I don't know if this is the third or fourth time we've seen an article on this?
Somehow, I don't think Vogue's too worried...
Al Qaeda has introduced an online women's magazine with articles including dietary advice for suicide bombers and tips on how to "dominate the passions" before blowing yourself up, according to Italy's SISDE secret service. You mean al-Qaeda has a "no fat girls" rule? Who knew?
SISDE analysts disclosed the existence of Al Khansa, the unusual monthly Internet publication for female militants that is hosted by several Islamist Web sites, in the Italian spy service's quarterly review Gnosis. Khansa is a popular name for Arab women, recalling a 7th century female poet, Tumadir bint Amr, who was known by the sobriquet of Al Khansa — meaning "she who is illiterate because who wants a woman who can read?" "gazelle" or "snub-nosed 38 caliber" — because of her beauty and exquisite, petite nose. She became "the historic symbol of the woman warrior, and, at the same time, of all the mothers of the martyrs," according to SISDE, which is responsible for preventing terrorist reprisals against Italy's deployment of troops in Iraq. "If you want to read up on the latest model of hijab [veil] or abaija [tunic], don't let yourself be taken in by the rosy image on the front of Al Khansa," Damn, and I was so ready to cancel Cosmo!
the newspaper La Stampa of Turin quoted one SISDE analyst as saying. "Among the Web pages of this newly born female review in Arabic, you won't find the usual fashion features that fill the pages of ladies' magazines the world over, except for a section dedicated to fitness with advice on diet and training to follow so as to acquire not a catwalk waistline, but martyrdom in the holy war." "Does this explosive belt make my butt look big?"
With its bizarre format including articles on "breathing gymnastics to conquer the passions," evidently essential knowledge for those tempted to have a final fling before strapping on an explosive-laden corset, Al Khansa could indicate that al Qaeda chief Osama bin Laden has made a strategic choice in favor of "women's emancipation through martyrdom," according to the Gnosis report. "This is a turning point in the project planning of international terrorist networks, which until now, unlike in the Palestinian intifada or in Chechen nationalist extremism, were limited to the exclusive employment of men in operations," the SISDE analysts said. Actually, I think it's a good sign that they're running out of men who want to kill themselves for nothing....
But, the Italian spy review said, it is not clear whether al Qaeda's call to arms for women represents "female emancipation," You gotta be kidding me....
or rather "a tactic to involve all components of the [Islamic community] in the global jihad." The enhanced role for women evidently reflects a sense that recruiting isn't going very well of urgency to drive foreign forces from Islamic territory, Gnosis concluded. It noted that as recently as May 2003, the influential Egyptian sheik Yussuf al-Qaradawi issued an edict blessing "aspiring [female] kamikazes for use in the interests of the holy war, freeing them of the duty of modesty and public invisibility." Ok, then I got a question for the holy man.....So, as long as I blow up infidels, I can walk around in a thong bikini?
An aspiring female martyr, or "mujaheda," must learn the Koran by heart, have basic first aid training [and] be able to prepare an emergency kit "in which natural honey and water from the Zemzem spring at Mecca are indispensable since they flow directly from Paradise," Al Khansa advised. I guess to help all the poor injured baby ducks, kittens and puppies....
A female militant must also "be content with what is strictly necessary, sending televisions and air conditioners to be burned." Yeah, a MAN might want that stuff, you uppity broad!!
She should offer her own money for the cause and know how to shoot and "how to carry munitions on her shoulder," the Web site said. "This is obviously an 'emancipation' that is light-years distant from what the West means" by the word, the SISDE essay said. "The portrait of the new heroine is of a woman paladin suspended between stupidity and a shallow gene pool tradition and renewal, capable of protecting the family and the community against both outside aggression and the moral degeneration that insinuates its way inside society dominated by the 'corrupt' Saudi royal family." Al Qaeda's concept of emancipation does not extend to "the promiscuity of Arab television stations," SISDE's analysis added. Al Khansa considers "as a form of prostitution the presence of female announcers without burqas on the Saudi television network Al-Ekhbariya." Those trampy little minxes!
In Al Khansa, the theorists of al Qaeda offer women "a path to reach freedom that would be denied in every other way — using the dominion of religion to oppose the dominion of men," the Italian secret service report said.
#1
Best to let the ladies kill themselves. Reducing the number of females will have a more significant impact on their birth rates than culling the males.
#3
Ah, yes, some of my friends' favorites. Although I do admit to the "What are you thinking about?" when my sweetie looks particularily lost in space. I think that's fair, especially if he's driving and just went through a stop sign. ;)
#6
Still looking for the Beltsuit edition (similiar to Sports Illustrated Swimsuit edition), females modeling the latest in suicide belt fashions. Something we can all get a bang outta, heh.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/19/2005 19:19 Comments ||
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#7
Jeeze Louise! Learning the Koran by heart before she blows herself up. Now that will make you want to be a martyr just to get away from that. The first aid deal I do not understand, however. Unless a boomer screws up and wants a second chance at martyrdumb.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/19/2005 19:31 Comments ||
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Raising their hands to the sky, about 2 million Muslim pilgrims prayed for salvation Wednesday at Mount Arafat, where Saudi Arabia's top cleric said the greatest test for the nation of Islam comes from its sons who are "lured by the devil," a reference to violent Muslim militants.
Funny, I thought we were the "devil"? Oh, that's right, we're the "Great Satan". I keep getting them mixed up.
Many pilgrims' eyes welled with tears as they prayed on the most critical day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage the faithful believe will wipe away their sins. While speaking at a mosque on the plain of Mount Arafat, Sheik Abdul-Aziz al-Sheik, the kingdom's grand mufti, referred to the violent campaign waged by Muslim militants affiliated with the al Qaeda terror network against targets in the kingdom, attacks Saudi authorities have been battling the past two years. Al-Sheik said the greatest test for the Muslim nation is its own sons gone astray, and he warned them not to be used by enemies of the nation to weaken it. "The greatest affliction to strike the nation of Islam came from some of its own sons, who were lured by the devil," he said. "They have called the nation infidel, they have shed protected blood and they have spread vice on earth, with explosions and destruction and killing of innocents." He pointedly asked of Muslim youth: "How would you meet God? With innocent blood you shed or helped shed?"
"You're supposed to be shedding infidel blood, not pure Saudi blood. We're protected, see!"
Al-Sheik also said that campaigns were being waged against the people of Islam -- "military campaigns, thought campaigns, economic campaigns, and media campaigns.
That would be us, I believe
"They are all against this religion. The nation was described as a terrorist nation, that we are terrorists and backward," he said. "Conferences have been held and conspiracies have been woven ... all unjustly and unfairly."
Yup, he's been reading Rantburg again
Al-Sheik urged worshippers to abide the words of God and his prophet and not be "fooled by a civilization known for its weak structure and bad foundation."
Posted by: Steve ||
01/19/2005 11:01:49 AM ||
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#1
"Al-Sheik urged worshippers to abide the words of God and his prophet and not be 'fooled by a civilization known for its weak structure and bad foundation.'"
#3
Many pilgrims' eyes welled with tears as they prayed on the most critical day of the hajj, the annual pilgrimage the faithful believe will wipe away their sins.
No wonder those types are so violent. When one can be forgiven on an annual basis for any wrongs, engaging in a little mayhem in the meantime can't be all that bad...
#6
Sheik...the day it's not a herd of allan-worshipers that is crashing a jet into a building, or decapitating/disemboweling an aide worker, or throwing acid in a young girl's face, or gang raping villagers in Sudan I'll listen. Otherwise Eat a JDAM for breakfast.
Posted by: ed ||
01/19/2005 08:03 ||
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#1
The muttawaâor religious policeâare a self-elected goon squad of fundamentalists who surveil the Magic Kingdom's inhabitants, particularly its expatriates. The purpose of their scrutiny is to ensure conformity to their own warped, narrow-minded interpretation of Islam. Their scrutiny is often asinine and always absurd...
