KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police and medical examiners who thought a man died of natural causes changed their minds after funeral-home workers found bullet holes in his head.
The Kansas City Star reported Thursday that three bullet wounds -- two of them in Anthony Crockett's head -- were noticed after the man's body was embalmed Friday. The funeral home returned the 49-year-old Kansas City man's body to the Jackson County medical examiner's office, and police counted the death as a homicide.
Posted by: Mike ||
02/27/2009
17:05 ||
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#1
when the head's leaking embalming fluid like a watering can, you gotta wonder if anybody's awake at the ME's office, much less doing a Quincey impression
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2009 17:14
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#2
Three bullet holes in the head? Quincy and the CSI guys said it was a suicide.
What surprised me is that the holes weren't discovered until he was embalmed.
#4
Snowy Thing, you've clearly got a second career awaiting when you're ready to make the change... although you'll prob'ly have to shave a bit so as not to startle the punters.
#1
Since 2004, California has lost about a million and a half people from taxpaying households. At the same time, the state has taken in two million people, mostly non- or minimal taxpayers who are newborns or immigrants, legal and illegal.
#2
For a Donk, one dependency vote to keep them in power has just as much value as one that leaves to make a real living. To paraphrase Milton - 'Better to rule in Hell, than serve in Heaven'.
#3
Trouble is that California ex-pats move somewhere and whine about it not being like California. Then try to recreate the same the same environment that ultimately drove them out of CA.
If, as is looking more likely, the Obama administration moves to delay or cancel the deployment of a missile defense shield in Eastern Europe, one possible diplomatic downside could be the effect on U.S. relations with Poland and the Czech Republic, the two countries that signed agreements with the Bush administrations to host parts of the shield. On a visit to Washington, Poland's Foreign Minister seemed to give Obama a bit of an out on this issue:
What we would like to be honored is what went along with the missile-defense system, [Radoslaw] Sikorski, 46, said in an interview yesterday during a visit to Washington that included a meeting with Secretary of State Hillary Clinton. We paid quite a political price for the agreement, both in terms of internal politics and in our relations with Russia.
State Department political director William Burns has also indicated that missile defense might be one area where the administration is willing to compromise with Russia and will certainly be on the agenda when Hillary Clinton meets her Russian counterpart Sergei Lavrov next week. The administration might feel a more productive relationship with Russia is worth some damage to its image in Eastern Europe, but it would be nice if they didn't have to make the choice.
#1
The quote from Sikorski sounds less like an offer of an 'out' and more like "We already paid the price for this deal and hope you will not *bleep* us".
While investors are correctly paying a lot of attention to the programs being put out by the White house this week, just under the radar is the rapidly developing Eastern European situation that is threatening to exacerbate the world banking crisis. Last week Moody's rattled the markets a bit when it said it was considering downgrading a number of European banks because of severe problems with their loans to Eastern Europe. The concern immediately faded to the background, however, as it was overshadowed by the barrage of news coming out of Washington on the stimulus package, the banking situation, the mortgage programs and the proposed budget. We think that it won't be long before the Eastern Europe economic and financial distress will be a major topic on the front pages and cable news.
What's happening is that the economies of the Eastern European nations and ex-Soviet republics are crumbling at a time when they owe vast sums to European banks. On average, GDP in the Baltic countries is down 17% and their stock markets down 70%. Still, they have raised their short rates by 500 basis points to defend their currencies that are plunging, thereby making the economic situation even worse. In Poland, 60% of the mortgages are denominated in Swiss francs and the zloty has plunged against the franc. Their industrial production has declined 14.9%. In the Ukraine, GDP has dropped 20% year-over-year while industrial production has declined 34%. The Hungarian forint is down 30% against the euro, and almost all of their mortgages are denominated in foreign currencies, making them more difficult to service. The Hungarian stock market is down 60% and auto sales are off by 50%. Other Eastern European countries are facing similar situations.
The problem is that the aforementioned group of nations has borrowed $1.7 trillion from foreign countries, with $1.3 trillion of it from European banks. They must pay back or rollover $400 billion this year, an amount equivalent to one-third of the group's GDP. With credit markets frozen, however, this is an impossible task, and without a massive bailout, these countries will blow up. Especially vulnerable are banks in Austria, Sweden, Greece, Italy and Belgium. Austrian banks alone have exposure of $280 billion to emerging Europe, an amount equal to 64% of its GDP.
The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) estimated that the bad debts of Eastern Europe and the ex-Soviet republics would exceed 10% and possibly be as high as 20%. Hans Redeker, Chief Currency Strategist at PNB Paribas said, "We're nearing the level where things can get out of hand". IMF head Dominique Strauss-Kahn expects a "second wave of countries to come knocking" after prior IMF bailouts of Latvia, Hungary, Ukraine and Belarus. IMF reserves are rapidly running down after a series of aid packages to emerging nations.
Austrian Finance Minister Josef Proll is trying to put together a rescue package before the situation deteriorates further. Der Standard in Vienna said that "A failure rate of 10% would lead to the collapse of the Austrian financial sector". German Finance Minister Steinbruck said that the Western European governments may be forced to bail out Eastern Europe. With Western European economies already in terrible shape, this will not be accomplished without a lot of time and turmoil. It will be exceedingly difficult to get the various nations to agree on a package and the citizens of Western Europe will certainly protest at having to bail out foreign countries when they are having such a rough time themselves. We think this means some more significant downturns for global markets.
#1
The rumour is that Germany will tell the parts of the Eurozone in danger of default to go to hell, no bailouts from us, and effectively withdraw from the Euro.
Wed. a marker at Fort Bliss was unveiled. It commemorates a 27 acre internment camp where 6000 refugees from a Mexican civil war were housed in 1914. The refugees spent 6 months there & were transferred to Ft. Wingate NM for another 4 months. In 1910 Mexico's population was about 15 million, now it's 100 million.
#3
PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > CIA DIRECTOR: US WILL CONTINUE DRONE ATTACKS ON PAKISTANI TERRITORY.
Also on PDF > INDIA: PAKISTANI OFFICERS HELPED PLAN MUMBAI ATTACK; + "INDIAN MUJAHIDEEN" CLAIM RESPONSIBILITY FOR MUMBAI; + INDIA TOPS THE WORLD HUNGER CHART.
*ION CHINESE MIL FORUM > seems HUNGER is also steadily worsening in HAITI.
A 58-year-old Wal-Mart employee lit himself on fire in a strip-mall parking lot Thursday night, saying only that he "couldn't take it anymore," ChicagoBreakingNews.com reported.
The man, who wasn't identified, died later at the hospital.
The employee, who worked the overnight shift, doused himself in lighter fluid around 10 p.m. outside the Chicago-area discount store before setting himself on fire, according to ChicagoBreakingNews.com.
At least 10 people witnessed the act and several attempted to rescue the man by throwing their jackets on him in an effort to put out the flames but he refused assistance.
"He said he didn't want any help and threw the coats off," said Randy Sater, a watch commander with the Bloomingdale fire department.
When questioned by a police officer at the scene as to why he was committing suicide, the man, who was by that time severely burned, said, "I just couldn't take it anymore," ChicagoBreakingNews.com reported.
A store manager said he didn't know why the employee took his life and said he hadn't recently been laid off.
The victim was rushed to a local hospital before being transferred to the burn unit at Loyola University Medical Center in Chicago.
A man from President Obama's hometown of Chicago has been arrested for allegedly sending Obama and his staff envelopes containing HIV-infected blood, in the hopes of killing or harming them.
In the weeks leading up to Obama's inauguration, Saad Hussein, an Ethiopian refugee in his late 20's, sent an envelope addressed to "Barack Obama" to offices of the Illinois government in Springfield, Ill., according to court documents. The envelope contained a series of unusual items, including a letter with reddish stains and an admission ticket for Obama's election-night celebration in Chicago's Grant Park. Court documents said Hussein, who takes drugs to treat a mental illness, later told FBI agents he is "very sick with HIV" and cut his fingers with a razor so he could bleed on the letter.
Hazmat teams were called in after the envelope was opened, and offices of the Illinois Department on Aging and the Department of Revenue were locked down for nearly two hours, locking 300 staffers in their offices, court documents said.
Hussein, with his brother acting as an interpreter, told FBI agents he was actually "an admirer" of Obama and was "seeking help from the government," according to court documents. He also told them he was hoping to obtain tickets to the inaugural ceremonies in Washington, the documents said.
Days after sending the letter to Obama, Hussein allegedly placed two more letters in the mail, one addressed to "Emanuel," an apparent reference to Obama's current chief of staff, Rahm Emanuel. The two letters contained what appeared to be dried blood, the court documents said.
Hussein, who has never held a job in the three years he's been in the United States, was arrested last month. An affidavit filed at the time accused Hussein of "knowingly" mailing letters "containing HIV-infected blood, with the intent to kill or injure another," in violation of federal law. The affidavit does not address whether the letters could have actually killed or injured anyone. According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, HIV is spread only through sexual contact with an infected person, through sharing needles with an infected person, or through blood transfusions of infected blood.
The spokesman for the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Peter Rendina, expressed confidence that the U.S. mail system is safe. "To me the U.S. Postal Service is the most secure form of communication in the world," he said. "In no way are we seeing a trend."
After Hussein's arrest, he was placed in a Chicago correctional facility. He has yet to be formally charged. A judge ordered he receive a mental examination to see if he's fit for trial, but as of two weeks ago the court couldn't locate a translator to conduct the examination, according to court documents. A publicly-appointed attorney representing Hussein declined comment, saying he was "not at liberty to discuss pending criminal matters."
This is not the first time law enforcement officials have had to take Hussein into custody. He was arrested by police in 2006 after starting a fire in the middle of a crowded Chicago intersection. When officers arrived on the scene, he was waiving the Koran in the air and yelling "Allah Akbar," or "God is Great" in Arabic. Court documents said he was transported to a hospital, where he called President Bush a terrorist and criticized American foreign policy. He was not formally charged, but he did spend time in the mental health unit of the hospital.
The latest case marks the second time HIV-infected blood has been sent through the U.S. mail. In 2006 a "disturbed individual" placed a plastic vial of HIV-infected blood in the mail, according to Rendina. The unidentified individual was arrested and charged, and is now receiving psychiatric treatment at a federal medical detention center, Rendina said.
#1
Never held a job in the U.S.? How did he get in? What kind of visa? Was he a student? Tourist? Religious worker? Raising money for charity?
Problem with the news is, reporters forget to ask basic questions. This would seem to be one of them. How did he get into the country? How did he support himself? Where did he live?
Who, what, when, where, why. It's not hard.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2009 14:39
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#2
Heh. Not hard for you, Doc. Combined rocket science/neurosurgery/quantum physics to the actual practitioners of the art of today's "news" reporting...
#3
Never held a job in the U.S.? How did he get in? What kind of visa? Was he a student? Tourist? Religious worker? Raising money for charity?
Problem with the news is, reporters forget to ask basic questions. This would seem to be one of them. How did he get into the country? How did he support himself? Where did he live?
#4
God what a sick bastard. I used to be friendly with Muslims at local barber shops, but after all the nasty things ive read about them throughout these last few months i've decided not to really think they want to portray the Qu'Ran, but portray themselves in nasty malicious ways. What kind of animal would knowingly want to infect others with HIV?
#5
That's not a Muslim thing as such, Annonoymous. There have been homosexual animals like that, and hetero ones too, taking revenge on the world they are going to leave sooner than they wanted to -- and none of them doing it for jihad. Not to mention the crazy idiots who can't live without trying to kill someone famous. One question unanswered is whether Mr. Hussein really is infected with HIV at all.
Nonetheless, this is yet another strike against those who insist Islam is exclusively a religion of peace and peaceful adherents.
James Bonds gun of choice has been targeted for a recall.
Smith & Wesson said yesterday that its recalling all Walther PPK and PPK/S guns manufactured between March 2002 and early this month. The Springfield firm said a defect could allow the $605 weapon to go off without anyone pulling the trigger. Ooooh. Sounds exciting...
While we have no reason to believe that the condition affects every pistol produced during the designated period, we have chosen in the interest of safety to replace the hammer block in every (weapon) that is returned, Smith & Wesson said in a U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing. In a memo to customers posted on its Web site, the Springfield firm advised owners of the gun to STOP USING YOUR PISTOL AND RETURN IT TO SMITH & WESSON AT ONCE. Anybody have one?
Company Vice President Liz Sharp told the Herald that Smith & Wesson engineers discovered the problem during routine tests, and that the firm has not reported any consumer injuries. However, Granite City, Ill., police officer Jeremy Hunter sued the gunmaker last fall over wounds sustained in 2006 when his PPK/S allegedly went off on its own. Smith & Wesson has denied any responsibility for the accident.
Still, the firm plans to fix all PPK and PPK/S guns for free, including covering shipping costs to and from Smith & Wessons factories. The company estimates the recall will cost a total of $900,000 to $1.3 million.
The Walther PPK is famous the world over as Agent 007s pistol, appearing in most of the 22 James Bond movies released since 1962. Local gun dealers say the German-designed weapon is also popular with real-life consumers, as its small, easy to carry and holds seven rounds.
Jim Wallace of the Northboro-based Gun Owners Action League said he hadnt heard any of his groups members complain about the PPK, but it sounds like Smith & Wesson is doing the right thing.
#4
Beretta, and I believe a .22 (.25 is actually weaker)M forced him to trade it for a 9mm. claiming he had to use several shots and missed some kills.
('Oh and Bond, leave the beretta'.)
Bond resisted the forced change and tried to sneak it out of M's office.
What I thought interesting, he wasn't given a holster, apparently the Beretta and the 9mm were the same overall size.
(PS I've got a .22 beretta, the Montgomery cops use them as backup weapons, usually in an ankle holster, what's good enough for both Bond and the local law is good enough for me, it's a beauty, light, accurate, and small.)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 14:25
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#5
Nope, IIRC, it is .25 and .32, though, obviously, the movies has had to keep up with an ever-increasing firepower, especially now, to keep that "heroic" image.
But, back in the olden days, a .32/7,65 was an acceptable choice for a novel hero. Bond is not Mack Bolan, let's just say that.
#6
And I've read more Bolan than Bond, which you american might find weird, but the serie (part of it, anyway) actually was translated and well-diffused, as "train station literature", and my grandpa used to have quite a few, which were a delight for a young teen.
#7
I haven't kept up with S & W. They were an American firm and then a British firm and then an American firm. I did not know they were manufacturing the PPK and PPK/S. I have an older Walther PPK .380 and like it fine. It does not have a "happy trigger." I had read that the Mossad, at one time, used .22s while on the job. I don't know if that is still true today.
#9
Q: Now Bond PAY ATTENTION, we've modified this so that you don't even have to pull the tr ...
Bond: BANG
Q: Ouch!!! Bond, would you kindly call for a medic.
In its budget, the administration predicted that the overall economy, as measured by the gross domestic product, will shrink by 1.2 percent this year but will grow by a solid 3.2 percent in 2010. That growth would be followed by even stronger increases of 4 percent in 2011, 4.6 percent in 2012 and 4.2 percent in 2013.
By contrast, the consensus of forecasters surveyed by Blue Chip Economic Indicators in February predicted that the GDP will fall by a larger 1.9 percent this year and then increase at weaker rates of 2.1 percent in 2010, 2.9 percent in 2011 and 2012 and 2.8 percent in 2013. there is also the counting revenues from increasing the marginal rate as 'savings' and pretending to lower Iraq related expenses that were never planned in the first place and pretending to eliminate unspecified programs, etc.; but those are separate issues
Nancy Pelosi repeatedly stood to applaud Barack Obama when he addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. But in the days since, the speaker of the House has been standing up for herself distancing herself from the president on Iraq, on tax cuts and on the prosecution of former Bush administration officials.
Pelosis aides say the speaker was comfortable playing the role of Obamas shield during the stimulus fightRepublicans teed off on her rather than on the immensely popular new presidentand that she remains strongly supportive of the administration on health care, energy and education reform.
But on Iraq and other high-profile issues that matter to her, aides say Pelosi has no intention of holding her tongue when she thinks Obama is wrong.
And shes not alone.
While Newt Gingrich complained that Tuesdays night unofficial State of the Union looked like a Democratic pep rally, the aftermath has looked more like a sibling rivalry.
On Wednesday morning, Sen. Robert Byrd (D-W.Va.)the longest-serving member of the Senateaccused Obama of trying to steal power from Congress by appointing White House czars to handle issues that would otherwise be handled by departments subject to congressional oversight.
On Wednesday night, Pelosi made it clear to MSNBCs Rachel Maddow that she wasnt happy with Obamas plan to leave 50,000 U.S. troops in Iraq and that, unlike Obama, she absolutely favors criminal prosecutions for any Bush administration officials involved in torture or other excesses in the fight against terrorism.
On Thursday, Pelosi said shed move faster than Obama is to roll back Bush-era tax cuts. Senate Majority Leader Harry Reid and Senate Democratic Caucus Vice Chairman Chuck Schumer joined Pelosis critique of Obamas plan to leave. Reid urged Obama not to push too hard to eliminate congressional earmarks. And Democratic Rep. Gene Taylor of Mississippi took a shot at Obamas budget, saying change is not running up even bigger deficits that George Bush did.
Congressional Democrats are hardly in open revolt. But Obama apparently took the criticisms of his Iraq plan seriously enough that he summoned Democratic and Republican leaders to the White House to brief them on the plan Thursday evening in advance of his roll-out Friday at Camp Lejeune in North Carolina.
A senior Pelosi aide said Thursday that the president and the speaker share the same vision and the same goals overall.
She is totally supportive of him on most things, the aide said. But as with anything, there are going to be disagreements.
Pelosi's public disagreements with Obama reflect her strongly held personal views as well as the views of the majority of her caucus, which is liberal/progressive. Pelosi is always cognizant that her most important constituency is her base among House Democrats.
As she respects and protects that base, pushing back against the president has its advantages. Democratic aides have talked over the past few weeks of Pelosi's need to sometimes "triangulate" against Obama with Reidto deliver a don't-tread-on-me-message to the White House and to keep Reid and Obama from establishing a permanent political double-team.
The end-game of the stimulusduring which Pelosi was forced to grapple with a final Obama-Reid deal reinforced those motives.
"We can't let the Senate always push us around by shouting, 'We need 6O!" a House Democratic aide said a week ago.
Some of the disagreements between Pelosi and Obama are substantive; some of them are about turf.
Even before Obama took office, Pelosi told his soon-to-be chief of staff, former Rep. Rahm Emanuel, to butt out of House Democratic affairs.
In a recent private meeting, Democratic insiders say Pelosi and Obama butted heads over his desire to cut down in earmarks in annual apending bills.
