#2
sometimes .... i like to dress up. That's prolly where the 18% comes in
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 21:08
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#3
Truly, KBK. Off the top of my head I'd say some of the other 18% are Seafarious, Barbara Skolaut, Cornsilk Blondie, Sgt. Mom. ex-lib, Jan, Kelly, lotp... and me, too.
#2
Unbelievable! Caroline Glick in the JPost reports,
The next day, Somali pirates attempted to hijack the Trafalgar, a British frigate, but were forced to flee by a German naval helicopter dispatched to the scene.
I couldn't find any other news reports on this. So either CG is mistaken or is reporting intelligence being kept secret.
#3
Tanker Trafalgar The latest drama in the perilous stretch of water came as Somali pirates who captured a Saudi supertanker narrowly failed in hijacking a British ship. The British tanker Trafalgar was suddenly surrounded in the Gulf of Aden by at least eight speedboats. It was rescued when the German frigate Karlsruhe on patrol 12 miles away sent a helicopter to scare off the pirates who fled at high speed.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008 18:49
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#4
It's a pity that the pirates who 'fled at high speed' were able to out-run the missiles that I'm sure that German helicopter launched at them ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008 19:26
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#5
The only real dog in this fight that we have is a non-state becoming a terrorist base. We can give our allies intel and let them deal with the pirates. They need to have this dumped squarely in their laps and deal with it. When the Suez Canal tolls start drying up, maybe Egypt will even think of trying to do something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 20:57
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#1
anticipating Obama doing the same, they reward a terrorist state
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 16:27
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#2
We already have diplomatic relations with Syria.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008 16:33
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#3
It is doubtful that we are going to get an accurate picture of what is really going on. At least not from any news outlet.
Say, for example, that Syria has been cooperating in ways that have been kept quiet. There was a recent raid by US forces into Syria that the Syrian government apparently approved although they had to say the required things for domestic consumption lest they look like they are kissing our butts.
Say, for the sake of argument, that this hasn't been the only such raid, but the only one where a lot of shooting has been involved. Lets say that several "snatch" operations have been allowed across the border and the Syrians have been playing along.
We would probably also assume that anything we get from the Syrians is likely to be crap but that isn't important. What is important is that if we establish ties at that level and we inform them of various goings on, there is no possible way they can claim they didn't know.
I don't think we are so much interested in getting information from them as much as we are in getting certain information to them so that if they fail to act on it, we can hold them responsible.
Just a thought, I would have no idea what the reality is and neither would anyone else outside of those having a need to know.
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 17:08
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#5
There is a big difference between allowing some violent foreigners to be killed and having your secret nuclear bomb facility bombed to rubble against your will.
#6
The bombing of the nuclear facility showed Syria that they can be touched anywhere at any time and there really isn't a whole heck of a lot they can do about it. There is the implied message that whatever they have now, they retain it only because they are allowed to retain it.
They most certainly should be asking themselves in a strategic sense which course would provide better long term security for Syria. They could continue to be Iran's proxy in the ME but what protection can Iran offer, particularly with oil prices at today's levels. We could wipe out Iran at this point with no more pain in the oil markets than we already suffered this past spring.
Syria now has a stabilizing US ally between her and her "master" in Persia. What protection would Iran be able to offer in the long term? What threat or deterrent can Iran play to dissuade reaction from a Syrian adventure into Lebanon or Israel? Iran has growing internal dissatisfaction with the economy and policies of her President. Iran is becoming increasingly a "paper tiger" in the region. While wild statements come from the mouth of the President, one has to wonder how much support he actually has.
But Syria must move gradually in order to save face. I believe they have switched sides but aren't being public with that yet. It certainly would be in her interest to do so. A relationship with Iran appears at this point to have diminishing return potential over time.
Syria's dwindling resources are often cited by analysts as one of the main reasons the country needs to end its international isolation, a process that has now started with improved ties with Europe. David Miliband, UK foreign secretary, was in Damascus this week in the latest sign of a thaw in ties between the west and Syria.
While fighting off pressure from the US and other western states in recent years over alleged interference in Iraq, Lebanon and the Palestinian territories, Syria has also struggled for economic survival.
The energy sector comprises a large chunk of the country's economy, and oil revenues have funded a quarter of the expenditure in the nation's huge public sector. Five years ago oil comprised more than half of Syria's $29bn in income, but last year it contributed only $3.8bn to revenues totalling $22bn (17.5bn, £14.6bn).
Being in an axis with Iran may not be to Syria's long term economic advantage.
#8
Also, I remembered that Syria was overpumping its oilfields, against the recommendations of oil experts, so they screwed themselves of their reserves in the ground.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 21:04
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#1
Since some of these practices are at least plausibly illegal or even un-Consitutional, and since they are clearly important if not vital to the survival of the Nation, I contend the proper 'answer' is an appropriate Constitutional amendment and accompanying legislation. Sadly, won't even be considered.
Counter-terrorism and democracy itself are both like sausage-making: you don't want to look too closely, particularly if you're squeamish. We do not need additional constitutional protection: such protection could surely be abused. What we need are two political parties that understand what has to be done, and do it, making sure that we don't overboard. Sadly, we have had but one such party.
KSM and the other mooks don't yet deserve a bullet behind the ear: they have far too much intel still in their heads.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008 19:28
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Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008 18:51
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#5
But, I thought it wasn't OK to blast places of worship up. Why didn't we start doing this a few years back?
Way cool the way the lower part just opened up and the top came down on itself sorta like...
#2
I yam 100% behind the strike. Bring it on. Forever and a day.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:55
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The brave and heroic members of the Film Actors Guild (FAG) provide a valuable and necessary service to the people of America. I urge them to resist capitulation to harsh, uncaring studio management and their brutal demands, whatever they may be. I urge the FAG members to stand by their principles. Whatever they may be.
After all, it is not like they can be replaced by some puppets and computer graphics.
Chief of Air Staff Air Chief Marshal Tanvir Mahmood Ahmad on Wednesday said 36 high-tech combat aircraft (CF-20) would be inducted into the PAF fleet by 2010.
âThe 21st Century â fifth generation â aircraft are of Chinese origin and would provide an extra punch to the air force,â he said while answering questions after a briefing to the visiting participants of the National Media Workshop being organised by the National Defence University at the Air Headquarters.
He said that modalities were being discussed to acquire two squadrons of the aircraft for the PAF. He said the FC-20 aircraft had been selected after hectic and lengthy deliberations besides considering a long list of the similar category aircraft of various origins. The engine of the aircraft would be manufactured by Russia with the most modern reverse technology, he said.
The air chief said the first squadron of the indigenously developed fighter aircraft â JF-17 (Thunder) â would be inducted into the PAF fleet in the first quarter of 2009, enhancing agility of the air force and increasing its reach beyond 350 nautical miles.
He said after laborious efforts, the PAF had also acquired night-war capability, due to which the countryâs defence had been made further impregnable. âThis capability has brought the PAF among a few air forces around the globe, which have the ability to carry out war operations during night times.
Months after offering Russia to deploy long-range ballistic missiles in his country, Syrian President Bashar Assad was informed this week that Moscow will not sell Iskander missiles to foreign clients due to production delays.
According to a report by the Russian news agency Novosti, the state arms exporter Rosoboronexport has decided that despite interest from a number of countries - including Syria, the United Arab Emirates and India - Moscow will not export the Iskander missile until the Russian Armed Forces are fully equipped with the system.
The Iskander missile - also known as the SS-26 Stone - is a long-range, solid fuel- propelled, theater quasi-ballistic missile system.
#2
If they wanted to parade some of the guys from Camp Pendleton down Pacific Coast Highway in Oceanside I'd be happy to stand there and throw confetti at them. Dunno how many others would but Oceanside's a little more conservative than the rest of Kaliphornia.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/22/2008 16:03
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Very informative.
If you assumed that Azerbaijan is just another impoverished Muslim country in caucasus, guess again:
"Azerbaijan is experiencing a unique period in its history. Not only is it independent for the second time but it is for the first time stable, prosperous, and investing in its future. Indeed, the past 18 years since the collapse of the Soviet Union and the emergence of 15 newly independent republics in the territory of the empire have brought magnificent transformation for Azerbaijan from a poor, unstable, and chaotic country into an island of peace, stability, and prosperity in the sensitive region of the South Caucasus.
The present regime in Azerbaijan is reaping big dividends from the hard geopolitical work done in
the mid-1990s, namely: establishing a cease-fire with Armenia in the Nagorno-Karabakh conflict;
signing oil contracts with Western multinational oil and gas companies; investing in new pipelines
that bypass Russia and Iran; forging normal, working relations with all powers in the region; and stabilizing the country from within.
Since 2003, these investments have started producing results, and billions of dollars in oil revenues started pouring into the country. The living conditions of people have improved significantly in comparison to the 1990s, and the countrys overall development seems to be on the right track.
The Azeri government has been able to utilize oil revenues to further upgrade the countrys infrastructure.
Given the current prices in the world markets for oil and gas, it is expected that Azerbaijan
will generate more than $200 billion in revenues from energy projects.
More than $10 billion has already been accumulated in the State Oil Fund and a significant amount of that money has been spent for social and infrastructure projects. More than 1600 new public schools were built in the past 5 years and more than 600 were repaired. New hospitals, sports facilities, culture houses, theaters, and parks have been built across the country. More than $1 billion has been invested in roads, bridges, and underpasses. New residential buildings are emerging in Baku and other cities every day.
The Azeri economy has been expanding at a rate of 25-30% GDP growth annually. Three years
ago the budget of Azerbaijani government was approximately $3 billion. In 2008 it reached $12
billion. Poverty has been reduced from 50% to 16%, and unemployment has virtually disappeared.
On the streets of Baku, one increasingly comes across migrant workers from China and India. Not
only is Azerbaijan the fastest growing economy in the world, but it is also the one undergoing the
most significant reforms: indeed, according to the World Banks Doing Business 2008 report,
Azerbaijan made significant improvements in its business climate, jumping a record 66 points in
the reports rankings."
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
11/22/2008 15:21
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Everything started last August 17 with the explosion at the Abu Bekir mosque in Baku. This mosque is considered a meeting place for those who adhere to the Salafi ideology. A grenade was thrown into the mosque during the evening prayer, killing two people and wounding several more.
The authorities attributed this attack to internal score-settling among the Salafists, arrested about 18 people suspected of organizing the attack, and decided to close the mosque. It should be noted that the mosque was initially closed temporarily due to the investigation into the blast, but the authorities decided not to reopen it.
It is not quite clear why the Salafists themselves are accused of an attack which reflects negatively on their reputation. However, the explosion has given the authorities in Azerbaijan a pretext to close a mosque which, unlike Azerbaijan's Muslim Spiritual Directorate, was not subservient to the stat. In a state where a particularly shaped beard is sufficient enough for the police to harass an individual, it is difficult to speak of the Salafis having a mass following
On November 10, Azeri news media reported that the Azerbaijani authorities were conducting special operations against jamaat members in the Lezgin-populated northern part of the country.
This means the Azerbaijani authorities failed to deprive the jamaat members of their sanctuary in the northern part of the republic in August and September. It can be surmised from this that there is a well-formed and deeply rooted jamaat in that part of the country that continues to function even after the death of its leader Emir Abdul-Mejid. The absence of news reports about actions carried out by the jamaat of Lezgins of Azerbaijan on the website controlled by prominent North Caucasian Salafist ideologue and political figure Movladi Udugov, who also happens to be responsible for informational support of the Caucasus Emirate, is possibly related to the fact that full-fledged contacts between the aforementioned jamaat and the structures of the Emirate have not yet been established. In other words, after organizing this entity in that area of Caucasus, Emir Abdul-Mejid simply did not have time to connect it with his contacts abroad and within the Caucasian Emirate.
The network of jamaats operating in the Caucuses has grown and now incorporates cells from Sochi in the northwest to Baku in the southeast. However, it is important to emphasize that this growth does not imply an overall radicalization of the region or that there will be any such development in the foreseeable future. The portion of the region's population who are ready to carry out armed resistance is below one tenth of one percent. However, this tiny minority is far more active in its expression of dissent than the passive majority is in its expression of support for the Russian or the Azeri regime. Their main achievement is that they have a shared ideology (Salafism), a shared objective (assuming power in the region), and the means of achieving it through armed struggle and attrition warfare that will eventually force the Russian army out of the region.
In Tajikistan, Moscow is now showing increasing interest in the Ayni military airfield, 15 miles (25 km) west of Dushanbe, as a possible base for elements of the Russian air force (VVS). Talks are underway between the defense ministries of both countries, exploring the terms of use for the Russian air force. Dushanbe would prefer joint use of the airfield, but Moscow reportedly wants sole use, based on an offer to invest $5 million to complete construction work at Ayni (Nezavisimaya Gazeta, October 28). If Moscow succeeds in securing the exclusive use of Ayni for its air force, this will be a departure from the role and function of Russian air force deployments in Central Asia, since the base at Kant in the Kyrgyz Republic forms the air support component of the Collective Rapid Deployment Forces of the Collective Security Treaty Organization CSTO.
