different.
#3
Preliminary reports indicated Russian forces had seized the car in a Georgian village outside South Ossetia and taken it to Tskhinvali, the capital, where it exploded
so, did they steal a car bomb? This is so poorly written you can't tell what happened
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 9:44
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#4
Preliminary reports indicated Russian forces had seized the car in a Georgian village outside South Ossetia and taken it to Tskhinvali, the capital, where it exploded, a South Ossetian spokeswoman said on Russian state television,
The Russians are the ones who had the car in their possession, and were transporting it around, but in your opinion that's good enough evidence to destroy a Georgian city?
After the Union Cabinet took a serious view and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed anguish over continuing violence against Christians in Orissa, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday shot off a strongly-worded letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asking him to take effective measures and provide security for the community.
The letter came hours after the Union Cabinet expressed grave concern over the situation in the state with Prime Minister Manmohan Singh directing Patil to present an appraisal report on the situation at the next cabinet meeting.
The Prime Minister is also understood to have expressed anguish over the situation on which he had to face embarrassment during the recent India-EU Summit in Marseilles.
In the letter, the home minister is understood to have stated that enough para-military forces have been provided to the state since trouble broke out in December last year.
He told Patnaik to take effective measures to control communal violence and to apprehend elements that continue to stoke violence and hatred.
Giving details of the deployment of central para-military forces to the state, Patil said that merely continuing to ask for additional forces after every few days could not be a solution.
Patil pointed out that an MI-17 helicopter was positioned at Bhubaneswar from August 31 to September 11 even without a formal request from the state government to facilitate transportation of troops to control situation and evacuation of the injured.
The helicopter was again sent from September 17 to 26 at the request of the state government, he said, adding that the authorities did only recce and not use it even once for transportation of troops -- the primary purpose for which the state government had asked for retention of the aircraft.
Patil is said to have pointed out that required attention was not given by the state government to strengthen the police force and said out of five India Reserve battalions sanctioned for Orissa, the state had raised only one.
He also said the paramilitary forces have spared no effort in providing personnel even at the cost of withdrawing them from other states.
Patil told the chief minister that in December last year, the Centre had rushed 600 para-military force personnel while in February this year 400 more jawans were sent in addition to 2400 personnel already deployed there.
After the killing of the VHP leader Swami Laxmanananda Saraswati in August, 2000 more personnel were despatched.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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The U.S. government plans to build a new embassy near the River Thames, moving from historic Grosvenor Square, which has been associated with the United States since shortly after the nation was born in 1776.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Expecting bad times there are we ? Going to be fully armored with gun turrets ? Fully failsafe entry instead of just swinging doors ?
#6
The article, or at least the part of it I read (not terribly interested), just said "near the River Thames". That could mean anything from next door to the Tower of London to across from Windsor Castle, 30 miles upstream. OR they could be moving it closer to the Channel, where a carrier could pick up the staff without having to enter the river's mouth.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 17:16
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(AKI) - The United Nations World Food Programme has dispatched a first convoy of food and other supplies for 200,000 displaced people in areas of Sri Lanka controlled by militant Tamil separatists. The population has been cut off from humanitarian assistance for more than two weeks after fighting in the region escalated. The convoy has delivered enough food to feed the population for one week.
Over the coming weeks, WFP plans to send a minimum of one aid convoy per week which will travel from the northern town of Vavuniya through the Omantai crossing point to the conflict-affected areas. WFP truck convoys are also ferrying humanitarian supplies on behalf of other relief agencies.
"It is crucial that a regular flow of humanitarian supplies is provided to conflict victims who are extremely vulnerable and in need of the most basic necessities," said Azeb Asrat, WFP Acting Country Director in Sri Lanka.
The UN and other international humanitarian aid agencies withdrew from the Vanni Region on 16 September following a government-issued directive requiring staff to be relocated outside the LTTE-controlled area.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Require tips about the corruptions of the persons in UN Security Council, International Criminal Court and UN organizations.
(SomaliNet) The Islamist insurgent group fighting in Somalia, Alshabab, warned of reprisals some of the international aid organisations operating in Somalia if they do not desist from "anti-Islamic activities" they are involved in, Al Shabab spokesman Sheik Muqtar Robow Abu Mansur told APA during an interview on Friday.
Sheik Muqtar warned that the NGOs, International Medical Corps and Care International, will face negative consequences if they do not stop what he referred to as "bad activities against Islam". Sheik Muqtar did not give details on the anti-Islamic activities these NGOs are being accused of. "We can no longer tolerate what they are doing and this is our last warning. We hope they will understand and if not we will take tough steps against them."
Sheik Abu Mansur also urged other international aid agencies active in Somalia not to interfere in "what cannot be compatible with their regular humanitarian jobs".
"They claim that they came here for humanitarian purposes, but we have gathered more reliable information about the bad things they are engaged in, so we can say they have crossed the line and we have to go against that," he stated.
The Sheik who fought in Afghanistan in 2001-2002 said that after a warning, the next step of his group will be to punish International Medical Crops (IMC) and Care International.
The representatives of both aid agencies are yet to react to the warning from Al Shabab, which is one of the strongest insurgent groups operating in Somalia. However, it is unclear how both Aid groups will be able to continue their humanitarian works in this lawless nation of Somalia after Al Shabab's Friday warning.
Earlier this week, the Union of Islamic Courts of Somalia, another powerful insurgent group, announced that it will guarantee the safety of aid workers in the areas it controls while asking them to increase their humanitarian activities.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
#1
Here's a clue: Don't go to any country run by islamonazis and you're less likely to be killed for your kindness.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 0:29
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#3
These people REALLY, REALLY need a good B$$$h slap by a dozen or so BUFFS from 40K. It might take two or three, but after that, I think ALL the muzzies might be a little better behaved.
If not, we can continue...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 16:30
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Leaders of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on Friday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor to suspend efforts to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on genocide charges. Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who hosted a meeting of the 79-strong ACP grouping, said the summit had resolved that it was better to use diplomatic rather than legal initiatives. "We believe there should be room for more diplomatic efforts" to resolve the crisis in Darfur, said Kufuor.
On Wednesday ICC prosecutors sought to persuade a panel of judges to grant their request for a warrant for Bashir.
In July, chief prosecutor Luis Moreno-Ocampo asked the court for an arrest warrant for Bashir on 10 counts of genocide, crimes against humanity and war crimes.
In a draft resolution, the ACP leaders had called for "the withdrawal of the ICC demarche to allow for political diplomatic efforts," but according to Kufuor they finally agreed to change the wording to replace "withdrawal" with "suspension."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
The ACP? Another organization sponsored by the International Association of Banquet Caterers?
The FBI is investigating a former Illinois state senator who is a p0ker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. According to Chicago authorities, the FBI visited the offices in Joliet, Ill., of a Will County auditor to ask questions about Larry Walsh, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama's, and his chief of staff Matt Ryan.
Mr. Walsh, who served in the Illinois Senate from 1997 to 2005, was endorsed by Mr. Obama in his county executive election bid. With the support of some of Mr. Obama's U.S. Senate volunteers, he easily defeated incumbent Republican Joseph Mikan.
Joliet's been a political cesspool for decades, a mini-version of Chicago. The Republicans controlled the county for quite a while but in recent years enough Democrats have moved into the county so that the Democratic crooks could take over from the Republican crooks.
Will County auditor Steve Weber confirmed that his office had been asked by the FBI to assist in an investigation, but he did not elaborate on the specifics. Two FBI agents out of Chicago reportedly spent more than an hour in the Will County offices on Wednesday morning.
According to sources, the Walsh investigation may be tied to lobbying firm Smith Dawson and Andrews, which was hired in 2006 for $10,000 per month to help Will County acquire federal grants. The firm, which is registered with the U.S. Senate and House of Representatives, assists clients with communications and legislative strategies that better their public policy agendas, according to its Web site. Last month, Mr. Walsh announced that Will County was the recipient of a $750,000 federal government grant that would allow law enforcement and prosecutors to fight against domestic violence.
One of the firm's partners, James P. Smith, contributed $2,000 to help Mr. Walsh's county executive election bid.
A corn farmer from Joliet, Mr. Walsh has supported his friend's presidential bid, and campaigned for him in rural and farming areas of the state. They are seen hugging each other in photos before Mr. Obama's announcement that he was running for president.
The two men became tight friends during their tenure in the Illinois Senate and bonded over games of p0ker. According to a report in Time magazine, Mr. Walsh lost to Mr. Obama once with what he thought was a winning hand, and then slammed down his cards and said: "Doggone it, Barack, if you were more liberal in your card-playing and more conservative in your politics, you and I would get along much better."
