Breaking so I'm linking to a blog
Danish Police just shot a somali man a man who was trying
to attack Kurt Westergaard in Denmark. This was the cartoonist
who drew the cartoon of mohammed with a bomb in his turban. This is on bbc
tv right now, of course they won't show the actual cartoons they are
talking about.
No word on the religion of the attacker.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010
19:47 ||
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#1
oh, and HT to Insty
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 19:49
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Unfortunately, not dead.
The officers shot the man in the right leg and left hand. He was hospitalized, but was not seriously injured, police said.
Danish police last night shot and wounded a 27-year-old man trying to enter the home of Kurt Westergaard, whose controversial cartoons of Islams prophet sparked riots across the Muslim world five years ago .
Police confirmed an incident at the house in Viby, near the city of Aarhus. Danish media expressed fears that it might have been an attempt on the life of the cartoonist.
Ten police cars attended the scene and the road was blocked. Police said that the intruder was armed with an axe and a knife. Bomb disposal experts were said to be searching the house for an explosive device.
The intruder, said to be of Somali origin, was taken to a hospital in the city under police custody and was being operated on, police said. :
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 20:52
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Berkeley High School is considering a controversial proposal to eliminate science labs and the five science teachers who teach them to free up more resources to help struggling students.
The proposal to put the science-lab cuts on the table was approved recently by Berkeley High's School Governance Council, a body of teachers, parents, and students who oversee a plan to change the structure of the high school to address Berkeley's dismal racial achievement gap, where white students are doing far better than the state average while black and Latino students are doing worse. Yeah, the way to close that gap is to lower white scores. You betcha.
Paul Gibson, an alternate parent What is an alternate parent?
representative on the School Governance Council, said that information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students. For white students or attended by white students? This is blatant racism.
He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous.
Science teachers were understandably horrified by the proposal. I continue to believe the greatest threat to the national security of the US is the NEA and its fellow travelers.
#1
He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous.
With equality comes responsibility. Without responsibility it simply becomes privilege where one receives without accord to merit. Equality of opportunity was what the entire civil rights movement of the middle part of the 20th Century was about. It has been hijacked into the neo-communists/socialist equality of outcome regardless of merit.
#2
"information presented at council meetings suggests that the science labs were largely classes for white students. He said the decision to consider cutting the labs in order to redirect resources to underperforming students was virtually unanimous"
Translation: The Lefties at Berzerkley think black and Latino children are too stupid to learn anything useful or difficult.
The Left is full of bigoted bastards.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/01/2010 19:28
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"remember, you all unique, just like everyone else"
Berkeley High's School Governance Council - be interesting to see the ideological diversity there, huh? Ima thinkrn Catholic school if I lived there
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 19:38
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Not so much Frank. Ain't many and not much better. You'd be thinking of moving. I've lived in Oakland and as soon as my last is safely in college, I might move back. It is beautiful. But there's only a couple of (and I mean two) places west of the tunnels to send your kids for school. And getting in is a crap shoot.
Janet Napolitano former Arizona governor, now overmatched secretary of homeland security will forever be remembered for having said of the attempt to bring down an airliner over Detroit: The system worked. The attackers concerned father had warned U.S. authorities about his sons jihadist tendencies. The would-be bomber paid cash and checked no luggage on a transoceanic flight. He was nonetheless allowed to fly, and would have killed 288 people in the air alone, save for a faulty detonator and quick actions by a few passengers.
Heck of a job, Brownie.
The reason the country is uneasy about the Obama administrations response to this attack is a distinct sense of not just incompetence but incomprehension. From the very beginning, President Obama has relentlessly tried to downplay and deny the nature of the terrorist threat we continue to face. Napolitano renames terrorism man-caused disasters. Obama goes abroad and pledges to cleanse America of its post-9/11 counterterrorist sins. Hence, Guantanamo will close, CIA interrogators will face a special prosecutor, and Khalid Sheikh Mohammed will bask in a civilian trial in New York a trifecta of political correctness and image management.
And just to make sure even the dimmest understand, Obama banishes the term war on terror. Its over that is, if it ever existed.
Obama may have declared the war over. Unfortunately, al-Qaeda has not. Which gives new meaning to the term asymmetric warfare.
And produces linguistic and logical oddities that littered Obamas public pronouncements following the Christmas Day attack. In his first statement, Obama referred to Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab as an isolated extremist. This is the same president who, after the Ford Hood shooting, warned us against jumping to conclusions code for daring to associate Nidal Hasans mass murder with his Islamist ideology. Yet, with Abdulmutallab, Obama jumped immediately to the conclusion, against all existing evidence, that the bomber acted alone.
More jarring still were Obamas references to the terrorist as a suspect who allegedly tried to ignite an explosive device. You can hear the echo of FDR: Yesterday, Dec. 7, 1941 a date which will live in infamy Japanese naval and air force suspects allegedly bombed Pearl Harbor.
Obama reassured the nation that this suspect had been charged. Reassurance? The president should be saying: We have captured an enemy combatant an illegal combatant under the laws of war: no uniform, direct attack on civilians and now to prevent future attacks, he is being interrogated regarding information he may have about al-Qaeda in Yemen.
Instead, Abdulmutallab is dispatched to some Detroit-area jail and immediately lawyered up. At which point surprise! he stops talking.
This absurdity renders hollow Obamas declaration that we will not rest until we find all who were involved. Once weve given Abdulmutallab the right to remain silent, we have gratuitously forfeited our right to find out from him precisely who else was involved, namely those who trained, instructed, armed, and sent him.
This is all quite mad even in Obamas terms. He sends 30,000 troops to fight terror overseas, yet if any terrorists come to attack us here, they are magically transformed from enemy into defendant.
The logic is perverse. If we find Abdulmutallab in an al-Qaeda training camp in Yemen, where he is merely preparing for a terror attack, we snuff him out with a Predator no judge, no jury, no qualms. But if we catch him in the United States in the very act of mass murder, he instantly acquires protection not just from execution by drone but even from interrogation.
The president said that this incident highlights the nature of those who threaten our homeland. But the president is constantly denying the nature of those who threaten our homeland. On Tuesday, he referred five times to Abdulmutallab (and his terrorist ilk) as extremist(s).
A man who shoots abortion doctors is an extremist. An eco-fanatic who torches logging sites is an extremist. Abdulmutallab is not one of these. He is a jihadist. And unlike the guys who shoot abortion doctors, jihadists have cells all over the world; they blow up trains in London, nightclubs in Bali, and airplanes over Detroit (if they can); and they are openly pledged to wage war on America.
Any government can through laxity let someone slip through the cracks. But a government that refuses to admit that we are at war, indeed, refuses even to name the enemy jihadist is a word banished from the Obama lexicon turns laxity into a governing philosophy.
The U.S. gave Nigeria four full-body scanners for its international airports in 2008 to detect explosives and drugs, but none were used on the man suspected trying to blow up a Detroit-bound flight, Nigerian officials say.
Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, tracked by cameras through the security check, only went through a metal detector and had his bag X-rayed when he arrived at Nigeria's busiest airport to start his journey, the officials say.
The Soter RS scanners delivers 3-D images that would have shown something hidden under clothing. But a spokesman for the anti-drug agency, which operates the Nigerian machines, told The Associated Press that the one at Lagos airport is used sporadically and only on potential narcotics smugglers.
After clearing security at Murtala Muhammed International Airport, Abdulmutallab flew to Amsterdam, boarded Northwest Airlines Flight 253, and allegedly lit an explosive device hidden in his underpants as the plane approached Detroit on Christmas Day.
Even word of the scanners' presence in Nigeria's four main airports apparently hasn't reached top officials, including one responsible for airline safety.
Harold Demuren, the head of the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority, told reporters Wednesday that his government would buy 3-D full-body scanners for the airports, and insisted there were currently none there.
But on Thursday, Ofoyeju Mitchell of Nigeria's National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, told the AP that one of the machines sits in a room near the security checkpoint in Lagos' often chaotic international airport.
He said they aren't used on every passenger. Instead, drug agents select frequent flyers, travelers heading to and from drug shipment points, and people who seem deceptive or under stress. Nigeria is a major transit point for Afghan heroin and South American cocaine.
"The frequency of checks is determined by the risk level of our assessment ... (and) reasonable cause for suspicion," Mitchell said.
Such limited use is not what the U.S. State Department intended when it gave Nigeria the scanners.
According to an April 30 U.S. State Department report, the scanners were installed in March, May and June of 2008 "to detect explosives and drugs on passengers."
The U.S. Embassy in Nigeria would not comment on the use of the scanners.
In new information released Thursday, Information Minister Dora Akunyili said Abdulmutallab flew into Lagos from Accra, Ghana on Christmas Eve and "spent less than 30 minutes" in the airport before catching the flight to Amsterdam.
Nigerian officials had said earlier that his round-trip ticket was bought in Accra for $2,831 in cash on Dec. 16. Akunyili's statement did not say how he spent the rest of the week before flying to Lagos.
Abdulmutallab raised no alarms as he boarded the flight to Amsterdam. He also underwent a second set of searches in Amsterdam's Schiphol Airport that turned up nothing.
Schiphol has 15 scanners, but the U.S. has discouraged their routine use on privacy grounds. Dutch authorities say Abdulmutallab raised no suspicions that would require a scan.
#1
The Nigerian airport doesn't _need_ the scanners. It's not like Al Qaeda's going to blow up an airliner going to or from Nigeria.
These are forms of economic warfare, and they already more or less own Nigeria already. Maybe if one of the oppressed minority groups were to make the leap to blowing up airliners... in which case the government there would probably just use profiling with a vengeance on the subject tribes, and leave the citizen tribes alone.
#2
IF we recognize this as a form of economic warfare, AND if we discriminate between those who _are_ practicing economic warfare against us, and those who _aren't_, there might be a point to doing this sort of profiling ourselves.
#3
Maybe Genghis Khan was onto something. It is said that during his reign, a woman could travel alone with a bag of gold from Persia to China and back and not have a moment's trouble.
While we catch criminals, cool their heels a while in a comfy prison and then send them back home, they continue to slaughter our people.
We shouldn't have _given_ the equipment to Nigeria. It should have been a loan, with the understanding that "You screw up, you don't get to keep it."
In fact, I'd have also liked to have seen something like "OK, your security screwed up, you don't get to have a direct connection with the US" put into effect.
Something to think about if we ever get a more representative government.
Russia has no knowledge of an alleged Iranian plan to import purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan, the foreign ministry said Thursday. Moscow is verifying information that a state signatory to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT) submitted a report on a uranium deal between Iran and Kazakhstan to the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), the UN nuclear watchdog, foreign minister spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said.
"We have not seen the document yet, nor has the agency provided any official information on the issue," Nesterenko said. He said U.N. Security Council Resolution 1737 bans the shipment of any nuclear materials to Iran, including purified uranium ore.
"We believe that these requirements must be strictly observed by all states," he said.
Iran has denied reports that it intends to import purified uranium ore from Kazakhstan under a covert deal. The country is under three sets of U.N. Security Council sanctions for refusing to freeze its enrichment program and related activities that could be used to make nuclear weapons. Kazakhstan, among the world's top three producers of uranium, accounting for more than 8,500 tons last year, also denied the reports.
