Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 12:28 ||
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#1
Happy Birthday/Daily Gam Shot
Elke Sommer aka Maria Gambrelli in "A Shot in the Dark" aka Inger Lisa Andersson in "The Prize" aka Professor Anna Vooshka in "Carry on Behind" aka Lisa Reiner in "Lisa and the Devil" aka Helga in "The Victors" aka Lisa Baron in "The Money Trap" aka Linka Karensky in "The Wrecking Crew" aka Erika Altschul in "Zeppelin" aka Clarissa in "It's Not the Size That Counts" (age 71)
#2
From the Telegraph: I pass a homeless man, a beggar, most nights on the way home from work. Usually, I give him a pound, less often I pause for a chat. Im not a fool who believes that those without material possessions hold an innate nobility, but nor do I imagine theres anything intrinsically superior about me. He and I are separated by a slight degree in psychological robustness, and the possession, or lack, of enough income to pay a mortgage for three months. Otherwise, theres the same basic mix of good intent and human weakness.
On Tuesday, I stopped and asked him how he was doing. It wasnt one of his better days, and he turned his head away. Angry. I walked along Hackney Road, towards my contingent home, paid with my contingent salary, and I thought: one of us is still running, unaware of the lack of ground beneath his feet. The other has just stopped pretending. Whos the more deluded?
#3
I talked to a middle-aged lady at church who told me that she was on public assistance and couldn't earn more than a poultry amount of money a year for fear of being disqualified. I thought to myself that she would stay poor for the rest of her life. The young man in this story will never suffer her fate.
Posted by: Mike Ramsey ||
11/05/2011 8:41 Comments ||
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#4
24 hours after the asteroid strike, culture and society will have sorted out its triage of those who have something to contribute and thus survive and those who will not. The artificiality of modern urban culture will evaporate leaving many a person rudely awakened to his/her value in the overall scheme of things.
#5
I talked to a middle-aged lady at church who told me that she was on public assistance and couldn't earn more than a poultry amount of money a year for fear of being disqualified.
So, does that mean she is limited to earning one chicken a day? Or two.
Posted by: Secret Asian Man ||
11/05/2011 9:35 Comments ||
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#6
>24 hours after the asteroid strike
These are silly examples as the asteroid will generally change the ability to supply food.
If you made no change except taxed rent-seeking instead of taxing comparative advantage, you would see a lot of people who's incomes would suddenly drop below zero. You'd also see a lot of people's incomes rise. This change wouldn't be zero sum either but positive sum as zero-taxing comparative advantage would lead to large productivity gains.
#8
The asteroid is a metaphor. We had an warning with Katrina about what happens to the social order when the artificial structures of urban life evaporate and "what's important" suddenly comes to the front and who really has the skills and abilities that life is dependent upon.
#9
We just got our internet, phones and cable restored after 6+ days out due to a tree falling in the NE storm; we got the power back yesterday.
Had enough food and foresight (filled bathtubs) to muddle through with a gas stove and a fireplace. Civilization is fairly fragile and not many (including me) could survie a significant disruption.
#10
AlanC it doesn't take long for things to get ugly. Convenience market, gas pumps, banks, anything electronic, no job, and no fast food.
Just allot of quality time.
That asteroid is due about 6-6:00 PM. East coast will see it best if at all on Tuesday. Moving fast. It will pass between the Earth and moon. Nice telescope OK but I'm going with good binoculars.
Earth's close encounter with Asteroid 2005 YU 55 will occur at 6:28 p.m. EST (2328 GMT) Tuesday, as the space rock sails about 201,000 miles from the planet.
"It is the first time since 1976 that an object of this size has passed this closely to the Earth. It gives us a great -- and rare -- chance to study a near-Earth object like this," astronomer Scott Fisher, a program director with the National Science Foundation, said Thursday during a Web chat with reporters.
#12
Robert Anton Wilson - admittedly a crackpot - used to ask an interesting question when he lectured: "You are standing in front of a control panel with two buttons on it. One button will make everyone equally poor, the other will make everyone equally rich. Which button do you push?"
He then went on to explain, it did not matter. If you push either button at sunrise, by sunset there will be some people getting richer and others getting poorer all over again...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
11/05/2011 12:35 Comments ||
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#13
Many thanks to those who have chosen to serve instead of complain.
Posted by: Abu Uluque ||
11/05/2011 12:57 Comments ||
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[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The Kenya Navy on Friday sunk another boat suspected of transporting Al-Shabaab thugs.
Military front man Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the boat was speeding towards Kenyan waters from the direction of Ras Kamboni when its crew was ordered to stop but defied the orders.
"On 4th November 2011 at 0200hrs, the Kenya Navy, while on patrol duties, sank a boat in the area of Ras Kamboni.