The earmarks are popular punching bagsthe Obama administration vowed that thered be none in the stimulus packagebut theyre also popular with a lot of lawmakers on both sides of the aisle. Pelosi, aware of that reality, told Obama that shed help to cut back on earmarks, but not as quickly as he might like, insiders said.
We are reducing them, but members still want them, a Democratic insider said Pelosi told the president.
Pelosi, of course, remains a strong Obama supporter.
On Thursday, she called his 2010 budget proposal a message of realism, but . . . also a message of optimism and hope. And she expressed support for Obamas proposal to set aside $634 billion as a down payment toward health care reform. Pelosi argued that the country must make changes to the Medicare and Medicaid programs in order to put its financial house in order, and she chided Republicans by arguing that Obamas plan represents the entitlement reform for which they often clamor.
If we are ever going to address the fiscal challenge that we face and that includes all of our spending, but sometimes more frequently described through the entitlements we must have health care reform, Pelosi said.
Top Pelosi aides downplayed the differences she has with the president, and note that she supports 95 percent of his agenda.
They also point out that Pelosi has stated repeatedly that her role is not to simply execute the presidents wishes a lapdog role she repeatedly accused former Speaker Dennis Hastert (R-Ill.) of playing when the GOP controlled the House during the Bush years.
She has a difference of opinion with Obama on some issues, a senior Democratic staffer acknowledged. But unlike recent Republican speakers, shes not going to be a rubber stamp for the president.
#1
I'm sure once Barry comes to accept the fact that she actually believes she runs the country, he should have no problems with this dried out piece of skank meat.
Watch your back, Barry...
Posted by: Mike ||
02/27/2009 15:22
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#5
A D>C> Mortuarary had 3 bodies delivered on afternoon. One was an Irishman. He had won the Lottery and spent the money on Booze and died with a smile on his face. One was an Old Man who was wealthy and had a trist with 2 very attractive hookers. He had a heart attack and died with a smile on his face. The other was Nanct Pelosi. She still had a smile on her face but she had been struck by lightning and thought the flash was someone taking her picture.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/27/2009 18:24
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#6
Gawd, who did that photoshop job?
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 18:26
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#7
I don't think it's photoshopped, RJ....just a little Botox slippage.
Security forces have detained hundreds of fleeing border guards and set up roadblocks across the country since a bloody two-day revolt against military officers left at least 22 people dead, officials said Friday.
The border guards, whose unit rose up against their commanders earlier this week, have been promised amnesty, but it was not clear if that would apply to guards who fled their bases.
Soon after tanks rolled into Dhaka and intimidated the mutinous border guards, who had seized their main compound in the capital, into laying down their arms, many mutineers fled under cover of darkness, according to Abdul Kashem, an official of the mutinous Bangladesh Rifles, the official name of the paramilitary border force.
Commander A.K. Azad, a spokesman for the elite Rapid Action Battalion, said more than 230 mutineers - most dressed in civilian clothing - were rounded up Thursday night on the outskirts of Dhaka. Another battalion official, M. Morshed, said security forces had arrested 68 more mutineers near the town of Savar, 40 kilometers northwest of Dhaka. Security forces have set up highway checkpoints to search buses, and are also searching ferries as they look for more mutineers, officials said.
Nearly 2,000 guards opened fire on their senior officers and seized their headquarters in the capital Wednesday to protest poor pay and conditions. Twenty-two bodies, many of them senior officers of Bangladesh Rifles, the country's border force, have been found, said fire official Dilip Kumar Ghosh.
He said 34 officers and men were rescued after the mutineers surrendered and firefighters were searching for at least 65 more missing people. Ghosh said two of the bodies - a man and a woman - were found at the home of the border force's chief, Maj. Gen. Shakil Ahmed, but that the commander was not one of them.
One officer said earlier that he saw Ahmed killed immediately after the mutiny began Wednesday. "I was confronted by the soldiers three times, but I have survived," that officer, Lt. Col. Syed Kamruzzaman, told ATN Bangla television station. "Allah has saved me from the face of death." Authorities would not comment on the chief's whereabouts.
The mutinous guards had agreed to surrender after the government promised Wednesday to give them amnesty and look into their demands. But as the process stalled and the revolt appeared to be spreading to other areas Thursday, recently elected Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned the rebels she would "do whatever is needed to end the violence." Hours later, tanks and armored vehicles with heavy machine guns rolled into the capital, taking up positions in residential neighborhoods around the border guards' compound. Apparently intimidated, the guards hoisted a white flag Thursday afternoon and resumed laying down their arms.
The insurrection was the result of longtime frustrations over pay for the border guards that didn't keep pace with that of the army's - highlighted by rising food prices in the chronically poor South Asian country as the global economic crisis grows. The guards make about $100 a month. Their resentment has been heightened by the practice of appointing army officers to head the border guards. The border guards also do not participate in UN peacekeeping missions, which bring additional pay.
The army plays a pivotal role in Bangladesh, and only recently allowed the country of 150 million return to civilian rule. There have been 19 failed coup attempts since the country gained independence from Pakistan in 1971, and two presidents have been killed in military takeovers.
Russian military prosecutors have launched an investigation into a group of naval officers and businessmen suspected of stealing and smuggling weapons to sell to China.
Russia's chief military prosecutor has been reported by the Interfax news agency as saying the investigation would focus on a group suspected of smuggling 30 anti-submarine missiles and 200 aerials bombs to the central Asian republic of Tajikistan.
It is suspected the weapons were to be sold to China for $US18 million.
A source has told Interfax that high-ranking naval officers, including vice-admirals and rear-admirals, could be involved. The unnamed source says before the weapons were smuggled, they had been written off as obsolete, and more than $1.5 million of state money had been allocated to dispose of them. I wonder what else was for sale?
TAJI, Iraq -- There was the time the Iraqis spent millions of dollars on ammunition from Romania, only to discover that it was defective or didn't fit their U.S.- or Russian-made weapons. Or when the Iraqis bought portable kitchens which didn't work in the field.
The U.S. military has put in countless hours training Iraqi security forces in battlefield and police tactics.
But the Obama administration's apparent plans to withdraw combat troops by August 2010 _ and the remaining servicemen by the end of the following year _ has some commanders concerned about something else: Iraq's ability to equip and maintain its own forces.
"They are at the basic level. They can feed themselves. They can fuel themselves. They can arm themselves," said Australian Brig. Gen. David McGahey, who heads the U.S.-led task force aimed at helping the Iraqi armed forces fend for themselves after the eventual pull out. But "giant gaps" remain in the Iraqi supply system, particularly a shortage of mechanics for vehicle maintenance and repairs, that may take "years and years" to close, he added.
Other challenges, commanders say, is a lack of modern technology to track parts and services. Iraq uses an antiquated paperwork system.
Under the plan President Barack Obama is expected to announce as early as this week, 30,000 to 50,000 U.S. troops _ out of an estimated 142,000 currently in Iraq _ would remain in the country beyond August 2010 to advise, train and help outfit the Iraqi armed forces.
The complete withdrawal of American forces will apparently take place by December 2011, the period by which the U.S. agreed with Iraq to remove all troops.
The Iraqis had long depended on American logistics and supplies as their main lifeline in the fight against militants and their own struggles to rebuild. Since late last year, however, the U.S. has stopped fueling and feeding the Iraqis.
"We are not giving them parts. We are not giving them fuel. We are not fixing it for them," said Army Col. Ed Dorman, who works on logistics and supply for Multi-National Corps Iraq.
Lt. Gen. Lloyd Austin, the No. 2 American commander in Iraq, has given his commanders an April deadline to make sure Iraq's ability to supply its basic needs _ fuel, weapons and maintenance _ does not impede its ability to roll out on a mission.
To date, there have been no reports that the Iraqi military has been unable to respond to a mission since they began taking care of their basic needs, according to Dorman.
"You may have heard some people say Iraqi logistics is broken. I don't think that's accurate," said Army Brig. Gen. Steven Salazar, the deputy commanding general at Multi-National Security Transition Command. "It remains under construction."
Salazar said the real challenge for the Iraqi military will be to grow its logistics capabilities along with expansion of its 620,000-member military and police forces. "From a logistics standpoint, we know there is an awful lot of work to be done," he added.
American officials point to some successes: 500 Iraqis working to refurbishment and retrofit former U.S. Humvees at a supply depot in Taji, about 12 miles north of Baghdad. U.S. contractors are on hand in an advisory role. "That program tells me it can be done if we get the right supervisor, the right tradesmen," McGahey said.
The Iraqi government has purchased nearly $5 billion in military items from the U.S. since 2006. It also has inquired about another $3.8 billion in military-grade purchases. But there are glaring shortfalls: purchases of useless equipment _ such as the field kitchens and the Romanian ammo _ as well as reports of internal corruption.
The costly miscues are blamed on "catalog shopping," buying without examining products or purchasing items without manuals or service contracts, said a U.S. military official familiar with Iraq's logistics practices.
The more nagging problem, though, appears to be missing money.
The Iraqi army pays its brigade commanders a weekly cash stipend to feed troops. The U.S. military has praised the program for putting money back into Iraqi communities. But reports have surfaced of some commanders putting dozens of soldiers on leave every week to pocket unspent money. "They get the same amount of money if they have 25 people there or 50 people there," said the military official.
The Iraqi logistics distribution network is still largely centralized, based on a British colonial system used under Saddam Hussein. By contrast, the U.S. military allows units to order through a regionalized system rather than from one central source.
McGahey said the Americans are not trying to reinvent the Iraqi supply chain. "There is no silver bullet. What we need to do is understand the way they do it and improve the system by cutting out the inefficiencies and cutting out the corruption," McGahey said. "Will it evolve like the U.S. system, the Australian system? No. It'll evolve like the Iraqi system."
#1
This is the $64 Billion question: Will Iraqi logistics work after the Americans leave, or will they revert to Arab levels of incompetence? If they revert to old habits, the gains in combat skills will rapidly disappear.
The only safety net the Iraqis have is that their enemies also have Arab levels of logistical "skill". This would result in armed mob fighting armed mob.
Also, has Obambi thought of how the Iraqi Air Force is going to defend Iraqi Air Space in 2011?
Posted by: Frozen Al ||
02/27/2009 11:42
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#2
But "giant gaps" remain in the Iraqi supply system, particularly a shortage of mechanics for vehicle maintenance and repairs, that may take "years and years" to close, he added.
Ah, yes. Insh Allah maintenance.
I doubt they'll ever close that gap...
You CANNOT give nations or cultures Freedom, they MUST EARN it.
Iraq will rapidly revert back to their old practices. Millennia of potentates, dictatorships, and occupations cannot be erased by a less then a decade of American occupation. Iraqis have proven they are reasonably functional with a lot of oversight and supervision. They adapted to the new American landlord like they did with Saddam, the British, the Ottomans, and the Persians. They are adept survivors and will follow rules given to them, but they do not posses the desire or motivation to independently manage themselves. Im sure there some individual Iraqis that want and can, but the majority are still too tribal and local in their thoughts and loyalties.
Freedom is a uniquely Western concept based solidly on Judeo/Christian values and self reliance. I believe this is the reason it is only successfully found in cultures originating from these areas. The concept of freedom and democracy have been known and practiced for over 2000 years in various forms. It is not a new, radical, hard concept. What is hard about it is earning it and maintaining it.
Until a people as a whole can move beyond tribal, religious and local loyalties, freedom, democracy, and national identification, will not grow and flourish.
Posted by: Yosemite Sam ||
02/27/2009 15:12
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#4
The Hindus, Thais, South Koreans, Japanese manage. East Timor is learning as is Indonesia. It's not insurmountable. It helps to have some hand-holding for a while which is what we're doing in Iraq (as we did for the SKors, for example). I think the Iraqis get it.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2009 17:04
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#5
Goodness knows we're giving the Iraqis enough practice. They only just had provincial elections, then there's parliamentary elections again in December, I believe, no doubt followed by local elections... The U.S. and Great Britain actually have a pretty good record of forcing democracy and rule of law on unwilling recipients. It may be far from perfect, but so long as actual human beings are involved, it will be so anywhere. Look how the election went last November in the U.S., for instance.
Vrdolyak has been an insider in Chicago since the 1960s. I was reading his name in the paper when I was in junior high.
When Fast Eddie Vrdolyak effectively got his hand kissed by a federal judge Thursday and walked free after pleading guilty to a million-dollar fraud, I thought of that movie.
The one with Michael, Fredo, Frankie Five Angels and Hyman Roth. And that line uttered by Kay, after Michael beat the feds:
I suppose that I always knew you were too smart to let any of them beat you.
You want smart? Vrdolyak didn't have to pay for a trial. He admitted guilt and walked anyway.
I've known him for years, fascinated by this highly charismatic, yet dangerous Mephistophelean who spent his life leveraging political power the Chicago Way. Unlike some current phonies, he never hid his ambition behind a lace curtain. He was about what he was about: the action, the money and the chase. See the rest of the article.
#3
Hmmmmmmmmmm, Hasn't Obama been in power a bit over two weeks?
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 13:11
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#4
Imagine what DHS personnel feel with their new secretary avoiding the term "terror" and calling for an internal investigation for ICE rounding up illegals.
A trio of Louisiana nitwits agreed to swap two young children for a $1500 cockatoo and $175, police charge. The deranged exchange was hatched after Donna Greenwell, a 51-year-old trucker, learned that the bird was being offered for sale by Brandy Romero, 27, and Paul Romero, 46. According to Evangeline Parish Sheriff's Office investigators, Brandy Romero told cops that Greenwell contacted her and said that while she could not afford the cockatoo's price tag, she did have children to trade (in a bid to sell the bird, the Romeros posted a flyer at a barn, where Greenwell spotted the notice, which included a photo of the cockatoo). Investigators have determined that Greenwell is not the mother of the children, a four-year-old girl and a five-year-old boy. It appears as if the children, whose mother is a criminal fugitive, have resided with various families over the past several years, and have spent the past year in the custody of Greenwell, a convicted pedophile with a lengthy rap sheet. Greenwell and the Romeros, pictured below in photos released by the Evangeline sheriff, have each been charged with aggravated kidnapping. The children swapped for the bird are now living with a temporary foster family, according to investigator Keith Dupre, who added that the cockatoo was recovered from Greenwell's home, where two other birds resided. When confronted by deputies, Greenwell denied trading the children for the bird, which she claimed was simply given to her by the Romeros.
When Berlin resident Simone Klostermann returned from vacation and couldnt find her Mercedes SLK, she thought it had been towed. Police told her the 35,000- euro ($45,000) car had been torched.
Theyd squirted something flammable into the cars engine block in the gap between the windshield and the hood, said Klostermann. The engine was completely destroyed.
The 34-year-olds experience isnt unique in the German capital. At least 29 vehicles were destroyed in arson attacks this year, most of them luxury cars, according to police. The number is already about 30 percent of the total for 2008. The latest to go up in flames was a Porsche, on Feb. 14, two days after a Mercedes was set alight in a public car park.
While youths in Athens protest by throwing Molotov cocktails, in Paris by toppling barricades, and in Budapest by hurling eggs at politicians, protesters in Berlin rage at their economic plight by targeting the most expensive cars -- symbols of German wealth and power.
A group calling itself BMW -- the initials stand for Movement for Militant Resistance in German -- has claimed responsibility for several attacks in left-wing magazines and Web sites, police spokesman Bernhard Schodrowski said. Typical leftist cowards - arson in the night, and then gone. Wouldn't want to have any actual risk, any face-to-face confrontations where they could be held responsible for their actions.
#2
Anger rises in Germany as the economy falls. Trade unions and globalization-critical protesters are planning demonstrations in Berlin and Frankfurt under the banner: "We're not paying for your crisis."
The ATL not the Swat valley
A well-armed couple opened fire with an assault rifle and pistol early Friday morning on some car thieves in southwest Atlanta.
The couple at a home in the 1900 block of Childress Drive told police that after somebody tried to steal their car last week, they rigged up a homemade alarm in their carport using string and cans.
Police told Channel 2 Action News reporter Ryan Young that about 2 a.m. Friday the cans started making noise, indicating intruders were in their carport. The couple swung into action. The husband picked up a pistol and ran outside to confront the thieves. The wife grabbed an AK-47 assault rife and joined her husband outside.
They found several men driving off in their car. They told police when the car thieves tried to shoot at them, they opened fire with his pistol and her AK-47.
The thieves took off, leaving the couple's car behind.
When police arrived they found shell casings littering the driveway and front yard, and the couple's car riddled with bullet holes. There was no blood at the scene so police don't think any of the thieves were hit.
Need more time at the practice range ...
There's no word on if the homeowners will face any charges.
#1
There's no word on if the homeowners will face any charges.
hmmm....
Posted by: Omolugum Prince of the Platypi2692 ||
02/27/2009 9:46
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#2
Lies, all lies! There are NO assault weapons in Georgia. I have forwarded this bogus posting to the Obamastapo for the appropriate follow-up and action.
#3
Did you see the freaking hoopty-mobile that was being stolen? No way that thing is worth more than $800. Unless it had rims, or a $3000 stereo system in it.
#4
They found several men driving off in their car. They told police when the car thieves tried to shoot at them, they opened fire with his pistol and her AK-47.
The thieves took off, leaving the couple's car behind.
So they were driving off in the car, got shot at, so they got out of the car and fled?
Seems a little odd. Most people would have put the petal to the metal.
#10
She fires an AK on full-auto at a car maybe 20 feet away and doesn't hit anybody? Geeze, give somebody else the assault rifle, huh? This broad's a worse shot that the jihadis.
What cracks me up from an european perspective is that the weapon used most probably was a legal (or at least, not THAT illegal) semi-auto knock-off of the AK pattern... just like tens (possibly hundred) of thousands upon ten of thousands of US people legally and peacefully own semi-auto rifles or carbines from the AR-15 pattern, with only a comparatively few owning full-auto actual military rifles.
Yet, this american journalist, who should know better, uses "assault rifle" and "AK47", conjuring up images of mags emptied in wild, long bursts.
#14
Then there are repossession/shootouts: "With the economy in shambles, auto reposessions are expected to rise, and violence along with them.
The shooting death of Alabama resident Jimmy Tanks by a repo man in the wee hours of June 26 points to part of the problem. The local sheriff says Tanks did what anyone would have done at 2:30 a.m.he went outside, armed, to check on the noise.
The repo man, Kenneth Alvin Smith, who faces murder charges, says Tanks fired first."
#15
The car doesn't look exactly like a premo grade car to steal. Looks like the kind of car you would donate to the Kidney Foundation to get it hauled off; otherwise you would have to pay to have it hauled off. Most likely the AK-47 wasn't on "full auto" although you can legally own a fully automatic weapon in this country if you want to register it with BATF and pay the fee. That may change under Obama. The lifted "assault" weapons ban under George W. Bush has expired. It's not clear what will happen now.
#17
Did you see the freaking hoopty-mobile that was being stolen? No way that thing is worth more than $800. Unless it had rims, or a $3000 stereo system in it.