The overseas offices of Zimbabwe's opposition [Movement for Democratic Change (MDC)] face a "huge" corruption problem, with £57,000 missing from the British branch alone, according to a senior official of the cash-strapped party. In February the MDC joined an inclusive government with Robert Mugabe's Zanu PF, and is dependent on the activism and support of up to 4 million Zimbabweans who have left the country in the past 10 years. The MDC's treasurer-general, Roy Bennett, said yesterday that the British branch second only to the South African office of the party in importance had been suspended in the wake of what Mr Bennett describes as a problem the party faced "everywhere".
Mr Bennett, 52, said that although a formal instruction had yet to be given, all other overseas branches would be disbanded. The UK and Ireland provincial executive has been suspended pending an investigation into what the MDC Finance Minister, Tendai Biti, described as "shocking" financial irregularities in a November letter announcing the action. But UK-based MDC officials yesterday played down the claims, insisting that any financial irregularities under its supervision were not the result of corruption. The MDC has about 800 active members in the UK. According to UK-based officials, about 70 per cent of funds raised from members are sent back to Zimbabwe, with the rest used to cover administrative costs. But the MDC in Harare says that the British branch failed to submit adequate financial reports.
The former opposition party is trying to convince highly educated Zimbabweans abroad to return home. According to Zimbabwe's finance ministry, the diaspora sent home £100m in remittances to relatives in 2009 about the same amount as the European Union gave in aid. But repeated calls by the Prime Minister, the MDC's leader, Morgan Tsvangirai, for the return of teachers, nurses, doctors and business people have met with reluctance, amid scepticism over the progress of the inclusive government. Earlier this year, Mr Tsvangirai was booed when he addressed hundreds of Zimbabweans at Southwark Cathedral in London.
The MDC was established 10 years ago. In March 2008, it won a slim majority in the parliamentary election, but Mr Mugabe, who has held power since 1980, disputed the outcome of the presidential poll. Zanu PF launched a campaign of violence, and Mr Tsvangirai pulled out of the June 2008 presidential run-off. Mr Tsvangirai became Prime Minister under an agreement brokered by South Africa that has yet to be fully implemented. Nevertheless, the economy has improved and supermarkets this Christmas were well stocked with goods. Soon after the MDC entered government, Tendai Biti halted inflation by abolishing the Zimbabwe dollar, previously printed at will to fuel Mr Mugabe's patronage system. Now the South African rand and US dollar are used.
The MDC is tight-lipped about its funding, which is believed to come largely from members of the business community who do not wish to be identified while Mr Mugabe is in power. European embassies admit only to providing the MDC with trainers and bursaries for courses in subjects such as international relations.
Gordon Brown has called a summit in London to discuss radicalisation in Yemen, after the alleged failed bomb attack on a US plane over Detroit. No 10 said the 28 January event had support from Washington and the European Union, and Mr Brown aimed to attract Saudi Arabia and Gulf states. The prime minister said the meeting would involve key international partners and be held alongside the conference on the future of Afghanistan, due to be held in London on the same day.
He said: "The international community must not deny Yemen the support it needs to tackle extremism. I have said before that Yemen - as both an incubator and potential safe haven for terrorism - presents a regional and global threat."
Mr Brown added that the UK had a £100m commitment to Yemen, making it one of the country's biggest donors, and was providing intelligence support.
Downing Street said the aims of the conference would include identifying Yemen's counter-terrorism needs and discussing ways of tackling radicalisation through aid and reform.
At least 45 people have been killed after a suspected suicide bomb attack at a volleyball pitch in the troubled north-west of Pakistan, officials say. Officials said the bomber drove a vehicle towards the field as people gathered to watch a match. Emergency workers put the toll as high as 70. The attack happened near Lakki Marwat, close to North and South Waziristan. Dozens of people were reported to be injured in Friday's attack. Several buildings collapsed, trapping people under rubble.
"The villagers were watching the match between the two village teams when the bomber rashly
Rashly?
drove his double-cabin pick-up vehicle into them and blew it up," district police chief Mohammad Ayub Khan told AFP news agency. Mr Khan told reporters the attack may have been in retaliation for attempts by locals to expel militants.
Among those killed are believed to be members of a local peace committee who have been campaigning for an end to the violence. Mushtaq Marwat, a member of the group, told Pakistan's Geo TV that the attack occurred as the committee was meeting in a nearby mosque. Other witnesses recalled seeing a bright flash before hearing an ear-piercing explosion.
The attack came as a general strike was held in Karachi, Pakistan's commercial capital, in protest against a bombing there on Monday and riots that followed. The bombing, which killed at least 43 people, targeted a Shia Muslim march and was claimed by the Taliban.
The White House nominee to lead the Transportation Security Administration gave Congress misleading information about incidents in which he inappropriately accessed a federal database, possibly in violation of privacy laws, documents obtained by The Washington Post show.
The disclosure comes as pressure builds from Democrats on Capitol Hill for quick January confirmation of Erroll Southers, whose nomination has been held up by GOP opponents. In the aftermath of an attempted airline bombing on Christmas Day, calls have intensified for lawmakers to install permanent leadership at the TSA, a critical agency in enforcing airline security.
Southers, a former FBI agent, has described inconsistencies in his accounts to Congress as "inadvertent" and the result of poor memory of an incident that dates back 20 years. He said in a Nov. 20 letter to key senators obtained by The Post that he had accepted full responsibility long ago for a "grave error in judgment" in accessing confidential criminal records about his then-estranged wife's new boyfriend.
His letter to Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.), chairman of the Senate homeland security committee, and Susan Collins (Maine), the ranking Republican on the panel, attempts to correct statements about the episode that were made in a sworn affidavit on Oct. 22 and have been reported.
Southers did not respond to a request for an interview.
'A serious error'
Southers's admission that he was involved in a questionable use of law enforcement background data has been a source of concern among civil libertarians, who believe the TSA performs a delicate balancing act in tapping into passenger information to find terrorists while also protecting citizens' privacy.
Southers first described the episode in his October affidavit, telling the Senate panel that two decades ago he asked a San Diego Police Department employee to access confidential criminal records about the boyfriend. Southers said he had been censured by superiors at the FBI. He described the incident as isolated and expressed regrets about it.
The committee approved his nomination Nov. 19. One day later, Southers wrote to Lieberman and Collins saying his first account was incorrect. After reviewing documents, he wrote, he recalled that he had twice conducted the database searches himself, downloaded confidential law enforcement records about his wife's boyfriend and passed information on to the police department employee, the letter said.
It is a violation of the federal Privacy Act to access such information without proper cause. The law says that "any person who knowingly and willfully requests or obtains any record concerning an individual from an agency under false pretenses shall be guilty of a misdemeanor and fined not more than $5,000."
In his letter, Southers said he simply forgot the circumstances of the searches, which occurred in 1987 and 1988 after he grew worried about his wife and their son, who had begun living with the boyfriend. The letter said: "During a period of great personal turmoil, I made a serious error in judgment by using my official position with the FBI to resolve a personal problem." He did not specify the data system he accessed.
"I am distressed by the inconsistencies between my recollection and the contemporaneous documents, but I assure you that the mistake was inadvertent, and that I have at all times taken full responsibility for what I know to have been a grave error in judgment," the letter said. "This incident was over twenty years ago, I was distraught and concerned about my young son, and never in my career since has there been any recurrence of this sort of conduct."
Partisan divide
Southers's nomination has been delayed by partisan bickering. Though two Senate committees have endorsed him, and he received recommendations from other law enforcement officials, Sen. Jim DeMint (R-S.C.) recently held up his approval because of concerns that Southers would support the unionization of TSA workers.
White House spokesman Nick Shapiro defended Southers and said the changes in his account should not affect his nomination. "Southers has never tried to hide this incident and has expressed that these were errors he made in judgment that he deeply regretted and an error that he made in an account of events that happened over 20 years ago. Senators Lieberman and Collins were satisfied with Southers's letter and voiced their support for him. Southers's nomination has not been held up over this as he has been entrusted with significant and increasing responsibilities in the area of homeland security over the years since, but he is being held up by Senator DeMint over a political issue," Shapiro said.
A spokesman said Senate Majority Leader Harry M. Reid (D-Nev.) will work quickly to overcome DeMint's procedural block and force a vote when the Senate reconvenes this month.
People involved in the vetting process for Southers debated the significance of the change in his account. But they concluded that he was still a good choice. In a statement, a spokeswoman for Lieberman said the senator "believes that Erroll Southers is an outstanding candidate to lead the TSA. Twenty-two years ago, Mr. Southers committed a serious error in judgment. He admitted that error and was disciplined for it."
"Mr. Southers was forthcoming about his past censure during his nomination process and about errors he made in recalling the details," the statement said. "Senator Lieberman is satisfied that the totality of Mr. Southers' career more than qualifies him for the position to which he was nominated."
Security vs. privacy
Civil liberties specialists said that the misuse of databases has been common among law enforcement authorities for many years, despite an array of local, state and federal prohibitions intended to protect personal information. Studies have found that police at every level examine records of celebrities, women they have met and political rivals. Some federal authorities have been jailed for selling records to criminals.
Americans seem willing to trade information for more security, but only if there are clear limits on how the information is being used. Several ambitious security programs, including one for aviation screening called CAPPS II (Computer Assisted Passenger Pre-screening System), were sharply curtailed when passengers and Congress concluded that the databases were too intrusive and not properly overseen. The same thing could happen now, after the attempted bombing on Christmas Day, if travelers lose faith in the TSA's ability to protect information about them, said Michael German, policy counsel at the American Civil Liberties Union and a former FBI special agent.
"They're saying we have to do it harder and more," German said about the push now for more data surveillance. "The government can only succeed if they have the confidence and support of the American people. Once that confidence is diminished, the government will be in a much tougher position."
In questioning before the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee, Southers has said he understands the need to balance security and privacy. Said Collins: "You have taken responsibility for your actions. You've acknowledged your mistake in the personal conversation that we had in my office. It is important that the public have confidence that government officials will not misuse the authority that they have."
She added: "If you're confirmed, you're going to have the access to databases that have personal information on many, many individuals, such as through the secure flight program, and it's going to be important for the public to have confidence that you would not, in any way, misuse your access to the personal information in those databases. So, let me first ask you: Have you ever in the past misused your access to databases that the government maintains, other than this one incident that led to this censure?"
"No, Senator, I have not," Southers replied.
Collins continued: "Do you commit today that you will respect the privacy and civil liberties concerns that people have with regard to the personal information in those databases?"
A pregnant mother gave birth moments after starting to prepare her Christmas dinner and was back home in time to serve it up.
Paula Thomas, 29, was preparing a feast for her family in England on Christmas Day when she began to go into labor, The Sun reported.
She continued to baste the turkey in the oven until the contractions were just three minutes apart. Her husband Damian, 32, took her to hospital and daughter Lexi was born one hour later.
She was back home in St Austell, Cornwall, a little more than an hour after giving birth eating dinner and toasting the new arrival.
Paula Thomas, who is already the mother of twins Caitlin and Gabby, both 6, and Reece, 3, said: "No one could believe I'd come out so quickly. I really wanted my Christmas dinner I was starving. I had prepared most of the dinner before I went into labor so everything was in the oven."
#1
My mother, who deliberately had four children in four years (plus one week) once told me that by child #3 they pop out like watermelon seeds. The day my sister was born was a very busy one at the hospital maternity ward, and the mothers-in-labour were lined up in the hallway, awaiting birthing rooms. While my mother waited for my father to join her there, a harried young intern came up with a request that she fill out the required paperwork. "Of course," she replied. "Here, you hold my new baby, and I'll fill out the forms."
I assume a nurse stopped by long enough to catch the baby and cut the cord, but Mama prefers to leave the story at that point.