Speculation over the future of Ayni, which fell into disuse after the dissolution of the Soviet Union, has grown since India invested heavily in upgrading the runway and expanded hangers, which some thought was a precursor to the deployment of India's air force in Tajikistan. There has, in fact, been considerable interest in the possible use of the facility, reportedly from the United States and NATO, particularly France. The French examined Ayni as an alternative to the capital Dushanbe for its Mirage fighter jets, which support antiterrorist operations in Afghanistan.
So is this a counter to India's interest in the region, a way to pressure the Indians to fork over the money for the Gorshkov, or a way for Putin to put pressure on us in Afghanistan and Pak-land?
#1
Interesting. After India refurbished the base and stationed helicopters there, Russia wants them out?
Posted by: john frum ||
11/22/2008 13:39
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#2
Rahmon is Moscow's lacky. He will bend over and take whatever Putin wants to stick in him. Why doesn't Moscow re-annex Tajikistan and help feed their starving freezing people? Is that too much to ask in return for using it as their military base?
#3
Why doesn't Moscow re-annex Tajikistan and help feed their starving freezing people? Is that too much to ask in return for using it as their military base?
Ankara and Tehran signed an accord strengthening agreements on developing Iran's gas fields and transporting Iranian gas to Europe. With the agreement, Turkey secures the operation rights for three offshore gas fields in Iran's South Pars region, off the southern gulf port of Assaluyeh. Under the accord, Turkey will produce some 46 million cubic meters of gas per day and may use half of that amount itself. It is estimated that Turkey will spend $12 billion on developing the project, which envisages the joint construction of a 1,850-kilometer (1,200-mile) pipeline from Assaluyeh to the Bazargan border area with Turkey in northwestern Iran (Hurriyet Daily News, November 20).
When asked to comment on the accord, U.S. State Department spokesman Sean McCormack said that the Iranian Government liked to sign such agreements but they did not really came to anything (www.state.gov, November 19).
The question is, would Turkey jeopardize its relations with the United States by bowing to Iranian pressure to initiate such project? If not, why then is Turkey maneuvering to sign these accords with Iran? It is in the interest of Turkey to build a pipeline from Iran to Europe, but Turkish policy-makers know that the U.S is opposed to such a project and Ankara would not want to put its relations with the United States at risk for the Iranian gas pipeline. The Turkish motivation for signing the accords might have two aims.
#1
Well, Turkey bowed to outside pressure to prevent the 4ID from going through to Iraq. Why not cut a deal with Iran?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:49
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#2
Outside influence? Fascinating.
I recall Turkey being the target of U.S. State Department's machinations to sabotage the effort. Specifically that they were asking for large amounts of additional aid as an "incentive", when it actually that the aid was being negotiated separately and un-related to the 4th Infantry's entrance.
The researchers took the Chinese version of Wikipedia, extracted individual words and used a mathematical technique called latent semantic analysis to work out the relationships between different words. If one of the words was censored within China, they could look up which other closely related words are likely to be blocked as well.
Examples of words tested by the researchers and found to be banned included references to the Falun Gong movement and the protest movements of 1989; Nazi Germany and other historical events; and general concepts related to democracy and political protest.
"Imagine you want to remove the history of the Wounded Knee massacre from the Library of Congress," Crandall said. "You could remove 'Bury My Heart at Wounded Knee' and a few other selected books, or you could remove every book in the entire library that contains the word 'massacre.'"
By analogy, Chinese Internet censorship based on keyword filtering is the equivalent of the latter and indeed, the keyword "massacre" (in Chinese) is on the blacklist.
Because it filters ideas rather than specific Web sites, keyword filtering stops people from using proxy servers or "mirror" Web sites to evade censorship. But because it is not completely effective all the time, it probably acts partly by encouraging self-censorship, Barr said. When users within China see that certain words, ideas and concepts are blocked most of the time, they might assume that they should avoid those topics.
When the Chinese system detects a banned word in data traveling across the network, it sends a series of three "reset" commands to both the source and the destination. These "resets" effectively break the connection.
#1
INS Mysore, a Delhi class destroyer, will replace the Tabar
Posted by: john frum ||
11/22/2008 13:35
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#2
The Captain and crew of the Tabar are going to be in for a major party at the Indian Admiralty. That Captain has become so "fast track" that they'll just skip Commodore and make him and Admiral.
A Chinese college student who wanted to hug a panda bear climbed into its pen, but instead of getting a cuddle he was mauled by the animal, officials said.
The student ignored warning signs cautioning visitors to not climb over the panda cage fences at the Qixing Park Zoo in Guilin, China, hopping into a the bear's pen Friday, the state-run Chinese news agency Xinhua reported.
Officials said the panda, named Yangyang, was frightened by the 20-year-old's attempts to hug it and responded by inflicting multiple bites on the student, identified only as Liu. The young man sustained injuries to his arms and legs and was said to be recovering after an operation.
"Yangyang was so cute and I just wanted to cuddle him," Liu told Xinhua at the No. 2 People's Hospital in Guilin Saturday. "I didn't expect he would attack I don't remember how many bites I got."
Yangyang is a male, 8-year-old panda. The incident apparently didn't affect the panda because it was back to eating and playing as normal shortly after the incident, officials said.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008
11:37 ||
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#3
"The young man...was said to be recovering after an operation."
Brain transplant, I hope.
Ignorant college students--taste like chicken!
Posted by: Dar ||
11/22/2008 13:07
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#4
Reminds me of a tidbit I saw many many years ago on teevee and which stuck in my mind, about a would-be photographer going into the panda cage to take a picture, and having the male charge him, and bite his genitalia off. I hate it when that happens.
Prices for Venezuelan oil reached their lowest level in 22 months Friday as fears of a global recession stalled demand, slashing the main source of cash for President Hugo Chavez's hefty state spending.
Venezuelan heavy crude dropped to an average $40.68 for the week ending Friday, less than a third of its $129.54 July peak. Venezuelan oil requires extensive refining, and so is significantly cheaper than the light, sweet crude commonly used as a benchmark for oil. Prices for that oil dropped to $48.25 a barrel Friday, their lowest level since May 2005.
Oil makes up 94 percent of Venezuelan exports and funds half the government's budget. The legislature last month backed a $77.8 billion budget for 2009 that assumes average oil prices of $60 per barrel. But Finance Minister Ali Rodriguez in September said that $60-a-barrel oil could force the government to tighten spending. 2M BBL/day @ $40/BBL is $29B. You're a little short Hugo, but enough about your stature.
Chavez has insisted his government is prepared for a price slide, saying Venezuela could tap $39 billion in foreign currency reserves or more than $30 billion in slush funds to withstand the downturn. Except Hugo and his cronies have stolen most of it or given it away to other Socialist paradises.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Well if that $69 Billion is in any kind of investment vehicle, it's prolly worth about $40 Billion now. It would be sweet to see him blow away his entire reserves on one year. He's screwed unless something big happens to the oil market, and I don't see that in the short bet.
#3
Tha farther oil slides, the less Ugo shoots his fat mouth off.
Faster, please.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/22/2008 13:18
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#4
and he's promised off a good share of the exports to his socialist comrades at below market (near free) rates to buy prestige and perceived power. Nice job, dickhead. I see a crackdown and a backlash coup in two years. Hope he tastes the tank treads
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 13:59
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#5
Nah. He'll suicide by shooting himself 27 times with an AK-47 (pausing only once to reload....)
#7
Oil makes up 94 percent of Venezuelan exports and funds half the government's budget.
Which begs the question - what makes up the other half? So Hugo will have to raise taxes as the entire world enters an economic downturn - that'll be interesting to see.
#1
As time marches on I believe more and more that it isn't the company, it's the UAW.
I was a union guy for 10 years in the Carpenters/Piledrivers/Divers union, but you have to live with the consequences of your actions. And if you drive a company into the ground, you are going to have to face the fact that you now have no job.
A ruling on a case from South Dakota -- where off-duty law enforcement officers were criminally charged for carrying guns despite the authority to do so under the federal 'Law Enforcement Officer's Safety Act of 2004' (LEOSA) -- has confirmed that all qualified off-duty and retired law enforcement are allowed, by federal law, to carry a concealed gun for personal self-defense irrespective of state law.
The federal law supersedes the crazy, confusing and often conflicted state and local laws that limit legitimate self-defense. Law Enforcement Alliance of America's Executive Director, Jim Fotis said, "When LEAA co-authored the original draft of what became affectionately known as 'National Cop Carry' back in the early 1990's, I knew it would save cops' lives and give those who choose to resist violent criminals a fighting chance. In 2004 I shook President Bush's hand after he signed our bill into law and rejoiced that our fight -- for more than a decade -- was finally over!"
The local prosecutor's apparent effort to challenge the federal law, and send a message to all in law enforcement not to carry a gun for self-defense in South Dakota, was soundly rejected! Thankfully, after careful review, the gun charges against the officers were dismissed. "The Judge's crystal clear and unambiguous legal opinion should be required reading for every prosecutor in the nation so that no other law enforcement professionals, active or retired, have to endure what those officers and agents have endured in South Dakota," declared Carl Rowan, LEAA's Vice President.
Robert Van Norman and Kenneth Orrock, Attorneys for the officers, said "We are pleased with the court's decision, as it reaffirms the intent of the Law Enforcement Officers Safety Act and in effect will protect law enforcement officers and our communities. The law enforcement community should find comfort that LEOSA has been properly applied in this case."
The Law Enforcement Alliance of America, Inc., (LEAA) is the nation's largest not for profit, non-partisan coalition of law enforcement professionals, crime victims, and concerned citizens dedicated to making America safer.
#1
That's nice--how about the rest of us? That's the next step.
As long as my driver's license is good in any state of the Union, so should my CCL be.
Posted by: Dar ||
11/22/2008 13:05
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Dar: One day the country will come back to the Constitution and Bill of Rights. The 2nd Amendment is an individual and inalienable right. The Bill of Rights says nothing about rights beginning and ending at State borders.
USA has no remorse over its brazen acts of aggression ...
... I must say, I feel no remorse whatsoever ...
... and rationalises its invasion and destruction of Afghanistan and Iraq as compulsory acts to ensure security of its homeland.
We're rather touchy that way ...
It justifies its offensive actions under Article 51 of UN charter.
We actually don't invoke the UN charter at all since the UN is useless. We invoke our right of self-defense. You might look under Hammurabi's Code for an explanation.
It is now trying to justify its intended offensive against Pakistan under the same Act on the plea that Pakistan is allowing its soil for breeding terrorism and exporting terrorism into Afghanistan to cause harm to US-Nato troops.
You guys don't really believe that Bambi is going to invade, do you? C'mon guys, even the Dhimmicrats here know that was a joke.
If so, why it remains tight-lipped on misuse of Afghan soil by several spy agencies working against the interests of Pakistan?
Because they're our spies ...
While so-called cross border terrorism is not causing any harm to homeland of USA, ...
Tell that to the folks who died on 9/11.
... cross border terrorism from Afghanistan into Pakistan is directly impinging upon the integrity and existence of Pakistan. As a policy, US military is extending support to warlords and officials in Afghanistan that are friendly with India and are anti-Pakistan.
That's the real bite, isn't it: we're friendly to the Afghans and the evil Hindooz, and the Hindooz are setting up shop in Afghanistan. You Paks are always worried that you're being surrounded, and now it's coming to pass. But you don't dare ask a question like, "why do they hate us?"
Since last July, American attitude towards Pakistan has become highly aggressive.
Whereas the Pak attitude towards American has been highly aggressive for years and years ...
Besides defaming Pak army and the ISI on baseless charges, Pakistan has been declared as a war zone and home to terrorists where from terrorism is exported to Afghanistan.
It isn't 'defamation' if it's true ...
In their view 3.5 million inhabitants of FATA being illiterate, impoverished and unemployed are militants and have turned the area into a military ground which breeds terrorists and provides safe haven to Al-Qaeda.
What part of that is wrong? Even the elite Sindhs and Punjabis laugh at the country-bumpkin Pashtuns who inhabit the FATA.
Osama, Al-Zahawari and other high-value targets in their view are based in FATA. Drone attacks on suspected targets in Waziristan have become a norm. The spy planes fly over the north-western region of Pakistan at will and hit targets unchallenged.
Because your military has set itself up to stand against the Hindooz (and I wouldn't provoke them) and to meddle in the internal affairs of the country, rather than pacify the frontier and keep the foreign terrorists out.