When you live in a crappy neighborhood, driving a nice-looking car is an invitation to car thieves. Jalopies are the way to go under those circumstances - preferably a domestic make for which labor and parts are cheap. That particular area of Atlanta is more dangerous than parts of Newark, NJ.
A Co Tyrone man who is driving a lorry to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid as part of the 'Viva Palestina' convoy has been detained in Tunisia. John Hurson, from Dungannon, entered the north African country on Wednesday after travelling from Algeria but was stopped by Tunisian police, along with the rest of the convoy, and herded into a football stadium in the province of Gabes, more than 300kms away from the capital city of Tunis. Yesterday, the Tunisian authorities said they would allow the convoy to continue on its journey to Gaza. However, last night the convoy remained in the country and all 120 vehicles were being kept under lock and key in the stadium.
Speaking to the Belfast Telegraph from the stadium in Gabes, Mr Hurson explained he had spent all day trying to get out of the sporting facility but had been repeatedly told they were being kept inside for their "own safety".
"It's just crazy," he said. "The Tunisian Government are keeping everyone under wraps. They are telling us we are not under arrest but they are not letting us out of the stadium. Their excuse is that it's for our safety. There is some sort of civil unrest near the border at the moment. They are afraid we might spark some sort of uprising.
"Some people have managed to get away to a hostel to get showered and rest but we are all still stuck in here. We have been told that they might take us to a hotel tonight but our vehicles will stay in the stadium. It looks as if we won't be able to leave here until Saturday."
Before the convoy was taken to Gabes, Mr Hurson's lorry broke down in the province of Gafsa. He explained the Tunisian authorities had ordered the convoy to keep moving but because they were stuck on the side of the road he claimed they became a bit hostile. Once they were able to get moving, the entire convoy met up in Gabes.
According to Press TV, two human rights activists travelling with the convoy were arrested by Tunisian police on Wednesday night. A reporter, Yvonne Ridley, who is accompanying the convoy, told the news agency the activists were pushed into a van and taken to an undisclosed destination and that their fate remained unknown.
Mr Hurson said many in the convoy were still confused about when they would be able to re-start their trek but acknowledged the Tunisian Government had allowed mechanics into the stadium to help with repairs. "I just have a wheel bearing that needs to be fixed, which is no problem," he said last night. "They have let mechanics in to fix things but in terms of the way they have handled this whole situation, it's been a big mistake."
The 'Viva Palestina' convoy was organised by Respect MP George Galloway in response to the humanitarian crisis which is currently affecting thousands of Palestinians following Israel's military assault last month. More than 100 vehicles, including a fire engine, ambulance and even a boat gathered outside Parliament buildings in London on Valentine's Day and plan to travel more than 5,000 miles through cities such as Bordeaux, Madrid, Tangier, Fez, Ras Jdeir (Libyan border), Tripoli, Cairo and finally ending up at the border crossing of Rafah -- sealed by Cairo despite the humanitarian crisis -- in Palestine on March 9.
#4
According to Press TV, two human rights activists travelling with the convoy were arrested by Tunisian police on Wednesday night. A reporter, Yvonne Ridley, who is accompanying the convoy, told the news agency the activists were pushed into a van and taken to an undisclosed destination and that their fate remained unknown.
Finally a government with brains.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 13:23
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Hope there's film, could be comedy gold. An epic cross between the Hallelujah Trail and The Great Race.
Malaysia's prime minister has called for Myanmar's Muslim boat people to be pushed back if they attempt to land on any Southeast Asian shores in search of asylum, according to newspaper reports Friday. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also took swipes at Myanmar and Thailand on the Rohingya issue, which has escalated into a major problem for the region and one of concern internationally.
Thousands of the stateless Rohingya have fled Myanmar as well as refugee camps in Bangladesh in recent years, but their plight was only highlighted recently when hundreds were believed to have drowned after being pushed out to sea by the Thai military. "But if we cannot be firm we cannot deal with this problem. We have to be firm at all borders. We have to turn them back," Abdullah said in an interview with the English-language Bangkok Post.
The Malaysian leader arrived at this beach-side resort Friday for the annual summit of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations, a 10-nation bloc that includes Myanmar. While the Rohingya issue is not part of the official agenda it appears to be taking up substantial time during sideline discussions at the three-day conference. Thai Foreign Minister Kasit Piromya said Myanmar has agreed to take some of the refugees back but gave few details and said the process would be "difficult." The Myanmar delegation has yet to make a public comment on the issue.
The Rohingyas not recognized as a distinct ethnicity by Myanmar's government and denied full citizenship number about 800,000 in that country. Hundreds of thousands have fled to Bangladesh, Malaysia and the Middle East, and many rights groups have expressed concern that they will be abused if forced to return to Myanmar. Myanmar's consul general in Hong Kong, Ye Myint Aung, earlier this month described Rohingya people as "ugly as ogres" in a letter to media and diplomats.
Kasit, the Thai foreign minister, said ASEAN would work with Myanmar and Bangladesh to determine if the tens of thousands of Rohingya scattered around ASEAN countries come from Myanmar. Asked about a timeframe he said it would be "difficult" because of the large numbers involved. "Myanmar says they will take them back if it can be proven they are Myanmar people of Bengali origin," Kasit said. He said the Myanmar government recognizes the Bengali, an ethnic minority group found mainly in Bangladesh, as one of the country's 135 ethnic groups. But Abdullah expressed frustration in his interview with Myanmar's unwillingness to take the boat people back. "Of course, we know they come from Myanmar (Burma). When we ask Myanmar, they ask: 'Are you sure they are our people? What evidence have you got?'" he said.
ASEAN Secretary-General Surin Pitsuwan said work would soon begin "to define the issue with the Myanmar authorities of who these people are, how to refer to them and how to categorize them and how many of them and how we can help them."
#5
wow, this seems like just the sort of clusterfrak that Obama 2would latch unto. wonder what he is saving it up for?
Posted by: abu do you love ||
02/27/2009 19:24
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#6
Nice show of solidarity, among the Master Religion's Oumma.
The whole point of Islam is to leech off non-Muslims. Ever heard of jizya? Feeding the Somalis was jizya. Feeding the Palestinians is jizya. Muslims will contribute to one Muslim cause - jihad.
On Capitol Hill, the events that usually make the news are the ones that take place in front of television cameras, from votes to testimony to speeches. But an event scheduled to take place today behind closed doors, in a cozy chamber of the Capitol known as the L.B.J. Room, is creating some buzz.
At first glance, the event sounds innocent enough: a screening of a short film. But the films content and the identify of its creator are raising eyebrows. It is a documentary entitled Fitna, by Geert Wilders, a Dutch lawmaker and leader of the right-wing Party for Freedom. Mr. Wilders is best known for his fierce criticism of Islam, which has brought widespread condemnation from Muslim leaders and anti-discrimination groups. Just this year alone, a Dutch court ordered that Mr. Wilders be prosecuted for hate speech, and the British government banned him from entering the country, calling him an undesirable person.
The British ban came just as he was planning to screen Fitna for conservative lawmakers in London. Mr. Wilders was invited to the Capitol by Senator Jon Kyl, Republican of Arizona, who has been at the center of immigration debates in America.
Mr. Wilders film, just 17 minutes long, has been described by some as hate-filled propaganda; at the very least, it is provocative. Throughout the film, which opens with a warning about the very shocking images it contains and can be viewed online, video clips of violence and bloodshed committed by Muslims are interspersed with verses from the Koran. At one point in the film whose title is apparently an Arabic term referring to disagreement and division among people video footage of one of the planes striking the World Trade Center on Sept. 11, 2001, is juxtaposed with a verse from the Koran:
Prepare for them whatever force and cavalry ye are able of gathering, to strike terror, to strike terror into the hearts of the enemies, of Allah and your enemies.
Other clips show images of Westerners being beheaded; carnage from the 2005 London transit bombings; and imams making statements like Allah is happy when non-Muslims get killed. At one point a young child is shown saying that she learned from the Koran that Jews are apes and pigs. The film ends with a message from Mr. Wilders that Islam seeks to destroy our Western civilization and has to be defeated.
Mr. Wilders has said that the film is meant to demonstrate how verses from the Koran push Muslims toward violence. Mr. Wilders has defended the film and his positions by saying in interviews, I dont hate Muslims I hate Islam. In an interview with the conservative talk-show host Glenn Beck on Tuesday, Mr. Wilders said:
I have nothing against Muslims. But my point is, that the Islam is a totalitarian ideology that should be compared not so much with other religions but with other totalitarian ideologies like communism or fascism.
Mr. Wilders appearance on the Beck program was one of several stops on a media tour of conservative outlets in the United States. He has posted video of that interview and links to many blog posts and Web site articles about him on his own blog.
At least one congressman has publicly opposed his visit to Washington. Keith Ellison, Democrat of Minnesota, who is Muslim, compared the screening of Fitna on Capitol Hill to showing the infamously racist film The Birth of a Nation at the White House. In a statement, Mr. Ellison said the movie compares Islam to Nazism, and added that he was disappointed by Sen. Kyls decision to screen it in the Capitol:
I am a strong advocate of First Amendment free speech. However, this is not about free speech, but rather an issue of propriety, timing and venue. Senator Kyl has every right to host anyone he chooses. However, it becomes a question of propriety to use the United States Capitol as a venue for the condemnation of an entire religion.
Oddly enough, the screening is taking place on the same day that Senator John Kerry of Massachusetts is holding a hearing on Capitol Hill entitled Engaging with Muslim Communities around the World. Madeleine Albright, the former secretary of state under President Clinton, is scheduled to share her thoughts at the hearing on strengthening U.S.-Muslim relations. Whether the hearings were scheduled to coincide with the screening, or vice versa, is unclear. A spokesman for Mr. Ellison said the congressman planned to issue a statement this afternoon. Calls to Senator Kyls office on Thursday morning were not immediately returned.
Other than Senator Kyl, it was unclear who else would be attending the screening.
#3
I will be attending in spirit. Wilders represents our best chance of countering Islamist creep.
Thank you, Mr. Kyl. I wanted to say this to you on your website, but you ask for too much personal information to leave an opinion. I admire you for inviting Wilders.
#6
Y'all snark as you please, but this is important
OBAMA IS WATCHING THIS FILM and that fact alone means he's finally getting the truth stuffed down his throat.
This is a first struggling baby step toward washing the liberal crap out of his mind.
When he learns the truth, we'll all be better off.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2009 20:09
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#7
Unfortunately nothing in the article indicates that Bambi will be watching the film.
#8
If only Obama WERE to see the film. Unfortunately, as his act of returning the Churchill bust to England unrequested shows, he's not exactly tolerant of those who criticize Islam.
If passed, President Obama's spending and tax blueprint for 2010 will mean the U.S. government's debt will increase 63 percent in two years.
The publicly held debt -- money that is owed by the government to foreign and domestic creditors -- was 40.8 percent of gross domestic product in 2008. That increased to 58.7 percent based on projections for the fiscal year that began on Oct. 1, and will rise again to 64.6 percent in 2010 under Obama's proposed budget.
Gross domestic product is a dollar value of all the finished goods and services produced by the nation. The United States' GDP was $14.22 trillion in 2008, of which $5.8 trillion was debt held by the public. In 2009, GDP is projected to increase to $14.4 trillion but the publicly held debt will rise to $8.3 trillion. According to Obama's budget plan, the economy will reach $14.7 trillion. Public debt will rise to $9.5 trillion.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2009
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#1
Barry doesn't care about any of this! The debt could rise 163 percent, no problem. These are just a bunch of white man's numbers. It's the 40 acres and the mule he cares about. We won, it's our turn.... we're mak'n up time. Pass the Beluga Michelle.
Leading American supporters of Israel have been quick to embrace a controversial Israeli nationalist who is likely to play a major role in the new Israeli government in an effort to blunt any harm his rise might do to Israels image in the United States.
Avigdor Liebermans party took third in the parliamentary election earlier this month on a platform warning of threats from Israelis Arab minority. The success of his "Israel Is Our Home" party makes him a key player in forming a new government, but he has drawn denunciations from leading figures on the American and Israeli left, who warned that he could endanger a pillar of the U.S.-Israel relationship: the case that the countries share pluralistic, democratic values. Palestinian advocates, meanwhile, say Liebermans popularity exposes an ugly face of Israels relationship with its own Arab citizens.
But Lieberman has mounted a charm offensive, downplaying the harsh stands like a demand that Israeli citizens swear a loyalty oath that many of his supporters found so appealing. This week, he published an op-ed in an American Jewish newspaper, The Jewish Week, claiming that his concept of responsible citizenship is actually no different from Great Britains.
A former Israeli ambassador to the U.S., Danny Ayalon, has been trying to smooth and soften Liebermans profile with nervous American Jews. Since there was no good answer by the Israeli left to the rise of Lieberman, they began all this name-calling fascist, racist, not democratic, said Ayalon, who served in Washington from 2002 to 2006.
On the stump during the election, Lieberman seemed to suggest that Israeli Arabs, many of whom tell pollsters they sympathize with Hamas, could be stripped of their citizenship. Without loyalty, there can be no citizenship, he said. Lieberman is also known for an undiplomatic tone: He has been quoted saying everyone from disloyal Israel Arabs to Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak can go to hell.
But Ayalon said Liebermans words had been misinterpreted and that a loyalty oath would be required only for government positions. Nothing is further from the truth," he said. "Nobodys going to be kicked out of here or anything like that. Stripping citizenship is really something which is not a good idea and this is not what we would like to see."
Lieberman will visit the United States after Israels new governing coalition forms, Ayalon said, though he has already begun reaching out to American Jewish leaders. The party leader addressed a meeting of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations at a hotel in Jerusalem last week a meeting at which he did not bring up the loyalty oath. He also met Sen. Joseph I. Lieberman (I-Conn.) in Jerusalem last week.
His allies make the case that hes not really that conservative he supports a two-state solution, though he would reach it in part by bargaining with Palestinian leaders using land that includes Israeli Arab populations and that hes avowedly secular. And American Jewish leaders, who had initially taken a standoffish posture amid fears that Avigdor Lieberman would damage the U.S.-Israel relationship, are now publicly making the case that hes not so bad. There is nothing in his speeches that indicates someone who would threaten the shared values that we have, said Abraham Foxman, the national director of the Anti-Defamation League. Hes a politician who got elected on a populist theme on the issue of loyalty, citizenship it was more of a political theme to play on the issues of insecurity out there. He hasnt suggested any specific legislation.
There a lot of exaggeration and hype about who he is, said Malcolm Hoenlein, the executive vice president of the Conference of Presidents, who noted that Jews as well as Arabs would be bound by any proposed loyalty oath. Its really a much more nuanced picture than people have jumped on here in creating a straw man. The fact is he built a party, and he appeals to a significant portion of the population.
I dont think it is a blot on Israeli democracy for an Israeli minister to say, We have a real problem if 20 percent of our population is in fact not loyal to the state and wants the state to disappear, said Elliott Abrams, who was a National Security Council official under President George W. Bush. It is not right to say that by raising this issue Lieberman somehow damages Israeli or puts himself out of polite company.
Those voices and others are seeking to calm the waters after harsh attacks on Lieberman from the left. Rabbi Eric Yoffie, the president of the Union for Reform Judaism, denounced Lieberman for running an outrageous, abominable, hate-filled campaign, brimming with incitement that, if left unchecked, could lead Israel to the gates of hell. He called on American Jewish leaders to denounce Lieberman. If we are silent or speak the language of equivocation, we will weaken rather than strengthen Israels cause. The group Peace Now has taken out ads in Jewish newspapers, asking, Where is the outrage?
Weve always been able to relate to Israel based on the principle of democracy, and the minority Arab population being given democratic rights, said Jeremy Ben-Ami, who heads another left-leaning group, J Street. Its very important that Israeli never go down that road of abandoning basic democratic values and principles.
Palestinian advocates, meanwhile, see Lieberman as embodying Israels worst failings. Lieberman's politics are truly odious, racist and incompatible with any notion of democracy and equality in a modern state, said Ali Abunimah, a fellow at the Palestine Center in Washington. He added that much of the anti-Arab racism he expresses publicly is deeply embedded in Israel's society, economy, and political system and tacitly endorsed by all the other major Zionist parties.
Lieberman's and his American allies' efforts to clean up his image have met, so far, with mixed results. Top officials of the American Jewish Committee, which publishes the Jewish Week, felt obliged to publish a rebuttal to Lieberman's claims of moderation in his own op-ed.
Liebermans impact on Israels image may largely depend on his role within the new government. While Ayalon said the foreign affairs ministry is likely, a lower-profile job could keep him out of the spotlight. Others argue that he could be a useful foil for Benjamin Netanyahu, allowing the new prime minister to better cast himself as a centrist.
Already, though, Lieberman has begun to audition for the foreign minister slot with his high-profile meeting with Sen. Lieberman in Jerusalem on Sunday. In a sign of continuing American skittishness, the senator, a congressional staffer said, kept his distance.
It does not take any great leap of imagination to realize that Sen. Lieberman has very different views on many of these issues than Avigdor Lieberman, said the staffer, who described the meeting on the condition of anonymity. It was made very clear during their interaction that they dont see eye to eye on many, many things.
#1
In January 2009, during Israel's military operation in Gaza, Lieberman argued that Israel "must continue to fight Hamas just like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II. Then, too, the occupation of the country was unnecessary."
Sounds like a plan! Little wonder our esteemed congress has little use for the man.
A row that erupted after an Invercargill cafe owner ejected two Israeli customers during the fighting in Gaza in January has been settled with an apology.
The Turkish owner of the cafe refused to serve two Israeli women in January when he discovered where they were from. The cafe owner, a Muslim, man said it was his protest against Israel because of the death and destruction that was happening in the Gaza Strip. Local residents later protested outside his cafe saying he was wrong to ban the Israelis.
The Human Rights Commission had about 20 complaints about the ban. The commission says all issues between the two parties have been settled. It says the parties have met and reached a mutually satisfactory agreement.
An apology has been offered and accepted in the spirit in which it was intended, the Commission says in a statement. It says in arriving at the agreement the parties have come to a greater understanding of the discrimination provisions of the Human Rights Act. "The parties recognise that this has been a matter of public interest and they want it known that they both value and support harmonious race relations," the commission says.
As part of the terms of the agreement, both parties have agreed that the details of the agreement will remain confidential, the commission says.
#4
"The parties recognise that this has been a matter of public interest and they want it known that they both value and support harmonious race relations," the commission says.
I suspect the Israelis are actually darker of skin than the Turkish New Zealander. But leave us not let reality get in the way of a popular meme.