#2
The way you deal with thugs like this is with counter-thugs. Irregulars are never highly regarded by the official police, who often relish their downfall. So if someone were to set up a dedicated and professional psyop and assassination campaign against these brownshirts, their organization would disintigrate in short order--they inherently being cowards and bullies. One could even play on their superstitions, making them *in particular* seem to be prey for demons and djinn, supposedly dispatched by Allah to punish them and their organization for "sinfullness" and "vice". This would also help to undercut their political support.
#3
These guys are sweeties that prevented the girls from escaping a fire at a Girl's School becuase they did not have the proper coverings to be out in public. I want to say about 20 girls died. Would Allah assume this was the correct thing to do or murder? Saving a life or covering your face with a headscarf. Islam is really F$%#ed Up!
#4
I liked the ice cream story. I'll bet muttawa man and his cop buddy sprinted to the nearest mens room for at least a two man circle jerk after watching that one.
#5
Lol, VDH gets very close indeed to the heart of the mutawas. In one respect he's wrong: there are some self-appointed flakes running around, but the mutawas are official - they work for the Ministry of Public Morality, at least that was the way it was listed in the one and only telephone book I saw over there in 1992.
Anonymoose, your heart's in the right place, but you're spitting in the wind. These guys have real power - and they can disappear your ass, just as they did the Filipino, and no one, including the US State Dept, can find you. We had our wasta guy, too, and he would find our lost sheep, as well.
Once one of the guys was planning to go over to Bahrain with a group on Thursday morning (Thurs / Fri is their "weekend")... he never showed up. The matter of his whereabouts was handed over to Mr Fixit and we went our way. We found out later he had to be bailed out of jail. He had missed a highway turnoff - and it can be 50+ clicks between them - easy - and still being inebriated (he was coming home from an el cid party, lol), he had pulled a U-turn and headed back - on the wrong side of the highway. Usually this isn't a big deal over there (lol, honest!) but he had the bad luck to encounter a car in the middle of nowhere that had to dodge him - and yes, it contained a passle of mutawas. So he was cooling his heels under their supervision when our wastaman located him. The lucky dickhead.
You can't do anything or have anything which is overtly religious, except Muslim stuff, of course. Christmas tree with lights that can be seen from outside? Lol! They bang on your door (break it down if you're not home) and drag it out, then stuff it in the first dumpster they can find. If you're an Aramcon (official Aramco employee, not a mere contractor), and this was inside Dhahran Camp, it's probably just a warning. If this happens outside, in the real world, you'll go to jail.
A friend went over there in the mid-70's and had, because he was a physicist, a picture of Albert Einstein in his household shipment. He was summoned down to Customs and pointedly asked who the person was in the framed photo. Well, their "nose" for picking out Jooos was pretty damned accurate, heh. They knew something was Joooish about Einstein. My friend, an Indian who was to be a high-ranking member on the Aramco Chief Scientist's staff, told them it was his uncle. They looked at him. Then looked at the photo. Then back at my friend. This went on for a couple of long silent moments. Then he looked at his paperwork, again, and must've realized my friend was at least semi-important and, with a growl, threw the picture back into the box and told him to get out.
It's their world. It sucks like nothing you can imagine till it's been shoved down your throat.
Britain is urging America to announce a timetable for withdrawing coalition troops from Iraq over the next 18 months or more. With a new Iraqi government due to take power after next week's elections, The Telegraph has learned that British officials believe the time is ripe for the coalition to announce an "indicative timetable" for its departure. There would no firm deadline and the withdrawal would depend on the gradual ability of Iraq's armed forces to take over responsibility for security — probably not before the middle of next year. Such an announcement would be the first time the coalition had set a clear target for leaving.
British officials say that a timetable, however tentative, would signal an exit strategy, bolster the transitional government and undermine the insurgents' claim that America intended to occupy Iraq indefinitely. The Government is hopeful that President George W Bush will agree to make a formal announcement within two or three months. "Giving a timetable would be an important political signal that we intend to leave Iraq," a well-placed Whitehall source said. "The main Iraqi parties are already talking about when coalition forces should be drawn down. America knows it will have to deal with the issue soon." Washington has resisted committing itself to a pull-out date for its 150,000 troops, fearing that it would be seen as a sign of weakness and encourage the gunmen. Cool feet or US impediment to Iran "soft power" play?
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/19/2005 9:31:20 PM ||
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Pyongyang, January 18 (KCNA) -- El Baradei, director general of the International Atomic Energy Agency, recently blustered that the DPRK is the primary threat to the nuclear non-proliferation system and has breached the NPT beyond the IAEA control for 12 years. His remarks go to prove how he busied himself backing the U.S. hostile policy toward the DPRK as he wantonly interfered in the issue outside his mandate.
The DPRK is not a member nation of the NPT and had already withdrawn from the IAEA. It has nothing to do with the IAEA. Yet, he is still pulling up the DPRK over this or that. This is an undisguised provocation and an imprudent act exceeding his authority.
We can hardly understand how he still remains in the office as director general of the IAEA as he does not know why and how the nuclear issue surfaced between the DPRK and the U.S. and the well known fact that the DPRK is no longer a member nation of the IAEA and NPT.
Hey, we agree on something!
He is known to have busied himself implementing the policies of the U.S. administration as its henchman and changed his stand without difficulty.
He expressed a "serious concern" over the nuclear issue of south Korea when it was disclosed. But no sooner had voices patronizing Seoul come out from Washington than he made a volte-face at once. He asserted that the DPRK is to blame for the delayed settlement of the nuclear issue on the Korean Peninsula, blustering that now is the time for the UNSC to move.
He is now doing his best to please the U.S. in his reckless bid to serve another term as IAEA director general.
He behaved discarding even the principle of objectivity, impartiality and neutrality which the IAEA should regard as its life and soul just to please the U.S., his master. But he is now out of favor with the U.S. due to the differences over various matters related to Iran, Iraq and some other Mideast countries.
The U.S. has already expressed its stand more than once that it is opposed to his serving another term as IAEA director general at the end of his second term. The Washington Post reported that officials of the U.S. administration wiretapped scores of phone calls between El Baradei and Iranian diplomats, which was aimed to gather evidence unfavorable to him and unseat him.
It is as clear as noonday that he, who has acted under the pulls and pressures of the superpower, will stoop to any infamy just to court the U.S. favour as he is tight-cornered. This time he succeeded in improving his image talking about the so-called "authority" of the IAEA. He asserted that the IAEA has sufficient modern technological means to verify even nuclear activities in any "closed facility" and as was the case with the elimination of nuclear weapons in South Africa., the IAEA can take charge of the job once an agreement is reached. This betrays his political greed.
It is ridiculous of him to poke his nose into internal affairs of the country outside the IAEA though he has failed to solve its own problems at a time when the secret nuclear experiments conducted by its member nations are disclosed one after another. If he truly wants to discharge the mission and role as the IAEA chief, he is well advised to mind P's and Q's and stick to the principle of impartiality, though belatedly, so that the IAEA may not become a plaything of anyone.
Posted by: Steve ||
01/19/2005 4:27:14 PM ||
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#1
If he truly wants to discharge the mission and role as the IAEA chief, he is well advised to mind P's and Q's and stick to the principle of impartiality, though belatedly, so that the IAEA may not become a plaything of anyone.
No, we certainly would not like the IAEA to become a plaything of anyone, expecially the MMs. Horrors! Better watch out for the Sea of Fire thing, El Baradai. This ditty from the DPRK (alias NORK) is just a warm-up exercise.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/19/2005 17:24 Comments ||
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SYDNEY - An Iranian artist and democracy campaigner facing deportation from Australia as an illegal immigrant is likely to be killed if he is returned to his native country, a refugee advocacy group claimed on Wednesday. The group, Project SafeCom, said Ardeshir Gholipour, who has been in Australian detention centres for almost five years, attempted suicide after learning his bid for a humanitarian visa had been refused by Immigration Minister Amanda Vanstone.