The drones hit suspected Al-Qaeda and pro-Pakistan Taliban disregarding collateral damage incurred and ignores anti-army militants. Each attack by the deadly flying machines kill majority of innocent civilians including women and children and very few noted militants get targeted. In this year so far 24 missile attacks have taken place killing 344 civilians. The number of so-called militants does not exceed ten.
The civilians are what we call 'camp-followers'. We'd prefer not to hit the wimmins and kiddies, but when the brave, fearless terrorists hide behind burqas this is what is going to happen. We're learning that the terrorists use our rules against us, and so where we can, we'll just wax them, and if the camp-followers get in the way, well, that's unfortunate. Now if the terrorists were real men, they'd meet us on a battlefield and work to protect the civilians.
The US military justify their selective targeting on the false plea that Pakistan army show little inclination to prevent anti-American groups including Afghan Taliban which cross into Afghanistan and hit US-Nato troops.
The Pak army is still deployed against India. When they deploy to the FATA we'll perhaps reconsider.
Attacks are made without seeking permission or even conveying their intent on the plea that the army and the ISI are linked with the Taliban and leak information to them before they are hit.
All of which is true.
US drones continue to carryout unprovoked acts of aggression while Washington disregards our feeble protests with arrogance. While it castigates Pakistan for not controlling infiltration from FATA, it keeps mum over large-scale infiltration of RAW and RAM agents into Pakistan and drone attacks almost on daily basis.
Remind us all how many wimmins and kiddies the 'RAW' and 'RAM' agents are killing. I think the total score so far is, zero.
Despite protests by Pakistani leadership and assurances by American leadership and unanimous resolution in parliament against US intervention, there has been no let up in the aerial attacks.
We're beginning to figure out this 'lip-service' idea. Apparently it's very useful in the Muslim world.
The drones controlled by CIA plan to eliminate all pro-Pakistan Pashtun tribal leaders and notables as well as Afghan Taliban and Al-Qaeda.
The ones we can find, anyways ...
Neither there is any remorse or word of apology from USA on attacking its ally which has rendered huge sacrifices to prevent the Afghanistan front from getting destabilised.
I don't know how he wrote that without his lips falling off. The 'Afgan front' has been 'destabilized' precisely because the ISI and the Pak militants want it that way.
The US has now begun to construct new military bases closer to Pakistan's western border to facilitate employment of drones even in rough weather conditions and to cover larger areas in depth. It implies reliance on spy planes will be further enhanced and option of ground raids suspended for the time being.
The drones are getting more capable, and the 'eye in the sky' has been blasting Talibunnies without harm to us. We'll change our tactics when the terrs change theirs.
Drone attack on a suspected target in Bannu on 18 November allegedly killing an al-Qaeda operative has added a new dimension since the attacks had so far been confined to FATA only. It indicates that from now onwards the drones would also attack targets inside settled areas of Frontier province and the creeping forward policy would continue till no part of Pakistan would remain safe from drones.
Now there's an idea ...
Ironically, despite claims of killing al-Qaeda operatives, so far not a single body has been recovered from the sites of attacks.
We're not interested in recovering the bodies. We'd prefer to leave them in the open for the vultures, who have to eat too. The Talibs drag the bodies off so that they can swear Dire Revenge over the graves.
It is widely believed that al-Qaeda is named to cover up failure of their intelligence resulting in collateral damage only. It is also speculated that missile attacks are wilfully launched to push back the militants from forward to rearward areas to not only spread militancy in urban centres but also to find an excuse for drone attacks.
PM Gilani has expressed hope that once Obama is in the saddle the drone attacks will come to an end. One wonders the basis of his optimism since Obama has given no such assurance. Even if his wish is granted which is least likely, still there are 60 days before Obama enters Oval Office. Does it imply we will continue to bear the onslaught of drones for this period without a whimper on a wishful assumption?
Bambi is the one who threatened to invade you, not McCain. But the drone attacks may stop since Bambi is going to appoint people to the Pentagon and State who are experts in the 'ethical aspects' of the War on Terror. That's a code phrase for their being mushy-brained and not having the stomach to keep doing what is working, which is to have the drones attack the Talibunnies.
Irrespective of the deep political polarisation between the Democrats and Republicans in USA, both are on one frequency as far as Pakistan is concerned. The leadership of the two parties as well as State Department, Congress, Pentagon, House of Representatives, CIA and the Jewish lobby in USA feel that the root to terrorism lie in FATA.
Now ask yourself how it is that we have agreement on this point ...
Three out of five Americans do not want withdrawal of US troops from Afghanistan before stamping out terrorism and taking to task Osama bin Laden. These feelings have not changed despite altered perceptions of majority of NATO countries. France, Germany, Poland and Turkey in particular are keen to withdraw their troops from Afghanistan at the earliest.
Because they lack backbones ...
Britain and French military commanders have opined that war in Afghanistan could not be won militarily and have sought a political solution to Afghan imbroglio. The retired US military Generals in particular and some circles within American society have also expressed serious reservations over the skewed way adopted by Bush led team to fight the war on terror that has led to heightened anti-Americanism and has made the world unsafe. Ex Nato commander Gen Wesley Clark has urged more anti-terrorism support for Pakistan and letting Pak army tackle militancy on its soil without outside interference.
Any time that Weasley Clark tells you to do something, it's a good time to do the opposite. Anyone who understands the situation (and that clearly doesn't include Weasley) knows that the Pak army will never tackle militancy on its soil, because the army and the ISI own and operate said militancy.
The white Americans, American Jews, Israel, India and UK want Obama to do what Bush could not achieve. They want Pakistan to shed away its India centric mindset and instead wholly concentrate towards the threat posed by the Taliban and Al-Qaeda. They want him to convince Pakistan government and the military to consider militancy as the chief threat and not India.
But the true believers in the Land of the Pure can't seem to understand those simple truths ...
They want Pakistan not to waste its energies on Kashmir dispute and save whatever it has or get ready to lose everything. India's belligerence against its neighbours and massive human rights violations in Kashmir and some other parts of India including massacre of Christians in Orissa doesn't irk them.
The massacre of Christians in Pakistan doesn't seem to bother the Paks at all.
They want Obama to play a key role in resolving long outstanding Kashmir issue to the liking of India and not of Pakistan. They are keen to remove the lack of trust between the US-NATO-Afghan forces based in Afghanistan and Pak army so that the four could adopt a unified military strategy to combat the common threat of terrorism.
For the Jews, nuclear Pakistan poses the biggest threat to their security. Iran with nuclear ambitions is another cause of great worry for them.
Reverse the order and you've got it right.
Conversely, Hindu nuclear bomb does not bother them.
Because the Indians haven't threatened to annihilate Tel Aviv ...
USA, Canada, Russia and Israel had contributed a great deal towards development of Indian nuclear capability.
Unsolved Palestinian problem together with the threat posed by Hamas and Hezbollah are other irritants for Israel. They feel that Bush by disengagement had strengthened the hands of Hamas. They have not forgotten and forgiven the humiliation suffered at the hands of Hezbollah in Lebanon war. They are also keen to receive $30 billion US assistance promised to be delivered in the next decade. The Jews want Obama to address all these problems to their satisfaction. The Jewish lobby in USA know their nuisance value. Without their support none can hope to capture the prestigious slot of presidentship and any president daring to go against their wishes is turned into a political corpse.
So it's the fault of the evil Joooz, which is what all Muslim rants in the end come down to. Jews are 3% of our population but they control everything. If it really worked like that, I'd try to get enough Jews into Pakistan to be 3% of the population. Our lives would be easier.
Like other presidents, it will be the endeavour of Obama as well to become the protector of Israel. Obama has already indicated his tilt towards Israel by announcing his unconditional support for an undivided Jerusalem as the capital of Israel.
Sorta ...
During his visit to Palestine, he spent only 45 minutes with the aggrieved Palestinians and had no word of sympathy for brutal blockade of Gaza and killing of tens of hundreds Palestinians at the hands of Israeli security forces ...
That's 45 minutes more than I would have spent.
... but he did show concern over few losses of Israelis well knowing that the casualty ratio was 1:400. While he desires dialogue with even those who formed part of Bush's axis of evil, Obama opposes negotiations with the Hamas. There is increasing awareness among the Americans about the perverse influence of Jews over various organs of state power and hatred against them is spreading.
With the change of government in Washington by 20 January next year, the Democrats under Obama are likely to relegate Iraq front to lower priority since fighting war on two fronts has become financially and socially prohibitive.
And that we've just about got it won in Iraq ...
Obama has pledged to carryout phased withdrawal starting January next year and complete it in 16 months time. After pulling back its forces from frontline duties and shifting few brigades to Afghanistan, USA will then focus its entire attention towards Afghanistan. Keeping one front activated will be logistically and financially viable.
Which is what you and your Talib friends are going to try and screw ...
However, it will have to be seen how Iraq turns up after the departure of US troops and its allies. Some opine that there is a strong possibility of the country getting split into three states with southern Iraq under Shias and under the influence of Iran would become the dominant state. Such a development will make all Arab Sunni states in the neighbourhood uneasy. Upsurge of Shia power under the patronage of Iran would also impinge upon the security and economic interests of USA, Israel, Europe and Japan in the region. The independent state of Kurds in the north would impact Turkey, Iran and Syria having sizeable Kurds. These factors will cast a heavy pull on the new policy makers in Washington and despite their great urge to withdraw US troops from Iraq; they might not be able to do so for quite some time.
This is the kind of insightful analysis you can only get from the New York Times or Keith Olbermann ...
As regards Pakistan, Obama has issued policy statements which give an insight to his thinking. He stated that he expects Pakistan to fully focus on war on terror and should not be distracted by other regional problems. He said that resolution of Kashmir dispute is essential to fight terrorism. What it implies is that USA expects Pakistan to forget about Kashmir by accepting the Line of Control as permanent border, encouraging trade between the two parts of Kashmir, Pakistan to allow land route to India to ship Indian goods to Afghanistan and Central Asia, accept India as the unchallenged regional power, and let India stand up as a bulwark against China.
If Bambi could do all of that he'd actually solve one of the more vexing problems in our foreign policy, and I'd begin to be impressed with him.
He is keen to change the perceptions of Pakistani leadership and the military about India and make them believe that it is not India but the militants who pose the biggest threat to Pakistan's security and existence.
I'm not sure Bambi actually believes that, but he should, and he should jaw at the Pak elites until they get it ...
Other than the west loving Muslims, the Muslims have seen the inner side of the sole super power which has been following anti-Islamic policies. 9/11 changed the dynamics of the world and gave rise to virulent anti-Muslim racism.
So the next canard to be raised is 'Islamophobia', and right on schedule ...
US aim is to subjugate Islamic civilisation and to ensure American global ascendancy. Because of unjust policies and double standards, the Bush government fuelled militancy and terrorism and made the world unsafe. In order to give final shape to its New World Order, the US under new leadership is likely to continue browbeating Pakistan economically through its exploitative tools -- IMF and World Bank -- until Pakistan falls in line with its perceptions and agrees to adopt secularism, roll back its nuclear program and accept India as the regional policeman.
If you don't want IMF money just say so, and go it alone.
Asif Haroon Raja is a retired Brigadier General of the Pakistan Army and a security and political analyst and writes for several national and foreign newspapers.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/22/2008
09:59 ||
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#1
Someone screwed up his bio at the bottom, it should read:
Asif Haroon Raja is an anti-Semite retired Brigadier General of the Pakistan Army and reared in a madrassa that imbued him with a strictly Islamic ummah point of view.
Armed men from different Somali factions are descending on the country's pirate coast, raising fears that a battle is looming over millions of pounds in ransom cash being demanded for the captured supertanker Sirius Star.
Tribal militiamen linked to the pirates, moderate Islamist rebels fighting against the Government and militants from the Taleban-style al-Shabaab movement were among those bearing down on the coastal town of Haradhere yesterday, drawn by the lure of political capital and pirate gold.
Tribesmen in outlying villages prepared to defend the town from possible attack, raising the prospect of a clash with the hardline al-Shabaab, who claimed that they had arrived to stamp out the pirate menace.
Residents, however, said they feared that the influx was a prelude to a bloody fight over the ransom money. The pirates have reportedly demanded $25 million (£17 million) in cash from the Saudi owners of the ship in return for the release of 25 hostages on board, including the Britons Peter French and James Grady.
There are many militiamen who have arrived in the town and they want to get a share from the pirates if the ransom is paid, Ahmed Abdullahi, a local elder, said. They believe this ship is huge and the owner will pay a lot of money.
The rush to Haradhere underlines one of the biggest concerns in the current crisis: no one can be sure where the pirates' takings are going or what they are funding, only that they are certain to fuel the violence - and the piracy it has spawned - for even longer.
Fears that the booty could end up in the hands of Islamist extremists, despite their long opposition to piracy, have stoked fears that they could finance the export of their militant ideology from Somalia.