#1
And yet just 3 days later: Institute for Energy Research (IER) president Thomas J. Pyle issued the following statement today after the Interior Department announced its plans to withdraw from consideration acreage in Colorado, Utah and Wyoming where research and development of a small portion of our nations homegrown oil shale reserves had previously been scheduled to take place:
Earlier this week, Secretary Salazar suggested Americas massive and homegrown reserves of oil shale held great potential. Unfortunately, the Interior Departments decision today may help ensure that potential never becomes reality in the process, locking-away an American energy resource larger than the total reserves of the entire Middle East.
At a time of great economic uncertainty, with millions of Americans out of work and state budgets stretched beyond their breaking point, responsible development of Americas abundant shale resources could be a way out of our current condition, and a way back to a better one. The Interior Departments announcement today effectively forecloses that opportunity.
Posted by: ed ||
02/27/2009 6:46
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#2
Its amazing how dumb these politicians really are. In December Colorado brought in rules which extended the period for permitting drilling to 65 days. In any other state, the permit period is about 7 days. The regulations that were brought in and the considerations which were bought into the process included one provision, for instance, which required companies extracting natural gas from certain coal seams to treat their water pits so as not to attract mosquitoes that could transmit West Nile virus to pregnant sage grouse. I kid you not. The I-70 corridor economy down to Grand Junction is going to be gutted economically. It happened in the 80's and now its deja vu all over again.
#3
Secretary Salsa is the front man for the vironuts. Does he talk to the Eneregy Department? Probably not, unless they are already on the same windpower page.
Gordon Brown was under growing pressure to hold an independent inquiry into Britains complicity in torture last night after ministers admitted that terror suspects detained by British soldiers in Iraq were secretly flown by the US to Afghanistan.
John Hutton, the Defence Secretary, told MPs that despite repeated official assurances to the contrary, British soldiers were involved in at least one case of rendition. Two suspects captured and detained by British Special Forces outside Baghdad in 2004 were subsequently removed by the US to Afghanistan where they remain in detention. There was no evidence that the two, believed to be Pakistani members of Lashkar-e-Taiba, a proscribed organisation with links to al-Qaeda, had been tortured, Mr Hutton insisted.
But the Governments embarrassment was heightened when Mr Hutton revealed that officials told Jack Straw and Charles Clarke about the case in April 2006 in internal briefing papers. Mr Straw repeatedly denied that Britain was involved in rendition while he was Foreign Secretary. Yesterday Mr Hutton sought to defend his colleagues, saying that officials had made only brief references to the case in lengthy papers which did not highlight its significance. However, he added: It is clear to me that the transfer to Afghanistan of these two individuals should have been questioned at the time. A spokesman for Mr Straw said: If he had been alerted to the significance of the case at the time its a fair suggestion that he would have brought it to the attention of Parliament.
The admission is the latest in a series of revelations that campaigners say undermine official denials that Britain systematically helped to facilitate the sending of suspects for US interrogation to countries where torture is not illegal. Allegations that MI5 officers were complicit in the torture of the British resident Binyam Mohamed in Morocco are being investigated by the Attorney-General. David Miliband, the Foreign Secretary, admitted last year that, despite previous denials, the British territory of Diego Garcia was used in the US rendition of suspected terrorists.
Mr Hutton made the latest admission after allegations by a former SAS officer, Ben Griffin, that British soldiers routinely turned over captives to US forces in the knowledge that they would be tortured. The Defence Secretary said that while a review by a senior general had found no evidence to substantiate the claims of complicity in torture, it had revealed at least one case of British involvement in rendition. He also apologised for inaccuracies in figures on the number of detainees held by British Forces in the period since January 2004. He said that in three parliamentary answers since February 2007, ministers overstated by about 1,000 the number of detainees held.
Andrew Tyrie, chairman of the All-Party Parliamentary Group on Extraordinary Rendition, called for a full Government inquiry into British involvement in the US rendition programme. He said US assurances that it did not use torture were unreliable.
The two suspected Lashkar-e-Taiba terrorists were detained in a nighttime raid by special forces, according to defence sources, and were described yesterday by military officials as very, very bad people. The SAS, backed by soldiers from the Special Forces Support Group, had been engaged since 2003 in one of the most challenging covert counter-terrorist operations in the regiments history. They were working alongside Delta Force and other US special forces units. The SAS had no facilities for holding prisoners and handed them to the Americans for interrogation. This was normal procedure, although never publicly acknowledged. Military sources said the Americans did not have interpreters to help in the interrogation of the two men, which was why they were shipped out of Iraq and sent to the US base at Bagram in Afghanistan to be questioned.
The review by the general uncovered a confused paper trail. According to American records, US special forces had arrested the two suspects, but it was clear from the paperwork provided by the SAS at Hereford that it had been a British operation. What is still not clear is why the Ministry of Defence was not included when the reference to the handover of two prisoners to the Americans in 2004 was circulated in a briefing note to ministers at the Home Office and Foreign Office in 2006.
#1
They're ignorant buyers with too much money and too little common sense. They'll get some good properties, but they'll also get fleeced. Look for more "we Chinese feel humiliated by you slick Americans" talk as soon as the stories start to hit print.
#3
Well, can we assume they're Chinese that believe in the fruits of capitalism? If so, sell as many home as you can to counter the migrants that come here only for the socialist redistribution. I think the Chinese have the numbers to make it happen.
#4
The Asian invasion occurred a long time ago, this is just the continuation of a major trend because house prices are lower. My kids' schools here in Orange County are filled with every Asian race (huge Vietnamese, Chinese, Korean populations) because they all say they can get the best, cheapest education here.
Luckily the Asians seem, for the most part, to be a very nice people. Wish they'd leave some room in the honors classes for other people though. (We also have a huge Islamic population, although significantly less prominent since 9/11).
Caucasians in California are becoming a distinct minority. The barn door was opened a long time ago and has never been shut.
#6
A friend, bought a property about ten years ago for his daughter who was studying at Melbourne Uni(my job was to keep an eye on her) She sublet bedrooms to other Chinese students, so she never needed any pocket money from him. His two sons then used the property under the same scenario.
He sold two years ago at the height of the property boom.
So basically educated his three children for free, got them permanent residence status and made a nice profit, all from the one gambit.
You suckers will never learn, the best friends Israel has ever had have been Trunks.
NEW YORK (CBS) ¯ In a swift about face from her views as New York's senator, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton is now hammering Israel over its treatment of Palestinians in Gaza.
As First Lady, Clinton raised eyebrows when she kissed Suha Arafat.
Since she was then seeking a Senate seat the resulting brouhaha caused her to "re-think" her positions. "I'm a very strong supporter of Israel," Clinton said back in February 2000.
On Thursday, as Secretary of State she had yet another about face in the form of angry messages demanding Israel speed up aid to Gaza. Jewish leaders are furious. "I am very surprised, frankly, at this statement from the United States government and from the secretary of state," said Mortimer Zuckerman, publisher of the New York Daily News and member of the NYC Jewish Community Relations Council.
"I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York," Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, said. "Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is."
Clinton's decision to hammer Israel comes as the Clintons and President Barack Obama are planning to give the Palestinians $900 million toward the rebuilding of Gaza in the wake of the Israeli offensive that was sparked by Hamas rocket fire. "We are working across the government to see what our approach will be," Clinton said.
"I don't believe that we should be in a position at this point to do anything to strengthen Hamas," Zuckerman said. "We surely know what Hamas stands for as I say they are the forward battalions of Iran."
For some, Clinton's change of position is upsetting. "I feel it's unfortunate that they don't continue the policy of the Bush administration, which was much more pro-Israel," said Akiva Homnick of Jerusalem.
"I happen to have a lot of family who live in Israel and I feel, personally, when you are dealing with people who are very strong against you, you have to stand up to them," said Tami Davudoff of Kew Gardens.
"Hillary had Mrs. Arafat here and she invited Mrs. Arafat for lunch when she was the first lady," added Babak Chafe of Great Neck. "She is pro-Palestinian 100 percent, really. Of course, we always knew it."
"The easy way to make a peace agreement is to pressure Israel because you can't pressure the Arabs," said Solomon Loewi of Monsey, N.Y.
All this could lead to a chilly reception when Mrs. Clinton arrives in the Middle East next week.
The new U.S. envoy to the Middle East, George Mitchell, arrived in Israel on Thursday with a mission to inject new life into peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians.
#1
(1) You suckers will never learn, the best friends Israel has ever had have been Trunks.
I would amend this to say "the best friends Israel has ever had vote Republican".
American ruling classes---just like European, always been friends of petrodollars.
(2) I'd like to add "You ain't seen nothing, suckers. Wait till your 'hope and change' starts looking for scapegoats to blame for worsening economic conditions."
#3
How is this different than the black special interest groups that blindly support a party that sacrifices their children and future to the NEA and the teachers unions? /rhetorical question.
#5
Jews Say Secretary Of State Not the Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, Madeleine Albright, Warren Christopher, Lawrence Eagleburger, James Baker, George Shultz, Alexander Haig, Ed Muskie, Cyrus Vance, Henry Kissinger, William Rogers, David Rusk Hillary Clinton They Used to Know.
#6
When all is said and done, I think a Higher Power may haul obambi up short when "the one" tries to put His chosen people under the bus...
Posted by: M. Murcek ||
02/27/2009 10:48
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"I liked her a lot more as a senator from New York," Assemblyman Dov Hikind, D-Brooklyn, said. "Now, I wonder as I used to wonder who the real Hillary Clinton is."
#9
Some Hillary apologists are saying that this criticism of Israeli delivery of food to Gaza is just performance art done to get street cred with Arabs. According to this theory, it puts her in a better position to use 'smart diplomacy' to get something from Egypt, Jordan, the Saudis, the PA, whatever.
#2
Short Round just found the bargaining chip he needed ...
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2009 9:49
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Note to Barry:
You get in the way, they don't give a flying phuech!
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a neutral United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli jet fighter planes and motor torpedo boats on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 and wounded more than 170 crew members, and damaged the ship severely. The ship was in international waters north of the Sinai Peninsula, about 25.5 nautical miles (47.2 km) northwest from the Egyptian city of Arish./em>
#6
So we're going to give leverage against us to an enemy soon to be armed with nukes so that we can continue to dominate a nation of goatherders.
Brilliant, Barry. Just brilliant. /sarcasm
Posted by: Ho Chi Glusoque7625 ||
02/27/2009 12:34
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Earlier this month President Medvedev said that Moscow was ready for fully-fledged, comprehensive co-operation on Afghanistan but went on to imply that its help was contingent on US concessions on NATO expansion and US plans for a missile defense system in Eastern Europe.
So get on with the negations. Russia is not the enemy, Islam is, both Shia and Sunni i.e Islamic countries and groups controlled from either Iran or Saudi Arabia.
#9
NATO spokesmen have been talking about this for weeks. Thus the U.S. has to consider the possibility. I think it's a bloody awful idea, but nobody consults me on important matters.
#11
The USS Liberty incident was an attack on a neutral United States Navy technical research ship, USS Liberty, by Israeli jet fighter planes and motor torpedo boats on June 8, 1967, during the Six-Day War. The combined air and sea attack killed 34 and wounded more than 170 crew members, and damaged the ship severely.
As coincidence would have it, while in the Navy I met a sailor (No name or rank please) who was aboard the Liberty, he said the Israelis knew who they were and tried hard o sink them, until two jets at supersonic blasted over the mast and climbed to attack, all of a sudden they were as friendly and helpful as they could be, it's a damn good thing they were because the fighters were recalled (He found this out later)
I trust him, he was there and provided much The Govt has not released. (Hence the no name or rank)
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2009 20:18
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One can pretty much infer what the Iranian terms are going to be, especially when it comes to the western Med.
The AGIs were bastard stepchildren. They didn't fall under direct Naval command, nor were they seconded to any of the Fleet commands. Their reporting chain was quite convoluted. What they did was very much to the distaste of the then-officers-and-gentlemen-don't-read-each-others'-mail naval leadership (kind of like the way close-air support is to the USAF, but more...emphatic). They operated outside of any known naval forces. The Navy also had other indirectly-contributing problems during that era.
Which is why when both the Pueblo and the Liberty were attacked, naval support was either never activated or came quite late. And why any after-action results were low-key or not for general consumption.
Homeland Security Secretary Janet Napolitano has ordered a review of a Tuesday, Feb. 24, raid at Yamato Engine Specialists in Bellingham that resulted in the arrests of 28 workers believed to be in the country illegally.
Napolitano told lawmakers during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that she did not know about the raid before it happened and was briefed on it early Wednesday. She has asked U.S Immigration and Customs Enforcement, which conducted the raid, for answers.
On Tuesday morning, ICE agents descended on the shop and rounded up 25 men and three women. Most of the people arrested are in custody at the Northwest Detention Center in Tacoma, where they await deportation proceedings. Three of the 28 were women who were processed and released to allow them to care for their children.
Of the 28, agents found 25 Mexican nationals and one person each from El Salvador, Honduras and Guatemala.
In a statement Tuesday, ICE officials said many of the people obtained the jobs using fake Social Security numbers and other counterfeit documents.
Shirin Dhanani Makalai, whose family owns the business, said the raid came after months of cooperating with ICE on an audit, which included providing employee rosters to federal authorities. She said her business does not advocate hiring illegal immigrants.
"We try to stay within the guidelines, within the law," Makalai said Tuesday.
#4
Napolitano told lawmakers during a hearing in Washington, D.C., on Wednesday that she did not know about the raid before it happened and was briefed on it early Wednesday.
If the Secretary of the Department of Homeland Security needs to approve all raids then there won't be many of them.
That's the whole point DoDo. The Obamanation wants us to be flooded with his socialist dupes. What kind of king can you be without all the peons beholding to you?
Zimbabwe will consider fixing its local dollar to the South African rand but will not adopt it as its main currency, President Robert Mugabe said in an interview published on Thursday.
"I do not see us adopting the rand as our main currency. Even in Sacu, the South African Customs Union, the members have their own currencies even though they use the rand," Mugabe told Harare-based Herald Online. "Botswana has its pula, Namibia has its dollar, Lesotho, Swaziland, they all have their own currencies. But they base them on the rand and that is something that we might consider doing here."
Mugabe said "at the moment we are using all international currencies".
"When it was first mooted, the idea of paying people in US dollars, I was against it and I still am because we just do not have enough [foreign currency]. It is a problem that confronts us even now.
"Personally, I think we should revalue the Zimbabwe dollar in a manner that fixes its relationship with the rand for a while. We will protect it for a while, for a while as we increase production. But we should protect it."
Mugabe said some Zimbabweans have started to speculate with the Zimbabwean dollar. "The problem is that the people of Zimbabwe have become speculators. There are some people who, if you say the [Zimbabwe] dollar is four to one with the rand, they will immediately make it eight to one and 10 to one.
"So there is this escalation on a daily basis. We should fix it [the value of the local currency] legally and keep it there for now. I want to discuss this with [Finance Minister Tendai] Biti.
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#1
"The problem is that the people of Zimbabwe have become speculators.
Isn't that just the way? If it were not for all of these bloody people, Zim would be a lovely place.
#2
Yeah, if you "fix" your currency to a standard, Bob, you can't print money at whim. How're you going to bribe your minions without the printing press rondo?
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/27/2009 10:13
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Zim would be a lovely place.
It was a lovely place!
I married a ZA girl in Salisbury 46 years ago.
This day in history:
1801 - Washington, DC is placed under the jurisdiction of the U.S. Congress. (Bad idea)
1900 - The British Labour Party is founded. (Beginning of the end for Britain)
1933 - Reichstag fire
1942 - World War II: Allies lose the Battle of the Java Sea
1951 - The Twenty-second Amendment to the United States Constitution, limiting Presidents to two terms, is ratified. (Thank God)
1991 - Gulf War: Kuwait is liberated.
MEXICO CITY (AP) Iran is exploring ways to expand anemic trade with Mexico as part of stepped up efforts to deepen ties with Latin America, a top Iranian diplomat said Thursday. Annual trade between Mexico and Iran is a mere $50 million, compared to $2 billion with Brazil, said Ali Reza Salari, Iran's deputy foreign minister for the Americas.
"We are here to investigate, why so low?" Reza Salari told reporters in Mexico City, where he was to meet with diplomats and business leaders. "With Mexico, there is absolutely no political problem between us. No cultural problems. It shows we have many shortcomings in our trade relations."
Iran has a deepening alliance with some leftist-led Latin American countries, based partly on mutual antagonism toward the United States. Housing projects have brought hundreds of Iranian engineers and specialists to Venezuela, and Tehran has opened new embassies in Nicaragua and Bolivia.
Deeper ties with Mexico's U.S.-friendly conservative government would necessarily be more practical in nature. Mexico has been trying to find new markets for its exports in a bid to ease economic reliance on the United States especially since being dragged to the brink of recession by U.S. financial turmoil. That could provide an opportunity for Iran as it seeks to ease its international isolation. Reza Salari said he sees opportunities to expand tourism and energy cooperation with Mexico, but acknowledged that such efforts are at a tentative phase.
Posted by: Steve White ||
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#1
Supplise! Hezzie gun power on your back door. Gun sex and federal incopotence.
Different situation, Darth. There's a different bunch of crooks in the Mexican government, and the narco crooks don't care what kind of people are backing them so long as they get support.
Different situation, Darth. There's a different bunch of crooks in the Mexican government, and the narco crooks don't care what kind of people are backing them so long as they get support.
#6
I think this is why Bush didn't close the border. By allowing porosities to exist, the cartels could still make their money, and in return they would snitch out any middle easterners trying to slip in with the coyotes. If terrorism comes to us from Mexico, the result will be a lot of dead mexican drug runners, probably a lot of dead drug barons and a steel curtain type border (the expense will at that time be justifiable).
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan People's Party MNA Nabil Gabol has said that Pakistan Muslim League-N Chief Nawaz Sharif intends to destabilize the government. Breaking news, folks. Remember, you heard it here first!
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UK Justice Secretary Jack Straw was targeted by internet fraudsters who sent emails to his contacts claiming he was in need of emergency money while on a foreign trip, according to a report Wednesday.
Straw told his local constituency's newspaper, the Lancashire Telegraph in northern England, that the scammers had emailed ministry officials, ruling Labour Party members, and constituents asking for $3 000 because he had lost his wallet while in the Nigerian capital of Lagos.
The fake email, issued under the heading "The Right Hon Jack Straw MP", said: "I misplaced my wallet on my way to the hotel where my money and other valuable things were kept.
"I would like you to assist me with a soft loan urgently to settle my hotel bills and get myself back home."
It claimed that Straw, a former home secretary and foreign secretary, was visiting Lagos for a project called Empowering Youth to Fight Racism, though he was in fact in the UK.
One constituent apparently replied to the email, but no money was offered.
The account, a hotmail email address that he used to deal with constituency matters, was suspended by Microsoft.