#3
I wish us all health, happiness, prosperity, and peace through greater firepower. Or at least some major wins in the war on terror, whatever it might be called.
#3
Bush would promise them violence. Obama threatens that he can't stop the Israelis forever.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/01/2010 14:12
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For many years during the cold war, I had allied officers with whom I would have social contact often comment about their concerns on America's constancy about policy. The complaint was we never had a constant course, and veered not just every 4 or 8 years, but more like every 2 or 3 depending one events. But that was then, when the question was veering....
Now, i suspect they think we are no longer constant about fundamental things. No are we to be trusted, nor are we wealthy anymore, just presumptious....
A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.
"Not many people showed up because of the blizzard conditions," said organizer Clea Major, an international studies student at the University of Utah.
It didn't take long for the six friends to pack up a bullhorn and posters they'd planned to use for their "scream-in," an outlet for their frustration about the failure of the Copenhagen climate talks earlier this month to curb the pollution blamed for climate change.
Still, they chatted with a few passers-by during the commuter-hour protest near the Gateway, and explained that, blizzard aside, climate change is expected to bring chaos to the global climate, said Major.
She called Wednesday evening's effort a success and possibly the first in a series. As for the snow, it's not entirely new; a protest she attended last year in Washington, D.C., suffered a similar fate.
"There is always the irony element," Major said.
Posted by: Matt ||
01/01/2010
09:46 ||
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Six jobless bums with a bullhorn qualifies as a protest? Seriously, WTF?
#2
" As for the snow, it's not entirely new; a protest she attended last year in Washington, D.C., suffered a similar fate."
Any normal person would get the hint....
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/01/2010 10:33
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an international studies student at the University of Utah.
"you want fries with that?"
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 10:38
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#4
Gore Effect.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/01/2010 12:14
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#5
Six jobless bums with a bullhorn qualifies as a protest? Seriously, WTF?
It depends, Raj. If they are protesting something doubleplusungood like gerbil worming, yes, especially if they trash the joint. If you have six thousand polite, conservative type people protesting bloated government spending, no.
#6
Frank, believe it or not, it is possible for somebody to major in International Relations and be intelligent, competent, and useful. Second Daughter is presently getting some low paying but useful administrative skills under her belt working at a real job, and is developing a plan for international business in West Africa. I have every reason to expect that she will succeed, and be a blessing to the people she works with.
However, it appears that the characters described here have not sullied their hands with real world work. Your prediction may well fit their case.
Who said, "Anybody who is not a socialist at 18 has no heart; and anybody who is still a socialist at 40 has no mind?"
I have no doubt this twit thinks business and capitalism is "icky", and profits are obscene.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 12:33
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#8
"Not to be a republican at 20 is proof of want of heart; to be one at 30 is proof of want of head." - François Guizot, mid-nineteenth century historian and statesman.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino said yesterday he will ask Boston's lawyers to see whether the city can block Yemeni tankers from delivering liquefied natural gas into Boston Harbor, calling such deliveries "wrong.''
"We're in extraordinary times that call for extraordinary measures to ensure the safety of our city,'' the mayor said in an interview. "They cannot be coming into a harbor like Boston, where there is less than 50 feet between the tankers and residential areas.''
#3
You know, this guy should have thought about the dangers of allowing yemenis to bring large field-expedient FAE's into his harbor _BEFORE_ they decided drilling here was wrong and stupid and made that decision stick for the last twenty years.
#4
Deliveries are wrong? Fine. Stop the deliveries and shut off the Natural Gas. There are consequences of the action. Maybe someone will learn in Boston.
Posted by: Alaska Paul ||
01/01/2010 13:34
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Why do they need to import LNG? IIRC isn't there an overland pipeline in W. Mass?
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/01/2010 15:41
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No.
There have been LNG tankers arriving in Boston now for at least a decade. Maybe two. At worst, it'll be brought in in non-Yemeni hulls.
I have obtained a copy of Bloombergs secret Blueprint for Federal Action on Guns which is really a blueprint for how the Obama Administration can screw gun owners without needing anything from Congress.
This was the infamous 40 recommendations that the Washington Post reported on a few months ago. It this document doesnt convince you that MAIG (Mayors Against Illegal Guns) is a significantly more serious threat than any other gun control organization out there, nothing will.
Whoever wrote this knows ATF very well, and understands federal gun laws well enough to know how to effectively make changes using only administrative and regulatory changes, which do not require action from the US Congress.
While some of the 40 recommendations are not objectionable, quite a number of them are. Let me go down the list and pick out some of the worst offenders, and this is by no means a comprehensive list. Look at the document yourself to find others:
Require REAL ID compliant identification for all gun purchasers. Those in non-complying states, which are many, will no longer be permitted to buy firearms.
Recommends a ban on the importation of all non-sporting firearms and ammunition, and specifically calls for banning the FN Five-Seven. Kiss cheap imported rounds of military caliber goodbye. Maybe kiss Glocks goodbye too. MAIG isnt all that specific on what would be sporting or non sporting. Also note that MAIG can no longer claim they do not advocate banning guns. They do.
Calls for keeping records for people who get a NICS default proceed, which means your background check has not cleared but you went through the required three day waiting period. These records can be kept for up to 20 years, in the case of someone whos name matches someone on the terror watch list and six months ordinarily. Default proceeds can happen if NICS has incomplete records, or the system is down for a protracted period of time.
Calls for more enforcement of gun shows using the Richmond model. The techniques used at the Richmond gun shows were bad enough that Congress held hearings about the methods, and demanding ATF put a stop to them.
Recommends ways for the administration to exploit loopholes in Tiahrt to publish information on problematic gun dealers (so they can be sued by New York City, no doubt). As weve pointed out on this blog before, having a lot of traces doesnt necessarily mean a dealer is breaking the law.
Lots of recommendations for new record keeping requirements on the part of FFLs
Requiring placement of alternate serial numbers of every newly manufactured gun, and requiring serial numbers to be deeper and larger. Also require that a consistent serial numbering scheme be adopted across all manufacturers and importers.
Asks ATF to promote MAIGs Responsible Dealer Partnership Program that they foisted on Wal-Mart, much like they do with NSSFs Dont Lie for the Other Guy. They imply NSSFs program does not go far enough.
Asks the CPSC to mandate gun safety lock standards. Gun dealers are required to provide these, but many gun owners are older, or younger, and do not have children. This would be a way to add substantially to the cost of a firearm, if a 30 dollar lock needed to be included with each sale.
Extend the multiple purchase reporting requirement to long guns, especially ARs, 50 caliber firearms, and Kalashnikov variants. MAIG is not very clear on this, and I think it would be difficult for dealers to keep track of the current state of regulation.
Specifically calls for the Stinger Pen Gun to be reclassified as an AOW. I had never heard of this before, but I guess it really pisses off someone in the New York Mayors office, which is a good enough reason, if any, to go buy one.
#1
A lot of stupid proposals that were they to become law would made to be broken and ignored.
Call it what it is: Citizen disarmament laws.
The anti gun people have been trying to split gun owners between those who hunt and those who fear a bloated and overreaching federal government, and the crime which inevitably follows.
Both are citizens and both currently have the Constitutional right to own weapons, but it is the purpose for which guns are owned that the government is trying to bifurcate: trying to extoll in a backwards way hunting, while placing a stigma on those who own weapons for protection.
Up on the ancient mound of Armageddon, we could see Nazareth to the east, Mount Tabor, and the pass down to the Mediterranean. We were surrounded by, in fact atop the scene of many ancient and terrible battles. It wasnt for nothing John of Patmos in his cave settled on Armageddon as the place where the world would end. It had been doing that on a regular basis there for centuries.
The sky was afire, blood red and terrible overhead. It looked great, very apocalyptic. But Garo needed someone to shoot amid the ancient wreckage of 16 cities, and I needed someone to quote. I caught a flash of black in the corner of my eye, a caped figure bounding across the old fallen stones at some distance.
Look, its the Angel of Death, I said. Lets go get him.
By the time we ran him down in among some rocks, he had taken the form of a long-haired, heavily tattooed, Bible-quoting car park attendant from Albuquerque. I asked if he was here waiting for the End Times, for the Great Final Battle between Good and Evil. He gave me a look like I didnt get it, and said, Thats been going on for some time. Its going on all around us. You just cant see it.
Garo and I gave each other a look. It was a time of relative contentment, prosperity, no trouble on the horizon. In the much-fought-over Holy Land, it looked like peace was possible between Israelis, the Palestinians and even the Syrians. Religious violence seemed to have expired in Ireland. Even the millennial terrorist attacks that scared off the expected mass pilgrimage had failed to materialize. It was all a lark. Trouble, violence, slaughter all things of the past. We were having a good time. But our tattooed friend up on the ancient tel at Armageddon was right. The battle was raging.
The case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused in the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner, has reinvigorated a debate about whether British universities are being used as breeding grounds for radical Islam.
For three years, Abdulmutallab made the short journey from his apartment in central London to an 11-story brown brick building at University College London (UCL), where he was enrolled as a mechanical engineering student. Before him, Ahmed Omar Saeed Sheikh, who was convicted in connection with the 2002 murder of Wall Street Journal reporter Daniel Pearl, attended the London School of Economics. British citizens Asif Mohammed Hanif and Omar Khan Sharif were enrolled at King's College London before launching a suicide attack in Tel Aviv in 2003.
While those cases -- and others -- hardly suggest that extremists have infiltrated Britain's campuses, experts say there is evidence that Muslims who adopt radical ideologies frequently do so during their formative years in college.
Abdulmutallab, now 23, was president of UCL's Islamic society. And according to Anthony Glees, a professor of security and intelligence studies at the University of Buckingham, he is the fourth president of a university Islamic society to be linked to terrorism-related offenses in recent years. One of the former presidents, Waheed Zaman, is being retried for his alleged connection with a plot to bomb transatlantic airliners in 2006.
Like many university organizations, Islamic student societies fill an important social role for students, said Usama Hasan, a former Islamic society president at three British universities and now a university lecturer. But he said that they can also foment fundamentalist ideas and can be aided by guest speakers who "are very narrow-minded and extreme."
Hasan said that Islamic societies have scratched off many of the most radical Islamic preachers from their speaking rosters. The voice of Anwar al-Aulaqi, for example, the Yemen-based cleric who has come under scrutiny in the Christmas Day plot, is banned from Britain. Even so, he can still be heard frequently on some British campuses via video link during conferences and other events. "It's worrying," Hasan said. "He is charismatic, and some students listen to him."
Abdulmutallab graduated with an undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering and business finance in June 2008. Less than a year later, he sought a second visa to study in Britain -- a course in "life coaching," according to British media reports -- but was turned down for applying to a nonexistent institution. During his time at UCL, he organized a conference called "War on Terror Week" at the university. One event at the conference was billed as "a lecture on the Islamic position with respect to jihad and other issues."
It remains unclear when Abdulmutallab underwent an ideological transformation. He was far from being described as a firebrand radical, and his former teachers, classmates and acquaintances in London have expressed surprise about the allegations against him.
Some Britons have used Abdulmutallab's case to call for universities to take a closer look at their student bodies.
UCL, the first university in Britain to be founded solely on a secular basis, is known for its liberalism and championing of free speech. But in the past week, some people have urged that the school's Islamic society be closed. Grant, UCL's provost, said such a step is unnecessary.
"To shut it down, that implies the society is a hotbed of radicalization," he said. "It isn't. It's a student society, and as far as I am concerned we have a responsibility to the community not to interfere with freedom of speech."