The Kenyan Government said yesterday that the Somali pirate trade had brought in $150 million in ransom money over the past year. That is why they are becoming more and more audacious, Moses Wetangula, the Foreign Minister, said. Britain and Saudi Arabia's foreign ministers called on shipping companies not to pay ransoms for fear of encouraging piracy but the companies and shipping unions hit back, saying that they had no choice given the international failure to prevent piracy in the first place.
Mr [David] Miliband is correct to say that ransom payments encourage further hostage-taking but the answer is not to refuse to pay them - it is to prevent the attacks from occurring in the first place, said Mark Dickinson, the assistant general secretary of Nautilus, the seamen's union.
Foreign navies are rushing warships to the Gulf of Aden - 14 currently patrol the coastline and the European Union plans to send up to ten more next month under a centralised British command.
Shipping analysts say that such action is merely a sticking plaster until a solution to end the conflict in Somalia is found.
Somalia, in the words of the International Crisis Group, is going through the darkest period in its recent history, which is a lot to say of a country that has not known a functioning government in almost a generation.
The most stability it had in recent years was under the Islamic Courts government ousted in 2006 by Ethiopian troops backed by the United States, which was nervous that the region could become a haven for Islamic terrorists.
That move is now almost universally deemed to have been a failure, plunging Somalia back into factional fighting under a collapsing Western-backed transitional Government headed by a President, Abdullahi Yusuf, whose own tribe is deeply involved in the pirate trade.
The collapse of the economy in his ancestral homeland, Puntland, is blamed in part for the surge in piracy.
Under the Islamic Courts government, piracy was curtailed, although a question mark hangs over the motivation for the crackdown, given the handy side-effect of denying profits to its enemies.
Of the different factions that made up the Islamist Government, two are regarded as internationally unacceptable because of their al-Qaeda links. Many believe that the best chance of stability would be to isolate them from their allies, who could then be included in government.
One of them, al-Shabaab, said that it had sent its fighters to Haradhere not to share in the spoils, but to halt the pirate trade. The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship, a Haradhere elder said. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship.
While there is no evidence of al-Qaeda involvement, there are signs that it may be watching. Writing on a militant website, one Islamist supporter noted that the influx of Western navies to the Gulf of Aden presented a golden opportunity for the kind of attack launched on the USS Cole in Yemen in 2000. The enemies of al-Qaeda ... will swallow the bait and come to the area in which al-Qaeda has woven its nets, he wrote. At that time, al-Qaeda will settle scores with America and its allies.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/22/2008
09:44 ||
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well, if they have a drawn-out fight, we could help settle it. With an Arclight run! Drink up, me hearty's!
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 10:02
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#2
Oh, this is rich. Terrorists take out the pirates, and Indians with balls take out the terrorists. Should we bring out the popcorn machine?
#5
The only sh*tty part is that the crew will be in the middle of all this and probably much the worse for wear. At some point you have to weigh the lives of all the hostages currently being held against the possibility of having to live with pirates for a long time. We've probably got some very tough decisions to make in the near future.
#6
I dunno, I'm just moping around because the Islamic Courts "government" is gone - yet another casualty of the arrogant cowboy war-mongering tendencies of CheneyMcBushHitlerBurton.
To borrow one (which I've always believed apocryphal) from Chou en Lai, as told to Kissinger, re what he thought of the French Revolution's impact: "it's too early to tell" whether knocking off Islamic Courts was a bad move. I'm still good with it.
#8
Somalia is becoming the MOAS. The Mother of All Sh*tholes. Any volunteers for nation building?
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:20
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Well, AP, as I was saying yesterday, it has what appears to me anyway, a much more strategic location than Afghanistan. And with that long coastline on the Indian Ocean there must be some fairly decent surfing beaches.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/22/2008 15:55
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Unfortunately the coastline of Somalia has a really bad shark problem - much worse than that of Australia. Plus there are no functioning water systems and the type of parasites that are waterborne there are frightening.
#6
It was 11 degrees Farenheit here in east Tenneesse this morning, an all-time record low. We've had record lows all week, snow twice, and are supposed to have record lows all next week. Global Warming my ass!
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/22/2008 20:20
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Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri is a plagiarist who worked for Sudanese intelligence before his handlers grew tired of his jokes, his former spiritual mentor has claimed in a newspaper article. The accusations are the latest in an increasingly bitter war of words between Zawahiri and Sayed Imam, the former spiritual guide of the Egyptian Islamic Jihad movement to which Osama bin Laden's deputy once belonged.
The feud began in 2007, after Imam penned a book from his Egyptian prison cell denouncing Al Qaeda for killing innocent people and being responsible for the US-led invasions of Afghanistan and Iraq. Zawahiri responded with his own book, The Exoneration, saying Imam's book was written with the help of the "Crusaders and Jews." This nettled Imam, who countered with a broadside against his former student in an essay on The Shaming of the Exoneration, published this week by the independent Egyptian daily Al-Masry al-Yom.
In the essay, which is replete with insults, Imam invites Zawahiri to partake in an ancient custom of invoking God's wrath on the liar in a dispute. He accused Zawahiri of promising Sudanese intelligence that he would conduct operations in Egypt, saying Zawahiri had told him the Sudanese paid him $US 100,000. "While the six were on their way to the execution room, Zawahiri was sitting with his friends in Sudanese intelligence telling them funny jokes, although they were expecting a discussion on important and dangerous matters," Imam wrote.
"Zawahiri had nothing to tell them, and he continued until the Sudanese got bored of his jokes and complained to his friends: 'Find us another man to talk to; all he knows is 'Abu Lama' jokes'." Abu Lama was a character in an Egyptian radio comedy who was a lying fantasist. Imam also wrote that Zawahiri took credit for a book Imam had written.
The exchanges between the two have left some former Islamist militants in Egypt rolling their eyes. "This is embarrassing for Imam," Kamal Habib, a former Jihad member, said. "I don't think he realises what it does to his image."
#5
Al Qaeda number two Ayman al-Zawahiri is a plagiarist...
To say nothing of the prayer bump that has addled his pea brain. He also sleeps with donkeys and fleas and buggers the local goats when he can catch them.
You don't frighten us, pig dog. Go and boil your bottom, you son of a silly person. I blow my nose at you, so-called leader of a dung heap.
License plate numbers that may be snapped up by terrorist sympathizers have been banned in the U.K. They are among hundreds of potentially offensive plates spotted by licensing chiefs.
O54MA (Osama), HO57AGE (hostage), BU58OMB (bus bomb), MA56ACA (massacre), and HE58OLA (Hezbollah) will not be issued by the department of motor vehicles. Anything including JIHAD or HAMAS is also out.
Other plates on a black list drawn up by a secret panel are thought provocative on religious grounds or likely to spark racial hatred. They include MO56LEM (Moslem), anything with the letters KORAN or JESUS, GA55OVN (gas oven) and GOO5TEP (goosestep).
Plates like BOO4ZYY (boozy) are banned to discourage drunk driving. And SEX is not allowed. A spokesman for the Swansea-based Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency said: Every number is checked to ensure it doesnt cause offense.
Lib Dem transport spokesman Norman Baker, who obtained the list under Freedom of Information laws, said: "Some combinations would be deeply offensive. But its over the top to ban words about booze and sex. Its a bit nanny state."
#3
So from now on if you see a plate that offends you, you should be able to collect damages in court. Since the govt. has failed to protect your fragile little psyche.
Former UN secretary general Kofi Annan and ex-US president Jimmy Carter said on Saturday that they had been forced to cancel a trip to Zimbabwe because they had been denied visas.
"We had to cancel our visit because the government made it very clear that it will not cooperate," Annan told a press conference in Johannesburg.
Carter said the government of President Robert Mugabe would not "let us in."
#2
Shoulda given 'em the visas, then during the visit they coulda canceled them until some departure tax was paid - it woulda been interesting to see what they were 'worth.'
#3
Quite understandable actually, it's the apartheid thing haunting them yet. Wait just a few more years Kofi and you won't be broadcasting from Johannesburg as either. Zuma will see to that. Enjoy the Jacarandas and Kingclip Jimmah, not many of either in Plains.
#5
Morris really hates her. He's a little kooky on this.
I used to work for my cousin. After six months full-time with him, I grew to hate him with the intensity of a white hot sun. In that respect, I understand Dick Morris' hatred of the Clintons fairly completely, so I don't see it as kooky. I'll cop to obsessive, but maybe we're just splitting hairs on how it's described.
When you get screwed by someone, there's an intense urge to screw them back, in spades. That's it.
The alleged mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.
"The transatlantic bombing plot alleged mastermind Rashid Rauf was killed along with an Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative in the US missile strike in North Waziristan early Saturday," a senior security official told AFP. The Al-Qaeda operative killed in the strike was identified as Abu Zubair al-Misri, the official added.
Rashid Rauf escaped in December 2007 from Pakistani police custody. He had been on the way to an extradition hearing. The British government had requested Pakistan extradite Rauf to London, where he was wanted by police in connection with the murder of his uncle in 2002.
He and the Egyptian Al-Qaeda operative were killed along with at least two other militants in a US drone attack on the house of a local tribesman in the village of Alikhel, part of a district known as a stronghold for Al-Qaeda and the Taliban, officials said.
The missile strike came days after another US drone attack which killed six rebels, including an Arab Al-Qaeda operative. That attack prompted Taliban militants based in the rugged tribal territory bordering Afghanistan to warn of reprisal attacks across Pakistan if there were more strikes by the US.
#2
Let's pray that when Hillary becomes Secretary of State, her department will take the same slow/measured response to these missile strikes as we are taking towards the piracy and Iran nuclear matters...convene a study panel for the next four-six years.
#4
Was he killed in a mosque? The same one he "escaped" from?
BTW, Rauf is related to Jaish-e-Muhammad honcho Maulana Masood Azhar. It's all in the family in muzzieland and makes so much sense to prune the family tree with an axe.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008 11:13
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My daughter-in-law was flying someplace early that morning. Had to dump $40 worth of makeup and such.
Don't mess with makeup, bitches.
Posted by: Richard Aubrey ||
11/22/2008 11:40
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Damn I like this s**t. My favorite combo: the US taking smart lethal unapologetic action, the "aggrieved" party mailing it in WRT outrage cuz they mostly love what's happening, and a relentless pace. As much as I hope the teen pop idol about to take the reins has the make-up to continue in this vein, I wouldn't bet a Chula Vista zero-down mortgage on it (local humor for Frank G, et al).
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 13:53
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Anybody got the feeling that now that Bush has lost, there's no reason not to zap as many as possible? If somebody doesn't like it, they can take it up with Bammy, who'll just shrug till 1/20/09.
A man caught near Nobbys Beach with his penis in a pasta sauce jar led police on a 20 kmh car chase, Newcastle Local Court heard yesterday.
Police drew their weapons when they suspected Keith Roy Weatherley, 46, was armed. Instead, they found him partially clothed with his genitals in a jar, a police statement said.
Weatherley, of Promontory Way, North Arm Cove, attracted attention parked in a no-stopping zone before noon on October 26. Police believed Weatherley was doing something with his hands in his lap and thought that he might have a weapon. Weatherley saw the police and drove away, despite them flashing their lights.
The chase lasted five to 10 minutes, with a top speed of just 20 kmh, before Weatherley was stopped at Centenary Drive, Newcastle. He refused to leave the car. Four officers used batons and capsicum spray to remove him.
They found a 750-millilitre jar around his penis and noted that Weatherley attempted to continue "pleasuring himself in between bouts of wrestling".
A search of his car uncovered pornography, a home-made sex aid, women's stockings and a Jack Russell terrier.
Weatherley pleaded guilty to offensive behaviour, resisting police and disobeying a police direction. Magistrate Elaine Truscott asked Weatherley, who represented himself, why he behaved the way he did. He said he resisted police because he was trying to make himself "decent".
He was fined $600 for offensive behaviour and convicted of the other two offences without further action taken.
#1
Don't be judgemental. I mean, let he who has not pleasured themselves with a pasta sauce jar throw the first stone. My guess is that this would be a meat sauce..now
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 8:29
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What I saw in the background was a young man making an honest living for his family. I salute him. Pass that drumstick and the cranberries if you will please.
#5
Looks like the folks at MSNBC don't have a clue as to how they appear to heart land folks. Otherwise, I can't imagine that they would eagerly present themselves to so much ridicule from so many Americans. Not a clue. Out of touch is an understatement.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/22/2008 11:33
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And this is the same American media that was complaining that they could not show American combat dead and wounded?
#7
"Alarmed MSNBC host David Shuster". Indeed. The guy has prolly never been outside Manhattan where everything is delivered all cleaned up and packaged in cellophane. He wouldn't last a day on a farm. All of these media types should have to spend at least a year as interns in small towns in flyover states.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/22/2008 11:42
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#8
The guy's doing a job I certainly wouldn't want to do. And putting a little coin in his pocket...Harumph!