"The internet is wonderful in many ways, but these gangs put a lot of effort in because they make money from it," Straw told the newspaper. "In a lot of cases they do get people to cough up. But I think it was so obviously ridiculous that I could go off trekking in Africa and I would lose my wallet."
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
One constituent apparently replied to the email, but no money was offered.
That goes without saying, I mean who on Earth would pay to get him back? Now if these people had claimed to be holding the Man of Straw & threatened to release him unless cash was received it could all have been rather different...
#3
I can think of a way Jack could earn that money he lost, and it's no worse than what he's been doing all these year to the UK citizens and her allies
/I know, it was a hoax
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2009 20:06
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Rival Palestinian groups agreed on Thursday to set up a unity government by the end of March after reconciliation talks aimed at ending long-running factional feuding, Palestinian officials said.
The agreement, which could lead to the creation of a Palestinian government acceptable to the international community, was announced by officials from two Palestinian factions involving in the Cairo-sponsored dialogue.
Jamil al-Majdalawi, an official with the leftist Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine(PFLP), told AFP the factions had formed several committees that would pave the way for the unity government. "The committees will end their work and a Palestinian unity government will be formed by the end of March," he said.
His comments were confirmed by Mohammed al-Hindi, deputy leader of the Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
Posted by: Fred ||
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#1
Palestinian factions agree to form unity govt, divide Obama's bounty.
Kuwaiti Foreign Minister Sheikh Mohammad al-Sabah held talks in Baghdad Thursday in the highest-level visit since the 1990 invasion of his country, winning assurances he is dealing with a reformed Iraq. Sheikh Mohammad said a joint commission would hold its first meeting soon to try to thrash out agreement on a list of outstanding issues
Posted by: Fred ||
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Fresh gunfire erupted at a paramilitary camp in the Bangladesh capital, Dhaka, on Thursday, police said, as troops took to streets in towns across the country a day after 50 people were killed during a mutiny over pay.
"Lay down your guns immediately and go back to barracks. Do not force me to take tough actions or push my patience beyond tolerable limits," Prime Minister Sheikh Hasina warned mutinous Bangladesh Rifles (BDR) border troops in a national broadcast.
"Give democracy and the economy a chance to develop."
The turmoil underscores the challenges faced by Hasina, who took office only last month after winning parliamentary elections in December that returned Bangladesh to democracy after nearly two years of army-backed emergency rule.
Bangladesh, home to more than 140-million people, has had several military coups since independence in 1971, but this week's mutinies over pay and command structure do not appear to be politically motivated.
The main duty of the BDR is guarding the country's borders, but often they back up the army and police in meeting other defence and security requirements.
Traditionally the BDR is led by army officers. Demands by some BDR troops to draw commanders from their own ranks, and for better pay and benefits, sparked the shooting among BDR members on Wednesday, officials said.
Fresh trouble
Fresh trouble broke out on Thursday, only hours after it appeared Hasina had negotiated a surrender by offering the mutineers an amnesty.
"Firing started again at the BDR complex in the afternoon although we were expecting the revolt ... to end soon," a police officer said.
Posted by: Fred ||
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President Barack Obama is expected on Friday to unveil his proposal for gradually reducing U.S. troop strength in Iraq. Mr. Obama will make the announcement at Camp Lejeune, a Marine base in North Carolina. Phasing out U.S. troop deployments to Iraq was one of Mr. Obama's campaign promises last year.
"In 16 months, we should be able to reduce our combat troops, provide some relief to military families and our troops, and bolster our efforts in Afghanistan so that we can capture and kill [Osama] bin Laden and crush al-Qaida," said President Obama.
White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs says the president gave his advisers specific instructions. "The president asked the national security team to put together a plan that they and he believed would accomplish the goal of removing our combat forces from Iraq in the most responsible way," said Robert Gibbs.
Like many government decisions, this one involved some compromise. Mr. Obama wanted to withdraw troops during a 16 month period. Military chiefs asked for 23 months. They apparently have settled on 19 months, with as many as 50,000 troops staying behind - most as trainers and advisers. That angered some lawmakers in the president's Democratic Party, who want all U.S. forces to leave Iraq.
Gibbs says Mr. Obama has always talked about the need to leave some troops behind. "The president also talked on the campaign that some force would remain in Iraq for limited missions, consistent with training and combating terrorism," he said.
Republican Senator John McCain raises a different concern. He was a prisoner of war during the Vietnam conflict and he points out that that war started with U.S. troops acting as advisers. "The draw down will take place," said John McCain. "We will leave, I've read, as many as 50,000 - quote - 'advisers.' But let's also be realistic. Advisers in any conflict are in harm's way."
Posted by: Steve White ||
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Ah, yes. The late Friday afternoon press release. Always a sign that skullduggery is afoot.
My guess: All the combat troops are coming home. Hooray! Obama has single-handedly ended the War In Iraq. P.S. All troops currently in theatre are reclassifed as support elements and will stay for another couple years.
#2
how about getting those troops that have had back to back tours of duty some stop-loss compensation? now thats change i could believe in. The pols would sooner concern themselves with the PR implications of Gitmo, than with the welfare of soldiers.
politicians say they love our troops, pure phoney baloney. the egomanical ones whove never actually been enlisted, wouldnt be so egotistical if they had.
#4
"P.S. All troops currently in theatre are reclassifed as support elements and will stay for another couple years" decades. There fixed, with permanent troop rotations like another South Korea, with its force of about 35,000 US Troops. Just a guess.
#6
What I have heard so far is that Obama intends to remove the bulk of the troops on a fixed timetable that essentially matches both the Iraqi demands and the Bush estimates from last summer/fall, and includes the caveat that the current path of progress continues. There's no change.
#7
All troops currently in theatre are reclassifed as support elements and will stay for another couple years
Got it in the 1st try, SteveS!
My ACR is going over(again)in the near future as a "Convoy Security Company".
actual quote from a moonbat aquaintance follows:
Whiny moonbat/
But I thot The Iraquians were at peace?
/Whiny moonbat
Posted by: N guard ||
02/27/2009 9:57
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CNN > POTUS OBAMA has just announced before US Marines that the US COMBAT MISSION IN IRAQ will effec end next August 31, 2010 wid the planned departure of approxi 100,000 US troops from Iraq, leaving behind another 50,000 to advise and train Iraqi forces.
WITH THIS ANNOUNCEMENT, BASICALLY ALL RADICAL ISLAM NEEDS IS TO CONDUCT LIMITED-SCALE LOCAL ACTINS WHILE WAITING FOR IRAN, ETC. TO PC DEV AND INCREASE ITS NUCLEAR ARSENAL. WIth the US -World economy in alleged pervasive "recession" [or "Great Depression II"], and repor worsening, Radical islam can prob wage that the remaining 50,000 US troops in Iraq will decline even further over time.
ITS WHAT HIDDEN IMAM-MAHDI "DIVINE APPEARANCES" ARE MADE FOR.
PESHAWAR: An activist of PML (N) tried committing suicide by setting himself on fire during protest against SC verdict here on Thursday. According to sources, the activist was identified as Jan Muhammad Habib. The people on the occasion put out fire and shifted him to hospital.
Posted by: Fred ||
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Another case of do-it-yourself head lice treatment, no doubt.
Financial losses are tallied now at Rp 2.8 trillion (US$235 million) for Robert Tantular's alleged scams as a shareholder of PT Antaboga Delta Securitas and Bank Century, a National Police representative said Thursday.
"We are looking at two cases similar in nature. The Antaboga case has incurred losses of Rp 1.4 trillion and the Century Bank case Rp 1.4 trillion," National Police chief of detectives Comr. Gen. Susno Duaji said, as quoted by Antara news.
He added the investigation has so far revealed various illegal practices Tantular repeatedly conducted to Bank Century's detriment, including a plan in 2008 to cash in an obligatory note worth US$65 million issued sometime in 2005-2006, though "the money never came through in the end".
Between January and Novermber 2008, Tantular is said to have embezzled $18 million worth of foreign currency. In October 2008, he allegedly had a false letter of credit worth Rp 97 billion given to PT SCI.
"He would use his position as a bank owner to blackmail the branch managers. This was his modus operandi," Duaji said, adding several other instances of abnormal activities have been reported.
As for the amount of money generated from the Antaboga scam, Duaji said Rp 276.7 billion had been channeled to Tantular and Rp 248 billion and Rp 854 had been distributed to Anton Tantular and Hartawan Alwi, respectively for a total of Rp 1.38 trillion.
The Antaboga-Century saga began late last year when hundreds of worried investors were unable to redeem their Antaboga investments after its selling agent Century was taken over by the government amid signs of financial distress.
Tantular, who also owns Antaboga, is suspected of having diverted customers' funds into 62 bank accounts. The central bank has reportedly frozen these accounts, but has not yet calculated the total amount involved as the case is still being investigated by PPATK and the police.
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The security forces will move from Khar to Mamoond tomorrow Saturday, Bajaur Agency Political Agent Safirullah Khan said on Thursday. Addressing a representative jirga of Mamoond tribes, Khan said the troops and local elders would jointly retaliate in case of any resistance. He said the government would extend the ceasefire in case the convoy reached its destination peacefully.
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Reported today that the Senate passed a bill (S160, aka HR226) to afford the District of Columbia a vote in the House. Buried within is an amendment (S34) ostensibly to ban reemergence of the 'Fairness Doctrine' by the FCC. However, the wording of this amendment is reported to suggest an assymetric affront on the freedoms of Americans on the radio waves. Air America failed due to 'free market conditions'. However, it is asserted by those now in power that radio needs to be 'more fair', despite the calls to renounce the Fairness Doctrine.
If somebody else is able to grab the text I'm referring to in this amendment, put it in a new post. It's far too important to stick in a comment.
For your reading pleasure, here is the text of a Kentuckian from almost a month ago regarding his misguided perceptions of freedom (the ignorance displayed here is the same ignorance I run into in speaking with anyone of liberal staid):
H.R. 226: Broadcaster Freedom Act of 2009. Suppression Of The Fairness Doctrine.
James Pence Videos
Opinion by Ron Leach
While the new administration and US Legislature (with significant bi-partisan support) are attempting to hit the ground running with an appropriate sense of urgency and pragmatic non-partisan solutions this moment in our nation's history requires, there are still those among our representatives that choose to hit the ground digging, building a bunker and fortification to protect their narrow agenda and self interests rather than represent our commonwealth or our nation. Regrettably, it appears that two of our state's own US house members (Brett Guthrie, R-KY-2, and Geoff Davis, R-KY-4) are among those entrenched in protecting a narrow non-representative agenda and not ready to lend a hand towards steering a nation beyond the divisive partisan poisoned politics of the past several decades. Congressman Davis and Guthrie's early record in the 111th congress suggests that they do not understand that we need to get past the divisive culture and partisan wars of the past. They do not recognize that the urgency of our dire state and national condition does not benefit from entrenched partisanship and the stale old battle lines. They fail to acknowledge that at this crucial moment in history that non-partisan solutions and grand bargains are required and that the electorate has endorsed and is demanding a new direction, a new political environment, new responsibility, openness to ideas and a transparent and effective government.
A quick look at their positions, co-sponsorships, and voting record in these early days of the 111ht congress support my suggestion that they just dont get it.
I will discuss one example presently co-sponsorship of HR 226.
Despite the tragic results of the previous eight years of rule by executive decree, stove pipe decision making and shredding of the basic tenets of our constitution - made possible to a great degree by the systematic silencing and or slandering of any and all voices of opposition (no matter the experience, esteem, moderate nature or true patriotism of those opposition voices); Congressman Guthrie and Davis are cosponsoring House Resolution 226 that seeks to prevent the Federal Communications Commission from enacting any regulation that might promote the free marketplace of ideas and opinions. Specifically it seeks to ensure that the FCC can not reinstate the "Fairness Doctrine" which was suspended during the early years of the radical rights's rise in the mid 1980's. HR 226 reads "Commission shall not have the authority to prescribe any rule, regulation, policy, doctrine, standard, or other requirement that has the purpose or effect of reinstating or re-promulgating (in whole or in part) the requirement that broadcasters present opposing viewpoints on controversial issues of public importance, commonly referred to as the `Fairness Doctrine'".
It is no surprise that this would be a first order of business for those entrenched in a narrow radical agenda. It was this suspension of the Fairness Doctrine and the suppression of equal access to our airwaves, consolidation of the media, and a suppression of free speech, that enabled the radical right to consolidate its power and reshape the political and social landscape into the social, economic and political ruble that the right's revolution has left us with. Their message of radical partisanship and an agenda serving the select few can only flourish in a vacuum devoid of open thought and exchange of ideas that is the right wing propaganda machine. There is a continued strength of this well funded, focused, and disciplined machine; despite being thoroughly discredited by the culminating collapse of the past year. But a narrow self serving agenda which is represented by the radical right depends on the continued suspension of the open exchange of ideas promoted by the Fairness Doctrine. Congressman Guthrie and Davis co-sponsorship of HR 226 represents their endorsement of the continued suppression of free speech and exchange of ideas.
Let Congressman Guthrie and Davis know that we do not fear the open and free expression of ideas. Let them know that the strength of a free people and a truly representative democracy require protection and the free exercise of all voices. If their tired discredited dogma and narrow ideology that has brought our nation to our current broad based national crises can survive in a free market place of ideas, so be it. If it requires the continued suppression of a balanced and open marketplace of ideas as an artificial life support, then let their radial right ideology die a natural death and take its place in history with the multitude of other failed ideologies which have sought to favor the few and suppress the democratic process.
Congressman Guthrie and Congressman Davis; It is time to lead, follow, or get out of the way. Clinging to the failed ideologies of the past, propped up via the suppression of free and fair expression, will not serve the commonwealth of Kentucky or our Nation.
#3
<<<<<< Congressman Davis and Guthrie's early record in the 111th congress suggests that they do not understand that we need to get past the divisive culture and partisan wars of the past.>>>>
I am always intrigued when this type of argument is raised. What is the dickens do these people think? The legislation of the past month together with proposed attacks on business, the class warfare, attacks on 2nd amendment rights is as potent a formula for creating division as anything for years. The dishonesty inherent in Obama speeches from proclaiming he doesn't believe in big government to proposing just that to all of the other inconsistencies which emerge daily. This is all a consequence of a reaction against Bush. The only slogan which really worked was "anybody but Bush". Few really debated the alternative in depth. Shelby Steel pointed out that Obama was a fraud over a year ago and so did Sowell. But because they are black they got away with it.
Frankly the majority elected Obama for the same reason that dogs eat grass.
#5
This is the typical kind of writing from liberals. They use hundreds of words without actually saying anything at all. I mean, read that first paragraph and ask yourself, exactly what is he saying? There are no specifics, no hard facts, no dates, absolutely nothing but a lot of vague accusations. I'll be damned if I'm gonna wade through all that to try to figure what his point really is. It's buried too deep and I don't have time for it.
British soldiers are engaged in "a surreal mini civil war" with growing numbers of homegrown jihadists who have travelled to Afghanistan to support the Taliban, senior army officers have told The Independent.
Interceptions of Taliban communications have shown that British jihadists -- some "speaking with West Midlands accents" -- are active in Helmand and other parts of southern Afghanistan, according to briefing papers prepared by an official security agency.
Estimate: MI5 has estimated that up to 4,000 British Muslims had travelled to Pakistan and, before the fall of the Taliban, to Afghanistan for military training. The main concern until now has been about the parts some of them had played in terrorist plots in the UK. Now there are signs that they are mounting missions against British and Western targets abroad. "We are now involved in a kind of surreal mini-British civil war a few thousand miles away," said an army officer.
Somalia is also becoming a destination for British Muslims of Somali extraction who have started fighting alongside Al Qaeda-backed forces. A 21-year-old Briton of Somali extraction, who had been brought up in Ealing, west London, recently blew himself up in the town of Baidoa, killing 20 people. The head of MI5, Jonathan Evans, has raised the worrying issue of British citizens being indoctrinated in Somalia, and Michael Hayden, the outgoing head of the CIA, warned that the conflict in the Horn of Africa had "catalysed" expatriate Somalis in the West.
But it is in Afghanistan that British forces are now directly facing fellow Britons on the other side. RAF Nimrod aircraft flying over Afghanistan at up to 40,000ft have been picking up Taliban electronic "chatter" in which voices can be heard in West Midlands and Yorkshire accents. Worryingly for the military, this has increased in the past few months, with communications picked up by both ground and air surveillance, showing the presence of more British voices in the Taliban frontline.
The men involved are said to try to hide their British connections but sometimes "fall back" into speaking English. One senior military source said: "We have been hearing a lot more Punjabi, Urdu and Kashmiri Urdu rather than just Pashtu, so there appears to be more men from other parts of Pakistan fighting with the Taliban than just the Pashtuns who have tribal allegiances with the Afghan Pashtuns.
Last week, during a visit to Helmand, the Foreign Secretary, David Milliband, was shown Taliban explosive devices containing British-made electronic components. An explosives officer said the devices had either been sent from Britain, or brought over to the country. Conservative MP Patrick Mercer, the chairman of the Commons' sub-committee on anti-terrorism, said: "We know the problem we have with UK-based jihadists. We also know that a number of them have been arrested trying to leave the country. With the UK intelligence services at full stretch, it is not surprising some of these jihadists had ended up in Afghanistan."
Brigadier Ed Butler, the former commander of British forces in Afghanistan, said British Muslims were fighting his forces. "There are British passport holders who live in the UK who are being found in places such as Kandahar," he said.
Last week, as Barack Obama ordered 17,000 extra US troops into Afghanistan, a confidential NATO report revealed that more than 30 percent of the population believed the government of President Hamid Karzai had lost control of the areas in which they live and much of that has slipped back into Taliban control.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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Top|| File under: al-Qaeda
#1
What an opportunity to thin the herd! Remember, chaps, every one killed over there won't be going home to plot mischief... just like what happened in Iraq. Roach motel, I recall some Rantburgers calling it.
#3
Fly them all back to the RAF Burtonwood Detention Center. It's close to Manchester and they can see their loved ones on week ends and holidays. Burtonwood has long since closed? hmmm well....
#4
Two competing opportunities here: with that many Brit-Pakis in the Taliban it ought to be relatively easy to emplace some spies. If Britain cannot or will not emplace spies, then they can let it leak that they have emplaced many spies.
#5
Civil war means two sides from a same people or Nation are fighting each others; here, you've got british fighting against muslim pakistaneses and arabs and possibly others, living in GB, but who certainly wouldn't even themselves think they're british, whatever the ID paper may say. It's actually kinda a decolonization war at distance, with the indigenous brits fighting against their colonizers... in afghanistan. How surreal.
#8
5MT, contact me for help with your english, I'll be glad to help.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 13:27
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#9
sad thing, Jim, is half is a teechur
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2009 15:02
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#10
I know many teachers, it's sorta irrelevant, only would count if he's an "American English" Teacher, otherwise he'd not need to be good in English.