Grant said he is not sure what, if anything, UCL could have done differently in its handling of Abdulmutallab. "At the moment, we see no evidence to suggest any wider involvement of radicalization," he said. The university will conduct an internal investigation if necessary, he said, "but first you need something to inquire into."
Suspected Islamist terrorists militants killed two soldiers and four civilians in drive-by shootings in the latest violence to rock Thailand's insurgency-hit south, police said Thursday.
Two members of the rangers security force and a Buddhist civilian were killed Thursday in a drive-by shooting in Narathiwat province by terrorists suspected insurgents who also took the troops' assault rifles, police said.
Gunmen on motorbikes shot dead a 42-year-old villager as he drove home in neighbouring Pattani province, also on Thursday, said police.
On Wednesday, motorbike-riding attackers killed a 49-year-old assistant to a village chief in Pattani at a local tea shop, police said. An hour later a district chief aged 45 was shot dead by gunmen in a pick-up truck while he was driving home from a meeting in Pattani. The shooting also injured two villagers.
Two Muslims were killed in two separate drive-by shooting incidents in this southern border province on New Year Eve.
The first shooting incident happened at 7:30 pm on the Yala-Kotabaru Road in Muang district. Maposi Saleh, 35, was shot dead by a pillion rider while he was riding his motorcycle to a night market.
Also in Muang district, Mahamasukri Amayawi, 36, was shot dead by a gunman using an MP16 assault rifle at 8:30 pm while he was riding his motorcycle on the Yala-Kotabaru Road. The gunman rode on the back of a pick-up truck.
The Palestinian Authority has confiscated from Arab shopkeepers in its jurisdiction thousands of shekels' worth of snacks which were produced in neighboring Jewish communities.
According to the PA news agency WAFA, PA militia forces and government representatives collected large quantities of the Israeli foodstuffs. The value of the confiscated goods was evaluated at NIS 20,000, the PA reported. Preparing a feast for their "Viva Palestina" chums?
Via Puppy Blender
...The prosecutors made novel use of federal criminal statutes, including charging the contractors with heavy mandatory minimum sentences for use of firearms (i.e., machineguns) in the commission of a crime of violence. The dismissal is long overdue and, given the thoroughness of Judge Urbinas opinion, seems unlikely to be overturned on appeal (or, for that matter, perhaps even unlikely to be appealed).
#1
I read this and I could not forebear to shout out to the television: "You mutherf*cker..."
From the AP reporter Matt Apuzzo covering the proceedings via News Hour*
This is a big win for the security guards. And -- and they had felt like they were going to be able to prove their innocence at trial, regardless of the evidentiary issues. They felt like this was a legitimate firefight. This was -- they were acting in self-defense.
But, at this point, we will never know. It appears we will never know whether this was a -- self-defense, whether they were ambushed, or whether this was a massacre.
We knew by law they were innocent of all charges, Matt; that the government is s'posed to prove these men committed crimes.
This "reporter" needs an
objective lesson in objectivity.
WASHINGTON--Wednesday's attack on a U.S. compound in Afghanistan devastated what has been a hub of counterterrorism and intelligence operations for the spy agency. Seven Central Intelligence Agency officers and contractors were killed and six more wounded in the suicide bomb attack at Forward Operating Base Chapman, CIA Director Leon Panetta said Thursday, the second-largest single-day loss for the spy agency in its history.
Among the casualties was the agency's base chief, former intelligence officials said. There had been only four publicly acknowledged CIA fatalities in Afghanistan prior to this attack.
Several former intelligence officials described the attack in Afghanistan as "devastating" to the agency. A number of the officers killed had been counterterrorism operatives since before the 9/11 attacks. The loss of seven officers is significant for a relatively small agency whose workforce is estimated to be 10,000 or more, but it's all the more damaging because those lost represented so much collective experience.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2010
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#1
I can't help thinking: maybe now "less-nuanced" (people who learned the truth of Churchill's observation) will take over the job.
#7
Pakistan is not on ally. They're on the other side. True, lex. But as long as they insist they are, we can take advantage of the fact...all those dead on both sides of the border from Predator strikes, and the movement of Taliban leadership to the cities -- where they turn their ire on the local citizenry -- testifies to how well the CIA have taken advantage of the small openings they've been given.
[Iran Press TV Latest] A US drone targeting suspected militants has fired missiles into in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt, killing at least two people and injuring several others.
According to Pakistan officials, the attack took place in North Waziristan tribal region on Thursday.
"A US drone fired two missiles, which hit a compound of a local Tribesman, Karim Khan, and killing two people," AFP quoted a regional security official as saying.
Hundreds of people, many of them civilians, have been killed since 2006 in CIA-operated drone strikes in Pakistan.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
seems like everyone killed are civilians. Rally i could give a damn less if they where civionas or not hell kill all of them
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:15
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#2
they don't seem too mind killing civilians over here or civilians in their own shithole
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:17
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#3
Bitch, bitch, bitch. I'm sure one good ARCLIGHT strike will give them reason to prefer the dronezaps. We're going to have trouble in Afghanistan as long as Pakistan exists. The sooner it's terminated, the sooner we can declare victory in Afghanistan and leave. I have no sympathy for anyone in that part of the world.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2010 13:42
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#4
Definition of a "civilian" in Pakistan:
A terrorist that dropped his rifle.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/01/2010 17:56
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[Quqnoos] At least 11 Taliban militants were killed Wednesday in a clash between insurgents and foreign troops in western Afghanistan, an official said
The gun-battle was erupted after the Taliban militants ambushed the Afghan Army, police and NATO-led forces in the Koshk-e Kohna district in Herat Province, said Ikramuddin Yawar, the regional Police Chief.
A local Taliban commander, Mohammad Baqi, was also among the dead, Mr Yawar added. Three other militants were arrested by the joint forces, he further said.
No civilian causalities were reported in the fire fight. However he did not confirm if there was any causality on troops.
This article starring:
MOHAMAD BAQI
Taliban
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
how about classifying civilainas as "commanders"
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:16
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In 2005, Rep. John P. Murtha announced here that a technology firm was moving into an abandoned plate glass factory. Best of all, he promised, the new firm would generate 140 jobs.
The Pennsylvania Democrat steered $150 million in defense money to Caracal Inc., along with a $3 million grant for factory renovations. "Today's ribbon-cutting ceremony is yet another indication that our investment in this region's economic revitalization is paying off," he said that day. But Caracal never created the jobs the congressman touted. The firm peaked at 10 employees and then folded in early 2008. Once its Murtha-engineered Navy contracts ended, the company could not survive.
Murtha, 78, the chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee, has been dubbed the "King of Pork" because he is the House member with the most requests for earmarks, funding added by lawmakers without going through normal reviews. Murtha has defended the practice as a way to create jobs in this hard-hit former coal-mining region.
"Let me tell you: We look at jobs. How do we attract jobs?" he said. A Washington Post analysis of Murtha's earmarks, however, shows that his job promises often come up short. Of 16 local companies the congressman has helped win federal earmarks, 10 have generated far fewer jobs than forecast, and half of those already have closed operations in his district. Murtha's strategy yielded some successes too. Four firms have expanded dramatically with the aid of earmarks, notably Concurrent Technologies Corp., which after more than a dozen years of earmarks has grown to employ 800 in Johnstown and now wins competitively bid contracts.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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The most important question for Murtha is, how can he get re-elected? Nothing else counts.
#2
...well that and the size of his 'reelection fund' which is convertible when he 'retires'. I suspect its growth well exceeded Wall Street returns for the last few years.
Rasmussen's health-care polling results since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid orchestrated the Christmas Eve vote are full of undeniably bad news for Democrats. In roughly ascending order of bad news (if one is a Democrat)...
Likely voters oppose Obamacare by more than the (18-point) margin by which Ronald Reagan beat Walter Mondale: 58 percent to 39 percent.
There are far more likely voters who "strongly" oppose Obamacare (46 percent) than there are likely voters who support it even "somewhat" (39 percent).
Only 24 percent of likely voters think that the quality of health care would get better under Obamacare, while 54 percent think it would get worse -- a gap of 30 percent.
Only 13 percent of likely voters think that the cost of health would go down under Obamacare, while 63 percent think it would rise -- a gap of 50 percent.
Seniors oppose Obamacare by more than 2 to 1: 63 percent to 31 percent.
And the worst news of all for Democrats...
Independents oppose Obamacare by the head-turning tally of 66 percent to 28 percent.
Lest Democrats try to console themselves with the thought that perhaps Rasmussen has got it wrong, CNN's latest poll, from just a few days before the Christmas Eve vote, showed Americans opposing Obamacare by a similar tally: 56 percent to 42 percent.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
11 months and counting...
Pray and stand strong
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/01/2010 23:45
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The secular Fatah movement led by Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas on Thursday vowed to step up its struggle against the Israeli occupation with demonstrations and diplomacy.
"Our program emphasizes the importance of a two-track approach, with the first being the escalation of the popular struggle to resist occupation," the movement said in a statement.
The group said it would model the struggle on the weekly demonstrations in two West Bank towns, Bilin and Nilin, where residents hurl rocks and protest against the expansion of Israel's controversial separation barrier.
The barriers will therefore need to be extended higher than rocks can be hurled. Such clever people, these Palestinians.
Fatah, which marks the 45th anniversary of the start of its armed struggle on Friday, also vowed to "increase movement on the international level to pursue Israel, to isolate it and to force it to answer to international law."
"We renew our vow to continue the struggle until the end of the occupation and the establishment of an independent Palestinian state, with east Jerusalem as its capital, and a solution to the refugee issue," it said.
Thank you, President Obama.
Fatah went on to say that it "would not spare any effort in restoring Palestinian national unity and returning the Gaza Strip from the hands of those who have taken it hostage," referring to its Hamas rivals.
The two main Palestinian movements have been divided into geographically separated hostile camps since the Islamist Hamas seized power in Gaza in 2007.
The secular Fatah was founded by the late iconic leader Yasser Arafat in the 1950s and formally launched its armed struggle against Israel on Jan. 1, 1965.
Arafat entered into peace negotiations with Israel when he signed the 1993 Oslo autonomy accords, but during the 2000 Palestinian uprising Fatah's armed wing, al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades, carried out scores of deadly attacks.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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The Nigerian suspected of trying to bring down a U.S. airliner with explosives might have used Arabic studies as a pretext for entering Yemen before disappearing for months, perhaps into one of the lawless country's al-Qaida strongholds, fellow students and teachers said.
Interviews with staff and students at the Institute for the Arabic Language this week have revealed that Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab was frequently absent from classes and spent at most one month at the school in Yemen's capital, San'a, starting in late August before vanishing. Authorities say he didn't leave the country until December and that his whereabouts during that period remains a mystery.
Adding to the notion that his studies were a ruse, one teacher at the institute said the young man stood out because he already spoke Arabic with a considerable degree of fluency.
"I noticed he understood the language very quickly and he was eloquent and convincing in his speech," Ahmed Moajjib said.
U.S. investigators have said the 23-year-old Abdulmutallab told them he received training and instructions from al-Qaida operatives in Yemen. He is accused of trying to detonate an explosive device hidden on his body as a Northwest Airlines flight carrying 289 people approached Detroit on a flight from Amsterdam on Christmas Day.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
May I respectfully suggest "he" be renamed the Pantybomber, mostly due to the heat generated by the incendiary. That has to leave a mark! or erase one.
Posted by: Steven ||
01/01/2010 0:33
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#2
Gives a whole new meaning to "thermal underwear".