How do those liberal assholes think they get in the plastic bag in the grocery store? Oh, I forgot, those same libs would have us eating tofu turkeys for 'T-giving' if they had their way.
#11
Shuster is a putz. Unless he is a vegetarian, where the hell does he think his turkey comes from? Turkey suicides? If he is a vegetarian, what about the violence to carrots, lettuce, tomatoes, and celery?
Posted by: Eric Jablow ||
11/22/2008 20:01
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#13
"nancy boys" in the lib media? I say they're pussies
Yeah that, in addition to being whoring, duplicitous bastards. When you are filming an interview, the last thing you want is commotion and foofraw going on in the background. Unless, of course, you are looking for an opportunity for manufactured outrage. The camera never lies, but the filmaker chooses what story to tell. Yet Another Media Hatchet Job.
Somali Islamist insurgents have begun searching for the pirates who hijacked a giant Saudi-owned oil tanker last Saturday, reports say. A spokesman for the al-Shabab group, Abdelghafar Musa, said hijacking a Muslim-owned ship was a major crime and they would pursue those responsible.
You infidels are on your own ...
The pirates are thought to be trying to obtain a multi-million dollar ransom. The ship, the Sirius Star, is believed to be be anchored off the Somali port of Haradheere. It has an international crew of 25 people and is carrying $100m (£67m) worth of crude oil.
"We are really sorry to hear that the Saudi ship has been held in Somalia," Mr Musa told the Associated Press.
Reports said Islamist fighters had descended on Haradheere in an apparent show of force, saying they were looking for the pirates. "The Islamists arrived searching for the pirates and the whereabouts of the Saudi ship," an unnamed elder in the port told Reuters news agency. "I saw four cars full of Islamists driving in the town from corner to corner. The Islamists say they will attack the pirates for hijacking a Muslim ship."
Another report suggested local militia and Shebab fighters had arrived in Harardhere in a move to position themselves for a share of any spoils. "There are many militiamen who have arrived in the town and they want to get a share from the pirates if the ransom is paid," Ahmed Abdullahi, a local elder, was quoted by AFP news agency as saying. Any comment I might make would be superfluos.
#1
Wonder what mercs the Saudis are paying to get their ship and cargo back. Negotiate with the pirates while getting an operation going. Hell, they paid Binny to stay away from SA, they DO have money.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:24
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#3
She wasn't for checks till the people of Arizona rose up and slapped her and hers one on the issue, then she became a temporary believer of political convenience. If she's as effective as the current sock puppet she'll still be looking the other way as she was before without having do deal with the voting public.
#4
That woman is a disaster. The bright side for me is it gets her out of my state.
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/22/2008 10:18
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Napolitano is probably the only AZ Democrat who could beat McCain when he runs for reelection in two years time. Removing Napolitano may be Obama's way of bringing McCain on board so that he'll help him push some of Obama's bills through the Senate.
(AKI) - At least three people were killed and 19 others were injured in two separate explosions in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday, an unnamed police source told the Voices of Iraq news agency. Another bomb exploded in the al-Mansour district of western Baghdad injuring four soldiers, VOI said. "An improvised explosive device went off near a police checkpoint in the Steen street in al-Doura region in southern Baghdad, killing three people and injuring 15, including three policemen," an unnamed police source told VOI.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
00:00 ||
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WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has banned, at least temporarily, the use of external computer flash drives because of a virus threat officials detected on Defense Department networks. While defense officials would not publicly confirm the ban, messages were sent to department employees informing them of the new restrictions. As part of the ban, the Pentagon was collecting any of the small flash drives that were purchased or provided by the department to workers, according to one message distributed to employees.
Workers are being told there is no guarantee they will ever get the devices back and it is not clear how long the ban will last.
Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman would provide no details on the virus Friday, but he described it as a "global virus" that has been the subject of public alerts. "This is not solely a department problem, this is not solely a government problem," Whitman said.
The Pentagon has acknowledged that its vast computer network is scanned or probed by outsiders millions of times each day. Last year a cyber attack forced the Defense Department to take up to 1,500 computers off line. Officials said then that a penetration of the system was detected, but the attack had no adverse impact on department operations.
However, military leaders have consistently warned of potential threats from a variety of sources including other countries -- such as China -- along with other self-styled cyber-vigilantes and terrorists.
The issue has also been of concern at the Department of Homeland Security. A September audit by the DHS Inspector General recommended that the agency implement greater procedures to ensure that only authorized computer flash drives or other storage devices can be connected to the network there and that an inventory of those devices be set up. DHS agreed with the recommendations and said some of that is already being done. DHS also said more software enhancements are in the works that will provide more protection.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008
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#1
even without the flash drives are they still running vista?
total crap. all but guaranteed compromised in 48 hours if you leave it connected to the net.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/22/2008 0:48
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I thought the DoD has a private internet separate from the civilian one?
#4
I thought the DoD has a private internet separate from the civilian one?
Hmmm...the internet was created under the auspices of DoD through ARPA. On the public internet the address is .mil. Now there are segregated networks [you don't cross the black and red wires] in which the administrators desperately try to keep outside links from developing, but the usual weakest link is humans who do not follow directions, regulations or orders on bringing in stuff on transportable media such as flash drives and attaching them to it.
#6
The elephant in the room is the Chinese. The Russians play a part, but the Chinese are the culprits here. Massive intrusions, data and technology theft and Order of Battle and intel probing. And what do we do, talk about DEFENSIVE strategies and limitations. There thieving SOBs are stealing us blind at every turn and we are just passive about responses? How about curring off the student and work visa's that let them come here to learn how to steal from us? How about limits on the access to the internet and DOS counterattacks? Come on folks in Washington, find a pair somewhere. Maybe Hillary will show us how!
#7
All I read about on this subject is that DoD runs defense. How about a little offense? Sort of a cyber drone armed with digital bombs to take out the bad guys?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/22/2008 11:43
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No offense for the same reason nothing is really done against the pirates and those incredibly stupid ROEs in combat zones - the lawyers.
Hollywood celebrities, Web activists and jet-setters from around the world are preparing to turn the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 into a mix of Woodstock and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech on the National Mall.
While the plans of many top politicians and entertainment stars hang on pending details about the Commander-in-Chief Ball and other official events that Mr. Obama is likely to attend, dozens of other big-ticket parties are already taking shape. The Creative Coalition, an advocacy group, will host a ball at the Harman Center for the Arts. Spike Lee will be at the event, Susan Sarandon is likely to attend and the group is in discussions with such musicians as Elvis Costello to perform. Tickets to the fund-raiser, where director Barry Levinson will be shooting final scenes for a film called "Poliwood," a documentary about Hollywood's involvement in the presidential race, are still available -- a $10,000 "bronze" package admits two.
Love, one of the few Washington nightclubs that sees a steady flow of celebrities, is adding tents to triple its capacity to about 7,000. "The last time we had that many people it was for Beyoncé," says owner Marc Barnes about a concert with Ms. Knowles in 2002.
Inaugural Journeys
Many of Mr. Obama's supporters in Hollywood kept a low profile during the campaign, in part because of efforts by Sen. John McCain to cast his opponent as a celebrity. The inauguration offers a chance for celebrities to come out of the shadows. Oprah Winfrey, for example, plans to be on hand, and so does the singer India.Arie. Invitations go out in December for a party being hosted by real-estate mogul and Obama insider R. Donahue Peebles, his wife Katrina and an evolving list of celebrity co-hosts, including Star Jones and Chris Tucker, at the posh Georgetown Club. The invitation-only event for a few hundred guests will kick off at midnight after official festivities on Jan. 20; it runs til 4 a.m. and breakfast dishes will be served.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Another case of high burn rate. This seizure will burn out sooner than any of the boosters expect. As Hunter Thompson said, "Must have burned out too soon, or maybe not that much there to burn in the first place..."
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/22/2008 1:52
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#2
Following recent cocaine busts and the closure of 43 marijuana cafes in Amsterdam, this star studded event will do much to bolster the sagging illicit drug economy. If only Che and Pablo were here to enjoy.
#6
Barf. Anyone with a cruising catamaran (35-ft plus, nice appointments) availalbe, I'd happily take it off your hands the third week of January. Have to find some way to be out of touch with all "news" during this sickening spectacle.
(AKI) - A total of 569 illegal immigrants have landed on Italy's southernmost island of Lampedusa on Friday, aboard four boats. The fourth and latest arrival of 200 immigrants on Friday was intercepted by Italian naval authorities 26 nautical miles off Lampedusa.
Coastguard early on Friday intercepted the first boat with nine illegals on board after a tip-off from inhabitants of the tiny island. An hour later, an Italian tax police patrol boat reached the second people smugglers' boat with 294 people on board, some 10 nautical miles south of Lampedusa, and accompanied it into port. The second boat's passengers included 18 women and 21 minors.
A third boat with 66 illegal immigrants on board including eight women. After preliminary health checks, the illegal immigrants were taken to Lampedusa's identification and expulsion centre.
Lampedusa is closer to Africa than the European continent and a favourite drop-off point for the people smugglers. Also, Italy has the European Union's longest coastline - 4,500 kilometres - making it difficult to police and a preferred destination for migrants.
Most of the people-smuggling boats set sail from North Africa. But the majority of illegal migrants (63 percent) enter Italy by land or plane, according to the Interior Ministry.
The would-be migrants usually travel aboard people smugglers' boats, typically paying thousands of dollars for their passage. Scores drown or die of dehydration, hunger and/heatstroke on the perilous journey.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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Islamabad: As the government is seriously taking up the US strikes' issue, the American administration is likely to use its influence in delaying financial assistance from the Friends of Pakistan and possibly the International Monetary Fund (IMF), official sources suggest.
"The government expects the first tranche from the IMF by the end of the current month but if the Pakistan government continued its harsh language against the US, the American government might delay the process", a senior government official, privy to the latest developments, told The Post. "The US government can also influence the Friends of Pakistan to stay away from helping Pakistan unless Islamabad changes its attitude", he added.
Pakistan is aiming to somehow accumulate $25 billion from the 'friends', which may be enough to bring the economy back on track for the next 10 years.
The IMF recently agreed to pay $7.6 billion to help Pakistan come out of the persistent financial crisis. The government expects the first $3-4 billion tranche of the IMF loan, spread over 23 months, by the end of November, saving it from almost certain default on an international bond maturing in February.
But before the first tranche from the IMF could reach Pakistan, the military has started exercising to gun down drones. This is a clear message to the US that drones intruding into Pakistani space would be targeted in future.
"Whatever information, we have, the US government is not happy over the retaliatory statements by Pakistan. The (Pakistan) government will have to soften its stance to come out of the fiscal crisis", the official said.
US Assistant Secretary of State Richard Boucher said after the recent 'Friends' meeting that the group wanted to help Pakistan but that its "goal was not to throw money on the table, it is to support long-term goals for Pakistan".
His remarks appeared to suggest that immediate assistance for Pakistan would likely come from groups like the IMF or the World Bank.
The economic crisis comes amid a surge in violence by Taliban militants in Pakistan as well as neighboring Afghanistan.
The Senate confirmed the nomination of career diplomat Gene Cretz as the first U.S. ambassador to Libya in 36 years, the State Department said Friday.
Cretz's confirmation by the Senate comes after the United States and Libya cleared the last hurdle to a full normalization of ties with Tripoli in the last few weeks compensating U.S. victims of terrorist attacks in the 1980s. "Done deal. Confirmed," State Department spokesman Sean McCormack told reporters, adding that the confirmation occurred late Thursday. "We're very pleased."
Cretz's appointment by U.S. President George W. Bush had been held up over the compensation issue.
The last U.S. ambassador left Tripoli on November 7, 1972 "because of Libya's support for international terrorism and its subversion of moderate Arab and African governments," the State Department said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
So, this guy's gonna be ambassador for what, 8 and a half weeks?
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/22/2008 1:42
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#2
but he gets a sprocket, which is nice
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 7:41
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Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 8:32
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So, this guy's gonna be ambassador for what, 8 and a half weeks?
He's a career diplomat. Bambi is unlikely to make a change, at least right away. The career State people become ambassadors in places like Libya, whereas the political appointments get France and Italy.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008 13:08
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(AKI) - At least seven militants including a Taliban commander were killed by Pakistani security forces on Friday in the restive Bajaur tribal region. The Taliban commander, Shah Khaled, was killed in the Mamond tehsil area of Bajaur Agency, Pakistan's satellite channel ARY TV reported.
In a separate incident on Friday, a suspected sectarian bomb killed at least ten people and injured 25 at a funeral procession for a local Shia Muslim cleric in the northwestern Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan, Pakistan's Geo News reported.
Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari and Prime Minister Yousaf Raza Gillani strongly condemned the bomb attack on the funeral procession.
