Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2013 12:54 Comments ||
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#2
Piracy is reasonably described as an act of violence from one ship against another in international waters for private gain. (UNCLOS has the official definition)So if this article is true (which for the most part smells of bovine strudation) then they may well have committed an act of piracy themselves and yet put it out there on the internet for all to see. Darwin - where are you? Got some fodder for you.
#3
Jesus H. Tapdancing Christ. That faint whirring sound you hear in the background comes from the mortal remains of Chester Nimitz, Bull Halsey, Clifton Sprague, John Bulkeley and a whole hell of a lot of other, you know, actual fighting admirals hitting 20,000 RPM...
Posted by: Ricky bin Ricardo (Abu Babaloo) ||
03/11/2013 1:55 Comments ||
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#4
actual fighting admirals
Yeah, what he said. There isn't enough eye-rolling on the planet for this buffoonery.
Still, if global warming makes the sea levels rise, that means there is more ocean. More ocean has got to be good for the Navy, right?
#5
I have taken the liberty of highlighting some of the key bullshi* words, phrases, and indicators:
Navy Admiral Samuel J. Locklear III, in an interview at a Cambridge hotel Friday after he met with scholars at Harvard and Tufts universities, said significant upheaval related to the warming planet is probably the most likely thing that is going to happen . . . that will cripple the security environment, probably more likely than the other scenarios we all often talk about.
#6
an unexpected answer when asked what is the biggest long-term security threat in the Pacific region: climate change.
Historically, the only dependable entity to respond to natural disasters has always been the US military specifically the US Navy. To consider potential climate change as a long-term challenge may be prudent. But to consider it to be a security threat is a bridge too far.
#7
Did he ask those "scholars" why it hasn't got warmer despite the "model" saying it should be getting warmer even faster? (Which proves the CO2 model wrong).
#9
The following comment posted to the article from logan51498 pretty much hits the mark:
Obamalony > logan51498 14 hours ago −
He's hardly a moron. He's merely trying to survive in an utterly politicized environment. This just confirms that Obama's SA has overrun the top levels of our military command and those who weren't part of the recent purge are showing the chain of command that they can parrot the ideology demanded of them.
#10
Of course, he's already reached retirement eligibility and because of senior level caps on pay, unlikely to increase that retirement pay beyond much, so why would anyone with integrity continue to mouth these things. These are purely careerists who wiggle their way through the system for ego not service. At least they self identify for cleaning out later.
Heaven help us if this guy has to actually steer the fleet in harms way.
John Paul Jones and Bull Halsey just officially spun in their graves...Mitchner, Spruance, and Nimitz spun in their graves when this guy was nominated.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/11/2013 10:44 Comments ||
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#14
The question is not what he oh so solemnly says, but whether he actually spends more Navy funds -- during the dreaded sequester, no less -- to prepare for an expanded ocean. Do any of our naval people have a feel for the gentleman?
#20
Climate change could cause Congress to gut the military budget so they can afford to chase unicorns. From that point of view it is a very high threat the US Navy must face.
#22
Unfortunately it took well into George's second term before he got all of the namby pamby Clintonista Flag officers out of the Army, Navy, and Air Force.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/11/2013 15:25 Comments ||
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#23
Everybody with a room-temperature IQ (or higher) has discovered the way to get more budget is to include combating climate change in their roles and responsibilities. Can you blame the Navy for not wanting to be left out?
I wish I was being sarcastic.
Posted by: Bobby ||
03/11/2013 15:27 Comments ||
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#24
a) His bio shows that the good Admiral has all the proper tickets punched. Obviously quite suited for the role during these times.
b) The Navy's been doing the green-politics-routine for a few years; a friend of mine (name and rank witheld) is/was assigned to the alternative fuels program (duties also witheld.)
c) And yes - the access and bennies continue long after one puts away the uniform.
#26
Cut the admiral some slack; just doing a full Lewinsky on Bambi to avoid the coming RIF due to sequestration (sorry about the no pun intended coming statement)
Q: is he a ring knocker? Sounds like one
Significant because Egypt has threatened war if Ethiopia builds dams that reduce the flow of the Nile. While these dams are initially for Hydro, irrigation will certainly follow.
Ethiopia is gearing up to export large amounts of clean power across East Africa in the coming years, starting with neighbouring countries Djibouti and Sudan. But the ambitious plans have ignited controversy on several fronts.