"The boat was challenged to stop for identification but continued to approach the Kenya Navy at high speed, and consequently they fired on it," said Maj Chirchir in a statement.
It was the second boat the Kenya Navy has sunk in two days following Tuesday's incident when Kenyan troops killed 18 Al-Shabaab gunnies after sinking a ship transporting fuel in Kuday area inside Somalia waters. (READ: Al-Shabaab gunnies fall back to defend Kismayu)
On Friday, Kenyan fishermen in Magarini district, Kilifi county claimed that among those killed during the Kuday incident were eight of their colleagues.
The chairman of the Ngomeni Beach Management Unit, Mr Omar Mushamu, claimed that three fishermen from Ngomeni who were on the boat managed to swim to safety after diving into the ocean.
Mr Mushamu said that the eight who perished were harmless Kenyans going about their normal business activities. He claimed that Navy officers sank the fishermen's boat after they had surrendered and identified themselves.
"The fishermen were not armed and had even identified themselves to the officers as fishermen, who still bombed the vessel," Mr Mushamu complained.
Magarini District Commissioner Richard Karani confirmed that the three survivors were from Ngomeni and said investigations had been launched into the incident.
Malindi deputy police boss Samson Ogero also confirmed getting reports on the incident but said he had not received any details from the officers he had dispatched to Ngomeni.
In his statement on Friday, Maj Chirchir warned that the Kenya- Somalia waters remained closed to maritime operations.
"We believe that some of the gunnies on board swam to shore. We wish to urge the public to be cautious of people seeking treatment for bullet wounds and to report any suspicious persons to the nearest cop shoppe or security agency," he advised.
Maj Chirchir also warned merchant ships operating in the Indian Ocean against helping Al-Shabaab gunnies to flee to Yemen.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
I guess I'm impressed - the Kenyan Navy can hit and sink speeding boats. Or else they don't tell the truth.
NAIROBI, Kenya: Kenyas foreign minister has met with the Eritrean ambassador and raised concerns that arms are flowing from Eritrea to Somalias Al-Shabab militia.
Moses Wetangula said Friday that he raised concern over intelligence that planes were secretly flying weapons to Somalia with Eritrean involvement.
Wetangula says that the ambassador delivered letters from Eritreas foreign minister, who is expected to come to the Kenyan capital soon. Wetangula says that Kenya has options if it is proved that Eritrea was arming Al-Shabab. He declined to say what those were.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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MOGADISHU Residents of Somali towns targeted by Kenyan forces fighting Shebab rebels said on Friday they were caught between two fears: getting hit in an air raid or being accused of spying for Nairobi.
In Baidoa, one of the 10 towns singled out this week by Kenya for attack, residents say they spend as little time as possible outdoors, fearing that a bombardment would unleash dangerous rock shards from the huge boulders that dot the area.
Kenya deployed troops into Shebab-controlled southern Somalia last month to battle the Al-Qaeda-inspired rebels it blames for kidnapping foreigners on its soil and conducting cross-border raids.
The Islamist militants, who deny the accusations, warned Kenya on Thursday of "cataclysmic consequences" and are watching the civilian population with suspicion.
Some residents say the militants have been seizing mobile phones of people they suspect of spying for the Somali government and the Kenyan troops.
The Kenyan military also said the Shebab this week received three planeloads of weapons in Baidoa, and on Thursday army spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said the rebels were using donkeys to transport the arms.
Kenya is seeking to prevent the Shebab, who control most of southern Somalia, from attacking its territory and launched the offensive in mid-October. Despite voicing security worries over the years about the extremist militia, Nairobi had held off from an outright battle against the Shebab, preferring to offer military training and diplomatic support to Somalia's weak government.
Chirchir on Tuesday urged residents in 10 southern Somali towns to avoid rebel camps as the army prepared to attack.
In the Shebab-held port town of Kismayo, residents said the insurgents were moving their weapons elsewhere to avoid damage by the Kenyan air raids, leaving locals fearing for the worst.
"I have seen trucks loaded with supplies. They headed to unknown locations because armed vehicles guarded those trucks. Shebab fighters are changing positions," said a Kismayo resident who gave his name only as Dahir.
"It is the civilians who are worried most here in Kismaio. We have heard civilians bombed in a camp in Jilib and the same could happen here if these Kenyans keep attacking towns," added Dahir, referring to an air strike on a southern Somali town last week.
Kismayo pharmacist Ahmed Artan told AFP it would be difficult for the Kenyan forces to strictly bombard Shebab targets.
"We think that Kenya does not have sophisticated technology and if they target these towns, it will be hard for them to distinguish targets, and for sure there will be huge civilian casualties," Artan said. "People are used to seeing civilians killed in air strikes on television in Afghanistan, Iraq and Pakistan, but now it has came to Somalia."