Gillani on Thursday described as 'intolerable' the suspected US drone attack on a suspected militant hideout in Bannu district of North West Frontier Province, that killed at least four people. The Pakistani Parliament also condemned the attack.
Also on Thursday, at least ten people were killed and several others injured when a suicide bomber blew himself up in a mosque in the Mamond area.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
And a good time was had by all. Another funeral, please.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/22/2008 11:55
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Iran is negotiating with the Somali pirates to release a Hong Kong-flagged ship that was chartered by an Iranian company, an official says.
The ship, Delight, which was hijacked by Somali pirates in the Gulf of Aden on Tuesday, was carrying 36,000 tons of wheat has seven Indians onboard among the 25-member crew. The ship was chartered by the Islamic Republic of Iran Shipping Lines (IRISL), the country's biggest shipping firm.
"We are in contact with the vessel. We could get in contact with the vessel yesterday (Thursday) and all the ship's personnel are in good health and we are discussing the matter with the pirates," an IRISL official told Reuters.
"They put forward their demands...We are following the case," the official said. "They (the pirates) called us ... when they anchored further down the coast (south) from the Eyl area," he noted, referring to a former fishing outpost now used by gangs.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
I do not want to make light of the situation, but the Somali pirates have a ship in custody called the MV Genius. YJCMTSU.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:31
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Pakistan's army on Friday carried out a training exercise in which pilotless aircraft drones were shot down by anti-craft guns and short range surface-to-air missiles, a military statement said.
The exercise was carried out as public pressure on the government in Islamabad is increasing to use force to halt air raids by US drones that target suspected militant hideouts in Pakistan's tribal region.
"The elements of army air defence demonstrated their shooting skills by targeting the drones flying at different altitudes," said the statement.
The indigenously built man-portable surface-to-air missile Anza II, the anti-aircraft Oerlikan and an unnamed 57 mm radar-controlled gun were used in the exercises that were conducted in a semi-desert area near Muzaffargarh in central Pakistan.
US spy planes have carried out around two dozen airstrikes in Pakistan's tribal districts, which are believed to have safe havens of Taliban and Al Qaeda fighters launching cross-border attacks on international forces in Afghanistan. Pakistan says the actions violate its sovereignty and undermine its efforts against terrorism.
Posted by: john frum ||
11/22/2008
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#1
If the drone didn't shoot back its not an accurate test.
#2
Did the stupid Pakistanis were ever told clearly that they face inhalation if they never learned to talk and act straight. The more we kiss their ass the more we end up paying them to harm us. It is horribly stupidity on our part to pay the Pakistanis only to spit on our face. The stupid Pakistanis has to be told very clearly that they face inhalation at any moment US desires to do so and there will be no power in the world to come to their help at the expense of a nuclear holocaust because they lost to cheat the world powers with the end of the cold war. Pakistan is nothing more than a failed state. Unfortunately, Pakistan will be the first target to be annihilated for the sake of the world peace just because this stupid failed nation has the nuclear bombs. I hope, they know it and behave civilized.
#7
Now I know I was in the intel business too long - I not only recognize the weapon (ZU-23/4), but the location - Finsterwalde Airfield, 20 miles east of Berlin. Probably taken in the late 1960's/early 1970s. Was a pretty good weapon for something only modestly radar-guided (information fed by radio, input by hand). Mid-1940s technology.
Thanks, Fred/John, for the reminder!
IF the Paks had this weapon, they still wouldn't be capable of shooting down a Predator with it. Not to mention that if they have the updated version (ZSU-23, chassis-mounted, with integrated fire control radar, late 1950's, early 1960s technology), they probably STILL couldn't be guaranteed to hit a Predator. Too small, flies too low, too slow.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2008 15:31
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Did the stupid Pakistanis were ever told clearly
Of course they have been, annon, and by some of their own people, too. But Pakistan is, after all, the Land of the Pure, so even though they have lost every war they've ever fought -- each of which they started -- they somehow still think they have a fearsome military.
Taliban attacked an army convoy in Miranshah in North Waziristan Agency on Friday with a remote-controlled bomb, injuring two security personnel.
The convoy was travelling from Bannu to Miranshah when the bomb exploded at Pir Kali, 20 kilometres east of Miranshah on Bannu-Miranshah road.
Meanwhile, security forces pounded suspected Taliban hideouts in Mamoond and Nawagai tehsils of Bajaur Agency. Thirteen Taliban were killed and five others were injured.
Sources said the security forces were backed by jet aircraft, which bombed Damadola, Tani Khwar, Suprey, Kharkay, Gatki, Charmang, Kotki, Zorband and Glokas Shinkot.
Attacks in the morning killed three Taliban in Mamoond, while late afternoon attacks by security forces and jet aircraft killed 10 Taliban in both Mamoond and Nawagai, the sources said. Several Taliban hideouts were destroyed.
Meanwhile, defunct Tehreek-e-Taliban Pakistan (TTP) spokesman Maulvi Umer denied the group had carried out Thursday's suicide attack at a mosque in Badan. He said the TTP did not believe in violence and wanted solution to problems through dialogue.
AFP quoted local government official Muhammad Jamil as saying "The airstrike killed 14 militants and wounded 10 others." NNI quoted a private television channel as saying that a local Taliban commander was killed in the operation in Mamoond.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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Aswat al-Iraq: Policemen detained eight wanted men and detonated a weapons cache in an operation conducted south of the city of Baaquba on Friday, a security source in Diala said.
"Policemen on Friday captured eight members of al-Qaeda in Iraq (AQI) in an operation in Buhrez district, (5 km) south of Baaquba, on charges of killing and force-displacing a number of local residents," Diala police chief, Maj. General Abdulhussein al-Shimari, told Aswat al-Iraq. "The security forces also detonated an arms cache of several improvised explosive devices and explosive belts in the same place," he said.
Earlier in the day, Shimari had said policemen in Diala disrupted an AQI cell of three persons and arrested an amir (leader) of al-Qaeda.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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Arianna Huffington looks set to cement her position as the Queen of Capitol Hill in the next few days. The Times has learnt that the Huffington Post, her influential political website, will confirm within the next week that it has completed a $15 million (£10 million) fundraising from investors.
So there you have it, Brethren and Sistern! If the Burg can raise $15 million we can continue to publish for the next 150,000 months at our current financial burn rate. That's 12,500 years, not counting anything I skim off the top for beer or software. So dig deep! Drop your unneeded millions into the Paypal or Amazon accounts and win the fight against Donate-and-Spend Liberals!
The money will finance the expansion of HuffPo, as it is known, into the provision of local news across the United States and into more investigative journalism. And it will ensure that Ms Huffington's influence continues to spread across the US political scene.
The little progressive suckers around America are grateful they could help Ariana, of course ...
She is a close friend of Barack Obama, the President-elect - who, with Hillary Clinton, has posted on her site - and, at a dinner in London on Wednesday night, joked: "I only text three people - my two teenage children and Barack Obama."
Honey, you need to learn the truth: Bambi has no friends. First hint of trouble and you'll be under the bus Air Force One.
Ms Huffington launched HuffPo, which has about 2.5 million bloggers contributing to it regularly, in May 2005 with $2 million of seed capital. She then raised $5 million in August 2006 from venture capital firms including SoftBank Capital and Greycroft Partners, as well as individuals such as Bob Pittman, the former AOL executive. In a second round of fundraising in September 2007, HuffPo raised a further $5 million.
Ms Huffington, 58, the daughter of a Greek newspaperman, has been turning heads ever since she arrived at Cambridge University in the late 1960s. Then called Arianna Stassinopoulos, she became the first foreigner - and only the third woman - to be president of the Cambridge Union debating society. A lengthy affair with the journalist Bernard Levin raised her profile farther. During their eight years together she wrote three bestselling biographies, including works on Pablo Picasso and Maria Callas, before moving to the US in 1980.
There, she met and married Michael Huffington, the oil billionaire, becoming one of Manhattan's leading socialites and a champion of the Republican revolution led by Newt Gingrich, the Speaker of the House of Representatives. Her marriage ended in 1994.
The launch of HuffPo came after Ms Huffington had spent a decade of campaigning for causes such as opposition to the Iraq War, concluding a remarkable political journey from right to left.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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A severely weakened and handicapped group. I am glad that these donors were able to help with little miss anxiety attacks and thick accent.
#3
So there you have it, Brethren and Sistern! If the Burg can raise $15 million we can continue to publish for the next 150,000 months at our current financial burn rate.
Wow, Fred. That's a 100 times what I ever made blogging, you rich capitalist bastard!
#6
Fred, all you have to do is pimp yourself out to some billionaire. The paparazzi will then splash you mug all over the magazines and TV. Then you'll be famous and the contributions will flood into the Rantburg coffers...not to mention the backing you'll get from the billionaire. It's simple.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/22/2008 11:18
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#7
well, she made Michael Huffington turn gay....just saying
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/22/2008 11:30
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#8
Think of how much furniture can be refinished for $15 mil!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:43
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#9
I visited the Puffington Host once, for about ten minutes. I spent the next three days on my knees seeking God's forgiveness. That place is FOUL, which is one of the reasons the Donkeys like it. It's not quite as bad as Democratic Underground (which is where it belongs - at LEAST six feet under) or Daily KOS (kos why?), but it's foul. They won't see any of my money.
Heck, I don't even see any of my money...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2008 19:52
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Syria's nuclear energy chief said on Friday a U.N. watchdog report on an alleged secret Syrian nuclear site bombed by Israel proved nothing and the investigation should be closed. Ibrahim Othman said he expected Syria would stick by a written agreement with U.N. inspectors that permitted only one visit to the al-Kibar site -- which took place last June -- and "we will not allow another visit".
An International Atomic Energy Agency report issued on Wednesday said a Syrian complex destroyed in a 2007 Israeli air strike bore a number of characteristics resembling those of a nuclear reactor and U.N. inspectors had found a significant number of uranium traces in desert sands there.
The findings, based on satellite pictures and soil and water samples taken by U.N. investigators, were not enough to conclude a reactor was there but the findings were serious and warranted more investigation and Syrian transparency, the IAEA said.
No other country would allow any person to visit a restricted military site, "just because he would like to see it," Othman said, after IAEA inspectors briefed members about a probe into Syria's alleged illicit nuclear activities. It was up to Syria's military authorities to decide whether to allow IAEA inspectors into the site, he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
and they are right. the IAEA report was intentionally evasive so they can continue to 'monitor' the situation and prevaricate at a future date provided that the accommodations are up to snuff.
Posted by: Abu do you love ||
11/22/2008 0:51
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Three civilians were killed and four Afghan soldiers wounded on Friday when a suicide car bomb exploded outside an army base in southern Afghanistan, officials said.
The bombing occurred in Shahjoy district of Zabul province, Vice Governor Gulab Shah Alikhil told AFP. "The driver of a vehicle blew himself up in front of the (Afghan army) base, killing three civilians who were employees queuing to enter. Four soldiers were also wounded in the explosion," he said. No group claimed responsibility for the attack.
Attacks regularly target Afghan and international forces. Civilians are often the victims.
Separately, four militants were killed in a shootout on Thursday by Afghan and international troops in northeastern Kapisa province during an operation targeting the Hizb-e-Islami Gulbuddin terrorist network, said a statement by coalition forces.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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Thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated Friday against an agreement that would extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq, shouting "Death to the Great Satan! America out!" and burning an effigy of President Bush.
The rally was held in Firdaus Square, where U.S. soldiers toppled a statue of President Saddam Hussein in an iconic moment after the 2003 invasion. Friday's demonstration followed two days of boisterous protests by Sadr's loyalists in parliament, which is scheduled to vote next week on the agreement.
The Sadrists do not appear to have the strength to derail the bilateral accord, which would allow American troops to stay in Iraq for three more years. The group has only 30 seats in the 275-seat parliament. Friday's protest drew at least 10,000 people but was smaller than a massive demonstration held by Sadr loyalists in the same central Baghdad plaza in 2005.
Still, the Sadr group could make the government pay a stiff political price for passing the agreement. Many Iraqis resent the U.S. presence, and the issue could be a potent one in provincial elections scheduled in late January. Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki's government bargained hard in the months of negotiations on the accord, pressing the Bush administration to agree to a pullout date of Dec. 31, 2011.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
LERN TO GLOWER!
In dis time of financial uncertainty there is a sure road to personal security.
LERN TO GLOWER!
BAGHDAD - Iraqs parliament is debating a pact that would allow U.S. forces to remain in the country for three years and is expected to vote on it next week. Its passage is seen as likely but not assured. Here are some facts about the vote:
Ruling Shiite and Kurdish blocs, with the support of some independents, should have enough votes to enact the pact with a simple majority of 138 votes in the 275 seat house.
The vote is due to be held on Monday, but Iraqi parliamentary votes are frequently delayed. Parliamentarians break next week for a holiday recess and a delay could prevent a vote from taking place until they return in mid-December.