By the way, he's fair, but the idioms escape him, no harm, no foul.
I offer in friendship, not as snark.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 16:18
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#11
Ummmm .... .5mt mangles the language deliberately, in case that wasn't obvious .....
#15
Simply put, MT stands for Morse Taper (Yes the same Morse that invented Morse code) It's an Quick Change adapter for drills, centers and such in heavy machinery such as huge platform drills (capable of drilling holes at to 6 inches in diameter or larger, (although huge holes are usually not drilled at all, but bored, it's faster)and changing them is very easy, it's a round shallow taper sliced into different sizes, smallest is 1 Morse, and is about 3/4 inch at the big end and 1/2 or so at the small end, the beauty of Morse tapers is that you can simply slam them together by hand and they'll transmit a huge twisting force without slipping, to disconnect, a tapered wedge and a small hammer is used a few taps and they release easily,
the trick here is a 5 MT is about 2 inches across the big end and 1 3/4 at the small end,
Saying "I'm a 5 MT" implies a huge male appendage.
Off topic, OK TW the idea wasn't to irritate, the "C"s' back. JIM
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2009 18:59
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#16
*happy sigh* Learning!! Thank you twice for that, Jim dear, and a third time for putting back your C. I didn't think you meant to annoy, only that you didn't notice one of the things I get silly about. May I buy you a drink in the O Club to make up for it?
#4
"Political problems". That's a hell of a euphemism for "vaporized economy, depopulated countryside, cholera epidemic, and god only knows what else".
Posted by: Mitch H. ||
02/27/2009 10:10
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Aswat al-Iraq: The Thi-Qar federal court handed down death sentences against 28 members of the Yamani group, 19 others to life terms and acquitted six who had been charged with affiliation to the outlawed organization, a lawyer for one of the defendants said on Thursady.
"Members of the group had been arrested last year on charges of murder, terrorism and affiliation to a banned organization," the lawyer, who asked that his name not be mentioned, told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
Clashes that erupted in the Muslim Hegira month of Muharram last year between Ansar (Supporters) Ahmed ibn al-Hassan al-Yamani operatives and Iraqi security authorities left more than 20 people, nine of them civilians and the 11 others, including security commanders in the city of Thi-Qar, killed.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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Four bodyguards of two Iraqi MPs linked to a fugitive Sunni Arab deputy accused of ordering an April 2007 bombing of Parliament have been arrested, a top security official said on Thursday.
"The investigating magistrate ordered the arrest of four bodyguards of MPs Ahmad Radhi and Ali al-Sajri," the spokesman for Baghdad's military security command, General Qassem Atta, told AFP.
"They are accused of having taken fugitive Deputy Mohammad al-Daini to an undisclosed location." Iraqi authorities started a manhunt for Daini Wednesday after his immunity was lifted and he was prevented from fleeing the country on a Royal Jordanian flight to Amman.
The MP, an ex-member of an elite Saddamist force, was accused Sunday of ordering the bombing two years ago in the Parliament's canteen, an attack which killed eight people including a fellow parliamentarian of the same party.
As part of a non-sectarian law and order campaign, the authorities on Monday arrested 11 Shiite policemen over a spate of killings and kidnappings of Sunnis, including the murder of Vice President Tareq al-Hashemi's sister.
Atta said the judge questioned the MPs' bodyguards "and decided to arrest them for complicity. They took Daini to the airport so he could leave the country, and when he was prevented from doing so they took him to an unknown destination." MPs voted to lift Daini's parliamentary immunity just hours after he was barred from flying out from Baghdad airport, where he was refused an exit stamp at passport control.
Daini, who has insisted on his innocence, was not arrested at the airport as he still had parliamentary immunity at the time.
On Sunday, reporters were shown taped confessions - also broadcast on television - by a nephew and a security guard of Daini who said they had carried out several attacks for him. "The suicide bomber entered with an authorization paper from Mohammad al-Daini and blew himself up at the parliament," nephew Riad Ibrahim al-Daini said on the video, adding that he had taken the assailant to the scene.
The MP has dismissed the charges as politically motivated "fabrication" due to his party's defense of human rights. "Mohammad al-Daini is on the run but we are after him because the arrest warrant is now valid," Atta told AFP Wednesday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
Under their law the bodyguards are innocent,at the time he was a sitting parliamentary member, only later was his diplomatic immunity lifted.
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 16:22
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THE Malaysian government has softened an earlier ban on the use of the word 'Allah' by Christian publications to refer to God and is allowing them to use it as long as they specify the material is not for Muslims, a church official said on Thursday.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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A SINGAPOREAN Islamist told an Indonesian court on Thursday he had met Osama bin Laden and had tried to recruit Indonesians to follow the Al-Qaeda leader's call to jihad or 'holy war'. Mohammad Hasan bin Saynudin told the South Jakarta district court he had established a terror cell and passed on bomb-making techniques with a view to carrying out attacks against Christians and Westerners in Indonesia.
'I've met Osama bin Laden a few times in Afghanistan. I've learned the lesson of jihad from him,' Hasan said in testimony during his trial alongside two other suspected members of his cell.
'It wasn't easy meeting Osama bin Laden. He wouldn't disclose his identity to regular people.'
The defendants are among 10 suspects arrested in Palembang, South Sumatra in June and July last year with alleged links to some of the region's most wanted terrorists from the regional Jemaah Islamiyah network.
Hasan, who has openly talked to the media from prison about his contacts with bin Laden, admitted to the court that he was the ringleader of the Palembang cell.
'I was the one who initially urged them to jihad,' he said. 'I taught them how to make bombs. I ordered them to gather all the bomb materials.'
He also said he had known Hambali, an alleged Indonesian terror mastermind and Guantanamo detainee, since 1995.
One of Hasan's co-accused, former Islamic school principal Abdul Rahman Taib, dismissed any links to Jemaah Islamiyah which is blamed for a string of deadly attacks around South-east Asia over the past decade.
'This is a new generation. We learn jihad from the Koran and the Internet,' he said.
At the time of their arrests, police said they found 20 improvised bombs and a safe house in Palembang. The cell is accused of planning to bomb a backpacker cafe in the tourist town of Bukittinggi, West Sumatra, and kill two Christian priests in Jakarta in August 2006.
They also allegedly attacked Christian priest Yosua Winardi with a hammer in the same year and murdered Christian teacher Dago Simamora in June 2007.
Taib admitted to plotting and carrying out attacks against Christians, including the aborted plan to bomb the tourist cafe.
'Dago Simamora was killed because he forbade his students to wear headscarves at school,' he said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
You too?
D *** NG IT, SO IS HE STILL IN LOVE WITH WHITNEY HUSTON, OR NOT???
US and Syrian diplomats met here Thursday in a bid to improve strained ties between their countries although Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said prospects for a warming are not yet clear.
Syria's ambassador to the United States, Imad Moustapha, met for nearly two hours with Jeffrey Feltman, the State Department's top diplomat for the Middle East at the request of the US to discuss ways to repair damage to the relationship and possibly work together. The meeting was the first high-level US-Syrian session since September.
After the discussion, Moustapha told reporters that his talks with Feltman had been "very constructive" and that he expected the meeting would be the first of many between US and Syrian officials in the coming months.
"We believe that this meeting has explored possibilities between Syria and the United States to engage on a diplomatic and political level and also to discuss all issues of mutual concern," he said. "We think this is a first step and we believe there will be many further meetings."
Earlier, Clinton, who was not expected to participate in the talks, described the meeting as routine but added it was too early to tell whether ties would improve. She stressed that the Obama administration was committed to engagement in the Middle East and promoting Arab-Israeli peace.
"It is too soon to say what the future holds," she said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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Pakistan''s top paramilitary commander Frontier Corps chief Major General Saleem Nawaz on Thursday accused an exiled Baluch nationalist leader in Afghanistan of masterminding this month''s abduction of an American UN official. John Solecki, head of the UN refugee agency (UNHCR) office in the southwestern city of Quetta, was snatched at gunpoint while travelling to work on February 2. His driver was killed during the abduction. It was the most high-profile Western kidnapping in Pakistan since 2002, when US journalist Daniel Pearl was snatched and beheaded by Al-Qaeda militants. A rebel group, the Baluchistan Liberation United Front (BLUF), had claimed responsibility for kidnapping Solecki, demanding the release of Baluch women in government custody and information about 6,000 "missing" men. "Brahamdagh Bugti, who is living in Afghanistan, is involved in the abduction of John Solecki," Frontier Corps chief Major General Saleem Nawaz told reporters in Quetta. Brahamdagh, who heads the rebel Baluchistan Republican Party, is a grandson of nationalist leader Akbar Bugti, who was killed during a Pakistan military operation in the insurgency-racked southwest province in 2006. "Brahamdagh is also involved in other terrorist activities in Baluchistan in collusion with a foreign hand," he said -- hinting at India. "In fact, BLUF does not exist," Nawaz said.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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A Danish naval warship on Thursday thwarted an attack by armed pirates on a Chinese vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the US Naval Forces Central Command said. The Bahrain-based command said that Danish support ship HDMS Absalon had "successfully deterred an attempted pirate attack on the Chinese M/V Yandanghai."
The crew of the distressed ship had managed to prevent the attackers from climbing on board by using fire hoses against them.
"Absalon closed on the coordinates given by the Chinese ship following their distress call and spotted a skiff matching the description given by the captain of the motor vessel," it said in a statement. Several weapons, including a rocket-propelled grenade, four AK-47 assault rifles, two grenades and a knife were found after a team boarded the skiff. The crew of the distressed ship had managed to prevent the attackers from climbing on board by using fire hoses against them, the statement said. Two crewmembers sustained minor wounds in the attack, it added. No arrests were reported.
Chinese state media earlier reported that Chinese naval forces had thwarted a pirate attack on a Liberian-flagged Italian merchant ship on Tuesday in the Gulf of Aden near Somalia. It was the second time that a Chinese naval convoy, sent to the region on a landmark mission to protect the country's shipping from pirates, has come to the aid of foreign ships, according to Xinhua. The force's mission marked China's first potential combat mission beyond its territorial waters in centuries.
US and European ships have also been sent to the waters off Somalia, where pirates attacked more than 100 vessels last year.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
No arrests were reported. Argh!
Feeble, useless dicking around the problem.
#2
Not necessarily. The point of the exercise is to change the equation for the pirates without getting overly bloodthirsty (that's not quite how I'd do it but Pappy has a better handle on this than I do). Capture them, harass them, keep them looking over their shoulders and scanning the horizon when at sea, get the merchant ship captains and crews to be a little smarter, and after a while piracy doesn't pay as well.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2009 0:30
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#3
How will a good soaking prevent them from coming back for a shot at a $1M prize? Make 'em pay by sinking their boat and having to swim back to shore. That ought to get them to thinking.
#7
The ones I'd like to see hang are the ones outside Somalia who are the organization behind the pirates.
what is your guess/knowledge about that? I'd think there is a yemeni angle, given the links over and over, but the only transnational african organized crime (as opposed to crooked governements or para-governements) I can think of is from nigeria, with its ramification into Europe.
#8
Based on news and a few tother things, my guess is a smallish (numbers-wise) but extensive syndicate ranging from Egypt to Kenya, Yemen, and UAE. Perhaps Pakistan as well. Links/contacts/bought-and paid-for people in other countries.
My guess would be the Gazans, they seem to have unlimited cash for weapons, and have a seaport.
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2009 19:29
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#10
what is your guess/knowledge about that?
Gazans? There hasn't been much, if any, piracy in the western Med. Maybe they'd be lower/mid-echelon, or ship-traffic observers. I don't think they'd sully themselves to attack and board ships as long as there are 'blacks' do do the scut-work.
One thing to remember is that the Gulf of Aden (and the Straits of Hormuz) have long had smuggling, slave trading, and piracy. It wouldn't take much for some of the more enterprising criminals to branch out. And it's amazing how well money buys access, information and cooperation.
#11
Gazan pirates? Combine tunneling genes with water surface warfare, sounds like drowned rodents
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2009 22:46
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#12
My guess would be the Gazans, they seem to have unlimited cash for weapons, and have a seaport.
The Israeli Navy patrols the Gazan part of the sea pretty closely, although mostly looking for weapons smuggling, I believe. Not much opportunity to go a-pirating unobserved in that neighborhood.
Congress went on a pork-a-palooza yesterday, approving a massive spending bill with big bucks for Hawaiian canoe trips, research into pig smells, and tattoo removal - all while the nation faces an economic crisis.
Among the recipients of federal largesse is the Polynesian Voyaging Society of Honolulu, which got a $238,000 "earmark" in the bill. The group organizes sea voyages in ancient-style sailing canoes like the ones that first brought settlers to Hawaii. The sailing club has a powerful wind at its back in the person of Sen. Daniel Inouye (D-Hawaii), the chairman of the Senate Appropriations Committee.
The bill also has a whopping 8 percent increase over last year for the numerous federal agencies it funds.
New York got its share of earmarks, among them $475,000 to "improve and expand" the Italian American Museum in Little Italy. The project was pushed by New York Reps. Gary Ackerman and Jerrold Nadler. The latter touted it, among other earmarks, on his Web site.
Nadler also announced $4.5 million for new park development in Manhattan.
Uncle Sam's generosity extends upstate, where there's $950,000 to convert a railroad bridge over the Hudson River into a walkway in Poughkeepsie.
Earmarks totaled at least $3.8 billion - a figure used by the House Appropriations Committee.
But the watchdog group Taxpayers for Common Sense calculates that there are an astonishing 8,570 earmarks at a cost of $7.7 billion.
The bill, which critics slammed as larded with pork, has big bucks to combat putrid stenches in the heartland, with $1.7 million for "Swine Odor and Manure Management Research." That's on top of $1.9 million in each of the last two years, or nearly $6 million over the last three years.
The swine research center, at Iowa State University in Ames, got funds through the Agricultural Research Service, and aims to improve the smell of animals and the lagoons where waste is stored.
There's funding for mosquito trapping in Gainesville, Fla. - requested by Rep. Rosa DeLauro of Connecticut. The research deals with the West Nile virus, and was funded at $1.2 million in each of the last two years.
The House packaged the bill from several spending measures held over from last year. It needs to pass the Senate and be signed into law by President Obama.
Republican Sen. John McCain of Arizona, whom Obama vanquished in November, is calling on the president to veto it.
But Democratic leaders say the spending spree was a bipartisan affair, with up to 40 percent of the earmarks coming from Republicans.
Obama has criticized earmarks and insisted they be kept out of stimulus legislation - a suggestion that drew laughs from Republicans at the president's address to Congress Tuesday night.
Another earmark, by Rep. Howard Berman (D-Calif.) provides $200,000 for a "tattoo-removal violence-outreach program" in Los Angeles. The funds would buy a tattoo-removal machine to help gang members erase signs of their past.
Meanwhile, Obama is set to unveil a proposal today that sets aside $634 billion over the next 10 years for health-care reform. He plans to pay for it, in part, by capping tax deductions for families that earn more than $250,000 a year.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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Police say a teenager who soaked her hair in gasoline to try to kill head lice was severely burned when the gas fumes ignited and set her head ablaze. Well, that's one way to do it.
Eighteen-year-old Jessica Brooks was in serious condition Thursday at the burn unit at University Hospital in Louisville, Ky. She was burned Sunday night at her apartment in Evansville, Ind. Police said Brooks was in her bathroom letting her hair soak in gasoline just before a pilot light from a water heater ignited the gas fumes and her hair. Wonder if she had time to say, "Oh shit!" after hearing the "Fwump"?
Investigator Richard Howard said Brooks suffered second- and third-degree burns over more than half of her body. I'm deeply sorry for this poor girl and hope she pulls through. But, damm, that's just about the stupidest thing I've ever heard of doing.
Brooks was taking high school night classes in hopes of graduating this year.
Posted by: Steve ||
02/27/2009
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#2
Ladies and gentlemen, we're going to turn off the "boy, was that stupid" commentary and pray. Now. The pain this girl will have, and the lasting scars are horrific.
Youngest son, at age 18 months, grabbed a cup of hot water just out of the microwave and dumped it on himself. We spent the next three months getting outpatient therapy from the burn unit. Some of the people in the burn unit had done things equally dumb, but the suffering is way out of proportion to the dumbness.
#3
Thanks mom. Lots of good folks down Evansville way. I did some pretty stupid things at 50 18 too. She's just a poor kid going to night classes. Just makes me want to sob.
#7
I spent some time volunteering in a burn unit / regional trauma center years ago. The pain from a burn like this is unbelievably intense and unremitting. I truly wouldn't wish it on my worst enemies, and I have a few I'm tempted to hate deeply .....
Treatment in the burn center where I spent time involved, among other things, abrading off the dead skin and making sure it doesn't grow back too *quickly*. With extensive burns there isn't enough healthy skin to do grafts, so recovery is difficult, slow and excruciating.
Today there are burn coverings / artificial skin dressing that help a lot, but it's still one of the most long lasting and painful experiences a person can endure.
#8
Laura Ingalls Wilder mentioned combing lamp oil through her hair as a cleanser in one of the later Little House on the Prairie books (The Long Winter, if I recall correctly). Although she didn't talk about head lice, clearly that was the unmentioned reason, since they had soap to wash clothes. They, too, would have dried their hair before the fire, although no doubt they had enough experience to better estimate the required distance. The poor girl was working to make something of herself outside the common path. My prayers for her quick recovery.
Would something like whatever it was that Rush Limbaugh was addicted to help with the pain?
#12
I've spent some time in a burn unit. Even the morphine didn't help much at first. The next worse thing was getting the skin at my joints to streatch. That took a lot of work. I had to be very careful and wear long sleaves because some of the skin was only 2 couple of layers thick and the least little friction would create an area like when you skinned your knee. I'm not going to laugh or poke fun at burn victims. I hope she recovers.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/27/2009 18:14
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#13
My grandmother used kerosene occasionally as a hair "Enhancer" She said it made her hair glossy,
75 and still had coal black hair, so ?
Posted by: Redneck Jim ||
02/27/2009 19:11
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China's chief nuclear envoy Wu Dawei visited North Korea earlier this week as part of efforts to stop North Korea firing a long-range missile, Yonhap news agency said, quoting an unnamed source. "Vice Foreign Minister Wu visited Pyongyang to deliver a message of concern over North Korea's preparations for the launch of a rocket carrying what it claims to be a communications satellite," the "informed source" told Yonhap. The news agency said the source would not comment on whether Wu's diplomatic mission would succeed. The communist state, defying international warnings, said Tuesday its preparations to launch a satellite were making "brisk headway" but gave no date for the exercise. Seoul and Washington see such a launch as a pretext to test the Taepodong-2 missile, which could theoretically reach Alaska. They say a rocket launch for any purpose would violate a UN resolution passed after the last missile test.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
TOPIX > JAPAN THREATENS TO SHOOT DOWN NORTH KOREAN MISSLE [wants in on any US-SOKOR Shootdown]; + NORTH KOREA WARNS/THREATENS TO FIRE MISSLE OVER JAPAN + CHINA IS ENCOURAGING NORTH KOREA AND IRAN.