SafeCom spokesman Jack Smit said Gholipour was taken to hospital last Friday after overdosing on sleeping tablets at the Baxter detention centre in South Australia, but had since been returned to Baxter.
Gholipour, an author for democracy movements in Iran, arrived in Australia in March 2000 and was initially held at the Port Hedland detention centre in Western Australia. Smit said Gholipour had been imprisoned for 21 months from 1987 at the notorious Evin Prison in northern Teheran for distributing pamphlets on behalf of the Iran Freedom Movement, and also wrote articles for the Left Union for Democracy in Iran. He had participated in student demonstrations in Iran in July 1999 and subsequently fled the country in fear of his life.
"Mr Gholipour should have immediately gained asylum and protection when he arrived in Australia five years ago," Smit said. "Instead, and solely because he had the audacity to arrive on Australian shores unannounced and uninvited, Australia detained him.
"Now, through departmental blindness and stupidity, Amanda Vanstone has announced and informed him that he is to start packing his bags because she intends to deport him -- either willingly or forcibly.
"Mr Gholipour, if deported, certainly awaits reprisals, if not immediate killing, by the Mullahs for his eloquent work as a writer for the democracy movement in Iran."
A spokesman for Vanstone declined to comment about Gholipour saying: "We don't comment on individual cases."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/19/2005 12:51:29 AM ||
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Aljazeera staff and members of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate have staged a peaceful demonstration at the Spanish embassy in Cairo in protest against the continued detention of an Aljazeera war correspondent. Protesters called for Taysir Alluni's release, saying his health is deteriorating. They urged the Spanish authorities to provide him better medical care. Alluni's wife has said that his health is deteriorating because of prison conditions, where he is held in isolation for 20 hours a day. He is permitted four hours outside his cell, she says, but he is not allowed to talk to anyone.
The International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) has asked member organisations in Spain to investigate Alluni's prison conditions. The correspondent has been held in solitary confinement since his detention two months ago following his re-arrest on charges of links to al-Qaida. Alluni, Syrian by birth but holding a Spanish passport, was first arrested in 2003 on suspicion of links with al-Qaida as part of an investigation into Islamist operations in Spain. As a correspondent for Aljazeera, he became well known for his work in Afghanistan during the US-led invasion. But two months after being taken into custody, he was released on bail. Judges ruled he should be freed pending a trial because of his poor heart condition.
The indictment alleges he used his role as a reporter to take cash and messages to al-Qaida members. But Alluni says the evidence is based on badly translated telephone conversations. He was taken back into custody in November 2004. The IFJ general-secretary, Aidan White, said: "This case has caused anxiety to journalists, not least because after months on bail with no apparent problems, he was taken back into custody. Now we have reports that he is in deteriorating health. It is important that he is treated in a humane and compassionate manner." Lawyers have asked the Spanish authorities to give Alluni a full medical examination by heart and back specialists, but they say there has been no response.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
One magnifying glass and a nanoviolin, comin' up!
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/19/2005 0:46 Comments ||
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As the nation's capital prepares itself for the presidential inauguration by going into lockdown mode and placing portable Stinger missile launchers throughout the city, Americans may be stunned to learn that the District of Columbia has been forced by a federal judge to hand over intelligence data on police tactics, training, and strategies from the last inauguration to an organization with documented ties to terrorist groups and Saddam Hussein.
The District of Columbia was forced by court order to turn over this information to the International Action Center (IAC), a group involved in Thursday's protests of the second Bush inaugural through the A.N.S.W.E.R Coalition. The anti-Bush groups expect as many as 100,000 will converge on the nation's capital and they intend to get as close to the presidential motorcade as possible. Some media pundits have expressed surprise that the District has offered protestors "prime real estate" along the parade route along Pennsylvania Avenue. But this is largely because of legal pressure exerted by the protesters and their radical law firms.
Given that videotaping a monument can get one arrested in the post-9/11 world, it is stunning that surveillance tapes and other security data can be handed over by court order to an anti-American pro-terrorist organization. But that is how extreme the federal courts have become. *snipped for length
The information provided by the D.C. Metro Police Department by court order to the IAC so far includes:
⢠Lesson plans and handbooks on use of aerosol sprays, force and tactical batons;
⢠Management of Mass Demonstrations, Civil Disturbance Units training documents;
⢠Metro Police Department (MPD) instruction on use of firearms and other service weapons;
⢠Portions of Operations Plan, Parade Manual and Civil Disturbance Unit Response Plan for the 54th Inauguration of the President of the United States;
⢠All rooftop and street-level surveillance videotapes of the presidential inauguration;
⢠Redacted logs from the Synchronized Operations Command Center and the Running Resume for the Inauguration Day intelligence teams; and
⢠The identification of all plainclothes MPD officers who were detailed to intelligence teams for the Inauguration. @#%@!
The plainclothes intelligence officers identified by name were stationed at various locations along and near the presidential parade route in order to monitor the crowds and to report any information heard or observed concerning plans, attempts or actions that might disrupt Inaugural events and/or violate the law and to take law enforcement action, if needed.
Judge Gladys Kessler, who handled the case, issued the orders disclosing the security data. (Kessler was appointed to the United States District Court for the District of Columbia in July 1994 by former president Bill Clinton and confirmed by the Senate.)
Insisting that they are "not criminals, they are patriots," an array of Bush-bashing protesters is making last-minute plans for their Inauguration Day demonstrations in Washington. However, the protesters have more in common than an aversion to war. They have a history of sympathizing with America's enemies including North Korea and Cuba, and they look to a former U.S. attorney general for guidance.
Guess who?
"We're coming in a spirit of non-violence," Shahid Buttar, a Washington, D.C., lawyer and political activist, emphasized, at a Jan. 12 news conference at the National Press Club, where various left-wing groups announced plans for "non-violent" protests.
Rule #1: Never trust a lawyer named Shahid.
Nancy Shia, organizer of Critical Mass and a self-described freelance photographer/activist, outlined plans for a Critical Mass bike ride on Inauguration Day. Her group's protest is intended to be "creative, not confrontational," she told reporters. "We intend to cooperate with police." Jim Macdonald, a D.C. Anti-War Network (DAWN) organizer, said the group would be protesting the "war here at home on our civil liberties." The protests would "promote a world of peace and justice," he added. Macdonald's group is planning a march, a rally, and civil disobedience in the form of a 'die-in,' featuring 1,000 black-draped coffins to symbolize the U.S. soldiers who have died in the war in Iraq.
Don't forget the puppets
Can we have about a half million black-draped coffins to symbolize Iraqis that Sammy killed?
Sister Shazza Nzingha, national chairwoman and founder of the National Alliance of Black Panthers, denounced what she called President Bush's "occupation of Iraq, his occupation of Palestine, his occupation of Haiti," and said her group would protest the president's "anti-people policies."
We're occupying Palestine?
I did it last night. Sorry. Thought I'd told you...
Lila Kaye of the Anarchist Resistance, which boasts of "smash[ing] a Secret Service checkpoint," burning an American flag, and "pelt[ing] the motorcade with trash" at the last Bush inauguration in 2001, said her group was also planning a non-violent march. She said people worldwide are suffering from Bush's policies and that Thursday's protest will be an attempt to "stand in solidarity with those people." She added that Bush is responsible for "genocide."
He's the one who wiped out the last of the Gepids, you know...
Sarah Kauffman, field director for Turn Your Back on Bush (TYBOB), discussed the group's plan to protest "without signs, without pins, without placards." TYBOB members will turn their backs on the presidential motorcade to symbolize what they see as Bush turning his back on Iraq, the international community, the economy, the environment and schools. Buttwipe Buttar said there will be "multiple actions all over the city," and "several thousand (people involved) at a minimum, but denied the existence of any kind of "grand organization."
I'd hardly describe it as "grand"...
However, Code Pink, United for Peace and Justice, and the International ANSWER (Act Now to Stop War and End Racism) Coalition were named as major players in the protests. While these groups have been recognized for their large, noticeable protests over the years, they have also been accused of anti-American activity, and their leadership includes unapologetic sympathizers of regimes and political entities that are considered enemies of the United States.