Authorities may seek to hold a secret ballot, which could enable members of blocs that are publicly opposed to it to break ranks and support it.
Some opponents say the pact requires a two-thirds majority, but the government says an Iraqi court has ruled this is not necessary.
Influential Shiite Grand Ayatollah Ali al-Sistani has said the pact should have the support of all of Iraqs communities. This could cause difficulty for the government if, for example, all major Sunni Arab parties oppose it.
Once passed by the parliament the pact can still be vetoed by President Jalal Talabani or either of his two vice presidents. Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi belongs to a Sunni political group that has insisted on a referendum.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008
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Only four months after peaking at an unheard of $4.11 a gallon, the national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 Friday, its lowest point in more than three years.
Here in Baltimore, at the heart of a high-tax state, prices are in the low $1.80 range.
Here in suburban Chicago, the heart of taxes and corruption, it's now $1.95.
Yet the global economic contrast between then and now could not be more stark. On March 9, 2005, the last time gasoline cost less than $2, the Dow Jones industrial average closed at 10,805.63. After a huge rally Friday, the Dow closed at 8,046.42.
There was muted joy for consumers wading through an economy that's almost certainly in recession, with thousands of jobs being lost and mortgage foreclosures continuing to rise to record levels.
On the New York Mercantile Exchange, where oil futures seemed destined to breach $200 just a few months ago, pessimism was an understatement. "At this point, all we can say with any degree of confidence is that crude oil ... will not trade below zero," trader and analyst Stephen Schork said Friday in a tongue-in-cheek analysis of the market's swoon.
Crude has been in free-fall, shedding two-thirds of its value since July, and gasoline prices have followed. Some say oil could be headed below $40 a barrel, and gasoline below $1.50.
Motorists in Independence, Mo., on Friday said they were paying $1.37 for a gallon of gas.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Plenny a cheap lotion, not near as much motion...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/22/2008 1:49
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#2
Green Stamps, free tableware, Superman, Batman, and Green Hornet drinking glasses coming soon?
#5
Here in the Montgomery area the cheapest gas is $1.78. (and it just happns to be around the corner) I have 1/4 tank left, when I need gas I'll report back.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/22/2008 12:16
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#6
Anchorage is $2.80/gal but steadily falling. We are probably 2 wk to a month behind lower 48. In villages where the barges deliver fuel once a year, gas and heating oil is still $8.00/gal.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 14:41
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#8
Regular is $1.78/gallon here in Colorado Springs, but diesel is still over $2.50/gallon (higher than premium gas at $2.19). Don't understand that...
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2008 18:55
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#9
US exports diesel to Europe and imports gasoline.
Posted by: ed ||
11/22/2008 19:23
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#10
Passed a station this evening at $1.69. I'm waiting until tomorrow to gas up at Sam's Club - wonder how low it will be there? :-D
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
11/22/2008 20:06
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#11
Where's my tariff? I thought the Dems wanted to keep prices high so people would drive less.
Citigroup Inc. will probably get rescued by the U.S. government after a crisis in confidence erased half its stock-market value in three days, investors and analysts said.
Dare I repeat my previous comments about putting all our financial eggs into a single basket or two? I think my case is now made.
Citigroup has more than $2 trillion of assets, dwarfing companies such as American International Group Inc. that got U.S. support this year. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson and Federal Reserve Chairman Ben S. Bernanke may favor a rescue to avoid the chaotic aftermath of Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc.'s bankruptcy in September.
"There is no question that Citi is in the category of 'too big to fail,'" said Michael Holland, chairman and founder of Holland & Co. in New York, which oversees $4 billion. "There is a commitment from this administration and the next to do what it takes to save Citi."
While Citigroup executives say the company has adequate capital and liquidity to ride out the crisis, its tumbling share price may shake the confidence of creditors, clients and rating agencies. A similar scenario played out at Lehman, when Chief Executive Officer Richard Fuld declared the firm was "on the right track" five days before the firm went bankrupt.
"The market may be implying some sort of regulatory intervention," Jason Goldberg, a former Lehman analyst who now works at Barclays Capital in New York, wrote in a note to clients today. "In situations where the government has stepped in, the equity holders have not fared well."
Pandit's Conference Call
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit told employees today that he doesn't plan to break up the company, aiming to reassure workers as the stock resumed its skid. Citigroup shares dropped 94 cents, or 20 percent, to $3.77 at 4:08 p.m. in New York, giving the company a market value of about $21 billion. The stock pared its loss after the close of official trading, fetching $4.07 as of 4:35 p.m.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
First of all, get a CEO with an American sounding name.
Like Bernie, or...
#2
Citigroup CEO Vikram Pandit told employees today that he doesn't plan to break up the company, aiming to reassure workers as the stock resumed its skid.
Venezuela's "Maximum Leader" President Hugo Chavez is acting as if he were fighting for his political life.
In the run-up to Sunday's regional and municipal elections, the 54-year-old former paratrooper is waging a massive political blitz replete with promises, pronouncements and threats. He has banned some 300 opposition politicians from running, released secretly recorded wiretapped conversations of others and resorted to outright intimidation calling dissidents in his own party "filthy traitors," "sell-outs" and "counter-revolutionaries," while branding opposition politicians "conspirators," and " vile imbeciles."
He has threatened to put anyone who questions the victory of his own candidates into jail and vowed to put tanks into the streets of states that end up in the hands of opponents.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/22/2008
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#1
In the run-up to Sunday's regional and municipal elections, the 54-year-old former paratrooper former wardhealer is waging a massive political blitz replete with promises, pronouncements and threats. He has banned some 300 opposition politicians from running, released secretly recorded wiretapped conversations of others and resorted to outright intimidation calling dissidents in his own party "filthy traitors," "sell-outs" and "counter-revolutionaries," while branding opposition politicians "conspirators," and " vile imbeciles."
Prelude to 2012? Got to take a note from true socialist everywhere.
#5
The thing is, socialism ALWAYS fails. A market of millions of individual decisions always works better than a centrally controlled market ... ALWAYS. Even the Chinese have learned that lesson.
#6
Looks like she might be trying to adjust something.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/22/2008 10:34
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#7
In 1935, her parents divorced and her father, a Nazi sympathizer,[5] left the family.[6] (Both parents were members of the British Union of Fascists in the mid-1930s according to Unity Mitford, a friend of Ella van Heemstra and a follower of Adolf Hitler.)[7]
She later called her father's abandonment the most traumatic moment of her life. Years later, she located him in Dublin through the Red Cross. Although he remained emotionally detached, she stayed in contact with him and supported him financially until his death.[8]
In 1939, her mother moved her and her two half-brothers to their grandfather's home in Arnhem in the Netherlands. Ella believed the Netherlands would be safe from German attack. Hepburn attended the Arnhem Conservatory from 1939 to 1945, where she trained in ballet along with the standard school curriculum. In 1940, the Germans invaded the Netherlands. During the Nazi occupation, Hepburn adopted the pseudonym Edda van Heemstra, modifying her mother's documents because an 'English sounding' name was considered dangerous. This was never her legal name. The name Edda was a version of her mother's name Ella.[9]
By 1944, Hepburn had become a proficient ballerina. She secretly danced for groups of people to collect money for the Dutch resistance. She later said, "the best audience I ever had made not a single sound at the end of my performance."[10] After the Allied landing on D-Day, living conditions grew worse, and Arnhem was subsequently devastated by Allied artillery fire that was part of Operation Market Garden. During the Dutch famine that followed, over the winter of 1944, the Germans confiscated the Dutch people's limited food and fuel supply for themselves. People starved and froze to death in the streets. Hepburn and many others resorted to making flour out of tulip bulbs to bake cakes and biscuits.[5][11]
Hepburn's uncle and her mother's cousin were shot in front of Hepburn for being part of the Resistance. Hepburn's half-brother Ian van Ufford spent time in a German labour camp. Suffering from malnutrition, Hepburn developed acute anemia, respiratory problems, and oedema.[12] In 1991, Hepburn said "I have memories. More than once I was at the station seeing trainloads of Jews being transported, seeing all these faces over the top of the wagon. I remember, very sharply, one little boy standing with his parents on the platform, very pale, very blond, wearing a coat that was much too big for him, and he stepped on to the train. I was a child observing a child."
#8
I just noticed that she has a really skinny neck. Just like me. Wonder if we're related?
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
11/22/2008 11:56
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#9
The Dutch called it The Hunger Winter, 3dc. Mama doesn't speak much about it. The edema is a common symptom of severe hunger; the body starts consuming itself. We've all seen pictures of starving African children with stick arms and legs and swollen bellies.
Miss Hepburn ha a swan-like neck, Richard dear. It's considered terribly elegant, so congratulation to you. ;-)
Abu Uluque, Miss Hepburn is putting on a coat with a dyed-to-match Persian lamb collar... unless the entire coat is Persian lamb, I can't tell from the picture.
Saudi Arabia said it will join a fleet of NATO warships on an anti-piracy mission, as hijackers bolstered defenses around an oil-laden Saudi tanker captured off the East African coast.
"Mahmoud! The Soddies are coming! Send money, guns and preachers!"
The kingdom will contribute ``naval assets to help in pursuing piracy in the region, and this is the only way this can be dealt with,'' Saudi Foreign Minister Prince Saud al-Faisal told reporters in Oslo today after meeting with his Norwegian counterpart, Jonas Gahr Stoere. ``Negotiations and ransoms only encourage piracy and are not a solution.''
Cheez, the Foreign Minister must really be angry, he told the truth ...
Al-Faisal didn't provide details of the Saudi contribution to the forces in the Gulf of Aden, flanked by Somalia and Yemen and leading to the Suez Canal, where at least 91 merchant vessels have been attacked since January. The Saudi ship is being held for a ransom of $25 million.
In Harardhare, a town in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region close to where the ship is anchored, pirates are bringing in extra fighters to strengthen security, Bile Mohamoud Qabowsade, senior adviser to Puntland President Adde Muse, said in an interview yesterday.
The Sirius Star, which belongs to Saudi Arabia's state-owned shipping line, Vela International Marine Ltd., along with its crew of 25 was seized on Nov. 15 about 420 nautical miles (833 kilometers) off Somalia. It is carrying more than 2 million barrels of crude valued at about $110 million. The ship itself is worth about $148 million new.
The Saudi foreign minister confirmed two days ago that Vela was in talks with the pirates; Vela has declined to comment. A man who identified himself as Abdi Salan, a member of the hijacking gang, said in a telephone interview yesterday that the ship's owners must pay up ``soon.'' He didn't say what would happen if they didn't.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
I'm sure that when the Saudis refuse to pay a ransom, the pirates will apologize for the misunderstanding and hand the ship back.
/endsarcasm
Actually, they will probably kill the crew and sink the ship.
#3
In Harardhare, a town in Somalia's semi-autonomous Puntland region close to where the ship is anchored, pirates are bringing in extra fighters to strengthen security
I don't think they realize what naval bombardment means.
Not that anyone has the guts to actually do anything.
#9
Get all the pirates in one place and ARCLIGHT the HE$$ out of it. Let the Saudis spring for the gas, and NATO the cost of the munitions. The US contribution will be the 12 B-52s used in the strike. The pirate contribution? Tons and tons of tiny body parts that won't need a grave.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
11/22/2008 17:00
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#10
Drinks!
Posted by: Mike N. ||
11/22/2008 17:20
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#11
Haven't seen Errol Flynn in years.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
11/22/2008 17:42
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#12
In like Flynn!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
11/22/2008 20:59
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An explosion at the Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline, which links the Iraqi city of Kirkuk with the Turkish port of Ceyhan, has halted oil exports. CNN-Turk reported that the strong explosion took place in the southeast Turkish province of Mardin, but did not provide further details including how the explosion occurred.
Meanwhile sources from the Turkish energy ministry and pipeline company Botas told Reuters that Kurdish guerrillas launched the bomb attack on the Kirkuk-Ceyhan pipeline, which carries Iraqi oil to Turkey and has a yearly capacity of 70 million tons of crude oil. They said the attack, which triggered a large fire, occurred at 8:30 pm (1830 GMT) on Friday evening. Local officials in Mardin declined to comment.
Separatist Kurdistan Workers Party (PKK) militants have claimed responsibility in the past for similar attacks on pipelines in the eastern Kurdish provinces of Turkey.
The Kirkuk-Ceyhan oil pipeline has also been attached in the past. It was also attacked on several occasions by Iraqi insurgents following the US invasion of Iraq in 2003.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday--effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Every time I read of something or the other being named after a living person I'm reminded of RJ Reynolds. In 1911 Reynolds considered naming his company's first brand of cigarettes after Germany's Kaiser Wilhelm. Reynolds ultimately changed his mind and named his cigarettes "Camels." But Reynolds hesitated to name the product after a living figure because "you never know what the damn fool might do." That was just before the start of WWI in 1914.