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
Somali Residents Living in Fear of Kenya Attacks??
Sure, blame Kenya for the problems Al-Shabaab started...
Posted by: American Delight ||
11/05/2011 8:17 Comments ||
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#2
Leave it to Agence France Presse to troll the waters until a suitable concerned citizen is found for the 'template-appropriate' comment.
Posted by: Mullah Richard ||
11/05/2011 12:54 Comments ||
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France will give logistical support to Kenyan forces pursuing Islamist militants across the border in Somalia, a French military spokesman says.
The French do seem to have grown a pair in the war on terrorism, haven't they...
Col Thierry Burkhard said French planes would transport military equipment to Kenyan soldiers near the Somali border. But he denied Kenyan military claims that a French warship had shelled a Somali town on Saturday.
Meanwhile, some Somalis have protested against their president for opposing the incursion which began last week. The several hundred protesters waved Kenyan flags and burnt pictures of President Sheikh Sharif Ahmed, the Reuters news agency reports.
The demonstrations took place in the border town of Dhobley and two other locations that Kenyan troops have passed through, Tabto and Qooqaani. In Dhobley, protesters rolled their eyes and made faces chanted "Down with Sheikh Sharif" and accused him of failing to understand the suffering caused by the militant Islamist group, al-Shabab.
Col Burkhard said the French operation was "limited in scope", the AP news agency reports. It would see French planes helping the Kenyan army to transport military equipment from the capital, Nairobi, to an airport close to the Somali border, he said.
On Sunday, Kenyan army spokesman Maj Emmanuel Chirchir told the news agency that the French navy had bombed the town of Kuda along the Somali coast. Col Burkhard denied the claim, saying France had no warships in the area.
And try proving otherwise...
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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The Keynans may not have a fearsome military machine but they do appear to be serious.
NAIROBI -- The Kenya Defence Forces (KDF) have imposed a no-fly zone over the airport in Baidoa in south central Somalia, some 250 km northwest of the capital, Mogadishu.
The ban on aircraft landings at the airport was announced Thursday after it emerged that the Al Shaabab militia had received three consignments of weapons through the airport to boost their defences as Kenyan troops intensified their pursuit for the militia.
In a statement here, KDF Spokesman Major Emmanuel Chirchir said owners of unauthorised aircraft flying over the region would be considered a threat. Major Chirchir further warned that any large movement of loaded donkeys would also be considered as Al Shabaab activity.
Meanwhile, the Kenya Navy on Wednesday evening intercepted and sank a vessel carrying 18 Al Shaabab fighters, killing all on board. The vessel is said to have been transporting fuel to the Kuday area, south of the Somali port of Kismayo.
Posted by: Steve White ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The 'no loaded donkey' zone means they're SERIOUS.
#3
Yes, they did, bman. And sometime before that our Army Rangers went in as part of a U.N. mission. Hopefully Kenya,s effort will have a longer effect.
There's quite enough fear of God current in Somalia already, or what they believe to be God, g(r)omgoru. I'd be happy with grasping cause and effect, or the gods of the copybook headings. I'd be thrilled if more of ours grasped those as well...
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] Two people were killed in an attack on a gathering of Christians in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state in an area worst hit by April post-election violence, police said on Friday.
Gunmen late Thursday stormed Pabak, a farming village in the predominantly Christian southern part of the state and opened fire on a group of worshippers observing a night vigil, Aminu Lawan, state police front man said.
"Two people were killed in the attack on the Christian congregation around 11.30pm (2230 GMT) and a couple others were maimed," Lawan said.
No arrests have been made yet, but police had deployed in the area to try to track down the gunnies, he said.
Pabak is a village outside the town of Zonkwa where hundreds were killed in violence which erupted following the April election victory of President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau...
The violence turned sectarian with fighting between Christian and Mohammedan youths.
By implication we deduce it was the Muslims who started it. Yet another momentary excitement on Islam's bloody border.
Human Rights Watch ... dedicated to bitching about human rights violations around the world... says at least 800 people were killed in the unrest that gripped several of Nigeria's northern states.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Several kabooms destroyed Nigeria's troubled northeastern and predominantly Moslem city of Maiduguri on Friday, including a suicide kaboom on military offices, the army said.
Another one of the bombs went off outside the offices of the state intelligence agency, a military front man in the city said.
Two jacket wallahs blew themselves up outside the city headquarters of the Joint Task Force (JTF), the military unit deployed to curb violence in Maiduguri, he said.
JTF front man Lieutenant Colonel Hassan Mohammed said the attackers driving in a black SUV failed to enter the complex because of tightened security.
"The suicide bombers on seeing their frustration, they decided to detonate their explosives some 50 meters away from the gate," he told Agence La Belle France Presse by phone.