#2
If the Japanese want to get in on this shooting gallery, let them, but have an ageis or two on standby, (In case they miss)
Posted by: Rednek Jim ||
02/27/2009 13:30
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#3
WORLD AFFAIRS BOARD > CHINA LODGES STERN PROTEST OVER 2009 BASELINES BILL IN THE PHILIPPINES
[disputed South China Sea NANSHA, etc. islands], proclaiming Manila's claims = extens of geographic sovereignty agz islands are wholly illegal and invalid.
Suspected Taliban stopped a security forces convoy from entering Mingora by planting a roadside bomb in Balogram area on Thursday. The incident had been reported to Sufi Muhammad, the chief of Tehreek Nifaz-e-Shariat-e-Muhammadi (TNSM), sources said. They said the Malakand division commissioner, Sufi and representatives of the Taliban had started talks to sort out the matter. A source said "a secret hand" was planning to sabotage the recent peace deal. Sufi Muhammad said the government should withdraw all cases against people in Malakand and Kohistan districts. Talking to reporters, he said the security forces should inform them in advance to avoid repetition of such incidents in future. Over 700 policemen have resumed their duties in Swat.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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CIA's director Leon Panetta said on Wednesday that US Predator attacks against extremists inside Pakistan would continue despite concerns about a popular backlash.
Dumb, Leon, dumb: the correct response is, "what drones?"
Although he refused to discuss details, Panetta said that the efforts begun under President George W Bush to destabilise Al Qaeda and destroy its leadership "have been successful".
The CIA has launched about three dozen Predator strikes in Pakistan since late last summer, two of them during the Obama administration.
Panetta's comments came as Pakistani Foreign Minister Shah Mehmood Qureshi called for letting Pakistan call the shots. Qureshi and his Afghan counterpart are in Washington for unprecedented consultations with President Obama's administration to help with a review of the US strategy in the region. The talks were arranged during the first overseas trip of special US envoy Richard Holbrooke.
"We have two goals," a senior administration official said. One is to receive their input for the ongoing strategy review. "But it's also to hear commitments -- the Pakistanis on taking on terrorists themselves, and the Afghans on cleaning up their government."
The difference between the Obama and Bush administrations, Qureshi said, is that "the present administration is willing to listen. They are very frank. They're saying, 'We do not have a magic formula. . . . Let Pakistan, let the US, let Afghanistan -- let's all stick together and find a solution."
Panetta said he had voiced concerns about Pakistan's truce with local Taliban leaders in Swat region, and noted that similar agreements with militant groups in the past had allowed Al Qaeda to strengthen its base. "They assured me that this is not the same as past agreements", Panetta said. "I remain sceptical."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#2
Once a day I ask myself if the Dems can really be so incompetant. Then one of them will say somwthing even more stupid. Why is the CIA Director talking in public at all?
Posted by: Formerly Dan ||
02/27/2009 8:55
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#3
Why is the CIA Director talking in public at all?
Because he's a totally clueless notional DCI. Not much different from the notional POTUS.
#4
Formerly Dan, I agree. The way you can tell if the CIA Chief is doing his job is that you don't see or hear him. Whatever Panetta may be doing, it doesn't seem to be his job.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/27/2009 13:26
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#5
Your only comment is "no comment, Leon, ya putz!
Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in the battle for the last urban area still in the hands of the guerrillas, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
The deaths occurred on Wednesday when soldiers pushed toward Puthukkudiriruppu, a town on a narrow strip of land in the northeast controlled by the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE), the ministry said. "Ground troops have positioned for a final thrust towards the remaining LTTE foothold," the ministry said.
It did not say if security forces suffered any casualties. The LTTE did not comment on the fighting.
Separately, a Tamil newspaper editor was arrested in Colombo on Thursday, police said, after colleagues and family members complained that he had been abducted while attending a funeral. Police spokesman Senior Superintendent Ranjith Gunasekara said N Vidyatharan was taken in for questioning by the police crime division in connection with activities linked to LTTE. However, the state-run Daily News had earlier quoted Gunasekara as saying that the editor had been "abducted" by unidentified persons driving an unmarked white van.
Family members said three armed men dressed in police uniforms grabbed Vidyatharan, chief editor of the Sudaroli and Uthayan newspapers, while he attended the funeral of a relative in Mount Lavinia, a suburb of the capital. "The three men in uniform tried to grab Vidyatharan. He resisted and the other mourners at the funeral started shouting, but they dragged him on the floor and took him away in a van," the relative said.
Vidyatharan's newspapers have been staunchly critical of the military campaign against Tamil Tiger rebels, who are cornered in the northeast of the island. There have been several armed attacks on Vidyatharan's newspaper offices and his arrest came seven weeks after another senior editor was gunned down execution-style by unidentified attackers in the same area.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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The sluice gate of a sewer from BDR headquarters Nawabganj Bazar has turned into a hole for the dead as more bodies of BDR officers killed in Wednesday's mutiny washed out at the gate yesterday morning. Eight bodies -- two on Wednesday and six yesterday -- have been discovered near the embankment in Hazaribagh thana.
Dhaka Water Supply and Sewerage Authority (Wasa) plans to pump water into the sewer lines from inside the BDR headquarters to flush out dead bodies if any are still trapped inside. It had initially deployed a team to search for bodies at the sluice gate but later withdrew the team as there was little they could do from that point.
The bodies discovered yesterday were identified as those of Lt Col Kamruzzaman, Lt Col Anisuzzaman, Maj Mahbub, Col Zahid, Col Tauheed and Captain Mohammad Majharul Hayder.
Meanwhile, relatives of missing army personnel rushed to the spot at noon on Wednesday as soon as they heard about the discovery. Six other bodies had floated out to the same point by 9:00 am yesterday morning. The bodies discovered yesterday were identified as those of Lt Col Kamruzzaman, Lt Col Anisuzzaman, Maj Mahbub, Col Zahid, Col Tauheed and Captain Mohammad Majharul Hayder, Lalbagh police said. The bodies were sent to Mitford Hospital.
Captain Majharul Hayder, who got married only in December last year, served as a staff officer to the director general (DG) of BDR. His wife Nushrat Nur Badhon, daughter of the present Inspector General of Police (IGP) Nur Mohammad, was rescued from the BDR headquarters at Pilkhana late on Wednesday night. The whereabouts of the families of the six other army officials are, however, not known yet.
The drains from the BDR headquarters lead to the river Buriganga through Kellarmore, Swarighat, Babubazar and Sadarghat. Since the first two bodies were found at the sluice gate in Hazaribagh, hundreds of locals including relatives of those missing have kept watching at the water pouring out through the gate.
Muazzem Hossain, waiting around the gate, told reporters that his younger brother Maj Humayun who was at the BDR headquarters when the mutiny began has been missing since.
Mutawakkil was found weeping, as he anticipated the worst -- no one in the family has been able to contact his nephew Lt Col Shamsul Azam since Wednesday morning.
A Wasa engineer said, "The dead bodies seem to have been dumped into the sewer line through manhole openings and the flowing water carried them out the sluice gate." There are around ten manholes within BDR headquarters, he said.
The underground sub-sewer line from BDR has two sections, the diameter of the sub-sewer line across Pilkhana ranges from three to four feet. One section of this line from the BDR goes out through Gate 4 and runs up to Nawabganj sluice gate while the other runs up to Kalunagar on Hazaribagh canal. The diameter of Nawabganj sluice gate is five metres. The sub-sewer lines are wider at the meeting point with the trans sewer line.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
Looking to hire: 1 Holyman with background in water purificatioon must have own Fatwas.
#2
People, traditionally , throw all sorts of things into the privy that they don't want to be closely inspected. It can also be a good place to stash contraband, if reasonible precautions are taken. In the mid 1800's many western American forts were dry. Alchol was not allowed. The officers got around this by declaring that wine and brandy were medicine, not alcohol. The troops couldn't afford the high-priced booze so they safely stored their hootch on a strap hung from a nail placed on the underside of the toilet bench. The officers never inspected the bowels of the latrine.
Posted by: Richard of Oregon ||
02/27/2009 13:16
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After the Awami League swept last year's end-December general election, decimating the Bangladesh Nationalist Party and reducing the Jamaat-e-Islami to two seats in the Jatiya Sansad, there were celebrations across the country. Not only had democracy returned with a bang after being kept in a limbo for nearly two years by the military-backed caretaker Government, the Islamists, who had been on the rampage during Begum Khaleda Zia's hugely corrupt rule, had been defanged.
As Bangladeshis danced in the streets, with women leading the celebrations, gloom descended on House No. 6, Shaheed Moinul Road, Dhaka Cantonment, the residence of Begum Zia. Meanwhile, the Jamaat-e-Islami headquarters wore a deserted look, its leaders stunned by Islamists losing their deposits in constituencies which were supposed to be Jamaati strongholds. With nearly 86 per cent turnout in an election certified by international observers and the media as absolutely free and fair, neither the BNP nor the Jamaat could claim the poll had been rigged.
Continued on Page 49
Posted by: john frum ||
02/27/2009
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#1
The USDOD BASE DEFENSE RE-UTILIZATION Office(s) has Militants [humor]???
#2
a very good story indeed.no new information.indian RAW and Bangladesh Awami league point of view-this story is ok.but it is far far from the fact.the fact is -it is proven truth that india was never been a trusted friend of bangladesh.
Posted by: james bond ||
02/27/2009 15:03
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Thousands of protesters marched across Pakistan on Thursday, torching pictures of President Asif Ali Zardari as the Pakistani police sealed off the Punjab provincial parliament and detained 30 lawmakers.
Security officials locked the gates of the assembly, laid coils of barbed wire to prevent entry and barricaded roads as hundreds of protesters shouted against Zardari, punching their fists in the air, witnesses said.
The protesters torched two large hoardings showing Punjab Governor Salman Taseer and beat pictures of Zardari with sticks and shoes before setting them ablaze.
Many shops across the country have closed and the government, alarmed about the mobs' reaction to the court ruling, has deployed riot police. "The Punjab government has requested the deployment of the Rangers and we have accepted their request," a spokesman for the interior ministry told AFP, referring to a paramilitary force.
Lawyers and opposition activists heeded a call from Sharif for riots nationwide action to condemn Wednesday's ruling, which also threw his brother Shahbaz out of his post as chief minister of the Punjab province.
Zardari and Nawaz Sharif have long fought over the future of nuclear-armed Pakistan, a key U.S. ally in the fight against Taliban and al-Qaeda militancy.
The government later Wednesday suspended the provincial parliament based in Lahore, Pakistan's second biggest city, bringing it under Islamabad's direct control.
Analysts say Pakistan, reeling from extremist attacks that have killed more than 1,600 people in less than two years, can ill afford a showdown. "Police bundled the lawmakers into waiting vans and drove them to an unknown place," Rana Mashhud, the regional parliament's deputy speaker, told AFP. Police said the deputies would be released later.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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That's the goal of a gun buyback from 9 a.m. to noon Saturday at Reunion Arena. Each unloaded, operational firearm surrendered will fetch a $50 Kroger grocery gift card. People trading in their guns must present identification, city officials say.
"It would be a failure on our part if we do not take an initiative," said Deputy Mayor Pro Tem Dwaine Caraway, who is helping lead the effort.
Dallas is not using public money to purchase the gift cards. Kroger is providing them at a 30 percent discount to several event sponsors, Dallas spokesman Frank Librio said.
Meanwhile, Dallas writer and gun rights advocate Trey Garrison says he may conduct an alternative gun buyback of his own -- with better prices for sellers. He says he'll pay in cash, too.
How much might Garrison spend?
"Depends on what the hardware is," he said Wednesday.
#6
Smart Move. They are just stocking up for the coming demand when the Feds decide to do something like imposing sales tax in massive amounts. In just the last 18 months the costs of ammunition have jumped enormously by imposing a lot of minor charges. Just one example is the massively increased cost in posting ammo to shops from suppliers. I carry ammo in a shop and the costs of just procuring it have jumped significantly. Straws in the wind.
#9
This city is so damned liberal now. The people in charge these days have actually said they want it to be another San Francisco. Instead of a San Francisco Bay with a Golden Gate Bridge, they approved building a High Dollar Bridge over the Trinity River Bottom. Which most of the time is dry.
#10
Each unloaded, operational firearm surrendered will fetch a $50 Kroger grocery gift card.
Unless the gun is stolen, what's the motivation for taking this deal. Most firearms would sell for far more than $50 bucks in the Trading Times or at a gunshow.
#12
My Father-in-Law was a Sherrif's Deputy in Jefferson County, Alabama for many years. He told me of a no questions asked gun by-back that Jefferson County conducted. He said there was an amazing rise in home break-ins with guns being main things stolen. He said all the police and Deputies thought it was a hige farce but the County Athourities hailed it as a huge success because of the number of firearms turned in.
Posted by: Deacon Blues ||
02/27/2009 17:53
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Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's speech in Sheikhupura is an open invitation to mutiny and his comments against President Asif Ali Zardari are regrettable, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sherry said provoking the government and law enforcement officials by Nawaz was akin to taking the country towards disaster and confrontation, and weakening state institutions. She appealed to the PML-N's 'responsible' leadership to rein in their emotions and avoid making personal comments. She said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said the "review option" was still open, and the PML-N should avoid politics of confrontation. About governor's rule in Punjab, she said it was imposed under Article 234 of the constitution, the channel quoted its sources.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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" These laws in Germany clearly target the headscarf, forcing women who wear it to choose between their jobs and their religious beliefs "
HRW
Laws banning religious symbols and clothing for teachers and other civil servants in parts of Germany mainly target and violate the rights of Muslim women who wear the headscarf, a report published Thursday by Human Rights Watch (HRW) said.
The 67-page report analyzed the human rights implications of the ban, in force in half of the 16 German states, and suggested that it discriminates against Muslim women, excluding them from public sector employment as some women have given up their careers or left Germany.
"These laws in Germany clearly target the headscarf, forcing women who wear it to choose between their jobs and their religious beliefs," the report said. "They discriminate on the grounds of both gender and religion and violate these women's human rights."
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
...or those laws respect majority rights, in that most people want to chose the places where they are preached to.
Muslim dicta on fem-cloaking followed complaints of jihadi squabbling over females captured in war. A jihadi horndog can't fight over what he can't see.
WASHINGTON (CNN) -- The U.S. envoy for North Korea hopes to visit that nation next week as part of what the Obama administration hopes will be a different relationship between Washington and Pyongyang, senior administration officials told CNN on Thursday. Stephen Bosworth will travel first to China, South Korea and Japan -- U.S. partners in the six-party talks aimed at ending North Korea's nuclear program, the officials said. He will be traveling with Sung Kim, director of the State Department's Office of Korean Affairs, who has also acted as a top negotiator.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will announce Bosworth's trip to the region Thursday afternoon, the officials said. They said Bosworth will consult with Beijing, Seoul and Tokyo about the status of the nuclear negotiations and determine whether they are approve of him making an overture to Pyongyang.
If the talks go well, Bosworth will then ask the North Korean government for permission to travel there, the officials said. It would be the first face-to-face contact between representatives of the Obama administration and the North Korean government.
North Korea is aware of the possibility of a visit, the officials said, but nothing has been scheduled. Officials say another option is for Bosworth to meet North Korean officials in Beijing. Bosworth just traveled to Pyongyang last month in his capacity as dean of the Fletcher school before being named to the government post.
The possible visit to North Korea comes as the Obama administration weighs greater engagement with the reclusive country. Clinton said before traveling to Asia last week that if North Korea moved ahead with denuclearization, the United States would be prepared to normalize relations and sign a peace treaty on the Korean Peninsula.
Posted by: Steve White ||
02/27/2009
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POLITICAL tensions in Malaysia erupted into a scuffle at parliament on Thursday, witnesses said, as angry ruling party members confronted an opposition veteran. Karpal Singh, a 69-year-old wheelchair-user and opposition politician, enraged the youth wing of the ruling Umno party with a feisty performance in parliament this week where he accused them of sending him bullets in the mail.
Mr Karpal, chairman of the Democratic Action Party which is part of the opposition alliance, said a group of 20 Umno Youth members confronted him at parliament and demanded he apologise. 'This is a very dangerous precedent. We can't allow it as we have a duty to carry out here as lawmakers,' he told AFP.
Another DAP lawmaker, Lim Lip Eng, said he was assaulted as he tried to help Mr Karpal escape the pushing and shoving which broke out at one of the entrances to parliament.
The political temperature has been rising in Malaysia since general elections a year ago that saw the opposition gain unprecedented ground, winning a third of seats in the national parliament.
Mr Karpal sparked controversy this month when he threatened to take legal action against the sultan of Perak state, who had ordered the opposition to quit the state assembly and allow the Umno-led coalition to take power. In parliament on Wednesday, Mr Karpal accused his political opponents of being responsible for two bullets he received in the mail, and proclaimed 'Singh is King' after the title of a new Bollywood movie. 'Where did the damn Umno youth fellows get the bullets?' Mr Karpal asked, according to the New Straits Times. 'Singh is King. I am not afraid. They made 100 police reports, sent me two bullets and demonstrated.'
'I would also like to remind Karpal not to be too arrogant to the extent of not respecting our Malay rulers.'
Umno Youth member Mukhriz Mahathir said Mr Karpal should be charged with sedition for the bullets comment, and that he should show more respect to the constitutional monarchy. 'I would also like to remind Karpal not to be too arrogant to the extent of not respecting our Malay rulers,' he said in a statement.
Umno Youth secretary Abdul Rahman Dahlan confirmed members of the influential party wing were involved in the scuffle. 'It's a very serious accusation by Karpal as an experienced MP. We have 700,000 members and we might not be able to control all of them,' he told AFP.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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The Taliban is willing to work with all Afghan groups to achieve peace, but the problems of Afghanistan can only be solved if foreign troops withdraw from the country, a senior insurgent leader has said.
"We would like to take an Afghan strategy that is shared and large-scale, in consultation with all the Afghan groups, to reach positive and fruitful results," Mullah Mutassim, a former Taliban finance minister and member of the group's political council, told Al-Samoud magazine in an interview conducted on February 25.
But, he said, the United States "has to withdraw its forces from Afghanistan as soon as possible, because the real starter of crises and complication of matters is the presence of foreign forces in the country.
"If these forces leave, the problem will be over, the question will be finished, and peace will prevail," he was quoted as saying in the interview translated by the U.S.-based Site Intelligence Group, which monitors jihadi websites.
Mutassim is regarded as close to fugitive Taliban chief Mullah Mohammad Omar.