#5
RJ Reynolds was an entirely different era. Our ability at least here in the United States to rewrite history has progressed. We now have liberal judges who can direct that the FBI seal the files on public figures until 2027, or until some future date when no one is alive to remember the truth.
#6
Anyone note the irony of a half-black Hawaiian being the purported source of pride for Hispanic students???
No. Given the anti-American anti-West anti-White propaganda given in our public school system. And did I mention the anti-male propaganda. Anything that had to do with those who believe in real democracy [where the rights of majority are elevated above those of special interest groups], real values of the individual [versus the state and collective], or the most successful cultural present on the planet [which sustains all the others in anything above historic pervasive poverty] is the object of self loathing and intolerance.
#7
School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride for school teacher unionists and liberal school board members.
The buzzing city of Dubai shrugged off any signs of a credit crunch on Thursday and shelled out a whopping $20 million to launch what local press labeled the "party of the decade."
The exclusive bash was in honor of Dubai's latest luxury hotel Atlantis and brought together 2,000 world celebrities and Middle East royalty for a concert, gourmet dinner, massive fireworks display and a trendy after party.
"Marvel, as the Palm Island illuminates," said Bollywood star Priyanka Chopra--dressed as the 'Goddess of Atlantis'--as she introduced the spectacular fireworks show that set alight the world's only man-made island.
"The fireworks show was a world-record event and I think it exceeded expectations and set the standard for future events in Dubai," a spokesperson of local developer Nakheel told AlArabiya.net, adding the event was "a significant milestone in Dubai's history."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Various militant organisations are present in the southern port city of Karachi and may figure in the terror network's plans. This is what the the Government's top advisor for interior affairs, Rahman Malik, told Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday.
Rahman Malik briefed Zardari in a high profile meeting in Karachi, Pakistan's largest city and the country's financial capital.
Several militant organisations especially the anti-Shia Lashkar-i-Jhangvi have regrouped in Karachi, according to Malik. He said that militants are taking refuge in Karachi after fleeing from the anti-Taliban operations being carried out by the military in the tribal areas bordering Afghanistan in northwest Pakistan.
Sindh province's home minister Zulfiqar Mirza has categorically denied Karachi is being 'Talibanised'. The claim was made by a coalition partner in the Sindh provincial government, the Muttehida Quami Movement (MQM). Malik said however that everyone entering Karachi needs to be screened.
The city is home to 3,000 out of the country's 17,000 Islamic seminaries, Malik noted.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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[11 views]
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#1
and Osama living in plush quarters in Rawalpindi?
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, two of her confidants say.
I'd be careful Mahmoud, she's got those .. crazy eyes, the kind that look in two directions at once, and a smile like an undertaker ...
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Given that the Government being installed seems to have so many elements from the Clinton era, it seems to me she may be headed for the President's seat.
#3
Ok, here's my whacked out conspiracy theory what I suspect may be taking place. Firstly, I didn't think she would take the job, I was wrong. I failed to see the larger picture. Truth is, she didn't want the job, who would. No power to fire or dismiss. No one ever gets fired from DOS, they just shuffle around and continue to bugger one another. Who could thrive or feel comfortable in that stranger than strange environment. Certainly not a power monger like the Beast. It's not even a lateral move from the Senate, it's a step down! This is all part of 'hope for 2012' and the $ 22M campaign debt (now you owe ME) bailout from The One and the party of Soros. She's a dem celeb who can no doubt keep her mug squarely in the MSM on a daily basis, which is essential for 2012. She can maintain her voting base of 18 million screaching feminists and NYC liberals while ensuring they are all queuing up properly in 2012, either for The One or if he should fall, for her own run with former staff already in place...how convenient. Second order benefits for The One are knowing where the Beast and Slick are at all times and through the DOS backbiting spy net, having a pretyt good idea what they are up to. No threat from her with a competeing health care plan. No move by Slick to be reenergize his role as the "first black president." They are both effectively assigned to harmless, mundane duties in Queerville. If she fails, or slips off the reservation, there's always room under the bus, but it won't come to that I'm sure.
This entire program was worked out months ago. What we are seeing is the Jerry Springer drama adapted for the TV viewing audience. Pretty clever of the bastards I must admit. Pretty damn clever.
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia exchanged greetings at a reception on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day at Senakunja at Dhaka cantonment yesterday evening.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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(AKI) - A bomb killed at least five people and injured 40 on Friday at a funeral for a local Shia Muslim cleric in the northwest Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan, police said. Local news reports quoted unnamed sources as saying the death toll was as many as seven to ten people, however. Angry protestors opened fire on police after the bombing, prompting security forces to cordon off the area and put the town on high alert, according to news reports.
The attack sparked an outbreak of shooting around the hospital where the dead and wounded were brought, triggering a stampede, news reports said. Police fired tear gas in an attempt to restore order, the reports added.
The funeral was for a man killed on Thursday in what police said appeared to be sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias. A Shia cleric was also killed early on Friday before the funeral, reports said.
Sectarian violence between Sunni Muslim and Shia groups has plagued Dera Ismail Khan, a district bordering the lawless South Waziristan tribal region, a Taliban and Al-Qaeda stronghold bordering Afghanistan.
Dera Ismail Khan was in August the scene of a suicide bombing that targeted a Shia protest over the killing of one of their local leaders. The blast killed 23 people.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
A bomb killed at least five people and injured 40 on Friday at a funeral for a local Shia Muslim cleric [killed on Thursday in sectarian violence between Sunnis and Shias]
Israel said on Friday it will maintain its closure of the Gaza Strip despite international concern over a deterioration of the humanitarian situation in the aid-dependent Palestinian territory.
"This decision was taken because of the continuation of Palestinian rocket attacks against southern Israel," said Peter Lerner, a defense ministry spokesman.
In the meantime, Palestinian armed groups in Gaza said they will remain committed to a truce with Israel if the Jewish state reciprocates, Hamas's Gaza leader said on Friday, even as militants launched more attacks from the coastal territory.
"I have met with armed factions over the past two days and they stated their position clearly: they are committed to calm as long as (Israel) abides by it," said Ismail Haniyeh, Hamas's most senior representative in Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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[8 views]
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#1
My one concern re: the UN... could they find their ass with both hands AND a flashlight? Leading pundits say "No".
#2
Oh Scooter, at least on "Palestinian Refugee problem", the UN knows perfectly well what they're doing---after all, they have invented the problem in the
The Islamist government of the Gaza Strip said Palestinian resistance groups were willing to lay down their arms and go back to a five-month-old truce - if the Jewish state did likewise. The head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, said all Palestinian factions in Gaza were prepared to respect the truce if Israel kept to its side of the bargain.
"Over the past two days, we've had meetings with the Palestinian factions and we have arrived at a clear position - to respect the truce as long as the occupier does too," he said.
"But so far the occupier has not honored its commitments, indeed it has closed the border crossings and tightened the blockade," he added.
After Hamas won legislative elections in 2006, the Jewish state imposed a crippling siege on the territory, which it tightened when the Islamists ousted their Fatah rivals from Gaza in 2007. An Egyptian-mediated truce in June that brought a halt to Israeli military incursions and Palestinian rocket attacks also called for Israel to lift the blockade. However, the Jewish state reneged on its pledge.
On November 4, Israel shattered the cease-fire deal by invading Gaza with tanks and troops, an incursion that killed seven Hamas members. The move prompted Gazan fighters to launch rockets into Israel, with tit-for-tat attacks from both sides continuing since.
A rocket fired from Gaza exploded near the port city of Ashkelon early on Friday without causing casualties or damage, Israeli army radio said.
Israel said on Friday it would maintain its closure of the Gaza Strip despite international concern over a deterioration of the humanitarian situation.
The UN Relief and Works Agency, which distributes rations to half of Gaza's 1.5-million population, said it had food stocks for "days not weeks." They seem to have enough rockets to last for years, though.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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Suspected US drones violated Pakistani airspace on Friday, as they were reportedly seen flying over various areas of North and South Waziristan agencies, a private TV channel reported. According to the channel, the US spy planes made low flights over Razmak, Makain and Ladha areas of the two tribal agencies. However, they returned to Afghanistan after tribesmen fired at them. According to another TV channel, US drones also made flights over Bannu Frontier Region, creating panic among the locals.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/22/2008
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#1
Link
Taliban movement: AP reported two other intelligence officials based in Bannu as saying that the Taliban had begun moving away from the border, including districts and other settled areas, in an apparent bid to avoid the missile strikes. Pakistani officials say they are rarely warned of such attacks.
A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
The alleged mastermind of a 2006 transatlantic airplane bombing plot was killed in a US missile attack in northwest Pakistan early Saturday, officials said.
(AKI) - At least three people were killed and 19 others were injured in two separate explosions in the Iraqi capital Baghdad on Friday, an unnamed police source told the Voices of Iraq news agency. Another bomb exploded in the al-Mansour district of western Baghdad injuring four soldiers, VOI said. "An improvised explosive device went off near a police checkpoint in the Steen street in al-Doura region in southern Baghdad, killing three people and injuring 15, including three policemen," an unnamed police source told VOI.
WASHINGTON (AP) -- The Pentagon has banned, at least temporarily, the use of external computer flash drives because of a virus threat officials detected on Defense Department networks. While defense officials would not publicly confirm the ban, messages were sent to department employees informing them of the new restrictions. As part of the ban, the Pentagon was collecting any of the small flash drives that were purchased or provided by the department to workers, according to one message distributed to employees.
Hollywood celebrities, Web activists and jet-setters from around the world are preparing to turn the presidential inauguration on Jan. 20 into a mix of Woodstock and Martin Luther King Jr.'s 1963 speech on the National Mall.
(AKI) - At least seven militants including a Taliban commander were killed by Pakistani security forces on Friday in the restive Bajaur tribal region. The Taliban commander, Shah Khaled, was killed in the Mamond tehsil area of Bajaur Agency, Pakistan's satellite channel ARY TV reported.
Iran is negotiating with the Somali pirates to release a Hong Kong-flagged ship that was chartered by an Iranian company, an official says. 
Pakistan's army on Friday carried out a training exercise in which pilotless aircraft drones were shot down by anti-craft guns and short range surface-to-air missiles, a military statement said.
Taliban attacked an army convoy in Miranshah in North Waziristan Agency on Friday with a remote-controlled bomb, injuring two security personnel.
Arianna Huffington looks set to cement her position as the Queen of Capitol Hill in the next few days. The Times has learnt that the Huffington Post, her influential political website, will confirm within the next week that it has completed a $15 million (£10 million) fundraising from investors. 
Thousands of followers of radical Shiite cleric Moqtada al-Sadr demonstrated Friday against an agreement that would extend the U.S. military presence in Iraq, shouting "
Only four months after peaking at an unheard of $4.11 a gallon, the national average price for gasoline tumbled below $2 Friday, its lowest point in more than three years. 
Citigroup Inc. will probably get rescued by the U.S. government after a crisis in confidence erased half its stock-market value in three days, investors and analysts said. 
Venezuela's "Maximum Leader" President Hugo Chavez is acting as if he were fighting for his political life.
Saudi Arabia said it will join a fleet of NATO warships on an anti-piracy mission, as hijackers bolstered defenses around an oil-laden Saudi tanker captured off the East African coast. 
It was only a matter of time. A New York school has been renamed in honor of President-elect Barack Obama. The former Ludlum Elementary School, in Long Island's Hempstead Union Free School District, was renamed at a school board meeting Thursday--effective immediately. School officials say most of the 440 students there are black or Hispanic, and Obama's victory is a source of great pride.
(AKI) - By Syed Saleem Shahzad - Various militant organisations are present in the southern port city of Karachi and may figure in the terror network's plans. This is what the the Government's top advisor for interior affairs, Rahman Malik, told Pakistan's President Asif Ali Zardari on Friday. 
Hillary Rodham Clinton has decided to give up her Senate seat and accept the position of secretary of state, two of her confidants say.
Awami League (AL) President Sheikh Hasina and BNP Chairperson Khaleda Zia exchanged greetings at a reception on the occasion of the Armed Forces Day at Senakunja at Dhaka cantonment yesterday evening.
(AKI) - A bomb killed at least five people and injured 40 on Friday at a funeral for a local Shia Muslim cleric in the northwest Pakistani town of Dera Ismail Khan, police said. Local news reports quoted unnamed sources as saying the death toll was as many as seven to ten people, however. Angry protestors opened fire on police after the bombing, prompting security forces to cordon off the area and put the town on high alert, according to news reports.
The Islamist government of the Gaza Strip said Palestinian resistance groups were willing to lay down their arms and go back to a five-month-old truce - if the Jewish state did likewise. The head of the Hamas administration in Gaza, Ismail Haniyya, said all Palestinian factions in Gaza were prepared to respect the truce if Israel kept to its side of the bargain.