"The suicide bombers naturally died in the kaboom," he said, adding that no one else was killed in the attack though there was damage to the building.
The attack comes two days ahead of the annual Moslem celebration of Eid al-Adha and three days after the military embarked on door-to-door searches for weapons in a bid to end the unrest that has hit the area in recent months.
The city has been a target of bomb and gun attacks by an Islamist sect known as Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. Currently wearing a false nose and moustache and answering to Jama'atu Ahlus-Sunnah Lidda'Awati Wal Jihad, or Big Louie... Mohammed said at the same time as the attempted raid on the JTF headquarters two "simultaneous attacks" were being staged in other parts of the city, including a roadside kabooming near the offices of the state secret police.
Parts of the military headquarters were damaged, he said.
Soldiers have in the past been accused of rampaging through neighborhoods after such kabooms, killing residents, burning homes and claiming locals cooperated with the sect.
Residents reported hearing loud kabooms just around the time of the Moslem Friday prayers.
"We have heard a series of kabooms throughout the city," housewife Aisatu Kabir told AFP on the phone from the restive city.
The kabooms, which occurred at short intervals, sent most of the city's residents indoors, she said, adding: "The roads have been deserted."
A local journalist told AFP: "I was at home just after the prayers when I heard three separate kabooms coming from different areas."
Maiduguri has been hit by scores of attacks blamed on Boko Haram, which also grabbed credit for the August suicide kaboom of the U.N. headquarters in Abuja that killed at least 24 people.
Thousands of residents have already decamped Maiduguri for fear of further violence. The city, located in Nigeria's far northeast near the border with Chad, Cameroon and Niger, has borne the brunt of the violence blamed on the sect.
Meantime in another part of northern Nigeria, hundreds of youths staged angry protests after gunnies overnight opened fire on a congregation of Christians praying at a village in Kaduna state.
The attack took place in an area where hundreds of people were killed in violence which erupted following the April election victory of President Goodluck Jonathan ... 14th President of Nigeria. He was Governor of Bayelsa State from 9 December 2005 to 28 May 2007, and was sworn in as Vice President on 29 May 2007. Jonathan is a member of the ruling People's Democratic Party (PDP). He is a lover of nifty hats, which makes him easily recognizable unless someone else in the room is wearing a neat chapeau... , a Christian, against his closest rival Muhammadu Buhari, a Moslem.
Police across the country have meantime been placed on "red alert" from Friday till end of next week as Moslems celebrate the Eid.
In a statement the police chief Hafiz Ringim ordered round-the-clock patrols and deployment of anti-terrorist and anti-bomb squads especially to vulnerable areas.
Nigeria's more than 160 million people are divided roughly between Moslems and Christians.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[Yemen Post] Pro democracy youth in Yemen will send a letter to the UN in record style.
A record breaking 1500 meter letter calling on the world to help end Yemen's suffering will be on its way to the United Nations ...an organization whose definition of human rights is interesting, to say the least... after being displaced on Friday in front of hundreds of thousands of protesters.
With the letter come the handprints of one million youth activist from the different Yemeni provinces hoping this tactic could move the hearts of world leaders and stop the bloodshed in the country. Well, hope's a good thing, kids. Just don't bet your life on it...
The letter will be given to the UNICEF office in Yemen, who will then be responsible for handing it to the secretary general of the UN. Awwwwww, jeez, do ya have to give it to us? Can't ya just...mail it? Do you know how much work we'll have to do on this?
The campaign started in Taiz last September and took two months to complete.
Protests have been ongoing in Yemen for more than nine months.
Government forces killed hundreds of unarmed protesters since January.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Bahraini authorities violently dispersed thousands of protesters who marched towards Manama's center on Friday after the funeral of a key opposition figure's father who allegedly died after he was beaten by police, an opposition ex-MP said.
"Security forces fired tear gas and rubber bullets, and used police cars to try to run over protesters who marched in thousands towards Pearl Square," epicenter of month-long anti-regime protests in the spring, after the funeral of 70-year-old Ali Hassan al-Dehi, Matar Matar told Agence La Belle France Presse.
The protesters headed from the western village of Dehi towards the square, which was the symbol of a protest inspired by uprisings sweeping the Arab world and which was razed shortly after demonstrators were driven out in mid-March.
Matar said he did not have information on the number of Friday's casualties.
Dehi was the father of Hussein al-Dehi, who is deputy head of Bahrain's largest Shiite opposition formation, Al-Wefaq. The organization claimed he died after riot police attacked him, while the health ministry said the cause of death was "a heart attack and hypertension."
"Even if he wasn't beaten to death, his health deteriorated due to the violence used against him," Matar argued.
Earlier this year, Bahrain's Sunni monarchy crushed pro-democracy protests, spearheaded by the majority Shiites, with the help of troops from other Gulf states, such as Soddy Arabia.