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/01/2010 10:25
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Iranian authorities earlier ordered their opponents to cease anti-government protests and denied an opposition website report that troops were heading for Tehran ahead of a planned opposition rally.
The authorities have signaled they will tolerate no more protests after eight people were killed in fiery demonstrations on Sunday during the Shiite ritual of Ashura. A nephew of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi was killed the same day.
State television showed a group of pro-government demonstrators wearing white shrouds and carrying placards that read: "We are ready to sacrifice our lives for the leader" -- referring to Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.
The Jaras opposition website said troops and armored vehicles were moving towards Tehran and that security forces had deployed in several city squares to foil the opposition rally.
Officials denied the report that troops, which have not previously been used for crowd control, had been called in.
Independent verification was impossible because foreign media have been barred from covering protests directly.
Iran's Intelligence Ministry accused the opposition leaders of links to "foreign enemies and anti-revolutionary groups" and vowed to confront them with no mercy unless they changed course.
The authorities have often blamed foreign-backed forces for plotting to topple the clerical establishment, which is also locked in a standoff with the West over Iran's nuclear work.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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Heads are set to roll in the U.S. intelligence community as an angry Barack Obama fends off criticism over the attempted bombing of a passenger plane on Christmas Day.
Publicly the White House is standing by the top spymaster in the U.S., intelligence chief Admiral Dennis Blair. The four-star admiral, who is responsible for coordinating intelligence gathering between 16 agencies, has the full confidence of the president, aides are insisting.
But speculation was rife that Blair or Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano could be forced to resign after Mr Obama said on Tuesday there had been a systemic failure by the country's security agencies to prevent the botched Christmas Day attack. Napolitano has been lambasted by Republican critics, and in the media, for initially saying the air security system worked. She quickly back-pedalled, claiming she had meant the system of beefing up measures worked after the incident had occurred.
White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said Napolitano had the president's support, and Obama referred to her in his public comments on Tuesday, supporting her statement that correct actions were taken after the attempted attack.
She's next under the bus. Blair hasn't said anything stupid publicly so he's safe for now.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Napolitano threw herself under the bus. She stood in front of the American public and showed her stupidity. She should be ashamed and resign.
Posted by: 49 Pan ||
01/01/2010 1:04
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Your grade was not given to you for your homework. It is because you failed your first final exam. We gave you an overwhelming grade of F. Professionals up and down the chain were confounded and left dazed from the foolish drivel you presented. "correct actions were taken after the attempted attack." We do not really focus our executive ability on the clean up aisle. We place stock on those who can prevent the blind lady from driving a shopping cart into the shelf of Top Ramen. Visa privileges are important Mrs Suit Pants. Why did that man have a Visa from Your state department.
This lemmings exercise in this political class has just ended. Consider you "my" political class under indictment. I have the photos, you have a teleprompter
#5
so far Hillary and the State Dept has gotten a 'no blame' card for this
I waiting for someone from DHS to point this out.
Posted by: lord garth ||
01/01/2010 8:20
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Heads are set to roll in the U.S. intelligence community...
Compare and contrast to the Fort Hood jihadist who did kill. Was General Casey's hand wringing any less distasteful than Napolitano's? Gun down soldiers in garrison, let's not take heads. Potentially do another plane take down, head to roll [maybe].
She's a DemoncRat - they don't know how to feel shame.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/01/2010 10:24
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#9
Regardless of whether heads roll, or what orders Obama issues, our primary counter-terrorism strategy -- Political Correctness -- will remain firmly in place. We can't go against our Religion.
Posted by: Number 673927 ||
01/01/2010 10:33
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#10
Well, it's Friday and a holiday, making it a damn good time for the 0bama administration to fire someone.
#11
Hillary would only be brought into play by the media. Blaming the biggest bully on the block would not be a good strategy for Napolitano.
The delay in fingering a patsy is probably taking advantae of the holiday lull to see whether the blame Bush strategy will stick. Polling data trends will determine how many and which heads will roll.
I would never assume that Napolitano will be sacrificed. Think of Janet Reno.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/01/2010 13:42
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#12
Blair will be the 'goat.' Musn't upset the illegal amnesty train by drop-kicking O's Poster girl. Plus Blair is retired military. That alons should be enough to earn him the (not-so) coveted Grayhound Golden Wrench Shoulder Patches....
Colorado's minimum wage will drop 3 cents in the new year, marking the first decrease in any state's minimum wage since the federal minimum was adopted in 1938.
Colorado's wage is dropping from $7.28 an hour to the federal minimum of $7.25. That's because Colorado is one of 10 states that tie the minimum wage to inflation. The goal is to protect low-wage workers from having flat wages as the cost of living goes up. But Colorado's provision also allows wage declines. That means the minimum wage is going down because the state's consumer price index fell 0.6 percent last year.
State labor officials say about 48,000 Coloradans earned the minimum wage in 2008. But they won't necessarily take a pay cut. Officials say they expect many employers to keep paying workers at the old rate.
Posted by: Fred ||
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"Officials say they expect many employers to keep paying workers at the old rate."
Sure they will - with money off the Magic Money Tree.™
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/01/2010 10:30
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Not to worry, maybe they (the affected workers) can apply for federal funds to offset the difference.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Iranian police say they have launched an investigation into a "probably fake" video, which seems to show a police vehicle running into a group of protesters in Tehran.
The footage, allegedly shot on Sunday, seems to show one police vehicle speeding right at the protesters before a second vehicle runs over a protester lying on the ground.
The police issued a statement on Thursday saying that the only deadly car accident connected with the unrest on Sunday was an incident in which a private car hit some of the rioters on Azadi Street in western Tehran.
Two people were killed in the car crash.
The police say they have found the car and they are conducting an investigation of the case.
There were no reports of deaths on Vali-e-Asr Square in central Tehran, where the video was allegedly shot, the police statement said.
The video shown on foreign television networks was "probably a fake and part of the schemes being implemented by foreign media outlets and counter-revolutionaries" to harm Iran's image, the statement added.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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[14 views]
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Police punched and kicked international activists during scuffles in the Egyptian capital on Thursday which left one person with broken ribs, protest organizers said. "Members of the Gaza Freedom March are being forcibly detained in hotels around (Cairo) as well as violently forced into pens in Tahrir Square by Egyptian police and additional security forces," a statement from the organizers said.
Scuffles erupted between the police and the protesters which saw "women being kicked, beaten to the ground and dragged into pens, at least one confirmed account of broken ribs and many left bloody," they said.
Witnesses at the protest outside the Cairo Museum told AFP that police punched several activists in the face.
At least 200 international activists had gathered in central Cairo on Thursday as part of a series of week-long demonstrations to protest at Egypt's refusal to let the 1,300 members of the Gaza Freedom March into the Gaza Strip.
"We are barricaded in our hotel. There is a police cordon and six riot police vans outside the hotel entrance and we were told we couldn't leave," one of the organizers, Portuguese Ziyaad Lunat, told AFP.
On Wednesday 86 international activists were allowed to enter Gaza from Egypt after intervention by First Lady Suzanne Mubarak, but organizers say they went as individuals and not in the name of the Gaza Freedom March.
"Some of them have family in Gaza so they went, but the Gaza Freedom March rejected the offer to let only a few in," Lunat said, adding that those left behind in Cairo were still trying to get into the impoverished enclave.
Israel and Egypt have sealed the Gaza Strip off from all but vital humanitarian aid since the Islamist Hamas group took control there in June 2007.
On December 27, 2008, Israel launched a massive military offensive on Gaza which killed 1,400 Palestinians. Thirteen Israelis were also killed during the 22-day conflict.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
[P]olice punched and kicked international activists during scuffles in the Egyptian capital
#3
Those who will not learn history, are doomed to repeat it.
Also
Did you, as a moonbat, think you had special "Rights" away from America?
I see you thought so.
Do you still think you're "Special"?
Learning can be hard at times, the dumber you are, the more it hurts.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
01/01/2010 11:56
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#4
In the supposedly enlightened west, lefties regard it as the media-given right to hurl rocks, bottles, bricks, and feces at any police who dare to interfere with their mob intimidation tactics.
In Egypt, these things are regarded as anti-social violence and are dealt with accordingly.
Ironic isn't it?
Iranian authorities accused opposition leaders on Thursday of links to "foreign enemies" and warned they would be shown no mercy unless they changed course. "Again we are warning the opposition leaders to immediately separate their path from the foreign enemies and the anti-revolution groups," the Intelligence Ministry said. "Otherwise they will be confronted with no mercy."
Iranian police fired teargas to disperse a crowd of anti-government protesters who had gathered in central Tehran, an opposition website reported earlier. "Supporters of opposition leader Mirhossein Mousavi clashed with police in Haft-e-Tir Square and police fired two rounds of teargas to disperse the protesters," the Jaras website said.
Because of a ban on foreign media reporting on illegal demonstrations, the report could not be independently verified.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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[Dawn] US Ambassador to Pakistan, Anne W. Patterson announced that the US Government will support $55 million for infrastructure, rehabilitation and construction program in South Waziristan.
In her remarks, she said that the US is committed to support directly the government of Pakistan.
The $55 million earmarked for South Waziristan will be given directly to the FATA Secretariat to rebuild roads, develop water infrastructure, and improve power systems.
The US ambassador says that this support is part of a strategic agreement between the United States and Pakistan.
She also said her government is committed to its support for Pakistan and praised the people of South Waziristan for their grit and detrmination which have helped the military and civilian agencies force militants to retreat.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
IMO, the same amount invested in bombs dropped on Waziristan would've yielded much better results. Well, at least this will make some Swiss happy.
[Al Arabiya Latest] Hundreds of people including international activists protested on both sides of a Gaza Strip border crossing on Thursday against Israeli closures imposed on the Hamas-ruled territory.
"It's a non-violent, peaceful gathering and the aim is to show the international community the suffering of the people of Gaza," Amjad al-Shawa, a Gaza-based organizer, told AFP.
Eighty-six international activists were allowed to enter the enclave on Wednesday from Egypt via the Rafah crossing, the only terminal not controlled by Israel, which has been mostly closed since Hamas seized power in June 2007.
Another 1,300 activists from around 40 countries remained in Cairo after the Egyptian authorities declined to allow the entire group to enter Gaza because of what they called the "sensitive situation" in the Palestinian territory.
The activists were joined by a few hundred Palestinians as they marched from northern Gaza to the Erez crossing with Israel, the main entry and exit point used by medical patients, journalists, diplomats and aid groups.
Among the protesters were a small group of bearded anti-Zionist religious Jews clad in traditional ultra-Orthodox clothing and holding signs that read: "Judaism yes, Zionism no... State of Israel must go."
On the Israeli side, a group of dozens of foreign, Israeli and Arab activists waved Palestinian flags outside the entry to the terminal, holding signs reading "Stop the siege now" and "Freedom for Gaza."
Many of the activists on the Israeli side had travelled on buses from a neighborhood in mostly Arab, occupied east Jerusalem that has been the site of recent conflict between Palestinians and hardline Jewish settlers.
Shawa said the location was chosen to highlight the effects of the siege and ties between the Gaza Strip and the occupied West Bank. It was also aimed at commemorating the first anniversary of Israel's massive offensive on Gaza.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
"It's a non-violent, peaceful gathering and the aim is to show the international community the suffering of the people of Gaza they brought upon themselves," Amjad al-Shawa, a Gaza-based organizer, told AFP.
Something must have been lost in the translation...