Ethiopia wants to increase its electricity exports - mainly generated from hydropower - as a reliable source of precious hard currency. It is estimated to possess a potential capacity of 45,000 MW from hydro alone, which could place it at the centre of an emerging electricity network across the region, driven largely by renewable energy.
The Eastern Africa Power Pool aims to connect the power grids of at least nine countries, including Ethiopia, Kenya, Rwanda, Uganda, Burundi, Tanzania, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sudan and Djibouti. It may also be extended to northern and southern Africa.
State-owned Ethiopian Electric Power Corporation (EEPCo) last year announced a revised 25-year power-sector strategy, aiming to boost generating capacity to 37,000 MW annually by 2037. A substantial amount is intended to be surplus power and is slated for export.
Work is already underway to achieve this goal. The 283-km Ethiopia-Djibouti transmission line was officially inaugurated in October 2011. The 230-kV line, enabling Djibouti to import up to 60 MW of electricity, is estimated to be earning Ethiopia at least $1.5 million per month, and has eased Djibouti's reliance on fossil-fuel power plants and generators.
That's less CO2 into the air, but I'll bet the Aethiops and the Djiboutianians don't get any credit for that...
The African Development Bank (AfDB) provided $95 million for the project linking the two countries. Its launch was significant for Ethiopia, as tiny Djibouti has a port that serves as the gateway for around 98 percent of landlocked Ethiopia's export-import trade, creating economic and security interdependence.
[An Nahar] The 17-year-old beaten to death for refusing to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. The teen dragged by her family to be raped to force her into marrying an elderly man. They are among 39,000 girls forced into marriage every day around the world, sold like cattle to enrich their families.
More than one-third of all girls are married in 42 countries, according to the U.N. Population Fund, referring to females under the age of 18. The highest number of cases occurs in some of the poorest countries, the agency figures show, with the West African nation of Niger at the bottom of the list with 75 percent of girls married before they turn 18. In Bangladesh the figure is 66 percent and in Central African Republic and Chad it is 68 percent.
Most child marriages take place in South Asia and rural sub-Saharan Africa, according to the population fund. In terms of absolute numbers, India, because of its large population, has the most child marriages with child brides in 47 percent of all marriages.
Government statistics in South Sudan show half the girls there aged 15 to 19 are married, with some brides as young as 12 years old.
"The country's widespread child marriage exacerbates South Sudan's pronounced gender gaps in school enrollment, contributes to soaring maternal mortality rates, and violates the right of girls to be free from violence," says a Human Rights Watch report published Thursday ahead of International Women's Day on Friday.
The report blames child marriage in part for an appallingly low female school attendance, with girls making up only 39 percent of primary school students and 30 percent at secondary school.
A UNICEF report this month blamed child marriage in part for poor school attendance figures in Congo, where one in four children are not in school.
Child marriage is not common in South Africa, where prosecutors are investigating what charges can be brought in the case of a 13-year-old epileptic girl who was forced to leave school and marry a 57-year-old traditional healer in January.
Human Rights Watch said that in South Sudan there is a "near total lack of protection" for victims who try to resist marriage or to leave abusive marriages. It called for a coordinated government response including more training for police and prosecutors on girls' rights to protection.
Aguet N. of South Sudan, for example, was married to a 75-year-old man when she was 15 years old, according to testimony she gave to Human Rights Watch.
"This man went to my uncles and paid a dowry of 80 cows.
That's not a dowry, that's a bride price. A dowry is financial and real goods given to the bride on the occasion of the marriage that she takes with her into her new life. In some cultures this goes directly to the groom and his family, in others she both owns and controls it, so as not to be completely financially dependent on her husband's income and goodwill. Bride price cultures sell daughters to husbands to benefit the family. Dowry cultures end up with excess daughters at home because their families can't afford to get rid of them, or sent into service or sold off to brothels.
I resisted the marriage. They threatened me," the report said. "They said, 'If you want your siblings to be taken care of, you will marry this man.' I said he is too old for me. They said, 'You will marry this old man whether you like it or not because he has given us something to eat.' They beat me so badly. They also beat my mother because she was against the marriage."
Reducing child marriages is key to achieving U.N. millennium goals to improve child mortality and reduce maternal deaths, according to Malawi's Health Minister Catherine Gotani Hara. She said teen pregnancies accounted for up to 30 percent of maternal deaths in that southern African country.
"By ending early marriages we can avert up to 30 percent of maternal deaths and also reduce the neonatal mortality rate," she said in a statement published by the World Health Organization.
Complications of pregnancy and childbirth are leading causes of death in young women aged 15 to 19 years in developing countries, according to Dr. Flavia Bustreo of the WHO.