Twenty-four people died during the month-long crackdown, according to official figures from Manama. Four protesters have since died in jug.
The opposition says 40 people were killed.
The Gulf kingdom is awaiting a report by an independent commission of inquiry into the crackdown, which is expected on November 23.
Though mass protests had subsided, tensions have remained high as the trials of dozens of opposition figures and protesters continue in the capital.
"Such actions by Bahraini authorities take place on and on again despite the presence of an inquiry commission in Bahrain," said Matar.
"The Bahraini government feels that it has been given international immunity. This is why it continues in this direction."
Later on Friday, the U.S. State Department urged all sides in Bahrain to exercise restraint.
State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland also called for "transparency" over the death of al-Dehi.
"We obviously call on everybody to exercise restraint," Nuland said about protests over al-Dehi's death.
Nuland also called for a clear account of his death.
"We understand that in connection with the circumstances of the father's death, the family has now filed a criminal complaint with the Bahraini police," she said. "And we, the U.S., would encourage full transparency as this case proceeds."
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
The mullahs are meddling again
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2011 12:11 Comments ||
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#2
I need a scorecard.
Sunni protesters in Syria---good guys.
Shia protesters in Bahrain---bad guys.
Whatever in Yemen---????
[Bangla Daily Star] A leader of an outlawed organization was killed in a so-called 'shootout'
Heads up! We've got a new writer, one with an education.
between his accomplices and Rapid Action Battalion (Rab) in Kamarkhand upazila of Sirajganj early yesterday.
Who wants to find that on the map for us? I need new glasses.
The magnifying glass is in the drawer...
Rab said Khorshed Alam, 34, was a regional commander of Lal Pataka, a faction of extremrrhoid outfit Purbo Banglar Communist Party ...the Proletarian Party of East Bengal, a Maoist party that has seen better days. It supported independence in 1971 and has periodic shootouts and fisticuffs which the Bangla Jamaat-e-Islami, but has fallen on hard times, with many of its leaders rubbed out by the RAB or indignant citizenry. It is also subject to factionalism, to the extent that it may have more factions than it has actual members... . He lived in Jatibari Rasulpur village of the same upazila.
" 'Gonna be out for a while, Ma. A regional commander's got responsibilities, ya know.' He had responsibilities, and they killed him far from home, Aisha-Sue."
"It sounds like the beginning of a song, Missus Alam. Kinda like 'Barbara Allen'."
Khorshed had a number of cases, including five for murder, pending against him. Five murder cases? He sounds more like a button man. He only had the death sentence on five systems? Wotta gyp.
Rab-12 director Lt Col ATM Anisuzzaman told The Daily Star that a team led by deputy assistant director Mafiz Uddin raided Char Tangrail village around 2:30am 0230 hrs. Start of the shift for our RAB good guys. "Load 'em up! Move 'em out! Spit out that gum, Sergeant Rafiq!"
"[PTUI!] Right, chief!"
over information
*Ring, ring* "Mahmoud the Weasel, Jr. here..."
that a gang of bad boyz were holding a secret meeting in the dead of night there.
But where? Banana grove, strawberry field, brick yard? Somewhere under cover one assumes, as it's the rainy season. We know it's the rainy season because over in West Pakistan we're reading about the annual Drowning of the Poor.
Good thinking. Try the bus station.
Sensing trouble,
"Ohmigod, boss -- my Spidey Sense! It's never done that before!"
"[Gasp!] My scar! Is it Voldemort?... No... It's not the same pain... Could it be... Rab?"
Khorshed and his accomplices opened fire on them, "It's the Rab! Open fire in random directions!"
prompting the elite force personnel to retaliate. "They're shooting back, chief! Permission to return fire?"
"Granted! And spit out that gum!"
[PTUI!]
[BANG! BANG! BANGETY BANG!]
Khorshed was struck down in his prime "Aaaiiiee! I am undone!... [KEEL!]... [FLOP!]... [TWITCH!]"
while his cohorts managed to flee the scene. ... as though they had never been... the Rab officer said.
One pictures the Rab officer speaking in brusque, clipped sentences, while our intrepid junior reporter, ink on his BA (English Lit.) still damp, struggled to keep up. He got even by referring to the " 'so called' encounter", instead of playing it straight, though.
Rab members later recovered a foreign made revolver, four local guns, three rounds of bullet and sharp weapons from the spot. Funny how the bad guys manage to leave their weapons at the scene. Very sloppy.
That's ok. The new trainee gets to polish them up and put them back in their velvet lined cases in the evidence room.
A case was lodged in this connection.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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A defense lawyer for Tarek Mehanna sought yesterday to portray him as a scholar devoted to Islam and not the radical committed to violence, jihad and Al Qaeda that prosecutors have described.