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 10:16
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#3
"It's a non-violent, peaceful gathering and the aim is to show the international community the suffering of the people of Gaza the continue to bring upon themselves," Amjad al-Shawa, a Gaza-based organizer, told AFP.
fxt
(even better, and more accurate)
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/01/2010 10:51
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#4
What a shame. Such a target-rich environment, and not even a firecracker went off. I do hope someone with a videocamera was recording the Jewish and paleostain demonstrators inside Israel.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2010 13:59
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The NYT thinks this is a problem as they regurgitate the attorney's press release.
FORT WORTH, Texas (AP) -- The Fort Hood mass shooting suspect's attorney says his client is treated more harshly than other soldiers suspected of crimes.
The mass assault and multiple murder Major Hasan committed is a bit harsher than the usual single murder/rape/assault other soldiers who are arrested are suspected of committing.
Attorney John Galligan says Maj. Nidal Hasan has excessive restrictions -- including a ban on visitors when his attorneys are in his hospital room. Galligan says he can't work on Hasan's case because he needs to meet with Hasan and one of his relatives at the same time.
This is why legal pads were invented.
Fort Hood officials didn't return calls seeking comment Thursday.
"We don't have time to answer egregiously stupid questions. Call back when you have something intelligent to say. Thank you."
Hasan is at a San Antonio military hospital, recovering from wounds that left him paralyzed. Hasan is charged with 13 counts of premeditated murder and 32 counts of attempted premeditated murder in the Nov. 5 shooting. He was shot by base police, authorities have said.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2010
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#1
The Fort Hood mass shooting suspect's attorney says his client is treated more harshly than other soldiers suspected of crimes.
On the other hand, most soldiers aren't accused of killing 13 fellow soldiers. I have no sympathy for Hasan, his attorney, or Hasan's family. Only for his victims.
Posted by: Rambler in Virginia ||
01/01/2010 0:12
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#2
Too bad, so sad.........and my femto-violin is in the shop too.
String the SoB up from the nearest tree.....slowly.
#7
Galligan says he can't work on Hasan's case because he needs to meet with Hasan and one of his relatives at the same time.
Uh huh...there's no legit reason why he needs to meet with both at the same time.
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 12:54
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#8
they should restrict his air supply, that would save us time and money on a court case and his medical bills
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:19
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#9
I'm sure he needs them both in the room at the same time for the purposes of colluding up a consistent line of bull. I don't see a compelling reason to prevent lawyers from facilitating perjury in this case. It's not like they can lie their way into an innocent verdict. From the standpoint of taking the trial to the people via the media - I don't think that will be a successful strategy in this case.
Posted by: Super Hose ||
01/01/2010 14:00
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Malaysia's high court ruled Thursday that a Catholic paper had the right to use the word "Allah" after a long-running dispute between the government and the weekly in the Muslim-majority nation.
The ruling overturns the government's controversial threat to cancel The Herald's annual publishing permit. "The applicant has the constitutional right to use the word 'Allah'," Judge Lau Bee Lan told a packed courtroom, declaring the government's ban on the paper's use of the word "illegal, null and void".
"Even though Islam is the federal religion, it does not empower the respondents to prohibit the use of the word," he added.
Either Allah means God, irrespective of the particular religion and therefore usable by all, or Allah is the name of the Muslim god, a very different personage than the God of other monotheistic religions.
The weekly used the word "Allah" as a translation for "God" in its Malay-language section but the government argued "Allah" should be used only by Muslims.
Lau said the home ministry, which licenses all newspapers in the country, had taken into account "irrelevant considerations" when making the paper's publishing permit conditional on it not using the word.
She said it had shown no evidence that the use of the word by Christians was "a threat to national security".
The Herald's editor, Father Lawrence Andrew, said he was pleased with the decision and the paper would use the word 'Allah' in its upcoming Sunday edition.
"This also means that... the Christian faith can now continue to freely use the word 'Allah'... without any interference from the authorities," he added.
Government lawyers have not yet decided whether to appeal the ruling.
The Herald is printed in four languages, with a circulation of 14,000 copies a week in a country with about 850,000 Catholics.
The court case was among a string of religious disputes that have erupted in recent years, straining relations between Muslim Malays and minority ethnic Chinese and Indians who fear the country is being "Islamized".
They fear it because it is so.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#2
But don't even think about using the term 'Olympics' in any manner and NOT have the IOC pay a visit to your door for trademark violation.
Folks around here have taken to caling the upcoming feativities ' that sporting event that will happen in BC sometime between 2009 and 2011.'
That also P.O.'s the IOC to no end.
Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina yesterday urged the religious leaders to unmask the real face of the force that uses Islam to confuse people with a view to preserving their political interests. The evil force is distorting the real message of Islam, which is a religion of peace, she added.
She was addressing the National Convention of Imams trained on Human Resource in 2009 at the city's Osmani Memorial Auditorium.
The premier also requested the religious leaders to wage a social movement against corruption except against her own political party, militancy and drug addiction to build a prosperous and peaceful society.
She also urged the Imams to help the government protect women from repression, eliminate early marriage, dowry and poverty alleviation, preserve the country's environment, achieve cent-percent literacy rate and ensure quality health services for all.
Hasina said the defeated force of 1971 liberation war always tries to misguide people with propaganda against Father of the Nation Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujibur Rahman and Awami League.
But those who came to power using the name of Islam had withdrawn those revolutionary laws enacted by the Father of Nation. They also gave license for wine manufacturing, she added. She observed that drug addiction and corruption are social diseases.
The Imams can make people aware of corruption and the dire consequences of drug addiction, Hasina also said.
About militancy, the prime minister urged the Imams to remain alert so that none could create chaos or any kind of violence in the name of Islam.
Killing is considered as one of the most heinous acts in Islam and suicide is also completely prohibited in Islam. Then, how an Islamic person can launch suicide bomb attacks on others and kill people? she posed a question.
Bangladesh is considered a model country with communal and religious harmony. Imams can play a significant role in keeping the harmony and peace unharmed in the future, she said.
The prime minister also laid emphasis on including texts of all religions in the school curricula for balanced education of the children.
Expressing her government's strong commitment to ensure peaceful co-existence of people of all religions in the country, Hasina said Islam teaches that people of different faiths should perform their respective rituals with full freedom.
She said the government would take measures for expediting the Imam-Muazzin Welfare Trust under which the Imams and Muazzins are being given interest-free loans and donations. The prime minister distributed certificates among the best Imams for their outstanding performances in the training programmes and contribution to social cause.
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#1
The evil force is distorting the real message of Islam, which is a religion of peace
#2
Killing is considered as one of the most heinous acts in Islam and suicide is also completely prohibited in Islam. Then, how an Islamic person can launch suicide bomb attacks on others and kill people? she posed a question.
The Koran
44 matches.
The Cow
[2.49] And when We delivered you from Firon's people, who subjected you to severe torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and in this there was a great trial from your Lord.
[2.54] And when Musa said to his people: O my people! you have surely been unjust to yourselves by taking the calf (for a god), therefore turn to your Creator (penitently), so kill your people, that is best for you with your Creator: so He turned to you (mercifully), for surely He is the Oft-returning (to mercy), the Merciful.
[2.61] And when you said: O Musa! we cannot bear with one food, therefore pray Lord on our behalf to bring forth for us out of what the earth grows, of its herbs and its cucumbers and its garlic and its lentils and its onions. He said: Will you exchange that which is better for that which is worse? Enter a city, so you will have what you ask for. And abasement and humiliation were brought down upon them, and they became deserving of Allah's wrath; this was so because they disbelieved in the communications of Allah and killed the prophets unjustly; this was so because they disobeyed and exceeded the limits.
[2.72] And when you killed a man, then you disagreed with respect to that, and Allah was to bring forth that which you were going to hide.
[2.91] And when it is said to them, Believe in what Allah has revealed, they say: We believe in that which was revealed to us; and they deny what is besides that, while it is the truth verifying that which they have. Say: Why then did you kill Allah's Prophets before if you were indeed believers?
[2.191] And kill them wherever you find them, and drive them out from whence they drove you out, and persecution is severer than slaughter, and do not fight with them at the Sacred Mosque until they fight with you in it, but if they do fight you, then slay them; such is the recompense of the unbelievers.
The Family of Imran
[3.144] And Muhammad is no more than an apostle; the apostles have already passed away before him; if then he dies or is killed will you turn back upon your heels? And whoever turns back upon his heels!s, he will by no means do harm to Allah in the least and Allah will reward the grateful.
[3.168] Those who said of their brethren whilst they (themselves) held back: Had they obeyed us, they would not have been killed. Say: Then avert death from yourselves if you speak the truth.
[3.169] And reckon not those who are killed in Allah's way as dead; nay, they are alive (and) are provided sustenance from their Lord;
[3.181] Allah has certainly heard the saying of those who said: Surely Allah is poor and we are rich. I will record what they say, and their killing the prophets unjustly, and I will say: Taste the chastisement of burning.
[3.183] (Those are they) who said: Surely Allah has enjoined us that we should not believe in any apostle until he brings us an offering which the fire consumes. Say: Indeed, there came to you apostles before me with clear arguments and with that which you demand; why then did you kill them if you are truthful?
The Women
[4.29] O you who believe! do not devour your property among yourselves falsely, except that it be trading by your mutual consent; and do not kill your people; surely Allah is Merciful to you.
[4.89] They desire that you should disbelieve as they have disbelieved, so that you might be (all) alike; therefore take not from among them friends until they fly (their homes) in Allah's way; but if they turn back, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them, and take not from among them a friend or a helper.
[4.91] You will find others who desire that they should be safe from you and secure from their own people; as often as they are sent back to the mischief they get thrown into it headlong; therefore if they do not withdraw from you, and (do not) offer you peace and restrain their hands, then seize them and kill them wherever you find them; and against these We have given.you a clear authority.
[4.92] And it does not behoove a believer to kill a believer except by mistake, and whoever kills a believer by mistake, he should free a believing slave, and blood-money should be paid to his people unless they remit it as alms; but if he be from a tribe hostile to you and he is a believer, the freeing of a believing slave (suffices), and if he is from a tribe between whom and you there is a convenant, the blood-money should be paid to his people along with the freeing of a believing slave; but he who cannot find (a slave) should fast for two months successively: a penance from Allah, and Allah is Knowing, Wise.
[4.93] And whoever kills a believer intentionally, his punishment is hell; he shall abide in it, and Allah will send His wrath on him and curse him and prepare for him a painful chastisement.
[4.155] Therefore, for their breaking their covenant and their disbelief in the communications of Allah and their killing the prophets wrongfully and their saying: Our hearts are covered; nay! Allah set a seal upon them owing to their unbelief, so they shall not believe except a few.
[4.157] And their saying: Surely we have killed the Messiah, Isa son of Marium, the apostle of Allah; and they did not kill him nor did they crucify him, but it appeared to them so (like Isa) and most surely those who differ therein are only in a doubt about it; they have no knowledge respecting it, but only follow a conjecture, and they killed him not for sure.
The Dinner Table
[5.3] Forbidden to you is that which dies of itself, and blood, and flesh of swine, and that on which any other name than that of Allah has been invoked, and the strangled (animal) and that beaten to death, and that killed by a fall and that killed by being smitten with the horn, and that which wild beasts have eaten, except what you slaughter, and what is sacrificed on stones set up (for idols) and that you divide by the arrows; that is a transgression. This day have those who disbelieve despaired of your religion, so fear them not, and fear Me. This day have I perfected for you your religion and completed My favor on you and chosen for you Islam as a religion; but whoever is compelled by hunger, not inclining willfully to sin, then surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
[5.95] O you who believe! do not kill game while you are on pilgrimage, and whoever among you shall kill it intentionally, the compensation (of it) is the like of what he killed, from the cattle, as two just persons among you shall judge, as an offering to be brought to the Kaaba or the expiation (of it) is the feeding of the poor or the equivalent of it in fasting, that he may taste the unwholesome result of his deed; Allah has pardoned what is gone by; and whoever returns (to it), Allah will inflict retribution on him; and Allah is Mighty, Lord of Retribution.