Early marriages also will prevent South Sudan from achieving the goal of having women hold 25 percent of government jobs, said Lorna James Elia of the local Voices for Change advocacy group.
She said women activists grouped under a project "Girls, Not Brides," are trying to engage community leaders and traditional chiefs to end early and forced marriages.
Young brides also confront more violence, according to U.N. studies: Girls who marry before they are 18 are more likely to become victims of violence from their partner, with the risk increasing as the age gap between the couple gets larger.
Traditionally, poor families marry off young girls to reduce the family expenses on food, clothing and education. A big incentive can be the dowries older men will pay for a young bride, sometimes hundreds of cows.
Another South Sudan child bride, Ageer M., told Human Rights Watch, "The man I loved did not have cows and my uncles rejected him. My husband paid 120 cows. ... I refused him but they beat me badly and took me by force to him. The man forced me to have sex with him so I had to stay there."
In South Sudan, and some other countries, early marriage is seen as a way to protect girls from sexual violence and ensure that they do not bring dishonor on the family by getting pregnant out of wedlock.
Human Rights Watch called for South Sudan's government to clearly set 18 as the minimum age for marriage. But the country's minister for gender and child affairs, Agnes Kwaje Losuba, said the Child's Act already does that.
"We need to make sure this is implemented," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2013 00:00 ||
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Link ||
[8 views]
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#1
After they get Pregnant, or before?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2013 0:29 Comments ||
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#2
Well, RJ they don't have the deep pockets of Big Brother/Sis to take care of Julia so in most societies questions like that are usually self evident. Of course we in the enlightened West have a fifty percent failure in our marriage selection process, that's other than government being the breadwinner for unwed mothers [for generations].
#4
fifty percent failure in our marriage selection process
Define failure. In the West, it's divorce. In these countries, given the chronic abuse of women, the fact that the couple are married in the eyes of the community is not necessarily an indicator of success.
The number of people who have died in Libya after drinking homemade alcohol rose to 51, most of them in the capital Tripoli, with more than 300 others suffering from alcohol poisoning, the health ministry said on Monday.
The consumption and sale of alcohol is banned in the North African country, even though it is available on the black market.
In a statement on its website, the ministry said 38 people had died in Tripoli and another 13 had died while on their way to Tunisia for treatment.
There have been 378 cases of alcohol poisoning so far, the ministry said, adding the illegal concoction is believed to have contained methanol. The deaths were among that figure.
It gave no further details about the alcohol or its source.
Tripoli medical centers health chief Youssef al-Wafi said on Sunday that preliminary tests revealed the symptoms of poisoning from the consumption of homemade alcohol containing methanol.
Wafi said the health risks included kidney failure, blindness, seizures and possible death, with those thought to have consumed the toxic drink ranging in age from 19 to 50.
[MAGHAREBIA] The International Committee of Red Cross (ICRC) and Red Crescent in Libya is providing food, medicine and other essential aid to over 3,000 people who fled their homes as result of the tribal clashes in Mizdah, Libya Herald reported on Saturday (March 9th).
"Some of the displaced are living in difficult conditions, as they have taken shelter in unfinished buildings," said the ICRC's Asma Khalik Awan, in charge of distributing the aid.
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2013 00:00 ||
Comments ||
Link ||
[2 views]
Top|| File under: Arab Spring
#1
Some of the displaced are living in difficult conditions
Not unlike the rest of the continent, where recorded attempts at civilization reach back some 9 to 10 millennia.
Rustenburg, Zuid Afrika - Human tissue and blood were used to make stronger muti to protect striking mineworkers in August last year, the Farlam Commission of Inquiry heard on Monday.
The sons of a sangoma [witch doctors] told the miners certain rituals would "render them strong, invincible, and invisible", said advocate Vuyani Ngalwana, counsel for the police, while questioning miner Mzoxolo Magidiwana.
Ngalwana put it to Magidiwana that a police witness, "Mr X", would testify that a group known as the "Makarapa" were not afraid of police and took part in various rituals to protect themselves. He said scars were made on members of the Makarapa and muti was put on the incisions.
"Mr X would testify that the muti would prevent bullets from penetrating the skin, the sons of the sangoma told the Makarapa," he said. Ngalwana added that the sons of the sangoma demonstrated this by shooting at a box.