Janice Bassil, referring to the testimony of prosecution witness Ali Aboubakr, claimed that the witness and Mehanna had a close circle of friends who studied Islam and discussed their faith, but were not the type to take up arms against Americans.
"You weren't a terrorist cell," Bassil said, during Mehanna's trial.
Aboubakr responded "No.''
Bassil asked, Mehanna "never said, 'I went to Yemen so that I could go to Iraq so I could kill American soldiers,' did he?"
Aboubakr said he didn't.
For nearly four hours, Bassil asked Aboubakr questions about his religion and his talks with Mehanna, trying to establish that Aboubakr's individual beliefs were not shaped by Mehanna, and that both men were centered on Islamic law and not terror.
Earlier this week, FBI agents testified that they found videos and documents on Mehanna's computer promoting violent jihad during a secret search of his home in 2006.
Aboubakr, who prosecutors have described as one of Mehanna's followers, testified for the government Thursday that Mehanna would translate jihad videos and send them to him, including one that featured the 9-11 hijackers. He said Mehanna supported the attacks.
Aboubakr also testified that Mehanna would speak in support of suicide bombers and against the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan during online chats they had, mostly in 2006. He said Mehanna had even said that he sought terrorism training in Yemen and that he spoke of giving a "blood donation," or joining the jihad.
Under Bassil's questioning yesterday, Aboubakr acknowledged that he often started conversations with Mehanna about a book or a song promoting jihad.
Bassil said, "You participated in these conversations. And it's only after you got that grand jury, that summons, that you're saying, 'Oh, I did this because of Tarek."
Aboubakr agreed that often he was joking, and he said that the term jihad is a general phrase meant to signify the struggle of Muslims to defend and spread Islam.
Bassil said, "It's not a brand new word. It's thousands of years old. It's this concept of defending Islam from people who would attack it."
Aboubakr concurred.
Bassil also argued that the sources and verses Mehanna spoke of and distributed were classical texts that described the historical struggles of Muslims.
Bassil said, "You agree that the two of you wanted to continue to seek knowledge of your religion? It wasn't about going to seek death as a martyr, was it?"
Aboubakr said it wasn't.
Bassil argued that Mehanna talked of defending Muslims because of concerns about the wars against them in Chechnya and Bosnia, as well as the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. He was particularly upset by the rape of a 14-year-old girl in Iraq, as well as Abu Ghraib.
Under Bassil's questioning, Aboubakr said, "I can't recall a time where watching the videos actually led to [Mehanna] saying, 'Well, we have to actually get up and do something.'"
#1
Aboubakr agreed that often he was joking, and he said that the term jihad is a general phrase meant to signify the struggle of Muslims to defend and spread Islam.
Bassil said, "Its not a brand new word. Its thousands of years old. Its this concept of defending Islam from people who would attack it."
well, our genius scholar either doesn't know his Mo history, or he's a math moron (and not the good kind). Islam isn't thousands of years old, dipshit
Posted by: Frank G ||
11/05/2011 12:20 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against former Balochistan ...the Pak province bordering Kandahar and Uruzgun provinces in Afghanistan and Sistan Baluchistan in Iran. Its native Baloch propulation is being displaced by Pashtuns and Punjabis and they aren't happy about it... chief minister and inventor of the fastback turban Jam Mohammad Yousuf in the Bugti killing case, DawnNews reported.
Judicial Magistrate Faisal Hameed issued the warrant against Jam Yousuf.
Sources said that a special crime branch team investigating the case had received the warrant.
Yousuf was a co-accused in the case, including former president Pervez Perv Musharraf ... former dictator of Pakistain, who was less dictatorial and corrupt than any Pak civilian government to date ... , former premier Shaukat Aziz and former Balochistan governor Owais Ahmed Ghani
The court has already issued arrest warrants against Musharraf and Aziz.
Moreover, the Balochistan High Court (BHC) has also directed the provincial government to extradite Aziz and Musharraf.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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#1
...One nice doily he's got there.
Mike
Posted by: Mike Kozlowski ||
11/05/2011 9:58 Comments ||
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#2
Seafarious made me one like it once. She had to kill a couch to get the material.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 12:18 Comments ||
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#3
How is Seafarious? I hope she's OK, haven't seen her around in a long time.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
11/05/2011 13:23 Comments ||
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[Dawn] A security man was killed and two others were maimed when cut-throats attacked a checkpost near Sadda in Kurram tribal agency on Thursday.
Sources said that cut-throats attacked a checkpost of Levies Force near Sadda with heavy and light weapons. The Levies personnel also retaliated and exchange of fire continued for several hours. A security many identified as Gulab Gul was killed while Sharab Khan and Fazli Khan were maimed in the attack. The injured were taken to Sadda hospital.