The Cattle
[6.137] And thus their associates have made fair seeming to most of the polytheists the killing of their children, that they may cause them to perish and obscure for them their religion; and if Allah had pleased, they would not have done it, therefore leave them and that which they forge.
[6.140] They are lost indeed who kill their children foolishly without knowledge, and forbid.what Allah has given to them forging a lie against Allah; they have indeed gone astray, and they are not the followers of the right course.
[6.151] Say: Come I will recite what your Lord has forbidden to you-- (remember) that you do not associate anything with Him and show kindness to your parents, and do not slay your children for (fear of) poverty-- We provide for you and for them-- and do not draw nigh to indecencies, those of them which are apparent and those which are concealed, and do not kill the soul which Allah has forbidden except for the requirements of justice; this He has enjoined you with that you may understand.
The Elevated Places
[7.141] And when We delivered you from Firon's people who subJected you to severe torment, killing your sons and sparing your women, and in this there was a great trial from your Lord.
The Children of Israel
[17.31] And do not kill your children for fear of poverty; We give them sustenance and yourselves (too); surely to kill them is a great wrong.
[17.33] And do not kill any one whom Allah has forbidden, except for a just cause, and whoever is slain unjustly, We have indeed given to his heir authority, so let him not exceed the just limits in slaying; surely he is aided.
The Cave
[18.6] Then maybe you will kill yourself with grief, sorrowing after them, if they do not believe in this announcement.
Ta Ha
[20.40] When your sister went and said: Shall I direct you to one who will take charge of him? So We brought you back to your mother, that her eye might be cooled and she should not grieve and you killed a man, then We delivered you from the grief, and We tried you with (a severe) trying. Then you stayed for years among the people of Madyan; then you came hither as ordained, O Musa.
The Poets
[26.3] Perhaps you will kill yourself with grief because they do not believe.
The Ant
[27.21] 1 will most certainly punish him with a severe punishment, or kill him, or he shall bring to me a clear plea.
The Narratives
[28.15] And he went into the city at a time of unvigilance on the part of its people, so he found therein two men fighting, one being of his party and the other of his foes, and he who was of his party cried out to him for help against him who was of his enemies, so Musa struck him with his fist and killed him. He said: This is on account of the Shaitan's doing; surely he is an enemy, openly leading astray.
[28.19] So when he desired to seize him who was an enemy to them both, he said: O Musa! do you intend to kill me as you killed a person yesterday? You desire nothing but that you should be a tyrant in the land, and you do not desire to be of those who act aright.
[28.33] He said: My Lord! surely I killed one of them, so I fear lest they should slay me;
The Clans
[33.26] And He drove down those of the followers of the Book who backed them from their fortresses and He cast awe into their hearts; some you killed and you took captive another part.
The Examined One
[60.12] O Prophet! when believing women come to you giving you a pledge that they will not associate aught with Allah, and will not steal, and will not commit fornication, and will not kill their children, and will not bring a calumny which they have forged of themselves, and will not disobey you in what is good, accept their pledge, and ask forgiveness for them from Allah; surely Allah is Forgiving, Merciful.
The Folded Up
[81.9] For what sin she was killed,
[Iran Press TV Latest] The former Malaysian Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad has warned that the US is preparing to launch an attack on Iran with the help of Israel.
"Obama is preparing for a (military) offensive on Iran with the help of his ally, the Israeli regime," IRNA quoted Mohamad as writing on his weblog.
Mahathir said that President Barack Obama, who had received the Nobel Peace Prize, did not fulfill his promises regarding withdrawal of US troops from Iraq and Afghanistan as well as a pledge to close the Guantanamo prison.
Obama "has not even fulfilled one word of his promises," he said.
Mahathir went on to say that the US is expected to launch the war on Iran on the pretext that the Islamic Republic was seeking to build a nuclear bomb.
He said that the US will introduce "forged evidences" showing Iran aims to "start a nuclear war against the world."
Tel Aviv and Washington have never ruled out the possibility of a military strike against Iran, which is accused by the US, Israel and some European countries of aiming to develop nuclear weapons under the cover of its civilian nuclear program.
While categorically denying the allegations, Iran says it has the capability to ward off any attack on the country and has stressed that an Israeli or US strike would meet a 'decisive' response from Tehran.
Iran says its nuclear program is meant to meet the civilian needs of its people and is being pursued within the framework of international atomic agency regulations.
Mahathir also referred to Iraq that came under the occupation of the US and its allies on the pretext that the country has weapons of mass destruction -- a claim which proved to be untrue.
He questioned "whether we could believe that the war against Iran will be because of its potential nuclear strike against the world?"
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#8
but they don't have spellcheck, do they, Mahmoud?
dumbshit
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 14:51
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#9
"Iran Has much sophisticated militry than you guys imagine"
Oh, I've got a great imagination, dumbass. I imagine their military is about as sophisticated and super as YOU are.
Loser.
Posted by: Barbara Skolaut ||
01/01/2010 15:03
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#10
Iran Has much sophisticated militry than you guys imagine
Iran's military fought Iraq's for ten years without accomplishing anything, Lemuel Glotch9729. It took the International Coalition three days to beat Iraq's military and conquer the entire country. Of course, that was in 2003. Now we have Predators and an entire collection of unmanned military toys -- d'you remember the fuss in Iran last year about American spy squirrels, and Iran's inability to shut down the Green opposition's use of the internet?
OTTAWA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Canadian leaders, politicians and the public on Thursday are pouring tributes to the five people, including one journalist, who were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. The explosion, which happened close to Kandahar City, is the worst event for Canada since six of its soldiers were killed in another blast in 2007. It brought the total number of Canadian deaths in Afghanistan since 2002 to 138.
Prime Minister Stephen Harper said it was with "very heavy hearts" that Canadians learned of the five deaths. "The five men and women who perished are true Canadian heroes. Canadians will never forget their dedication and sacrifice," he said in a written statement Thursday.
The journalist, 34-year-old Michelle Lang working for Calgary Herald, was the first Canadian journalist killed in Afghanistan. Harper wrote that Lang's "unforeseen and tragic death will be felt in Calgary and communities across Canada."
Defense Minister Peter MacKay also expressed his sympathies to the families and friends of the five Canadian victims.
"Canadians will always stand proudly behind the brave men and women of the Canadian Forces, and our partners, as they courageously risk their lives every day towards our goal of a stable, strong and peaceful Afghanistan," he said in a written statement. "Their sacrifice inspires those who will follow in our commitment to this mission and for this, the government of Canada and all Canadians will remain forever grateful."
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2010
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#1
Repatriation tentatively Sunday afternoon, Highway of Heroes, Trenton to Toronto
Organizers of the "Gaza Freedom March" report the death of a French citizen from injuries sustained at the hands of security forces during a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, Cairo.
Marie Renee died in the Cairo Hospital. She was traveling with a French delegation of approximately 300 nationals, Ma'an news agency reported.
Press TV presenter Yvan Ridley however didn't confirm the report.
The French delegates had earlier been camped out on the grounds surrounding the French Embassy in Cairo, reportedly flanked by two lines of Egyptian police.
Hundreds of activists with the "Gaza Freedom March" have continued demonstrations and sit-ins in Cairo to protest the Egyptian government's refusal to allow them to cross the border into the besieged Gaza Strip.
On Wednesday, Egyptian security allowed 84 of the 1,300 who registered to participate in the Gaza Freedom March into the impoverished Palestinian coastal enclave All were traveling with the Codepink delegation, which organized two earlier trips into the blockaded Palestinian coastal sliver since the Israeli war on Gaza last year.
Another 1,200 activists from about 40 states remained in Cairo after Egypt refused entry for the group because of what they called the "sensitive situation" in the Palestinian territory.
The "Gaza Freedom March" activists were hoping to march into Gaza on the anniversary of Israel's 22-day offensive on the territory as a sign of solidarity with its people, carrying with them aid and supplies.
Israel has continued to close all border crossings to the Gaza Strip for more than two years. The illegal Israeli imposed blockade on the Gaza Strip, which has steadily tightened since 2007, has had a disastrous impact on the humanitarian and economic situation in the coastal enclave.
Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip.
Egypt with the Palestinian Authority's blessings has sealed its borders with the Gaza Strip, effectively cutting off the coastal enclave from the rest of the world.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
A small, but not negligible, curtailment of oxygen waste.
#2
Well cut her some slack... based on how french security forces handle Youths "festivities" all year long, and how street demos are the very basis of the left kabuki, NOTHING in her experience ever prepared her to encounter ACTUAL police brutality (no, cops bitchslapping a Youth who threw stones at them and thus provoking a MSM holier-than-you sh8tstorm does not qualify)...
What a shock it must have been for her.
wherever you see Islamic suckitude, Yvonne's nearby
Posted by: Frank G ||
01/01/2010 10:07
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#4
Some 1.5 million people are being denied their basic rights, including freedom of movement, and their rights to appropriate living conditions, work, health and education. Poverty and unemployment rates stand at approximately 80% and 60% respectively in the Gaza Strip, because they continue to threaten Israel with indiscriminate terrorist & rocket attacks upon Israel's civilian population.
Posted by: Mike Hunt ||
01/01/2010 10:55
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#5
a most effective way to reduce your carbon footprint
#6
Terror symp media everywhere are falling into line on this: "Peaceful protester killed by evil American supplied Mossad inspired cops." There is a dog-whistle of "white girl" under all the standard lefty rhetoric and distortion as well. Expect candlelight vigils on campi throughout the western world and declarations of support from dictatorial vermin like Chavez and the Berkeley City Council.
It is truly ironic that such standard left methodology as cursing, spitting, and throwing bottles, bricks, and shit at police are considered "peaceful protest" in the US and Europe; but are regarded as anti-social violence in supposedly less enlightened places like Egypt.
Makes you wonder.
#7
how long have the palaostinians been living in that part of the world and they have seen 80% unemployment rate not too mention the rest of the arabs want them. too hell with them
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:22
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#8
how long have the palaostinians been living in that part of the world and they have seen 80% unemployment rate not too mention the rest of the arabs want them. too hell with them
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:22
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#9
Line 'em all up against a wall and shoot 'em. The average IQ of the entire planet will rise three points.
I am sick and tired of all the crap spewed as "news", of all the far-left "things have to be done our way" totalitarians, and all the idiocy that leftist governments can come up with. A strong dose of revolution and the elimination of this particular strain of virus would be a GOOD thing. I have NO sympathy with idiots and their controllers. A strong anti-vermin program would do wonders.
Posted by: Old Patriot ||
01/01/2010 13:38
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#10
How was she injured? What injuries caused her death? How old was she? Where is the independent confirm? Please pass the salt...
Posted by: regular joe ||
01/01/2010 15:35
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#13
Oh good, another day of celebration to be added along with Saint Pancake Day, Zarqawi Bites it Day and Saddams' short drop, sharp stop Day. 2010 is already looking up!