Mr. Walsh denied any knowledge of any investigation. "I don't have a clue what you are talking about," Mr. Walsh said in reports published Thursday in the Chicago Sun-Times.
He'll now be shunned. No other politicians will know him, none will shake hands or go to lunch with him. He's got the federal version of cooties and it might be contagious.
#1
How can plague be prevented?
1. People who live, work, or play in areas with active plague infection in political rodents should take these precautions:
· Eliminate food and shelter for politicians around homes, work places, and certain recreation areas, such as picnic sites or campgrounds where people congregate. Remove brush, rock piles, junk, and food sources, including pet food.
· Allow health authorities to use appropriate and licensed insecticides to kill fleas during plague outbreaks in politicians.
· Treat pets (cats and dogs) for flea control regularly.
· Avoid sick or dead politicians, and report such politicians to the health department. Hunters and trappers should wear rubber gloves when skinning politicians.
· Use insect repellents when outdoors in areas where there is a risk of flea exposure.
#2
I've got a bus for sale - if Obama is interested, that is.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/04/2008 9:25
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#3
How high is the suspension? Gonna need good clearance - he's still got weeks during which to try to slip away from all those inconvenient friends of his.
#4
Richard of O,
The One ought to look into one of those Rhino things instead of a regular bus; some of these folks getting thrown under it might be explosive.
#5
Nary a peep about this, or any of his other 'friends' from the MSM.
Meanwhile the MSM has an army of 'investigators and reporters' shifting through Palin's garbage, Palin's neighbor's garbage and the dumps around her town.
(AKI) - One of Russia's largest helicopter producers announced on Friday that is finalising a deal with Iran for the purchase of several helicopters. According to Russia's state news agency, RIA Novosti, the helicopter - the Kamov Ka-226T - would be used for civil rather than military purposes.
However, the helicopter, which Iran is reportedly considering, has an interchangeable 'mission pod' that can turn it into a passenger, freight, search and rescue as well as patrol aircraft.
Roman Chernyshev, director of Kamov said the helicopters would be for civil rather than military use and he expected to sign the contract by the end of the year. He also said that other Russian aircraft makers had already signed deals with the Islamic Republic, citing as an example, the expected delivery of 100 Tupolev TU-204 passenger airliners.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
...This little beast appears to be a tough, capable ship that would come in pretty handy in the Iranian outback. The mullahs made a good choice for once. OTOH, I wouldn't be at all surprised to see it show up in a "We-Hate-The-Jews-Day" parade in Tehran as some fiendish new weapon.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/04/2008 7:41
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#2
Gotta maintain them, Mike. That means one of two ways:
1. Russian techs do it, and you may live to fly another day.
2. Insh'Allah Aviation Services does it, and you can flip a coin for a preflight.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 13:38
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#3
I'll lean toward option 1. Hopefully the mullahs will keep them separated from the Chinese techs.
I'm with ya on the Russian techs...I was trying to impress my new bride once with stories of derring-do and adventure from my time in the USAF. She just looked at me and said, "I flew Aeroflot. Twice."
Bravest girl I've ever known.:)
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
10/04/2008 16:27
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#5
"I flew Aeroflot. Twice."
She sounds like a spunky one, Mike. I'd say that remark qualifies her as an Honorary Rantburg Snarkette.
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has advised Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to Afghanistan and join him in the political process, Geo News reported on Friday. In an interview with the channel, Karzai said, "I propose that Mullah Omar return to Afghanistan as I will be responsible for his security and answerable to the whole of the world on his behalf." Dostum is a practical man. If he knows where Mullah Omar is, likely Mullah Omar will meet with a terrible accident -- something along the line of falling under a tank. If he doesn't do it, Ismail Khan might. Or somebody else.
According to AFP, the US-led coalition forces in Afghanistan and France on Friday voiced support for Karzai's bid to hold talks with the Taliban. "Yeah, sure. Go ahead. See what happens."
Talking to reporters at a Pentagon news conference, General David McKiernan, the commander of the International Security Assistance Force, said, "I think that's a political decision that will ultimately be made by political leadership. Ultimately, the solution in Afghanistan is going to be a political solution not a military solution." "I have my doubts it's gonna involve Mullah Omar going out of the Taliban business. Maybe his successor, twice or three times removed, not him." French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said that in some regions in Afghanistan, there must be contacts with the Taliban at the local level, AFP reported. He said Karzai must not engage hardcore Taliban.
This article starring:
David McKiernan
French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#4
Speaking of tank tracks, my friend's dad just died last week. He was with the British Army in battles with the Japanese in Burma. They slowly crushed enemy soldiers under the tanks. I'm sure Dostum would know what to do with Blinky.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
10/04/2008 14:38
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(AKI) - The top United Nations official in Iraq has called on the country's lawmakers to reinstate a key provision safeguarding minorities in the new provincial election law. The guarantees for minorities provided by Article 50 - removed from the provincial election law passed last week - is fundamental to democracy in Iraq, said Staffan de Mistura, UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon's Special Representative for Iraq.
"Article 50 is a strong indication Iraq is a nation ready to protect the political rights of minorities as founded in the Constitution," De Mistura said. "I was surprised and disappointed that Article 50 was not included in the provincial election law," he added.
De Mistura is also head of the UN Assistance Mission for Iraq (UNAMI). He reiterated that UNAMI will continue its consultations with political leaders and minority groups to ensure that Article 50 be reintroduced in law after the Eid al-Fitr holiday that marks the end of the holy Muslim fasting month of Ramadan.
"Article 50 has the backing of minority groups, political blocs and UNAMI and should now be reinstated into the legislation as soon as possible so minorities can participate in the upcoming elections to be held sometime before 31 January 2009," de Mistura said.
After months of infighting, Iraq's parliament on 24 September passed the crucial legislation that will allow most of the country to hold provincial elections early next year. The law is seen as a key step toward bringing under-represented groups back into Iraqi politics, particularly Sunnis in Anbar province who have recently turned against violence and Al-Qaeda extremists.
The United States and the United Nations also hope that holding elections soon will help solidify recent improvements in security in Iraq.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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The NWFP government believes in the settlement of disputes through negotiations and does not favour bloodshed, NWFP Senior Minister Bashir Ahmad Bilour said on Friday.
In an interview with Daily Times, he said talks could only be held with those who shun violence and agree for peaceful means to remove grievances. He said the government was still ready to hold talks with the Taliban in Swat, if they stop violence and adopt peaceful means for the settlement of disputes.
Bilour said the Swat Taliban had been demanding the implementation of Nizam-e-Adl Regulation, 1999, in the Malakand Division, adding the government had provided them more by amending the regulation. He said it would take two to three months to implement the regulation.
The minister said Rs 200 million would be spent on the appointment of 100 judges and 500 supporting staff in the shariah courts in the area.
Bilour rejected the impression that the Awami National Party, which claims to be a secular political party, had accepted to enforce religious laws, saying "if shariah courts could be established in England then why not in Swat".
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
In an interview with Daily Times, he said talks could only be held with those who shun violence and agree for peaceful means to remove grievances.
All righty then. Thanks for wasting our time...
Posted by: The Daily Times ||
10/04/2008 16:23
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Islamists in a town in southern Somalia have imposed Sharia law in line with their vow to bring back Islamic theocracy to areas where they were ousted two years ago, a spokesman said Friday. The Mujahideen of Southern Somalia, a group allied to the al-Shabab movement, on Thursday named a 23-member board to enforce the law in Celwaq, about 650 kilometers southwest of Mogadishu. "This administration will govern the town using laws of the Holy Koran," spokesman Mohammad Osmail Indhobur said. "Youse can't do that! We got aleady got laws. Kinda."
"Bailiff! Chop off his hand!"
"Aaaaiiieeee!"
Celwaq, near the border with Kenya, is home to tens of thousands of people. It has escaped much of the civil war, but local militia allied to Islamists have moved in to plug a power vacuum in recent weeks.
Islamist fighters - accused of ties to Al-Qaeda by the US, a charge disputed by independent experts - gained control of the southern port of Kismayo five weeks ago after battles that claimed dozens of lives.
A de facto Islamist government, of which the Shabab then formed a part, was ousted from central and southern Somalia early in 2007 after Ethiopian troops invaded to back the interim Somali government, ending an administration that had brought the first rule of law in years - in the form of Sharia law - to large swathes of the country for six months. They have since turned to guerrilla attacks on Ethiopian and Somali forces, and have had rising success.
When in power in 2006, the Islamists carried out executions, shuttered cinemas and photo shops, banned live band music, flogged drug offenders and harassed civilians for failing to wear appropriate dress in public. Additionally, the Islamists severely curbed violence from inter-clan fighting in areas under their control, made inroads into ending corruption as well as virtually stamping out now-endemic piracy.