But, Mutassim said, the Taliban was not for a share in power. "The Islamic emirate demands to rule the country so as to establish an...Islamic system in it, not in order to occupy high positions in the agent government," he said.
Mutassim said the armed struggle was the only way to drive out foreign forces and if the United States sent more troops to Afghanistan that would just lead to more soldiers being killed. "Obama's taking this unreasonable strategy indicates the plan of his bloody and fierce war strategy, which will cause the death of many of his arrogant troops in the face of the holy Afghan jihad," he said.
Despite his harsh words for the West, Mutassim only had praise for the government of Saudi Arabia, which is often scorned by hard-line Islamists for its close ties with the United States.
Saudi Arabia, one of only three states to recognize the Taliban as the government of Afghanistan between 1996 and 2001, has hosted tentative talks between former Taliban and Afghan government officials aimed at exploring ways toward peace.
But, Mutassim said, the Taliban was not for a share in power. "The Islamic emirate demands to rule the country so as to establish an...Islamic system in it, not in order to occupy high positions in the agent government," he said.
Mutassim denied the austere Islamists' movement had been against women's education while they were in power, but said the ravages of war had not allowed girls to be schooled. "I say that educating women is as necessary as educating men," he said.
The Taliban has eased a number of its hard-line edicts against such things as television and music in the areas they control, making them, Mutassim said, more popular now than when they were in power.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
IIRC, PAKISTANI DEFENCE FORUM > NORTH AND SOUTH WAZIRISTAN TALIBAN/MILITANT GROUPS MERGE TO FIGHT NATO???
Palestinians in the Gaza Strip continued their rocket attacks against Israel on Thursday, launching a Kassam rocket in the evening which struck an open field in the Eshkol Region. No casualties or damage were reported. This recent attack joins the two rockets fired early in the morning which struck Sderot and the Sha'ar Hanegev region.
In Sderot, tragedy was averted as one rocket landed close to two houses, damaging both but causing no injuries. A number of Sderot residents were treated for shock. No one was wounded and no damage was reported in the Sha'ar Hanegev attack.
IAF aircraft on Thursday afternoon hit smuggling tunnels in the southern Gaza Strip in response to a Kassam attack earlier in the day that damaged two Sderot houses. Palestinian sources were quoted by Israel Radio as saying that there were no wounded in the attack, during which at least three missiles were fired.
Rocket attacks and Israeli counterstrikes have persisted despite efforts to secure a cease-fire through Egyptian mediation.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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Top|| File under: Hamas
#1
is no open field safe?
Posted by: Frank G ||
02/27/2009 10:54
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Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that he was disappointed over the Supreme Court (SC) judgment against Sharif brothers. The SC ruling damaged the democracy in Pakistan and anti-democratic forces might be benefited by the prevailing political turmoil if this issue was not resolved peacefully. This PM said while talking to media. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani defended imposition of Governor-rule in Punjab saying imposition of Governor rule was unanimous decision of the government of PPP and also it was the constitutional need of the hour as former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had been declared ineligible for contesting polls by Supreme Court. PM clarified we are not personally against any political party as I was the one who made phone call to Shahbaz Sharif and extended sympathies to him over SC verdict. Responding to a question about controversies between PM and President houses PM Gilani said having controversies are the part of democratic system and differences may occur sometimes but all elements have to follow constitutional decisions. PM termed politics as day-to-day affair and maintained that no one could predict about future in politics. To a question PM Gilani said President Zardari would be requested to issue National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to undo Supreme Court verdict against Sharif brothers.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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French police officers patrolled Martinique's capital late Wednesday after vandals burned cars and looted stores overnight as protests over high prices, low pay and alleged neglect by officials in Paris spread to a second Caribbean island.
Nearly 30 people were detained following the outburst in Fort-de-France, the French island's chief city, according to police headquarters.
Dozens of protesters gathered at city hall Tuesday night to demand results from slow-moving negotiations there over demands for pay increases. Around midnight, some began hurling rocks and bottles at police guarding the building, and officers responded by firing tear gas.
Protesters burned at least five cars, several garbage bins and a small grocery store. Several stores also were looted, but no one was injured, according to a police statement.
On Wednesday evening, a phalanx of French police officers were helping patrol the capital to enforce order.
Martinique has not seen the same degree of violence as that on the nearby French island of Guadeloupe, where weeks of strikes degenerated into rioting last week in which one labor activist was shot dead. Business on both islands has been largely frozen.
In Guadeloupe's biggest city of Pointe-a-Pitre, strikers assembled Wednesday night outside a seaside building where bargaining talks are taking place cheered apparent improvements in negotiations aimed at ending the more than month-long general strike.
Government representatives have offered to add a euro80 ($102) monthly raise to islanders making euro900 ($1,130) a month in order to end the unrest in the French Caribbean island, according to Nicolas Desforges, Guadeloupe's top Paris-appointed official.
"This is a big contribution by the French government to get out of this crisis," Desforges told reporters.
Added with the pledged contributions of island business owners, strikers now have a euro180 ($230) raise offer on the table - just euro20 ($25) less than the euro200 ($250) monthly increase they have been seeking.
But Guadeloupe protest leader Elie Domota said Wednesday evening that it was too early to say whether the new offer would be acceptable. "This is a proposal on the table we are going to review," he told reporters.
Government negotiators in Point-a-Pitre had left the bargaining table Monday night, saying they were not prepared to agree to a euro200 ($250) monthly raise for those making euro900 ($1,130) a month.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy last week announced a euro580 million ($730 million) financial package to help development in the Caribbean regions of his country. But strikers complained that proposals were vague and did not directly address their demand for higher pay.
Posted by: Fred ||
02/27/2009
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#1
So... The French government sets wages? Isn't this what BHO is shooting for? It works so well. /s
#2
Considering that they have decimated the tourist industry for this year, what do the striking workers think they will be doing to earn the increased wages? Suspect most of them will be unemployed for the foreseeable future. The law of unintended consequences strikes again.
IIRC, France sends about 17 billions euros in subsidies yearly to its oversea departments & territories, and I've read yesterday that the envelope was increased by about 950 millions last year. Add to that 4 billions subsidies by the EU. Those locations produce very little past fruit industry, and tourism (and this one even is not very developed, since the locals do not seem to be very keen on it)... and while the population is poorer than in mainland (GNP per inhabitant is 60% of France), there is also an absurdely high percentage of people living on welfare, or hired by the gvt (with salaries for civil servants being 40-50% higher than in France, heck, in guadeloupe, all the leftist unionist leaders are civil servants, paid by the very same colonialist State they're supposedly fighting against) : 40% of the workforce is emplouyed by the State! (As opposed to "only" 24% in France)
And there's a cascade of subsidies, with non civil servants getting subsidies as well, due to the pressure of the local unions, the same ones protesting aggainst the high cost of life... So, yeah, they're being exploited, alright. When you've got an island like guadeloup, sitting in the middle of an huge fishing international boundary, nothing sez success like having to import 60% of its fish consumption.
#9
what interest would Hugo Chavez have in a couple of minor French colonies?
Hugo's got this thing about neo-colonialism. He also fancies himself as the second coming of Boliviar. He's been putting pressure on the Dutch islands. It makes sense that Chavez and his ilk would take advantage of a situation.
Jamiat Ulema-e-Islam (JUI-F) chief Maulana Fazlur Rehman on Thursday claimed that each vote in FATA was being purchased at Rs100 million for Senate polls. Talking to newsmen here, he said poor man could never become a senator as it had now become a business.
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President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday he had imposed governor's rule in Punjab after the Sharif brothers declared war on the Presidency following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify them.
Addressing a meeting of the Central Executive Committee (CEC) of the Pakistan People's Party (PPP), the president said he had been left with no other constitutional alternative.
The CEC endorsed the proclamation of governor's rule and adopted a unanimous resolution of support for Zardari, sources privy to the meeting told Daily Times. They said most top leaders of the PPP wanted to negotiate a power-sharing deal with the PML-Q, but some stressed taking the PML-N along to avoid political instability.
President Zardari and Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani chaired the meeting. The committee empowered the PPP leadership to name a new leader of the House in Punjab and urged that the new chief minister of the country's largest province should be from the PPP. The sources said that it also authorised Zardari and Gilani to establish contacts with the PML-Q for power sharing in Punjab and Centre.
Challenges: Earlier, addressing the office-bearers of the Punjab chapter of the People's Lawyers Forum (PLF), President Zardari said the PPP did not believe in confrontation and was pursuing a policy of reconciliation, but knows how to tackle political challenges.
"The PPP is a political force that does not believe in confrontation and had adopted the policy of reconciliation for the sake of democracy and political stability of the country. We will pursue this policy but we also know how to meet political challenges that come our way," he said.
The provision of justice to the common man was the top priority of the government, Zardari said, adding he knew the problems faced by the citizens
Law Minister Farooq Naik also addressed the delegation, which was headed by Attorney General of Pakistan Latif Khosa and included PLF Punjab President Khurram Latif, Senior Vice President Iftikhar Shahid, General Secretary Khawar Khatana, and lawyers Shafqat Abbasi, Habibullah Shakir, Syed Nayyer Hussain Bukhari, Zummurd Khan and Amir Fida Paracha.
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Aswat al-Iraq: Iraqi army forces defused three improvised explosive devices and arrested a wanted man in operations in different areas of eastern Mosul city on Thursday, a military source said. "A force from the Iraqi army's 3rd Brigade's 2nd Contingent defused an IED in al-Zahraa neighborhood without incident and another one of a 120 mm. mortar in the area of Sumer," the source told Aswat al-Iraq news agency.
"Another Iraqi army force defused an IED in al-Jazaer neighborhood without incident," the source added. "A man wanted by Iraqi security authorities was arrested in al-Intissar neighborhood. The man, who is named Saddam Hussein Khalaf al-Issawi, is suspected of aiding gunmen," the source added.
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The Mumbai crime branch has filed a long chargesheet in a Mumbai court but without any proof of involvement of ISI in Mumbai attacks. Mumbai's Joint Commissioner of Police Rakesh Maria told newsmen that investigations have not thrown up anything that could speak about the involvement of Pakistan's Inter-Services Intelligence agency. "It is an operation carried out by the LeT and we have not yet come across the involvement of ISI," he added. In a jam-packed court room, the Special public prosecutor Ujjwal Nikam informed the judge that some of the wanted accused have been arrested by Pakistan's Federal Investigation Agency. All 12 cases registered in the attack were clubbed as one in the chargesheet, which lists a total 2,202 witnesses. Meanwhile, the chargesheet proved local support to the attacks as Indian nationals Fahim, Sabahuddin provided marked maps, details to help terrorists to strikes. Fahim Ansari and Sabahuddin Mohammed along with Ajmal Kasab will face trial in the coming weeks in a special court set up inside the Arthur Road Jail in Mumbai. The trial into the 26/11 attack case will begin in the first week of March. Special Public Prosecutor Ujwal Nikam said "We would try to complete the trial within three to six months".
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Republican members of the House Intelligence Committee have asked the Obama administration to conduct an inquiry into comments by Senator Dianne Feinstein that appeared to confirm the existence of a secret US facility inside Pakistan used to carry out drone attacks in the Tribal Areas. Amid growing concern inside Pakistan over the strikes, Newsweek reported that the unusual request by the Republicans sought a 'damage assessment' into the remarks by Feinstein, the new chairwoman of the Senate Intelligence Committee. The request was made in a secret letter to Dennis Blair, Obama's new director of national intelligence, sent recently by Republican Pete Hoekstra and other Republicans on the House intel panel, according to several congressional sources quoted by Newsweek.
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#1
People on the ground and your fat lips move. Shopping cart lady.
#4
That's the good news Depot Guy. The bad news is you've been assigned to conduct the formal damage assessment. Your S: is March 15th. Requests for S: extensions will not be authorized.
Somali lawmakers return to the country from Djibouti with many hopes pinned on the statesmen to move along a trouble-free political course.
Over the last two days, the bulk of the 550-member parliament have arrived in the capital Mogadishu after the make-up of the body was determined during UN-sponsored talks in Djibouti, a Press TV correspondent reported.
The talks also saw former opposition chief Sheikh Sharif Sheikh Ahmed appointed as the new president of Somalia.
The lawmakers are part of the National Unity Government that will replace the moribund Transitional Federal Government.
In a move seen as an attempt by Sharif to avoid the mistakes of the TFG, the new president has allowed the opposition to have a considerable say in the new government. The opposition accused the former leadership of the country of being loyal to the West.
As part of an armed campaign against the TFG, opposition fighters recently captured the city of Baidoa, which is the seat of the parliament.
The arrival of the lawmakers is said to be in line with plans to relocate the new government to Mogadishu in efforts to establish stability in the Horn of Africa.
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Top|| File under: Islamic Courts
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.
KANSAS CITY, Mo. -- Police and medical examiners who thought a man died of natural causes changed their minds after funeral-home workers found bullet holes in his head.
Nancy Pelosi repeatedly stood to applaud Barack Obama when he addressed a joint session of Congress Tuesday night. But in the days since, the speaker of the House has been standing up for herself distancing herself from the president on Iraq, on tax cuts and on the prosecution of former Bush administration officials. 
TAJI, Iraq -- There was the time the Iraqis spent millions of dollars on ammunition from Romania, only to discover that it was defective or didn't fit their U.S.- or Russian-made weapons. Or when the Iraqis bought portable kitchens which didn't work in the field.
A Co Tyrone man who is driving a lorry to Gaza to deliver humanitarian aid as part of the 'Viva Palestina' convoy has been detained in Tunisia. John Hurson, from Dungannon, entered the north African country on Wednesday after travelling from Algeria but was stopped by Tunisian police, along with the rest of the convoy, and herded into a football stadium in the province of Gabes, more than 300kms away from the capital city of Tunis. Yesterday, the Tunisian authorities said they would allow the convoy to continue on its journey to Gaza. However, last night the convoy remained in the country and all 120 vehicles were being kept under lock and key in the stadium. 
The Zardari Government is making peace with the Taliban which is hanging amputated bodies from electric poles.
Malaysia's prime minister has called for Myanmar's Muslim boat people to be pushed back if they attempt to land on any Southeast Asian shores in search of asylum, according to newspaper reports Friday. Malaysian Prime Minister Abdullah Ahmad Badawi also took swipes at Myanmar and Thailand on the Rohingya issue, which has escalated into a major problem for the region and one of concern internationally.
On Capitol Hill, the events that usually make the news are the ones that take place in front of television cameras, from votes to testimony to speeches. But an event scheduled to take place today behind closed doors, in a cozy chamber of the Capitol known as the L.B.J. Room, is creating some buzz.
Leading American supporters of Israel have been quick to embrace a controversial Israeli nationalist who is likely to play a major role in the new Israeli government in an effort to blunt any harm his rise might do to Israels image in the United States. 
A row that erupted after an Invercargill cafe owner ejected two Israeli customers during the fighting in Gaza in January has been settled with an apology.
Gordon Brown was under growing pressure to hold an independent inquiry into Britains complicity in torture last night after ministers admitted that terror suspects detained by British soldiers in Iraq were secretly flown by the US to Afghanistan. 
Rival Palestinian groups agreed on Thursday to set up a unity government by the end of March after reconciliation talks aimed at ending long-running factional feuding, Palestinian officials said.
President Robert Mugabe has rejected demands that he dismiss two discredited officials, while the government asked its neighbours for $2-billion.
Four bodyguards of two Iraqi MPs linked to a fugitive Sunni Arab deputy accused of ordering an April 2007 bombing of Parliament have been arrested, a top security official said on Thursday.
Security forces broke up anti-government protests in Antananarivo on Thursday, after the opposition leader broke off talks aimed at ending the unrest.
A Danish naval warship on Thursday thwarted an attack by armed pirates on a Chinese vessel in the Gulf of Aden, the US Naval Forces Central Command said. The Bahrain-based command said that Danish support ship HDMS Absalon had "successfully deterred an attempted pirate attack on the Chinese M/V Yandanghai."
Congress went on a pork-a-palooza yesterday, approving a massive spending bill with big bucks for Hawaiian canoe trips, research into pig smells, and tattoo removal - all while the nation faces an economic crisis.
Police say a teenager who soaked her hair in gasoline to try to kill head lice was severely burned when the gas fumes ignited and set her head ablaze.
Suspected Taliban stopped a security forces convoy from entering 
Sri Lankan troops have killed at least 11 Tamil Tiger rebels in the battle for the last urban area still in the hands of the guerrillas, the Defence Ministry said on Thursday.
The sluice gate of a sewer from BDR headquarters 
Thousands of protesters marched across Pakistan on Thursday, torching pictures of President Asif Ali Zardari as the Pakistani police sealed off the Punjab provincial parliament and detained 30 lawmakers. 
Information Minister Sherry Rehman has said Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) chief Nawaz Sharif's speech in Sheikhupura is an open invitation to mutiny and his comments against President Asif Ali Zardari are regrettable, a private TV channel reported on Thursday. According to the channel, Sherry said provoking the government and law enforcement officials by Nawaz was akin to taking the country towards disaster and confrontation, and weakening state institutions. She appealed to the PML-N's 'responsible' leadership to rein in their emotions and avoid making personal comments. She said Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani had said the "review option" was still open, and the PML-N should avoid politics of confrontation. About governor's rule in Punjab, she said it was imposed under Article 234 of the constitution, the channel quoted its sources.
POLITICAL tensions in Malaysia erupted into a scuffle at parliament on Thursday, witnesses said, as angry ruling party members confronted an opposition veteran. Karpal Singh, a 69-year-old wheelchair-user and opposition politician, enraged the youth wing of the ruling Umno party with a feisty performance in parliament this week where he accused them of sending him bullets in the mail.
Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani said on Thursday that he was disappointed over the Supreme Court (SC) judgment against Sharif brothers. The SC ruling damaged the democracy in Pakistan and anti-democratic forces might be benefited by the prevailing political turmoil if this issue was not resolved peacefully. This PM said while talking to media. Syed Yousuf Raza Gilani defended imposition of Governor-rule in Punjab saying imposition of Governor rule was unanimous decision of the government of PPP and also it was the constitutional need of the hour as former Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif had been declared ineligible for contesting polls by Supreme Court. PM clarified we are not personally against any political party as I was the one who made phone call to Shahbaz Sharif and extended sympathies to him over SC verdict. Responding to a question about controversies between PM and President houses PM Gilani said having controversies are the part of democratic system and differences may occur sometimes but all elements have to follow constitutional decisions. PM termed politics as day-to-day affair and maintained that no one could predict about future in politics. To a question PM Gilani said President Zardari would be requested to issue National Reconciliation Ordinance (NRO) to undo Supreme Court verdict against Sharif brothers.
President Asif Ali Zardari said on Thursday he had imposed governor's rule in Punjab after the Sharif brothers declared war on the Presidency following the Supreme Court decision to disqualify them.