#16
My opinion is that that little shity country that the slime bastard American jews in this crappy Rant burg. So passionately lick is dirty anus should move there you bastard pro israhell have to explain to me what are you doing in the USA get the hell out of here
You are traitors and Zionist spies a best with no attachment to America
Israhell is not friend of us but that 2 percent scum continuously repeat israhell is our only friend in the Middle East two percent of traitors that is what they are
Two French reporters have been kidnapped north-east of the Afghan capital Kabul, Afghan officials say. They say the journalists were seized in Kapisa province, along with three Afghans travelling with them.
French Defence minister Herve Morin, who is visiting Afghanistan, said he had had no news of two journalists since Wednesday.
Their identity is unclear. Media sources in Paris said they work for the French TV Channel FR3.
According to provincial police chief Matiuallah Safi, the journalists and the Afghans accompanying them were abducted in the Shinkai district of Kapisa province, 120km (70 miles) from Kabul. Mr Safi said police were in contact with local villagers but no contact had been made with the abductors.
Both the Taliban and other insurgent groups operate in Kapisa province. French troops are also stationed there as part of the Nato-led force in Afghanistan.
At the French base in Nijrab, in central Kapisa, Mr Morin said that he was not ruling out "any theories".
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2010
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[Al Arabiya Latest] The police chief of Iraq's western Anbar province was fired on Thursday and authorities imposed a curfew in its capital Ramadi, after bombings killed 27 people and wounded the provincial governor, police said.
The dismissal of Major-General Tareq Yusuf appeared to reflect concerns about rising violence in Iraq's Sunni Arab heartland before national elections on March 7. Two suicide bombers struck in rapid succession on Wednesday near a provincial government headquarters in Ramadi.
Provincial authorities imposed a round-the-clock curfew in the city on Thursday, banishing people from the streets, except for emergencies, until further notice.
Anbar's provincial council fired Yusuf as police commander for the province, Police Lieutenant Colonel Jabbar Ajaj said. "The decision came as a result of the attacks which took place yesterday," he said.
Overall violence in Iraq has fallen sharply as the country prepares for the elections and responsibility for security shifts from U.S. to local forces.
But the Ramadi attacks, along with a roadside bombing that killed seven pilgrims in Khalis, north of Baghdad, on Wednesday, underscored the resilience of the Iraqi insurgency.
The Ramadi bombers appeared to target provincial Governor Qassim Mohammed. Police said the first bomber detonated explosives in a vehicle and a second struck on foot.
Mohammed was flown by U.S. forces to Baghdad for treatment. Sadoon Khraibit, a member of Anbar's governing council, was wounded in the attack and later died in hospital, police said.
Vice President Adel Abdul-Mahdi condemned the Ramadi and Khalis attacks as the work of al-Qaeda and Saddam supporters. The killings were designed "to shake stability and peace in the country and to spread fear and terror among the people, especially with the closeness of the parliamentary elections on March 7," he said.
Anbar, the heart of Iraq's Sunni Islamist insurgency following the 2003 overthrow of Saddam Hussein, became relatively secure after tribal leaders stood in opposition to al-Qaeda insurgents in 2006.
But a series of recent attacks stirred concerns that violence will rise before the parliamentary elections. The Sunni minority, which dominated Iraq under Saddam Hussein, fear the Shiite majority could push them from power for good.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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[Al Arabiya Latest] Iran meanwhile denied a British media report that the abduction of a British computer expert in Iraq in 2007 had been masterminded by the elite Revolutionary Guards, television reported.
"These claims are baseless," Iranian foreign ministry spokesman Ramin Mehmanparast was quoted as saying by al-Alam, a state-controlled Arabic language satellite news channel.
"They (claims) emanate from the British anger towards the rallies in which millions of Iranians took part to condemn British interference in (Iran's) internal affairs," he said.
Earlier the Guardian newspaper said Peter Moore was released unharmed on Wednesday after an "unspeakable" kidnap ordeal during which his four British bodyguards died or are feared dead.
The Guardian, quoting sources, reported that the Revolutionary Guard led the operation and took Moore and his bodyguards to Iran within a day of the kidnap.
Britain's Foreign Office said it has "no evidence" to support the reports of an Iranian link.
Relations been Tehran and London have been rocky in recent months.
A U.S. military spokesman earlier said that the leader of the group behind the 2007 kidnap of the British computer expert is among detainees held by the U.S. military being transferred to Iraqi custody.
The confirmation of Qais al-Khazaali's handover to Iraq comes a day after the release of Peter Moore, a 36-year-old IT consultant who was held by Khazaali's League of the Righteous for two and a half years, amid speculation of a deal for Moore's release.
Although it was not immediately clear if Khazaali was still in U.S. custody or not, the BBC reported that he had been handed over "very recently", citing a senior British government official.
"The United States has complied with an Iraqi government request in accordance with the U.S.-Iraqi Security Agreement and the rule of law to transfer AAH (Asaib al-Haq) members, to include Qais al-Khazaali, from U.S. custody to Iraqi custody pursuant to an Iraqi arrest warrant," the U.S. spokesman said.
"This has been occurring over a seven month period."
Asaib al-Haq is the Arabic for League of the Righteous.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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[Dawn] At least four militants were killed and six injured as jets pounded the hideouts of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Upper Orakzai Agency, officials said.
Four camps of the TTP were also destroyed in the air strikes in Sam Baga and Kasha areas in Upper Orakzai Agency.
Meanwhile militants kidnapped a tribal elder Malik Khayal Zaman from his house located in Feroze Khel area of Lower Orakzai Agency and whisked him away to unknown place.
The TTP accused him of supporting the government and raising a lashkar against them.
Six tribal elders, already in the custody of the TTP, were taken hostage for helping the government.
Posted by: Fred ||
01/01/2010
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#1
was their editor off for the new years because i would guess by tomorrow they will be considered civilians
Posted by: chris ||
01/01/2010 13:18
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South Korea should seek "peaceful nuclear sovereignty," Minister of Knowledge Economy Choi Kyung-hwan suggested Wednesday, emancipating itself from tight U.S. limits on what it can and cannot do in the field.
Choi was speaking at a meeting hosted by Grand National Party lawmakers who are close to President Lee Myung-bak at the National Assembly after the United Arab Emirates signed a landmark order for a nuclear power plant with a Korean-led consortium. The minister accompanied Lee on a visit to the UAE to give the deal the final push last week.
"Korea's current know-how of nuclear processes is incomplete, and that should improve in the future," Choi said. He agreed that control of raw materials and reprocessing provisions in the Korea-U.S. Atomic Energy Agreement are "excessive."
The country could assert its sovereignty by reclaiming the right to reprocess spent fuel rods, which is restricted by the bilateral agreement. The other two areas are mining and enrichment of uranium, and making and use of nuclear fuel.
By describing the limits as "excessive," the minister drew attention to the gravity of the problem since the country is not permitted to recycle nuclear waste, even though the W47 trillion (US$1=W1,165) contract with the UAE signals global confidence in South Koreas ability to handle the task.
There were already calls in June to revise the nuclear energy agreement, at the time prompted by North Korea's nuclear arms development, but the government has until now kept out of the issue. The power plant contract appears to have boosted efforts to seek a revision of the agreement, which expires in 2014.
Concluded in the 1970s, the agreement reflects U.S. worries over nuclear arms proliferation in prohibiting Seoul from reprocessing spent nuclear fuel, since weapons-grade plutonium is a by-product of reprocessing.
But a government official said the provision makes no sense since Seoul sees the reprocessing purely from an industrial point of view and has no plans for nuclear armament. "We've tried to win recognition for our pure approach to peaceful use of nuclear power over the last 20-odd years and we feel the time has come for the international community to recognize these efforts."
Currently, more than 10,000 tons of spent nuclear fuel from 20 nuclear power plants in Gori, Wolseong, Yeonggwang and Uljin is stored at secure facilities. But they will be full by about 2016, leaving Korea little option but to reprocess it. Reprocessing would allow the country to recycle 94.4 percent of the waste as an energy source, reducing nuclear waste to a negligible 5.6 percent. "For Korea, the issue of reprocessing is an urgent economic matter," the official said.
The government planned to start renegotiating the agreement with the U.S. this year, but it seems the U.S. is not ready. A government source said U.S. government agencies "are very busy preparing for a nuclear security summit in April at the initiative of U.S. President Barack Obama, and because of this, the U.S. has not even decided who'll lead the U.S. delegation to negotiations" with Seoul.
There are fears that Washington is stalling. But a senior government official said there is no great hurry. "We're supposed to revise the bilateral nuclear energy agreement by 2014, and as long as the two countries are conducting working-level talks, we think we can start full-fledged negotiations in the first half of next year."
Just renounce the treaty. What's Bambi going to do to you? He's already proven himself to be an empty suit. He can't push the Israelis around, he can't lean on Europe, and the Russians are making him look silly.
Posted by: Steve White ||
01/01/2010
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#1
Actually, I don't think The Once needs any help from the Russians to look silly. He does it all by himself.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
01/01/2010 10:23
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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.
A downtown protest of the climate change talks in Copenhagen became a victim of Wednesday's snowstorm.
The case of Umar Farouk Abdulmutallab, the Nigerian man accused in the attempted bombing of a U.S. airliner, has reinvigorated a debate about whether British universities are being used as breeding grounds for radical Islam. 
[Iran Press TV Latest] A US drone targeting suspected militants has fired missiles into in Pakistan's troubled tribal belt, killing at least two people and injuring several others. 
[Quqnoos] At least 11 Taliban militants were killed Wednesday in a clash between insurgents and foreign troops in western Afghanistan, an official said
In 2005, Rep. John P. Murtha announced here that a technology firm was moving into an abandoned plate glass factory. Best of all, he promised, the new firm would generate 140 jobs. 
Rasmussen's health-care polling results since Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid orchestrated the Christmas Eve vote are full of undeniably bad news for Democrats. In roughly ascending order of bad news (if one is a Democrat)...
Heads are set to roll in the U.S. intelligence community as an angry Barack Obama fends off criticism over the attempted bombing of a passenger plane on Christmas Day.
[Iran Press TV Latest] The Iranian police say they have launched an investigation into a "probably fake" video, which seems to show a police vehicle running into a group of protesters in Tehran. 
[Al Arabiya Latest] Police punched and kicked international activists during scuffles in the Egyptian capital on Thursday which left one person with broken ribs, protest organizers said. "Members of the Gaza Freedom March are being forcibly detained in hotels around (Cairo) as well as violently forced into pens in Tahrir Square by Egyptian police and additional security forces," a statement from the organizers said.
OTTAWA, Dec. 31 (Xinhua) -- Canadian leaders, politicians and the public on Thursday are pouring tributes to the five people, including one journalist, who were killed Wednesday by a roadside bomb in southern Afghanistan. The explosion, which happened close to Kandahar City, is the worst event for Canada since six of its soldiers were killed in another blast in 2007. It brought the total number of Canadian deaths in Afghanistan since 2002 to 138.
Organizers of the "Gaza Freedom March" report the death of a French citizen from injuries sustained at the hands of security forces during a demonstration in the Egyptian capital, Cairo. 
Two French reporters have been kidnapped north-east of the Afghan capital Kabul, Afghan officials say. They say the journalists were seized in Kapisa province, along with three Afghans travelling with them.
[Al Arabiya Latest] The police chief of Iraq's western Anbar province was fired on Thursday and authorities imposed a curfew in its capital Ramadi, after bombings killed 27 people and wounded the provincial governor, police said.
[Dawn] At least four militants were killed and six injured as jets pounded the hideouts of Tehrik-e-Taliban Pakistan in Upper Orakzai Agency, officials said. 