Alarmed by the strict and fundamentalist version of Sharia law, the US led Western concern over a "creeping Talibanization" in Somalia by the Islamists. The US also provided air and artillery support for the Ethipian-led invasion that forced the Islamists from power in early 2007. US allies such as Pakistan, Nigeria and Saudi Arabia impose varying versions of Sharia law, including public executions, the mandatory wearing of head coverings for women in public, the banning of cinemas, segregation of the sexes and limitations of the rights of women.
This article starring:
MOHAMAD OSMAIL INDHOBUR
Mujahideen of Southern Somalia
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
#1
Give me that old time religion - or die.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/04/2008 9:09
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#2
Duh! The Bush Crime Family's Saudi owners are financing Sharia terror, as President Jackass waits political oblivion.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 20:06
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#4
I have AIG coverage (via their absorption of 21st Century Auto coverage). My previous company was well-behaved, well-represented, that said, I'll be looking to
AAA for my future coverage
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 20:11
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#5
Who's gonna buy them?
AIG isn't up for sale. They're selling off assets like other insurance companies they own and their aircraft leasing business.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
10/04/2008 21:15
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#6
That's what I was asking, Mike - what did they have to sell. Thanks.
Why would an insurance company have an aircraft leasing business? (In this case, rhetorical question.)
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 21:24
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#7
Insurance is just a specialized financial business, one that runs on being able to balance cash flows in and out at time periods from tomorrow through decades in the future. Buying air planes gives them a way to invest their cash that yields pretty predictable income streams back at fixed times. GE's Capital Solutions subsidiary made a lot of money for investors by doing the same thing, not only with planes but with other heavy equipment etc.
Somalia has no intention of recognizing Georgia's rebel regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent, despite earlier claims to the contrary, Georgia said Friday. Otherwise they open themselves up to having Puntland and Somaliland recognized.
"The Somali side has assured us that the government of Somalia recognizes Georgia's territorial integrity and respects its sovereignty," Foreign Ministry spokeswoman Khatuna Iosava told AFP. In Moscow on Wednesday, Somalia's ambassador to Russia, Mohammad Mahmoud Handule, said his government was "preparing to establish diplomatic ties with Abkhazia and South Ossetia as soon as possible." Then they actually stopped to think about the implications...
So far only Russia and Nicaragua have recognized the independence of the two Moscow-backed regions, which lay at the center of last month's war between Russia and Georgia.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
This will scare the Russians.
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
10/04/2008 8:27
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#2
Somalia sounds pretty confused here even though they have a Handule on this issue. ;-)
Eight dead bodies were found Friday in the border city of Tijuana, across from San Diego, according to an official at the Baja California state prosecutor's office who was not authorized to be quoted by name.
Five were dumped in an empty lot, one was discovered in the trunk of a car and two others were found decapitated two blocks from the local office of Calderon's ruling National Action Party.
Some 40 people have been killed in drug-related violence in the past week in Tijuana, bringing the total so far this year to more than 400. On Monday, 12 bodies were found outside an elementary school and an additional four victims were discovered in another section of the city. Nine more bodies were discovered near a day care on Thursday and two other bodies were found elsewhere...
#1
12 outside an elementary school and 9 near a day care center? The Mexican kiddies have turned into homicidal maniacs?
I wonder if Obama will have us invade Mexico when he brings our troops back from Iraq. Certainly easier logistics than Afghanistan. Maybe set up a new urban warfare training center for use by Camp Pendleton?
#2
CSI Tijuana has been hot on the case. The decapitations all appear to be accidental, and the bodies in 55-gallon drums of acid are work accidents.
Posted by: Frank G ||
10/04/2008 10:14
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#3
Too close for comfort, build the damn fence, and protect and enforce our borders.
Are we waiting for this escalated violence to be brought into San Diego? I'd like to see the campaigns address these border issues.
Posted by: Jan ||
10/04/2008 10:18
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#5
Mexico could be a first world nation inside of a decade if they didn't have a class of political leaches sucking them dry. Then again, where would our own politicians get their good ideas from.
The Royal Navy has mothballed almost half of its remaining fleet of destroyers as it desperately attempts to save money in the face of a plunging budget.
The Fleet now has just five air defence warships left to protect vessels missile or aircraft attack at a time when other nations such as China, India and Iran are investing heavily in anti-ship warfare.
Three Type 42 destroyers -- Exeter, Nottingham and Southampton -- have been "parked up" in Portsmouth at "reduced readiness" up to two years before they were due to be decommissioned.
Falklands War veterans are particularly angry after Exeter, the last serving operational ship from the campaign in which it shot down several Argentine fighters, was refused permission to fly a paying-off pennant when it entered harbour after its last mission.
Can't have any of that retro patriotic nonsense - didn't those vets get the multiculti post-imperial memo?
Britain's force of destroyers and frigates has now been reduced from 35 to 22 in the last decade despite government promises it would not slip below 25. It will be another two years before the first of six of the highly sophisticated Type 45 destroyers can be deployed on operations leaving a "gaping hole" in defences.
Pressures on the Navy's budget are immense with cuts of 20 per cent predicted in the next decade reducing the ship building budget to by £4 billion to £14 billion.
Senior Navy commanders have told The Daily Telegraph that the nation is taking "serious risks" in protecting carrier groups or amphibious flotillas and have accused the Government of neglecting the Fleet that protects the 90 per cent of Britain's imported trade.
It has already ditched the excellent air protection offered by Sea Harriers which were disbanded two years ago and at least two Type 42s have gone on operations with their advanced Sea Dart air defence missiles disabled to save cash.
Liam Fox, the shadow defence secretary, said the Government was attempting to "castrate the Navy" by tying up ships in dock. "This is an unacceptable price to pay for the Government's failure to plan properly at a time when we facing increasing demands to intercept drugs, arms, people smuggling, pirates as well as conduct operations in Iraq and Afghanistan."
Richard Scott, Editor of Jane's Navy International, said the Navy was taking "risk on risk" with its neglect of anti-air and anti-submarine warfare. "Type 42 destroyers have crept over horizon without anyone noticing. We have lost a third of the fleet in the last 10 years. The question remains is where's it all going to end up?"
So it's clear why the Brits can't, for example, help with anti-piracy operations off Somalia ...
With the Armed Forces so overstretched the Navy has been forced to provide sailors and Royal Marines to fight in land-locked Afghanistan where it will make up half the force of 8,000 British troops for the next six months. The deployment has used up valuable training time and manpower.
Exeter and Southampton are due to retire in 2009, with Nottingham, which was severely damaged after hitting a rock off Australia in 2002, scheduled to decommission in 2010. But they are unlikely to leave harbour again.
Despite the cuts Navy officers have indicated that the Navy continues to carry out secret surveillance operations against certain countries that cannot be reported.
"We are completely stuffed in terms of air defence and we are taking a hell of a risk with the sufficient resources to do the job properly," a Navy commander said. "But the Navy has done some incredible things against certain countries in last few weeks that we all should be proud of. But these types of skills are so precious that we cannot afford to diminish them any further."
Despite vehement Ministry of Defence denials The Daily Telegraph reported last year that the Navy faced losing half its fleet.
A Navy spokesman said the ships would remain "available for operations with the appropriate notice, if required".
"We ensure we have sufficient forces ready to meet the perceived threats,"
#3
IMO, your patriotism is a bit misdirected .5MT---but have it your own way. Just one question---you've any idea how many mighty nations like your Britain we've seen come and go in the last four thousand years?
#4
Britain is not poor. This is an intentional policy. The end stages of terminal leftism. They could probably fund a credible Navy using the money they waste on paying welfare benefits to Muslim fundamentalists.
#6
Grom, you might try mustering sufficient class to at least be sympathetic. AS YOU KNOW, the reality is that if it wasn't for Britain, there would BE no country called Israel. They wrote the Balfour Declaration, pushed the Mandate through the League of Nations, allowed Jewish immigration for years in the teeth of massive Arab bitching and riot, protected you from those same Arabs who would have been happy to kill the lot of you, and insured victory over the man who would have seen the last of you sacrificed to Moloch.
You Jews OWED them big time and you paid them back with terror, murder and bombings simply for trying to maintain the law. I'm not British but the business of kidnapping and murdering Sergeants Paice and Martin is a lasting stench in the nostrils of decent people everywhere. They were innocent of anything except being British, and your people cold-bloodedly hung them and then booby-trapped the site.
Your people the British punished were bank robbers, bombers and assassins breaking the civil law. After your terror campaign against them, it would have been perfectly understandable if the British would have disarmed your people and let the Arabs run riot at your expense.
Instead, they honorably resigned the Mandate and refused to even provide ammunition to Glubb's Arab Legion when they ran low during the 1948 War. They treated your people a hell of a lot more decently than you treated them.