Ramsey Clark is the answer
The International ANSWER Coalition is directed by Ramsey Clark, who rose to fame as U.S. attorney general for President Lyndon Johnson in the 1960s, but since then has publicly defended radical regimes around the world and offered legal assistance to some of the world's most notorious and reviled figures. Clark is currently part of the legal defense team for ousted Iraqi dictator Saddam Hussein. He also defended former Serbian dictator Slobodan Milosovic in the International Criminal Court when Milosovic was charged with ethnic cleansing, and according to a November 2002 World Net Daily article, represented a Rwandan pastor who had been charged with participating in the genocide of Tutsi civilians.
That's a new one to me.
In 1986, Clark reportedly defended the Palestine Liberation Organization in a lawsuit brought by the family of American Leon Klinghoffer, the tourist who was killed by PLO terrorists in the hijacking of the Achille Lauro cruise ship.
According to the Capital Research Center, Clark also founded the International Action Center (IAC), a spin-off of the Workers World Party (WWP), and has served as the official spokesman for the WWP since the early 1990s when he led the group's National Coalition to Stop U.S. Intervention in the Middle East. The Workers World Party, which describes itself as a "revolutionary socialist" political party in the United States, was founded in 1959, the same year Fidel Castro rose to power in Cuba.
Wow! I knew he was a nutjob, but I didn't realize just how far out he was. More at the link.
#3
I think we need to let the cops know that they have free use of the batan on any noggin that gets out of hand. I think the Oakland PD needs to be brought in for crowd control.
#4
Speaking of which... What the hell is Ramsey Clark's real gripe? What made him go off the deep end and hate his country so much? He's been pissing on the US since the end of the Johnson term. What was done to him or his by whom?
#5
That is a good question, 3dc. It is like he hates this country so bad that he will do anything to try to destroy it. Must be an unjust speeding ticket in a national park or something.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/19/2005 13:34 Comments ||
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#6
Has anyone thought of retaliation at that address when some nutjobs are there? Interesting thought, isn't it? Just what anarchists deserve.
Well, we know that as AG Clark signed off on the original COINTELPRO program to harrass and intimidate anti-war protestors. He was also AG at the time of the MLK and Robert Kennedy assassinations in 1968.
Left-conformist conspiracy theorists have implicated practically everyone who was in government at the time of complicity in these murders, with the notable exception of Clark himself. This has always seemed odd to me: As J. Edgar Hoover's boss and a trusted confidante of LBJ, Clark should logically be suspect #1.
Is it possible that fringe-lefties somehow found the "smoking gun" of 1968 and, instead of informing the authorities, used it to blackmail Clark?
Posted by: VI Lenin ||
01/19/2005 16:04 Comments ||
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#9
You know the Left > "America belongs to the whole World" = espec where the "Whole World" is Mackinder's World Island EURASIA, aka RUSSIA-CHINA, vv the Clintons' THIRD WAY!? Are COMMUNISM-CENTRIC, PC, alleged anti-Commie "SOCIALIST" NATION(S) STILL COMMUNIST - inquiring Clintonian AmeRussian USSA Betty Crocker-Crats wanna know!?
...Hussein was not alone in his corruption, and several others involved in the money flow, including government firms and politicians in Europe, are now nervously following the investigations while checking out one-way flights to Paraguay. Top among these is the European-based BNP Paribas bank, which the U.N. chose to administer the program and which reportedly received nearly $1 billion for its efforts. Congressional investigators reviewing the bank's actions have discovered broken rules, missing documents and improper transfers by BNP Paribas, which up until now has been assumed to be a French bank. In fact, BNP Paribas is actually controlled by Power Corporation, an appropriately named Canadian company that has a shocking track record of 'business' relationships with the worst gangsters and tyrannical regimes in the world.
BNP Paribas also has one other distinguishing feature: a direct corporate and familial relationship with the persons running the government of Canada for the last 20 years. BNP Paribas bank is part of a holding company, Pargesa Holding, which is jointly owned and controlled by the Frere and Desmarais families. Paul Desmarais Sr. is the chairman of the group, while Albert Frere is the vice-chairman. Gerald Frere, Albert's son, is one of three general managers who oversee day-to-day operations, and Paul Desmarais Jr. is also an officer. Pargesa, and thus Power Corporation and the Canadian Desmarais family, holds a controlling significant stake in TotalFina Elf, the Belgian-French petroleum multinational corporation formed from the merger of Total and Petrofina.
BNP Paribas and TotalFina may have blood-stained corporate histories, but the intimate and intricate connections of Power Corp. to Canada's governing elite raise the truly disturbing questions. Power Corporation CEO Andre Desmarais is the son-in-law of former Prime Minister Jean Chretien, who went out of his way to oppose U.S. intervention in Iraq, where the family's business interests with the Saddam regime would be jeopardized. Current Canadian PM Paul Martin is a former Power Corporation employee who made his fortune when he bought Canada Steamship Lines from Power Corp. aided by loans from Power Corp. To this day both CSL and Power are reported to have mutual equity interests in each other.
The most senior foreign affairs/international trade adviser to current Canadian PM Paul Martin is Maurice Strong, former CEO of Power Corp. and a longtime U.N. and Kofi Annan adviser. So, who is TotalFina Elf? Just an oil company that cut a deal with Saddam to develop and exploit the Majnoon and Nahr Umar oil fields in southern Iraq. These properties are estimated to contain as much as 25 percent of the country's oil reserves. Power Corp = TotalFina Elf and oil contracts with Saddam
Power Corp = BNP Paribas Bank and UN oil for food scam
Power Corp = Paul Desmarais who is connected by family to Jean Chretien and by business to Paul Martin(2 Prime Ministers)
Oh Canada, poor Canada, beware an oligarchy's powers.
The left kept trying to tell us, but we just wouldn't listen. It was All About The Oil(TM)
joking aside - this isn't as surprising as it is stunning in its arrogance. I look forward to seeing the future financial connections between Chirac and Putin that go beyond just business at TFA.
#7
It always was. Every oilman on the planet was opposed to the war, including the chiefs of XOM, ChevronTexaco and other US majors, who in testimony before Congress urged us to lift sanctions and let them do business with Saddam.
#8
Total-ELF-FINA isn't that where all that dirty money in French politics came from? So dirty politicians in France are tied to dirty politicians in Canada? Who wudda thunk it.
#3
Dr. Rice is a class act. She showed restraint in that she didn't not strangle Boxer. Boxer was grandstanding for the homeies. Same old tired Democratic cultural warfare.
Jan. 19, 2005 — For a possible Inauguration Day story on ABC News, we are trying to find out if there any military funerals for Iraq war casualties scheduled for Thursday, Jan. 20.
If you know of a funeral and whether the family might be willing to talk to ABC News, please fill out the form below:
I have a copy if this disappears
Posted by: Mrs. Davis ||
01/19/2005 5:59:38 PM ||
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#1
I can't decide. Are they vultures, hyenas or worse?
#3
Families who believe - and will say - that they are proud of their dead son/daughter who died doing what they believe in and to protect America need not apply.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/19/2005 18:19 Comments ||
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Message: This is a pretty classy move. Using a family's pain to take a shot at the President on the day of his inauguration.
Posted by: Tibor ||
01/19/2005 18:21 Comments ||
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#7
My Response:
How about you honor the fallen Mainstream Medias 'honor'. This is nothing shorting of disgusting. YOU MAKE ME SICK!!
Using a family's grief to attack the president on his inargulation day is pretty sick. And, no, I dont beleve for a second that you are doing this to 'honor the fallen'. Why on this day? To embarass the president of course.
Why dont you honor the fallen by showing all the progress which has been made in Iraq?
You, PETER JENNINGS AND COMPANY are a bunch of vultures. Thank god we (people) dont have to go to you liars to get our news anymore.
#9
What a bunch of scumbags. Actually, "scumbags" is too mild a word for them, but I can't think of what would be worse.