Meanwhile, ...back at the hoedown, Bob finally got to dance with Sally... a house and a vehicle were partially damaged when cut-throats fired three missiles at Pewar area of Kurram. In Bannu, a policeman was killed and two others received injuries when unidentified persons opened firing on them on Thursday evening.
Sources said that coppers were patrolling Surani area when unidentified persons opened firing on them. A constable identified as Wahab Khan was killed and his two colleagues -- Rukhsar and Samiullah -- received injuries in the attack.
In Khyber Agency, armed persons kidnapped four relatives of a former commander of a proscribed myrmidon organization in Bara tehsil on Wednesday evening. Officials said that a son, nephew, uncle and another relative of Haji Amal Gul were kidnapped at gunpoint from their house in Malikdin Khel area.
Haji Amal Gul, a founding member of Lashkar-i-Islam, deserted the banned group after developing differences with its chief Mangal Bagh ...a former bus driver, now head of the Deobandi bandido group Lashkar-e-Islam and the Terror of Khyber Agency... early this year. He serviced an attempt on his life about two months ago when his car was targeted with a remote controlled bomb in Bara.
Meanwhile, ...back at the dirigible, Jack stuck the cigar in his mouth, stepped onto the gantry, and asked Got a light, Mac?
Von Schtinken stopped short, lowering the dagger and trying to control his features. If you light that thing, Herr Armschtröng, he pointed out, his voice tense, we all die!... cut-throats forcibly occupied the houses of Jan Khan, Khana Jan and Sial Jan in Sipah area. Sources said that cut-throats also stocked huge quantity of arms and ammunition in the occupied houses and were preparing for a showdown with the security forces, busy in an operation in the area. In Spin Qabar area, cut-throats destroyed the houses of two school teachers.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[Dawn] Syrian troops killed 17 people on Friday as demonstrators, denouncing "despots and tyrants," erupted into the streets to test the regime's commitment to an Arab peace deal calling for an end to violence.
Washington had already warned that the signs were not encouraging after troops killed 20 civilians on Thursday, the first day the hard-won agreement aimed at ending nearly eight month of bloodshed came into effect.
La Belle France echoed the US concerns on Friday, saying Syria was breaking its commitments to the Arab deal by continuing a deadly crackdown on protesters, and cast doubt on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad's Oppressor of the Syrians and the Lebs... dedication to the deal.
As more deaths were reported, the government offered an amnesty to anyone who surrenders weapons by November 12, linking the offer to the Eid al-Adha Moslem feast that begins on Sunday.
Troops raked several residential neighbourhoods of Homs, a city of some one million people that has been one of the hubs of the protests raging since mid-March, which heavy machineguns mounted on tanks, a watchdog said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 15 people were killed across Syria, six of them in Homs.
Further north in Hama four civilians were shot, while four people were killed in the town of Kanaker, outside the capital, and a protester was rubbed out by security forces in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
Two more people were killed, one of them an army deserter, when troops opened fire on a group of people trying to slip across the border into Jordan, the Britannia-based Observatory said.
In the Mediterranean coastal city of Banias, security forces laid siege to the Abu Bakr Siddiq mosque and beat up worshippers as they attempted to demonstrate after weekly prayers, it said.
They also placed in durance vile dozens of people from their homes, "including four children closely related to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman," the watchdog said.
Video footage posted on YouTube showed dozens of demonstrators, some masked, marching through the historic Midan neighbourhood of Damascus, chanting anti-Assad slogans.
Protesters in Harasta just outside Damascus, described Assad as a "liar"who has no intention of implementing the Arab roadmap.
Demonstrators also chanted: "Allah will overcome tyrants and despots" echoing the slogan of Friday's protests which activists called to "validate"whether the government was implementing terms of the Arab peace deal.
"The more the regime kills and oppresses us, the more it boosts our resolve ... to gain our liberty," activists wrote on the Facebook page of the Syrian Revolution 2011, one of the key engines of the protests.
There has been enormous scepticism among opponents about the regime's readiness to call off its troops and enter meaningful negotiations with the opposition as it promised under the deal unveiled on Wednesday.
Syrian authorities have used forced to crush almost daily anti-regime protests since mid-March, and more than 3,000 people have been killed according to UN estimates.
Pro-democracy protesters insist their campaign is peaceful while the government says it has been battling "armed terrorist groups".
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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[An Nahar] Syrian troops killed at least 23 people Friday when demonstrators erupted into the streets denouncing "despots and tyrants," as world powers cast doubt on the regime's commitment to an Arab peace deal.
Troops raked several residential neighborhoods of Homs -- a city of some one million people that has been at the frontline of protests raging since mid-March -- with heavy machineguns mounted on tanks, a watchdog said.
The Syrian Observatory for Human Rights said 23 people were killed across Syria, nine of them in Homs.