I've been, and am still, a strong supporter of Israel. I know what your country represents over in that part of the world and appreciate it for what it is. You, however, are one ungrateful S.O.B. because I've seen you criticize both America and Britain numerous times for trivial things when, if it wasn't for those two countries, you and your countrymen would have long since been fed to the flames of a new Auschwitz.
You and your country exist only because America has your back. The British are our allies who are bravely fighting side by side with us in two wars--wars that definitely benefit you and your country, by the way. You would do well to remember that before you start criticizing them on an American blog.
#12
It seems that the best thing for England to do is for some of its wealthier citizens, along with the young men of the Royals, to form a private military in the Caribbean, as a latch ditch effort to save their nation from its elected government.
Importantly, *not* to overthrow the English government, but to have a reserve available in case, once England is disarmed, it is attacked or invaded by a domestic or foreign force in an effort to capture it.
Mostly light infantry, with a few light and fast blue water attack warships and commercial type aircraft to shuttle troops.
The majority of their personnel would be "honorable" foreigners, such as Gurkhas and Sikhs, willing to engage in ferocious, no quarter combat against their enemies, in an exterminate or be exterminated fight.
To authorize this, the King would have to leave England, appointing a Protector to restore order. Parliament would be dissolved, and those responsible for the disorder, foreign and domestic, would be put to the sword.
#14
Hey, look at the bright side; once all the RN ships are laid up, Iran cannot capture any and humiliate the country by parading the sailors around. And the cash saved by NOT having to ransom them can then be used for other important things, like mookfare
Moqtada al-Sadr describes the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq as the only solution to the sectarian violence in the country. The supposedly influential leader and minor Shia cleric said there will be no conflict between Iraqi factions once foreign forces have left the country, urging Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki's government to speed upthe eventual withdrawal of US troops.
"I ask the government to end the occupation," Sadr's representative Sheikh Sattar al-Battat read a message to the worshippers attending the first Friday prayers after Ramadan in Baghdad's Sadr city.
"The government must send out the US troops and free all Iraqi prisoners held by them,"the statement added, ruling out any sectarian violence between the Shias and the Sunnis after Iraqi sovereignty was restored after the withdrawal of all 'occupying forces'.
Following the weekly prayers, Sadr's supporters set fire to an effigy in stars and stripes as well as American and Israeli flags. The crowd waved an Iraqi flag and chanted slogans in protest to the continued presence of foreign troops in their country.
Sadr's anti-occupation movement called for unity between the religious groups, advising pro-Sadr Shias to cooperate with Iraqi security forces, "even if they get angry with you when they see you carrying a photograph of Moqtada (Sadr)."
"Be kind to them... Don't get into arguments," the influential cleric urged.
Sadr movement remains one of the outspoken critics of the US military present in Iraq, vowing to lead regular street protests until the governments halts negotiations with US officials on a long-term security pact known as the SOFA. The deal, which Iraqi and US governments planned to draw up by late July, would determine the future status of American soldiers whose UN mandate in Iraq expires December.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Top|| File under: Mahdi Army
NATO forces in Afghanistan will step up attacks on drug lords and narcotics traffickers who are supporting a Taliban insurgency that has rebounded in the past year, according to the top US commander in Afghanistan.
General David McKiernan also warned on Wednesday that US forces can't copy a central element of military success in Iraq -- recruiting local tribes to support them -- because the Afghan tribal structure has been shattered by 30 years of war. He made it clear that NATO's International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, was not going to eradicate poppy crops. Afghanistan is the world's top grower of opium poppies, which are processed into heroin.
But by drawing a clear link between the narcotics trade and the insurgency, General McKiernan was outlining what could be an important and expanding role for US and NATO troops as they seek to eliminate a source of money and weapons for the insurgency.
"I think there's a need for increased involvement in ISAF in assisting the Afghan Government in counter-narcotics efforts," said the ISAF commander. "Where we can make a clear intelligence linkage between a narcotics dealer or a facility and the insurgency, I consider that a force protection issue, and we can deal with that in a military way."
General McKiernan said the Taliban would get at least $US100 million ($A126 million) in heroin proceeds this year.
On the subject of tribal outreach, he said it was not possible to import the US experience in Iraq, where US commanders directly recruited and paid Sunni tribes to switch sides and fight against al-Qaeda, he said. "What I find in Afghanistan," General McKiernan said during a Pentagon briefing on Wednesday, "is a degree of complexity in the tribal system which is much greater than what I found in Iraq. One of the real differences between Afghanistan and Iraq was, if you recall, Afghanistan was in the midst of a civil war when we intervened. And that potential is still there."
Republican presidential nominee John McCain has often cited the US strategy in Iraq as a model for how to win in Afghanistan.
Palin did also. This may end up in an ad by the Obama people ...
There's some Army politics at work here. McKiernan appears to be a Big Army guy who clashed with Tommy Franks over the threat McK saw from Saddam's Fedayeen. He wanted a lot more troops from Rumsfeld in 2003 and pretty publicly lost post-war command in Iraq to Sanchez. I'm not saying he's wrong in this case but his history suggests that if he's going to get it wrong it will by by overestimating the strength of irregular forces ... or more precisely, dismissing what good strategy can do with regard to them. This is a jab at Petraeus. It may be an accurate assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, or it may not, but it's definitely got an Army-political dimension to it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008
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#1
The tribal system is more complex, but it appears to my uneducated eye that the other factors that complicated the situation in Iraq -- Army, Republican Guard, a one-party system enforced by random terror for going on two generations, a substantial urban middle class -- are non-existent in Afghanistan, simplifying the mindsets that must be melded into a nation. Six of one, half a dozen the other?
#4
It may be an accurate assessment of the situation in Afghanistan, or it may not, but it's definitely got an Army-political dimension to it.
From some stuff I picked up this past week, Petraeus isn't a general that will tolerate a bunch of politics in the midst of a war.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 16:07
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#5
Read some of Michael Yon's latest postings from Afghanistan. It will be a lot tougher to tame that country (tame or bring into the modern world). The cities are one thing, but the country, organized as it is around family compounds/mini-forts, is far more insular/diffuse and will have to be dealt with one at a time. Laborious to say the least (which means expensive and I've lost my taste for large government expenses right now).
#1
Well, MSM is fighting for its life. Unless they want to join horse-carriages, bloging will have to be eliminated/brought under control---enter the Lightworker!
#4
One of the 'silver linings' in the economic outlook is that major businesses and industries which have by default relied upon the old MSM to communicate with the public will be paying attention. If the MSM and Obama don't pull it off, the next morning [or shortly thereafter] the big boys at the top are going to have their marketing and advertising subordinates justifying their expense to the organization. All they'll have for evidence is the same tired self justification data [now demonstratively shown to be 'cooked'] from the media. If senior management had a modicum of intelligence they'd demand a new means of reaching the American people not the old same old same old.
#5
The MSM is not the problem; it is merely another symptom of the problem. The problem is an uneducated (mis-educated) and apathetic population who prefer the 'safe' mediocrity of socialism to the risks of freedom.
#6
I don't understand the goal of the msm. Don't they realize that under marxism the first thing that happens is the fairness doctrine and the elimination of the free press.
#8
Why would a party organ fear the triumph of the party? Why would a party organ fear being given an absolute monopoly? You confuse power with principle.
#9
Although I'm not as enthused about McCain/Palin as I should/could be, does it surprise ANYONE that the ONE is doing absolutely everything he can to become "Our Beloved Leader"??? Since he has the MSM in his pocket does fixing the polls come far behind??
#10
bman - MSM doesn't give a rip about "free press" they only care about their press. If US goes marxist, then they're the only game in town. That would suit them just fine.
Posted by: Rex Mundi ||
10/04/2008 11:48
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#13
I think the MSM doesn't plan things out, they don't think ahead. It's a lot of like-minded people thinking emotionally. When you think emotionally there are far fewer options and millions of nuanced justifications why. They could easily drive themselves of a cliff without changing a thing.
"Perhaps if we print our papers in bold typeface and slightly larger font people will understand that Obama is the guy?"
Hezbollah has warned that it will "soon liberate" the contentious Shaba Farms and the divided village of Ghajar, Lebanon's Daily Star reported on Friday.
Sheikh Nabil Qaouk, Hezbollah's leader in southern Lebanon, told supporters in the border village of Abbasieh that diplomacy over the areas had failed and the only way to regain control of the land was to use force, according to the report. "Betting on liberating land via diplomacy and politics is a sterile bet," the report quoted Qaouk as saying. "The only guaranteed way to recover the remaining occupied land is the resistance and nothing else."