[Ynet] Al-Watan newspaper says ministerial committee considering fatal shootings as alternative due to 'shortages in official swordsmen or their belated arrival to execution yards'
Saudi news outlets said Sunday a ministerial committee is looking into formally dropping public beheadings as a method of execution in the oil-rich kingdom due to shortages in government swordsmen.
The authoritative daily Al-Watan said in its Sunday edition that the ministerial committee is considering fatal shootings as an alternative.
According to Saudi daily Al-Youm, the committee argued that such a step, if adopted, would not violate Islamic law, allowing the emirs of the country's 13 local administrative regions to begin using the new method when needed.
"This solution seems practical, especially in light of shortages in official swordsmen or their belated arrival to execution yards in some incidents; the aim is to avoid interruption of the regularly-taken security arrangements," the committee said in a statement.
Soddy Arabia ...a kingdom taking up the bulk of the Arabian peninsula. Its primary economic activity involves exporting oil and soaking Islamic rubes on the annual hajj pilgrimage. The country supports a large number of princes in whatcha might call princely splendor. When the oil runs out the rest of the world is going to kick sand in their national face... is the only country in the world where a death sentence results in beheading in a public square.
There have been calls in the kingdom for replacing public beheadings with lethal injections carried out in prisons.
The kingdom executes anyone convicted of murder, armed robbery, rape and trafficking in drugs.
It has executed 15 people so far this year, 76 last year and 79 in 2011.
There was no official confirmation immediately available of the newspaper's report.
#2
So they have so many executions, the swordsmen are over worked?
Geez, it really shouldn't take more than one or two...I think we have a couple of caged animals in Atascadero that would love to have that job.
Actually, public hanging is much more impressive. If public executions are supposed to be a deterent, leaving a body hanging in a tree for a few days is better than a big blood stain on the sidewalk.
Posted by: Bill Clinton ||
03/11/2013 10:41 Comments ||
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#3
Raise their pay & potential swordsmen will be hammering on the doors, wanting to be hired. Do I have to tell you guys EVERYTHING?
[An Nahar] China is to effectively abolish its scandal-plagued railways ministry as part of a sweep of government reforms aimed at tackling inefficiency and corruption, a top official told parliament on Sunday.
The changes include bolstering a maritime body as China engages in island disputes with its neighbors, and giving an economic development body more say over the one-child policy as the country faces a shrinking labour pool.
"The administrative system in effect still has many areas not suited to the demands of new circumstances and duties," Ma Kai, secretary general of the State Council, China's cabinet, told the National People's Congress parliament at its annual gathering in Beijing, according to a copy of his speech.
Inadequate supervision had led to "work left undone or done messily, abuse of power and corruption," he said, adding that some areas were insufficiently managed while others had "too many cooks in the kitchen".
Analysts, though, expressed doubts about the effectiveness of the moves.
David Goodman, a China politics expert at the University of Sydney, pointed out that reorganization alone could not stamp out corruption.
"They are very serious reforms," he said, "but they are not going to attack that question of making officials more accountable and more responsible."
Posted by: Fred ||
03/11/2013 00:00 ||
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[4 views]
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On Friday, the United States Department of Agriculture quietly released new statistics related to the food stamps program, officially known as SNAP (the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program). The numbers reveal, in 2012, the food stamps program was the biggest it's ever been, with an average of 46,609,072 people on the program every month of last year. 47,791,996 people were on the program in the month of December 2012.
The federal government also says that in a given month in 2012, the number of households on food stamps was 22,329,713.
The state with the highest average number of participants per month in 2012 was Texas, with an astonishing 4,038,440 folks drawing from the program. The second highest is California, with 3,964,221, and then Florida, at 3,353,064.
Washington, D.C., with an estimated population of 617,996, had an average of 141,147 participants. Meaning, roughly 23 percent of folks living in D.C. are on food stamps, according to the numbers provided by the federal government. The participation rate in Texas, which has an estimated population of 26,059,203, 15.5 percent.
#5
Rambler, the wormtongue agents of the Official State Party Media will wait till a Trunk is in the White House to do that. Standard Operating Procedure - Hunger, Homelessness, Unemployment only appear then. And of course, they'll never show pictures of what the Food Stamp recipients spent their allocations on particularly if shows non-basic food (rice/wheat/fruit/veges vs Little Debbies).
#8
bigjim this should answer your question. When you run a revolving door between Wall Street, the Fed, and Treasury, you get people who use the US Currency for their own kind.
It will cost the cash-strapped Greek government, which is cutting pay, raising taxes and slashed pensions for workers, pensioners and the poor, some 846,000 euros, about $1.1 million, to build an official mosque in Athens for the citys Muslim population.