Hey, MSM, how about honoring our war dead BY SUPPORTING THE WAR????
Posted by: Dave D. ||
01/19/2005 20:43 Comments ||
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#10
ABC and other outlets could easily have arranged for American soldiers to be killed far enough in advance that their funerals would fall on inauguration day. I wouldn't put it past the swine. I have proposed a new acronym at LGF--
MATE (Media Are the Enemy).
This would naturally lead to check-MATE.
A new security threat has emerged as Washington gears up for an extravaganza to swear in president George Bush for a second term - limousines containing bombs. US intelligence sources admit the fears were partially prompted by a 39-page document seized from al Qaida. The paper details a mechanism for using limousines to deliver bombs equipped with cylinders of a flammable gas, according to Time magazine. Bombs can be concealed in limos because the vehicles "blend in" and "do not require special driving skills", it says.
The paper, titled Rough Presentation for Gas Limo Protection, is thought to have been written by Issa al-Hindi, an al Qaida operative captured in Britain last year. It details how limos can access underground parking structures and "have tinted windows that can hide an improvised explosive device." Although the fast approaching inauguration is not specifically mentioned, it is understood to suggest the deployment of three limos, each carrying 12 or more compressed-gas cylinders to create a "full fuel-air explosion". The cylinders should be painted yellow to falsely "signify toxic gases to spread terror and chaos when emergency and haz-mat teams arrive" it reads. Parts of the document began circulating among US intelligence authorities earlier this month.
And have been trumpeted incessantly on local news for the past two weeks...
And with hundreds of limos expected to block the capital's streets this week,
Don't remind me...
barriers have reportedly been set up to block any potentially-destructive vehicle. Completely irrelevant Bush-bashing snipped with extreme prejudice.
Posted by: Dan Darling ||
01/19/2005 11:56:48 PM ||
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If we hoped to gain any possible goodwill from Indonesia with our massive show of support and generosity in their desperate time of need, then we are in for a very rude awakening. One man, Mr. Fred Burks is on a crusade to destroy any possible goodwill towards the United States and in the process is doing all he can to stoke the fires of Islamic fundamentalism.
Mr. Burks actions will cause long lasting damage to our relationship with Indonesia and will most likely also help to contribute to all the charges being dropped against Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. You read it first here.
Shortly after Fred Burks' court appearance where he gave testimony as a witness for the defense in the trial of Abu Bakar Ba'asyir he invited several reporters and academics by SMS to a hastily called meeting at the Indonesian Society for Middle East Studies (ISMES), Jakarta entitled "Bush's Lies" where he was the sole speaker.
Fred Burks took the opportunity at this meeting to plug his website "wanttoknow.info" where he claimed he has many secrets pertaining to the Bush regime's lies concerning 11 September 2001 and the "War on Terrorism". Burks claims that all of the information and details on his website are accurate and not to be confused with conspiracy. He claims that all the secret details and fact are directly obtained over the years through his work translating and interpretting for the State Department and through his close connections and interactions with political elites, the United States government, intelligence agents and the military of the United States.
Burks also claimed that Jemaah Islamiya, Al Qaeda and Osama Bin Laden have been cloaked in mystery and that they are most likely the creations of the CIA. When asked about Abu Bakar Ba'asyir, Burks stated that "a terrorist would not allow himself to be seen in public" and would go into hiding and yet Abu Bakar Ba'asyir remained in public.
Burks goes on and accusing the United States and George W. Bush to be the world's big terrorists and cites figures for number of dead from Afghanistan to Iraq.
Both prior to this meeting outside the courthouse and after this meeting, Mr. Burks confided to a few members in attendance the name of the female CIA agent who he claims demanded that Megawati "render" Abu Bakar Ba'asyir. Mr. Burks then claimed that he was confident and had faith in God that nothing would happen to him.
Later after the meeting, Mr. Burks continued his crusade by making the rounds on Jakarta's television stations and gave exclusive interviews to both MetroTV and SCTV.
During Mr. Fred Burks' televised interview with Rosianna Silalah of SCTV Jakarta, Mr. Burks admitted that he lied to and deceived Ms. Karen B. Brooks the Director for Asian Affairs of the National Security Council when he said he would not mention details of the meeting. He said he hopes he has a chance in the future to apologize to her and explain his reasons for doing what he did.
Ms. Rosianna Silalah ended the interview by saying to Mr. Burks -
"Hati-hati, banyak orang yang mengkhawatirkan keselamatan Anda."
Be very careful, many people are worried about your safety.
The United Nations said yesterday it was gravely concerned about a flare-up of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, and called for restraint as the Lebanese Army said an Israeli plane violated its airspace. "The personal representative of the secretary-general for Lebanon Staffan de Mistura expressed his grave concern at the second serious incident involving violations of the Blue Line within the last eight days," a statement said. "(The United Nations) calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to achieve their stated intentions of maintaining calm."
On Monday, Lebanon's Hezbollah resistance fighters detonated a bomb next to an Israeli bulldozer in the disputed Shebaa Farms border area, south of the UN-delineated Blue Line frontier. It was the second such attack in just over a week. According to the United Nations, the Israeli response lasted some three hours, including artillery fire and aerial bombs across the region that wounded two Lebanese civilian women. The last bout of violence on Jan. 9 — a Hezbollah attack on a vehicle in Shebaa Farms and subsequent Israeli strikes — killed an Israeli officer, a French UN observer and a Hezbollah fighter. The two incidents follow some six months of relative calm in southern Lebanon, which Israeli forces occupied for 22 years until 2000.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
We not just still money and do nothing --- we're world foremost terrorism enablers,
#4
I'm impressed that the UN noticed. It is generally agreed that you can only represent 0, 1, 2, and 3 in what experts refer to as "binary code" with the typical UN employee's complement of 2 neurons - so this is a surprisingly complex thought. The UN SecGen Kofi Anonymous, notable for his claim to have a "high performance" 3 neuron brain, has called for immediate pay raises for all involved, thanking them for their dedication and hard work, and declaring "The World would be in some serious shit without the UN to save them and me to lead the effort. Now pony up the cash, you rich slackers." Some have recently noted that this is strikingly similar to all previously known statements made by Mr Anonymous whenever reporters are summoned to dwell momentarily in the radiant light of his presence.
The PA inflated its population figures by one and a half million residents, and the number really stands at 2.4 million people, according to a study presented to the Foreign Affairs Committee in the Knesset Wednesday morning. According to the document cited by Army Radio, there was a dramatic fall in the average number of children to Palestinian mothers and its relation to the numbers of the Jewish population between the Jordan and the Mediterranean for the past 40 years.
You mean the Palestinian Authority lied?
Posted by: gromgorru ||
01/19/2005 7:11:15 AM ||
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#1
Demographics studies show the Palestinian Population surging in this area. Who's right?
The Almanac has over 4 million in the territories.
I'd like it to be 2.5 million. Much less the Israeli's will have to deal with.
Iraqi expatriates in 14 countries, including Germany, on Monday began registering to vote in their homeland's 30 January elections with the process going on "smoothly", an official in Jordan said. Registration offices were set up in the capital Berlin as well as in Munich, Cologne and Mannheim, with the Iraqis having until 23 January to register, said the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) in Berlin. As well as Germany, about one million Iraqi expatriates may be eligible to vote in Jordan, Austria, Canada, Denmark, France, Iran, the Netherlands, Sweden, Syria, Turkey, Britain, the United States and the United Arab Emirates, a spokeman said. "We are coordinating closely with authorities in the 14 countries and we are receiving adequate security and administrative facilities for doing our job," she added. She pointed out that 75 polling centres had been set up in 36 cities throughout the world, including 12 in Jordan.
Iraqis are registering not far from my home too. Thinking about going to check it out...
Posted by: Seafarious ||
01/19/2005 1:07:48 AM ||
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#1
This should have a moderating influence on the vote count. Most of the Iraqi expats escaped Saddam Hussein's fascist regime on the one hand, and have been living in democratic, rule-of-law societies on the other. They aren't likely to vote for either religious or tribal candidates, but rather whomever they believe will be best for the whole country -- especially as they won't be living with the result themselves.