Qaouk added that Israel understands only the language of force, adding that it was Hezbollah's national duty to fulfill the achievements it had begun with the Israel Defense Forces' withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, according to the report.
"The resistance's strategy is Lebanon's main source of power, enabling it to recover the remaining occupied lands," the report quoted Qaouk as saying.
"We, as Lebanese, are here to confirm that we cling to freeing every grain of our soil. We will not abandon the great national cause, which is the continuation of the liberation of our land," Qaouk added.
Israel told the United States on Sunday it was prepared to withdraw from the northern part of Ghajar on the Lebanese border, a change in its policy for the past year and a half of not wanting to discuss the issue.
A government source in Jerusalem said the decision was made after the Lebanese government delivered written assurances that UNIFIL would be given security and civilian control over the northern part of the village, which is in Lebanese territory.
"The Americans have been asking us for a long time to move ahead on the Lebanon issue and after receiving the letter, it was decided to show a more positive stance," the source also said, referring to the written assurances by Lebanon.
The Israel Defense Forces Planning Branch and the Northern Command are now at work on the details of the withdrawal from the northern part of Ghajar.
Ghajar, located between the Upper Galilee and the Golan Heights, was annexed to Israel in 1981 together with the Golan Heights, and its inhabitants received Israeli citizenship. After the IDF's withdrawal from Lebanon in 2000, the UN determined that the border between Israel and Syria crossed the village, and that Israel, which holds the Golan Heights, could operate only in the southern part of the village. However, according to the UN, the IDF frequently operates in the northern part of the village, beyond the international border.
In recent years the village has become a center for smuggling and infiltration of criminal elements from Lebanon to Israel, along with Hezbollah agents.
According to Security Council Resolution 1701, which ended the Second Lebanon War, Israel was to have withdrawn its forces from the northern part of Ghajar.
In March 2007, the security cabinet approved a deal whereby the IDF would cease its operations in the northern part of the village, giving the UN and Lebanese army forces responsibility for security and leaving civilian affairs in Israel's hands. However, Beirut did not implement the agreement, among other things because of its political crisis. Israel has since refused to discuss the matter and conditioned agreement on a written pledge by the Lebanese government to a new arrangement.
UNIFIL had transmitted a number of drafts to Israel, which it has rejected.
About two weeks ago Israel gave an official letter to UNIFIL commander General Claudio Graziano, stating that it accepts UN security and civilian control over the northern part of the village.
Meanwhile, Hezbollah Secretary General Hassan Nasrallah last week told a crowd of supporters in a televised address that Jerusalem and Palestine would soon be returned to their rightful owners.
"I think that if you consider current developments," Nasrallah told thousands of Shiite Hezbollah backers at a rally in Beirut, "the return of Jerusalem and Palestine is not far off, and could even happen in the near future."
Nasrallah reiterated that backing the resistance [Hezbollah] was essential because "the resistance is the only way to liberate Palestine and occupied lands by Israel."
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Per the usual definition, i.e. 2 consecutive quarters of economic contraction. Not the result of the current credit crunch alone (at least, not solely from the last week) but definitely a sign of global economic weakness.
France will report a contraction in the next two quarters as a weaker job market curbs consumption and exports flag, forecasts from national statistics office INSEE showed on Friday, flagging the arrival of recession.
The eurozones second-biggest economy will probably register a 0.1 percent decline in gross domestic product (GDP) in both the third and fourth quarters of 2008, INSEE said, following a 0.3 percent contraction between April and June. But other politicians have shied away from the term and the head of INSEEs forecasting division, Eric Dubois, said it may be premature to use the word recession, according to some criteria.
"The term that we are using is growth which is coming to a halt. Saying that there isnt any growth already seems like a strong enough message to us," Dubois told a news conference that unveiled quarterly forecasts.
Economy Minister Christine Lagardes office said in a statement that the risk of contraction for a second straight quarter between July and September was now "real".
French gross domestic product fell by 0.3 percent in the second quarter. European Central Bank President Jean-Claude Trichet declined to comment on individual countries when asked on Europe 1 radio if France was in recession. But he said that growth was slowing in Europe and there was a risk it would slow further.
INSEE cut its forecast for 2008 growth to 0.9 percent, from 1.6 percent in June, saying slowing global demand would weigh on exports as deteriorating labour market conditions and slowing income growth dented purchasing power and consumption.
(AKI) - A Pakistani party leader, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in a suicide attack, said on Friday that local Taliban had denied their involvement in the crime.
Leader of the Pashtun nationalist Awami National Party, Asfandyar Wali Khan, said local Taliban had blamed foreign militants for the attack that killed four people near Charsada in the North West Frontier Province on Thursday. "It is not our work rather it is the work of foreign elements," he quoted local Taliban as saying.
According to the official agency, Associated Press of Pakistan, Asfandyar Wali Khan told a TV channel that local Taliban had indicated that there was a rift among the militants operating in tribal areas.
Asfandyar was meeting guests at his residence in his native town of Wali Bagh near Charsada on the second day of Eid al-Fitr, the holiday that marks the end of the holy fast of Ramadan, when the attack occurred.
The suicide attacker and three others were killed in the bombing, while Asfandyar Wali was moved to a safe location.
The ANP chief reaffirmed his commitment to fight the menace of terrorism in a more effective manner, saying such cowardly acts would not deter the party from working to ensure peace and stability in the country. "War against terrorism is our own. It is not the war of America," he said.
He said terrorists were targeting innocent people of Pakistan and wanted to create unrest and instability in the country.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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(SomaliNet) After gangs killed three albinos for their body parts, albinos in Burundi have been forced to seek police protection, reports said.
According to the BBC, four albinos were taken to a provincial town, where they were being guarded by police. The BBC quoted local police as saying two of the albinos killed were found with limbs missing.
An investigation by the BBC in neighbouring Tanzania claimed witchdoctors were behind the killings of 26 albinos in last than a year. Albino body parts are believed to be of use in potions to make people rich.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Such civilized people.
NOT.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 0:27
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gangs killed three albinos for their body parts
Before today, I never thought that the English language could be arranged in such a sentence. But here we are.
(AKI) - A confidential report by Spain's Defence Ministry has claimed that Pakistan's intelligence agency and Al-Qaeda aided Taliban militants in assassination plots against Afghan government leaders. The confidential report, produced in August 2005, was obtained by Spain's Cadena Ser radio and posted online.
The 2005 report said that it was possible that Taliban training camps in Pakistan were being backed by the Inter-Services Intelligence or ISI. "It appears possible, that advance IED (improvised explosive device or roadside bombs) training camps exist in Pakistan, where the Taliban receive training, support and intelligence from the ISI," the confidential document said.
It also claimed that they were developing new improvised explosive devices, such as magnetic ones.
The report's strongest claim was that the Taliban was using advanced IEDs, with the backing of the ISI and Al-Qaeda, to plan the assassination of high ranking officials in Afghanistan. "The plan is that the TB (Taliban) use these RCIEDs (or IEDs) to assassinate high ranking officials of the IRoA (Islamic Republic of Afghanistan). They will be put on vehicles, although there is no specification about the target," said the report.
The report said that the Taliban had also been receiving help from Al-Qaeda.
Cadena Ser did not reveal how it obtained the report and the authenticity of the report has not been verified by the Spanish government. Spain's Defence Ministry as well as the office of the Prime Minister, Jose Luis Rodriguez Zapatero, have declined to comment on the document, while Pakistani officials this week denied any such link ever existed.
Spain currently has the tenth largest contingent in the NATO-led International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan with 778 soldiers, according to the Defence Ministry website. There are 53,000 troops from 40 countries in Afghanistan participating in ISAF, NATO's largest ground operation outside Europe.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Nothing confidential about it, Spain. Everybody with two brain cells knows.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
10/04/2008 0:30
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#3
The difference is that Spain does not have the primary responsibility to maintain a supply route through Pakistan to Afghanistan, nor do they have to worry about Pakistan's nuclear weapons should the current government collapse.
In diplomacy, one often has to deliberately and publicly overlook transgressions, mistakes and lapses by another nation. Like selling sensitive fighter technology to China, for example.
The threat level is at the "severe end of severe" according to sources who say the level of "chatter" among terrorist cells has increased in recent months. The security services say they are now operating at full stretch to counter the elevated threat.
Britain's close relationship with the US has been particularly inflammatory after cross-border raids into Pakistan by American forces.
Three paragraphs and it's all our fault ...
Security officials had considered downgrading the official threat level from "severe" but that plan has now been abandoned as a result of the increase in terrorist activity.
A senior counter terrorism source said: "We were looking at the threat level six months ago and asking how severe is severe? But it is October now and we are at the severe end of severe.