Further north in Hama, four civilians were rubbed out, while seven people were killed in the town of Kanaker, outside the capital, and a protester was rubbed out by security forces in Damascus ...The City of Jasmin is the oldest continuously-inhabited city in the world. It has not always been inhabited by the same set of fascisti...
Two more people were killed, one of them an army deserter, when troops opened fire on a group of people trying to slip across the border into Jordan, the Britannia-based Observatory said.
Four coppers were also maimed, two critically, in festivities with an "armed terrorist group" in Kanaker, the state-run SANA news agency reported, adding that one of the gunnies was killed in the fighting.
The agency also denied reports that dozens of people were nabbed in Banias, quoting the governor of Tartous where the Mediterranean coastal city is located.
Earlier the Observatory said that "four children closely related to Observatory director Rami Abdel Rahman" were among those seized in Banias.
Video footage posted on YouTube showed dozens of demonstrators, some masked, marching through the historic Midan neighborhood of Damascus, chanting anti-Assad slogans.
Protesters in Harasta just outside Damascus, described Assad as a "liar" who has no intention of implementing the Arab roadmap.
Demonstrators also chanted: "Allah will overcome tyrants and despots" -- echoing the slogan of Friday's protests which activists called to "validate" whether the government was implementing terms of the Arab peace deal.
The United States and La Belle France slammed Syria for pressing on with its crackdown on dissent and failing to heed to the hard-won agreement that calls for tanks to be withdrawn from protest hubs in a bid to end nearly eight months of bloodshed.
Members of the U.N. Human Rights Council meanwhile said they seek to "shine a spotlight" on violations in Syria as a U.N. commission of inquiry prepared to file later this month a report on the violence-wracked country.
La Belle France said Syria was breaking its commitments to the Arab deal by continuing a deadly crackdown on protesters, and cast doubt on Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir Pencilneck al-Assad Light of the Alawites... 's dedication to the deal.
There has been enormous skepticism inside and outside Syria about the regime's readiness to call off its troops and enter meaningful negotiations with the opposition as it promised under the deal unveiled on Wednesday.
"The continuing repression can only strengthen the international community's doubts about the Syrian regime's sincerity to implement the Arab League ...an organization of Arabic-speaking states with 22 member countries and four observers. The League tries to achieve Arab consensus on issues, which usually leaves them doing nothing but a bit of grimacing and mustache cursing... peace plan," French foreign ministry deputy front man Romain Nadal said in Gay Paree.
In Washington U.S. State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on Thursday said: "We have not seen any evidence that the Assad regime intends to live up to the commitments that it's made."
On Friday she also expressed skepticism of an amnesty announced by the interior ministry to mark the end of the annual Moslem hajj, or pilgrimage, and the start Sunday of Eid al-Adha feast.
"I wouldn't advise anybody to turn themselves in to regime authorities at the moment," said Nuland amid apparent concerns for the welfare of those who might do so.
State media reported that anyone heeding the ministry's call to surrender weapons at the nearest cop shoppe "will walk free ... and receive an amnesty."
The interior ministry set a deadline from Saturday to November 12 but warned the offer was not valid for anyone having committed "murder."
Syrian authorities have used force to crush almost daily anti-regime protests since mid-March, and more than 3,000 people have been killed according to U.N. estimates.
Pro-democracy protesters insist their campaign is peaceful while the government says it has been battling "armed terrorist groups."
The Arab League meanwhile took Syria to task and said foreign correspondents should apply to Syrian authorities to enter the country, since unfettered media access was part of the deal Damascus approved.
Posted by: Fred ||
11/05/2011 00:00 ||
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A multi-volume chronology and reference guide set detailing three years of the Mexican Drug War between 2010 and 2012.
Rantburg.com and borderlandbeat.com correspondent and author Chris Covert presents his first non-fiction work detailing
the drug and gang related violence in Mexico.
Chris gives us Mexican press dispatches of drug and gang war violence
over three years, presented in a multi volume set intended to chronicle the death, violence and mayhem which has
dominated Mexico for six years.
Rantburg was assembled from recycled algorithms in the United States of America. No
trees were destroyed in the production of this weblog. We did hurt some, though. Sorry.
[Daily Nation (Kenya)] The Kenya Navy on Friday sunk another boat suspected of transporting A
Two people were killed in an attack on a gathering of Christians in Nigeria's northern Kaduna state in an area worst hit by April post-election violence, police said on Friday.
Goodluck Jonathan
[Yemen Post] Pro democracy youth in Yemen will send a letter to the UN in record style.
Defence ministry sources told media that Alfonso Cano had been killed in an army operation in the mountains in the south-west of the country. 
A court on Friday issued an arrest warrant against former 
Pervez 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
Hereditary President-for-Life Bashir 