The design, however, is slated to have a modern look and not that of Ottoman mosques with minarets, the newspaper Ta Nea reported, adding that all thats needed for the project to begin for the Transportation Ministry to begin the bidding procedures for construction.
The government agreed in September of 2012 to go ahead with the plans after an offer from the Turkish government to pay for it was rejected by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and opposed by the Muslim community which wanted the Greek state to undertake it.
Metropolitan Seraphim of Piraeus said he was vehemently opposed to having Greece build a mosque who said it should be declared unconstitutional and anti-Greek. The idea of a mosque is still touchy in Greece, which suffered under 400 years of Ottoman occupation when churches were prohibited and as the Turkish government has refused to re-open the closed Halki Seminary.
Nevertheless, the head of the Greek Church, Archbishop Ieronymos , supports the building of the facility for what he said were grounds of religious tolerance. The mosque will have a capacity of 350 people but the design will not feature a minaret after architects said it would blend with the neighborhood.
Without an official, state-sanctioned mosque, Muslims in Greece have to find makeshift places, such as basements, garages and other facilities, to pray and gather for worship.
#1
The government agreed in September of 2012 to go ahead with the plans after an offer from the Turkish government to pay for it was rejected by Prime Minister Antonis Samaras and opposed by the Muslim community which wanted the Greek state to undertake it
pay for it yourselves, ya parasitic leeches
Posted by: Frank G ||
03/11/2013 19:52 Comments ||
Top||
Happens to all of us.
From TFA:
Kerry Kennedy argued Friday that the drugged-driving case against her should be dismissed because she accidentally took a sleeping pill and because the only damage done was to her pride and her famous name.
In a 99-page motion filed in North Castle Town Court, Kennedy and her lawyer also recount her work for social justice and include a large file of glowing letters from friends and relatives. Don't forget her big payday coming in the Chevron Oil pollution case, or her vocal support for violent Mexican Marxist rebels. Hey, it could help.
#5
"any harm is limited to the humiliation and embarrassment inflicted on Ms. Kennedy, and the damage to her reputation because of her community standing and family name."
Ahh, the old No punishment could be worse than my personal anguish defense. Heres a little tip - not good idea. Judges usually hear that as the court proceeding is a waste of time and go on to find a fitting reprimand.
Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad is mired in a fresh controversy over both real and fake photos showing him consoling the grieving family members of late Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez.
During Mr Chavez's funeral in Caracas on Friday, Mr Ahmadinejad was photographed sympathising with Elena Frias de Chavez, 78.
While it is not a full embrace, the Iranian president and Mr Chavez's mother have their faces brushed against each other, with their hands clasped in a moment of shared grief. Several news agencies released photos of the unexpected scene.
Muslim men are by tradition forbidden to touch women who are not members of their close family.
Conservative critics, already irked by Mr Ahmadinejad's effusive eulogy for the leftist leader, reminded him that he has not only committed a sin, but also behaved in a way inappropriate for the president of an Islamic state.
They said it was another sign that Mr Ahmadinejad was influenced by the "deviant current", a term used to label his close aides, and increasingly himself, and distance him from the Supreme Leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
[Ynet] Iran's IRNA news agency reported that Foreign Minister Ali Akhbar Salahi said his country will assist in finding former FBI agent Robert Levinson, who went missing in the Islamic Theocratic Republic in 2007.
According to reports, Salahi stressed that Iran has no information regarding the whereabouts of Levinson, who was probably kidnapped in Iran.
Posted by: trailing wife ||
03/11/2013 00:00 ||
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[6 views]
Top|| File under: Govt of Iran
#1
Yup, he's right where we buried him.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
03/11/2013 0:32 Comments ||
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#2
Wehell, as per WND.COM [old] Iran had also allegedly warned the US about Qaeda + aligned teams or cells infiltrating into the US for purposes of terror { + likely safe to say also other types of Militancy].
#3
Perhaps the cover story regarding the investigation of illegal international tobacco smuggling can now be discreetly retired. Sorry it didn't work out Bob.
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.
[An Nahar] The 17-year-old beaten to death for refusing to marry a man old enough to be her grandfather. The teen dragged by her family to be raped to force her into marrying an elderly man. They are among 39,000 girls forced into marriage every day around the world, sold like cattle to enrich their families.
[An Nahar] China is to effectively abolish its scandal-plagued railways ministry as part of a sweep of government reforms aimed at tackling inefficiency and corruption, a top official told parliament on Sunday.