"Al-Qaeda's core exists on the Afghan-Pakistan border. The arrangement of people changes at a frighteningly rapid pace but they have enough people to replace them and there are people who are looking at us and at external operations, some at this country in particular.
"We are not chasing shadows. These are potential threats to security and life. Police and the security network are operating at full capacity."
The source said a review by the Joint Terrorism Analysis Centre, which looks at information from MI5, MI6 and GCHQ, had considered downgrading the threat from "severe," meaning an attack is highly likely, to "substantial," meaning an attack is a strong possibility, but that move was abandoned after the level of activity increased.
The assessment, which has five levels, has been considered severe since the arrest of the men allegedly plotting to attack transatlantic airliners in 2006 but moved up to "critical," meaning an attack is imminent, during last year's car bomb alert which led to the attack on Glasgow airport.
It is now only just below that level.
MI5 is watching around 200 networks across Britain and MI6 and GCHQ are constantly monitoring communications on the crucial Afghan-Pakistan border area.
Although key commanders have been killed in air strikes, one of the particular concerns is the disappearance of Rashid Rauf from Birmingham, an alleged al-Qaeda mastermind who escaped from Pakistani custody last December.
Security officials are also worried about threats which may come from off the radar. They are particularly worried by lone operators who "self-radicalise" over the internet and stock-pile chemicals from domestic sources. "They are discreet from traditional networks and have a very small intelligence signature which makes them hard to pick up," the source said.
There is also a fear that some in the Somali community in Britain could have "potential connections" with al-Qaeda terrorists. Last week's attack on the US embassy in the Yemen means security officials now consider the Arabian peninsular "particularly combustible."
"Over the past year, al-Qaeda has invested huge energy in outlying organisations," the source said.
But it is the lone operators who pose the biggest threat, particularly since attempts to cut off the supply of "kitchen chemicals" used in home made bombs, such as hydrogen peroxide and ammonium nitrate, have been unsuccessful because they are so widely available. "We are doing a lot of research work into the detection of explosives at train stations and so on but this really demonstrates the importance of preventing radicalisation," the source said.
Part of the strategy has involved tackling al-Qaeda propaganda over the internet. "We are looking at the way we see the threat as a movement by the al-Qaeda core and we're finding a new language to help move on the debate," the source said. "Whatever they do, we want to do."
The Office for Security and Counter-Terrorism, a part of the Home Office which co-ordinates Britain's count-terrorism strategy, is working on a number of strategies for diverting vulnerable young men and de-radicalising those who have become involved with extremist organisations.
"We have limited evidence about what works but we want to get moving forward," the source said. "We need some quick wins."
To be more specific, here is how you should you act in different situations based on the alert levels.
How should I store my firearms?
*Green: Throw them in the fire. There is no more need for weapons.
*Blue: Wrap them in some rags and store them in the attic somewhere in case you need them one day.
*Yellow: Keep both your guns and ammo readily accessible.
*Orange: Load your gun and carry it on you at all times, even around the house.
*Red: The gun should be in your hand, pointed in front of you with your finger resting on the trigger.
I see a stranger outside.
*Green: Maybe he could give your kids a ride to school.
*Blue: He might be lost; ask him what he's doing here.
*Yellow: Stay in your house and avoid him. Strangers bad.
*Orange: Run outside and pistol-whip him while questioning his involvement with terrorism.
*Red: Kill him; no questions asked.
I hear a noise at night.
*Green: That's just the house settling; go back to sleep.
*Blue: Probably nothing, but you better check it out.
*Yellow: Grab your gun and call 911.
*Orange: No time for police; run through your house shooting anything that moves.
*Red: Initiate the house's auto-destruct sequence; leap out window.
You see a hippy.
*Green: Punch him.
*Blue: Kick him.
*Yellow: Punch him then kick him.
*Orange: Punch him then kick him and then stomp on him.
*Red: Strangle him.
You receive a strange envelope in the mail with no return address.
*Green: Rip it open; who knows what fun lies inside!
*Blue: Open it carefully just in case.
*Yellow: Don't touch it and call the police.
*Orange: Can't wait for the authorities; toss it out the window and then unload a gun into it.
*Red: For the love of God, immediately flee from the envelope. Hunt down and kill the mailman.
You see some movement in a nearby tree.
*Green: It's probably a squirrel. Hello squirrel.
*Blue: Better check out what it is to be on the safe side.
*Yellow: Might be the escaped monkey from the zoo. Better contact the authorities.
*Orange: It's a ninja! Fire indiscriminately into the treetops.
*Red: Set fire to the tree and all trees around it. No safe haven for ninjas!
You see a strange van parked nearby.
*Green: It must be an ice cream truck. Let's get ice cream.
*Blue: Check to make sure it's legally parked.
*Yellow: Better call the FBI to check this one out.
*Orange: Politely knock on the van door. Kill everyone inside.
*Red: Shoot the van with a rocket propelled grenade. Kill anyone who protests; they're terrorists too.
You realize the person you are talking to is a Communist.
*Green: Kill him.
*Blue: Kill him.
*Yellow: Kill him.
*Orange: Kill him.
*Red: Kill him and burn his body.
You see a stray dog.
*Green: Go pet the cute little puppy.
*Blue: Better check if he has a dog tag so you can get him back to his owner.
*Yellow: Call animal control.
*Orange: It's some sort of terrorist trick. Shoot the dog with a sniper rifle.
*Red: Destroy the dog with a thermite charge and then kill all witnesses.
#4
For every one innocent civilian killed within this land we need to remove one mosque and its Muslim congregation from within this land. That would change the balance of power.
#5
You guys on rantburg are all wrong. Just do what they say and no one will get hurt. They just want peace and their place in the sun. And they're really mad about all the humiliation they have experienced, which is our fault. So put down your weapons and TRUST. It will be okay.
U.S.-led forces said they shot dead a leader of al Qaeda in Iraq on Friday who was the mastermind behind a series of deadly recent bombings in Baghdad.
A spokesman for coalition forces said Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu' al-Zubaydi, also known as Abu Assad or Abu Rami, had been al Qaeda in Iraq's "emir" of the Rusafa neighborhood of the capital.
Killed an Assad, did they? Sure would like to see that become a habit ...
Troops surrounded a building in the Adhamiya area of Baghdad after intelligence reports that Abu Rami was inside, and called on the occupants to surrender, the spokesman said. Coalition forces were shot at from the building and returned fire, killing Abu Rami and a female, spokesman Rear Admiral Patrick Driscoll said in a statement.
A cell in Abu Rami's network was believed to be responsible for attacks on Thursday which killed eight people and wounded more than 30, the statement said. Suicide bombers struck Shi'ite worshippers as they gathered for prayers at two mosques in Baghdad to celebrate the Muslim Eid al-Fitr feast on Thursday, killing a total of 16 people and wounding nearly 60, officials said.
Abu Rami was also suspected of car bombings and mortar attacks in 2006 and 2007, one of which killed more than 200 people, the coalition forces statement said. He was believed to be a planner of kidnappings and executions and a 2006 video recording showed him shooting a Russian diplomat, it added.
Abu Rami joined al Qaeda in Iraq from the Ansar al-Islam group in 2004, the statement said.
This article starring:
Mahir Ahmad Mahmud Judu' al-Zubaydi
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
Wow, this guy operated for a while. AQI's emir in Baghdad, he's been through a lot to survive this long. However, it just takes one person to inform on him and do him in.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
10/04/2008 9:57
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had been al Qaeda in Iraq's "emir" of the Rusafa neighborhood of the capital.
Isn't it wonderful that even the big turbans are only neighborhood captains! And that in the old days the gentleman in question would no doubt have been a specialist, leaving actual management to those more qualified for the job. I think Al Qaeda in Iraq has completely given up trying to keep that #3 spot filled. When even trainee managers are disappearing faster than they can be hired, there's no point in thinking about promotability.
The Defense Department will pay private U.S. contractors in Iraq up to $300 million over the next three years to produce news stories, entertainment programs and public service advertisements for the Iraqi media in an effort to "engage and inspire" the local population to support U.S. objectives and the Iraqi government.
The new contracts -- awarded last week to four companies -- will expand and consolidate what the U.S. military calls "information/psychological operations" in Iraq far into the future, even as violence appears to be abating and U.S. troops have begun drawing down.
The military's role in the war of ideas has been fundamentally transformed in recent years, the result of both the Pentagon's outsized resources and a counterinsurgency doctrine in which information control is considered key to success. Uniformed communications specialists and contractors are now an integral part of U.S. military operations from Eastern Europe to Afghanistan and beyond.
Iraq, where hundreds of millions of dollars have been spent on such contracts, has been the proving ground for the transformation. "The tools they're using, the means, the robustness of this activity has just skyrocketed since 2003. In the past, a lot of this stuff was just some guy's dreams," said a senior U.S. military official, one of several who discussed the sensitive defense program on the condition of anonymity.