#2
Upon actually reading the article I discover that they expect only about 1 million expat voters to register. Nonetheless, with over 200 slates of candidates to choose from, the Iraqi vote will be badly splintered, and the expat vote may well make the difference.
#3
Id be careful about going to check out the polling stations. Security is going to be very (appropriately) tight - I dont think they want people hanging around to wish good luck - for obvious reasons. Though they'll be lots of local press, I imagine.
#4
Not quite on topic, but...Nashville has a fairly large Kurdish population. They are assembling in a park and being bused to the polling station with police escort. I'm not convinced massing them all together in buses is the smartest thing to do, but at least security has been considered.
Israel will give new Palestinian leader Mahmud Abbas a "limited" amount of time to allow him to crack down on militant groups, a source close to Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon told AFP on Tuesday. "We are according Abu Mazen (Abbas) a limited delay to let him decide whether to fight against terrorism," the source said on condition of anonymity. "If he does not change the rules of the game, then the Palestinians will pay an enormous price."
Abbas gave orders on Monday to his security services to prevent attacks by militant groups such as Hamas and is due to hold talks in Gaza City on Wednesday with leaders of the factions in order to persuade them to agree to a new ceasefire. Army radio reported on Monday that chief of staff Moshe Yaalon had demanded that plans be drawn up for a large-scale land operation in Gaza if attacks continue.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
Sharon needs to be careful about giving ultimatums to Abbas at this point in time. Abbas, for all his warts, is Israel's best hope for peace. Abbas resigned from Arafat's cabinet because he did not want to be associated with all the corruption in Arafat's "house." Just because Arafat is pushing up daisies, it doesn't mean all his thug pals are gone. If Abbas tried to come down hard on Palestinian terrorist groups, many of whom are Arafat's associates, he will be killed in short order. Then who'd come up to the plate for the Palestinians? I think Sharon needs to get the wall completed asap and get the Gaza settlers moved out real fast. Sharon is in a much better position to limit the damage to his people from terrorist groups than Abbas is right now.
#2
Heh, I love listening / reading optimists. Peace? Between Israel and the Paleos? Ever? Really? Well, good on ya - optimism is good stuff, if it can't kill you - and I am assuming you're not in Israel...
I refer you to my comment #5 on this article for the opposite end of the spectrum.
BTW, Abbas is still a Holocaust-denier - within the last 2-3 months - no I don't have a link for you because I was not surprised in the least, so didn't bookmark it. And one other point, since 1947 there has never been any evidence, none whatsoever, to support any level of optimism. So you're the determined sort - cool. Good luck.
IMHO: Build the Fence. That's the only thing that has worked in any way, short of tanks, bullets, and HellFire missiles. ;-)
#3
On 3/19/03, the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), while expressing skepticism about whether a Palestinian prime minister will hold any real authority, said today's appointment of Abu Mazen to the newly created post "offers hope" of greater reform within the Palestinian Authority.
http://www.adl.org/presrele/islme%5F62/4244%5F62.asp
Abbas is as good as it gets. Abbas wrote his dissertation such as it was 20 years ago while he was studying at Moscow. You want to hold him to an obvious propoganda piece written for his patrons, go ahead, .com. But the ADL obviously considered the situation and decided Abbas's dissertion wasn't worth their worry and that he held promise. And btw, Sharon wasn't a knight in shining armor at various stages of his career either. If the Israelis think there's a better guy than Abbas waiting in the wings, then by all means they should force Abbas's hand and get him assassinated by the PLO. But if they don't see a white knight waiting, they should work with Abbas. If the Dims win the WH in 2008, ( the American voter is known to like change)the change may not be in Israel's favor as it is now. I think it behooves Israel to try to make things work with Abbas the next 4 years. Who knows what lies ahead?
Abbas days are numbered and counting. With about 75% of the adults and nearly 100% of indoctrinated children wanting the jews into sea thingy, the chances for peace are close to 1Bill. to 1 for the next couple of generations. It's fooked up.
#5
Sobiesky, I hope you are wrong. I hope Abbas is not murdered.
Israel cannot be viewed as the pariah by the world for much longer. Its only ally is the USA and even that can change with whomever occupies the Oval office. Also, Israel needs water and energy and a steady infusion of immigrant population. If Israel is not a pleasant place to live - a wall keeps people out and traps people in as well - what Jews will want to immigrate to Israel? The current birth rate is too low to sustain it long term. What countries will sell Israel fuel in the future, if it continues to have problems with the Palestinians? Russia? Iran? Saudi Arabia? In the next 20 years, the big players on the world's stage will be China and India - neither have enough oil for themselves- they will be vying for oil from Iran and Saudi Arbia - who do you think will get first dibs on those countries' resources?
It's imperative for Israel to make peace with the Palestinians to win acceptance by other countries so Israel can trade its goods and buy others' resources. America's largesse may be decreased in the future. We've run up a huge deficit the past 3 years and it's getting worse as we speak. Israel cannot become independent if it's shunned by the nations around it, not only the ME countries but the EU countries as well. And Europe is becoming more Islamitized with each generation. Unfortunately Arafat has successfully made the Palestinian issue an albatross for Israel in the world's eyes. No country can survive in today's globalized world living behind a fence and moat.
#7
Why would the world opinion about Israel change? The nation is Jewish, and antisemitism hasn't been this bad or this open since the 1930s. World dislike of Israel is not based on anything Israel does or does not do -- but rather on its simple existence. This will not change until the Arab countries democratize and/or decisively lose the Terror War, and their people turn their energies to domestic issues. Remember, the Arab world has fought and propagandized against the Jews and the Jewish state since, again, the 1930s -- back when it was the Jews who were called "Palestinian." The local Arabs did not develop a national identity until just about the time of the Six Day War, and attained international prominence as a result of the Sixty-Eighters romanticizing fellow terrorists. Truth to tell, peace with the Palestinians will follow on ending world support for their use of the terror weapon, not the other way around.
The population issue was addressed in an article posted yesterday, and it turns out to be considerably more hyped than real (the birthrate of the non-Western Jews parallels that of the Arabs among whom they'd lived for 2500 years, thus they make up an increasing percentage of the Jewish Israeli population, and a decreasingly Euro-style culture); and with the increasing length of the Separation Fence terror incidents have dropped dramatically, which is why the Palestinians have gone back to lobbing rockets in the general direction of Israeli communities. The U.S. Federal deficit is actually dropping*. Israel is building closer commercial and military ties with India, as well as (quietly) with some of the less rabid Muslim countries like Morocco. Turkey goes back and forth -- I believe the secular Turkish military wants stronger ties, but the religious government is uncomfortable. Israeli technical products are desired worldwide, with companies like Intel and IBM opening research and manufacturing facilities there, and Israeli anti-terrorism expertise is in high demand with governments and corporations around the world.
Abbas, on the other hand, speaks of peace only because he believes the PLO goal of eradicating Israel can be accomplished using the failed weapon of demographics. However, nobody can control the terrorists amongst the Paleo population (and they have support of at least 50% of the people there) so long as the call to jihad is made daily on television, in the classrooms, in the street names and wall posters recalling successful suiciders, and in the summer training camps run by all factions including the PLO, of which Abbas is the titular head. Holocaust denier or no, Abbas has the aim of eradicating Israel firmly before his eyes: only his preferred method differs from that of Arafat.
*from a Wall Street Journal article last November: Fiscal 2004 ended with a federal deficit of $413 billion, well under the Office of Management and Budget's February projection of $521 billion. In October, the 12-month deficit came in under $400 billion, and in the (admittedly brief) three months ending in October the 12-month trend was heading toward $310 billion.