The Pentagon still sometimes feels it is playing catch-up in a propaganda market dominated by al-Qaeda, whose media operations include sophisticated Web sites and professionally produced videos and audios featuring Osama bin Laden and his lieutenants. "We're being out-communicated by a guy in a cave," Secretary Robert M. Gates often remarks.
But Defense Department officials think their own products have become increasingly imaginative and competitive. Military and contractor-produced media campaigns, spotlighting killings by insurgents, "helped in developing attitudes" that led Iraqis to reject al-Qaeda in Iraq over the past two years, an official said. Now that the insurgency is in disarray, he said, the same tools "could potentially be helpful" in diminishing the influence of neighboring Iran.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
She looks happier when she is bathing. I know am. Happier. When I see her bathing. Is that wrong?
Posted by: Scott R ||
10/04/2008 0:41
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#2
If It be pleasant to look on, stalled in the packed serai,
Does not the Young Man try Its temper and pace ere he buy?
If She be pleasant to look on, what does the Young Man say?
"Lo! She is pleasant to look on, give Her to me to-day!"
--Rudyard Kipling, "Certain Maxims of Hafiz"
I'd say this young woman in her day probably had numerous serious marriage proposals from eligible young men she hadn't known for a full hour. Throw in an apple pie or a baked chicken she'd done and I'd have been glad to be one of them.
Two persons were hacked to death by unidentified persons in the sensitive Tumudibandha area of Orissa's riot-hit Kandhamal district, official sources said on Friday.
District Collector of Kandhamal Krishan Kumar said that the killings took place at Sindhupanka village in the Tumudibandha police station area late on Thursday night. They attacked the house of Dushashan Majhi and hacked him to death with an axe, police sources said and added that a 15-year-old boy from a neighbouring village, who was present in Majhi's house, was also killed with some sharp weapon.
No arrest has been made so far, sources said.
With this, the death toll in the sensitive district mounted to 35 since violence erupted after the killing of VHP leader Laxmanananda Saraswati on August 23, they said. The police have arrested 34 persons since Thursday from various places, raising the number of arrests so far to 371, they said.
Curfew, which had been clamped in areas under nine police stations, was relaxed during the day to help people go about their daily chores, they said.
As many as 119 out of the 505 licenced guns in the district have been surrendered to the authorities by the weapon holders following an official order, the sources said. Confiscation proceedings would be initiated against those who failed to deposit guns.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Iraq's 3-member presidential council agreed on Friday to ratify the country's provincial elections law, paving the way for a long-awaited vote to be held by the end of January, officials said. The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1st, but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen.
President Jalal Talabani and Vice Presidents Adel Abdel Mahdi and Tareq al-Hashemi were all present at the meeting, which was also attended by Massud Barzani, president of Iraq's autonomous Kurdish region.
Parliament adopted a revised version last month which puts off a decision on Kirkuk while authorizing the election in other provinces. "The presidency council has agreed to ratify the provincial elections law," the head of the presidential office, Naseer al-Ani, said.
The 3-member council has the power to veto laws. Talabani is a Kurd, Abdul-Mehdi is a Shiite Arab and Hashemi is a Sunni Arab, representing the country's three main ethnic and sectarian groups.
Talabani used his veto power to reject a previous version of the bill in July after Kurds, angry over the Kirkuk issue, boycotted the parliamentary session that passed it.
Officials at the meeting suggested a clause that guaranteed council seats for Christians and other minority sects, known as article 50, could be added to the bill. Parliament removed the guaranteed seats for minorities from the bill, prompting street demonstrations by Christians last week. Prime Minister Nuri al-Maliki has asked for the quotas to be restored.
"There has been agreement to ratify the law and send it to parliament with the suggestion of the addition of article 50," said Laith Shubbar, an official at Abdul-Mehdi's office.
The elections, which will select provincial councils across Iraq, will provide clues on how Shiite, Sunni Arab and Kurdish factions will fare in national polls scheduled for late 2009. Elections will be held early next year in 14 of Iraq's 18 provinces. The new law excludes the disputed northern oil province of Kirkuk and the three Kurdish provinces of Arbil, Dohuk and Sulaimaniyah.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Israel would use "disproportionate" force to destroy Lebanese villages from which Hezbollah's group fired rockets at its cities in any future war, an Israeli general said in remarks published on Friday. "What happened in the Dahiya quarter of Beirut in 2006 will happen in every village from which Israel is fired on," said Gadi Eisenkot, head of the army's northern division.
Dahiya was a Hezbollah stronghold that Israel flattened in sustained air raids during a 34-day war with the Shiite group two years ago. "We will apply disproportionate force on it (village) and cause great damage and destruction there. From our standpoint, these are not civilian villages, they are military bases," Eisenkot told the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Some 1,200 Lebanese civilians and 159 Israel soldiers were killed during the war. Eisenkot rejected accusations that Israel was violating a U.N.-brokered ceasefire by sending aircraft on reconnaissance flights over Lebanon, saying the aerial missions were necessary given that Iran and Syria continue to arm Hezbollah in breach of the U.N. truce.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Israel needs to man up a little. Or maybe they like the leash? Eh Grom? Leash gives a little wiggle room for fear maybe? Intellectual room to blame every thing on a certain Ms. Rice and BushItler? A way to look past the absolute collapse of IDF deterance - in the name of armed purity. Jeeebus (c wut I did thar?) give it a break and get back to work.
#6
Israel is great at "smashing seashells on the beach" after the tide has rolled out, but they never erect a sea wall to keep the tide from rolling back in again.
If they had some wit about them, they would make a deal with Egypt, so that after Israel had thumped Hezbollah, Egypt would send a very large, Sunni "peacekeeping" unit into Lebanon to insure Lebanon remained peaceful.
They might even convince the Saudis to pay for it.
#10
If I were Israel, I'd begin looking into converting a Boeing 737 or 757 into a manned bomber, so I could really SEED an area with as few flights as possible. I don't think there's a functionally-specific bomber aircraft that would do for the Israelis, but they need a heavy load hauler that can speak with a deep voice in dealing with Arabs.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
10/04/2008 21:22
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#11
So when you admit it, you are telling the villagers not to let Hezbollah hide there or you wil l die with them. You are also telling Hezbollah that if they want massive civilian casualities they should spread their rockets around. Perhaps starting the offensive from a van in the middle of a village that isn't friendly to Hezbollah so that it gets tarred by retaliation.
I became a doc and a biologist trying to figure out a couple of human diseases so that I could treat them better.
Instead, I should have become a molecular plant virologist. And an airplane pilot. If I had, by now I'm sure I could have created the perfect coca plant phage virus. And I could deliver it in one of those agricultural sprayer biplanes.
Posted by: Steve White ||
10/04/2008 11:22
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#3
Why don't Americans spend some of that money trying to reduce demand instead of driving up the price and profit potential. This policy is stupid.
#5
I've long thought Steve White's idea was a good one. Cross-bread the plants for sterility and then introduce them. Add a virus or two. Really cripple the crops and yields and drive the price way, way up. Then bomb the shit out of the known drug lords estates, all but one and let them decide he'd ratted them out so survivors go after each other.
#6
I'd like to add that a few shipments could be intercepted quietly, doctored and allowed to pass on. A series of "hot dose" fatalities might do alot the reduce the demand, not just from those unfortunate enough to have actually got the hot dose, but from those that just heard about it too.
(SomaliNet) The aid agency Doctors Without Borders (MSF - Medecins Sans Frontieres) has shut down two offices in eastern Chad and evacuated its staff after armed robberies, the charity said on Thursday.
The aid agency said that all activities in Ade and Goz Beida had been suspended indefinitely, leaving 70 000 people without access to health services. "The fact that MSF is being attacked on a regular basis threatens our and other aid agencies' capacity to provide assistance to populations in eastern Chad," Karline, head of mission for MSF in Chad said in a statement. "Ultimately, it is the sick and vulnerable that suffer the most," Kleijer added.
MSF said the weekend incidents, along with armed robberies on two other organisations and the hijacking of a United Nations vehicle, marked a peak in attacks on humanitarian agencies over the last six months.
The Chad government is fighting a sporadic rebellion in the east, which borders Sudan's restive Darfur province.
Rebels earlier in the year reached the Chad capital of N'Djamena before being repelled.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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(PTI) Notwithstanding repeated US assertions that its nuclear agreement with India was a unique one based on New Delhi's impeccable non-proliferation record, Pakistan today said it wanted a similar deal with Washington.
Pakistan intends to ask the US for a nuclear deal akin to the one finalised with India, Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani told a news conference in his hometown of Multan, where he is spending the Eid holidays.
He also said that Pakistan's strategic importance as a frontline country in the war against terrorism will remain intact no matter whoever wins the US presidential election. "They cannot think of fighting terrorism and extremism without the support of Pakistan," Gilani said.
Referring to Democratic US presidential nominee Barack Obama's statement about unilateral strikes on terrorists in Pakistani areas bordering Afghanistan, Gilani said he did not take such comments seriously as the candidates issue them for a domestic audience during poll campaigns.
Statements by the US presidential candidates should not be a cause of concern as Pakistan enjoys good relations with America that will continue even after the presidential election, he added.
Pakistan has multi-dimensional cooperation with the US in areas like defence, intelligence, education and health, the Premier remarked. He said that during his recent visit to the US, he met President George W Bush, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice and defence and treasury officials.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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#1
We actually have a nice nuclear deal all worked up for you. But, when you discover the details, you may not be so anxious to put it in motion.
(PTI) At least 59 Tamil Tigers and two soldiers were killed in fierce clashes in Sri Lanka's embattled north, where the Air Force fighters jets targeted key LTTE bases, including a building once used by the outfit's political head B Nadesan as his office, officials said today.
The building in the rebel stronghold of Kilinochchi, which was among those bombed by the Sri Lankan security forces this morning, used to be occupied by Nadesan when he was the police head of the outfit. Nadesan succeeded S P Tamilchelvan as the LTTE's political wing chief after the latter was killed in a raid by the Air Force in November last year.
"The main office complex of LTTE leader Nadesan was located at 500m West of Driyarukulam and it was engaged around 9.20 am today," Air Force spokesperson, Wing Commander Janaka Nanayakkara, said.
At the same time, he said, the fighter jets pounded an LTTE military base located one kilometre north of Triarukulam in the general area of Pravipanjan in Kilinochchi. The Air Force launched the strikes on real-time information acquired through continuous ground and air surveillances, the Defence Ministry said.
In ground clashes, security forces killed three LTTE cadres in Kottukulam, north of Morawewa in Trincomalee today, the ministry said. Continuing with their march towards Kilinochchi, the troops moved further north across the east of Akkarayankulam yesterday, it said. At least four LTTE cadres and two soldiers were killed in the region during clashes yesterday, the ministry said.
Posted by: Fred ||
10/04/2008
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Pakistani forces have killed 25 militants and wounded several others in Bajaur Agency in operations aimed at curbing insurgency in the area.
"Clashes broke out when pro-Taliban militants attacked security checkposts in different villages of the agency including Rashakai, Khazana, Bai Cheena as well as Tangkhata," a military official told Press TV on condition of anonymity. He added that security forces, in retaliation, targeted militants with artillery fire and pounded suspected hideouts of the militants killing as many as 25 militants and injuring several others.
Pakistani army has killed some 1,000 pro-Taliban militants wounding 2,000 others in the Bajaur tribal agency since early August. The volatile Bajaur Agency borders the troubled Afghan province of Kunar, and has been the scene of fierce clashes between Pakistani forces and Taliban-linked militants in recent months.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Pakistani army has killed some 1,000 pro-Taliban militants
Even applying the standard 90% PCF (Pakistani Correction Factor), 100 killed still sounds like a substantial improvement.
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.
By Thomas Sowell
BAGHDAD (AP) - Two United Arab Emirates-based energy companies announced Saturday that they have begun producing natural gas in Iraq's self-ruled Kurdish area.
Potential jurors in the Fort Dix terrorism case have been asked who they think was behind the Sept. 11, 2001, attacks on the United States and whether they believe that "Islam endorses violence," according to a 41-page jury questionnaire made public yesterday by Judge Robert Kugler, who will preside over the forthcoming trial. They also were asked if heightened security in the courthouse during the proceedings would unduly influence them, and whether what they had heard or read about the case would affect their ability to render a fair verdict based only on evidence. 
Can Muslims still pray five times a day in the military? Can women wear the hijab while serving? Will I have to fight against people in my home country? These and other questions may be part of an upcoming "town hall meeting" in Burnaby's mosque Oct. 8.
A 
Thailand's southern 
ANCHORAGE, ALASKA Sarah and Todd Palin underpaid their estimated taxes with an April extension and could owe interest, according to an Associated Press analysis of the couple's 2007 federal tax returns released Friday by the McCain campaign.
LAS VEGAS, Nevada (CNN) -- The jury has reached a verdict in O.J. Simpson's armed robbery and kidnapping trial in Las Vegas, Nevada, a defense lawyer and a court official said Friday. The jury reached the verdict 13 years to the day O.J. Simpson was acquitted of two murders.
UPDATED: Thursday's highly anticipated face-off between Alaska governor Sarah Palin and Delaware senator Joe Biden was the most-watched vp debate of all time.
India banned smoking in public places on Thursday, a move the government hopes will help curb the habit in a country that has one of the world's largest populations of smokers.
The Defense Department announced today that charges against Ahmed Khalfan Ghailani have been referred to trial by military commission. Ghailani is alleged to have been involved in the planning and preparation of the attack on the U.S. Embassy in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, on Aug 7, 1998. 
As many as 13 militants have been killed in the ongoing operation launched by security forces in a high-altitude region over the Harmukh range in north-east Kashmir, a senior Army officer said on Friday. 
(SomaliNet) As a massive influx of Somali refugees fleeing a brutal insurgency across the border stretches the facilities to breaking point, tension is rising at the sprawling Dadaab refugee camp complex in north-west Kenya, say United Nations officials. Sources say the complex, made up of three separate camps stretching over 50 square kilometres, now hosts 215 000 refugees - the vast majority of them Somalis. It was set up 16 years ago to hold only 90 000. 
United States air strikes on three villages in North Waziristan killed at least 20 people on Wednesday and Friday.
A car exploded outside Russia's military headquarters in South Ossetia on Friday, killing seven soldiers in what leaders of the Moscow-backed separatist region immediately described as a terrorist attack launched from Georgia. 
After the Union Cabinet took a serious view and Prime Minister Manmohan Singh expressed anguish over continuing violence against Christians in Orissa, Home Minister Shivraj Patil on Friday shot off a strongly-worded letter to Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik asking him to take effective measures and provide security for the community. 
Leaders of the African, Caribbean and Pacific (ACP) countries on Friday called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) chief prosecutor to suspend efforts to indict Sudanese President Omar Hassan al-Bashir on genocide charges. Ghanaian President John Kufuor, who hosted a meeting of the 79-strong ACP grouping, said the summit had resolved that it was better to use diplomatic rather than legal initiatives. "We believe there should be room for more diplomatic efforts" to resolve the crisis in Darfur, said Kufuor.
The FBI is investigating a former Illinois state senator who is a p0ker-playing buddy of Democratic presidential candidate Sen. Barack Obama. According to Chicago authorities, the FBI visited the offices in Joliet, Ill., of a Will County auditor to ask questions about Larry Walsh, a longtime friend of Mr. Obama's, and his chief of staff Matt Ryan. 
Afghan President Hamid Karzai has advised Taliban leader Mullah Omar to return to Afghanistan and join him in the political process, Geo News reported on Friday. In an interview with the channel, Karzai said, "I propose that Mullah Omar return to Afghanistan as I will be responsible for his security and answerable to the whole of the world on his behalf." 
Islamists in a town in southern Somalia have imposed Sharia law in line with their vow to bring back Islamic theocracy to areas where they were ousted two years ago, a spokesman said Friday. The 
The Royal Navy has mothballed almost half of its remaining fleet of destroyers as it desperately attempts to save money in the face of a plunging budget. 
Moqtada al-Sadr describes the withdrawal of foreign forces from Iraq as the only solution to the sectarian violence in the country. The 
NATO forces in Afghanistan will step up attacks on drug lords and narcotics traffickers who are supporting a Taliban insurgency that has rebounded in the past year, according to the top US commander in Afghanistan.
(AKI) - A Pakistani party leader, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt in a suicide attack, said on Friday that local Taliban had denied their involvement in the crime.
U.S.-led forces said they shot dead a leader of al Qaeda in Iraq on Friday who was the mastermind behind a series of deadly recent bombings in Baghdad.
Iraq's 3-member presidential council agreed on Friday to ratify the country's provincial elections law, paving the way for a long-awaited vote to be held by the end of January, officials said. The polls had been scheduled for Oct. 1st, but the law governing how the vote should be conducted stalled in parliament over how to treat the northern oil-rich city of Kirkuk, where control is disputed by Kurds, Arabs and ethnic Turkmen. 
(PTI) Notwithstanding repeated US assertions that its nuclear agreement with India was a unique one based on New Delhi's impeccable non-proliferation record, Pakistan today said it wanted a similar deal with Washington.