Douglas Holtz-Eakin of the Congressional Budget Office told us that "Economic growth, which we anticipate to be pretty robust, leads to reductions in the deficit from what was this year $413 billion, or 3.5% of GDP. And if you go forward, you're down to about three [percent of GDP] on the baseline next year, and about 2.5 or 2.6 the year after that." In historic terms, that's getting close to normal since the deficit has averaged a bit above 2% of GDP for the entire postwar period. "So I think it is the case that business-as-usual with tight restraint on spending will bring the deficit down over the near term to levels that we've seen," Mr. Holtz-Eakin adds. And all with no tax increase required.
As for the national debt, that's also not a cause for alarm. ...[O]verall federal debt as a share of GDP is estimated to be below 40% in 2005, still well below the recent peak of 49.4% in 1993. That is easily manageable by historic standards, and in fact should begin to decline again if the economy keeps growing and annual deficits begin to shrink.
#8
A more recent article on the budget deficit came out recently in the National Review Online. Tax collections increased 4.4% more than federal spending, and the deficit continues to drop.
#10
Abbas, for all his warts, is Israel's best hope for peace.
If there's any truth to this, then the Israelis aren't in any better position than they were when Arafart was still alive.
..a wall keeps people out and traps people in as well..
Please. The only people that applies to are the Paleos, and quite frankly, there's nothing left in the fuel tank with which to make the sympathy meter budge.
#11
1. all israel has promised is to refrain from attacks while giving Abbas a chance, NOT to stop building the wall. There is NO, I repeat NO, contradiction between giving Abbas a chance and building the wall. Au contraire, building the wall HELPS give Abbas a chance. By reducing terr acts, it reduces the need for Israel to launch attacks, which WOULD undermine Abbas. Of course Abbas cant SAY that. Everyone is too much taken up by the loony left and the Euro press which are antiwall. You really need to follow the Israeli left, where a desire to reach out to Abbas is joined by support for the wall - at most they would modify some aspects of the route.
2. Ive seen NOTHING indicating Abbas has denied the Holocaust since a PHd thesis he wrote over 25 years ago. Im dubious.
3. Abbas is a better possibility than Arafat, but could well be a failure, for a great many reasons. TRUST BUT VERIFY, as a great man once said.
4. There are some Pals who are willing to live in peace with Israel, according to polls. Numbers are debatable. Enough who support terrorism to justify the charecterization of Pal society as loony. Enough who want to change to justify some hope.
5. The discussion of overwhelming Israel by numbers is what the Pals do IF Israel doesnt make a deal and/or disengage. They accept annexation, and VOTE their way to power. Their numbers are such that if the territories were annexed TODAY they would totally disrupt the Israeli political system - and their numbers are growing, if not as fast as previously thought.
6. Poll the other day said most Pals in the territories willing to give up 'right of return" - a good sign.
#12
LH - good news, but polls can, as we know, be manipulated. Right of return = eternal war
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2005 12:00 Comments ||
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#13
Poll the other day said most Pals in the territories willing to give up 'right of return"..
Not a quibble with the poster, but I always cringe when I hear this "right of return" bullshit. These guys can't give up a "right" that they never had.
Israel should maintain contact with new Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in spite of renewed violence, the European Union said on Tuesday in advance of a visit by EU officials to the region. Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon has cut ties with recently elected Abbas, the moderate successor to the late Yasser Arafat, because of his failure to reign in Palestinian militants carrying out attacks on Israel. "I ask Israel to give him (Abbas) a chance," Luxembourg Foreign Minister Jean Asselborn, whose country holds the rotating presidency of the EU, told reporters after a meeting of the European Parliament's foreign affairs committee. "Mr Sharon and Mahmoud Abbas should meet urgently to discuss the roadmap," he added of an international peace plan sponsored by the United States, United Nations, the EU and Russia.
The European Union sees progress towards peace in the Middle East as one of its top foreign policy priorities of 2005 and is anxious to see the United States re-engage in the second term of President George W Bush. Asselborn will visit the region from Jan. 19-20 where he will meet Sharon, Israeli Foreign Minister Silvan Shalom and Labour Party leader Shimon Peres in Jerusalem on Tuesday. He visits Gaza on Wednesday where he will meet Abbas. He will also meet his Palestinian counterpart Nabil Shaath.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Cookies and milk, Fred. Now that's a scream.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/19/2005 0:49 Comments ||
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#2
Give peace a chance --- all it'll cost you is some (totally expendable, far as we're concerned) Jewish lives.
Iraq is to close its borders, extend night curfews and restrict movement inside the country to protect voters, election officials said on Tuesday. Iraq's borders will be closed from 29 to 31 January except for Muslim pilgrims returning from the Haj in Saudi Arabia, according to a statement by Farid Ayar of Iraq's Independent Electoral Commission. Iraqis will be barred from travelling between provinces and a night-time curfew will be imposed, he said. Aljazeera also learned that clashes erupted on Tuesday between Iraqi soldiers and fighters on the main highway near al-Dura area, south of Baghdad. An Iraqi police source said there were casualties but gave no other details.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#4
I'm sure they can tighten up the borders (shoot, we could tighten up our borders), which implies increased difficulties for all kinds of smuggling currently going on. Good.
Iraqi Interior Minister Falah Naqib yesterday warned the country risked sliding into civil war if the Sunnis boycotted the Jan. 30 general elections. "Failing to take part in the elections is tantamount to treason and will lead to a civil war and the division of the country," the minister told reporters. "All Iraqis should take part in the elections as best they can. It is not crucial who they vote for, the important thing is that everyone participates," he said.
Naqib himself is a member of the Sunni Arab minority, which has threatened to boycott the polls. Some argue that elections are impossible amid relentless nationwide violence, others intend to boycott the vote in protest at the presence of foreign troops, while extremists oppose the very idea of a democratic system for Iraq and seek to create chaos. Several leading Sunni Arab parties have repeatedly called for the elections to be delayed until some degree of stability is restored in the country, but the Iraqi government, the United States and the electoral commission have ruled out a postponement. Voter turnout is expected to be very low in the country's Sunni heartland, amid widespread fear among the population that going to a polling station would turn them into targets for the insurgency.
"If Iraqi Arabs, who today make up the best part of the country's backbone, are divided, the country itself will be torn and will turn into little fiefdoms and regress by 5,000 years," Naqib warned. He admitted that insurgent attacks would probably peak on election day and feared a surge of attacks in the capital. "I am expecting an escalation of terrorist acts in the coming days, notably in Baghdad," Naqib told reporters.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 7:31:40 PM ||
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#1
Gotta love it. Arab Think:
"boycott the vote in protest at the presence of foreign troops"
Whose presence made the opportunity to vote possible.
Wonder why there are no natural Arab democracies? Lol, wonder no more - think Arab and all will become clear. And here's another version of Arab Think:
#2
"the country itself will be torn and will turn into little fiefdoms and regress by 5,000 years,â
Mr. Naqib, that is the way things are right now. Democracy will take hold in your country as once that candle is lit it is very hard to put it out. No matter who shows up to vote this time, No matter who wins, at the very least, watching Democracy being placed upon Autocarcy ought to be highly entertaining to watch.
#3
Looking at the cartoon,I wonder what the reaction of the Arab world will be if pictures are flashed across the world of Iraqi voters at polling stations,including Sunnis,blown to bits by the "heros of the resistance."I'm quite sure that the anti-Iraqi forces are vicious enough to do it but what will their Arab brethren say about killing people who just want to vote?
#4
If the Sunnis boycott the election and start a civil war, they will lose big time. They have Kurds to the North, Shia to the south, and outnumbered 3-1. Does the name 'Custer' ring a bell with these people. The Shia and Kurds will wipe them out and not think twice about it. The end result is that the Sunnis will end being a hated minority with no political power.
#7
Memo to Sunnis: "you decide, and reap the consequences, assholes"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/19/2005 11:09 Comments ||
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#8
How childish, we are gonna hold our breathes if we don't get our way....waaa.
This is all sound and bluster.
Posted by: Captain America ||
01/19/2005 13:40 Comments ||
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#9
As with most Arab issues, reality will play a very small role, if any at all. Without someone to stop them (a ruthless dictatorial power), the Sunnis and the Shi'a will, with some regularity (enough to be termed a civil war? who knows / cares) find ways and Arab-think reasons to whack each other. "Tastes Great!" "Less Filling!" Bam! Pow!
Some will, due to the timeline proximity, conclude / attribute all of these normal and customary festivites to the elections - and trumpet them in the MSM as proof of election illegitimacy or whatever.
But the Muslims know. They just need to do some killing now and then. It's the cost of doing business - and just what blood libel society thingys do. The preferred bogeyman, of course, is the Jooo, but if they don't have any Jooos (or Jooo proxies) handy, well... they have this old beef that always demands polishing and, as we all know, practice makes perfect.
JACOBABAD: The recent attacks on Sui gas installations were solely an angry reaction at the gang rape of a women doctor and not related to past grievances of the Baloch people, tribal chief Nawab Akbar Bugti has said. "It was nothing to do with past or future grievances and was a purely matter of Balochi ghairat (honour)," Nawab Bugti told Daily Times in an interview at his residence in Dera Bugti. Nawab Bugti, a former governor of Balochistan and chief of the Jamhoori Watan Party (JWP), said tribesmen angry at the rape had not even known where the doctor was from, which is Karachi. "It does not matter where she is from. The basic thing is that she is a woman and women and children have a very high value in Baloch culture," he said, adding that they are never harmed in warfare. "But here this heinous crime, which is so alien to our society, was committed on our land," he said. Locals had expected the registration of a case against the accused, but it was not allowed. Even the tehsildar of the area refused to consider the case, he added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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#1
"...women and children have a very high value in Baloch..." yes they make good slaves and sex objects to all males of the ROP.
I am not holding my breath over the charging of the gang rapist either. Another feature of the ROP.
MULTAN: Baloch tribesmen on Tuesday rejected the statement by an army officer that he was not involved in the gang-rape a female doctor in Sui and also rejected the government's offer of conducting a DNA test on him. The tribes said he would have to walk on burning coal to prove his innocence as per tribal traditions. "Capt Hammad repeatedly gave statements in the media while the Inter-Services Public Relations chief said he was innocent without inquiring into the gang-rape. Now, the government has also offered to conduct a DNA test on the officer, but we will acquit him only when he walks on burning coal without getting burnt as per tribal traditions," said Muhammad Bakhsh Mondrani, chief of the Mondrani tribe, at a press conference after a Kallar and Mondrani jirga met to review the situation. He said the administration had created the situation by refusing to register the gang-rape case and keeping the female doctor "unconscious by keeping her under anaesthesia". He alleged that the doctor's family was being pressured and harassed by the government to change their statement.
Emily, pass the A-1 sauce, wouldya?
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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Posted by: languages TROLL ||
01/19/2005 2:30 Comments ||
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#7
Oh. I thought the title was a quote from Barbara Boxer.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/19/2005 8:53 Comments ||
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#8
you are altering news.
fred vjeco maricon pince puto mammador de verga de burros
copiare e alterare testi e contro fbi regolamentazioni
and is also against interpol rules
si vu plai
Posted by: languages ||
01/19/2005 2:30 Comments ||
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The lady doctor who was subjected to rape in a hospital at Sui is considering emigrating to the United States, sources told the Daily Times on Tuesday. The spokesman for Pakistan Petroleum Ltd (PPL), at whose hospital the lady doctor worked, Nusrat Nasarullah, said they had no information that the lady doctor or some of her family members were considering emigrating to the United States or any other country.
I'd say she's showing good sense, myself...
I'd be happy to sponsor her for an H-1B visa.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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GILGIT: The government set up a tribunal on Tuesday to investigate bloody sectarian riots 10 days ago here in which 17 people were killed after an assassination bid on a Shia leader, officials said. The chief of the Northern Areas' apex court, Raja Jalaluddin, will head the tribunal tasked to submit its finding to the federal government in a month, a senior administration official told AFP. Meanwhile, local police chief Sakiullah Tareen told AFP six men were taken into custody for their suspected involvement in the January 8 riots in Gilgit. Local military officials said General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, the vice chief of army staff, visited Gilgit and was briefed on security arrangements. The authorities also relaxed a curfew imposed since the riots, down to six hours from 7am to 1pm. The curfew in Skardu was also relaxed for three hours from 9am to 12pm. The Skardu curfew will be relaxed for six hours from 9am to 3pm on Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/19/2005 00:00:00 ||
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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.
Raising their hands to the sky, about 2 million Muslim pilgrims prayed for salvation Wednesday at Mount Arafat, where Saudi Arabia's top cleric said the greatest test for the nation of Islam comes from its sons who are "lured by the devil," a reference to violent Muslim militants. 
Aljazeera staff and members of the Egyptian Journalists Syndicate have staged a peaceful demonstration at the Spanish embassy in Cairo in protest against the continued detention of an Aljazeera war correspondent. Protesters called for 
Insisting that they are "not criminals, they are patriots," an array of Bush-bashing protesters is making last-minute plans for their Inauguration Day demonstrations in Washington. However, the protesters have more in common than an aversion to war. They have a history of sympathizing with America's enemies including North Korea and Cuba, and they look to a former U.S. attorney general for guidance. 
...Hussein was not alone in his corruption, and several others involved in the money flow, including government firms and politicians in Europe, are now nervously following the investigations while checking out one-way flights to Paraguay. Top among these is the European-based BNP Paribas bank, which the U.N. chose to administer the program and which reportedly received nearly $1 billion for its efforts. Congressional investigators reviewing the bank's actions have discovered broken rules, missing documents and improper transfers by BNP Paribas, which up until now has been assumed to be a French bank. In fact, BNP Paribas is actually controlled by Power Corporation, an appropriately named Canadian company that has a shocking track record of 'business' relationships with the worst gangsters and tyrannical regimes in the world.
The United Nations said yesterday it was gravely concerned about a flare-up of violence between Israel and Hezbollah, and called for restraint as the Lebanese Army said an Israeli plane violated its airspace. "The personal representative of the secretary-general for Lebanon Staffan de Mistura expressed his grave concern at the second serious incident involving violations of the Blue Line within the last eight days," a statement said. "(The United Nations) calls on all parties to exercise maximum restraint in order to achieve their stated intentions of maintaining calm." 
Israel will give new Palestinian leader 
Israel should maintain contact with new Palestinian President 
Iraqi Interior Minister 
JACOBABAD: The recent attacks on Sui gas installations were solely an angry reaction at the gang rape of a women doctor and not related to past grievances of the Baloch people, tribal chief Nawab 
MULTAN: Baloch tribesmen on Tuesday rejected the statement by an army officer that he was not involved in the gang-rape a female doctor in Sui and also rejected the government's offer of conducting a DNA test on him. The tribes said he would have to walk on burning coal to prove his innocence as per tribal traditions. "Capt Hammad repeatedly gave statements in the media while the Inter-Services Public Relations chief said he was innocent without inquiring into the gang-rape. Now, the government has also offered to conduct a DNA test on the officer, but we will acquit him only when he walks on burning coal without getting burnt as per tribal traditions," said 
GILGIT: The government set up a tribunal on Tuesday to investigate bloody sectarian riots 10 days ago here in which 17 people were killed after an assassination bid on a Shia leader, officials said. The chief of the Northern Areas' apex court, Raja Jalaluddin, will head the tribunal tasked to submit its finding to the federal government in a month, a senior administration official told AFP. Meanwhile, local police chief Sakiullah Tareen told AFP six men were taken into custody for their suspected involvement in the January 8 riots in Gilgit. Local military officials said General Ahsan Saleem Hayat, the vice chief of army staff, visited Gilgit and was briefed on security arrangements. The authorities also relaxed a curfew imposed since the riots, down to six hours from 7am to 1pm. The curfew in Skardu was also relaxed for three hours from 9am to 12pm. The Skardu curfew will be relaxed for six hours from 9am to 3pm on Wednesday.
